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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:10:28 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/38495-0.txt b/38495-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d32b143 --- /dev/null +++ b/38495-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16302 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de +Pollnitz, Volume I, by Karl Ludwig von Pöllnitz + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume I + Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from + Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, + England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not + Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but + the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several + Courts. + +Author: Karl Ludwig von Pöllnitz + +Release Date: January 5, 2012 [EBook #38495] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS--BARON DE POLLNITZ, VOL I *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Connal, Henry Gardiner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr) + + + + + + + * * * * * + +Transcriber’s Note: The original publication has been replicated +faithfully except as shown in the Transcriber’s Amendments at the end of +the text. This etext presumes a mono-spaced font on the user’s device, +such as Courier New. Words in italics are indicated like _this_. But the +publisher also wanted to emphasize words in sentences already italicized, +so he printed them in the regular font which is indicated here with: _The +pirates then went to +Hispaniola+._ Obscured letters in the original +publication are indicated with {?}. Superscripts are indicated like this: +S^{ta} Maria. Footnotes are located near the end of the work. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: Lestevenon de Berkenroode] + + + + + THE + + MEMOIRS + + OF + + _CHARLES-LEWIS_, + + Baron de POLLNITZ. + + BEING + + The OBSERVATIONS He made in his + late TRAVELS from _Prussia_ thro’ + + _GERMANY_, + _ITALY_, + _FRANCE_, + _FLANDERS_, + _HOLLAND_, + _ENGLAND_, &c. + + In LETTERS to his FRIEND. + + Discovering not only the PRESENT STATE + of the Chief CITIES and TOWNS; + + BUT + + The CHARACTERS of the PRINCIPAL PERSONS + at the Several COURTS. + + In TWO VOLUMES. + + Vol. I + + The SECOND EDITION, with ADDITIONS. + + + _LONDON:_ + Printed for DANIEL BROWNE, at the _Black Swan_, + without _Temple-Bar_. M.DCC.XXXIX. + + + + + TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + PREFACE, BY THE TRANSLATOR v + + AUTHOR’S PREFACE ix + + ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR xiv + + PREFACE xv + + ADDENDA to Vol. I xviii + + ADDENDA to Vol. II xxi + + BOOKS LATELY PUBLISHED xxiv + + LETTER I 1 + + LETTER II 49 + + LETTER III 60 + + LETTER IV 69 + + LETTER V 80 + + LETTER VI 162 + + LETTER VII 178 + + LETTER VIII 183 + + LETTER IX 193 + + LETTER X 197 + + LETTER XI 210 + + LETTER XII 224 + + LETTER XIII 246 + + LETTER XIV 258 + + LETTER XV 272 + + LETTER XVI 280 + + LETTER XVII 293 + + LETTER XVIII 299 + + LETTER XIX 315 + + LETTER XX 327 + + LETTER XXI 338 + + LETTER XXII 357 + + LETTER XXIII 364 + + LETTER XXIV 377 + + LETTER XXV 391 + + LETTER XXVI 408 + + LETTER XXVII 422 + + OTHER BOOKS 432 + + INDEX 433 + + ERRATA + + FOOTNOTES + + +[Illustration] + + + + + To the Right Honourable + + PHILIP, _Lord_ HARDWICKE; + + Baron of _Hardwicke_, in the + County of _Gloucester_; + + LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR + of _Great Britain_; + + AND + + One of the LORDS of His Majesty’s most + Honourable PRIVY COUNCIL. + + + MY LORD, + +The good Reception these Memoirs, which I most humbly offer to your +Lordship, have met with Abroad; and the Protection and Favour the _Author_ +has obtain’d at one of the Chief Protestant Courts of EUROPE; encourage +me, tho’ with the profoundest Submission, to intreat your Lordship’s +favourable Acceptance of this _Translation_. + +’Tis, my Lord, the only Homage I am capable of paying your Lordship, and +the best Testimony I can give with what Zeal and Pleasure I join in the +Congratulation of the Public for that illustrious Regard paid to your +Lordship’s Merit, and Their Wishes, by his SACRED MAJESTY, this Day in +Council. + +That your Lordship may very long enjoy a sufficient Portion of Health, +equal to the Abilities of your Great Mind, for supporting you under that +vast Weight of Service which you have now taken upon you for your King and +Country, is the hearty Prayer of all good ENGLISHMEN; and particularly of +Him, My Lord, who has the Honour to subscribe + + YOUR LORDSHIP’S + _Most Devoted, + Most Obedient, and + Most Humble Servant._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + PREFACE, + + By the TRANSLATOR. + + +The Author of these _Memoirs_, who is a Person of an honourable Family in +_Prussia_, and confess’d by all that know him to be a Gentleman of +extraordinary Talents, is one that may be truly said to have seen the +World; he having not only travell’d twice thro’ the principal Parts of +_Europe_, but by his Acquaintance with People of the first Rank, and a +diligent Inquiry and nice Inspection into Men and Things, attained to that +Knowledge of Both, which is of such Service and Entertainment to Mankind +in the general, and so particularly necessary for All who attend to what +is doing in high Life. + +He has succeeded very happily in the right Narrative Stile; and the +_French_ Language, in which he wrote the following Letters, seems to be as +natural to him as if it was his Mother-Tongue. But the Thing which has +most contributed to the Demand for these Memoirs, is the Multitude of +Characters that the Baron has interspers’d, not only of the Deceas’d, but +even of Persons that are still living, and distinguish’d by the exalted +Spheres in which they move. + +That every one of those Characters is equally just, or that every +Circumstance relating to them is told with the utmost Exactness, is not to +be imagin’d: For supposing the Author to have been ever so circumspect and +impartial, how was it possible for him to take the true Likeness of every +one, in such a Variety of Personages of both Sexes, and to be perfectly +sure of every Particular that he mentions; since he could not be +Eye-Witness of every thing, and must be oblig’d for many to Information +from other Persons, of whom, ’tis no wonder if some were prejudic’d? But +to do the Baron Justice, it must be allow’d, that he no where fails in +that Respect and Decorum to Princes which are their due; and that he has +not discover’d a predominant Passion for Satire: because where he has +painted in the strongest Colours, and represented his Subjects in the most +disadvantageous Light, they were such whose Follies or whose Vices were +too flagrant and notorious to be either conceal’d or disguis’d: And, +considering the Groupe of Courtiers whom he has crouded into his Canvass, +the Reader will rather be surpris’d to meet with so few Imperfections in +his Characters, and so many excellent Qualities. By this means, his +Memoirs have, upon the whole, done Honour to his Understanding, without +offending his Conscience, or hurting his Fortune; he being, at this very +time, upon a handsome Establishment at the Court of _Prussia_. + +It cannot possibly escape the Observation of the Reader, that the Baron, +when he wrote these Letters to his noble Friend, was a profess’d Member of +the Church of _Rome_; but that nevertheless, he was not such a Bigot to +its Constitution, nor such a Believer in the Legends of its Writers, or +the pretended Miracles of its Saints, as to incur the Character of a blind +and furious Zealot; it appearing on the contrary, from several +Declarations of his Mind in the following Pages, that he did not want +Charity either in his Nature or Principles for those from whom he differ’d +in religious Sentiments. Such a Catholic Spirit, assisted by his good +Sense, made it, no doubt, much easier for him, after reflecting upon the +Fopperies and Impostures which he had seen in that Church during his +Travels, to abjure the _Romish_ and to embrace the _Protestant_ Religion, +which he did accordingly with great Devotion last Summer, at _Berlin_; +after which, his _Prussian_ Majesty was pleas’d to distinguish him with +peculiar Marks of his Favour and Esteem, by declaring him one of the +Gentlemen of his Bed-Chamber, and Chief Cup-Bearer of his Court; and he +has very lately given him a considerable Prebend. + +To the new Edition of his Memoirs, from which the following Sheets are +translated, there’s not only a great number of material Additions in the +Body of the Work, as is observ’d by the Editor of it, _Amsterdam_, but +several new Notes: In this Translation, these Notes are likewise +considerably augmented, for the sake of continuing the Thread of the +History to the present Time, by the Notice taken of certain remarkable +Alterations, or other curious Particulars that have happen’d to the +Persons or the Places mentioned, since 1734, when the said Edition was +publish’d. + +One great Defect for which the foreign Editor has been very much blam’d, +was the want of a Table to these Memoirs; which, if not absolutely +necessary in a Work of this kind, wherein so many Persons and Facts are +mentioned, cannot be necessary for any Book whatsoever that comes from the +Press. To supply this Defect, the Translator has added an Alphabetical +Index to each of the two Volumes; which Indexes are the more copious, that +the Reader might know where to turn in an Instant for some Account of the +Characters, Conduct, or Familys of those public Personages, whose Names so +often occur in the News-Papers. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + THE + + AUTHOR’s PREFACE + + TO THE + + FIRST EDITION. + + +_There are very few Books without a +Preface+; and that there are +so, is in a great measure owing to the Fancy of the +Booksellers+, +who think them to be absolutely necessary, and too often judge of +the merit of a Copy by the Flights of its Preface, and the +insinuating Tone of the +Author’s+ Voice in reading it. I had the +misfortune to fall into the hands of one of these Booksellers, so +fond of Prefaces, whom nothing would serve but he must have one at +the Head of my +Memoirs+. My telling him that I did not know what to +put into a Preface, signify’d no more than if I had been talking to +a Post; for he threaten’d to get a Preface compos’d by an Author who +wrote for Wages. This startled me, and I trembled for the fate of my +Book, not doubting that a Preface written by a Man of Letters, who +made it his profession to compose such marvellous Pieces, would +altogether eclipse the few Excellencies in this Work of mine. What, +said I to myself, the Sale of my Book then must depend only on the +Goodness of the Preface, which, when the Readers compare with the +Book it self, they will say, O! what a wonderful Man is the Author +of the +Preface+! What a pitiful Writer, the Compiler of the ++Memoirs+! No, said I again to my self, I am resolv’d that the +Preface and the Book shall run the same risk; and since Chance has +enter’d me an Author, I’ll play out the whole part of one._ + +_I am told, that the Design of a Preface is to give the Publick an +account, in the first place, of the Reasons that have engag’d the Author +to compose his Work; that then he is to inform the Publick, that ’tis in +meer Complaisance to his Friends, and because there are mangled Copies of +his Manuscript abroad, that he has been determined to put it to the Press; +and finally, that he is to conclude with a sort of Petition, wherein he is +to beg the Reader’s Indulgence for his Productions. This, I have been +assured, is the Plan of a Preface; let us now see how well I can execute +it._ + +_As to the first Article, +viz.+ what Motives I had to write, I sincerely +own that when I set Pen to Paper, I meant nothing more than to amuse +myself. I was the farthest in the World from thinking that I should one +day be overtaken with the Temptation of setting up for an Author. I wrote +Letters to a Friend of mine, purely to divert him with an Account of such +things as came in my way; the Minutes of which Letters I preserved till I +had insensibly formed a Volume of ’em; and having nothing else to do, I +augmented and digested them in the manner that I now give them to the +Publick. The truth is, that my Friends have not used the least Importunity +with me to commit my Manuscript to the Press, nor was it possible for any +spurious Copies of it to get abroad, because no body ever saw it till I +put it into the hands of the Bookseller._ + +_But I shall be ask’d, what possess’d me to commence Author, and how came +I to be so idle as to put my Name at the Head of a sorry book? I must +answer again, that it was downright Indolence. As to my Name, it would +have been very difficult to have concealed it from Persons to whom I have +the greatest Obligations. I should have been suspected to have been the +Author of these Memoirs at certain Courts, for which I have a Respect both +by Inclination and Duty; and perhaps, if I had left this Copy to the +wide World, as some do those Foundlings which they are asham’d to own, +such Passages might have been foisted into it, as would have been father’d +upon me, in spite of all Protestations of my Innocence._ + +_As to the Book itself, I am apt to think there is nothing in it that any +Person whatsoever ought to take offence at. When I speak of Sovereign +Princes, ’tis with the Reverence due to the +Lord’s Anointed+; and I also +endeavour to honour them in their Ministers, being taught by my Religion +that I ought to honour God in his Saints. I have done my utmost to paint +the true Characters of People in Place, and can safely say, that my +Authorities are not meer hear-says or scraps out of News-Papers; for, +thank to God, my Birth and Fortune have put me in a capacity to see, hear, +and judge for myself._ + +_It will be thought perhaps, that when I speak of Nations in general, I +judge too rashly. It may be so; this being an Article especially in which +all Men do not think alike. The +French+ have a quite different Idea of +the +Germans+ from what the +English+ have, and the +English+ do not pass +the same Verdict on the +French+ as the +Swedes+ do. ’Tis the same in +private Life. Every one makes his own Condition the Standard of his +Judgment. The Man of Quality, the Citizen, the Soldier, the Merchant, have +all different Ideas. The Traveller judges of the Nation where he is, by +the Company he keeps. A +Frenchman+ who in +Germany+ converses with none +but those of the second Class, will say that the +Germans+ are honest +People, but clownish; whereas another, who keeps company with Persons of +Quality, or those in Offices, will agree, that the +Germans+ are more +polite than they have been painted by certain +French+ Writers, who have +been transplanted to +Germany+ either by their Distresses, or by meer +Chance. So, a +German+, who, when he is at +Paris+, sees no better Company +than the Marchionesses of the Suburb of +St. Germain+, imagines +that all the Women both at Court and in the City are like them. In fine, a +Foreigner who takes up his Residence in the City of +London+, will +entertain a different Idea of the +English+ from what another shall do who +lodges at +St. James+’s end of the town. They are, as one may say, so many +different Nations in one and the same State, which stand in little +relation to one another; and sometimes attribute Virtues and Vices to each +other without due Consideration. A Foreigner therefore can form a solid +Judgment of none but those with whom he is conversant; and if he has the +good luck to pitch his Tent well, he entertains an advantageous Opinion of +the Nation in general. Let Foreigners, when they return home, after having +kept such various sorts of Company, sit down to draw the Characters of the +Nations they have seen, I do but think what a strange difference would +appear in their Descriptions! The Judgment therefore which I make of +People, is founded upon the Company I kept, and upon what I heard from +such Inhabitants of the Country as appear’d to me to be altogether +unprejudiced, and were pleased to honour me with their Information. I do +not say but, after all, I may have been mistaken; for I do not pretend to +have painted things in any other light than as they appear’d to me. If, +nevertheless, any particular Person thinks himself particularly intended +when I speak of the Inhabitants of any Province or Town in general, I beg +him to remember, that I confess in my Memoirs there are worthy People in +all parts of the World, and ’tis not my fault if his Conscience does not +permit him to rank himself in that number._ + +_No doubt I shall be reproach’d for relating too many Trifles, and passing +too lightly over things of greater Importance. To speak freely again, I +will make no difficulty to own, that, if when I began these Memoirs, I had +ever thought of printing them, the desire of promoting their Sale might +perhaps have put upon inserting a great many Nothings which I omitted, as +not thinking it worth while to charge my Memory with ’em. The far greatest +part of what the World reads is Trifles, and a History will make its +fortune not by the instructive Facts that are in it, but by the Romantic +Turn the Author gives it. Besides, I am not so vain as to write with a +design of Instructing; for what could I relate in my Travels which others +have not done before me in better Terms? To talk of Learned Men, to make a +Catalogue of Books and MSS. that are to be met with in Libraries, to +ransack the Cabinet of the Curious, to publish Inscriptions, to treat of +antique Medals, to affirm that I have seen an +Otho+ of Brass, which is +known to be but of Silver, what a Posse of Men of Learning would rise up +against me! Whereas, now I fear nothing; the Learned don’t read Trifles, +or if they do, they scorn to criticise them. I shall to them remain +unknown, or at least, my Meanness will be my Protection against their +Indignation._ + +_I would fain be as secure against the Criticism of those, who reading for +the sake of their amusement, require an exact, elegant Stile in trifles, +that is, adorn’d with the Flowers and Garlands of Rhetorick. But how shall +I gain their Indulgence? If I own to them that I could do no better, they +will say to me, and justly enough, +Alas! then what made you write?+ To +which I shall answer, as I said before, that it was meerly for want of +something else to do. If they will but forgive me this time, I assure them +that I not only will never relapse into the same error, but that I shall +not be sorry if they disdain to take Notice of my Book: And if the reading +of these Memoirs inclines them to sleep, I shall think my self very well +rewarded for having contributed to their Repose._ + +_After all, I am more particularly obliged to ask pardon of the +French+ +than any other Nation: ’Tis in their Language I have presumed to write, +and they are my proper Judges. Such is their Politeness and their +Readiness to assist Foreigners, that I doubt not of Mercy. And in +return, I promise them, that if a +Frenchman+ ever vouchsafes to write in +the +German+ Language, I will forgive him any Errors that he may commit._ + + + + + ADVERTISEMENT by the EDITOR. + + +N. B. “These Memoirs went off so quick, that before they had been out +scarce six Months, the _French_ Bookseller was oblig’d to prepare for this +_Second Edition_; to which, there are considerable Additions both in the +Body of the Work and in the Notes, of curious and interesting Facts and +Characters, and the principal Alterations that have happen’d at the +several Courts, since the first Edition. + +“There is added in particular, a very circumstantial Account of the +present Elector of _Saxony_’s Family, his Ministers, and Officers; and in +short, of the Chief Persons of both Sexes belonging to his Court and +Houshold. This is prefix’d in the Original, at the Head of the Memoirs; +but the Translator thought it more regular as well as more consistent with +the Method observ’d every where else by the Author, to place it at the End +of his Description of the City of _Dresden_. The Baron has dedicated that +Account to the present Elector (_Augustus_, King of _Poland_) and +introduc’d it with the following Preface.” + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + PREFACE, + + TO THE SECOND EDITION. + + +_The_ PRESENT STATE OF THE COURT OF SAXONY_, which is added to this +Edition, has no need of a Preface to recommend it, the very Title shewing +that ’tis what concerns every +Saxon+ especially to be acquainted with._ + +_All Subjects have a desire to know something of their Sovereign; and +private Men in every State have this Curiosity, with respect to their +Ministers and Courtiers. These are the Characters which I have ventured to +draw, tho’ I own, that I don’t think I have always hit the Life, for want +of that Penetration and Delicacy of Imagination which Nature, to me a +Step-Mother, has deny’d me; and also because it would have been necessary +for me to have stay’d longer than I did at +Dresden+. Three Months +Residence at so great a Court, are hardly sufficient to make a Man +acquainted with it, were his Fund of Knowledge even as deep as mine is +shallow. Then what a Presumption would it be for me to think I have +attained to it!_ + +_I must not dissemble, that this Book with all its Imperfections, has cost +me more trouble in composing than one much larger would have done upon a +Subject that had been more familiar to me. There was a necessity for me to +make Inquiry into many Particulars, and to get some of my Information from +a private hand. I own my Obligation to the Civility of M. +Konig+, the +Counsellor of the Court, for the Intelligence I wanted relating +to some of the Court-Nobility. If I had been so happy as to have found out +but one or two Persons more as active for me as he was, my Work would have +been more correct and more extensive. Such as it is, I intreat the Reader +to accept it, and to forgive any Errors in it, in consideration that I am +the first who has ventured to treat of such a Subject. I own, there is a +certain degree of Rashness in the Undertaking, but the noble Motive that +has induc’d me to it, seems to plead for my excuse._ + +_All +Saxony+ knows in general, that ’tis govern’d by a Sovereign, +gracious, and vigilant to render it happy. It were needless to set the +King’s Virtues and Actions before their Eyes, which the People already +admire, and pray for him. But as this Great Prince does not want those who +envy his Glory, they are the Persons whom I have chose to make asham’d of +themselves; and have endeavoured, if possible, to reclaim others whom a +fatal blindness keeps at a distance from his Majesty’s Person[1]._ + +_All that ever had the honour of approaching +Augustus III.+ will agree +with me that he adorns that Throne, upon which a respectful Nation has +plac’d him; and that whatever I have said of this Monarch is short of what +might be mention’d. How is it possible to give the true Portraiture of a +King born without Vice, by Principle virtuous, and religiously good? To +admire him in silence is the only way to please him, which I know too +well, not to conform to it; and therefore I have not presum’d to expatiate +so far in his Praise as the Sublimity of the Subject demands._ + +_The same Aversion of the Queen to Praise, has confin’d me within the same +bounds. How many Virtues have not I been forc’d to smother? What Thoughts_ +_have not I sacrific’d, lest I should offend the noble Modesty of that +August Princess, who with a Simplicity attending her Grandeur, makes her +Glory to consist in being humble in the midst of Honours?_ + +_I believe no body will dispute the Truth of what I have advanc’d relating +to the_ PRINCE ROYAL_ and _ELECTORAL_, the_ PRINCES HIS BROTHERS_, and the +_PRINCESSES HIS SISTERS_. The hopes I have raised of what may be expected +from_ THEIR ROYAL HIGHNESSES_, will surely be confirm’d by Time, and by +all those who have access to them._ + +_The Actions of the Duke +John-Adolphus+ of +Saxe-Weissenfels+ are so well +establish’d that I have not thought fit to anticipate History, by which +they are to be consecrated: And for the same reason, I have but just +touch’d upon the amiable Qualities of his Mind, which are rever’d both by +the Court and the Army._ + +_As to the Princess of +Saxe-Weissenfels+, I frankly own, that as I had +not the honour of paying my Court to her, what I have said of her Virtues +has no other Authority than the Voice of the Publick, which can never +speak enough in her Praise._ + +_I have been more copious in treating of the Ministers; and what I have +said of them is so true, that they who know them not may thereby form a +just Idea of what they are._ + +_I have taken as much notice of the principal Lords and the most +distinguish’d Ladies of the Court, as the little time I had for this Work, +and the Limits to which I was confin’d, would permit. I flatter myself +they will forgive the Freedom with which I use them; and hope I have +preserv’d a Decency in my Language which will secure me from Reproach._ + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + ADDENDA to Vol. I. + + +Pap. 15. M. _Beausobre_, Minister of the Gospel at _Berlin_, and Author of +several learned Treatises, died in _May_ 1738. + +P. 26. The Princess of _Brandenburg-Schwedt_, fourth Daughter of the King +of _Prussia_, was deliver’d of a Daughter in _April_ 1738. + +P. 27. The Count _de Truchses-Walbourg_, Major-General in the Service of +the King of _Prussia_, died at _Berlin_ in _April_ 1738. + +P. 34. In _July_ 1738, his _Prussian_ Majesty, together with the Prince +Royal and Prince _William_, made a Tour to _Holland_, and paid a Visit to +his most Serene Highness the Prince of _Orange_. + +P. 66. His Excellency Baron _Hattorf_, Secretary of State for the Affairs +of _Hanover_, died in _August_ 1737. + +P. 70. _Christina-Louisa_, Princess of _Oetingen_, died in 1736. + +P. 72. _Philippina-Charlotte_, Duchess of _Brunswic-Wolfembuttle_, and +third Daughter to the King of _Prussia_, after having had two Sons by Duke +_Charles_ her Husband, _viz._ the first born in 1735, and the other, who +is called _George-Francis_, in 1736, was deliver’d also of a Daughter in +_September_ 1737, who in the Month following was baptiz’d by the Names of +_Christina-Sophia-Maria_. + +P. 105. M. _de Miltitz_, who was Tutor to the present King _Augustus_ when +he was Electoral Prince of _Saxony_, died in _March_ 1738. + +P. 113. The Princess Royal of _Poland_ was married in _July_ 1738, to Don +_Carlos_ King of _Naples_ and _Sicily_. + +P. 130. The Count _de Sulkowski_ in _January_ 1738 fell under some +Disgrace, so that his Majesty order’d his Papers to be seal’d up, and +excused him from farther Attendance on him, but was willing he should keep +the Title and Rank of Minister of the Cabinet, and General of the Foot, +with 6000 Crowns Pension. + +P. 140. _Adolphus de Bruhl_ was in _January_ 1738 appointed Grand-Master +of the Horse, at the _Saxon_ Court, in the room of the Count _de +Sulkowski_. + +P. 142. The Count _de Moschinski_ died in _September_ 1737. + +P. 147. The Count _de Diedrichstein_ died at _Prague_ in _September_ 1737. +He was Baron of _Hollenbourg_, _Finckenstein_, _Dahlberg_ and +_Landskroon_, Hereditary Great Huntsman of _Styria_, Hereditary Cup-Bearer +of _Carinthia_, Knight of the Order of St. _John_ of _Jerusalem_, Grand +Prior in _Bohemia_, _Moravia_, _Silesia_, _Carinthia_, _Styria_, _Tirol_, +_Austria_ and _Poland_, Bailiff of the aforesaid Order, and Commander of +the Commanderies of _Little Oels_, _Furstenfeld_ and _Mosling_, a +Privy-Counsellor of the Emperor, and Governour-General of the Kingdom of +_Bohemia_. + +P. 168. The last Duke of _Saxe-Mersebourg_ mention’d in the Note of that +Page, died in _May_ 1738. + +P. 182. In _April_ 1738, the Emperor appointed the Prince of _Saxe-Gotha_ +Lieutenant Velt-Marshal of his Armies; and in _September_ following +he solicited the Diet of _Ratisbon_ for the Post of second +Velt-Marshal-General of the Empire, in the Disposal of the Protestant +States, vacant by the Death of the Baron _de Wutgenau_. + +P. 182. _Augusta_ Princess of _Wales_ was deliver’d of a Princess on the +31st of _July_ 1737, who was baptized after her own Name; and on the 24th +of _May_ 1738, she was deliver’d of a Prince who was baptiz’d +_George-William Frederic_. + +P. 208. The Margravine of _Brandenbourg-Culmbach_, Mother to the Queen of +_Denmark_, died at _Copenhagen_ in _August_ 1737, in the 70th Year of her +Age, very much lamented. + +P. 220. Count _Philip Kinski_ was made Chancellor of _Bohemia_, in _May_ +1738, in the room of the late Count _de Collowrat_. + +P. 233. The Archduchess, Wife to the Duke of _Lorrain_, had a Daughter, +born _January_ 25, 1737, and another born in _September_ 1738. + +P. 264. The eldest Son of the Duke _Ferdinand_ of _Bavaria_, died in +_April_ 1738. + +P. 266. The Count _Maximilian de Fugger_ died at _Vienna_, in _January_ +1738. + +P. 266. The Count _de Thirheim_ died in _January_ 1738, at _Lintz_, the +Capital of _Upper Austria_. + +P. 285. _Charles-Alexander_ Duke of _Wirtemberg-Stutgard_, died on the 1st +of _March_ 1737, and was succeeded by his eldest Son _Eugene-Lewis_ the +present Duke, who was born the 30th of _January_ 1728. + +P. 298. The Margrave of _Baden-Dourlach_ died the first of _May_ 1738, at +_Carelsruhe_, who having no Issue living, is succeeded by _Frederic_ of +_Witgenstein_, who is marry’d to the Princess _Augusta-Amelia-Albertina_ +of _Nassau-Siegen_. The Deceased was 58 Years and near 11 Months of Age, +being born the 17th of _June_ 1679. He was a General in the Emperor’s +Army, and Great Master of the Artillery in the Circle _of Suabia_. By his +Wife, a Daughter of the Duke of _Wirtemberg-Stutgard_, he had four +Children, who are all dead. When he laid the Plan and Foundation of the +City and Castle of _Carelsruhe_, he gave equal Liberty of Conscience to +the Lutherans, Calvinists, and Roman Catholics. + +P. 321. The Cardinal _de Schonborn_ died in _August_ 1737. + +P. 335. The Baron _de Beveren_, Grand Marshal at the Elector Palatine’s +Court, died there in _January_ 1738. + +P. 357. In _January_ 1738, the Prince of _Hesse-Hombourg_ was married to +the Velt-Marshal _Trubetskay_’s Daughter. + +P. 362. After the Death of the Count of _Hanau_ without Issue, the +Succession was awarded to the Prince of _Darmstad_ as next Heir, on +condition of his paying 200000_l._ by way of Compensation to the House of +_Cassel_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + ADDENDA to Vol. II. + + +Pag. 14. Cardinal _Bissi_ died in _August_ 1737. + +P. 44. Cardinal _Olivieri_, Secretary of the Pope’s Briefs, died at _Rome_ +in _February_ 1738. + +P. 61. Prince _James Sobieski_ died in _December_ 1737. + +P. 136. On the 28th of _June_ 1737, the Great Duke of _Tuscany_ died in +the 67th Year of his Age, and was succeeded by _Francis_ Duke of _Lorrain_ +(who married the Emperor’s Daughter) for whom possession was immediately +taken of the Duchy by the _German_ Forces. + +_Ferdinand_, Duke of _Courland_, who is mentioned in the same Page, died +in 1737; and the Nobility assembling at _Mittau_ elected Count _Biron_, a +Native, to succeed him. + +P. 150. The Affairs of _Corsica_ are very much alter’d since the first +Edition of these Volumes. Baron _Theodore_ having left the Island, and +promis’d to return soon with Succours, went to _Amsterdam_, where he was +confin’d for Debt; but being soon discharg’d by the Interest of some +foreign Power, he proceeded to _Paris_, and thence to _Marseilles_, in +order, as he gave out, to put himself again at the Head of the +_Corsicans_: But during this the _French_ having undertaken to be +Mediators betwixt the _Corsicans_ and _Genoese_, have, with the +Approbation of both, sent a General thither with some Troops, and the +_Corsicans_ have agreed to send over a dozen of their chief Men to the +Court of _France_ as Hostages for their good Behaviour; but since this, +_Theodore_ has set his Foot again upon that Island. + +P. 257. The Duke of _Liria_, Son and Successor to the late Marshal Duke of +_Berwic_, died at _Naples_ in _May_ 1738. + +P. 260. The Marshal _d’Estrees_ died the 5th of _December_ 1737. + +P. 309. The Marshal _de Wrangel_, Governour of _Brussels_, died in +_August_ 1737, in the 87th Year of his Age. + +P. 332. The Succession to the Duchies of _Juliers_ and _Berg_, is an +Affair which has been very much canvass’d for several Months past, between +the Elector Palatine and the Courts of _Prussia_ and _Saxony_. The +maritime Powers of _Great Britain_ and _Holland_ have proposed an +Accommodation, with regard to the Succession, into which the Elector +Palatine is willing to enter; but the Courts of _France_, _Prussia_ and +_Saxony_ don’t concur with it; and _France_ has guarantee’d the actual +Possession of those Duchies to the Prince of _Sultzbach_. + +P. 447. On the 20th of _November_ 1737, _Wilhelmina-Carolina_ Queen of +_Great Britain_ died of a Mortification in her Bowels; and on the 17th of +_December_ following she was privately interr’d in _Westminster-Abbey_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + BOOKS _lately published_, + + +1. The Third and Fourth Volumes of the MEMOIRS of CHARLES-LEWIS BARON DE +POLLNITZ being the Observations he made in his late Travels from _Prussia_ +thro’ _Poland_, _Germany_, _Italy_, _France_, _Spain_, _Flanders_, +_Holland_, _England_, &c. discovering not only the present State of the +chief Cities and Towns, but the Characters of the principal Persons at the +several Courts. + +2. CYCLOPÆDIA; or, An Universal Dictionary of ARTS and SCIENCES: +Containing, An Explication of the Terms, and an Account of the Things +signified thereby in the several Arts, both Liberal and Mechanical, and +the several Sciences, Human and Divine: The Figures, Kinds, Properties, +Productions, Preparations and Uses of Things, Natural and Artificial: The +Rise, Progress, and State of Things, Ecclesiastical, Civil, Military and +Commercial; with the several Systems, Sects, Opinions, &c. among +Philosophers, Divines, Mathematicians, Physicians, Antiquaries, Critics, +&c. The Whole intended as a Course of Antient and Modern Learning, +extracted from the best Authors, Dictionaries, Journals, Memoirs, +Transactions, Ephemerides, &c. in several languages. By E. CHAMBERS, +_F.R.S._ The Second Edition, corrected and amended, with some ADDITIONS. +In Two Volumes, Folio. + +3. BAYLE’s GREAT HISTORICAL and CRITICAL DICTIONARY, the second Edition, +carefully collated with the several Editions of the Original; in which +many Passages are restored, and the Whole greatly augmented; particularly +with a Translation of the Quotations from eminent Writers in various +Languages: To which is prefixed, the Life of the Author, revised, +corrected and enlarged, by Mr. Des Maizeaux, Fellow of the Royal Society; +compleat in 5 Volumes, Folio. + +4. A Tour thro’ the whole Island of Great Britain, divided into Circuits +or Journies, giving a particular and entertaining Account of whatever is +Curious, and worth Observation, viz. 1. A Description of the principal +Cities and Towns, their Situation, Government and Commerce. 2. The +Customs, Manners, Exercises, Diversions, and Employment of the People. 3. +The Produce and Improvement of the Lands, the Trade and Manufactury. 4. +The Sea-Ports and Fortifications, the Course of Rivers, and the Inland +Navigation. 5. The public Edifices, Seats and Palaces of the Nobility, and +Gentry. Interspersed with useful Observations. Particularly fitted for the +Perusal of such as desire to travel over the Island. The second Edition, +with very great Additions, Improvements and Corrections, which bring it +down to the beginning of the Year 1738, in three neat Pocket Volumes. +_Price, Nine Shillings._ + +All printed for D. BROWNE, without _Temple-Bar_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + MEMOIRS + + OF THE + + Baron de POLLNITZ. + + In SEVERAL LETTERS to Mr. _L. C. D. S._ + + + + + LETTER I. + + + _SIR_, _Berlin, June 6, 1729._ + +From _Breslaw_ to _Berlin_ ’tis 40 _German_ Miles of very even Country, +well peopled and cultivated. There are I know not how many little Towns in +the Road, not worth mentioning. + +The first Place of any Importance is CROSSEN. This City is the Capital of +the Dutchy from whence it has its Name, which formerly made a Part of +_Silesia_, but is now annex’d to the Electorate of _Brandenburgh_. There’s +a Bridge at _Crossen_, by which we pass the River _Oder_, defended by +Fortifications. The Town is situate in a pleasant fruitful Country. The +Houses, which are all of Brick, are uniform, and the Streets as strait as +a Line. The chief of them terminate in a great Square in the middle of +the Town, where there is a Statue of the King of _Prussia_. The River +_Oder_ is of great advantage to the Commerce of _Crossen_, which carries +on a considerable Trade in Linnen-Cloth and Earthen Ware. + +Going out of _Crossen_, we pass this River by a Bridge, as we do a second +time over to FRANCFORT, a considerable City of the Marquisate of +_Brandenbourg_, famous for its Fairs, and its University. This City has +stood the Shock of various Revolutions. It was put under the Ban of the +Empire by the Emperor _Charles_ IV. for having disobey’d his Orders; and +the Inhabitants to make him easy were forc’d to pay him down 12000 Marks +of Silver, which at that time was an immense Sum. In 1631 the _Swedes_ +besieg’d and took it by Storm, when they put all the Inhabitants to the +Sword in reprisal for the Massacre of 2000 _Swedes_, whom the Emperor’s +General Count _Tilly_ had inhumanly put to death in the City of +_Brandenbourg_. By the Peace of _Munster_, or _Westphalia_, which +establish’d the Tranquility of the Empire, _Francfort_ was restor’d to the +Elector of _Brandenbourg_ its lawful Sovereign. + +Here is a University founded by _Joachim_ I. (Margrave of _Brandenbourg_) +in 1506, which is very much frequented by the _Silesians_, and by the +_Hungarian_ Protestants. + +There are two Fairs a Year at _Francfort_, which render it a trading City, +and its Commerce consists in Linnen-Cloth, and Fells. + +’Tis ten Miles from _Francfort_ to _Berlin_, and a flat sandy Country. The +Road leads thro’ _Munchenbourg_, a little Town chiefly inhabited by the +Descendants of _French_ Men, who left their Country upon the Revocation of +the Edict of _Nantes_. + +The nearer one comes to the Capital of _Brandenbourg_, the more sandy is +the Soil, yet the Country produces plenty of Corn and Fruits. + +BERLIN is the common Residence of the King of _Prussia_, and one of the +largest, best built, and best govern’d Cities in all _Germany_. The +Streets are spacious, strait, neat and well pav’d. The Situation is +advantageous; for tho’ it lies in a very sandy Soil, yet it is encompass’d +with agreeable Gardens producing Fruits and excellent Pulse, and its +Commerce is much improv’d by the River _Spree_; which passes thro’ the +City, and has a Communication with the _Havel_, the _Oder_, and the +_Elbe_. + +The _French_, who for the sake of Religion became Refugees, have +contributed in an extraordinary manner to the Establishment and +Aggrandisement of _Berlin_, by the establishing of all sorts of +Manufactures, and the introducing of Arts into it; and it may be said of +them, that they have omitted nothing to testify their Gratitude to the +Elector _Frederic-William_ and his Posterity, for the generous Reception +which he gave them in his Dominions. + +_Berlin_ is divided into five Wards exclusive of the Suburbs, which are +very extensive. I will run thro’ these Wards in the Order of their +Situation: But before I do this, I propose to shew you what is most +remarkable in the Suburbs; where the Houses are generally of Timber, but +so well plaister’d that they seem to be of Stone; and the Streets are +broad, lightsome and strait. + +In the Suburb of _Spandau_ the Queen has a delightful House and Gardens. +The House is called _Monbijou_; a very proper Name for it, because ’tis +really a Jewel. ’Tis a Pavilion, the Apartments of which are laid out with +Art, and furnish’d with great Judgment and Elegance. The Gardens are +charming, and lie finely open to the River. This House was built by the +Countess _de Wartemberg_, Wife to the Prime Minister of King _Frederic_ I. +As her Husband’s Power and Favour were at that time so great, that he did +whatever he pleas’d, all the King’s Workmen and Architects us’d the +utmost Diligence to serve her well. But she did not enjoy this fine House +long; for it was scarce compleated when the King removed the Count from +all his Employments, and banish’d him to _Francfort_ on the _Maine_. +However, he settled a Pension upon him and his Lady of 24000 Crowns, and +the Countess by way of Acknowledgement gave the King this House, which of +all the immense Treasure that she had amass’d, was the only Piece that she +cou’d not carry with her. The King gave this House to the Princess Royal +now Queen, who has added great Embellishments to it, and brought it to its +present State of Perfection. + +In the Suburbs of _Stralau_ is the House and Gardens of _Belvedere_, +belonging to the King. _Rollé_ Superintendant of the Finances to the +Elector _Frederic-William_, caus’d this Garden to be made, in which he +laid out considerable Sums; and as this Minister was at other very great +Expences, it so impair’d his Fortune, that he was oblig’d to throw up all +and retir’d to _Holland_; and being very much in debt to the Elector, his +Garden was forfeited to that Prince, who made a Present of it to M. _de +Fuchs_, one of his Ministers. King _Frederic_ I. purchas’d it of the +latter, and after having embellished it, made a Present of it to the Queen +his third Wife; but that Princess’s ill state of Health obliging her to +retire to _Mecklenbourg_ her Native Country, _Belvedere_ became neglected. + +Near this Royal House is the magnificent Gardens of _Craut_, who from a +Boy behind the Counter rais’d himself by his Industry to the Post of +Pay-master General of the Army, and at length to that of Minister of +State. He was to have been call’d to account in his last stage of Life, +but he cunningly diverted that Storm by feigning himself Lunatic; and +dying, he left an immense Estate, part of which fell to the King by way +of Restitution, and the rest to his Nephew, who makes a grand Figure at +_Paris_. + +I enter’d _Berlin_ thro’ that call’d the Gate _Royale_, which has had that +Name ever since the Day that _Frederic_ I. made his Entry there, after his +Coronation at _Koningsberg_ in _Prussia_. This Gate is defended by a +Half-Moon, and two Bastions fac’d with Brick, and fronts that call’d the +Street _Royale_; one of the longest and most frequented in all the City. +There are very fine Houses in it, particularly that of M. _de Catsch_, a +Minister of State, that of _Grumkau_, and the Post-House, which last +Building was begun by order of the late King, for his Favourite the Count +_de Wartemberg_, who was hereditary Post-Master. + +Thro’ the Street _Royale_ there run fine, spacious and beautiful Streets. +The first is call’d _la Rue du Cloitre_, in which we see the Royal +Manufactory. _Frederic_ I. who bought it of the Heirs of the Marshal _de +Flemming_, established an Academy of Nobles there; so that, on the Payment +of three hundred Crowns, they had Lodging, Provision, and Instruction in +every thing that it’s natural a Man of Quality shou’d know. This +Establishment existed a few Years, but sunk at last meerly thro’ the +Neglect of Persons whose Business ’twas to take care of it. The present +King has chang’d this Fabrick into a Work-house, and allowed Lodgings in +it for several Woollen Manufacturers. + +Adjoining to the Royal Manufactory, there are public Warehouses, which +were established and built by the late King; and being destroyed by Fire, +the present King caus’d them to be rebuilt. Opposite to the Warehouses +stands the House of M. _de Creutz_, Minister of State; which has fine +Apartments, and is very neatly furnish’d. Higher in the same Street +there’s the House of M. _Duvaine_, a _French_ Man by Birth, and +Lieutenant-General of his _Prussian_ Majesty’s Forces: And contiguous to +his House, which makes a fine Appearance, is the _Calvinists_ new Church, +a Structure rais’d after the Model of _Grunberg_, an Architect who had +before acquir’d a Reputation, which did not suffer by his Contrivance of +this great Fabrick: The Front of it is magnificent, but the inside plain, +as are all the Churches of the _Calvinists_, which you know don’t +admit of Images. The subterranean Places or Catacombs, for interring +those that worship here, are worth seeing. Several Persons have been +interr’d there of great Note, particularly _Casimir de Colbe_, Count +_de Wartemberg_, Prime Minister, Great Chamberlain, Master of the Horse, +Post-Master-General, Protector of all the Academies in the Dominions of +the King of _Prussia_, and Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle. Being +banish’d in 1711, to _Francfort_ upon the _Maine_, where he died the Year +following, he ordered that his Corpse shou’d be carry’d to _Berlin_; and +his Will was accordingly fulfill’d. He was so dear to King _Frederic_ I. +that he was very loth to part with him; but was, as it were, compell’d to +it by a Cabal, who oppos’d his Ministerial Authority; tho’ he was provok’d +at the Insolence of _Wartemberg_’s Wife, and at his mean Submission to +her. The King made an Offer to him afterwards, by the Count _Christophle +de Dohna_, (who was then his Ambassador at _Francfort_, for the Election +of the Emperor,) to come and resume his Employments, on condition that he +wou’d not bring his Wife with him; but _Wartemberg_ refus’d, saying, he +was engag’d in honour not to forsake her. Perhaps he was very glad of this +Excuse for not returning, because he had once experienc’d the Vicissitude +of Fortune, and knew well that he had been too powerful a Man not to be +hated. King _Frederic_ I. who was desirous to see his Funeral pass by, +cou’d not refrain Tears; which undoubtedly was the greatest Character that +he cou’d give of his Minister. + +Next to the Count _de Wartemberg_’s Tomb, is that of _Henrietta de +Pollnitz_, Wife to _Francis_ Count _de Duhamel_, the _Venetians_ +Generalissimo. Her Husband dying in the _Morea_, this Lady return’d to +_Venice_, proposing to go and end her Days at _Berlin_, where she was +born; but while she was performing her Quarantain she died, after desiring +her Body to be carry’d to _Berlin_; which was accordingly done by two of +her Nephews, and one of her Nieces, whom she made her Heirs. There is also +the Tomb of the Count _de Denhoff_, Lieutenant-General of the King’s +Armies, Knight of his Order of the Black Eagle, Minister of State, +Governour of _Memel_, and Ambassador at the Treaty of _Utrecht_, where he +acquired a high Reputation among the foreign Ministers. The Marshal _de +Villars_, who had known him at _Vienna_, when he the Marshal resided there +in the quality of Minister, to take care of the Affairs of _France_, said +to me one day, speaking of the Count _de Denhoff_, that the King of +_Prussia_ cou’d not do enough to reward the Count’s great Merit. _If he +wou’d have been rul’d by me_, added he, _he wou’d have been in the Service +of the King my Master_. + +The second Street that crosses the Street _Royale_, is the _Jews_ Street, +which runs into the Square _Molcke-Marck_; where the Hotel _de Schwerin_ +makes a fine Appearance. Within a few Houses lower down, there’s a +Manufactory of Gold and Silver Lace, which one _Schindler_ has established +with good success: This House belong’d to the Wife of M. _de Wensen_, +Marshal of the Court to King _Frederic_ I. but she resign’d it as part of +Payment of a Fine, to which her Husband had been condemn’d by the Count +_de Wartemberg_, then prime Minister; who confin’d M. _Wensen_ in +_Custrin_ Castle, because he had presum’d to represent to the King that +the Table of the prime Minister, which was served by his Majesty’s Cooks +and Butlers, was more expensive than his Majesty’s own Table. _Wensen_ +however, upon the Payment of this Fine, obtain’d his Liberty, and was +banish’d to his Lands in the Dutchy of _Zell_. + +In the middle of _Molcke-Marck_ is the Statue of _Frederic_ I. Father to +the present King, with a Crown on his Head, and a royal Mantle on his +Shoulders. The Statue was cast by order of _Frederic_ I. himself, who +intended to have it plac’d in the Court of the Arsenal; but dying before +it cou’d be brought about, the King his Son caus’d it to be set up where +it now stands, which is indeed a much better Place for it. + +The _Spandau_ Street, which is the third that crosses the Street _Royale_, +contains the Town-House, and other fine Buildings: The Street _St. Esprit_ +is altogether as beautiful, as is the Kay, which fronts the Castle or +Palace of the King. Upon this Kay we see the House of the Baron _de +Vernesobre_, whose Ancestors being _French_ Protestant Merchants, settled +at _Koningsberg_ in _Prussia_. He was in _France_ at the time of the +_Mississippy_ Plague, which, tho’ so fatal to others, prov’d so fortunate +to him, that he gain’d several Millions of Livres, with which he came and +set up at _Berlin_, where he has taken to building, having purchas’d the +Estate of _Hohensihn_ from Monsieur _de Borstel_, one of the best +Gentlemen of the Country, procur’d himself the Title of Counsellor of +State, and cuts a Figure now among Persons of Quality. + +The Churches of St. _Mary_, St. _Nicholas_, and that belonging to the +Garrison, are as magnificent as any of the Protestant Churches. St. +_Mary_’s has a beautiful Spire. When _Frederic_ I. made his royal Entry +here, at his return from his Coronation, a Man ascended to the Globe of +this Spire, and saluted the new King by flourishing a pair of Colours. +The Church of the Garrison was founded by the late King, but was very much +damag’d some Years ago by the blowing up of a Magazine of Gun-Powder in +the Neighbourhood, just as they were removing it to a safer Place. King +_Frederic William_ has caus’d it to be rebuilt with more Magnificence than +before. The Organs are very fine, and the Galleries very well contriv’d. + +That Ward of _Berlin_ which I have now run through, is separated from that +of _Coln_ or _Cologne_ by the River _Spree_, over which there are four +Bridges, whereof there is one of Stone, call’d the _Pont-neuf_. _Frederic_ +I. in imitation of the _Pont-neuf_ at _Paris_, famous for the Statue of +_Henry_ IV. caused the Equestrian Statue of his Father, the Elector +_Frederic-William_, to be erected upon this Bridge, with very great Pomp +and Splendor; for no Prince in _Germany_ strove more than he did to copy +_Lewis_ XIV. in Magnificence and every thing else. When this Statue was +dedicated, the Count _de Lottum_, who was then Grand Marshal of the Court, +accompanied by most of the Courtiers on horseback, and by the City +Companies, assisted at the Ceremony, which was performed with an +_Apparatus_, till then unknown in _Germany_ upon the like Occasions; but +had been practised at _Paris_, when the Statue of _Lewis le Grand_ was +erected in that City. + +This entire Monument was design’d by one _Jacobi_, who after several Years +Labour and constant Application to it, has brought it to its present +State. This skilful Operator has represented the Elector in a _Roman_ +Dress, and in an heroic Stature; that is to say, above the natural Size. +The Statue is placed on a magnificent Pedestal of white Marble. At the +four Corners of the Base, are placed as many Slaves in Brass, who seem as +if they were chain’d to it. + +When one has pass’d the Bridge, the King’s Palace offers itself to view; a +great and stately Fabric, which _Frederic_ I. began in the Year 1699, and +a worthy Monument of that Prince’s Magnificence, who was of Opinion, that +of all the Sums expended by Sovereigns, those which they lay out in +Buildings are least liable to Censure. And indeed Magnificence is well +bestowed, and even Profusion seems justifiable in Architecture, because +grand Edifices are the principal Ornament of any State. + +The Palace has been the Workmanship of several Architects; the Name of the +first was _Schluter_, but he not giving Satisfaction was dismiss’d, and +went into the Service of the Czar _Peter Alexiowitz_. Whatever he did is +extremely incumber’d with Ornaments which have not a due Proportion. His +Successor was _Eosander_, a _Swede_, who is a Lieutenant-General in the +Service of the King of _Poland_: He was oblig’d in some measure to pursue +what _Schluter_ had begun; so that if he has not come off well every +where, he has at least that for his Excuse. The third was _Bot_, a +_Frenchman_, and now General Officer in _Poland_; who without dispute was +a much better Artist than the others. Every thing that he has done is more +simple, yet more grand, noble, and complete. + +These three Architects having gone upon different Plans, you will easily +imagine that the Fronts are not perfectly regular; yet for all this, had +the Palace been finish’d according to the Models approv’d of by the late +King, it wou’d have been inferior to no Edifice for Grandeur and +Magnificence, except the _Louvre_ of _Paris_. King _Frederic-William_ does +not think fit to carry on this Building, but leaves that Honour to his +Son, the Prince Royal. + +As to giving you all the Particulars of this vast Palace, you will be so +good as to excuse me: Be satisfied if I only tell you, that it consists +of four Stories: The Apartments are large, have fine Cielings, and are +royally furnish’d. In no part of the World did I ever see such a +prodigious quantity of Plate, Tables, Stands, Lustres, Chandeliers, +Screens, Looking-Glass Frames, Couches, Arm-Chairs, all of Silver. The +late King left Plate to the value of two Millions eight hundred thousand +Crowns, not reckoning the Fashion. In that call’d the Knights Hall, +there’s a Beaufet which takes up one intire side of the Room, where there +are Cisterns and Basons Silver gilt, of an extraordinary Size. + +The Furniture of the grand Apartment is very rich; there’s a fine Gallery +adorn’d with Pictures, the Cieling of which was painted by one _Peine_, a +_Frenchman_, who in divers Compartments has skilfully represented the +principal Actions of King _Frederic_ I. At the End of this Gallery there’s +a Saloon, which was formerly magnificent to the last degree, being +wainscotted, if I may so call it, with Amber: But the late Czar coming on +_Berlin_ in his return from _Holland_ and _France_, and not a little +admiring this Furniture, which was the only thing of its kind, the King +made him a Present of it: so that what had been amass’d with great Care +and Cost by several Electors, fell in one Day into the hands of a Nation, +which, no longer ago than the beginning of the present Century, was +reckon’d Barbarian. + +The Palace had fine Gardens belonging to it before they were destroy’d, +and converted into a Place of Arms, and a Parade for the Guards. + +Hard by the Palace are the King’s Stables, a very grand Building, facing +the great Street. The Architecture without is _Gothic_, but the inside is +more magnificent; the Stables are broad and spacious, very lofty, and +very lightsome: the Mangers are of Stone, and the Pillars which mark the +Stands for the Horses, are of Iron, and adorn’d with the King’s Cypher, +gilt: Over the Mangers are several great Pictures of the finest Horses +that ever came out of his Majesty’s Studs. The Backside of the Stables +projects towards the River _Spree_, to which they can lead the Horses by a +Stair-Case without Steps, built in the form of a Horse-Shoe. + +The Main Body of the House contains grand Lodgings for the Master of the +Horse, and the Officers under him. Over the Stables are great Rooms where +they keep a deal of fine Furniture, both for the Horse and Mule; +magnificent Sleds, with convenient Harness, adorn’d with Bells of Silver, +or Silver gilt; a great number of fine Arms; the rich Accoutrements of the +Horse which serv’d _Frederic_ I. on the Day of his public Entry; all the +Ornaments of the Bridle, the Breast-Leather, and Crupper, as well as the +Bits and Stirrups, being of Gold adorn’d with Brilliants. + +Over the Riding-House is the great Theatre, where, in the late King’s +time, Interludes and Comedies us’d to be acted before the whole Court; but +the Opera of _Roxana_ and _Alexander_ was the last that was acted on it. +It was play’d in 1708, upon the Marriage of King _Frederic_ I. with +_Sophia_ of _Mecklemberg_. In 1706, an Interlude was acted there, on +account of the Arrival of the Princess Royal, now Queen; intitled, _Beauty +triumphing over Heroes_; at which the Markgraves _Frederic-Albert_ and +_Christian-Lewis_, the late King’s Brothers, danc’d, with all the young +Courtiers. + +As we go farther down the great Street, we come to the Fish-Market, where +is the Hotel of the City of _Cologne_, and _Dorffling_’s Hotel occupied by +the Count _de Finck_. This Family is oblig’d for its Rise to the Marshal +_Dorffling_, who from an Apprentice to a Taylor rais’d himself by his +Valour and Merit to the highest Posts in the Army. The Story goes, that +when he had serv’d his Apprenticeship at _Tangermunde_, having a mind to +go to _Berlin_, he came to a part of the Country where he cou’d not +proceed without crossing the _Elbe_, but not having wherewithal to pay his +Passage, the Ferry-Men refus’d to carry him over; which so vex’d him, that +he threw his Knapsack into the River in a Pet, curs’d the Trade of a +Taylor, and went back to _Tangermunde_, where he listed himself a Soldier. +There being a War at that time all over _Germany_, it was no difficult +matter for the young Warrior to find an Opportunity to shew his Courage; +and he signaliz’d it in such a manner, that his Officers, who were all in +love with him, strove to advance him, and therefore made him known to the +Elector _Frederic-William_. This Prince who lov’d, rewarded, and was a +good Judge of Valour, did not depend upon what Fame reported of him; but +in order to see his Officers and Soldiers fight with his own Eyes, +conducted them himself to the Enemy, and very soon took notice of +_Dorffling_. He saw him at every part of the Field where there was Honour +to be won: He saw he was a sensible industrious Fellow, that he hated +Parties and Cabals, and that he had that _Germanic_ Probity which was the +distinguish’d Virtue of our Forefathers, but which we now content +ourselves with admiring. The Elector observing such a Stock of Virtue in +_Dorffling_, thought him deserving of his Favour, advanc’d him to the +tip-top Employments, and made him very rich. Envy, which is as old as the +World itself, and which like that, never stands still, made several of the +Courtiers jealous of the Fortune or rather the Merit of _Dorffling_, and +there were some who did not stick to say, that if the Marshal came to be +ever so great a Nobleman, he wou’d always retain the Air of a Taylor. This +being carry’d to _Dorffling_, _True enough_, said he, _I was a Taylor, +and I have cut out Cloth; but now_, said he, clapping his Hand to the Hilt +of his Sword, _I have an Instrument in my Hand, with which I’ll cut off +the Ears of any Man that slanders me_. + +This brave Fellow liv’d to a great Age, and left a Son who was one of the +King of _Prussia_’s Lieutenant-Generals, and Colonel of a Regiment of +Dragoons, but died without Issue. He had not quite the Vivacity of his +Father, but he had his Honour and Integrity. + +Going out of the Fish-market, as we turn to the right, one perceives the +_Lutheran_ Church of _St. Peter_[2], which is a considerable Structure; +and then we come into that call’d the _Fryars_ Street, the Houses of which +are all well built. In this Street stands the Palace where the _Aulic_ +Council meets, which in _France_ they call the _Parlement_; ’tis here that +all Civil Causes are try’d, and from thence there lies an Appeal to the +King’s Council. + +Beyond the Palace there is a Square, on the Right side of which there’s a +Church with a Cupola which belongs to the _Calvinists_, and is look’d upon +as the Cathedral of _Berlin_: For you know that the late King made two +Bishops, one in _Prussia_ and the other at _Berlin_, and they were the +Prelates that crown’d him. They are since dead, and the present King lets +their Sees lie vacant. In this Church is the Tomb of the Royal Family. +There’s a great Row of Buildings over against it, which consists of +several uniform Houses belonging to Merchants, and supported by stately +Arches with Shops under them, where are sold all sorts of Goods. Turning +round by that Piazza, brings one to a second Branch of the River, which +divides the Ward of _Coln_ from that of _Werder_. This River, which has +three wooden Bridges over it, is confin’d in a Canal lin’d with Freestone, +and form’d by two fine Kays. + +The most considerable Edifices in the Ward of _Werder_ are the Royal +Custom-House, so commodiously situate that Boats can come up close to it: +The _French_ School, and their Church, which is serv’d by able Ministers; +some of whom, as the late M. _Lenfant_ (Author of the celebrated _History_ +of the _Council of Constance_, &c. and Chaplain to the King of _Prussia_) +M. _de Beausobre_ and M. _Jacquelot_, &c. have acquir’d a Reputation in +the Republic of Letters. The Royal Hunting-House is a large magnificent +Structure for lodging the great Huntsman and all his inferior Officers: +There too is the great Dog-Kennel and the Magazines for all the Hunting +Equipage. Near this place is the Hotel or Palace for Ambassadors, where +are likewise entertain’d such Foreign Princes as are not of a Rank high +enough to be accommodated in the King’s Palace. This Hotel belong’d +formerly to the Baron _de Danckelman_, Prime Minister to King _Frederic_ +when he was only Elector, and being built by the said Minister at a time +when he was such a Favourite that he did almost what he pleas’d, he spar’d +no Cost to render it a Mansion worthy of his high Station. I was assur’d +by Persons of Credit then alive, that after it was built, the late King +had a Desire to see it, upon which occasion M. _de Danckelman_ made a +great Entertainment for him; and that while the Queen and the whole Court +were dancing, the King retir’d into his Minister’s Closet, to have a +private Conference with him; and looking very earnestly on a certain +Picture there, M. _de Danckelman_ told him, that Picture and all that he +saw would soon be his Majesty’s. The King not knowing what he meant, +desir’d his Minister to explain himself; whereupon he made answer, ‘That +he shou’d very shortly incur his Displeasure; that his Fall wou’d be +attended by the Forfeiture of all his Estate; that he should be arrested +and committed to the _Spandau_ Prison; and that there he should be +confin’d ten Years, at the Expiration of which his Innocence wou’d be made +to appear, his Estate wou’d be restor’d to him, and he shou’d be taken +again into his Majesty’s Favour.’ The King, who was at that time very fond +of his Minister, and did not think he cou’d ever do without him, ridicul’d +what he had said as the Surmise of a Visionary, and was going to swear by +the New Testament then upon a Table in the Room, that this sad Prophecy +wou’d never come to pass. But the Minister held his Hand, and begg’d him +not to take an Oath which it wou’d not be in his power to keep. + +I tell you this Story just as I had it from a Lady of Quality to whom the +King himself told it: But in short, let the Story be as it will, ’tis very +certain that M. _de Danckelman_ was disgrac’d, committed Prisoner to +_Spandau_, and from thence remov’d to _Peitz_, without any Companion but +his Wife, who generously desir’d to suffer Imprisonment with him. His +Confinement lasted much longer than he had prophesy’d, and when at length +he obtained his Release, he was not restor’d to his Employments, nor even +to his Estate. ’Tis said indeed that the present King, who on his +Accession to the Crown sent for M. _de Danckelman_ to _Berlin_, offer’d +him the Ministry; but that the Baron excus’d himself by reason of his +great Age and his tedious Imprisonment, which had made him lose the +Connection of Public Affairs. This Minister died lately, having lived to +the Age of fourscore. His remarkable Disgrace, and fifteen Years +Confinement in a Prison, had not sunk his Spirits, nor shock’d his +Constancy of Mind; and one shall scarce meet with an Instance in History, +either before or since, of more Merit and more Misfortune in one and the +same Person. He was a passionate Admirer of Learned Men, and a Rewarder of +Virtue. In a word, by the Disgrace of this Great Man, the State lost a +faithful disinterested Minister, and Men of Learning lost a _Mecænas_, +full of Zeal and solid Knowledge, who never fail’d to support by his own +Authority, and to procure a Reward from his Master, for all Persons that +apply’d to him with any Proposal that was useful and uncommon. + +To go from the Ambassadors Hotel to the New Town, one must pass before the +House belonging to the Governour of _Berlin_[3], who is at present the +Marshal Count _de Wartensleben_; a Nobleman whose Virtues, long Services, +and great Age, challenge Veneration. The House he lives in was built by +order of the Elector _Frederic-William_, for the Reception of the Marshal +_de Schomberg_, who resign’d the Battoon of the Marshal of _France_ to +_Lewis_ XIV. after that Prince had revok’d the Edict of _Nantes_, and came +with a numerous Retinue of Gentlemen, to desire Employment under the +Elector. Accordingly that Prince gave him the Command of his Troops, but +the Marshal quitted that Employment, to accompany the PRINCE of ORANGE to +_England_, in his famous Expedition against his Father-in-Law; and he +likewise attended that Prince to _Ireland_, where he acquir’d great Glory, +but was kill’d in passing the River _Boyne_. + +The _Governour’s House_ is separated by a great Square from the _Arsenal_, +which is one of the compleatest Fabrics in _Europe_, and was built +according to a Model design’d by _Bot_, whom I mention’d to you before; +which skilful Architect has, upon this occasion, equalled any thing that +was ever done by the famous _Bernin_. + +The intire Structure consists of four main Bodies of Building, which form +a spacious Quadrangle in the middle. The lower Story is of Rustic +Architecture, with arch’d Windows. There are three great Porticoes at the +Entrance to each Front. Over the principal Gate there’s the Picture of the +late King, in a great Medal of Brass. The four Cardinal Virtues of a +Gigantic Size, are plac’d on Pedestals by the Portico, and seem to look +towards the King’s Effigies, which is supported by Fame and Victory. The +_Corinthian_ Order prevails throughout the first Story, and is very +artfully executed. A Gallery or Ballustrade runs round the whole Edifice, +and is adorn’d with Trophies and Statues, particularly a very perfect one +of _Mars_, sitting upon a Heap of Arms of different sorts; and the +Decoration of all together is noble and majestic. Studs of Iron in form of +Cannon are plac’d at proper Distances, and support Iron Chains, hung in +Festoons, which hinder People from clambering up to the Windows. + +The Inside of this _Arsenal_ is as magnificent as the Outside. The lower +Rooms are stor’d with a great number of Brass Cannon. The Walls and +Pillars that support the Arch are garnish’d with Cuirasses and Helmets. In +the upper Story there are several Rooms full of Arms, rang’d in such Order +as can never be enough admir’d. + +Behind the _Arsenal_ there’s the House of the General of the Ordnance, +which also contains the Foundery, where Men are continually at work. + +Besides this _Arsenal_, there are several others in _Berlin_, where they +keep Field-Pieces, Iron Cannon, and all that belongs to the Train of +Artillery. ’Twas the late Margrave _Philip_[4], Brother to _Frederic_ I. +who when he was Great Master of the Ordnance began to put the King’s +_Arsenals_ into a good State. But King _Frederic-William_ has finish’d +what his said Uncle began, and has put the Artillery on such a footing, +that ’tis a question if any _Arsenal_ in _Europe_ is on a better +Regulation. + +A Rampart and a Ditch separate the _Werder_ from the _Dorothy-Stadt_, or +new Town, which is for most part inhabited by _French_ Families. It had +the Name of _Dorothy-Stadt_ in honour of the Electress _Dorothy_ of +_Holstein-Glucksburg_, the second Wife of _Frederic-William_, who with her +own Hand planted the first Lime-Tree of the seven great Rows which divide +this Ward into two Parts. The middlemost Row, which is the widest, is +inclos’d with Ballustrades, and forms a pleasant Grass-Walk for +Foot-Passengers. The Walks on each side are pav’d, and serve as a Ring for +the Coaches. Nothing is more beneficial and agreeable than taking the Air +in this Place, where you may have any thing that can be desir’d in a City. +At the end of one of these Walks is a Gate which opens to the Park, the +Walks of which being above a League in length, form a fine Point of View. + +On both sides the Lime-Tree Rows, are Houses, among which the Palace of +Madame the Margravine, Dowager[5] to the Margrave _Philip_, Brother to the +late King, is one of the best. The late Margrave purchas’d this Palace +(which at that time was inconsiderable) of the Wife of _Weiller_ Colonel +of the Artillery, who had thrown up his Employments, Wife, Children and +all, to go with a Lady of Quality, that was in love with him, to _Vienna_. +This Gentlewoman pass’d for a modern _Sappho_, and every body talk’d of +her Virtue and good Sense. But being a Slave to the Follies of Love, and +asham’d to let them be seen at _Berlin_, where she was counted an Oracle, +she resolv’d to quit the Place of her Birth, and engag’d her Lover to +leave all and follow her. + +The Margrave made considerable Augmentations to this House, and render’d +it very commodious. The Furniture of the Palace also is rich, and worthy +of the Princess who resides in it. + +Opposite to the Margravine’s Palace is a Building which was formerly +call’d the King’s Little Stables, but has been metamorphos’d into Caserns +for the Gendarmery; they discover the Magnificence of _Frederic_ I. who +caused them to be built. The Apartments that run over the Stables are +occupied by the Academy of Painters, and that of Arts and Sciences. Behind +the Stables there’s the Observatory, with a great number of Astronomical +and Mathematical Instruments, of which there are many of a new Invention. + +_Frederic-Stadt_, which is the fifth Ward of _Berlin_, communicates with +the New Town and the _Werder_. This is one of the pleasantest Wards in the +whole City, the Streets being spacious, strait, and planted with +Lime-Trees[6]. + +Perhaps I have dwelt too long upon the Metropolis of the Electorate of +_Brandenburgh_; but I thought that as there had been no true Account yet +given of this City, you wou’d not be sorry to have it from me. + +The next day after my Arrival here, I had the Honour to see the King, who +was then seeing his Soldiers mount guard. He is a Prince of a middling +Stature, and in very good Plight of Body: His Air commands Respect; yet, +when he pleases, no Prince in the World can be more gracious. I heard him +speak to his Officers in such a kind manner as cou’d not but charm them; I +admir’d his Genius for military Discipline, and perceiv’d that with the +Glance of an Eye he cou’d discover the least Fault committed against that +wonderful Exactness which is introduc’d in the Evolutions of his Troops. +After the Guards had perform’d their Exercise, the King stay’d to see them +file off. I never yet saw Troops march with more Order and State, so that +it seem’d as if they were all mov’d by one Spring. All the Soldiers are +young, of an even Stature, and the cleverest Fellows that Nature ever +form’d: they are well cloth’d, and have such an Air of Neatness, that even +the private Centinels might all pass for Officers. I remember you was +prejudic’d against their Clothing; their Clothes you said were too strait, +and too short. I was of your Opinion once, and think so still, when I +happen to see one of their Officers and Soldiers singly among us, who wear +Night-Gowns rather than Coats; but when I see a whole Body of _Prussians_ +together, I am of another Opinion, and think their Dress gives them a +warlike Air which other Troops have not. You will tell me perhaps, that +the Clothing of the _Prussians_ is good in a Garrison, but that in the +Field their Garments are not wide enough to cover the Soldiers in the +Night. I answer, that the _Prussian_ Soldiers are in no danger of not +being cover’d, because when they are in the Field, every Captain is to +carry as many Coverlids, as there are Comrades in his Company. But you’ll +say, this must be a very great Incumbrance, and take up a deal of +Equipage. ’Tis true, it may require two Sumpter Horses in a Company, but a +Soldier fares the better for it; because when he goes wet into the Camp, +he can get his Clothes dry’d in the Night while he is under his Coverlid. +After all, the Incumbrance is no greater at present, for those Troops, +than it was at the time when all the _Prussian_ Infantry had Cloaks, which +the Soldiers wore, was the Weather ever so hot, folded over their +Shoulders, and ty’d both before and behind by their Belt. If they had any +hasty March to make, such as I saw they made in _Flanders_ in 1708, when +they went to attack the _French_ near _Audenarde_, the _Prussians_ left +their Cloaks behind with a Guard, and when the Battle was join’d, the +Captains were oblig’d to send for their Cloaks. In short, what makes me +think the _Prussian_ Clothing the most convenient for a Soldier, is, that +most of the _German_ Princes are now come into it, and like it well: The +Troops of _Saxony_, and _Brunswic_ in particular, are cloth’d like those +of _Prussia_. + +The _Prussian_ Troops, which are new cloth’d every Year, have Breeches of +Woollen Cloth for the Winter, and of Linnen for the Summer; and they are +allow’d Shirts, Necks and Spatterdashes: Their Pay is good and regular; +the Soldier is compell’d to do his Duty, but when he does it, enjoys more +Liberty than in the Service of any other Nation: so that were I to carry a +Musket, I fancy it wou’d be in the Service of _Prussia_, where such a +strict Discipline is observ’d, that the Soldier is no Swearer, and is not +allow’d to game, and where in a word he does not abandon himself to +Licentiousness. On Sundays and Saints Days they are requir’d to go twice a +day to hear a Sermon: The Catholicks have the liberty of going to Mass. In +short, good Manners are introduc’d and observ’d in those Troops to such a +Nicety, that you would wonder at it. + +All the Infantry is cloth’d in blue. It depends on the Colonel of every +Regiment, to order what Waistcoats and Trimming he pleases for the +Clothes. The Horse and Dragoons wear white, but the Houshold Troops blue, +with Campaign Coats of Gold Lace. The Hussars Clothing is red, but the +Garbs of the Officers both of Foot and Horse are plain, and only differ +from the Apparel of the Soldiers in the fineness of the Cloth; tho’ there +are some Regiments whose Waistcoats are bedaub’d all over with Gold or +Silver Lace. + +The Colours, which are uniform in all the Regiments, are white, with the +King’s Device, representing an Eagle flying towards the Sun with this +Motto, _Nec Soli cedit_. There’s such a Uniformity preserv’d in all things +throughout the Army, even in their Guns, Swords, Bayonets, &c. that in +every Regiment they wear the very same, even to their Shoe-Buckles. + +The same Regularity is observ’d in the Horse and Dragoons, which ride both +upon black Horses; and indeed they are not permitted to have any others, +the Officers themselves being not exempt from this Rule, when they are at +the head of their Squadrons or Companies. The Housings and Equipage of the +latter are of the same Pattern, and extremely rich. All the Horse wear +Buff-Coats, and underneath Cuirasses. They perform their Exercise on Foot +like the Infantry, and with the same Exactness. The Kettle-Drums and +Trumpets of all the Horse are of Silver. + +There is not a Captain in all the _Prussian_ Army but has at least ten +supernumerary Men; so that these included, the King’s Forces amount to +near 100000, all pick’d Men. You cou’d not but admire if you were to see +how they behave; insomuch that whenever they take the Field, ’tis pity but +Fortune shou’d favour them. + +Not many Days after my Arrival here, the King being gone to visit his +Kingdom, I had the Honour of waiting on the Queen. This Princess, whose +Name is _Sophia-Dorothea_, is Sister to the present King of _Great +Britain_, being the Daughter of _George_ I. the late King, and of +_Sophia-Dorothea_ Princess of _Brunswic-Zell_. And she does every thing +that is worthy of her August Extraction; for surely never did Daughter +more resemble a Father; she has the same Benignity and Wisdom, the same +Equity and Justice, and Sweetness of Temper. Like him she knows the Charms +of a private Life, and Friendship, on a Throne: Like him she is ador’d by +her Subjects and her Domestics, and is the chief Blessing and Darling of +both. To extend Goodness and Affability farther, were impossible; there +being no Foreigners but what are charm’d with the gracious Manner in which +this Princess receives them. To a thousand Virtues worthy of Veneration, +she has added the singular Talent of speaking the Language of several +Countries which she never saw, with as much Delicacy as if they had been +her Mother Tongues. The _French_ Language especially, is so familiar to +her, that one wou’d take her to be a Princess of the Royal Family of +_France_; and the Grandeur and Majesty that accompany all her Actions, +induce those even who don’t know her, to be of Opinion that she was born +to reign. + +That which still more endears this Queen to her People, is the Care she +takes of the Education of her Family; which consists of four Princes, and +six Princesses. The eldest of the Sons is stil’d the _Prince Royal_[7]. +This young Prince is handsome, charms every one by his Kindness and +Good-Nature; and loves Reading, Musick, the Arts, and Magnificence: His +Sentiments, his Behaviour, and his Actions, make it probable, that if he +comes to the Crown, his Reign will be one of those mild and peaceable +Reigns, which procure Kings that Love of their People, wherein consists +their true Glory. The Care of the Prince Royal’s Education was committed +first of all to Madam _de Camke_, one of the Queen’s Ladies of Honour, and +Governess of the Children of _Prussia_. But this Lady left the Charge of +the latter to the Sub-Governess, Madam _de Rocoule_, and her Daughter +Madamoiselle _de Montbail_. Madam _de Rocoule_ had also the honour to be +Sub-Governess to the King; so that she was no Novice in the forming of +young Princes. As she talks nothing but _French_, she has taught it to the +King’s Children; who speak it with as much ease as they do the _German_ +Language. At seven Years of Age the Prince Royal was taken out of the +Hands of the Women; and the Count _de Finck_ of _Finckenstein_, +Lieutenant-General of the King’s Forces, a Knight of his Order, and +Colonel of a Regiment of Horse, was appointed his Royal Highness’s +Governour; and the Baron _de Kalestein_ was made Sub-Governour. The King’s +Choice of both these Gentlemen was universally applauded. + +The eldest of the King’s Children is _Frederica-Sophia-Wilhelmina_, the +Princess Royal; who was born in 1709. I was at _Berlin_ at the Ceremony of +her Baptism, which was performed in the Chapel of the Castle, in presence +of _Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_, _Frederic-Augustus_ King of +_Poland_, and _Frederic_ I. King of _Prussia_. The Birth of this Princess, +and the Circumstances of three Kings and a Queen attending at her Baptism, +gave occasion to a great many Copies of Verses. All the Poets said that +the Presence of these three Kings, was a Sign that she wou’d one day have +Possession of three Crowns. They had then in view the Crowns of _Great +Britain_, that were to devolve to the Family of _Hanover_; in which there +was a young Prince[8], who, it was then imagin’d, was to be in time the +Husband of this Princess. Whether this Match will ever take place, and +whether the Princess will be Queen, I can’t say; but if she is not, +Fortune will not do Justice to her Merit. + +The Princess _Frederica-Louisa_, the King’s second Daughter, is lately +married to the Margrave of _Brandenburgh Anspach_. ’Tis said that his +Majesty’s third Daughter, the Princess _Philippina-Charlotte_, is promised +to[9]_Charles_, hereditary Prince of _Brunswic-Bevern_, Nephew to the +Empress Regent. + +The other Princes and Princesses, the King’s Children[10], are as yet too +young to furnish any Particulars for their Character. In a word, put them +all together, they form a very fine Family. + +The Margravine, Dowager of the Margrave _Philip_, Brother to the late +King, is the first in Rank at Court, next to the King’s Children: She was +born Princess of _Anhalt-Dessau_. Her Royal Highness was lately chose +Abbess of _Herford_, a sovereign Abby in _Westphalia_, (in a Town +belonging to the King of _Prussia_, as part of the Principality of +_Ravensberg_;) whose Canonesses must be all Princesses, or Countesses of +the Empire. This Princess, tho’ she is past her Bloom, is still the +Ornament of the Court; and no Person can be more civil than she is to +Foreigners; so that ’tis as much a Pleasure as a Duty to pay one’s Court +to her. When the King is at _Berlin_, and the Queen has no Drawing-Room, +the whole Court repairs to the Margravine’s House, where her Royal +Highness daily keeps an elegant Table; to which she admits the Quality of +both Sexes. She is the Mother of two Princes and a Princess; the Sons are +the Margraves _Frederic_ and _Henry_, and the Daughter is married to the +hereditary Prince of _Wirtemberg_. The young Margrave _Frederic_ resides +at _Schwedt_ upon the _Oder_, where he has a very fine House; but does not +come to Court but when he can’t avoid it. The young Margrave _Henry_ +resides commonly at _Berlin_. Both these Princes are handsome, lusty, and +well shap’d. + +The Margrave _Albert_, the King’s Uncle[11], lives in his Majesty’s +Palace, tho’ he is eight Months of the Year at _Frederichsfelde_, a +Pleasure-House about a League from _Berlin_. He is the second Son of the +Elector _Frederic-William_, and _Dorothy_ of _Holstein Glucksburg_: He +is well shap’d, has a noble Air, and has been in his time a very good +Dancer: He is fond of Grandeur and Pleasures. At the beginning of the last +War he distinguished himself very much at the Siege of _Keyserswaert_, and +other Places, where he commanded the Troops of the King his Brother. His +Royal Highness is Governor of _Pomerania_, Knight of the Black Eagle, and +Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, and of another of Horse, in the King’s +Service: He has also a Regiment of Foot in the Service of the _United +Provinces_; and is Grand Master of the six Commanderies of the Order of +St. _John_ of _Jerusalem_, who, at the Alteration of Religion in the time +of _Luther_, withdrew from the Grand Master of _Malta_, and assum’d to +themselves a Right of chusing a Grand Master under the Protection of the +Elector of _Brandenburgh_. The Margrave marry’d a Princess of _Courland_, +Heiress to the Freeholds of her Uncle Duke _Ferdinand_, the last of her +Family. This Princess, tho’ not reckon’d a Beauty of the first Rate, has a +great Share of Charms and Good-nature, Modesty and Politeness. Their Royal +Highnesses are perfectly civil to those who have Access to them; which is +the reason, that notwithstanding the little Concern they have in Business, +they have always a numerous Court. They have three Princes, and two +Princesses. The eldest of the Sons is _Charles_, a Prince whose Person and +Character are very amiable. The eldest of the Daughters is married to the +Duke of _Saxe-Eysenach_. + +The last Prince of the Royal Family, is the Margrave _Christian-Lewis_, +third Son of the Elector _Frederic-William_ by the second Marriage. This +Prince is Governour of the City and County of _Halberstadt_; he has a +Regiment of Foot, is Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle, and Commander +of that of St. _John_. He studied at _Leyden_; after which, he serv’d +with distinction in _Italy_. He now lives retir’d from Court at _Malchau_, +a House about a Mile from _Berlin_, which the late King bought of the +Heirs of M. _de Fuchs_, his Minister of State. There the Margrave, who has +a Relish for the Pleasures of private Life, passes his Time in Hunting, +Reading, and every innocent Pleasure that an agreeable Country is capable +of furnishing. This Prince has been a handsome well-made Man; he has a +grand Air, and there’s something heroic in his Physiognomy: In the very +Flower of his Youth he was a constant Admirer of Virtue, and might ever be +quoted for an Example of Sobriety. He is so exceeding fat, that it’s +fear’d he won’t live to be a very old Man[12]. + +All the Princes of the Royal Family wear the _Prussian_ Order, _viz._ that +of the Black Eagle; and receive it as soon as they are born. ’Tis an +Orange Ribband, to which is appendant a Cross enamel’d with blue, +resembling the Cross of _Malta_. A Star of Silver is embroider’d on the +Coat; and in the middle of it is an Orange Escutcheon, over which is a +black Eagle crown’d with Wings display’d, holding in one of its Talons a +Crown of Laurel, and in the other a Thunder-bolt, with the Motto, SUUM +CUIQUE, in Letters of Gold. This Order was instituted by _Frederic_ I. the +sixth of _January_ 1701, _O. S._ on account of his Coronation at +_Koningsberg_. He call’d it the Order of the Black Eagle, because a Black +Eagle forms the Arms of _Prussia_; and he chose an Orange Ribband, in +memory of the Electress his Mother, who was a Princess of _Orange_; in +Right of whom he pretends to be next Heir to _William_ III. King of +_England_, and Prince of _Orange_. + +The Princes of the Royal Family are not exempt from passing thro’ the +Degrees of military Service; and ’tis not here as in other places, where +they have Regiments and Governments as soon as they are born. The King +will have them to know how to obey, before they come to command; and ’tis +an Encouragement to the Officers to find themselves so far honour’d, as to +be on a Par in the Service, with those who are born to be their +Sovereigns. The Prince Royal has a Regiment of Horse[13]. M. _de +Lopel_[14], a Major-General, commanded that Regiment formerly, but the +King preferring him to the Government of _Custrin_, this Regiment has for +Colonel M. _de Wreech_, a Person of a good Family in the new Marquisate. +His Father, who was one of the King’s Lieutenant-Generals, had serv’d the +late Elector _Frederic-William_, the late King, and his present Majesty. +M. _de Wreech_, whom I am speaking of, was, at his return from his +Travels, appointed by the late King a Gentleman of his Bed-chamber: After +that Prince’s Death, his present Majesty enter’d him into his Service, and +gave him a Troop of Horse. This Gentleman distinguished himself greatly in +1708, at the Battle of _Audenarde_; where he was _Aid de Camp_ to the +Marshal _de Natzmer_, then General of the Cavalry: He had a Horse kill’d +under him, and was taken Prisoner; but the Enemy in their Flight not +watching him very strictly, he found means to get off when the Night came +and put an end to the Battle. He lay hid in a Ditch till next day, in +danger every moment of being knock’d on the head by our own Men; but when +the Day broke, he rejoin’d his General, who had received a slight Wound +in the Head. M. _de Wreech_ is one of the richest Subjects the King has; +but he is worthy of his Fortune, and uses it like a Man of Quality. He is +certainly a valuable Gentleman, has a noble Soul, and Sense and Knowledge +enough to capacitate him to serve his King and Country both in Peace and +War. + +_Berlin_ is not a City where you ought to look for the most lively +Diversions; the King, to whose Will every body conforms, not being fond of +them himself. Yet when once a Man is known there, he will find Amusement +enough; for the People are affable and civil, make plentiful +Entertainments, and have very good Wine. + +When the King is absent, the Queen has a Drawing-Room every Night, from +seven o’clock till ten; when her Majesty sups with the Princes and +Princesses of her Family, and other Persons of Distinction of both Sexes. +But when the King is at _Berlin_, the Queen keeps no Drawing-Room, unless +some Foreign Prince happen to be there. Then there are Assemblies in the +City alternatively, among Persons of the first Rank, at which they +sometimes dance; and the King and Prince Royal frequently honour these +Assemblies with their Presence. When there is no grand Assembly, there are +particular Societies, where they sup, and play at small Game. + +The Ministers of most consequence at this Court are Messieurs _d’Ilgen_, +_Grumkau_, and _Kniphausen_[15]; these are they who treat of Foreign +Affairs, and thro’ whose hands pass the Secrets of State: but the King’s +Prime Minister is the King himself, who is inform’d of every thing, and is +desirous to know every thing. He gives great Application to Business, but +does it with extraordinary Ease; and nothing escapes his Penetration, nor +his Memory, which is a very happy one. No body knows better than he where +his Government is strong, and where ’tis weak; and no Sovereign in the +World is of more easy Access, his Subjects being actually permitted to +write to him, without any other Formality than superscribing the Letter, +_To the King_. By writing underneath, _To be deliver’d into his Majesty’s +own Hands_, one may be sure that the King receives and reads it, and that +the next Post he will answer it, either with his own Hand or by his +Secretary: these Answers are short, but peremptory, and they prevent a +tedious painful Attendance. The King, who is an Enemy to vain Pomp and +Pageantry, always goes abroad without any Guards, with only a small +Retinue, and sometimes too walks on foot; he makes his Greatness to +consist in solid Power, in the having his Troops well disciplin’d, his +Places kept up in good Order, his Arsenals well provided, and his Treasury +full enough to enable him to oppose his Enemy in case he be attack’d. He +never aims so much as to disturb his Neighbours, much less to rob them: I +heard him say one day, that _he had no Intention of attacking any body, +nor of beginning a War; but if he was attack’d, he would defend himself +the best he could_: a Conduct which he has religiously observed ever since +he has been plac’d upon the Throne, even towards _Charles_ XII. King of +_Sweden_, notwithstanding what is said of him by a certain Author, who +from sorry Memoirs has wrote that Prince’s Life. But I will not deviate +from my Subject. + +There’s no Town in all the King of _Prussia_’s Dominions, except +_Neufchâtel_, where he has not been; no Province which he does not know +full well; not a noble Family but he can tell their Revenues; nor a Court +of Justice but he is well acquainted with their chief Members. His +Behaviour is plain; he knows no Gallantry, and does not easily pardon it +in his Officers. He is so true to his Consort the Queen, that he wishes +all Men would follow his Example, and that every Husband would live only +with the Woman whom God has allotted him. His Diversion is Hunting; and +for this reason, he resides commonly at _Potzdam_ or _Wusterhausen_, which +are Pleasure-Houses four Miles from _Berlin_. Yet he generally goes on +_Saturdays_ into his Capital, where he holds a Council on _Sunday_, and +returns on _Monday_. In the Winter he makes a longer stay at _Berlin_: but +let him be either here or there, he is on the Parade every Day at ten +o’clock, when his Soldiers mount the Guard; after which he gives Audience +to his Ministers, and holds a Council, or goes abroad for the Air. At Noon +the King appears in a great Saloon, where are all the Generals and +Officers, the Foreign Ministers, and all the Court in general: There he +converses a few Moments, and then goes into another Room, where he dines +with the Queen, the Princes and Princesses of his Family, and any other +Persons whom he has caused to be invited. His Table is commonly spread for +eighteen Guests. After he has sate about an Hour and half at Table, he +retires to his Closet till six at Night, when he appears again in the Room +where he held his Levee: There his Majesty gives Orders to the Marshal +_Wartensleben_ Governor of _Berlin_, and to the Marshal _Natzmer_ +Commandant of the Gendarmery. After this, he talks a while with those that +are present, and then passes into a Room at some distance from his +Apartment, to which the Queen repairs sometimes with one or two Ladies in +company. There are ten or a dozen Officers whom the King honours with his +Confidence, who play here at _Picquet_, _Ombre_, and _Backgammon_. Here +they also smoak, and to this Place the King sends for such as he has a +mind to talk with about special Affairs. I have been there twice upon +such an account. Here there is no manner of Restraint, but every body sits +down, the King dispensing with all the Respect that is due to him, and at +eleven o’clock he dismisses the Company and retires. + +The King hunts when he is at _Potzdam_ and _Wusterhausen_; but in other +respects he leads the same Life there as he does at _Berlin_. At _Potzdam_ +he hunts the Stag, having for that end caused a great Forest to be paled +in, where he has made noble Roads. + +The Castle at _Potzdam_, which is very convenient, was built by the +Elector _Frederic-William_, who commonly resided at it; and after having +run his glorious Race, died here the 29th of _April_, 1688. King +_Frederic_ I. made considerable Embellishments to it, particularly the +great Gate opening into the main Court of the Castle, which is an +admirable Piece of Architecture that was design’d by M. _Bot_, my Hero for +Buildings. But all that the late King did, does not come up to the Works +that have been added to it of late Years. The Town of _Potzdam_ has been +augmented two Thirds; the Streets are as strait as a Line, with Trees +planted, and Canals cut in them after the manner of _Holland_; the Houses +are uniform and built with Bricks. Besides a great Hospital, which the +King has founded here for his Soldiers’ Orphans, here is a considerable +Fabric for Armourers, who make all those Arms for the Forces and Arsenals, +which were formerly made at _Liege_. + +This Town is the Garrison for the first Battalion of those _Tall +Grenadiers_, so much talk’d of in _Europe_. I protest to you that they +exceed the common Report, being the compleatest, the finest, and +best-disciplin’d Body that can be imagin’d. The Men are of all Nations, +there being scarce a Prince in _Europe_ but takes a pleasure in sending +Recruits to it. Some of these Grenadiers have had 1500 Crowns List-Money; +and several receive two Florins _per diem_: Some of them are very rich; +others there are who trade, and have good Houses at _Potzdam_. The tallest +and the best Man among them all was one call’d _Jonas_, (lately dead) who +work’d heretofore in the Mines of _Norway_. The famous _Huguetan_, whom +_Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_ created Count _de Guldenstein_, took him +from the Mines, and presented him to the King. He then stoop’d in the +Shoulders, and hobbled in walking; but by tricking him up, they gave him +that good Air which he wanted. + +’Tis certain, there are no Troops in the World where the Peasant sooner +shakes off the clownish Air, and more easily assumes the military one. +This gigantic Regiment has requir’d great Pains, and considerable Sums to +establish it; and I am assured it has cost the King more than six other +Regiments. But ’tis all his Majesty takes delight in; and surely this +Prince cannot but be commended for giving into a Pleasure so noble, and so +innocent. + +Having given you some Account of _Potzdam_, I must also mention +_Charlottenbourg_, another Royal House, a Mile from _Berlin_. This Castle +stands on the _Spree_, so that one may go to it by Water: but the common +Way is thro’ the Park which is at the end of the great Walk from the new +Town. + +In the late King’s time, whenever he was at _Charlottenbourg_, all the +Road from _Berlin_ to this Palace was lighted by Lanthorns erected on both +sides. + +_Charlottenbourg_ was formerly call’d _Lutzenbourg_. It was a small +Village belonging to M. _Doberginsky_, Steward of the Houshold to the +Queen, (the King’s Mother.) He had built a trifling House there, and that +Queen taking the Air there one day, lik’d the Situation of the Place so +well, that she bought it, and set about building there; but she died +before all the Works she had undertaken were finished. However, her +Husband King _Frederic_ I. caused them to be carried on, and made +considerable Additions to them; and in order to perpetuate the Queen’s +Name, which was _Sophia-Charlotte_, he caused _Lutzenbourg_ to be called +_Charlottenbourg_. This Castle is one of the most considerable Structures +in _Germany_; the Apartments are grand and splendid, and the Furniture +very rich. There’s a Cabinet adorn’d with the choicest Porcellane, ranged +in such order as is surprising: In another Cabinet there are Lustres, a +Tea-Table with Dishes, a Coffee-Pot, and the whole Equipage in short of +solid Gold. The Chapel is one of the most superb that can be; every side +being adorn’d with Gold and Painting. The Orangery is one of the most +magnificent in _Europe_; not only with regard to the Beauty and Number of +its Trees, but the Greatness of the Building in which they are kept all +the Winter. + +I could tell you of several more Houses which the late King had in the +Neighbourhood of _Berlin_; but as they were suffer’d to run to ruin after +he died, I think I had better entertain you with the Characters of the +prime Nobility at this Court. + +The Count _de Wartensleben_ is the oldest Marshal. He is by Birth a +_Westphalian_, and pass’d his early days in the Service of _France_. He +was Commander in chief of the Troops of the Duke of _Saxe-Gotha_, when +King _Frederic_ I. called him to his Service. The Count _de Wartemberg_, +who was at that time the Chief Minister, wanted a Person to be at the head +of the Troops, who should be intirely devoted to himself: This was an +Obedience he did not expect to find in the Counts _de Lottum_, _Dhona_, +and _Denhoff_, nor in the other Generals whose long Services and Birth +might make them aspire to this military Dignity. He believed the fittest +Person to be his Tool would be a Foreigner that should be oblig’d to him +for his Fortune: Therefore he caus’d the Marshal’s Batoon to be given to +the Count _de Wartensleben_, who answer’d to a tittle the Intention of the +Minister his Benefactor. ’Tis true, that he never seconded his Revenge, +but neither did he oppose it. He did the Business of his Office, and +meddled not with the Intrigues of the Court. It may be said of him, that +he never deviated from the Path of Equity, and in Justice to him it must +be own’d that he always did good, when it was in his power. Since the +Death of the late King, his Authority and Interest are very much lessened. +Besides, he is too far advanc’d in years to concern himself with almost +any Business at all. + +The General whose Power is most rever’d, is the Prince _Leopold_ of +_Anhalt-Dessau_. In consideration of his high Birth, and the Rank of +Sovereign which he holds in the Empire, I ought to have nam’d him first; +only the Count _de Wartensleben_ is the oldest Marshal. + +The Prince of _Anhalt_ is Marshal, Governour of the City of _Magdebourg_, +Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle. +This Prince, who is a Person of a good Stature and noble Presence, happy +Features and a lively Aspect, was born with all the Qualifications of a +General and a Soldier, being vigilant, laborious, indefatigable, equally +patient of Heat and Cold, Want and Abundance; Brave even to Intrepidity, +and possibly never equalled in this respect, unless we except _Charles_ +XII. King of _Sweden_: Being a Man of unexampled Rigour in Military +Discipline, he will be obey’d; but then he rewards his Soldiers when they +do their Duty, and sometimes makes himself familiar with them: A warm and +constant Friend, but an implacable Enemy when he thinks himself not well +us’d; haughty to his Equals, civil and courteous to his Inferiors. In his +Youth, he was a Wine-Bibber, and a Deboshee; but it has been observ’d, +that neither Wine nor Women can detain him, when he is in the pursuit of +Glory. He is a religious Observer of his Promises, and never makes any but +after mature Reflection. He is an Enemy to the Pomp and Constraint of the +Lives of Great Men; an Œconomist, perhaps more than becomes his +Dignity; and is an absolute Master in his Family and his Government, +having poor, but dutiful Subjects, and well-regulated Finances. + +The Care of the Prince of _Anhalt_’s Education was committed to M. _de +Chalisac_, a Native of _Guienne_. This Gentleman found an ungovernable +Temper in the young Prince which he had much ado to manage. The Prince +happen’d very early to have a liking for Madamoiselle _de Fohsen_, (whom +he afterwards marry’d) which being not at all pleasing to his Mother, (who +was born Princess of _Orange_) she thought the best way to cure him of his +Fondness for her, would be to send him abroad; and therefore appointed M. +_de Chalisac_ to travel with him to _Italy_, and accordingly they made +that Tour. + +_Chalisac_, who was my particular Friend, and whose Memory I honour, told +me that this Prince’s extraordinary Vivacity and Intemperance, had often +made his Heart ake; but that whenever he happen’d to run astray, he was +sure to reclaim him by setting the Motives of Honour and Ambition in his +View. To this purpose he related what happen’d when they were at _Venice_, +viz. that the Prince came home one Morning very much in Liquor, after +having spent the whole Night in a Debauch; and M. _de Chalisac_ reproving +him, perhaps a little too sharply, as the young Prince thought, he ran and +snatch’d up a Pistol, and returning with it to his Governour, said, _You +Dog, I must kill you_. M. _de Chalisac_, without appearing surpriz’d, +looking sternly at the Prince, made him answer; _Shoot me if you think +fit; but think how worthy a Figure you’ll make in History, when it shall +be recorded that a Prince of +Anhalt+, a Prince of a Family that has given +Emperors to +Germany+, murder’d his Tutor_. These Words spoke with an Air +of Authority made such an Impression on the young Prince, that he laid +down his Pistol saying, _You are indeed in the right; I should have +committed a villainous Action_. + +The Prince on his Return from _Italy_ to _Dessau_ shew’d that Time and +Absence had not that Effect upon him as they generally have upon Lovers. +He returned as much in love with Madamoiselle _de Fohsen_ as he was at +setting out. He married her in 1698, and soon after, _viz._ in 1701, she +was by the Emperor acknowledged a Princess of the Empire. He has had five +Sons and two Daughters by her, the eldest of whom is dead. + +But the Embraces of a tender Spouse cou’d not keep him at home; a Warrior +he was born, and a Warrior he would be. The War being then kindled between +the Emperor and the _French_, the Prince went to serve in the Army on the +_Rhine_, and was present at the taking of _Keiserswaert_. Soon after, King +_Frederic_ I. gave him the Command of 6000 Men, whom he sent to the +Emperor’s Assistance in _Italy_, where he signaliz’d himself in every +Campaign, but especially at the raising of the Siege of _Turin_. The Duke +of _Savoy_, afterwards King of _Sardinia_, with whom the Prince had not a +very good Understanding, doing me the Honour to talk to me about him one +day, said, _The Prince of +Anhalt+ has too much Fire; but when he is +ripen’d by Age, he will be a great General. He was born with the Genius of +a Captain, and he has contributed to save my Crown_. + +When a Neutrality was agreed on for _Italy_ between the Emperor, his +Allies, and _France_, the Prince of _Anhalt_ was recall’d, and the King +gave him the Command of his Troops in _Flanders_, where he maintain’d the +Reputation which he had acquir’d in _Italy_, and was continued in his +Command till the Peace of _Utrecht_. + +The Obstinacy of _Charles_ XII. King of _Sweden_ in refusing to hearken to +a Treaty for the Sequestration of _Stetin_, having oblig’d the King of +_Prussia_ to make war upon him, the Prince of _Anhalt_ serving under the +King, who then commanded his Army in Person, had the Honour to defend the +Isle of _Rugen_, against the King of _Sweden_, who came in the Night and +attack’d it with Fury; but the _Swedes_ were repulsed, after having lost a +number of considerable Officers in the Action. Since the Treaty with +_Sweden_, this Prince has had no occasion to signalize his Valour. He +resides commonly at _Dessau_, or at _Magdebourg_; and does not come to +Court but when Affairs call him. He has three Sons in the King’s Service, +of whom the two eldest have Regiments of their own, and the third commands +his Father’s. + +The King, who has a great Affection for the Prince of _Anhalt_, makes no +considerable Regulation with regard to his Troops, or in any thing +relating to the War-Office, without his Advice. His Majesty has given him +considerable Tracts of Land in _Prussia_, where ’tis said the Prince is +building not only Villages, but entire Towns. + +M. _d’Arnheim_ is the third Marshal. This old Gentleman, who is past +fourscore, learnt the Art of War under two Great Masters, the Elector +_Frederic-William_ of _Brandenbourg_, and _Montecuculi_ the Rival of +_Turenne_. + +The Marshal _de Natzmer_ is an old Soldier also, who has serv’d under +several Commanders with very great Distinction; particularly the Prince +of _Waldeck_, General of the _Dutch_ Forces, the Prince of _Orange_ +afterwards King of _England_, and lastly under the Duke of _Marlborough_ +and Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_; who had all an Esteem for his Valour and +Military Experience; this Marshal having been in all the Battles which +those Generals fought in the _Netherlands_, and having been always wounded +or had a Horse shot under him. + +After having mentioned the chief Commanders of the King’s Forces to you, I +think it incumbent on me to give you an Account of those Persons whose +Credit or Employments have the greatest Influence upon the Government; in +which you will please to excuse me, if I do not follow that Order I have +hitherto observ’d in my Narrative. + +The Baron _d’Ilgen_ First Minister of State, was born of an obscure Family +in _Westphalia_. After he had finished his Studies, he commenc’d Secretary +to M. _de Meinders_, Minister of State to the Elector _Frederic-William_, +and to King _Frederic_ I. His Discretion and his Industry soon procur’d +him the Favour of his Master, who put him Governour over his Nephew the +Baron _de Heidekam_. M. _d’Ilgen_ travell’d with the young Baron to +_Holland_, _England_, and _France_, in which Tour they spent two Years. At +his Return to _Berlin_, M. _de Meinders_ enter’d him in Business, and the +Elector _Frederic-William_ dying not long after, he procur’d him the +Office of Secretary to the new Elector. In this Employment he behav’d with +such Circumspection that he is still continued in it, notwithstanding the +many Changes that have happen’d in the Ministry. The Baron _de Fuchs_ one +of the most able Ministers that ever _Germany_ produc’d, being charm’d +with his Genius, gave him such a Recommendation to the late King, that he +preferr’d him to a Seat in the Council, where _Ilgen_ soon found out the +way to make himself necessary. The Count _de Wartemberg_, whose Abilities +were not so great but he stood in need of a Second, being then at the Head +of the Council, consulted in all matters with M. _d’Ilgen_, who, after the +Count _de Wartemberg_ retired, had the Province of Foreign Affairs +committed to him solely, and has kept it ever since. + +M. _d’Ilgen_ has both Gaiety and Solidity in his Temper, a lively, +fruitful Imagination, and most pleasing Aspect. He is extremely sober, and +an excellent Œconomist, being as great an Enemy to Pleasure, as he is a +Friend to Riches. He is humble sometimes, even to excess; revengeful, +crafty; a Master of his Temper, his Countenance, his Tongue, and his Eyes, +which he accommodates altogether to the Situation of his Affairs. As by +his Parts he raised himself, so by his Parts he supports himself. He is +the sole Repositary of his own Secrets, having no Confident nor Favourite +to share them. He is so indefatigable, that he composes and writes all +himself, keeping his Secretaries only to copy. In short, he works like a +Day-labourer, and makes the Ministry, as it were, a Handicraft. He speaks +well, but writes better; he affects _double Entendres_ in his Answers, and +artfully has recourse, when he needs it, to an ambiguous Expression. He +has so little scruple, in point of Oaths, that he takes and breaks them +with equal Indifference. He never made himself a Creature, but always +removed and humbled those that ever gave him any Umbrage. That which +heightens his Character, and proves his Genius, is, that he has supported +himself a long time, without Kindred, Friends, or Creatures, and perhaps +without being too much honoured by the Favour of his Master[16]. + +M. _de Grumkau_ Minister of State, Lieutenant-General of the King’s +Forces, Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight of the Orders of St. +_Andrew_ of _Muscovy_, and of the White Eagle of _Poland_, is descended of +an illustrious Family in _Pomerania_. His Father was Grand Marshal of the +Elector _Frederic-William_, and died in that Post, at the beginning of the +late King’s Reign. M. _de Grumkau_ being left a Minor, was sent very young +to _France_, to learn his Exercises, where he acquitted himself with +Diligence, and the Approbation of his Superiors. At his return to +_Berlin_, _Frederic_ I. appointed him Gentleman of his Bed-chamber, and +gave him a Company of Foot. Soon after which, he married Madamoiselle _de +la Chevallerie_, who was Maid of Honour to the Queen _Sophia-Charlotte_. +It was not long before he was advanced; and during the last War he served +as a Brigadier in the Army in the _Netherlands_. At the same time he had +the Care of the King’s Affairs with my Lord Duke of _Marlborough_, and +Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_. His manner of + +Behaviour shew’d that he was fit to be employ’d in great Affairs: but the +Count _Wartemberg_, the Favourite, and Prime Minister, being jealous of +his Genius, kept him as much as he could out of any Share in Authority, +and chose rather to prefer him by War, than to employ him in the Ministry. +The Favourites (Messieurs _de Camke_) who succeeded _Wartemberg_, +perceiving M. _de Grumkau_’s superior Abilities, were not more favourable +to him than the Count was. He was preferr’d to be a Major-General at one +of the last Promotions that was made by the late King; and +_Frederic-William_, on his Accession to the Throne, made him +Lieutenant-General, and Minister of State. + +M. _de Grumkau_ is good-natur’d, civil, and affable. He has the Manners +and Sentiments of a Man of Quality, as he really is; he is generous, +liberal, loves Splendor and Pleasures, but is not so much addicted to them +as to neglect the Affairs of the Ministry. He is laborious, has a clear +and quick Apprehension; a pleasant, lively, and penetrating Fancy; and is +no Enemy to Satyr, when it does not attack his Neighbour’s Reputation. As +he is of a beneficent Temper, he has Friends, and makes himself Creatures. +Of all the Ministers, he speaks to the King with the greatest Freedom; and +I believe one may safely venture to put him in the Rank of Favourites. + +The Baron _de Kniphausen_[17], Minister of State, and Commander of the +Order of St. _John_, is descended of an illustrious Family in +_East-Friesland_. In the late King’s time, his Father was President of the +Chamber, which is properly, Superintendant of the Finances. No Minister +has been employed in more Embassies. He was the King’s Resident in +_Spain_, with _Charles_ III. the present Emperor; he was the same in +_Denmark_, _Muscovy_, and _France_; and every where supported the Dignity +of his Master, and the Honour of his Character. So many Embassies had very +much disconcerted his Affairs; and talking to me one day at _Paris_ about +his Lady, who was the Daughter of M. _d’Ilgen_, ‘I know, _said he_, that +her Rank is not equal to mine, and that I may be reproach’d for having +married her; but I can return the same Answer which they report of the +Count _de Lude_ (Governor to _Gaston_ of _France_, _Lewis_ XIIIth’s +Brother) who, when he was ruin’d like me, married a Tradesman’s Daughter; +_Could I do better_, said he, _when I was persecuted Day and Night by my +Creditors, than to take Refuge in a Shop, rather than be carried to an +Alms-House_?’ + +M. _de Kniphausen_ has a wonderful natural Genius, and would have every +Talent requisite for a Minister, if he was not quite so averse to Labour; +but being as lazy as his Father-in-Law is laborious, Affairs suffer in his +hands by delay. Not but that he knows how to dispatch them, if he will, +for nobody is more lively nor more vigilant than he, when he sets his +heart upon a thing; but he is naturally indolent, being fond of his Ease +and good Cheer. + +The Baron _de Gohren_, who is Director of the Chamber of Finances, and of +the Post-Office, is a Man of a good Family in the Marquisate of +_Brandenburg_. He has not been many years in the Ministry, but has the +Reputation of an upright Man, and one not to be corrupted. He is very +reserved, and a Person of few Words, which gives him an Air that those who +are not conversant with him mistake for Haughtiness. + +M. _de Creutz_ has a happy Physiognomy, being a mixture of hard Features +with mild ones, that carry an Air of Probity and Frankness, which of all +external Appearances is undoubtedly the most advantageous. He is polite, +and magnificent; has an extraordinary Vivacity, an admirable Facility of +expressing himself, and an easy, affable, and genteel Behaviour. He never +promises but when he means to perform, and his Word may be safely depended +on. I always found him very sincere, and I cannot help saying, I love him. +_Frederic-William_ called him to his Councils, he having been his +Secretary when he was Prince Royal. His Assiduity and Punctuality in +performing the Duties of his Office, had procured him the King’s Affection +to such a degree that his Majesty continues to honour him with his +Good-will, and gives heed to his Representations[18]. + +M. _de Creutz_ is one of the richest Subjects in the Country, having had a +very great Estate by his Wife: She has also brought him a Daughter, an +only Child, who is said to have a great deal of Wit; and being a rich +Heiress into the bargain, she will not fail of Suitors. + +M. _de Vierec_ is a Man of Quality, and a Native of _Mecklemburg_; his +Father was Counsellor of State to the late King, and his Envoy +Extraordinary in _Denmark_. The Son, of whom I am now writing, quitted the +Service of Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ of _Brunswic-Wolfembuttle_, to be a +Gentleman of the late King’s Bed-chamber. When he came to Court, he had no +Relations there, but he was so happy as to raise himself Friends; for his +modest Air, and his polite and submissive Deportment, gain’d him the +Good-will of the Favourites; and as he lov’d Play, he soon made himself +acquainted with the Court-Ladies, who always gave him their good Word. + +In 1711, when the Count _de Dohna_ went as the King’s Ambassador to +_Francfort_, for the Election of an Emperor, he desir’d of the King that +M. _de Vierec_, who was reckon’d the most sober young Man at Court, might +be Marshal of the Embassy, which was perform’d at the King’s Expence. M. +_de Vierec_ acquitted himself so well in that Employment, that he had the +same Post at the Congress of _Utrecht_. He had afterwards, for a while, +the Care of the King’s Affairs at the Court of _France_, when the Duke of +_Orleans_ was Regent; and at his Return from thence, he was employed in +the Regency of _Cleves_; from whence he was called home to better +Preferment, by means of _Gerstorf_, whose Daughter he had married. For +this General’s only Son being killed in _Sicily_, his Majesty, in order to +comfort the Father, whom he lov’d, and who he saw took it very much to +heart, declared M. _de Vierec_ his Son-in-Law, Minister of State. M. _de +Gerstorf_’s Daughter dying afterwards, M. _de Vierec_ thereby came +possessed of a very great Estate, and married again to the Daughter of the +Count _de Finck_, who was formerly the Prince Royal’s Governor. + +M. _de Vierec_ is perfectly polite, and altogether as modest now as he was +before he was a Minister; but he is close and reserv’d, mysterious more +than needs must, and jealous. His Circumspection, which extends to the +minutest things, gave him the Air of a Minister, before he had a thought, +perhaps, of ever being one. What with his Kindred, his Estate, and his +Preferment, he is become powerful at Court. + +These, Sir, are the Persons of the greatest Consequence at the Court of +_Prussia_, with whom I had a particular Acquaintance. I am not so vain as +to think I have painted them in their true Colours; but such as they +appear’d to be in my eyes, I have represented them to you. Men are not +always the same; nor do they appear in the same light to all that see +them; every Man having his own way of thinking, and few judging solidly. + +I have now told you all the Particulars that I know of this Court. What +remains for me is to mention some things to you, which are worth your +seeing, if ever you live to come hither. + +Such are the King’s Cabinets of Medals and Antiquities; that of Natural +Curiosities, in which are a great many things not to be seen elsewhere; +the Chymical Laboratory, with its Furnaces and Instruments of a new +Invention; the magnificent Theatre, which the King caused to be built for +Anatomical Demonstrations, with all the Curiosities and Instruments which +are there kept; the Royal Library, one of the most valuable and compleat +in all _Germany_, where, besides scarce Books and Manuscripts, is a very +curious _Chinese_ Printing-Press. + +All these things would be worth particularizing; but to do this, a Man +must have a larger Acquaintance here than I pretend to: Besides, my +Relation is already spun to such a length that I believe ’tis time to +conclude it. + +I will, however, just acquaint you of a Foundation by the present King, in +favour of the young Gentlemen of his Dominions, which are the Academies of +Cadets, in _Berlin_, _Magdebourg_, and other Towns, where they are taught +the Rudiments of War; so that ’tis a Nursery from whence the King makes a +Draught of good Officers. His Majesty has moreover ordered his Generals of +Foot to take each a young Gentleman, whose Fortune does not happen to be +equal to his Birth, to keep them as Pages, and to make them learn their +Exercises, and every thing that an Officer ought to know. An excellent +Institution this, and a fine Resource for the poor Nobility! + +I am preparing to set out forthwith for _Hamburgh_, _Hanover_, and the +Court of _Brunswic_; and after I have made that Tour, you shall have a +second Letter from me. Mean time, I am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER II. + + + _SIR_, _Hamburgh, June 20, 1729._ + +Nothing gives me greater pleasure, than the Approbation with which you are +pleased to honour the Account I sent you of the Court of _Prussia_; which +I esteem as an infinite Reward for the little trouble it cost me. You must +not imagine that I can ever be weary of writing to you; I can never do any +thing more agreeable to myself, than to contribute to your Amusement; and +shall think myself exceeding happy, if I can succeed. + +I set out from _Berlin_ upon the 10th of _June_, and in less than four +Hours came to ORANJEBOURG, a royal Seat, which King _Frederic_ I. caused +to be built, and to which he gave the Name of _Oranjebourg_, to perpetuate +the Memory of his Mother, who was born Princess of _Orange_. This Prince, +great in every Action, spar’d no Cost to render this House worthy of his +magnificent Taste. The Situation of this Place is very charming, in the +midst of fine large Meadows, with Canals cut in them after the manner of +_Holland_. The Apartments of the Palace are grand, tho’ the rich +Furniture it had formerly has been removed to _Berlin_. The present King +not taking a fancy to it, all runs to ruin; the Gardens, which were the +finest in _Germany_, are not kept in order; the great Vessels of +Porcellane; which were not to be match’d in _Europe_, the late King having +procur’d the choicest Rarities of that Ware, that were in the Magazines of +_Holland_; all these fine things, I say, are pass’d into the hands of the +King of _Poland_, at _Dresden_. The Gallery and the Salon of +_Oranjebourg_, which were furnish’d with them, and which were reckoned +among the Beauties of _Germany_, are of no account now but for the +Richness of their Cielings. + +From _Oranjebourg_, I went and lay at FERBELLIN, a Town which is only +remarkable for a Victory gain’d here by the Elector _Frederic-William_ +over the _Swedes_. The latter enter’d his Dominions, while he was engag’d +with his Army in defence of the Empire then attack’d by the _French_ on +the _Upper Rhine_. The Elector being inform’d of the Invasion of his own +Country by the _Swedes_, came away from the _Rhine_ with his Troops, and +by one of the bravest Marches that ever any General made, deliver’d it +from the Enemy. He surprized them in _Ratenau_, a Town in the Marquisate +of _Brandenbourg_, the Garrison of which he made Prisoners; and then +continuing his March, he came up with the _Swedes_ near _Ferbellin_, at a +time when the latter thought him still upon the _Rhine_, and gain’d a +compleat Victory. A venerable old Gentleman, who was very near the +Elector’s Person at this Battle, told me, that before the Engagement +began, the Prince being at the head of his Army, took out his Pistols, +fir’d them in the Air, and lifting up his Eyes to Heaven, said, _’Tis to +thy Glory, _GREAT GOD_, that I discharge my Arms; defend my Cause, thou +knowest it to be just; punish my Enemies_. Then drawing his Sword, and +turning about to his Soldiers, _My Comrades_, said he, _I desire no other +Defence, nor no other Weapons, but the Protection of God, your Courage, +and my Sword. Follow me therefore, my Friends, do as I do, and be assur’d +of Victory_. + +In this Battle, _Forbenius_, the Elector’s Gentleman of the Horse, +perceiving that a white Steed which his Master rode, made his Person a +very plain Mark for his Enemy, so that they had singled him out to fire +at, desir’d the Prince to change Horses with him. The Elector, who had a +great Soul, above all Fear, refus’d at first to do so, but upon the +repeated Instances of _Forbenius_, he consented to it; and the Moment that +the Gentleman mounted the Horse which the Elector quitted, a Cannon-Shot +kill’d him dead upon the Place, so quick, that he expir’d without the +Comfort of knowing that he had thereby preserved the Life of his Master. + +_HAMBURGH_, a Hanse-Town in the Circle of Lower _Saxony_, is, without +dispute, one of the richest and most considerable Towns in all the Empire +of _Germany_. It depends solely upon its Magistrates, who are chose by the +Burgers themselves. Its Liberty has been often contested by the Kings of +_Denmark_, who as Dukes of _Holstein_, pretend that _Hamburgh_ is built +upon their Territory, and that therefore they ought to be the Sovereigns +of it. The Electors of _Brandenbourg_, and the Princes of the House of +_Brunswic_, always opposed the Incroachments of the _Danes_; nor will they +suffer any Power whatsoever to oppress the City of _Hamburgh_, because, if +it were possible, they would be glad to annex it to their own Domains. The +City being exposed to these Attacks, has taken all the Measures possible +to be in a condition to defend its Liberty. ’Tis very well fortified, +maintains a good Garrison, and has an Arsenal provided with all +Necessaries. + +The Commerce of _Hamburgh_ is considerable, tho’ ’tis very much lessen’d +since _Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_, prohibited the Importation of +Merchandize from _Hamburgh_ to his Dominions[19]. + +The manner of living in this City is different from that of all the Hanse +Towns. Here is a tolerable Opera all the Year round[20]; charming Walks, +choice Company, much Visiting and hearty Cheer. There are several good +Houses of the Nobility, where Foreigners are well receiv’d. The Merchants +are affable and civil; most of them in their youth travel to the most +remarkable Countries of _Europe_, where they then pass for Gentlemen of +_Holstein_. As they are rich, they can easily afford to make a good +Appearance where-ever they come. There they learn that polite Air, and +that Behaviour which one would wish to see in all Gentlemen of good +Families. The only thing for which I find fault with them, is, that they +treat their Wives too much like the _Levant_ People, where the Women are +only suffer’d to go to the Mosques; so here, the Women scarce go any where +but to Church, or if they at any time take the Air, ’tis in company with +their Husbands: and a Foreigner is so seldom admitted to their +Assemblies, that when he is, those poor Women are as much astonish’d at +the sight of him, as a Sultana would be to see a Capuchin enter the +_Seraglio_. + +There’s a great many worthy People here. I have made an Acquaintance with +M. _de Brocks_, one of the Magistrates, who has acquir’d a Reputation for +his Skill in Poetry, by such Compositions as cannot but convince +Foreigners, who understand the _High-Dutch_, that as good things may be +said in that Language, as in any other[21]. This M. _de Brocks_ is of an +amiable Character, civil, and complaisant, and has acquir’d the Love and +Esteem of all that know him. + +Most of the _European_ Princes have Residents here, for which reason here +are several Chappels of the _Roman_ Catholicks, who otherwise would be +obliged to go to the Church at _Altena_, as the _Calvinists_ are forc’d to +do, the _Lutheran_ being the Religion that is uppermost at _Hamburgh_; but +the _Jews_ have their Synagogues here. What an odd Establishment is this +in a Christian Country![22] how uncharitable, and even nonsensical! and +how must it make the _Turks_ laugh! We grant Synagogues to the _Jews_, the +Enemies of JESUS CHRIST, who would crucify him again, if they had not done +it already; and we refuse Churches and Temples to those that believe as +we do in JESUS CHRIST! No, were you to call me Heretic a thousand times, I +would say, HOLLAND FOR EVER! where ’tis a Maxim, to leave every Man to his +Conscience; and where they think it would be a Contradiction to admit +People to be their Fellow-Citizens, and to deny them the Liberty of +worshipping God in their own way. + +The Emperor’s Minister, who has the Title of _His Imperial Majesty’s +Plenipotentiary_ to the Circle of Lower _Saxony_, commonly resides at +_Hamburgh_. The last Gentleman that had this Employment was the Count _de +Metsch_[23]; and since his being made Vice-President of the Emperor’s +_Aulic_ Council, it has not been fill’d up[24]. + +The Populace of _Hamburgh_, just such another ungovernable Herd as the +_Amsterdam_ Mobs, having taken it into their heads some years ago, out of +a mad sort of Zeal for Religion, to plunder the House and Chapel of the +Emperor’s Resident; the City in order to make Satisfaction for the Insult, +was condemned to build a House which was to be the Residence of the +Emperor’s Minister always for the future. For this end, the City bought +the Palace of the late Baron _de Gortz_, a Man of great Fame in the +History of _Charles_ XII. King of _Sweden_; and whose Fortune and +Catastrophe are worthy your notice. + +_Henry_ Baron _de Gortz_ was born of an independent Family in _Franconia_, +which is a Province that abounds with Nobility of Distinction. He enter’d +young into the Service of the Duke of _Holstein-Schleswic_, and rose to be +his Minister. He was a Man generous, noble, and magnificent, even to +Profusion; vigilant, full of Projects and Stratagems; a Man whom nothing +could surprize, nothing dissuade from a Design that he had once form’d; +whose Ambition was boundless, and who always aim’d to do something to be +talk’d of. In the _North_ there was no Intrigue in which he had not a +hand, and into which he did not likewise draw his Master, whom he push’d +upon Enterprizes so far above his Power to execute, that he thereby lost +his Dominions. The Baron _de Gortz_ thought _Holstein_ too narrow a Sphere +for him to move in, and therefore he attach’d himself to _Charles_ XII. +King of _Sweden_, after that Prince return’d from his long Stay at +_Bender_. _Charles_ was just such a Master as the Baron wanted, and he +just such a Minister as was necessary for the King of _Sweden_; nor was +there ever in the World a greater Sympathy between two Men. _Gortz_ was +born to form great Designs, _Charles_ to put them in execution; and the +constant Design of both was only to throw _Europe_ into a Ferment. + +The Baron, besides other happy Gifts of Nature, had the Talent of +insinuating and pleasing. He soon got an Ascendant over _Charles_, to such +a degree that tho’ this Prince was never to be advis’d by his Ministers, +yet the Baron’s Opinion was a Law to him. _Gortz_ frighten’d _Europe_, and +made _Sweden_ tremble; being as much fear’d and dreaded there as the King +himself. The _Swedes_ were uneasy to see so great a Share of Authority +vested in a Foreigner; and therefore form’d Parties and Cabals to strip +him of it; but they durst not discover their Designs. The Minister knew +all the while they envy’d him, but was in no manner of Concern about it; +for being sure of the Favour of the King, he despised the Hatred, both of +the Populace and the Great Men[25]. + +But after the Death of _Charles_ XII. who was killed at the Siege of +_Frederickshall_, in the Month of _December_, the _Swedes_ did not fail to +punish him; for the Baron, before he cou’d have Intelligence of the King’s +Death, was actually put under an Arrest; and upon that Occasion he said to +the Officer, _Surely the King must be dead!_ From that Moment he was never +once heard to complain or murmur; for he was intrepid even to Death; the +Sentence of which he received with a wonderful Constancy of Mind, chose to +die like a Philosopher, and thought too freely of Religion to the very +last. A Divine, who is now one of the King of _Denmark_’s Chaplains, +turn’d his Heart, and brought him to acknowledge that ’twas the Hand of +God which smote him. He was conducted to the Place of Execution in a +mourning Coach, in which the Chaplain rode with him. He had a long Robe of +black Velvet, ty’d with Ribbands over his Shoulders; and as he was +mounting the Scaffold, which was hung with black Cloth, perceiving one +_Duval_, a _Frenchman_, who was his Steward, he held out his Hand, saying, +_Farewell +Duval+, I shall eat no more of thy Soups_. When he was on the +Scaffold, an Officer of Justice read a Paper to him with a loud Voice; in +which it was declared that he was degraded from the Rank of Nobility, and +that the Queen had order’d him to be beheaded. _Alas!_ said he, _I am born +a free Baron of the Empire. +Sweden+ cannot take from me what it never +gave me; and if I had really deserv’d to be degraded, none has a Right to +do it but the +Emperor+._ Having requir’d one of his Valets de Chambre to +undress him, he deliver’d the Ribband of the Order of the Black Eagle of +_Prussia_ to a Gentleman who stood near him, and enjoin’d him to carry it +to one of his Kindred, that he might return it to the King of _Prussia_. +Then he fell on his Knees, without shewing the least Sign of Fear; and +receiv’d the Stroke of Death with a Constancy of which there are very few +Examples. His Head being exposed to the People, was a pleasing Victim to +their Hatred and Revenge. The Baron’s Corpse was interr’d, at the Place of +Execution, from whence one of his Footmen took it away in the Night-time, +put it into a Barrel, and carry’d it to _Hamburgh_; where it was laid upon +a Bed of State, and bury’d with all the Formalities fitting the Rank which +he had held in the World. + +Within a Cannon-Shot of _Hamburgh_, stands the Town of ALTENA, which +belongs to the King of _Denmark_. The _Swedish_ General, _Steinbock_, +reduc’d it to Ashes, the 9th of _January_ 1712, by way of Reprisal, as he +said, because the _Danes_ had burnt _Staden_: but there was this +Difference, that the _Danes_ had besieg’d _Staden_ in form, and destroy’d +it by their Bombs; whereas _Steinbock_ acted the part of an Incendiary. As +soon as he appear’d before _Altena_, he sent in a Message to advise the +Inhabitants to retire with what they could carry off, for that he was +going to destroy their Town. The Magistrates came out in a Body, and +falling at his Feet, begg’d for Mercy, and offer’d him a considerable Sum +of Money. _Steinbock_ insisting on more, they granted him his whole +Demand, only they desir’d Time to go to _Hamburgh_ for the Money. The +merciless General would admit of no such Delay. The poor Inhabitants were +oblig’d to turn out; the Mothers carry’d out their Infants; the young +Fellows, the paralytick old Men; some groan’d under Loads of Furniture; +all lamented their Fate, and uter’d Cries that wou’d have almost pierc’d +a Stone. The _Swedes_ stood at the Barriers, with flaming Torches in their +Hands, to see them pass; and before the poor Inhabitants were all gone +out, they enter’d the Town, and set fire to all parts of it; not sparing +even the Vaults of the Dead. + +Never was a greater Desolation known; but what compleated the Ruin of the +_Altenois_, was the Necessity of the Times, which was such as oblig’d the +_Hamburghers_ not to entertain them. Several prejudic’d Authors have said +that the _Hamburghers_, insensible, if not overjoy’d at the Calamity of +their Neighbours, kept their Gates shut, that they might see them perish. +But the truth is, that the _Hamburghers_ were oblig’d to be thus strict; +because the Plague raging at that time in _Holstein_, the Elector of +_Hanover_ had forc’d them to stop all Commerce with that Country; +threatning them, that if he heard they had the least Communication with +_Altena_, he wou’d prohibit his Subjects from all manner of Correspondence +with the City of _Hamburgh_. Besides, it wou’d not have been prudent in +the _Hamburghers_ to have open’d their Gates in the Night-time; for the +_Swedish_ Army being so near, they could not tell but the _Swedes_ might +come into the Town as well as the _Altenois_. To the Misfortune of the +Times therefore must be ascribed the Distress of the Inhabitants of +_Altena_, most of whom perished with Cold, Want, and Despair. + +_Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_, being touched with Compassion for the +Misfortune of his Subjects of _Altena_, relieved them as far as the +Necessity of the Times wou’d give him leave. He caus’d them to be supply’d +with Materials for rebuilding their Houses; and now _Altena_ has recovered +her Losses: for the King of _Denmark_ has not only granted it many new +Privileges, but has caus’d a Harbour to be made there; and does all that +is in his power to draw a Trade to it. This City being a privileg’d Place +for Bankrupts, many of that Character come from _Hamburgh_ to settle here; +and there is a general Toleration for those of all Religions, who have +their Churches and Temples here; which draws such numbers of People, that +in time _Altena_ will probably become _Hamburgh_, and _Hamburgh_ _Altena_: +For the _Hamburghers_, on the contrary, will tolerate no Christian Sects; +tho’ they grant the _Jews_ the public Exercise of their Religion, as has +been already observed. The Governour of _Danish Holstein_ resides here, +who is the Count _de Reventlau_, Brother to the[26]Queen of _Denmark_. I +am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER III. + + + _SIR_, _Hanover, July 5, 1729._ + +This Letter is to acquaint you of some things that I remark’d in the Road +from _Hamburgh_, and in this City itself; where I have now been these +three Days. + +I set out from _Hamburgh_ the 22d of _June_, and went by Water to +HARBOURG, having sent my Chaise thither the Day before. This Town is a +Dependant on the Dutchy of _Lunenbourg_, and belongs to the Elector of +_Brunswic-Lunenbourg_. It has nothing very remarkable but its Castle, +which is a Pentagon, lin’d with a good Cover’d-Way. Madamoiselle +_d’Olbreuse_[27], whom the Duke of _Zell_ marry’d, had the Title of Madame +_de Harbourg_, till she was recogniz’d by the Emperor a Princess of the +Empire. For by the Laws of _Germany_, a Prince of a Sovereign Family can +marry none but a Princess, or a Countess. If he weds a private +Gentlewoman, he not only marries below himself, but his Wife does not go +by his Name; and the Children of such Marriage cannot succeed, unless the +Emperor declare the Mother a Princess; as he commonly does in favour of +Princes of antient Families. + +Between _Harbourg_ and _Zell_, which is twelve Miles, there is scarce any +thing but Heath. The Post-Stages, which are of four Miles, are very ill +serv’d, and the Inns the worst in _Germany_; all which together render +the Road extremely disagreeable. + +ZELL is a little Town with great Suburbs. All its Buildings are of Timber, +except the Churches, the Castle, and the House of Correction, which are of +Brick. There is a Trade from hence to _Bremen_, by the River _Aller_. + +After the Death of _George-William_, the last Duke of _Zell_[28], this +City, and its Dependency, the Dutchy of _Lunenbourg_, devolv’d to his +Nephew _George_, Elector of _Brunswic-Hanover_, afterwards King of _Great +Britain_. This Prince had a Regency at _Zell_, which judged all Causes, +without any Appeal but to the Council of State at _Hanover_. The President +of it at this time, is the Baron _de Friesberg_, a Person of a good Family +in the Country of _Hildesheim_; who has been a long time the Elector’s +Envoy at the Diet of _Ratisbon_, where I knew him, and received a world of +Civilities from him. He is esteem’d for the prudent Management of his +Office, and his noble manner of living. There are a great many Persons of +Quality settled at _Zell_, who for a trifling Expence enjoy the Pleasures +of agreeable Society. They visit and regale one another very much, and are +not wanting in Civilities to Foreigners. Monsieur _de Schulenbourgh_[29], +Lieutenant-General of the _Hanoverian_ Horse, and Knight of the +_Prussian_ Order of the Black Eagle, is the Governour of this Town. He is +a Gentleman of good Extraction, of Behaviour, Noble, Polite, and Easy; and +though he is Father of a numerous Family, he affects to live grand, and +keeps a very good Table. One of his Sons is in the Service of _Prussia_, +the others are in that of the King of _England_. I mention them to you, +because they are worthy Gentlemen; and whoever knows them, cannot but +esteem them. + +Here are a great many _French_ People, _Catholick_ as well as +_Protestant_, of whom the former have a Chapel, and the latter a Church; +but the Religion which is predominant, is the _Lutheran_. The last +Dutchess of _Zell_, of the Family of _Olbreuse_, being a _French_ Woman, +fill’d her Husband’s Court and Guards with her own Countrymen; who were +even preferr’d before the Natives of _Zell_. I have been told that these +_Frenchmen_ really thought themselves so much at home, that there happen’d +to be one day no less than a dozen of ’em at Dinner at the Duke’s Table, +who all except the Prince were _Frenchmen_; which one of them observing, +said to the Duke, _My Lord, this is really very pleasant; there is no +Foreigner here but you_! + +In the Neighbourhood of this Town there’s the Castle of _Ahlen_, where, +(about nine Years ago,) the unfortunate Daughter of the last Duke of +_Zell_, by Madamoiselle _d’Olbreuse_, ended her Days, after she had been +retir’d thither about thirty six Years: She had been promised +in Marriage to _Augustus-William_, the hereditary Prince of +_Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Wolfemhuttle_; but her Father the Duke, by the +Intrigues of the Princess _Sophia_, Dutchess of _Hanover_, marry’d her +against her Will, and against the Consent of her Mother, to the hereditary +Prince _George-Lewis_, who was afterwards King of _Great Britain_, by +Right of his Mother, and who died in the Year 1727, as he came to make +the Tour of his hereditary Dominions. She was sixteen Years old at her +Marriage with that Prince, who was then twenty-two. + +Tho’ there’s a good deal of Heath between _Zell_ and _Hanover_, yet the +Country is very well cultivated; for the Inhabitants not only make Turfs +of the Heath for Fewel, but it serves also for Pasturage, and for Manure. +’Tis about five _German_ Miles from one Town to the other, and I travell’d +it in less than five Hours. + +HANOVER, the Capital of the Electorate of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg_, is bigger +than _Zell_. The River _Leine_ divides it into the old and new Towns, +which are both encompass’d with Ramparts that scarce deserve the Name. +There is nothing very extraordinary in the Palace or Castle, which is +rather commodious than magnificent; and the Town of _Hanover_, generally +speaking, is but ill built. The most remarkable Structure in it, is the +_Roman Catholick_ Church, which was granted to those of that Communion by +_Ernest-Augustus_ of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Hanover_; that being one of the +Conditions which the Emperor _Leopold_ demanded of him when he honour’d +him with the Electoral Dignity. That Prince moreover engag’d to admit of +an Apostolical Vicar in his Dominions, and to give him leave to reside at +_Hanover_, as _Spiga_, who lately died at _Francfort_[30], did for many +Years. Divine Service is perform’d in this Church as regularly as in a +Cathedral; and they who officiate in it are Missionaries. The number of +Catholicks is very considerable; but few Persons of Quality are of that +Communion, the Nobility being all _Lutherans_. + +When _George_ I. King of _Great Britain_ left his _German_ Dominions to +take possession of his Kingdom, he was willing that all Affairs at +_Hanover_ shou’d continue on the same footing as they were before he was +called to the Throne; and he left behind him Prince _Frederic_ his +Grandson, now Prince of _Wales_; who not only had a Drawing-Room every +Day, but the same Attendance as had the Elector before he was King. + +His Majesty King _George_ II. has made no Alteration in the Establishment +of the King his Father. When he sent for the Prince of _Wales_ to +_England_, he order’d the Courtiers to continue their Assemblies at the +Castle; and that his Table shou’d always be serv’d in the same manner as +if he himself was at _Hanover_. His Majesty keeps up the same number of +Gentlemen, Pages, Domestics, and Guards; and the same number of Horses, +Grooms, &c. in his Stables. There’s a _French_ Comedy acted three times a +Week at the Palace, to which all People are admitted _gratis_; and there +are frequently Concerts, Balls and Assemblies. The Gentlemen who do the +Court-Honours at these Entertainments, and who invite Persons to dine or +sup at the King’s Table, are either M. _de Hardenberg_, the Grand Marshal, +or, in his absence, the Baron _de Gortz_[31], Chief Steward of the +Houshold; or else M. _de Rheden_, Captain of the Castle of _Hanover_. + +In the King’s absence, the Government is compos’d of a Council of State, +whereof M. _de Hardenberg_ is Chief or President; which meets every day in +an Apartment of the Castle. To this all the Courts of Justice in the +Dominions of _Hanover_ are subject, and accountable. The Council of State +receives its Orders immediately from the King; and they are counter-signed +either by the Count _de Bothmar_, or by M. _de Hattorf_, the two _German_ +Ministers that attend his Majesty’s Person. + +The Count _de Bothmar_[32] is an old Gentleman, who for a long time +resided in quality of the Elector’s Envoy at the Court of _England_, +where, by his prudent Management for his Master, he cherished the most +incontestable Right that a Prince can possibly have to a Crown; I mean, +the Voice of the People. + +M. _de Hattorf_ is not only the Minister’s Son, but has been his +Co-adjutor, for they had both the War-Office in their Province; for which +reason they were called _Louvois_ and _Barbesieux_, a Comparison which +does no Dishonour either to the one or to the other: for if the two +_Hattorfs_ have not made such a Blaze in the World, ’tis because they had +not a _Lewis_ XIV. for their Master, for they were not inferior to the +_French_ Ministers in Capacity, and Application to Business, and had not +their Pride and Arrogance. + +M. _de Munchausen_ is one of those Ministers of State who bears the most +Sway. He is of a Temper beneficent, mild, civil, very candid, sober, and +religious. He lives with Dignity, and his House is as open to Foreigners +as any in the City. + +The Marshal Baron _de Bulau_, is Commander in chief of the Forces[33]. He +has no manner of Dependance on the Council of State, and receives his +Orders immediately from the King, by M. _de Hattorf_ the Secretary at War. +The Promotion which the King makes of Officers is by the Recommendation of +M. _de Bulau_; and such as would enter into the Service must make their +Application to him. He serv’d with Distinction in the _Netherlands_, under +my Lord Duke of _Marlborough_. He has actually under his Command 18000 +Men, which is the Complement of the King of _Great Britain_’s Forces, as +Elector. His Majesty indeed, keeps in pay 12000 _Hessians_,[34] and 4000 +Men of the Troops of _Wolfenbuttle_. ’Tis true, those Forces are paid by +_England_, but to me it seems they are only to defend the King’s Dominions +in _Germany_. + +Tho’ the Sovereign is absent, yet here are not wanting Amusements; there +being many good Families, and a number of amiable Persons. + +The lovely Countess of _Delitz_, Niece to the Dutchess of _Kendal_, cou’d +not fail of Adorers, even in the most barbarous Countries; for the Charms +of her Mind are not inferior to the Beauty, Sweetness, and Gracefulness of +her Person. + +No Lady can have a better Temper or Behaviour than the Baroness _de +Bulau_, Daughter-in-law to the Marshal, and Daughter to the late Countess +of _Platen_: her Husband is a worthy Gentleman, and keeps a very good +House. + +The Count _de Platen_, hereditary Post-Master-General, is one of the +richest Subjects in the Electorate, and one that spends the most Money. A +Foreigner will always have cause to speak well of M. _de Rheden_, Captain +of the Castle, and M. _de Wagenheim_, the great Cup-Bearer. Messieurs +_d’Ilten_ live splendidly; and both the Brothers, the eldest of whom is a +Colonel of the Guards, are amiable and infinitely polite. If ever you come +hither, you will certainly have reason to be fond of their Company. + +The Situation of _Hanover_ is very agreeable; and in its Neighbourhood are +several pretty Seats. Among these _Herenhausen_ (the House of the _Lord_, +or the _Master_) is a Castle which was built by Order of the Elector +_Ernest-Augustus_, the King’s Grandfather. This House, to which a strait +Walk leads, bears no proportion to the Magnificence of its Gardens, which +are undeniably some of the finest in all _Europe_; being particularly +adorn’d with Water-Works that throw the Water up much higher than the +famous Fountain at _St. Cloud_, which was always look’d upon as the most +considerable of the kind[35]. + +Between _Hanover_ and _Herenhausen_, there are two fine Seats; of which, +one is call’d _Fantasie_, i. e. _the Whim_; and the other, _Monbrillant_, +or, _Mount-Pleasant_. They were built by two Sisters-in-law, _viz._ Madame +_de Kilmanseck_, (who after her Husband’s Death, was by King _George_ I. +created Countess of _Arlington_) and the Countess of _Platen_. These two +Houses are a Proof of the good Taste of those Ladies, who were really an +Honour to _Germany_, for their Beauty, good Sense, Manners, and Genius. +They both died in their Prime, a little time after one another; my Lady +_Arlington_ in _England_, and the Countess of _Platen_ at _Hanover_, to +which she was not only an Ornament, but a Lustre. + +The Dominions of _Hanover_ are so considerable, that I have been assured +the Revenues are no less than six Millions of Crowns _per An._ Whether +this be true, I do not know; but I tell you what I was told myself. + +_Hamelen_ upon the _Weser_ is the only Town that can be reckoned a Place +of Defence. _Hanover_, _Zell_, and _Lunenbourg_, have Ramparts; +_Harbourg_, a Castle, or Citadel; but all so inconsiderable, that they are +not worth mentioning. + +There are few Sovereigns whose Finances are in so good a Condition as this +Elector’s; which has been the happy Produce of three succeeding Reigns; +and the good Œconomy wherewith they were managed by the three last +Princes of the Electoral Family, has contributed infinitely to the Figure +it makes at this time. Mean-while, notwithstanding these Regulations, the +People were never oppress’d, and the Princes always lived with a Splendor +suitable to their Grandeur. _Ernest-Augustus_ obtained the Electoral +Dignity, not without making great Presents to the Court of _Vienna_, at a +time too when his Power was limited to the Dutchy of _Hanover_, and the +Bishoprick of _Osnabrug_. Tho’ this Prince had a numerous Family to +provide for, he lived with Splendor, was fond of Magnificence and +Pleasures, gallant, generous, and liberal; and when he died, he left no +Debts to pay, and his Finances were in a good State. + +GEORGE I. his Son and Successor kept up a considerable Body of Troops, and +had a very splendid Court. As his Acquisitions were great, he distributed +his Favours where-ever he was inform’d there was a Necessity; and when he +came to the Throne, he made no Reform in this Court; so that their not +seeing him was the only Token of his Absence. At his Death, he left +immense Sums in his Treasury, and so glorious a Character, that his +Subjects still bless the Memory of his Reign. + +GEORGE II. his Son, and the Heir of his Crown, his Dominions, and Virtues, +behaves in the very same manner. While he lives and acts like a King, he +neither gives, on the one hand, into the Extravagance of vain Pomp and +Pageantry, nor on the other, into that sordid Thriftiness which debases +Royal Majesty, and extinguishes the Love of Subjects. He accumulates +Treasure without oppressing his People, who love him, and offer up their +Prayers for him, as I do for your Preservation; and + + _Am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER IV. + + + _SIR_, _Blanckenbourg, July 30, 1729._ + +I was six Hours travelling from _Hanover_ to BRUNSWIC, the Capital of the +Dutchy of that Name, which is a very great City, with Houses for the most +part of Timber. It was formerly a Free and Imperial City, and one of the +_Hanse_-Towns; but falling under the Sovereignty of the Princes of the +House of _Brunswic_, they reduced it to a level with the other Towns of +their Dominions. It belongs to the Duke of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg +Wolfembuttle_. The Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ began to fortify it; and his Son +_Augustus-William_, the present Duke[36], perfected what remained +unfinished at his Father’s Death, and made _Brunswic_ a Place which cannot +be besieged without a numerous Army: But then on the other hand, it would +require such an Army to garison it as the Duke could not furnish without +the help of his Neighbours, and which besides, wou’d not perhaps be +extraordinary convenient for him to introduce. The said Duke has caused a +new Palace to be built, which is large and magnificent, and the Furniture +is rich, new, and excellently well chosen. Among the rest, there are very +fine Pictures, and a Cabinet full of Curiosities. + +The Duke of _Blanckenbourg_, Brother to the Duke of _Wolfembuttle_, has a +particular Palace, where he resides in the Fair-time, but it did not +appear to me to be a House of any consequence. + +The Fairs of _Brunswic_ contribute very much to make it a rich and famous +City, there being two held every Year, and a considerable Trade carried on +at both. + +There is very good Diversion during these Fairs; for then all the Ducal +Family is generally at _Brunswic_; to which foreign Princes come often, +and there is always a great Concourse of the Nobility. The Duke sends +every Morning to invite the Quality of both Sexes, who at Noon repair to +the Palace. The Grand Marshal, for avoiding all Disputes about Precedency, +causes the Ladies to be match’d with the Gentlemen by the drawing of +Tickets; and sometimes it happens that a Dutchess is at the lower end of +the Table, which is served with very great Magnificence and Elegance. When +there are too many Guests to sit at one Table, the two Brothers keep each +a separate Table at his own Palace. At Night, the Company repairs to the +_German_ Opera, which being ended, they pass into Rooms joining to the +Theatre where they play, and sup, and then dance. The Ball is open’d by +the Gentleman who happened to draw the first Number in the Morning, and +continues till Day-break. + +The Ducal Family of _Brunswic-Wolfembuttle_ consists now but of two +Brothers; the eldest of whom, the Duke[37] _Augustus-William_, has had +three Wives, but no Issue. He is married to a Princess of +_Holstein-Norbourg_. + +These two Princes are so far advanced in Years, that the Duke +_Ferdinand-Albert_ of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Bevern_, Son-in-law to the Duke +of _Blanckenbourg_[38], is looked upon as their presumptive Heir. _Europe_ +produces few Princes of more distinguished Merit, who have equal +Knowledge, more Learning, and Integrity, or more Valour and Experience in +War. He has acquired a noble Reputation in _Hungary_; and he is not only a +Brother-in-law to the Emperor, but one of his favourite Generals, and has +a Regiment in his Service[39]. + +His Family consists of four Sons and three Daughters[40] by his Wife +_Antonietta-Amelia_ of _Brunswic-Blanckenbourg_. These are very hopeful +young Princes. The eldest, whose Name is _Charles_[41], is of a lovely +Make, and has Sense infinitely beyond his Years. The eldest Princess, +_Elizabeth-Christina_[42], at twelve Years of Age may pass for one that is +compleatly grown; her Air is noble and modest; her Features regular; in a +word, she is form’d to make that Prince happy who is one day to be her +Husband. + +The Court of _Wolfembuttle_ is numerous, and when assembled does not want +for Magnificence. + +The Ministers of most Power are the Baron _Stein_[43], and the Count _de +Debn_[44]. The former is descended of an illustrious Family in _Swabia_: +He was in the Service of the Landgrave of _Darmstadt_, and his Envoy at +the Dyet of _Ratisbon_, and several Courts, where he made himself +considerable by his Eloquence, the Justness of his Sentiments, by the Ease +with which he expresses them, and by his Politeness. + +The Count _de Dehn_ is a Native of _Mecklemburg_, where he was born of a +good Family, and enter’d very young a Page to Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ of +_Brunswic-Wolfembuttle_. He had the Happiness to please that Prince, but +much more his Successor, the Duke _Augustus-William_, who of his Page, +made him his Favourite and Minister, heaped Wealth and Honours upon him, +and match’d him to the Daughter of his Chancellor, who was one of the +richest Heiresses in all _Germany_. + +The young Minister finding himself rich and powerful, quickly thought the +Court of _Wolfembuttle_ too narrow a Stage for Action. He had chose the +Count _de Fleming_, Prime Minister of the King of _Poland_, for a Model. +He saw that this Minister, under pretence of important Negotiations, went +to the chief Courts of the Empire to make a Parade of his Riches; and +young _Dehn_ long’d with Impatience to imitate him. He procur’d himself to +be nominated the Duke’s Envoy Extraordinary to _Holland_ and _France_, +where he vy’d in every respect with the Ambassadors of the chief Crowns. +In fine, after having staid about eighteen Months at _Paris_, he went away +very much lamented by the Merchants and Workmen with whom he had dealings. +He came to _Wolfembuttle_ to receive the Applauses of his Master, and to +rest himself after the Fatigues he had undergone in his important +Negotiations. + +As Count _Fleming_ was honoured with the Orders of _Denmark_, _Russia_, +and _Poland_, his Rival too thought he could not do without one Ribbon at +least; and thinking the Order of _Dannebrock_ the most proper for him, +because it was white, he demanded and obtained it of _Frederic_ IV. the +King of _Denmark_. When he saw himself thus adorn’d, he procured himself +to be sent to _Vienna_. What business he had there, I know not; but he was +scarce ever from the Emperor, and in order to be nearer to his Person, he +lodged just by the Palace of the _Favorita_. He often relieved the Cares +of the Ministry by making some Entertainment or Ball. He had an admirable +Genius for Dancing, so that every body thought him the Inventor of +Country-Dances. The Emperor gave him the Title of a Count, with which he +returned to his own Court. + +When Glory has once fir’d a noble Soul, nothing can keep it within Bounds. +The Count _de Dehn_ had lost his first Wife, who left him the Heir of +three great Estates; and he married again to an amiable Lady, who return’d +him Love for Love. Tho’ he was dear to his Master, yet he could not +resolve to continue at _Wolfembuttle_, because he had a Taste for nothing +but Treaties and Negotiations. He returned a second time, as Envoy +Extraordinary to the _States-General_, but did not stay long at the +_Hague_; for after having had his publick Audience, wherein he assured +their High-Mightinesses of the sincere Affection of his Master for their +Republic, and of his own personal Joy to find himself seated in an +Arm-Chair in their Assembly, he went over to _England_ to reside at the +Court of his _Britannic_ Majesty. He was admired for his Grandeur, as much +in _England_ as elsewhere; but the Air of that Country not agreeing with +the Delicacy of his Constitution, he return’d to _Germany_; and, after +having made a tour to the chief Courts of the Empire, he is come back to +_Wolfembuttle_, where he stays in expectation that some great Event or +other will turn up, that he may be employ’d in some remarkable Embassy, +whereby _Europe_, attentive to every thing that relates to him, may have +fresh Proofs of his great Talents. + +The Baron _de Hagen_ is Commander in Chief of the Duke’s Troops, which +actually amount to above 4000 Men, and ’tis said, that his Highness’s +Revenues exceed two Millions of Crowns. His Subjects are not the worst +used of any in _Germany_. ’Tis a good fruitful Country; the Peasants, who +are sober and laborious, are as clownish and as stupid as those that herd +with the Hogs in _Westphalia_; but they are robust, strong, and good +Soldiers. + +In _Brunswic_ there is a Catholick Church which is small, but neat. The +Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ caus’d it to be built at the time he embraced the +Catholick Religion; which he did, after full Conviction, not many Years +before his Death. + +_Saltzdahl_, a Pleasure-House belonging to the Duke, is a League from +_Brunswic_, and from _Wolfembuttle_. It was built by Duke _Anthony-Ulric_, +one of the most magnificent Princes of his Time, and one who had the most +elegant Taste. This House is worthy of nice Observation. It has a great +Gallery with a Collection of Pictures in it by the chief Painters, which +is not to be met with elsewhere. In one great Cabinet there is very fine +Porcellane; and in another, a vast number of Vessels and Urns painted by +_Raphael_. In short, the Curious can’t want here for Entertainment. + +The Road from _Brunswic_ to WOLFEMBUTTLE is as pleasant as most Roads. We +cross a little Wood through which there are several Routes cut, and as we +come near the Town, several pretty Seats appear in view. + +The Town of _Wolfembuttle_ is not half so big as _Brunswic_, nor is it +better built, the Houses being of Timber. The Fortifications seem to me to +be in good Repair. The Castle, or Ducal Palace, is ancient, and makes no +great Appearance, but ’tis commodious, and has good Lodging-Rooms. That +which most deserves the Attention of a Traveller, is the Library, which is +one of the best chosen in _Europe_, and contains very scarce Books and +Manuscripts. + +As I had left the Court at _Brunswic_ I did not stay many Hours at +_Wolfembuttle_, but came to lie here at BLANCKENBOURG, where I have all +that Heart can wish for. + +The Duke is as affable and as civil a Prince as any in the World. In his +Youth he visited the principal Courts of _Europe_, where he contracted a +great Politeness, and a solid Taste of Elegancy. He loves the _Belles +Lettres_, protects the Arts and Sciences, and looks out for Men of Ability +to serve him. He is magnificent, generous, a good Prince, and a kind +Master. He was at one and the same time, the Father of an Empress, and the +Grandfather of an Emperor. As a Father, he has a considerable Pension from +the Emperor of _Germany_; and as a Grandfather, he has been honour’d with +the Order of St. _Andrew_ of _Muscovy_, founded by _Peter_ the Great, +which is a blue Ribbon, with St. _Andrew_’s Cross appendant to it +enamell’d with blue. This Prince is also a Commander of _Suplenbourg_, a +Commandery of the Order of St. _John_, annexed to the House of _Brunswic_. +He has had three Daughters by his Wife _Elizabeth-Christina_ of +_Oetingen_. + +The Dutchess, tho’ advanc’d in Years, retains an Air of Grandeur and +Majesty which strikes the Beholders, and her Features discover the Marks +of that shining Beauty which she had in her Youth. But what renders this +Princess more venerable than even her Birth, is her solid Piety, her just +Discernment, her lively Imagination, her noble and easy manner of +expressing herself, and her Principles of Humanity, accompany’d with a +Generosity free from all Ostentation. + +I had the honour to pay my Duty to her at _Brunswic_, some Years ago, when +she receiv’d me with such Tokens of Goodness as rejoic’d my very Heart; +and upon all Occasions since, she has been pleas’d to give me fresh Proofs +of it. As I can be of no service to this Princess in any Case, nor so +happy as to be able to contribute to her Glory, ’tis my Ambition to make +every one, and you, Sir, in particular, sensible of the Respect and +Attachment with which I am devoted to her, and of the grateful Sense I +have of the Benevolence with which she has honour’d me. + +The Courtiers of _Blanckenbourg_ are, like their Master, very polite. M. +_de Munchausen_ is the chief of the Duke’s Council, and was formerly in +the Service of the Duke of _Wolfembuttle_. He is a Gentleman of great +Learning, Labour, and Vigilance, and has a distinct and noble Manner of +Delivery. He is heartily attach’d to his Master; and the Courtiers seem’d +to me to have an Esteem and Affection for him. Men of solid Judgment, and +who have been more conversant with this Minister than I, have assured me +that he is one of the greatest Genius’s at this present, in _Germany_[45]. + +M. _de Sporck_ is the Grand Marshal, which Employment he acquits himself +in with very great Politeness and Care. He is come of a good Family, his +Father being Minister of State, and Director of the Dutchies of _Zell_ +and _Lunenbourg_. M. _de Polentz_[46] does the Honours of the Court under +him, in quality of Great Cup-Bearer. As he had his Education at Court, he +is vastly polite; and Foreigners cannot but be pleas’d with his good +Behaviour. + +The Duke and Dutchess delight to see Foreigners at their Court, whom they +load with Civilities, and will have them always to dine and sup with their +Highnesses. After Dinner, they take the Air, or make Visits; and in the +Evening there’s an Assembly in the Dutchess’s Apartment, where they play, +then sup, and afterwards every one retires. We have had a Comedy twice or +thrice, which is acted by the young People of the Family, who perform +their Parts very well; especially in the Tragedies of _Corneille_ and +_Racine_, translated into _High-Dutch_. + +The Pleasures of the Carnival are more gay, at which time the Duke makes +Entertainments: There’s a Ball, a Masquerade, and Comedy at Court, every +Day; and for the time there’s so great a Concourse of Strangers here from +the neighbouring Towns, that sometimes ’tis impossible to get a Lodging. + +The Town of BLANCKENBOURG is small, and the Houses ill built, and +inconvenient. The Duke has done all in his power to engage the Inhabitants +to build; he has offer’d them Materials _gratis_, and has moreover +endeavour’d to inspire them with a Taste for the Arts; but all without +Success. + +I never in my whole Life, saw People more indolent and clownish than those +of _Blanckenbourg_, and the neighbouring Towns. They are so bigotted to +old Customs, that they say, _My Father liv’d so, and so will I; My Father +did not do this, nor will I_. I cannot conceive how People, so dull as +they are, and so strongly attach’d to the Institutions of their +Forefathers, came to give into _Luther_’s Reformation.[47] + +_Blanckenbourg_ is a petty County, which Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ yielded in +his Life-time to his second Son, to make him some sort of Compensation for +the Right of Primogeniture, which he had newly introduc’d into his Family, +to that Son’s prejudice: For the Princes of _Brunswic_ had for a long time +been us’d to a Partition of Lands in their Families. The _Hanover_ Branch +was the first that abolish’d that Custom, pernicious to great Families. +Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ was only restrain’d from it by Pr. _Lewis_ his second +Son, whom he lov’d more than his eldest; and not caring to leave him +without Dominions, to the Discretion of a Brother, he gave him Possession +of this State in his Life-time; because he was of Opinion, that after his +Death, his Will wou’d have the Fate of not being executed by his +Successor, according to the Custom introduc’d among Sovereigns. With them +’tis a Right of Regale, but for us to do so, is a Crime. + +As the County of _Blanckenbourg_ does not give Admittance into the College +of Princes at the Dyet of the Empire, so it does not give the Rank of a +Sovereign Prince to the Person in possession of it. The Duke, in order to +procure himself both these Privileges, made a Treaty with the Elector of +_Hanover_, whereby he got that Prince to yield him the Vote and Seat which +he enjoy’d in the Dyet for his Dutchy of _Grubenhagen_: And the Duke, on +his part, engaged never to vote at the Dyet but in conformity to the +Sentiments of the Elector. After his Decease, or if he happens to succeed +his Brother, the Vote and Session for _Grubenhagen_ revert to the +Elector[48]. + +This, Sir, is all that I can say to you at present. Their Highnesses being +to set out in a few days for _Oetingen_, where they use to go every +Summer, I propose to go forthwith to _Leipsic_ and _Dresden_: And at the +latter Place I hope to hear from you. + + I am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER V. + + + _SIR_, _Dresden, August 30, 1729._ + +From _Blanckenbourg_ we have till’d Lands, and fruitful Fields; with Woods +of Oak interspers’d all the way, till we come to MAGDEBOURG, the Capital +of a Dutchy of that Name, formerly an Archbishoprick, but secularised at +the Treaty of _Westphalia_, in favour of the House of _Brandenbourg_, to +whom that Dutchy was yielded in exchange for their resigning Hither +_Pomerania_ to _Sweden_. This City has for these two Centuries past, +suffer’d very much. It was besieg’d by the Emperor _Charles_ V. who +squeez’d considerable Sums from it. But it fared worse in that unhappy War +which divided _Germany_ during the space of 30 Years; for the Counts _de +Tilly_ and _Papenheim_ commanding the Imperial Army in 1631, took it by +Storm, put the Inhabitants to the Sword, and reduc’d the whole City almost +to Ashes. Nevertheless, ’tis since pretty well recover’d, and has some +fine Houses. The great Square before the King’s Palace has few equal to it +for its Extent, and for the fine Houses that encompass it, which are all +uniform, three Stories high, and were all raised in this Reign. In this +same Square there’s an Arsenal, which really is not so magnificent as that +of _Berlin_, but may be rank’d among the chief Arsenals in _Europe_. This +is a populous Town, and has a more flourishing Trade than any other City +in the King of _Prussia_’s Dominions. + +The great Church, which was formerly the Metropolitan, is ancient, and one +of the largest and most magnificent Buildings in _Germany_. It has still +some Reliques to shew, particularly the Basin in which _Pilate_ washed his +Hands, after having pass’d Sentence of Death upon our Saviour; the +Lanthorn[49] which _Judas_ made use of when he went to apprehend him; a +Thorn of the Crown that was planted on his Head: and things of the like +kind. + +The Chapter of _Magdebourg_ is still, bating the change of Religion, on +the same footing as before the Reformation. The Canons must all make Proof +of their Nobility; tho’ ’tis a _Punctilio_ with which the King, who +confers all the Prebends and Dignities of the Chapter, sometimes +dispenses. The present Provost is the Duke of _Saxe-Barbi_, who succeeded +his Father in that Dignity, which brings him in 12000 Crowns a-year. He +lives in a fine House on the great Square, fronting the Palace, built by +the Order of King _Frederic_ I. who also caus’d a Citadel to be erected +here, on the other side of the _Elbe_, over which there is a Bridge. That +King began likewise to fortify the Town; and King _Frederic-William_, who +carried on, and finish’d the Fortifications, has now made _Magdebourg_ one +of the most important Places in _Europe_. M. _de Walrave_, Chief Engineer, +had the Direction of those Works, which are a Proof of his great Ability. + +The Margrave _Albert_ of _Brandenbourg_[50], Brother to the late King +_Frederic_ I. is Governour of the Dutchy of _Magdebourg_; as is the Prince +of _Anhalt-Dessau_ of the Town, where he has a numerous Garrison under his +command. The Arsenal, which is a fine Structure, and full of Cannon, and +small Arms, is worth seeing. + +The King of _Prussia_ having it much at heart to render _Magdebourg_ a +flourishing Town, has transferr’d the Regency of the Dutchy hither, which +was heretofore at _Halle_; and for this reason there are several good +Houses in the Town. The Dutchy of _Magdebourg_ is one of the best +Provinces in the _Prussian_ Dominions. It has a great Income from the +_Elbe_, and the Salt-Works. The Catholicks are allowed a Toleration of +their Religion in the Dutchy, and have Churches in the Town. + +The Roads from _Magdebourg_ to _Leipsic_, are so bad at this time, by +reason of the Rains that have fallen for some Days past, that I have been +three Days in getting from the one Town to the other. Indeed I went some +Leagues out of my way, on purpose to see BARBI and COHTEN. The first of +these Towns belongs to a Prince of the House of _Saxony_, of the Branch +of _Weissenfeld_; and has nothing considerable but the Prince’s Palace, +which makes a good appearance, and has commodious Apartments, elegantly +furnished. There is a Salon, and a Closet, the Cielings of which are +painted by _Peine_, and not the worst things he has done. The Palace has +Gardens delightfully situate by the side of the _Elbe_. The Duke _de +Barbi_ is the only Prince of the House of _Saxony_ who professes the +_Calvinist_ Religion, in which he was educated by his Father, who was at +first a _Lutheran_. This Prince is a comely handsome young Man. He married +_N---- de Wirtemberg-Oels_[51], but has no Children. He has been in the +Service of _Prussia_, and is Grand Provost of the Chapter of _Magdebourg_, +and Knight of the Order of the White Eagle of _Poland_. + +COHTEN, which is bigger than _Barbi_ by one half, belongs to a Prince of +_Anhalt_[52]; the only one of his Branch, tho’ he has had two Wives. I +desired leave to kiss his Hand; but he excused himself by pretending an +Indisposition. I have observed that petty Princes are always more +difficult of Access than great ones. The Town has no Fortifications; and I +walk’d about a good while to see if there was any thing remarkable, but +’twas to no purpose; and I was oblig’d to confine myself to my Inn, which +was one of the worst in _Europe_. + +LEIPSIC stands in a fruitful Plain. This City, so famous for its Fairs, +and for its University, may justly pass for the Jewel of the Electorate +of _Saxony_; not only for the Beauty of its Structures, but for the +considerable Revenue which it yields to its Sovereign, the King of +_Poland_. ’Tis small, and fac’d with Ramparts, and a Ditch; but all these +Fortifications are of little consequence. Its Castle, or rather Citadel, +which joins to the Town, is a Place of greater Importance. There is always +a good Garrison and Governour in it, who is at present General +_Baumgarten_. As the Castle passes under the Denomination of the King’s +House, the _Roman_ Catholicks have had a Chapel there ever since +_Augustus_ II. embraced their Religion. + +The Suburbs of _Leipsic_ are very large. The City has four Gates newly +built of Free-Stone, which are magnificent, tho’ not according to the +Rules of Architecture. + +At each Gate they have newly set up a Mile-Post, such as the _Romans_ had +formerly. There are the like Posts at the Gates of all the Towns, and even +at the Villages in the Electorate of _Saxony_. From hence they count the +Leagues, which are divided at the end of every Quarter of a Mile, by other +Posts not so big, upon all the great Roads, shewing the Distances of the +Places, and of the chief Towns; which is a mighty Convenience to +Travellers, who were heretofore often impos’d upon by the Post-Masters, as +to the Length of the Roads. + +The Houses of _Leipsic_ are large, very high, and substantially built of +Free-Stone; and their being adorn’d with great fine Windows helps to set +them off to the Eye. The Ground-Floors of most of the Houses are +Warehouses, in which the foreign Merchants store the Goods they sell at +the Fairs, which are three in number every Year, _viz._ at +_New-Year’s-day_, _Easter_, and _Michaelmass_. The Concourse of Foreigners +here at the Fair-Season, is so great that ’tis often a hard matter to get +a Lodging here for Love or Money. I myself saw in 1709, at the +_New-year’s_ Fair, the late King of _Prussia_, the King and Queen of +_Poland_, and 44 Princes or Princesses of Sovereign Families. The two +Kings and the Queen lodged at the House of _Appel_, a Merchant; where the +King of _Poland_ always resides when he comes to _Leipsic_. + +The University, formerly so famous, is very much decay’d: That of _Halle_, +its Neighbour, and its Rival, in the King of _Prussia_’s Dominions, takes +away a great many Students from it. They say that for some time past there +have been more able Professors at _Halle_, where besides ’tis much cheaper +living than at _Leipsic_; and where the Students are not such +Spendthrifts, nor so much addicted to Expence and Gallantry. + +The Gardens of Messieurs _Appel_ and _Pose_, Merchants, in the Suburbs, +are worth seeing. The first is large and magnificent: In the second are +very uncommon Plants, cultivated with very great Care. The Gardeners of +_Leipsic_, who are reckon’d the best in all _Germany_, value themselves +upon forcing Nature; so that I have seen here, at _Easter_ Fair, the +Fruits, Flowers, and Pulse, of all the Seasons. The Asparagus here is +delicious, and extraordinary large. Another Nicety at _Leipsic_, is its +Larks, which are sent over all _Germany_; nay, to _Poland_, _Holland_ and +_Denmark_. I was assured, but I will not vouch for the Truth of it, that +the very Custom-Duty paid for Larks at _Leipsic_, amounted to 12000 Crowns +a-year; which Sum I thought the more considerable, because I think I have +heard it said, that 60 Larks pay but a Grosh[53] the Duty; judge then how +many there must be to make up the Sum of 12000 Crowns. But be it true or +false, ’tis certain that there is not a Country in the World where these +Birds are taken in such quantities; for, from _Michaelmass_ to +_Martinmass_, the Fields are cover’d with ’em. + +Another Singularity is the multitude of Nightingales, in the Woods near +_Leipsic_; whereof they take great numbers, and keep them in Cages: The +Innkeeper’s Daughter, where I lodged, had seven of them; and I have seen a +great many at other Houses. + +’Tis surprizing that so plentiful a Country as _Saxony_ shou’d have no +better Ordinarys. I don’t mean _Leipsic_ and _Dresden_, where, considering +one is in _Germany_, we come off pretty well; tho’ were it so in +_Holland_, the _Netherlands_, or in _France_, we shou’d not think +ourselves well us’d. I mean the little Towns and Villages in a Road so +frequented as that from _Leipsic_ to _Dresden_. There’s Provision to be +had at these Ordinarys, but then ’tis so ill dress’d, and the Houses so +nasty, that ’tis enough to turn one’s Stomach. + +Setting out from _Leipsic_, at the opening of the Gates, I came betimes to +WERMSTORF, or HUBERTSBOURG, (St. _Hubert_’s Palace,) a magnificent +Hunting-Seat, which the Electoral Prince of _Saxony_ is building at the +Entrance of a Forest, where there are several Roads cut. This House is +five Miles from _Leipsic_, and eight from _Dresden_; and when ’tis +finish’d, will be large and magnificent: Men are hard at work upon it, and +the main Body of it is already compleated. Their Royal Highnesses, the +Prince and Princess, generally hunt here at Spring and Autumn. The +Equipage for the Stag-hunting is very fine, the Liveries being Yellow, +with Facings of blue Velvet, and Silver Lace at all the Seams. + +After I had walk’d an Hour or two at _Hubertsbourg_, I proceeded on my +Journey, and came to Dinner at MEISSEN, the Capital of _Misnia_. This City +has nothing particular, besides its Manufacture of Porcellane, which is +so finely painted and enamell’d with Gold, that it is more beautiful than +the Porcellane of _Japan_, and much dearer. The Invention of it is owing +to an Alchymist, or one that pretended to be such; who had persuaded a +great many People he cou’d make Gold. The King of _Poland_ believ’d it as +well as others, and to make sure of his Person, caus’d him to be committed +to the Castle of _Konigstein_, three Miles from _Dresden_. There, instead +of making Gold, that solid precious Metal, which puts Mankind on +committing so many Follies, he invented Brittle Porcellane; by which, in +one Sense, he made Gold, because the great Vent of that Ware brings a deal +of Money into the Country. + +After having pass’d the _Elbe_, over a wooden Bridge, going out of +_Meissen_, I came in less than three Hours to DRESDEN, the Capital of the +Electorate of _Saxony_. The City is pretty large, fortify’d with Art and +Regularity; and very lightsome. Its Houses are high and substantial, the +Streets broad, strait, well pav’d, neat, and in the Night-time well +lighted. There are great Squares in it; and the whole City is so well laid +out, that _Dresden_ may be rank’d among the finest in the World. + +The _Elbe_ divides it into two Parts; which are distinguished by Old and +New _Dresden_, and join’d together by a Bridge of Stone. + +In order to give you a more perfect Idea of this City, I shall point out +to you such things as I took most notice of. I shall begin with Old +_Dresden_, which is the first that we come to from _Meissen_. At the +Entrance of the Town, on the right hand, there is a great House, called +the Palace of the _Indies_, or _Holland_ House, which the King bought some +Years ago of his Prime Minister, the Marshal Count _de Fleming_. All the +Rooms of this Palace, which consists of three Stories, are so many +Closets of _Japan_ and _China_ Wares. I don’t believe that all the +Warehouses in _Amsterdam_ put together, are capable of furnishing such a +quantity of uncommon old Porcellane, as is to be found here. The value of +it is computed at a Million of Crowns. The very Houshold-Goods are +_Indian_. There is one Set of Furniture, the like of which I never saw +elsewhere: It consists of Feathers of various Colours, and all natural; +inlaid with so much Art, that it might be taken for a fine flower’d +Sattin. + +This magnificent Palace has a Garden belonging to it, which looks towards +the _Elbe_. It is adorn’d with Statues of white Marble, which the King +caus’d to be purchas’d at _Rome_, of the Cardinals _Annibal_ and +_Alexander Albani_, Nephews to _Clement_ XI. These Statues are much more +priz’d here than they were at _Rome_. + +Near the Palace of the _Indies_ stands that of the Cadets; a magnificent +Structure built by the States of _Saxony_, for maintaining two Companies +of Cadets, all Gentlemen of the Country; who are there instructed in all +the Sciences fitting for Persons of Quality. + +Farther up in the same Street, there is an Amphitheatre, or Area, for the +Battles of wild Beasts; of which a great number is kept for that purpose. +Here are Lions, Tigers, Bears; in short, all the fiercest Animals from the +four Quarters of the World. + +The Bridge over the _Elbe_, which joins Old _Dresden_ to the New, is +scarce to be parallel’d, either for its Length or Substance. It has lately +been made broader by forming Demy-Arches which support the Riders on each +side. The Barriers are of Iron, well wrought. An Equestrian Statue of the +King is going to be erected upon it. + +The Palace or Castle joins to the Bridge, at the Entrance of New +_Dresden_. This is an ancient Structure, which makes but a mean +Appearance; and ’tis said, that the King intends it shall be pull’d down, +and another built in its room; and that his Majesty has set apart eight +Millions of Crowns for the Expence of it. + +The inside of the Castle surpasses the outside. The State-Room is +splendidly furnish’d. The Great Gallery contains several Curiosities, such +as antique Busts, Vessels, and Pictures. + +This Palace has two Chapels, one of which belongs to the _Roman_ +Catholicks, and the other to the _Lutherans_. The first was heretofore the +Theatre for Operas, but the King turn’d it into a Chapel, upon account of +the Marriage of his only Son with the Archdutchess, eldest Daughter to the +Emperor _Joseph_; the second was always the Chapel of the Electors of +_Saxony_. The King might, if he pleas’d, have order’d Mass to be +celebrated in it, but he wou’d not give his Subjects that Handle for +Complaint; besides, the late Queen, his Wife, having always stuck to the +_Lutheran_ Religion, in which she was born, he left her that Chapel for +her use. The Treasure of it is extremely rich, and contains Vessels, +Chasubles, and other things heretofore consecrated and given to this +Chapel by the Piety of the Electors. + +The Royal Treasury, commonly call’d the _Grune Gewölbe_, (the Green +Vault,) is in the Palace. They are three arch’d Rooms, which contain +immense Riches, and shine all over with Gold, Precious Stones, and +Diamonds. ’Tis one of the finest Places in the World. There are several +Sets of Brilliant Diamonds, Rubies, Emeralds, Pearls, Saphirs, and other +Precious Stones. Every Set is compleat, and consists of Buttons for +Clothes, Loops for Hats, Swords, Hangers, Canes, Sleeve-Buttons, +Shoe-Buckles, Muffs, and Sword-Belts, Snuff-Boxes, Watches, +Tweezer-Cases, Pocket-Books; in short, all the Jewels that can possibly be +imagin’d, even to the Furniture of a Horse; so that were I to write down +every Particular, I should furnish you a Volume. And they all look the +better, for being ranged with wonderful Nicety in Cases of Crystal. + +To the Castle belongs a Garden, call’d the _Zwinger Garten_, which is the +_Tuilleries_ of _Dresden_, but not extensive enough to deserve the Name of +a Garden. ’Tis encompass’d with Buildings of Free-Stone, which are +Green-Houses for Orange-Trees. The Structure consists but of one Floor, on +which are rais’d six large Pavilions, _viz._ three in front at the +Entrance, two on the sides, and one over the Portico at the Entrance; +which have all a Communication with one another, by a Platform that has +Balustrades adorn’d with Statues. It wou’d be hard to lay what Order of +Architecture prevails most in this Edifice, the Carv’d-Work with which it +is decorated, being more of the _Gothic_ than the modern Taste. + +Near to this Building there’s a Palace which makes a great Shew, but the +Apartments are by much too small, and too low for the Ornaments employ’d +about them. The King caus’d this House to be built for the Countess _de +Cosel_, at the time when that Lady was in high Favour. No Cost was spar’d +in it; but ’tis pity that a more skilful Architect had not been pitched +upon to conduct it. + +There are five or six other Houses, which are here call’d _Hotels_, but in +_Italy_ wou’d certainly pass for Palaces. The Hotel _de Fuhl_ in the +Street of _Pirnitz_ is one of this number. It was erected by the Great +Marshal _de Fuhl_ who on his Death-bed left it to his Wife, of whom it was +purchas’d by the Count _de Fleming_. That Minister sold it soon after to +the King, who made considerable Embellishments in it, and furnished it +richly. In this Condition his Majesty gave it in 1728, to the Marshal _de +Wackerbarth_, to make him amends when he had been burnt out of the House +he liv’d in, as Governour of _Dresden_. After this, the Governour’s House +being rebuilt, the King bought the other House again of the Count _de +Wackerbarth_, and has made it a Depositary of his Medals, Antiquities, and +Curiosities. + +To be sure you have heard that this Fire broke out at the Governour’s +House in the Night-time, while the King of _Prussia_ was here. His Majesty +actually lodg’d at the Governour’s House; and was in Bed when the Fire +burst out with such fury that he had but just time to make his Escape in +his Night-Gown, and to save a little Box in which there were Papers of +consequence; for the Floor of his Bed-Chamber fell in, the moment after +the King was gone out of it. An Officer, his Wife, and her Maid-Servant +perish’d in the Flames. The Count _de Wackerbarth_ only sav’d his Wardrobe +and his Plate; for his fine Library, and a noble Collection which he had +of Drawings, one of the compleatest and best chosen Setts in _Europe_, +were consum’d. + +The Hotel of _Hoyhm_ is the most considerable Building in _Dresden_. In +about six Years time it had four different Owners. It was founded by the +King’s Favourite, the Count _de Fitztuhm_[54], his Great Chamberlain, and +Minister of State; who having been kill’d in a Duel at _Warsaw_, by the +Count _de St. Gilles_, a _Piedmontese_ that came to _Poland_ to seek +his Fortune, his Widow sold it to Marshal _Fleming_, who dying at _Vienna_ +not long after he had purchased it, the House fell to his Son, a weakly +Child, who did not long survive him. His Mother, who was a _Radzivil_, was +his Heiress, and one of the greatest Matches in _Europe_. She was soon +after married again to a _Polander_ whom she follow’d into his own +Country; and when she left _Dresden_, she sold her House to the Count _de +Hoym_, who at present occupies it. + +Not far from this House are the King’s Stables, which are well worth +seeing, there being a great number of wonderful fine Horses, and some of +all sorts of the rarest Breeds. Over the Stables, are Rooms full of fine +Equipage, consisting of sumptuous Saddles and Housings, Sleds and +magnificent Harness. Many of these Equipages are of the _Turkish_ Mode, +and plated with massy Silver, adorn’d with precious Stones. + +The Arsenal, which is much boasted of here, cannot be reckon’d a fine one +by any but such as have not seen the Arsenal of _Berlin_, to which it is +not to be compar’d. There are several Rooms in it full of Arms, Brass +Cannon, Helmets, and Cuirasses, which are the Tapestry of Arsenals. + +Thus, Sir, you have all that I observed in _Dresden_: it remains for me to +give you some Account of its Suburbs, and of the Pleasure-Houses which the +King has in the Neighbourhood of this City. + +The Suburbs of _Dresden_ are very extensive, but have no Building of +consequence, except the Palace in the King’s great Garden, built by his +Majesty’s Mother, and that call’d the _Turkish_ Palace, because it is +furnished entirely after the _Turkish_ manner. The King gave an +Entertainment at this Palace to the Princess his Daughter-in-law, on +account of her Arrival at _Dresden_, which was so particular that I think +it deserves a Digression. + +Upon the Feast-Day, the whole Court appeared at the _Turkish_ Palace, in +the Habits of _Turks_. The King came in the Dress of a _Sultan_, but +without any Attendance. His Majesty was soon after follow’d by the +Princess his Daughter-in-law, with her Ladies. Her Royal Highness, for +whom the Entertainment was made, found a Body of Janizaries drawn up in +the Court-Yard of the Palace. The King receiv’d her at the Entrance of his +Apartment, and conducted her into a Hall spread with fine Tapestry, and +laid with Cushions richly embroider’d. + +The King and Princess being seated, were served by twenty-four Negroes in +sumptuous Dresses, with Sherbet, Coffee, and Sweet-Meats, in great Vessels +of massy Silver; nor were scented Waters, and perfumed Handkerchiefs +forgot. After this Collation, they drew near the Windows to see the +_Pillau_ (which is the Rice of _Turky_) and the King’s Bounty-Money +distributed to the Janizaries. This was follow’d by a Comedy, with an +Entertainment of _Turkish_ Dances. Then came the Supper, the Guests +sitting cross-legg’d upon the Cushions, and the Courses being served up +after the fashion of _Turky_, by the Negroes and young _Turks_. While they +were at Table, the Company was diverted by the various Leaps and Postures +of certain Tumblers and Rope-Dancers. Supper being over, they went into +the Garden, which was illuminated with several Thousands of Crystal Lamps. +There was Tilting, and shooting at the Mark, and whenever the Mark was +hit, a Sky-Rocket was sent up, which for the time seem’d to sprinkle +Thousands of Stars among those in the Firmament. After this, the Company +retir’d into the Palace, where the King and the Princess open’d the Ball, +and there was dancing till five o’clock in the Morning, when the Ball was +concluded with a sumptuous Breakfast that was serv’d at the several +Tables, after the manner of our own Country; which, with the leave of the +_Mussulmen_, is as good as theirs. + +The finest Royal Houses, are _Pilnitz_ and _Moritzbourg_. The King, who is +certainly of all Sovereigns the most magnificent, keeps Men continually at +work, in embellishing those Places. The Works are carried on by the +Direction of Mons. _Bot_, whom I think to be not inferior to _Bernini_, +and I doubt not, such is my high Idea of him, that as he is supported by +the Generosity of a Great King, he will accomplish such Works as are +worthy of himself, and of his Master too. + +I have now done with the Description of the Palaces and Royal Houses, in +which, I own I have been defective, and would gladly have been excus’d +from giving it; but you would have it, and I cou’d not help gratifying +you. I pass now to something more important; and shall entertain you with +the present State of the Royal Family, and the Characters of the most +distinguish’d Persons at Court. + +FREDERIC-AUGUSTUS II. King of _Poland_, and Elector of _Saxony_, is the +Chief of this August Family. This Monarch, whom no Man surpasses in +Strength and Dexterity, and whom few Princes equal in Generosity, is the +second Son of _John George_ III. Elector of _Saxony_. He succeeded his +Brother _John George_ IV. in the Electorate, and was chose King of +_Poland_ after the Death of the Great _Sobieski_, notwithstanding the +Intrigues of the Emissaries of _France_ who declared for the Prince of +_Conti_. + +When _Frederic-Augustus_ ascended the Throne, he brought all the Virtues +to it fitting for a Great King. The Agreeableness of his Person, his +Majestic Air, his Heroic Strength, his Good-Nature, his Politeness, and +his well-known Valour, were the least of his Qualities. Never was any +Prince more magnificent, nor did any one either give more, or with a +better Grace. As a General and a Statesman, he was never too much lifted +up by Prosperity, nor shock’d by Adversity; so that he was observed, when +in the depth of his Misfortunes, to act and treat even with his Enemies, +with that Air of Complaisance and Satisfaction, which Men inur’d to great +Affairs know how to assume, in the midst of the cruellest Mortifications. +This Prince, in his Youth, travelled to the chief Countries of _Europe_, +and where-ever he came, was admir’d for his Strength, his Air, and +Dexterity. Amongst other Adventures, a very odd one befel him in his +Travels, at _Venice_. There happen’d to be in that City a famous +Astrologer, who had the Reputation of being well read in the Book of Fate. +The King, who was only Prince at that time, had a mind that he should +calculate his Nativity, and for that purpose went to the Astrologer’s +House, accompanied by two Gentlemen. They were all three dress’d in plain +Apparel, and the Prince, to disguise himself still the more, had conceal’d +his brown Hair under a fair Peruke. He enter’d the last Man, into the +Astrologer’s House, and seem’d to be rather as an Attendant, than a +Companion of the others. But to him the Astrologer first address’d +himself, calling him by the Titles of _My Lord_ and _Highness_. The Prince +told him that his Rank in the World was much too mean for such high +Compliments; but the Astrologer made answer, he knew very well whom he +spoke to, and that it was in vain for him to think of concealing himself +from such a Man as he. The Prince and his small Retinue were then +conducted by him into a Closet, where he shewed him a Looking-Glass. _Cast +your Eye on that Mirror_, said he to the Prince, _and there you will see +the principal Events of your Life_. The Prince without any scruple, +look’d accordingly, and saw himself at first in the Habit of an Elector; +afterwards, with a Crown on his Head, and a royal Mantle on his Shoulders; +and at last, full of Wounds, and bath’d in his Blood. + +This Story, which I should not give you for true, if I had not heard it +from a great Nobleman who told me he had it from the King’s own Mouth, is +however, not without a Parallel; for it is pretended, that a Mason told +Madam _de Maintenon_, when she was no more than Madam _Scarron_, what her +Fortune and Rank would be in _France_. I could mention several other +Instances to you of the same nature, which all surprize me, tho’ they +don’t convince me. Be it as it will, two Articles of the Prediction made +to the King of _Poland_ are fully accomplished; as to the third, may +Heaven confound the Astrologer[55]. + +The King of _Poland_ spends part of his time in his Kingdom, and part of +it in his Electorate. ’Tis true, that he seems to take more delight in +_Saxony_ than in _Poland_; and ’tis in my Opinion very natural for him to +do so; _Saxony_ being his hereditary Country, where he is so absolute +that his Will is the Law of his Subjects, by whom he is rather ador’d than +belov’d: besides, ’tis _Saxony_ that furnishes him wherewithal to support +his Dignity, and offers him every thing conducive to the Pleasures of a +Great King; and it is there that he has a Court, the most brilliant in +_Europe_, not only for its Splendor, but for Magnificence and Pleasures; +whereas in _Poland_, he has only the vain Pageantry of Royalty; being +under greater Limitations than any Sovereign in the World; so that the +least Innovation, the least Act of Authority, makes the _Poles_ clamorous, +and they presently think they are excused from paying him that Obedience +which they owe him. All the Gentlemen here are their own Masters; and the +Noblemen behave so much like Sovereigns, that they never go to Court but +to demand Favours, which if they obtain, they go away ungrateful, and if +they are deny’d, they retire with the Intention of taking a Revenge on the +first Opportunity: For the Climate being rough, the People are fierce; and +the King, tho’ adored in _Saxony_, is scarce beloved in _Poland_. + +The Electoral Prince, this King’s only Son, is lusty, proper, and well +made, and like the King his Father is adroit in all bodily Exercises. He +loves Pleasure, but ’tis with Moderation, and is heartily attach’d to the +Religion which he has embrac’d. He is stiff and reserved, without being +haughty, which is a Temper that he derives from the late Queen his +Mother[56], whom he very much resembles. To such as have the Honour of +Access to him, and of being known to him, he is gracious, familiar and +very civil. His Royal Highness has been admit’d for his good Qualities in +a great part of _Europe_, particularly in _Germany_, _France_, and +_Italy_, where he has spent several Years. No Son can have more respect to +a Parent than he has for the King his Father, whose Will and Pleasure he +never oppos’d in any one Instance; and whose Person he has always honour’d +even in his Ministers. Of all Pleasures he seems to bestow most Time in +Hunting; nevertheless he makes it only as an Amusement without being +passionately fond of it. His Royal Highness’s Confident is _Solckofski_ or +_Sulkowski_[57], a _Polish_ Gentleman who was once his Page; and by thus +making him his Favourite, for which he cannot but be applauded, he shews +that he is capable of distinguishing true Merit. I had frequently the +Honour of making my Compliments to this Prince while he was at _Paris_, +and this is now the second time that I have had the same favour at +_Dresden_, where I find he is the same gracious Personage as ever. The +last time that I had the Honour of being introduc’d to him he talk’d a +great deal to me about _Paris_, and when he dismiss’d me, he said he was +sorry to think that _Dresden_ would not afford me so many Pleasures as +_Paris_. + +The same Day that I waited on the Prince, I was introduced to the Princess +his Royal Highness’s Consort, who is the late Emperor _Joseph_’s eldest +Daughter. The Voice of the People is unanimous in the Character of this +Princess. All Mankind agrees that she has not her superior for +Good-nature, Piety, Charity, Modesty, and in a word for all, the Virtue of +the Soul: To please her Husband, and to give her Children an Education +suitable to their Birth, is her principal Endeavour. ’Tis rare to find a +happier Couple than their Royal Highnesses; for Marriage, which generally +cools the warmest Passions, seems on the contrary to have animated their +reciprocal Affection to such a degree that they are a Pattern for the +Imitation of their Court. + +Their Royal Highnesses Children are so young that I shall say but little +of them[58]. Their eldest Son very much resembles the Pictures that I have +seen of the Emperor _Joseph_ when he was a Child. This young Prince seems +to me to be of a very delicate Constitution, and has so great a Weakness +in his Knees that he can scarce stand: The Physicians say it will go off +as he grows up, but their Promises are no Gospel for me. + +The two Princes of the Blood, who commonly reside at _Dresden_, are +_John-Adolphus_ of _Saxe-Weissenfels_[59], a Prince of uncommon Merit, +whose Sentiments and Actions are no disparagement to his Birth; and +_Maurice-William_ of _Saxe-Zeits_, the last of his Branch. He was +persuaded by his Uncle the late Cardinal _de Saxe-Zeits_ to abjure the +_Lutheran_ Religion and to embrace the ecclesiastical State: He is Bishop +of _Konigsgratz_ in _Bohemia_, Provost of _Alten Ottingen_ in _Bavaria_, +and a Canon of _Cologne_, _Liege_, and _Aichstedt_, and is descended from +such a Family that it may be presum’d, he will some day or other, be +advanc’d to the Purple[60]. + +N. B. _What follows, is a more particular Account of the Electoral +Family of +Saxony+, translated from the Baron’s State of it; which +is prefix’d to the second Edition of these +Memoirs+._ + +_Augustus_ III. King of _Poland_ Great Duke of _Lithuania_ and Elector of +_Saxony_, was born the seventh of _October_ 1696. He is the only Son of +_Augustus_ II. the last King of _Poland_ and of _Eberhardina_ of +_Brandenbourg-Bareith_. His Grandmother, _Anne_ Princess Royal of +_Denmark_, Widow of _John George_ the third Elector of _Saxony_, took care +of him in his Infancy, and impress’d him with those Sentiments of Piety, +Humanity, and Justice, which render him at this day the Darling of his +People, and the Pattern of Kings. + +At a proper Age, the King his Father took him out of the hands of the +Women, and committed him to the Care of Monsieur _de Miltitz_, a Gentleman +of a good Family; whom Learning, good Behaviour and solid Virtue render’d +worthy of such an Employment. + +The Prince, who always found Charms in Virtue, was sensible of the Merit +of his Governor: He lov’d him, was inseparable from him, and receiv’d his +Advice with a Docility, which, at his tender Age, was a presage he wou’d +be possess’d of that Fund of Wisdom which now renders him worthy of his +Throne. + +While the young Prince was under the Conduct of the Women, God was pleas’d +to touch the Heart of the late King his Father: That Monarch, who happen’d +to be born a _Lutheran_, was converted to the _Roman_ Catholick Religion, +and not long after elected King of _Poland_; and his Majesty being +convinc’d of the Purity of the Religion which he had embrac’d, was +inclin’d to make a Convert also of the Prince his Son. Nevertheless, such +was the Respect the King had for her Royal Highness his Mother, that he +was loth that august Princess shou’d be an Eye-witness of the young +Prince’s renouncing a Religion which she had taught him, and to which she +was strenuously attach’d: He resolv’d therefore to remove him, and sent +him to _Francfort_ to be present at the Coronation of the Emperor +_Charles_ VI. His Companion in this Journey, was M. _de Miltitz_; but as +this Gentleman’s Attachment to _Luther_’s Doctrine made the King +apprehensive that he wou’d thwart his Views, he recall’d him, and +appointed the Count _de Costa_, and the Baron _de Hagen_, to be his Son’s +Governors. + +The Count who was a _Polander_ and Palatine of _Livonia_, was not only of +noble Birth, but a Gentleman of solid Piety, profound Learning, great +Probity, and as much respected for his Principles as belov’d for his good +Behaviour and Politeness. + +The Baron _de Hagen_ was of a Family of some Distinction in the Electorate +of _Triers_: He was Ambassador from the King at the Emperor’s Election, +and at his Coronation at _Francfort_: His Behaviour was more grave than +the Count _de Costa_’s, but he was not inferior to the Count for Learning, +Integrity, and good Sense. + +Under the Conduct of these two Gentlemen, the Prince set out to visit a +part of _Germany_ and _Italy_, where he embrac’d the _Roman_ Catholick +Religion; his Profession of which, was however for a long time as private +as it is now exemplary; for he did not declare his alteration of Religion +’till after the Death of her most Serene Highness his Grandmother, who +died the first of _July_ 1717. During this the Prince made the Tour of +_France_, where, tho’ he travell’d under the Name of the Count _de +Misnia_, _Lewis_ XIV. caus’d all the Honours to be paid to him which were +due to the Son of a great King. + +The Court of _France_ was charm’d with that Politeness, that noble +Modesty, and that Fund of Wisdom which accompany’d this Prince’s Actions +and Conversation: They admir’d him and were sorry for his Departure. He +travell’d a second time to _Italy_, where he acquired that fine Taste of +Men and Things and that Knowledge of Architecture, Painting, and other +curious Arts, which is so useful for great Princes. _Germany_, upon the +return of this Prince, bless’d itself for having given him birth, and +offer’d up Prayers that all its Princes might be like him. His Royal +Highness stay’d a considerable while at _Vienna_, where he maintain’d the +Reputation he had acquir’d in the several Countries he had seen. He +returned at length to _Saxony_, where there was an universal Joy for his +Arrival. The _Saxons_ were charm’d to see the Prince that was design’d by +Heaven to be their Sovereign, so worthy of that Command. One day or other, +they said, we shall lose the most righteous of Kings, and the best of +Masters, but we shall find restor’d in his Son, his heroic Stature, his +majestic Air, his Magnanimity, the same Temper for Goodness, Equity and +Generosity; the Spirit of the great _Augustus_ will be always present with +us; and all our Loss will be that of his Personal Appearance. + +Not long after the Prince’s Return to _Dresden_, _Augustus Christopher_ +Count _de Wackerbarth_[61] treated at _Vienna_ for the Marriage of his +Royal Highness to the most serene Archdutchess _Maria Josepha_, eldest +Daughter of the late Emperor _Joseph_. The Count _de Flemming_, Prime +Minister and Velt-Marshal of _Saxony_, solemnly demanded the most serene +Archdutchess in Marriage; and the Prince repair’d to _Vienna_ to espouse +her. The Ceremony was perform’d in the Chapel of _la Favorita_, with all +the Pomp suitable to so great a Match. Some Days after this, their Royal +Highnesses set out for _Dresden_, where they were receiv’d with an +unparallell’d Magnificence. _Augustus_ II. the most splendid of Kings, and +a Prince who had the best Fancy for ordering of Entertainments, outdid +himself; he thought nothing too good for celebrating the Nuptials of his +so worthy a Son, with a Princess whose Ancestors were all Emperors. + +The Rejoicings having lasted forty Days, the King set out for his Kingdom, +leaving the Prince Regent, as he always did whenever he went from his +Electorate. + +In 1726, the Prince himself took a Journey to _Poland_, to which Country +he had once before accompanied the King his Father in 1711, but then made +no long stay. There he won the Hearts of the chief Nobility, who from that +moment thought him worthy of succeeding one day to their Governor, the +Great _Augustus_. They were pleased to see, that he honour’d their +Countryman, the Count _Sulkowski_, with his Confidence, and they thought +it a happy Omen for their Nation, blessing their Stars, that the Prince +distinguished Virtue in one born among themselves. + +His Royal Highness being convinced that of all the Sums laid out by +Princes, there are none less liable to censure than what they expend in +Buildings, undertook that of _Wermsdorf_, which he afterwards call’d +_Hubertsbourg_; and he finish’d that great Work in a little time, by the +assistance of the King his Father: For, in short, it would have been +impossible for his Royal Highness to have defray’d all the Expence of it +himself. It was already very wonderful to see with what Prudence he +directed his Finances. His Revenue being settled, his Expence was suitable +to his Rank; he had a numerous Houshold, his Hunting Equipage was +sumptuous, yet he did good to all that made their Necessity known to him; +his Charities were truly Royal, every body was paid; the Noblemen and the +Tradesmen receiv’d their Pensions and Salaries punctually; and his +Accounts were so regularly kept and discharged by the Count _Sulkowski_, +that the Prince was never in debt. + +The Prince commonly spent the Season for hunting the Stag at +_Hubertsbourg_, and employ’d the remainder of his time at _Dresden_, in +all manner of Exercises, being admired in every Action, for the Grace, +Strength, and Dexterity with which he perform’d it, as well as for the +Sobriety and Regularity of his Manners; for he kept as regular Hours +then, as he does now. + +_Augustus_ III. never knew what it was to be idle or vicious. Such is his +Chastity and Fidelity to his august Spouse, that he never gave her the +least Reason so much as to suspect his Honour. He games only for +amusement, and never plays so high that the loss of the Stake can put +those out of temper who have the Honour to be of his Party. But of all the +Virtues of _Augustus_ III. there is none, most certainly, which has made +him more the Favourite of Heaven, than the inviolable Respect he always +manifested for the King his Father, who tenderly lov’d him; and never was +a Son, Heir to so powerful a Dominion, more affected for the loss of a +Father, than he was when he heard of the death of his. His Affliction was +impress’d deeply in his Countenance, when he receiv’d the homage of his +capital City, at his first appearance in publick; and to this very day, he +is ready to melt in tears at the sight of any Object that calls him to +mind; for which reason the People of _Dresden_, rather than renew his +Sorrow, forbear the mention of a King whom _Europe_ has plac’d in the Rank +of its greatest Men. + +Prince FREDERIC-AUGUSTUS, when he became Elector, did not alter his +Manners, but retain’d the same Piety, the same Regularity. He kept most of +the Servants of the late King his Father, and settled Pensions on those +whom he thought fit to dismiss. His first Care, when he came to the +Electorate, was to provide himself with Ministers, whose Candor and +Sincerity were above Envy it self. For this purpose, he call’d to his +Cabinet-Council, the Count _de Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour_, M. _de +Baudissin_, the Count _Sulkowski_, and M. _de Bruhl_; to the two last of +whom he committed the Direction of Affairs. + +All _Saxony_ applauded this Choice, and doubted not of being very happy +under the Reign of a Prince, who was capable of forming so true a Judgment +of Persons for his Ministers. But what the _Saxons_ saw with extraordinary +Satisfaction, was the sure Proof the King gave of his Gratitude and Esteem +for Virtue, in recalling M. _de Miltitz_, heretofore his Governor, who for +some Years past was retired to his Estate. This Gentleman wou’d fain have +been excus’d from returning to Court, alledging his great Age, and his +being a Stranger to Business; when his Majesty sent him word, that he +requir’d no more at his hands than what his Health wou’d permit; that he +knew his Probity, his Love for his Country, and his Attachment to himself; +that therefore he was willing he shou’d be near his Person, and assist him +with his Advice, which he knew wou’d be solid, by what he gave him when he +had the charge of his Education. In this manner FREDERIC-AUGUSTUS, by the +display of his Gratitude, an uncommon Virtue (especially among Princes) +encourag’d his Courtiers to do what might also give them a Title to it. + +These great Qualities procur’d him the Suffrages of the most judicious +Part of the Republic of _Poland_ which chose him for King. His Majesty +having sent the Count _de Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour_, and M. +_Baudissin_ to _Warsaw_, with the Character of Plenipotentiaries, to take +care of his Interests, these Ministers found the _Polish_ Lords very much +divided: Foreign Gold, with the Intrigues, Cabals, and ensnaring Promises +of a Minister who was lavish of it; all these had corrupted a great number +of them, and others were oppress’d, and must undoubtedly have submitted to +Violence, if they had not had a very great share of Courage and Love to +their Country. God, who never abandons the Virtuous, was their Support and +their Protector, as well as the Shield of the Plenipotentiaries, whose +sacred Character could not guard them from all manner of Outrage. And tho’ +the Blood of the _Jagellons_, which flows in this Prince’s Veins, tho’ his +being the Son of one of the greatest Kings that _Poland_ ever had, as well +as his own Dignity of a Sovereign, ought to have procured him the Respect +of all the _Poles_, yet every Person and Thing belonging to him at +_Warsaw_, was maltreated. Such was, at that time, the unhappy Fate of +_Poland_; Oppression and Tyranny having succeeded the glorious, mild, and +peaceful Reign of _Augustus_ II. + +Mean time, those generous Noblemen who had so bravely stood up in the +defence of the Liberties and Honour of their Country, after having tried +all their Efforts to reclaim their wandering Brethren, found they could +not succeed, and therefore broke up; after which, they met in the very +same Place where _Henry de Valois_ had been elected, and there they chose +and proclaim’d AUGUSTUS Elector of _Saxony_, King of _Poland_. They then +sent a Deputation to his Majesty, to intreat him to come immediately, with +the Queen his Consort, to take possession of the Throne. The King comply’d +with their Intreaty, and set out from _Dresden_, after having return’d +solemn Thanks to God, the sovereign Disposer of Crowns, and of the Fortune +of Kings. + +In a few days the Queen followed the King, and overtook him at +_Tarnovitz_, where their Majesties received the grand Deputation from +_Poland_; and after giving them Audience, proceeded in their Journey +towards _Cracow_. There the King made his Royal Entry on the 14th of +_January_ 1734, and on the 17th of that Month, their Majesties were +consecrated and crowned by _Lipsky_ the Bishop of that See. + +Some time after this august Ceremony, which, in _Poland_, is absolutely +necessary and essential for a King Elect, the Queen return’d to _Saxony_; +but the King staid at _Cracow_, where he held a Diet, in which he made +several Regulations for restoring the Tranquillity of the Kingdom. When +the Diet was ended, his Majesty march’d towards _Dantzic_, which the +_Russians_, his Allies, had invested, in order to drive out the Primate +and his Adherents, who were retir’d thither. + +But after a March of several Days, which the Severity of the Weather +render’d very painful, his Majesty yielded to the Instances that were made +to him from _Saxony_, to assist in Person at the opening of the Assembly +of States which he was under a necessity of calling; and he returned to +_Dresden_, where his Arrival caus’d an inexpressible Joy. Mean time the +Army, under the Command of the Prince of _Saxe-Weissenfels_ continued its +March towards _Dantzic_. + +The King was accompanied by a great number of _Polish_ Noblemen, who +finding themselves unable to oppose the Rage of the Primate’s Party in +their several Countries, came to seek shelter in _Saxony_, where his +Majesty receiv’d them, and still entertains them, in a manner which cannot +but convince them of his Gratitude, and give them greater Hopes of what +Favours they may expect, when the Tranquillity of _Poland_ is restor’d. + +The King, after his Return from _Cracow_, summon’d the States of his +Electorate, and open’d the Assembly with the usual Ceremonies. He was +seated on his Throne, accompanied by the chief Lords of his Court, as well +the _Polish_ as _Saxons_. M. _de Miltitz_, his Privy Counsellor, sat on +the Right-hand of the Throne; and, in the King’s Name, made a Speech to +the States, wherein he declared to them that his Majesty intended to make +no Innovation in the Affairs of Religion, but to let his Protestant +Subjects enjoy their Privileges, as they had been granted and confirm’d to +them by the late King. Then they told him the Motives which had engag’d +the King to call them together, and demanded the necessary Subsidies for +defraying the extraordinary Expences which his Majesty had been +necessarily involved in thro’ the Calamities of the Time. M. _de Hesler_, +Administrator of the Office of hereditary Marshal of _Saxony_, return’d an +Answer in the Name of the States, and spoke with a Dignity, and all the +Decorum due to so august an Assembly. He assur’d the King of the +respectful and inviolable Fidelity and Attachment of his Subjects to his +sacred Person. And in truth, ’tis impossible for a People to be better +affected to their Sovereign, and more disposed to contribute to every +thing that is capable of augmenting his Glory. + +The King’s voluntary Declaration to his States that he would make no +Innovation in the Affairs of Religion, won the Hearts of his Subjects to +such a degree, that there is not a _Saxon_ who would make any scruple to +sacrifice his Life and Fortune for his Service. And the said Declaration +does equal Honour to the Justice of the Monarch, and the Wisdom of his +Ministers. + +While the King was employ’d with his States in securing the Happiness and +Tranquility of _Saxony_, his Majesty received Advice, that his Army, after +having join’d the _Russians_, had obliged the _Dantzickers_ to surrender, +and that the _Polish_ Lords of the contrary Party petition’d for leave to +remove to some Place where they might pay him their homage. The King, in +imitation of the great Emperor whose Name he bears, after having made a +Conquest, thought, like him, of nothing more than to make those happy whom +the Fortune of War had submitted to his Arms. His Majesty did not take +any advantage of his Victory, but forgetting past Offences, repair’d to +the Abbey of _Oliva_, near _Dantzic_, where he receiv’d the Submission of +the _Dantzickers_, and the Allegiance of the Lords that were the Primate’s +Adherents. By his Modesty and Goodness, he charm’d the Vanquished, and +convinc’d them of their Obligation to pay him that Esteem which before +perhaps they did not think was their Duty to grant to him. The Greatness +of his Soul, which inclines him to sympathize with the Misfortunes of the +Unhappy, hinder’d him from entering _Dantzic_, the desolate State of that +City being so afflicting a Scene to him, that he cou’d not bear to see it. +The _Dantzickers_, by their submission, were become his Subjects; their +present Misfortunes, and their past Mistakes, affected him to such a +degree, that he was fearful of being put in mind of them, and refus’d to +appear among them, crown’d with those Laurels which he had reap’d by their +defeat. So much Modesty, worthy of the most glorious Triumph, gain’d him +the Prayers of the People, in which his Majesty saw more Charms, than he +wou’d have found in Trophies, and the most stately Triumphal Arches. + +The King having provided for the pressing Necessities of his Kingdom, +return’d to his Electorate, where the States continued their Deliberations +ever since his Absence. Now that his Majesty is return’d, the Care of the +State is almost his constant Employment. His Recreations are either taking +the Air on horseback, Hunting, the _Italian_ Opera, or else going to +Concerts, which the Queen, who is a great Lover of Music, causes to be +perform’d in her own Apartment. Their Majesties generally dine together, +and admit the Nobility of both Sexes to their Table. + +There, the King observes that Temperance which so much becomes sovereign +Princes. All his Hours, as has been already observ’d, are regulated; and +all his Actions accompanied with Devotion, good Order, and Equity. Never +did King better discharge that sacred Character; being always firm and +tranquil, Danger cou’d never affright him. He accepted the Crown, tho’ he +saw he cou’d never fix it on his Head without infinite Pains, Peril, and +Cares. The Advantage he had gain’d over his Enemies did not seem to have +flush’d him; he was sorry he had not been able to reclaim them by gentle +Methods, and ascribes the happy Success of his Arms solely to Providence. + +Thus have I given you a very imperfect Account of the Virtues and Actions +of a King, which plainly denote that the perfect honest Man (a Title not +unworthy even of the sacred Majesty of Kings) forms his Character. As for +his Stature, ’tis such as, one wou’d think, those ought to have who are +born to command. He has a robust and vigorous Constitution, a sound +Judgment, a happy Memory, a generous and beneficent Soul, the necessary +Constituents of the Hero and the Christian. His Conduct is regulated by a +great Attachment to the Principles of Religion. His Aim and his +Application are to render his Subjects happy; and he only longs for Peace +that they may taste the Fruits of it. + +As to her MAJESTY the QUEEN, the Name of that august Princess, whom Heaven +has endowed with all manner of Virtues, to be the worthy Wife of a King, +is MARIA JOSEPHA, who was born the 8th of _December_ 1699, and is the +eldest Daughter of _Joseph_ Emperor of the _Romans_, and of +_Wilhelmina-Amelia_ of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Hanover_. Her Marriage to the +King, then the Prince Royal, was celebrated at _Vienna_, the 20th of +_August_ 1719, betwixt 8 and 9 a Clock at Night, in the Chapel of the +Palace of the _Favorita_, by the Pope’s Nuncio, who next day perform’d the +solemn Mass. In a few days after, this Princess set out with her Husband +for _Saxony_. It has already been observed with what Pomp she was received +by the King her Father-in-law; and the Veneration paid her by the +Subjects, was equal to the Magnificence of her Reception by the King. The +Returns that the Princess made on her part, manifested a Goodness which +nothing cou’d resist; so that she had the Homage and the Hearts both of +the Courtiers and the common People. Being the Daughter of a Princess, +whom the World respects even more for her Virtues than for the Splendour +of that extraordinary Grandeur with which she is inviron’d, her Royal +Highness’s sole Concern was to walk in the Steps of that august Mother, +the Pattern of Princesses, and the Honour of Religion. She conceiv’d a +Respect for the King her Father-in-law, and the Queen her Mother-in-law, +from which she never departed; and now that she is a Sovereign, she has no +other Cares than to render a Nation happy which is worthy of being so for +its Affection and Fidelity to its Electors. She is inviolably attach’d to +her Duties, full of Tenderness and Respect for her Husband, and always +wisely employ’d in what may procure him solid Comfort. She continually +gives him Examples of Piety and Charity; she is beneficent to all that +make their Necessities known to her, and seems to think every unfortunate +Subject merits her Protection. The Care she takes of her Children is not +only the Care of a tender Mother, but of a Queen, who, in love to the +State, is desirous to form their Minds, so as to render them worthy of +being its Sovereigns, and to procure them the advantage of being more +respected, if possible, for their Virtues than their Birth. + +The Queen, who went with the King to _Cracow_, and there receiv’d the +Crown, return’d after her Coronation to _Saxony_, where she is belov’d and +reverenc’d by People of all Ranks. This august Princess seems to have an +Air of Gravity, as have all the Princes of the most serene House of +_Austria_; but as she is serious, so she is discreet, modest, and +good-natur’d. She was educated, as are all the Archdutchesses, in the +knowledge of Things useful for those who are born to govern States; she +speaks several Languages very readily, and particularly the _Latin_, in +such a manner as both charms and surprizes the _Poles_. She is Mistress of +History and Geography, and has a solid Taste of Musick, Painting, and all +the Sciences in general: Yet never did Queen take less Pride in her +Talents; for, by kindly condescending to accommodate her self to the +Capacities of those with whom she converses, she conceals all her +Superiority. Her high Rank serves only to render her affable; she is the +Mother of the People, and particularly of the Poor. And to sum up the +Character of this great Princess, it may be said in short, that she is a +virtuous Wife, a faithful Companion, a tender Mother, and a compassionate +Sovereign. + +His Royal Highness the PRINCE ROYAL and ELECTORAL was born at _Dresden_, +the 5th of _September_ 1722, and baptized in the _Roman_ Catholick Church, +by the Name of _Frederic-Christian_: He is handsome, and has a Countenance +full of Good-nature, and indeed his Goodness charms all that pay their +court to him. His Knowledge and Learning are beyond one of his tender +Years; he talks several Languages justly, and with ease; and his strong +Inclination to follow the wise Counsels of his Governor, the Count +_Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour_, is a sure Presage that when he comes to +the Age of Maturity, he will walk in the glorious Steps of the King his +Father. + +As to their Royal Highnesses the other Princes, the eldest of them, Prince +AUGUSTUS-ALBERT-CHRISTIAN-XAVIER was born the 25th of _August_ 1730. He is +handsome, full of Life and Spirit, and already discovers a great +Inclination to every thing military. He is infinitely better pleased to +see the Officers of his Regiment about him than the Women his Attendants. +The Noise of Drums and Trumpets is the most agreeable Music to him, and +according to all appearance, ’tis what he will always prefer to the Flute. +When he went with their Majesties to _Cracow_, and heard talk of the +Ravages committed by the Palatine of _Kiow_, he said, he had a mind to go +and fight him, and cut off his Head. In fine, all the Actions of this +young Prince give hopes that he will add one to the Number of Heroes +descended from the august Blood of _Saxony_. + +CHARLES-CHRISTIAN-JOSEPH came into the World _July_ 13, 1733, so that his +Royal Highness is too young as yet for any Character in History; and I +shall proceed next to their Royal Highnesses the Princesses. + +Her Royal Highness MARY-AMELIA, their Majesties eldest Daughter, was born +at _Dresden_, the 24th of _September_ 1724. She is fair, very well shap’d, +and has the Air of her Mother. Her Features are regular, and ’tis heartily +to be wish’d that the Small-Pox may spare them. The Care the Queen takes +of her Education is so well bestow’d on her, that she is much better +form’d than Princesses of her Age generally are. + +MARY-ANNE-SOPHIA was born the 24th of _August_ 1728. She is brown, and +likely to be much admir’d for her Beauty. There is something in her +Physiognomy so subtle and witty, that she has already secur’d the +Suffrages of the Courtiers. + +The Princess MARY-JOSEPHA was born the 4th of _November_ 1731. Heaven has +been pleas’d to grant her a share of Beauty with all the Princes and +Princesses her Brothers and Sisters. + +I should make some mention of all the PRINCES and PRINCESSES of the BLOOD, +_viz._ all the most serene Dukes, Princes and Princesses of the Family of +_Saxony_, particularly those who are deriv’d from the _Albertine_ Branch, +as descending with the King from the Elector _John-George_ I. who form’d +the four Branches, _viz._ the Electoral Branch, and those of +_Weissenfels_, _Mersbourg_, and _Zeits_. But as this is only an Epitome of +_Augustus_ III’s Court, I shall only take notice of those Princes who +reside there; _viz._ JOHN-ADOLPHUS Duke of SAXE-WEISSENFELS, and the +Princess CHRISTINA of SAXE-WEISSENFELS. + +The Duke, who was born _September_ 4, 1685, is of a good Stature. His Air, +Behaviour, and way of thinking, denote his Birth; and never was Prince +more worthy of being so. He is beneficent, generous; and all the Qualities +which attract Love and Esteem are united in his Person. After having spent +his early Days in the Service of _Hesse-Cassel_, he enter’d into that of +the late King; and in the several Campaigns which he made in _Germany_, +_Italy_, _Flanders_, and _Poland_, he always signaliz’d his Valour; and +particularly not long ago, when he supported the Reputation of the King’s +Arms before _Dantzic_ in a conspicuous manner. His Goodness, his Modesty, +and his Care to distinguish true Merit, gain him the Love and Veneration +both of the Officers and Soldiers. This Prince is actually a +Lieutenant-General in the Emperor’s Army, General of the _Saxon_ Horse and +Foot, Colonel of the Life-Guards, and of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight of +the Order of the _White Eagle_. He is the Widower of _Caroline_ Princess +of _Saxe-Eysenach_, and professes the _Lutheran_ Religion. + +The Princess CHRISTINA of SAXE-WEISSENFELS, who was born the 27th of +_July_ 1690, adheres to the _Roman_ Catholic Doctrine, Prince _Albert_ her +Father being a Convert to that Communion. She is of a good Stature, has a +grand Majestic Air, and her Behaviour is graceful and polite. Her most +serene Highness receives all that draw near to her with Respect and +Kindness, and demonstrates her high Birth only by discharging the +Obligations of it. She is so firmly attach’d to the Queen by the Bands of +Love and Virtue that she is caress’d and distinguish’d by her; and all the +Court honours and respects her more out of Inclination than Duty. + +You will not perhaps be sorry to know the Names, _&c._ of the late King’s +legitimated Natural Issue, who are rank’d immediately after the Princes of +the Blood. They are four Sons and three Daughters, of whom I shall now +give you an Account, and who were their Mothers. + +1. Count _Maurice_ of _Saxony_ is the eldest of the late King’s Natural +Children, by _Aurora_ Countess of _Koningsmark_, the most worthy of her +Sex in _Europe_ to be the Mistress of a great King; and of all the King’s +Favourite Ladies, she kept longest in his Favour, so that after her +Retirement she acquitted her self so well that she continued in the +possession of his Majesty’s Esteem and Regard. She is still living, +and after having been a Prioress of the Imperial _Lutheran_ +Abbey _Quedlinbourg_ she rose to be the Abbess. The Count is a +Lieutenant-General, and Colonel of a Regiment of Foot in _France_. + +2. The next is the Count _Rotofski_ or _Rutowski_, Lieutenant-General, and +Colonel of the Crown-Guards, who owes his Birth to the King’s tender +Passion for _Fatima_ a _Turkish_ Lady who was taken Prisoner very young, +and fell to the share of M. _Schoning_, a Lieutenant-General in the +Service of the Elector of _Brandenbourg_, who carried her to _Berlin_, and +had her baptiz’d without altering her Name, tho’ she afterwards went by +that of Madame _de Spiegel_. Madamoiselle _de Flemming_, known by the Name +of _Brebentau_, having married the Palatine of that Name, took a fancy to +her, obtain’d her of M. _de Schoning_, and carried her with her into +_Poland_, where from a Slave she became the King’s Mistress, tho’ Madame +_Brebentau_ did not perceive it till _Fatima_’s Waist betray’d her. She +had as much Wit as Beauty, and every body said she deserv’d her Fortune. +Nevertheless, she did not enjoy it long; for Madame _de Lubomirski_, who +was Wife to the Great Chamberlain of the Crown, stole away the King’s +Heart from her. The Count _Rutowski_ is a Major-General of the King’s +Forces, Colonel of the Life-Guards, and of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight +of the Order of the _White Eagle_. This Nobleman very much resembles the +late King his Father, having his Strength, Dexterity, Valour and +Politeness. He had his Education in _France_, and from thence went into +the _Service_ of _Victor Amadeus_ the late King of _Sardinia_. Then he +enter’d for a little while into the Service of the King of _Prussia_, and +at length fix’d himself in that of _Saxony_, when he signaliz’d his Valour +at the Siege of _Dantzic_, and afterwards made the Campaign as a Voluntier +in the Imperial Army on the _Rhine_. As for his Religion, he professes the +_Roman_ Catholic. + +3. The third of the late King’s Natural Sons is _George_ Prince _de +Teschen_, otherwise call’d the _Chevalier de Saxony_, whom he had by +Madame _de Lubomirski_ above-mentioned, who was Niece to the famous +Cardinal _Radjouski_ Archbishop of _Gnesna_, and Primate of _Poland_. +After this Lady had indulg’d the King’s Passion she got a Divorce from +Prince _Lubomirski_, and took the Title of the Princess _de Teschen_, +which was granted to her by the Emperor. This Son of her’s was brought up +in the _Roman_ Catholic Religion. He is a Colonel in the King’s Service, +and Knight of the Order of the _White Eagle_. He is a well-set Man, has a +noble Air, and supports his Title by a great share of Valour and good +Sense. He is perfect Master of military Architecture, and has great +Talents for War, which he cultivates to such a degree that his very +Amusements are the Study of what a great Captain ought to know. This +Desire of his to be qualify’d some day or other for the Command of an Army +engag’d him, at his return from the Siege of _Dantzic_, to repair to the +Army of Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_ to improve himself in the Art of War +under that Great Master. + +4. The fourth and youngest of the Natural Sons of the late King of +_Poland_ is the Count _de Cosel_, Knight of the Order of the _White +Eagle_, whose Mother was the Countess _de Cosel_; which Lady is also +Mother to the Countesses of _Friesland_[62] and _Moschinski_[63]. The +Count is a tall handsome Youth, modest and reserv’d, and more prudent than +might be expected from his Years. This Nobleman, who does not disparage +his Birth, is now making the Campaign upon the _Rhine_ in the Imperial +Army. He is of the _Lutheran_ Communion. + +Madame _de Cosel_ is of the Family of _Bruchstorf_, and a Native of +_Holstein_. She was Maid of Honour to the Dutchess of _Wolfembuttle_, when +the Count _de Hoym_ Minister of State to the King of _Poland_ married her: +The Count soon after the Marriage carried her to _Dresden_, where the King +fell in love with her, and no sooner made it known to her but gain’d her +compliance. M. _de Hoym_ enrag’d at this, demanded a Divorce from her, +which his Wife readily came into; so that the Consistory of _Dresden_ +declared their Marriage null and void. M. _de Hoym_ married again, and +Madame took the Title of the Countess _de Cosel_; but this Lady at once +lost the King’s Favour and her Liberty into the bargain, and is kept close +Prisoner in a Castle, where she has nothing to do but to indulge her +melancholy Reflections upon the Revolutions of her Fortune[64]. + +The NATURAL DAUGHTERS of the late King are, 1. The Countess of _Bilinski_, +(Sister of the Count _Rutowski_) who was born in _Poland_ as well as her +Brother, and educated in the _Roman_ Catholic Religion. _Augustus_ II. +gave her in Marriage to the Count _Bilinski_. The Countess’s frequent +Ailments obliged her to go to _Paris_ for her Health; so that not being of +this Court, ’twill not be expected I should give her Character. + +2. The Countess of _Orselska_, who was born at _Warsaw_, of one _Renard_ a +_French_ Woman, and bred up in the _Roman_ Catholic Faith: She is of a +good Stature, and very charming. Of all the late King’s legitimated +Children his Majesty seem’d to be fondest of this. She was at first very +much neglected, and it did not appear that the King ever intended to own +her. But Count _Rotofski_ seeing her at _Warsaw_ in a Plight too mean for +her Birth took the freedom to mention her to the King her Father, and told +him that she merited some Kindness from him. The King thereupon desir’d to +see her, and she came into his Presence in the _Amazonian_ Habit, which +was her favourite Dress. The King thought she resembled him very much, and +not being able to resist the tender Impressions of Nature he embrac’d her, +and call’d her his Daughter. At the same time he order’d the whole Court +to acknowledge her in that Quality, gave her a magnificent Palace, with +Diamonds without number, and settled great Pensions on her. ’Tis certain, +in short, that never was Daughter more like her Father; she had the same +Features, Temper and Genius. It was impossible for her to be handsomer +with a more grand Air. She is fond of Magnificence, Expence, and +Pleasures. One of her Diversions is to dress in Mens Apparel. It was in +this Habit that I saw her the first time, when she was on horseback, in a +purple Habit embroider’d with Silver, and wore the blue Ribband of +_Poland_. Being all alone, I could not learn who she was, but really took +her to be some young Foreign Nobleman whom I had not yet seen. I never +beheld any body sit better than she did on horseback, or have a more +amiable Air; insomuch, that many Ladies would have been glad of a Lover so +handsome. The same evening I saw her at the Ball, where she was still +dress’d like a Man, only her Habit was more rich than it was in the +morning, and her dishevell’d Locks of Hair hung down in fine Curls about +her Shoulders; so that _Cupid_ himself was not more tempting when he +appear’d before _Psyche_. Her good Mien, and the graceful Air with which I +saw her dance a Minuet, made me inquire who this pretty Youth was? Count +_Rotofski_, who overheard me, made answer, _The young Man whom you admire +wou’d do you no great harm if you were a Woman, but may possibly hurt you +as the Case stands; but come along with me_, continued he, taking me by +the Hand, _I will make him known to you, then leave you to come off with +him as well as you can_. I guess’d by these Words that the Person he was +going to usher me to was the Countess _Orselska_; and I was confirmed in +my Suspicion when I heard Count _Rotofski_ say to her, _Sister, here is a +Gentleman who has all due Respects for you, and who, I’ll engage will be +ready to serve you in whatever you shall require of him_. Madamoiselle +_Orselska_ smiling at this Discourse, I saluted her with all the Respect +which I ow’d to her Rank, and she receiv’d me in the most obliging manner +possible. I saw her next day in Womens Apparel, and thought her still more +amiable. I visit her every day, and now whenever I go to her I generally +find with her _Charles Lewis_, a younger Prince of the Family of +_Holstein-Beck_, who ’tis said is the happy Man for whom she is design’d +in Marriage[65]. + +3. The Countess _Moschinski_, Daughter of the Countess of _Cosel_, was +born at _Dresden_, and match’d by the late King to the Count _de +Moschinski_, a _Polish_ Nobleman. Her sober and courteous Deportment, and +the Goodness of her Temper, have procured her both Love and Reverence. + +Having now treated of the Princes of the Royal Family, I proceed to give +you an account of the chief Noblemen of the Court; and in the first place, +of the MINISTERS of the CABINET.--These are, 1. _Waldemar_ Baron _de +Lowendahl_ Grand Marshal, Knight of the _Saxon_ Order of the _White +Eagle_, and of the _Danish_ Order of the _Elephant_, who by his Post of +Grand Marshal holds the first Rank at the Court of _Saxony_, because the +Elector is Arch Grand Marshal of the Empire. He is a _Dane_ by birth, and +is descended from a Count of _Guldenlowe_, a natural Son of the +Blood-Royal of _Denmark_. He spent his youthful Days in the Service of the +_States-General_, and was made a Captain in the Blue Guards; which he +afterwards quitted, and went into the Service of the Emperor _Leopold_, +and distinguish’d himself in quality of a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1683, at +the raising of the Siege of _Vienna_; after which he return’d to +_Denmark_, where he serv’d with Honour. But leaving that Court upon some +Disgust, he came into _Saxony_, where _Augustus_ II. declared him +President of the Chamber, which Office he held when the King of _Denmark_ +recall’d him home. It was with the Approbation of his Master the King of +_Poland_ that he return’d to _Copenhagen_, where his _Danish_ Majesty gave +him the Command of his Army in _Norway_ against the _Swedes_; which +Commission he discharged with so much Honour, that he was dignify’d with +the Order of the _Elephant_, as he had already been by that of +_Dannebroc_. He might, had he pleased, have enjoy’d the greatest Offices +in _Denmark_; but he had promised _Augustus_ II. not to forsake him, so +that he refus’d all the Advantages which _Frederic_ IV. offer’d him, and +return’d into _Saxony_. After the death of the Count _de Phlug_, the late +King appointed him Grand Marshal, which Office he still executes with +Honour. Tho’ he is now advanced in years he has a sound Constitution, and +the Air, Behaviour, and Way of Thinking of a Man of his Quality. Being +affable and polite, he does the Honours of the Court in a Gentleman-like +manner, for which the Courtiers reverence him, and the King professes an +esteem for him. His Majesty is the sixth King whom this Minister has +serv’d. He has married to his second Wife a Lady of the Family of +_Rantzau_, in the Country of _Holstein_, who bears a valuable Character, +and is as polite as can be desired, speaking _French_ as well as if she +was born at _Versailles_. The Grand Marshal has two Sons by his first +Marriage with a Lady of _Revenclau_: his youngest, _viz._ _Woldemar_ Baron +_de Lowendahl_ is Major-General of the King’s Armies, Inspector General of +the _Saxon_ Infantry, and Colonel of a Regiment of Foot. He was fourteen +years old when the Grand Marshal sent him to _Denmark_; where he made a +Campaign at Sea under Admiral _Tordenschild_. At his return to _Dresden_ +he carried a Musket, and afterwards pass’d through all the subaltern +Degrees. When he was but a Lieutenant he accompany’d General _Seckendorf_ +to _Vienna_, where the Marshal Count _Guido de Staremberg_ gave him a +Company in his Regiment, and he distinguish’d himself in a particular +manner at the Sieges of _Temiswaer_ and _Belgrade_, and in _Sicily_. Since +that, he enter’d into the Service of _Augustus_ II. who gave him a +Regiment. Afterwards he made two Campaigns as a Voluntier with the +Imperialists in _Corsica_; and upon all occasions manifested that Valour, +Skill, and Prudence, as he did lately in the Defence of _Cracow_; where, +with a weak and sickly Garrison, he not only made a vigorous stand against +the Attacks of the Primate’s _Polish_ Adherents, but also obliged them to +retire. This General is so fond of signalizing his Bravery, that he was +scarce return’d from _Poland_, but he went to make the Campaign as a +Voluntier, with the Imperial Army on the _Rhine_. He lives magnificently, +keeps a good Table, and is very civil to Foreigners. + +2. _Anthony_ Count de _Lutzelbourg_, who is by birth a _Lorrainer_, +and an exemplary Professor of the _Roman_ Catholic Religion, is +Lieutenant-General of the Forces, Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, +and General of the Horse. He is pretty tall, and has a chearful +Countenance, with a noble easy Behaviour, which shews the Man of Quality. +His Merit procured him the Honour of being the King’s Governour after the +Decease of the Count _de Costa_, which Post he held ’till his Majesty came +of age, when he was appointed Steward of his Houshold, and was as much +esteem’d by their Royal Highnesses as he is valued by the Courtiers, and +belov’d by the Domestics of the Prince who are under his command: but his +frequent Ailments oblig’d him to quit that Office: Nevertheless he was +last year at _Vienna_, where he receiv’d for the King his Master the +Investiture of the Feudatory States of the Empire, and concluded the +Treaty of Alliance still subsisting between the two Courts. + +3. _Henry-Frederic_ Count of _Friesland_, is Great Chamberlain, General of +the Infantry, Lieutenant-General of the King’s Forces, and Knight of the +Order of the _White Eagle_. He is descended from a Family which has for a +long time been of illustrious Rank in _Saxony_. He spent part of his Youth +in the Service of _Peter_ the Great, Czar of _Muscovy_, and signaliz’d his +Valour very much at the Battle of _Pultowa_; where _Charles_ XII. King of +_Sweden_ in a few Hours lost all the fruit of nine years Toil, and of an +infinite number of Victories. Soon after this great Battle he shew’d his +Wisdom to be equal to his Bravery at the Battle of _Pruth_; which though +it did not turn out so much to the Czar’s Honour, was altogether as +fortunate to him, since it extricated that Prince out of the worst scrape +that perhaps ever King was reduced to. He enter’d afterwards into the +Service of the late King; who being sensible of his Merit, raised him to +the greatest Dignities of his Court, and married him to one of the +Daughters that he had by the Countess of _Cosel_. The Great Chamberlain, +who has the Looks and Behaviour of a Man of Quality, thinks and acts too +like a Nobleman. Few Persons surpass him in Politeness and Learning: He is +perfect Master of several Languages, and of every thing that forms the +Minister and the General. He loves Literature and the Arts, and was always +their Supporter. He lives handsomely, and has such a Presence as commands +the Veneration of all that have to do with him. + +4. _Joseph_ Count _de Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour_, the adopted Son of +the Velt-Marshal _Augustus Christopher_ Count _de Wackerbarth_ who +succeeded Marshal _de Flemming_ in the chief command of the Troops in +_Saxony_, and was not only Marshal, but a Minister of State, Grand Master +of the Artillery, Governour of _Dresden_, and Knight of the Order of the +_White Eagle_. The Father was born of a good Family in _Mecklembourg_; but +from his very youth he attach’d himself to the Elector of _Saxony_; and by +his own Merit, and the Friendship of his Predecessor Count _Flemming_, he +was raised to the chief Posts in the Army and the Court. In 1709 he had +the Command of the _Saxon_ Troops before _Tournay_, as he had in 1715 +before _Strahlsund_, when ’twas besieg’d by the Kings of _Denmark_ and +_Prussia_, and defended by _Charles_ XII. King of _Sweden_. M. _de +Wackerbarth_ was made Count of the Empire by the King his Master, while +that Prince was Vicar of the Empire, after the death of the Emperor +_Joseph_. After being grac’d with this Dignity, the Count _de +Wackerbarth_ was employ’d in sundry important Negotiations, especially at +_Vienna_; where he married a _Piedmontese_ Lady, the Dowager of _Charles_ +Margrave of _Brandenbourg_, Brother to _Frederic_ I. King of _Prussia_, +who when he was but very young at the University of _Turin_; married her +by the Left-hand, as you know is the Fashion among our Princes when they +marry below themselves. However the Lady went by the Name of Madame _de +Brandenbourg_ to the very day that the Count _de Wackerbarth_ married her, +being so proud of the Title that she was resolv’d never to part with it +’till she was married again: Notwithstanding the advantageous Offers made +to her from the King of _Prussia_ to engage her to renounce it, her +refusal of which was the more generous because it was at a time too when +she was in narrow Circumstances; yet her constant Answer was, that nothing +in the Universe should tempt her to debase herself; and that she had +rather be poor, and pass for the Wife of the Margrave of _Brandenbourg_, +than be rich, and pass for his Mistress. Before she became Madame _de +Brandenbourg_ she was the Widow of a certain Count _de Salmour_, by whom +she had a Son whom she engaged the Count _de Wackerbarth_, when she +married him, to adopt for his own. I confess I never saw this Lady; for at +the time of my former Voyage hither she was at _Vienna_; and now she is +dead. They talk of her still as one of the acutest Women of her time. But +to return to the Marshal; he is very civil, lives with great Splendor, and +his House is open to all Foreigners. He is mighty intimate with the Count +_de Flemming_, Prime Minister and Favourite of the King; so that they +fully contradicted the Proverb, _That Fire and Water can’t agree_; for +Count _Flemming_ was lively almost to the Degree of a Fury, whereas the +Count _de Wackerbarth_, on the contrary, abounds with Phlegm[66]. We go +back now to his adopted Son _Joseph_ above-mention’d, a _Piedmontese_, at +present one of the Ministers of the Cabinet[67]. + +He is also Knight of the Order of the _White Eagle_, and Governour of his +Royal Highness the Prince Royal and Electoral. He bears the Name and Arms +of _Wackerbarth_, by reason of his being adopted as above by the +Velt-Marshal his Father-in-law; upon whose death, he succeeded to his +Estate. He took to arms betimes; but having receiv’d a Wound in the Foot, +which he feels to this day, he was oblig’d to quit a Profession in which +he distinguish’d himself, and apply’d afterwards to Affairs of State. The +late King sent him to the Courts of _Bavaria_ and _Vienna_, where he +supported the Prerogatives of his Character with Dignity, and gain’d the +extraordinary Esteem of their Imperial Majesties and the Ministers. +_Augustus_ II. recall’d him from _Vienna_, and sent him to _Rome_, to the +new Pope _Clement_ XII. The _Romans_, those Masters in the Art of +Politics, were soon convinced that this Minister knew more than they could +teach him: They admired the Prudence and Resolution with which he behav’d +when the _Sbirri_ presum’d to invade the Franchise of his Quarter; and all +own’d that the most experienced Minister could not have better supported +the Honour of his Master. At his Return from _Rome_, the late King, to the +Satisfaction of all Men, appointed him Governour to Prince _Frederic_, the +present Prince Royal and Electoral; the Count having all the necessary +Qualifications to fill that Post with Honour: For besides a good Share of +Religion, he is a Gentleman of known Candour, great Experience in +Business, and abundance of Good-nature, Politeness, and Modesty: And he is +not only deeply learn’d, but always studious how to answer the great Trust +repos’d in him by their Majesties; and as the Method he takes to instruct +the Prince has won him his Royal Highness’s Esteem and Friendship, so it +cannot fail of procuring him one day the Praise and Gratitude of those who +are concern’d for the Glory of the Royal Family. + +When _Augustus_ III. came to the Government he sent the Count, with M. _de +Baudissin_, in Quality of his Plenipotentiaries, to the Republic of +_Poland_; in which Post he answer’d the Expectation which the King had of +his Capacity. His Wisdom got the better of all Opposition; and he had the +advantage of triumphing over the Intrigues and Cabals of the Primate. +After the King had been proclaim’d the Count swore, in his Majesty’s Name, +in the Church at _Warsaw_, to the Observation of the _Pacta Conventa_ +drawn up by the Members of the Republic; and then accompanied the Grand +Deputation of the _Polish_ Nobility at _Tarnowitz_. ’Twas he that made +answer, in the Name of their Majesties, to the Harangues of the Bishop of +_Cracow_ declaring the Republic’s Acknowledgement of his Title, and their +Obedience. And the Answer he return’d was in the two Languages in which +the Prelate address’d him: He spoke in _Latin_ for the King, and in +_French_ for the Queen. + +The Count being return’d to _Dresden_ since their Majesties Coronation, is +wholly taken up in the Education of the Prince Royal; and his care of him +has been crown’d with such Success, that we may prophesy his Royal +Highness will one day draw down that Blessing of God upon himself, which +is upon the Head of the Just. + +5. _Wolff-Henry de Baudissin_, General of the Horse, Colonel of a Regiment +of Carabiniers, and Knight of the Order of the _White Eagle_, and that of +_Dannebroc_, has all the Qualities requisite for a well-born Gentleman, +_viz._ an agreeable Aspect, a good Stature, a noble Air, easy and engaging +Behaviour, approv’d Valour, a Generosity free of all Ostentation; and +finally what is superior to all these Qualities, he has a Fund of Probity +and Candour which nothing can corrupt. He is a Native of _Holstein_, and +spent his early Years in the Service of _Sweden_, and afterwards in that +of the Duke his Sovereign, who gave him a Regiment, with which he serv’d +all the last War in the _Netherlands_, in the Post of Major-General. +_Augustus_ II. calling him to his Service, made him Lieutenant-General of +his Forces, and then General of the Cavalry. When _Augustus_ III. came to +the Government he summon’d him to his Cabinet-Council, and sent him as his +Plenipotentiary to _Poland_, where he had a hand in every Transaction for +the Advantage and Honour of the King. He afterwards commanded the Army +which his Majesty was obliged to carry into his Kingdom for the Defence of +his oppressed Subjects; and there he fell so dangerously ill that he was +obliged to return to _Germany_, to make use of the Waters of _Pyrmont_; by +which he found benefit; and he is now at _Dresden_, where his Seniority +gives him the Command in chief of the Forces. + +6. _Alexander-Joseph_ Count _de Sulkowski_, Starost of _Sokolnick_, Chief +Huntsman of _Lithuania_, Master of the Horse, Great Master of the +Wardrobe, Major-General of the King’s Forces, Colonel of the Crown-Guards +and of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight of the Order of the _White Eagle_, +is a _Polander_. Being taken into Service very young as Page to the King, +then Prince Royal and Electoral, he accompanied him in his Travels, and +there acquir’d a good Fund of Knowledge. His great Sobriety, his +Assiduity, his Application to the discharge of his Duties, his Sense, and +his sincere Attachment to Religion, won his Master’s Heart, of which he +keeps possession even to this day; with a Distinction that does him the +more Honour, because he derives it from the King’s thorough conviction of +his Merit. + +The Count is of a good Stature, has a noble and modest Air, and a Candour +in his Conversation and his Action, which is very engaging. He is civil, +and makes no other Use of his Favour but to do as much Good as he can, +without prejudicing the Interests of the King whom he serves with +Gratitude, Affection, and Zeal. He is a generous Minister, and his House +is open to all Persons of Distinction. + +After he had serv’d as a Page, he was by the late King made a Gentleman of +the Bed-Chamber; and not long after that, his present Majesty, who was +then still Prince Royal, declar’d him Director of his Hunting Equipage, +and trusted him with the Management of his Domestic Affairs. The late King +also appointed him one of his Chamberlains. + +At the famous Camp at _Zeithaim_, the Count commanded an Independent +Company. He discover’d so great Application, and such a happy Genius for +the Art of War, that the late King, whose Penetration nothing cou’d +escape, took it for a good Omen, and gave him a Regiment of Foot. Thus did +the Count make his way towards the splendid Fortune which he now enjoys. +M. _de Bruhl_ resigning his Post of Great Master of the Wardrobe, soon +after the King’s Accession to the Government, his Majesty gave that Post +to his Favourite. He afterwards call’d him to his Cabinet-Council; and at +his Coronation, he made him Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. After +the Court’s Return from _Cracow_, the Count went to the Army before +_Dantzic_; where he gave demonstration of his being as good a Soldier as +he is an able Statesman. It being not compatible with his Ministry to be +long absent, and _Dantzic_ being on the point of capitulating, he went to +give the King an account of the Success of its Siege, and the Prosperity +of his Arms. He accompanied his Majesty to the Abbey of _Oliva_, and by +his Prudence contributed very much to put such _Polish_ Lords in mind of +their Obedience, who had thought of being exempted from it. And his only +View being more and more to deserve that Favour with which the King +honours him, and being desirous of having it in his power to serve him, as +well in his Armies, as in his Cabinet, he went last of all to the Imperial +Army, in order to qualify himself for a Command under Prince _Eugene_ of +_Savoy_. + +To complete the good Fortune of this Count, he married a Lady, who, +besides her Birth and personal Charms, has a Character which gains her the +Applause and Veneration of all that know her. She is hereditary Baroness +of _Stein_; and when he marry’d her, she was Lady of Honour to the Queen. +They are both Members of the _Roman_ Catholic Church. + +7. _Henry de Bruhl_, Knight of the Orders of _Poland_ and _Prussia_, a +Member of the Privy-Council, President of the Chamber of Finances, +Director General of the Excise, and Vice-President of the Taxes, is the +Son of _John de Bruhl_, who was of the Privy-Council to _Augustus_ II. and +Grand Marshal and Director of the Privy-Council to the Duke Regent of +_Saxe-Weissenfels_. He is by Birth a _Saxon_, and has a Brother who is +Knight of the Teutonick Order. He made great progress at _Leipsic_ in the +_Belles Lettres_, and in the Exercises suitable to a Person of his +Extraction. His Recreations there, were Music, and Conversation with +Persons of his own Taste. He sometimes made Verses, which were esteem’d +for the bright Thoughts in them, and the Harmony of the Versification. +When he quitted _Leipsic_, he was enter’d Page to the late King: In this +Post he behaved with so much Sobriety and Assiduity, that his Majesty soon +distinguish’d him from the Croud, admitted him to Familiarity with him; +and finding he had a sound Judgment, a quick Apprehension, a Penetration +beyond what might be expected from one of his Age, and that he was a +Person of Discretion, and inviolable Secrecy, join’d with a noble Freedom, +and such a happy way of expressing himself as to render the most difficult +Subjects easy and pleasant; he readily judg’d that such a one was fit to +be employ’d in great Affairs. He had a mind to instruct him; and having +nominated him one of the Gentlemen of his Bed-Chamber, he had him under +his Eye. M. _de Bruhl_ improv’d so well from the Lessons of this great +Master, so thoroughly study’d his Humour, and so exactly suited himself to +his Genius, that he made himself necessary. His Application, his Love to +Business, and the Ease with which he dispatch’d it, won him the intire +Confidence of _Augustus_ II. who declar’d him Great Master of the +Wardrobe, and a Privy Counsellor; and to him he moreover committed the +Direction and Regulation of Affairs, Foreign and Domestic. Never had the +King shewn more Affection or Esteem for any of his Favourites; yet this +Nobleman took ne’er the more State upon him for it, but living always +humble, polite, and ready to do Services, he made himself Friends, and +secur’d himself by that means against all the Hatred and Envy with which +Courtiers are very ready to treat those who are in Power. + +When the King of _Prussia_ went to the Camp at _Zeithaim_, he conferr’d +his Order of the Black Eagle upon M. _de Bruhl_: The late King also +honour’d him with that of the White Eagle; but this was at a time when +this Minister had no Relish for Honours, and wou’d have been glad to have +renounc’d them for ever, if he cou’d thereby have prolong’d the Days of a +Master so worthy of Immortality. + +It was in those last Moments, when the Professions of Friendship cannot be +so much as suspected, that _Augustus_ II. gave his Favourite his Order, as +a certain Token that he retain’d a value for him even to Death. This great +King having finish’d his glorious Career, M. _de Bruhl_, without suffering +himself to be too much cast down, knowing that an Ocean of Tears was too +little to shed for the Loss he had sustain’d, thought of nothing more than +paying the due Devoirs to the deceas’d Sovereign, and to the Prince, his +Son and Successor. Having therefore caus’d the Corpse of the former to be +embalm’d, and put a Seal upon all the Effects which belong’d to him, +besides securing the Jewels and Papers of Consequence; he came to +_Dresden_ to join the Elector, now King of _Poland_, who received him with +such Marks of Kindness, as were enough to have put the deceas’d Monarch +out of the Minister’s Thoughts, if his Gratitude had not dictated to him, +that such a King and such a Master ought never to be forgot. + +The King confirm’d him in all the Employments and Honours which he had +held by the Favour of _Augustus_ II. and moreover appointed him one of the +Ministers of his Cabinet. Some time after this, his Majesty declar’d him +President of the Chamber of Finances; consequently, this great, this true +King, by distinguishing Merit, did farther Honour to the Memory of his +august Father, since he did what that magnanimous Prince wou’d have +undoubtedly done for his Favourite. + +At this time the Minister resign’d to the King his Office of Great Master +of the Wardrobe, which his various Occupations did not permit him to +manage with that Care he thought was necessary. After the Return of the +Court from _Cracow_, whither this Gentleman had accompany’d the King, he +marry’d the Countess _de Collowrat_, one of the Queen’s Ladies of Honour, +whose high Birth was supported with such personal Qualities as can never +be enough commended. The Bride being a _Roman_ Catholic, the Ceremony of +the Marriage was performed at _Moritzbourg_, in presence of their +Majesties, by the Bishop of _Cracow_. Never was a Couple better match’d; +the Lady’s Person being a Collection of Charms, and M. _de Bruhl_ a Man of +as noble Presence as one wou’d wish to see; which he generally sets off +with a rich Dress of a good Fancy. No body at Court surpasses him in a +generous way of living; for he keeps a noble Table, and at his House +Persons of Distinction have their Assemblies. This Minister has something +so attracting in his Looks and Behaviour that he easily wins the Hearts of +People who are the most indifferent to him. He is so polite, affable, and +engaging, that he listens attentively to those who lay their Wants before +him, returns them courteous and distinct Answers; and whenever he is +constrain’d to give a Denial, he does it in such a manner as plainly +demonstrates his Concern that ’tis not in his power to oblige. And ’tis +owing to this Good-nature of his, and to the Kindness with which he treats +his Inferiors, that he can boast of possessing the Love and Veneration of +the Public. + +In short, the Count _de Sulkowski_ who has the first place in the Cabinet, +and this Gentleman who has the second, are the Ministers who decide all +Affairs with the King’s good Pleasure. They are Gentlemen who know +nothing of Jealousy nor Envy; and, as they act from one and the same +Principle, so they have both the same View, which is to increase, if +possible, the Glory of the King, and the Happiness of the Government. + +The Office of all the above-mention’d, as Ministers of the Cabinet, is so +eminent at this Court that it gives those who are invested with it the +Precedence of all the Generals, both of Horse and Foot. + +Besides these, there are three other Ministers of the Cabinet, who, tho’ +retir’d from Court, enjoy the Rank and Pensions annex’d to the Ministry. +They are the Count _de Manteuffel_, the Count _de Promnitz_, and the +Marquiss _de Fleuri_. + +_Ernest_ Count _de Manteuffel_, Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, is +descended of a Family which has been for a long time of distinguish’d Rank +in _Prussian Pomerania_. He was Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber to _Frederic_ +I. King of _Prussia_. Certain Ballads being handed about at Court, which +were insulting Lampoons upon the Count _de Wartemberg_, the King’s Prime +Minister and Favourite, M. _de Manteuffel_ was charged with being the +Author of ’em; who knowing that the Favourite wou’d not put up with the +Affront, retir’d to _Saxony_, where the Count _de Flemming_, who then bore +the greatest sway at the King of _Poland_’s Court, receiv’d him as his +Countryman, and employ’d him in foreign Affairs; which he managed with the +Approbation both of his Majesty and the foreign Ministers he had to treat +with. M. _de Manteuffel_ kept in with the Favourite without giving into +the Flattery which that Minister expected from his Creatures; and while +the King was Vicar of the Empire, he made M. _de Manteuffel_ Count of the +Empire. His Majesty had some time before honour’d him with the Order of +the White Eagle, and preferr’d him to his Cabinet-Council; and after +Marshal _Flemming_’s Death, M. _de Manteuffel_[68] had the principal +Direction of the foreign Affairs. But this able Minister, and one of the +chief Ornaments and Confidents of the late King’s Court, retir’d from it +in 1730, to his Estate in _Pomerania_, and now resides at _Berlin_; where +he still enjoys a Pension of 24000 Crowns, or 12000 Rixdollars, which was +secur’d to him by the present Elector. It adds to his Character, that +after he was retired, the Want of him was lamented. + +He is pretty tall, well set, has a grand Air, and is one of the handsomest +Men that I have seen. His Behaviour is noble and easy, he has a good Fund +of Learning, an extraordinary Memory, and such a Happiness of expressing +himself that when he talks he never fails to give Pleasure. He lives +nobly, and when he was at _Dresden_ his House was open to all Persons of +Distinction and Merit. He married a Baroness of _Pludouska_, who is, as +well as himself, of the _Lutheran_ Religion. + +_Erdmann_, Count _de Promnitz_, is more at his Estate than at Court; he is +also Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. He married a Princess of +_Saxe-Weissenfels_. He always distinguish’d himself by his Zeal, and his +Attachment to the Royal Family; of which he gave Proofs by raising an +Independent Company at his own Expence, for the Service of the late King, +which he sent to reinforce his Majesty’s Troops in the Camp before +_Zeithaim_: And for the same Use he has since rais’d a Regiment of Horse. + +_Francis Vicardel_, Marquiss _de Fleuri_ and _de Beaufort_, is a +_Savoyard_. He was the King of _Sardinia_’s Minister, and his Envoy to the +Court of _Vienna_, when the late King of _Poland_ invited him into his +Service, admitted him to his Cabinet-Council, and made him a Knight of +his Order. This Minister is endow’d with all the Talents that can be +desir’d in a Man who has an Employment. He has an agreeable Aspect, +engaging Manners, a just Discernment, a quick Apprehension, and a very +even Temper. But his frequent Ailments disabling him from the Exercise of +his Talents, he desir’d, and obtain’d leave to retire to his Estate in +_Savoy_; and the late King, who had always a great and noble Soul, being +desirous that he shou’d be a Witness of his Goodness and Royal +Magnificence, secur’d the Enjoyment of his Pensions to him; which the +present King has also been pleased to confirm. + +Another of the Cabinet Ministers, who was also formerly Prime Minister to +the late King of _Poland_, was the Count _de Hoym_, descended from one of +the principal Families in _Saxony_, and Brother to the Gentleman that +married Madame _de Cosel_. I knew him intimately before he was advanced to +the Ministry, at _Paris_, and at _Vienna_, as well as here at _Dresden_. +You must have seen him in _Silesia_, where he has a very fine Estate. +There is not a Minister at this Court more civil, more learned, or a +better Friend to learned Men. During his long Residence at _Paris_ as +Ambassador from the King of _Poland_, his House was open to all Men of +Learning as it is now at _Dresden_; and he had the splendid Title given +him of the _Mecænas_ of _Saxony_[69]. + +They who are actually PRIVY COUNSELLORS, or MINISTERS OF STATE here, are +eight in number. They are descended from some of the best Families in +_Saxony_, and profess the Protestant Religion. The Detail of their +Characters, their Experience, and their Merit, wou’d oblige me to +transgress the Limits of this Work, were I only to treat of those who are +bound by their Employments to attend the King’s Person, and who compose +his Majesty’s Houshold. But for the Reputation of the Privy Council, ’tis +proper just to observe that all its Members are Subjects who do Honour to +the King’s Choice; that they are vigilant for promoting the Good of the +Public, and that in their Deliberations they manifest their Zeal for the +King, and their Affection to their Country. + +The President of this Council, is _Alexander de Miltitz de Scharffenberg_, +who is a Native of _Saxony_, the same that was the King’s Governour; of +whom so much has been already said, that I avoid to make any more +particular mention of him here. + +Two of the Privy Counsellors are Counsellors of the Conferences, which are +held in presence of his Majesty, _viz._ _Gotlob-Frederic_ Baron _de +Gersdorff_, and _Bernard_ Baron _de Zech_. The former comes from an +ancient Family of Distinction, which has given several great Men to this +State. The latter has acquitted himself with Success in the several +Negociations wherein he has been employ’d. They are both laborious, +vigilant, upright Men, and of great Experience in Business. + +_The King’s_ GREAT OFFICERS_ are,_ + +I. The GRAND MARSHAL; which Office is now held by _Waldemar_, Baron _de +Lowendahl_, who has under him + + The Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber, + The Pages, + The Huntsmen, + The Musicians of the Chapel and the Chamber, + The Dancers, + The Comedians, + The Trumpeters, + The Footmen, + The _Turks_, + The _Heydukes_, + The Messengers, + The _Negroes_; + +and in short, a considerable number of other Officers and Domestics of the +King’s Houshold. His Jurisdiction extends not only over those that I have +mention’d, but also over all Foreigners of Quality who happen to be at +_Dresden_; and there is a Tribunal or Court for this purpose, of which the +Great Chamberlain, the Great Master of the Kitchens, the Great Cup-Bearer +and the Marshal of the Court are Members. + +II. The GREAT CHAMBERLAIN; who is at present _Henry-Frederic_ Count of +_Friesland_. ’Tis he that receives the Ambassadors and other foreign +Ministers, and introduces them to an Audience of the King. He has under +him the several Chamberlains. + +III. The MASTER of the HORSE, _Alexander-Joseph_ Count _de Sulkowski_, is +in possession of this Office, which is one of the best and noblest +Employments at Court, the Person who is invested with it being serv’d by +the King’s Equipages and Livery, and having the disposal of all the +inferior Offices appertaining to the Stables. He has under him the +Equerries, the Prickers, and all the Workmen employ’d for the Service of +the Stables, and the making of the Equipages. + +He that is the only chief Equerry is _Adolphus de Bruhl_, one of the +King’s Chamberlains. He officiates in the absence of the Master of the +Horse, is Brother to _Henry de Bruhl_ Minister of the Cabinet, and +resembles him in Candour and Integrity. His Honesty, which is imprinted on +his very Countenance, reflects a Lustre on all his Actions. He is so +sensible of the Charms of Friendship that he fulfils all the Obligations +of it; and besides those Qualities of the Mind, he makes an agreeable +Appearance, is dextrous in his Exercises, has a solid Relish of the Arts +and Sciences, is perfect Master of Music, and plays on several +Instruments. + +He was heretofore in the Service of the Duke Regent of _Weissenfels_, and +next in that of the Duke of _Saxe-Weimar_, who had such an Esteem for his +Merit that to him he referred the Direction of his Court. Nevertheless he +left this Prince, and enter’d into the Service of the late King, who +conferred those Employments on him which he now enjoys. Since he came to +Court, he married a young Lady of Quality of the Family of _Opelen_, whose +Fortune and Charms into the bargain made her such a considerable Match +that she did not want Suitors. + +IV. The GREAT HUNTSMAN. The Gentleman who at present possesses this +Office, one of the most lucrative at Court, is _Charles de Leubnitz_. It +gives him the Superintendance over all the Officers of the Venery, in +which Number are included the Rangers, the Verdurers, the Gentlemen and +Pages, and above a hundred Huntsmen or other Persons depending on them. +The Great Huntsman is a Protestant, as well as his Lady, who is of the +Family of _Schaurot_. + +V. The GREAT MASTER of the KITCHENS is _Adolphus_ Baron _de Seyffertitz_, +of a Family which has been for a long time distinguish’d in this +Electorate. His first Step at Court was in the Employment of Gentleman of +the Bed-Chamber. _Augustus_ II. at the request of the late Czar _Peter the +Great_, plac’d him Governor to the Czarowitz when that young Prince came +into _Germany_. He continued in this Post till after the Marriage of the +Czarowitz to the Princess of _Brunswic-Wolfembuttle-Blanckenbourg_. After +his return to _Saxony_ he accompanied the late King to _Berlin_, when his +Majesty together with _Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_, went thither to +make a visit to _Frederic_ I. King of _Prussia_. In 1711, M. _de +Seyffertitz_ was appointed Marshal of the Embassy which _Augustus_ II. +sent to _Francfort_, for the Election of an Emperor. His Imperial Majesty +_Charles_ VI. at the Ceremony of his Coronation, made him a Knight of the +Empire, and at length the late King made him one of his Chamberlains, and +then Great Master of the Kitchens, which Office he manages with Dignity +and Politeness. He married a Lady of the Family of _Haxthausen_, Widow of +the Count _de Beichling_ the Great Faulconer. They are both of the +_Lutheran_ Communion. + +In the absence of the Grand Marshal, the Great Master of the Kitchens +officiates, and at the grand Ceremonies wears like him a Staff tipp’d with +Silver gilt. Under his Province are the Comptrollers of the Kitchen and of +the Houshold, the Clerks of the Kitchen, the Purveyors, the Cooks and +Turn-spits, the Pastry-Cooks, the Pursers, Fishmongers, _&c._ + +VI. The GREAT CUP-BEARER is _John-Adolphus de Haugwitz_, a Gentleman of +good Extraction. His Father was Grand Marshal to the late King. He is a +handsome Man, has a noble Mien, performs all sorts of Exercises with a +Grace and with Dexterity, and does the Honours of the Court in a becoming +manner. He is of the Protestant Religion, and married to a Lady of the +Family of _Beist_. His Employment sets him above all the Officers of the +King’s Buttery, Cellar, and Pantry. In the absence of the Grand Marshal +and the Master of the Kitchens, he officiates for them, and at great +Ceremonies he carries like them a Staff of Silver gilt. + +VII. The GREAT FAULCONER is an Office held by _Anthony_ Count _de +Moschinski_, a _Polish_ Nobleman, and a _Roman_ Catholic. He was formerly +Page to the King, and attended his Majesty in his Tours to _France_ and +_Italy_, where he acquir’d great Politeness, and a very engaging +Deportment. At his return to _Dresden_, he was made one of the Gentlemen +of the Bed-Chamber to the King, who was then the Prince Royal. Afterwards +the late King appointed him one of his Chamberlains; and when the Count +_de Fitztuhm_ unhappily lost his life at _Warsaw_, his Majesty who had +given his Office of Great Chamberlain to the Count _de Friesland_, +bestow’d that of _Great Faulconer_, which was held by that Nobleman, upon +the Count _de Moschinski_, who was grac’d almost at the same time with the +Order of the _White Eagle_, and the Post of Treasurer to the Court of +_Poland_. His Majesty also granted him in Marriage one of his natural +Children, the Daughter of the Countess _de Cosel_. Never was a Person more +deserving of Honours than the Great Faulconer, who is truly magnificent, +and makes such an Appearance, that he does an Honour to his Character. By +his Behaviour he engages the Friendship and Regard of all that have to do +with him. He has under his command the Officers of the Faulconry or Mews +where the Hawks are kept, the Faulconers, and in general all those Persons +that have any relation to the Faulconry. + +VIII. The GREAT MASTER of the WARDROBE is _Alexander-Joseph_ Count _de +Sulkowski_. He has under his Jurisdiction the _Catholic_ Clergy, the +_Physicians_ of the _Body_, the _Footmen_, the _Secretaries_, _Writers_ +and _Clerks_ of the _Chamber_, the _Inspectors_ of the _Chamber_ of +_Curiosities_, the _Ushers_ of the _Chamber_ and of the _King’s Closet_, +his _Peruke-makers_, _Surgeons_ and _Taylors_, the _Negroes_, _Dwarfs_, +and _Pages_ of the _Back-Stairs_, the _Architects_, _Engineers_ and +_Designers_. + +IX. The POST-MASTER-GENERAL is _Maurice-Charles_ Count _de Linar_, who is +also one of the Chamberlains, and a Knight of the Order of St. _John_. He +is descended from a Family which has been of Eminence for a long time in +this Electorate. His good Mien is answerable to his Birth, and by his +Politeness, his Manners, and his Expences, he does an honour to the Prince +that employs him. The King, after his Coronation, sent him to _Muscovy_ to +notify the Accomplishment of that Ceremony to the Empress of the +_Russians_, and he still continues at that Princess’s Court, to take care +of his Master’s Interests, which he does in a way that cannot but turn to +his own Advantage, and the Honour of the King.[70] This Gentleman was also +employ’d by the late King at the Court of _Prussia_, and at the _British_ +Court when at _Hanover_, and always discharg’d his Commissions with such +Success as was crown’d with his Majesty’s Approbation. + +X. The MARSHAL of the COURT is _John-George d’Einsiedel_, who is also a +Privy-Counsellor, and a Gentleman of a good Family, his Ancestors having +possessed the chief Offices of the State. He has visited the principal +Courts of _Europe_, where he contracted that polite Turn which is seen in +his Behaviour. He is a handsome Man, has a noble Air, and his Demeanour is +answerable. He knows a great deal, and performs all the academical +Exercises very well. He married the Daughter of the General Count _de +Flemming_ Governor of _Leipsic_, who was a rich Heiress, and to be valued +for the Qualities of her Mind. The Marshal of the Court and his Lady are +both of the _Lutheran_ Communion. His Office joins him in Commission with +the Grand Marshal, the Great Master of the Kitchens, and the Great +Cup-Bearer; and like those Officers he carries the short Staff of Silver +gilt at the grand Ceremonies. ’Tis commonly he that makes the +Court-Entertainments. + +_Curt d’Einsiedel_ Marshal of the Court, and one of the Chamberlains, is +remarked for his genteel Mien and Extraction. His good Qualities and +Deportment render him worthy of all Employments. He is of the establish’d +Religion of _Saxony_, and lately married Madamoiselle _de Schoneberg de +Maxen_, whose Personal Charms are an Ornament to the Court. + +_Ernest-Ferdinand d’Ermandsdorff_, Marshal of the King’s Houshold, and one +of the Chamberlains, has procur’d himself Esteem by his Merit as well as +his good Birth and Breeding. Besides his Knowledge of various kinds which +qualifies him for Business, he is Master of several Languages, +particularly the _French_. He married a Lady of the Family of _Hesler_, +and they are both of the _Lutheran_ Religion. + +XI. The CHAMBERLAINS. Of these there are too many to be all mention’d +here, so that I shall only take notice of the twelve Pensioners who are in +waiting about their Majesties, and without regarding the Seniority of +their Admittance. They commonly attend the King and Queen, each a whole +Week in their turn, and have the Rank of Major-Generals. The finest +Prerogative of their Employment; is the Honour of eating with their +Majesties when they are in Waiting, and of being the Depositaries of the +Petitions which are presented to the King in his Passage. + +1. _Henry Rodolph de Schonfeld_, Lord of _Lowenitz_, is the King’s first +Chamberlain. He has a fine Presence and Behaviour, and a sweet and amiable +Temper. He keeps a handsome Table and Equipage, suitable to his Fortune. +He attended the King, by his Majesty’s Order, to _Cracow_, and lastly to +_Oliva_. + +2. _Helmuth de Plesk_ is of a Family in the Dutchy of _Holstein_, of some +Note for their great Estate there, and for the Rank they bear at the Court +of _Denmark_, where several Lords of _Plesk_ are in the Ministry. The +Gentleman here mention’d is actually the King’s Envoy Extraordinary to the +Court of _Denmark_. + +3. _Augustus-Henry Gottlob_, Count _de Callenberg_, is of this Electorate, +where his Family has for a long time enjoy’d a considerable Rank, and a +fine Estate. He has been the King’s Envoy Extraordinary to the Courts of +_France_, _Brussels_, _Cologn_, _Triers_, and the Elector _Palatine_, to +notify the Death of the late King, and the Accession of their present +Majesties to the Electorate. He married the Countess of _Bose_, lives +nobly, and adorns the Court by his Politeness. He is of the Protestant +Communion. + +4. _John-George de Carlowitz_ is of the same Religion. He is a _Saxon_, +and married to Madamoiselle _de Neitsch_. He has a peculiar Talent of +gaining the Love of all Mankind; which he owes to his Travels, and his +natural Genius. + +5. _Frederic-Augustus de Brandstein_, after having finish’d his Studies at +_Wittenberg_, travell’d to good purpose to the principal Countries of +_Europe_. At his return the late King declar’d him a Gentleman of his +Bed-Chamber, and some time after one of his Chamberlains. He is well +descended, and what is convenient for a Courtier, he adheres to the +Religion which is uppermost in the State. + +6. _Detler-Henry d’Einsiedel_, Brother to the Marshal of the Court, +honours his Name by his personal Qualities. He is a handsome tall +Gentleman, has a grand Presence, and few Gentlemen surpass him in Good +Manners, Address, and polite Literature. He study’d at _Wittenberg_, and +afterwards made a Visit to the principal Courts of _Europe_: The last he +made was to that of _Sweden_, whither he was sent by the King to notify +the Death of his late Majesty, and the Accession of his present Majesty to +the Electorate. + +7. _Sigismond d’Arnim_, is not only one of the King’s Chamberlains, but +Colonel of a Regiment of Horse. He is of an ancient Family which has Lands +in _Lusatia_. His Employments are owing both to his Birth and personal +Merit. He is of the Religion of the Country. + +8. _Maximilian_, Count _d’Herzan_, is of _Bohemia_. The late Countess his +Mother was the Queen’s first Lady of Honour, and attended her Majesty +hither from _Vienna_. He is able to cut a Figure at Court, but is absent +above half of his time; and is a _Roman_ Catholic. + +9. _Charles-Christian de Minckwitz_, is a Gentleman of a fine Mien. As he +has been a great Traveller, he has acquir’d a great share of Knowledge and +Politeness. He was born a _Saxon_, but has embrac’d the _Roman_ Catholic +Faith; tho’ he has defeated himself by it of the Reversion of a +considerable Inheritance. + +10. _Henry-Augustus de Breitenbauch_, is a Gentleman of fine Sense and +Manners suitable to his Extraction. Such is his good Taste and Skill in +Music, that he has been singled out for the Direction of the King’s +Pleasures. He is of the Communion of the Country, and marry’d to a Lady of +the Family of _Schonberg_. + +11. _Nicholas-Schwizinski_ is a Native of _Poland_; he has valuable +Qualities, and a great Attachment to the _Roman_ Catholic Religion. + +12. _N. N. de Sehgutt-Stanislawski_ is of a Family which was formerly +possess’d of a great Estate in _Silesia_, with the Title of the Counts _de +Sehgutt_, till the Conquest of the Country by the _Teutonic_ Knights, when +his Ancestors remov’d to _Prussia_; and spreading afterwards in _Poland_, +they assum’d the Name of _Stanislawski_, as what was more agreeable to the +_Poles_. This Chamberlain is a Person of strict Honour and Integrity, +without any manner of Guile. He spent his Youth at the Academy of _Berlin_ +which was erected by King _Frederic_ I. and afterwards enter’d as +Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber to _Augustus_ II. who not many Years after +made him a Chamberlain of _Poland_, and put him upon the Establishment of +_Saxony_; and when the present King came to the Government, he continued +him in his Employment. His Majesty also made choice of him to attend him +to _Cracow_, and lastly to _Oliva_. + +XII. Of the STEWARD of the QUEEN’S HOUSHOLD. Since the Queen’s Arrival at +_Dresden_, there have been four Stewards of her Majesty’s Houshold. The +Count _de Diedrichstein_ was the first that had this Place, which he +resign’d for the Grand Priory of _Bohemia_. His Successor was the Count +_de Konigsegg_ who actually commands the Emperor’s Army in _Lombardy_. +This General being recall’d to _Vienna_, was replac’d by the Count _de +Wratislau_, and he by the Count _de Waldstein_ who lately quitted that +Post to go and take possession of the Office of _Landshauptmann_, or +Intendant of _Silesia_, which was conferr’d on him by the Emperor. The +Count _de Wratislaw_, who has the care of his Imperial Majesty’s Affairs +at this Court, officiates there again as Steward. This is the Officer who +leads the Queen, and gives Orders to all her Officers and Domestics, and +who must be apply’d to by those that solicite for an Audience of her +Majesty. + +XIII. The _Queen’s first Lady of Honour_, is _Theresa_ Baroness of +_Stein_, and Countess Dowager of _Collowrat_; who honours her Station by +her Virtues, and by the Dignity with which she fills it. The late Count +_de Collowrat_ her Husband was Great Chamberlain of _Bohemia_, and one of +the chief Noblemen of that Kingdom. This Lady, his Relict, is a _Roman_ +Catholic, and is such in an exemplary manner. Those Ladies who want to +kiss the Queen’s Hand, or to pay their Duty to her, must apply to this +Lady, who introduces and presents them. She has the Precedence before all +other Ladies, and only yields it to the Princesses of the Blood. + +XIV. Of the _Governess of the Ladies of Honour, and of the Ladies of +Honour themselves_. In the absence of the first Lady of Honour, the +Governess of the Ladies officiates. The Baroness Dowager of _Rohr_ +worthily fills this Station, and has under her six Ladies, two of whom, +_viz._ the Countesses of _Waldstein_ and _Kokersowitz_, are Ladies of the +Bed-Chamber, a Title which procures them Admittance to the Queen’s Closet. +All the Ladies of Honour must always appear in the Court-Dress. Their +manner of Living is such that it obliges Calumny itself to respect them. + +XV. Of the _Lords and Ladies that are attach’d to the Court by their +Offices, or by the Favours of the King_. + +Tho’ the _Polish_ Lords cannot be put upon the Establishment of the Court +of _Saxony_, that there may be nothing in common between the two States, +yet it may be thought inexcusable not to mention in this place +_John-Alexander Lipski_, Bishop of _Cracow_, Duke of _Servia_, and Great +Chancellor of _Poland_; not only because this Prelate, who is descended +from one of the best Families in the Kingdom, was appointed Bishop of +_Cracow_ by the late King, but because he has given signal Proofs of his +Gratitude and Attachment to the august Family of his Benefactor. The +Virtues of this Gentleman intitle him to Respect: He is pious without +Hypocrisy, generous without Ostentation, magnificent without Pageantry, +officious meerly for the Pleasure of obliging, a Courtier without +Servility, a Man strictly attach’d to his King and his Country, learned +without being positive, a great Orator, a good Bishop, and a wise +Minister, always ready to embrace a good Proposal, and firm to support it, +laborious, vigilant, acting only out of Principle, and by consequence +susceptible of Friendship, and scorning Revenge. The late King, out of his +Esteem for the Qualities of this Prelate, made him Bishop of _Cracow_, +Great Chancellor of _Poland_, and honour’d him with his Order of the White +Eagle. By this means he so rivetted him to his Interest, and to that of +the Prince his Son, that after his Majesty’s Decease, his most Reverend +Highness directed Affairs in such a manner that the Republic chose his Son +for their King. _Augustus_ II. being proclaim’d accordingly, the Prince +and Bishop was appointed Head of the Embassy which the States of the +Kingdom sent to the new Monarch at _Tarnowitz_, to carry him the Diploma +of his Election. He spoke upon this occasion with a noble Eloquence, +rendering to their Majesties all due Respects, and yet maintaining the +Dignity of the most Serene Republic. Having discharg’d this Commission, +he went before the King to _Cracow_, made his Entry there, and took +possession of the Bishoprick. Some days after this, he consecrated and +crown’d their Majesties in his Metropolis. When the King return’d to +_Saxony_, the Prelate followed him, and attended him to _Oliva_; and ’twas +he that receiv’d the Allegiance and Homage of the _Dantzickers_ to his +Majesty. He is since come hither to rejoin the Court, is belov’d, +reverenc’d, and every one does Justice to his Virtues. + +_Charles-Lewis_, Prince of _Holstein-Beck_, Colonel in the Service of the +King, and Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, is the second Son of the +late _Lewis-Frederic_ Veldt-Marshal of _Prussia_, Governour of +_Koningsberg_, and Knight of the Order of the Elephant. This Prince +married _Anne_ Countess of _Orselska_, the legitimated Daughter of the +late King. + +_George-Ignatius_, Prince _de Lubomirski_, Sword-Bearer of the Crown, +Lieutenant-General of the King’s Forces, Colonel of the Life-Guards, and +Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, is descended from a Family of very +great Distinction in _Poland_. After he return’d from his Travels, being +attach’d to the Court of _Augustus_ II. he married the Daughter of the +Count _de Fitztuhm_, who was Great Chamberlain; a Lady of such Beauty, +such personal Charms, and such fine Sense, that she engages the Veneration +of all that know her. Prince _Lubomirski_ is a jolly handsome Man, very +polite, thinks and acts agreeable to his Birth, has a good share of +Literature, and is perfect Master of Music. He lives in a handsome manner +very suitable to his Rank. + +The _Princess_ of _Teschen_ is a _Polish_ Lady, and ally’d to the greatest +Families in the Kingdom. Her Uncle was the famous Cardinal _Radjowski_, +Archbishop of _Gnesna_, and Primate of the Kingdom. She was formerly +marry’d to Prince _Lubomirski_, Great Chamberlain of the Crown; but the +Marriage was dissolved, so that she quitted the Name of _Lubomirski_ for +that of _Teschen_, which she still bears, tho’ she afterwards marry’d +Prince _Lewis_ of _Wirtemberg_. This Princess supports her Rank with +Dignity, has a grand Air, is respected for a noble distinguish’d and +engaging Behaviour, and lives in so handsome a manner, that she is one of +the most shining Ornaments of this Court. + +_Josepha_ Countess _de Lagnasco_ is the Daughter of the Count _de +Wallenstein_, who was Great Chamberlain to the Emperor _Joseph_, and one +of the most worthy Noblemen of the Imperial Court, by _Eleonora_ Countess +of _Losenstein_; a Lady whose Memory is with Justice rever’d by all +_Vienna_. The Countess _de Lagnasco_ was the Widow of Count _Thaun_, when +she marry’d the late Count _de Lagnasco_, Minister of the Cabinet to +_Augustus_ II. General of the _Saxon_ Cavalry, Captain of the +Horse-Guards, and Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. Since that +Nobleman’s Decease, which was in _April_ 1732, his Widow has always liv’d +at _Dresden_; where she enjoys the Esteem of their Majesties, and the +Veneration of the Courtiers. This Countess is Mistress of several +Languages to Perfection, thoroughly understands Music, and sings with +Grace and Method. Her noble generous way of living, and her graceful and +distinguish’d Behaviour cannot be express’d, nor indeed equall’d to any +thing but the Goodness of her Temper. The late Count _de Lagnasco_ is of a +good Stature, and his Behaviour polite and civil. I think you know that he +was of a Family in _Piedmont_ of some Distinction. How, or when he first +enter’d into the Service of the King of _Poland_, I cannot tell you; but I +know that he presently insinuated himself into his Master’s Favour, by +his very great Assiduity, agreeable Temper, and by a vast Complaisance to +enter into his Pleasures. He establish’d himself so firmly in the King’s +Favour that the Count _de Flemming_ look’d upon him as the only Rival he +had to fear, and therefore he never much lik’d him. The Count _de +Lagnasco_ was employ’d in several Embassies; and when he had finish’d that +at _Rome_, which was his last, there was a Talk that he was to go +Ambassador to _Vienna_, and that the young Count _de Wackerbart_ was to go +to _Rome_. I must further acquaint you that M. _de Lagnasco_ was happy in +all respects, even in Marriage, not only with his first, but his second +Wife, who, when he married her, was a young, rich, brisk Widow. His first +Wife was the Daughter of the Count _de Noyelles_, Lieutenant-General in +_Holland_, a Lady of great Virtue, esteemed by all the People at the +_Hague_, and possess’d of a considerable Estate, of which, dying young, +and without Issue, she made her Husband sole Heir. + +_Francis_, Count _de Montmorency_, is a Name too well known to speak of +his Extraction. He was a Colonel in _France_ when he went into the Service +of _Augustus_ II. who receiv’d him with that Demonstration of Esteem which +that King was so ready to grant to Persons of Merit. His Majesty first +appointed him Major-General of his Forces, and some time after he declar’d +him a Lieutenant-General, and Captain of his Horse-Guards. At that time +the Count married Madame _Potschin_, Widow of the Great General of +_Lithuania_; a Lady whose Birth, Qualities, and Fortune, recommended her +for a very considerable Match. The Countess _de Montmorency_, in the time +of her former Husband, went to _Paris_ for the Recovery of her Health, and +receiv’d extraordinary Honours at the _French_ Court, where she was +admir’d for her Politeness, the Delicacy of her Sentiments, and the Ease +with which she express’d them in the Language of _France_; from whence +they conceiv’d an advantagious Idea of the Court of _Augustus_ II. not +imagining how ’twas possible for the Manners of a Foreign Lady so much to +resemble their own. She is also as much rever’d at _Dresden_ as at +_Paris_; and all that know her, agree she is highly to be valued for her +Sentiments. + +_Antoinetta_ of _Lichtenstein_, Countess of _Wallenstein_, is Wife to +_Leopold_ Count _de Wallenstein_, heretofore Great Master of the Queen’s +Houshold; a Lady both belov’d and honour’d at this place, for her Virtues +and civil Deportment; and as she is preparing to follow her Husband into +_Silesia_, she will carry with her the Esteem of their Majesties, and +leave the Court sorry for her Absence. + +XVI. _Of the Foreign Ministers who reside at this Court._ + +_Francis-Charles_ Count _de Wratislaw_, one of the Emperor’s Privy +Council, and Knight of the Orders of _Russia_ and _Poland_, resides at +this Court in quality of Ambassador from his Imperial and Catholic +Majesty. He is descended from one of the greatest Families in the Kingdom +of _Bohemia_, and a Family which has given wise Ministers to the august +House of _Austria_. This Gentleman has been for a long time in the +Management of the most important Affairs: He was Ambassador for the +Kingdom of _Bohemia_ to the Dyet of the Empire at _Ratisbon_; From thence +he went in the same Character to _Poland_, where he was present at the +Dyet of _Grodno_. The Emperor afterwards nam’d him Great Master of the +Houshold to the Princess Royal and Electoral, now Queen of _Poland_. The +Count having worthily acquitted himself of that Office, was for several +Years Ambassador at _Russia_, where he concluded that happy Alliance +subsisting between the two Empires, and acquired the Esteem of the +Empress, who honor’d him with her Order of St. _Andrew_; _Augustus_ II. +having before given him that of the White Eagle. + +This Minister, since his Return from _Muscovy_, has moreover been charg’d +by the Emperor with important Commissions to the Courts of _Prussia_, +_Brunswic_, and _Holstein_. At length he is come back again to this Court, +as Ambassador from his Imperial and Catholic Majesty; and officiates also +as Great Master of the Queen’s Houshold. This Nobleman is of a middling +Stature, of a happy Physiognomy, is civil, beneficent, and loves Grandeur +and Pleasures, but does not abandon himself to them so far as to neglect +the Interests of his Master, whose Affairs he negociates with a noble +Candour which has render’d him as much esteem’d at the Courts where he has +resided, as he is beloved for his Affability and Politeness. His Wife is +the Countess of _Kinski_, whose Father was Great Chancellor of _Bohemia_, +under the Emperor _Leopold_, and whose Brother is now in that Office under +the most August _Charles_ VI. + +_Hermann-Charles Keyserling_, Plenipotentiary Minister from the Empress of +the _Russians_, is of a Family of Note in _Courland_. He study’d at +_Koningsberg_ in _Prussia_. After he had visited the principal Courts of +_Germany_, and return’d to his own Country, he was made Gentleman of the +Bed-Chamber to the Dutchess of _Courland_, _Anne_ of _Muscovy_, the +present Empress, who employ’d him in several Commissions to the Courts of +_Prussia_ and _Poland_. Nevertheless he quitted her Service for one of the +judicial Offices in that Country. + +When _Anne_ came to the Throne, the States of _Courland_ deputed M. +_Keyserling_ to that Princess, who offer’d him an Employment at her +Court, and appointed him Vice-President of the Chamber of Justice of the +_Russian_ Empire. Some time after, she made him President of the Academy +of Sciences at _Petersbourg_, and sent him to this Court, where he +discharges his Ministerial Office with universal Approbation. The Wife of +this Minister is the Daughter of the Starost _Forchs_, who, for opposing +the Pretensions of a certain Power which challeng’d more Respect, was +assassinated at _Mittaw_. Both he and his Lady are of the _Lutheran_ +Communion. + +_John-Hartwig-Ernest_, Baron of _Bernsdorff_, Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber +to the King of _Denmark_, and his Majesty’s Envoy at this Court, is of a +Family which is possess’d of a fine Estate in _Mecklembourg_, and has +given an able Minister to the House of _Hanover_. The Envoy, of whom +mention is here made, does honour to his Character, and behaves with a +Prudence not inferior to Ministers of the greatest Experience. + + * * * * * + +By the Detail I have now given you, Sir, you must have observ’d that the +chief Employments of the Court are in the hands of Foreigners, and that +_Saxons_ have little to do in Affairs of State, for which they are oblig’d +indeed to the Count _de Flemming_. This vain, haughty, and imperious +Minister expected every one shou’d truckle to him. He found that +Foreigners were much more submissive than the _Saxons_, who are by nature +stately, and Enemies to Slavery in any shape. Count _Flemming_ being dead, +it’s probable that the _Saxons_ will be more employ’d than they have been; +and indeed they have Capacities equal to any Nation in the World. They are +well made, robust, agile, laborious, good Soldiers, cunning Courtiers. +They have naturally more Spirit than the _French_ allow to the _Germans_; +they improve in the Sciences, and in bodily Exercises, and they have good +Writers among them upon all sorts of Subjects; witness the Works of M. +_Leibnitz_, the famous Philosopher, and of _Thomasius_, one of the most +able Civilians of his time. The _Saxons_ are addicted indeed to all +Pleasures in general, but to none so much as the Bottle and Gaming. They +love Pomp and Expence, and are naturally not very engaging, being +exceeding ceremonious, and affecting more than all the _Germans_ to ape +the _French_, with whom they sympathise very much, particularly in their +Fondness for new Fashions, their Forwardness to make new Acquaintance and +Friendships, and perhaps too in their Readiness to fall out with them upon +very trivial Occasion. + +Since I have spoke so much of the Men, I must also give you some account +of the _Saxon_ Women. They are all of a fair Complexion, and there are +among them the finest Faces in the World. They are generally well shap’d +too, which is what they are chiefly taken notice of for: They are tall and +slender; they dance well, and have a surprising genteel Air, which they +take great care to improve by rich Dress. One Fault I find with them is, +that they are very affected, and that they have too much Action when they +talk. As to their Tempers, they are reckon’d to be good-natur’d; but then +they are subtile and crafty. They love Dress and Ornament more than all +Women that I ever saw. They are lively and gay, and passionately fond of +Dancing and Merriment. When they are told that they are handsome, they are +so far from being surpriz’d that they look upon it as a Compliment due to +them. When once they love, they love with Tenderness; and there are among +them such Examples of Constancy as would eclipse even a _Cleopatra_, or a +_Clelia_. These heroic Sentiments of Love they learn from Romances, which +they are vastly fond of: But this must be said to their Honour, that +Gallantry does not take up so much of their Time and Thoughts as to make +them neglect their Business; for they are laborious, dextrous, and amuse +themselves with all sorts of Work. They do every thing too with a good +Grace; and in a word it may be added to their Praise, that a _Saxon_ Woman +wants nothing more to make her amiable, but an Inclination to acquire that +Character. + +Pleasures and Recreations commonly attend the Ladies so closely, that in +treating of the one I can’t but remember the other; and the Inhabitants of +_Dresden_ are so much devoted to Pleasures, that I think I ought to put +them into a separate Article. When the King is at _Dresden_ there are +Pleasures in abundance, such as Plays, Masquerades, Balls, Feasts, Running +at the Ring, and Races on Sleds, Turnaments, Hunting-Matches; but when the +King is in _Poland_ there’s a very great _Vacuum_. The Electoral Prince +and Princess are often at _Wermstorff_, alias _Hubertsbourg_; and even +when their Royal Highnesses are in Town, they are pretty retir’d: They see +Company while they are at Dinner, but for the rest of the day none come +near them besides the few that have the honour of their Confidence. The +rest are scatter’d up and down the Town to the great Disappointment of +Foreigners that happen then to be here; for there’s no body keeps open +House, they being all select Societies to which ’tis very difficult to +gain admittance. If one is invited to dine with some Lord of the Court, +one has a good Dinner ’tis true, but after Dinner is over a Man knows not +how to bestow himself. One is sure of finding Company no where except at +the Houses of Madame _de Brebentau_ the Widow of the great Treasurer of +_Poland_, and of the Countess _de Lagnasco_; nor are their Houses always +open, for Madame _de Brebentau_ is often sick, and Madame _de Lagnasco_ +often abroad, or engag’d in Parties with the Electoral Princess, and then +one knows not where to go; for there’s no Play to be seen, and as for the +young People, they amuse themselves with the common Pleasures of that +Stage of Life; they drink, they game, and do something more. + +When the King is at _Dresden_, the People partake in most of the Pleasures +of the Court, the generality of the Entertainments which the King gives +being public. Plays and Masquerades are free for any People of Fashion; +there’s nothing to pay, and all divert themselves as they like best. The +Citizens Wives are more tractable here than in any Town in _Germany_: They +love to imitate the Ladies of Quality, and ’tis sometimes as good as a +Comedy to see what Airs they give themselves. + +They are extremely fond of Dressing, which Luxurious Taste extends even to +Wives of the Mechanics, and of the Livery; so that were a Stranger to come +hither on a Sunday or a Holiday, when every body is dress’d, he wou’d be +tempted to think that _Plutus_ had scatter’d all his Wealth among these +People; and a very great Nobleman, who ’tis like was not acquainted with +the God _Plutus_, returning home once from _Dresden_, told his Wife that +he was come from a City to which the Devil had carry’d all the Money. + +The Parsons here do indeed cry aloud against these Abuses, but the worst +on’t is, that like the Clergy in many other Places, they preach what they +don’t practise; and while they are declaiming against Luxury and new +Fashions, they suffer their Wives and Daughters to be the first to set off +their Charms with the gayest and the newest Patterns. + +While I am speaking of the Pastors, I must be a little more particular. +These Gentlemen stand very high in the Opinion of the Laity, and are +ready to think themselves Bishops. Having such Notions as these in their +Heads, they anathematise all that are not _Lutherans_: The _Catholics_ and +the _Reform’d_, or, to speak as they do, the _Papists_ and _Calvinists_, +all Christians in short who are of a contrary Opinion to those charitable +Ecclesiastics are damn’d without Mercy. Yet by the Appearance of these +severe Judges, one would think they preach’d only Peace and Paradise; and +they have such a meek, humble, modest, and timorous Air, that you wou’d be +apt to take them for Saints. + +A few days ago I had an Adventure with one of those Clergymen, which I +will acquaint you of, because I think it may give you an Idea of their +Character; for he that sees one of them, sees all. + +I happen’d to be making a Visit to a _Lutheran_ Lady, who passes for a +very devout one: There was already a pretty deal of Company, and who +should come in to add to it but a Minister that was a Doctor, and by +consequence a Man of Importance; as such too he was receiv’d by the +Mistress of the House, who said to me as soon as she saw his Face, _You +will now see a holy Man_. The good Man, or Saint, as he wou’d be reckon’d, +enter’d the Room with his Eyes cast downward, making profound Reverences, +and prostrating himself in such a manner as if he had said _Domine non sum +dignus_. At last, after a great many Compliments, he sat down, was silent +for a few Moments, and then he spoke. His Words were all sacred, and his +Sentences such as if the wise Man himself had spoke with his Lips: _God be +prais’d_ was in every Phrase, and he was hearken’d to with as much +Attention as an Oracle. I listen’d to him first like the rest, but at +length I thought I might as well talk to a pretty young Lady that sat just +by me. The Doctor offended to see the little Regard I paid to what he +said, enquir’d of the Mistress of the House who I was. She told him my +Name, and withal that I was once a _Calvinist_, but that I was turn’d +_Papist_. What a Thunder-stroke was this to the Doctor! He threw himself +to the back of his Chair, lifted up his Eyes to Heaven, sigh’d, and cry’d +out, _Das Gott erbarme_, i. e. _God help us_. Then transported by a Fit of +Zeal, he turn’d about to me and ask’d me what had induc’d me to embrace a +Religion which he treated as Idolatry? I told him that I did not think he +need to give himself any Trouble about my Conversion, since according to +his System I was damn’d when a _Calvinist_ as well as when a _Catholic_. +_The Case is not quite the same_, said the Minister; but to turn _Papist_! +cry’d he, to _adore Baal! to become a Disciple of Antichrist! alas! it +were better to be a damn’d Calvinist!_ I own that I had much ado to help +laughing outright at the Minister’s impertinent Zeal: yet I had the +Discretion to contain myself, for I had a mind to see to what length he +wou’d carry his sanctify’d Rant. He said indeed a great deal, and because +I made no Answer, he thought he had convinc’d me, if not touch’d me to the +quick. He was actually applauding himself for the good Work he had wrought +upon my Soul, when I told him that he ought not to conclude from my +Silence that he had convinc’d me; that it neither consisted with my +Character nor my Temper to dispute about Religion, that I left every Man +to his own Opinion, and that I knew which to adhere to. _What Blindness is +here!_ cry’d the Doctor again, _What a mad Papist are you? If you will not +be of our Communion_, return to the _Religion which you have abandon’d, in +which there are some Hopes at least that God will pardon you_. + +The fanatical Doctor concluded his Exclamations by a Prayer, in which he +begg’d God to preserve every good _Lutheran_ Soul from the Errors of +Popery; and then he went away, leaving the Company more scandaliz’d than +edify’d by his Zeal. + +Formerly the Preachers had the pleasure of venting their Choler in the +Pulpit, but the King by a wise Decree, which indeed ought to be followed +in all Countries, has confin’d them to the Preaching of the Gospel, and to +treat of Controversial Matters no farther than is merely necessary for the +People’s Instruction. For the rest, the Parsons need not fear being soon +supplanted, for the _Saxons_ are hearty _Lutherans_; and if they tolerate +the Catholics, ’tis because they can’t help it. They have excluded them +from Offices in the Courts of Judicature, and from the Privilege of +enjoying Lands; but they have not been able to keep them out of Places in +the Ministry, or at Court, nor from Employments in the Army, which are +three very engaging Articles to make Proselytes among the Gentry. + + * * * * * + +Thus, Sir, you have all that I can say to you relating to _Dresden_ and +_Saxony_. ’Tis now high time to put an end to my Legend. I kiss your hand, +and am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER VI. + + + _SIR_, _Weimar, Sept. 5, 1729._ + +Before I write you an account of what became of me when I left _Dresden_, +I shall endeavour to give you the Intelligence you desire concerning the +late Count _de Flemming_, Prime Minister and Velt-Marshal of _Saxony_. +That Nobleman was of a good Extraction, being descended of a Family which +pretends to derive its Origin from that of _Flemming_, which has been of +considerable Rank for a long time in _Scotland_, _Sweden_, _Germany_, and +_Poland_. My Lord _Wigtoun_ is the Chief of that Family in _Scotland_. + +_James-Henry_ Count _de Flemming_, whose Pourtraiture and Character you +desire of me, was born the 8th of _March_ 1667. His Father was President +of the Regency of _Stargard_, the Capital of _Prussian Pomerania_, who had +three Sons, of whom this Count was the second. He had an Education +suitable to his Birth. He study’d first at _Francfort_ upon the _Oder_, +and afterwards at _Utrecht_ under the celebrated _Grevius_, where he +learnt _Latin_ to such a degree that he always spoke it with very great +Eloquence. After he had finish’d his Studies he enter’d into the Service +of _Brandenbourg_, where the Baron _de Span_, his Uncle by the Mother’s +side, was Velt-Marshal. His first Preferment was to a Pair of Colours; but +in a little time he had a Company given him, which he commanded at the +Battle of _Orbassan_ in _Piedmont_. In 1694, he enter’d as a +Lieutenant-Colonel into the Service of _John-George_ IV. Elector of +_Saxony_; upon whose Death, and the Succession of _Frederic-Augustus_, +_Flemming_ obtain’d a Regiment, and accompany’d the new Elector into +_Hungary_, where he commanded the Emperor’s Army against the Infidels +during the Campaigns of 1695, and 1696. There it was that _Flemming_ +kill’d in a Duel the Baron _de Lovel_, who was Lieutenant-Colonel in the +Service of _Saxony_. In 1697, he was sent into _Poland_, where, by the +Interest of his Cousin-german, the Daughter of Velt-Marshal _Span_ of +_Berlin_, Wife of M. _Brebentau_ Palatine of _Marienbourg_, who died Great +Treasurer of _Poland_, and by the Credit of _Benedict Sapieha_ he had the +Happiness of getting his Master chose King of _Poland_. This Negotiation +obtain’d him the Post of Major-General, and laid the Foundation of his +Fortune. In 1700, he was made a Lieutenant-General, and in that Quality +laid siege to _Riga_, which the King of _Sweden_ oblig’d him to raise. In +1702, he marry’d _Sapieha_, a Daughter of one of the chief Noblemen of +_Lithuania_. He was wounded the same Year at the Battle of _Clischhoff_, +at which time the King of _Sweden_ being every where victorious, demanded +that the King of _Poland_ shou’d deliver up _Flemming_ to him. But upon +this he retir’d to _Brandenbourg_, till King _Stanislaus_ had made +_Charles_ XII. easy. _Flemming_ being return’d to _Saxony_, fought a Duel +with M. _de Schulembourg_, who giving him a Fall, insisted that he should +beg his Life; but _Flemming_ got out of this ugly Scrape by a scurvy Joke, +and _Schulembourg_ gave him his Life. The latter was a younger +Lieutenant-General than _Flemming_, but in every respect his Rival, and +wou’d have been a Marshal if his Fortune had been as good as his Valour. +At the Battle of _Frauenstad_ in 1705, where he was defeated by the +_Swedes_, _Schulembourg_ quitted the Service of _Saxony_ and went into +that _of Venice_. By this means _Flemming_, who had now no Rival left, was +made a Marshal, and happen’d to be at _Dresden_ when the King of _Sweden_ +made that strange Visit to the King of _Poland_; at which time, if +_Augustus_ had been as ungenerous as _Flemming_, _Charles_ wou’d have been +detain’d. Many People accuse _Flemming_ of having persuaded the King his +Master to deliver up _Patkul_: This I can’t pretend to affirm, but that +there was a mortal Antipathy betwixt him and the Minister of _Russia_ is +certain; for the latter having presented a Memorial to the King of +_Poland_, setting forth the wretched condition of the _Muscovite_ Troops +in the Pay of _Saxony_, concluded it with these _Latin_ Words, + + DIXI, ET SALVAVI ANIMAM. + +Which Memorial, when _Flemming_ had read, and found himself not very well +used in it, he took a Pen and underwrote these Words, + + MALEDIXISTI, ET DAMNABERIS. + +After the Disaster which _Charles_ XII. met with near _Pultowa_, +_Flemming_ contributed very much to the Re-establishment of King +_Augustus_ in _Poland_. He confirm’d the Alliance betwixt his Master and +the Czar, made Peace with the Confederates, and concluded another Alliance +with _Denmark_. The Czar and the King of _Denmark_ honour’d him with their +Orders of Knighthood, and he had that of _Poland_ before. He went +Ambassador to the unsuccessful Congress at _Brunswic_, and was afterwards +at _Hanover_ to attend _George_ I. King of _Great Britain_. When the King +of _Sweden_ return’d to _Pomerania_, _Flemming_ left no Stone unturn’d to +draw the King of _Prussia_ into his Master’s Alliance. He had some Years +before procur’d him the Sequestration of the Town of _Stetin_, and ’twas +lucky enough for him that the Pride and Obstinacy of the King of _Sweden_ +obliged the King of _Prussia_ to declare himself his Enemy. At that time +_Flemming_ was rather a Courier between _Dresden_, _Berlin_, and _Warsaw_, +than an Ambassador and Prime Minister, which Dignity he enjoy’d after the +Death of the Prince _de Furstemberg_ his Predecessor. When the Peace of +the North was settled, _Flemming_ went Ambassador to _Vienna_, where he +concluded the Marriage of the Electoral Prince of _Saxony_ with the +Archduchess, eldest Daughter to the Emperor _Joseph_, tho’ the Contract +had been settled before by the Count de _Wackerbarth_, who it may be said +had the Pains to negotiate it, and _Flemming_ the Glory of finishing it. + +At this time Count _Flemming_ had resign’d all the Salaries of his +Employments in _Saxony_, and only reserv’d to himself the private +Perquisites and the Franchise of the Post-Offices; and his Journeys, which +were very frequent, were all at the Expence of the King. It was about this +time that he caus’d his Marriage with _Sapieha_ to be dissolv’d, and +marry’d one _Radzevil_, by whom he had a Son, who was but a Year and a +half old when the Count died at _Vienna_, to which place he was return’d +with the Character of Ambassador. He left all his Estate to this Child, +without making any Intail on his Family; so that when this Son died, who +did not long survive him, his Estate went to Madame _de Flemming_, who by +marrying again carry’d the Bulk of it into another Family. They say that +his Inheritance was worth sixteen Millions of Crowns, exclusive of what he +had expended during the Splendor of his Fortune, which lasted thirty +Years, or thereabouts. Whether _Richelieu_ and _Mazarine_ got greater +Estates, I cannot say; but in _Germany_ there is not an Instance of one +sooner acquir’d, more resplendent, and better supported than his was. He +was Prime Minister, Velt-Marshal of _Saxony_, and Master of the Horse of +_Lithuania_; by which Offices he gain’d immense Sums. He made considerable +Purchases in _Silesia_ and _Poland_, but very little in _Saxony_. Whether +he left any thing to the King is not said; tho’ he ought really to have +made him some Restitution, and he might naturally have given up with a +good Grace what he cou’d not but foresee wou’d be taken by force from his +Heir. As it was just that his Succession shou’d pass thro’ the Purgatory +of a _Chambre Ardente_, the King establish’d one, which ’tis said has +adjudg’d eight Millions to his Majesty, and the same to his Widow; which +is a very fair Dividend. + +Count _Flemming_ was taller than ordinary, but a handsome Man; he had very +regular Features, a lively Eye, a disdainful Sneer, a haughty Air, and he +was really proud, and beyond measure ambitious. He was generous to a +degree of Ostentation, and always aim’d to do something to be talk’d of. +He was vigilant, laborious, indefatigable, allow’d himself little Sleep; +and whenever he took a Debauch, a Nap of two Hours set him to rights +again. It was no more for him to go from a Debauch to Business, than from +Business to a Debauch; and he never fatigu’d himself, but dispatch’d the +greatest Affairs with so much Ease as if they were only a Diversion. He +lov’d to banter, but did not always make use of the Terms suitable to his +Character; and Persons who did not dare to answer him again, were commonly +the Butts of his Raillery. He was polite when he had a mind to it, but in +the general Course of his Behaviour he carry’d an Air fitter for a Captain +of Dragoons than for a Marshal and a Prime Minister. He never did a thing +for any body without some View; he scrupl’d neither Cunning nor even +Perjury, and provided he could gain his Ends, all ways were alike fair to +him. All his Life-time he took care to do his own Business first, and +then his Master’s the King’s; and I question whether I do him any +Injustice if I say that he was the King of _Prussia_’s Minister, much more +than the King of _Poland_’s. + +This, Sir, is all that I have to say to you concerning Count _Flemming_. I +have told you very nakedly what I always thought of him, and I don’t +believe that I have mistaken his Character. Be this as it will, my +Decision is of too little weight to do either Good or Harm; the Publick +will always judge of him according to their best Information. I proceed +now with the Narrative of my Travels. + + * * * * * + +After I had set out from _Dresden_ I went to _Altenbourg_ in hopes of +finding the Court of _Gotha_ there, which I had been told, intended to +spend the Remainder of the fine Season there; but it was set out the Night +before for _Gotha_, where I hope to see it to-morrow. + +The City of ALTENBOURG is the Capital of a County of that Name, of which +the Duke of _Saxe-Gotha_ is the Sovereign. This Prince has a Palace there +which makes a handsome appearance, but I shall say nothing more of it +because I neglected to go and see it. The Peasants of the County of +_Altenbourg_ are the richest in _Germany_, and may almost vye with those +of _Holland_. I have been assur’d that some of them have given 20 or 30000 +Crowns in Marriage with their Daughters; and like the _Dutch_ Peasants, +they take care to match them to none but the Sons of substantial Farmers. + +As I left _Altenbourg_ I came upon a fine Causey with a Row of Trees on +each side, which brought me to the Frontiers of the County. I afterwards +fell into very bad Roads all the way to _Leipsic_, where I stay’d but a +very few Hours, and proceeded the same day to MERSEBOURG. This City was +much more considerable formerly than now. It was the See of a Bishop, but +was seculariz’d by the Treaty of _Passaw_ in favour of the House of +_Saxony_. Its Situation is charming, with Gardens and Meadows all round +it, and its Walls are wash’d by the River _Sala_. The great Church which +was formerly a Cathedral is a _Gothic_ Building, where there is a stately +Tomb of the Emperor _Rodolph_ of _Schwartzbourg_, who died after he had +lost one Hand in a Battle he fought with the Emperor _Henry_ IV. with whom +he was Competitor. This Prince a few Moments before he expir’d, took up +his Hand that was cut off, and holding it up to those who were about him, +said to them, _Behold this Hand; ’tis the same that I lifted up when I +promis’d Faith and Allegiance to my Emperor and Lord; but by your Advice +and Instigation I have not kept my Promise to him, for which you will one +day give an account to God._ Some time after this unfortunate Prince’s +Death, the Emperor _Henry_ IV. coming to _Mersebourg_ and taking a view of +_Rodolphus’s_ Tomb, of which he admir’d the Magnificence, certain +Flatterers told him that the Tomb ought to be destroy’d as too pompous for +a Rebel; but the Emperor scorning such a pitiful Revenge, made answer, +_Wou’d to God that all my Enemies were thus pompously interr’d_. + +The City of _Mersebourg_ is the Residence of a Duke of the House of +_Saxony_, who is Sovereign of all the Country that formerly constituted +the Bishoprick, which enables him to keep a splendid Court[71]. The next +day after my Arrival I had the Honour to pay him my Compliments, and had a +very satisfactory Reception. The Prince conducted me into a Hall which was +hung with Bass-Viols from the Bottom to the Top, in the same manner as an +Arsenal is with Helmets and Breast-Plates. In the middle of the Hall there +was a Viol which was distinguish’d from the rest. It reach’d up to the +very Cieling, and there was a Ladder set, which such as had the Curiosity +to take a particular View of it were oblig’d to ascend, for surely it was +the most stately Instrument of the kind that ever was made. The Duke made +me take particular notice of it, and was pleas’d with the Admiration which +I express’d of it. He regal’d me also with some Airs upon another +Bass-Viol which he call’d his _Favorite_, and which was but one fourth +part as big as the other. + +After this Concert I din’d with the Duke and Duchess. This Princess is the +Daughter of the late Prince of _Nassau-Idstein_, than whom there cannot be +a more amiable Lady. She has an Air of Mildness, Goodness and Prudence +diffused over all her Features; and her Wit is of the same Stamp as her +Beauty, amiable without Parade and Ostentation. Some of her Courtiers +assur’d me, that her Mind is as charming as her Person. If that be true, +which I am loth to doubt of, this Princess deserves a more splendid +Fortune than what she enjoys. + +After Dinner, I was one at a Match of Quadrille with the Duchess, and at +night there was dancing, and I never saw any body dance with a better +Grace than this Princess. The Ball held till the Night was far advanced, +when there was a grand Supper, which was no sooner over than I took leave +of the Duke and Duchess and retir’d to my Quarters, with a design to set +out in a few Hours and proceed in my Journey. At my Lodging I found a +Gentleman from the Duke, who said to me, ‘That as he was passing by he saw +my Men packing up my things, and that therefore he came in purely to wish +me a good Journey. He assured me that he had a secret Kindness for me; +that I might safely take his Word; that he was Sincerity it self; and that +he wish’d 500000 Devils might twist his Neck if he was not heartily my +Friend: And to give you proofs of it, _said he_, I will treat you with +some Trifle, such as a Dram of Anniseed, Orange-Water, or Ratasia. Upon my +word my Apothecary has what is choice good; he lives but at the end of the +Street; Come, I will shew you the way to his House.’ + +While he harangu’d me in this manner he reel’d, being so drunk that he +cou’d not stand. I thank’d him therefore for his Love, and told him that I +did not drink Drams, but that if he had a mind to any Liquor of that sort, +I would send for some for him; and I bid my Landlord fetch it. The +Apothecary, as ill luck would have it, was not yet got up. ‘Soho, here, +_said my new Friend_, there is nothing to drink but Aquavitæ; here, +Landlord, a Glass of Brandy, Pipes and Tobacco. You must have something, +_said he_, to be doing.’ Every thing he call’d for being brought, my +Gentleman drank two or three Glasses of Brandy, and smoak’d as many Pipes +of Tobacco. I hoped to see him tumble down, and by consequence to get rid +of him, when he took it into his head to call for some Dishes of Tea that +I had order’d to be made for my self, and which made him so sober that he +recover’d his Reason. I laid hold of this happy Interval (for I heard him +calling out for Brandy, which I apprehended would occasion a Relapse) and +talk’d to him about his Master’s Bass-Viols; upon which, without much +Intreaty, he said to me, ‘You know, Sir, that every Man almost has his +particular Whim, Princes as well as private Persons. One is an Admirer of +Magnificence, another of Troops, and a third of Mistresses. As for my +august Master, his Fancy runs only on Bass-Viols, and whoever sollicits +him for an Employment or any other Favour, can’t do better than to +accommodate his Arsenal with one of these Instruments. That very large +one, _said he_, which you saw in the Room where all his Viols are, was +presented to him by one who wanted to be a Privy-Counsellor; his Petition +was granted, and had he ask’d for any thing else he might have had it.’ +This officious Gentleman told me a great many other Particulars which let +me into the very Chronicle of the Court of _Mersebourg_; but I don’t +trouble you with it, because the Truth is not to be told at all times. + +My Equipage being ready, I set out for NAUMBOURG, where I arrived at Noon. +This City was formerly the See of a Bishop. Its ancient Cathedral is still +standing, and tho’ _Lutheran_, has a Chapter and Canons who must prove +their Nobility both by the Father’s side and Mother’s side, by sixteen +Descents. When this Bishoprick was seculariz’d it was said that no +Catholic Prince could ever be possess’d of this State. Therefore when the +last Duke of _Saxe-Zeits_, Administrator of _Naumbourg_, turn’d Catholic, +the King of _Poland_ as eldest of the _Saxon_ Family and Executor of the +_Pacta_ or Conventions made between the Princes of that Family, took +possession of _Naumbourg_. The Duke’s being reconciled to the _Lutheran_ +Communion was to no purpose, the King did not restore his Dominions to +him, but still possesses them, tho’ he is more a Catholic than the Duke of +_Zeits_ perhaps ever was. You know that this Prince has left a Nephew who +wou’d have been his Heir, if he had not been a Catholic and a Priest. This +is the Prince who, I acquainted you from _Dresden_, was Bishop of +_Konigsgratz_ in _Bohemia_. He was born a _Lutheran_, as are all those of +his Family. His Uncle the Cardinal of _Saxe_, Brother to the Duke of +_Zeits_, made him embrace the Roman Catholic Religion when he was very +young, and afterwards persuaded him to enter into Ecclesiastical Orders, +by which step he deprived his Nephew of the glorious Prerogative of being +a Sovereign Prince, and transferred his Rights to the King of _Poland_ +his distant Cousin. + +_Naumbourg_ is famous for its Fairs, which next to those of _Leipsic_, are +the most considerable in _Saxony_. The Suburbs of this City are almost all +Vineyards; but why, I know not, for the Wine is so detestably bad, that +they give it away in a manner for nothing. + +Finding nothing at _Naumbourg_ which was worth my while to stay there for, +I only chang’d Horses and came hither. As one approaches this Place, we +meet with Corn-Fields and Hop-Grounds instead of Vines, and the Country +rises into Hills, so that one does not see the Town of WEIMAR till we are +just upon it. The City, which is not more considerable than _Naumbourg_, +is the Residence of the Duke of _Saxe-Weimar_, who has a Palace here which +does not want for Magnificence, and tho’ unfinish’d, has an air of +Grandeur. The Connoisseurs in Architecture highly extol the grand +Stair-Case there, which two Persons may ascend and descend at the same +time without meeting one another, and yet always keeping each other in +view. It consists of two Flights of Stairs upon one Spindle, laid one over +the other in the same Well of a square Form. The Curious who have observ’d +it, admire it, because there are few such to be seen. + +The great Hall which is an oval, is beautiful, but not lightsome enough. +There are the Pictures of all the Dukes of _Saxe-Weimar_ at full length, +from the first Duke that ever was down to the Father of the present. They +are all drawn on Horseback, and done by no mean Hand. + +In the same Palace is the Duke’s Library, which tho’ not very large, +consists of sundry scarce Books. ’Tis open twice a week, when the Curious +are not only permitted to peruse them, but even to borrow them, upon +leaving a Note with the Librarian. + +The Duke of _Weimar_ spends very little Time in his Capital, but commonly +resides at a Seat which he has caus’d to be built about a League out of +Town. He has given it the Name of _Belle-Vue_, because of the fine +Prospect which it commands from the Apartments of the first Story. The +House is small and not very commodious, so that the chief Beauty of it is +its Situation, which is very charming. The Gardens which are begun upon +very good Plans will be beautiful when finish’d, as well as the +Pheasant-Walk and Menagerie where there are Turkeys and all sorts of Fowl. + +The Duke of _Weimar’s_ Name is _Ernest-Augustus_: He is the eldest of the +_Ernestine_ Branch which lost the Electorate when _Charles_ V. was +Emperor. He marry’d a Princess of _Anhalt-Cothen_, who I have been told, +was a Lady of distinguish’d Merit. She died and left him a Son and three +Daughters. + +The young Prince is about ten Years of age[72]. He can neither hear nor +pronounce well, and is withal of a very tender Constitution. The +Physicians say it signifies nothing, and that as he grows up he will +acquire a Freedom of Speech. But I question it, and am apt to think rather +that those Disciples of _Æsculapius_ will send him into the other World. +The only Hopes of any Male Issue of _Weimar_ are founded upon this Child. +The Duke of _Saxe-Eysenach_ who is the next a-kin has no Children; so that +the Dominions of _Weimar_ and _Eysenach_ too are ready to devolve to the +Family of _Saxe-Gotha_. The Duke of _Weimar’s_ Subjects teaze him very +much to marry, but the Prince does not seem to be in a Humour to satisfy +them; for I have often heard him say that he can’t bear the mention of +Marriage. + +No body presumes to go to _Belle-Vue_ without being sent for, except only +on _Mondays_ when poor People are permitted to go thither with their +Petitions which they deliver to the Secretary, and he gives them to the +Duke. Persons of Quality, whether Foreigners or others, that have a mind +to speak with the Duke, apply for it to the Marshal of the Court, but are +seldom admitted to an Audience. + +The Duke has rarely any other Company at _Belle-Vue_ but two young Ladies +whom he calls his Maids of Honour, and three young Women, Citizens +Daughters, who go by the Name of his Chamber-Maids; a Major of his Troops, +and the Officer of his Guard, who is a Lieutenant or an Ensign. I had +forgot to mention the Baron _de Bruhl_, who is the Duke’s Favourite and +his Master of the Horse. + +’Tis with these Persons that the Prince passes his Time. He wakes early in +the Morning, but makes it late before he rises; for he takes his Tea in +Bed, and sometimes plays on the Violin. At other times he sends for his +Architects and Gardeners, with whom he amuses himself in drawing of Plans. +His Ministers also come to him while he is in Bed to talk upon Business. +About Noon he gets up, and as soon as he is dress’d, sees his Guard mount, +which consists of 33 Men, commanded by a Lieutenant or an Ensign. He +exercises his Soldiers himself, and corrects them too when they commit any +Fault. This done he takes the Air, and at two or three o’clock sits down +to Table, where the two Maids of Honour, the Master of the Horse, the +Major, the Officer of the Guard, and even Foreigners if any happen to be +there, are of the Company. The Dinner holds a long while, and ’tis +sometimes three, four, and five Hours before they rise from Table. The +Glass never stands still hardly, and the Duke talks a great deal, but the +Conversation is commonly on Subjects that are not very agreeable. When +Dinner is over they drink Coffee, after which the Duke retires for a few +Minutes, and then plays at Quadrille with his two young Ladies and the +Major; but sometimes he does nothing but smoak Tobacco, and he often +retires to his Chamber where he amuses himself with Drawing or else +playing on the Violin till he goes to Bed. + +There scarce a Week passes but the Duke gives an Invitation at least once +or twice to all the Persons of Quality of the Court, and all the Officers +of his Troops, at which time there are two great Tables spread, where they +dine, play, sup, and afterwards dance till next Day. + +The Duke’s Troops consist of a Battalion of 700 Men, a Squadron of 180 +Troopers, and a Company of Cadets on horseback. His Infantry consists of +pick’d Men. Since the famous _Bernard de Weimar_ who was Pensioner to +_Lewis_ XIII. King of _France_, no Duke of _Weimar_ had so many Troops, +and really they must be chargeable to the Duke whose Revenues ’tis said +don’t exceed 400000 Crowns. This Prince has made a Treaty with the King of +_Poland_, whereby he engages to assist the King with his Battalion +whenever his Majesty thinks it necessary for his Service; in which Case +the King promises to give that Battalion the same Pay as he does his own +Troops. Mean time the Duke is obliged to clothe them all according to the +Pattern which is sent to him from _Dresden_; and indeed their Clothes are +very rich, especially those of the Officers and Cadets, which are so +bedaub’d with Gold and Silver Lace, that a Foreigner who comes to _Weimar_ +cannot but admire it. + +The Duke’s Family is very numerous, for besides the Prince his Son and the +three Princesses his Daughters, he has a Sister, and a Mother-in-law, who +is a Princess of _Hesse-Hombourg_: Mean time he has a numerous Court, and +may boast that some of them are Persons of very great Merit. + +The Gentleman who is at the Head of Affairs is the Baron _de Reinbabe_, +who has the Title of President of the Council of State. He is a Person of +a good Family, in _Silesia_, has very great Abilities, and withal so much +Good-nature and Modesty as are seldom to be met with. When he was young he +travell’d very much abroad, where he learnt what was valuable in every +Country that he came to. He speaks several Languages well, is a great +Historian, a learned Civilian, and a good Poet. Notwithstanding the +Business that goes thro’ his Hands, and his Care of a numerous Family, he +is always almost at his Studies, and never better pleas’d than when he is +in his Library; yet he is no Enemy to Pleasures, but enjoys them without +abandoning himself to them, and takes them as they fall in his way without +pursuing ’em. To finish his Character I will add what was said of him by a +Prince who knew him intimately: _If Probity was intirely lost in the rest +of Mankind_, said he to me, _I think I shou’d be sure to find it again in +the Baron_ de Reinbabe. + +The Baron _de Schmiedel_ is Marshal of the Court and Director of the +military Chest. He is a Person of great Piety, whose Aspect is not indeed +the most engaging, yet a very good Man to have to do with. He is a sincere +Friend, loves to do a kind Thing, is exact in the Duties of his Offices, +an Enemy to Vice, and very much attach’d to the Interests of his Master, +tho’ he does not always please him because he has not the Talent of +Dissimulation so necessary at Courts. + +The Baron _de Studenitz_ a _Silesian_ is a Privy-Counsellor, and President +of the Chamber. He was formerly in the Service of the Duke of +_Saxe-Barbi_, and afterwards he enter’d into that of the Duke of +_Saxe-Hilburgshausen_, whose Finances he directed for several Years, in +which he acquired a Reputation, and came to _Weimar_ where he was +continued in the same Employment. He is a Gentleman of very great Learning +and Integrity, and having travell’d a long time in his Youth, very well +knows how to carry himself. + +M. _de Hering_ is of a noble Family in the Country of _Anhalt-Cothen_. He +is the Duke’s Aulic Counsellor, a Gentleman of Worth, and both Learned and +Polite. He is on the point of leaving this Court, which will be a Loss to +the Duke that he will not easily repair. + +M. _de Bruhl_ the Duke’s Master of the Horse and Favourite, is a _Saxon_. +His Birth, good Qualities, and especially his sweet Temper render him very +worthy of a Sovereign’s Favour. Yet I doubt whether, notwithstanding so +much Merit, he has a firm Footing in the Duke’s Friendship; he has too +much Candor, too much Sincerity, and is too zealous to do Services; and +perhaps also too much attach’d to the Interests and Honour of his Master: +for tho’ these Qualities have the Appearance of Virtues, yet they are +sometimes Errors in the Eyes of Princes. + +Thus, Sir, have I given you the Names of the most distinguish’d Persons at +the Court of _Weimar_. I set out to-morrow for _Gotha_. I hope for a Line +from you at _Wurtzbourg_, and don’t propose to write again to you till I +know whether you are living or dead. + + _I am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER VII. + + + _SIR_, _Gotha, Sept. 9, 1732._ + +I set out from _Weimar_ at 5 o’clock in the Morning, and by eight was at +_Erfurt_, where I walk’d about an Hour, and came at Noon to _Gotha_. + +’Tis all a flat Country abounding with Corn. In time of Rain the Roads are +so bad that sometimes it takes up a whole Day to come from _Erfurt_ to +_Gotha_. ERFURT is a City belonging to the Elector of _Mentz_, is the +Capital of _Thuringia_, and may be rank’d among those of the second Class +in _Germany_. Its Inhabitants are almost all _Lutherans_, yet the +principal Churches belong to the Catholics. _Erfurt_ is fortified with +good Ramparts, and by a Castle on a Hill which absolutely commands the +Town. There is always a good Garison in the Place, which consists of the +Emperor’s Soldiers and those of _Mentz_; and the Elector has a Governor +here with the Title of _Stadtholder_, who presides in the Regency. + +GOTHA, which is not near so big as _Erfurt_, is a City situate in the +middle of a fine fruitful Plain, so that which way soever one approaches +it, one always perceives the Castle or Palace of the Duke, which stands on +an Eminence by itself, and has a Prospect of a vast Extent of Country. +This Castle, which is one of the biggest in _Germany_, was built by +_Ernest_ Duke of _Gotha_, surnamed the _Pious_; who caused both that and +the Town to be encompassed with Ditches and Ramparts. To the Glory of this +Prince, he undertook and finished these Great Works, at a time when +_Germany_ was so impoverished by intestine Wars that few of its Princes +were able to erect Palaces[73]. + +As of all the _Saxon_ Princes of the _Ernestine_ Branch, the Duke of +_Gotha_ is the most powerful, so his Court is of all the _Saxon_ Courts +next to that of _Dresden_, the most Numerous and the most Magnificent. + +Nevertheless the Subjects of the Duke of _Gotha_[74] are the least +burthen’d with Taxes of any in _Germany_. To this Prince’s wise Management +of his Finances is owing not only his own Happiness, but that of his +People too, by whom he is ador’d; and really he treats them more like a +Father, than a Sovereign; and never makes them sensible of his Power, but +when he is to do them Justice. He is a kind good Master, easy of Access, +temperate in his way of Living, gives very great Application to the +Affairs of his Government, loves Reading, understands Books, and knows +every thing which a Prince ought to be acquainted with. As to his Person, +he is handsome and comely; is civil in his Deportment, but reserv’d; and +therefore seldom speaks to Strangers, if he can help it; but endeavours +first of all to know those he has Business with, and when he has found out +their Character, talks with them upon such Subjects as he thinks they are +best acquainted with. He keeps regular Hours, rises at seven o’clock, +first spends an Hour in Prayer, and the reading of some pious Treatise; +and then gets himself dress’d, and gives Audience to his Ministers, or to +other Persons that desire it. At Noon he dines with the Duchess his Wife, +the Princes his Children, and other Persons of Distinction; stays about an +Hour and a half at Table, and then takes a Walk in the Gardens of the +Palace, or if the Weather does not permit, he employs himself in his +Closet, or spends the Time in reading till five o’clock. Then he goes to +the House of some Person of Distinction at his Court where all the +Nobility have an Assembly, and plays at Ombre, after which he returns to +his Palace, sups in the manner that he din’d, and at nine o’clock retires. + +There is a Drawing-Room at Court three times a Week when the Company meets +in a great Hall, where they make Parties at Ombre and Piquet. At seven +o’clock a large Table is spread, which is free for all the Company. Then a +Carver cuts up the Victuals, which are handed to that, and to all the +Gaming-Tables that are cover’d with Napkins. Those who don’t play may sit +down at what Table they like best. The Duke, the Duchess, or the Princes, +generally do Foreigners the Honour to admit them to their Table. During +the Supper there is a Concert of Music, and at nine o’Clock all the +Company retires. + +The Duke by his Marriage with _Magdalen-Augusta_ of _Anhalt-Zerbst_, has +seven Sons and two Daughters[75]: The eldest is the Hereditary Prince, who +has been twice in _Paris_, and once in _Italy_, _England_, _Holland_, +_Denmark_, _Sweden_, and at all the Courts of _Germany_, in which Travels +he has acquir’d a great deal of Politeness and valuable Knowledge. I had +the Honour of making my Compliments to him both at _Paris_, and the +_Hague_, and found him of such a Temper as induces me to think that the +Subjects of _Gotha_ will be as happy hereafter under his Government, as +they are under that of the Duke his Father. He was lately married to his +Cousin-German _Louisa-Dorothea_ of _Saxe-Meinungen_, a very lovely young +Princess, who, with all her Graces and Charms, has abundance of +Good-nature and Modesty[76]. + +The Duke has all the Great Officers common to other Sovereigns. The Count +_de Ronaw_ is Great Marshal, and the chief Man at Court. They give him +here the Character of Favourite; whether he is such I know not, but this I +know, that he is not unworthy of it. I was very well acquainted with him +at _Ratisbon_ in 1720; he was not then in any Place, and expressed a +Friendship for me; and now that I see him here in a Post, I find him the +same Man as at _Ratisbon_, always a Friend to his Friends; which for a +Favourite is a very great Character. + +The Duke’s Revenues are computed at a Million of Crowns a year, with which +he maintains near 3000 Men of regular Troops. His Family is large and his +Livery fine; his Guards are very well cloath’d; his Table is serv’d with +more Delicacy than Profusion; his Palace is well furnish’d; every body +punctually paid; and no body dissatisfied. + +I don’t mention the Library to you, nor the Chamber of Rarities, because I +am not yet well enough inform’d of such Things there as are worth +observing. I propose to take another Round before I go hence, and shall +not fail to transmit to you what Observations I shall make there. Mean +time, I am, _&c._[77] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER VIII. + + + _SIR_, _Wurtzbourg, Sept. 22, 1729._ + +When I came hither I had the very great Pleasure to find your Letters, and +to hear that you enjoy perfect Health. Continue, I beseech you, to write +to me; that being the only Means by which you can persuade me what I wish +to be convinced of more than any thing in the World, that my Letters are +acceptable to you. + +I have been in one of the most disagreeable Roads in all _Germany_; and +tho’ the Country abounds with Provisions of all sorts, I had like to have +been famished in the Public Houses. + +From _Gotha_, I went to EYSENACH, thinking to pass a few Days at that +Court, but I found the[78] Duke sick, and the Hereditary Prince and +Princess[79] absent, so that I had only my Labour for my Pains. + +As the Town of _Eysenach_ offers nothing at all to View which is worth a +Traveller’s Attention, I set out the same Day for FULDE, where I arrived +the next. You know, that this City is the Capital of the Principality of +_Fulde_, the Sovereign of which is an Abbot, a Prince of the Empire, and +Chancellor to the Empress. The present Sovereign is _Adolphus_ Baron of +_Bahlberg_, who was chose by the Chapter of the Abbey Church in 1726, in +the room of _Constantine_ Baron of _Buthler_, who died suddenly, and not +without suspicion of Poison. _Fulde_ is a dirty little Town open on all +sides, and has nothing remarkable but the Abbey Church, and the Prince’s +Palace, which are two Freestone Buildings that make a very grand +Appearance. The Apartments of the Palace are very richly furnish’d. The +last Abbot being a Man of good Understanding and great Views, caused this +Palace to be so adorn’d as to demonstrate the Wealth of the Abbey. + +The Prince Abbot has a Grand Marshal, a Master of the Horse, a Marshal of +the Court, several Privy and Aulic Counsellors, a Number of Gentlemen, a +Company of Horse-Guards well cloathed and well mounted, a Regiment of Foot +Guards, eight Pages, a Number of Footmen, and several Sets of Horses. He +gives a rich Livery, and in a word, his Houshold is spruce and +magnificent. There are very few Sovereigns in _Germany_ whose Table is +better served; for there is plenty of every thing, particularly delicious +Wines, of which they tipple to such Excess that in a very little time they +are not capable of distinguishing their Liquor. There are, I believe, the +hardest Drinkers here in _Europe_; and I being on the other hand but a +Milksop, thought that _Fulde_ was not a Country for me to pitch my Tent +in. I dined with the Prince, went home drunk to my Quarters, slept sound, +and next day set out for _Wurtzbourg_, where I am happily arriv’d after +having gone through such horrible bad Ways, and met with such dismal +Lodging, that I wish my Enemies were but condemned to travel this Road +four times a Year. + +Here I make myself amends for the Mortification which I met with coming +hither. WURTZBOURG is a considerable City though not very large. The +_Main_ divides it into two Parts. It is the Residence of the Prince Bishop +of _Wurtzbourg_ Duke of _Franconia_. The Person who now enjoys that great +Dignity is _Christopher-Francis de Houtten_[80]. He was elected by the +Chapter to succeed _John Philip Francis_ Count de _Schonborn_, who was one +of the greatest and most magnificent Prelates that perhaps ever fill’d the +Episcopal See of _Wurtzbourg_. This Prince, in the five Years time that he +has been Bishop, has done more things for the Embellishment of +_Wurtzbourg_ than ten of his Predecessors put together. He has furnished +one Part of the Town with new Fortifications, and has laid the Basis of a +stately Palace, which will be one of the greatest, the compleatest and +most regular Fabrics that we have in _Germany_; he having for that end +consulted the most skilful Architects, and sent for the most celebrated +Sculptors from _Italy_. As he was a passionate Admirer of the Arts and +Sciences, and perfectly understood them, especially Architecture; he chose +the best Parts of all the Designs that were presented to him, and from +them he compos’d the Plan of the Work, which was executed with such +diligence that in four Years time two thirds of the Building were rooft. +His unexpected Death put a stop for a while to this Great Work. The +present Bishop took it in hand again, but after having made considerable +Alterations in those great and magnificent Projects, the Work advances so +slowly that when it will be finished no body knows. + +The deceased Bishop _Schonborn_ has also caused a Chapel to be built near +the Metropolitan Church, which he has lined with very uncommon Marble +brought for the purpose from _Italy_ at a very great Expence. Brass, +Gilding, and every thing that can render a Chapel superb, has been +employed in it in a very curious manner. This stately Edifice is as yet +imperfect, and will require great Sums to finish it. As it was designed +for the Burial-Place of the Bishop and his Family, it is to be presum’d +that the House of _Schonborn_, now so rich and so powerful, will not +suffer a Monument to lie unfinish’d which is to perpetuate the remembrance +of its Grandeur. + +The Great Hospital founded by a Bishop whose Name was _Julius_, is worth +seeing. ’Tis a stately Building, which looks more like the Palace of a +Prince than a Hospital. Four hundred Persons of both Sexes are maintained +in it. There are two fine Halls which are particularly made use of upon +_Holy Thursday_. In the one, the Bishop performs the Ceremony of washing +the Feet of the Poor, who are afterwards sumptuously feasted in it; and in +the other, he regales his Chapter, and all his Family. + +The Castle stands upon an Eminence on the other side of the River which we +pass over a Stone Bridge, adorn’d like that of St. _Angelo_ at _Rome_, +with twelve fine Statues representing so many Saints. This Castle is a +strong Place, and entirely commands the Town. The Form of it is quite +irregular, it consisting of several Buildings erected by several Bishops. +Those Prelates always liv’d in it, till the last, who, while he was +building a new Palace in the Town, lodged in a neighbouring Gentleman’s +House, from whence he could see how the Work went on. The Apartments of +the old Castle are spacious and noble. I found in them all that Furniture +with which they were adorn’d for the Reception of the Archduchess +_Mary-Elizabeth_, when that Princess came to _Wurtzbourg_ in her way to +the Government of the _Netherlands_. I have not seen richer Furniture at +the Palace of any Prince of the Empire. + +In this Castle there are two things that are well worth seeing; the +Arsenal and the Vault; the one full of all the Stores invented by _Mars_ +and _Bellona_, for the Destruction of Mankind, and the other furnish’d +with every thing to satiate the Thirst of an Army of Drunkards. If ever +you come hither and should have the Curiosity to visit these Magazines of +_Mars_ and _Bacchus_, I advise you to begin with the Arsenal, especially +if you can get some Courtier to go with you; for these Gentlemen, tho’ +very civil, think, that the least thing which a Foreigner ought to do for +them is to forfeit his Reason to them in this Vault. I am sure, I speak by +dear Experience. Three days ago I told the Bishop that I had a mind to see +the Castle. This Prince was so complaisant as to order one of his +Gentlemen to go with me. My honest Companion fearing, ’tis like, that a +Conversation _tete-a-tete_ would be too melancholy, chose two Topers to +bear us Company, whom _Silenus_ would not have disown’d for his Children. +Being a stranger to the Virtues for which those Gentlemen were eminent, I +put my self entirely under their Direction without the least Apprehension +of my Misfortune. When they had shewed me the Apartments, the Arsenal, +Fortifications, and every thing, they carried me at last into the Vault, +which I found illuminated like a Chapel wherein I was to lie in State; and +indeed, my Funeral Obsequies were perform’d in Pomp, for the Glasses +served instead of Bells, and Torrents of Wine gush’d out instead of +Tears: At length, after the Service was over, two of the Prince’s +_Heydukes_ carry’d me to a Coach, and from thence to Bed; that was my +Tomb. Yesterday I rose again, but scarce know at this Moment whether I am +quite come to myself. ’Tis true that this does not give me much Concern, +for ever since I have been here, I have followed the laudable Custom of +getting drunk twice a day. You perceive that I am improv’d by my Travels, +and that I am apt enough to learn the pretty Manners of the Countries +where I make any Stay. I fancy that you will find me very much alter’d for +the better. There is nothing that accomplishes a Man so much as +travelling; judge you of this by the Life which I lead here. + +I rise at ten o’clock, my Lungs very much inflam’d with the Wine I drank +the Night before: I take a large Dose of Tea, dress myself, and then go to +make my Compliments to the Bishop. The Baron _de Pechtelsheim_ the Marshal +of the Court invites me to dine with the Prince: He promises, nay, and +sometimes swears too that I shall not drink. At Noon we sit down to Table. +The Bishop does me the honour to drink two or three Healths to me. The +Baron _de Zobel_, Master of the Horse, and the Baron _de Pechtelsheim_, +toast the same number to me, and I am under a necessity of drinking to no +less than fourteen Persons at the Table; so that I am drown’d in Liquor +before I have din’d. When the Company rises, I wait on the Prince to his +Chamber-Door, where he retires, and I think to do the same, but I find an +Embargo put upon me in the Antichamber by the Master of the Horse, and the +Marshal of the Court, who with great Bumpers in their Hands drink the +Prince’s Health to me, and _Prosperity for ever to the most laudable +Chapter of +Wurtzbourg+_. I protest to them that I am the Bishop’s most +humble Servant, and that I have a very great Veneration for the most +laudable Chapter, but that to drink their Healths wou’d destroy mine, and +therefore I beg they wou’d excuse my pledging them; but I may as well talk +to the Wind; these two Healths must be drank, or I shall be reckon’d no +Friend to the Prince and his Chapter. If this were all my Task I shou’d be +well off; but then comes M. _de Zobel_, one of the most intrepid Carousers +of the Age, who squeezes me by the Hand, and with an Air and Tone of +perfect Cordiality, says to me, _You love our Prince so well that you +can’t refuse drinking to the Prosperity of the illustrious Family of ++Houtten+_. And when he has made this moving Speech, he takes off a great +Glass to witness his Zeal for the Life of his Master; after which an +officious _Heyduke_ brings me a Glass, and being infected with the Goust +that prevails at this Court, assures me that this Wine cannot possibly do +me Harm, because ’tis the very same that the Prince drinks. By a +Persuasion, founded on so just an Inference, I have the Courage to venture +on t’other Glass, which is no sooner drank but I reel, and can drink no +more; when in order to finish me M. _de Pechtelsheim_, one of the +honestest Gentlemen living, but the staunchest Wine-bibber that I know, +accosts me with a Smile and says, _Come_, dear Baron, _one Glass more to +better Acquaintance_. I conjure him to give me Quarter, but he embraces +me, kisses me, and calls me _Herr Bruder_, (his dear Brother.) How can a +Man withstand such tender Compliments! At last I put myself in a fit +Posture to run away; I sneak off, steal down the Steps as well as I can, +and squeeze myself into a Sedan which carries me home; where my People +drag me out like a dead Corpse, and fling me on a Bed, as if the next +thing was to lay me out. I sleep three or four hours, awake in a perfect +Maze, put myself to rights again, and prepare to make Visits, or to +receive them; but whichsoever I do, I presently find my self in such a +pickle again, that I cannot walk alone. There’s no such thing as +Conversation here betwixt one Friend and another without the Bottle; so +that I am tempted to think the Inhabitants of this City are descended from +_Silenus_, and that the old Sot left them the Faculty of hard drinking for +a Legacy, as St. _Hubert_ bequeath’d to his Family the power of curing a +Frenzy. + +I din’d yesterday with the Reverend the _Scots Benedictine_ Fryars, who +gave me a hearty Welcome, and an excellent sort of Liquor call’d _Stein +Wein_, or Stone-Wine, probably because it grows on a Rock; which is the +only time that I have departed from the Regimen I keep to here, I mean +that I was not drunk. The House of these _Benedictines_ is one of the five +Houses which form a sort of a Republic in their Order, and which, without +depending on their General, chuse a President out of their number who has +the direction of all their Affairs. These five Houses are in five +different Towns, _viz._ at _Vienna_ in _Austria_, at _Ratisbon_, +_Wurtzbourg_, at _Doway_ in _Flanders_, and at _Dieulegarde_, near +_Pont-a-Mousson_ in _Lorrain_. + +These _Benedictines_ put me in mind of the Reverend Fathers the _Jesuits_, +who have a very fine House in this City: These are they who are Directors +of the University, and instruct the Youth with a Zeal which cannot but +confound their Enemies. + +The Prince and Bishop lives in very great Splendor, and is one of the most +powerful of our Spiritual Sovereigns. His Dominion includes seventy +Bailywics, and his Country is the finest and fruitfullest in _Germany_. +The only thing that is scarce here is Money, and this is owing to their +want of Trade, and to the great number of Monks and Priests who ingross +all to themselves. The Bishop has 50000 Crowns a-year for his Privy-Purse. +The Chamber is oblig’d to maintain him in every thing. It furnishes his +Wardrobe, his Table, and pays his Houshold and his Troops, which actually +consist of 3500 Men, who are commanded by General _Eib_, the Governour of +_Wurtzbourg_. In time of War the Bishop has no less than 10000. + +The Court is numerous, and I can assure you that upon Festival-Days ’tis +very magnificent. On St. _Quilian_’s Day, who is the Patron of +_Wurtzbourg_ and _Franconia_, the Bishop repairs with a great Train to the +Metropolitan Church. Six of the Bishop’s Coaches, drawn each by six +Horses, begin the March, attended by twenty four Footmen and sixteen +Pages; and above fourscore Gentlemen richly dress’d walk before the +Bishop’s Coach, guarded by two Files of Halbardiers. The Master of the +Horse and the Marshal of the Court walk by the sides of the Coach, the +latter bearing the Sword of the Duke of _Franconia_ with the Point +uppermost; and the Coach is surrounded by _Heydukes_, and followed by a +company of Life-Guards. + +The Bishop of _Wurtzbourg_ has one Prerogative which the other Bishops +have not; for while he officiates, his Great Marshal bears the Sword of +the Duke of _Franconia_ naked and upright till the Consecration of the +Elements, and then he puts it up in the Scabbard, and carries it before +the Prince with the Point downwards; which is a Distinction I take to be +altogether as extraordinary as that of the Abbot and Count _de Gemblours_, +the first Nobleman of the States of _Brabant_, who has the Privilege of +celebrating Mass with his Boots and Spurs on. + +The Bishop’s ordinary Expence is perfectly suitable to the Dignity of a +great Prince; and his Table, which is commonly spread for eighteen +Guests, is serv’d with a Magnificence to the degree of Profusion; not that +this Prince affects Pomp, but because he is oblig’d to conform to the +antient establish’d Customs of his Court. This Prelate gives very great +Application to the Affairs of his Government, for which purpose he rises +early in the Morning: When he is dress’d he spends some time in Prayer, +and then confers with his Ministers, or with the Chiefs of the several +Tribunals. At ten o’clock he hears Mass, and afterwards goes to Council: +At Noon he dines, and after having sate an Hour and an half at Table, he +retires, and spends the Evening with his Family, which is numerous, and +compos’d of Persons of Worth. In Carnival-time he makes great +Entertainments twice or thrice a week for all the Nobility of +_Wurtzbourg_, and there is sometimes a Ball and even Masquerades at Court. +In the Winter-time Persons of Rank have Assemblies for Gaming; and during +the Carnival there’s a Ball three times a week in a House kept by the +Undertaker, at which they bespeak Places beforehand, and where Foreigners +are admitted _gratis_. All this wou’d be pretty enough if the Company was +not sometimes disturb’d by People in Liquor, tho’ ’tis true that such are +not very chagrining to the Natives, who are us’d to such Sights; and the +very Ladies, who elsewhere fly such Company, do not seem to have a staunch +Aversion to them. Foreigners have reason to applaud the Civilities both of +the Prince and his Courtiers. As for my own part I am infinitely oblig’d +for the Respect they have been pleas’d to shew to me. The Prince heaps his +Favours on me, and the Nobility their Courtesies. If it were not that one +is forc’d to drink hard, I shou’d like the Town very well. Two Days hence +I shall set out for _Anspach_, and from thence I shall go by the way of +_Nuremberg_ and _Bareith_ to _Prague_. I shall write to you by the very +first Opportunity: Mean time I am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER IX. + + + _SIR_, _Anspach, Sept. 29, 1729._ + +I came in one day from _Wurtzbourg_ to ANSPACH, which is twelve Miles, and +pass’d thro’ two or three little Towns not worth naming. _Anspach_ is the +Capital of the Margraviate so call’d, and the Residence of the Margrave of +_Brandenbourg_, Chief of the second Branch of that Family settled in +_Franconia_. ’Tis a small but pretty Town, and very well built. It has no +Fortifications, and is only shut in by Walls surrounded with Walks which +form a Bulwark. The Prince has a large Castle or Palace building here, +which when finish’d will be magnificent. The late Margrave, Father of the +present, had begun to build it according to the Models of an _Italian_ +Architect; but as he did nothing to answer the Opinion conceiv’d by the +_Germans_ that the _Italians_ are the best Architects in the World, +perhaps because he was oblig’d to patch up old Walls for the sake of some +Rooms: Madame the Margravine Regent, Mother of the young Margrave, +continued what her Husband began, but changed the Architect, and makes use +of the Baron _de Zochau_ to carry on those Works; who, tho’ oblig’d to +conform to what was done by the _Italian_, has succeeded much better than +that Foreigner. Madame the Margravine Regent has likewise caus’d some +noble Gardens to be laid out; and this Princess spares no Cost for +embellishing the Town of _Anspach_. + +The Margravine Regent[81] is of the Family of _Wurtenberg_, and may be +compar’d for Beauty with the finest Princesses in the World. Being left a +Widow at twenty nine Years of Age, she renounc’d all Pleasures, and +thought of nothing but the Education of her Son, and the Affairs of her +Regency; both of which Duties this Princess discharges in such a manner +that her Subjects bless her Government, and the young Margrave cannot but +have very great Obligations to her. + +Madame the Margravine, besides a charming Person, has a sparkling Wit and +a solid Judgment, which she has taken care to cultivate by great reading, +and maintains by a Piety and Charity truly Christian. There is in all her +Actions such Politeness, and so much Good-nature, as gain her the hearts +of all Persons. In fine, without flattering this Princess, I can assure +you that her Life is a Pattern of Virtue. She is wean’d from all the +Vanities of the Age; she wears neither Gold nor Lace, and has given her +Diamonds, which were of very great value, to her Son. She keeps so retir’d +to her Apartment, that she is never seen but at Church, at Table, or when +she gives Audience; which she never refuses to any body unless when she is +tir’d. She is incessantly employ’d, and takes delight in it. She is her +own Minister, and her Counsellors are only the Executioners of her Orders. + +’Tis pity that _Germany_ is so soon like to lose a Princess who does her +Country so much Honour: The Margravine is in so declining a Condition +that there’s no hopes of her Recovery. The Physicians have actually told +her so; but the Princess, far from being terrify’d at the sad Tidings, +receiv’d it like a Christian Heroine: _God gave me my Life_, said she to +her Physicians, _he will take it from me when he pleases, his Will be +done_. She continues to live in the way she always did; and the Approach +of Death, which she sees advancing to her with slow Pace, gives her no +Trouble nor Tremor; but submitting to the Decrees of Providence, she waits +with Resignation for that awful Moment which often makes the stoutest +Hearts tremble. + +The young Margrave is actually at _Paris_, so that I cou’d have given you +no manner of Account of this Prince, if I had not had the Honour to see +him two Years ago. He was born the 12th of _May_, 1712. He is a handsome, +comely, lively Man, has an extraordinary Memory, and if Age matures his +Understanding, bids fair to be one day a Prince of a sublime Genius. His +Governour was M. _de Bremer_, a Gentleman of _Livonia_; and his Præceptor +M. _Neukirch_[82], celebrated for several Essays in Poetry. + +Notwithstanding the Reform which Madame the Margravine made in her Court +when she came to the Regency, ’tis still very numerous. The Count _de +Castel_ is the first Man at this Court, and has the Title of Lord Steward. +His Lady commonly attends Madame the Margravine, and does the Offices of +Lady of Honour without affecting the Title. M. _de Bremer_, the Baron _de +Seckendorf_, and the Baron _de Zochau_, are Privy Counsellors; and the +Baron _de Kinsberg_ is Marshal of the Court. As to the Troops the +Margravine Regent only keeps up such a number as is necessary to furnish +her Quota to the Empire, and to guard her Person. + +The Margraviate of _Anspach_ is very much interspersed with Woods, which +makes it a fine Country for Hunting. ’Tis said that it brings in 500000 +Crowns every Year to its Sovereign. The Principal Towns are _Anspach_ and +_Schwabach_, in which Manufactures are erected that do great Prejudice to +the City of _Nuremberg_. + +I think I ought not to omit acquainting you with two things which are +fondly believ’d by the common People, and which the Landlord of the House +where I quarter’d affirm’d to me to be Facts. The one is, that there are +no Rats in all the Country of _Anspach_, since one of the Family of the +Rat-killing St. _Hubert_ pass’d that way. The other is of the same Tenor, +and admitted for a certain Truth by every Subject in the Dominions of the +House of _Brandenbourg_, _viz._ When any one of this Family dies, whether +Prince or Princess, a Woman in White always appears just before in the +Palace. I know not whether you ever heard any thing concerning this +Prophetess of Ill Luck. Be that as it will, the Story which is told of her +is this: + +_Joachim_ II. Elector of _Brandenbourg_, having a mind to enlarge his +Palace at _Berlin_, wanted to buy in several Houses; but an old Woman, the +Owner of one of those Houses, resolv’d not to sell it to him upon any +Terms. The Elector finding her so obstinate sent her the Purchase-Money +and turn’d her out of it; upon which the old Woman swore in a Rage that +she wou’d be an eternal Plague to _Joachim_ and his Posterity. They +pretend that the good Lady keeps her Word, and that she haunts all the +Palaces of the _Brandenbourg_ Family. Yet I never heard any body at +_Berlin_ say they had ever seen her there, tho’ that is the Place where +she ought naturally to have taken up her head Quarters. My Landlord added +to these fine Stories that the Margravine would not die yet a while, +because the Woman in White had not yet appear’d to any body at Court. + + _I am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER X. + + + _SIR_, _Carlsbad, October 10, 1729._ + +When I took leave of the Court of _Anspach_, I was honour’d with a +precious mark of the Margravine’s Goodness, _viz._ a weighty Gold Medal; +and now I am again upon my Journey. I was not many hours in travelling +from _Anspach_ to _Nuremberg_, thro’ a Country extremely sandy, but very +well cultivated, and interspers’d with considerable Villages which in our +Country wou’d be reckon’d Towns. + +So much has already been said by others of the City of NUREMBERG, that I +have very little to add to it. I assure you this Town is the most +disagreeable Place in _Europe_ to live in. The Patricians are the People +of the first Rank there, and lord it like the petty Nobles of _Venice_. +The Government here too has very great Resemblance with the _Venetian_, +and they have a sort of Doge. In short they are very much like the Frog in +the Fable that strove to swell it self to the Size of the Ox. Of these +Patricians some are very rich, but they are so rude that no body visits +them, and they scarce visit one another. Perhaps you will ask me what I +mean by the Term _Patricians_? ’Tis this; they are Gentlemen: There are +Patrician Families old enough to dispute Antiquity with any of the +Nobility whatsoever, and who were formerly admitted into all the Chapters. +But now the case is otherwise; for the Nobility not only exclude them out +of the Chapters, but dispute their being Gentlemen; pretending that they +derogate from the Title by their Magistratical Offices. Such is, you know, +our _Germanic_ Vanity; the things which are honourable in other Countries, +are with us diminutive: The Court, the Sword, and the Church, are the only +Professions that a Gentleman can follow: If he has not the Talents proper +for one or other of these, or if Fortune frown upon him, he had better be +out of the World than take any Offices of the Magistracy upon him, or +enter into Trade: He had better beg Alms nobly than marry beneath himself. +But I shall not here set up for a Censor of the _Germanic_ Customs. Let us +talk of _Nuremberg_. This City has 6 Gates, 12 Conduits, and 118 Wells. Of +the Churches St. _Laurence_’s is the biggest: There’s a great many +Reliques in it, particularly a part of the Manger in which our Saviour was +laid, a piece of his Garment, and three Links of the Chains which bound +St. _Peter_, St. _Paul_, and St. _John_. As the _Lutherans_ make no great +account of those Reliques, they wou’d do well to give them to some poor +Catholic Convent, which would thereby soon be enrich’d. + +You know that the Government here is altogether Evangelical, _i. e._ +_Lutheran_. The Catholics have a small Church in the House of the Teutonic +Order: The _Calvinists_ go to the Church in the Territory of _Anspach_; +but the _Jews_ are not tolerated because ’tis said they formerly poisoned +the Wells. They live in a Place not far from _Nuremberg_, but come to Town +every Morning, paying something for their Entrance, have an old Woman set +over them, who is commonly both their Guard and their Guide, and are +permitted to trade and trick wherever they can till Night, when they are +obliged to retire. + +In the Church of the Hospital is kept _Charlemain_’s Crown, said to weigh +fourteen Pounds, the Sceptre and the Globe, in short all the Ornaments of +Empire except _Charlemain_’s Sword said to have been brought from Heaven +by an Angel, the same very likely that carry’d the holy Vial and the +Oriflamb to _France_. That Sword is kept at _Aix la Chapelle_. + +The Trade of _Nuremberg_ is very much fallen off; for besides that the +Toys and Knick-knacks which were formerly made in this City are much out +of fashion, especially in _Germany_, the Manufactures which the Margraves +of _Bareith_ and _Anspach_ have settled in their Dominions do considerable +Prejudice to _Nuremberg_. + +The Inhabitants of this City may be, (at least I think ’em so) the +honestest People in the World, but they are the most horrible +Complimenters that I know. I cou’d not set my Foot in a Shop, but the +Master, the Mistress, the Children and the Apprentices waited on me into +the very Street, than king me for the Honour I had done them. My Landlord +too, who saw me go in and out twenty times a day, receiv’d me always with +great Ceremony, and ask’d me how I did. And when I went out he pray’d me +not to leave his House long in Contempt, without honouring it with my +Presence. + +_Nuremberg_ is the richest and most potent Imperial City next to +_Hambourg_. The Domain of _Nuremberg_ is even much larger than that of +_Hambourg_, but the latter bears the Bell for Wealth. ’Tis said that +_Nuremberg_ has seven other Towns in its Territory, with 480 Villages and +Parishes. Yet for all this ’tis not a rich City; for the Patricians +pocket all the Money, and the Citizens are poor. + +Next Day after my Arrival at _Nuremberg_ I set out for +_Christian_-ERLANGEN, a Town in the Margraviate of _Brandenbourg-Bareith_, +which owes its flourishing State to a Colony of _French_ People who fled +out of _France_ on account of their Religion. + +Forty Years ago _Erlangen_ was but a little Village in the middle of a +Forest of Fir-Trees. The Margrave _Christian_ giving shelter to the +_French_ who left their Country after the Revocation of the Edict of +_Nantz_, assign’d them _Erlangen_ to settle in. When they cut down the +Woods they built the Town, to which they gave the Name of +_Christian-Erlangen_, in Memory of _Christian_ their Benefactor. All the +Streets are in a strait Line. The _French_ have set up all sorts of +Manufactures here, and have made it one of the prettiest Towns of +_Germany_. Madame[83] _Elizabeth-Sophia_ of _Brandenbourg_, second +Daughter of the Elector _Frederic-William_, and third Wife of the Margrave +_Christian_ Founder of _Erlangen_, caus’d a very handsome Palace to be +built in the great Square of this City, to which there are noble Gardens. +’Tis at present occupy’d by _Sophia_ of _Saxe-Weissenfels_, Widow of the +last Margrave of _Bareith_. This Princess was to have dwelt at _Neustadt_, +which was settled on her for her Dowry; but as ’tis a lonesome, +melancholy, scoundrel Place, the Margrave Regent was willing she should +live at _Erlangen_. The Margravine Dowager was one of the most beautiful +Princesses in the World, of which she still preserves the fair Remains, +and none can have an Air more grand. She lives at _Erlangen_ with all the +Dignity becoming her Rank. Foreigners are very well received at her Court, +and particularly by the Princess herself, who for Politeness has few +Equals. + +From _Christian-Erlangen_ I went in less than a Day to _Bamberg_, tho’ I +stay’d two or three Hours at FORCHEIM a Place in the Bishoprick of +_Bamberg_, whose Buildings appear’d to me to be old and out of repair. + +The Bishoprick of BAMBERG is the first Bishoprick of the Empire. The +Bishop is Suffragan to no Archbishop. He depends only as to Spirituals +upon the Holy See, and receives the Pall as an Archbishop. He has moreover +this Distinction, that the Electors are his great Officers as they are +those of the Empire, and he has the Privilege of summoning them to come +and do the Duties of their Offices on the Day of his Installation. I have +not heard that any Bishop ever made use of this mighty Prerogative, for +the Retinue which those great Officers would bring along with them might +be a Charge to him. The great Privileges which this Prelate enjoys are +counter-balanc’d by one Mortification; for if the Electors happen to chuse +an Emperor who has no Dominions, the Bishop of _Bamberg_ would be oblig’d +to yield him his Episcopal City and Palace. ’Tis said that the Emperor has +the same Right to _Rome_, and that if he should chuse that ancient City of +the World for his Residence, the Pope wou’d be oblig’d to yield him the +Palace of the Vatican and to retire to that of St. _John de Lateran_. But +I really think that the Holy Father and the Bishop of _Bamberg_ will not +be so soon turn’d out. + +The late Elector of _Mentz_, _Lotharius-Francis de Schonborn_, who was +also Bishop of _Bamberg_, embellish’d the City with a new Episcopal +Palace, a great and stately Building that stands on an Eminence, from +whence there is an extensive Prospect of various Beauties. + +The City of _Bamberg_ is very well built, and has beautiful Churches. +Herein is to be seen the Tomb of the Emperor _Henry_ II. and his Wife the +Empress _Cunegonda_. This Princess lies at the right hand of her Husband, +because she kept her Virginity to her Death. Was not this abusing the +Sacrament of Marriage? + +The Bishop who fills the Episcopal See of _Bamberg_ is _Frederic-Charles_, +Count de _Schonborn_, Vice-Chancellor of the Empire. This Prelate being +Minister of State to the Emperor commonly resides at _Vienna_, and is now +there, so that I have nothing to say to you of his Court; but I reckon I +shall be able to give you some Account of him after I have paid my +Respects to him at _Vienna_. + +The Neighbourhood of _Bamberg_ is very agreeable, but as one comes to it +from _Nuremberg_ thro’ a certain Forest of Fir-Trees, it strikes a Man +with Horror to find an Avenue to it a quarter of a League in length form’d +by Wheels and Gibbets. This, at first sight gives a Stranger no very great +Idea of the Honesty of the People; but he is of another Opinion when he +comes to know that these expos’d Malefactors are for the most part +Foreigners. The Bishoprick of _Bamberg_ is contiguous to seven or eight +different States, and the Town it self lies in the greatest Road of all +_Germany_, which is the Reason that ’tis so infested by Rogues from all +Quarters. In the time of the Elector of _Mentz_, _Bamberg_ was their _Ne +plus ultra_, for that Prince gave them no Quarter: Being an Enemy to +Wickedness, and one of the greatest Justiciaries that we have had in +_Germany_, he sent all to the Gallows that deserv’d Hanging. + +About a League out of the Town the Bishop has a charming Pleasure-House; +but there is nothing in all _Germany_ more magnificent than the Castle of +POMMERSFELDEN belonging to the Count _de Schonborn_, which is three +Leagues from _Bamberg_. _Francis Lotharius de Schonborn_ Elector of +_Mentz_ caus’d this stately Fabric to be built, the whole of which forms a +great Body of Building flank’d by two Pavilions with two advanc’d Wings. +The whole is regularly built, and decorated with well-fancy’d +Architecture. The Entry is supported by several Colonnades, where the +first thing that presents it self is the grand Stair-Case, which is +extraordinary magnificent, and perhaps one of the best contrived in +_Europe_. This Entry leads into a Salon which serves as a Passage to the +Garden; ’tis in form of a Grotto adorn’d with several Fountains, Columns, +and Statues of Marble: The Cieling is painted as well as the Sky-Light of +the Stair-Case, and the Arches of the principal Apartments. They are all +painted by Hands that the Elector sent for on purpose from _Italy_. I +don’t give you the Particulars of the great Salon, nor of the Apartments, +because it would take up a Volume. The whole are laid out with Art, and +furnish’d with great Choice, Judgment and Splendor. + +The Stables answer exactly to the Castle which they front. They are built +in form of a Half-Moon with a Pavilion in the middle, which is an oval +Salon, from both Sides of which you see all the Horses. The Mangers are of +Marble in form of Shells, and the Racks of Iron neatly wrought in form of +a Basket or Scuttle. + +The Salon in the middle of the two Stables is painted in Fresco, and looks +one way to the Court, and the other to the Riding-House, where the Elector +us’d to see the Horses manag’d belonging to the Studs of his Bishoprick +near _Bamberg_, one of the best in _Germany_. + +The Gardens of _Pommersfelden_ are very answerable to the Magnificence of +the Buildings: In a word, every Thing belonging to this fine House is +worthy of it. The Builder of it had sublime Ideas: He spared no Cost to +leave Monuments of his Grandeur and Wealth to Posterity, and has made a +House of _Pommersfelden_ which really surpasses some Royal Palaces. But +’tis time to take you out of this fine Place and to carry you back to +_Bamberg_. + +There is a good Number of the Nobility settled in this Town. The Chapter +consists of Persons of Quality: It has the Right of chusing the Bishop; +and ’tis he who governs in the Absence of the Prince. Such a Resort as +here is of the Nobility makes the Time pass away agreeably; but they drink +as hard here as at _Fulde_ and _Wurtzbourg_, so that it looks as if +Drinking was an inseparable Function of the Ecclesiastical Courts. Having +some Relations in this Town I stay’d there three Days, during which I had +the Pleasure of Drinking every Day with one of my Cousins out of a great +Goblet of solid Gold which weigh’d to the Value of a thousand Ducats. You +can’t imagine how well the Wine went down out of a Cup of that Value. I +heartily wish’d that my Cousin wou’d have dealt by me as _Joseph_ did by +_Benjamin_, and that he had put up his Cup in my Portmanteau, provided he +wou’d not have sent to fetch me back again, as the Governour of _Egypt_ +did his Brother; but this was what my dear Cousin did not think fit to do. +He made me drink my Skin-full of Wine, and only wish’d me my Pockets full +of Gold. + +From _Bamberg_ I went to BAREITH the Residence of the Margrave of +_Brandenbourg_. The elder of the two Branches of that Family settled in +_Franconia_. _John George_ Elector of _Brandenbourg_ divided his Dominions +between his three Sons: He left the Electorate with its Appendages to his +eldest Son, and gave the Margraviate of _Culmbach_ to _Christian_ his +second Son, and that of _Anspach_ to his third Son. _Christian_ form’d +two Branches, that of _Bareith_ and that of _Culmbach_. The Branch of +_Bareith_ became extinct in 1726, by the Death of _George-William_, whose +Widow lives at _Erlangen_. _George-Frederic-Charles_ Margrave of +_Culmbach_ his Cousin, succeeded him. This Prince has five Children, +_viz._ two Princes[84] and three Princesses[85]. He marry’d _Dorothy_ of +_Holstein-Beck_ at _Berlin_ in 1709. I had then the Honour to see him: He +was a Prince of a noble Aspect, very civil, good-natur’d, and temperate, +and a Lover of Books and Men of Learning. He did an Act of Generosity that +perhaps is not to be parallel’d, and which I relate to you as the most +authentic Testimony that can be of his Good-nature and Integrity. + +His Predecessor had left an empty Exchequer and a great many Debts; and +the Margrave at his Accession to the Regency was oblig’d to pay the King +of _Prussia_ 460000 Florins, upon condition that his Majesty wou’d +renounce any Pretensions he might have to the Margraviate, by virtue of +the Resignation of all Rights to the Succession which had been made by the +Margrave of _Culmbach_ his Father, in favour of _Frederic_ I. King of +_Prussia_. To raise this Sum on People already overburden’d by the common +Taxes, was to seek their Ruin. The Margrave in pity of their miserable +Condition, chose rather to borrow this Money of the States of the Circle +of _Franconia_ at great Interest. When he found himself in peaceable +possession of his Dominions by the Payment made to the King of _Prussia_, +he undertook to pay off not only his own, but the Debts of his +Predecessor. To enable himself to do this, he began by turning off his +Court, kept but a small Number of Counsellors and Gentlemen, and disbanded +3000 Men of the Troops which the late Margrave kept in pay to no purpose. +He reduc’d his Table to the greatest Frugality; his Clothes were plain, +and he avoided Magnificence and Gaming. Some time after this, he made +another Reform in his House, and kept up but a very small Number of +Domestics. He establish’d a Council of Regency, and to save the Expence +which his Rank as a Sovereign would have engag’d him in whether he wou’d +or not, he left his Dominions, and went to live incognito with the +Hereditary Prince his Son at _Geneva_. I believe that both of them are +actually at _Montpellier_[86]. He is resolv’d not to return to his +Dominions till all his Debts are paid off. Mean time his Subjects wish for +his Return with Impatience, for he has such a Kindness for them, and +governs them with such mildness that they look on him as their Father and +Benefactor. This Retirement of the Margrave from the Splendors of +Sovereignty is the more to be commended because ’tis absolutely voluntary: +He was not at all oblig’d to pay the Debts of his Predecessor; for they +were of such a Nature as not to be rank’d among the Debts of the +Government. Nevertheless it was his Pleasure to do it, and he chose rather +to abridge himself of the Charms of Sovereignty than that People, whose +Faith in the Government had made them part with their Money, shou’d lose +their Debts. Such a glorious Action as this, is in my Judgment equal to +the Laurels of twenty Victories: This was owing to his Virtue, whereas +Victory is generally the Consequent of Chance and Fortune. + +You will easily imagine that while the Sovereign is absent this City is +not very gay. It appear’d to me the more melancholy because I had seen it +in the time of the late Margrave, at whose Court there was continual +Feasting and Jollitry. + +The City of _Bareith_ is inferior to _Erlangen_. The Margrave’s Palace is +a great old Pile, but not very commodious, and meanly furnish’d. This +Prince has a very pretty House, a League from _Bareith_, call’d the +_Hermitage_, which was built by Order of the late Margrave. + +It stands in the middle of a thick Wood, in which there are a great many +Pavilions built, without any Symmetry indeed, but very ingeniously +contriv’d within for the Use to which they serve. When the late Margrave +came to the Hermitage, he and his whole Court were in the Dress of +Hermits. There were certain Hours in which the Hermit Brothers went to pay +a Visit to the Hermit Sisters, who liv’d in the Pavilions. The Brothers +and Sisters who gave each other Collations, were subject to certain Rules +from which they could not be dispensed but by the Remission of the +Superior of either Sex, who were then the Margrave, and his Lady the +Margravine. In the Evening they met again in the Hall of the Castle, where +they supp’d; and that every thing might be done according to the Rules, at +the beginning of the Supper certain Verses were read, or some little Story +compos’d by one or other of the Hermit Brothers; then Silence was broke, +and every one gave his Opinion upon what had been read, upon which there +ensued a general Conversation. The Supper held till pretty late, and was +commonly followed with a Ball. No body could be admitted into the Order +without the general Consent of the Chapter. And the Superior himself had +no Right but to propose such as were Candidates for Admission. To give you +all the Statutes of this Society, would be too tedious; besides I should +be afraid of adding or diminishing to them, because I only have them from +Tradition. + +The Margrave has a Mother still alive, _viz._ _Sophia-Christina_ Countess +of _Wolffenstein_, who lives at _Copenhagen_ with her Daughter the +Princess Royal[87] of _Denmark_. The King of _Denmark_ grants her the +Title of Royal Highness, and causes the same Honours to be paid to her as +to the Princesses of his Family. + +The Margrave has also three Brothers and two Sisters. The eldest of the +Brothers is a Major-General and Colonel of Foot in the Service of the +Emperor, and the two others are in the Service of _Denmark_. The two +Princesses are marry’d, one to the Prince Royal of _Denmark_, the other to +_George-Albert_ Prince of _East-Friesland_. So that the intire Family of +_Brandenbourg-Culmbach_ consists of Princes and Princesses to the number +of twelve. + +The Revenues of this Margrave are pretty near the same as those of the +Margrave of _Anspach_. His Fortress is the Castle of _Plassenberg_. + +From _Bareith_ I came in two Days to CARLSBAD, a Place of Fame for its hot +Waters, of which there are two Sorts differing from one another both in +Strength and Heat. They derive their Source from the middle of a River +form’d by Torrents from the neighbouring Mountains, whose Waters are +extremely cold; yet they make not the least Alteration in the heat of the +Mineral Waters. They are said to be very wholesome for all sorts of +Maladies, particularly for the Gravel, and for the Barrenness of Women. M. +_Hofman_, a celebrated Professor of Physic at _Hall_, has published a +Treatise, wherein he examines the nature of those Waters, and prescribes +how they ought to be used. The Manner is very disagreeable; you are +obliged to be shut up in a Room, and be the Weather ever so hot, the +Stove must be heated, you must be tormented by taking off two or three +Pots of Water, which are almost equal to thirty Chocolate Cups; besides +walking about very much, and sweating great Drops. + +To make amends for the Fatigue of the Morning, there is good Company to be +seen here all Day long; for Abundance of Strangers come to _Carlsbad_, +particularly the Nobility of _Bohemia_ and _Austria_. There are publick +Walks and a great Room adjacent, where they play, dance and walk till the +Evening. They who love to live by Rule retire without Supper. + +Whoever would be well accommodated at _Carlsbad_ must carry three things +thither with him, his own Bed, Wine, and Cook; tho’ a Foot-boy may serve +for the Cook, because one is generally invited by the _Bohemian_ or +_Austrian_ Noblemen, who always keep a great Table, and love Company to +dine with ’em. + +The Inhabitants of _Carlsbad_ are generally Armourers, who work very neat +and vastly cheap. At the Season for using the Waters, Merchants flock +hither from all Parts, and _Carlsbad_ is superior to many great Towns. I +had a great deal of Amusement during the two different Seasons that I +pass’d there, and I contracted a World of good Acquaintance, who, I hope, +will be of Service to me at _Prague_, for which Place I propose to set out +to-morrow. I am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XI. + + + _SIR_, _Prague, November 15, 1729._ + +I have now been a Month in this City, yet it seems but as a Day; for I +find infinite Amusements here, and a thousand things that I like, only I +want your Company. The City of PRAGUE is ancient, and has been time out of +mind, the Seat of the Kings of _Bohemia_. ’Tis without dispute one of the +Biggest Towns in _Europe_. ’Tis encompass’d with Ramparts, and as well +fortified as a Place of that Extent can be, and commanded by several +Hills, which ’tis impossible to level. This City is divided by the River +_Molde_ or _Muldaw_, into two Parts, _viz._ _Old Prague_ and _Little +Prague_; and during the Course of the last Century, it suffer’d the +greatest Cruelties that a City can possibly undergo in a time of War. The +Archduke _Leopold_ Bishop of _Passau_ surpriz’d and plunder’d the lesser +Part, and would have done the same by the old Town, if the Emperor +_Matthias_ King of _Hungary_ had not come in time to relieve it. Nine +Years after this, _Prague_ was again plunder’d by those who were most +concerned to preserve it; I mean the Imperialists, who, after the Battle +at _Weissenberg_, near _Prague_, wherein they defeated _Frederic_ Elector +Palatine whom a Party had chose King of _Bohemia_, enter’d the City, and +carried off inestimable Booty. _Prague_ was used no better in 1631, by the +Elector of _Saxony_, after that Prince made himself Master of _Bohemia_. +The Great _Walstein_ of so much Note for his Glorious Actions, and his +Tragical Exit, recover’d _Bohemia_ from the _Saxon_ in 1632, and took +_Prague_ by Storm. Some time after this the _Swedes_ attack’d it, and took +the lesser _Prague_; but could not force the old Town, it was so +courageously defended by the Students and Burghers. The _Swedes_ thereupon +retired, and carry’d off immense Wealth. At length the Peace of +_Westphalia_ restored Tranquillity to _Bohemia_ and the City of _Prague_, +which has been subject ever since to the House of _Austria_; and the +Kingdom which before was Elective, had the Mortification to become +Hereditary. + +The Situation of _Prague_ is pleasant in the midst of Gardens and fine +Fields, and ’tis adorn’d with noble Buildings, of which the Houses of the +Counts _Tschernin_ and _Sternberg_ are as fine as any. The Furniture of +the former is extremely rich; there is a Gallery adorned with excellent +Pictures, a Cabinet of choice Porcellane with entire Services of the +finest _Indian Lacca_; and another Room full of fine Arms and other +Curiosities. Count _Sternberg_’s House is not so large, yet better +contriv’d; and in _Rome_ it self would pass for a fine Palace. But there +is one built by the late Count _de Gallasch_, who died Viceroy at +_Naples_, that bears the Bell above all. You know that Nobleman was +prodigiously rich and magnificent. He spared no Cost in his Buildings. +’Tis pity the House is not well situate, but it certainly would be so, if +the young Count _de Gallasch_ was of the same Way of Thinking with his +Father, who intended to have had five or six old Hovels belonging to it +pull’d down to the ground, by which means he would have had a fine Square. + +The Convents of both Sexes are another Ornament of this Great City. The +House of the Reverend Fathers the Jesuits is one of the most magnificent. +They have lately caused a Church to be built, which is one of the best +adorned that I have seen out of _Italy_. If you were but here, we would +go together and see all those Buildings. I would carry you first of all to +the Cathedral, which is in lesser _Prague_, on the Top of the Hill call’d +_Ratschin_, and from thence we would go and take a View of the Castle +which is upon the same Hill. + +The Metropolitan Church is a very antient Structure, which was burnt down +by the _Swedes_, and is only rebuilt in part. Its Magnificence and Beauty +consist in the thickness of its Walls and Arches; and the Architecture of +this Church is such, that I fancy it would appear _Gothic_ to the very +_Goths_ themselves. ’Tis in this Cathedral that the Kings and Queens of +_Bohemia_ are consecrated. The Archbishop of _Prague_’s Office is to +perform the Unction upon both; but the Abbess of St. _George_, whose Abbey +is also upon the Hill of _Ratschin_, is to place the Crown upon the Head +of the Queen, and in this Function she is assisted by the Wives of the +Great Officers of the Crown. + +In this Metropolitan Church are preserved with great Veneration the Bodies +of a couple of Saints extremely dear to the _Bohemians_. The one is St. +_Wenceslaus_ King of _Bohemia_, the other St. _John Nepomucene_. The +latter was very lately canonized by Pope _Benedict_ XIII. at the Request +of the States of this Kingdom, who were at the whole Expence of the +Ceremony, which was performed in the Church of St. _John de Lateran_ at +_Rome_ with extraordinary Pomp. + +The Story of this Saint is very singular: He was Confessor to the Wife of +that cruel Emperor _Wenceslaus_, who was deposed by the Electors. That +Prince being jealous of his Queen enjoined St. _John Nepomucene_ to reveal +that Princess’s Confessions to him. He employed Presents, Prayers and +Threats, to persuade the Saint to make this Discovery, but all to no +purpose; upon which he caused him to be cast headlong from the Bridge +into the River of _Molde_. The Body was seen floating at some distance +from the Place, attended with five Stars swimming on the Water; then he +was added to the Number of the Saints and Martyrs, and his Corpse was +taken out of the River, and carried with Pomp to _Prague_, where it was +interr’d in the Church of _Dain_ in the old Town, of which he was a Canon. +His Corpse being found some Years ago, his Tongue appearing to be as fresh +as ever, was taken out of his Mouth and put into a Silver Gilt Box; the +Body was enclosed in a stately Coffin, and the whole carried with great +Ceremony to the Cathedral. An Altar being erected in the middle of the +right Wing of the Choir, there the Saint was interr’d in a Tomb of Silver +Gilt; and the Tongue put into a sort of Tabernacle where it has wrought +and does still work great Miracles. There is a great Concourse of People +hither from all Parts to invoke this Saint, whose Tomb is loaded with +precious Gifts, and adorned by the Empress with a rich Canopy. But no body +has given more illustrious Proofs of Devotion to St. _Nepomucene_ than the +Prince _de Schwartzenberg_[88] Master of the Horse to the Emperor, and the +Count _de Martinitz_ Marshal of the Imperial Court; who both ascribe the +Conception of their Wives, and the Birth of their Sons, to the Protection +of that Saint, tho’ I should have thought all this feasible enough without +a Miracle. The Princess _de Schwartzenberg_ had not been married many +Years before she had a Daughter[89]; her Husband had not seen her for +fourteen Years after this, during which she had no Children. This is no +more than common; after they came together again Madam is brought to Bed +of a Son, in which tho’ there is nothing but what is very natural, yet +’tis cry’d up for a Miracle; the Birth is ascribed to the Devotion which +the Princes paid to the Tomb of St. _Nepomucene_ for nine Days together, +and to make the Saint some amends, his Tomb and his Altar are adorn’d by a +great many Vessels of Silver and Silver gilt. + +As to Count _Martinitz_ there seems indeed to be better colour for a +Miracle in his favour. He had been married fourteen or fifteen Years, and +his Lady never given the least Sign of Teemingness. She was in good plight +of body, her Husband liv’d with her, and they went together several times +to the Baths of _Carlsbad_, but all had signified nothing. The Count +longing passionately for a Son had perform’d more than nine days Devotion +successively, for he went the last Holy Year to _Loretto_ and to _Rome_. +But Heaven deaf to his Cries granted him no Heir; at last knowing not what +Saint to pray to, his Lady propos’d, that they should go and worship nine +days together at the Tomb of St. _Nepomucene_. They set out, they arrive +at _Prague_, they prostrate themselves before the sacred Tomb. Soon after, +Madame _de Martinitz_ proves with Child, and at nine Months end is +delivered of a Son. You may say whatever you please, but such a Favour +sure was worth some Lamps of solid Silver before the Saint’s Tomb; and the +Count _de Martinitz_ full of Zeal and Gratitude has given some that are +very magnificent. + +The _Bohemians_ have so great confidence in St. _John de Nepomucene_, that +they have almost forgot St. _Wenceslaus_ their old Patron. There is no +Church where St. _John_ has not a Chapel, no Bridge without his Effigy; +every body Gentle and Simple, Men and Women, wear his Picture as if it +were the Badge of an Order, hanging to a straw-colour’d Ribbon, and you +would swear that all the _Bohemians_ were Knights of St. _Louis_. In +short, St. _Nepomucene_ is the only Saint in vogue; and Presents are +heap’d upon him to such a degree that if it continues much longer, he will +be as rich as our Lady of _Loretto_. + +The Palace or Castle which joins to the Cathedral is a great Building +composed of several Main Bodies without Symmetry or Architecture. The +Apartments are but low and plain, but here is one of the most beautiful +Prospects in the World. The great Hall in which the Royal Feast is kept on +the Day of the Coronation of the Kings is the largest of the kind, next to +the spacious Hall of _Westminster_. The Palace-Gardens are large, but have +nothing to recommend them besides their Situation. The Tribunals of the +Regency meet in the Palace: The first of these consists of Stadtholders +who are of the Emperor’s Privy Council. They are to the Number of twelve, +and represent the Sovereign. Most of them are the great Officers of the +Crown. There must be always two of them private Gentlemen to take care of +the Interests of the Gentry against the Nobility; for you must know that +the Princes, Counts, and Barons, who compose the Nobility, form a separate +Body here, and would think it a Disparagement to be call’d _Gentlemen_; +tho’ _Henry_ IV. King of _France_ counted it an honour to be the first +Gentleman in his Kingdom, and King _Francis_ I. whenever he affirmed a +thing, said, _Upon the Word of a Gentleman_. + +The Chief of the Council of the Stadtholders is call’d the _Great +Burgrave_, whose Dignity is the highest in the Kingdom. He represents the +Person of the Emperor, and is inferior to none but the Chancery of +_Bohemia_ which always attends the Emperor. + +The Bridge over the _Muldaw_ which joins little _Prague_ to the old Town, +is one of the longest and most substantial Bridges in _Europe_. It has on +both sides the Statues of several Saints, which if they had been done by +a better hand, would have prov’d an Ornament. There is a Crucifix also +which is pretended to be of Gold, and to have been erected formerly at the +Expence of the _Jews_, pursuant to an Order of the Government, as a +Punishment for their having crucified a Christian Infant upon +_Easter_-Day, to insult the Memory of our Saviour’s Death. + +The _Jews_ are the only Sectaries that are tolerated in _Bohemia_. There +are some _Hussites_ still subsisting, but they keep so close, that the +Government does not seem to know that there are any at all. I was assur’d +that in _Prague_ alone there were no less than 80,000 _Jews_; whether +there are quite so many, I know not; but ’tis certain they are very +numerous. Their Quarter in the old City forms a little separate Town. They +have all the Trade in their own hands, follow all sorts of Callings, and +by their receiving all old-fashion’d things in Payment, they quite ruin +the Christian Handicrafts-men. As these People multiply like Rabbets, ’tis +said the Emperor is going to issue an Ordinance prohibiting any but their +eldest Sons to marry; the Report of which is so alarming to the _Jews_, +that they would advance great Sums to prevent its taking effect. + +If we except _Rome_, _Paris_, and _London_, there is no City where there +are more Gentry, or a Gentry that is more wealthy: Every body here lives +grand; and in no Part of the World do the Nobility keep greater State, or +take more Pride in their Substance. They are polite and civil to +Strangers, whom they know to be Persons of Quality. For my own part, I +like them prodigiously, and I can safely say it, I have hardly met with a +Foreigner who has not the same Notion of _Prague_ that I have. + +There is not a Gentleman in this Country but has seen at least _Holland_, +_France_, and _Italy_, and indeed they are under some necessity of +travelling, for the Education they have at home is none of the best. But +they don’t travel as People of their Birth and Fortunes ought to do. They +are commonly attended by a sort of Governors, who make it their Profession +to ramble abroad with young Gentlemen, and are for the most part +_Walloons_, _Luxemburghers_, _Lorrainers_, or _Liegeois_, Soldiers of +Fortune, without Education, and without Manners; who think ’tis enough for +their Pupils to see Houses and Churches, and having not the Courage or the +Capacity to put themselves forward, or even to shew their Heads, don’t +care that their Gentlemen should keep Company. They tell _young Master_, +that my Lord his Father, who put him under their Care, recommended +Œconomy to them; that they might game at Assemblies, but that ’tis not +well to play while they are travelling: Therefore the Spark is oblig’d to +keep in his Quarters, or if he is perhaps permitted to go to the public +Shews, even this Pleasure, because it is not to be had without Money, must +be taken in Moderation; the Governor’s Aim is only to crib all he can, and +sink his Pupil’s Money into his own Purse. This is so true that I have +known some who never eat Suppers, yet always brought them to Accompt; many +of ’em get a Profit by every thing they buy, and they make such hard +Bargains that ’tis ten to one if they don’t chouse the Merchant as well as +their Pupil. If the Governor does not like the Place they come to, he must +be gone, tho’ it were the most proper Town in the World to form the young +Gentleman; for the Governor only writes to the Father or Mother that the +Air did not agree with their Son, and that therefore he had remov’d him. +The Generality of these wretched Guides maintain that six Weeks or three +Months Stay at most is sufficient to know _Paris_; a Fortnight to be +thoroughly acquainted with the Genius of the _English_; a Month to know +_Rome_; a Week to see _Naples_; and so of the rest: And when they have +shewn their Gentleman at _Paris_, the Anatomical Wax-work and the +Observatory; at _London_, the Lions in the Tower; at _Rome_, the +Catacombs; and at _Naples_, the Liquefaction of St. _Januarius_’s Blood, +and Mount _Vesuvius_; they think they have done great matters, and away +they go without having made an Acquaintance with one Soul at any of the +Courts. They have seen the King of _France_ touch for the Evil; The King +of _England_ go to the Parliament-House; and the Pope sitting in his +Elbow-Chair, distributing his Benedictions. With a Mind thus adorn’d, the +young Man, after eighteen Months or two Years Absence abroad, returns +home. The Governor has two or three thousand Florins, and sometimes more +as a Gratuity, besides his Stipend. Again, the worthy _Mentor_ makes a +Bubble of the Father who trusts his Son with him, and behold now, he is +ready for another Tour. One would think that, instead of travelling in +this manner, it were better to send abroad for the Plans of all the Towns, +I am sure ’twould be cheaper; the Parents would have the comfort to see +their Sons at home, and they would also have wherewithal to furnish a +little Box in the Country. + +There are no People of Quality in the World more addicted to an expensive +way of Living than those of _Prague_, which is the Reason that for all +their immense Revenues they are sometimes over Head and Ears in Debt; but +by good Luck they have a Settlement which prevents them from total Ruin: +For most of their Lands are intail’d for ever on the eldest Son of the +Family, so that he can neither alienate nor incumber them without the +Consent of the whole Family, and of the King himself, which is a Thing +very hard to be obtain’d. When an eldest Son of a Family has squander’d +his Freehold, and runs himself more and more in debt, the Creditors, and +sometimes the Parents themselves, present a Petition to the King and +desire a Sequestration. The King after being inform’d of the List of the +Debts, and of the _Majorat_ (which is the Name they give here to the Lands +that are intail’d) names Trustees for the Administration of the Estates of +the Spendthrift, who is allow’d a Pension till all the Debts are paid. +There’s another very good Establishment here for securing the Sale of +Landed Estates and Mortgages. Every Nobleman gives in a Particular of his +Estate to a Tribunal which is call’d the _Landtaffel_, where the same is +register’d. When a Person wants to borrow Money or to make a Sale, the +Lender or the Purchaser has recourse to the _Landtaffel_’s Office, where +he sees whether the Lands are incumber’d; and if the Borrower’s Debts +don’t exceed two Thirds of the Price at which they are rated by the +_Landtaffel_, he may lend his Money very safely. + +Tho’ the _Bohemians_ are brave and good Soldiers, yet they don’t love the +Service, I mean the Gentry: Most of them prefer the Civil to Military +Employments, and a private Life to Posts in the Army or at Court. They are +so us’d to be absolute Masters at their Estates where the Peasants are +their Slaves, and to be homag’d like Petty Sovereigns by the Burghers at +_Prague_, that they don’t care to reside at _Vienna_, and to be oblig’d +like other Subjects to pay their Court to the Sovereign and the Ministers. +As soon as a Gentleman of _Bohemia_ comes of Age, he is oblig’d to take an +Oath of Fidelity to the Emperor as his King; which is a Law as much +binding on the Nobility as the Gentry; and none of ’em dare to go out of +the Kingdom without express Leave from the Emperor, on the Penalty of +forfeiting his Estate. When the Noblemen are return’d from their Travels +to _France_ and _Italy_, they put in to be Chamberlains, not so much for +the sake of engaging themselves to Attendance at Court as to procure a +Precedency for their Wives, it being a Custom with most of ’em to marry as +soon as they come of Age. Afterwards they aim to be Counsellors of State, +and Stadtholders, and this is the _Ne plus ultra_ of their Preferments. +The Counsellors of State challenge the Title of _Excellency_: But this is +what those who are not of that Denomination, and of as good Families as +themselves, scruple to allow them, so that generally speaking they have it +only given them by their Domestics and Dependants. So that one may say of +their Excellencies what the Duchess of _Elbœuf_ of the _Lorrain_ Family +said in _France_ concerning the Princes of _Bouillon_, that they were +_Domestic Highnesses_, because none but their own Servants give them the +Title of _Highness_. + +Of all the great and wealthy Families, those of _Lobkowitz_, _Kinski_, +_Schlick_, _Collobradt_, and _Martinitz_ are the only ones that make a +Figure at the Imperial Court. ’Tis true there are several other Noblemen +at _Vienna_ who have Lands in _Bohemia_, but then their Families are not +originally descended from that Kingdom. + +The _Kinski_’s Family is actually the most splendid at Court. There are +five Brothers of it in Employments. The eldest is the Great Chancellor of +_Bohemia_[90]. The second who is call’d Count _Stephen_, is Great Marshal +of _Bohemia_, a Minister of State, and the Emperor’s Ambassador at the +Court of _France_[91]. The third, Count _Philip_, is the Emperor’s +Minister Plenipotentiary to _Great Britain_; and the two youngest are in +the Army, where one of them is a Lieutenant-Colonel. Count _Philip_ was +sent Ambassador when but twenty nine Years old. He has demonstrated by his +Conduct that Wisdom does not always stay for Age, and that he is the +worthy Son of one of the greatest Ministers that[92] the Emperors +_Leopold_ and _Joseph_ ever had. The City of _Prague_ is a very great +Loser by his Absence, for he liv’d there with Splendor, and his House was +always open, particularly to Foreigners. For my own part I receiv’d such +Civilities there as I shall never forget. + +As I have told you that the Nobility of _Bohemia_ are the richest in the +Empire, I must also acquaint you that the Peasants there are miserable to +the last degree; their Persons, and all they have, are at the Command of +their Lord. The poor Wretches have often not a Bit of Bread to eat, in a +Country which is one of the most plentiful in _Europe_ for all sorts of +Provisions. They dare not go from one Village to another to work, nor +learn a Handicraft without their Lord’s Consent. So much Subjection keeps +the poor Creatures always trembling and humble, so that if you do but +speak to ’em they are ready to lick the Dust off your Feet. The Severity +with which these People are us’d is really terrible, but ’tis as true on +the other hand, that gentle Usage has no Effect upon ’em; for they are +excessively lazy and stubborn, and being moreover us’d to harsh Treatment +from Generation to Generation, Blows scarce terrify them, tho’ tis the +only way to make ’em good for any thing. + +The _Bohemians_ have a great many Talents for Music, so that there’s no +Village, be it ever so small, but the Mass is sung in Concert, and they +are very happy at winding the Hunters Horn. + +’Tis certain that this Kingdom is one of the best Countries in the +Emperor’s possession, and next to _Hungary_, brings him in most Money. + +_Bohemia_ is a Country of States, whom the Emperor as King of it, summons +every Year to the City of _Prague_. They consist of the Clergy, Nobility, +Gentry, and Towns. The Assembly is open’d by a Commissioner of the +Emperor’s Nomination, who lays before them his Imperial Majesty’s Demands. +The States, such is their Submission and Zeal, grant the full Demand which +is commonly a very great Sum; yet for all this, the _Bohemians_ wou’d not +complain of Taxes if the Emperor resided among them, but they are sorry to +see their Country exhausted to enrich the _Austrians_ to whom they have a +natural Aversion, and the _Austrians_ as heartily hate the _Bohemians_. + +I own to you I shall be sorry to leave _Prague_. I take the _Bohemians_ to +be the best People upon Earth, and _Prague_ to be one of those Towns of +the Empire where a Gentleman may have most choice of Company. The Ladies +here are very amiable. Gaming, which may be call’d the universal Pleasure, +is carry’d as high here as they please in Houses of the Quality, where +Assemblies of both Sexes are held every Night, with good Cheer, +particularly Pheasants and Ortolans in plenty; and upon Fish-Days, there +are Trouts, Salmon, and Cray-Fish; and that there may be nothing wanting, +_Bohemia_ likewise furnishes good Wine. At the Estate of the young Count +_Tschernin_ at _Melneg_, there is a red sort not inferior to _Burgundy_. +Of all these good Things many partake together, and for my part I own I am +taken more with this Pleasure than any other, because we make it last as +long as we will, and then ’tis suited to all Ages. + +There is a tolerable _Italian Opera_ here. In Winter they have Races in +stately Sledges: There is great Masquerading, and they dance till they are +ready to drop to the ground: For this end there are public Balls which are +extraordinary splendid, and might be compar’d, if any can be compar’d, +with the Balls at the _Hay-Market_ in _London_. + +In the Summer-Time when there is not so much Company in Town, these +Assemblies are thinner. The Gentry meet at Night in a Garden belonging to +the Prince _de Schwartzenberg_, where they game, chat, and walk up and +down, after which they always go to some House or other to sup. When one +has a mind to go to the Country, we are sure of a good Reception, and the +longer one stays the greater Pleasure one gives to the Master of the +House. Here they pass the Time in Hunting of all sorts. Many of the +Nobility keep Packs of Hounds, and others Hawks. The Generality keep +Musicians in their Service, so that let the Weather be what it will, one +may be always amused in this Country. Besides, one enjoys all the Freedom +here that can be. After this, Sir, can you blame me for being sorry to +leave _Bohemia_? But ’tis what I’m now preparing to do, and I purpose to +go to _Vienna_. You will be so good as to let me have a Line from you +there; for to be plain with you, to write three Letters for one is too +hard. ’Tis true that your’s are of inestimable Value, and that therefore +you are in the right not to be lavish of them; but the same Reason +justifies me in desiring them. Adieu, Sir: Love me always a little, and be +assur’d that no Man is more than I, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XII. + + + _SIR_, _Vienna, Nov. 30, 1729._ + +The Court of VIENNA consists of so many Princes and Noblemen, that it +cannot be deny’d to be the greatest and most magnificent Court in +_Europe_. Nevertheless Ceremonies, and the _Etiquette_, a Name by which +they call ancient Usages, give it an Air of Constraint that is to be seen +no where else. There’s a universal Out-cry against the latter, and even +the Emperor sometimes seems to be disturb’d at it, yet ’tis observ’d as +strictly as if it was an Article of Religion, and nothing cou’d set it +aside but an Oecumenical Council. + +Notwithstanding this, a Foreigner of Quality (for such he must be here) +finds Advantages at this Court which he does not meet with either at +_Paris_ or _London_, I mean Opportunities of making Acquaintance. After a +Person has been to wait on their Imperial Majesties he need only be +introduc’d into one single Family to be soon made known to all the rest, +with this Advantage too, that go where you will, they speak the _German_, +_French_, _Italian_, and _Spanish_ Languages; whereas a Foreigner at +_Paris_ is under a Necessity of speaking _French_, and at _London_ +_English_; but a Man may shift very well at _Vienna_ without the +_High-Dutch_ or _German_ Language. + +The Ministers and great Lords of the Court are Civil, Courteous, and of +easy Access, especially to such as want no Favour of ’em, and come to +_Vienna_ only for Curiosity or Business. The Way of these Gentlemen is to +return no Visits: but they invite People to their Tables, which being +always well fill’d, a Man soon gets a great deal of Acquaintance. + +’Tis a very easy matter to be admitted to kiss the Hands of their Imperial +Majesties, and even to obtain a private Audience of ’em; for there needs +nothing more than to give in your Name to the Emperor’s Great Chamberlain +and the Empress’s Great Master of the Houshold. When you kiss their Hands +you bend one Knee to the Ground, and the Time for it is generally when +their Majesties pass by to Dinner. But private Audiences are attended with +more Ceremonies. The Great Chamberlain having appointed the Hour of +meeting in his Antichamber, which is commonly five o’clock in the Evening, +he repairs thither at that Time, and introduces to the Audience; and if he +be absent, ’tis done by the Chamberlain in Waiting. The Ceremony observ’d +is this: The Emperor stands up under a Canopy, leaning with his Back +against a Table, and an Arm-Chair by his Side, A Screen of red Velvet with +Gold Fringe is plac’d at the Entrance of the Room, so that the Emperor is +not perceiv’d at the opening of the Door. Behind this Screen near the +Door, stands the Great Chamberlain. As soon as the Person comes in sight +of the Emperor he bends the Knee, which he repeats as he advances a little +farther, and again when he comes near to his Imperial Majesty. To these +Genuflexions the Emperor gives a Nod of the Head, hearkens very +attentively to the Person who addresses him, and returns a succinct and +gracious Answer. Then the Person kneeling with one Knee on the Ground +kisses his Majesty’s Hand, after which he retires, going backwards and +making three Genuflexions as he did at Entrance. The same Ceremonies are +observ’d at an Audience of the Empress, who gives it standing just as the +Emperor does, with this Difference only that the Emperor is all alone, and +the Empress is attended with one of her Ladies of Honour, who nevertheless +stands off at such a Distance that she can’t hear what is said. + +The Emperor commonly eats with the Empress and the Arch-Duchesses. But +there are particular Days, such as the Installation of the Knights of the +_Golden Fleece_, when the Empress herself is not allow’d to sit down at +Table with his Imperial Majesty. The Dinner is commonly in the Emperor’s +Apartment, and the Supper at the Empress’s. At Dinner two Chamberlains +hold the Ewer for their Majesties to wash, and the Steward, or in his +absence the Great Chamberlain presents them the Napkin, which is done +after the manner of _Spain_, with one Knee on the Ground. The Number of +Dishes at the Emperor’s Table is forty eight, and the same at the +Empress’s; but tho’ their Majesties eat together they are each serv’d by +their own Officers and Cooks. They commonly drink both together at the +first Time; and till they have drank, the Ambassadors, Courtiers, and +Ladies all wait at Dinner. After the Emperor has drank, the Steward, the +Master of the Horse, the Great Chamberlain, and the Captain of the Guards +receive his Orders: The Lady of Honour in Waiting and the Empress’s +Steward receive her Orders in like manner. None remain in the Room but the +Officers necessary for the Service, and some curious People who are not +us’d to see Sovereigns eat. On Sundays, Saints Days, and Days of _Gala_, +which is the Name they give here to Days of Festival and Ceremony, the +Dinner is attended with Music. I forgot to acquaint you that the Emperor +is always cover’d at Table, and that when he puts his Hat on the +Ambassadors put on theirs. + +At Supper the Lady of Honour who is in waiting presents the Napkin, and +the Ladies of the Bed-Chamber not only carve and hand the Victuals, but +taste both the Meat and the Wine. The Pages carry the Dishes and Plates, +and fetch the Wine from the Beaufet which they give to the Ladies, and +they to their Majesties. During the Supper as well as at Dinner all the +Gentlemen and Ladies stand up, so that here neither Princes nor Princesses +have any Distinction shew’d them, but all Ranks are levell’d and +confounded, and no body sits down in presence of the Sovereign. + +On the Days of _Gala_ the Court is extremely gay, and nothing is to be +seen but Gold and Diamonds. The Days of this kind that are celebrated with +most Splendor are those of St. _Charles_ and St. _Elizabeth_, the Name +Days of the Emperor and Empress. The Emperor, who commonly dresses very +plain, is cover’d all over with Diamonds upon St. _Elizabeth_’s Day. And +as for the Empress, her Apparel is commonly rich, and so loaded with +Jewels upon St. _Charles_’s Day that she can scarce stand under it. Except +on these Days of _Gala_ the Court dresses very plain. ’Tis true that these +Days are very frequent, and that consequently plain Clothes are not very +much wore, for if it be a Holiday, or the Birth-Day of some Minister, or +if some Lady of Distinction sends but for a Surgeon to bleed her, ’tis +enough to put the whole City in _Gala_. These _Gala’s_ may be divided into +three Classes; the _Court Gala_ which is universal both for the Nobles and +Plebeians; the _Grand Gala_ which is kept in the City is for the Festival +of some Minister; and the third and last is the _Little Gala_, which is +when the Ladies are let blood. A Husband makes a _Gala_ here for his Wife, +the Wife for her Husband, the Children for their Parents, and Brothers and +Sisters for one another; so that to be sure two Thirds of _Vienna_ are +always in _Gala_; which made a _French_ Jester say, ’twould take up a +great deal of Brimstone to cure the _Austrians_ of the _Gale_[93]. +However, they take care not to appear in this domestic _Gala_ before the +Emperor and Empress, because it would be reckon’d a Disrespect to them. + +On the great Festival-Days the Emperor goes with a grand Retinue to St. +_Stephen_’s Cathedral: He takes up one whole Side of the Coach, and the +Empress sits fronting him. Their Majesties are preceded by the +Chamberlains and Knights of the _Golden Fleece_ on horseback: The Pages +and Footmen walk bare-headed immediately after the Coach of the Master of +the Horse, and their Imperial Majesties Coach is guarded on each side by a +File of Archers, and attended by the Coaches of the Arch-Duchesses and the +Ladies. Then the Horse-Guards appear with their Kettle-Drums and Trumpets, +and the March is clos’d by the Pope’s _Nuncio_ and the Ambassadors with +their Train, which consists of three magnificent Coaches and six Horses +each. + +On _Corpus Christi_ Day the Emperor accompanies the Holy Sacrament, when +the Streets thro’ which the Procession passes are cover’d with Planks. +Their Imperial Majesties repair in the Morning with great Attendance to +St. _Stephen_’s Cathedral, and after assisting at Divine Service join in +the Procession. The Emperor is immediately follow’d by the Empress, who is +accompany’d by all the Ladies in rich Dresses, which renders this one of +the most magnificent Processions in the World. + +The same Honours and Respects are paid to the Empress Dowager as to the +Empress Regent. She has her separate Houshold, and her own Guards. She has +an Apartment in the Palace, but commonly lives in a Convent of her own +founding in one of the Suburbs, and does not come to Town except on the +great Festivals or for some extraordinary Function. You know, without +doubt, that the Empress Dowagers can never quit Mourning; their Apartments +must be always hung with Black, and their Coaches and Liveries are of the +same Colour: Nor can they be present at any Play, Ball, or Concert. In +short by losing their Husbands they must renounce the Pleasures of this +Life. These severe Obligations on a Widow are fully discharg’d by the +Empress Dowager. Being retir’d to a Convent where she is almost +continually prostrate before the Altars in Prayer and Supplication, she +makes her Mansion a Place of Piety and Peace, and never appears in public +but when Conveniency requires. This Princess was always an Example of the +most uncommon Virtue. In the Life-time of her Husband the Emperor +_Joseph_, she lov’d Pleasures and Grandeur; but when she became a Widow +she renounc’d all, and only employ’d herself in Works of Piety, and in the +Education of the two Arch-Duchesses her Daughters, whom she has now the +Comfort of seeing marry’d to two powerful Princes of the Empire[94]. +There’s not a Person that draws near her Imperial Majesty but admires her +eminent Qualities. I have not yet had the Honour this Journey of casting +my self at her Feet, but the first Time I was here I had the Advantage of +paying my Duty to her at _Schonborn_, where she then pass’d the Summer. I +was receiv’d by her with such Proofs of her Kindness as charm’d me, and +which I shall always remember with Pleasure and Respect. This Princess is +the Daughter of _John-Frederic_ Duke of _Brunswic-Hanover_ and of +_Henrietta-Benedictine_ Princess Palatine. After the Death of the Duke her +Father, who left no Son, she went with the Duchess of _Brunswic_ to +_France_, where this Princess was very glad to retire to her Sister the +Princess of _Condé_. The Empress who was then the Princess _Amelia_, +spent some Years in _France_, where she learned the Language and +Politeness of that Nation to perfection, and in short acquir’d that Merit +and Virtue for which she is now so much admir’d, and which perhaps have +contributed equally with her illustrious Extraction to gain her possession +of the first Throne in Christendom. The Marriage of her elder Sister to +_Renaud d’Este_ Duke of _Modena_ obliging the Dutchess of _Brunswic_ to +leave _France_, and go and settle at _Modena_, the Princess _Amelia_ +follow’d her also into _Italy_. She had no reason to be sorry for her +leaving _France_, and rejecting the Addresses of a _French_ Nobleman who +had presum’d to court her, for not long after her Arrival at _Modena_ she +was marry’d to the King of the _Romans_, afterwards the Emperor _Joseph_. +This Empress is not only endow’d with the Christian but all the Moral +Virtues, and there are few Princesses of a more generous Soul, of greater +Courage, or of a Genius more sublime, more refin’d, or more adorn’d. There +was a Time when she might be rank’d among the most beautiful Princesses of +_Europe_: she still retains all the Marks of it; and therewith preserves +such a majestic Air that whenever I behold her it revives the profound +Veneration I have for her sacred Person. + +The Emperor _Charles_ VI. is of a middling Stature, and in good Plight of +Body: He is of a swarthy hale Complection, has a brisk Eye, and thick +Lips, for which last his Family in general have been remarkable. This +Monarch is the second Son of the Emperor _Leopold_ by _Eleonora_ of +_Newbourg_, and the fifteenth Emperor[95] of his Family. Being design’d +when a Minor for Successor to _Charles_ II. King of _Spain_, he had a +grave Education suitable to the People whom he was one day to govern. This +made him contract an Air of Seriousness, which, to those who have not the +Honour of Access to him, favours of Severity; yet he is affable and very +humane. He hears those with Attention that speak to him, and his Answers +are full of Good-nature. When he attain’d to an Age hardly ripe enough for +the Crown of _Spain_, he met with various Fortune in that Kingdom; but he +supported himself in every Event with an heroic Magnanimity, being always +submissive to the Will of that Providence which he knew was the Master of +the Fortune of Kings. The Adversitys with which it pleas’d God to try his +Patience by the Siege of _Barcelona_ which he carry’d on in Person, and by +the Loss of the Battle of _Villa Viciosa_, only serv’d to confirm his +Constancy, and his natural Integrity, a Principle which renders him even +more venerable than the Splendor of his Crowns and the vast Extent of his +Power. Heaven, which always rewards Virtue, has granted this Monarch one +of the best and most fortunate Reigns that any Emperor has had since +_Germany_ has been the Seat of Empire. He wants nothing to crown his +Happiness but a Male Heir, which is so much the Desire of the People, as +well as of the Emperor and the most virtuous Empress the World ever saw, +that God grant he may have one. + +This Princess is descended from the august House of _Brunswic_, to which +_Europe_ is at this Time oblig’d for two Empresses[96], one King[97], and +a Queen[98]. She is the Daughter of _Lewis Rodolph_ Duke of +_Brunswic-Blankenbourg_[99] by _Christiana-Louisa_ Princess of _Oetingen_, +of whom I gave you an Account in my Letter from _Blankenbourg_. The +Character of this august Princess for her Affability and Goodness is so +well known in the World that ’tis needless to speak of it here. You know +likewise how beautiful and handsome she was when she was marry’d to the +Emperor. And notwithstanding the Pimples in her Face and her present +Corpulency she may still be reckon’d in the number of the beautiful +Princesses. Such an Air of Modesty, Mildness, and Majesty, accompanies +every thing she does, as inspires those that approach her with equal +Courage and Respect. Her Duty is her Law, and her principal Care is to +please the Emperor, whose Wisdom she knows to be sufficient to govern his +Dominions, and to him she therefore leaves all Affairs. Indeed she is very +earnest with him to get Favours for those who petition her, which she +thinks a Happiness to obtain, and she bestows them in such manner as is +very affecting to the Receivers. This Princess is charitable, generous, +and magnificent. She maintains her Dignity without Conceit, and supports +her solid Piety without Ostentation. She was educated in the _Lutheran_ +Religion, but abjur’d it at _Bamberg_ when she came thither in her Way to +be marry’d to the Emperor, then King of _Spain_, and is now a good +Catholic, yet without any Hatred to the Protestants; being convinc’d that +the Love of one’s Neighbour is one of the Duties which God most strictly +enjoins upon Mankind, and that Charitableness and good Examples are the +best Means to reconcile those to the Church who are separated from it. + +In the same sublime Sentiments of Virtue does the Empress educate the +Archduchesses her Daughters, and those young Princesses are like to make +worthy Proficients. The eldest Archduchess _Mary Theresa_ is brought up in +the agreeable Prospect of being one day Mistress of the vast Dominions +possessed by the Emperor[100]. This young Princess has very much of the +Air of the Empress her Mother; and if Heaven designs her for the +Sovereignty of the Empire, God grant she may also resemble her in her +Virtues! + +The Emperor has three Sisters. The eldest is the Archduchess _Mary +Elizabeth_ Governess of the (_Austrian_) _Netherlands_; the second is +_Mary-Anne_ Queen of _Portugal_; and the third is the Archduchess _Mary +Magdalen_, who ’tis said is intended to be Governess of _Tirol_. The +intire August House of _Austria_ consists at present of the sacred Person +of the Emperor and of eight Princesses[101], of whom three are married; +and God grant it may be augmented by the Birth of a Prince; for without +setting up here for a zealous Subject, I don’t think that the Houses of +_Austria_ and _Bourbon_ ought ever to be extinct, both of them having made +the Fortunes of an infinite Number of Gentlemen. + +The Emperor’s ordinary Pastime (when he has a Desire to unbend his Mind +from Affairs of State, to which he applies with all the Earnestness of a +Monarch that loves his People) is Hunting, or Shooting at a Mark; and the +Empress is generally a Sharer in his Diversions. His Imperial Majesty goes +sometimes also to the Riding-House, where he exercises himself in Riding: +At other times Music is his Amusement, which the Monarch not only performs +by Book, but is also a Composer; and some Years ago an Opera was acted +here of his composing. All the Actors as well as the Dancers and the +Musicians of the Orchestre were Persons of Quality. The Emperor himself +made one, and the two eldest Archduchesses his Daughters danced. The +Spectators were the Empress Regent and the Empress Dowager, and every +Actor had the Liberty of carrying two of his Kindred or intimate Friends. + +Tho’ their Imperial Majesties are very fond of Music they have seldom more +than two Operas in a Year, _viz._ on the Days of St. _Charles_ and St. +_Elizabeth_, and sometimes the same Operas are play’d again during the +Carnival. At this time, which is devoted to Mirth, there is a Ball at +Court, and on the Flesh-days there is commonly a great Masquerade +representing a Country-Wedding. In the Palace there is a very magnificent +Theatre, which indeed is almost the only thing there that is worth seeing, +for the Imperial Palace is so wretched a Mansion that few Monarchs are +lodged worse than the Emperor. The Furniture too is old-fashion’d and not +very rich, which is somewhat unaccountable, because the Wardrobes are full +of costly Pieces of Tapestry, stately Pictures, and other fine Goods which +probably they are restrained from making use of by the _Etiquette_. The +Emperor’s Pleasure-Houses are no better than his Palace in the City. The +Castle of the _Favorita_ which is in one of the Suburbs, is a great +Building full of Turnings and Windings like the Street which it looks +into, and has more of the Appearance of a great Convent of _Capuchin_ +Fryars than of the Dwelling of a Prince who is the Head of so many +Sovereigns. The Gardens are as mean as the House, and only considerable +for their Extent. _Laxembourg_ is still very much inferior to the +_Favorita_; but the Court is there no more than a Month or six Weeks, +during the Hunting of the Heron. The Ministers that are obliged to attend +the Emperor thither have Houses there, which though not very grand, are +commodious. When a Person goes to _Laxembourg_ to pay a Visit to the Court +he is under a Necessity of returning to _Vienna_ for a Bed, which is a +very great Inconveniency. + +The Emperor _Joseph_ had begun a very fine House at _Schonborn_ about a +League from _Vienna_, but did not live to finish it; and the Empress +_Amelia_ to whom the Emperor gave it, instead of carrying on the Works +which her Husband had begun, lets it run to ruin; which is great pity, for +if that Building had been finish’d the Emperor wou’d not have had a +_Versailles_, but he wou’d at least have had a Mansion-House suitable to +his Dignity. ’Tis said that a new Palace is going to be built for the +Emperor; which, if true, ’twere to be wish’d that better Architects may be +employ’d in it than those who have had the Direction of the new Stables +and of St. _Charles_’s Church, which are Buildings lately erected with +very great Expence, but without any Taste. The Stables are a Range of +Buildings of a vast Length, divided into seven Pavilions which appear at +first sight to be so many different Houses. The middlemost Pavilion which +is design’d to lodge the Master of the Horse is much higher than the other +six, which sink gradually on the two sides. Nor are the inner Rooms better +contriv’d; for the Horses stand all in one Row, and the Stable is so +narrow withal, that one is every Minute in danger from the Horses Heels; +which is purely owing to the Indiscretion of the Architect, who having +ground enough and to spare might for the same Expence have made something +grand and noble. + +Whether the same Architect that built the Stables had the Direction +likewise of St. _Charles_’s Church, is what I know not; but if they are +two different Men their Head-pieces are very much alike. This Church would +perhaps have been admir’d in the Days of the _Goths_, but in so refined an +Age as the present, one cannot look on it without being sorry for the Sums +of Money laid out in it. + +This bad Taste as to Buildings prevails too much at _Vienna_, not but that +there are Hotels and even Palaces in which the Rules of Architecture are +observ’d, but then the Builders are got into such a way of ornamenting and +charging their Houses with Sculpture as is altogether contrary to the +noble Simplicity of the ancient Architecture. The Palace of Prince +_Eugene_ of _Savoy_ is stately, but situate in a narrow Street with a very +little Court before it. The Stair-case is very well contriv’d were it not +too much confin’d. The Apartments of the first Story are as well laid out +as the Ground wou’d admit of. We enter first into a spacious Salon adorn’d +with great Pictures representing the chief Victories of Prince _Eugene_ +over the _French_ and the _Turks_. In the two Rooms next to this are very +rich Hangings wherein the Maker _Devos_ at _Brussels_ has very correctly +delineated the whole Military Science. The Bed-chamber beyond that has a +Set of Furniture of green Velvet richly embroider’d with Gold and Silk. In +the same Room there is a Lustre of Rock Crystal which is said to have cost +40,000 Florins. All the other Furniture is extraordinary magnificent, and +wou’d be cry’d up at _Paris_ it self, where it must be allow’d a Taste for +fine Furniture prevails more than any where. + +The Palace of _Lichtenstein_ is bigger than that of _Savoy_, and not less +magnificent. ’Tis worth seeing were it only for its Paintings. I pass over +the Hotels of _Schwartzenberg_, _Daun_, _Diedrichstein_, _Harrach_, and +several other noble Edifices, lest my Letter shou’d swell into a Volume. + +The Palaces of the Suburbs are infinitely more grand than those of the +City, and they have both Court-yards and Gardens. The most noble are the +Palaces of _Trautsheim_, _Rofrano_, _Schwartzenberg_, _Altheim_, and +_Eugene_ of _Savoy_. This last especially is a superb Structure with +magnificent Gardens, a fine Orangery, and a Menagery stor’d with the most +uncommon Creatures that the four Parts of the World can furnish. ’Tis in +this fine great House that Prince _Eugene_ passes the beautiful Season of +the Year. There is not so fine a Sight as an Assembly at this Prince’s +House, for not only the outer Court, in which there’s a fine Piece of +Water, but the Gardens are illuminated by an infinite Number of Lanthorns +made in form of a Bowl of extraordinary white Glass, which cast a very +great Light and make a glorious appearance. The Assembles at this Prince’s +House are always very numerous; for his Birth, Employments and Interest, +draw a great Court to him. + +Prince _Eugene_ is of a middling Stature, and well made. His Air is +extremely serious, and his Deportment grave and reserv’d; but +notwithstanding that Reservedness he is a hearty Friend to his Adherents. +He is a thorough Judge of Merit, and loves to distinguish it. He is +perfectly genteel and civil, very polite to the Ladies, respectful and +submissive to his Lord and Master, but without Flattery or Servility. He +is generous and noble in every thing excepting his Apparel. He is an Enemy +to Ostentation, Ceremonies, and Constraint. In his youthful Days he lov’d +Pleasures, but he abandon’d them as soon as he was animated with a Thirst +for Glory. He was born in _France_, but left that Kingdom in 1683, out of +disgust that he was no more taken notice of, and came to _Vienna_ just +before the _Turks_ laid siege to it. He made the Campaign as a Volunteer, +and distinguish’d himself in such a manner that the Emperor _Leopold_ gave +him in _December_ following that Regiment of Dragoons which still goes by +his Name. When the Siege of _Vienna_ was rais’d, he serv’d in _Hungary_ +under Duke _Charles_ of _Lorrain_, and _Maximilian-Emanuel_ Elector of +_Bavaria_. The first time that he obtain’d the Command of the Imperial +Army was in 1697, when he began with the Victory at _Zenta_ whereby 22,000 +_Turks_ lost their Lives; a Loss which they could not recover, and which +put them upon suing for the Peace that was granted to them at _Carlowitz_ +in 1699. The Prince afterwards commanded in _Italy_, _Germany_, +_Flanders_, and lastly in _Hungary_; and wherever he went Conquest +attended him. To give you a Detail of his Achievements would be to +anticipate the _History_ which is to immortalize them, and to which you +will not take it ill if I refer you. As to the Dignities and great +Employments of this Prince, he is Chief Counsellor of the Council of +Conferences; President of the Aulic Council of War; Commander in Chief or +Lieutenant-General of the Armies of the Emperor and Empire; his Imperial +Majesty’s Vicar-General in _Italy_; Colonel of a Regiment of Dragoons; and +Knight of the Golden Fleece. All his Employments may be worth about +300,000 Florins a year to him. Besides this, he has a considerable Estate +in _Hungary_ and in the Neighbourhood of _Vienna_, which brings him in +about 100,000 Florins _per Ann._ more. He holds those Lands by the +Emperor’s Bounty who gave them to him as a Reward for his important +Services.[102] + +The Marshal Count _Guido Staremberg_ is one of those Gentlemen also who +deserve particular respect for their Virtue. He is descended of a Family +which has given great Generals and wise Ministers to the Emperors of the +_Austrian_ Family, and has supported the Glory of his Ancestors in a +signal manner; _Hungary_, _Italy_, and _Spain_, have been Witnesses of +Bravery and consummate Wisdom in the Art of commanding Armies, and have +admir’d him the more because they saw him always gaining Victories with +Armies ill paid, destitute of all Necessaries, and very much inferior to +his Enemies. This General enter’d very young into the Service in quality +of an Ensign, and advanc’d himself by degrees. He was made +Lieutenant-Colonel a little before the _Turks_ Undertaking against +_Vienna_, and while it was besieg’d, serv’d as Adjutant to his Cousin +_Ernest-Rudiger_ Count _de Staremberg_, the Defender of _Vienna_. This +Count _Guido_, after having been a few years in the Service, was preferr’d +to the Regiment of Foot of which he is still Colonel. When he was very +young he was made Great _Commander_ of the _Teutonic_ Order. I do not +mention his Exploits to you, because they are so much celebrated by Fame +that you cannot but know them. This General, tho’ very much advanc’d in +years, retains all his juvenile Ardor, and wou’d still be very capable of +commanding. + +Having mention’d two of the Emperor’s greatest Generals you will not be +sorry, I fancy, if I shou’d give you some Account also of his chief +Ministers. They are five in Number, and are call’d _Counsellors of the +Conferences_. Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_ is the first Counsellor, but +without the Title of Prime Minister, that being a Dignity not known at the +Imperial Court. + +The Count _Lewis de Zinzendorf_, Chancellor of the Court, and Knight of +the _Golden Fleece_, is the second Counsellor of the Conference. He is a +Nobleman descended of a Family which has been for a long time eminent in +_Austria_. His Mother was a Princess of _Holstein_, who married to her +second Husband the Marshal Count _de Rabutin_ Governor of _Transylvania_, +but died a few years ago in a very advanc’d Age. I had the honour to know +her the last time I was here; her House being the Rendezvous of all People +of Rank. Count _Zinzendorf_ was in the Ministry in the Reign of _Leopold_. +He was that Emperor’s Minister Plenipotentiary in _France_, while the +Marshal _de Villars_ was at _Vienna_ with the same Character from _Lewis_ +XIV. At the Death of the Emperor _Joseph_, the Count _de Zinzendorf_ was +that Prince’s Ambassador to the States-General, in which Character he was +confirmed by the Empress _Eleonora_ who was Regent during the Absence of +King _Charles_. He repaired from the _Hague_ to _Frankfort_ to assist at +the Coronation of _Charles_ VI. and officiated at the Ceremony as Vicar to +the Great Treasurer of the Empire, a Dignity which is Hereditary in his +Family. At the Congress of _Utrecht_ which was open’d not long after, the +Count _de Zinzendorf_ assisted as the Emperor’s first Ambassador. He +afterwards went to the unsuccessful Congress of _Soissons_, and from +thence to _Versailles_, where he succeeded so well with the Cardinal _de +Fleury_, that he kept him tight in those pacific Sentiments which the +Enemies of his Tranquillity, if not of his Glory, aim’d to make him give +up. The Count is now return’d hither, and almost the only Man that acts in +the Province of foreign Affairs. His Interest is very great, for besides +the Esteem which the Emperor has for his Person and Services, he is +related to all the most distinguished Persons at Court, and strictly +attached to the Interest of Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_, of whose Integrity +and disinterested Zeal for the Emperor he is very sensible. The Count _de +Zinzendorf_ is pretty tall and has a happy engaging Aspect. His Deportment +is noble. He is pretty reserv’d, but civil. He is very polite to +Strangers, and his House is open to them. He keeps the noblest and most +elegant Table at _Vienna_. He is magnificent in every thing he does, and +all his Actions favour of the Man of Quality. He is Father of a numerous +Family. The second of his Sons is a Cardinal and Bishop in _Hungary_[103]. +Another is Knight of _Malta_, and Lieutenant-Colonel. As these are the two +with whom I am best acquainted, so they are the only ones I shall mention. +I know not whether ’tis possible for a Man to be more sprightly than they +both are. The Chevalier has more Mettle and Life than a _Gascon_: He is +very blunt in his witty Sallies, but the variety of them pleases, and +their novelty and justness are surprizing. + +The Count _Gundacker de Staremberg_, President of the Chamber of Finances, +and Knight of the Golden Fleece, is the third Counsellor of the +Conferences. His Integrity is very much cry’d up, and he has manag’d the +Finances in such a manner as to guard against the Public Hatred. + +The Count _de Schonborn_, Bishop of _Bamberg_ and _Wurtzbourg_, +Vice-Chancellor of the Empire, is the fourth Counsellor of the +Conferences[104]. You know, Sir, that the _Schonborn_ Family has given us +several worthy Gentlemen; but I may venture to say, with all due Regard to +the Memory of those great Men, and without flattering the Vice-Chancellor, +that of all the Family he has the greatest Capacity for Business, the most +generous Temper, and the most engaging and most civil Behaviour. As this +Prelate has not his Equal at _Vienna_ for Grandeur and Riches, so he has +not his Fellow for Magnificence. The Emperor has a singular Esteem for +him. The Vice-Chancellor has the Chancery of the Empire under him, and no +body above him but the Emperor, and the Elector of _Mentz_, who is the +Great Chancellor of the Empire. + +The Count _de Konigseck_, Vice-President of the Aulic Council of War, is +the fifth Counsellor of the Conferences. This Nobleman, whose Extraction +is from a Family of Distinction in the Empire, is one of the tallest and +handsomest Men at Court: He is the Emperor’s Ambassador Extraordinary at +the Court of _Spain_. His Family has for a long time past been attach’d to +the House of _Austria_. He studied at _Besançon_, and was design’d for the +Church; but he quitted the Band, took to Arms, and enter’d into the +Service of the Emperor _Leopold_; in which he had not been many Years +before he had a Regiment of Foot, and the Emperor _Joseph_ made him his +Chamberlain. He also gave him the Government of _Mantua_, from whence he +was recall’d by _Charles_ VI. and sent to take possession of the +_Netherlands_ in the Name of the Emperor, to whom they were evacuated for +that purpose by the Maritime Powers. The Count _de Konigseck_, during his +Administration of the _Netherlands_, concluded the Barrier Treaty with the +States-General. At _Brussels_ he married Madamoiselle _de Lanoi la +Motterie_, a young Lady of a good Family, and distinguish’d Merit. When he +left the _Netherlands_ he went Ambassador from the Emperor to the Court of +_France_, where he gain’d great Esteem, especially from the Duke of +_Orleans_, the Regent; a Prince who was an excellent Judge of Merit, and +very sparing of his Applause. After three Years stay at _Paris_, the Count +return’d to _Vienna_. He attended the Archduchess, Wife to the Electoral +Prince of _Saxony_, in quality of Steward, to _Dresden_; and at his return +went to the Government of _Transilvania_. But the Emperor recall’d him +from this Post and sent him his Ambassador Extraordinary to _Spain_; where +the Count is as much esteem’d as he was at _Paris_. ’Tis said that he is +in entire Favour with their Catholic Majesties; nevertheless he makes such +earnest Application to be recall’d, that ’tis said he will obtain his +Request, and that his Nephew[105], who is the Emperor’s Minister +Plenipotentiary to the States-General, is already nominated to relieve +him[106]. + +In the Council of Conferences the most important Affairs of the Empire are +taken into Consideration, and the Emperor is always present. + +Besides the five Ministers whom I have now mention’d to you, there are +several others whose Interest is more circumscrib’d. Every Kingdom subject +to the Emperor has its Minister and particular Chancery. + +Count _Badiani_ directs the Affairs of _Hungary_, in quality of its +Vice-Chancellor. + +The Affairs of _Bohemia_ are in the Province of Count _Kinski_, the +Chancellor of that Kingdom, who has a Vice-Chancellor under him, with a +great many Assessors and Counsellors. + +The Council of _Spain_ consists of a President, Vice-President, and +Counsellors. Its Authority extends over all the Kingdoms that were +formerly subject to _Spain_, but yielded to the Emperor by the Peace. The +Count _de Monte-Santo_, a Grandee of _Spain_, Brother to the Count _de +Cinfuentes_, Constable of _Castile_, is President of this Council[107]; in +which Office he succeeded the Archbishop of _Valentia_, who quitted his +See to follow the Emperor whom he had acknowledg’d for his Sovereign in +_Spain_. + +Of all the Tribunals at _Vienna_ the _Aulic Council_ is the most +venerable; because ’tis the Parliament of the Empire. It is compos’d of a +President, _viz._ the Count _de Wurmbrandt_; a Vice-President, who is the +Count _de Metsch_; and of eighteen Counsellors, among whom there must be +six Protestants, and of these one must be a _Calvinist_. This Tribunal +judges of all Civil Causes between the Princes and private Men of the +Empire. Its Authority terminates with the Emperor’s Life; and ’tis on this +account only that the supreme Tribunal of _Wetzlar_, which subsists even +during the Vacancy of the Imperial Throne, challenges Precedence of the +Aulic Council. ’Tis a Mistake to think, as many Foreigners do, that the +Aulic Council takes Cognizance of Affairs of State; for its sole Business +is to do Justice: It registers no Edict unless it be its own +Sentences[108]; and is much more limited than the Parliaments of _France_, +which have at least the Privilege of losing Time in Remonstrances. + +I perceive too that I am in a fair way to make you lose a great deal, if I +don’t put an end to my Legend; which therefore I now do, and refer the +rest of the Remarks that I have to entertain you with to another Post. + + _I kiss your Hand, and am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XIII. + + + _SIR_, _Vienna, Decem. 10, 1729._ + +There are some other Articles which I cannot but add to those I have +already given you from _Vienna_. The Police of this City is administer’d +by a Stadtholder. The Person that now fills that Post is the Count _de +Kehvenhuller_; who is also a Minister of State, and Knight of the Golden +Fleece. His Functions are the same with those of the Lieutenant of the +Police at _Paris_, and nothing makes the Difference but the Title; only it +must be observ’d that the Stadtholder is always a Person of noble +Extraction, and a Gentleman of the Army, whereas the Lieutenant of the +Police at _Paris_ is often of mean Extraction, but always a Gentleman of +the long Robe. + +The Governour of _Vienna_ had seldom any other Title than _Colonel of the +City_. The present Governour is the Marshal Count _de Daun_, the same that +defended _Turin_, who was six Years Viceroy of _Naples_, six Months +Governour of the _Netherlands_, and afterwards four Years Governour of +_Milan_[109]. His Lieutenant-Colonel, who is the Count _Maximilian de +Staremberg_, Lieutenant-General of the Emperor’s Forces, and Colonel of a +Regiment of Foot, commands in his absence, and has the Direction of the +Fortifications, the Arsenal, and the Garison. This Garison consists of a +Regiment of Foot, compos’d of veteran Soldiers, or the Burghers and +Artificers of _Vienna_, from whence this Regiment never stirs. The +Employments in this Corps are very lucrative; but as they don’t lie in the +Road to the Temple of Honour, they are not much solicited by Persons of +any considerable Extraction. Yet this Regiment, as little esteem’d as it +is, perform’d very good Services during the Siege of _Vienna_ by _Kara +Mustapha_, Grand Vizier to _Mahomet_ IV. It acted then under +_Ernest-Rudiger_ Count _de Staremberg_, who was Commandant in the City; +and both the General and his Garison acquir’d very great Glory by the +Resistance which they made. But perhaps with all their Bravery they cou’d +not have prevented the Place from being taken, had it not been for the +Avarice of the Grand Vizier, who hoped to be Master himself of the vast +Treasures that he knew were in the City, and was therefore against +storming the Town, for fear lest if it were carry’d by that means, the +Soldiers would have shar’d the Plunder. + +The Siege of _Vienna_ being foreign to my purpose, I shall say nothing of +it. You know that it was raised by the Assistance that was brought to it +by the brave _John Sobieski_ King of _Poland_; who defeated the _Turks_ on +the 12th of _September_, 1683, and return’d home laden with Glory and +Booty, having made himself Master of all the Grand Vizier’s Equipage. Upon +this occasion he said a pleasant thing in a Letter which he wrote to the +Queen his Wife, who had not a very implicit Faith in the Maxims of +_Seneca_ on the Contempt of Riches; ‘You shan’t say when I come home, as +the _Tartary_ Women do to their Husbands when they return from the Army +without Booty, _You are not a Man for me, because you come empty-handed_; +for the Grand Vizier has made me sole Heir of all he had.’ + +You need not be told that this was the second time the _Turks_ were forc’d +to raise the Siege of _Vienna_; for _Soliman_ the Sultan besieg’d it in +the Reign of _Charles_ V. but with no better Success than _Kara Mustapha_. +’Tis true that the Disappointment he met with was not so fatal in its +Consequence to the Sultan as the other was to the Vizier of _Mahomet_ IV. +who was strangled at _Belgrade_ when _Mahomet_ was there: And the Head of +this Minister is still to be seen in the Arsenal at _Vienna_. The +Translation of this _Turkish_ Relique hither from _Belgrade_ was pretty +extraordinary. Some Years after _Kara Mustapha_ had been strangled, when +the _Germans_ took _Belgrade_, the Soldiers being inform’d where the Grand +Vizier was buried, open’d his Tomb in hopes of Treasure, but found nothing +except the Body in its Shirt, on which there were several _Arabic_ +Characters, and an Alcoran. The Governour being told of it, remember’d +that this very Grand Vizier, when he laid Siege to _Raab_, which he was +oblig’d to raise, said, That if he took the Town he wou’d have the Head of +its Bishop cut off, who was then the Count _Leopold de Collonitz_, and +send it to the Sultan, to be reveng’d of that Prelate for taking Money out +of the Convents, and encouraging the Garison therewith to make a vigorous +Resistance. The Governour of _Belgrade_ remembring, I say, the Menaces of +the Grand Vizier, thought it wou’d be a very agreeable Present to the +Count _de Collonitz_, now a Cardinal[110], to send him the Vizier’s Head +and Body too, together with the Shirt and Alcoran; and he put up the whole +very neatly in a Crystal Shrine, adorn’d with Silver Plates, and sent it +accordingly to his Eminence; who not thinking this odd Present a proper +Relique to be deposited in his Chapel, gave it to the Arsenal here at +_Vienna_, where I have both seen the Mussulman and felt him. I wou’d fain +have pluck’d some of the Hairs of his Mustachio, but the Guardian of the +precious Treasure watch’d my Fingers too narrowly. They say that a piece +of the Halter by which a Man hangs himself is lucky, and why mayn’t there +be the same Virtue in the Mustachio of the Grand Vizier? Be it so or not, +’twill always deserve an honourable Station in some Cabinet of Rarities. + +Since the Siege of _Vienna_ this City is much inlarg’d. Its Fortifications +are so augmented too that if the _Turks_ should ever be prompted by their +ill Fate to besiege it again, they wou’d find a stouter Resistance, and a +greater number of their Mustachios sindged than they imagine. + +The Emperor has lately given new Lustre to his Capital, by prevailing with +Pope _Benedict_ XIII. to erect it into an Archbishopric. Several Bishops, +particularly the Archbishop of _Passaw_, have dismember’d their Dioceses +to aggrandise its Jurisdiction. The Cardinal _de Collonitz_ is the Person +who at present enjoys this Dignity, which gives him the Character and Rank +of a Prince. + +The _Roman_ Catholic is the only Religion exercis’d in _Vienna_, and in +all _Austria_; but the Ministers of the Protestant Crown’d Heads have the +Liberty here, as well as elsewhere, of keeping a Chapel. When the holy +Sacrament or the Viaticum is carried to any sick Person, ’tis always +attended by Guards who oblige all People that meet it to kneel. I have +seen the Emperor, when the Viaticum was passing by, alight out of his +Coach and accompany it to Church. This Prince, and indeed all those of his +Family, always paid a very great Devotion to the holy Sacrament of the +Altar. Of this _Philip_ IV. King of _Spain_ gave a very edifying Proof; +for this Monarch going the very day that the King his Father died, from +the Palace of _Madrid_ to the Monastery of St. _Jeronimo del Passo_ in a +close Coach, that he might be _incog._ alighted out of it to accompany +the Viaticum which they were carrying to a sick Man; whereupon the Condé +Duke _d’Olivarez_ told him, That the King his Father was so lately dead +that he ought not to have been seen in public. _My Lord_, said the King, +_this Custom cannot excuse me from paying that Worship to God which I owe +him_. + +It may be said of the august House of _Austria_, That as few Princes equal +them in Piety, so there are few that equal them in Birth. There may be +Families that have been longer grac’d with the Diadem; but of these there +are very few that have such great Alliances. There is no King, and not +many Sovereign Princes but what are related to them; and there are very +few Kingdoms to which the House of _Austria_ has not given Queens. ’Tis +now 300 Years that it has been Mistress of the Empire; and since _Albert_ +II. it has given thirteen Emperors to _Europe_ successively. One of the +Princesses of _Austria_ had so many great Relations that I cannot help +mentioning her. This was the Empress _Mary_, Wife to the Emperor +_Maximilian_, Son to _Ferdinand_ I. This Princess was Sister to _Philip_ +II. King of _Spain_, and the Daughter, the Wife, the Daughter-in-law, and +the Mother of five Emperors; the Grand-daughter, the Daughter, the Sister, +and the Aunt of four Kings of _Spain_; and the Mother-in-law of two Kings, +_viz._ _Charles_ IX. King of _France_, and _Philip_ II. King of _Spain_. A +modern Author says, that the Origin and Kindred of this Princess +infinitely surpassed those of _Agrippina_, who, according to the Report of +_Tacitus_, was the Daughter of _Germanicus_, the Sister of _Caligula_, the +Wife of _Claudius_, and the Mother of _Nero_. But when I consider how +perfect a Master you are, both of History and Genealogy, I ought to beg +your pardon for my Impertinence in troubling you with these Instances. + +What remains for me now, is to communicate some Remarks to you which I +have made upon the _Austrians_ in general. I shall begin with the Women, +whom I shall paint to you, as _Burrhus_ says, with the Freedom of a +Soldier, who is not the best Limner. + +The Women here, as in all other Countries, are either handsome or ugly. In +general they are rather handsome than pretty, for they are dull Beauties. +They are all tall and well shap’d; they walk well, but when they curt’sy, +do it in such an aukward manner, that one would think their Backs were in +danger of breaking. In their Dress they affect Finery rather than a good +Fancy. Two or three excepted, there’s none that lay on the Red, much less +the White, and Patches are very little worn; in a word, they have nothing +about them that denotes Coquettry. As to their Humour, they are reckon’d +frank, tho’ not easily made familiar; they are naturally vain, and like +all our _German_ Women, pretty reserv’d, and not so fond of Gallantry as +they are of Gaming, Luxury, and Magnificence. Such is their Indolence that +they concern themselves no more about their Houshold Affairs than if they +were Strangers. They know no Books but their Prayer-Books, are extremely +credulous, and give into all the Externals of Religion: This makes their +Conversation sometimes insipid; and unless now and then a Love-Story falls +in, Rain and Fair-Weather are their general Topics. They have at least as +great a Conceit of _Vienna_ as the _Parisians_ have of _Paris_; for out of +_Vienna_ they think there’s no Salvation. But all these little Defects are +repair’d by an uncommon Greatness of Soul, and Generosity. They are hearty +Friends, and warm Protectors of those whose Interests they espouse. When +they are in love, their Passion is sincere; and instead of ruining their +Lovers, there are some who have made the Fortunes of those to whom they +have taken a Fancy. Upon this Head I have been told, that in the Reign of +the Emperor _Joseph_, when Gallantry was more in vogue than ’tis now, +there was a Lady, who being in love with a Gentleman, and having a mind to +make his Fortune without the Censure of the Public, thought fit in an +Assembly where her Spark cut at Basset, to punt against him. She set a +Bett, without telling a Soul how much she stak’d. Her Husband coming into +the Room where they were at play, she rose up, took the Marks that were +against her, threw them on the Ground, and said to the Banker, loud enough +to be heard by her Husband, _I owe you, +Sir+, 40000 Florins_. The Husband +in a very great Surprize ask’d what was the matter? _I have been such a +Fool_, said she, pointing to the Banker, _as to lose 40000 Florins to ++Monsieur N----+. You have reason to chide me; but however my Debt must be +paid_. The Husband indeed grumbled very much, and said he wou’d not pay. +_What!_ reply’d the Wife, _won’t you pay the Gentleman? It shall fare the +worse with you if you don’t, for I am resolv’d to pay him in some Coin or +other_. The Husband perceiving his Wife so resolute, and that if he did +not deposite the Money it wou’d subject him to the Loss of what was more +precious, chose rather to part with the Cash; and indeed he had no reason +to repent of it, for the Lady’s Heart was so won by it, that she renounc’d +the Sight of her Lover from that Moment, and made a very sober Wife. + +This, Sir, is all I have to give you concerning the Temper of the Women. +Let me tell you also how they spend their Time. They rise late. As soon +almost as their Eyes are open, they call for Chocolate, and send to their +Husbands to know who they have invited to Dinner, and whether there is +room for any more Guests. If the Lady does not like the Company, she +sends notice to some Lady of her Acquaintance that she intends to dine +with her; but if there be room at home, as a polite Husband always takes +care to leave some at the Disposal of his Wife, she sends an Invitation to +whom she pleases. After this she dresses and goes to Mass; for here the +Ladies are all so devout that there’s none but what hears at least one +Mass in a day. There they read in five or six different Prayer-Books, kiss +all the Pictures that are at the head of the Prayers, and very devoutly +toss their Beads. After the Office is over, they commonly chat a quarter +of an Hour in the Church. Then they go abroad and make some friendly +Visits, or else go home to receive them. At these Visits, they hear all +the News in _Vienna_. During this they have all a little Box of _Indian_ +Lack upon their Knees, in which they thread Gold till Dinner-time. When +that’s over, they drink Coffee or play at _Quinze_ till Night, when they +go to Court. From the Empress’s Apartment they adjourn to the Assembly, +where they divert themselves at _Piquet_, or at _Quadrille_; and then +retire, undress themselves, go to Supper, and thence to Bed, well pleased +to think with what Indolence and Idleness they have spent the Day. + +The Women of the second Class, in which I include the Gentlewomen that +have no Titles of Honour, _viz._ the Wives of the Assessors, Referendaries +and Agents of the Court, discover such an Air of Plenty and Prosperity as +is remarkably surprizing. Their Houses are richly furnished, and their +Tables well served. If a Referendary has a mind to a nice bit, no body +must offer to take it; and the best of every thing is what they are sure +to lay hands on. Belly Cheer is one of those things which the _Austrians_ +generally think of most: They require a great many Dishes, and those +well-cramm’d. They are so very much accustom’d to this Profusion of +Eatables that I have known some young People in _Austria_ affirm they +don’t know what good Eating is in _France_, because they don’t serve up a +couple of Loins of Veal in one Dish. Different sorts of Wines are what +they are also very much us’d to, which certainly is very expensive because +foreign Wines pay considerable Duties; yet nothing less will serve them +than eight or ten sorts of Wine, and I have been at Houses where there +have been no less than eighteen. They place a Note upon every Plate +expressing the several sorts of Wine at the Beaufet. + +The Burghers and common sort of People mimick the Nobility as far as their +Purses will afford; and it may be said that no Nation in the World is so +extravagant as this. + +The _Austrians_ are naturally proud and haughty, and expect all Mankind +should stoop to them. As their Sovereign is in the first Rank among the +Christian Princes, so they think theirs to be the chief Nation in the +World. Nothing is more vain nor more insupportable than a young +_Austrian_, whose Father is in any Rank at Court. They are intoxicated +with Pride and Presumption; and as they know themselves to be rich, and +their Fathers to be great Lords, they think they may despise all the +World, and lay aside that courteous and polite Behaviour which would so +well become their Birth. Yet what I here observe to you concerning the +young People is not so universally true as not to admit of great +Exceptions, which is the Case of every thing asserted in the general. + +The Court is not without Ladies who are much to be valued. The Empress +Regent honours with her Confidence Madame the Countess _de Fuchs_, whose +Husband was Minister of State to the Emperor, and his Plenipotentiary at +_Hambourg_, where he died. This Countess is Sister to the Count _de +Molard_, Steward of the Emperor’s Kitchens. She is a very polite Lady, +and is so far from being envy’d for being a Favourite that all Persons of +Distinction agree she deserves it, because she supports it with Modesty, +and makes no other Use of it but to do good. + +Madamoiselle _de Klenck_ has a very great share in the Favour of the +Empress Dowager, which I take to be a Reward due to her long Services, and +to her Merit. She is chief Maid of Honour to that Princess, and has been +engag’d to her ever since she has been at _Vienna_. If the Character of a +thorough Gentlewoman may be attributed to any of the Sex, Madamoiselle _de +Klenck_ deserves it more than any other, it being impossible for a Person +to have more Integrity, and more Generosity. + +The Countess Dowager of _Altheim_, of the _Pignatelli_ Family, in regard +to whose Rank I ought to have mention’d her first, if I observ’d a very +strict Order in my Writings, is a Native of _Spain_. The Count _d’Altheim_ +married her at _Barcelona_. Her Beauty was the more admir’d in _Spain_ +because she was fair. This Lady has a noble Air, and has a Genius capable +for Affairs of the greatest Consequence. Their Imperial Majesties pay her +great Distinction, and all the Courtiers honour and respect her, so that +now in her Widowhood she continues in good Credit, and almost as much +Authority as she had when that great Favourite her Husband was living. + +The Gentry of _Austria_, and of all the Emperor’s Hereditary Dominions, +are so fond of the Title of Count, that the Gentlemen buy and sollicit it +as eagerly as if it was a great Estate. ’Tis well for them that the +Dispatch of their Patents does not cost much; for the greatest Privilege +which this brings them is all a Chimæra. These Counts may be said to hold +the same Rank among the ancient Counts of the Empire as the King’s +Secretaries in _France_ do among the Gentlemen of good Families. + +As for Gentlemen, they are so common here that there are scarce any others +to be seen. All the Agents of the Court, and all the Referendaries procure +themselves a Title, tho’ I know not why; for neither they nor their Wives +dare to rank themselves among the Prime Nobility. This Madness of theirs +to be enobled is so common, and so easy to be gratified, that I have known +a Man, who was formerly Messenger to the Emperor _Joseph_, purchase the +Title of Baron; and his Children begin to mix with the _Grand Monde_. + +These, Sir, were all the Remarks that I made upon the _Austrians_. I must +give you a few Particulars concerning the Emperor’s Person. I have already +said something to you of his Character: What follows is to shew you how +grateful he is, and how friendly, Virtues which are the more to be +esteem’d in him because they are not the most familiar to great Men. + +The Emperor shows all possible Marks of Gratitude to those _Spaniards_ who +adher’d to him while he was at _Barcelona_. He has loaded them with Wealth +and Honours; and if it’s possible for one’s native Country to be forgot, +he has put them in a Situation to forget theirs. This particular Goodness +of the Emperor extends to all that followed his Fortunes in _Spain_; whom +he distinguishes upon all Occasions, and does them good preferably to his +other Subjects. As to Friendship, no Monarch ever had more for any +Favourite than _Charles_ had for the late Count _d’Altheim_, his Master of +the Horse. This Nobleman was the Emperor’s Page, when he was only +Arch-Duke; and he attended that Prince to _Spain_, where his Care, his +Services, his Assiduity, and above all his Honesty and his Integrity, won +him the intire Confidence of the young Monarch. When this Prince became +Emperor he rewarded the Count with Honours, Wealth, and Dignities. He +lov’d him as long as he liv’d, and his Memory is still dear to him. As +soon as he died, the Emperor declar’d himself Guardian to his Children, +gave Orders in what manner they shou’d be brought up, and now treats them +much more like his own Children than his Subjects. But what wou’d you say +of the Emperor’s tender Love for the Empress? Some time ago this Princess +being dangerously ill, the Emperor not only sent for his Physicians, and +conjur’d them to employ all their Art to save her Life, but promised them +Rewards suitable to that Service, and actually watched with her several +Nights to see her take the Remedies they prescrib’d. Does not a +Conjugal-Love so perfect, deserve to be rewarded by the Birth of an +Archduke? Adieu, Sir. If I were Emperor, you shou’d be my Count +_d’Altheim_; but in the Condition I am in, you are the Person whom I +honour most of all Mankind; and am, &c. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XIV. + + + _SIR_, _Munich, Jan. 5, 1730._ + +As I came hither from _Vienna_, I stay’d two Days at LINTZ, the Capital of +_Upper Austria_. This City lies on the _Danube_, over which there is a +wooden Bridge. ’Tis a little Town, but well built, and has fine Churches. +Its Inhabitants are thriving, and they drive a great Trade in +Linnen-Cloth. ’Tis the Residence of a great many Persons of Quality, and +of the Regency of the Province, of which the Count _de Thirheim_ is the +Chief. This Nobleman lodges in the Imperial Palace, which stands upon an +Eminence, and commands the City. The Building is commodious enough, but +not so magnificent. The Emperor _Leopold_ stay’d here during the Siege of +_Vienna_; till not thinking himself safe in it he retir’d to _Passaw_. The +Neighbourhood of _Lintz_ is very agreeable. All the way hither from +_Vienna_ the _Danube_ is lin’d on both sides with Vineyards; but from +_Lintz_ to this Place, instead of Vines, there are Plantations of Hops. + +MUNICH, in the _German_ Tongue _Munchen_, stands in the middle of a large +Plain, and in the Center of _Bavaria_, of which it is the Capital City. +The Walls of it are washed by the River _Iser_; ’tis a small Town, but +better built than fortified, for within these few Years several fine +Houses have been rais’d in it. The Elector’s Palace is one of the biggest +Piles of Building in _Europe_, but it wants a great deal of being so +handsome a Structure as _Misson_ and several other Authors have +represented it; for its Magnificence consists principally in its Bulk. The +chief Front, which looks towards a very narrow Street, has the Resemblance +of a fair Convent; to which the Image of the Virgin _Mary_ over the great +Gate contributes not a little. That for which ’tis held in most Esteem is +the great Apartment which is call’d the _Emperor’s_ Apartment. The +Connoisseurs in Painting admire the Pictures in the great Hall, which +represent both Sacred and Prophane History, and are performed by the Hand +of _Candi_. The Chimney-piece in the same Room is very much esteem’d: +Among other fine Figures with which it is adorn’d, there’s a Statue of +Porphyry that represents _Virtue_ holding a Spear in the Right Hand, and +in the Left a gilt Palm-Branch. In 1632, when _Gustavus Adolphus_ King of +_Sweden_ made himself Master of _Munich_, he thought this so beautiful a +Room that he was sorry he could not get it transported to _Stockholm_. In +the Reign of _Ferdinand Mary_, Grandfather to the present Elector, great +part of the Palace of _Munich_ was reduc’d to Ashes, which Accident was, +’tis said, the Occasion of that Prince’s Death; for being at _Straubingen_ +when he received the sad News of the Fire, he took Horse immediately and +rode with such Fury to _Munich_ that he receiv’d a Fall which in a little +time prov’d his Death. + +The present Elector _Charles-Albert-Cajetan_ has embellish’d the Palace +with a new Apartment, which, tho’ not so big as the Emperor’s, exceeds it +in Magnificence. ’Tis adorn’d with noble Pictures, antique Busts, and +Vases plac’d upon[111] Tables of very great Value; and among other Things +there’s the Picture of the Virgin done by St. _Luke_. + +There’s a secret Passage from the Palace thro’ little Galleries to all the +Churches and Convents in the Town. The nearest Church is that of the +_Theatins_, which together with their Monastery was built by +_Maria-Adelaide_ of _Savoy_ Wife to _Ferdinand-Mary_. The Fryars of this +Convent must be twenty seven in number, and all Men of Quality. They +subsist by charitable Donations; but dare not ask Alms, and must wait for +such Provisions as Providence shall please to send them. When they have +suffer’d extreme Want at any Time for three Days together, they are +permitted to ring a Bell as a Token of their Distress; but it has been +observ’d that this never happen’d above twice since their first +Establishment, because the Electors are too charitable to let them want. +The Tomb of the Princes of _Bavaria_ is in the Church of these honest +Fryars. + +The Church of our Lady is the parochial Church of _Munich_. In it is the +stately Tomb of the Emperor _Lewis_ of _Bavaria_ who died of Poison. ’Tis +adorn’d with a great many fine Figures of Brass and Marble. In this Church +the Elector on the 24th of _April_ last instituted the Order of St. +_George_, by Authority of Pope _Benedict_ XIII. The Ceremony was perform’d +with a vast deal of Pomp, and the Elector of _Cologn_ officiated at the +High Mass. The Promotion consisted of three Grand Priors, six Grand +Crosses, a Commander, and six Knights. Some time after this first +Promotion the Elector made a second, in which he appointed one Grand +Cross, and nine Knights. ’Tis said there will speedily be a third +Promotion of eight more Knights, the whole Number being to consist of +forty[112]. + +The Elector intends to annex Commanderies to his Order. They who are +admitted into it must give Proofs of their Extraction from sixteen +Descents; and this is so strictly observ’d that his most Serene Electoral +Highness, as Grand Master of the Order, has renounc’d all Power of +granting any Dispensation from it. According to the Statutes of this Order +all the Knights are oblig’d to be Catholics, to defend the Faith and the +Church, to protect Widows and Orphans, and to practise all the Christian +Virtues. The Badge of the Order is a large Sky-blue Ribbon border’d about +the breadth of an Inch with a black and white Stripe; and at the end of +the Ribbon hangs a Cross enamell’d with blue, in the middle of which there +is a St. _George_. + +The Church and Convent of the Reverend Fathers the Jesuits are two very +magnificent Structures. The Roof of the Church which is one single Nave is +a Work of Skill and Ingenuity, wherein the Apertures are contriv’d with +very great Art; for which reason, the Curious look upon this Fabric as a +Master-piece of Architecture. + +The Church of the Reverend Fathers of St. _Austin_, tho’ but of a moderate +Size, contains Beauties that are not always to be met with in greater +Fabrics. The Pictures with which it is adorn’d are highly esteem’d, and +good Judges agree there are few that can parallel them. + +Tho’ the Houses of _Munich_ are all very well built, there are few that +can be call’d Hotels or Palaces. The Count _Piosas_ a _Piedmontese_ has +caus’d one to be built of late Years which is a considerable Structure +with regard to the true Proportions of its Outside, and to the ingenious +Distribution of the Apartments, which have fine Decorations and good +Furniture. + +The Court of _Bavaria_ observes most of the Customs of the Court of +_Vienna_ in matters of Ceremony, but as for the rest, their Way of living +is different; here being more Freedom, and more Diversion. + +The Elector _Charles-Albert_ delights in Pleasures and bodily Exercise, +and acquits himself therein with a Grace. He is a comely Personage, and +has a grave, noble, and majestic Air, so that he is taken for a proud Man; +yet few Princes are more gracious and more civil to Strangers, and to his +Subjects also he is easy of Access. He was full of Life and Spirit when he +was a Prince, and now that he is a Sovereign is become sedate and +moderate. He is genteel, talks _French_, _Italian_, and _Latin_ well, is +Master of History, and perfectly acquainted with the Interest of Princes +in general, and that of his own Family in particular. He sticks to +Business, and above all seems to be very earnest in redressing his +Finances which he found in great Disorder when he acceded to the +Electorate. The Elector was born the 6th of _August_, 1697. He is Son of +_Maximilian-Emanuel_ famous for his Victories and for his Disgrace, and of +_Theresa-Cunegunda-Sobieski_, Daughter of _John Sobieski_ King of +_Poland_. When _Charles_ came into the World he had a Brother living who +was born of the Arch-Duchess _Mary-Maximilian_, _Emanuel_’s first Wife. +This young Prince who all _Europe_ expected wou’d be the Successor of +_Charles_ II. King of _Spain_, dying at _Brussels_ the 6th of _February_, +1699, _Charles_ thereby became the Electoral Prince: He was bred up at +_Munich_ with four of his Brothers, but both he and his Brothers +surrender’d Prisoners to the Emperor _Joseph_ after the Battle of +_Hochstet_, which subjected all _Bavaria_ to his Imperial Majesty. That +Monarch had the young Princes remov’d to _Gratz_, where he caus’d them to +be treated in a manner not so suitable to their high Birth as to their +decay’d Fortune. When _Joseph_ died, his Successor _Charles_ VI. used the +Princes with less Severity, caus’d them to be honourably attended, and +sent them Masters to instruct them; and upon the Peace of _Rastadt_ which +reinstated the Elector _Maximilian-Emanuel_ in his Dominions, the Princes +his Children were restor’d to him. They finish’d their Studies at +_Munich_, after which the Elector sent the four eldest to _Rome_, where +the second, whose Name was Duke _Philip_, died not long after he had been +chose Bishop of _Munster_ and _Paderborn_. _Charles_ returning from +_Italy_ went to _Vienna_, made the Campaign of _Belgrade_, and some Years +after that, he marry’d _Mary-Amelia-Anne_ of _Austria_, the late Emperor +_Joseph_’s second Daughter. In 1725, _Charles_ and his three Brothers were +at _Fontainbleau_, at the Marriage of _Lewis_ XV. and next Year he +succeeded his Father who died at _Munich_ lamented as he was ador’d by his +Courtiers. + +The Electoress who is a little Woman, very much resembles the Empress her +Mother, and has more Vivacity than is common to the Princes of the House +of _Austria_. She prefers Hunting to all other Pleasures, and there are +few Days but she partakes of that Diversion with the Elector, who, as well +as the Princes his Brothers, is fond of it. + +The Elector has by his Marriage two[113] Princes and two Princesses. The +eldest of the Sons who has the Title of the Electoral Prince is call’d +_Maximilian-Joseph_, and was born the 28th of _March_, 1727. His most +serene Electoral Highness’s three Brothers are Duke _Ferdinand_, the +Elector of _Cologn_, and the Bishop of _Freisingen_ and _Ratisbon_. Of +these Princes Duke _Ferdinand_ is the only one who resides at _Munich_. +His most serene Highness is a Lieutenant-General, and has a Regiment of +Cuirassiers in the Emperor’s Service. He is also a Knight of the _Golden +Fleece_, and Grand Prior of the Order of St. _George_. He marry’d +_Mary-Ann-Caroline_ of _Newbourg_, by whom he has two Sons and one +Daughter. I have already told you that he was educated with the Elector +his Brother, with whom he made the Campaign of _Belgrade_, travell’d +several times to _Italy_, and last of all to _France_, where those Princes +were admir’d for their Splendor, their Politeness, their good Taste, and +their fine Understanding. One shan’t find a Man more affable than Duke +_Ferdinand_ who is even ador’d at _Munich_, and is dearly belov’d by the +Elector his Brother. The Duchess his Wife who is the best-natur’d Princess +in the World makes grand Entertainments, and is particularly civil to +Strangers. + +The Bishop of _Freisingen_ and _Ratisbon_ spends more of his Time at +_Munich_ than in his Diocese. He is a Prince of great Penetration, Spirit +and Vivacity, is generous, liberal, and charitable, extremely civil, and +’tis impossible to be acquainted with him without adding Love to that +Respect and Veneration which are due to his Birth and Character. He +enter’d very young into Orders, and was consecrated Bishop by his Brother +the Elector of _Cologn_. ’Twas thought at first that he wou’d have made +but an indifferent Ecclesiastic, but he has demonstrated that he knows how +to reconcile the Gravity of a Prelate with the Magnanimity of a Temporal +Prince. + +The Court of _Bavaria_ is without dispute the most gallant, and the +politest in _Germany_. We have a _French_ Comedy here together with Balls +and Gaming every Day, and a Concert of Music three Times a Week, at which +all the Company is mask’d; and after the Concert there’s Gaming and +Dancing. These public Assemblies, at which the Elector and the whole Court +are present, bring in a great Revenue to the Elector’s _Valets de +Chambre_; for besides the Money which every one pays at Entrance, they are +also paid for the Cards, and are concern’d in almost all the Banks; so +that those Domestics have almost all the Cash of the Nobility, with whom +they don’t scruple neither to rank themselves. Besides these noisy +Pleasures we have others that are more tranquil, I mean those of civil +Society. Of this kind there’s more here than in the other Towns of +_Germany_; but more still among the Foreigners that are in the Elector’s +Service than among the _Bavarians_; for these are generally proud, tho’ +’tis certainly more owing to their Opinion that it gives them a good Air +to be so than to their Temper; and they actually become more sociable when +they are made sensible that their grand Airs are not astonishing. + +The Title of Count is as common here as at _Vienna_, and the _Bavarian_ +Counts have no greater Privileges than those of _Austria_, for they are as +much Subjects as the meanest Gentlemen. I find that those in Places, and +who bear any Rank at Court are much more polite than others. The Counts +_de Thirheim_, _Torring_, and _Preising_ who have the chief Employments +are so civil that I believe there’s few Foreigners but will give them +their Encomium. + +The Elector has a very large Houshold, and a number of great Officers. +I’ll mention some of them to you. + +The Count _Maximilian de Torring-Seefeldt_ is Steward of the Elector’s +Houshold, a Minister of State, and Knight of the _Golden Fleece_. This +Nobleman who is advanc’d in Years, is good-natur’d and civil, speaks +little, is naturally grave, not fond of Pomp, and lives retir’d in the +middle of a Court, but when he makes any Entertainment does it with +Grandeur. He never once abandon’d the Elector _Maximilian-Emanuel_ his +former Master, but follow’d him in his Fortunes both good and bad. + +The Count _Sigismond de Thirheim_ is Great Chamberlain, a Minister of +State, and Grand Croix of the Order of St. _George_. He is very tall, and +tho’ his Air is not the most affable, he is courteous and civil. He lives +very nobly, and does the Honours of the Court very handsomely; +consequently he is generally beloved and esteem’d. He was Governor of the +Elector, who, contrary to most Princes that are not apt to retain an +Esteem for those who once had the Care of their Education, gives great +Proofs of his Regard for the Count _de Thirheim_. + +The Count _Maximilian de Fugger_ is Grand Marshal[114]. As he does not +live at _Munich_, I have nothing particular to tell you of him. + +The Count _Maximilian de Preysing_ Master of the Horse, President of the +Chamber of Finances, a Minister of State, and Grand Croix of the Order of +St. _George_, is a very polite Nobleman, but serious and grave to the last +degree. ’Tis difficult for any Man to be more attach’d to his Religion, to +have more Candor, and to be more upright than this Minister. His Probity +has brought Envy upon him, but it has procur’d him the Elector’s intire +Confidence, of which however the Count makes no farther Advantage than is +requisite for his Master’s Business. He is accus’d of being close-fisted, +and of dissuading the Elector from giving Gratuities; but ’tis agreed that +he is very charitable to the Poor. ’Tis a hard matter for a Minister who +has the Direction of the Finances to please every body, and he is commonly +the Butt of public Censure. + +The Count _de Rechberg_ Great Huntsman[115], Minister of State, President +of the Council of War, Lieutenant-General, and Grand Croix of the Order of +St. _George_, is Commander in Chief of the Elector’s Forces: He +accompany’d the late Elector to _France_ where he acquir’d the Reputation +of an experienc’d skilful General. + +_Ignatius-Joseph_ Count _de Torring_ is a Minister of State, Grand Master +of the Artillery, and a Grand Croix of St. _George_. He followed the late +Elector into _France_, and after that Prince was restor’d he went as +Minister Plenipotentiary to the Imperial Court, where he negotiated the +Marriage of the present Elector with the Archduchess, youngest Daughter to +the late Emperor _Joseph_. + +I cou’d tell you of many other Persons of Distinction at the Court of +_Bavaria_, only I fear that being too particular wou’d tire your Patience. +The Ministers who bear the greatest Sway are the Counts _Maximilian de +Preysing_ and _de Torring_, and M. _d’Unertel_. The first is Director of +the Finances; the second has the Province of Foreign Affairs; and the +third takes care of Affairs Domestic and Military. These three Ministers +are the Arbiters of _Bavaria_, and to them the Tribunals of the several +Provinces must apply. + +_Bavaria_ is divided into four Cantons or Provinces, _viz._ the Cantons +_of Munich_, _Burghausen_, _Landstrut_ and _Straubingen_. Each of these +Provinces has a Regency or Parliament; and an Appeal lies from Sentences +therein pass’d to the Elector’s Council of State. + +’Tis certain that _Bavaria_ is one of the best States in the Empire. ’Tis +said that it brings in seven Millions of Florins, and I have been assured +by Persons who have Opportunities of being inform’d of the State of the +Finances, that there was a time when the late Elector received eleven +Millions _per Ann._ The Riches of _Bavaria_ are owing to the Exportation +of Salt and Corn, and to the Consumption of the Beer brew’d in the +Country, which is as good as any in the World. _Tirol_, and the Country +of _Saltzbourg_, have almost all the Corn which they spend from +_Bavaria_, and the Elector has a Florin for every Sack that is exported. +Another thing which is a Treasure to _Bavaria_ is the Fir-Trees, a Wood +that serves for every Use that can be imagin’d, whether for Building, or +for Houshold-Stuff. There is not a Province in the Empire where Provisions +are cheaper, and in the mean time there’s a vast Home-Consumption; for +besides that the _Bavarians_ love good Eating and Drinking, the Country is +very populous; and ’tis computed that the Inhabitants of _Munich_ alone +are above 40,000. + +Of all the Sovereigns in _Europe_, next to the King of _France_, the +Elector of _Bavaria_ has the finest Pleasure-Houses, for which he may +thank the Elector his Father who had a wonderful good Fancy and Judgment. + +NYMPHENBOURG a short League from _Munich_ is a charming Place. The Castle +is to be seen a great way off by reason of its Situation in the middle of +a great Plain, so that from the Apartments of the second Story one +discovers a vast Tract of Country, and an infinite number of Rural +Beauties that are in the Neighbourhood of _Munich_. _Mary-Adelaide de +Savoy_ (Mother to _Maximilian-Emanuel_) who was extremely fond of the Arts +and Sciences, and knew them perfectly well, was the Person who laid the +Foundations of that Castle. The Man that she employ’d to build it was an +_Italian_ Architect whom she sent for out of _Italy_ for the purpose. But +all this Palace consisted only of one great Pavilion. _Maximilian-Emanuel_ +thinking the Castle too small, caused several Mansions to be added to it, +together with fine Stables and grand Gardens; in short, he put the whole +into that magnificent Condition we see it in at this day. His most serene +Electoral Highness lets the Pavilion stand in pure respect to the Memory +of his Mother who built it, but ’tis pity he does; for ’tis much higher +than the rest of the Edifice, and is no good Ornament to the main +Building. In order to give you a more perfect Idea of this House, I will +tell you that it looks towards a great and magnificent Canal terminated at +each end by a spacious Basin adorn’d with Water-works and double Rows of +Trees on each side which form the Avenues. We enter into the Castle by an +Ascent of Marble Steps: The first Room we come to is a very great high +Salon adorn’d with Architecture of Plaister of _Paris_ very well executed. +From each side of this Salon there is a Passage into several Apartments of +which I shall not stop to give you the Detail, because I don’t think it in +my power to convey a suitable Idea to you of the Richness of the +Furniture, and all the fine things that are in it. Imagine only that the +late Elector who had an exquisite Taste, and a noble Soul, spar’d no Cost +to adorn these Apartments. I pass to the Gardens which one enters from the +Great Hall by a Descent of Marble Steps. The first thing that strikes the +Eye is a Parterre of a vast Extent, at the Entrance of which there is a +great Bason ornamented with a Group of Figures of mill’d Lead gilt with +Water-Gold representing _Flora_ receiving Flowers from _Nymphs_ and +_Cupids_. At the end of the Parterre there is one of the most agreeable +Woods in the World, which is cut by three Walks in form of a Goose’s Foot. +The middlemost fronts the great Pavilion of the Castle, and has a large +Canal in the middle of it of which one can’t see the end: ’Tis terminated +by a fine Cascade form’d by several Blocks of Marble, and adorn’d with +fine Statues. The second Walk on the right hand leads one to the Mall +which forms a Semi-Circle, and is one of the finest and longest I ever +saw. At the Entrance of this Mall there is a Pavilion call’d _Pagodebourg_ +(the _Castle of the Pagode_;) ’tis two Stories high, and built in form of +the _Pagodes_ Temples. I believe there never was any thing prettier. All +the Furniture of this little Palace is _Indian_, of a charming Contrivance +and Elegancy; and the whole is so well laid out that notwithstanding the +smallness of the House, the Elector has every Convenience in it that can +be desir’d. Over-against _Pagodebourg_ on the other side of the Canal in +the third Walk is _Badenbourg_ (the _Castle of Baths_) which is a more +considerable Building, and has all the Beauty of the Modern Bagnios. The +Baths are spacious and lin’d with Marble. There is an Apartment consisting +of several Pieces adorned with Stucco, and Pictures representing _Venus_ +in the Bath, _Diana_ in the Water with her Nymphs, and the other Subjects +of the Fable. The whole Apartment glitters with Gold, and the Furniture of +it is rich, and of a charming Fancy. This beautiful House is surrounded +with fine Pieces of Water adorned with Cascades and Statues. These Baths +wou’d most certainly deserve a particular Description, and I am angry with +myself for not being able to give it. + +’Tis certain that next to the Gardens of _Versailles_, there is none so +magnificent as those of _Nymphenbourg_; which is a Place that Art and +Nature seem to have joined their Forces in order to render noble and +agreeable. + +The Castle of _Schleisheim_ is a more regular Building than that of +_Nymphenbourg_, and makes so grand an Appearance that I don’t know any +House in _Germany_ that can compare with it. The great Stair-Case and the +Salon in the large Apartment are the only Pieces in their kind. They are +fac’d with Marble, and painted in a most correct and beautiful manner. + +_Taco_, _Furstenriet_ and _Starenberg_ are Houses fit for the Solacement +of a Great Prince, and will be Testimonies to Posterity of the Elector +_Maximilian-Emanuel_’s grand and happy Taste. + +Of all the Elector’s Houses _Nymphenbourg_ is that where the Court resides +most. It is as well a Hunting-House as a Pleasure-House, by reason of a +Park in the Neighbourhood which is eight Leagues in compass, and cut out +into a great number of fine long Roads. Here the Elector comes to rouze +the Stag; and there is a little Park adjoining to the Gardens, which, as +well as the adjacent Fields, abounds with Pheasants, Partridges, and all +other Game of that sort. + +When the Court is at _Nymphenbourg_ the Electress has a Drawing-Room there +three times a Week where there is Gaming, and when that is over the Ladies +sup with their Electoral Highnesses, who sometimes admit Gentlemen of +their Court to their Table, but commonly all Foreigners. They who prefer +taking the Air to Gaming, find open Calashes every Evening drawn by two +Horses, at the bottom of the Steps on the side of the Garden: A Gentleman +drives the Calash, two Ladies ride in it, and a Gentleman stands behind. +And such as prefer the Water find very neat Gondolas finely gilt upon the +Canal at their Service; so that there is no want of any thing to add to +the Pleasures of all sorts in this inchanting Place. + +Were I to enumerate to you all the various Pleasures of this Court I +should never have done. For the present I shall confine myself to these +already mentioned. I am resolved to set out in three or four days for +_Stutgard_. I shall lie at _Augsbourg_, and at _Ulm_. A Frost which has +held for a Month without ceasing has made the Roads so hard that I hope I +shall roll along finely. I expect to hear from you at _Stutgard_. Pray +take care that I be not disappointed, and believe that I am very +sincerely, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XV. + + + _SIR_, _Stutgard, Jan. 14, 1730._ + +There is nothing remarkable between _Munich_ and _Augsbourg_ except it be +the fine Abbey of FURSTENFELDT, which is in possession of the _Bernardin_ +Fryars. It was founded by _Lewis the Severe_ Duke of _Bavaria_ to attone +for his Wickedness in putting _Joan_ of _Brabant_ his Wife unjustly to +death. The History of _Bavaria_ relates the Fact thus: _Joan_ was a very +beautiful Princess. Her Husband who was doatingly fond of her being +obliged to take a Journey, put her under the Guard of one of his Aunts. +While he was gone _Joan_ wrote frequently to her Husband, and sometimes to +his Prime Minister and Favourite. One day she put her Letters into the +hands of a Domestic, charging him to deliver them as they were directed; +but the Man made a Mistake, and gave the Letter which was for the Duke to +his Favourite, and that which was for the Minister to the Duke. _Lewis_ +thought that his Wife’s Style was too obliging to a Subject, and was even +mad with Jealousy. He first kill’d his Favourite, and then taking horse +posted to _Donawert_ where his Wife was. He came to the Castle in the +Night-time, murder’d the Porter with his own hand, put his Aunt and all +with whom he had left his Wife in charge to Death; and then like another +_Herod_, caused the unfortunate _Joan_ to be beheaded. The Night after +this barbarous Action, the Heirs of _Lewis_’s Head turn’d gray, tho’ he +was but twenty-eight Years old; which Accident made him sensible of his +Guilt and of the Innocence of his Wife. As his Barbarity was great, so was +his Repentance. He went on foot to _Rome_ to beg the Pope’s Absolution for +his Sins, and obtain’d it on condition that he wou’d cause a Church to be +built, and found a Monastery in his Dominions. _Lewis_ returning from +_Rome_ founded the Abbey at _Furstenfeldt_. The first Establishment was +only for eight Fryars; but the Piety of the Princes of _Bavaria_ having +wrought upon them to bestow their Favours upon this House, it now +maintains thirty Fryars and an Abbot, whom the Monks have the Prerogative +to chuse out of their own Body. These good Fathers are actually erecting a +very stately Church, and they enjoy all the Conveniences of Life. + +The Country between _Munich_ and _Augsbourg_ is level and intermix’d with +Woods and Plains. AUGSBOURG which is a Bishop’s See, and an Imperial City, +is the Capital of _Swabia_, and one of the biggest and handsomest Towns in +_Germany_. A small Branch of the _Leck_ passes thro’ it, and supplies it +with plenty of Water. The Streets of _Augsbourg_ are broad, strait and +lightsome; the Houses well built, and many of ’em full of Paintings. The +Inhabitants look upon _Augustus_ to be the Founder of their City. ’Tis +true that Emperor sent a Colony thither, but the Town was founded before. +It is not said what Name it went by before the Name of _Augusta +Vindelicorum_ was given it to distinguish it from the other Towns that +bore the Name of _Augusta_. The clearing up of this difficulty is what I +shall leave to the Antiquarians, and confine my self to the Transactions +at _Augsbourg_ for about two hundred Years past. What will render this +City for ever famous is the Confession of Faith which the Protestant +Princes presented here to the Emperor _Charles_ V. in the year 1530. Tho’ +the Protestants were at that time very powerful in _Augsbourg_ they cou’d +not keep their ground, for they were drove out by the _Bavarians_; but +_Gustavus Adolphus_ restored them in 1632, since which time they have kept +their Footing there, and share the Government with the Roman Catholics. In +1687, the Emperor, _Spain_, the United Provinces, and the Electors of +_Saxony_, _Brandenbourg_, and the Palatinate concluded that famous League +at _Augsbourg_ against _Lewis_ XIV. who was beginning to inforce the Claim +of the Duchess of _Orleans_ his Sister-in-law to the Succession of the +Elector Palatine _Charles-Lewis_, who was that Princess’s Brother. In +1690, _Joseph_ Archduke of _Austria_ King of _Hungary_, the eldest Son of +the Emperor _Leopold_, was consecrated and crown’d King of the _Romans_ at +_Augsbourg_, at which Ceremony the Emperor, the Empress, the Electors of +_Mentz_, _Cologn_, _Triers_, _Bavaria_, and the Palatinate were personally +present. + +In 1703, the Elector _Maximilian_ of _Bavaria_, made himself Master of +_Augsbourg_ in one Week’s time. This City had demanded and obtained a +Neutrality, but having afterwards received an Imperial Garrison the +Elector made use of that Pretence to lay Siege to it. He caused the +Fortifications to be demolish’d, foreseeing, no doubt, that he should not +be able to keep the Place. _Augsbourg_ was set free again by the Battle of +_Hochstet_, and still enjoys its Freedom under its own Magistrates, the +Bishop having no Authority in the City as to Temporals. The present Bishop +is of the Family of _Neubourg_, and Brother to the Elector Palatine. This +Prince has the same Goodness of Temper which is so natural to all his +Family. As his Bishoprick is not one of the most considerable in +_Germany_, so his Court is none of the biggest, but his Houshold is well +regulated, and every thing conducted in it with Order and Splendor. + +The Chapter of the Cathedral consists of Persons of Quality who are +oblig’d to make Proof of their Nobility. The Canons have the Prerogative +of chusing their Bishop, who like all the Prelates of _Germany_ is a +Sovereign Prince. He dwells at _Augsbourg_, tho’ he ought to reside at +_Dillingen_. The Episcopal Palace is old, and not very commodious: It +joins to the Cathedral, which is a _Gothic_ gloomy unwieldy Fabric, but +its Ornaments are very rich. + +The most considerable Building is the Town-house, a very substantial Pile +built all of Freestone except the Portico, which is of Marble. The Rooms +are very fine, and the great Hall especially is to the last degree +magnificent. The Walls are cover’d with Painting, being such Emblems and +Devices as have relation to the Government. Nothing can be more beautiful +than the Cieling which consists all of Compartments whose Frames are +carv’d and gilt in an extraordinary manner, the whole enrich’d with +Pictures and other Ornaments perfectly well dispos’d. + +Before the Town-house there’s a very stately Fountain, where, among other +fine Figures of Brass, the Statue of _Augustus_ which is represented in a +most noble Attitude is highly esteem’d. + +The City of _Augsbourg_ is in my Opinion something like _Antwerp_ with +regard to the Spaciousness of the Streets and the Substantialness of its +Buildings; and formerly when the _Venetians_ were Masters of all the +Commerce, it resembled it in Trade; for _Augsbourg_ was then the Staple +for Merchandize, which was from thence transported to a great part of +_Europe_. But since _London_ and _Amsterdam_ are become the Warehouses of +the whole World, and the Commerce of _Venice_ decays, the greatest Trade +of _Augsbourg_ consists in Goldsmith’s Wares, with which this City +furnishes _Germany_, _Poland_, and in general almost all the North. These +Wares are much cheaper here than elsewhere, and when the Patterns are +furnish’d People are well serv’d. Notwithstanding the Decay of its +Commerce there are several very rich Families; but whether any can do what +_Fugger_ did to the Emperor _Charles_ V. is a Question. That Monarch +passing thro’ _Augsbourg_ lodg’d at _Fugger_’s House, who entertain’d him +like an Emperor. The Fewel he burnt in every Chimney was Cedar, and after +the Repast, which was extraordinary sumptuous, _Fugger_ took a Bond for a +very considerable Sum which the Emperor ow’d him, and threw it into the +Fire. + +The Nobility assemble commonly every Evening at the _Three Kings_ Inn +where I quarter. There’s a very fine Hall well lighted, where they game, +club for a Supper, and after Supper dance. Be not scandaliz’d that the +Nobility have their Assembly at an Inn, it being one of the best Houses in +_Germany_ and the most superb Inn in _Europe_. There’s very good +Attendance. I have supp’d at it twice, and one cannot be better +accommodated in any House whatsoever. + +From _Augsbourg_ I came to ULM another Imperial City. Tho’ all the Country +is even, yet ’tis very tiresome to Travellers because of the Pavement of +the Causeys; but Thanks to the Snow which has levell’d the Ways, I have +not been much incommoded; tho’ on the other hand I had like to have been +lost in the Snow, such a quantity of it having fallen for two Days that +one could not distinguish the Roads. I found my self at a Post-Stage where +my Guide, tho’ he was a Man that had grown grey in the Business of +Postilion upon the same Road, did not know the Way. I was in danger every +Moment of tumbling into some Ditch, when just as we entered a certain +Valley my Postilion sounded a Horn to give notice to any Carriages or +Horses that might happen to meet us to make way, when a Voice from the +Hollow call’d out to the Postilion, _Who’s that? Stephen? Oh!_ cry’d the +Postilion, _Is it you, Christopher? God be thank’d that I met with you_! +Then turning towards me, he said with an Air of Satisfaction, _Now you are +out of all Danger, for here’s a blind Man that will conduct us to the +Place we are going to_. I thought the Droll jok’d with me, but we had not +gone many Yards farther before I really saw a poor Wretch who could not +see, yet offer’d to be my Guide, and promis’d he wou’d conduct me very +well. I abandon’d my self to him, and he walk’d so fast before my Chaise +that the Horses follow’d him in a gentle Trot till we came safe to the +Stage. There he told me that ’twas fifteen Years ago that he lost his +Sight by the breaking of an Imposthume in his Eyes, after having suffer’d +such horrible Pains for two Months that he bless’d himself for the Loss of +his Sight; so that when I ask’d him if he was not very much concern’d at +it, he said that at first it made him melancholy for some time, but that +he always comforted himself by the Remembrance of the Torture he had +undergone in the Loss of his Sight, and that he thought it were much +better to be blind and to have his Health than to see, and suffer the +Pains that he had endur’d; but that now he was so us’d to his Condition it +gave him no Concern. Indeed, when I ask’d him, if he should not be very +glad to recover his Sight? he said, Yes, if it were possible; but that if +he must undergo the same Pains to recover it as he had felt in the Loss of +it, he had rather by a thousand times continue blind. When I told him of +my Surprize that he should find out the Way better than those who see, he +told me that since he had been blind he came regularly on Sundays and +Saints Days to the Place where we were to hear Mass, and that therefore +the Road was become very familiar to him. He added, that he sometimes +went alone to beg three or four Leagues from his Village, which was a +quarter of a League from the hollow Way where I met with him. I sent the +Man away, after giving him some Relief; and could not but admire the +divine Providence, which tho’ it had afflicted the poor Wretch with what +to me seems more terrible than Death, gave him Strength to bear his +Misfortune with Patience. + +The City of _Ulm_ is not above half as big as _Augsbourg_, but is much +better fortify’d. The _Danube_ which washes its Walls, becomes navigable +at this Place, and a Boat goes from hence every Week for _Vienna_, which +is a great Ease to People who are not in a Condition to lay out much +Money; for it costs but a _Creutzer_, which is one Penny a _German_ Mile. +Tho’ the City of _Ulm_ maintains a very numerous Garison, and is very well +fortify’d, and furnished with a good Arsenal, the Elector _Maximilian_ of +_Bavaria_ took it by Surprize in 1702, it being a Place necessary for him +to secure his Dominions on that side, and to facilitate the Passage of the +_French_ Troops that were to join his Army. General _Thungen_ robb’d him +of this Conquest the 10th of _Sept._ 1704, after about a Week’s Siege. + +Then it was that _Ulm_ became again subject to its Magistrates who are all +_Lutherans_. The Catholics cannot enjoy Offices, but have several +Churches. This City drives a great Trade in Linnen, but few of the Gentry +live here except the Patricians who are not more sociable than those of +_Nuremberg_ and _Augsbourg_. The Burghers and the Women in particular go +dress’d like those at _Augsbourg_. To see them go to and come from Church +is next kin to seeing a Masquerade, and ’tis certainly one of the most +diverting Sights in this City, where really I did not give my self time to +be tired, for I set out again the very next Day after I came, and arrived +in this Town, where I have now rested my self a couple of Days. + +STUTGARD lies in the middle of a Valley surrounded with Vineyards. ’Tis +pretty large, has Streets broad and strait, but the Houses are of Timber. +’Tis the Capital of the Duchy of _Wirtemberg_, and was formerly the +Residence of the Sovereigns of the Country; but _Eberhard-Lewis_ the +present Duke of _Wirtemberg_ established his Seat some Years ago at[116] +_Ludwigsbourg_, a new City and a new Palace of his own building. + +The Duke’s Castle is an old Structure of Freestone, compos’d of four Piles +of Building, flank’d at each Angle by a Tower. The Walls of it are wash’d +by Ditches which give it the disagreeable Air of a Prison. The Duchess who +is the Duke’s Wife, and Sister to the Margrave of _Baden-Dourlach_, has an +Apartment in this Palace. You know that this Princess and her Husband +don’t live well together. The Prince[117] about twenty Years ago preferr’d +a Mistress to her[118], who certainly has neither the Beauty, nor the +Merit of the Duchess. The Princess is remarkably patient under the +Indifference of a Husband, and the Contempt of the most haughty Rival that +ever was. The frequent Visits paid her by her only Son are all the Comfort +she has. The Court neglects her, no body dares to go near her, and +whoever pays the Duchess the Respects that are naturally due to her, is +sure to incur the merciless Hatred of the Mistress. I may be able perhaps +to give you a farther Account of this Princess and her Rival when I have +been at _Ludwigsbourg_, whither I propose to go to-morrow, and where I +hope for a Line from you. + + _I am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XVI. + + + _SIR_, _Ludwigsbourg, Feb. 2, 1730._ + +The Duke of _Wirtemberg_ is a Prince of a middling Size, and before he +grew so fat was very well shap’d. He is genteel, affable, and +well-belov’d, and few Princes treat their Courtiers with more Familiarity. +He has been one of the best Dancers of his Time. He also sits perfectly +well on horseback, and performs all bodily Exercises with infinite +Gracefulness, and incomparable Dexterity. He takes pleasure sometimes in +driving his own Coaches, and I have seen him drive eight Horses without a +Postilion, and manage them with as much Ease as if there was but one Horse +in the Harness. He is a Prince that loves Magnificence, is generous, +gallant, and amorous. Tho’ ’tis above twenty Years that he has kept one +and the same Mistress, he is as passionately fond of her, and gives as +shining Proofs of it as ever. During the last War his most Serene Highness +commanded the army of the Empire on the _Upper Rhine_. He has an only Son +marry’d to _Henrietta_ of _Prussia_, Daughter of the Margrave _Philip_, +Brother to _Frederic_ I. King of _Prussia_. This young Prince is called +the hereditary Prince. He is short of Stature, but handsome. He has one of +the best Tempers that can be desir’d in a Sovereign, being humane, +good-natur’d, affable, and civil. It may be said that the Father and the +Son are the two politest Men at the Court of _Wirtemberg_. The Father has +spent several Years in _Holland_, _Lorrain_, _Geneva_, _Turin_, _Italy_ +and _France_. When he return’d from his Travels he went and marry’d at +_Berlin_. He has an only Daughter who is very amiable. The hereditary +Prince is vastly fond of Grandeur, Dancing, Plays and Music: He fatigues +himself very much, and commonly rides seven or eight Horses in a Morning. +His tender Constitution and the little Care he takes of it make me +apprehensive he will not live to be an old Man[119]. + +The hereditary Princess has an Air of Grandeur and Majesty suitable to her +Rank. She is tall and handsome, has a noble Mien, and tho’ she is not a +regular Beauty, ’tis certain that she has a very good Look. She is +extremely grave, and does not seem to take a great share in the Pleasures +of the Court. She seems to be most of all taken with Dress, and her +Apparel is not only splendid but well-fancy’d. Her Royal Highness, which +is a Title given her because she is the Daughter of a King’s Brother, is +extremely gracious and civil to all Mankind, but particularly to those +whom she knew at the Court of _Prussia_. She does me the honour to +discourse with me sometimes. I find she thinks very justly, and that her +Sentiments are very agreeable to her Birth. This Princess is of the +_Calvinist_ Religion, and she keeps a Chaplain who preaches to her in her +own Apartment; so that now while the Prince _Alexander de Wirtemberg_ is +here, there are three Chapels in the Castles of as many different +Religions. + +The Countess _de Wurben_ is the first Lady at Court next to her Royal +Highness. She has been the Duke’s sole Favourite for a long time. She is +_Gravenitz_ by Name, and is descended of a noble Family in _Mecklembourg_. +The Duke first fell in love with her when she was but a Girl. She had the +Assurance after she had been some Years in Favour to insist that the Duke +should get a Divorce from the Duchess his Wife, by whom he had a Son, and +marry her. When the Duchess was inform’d of her Rival’s Demand she sued +for the Emperor’s Protection, and obtain’d it. That Monarch signified to +the Duke that he would do well to remove his Favourite, who was therefore +oblig’d to retire to _Swisserland_. The Duke who could not bear her out of +his sight, followed her thither and stay’d there with her for some time, +but at last being oblig’d to return to his Dominions, and not being able +to take Madamoiselle _de Gravenitz_ to him without reviving the just +Suspicions of the Duchess, he look’d out for a Husband for his Mistress. +The Count _de Wurben_ a Gentleman of a good Family, and in mean +Circumstances, but a very eager Stickler for the Favours of Fortune at any +rate whatsoever, made an offer to marry Madamoiselle _de Gravenitz_. She +was bestowed upon him with a Pension of 24000 Florins, and the Character +of the Duke’s Envoy Extraordinary to the Imperial Court. He engag’d never +to make use of the Husband’s Prerogative and never to require of his Wife +to leave the Court. Upon this Condition he obtain’d even before he set out +for _Vienna_ the Office of _Landthoffmeister_ or Lord Lieutenant of +_Wirtemberg_, which is the highest Dignity in the Country. When the +Marriage was concluded, Madam _de Wurben_ returned to _Stutgard_, where +she had Lodgings in the Palace. All her Aim was to insult the Duchess, in +hopes of provoking her to commit something so outragious as might embroil +her with the Duke, and make him resolve never to forgive her; but this +Princess equally virtuous and prudent, and always patient, bore all this +Mortification without murmuring. The Mistress, who could not endure to see +her in the Palace, obtain’d an Order from the Duke for her Retirement to +the Estate which was settled on her for her Jointure; but the Duchess +would never comply to it, saying, that if she had not been unfortunate +enough in the Loss of her Husband she would not retire to her Jointure. +This Refusal, how reasonable soever it was, affronted the Duke, who +acquainted the Duchess that he did not look upon her any longer as his +Wife, and gave orders that she should be treated no longer as a Sovereign. +During this, Madam _de Wurben_ became a Widow; whereupon all the Hopes +reviv’d that she had presumed to entertain when a Maid. She persuaded the +Duke to leave _Stutgard_, and to found _Ludwigsbourg_. As soon as this +House was in a Condition to be occupy’d, the Duke and his Mistress came +and liv’d in it. There’s no sort of Intrigue which this Favourite has not +try’d to put herself in the Duchess’s Rank, but hitherto she has not been +able to succeed. Mean-while she enjoys all the Honours of a Sovereign. +’Tis at her Apartments that the Court is kept. Whenever the Duke plays +’tis there, and there it is he diets. In short she is treated in every +thing upon a par with her Royal Highness. Her Excellency (which is the +only Title given to this imperious Favourite since the Death of her +Husband) is drawing on to fifty Years of Age, and yet carries a mighty +Sway. She employs all the Remedies imaginable to cancel the Injuries which +Time has done to her Complexion, and also to conceal her natural Temper; +for Artifice and Dissimulation are the Compounds of her Character. She is +so eager in amassing of Riches that she makes it her chief Business. While +she pretends a mighty Respect for the Duke, she expects like another +_Astarte_ that every Knee should bend and tremble before her. As she is +the Reservoir of Favour, greater Court is made to her than to the Duke +himself, and Woe be to those that dare to disoblige her! I must own +however that she knows how to behave as well as any Woman in _Germany_, +when she has a mind to shew her Politeness. The worst on’t is, that she is +not always so inclin’d; for she has been so long us’d to give herself +great Airs that they are become habitual to her. The principal Offices of +the Court are distributed among her Kindred or Creatures. Her Brother the +Count _de Gravenitz_ is Grand Marshal and Prime Minister. I hardly ever +saw a handsomer Man: I must also do him the justice to declare that he is +as civil as his Sister is haughty. Some Years ago the Duke obtain’d for +him the Dignity of a Count of the Empire, in which Quality he was admitted +also at the Dyet, and he has a Seat there on the Bench of the Counts of +_Swabia_. His Authority is never oppos’d but by his Sister, to whom he +will not always be obedient. ’Tis said their Divisions have sometimes gone +so far that the Favourite has done all in her power to turn out her +Brother, and he has try’d all Ways in his turn to remove his Sister, but +the Duke has always been so good as to reconcile them. The Prime Minister +and his eldest Son are honour’d with the Order of _Prussia_. There is no +Court in _Europe_ where there’s such a Variety of Orders and Ribbons. The +Duke bears alternatively the _Danish_ Order of the _Elephant_, the +_Prussian_ Order of the _Black Eagle_, and his own Order which is that of +St. _Hubert_. + +The Hereditary Prince has the Order of _Prussia_ and that of the Duke his +Father. + +The Prince _Charles-Alexander_ wears the _Fleece_, and the Order of +_Wirtemberg_[120]. Prince _Lewis_ his Brother wears the _Polish_ Order of +the _White Eagle_. + +The Baron _de Schunck_ heretofore the Duke’s Minister of State, and at +present Great Bailiff of a Bailywic, is Knight of the Order of +_Dannebrog_. + +I should never have done were I to give you the Names of all the Knights +of the Order of St. _Hubert_, and the many petty Sovereigns that have been +the Grand Masters. + +The Duke’s particular or Cabinet-Council is compos’d of the Hereditary +Prince and the Counts _de Gravenitz_, Father and Son, the Baron _de +Schutz_, and M. _de Pollnitz_[121]. There are many other Counsellors of +State, but not being admitted to the Cabinet-Council they are not in so +much Esteem as the others. + +His most Serene Highness keeps the Estimate of his Forces to himself. I +think that he has now 4000 Men without reckoning his Life-Guards, which +are two Companies, the finest of all the Guards in _Germany_. One of these +Companies is commanded by the Lieutenant-General Baron _de Phul_, and the +other by a Count of _Witgenstein_. They are dress’d in yellow, and are +only distinguish’d by the Facing of their Clothes and their Bandeliers, +one of which is Black and the other Red. Their Regimental Clothes are +Yellow with Silver Lace. The Duke has also a Company of Cadets on +Horseback, all Gentlemen. They are dress’d in Red, with black Velvet +Facings and Silver Lace. They mount Guard at the Duke’s Apartment only. +Two of them always stand Centry before his Highness’s Chamber-Door. + +The Court of _Wirtemberg_ is one of the most numerous in _Germany_. + +There’s a Grand Marshal, who as I have told you is the Count _de +Gravenitz_, Brother to the Favourite. + +A Marshal of the Court, who is second Son to the Grand Marshal. + +A Travelling Marshal, who is Brother-in-law to the Prime Minister. + +A Great Cup-bearer, who is the Baron _de Frakenberg_. + +A Master of the Horse. + +A Great Huntsman. + +Four Chamberlains. + +A Number of Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber, and Gentlemen of the Court. + +Two Captains of the Guards. + +A considerable number of Counsellors of State and Aulic Counsellors. + +Twenty Pages, all Men of good Families. + +And finally a great many Footmen, and Officers of the Kitchen, Pantry, and +Buttery. + +The Duke’s Stables are the best furnish’d of any in _Europe_. One shall +not see finer Horses, or any that are better manag’d. The Hunting Equipage +is also very magnificent; and I don’t know one thing that is wanting. His +Highness keeps a Company of _French_ Comedians to whose Performance every +body is admitted _gratis_. We have often Balls, Masquerades, and Concerts +of Music. There is an Assembly at the Favourite’s House every day, where +the Company plays at Piquet, Quadrille, and Pharo; so that here are all +the Pleasures of a great Court. The Duke’s Table is serv’d with very great +Cost and Delicacy, and is commonly spread for sixteen Guests. The Duke +sits at the upper end, between her Royal Highness and her Excellency. The +Gentlemen are plac’d according to the Rank which they derive from their +Employments, and the Ladies according to the Offices which are borne by +their Husbands. + +There’s a Ceremonial observ’d here which is not known in any other Court, +_viz._ the Duke’s Ministers give place to no Foreigner, unless he be a +Minister like themselves to some Prince, or unless he be a Count of the +Empire. These have so distinguish’d a Rank at this Court that all who are +not Counts must give place to them. A Count of the Empire, tho’ he be a +Cadet in the hundredth Generation, a Lieutenant or an Ensign, as it +sometimes happens, in the Duke’s Service, takes place of all Ministers and +great Officers who are not Counts. This is a Regulation which her +Excellency made after her Brother was created a Count, to the end that her +Family might have the more Honour, and that the greater Respect might be +paid to her own Dignity of Countess without a County. + +I have told you that the Duke had transferr’d his Residence from +_Stutgard_ to _Ludwigsbourg_, and the reason which made him abandon the +Capital of his Dominions; but why he preferr’d the Situation of his new +Town to a hundred others that he might have chose more agreeable, is what +I cannot account for. + +LUDWIGSBOURG is remote from any River, great Roads and Forests. The Duke +at first only built a small Mansion-House with two advanced Wings, so +disposed that the Court lay between the House and the Garden; but he has +since made great Additions to it, and is actually building a large +Mansion between the Court and the Garden, to which the Wings of the former +Building are to be joined. One _Frisoni_, an _Italian_, has the direction +of these Works; in which it appears that he is a much better Mason than an +Architect. The new Building runs so far out that it discovers all the +Effects of it. The Front of the Mansion consists of three Stories, +including the Ground-Floor; but on the Garden side there are only two of a +moderate Height, so that one wou’d take this Building rather for an +Orangerie than for the Palace of a Sovereign. The great Stair-Case is +dark, the Apartments want Light, the Chambers are long and narrow, and +have very few Outlets. However, this single Building was undertaken by +_Frisoni_ for 700000 Florins, exclusive of several sorts of Materials with +which he was furnished. + +The old Mansion, which fronts the new, is not near so large, tho’ it is +three Stories high every way. The Apartments are small and too +inconvenient to live in, yet no Cost has been spar’d to adorn them; +Carving, Gilding, and Painting being employ’d in them with more Profusion +than Judgment. The Furniture is rich, but of a very odd Fancy. The best +thing in all the Palace is the Chapel, which would every where be reckon’d +a fine noble Structure. But notwithstanding all the Faults which are +observ’d in the Palace, it must be allow’d that whoever lives to see it +finish’d will find it a magnificent Piece of Work. In the Gardens there +are several Terrasses, which rising by degrees one above another, intirely +bound the Prospect of the Palace. ’Tis certain that when the Duke’s +Architects saw this Prince resolutely determin’d to build at +_Ludwigsbourg_, they ought at least to have advis’d him to place his +Palace at the very spot where his Gardens end: In this case it would have +stood in the middle of a Plain, the Apartments would not have been cramp’d +by the Buttresses, with which the Palace is encompass’d, and the Gardens +wou’d have had a gentle Descent; and for a very little Expence there might +have been a fine Piece of Water at one end, betwixt them and a Coppice, +which is a Walk for Pheasants. + +The City of _Ludwigsbourg_ is as irregular as the Palace; and its +Scituation, which is very disadvantageous, will always render it a very +incommodious Town, because of the unevenness of the Ground. Most of the +Houses are of Timber, and slightly built; for those who build them do it +with an Ill-will, either out of Necessity, or to please the Duke who seems +to be fond of building. This Prince has ruin’d _Stutgard_, and will never +make a good Town of _Ludwigsbourg_; for if the Court was absent from it +but one Year, ’twou’d be one of the meanest Villages in _Wirtemberg_. This +Town is in no respect very agreeable. The Nobility here don’t seem very +fond of Strangers, and there are no Entertainments but what are made by +the Duke. No body here, not even the Prime Minister keeps a Table; and all +the Expence of the Courtiers is in their Dress, and their Horses. Yet +there is not a Prince of the Empire who gives handsomer Salaries, except +the Electors; so that the Case is the very reverse here to what it is at +almost all other Courts, for here People grow rich, whereas elsewhere they +are beggar’d. I have known Persons that came to this Court in mean +Circumstances, and in a few Years got Estates. The Duke is by nature +generous and beneficent, and wou’d be more so if his Liberality was not +curb’d. He has given several Gentlemen Materials for building _gratis_; +and the Houses were no sooner up but he purchas’d them, and paid as dear +for ’em as if he had not contributed a Shilling towards raising them. I +have been assur’d that his most Serene Highness’s Revenues amounted to +four Millions of Florins. ’Tis certain that he is Master of one of the +finest Countries in all _Germany_; a Country which has plenty of every +thing, but Money is scarce by reason of the Fertility of the neighbouring +Provinces, _viz._ the _Palatinate_, _Bavaria_, _Franconia_, and _Alsace_. +The People are desirous of a War upon the Upper _Rhine_, in hopes of +putting off their Commodities. + +The _Lutheran_ is the only Religion tolerated in the Duchy of +_Wirtemberg_, tho’ the Duke has permitted _Frisoni_ the Director of his +Buildings to erect a Chapel for the Use of the Catholic Workmen whom he +has sent for from _Italy_ to build the Palace; which Chapel however is +design’d to be demolish’d as soon as the Works are finish’d: But I am +rather inclin’d to think that the Court itself will one day have a +Catholic Chapel; for if the hereditary Prince shou’d happen to die without +Male-Issue, _Wirtemberg_ will fall to the Share of Prince _Alexander_, +(Cousin-german to the Duke) who has embraced our Religion; and who having +Children by the Princess of _Tour_ and _Taxis_ whom he marry’d at +_Brussels_, sees them brought up in the Catholic Faith. + + _I kiss your hand, and am_, &c. + + _POSTSCRIPT._ + +Since I wrote the above, the Countess _de Wurben_ is fallen under +Disgrace, which I have been told happen’d by this means. + +The Duke’s Carriage to his Mistress had been cold for some time, when the +King of _Prussia_ came to _Ludwigsbourg_ and exhorted him to be reconcil’d +to his Wife, in order to get Heirs. The Duke cou’d not persuade himself to +take the Duchess again; but however the King’s Representations prevail’d +so far, as to put him quite out of conceit with his Mistress. He just kept +up a bare Acquaintance with her, and that was all; which she perceiv’d, +and made no scruple to try the most extraordinary Methods to maintain +herself in Favour. The Duke having been blooded in her Presence, she +secreted a Napkin stain’d with his Blood. What Use she propos’d to make of +it I know not, but she carry’d it to her Apartment. The Duke’s _Valets de +Chambre_ missing the Napkin acquainted their Master of it. M. _de Roder_, +a Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber, and a Favourite of his Highness, said that +no body cou’d possibly take it but the Countess, and that to be sure she +did it for no good. The Duke order’d M. _de Roder_ to go to the Countess’s +Apartment and enquire into the Fact. _Roder_ ask’d for the Napkin. The +Countess deny’d her having it; but _Roder_ affirm’d he saw her take it, +upon which she was in a Passion with him, and told him she wou’d make him +repent of his Ill-manners to her. _Roder_ made answer, that all the Airs +she gave herself were out of season, that her Reign was over, and that he +wou’d oblige her to return the Napkin. The Countess not us’d to be talk’d +to at such a rate, was frighten’d, and restor’d the fatal Napkin, which +completed her Ruin. The Duke, when inform’d by his Favourite of what had +pass’d, sent an Order to the Countess not to stir from her Apartment: And +this Prince setting out soon after for _Berlin_, charged the hereditary +Prince his Son to command Madamoiselle _de Wurben_ to retire to her +Estate. The Countess obey’d, and being indulg’d to carry what she had a +mind to along with her, retir’d to a Territory of hers depending +immediately on the Empire, not many Leagues from _Ludwigsbourg_. There it +was that she heard of the Duke’s Reconciliation with the Duchess, upon the +Duke’s return from _Berlin_. This News extremely shock’d her, because she +always flatter’d herself that the Prince wou’d return to her: And +perceiving now that she had no Hopes of being restor’d to Favour by the +power of her own Charms, she had a mind to try what she cou’d do by I know +not what Charm in the Magic Art. To carry her Point she was under a +necessity of having a little of the Duke’s Blood; and she wrote to his +_Valet de Chambre_, promising him great Rewards if he cou’d procure her +some. What does the Domestic but carry the Letter to the Duke? who +immediately gave Orders to Colonel _Streithorst_ to arrest the Countess, +and carry her to some Place of Security. The Colonel taking a Detachment +of Soldiers along with him, contriv’d it so that he came to the Countess’s +Seat at Night, and immediately surrounding the House, knock’d at the Gate, +but no body making answer he thunder’d so hard at the Gate, that at length +Madame _de Sultman_ the Countess’s Sister put her Head out at the Window, +and ask’d who it was that dar’d to make such a Noise. _Streithorst_ told +her his Name, and said he came thither by Order of the Duke. Madame _de +Sultman_ made answer that the Countess was not well, and cou’d not be +spoke with. The Colonel, who knew the contrary, said, that if they did not +let him in he wou’d break open the Doors; upon which they thought fit to +open them. During this the Countess was got to Bed; and _Streithorst_ +entring her Chamber found her there with her Sister and her two +Brothers-in-law, the General _N----_ and _Sultman_, who was formerly at +_Berlin_ Equerry to the Countess of _Wartenberg_, and afterwards +Privy-Counsellor to the Duke of _Wirtemberg_. The Colonel having signify’d +his Order to the Countess, she affected to be in a dying Condition; but +said that if she was able enough to get up she did not intend it, she +being at home, and in a free House of the Circle of _Swabia_, from whence +she did not think the Duke had Authority to remove her. The Colonel +threaten’d that his Grenadiers shou’d pull her out of Bed; and the Lady +seeing that she must obey, thought fit to rise. She fell on her Knees to +_Streithorst_; but the hard-hearted Officer was deaf to her Cries, and +conducted her to a place of Security where she is closely confin’d, and +like to be a Prisoner as long as the Duke lives. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XVII. + + + _SIR_, _Carlsrouhe, Feb. 15, 1730._ + +I Deny that any Man can be happier than I am at this Juncture. You have +wrote an excellent long Letter to me; you assure me that you are well, and +that you have still an Affection for me; what more is there wanting to +compleat my Joy? I am preparing to make you the best amends I can, and +instead of a Letter to write you a Volume. + +I came in one Day from _Ludwigsbourg_ to CARLSROUHE, which is the +Residence of the Margrave of _Baden-Dourlach_. The Name _Carlsrouhe_ +signifies _Charles_’s Rest. The present Margrave _Charles_ of +_Baden-Dourlach_ was the very Man that laid both the Plan and Foundation +of this City, and its Castle. Nothing is so pretty as the Disposition of +the whole: I wish I were able to give you an Idea of it. Imagine the +Margrave’s House to be at the Entrance of a great Forest, in the Center of +a Star form’d by thirty two Walks, the chief of which behind the Palace is +three _German_ Leagues in length. Two large Wings advance from the main +Body of the House, which deviating from each other in proportion as they +lengthen, the whole together looks like a Theatre. Behind the principal +Building there’s a very high Octogon Tower which commands all the Walks. +The Space between the two Wings forms the Court, and then come the Gardens +and Parterres, at the end of which there’s a Semi-Circle of Houses of an +equal Height, built Arch-wise, and three Stories high including the +Ground-Floor. Between these Houses there run five Streets, the middlemost +of which fronts the Palace. At the end of the three chief Streets opposite +to the Palace are three Churches; one belonging to the _Lutherans_, +another to the _Calvinists_, and a third to the _Roman_ Catholics; to +which three prevailing Religions of the Empire the Margrave gave equal +Liberty of Conscience when he founded the new Town. + +The chief part of the Town lies behind the Houses that front the Palace. +This properly speaking consists but of one Street, which is of a +prodigious Length. All these Houses as well as the Margrave’s are of +Timber, so that you are not to look for fine or substantial Buildings at +_Carlsrouhe_; but the Contrivance and Distribution of the whole taken +together is really wonderful. I took the Freedom to tell the Margrave that +I was surpriz’d that he had not at least employ’d Brick in the building of +his Palace, and of the Houses which form the Half-Moon about his Gardens. +‘I was wil’ing, _said the Prince_, to make myself a Place of Retirement, +and to build without putting the Burthen on my Subjects. I chose moreover +to have the Comfort of enjoying what I built. If I had us’d Bricks it +wou’d have cost me a great deal more Money; and I cou’d not have finish’d +my Buildings without laying an extraordinary Impost upon my Country. It +wou’d have taken me up abundance of Time too, and perhaps I shou’d never +have had the Satisfaction of seeing an end to my Labours. Another Reason +was, that my Country is so scituate as to be liable to be the Theatre of +Wars, and I am not in a Condition to make this a strong Place, nor cou’d I +encompass it with Walls. Do you think therefore that I shou’d have been +justified in laying out a great deal of Money on a Place to see it burnt +down before my Face, as I did my House at _Dourlach_, and my other Houses +which the _French_ reduc’d to Ashes. I am but a petty Sovereign; I have +built a House according to my Condition, and I had rather it shou’d be +said of me that I have but a mean Habitation, and owe no Money, than that +I have a stately Palace and am over Head and Ears in Debt.’ + +I have given you this account of what the Margrave said to me, because I +thought it wou’d let you into an Idea of his Character. This Prince, to +whom I was introduc’d on the very day of my Arrival here, took the trouble +himself to shew me his Palace, and all about it. I thought the Apartments +very well laid out, but there is not room enough to lodge the hereditary +Prince, who lives in one of the Houses in the Semi-Circle fronting the +Palace. + +The Pheasant-Walk, which joins to the Castle, is the prettiest thing in +the World. ’Tis a very large Inclosure, dispos’d in various Walks planted +with Fir-Trees cut in the shape of a Fan. There’s a great Basin in the +Center always full of wild Ducks. ’Tis encompass’d with four Pavilions, +made in the Form of _Turkish_ Tents. Two of the Pavilions are Volarys, and +the two others Summer-Houses, with Window-Curtains of Green Cloth. There +are Sofas and Couches, after the manner of the Eastern Countries. In this +Place of Retirement and Rest the Margrave spends some Hours every Day, +and he is generally accompany’d by some young Ladies whom he teaches +Music; so that they perform agreeable Concerts. + +The Margrave was in the right to give his House the Name of _Charles’s +Rest_, for he leads the most tranquil Life here that can be. Far from +being infatuated with vain Grandeur, he has the Charms of it, without the +Check and Constraint of it. This Prince is of a very robust Constitution, +and tho’ he underwent a vast deal of Fatigue in his Youth, he is as +fresh-colour’d and as vigorous as if he was but forty Years of Age. He +travell’d when he was a young Man into the principal parts of _Europe_; +and during his Father’s Life-time was several Years in the Service of +_Sweden_. When he return’d to his Dominions he serv’d in the Army of the +Empire on the Upper _Rhine_, under his Cousin Prince _Lewis_ of _Baden_. +Tho’ the Margrave is very fat, yet he uses a great deal of Exercise. He +rises in Summer at five o’Clock in the Morning, and walks in his Gardens +till the Heat of the Weather obliges him to retire within doors; then he +does Business with his Counsellors, or else employs himself in Experiments +of Chymistry, and sometimes he draws. He commonly dines at four o’clock, +and is attended by Waiting-Women, of whom there are no less than +threescore, tho’ no more than eight wait upon one Day. These, when the +Margrave goes abroad, attend him on horseback, dress’d like _Hussurs_. The +Generality of these Damsels understand Music and Dancing; they also +perform Operas at the Theatre of the Palace, and are Musicians of the +Chappel. They have all Lodgings in the Palace. After Dinner is over the +Margrave grants Audience to his Subjects; and upon particular Days of the +Week hears all that come. Few Princes render Justice more speedily, and +more punctually. Sometimes he goes a Hunting. He makes very light +Suppers, and retires early to Bed. He delights in Agriculture, and is one +of the greatest Florists living. This Prince is never unemploy’d. There +are few things which he does not know, and very many which he understands +to Perfection. His Conversation is as agreeable as any I know. He speaks +several Languages well. His Behaviour is obliging and courteous. He loves +Foreigners, treats them with Distinction, and loads them with Civilities. +Upon Sundays and Holidays he eats with the Prince his Son, and the +Princess his Daughter-in-law. His Table, which is then spread for sixteen +Guests, is serv’d with more Delicacy than Profusion. + +The hereditary Prince[122], only Son to the Margrave, is pretty short, and +has not the Life and Spirit of his Father. He is very complaisant and +civil, and seems to me of a good-natur’d Disposition. He has been at +_Paris_, in _England_, and in _Holland_, where he marry’d the Daughter of +the unfortunate Prince of _Nassau_, who was drown’d in 1711, as he was +passing the _Maerdyke_ to the _Hague_, to adjust with _Frederic_ I. King +of _Prussia_, such Differences as related to the Succession of the late +King _William_ of _Great Britain_, to which they both laid Claim. The +hereditary Princess seems to me to be well behav’d; and she makes very +handsome Entertainments. The Court assembles at her House every day, +_viz._ at Noon, and at five o’clock in the Evening; and there they dine, +game, and sup. Foreigners are very well receiv’d there, and both the +Ladies and Gentlemen are very civil and complaisant. + +The Grand Marshal, and his Brother the Great Huntsman, are Persons capable +of making a Figure with Distinction in the greatest Courts. The first +marry’d a legitimated Daughter of the Margrave. + +The Baron _d’Ixter_, President of the Regency, and Chief of the Council, +is a Person of signal Merit, and capable of any Business, be it ever so +great. + +Generally speaking the Margrave’s Court is extremely well regulated. This +Prince is fond of the Nobility, and seeks to do them a Pleasure. He has +none but Persons of Quality in his Service. ’Tis great pity that this +Court does not come together again. The Margravine, who is Sister to the +Duke of _Wirtemberg_, resides at _Dourlach_, and never comes to +_Carlsrouhe_ but when ’tis a Holiday, or when some foreign Prince is +there. This Princess is actually very much indispos’d, so that I don’t +think I shall have the Honour of kissing her Hand. The Margrave also +educates at his Court three young Princes his Nephews, the Sons of his +Brother. They are under the Government of the Baron _de Gemming_, who +takes very great Care of their Education. + +As to the Margrave’s Revenues, I cannot be positive what they are, because +I found that People who ought to know best, vary in their Calculations not +a little; some assur’d me they were 400,000, some 500,000 Florins, and +others much more. Be it as it will, ’tis certain that the Margrave lives +nobly, that every body is well paid, and that the Subjects are not +over-burthen’d. Farewell, Sir, I set out to-morrow for _Rastadt_, and +shall write to you as soon as I can, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XVIII. + + + _SIR_, _Strasbourg, Feb. 28, 1730._ + +It took me up no more than four Hours to go from _Carlsrouhe_ to RASTADT. +As soon as I alighted there I notified my Arrival to the Grand Marshal, +with a Request that he wou’d procure me the Honour of paying my +Compliments to their Highnesses of _Baden-Baden_. I had for answer, that +the Margrave was out a Hunting, and that therefore I cou’d not have an +Audience before next day. I had patience to stay; and having by Good luck +some Books at hand, I spent all that day in Reading, and the next day too, +but did not hear a Word from the Grand Marshal. Mean time as I did not +come to _Rastadt_ purely to read, and as ’tis a Town does not afford much +Amusement, since a quarter of an hour is enough to know all the Streets, I +was very chagrin. I sent a second Message to the Grand Marshal, but had +the same Answer as before. I thought it improper to insist any farther, +and gave over all hopes of seeing the Court of _Rastadt_. However I went +to see the Margrave’s Palace, which his Father the late Prince _Lewis_ of +_Baden_ built from the ground. It is very much like to the Palace of _St. +Cloud_ near _Paris_, and seems to be a Building conducted with more +Regularity than I observ’d in several new Houses in _Germany_ left solely +to the Direction of ignorant Masons, who without a Taste for Building have +the Assurance to call themselves Architects. + +The principal Stair-Case is large and lightsome. The Apartments have all +the Conveniences they can admit of. Those which are contiguous to the +grand Stair-Case are distributed into several Partitions, for Shew and for +Convenience. They are painted, gilt, and gaily furnish’d. The Margravine +Dowager to Prince _Lewis_ put them in this Condition against the Marriage +of her Daughter to the Duke of _Orleans_; and the Furniture is indeed rich +and well fancy’d. The Keeper shewed me the Closet in which Prince _Eugene_ +of _Savoy_ and Marshal _Villars_ sign’d the Peace in 1714. ’Tis pity that +this truly magnificent Palace has no Gardens to it. There’s Ground mark’d +out for that purpose, and if Prince _Lewis_ had liv’d they wou’d have been +finish’d. + +After having seen the Apartments and the Chapel, which is small, but +exceedingly adorn’d, not knowing what to do with myself I went to a +Billiard-Table fronting the Palace, where I found some Gentlemen of the +Court as idle as myself. They treated me as a Foreigner, and were +complaisant to me. A young Fellow of a good Appearance, and who seem’d to +have an Air of Politeness, having refus’d as well as myself to play, +enter’d into a Conversation with me: And by degrees that Sympathy of our +Tempers, which was a Stranger to the Laws of Reason, made us talk to one +another with as much Freedom as if we had been old Acquaintance. I +complain’d to him that tho’ I had been three days at _Rastadt_ I cou’d not +get an Opportunity of paying my Duty to their Highnesses of _Baden_. He +told me that I need not be surpriz’d at it; that since the Death of the +late Prince _Lewis_, the Margravine his Dowager, who was hereditary +Princess of _Saxe-Lawenbourg_, had introduc’d into her Court the +Ceremonial of the Eastern Princes; that she never appear’d but in a full +Divan, and that she did not permit any one whatsoever to come near to her +Son except the Bashaws and Dervizes who were of the Council. The young +Gentleman’s manner of accounting for this matter made me smile, and put me +upon asking him several Questions. ‘How! _said I_, according to the +Character I have had of the Margravine, she is very much of a Christian, +and of that virtuous Heroine which the wise Man, if he had been still +living, wou’d have propos’d to us for a Model. Indeed, _said the +Gentleman_, the Character you have had of her is right enough: The +Margravine has Piety and Virtues that render her valuable; but she has a +Haughtiness, and a certain _Particularity_ in her Temper, which is hardly +to be parallell’d. For instance, if she had receiv’d you it wou’d have +been standing under a Canopy by an Arm-Chair, with as much State as the +Empress. She wou’d have ask’d you two or three Questions, after which she +wou’d have assur’d you of her Protection, and then have dismiss’d you +without detaining you to dine with her, as is the manner of all the +Princes of the Empire; but ’tis not the fashion here, _continued the +Gentleman_. The Margravine commonly dines in private, and we who are of +her Court don’t see her but at Mass. The young Margrave our Master wou’d +like well enough to see Company, but his Mother giving him to understand +that she does not care for it, he conforms to her Pleasure. The young +Margravine, who is the Daughter of the Prince _de Schwartzenbourg_, has no +Authority, because tho’ naturally obliging and civil she durst not put her +good Qualities in practice, because the Margravine Dowager reproaches her +that she does not know how to carry it like a Sovereign; by which means +this poor Princess is oblig’d to be proud against her Inclination. If you +were to see her you wou’d be charm’d with her; for she is tall and +handsome, of a lively fair Complexion, but not languid, and has a very +noble Air. When the Margrave marry’d her she was an only Daughter, and the +Princess of _Schwartzenbourg_ her Mother, who had not lived with her +Husband for near fifteen Years, was not like to have any more Children. +But the Event has proved contrary; for the Prince and Princess of +_Schwartzenbourg_ are reconcil’d, and the Princess has had a Son, who has +frustrated the Hopes of our young Margravine of being some day or other +one of the richest Heiresses in the Empire. This has not advanc’d her in +the Favour of her Mother-in-law, who often snaps at her; but there being +no Remedy, the young Princess bears her Ill-humours with Patience. As she +is just brought to bed too of a Son, we hope she will have more Interest; +at least ’tis what we all wish, because she is a very good Princess. ’Tis +not a Year, _continued the Gentleman_, that our young Margrave has been of +Age, nevertheless his Majority is so controll’d by the Ascendancy which +the Dowager keeps over her Son, that it may be said ’tis she who governs +still. This Prince accustom’d to obey knows not what is the Pleasure of +commanding. There’s the same likelihood of his being a Dependant as long +as his Mother lives; and indeed he ought to humour that Princess, as well +because she was always a good Mother to him, as for the Advantages she is +capable of doing him; for she is very rich, and has a noble Estate in +_Bohemia_, which she wou’d perhaps give to her youngest Son, who is Canon +of _Cologne_ and _Augsbourg_, if the Margrave disobliged her; tho’ I +believe it must be a great Offence indeed that wou’d provoke her to +disinherit him, because he was always her Darling, and perhaps too the +most dutiful of all her Children. Such is her Tenderness for this Son +that when there was a Talk of his going abroad she wou’d needs go with +him; and she actually accompany’d him all over _Italy_. Some People were +indeed so ill-natur’d as to say that ’twas not out of Love to the Prince, +but because she was afraid he wou’d wean himself from her Company, and +break quite away from her. ’Tis said however that she is going to quit the +Court, and to retire to _Etlingen_, which is the Place assign’d for her +Jointure. We all wish it, not that we have any reason to complain of this +Princess, but because we hope then to have a gayer Court. For the rest, to +do the Margravine Dowager Justice, she has manag’d her Son’s Finances with +a great deal of Œconomy. When the late Prince _Lewis_ died he left a +heavy Debt upon the Country, which was also ruin’d by the late War. But +the Margravine Regent has paid off all, and so happily retriev’d the +Government and the Finances, that when her Son came of Age she gave him +considerable Sums, and the Country was in a better Condition than ever.’ + +There the Gentleman concluded. After putting several Questions to him I +learnt that the Duchess of _Orleans_ had been promis’d in Marriage to +Prince _Alexander_ of _Tour_ and _Taxis_[123], that the Presents were made +for the Wedding, and that the same was very soon to be celebrated: But +when the Duke of _Orleans_ actually sent M. _d’Argenson_ his Chancellor to +_Rastadt_ to demand the Princess in Marriage, the Margravine her Mother +thinking this a better Match beyond comparison, call’d back the Promise +she had made to the Prince _de la Tour_, and concluded the Treaty with the +Duke of _Orleans_. The young Margrave marry’d his Sister by Proxy, in +presence of M. _d’Argenson_, and the Princess was conducted to +_Strasbourg_, where finding a Set of Domestics sent from _Paris_ to +receive her, she turn’d off all her _German_ Servants and proceeded on her +Journey to _Chalons_, whither the Duke of _Orleans_ went to meet her. + +The same Gentleman from whom I learnt all these Particulars told me +likewise that the young Margrave, before he marry’d the Princess of +_Schwartzenbourg_, was to have had the Daughter of King _Stanislaus_, but +that the Margravine broke off the Marriage-Treaty which was very far +advanc’d, because the King was not able to pay down a hundred thousand +Crowns ready Money for his Daughter’s Dowry. It was undoubtedly owing to +that Princess’s happy Star that the King could not raise the Sum, for in +such case his Daughter would not now have worn one of the first Crowns in +the World. The Gentleman told me moreover that the Margravine was +mortify’d to the last degree when she heard that the Princess whom she had +refus’d for her Daughter-in-law was become the Queen of _France_. She was +apprehensive too that this Princess or the King her Father would take +revenge for the Slight she had put upon their Alliance, and she wrote a +Letter to King _Stanislaus_ to congratulate him on an Event so glorious to +him, and to recommend to him the Duchess of _Orleans_ her Daughter. _I +intreat you, Sir_, said she, _to prevail with the Queen your Daughter to +honour my Daughter and all my Family with her Favour. I will presume to +say that both I and Mine deserve it at your Hands for the Respect we have +always had for you_. This Letter, which was as submissive as the +Margravine’s Conduct had been haughty, was receiv’d with very great +Civility by King _Stanislaus_, who, after having read it to the Queen his +Wife, could not help saying, _I am much oblig’d to the Margravine for +this Letter_, and he return’d her a very engaging Answer. ’Tis my Opinion +that at that time, instead of bearing the Princess any Ill-will he took it +very kindly of her that she had refus’d his Daughter for a +Daughter-in-law. The officious Gentleman would perhaps have inform’d me of +other Particulars concerning the Court of _Rastadt_, if the Margrave’s +Return from Hunting had not oblig’d him to go to the Castle. I thank’d him +for the trouble he had given himself, and went and shut my self up at my +Quarters. + +I set out next day for _Strasbourg_, and in less than five Hours arrived +at KEHL. ’Tis all an even Country, and admirable Roads. We travel thro’ +the Dominions of _Spire_, the Bishoprick of _Strasbourg_, and the County +of _Hanau_. At _Kehl_ I paid a Visit to the General Baron _de Roth_, the +Governour of the Place, who entertain’d me at Dinner, and made me +exceeding welcome, but so ply’d me with Liquor that I thought my self at +_Fulde_ or _Wurtzbourg_. After Dinner M. _de Roth_ shewed me the +Fortifications, which I found in a very bad State. The Commandant told me +that he had taken a world of pains to represent it to the Dyet of the +Empire at _Ratisbonne_, but that he might as well have talk’d to so many +deaf Men. ’Tis certain that if Care be not taken, the _Rhine_ will wash +away the Fort one day or other, and carry it to _Holland_. The Marshal _de +Bourg_ said to me a while ago when we were talking of _Kehl_, that M. _de +Roth_ would do well to fasten his Fort with Chains to the Citadel of +_Strasbourg_. + +There’s only a Bridge over the _Rhine_ to pass from _Kehl_ to STRASBOURG +the Capital of _Alsace_, and formerly an Imperial City. The _French_ made +themselves Masters of it in _September_ 1681, when they came to the very +Gates of the Place before the Town had notice of their March, and when it +was in no Condition to make resistance; for whether they thought they had +no need of being upon their guard, or whether the chief Burgomasters had +been corrupted, the Town wanted but every thing. The Capitulation was +signed on one side by the Marquis _de Louvois_, and the Baron _de Monclar_ +Commandant in _Alsace_; and on the other by eight Deputies of the City, +which was secured in all its Privileges, Prerogatives and Customs, both +ecclesiastical and civil. The Bishop was nevertheless restored to his See, +and the Canons to the Cathedral, which had belonged for 152 Years to the +_Lutherans_. _Lewis_ XIV. made his entry into _Strasbourg_ the 23d of +_October_ following, and immediately order’d a Citadel and other Works to +be erected, which have since been so augmented that _Strasbourg_ may now +be rank’d among the most important Places of _Europe_. The Marshal Count +_de Bourg_ commands in it, and has one of the King’s Lieutenants under +him, who is always a General Officer. M. _Dangervilliers_[124] formerly +Intendant of _Dauphiny_, is Intendant of the Province of _Alsace_ and the +City of _Strasbourg_. These Gentlemen, whom I have been to see, receiv’d +me with prodigious Civility, and very punctually return’d my Visit. + +The Marshal Count _de Bourg_ preserves a stately Mien in an advanced Age, +and one may easily perceive he has been a very fine Man in his time. He +was Page to _Philip_ of _France_ Duke of _Orleans_, Brother to _Lewis_ the +Great, and to that Duke’s Favour his Advancement to Military Employments +is very much owing, tho’ ’tis true that he has distinguished himself in +the Service. On the 26th of _August_ 1709, he defeated near _Rumersheim_ +the Count _de Mercy_, who commanded a flying Camp of 9000 Men detach’d +from the Army of the Empire, then under Command of the Elector of +_Hanover_, afterwards _George_ I. King of _Great Britain_. This Victory +gain’d M. _de Bourg_ the blue Ribbon. King _Lewis_ XV. gave him the Staff +of a Marshal of _France_, and confirmed him in the Government of +_Strasbourg_. The _French_ Officers accuse this Marshal of Pride, but for +my part, I have all the Reason that can be to love him for his Civility. + +M. _Dangervilliers_ is really more engaging than the Marshal, and is +therefore more beloved by the Officers. He is affable and civil, +complaisant to Foreigners, and lives with a vast deal of Splendor. The +Princes of the Empire that border upon _Alsace_ like him very well, and +think he is more candid, and less haughty than his Predecessors. + +There’s not many of the Nobility settled in this City, and of these few +that are wealthy; and therefore they live very much retir’d. The Canons of +the Great Chapter who ought all to be Princes or Counts, are not of very +great Service, because most of ’em holding other Benefices, only come to +_Strasbourg_ to pass away three Months there of their Residence, and by +consequence they are here as Strangers. The best Houses therefore are the +Intendant’s and the King’s Lieutenant’s. There are always a great many +Officers here who are indeed amiable Fellows, and know how to serve, and +to be good Company too upon occasion. The Commandants of the Corps are in +Years, and Officers of Experience, and the rest are clever smart Youths +who long sadly to be fighting, and would fain make you believe the four +Corners of the World will quickly be on fire. I have not seen finer +Infantry than the _French_ Infantry at this present time. There are very +fine Gentlemen too in the Cavalry, but then they are not near so well +mounted as ours. You know the Cry with us is that the _French_ are ruin’d, +and not able to do any thing more. How the Case stands with them, I really +know not, but if one may judge of it by Appearances, it cannot be so. No +Troops were ever better cloathed, better paid, more spruce, nor finer. The +Officers are splendid; they game, divert themselves, and eat and drink +well, which does not seem to me to be the Life of People in want. Upon +these terms, I would be content to be in such want all my Life long. + +The Garrison maintains a Company of Comedians who are paid by the +Captains, and commanding Officers, for the Subalterns are admitted +_gratis_. The Theatre, which is one of the prettiest in the Country, is +maintain’d by the City. + +A Man that has a Taste for a plain home-bred Girl may here find Amusement +and good Blood. ’Tis observ’d that the _Lutheran_ Women are the most +beautiful, and the Sex at this Place is said to be very indulgent, and +very tractable; so that I should be apt to think, a Man need not be very +open-hearted to them. + +Tho’ _Strasbourg_ may be reckon’d among the finest Towns in _France_, one +can’t say there’s a single House in it that is magnificent, or makes a +grand Appearance. The Cathedral is a very stately Building of _Gothic_ +Architecture; its famous Spire is one of the most lofty, and of the +neatest Workmanship of any in _Europe_. _Misson_, who ’tis like always +carried his Plummet and Foot-Rule in his Pocket, because he never fails to +give the Length and Breadth and Height of a Thing, says that ’tis 574 Foot +in height; and I believe he is not mistaken. _Erkivin de Stembach_ who was +the Architect, finish’d it in the Year 1449. ’Tis said that _Lewis_ XIV. +had a mind to have a Spire erected upon the second Tower which seems to +have been built with that View. He order’d M. _de Vauban_ to draw a Model +of it, and to compute the Cost, which he found would amount to several +Millions of Livres. The King thinking that he could employ that Sum to a +better purpose, contented himself with making a Present to the Cathedral +of the Ornaments, and all the Priests Vestments for celebrating Mass upon +the several annual Festivals; the whole of which is extraordinary +sumptuous, and becoming the Magnificence of one of the greatest Kings in +the World. ’Twas in the Cathedral of _Strasbourg_ that the Duke of +_Orleans_ the first Prince of the Blood of _France_ married as Proxy to +_Lewis_ XV. _Mary Lescinski_, the Daughter of King _Stanislaus_. This +Ceremony, at which I was present, was more magnificent than what was +observ’d at _Fontainbleau_ at the Queen’s Arrival; and the Concourse of +_German_ Noblemen and Princes hither upon the Occasion was prodigious. The +Cardinal _de Rohan_, as Bishop of _Strasbourg_, gave the Nuptial +Benediction. Nothing can be finer than the Speeches which his Eminency +made upon that Solemnity: As they fell into my hands, I think I ought to +communicate them to you. You will find them _verbatim_ at the End of this +Letter. _Poland_ in this Instance, made a worthy Restitution to _France_, +which many Years ago gave the _Poles_ a King who was afterwards the +unfortunate _Henry_ III; and they have now in their turn given a Queen to +_France_. But _Germany_ may boast that the Queen derives from the Empire +that Fund of Virtue which is the Source of her Happiness, and makes her +admir’d by the Universe. _France_ had for a long time left off sending to +our Climates for her Queens. _Mary-Anne Victoria_ of _Bavaria_ was in a +fair way to be one, but she died a Dauphiness[125]. _Lorrain_, _Scotland_, +_Italy_ and _Spain_, had as it were engross’d the Crown of _France_ for +their Princesses. But I hope the Virtues of the present Queen and the +other _German_[126] Princesses who are now at the Court of _France_ will +oblige the _French_ to confess that if our Princesses have not Crowns for +their Dowries like the Infanta’s of _Spain_, they have an Estate of more +Value than all the Wealth in the World, _viz._ Piety, Charity, and Love +for the People. + +A great many young _German_ Gentlemen come hither for the sake of learning +_French_, and their Exercises, but I don’t think they are a jot the better +for it, because the Masters of their Exercises are not better Scholars +here than they are in many Towns of _Germany_; and as to the _French_, +they speak it very ill in this City; for the Inhabitants talk +_High-Dutch_, and our young Sparks are so pleas’d to hear their own +Language spoke that they neglect to learn any other. Besides they always +herd together, and too easily catch one another’s Vices as well as +Virtues. As they have not many Parts to shew, they spend their time at the +Billiard-Table, the Coffee-House, and often at other Places not so honest, +of which there are but too many here, this being a City as noted for +Libertines as any in _Europe_. + + _I am_, &c. + + * * * * * + +_The Speech of Cardinal +de Rohan+ to the_ QUEEN_, before the Celebration +of the Marriage._ + +_MADAME_, + +‘While I see you in this sacred Temple approaching to our Altars to +contract that illustrious Alliance which is to unite you to the greatest +of Kings and the most amiable of Princes, I adore what God designs you +for, and admire with Transport the Course that Providence is steering to +conduct you to the Throne which you are going to ascend. You are +descended, MADAME, from a Family illustrious for its Antiquity, for its +Alliances, and for the eminent Employments which the great Men it has +given to _Poland_ have fill’d successively with so much Glory. You are the +Daughter of a Father, who, thro’ the various Events of a busy Life, +chequer’d by good and bad Fortune, has always shewn himself the Gentleman, +the Hero, and the Christian. You have for your Mother, and your +Grandmother, Princesses, who like to _Judith_, and to that virtuous Woman +whose Character is drawn in the Scriptures, have attracted the Veneration +and Respect of the whole World, by the Fidelity with which they always +walk’d in the Fear of the Lord. In your Person, MADAME, are center’d all +the Accomplishments that can be form’d by a happy Birth, and an admirable +Education, supported by Examples equally strong and affecting. In you, +that Goodness, that Mildness, and those Charms are predominant, which gain +Love at the same time as they inforce Respect; that Integrity of Heart +which nothing can resist; that Superiority of Understanding and Knowledge +which are conspicuous, as it were in spite of you, and in spite of that +Modesty and noble Simplicity which are natural to you; and finally that +which is the Crown of so much Merit, that Taste for Piety, and that +Attachment to the true Principles of Religion, which animate your Actions, +and regulate your Conduct. Adorn’d with all these Virtues, what Crown is +there to which you might not reasonably aspire, exclusive of the Custom +which in some measure obliges Kings to look no farther than round the +Throne for Princesses that they have a mind would reign with them? He who +disposes of Empires puts the Sceptre of _Poland_ into the hands of a +Prince to whom you owe your Being, and by giving the Father that Splendor +conducts the Daughter insensibly to the sublime Station he is preparing +for her. But, O God, how impenetrable are thy Designs, and how far above +human Prudence are the Means thou makest use of to bring about thy wise +Purposes! This Prince was scarce seated on the Throne in which the Choice +of the Grandees, and the Affection of the People had plac’d him, but he +was oblig’d to quit it: He is abandon’d, betray’d, persecuted; one fatal +Shot bereaves him of the Hero his Friend, and the chief Stay of his Hopes: +He submits to the necessity of the Times without abating in his Courage: +He seeks refuge in a Country which is the common Shelter of unfortunate +Kings: He comes to _France_, and thither, MADAME, you are following him. +All that see you there, touch’d with your Misfortunes, admire your Virtue, +the Odour of which spreads to the Throne of a young Monarch, who, such is +the Lustre of his Crown, the Extent of his Power, and above all, the +Charms of his Person, might have made his choice out of all the Princesses +of the World: But being guided by wise Counsels, he fixes it upon You; and +here the Finger of God is plainly visible in improving that very +Misfortune which separates the King your Father from his Subjects, and +takes you out of _Poland_ to give Us in your Person, a Queen who shall be +the Glory of a Father and of a Mother, of whom she is now the Comfort and +Delight; a Queen, who shall render that Nation happy which most richly +deserves it, at least for its Respect and its Fidelity to its Sovereigns; +a Queen, who being inviolably attach’d to her Duty, full of Tenderness and +Respect for her Husband, and her King, and wisely employ’d in what is +capable of procuring her solid Happiness, will revive to us the Reign of +the Empress _Flaccilla_, of whom History says, that having always kept the +Precepts of the Divine Law in her view, she conferr’d thereupon daily with +the great _Theodosius_, and that her Words like a fruitful Rain, water’d +with success those Seeds of Virtue which God had sown in the Heart of her +Husband. Come then, MADAME, Come to the Altar. May the Engagements you are +going to enter into, sacred of themselves, (since according to the +Apostle, they are the Symbol of the Union of Jesus Christ with his Church) +may they be also sanctify’d by your own Disposition. May you be so +sensible of what you are going to be, that you may acknowledge that in +crowning your Merits, he crowns his Gifts: And may you Christians that +hear me, when you see the shining Rewards that are bestowed in this World +upon true Virtue, learn to respect and love it.’ + + * * * * * + +_The Cardinal’s Speech after the Celebration of the Marriage._ + +_MADAME_, + +‘Now that august Ceremony is ended which crowns our Hopes and our Wishes; +give me leave to desire your Majesty’s Royal Protection for the Church of +_Strasbourg_. This Church has not forgot and never will forget the signal +Favours it has received from our former Kings. How great are its +Obligations to our last Monarch! Being deliver’d up by the Misfortunes of +the Times to the Furys of Schism and Heresy, it would perhaps have +perish’d as many others did, if that great Prince, by resuming the Rights +of his Ancestors, had not undertaken its defence, and supported it with +all his Power. To him it is oblig’d for the Advantage of being restored +to the Possession of this sacred Temple from which it had been banished. +There’s nothing here but what puts us in mind of his Pious and Royal +Magnificence. Temples adorn’d, Pastors liberally maintain’d, Missions +founded, new Converts protected and supported, are so many Monuments of +the Zeal and Piety of a King whose Memory will never die. He had not the +Comfort to finish the Work which he had undertaken; that is to say, the +reuniting of all the Sheep of this illustrious Flock in one and the same +Fold: This was reserv’d to the worthy Heir of his Zeal and Crown. It will +be your part, MADAME, to represent to your August Spouse how much the +Remembrance of his Great Grandfather, his own Glory, and our Necessities, +which are even those of Religion, require of him. You will not desire that +Recourse shou’d be had to those Methods which exasperate, without +persuading; such would not be to your Majesty’s liking, and God forbid +that we should suggest them to you. Those Children who disown us are your +Subjects, MADAME, and the Church of _Strasbourg_ confiding intirely in +God’s Mercy, still looks on itself as their Mother. We therefore conjure +you by the Bowels of Jesus Christ, to employ, for the sake of uniting +them, every Thing with which an active but sympathizing Charity may +inspire you. God will bless your Majesty’s Endeavours, and our Desires, +and will employ the Instances of your Piety and your Faith to the total +Confusion of Error, and the Triumph of the Truth. May your Reign be long +over us, MADAME, for the Happiness of the King, and the Welfare of this +great Kingdom. May God hear the Prayers which the Church has now offer’d +up for your Majesty, and may you be so good as to place us in the Rank of +your most zealous and most faithful Subjects.’ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XIX. + + + _SIR_, _Heidelberg, March 12, 1730._ + +Being in the Neighbourhood of SAVERNE where the Cardinal _de Rohan_ lives, +I had a mind to go thither. I have had the Honour to be known to that +Prelate a long time, and was overjoy’d at the opportunity of paying my +respects to him. + +_Armand Gaston_ Cardinal _de Rohan_ was elected Bishop of _Strasbourg_ the +10th of _April_ 1704[127], and received the Cardinal’s Cap from the Hands +of _Lewis_ XIV. the 18th of _May_, 1712. The Year following he succeeded +the Cardinal _de Janson_ as Great Almoner. The Emperor granted him the +Temporal Investiture of the See of _Strasbourg_[128] on the 10th of +_June_ 1723, and in 1724, he obtain’d a Seat in the College of Princes at +the Assembly of _Ratisbon_. This Prelate who is considerable for his Birth +and Dignities, is much more so for his great Soul, his polite and obliging +Behaviour, and for an Air of Grandeur which accompanies all his Actions. +He is a comely Person, as are indeed all of his Family. Being noble and +magnificent in every thing that he does, he lives wherever he is like a +great Nobleman, but particularly at _Saverne_. I found at his Palace the +Duke and Duchess of _Tallard_, the Duchess _de la Meilleraie_, +Madamoiselle _de Melun_, the Prince and Princess of _Birkensfield_, M. +_Dangervilliers_, the Intendant of _Strasbourg_, the Count and Princess of +_Hanau_, and in short a great many Officers of Distinction. They had all +convenient Lodgings and Accommodation in the Castle; and Gaming, taking +the Air, Hunting, Music, and Good Cheer were their constant Diversions. + +The Bishops of _Strasbourg_ have resided for a long time at the Palace of +_Saverne_, which was always a convenient House; but the Cardinal _de +Roban_ has made it very considerable. The outside of this Palace is not so +magnificent as the inside. The Entry which leads to the chief Stair-Case +is lighted to great advantage, and has several Outlets that have a +convenient Communication with the lower Apartments, which are high, and +very finely embellish’d. The principal Stair-Case is very grand, and leads +to a stately Salon with most curious Decorations. It has a double +Apartment which is render’d as commodious as possible; and the Furniture +consists of Embroidery of Gold and Silver, which may be thought perhaps +too rich. The Queen, who lodg’d at the Cardinal’s House when she came to +_Saverne_, was charm’d with the Splendor of it, and the extraordinary +Respect with which she was attended here. + +The Cardinal _de Rohan_ designs that this rich Furniture shall remain +annex’d to the See; for which his Successor will certainly have very great +Obligations to him: But his Eminence was not so much oblig’d to his +Predecessors; for when he was chose Bishop he found a House very much out +of order, and scarce a Chair in it, whereas ’tis now fit for a King. His +Eminency is about making very large fine Gardens, which are in very great +forwardness, and perfectly answerable to the Grandeur and Beauty of the +Palace; and at the end of them there is a stately Canal which cost +infinite Labour and Expence. The whole of it is the more magnificent +because _Saverne_ stands at the foot of very high Mountains; and in +digging the Canal the Workmen often met with Rocks which they were forc’d +to blow up. + +At the Cardinal’s Table there’s both Abundance and Elegance; and his +Eminency entertains in such a manner as really charms his Guests. All his +Domestics follow his example; and ’tis certain that they are all very +diligent; and that there is not a House in _France_, or in _Europe_, where +there’s better Attendance. His Eminency’s Houshold, and all his Temporal +Affairs in general, are directed by the Abbott _de Ravanne_, Counsellor in +the Parliament of _Paris_. + +The Cardinal is one of the richest Noblemen in _France_, and without +dispute the most expensive. He has built a Hotel at _Paris_, and furnish’d +it sumptuously. He has made considerable Works at _Saverne_, and laid out +a great deal of Money in Plate, Furniture, Pictures, antique Vessels, and +Busts, Medals, and Books. Some time ago he purchas’d of the President +_Menard_ the famous Library of the illustrious Messieurs _de Thou_, +formerly one of the most celebrated in _France_; and he daily in-riches +it with all the most curious and uncommon Books and Manuscripts. + +Besides all these Expences, the Cardinal intends also to build a new +episcopal Palace at _Strasbourg_[129], where he is indeed but +indifferently lodg’d at present. The Marquiss _de N----_ talking of the +Cardinal _de Rohan_’s Expence, said, _That, to be sure, his Eminency had +found out the Philosopher’s Stone_. I think so too, and that he has done +it by procuring himself five or six hundred thousand Livres a-year in good +Benefices. + +From _Saverne_ I went to HAGUENAU, and to WEISSENBOURG, formerly Imperial +Cities, and now subject to _France_, but Places of little consequence. +King _Stanislaus_ after the Death of _Charles_ XII. King of _Sweden_, +being forc’d to quit _Deux-Ponts_ to which he had retired with his Family, +came and resided at _Weissenbourg_; and here it was that he receiv’d the +first Proposals that were made to him for the Marriage of his Daughter +with King _Lewis_ XV. I came and took up my Quarters at LANDAU, one of the +most scoundrel Places in the World, but the best fortify’d; and famous for +having stood out several Sieges. The Emperor _Joseph_ took it when he was +King of the _Romans_. The _French_ retook it a little before the signing +of the Peace at _Rastadt_, by which Treaty it was left in their hands. +They maintain a good Garison in it, and have added several Works to it. + +From _Landau_ I pass’d to BRHOUSEL, with an Intention to pay my respects +to the Cardinal _de Schonborn_ Bishop of _Spire_ who resides there, but I +did not succeed better there than at _Rastadt_; for his Eminency excus’d +himself from seeing me because he was going a hunting, and put me off till +next day; but I did not think it worth while to wait, what had happen’d to +me at the Court of _Baden_ being too fresh in my Memory. I was afraid of +the same Fate at _Brhousel_, where I lay at such sorry Quarters that I +cou’d not avoid catching Cold, my Lodging-Room being without Glass, and be +famish’d into the bargain, there being nothing to eat: Besides, my +Landlord told me that the Cardinal made even those People who came to him +upon Business dance attendance for three or four days. I said to my self +therefore that he had much more reason to make me wait, who came to his +Court out of meer Curiosity. I resolv’d therefore, as any Gentleman ought +to have done in the like case, and took the opportunity of the Cardinal’s +Absence to go and view the outside of his Palace. ’Tis a great Structure +not yet entirely finish’d, which the Cardinal has hitherto carry’d on from +the very Foundation; but if I must be sincere with you, all these Works, +considerable as they are, have been form’d upon pitiful Plans. It has cost +a very large Sum of Money; and I fancy that in the time of the ancient +_Teutonics_, it wou’d have been reckon’d a very fine Structure. The chief +Beauty of it lies in its Situation; for a great Variety of agreeable +Objects are discovered from the Apartments. The Gardens are also so new +that one can scarce know the Plan of ’em; it seems to me that they are not +of an extraordinary Taste, and that they wou’d be much more suitable for a +private Man than for a Sovereign. + +The Cardinal _de Schonborn_ is a keen Sportsman. He has Game enough in his +own Bishoprick, for the Country so abounds with all sorts that the Fields +are ruin’d by the Deer. The Peasants are so hard put to it to preserve +their Corn that they are oblig’d to watch it day and night. The Cardinal +often makes Hunting-Matches for the Stag and wild Boar, in which they kill +hundreds; at such times the Peasants are oblig’d to take a certain +quantity of Meat, for which they pay so much a Pound, according to a +Price that is regulated. The Bishoprick of _Spire_ is one of the +fruitfullest Provinces in _Germany_, but the Inhabitants are extremely +poor; for their Provisions lie on their hands, and they have scarce +wherewithal to pay the great Taillies due to their Sovereigns. + +The Dignity of the Bishop of _Spire_ is elective, as are all the +Bishopricks of _Germany_ which are not in the hereditary Dominions of the +House of _Austria_. The Bishop is Sovereign of the Country, but the City +of _Spire_ has particular Privileges, as have all the Imperial Cities. You +know it was at _Spire_ that the Emperor _Charles_ V. establish’d the +Imperial Chamber, which is as it were the Parliament of the Empire. The +_French_ having destroy’d _Spire_ when they ravag’d the _Palatinate_, the +Chamber or supreme Tribunal was transferred to _Wetzlar_ in _Wetteravia_, +where indeed it seem’d to be more in the Center of _Germany_, and secur’d +from all manner of Insult. + +_Damien-Hugo_ Count _de Schonborn_ Cardinal, is at this present Bishop of +_Spire_, and Co-adjutor of _Constance_. He is also grand Commander of the +Teutonic-Order. He was heretofore a Member of the Emperor’s Privy-Council, +and his Plenipotentiary to the Circle of Lower _Saxony_. _Clement_ XI. of +the _Albani_ Family honour’d him with the Purple. He is descended of a +Family in which Merit has happen’d to be back’d by Fortune. The Cardinal’s +Father was the first Count of it. He was also one of the Emperor’s +Privy-Council, and Brother to _Lotharius-Francis_ Elector of _Mentz_ and +Bishop of _Bamberg_. The Cardinal has actually a Brother who is Elector of +_Triers_, another who is Bishop of _Wurtzbourg_ and _Bamberg_, whom I have +mention’d to you upon other occasions; and lastly, a third who is a +Counsellor of State[130] to the Emperor, and is now the Head of the +Family. Messieurs _de Schonborn_ had formerly an Elector of _Mentz_ in +their Family, who was at the same time Bishop of _Wurtzbourg_, but that +Prince left them no great Estate; so that they were not very rich when +_Lotharius-Francis_, Uncle to them all, was chose Elector of _Mentz_. But +this Prince procur’d them both Wealth and Honours, and render’d the Count +_de Schonborn_, who is Counsellor of State to the Emperor, one of the +richest Noblemen in _Germany_. + +From _Brhousel_ to _Heidelberg_ there’s one of the finest Countries in the +World, planted with Fruit, and especially Walnut-Trees, which bring in a +great Revenue. + +The City of HEIDELBERG, upon the _Necker_, is very much pent up by that +River, and a Chain of Hills, so that ’tis not near so broad as ’tis long. +This City is the Capital of the Lower _Palatinate_, and was formerly the +Residence of the Electors. Here is a University which was founded in 1346, +by _Robert_ Prince _Palatine_, who was chose King of the _Romans_. No Town +has smarted more by the Scourge of War. Since the Disgrace of _Frederic_ +Elector _Palatine_, whom the _Bohemians_ chose for their King, it has been +taken, plunder’d, or burnt four times. In 1622, the Emperor’s General +_Tilly_ put 500 _Palatines_ in it to the Sword, and at the same time the +Emperor carry’d off the famous Library, which he gave in part to _Urban_ +VIII. who caused it to be placed in the _Vatican_, where ’tis still to be +seen. In 1634, _Heidelberg_ was besieg’d twice. _John de Werth_ took it +for _Lewis_ XIV. but not being able to carry the Castle he retir’d. Not +many days after, the Marshals _de Force_ and _Brezé_ forc’d the Quarters +of the _Germans_, and took both the Town and Castle. The _French_ took +this City a third time in 1688, and again in 1693, which was the last +time, Sword in hand; at what time they committed Cruelties shocking to +remember, and of which there are woful Marks still left in _Heidelberg_, +and all the Towns in the _Palatinate_. This City was beginning to recover +it self by the Elector’s residing there, when it brought a more heavy +Disgrace upon it self than all the Misfortunes it had suffer’d by the War. +The Case was thus: + +The great Church of _Heidelberg_ since the Peace of _Westphalia_ belongs +half to _Roman_ Catholics, and half to the _Calvinists_, of whom the +former have the Choir, and the others the Body, and nothing but a thin +Partition separates the two Communions. The Choir not being big enough to +contain the Catholics when the Court resided at _Heidelberg_, the Elector +propos’d to the _Calvinists_ to yield him the Body of the Church, +alledging that not only the Choir was too scanty, but that he shou’d be +very glad that the Church in which the _Palatine_ Princes lie interr’d +were altogether Catholic. He promis’d at the same time that another Church +should be built for them larger and finer than what they were to yield to +him. The _Calvinists_ said that the great Church had been granted to them +by the Treaty of _Munster_; that all the Princes who were Guarantees of +the Peace of _Westphalia_ were engag’d to preserve them in the enjoyment +of it; that therefore they could not give it up without violating that +Treaty, which was their Security, and without rendring themselves unworthy +of the Protection of the Protestant Powers. The Elector, in order to +remove those Obstacles, consented that the Powers who were Guarantees of +the _Westphalian_ Treaty of Peace, in which the Church he desir’d was +expressly mentioned, should be Guarantees of the Church which he promis’d +should be built for them: But all these Offers how reasonable soever were +not accepted by the _Calvinists_. The Elector being thereby incens’d, +made use of his Sovereign Authority, and took by force what they were not +willing to yield to him; whereupon the _Calvinists_ had recourse to the +Protestant Princes of the Empire, the _Lutherans_ as well as the +_Calvinists_, who constituting but one Body and one Communion when the +Catholics are to be oppos’d, united together, and engag’d in their Quarrel +the Kings of _Great Britain_, _Denmark_, _Sweden_, and _Prussia_, and the +_States-General_. These Powers caused the Catholic Churches in their +Dominions to be shut up, sequester’d the Estates of the Convents, and made +such Clamors and Menaces that the Elector was oblig’d to reinstate the +_Calvinists_ in the Nave of the Church; but he was so angry with the +Inhabitants of _Heidelberg_ for their Disrespect to him that he remov’d +his Residence to _Manheim_. The Burghers were not very sorry at first for +the Departure of the Court; for being accustom’d to its Absence, they +flattered themselves that the Tribunals of the Regency, which, since the +Accession of the _Newbourg_ Family to the Electorate, had constantly been +kept at _Heidelberg_, would remain there still. But they were soon thrown +into the utmost Consternation when they saw those Tribunals follow the +Elector. They went and cast themselves at the Feet of their angry +Sovereign, and asking his Pardon for having affronted him, they offer’d +him the Church which was the cause of his Displeasure, and conjur’d him to +return to their City. But all their Supplications were fruitless; the +Elector was stedfast in his Resolution to punish _Heidelberg_, and +abandon’d it for ever. _Heidelberg_ having no Trade, and subsisting only +by the Court, or by the Tribunals of the Regency, of which it was totally +depriv’d, falls now into decay, and will, no doubt, e’er ’tis long dwindle +to little or nothing. + +The Elector’s Palace is higher than the City, and situate in such a manner +that there’s a Prospect from the great Apartments quite through the +Opening between the Mountains, by which the _Necker_ runs into the Plain. +The Palace is built of Free-Stone, and is a magnificent Structure. The +greatest part of it was burnt by the _French_ when they destroy’d the +_Palatinate_: The Lodging-Rooms that are subsisting are very substantial, +tho’ not built in the modern Taste. The Apartments are large, but want +Ornament, especially since they have been stript of their Furniture. The +Gardens were formerly reckon’d the finest in _Germany_; but there’s scarce +any thing left of them except the Place where they flourished. If one may +judge of what they were by their Situation, they must have been very +pleasant, by reason of the extensive Prospect they afforded into the +Country. + +I do not intend to detain you with an Account of the famous Tun, _Misson_ +having given a more exact Description of that than of many Towns which he +treats of. You will in his _Travels_ find a Cut of this Vessel, which will +give you a more perfect Idea of it than any Narrative whatsoever. The +Elector _John-William_, the Predecessor of the present Elector, gave a +Companion to this Tun, which is not altogether so large, but much more +adorn’d. They are both full of Wine. I remember that in 1719, when I was +at the _Palatine_ Court, the Elector ask’d me at Table whether I had seen +the Great Tun; and upon my saying that I had not, that Prince, than whom +there was not a more gracious Sovereign in the whole World, told me he +would carry me to it. He made a Proposal to the Princess his Daughter, who +was marry’d to the hereditary Prince of _Sullzbach_, to go thither after +Dinner was over; which she accepted. The Trumpets led the way, and the +Court followed in great Ceremony. When we had mounted the Platform which +is over the Tun, the Elector did me the honour to drink to me out of the +_Wilkom_, which was a Silver gilt Cup, of a large dimension. He took it +off clean at one Draught, and having caused it to be replenished, sent it +to me by a Page. Good Manners, and the Respect I ow’d to the Elector’s +Commands, not permitting me to refuse the Chalice, I begg’d heartily that +he would suffer me to drink it off at several Draughts; which was indulg’d +me; and the Elector talking in the mean time with the Ladies, I took the +opportunity of his Absence, and made no scruple to deceive him, for I +return’d great part of the Wine to the bottom of the Tun, threw a part of +it on the ground, and the rest, which was the least part of it, I drank. I +thought my self well off that he did not perceive in what manner I bubbled +him; for I saw he was very well pleased with me. Then several other great +Glasses went round, and the very Ladies wet their Lips, which was the +thing that effectually contributed to demolish us. I was one of the first +that was overpower’d. I perceived those convulsive Motions that threaten’d +me if I drank any more, therefore I sneak’d off and made the best of my +way down from the Platform. I was endeavouring to get out of the Vault, +but was stop’d at the Door by two Life-Guard Men, who with their Carabines +crossing each other, cry’d, _Stand, there’s no coming this way_. I +conjur’d them to let me pass, and told them that I had very important +Reasons for my departure; but I might as well have talk’d to the Wind. I +found my self in a terrible Quandary: To get up again to the head of the +Tun was Death: What would become of me I could not tell. In short I crept +under the Tun, and there hoped to hide my self; but it was a fruitless +Precaution: There’s no avoiding a Man’s Destiny. It was my Fate to be +carry’d out of the Vault, and to know nothing of the matter. For the +Elector perceiv’d I was a Deserter, and I heard him say, _Where is he? +What’s become of him? Let him be look’d after, and brought up to me dead +or alive_. The Guards at the Door being examin’d said that I came that way +in order to get out, but that they sent me back again. All these +Inquiries, which I heard from my Hole, made me burrow my self the more. I +crept under the Covert of a couple of Boards I met with by chance, where +nothing but a Cat, Devil, or Page could possibly find me out. But a little +Page, who was indeed both Devil and Page too, ferreted me, and baul’d out +like one that was mad, _Here he is! Here he is!_ and then I was taken out +of my Covert. You may imagine what a silly Figure I made. I was carry’d +before my Judge, who was the Elector himself. But I took the liberty to +challenge both him and all the Gentlemen in his Retinue, as being Parties +in the Cause. _Alas! my little Gentleman_, said the Prince to me, _You +refuse us for your Judges; I will appoint you others then, and we shall +see whether you come off any better_. He nominated the Princess his +Daughter, and her Ladies to try me, and the Elector was my Accuser. After +pleading my own Cause they put it to the Vote, and I was condemn’d +unanimously to drink as long as I could swallow. The Elector said, that as +he was the Sovereign he would mitigate my Sentence; that I should that day +drink four Pint Glasses of Wine, and that for a Fortnight running I should +tip off the like Glass to his Health immediately after Dinner. Every body +admir’d the Elector’s Clemency, and whether I did or not, I was fain to do +as they did, and to return him Thanks. Then I underwent the heaviest part +of my Sentence; I did not lose my Life indeed, but for some Hours I lost +both my Speech and my Reason. I was carry’d to a Bed, where when I came +to my self I was told that my Accusers were in the same pickle as I was; +and that none of them went out of the Vault in the same manner as they +enter’d it. Next day the Elector was so good as to mitigate the remaining +part of my Sentence, and excus’d me from the Penance to which I was +condemn’d, upon my promising him that I wou’d make one at his Table for a +Month to come. + + _I am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XX. + + + _SIR_, _Manheim, March 17, 1730._ + +In going from _Heidelberg_ to MANHEIM we leave the _Necker_ on the right +hand, but keep almost all the way by the side of that River. ’Tis three +Leagues from one City to the other, over a fruitful Plain. _Manheim_ lies +between the _Rhine_ and the _Necker_, in a marshy Country, which has +always been reckon’d very unwholesome. About fourscore Years ago this City +was but a Village. _Frederic_ Elector _Palatine_, who was chose King of +_Bohemia_, caus’d it to be fortify’d, and built a Castle or Citadel there, +which he call’d _Fredericsbourg_. At the same time a Town was built, of +which all the Streets run parallel, the chief that passes thro’ the middle +of the Town was planted with Trees after the manner of _Holland_. But the +_French_ having taken _Manheim_ in 1693, raz’d it to the ground, and by +the Treaty of _Nimeguen_ it was stipulated that _Manheim_ should be +demolished; which was done accordingly. _John-William_ of _Newbourg_, the +last Elector, began again to fortify _Manheim_, according to the Plans +laid down by the famous _Cohorn_; but those Works were suspended, so that +no more than two Bastions and a Courtain were finish’d. When the present +Elector _Charles-Philip_ came to live at _Manheim_ he caus’d those Works +to be resumed which his Brother had discontinued, and to be carried on +with such Diligence that in a few Years he put the Place in a state of +Defence[131]. The Fortifications are all fac’d with Brick; and _Manheim_ +is now one of the best Places in all _Germany_. + +This City has three fine Gates, of which that of the _Necker_ is the most +magnificent, and the best adorned; in which one sees beautiful +Basso-relievos, after a Plan very happily executed. This Gate opens +towards a long and spacious Street, at the end of which stands the +Elector’s Palace, one of the largest and most substantial Buildings in +_Europe_. It were to be wish’d indeed that the Architecture had been more +regular: Never had any Architect more Advantage, for he built it new from +the Foundation, was not stinted for want of room, and as he set no Limits +to his Expence, I should have thought that a masterly hand might have +produc’d something curious. Nevertheless there are Faults in the Building +which are shocking to such as have the least Skill in Architecture; +insomuch that they who have a Taste for that Science are sorry that a +Building which has been so expensive has been no better conducted. The +Situation of this Palace is indeed very fine, at the end of the City, and +of a very noble large Street, which like all the rest runs in a strait +Line. The Palace, which has a great Square before it, consists of a large +number of Lodging-Rooms, with a great high Pavilion in the middle, and two +advanc’d Wings, with ample Pavilions at the ends; where two other very +extensive Wings rise on both sides that are likewise terminated by +Pavilions, behind which there are other Lodging-Rooms. The inside of the +Palace is form’d by two great Courts, which are to be separated by an open +Gallery or Terrass, the Model of which is very much adorned with +Architecture; but I can’t think it will look well when ’tis done. The +Apartments are adorn’d with fine noble Floors and Cielings, and have the +finest Prospect in the World to _Spire_, _Franckendahl_, _Worms_, and all +the Country in general, as far as the Mountains of _Alsace_, which +consists wholly of Towns and Villages. All this fine fruitful Country is +water’d by the _Rhine_, which passes behind the Palace of _Manheim_, and +washes its Fortifications. Upon this beautiful Canal there are to be the +Gardens of the Palace, for which there are intended two Courtains and a +Bastion. + +’Tis almost inconceivable how the Elector was able to get all the Works +about _Manheim_ finished in so few Years; for in short I remember to have +seen Partridges where there are now Houses and Palaces. The whole Town is +laid out in a most regular and charming manner; and ’tis without dispute +one of the prettiest Towns in _Europe_. ’Tis pity the Houses are not +higher: The reason they alledge for it is, that _Manheim_ is a fortify’d +Town, and that by consequence the Houses ought to be low. I know not what +Authority there is for this, since _Strasbourg_, _Metz_, _Luxembourg_, and +_Lisle_, are Places of much more Importance than _Manheim_, and yet the +Houses are as high there as they are in other Towns. + +The Palace is commodious, and yet, for what reason I know not, the Elector +does not live in it[132]. Some say that he has been told of so many +Faults in it as have quite put him out of conceit with it, and others that +’tis because a certain Astrologer prophesy’d he would die there; but I am +apt to believe that the latter Reason is no more than a Joke, and I dare +to say that the Elector is too wise a Man to credit it. Mean time this +Prince dwells in a House belonging to a _Jew_, to which several other +private Houses are join’d; but for all that the Lodgings are very bad. + +There can’t be a better-natur’d Man than _Charles-Philip_ of _Newbourg_, +Elector _Palatine_. He is the best of Masters, and the most affable of +Princes. He is reckoned extremely handsome, and one of the chief Dancers +in his time; and he has a noble Aspect. His Behaviour and Conversation +engage one to love him, and to pay one’s court to him out of pure +Inclination. He formerly was fond of Pomp and Pleasure, but since the loss +of his only Daughter and his Son-in-law, who died within a few Years one +of another, he seems to be no longer taken with what was heretofore his +Amusement. The Elector has been twice marry’d, _viz._ first to +_Louisa-Charlotte_ Princess of _Radzeville_, and secondly to _Theresa +Lubomirski_, both _Polish_ Ladies. The former left him a Daughter that was +marry’d to _Joseph-Charles_ Prince _Palatine_ of _Sultzbach_, but died in +1728; as did her Husband the Year following. This Princess had such Beauty +and Merit, that she was the Comfort of her Father and the Admiration of +her Acquaintance. She left three young Princesses, whom the Elector causes +to be educated at his Court, where they are now all that he has to delight +him; but then they incessantly renew to him the sorrowful Remembrance of a +Daughter who was extremely dear to him. + +The Death of that Princess has been a very great Affliction to the +Elector, and chang’d the Face of the _Palatine_ Court. Indeed as to +Affability, and to the Goodness of his Temper, he is still the same +Elector, but he has no longer that Gaiety of Humour which his Daughter’s +Company rais’d in him; for she had a thousand different Amusements for +him, and Pleasures and Merriment every where accompany’d her. The Elector +eats always in private, except on Holidays, and when there’s any foreign +Prince at his Court. After he has been in public at Mass, he commonly +stops in one of his Apartments to chat with the Courtiers, or to play at +Billiards till Dinner-time. After Dinner he goes to Bed, and lies there +two Hours; then he rises, and after having caus’d himself to be dress’d, +he gives Audience to his Ministers, and to such private Persons as want to +talk with him. He is very attentive to those who speak to him, and answers +them with Good-nature and Kindness. He seldom refuses what is in his power +to grant; and when Reasons force him to a denial, ’tis visible that he is +uneasy, and he refuses in so civil a manner, that People go away at least +comforted, if not contented. At six o’clock in the Evening the whole Court +meets in his Electoral Highness’s Apartment, where there is Play till nine +o’clock, and then the Elector retires, makes a very slight Supper, and +goes to Bed in good time. + +Tho’ the Elector dines in private there’s always a Table sumptuously +serv’d for the hereditary Prince of _Sultzbach_, Brother to him who was +the Elector’s Son-in-law. This passes for the Elector’s Table, is spread +for eighteen Guests, and is serv’d by Pages. + +The Prince _de Sultzbach_ is look’d upon as the Elector’s Heir, because +’tis not supposed that the Elector’s Brother, the Elector of _Mentz_, +would be willing to quit the first Electorate of the Empire, and the +great Benefices which he possesses, to become Elector _Palatine_, if he +should happen to survive his Brother[133]. The Bishop of _Augsbourg_, the +Elector’s second Brother, being a Priest, cannot succeed. The Prince _de +Sultzbach_’s Father is still living; but being as old as the Elector, he +is not like to survive him very long[134]. The Prince _John-Christian_ of +_Sultzbach_ was born in 1700. He is the Widower of the Princess _de la +Tour_ of _Auvergne_, who brought him for her Portion the Sovereignty of +_Bergopzoom_; and left him a Son, who is educated at _Brussels_ with his +Great-Grandmother the Duchess Dowager of _Aremberg_. The Prince +_John-Christian_ is tall and extremely corpulent, insomuch that ’tis well +if he has not the Dropsy. He spent the first Days of his Youth at the +Court of _Lorrain_ in _France_, and in the _Netherlands_, by which Travels +he acquired a great deal of Politeness. He was lately betrothed to +_Eleonora-Philippina_ of _Hesse-Rhinfelds_, Sister to the Princess of +_Piedmont_[135], and to the Duchess of _Bourbon_. This Princess is every +day expected from _Turin_, to which Place she accompanied her Sister. +Their Highnesses will then go and keep their Court at _Heidelberg_[136]. + +The Principal Noblemen of the _Palatine_ Court are the following: + +_Francis-George_ Count of _Manderscheldt-Blanckenheim_[137], the Steward +of the Houshold, Prime Minister, and Knight of the Order of St. _Hubert_. +He is of illustrious Extraction; is a Man of Integrity and very great +Probity, incapable of doing an ill thing, but not at all engaging in his +Deportment; for he is reserved, with an Air of Haughtiness, which is a +Defect that he was born with, and endeavours to conquer, but cannot. When +one knows him intimately he proves a good Friend, and capable of doing one +Service. He has very great Pensions from the Elector, and is the oldest of +his Family, which being pretty numerous, he does not live in a very grand +manner. + +The Baron _de Sickingen_ is Great Chamberlain, Minister of State, and +Knight of the Order of St. _Hubert_. He is a Gentleman of a fine Presence, +of an easy and engaging Access, with profound Learning, and Sentiments +suitable to his Birth. He was Governor of the late Prince _de Sultzbach_, +Son-in-law to the Elector; and he imprinted such Ideas of Men and Things +in the Mind of that young Prince, as gave great hopes that his Government +would be happy if ever he attain’d to it. M. _de Sickingen_ was afterward +the Elector’s Envoy Extraordinary to the Imperial Court; and I knew him at +_Vienna_ where he was exceedingly beloved. At his return he succeeded his +Brother in the Office of Great Chamberlain, which he exercises with the +Approbation of the whole Court. + +_John-Frederic_ Count _de Globe_, is Grand Marshal, Minister of State, and +Knight of the Order of St. _Hubert_. He is very rich, and has a fine +Estate in _Bohemia_. He was once the Elector’s Page, who finding him at +the bottom a Man of Integrity and Honour, took care of his Fortune, gave +him the best Employments at his Court, and raised him to the Dignity of +Count. M. _de Globe_ has been seldom at _Manheim_ for some Years past; +which is a Loss both to Court and City, because he liv’d very nobly, and +more than all, was very civil to Foreigners[138]. + +The Baron _de Wohlin_ is Master of the Horse[139]. He is one of those Men +in whom we meet with that Candor and Probity so much boasted by our +Fathers. + +The Count _de la Tour_ and _Taxis_ is Captain of the Life-Guards, +Lieutenant-General, and Knight of the Order of St. _Hubert_. His Carriage +seems blunt and proud, yet he is familiar with those that are in his +Confidence. He has considerable Credit at Court, owing to his Sister’s +being so long in favour with the Elector. + +_Julius Augustus_ Count _de la Marck_, Lieutenant-General, Captain of the +hundred _Swissers_, and Knight of St. _Hubert_, is descended of an +illustrious Family in the Empire. He spent part of his Youth in the +Service of _France_, where his eldest Brother is now actually a +Lieutenant-General, Colonel of a foreign Regiment, and a Commander of the +Order of the _Holy Ghost_. He has learnt all the _French_ Politeness; his +Behaviour resembles the Man of Quality; his Temper is gay, and he loves +good Cheer, Joy and Pleasures. + +The Count _Egmont de Hatzfeldt_ Lieutenant-General, Minister of State, and +Secretary at War, comes from one of the best Families in the Empire, This +Nobleman is extraordinary civil; his House is open to all Persons of +Distinction; he lives very nobly, and both his Lady and himself are very +fond of entertaining Foreigners. They were both intrusted to conduct to +_Piedmont_ the Princess of _Sultzbach_ first Wife to _Charles_ Prince of +_Piedmont_[140], and discharged their Employments in such a manner that +they had the general Approbation of the _Sardinian_ Court. + +The Barons of _Hildesheim_ and _Beveren_ are both Ministers of State. The +former acquired a very great Reputation in the Negotiations that were +carry’d on at _Heidelberg_ in 1719, for the Church of the _Calvinists_ +which the Elector had a mind shou’d be Catholic. The second has been Envoy +to the King of _Great Britain_. They are both to be valued for their +Merit, live very honourably, and make Foreigners welcome. + +I could tell you of many other Persons of Birth and Merit employ’d at this +Court, but really my Letter would be too tedious. Nevertheless I cannot +omit the mention of the Baron _d’Obsten_, whom you saw at _Breslau_, after +he had quitted the Service of the _Czar_. He is settled here, but has no +Character. He and all his Family are become of our Communion. He has a +considerable Pension from the Elector, and is generally very well +esteem’d. His Son, who is a Captain, is a young Gentleman of Merit, and +his Daughters are young Ladies highly to be esteem’d for their good +Behaviour and Politeness. + +The Count _de Nassau-Weilbourg_ lives here also. His Birth would engage me +to give you an Account of him tho’ I were not induc’d to it by the +Consideration of his Merit. This Nobleman has an infinite share of it; he +is generous, magnificent, genteel, and civil, knowing what Family he is +descended from; but knowing it for no other reason than to discharge all +the Obligations of it. He is the Ornament of this Court, tho’ he is not in +the Service of the Elector. His Father was Velt-Marshal, and Commander in +Chief of the _Palatine_ Troops during the Reign of the late Elector _John +William_. The Count I am speaking of was Envoy Extraordinary from the +Elector to the Court of _France_ during the Minority of _Lewis_ XV. He +then went often to the Royal Palace to pay his court to the Regent’s +Mother, and there it was that I knew him; for that Lady and the whole +Court of France had a very great Value for him. That Princess speaking of +him one day to me, said she was very glad that he was a Count of _Nassau_; +for indeed, said she, he deserves to bear a great Name[141]. + +There are amiable People here of both Sexes who are very sociable, so that +’tis a Stranger’s own fault if he misses of Amusement here; for such are +generally treated very civilly. As for my own part, I have received so +many Courtesies from the Elector, and so many Favours from his Court that +I shall for ever acknowledge them. + +The Nobility maintain a Company of _French_ Comedians who act three times +a Week upon a very little Theatre, but both the Townsmen and Foreigners +pay. Tho’ this Company, of which the Count _de la Marck_ has the +Direction is not the best, yet ’tis a pleasure to go to it for the sake of +seeing Company. In the time of the late Princess there were a thousand +Pleasures which there are not now, so that her Death is still lamented. + +The Elector’s Revenues are reckon’d at two Millions of Crowns. You may +rate them more or less, ’tis no matter; for my own part, I affirm nothing, +being not willing to imitate the Marquis _de Breton-Villiers_, who in his +Memoirs of the Regency values the Revenues of all the Princes of the +Universe with as much assurance as if he had been Superintendant of every +one’s Finances. The Elector has about 7 or 8000 Soldiers, exclusive of his +Guards. His best Places are _Manheim_, _Juliers_, and _Dusseldorp_. The +three Religions tolerated in the Empire have Churches here, and the _Jews_ +a large Synagogue. They are very numerous at this Place, and two thirds of +the Houses belong to them, as being either built by them, or mortgag’d to +’em. Some of them are very rich, and drive a great Trade with the _Jews_ +at _Meiz_, _Frankfort_ and _Amsterdam_. ’Tis certain that they do a great +injury to the Christian Merchants, and that they are not honester here +than elsewhere. + +Don’t write to me, if you please, before I have sent you my Direction, +because I know not whether I shall stay long enough at _Frankfort_, to +which some Affairs call me, to receive your Letters. + +Just now we hear of the Death of Pope _Benedict_ XIII. As I never saw a +Conclave, and am in the Humour of Travelling, I have an inclination to +take a tour to _Rome_. I shall not resolve on it till I come to +_Frankfort_. Which way soever I go you shall be inform’d, and I will not +fail to desire your Commands. Mean time I am always very sincerely, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXI. + + + _SIR_, _Frankfort, March 21, 1730._ + +At my Departure from _Manheim_ I pass’d the _Rhine_ over a Bridge of +Boats, and in three Hours time arrived at FRANCKENDAHL, which was formerly +fortified, but after having suffered by the general Conflagration in the +_Palatinate_, was dismantled by the Peace of _Nimeguen_, and so it has +remained ever since. It still bears the Marks of _French_ Fury; and a +great many Houses that were burn’d have not been rebuilt. + +There’s the finest Country in the World between _Franckendahl_ and WORMS. +I came hither at ten o’clock in the Morning, and spent the rest of the +Forenoon in seeing what was most remarkable. _Worms_ is not the Place now +that it was before the _French_ burn’d it. Its most wealthy Inhabitants +instead of rebuilding their Houses, retir’d to _Frankfort_ and _Holland_, +so that the Chapter of _Worms_, which is wholly compos’d of Persons of +Quality, is now the chief Glory of the Town. The Bishop of it is the +Elector[142] of _Mentz_, who was chose _July_ 12, 1694. This Prince has +built a new Episcopal Palace, the Contrivance of which is beautiful. It +joins to the Cathedral which is ancient, and built very substantially. The +_Lutherans_ have just built a fine Church, the Roof of which is painted. +In several Compartiments there’s the History of _Luther_’s pretended +Reformation. That Doctor is there represented as appearing before the Dyet +of the Empire which met at _Worms_ _An._ 1521. You know that he was cited +to it by the Emperor _Charles_ V. His Friends, to dissuade him from +appearing, put him in mind of _John Huss_, who notwithstanding the +Safe-Conduct that had been granted him by the Emperor _Sigismond_, was +burnt by a Decree of the Council of _Constance_. _Luther_, without being +intimidated, said, that _tho’ he was sure to be engag’d with as many +Devils as there were Tiles upon the Houses of +Worms+, he was resolv’d to +go_. He went thither accordingly, and appear’d the 17th of _April_ before +the Dyet, where he offer’d, with a Courage deserving a better Cause, to +maintain his Doctrine and his Writings against all that should go about to +demolish them from the Holy Scriptures. + +The City of _Worms_ stands in the middle of a fine spacious Plain, +abounding with Corn, Vineyards, and Fruit-Trees. A Wine is produced here +which is call’d _Lieben-Frauen-Milch_, i. e. _Our Lady’s Milk_. The +_Rhine_ is about three or four hundred Paces from the Town, but ’tis said +it formerly ran close by the Walls of it. Which way soever one comes to +_Worms_, one perceives at a great Distance the four Towers of the +Cathedral which are all built of red Freestone. Two drunken Fellows +mistook those Towers one day for Capuchin Fryars. Being in the Country at +a pretty good Distance from the Town, as the Sun was going down, one of +them said to his Comrade, _We have no Time to lose, the Gates are going to +be shut.--No matter_, said the other, pointing to the Towers; _Don’t you +see those Capuchins there before us? They are of the Town, and are +going thither as well as we. You are in the right_, reply’d the former, +_let us drink the good Fryar’s Health_. They had a Gourd Bottle full of +Wine, of which they drank every Drop, so that they did not overtake the +imaginary Capuchins till next Day. + +There is not a finer Country than that between _Worms_ and OPPENHEIM, a +little Town upon an Eminence, on the left Side of the _Rhine_, to which we +pass over a flying Bridge. The Road from _Oppenheim_ is unpassable for +near two Leagues, because ’tis commonly overflown by that River; but +afterwards the Way is perfectly good to _Frankfort_. ’Twas very late when +I came to this City, but by good luck the People of _Frankfort_ who +formerly shut their Gates at Sun-set have lately chose to keep them open +till ten o’clock, so that for paying a Trifle one may enter the Town. + +I know not whether I need give any Account of the City of FRANKFORT. It +has been so often describ’d, and is so well known to the World, that I +fancy every body knows what sort of Town it is, tho’ they have not seen +it. _Frankfort_ is famous for its two yearly Fairs, _viz._ at _Easter_ and +_Michaelmas_. It suffer’d much by a great Fire in 1619, but the whole has +been since rebuilt, and the Houses are finer than before. There are few +Places upon the whole more disagreeable, and few Towns in _Germany_ where +the Common People are more unpolish’d. The Burghers are not to be match’d +for Affectedness, and their Conversation is insupportable. The Magistrates +are all _Lutherans_; nevertheless the principal Churches belong to the +Catholics. The _Calvinists_ may live in the Town, but cannot hold any +Employments, and are oblig’d to go for Worship to _Bockenheim_ in the +County of _Hanau_, and to cause their Children to be baptiz’d in the +_Lutheran_ Churches. The great Church in which the Ceremony of the +Emperor’s Coronation is perform’d is dark, and by no means proper for such +an august Solemnity. You know that _Aix la Chapelle_ is properly the Place +set apart for the Coronation of our Emperors, and _Frankfort_ for their +Election. But since _Maximilian_ I. no Emperor has been crown’d at _Aix_. +_Frankfort_ being situate in the Centre of the Empire is much more +commodious for all the Princes, but particularly for the Spiritual +Electors and for the Elector Palatine, who may send for their Equipages by +Water and return them back by the same Convenience. When _Charles_ VI. was +crown’d at _Frankfort_ in 1711, there was an extraordinary Concourse of +Princes and Noblemen. Certain speculative Gentlemen made two Remarks on +this Occasion, from which they presag’d two Things. The one was, that the +Emperor made his Entrance into this City in close Mourning for the Emperor +_Joseph_ his Brother; whereupon they said that _Charles_ wore Mourning +because he foresaw that he should be the last Emperor of his Family. The +second was, that as _Charles_ return’d from the Church invested with all +the Marks of Sovereignty, _Charlemain_’s Sword had like to have dropp’d +out of the Scabbard; which the Elector of _Triers_ of the _Lorrain_ Family +observing, catch’d hold of the Sword, and put it in again before it was +quite fallen out of the Scabbard. Upon this, the same Calculators of +Nativities said it was an Omen that the Emperor would never have a quiet +Reign, and that he would always be in a Situation that would oblige him to +draw his Sword for his Defence[143]. + +As to Persons of great Distinction at _Frankfort_, they are very few. The +Chief are the Princess-Dowager of _Nassau-Ousingen_, born Princess of +_Lovestein_; the Count _de Degenfeldt_ (_Schomberg_)[144] Major-General of +the King of _Prussia_’s Forces, and a Commander of the Order of the _Black +Eagle_; and finally, Madame _la Raugrave_[145] Daughter of _Charles-Lewis_ +Elector Palatine: She is the last of the Blood of the Protestant +_Palatine_ Princes. The Senate of _Frankfort_, in consideration of her +great Age, and in respect to her Birth, has granted her the Liberty of +keeping a _Calvinist_ Chaplain to preach in her own House. Sometimes the +Prince _de la Tour_ and _Taxis_[146] Hereditary Post-Master of the Empire +resides at _Frankfort_. His House is a great Relief to Foreigners. His +Princess[147] is a Lady of very great Merit, and has the Soul and +Sentiments of a Queen. In the Houses of the Persons that I have mention’d +there’s an Assembly of both Sexes every Evening; but take them one with +another they are very thin except at the Fairs, when there’s a vast Resort +of Nobility and Gentry. Most of the Electors and Princes of the Empire +have their Agents at _Frankfort_, to whom they give the Title of +Residents; but those Gentlemen are not a jot the more respected for it, +most of them being Merchants of the City of _Frankfort_ it self, who +sollicit the Title in order to be exempt from the Authority of the Senate, +and from the Payment of the Customs, and to qualify themselves to place +over their Doors the Arms of the Princes to whom they send the +News-papers. + +The Count _de Degenfeldt_ makes such a Figure here that he deserves a more +particular mention. He is a Nobleman of good Extraction. He is a Native of +the _Palatinate_, and spent his Youth in the Service of the Elector +Palatine. He was at that Time a _Calvinist_, but turn’d Catholic. Some +Years after, he was reconcil’d to his former Communion, and married in +_England_ a Cousin of his, the Daughter of the Duke _de Schomberg_, with +whom he had a very great Estate. He has also a considerable Expectancy +from Madame _la Raugrave_ a _Palatine_, his Aunt[148]. The Relation of M. +_de Degenfeldt_ to this Lady, brings to my Mind the History of the Mother +of Madame _la Raugrave_, who as I have observ’d was a _Degenfeldt_. I have +chose to give it you from what was told me by the late Madame of _France_, +and from very good Memoirs that have been put into my hands. I have plac’d +this History as a Transaction in the Time of the ancient _Germans_; and as +I design’d to insert it in a Work which I have undertaken, for want of +something else to employ my Time, I chuse to do it by way of a Discourse +from Madame the late Electress of _Hanover_ to her Daughter-in-law. I +herewith send you the entire History, and at the End of it you will find +the Key. As I fancy you are quite disengag’d in the Country, I don’t +apprehend that the reading of it will be Loss of your Time. I rather fear +you won’t like it; but in either case ’twill be your own Fault; I don’t +force you to read; you may if you please let _Gertrude_ alone. + + _History of GERTRUDE a +Marcoman+ Lady._ + +The History of _Gertrude_, of which I propose to give you, my Princess, a +Relation, is properly the History of the Extinction of my Family; for the +fatal Passion of my Brother King _Malcolm_ for that Lady, is in all +appearance the Reason that there are no more left in my Family than three +Princesses[149], and my self. + +There was such a Harmony in Sentiments betwixt my Brother and me, that it +united us in the strictest Friendship. We had been brought up together in +_Belgium_[150], where the King my Father had been oblig’d to take refuge, +that he might be nearer at hand to receive Succours from _Alfred_ King of +_Albion_, Father of the Queen my Mother, against the _Romans_, who after a +long and bloody War had turn’d him out of his Dominions. That King amus’d +him a long while with fair Promises; but the Misunderstanding which there +was at that time between him and the States of his Kingdom, added to a +certain Indolence in his natural Temper, hinder’d him from seeing the +Effect of them; and the King my Father did not live long enough to be +witness of the Peace which the _Romans_ were at length oblig’d by his +Allies to conclude. This was not an advantageous Peace for _Malcolm_ my +Brother, because in order to obtain it he was oblig’d to yield a part of +his Dominions to the Prince of the[151]_Boyens_, an Ally of the _Romans_, +and upon these Terms he was left in quiet possession of the rest. + +When my Brother saw himself establish’d on the Throne, he thought of +marrying. His Ministers propos’d the Princess of the _Catti_ as the +fittest Match for him, and assur’d him that besides her illustrious +Extraction he could not marry a more beautiful Princess, or one of a +better Temper. My Brother who only alter’d his Condition for Reasons of +State, was willing enough to follow their Advice, and accordingly espous’d +her. The Marriage at first prov’d very happy; the Queen his Wife had her +share of Beauty, and tho’ her Temper was very different from what it had +been represented to my Brother, yet she so cunningly disguis’d it for some +time that this Prince thought himself very happy in his Choice. But their +Agreement was of a short Duration; the Queen’s true Humour soon discover’d +it self: It appear’d that she was ill-natur’d, and intolerably +high-spirited; of an odd sullen Temper, always ready to contradict, and +frequently subject to Chagrin, of which she herself knew not the Cause, +and which she vented upon all that approach’d her without distinction. The +King my Brother was of a Temper quite the reverse: He lov’d Diversions, +was civil, affable, naturally gay, beneficent; and I don’t speak it out of +Partiality in favour of a Brother whose Memory is still dear to me, but +I’ll be bold to say, that if he had not been quite so choleric, he would +have been the most accomplish’d Prince of his Time. Nevertheless he bore +with his Wife’s ill Humours very patiently at first, and endeavour’d to +reclaim her by gentle Usage; but when he saw that all the Pains he took +were to no purpose, he resolv’d at length to seek out some other +Amusement. + +The Beauty of _Gertrude_, Maid of Honour to the Queen his Wife, had for a +long time smitten him, but hitherto he had only discover’d his Passion to +her by his Glances, for fear of disgusting the Queen. _Gertrude_ who +perceiv’d that my Brother did not look upon her with Indifference, +affected to shun every Opportunity that Prince might take of revealing his +Love to her. But Fortune favour’d my Brother, who being one day with his +Queen in her Apartment, when the Discourse fell upon Jewels, perceiv’d +that the Princess had left off wearing a certain Bracelet of which he had +made her a Present, and asking her what she had done with it, the Queen +told him that she believ’d she had laid it up in a Casket of which she had +the Key in her Pocket. She made one of her Maids fetch it, and open’d it, +but the Bracelet was not there, at which she seem’d uneasy. This my +Brother observ’d, and taking a Pleasure in making her more uneasy, he said +to her, tho’ in a manner that shew’d he did not think as he spoke, that +she had undoubtedly some Gallant in a Corner, to whom she had either given +that Bracelet, or who had stole it from her. These Words, tho’ deliver’d +in jest, made a deep Impression upon the Queen, and as it was her Nature +soon to take fire, she was stung to the quick at what he had said, and +forgetting the Respect she ow’d to the King her Husband, was in such a +Passion with him that she let fall some Words that were very affronting. +My Brother who was naturally mettlesome and fiery, and far from expecting +any such Treatment, made her answer, that if she continued to forget +herself after that manner, he would find ways and means to humble her. +Upon this he went out of the Room abruptly, and passing through the +Antichamber, met the fair _Gertrude_. Such was his Disgust that instead of +being upon the reserve as he had been, he had a long Conversation with +her, and found her so sprightly and good-natur’d that he was compleatly +charm’d with her. He declar’d his Love to her, and she was so artful that +tho’ she gave him no Hopes, yet she did not rebuff him. + +When my Brother was retir’d, _Gertrude_ went into the Apartment of the +Queen her Mistress, who plac’d her whole Confidence in her. That Princess +no sooner saw her but she made a thousand Complaints of the King’s +Treatment of her. _Gertrude_ seem’d to sympathize in her Resentment, and +believing that the Queen could not fail to know that the King had talk’d +with her in the Antichamber, she told her that the Prince having met her +in her Passage gave her an angry Account of what had passed; and that she +had done all she could to pacify him, but to no purpose: At the same time +she blam’d the King’s Proceeding; and encourag’d by the Liberty which the +Queen gave her, told her that if she who was but a private Gentlewoman was +so treated by any Husband, she would never pardon him tho’ he were a King. +She added several other Sayings which instead of pacifying this silly +Queen, did but exasperate her the more. + +In the mean time, _Malcolm_, who was impatient to know the Success of his +Amour, wrote a Letter to _Gertrude_ which he sent her by one of his chief +Domestics, together with a rich Diamond Equipage. But the artful +_Gertrude_ whose Aim was to draw on his Passion, rather than to gratify +it, was far from yielding to his first Attacks, and sent him back the +Diamonds, tho’ with a modest and respectful Answer, wherein she desir’d +him to talk no more to her of Love. My Brother was too deeply smitten to +be repuls’d; he doubled his Presents, was assiduous, and eager in his +Courtship; and as ’tis very rare for a King of his amiable Personage to +meet with long Resistance, _Gertrude_ abated of her Shyness by degrees, +and at length discovered that she was not insensible of Love. Their +Correspondence which did not exceed the Bounds of Honour, was kept secret +for a considerable time, but made the greater Blaze when it was known. +_Malcolm_ being one day with his Wife, happen’d, without perceiving it, to +drop a Letter which the Queen took up, and found to be the Hand-writing of +_Gertrude_. The Letter being written in _Latin_ made the Queen the more +curious to know what was in it; and she gave it to her Cousin, Prince +_Valamir_, desiring him to unfold the Contents of it to her. This Prince +was so unwise as to satisfy her Curiosity, and acquainted her that +_Gertrude_ by this Letter assur’d the King that he had gain’d her Heart. +You will easily imagine how much the Queen was ruffled when she heard of +this Intrigue: She could not contain herself; and without giving ear to +the Arguments made use of by _Valamir_, she ran immediately to +_Gertrude_’s Apartment in the Palace, who by good luck was gone abroad. +The Queen thinking her Casket was in _Gertrude_’s Closet caused it to be +broke open, and finding it there, open’d it, and took out all the Letters, +of which several that appear’d to be from the King her Husband left her no +room to doubt of that Prince’s extraordinary Passion for _Gertrude_, and +of the Intimacy there was between them. My Brother was quickly inform’d of +what the Queen had been doing, but conceal’d his Uneasiness, shew’d his +Wife no manner of Resentment, and only sent a Caution to _Gertrude_ not to +return to the Palace. _Malcolm_’s Silence deceiv’d the Queen, who indeed +was not a Lady of very great Penetration, so that she flatter’d herself +the King might possibly be ignorant of the Outrage she had committed; and +upon this Supposition she thought it her best way to dissemble her Hatred +and Wrath against _Gertrude_. She pretended therefore to be very uneasy +for fear of what had happen’d to her, caus’d a Search to be made for her +several days, and seem’d very much dejected at her Absence. She hoped by +all these Demonstrations of Friendship to decoy her back to the Palace, in +order then to be compleatly reveng’d of her. + +Thus Matters stood when the King of the _Suevi_, the Brother-in-law of the +Queen my Sister-in-law, came to Court with the Queen his Wife. This Prince +having observ’d the Queen’s Melancholy on several occasions, ask’d her the +reason of it one day as they sate at Table. ‘You must not be surpriz’d, +said _Malcolm_, to see the Queen my Wife out of temper; ’tis her common +Infirmity, and very often she her self knows not the cause of it. My +Ailment is but too real (reply’d the Queen in a great Pet;) and (then +addressing herself to her Husband) said she, it does not at all become you +whose dishonourable Amours have been the only Cause of my Disorder, to +insinuate as if it were but imaginary.’ This Answer made in so public a +manner, so nettled my Brother that he turn’d pale for meer Vexation, and +not being able to curb his Passion, forgot his Dignity so far as to strike +her; upon which the unfortunate Princess rose from Table, and retir’d in +Tears to her own Apartment. My Brother, whose Passion was always as soon +over as it was easily kindled, was sorry in a very few moments after for +what he had done, made his Excuses to the King and Queen of the _Suevi_, +and rising from Table, went with them to his Wife’s Apartment, where he +ask’d her pardon for what had pass’d. This Atonement, which the Queen did +not expect so soon, touch’d her to the quick: The King and she embrac’d +each other, and exchang’d their Promises to forget as well as to forgive +every Offence. But would you believe it? that fickle, fantastical Creature +my Sister-in-law chang’d her mind all on a sudden, and when her Husband +came in the Evening with an intention to spend the Night with her, she +absolutely refus’d to let him bed with her unless he would resolve to +deliver up _Gertrude_ to her. _Malcolm_, who was still asham’d at what he +had done in his last Fury, receiv’d so violent a Proposition with more +Patience than he would have done upon another Occasion. He endeavour’d by +fair Words to pacify his Wife, assuring her that nothing criminal had ever +pass’d between him and _Gertrude_, and that tho’ he had corresponded with +the Girl by Letters, it was not out of any Love he had for her, so much as +to know whether it was true that she wrote as good _Latin_ as he had been +told she did. Tho’ this Speech of his was not very probable, yet as People +are easily inclin’d to believe what they wish to be true, the Queen +suffer’d herself to be at last persuaded, and was reconciled to her +Husband without insisting any farther on the Sacrifice she at first +demanded. + +The Emperor being come to spend some Time at _Pluibourg_, summon’d an +Assembly thither of the Princes of the Empire. My Brother went thither +with the Queen his Wife; but the Consequence was that they were more +embroil’d than ever; and my Sister-in-law was so unadvised as to let +_Cæsar_ and his Court be Witnesses of certain Brawls, which for her own +Interest as well as her Husband’s, she ought to have carefully confin’d +within the Limits of her own Houshold. ’Tis true that my Brother had no +very great Respect for her, and he lov’d _Gertrude_ more than ever. Being +hindred by a slight Indisposition from going to _Montpayen_ where he kept +her at one of his Houses, not a Day pass’d but he sent an Express to know +how she did, and the Queen’s ill Temper, who no doubt had better have +try’d good-natur’d Methods to reclaim him, only incens’d him against her, +and made him the fonder of _Gertrude_. + +The Assembly of the Princes of _Germany_ being over, and the Emperor +return’d to _Rome_, my Brother set out for _Montpayen_ the Capital of his +Kingdom, and gave orders for his Queen to follow him next Day. But for a +Reason which I never could dive into, the Princess instead of obeying him +stay’d a Month longer at _Pluibourg_, without vouchsafing to let the King +her Husband know the Reason of her delay; and not only so, but when she +came to _Montpayen_, she had the Assurance to go with a bold Face to her +Husband’s Apartment, without knowing how he would take it: But the Prince +who had just Reason to be angry, foreseeing that she was like enough to +take such a step, had given orders to refuse her Entrance; wherefore she +was oblig’d to retire to her Apartment, whither a Captain of the Guards +came in a Moment after, to tell her from the King that she was a Prisoner. + +This unhappy Princess bore her Disgrace very weakly. She repented, but too +late, of having been so imprudent as to contravene the Orders of the King +her Husband; and hoping to work upon his Good-nature, she wrote him a most +submissive Letter, begging his pardon for her Disobedience, and intreating +him to restore her to her Liberty. My Brother sent her an Answer, wherein +he only gave her the Title of the Princess of _Cattia_. He told her, ‘that +having consider’d the Disagreement there was betwixt his Temper and her’s, +he resolved to be divorc’d from her, and that she would do well herself to +give her Consent to it; which if she did with a good Grace, he would +restore her to her Liberty and settle a Revenue on her suitable to her +Rank.’ + +This Answer was a Thunder-stroke to my Sister-in-law; she rav’d and tore +like a mad Woman. She was for a long while like one out of her Senses, but +recovering them at length by the help of her Women, and consulting with +those that had the greatest share of her Confidence, she sent the King +word that he was Master, and might make use of his Authority, but that +she would never consent to the Divorce. + +My Brother who had fix’d his Resolution, and saw no other way to get +possession of _Gertrude_ than by marrying that Girl who had presum’d to +set so high a Price upon her Favours, took off the Mask, notify’d his +Design to the Court, and in a few days after, the Marriage was perform’d +in the manner that you know is practis’d in _Germany_ by Princes who marry +beneath themselves, which excludes the Children by such _Venter_ from +succeeding to the Father’s Estate. As soon as he was marry’d, he restor’d +the Queen to her Liberty, and acquainted her, ‘That by the Advice and +Consent of the Priests of his Kingdom whom he had caused to be assembled, +he had marry’d _Gertrude_. That the Thing being done and past remedy, he +hoped she would resolve to make her self easy. That however, he would +always treat her as a Princess; that she should be welcome to continue in +her Apartment at the Palace; that she should have her Guards to attend +her, and that he had set apart a sufficient Fund for her Maintenance; but +that he expected she would be so complaisant as to acknowledge _Gertrude_ +hereafter for the lawful Queen.’ + +My Sister-in-law who then saw that her Disgrace was infallible, gave her +self up to Complaints and Tears, wrote to the King her Husband in the most +moving Language, and implor’d the assistance of the King her Brother: But +all was to no purpose; she was oblig’d to submit to her Misfortune, and to +be patient under an Affliction which she had partly brought upon her self +by her Folly. + +While all this pass’d, my Brother was at one of his Seats not far[152] +from his Capital, where he caus’d _Gertrude_ to be treated as a Queen, +and not long after carried her to _Montpayen_ where the sight of her +Royalty was a fresh Mortification to the Queen my Sister-in-law. However, +the unfortunate Princess not yet despairing of the means of reclaiming her +Husband, was resolv’d to make the last Attempt to turn that Prince’s +Heart. She dress’d herself in the most gay and rich Apparel that she could +get, and taking her Children along with her, went to meet the King her +Husband in the Room next to the Hall where he was at Table with +_Gertrude_, and thro’ which he must necessarily return. When he appear’d, +she threw herself with her Children at his Feet, clasp’d his Knees, +conjur’d him with Tears in her Eyes to look with Pity on an unhappy +Princess whom he had formerly thought fit to make his Wife, and to +consider that the Affront he put upon her by divorcing her, would be a +Reproach to those very Children of whom he had been so fond. My Brother +seem’d to be melted at so moving a Spectacle, look’d for some Moments on +his Wife and Children with Tears in his Eyes, and he was just ready to +raise her from the Ground, when _Gertrude_ who was at his Heels, fearing +what might be the Consequence of the Confusion that she saw him in, talk’d +earnestly to him in the _Tuscan_ Language, saying, _Remember_, my Lord, +_what you promis’d me_. These few Words wrought so much on the unsteady +Mind of my Brother that he only lifted up his Hands to Heaven and went on, +shewing by the Trouble he was under, how little he was Master of his +Reason upon this Occasion. The Queen my Sister-in-law remain’d for a while +speechless, but Fury and Despair quickly seiz’d her Soul. She rose up and +ran into her Closet, where snatching up a Dagger[153] she came back again +with an Intention to stick it into her Rival’s Heart. But the Rage she +was in having so confounded her that she had not a Thought of concealing +that Instrument of her Revenge, it was perceiv’d by one of the chief +Courtiers who pluck’d it from her just as she was going into the Closet +where my Brother was with _Gertrude_. That Prince hearing a Noise so near +him ran out, and demanded what was the matter. ’Tis I, (said the Queen +very couragiously) ‘who was coming to revenge my self and you too on the +Monster which disunites us; but that Traytor there (said she, pointing to +the Man that had wrested the Dagger out of her Hands) has depriv’d me of +the only Opportunity that I could call a Pleasure.--Princess, (said the +King to her very calmly) don’t indulge your self any longer in such +extravagant Passions, if you are unwilling that I should use you roughly.’ +Then he retir’d with _Gertrude_, and my Sister-in-law return’d to her +Apartment in a Temper which you may easily imagine. + +_Clodius_, who now governs the Empire, being at that time proclaim’d +Emperor, this Princess made her Complaints to him, and desir’d him to +reconcile _Malcolm_ to her. But _Cæsar_ having excus’d himself, my +Sister-in-law who could no longer bear the Presence of her Rival, retir’d +to the King her Brother, there to wait the End of her Misfortunes. My +Brother liv’d afterwards very lovingly with his new Spouse, and had by her +four Sons and as many Daughters. But Death having at last robb’d him of a +Person so dear to him, the Prince was so afflicted for the Loss of her, +that he spent two Years in continual Sorrow, and at length himself paid +the same Tribute to Nature. + +He left but one Son and a Daughter by his lawful Spouse who surviv’d him +some Years. The King my Nephew was marry’d, but he was of such a +melancholy Temper, his Humour was so different from the Queen’s, and there +was so little Love betwixt them, that he died without Issue. With him I +have seen my Family utterly extinct, its Dominions transferr’d to the +Power of a Prince who is hardly related to us, and my Country abandon’d to +the most dismal Desolation. For my Niece having marry’d _Meroveus_, +Brother to _Ariovisto_ King of the _Gauls_, the latter who is an ambitious +Prince and goes to War upon every the least Pretence, asserted the Rights +of his Sister-in-law without Delay, and pleading that she ought to succeed +to the Inheritance of the King her Brother, notwithstanding the _Salic_ +Law establish’d in _Germany_, he sent a formidable Army into the Dominions +of my deceased Nephew, where the _Gauls_ at first meeting with no +Resistance, committed enormous Cruelties, and extended their Fury even to +the Violation of the Tomb of the Kings my Ancestors, whose dead Bodies +were stripp’d and exposed to the Caprice of the unruly Soldiers: +Calamities, which perhaps would never have happen’d, had it not been for +my Brother’s fatal Passion for _Gertrude_; because in all Appearance if he +had liv’d in a good Understanding with his lawful Spouse; he would have +had more Children by her, and I would not have had the Vexation to see the +Throne of my Fathers posses’d by a foreign Family. + + _KEY to the History of GERTRUDE_. + + _Albion_, England. + _Alfrede I._ James I. _King of_ England. + _Ariovisto_, Lewis XIV. + _Belgium_, Holland. + _Boyens, (Prince of) the Elector of_ Bavaria. + _Catti, (Princess of) the Princess of_ Hesse-Cassel. + _Cæsar, the_ Emperor. + _Clodius, the Emperor_ Leopold. + _Germania_, Germany. + _Gertrude, the Baroness of_ Degenfeldt. + _Malcolm_, Charles-Lewis _Elector_ Palatine. + _Meroveus_, Philip _of_ France, _Duke of_ Orleans, _Brother to_ + Lewis XIV. + _Montpayen_, Heidelberg. + _Pluibourg_, Ratisbon. + _Romans, the_ Imperialists. + _Rome_, Vienna. + _Suevi, (King of) the Margrave of_ Baden-Dourlach. + + _End of the History of_ Gertrude. + + * * * * * + +I have not scrupled to give you this History, because all the Persons who +are Subjects of it are dead. I wrote it very much in haste, for the +Diversion of the Princess _d’A----_, so that you must not be surpriz’d if +you don’t meet with all that Exactness which there ought to be in this +little Narrative; tho’ I must tell you again that every Tittle of it is +true, so that you may read it as a History, and not as a Romance. + +I have fix’d my Resolution, and now am setting out for _Rome_; therefore +please to direct to me at _Venice_. I go to-morrow to a great +Hunting-Match that is to be at _Darmstadt_, where I shall stay two Days: +From thence I shall go and spend two more with the Count _de Hanau_; and +then will I begin my Pilgrimage to the Holy Places. I am most entirely, +&c. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXII. + + + _SIR_, _Munich, April_ 2, 1730. + +Since you received my last I have done and seen a great many Things. On +the 23d of _March_ I set out from _Frankfort_ for DARMSTADT, the Capital +of the upper County of _Catzenellenbogen_, and the Residence of +_Ernest-Lewis_ Landgrave of _Hesse-Darmstadt_[154]. + +This Town is extremely small, and only enclosed with Pallisadoes. If the +Prince’s Palace had been finish’d according to its Model, it would have +been one of the greatest and most magnificent in _Europe_, and there might +have been Lodgings for the Emperor, and all the nine Electors of the +Empire. It would have been bigger than the Town, and have cost immense +Sums: That Part which is finish’d makes a very grand Appearance. But all +those magnificent Works which the Landgrave Regent at first carried on +with very great Vigour are entirely discontinu’d, and there’s no +Appearance that they will ever be taken in hand again. The old Palace is +much more commodious than it seems to be; its Apartments being convenient, +and richly furnish’d. The Landgrave does not live in the Palace, but leads +a very retir’d Life in a little House upon the Square, where he is never +seen but upon Sundays and Holidays. He amuses himself in turning of Ivory, +making Chymical Experiments, and in Drawing. He loves Hunting above all +things whatsoever. He delights in Agriculture, and in Music, and it may +strictly be said that he is never unemploy’d. He has very great Knowledge +natural and acquir’d. He has seen a great many Countries, and tho’ sixty +Years of Age he still looks well, and his grey Hairs, not to call them +white, give him a venerable Air. He sits a Horse very well, walks well, +and seems to enjoy perfect Health. His Wife was _Dorothy_ of +_Brandenbourg-Onoltzbach_, who died in 1705. They say that he lately +married _N---- de Spiegel_ the Widow of Count _Seibelsdorf_ a +Lieutenant-General in the Service of _Bavaria_. Be that as it will, the +Marriage is not public, and the Lady still goes by the Name of her former +Husband by whom she has Children. ’Tis true that the Landgrave pays her +very great Distinction, and indeed she is very amiable. + +This Prince commonly dines at a little Table spread only for four People; +but on Sundays and Holidays he goes to the Palace, and dines with his Son +at a Table cover’d for sixteen Guests, and sups with the Ladies who are +never seen at Court but upon those Days. ’Tis a very hard matter to come +at the Speech of the Landgrave, and much more to that of his only Son the +hereditary Prince. The Hunting-Officers are the only Persons that have the +Privilege of Access to them; for which reason this is not one of the most +entertaining Courts; and a Man is under a necessity of throwing himself +into the Town, where indeed there are a great many People of Merit who are +civil to Foreigners. + +The hereditary Prince _Lewis_, the only Son of the Landgrave, who was born +the 5th of _April_ 1691, is a handsome Man, has a noble Air, dances well, +mounts a Horse well, has Vivacity, Spirit, and Politeness, but is often +thoughtful, melancholy, and goes for Retirement to the Woods, where he is +passionately fond of Hunting; but is apt to create himself Uneasiness, and +does not know how to dissemble it. Tho’ he has all the Qualities necessary +to shine in Company, yet he sees but very little. He married +_Charlotta-Christina of Hanau_, who dying in 1726, left him three Sons and +two Daughters, the eldest of which was then seven Years of Age. By virtue +of this Marriage the Prince is Heir to the Count of _Hanau’s_ Estate in +_Alsace_, and to all his Freeholds in general, which will be a very rich +Succession. + +Nevertheless the Court of _Darmstadt_ is very numerous. The Landgrave has +a great many Counsellors of State, Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber and Court, +and a greater Number still of Officers of the Venery, and Huntsmen. There +is not a Province in _Germany_ more proper for Hunting, nor in _Europe_ +where there are more Deer. ’Tis a flat even Country, and a gravelly Soil +interspersed with Woods thro’ which there are cut noble Roads. I have seen +the Deer come up close to the Pallisadoes of the Town, and at their +Rutting-time I have heard them cry as I lay in my Bed. This great plenty +of Deer is extremely troublesome to the Peasants who are abroad day and +night to watch their Fields. The Landgrave and the hereditary Prince are +so jealous of their Game that they reckon it as bad a Crime as Murder for +any one to kill a Deer; and tho’ ’tis an establish’d Custom among almost +all Sovereigns to punish with Severity all those that kill a Creature +which God however certainly created for the Use of all Mankind, yet there +is no Prince who observes this Law more strictly than the Landgrave. + +I cannot give you a more certain Account of the Revenues of this Prince +than of those of all the other Sovereigns. ’Tis said that he has 5 or +600000 Florins _per Ann._ I am not very well inform’d of the number of his +Troops, for I have only seen his Regiment of Guards which is in very +compleat Order. His Horse-Guards are also very fine Troops, and commanded +by the General _Miltitz_, who is at the same time Grand Marshal of the +Court, the Honours of which he performs in a very handsome manner. + +Tho’ the Soil at _Darmstadt_ is very gravelly, it produces excellent +Pulse. I have seen Asparagus at the Landgrave’s Table, three of which +weigh’d a Pound, tho’ indeed they were not altogether so nice. I remember +that in a former Journey which I made hither in the Month of _December_, +there were brought to the Landgrave in several Pots of Porcellain, a Dwarf +Cherry-Tree laden with Cherries; Strawberry-Plants, an Almond-Tree, and in +short, the Fruits of all the Seasons. + +The intended Hunting-Match, for what reason I know not, was put off; and +as I came hither only to see it, I staid but one Day and went to HANAU. +The Count and the Princess of _Hanau_ were but lately return’d from +_Alsace_. The Town of _Hanau_ is situate on a large Plain to the right of +the _Main_. ’Tis divided into two Wards, the old and the new Town: The +latter is much bigger than the former: It was built by the _Walloon_ +Protestants, who, during the Duke of _Alva’s_ Persecution under _Philip_ +II. King of _Spain_, quitted the _Netherlands_ and came to settle at +_Hanau_, which they fortify’d, and built in such a manner that all the +Streets run parallel. The Count keeps several Companies in pay, from which +he makes Detachments for the Quota he is oblig’d to furnish, as a Member +of the Circle of the _Upper Rhine_. + +The _Walloons_ who are settled at _Hanau_ have established several +Manufactures there, especially Woollen Stuffs. The _Calvinists_, the +_Lutherans_, and the _Jews_ are tolerated here, and as for us Catholics, +we may go to Mass where we please. + +The Count’s Palace is in the old Town: ’Tis an ancient Building, and makes +no great Appearance, but the Apartments are commodious, and very richly +furnish’d. The Count has a very pretty Pleasure-House a quarter of a +League from _Hanau_, call’d PHILIPSRUHE, _i. e._ (_Philip’s Repose_) and +built by the late Count _de Hanau_, Brother to the Count Regent[155]. +’Twas at this Seat that I found the Count of _Hanau_. There was a very +numerous Attendance, and I heartily wish’d I could have staid there a few +days. Few Princes in the Empire live more elegantly than the Count _de +Hanau_. The Lady who directs the whole Houshold, and keeps all things in +wonderful Order is the Princess[156] who is of the Family of +_Brandenbourg-Anspach_, and Sister to the Queen of _England_. At this +Court you have all the Liberty than can be desired. When you first come a +Chamber is provided for your Lodging, and a Footman order’d to wait on +you. Every Morning an Officer comes to know what you will please to have +for Breakfast; and there’s every Thing to be had that you call for. If +afterwards you have a mind to go out a Hunting, you send to the Great +Huntsman for a Guide and to the Count for Horses out of his Stables. If +you come back too late for Dinner at Court, you are serv’d very elegantly +in your own Apartment. In the Evening when you are retir’d from Company, a +Butler takes care to provide you with Wine and Beer. The Servants of +Foreigners diet with those of the Count. His own Table which is commonly +for eighteen Guests is served as well as most, and a second Table is +serv’d with the same Magnificence. The Count has a very great Family, and +lives every way like a Prince; and indeed ’tis his own Fault that he is +not one, for he has had the Imperial Diploma for it a long while, but he +does not care to make use of it; saying, he had rather be the first Count +than the lowest Prince. He is the last Male of his Family. After his Death +the County of _Hanau_ relapses to the Landgrave of _Hesse-Cassel_, +according to the Treaty of Confraternity made between the several Families +of _Saxony_, _Hesse_, and _Hanau_, which imports that the said Families +shall succeed one another. The King of _Poland_ as Elector of _Saxony_ +ought to have had his Share in the Succession to the County of _Hanau_, +but his Majesty by a Treaty yielded his Rights to the Landgrave of +_Cassel_. As to the Lands in _Alsace_, and the Freeholds, they revert, as +I told you before, to the Children of the hereditary Prince of +_Darmstadt_. + +The Count of _Hanau_ seems to be much older than he is in reality. He is a +very civil Nobleman, and Hunting is a Diversion of which he is extremely +fond, so that to kill a Deer upon his Lands is an unpardonable Crime; and +the lesser Game, such as Rabbits, Hares, and Partridges, are equally his +Care. All these Creatures spoil the Fields; but they serve for the Count’s +Amusement, while the poor Peasant is oblig’d to pay his Tax, and dares not +speak a Word. + +From _Hanau_ to MUNICH I never made a stop; but after having travell’d +thro’ _Wurtzbourg_, _Nurembourg_, and _Augsbourg_ arrived here last night, +and propose to set out again to-morrow, and after two or three days stay +at _Saltzbourg_ shall proceed by the way of _Tirol_ to _Venice_, where I +beg you would not fail to let me hear from you. + +I am just come from attending the Obsequies of _Theresa-Cunegunda +Sobieski_ Electoress of _Bavaria_, Mother to the Elector. This Princess +died lately at _Venice_, to which City she retir’d eighteen Months ago, +and her Corpse is forthwith expected to be interr’d in the Tomb of the +Electoral Family. She has left, as ’tis said, near six millions of +Florins, which, since she has made no Will, are to be equally shar’d +between the four Princes her Sons. She has moreover left a Daughter who is +a Nun in a Convent of this City. In 1719, when she took the Habit, I was +present. She chose this retir’d Life against the Will of her Father the +Elector, who did all he could to dissuade her from it; and she liv’d in +great Reputation for her Piety. But to return to the Obsequies of the +Electoress: The Elector and Electoress assisted at them, together with the +Elector of _Cologne_, the Duke _Ferdinand_, the Bishop of _Freisingen_, +the Duchess _Ferdinand_, and the two Princes her Sons. These Princes had +Cowls upon their Heads, and great Cloaks, which is not one of the most +becoming Dresses. The Family of _Bavaria_ observes a very singular Custom, +which is, never to give a black Livery, nor to line their Coaches. I think +this reasonable enough, for it does not look very well in a pompous +Funeral. + + _I am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXIII. + + + _SIR_, _Saltzbourg, April 2, 1730._ + +At my departure from _Munich_ I went and din’d at _Eversberg_, a Village +belonging to the Reverend Fathers the Jesuits, who have a House there +which is a large one, and that’s all ’tis good for. I went and lay at +WASSERBOURG a Town of _Bavaria_ built upon a Rock, so encompass’d with the +River _Inn_ that ’tis a perfect Peninsula. Mountains and Rocks hang over +this Town as if they wou’d crush it, and indeed the Place is not worth +much Description. It was settled as a Dowry on the Electoress +_Theresa-Cunigunda Sobieski_ who died last Month, but this Princess would +never live in it, nor indeed do I know any other Prince that would. + +After having pass’d the _Inn_[157] over a very slender wooden Bridge I +climb’d a high Mountain, got down another, ascended a third, and so I +travell’d all the way up Hill and down Hill till I came within two Leagues +of _Saltzbourg_, where the Country becomes more passible. + +The City of SALTZBOURG as well as the whole Archbishoprick takes its Name +from the River _Saltz_ which passes thro’ the City and Country. It rises +in _Tirol_ and loses itself in the _Inn_. The Mountains that are about +the Town make it not near so broad as ’tis long, tho’ take it all together +’tis not a large Town. ’Tis very well fortify’d, and has a Castle which +standing on an Eminence forms as it were a Citadel. ’Tis furnish’d with a +good Arsenal, and all manner of Ammunition, and I have been assur’d that +of Gunpowder alone there are no less than 20000 Quintals. Some Years ago +when I was here, Lightning fell so near this Magazine that it wanted but +half a Foot of penetrating to the Powder, which if it had touch’d I fancy +I shou’d never have wrote to you more. There is always a Guard of fifty +Men at the Castle, and the Garison of the Town consists of 600 Men who are +lodg’d in the Caserns. + +The City of _Saltzbourg_ contains finer Edifices than many great Towns. It +has a magnificent Cathedral which was consecrated the 24th of _September_ +1628, by an Archbishop who was of the Family of the Counts _de Lodron_. +’Tis a vast Structure of Free-stone, and has a stately Front which may be +reckon’d the compleatest in _Germany_. The skilful Architect by whom it +was directed has very much copy’d the Front of St. _Agnes’s_ Church in the +Square of _Navona_ at _Rome_. It has four Marble Statues bigger than the +Life, which represent St. _Peter_, St. _Paul_, St. _Rupert_, and St. +_Virgilius_, of whom the two latter were the first Archbishops of this +See. The whole Church is adorn’d in the inside with Pilastres of the +_Corinthian_ Order. ’Tis built in the Form of a Cross with a very high +Dome which separates the Nave from the Choir. The high Altar which is at +the bottom of the Choir is of Marble, as are the two Chapels that form the +Cross: The Pavement of the Church is of great Squares of Marble of various +Colours. ’Tis pity there was not more Inlet for Light, the Dome being the +only lightsome Part of it. But as the Church is magnificent the Ornaments +of the high Altar are more so. Upon the Grand Festivals it bears a Sun of +Gold adorn’d with precious Stones to the Value of 100000 Crowns, a great +Cross of massy Gold, and four golden Candlesticks. The Front of the Altar, +and the Tabernacle are of massy Silver of excellent Workmanship. + +St. _Rupert_ surnam’d the Apostle of _Bavaria_ was the first Bishop of +_Saltzbourg_ in 582. _Leo_ III. whom the Church honour’d as a Saint, +erected this Bishoprick into an Archbishoprick in favour of St. _Arnould_, +in the Year 798. He had for Suffragans the Bishops of _Freisingen_, +_Ratisbon_, _Passau_, _Briken_, _Gurck_, _Chiemsee_, _Seggau_, and +_Lavant_. + +The Archbishop has a Right of Nomination to the four last Bishopricks; +only the Nomination to the Bishoprick of _Gurck_ is alternative between +this Prelate and the Emperor, as Archduke of _Austria_. The four Bishops +bear the Title of Princes of the Empire, and enjoy all the Prerogatives +annexed to that high Dignity. Notwithstanding this, the Archbishop never +gives them the Preference, and when he talks to them, only compliments +them with the Title of _Euer Freuntschaft_, i. e. _Your Friendship_. +Service is perform’d in this Metropolis according to the Usage observ’d in +St. _Peter’s_ Church at _Rome_. The Chapter is compos’d of the Archbishop, +a Provost, a Dean, and twenty four Canons, all Men of Quality, who are +only oblig’d to four Months Residence, and the rest of the Time they may +go where they please. Both the Provost and Dean have the Crosier and +Mitre[158]. The Archbishop, as well as the Elector of _Cologn_, has the +Privilege of dressing in the Habit of a Cardinal. This Prelate has the +Directorship of the College of Princes at the Dyet of the Empire +alternatively with the Archduke of _Austria_. He is moreover _Legatus +natus & perpetuus_ of the Holy See, and Primate of _Germany_. His +Titles are these, ‘_Leopold_, by the Grace of God, Archbishop of +_Saltzbourg_, and Prince of the Empire, perpetual Legate of the Holy +Apostolic See of _Rome_, Primate of _Germany_, descended of the +illustrious Family of the Barons of _Firmian_.’ + +The Archbishop at his coming to the See must pay 100000 Crowns to _Rome_ +for the Pall, but the Country generally raises it for him, besides making +a free Gift of the like Sum to its new Prince. The Revenues of this +Prelate are about 1500000 Florins a Year. The very Salt which is carried +into _Bavaria_ and _Swabia_ brings him in 30000 Crowns. He is absolute +Master of all his Revenues, and accountable to no body for what he lays +out. The present Archbishop is of _Tirol_, of a distinguish’d Family, but +not favour’d much by Fortune. He was born the 26th of _May_ 1679, and +succeeded _Francis-Anthony_ the Count _de Harrach_. His Advancement was +owing to the Division of the Chapter, who all wanted to be either Bishops +themselves, or else to advance some one Friend or Cousin. After a great +many Debates and Messages sent forwards and backwards, their Choice fell +upon the Baron _de Firmian_ who was at that time very infirm, which was +the only Thing that procur’d him the Mitre; for the Parties that divided +the Chapter united in his favour, because they thought him a Man not very +long-liv’d; but they believ’d however he might live long enough to give +each Party time to form its Cabals for advancing that Person to the +Bishoprick who they thought would best serve their Purpose. But all those +Gentlemen were mightily mistaken as to the Archbishop’s Life. For this +Prelate, like another Pope _Sixtus_ V. lost all his Infirmities when he +found the Mitre, and is very like to out-live many of his Electors. + +This Prince is tall, has an austere haughty Air; seldom makes any +Compliments, and talks much less, except when he is hunting, which is all +the Pleasure of his Life. He is almost always alone, and generally eats by +himself. In the Summer-time he keeps altogether in the Country where he is +of very difficult Access, and keeps no Retinue, nor Company. He is accus’d +of being too thrifty, and I don’t know but there may be something in it; +but perhaps he would not appear to be quite so saving if he had succeeded +any body else in the Bishoprick but the Count _de Harrach_, the most +generous, noble, and most magnificent Prelate of his Time. The Archbishop +is naturally a Valetudinarian; and under God, he is oblig’d for the +Preservation of his Life to his Physician _Gersner_, a Native of _Vienna_, +a Man of great Skill in his Profession, and of strict Honour and +Integrity, who has got so much the length of the Prelate’s Foot that he is +almost the only Person that dares to speak to him with Freedom. The Count +_d’Arco_ Son to the Archbishop’s Sister is this Prelate’s only Darling; +for to the surprize of the whole Court, and Chapter, he prefers him before +a Nephew of his own Name, a Canon of _Saltzbourg_ and of _Trent_, a young +Clergyman of great Hopes. + +The Archbishop of the _Lodron_ Family who caus’d the Metropolis to be +built, likewise founded the Archiepiscopal Palace, the Fortifications, and +the Stables, which were all finish’d in the thirty two Years that he was +Archbishop. The Apartments of the Palace being not laid out altogether in +the modern Taste, the deceased Archbishop _Anthony_ Count _de Harrach_, +made a thorough Change in them, and left little more than the Outside +standing. The Palace at _Saltzbourg_ is now more magnificent than many +royal Houses. It contains 173 Rooms all richly furnish’d, without +reckoning the Halls and Galleries. The Archbishop’s Apartment is stately: +It has a great Marble Stair-case divided into three Flights, which leads +into a spacious Guard-Chamber, from whence one enters into the +Archbishop’s Apartment consisting of several Rooms, where able _Italian_ +Masters have adorn’d the Cielings with very good Draughts. One is really +surprized to see the Richness of the Furniture, and the infinite Variety +of other things that are distributed up and down this vast Apartment; such +as Marble Tables adorn’d with gilt Mouldings; old Porcellain of the most +beautiful sort; Lustres of massy Silver, and Rock Crystal of uncommon +Workmanship; Chandeliers also of Silver or Crystal upon large gilded +Stands, and a multitude of other things very well worth observation. + +How magnificent soever this Apartment is, there’s another made use of upon +Days of Ceremony which infinitely surpasses it. I will only mention the +principal Rooms of it. We first enter into a great Salon adorn’d with the +Pictures of no less than fourscore Archbishops of _Saltzbourg_. Next to it +there’s another Salon ingeniously and magnificently decorated, which +discovers Grandeur in every part of it. ’Tis furnish’d with a Suit of +Hangings of Crimson-Damask with Gold Lace, forming a rich Architecture in +Pilasters of the Composite Order, the Frize of which is adorn’d with a +pair of Brackets, which is a vast Addition to the whole Decoration. The +rich Gilding shines every where with profusion. At one end of the Room +there stands in the Wall a sumptuous Beaufet of Silver gilt, and at the +other there’s a rich Canopy under which the Archbishop sits when he dines +in State. There’s a stately Lustre in the middle of the Room which +consists of magnificent pieces of Rock Crystal. At the end of this grand +Apartment there are two Galleries that deserve the attention of the +Curious in Painting, who will certainly pass their time here very +agreeably, and find a great many choice Pictures done by the best +Masters. The Chimney-piece of the first of these Galleries is a great +Ornament to it, being of the finest Marble adorn’d with Brass, gilt with +Water-Gold. Over it there’s a Statue of Brass as big as the Life +representing _Antinous_. The second Gallery is as magnificent as the +first. The Floor, Cieling, Door-Cases, and all the Ornaments in general +are of fine Marble. The Walls are painted in Fresco, and exhibit +Geographical Charts of the principal Dominions in _Europe_ in divers +Pictures, which are executed with very great Art and Exactness both as to +the Painting and Disposition of the Things that are the Subjects of it. + +A third Apartment which is over the Archbishop’s is for lodging foreign +Princes, and is not inferiour to the others in Grandeur and Magnificence. +It consists of several Rooms all in a row. In one Room there are all the +Pictures of the Emperors from _Charlemain_ to _Charles_ VI. The Rooms that +follow it are hung with very rich Tapestry, particularly one Set +representing the War between _Pompey_ and _Cæsar_, which is so wonderfully +well drawn that the Marshal _de Daun_ Governour of _Milan_ offer’d 40000 +Florins for it to the late Archbishop. I shall say nothing of the other +Apartments, having treated so much of the Archiepiscopal Palace; tho’ if +it had belong’d to a Temporal Prince I should have said much less of it, +but I thought fit to give you an Idea of the Wealth of a Prelate. + +Adjoining to the Palace there is a great Building which serves for lodging +the Archbishop’s Domestics. The Stables are fit for a King, and if a +_Frenchman_ was to see them he would be forc’d to own that as to the +Inside they are more magnificent than the so much boasted Stables of +_Versailles_. They hold 150 Horses in two Rows, with a broad Walk in the +middle; and the Roof which is pretty high is supported by two Ranges of +Stone-Pillars. Next to these Stables is a Riding-House cover’d, the +Ceiling of which being painted in Fresco, represents a Tournament; and all +round it there is a Gallery. ’Tis pity that this magnificent Riding-House +is not broader. There’s another Riding-House uncovered which has not its +Fellow in the World. ’Tis a very great square Place, three Sides of which +are lin’d by very high Rocks, in which three Rows of Seats are very +artfully cut out for the Spectators, when there is any Carousal, or Combat +of wild Beasts. The whole Work is really magnificent, and the old _Romans_ +would not have been ashamed to own it. + +_Trinity-College_ Church is extremely well adorned. The Floor is of +Marble, and the Roof painted with a great deal of Art, representing the +Assumption of the Virgin, and the Crown placing on her Head by God the +Father and by Jesus Christ. The High-Altar is of a very singular Form, but +very magnificent. Two Angels of Brass, exceeding human Stature, in a +Posture of Humility and Adoration, support a Heart of Brass which serves +for a Tabernacle. Over it is a Globe, between God the Father and the +Redeemer. God the Father seems to rest his right hand upon the Globe, and +presents the left to our Lord, who puts his left upon the Globe, and in +the right holds a Cross. They are supported by very large Rays which shine +with very rich Gilding. This stately Groupe is surmounted with a Glory, in +the midst of which the Holy Ghost appears in form of a Dove, extending its +Rays over God the Father, and God the Son. The whole is of Brass gilt with +Gold, of a very curious Fancy. + +Near this magnificent Church is the Palace of _Mirabel_, where the late +Archbishop the Count _de Harrach_, used to spend the Summer. This Prince +who is truly magnificent in every thing, caus’d this House to be built at +a great Expence from the very Foundation; but the Architect whom he +employ’d has not answer’d his Intention, and it appears that he did not +understand the proper Distribution of the Apartments. Every Part of it +indeed taken distinctly, is beautiful, but there is not one in its proper +Place. The grand Stair-Case is very fine, as well for its Contrivance as +for its rich Ornaments, but ’tis placed in a Corner, and without a Guide +’tis no easy matter to find it. The Salon, which is the Master-piece of +the Archbishop’s Apartments, is worth the Observation of the Curious, with +respect to the grand Manner in which ’tis painted: Marble, Brass, and +Gilding, seem to have been bestowed on it with profusion. As to the +Pilasters, the _Corinthian_ Order is entirely observed; and there are +Basso-Relievos imitating Brass which are well design’d, and make a very +good appearance. ’Tis pity this fine Salon wants proportion, it being much +too lofty for its Size; and ’tis still more to be lamented that it has not +a Prospect over the Gardens, the River of _Saltz_, and the adjacent +Country, which are the Objects that are discover’d from the Apartments +next to the Salon. + +The Chapel of _Mirabel_ is also very magnificent; and though but of a +middling Size, is not inferior to the finest Churches. This Palace is +accompanied with Gardens finely adorned with Fountains and Statues; and +there are several Orange-Trees planted in the Ground, which are cover’d up +in the Winter in a wooden Box. + +Thus, Sir, have I given you a very particular Account of the City of +_Saltzbourg_: What remains for me is to speak of the Archbishop’s +Houshold, which will give you an Idea of his Wealth and Grandeur. This +Prince has + + A Steward, + A Great Chamberlain, + A Grand Marshal, + A Master of the Horse, + A Great Huntsman, + A Captain of the Guards, + A Master-Cook, + A Pay-Master, + Twenty-four Chamberlains, + Sixteen Gentlemen-Servants called _Truchsses_, + Sixteen Pages, + Fifteen Ushers of the Cabinet, + Eleven Ushers of the Chamber, + Forty-two Valets de Chambre, + Twenty-eight Footmen, + Eighteen Cooks. + +How many Coachmen and Grooms he has I know not, but there must be a great +number of ’em, the Archbishop having 750 Horses. + +Besides the Officers that I have now mentioned, there are also the Great +Hereditary Officers of the Archbishoprick, who are four. + +The eldest of the _Lodron_ Family is Hereditary Grand Marshal. + +The Count _de Kuenbourg_ is Great-Cup-Bearer. + +The Office of Master of the Pantry is vacant by the death of the Count _de +Thanhausen_, the last of his Family. + +The Count _de Torring_ is Great Chamberlain. + +All these Offices are executed by the eldest Sons of the Families +above-mentioned. + +The Archbishop confers the Order of St. _Hubert_, which was instituted the +25th of _November_, 1702, by the Archbishop _John-Ernest_, who has thereto +annexed six Commanderies, or Prebends, of a considerable Revenue. + +The Archbishops are obliged for most of their Wealth to the Princes of +_Bavaria_[159]. Mean time the Members of the Chapter of _Saltzbourg_ admit +of no Princes, that they may have a Plea for refusing the Princes of +_Bavaria_, of whose Power they are jealous; in which I think they shew +more regard to the Rules of Policy than those of Gratitude. + +The City of _Saltzbourg_ is worth seeing, but does not afford Amusement. +Every one lives here for his own sake, and except some Gentlemen of the +Chapter, and the Master of the Horse, who is the Count _de Truchsses +Zeil_, there’s nobody to visit. The latter is a Nobleman whose Manners and +Sentiments are intirely conformable to his Birth. I know nobody that is +more polite; and I have abundant reason to praise his Civility to me. He +is of a Family, one Branch of which is settled in _Prussia_, where it has +for a long time held distinguished Employments, and produced Subjects of +great Merit who have done the State good Service. + +I forgot to mention two things to you that are worth seeing, _viz._ the +Capuchins Convent, from whence there’s a Prospect of a vast Tract of +Country; and St. _Sebastian_’s Church-yard, in which is interr’d the +celebrated _Paracelsus_; his Tomb lies in a Place very much neglected, +behind a Door, where a _Latin_ Epitaph says, ‘There rests +_Philip-Theophrastus Paracelsus_, the famous Physician, who with wonderful +Art cured the Leprosy, Gout, Dropsy, and other incurable Distempers; and +who after having given all his Estate to the Poor, died _September_ 24, +1541.’ + +_Paracelsus_ cured most of his Patients by Sympathy, which made the +Vulgar, who are always apt to run into extremes, believe that he was a +Magician. He wrote several Books, whereof one of the most curious is his +_Treatise of Secret Philosophy_, which really contains such Passages as +would make one believe that if _Paracelsus_ was not a Conjurer himself, he +was at least one of the Sect. + +St. _Sebastian_’s Church-yard is a square Place, encompassed with a +Gallery supported by Arches: ’tis 119 Paces in length, and 96 in breadth. + +The Neighbourhood of _Saltzbourg_ is not disagreeable; and though the +Valley in which the City lies is pretty much inclosed with Mountains, yet +it presents several Objects that are pleasing to the Sight. + +The Archbishop has two Pleasure-Houses, _viz._ _Cleisheim_ and _Heilbron_, +which are both of them beautiful and magnificent. _Heilbron_ especially is +worth seeing on account of its fine Waters and Cascades. + +I hope to write to you speedily from _Venice_, and perhaps you will hear +from me when I come to _Inspruc_; but this will depend on the Stay I shall +make there, and on the departure of the Post. + + _POSTSCRIPT._ + + Since the year 1730, that this Letter was wrote, great + Revolutions have happened in the Archbishoprick of _Saltzbourg_, + with regard to Religion; for about 22,000 Persons have abandoned + this Country, together with their Estates and their Fortunes, + and declared themselves of the _Lutheran_ Communion; which is + very strange, and almost inconceivable! For in short, those + People never knew any Clergy but their own Priests, they lived + in a Country where there was no Controversy about Religion, + because all the Inhabitants were reckon’d staunch Catholics, by + consequence those People could not be instructed; and even the + greatest part of them could not read, but were bred up in such + gross Ignorance that they scarce knew the Principles of + Christianity. Therefore how could these poor People know that + they were in an Error? + + I am not ignorant that at the beginning of the pretended + Reformation, there were _Saltzburghers_ that followed the + Doctrines of _Luther_, such as _Staupitz_, Abbot of _St. + Peter_’s at _Saltzbourg_; _Paul Speratus_, a Preacher in the + Cathedral of this City; and several others. But _Lutheranism_ + was thought to be quite suppressed in this Province, when it + seem’d all on a sudden to take deeper Root than ever; tho’, as I + said before, I can’t conceive how it should happen. Is it + possible that the Archbishop, the Curates and _Priests_ should + take so little care of what ought to have been most dear to + them, I mean the Salvation of Souls, as that so many Thousands + of People should pass with them for good _Romans_, at the same + time that they abhorred _Rome_ and its Precepts? For in short, I + suppose, and believe too, that there have ever been Protestants + in this Country, since the pretended Reformation; it being not + in the power of Man to destroy a Religion when once it has had + Followers in a Country; but the Difficulty is, how those + Sectaries should subsist there, without the Knowledge of an + ecclesiastical Sovereign; and how it was possible for them, not + only to subsist, but even to multiply, and the Priests and + Archbishop not perceive it. Ought not the Curates to know the + Sentiments of their Parishioners by Confession? Ought they not + to acquaint the Archbishop their Head of it? and ought not this + Prelate and his Priests to endeavour to reclaim those that go + astray, by the Example of a lively Faith, and by charitable + Exhortations, and from a Compassion for their Error, diligently + to oppose the Propagation of it? But all this has been + neglected: The Priests, and their Archbishop, knew not there was + a Fire, ’till ’twas too late to put it out; and instead of the + Good-nature, Compassion, and Charity, which like Water were + necessary to extinguish it, they pour’d in the Oil of Hatred and + Violence, and abandoned themselves to their furious Zeal. The + haughty, rigid, and severe Archbishop, forgetting that he was + both a Father and an Archbishop, and giving way to the Violence + of his Temper, has for ever lost those Souls which he might have + hoped to reclaim, by Instructions truly pastoral, and treating + them as Children led astray; whereas this Prelate, by using the + contrary Method, has caused a great many Persons to declare + themselves Protestants, who would have died in the Bosom of the + Church, if the proper Remedies had been employed, to bring them + back to it. + + But I am persuaded that among the Emigrants of _Saltzbourg_, + there is a vast number who made Religion only a Cloak to leave + their Country, in hopes of bettering their Fortunes elsewhere, + and who were seduced by the ensnaring Temptation of throwing off + the Yoak of Submission. Be this as it will, those unfortunate + Subjects, like the _Jews_, are spread into divers Countries, as + _Germany_, _Holland_, and _Prussia_, where the King, I must + confess, (as much a Catholic as I am) has received them with a + Charity and Generosity perfectly christian and royal; his + Majesty having grudg’d neither Care nor Expence to convince the + World that as _France_ is the Asylum of unfortunate Kings, so + the Dominions of _Prussia_ are the Refuge of oppressed + Subjects. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXIV. + + + _SIR_, _Inspruc, April 9, 1730._ + +I travelled hither all the way from _Saltzbourg_, with the same Horses, +which is what I will never do again; for travelling by Post is always +best; and though ’tis more expensive, yet on the other hand ’tis less +fatiguing. + +Three Leagues from _Saltzbourg_ stands the little Town of HALLE, which +belongs to the Elector of _Bavaria_, and is a Place considerable for its +Salt-Pits. It lies in a small Valley crossed by three Rivers, form’d by +Torrents from the Mountains, which bring down a vast quantity of floating +Wood, that is stopp’d at _Halle_ by the Piles which either cross or shut +up the Rivers. They lay the Wood up in store for the Salt-Works, which +consume a great quantity of it. + +After I had been all over the Salt-Works, I went and din’d at +_Schneitzenrieth_, a sorry Village, where, however, I far’d better than I +have done at many good Towns. + +When I had dined I pursued my Journey, and having travelled four Leagues, +entred the Country of TIROL, the Passage to which is very much straitened, +so that there’s scarce room for a Waggon, by two very high Rocks or +Mountains, and two Forts between them, one belonging to the Archbishoprick +of _Saltzbourg_, and the other to the County of _Tirol_. Each Sovereign +keeps a Garrison in his Fort, and Officers to receive the Duties. + +I lay that Evening at WAHTRINGEN, the first Village in the Dominions of +_Tirol_, as one comes out of _Germany_. I here found a Parcel of Boys +running about with lighted Touchwood in their hands, to the Houses, Woods, +and Fields. Having ask’d an old Man the meaning of it, he told me that the +Wood so lighted was consecrated by the Parson of the Parish, and had the +virtue of securing all Places to which it was carried, against Lightning. +This Consecration of the Wood is always perform’d the _Saturday_ before +_Easter_, when a great Pile is erected before the Church, into which the +Parson throws Holy water, and then sets fire to It. When the whole is well +kindled, every one strives to snatch a Firebrand, with which they run to +their Houses and Lands, but with so little care that I wonder they don’t +set every place they come to in a Flame. + +From _Halle_ to _Wahtringen_ the Country is every bit uncultivated. The +Inhabitants live upon Milk, Pickled Cabbage, and Water-gruel. They have no +Corn but what comes from _Bavaria_. All their Substance and Trade is in +Cattle, and their Mountains afford excellent Pasture. + +Upon _Easter-day_ I heard Mass at _St. John_’s, a great Village where +there’s a very pretty Church. I was very much pleased with the Sermon that +was preached by the Parson, and with the Regularity with which the whole +Divine Service was performed. + +After Mass I went and din’d at ELVAN, to which place I came through a +Valley, which in the Summer time must be very agreeable, but at the +present Season is all covered with Snow. I was not more edified at +_Wahtringen_, than I was scandalized at _Elvan_, to catch my Landlord, a +clever, merry Blade, engaged with one of his Maids in something else +instead of telling their Beads. My Presence was so far from spoiling +Sport that my Landlord invited me very civilly to do as he did, assuring +me that his House was well furnish’d with Nymphs. In a very little time I +was convinced that what he said was true, for being obliged by the Cold to +stay in the common Room while one was aired for me, I saw half a score +Lasses come in, who were all of them my Landlord’s very humble Servants, +and not in the least disposed to imitate the eleven thousand Virgins. + +After Dinner, pursuing my way through Snows and Rocks, I went and lay at +_Kundahl_. Next day I got beyond the Snow, and crossed a very pleasant +Valley which brought me to RATENBERG, a Town on the Banks of the _Inn_, +defended by a Castle built on a Rock, and stronger by its Situation than +by its Works. The Elector _Maximilian-Emanuel_ of _Bavaria_ coming before +this Castle on the 13th of _June_, 1703, obliged the Garrison, which was +composed of the Militia, to surrender at Discretion. From this Fort to +_Inspruc_ I always kept along the River _Inn_, which runs through a fine +Valley between high Mountains that are much steeper on the right side of +the River than the left; nevertheless there are Houses on them that are +inhabited by the Miners. I can’t imagine how it was possible for the good +People to build in Places so inconvenient; for their Houses look as if +they were stuck on to the Rocks, and as if nothing but a Goat or a Swallow +could come at them. The whole Valley is very populous, and abounds with +pretty Villages, Castles, and fine Country-Houses. + +At the end of it stands the Town of SCHWATZ, which is very well built. The +Parish Church is an ancient, fair, large Edifice; and wholly covered with +Copper, as most of the Churches in _Tirol_ are with Tin painted green, +which has a very pretty look. The Houses at _Schwatz_ are generally of +Brick, so that ’tis very rare to see one of Timber. I observ’d at the Inn +where I din’d, and throughout the whole Country of _Tirol_, that when +People came into any House, they said to the Master of it, _Hail, Jesus +Christ!_ to which he answered, _May Christ be praised, and the holy Virgin +his Mother_. Then the Master of the House stepp’d forward, and took the +Visitor by his hand. This method of saluting is practised among all the +People throughout _Tirol_; and the Salutation is fix’d up in Print at all +the Doors, with an Advertisement tack’d to it, importing, that Pope +_Clement_ XI. had granted an hundred Days of Indulgence, and plenary +Absolution, in favour of those who should pronounce the Salutation and the +Answer. + +After having din’d at _Schwatz_, I continued to ride along the _Inn_; and +three Leagues beyond that I pass’d the River, over a Bridge near +_Fultishau_, a fine Convent of the Servite-Fryars, and went to HALLE, the +second City of _Tirol_. The reverend Fathers the _Jesuits_ have a fine +House here, and a noble Church, with a great Garden to it. The Mint is +also worth seeing, where they coin a great quantity of Species from the +Silver and Copper taken out of the Mines of _Tirol_. The Water is brought +to it by wooden Pipes. They drive a great Trade at _Halle_ in Copper, Tin, +and Salt, which is produced there in abundance, the Vent of it being +promoted by means of the River _Inn_, which becomes navigable at _Halle_. + +From this Town to _Inspruc_ ’tis two Leagues, and a strait even Road which +deserves to be planted on each side with Trees. INSPRUC, the Capital City +of _Tirol_, stands in the middle of a Valley, on the Banks of the _Inn_, +over which there’s a wooden Bridge that leads to the Suburbs. _Inspruc_ +was heretofore the Residence of the Archdukes, the Sovereigns of _Tirol_; +but since the august House of _Austria_ has been reduced in _Germany_ to +the Imperial Branch singly, this City has been only subject to Governors, +who however were always great Noblemen. _Charles_ Duke of _Lorrain_, who +married the Queen Dowager of _Poland_, Sister to the Emperor _Leopold_, +and who made himself famous by the Victories which he gain’d over the +_Turks_, held this important Office. That Prince dying at _Inspruc_, was +succeeded by _Charles_ Prince Palatine of _Newbourg_, Brother to the +Empress _Eleonora_, _Leopold_’s third Wife, but he renounced the +Government of _Tirol_, on his Accession to the Electorate. He liv’d at +_Inspruc_, with great Pomp, and his Absence is still very much lamented +there. Since he went away, the Government of _Tirol_ has remain’d vacant. +They say ’tis designed for the Archduchess _Mary-Magdalen_, the Emperor’s +youngest Sister. This I know is what the Burghers of _Inspruc_ wish for; +but I don’t think the Nobility do; because the Presence of the Archduchess +would oblige the People of Quality to be at very great Expence; for they +would be under a necessity of going to Court, as well as of carrying it +more civilly to their Vassals. + +The Count _de Konickel_ is the Chief of the Regency: He has the Title of +_Landshauptman_, which is much the same with Lieutenant-General of the +Province, wherein he has the absolute Command, and all the Sovereign +Courts depend on him. This Nobleman is a _Tirolese_, and lodges in a fine +House which has been built by order of the States of _Tirol_, for the +Residence of their _Landshauptman_. He conducts himself with Dignity, and +is civil to Foreigners. + +’Twas at _Inspruc_ that the Emperor _Charles_ V. received one of the +greatest Shocks he had met with in all his Life. For he was surprized +there with his Brother _Ferdinand_, King of the _Romans_, by _Maurice_ +Elector of _Saxony_, who, though his Creature, made War upon him +nevertheless, on account of Religion. The Emperor and his Brother were so +near being taken that they had but just time to make their Escape to +_Villaco_, a little Town upon the _Drave_ in _Carinthia_. This was a +terrible Reverse of Fortune for a Prince, who, but a few years before, had +a Pope and a King of _France_ too, his Prisoners. + +_Maximilian-Emanuel_ Elector of _Bavaria_ was not more fortunate at +_Inspruc_ than _Charles_ V. for though he made himself Master of it in +_June_ 1703, he was obliged to abandon it in _July_ following, and to +retire to _Bavaria_, after having tried in vain to force Passes which were +in a manner inaccessible by Nature, and guarded not only by the Peasants +but by regular Troops. His Design was to have joined M. _de Vendosme_ in +the County of _Trent_, and by that means to have opened a Communication +with the _Milanese_. The Elector, whilst he was retreating, ran the hazard +several times of losing his Life; and his Troops were for the most part +knock’d o’ th’ head by Stones which the Peasants hurl’d at them in the +Defiles which they were obliged to pass. + +The City of _Inspruc_ is absolutely defenceless, and were it not for its +Suburbs, would be one of the least Cities in all _Germany_; but those +Suburbs are very large, and the Residence of Persons of the greatest +Distinction. The Houses are very commodious, well built of Brick, and for +the most part with Piazzas, which is a great Conveniency to the +Foot-passengers. There was heretofore great Store of Salt here, but for +some years past the Pits are dry, which is a Loss to _Inspruc_ of no less +than 200,000 Florins a-year. + +Though the City is small yet there are several very fine things to be seen +in it. Such is the ancient Palace of the Archdukes, a vast large +Structure, but without Architecture, or any manner of Regularity. There +are Pictures in it done by skilful Hands, particularly in that call’d the +Giant’s-Hall, where the Story of _Dejanira_ is represented with very great +Art and Perfection. + +The Palace has very great Gardens belonging to it, but they are not well +kept; yet there are the Remains of noble Fountains and brazen Statues. +Among the latter is an Equestrian Statue of an Archduke of _Austria_, who +is represented as large as the Life, in Armour, with Breeches after the +Fashion of the Ancients, a Ruff, and little Boots. The Horse seems to rest +upon his Haunches, in an Attitude as if he was just ready to leap off the +Pedestal. + +The Prince _Charles_ of _Newbourg_, the present Elector Palatine, finding +the old Castle not commodious enough, caused one to be built of Wood; +which was some years ago burnt down to the ground by an accidental Fire. + +The Parish Church is of modern Building, with a great Dome raised in the +middle of the Cross. The whole Architecture of this Edifice is of the +_Corinthian_ Order. The Front is expos’d to an advantagious Point of View +on a Square, and is adorned with three Orders, one above another, which +makes the Fabric to rise in the whole to about 120 Foot height, exclusive +of a great flight of Steps to it, after the manner of _Italy_. All the +Parts of this Structure are charged with Ornaments of a clumsey Invention, +and very ill executed; so that the Confusion resulting from it is +infinitely shocking to those that have a nice Taste of Architecture. The +Inside is more tolerable than the Outside, and is even magnificent. The +whole Length from the Entrance to the Foot of the High-Altar, is 432 Feet. +The Foundation of it was laid while _Charles de Newbourg_ was Governor of +_Tirol_, who plac’d the first Stone of it. The whole Decoration of this +Church consists in Pilasters of red Marble, with a Vein of white, and the +Chapiters are of Plaister. The Roof is painted in Fresco by _Gosman-Daniel +Ossem_, a Native of _Munich_, who has succeeded so well as to give entire +satisfaction to such as have a Taste for, and Skill in things that are +curious. The High-Altar stands under the Arch at the end opposite to the +Nave of the Church. ’Tis perfectly magnificent, adorned with four great +Pillars of the Composite Order, of green Marble with white Veins, whose +Chapiters and Basons are of Marble of various Colours; and they support a +Canopy, which is form’d by four Curves fill’d with a Glory. + +The Tabernacle and the Front of the Altar are of massy Silver, charged +with several Mouldings, and Foliages of Silver gilt; and there are few +Altars more splendidly decorated. There is a miraculous Image of the holy +Virgin, which the Archduke _Leopold_, the Sovereign of _Tirol_, brought +hither from _Dresden_. That Prince made a Visit to the Elector of +_Saxony_, who shewing him his Treasure, desir’d him to chuse any Piece +that he lik’d best; _Leopold_ singled out this Figure, because he was told +that in the early days of Lutheranism, it had been cast three times in the +Fire, and always taken out again without any damage. The Archduke on his +return to his Dominions, made a Present of this Image to the Parish, and +it has ever since been held in great veneration, and never fail’d of +working great Miracles. Three great Lamps of massy Silver are continually +burning before it; and the other Chapels have each a Lamp of solid Silver +whose Light is always shining. All this Plate was given to the Church by +the Elector Palatine. + +The famous golden Roof is near the Parish Church, and serves to cover a +Balcony of the Chancery which fronts the Square. They say that _Frederic_ +of _Austria_, the Sovereign of _Tirol_, caused this Roof to be made, to +let his Subjects see that he was not so bare of Money as they thought him, +and that he did not deserve the Nickname they had given him of the +_Pennyless Prince_. There are many however who affirm that this Roof is +not of Gold, while others say the contrary. As far as I can judge of it, I +believe ’tis of Copper only covered with very thin Plates of Gold, and by +consequence of no great Value. And supposing the whole Roof was of solid +Gold, I don’t believe the Expence was very extraordinary, though to be +sure it was by much too great for so mean a purpose. + +The House or College of the reverend Fathers the Jesuits, is a very great +Building in which no Cost has been spared. Its principal Front is 166 +Paces in length. These Fathers are the Directors of the University. Near +to their College is the Church of the _Franciscans_, whose Convent was +founded by the pious Legacies of the Emperor _Maximilian_, who on his +Death-bed ordered his Successor to cause this House and Church to be built +at _Inspruc_. His Grandson _Ferdinand_ I. Son to _Philip_ the Fair, +perform’d his Will, and in honour of his Grandfather’s Memory, raised him +a Marble Tomb which may be rank’d among the most stately _Mausoleums_ in +_Europe_. The Emperor _Maximilian_ is there represented on his Knees upon +a Cushion, with his Hands lifted up to Heaven, and as it were prostrate in +Prayer: He is adorned with the Crown, and the Imperial _Dalmatic_. This +Figure is of a gigantic Size, and admirably well done in Brass. ’Tis +plac’d on a great high Base of black Marble, forming an oblong Square, on +an Ascent of three Steps of red Marble. The whole Base is divided into +twenty-four Compartiments, or square Tables of white Marble, representing +the memorable Actions of _Maximilian_ in excellent Bas-Reliefs. The four +cardinal Virtues in a mournful Attitude, are represented in Brass, as +sitting on the Corners of the _Mausoleum_, and looking on _Maximilian_’s +Statue. The entire _Mausoleum_ stands by itself in the middle of the +Church; and the following Inscription is engraved in Letters of Gold all +round the Base of this Monument; + + IMPERATORI CÆSARI MAXIMILIANO, PIO, FELICI, AUGUSTO, PRINCIPI + TUM PACIS TUM BELLI ARTIBUS OMNIUM ÆTATIS SUÆ REGUM LONGE + CLARISSIMO; SUB CUJUS FELICI IMPERIO INCLYTA GERMANIA, + DULCISSIMA IPSIUS PATRIA, TAM ARMIS QUAM LITERARUM STUDIIS PLUS + QUAM UNQUAM ANTEHAC FLORERE CAPUTQUE SUPER ALIAS NATIONES + EXTOLLERE CŒPIT: CUJUS INSIGNIA FACTA TABELLIS INFERIORIBUS, + QUAMVIS SUB COMPENDIO, EXPRESSA CONSPICIUNTUR. IMPERATOR CÆSAR + FERDINANDUS, PIUS, FELIX, AUGUSTUS, AVO PATERNO PERQUAM COLENDO, + AC BENE MERITO, PIETATIS ATQUE GRATITUDINIS ERGO POSUIT. NATUS + EST DIE XXVII MARTII ANNO DOMINI M.CCCC.LIX. WELSÆ IN AUSTRIA + DENATUS. + +All this fine _Mausoleum_ was executed with very great Care and Skill, by +_Alexander Colin_, a Native of _Mechlin_; the Picture of which ingenious +Painter, and that of his Wife, are kept in the Church, as an +Acknowledgment due to that excellent Artist. This _Mausoleum_ was mightily +enriched by the Magnificence of _Frederic_ Archduke of _Austria_, surnamed +the _Pennyless Prince_, who caused to be placed in the Nave of the Church +twenty-eight Statues of Brass seven Foot in height, representing so many +Princes and Princesses that were related to the House of _Austria_. They +are set up in two Rows from the great Gate to the Altar, and therefore +separate the Nave from the two Wings on the Sides. ’Tis pity that those +Statues are in the hands of Monks who neglect them very much, and suffer +the Dust to eat into them. They would do much better in a Royal Palace: +Some of them are in great perfection. I fancy you will be glad to know the +Names of the Persons they represent. + + * * * * * + +I. The first, beginning on the right Side of the Altar, is the Figure of +_Joan_ of _Castile_, Mother to _Charles_ V. and _Ferdinand_ I. the Heads +of the two Branches of the House of _Austria_; the first of which became +extinct by the Death of _Charles_ II. King of _Spain_, but the second +still flourishes among us with Glory in the Person of the August _Charles_ +VI. + +II. _Ferdinand_ the Catholic, Father to _Joan_. + +III. _Cunigonda_ Archduchess, Daughter to the Emperor _Frederic_ IV. and +Wife to _Albert_ of _Bavaria_, who died a Nun. + +IV. _Margaret_, Daughter to _Henry_ Duke of _Carinthia_ and Count of +_Tirol_, surnamed the _Pious_, because she founded and built several +Convents. This Princess was nicknamed _Margaret Wide-Mouth_: She was +marry’d first to _John_ Margrave of _Moravia_, Son to the Emperor +_Charles_ IV. whom she surviv’d, and marry’d to her second Husband +_Lewis_, Margrave of _Brandenburg_, Son to the Emperor _Lewis_ of +_Bavaria_, whom she also surviv’d, and finding herself a Widow a second +time, and without Issue to enjoy what she had, she made a Present of the +County of _Tirol_ whereof she was Sovereign, to her Cousins _Rodolph_, +_Albert_, and _Leopold_ of _Austria_, which Grant was confirm’d by the +Emperor _Charles_ IV. in 1364. + +V. _Mary of Burgundy_, Wife to the Emperor _Maximilian_ I. the richest +Heiress of her Time. + +VI. _Elizabeth_, the Daughter of the Emperor _Sigismond_, and Wife to the +Emperor _Albert_ II. who carry’d the Duchy of _Luxembourg_ to the House of +_Austria_. She was Mother to the unfortunate King _Ladislaus_. + +VII. _Godfrey_ of _Bouillon_, Duke of _Lorrain_, King of _Jerusalem_, +plac’d here among the Princes of the House of _Austria_, as being +descended from the same Family as they. + +VIII. _Albert_ I. Emperor. + +IX. _Frederic_, Archduke of _Austria_, he who was nicknamed Prince +_Pennyless_. + +X. _Leopold_ of _Austria_, surnamed the _Virtuous_, Son of _Albert_ the +_Wise_. + +XI, and XII. Opinions are very much divided about the Persons who are +represented by these two Statues; but ’tis generally thought they are the +Emperors _Charles_ V. and _Ferdinand_ I. + +XIII. The Emperor _Frederic_ IV. Father to _Maximilian_ I. + +XIV. _Albert_ II. Emperor, King of _Hungary_ and _Bohemia_, and Father to +the unfortunate King _Ladislaus_. + +XV. _Clovis_, the first Christian King of _France_, who is plac’d among +the Princes of the House of _Austria_, because their Genealogists derive +them from the ancient _Franks_ who subdued _France_. + +XVI. _Philip_ I. call’d the Fair, King of _Spain_. + +XVII. The Emperor _Rodolph_ I. + +XVIII. The Archduke _Albert_, call’d the _Wise_. + +XIX. _Theodoric_ King of the _Goths_. I am not a Genealogist good enough +to tell you in what Relation he stands to the House of _Austria_. + +XX. _Ernest_, Archduke, Grandfather to _Maximilian_ I. + +XXI. _Theodebert_ Count of _Provence_, from whom descended the Dukes of +_Burgundy_ and the Counts of _Hapsburg_. + +XXII. _Arthur_, Prince of _Wales_, who marry’d _Catherine_ of _Arragon_. + +XXIII. _Sigismond_, Archduke and Count of _Tirol_, who adopted the Emperor +_Maximilian_ I. + +XXIV. _Blanche Mary_, the second Wife of _Maximilian_ I. which Princess +was the Daughter of _John Galeas_ Duke of _Milan_. + +XXV. _Margaret_, Daughter of _Maximilian_ I. who was marry’d first to +_John_ a Prince of _Spain_, and secondly to _Philibert_ Duke of _Savoy_. + +XXVI. _Cimburge_, Wife of _Ernest_ the Archduke, and Mother to the Emperor +_Frederic_ IV. + +XXVII. _Charles_ the _Bold_, Duke of _Burgundy_, Father to _Mary_ of +_Burgundy_ who was Wife to _Maximilian_ I. + +XXVIII. _Philip_, Duke of _Burgundy_, Father to _Charles_ the _Bold_. + + * * * * * + +Besides these twenty-eight Statues there are twenty three others plac’d +upon the Cornish of the Portico which separates the Nave from the Choir: +They are of Brass two Foot high, and represent those Kings and Princes +whom the Church honours as Saints. + +I am farther to acquaint you of the Chapel of this Church, call’d the +Silver Chapel, because of the Image of the Virgin there of solid Silver as +big as the Life in the middle of the Altar, with a great many Images of +Saints all of the same Metal. The Ascent to this Chapel is by a winding +Stair-Case. Here is to be seen the stately Tomb of _Ferdinand_ Archduke of +_Austria_, Count of _Tirol_, Son to the Emperor _Ferdinand_ I. This +Mausoleum is under an Arch which is pretty high. _Ferdinand_, whose +Figure is of white Marble, seems to be asleep upon a Bed of black Marble +rais’d one Foot from the Ground. The whole Arch is lin’d with Marble of +various Colours, forming divers Compartments of very curious Workmanship, +where you see the Arms of the Provinces reduc’d to the Obedience of the +House of _Austria_: The different Colours are shewn by precious Stones +enchas’d in Marble, and so curiously done that the Work seems to be +enamel’d. Round the same Arch are plac’d five Bas-Reliefs, representing in +as many Pictures the memorable Actions of _Ferdinand_. Five other +Bas-Reliefs contain the Images of that Prince’s Patrons, _viz._ JESUS +CHRIST, St. _Anthony_ of _Padua_, St. _George_, St. _Thomas_, and St. +_Leopold_. + +Near the said Tomb stands that of _Philippina_ of _Welserin_, who was born +at _Augsburg_, and the Wife of the Archduke _Ferdinand_, by whom she had +two Sons, _Charles_ the Margrave of _Burgau_, and _Andrew_ Cardinal of +_Austria_. This _Mausoleum_ is of Free-stone and has nothing remarkable +more than the following Epitaph: + + FERDINANDUS D. G. ARCHIDUX, DUX BURGUNDIÆ, COMES TIROL, + PHILIPPINÆ CONJUGI CHARISSIMÆ FIERI CURAVIT. OBIIT 24 Aprilis, + 1580. + +The Franciscan who shew’d me this Chapel assur’d me that it was one of the +First-rate Chapels in the World, on account of the Indulgences which had +been annex’d to it by the Beneficence of the Popes; that it was upon a par +with the Chapel of the _Holy Sepulchre_ at _Jerusalem_, with the Churches +of _St. John de Lateran_, _St. Mary major_, and _St. Gregory_ at _Rome_; +and that, in fine, a Mass said in this Chapel for the Repose of a Soul +departed, was enough to deliver it out of Purgatory. + +These, Sir, are the Remarks that I made in this City, from whence I am +making ready to set out to-morrow. I expect to be well jolted all the way +to _Venice_, where to make my self amends I will take my Pleasure in a +_Gondola_. I wish with all my heart I had your Company there; we should +then have the Satisfaction of seeing a great many fine Sights together. +But for want of this Satisfaction I shall never cease to think of you; and +pray don’t forget me, but believe me to be for ever, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXV. + + + _SIR_, _Venice, April_ 27, 1730. + +I wrote to you from _Inspruc_ the very Day before I set out from thence +for this Place, to which I arriv’d without any Misfortune. About three +quarters of a League from _Inspruc_ we came among very tiresome and +disagreeable Mountains, the highest of which is call’d the _Brenner_, a +Name that the Country People gave it when they clear’d it of the Wood, and +burnt it. This Mountain is much more rugged on the side of _Trent_ than +’tis towards _Inspruc_; ’tis for nine Months together cover’d with Snow, +and I found a great deal remaining on it still; yet ’tis inhabited to the +very Top. There is a Post-House, a Tavern, and a Chapel in which Mass is +only said when the Snows are melted: It produces Corn and Hay in +abundance. Near the Post-House there is a considerable Spring which at +first forms a large Basin, and then divides into two Torrents which +quickly change into Rivers, one whereof falls into the _Inn_ above +_Inspruc_, and the other, after becoming navigable two Leagues from +_Bolsano_, loses itself in the _Adige_ above _Trent_. The Passage of the +_Brenner_ is very painful, and sometimes impracticable when it snows or +rains; so that Travellers are often oblig’d to stay several Days till the +Return of fair Weather, which is the more inconvenient because the Inns on +both Sides are of the worst sort. + +_Stertzingen_ a little Town four Post-Stages from _Inspruc_, has nothing +remarkable; however I was well accommodated there. Next Day I went and +din’d at BRIXEN an Episcopal City in an agreeable Valley, where I found +the Season very forward. The Country between _Brixen_ and _Bolsano_ is +extremely populous, and so manur’d that the steepest Mountains are +cultivated. + +BOLSANO is a pretty Town well inhabited, and drives a considerable Trade, +having no less than four Fairs a Year. Its Situation is very agreeable, in +the middle of a fine large Valley full of Villages and Vineyards. The Air +here is much softer than in the rest of _Tirol_, and I found Trees here in +full Verdure while in the Country they were but just budded. The Vines are +very carefully watched by Men who keep Guard in Huts rais’d upon three +Poles plac’d cross-wise, and high enough to command the Vineyards. +_Misson_ in his Voyage to _Italy_ says, that these Huts or _Guerites_ were +for lodging the Guards that are posted to hinder the Bears from eating the +Grapes. I know not who could tell him that there were any Bears in this +Country, and if there are ’tis hardly probable they would venture into a +Valley so populous as that of _Bolsano_. The Wines of this Valley are the +best in all _Tirol_; but they must be drank, as must all the Wines of this +Country, the very Year of their Growth, or else they grow luscious, and +then turn crabbed. + +The Valley of _Bolsano_ which extends to _Trent_ is throughout equally +agreeable; and is not incumber’d by those horrid Mountains that we were +pester’d with in the Road from _Inspruc_. + +TRENT is celebrated for the Council formerly held there. I went to see the +Church of St. _Mary major_, where the Fathers of that Council held their +Assembly. It has nothing remarkable besides its Organs which are of too +enormous a Size for a Church, but are a very curious piece of Work; for +they not only exhibit various Sounds, but imitate Vocal Music, the Notes +of divers Birds, and the Noise of Kettle-Drums and Trumpets. The Bishop of +_Trent_ is a Prince of the Empire. The See is now vacant by the Death of +the Count _de Wolckenstein_ the last Bishop. The Chapter has fix’d the +Election for next _May_. A great many Travellers highly extol the Bishop’s +Palace, but for my own part, I was not so fortunate as to observe any +thing in it that was worthy of Attention. + +Throughout all _Tirol_ the Common People are very ill-favour’d: Most of +the Women are disguis’d by Wens in their Throat[160], and as if that was +not enough they disfigure themselves by their Dress. The Country Women +wear Stockings which have no Feet, and are gather’d into many little Folds +from the Ancle to the Calf of the Leg: Their Shoes are exactly like those +the Men wear. Their Petticoats are exceeding short, and ty’d up almost as +high as their Breasts which are very large. With all this they have a Pair +of Stays which reaches down to their Waist, and renders them compleatly +deform’d. Instead of other Head-dress they wear a green high-crown’d Hat, +the Brims of which are let down, and is as unbecoming a part of their +Dress as any of the rest. At _Brixen_ the Blood mends, the Women are +handsomer, the Men more genteel, and the People in general more civiliz’d; +tho’ take ’em all together the _Tirolese_ are very honest People. They are +staunch zealous Catholics, tho’ they say that some of the Peasants, are +_Lutherans_. The _Holy Virgin_ and St. _Christopher_ are the principal +Objects of the People’s Devotion: The latter is painted on all their +Houses, and the Roads are full of little Chapels of the _Virgin_ who is +represented in all manner of ways. I have seen her painted in a Chapel +standing with a great Veil over her Head which she extended with her Arms +to cover the Pope, the Emperor, seven Kings, and as many Electors, who +seem to be prostrate at her Knees. + +As I left _Trent_ I began to ascend a Mountain which does not become +smooth till we reach to _Berschen_ which is a Post-Stage and a half from +_Trent_. This Mountain is exceeding steep, troublesome, and tiresome, and +after ’tis pass’d, one is in a manner buried among Rocks and horrid +Mountains which seem as if they would fall on the Heads of the Travellers; +and I have been assur’d that this sometimes happens in rainy Weather, when +so many Pieces crumble off of the Rock that it requires 4 or 500 Carts to +clear the Roads. In short, all the Way till one comes within a League of +_Bossagno_ a City in the State of _Venice_ is full of Rocks and +Precipices; but from that Town to _Mestre_ which is four Post-Stages from +it, the Country is the finest in the World; and in short, every thing is +good and pleasant except their Wine and their publick Houses. The Wine has +naturally a musty Taste, and no Body, and the Colour is like that of the +thick Wine of _Bourdeaux_. This Country so abounds in Quails that the +Post-Master of _Bossagno_ assur’d me he had taken 720 in a Morning, that +he drove a great Trade with ’em, and sent some of ’em to the State of +_Venice_, and to _Lombardy_. Whether he said true, I know not, but he +shew’d me 1100 live Quails which he kept in Wicker-Cages in a great Barn +where he had hung all the Cages to Pack-Thread to keep them from Rats and +Cats. + +At MESTRE one embarks for _Venice_ which is about seven Leagues from it; I +made the Voyage in a Gondola in less than an Hour and half. As I travell’d +post to _Mestre_, my Gondoliers, when I came to _Venice_, carry’d me to +the Post-Office, where I was oblig’d to tell my Name, and the Business for +which I came to _Venice_; but this is a Ceremony to which they who don’t +travel post are not subject. I went and took up my Lodging at the _White +Lion_, highly rejoic’d that I could rest my self there after my Fatigue, +and that I had lost sight of the _Alps_, those horrid Mountains which no +body would chuse to live amongst but a _Swiss_ or a _Tirolese_, who, as +Cardinal _Bentivoglio_ justly observes in his Voyage to _Swisserland_, are +a People made for the _Alps_, and the _Alps_ for them. + +As I have been twice before at _Venice_, I serve as a _Cicerone_[161] to +two _Bohemian_ Counts whom I was acquainted with at _Prague_, and whom I +happen’d to meet with at my Quarters. As ’tis customary to do to all +Foreigners, I began with shewing them the Square of St. _Mark_, the chief +Square of _Venice_, if not of the whole World. ’Tis adorn’d by the Palace +of the _Doge_, the Church of St. _Mark_, and the _Procuraties_, or Houses +of the Procurators, and has been pav’d within these few Years with great +Squares of Free-stone. We ascended the famous Tower of St. _Mark_ which is +a four-square Building, by a Stair without Steps. It was built by the Doge +_Domingo Morosini_, to serve as a Watch-Tower to Ships at Sea; and that it +might be seen a great way off he caus’d the Angel on the top of it to be +gilt; but Time the Destroyer of all Things has stripp’d off the Gold. From +this Tower one sees the whole City of _Venice_, the neighbouring Islands, +and the _Terra Firma_, which all together makes a noble Prospect. + +We afterwards enter’d St. _Mark_’s Church, which is an Edifice of +_Grecian_ Architecture, pretty dark and not very high, but after all, full +of Curiosities worthy the Attention of a Traveller. As this Church has +been describ’d with more Exactness than I can pretend to, I shall treat +very succinctly of the chief Things which it contains. The grand Portico +is so low that one must even go down some Steps to enter into the Church. +There is a Platform over it on which are plac’d four brazen Horses brought +from _Constantinople_, to which they were first carry’d from _Rome_ by +_Constantine_ when that Prince transferr’d the Seat of the Empire from the +one City to the other. Nothing is so magnificent and beautiful as those +Horses. They were heretofore all over gilt, but People out of mere Avarice +scrap’d off great part of the precious Metal, and all the rest is almost +worn off by Time. + +At the Entrance of the Church on the right-hand Side there is a square +Stone which seem’d to me to be of white Marble, and is said to be a piece +of the Rock which _Moses_ struck in the Wilderness, whereupon there issued +out Water. If this be really that Stone, what that Legislator did is so +much the more to be admir’d, and may be reckon’d doubly miraculous; first +in fetching Water to a Place where there was none before, and then the +bringing a quantity of it through four Holes no bigger than Pease +sufficient to quench the Thirst of so numerous a Multitude. The Pavement +of this Church is very grand, being of _Mosaic_ Work exceedingly +diversify’d with Stones of various Colours, Marble and Porphyry: But the +stateliest Thing in all the Church are the Ornaments of the Altar for the +great Holidays, of which that of St. _Mark_ the Patron of the Republic is +the most strictly kept. St. _Mark_’s Treasure is then all laid open, which +consists in the rich Spoils taken from the Emperors of _Constantinople_. +Every part shines with solid Gold, Pearls, and Diamonds; so that the +Temple of _Jerusalem_ excepted, I believe there’s not a House devoted to +God that could ever boast of so much Riches. All this Treasure is kept in +St. _Mark_’s Tower, and none of it can be taken out but in presence of one +of the Procurators, who must also be at the Altar when the Treasure is +plac’d on it, and dare not stir from it till ’tis put up safe again. + +St. _Mark_’s Church serves as a public Chapel to the Doge, who always is +or at least ought to be attended thither by the Pope’s Nuncio and the +Ambassadors; but M. _de Gersi_ the _French_ Ambassador, from I know not +what Punctilio of Honour, avoids being present at the same Functions with +the Count _de Bolagnos_ the Emperor’s Ambassador[162], whom he can’t +endure to see go before him. When the Doge goes to St. _Mark_’s Church +’tis always with great Ceremony: He walks between the Pope’s Nuncio and +the Emperor’s Ambassador, and the other Ambassadors walk in the same Row +according to the Rank of their Masters. They are preceded by six Trumpets, +and six Banners are born before the Doge together with a Chair or Stool of +State, there being no Back to it, and a Cushion of Gold Brocade. The +Prince is dress’d in a long Robe of Gold Brocade also lin’d and fac’d with +Ermin. The Senators follow him in Robes of red Damask, walking two and +two. He is receiv’d at the Entrance of the Church by the Clergy of St. +_Mark_ who bring him Holy Water and Incense, which the Ambassadors receive +after him. His Serenity and the Ambassadors fall on their Knees in the +middle of the Nave, and then repeat the Prayers of _Domine salvum fac +Principem nostrum_. Afterwards the Doge goes and places himself at the End +of the Choir on the right Hand as we go in, and sits in the first upper +Row of the Canons with the Pope’s Nuncio on his Right and the Emperor’s +Ambassador on the Right of the Nuncio, and so on with the rest. The Doge +does not sit down ’till the Senators are all enter’d, who, as they pass by +his Serenity, make him a profound Obeisance, to which the Doge makes no +manner of return. When every body is seated, the Doge accompany’d by the +Ambassadors advances towards the Altar, the Nuncio strikes up High Mass +and says the Overture, to which the Doge answers. After this, the Doge and +the Ambassadors return to their Places, and the Prelate of St. _Mark_ who +is in waiting, continues the Office. + +After the Mass is over, the Doge returns to his Palace attended by the +same Train that accompanied him to Church. When he has ascended the grand +Stair-case of his Palace he seats himself in an Arm-Chair which is plac’d +over-against the Stair-case. After he has sate a few Moments, he dismisses +the Ambassadors and the other Persons of his Retinue, and retires to his +Apartment. + +Next to St. _Mark_’s Church is the Doge’s Palace, a vast Building, of +which you will find a large Account in _Misson_’s Travels. + +The present Doge is _Aloisio Mocenigo_[163], a Prince as much to be +respected for his Merit as for his Dignity. He is a Gentleman of great +Sagacity, talks well, is very polite, and has infinitely more Generosity +than is ascribed to those of his Country. He is a handsome Man, and has a +noble Aspect that is improv’d by his white Locks of Hair which render him +venerable. Before he was advanc’d to be a Doge, which was in 1722, he +serv’d the Republic with distinction in quality of Generalissimo. The vain +Honours which this new Dignity has procur’d him have not puff’d him up, +and he seems to think them rather a Burden than a Pleasure. Before he came +to be Doge he was the most sociable Nobleman at _Venice_, and he now sees +more Company than ever his Predecessors did. He masks himself at publick +Rejoicings, goes out every Night in a common Gondola without Guard or +Retinue, and diverts himself at his Brother’s. He has sometimes too been +upon _Terra Firma_, not valuing it tho’ he lost for a while all the +Honours annexed to his Dignity as Doge; for you know that this Character +does not go beyond the Lakes. He is oblig’d to be present at all the +public Ceremonies, tho’ very much against his Inclination and Temper, +which is far more uniform than that of the other _Italians_. + +The Ceremony in which he shines with the greatest Lustre, is that of +marrying the Sea, which without dispute is one of the finest Shews in all +the World. ’Tis perform’d on _Ascension-Day_, when the Doge, the +Ambassadors, and the Senate ride out into the _Adriatic_ on board a Vessel +call’d the _Bucentaur_, attended by the State-Gondolas of the Ambassadors +gilded, with a vast number of other Gondolas and Galleasses which surround +the _Bucentaur_, the most stately Vessel that was ever built, and more +magnificent than all that History (or even Romance) tells us of the +sumptuous Vessel of _Cleopatra_. When the Doge goes on board the +_Bucentaur_ he is saluted by the great Guns from the Galleys, the Men of +War, and the Merchant-Ships in the Harbour; and while he performs the +Ceremony of marrying the Sea by throwing in a Ring to denote the +Sovereignty of the Republic over the Gulph, there’s nothing heard but +Kettle-Drums, Trumpets, and Concerts of Music, with the loud Acclamations +of the People. + +His Serene Highness marries two other Wives whom he maintains with as +little Trouble as the Sea. They are the Abbesses of the Convents of the +_Virgin_ and St. _Daniel_. This Ceremony is perform’d upon St. _Philip_’s +Day, when the Doge in a Galeass accompany’d by the Ambassadors and the +Senate, repairs with a great Train to those Convents which are situate on +the Shore behind the Arsenal. The Prelate who officiates for the Day +receives him at the Entrance of the Church, brings him the Holy Water, and +conducts him to a Place prepared for him in the Choir where he assists at +High Mass. Then he repairs to the Grate, in which there’s a large Opening +where the Lady Abbess appears with her Nuns. The Abbess addressing herself +to the Doge intreats him to continue the Favour of his Protection to +herself and the Nuns; to which the Doge returns answer, that she and all +the Convent may depend upon his Good-Will. Then he turns about and walks +on foot to the Convent of St. _Daniel_, where his Reception and +Transaction are the same as at the Convent of the _Virgin_. These two +Convents have very singular Privileges. The Abbesses have the +Crosier-Staff, and both they and their Nuns depend solely upon the Doge, +and not at all upon the Pope or the Court of _Rome_ either in Spirituals +or Temporals. They have good Revenues and live as much as can be at their +Ease. The Dress of these Nuns is rather gay than modest. Like the Nuns at +_Strasbourg_ they wear their Hair in Tresses: Their Petticoats are so +short that you may see their Ancles; and instead of Stays they wear +Jackets with short Skirts, which are very becoming to those that are of a +good Shape. Their Necks are quite bare, only when they go into the Choir +they cover them with Veils of fine white Wool, which trail on the ground. +These Nuns are the Daughters of the Nobles, and enjoy great Liberty, more +than I believe they have under their Father’s Roof. + +The Festival of St. _Mark_ is always celebrated with very great Solemnity. +On the Day preceding, the Doge accompany’d by the Ambassadors repairs with +a great Train to St. _Mark_’s Church, where he assists at the Vespers. +Next Day the Confraternities, who are nine in number, meet at the Ducal +Palace, accompany the Doge to Church in Procession, and are present at +High Mass. After this the Doge returns to his Palace, and the Brotherhoods +go round the Square. Each Society has magnificent Images, and two Canopies +richly embroider’d with Gold and Silver; whose Poles or Supporters are of +solid Silver. The Procession is clos’d by a Man dress’d in a Gown of red +Damask, carrying a Pole with a moving Wheel at the end of it; which serves +to support a gilt Lion surrounded with Laurel Branches, and little +Standards of divers Colours. The Lion turns round incessantly, and the Man +who carries it makes him leap, and play a hundred Gambols: He is +surrounded with a Multitude of People, who cry out, God bless St. _Mark_. +This Sight, how ridiculous soever, is nevertheless amusing, draws +abundance of the Nobility to the Square, and on that Day every body is +mask’d. After the Procession is over, the Maskers go to see the Doge’s +Table, who entertains the Ambassadors and the Senate at Dinner, on a +Table in form of a Horse-shoe; which is extravagantly adorn’d with +Kickshaws, and Machines made of Starch, which are here call’d _Triumphs_. +Nothing of the kind can be better executed, or more magnificent. As there +is a great Apprehension of a Croud, all the Maskers are turn’d away at +Dinner-time. They keep on their Masks all day long; and after Dinner all +the Nobility, or to speak more properly, the whole City of _Venice_ +appears mask’d upon the Square of St. _Mark_; and indeed, for one who +never saw it before, ’tis a remarkable fine Shew. What surpriz’d me, and +if I may say it, made me laugh, was to see all the Maskers fall on their +Knees at the Sound of the _Angelus_; you wou’d swear every body was in +Rapture, yet every thing that goes before and that follows the Stroke of +the Bell is not the most devout. + +The Day after St. _Mark_’s we had another publick Shew, and by consequence +a fresh occasion for the _Venetians_ to masquerade it. That was the +Election which the Fishermen, who are here call’d the _Nicolotti_, made of +a Chief, who bears the Title of the Doge of the _Nicolotti_. Their Choice +fell this Bout upon a Gondolier belonging to the noble _Giustiniani_. +After the Election he was conducted to an Audience of the Doge of +_Venice_, dress’d in a Robe of red Sattin, and otherwise accoutred like a +Jackpudding. He was preceded by a great Mob of Pipers, Hautboys, and +Fishermen. Just before him was carry’d a red Flag, with the Effigies of +St. _Mark_. The Doge receiv’d him sitting on his Throne, and attended by +the Council. The Complement of the Doge of the Fishermen was made with +great Gravity, and answer’d by the Doge of the Republick in few Words; +which done, he return’d in the same Order that he came. This sham Doge +has authority over all the Fishermen, is their Judge, gives them Licence +to fish, and takes care that the City be well supplied with that sort of +Provision. ’Tis said that this Office, which is for Life, is worth above +1000 Crowns _per Annum_. He had formerly the Privilege of commanding in a +certain Quarter of the City, and assisted at all the Ceremonies where the +Doge was present: He even accompany’d that Prince on board the +_Bucentaur_, and had Precedency of all the Ambassadors; but they have lost +that Right since, upon what occasion I know not, they gave up the +Precedency to an Ambassador from the Emperor. + +The Patriarch of _Venice_ is the second Person in the State. The present +Patriarch is of the Family of _Gradenigo_. The Authority of this Prelate +is so stinted, that he only nominates to two or three Benefices. The +Inhabitants of every Parish chuse their Parsons, which is always attended +with Intriguing; for their Livings being very lucrative, have great +Interest made for them. The Patriot has a Privilege of having a Gondola +painted Purple and Gold, with a Roof or Covering of Red Velvet; but this +Gondola must not exceed a certain Degree of Magnificence. You know that +the Gondolas of private Men must be black, and that none but Ambassadors +have the Privilege of having theirs gilded. + +Tho’ the Churches of _Venice_ have been sufficiently describ’d, I cannot +help saying something of those that I thought the most remarkable. Without +doubt the Front of the Church of the bare-footed _Carmelites_, situate +upon the Great Canal, is the most magnificent, not only of _Venice_, but +perhaps of _Europe_; as well with regard to the Proportions of +Architecture that have been carefully observ’d, as with regard to the +Fineness of the Marble, white as Alabaster, with which this beautiful +Front is wholly embellish’d. The Inside of this Church is extremely +magnificent. The Roof is richly gilded, and curiously painted. The Walls +are fac’d with Marble Pilasters; the Floor is of Stones inlaid with +various Colours, and the Altars are exceeding stately: But of all these +different things there seems to be too great a number, so that I could +wish many of the Ornaments had been spar’d; for a noble Simplicity wou’d +have look’d much better. + +This sort of Simplicity is conspicuous in the Church of St. _George_, one +of the biggest in _Venice_, the Architecture of which is surprizing. A +Convent belongs to it, which for Magnificence and Regularity surpasses +many Sovereign Palaces. The great Stair-Case is a fine piece of +Architecture, and wou’d become a King’s Palace much better than a Convent. +This House has two noble Cloysters planted with Orange-Trees, a couple of +spacious Courts, and two large Gardens well cultivated, which have +Terrasses from whence there is a Prospect of the Sea, and the neighbouring +Islands. + +The Capuchins, whose Churches are very plain every where else, have a very +noble one here, which is called _Al Redemptore_. It was built by order of +the Republic to discharge a Vow they had made in the time of a Plague. The +honest Capuchin who shew’d me the Church, made me take special notice of a +Crucifix of Brass over the high Altar, whereon our Saviour is represented +expiring, with his Head leaning on his right Shoulder. My Guide assur’d me +that when the Crucifix was plac’d in the Church the Head of our Lord’s +Image was erect, but that it fell afterwards into its present Posture. + +There are other Churches worth seeing, were it only for the stately Tombs +of the most distinguish’d Families of the Republic. Such is the Tomb of +the noble Family of _Cornaro_, in the Church of the _Cajetans_, where are +the Marble Effigies of eight Cardinals, and four Doges descended from that +Family. In the Churches of St. _Paul_ and St. _John_ are Pictures very +much esteem’d by the _Connoisseurs_, and there’s the sumptuous Tomb of the +_Valerios_, where the Father, the Mother, with the Son, are carv’d in +their natural Proportion in Marble, apparell’d in the Habit of the Doge +and Dogess. + +Before I have done with the Churches, I think I ought to give you some +account of that of the _Jesuits_; the Front whereof is of noble +Architecture, well disposed, and the Ornaments not too much crouded; but +the Decoration of the Inside is really grand. Nothing can be richer than +the Choir, and the high Altar. The Choir consists of a spacious Dome +supported by four large Pillars of white Marble, lin’d with great +Flower-pieces of old green Marble. The Roof is painted and gilt. The high +Altar, which is all of Marble, is a Pavilion or Dome supported by ten +Columns wreath’d of the ancient _Greek_ Marble. The Tabernacle is of +Alabaster, incrustated with _Lapis-Lazuli_. To all this rich Work are +added two Angels in their natural Proportion, over which are the Effigies +of God the Father, and God the Son. The five Steps leading to the Altar +are of green Marble, incrustated with old yellow Marble so artfully that +this Work would easily be taken for a Piece of _Persian_ Tapestry. The +Pulpit and the Balustrade, which separates the Nave from the Choir, are of +Marble, and perfectly answerable to the Magnificence of the whole Church. + +I now proceed to the Arsenal, so much celebrated in _Europe_, perhaps more +for what it has been than what it is at present. Three Nobles have the +Management or Custody of it, who relieve one another every Week. He that +is in waiting must visit the Posts in the Night-time; and the Centinels +are oblig’d each to ring a Bell every Hour, that the Officer upon Guard +may know they are at their Posts. No body can see the Arsenal without +Leave of the Nobleman in waiting, who never refuses it to Persons of Rank. +The first thing I was shew’d were four Rooms full of Arms necessary for +the Marines, where are also kept the Cuirasses of those Generals who have +most distinguish’d themselves in the Service of the Republic; but they are +all full of Dust. Then I was shewed the Magazine of Anchors, and the +Cellar to which the Workmen of the Arsenal go when they please to a +Fountain of Wine and Water mix’d. As much diluted as this Wine is, ’tis +said that there’s no less spent here every Year than amounts to 74000 +Crowns. This is an Endowment which was settled by one _Cornaro_ Queen of +_Cyprus_, for the Relief of the Workmen. Near this Cellar are the Forges, +of which there are twelve; but there are only two actually at work. The +Rope-Yard just by it, is 410 Paces in length, and serves at the same time +for a Warehouse of Hemp, of which I did not see any great Quantity. In +another Court there were a great many Cannon, both Iron and Brass, a Room +full of Bullets, a Magazine of Cordage, a Timber-Yard, and three great +Rooms full of Arms for the Foot Soldiers. There was another that serv’d as +an Arsenal for the Horse, but ’twas lately burnt down by the Carelessness +of a Centinel. The Dock for building and refitting of Ships forms a +separate Court, in the midst of which there’s a great Bason that +communicates with the Sea, and is encompass’d with twenty six Sheds +cover’d over, which contain as many Ships, Galleys, and Galleasses. The +latter are Machines of a terrible Size, which have a sort of Battery at +both ends. My Guide assur’d me that a _Venetian_ Galleass was not afraid +of twenty five _Turkish_ Galleys: This may be; but I wou’d venture a +Wager on the side of the Infidels. In this same Dock are the Prowes of +twelve _Turkish_ Galleys taken at the famous Battle of _Lepanto_. But the +most noble thing in all this Dock, is the _Bucentaur_, which went out of +Port for the first time in the Year 1728. This superb Vessel was built by +_Antonio Corradini_; and is so well design’d, and the Ornaments of +Sculpture, of which there’s a great number, so well plac’d, that every +thing is easily distinguish’d, and strikes with Amazement. ’Tis gilded +down to the Water-edge, and ’tis said that the Expence of it amounted to +70000 Sequins. The Deck is cover’d from Head to Stern with Crimson-Velvet, +bedaub’d with a broad Lace, and Gold Fringes. And the inside if possible +is more magnificent than the Outside. There’s a great Room the length of +the Ship, where the Doge sits on a Throne, and the Ambassadors and +Senators on Seats like those of the Canons in the Choir. The Cieling +consists of Bas-reliefs in divers Compartments intirely gilt. The Floor is +of Walnut-tree, incrusted with Ebony-Wood and Mother of Pearl. The Rowers +who sit in the Hold of the Ship are all of one Livery, and their Oars +gilt, which makes a very fine Sight when all hands strike together. + +You know that the _Bucentaur_ never goes out but once a-year, upon +Ascension-day, when the Captain who then commands must take an Oath before +he stirs out of the Harbour, that he will bring her back again into the +Arsenal. He carries nothing aboard of his own, for unless the Weather be +very fair indeed, the Ceremony is put off to another day. They build a new +_Bucentaur_ every hundred Years, and the old ones are laid up till they +rot. + +I just now hear that the Post is going off, so that I am oblig’d to defer +what I have farther to say of _Venice_ till the next. I shall be +infinitely pleas’d if I can satisfy your Curiosity, and much more if I +can prove to you that no body has a more profound Veneration for you than +I, _Who am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXVI. + + + _SIR_, _Venice, May 15, 1730._ + +The Common-wealth keeps twelve Galleys in pay, and twenty Men of War. The +_Capitana_ Galley, call’d the _Fusta_, never goes out of the Great Canal, +but is continually at Anchor before the Square of St. _Mark_. There’s +commonly four Galleys and as many Men of War in the _Levant_. Others lie +at Anchor in the Canal of _Zueca_, which were lately drawn out of the +Arsenal, because for want of Water the Ships receive Damage. The Power of +the Republic consists chiefly in its Maritime Force. It maintains very few +Land Forces, and those they have are all kept at _Corfou_, which is the +Rampart of _Venice_, and the Defence of the Gulph; the Preservation of +which is owing to the Count _de Schulemburg_, General in chief of the +Republic; for in the last War when the _Turks_ attempted to take it, ’twas +he that oblig’d them to raise the Siege: And the Republic in +acknowledgment of this important Service caus’d his Statue on Horseback to +be erected in the Square of the Old Castle of _Corfou_; and settled a +Pension upon him of 5000 Crowns a-year for his Life, besides his ordinary +Salary. + +’Tis certain that _Venice_ has suffer’d a Decay both of Power and +Commerce. The _Turks_ have taken the _Morea_ from her; she has little or +nothing left in the _Levant_; and as to her Places in the _Terra Firma_ +they are poor, depopulated, and meanly fortified. One of the main +Securities of _Venice_ is her Lakes; but for some Years past they begin to +thicken so by the Mud and Dirt brought by the Rivers which fall into the +Gulph, as in time must prove to the very great Detriment of _Venice_, +because Ships which us’d formerly to go in or out with ease, can only go +out now by the help of a Canal which has been cut for the purpose. This +Inconvenience might have formerly been prevented for a trifle of Expence, +whereas now ’tis past all remedy. + +The Powers of which the _Venetians_ ought to be most jealous, are the +_Turks_ and the Emperor, in whose Dominions they are in a manner inclos’d. +The Great Duke of _Tuscany_ and the Duke of _Parma_ were formerly Powers +which were of little or no Terror to the Republic; but if those Dominions +shou’d ever come under the Sovereignty of _Don Carlos_, the political +System of _Italy_ will be very much alter’d, and the _Venetians_ will in +all probability be oblig’d to keep fair with him. The Republic has for a +long time observ’d an exact Neutrality in the Quarrels among the Princes +of Christendom, perhaps because it knows not for which side to determine +itself; for tho’ the Senate hates the _Spaniards_, and cannot forget the +famous Conspiracy of the Marquiss _de Bedmar_ the Catholic King’s +Ambassador; they don’t much like either the _Germans_ or _French_, whose +Power gives them Umbrage. And I believe, were it possible for the +_Venetians_ to hurt those three Powers at the same time, we shou’d quickly +see their Republic rouze itself from that Lethargy in which it’s profound +State-Policy has doz’d it. + +Since the _English_ and _Dutch_ became Masters of the Commerce of +_Europe_, the Trade of _Venice_ is as much decay’d as its Power; and +their Manufactures are sunk extremely. The _Venetians_ heretofore +furnished almost all _Europe_ with Cloth; their Looking-Glasses, and those +for Drinking, were also in great vogue, but those Manufactures are since +transplanted into other Countries, so that _Venice_ scarce furnishes any +more than _Italy_. ’Tis worth while however to go and see the Glass-House +where they work Night and Day, except in _August_ and _September_, when +the Heats are too violent. ’Tis certain the Drinking-Glasses made here are +much stronger than any other, but as they are blown they are not near so +substantial as the Glass that is run; however they require less Labour, +and have the Advantage when they are broke of being melted again; the +Matter of which they are composed being much more flexible than that of +the run Glass. + +The Nobles of _Venice_ are Slaves to Policy, Diffidence, and Suspicion; +and Ambassadors are much more so, whom every one shuns as suspected +Persons, and whom a Foreigner can scarce talk to without renouncing his +Correspondence with the Nobles. An Ambassador is oblig’d to confine +himself to his own Family, or else to amuse himself in the Company of +Foreigners, of whom there is always a good number in this City; for no +Nobleman dare visit him without the express leave of the Senate, who now +indeed grant it much more freely than they did formerly. + +Customs are alter’d here in very many things. ’Twas formerly a Crime to +see a Woman in private, and a Foreigner did not dare to run the Venture; +but now the case is quite different, for there are several Houses of +Quality where I am indulg’d, and am often _tête a tête_ with the Mistress +of the House, without any more notice taken of me than if I were in +_France_, where Ease and Freedom are so much boasted. The Ladies are +great Visiters, and have Assemblies every Night, to which they repair +alone in their Gondola’s without any other Attendance but a Valet de +Chambre, who serves as their Gentleman-Usher. They are mask’d at all +public Performances, and go where they have a mind to it. This easy access +to the Ladies contributes not a little to make my Stay in this City +agreeable. I own to you that I am infinitely charm’d with it; there are a +thousand Things here that please me, and were I to chuse any City in +_Italy_ to live in, ’twould certainly be this, where People enjoy entire +Liberty, provided they don’t meddle with the State and its Government, +which after all too, I don’t think a Foreigner has much to do with. Here +one is in the Centre of civil Pleasures and Debauchery. God is as +exemplarily serv’d here as in any Place whatsoever. Few Nations observe +the Externals of Religion better than the _Italians_ in general and the +_Venetians_ in particular, of whom it may be said that they spend one half +of their time in committing Sin, and the other half in begging God’s +pardon. + +Masquerades are more in fashion here than elsewhere. People go in Masks to +take the Air, as well as to Plays and Balls; and ’tis the favourite +Pleasure both of the Grandees and the Commonalty. This gives rise to many +Adventures, and sometimes one makes Acquaintance under a Mask which would +be impracticable perhaps, were not such Disguises in Fashion. I remember +that the first time I was here I struck up an Acquaintance in the Square +of St. _Mark_ with two of the first-rate Ladies of this Country. They were +mask’d, and I was in a Scarlet Domino embroider’d with Silver, which being +a Habit that had been seldom seen here, drew the Eyes of all the Company +in the Square upon me, and in particular of two Ladies, one of whom +twitching me by the Sleeve, said to me, ‘Sir, I and the Lady here, my +Friend, fancy by your Air which outstrips our Gentlemen, that you are a +Foreigner, and we are inclin’d to think that you are no mean Person. We +should be glad of your Conversation, and you will do us a Pleasure to take +a turn with us round the Square.--You do me too much Honour, fair Lady +(said I, walking on) and what you tell me of my Appearance pleases me the +more because you are both the compleatest Ladies in the Place. As you +guess by my Habit that I am not a common Person, your Air persuades me +that I have the Honour to speak to Ladies of Quality.--You are not +mistaken (said the same Lady to me) this Lady my Companion is Madame +_M----_ and I am the Wife of Mr. _C----_. You find (continu’d she) that +our Names are pretty well known in _Venice_. Now, after having told you +who we are, may we presume to ask who you are?’ I gratify’d their +Curiosity by pulling off my Mask, which I thought a Compliment due to +their Quality. I had scarce told my Name, when the Lady who had not yet +spoke one Word, said to me, ‘You are not so much a Stranger among us as +you imagine; your Name is very well known to me, and the late Madame +_Duhamel_, your Aunt, whose[164] Husband was Commander in chief of our +Forces, was one of my most intimate Friends, and she often told me how +much she wish’d to see you here; but ’twas a Comfort she did not live to +enjoy. She went with her Husband to _Corfou_, where he died not without +Suspicion of Poison; for he was accus’d of being too great a _Frenchman_; +and your Aunt who was return’d from _Corfou_ with a Design to go and +spend the Remainder of her Days at _Berlin_, died as she was performing +Quarentine in our Port. You caus’d her Body to be remov’d to _Berlin_, and +you was one of her Heirs; and, tho’ I don’t mention it to make a Merit of +it, I must tell you that you are oblig’d to me for it, since I pleaded for +you against a very great number of M. _Duhamel_’s Relations. My Love to +your Aunt put me upon engaging Mr. _M----_ to espouse your Interest, which +he promoted with Success, and prevail’d on the Senate to prefer the +Recommendations of the King of _Prussia_ and the Elector of _Hanover_ who +both protected you, before the Instances made by the _French_ Ambassador +in the Name of the King his Master, in favour of Messieurs _Duhamel_. I +was infinitely pleas’d (continu’d Madame _M----_) that I had an +Opportunity of serving you, and you may depend upon it that Mr. _M----_ +and I shall ever interest our selves heartily for all that belong to our +deceased Friend.’ I made answer to Madame _M----_ in Terms suitable to her +obliging Expressions, and crav’d her Permission to pay my respects to her +at her House. She answer’d me very civilly that she would send her Husband +to me, and that then she should be glad to see me at her House. Next +Morning as I was ready to go out, and wait upon Mr. _M----_ to whom I +thought I ow’d a Visit after the Civilities I had receiv’d from his Wife, +I was told that he was at my Door and desir’d to speak with me. I went and +receiv’d him, and found him every whit as polite as his Lady. He offer’d +to shew me the Curiosities of _Venice_ till his Wife was stirring. We went +and saw several Churches, after which he conducted me to his House where I +found Madame _M----_ who receiv’d me with all the Civility possible. She +was a Woman who tho’ forty Years of Age shew’d that she had been a very +beautiful Lady in her time. Madame _C----_ happen’d to be in her Company, +with whom she had been the Day before in the Square of St. _Mark_. I never +saw a more beautiful Lady, or that had a nobler Carriage. She was not yet +twenty Years of Age, but had been marry’d five Years to a Man, who tho’ +the most ill-favour’d of his Sex had a most amiable Behaviour. I fell in +love with Madame _C----_ as soon as ever I saw her, and when I beheld her +Husband, I had Presumption enough to believe that my Application to the +Lady would not be disagreeable. But I soon perceiv’d that she was not a +Woman for my turn; she quickly depriv’d me of all Hopes of Success; and I +no sooner saw those Hopes vanish’d, which are the only Support of Lovers, +but I dropp’d my Amour. I had another in view which was attended with +better Success: M. _M----_ carry’d me to a Country-House of his towards +_Padua_, and I don’t know where I was ever more agreeably entertain’d in +my whole Life. ’Tis at these Country Seats one sees the _Venetians_ in +Perfection, who are quite another sort of People here than in the City; +for here they put off that grave serious Air which they affect in Town, +and are quite sociable, civil, courteous, and live with more splendor. As +these Country-Houses are near one another, the Gentlemen to whom they +belong visit each other very much, and are almost always together; but at +_Venice_ they live with more Restraint. + +I am in some doubt whether I should reckon the Music of the _Venetian_ +Churches in the number of its Pleasures; but upon the whole, I think I +ought, because certainly their Churches are frequented more to please the +Ear, than for real Devotion. The Church of _la Pieta_ which belongs to the +Nuns who know no other Father but Love, is most frequented. These Nuns are +enter’d very young, and are taught Music, and to play on all sorts of +Instruments, in which some of ’em are excellent Performers. _Apollonia_ +actually passes for the finest Singer, and _Anna-Maria_’s for the first +Violin in _Italy_. The Concourse of People to this Church on Sundays and +Holidays is extraordinary. ’Tis the Rendezvous of all the Coquettes in +_Venice_, and such as are fond of Intrigues have here both their Hands and +Hearts full. Not many Days after my Arrival in this City I was at this +very Church, where was a vast Audience, and the finest of Music. As I was +going out, a Woman who hid her Face accosted me, saying, there was a Lady +in a Gondola who desir’d to speak with me. Tho’ this smelt strong of an +Adventure, which I was never very fond of, I however went along with the +Woman; and really, not above ten Paces from the Spot I found a Gondola, in +which was a Lady whom I knew to be the Daughter of the unfortunate Baron +_de H----_ of whose tragical Catastrophe you have heard. I own it mov’d my +Compassion, as well as Sorrow, to see before my Eyes a young Lady of Rank +in a strange Country and in such a Situation as made me surmise that she +was in a bad Way. But it even touch’d me to the quick, when after having +made her Apology to me for having sent for me, she said to me with a Voice +interrupted with Sighs, ‘For God’s sake tell me what’s become of my poor +Father; is he still living? He has been the Cause of his own Unhappiness +and mine too; he has plung’d me into an Abyss of Woe, but he is still my +Father: Nothing can make me forget the Duty I owe him; I should be glad +even to lay down my Life to relieve his Misfortunes.’ I told her that I +had not been at _Berlin_ for a long time; that I had not kept up a +Correspondence there with any body, and that consequently I could not tell +her any News of her Father. I knew at the same time that he died in +Prison at _Spandaw_; but I was loth to be the Messenger of such bad News +to a Person who seem’d to be already too much afflicted. ‘I did not know +you were at _Venice_ (reply’d Madamoiselle _de H----_) or I should have +sought an Opportunity to speak with you. I saw you at the Church of _la +Pieta_, and the sight of you call’d my Misfortunes fresh to my Memory, as +well as the sad Catastrophe of your old Friend my Father. I could not +refrain shedding Tears, and the Remembrance of my Disgrace has eclips’d +the Pleasure I take in seeing you.’ I endeavour’d to assuage her Grief, +and to calm her ruffled Soul; and therefore I went with her to her House, +and when I saw her a little compos’d I ask’d her questions about her state +of Life, and desir’d her to tell me how she had pass’d her time since she +left _Berlin_. She answer’d me in every Point with a great deal of Honesty +and Simplicity. ‘After the Execution of that Sentence (said she) which +degraded my Father from Nobility and Honour, and set him on a level with +the basest Scoundrels, I had not the Courage to stay at _Berlin_. I went +to _H----_ to find out Madame _de B----_ my Aunt from whom I hoped to meet +with Protection; but I soon experienc’d that the Unfortunate have no +Relations. My Aunt would not give me House-room, and sent a Confident of +her’s to tell me that she advis’d me to be gone from _H----_ or else to +change my Name and not to call me her Cousin, unless I had a Desire to be +confin’d. But alas! I would then have taken it as a Favour if my Aunt had +shut me up; for I was in extreme Want, and knew not what would become of +me. I lodg’d at an Inn where I got my Living by making of Linnen and +Washing, when a good likely young Man came and took up his Quarters in the +very same House, who immediately struck up an Acquaintance with me. I know +not what he saw in me to charm him, for I did nothing but cry all the day +long. Mean time he talk’d to me of Love, and gave me so many +Demonstrations of his flaming Passion that I found he was really smitten +with me. To tell you the whole Truth, I was not long insensible of the +same Passion. He even offer’d to marry me, which, since he would not be +deny’d, I consented to. He told me that he was an Officer in the Emperor’s +Service, and a Native of _Lubeck_, and that he was come hither to take +possession of an Estate fallen to him by Inheritance. I took what he said +to be true because he was handsomely equipp’d, and had his Pockets well +lin’d. In short, I was smitten with him, and thought I should be very +happy in taking him for my Husband. Not many Days after our Marriage, he +told me that he must needs set out for _Hungary_ where the Regiment was +quarter’d, whereof he said he was a Lieutenant, and that consequently I +must make ready to go with him.--We set out from _H----_ and arriv’d +happily at _Vienna_. It was in that very City that my Husband, who till +then behav’d well towards me, and whose Conduct had been very regular, +chang’d all on a sudden to the reverse. He spent the whole Day in +Gaming-Houses, and the Night in Debauchery. Sometimes he never once came +home for four or five Days together, and when he did, ’twas only to insult +me, and to upbraid me with the misfortune of my Father, which I discover’d +to him before Marriage, for fear he should reproach me one time or other +with having deceiv’d him. He told me that I was a Disgrace to him, that +his Colonel had broke him for marrying me, and that I was the Author of +his Ruin. I try’d to pacify him, and spar’d no Pains nor Complaisance for +it, but all to no purpose. I heard that my Husband was desperately in love +with a common Prostitute, that he had ruin’d himself for her sake; and in +a little time he was oblig’d to sell the very Clothes off his back. He had +contracted Debts, and expecting every day to be arrested by his Creditors, +he left _Vienna_ privately, abandoning me to the most dreadful Despair. +’Twas eight Months before I heard a Word of him. At last I came to know +that he was here at _Venice_, and I resolv’d to find him out. Madame the +Countess of _W----_ who had generously assisted me, fitted me out for the +Journey, but when I came hither I did not find my Husband, who I heard was +at _Padua_. I was making my self ready to follow him thither, when I heard +the News that he was kill’d by a Student with whom he had a Quarrel at +Gaming. His Death fill’d up the Measure of my Sorrow. I found my self +quite a Stranger here without Friends or Subsistence. I endeavour’d, but +in vain, to get my Living by my Labour, as I had done at _H----_ but I +found so little to do that ’twas impossible for me to hold out long; and I +must undoubtedly have sunk under my Misery if it had not been for the +noble _D----_ who out of Pity to my Condition reliev’d me six Years ago by +granting me a Pension: But how happy should I be if I could live without +it, and retire for ever to some religious Foundation!’ Here the +unfortunate _H----_ concluded her Narrative. I sifted her Sentiments about +Religion: I knew she had been educated in the _Lutheran_, but she +express’d her Inclination to embrace the Catholic Religion, and also to +turn Nun. I promis’d to serve her all that lay in my power, and that same +Evening I spoke to Madame _M----_ who promis’d me to enter her into Orders +as soon as she was turn’d Catholic. A Jesuit who has had the tutoring of +her for near a Month gives us Hopes that she will instantly be qualify’d +to take the Veil. She seems to me to be very eager for it. A few days ago +I acquainted her with her Father’s Death, with which she seem’d very much +affected, but at the same time she express’d her Submission to the Decrees +of Providence, and told me her Misfortunes with so much Resignation, that +I have Reason to think she will be very happy in the Retirement which she +is about to embrace. If this be the Case, I shall think my self very +fortunate in having contributed by my Advice to her Tranquillity. Heaven +grant her Prayers may prevail that I my self may put those Lessons in +practice which I have taught her, as to the Necessity of Conversion. + +Pardon me, Sir, this long Digression. As you knew the unfortunate _H----_ +in his Prosperity, and as you are also inform’d of his Disgrace, I thought +you would not be sorry to hear of the Fate of his Daughter. I now resume +my Remarks on _Venice_. + +Two Days ago I went to see the _Scuola St. Rocco_, which are Rooms where +the Fraternities of that Saint meet, in which are Pictures done by the +greatest Masters, particularly one in the great Room below, which is the +Picture of the _Annunciation_ done by _Tintoret_, a Piece highly esteem’d. +This Picture is, without Contradiction, one of the finest and most +affecting Paintings at _Venice_, because of the lively Expressions of +Surprise, Admiration, and Joy which appear in the _Virgin’s_ Face. She is +sitting in her Chamber, which the skilful Painter has represented as a +plain mean Room in some Disorder with old and worn out Furniture. Upon the +grand Stair-case there’s another Picture representing the _Annunciation_ +in like manner, which is done by _Titian_, and is not one of the worst of +his Performances. The upper Rooms are adorn’d with several Pictures done +by _Tintoret_, in which he has described our Lord’s Passion. Our Saviour +appearing before _Pilate_ is an admirable Piece; ’tis really moving to see +the Modesty and Serenity of his Countenance. A second Picture represents +our Lord carrying his Cross. In a third, we see him fasten’d on it, and +expiring for the Salvation of Mankind. These are invaluable Pieces, and +are reckon’d the compleatest that ever _Tintoret_ painted. + +I have also been to see the chief Palaces, which lie for the most part on +the great Canal, and that call’d _Reggio_. They are very magnificent, but +they are generally so like one another that he who has seen one may say he +has seen them all. They have little Court-Yards, less Gardens, and no +Stables. Nothing goes to form a Palace at _Venice_ but the main Body of +the Building, a great Salon in the middle, and Apartments on the Right and +Left; and setting aside the Marble, there are Palaces as magnificent +elsewhere which have only the name of a House. + +The Square of St. _Mark_ is the ordinary Rendezvous of all the Gentry at +_Venice_. There are Nobles who keep their constant Circuits here as it +were, and who never stir from the Place but to Bed, for they pass their +whole Time in Gaming at the Coffee-Houses, or in the Peruke-Makers Shops. +The number of their Nobles is not limited; and any body for paying down +100000 Ducats may purchase Nobility. These Gentlemen compliment each other +with the Title of _Excellency_, and ’tis what they all challenge from +Foreigners. Mean time, some of those _Excellencies_ go to the Shambles, +and to the Fish-Market, and carry home their Meat or their Fish under +their Robes, and some are so very poor that they go a begging. This Title +is so very common here that I had much ado to hinder a Lackey whom I hired +from giving it to me. Tho’ I told him that I was by no means _Excellent_, +he made me answer that he knew full well what Obligations were due to my +Excellency, and that he would not be thought to be wanting in Respect to +my Excellency. A _Frenchman_ lately come from _Constantinople_ to whom I +made my Complaints, how much this Title was prophan’d, assur’d me that the +_Venetians_ were still more lavish of it out of _Venice_, so that he heard +the very Grooms belonging to the Baillo of the Republic at +_Constantinople_, compliment one another with the Title of _Excellency_. + +Among the _Venetian_ Excellencies there are also _Petits-Maitres_ who are +known by their Doublets lin’d with Scarlet, their fine white Perukes, by +their fantastical Step, and that Air of lolling which they give themselves +in their Gondola’s, which are much smaller and nimbler than the common +sort. These _Petits-Maitres_ are great Beaus, and have commonly more than +one Mistress at a time, and indeed there are few Nobles but have one at +least. These Creatures, excepting the little Liberty they enjoy, are as +happy as Sultana’s. Their Lovers treat them like Princesses, and the +_Venetians_ in general pay great respect to the whole Sex. I have seen +_Faustina_ the famous Singer, and _Stringuetta_ the noted Courtezan come +mask’d upon the Square of St. _Mark_, leaning on the Shoulders of +Noblemen, and every Man paying them as much Obeisance as if they had been +Ladies of great Importance. The same day that they appear’d on the Square +there happen’d to be a Skirmish between two Women mask’d that were Rivals, +who, as soon as they knew one another, fell out, went to Cuffs, tore off +each other’s Masks, and at last Knives were drawn, with which they cut one +another so deeply that one of ’em was left dead on the Spot. + + * * * * * + +I now think it high time to finish my Letter which is already very long, +and perhaps too full of Trifles. I have told you every Thing that came +uppermost in my Mind, so that you have a perfect Farrago, which however +is a Proof of the Pleasure I take in corresponding with you. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXVII. + + + _SIR_, _Ronciglione, May 30, 1730._ + +As it appears by all the Letters from _Rome_ that they are on the point of +chusing a new Pope, I set out sooner from _Venice_ than I should otherways +have done, and came post to this City without stopping much by the Way. I +pass’d thro’ PADUA, where I had the Honour to pay my Respects to the +Prince _Emanuel_ of _Portugal_, who is come to reside there for some time, +and I was afterwards at the Comedy, which was indeed, a most wretched +Performance, but the Assembly was gay and numerous: Among the rest there +were a great number of Students and young Fellows, particularly one that +made a very finical Appearance, who had ten or twelve Patches on his Face, +a red Coat embroider’d with black Gawse, a Hat, a Shoulder-Knot, +Stockings, _&c._ the whole trimm’d with Gawse. I took him at first for a +Mountebank, but I plainly saw that the Whimsicalness of his Dress was the +Humour of the Country. What gave me some Amusement was, to see a Hare +which Harlequin had taught to play Tricks, to tumble Top over Tail, to +leap over a Stick, and to beat a Drum with his two Fore-feet. + +From _Padua_ I went to FERRARA a City in the Ecclesiastical State, where +the Pope keeps a Legat who is always a Cardinal. It appear’d to me to be a +large City with spacious Streets, and some fine Palaces, but it did not +seem to be very populous, which is ascrib’d to the bad Air in this +Country, otherwise one of the finest in all _Italy_. + +The Road from _Ferrara_ to BOLOGNA is extremely level, and as good and +agreeable in Summer as ’tis unpassable in Winter. _Bologna_ is the second +City in the Ecclesiastical State, and is a large fine Town. ’Tis in a most +charming Situation, all the Country round it being properly a Garden, and +one of the most fruitful and fairest Plats in Nature. ’Tis said this City +contains near 80000 Inhabitants. The common People are civil and well +bred, and none more polite to Foreigners than the Noblemen. There are +stately Palaces here, of which I will only mention that of the Marquis +_Rinucci_, because to me it seem’d to be one of the most considerable in +the City. ’Tis very magnificent, and of a vast extent. The Ground-Floor +contains three large Apartments, the first Story five, and the second as +many. The Stair-case of this Palace is very much esteem’d for its +Contrivance. In one of the Halls are two large Pictures: The first is the +Consecration of the Emperor _Charles_ V. perform’d by the Pope at +_Bologna_: The second represents _Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_ giving +Audience to the Senate of _Bologna_: and their complimenting him on his +Arrival. In another of those Halls are two other curious large Pictures; +the one of Cardinal _Rinucci_, having Audience of the King of _Poland_ +when he was sent to him as Nuncio; and the second shews the same Cardinal +receiving the Cap from _Lewis_ XIV. King of _France_, at whose Court he +was Nuncio when he was promoted to the Purple. The Apartments adjoining to +these Halls are also adorn’d with excellent Paintings and very richly +furnish’d. + +The Churches of _Bologna_ are not less magnificent than the finest +Churches in _Italy_. I thought that of St. _Paul_ the most worthy of +Remark, which is serv’d by _Bernardine_ Fryars. The Roof is adorn’d with +Paintings representing the History of St. _Paul_. These Pictures which are +highly esteem’d are the Performances of _Antonio Caccioli_ and _Rolli_ two +Natives of _Bologna_, and they have both out-done themselves. The Painting +of the Dome where St. _Paul_ is represented on his Knees ready to have his +Head struck off is admirably fine. The high Altar is of Marble of various +Colours, finish’d with a great deal of Art. The Seats of the Monks are of +Wallnut-Tree, and over them are several Pictures of the Life of St. _Paul_ +drawn by an able Hand, who was _Carache_’s Pupil. The Churches of St. +_Catherine_ of _Bologna_, and St. _Michael_ in _Bosco_ are well worth the +Traveller’s Observation, on account of the choice Pictures with which they +are adorn’d. St. _Michael_’s in _Bosco_ stands upon an Eminence three +Miles from _Bologna_, to which there’s an Entrance thro’ a cover’d Gallery +made like a Piazza. ’Twas a Work erected by the Citizens of _Bologna_, out +of their Devotion to a miraculous Image of the _Holy Virgin_ which is +reverenc’d in this Church. + +The Legate’s Palace is very ancient, but grand and magnificent. ’Tis as +strictly guarded during the Vacancy of the Holy See as if the Enemy were +at the Gates of the City. All the Avenues to it are hung with Chains: The +_Swiss_ Guards are arm’d with Cuirasses: The Guard which consists of fifty +Soldiers is barricaded with Pallisades and Chevaux de Frise, and the +Palace-Gate is defended by eight Pieces of Cannon. + +What remains for me to tell you of _Bologna_ is, that ’tis one of the +Cities in _Italy_ where a Foreigner finds most Amusement. The Nobility not +only strive to give him Pleasure, but he has fine Paintings to feast his +Eye, and here are often excellent Concerts of Music, Operas, and Comedies, +charming Walks, and genteel Country-Houses; which I take to be all that +can be desir’d in Life. + +From _Bologna_ I travell’d in two days to _Florence_, after having been +dragg’d in my Chaise thro’ the _Apennines_, a prodigious Range of +Mountains; which is a thing I shall never do again while I live; for I +really suffer’d very much in this Road, and if ever you should have a +fancy to come this way, I would advise you to carry Provisions or a Cook +with you, for there is not one considerable Place in all the Road. +_Fiorenzola_, which is almost half way, is a sorry little Town. From +thence to _Scarperia_ the Road is extremely rugged. One descends a high +Mountain pav’d like a Stair-case, which to attempt in a Chaise, you are +sure of being, if I may so call it, broke upon the Wheel, and therefore I +chose to walk down. At _Scarperia_ the Road becomes more passable, and it +mends as you come near _Florence_. In our Way we pass’d thro’ a Town +call’d _Ponte_ that stands at the Foot of a Hill, where the Great Duke has +a Castle which appear’d to me to be very well fortify’d. + +One perceives FLORENCE a great way off, and indeed it makes a fine point +of View to see so great a City in a beautiful Valley between Hills which +rise insensibly, and end at length in high Mountains, inhabited in such a +manner that they may be reckon’d the Suburbs of _Florence_. The River +_Arno_ passes thro’ both the City and the Valley. Among all the Cities of +_Italy_, _Florence_ may justly be surnamed the _Fair_, since it has all +that can be desir’d in a great and wealthy Town, such as sacred and +profane Edifices, Bridges, Monuments, and Fountains; yet ’tis not so +large nor populous as _Bologna_. As I enter’d _Florence_ I perceived over +the Gate a Table of white Marble with a _Latin_ Inscription on it, as +follows: + + FLORENTIA, ADVENTU FRIDERICI IV. DANIÆ ET NORVEGIÆ, AUGUSTI, + FELICIS, QUOD EAM SUA PRÆSENTIA MAGNUS HOSPES IMPLEVERIT, + AUGUSTA FELIX, AN. S. 1708. MENSE MARTIO. + +’Twas the late Great Duke _Cosmo_ who caus’d this to be engrav’d to the +Honour of the King of _Denmark_. + +The City of _Florence_ has been so well describ’d that I shall pass very +briefly over all that relates to the Buildings. The Square call’d _Piazza +del Gran Duca_ or the old Palace, contains Ornaments enough to embellish a +great Town. Here you see a spacious Fountain which _Cosmo_ I. caus’d to be +built after the Designs of _Amminati_ and _Philip Baldinucci_, two of the +most famous Sculptors at that Time. Not far from this Fountain is the +Equestrian Statue of _Cosmo_ I. which is rais’d upon a great Pedestal of +white Marble, with this Inscription engrav’d on the chief Front of it: + + COSMO MEDICI, MAGNO ETRURIÆ DUCI PRIMO, PIO, FELICI, INVICTO, + JUSTO, CLEMENTI, SACRÆ MILITIÆ PACISQUE IN ETRURIA AUTHORI, + PATRI ET PRINCIPI OPTIMO, FERDINANDUS F. MAG. DUX III. EREXIT, + AN. CI[REVERSED C] I[REVERSED C] LXXXXIIII. + +On the other three Sides of the Pedestal are very fine Bas-Reliefs of +Brass. The first represents _Cosmo_ I. recogniz’d for Sovereign by the +Senate of _Florence_; the second the Ceremony of _Cosmo_’s Coronation, +and the third the same _Cosmo_ in an antique triumphant Car making his +pompous Entry into _Sienna_, which was submitted to his Government. +_Ferdinand_ I. _de Medicis_ when he erected this Statue to the Honour of +his Father, employ’d in the Direction of it the famous _John Bologna_, who +has very well answer’d the Opinion that had been conceiv’d of him. + +In the Great Duke’s Gallery near the Square, I saw the greatest +Curiosities, both among the Antients and Moderns. A Busto of _Alexander_ +the Great, the famous Statue of _Venus_, cut by _Apollodorus_, with those +of the Emperors and Empresses of _Rome_, and the greatest Personages of +former Centuries; the best Originals of the greatest Painters; and a +thousand uncommon things, such as Diamonds, Rubies, Pearls, Emeralds, +Saphirs, Topazes, Amber, Porcellain, Crystal, Porphyry, Coral, Marble, and +Granite, the Particulars of which wou’d form a Volume. They are actually +engraving on Plates, and several Persons of Quality are contributing to +the Expence of this fine Work, which is considerable, and for which +excellent Designers are employ’d. This wou’d have been worthy of the Great +Duke, and it seems to me that this Prince when he sees his Family extinct, +and his Estate pass into the hands of Foreigners, ought at least to +eternize the Glory of his Ancestors by publishing an Inventory of the +immense Wealth which they have acquired, and transmitted to their +Posterity. + +Of all the Churches in _Italy_ there are none more magnificent as to the +outside than the Dome of _Milan_, and the Cathedral of _Florence_, both +which are entirely lin’d with Marble of various Colours. A Citizen of +_Florence_, who pretended to know the History of this City perfectly well, +assur’d me that its Cathedral was built out of the Impost of five _Sous_ +which had been laid upon every Piece of Cloth that was then sold at +_Florence_; but I believe you may without Breach of Charity take this for +a Story. + +Over against the Cathedral is the magnificent Baptistery, to which there’s +an Entrance thro’ three Gates of Brass, so artfully wrought that _Michael +Angelo_ said they were good enough to be the Gates of Paradise. + +St. _Laurence_’s Chapel, which is not yet finish’d, is the Admiration of +all Connoisseurs, and is design’d to be the Place for the Burial of the +Great Dukes, whose Remains are to be deposited in a Mausoleum of wonderful +Workmanship, adorn’d with precious Stones. ’Tis 150 years ago that this +Chapel has been building, and yet it wants two Thirds of being finish’d. +If it were lawful to criticise the Conduct of Princes, I must say it +again, that the Great Duke, who sees that his Greatness and his Family +must end with him, ought to put the last hand to this Monument of the +Magnificence of the _Medicis_: For can he hope, that if he himself +neglects to transmit the Lustre of his Family to Posterity, his Successors +will think to do it, who are nothing to him, or at least but very little? +But such is the Humour of _John Gaston_ Great Duke of _Tuscany_; he is so +indifferent and unconcern’d about every thing, that he sees Foreigners +dispose of his Dominions, and nominate his Successor, and the Courtiers +ready to abandon him and to worship the said Successor; and yet the +Prospect, how disagreeable soever it may be, does not seem to give him any +Uneasiness: And he said some days ago, after he had sign’d his Last Will +and Testament, declaring _Don Carlos_ Infante of _Spain_ his Successor, +_that he had just got a Son and Heir by a Dash of his Pen, which he had +not been able to get in thirty four years Marriage_. + +Thus, Sir, I have given all you will have of me this time touching +_Florence_, where I cou’d stay but a few days, and then made no +Acquaintance, having only been taken up in seeing the Curiosities of this +City. At my Return from _Rome_ I propose to come hither again, and make +some stay in order to get a little Knowledge of the Court; and then you +shall be inform’d of every Remark that I make. + +From _Florence_ I went and din’d at _Castilloncello_, and lay at SIENNA a +City in the Duchy of _Tuscany_, to which _Cosmo_ I. _de Medicis_ made it +subject, not without great Resistance from the _Siennois_. The City which +is both an Archbishoprick and an University, is very pleasantly situate, +and enjoys a very good Air. ’Tis said that _Italian_ is spoke here with +more Purity than in any other Town in _Italy_. It seem’d to me to want +Inhabitants, for I went thro’ several Streets and did not meet a Soul. +’Tis said that a great many of the Nobility are settled in _Sienna_, and +that Strangers are sure to meet with a civil Reception here, but as I +staid no more than one day, I had only a cursory View of the Town. The +Cathedral appear’d to me to be a great and noble Building lin’d with +Marble. The Great Duke’s Palace is ancient, but commodious. It has a Tower +which is look’d upon as a singular piece of Architecture. The Great +Princess[165] _Violante_ of _Bavaria_ is Governess of _Sienna_. She liv’d +formerly in this City, and was mightily belov’d in it; but she has resided +for some time at _Florence_. The Square which is before the Palace is +oval, and hollow in the Middle, so that it may be laid under-water like +the Square _Navona_ at _Rome_. + +From _Sienna_ to _Viterbo_ the Road is extremely bad, I passed the +Mountain of _Radifocani_, situate in one of the vilest Countries in all +_Italy_. At the top of the Mountain there’s a Castle, where a Garison of +fifteen Men is kept, with a Commanding Officer, whom I found at the House +of Entertainment where I alighted. He had been a Lieutenant in _France_ in +the Royal _Italian_ Regiment, and spoke very good _French_. He told me +that the Inhabitants under his Government were as bad as the Country, of +which some Moments after, I saw a Proof. A Mule-driver having a Quarrel +with the Drawer, the latter stabb’d him with a Knife in the Rim of the +Belly, with as much Sedateness as if he had been doing a good Action; and +the Commandant never caus’d the Assassin to be apprehended: for which when +I express’d my Surprize to him, he said he had nothing to do out of his +Place; and that besides he did not dare to cause the Assassin to be +apprehended, because he had three Brothers as wicked as himself, who wou’d +not fail to take a Revenge if he was punish’d. And then, said he, I shou’d +have enough to do if I were to cause all to be apprehended who give Wounds +with Knives. + +AQUAPENDENTE is a sorry little Town, and yet a Metropolis. BOLSENA is no +better, and MONTEFIASCONE tho’ a Bishoprick, wou’d not be worth +mentioning, were it not for its Vineyards which produce excellent +_Muscadine_ Wine. + +VITERBO, three Leagues from _Montefiascone_, seem’d to me to be a pretty +Town. ’Tis adorn’d with three fine Fountains, and pav’d with great Flint +Stones which are four foot long and two foot broad. This City has some +fine Houses in it. ’Tis the See of a Bishop, and its Cathedral is a +Structure which does not want for Grandeur. In this Church the Archbishop +and Elector of _Cologn_ was consecrated by Pope _Benedict_ XIII. who came +hither on purpose to save the Elector all manner of dispute about +Precedency with the Cardinals; who were in their turn so disgruntled with +the Pope, that none of them accompany’d him in this Journey. + +MONTEROSO is a pretty Town, but RONCIGLIONE outdoes it; and indeed in all +the Ecclesiastical State there is not a pleasanter. It drives a great +Trade in Snuff. I came hither yesterday at Noon, and don’t think of going +away ’till this Evening, my Chaise being broke. I hope however to lie this +Night at _Rome_, from whence I purpose to send you many good Stories +forthwith. You will do me a Pleasure to let me hear from you; and to +believe me in _Italy_, as well as elsewhere, yours, _&c._ + + _End of Volume_ I. + +[Illustration] + + + + + _BOOKS of Voyages, and Travels, lately + publish’d, printed for +D. Browne+, + without +Temple-Bar+._ + + +I. A COLLECTION OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS; some now first printed from +original Manuscripts, others now first publish’d in English; with a +general Preface, giving an Account of the Progress of Navigation from its +first Beginning. Illustrated with a great number of useful Maps and Cuts +curiously engraven. In 6 Volumes, Folio. Price 9_l._ + +N. B. Those Gentlemen who have the first four Volumes of this Collection, +which were commonly call’d _Churchill_’s Travels, may have the 5th and 6th +Volumes to compleat their Setts. + +II. Mr. LE BRUYN’S TRAVELS into _Muscovy_, _Persia_, and the _East +Indies_: containing an accurate Description of whatever is most remarkable +in those Countries; and embelish’d with above 320 Copper-Plates, +representing the finest Prospects, and most considerable Cities in those +Parts; the different Habits of the People, the singular and extraordinary +Birds, Fishes, and Plants, which are to be found: as likewise the +Antiquities of those Countries, and particularly the noble Ruins of the +famous Palace of _Persepolis_, call’d _Chelminar_ by the _Persians_: the +whole being delineated on the Spot from the respective Objects. To which +is added, An Account of the Journey of Mr. _Isbrants_, Embassador from +_Muscovy_, thro’ _Russia_ and _Tartary_ to _China_: together with Remarks +on the Travels of Sir _John Chardix_ and Mr. _Kempfer_, and a Letter to +the Author on that Subject. Translated from the French, with the original +Copper-Plates. In two Volumes, Folio. Price 2_l._ 10_s._ + +III. REMARKS ON SEVERAL PARTS OF EUROPE: relating chiefly to the History, +Antiquities, and Geography of those Countries, thro’ which the Author has +travel’d; as _France_, the _Low-Countries_, _Lorrain_, _Alsatia_, +_Germany_, _Savoy_, _Tyrol_, _Switzerland_, _Italy_, and _Spain_. +Illustrated with several Maps, Plans, and above forty Copper-Plates. By J. +BREVAL Esq; In two Volumes, Folio. Price 2_l._ 2_s._ + +IV. SIR HANS SLOANE’S Voyage to the Islands of _Madera_, _Barbadoes_, +_Nevis_, _St. Christopher’s_, and JAMAICA; with the Natural History of the +Herbs and Trees, Four-footed Beasts, Fishes, Birds, Insects, Reptiles, +_&c._ of the last of those Islands. Illustrated with the Figures of the +Things described, in above 300 large Copper-Plates, as big as the Life, in +2 vol. Folio. Price 5_l._ 10_s._ _N. B._ The second Volume may be had +alone. + +V. ITINERARIUM SEPTENTRIONALE; or a Journey thro’ most of the Counties of +_Scotland_, and those in the North of _England_. In two Parts. Illustrated +with 66 Copper-Plates. By _Alexander Gordon_ A. M. Folio. Price one +Guinea. + +VI. ROMA ILLUSTRATA; or a Description of the most beautiful Pieces of +Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, antique and modern, at and near +ROME. In a neat Pocket Volume. Price 2_s._ 6_d._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + An Alphabetical INDEX + + TO THE + + FIRST VOLUME. + + + A. + + _Abbesses_ of two Convents, the Ceremony of marrying them by every Doge + of _Venice_, 400. + Their Dress, 401. + + _Agrippina_, Empress of _Rome_, 250. + + _Ahlen-Castle_, in the Dutchy of _Zell_; the Retreat of the Duke’s + unfortunate Daughter, 62. + + AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, _t._ 199, 341. + + _Albert_, Margrave of _Brandenbourg_, 82. + + _Albert_ I. Emperor, 388. + + _Albert_ II. Emperor, 388. + + _Aller_, R. 61. + + _Alpes_, for whom those Mountains were made, 395. + + ALTENA, _t._ 53, 57. + Distress of the Inhabitants, 58. + Privileg’d Place for Bankrupts, 59. + + ALTENBOURG, _t._ 167. + + _Altheim_, Count and Countess, 255, 256. + + _Amelia_, Empress of Germany, 228 to 230, &c. 344. + + _Amminati_, Sculptor, 426. + + _Andrew_, Cardinal of _Austria_, 390. + + St. _Andrew_’s Order of _Muscovy_, 76. + + _Angelo, Michael_, his saying that certain Gates were good enough for + Paradise, 428. + + _Anhalt-Cothen_, Princess, 173. + + _Anhalt-Dessau Leopold_, Pr. 37. + His Amour and Marriage, and his Menace to shoot his Tutor, 38, 39. + His Character by the late D. of _Savoy_, 39. + His Valour, 39, 40. + His Government, 82. + + _Augustus Lewis_, Pr. his Wives and Issue, 83. + + _Anhalt-Zerbst, Magdalen-Augusta_, Duchess of _Saxe-Gotha_, 181. + + _Anna-Maria_’s Violin, 415. + + _Anne_, Princess Royal of _Denmark_, and Electress-Dowager of _Saxony_, + 100. + + _Anne-Frederica_, of _Promnitz_, 83. + + _Anne-Sophia-Charlotte_, of _Prussia_, Duchess of _Saxe-Eysenach_, 183. + + _Annunciation-Pictures_, done by _Tintoret_ and _Titian_, 419. + + ANSPACH, 193, 204. + See _Brandenbourg_. + + _Anthony-Ulric_, D. of _Brunswic-Lunenburg-Wolfembuttle_, 69, 71, 73, + 75, 79. + + _Antinous_’s Statue, 370. + + _Antonietta-Amelia_ of _Brunswic-Blanckenbourg_, 72. + + _Apollodorus_ Statuary, 427. + + _Apollonia_, the Singer, 415. + + _Appel_, a Merchant at _Leipsic_, his House the Residence of the K. of + _Poland_, 85. + + _Appennine_ Mountains, 425. + + AQUAPENDENTE, _t._ 430. + + _Arch-duchess_, 232, 233, 381. + + _Architecture_, the best Article that Princes can lay out their Money + in, 10. + + _Aremberg_, Duke and Duchess Dowager, 332, 333. + + _Argenson_, M. de, 303. + + _Arlington_, Countess of, 67. + + _Arnheim_, Marshal de, 40. + + _Arnim, Sigismond_ de, 146. + + _Arnould_, St. 366. + + _Arthur_, Prince of Wales, 389. + + AUGSBOURG, _t._ 273. + Its Comparison with _Antwerp_, 275. + Its chief Trade, 275, 276. + + _Augusta_, of _Saxe-Gotha_, Princess of _Wales_, 182. + + _Augustus_ III. K. of _Poland_, 97, 99. + His Travels and Conversion to Popery, 101. + His Marriage, 102, 165. + His Love and Duty to his Father, 104. + His Election and Coronation, 106. + His Tutor, 126, 127. + His Queen, 98. + Their Children, 99. + + _Augustus-William_ D. of _Brunswic-Lunenburg Wolfembuttle_, 69, 71, 73. + + _Augustus-Albert_, Prince of _Prussia_, 113. + + _Augustus_, Emperor, 273. + + _Aulic Council_, at _Berlin_, 14. + At _Vienna_, 244. + + St. _Austin_’s Tract of the City of God, 179. + + _Austria_, House, of whom it now consists, 233. + A Wish that it never may be extinct, 233. + Its great Alliances, 250. + + _Austrian Princes_, remarkable for an Air of Gravity, 112. + Their People’s Avertion to the _Bohemians_, 222. + The scurvy Pun of a _French_ Jester upon them, 228. + Their Epicurism, 253. + Pride, 254. + Their Fondness for the Title of Count, 255. + + _Austrian_ and _Lorrain_ Families united, 233, 341. + + _Auvergne_, Princesses, 332, 333. + + + B. + + _Backover_, M. Chancellor of _Saxe-Gotha_, 182. + + _Baden-Baden_, Margrave and Margravine, 213, 299, 300. + + _Baden-Dourlach, Christian_, Margrave of, 183, 279. + _Charles_, 293, 296. 298. + Margravine, 298, 300, 301, 304. + + _Badiani_, Count, 244. + + _Bahlberg, Adolphus_, Baron of, 184. + + _Baldinucci, Philip_, the Sculptor, 426. + + _Balls_ of _Bohemia_, compar’d with those in the _Hay-Market_, 223. + + BAMBERG, t. 201, &c. the mighty Prerogative of its Bishop, 201. + + BARBI, _t._ 82. + + _Bareith_, Margraves. See _Brandenbourg_. + + BAREITH, _t._ 204. + Princess, 303. + + _Baron_, the Title purchased in + _Germany_ by a Messenger, 256. + + _Basset_, how a Lady made her Gallant’s Fortune at it, 252. + + _Bass-Viols_, a _German_ Duke’s Fondness for ’em, 168, to 171. + + _Bavaria_, Electors of, 259, 262, 263. + Its Division, 267. + Riches and Revenue, 167, 268. + Electoress, 363, 364. + Its Apostle, 366. + + _Baudissin_, M. _Wolf, Henry_ de, 104, 127, 128. + + _Baumgarten_, General, 84. + + _Beaufort_, Marquis de, 135. + + _Beausobre_, M. 15. + + _Bedmar_, Marquis de, his Conspiracy, 409. + + _Beichling_, M. Chancellor, 91. + + _Beichling_, Countess Dowager, 141. + + _Belgrade_, 248. + + _Belvedere-Palace_, 4. + + _Benedict_ XIII. Pope, 337, 430. + + _Benedictines_, a sort of Republic form’d in that Order, 190. + + _Benson, William_, Esq; Director of the fine Water-works at + _Herenhausen_, 67. + + _Bentivoglio_, Cardinal, his Remark upon the _Alps_ and the + neighbouring People, 395. + + _Bergenopzoom_, 332. + + BERLIN, t. 3. Its Obligation to the _French_ Refugees, 3. + Its Academy, 147. + + _Bernsdorff, John Hartwig Ernest_, Baron of, 155. + + _Berschen_, t. 394. + + _Beveren_, Baron de, 334, 335. + + _Bevern, Brunswic_ Branch, 71. + _Charles_, Prince of, 26, 72. + _Ferdinand-Albert_, Prince of 70, 71, 72. + _Elizabeth-Christina_, Princess, 72. + + _Bilinski_, Count and Countess, 118. + + _Bishoprick_, which the first in _Germany_, 201. + + _Black Liveries_, never given by a certain _German_ Family, 363. + + _Blanc_, M. de, 306. + + _Blanche, Mary_, Wife to the Emperor _Maximilian_, 389. + + _Blanckenbourg_, County, 79. + + BLANCKENBOURG, t. 76, 78. + Stupidity of the People, 78. + + _Blanckenbourg_’s Duke and Duchess, 71, 76, 78. + The Duke’s Treaty with the Elector of _Hanover_ for a Vote and Seat + in the Dyet, 79. + His Accession to the Title of the D. of _Wolfembuttle_, 80. + + _Blanckenheim-Mandersheldt, Francis George_, Count de, 333. + + _Bockenheim_, t. 340. + + _Bohemia_, 210, 211, &c. 244. + Where and by whom its Kings and Queens are consecrated, 212. + Its Saints, _ib._. + The Wealth and Grandeur of its Nobility, and the Poverty and Slavery + of the Peasants, 218, 219, 221. + Its States, of whom compos’d, 222. + Their Aversion to the _Austrians_, 222. + + _Bolagnos_, Count de, 397. + + _Bologna, John_, 427. + + BOLOGNA, t. 423, 424. + + BOLSANO. t. 392. + + _Bolsena_, t. 430. + + _Bork_, the _Prussian_ Minister and General, 31, 42. + + _Bose_, Countess of, 145. + + _Bossagno_, t. 394. + + _Bot_, the Architect, 10, 18. + Compar’d to _Bernini_, 94. + + _Bothmar_, Count de, 65. + + _Bouillon_, Princes, why they had the Title of _Domestic_ Highnesses, + 210. + + _Bourbon_ and _Austria_, Houses, our Author’s Wish that they might + never be extinct, 233. + + _Bourbon_, Duchess of, 310, 332. + + _Bourg_, Marshal de, 306, 307. + + _Brandenbourg_, Electors of, _Joachim_ II. 196. + _John George_, 204. + + _Brandenbourg, Lewis_, Margrave of, 387. + + _Brandenbourg-Anspach_, Margraves, capital, 193, &c., 195, 361. + Margravine, 194. + Her Present to our Author, 197. + Death in this Family pretended to be always foretold by the + Appearance of a Spirit, 196. + + _Brandenbourg-Bareith_, Margraves, 200, &c. 205, &c. 303, 342. + + BRANDENBOURG, t. 2. + + _Brandenbourg-Schwedt_, Marquis of, 26. + Margravine Dowager, 125. + + _Brandstein, Frederic-Augustus_ de, 145. + + _Brebentau_, Mademoiselle de, 116, 157. + + _Brebentau_, the Palatine of _Marienbourg_, 163. + + _Breitenbauch, Henry-Augustus_ de, 146. + + _Bremer_, M. de, 195. + + _Brenner_, Mountain, 391, 392. + + _Breslau_, the Road from it to _Berlin_, 1. + + _Breton-Villiers_, Marquis, Reflection on his Memoirs, 337. + + _Brezé_, Marshal de, 321. + + BRHOUSEL, t. 318. + + _Brimstone_, prescrib’d to the _Austrians_ by a _French_ Jester, 228. + + BRIXEN, t. 392, 394. + + _Brocks_, a _Hamburgher_ and Poet, 53. + + _Brou_, M. de, 306. + + _Bruhl, John_ and _Henry_ de, 104, 129, 130, 131, 132, 140. + _Adolphus_ de, 140. + Baron de, 174, 177. + + _Brunswic Hanover, John-Frederic_, Duke of, 229. + + _Brunswic_ Family, 61, 69, 71. + The Princes descended from it, 231. + + BRUNSWIC, t. 69, 75. + + _Brunswic-Blanckenbourg, Lewis Rodolf_, Duke of, 70, 231. + + _Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Wolfembuttle_, Duke of, 231. + + _Bucentaur_, a fine Venetian Galley, 399, 407. + + _Bulau_, Baron de, 65, 66. + Baroness, 66. + + _Burgau, Charles_, Margrave of, 390. + + _Burgundy, Charles_ the Bold, Duke of, 389. + _Philip_ Duke, 389. + + _Buthler, Constantine_, Baron of, 184. + + + C. + + _Cabinet Ministers_, their Precedence at the Court of _Prussia_, 134. + + _Caccioli Antonio_, Painter, 424. + + _Cadets Academies_, 48. + + _Cæsar_’s War with Pompey, painted, 370. + + _Callenberg, Augustus-Henry Gottlob_, Count de, 145. + + _Camke_, Madame de, 25. + + _Camke_, Messieurs de, 44. + + _Candi_, a famous Painter, 261. + + _Carinthia, Henry_ Duke of, 387. + + _Carlowitz, John-George_ de, 145. + Treaty, 238. + + CARLSBAD, t. 208, &c. + Virtue of its Baths, _ib._ + + CARLSROUHE, t. 293. + + _Caroline_, Princess of _Saxe-Eysenach_, 115. + + _Cassel_, See _Hesse_. + + _Castel_, Count de, 195. + + _Castilloncello_, t. 429. + + _Catsch_, M. a Minister of _Prussia_, 5, 17, 43. + + _Catzenellenbogen_, upper County, 357. + + _Chains_, that bound St. _Peter_, St. _Paul_, and St. _John_, three + Links of them, 198. + + _Chalisac_, M. 37. + + _Charlemain_’s Crown and Sword, 199. + _Charles_, Margrave of _Burgau_, 390. + _Charles_ II. K. of _Spain_, 387. + _Charles_ IV. Emperor, 387. + + _Charles_ V. Emperor, 381, 387, 423. + + _Charles_ VI. Emperor, 70, 230, 341. + His Diversions, 233. + His Friendship and Gratitude, 256. + His Love for the Empress, 257. + Remarks on his Coronation, 341. + + _Charles-Christian_, Prince of _Prussia_, 113. + + _Charles_, K. of _Sardinia_, 335. + + _Charles_ XII. K. of _Sweden_, 55, 56, 123, 124. + + _Charles_, Prince Palatine of _Sultzbach_, 332. + + _Charles_, the Bold, Duke of _Burgundy_, 389. + + _Charles-Albert_, Elector of _Bavaria_, 259, 262, 263. + His Electoress, 263. + + _Charles-Lewis_, Elector Palatine, 274, 342, 381, 383. + _Philip_ ditto, 328, 330, 331. + His Revenues, 337. + + _Charlottemburg_ House, 35. + + _Child-bearing_, ascrib’d to the Miracles of the two _Bohemian_ Saints, + 213, 214. + + _Christian_, Margrave of _Brandenburg-Bareith_, 200. + + _Christian-Lewis_, Margrave of _Brandenburg_, 28. + Ulric, Duke of _Wirtemberg-Oels_, and _Bernstad_, 83. + _William_, of _Saxe-Gotha_, Prince, 182. + + _Christina-Louisa_, of _Oetingen, Duchess of Blanckenbourg_, 70. + + _Christina_, Princess of _Saxe-Weissenfels_, 114, 115. + + _Christopher_, St. where most worshipped, 394. + + _Cicerone_, the Meaning of that Word in Italy, 395. + + _Cinfuentes_, Count de, 244. + + _Cleisheim_, 375. + + _Clischoff_, Battle, 163. + + _Clovis_, K. of _France_, 388. + + _Coburg_, t. 200. + + _Cohorn_, Engineer, 328. + + COHTEN, t. 83. + + _Colin, Alexander_, Statuary, 386. + + _Collobradt_, Count, 220. + + _Collonitz_, the Count and the Cardinal, 248, 249. + + _Collowrat_, Count and Countess, 133, 148. + + _Complimenters_, nauseous, 199. + + _Condé_, Princess of, 344. + + _Conferences_, Counsellors of, 240, 244. + + _Constance_, Council of, 15, 339. + + _Coquets_, in _Venice_, the Place of their Rendezvous, 415. + + _Corfou_, Island, 408. + + _Cornaro_ Family’s Tomb, 404. + + _Cosel_ Countess of, Mistress of the late K. of _Poland_, 90, 91, 117, + 118, 120, 124. + Her Menaces against him, 118. + Count, 117, 136. + Her Daughter, 142. + + _Cosmo_ I. Duke of _Florence_, 426, 427. + + _Costa_, Count de, 101, 123. + + _Counts_ of the Empire, their Preheminence, 287. + + _Courland_, Duchess Dowager, 200. + + _Craut_, his surprising Rise from behind the Compter to the Ministry, + 4. + + _Creutz_, M. de, _Prussian_ Minister, 5, 45. + + _Creutzer_, Coin, 278. + + _Crossen_, t. 1. + + _Culmbach-Brandenburg_, Margraviate, 204. + _George-Frederic-Charles_, the Margrave, 205. + His Family and Revenues, 204, &c. 208. + + _Cunegonda_, Empress, her Tomb, 202, 387. + + _Cup_, which _Joseph_ put in _Benjamin’s_ Sack; the Reason our + Author had to remember that Passage, 204. + + _Customs_, a remarkable Attachment to old ones, 78, 79. + + _Cyprianus_, Dr. 179. + + _Cyprus, Cornaro_, Q. of, 406. + + _Czarowitz_, 70. + + + D. + + _Damnitz_, M. de, Grand Marshal of _Saxe-Gotha_, 182. + + _Danckelman_, Baron de, 15. + He prophesies his own Fate, 16. + + _Dangervilliers_, M. 306, 307. + + _Danneberg, Henry_ de, 71. + + _Danebrock_ Order, 74. + + _Dantzick_, t. invested, 107. + Reduc’d, 108, 109. + + _Danube_, R. 278. + + _Darmstadt_, t. 357. + Landgraves, 357, 362. + + _Daun_, Count and Marshal de, 246, 370. + + _Degenfeldt_ (_Schomberg_) Count de, 342, 343. + + _Dehn_, Count de, 72, 73. + A very fine Dancer, as well as Minister of State, 74. + + _Dejanira’s_ Story painted, 383. + + _Delitz_, Countess of, 66. + + _Denhoff_, General, 7. + + _Denmark_, Q. of, 208. + The Prince Royal, 208. + + _Devos_, Tapestry-maker at _Brussels_, 236. + + _Diedrichstein_, Count, 147. + + _Doberginsky_, M. 35. + + _Doges_ of _Venice_, their Marriage of the Sea, and of the Abbesses of + two Convents, 399, 400. + + _Dohna_, Count de, 6. + + _Dorffling_, a Taylor, his Rise to be a General in the Army, 12. + + _Dorothea-Sophia_, Princess of _Prussia_, 19. + + _Dorothy_, Electress of _Brandenburg_, 19. + + DRESDEN, t. 87, 157, &c. + + _Drinking_ hard, in _Germany_, our Author’s humourous Account how it + affected him, 184, 187, to 190, 204, 325, to 327. + Where he reckons it an inseparable Function of the Ecclesiastical + Courts, 204. + + _Duhamel, Francis_, General, 7, 412. + His Lady, 412. + + _Duvaine_, General, 5. + + _Duval_, a famous Soop-maker, 56. + + + E. + + _East-Friesland, George-Albert_, Prince of, 208. + + _Eib_, General, 191. + + _Einsiedel, John George_ de, 143. + + _Einsiedel, Curt_ de, 144. + His Lady, 144. + + _Einsiedel Detler, Henry_ de, 146. + + _Eleonora_, Empress, 240, 381. + + _Eleonora_, Princess of _Neubourg_, 230. + + _Eleonora-Philippina_, Princess of _Hesse-Rhinfels_, 332. + + _Elizabeth_, Empress of _Germany_, 232, &c. + Her Abjuration of the _Lutheran_ Religion, 232. + + _Elizabeth-Sophia_ of _Brandenbourg_, Duchess Dowager of _Courland_, + 200. + + _Elizabeth-Christina_ of _Oetingen_, Duchess of _Blanckenbourg_, 76. + + _Elvan_, t. 378. + + _Emanuel_, Prince of _Savoy_, 238. + + _Emigrants_, of _Saltzbourg_, 375, 376. + + _Emperors_ of _Germany_, the Ceremony of their Audiences, 225. + Their Dining, 225. + Suppers, 227. + Pictures, 370. + + _Empresses_, the Respect paid to them, 228 to 230, &c. + + _Empress_ Dowager, 229. + + _Eosander_, the Architect, 10. + + _Erdmansdorff, Ernest-Ferdinand_ de, 144. + + ERFURT, t. 178. + + ERLANGEN, _Christian_, t. 200. + + _Ernest-Augustus_, the first Elector of _Hanover_, 63, 67. + How he obtain’d that Dignity, 68. + + _Ernest_, Arch-Duke, and his Wife, 389. + + _Ernest-Augustus_, Duke of _Saxe-Weimar_, 173. + + _Ernest_ the _Pious_, Duke of _Gotha_, 178. + + _Etiquette_, in foreign Courts, what, 224. + + _Etlingen_, t. 303. + + _Eversberg_, t. 364. + + _Eugene_ of _Savoy_, Prince, his Palace, 236. + His Character, 237, 141. + His Regiment of Dragoons, 237. + His Sickness, Death, and Interment, 238. + His Employments and Estate, 238, 240. + His last Will, 239. + His Library, 239. + His Nephew, 239. + + _Excellency_, the _Venetians_ Fondness for the Title, 420, 421. + + EYSENACH, t. 183. See _Saxe_. + + + F. + + _Fatima_, a _Turkish_ Lady, 115, 116. + + _Favourita_, the Emperor’s Palace, 234. + + _Faustina_, the Singer, 421. + + _Ferbellin_, t. 50. + + _Ferdinand_, I. _de Medicis_, 427. + + _Ferdinand_, K. of _Castille_, 387. + + _Ferdinand_, K. of the _Romans_, 381. + + _Ferdinand_ I. Emperor, 385, 387. + His Son’s Tomb, 389, + and Wife, 390. + + _Ferdinand-Albert_, D. of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg_ and _Bevern_, 70, 71, + 72. + His Merit and Preferment, 72. + + _Ferdinand-Mary_, Elector of _Bavaria_, 259. + His Wife, 260. + + _Ferdinand_, Duke of _Bavaria_, 263, 264. + His Duchess, 263. + + FERRARA, t. 423. + + _Finck_, of _Finckenstein_, Count, 25. + + _Fiorenzola_, t. 425. + + _Fermian_, Barons of, 367. + + _Fishermen_, at _Venice_, their Election of their Doge or Chief, 402. + + _Fitztuhm_, Count de, 91, 142. + His Daughter, 150. + + _Fleming, James-Henry_, Count de, Prime Minister of _Poland_, 73, 74, + 89, 90, 92, 102, 125, 144, 152, 155, 162. + His Reason for employing Foreigners before _Saxons_, 155. + The Origin of his Family and his Education, 162. + His Preferments from first to last, 162, &c. + His Marriage and his Duels, 163, 165. + His Conduct with regard to _Patkul_, 164. + His Estate, 165, 166. + His general Character, 166. + + _Fleming_, Mademoiselle de, 116. + + _Fleury_, Marquis de, 135. + Cardinal de, 241. + + FLORENCE, t. 425. + + _Fohsen_, Mademoiselle de, 38. + + _Forbenius_ he saved the Life of the Elector of _Brandenbourg_, 51. + + _Force_, Marshall de, 321. + + _Forchs_, the _Starost_ assassinated, 155. + + _Francfort_, on the _Rhine_, 340. + Privilege of those here called Residents, 342. + + _Francfort_, on the _Oder_, t. 2. + + _Francis_ I. K. of _France_, his solemn Affirmation, 215. + + _Franconia_, Duke, 185, 191. + + _Frankenberg_, Baron de, 236. + + FRANKENDAHL, t. 338. + + _Frauenstad_, Battle, 163. + + _Frederic_, of _Austria_, nicknam’d the _Pennyless_ Prince, 385, 386, + 388. + + _Frederic_, Elector Palatine, who was chose K. of _Bohemia_, 210. + + _Frederic_ IV. Emperor, 387, 388. + His Mother, 389. + + _Frederic_, Electoral Prince of _Saxony_, 99, 112. + + _Frederic_ II. Duke of _Gotha_, 180, 181. + III. the present Duke, 181, 182. + His Brother _William_, 181. + His other Brothers and Sisters, and his Revenues and Guards, &c. 182. + + _Frederic-Augustus_ II. K. of _Poland_, 94, 102. + His Nativity calculated at _Venice_, 95, 96. + His Death, 96. + His Queen, and her Death, 97. + His Change of Religion, 100. + The Method he took to convert his Son, 101. + His Natural Issue, 115, &c. + His Generosity, 164. + + FREDERIC IV. K. of _Denmark’s_ Compassion to the _Altenois_, 58, 59. + His Queen’s Retirement, 59. + His giving Audience to the Senate at _Bologna_, 423, 426. + + _Frederic_, the _Fair_, 230. + + _Frederic-William_, Elector of _Brandenbourg_, his Statue, 9. + His remarkable Speech to his Soldiers, 50. + His daughter, 200. + + _Frederic_ I. K. of _Prussia_, his Statue, 8, 297. + + _Frederic_, Prince Royal of _Prussia_, 25. + + _Frederica-Sophia_, Princess of _Prussia_, 25, 26. + + _Frederica-Louisa_, Princess of _Prussia_, 26. + Of _Saxe-Gotha_, Princess, 182. + + _Fredericsfeld_, House, 27. + + _Friesberg_, Baron de, 61. + + _Friesland, Henry-Frederic_, Count of, 123, 139, 142. + + _Frisoni_, an Architect, 288, 290. + + _Fuchs_, Baron de, the _Prussian_ Minister, 4, 29, 41. + + _Fuchs_, Countess de, 254. + + _Fugger, Maximilian_, Count, 266. + His generous Entertainment of the Emperor _Charles_ V. 276. + + _Fuhl_, de, Great Marshal, 90. + + FULDE, t. 184. Magnificence of its Abbot, 184. + + _Fultishau_, Convent, 380. + + _Furstemberg_, Prince, 165. + Cardinal, 315. + + _Furstenfeldt_, Abbey, 272, 273. + + + G. + + _Gala_, Days of, what, 226, 227, 228. + + _Galeas, John_ Duke of _Milan_, 389. + + _Gallasch_, Count de, 211. + + _Gardeners_, the best in all _Germany_, 85. + + _Garment_, Christ’s, a Relique of it, 198. + + _Gaston, John_, Great Duke of _Tuscany_, 428. + + _Gates_, thought by _Michael Angelo_ to be good enough for Paradise, + 428. + + _Gemblours_, Abbot of, his sole Privilege of celebrating Mass booted + and spurr’d, 191. + + _Gemming_, Baron de, 208. + + _Gentleman_, two _French_ Kings fond of the Title, 215. + + GEORGE I. K. of _Great Britain_, his Wife, 61, 62. + His Administration, 61, 64, 68. + + _George_ II. King, 64, 69. + + _George-William_, Margrave of _Brandenbourg-Bareith_, 205. + + _George_ (St.) Abbess of, 212. + Order _Bavarian_, 260. + + _George_ I. Landgrave of _Darmstad_, 357. + + _German_ Language, its Excellency. 53, 195. + Vanity of the _Germans_, 198. + + _Gersi_, the _French_ Ambassador, 397. + + _Gersner_, Physician, 368. + + _Gerstorf, Gotlob-Frederic_, Baron de, 47. + + _Gertrude_, a _Marcoman_ Lady, History of her, an entertaining Novel, + 343, &c. + Its Key, 355. + + _Gilles_ (_St._) Count de, 92. + + _Glass_ Manufacture of _Venice_, 410. + + _Globe, John-Frederic_ Count de, 334. + + _Goblet_ of Gold, the Pleasure with which our Author drank out of it; + and how he wish’d to carry it off, 204. + + _Godfrey_ of _Bouillon_, K. of _Jerusalem_, 388. + + _Gohren_, Baron de, 45. + + _Gortz_, (_Henry_) Baron de, 54. + His famous Copper Coin, 56. + His Execution, 57. + + _Gortz_, the _Hanovarian_, 64. + + _Gotha_, see _Saxe_, and _Frederic_, and _Ernest_. + + GOTHA, _t._ 178. + Its Dukes, 178, 179, &c. + Duchesses, 181. + The noble Library here, 179. + Their Revenues, 182. + + _Gravenitz_, Count de, 284, 285, 286. + + _Gravenitz_, Countess de, Mistress of the D. of _Wirtemberg_, 279, 282, + to 284. + + _Gravity_, an Air peculiar to the _Austrian_ Princes, 112. + + _Grosh_, the Value of that Coin, 85. + + _Grumkau_, the _Prussian_ Minister, 5, 31, 43. + + _Grunberg_, the Architect, 6. + + _Guide_, a remarkable one that was blind, 277. + + _Guides_, the Name given to them in _Italy_, 305. + + _Guldenstein-Huguetan_, Count de, 35. + + _Gundacker de Staremberg_, Count, 241. + + _Gustavus Adolphus_, 259, 274. + + + H. + + _Hacke_, M. de, 46. + + _Hagen_, Baron de, 75, 101. + + HAGUENAU, 381, _t._ + + _Hall_, the largest next to _Westminster_, 215. + + _Halle_, t. 82, 377, 380. + University, 85. + + HAMBURGH, _t._ 51, 199. + Its Dispute with _Denmark_, 52. + Its Opera, 52. + Its Mob, 54. + Vindication of its Citizens from the Charge of Cruelty to the + _Altenois_, 58. + Their Respect to the _Jews_, 53, 59. + + _Hamelen_, t. 68. + + _Hanau_, Count of, 359, 361, 362. + + _Hanau, Charlotta-Christina_ of, 359. + + HANAU, _t._ 360, 362. + + HANOVER, 63, 68. + _Roman_ Catholics there, 63. + Revenues of the Electorate, 68. + ---- Electoress of, 343, 344. + + HARBOURG, _t._ 60, 68. + + _Hardenberg_, M. Grand Marshal of _Hanover_, 64, 65. + + _Harlay_, M. de. 306. + + _Harrach_, Count de, 242, 367, 368, 371. + + _Hattorfs_, Ministers compar’d to _Louvois_ and _Barbesieux_, 65, 66. + + _Hatzfield, Egmont_ Count, 335. + + _Haugwitz, John-Adolphus_ de, 142. + + HEIDELBERG, _t._ 321, 322. + Its Decay to what owing, 323. + Its famous Tun, 324. + + _Heilbron_, 375. + + _Henrietta-Benedictine_, the Princess _Palatine_, 229. + + _Henry_ II. Emperor, his Tomb, 202. + + _Henry_ IV. Emperor, the pompous Interment he wish’d his Enemies, 168. + + _Henry_ III. K. of _France_, 309. + + _Henry_ IV. K. of _France_, his Ambition to be called the first + Gentleman in his Kingdom, 215. + + _Herenhausen_ Palace, 67. + + _Herford_ Abbey, 27. + + _Hering_, M. de, Vice-Chancellor of _Saxe-Gotha_, 177, 182. + + _Hermitage_, a Seat near _Bareith_, 207. + + _Herzan, Maximilian_ Count de, 146. + + _Hesler_, M. de, 108. + + _Hesse_ Princes, 357. + + _Hesse-Cassel, Philip_ the Landgrave of, 357, 362. + + _Hesse-Darmstadt, Ernest-Lewis_ Landgrave of, 357. + His Wife, 358. + His Son and his Wife, 359. + His Revenues and Troops, 360. + + _Hesse-Rhinfels_, Princess of, 332. + + _Hildesheim_, Baron, 335. + + _Hochstet_ Battle, 262. + + _Hoffman_, Professor of Physic at _Halle_, 208. + + _Hohenlo_, Count de, 353. + + _Holstein-Beck, Lewis-Frederic_ Pr. of, 150. + + ---- _Charles-Lewis_ Pr. of, 120, 150. + _Dorothy_, Princess of, 205. + + _Houtten, Christopher-Francis_ de, Pr. and Bp. of _Wurtzbourgh_, 185. + + _Hoym_, Count de, 91, 92, 117, 118. + His Catastrophe, 136, 137. + + _Hubert_ (St.) his Legacy, 190. + Noted for killing Rats, 196. + + HUBERTSBOURGH, _t._ 86, 103, 157. + + _Huss, John_, 339. + + _Hussites_, the Remains of ’em, 216. + + + I. + + _Jacobi_, the Statuary, 9. + + _Jacquelot_, M. 15. + + _Janson_, Cardinal, 315. + + _Jews_, the Respect shewed them at _Hamburg_, 53, 59. + Not tolerated at _Anspach_, and why, 198. + Their Punishment for crucifying an Infant of Christian Parents on + _Christmass-day_, 216. + Vast number of ’em in _Bohemia_, 216. + and the _Palatinate_, 337. + + _Ilgen_, Baron, _Prussian_ Minister, 31, 41. + + _Ilten_, Messieurs de, of _Hanover_, 66, 67. + + _Inn_ River, 364, 379, 380. + + INSPRUC, t. 380. + + _Joan_ of _Castille_, 387. + + _John_’s (St.) Village in _Tirol_, 378. + + _John_ (St.) of _Jerusalem_, Kts. of, 28. + + _John_ (St.) _Nepomucene_, 212, 213. + + _John-Ernest_ ABp. of _Saltzbourg_, 373. + + _John-Adolphus_ of _Saxe-Weissenfels_, 99, 114. + + _John-George_ I. Elector of _Saxony_, 114. + + _John-George_ III. Elector of _Saxony_, 94. + + _John-George_ IV. Elector, 94. + + _John-Augustus_ of _Saxe-Gotha_, Pr. 182. + + ---- _Adolphus_, ditto, 182. + + _John William_, D. of _Saxe-Eisenach_, 183. + Elector Palatine, 324, 328. + + _Jonas_, the tall Grenadier, 35. + + _Joseph_, Emperor, 274. + + _Iser_ R. 258. + + _Isselbach_, General, 336. + + _Judas_’s Lanthorn to be seen in two Places, 81. + + _Ixter_, Baron de, 298. + + + K. + + _Kalestein_, Baron de, 25. + + _Kara Mustapha_, Grand Vizier, 247, 248. + + KEHL, _t._ 305. + + _Kendal_, Duchess, 66. + + _Kevenbuller_, Count de, 246. + + _Keyserling-Hermann-Charles_, 154. + + _Kilmanseck_, Madame de, 67. + + _Kinsberg_, Baron de, 195. + + _Kinski_, Counts, 154, 220, 221, 244. + + _Kinski_, Countess of, 154. + + _Klenzek_, Mademoiselle de, 55. + + _Kniphausen_, Baron, the _Prussian_ Minister, 31, 44. + + _Kokersowitz_, Countess, 148. + + _Konickel_, Count de, 381. + + _Konigsegg_, Count de, 147, 239, 242, 243. + His Marriage, 243. + His Nephew, 243, 244. + + _Konigstern_ Castle, 87. + + _Koningsmark, Aurora_ Countess of, 115. + + _Kuenbourgh_, Count de, 373. + + _Kundahl_, t. 379. + + _Kurtzrok_, Baron, 54. + + + L. + + _Lactantius_’s Works, 179. + + _Ladies, Venetian_, in Masks, pick’d up by our Author, 411. + and himself pick’d up by a Lady in Distress who knew him, 416. + + _Ladislaus_, King, 388. + + _Lagnasco_, Count, and _Josepha_ Countess of, 151, 152, 157, 158. + + LANDAU, _t._ 318. + + _Lands_, how entail’d, and how secur’d in _Bohemia_, 218, 219. + + _Larks_, where they most abound, 85. + + _Laxembourg_, the Emperor’s Palace, 234. + + _Leibnitz_, the Philosopher, 156. + + _Leine_, _r._ 63. + + LEIPSICK, _t._ 83. + Why ’tis called the Jewel of _Saxony_, 84. + Its Fairs frequented by a great number of Princes and Princesses, 85. + + _Lenfant_, M. Author of the Council of _Constance_, 15. + + _Leopold_ of _Austria_, surnam’d _the Virtuous_, 388. + + _Leopold_, Archduke, 210. + + ---- Emperor, 230. + + ---- Bp. of _Saltzbourgh_, his Houshold and his Revenues, 367, 373. + Why compared to Pope _Sixtus_ V. 367. + + _Levant_ Women, their great Confinement within doors, 52. + + _Leubnitz, Charles_, 140. + + _Lewis_ VI. Landgrave of _Darmstad_, 357. + + _Lewis_, the Hereditary Prince, 359. + + _Lewis_ of _Bavaria_, Emperor, 260, 387. + + ---- of _Baden_, Pr. 299, 303. + + ---- _Ernest_ of _Saxe-Gotha_, P. 182. + + ---- _the Severe_, Duke of _Bavaria_, his Murder of his Minister and his + Wife, 272. + His Repentance, 273. + + ---- _Rodolph_, D. of _Brunswic-Lunenburg,_ and _Blanckenbourg_, 70, + 231. + + ---- Margrave of _Brandenburg_, 387. + + _Lewis_ XV. K. of _France_, his Marriage, 304, 309. + Cardinal _Rohan_’s Speeches upon it, 310, 313. + + _Lichtenstein_ Palace, 236. + + _Lieutenant_ of the Police at _Paris_, 246. + + _Linange, Mary-Christina-Felicite_, Countess of, her Husbands, 183. + + _Linar, Maurice-Charles_, Count de, 143. + + LINTZ _t._ 258. + + _Lipski, John-Alexander_, Bp. of _Cracow_, 149. + + _Lobkowitz_, Pr. and Princess, 342. + + _Lodron_, Counts of, 365, 373. + + _Lopel_, General de, 30. + + _Lorrain, Francis_ Duke of, his Marriage to the Archduchess, 233, 341. + + ---- _Charles_, Pr. 239, 381. + + _Losenstein, Eleonora_ Countess of, 151. + + _Lovel_, Baron de, kill’d in a Duel with Count _Flemming_, 163. + + _Louestein_, Princess, 342. + + _Louisa-Dorothea_ Duchess of _Saxe-Gotha_, 181. + + _Louvois_, Marquiss, 306. + + _Lowendahl, Waldemar_ Baron of, 121. + His Service to six Kings, 121. + His Wives and Issue, 122. + His Son _Waldemar_, 122, 139. + + _Lowinitz, Henry-Rodolph de Schonfeld_ Lord of, 145. + + _Lubomirski-Theresa_, Electoress _Palatine_, 330. + + _Lubomirski_, Madame de, Rival to _Fatima_ a _Turkish_ Lady, Mistress + to the late K. of _Poland_, 116, 117. + + _Lubomirski, George-Ignatius_ Pr. of, 150, 151. + + _Lude_, Count de, his wise Reason for marrying a Tradesman’s Daughter, + 45. + + _Ludwigsbourg_ t. 279, 287. + + LUNENBURG _t._ 68. + + _Lunenburg-Zell_ and _Lunenburg-Hanover_ Families united, 61. + + _Luther, Martin_, his resolute Expression when dissuaded to go the + Dyet, 339. + + _Lutzelbourg, Anthony_ Count de, 123. + + + M. + + _Magdebourg_ Duchy yielded to the House of _Brandenbourg_, 80. + Character of it, 82. + + MAGDEBOURG _t._ 48, 80. + + _Maintenon_, Madame de, Mistress of _Lewis_ XIV. her Fortune told by a + Mason, 96. + + _Malchau_ House near _Berlin_, 29. + + _Manger_, a Relique of our Saviour’s, 198. + + MANHEIM _t._ 327. + + _Manteuffel, Ernest_ Count de, 134. + + _Marck, Julius-Augustus_, Count de la 334, 337. + + _Marcoman_ Lady, the History of one, 344. _&c._ + + _Margaret_ of _Tyrol_ surnam’d _the Pious_, and nicknam’d _Wide-Mouth_, + 387. + + _Maria-Anne-Caroline_ of _Newbourgh_, 263. + + _Maria-Magdalena_, Archduchess, 233, 381. + + _Maria Elizabetha_, Archduchess and Governess of the _Netherlands_, + 233. + + _Maria-Amelia_ Princess of _Poland_, 113. + + _Maria-Anne-Sophia_ Princess of _Poland_, 113. + + _Maria-Josepha_ Princess of _Poland_, 114. + + _Maria-Theresa_ Archduchess, 232, _&c._ + Her Marriage to the D. of _Lorrain_, 233. + + _Maria-Josepha_ Q. of _Poland_, 98, 102, 110, 111, 112. + + _Maria-Anne-Victoria_ of _Bavaria_, 309. + + _Maria_ Empress of _Germany_, her illustrious Relations, 250, 388. + + _Marie-Adelaide_ of _Savoy_, 260, 268. + + _Maria-Lescinski_ Q. of _France_, 304, 309. + + _Mark’s_, St. Festival, how celebrated at _Venice_, 401. + + _Marriage_ of the Sea, 399, 400. + + _Marriage_ of Princes how limited by the Laws of Germany, 60, 352. + A Princess charg’d with abusing that Sacrament of the Church of + _Rome_, 202. + + _Martinitz_, Count of, 213, 214. + + _Masquerades_ at _Venice_, 412. + + _Mass_, by whom alone celebrated with Boots and Spurs on, 192. + + _Matthias_ Emperor of _Germany_, 210. + + _Maubrisson_, Abbess of, 344. + + _Maurice, William_, Pr. of _Saxe-Zeits_, 99. + + ---- Elector of _Saxony_, 381. + + ---- Count of _Saxony_, 115. + + ---- of _Saxe-Gotha_ Pr., 182. + + _Maximilian_, Emperor, 385, 388. + His Statue, 386. + Wife, 388, 389. + His Daughter, 389. + Father-in-law, 389. + + _Maximilian-Emanuel_, Elector of _Bavaria_, 262, 263, 268, 274, 278, + 379, 382. + _Joseph_ the Electoral Pr. 263. + + _Meinders_, M. de, the _Prussian_ Minister, 41. + + MEISSEN _t._ 86. + + _Melvil_, M., 65. + + _Menard_, President, 317. + + _Mentz, Lotharius-Francis de Schonborn_ Elector, 201, 203, 310, 321, + 338. + His Severity to Robbers, 202. + + _Mercy_, Count de, 244. + His Defeat, 307. + + MERSEBOURG _t._ 167, 168. + Its Duke’s Fondness for Bass-Viols, 168, 170, 171. + His Duchess, 169. + + MESTRE. _t._ 394, 395. + + _Metsch_, Count de, 54, 242, 245. + + _Mile-posts_ in _Saxony_, 84. + + _Milk_ of our Lady, a Wine so called, 339. + + _Miltitz_, General, _Alexander de_, 78, 100, 105, 107, 360. + + _Minckwitz, Charles-Christian de_, 146. + + _Miracles_ ascrib’d to the two Saints of _Bohemia_, 213, 214. + + _Misson, Maximilian_, criticized, 308, 392. + + _Mobs_ of _Amsterdam_ and _Hamburg_ compar’d, 54. + + _Mocenigo-Aloisio_, Doge of _Venice_, 399. + + _Modena, Renaud d’Este_, Duke of, 230. + + _Molard_, Count de, 255. + + _Molsheim_ t. 315. + + _Monclar_, Baron de, 306. + + _Montbijou_ Palace, 3. + + MONTEFIASCONE _t._ 430. + + MONTEROSO _t._ 430. + + _Monte-Sancto_, Count of, 244. + + _Montmorency, Francis_ Count de, 152. + His Countess, 152. + + _Moravia, John_ Margrave of, 387. + + _Moschinski, Anthony_, Count and + Countess, 117, 120, 142. + + _Moses_, a Piece of his Rock, 396. + + _Motterie_, Mademoiselle, 243. + + _Mount-Pleasant_, a fine Seat near _Hanover_, 67. + + _Muchlberg_, the strong Lines cast up there by the Prince of _Beveren_, + 72. + + _Munchausen_, M. 65, 77. + + _Munchenbourg_ t. 2. + + MUNICH _t._ 258, 268, 363. + + _Muscovy, Anne_ Czarina of, her Marriage, 200. + + + N. + + _Nassau-Friesland_, Prince, his untimely end, 297. + His Daughter, who is Sister to the Pr. of _Orange_, 297. + + _Nassau, Idstein_, Pr. 169. + + ---- _Weilbourg_, Count, 336. + + ---- _Ousingen_ Princess, 342. + + _Nativities_, Calculators of ’em + refuted, 341. + + _Natzmer_, Marshal de, 33, 40. + + NAUMBOURG, _t._ 171, 172. + + _Neitsch_, Mademoiselle de, 145. + + _Nepomucene_ (St.) _John_, 212, to 215. + + _Nesselrod_, Count de, 334. + + _Neukirch, Benjamin_, a Poet, 195. + + NEUSTADT, _t._ 200. + + _Nicolotti_, Fishermen at _Venice_ so call’d, their Election of a Doge + of their own, 402. + + _Nightingales_, a Multitude of ’em, 86. + + _Nobility_ at _Venice_, the Purchase of it, 420. + + _Noyelles_, Count de, 152. + + NUREMBERG, _t._ 196, 197. + Its Government compar’d to the _Venetian_, 197. + + NYMPHENBOURG Palace, 268, 270, 271. + + + O. + + _Occo_ the Antiquary, 179. + + _Oder_, River, 2. + + _Oetingen_, t. 80. + Princesses, 70, 76, 231. + + _Ohsten_, Baron de, 335. + + _Olbreuse_, Madamoiselle de, 60, 62. + Her Daughter, 62. + + OPPENHEIM, _t._ 340. + + _Oranjebourg_, t. 49. + + _Orders of Knighthood_, the _Prussian_, 29. + The _Bavarian_, 260. + Of St. _Hubert_, 373. + + _Orleans_, Duke of, 243, 306. + Duchess, 274, 303, 304, 310. + + _Orselska_, _Anne_ Countess of, 119, 150. + + _Ossem, Gosman-Daniel_, the Painter, 384. + + + P. + + PADUA, _t._ 422. + + _Palatinate, Upper_, 344. + + _Palatine_, Electors, 274, 322, 323, &c. 328, 381. + Revenues, 337. + Who the last of the Protestant Princes of this Title, 342. + + _Paracelsus_, where bury’d, 374. + How he wrought most of his Cures, 374. + + _Passau_, t. 366. + + _Patkul_, Count, 164. + + _Patriarch_ of _Venice_, 403. + + _Patricians_ in _Germany_, who they are, 197, 198, 200. + + _Pechtelsheim_, Baron de, 188, 189. + + _Peine_, Painter, 11, 83. + + _Pennyless Prince_, the Nickname of an _Austrian_, 385, 386, 388. + + _Petits-Maitres_, at _Venice_, 421. + + _Philibert_ D. of _Savoy_, 389. + + _Philip_ IV. of _Spain_, his Reverence to the Viaticum, 249. + + ---- D. of _Burgundy_, 389. + + ---- Margrave of _Brandenburg_, 19, 20, 281. + His Dowager, 20, 26. + His Sons, 27. + His Uncle _Albert_, 27. + _Albert_’s Sons, 27. + + _Philippina-Charlotte_, Princess + of _Prussia_, 26, 72. + + _Philippina_ of _Welserin_, Archduchess, 390. + + _Philipsruhe_, a Pleasure-House, 361. + + _Phul_, Baron de, 285. + + _Pilate_’s Basin, 81. + + _Piosas_, Count, 261. + + _Plassenberg_ Castle, 208. + + _Platen_, Count de, 66. + Countess, 67. + + _Pleasure-Houses_, who has the finest in _Europe_, 268. + + _Plesk_, _Helmuth_ de, 145. + + _Pludowska_, Baroness, 135. + + _Poddewitz_, the _Prussian_ Minister, 31. + + _Poland_, the Equivalent it has given to _France_ of a Queen for a + King, 309. + + _Polentz_, M. de, 78. + + _Pollnitz_, M. de, Cabinet-Counsellor to the D. of _Wirtemberg_, 285. + + ---- Baron, (our Author) his Conference with a _Lutheran_ Doctor after + he had turn’d _Papist_ from a _Calvinist_, 160. + + ---- _Henrietta_, 7. + + _Pomerania, Hither_, yielded to _Sweden_, 80. + + POMMERSFELDEN, _t._ Seat of the Elector of _Mentz_, 203, 204. + + _Pompey_’s War with _Cæsar_ painted, 370. + + _Ponte_, t. 425. + + _Porcellane_, finer in _Germany_ than in _Japan_, 87, 88. + + _Portugal_, _Mary-Anne_ Queen of, 233. + + ---- _Emanuel_ Pr. of, 422. + + _Pose_, a Merchant at _Leipsic_, his fine Garden, 85. + + _Potschin_, Madame de, 152. + + _Potzdam_ Castle, 34. + + PRAGUE, _t._ 210. + + _Preysing, Maximilian_ Count de, 266, 267. + + _Princes_, petty, more inaccessible than great ones, 83. + + _Privy-Counsellor_’s Preferment owing to a Present of a Bass-Viol, 171. + + _Profusion_ of Princes in what Article ’tis most justifiable, 10, 103. + + _Promnitz, Erdmann_ Count de, 135. + + _Proselytes_, by what means they are soonest made among the Gentry, + 161. + + _Provence, Theodebert_ Count of, 389. + + _Prussia_, K. 21, 31, _&c._ 376. + His Queen, 24. + His Soldiery, 21, to 24, 34. + His Children, 25, _&c._ 30, 72. + Princess Royal’s Marriage, 205. + + _Pruth_ Battle, 123. + + _Pultowa_ Battle, 123, 164. + + + Q. + + _Quails_, abundance of ’em, where, 395. + + _Quilian_, St. 191. + + + R. + + _Rabutin_, Marshal de, 240. + + _Radifocani_, M. 429. + + _Radjowski_, Cardinal, 116, 150. + + _Radzevil, Louisa-Charlotte_ Pss. of, 330. + + _Radzevil_, 2d Wife of Marshal _Flemming_, 92, 165. + + RASTADT, _t._ 299. + Prince of _Baden_’s Palace here compar’d to _St. Cloud_ near _Paris_, + 299. + Treaty sign’d there, 300. + + _Ratenau_, t. 50. + + RATENBERG, _t._ 379. + + _Rats_, a Saint that was famous for killing them, 196. + + _Ravanne_, Abbot de, 317. + + _Raugrave_, Madame la, 342, 343. + + _Rechberg, Gaudentz_ Count de, 266. + + _Reinbabe_, Baron de, 176. + + _Religion_, the Externals of it, where best observ’d, 412. + + _Residents_ for the _German_ Princes at _Franckfort_, their Privileges, + 342. + + _Rheden_, M. de, 64, 66. + + _Rhenen_, t. 344. + + _Riga_ Siege, 163. + + _Rinucci_, the Cardinal and the Marquiss, 423. + + _Robert_, Prince Palatine, K. of the _Romans_, 321. + + _Rock, Moses_’s, a piece of it, 396. + + _Rocoule_, Madam de, 25. + + _Roder_, M. de, 261. + + _Rodolph_, Emperor, the Speech he made after he had one of his Hands + cut off in Battle, 168. + + _Rohan_, Cardinal _Armand Gaston_, 309. + His Speeches on the Marriage of the Queen of _France_, 310, 313. + His Election and Death, 315. + Character, 316. + + _Rohr_, Baroness Dowager of, 148. + + _Rollé_, the _Brandenburg_ Minister, 4. + + _Rolli_, the Painter, 424. + + ROME, _t._ the _German_ Emperor’s Right to live there, 201. + + _Ronaw_, Count de, Envoy of _Saxe Gotha_, 181, 182. + + RONCIGLIONE, _t._ 430. + + _Rossing_, M. de, 78. + + _Roth_, Baron de, 305. + + _Rotofski_, Count, 115, 119. + + _Rupert_, St. 365, 366. + + _Rutowski_, Count, 115, 116, 118. + + _Ruzzini Carlo_, Doge of _Venice_, 399. + + + S. + + _Saltz_, R. 364. + + _Saltzbourg_, t. 364. + Its Revenues, and Houshold of its Archbishop, 367, 373. + A great Revolution in this Country, 375. + + _Saltzdahl_ Seat near _Brunswic_, 75. + + _Sapieha, Benedict_, 163. + + _Sardinia_, King and Queen, 332, 335. + + SAVERNE, _t._ 315. + + Savoy, see _Eugene_ and _Emanuel_. + + _Saxe-Lawenburg_, Princess, 300. + + ---- _Weissensels, John-Adolphus_ Prince of, 99, 115. + _Sophia_ Princess of, 200. + _Christina_ Princess of, 114, 115. + + ---- _Weymar_ Dukes, 172, 173, 174, 175. + + _Saxe-Zeits, Maurice-William_ Pr. of, 99, 171. + + ---- Cardinal, 171. + + ---- _Gotha_ Duchy, 167. + Wealth of its peasants, 167. + + ---- _Gotha_ Dukes, 173, &c. + Duchesses, 181. + + ---- _Barbi_ Duke, 82, 83. + + ---- _Meynungen_ Princess, 181, 200. + + ---- Chevalier de, 116. + + ---- _Eysenach_ Dukes, 173, 183. + + _Saxony_ ill provided with Ordinaries, 86. + Present State of its Court, 99, to 155. + Character of the Men, 155. + of the Women, 156. + of the Clergy, 159. + + _Scarperia_, t. 425. + + _Schindler_’s Lace Manufactory, 7. + + _Schleisheim_ Palace, 270 + + _Schluter_ the Architect, 10. + + _Schmiedel_, Baron de, 176. + + _Schneitzenrieth_, t. 377. + + _Schomberg_, Marshal, 17. + + _Schonborn, Francis George_, Count, 328. + + ---- _John-Phillip-Francis_, Count, 54, 185, 186. + _Damian-Hugo_ the Cardinal, 318, 319, 320. + + ---- _Frederic-Charles_, Bp. of _Bamberg_, 185, 190, 191, 201, 242. + _Lotharius-Francis_, another of its Bishops, 201. + + _Schoning_, General, 116. + + _Schorror_, the Pope’s Vicar at _Hanover_, 64. + + _Schulemburg_, Count de, 408. + + _Schulenbourg_, General, 61. + His Duel with Count _Fleming_, 163. + + _Schwabach_, t. 196. + + _Schwartzenborg_, Pr. 213, 223, 301, 302, 304. + + _Schwetzingen_, t. 352. + + _Schwizinski, Nicholas_, 147. + + SCHWATZ, _t._ 379. + + _Schunck_ and _Schutz_, Barons _de_, 285. + + _Sea_, the Ceremony of marrying it, 399, 400. + + _Seckendorf_, Baron and Count, 54, 195. + + _Seefelde-Terring, Maximilian_, Count _de_, 265. + + _Sehgutt_, Counts of, 147. + + _Seibelsdorf_, General, 358. + + _Seiffertitz, Adolphus_ Baron _de_, 141. + + _Sickengen_, Baron _de_, 333. + + SIENNA _t._ 429. + + _Sigismond_, Emperor, 339, 388. + + _Sigismond_, Archduke and Count of _Tirol_, 389. + + _Silenus_’s Legacy, 190. + + _Sobieski, John_ K. of _Poland_, 247. + His Daughter, 262. + + _Soissons_, Countess of, 238, 239. + + _Soliman_, the Sultan, 248. + + _Solkcofski, Alexander-Joseph_, Count _de_, 98, 103, 104, 128, 133, + 139, 143. + + _Sophia-Wilhelmina_, Princess of _East-Friesland_, 83. + + ---- _Christiana-Louisa_, Princess of _Bareith_, 205. + + _Spain_, Council of, at _Vienna_, 244. + + _Span_, Baron _de_, 162, 163. + + _Speratus, Paul_, 375. + + _Spiegel_, Madame _de_, 116, 358. + + _Spiga_, the Pope’s Vicar at _Hanover_, 63. + + SPIRE _t._ 320. + + _Sporcke_, M. _de_, 77. + + _Spree_, River, 3. + + _Staden_, Siege, 57. + + _Stadtholder_ at _Vienna_, 246. + + _Stanislaus_, K. 318. + His Daughter’s March on foot with the Prince of _Baden_, 304. + Marriage to _Lewis_ XV. 309. + + _Stanislawski, N. N. de Sehgutt_, 147. + + _Staremberg, Maximilian_, 246. + + _Staremberg, Ernest-Rudiger_, Count _de_, 239, 247. + + _Staremberg, Guido_, Marshal, 239. + + _Staremberg, Gundacker_, Count, 241. + + STARGARD, _t._ 162. + + _Staupitz_, Abbot, 375. + + _Stein_, Baron, 72. + Baroness, 130, 148. + + _Steinbock_, General, prov’d cruel, Incendiary, 57. + + _Stein Wein_, a sort of Wine so called, 190. + + _Steinbach_, the Architect, 308. + + _Sternberg_, Count, 211. + + STERTZINGEN, _t._ 392. + + _Stetin_, t. its Sequestration, by whom obtain’d, 164. + + _Stetterheim_, M. _de_, Cup-bearer to the D. of _Saxe-Gotha_, 183. + + _Strada, James de_, 179. + + _Strahlsund_, Siege, 124. + + STRASBOURG, _t._ 305, 315. + Noted for Libertines, 310. + + _Streithorst_, Colonel, 292. + + _Stringuetta_, the _Venetian_ Courtezan, 421. + + _Studenitz_, Baron _de_, 176. + + STUTGARD, _t._ 279, 289. + + _Sulkowski._ See _Solkcofski_. + + _Sultman_, M. and Madame _de_, 292. + + _Sultzbach, Joseph-Charles_, Pr. and Princess of, 324, 330, 331. + + ---- _Theodore_, Prince, 332. + + ---- _John-Christian_, Prince, 332, 333. + + ---- _Charles_, Prince, 332. + + _Sympathy_, its Power, 374. + + + T. + + _Tartary_ Women, what they say to their Husbands when they come home + without Booty, 247. + + _Telemachus_, translated into _German_ Verse, 195. + + _Teschen, George_, Prince of, 116, 117. + Princess of, 117, 150. + + _Thanhausen_, Count de, 373. + + _Thaun_, Count and Countess, 151. + + _Theodebert_, Count of _Provence_, 389. + + _Thirheim, Sigismond_, Count _de_, 258, 265, 266. + + _Thomasius_, the Civilian, 156. + + _Thorn_ of our Saviour’s Crown, 81. + + _Thou_, Messieurs, their Library, by whom purchased, 317. + + _Thungen_, General, 278. + + _Tilly_, Count, his Massacre of the _Swedes_ at _Brandenburgh_, 2. + Of the _Palatines_ at _Heidelberg_, 321. + + _Tintoret_, the Painter, 419, 420. + + _Tirol_, Country, 377. + Manner of Salutation here, 380. + Dress of the People, 393. + Their Saints, 394. + + _Titian_, the Painter, 419. + + _Torring, Ignatius-Joseph_, Count _de_, 265, 267, 373. + + _Tour_ of _Auvergne_, Princess, 332. + + _Tour_ and _Taxis, Alexander_, Pr. of, 205, 303, 342. + + ---- ---- ---- _Mary-Augusta_, Princess of, 285, 290. + + _Tournay_, Siege, 124. + + _Towers_, mistaken for _Capuchin_ Friars, 339. + + TRENT, _t._ 393. + + _Truchsses, Zeil_, Count _de_, 374. + + _Tschernin_, Count, 211, 222. + + _Tuhlmeier_, Secretary, _Prussian_, 43. + + _Tun_, at _Heidelberg_, 324. + + _Turks_, where they have reason to laugh at the Christians, 54. + + _Tuscany, John Gaston_, the Great Duke, 428. + His Saying when he declared Don _Carlos_ his Successor, 428. + + _Tutors_, or Governors, a mercenary sort, 217, 218. + + + V. + + _Valerio_’s Tomb at _Venice_, 405. + + _Vatican_ Library, 321. + + _Vauban_, M. Engineer, 309. + + VENICE, _t._ 395, 396, &c. + Its Doges, 389, 390. + Patriarch, 403. + Churches, 403, _&c._ + Arsenal, 405, _&c._ + Bucentaur, 399, 407. + Forces, 408. + Lakes, 409. + Its political Interest, 409. + Trade, 410. + Nobles and Ambassadors, 410. + Ladies, 411. + Music, 414, 415. + Palaces and Gentry, 420. + + _Vernesobre_, Baron _de_, his Gains by _Missisippi_, 8. + + _Viaticum_, the Homage paid to it in Popish Countries, 249. + + _Vicardel, Francis_, Marquis of _Fleuri_ and _Beaufort_, 135. + + _Vieban_, M. _de_, _Prussian_ Minister, 43. + + VIENNA, _t._ 224. + Sieges, 237, 239, 247, 248. + Its Police, 246. + Its Governour how stil’d, 246. + Its Garrison, 247. + Fortifications, 249. + Women, 251, &c. + + _Vierec_, M. _de_, 46. + + _Villaco_, t. 382. + + _Violante_, of _Bavaria_, Princess, 429. + + _Violin_, the first in _Italy_, 415. + + _Virgilius_, St. 365. + + _Virgin Mary_’s miraculous Image at _Inspruc_, 384. + The Adoration paid to her in the Countries of _Trent_ and _Tirol_, + 394. + + VITERBO, _t._ 430. + + ULM, _t._ 276. + + _Unertel_, M. _de_, 267. + + _Voltaire_’s Life of _Charles_ XII. King of _Sweden_, Reflection on it, + 32. + + + W. + + _Wackerbarth, Augustus Christopher_, Marshal _de_, 91, 99, 102, 124. + + _Wakerbarth, Salmour-Gabaleon-Joseph_, Count _de_, 104, 112, 124, 126, + 165. + His Countess, 125. + + _Wagenheim_, M. _de_, of _Hanover_, 66. + + WAHTRINGEN, _t._ 377. + + _Walbourg de Truchsses_, Count _de_, 27. + + _Waldstein_, Count and Countess _de_, 147. 148. + + _Wales_, FREDERIC, Prince of, 26, 64. + AUGUSTA, Princess of, 182. + + _Wallenstein_, Count and Countess of, 151, 153. + + _Walrave_, M. Engineer, 82. + + _Walstein_, the great Soldier, 210. + + _Wartemberg_, Count and Countess, 3, 5, 6, 7. + The King of _Prussia_’s Tears at his Funeral, 7. + His Administration, 36, 42, 44, 134. + + _Wartensteben_, Count, 17, 36. + + _Wasserbourg_, t. 364. + + _Water-works_, at _Herenhausen_, 67. + + _Wederkopf_, M. _de_, 80. + + _Weiller_, a _Prussian_ Colonel, 20. + + _Weimar_, t. 172. + Its Dukes, 172 to 176. + + _Weissenberg_ Battle, 210. + + WEISSENBOURG, t. 318. + + _Wenceslaus_ (St.) K. of _Bohemia_, 212, 213. + + _Wens_ in Throats, 393. + + _Wensen_, M. Marshal of the _Prussian_ Court, 7, 8. + + WERMSTORF, _t._ 86, 103, 157. + + _Werth, John de_, 321. + + _Wetzlar_ Tribunal, 245, 320. + + _Whim_, a fine Seat so called near _Hanover_, 67. + + _William_ of _Saxe-Gotha_, Prince, 182. + + _William-Henry_, Duke of _Saxe-Eysenach_, 183. + + _Willigise_, ABp. of _Mentz_, 179. + + _Wirtemberg, Lewis_ Prince of, 151, 285. + _Charles-Alexander_ Duke, 279, 285, 290. + His Duchess, 285. + His Brother _Frederic_, 285. + + _Wirtemberg, Eberhard-Lewis_ D. 279, 280, 289. + His Duchess, _ib._ 280. + His Son, 281. + Daughter, _ib._ + + _Wirtemberg-Oels, Augusta-Louisa_, Princess of, 83. + _Christian-Ulric_, Duke of, 83. + + _Witgenstein_, Count, 285. + + _Woad_, three sorts of it, 179. + + _Wohlin_, Baron _de_, 334. + + _Wolckenstein_, Count _de_, 393. + + _Wolfembuttle_ Family and Court, 69 to 72. + Its Inhabitants compared to the Hogs of _Westphalia_, 75. + The Duchess Dowager, 80. + + WOLFEMBUTTLE, _t._ 75. + + _Wolffenstein, Sophia-Christina_, Countess of, 208. + + _Women_, of the _Levant_ and _Hamburg_, their great Confinement, 52. + + WORMS, _t._ 338. + + _Wratislaw, Francis-Charles_, Co. _de_, 147, 148, 153. + His Countess, 154. + + _Wreech, de_, Colonel, 30. + + _Wurben_, Countess _de_, Mistress to the D. of _Wirtemberg_, 279, 282, + 283, 284. + Her Disgrace, 290, &c. + + _Wurm_, M. _de_, Master of the Horse to the D. of _Saxe-Gotha_, 183. + + _Wurmbrandt_, Count _de_, 245. + + _Wurtenberg, Christina-Charlotta de_, Margravine of + _Brandenburg-Anspach_, 194. + + WURTZBOURG, _t._ 185. + Power and Splendor of its Bishop, 190. + + + Z. + + _Zech, Bernard_, Baron _de_, 138. + + _Zell_, Duke and Duchess, 60, 61, 62. + + ZELL, _t._ 61, 68. + + _Zensa_, Prince _Eugene’s_ Victory there, 237. + + _Zinzendorf, Lewis_, Count _de_, 240. + The Dignity hereditary in his Family, _ib._ + + _Zebel_, Baron _de_, 188, 189, 336. + + _Zechau_, Baron _de_, 193, 195. + + _FINIS._ + + + + + ERRATA. + + +In the first Col. of Letter M, in the Index, Line 6 from the Bottom, for +p. 113, read 114. Line 7, 9, and 11, for _Prussia_ r. _Poland_. In the 3d. +Column of the same Letter, read lines 34, 35, 36, thus: + +_Moschinski, Anthony_, Count and Countess, 117, 120, 142. + +_Moses_, a Piece of his Rock, 396. + +[Illustration] + + + + + FOOTNOTES: + + +[1] The Reader will please to observe, that this Preface was written +during the late Distractions in _Poland_, before the Malecontent Lords had +reconcil’d themselves to their Allegiance to their lawful Sovereign. + +[2] This Church being destroy’d by Lightning in 1730, is magnificently +rebuilt. The 21st of _August_ 1734, the new Spire of it, which had been 4 +Years erecting, and was carry’d up to the Height of about 190 Feet, fell +at 9 o’clock at Night upon the Roof of the Church, whereby that and the +neighbouring Houses suffer’d very great Damage. How it happen’d, no body +yet knows; some say it was caus’d by Thunder, others by an Earthquake, and +some will have it that it fell down of its own accord. + +[3] This House is no longer the Governour’s; for the King, who has caused +great Additions to be made to it, has given it to the Prince Royal, and it +goes by the Name of the _Prince Royal’s Palace_. The Governour lives at +present in the Street _Royale_, the King having purchas’d the fine House +of _Catsch_ there purposely for the Governour’s Residence. + +[4] This Prince died at _Schwedt_, _Dec._ 19, 1711. He left two Sons, one +of whom was marry’d in 1734, to the Princess _Dorothea-Sophia_, the King +of _Prussia_’s fourth Daughter, then about fifteen Years of age. So that +his Majesty, who had six Daughters, married four of them within the space +of four Years, and has now but two more to dispose of. + +[5] Her Name is _Jean Charlotte_, and she is the youngest Sister of Prince +_Leopold_ of _Anhalt Dessau_, being the Daughter of the Prince +_John-George_ II. by _Henrietta Catherine_, Daughter of _Frederic-Henry_ +Prince of _Orange_. + +[6] Since the Original was publish’d, this Ward has been lengthen’d two +thirds. There is one Street so long, that in this respect there are few +that equal it: ’tis as strait as a Line; and terminates in an Oval, +surrounded with very fine Houses. A new Ward is also erected at the End of +that call’d the New Town; from whence it ranges behind _Frederic-Stadt_. +Here most of the chief Nobility are building Hotels or Palaces, rather +than Houses. In a word, if the Number of the Inhabitants of _Berlin_ was +proportionable to that of the Houses, it would be the finest, and the most +flourishing Town in all _Germany_. + +[7] He married (in _June_ 1733,) the Princess _Elizabeth-Christina_ of +_Brunswic-Lunenburgh_, and _Bevern_, Daughter of _Ferdinand-Albert_ Duke +of _Brunswic-Lunenburgh_, and _Bevern_, Field-Marshal General of the +Armies of the Emperor and Empire: and Presumptive Heir to the Duke Regent +of _Brunswic-Lunenburg Wolfembuttle_. + +[8] This was his Royal Highness, now Prince of _Wales_. All _Europe_, in +short, thought, as did the Poets of that Time; and every one in general +mark’d out the Princess for this Prince. It was then too the Desire of +both the Queens; and the Princess herself seem’d to have been brought up +in that Notion. But when ’twas least of all expected, certain Reasons of +State cancell’d all these Views; and the King of _Prussia_ thought fit to +marry his eldest Daughter in 1731, to the Hereditary Prince of +_Brandenburg-Bareith_: as King _George_ II. _of Great Britain_, in 1756, +thought fit to marry his eldest Son to her Highness, _Augusta_, youngest +Sister of the present Duke of _Saxe-Gotha_. + +[9] The Marriage was actually celebrated between them, in _July_ 1733. + +[10] The fourth married in 1734, to the King’s Cousin, the Margrave of +_Brandenburgh-Schwedt_. + +[11] This Prince died in 1731. His eldest Son, the Margrave _Charles_, +succeeded him in the Grand Mastership of the Order of St. _John_; and had +his Regiment of Foot in the Service of _Prussia_. Prince _Frederic_, his +Royal Highness’s second Son, had his Regiment in the Service of the +States-General of the _United Provinces_; and the Count _de +Truchsses-Walbourgh_, a Major-General, had his Regiment of Horse. He was +sent to compliment _Lewis_ XV. upon his Coronation; and afterwards on the +same Commission to the Emperor at _Prague_. His Wit and Politeness were +applauded at both those Courts. + +[12] He died suddenly in _August_ 1734, at _Malchau_, aged 57, being born +the 4th of _May_ 1677, O. S. He was not married. + +[13] The King thought fit some time ago, to confer this Regiment of Horse +upon his second Son, Prince _Augustus-William_, and to give the Prince +Royal a Regiment of Foot. + +[14] M. _de Lopel_ died the beginning of 1735, in his Government of +_Custrin_. + +[15] The first and the last have been dead some Years, and their Places +supply’d by Messieurs _Bork_ and _Poddewitz_, who have a just Title to the +intire Possession of the King’s Confidence. + +[16] Since the writing of this, he is dead, and succeeded in the +Management of Foreign Affairs by M. _de Borck_, Lieutenant-General of the +King’s Forces, Knight of the Black Eagle and St. _John_, Governor of +_Stetin_, and Colonel of a Regiment of Foot. This Gentleman is descended +from a very good Family in _Pomerania_, and served with Distinction in the +Army in _Flanders_. Since the Peace of _Utrecht_, he has been twice +charged with the King’s Affairs at the Emperor’s Court, where he was +highly esteemed, especially by Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_. Those Foreign +Ministers who have to do with him, and who knew M. _d’Ilgen_, observe a +great Contrariety in the Characters of the two Ministers. The one was a +Man of Intrigue, Craft, and Mystery, the other, of Candour, Sincerity, and +a noble Frankness. M. _de Tuhlmeier_, Nephew to the late M. _d’Ilgen_, who +is Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, was, as it were, born to the +Business; having been trusted from his Youth by his late Uncle. The +Foreign Ministers speak well of him: he is very assiduous in his Office, +and indeed suffers no Business to sleep in his hands. + +The Person who has the Affairs Criminal in his Cognizance, is M. _de +Vieban_, Minister of State, and Auditor-General of the Army. He succeeded +M. _de Catsch_; is a Native of _Cologn_; and as he was at _Berlin_ without +Relations or Friends, his Advancement is only to be ascribed to his own +Merit and Abilities. + +[17] He fell into Disgrace, after this Account of him was written, and +died at his Commandery. + +[18] M. _de Creutz_ died the beginning of An. 1733, leaving only one +Daughter, who is married to M. _de Hacke_, a Gentleman of a good Family, +and his Majesty’s Aid-de-Camp and Favourite. This Marriage was solemnized +with a great deal of Pomp, and honoured with the Presence of their +Majesties, the whole Royal Family, and the Duke of _Lorrain_. + +[19] This Resolution was taken by his Majesty in 1725, on account of a +Recoinage, which the _Hamburghers_ thought necessary, partly in order to +hinder their Silver from being carried out of their City to _Denmark_. +This Dispute had considerable Consequences; so that the King of _Denmark_ +not being able to bring the _Hamburghers_ to his Terms, push’d Matters so +far as to fit out a couple of Frigats to cruise at the Mouth of the +_Elbe_, which seized all Merchant Ships bound for that City. But in +_March_ 1736, the Affair was happily accommodated. + +[20] It was set up, carried on, and directed by some of the Foreign +Ministers residing at _Hamburgh_, who had each his particular Province; so +that M. _d’A----_ presided at the Rehearsals, M. _de W----_ regulated the +Dances, and M. _S----_ had the ordering of the Clothes, the Head-dresses, +the Paint and the Patches of the Actresses. + +[21] This is what scarce any body has doubted of, but Pere _Boubours_. + +[22] The _Hamburghers_ have nothing to fear from the _Jews_, with regard +to their Republic, but they cannot so well trust the turbulent and +enterprizing Temper of the _Roman_ Catholic Clergy, who aim at their +Churches. The popular Commotions which are but too frequent at _Hamburgh_, +would soon furnish those Gentlemen with an Opportunity to re-assert Claims +which are incompatible with the present Liberty of the City. But this +Pretext, how plausible soever in favour of the Papists, is not at all +conclusive against the _Calvinists_ at _Hamburgh_, who surely might be as +safely tolerated as the _Jews_. + +[23] His Post of Plenipotentiary of the Circle of Lower _Saxony_, was +conferr’d in 1733 upon the Count _de Seckendorf_, one of the Emperor’s +Lieutenant-Generals; but the Functions of the Embassy are perform’d by the +Baron _de Kurtzrok_, the Imperial President. + +[24] In 1734, he was install’d Vice-Chancellor of the Empire, in the room +of the Count _de Schonborn_, Bishop of _Bamberg_, who retir’d. + +[25] The common People cou’d never forgive him for his manner of raising +Taxes; by filling the King’s Coffers with all the Silver of the Kingdom, +and substituting instead of it a Copper Money, which will perpetuate his +Memory; especially the Coins on which he caus’d the seven Planets to be +engrav’d; which are sought after, and hoarded up as Monuments of his +Administration. + +[26] Second Wife of King _Frederic_ IV. who died in _October_ 1730. Her +being so much in favour with that Prince, was the cause of her Disgrace +after the Death of that Monarch; and she retir’d to the Isle of _Fuhnen_, +where she leads a very melancholy Life. + +[27] She was called _Eleanor d’Emiers_, and was the Daughter of _Alexander +d’Olbreuse_, a Gentleman of _Poictou_. + +[28] The House of _Brunswic_ has for its Head _Ernest_ of _Zell_, who by +_Bernard_ and _Albert_ the Great, the Son of _Otho_ the Infant, descended +from the Familys of _Este_ and _Witikind_. _George-William_ Duke of +_Zell_, was Grandson to _William_, the second Son of _Ernest_; from whom +came the two Branches of _Lunenbourg-Zell_, and _Lunenbourg-Hanover_; both +which were united in the single Family of _Hanover_, by the Death of the +Duke of _Zell_, who left no Issue besides a Daughter married to his Cousin +_George_ I. King of _Great Britain_, as well as Elector of _Hanover_. + +[29] Monsieur _de Schulenbourgh_ died the beginning of the Year 1733. + +[30] Pope _Clement_ XII. on his Accession to the Pontificate, appointed +for his Successor _Schorror_, Bishop of _Helenopolis_, a Native of _Bonn_, +in the Electorate of _Cologne_; a Prelate as amiable as venerable. + +[31] He retir’d some Years since from Court, to his Estate at _Schlitz_, +in _Franconia_. + +[32] The Count _de Bothmar_ died at _London_ in the beginning of _An._ +1732, in a very advanc’d Age, and much lamented by all that knew him. The +Baron _de Hattorf_ succeeded him in the Ministry to the King as Elector. + +[33] Since this was written, the continual Ailments and great Age of M. +_de Bulau_, have obliged the King to make an Alteration in the Command of +his Troops. M. _de Hardenberg_, a Knight of the _Teutonic_ Order, is +Commander in Chief of the Horse, and M. _Melvil_, who is descended of a +noble Family in _Scotland_, has the Command of the Foot. They are both +Officers of Reputation, and signaliz’d their Valour during the late Wars. + +[34] These auxiliary Forces have been of late years disbanded. + +[35] These Works were set up by the Direction of WM. BENSON, Esq; who went +over to _Hanover_ for that purpose in 1716, was soon after made +Surveyor-General of His Majesty’s Works in _England_, and is now one of +the Auditors of the Imprest. + +[36] He died in _March_, 1731, without Issue by either of his three Wives; +who were, 1. _Christina-Sophia_ of _Brunswic_, 2. _Sophia-Amelia_ of +_Holstein-Gottorp_, and 3. _Elizabeth-Sophia_ of _Holstein-Norbourg_, whom +he left a Widow, after two Years Marriage. His Brother _Lewis-Rudolph_, +Duke of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg_ and _Blanckenbourg_, succeeded him. He was +born in 1671, and in 1690 married _Christiana-Louisa_ of _Oetingen_, by +whom he had three Daughters; the eldest of whom was married to the Emperor +_Charles_ VI. the second to the _Czarowitz_, Son of _Peter_ the Great; and +the third, to the Duke _Ferdinand-Albert_ of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg_ and +_Bevern_. + +[37] The Branch of _Brunswic-Bevern_ is descended from _Henry de +Danneberg_, eldest Son of Duke _Ernest_, Head of the _Brunswic_ Family. +_Henry_ left two Sons; the youngest of whom, _Augustus_ of _Wolfembuttle_, +had three Sons who form’d three Branches, _Brunswic_, _Wolfembuttle_, and +_Bevern_. The two first were united in _Anthony-Ulric_. _Ferdinand-Albert_ +I. Chief of the Line of _Bevern_, left five Sons and a Daughter. Three of +his Sons are dead; of whom the Eldest lost his life at the Battle of +_Schellenburg_, in 1704; the Third died in 1706, when he was Provost of +St. _Blaise_ of _Brunswic_; as did the Fifth also, in 1706, at the Battle +of _Turin_. There remain two Sons, _viz._ Duke _Ferdinand-Albert_ II. and +Duke _Ernest-Ferdinand_. + +[38] See the foregoing Note. + +[39] This Prince was Velt-Marshal-General of the Emperor’s Forces, and in +that Quality he commanded the Emperor’s Army, in the War which _France_ +declared against his Imperial Majesty in 1733. He acquired great +Reputation at the Head of a very weak Army, by hindering the _French_ from +doing any thing more than taking Fort _Kehl_ in the first Campaign, when +the Emperor was surpriz’d and unprovided. At the Opening of the Campaign +in 1734, this Prince oppos’d the Designs of the Marshal _Berwick_, by +Lines which he cast up at _Muhlberg_, and which were of good service to +Prince _Eugene_ in facilitating his Retreat towards _Heilbron_, when he +came to take upon him the Command of the Imperial Army. That great General +own’d he never saw any thing look better, or that was stronger and better +disposed than those Lines, which the Duke of _Bevern_ had guarded till +then, with an Army of not 25000 Men. His most Serene Highness was in 1734, +declared by the Dyet of the Empire, Velt-Marshal-General of the Armies of +the Empire. + +[40] He had fourteen Children, _viz._ seven Sons and seven Daughters, the +last of whom was born in 1732. + +[41] He married _Philippina-Charlotte_, the King of _Prussia_’s third +Daughter, in 1733. + +[42] This Princess was married to the Prince Royal of _Prussia_, in 1733. + +[43] The Baron having quitted the Service of _Wolfembuttle_, is actually a +Minister of State at _Hanover_. + +[44] The Count _de Dehn_, after being disgrac’d, went to _Denmark_, of +which he already wore the Order of _Dannebrock_, and obtained the Title of +one of the King’s Counsellors of State. From that time he stay’d at his +Estate in the Country of _Wolfembuttle_, till the Year 1734, that the King +of _Denmark_ appointed him to go to _Petersburg_, to fill up the Post of +his Envoy Extraordinary vacant by the Death of M. _Westphal_. + +[45] Since the Duke succeeded his Father, M. _de Munchausen_ is become +first Minister of State, and manages all the Branches of that Office with +that Care and Justice which procure him universal Love and Esteem. + +[46] He is at present Marshal of the Court; M. _de Miltitz_ is Great +Cup-Bearer, and M. _de Rossing_ Great Huntsman. + +[47] The reason is, perhaps, because out of _their Attachment to old +Customs_, they had the Curiosity to go a little higher back than their +Fathers. + +[48] The Duke of _Blanckenbourg_ being become Duke of _Wolfembuttle_, by +the Death of his Brother, has scarce made any Alteration in his Court. The +Persons who were heretofore his Creatures and Favourites continue in the +same Employments. The Dutchess Dowager remains at _Brunswic_, in the fine +House which the late Duke caus’d to be built; and of which the said Prince +made a Present to her, with all its rich Furniture. This Princess is +immensely rich, and lives with very great Dignity. Her Steward is M. _de +Wederkopf_, who was formerly Privy Counsellor to the King of _Denmark_, +and his Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of _France_. + +[49] The Treasury of St. _Dennis_, near _Paris_, boasts also of this +Lanthorn; so that _Judas_ must have had at least two Lanthorns. + +[50] He died in 1731, as is before observed. + +[51] Her Name is _Augusta-Louisa_, she was born the 11th of _January_ +1698, and is the Daughter of _Christian-Ulric_, Duke of _Wirtemberg-Oels_ +and _Bernstadt_, by his 3d Wife, _Sophia Wilhelmina_, of _East-Friesland_. + +[52] This is _Augustus-Lewis_, who in 1728, succeeded his Brother +_Leopold_. His second Wife _Emilia_ of _Promnitz_, dying in 1732, he +marry’d his Sister _Ann-Frederica_ of _Promnitz_; which Match, at that +time, made a very great Noise. The Curious are referr’d to a Paper call’d +_le Glaneur_, or the Gleaner, published in 1733, for what was said upon +it. This Prince has had Children, by his three Wives; and two Sons in +particular by his second. + +[53] ’Tis the 24th part of a Dollar, or about 2_d._-1/2 _Sterling_. + +[54] He had been in the King’s Service ever since he was only Prince of +_Saxony_, and always took care to keep in Favour; he being, of all the +Favourites, the Person that had the greatest Share of the Prince’s +Confidence: Nevertheless, he ow’d his Advancement, and his illustrious +Post of Minister of the Cabinet, to the Interest of the Countess _de +Cosel_, who caus’d the Chancellor _Beichling_, who had always been the +Favourite Minister, to be turn’d out. + +[55] This part of the Prophecy did not take place, for the King of +_Poland_ died in his Bed at _Warsaw_ the 1st of _Feb._ 1733, O. S. This +Monarch set out in the Month of _January_, from _Dresden_, to hold the +Dyet of _Poland_, which was open’d at _Warsaw_, and every thing seem’d +like to pass to the Satisfaction of the King and Kingdom, when these fine +Hopes were demolished by the Death of this Prince, who in his last +Sickness, preserved the Character of the Hero, betraying neither Fear nor +Folly; all his Wish being that he might live to embrace his Son. + +The King found himself in a declining State, several Years. During the +last Dyet at _Grodno_, a Mortification seiz’d his Foot; for which reason, +M. _de Petit_, a Surgeon of _Paris_, whom the King sent for on purpose, +cut off two Toes, and set his Majesty upon his Legs again, but told him +withall, he must observe such a Regimen as he prescribed to him, or else +it would break out again. But the King finding himself better, neglected +_Petit_’s Advice, and died of the Mortification, as the Surgeon had +foretold. + +[56] _Eberhardina_ of _Brandenbourg-Bareith_ Queen of _Poland_, and +Electoress of _Saxony_: she died at her Seat at _Pretch_ near +_Wittenberg_, some Years before the King. + +[57] This Prince succeeding his Father in the Electorate, and afterwards +in the Throne of _Poland_, rais’d M. _Solckofski_ to the Dignity of a +Count, and appointed him his Master of the Horse, and one of his Cabinet +Ministers. + +[58] The Electoral Prince (now Elector of _Saxony_ and King of _Poland_) +has eight Children, _viz._ three Princes and five Princesses; so that the +Electoral Branch is not like to be extinct very soon. + +[59] The Velt-Marshal the Count de _Wackerbarth_ being dead, the Elector +nam’d this Prince Generalissimo of the Troops of the Electorate in 1734. + +[60] This Prince has for some time past resided at _Konigsgratz_. + +[61] Who died, _August_ 13, 1734, a Minister of the Cabinet, Velt-Marshal +and Governour of _Dresden_. + +[62] She died at _Dresden_ soon after this was written. + +[63] Count _Moschinski_, the Husband of this Lady, was Great Treasurer of +the Court in _Poland_, and is Great Faulconer in _Saxony_. + +[64] Madame _de Cosel_ may thank no body but herself for her Disgrace; for +when she was in Royal Keeping, she had the assurance to threaten the King +more than once that if ever he abandon’d her she wou’d pistol him. The +King, who knew her to be a Woman that always kept her word, thought it his +best way to be beforehand with her, tho’ it was not till some time after +that he caus’d her to be arrested. Madame _de Cosel_, who was retir’d to +_Berlin_, did not dissemble her Chagrin; and ’tis said she declar’d in +publick that the King should pay dear for being so false to her: Threats +which his Majesty wou’d perhaps have despis’d, if Madame _de Cosel_ had +not refused to give him back a Promise which he had made to her of +marrying her in case the Queen shou’d die. Mean time the King desir’d of +the King of _Prussia_ to give orders for arresting her, which was done +accordingly; and Madame _de Cosel_ was carried under a Guard to _Saxony_, +where she remain’d a Prisoner till the death of the King. But we have been +told by the publick News-Papers that she obtain’d her Liberty in 1734. + +[65] This Marriage was actually consummated at _Dresden_. But since the +King’s death, the Prince of _Holstein_ has abandon’d his Wife, whom he +only married with a view of obtaining some considerable Employment from +the King. The present Elector has eas’d her of most of that Wealth which +the late King had heap’d on her. + +[66] He died in _August_, 1734; and was succeeded in his Employments by +the Prince of _Saxe-Weissenfels_, and the Count of _Friesland_. + +[67] The Count _de Wackerbarth Salmour_ distinguish’d himself, in the year +1733, when the new Elector sent him Commissary Plenipotentiary to +_Poland_; where he manag’d the Interests of his Master so well, that he +was chose King. + +[68] He was created a Count of the Empire (not by the King of _Poland_, +but) by the Emperor. As he is a Lover of the Belles Lettres, in the late +War he wrote and publish’d several solid Pieces, which were well penn’d. + +[69] He was disgrac’d in 1731, upon which he retir’d to his Estate. The +Catastrophe of this Gentleman is so tragical an Incident, that it will be +proper to give a short but true History of it, as it is related in the +following Circular Letter, wrote by the King of _Poland_’s Order, to his +Ministers abroad, for the Information of all the Foreign Courts. The +Letter was dated at _Warsaw_, the 12th of _May_, O. S. 1736, as follows. + +SIR, + +‘The tragical Death of the Count _de Hoym_ having been variously reported +both in printed Papers and written Letters, and with Circumstances not +strictly true; the King has order’d me to give you an exact Information of +this Affair. + +‘You will remember what the late King, of glorious Memory, signified to +his Ministers abroad, concerning the Reasons and Circumstances that +preceded, accompanied, and followed the Disgrace of the Count _de Hoym_. + +‘This Count having been a second time arrested for other Crimes, after the +Death of the late King, was committed in 1733, to _Sonnenstein_, from +whence the present King was so merciful as to release him some Weeks +after; contenting himself to bind him again by Oaths stronger than the +former; whereby the Count obliged himself to continue quiet at his Estate, +without concerning himself with any but his own private Affairs. + +‘Yet towards the close of the Year 1734, and at the time when the King was +in _Poland_, the Count, notwithstanding his Engagements, took the +Opportunity of his Majesty’s Absence, to set on foot other Intrigues, in +defiance of his Oaths and his Promises; whereof the King being timely +inform’d, order’d him to be arrested and committed Prisoner to +_Konigstein_; which was the reason of his attempting his Life by a Pistol, +whereof I acquainted you by my Circular Letter of the 15th of _January_, +1735. + +‘An Information was afterwards preparing for the Trial of him and his +Accomplices; but not many days after the first Examination, the said Count +being stung by the Remorse of his Conscience, and vexed to see all his +Pranks laid open, chose to shorten the Course of Justice by putting an end +to his own Life, notwithstanding the undeniable Proofs he had before +experienc’d of his Majesty’s Clemency. For this purpose he first pretended +to be sick, and having order’d his Domestics not to disturb him, he hang’d +himself the 21st of _April_ last, at Night, with a Handkerchief ty’d to a +Hook that supported his Looking-glass. The Letter he wrote to his +Domestics with a Pencil, and which was found upon the Floor, is an +indisputable Mark of the deliberate Purpose and cold Blood with which he +executed this Design. Moreover, in searching his Pockets a Razor was found +on him, with a Penknife, Scissars, and the like Instruments. + +The Family of the Deceas’d having petition’d the King not to proceed +against the Corpse with the Severity of the Law, his Majesty has been so +good as to order the Body of the Self-murderer to be privately interr’d, +just without the Church-Yard of the Garrison at the Fort of _Konigstein_.’ + + _I am_, &c. + +The Night before the Count dispatch’d himself, he left a Note upon his +Table for his two Servants, as follows: + +‘Be prudent, make no Noise or Alarm, untie me immediately, put me to Bed, +and then shut the Door after you, by bolting it when you are out, which +you may do by the help of this Pack-thread; and by this means no body will +know you have been in my Chamber. The World will doubtless believe I died +of an Apoplexy; if you perform my Orders discreetly and faithfully, my +Family will pay you 1000 Ducats, on sight of this Note.’ + +[70] In _October_ 1736, he return’d to _Dresden_. + +[71] The Duke of _Mersebourg_ died in 1731, and was succeeded by his +Uncle, the Duke _de Sprinberg_. + +[72] This Prince died in 1732. + +[73] The chief Trade of this Town is in _Woad_, of which they have three +sorts. The first they sow about _Christmas_, the next in the _Spring_, +_Summer_, and _Harvest_, of which they have three Crops, and the third +grows wild. This Herb is such a sovereign Balsamic, that it cures Wounds +almost with a touch, if taken in time. It resembles Plantain, but has a +longer Leaf. The Roots fatten and improve barren Ground exceedingly, and +being brought over to _England_, with _Clover_, _Cinque-Foil_, &c. grows +with good Success in _Northamptonshire_, and other Places. In the Duke’s +Palace there is a Chamber of valuable Rarities, and a noble Library, of +which the late Duke caus’d a Catalogue to be publish’d of the MSS. that +the Learned might know where to have recourse to them. The Person he +imployed to form it, was Dr. _Cyprianus_ Ecclesiastical Counsellor and +Assessor in the Consistory of _Gotha_. They are for the most part the MSS. +of Ecclesiastical Authors, Ancient and Modern, especially the latter. +There is a great Number of Papers and Letters in the _Latin_ and _German_ +Languages, concerning _Luther_’s Reformation, and several MSS. of the +vulgar Translation of the Bible. There is a correcter Copy than that at +_Leipsic_, of the Works of _Lactantius_; another of St. _Austin_’s +Treatise of the _City of God_, which belonged to _Willigise_ Archbishop of +_Mentz_, about the year 1000; another of the ancient Capitularies of the +Kings of _France_, with the Salic Laws, and the Laws of the _Lombards_, +_Almains_, &c. There are thirty one MS. Volumes containing the Abridgments +of the Lives of the Emperors of the _West_, and of the _East_, their +Pictures and Medals, and those of their Families, the whole collected in +1550, by _James de Strada_ of _Mantua_. The Medals are very well design’d, +and _Occo_ the famous Antiquary affirms in a Letter quoted by M. _Patin_, +that every Figure on them cost a Crown the engraving. There is a +particular MS. which contains a Collection of Tracts by certain _Greek_ +Chymists concerning the desirable _Art of making Gold_. For the rest the +Curious are referred to the Catalogue it self. + +[74] This Prince, who was _Frederic_ II. died in 1732, _March_ 12. + +[75] He had ten Sons and six Daughters by her. The Hereditary Prince who +succeeds him is _Frederic_ III. born _April_ 4, 1699. He has a Brother +named _William_ born _March_ 12, 1701, and some time an Officer in the +_Dutch_ Service. + +[76] She was born _August_ 10, 1710. + +[77] Since these Letters were written the Face of the Court of _Gotha_ is +very much altered. The Duke therein mentioned is dead. The Hereditary +Prince _Frederic_ has succeeded him, and his Mother the Duchess Dowager +retired to _Altenbourg_, with the Princesses her Daughters, who are +_Frederica_ born _July_ 6, 1715, O. S. and _Augusta_ born _Nov._ 18, 1719, +and married _April_ 27, 1736, to his Royal Highness _Frederic_ Prince of +_Wales_. The Duke’s Brothers, who are _William_, _John-Augustus_, +_Christian-William_, _Lewis-Ernest_, _Maurice_ and _John-Adolphus_, are +gone into the Service of the Emperor, the King of _Poland_, and the Prince +of _Hesse-Cassel_. As to the Government, the Duke treads in the very Steps +of his late Father. M. _Backover_ is his Chancellor, and the First Man in +his Council. M. _de Hering_, formerly in the service of the Duke of +_Saxe-Weimar_, is Vice-Chancellor. The Count _de Ronaw_ is now Envoy at +the Dyet of _Ratisbon_, M. _de Damnitz_, heretofore in the Service of the +Prince _de Rudelstad_, is Grand Marshal; and seems to have a Share in the +new Duke’s Confidence. This Gentleman is also a Major-General, and the +Camp seems to be a fitter Element for him than the Court.--The Office of +Master of the Horse is not yet fill’d up. M. _de Wurm_, a Person of +Quality and Merit, was in possession of that Office in the late Duke’s +time, but he lately resigned it of his own accord. M. _de Stotterheim_, is +to be appointed Great Cup-Bearer, who is as yet, I think, in the Service +of some Foreign Prince. + +[78] _John William_ Duke of _Saxe-Eysenach_, died at sixty-one Years of +Age, soon after having married to his fourth Wife _Mary Christina +Felicite_ Countess of _Linange_, the Widow of _Christian_ Margrave of +_Baden-Dourlach_. + +[79] _Ann Sophia Charlotte_ of _Prussia_ Daughter of the late Margrave +_Albert_, and Wife to _William Henry_ the present Duke of _Saxe-Eysenach_. + +[80] His Successor was _Frederic Charles_ Count _de Schonborn_ Bishop of +_Bamberg_ and Vice-Chancellor of the Empire, who was before his +Competitor. In 1734, he resigned the Post of Vice-Chancellor, and retired +to his Bishoprick. + +[81] _Christina-Charlotta de Wurtenberg_, Margravine Dowager of +_Brandenbourg-Anspach_, who was Regent for her Son, died at _Anspach_ +1730, soon after she had resign’d the Regency to this young Margrave, and +match’d him to _Frederica-Louisa_, second Daughter of the King of +_Prussia_. + +[82] This was _Benjamin Neukirch_. He put _Telemachus_ into Verse, and was +the Author of a great many other Works, which shew that the _German_ +Language is capable of conveying as fine Sentiments as those which are +more us’d by Authors. He died lately at _Anspach_. + +[83] This Princess was the Dowager of the Duke of _Courland_, when she +marry’d the Margrave _Christian_ who was very old. After his Death she +marry’d the Duke of _Saxe-Meinungen_ whom she has surviv’d. She resides at +_Coburg_ in _Franconia_. She never had but one Son, and that was he who +marry’d the present _Czarina_, but died soon after his Marriage. + +[84] The Hereditary Prince who is the eldest, marry’d the Princess Royal +of _Prussia_ in 1731. + +[85] The eldest of the Princesses, _Sophia-Christiana-Louisa_, was marry’d +in 1731 to the Prince _Alexander de la Tour_ and _Taxis_. She lately +embrac’d the _Romish_ Religion. + +[86] The Margrave and the Prince are now return’d to _Bareith_, where they +live with all the Splendor of Sovereignty. + +[87] She is the present Queen. + +[88] He had the Misfortune to be killed as he was hunting in _Bohemia_, by +the Emperor himself in 1732. + +[89] She is now Margravine of _Baden-Baden_. + +[90] His fickle State of Health oblig’d him to quit this Employment, in +which he was succeeded by the Count _de Collobradt_, who in 1734 was made +Vice-Chancellor. + +[91] He is return’d to _Vienna_ since 1732. + +[92] This Minister was Great Chancellor of _Bohemia_ and a Knight of the +_Golden Fleece_. Count _Joseph_ was nominated Ambassador to _Great +Britain_ in 1736, in the room of his Brother _Philip_. + +[93] This Word in _French_ signifies a _Scab_. + +[94] The Electoresses of _Bavaria_ and _Saxony_. + +[95] I conform to the Opinion of almost all the Historians, who do not +place _Frederic_ the Fair in the List of the Emperors. + +[96] The Empress Regent and the Empress Dowager. + +[97] The King of _Great Britain_. + +[98] The Queen of _Prussia_. + +[99] The present Duke Regent of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Wolfembuttle_. + +[100] _Feb._ 1, 1736, she was marry’d to the Duke of _Lorrain_. + +[101] There are but seven Archduchesses since 1730; the Emperor’s third +Daughter being dead. + +[102] This great General who was born the 8th of _October_ 1663, O. S. +died on the 10th of _April_ 1736, O. S. so suddenly, that when his +Gentleman went that Morning, as usual, into his Chamber to awake him, he +was found dead in his Bed. He had been the day before very gay with +Company whom he entertain’d at Dinner, and made not the least Complaint of +any Ailment, tho’ he had for some time before been so indispos’d that he +did not venture abroad. ’Tis supposed that he was choak’d by an immoderate +Defluxion of Rheum with which he was now and then troubled. His sudden +Death cast the City and Court of _Vienna_ into such a Consternation as did +prodigious Honour to his immortal Memory. On the 15th, after having lain +three days in State, he was interr’d in the Tomb of his Nephew _Emanuel_ +Prince of _Savoy_ (which the Princess of _Savoy_ Countess of _Soissons_ +caus’d to be erected in the Metropolitan Church of St. _Stephen_) with all +the Military Honours, and all the Magnificence due to his illustrious +Birth, and to these important Services which he perform’d to the August +House of _Austria_ during the Reigns of three successive Emperors. A Will +was found among his Papers, whereby he declar’d the late Prince _Eugene_ +of _Savoy_ his Nephew who died the year before at _Manheim_ his universal +Heir. But after that time a Codicil was made, tho’ never sign’d by Prince +_Eugene_, declaring for his Heir his Niece _Louisa de Seissons_ of +_Carignan_ (who was born _December_ 16, 1686.) then at a _Nunnery_ in +_France_. The Prince left behind him a numerous and curious library of +Books, many of which he bought when at _London_ of _Christopher Bateman_ +in _Pater-noster Row_, besides a fine Cabinet of Medals and other +Curiosities. The Emperor has bought his Library of his Niece for 20000 +Florins. + +Since the Prince’s Death the Count _de Konigseg_, Vice-President of the +Council of War, has the chief Direction of Military Affairs at this Court, +and signs all Dispatches and Commissions which that Prince sign’d as first +President of the said Council, for thirty-three years. His Regiment of +Dragoons is given to Prince _Charles_ of _Lorrain_, but the Honours he +held as General in Chief of the Emperor’s Forces, and his Imperial +Majesty’s Vicar-General in _Italy_, are like to continue vacant by reason +of the Peace. + +[103] He is now Bishop of _Breslaw_, a Dignity which gives him a +distinguish’d Rank in this Duchy. + +[104] The Count _de Metsch_, Vice-President of the Aulic Council of the +Empire, succeeded him in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor; and the Count +_Aloysius-Thomas Raimond_ of _Harrach Rohram_, heretofore Viceroy of +_Naples_, hereditary Master of the Horse of Upper and Lower _Austria_, +Marshal of the States of the Country, Knight of the Golden Fleece, is +appointed Counsellor of the Conferences in the room of the Count _de +Schonborn_. + +[105] The Count _de Konigseck-Erps_. He actually went to _Spain_, with a +design to relieve his Uncle; but as the Face of Affairs is alter’d at this +Court, they are both return’d. The Count _de Konigseck-Erps_ is at +_Brussels_ Counsellor of State of _Brabant_. + +[106] The Count _de Konigseck_ is return’d home from his Embassy to +_Spain_. He actually officiates as Vice-President of the Aulic Council of +War, and as Privy-Counsellor of the Conferences. He is Lieutenant-General +of the Emperor’s Armies, Colonel of a Regiment of Foot; and is lately +created a Knight of the Golden Fleece. The Count _de Mercy_ being kill’d +at the Battle of _Parma_, the 29th of _June_, 1734, the Emperor sent the +Count _de Konigseck_ to _Italy_, and gave him the Command of his Army, +which was in a very shatter’d Condition, and which the Count _de +Konigseck_ set to rights again, in such a manner as to command Respect +even from his Enemies. + +[107] His Name and Title is _Joseph de Silva y Meneses_, Marquess _de +Villasor_, Count _de Monte-Santo_. + +[108] They are barely _Opinions_, and do not pass into Decrees till they +are approved by the Emperor. + +[109] When he return’d to _Vienna_, after the _French_ and _Savoyards_ had +taken _Milan_ in 1733, several Articles of Complaint were exhibited +against him; but he made so full a Defence against the Impeachment, that +the Emperor has the same Confidence in him as before. + +[110] He was Uncle to the Cardinal _Collonitz_ ABp. of _Vienna_. + +[111] In the Beginning of the Year 1730, this Apartment was burnt down by +a Fire which broke out in the Night-time; so that the Elector and +Electress had like to have been burnt in their Beds, and scarce any of the +fine Furniture was sav’d. + +[112] The Order consists at present of a Grand Master who is the Elector, +and two Grand Priors, who are the Electoral Prince and Duke _Ferdinand_, +six Grand Crosses, nine Commanders, and several Knights. + +[113] The second is dead. + +[114] The present Grand Marshal is the Count _Gaudentz de Rechberg_, a +Grand Croix of the Order of St. _George_. + +[115] The Baron _de Freysing_ is at present Great Huntsman. + +[116] He died _An._ 1733, and leaving no Children, his Son and Grandson +dying before him, was succeeded by _Charles-Alexander_, the eldest of his +Cousin-Germans, the Son of Duke _Frederic-Charles_, who had been his +Guardian till the Year 1693. The Duke _Eberhard-Lewis_ was 57 Years of +Age. + +[117] The Duke was reconcil’d to her two Years before she died, and tho’ +she was no less than fifty Years of Age, it was reported for a good while +that she was with Child. + +[118] This was the Countess _de Gravenitz_. Since the Duke’s Death the +Duke Regent has commenc’d a Prosecution against her, and she traverses +from one Court to another for that Protection which every one denies her. + +[119] He died at _Ludwigsbourg_ the 23d of _Nov._ 1731. + +[120] He was Velt-Marshal of the Emperor’s Forces, and Governor of +_Servia_ and _Belgrade_. He is one of the famous Generals of our Age, on +whom Prince _Eugene_ set a great Value. When he came to the Succession he +obtain’d of the Diet of the Empire the Post of Velt-Marshal-General +jointly with the Duke of _Brunswic-Bevern_ and the Prince of _Anhalt_. He +married _Mary-Augusta_ of _Tour Taxis_, by whom he has Children. He has +two Brothers in the Emperor’s Service, _viz._ Prince _Frederic_, and +Prince _Lewis_, who distinguish’d themselves in the last War upon the +_Rhine_. + +[121] M. _de Pollnitz_ left the Court in 1732, and is since retir’d to his +lands in _Saxony_. + +[122] This Prince died the Beginning of the Year 1732, and left one Son. + +[123] He his since marry’d a Princess of _Brandenburg-Bareith_, who has +embrac’d the Catholic Religion. + +[124] He was advanc’d to the Office of Secretary at War in the room of M. +_le Blanc_, and was succeeded as Intendant of _Alsace_ by M. _de Harlay_, +formerly Intendant of _Metz_; and when the latter was made Intendant of +_Paris_ he was succeeded by M. _de Brou_. + +[125] The Wife of _Lewis_ the Dauphin who was _Lewis_ XIVth’s only Son. + +[126] The Duchess of _Orleans_ who is of the _Baden_ Family, and the +Duchess of _Bourbon_. + +[127] The famous Cardinal _William Egon de Furstemberg_ Bishop of +_Strasbourg_ died the 10th of _April_ 1704, and was immediately succeeded +by the Abbot _de Rohan_, who was chose Co-adjutor _Jan._ 31, 1701. + +[128] _Strasbourg_ was an Episcopal See before the Year 376, for one +_Arnaud_ Bishop of _Strasbourg_ was then present at the Council of +_Cologne_. The Chapter is composed of 24 Members, _viz._ 12 Capitulars, +and 12 Domicilairs, who must be all Princes or Counts. From 1592 the +Canons were _Lutherans_, and Catholics till 1681, when _Lewis_ XIV. having +taken _Strasbourg_, established a Bishop there whose See was at +_Molsheim_, and caused the Cathedral to be restored to the Catholic +Canons; and notwithstanding the contrary Dispositions of the Treaty of +_Westphalia_, in 1687, he turn’d the _Lutheran_ Canons out of +_Brudersdorff_, and the Prebends which they retain’d in the Chapter: +Nevertheless the _Lutheran_ Religion is tolerated in this City. + +[129] ’Tis already far advanc’d. + +[130] He was admitted Kt. of the _Golden Fleece_ at the last Promotion. + +[131] This Fortress is now finish’d, and the Elector, who continues to +keep his Court here, has a strong Garison in it. + +[132] He actually lodges there now. + +[133] This Prince died at _Breslau_ in _April_ 1732. + +[134] His Name was _Theodore_. He was born in 1659, and died in 1732. + +[135] The late Queen of _Sardinia_. + +[136] The Prince _John-Christian_ became Prince Regent of _Sultzbach_ +after his Father’s Death, but did not long survive him, for he died +suddenly _July_ 20, 1733; so that Prince _Charles_ his Son, born +_December_ 10, 1724, is now Prince _Palatine_ of _Sultzbach_, Marquiss of +_Bergopzoom_, and presumptive Heir to the Elector. He is a very forward +hopeful Youth. The Elector has sent for him from _Brussels_ to _Manheim_, +notwithstanding the Intreaty of the Duchess _d’Aremberg_, his +Great-Grandmother by the Mother’s side, (who had the care of his +Education,) that he might be permitted to stay with her. This young +Prince’s Grandmother is the Princess Dowager _d’Auvergne_, Sister to the +Duke _d’Aremberg_, one of the toasted Beauties of her Time. She retir’d to +a Nunnery, is a Lady of good Learning, and now one of the Heads of the +_Jansenist_ Party of _Holland_. + +[137] He died soon after this was written, and his Place is not yet fill’d +up. + +[138] I suppose M. _de Globe_ is dead; at least he is no longer Grand +Marshal, that Post being occupied by the Baron _de Beveren_, a +Privy-Counsellor and President of the Ecclesiastic Administration at +_Heidelberg_. This Minister does an Honour to the Elector’s Choice of his +Person. + +[139] The Office of Master of the Horse is vacant; but the Count _de +Nesselrod_ does the Duties of it, in quality of Vice-Master of the horse. + +[140] The present King of _Sardinia_. + +[141] General _Isselbach_ Commander in Chief of the _Palatine_ Troops, and +Governor of Manheim, dying in _August_ 1734, the Elector gave the Command +of his Troops to the Count _de Nassau-Weilbourg_, and the Government of +_Manheim_ to the Baron _de Zobel_. + +[142] Since this was written the Elector of _Mentz_, of the _Palatine_ +Family of _Newbourg_ dying, the Chapter of _Worms_ unanimously chose for +its Bishop _Francis-George_ Count _de Schonborn_, Archbishop and Elector +of _Triers_. + +[143] These sharp-sighted Gentlemen were not so happy as to foresee the +Marriage which has lately united the Families of _Austria_ and _Lorrain_, +and brought the latter within View of the Imperial Crown, of which the +Elector of _Triers_ saving the Sword in the Scabbard seems to have been a +remarkable Omen. + +[144] He was the King of _Prussia_’s Plenipotentiary to the King of _Great +Britain_, and is return’d to _Frankfort_, where he is Minister from the +King of _Prussia_ to the Circle of the _Rhine_. + +[145] This Lady died _An._ 1733. + +[146] Since the Author was at _Frankfort_ the Prince _Alexander de la +Tour_ and _Taxis_ who married a Princess of _Brandenbourg-Bareith_, +resides in this City and is building a House there. + +[147] She is _Louisa-Anne-Frances_ of _Lobkowitz_, Daughter to the late +Prince _Leopold_ of _Lobkowitz_ who was the Empress’s chief Steward till +1708. + +[148] This Lady died at _Frankfort_ in _Feb._ 1733. + +[149] Madame the Abbess of _Maubrisson_, Sister to Madame the Electress of +_Hanover_, who is supposed to be the Person that speaks here; Madame the +Duchess of _Hanover_, Mother to the Empress _Amelia_, and Madame the +Princess of _Condé_. + +[150] At _Rhenen_, a small Town in the Province of _Utrecht_. + +[151] The _Upper Palatinate_ yielded to the Elector of _Bavaria_ by the +Treaty of _Westphalia_. + +[152] At _Schwetzingeu_, a League from _Heidelberg_. + +[153] Twas a Pistol which the Count _de Hehenlo_ snatch’d from her, and +shot into the Air from the Window. But here it was absolutely necessary to +call it a Dagger, Fire-Arms being not known at the Time of which this +History bears date. + +[154] _Phillip_ the Magnanimous, Landgrave of _Hesse-Cassel_, was in 1518 +Sovereign of all the Country of _Hesse_. He died in 1567, and left four +Sons who shar’d his Dominions and form’d the four Branches of +_Hesse-Cassel_, _Hesse-Marpurg_, _Hesse-Rheinfels_ and _Hesse-Darmstadt_ +The landgraves _Lewis de Marpurg_ and _Philip de Rheinfels_ had no Issue, +but their Nephew _Maurice_ of _Cassel_ having 18 Children, _Earnest_ one +of the Sons reviv’d a Branch of _Rheinfels_ which was divided into those +of _Rotenburg_ and _Vanfried_, that are still subsisting. The Posterity of +_George_ I, Landgrave of _Darmstadt_ was altogether as fruitful, and +form’d the Branches of _Darmstadt_, _Butzbach_, _Hombourg_, and +_Lauterbach_, some of which are extinct. The Landgrave-Regent is one of +the sixteen Children of the Landgrave _Lewis_ VI. Great-Grandson of +_George_ I. There are at present these six Branches of the Family of +_Hesse, viz._ 1. _Hesse-Cassel_, 2. _Hesse-Philipstall_, 3. +_Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenbourg_, 4. _Hesse-Rheinfels-Vanfried_, 5. +_Hesse-Darmstadt_, 6. _Hesse-Hambourg_. + +[155] This Count died in 1736. + +[156] She died at _Hanau_ after a very long Illness. + +[157] This River rises in _Tirol_ a little above _Inspruc_, becomes +navigable at _Halle_, and loses itself in the _Danube_ near _Passau_. + +[158] The Provost and Dean of _Passau_ enjoy the same Prerogative. + +[159] The Revenue of this Archbishoprick amounts to 600,000 Florins. The +Archbishop has 60,000 Florins a-year for his private Expences, and 24,000 +Crowns for officiating at three solemn Services, without reckoning the +Deanery, which is worth 24,000 Florins to him. + +[160] The People about the _Alps_ are very subject to those Swellings by +drinking too much cold unwholesome Water. + +[161] This is the Name which they give in _Italy_ to those who do the +Office of Guides to shew Foreigners the Curiosities of any Town. + +[162] This Minister died at _Venice_ in 1732, and was succeeded by Prince +_Pio_. + +[163] He is dead, and succeeded by Don _Carlo Ruzzini_. + +[164] _Francis_, Count _Duhamel_, Lieutenant-General of the King of +_Prussia_’s Army, Knight of the Order of the _Black Eagle_, and Colonel of +a Regiment of Horse. The _Venetians_ invited him to their Service in 1704, +and gave him the chief Command of their Forces. + +[165] This Princess died in 1731, at _Florence_. + + * * * * * + + + Transcriber’s Amendments + +Transcriber’s Note: A table of contents has been added. Blank pages have +been deleted. On pages that remain, some unnecessary page numbers may have +been deleted when they fall in the middle of lists. Some illustrations may +have been moved. Footnotes have been moved to just above this paragraph. +The hyphenation of words varies widely but has not been changed. The +spelling of words varies widely and has not been changed except as listed +below. The publisher’s inadvertent omissions of important punctuation have +been corrected. + +The following list indicates any additional changes. The page number +represents that of the original publication and applies in this etext +except for footnotes and illustrations since they may have been moved. +Corrections specified by the publisher are marked with an asterisk (*). + + Page Change + + title [Vol. I] + ix for he threatned[threaten’d] to get a Preface compos’d + xxiv BARON DE POLLNITZ being the Oservations[Observations] he made + 5 for his Favourite the Connt[Count] _de Wartemberg_, + 11 But the late Czar coming no[on] _Berlin_ + 15 upon which ocasion[occasion] + 17 To go from the Ambassaors[Ambassadors] Hotel to the New Town + 38 for her, woud[would] be to send him abroad; + 41 I thing[think] it incumbent on me to give you + 84 Travellers, who were heretefore[heretofore] often impos’d upon + 57 As soon as he appear’d be-[del] before _Altena_, + 96 at _Warsaw_ the 1st of _Feb._ 1733, N.[O.] S. + 133 In short, the Count _de Sulkouski[Sulkowski]_ who has + 134 The Office of all the abovementioned[above-mention’d], as + 146 the Religion which is upermost[uppermost] in the State. + 151 but the Marriage was dissoved[dissolved], + 251 their Conversattion[Conversation] sometimes insipid; + 172 They are all drawn or[on] Horseback, + 187 for the Glasses served in-[del] instead of Bells, + 194 which were of gery[very] great value, + 199 Knick-knacks which where[were] formerly made in this city + 220 the _Ne plus ultra_ of their Perferments[Preferments]. + 220 The[There] are five Brothers of it in Employments. + 225 The Empreor[Emperor] stands up under a Canopy + 236 Simplicity of the ancient Arcitecture[Architecture]. + 317 most celebrated in _France_; and he daily in-riches[enriches] + 320 He was addmitted[admitted] Kt. of the _Golden Fleece_ at the + 348 found to be the Hand-writting[Hand-writing] of _Gertrude_. + 351 whither a Captian[Captain] of the Guards came in + 359 This great p’enty[plenty] of Deer is extremely troublesome + 361 Circle of of[del 2nd of] the _Upper Rhine_. + 364 LETTER XIII[XXIII]. + 379 runs through a fine Valley beween[between] high Mountains + 394 they would fall on the Heads of the Travallers[Travellers]; +Index _Brandenbourg-Anspach_, Margraves, {?}[capital], 193, +Index _Kara-Mustapha_, Grand Visier[Vizier], 247, 248. +Index _Lowinitz, Henry-Rodolph de Schonfield[Schonfeld]_ Lord of, 145. +Index * _Maria-Amelia_ Princess of _Prussia[Poland]_, 113. +Index * _Maria-Anne-Sophia_ Princess of _Prussia[Poland]_, 113. +Index * _Maria-Josepha_ Princess of _Prussia[Poland]_, 113[114]. +Index _Staupitz_, Abbat[Abbot], 375. + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de +Pollnitz, Volume I, by Karl Ludwig von Pöllnitz + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS--BARON DE POLLNITZ, VOL I *** + +***** This file should be named 38495-0.txt or 38495-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/4/9/38495/ + +Produced by Robert Connal, Henry Gardiner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/38495-0.zip b/38495-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8c45652 --- /dev/null +++ b/38495-0.zip diff --git a/38495-8.txt b/38495-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0196dc0 --- /dev/null +++ b/38495-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16302 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de +Pollnitz, Volume I, by Karl Ludwig von Pllnitz + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume I + Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from + Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, + England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not + Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but + the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several + Courts. + +Author: Karl Ludwig von Pllnitz + +Release Date: January 5, 2012 [EBook #38495] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS--BARON DE POLLNITZ, VOL I *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Connal, Henry Gardiner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by the Bibliothque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr) + + + + + + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Note: The original publication has been replicated +faithfully except as shown in the Transcriber's Amendments at the end of +the text. This etext presumes a mono-spaced font on the user's device, +such as Courier New. Words in italics are indicated like _this_. But the +publisher also wanted to emphasize words in sentences already italicized, +so he printed them in the regular font which is indicated here with: _The +pirates then went to +Hispaniola+._ Obscured letters in the original +publication are indicated with {?}. Superscripts are indicated like this: +S^{ta} Maria. Footnotes are located near the end of the work. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: Lestevenon de Berkenroode] + + + + + THE + + MEMOIRS + + OF + + _CHARLES-LEWIS_, + + Baron de POLLNITZ. + + BEING + + The OBSERVATIONS He made in his + late TRAVELS from _Prussia_ thro' + + _GERMANY_, + _ITALY_, + _FRANCE_, + _FLANDERS_, + _HOLLAND_, + _ENGLAND_, &c. + + In LETTERS to his FRIEND. + + Discovering not only the PRESENT STATE + of the Chief CITIES and TOWNS; + + BUT + + The CHARACTERS of the PRINCIPAL PERSONS + at the Several COURTS. + + In TWO VOLUMES. + + Vol. I + + The SECOND EDITION, with ADDITIONS. + + + _LONDON:_ + Printed for DANIEL BROWNE, at the _Black Swan_, + without _Temple-Bar_. M.DCC.XXXIX. + + + + + TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + PREFACE, BY THE TRANSLATOR v + + AUTHOR'S PREFACE ix + + ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR xiv + + PREFACE xv + + ADDENDA to Vol. I xviii + + ADDENDA to Vol. II xxi + + BOOKS LATELY PUBLISHED xxiv + + LETTER I 1 + + LETTER II 49 + + LETTER III 60 + + LETTER IV 69 + + LETTER V 80 + + LETTER VI 162 + + LETTER VII 178 + + LETTER VIII 183 + + LETTER IX 193 + + LETTER X 197 + + LETTER XI 210 + + LETTER XII 224 + + LETTER XIII 246 + + LETTER XIV 258 + + LETTER XV 272 + + LETTER XVI 280 + + LETTER XVII 293 + + LETTER XVIII 299 + + LETTER XIX 315 + + LETTER XX 327 + + LETTER XXI 338 + + LETTER XXII 357 + + LETTER XXIII 364 + + LETTER XXIV 377 + + LETTER XXV 391 + + LETTER XXVI 408 + + LETTER XXVII 422 + + OTHER BOOKS 432 + + INDEX 433 + + ERRATA + + FOOTNOTES + + +[Illustration] + + + + + To the Right Honourable + + PHILIP, _Lord_ HARDWICKE; + + Baron of _Hardwicke_, in the + County of _Gloucester_; + + LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR + of _Great Britain_; + + AND + + One of the LORDS of His Majesty's most + Honourable PRIVY COUNCIL. + + + MY LORD, + +The good Reception these Memoirs, which I most humbly offer to your +Lordship, have met with Abroad; and the Protection and Favour the _Author_ +has obtain'd at one of the Chief Protestant Courts of EUROPE; encourage +me, tho' with the profoundest Submission, to intreat your Lordship's +favourable Acceptance of this _Translation_. + +'Tis, my Lord, the only Homage I am capable of paying your Lordship, and +the best Testimony I can give with what Zeal and Pleasure I join in the +Congratulation of the Public for that illustrious Regard paid to your +Lordship's Merit, and Their Wishes, by his SACRED MAJESTY, this Day in +Council. + +That your Lordship may very long enjoy a sufficient Portion of Health, +equal to the Abilities of your Great Mind, for supporting you under that +vast Weight of Service which you have now taken upon you for your King and +Country, is the hearty Prayer of all good ENGLISHMEN; and particularly of +Him, My Lord, who has the Honour to subscribe + + YOUR LORDSHIP'S + _Most Devoted, + Most Obedient, and + Most Humble Servant._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + PREFACE, + + By the TRANSLATOR. + + +The Author of these _Memoirs_, who is a Person of an honourable Family in +_Prussia_, and confess'd by all that know him to be a Gentleman of +extraordinary Talents, is one that may be truly said to have seen the +World; he having not only travell'd twice thro' the principal Parts of +_Europe_, but by his Acquaintance with People of the first Rank, and a +diligent Inquiry and nice Inspection into Men and Things, attained to that +Knowledge of Both, which is of such Service and Entertainment to Mankind +in the general, and so particularly necessary for All who attend to what +is doing in high Life. + +He has succeeded very happily in the right Narrative Stile; and the +_French_ Language, in which he wrote the following Letters, seems to be as +natural to him as if it was his Mother-Tongue. But the Thing which has +most contributed to the Demand for these Memoirs, is the Multitude of +Characters that the Baron has interspers'd, not only of the Deceas'd, but +even of Persons that are still living, and distinguish'd by the exalted +Spheres in which they move. + +That every one of those Characters is equally just, or that every +Circumstance relating to them is told with the utmost Exactness, is not to +be imagin'd: For supposing the Author to have been ever so circumspect and +impartial, how was it possible for him to take the true Likeness of every +one, in such a Variety of Personages of both Sexes, and to be perfectly +sure of every Particular that he mentions; since he could not be +Eye-Witness of every thing, and must be oblig'd for many to Information +from other Persons, of whom, 'tis no wonder if some were prejudic'd? But +to do the Baron Justice, it must be allow'd, that he no where fails in +that Respect and Decorum to Princes which are their due; and that he has +not discover'd a predominant Passion for Satire: because where he has +painted in the strongest Colours, and represented his Subjects in the most +disadvantageous Light, they were such whose Follies or whose Vices were +too flagrant and notorious to be either conceal'd or disguis'd: And, +considering the Groupe of Courtiers whom he has crouded into his Canvass, +the Reader will rather be surpris'd to meet with so few Imperfections in +his Characters, and so many excellent Qualities. By this means, his +Memoirs have, upon the whole, done Honour to his Understanding, without +offending his Conscience, or hurting his Fortune; he being, at this very +time, upon a handsome Establishment at the Court of _Prussia_. + +It cannot possibly escape the Observation of the Reader, that the Baron, +when he wrote these Letters to his noble Friend, was a profess'd Member of +the Church of _Rome_; but that nevertheless, he was not such a Bigot to +its Constitution, nor such a Believer in the Legends of its Writers, or +the pretended Miracles of its Saints, as to incur the Character of a blind +and furious Zealot; it appearing on the contrary, from several +Declarations of his Mind in the following Pages, that he did not want +Charity either in his Nature or Principles for those from whom he differ'd +in religious Sentiments. Such a Catholic Spirit, assisted by his good +Sense, made it, no doubt, much easier for him, after reflecting upon the +Fopperies and Impostures which he had seen in that Church during his +Travels, to abjure the _Romish_ and to embrace the _Protestant_ Religion, +which he did accordingly with great Devotion last Summer, at _Berlin_; +after which, his _Prussian_ Majesty was pleas'd to distinguish him with +peculiar Marks of his Favour and Esteem, by declaring him one of the +Gentlemen of his Bed-Chamber, and Chief Cup-Bearer of his Court; and he +has very lately given him a considerable Prebend. + +To the new Edition of his Memoirs, from which the following Sheets are +translated, there's not only a great number of material Additions in the +Body of the Work, as is observ'd by the Editor of it, _Amsterdam_, but +several new Notes: In this Translation, these Notes are likewise +considerably augmented, for the sake of continuing the Thread of the +History to the present Time, by the Notice taken of certain remarkable +Alterations, or other curious Particulars that have happen'd to the +Persons or the Places mentioned, since 1734, when the said Edition was +publish'd. + +One great Defect for which the foreign Editor has been very much blam'd, +was the want of a Table to these Memoirs; which, if not absolutely +necessary in a Work of this kind, wherein so many Persons and Facts are +mentioned, cannot be necessary for any Book whatsoever that comes from the +Press. To supply this Defect, the Translator has added an Alphabetical +Index to each of the two Volumes; which Indexes are the more copious, that +the Reader might know where to turn in an Instant for some Account of the +Characters, Conduct, or Familys of those public Personages, whose Names so +often occur in the News-Papers. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + THE + + AUTHOR's PREFACE + + TO THE + + FIRST EDITION. + + +_There are very few Books without a +Preface+; and that there are +so, is in a great measure owing to the Fancy of the +Booksellers+, +who think them to be absolutely necessary, and too often judge of +the merit of a Copy by the Flights of its Preface, and the +insinuating Tone of the +Author's+ Voice in reading it. I had the +misfortune to fall into the hands of one of these Booksellers, so +fond of Prefaces, whom nothing would serve but he must have one at +the Head of my +Memoirs+. My telling him that I did not know what to +put into a Preface, signify'd no more than if I had been talking to +a Post; for he threaten'd to get a Preface compos'd by an Author who +wrote for Wages. This startled me, and I trembled for the fate of my +Book, not doubting that a Preface written by a Man of Letters, who +made it his profession to compose such marvellous Pieces, would +altogether eclipse the few Excellencies in this Work of mine. What, +said I to myself, the Sale of my Book then must depend only on the +Goodness of the Preface, which, when the Readers compare with the +Book it self, they will say, O! what a wonderful Man is the Author +of the +Preface+! What a pitiful Writer, the Compiler of the ++Memoirs+! No, said I again to my self, I am resolv'd that the +Preface and the Book shall run the same risk; and since Chance has +enter'd me an Author, I'll play out the whole part of one._ + +_I am told, that the Design of a Preface is to give the Publick an +account, in the first place, of the Reasons that have engag'd the Author +to compose his Work; that then he is to inform the Publick, that 'tis in +meer Complaisance to his Friends, and because there are mangled Copies of +his Manuscript abroad, that he has been determined to put it to the Press; +and finally, that he is to conclude with a sort of Petition, wherein he is +to beg the Reader's Indulgence for his Productions. This, I have been +assured, is the Plan of a Preface; let us now see how well I can execute +it._ + +_As to the first Article, +viz.+ what Motives I had to write, I sincerely +own that when I set Pen to Paper, I meant nothing more than to amuse +myself. I was the farthest in the World from thinking that I should one +day be overtaken with the Temptation of setting up for an Author. I wrote +Letters to a Friend of mine, purely to divert him with an Account of such +things as came in my way; the Minutes of which Letters I preserved till I +had insensibly formed a Volume of 'em; and having nothing else to do, I +augmented and digested them in the manner that I now give them to the +Publick. The truth is, that my Friends have not used the least Importunity +with me to commit my Manuscript to the Press, nor was it possible for any +spurious Copies of it to get abroad, because no body ever saw it till I +put it into the hands of the Bookseller._ + +_But I shall be ask'd, what possess'd me to commence Author, and how came +I to be so idle as to put my Name at the Head of a sorry book? I must +answer again, that it was downright Indolence. As to my Name, it would +have been very difficult to have concealed it from Persons to whom I have +the greatest Obligations. I should have been suspected to have been the +Author of these Memoirs at certain Courts, for which I have a Respect both +by Inclination and Duty; and perhaps, if I had left this Copy to the +wide World, as some do those Foundlings which they are asham'd to own, +such Passages might have been foisted into it, as would have been father'd +upon me, in spite of all Protestations of my Innocence._ + +_As to the Book itself, I am apt to think there is nothing in it that any +Person whatsoever ought to take offence at. When I speak of Sovereign +Princes, 'tis with the Reverence due to the +Lord's Anointed+; and I also +endeavour to honour them in their Ministers, being taught by my Religion +that I ought to honour God in his Saints. I have done my utmost to paint +the true Characters of People in Place, and can safely say, that my +Authorities are not meer hear-says or scraps out of News-Papers; for, +thank to God, my Birth and Fortune have put me in a capacity to see, hear, +and judge for myself._ + +_It will be thought perhaps, that when I speak of Nations in general, I +judge too rashly. It may be so; this being an Article especially in which +all Men do not think alike. The +French+ have a quite different Idea of +the +Germans+ from what the +English+ have, and the +English+ do not pass +the same Verdict on the +French+ as the +Swedes+ do. 'Tis the same in +private Life. Every one makes his own Condition the Standard of his +Judgment. The Man of Quality, the Citizen, the Soldier, the Merchant, have +all different Ideas. The Traveller judges of the Nation where he is, by +the Company he keeps. A +Frenchman+ who in +Germany+ converses with none +but those of the second Class, will say that the +Germans+ are honest +People, but clownish; whereas another, who keeps company with Persons of +Quality, or those in Offices, will agree, that the +Germans+ are more +polite than they have been painted by certain +French+ Writers, who have +been transplanted to +Germany+ either by their Distresses, or by meer +Chance. So, a +German+, who, when he is at +Paris+, sees no better Company +than the Marchionesses of the Suburb of +St. Germain+, imagines +that all the Women both at Court and in the City are like them. In fine, a +Foreigner who takes up his Residence in the City of +London+, will +entertain a different Idea of the +English+ from what another shall do who +lodges at +St. James+'s end of the town. They are, as one may say, so many +different Nations in one and the same State, which stand in little +relation to one another; and sometimes attribute Virtues and Vices to each +other without due Consideration. A Foreigner therefore can form a solid +Judgment of none but those with whom he is conversant; and if he has the +good luck to pitch his Tent well, he entertains an advantageous Opinion of +the Nation in general. Let Foreigners, when they return home, after having +kept such various sorts of Company, sit down to draw the Characters of the +Nations they have seen, I do but think what a strange difference would +appear in their Descriptions! The Judgment therefore which I make of +People, is founded upon the Company I kept, and upon what I heard from +such Inhabitants of the Country as appear'd to me to be altogether +unprejudiced, and were pleased to honour me with their Information. I do +not say but, after all, I may have been mistaken; for I do not pretend to +have painted things in any other light than as they appear'd to me. If, +nevertheless, any particular Person thinks himself particularly intended +when I speak of the Inhabitants of any Province or Town in general, I beg +him to remember, that I confess in my Memoirs there are worthy People in +all parts of the World, and 'tis not my fault if his Conscience does not +permit him to rank himself in that number._ + +_No doubt I shall be reproach'd for relating too many Trifles, and passing +too lightly over things of greater Importance. To speak freely again, I +will make no difficulty to own, that, if when I began these Memoirs, I had +ever thought of printing them, the desire of promoting their Sale might +perhaps have put upon inserting a great many Nothings which I omitted, as +not thinking it worth while to charge my Memory with 'em. The far greatest +part of what the World reads is Trifles, and a History will make its +fortune not by the instructive Facts that are in it, but by the Romantic +Turn the Author gives it. Besides, I am not so vain as to write with a +design of Instructing; for what could I relate in my Travels which others +have not done before me in better Terms? To talk of Learned Men, to make a +Catalogue of Books and MSS. that are to be met with in Libraries, to +ransack the Cabinet of the Curious, to publish Inscriptions, to treat of +antique Medals, to affirm that I have seen an +Otho+ of Brass, which is +known to be but of Silver, what a Posse of Men of Learning would rise up +against me! Whereas, now I fear nothing; the Learned don't read Trifles, +or if they do, they scorn to criticise them. I shall to them remain +unknown, or at least, my Meanness will be my Protection against their +Indignation._ + +_I would fain be as secure against the Criticism of those, who reading for +the sake of their amusement, require an exact, elegant Stile in trifles, +that is, adorn'd with the Flowers and Garlands of Rhetorick. But how shall +I gain their Indulgence? If I own to them that I could do no better, they +will say to me, and justly enough, +Alas! then what made you write?+ To +which I shall answer, as I said before, that it was meerly for want of +something else to do. If they will but forgive me this time, I assure them +that I not only will never relapse into the same error, but that I shall +not be sorry if they disdain to take Notice of my Book: And if the reading +of these Memoirs inclines them to sleep, I shall think my self very well +rewarded for having contributed to their Repose._ + +_After all, I am more particularly obliged to ask pardon of the +French+ +than any other Nation: 'Tis in their Language I have presumed to write, +and they are my proper Judges. Such is their Politeness and their +Readiness to assist Foreigners, that I doubt not of Mercy. And in +return, I promise them, that if a +Frenchman+ ever vouchsafes to write in +the +German+ Language, I will forgive him any Errors that he may commit._ + + + + + ADVERTISEMENT by the EDITOR. + + +N. B. "These Memoirs went off so quick, that before they had been out +scarce six Months, the _French_ Bookseller was oblig'd to prepare for this +_Second Edition_; to which, there are considerable Additions both in the +Body of the Work and in the Notes, of curious and interesting Facts and +Characters, and the principal Alterations that have happen'd at the +several Courts, since the first Edition. + +"There is added in particular, a very circumstantial Account of the +present Elector of _Saxony_'s Family, his Ministers, and Officers; and in +short, of the Chief Persons of both Sexes belonging to his Court and +Houshold. This is prefix'd in the Original, at the Head of the Memoirs; +but the Translator thought it more regular as well as more consistent with +the Method observ'd every where else by the Author, to place it at the End +of his Description of the City of _Dresden_. The Baron has dedicated that +Account to the present Elector (_Augustus_, King of _Poland_) and +introduc'd it with the following Preface." + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + PREFACE, + + TO THE SECOND EDITION. + + +_The_ PRESENT STATE OF THE COURT OF SAXONY_, which is added to this +Edition, has no need of a Preface to recommend it, the very Title shewing +that 'tis what concerns every +Saxon+ especially to be acquainted with._ + +_All Subjects have a desire to know something of their Sovereign; and +private Men in every State have this Curiosity, with respect to their +Ministers and Courtiers. These are the Characters which I have ventured to +draw, tho' I own, that I don't think I have always hit the Life, for want +of that Penetration and Delicacy of Imagination which Nature, to me a +Step-Mother, has deny'd me; and also because it would have been necessary +for me to have stay'd longer than I did at +Dresden+. Three Months +Residence at so great a Court, are hardly sufficient to make a Man +acquainted with it, were his Fund of Knowledge even as deep as mine is +shallow. Then what a Presumption would it be for me to think I have +attained to it!_ + +_I must not dissemble, that this Book with all its Imperfections, has cost +me more trouble in composing than one much larger would have done upon a +Subject that had been more familiar to me. There was a necessity for me to +make Inquiry into many Particulars, and to get some of my Information from +a private hand. I own my Obligation to the Civility of M. +Konig+, the +Counsellor of the Court, for the Intelligence I wanted relating +to some of the Court-Nobility. If I had been so happy as to have found out +but one or two Persons more as active for me as he was, my Work would have +been more correct and more extensive. Such as it is, I intreat the Reader +to accept it, and to forgive any Errors in it, in consideration that I am +the first who has ventured to treat of such a Subject. I own, there is a +certain degree of Rashness in the Undertaking, but the noble Motive that +has induc'd me to it, seems to plead for my excuse._ + +_All +Saxony+ knows in general, that 'tis govern'd by a Sovereign, +gracious, and vigilant to render it happy. It were needless to set the +King's Virtues and Actions before their Eyes, which the People already +admire, and pray for him. But as this Great Prince does not want those who +envy his Glory, they are the Persons whom I have chose to make asham'd of +themselves; and have endeavoured, if possible, to reclaim others whom a +fatal blindness keeps at a distance from his Majesty's Person[1]._ + +_All that ever had the honour of approaching +Augustus III.+ will agree +with me that he adorns that Throne, upon which a respectful Nation has +plac'd him; and that whatever I have said of this Monarch is short of what +might be mention'd. How is it possible to give the true Portraiture of a +King born without Vice, by Principle virtuous, and religiously good? To +admire him in silence is the only way to please him, which I know too +well, not to conform to it; and therefore I have not presum'd to expatiate +so far in his Praise as the Sublimity of the Subject demands._ + +_The same Aversion of the Queen to Praise, has confin'd me within the same +bounds. How many Virtues have not I been forc'd to smother? What Thoughts_ +_have not I sacrific'd, lest I should offend the noble Modesty of that +August Princess, who with a Simplicity attending her Grandeur, makes her +Glory to consist in being humble in the midst of Honours?_ + +_I believe no body will dispute the Truth of what I have advanc'd relating +to the_ PRINCE ROYAL_ and _ELECTORAL_, the_ PRINCES HIS BROTHERS_, and the +_PRINCESSES HIS SISTERS_. The hopes I have raised of what may be expected +from_ THEIR ROYAL HIGHNESSES_, will surely be confirm'd by Time, and by +all those who have access to them._ + +_The Actions of the Duke +John-Adolphus+ of +Saxe-Weissenfels+ are so well +establish'd that I have not thought fit to anticipate History, by which +they are to be consecrated: And for the same reason, I have but just +touch'd upon the amiable Qualities of his Mind, which are rever'd both by +the Court and the Army._ + +_As to the Princess of +Saxe-Weissenfels+, I frankly own, that as I had +not the honour of paying my Court to her, what I have said of her Virtues +has no other Authority than the Voice of the Publick, which can never +speak enough in her Praise._ + +_I have been more copious in treating of the Ministers; and what I have +said of them is so true, that they who know them not may thereby form a +just Idea of what they are._ + +_I have taken as much notice of the principal Lords and the most +distinguish'd Ladies of the Court, as the little time I had for this Work, +and the Limits to which I was confin'd, would permit. I flatter myself +they will forgive the Freedom with which I use them; and hope I have +preserv'd a Decency in my Language which will secure me from Reproach._ + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + ADDENDA to Vol. I. + + +Pap. 15. M. _Beausobre_, Minister of the Gospel at _Berlin_, and Author of +several learned Treatises, died in _May_ 1738. + +P. 26. The Princess of _Brandenburg-Schwedt_, fourth Daughter of the King +of _Prussia_, was deliver'd of a Daughter in _April_ 1738. + +P. 27. The Count _de Truchses-Walbourg_, Major-General in the Service of +the King of _Prussia_, died at _Berlin_ in _April_ 1738. + +P. 34. In _July_ 1738, his _Prussian_ Majesty, together with the Prince +Royal and Prince _William_, made a Tour to _Holland_, and paid a Visit to +his most Serene Highness the Prince of _Orange_. + +P. 66. His Excellency Baron _Hattorf_, Secretary of State for the Affairs +of _Hanover_, died in _August_ 1737. + +P. 70. _Christina-Louisa_, Princess of _Oetingen_, died in 1736. + +P. 72. _Philippina-Charlotte_, Duchess of _Brunswic-Wolfembuttle_, and +third Daughter to the King of _Prussia_, after having had two Sons by Duke +_Charles_ her Husband, _viz._ the first born in 1735, and the other, who +is called _George-Francis_, in 1736, was deliver'd also of a Daughter in +_September_ 1737, who in the Month following was baptiz'd by the Names of +_Christina-Sophia-Maria_. + +P. 105. M. _de Miltitz_, who was Tutor to the present King _Augustus_ when +he was Electoral Prince of _Saxony_, died in _March_ 1738. + +P. 113. The Princess Royal of _Poland_ was married in _July_ 1738, to Don +_Carlos_ King of _Naples_ and _Sicily_. + +P. 130. The Count _de Sulkowski_ in _January_ 1738 fell under some +Disgrace, so that his Majesty order'd his Papers to be seal'd up, and +excused him from farther Attendance on him, but was willing he should keep +the Title and Rank of Minister of the Cabinet, and General of the Foot, +with 6000 Crowns Pension. + +P. 140. _Adolphus de Bruhl_ was in _January_ 1738 appointed Grand-Master +of the Horse, at the _Saxon_ Court, in the room of the Count _de +Sulkowski_. + +P. 142. The Count _de Moschinski_ died in _September_ 1737. + +P. 147. The Count _de Diedrichstein_ died at _Prague_ in _September_ 1737. +He was Baron of _Hollenbourg_, _Finckenstein_, _Dahlberg_ and +_Landskroon_, Hereditary Great Huntsman of _Styria_, Hereditary Cup-Bearer +of _Carinthia_, Knight of the Order of St. _John_ of _Jerusalem_, Grand +Prior in _Bohemia_, _Moravia_, _Silesia_, _Carinthia_, _Styria_, _Tirol_, +_Austria_ and _Poland_, Bailiff of the aforesaid Order, and Commander of +the Commanderies of _Little Oels_, _Furstenfeld_ and _Mosling_, a +Privy-Counsellor of the Emperor, and Governour-General of the Kingdom of +_Bohemia_. + +P. 168. The last Duke of _Saxe-Mersebourg_ mention'd in the Note of that +Page, died in _May_ 1738. + +P. 182. In _April_ 1738, the Emperor appointed the Prince of _Saxe-Gotha_ +Lieutenant Velt-Marshal of his Armies; and in _September_ following +he solicited the Diet of _Ratisbon_ for the Post of second +Velt-Marshal-General of the Empire, in the Disposal of the Protestant +States, vacant by the Death of the Baron _de Wutgenau_. + +P. 182. _Augusta_ Princess of _Wales_ was deliver'd of a Princess on the +31st of _July_ 1737, who was baptized after her own Name; and on the 24th +of _May_ 1738, she was deliver'd of a Prince who was baptiz'd +_George-William Frederic_. + +P. 208. The Margravine of _Brandenbourg-Culmbach_, Mother to the Queen of +_Denmark_, died at _Copenhagen_ in _August_ 1737, in the 70th Year of her +Age, very much lamented. + +P. 220. Count _Philip Kinski_ was made Chancellor of _Bohemia_, in _May_ +1738, in the room of the late Count _de Collowrat_. + +P. 233. The Archduchess, Wife to the Duke of _Lorrain_, had a Daughter, +born _January_ 25, 1737, and another born in _September_ 1738. + +P. 264. The eldest Son of the Duke _Ferdinand_ of _Bavaria_, died in +_April_ 1738. + +P. 266. The Count _Maximilian de Fugger_ died at _Vienna_, in _January_ +1738. + +P. 266. The Count _de Thirheim_ died in _January_ 1738, at _Lintz_, the +Capital of _Upper Austria_. + +P. 285. _Charles-Alexander_ Duke of _Wirtemberg-Stutgard_, died on the 1st +of _March_ 1737, and was succeeded by his eldest Son _Eugene-Lewis_ the +present Duke, who was born the 30th of _January_ 1728. + +P. 298. The Margrave of _Baden-Dourlach_ died the first of _May_ 1738, at +_Carelsruhe_, who having no Issue living, is succeeded by _Frederic_ of +_Witgenstein_, who is marry'd to the Princess _Augusta-Amelia-Albertina_ +of _Nassau-Siegen_. The Deceased was 58 Years and near 11 Months of Age, +being born the 17th of _June_ 1679. He was a General in the Emperor's +Army, and Great Master of the Artillery in the Circle _of Suabia_. By his +Wife, a Daughter of the Duke of _Wirtemberg-Stutgard_, he had four +Children, who are all dead. When he laid the Plan and Foundation of the +City and Castle of _Carelsruhe_, he gave equal Liberty of Conscience to +the Lutherans, Calvinists, and Roman Catholics. + +P. 321. The Cardinal _de Schonborn_ died in _August_ 1737. + +P. 335. The Baron _de Beveren_, Grand Marshal at the Elector Palatine's +Court, died there in _January_ 1738. + +P. 357. In _January_ 1738, the Prince of _Hesse-Hombourg_ was married to +the Velt-Marshal _Trubetskay_'s Daughter. + +P. 362. After the Death of the Count of _Hanau_ without Issue, the +Succession was awarded to the Prince of _Darmstad_ as next Heir, on +condition of his paying 200000_l._ by way of Compensation to the House of +_Cassel_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + ADDENDA to Vol. II. + + +Pag. 14. Cardinal _Bissi_ died in _August_ 1737. + +P. 44. Cardinal _Olivieri_, Secretary of the Pope's Briefs, died at _Rome_ +in _February_ 1738. + +P. 61. Prince _James Sobieski_ died in _December_ 1737. + +P. 136. On the 28th of _June_ 1737, the Great Duke of _Tuscany_ died in +the 67th Year of his Age, and was succeeded by _Francis_ Duke of _Lorrain_ +(who married the Emperor's Daughter) for whom possession was immediately +taken of the Duchy by the _German_ Forces. + +_Ferdinand_, Duke of _Courland_, who is mentioned in the same Page, died +in 1737; and the Nobility assembling at _Mittau_ elected Count _Biron_, a +Native, to succeed him. + +P. 150. The Affairs of _Corsica_ are very much alter'd since the first +Edition of these Volumes. Baron _Theodore_ having left the Island, and +promis'd to return soon with Succours, went to _Amsterdam_, where he was +confin'd for Debt; but being soon discharg'd by the Interest of some +foreign Power, he proceeded to _Paris_, and thence to _Marseilles_, in +order, as he gave out, to put himself again at the Head of the +_Corsicans_: But during this the _French_ having undertaken to be +Mediators betwixt the _Corsicans_ and _Genoese_, have, with the +Approbation of both, sent a General thither with some Troops, and the +_Corsicans_ have agreed to send over a dozen of their chief Men to the +Court of _France_ as Hostages for their good Behaviour; but since this, +_Theodore_ has set his Foot again upon that Island. + +P. 257. The Duke of _Liria_, Son and Successor to the late Marshal Duke of +_Berwic_, died at _Naples_ in _May_ 1738. + +P. 260. The Marshal _d'Estrees_ died the 5th of _December_ 1737. + +P. 309. The Marshal _de Wrangel_, Governour of _Brussels_, died in +_August_ 1737, in the 87th Year of his Age. + +P. 332. The Succession to the Duchies of _Juliers_ and _Berg_, is an +Affair which has been very much canvass'd for several Months past, between +the Elector Palatine and the Courts of _Prussia_ and _Saxony_. The +maritime Powers of _Great Britain_ and _Holland_ have proposed an +Accommodation, with regard to the Succession, into which the Elector +Palatine is willing to enter; but the Courts of _France_, _Prussia_ and +_Saxony_ don't concur with it; and _France_ has guarantee'd the actual +Possession of those Duchies to the Prince of _Sultzbach_. + +P. 447. On the 20th of _November_ 1737, _Wilhelmina-Carolina_ Queen of +_Great Britain_ died of a Mortification in her Bowels; and on the 17th of +_December_ following she was privately interr'd in _Westminster-Abbey_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + BOOKS _lately published_, + + +1. The Third and Fourth Volumes of the MEMOIRS of CHARLES-LEWIS BARON DE +POLLNITZ being the Observations he made in his late Travels from _Prussia_ +thro' _Poland_, _Germany_, _Italy_, _France_, _Spain_, _Flanders_, +_Holland_, _England_, &c. discovering not only the present State of the +chief Cities and Towns, but the Characters of the principal Persons at the +several Courts. + +2. CYCLOPDIA; or, An Universal Dictionary of ARTS and SCIENCES: +Containing, An Explication of the Terms, and an Account of the Things +signified thereby in the several Arts, both Liberal and Mechanical, and +the several Sciences, Human and Divine: The Figures, Kinds, Properties, +Productions, Preparations and Uses of Things, Natural and Artificial: The +Rise, Progress, and State of Things, Ecclesiastical, Civil, Military and +Commercial; with the several Systems, Sects, Opinions, &c. among +Philosophers, Divines, Mathematicians, Physicians, Antiquaries, Critics, +&c. The Whole intended as a Course of Antient and Modern Learning, +extracted from the best Authors, Dictionaries, Journals, Memoirs, +Transactions, Ephemerides, &c. in several languages. By E. CHAMBERS, +_F.R.S._ The Second Edition, corrected and amended, with some ADDITIONS. +In Two Volumes, Folio. + +3. BAYLE's GREAT HISTORICAL and CRITICAL DICTIONARY, the second Edition, +carefully collated with the several Editions of the Original; in which +many Passages are restored, and the Whole greatly augmented; particularly +with a Translation of the Quotations from eminent Writers in various +Languages: To which is prefixed, the Life of the Author, revised, +corrected and enlarged, by Mr. Des Maizeaux, Fellow of the Royal Society; +compleat in 5 Volumes, Folio. + +4. A Tour thro' the whole Island of Great Britain, divided into Circuits +or Journies, giving a particular and entertaining Account of whatever is +Curious, and worth Observation, viz. 1. A Description of the principal +Cities and Towns, their Situation, Government and Commerce. 2. The +Customs, Manners, Exercises, Diversions, and Employment of the People. 3. +The Produce and Improvement of the Lands, the Trade and Manufactury. 4. +The Sea-Ports and Fortifications, the Course of Rivers, and the Inland +Navigation. 5. The public Edifices, Seats and Palaces of the Nobility, and +Gentry. Interspersed with useful Observations. Particularly fitted for the +Perusal of such as desire to travel over the Island. The second Edition, +with very great Additions, Improvements and Corrections, which bring it +down to the beginning of the Year 1738, in three neat Pocket Volumes. +_Price, Nine Shillings._ + +All printed for D. BROWNE, without _Temple-Bar_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + MEMOIRS + + OF THE + + Baron de POLLNITZ. + + In SEVERAL LETTERS to Mr. _L. C. D. S._ + + + + + LETTER I. + + + _SIR_, _Berlin, June 6, 1729._ + +From _Breslaw_ to _Berlin_ 'tis 40 _German_ Miles of very even Country, +well peopled and cultivated. There are I know not how many little Towns in +the Road, not worth mentioning. + +The first Place of any Importance is CROSSEN. This City is the Capital of +the Dutchy from whence it has its Name, which formerly made a Part of +_Silesia_, but is now annex'd to the Electorate of _Brandenburgh_. There's +a Bridge at _Crossen_, by which we pass the River _Oder_, defended by +Fortifications. The Town is situate in a pleasant fruitful Country. The +Houses, which are all of Brick, are uniform, and the Streets as strait as +a Line. The chief of them terminate in a great Square in the middle of +the Town, where there is a Statue of the King of _Prussia_. The River +_Oder_ is of great advantage to the Commerce of _Crossen_, which carries +on a considerable Trade in Linnen-Cloth and Earthen Ware. + +Going out of _Crossen_, we pass this River by a Bridge, as we do a second +time over to FRANCFORT, a considerable City of the Marquisate of +_Brandenbourg_, famous for its Fairs, and its University. This City has +stood the Shock of various Revolutions. It was put under the Ban of the +Empire by the Emperor _Charles_ IV. for having disobey'd his Orders; and +the Inhabitants to make him easy were forc'd to pay him down 12000 Marks +of Silver, which at that time was an immense Sum. In 1631 the _Swedes_ +besieg'd and took it by Storm, when they put all the Inhabitants to the +Sword in reprisal for the Massacre of 2000 _Swedes_, whom the Emperor's +General Count _Tilly_ had inhumanly put to death in the City of +_Brandenbourg_. By the Peace of _Munster_, or _Westphalia_, which +establish'd the Tranquility of the Empire, _Francfort_ was restor'd to the +Elector of _Brandenbourg_ its lawful Sovereign. + +Here is a University founded by _Joachim_ I. (Margrave of _Brandenbourg_) +in 1506, which is very much frequented by the _Silesians_, and by the +_Hungarian_ Protestants. + +There are two Fairs a Year at _Francfort_, which render it a trading City, +and its Commerce consists in Linnen-Cloth, and Fells. + +'Tis ten Miles from _Francfort_ to _Berlin_, and a flat sandy Country. The +Road leads thro' _Munchenbourg_, a little Town chiefly inhabited by the +Descendants of _French_ Men, who left their Country upon the Revocation of +the Edict of _Nantes_. + +The nearer one comes to the Capital of _Brandenbourg_, the more sandy is +the Soil, yet the Country produces plenty of Corn and Fruits. + +BERLIN is the common Residence of the King of _Prussia_, and one of the +largest, best built, and best govern'd Cities in all _Germany_. The +Streets are spacious, strait, neat and well pav'd. The Situation is +advantageous; for tho' it lies in a very sandy Soil, yet it is encompass'd +with agreeable Gardens producing Fruits and excellent Pulse, and its +Commerce is much improv'd by the River _Spree_; which passes thro' the +City, and has a Communication with the _Havel_, the _Oder_, and the +_Elbe_. + +The _French_, who for the sake of Religion became Refugees, have +contributed in an extraordinary manner to the Establishment and +Aggrandisement of _Berlin_, by the establishing of all sorts of +Manufactures, and the introducing of Arts into it; and it may be said of +them, that they have omitted nothing to testify their Gratitude to the +Elector _Frederic-William_ and his Posterity, for the generous Reception +which he gave them in his Dominions. + +_Berlin_ is divided into five Wards exclusive of the Suburbs, which are +very extensive. I will run thro' these Wards in the Order of their +Situation: But before I do this, I propose to shew you what is most +remarkable in the Suburbs; where the Houses are generally of Timber, but +so well plaister'd that they seem to be of Stone; and the Streets are +broad, lightsome and strait. + +In the Suburb of _Spandau_ the Queen has a delightful House and Gardens. +The House is called _Monbijou_; a very proper Name for it, because 'tis +really a Jewel. 'Tis a Pavilion, the Apartments of which are laid out with +Art, and furnish'd with great Judgment and Elegance. The Gardens are +charming, and lie finely open to the River. This House was built by the +Countess _de Wartemberg_, Wife to the Prime Minister of King _Frederic_ I. +As her Husband's Power and Favour were at that time so great, that he did +whatever he pleas'd, all the King's Workmen and Architects us'd the +utmost Diligence to serve her well. But she did not enjoy this fine House +long; for it was scarce compleated when the King removed the Count from +all his Employments, and banish'd him to _Francfort_ on the _Maine_. +However, he settled a Pension upon him and his Lady of 24000 Crowns, and +the Countess by way of Acknowledgement gave the King this House, which of +all the immense Treasure that she had amass'd, was the only Piece that she +cou'd not carry with her. The King gave this House to the Princess Royal +now Queen, who has added great Embellishments to it, and brought it to its +present State of Perfection. + +In the Suburbs of _Stralau_ is the House and Gardens of _Belvedere_, +belonging to the King. _Roll_ Superintendant of the Finances to the +Elector _Frederic-William_, caus'd this Garden to be made, in which he +laid out considerable Sums; and as this Minister was at other very great +Expences, it so impair'd his Fortune, that he was oblig'd to throw up all +and retir'd to _Holland_; and being very much in debt to the Elector, his +Garden was forfeited to that Prince, who made a Present of it to M. _de +Fuchs_, one of his Ministers. King _Frederic_ I. purchas'd it of the +latter, and after having embellished it, made a Present of it to the Queen +his third Wife; but that Princess's ill state of Health obliging her to +retire to _Mecklenbourg_ her Native Country, _Belvedere_ became neglected. + +Near this Royal House is the magnificent Gardens of _Craut_, who from a +Boy behind the Counter rais'd himself by his Industry to the Post of +Pay-master General of the Army, and at length to that of Minister of +State. He was to have been call'd to account in his last stage of Life, +but he cunningly diverted that Storm by feigning himself Lunatic; and +dying, he left an immense Estate, part of which fell to the King by way +of Restitution, and the rest to his Nephew, who makes a grand Figure at +_Paris_. + +I enter'd _Berlin_ thro' that call'd the Gate _Royale_, which has had that +Name ever since the Day that _Frederic_ I. made his Entry there, after his +Coronation at _Koningsberg_ in _Prussia_. This Gate is defended by a +Half-Moon, and two Bastions fac'd with Brick, and fronts that call'd the +Street _Royale_; one of the longest and most frequented in all the City. +There are very fine Houses in it, particularly that of M. _de Catsch_, a +Minister of State, that of _Grumkau_, and the Post-House, which last +Building was begun by order of the late King, for his Favourite the Count +_de Wartemberg_, who was hereditary Post-Master. + +Thro' the Street _Royale_ there run fine, spacious and beautiful Streets. +The first is call'd _la Rue du Cloitre_, in which we see the Royal +Manufactory. _Frederic_ I. who bought it of the Heirs of the Marshal _de +Flemming_, established an Academy of Nobles there; so that, on the Payment +of three hundred Crowns, they had Lodging, Provision, and Instruction in +every thing that it's natural a Man of Quality shou'd know. This +Establishment existed a few Years, but sunk at last meerly thro' the +Neglect of Persons whose Business 'twas to take care of it. The present +King has chang'd this Fabrick into a Work-house, and allowed Lodgings in +it for several Woollen Manufacturers. + +Adjoining to the Royal Manufactory, there are public Warehouses, which +were established and built by the late King; and being destroyed by Fire, +the present King caus'd them to be rebuilt. Opposite to the Warehouses +stands the House of M. _de Creutz_, Minister of State; which has fine +Apartments, and is very neatly furnish'd. Higher in the same Street +there's the House of M. _Duvaine_, a _French_ Man by Birth, and +Lieutenant-General of his _Prussian_ Majesty's Forces: And contiguous to +his House, which makes a fine Appearance, is the _Calvinists_ new Church, +a Structure rais'd after the Model of _Grunberg_, an Architect who had +before acquir'd a Reputation, which did not suffer by his Contrivance of +this great Fabrick: The Front of it is magnificent, but the inside plain, +as are all the Churches of the _Calvinists_, which you know don't +admit of Images. The subterranean Places or Catacombs, for interring +those that worship here, are worth seeing. Several Persons have been +interr'd there of great Note, particularly _Casimir de Colbe_, Count +_de Wartemberg_, Prime Minister, Great Chamberlain, Master of the Horse, +Post-Master-General, Protector of all the Academies in the Dominions of +the King of _Prussia_, and Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle. Being +banish'd in 1711, to _Francfort_ upon the _Maine_, where he died the Year +following, he ordered that his Corpse shou'd be carry'd to _Berlin_; and +his Will was accordingly fulfill'd. He was so dear to King _Frederic_ I. +that he was very loth to part with him; but was, as it were, compell'd to +it by a Cabal, who oppos'd his Ministerial Authority; tho' he was provok'd +at the Insolence of _Wartemberg_'s Wife, and at his mean Submission to +her. The King made an Offer to him afterwards, by the Count _Christophle +de Dohna_, (who was then his Ambassador at _Francfort_, for the Election +of the Emperor,) to come and resume his Employments, on condition that he +wou'd not bring his Wife with him; but _Wartemberg_ refus'd, saying, he +was engag'd in honour not to forsake her. Perhaps he was very glad of this +Excuse for not returning, because he had once experienc'd the Vicissitude +of Fortune, and knew well that he had been too powerful a Man not to be +hated. King _Frederic_ I. who was desirous to see his Funeral pass by, +cou'd not refrain Tears; which undoubtedly was the greatest Character that +he cou'd give of his Minister. + +Next to the Count _de Wartemberg_'s Tomb, is that of _Henrietta de +Pollnitz_, Wife to _Francis_ Count _de Duhamel_, the _Venetians_ +Generalissimo. Her Husband dying in the _Morea_, this Lady return'd to +_Venice_, proposing to go and end her Days at _Berlin_, where she was +born; but while she was performing her Quarantain she died, after desiring +her Body to be carry'd to _Berlin_; which was accordingly done by two of +her Nephews, and one of her Nieces, whom she made her Heirs. There is also +the Tomb of the Count _de Denhoff_, Lieutenant-General of the King's +Armies, Knight of his Order of the Black Eagle, Minister of State, +Governour of _Memel_, and Ambassador at the Treaty of _Utrecht_, where he +acquired a high Reputation among the foreign Ministers. The Marshal _de +Villars_, who had known him at _Vienna_, when he the Marshal resided there +in the quality of Minister, to take care of the Affairs of _France_, said +to me one day, speaking of the Count _de Denhoff_, that the King of +_Prussia_ cou'd not do enough to reward the Count's great Merit. _If he +wou'd have been rul'd by me_, added he, _he wou'd have been in the Service +of the King my Master_. + +The second Street that crosses the Street _Royale_, is the _Jews_ Street, +which runs into the Square _Molcke-Marck_; where the Hotel _de Schwerin_ +makes a fine Appearance. Within a few Houses lower down, there's a +Manufactory of Gold and Silver Lace, which one _Schindler_ has established +with good success: This House belong'd to the Wife of M. _de Wensen_, +Marshal of the Court to King _Frederic_ I. but she resign'd it as part of +Payment of a Fine, to which her Husband had been condemn'd by the Count +_de Wartemberg_, then prime Minister; who confin'd M. _Wensen_ in +_Custrin_ Castle, because he had presum'd to represent to the King that +the Table of the prime Minister, which was served by his Majesty's Cooks +and Butlers, was more expensive than his Majesty's own Table. _Wensen_ +however, upon the Payment of this Fine, obtain'd his Liberty, and was +banish'd to his Lands in the Dutchy of _Zell_. + +In the middle of _Molcke-Marck_ is the Statue of _Frederic_ I. Father to +the present King, with a Crown on his Head, and a royal Mantle on his +Shoulders. The Statue was cast by order of _Frederic_ I. himself, who +intended to have it plac'd in the Court of the Arsenal; but dying before +it cou'd be brought about, the King his Son caus'd it to be set up where +it now stands, which is indeed a much better Place for it. + +The _Spandau_ Street, which is the third that crosses the Street _Royale_, +contains the Town-House, and other fine Buildings: The Street _St. Esprit_ +is altogether as beautiful, as is the Kay, which fronts the Castle or +Palace of the King. Upon this Kay we see the House of the Baron _de +Vernesobre_, whose Ancestors being _French_ Protestant Merchants, settled +at _Koningsberg_ in _Prussia_. He was in _France_ at the time of the +_Mississippy_ Plague, which, tho' so fatal to others, prov'd so fortunate +to him, that he gain'd several Millions of Livres, with which he came and +set up at _Berlin_, where he has taken to building, having purchas'd the +Estate of _Hohensihn_ from Monsieur _de Borstel_, one of the best +Gentlemen of the Country, procur'd himself the Title of Counsellor of +State, and cuts a Figure now among Persons of Quality. + +The Churches of St. _Mary_, St. _Nicholas_, and that belonging to the +Garrison, are as magnificent as any of the Protestant Churches. St. +_Mary_'s has a beautiful Spire. When _Frederic_ I. made his royal Entry +here, at his return from his Coronation, a Man ascended to the Globe of +this Spire, and saluted the new King by flourishing a pair of Colours. +The Church of the Garrison was founded by the late King, but was very much +damag'd some Years ago by the blowing up of a Magazine of Gun-Powder in +the Neighbourhood, just as they were removing it to a safer Place. King +_Frederic William_ has caus'd it to be rebuilt with more Magnificence than +before. The Organs are very fine, and the Galleries very well contriv'd. + +That Ward of _Berlin_ which I have now run through, is separated from that +of _Coln_ or _Cologne_ by the River _Spree_, over which there are four +Bridges, whereof there is one of Stone, call'd the _Pont-neuf_. _Frederic_ +I. in imitation of the _Pont-neuf_ at _Paris_, famous for the Statue of +_Henry_ IV. caused the Equestrian Statue of his Father, the Elector +_Frederic-William_, to be erected upon this Bridge, with very great Pomp +and Splendor; for no Prince in _Germany_ strove more than he did to copy +_Lewis_ XIV. in Magnificence and every thing else. When this Statue was +dedicated, the Count _de Lottum_, who was then Grand Marshal of the Court, +accompanied by most of the Courtiers on horseback, and by the City +Companies, assisted at the Ceremony, which was performed with an +_Apparatus_, till then unknown in _Germany_ upon the like Occasions; but +had been practised at _Paris_, when the Statue of _Lewis le Grand_ was +erected in that City. + +This entire Monument was design'd by one _Jacobi_, who after several Years +Labour and constant Application to it, has brought it to its present +State. This skilful Operator has represented the Elector in a _Roman_ +Dress, and in an heroic Stature; that is to say, above the natural Size. +The Statue is placed on a magnificent Pedestal of white Marble. At the +four Corners of the Base, are placed as many Slaves in Brass, who seem as +if they were chain'd to it. + +When one has pass'd the Bridge, the King's Palace offers itself to view; a +great and stately Fabric, which _Frederic_ I. began in the Year 1699, and +a worthy Monument of that Prince's Magnificence, who was of Opinion, that +of all the Sums expended by Sovereigns, those which they lay out in +Buildings are least liable to Censure. And indeed Magnificence is well +bestowed, and even Profusion seems justifiable in Architecture, because +grand Edifices are the principal Ornament of any State. + +The Palace has been the Workmanship of several Architects; the Name of the +first was _Schluter_, but he not giving Satisfaction was dismiss'd, and +went into the Service of the Czar _Peter Alexiowitz_. Whatever he did is +extremely incumber'd with Ornaments which have not a due Proportion. His +Successor was _Eosander_, a _Swede_, who is a Lieutenant-General in the +Service of the King of _Poland_: He was oblig'd in some measure to pursue +what _Schluter_ had begun; so that if he has not come off well every +where, he has at least that for his Excuse. The third was _Bot_, a +_Frenchman_, and now General Officer in _Poland_; who without dispute was +a much better Artist than the others. Every thing that he has done is more +simple, yet more grand, noble, and complete. + +These three Architects having gone upon different Plans, you will easily +imagine that the Fronts are not perfectly regular; yet for all this, had +the Palace been finish'd according to the Models approv'd of by the late +King, it wou'd have been inferior to no Edifice for Grandeur and +Magnificence, except the _Louvre_ of _Paris_. King _Frederic-William_ does +not think fit to carry on this Building, but leaves that Honour to his +Son, the Prince Royal. + +As to giving you all the Particulars of this vast Palace, you will be so +good as to excuse me: Be satisfied if I only tell you, that it consists +of four Stories: The Apartments are large, have fine Cielings, and are +royally furnish'd. In no part of the World did I ever see such a +prodigious quantity of Plate, Tables, Stands, Lustres, Chandeliers, +Screens, Looking-Glass Frames, Couches, Arm-Chairs, all of Silver. The +late King left Plate to the value of two Millions eight hundred thousand +Crowns, not reckoning the Fashion. In that call'd the Knights Hall, +there's a Beaufet which takes up one intire side of the Room, where there +are Cisterns and Basons Silver gilt, of an extraordinary Size. + +The Furniture of the grand Apartment is very rich; there's a fine Gallery +adorn'd with Pictures, the Cieling of which was painted by one _Peine_, a +_Frenchman_, who in divers Compartments has skilfully represented the +principal Actions of King _Frederic_ I. At the End of this Gallery there's +a Saloon, which was formerly magnificent to the last degree, being +wainscotted, if I may so call it, with Amber: But the late Czar coming on +_Berlin_ in his return from _Holland_ and _France_, and not a little +admiring this Furniture, which was the only thing of its kind, the King +made him a Present of it: so that what had been amass'd with great Care +and Cost by several Electors, fell in one Day into the hands of a Nation, +which, no longer ago than the beginning of the present Century, was +reckon'd Barbarian. + +The Palace had fine Gardens belonging to it before they were destroy'd, +and converted into a Place of Arms, and a Parade for the Guards. + +Hard by the Palace are the King's Stables, a very grand Building, facing +the great Street. The Architecture without is _Gothic_, but the inside is +more magnificent; the Stables are broad and spacious, very lofty, and +very lightsome: the Mangers are of Stone, and the Pillars which mark the +Stands for the Horses, are of Iron, and adorn'd with the King's Cypher, +gilt: Over the Mangers are several great Pictures of the finest Horses +that ever came out of his Majesty's Studs. The Backside of the Stables +projects towards the River _Spree_, to which they can lead the Horses by a +Stair-Case without Steps, built in the form of a Horse-Shoe. + +The Main Body of the House contains grand Lodgings for the Master of the +Horse, and the Officers under him. Over the Stables are great Rooms where +they keep a deal of fine Furniture, both for the Horse and Mule; +magnificent Sleds, with convenient Harness, adorn'd with Bells of Silver, +or Silver gilt; a great number of fine Arms; the rich Accoutrements of the +Horse which serv'd _Frederic_ I. on the Day of his public Entry; all the +Ornaments of the Bridle, the Breast-Leather, and Crupper, as well as the +Bits and Stirrups, being of Gold adorn'd with Brilliants. + +Over the Riding-House is the great Theatre, where, in the late King's +time, Interludes and Comedies us'd to be acted before the whole Court; but +the Opera of _Roxana_ and _Alexander_ was the last that was acted on it. +It was play'd in 1708, upon the Marriage of King _Frederic_ I. with +_Sophia_ of _Mecklemberg_. In 1706, an Interlude was acted there, on +account of the Arrival of the Princess Royal, now Queen; intitled, _Beauty +triumphing over Heroes_; at which the Markgraves _Frederic-Albert_ and +_Christian-Lewis_, the late King's Brothers, danc'd, with all the young +Courtiers. + +As we go farther down the great Street, we come to the Fish-Market, where +is the Hotel of the City of _Cologne_, and _Dorffling_'s Hotel occupied by +the Count _de Finck_. This Family is oblig'd for its Rise to the Marshal +_Dorffling_, who from an Apprentice to a Taylor rais'd himself by his +Valour and Merit to the highest Posts in the Army. The Story goes, that +when he had serv'd his Apprenticeship at _Tangermunde_, having a mind to +go to _Berlin_, he came to a part of the Country where he cou'd not +proceed without crossing the _Elbe_, but not having wherewithal to pay his +Passage, the Ferry-Men refus'd to carry him over; which so vex'd him, that +he threw his Knapsack into the River in a Pet, curs'd the Trade of a +Taylor, and went back to _Tangermunde_, where he listed himself a Soldier. +There being a War at that time all over _Germany_, it was no difficult +matter for the young Warrior to find an Opportunity to shew his Courage; +and he signaliz'd it in such a manner, that his Officers, who were all in +love with him, strove to advance him, and therefore made him known to the +Elector _Frederic-William_. This Prince who lov'd, rewarded, and was a +good Judge of Valour, did not depend upon what Fame reported of him; but +in order to see his Officers and Soldiers fight with his own Eyes, +conducted them himself to the Enemy, and very soon took notice of +_Dorffling_. He saw him at every part of the Field where there was Honour +to be won: He saw he was a sensible industrious Fellow, that he hated +Parties and Cabals, and that he had that _Germanic_ Probity which was the +distinguish'd Virtue of our Forefathers, but which we now content +ourselves with admiring. The Elector observing such a Stock of Virtue in +_Dorffling_, thought him deserving of his Favour, advanc'd him to the +tip-top Employments, and made him very rich. Envy, which is as old as the +World itself, and which like that, never stands still, made several of the +Courtiers jealous of the Fortune or rather the Merit of _Dorffling_, and +there were some who did not stick to say, that if the Marshal came to be +ever so great a Nobleman, he wou'd always retain the Air of a Taylor. This +being carry'd to _Dorffling_, _True enough_, said he, _I was a Taylor, +and I have cut out Cloth; but now_, said he, clapping his Hand to the Hilt +of his Sword, _I have an Instrument in my Hand, with which I'll cut off +the Ears of any Man that slanders me_. + +This brave Fellow liv'd to a great Age, and left a Son who was one of the +King of _Prussia_'s Lieutenant-Generals, and Colonel of a Regiment of +Dragoons, but died without Issue. He had not quite the Vivacity of his +Father, but he had his Honour and Integrity. + +Going out of the Fish-market, as we turn to the right, one perceives the +_Lutheran_ Church of _St. Peter_[2], which is a considerable Structure; +and then we come into that call'd the _Fryars_ Street, the Houses of which +are all well built. In this Street stands the Palace where the _Aulic_ +Council meets, which in _France_ they call the _Parlement_; 'tis here that +all Civil Causes are try'd, and from thence there lies an Appeal to the +King's Council. + +Beyond the Palace there is a Square, on the Right side of which there's a +Church with a Cupola which belongs to the _Calvinists_, and is look'd upon +as the Cathedral of _Berlin_: For you know that the late King made two +Bishops, one in _Prussia_ and the other at _Berlin_, and they were the +Prelates that crown'd him. They are since dead, and the present King lets +their Sees lie vacant. In this Church is the Tomb of the Royal Family. +There's a great Row of Buildings over against it, which consists of +several uniform Houses belonging to Merchants, and supported by stately +Arches with Shops under them, where are sold all sorts of Goods. Turning +round by that Piazza, brings one to a second Branch of the River, which +divides the Ward of _Coln_ from that of _Werder_. This River, which has +three wooden Bridges over it, is confin'd in a Canal lin'd with Freestone, +and form'd by two fine Kays. + +The most considerable Edifices in the Ward of _Werder_ are the Royal +Custom-House, so commodiously situate that Boats can come up close to it: +The _French_ School, and their Church, which is serv'd by able Ministers; +some of whom, as the late M. _Lenfant_ (Author of the celebrated _History_ +of the _Council of Constance_, &c. and Chaplain to the King of _Prussia_) +M. _de Beausobre_ and M. _Jacquelot_, &c. have acquir'd a Reputation in +the Republic of Letters. The Royal Hunting-House is a large magnificent +Structure for lodging the great Huntsman and all his inferior Officers: +There too is the great Dog-Kennel and the Magazines for all the Hunting +Equipage. Near this place is the Hotel or Palace for Ambassadors, where +are likewise entertain'd such Foreign Princes as are not of a Rank high +enough to be accommodated in the King's Palace. This Hotel belong'd +formerly to the Baron _de Danckelman_, Prime Minister to King _Frederic_ +when he was only Elector, and being built by the said Minister at a time +when he was such a Favourite that he did almost what he pleas'd, he spar'd +no Cost to render it a Mansion worthy of his high Station. I was assur'd +by Persons of Credit then alive, that after it was built, the late King +had a Desire to see it, upon which occasion M. _de Danckelman_ made a +great Entertainment for him; and that while the Queen and the whole Court +were dancing, the King retir'd into his Minister's Closet, to have a +private Conference with him; and looking very earnestly on a certain +Picture there, M. _de Danckelman_ told him, that Picture and all that he +saw would soon be his Majesty's. The King not knowing what he meant, +desir'd his Minister to explain himself; whereupon he made answer, 'That +he shou'd very shortly incur his Displeasure; that his Fall wou'd be +attended by the Forfeiture of all his Estate; that he should be arrested +and committed to the _Spandau_ Prison; and that there he should be +confin'd ten Years, at the Expiration of which his Innocence wou'd be made +to appear, his Estate wou'd be restor'd to him, and he shou'd be taken +again into his Majesty's Favour.' The King, who was at that time very fond +of his Minister, and did not think he cou'd ever do without him, ridicul'd +what he had said as the Surmise of a Visionary, and was going to swear by +the New Testament then upon a Table in the Room, that this sad Prophecy +wou'd never come to pass. But the Minister held his Hand, and begg'd him +not to take an Oath which it wou'd not be in his power to keep. + +I tell you this Story just as I had it from a Lady of Quality to whom the +King himself told it: But in short, let the Story be as it will, 'tis very +certain that M. _de Danckelman_ was disgrac'd, committed Prisoner to +_Spandau_, and from thence remov'd to _Peitz_, without any Companion but +his Wife, who generously desir'd to suffer Imprisonment with him. His +Confinement lasted much longer than he had prophesy'd, and when at length +he obtained his Release, he was not restor'd to his Employments, nor even +to his Estate. 'Tis said indeed that the present King, who on his +Accession to the Crown sent for M. _de Danckelman_ to _Berlin_, offer'd +him the Ministry; but that the Baron excus'd himself by reason of his +great Age and his tedious Imprisonment, which had made him lose the +Connection of Public Affairs. This Minister died lately, having lived to +the Age of fourscore. His remarkable Disgrace, and fifteen Years +Confinement in a Prison, had not sunk his Spirits, nor shock'd his +Constancy of Mind; and one shall scarce meet with an Instance in History, +either before or since, of more Merit and more Misfortune in one and the +same Person. He was a passionate Admirer of Learned Men, and a Rewarder of +Virtue. In a word, by the Disgrace of this Great Man, the State lost a +faithful disinterested Minister, and Men of Learning lost a _Mecnas_, +full of Zeal and solid Knowledge, who never fail'd to support by his own +Authority, and to procure a Reward from his Master, for all Persons that +apply'd to him with any Proposal that was useful and uncommon. + +To go from the Ambassadors Hotel to the New Town, one must pass before the +House belonging to the Governour of _Berlin_[3], who is at present the +Marshal Count _de Wartensleben_; a Nobleman whose Virtues, long Services, +and great Age, challenge Veneration. The House he lives in was built by +order of the Elector _Frederic-William_, for the Reception of the Marshal +_de Schomberg_, who resign'd the Battoon of the Marshal of _France_ to +_Lewis_ XIV. after that Prince had revok'd the Edict of _Nantes_, and came +with a numerous Retinue of Gentlemen, to desire Employment under the +Elector. Accordingly that Prince gave him the Command of his Troops, but +the Marshal quitted that Employment, to accompany the PRINCE of ORANGE to +_England_, in his famous Expedition against his Father-in-Law; and he +likewise attended that Prince to _Ireland_, where he acquir'd great Glory, +but was kill'd in passing the River _Boyne_. + +The _Governour's House_ is separated by a great Square from the _Arsenal_, +which is one of the compleatest Fabrics in _Europe_, and was built +according to a Model design'd by _Bot_, whom I mention'd to you before; +which skilful Architect has, upon this occasion, equalled any thing that +was ever done by the famous _Bernin_. + +The intire Structure consists of four main Bodies of Building, which form +a spacious Quadrangle in the middle. The lower Story is of Rustic +Architecture, with arch'd Windows. There are three great Porticoes at the +Entrance to each Front. Over the principal Gate there's the Picture of the +late King, in a great Medal of Brass. The four Cardinal Virtues of a +Gigantic Size, are plac'd on Pedestals by the Portico, and seem to look +towards the King's Effigies, which is supported by Fame and Victory. The +_Corinthian_ Order prevails throughout the first Story, and is very +artfully executed. A Gallery or Ballustrade runs round the whole Edifice, +and is adorn'd with Trophies and Statues, particularly a very perfect one +of _Mars_, sitting upon a Heap of Arms of different sorts; and the +Decoration of all together is noble and majestic. Studs of Iron in form of +Cannon are plac'd at proper Distances, and support Iron Chains, hung in +Festoons, which hinder People from clambering up to the Windows. + +The Inside of this _Arsenal_ is as magnificent as the Outside. The lower +Rooms are stor'd with a great number of Brass Cannon. The Walls and +Pillars that support the Arch are garnish'd with Cuirasses and Helmets. In +the upper Story there are several Rooms full of Arms, rang'd in such Order +as can never be enough admir'd. + +Behind the _Arsenal_ there's the House of the General of the Ordnance, +which also contains the Foundery, where Men are continually at work. + +Besides this _Arsenal_, there are several others in _Berlin_, where they +keep Field-Pieces, Iron Cannon, and all that belongs to the Train of +Artillery. 'Twas the late Margrave _Philip_[4], Brother to _Frederic_ I. +who when he was Great Master of the Ordnance began to put the King's +_Arsenals_ into a good State. But King _Frederic-William_ has finish'd +what his said Uncle began, and has put the Artillery on such a footing, +that 'tis a question if any _Arsenal_ in _Europe_ is on a better +Regulation. + +A Rampart and a Ditch separate the _Werder_ from the _Dorothy-Stadt_, or +new Town, which is for most part inhabited by _French_ Families. It had +the Name of _Dorothy-Stadt_ in honour of the Electress _Dorothy_ of +_Holstein-Glucksburg_, the second Wife of _Frederic-William_, who with her +own Hand planted the first Lime-Tree of the seven great Rows which divide +this Ward into two Parts. The middlemost Row, which is the widest, is +inclos'd with Ballustrades, and forms a pleasant Grass-Walk for +Foot-Passengers. The Walks on each side are pav'd, and serve as a Ring for +the Coaches. Nothing is more beneficial and agreeable than taking the Air +in this Place, where you may have any thing that can be desir'd in a City. +At the end of one of these Walks is a Gate which opens to the Park, the +Walks of which being above a League in length, form a fine Point of View. + +On both sides the Lime-Tree Rows, are Houses, among which the Palace of +Madame the Margravine, Dowager[5] to the Margrave _Philip_, Brother to the +late King, is one of the best. The late Margrave purchas'd this Palace +(which at that time was inconsiderable) of the Wife of _Weiller_ Colonel +of the Artillery, who had thrown up his Employments, Wife, Children and +all, to go with a Lady of Quality, that was in love with him, to _Vienna_. +This Gentlewoman pass'd for a modern _Sappho_, and every body talk'd of +her Virtue and good Sense. But being a Slave to the Follies of Love, and +asham'd to let them be seen at _Berlin_, where she was counted an Oracle, +she resolv'd to quit the Place of her Birth, and engag'd her Lover to +leave all and follow her. + +The Margrave made considerable Augmentations to this House, and render'd +it very commodious. The Furniture of the Palace also is rich, and worthy +of the Princess who resides in it. + +Opposite to the Margravine's Palace is a Building which was formerly +call'd the King's Little Stables, but has been metamorphos'd into Caserns +for the Gendarmery; they discover the Magnificence of _Frederic_ I. who +caused them to be built. The Apartments that run over the Stables are +occupied by the Academy of Painters, and that of Arts and Sciences. Behind +the Stables there's the Observatory, with a great number of Astronomical +and Mathematical Instruments, of which there are many of a new Invention. + +_Frederic-Stadt_, which is the fifth Ward of _Berlin_, communicates with +the New Town and the _Werder_. This is one of the pleasantest Wards in the +whole City, the Streets being spacious, strait, and planted with +Lime-Trees[6]. + +Perhaps I have dwelt too long upon the Metropolis of the Electorate of +_Brandenburgh_; but I thought that as there had been no true Account yet +given of this City, you wou'd not be sorry to have it from me. + +The next day after my Arrival here, I had the Honour to see the King, who +was then seeing his Soldiers mount guard. He is a Prince of a middling +Stature, and in very good Plight of Body: His Air commands Respect; yet, +when he pleases, no Prince in the World can be more gracious. I heard him +speak to his Officers in such a kind manner as cou'd not but charm them; I +admir'd his Genius for military Discipline, and perceiv'd that with the +Glance of an Eye he cou'd discover the least Fault committed against that +wonderful Exactness which is introduc'd in the Evolutions of his Troops. +After the Guards had perform'd their Exercise, the King stay'd to see them +file off. I never yet saw Troops march with more Order and State, so that +it seem'd as if they were all mov'd by one Spring. All the Soldiers are +young, of an even Stature, and the cleverest Fellows that Nature ever +form'd: they are well cloth'd, and have such an Air of Neatness, that even +the private Centinels might all pass for Officers. I remember you was +prejudic'd against their Clothing; their Clothes you said were too strait, +and too short. I was of your Opinion once, and think so still, when I +happen to see one of their Officers and Soldiers singly among us, who wear +Night-Gowns rather than Coats; but when I see a whole Body of _Prussians_ +together, I am of another Opinion, and think their Dress gives them a +warlike Air which other Troops have not. You will tell me perhaps, that +the Clothing of the _Prussians_ is good in a Garrison, but that in the +Field their Garments are not wide enough to cover the Soldiers in the +Night. I answer, that the _Prussian_ Soldiers are in no danger of not +being cover'd, because when they are in the Field, every Captain is to +carry as many Coverlids, as there are Comrades in his Company. But you'll +say, this must be a very great Incumbrance, and take up a deal of +Equipage. 'Tis true, it may require two Sumpter Horses in a Company, but a +Soldier fares the better for it; because when he goes wet into the Camp, +he can get his Clothes dry'd in the Night while he is under his Coverlid. +After all, the Incumbrance is no greater at present, for those Troops, +than it was at the time when all the _Prussian_ Infantry had Cloaks, which +the Soldiers wore, was the Weather ever so hot, folded over their +Shoulders, and ty'd both before and behind by their Belt. If they had any +hasty March to make, such as I saw they made in _Flanders_ in 1708, when +they went to attack the _French_ near _Audenarde_, the _Prussians_ left +their Cloaks behind with a Guard, and when the Battle was join'd, the +Captains were oblig'd to send for their Cloaks. In short, what makes me +think the _Prussian_ Clothing the most convenient for a Soldier, is, that +most of the _German_ Princes are now come into it, and like it well: The +Troops of _Saxony_, and _Brunswic_ in particular, are cloth'd like those +of _Prussia_. + +The _Prussian_ Troops, which are new cloth'd every Year, have Breeches of +Woollen Cloth for the Winter, and of Linnen for the Summer; and they are +allow'd Shirts, Necks and Spatterdashes: Their Pay is good and regular; +the Soldier is compell'd to do his Duty, but when he does it, enjoys more +Liberty than in the Service of any other Nation: so that were I to carry a +Musket, I fancy it wou'd be in the Service of _Prussia_, where such a +strict Discipline is observ'd, that the Soldier is no Swearer, and is not +allow'd to game, and where in a word he does not abandon himself to +Licentiousness. On Sundays and Saints Days they are requir'd to go twice a +day to hear a Sermon: The Catholicks have the liberty of going to Mass. In +short, good Manners are introduc'd and observ'd in those Troops to such a +Nicety, that you would wonder at it. + +All the Infantry is cloth'd in blue. It depends on the Colonel of every +Regiment, to order what Waistcoats and Trimming he pleases for the +Clothes. The Horse and Dragoons wear white, but the Houshold Troops blue, +with Campaign Coats of Gold Lace. The Hussars Clothing is red, but the +Garbs of the Officers both of Foot and Horse are plain, and only differ +from the Apparel of the Soldiers in the fineness of the Cloth; tho' there +are some Regiments whose Waistcoats are bedaub'd all over with Gold or +Silver Lace. + +The Colours, which are uniform in all the Regiments, are white, with the +King's Device, representing an Eagle flying towards the Sun with this +Motto, _Nec Soli cedit_. There's such a Uniformity preserv'd in all things +throughout the Army, even in their Guns, Swords, Bayonets, &c. that in +every Regiment they wear the very same, even to their Shoe-Buckles. + +The same Regularity is observ'd in the Horse and Dragoons, which ride both +upon black Horses; and indeed they are not permitted to have any others, +the Officers themselves being not exempt from this Rule, when they are at +the head of their Squadrons or Companies. The Housings and Equipage of the +latter are of the same Pattern, and extremely rich. All the Horse wear +Buff-Coats, and underneath Cuirasses. They perform their Exercise on Foot +like the Infantry, and with the same Exactness. The Kettle-Drums and +Trumpets of all the Horse are of Silver. + +There is not a Captain in all the _Prussian_ Army but has at least ten +supernumerary Men; so that these included, the King's Forces amount to +near 100000, all pick'd Men. You cou'd not but admire if you were to see +how they behave; insomuch that whenever they take the Field, 'tis pity but +Fortune shou'd favour them. + +Not many Days after my Arrival here, the King being gone to visit his +Kingdom, I had the Honour of waiting on the Queen. This Princess, whose +Name is _Sophia-Dorothea_, is Sister to the present King of _Great +Britain_, being the Daughter of _George_ I. the late King, and of +_Sophia-Dorothea_ Princess of _Brunswic-Zell_. And she does every thing +that is worthy of her August Extraction; for surely never did Daughter +more resemble a Father; she has the same Benignity and Wisdom, the same +Equity and Justice, and Sweetness of Temper. Like him she knows the Charms +of a private Life, and Friendship, on a Throne: Like him she is ador'd by +her Subjects and her Domestics, and is the chief Blessing and Darling of +both. To extend Goodness and Affability farther, were impossible; there +being no Foreigners but what are charm'd with the gracious Manner in which +this Princess receives them. To a thousand Virtues worthy of Veneration, +she has added the singular Talent of speaking the Language of several +Countries which she never saw, with as much Delicacy as if they had been +her Mother Tongues. The _French_ Language especially, is so familiar to +her, that one wou'd take her to be a Princess of the Royal Family of +_France_; and the Grandeur and Majesty that accompany all her Actions, +induce those even who don't know her, to be of Opinion that she was born +to reign. + +That which still more endears this Queen to her People, is the Care she +takes of the Education of her Family; which consists of four Princes, and +six Princesses. The eldest of the Sons is stil'd the _Prince Royal_[7]. +This young Prince is handsome, charms every one by his Kindness and +Good-Nature; and loves Reading, Musick, the Arts, and Magnificence: His +Sentiments, his Behaviour, and his Actions, make it probable, that if he +comes to the Crown, his Reign will be one of those mild and peaceable +Reigns, which procure Kings that Love of their People, wherein consists +their true Glory. The Care of the Prince Royal's Education was committed +first of all to Madam _de Camke_, one of the Queen's Ladies of Honour, and +Governess of the Children of _Prussia_. But this Lady left the Charge of +the latter to the Sub-Governess, Madam _de Rocoule_, and her Daughter +Madamoiselle _de Montbail_. Madam _de Rocoule_ had also the honour to be +Sub-Governess to the King; so that she was no Novice in the forming of +young Princes. As she talks nothing but _French_, she has taught it to the +King's Children; who speak it with as much ease as they do the _German_ +Language. At seven Years of Age the Prince Royal was taken out of the +Hands of the Women; and the Count _de Finck_ of _Finckenstein_, +Lieutenant-General of the King's Forces, a Knight of his Order, and +Colonel of a Regiment of Horse, was appointed his Royal Highness's +Governour; and the Baron _de Kalestein_ was made Sub-Governour. The King's +Choice of both these Gentlemen was universally applauded. + +The eldest of the King's Children is _Frederica-Sophia-Wilhelmina_, the +Princess Royal; who was born in 1709. I was at _Berlin_ at the Ceremony of +her Baptism, which was performed in the Chapel of the Castle, in presence +of _Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_, _Frederic-Augustus_ King of +_Poland_, and _Frederic_ I. King of _Prussia_. The Birth of this Princess, +and the Circumstances of three Kings and a Queen attending at her Baptism, +gave occasion to a great many Copies of Verses. All the Poets said that +the Presence of these three Kings, was a Sign that she wou'd one day have +Possession of three Crowns. They had then in view the Crowns of _Great +Britain_, that were to devolve to the Family of _Hanover_; in which there +was a young Prince[8], who, it was then imagin'd, was to be in time the +Husband of this Princess. Whether this Match will ever take place, and +whether the Princess will be Queen, I can't say; but if she is not, +Fortune will not do Justice to her Merit. + +The Princess _Frederica-Louisa_, the King's second Daughter, is lately +married to the Margrave of _Brandenburgh Anspach_. 'Tis said that his +Majesty's third Daughter, the Princess _Philippina-Charlotte_, is promised +to[9]_Charles_, hereditary Prince of _Brunswic-Bevern_, Nephew to the +Empress Regent. + +The other Princes and Princesses, the King's Children[10], are as yet too +young to furnish any Particulars for their Character. In a word, put them +all together, they form a very fine Family. + +The Margravine, Dowager of the Margrave _Philip_, Brother to the late +King, is the first in Rank at Court, next to the King's Children: She was +born Princess of _Anhalt-Dessau_. Her Royal Highness was lately chose +Abbess of _Herford_, a sovereign Abby in _Westphalia_, (in a Town +belonging to the King of _Prussia_, as part of the Principality of +_Ravensberg_;) whose Canonesses must be all Princesses, or Countesses of +the Empire. This Princess, tho' she is past her Bloom, is still the +Ornament of the Court; and no Person can be more civil than she is to +Foreigners; so that 'tis as much a Pleasure as a Duty to pay one's Court +to her. When the King is at _Berlin_, and the Queen has no Drawing-Room, +the whole Court repairs to the Margravine's House, where her Royal +Highness daily keeps an elegant Table; to which she admits the Quality of +both Sexes. She is the Mother of two Princes and a Princess; the Sons are +the Margraves _Frederic_ and _Henry_, and the Daughter is married to the +hereditary Prince of _Wirtemberg_. The young Margrave _Frederic_ resides +at _Schwedt_ upon the _Oder_, where he has a very fine House; but does not +come to Court but when he can't avoid it. The young Margrave _Henry_ +resides commonly at _Berlin_. Both these Princes are handsome, lusty, and +well shap'd. + +The Margrave _Albert_, the King's Uncle[11], lives in his Majesty's +Palace, tho' he is eight Months of the Year at _Frederichsfelde_, a +Pleasure-House about a League from _Berlin_. He is the second Son of the +Elector _Frederic-William_, and _Dorothy_ of _Holstein Glucksburg_: He +is well shap'd, has a noble Air, and has been in his time a very good +Dancer: He is fond of Grandeur and Pleasures. At the beginning of the last +War he distinguished himself very much at the Siege of _Keyserswaert_, and +other Places, where he commanded the Troops of the King his Brother. His +Royal Highness is Governor of _Pomerania_, Knight of the Black Eagle, and +Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, and of another of Horse, in the King's +Service: He has also a Regiment of Foot in the Service of the _United +Provinces_; and is Grand Master of the six Commanderies of the Order of +St. _John_ of _Jerusalem_, who, at the Alteration of Religion in the time +of _Luther_, withdrew from the Grand Master of _Malta_, and assum'd to +themselves a Right of chusing a Grand Master under the Protection of the +Elector of _Brandenburgh_. The Margrave marry'd a Princess of _Courland_, +Heiress to the Freeholds of her Uncle Duke _Ferdinand_, the last of her +Family. This Princess, tho' not reckon'd a Beauty of the first Rate, has a +great Share of Charms and Good-nature, Modesty and Politeness. Their Royal +Highnesses are perfectly civil to those who have Access to them; which is +the reason, that notwithstanding the little Concern they have in Business, +they have always a numerous Court. They have three Princes, and two +Princesses. The eldest of the Sons is _Charles_, a Prince whose Person and +Character are very amiable. The eldest of the Daughters is married to the +Duke of _Saxe-Eysenach_. + +The last Prince of the Royal Family, is the Margrave _Christian-Lewis_, +third Son of the Elector _Frederic-William_ by the second Marriage. This +Prince is Governour of the City and County of _Halberstadt_; he has a +Regiment of Foot, is Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle, and Commander +of that of St. _John_. He studied at _Leyden_; after which, he serv'd +with distinction in _Italy_. He now lives retir'd from Court at _Malchau_, +a House about a Mile from _Berlin_, which the late King bought of the +Heirs of M. _de Fuchs_, his Minister of State. There the Margrave, who has +a Relish for the Pleasures of private Life, passes his Time in Hunting, +Reading, and every innocent Pleasure that an agreeable Country is capable +of furnishing. This Prince has been a handsome well-made Man; he has a +grand Air, and there's something heroic in his Physiognomy: In the very +Flower of his Youth he was a constant Admirer of Virtue, and might ever be +quoted for an Example of Sobriety. He is so exceeding fat, that it's +fear'd he won't live to be a very old Man[12]. + +All the Princes of the Royal Family wear the _Prussian_ Order, _viz._ that +of the Black Eagle; and receive it as soon as they are born. 'Tis an +Orange Ribband, to which is appendant a Cross enamel'd with blue, +resembling the Cross of _Malta_. A Star of Silver is embroider'd on the +Coat; and in the middle of it is an Orange Escutcheon, over which is a +black Eagle crown'd with Wings display'd, holding in one of its Talons a +Crown of Laurel, and in the other a Thunder-bolt, with the Motto, SUUM +CUIQUE, in Letters of Gold. This Order was instituted by _Frederic_ I. the +sixth of _January_ 1701, _O. S._ on account of his Coronation at +_Koningsberg_. He call'd it the Order of the Black Eagle, because a Black +Eagle forms the Arms of _Prussia_; and he chose an Orange Ribband, in +memory of the Electress his Mother, who was a Princess of _Orange_; in +Right of whom he pretends to be next Heir to _William_ III. King of +_England_, and Prince of _Orange_. + +The Princes of the Royal Family are not exempt from passing thro' the +Degrees of military Service; and 'tis not here as in other places, where +they have Regiments and Governments as soon as they are born. The King +will have them to know how to obey, before they come to command; and 'tis +an Encouragement to the Officers to find themselves so far honour'd, as to +be on a Par in the Service, with those who are born to be their +Sovereigns. The Prince Royal has a Regiment of Horse[13]. M. _de +Lopel_[14], a Major-General, commanded that Regiment formerly, but the +King preferring him to the Government of _Custrin_, this Regiment has for +Colonel M. _de Wreech_, a Person of a good Family in the new Marquisate. +His Father, who was one of the King's Lieutenant-Generals, had serv'd the +late Elector _Frederic-William_, the late King, and his present Majesty. +M. _de Wreech_, whom I am speaking of, was, at his return from his +Travels, appointed by the late King a Gentleman of his Bed-chamber: After +that Prince's Death, his present Majesty enter'd him into his Service, and +gave him a Troop of Horse. This Gentleman distinguished himself greatly in +1708, at the Battle of _Audenarde_; where he was _Aid de Camp_ to the +Marshal _de Natzmer_, then General of the Cavalry: He had a Horse kill'd +under him, and was taken Prisoner; but the Enemy in their Flight not +watching him very strictly, he found means to get off when the Night came +and put an end to the Battle. He lay hid in a Ditch till next day, in +danger every moment of being knock'd on the head by our own Men; but when +the Day broke, he rejoin'd his General, who had received a slight Wound +in the Head. M. _de Wreech_ is one of the richest Subjects the King has; +but he is worthy of his Fortune, and uses it like a Man of Quality. He is +certainly a valuable Gentleman, has a noble Soul, and Sense and Knowledge +enough to capacitate him to serve his King and Country both in Peace and +War. + +_Berlin_ is not a City where you ought to look for the most lively +Diversions; the King, to whose Will every body conforms, not being fond of +them himself. Yet when once a Man is known there, he will find Amusement +enough; for the People are affable and civil, make plentiful +Entertainments, and have very good Wine. + +When the King is absent, the Queen has a Drawing-Room every Night, from +seven o'clock till ten; when her Majesty sups with the Princes and +Princesses of her Family, and other Persons of Distinction of both Sexes. +But when the King is at _Berlin_, the Queen keeps no Drawing-Room, unless +some Foreign Prince happen to be there. Then there are Assemblies in the +City alternatively, among Persons of the first Rank, at which they +sometimes dance; and the King and Prince Royal frequently honour these +Assemblies with their Presence. When there is no grand Assembly, there are +particular Societies, where they sup, and play at small Game. + +The Ministers of most consequence at this Court are Messieurs _d'Ilgen_, +_Grumkau_, and _Kniphausen_[15]; these are they who treat of Foreign +Affairs, and thro' whose hands pass the Secrets of State: but the King's +Prime Minister is the King himself, who is inform'd of every thing, and is +desirous to know every thing. He gives great Application to Business, but +does it with extraordinary Ease; and nothing escapes his Penetration, nor +his Memory, which is a very happy one. No body knows better than he where +his Government is strong, and where 'tis weak; and no Sovereign in the +World is of more easy Access, his Subjects being actually permitted to +write to him, without any other Formality than superscribing the Letter, +_To the King_. By writing underneath, _To be deliver'd into his Majesty's +own Hands_, one may be sure that the King receives and reads it, and that +the next Post he will answer it, either with his own Hand or by his +Secretary: these Answers are short, but peremptory, and they prevent a +tedious painful Attendance. The King, who is an Enemy to vain Pomp and +Pageantry, always goes abroad without any Guards, with only a small +Retinue, and sometimes too walks on foot; he makes his Greatness to +consist in solid Power, in the having his Troops well disciplin'd, his +Places kept up in good Order, his Arsenals well provided, and his Treasury +full enough to enable him to oppose his Enemy in case he be attack'd. He +never aims so much as to disturb his Neighbours, much less to rob them: I +heard him say one day, that _he had no Intention of attacking any body, +nor of beginning a War; but if he was attack'd, he would defend himself +the best he could_: a Conduct which he has religiously observed ever since +he has been plac'd upon the Throne, even towards _Charles_ XII. King of +_Sweden_, notwithstanding what is said of him by a certain Author, who +from sorry Memoirs has wrote that Prince's Life. But I will not deviate +from my Subject. + +There's no Town in all the King of _Prussia_'s Dominions, except +_Neufchtel_, where he has not been; no Province which he does not know +full well; not a noble Family but he can tell their Revenues; nor a Court +of Justice but he is well acquainted with their chief Members. His +Behaviour is plain; he knows no Gallantry, and does not easily pardon it +in his Officers. He is so true to his Consort the Queen, that he wishes +all Men would follow his Example, and that every Husband would live only +with the Woman whom God has allotted him. His Diversion is Hunting; and +for this reason, he resides commonly at _Potzdam_ or _Wusterhausen_, which +are Pleasure-Houses four Miles from _Berlin_. Yet he generally goes on +_Saturdays_ into his Capital, where he holds a Council on _Sunday_, and +returns on _Monday_. In the Winter he makes a longer stay at _Berlin_: but +let him be either here or there, he is on the Parade every Day at ten +o'clock, when his Soldiers mount the Guard; after which he gives Audience +to his Ministers, and holds a Council, or goes abroad for the Air. At Noon +the King appears in a great Saloon, where are all the Generals and +Officers, the Foreign Ministers, and all the Court in general: There he +converses a few Moments, and then goes into another Room, where he dines +with the Queen, the Princes and Princesses of his Family, and any other +Persons whom he has caused to be invited. His Table is commonly spread for +eighteen Guests. After he has sate about an Hour and half at Table, he +retires to his Closet till six at Night, when he appears again in the Room +where he held his Levee: There his Majesty gives Orders to the Marshal +_Wartensleben_ Governor of _Berlin_, and to the Marshal _Natzmer_ +Commandant of the Gendarmery. After this, he talks a while with those that +are present, and then passes into a Room at some distance from his +Apartment, to which the Queen repairs sometimes with one or two Ladies in +company. There are ten or a dozen Officers whom the King honours with his +Confidence, who play here at _Picquet_, _Ombre_, and _Backgammon_. Here +they also smoak, and to this Place the King sends for such as he has a +mind to talk with about special Affairs. I have been there twice upon +such an account. Here there is no manner of Restraint, but every body sits +down, the King dispensing with all the Respect that is due to him, and at +eleven o'clock he dismisses the Company and retires. + +The King hunts when he is at _Potzdam_ and _Wusterhausen_; but in other +respects he leads the same Life there as he does at _Berlin_. At _Potzdam_ +he hunts the Stag, having for that end caused a great Forest to be paled +in, where he has made noble Roads. + +The Castle at _Potzdam_, which is very convenient, was built by the +Elector _Frederic-William_, who commonly resided at it; and after having +run his glorious Race, died here the 29th of _April_, 1688. King +_Frederic_ I. made considerable Embellishments to it, particularly the +great Gate opening into the main Court of the Castle, which is an +admirable Piece of Architecture that was design'd by M. _Bot_, my Hero for +Buildings. But all that the late King did, does not come up to the Works +that have been added to it of late Years. The Town of _Potzdam_ has been +augmented two Thirds; the Streets are as strait as a Line, with Trees +planted, and Canals cut in them after the manner of _Holland_; the Houses +are uniform and built with Bricks. Besides a great Hospital, which the +King has founded here for his Soldiers' Orphans, here is a considerable +Fabric for Armourers, who make all those Arms for the Forces and Arsenals, +which were formerly made at _Liege_. + +This Town is the Garrison for the first Battalion of those _Tall +Grenadiers_, so much talk'd of in _Europe_. I protest to you that they +exceed the common Report, being the compleatest, the finest, and +best-disciplin'd Body that can be imagin'd. The Men are of all Nations, +there being scarce a Prince in _Europe_ but takes a pleasure in sending +Recruits to it. Some of these Grenadiers have had 1500 Crowns List-Money; +and several receive two Florins _per diem_: Some of them are very rich; +others there are who trade, and have good Houses at _Potzdam_. The tallest +and the best Man among them all was one call'd _Jonas_, (lately dead) who +work'd heretofore in the Mines of _Norway_. The famous _Huguetan_, whom +_Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_ created Count _de Guldenstein_, took him +from the Mines, and presented him to the King. He then stoop'd in the +Shoulders, and hobbled in walking; but by tricking him up, they gave him +that good Air which he wanted. + +'Tis certain, there are no Troops in the World where the Peasant sooner +shakes off the clownish Air, and more easily assumes the military one. +This gigantic Regiment has requir'd great Pains, and considerable Sums to +establish it; and I am assured it has cost the King more than six other +Regiments. But 'tis all his Majesty takes delight in; and surely this +Prince cannot but be commended for giving into a Pleasure so noble, and so +innocent. + +Having given you some Account of _Potzdam_, I must also mention +_Charlottenbourg_, another Royal House, a Mile from _Berlin_. This Castle +stands on the _Spree_, so that one may go to it by Water: but the common +Way is thro' the Park which is at the end of the great Walk from the new +Town. + +In the late King's time, whenever he was at _Charlottenbourg_, all the +Road from _Berlin_ to this Palace was lighted by Lanthorns erected on both +sides. + +_Charlottenbourg_ was formerly call'd _Lutzenbourg_. It was a small +Village belonging to M. _Doberginsky_, Steward of the Houshold to the +Queen, (the King's Mother.) He had built a trifling House there, and that +Queen taking the Air there one day, lik'd the Situation of the Place so +well, that she bought it, and set about building there; but she died +before all the Works she had undertaken were finished. However, her +Husband King _Frederic_ I. caused them to be carried on, and made +considerable Additions to them; and in order to perpetuate the Queen's +Name, which was _Sophia-Charlotte_, he caused _Lutzenbourg_ to be called +_Charlottenbourg_. This Castle is one of the most considerable Structures +in _Germany_; the Apartments are grand and splendid, and the Furniture +very rich. There's a Cabinet adorn'd with the choicest Porcellane, ranged +in such order as is surprising: In another Cabinet there are Lustres, a +Tea-Table with Dishes, a Coffee-Pot, and the whole Equipage in short of +solid Gold. The Chapel is one of the most superb that can be; every side +being adorn'd with Gold and Painting. The Orangery is one of the most +magnificent in _Europe_; not only with regard to the Beauty and Number of +its Trees, but the Greatness of the Building in which they are kept all +the Winter. + +I could tell you of several more Houses which the late King had in the +Neighbourhood of _Berlin_; but as they were suffer'd to run to ruin after +he died, I think I had better entertain you with the Characters of the +prime Nobility at this Court. + +The Count _de Wartensleben_ is the oldest Marshal. He is by Birth a +_Westphalian_, and pass'd his early days in the Service of _France_. He +was Commander in chief of the Troops of the Duke of _Saxe-Gotha_, when +King _Frederic_ I. called him to his Service. The Count _de Wartemberg_, +who was at that time the Chief Minister, wanted a Person to be at the head +of the Troops, who should be intirely devoted to himself: This was an +Obedience he did not expect to find in the Counts _de Lottum_, _Dhona_, +and _Denhoff_, nor in the other Generals whose long Services and Birth +might make them aspire to this military Dignity. He believed the fittest +Person to be his Tool would be a Foreigner that should be oblig'd to him +for his Fortune: Therefore he caus'd the Marshal's Batoon to be given to +the Count _de Wartensleben_, who answer'd to a tittle the Intention of the +Minister his Benefactor. 'Tis true, that he never seconded his Revenge, +but neither did he oppose it. He did the Business of his Office, and +meddled not with the Intrigues of the Court. It may be said of him, that +he never deviated from the Path of Equity, and in Justice to him it must +be own'd that he always did good, when it was in his power. Since the +Death of the late King, his Authority and Interest are very much lessened. +Besides, he is too far advanc'd in years to concern himself with almost +any Business at all. + +The General whose Power is most rever'd, is the Prince _Leopold_ of +_Anhalt-Dessau_. In consideration of his high Birth, and the Rank of +Sovereign which he holds in the Empire, I ought to have nam'd him first; +only the Count _de Wartensleben_ is the oldest Marshal. + +The Prince of _Anhalt_ is Marshal, Governour of the City of _Magdebourg_, +Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle. +This Prince, who is a Person of a good Stature and noble Presence, happy +Features and a lively Aspect, was born with all the Qualifications of a +General and a Soldier, being vigilant, laborious, indefatigable, equally +patient of Heat and Cold, Want and Abundance; Brave even to Intrepidity, +and possibly never equalled in this respect, unless we except _Charles_ +XII. King of _Sweden_: Being a Man of unexampled Rigour in Military +Discipline, he will be obey'd; but then he rewards his Soldiers when they +do their Duty, and sometimes makes himself familiar with them: A warm and +constant Friend, but an implacable Enemy when he thinks himself not well +us'd; haughty to his Equals, civil and courteous to his Inferiors. In his +Youth, he was a Wine-Bibber, and a Deboshee; but it has been observ'd, +that neither Wine nor Women can detain him, when he is in the pursuit of +Glory. He is a religious Observer of his Promises, and never makes any but +after mature Reflection. He is an Enemy to the Pomp and Constraint of the +Lives of Great Men; an [OE]conomist, perhaps more than becomes his +Dignity; and is an absolute Master in his Family and his Government, +having poor, but dutiful Subjects, and well-regulated Finances. + +The Care of the Prince of _Anhalt_'s Education was committed to M. _de +Chalisac_, a Native of _Guienne_. This Gentleman found an ungovernable +Temper in the young Prince which he had much ado to manage. The Prince +happen'd very early to have a liking for Madamoiselle _de Fohsen_, (whom +he afterwards marry'd) which being not at all pleasing to his Mother, (who +was born Princess of _Orange_) she thought the best way to cure him of his +Fondness for her, would be to send him abroad; and therefore appointed M. +_de Chalisac_ to travel with him to _Italy_, and accordingly they made +that Tour. + +_Chalisac_, who was my particular Friend, and whose Memory I honour, told +me that this Prince's extraordinary Vivacity and Intemperance, had often +made his Heart ake; but that whenever he happen'd to run astray, he was +sure to reclaim him by setting the Motives of Honour and Ambition in his +View. To this purpose he related what happen'd when they were at _Venice_, +viz. that the Prince came home one Morning very much in Liquor, after +having spent the whole Night in a Debauch; and M. _de Chalisac_ reproving +him, perhaps a little too sharply, as the young Prince thought, he ran and +snatch'd up a Pistol, and returning with it to his Governour, said, _You +Dog, I must kill you_. M. _de Chalisac_, without appearing surpriz'd, +looking sternly at the Prince, made him answer; _Shoot me if you think +fit; but think how worthy a Figure you'll make in History, when it shall +be recorded that a Prince of +Anhalt+, a Prince of a Family that has given +Emperors to +Germany+, murder'd his Tutor_. These Words spoke with an Air +of Authority made such an Impression on the young Prince, that he laid +down his Pistol saying, _You are indeed in the right; I should have +committed a villainous Action_. + +The Prince on his Return from _Italy_ to _Dessau_ shew'd that Time and +Absence had not that Effect upon him as they generally have upon Lovers. +He returned as much in love with Madamoiselle _de Fohsen_ as he was at +setting out. He married her in 1698, and soon after, _viz._ in 1701, she +was by the Emperor acknowledged a Princess of the Empire. He has had five +Sons and two Daughters by her, the eldest of whom is dead. + +But the Embraces of a tender Spouse cou'd not keep him at home; a Warrior +he was born, and a Warrior he would be. The War being then kindled between +the Emperor and the _French_, the Prince went to serve in the Army on the +_Rhine_, and was present at the taking of _Keiserswaert_. Soon after, King +_Frederic_ I. gave him the Command of 6000 Men, whom he sent to the +Emperor's Assistance in _Italy_, where he signaliz'd himself in every +Campaign, but especially at the raising of the Siege of _Turin_. The Duke +of _Savoy_, afterwards King of _Sardinia_, with whom the Prince had not a +very good Understanding, doing me the Honour to talk to me about him one +day, said, _The Prince of +Anhalt+ has too much Fire; but when he is +ripen'd by Age, he will be a great General. He was born with the Genius of +a Captain, and he has contributed to save my Crown_. + +When a Neutrality was agreed on for _Italy_ between the Emperor, his +Allies, and _France_, the Prince of _Anhalt_ was recall'd, and the King +gave him the Command of his Troops in _Flanders_, where he maintain'd the +Reputation which he had acquir'd in _Italy_, and was continued in his +Command till the Peace of _Utrecht_. + +The Obstinacy of _Charles_ XII. King of _Sweden_ in refusing to hearken to +a Treaty for the Sequestration of _Stetin_, having oblig'd the King of +_Prussia_ to make war upon him, the Prince of _Anhalt_ serving under the +King, who then commanded his Army in Person, had the Honour to defend the +Isle of _Rugen_, against the King of _Sweden_, who came in the Night and +attack'd it with Fury; but the _Swedes_ were repulsed, after having lost a +number of considerable Officers in the Action. Since the Treaty with +_Sweden_, this Prince has had no occasion to signalize his Valour. He +resides commonly at _Dessau_, or at _Magdebourg_; and does not come to +Court but when Affairs call him. He has three Sons in the King's Service, +of whom the two eldest have Regiments of their own, and the third commands +his Father's. + +The King, who has a great Affection for the Prince of _Anhalt_, makes no +considerable Regulation with regard to his Troops, or in any thing +relating to the War-Office, without his Advice. His Majesty has given him +considerable Tracts of Land in _Prussia_, where 'tis said the Prince is +building not only Villages, but entire Towns. + +M. _d'Arnheim_ is the third Marshal. This old Gentleman, who is past +fourscore, learnt the Art of War under two Great Masters, the Elector +_Frederic-William_ of _Brandenbourg_, and _Montecuculi_ the Rival of +_Turenne_. + +The Marshal _de Natzmer_ is an old Soldier also, who has serv'd under +several Commanders with very great Distinction; particularly the Prince +of _Waldeck_, General of the _Dutch_ Forces, the Prince of _Orange_ +afterwards King of _England_, and lastly under the Duke of _Marlborough_ +and Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_; who had all an Esteem for his Valour and +Military Experience; this Marshal having been in all the Battles which +those Generals fought in the _Netherlands_, and having been always wounded +or had a Horse shot under him. + +After having mentioned the chief Commanders of the King's Forces to you, I +think it incumbent on me to give you an Account of those Persons whose +Credit or Employments have the greatest Influence upon the Government; in +which you will please to excuse me, if I do not follow that Order I have +hitherto observ'd in my Narrative. + +The Baron _d'Ilgen_ First Minister of State, was born of an obscure Family +in _Westphalia_. After he had finished his Studies, he commenc'd Secretary +to M. _de Meinders_, Minister of State to the Elector _Frederic-William_, +and to King _Frederic_ I. His Discretion and his Industry soon procur'd +him the Favour of his Master, who put him Governour over his Nephew the +Baron _de Heidekam_. M. _d'Ilgen_ travell'd with the young Baron to +_Holland_, _England_, and _France_, in which Tour they spent two Years. At +his Return to _Berlin_, M. _de Meinders_ enter'd him in Business, and the +Elector _Frederic-William_ dying not long after, he procur'd him the +Office of Secretary to the new Elector. In this Employment he behav'd with +such Circumspection that he is still continued in it, notwithstanding the +many Changes that have happen'd in the Ministry. The Baron _de Fuchs_ one +of the most able Ministers that ever _Germany_ produc'd, being charm'd +with his Genius, gave him such a Recommendation to the late King, that he +preferr'd him to a Seat in the Council, where _Ilgen_ soon found out the +way to make himself necessary. The Count _de Wartemberg_, whose Abilities +were not so great but he stood in need of a Second, being then at the Head +of the Council, consulted in all matters with M. _d'Ilgen_, who, after the +Count _de Wartemberg_ retired, had the Province of Foreign Affairs +committed to him solely, and has kept it ever since. + +M. _d'Ilgen_ has both Gaiety and Solidity in his Temper, a lively, +fruitful Imagination, and most pleasing Aspect. He is extremely sober, and +an excellent [OE]conomist, being as great an Enemy to Pleasure, as he is a +Friend to Riches. He is humble sometimes, even to excess; revengeful, +crafty; a Master of his Temper, his Countenance, his Tongue, and his Eyes, +which he accommodates altogether to the Situation of his Affairs. As by +his Parts he raised himself, so by his Parts he supports himself. He is +the sole Repositary of his own Secrets, having no Confident nor Favourite +to share them. He is so indefatigable, that he composes and writes all +himself, keeping his Secretaries only to copy. In short, he works like a +Day-labourer, and makes the Ministry, as it were, a Handicraft. He speaks +well, but writes better; he affects _double Entendres_ in his Answers, and +artfully has recourse, when he needs it, to an ambiguous Expression. He +has so little scruple, in point of Oaths, that he takes and breaks them +with equal Indifference. He never made himself a Creature, but always +removed and humbled those that ever gave him any Umbrage. That which +heightens his Character, and proves his Genius, is, that he has supported +himself a long time, without Kindred, Friends, or Creatures, and perhaps +without being too much honoured by the Favour of his Master[16]. + +M. _de Grumkau_ Minister of State, Lieutenant-General of the King's +Forces, Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight of the Orders of St. +_Andrew_ of _Muscovy_, and of the White Eagle of _Poland_, is descended of +an illustrious Family in _Pomerania_. His Father was Grand Marshal of the +Elector _Frederic-William_, and died in that Post, at the beginning of the +late King's Reign. M. _de Grumkau_ being left a Minor, was sent very young +to _France_, to learn his Exercises, where he acquitted himself with +Diligence, and the Approbation of his Superiors. At his return to +_Berlin_, _Frederic_ I. appointed him Gentleman of his Bed-chamber, and +gave him a Company of Foot. Soon after which, he married Madamoiselle _de +la Chevallerie_, who was Maid of Honour to the Queen _Sophia-Charlotte_. +It was not long before he was advanced; and during the last War he served +as a Brigadier in the Army in the _Netherlands_. At the same time he had +the Care of the King's Affairs with my Lord Duke of _Marlborough_, and +Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_. His manner of + +Behaviour shew'd that he was fit to be employ'd in great Affairs: but the +Count _Wartemberg_, the Favourite, and Prime Minister, being jealous of +his Genius, kept him as much as he could out of any Share in Authority, +and chose rather to prefer him by War, than to employ him in the Ministry. +The Favourites (Messieurs _de Camke_) who succeeded _Wartemberg_, +perceiving M. _de Grumkau_'s superior Abilities, were not more favourable +to him than the Count was. He was preferr'd to be a Major-General at one +of the last Promotions that was made by the late King; and +_Frederic-William_, on his Accession to the Throne, made him +Lieutenant-General, and Minister of State. + +M. _de Grumkau_ is good-natur'd, civil, and affable. He has the Manners +and Sentiments of a Man of Quality, as he really is; he is generous, +liberal, loves Splendor and Pleasures, but is not so much addicted to them +as to neglect the Affairs of the Ministry. He is laborious, has a clear +and quick Apprehension; a pleasant, lively, and penetrating Fancy; and is +no Enemy to Satyr, when it does not attack his Neighbour's Reputation. As +he is of a beneficent Temper, he has Friends, and makes himself Creatures. +Of all the Ministers, he speaks to the King with the greatest Freedom; and +I believe one may safely venture to put him in the Rank of Favourites. + +The Baron _de Kniphausen_[17], Minister of State, and Commander of the +Order of St. _John_, is descended of an illustrious Family in +_East-Friesland_. In the late King's time, his Father was President of the +Chamber, which is properly, Superintendant of the Finances. No Minister +has been employed in more Embassies. He was the King's Resident in +_Spain_, with _Charles_ III. the present Emperor; he was the same in +_Denmark_, _Muscovy_, and _France_; and every where supported the Dignity +of his Master, and the Honour of his Character. So many Embassies had very +much disconcerted his Affairs; and talking to me one day at _Paris_ about +his Lady, who was the Daughter of M. _d'Ilgen_, 'I know, _said he_, that +her Rank is not equal to mine, and that I may be reproach'd for having +married her; but I can return the same Answer which they report of the +Count _de Lude_ (Governor to _Gaston_ of _France_, _Lewis_ XIIIth's +Brother) who, when he was ruin'd like me, married a Tradesman's Daughter; +_Could I do better_, said he, _when I was persecuted Day and Night by my +Creditors, than to take Refuge in a Shop, rather than be carried to an +Alms-House_?' + +M. _de Kniphausen_ has a wonderful natural Genius, and would have every +Talent requisite for a Minister, if he was not quite so averse to Labour; +but being as lazy as his Father-in-Law is laborious, Affairs suffer in his +hands by delay. Not but that he knows how to dispatch them, if he will, +for nobody is more lively nor more vigilant than he, when he sets his +heart upon a thing; but he is naturally indolent, being fond of his Ease +and good Cheer. + +The Baron _de Gohren_, who is Director of the Chamber of Finances, and of +the Post-Office, is a Man of a good Family in the Marquisate of +_Brandenburg_. He has not been many years in the Ministry, but has the +Reputation of an upright Man, and one not to be corrupted. He is very +reserved, and a Person of few Words, which gives him an Air that those who +are not conversant with him mistake for Haughtiness. + +M. _de Creutz_ has a happy Physiognomy, being a mixture of hard Features +with mild ones, that carry an Air of Probity and Frankness, which of all +external Appearances is undoubtedly the most advantageous. He is polite, +and magnificent; has an extraordinary Vivacity, an admirable Facility of +expressing himself, and an easy, affable, and genteel Behaviour. He never +promises but when he means to perform, and his Word may be safely depended +on. I always found him very sincere, and I cannot help saying, I love him. +_Frederic-William_ called him to his Councils, he having been his +Secretary when he was Prince Royal. His Assiduity and Punctuality in +performing the Duties of his Office, had procured him the King's Affection +to such a degree that his Majesty continues to honour him with his +Good-will, and gives heed to his Representations[18]. + +M. _de Creutz_ is one of the richest Subjects in the Country, having had a +very great Estate by his Wife: She has also brought him a Daughter, an +only Child, who is said to have a great deal of Wit; and being a rich +Heiress into the bargain, she will not fail of Suitors. + +M. _de Vierec_ is a Man of Quality, and a Native of _Mecklemburg_; his +Father was Counsellor of State to the late King, and his Envoy +Extraordinary in _Denmark_. The Son, of whom I am now writing, quitted the +Service of Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ of _Brunswic-Wolfembuttle_, to be a +Gentleman of the late King's Bed-chamber. When he came to Court, he had no +Relations there, but he was so happy as to raise himself Friends; for his +modest Air, and his polite and submissive Deportment, gain'd him the +Good-will of the Favourites; and as he lov'd Play, he soon made himself +acquainted with the Court-Ladies, who always gave him their good Word. + +In 1711, when the Count _de Dohna_ went as the King's Ambassador to +_Francfort_, for the Election of an Emperor, he desir'd of the King that +M. _de Vierec_, who was reckon'd the most sober young Man at Court, might +be Marshal of the Embassy, which was perform'd at the King's Expence. M. +_de Vierec_ acquitted himself so well in that Employment, that he had the +same Post at the Congress of _Utrecht_. He had afterwards, for a while, +the Care of the King's Affairs at the Court of _France_, when the Duke of +_Orleans_ was Regent; and at his Return from thence, he was employed in +the Regency of _Cleves_; from whence he was called home to better +Preferment, by means of _Gerstorf_, whose Daughter he had married. For +this General's only Son being killed in _Sicily_, his Majesty, in order to +comfort the Father, whom he lov'd, and who he saw took it very much to +heart, declared M. _de Vierec_ his Son-in-Law, Minister of State. M. _de +Gerstorf_'s Daughter dying afterwards, M. _de Vierec_ thereby came +possessed of a very great Estate, and married again to the Daughter of the +Count _de Finck_, who was formerly the Prince Royal's Governor. + +M. _de Vierec_ is perfectly polite, and altogether as modest now as he was +before he was a Minister; but he is close and reserv'd, mysterious more +than needs must, and jealous. His Circumspection, which extends to the +minutest things, gave him the Air of a Minister, before he had a thought, +perhaps, of ever being one. What with his Kindred, his Estate, and his +Preferment, he is become powerful at Court. + +These, Sir, are the Persons of the greatest Consequence at the Court of +_Prussia_, with whom I had a particular Acquaintance. I am not so vain as +to think I have painted them in their true Colours; but such as they +appear'd to be in my eyes, I have represented them to you. Men are not +always the same; nor do they appear in the same light to all that see +them; every Man having his own way of thinking, and few judging solidly. + +I have now told you all the Particulars that I know of this Court. What +remains for me is to mention some things to you, which are worth your +seeing, if ever you live to come hither. + +Such are the King's Cabinets of Medals and Antiquities; that of Natural +Curiosities, in which are a great many things not to be seen elsewhere; +the Chymical Laboratory, with its Furnaces and Instruments of a new +Invention; the magnificent Theatre, which the King caused to be built for +Anatomical Demonstrations, with all the Curiosities and Instruments which +are there kept; the Royal Library, one of the most valuable and compleat +in all _Germany_, where, besides scarce Books and Manuscripts, is a very +curious _Chinese_ Printing-Press. + +All these things would be worth particularizing; but to do this, a Man +must have a larger Acquaintance here than I pretend to: Besides, my +Relation is already spun to such a length that I believe 'tis time to +conclude it. + +I will, however, just acquaint you of a Foundation by the present King, in +favour of the young Gentlemen of his Dominions, which are the Academies of +Cadets, in _Berlin_, _Magdebourg_, and other Towns, where they are taught +the Rudiments of War; so that 'tis a Nursery from whence the King makes a +Draught of good Officers. His Majesty has moreover ordered his Generals of +Foot to take each a young Gentleman, whose Fortune does not happen to be +equal to his Birth, to keep them as Pages, and to make them learn their +Exercises, and every thing that an Officer ought to know. An excellent +Institution this, and a fine Resource for the poor Nobility! + +I am preparing to set out forthwith for _Hamburgh_, _Hanover_, and the +Court of _Brunswic_; and after I have made that Tour, you shall have a +second Letter from me. Mean time, I am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER II. + + + _SIR_, _Hamburgh, June 20, 1729._ + +Nothing gives me greater pleasure, than the Approbation with which you are +pleased to honour the Account I sent you of the Court of _Prussia_; which +I esteem as an infinite Reward for the little trouble it cost me. You must +not imagine that I can ever be weary of writing to you; I can never do any +thing more agreeable to myself, than to contribute to your Amusement; and +shall think myself exceeding happy, if I can succeed. + +I set out from _Berlin_ upon the 10th of _June_, and in less than four +Hours came to ORANJEBOURG, a royal Seat, which King _Frederic_ I. caused +to be built, and to which he gave the Name of _Oranjebourg_, to perpetuate +the Memory of his Mother, who was born Princess of _Orange_. This Prince, +great in every Action, spar'd no Cost to render this House worthy of his +magnificent Taste. The Situation of this Place is very charming, in the +midst of fine large Meadows, with Canals cut in them after the manner of +_Holland_. The Apartments of the Palace are grand, tho' the rich +Furniture it had formerly has been removed to _Berlin_. The present King +not taking a fancy to it, all runs to ruin; the Gardens, which were the +finest in _Germany_, are not kept in order; the great Vessels of +Porcellane; which were not to be match'd in _Europe_, the late King having +procur'd the choicest Rarities of that Ware, that were in the Magazines of +_Holland_; all these fine things, I say, are pass'd into the hands of the +King of _Poland_, at _Dresden_. The Gallery and the Salon of +_Oranjebourg_, which were furnish'd with them, and which were reckoned +among the Beauties of _Germany_, are of no account now but for the +Richness of their Cielings. + +From _Oranjebourg_, I went and lay at FERBELLIN, a Town which is only +remarkable for a Victory gain'd here by the Elector _Frederic-William_ +over the _Swedes_. The latter enter'd his Dominions, while he was engag'd +with his Army in defence of the Empire then attack'd by the _French_ on +the _Upper Rhine_. The Elector being inform'd of the Invasion of his own +Country by the _Swedes_, came away from the _Rhine_ with his Troops, and +by one of the bravest Marches that ever any General made, deliver'd it +from the Enemy. He surprized them in _Ratenau_, a Town in the Marquisate +of _Brandenbourg_, the Garrison of which he made Prisoners; and then +continuing his March, he came up with the _Swedes_ near _Ferbellin_, at a +time when the latter thought him still upon the _Rhine_, and gain'd a +compleat Victory. A venerable old Gentleman, who was very near the +Elector's Person at this Battle, told me, that before the Engagement +began, the Prince being at the head of his Army, took out his Pistols, +fir'd them in the Air, and lifting up his Eyes to Heaven, said, _'Tis to +thy Glory, _GREAT GOD_, that I discharge my Arms; defend my Cause, thou +knowest it to be just; punish my Enemies_. Then drawing his Sword, and +turning about to his Soldiers, _My Comrades_, said he, _I desire no other +Defence, nor no other Weapons, but the Protection of God, your Courage, +and my Sword. Follow me therefore, my Friends, do as I do, and be assur'd +of Victory_. + +In this Battle, _Forbenius_, the Elector's Gentleman of the Horse, +perceiving that a white Steed which his Master rode, made his Person a +very plain Mark for his Enemy, so that they had singled him out to fire +at, desir'd the Prince to change Horses with him. The Elector, who had a +great Soul, above all Fear, refus'd at first to do so, but upon the +repeated Instances of _Forbenius_, he consented to it; and the Moment that +the Gentleman mounted the Horse which the Elector quitted, a Cannon-Shot +kill'd him dead upon the Place, so quick, that he expir'd without the +Comfort of knowing that he had thereby preserved the Life of his Master. + +_HAMBURGH_, a Hanse-Town in the Circle of Lower _Saxony_, is, without +dispute, one of the richest and most considerable Towns in all the Empire +of _Germany_. It depends solely upon its Magistrates, who are chose by the +Burgers themselves. Its Liberty has been often contested by the Kings of +_Denmark_, who as Dukes of _Holstein_, pretend that _Hamburgh_ is built +upon their Territory, and that therefore they ought to be the Sovereigns +of it. The Electors of _Brandenbourg_, and the Princes of the House of +_Brunswic_, always opposed the Incroachments of the _Danes_; nor will they +suffer any Power whatsoever to oppress the City of _Hamburgh_, because, if +it were possible, they would be glad to annex it to their own Domains. The +City being exposed to these Attacks, has taken all the Measures possible +to be in a condition to defend its Liberty. 'Tis very well fortified, +maintains a good Garrison, and has an Arsenal provided with all +Necessaries. + +The Commerce of _Hamburgh_ is considerable, tho' 'tis very much lessen'd +since _Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_, prohibited the Importation of +Merchandize from _Hamburgh_ to his Dominions[19]. + +The manner of living in this City is different from that of all the Hanse +Towns. Here is a tolerable Opera all the Year round[20]; charming Walks, +choice Company, much Visiting and hearty Cheer. There are several good +Houses of the Nobility, where Foreigners are well receiv'd. The Merchants +are affable and civil; most of them in their youth travel to the most +remarkable Countries of _Europe_, where they then pass for Gentlemen of +_Holstein_. As they are rich, they can easily afford to make a good +Appearance where-ever they come. There they learn that polite Air, and +that Behaviour which one would wish to see in all Gentlemen of good +Families. The only thing for which I find fault with them, is, that they +treat their Wives too much like the _Levant_ People, where the Women are +only suffer'd to go to the Mosques; so here, the Women scarce go any where +but to Church, or if they at any time take the Air, 'tis in company with +their Husbands: and a Foreigner is so seldom admitted to their +Assemblies, that when he is, those poor Women are as much astonish'd at +the sight of him, as a Sultana would be to see a Capuchin enter the +_Seraglio_. + +There's a great many worthy People here. I have made an Acquaintance with +M. _de Brocks_, one of the Magistrates, who has acquir'd a Reputation for +his Skill in Poetry, by such Compositions as cannot but convince +Foreigners, who understand the _High-Dutch_, that as good things may be +said in that Language, as in any other[21]. This M. _de Brocks_ is of an +amiable Character, civil, and complaisant, and has acquir'd the Love and +Esteem of all that know him. + +Most of the _European_ Princes have Residents here, for which reason here +are several Chappels of the _Roman_ Catholicks, who otherwise would be +obliged to go to the Church at _Altena_, as the _Calvinists_ are forc'd to +do, the _Lutheran_ being the Religion that is uppermost at _Hamburgh_; but +the _Jews_ have their Synagogues here. What an odd Establishment is this +in a Christian Country![22] how uncharitable, and even nonsensical! and +how must it make the _Turks_ laugh! We grant Synagogues to the _Jews_, the +Enemies of JESUS CHRIST, who would crucify him again, if they had not done +it already; and we refuse Churches and Temples to those that believe as +we do in JESUS CHRIST! No, were you to call me Heretic a thousand times, I +would say, HOLLAND FOR EVER! where 'tis a Maxim, to leave every Man to his +Conscience; and where they think it would be a Contradiction to admit +People to be their Fellow-Citizens, and to deny them the Liberty of +worshipping God in their own way. + +The Emperor's Minister, who has the Title of _His Imperial Majesty's +Plenipotentiary_ to the Circle of Lower _Saxony_, commonly resides at +_Hamburgh_. The last Gentleman that had this Employment was the Count _de +Metsch_[23]; and since his being made Vice-President of the Emperor's +_Aulic_ Council, it has not been fill'd up[24]. + +The Populace of _Hamburgh_, just such another ungovernable Herd as the +_Amsterdam_ Mobs, having taken it into their heads some years ago, out of +a mad sort of Zeal for Religion, to plunder the House and Chapel of the +Emperor's Resident; the City in order to make Satisfaction for the Insult, +was condemned to build a House which was to be the Residence of the +Emperor's Minister always for the future. For this end, the City bought +the Palace of the late Baron _de Gortz_, a Man of great Fame in the +History of _Charles_ XII. King of _Sweden_; and whose Fortune and +Catastrophe are worthy your notice. + +_Henry_ Baron _de Gortz_ was born of an independent Family in _Franconia_, +which is a Province that abounds with Nobility of Distinction. He enter'd +young into the Service of the Duke of _Holstein-Schleswic_, and rose to be +his Minister. He was a Man generous, noble, and magnificent, even to +Profusion; vigilant, full of Projects and Stratagems; a Man whom nothing +could surprize, nothing dissuade from a Design that he had once form'd; +whose Ambition was boundless, and who always aim'd to do something to be +talk'd of. In the _North_ there was no Intrigue in which he had not a +hand, and into which he did not likewise draw his Master, whom he push'd +upon Enterprizes so far above his Power to execute, that he thereby lost +his Dominions. The Baron _de Gortz_ thought _Holstein_ too narrow a Sphere +for him to move in, and therefore he attach'd himself to _Charles_ XII. +King of _Sweden_, after that Prince return'd from his long Stay at +_Bender_. _Charles_ was just such a Master as the Baron wanted, and he +just such a Minister as was necessary for the King of _Sweden_; nor was +there ever in the World a greater Sympathy between two Men. _Gortz_ was +born to form great Designs, _Charles_ to put them in execution; and the +constant Design of both was only to throw _Europe_ into a Ferment. + +The Baron, besides other happy Gifts of Nature, had the Talent of +insinuating and pleasing. He soon got an Ascendant over _Charles_, to such +a degree that tho' this Prince was never to be advis'd by his Ministers, +yet the Baron's Opinion was a Law to him. _Gortz_ frighten'd _Europe_, and +made _Sweden_ tremble; being as much fear'd and dreaded there as the King +himself. The _Swedes_ were uneasy to see so great a Share of Authority +vested in a Foreigner; and therefore form'd Parties and Cabals to strip +him of it; but they durst not discover their Designs. The Minister knew +all the while they envy'd him, but was in no manner of Concern about it; +for being sure of the Favour of the King, he despised the Hatred, both of +the Populace and the Great Men[25]. + +But after the Death of _Charles_ XII. who was killed at the Siege of +_Frederickshall_, in the Month of _December_, the _Swedes_ did not fail to +punish him; for the Baron, before he cou'd have Intelligence of the King's +Death, was actually put under an Arrest; and upon that Occasion he said to +the Officer, _Surely the King must be dead!_ From that Moment he was never +once heard to complain or murmur; for he was intrepid even to Death; the +Sentence of which he received with a wonderful Constancy of Mind, chose to +die like a Philosopher, and thought too freely of Religion to the very +last. A Divine, who is now one of the King of _Denmark_'s Chaplains, +turn'd his Heart, and brought him to acknowledge that 'twas the Hand of +God which smote him. He was conducted to the Place of Execution in a +mourning Coach, in which the Chaplain rode with him. He had a long Robe of +black Velvet, ty'd with Ribbands over his Shoulders; and as he was +mounting the Scaffold, which was hung with black Cloth, perceiving one +_Duval_, a _Frenchman_, who was his Steward, he held out his Hand, saying, +_Farewell +Duval+, I shall eat no more of thy Soups_. When he was on the +Scaffold, an Officer of Justice read a Paper to him with a loud Voice; in +which it was declared that he was degraded from the Rank of Nobility, and +that the Queen had order'd him to be beheaded. _Alas!_ said he, _I am born +a free Baron of the Empire. +Sweden+ cannot take from me what it never gave +me; and if I had really deserv'd to be degraded, none has a Right to do it +but the +Emperor+._ Having requir'd one of his Valets de Chambre to undress +him, he deliver'd the Ribband of the Order of the Black Eagle of _Prussia_ +to a Gentleman who stood near him, and enjoin'd him to carry it to one of +his Kindred, that he might return it to the King of _Prussia_. Then he +fell on his Knees, without shewing the least Sign of Fear; and receiv'd +the Stroke of Death with a Constancy of which there are very few Examples. +His Head being exposed to the People, was a pleasing Victim to their +Hatred and Revenge. The Baron's Corpse was interr'd, at the Place of +Execution, from whence one of his Footmen took it away in the Night-time, +put it into a Barrel, and carry'd it to _Hamburgh_; where it was laid upon +a Bed of State, and bury'd with all the Formalities fitting the Rank which +he had held in the World. + +Within a Cannon-Shot of _Hamburgh_, stands the Town of ALTENA, which +belongs to the King of _Denmark_. The _Swedish_ General, _Steinbock_, +reduc'd it to Ashes, the 9th of _January_ 1712, by way of Reprisal, as he +said, because the _Danes_ had burnt _Staden_: but there was this +Difference, that the _Danes_ had besieg'd _Staden_ in form, and destroy'd +it by their Bombs; whereas _Steinbock_ acted the part of an Incendiary. As +soon as he appear'd before _Altena_, he sent in a Message to advise the +Inhabitants to retire with what they could carry off, for that he was +going to destroy their Town. The Magistrates came out in a Body, and +falling at his Feet, begg'd for Mercy, and offer'd him a considerable Sum +of Money. _Steinbock_ insisting on more, they granted him his whole +Demand, only they desir'd Time to go to _Hamburgh_ for the Money. The +merciless General would admit of no such Delay. The poor Inhabitants were +oblig'd to turn out; the Mothers carry'd out their Infants; the young +Fellows, the paralytick old Men; some groan'd under Loads of Furniture; +all lamented their Fate, and uter'd Cries that wou'd have almost pierc'd +a Stone. The _Swedes_ stood at the Barriers, with flaming Torches in their +Hands, to see them pass; and before the poor Inhabitants were all gone +out, they enter'd the Town, and set fire to all parts of it; not sparing +even the Vaults of the Dead. + +Never was a greater Desolation known; but what compleated the Ruin of the +_Altenois_, was the Necessity of the Times, which was such as oblig'd the +_Hamburghers_ not to entertain them. Several prejudic'd Authors have said +that the _Hamburghers_, insensible, if not overjoy'd at the Calamity of +their Neighbours, kept their Gates shut, that they might see them perish. +But the truth is, that the _Hamburghers_ were oblig'd to be thus strict; +because the Plague raging at that time in _Holstein_, the Elector of +_Hanover_ had forc'd them to stop all Commerce with that Country; +threatning them, that if he heard they had the least Communication with +_Altena_, he wou'd prohibit his Subjects from all manner of Correspondence +with the City of _Hamburgh_. Besides, it wou'd not have been prudent in +the _Hamburghers_ to have open'd their Gates in the Night-time; for the +_Swedish_ Army being so near, they could not tell but the _Swedes_ might +come into the Town as well as the _Altenois_. To the Misfortune of the +Times therefore must be ascribed the Distress of the Inhabitants of +_Altena_, most of whom perished with Cold, Want, and Despair. + +_Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_, being touched with Compassion for the +Misfortune of his Subjects of _Altena_, relieved them as far as the +Necessity of the Times wou'd give him leave. He caus'd them to be supply'd +with Materials for rebuilding their Houses; and now _Altena_ has recovered +her Losses: for the King of _Denmark_ has not only granted it many new +Privileges, but has caus'd a Harbour to be made there; and does all that +is in his power to draw a Trade to it. This City being a privileg'd Place +for Bankrupts, many of that Character come from _Hamburgh_ to settle here; +and there is a general Toleration for those of all Religions, who have +their Churches and Temples here; which draws such numbers of People, that +in time _Altena_ will probably become _Hamburgh_, and _Hamburgh_ _Altena_: +For the _Hamburghers_, on the contrary, will tolerate no Christian Sects; +tho' they grant the _Jews_ the public Exercise of their Religion, as has +been already observed. The Governour of _Danish Holstein_ resides here, +who is the Count _de Reventlau_, Brother to the[26]Queen of _Denmark_. I +am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER III. + + + _SIR_, _Hanover, July 5, 1729._ + +This Letter is to acquaint you of some things that I remark'd in the Road +from _Hamburgh_, and in this City itself; where I have now been these +three Days. + +I set out from _Hamburgh_ the 22d of _June_, and went by Water to +HARBOURG, having sent my Chaise thither the Day before. This Town is a +Dependant on the Dutchy of _Lunenbourg_, and belongs to the Elector of +_Brunswic-Lunenbourg_. It has nothing very remarkable but its Castle, +which is a Pentagon, lin'd with a good Cover'd-Way. Madamoiselle +_d'Olbreuse_[27], whom the Duke of _Zell_ marry'd, had the Title of Madame +_de Harbourg_, till she was recogniz'd by the Emperor a Princess of the +Empire. For by the Laws of _Germany_, a Prince of a Sovereign Family can +marry none but a Princess, or a Countess. If he weds a private +Gentlewoman, he not only marries below himself, but his Wife does not go +by his Name; and the Children of such Marriage cannot succeed, unless the +Emperor declare the Mother a Princess; as he commonly does in favour of +Princes of antient Families. + +Between _Harbourg_ and _Zell_, which is twelve Miles, there is scarce any +thing but Heath. The Post-Stages, which are of four Miles, are very ill +serv'd, and the Inns the worst in _Germany_; all which together render +the Road extremely disagreeable. + +ZELL is a little Town with great Suburbs. All its Buildings are of Timber, +except the Churches, the Castle, and the House of Correction, which are of +Brick. There is a Trade from hence to _Bremen_, by the River _Aller_. + +After the Death of _George-William_, the last Duke of _Zell_[28], this +City, and its Dependency, the Dutchy of _Lunenbourg_, devolv'd to his +Nephew _George_, Elector of _Brunswic-Hanover_, afterwards King of _Great +Britain_. This Prince had a Regency at _Zell_, which judged all Causes, +without any Appeal but to the Council of State at _Hanover_. The President +of it at this time, is the Baron _de Friesberg_, a Person of a good Family +in the Country of _Hildesheim_; who has been a long time the Elector's +Envoy at the Diet of _Ratisbon_, where I knew him, and received a world of +Civilities from him. He is esteem'd for the prudent Management of his +Office, and his noble manner of living. There are a great many Persons of +Quality settled at _Zell_, who for a trifling Expence enjoy the Pleasures +of agreeable Society. They visit and regale one another very much, and are +not wanting in Civilities to Foreigners. Monsieur _de Schulenbourgh_[29], +Lieutenant-General of the _Hanoverian_ Horse, and Knight of the +_Prussian_ Order of the Black Eagle, is the Governour of this Town. He is +a Gentleman of good Extraction, of Behaviour, Noble, Polite, and Easy; and +though he is Father of a numerous Family, he affects to live grand, and +keeps a very good Table. One of his Sons is in the Service of _Prussia_, +the others are in that of the King of _England_. I mention them to you, +because they are worthy Gentlemen; and whoever knows them, cannot but +esteem them. + +Here are a great many _French_ People, _Catholick_ as well as +_Protestant_, of whom the former have a Chapel, and the latter a Church; +but the Religion which is predominant, is the _Lutheran_. The last +Dutchess of _Zell_, of the Family of _Olbreuse_, being a _French_ Woman, +fill'd her Husband's Court and Guards with her own Countrymen; who were +even preferr'd before the Natives of _Zell_. I have been told that these +_Frenchmen_ really thought themselves so much at home, that there happen'd +to be one day no less than a dozen of 'em at Dinner at the Duke's Table, +who all except the Prince were _Frenchmen_; which one of them observing, +said to the Duke, _My Lord, this is really very pleasant; there is no +Foreigner here but you_! + +In the Neighbourhood of this Town there's the Castle of _Ahlen_, where, +(about nine Years ago,) the unfortunate Daughter of the last Duke of +_Zell_, by Madamoiselle _d'Olbreuse_, ended her Days, after she had been +retir'd thither about thirty six Years: She had been promised +in Marriage to _Augustus-William_, the hereditary Prince of +_Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Wolfemhuttle_; but her Father the Duke, by the +Intrigues of the Princess _Sophia_, Dutchess of _Hanover_, marry'd her +against her Will, and against the Consent of her Mother, to the hereditary +Prince _George-Lewis_, who was afterwards King of _Great Britain_, by +Right of his Mother, and who died in the Year 1727, as he came to make +the Tour of his hereditary Dominions. She was sixteen Years old at her +Marriage with that Prince, who was then twenty-two. + +Tho' there's a good deal of Heath between _Zell_ and _Hanover_, yet the +Country is very well cultivated; for the Inhabitants not only make Turfs +of the Heath for Fewel, but it serves also for Pasturage, and for Manure. +'Tis about five _German_ Miles from one Town to the other, and I travell'd +it in less than five Hours. + +HANOVER, the Capital of the Electorate of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg_, is bigger +than _Zell_. The River _Leine_ divides it into the old and new Towns, +which are both encompass'd with Ramparts that scarce deserve the Name. +There is nothing very extraordinary in the Palace or Castle, which is +rather commodious than magnificent; and the Town of _Hanover_, generally +speaking, is but ill built. The most remarkable Structure in it, is the +_Roman Catholick_ Church, which was granted to those of that Communion by +_Ernest-Augustus_ of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Hanover_; that being one of the +Conditions which the Emperor _Leopold_ demanded of him when he honour'd +him with the Electoral Dignity. That Prince moreover engag'd to admit of +an Apostolical Vicar in his Dominions, and to give him leave to reside at +_Hanover_, as _Spiga_, who lately died at _Francfort_[30], did for many +Years. Divine Service is perform'd in this Church as regularly as in a +Cathedral; and they who officiate in it are Missionaries. The number of +Catholicks is very considerable; but few Persons of Quality are of that +Communion, the Nobility being all _Lutherans_. + +When _George_ I. King of _Great Britain_ left his _German_ Dominions to +take possession of his Kingdom, he was willing that all Affairs at +_Hanover_ shou'd continue on the same footing as they were before he was +called to the Throne; and he left behind him Prince _Frederic_ his +Grandson, now Prince of _Wales_; who not only had a Drawing-Room every +Day, but the same Attendance as had the Elector before he was King. + +His Majesty King _George_ II. has made no Alteration in the Establishment +of the King his Father. When he sent for the Prince of _Wales_ to +_England_, he order'd the Courtiers to continue their Assemblies at the +Castle; and that his Table shou'd always be serv'd in the same manner as +if he himself was at _Hanover_. His Majesty keeps up the same number of +Gentlemen, Pages, Domestics, and Guards; and the same number of Horses, +Grooms, &c. in his Stables. There's a _French_ Comedy acted three times a +Week at the Palace, to which all People are admitted _gratis_; and there +are frequently Concerts, Balls and Assemblies. The Gentlemen who do the +Court-Honours at these Entertainments, and who invite Persons to dine or +sup at the King's Table, are either M. _de Hardenberg_, the Grand Marshal, +or, in his absence, the Baron _de Gortz_[31], Chief Steward of the +Houshold; or else M. _de Rheden_, Captain of the Castle of _Hanover_. + +In the King's absence, the Government is compos'd of a Council of State, +whereof M. _de Hardenberg_ is Chief or President; which meets every day in +an Apartment of the Castle. To this all the Courts of Justice in the +Dominions of _Hanover_ are subject, and accountable. The Council of State +receives its Orders immediately from the King; and they are counter-signed +either by the Count _de Bothmar_, or by M. _de Hattorf_, the two _German_ +Ministers that attend his Majesty's Person. + +The Count _de Bothmar_[32] is an old Gentleman, who for a long time +resided in quality of the Elector's Envoy at the Court of _England_, +where, by his prudent Management for his Master, he cherished the most +incontestable Right that a Prince can possibly have to a Crown; I mean, +the Voice of the People. + +M. _de Hattorf_ is not only the Minister's Son, but has been his +Co-adjutor, for they had both the War-Office in their Province; for which +reason they were called _Louvois_ and _Barbesieux_, a Comparison which +does no Dishonour either to the one or to the other: for if the two +_Hattorfs_ have not made such a Blaze in the World, 'tis because they had +not a _Lewis_ XIV. for their Master, for they were not inferior to the +_French_ Ministers in Capacity, and Application to Business, and had not +their Pride and Arrogance. + +M. _de Munchausen_ is one of those Ministers of State who bears the most +Sway. He is of a Temper beneficent, mild, civil, very candid, sober, and +religious. He lives with Dignity, and his House is as open to Foreigners +as any in the City. + +The Marshal Baron _de Bulau_, is Commander in chief of the Forces[33]. He +has no manner of Dependance on the Council of State, and receives his +Orders immediately from the King, by M. _de Hattorf_ the Secretary at War. +The Promotion which the King makes of Officers is by the Recommendation of +M. _de Bulau_; and such as would enter into the Service must make their +Application to him. He serv'd with Distinction in the _Netherlands_, under +my Lord Duke of _Marlborough_. He has actually under his Command 18000 +Men, which is the Complement of the King of _Great Britain_'s Forces, as +Elector. His Majesty indeed, keeps in pay 12000 _Hessians_,[34] and 4000 +Men of the Troops of _Wolfenbuttle_. 'Tis true, those Forces are paid by +_England_, but to me it seems they are only to defend the King's Dominions +in _Germany_. + +Tho' the Sovereign is absent, yet here are not wanting Amusements; there +being many good Families, and a number of amiable Persons. + +The lovely Countess of _Delitz_, Niece to the Dutchess of _Kendal_, cou'd +not fail of Adorers, even in the most barbarous Countries; for the Charms +of her Mind are not inferior to the Beauty, Sweetness, and Gracefulness of +her Person. + +No Lady can have a better Temper or Behaviour than the Baroness _de +Bulau_, Daughter-in-law to the Marshal, and Daughter to the late Countess +of _Platen_: her Husband is a worthy Gentleman, and keeps a very good +House. + +The Count _de Platen_, hereditary Post-Master-General, is one of the +richest Subjects in the Electorate, and one that spends the most Money. A +Foreigner will always have cause to speak well of M. _de Rheden_, Captain +of the Castle, and M. _de Wagenheim_, the great Cup-Bearer. Messieurs +_d'Ilten_ live splendidly; and both the Brothers, the eldest of whom is a +Colonel of the Guards, are amiable and infinitely polite. If ever you come +hither, you will certainly have reason to be fond of their Company. + +The Situation of _Hanover_ is very agreeable; and in its Neighbourhood are +several pretty Seats. Among these _Herenhausen_ (the House of the _Lord_, +or the _Master_) is a Castle which was built by Order of the Elector +_Ernest-Augustus_, the King's Grandfather. This House, to which a strait +Walk leads, bears no proportion to the Magnificence of its Gardens, which +are undeniably some of the finest in all _Europe_; being particularly +adorn'd with Water-Works that throw the Water up much higher than the +famous Fountain at _St. Cloud_, which was always look'd upon as the most +considerable of the kind[35]. + +Between _Hanover_ and _Herenhausen_, there are two fine Seats; of which, +one is call'd _Fantasie_, i. e. _the Whim_; and the other, _Monbrillant_, +or, _Mount-Pleasant_. They were built by two Sisters-in-law, _viz._ Madame +_de Kilmanseck_, (who after her Husband's Death, was by King _George_ I. +created Countess of _Arlington_) and the Countess of _Platen_. These two +Houses are a Proof of the good Taste of those Ladies, who were really an +Honour to _Germany_, for their Beauty, good Sense, Manners, and Genius. +They both died in their Prime, a little time after one another; my Lady +_Arlington_ in _England_, and the Countess of _Platen_ at _Hanover_, to +which she was not only an Ornament, but a Lustre. + +The Dominions of _Hanover_ are so considerable, that I have been assured +the Revenues are no less than six Millions of Crowns _per An._ Whether +this be true, I do not know; but I tell you what I was told myself. + +_Hamelen_ upon the _Weser_ is the only Town that can be reckoned a Place +of Defence. _Hanover_, _Zell_, and _Lunenbourg_, have Ramparts; +_Harbourg_, a Castle, or Citadel; but all so inconsiderable, that they are +not worth mentioning. + +There are few Sovereigns whose Finances are in so good a Condition as this +Elector's; which has been the happy Produce of three succeeding Reigns; +and the good [OE]conomy wherewith they were managed by the three last +Princes of the Electoral Family, has contributed infinitely to the Figure +it makes at this time. Mean-while, notwithstanding these Regulations, the +People were never oppress'd, and the Princes always lived with a Splendor +suitable to their Grandeur. _Ernest-Augustus_ obtained the Electoral +Dignity, not without making great Presents to the Court of _Vienna_, at a +time too when his Power was limited to the Dutchy of _Hanover_, and the +Bishoprick of _Osnabrug_. Tho' this Prince had a numerous Family to +provide for, he lived with Splendor, was fond of Magnificence and +Pleasures, gallant, generous, and liberal; and when he died, he left no +Debts to pay, and his Finances were in a good State. + +GEORGE I. his Son and Successor kept up a considerable Body of Troops, and +had a very splendid Court. As his Acquisitions were great, he distributed +his Favours where-ever he was inform'd there was a Necessity; and when he +came to the Throne, he made no Reform in this Court; so that their not +seeing him was the only Token of his Absence. At his Death, he left +immense Sums in his Treasury, and so glorious a Character, that his +Subjects still bless the Memory of his Reign. + +GEORGE II. his Son, and the Heir of his Crown, his Dominions, and Virtues, +behaves in the very same manner. While he lives and acts like a King, he +neither gives, on the one hand, into the Extravagance of vain Pomp and +Pageantry, nor on the other, into that sordid Thriftiness which debases +Royal Majesty, and extinguishes the Love of Subjects. He accumulates +Treasure without oppressing his People, who love him, and offer up their +Prayers for him, as I do for your Preservation; and + + _Am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER IV. + + + _SIR_, _Blanckenbourg, July 30, 1729._ + +I was six Hours travelling from _Hanover_ to BRUNSWIC, the Capital of the +Dutchy of that Name, which is a very great City, with Houses for the most +part of Timber. It was formerly a Free and Imperial City, and one of the +_Hanse_-Towns; but falling under the Sovereignty of the Princes of the +House of _Brunswic_, they reduced it to a level with the other Towns of +their Dominions. It belongs to the Duke of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg +Wolfembuttle_. The Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ began to fortify it; and his Son +_Augustus-William_, the present Duke[36], perfected what remained +unfinished at his Father's Death, and made _Brunswic_ a Place which cannot +be besieged without a numerous Army: But then on the other hand, it would +require such an Army to garison it as the Duke could not furnish without +the help of his Neighbours, and which besides, wou'd not perhaps be +extraordinary convenient for him to introduce. The said Duke has caused a +new Palace to be built, which is large and magnificent, and the Furniture +is rich, new, and excellently well chosen. Among the rest, there are very +fine Pictures, and a Cabinet full of Curiosities. + +The Duke of _Blanckenbourg_, Brother to the Duke of _Wolfembuttle_, has a +particular Palace, where he resides in the Fair-time, but it did not +appear to me to be a House of any consequence. + +The Fairs of _Brunswic_ contribute very much to make it a rich and famous +City, there being two held every Year, and a considerable Trade carried on +at both. + +There is very good Diversion during these Fairs; for then all the Ducal +Family is generally at _Brunswic_; to which foreign Princes come often, +and there is always a great Concourse of the Nobility. The Duke sends +every Morning to invite the Quality of both Sexes, who at Noon repair to +the Palace. The Grand Marshal, for avoiding all Disputes about Precedency, +causes the Ladies to be match'd with the Gentlemen by the drawing of +Tickets; and sometimes it happens that a Dutchess is at the lower end of +the Table, which is served with very great Magnificence and Elegance. When +there are too many Guests to sit at one Table, the two Brothers keep each +a separate Table at his own Palace. At Night, the Company repairs to the +_German_ Opera, which being ended, they pass into Rooms joining to the +Theatre where they play, and sup, and then dance. The Ball is open'd by +the Gentleman who happened to draw the first Number in the Morning, and +continues till Day-break. + +The Ducal Family of _Brunswic-Wolfembuttle_ consists now but of two +Brothers; the eldest of whom, the Duke[37] _Augustus-William_, has had +three Wives, but no Issue. He is married to a Princess of +_Holstein-Norbourg_. + +These two Princes are so far advanced in Years, that the Duke +_Ferdinand-Albert_ of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Bevern_, Son-in-law to the Duke +of _Blanckenbourg_[38], is looked upon as their presumptive Heir. _Europe_ +produces few Princes of more distinguished Merit, who have equal +Knowledge, more Learning, and Integrity, or more Valour and Experience in +War. He has acquired a noble Reputation in _Hungary_; and he is not only a +Brother-in-law to the Emperor, but one of his favourite Generals, and has +a Regiment in his Service[39]. + +His Family consists of four Sons and three Daughters[40] by his Wife +_Antonietta-Amelia_ of _Brunswic-Blanckenbourg_. These are very hopeful +young Princes. The eldest, whose Name is _Charles_[41], is of a lovely +Make, and has Sense infinitely beyond his Years. The eldest Princess, +_Elizabeth-Christina_[42], at twelve Years of Age may pass for one that is +compleatly grown; her Air is noble and modest; her Features regular; in a +word, she is form'd to make that Prince happy who is one day to be her +Husband. + +The Court of _Wolfembuttle_ is numerous, and when assembled does not want +for Magnificence. + +The Ministers of most Power are the Baron _Stein_[43], and the Count _de +Debn_[44]. The former is descended of an illustrious Family in _Swabia_: +He was in the Service of the Landgrave of _Darmstadt_, and his Envoy at +the Dyet of _Ratisbon_, and several Courts, where he made himself +considerable by his Eloquence, the Justness of his Sentiments, by the Ease +with which he expresses them, and by his Politeness. + +The Count _de Dehn_ is a Native of _Mecklemburg_, where he was born of a +good Family, and enter'd very young a Page to Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ of +_Brunswic-Wolfembuttle_. He had the Happiness to please that Prince, but +much more his Successor, the Duke _Augustus-William_, who of his Page, +made him his Favourite and Minister, heaped Wealth and Honours upon him, +and match'd him to the Daughter of his Chancellor, who was one of the +richest Heiresses in all _Germany_. + +The young Minister finding himself rich and powerful, quickly thought the +Court of _Wolfembuttle_ too narrow a Stage for Action. He had chose the +Count _de Fleming_, Prime Minister of the King of _Poland_, for a Model. +He saw that this Minister, under pretence of important Negotiations, went +to the chief Courts of the Empire to make a Parade of his Riches; and +young _Dehn_ long'd with Impatience to imitate him. He procur'd himself to +be nominated the Duke's Envoy Extraordinary to _Holland_ and _France_, +where he vy'd in every respect with the Ambassadors of the chief Crowns. +In fine, after having staid about eighteen Months at _Paris_, he went away +very much lamented by the Merchants and Workmen with whom he had dealings. +He came to _Wolfembuttle_ to receive the Applauses of his Master, and to +rest himself after the Fatigues he had undergone in his important +Negotiations. + +As Count _Fleming_ was honoured with the Orders of _Denmark_, _Russia_, +and _Poland_, his Rival too thought he could not do without one Ribbon at +least; and thinking the Order of _Dannebrock_ the most proper for him, +because it was white, he demanded and obtained it of _Frederic_ IV. the +King of _Denmark_. When he saw himself thus adorn'd, he procured himself +to be sent to _Vienna_. What business he had there, I know not; but he was +scarce ever from the Emperor, and in order to be nearer to his Person, he +lodged just by the Palace of the _Favorita_. He often relieved the Cares +of the Ministry by making some Entertainment or Ball. He had an admirable +Genius for Dancing, so that every body thought him the Inventor of +Country-Dances. The Emperor gave him the Title of a Count, with which he +returned to his own Court. + +When Glory has once fir'd a noble Soul, nothing can keep it within Bounds. +The Count _de Dehn_ had lost his first Wife, who left him the Heir of +three great Estates; and he married again to an amiable Lady, who return'd +him Love for Love. Tho' he was dear to his Master, yet he could not +resolve to continue at _Wolfembuttle_, because he had a Taste for nothing +but Treaties and Negotiations. He returned a second time, as Envoy +Extraordinary to the _States-General_, but did not stay long at the +_Hague_; for after having had his publick Audience, wherein he assured +their High-Mightinesses of the sincere Affection of his Master for their +Republic, and of his own personal Joy to find himself seated in an +Arm-Chair in their Assembly, he went over to _England_ to reside at the +Court of his _Britannic_ Majesty. He was admired for his Grandeur, as much +in _England_ as elsewhere; but the Air of that Country not agreeing with +the Delicacy of his Constitution, he return'd to _Germany_; and, after +having made a tour to the chief Courts of the Empire, he is come back to +_Wolfembuttle_, where he stays in expectation that some great Event or +other will turn up, that he may be employ'd in some remarkable Embassy, +whereby _Europe_, attentive to every thing that relates to him, may have +fresh Proofs of his great Talents. + +The Baron _de Hagen_ is Commander in Chief of the Duke's Troops, which +actually amount to above 4000 Men, and 'tis said, that his Highness's +Revenues exceed two Millions of Crowns. His Subjects are not the worst +used of any in _Germany_. 'Tis a good fruitful Country; the Peasants, who +are sober and laborious, are as clownish and as stupid as those that herd +with the Hogs in _Westphalia_; but they are robust, strong, and good +Soldiers. + +In _Brunswic_ there is a Catholick Church which is small, but neat. The +Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ caus'd it to be built at the time he embraced the +Catholick Religion; which he did, after full Conviction, not many Years +before his Death. + +_Saltzdahl_, a Pleasure-House belonging to the Duke, is a League from +_Brunswic_, and from _Wolfembuttle_. It was built by Duke _Anthony-Ulric_, +one of the most magnificent Princes of his Time, and one who had the most +elegant Taste. This House is worthy of nice Observation. It has a great +Gallery with a Collection of Pictures in it by the chief Painters, which +is not to be met with elsewhere. In one great Cabinet there is very fine +Porcellane; and in another, a vast number of Vessels and Urns painted by +_Raphael_. In short, the Curious can't want here for Entertainment. + +The Road from _Brunswic_ to WOLFEMBUTTLE is as pleasant as most Roads. We +cross a little Wood through which there are several Routes cut, and as we +come near the Town, several pretty Seats appear in view. + +The Town of _Wolfembuttle_ is not half so big as _Brunswic_, nor is it +better built, the Houses being of Timber. The Fortifications seem to me to +be in good Repair. The Castle, or Ducal Palace, is ancient, and makes no +great Appearance, but 'tis commodious, and has good Lodging-Rooms. That +which most deserves the Attention of a Traveller, is the Library, which is +one of the best chosen in _Europe_, and contains very scarce Books and +Manuscripts. + +As I had left the Court at _Brunswic_ I did not stay many Hours at +_Wolfembuttle_, but came to lie here at BLANCKENBOURG, where I have all +that Heart can wish for. + +The Duke is as affable and as civil a Prince as any in the World. In his +Youth he visited the principal Courts of _Europe_, where he contracted a +great Politeness, and a solid Taste of Elegancy. He loves the _Belles +Lettres_, protects the Arts and Sciences, and looks out for Men of Ability +to serve him. He is magnificent, generous, a good Prince, and a kind +Master. He was at one and the same time, the Father of an Empress, and the +Grandfather of an Emperor. As a Father, he has a considerable Pension from +the Emperor of _Germany_; and as a Grandfather, he has been honour'd with +the Order of St. _Andrew_ of _Muscovy_, founded by _Peter_ the Great, +which is a blue Ribbon, with St. _Andrew_'s Cross appendant to it +enamell'd with blue. This Prince is also a Commander of _Suplenbourg_, a +Commandery of the Order of St. _John_, annexed to the House of _Brunswic_. +He has had three Daughters by his Wife _Elizabeth-Christina_ of +_Oetingen_. + +The Dutchess, tho' advanc'd in Years, retains an Air of Grandeur and +Majesty which strikes the Beholders, and her Features discover the Marks +of that shining Beauty which she had in her Youth. But what renders this +Princess more venerable than even her Birth, is her solid Piety, her just +Discernment, her lively Imagination, her noble and easy manner of +expressing herself, and her Principles of Humanity, accompany'd with a +Generosity free from all Ostentation. + +I had the honour to pay my Duty to her at _Brunswic_, some Years ago, when +she receiv'd me with such Tokens of Goodness as rejoic'd my very Heart; +and upon all Occasions since, she has been pleas'd to give me fresh Proofs +of it. As I can be of no service to this Princess in any Case, nor so +happy as to be able to contribute to her Glory, 'tis my Ambition to make +every one, and you, Sir, in particular, sensible of the Respect and +Attachment with which I am devoted to her, and of the grateful Sense I +have of the Benevolence with which she has honour'd me. + +The Courtiers of _Blanckenbourg_ are, like their Master, very polite. M. +_de Munchausen_ is the chief of the Duke's Council, and was formerly in +the Service of the Duke of _Wolfembuttle_. He is a Gentleman of great +Learning, Labour, and Vigilance, and has a distinct and noble Manner of +Delivery. He is heartily attach'd to his Master; and the Courtiers seem'd +to me to have an Esteem and Affection for him. Men of solid Judgment, and +who have been more conversant with this Minister than I, have assured me +that he is one of the greatest Genius's at this present, in _Germany_[45]. + +M. _de Sporck_ is the Grand Marshal, which Employment he acquits himself +in with very great Politeness and Care. He is come of a good Family, his +Father being Minister of State, and Director of the Dutchies of _Zell_ +and _Lunenbourg_. M. _de Polentz_[46] does the Honours of the Court under +him, in quality of Great Cup-Bearer. As he had his Education at Court, he +is vastly polite; and Foreigners cannot but be pleas'd with his good +Behaviour. + +The Duke and Dutchess delight to see Foreigners at their Court, whom they +load with Civilities, and will have them always to dine and sup with their +Highnesses. After Dinner, they take the Air, or make Visits; and in the +Evening there's an Assembly in the Dutchess's Apartment, where they play, +then sup, and afterwards every one retires. We have had a Comedy twice or +thrice, which is acted by the young People of the Family, who perform +their Parts very well; especially in the Tragedies of _Corneille_ and +_Racine_, translated into _High-Dutch_. + +The Pleasures of the Carnival are more gay, at which time the Duke makes +Entertainments: There's a Ball, a Masquerade, and Comedy at Court, every +Day; and for the time there's so great a Concourse of Strangers here from +the neighbouring Towns, that sometimes 'tis impossible to get a Lodging. + +The Town of BLANCKENBOURG is small, and the Houses ill built, and +inconvenient. The Duke has done all in his power to engage the Inhabitants +to build; he has offer'd them Materials _gratis_, and has moreover +endeavour'd to inspire them with a Taste for the Arts; but all without +Success. + +I never in my whole Life, saw People more indolent and clownish than those +of _Blanckenbourg_, and the neighbouring Towns. They are so bigotted to +old Customs, that they say, _My Father liv'd so, and so will I; My Father +did not do this, nor will I_. I cannot conceive how People, so dull as +they are, and so strongly attach'd to the Institutions of their +Forefathers, came to give into _Luther_'s Reformation.[47] + +_Blanckenbourg_ is a petty County, which Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ yielded in +his Life-time to his second Son, to make him some sort of Compensation for +the Right of Primogeniture, which he had newly introduc'd into his Family, +to that Son's prejudice: For the Princes of _Brunswic_ had for a long time +been us'd to a Partition of Lands in their Families. The _Hanover_ Branch +was the first that abolish'd that Custom, pernicious to great Families. +Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ was only restrain'd from it by Pr. _Lewis_ his second +Son, whom he lov'd more than his eldest; and not caring to leave him +without Dominions, to the Discretion of a Brother, he gave him Possession +of this State in his Life-time; because he was of Opinion, that after his +Death, his Will wou'd have the Fate of not being executed by his +Successor, according to the Custom introduc'd among Sovereigns. With them +'tis a Right of Regale, but for us to do so, is a Crime. + +As the County of _Blanckenbourg_ does not give Admittance into the College +of Princes at the Dyet of the Empire, so it does not give the Rank of a +Sovereign Prince to the Person in possession of it. The Duke, in order to +procure himself both these Privileges, made a Treaty with the Elector of +_Hanover_, whereby he got that Prince to yield him the Vote and Seat which +he enjoy'd in the Dyet for his Dutchy of _Grubenhagen_: And the Duke, on +his part, engaged never to vote at the Dyet but in conformity to the +Sentiments of the Elector. After his Decease, or if he happens to succeed +his Brother, the Vote and Session for _Grubenhagen_ revert to the +Elector[48]. + +This, Sir, is all that I can say to you at present. Their Highnesses being +to set out in a few days for _Oetingen_, where they use to go every +Summer, I propose to go forthwith to _Leipsic_ and _Dresden_: And at the +latter Place I hope to hear from you. + + I am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER V. + + + _SIR_, _Dresden, August 30, 1729._ + +From _Blanckenbourg_ we have till'd Lands, and fruitful Fields; with Woods +of Oak interspers'd all the way, till we come to MAGDEBOURG, the Capital +of a Dutchy of that Name, formerly an Archbishoprick, but secularised at +the Treaty of _Westphalia_, in favour of the House of _Brandenbourg_, to +whom that Dutchy was yielded in exchange for their resigning Hither +_Pomerania_ to _Sweden_. This City has for these two Centuries past, +suffer'd very much. It was besieg'd by the Emperor _Charles_ V. who +squeez'd considerable Sums from it. But it fared worse in that unhappy War +which divided _Germany_ during the space of 30 Years; for the Counts _de +Tilly_ and _Papenheim_ commanding the Imperial Army in 1631, took it by +Storm, put the Inhabitants to the Sword, and reduc'd the whole City almost +to Ashes. Nevertheless, 'tis since pretty well recover'd, and has some +fine Houses. The great Square before the King's Palace has few equal to it +for its Extent, and for the fine Houses that encompass it, which are all +uniform, three Stories high, and were all raised in this Reign. In this +same Square there's an Arsenal, which really is not so magnificent as that +of _Berlin_, but may be rank'd among the chief Arsenals in _Europe_. This +is a populous Town, and has a more flourishing Trade than any other City +in the King of _Prussia_'s Dominions. + +The great Church, which was formerly the Metropolitan, is ancient, and one +of the largest and most magnificent Buildings in _Germany_. It has still +some Reliques to shew, particularly the Basin in which _Pilate_ washed his +Hands, after having pass'd Sentence of Death upon our Saviour; the +Lanthorn[49] which _Judas_ made use of when he went to apprehend him; a +Thorn of the Crown that was planted on his Head: and things of the like +kind. + +The Chapter of _Magdebourg_ is still, bating the change of Religion, on +the same footing as before the Reformation. The Canons must all make Proof +of their Nobility; tho' 'tis a _Punctilio_ with which the King, who +confers all the Prebends and Dignities of the Chapter, sometimes +dispenses. The present Provost is the Duke of _Saxe-Barbi_, who succeeded +his Father in that Dignity, which brings him in 12000 Crowns a-year. He +lives in a fine House on the great Square, fronting the Palace, built by +the Order of King _Frederic_ I. who also caus'd a Citadel to be erected +here, on the other side of the _Elbe_, over which there is a Bridge. That +King began likewise to fortify the Town; and King _Frederic-William_, who +carried on, and finish'd the Fortifications, has now made _Magdebourg_ one +of the most important Places in _Europe_. M. _de Walrave_, Chief Engineer, +had the Direction of those Works, which are a Proof of his great Ability. + +The Margrave _Albert_ of _Brandenbourg_[50], Brother to the late King +_Frederic_ I. is Governour of the Dutchy of _Magdebourg_; as is the Prince +of _Anhalt-Dessau_ of the Town, where he has a numerous Garrison under his +command. The Arsenal, which is a fine Structure, and full of Cannon, and +small Arms, is worth seeing. + +The King of _Prussia_ having it much at heart to render _Magdebourg_ a +flourishing Town, has transferr'd the Regency of the Dutchy hither, which +was heretofore at _Halle_; and for this reason there are several good +Houses in the Town. The Dutchy of _Magdebourg_ is one of the best +Provinces in the _Prussian_ Dominions. It has a great Income from the +_Elbe_, and the Salt-Works. The Catholicks are allowed a Toleration of +their Religion in the Dutchy, and have Churches in the Town. + +The Roads from _Magdebourg_ to _Leipsic_, are so bad at this time, by +reason of the Rains that have fallen for some Days past, that I have been +three Days in getting from the one Town to the other. Indeed I went some +Leagues out of my way, on purpose to see BARBI and COHTEN. The first of +these Towns belongs to a Prince of the House of _Saxony_, of the Branch +of _Weissenfeld_; and has nothing considerable but the Prince's Palace, +which makes a good appearance, and has commodious Apartments, elegantly +furnished. There is a Salon, and a Closet, the Cielings of which are +painted by _Peine_, and not the worst things he has done. The Palace has +Gardens delightfully situate by the side of the _Elbe_. The Duke _de +Barbi_ is the only Prince of the House of _Saxony_ who professes the +_Calvinist_ Religion, in which he was educated by his Father, who was at +first a _Lutheran_. This Prince is a comely handsome young Man. He married +_N---- de Wirtemberg-Oels_[51], but has no Children. He has been in the +Service of _Prussia_, and is Grand Provost of the Chapter of _Magdebourg_, +and Knight of the Order of the White Eagle of _Poland_. + +COHTEN, which is bigger than _Barbi_ by one half, belongs to a Prince of +_Anhalt_[52]; the only one of his Branch, tho' he has had two Wives. I +desired leave to kiss his Hand; but he excused himself by pretending an +Indisposition. I have observed that petty Princes are always more +difficult of Access than great ones. The Town has no Fortifications; and I +walk'd about a good while to see if there was any thing remarkable, but +'twas to no purpose; and I was oblig'd to confine myself to my Inn, which +was one of the worst in _Europe_. + +LEIPSIC stands in a fruitful Plain. This City, so famous for its Fairs, +and for its University, may justly pass for the Jewel of the Electorate +of _Saxony_; not only for the Beauty of its Structures, but for the +considerable Revenue which it yields to its Sovereign, the King of +_Poland_. 'Tis small, and fac'd with Ramparts, and a Ditch; but all these +Fortifications are of little consequence. Its Castle, or rather Citadel, +which joins to the Town, is a Place of greater Importance. There is always +a good Garrison and Governour in it, who is at present General +_Baumgarten_. As the Castle passes under the Denomination of the King's +House, the _Roman_ Catholicks have had a Chapel there ever since +_Augustus_ II. embraced their Religion. + +The Suburbs of _Leipsic_ are very large. The City has four Gates newly +built of Free-Stone, which are magnificent, tho' not according to the +Rules of Architecture. + +At each Gate they have newly set up a Mile-Post, such as the _Romans_ had +formerly. There are the like Posts at the Gates of all the Towns, and even +at the Villages in the Electorate of _Saxony_. From hence they count the +Leagues, which are divided at the end of every Quarter of a Mile, by other +Posts not so big, upon all the great Roads, shewing the Distances of the +Places, and of the chief Towns; which is a mighty Convenience to +Travellers, who were heretofore often impos'd upon by the Post-Masters, as +to the Length of the Roads. + +The Houses of _Leipsic_ are large, very high, and substantially built of +Free-Stone; and their being adorn'd with great fine Windows helps to set +them off to the Eye. The Ground-Floors of most of the Houses are +Warehouses, in which the foreign Merchants store the Goods they sell at +the Fairs, which are three in number every Year, _viz._ at +_New-Year's-day_, _Easter_, and _Michaelmass_. The Concourse of Foreigners +here at the Fair-Season, is so great that 'tis often a hard matter to get +a Lodging here for Love or Money. I myself saw in 1709, at the +_New-year's_ Fair, the late King of _Prussia_, the King and Queen of +_Poland_, and 44 Princes or Princesses of Sovereign Families. The two +Kings and the Queen lodged at the House of _Appel_, a Merchant; where the +King of _Poland_ always resides when he comes to _Leipsic_. + +The University, formerly so famous, is very much decay'd: That of _Halle_, +its Neighbour, and its Rival, in the King of _Prussia_'s Dominions, takes +away a great many Students from it. They say that for some time past there +have been more able Professors at _Halle_, where besides 'tis much cheaper +living than at _Leipsic_; and where the Students are not such +Spendthrifts, nor so much addicted to Expence and Gallantry. + +The Gardens of Messieurs _Appel_ and _Pose_, Merchants, in the Suburbs, +are worth seeing. The first is large and magnificent: In the second are +very uncommon Plants, cultivated with very great Care. The Gardeners of +_Leipsic_, who are reckon'd the best in all _Germany_, value themselves +upon forcing Nature; so that I have seen here, at _Easter_ Fair, the +Fruits, Flowers, and Pulse, of all the Seasons. The Asparagus here is +delicious, and extraordinary large. Another Nicety at _Leipsic_, is its +Larks, which are sent over all _Germany_; nay, to _Poland_, _Holland_ and +_Denmark_. I was assured, but I will not vouch for the Truth of it, that +the very Custom-Duty paid for Larks at _Leipsic_, amounted to 12000 Crowns +a-year; which Sum I thought the more considerable, because I think I have +heard it said, that 60 Larks pay but a Grosh[53] the Duty; judge then how +many there must be to make up the Sum of 12000 Crowns. But be it true or +false, 'tis certain that there is not a Country in the World where these +Birds are taken in such quantities; for, from _Michaelmass_ to +_Martinmass_, the Fields are cover'd with 'em. + +Another Singularity is the multitude of Nightingales, in the Woods near +_Leipsic_; whereof they take great numbers, and keep them in Cages: The +Innkeeper's Daughter, where I lodged, had seven of them; and I have seen a +great many at other Houses. + +'Tis surprizing that so plentiful a Country as _Saxony_ shou'd have no +better Ordinarys. I don't mean _Leipsic_ and _Dresden_, where, considering +one is in _Germany_, we come off pretty well; tho' were it so in +_Holland_, the _Netherlands_, or in _France_, we shou'd not think +ourselves well us'd. I mean the little Towns and Villages in a Road so +frequented as that from _Leipsic_ to _Dresden_. There's Provision to be +had at these Ordinarys, but then 'tis so ill dress'd, and the Houses so +nasty, that 'tis enough to turn one's Stomach. + +Setting out from _Leipsic_, at the opening of the Gates, I came betimes to +WERMSTORF, or HUBERTSBOURG, (St. _Hubert_'s Palace,) a magnificent +Hunting-Seat, which the Electoral Prince of _Saxony_ is building at the +Entrance of a Forest, where there are several Roads cut. This House is +five Miles from _Leipsic_, and eight from _Dresden_; and when 'tis +finish'd, will be large and magnificent: Men are hard at work upon it, and +the main Body of it is already compleated. Their Royal Highnesses, the +Prince and Princess, generally hunt here at Spring and Autumn. The +Equipage for the Stag-hunting is very fine, the Liveries being Yellow, +with Facings of blue Velvet, and Silver Lace at all the Seams. + +After I had walk'd an Hour or two at _Hubertsbourg_, I proceeded on my +Journey, and came to Dinner at MEISSEN, the Capital of _Misnia_. This City +has nothing particular, besides its Manufacture of Porcellane, which is +so finely painted and enamell'd with Gold, that it is more beautiful than +the Porcellane of _Japan_, and much dearer. The Invention of it is owing +to an Alchymist, or one that pretended to be such; who had persuaded a +great many People he cou'd make Gold. The King of _Poland_ believ'd it as +well as others, and to make sure of his Person, caus'd him to be committed +to the Castle of _Konigstein_, three Miles from _Dresden_. There, instead +of making Gold, that solid precious Metal, which puts Mankind on +committing so many Follies, he invented Brittle Porcellane; by which, in +one Sense, he made Gold, because the great Vent of that Ware brings a deal +of Money into the Country. + +After having pass'd the _Elbe_, over a wooden Bridge, going out of +_Meissen_, I came in less than three Hours to DRESDEN, the Capital of the +Electorate of _Saxony_. The City is pretty large, fortify'd with Art and +Regularity; and very lightsome. Its Houses are high and substantial, the +Streets broad, strait, well pav'd, neat, and in the Night-time well +lighted. There are great Squares in it; and the whole City is so well laid +out, that _Dresden_ may be rank'd among the finest in the World. + +The _Elbe_ divides it into two Parts; which are distinguished by Old and +New _Dresden_, and join'd together by a Bridge of Stone. + +In order to give you a more perfect Idea of this City, I shall point out +to you such things as I took most notice of. I shall begin with Old +_Dresden_, which is the first that we come to from _Meissen_. At the +Entrance of the Town, on the right hand, there is a great House, called +the Palace of the _Indies_, or _Holland_ House, which the King bought some +Years ago of his Prime Minister, the Marshal Count _de Fleming_. All the +Rooms of this Palace, which consists of three Stories, are so many +Closets of _Japan_ and _China_ Wares. I don't believe that all the +Warehouses in _Amsterdam_ put together, are capable of furnishing such a +quantity of uncommon old Porcellane, as is to be found here. The value of +it is computed at a Million of Crowns. The very Houshold-Goods are +_Indian_. There is one Set of Furniture, the like of which I never saw +elsewhere: It consists of Feathers of various Colours, and all natural; +inlaid with so much Art, that it might be taken for a fine flower'd +Sattin. + +This magnificent Palace has a Garden belonging to it, which looks towards +the _Elbe_. It is adorn'd with Statues of white Marble, which the King +caus'd to be purchas'd at _Rome_, of the Cardinals _Annibal_ and +_Alexander Albani_, Nephews to _Clement_ XI. These Statues are much more +priz'd here than they were at _Rome_. + +Near the Palace of the _Indies_ stands that of the Cadets; a magnificent +Structure built by the States of _Saxony_, for maintaining two Companies +of Cadets, all Gentlemen of the Country; who are there instructed in all +the Sciences fitting for Persons of Quality. + +Farther up in the same Street, there is an Amphitheatre, or Area, for the +Battles of wild Beasts; of which a great number is kept for that purpose. +Here are Lions, Tigers, Bears; in short, all the fiercest Animals from the +four Quarters of the World. + +The Bridge over the _Elbe_, which joins Old _Dresden_ to the New, is +scarce to be parallel'd, either for its Length or Substance. It has lately +been made broader by forming Demy-Arches which support the Riders on each +side. The Barriers are of Iron, well wrought. An Equestrian Statue of the +King is going to be erected upon it. + +The Palace or Castle joins to the Bridge, at the Entrance of New +_Dresden_. This is an ancient Structure, which makes but a mean +Appearance; and 'tis said, that the King intends it shall be pull'd down, +and another built in its room; and that his Majesty has set apart eight +Millions of Crowns for the Expence of it. + +The inside of the Castle surpasses the outside. The State-Room is +splendidly furnish'd. The Great Gallery contains several Curiosities, such +as antique Busts, Vessels, and Pictures. + +This Palace has two Chapels, one of which belongs to the _Roman_ +Catholicks, and the other to the _Lutherans_. The first was heretofore the +Theatre for Operas, but the King turn'd it into a Chapel, upon account of +the Marriage of his only Son with the Archdutchess, eldest Daughter to the +Emperor _Joseph_; the second was always the Chapel of the Electors of +_Saxony_. The King might, if he pleas'd, have order'd Mass to be +celebrated in it, but he wou'd not give his Subjects that Handle for +Complaint; besides, the late Queen, his Wife, having always stuck to the +_Lutheran_ Religion, in which she was born, he left her that Chapel for +her use. The Treasure of it is extremely rich, and contains Vessels, +Chasubles, and other things heretofore consecrated and given to this +Chapel by the Piety of the Electors. + +The Royal Treasury, commonly call'd the _Grune Gewlbe_, (the Green +Vault,) is in the Palace. They are three arch'd Rooms, which contain +immense Riches, and shine all over with Gold, Precious Stones, and +Diamonds. 'Tis one of the finest Places in the World. There are several +Sets of Brilliant Diamonds, Rubies, Emeralds, Pearls, Saphirs, and other +Precious Stones. Every Set is compleat, and consists of Buttons for +Clothes, Loops for Hats, Swords, Hangers, Canes, Sleeve-Buttons, +Shoe-Buckles, Muffs, and Sword-Belts, Snuff-Boxes, Watches, +Tweezer-Cases, Pocket-Books; in short, all the Jewels that can possibly be +imagin'd, even to the Furniture of a Horse; so that were I to write down +every Particular, I should furnish you a Volume. And they all look the +better, for being ranged with wonderful Nicety in Cases of Crystal. + +To the Castle belongs a Garden, call'd the _Zwinger Garten_, which is the +_Tuilleries_ of _Dresden_, but not extensive enough to deserve the Name of +a Garden. 'Tis encompass'd with Buildings of Free-Stone, which are +Green-Houses for Orange-Trees. The Structure consists but of one Floor, on +which are rais'd six large Pavilions, _viz._ three in front at the +Entrance, two on the sides, and one over the Portico at the Entrance; +which have all a Communication with one another, by a Platform that has +Balustrades adorn'd with Statues. It wou'd be hard to lay what Order of +Architecture prevails most in this Edifice, the Carv'd-Work with which it +is decorated, being more of the _Gothic_ than the modern Taste. + +Near to this Building there's a Palace which makes a great Shew, but the +Apartments are by much too small, and too low for the Ornaments employ'd +about them. The King caus'd this House to be built for the Countess _de +Cosel_, at the time when that Lady was in high Favour. No Cost was spar'd +in it; but 'tis pity that a more skilful Architect had not been pitched +upon to conduct it. + +There are five or six other Houses, which are here call'd _Hotels_, but in +_Italy_ wou'd certainly pass for Palaces. The Hotel _de Fuhl_ in the +Street of _Pirnitz_ is one of this number. It was erected by the Great +Marshal _de Fuhl_ who on his Death-bed left it to his Wife, of whom it was +purchas'd by the Count _de Fleming_. That Minister sold it soon after to +the King, who made considerable Embellishments in it, and furnished it +richly. In this Condition his Majesty gave it in 1728, to the Marshal _de +Wackerbarth_, to make him amends when he had been burnt out of the House +he liv'd in, as Governour of _Dresden_. After this, the Governour's House +being rebuilt, the King bought the other House again of the Count _de +Wackerbarth_, and has made it a Depositary of his Medals, Antiquities, and +Curiosities. + +To be sure you have heard that this Fire broke out at the Governour's +House in the Night-time, while the King of _Prussia_ was here. His Majesty +actually lodg'd at the Governour's House; and was in Bed when the Fire +burst out with such fury that he had but just time to make his Escape in +his Night-Gown, and to save a little Box in which there were Papers of +consequence; for the Floor of his Bed-Chamber fell in, the moment after +the King was gone out of it. An Officer, his Wife, and her Maid-Servant +perish'd in the Flames. The Count _de Wackerbarth_ only sav'd his Wardrobe +and his Plate; for his fine Library, and a noble Collection which he had +of Drawings, one of the compleatest and best chosen Setts in _Europe_, +were consum'd. + +The Hotel of _Hoyhm_ is the most considerable Building in _Dresden_. In +about six Years time it had four different Owners. It was founded by the +King's Favourite, the Count _de Fitztuhm_[54], his Great Chamberlain, and +Minister of State; who having been kill'd in a Duel at _Warsaw_, by the +Count _de St. Gilles_, a _Piedmontese_ that came to _Poland_ to seek +his Fortune, his Widow sold it to Marshal _Fleming_, who dying at _Vienna_ +not long after he had purchased it, the House fell to his Son, a weakly +Child, who did not long survive him. His Mother, who was a _Radzivil_, was +his Heiress, and one of the greatest Matches in _Europe_. She was soon +after married again to a _Polander_ whom she follow'd into his own +Country; and when she left _Dresden_, she sold her House to the Count _de +Hoym_, who at present occupies it. + +Not far from this House are the King's Stables, which are well worth +seeing, there being a great number of wonderful fine Horses, and some of +all sorts of the rarest Breeds. Over the Stables, are Rooms full of fine +Equipage, consisting of sumptuous Saddles and Housings, Sleds and +magnificent Harness. Many of these Equipages are of the _Turkish_ Mode, +and plated with massy Silver, adorn'd with precious Stones. + +The Arsenal, which is much boasted of here, cannot be reckon'd a fine one +by any but such as have not seen the Arsenal of _Berlin_, to which it is +not to be compar'd. There are several Rooms in it full of Arms, Brass +Cannon, Helmets, and Cuirasses, which are the Tapestry of Arsenals. + +Thus, Sir, you have all that I observed in _Dresden_: it remains for me to +give you some Account of its Suburbs, and of the Pleasure-Houses which the +King has in the Neighbourhood of this City. + +The Suburbs of _Dresden_ are very extensive, but have no Building of +consequence, except the Palace in the King's great Garden, built by his +Majesty's Mother, and that call'd the _Turkish_ Palace, because it is +furnished entirely after the _Turkish_ manner. The King gave an +Entertainment at this Palace to the Princess his Daughter-in-law, on +account of her Arrival at _Dresden_, which was so particular that I think +it deserves a Digression. + +Upon the Feast-Day, the whole Court appeared at the _Turkish_ Palace, in +the Habits of _Turks_. The King came in the Dress of a _Sultan_, but +without any Attendance. His Majesty was soon after follow'd by the +Princess his Daughter-in-law, with her Ladies. Her Royal Highness, for +whom the Entertainment was made, found a Body of Janizaries drawn up in +the Court-Yard of the Palace. The King receiv'd her at the Entrance of his +Apartment, and conducted her into a Hall spread with fine Tapestry, and +laid with Cushions richly embroider'd. + +The King and Princess being seated, were served by twenty-four Negroes in +sumptuous Dresses, with Sherbet, Coffee, and Sweet-Meats, in great Vessels +of massy Silver; nor were scented Waters, and perfumed Handkerchiefs +forgot. After this Collation, they drew near the Windows to see the +_Pillau_ (which is the Rice of _Turky_) and the King's Bounty-Money +distributed to the Janizaries. This was follow'd by a Comedy, with an +Entertainment of _Turkish_ Dances. Then came the Supper, the Guests +sitting cross-legg'd upon the Cushions, and the Courses being served up +after the fashion of _Turky_, by the Negroes and young _Turks_. While they +were at Table, the Company was diverted by the various Leaps and Postures +of certain Tumblers and Rope-Dancers. Supper being over, they went into +the Garden, which was illuminated with several Thousands of Crystal Lamps. +There was Tilting, and shooting at the Mark, and whenever the Mark was +hit, a Sky-Rocket was sent up, which for the time seem'd to sprinkle +Thousands of Stars among those in the Firmament. After this, the Company +retir'd into the Palace, where the King and the Princess open'd the Ball, +and there was dancing till five o'clock in the Morning, when the Ball was +concluded with a sumptuous Breakfast that was serv'd at the several +Tables, after the manner of our own Country; which, with the leave of the +_Mussulmen_, is as good as theirs. + +The finest Royal Houses, are _Pilnitz_ and _Moritzbourg_. The King, who is +certainly of all Sovereigns the most magnificent, keeps Men continually at +work, in embellishing those Places. The Works are carried on by the +Direction of Mons. _Bot_, whom I think to be not inferior to _Bernini_, +and I doubt not, such is my high Idea of him, that as he is supported by +the Generosity of a Great King, he will accomplish such Works as are +worthy of himself, and of his Master too. + +I have now done with the Description of the Palaces and Royal Houses, in +which, I own I have been defective, and would gladly have been excus'd +from giving it; but you would have it, and I cou'd not help gratifying +you. I pass now to something more important; and shall entertain you with +the present State of the Royal Family, and the Characters of the most +distinguish'd Persons at Court. + +FREDERIC-AUGUSTUS II. King of _Poland_, and Elector of _Saxony_, is the +Chief of this August Family. This Monarch, whom no Man surpasses in +Strength and Dexterity, and whom few Princes equal in Generosity, is the +second Son of _John George_ III. Elector of _Saxony_. He succeeded his +Brother _John George_ IV. in the Electorate, and was chose King of +_Poland_ after the Death of the Great _Sobieski_, notwithstanding the +Intrigues of the Emissaries of _France_ who declared for the Prince of +_Conti_. + +When _Frederic-Augustus_ ascended the Throne, he brought all the Virtues +to it fitting for a Great King. The Agreeableness of his Person, his +Majestic Air, his Heroic Strength, his Good-Nature, his Politeness, and +his well-known Valour, were the least of his Qualities. Never was any +Prince more magnificent, nor did any one either give more, or with a +better Grace. As a General and a Statesman, he was never too much lifted +up by Prosperity, nor shock'd by Adversity; so that he was observed, when +in the depth of his Misfortunes, to act and treat even with his Enemies, +with that Air of Complaisance and Satisfaction, which Men inur'd to great +Affairs know how to assume, in the midst of the cruellest Mortifications. +This Prince, in his Youth, travelled to the chief Countries of _Europe_, +and where-ever he came, was admir'd for his Strength, his Air, and +Dexterity. Amongst other Adventures, a very odd one befel him in his +Travels, at _Venice_. There happen'd to be in that City a famous +Astrologer, who had the Reputation of being well read in the Book of Fate. +The King, who was only Prince at that time, had a mind that he should +calculate his Nativity, and for that purpose went to the Astrologer's +House, accompanied by two Gentlemen. They were all three dress'd in plain +Apparel, and the Prince, to disguise himself still the more, had conceal'd +his brown Hair under a fair Peruke. He enter'd the last Man, into the +Astrologer's House, and seem'd to be rather as an Attendant, than a +Companion of the others. But to him the Astrologer first address'd +himself, calling him by the Titles of _My Lord_ and _Highness_. The Prince +told him that his Rank in the World was much too mean for such high +Compliments; but the Astrologer made answer, he knew very well whom he +spoke to, and that it was in vain for him to think of concealing himself +from such a Man as he. The Prince and his small Retinue were then +conducted by him into a Closet, where he shewed him a Looking-Glass. _Cast +your Eye on that Mirror_, said he to the Prince, _and there you will see +the principal Events of your Life_. The Prince without any scruple, +look'd accordingly, and saw himself at first in the Habit of an Elector; +afterwards, with a Crown on his Head, and a royal Mantle on his Shoulders; +and at last, full of Wounds, and bath'd in his Blood. + +This Story, which I should not give you for true, if I had not heard it +from a great Nobleman who told me he had it from the King's own Mouth, is +however, not without a Parallel; for it is pretended, that a Mason told +Madam _de Maintenon_, when she was no more than Madam _Scarron_, what her +Fortune and Rank would be in _France_. I could mention several other +Instances to you of the same nature, which all surprize me, tho' they +don't convince me. Be it as it will, two Articles of the Prediction made +to the King of _Poland_ are fully accomplished; as to the third, may +Heaven confound the Astrologer[55]. + +The King of _Poland_ spends part of his time in his Kingdom, and part of +it in his Electorate. 'Tis true, that he seems to take more delight in +_Saxony_ than in _Poland_; and 'tis in my Opinion very natural for him to +do so; _Saxony_ being his hereditary Country, where he is so absolute +that his Will is the Law of his Subjects, by whom he is rather ador'd than +belov'd: besides, 'tis _Saxony_ that furnishes him wherewithal to support +his Dignity, and offers him every thing conducive to the Pleasures of a +Great King; and it is there that he has a Court, the most brilliant in +_Europe_, not only for its Splendor, but for Magnificence and Pleasures; +whereas in _Poland_, he has only the vain Pageantry of Royalty; being +under greater Limitations than any Sovereign in the World; so that the +least Innovation, the least Act of Authority, makes the _Poles_ clamorous, +and they presently think they are excused from paying him that Obedience +which they owe him. All the Gentlemen here are their own Masters; and the +Noblemen behave so much like Sovereigns, that they never go to Court but +to demand Favours, which if they obtain, they go away ungrateful, and if +they are deny'd, they retire with the Intention of taking a Revenge on the +first Opportunity: For the Climate being rough, the People are fierce; and +the King, tho' adored in _Saxony_, is scarce beloved in _Poland_. + +The Electoral Prince, this King's only Son, is lusty, proper, and well +made, and like the King his Father is adroit in all bodily Exercises. He +loves Pleasure, but 'tis with Moderation, and is heartily attach'd to the +Religion which he has embrac'd. He is stiff and reserved, without being +haughty, which is a Temper that he derives from the late Queen his +Mother[56], whom he very much resembles. To such as have the Honour of +Access to him, and of being known to him, he is gracious, familiar and +very civil. His Royal Highness has been admit'd for his good Qualities in +a great part of _Europe_, particularly in _Germany_, _France_, and +_Italy_, where he has spent several Years. No Son can have more respect to +a Parent than he has for the King his Father, whose Will and Pleasure he +never oppos'd in any one Instance; and whose Person he has always honour'd +even in his Ministers. Of all Pleasures he seems to bestow most Time in +Hunting; nevertheless he makes it only as an Amusement without being +passionately fond of it. His Royal Highness's Confident is _Solckofski_ or +_Sulkowski_[57], a _Polish_ Gentleman who was once his Page; and by thus +making him his Favourite, for which he cannot but be applauded, he shews +that he is capable of distinguishing true Merit. I had frequently the +Honour of making my Compliments to this Prince while he was at _Paris_, +and this is now the second time that I have had the same favour at +_Dresden_, where I find he is the same gracious Personage as ever. The +last time that I had the Honour of being introduc'd to him he talk'd a +great deal to me about _Paris_, and when he dismiss'd me, he said he was +sorry to think that _Dresden_ would not afford me so many Pleasures as +_Paris_. + +The same Day that I waited on the Prince, I was introduced to the Princess +his Royal Highness's Consort, who is the late Emperor _Joseph_'s eldest +Daughter. The Voice of the People is unanimous in the Character of this +Princess. All Mankind agrees that she has not her superior for +Good-nature, Piety, Charity, Modesty, and in a word for all, the Virtue of +the Soul: To please her Husband, and to give her Children an Education +suitable to their Birth, is her principal Endeavour. 'Tis rare to find a +happier Couple than their Royal Highnesses; for Marriage, which generally +cools the warmest Passions, seems on the contrary to have animated their +reciprocal Affection to such a degree that they are a Pattern for the +Imitation of their Court. + +Their Royal Highnesses Children are so young that I shall say but little +of them[58]. Their eldest Son very much resembles the Pictures that I have +seen of the Emperor _Joseph_ when he was a Child. This young Prince seems +to me to be of a very delicate Constitution, and has so great a Weakness +in his Knees that he can scarce stand: The Physicians say it will go off +as he grows up, but their Promises are no Gospel for me. + +The two Princes of the Blood, who commonly reside at _Dresden_, are +_John-Adolphus_ of _Saxe-Weissenfels_[59], a Prince of uncommon Merit, +whose Sentiments and Actions are no disparagement to his Birth; and +_Maurice-William_ of _Saxe-Zeits_, the last of his Branch. He was +persuaded by his Uncle the late Cardinal _de Saxe-Zeits_ to abjure the +_Lutheran_ Religion and to embrace the ecclesiastical State: He is Bishop +of _Konigsgratz_ in _Bohemia_, Provost of _Alten Ottingen_ in _Bavaria_, +and a Canon of _Cologne_, _Liege_, and _Aichstedt_, and is descended from +such a Family that it may be presum'd, he will some day or other, be +advanc'd to the Purple[60]. + +N. B. _What follows, is a more particular Account of the Electoral +Family of +Saxony+, translated from the Baron's State of it; which +is prefix'd to the second Edition of these +Memoirs+._ + +_Augustus_ III. King of _Poland_ Great Duke of _Lithuania_ and Elector of +_Saxony_, was born the seventh of _October_ 1696. He is the only Son of +_Augustus_ II. the last King of _Poland_ and of _Eberhardina_ of +_Brandenbourg-Bareith_. His Grandmother, _Anne_ Princess Royal of +_Denmark_, Widow of _John George_ the third Elector of _Saxony_, took care +of him in his Infancy, and impress'd him with those Sentiments of Piety, +Humanity, and Justice, which render him at this day the Darling of his +People, and the Pattern of Kings. + +At a proper Age, the King his Father took him out of the hands of the +Women, and committed him to the Care of Monsieur _de Miltitz_, a Gentleman +of a good Family; whom Learning, good Behaviour and solid Virtue render'd +worthy of such an Employment. + +The Prince, who always found Charms in Virtue, was sensible of the Merit +of his Governor: He lov'd him, was inseparable from him, and receiv'd his +Advice with a Docility, which, at his tender Age, was a presage he wou'd +be possess'd of that Fund of Wisdom which now renders him worthy of his +Throne. + +While the young Prince was under the Conduct of the Women, God was pleas'd +to touch the Heart of the late King his Father: That Monarch, who happen'd +to be born a _Lutheran_, was converted to the _Roman_ Catholick Religion, +and not long after elected King of _Poland_; and his Majesty being +convinc'd of the Purity of the Religion which he had embrac'd, was +inclin'd to make a Convert also of the Prince his Son. Nevertheless, such +was the Respect the King had for her Royal Highness his Mother, that he +was loth that august Princess shou'd be an Eye-witness of the young +Prince's renouncing a Religion which she had taught him, and to which she +was strenuously attach'd: He resolv'd therefore to remove him, and sent +him to _Francfort_ to be present at the Coronation of the Emperor +_Charles_ VI. His Companion in this Journey, was M. _de Miltitz_; but as +this Gentleman's Attachment to _Luther_'s Doctrine made the King +apprehensive that he wou'd thwart his Views, he recall'd him, and +appointed the Count _de Costa_, and the Baron _de Hagen_, to be his Son's +Governors. + +The Count who was a _Polander_ and Palatine of _Livonia_, was not only of +noble Birth, but a Gentleman of solid Piety, profound Learning, great +Probity, and as much respected for his Principles as belov'd for his good +Behaviour and Politeness. + +The Baron _de Hagen_ was of a Family of some Distinction in the Electorate +of _Triers_: He was Ambassador from the King at the Emperor's Election, +and at his Coronation at _Francfort_: His Behaviour was more grave than +the Count _de Costa_'s, but he was not inferior to the Count for Learning, +Integrity, and good Sense. + +Under the Conduct of these two Gentlemen, the Prince set out to visit a +part of _Germany_ and _Italy_, where he embrac'd the _Roman_ Catholick +Religion; his Profession of which, was however for a long time as private +as it is now exemplary; for he did not declare his alteration of Religion +'till after the Death of her most Serene Highness his Grandmother, who +died the first of _July_ 1717. During this the Prince made the Tour of +_France_, where, tho' he travell'd under the Name of the Count _de +Misnia_, _Lewis_ XIV. caus'd all the Honours to be paid to him which were +due to the Son of a great King. + +The Court of _France_ was charm'd with that Politeness, that noble +Modesty, and that Fund of Wisdom which accompany'd this Prince's Actions +and Conversation: They admir'd him and were sorry for his Departure. He +travell'd a second time to _Italy_, where he acquired that fine Taste of +Men and Things and that Knowledge of Architecture, Painting, and other +curious Arts, which is so useful for great Princes. _Germany_, upon the +return of this Prince, bless'd itself for having given him birth, and +offer'd up Prayers that all its Princes might be like him. His Royal +Highness stay'd a considerable while at _Vienna_, where he maintain'd the +Reputation he had acquir'd in the several Countries he had seen. He +returned at length to _Saxony_, where there was an universal Joy for his +Arrival. The _Saxons_ were charm'd to see the Prince that was design'd by +Heaven to be their Sovereign, so worthy of that Command. One day or other, +they said, we shall lose the most righteous of Kings, and the best of +Masters, but we shall find restor'd in his Son, his heroic Stature, his +majestic Air, his Magnanimity, the same Temper for Goodness, Equity and +Generosity; the Spirit of the great _Augustus_ will be always present with +us; and all our Loss will be that of his Personal Appearance. + +Not long after the Prince's Return to _Dresden_, _Augustus Christopher_ +Count _de Wackerbarth_[61] treated at _Vienna_ for the Marriage of his +Royal Highness to the most serene Archdutchess _Maria Josepha_, eldest +Daughter of the late Emperor _Joseph_. The Count _de Flemming_, Prime +Minister and Velt-Marshal of _Saxony_, solemnly demanded the most serene +Archdutchess in Marriage; and the Prince repair'd to _Vienna_ to espouse +her. The Ceremony was perform'd in the Chapel of _la Favorita_, with all +the Pomp suitable to so great a Match. Some Days after this, their Royal +Highnesses set out for _Dresden_, where they were receiv'd with an +unparallell'd Magnificence. _Augustus_ II. the most splendid of Kings, and +a Prince who had the best Fancy for ordering of Entertainments, outdid +himself; he thought nothing too good for celebrating the Nuptials of his +so worthy a Son, with a Princess whose Ancestors were all Emperors. + +The Rejoicings having lasted forty Days, the King set out for his Kingdom, +leaving the Prince Regent, as he always did whenever he went from his +Electorate. + +In 1726, the Prince himself took a Journey to _Poland_, to which Country +he had once before accompanied the King his Father in 1711, but then made +no long stay. There he won the Hearts of the chief Nobility, who from that +moment thought him worthy of succeeding one day to their Governor, the +Great _Augustus_. They were pleased to see, that he honour'd their +Countryman, the Count _Sulkowski_, with his Confidence, and they thought +it a happy Omen for their Nation, blessing their Stars, that the Prince +distinguished Virtue in one born among themselves. + +His Royal Highness being convinced that of all the Sums laid out by +Princes, there are none less liable to censure than what they expend in +Buildings, undertook that of _Wermsdorf_, which he afterwards call'd +_Hubertsbourg_; and he finish'd that great Work in a little time, by the +assistance of the King his Father: For, in short, it would have been +impossible for his Royal Highness to have defray'd all the Expence of it +himself. It was already very wonderful to see with what Prudence he +directed his Finances. His Revenue being settled, his Expence was suitable +to his Rank; he had a numerous Houshold, his Hunting Equipage was +sumptuous, yet he did good to all that made their Necessity known to him; +his Charities were truly Royal, every body was paid; the Noblemen and the +Tradesmen receiv'd their Pensions and Salaries punctually; and his +Accounts were so regularly kept and discharged by the Count _Sulkowski_, +that the Prince was never in debt. + +The Prince commonly spent the Season for hunting the Stag at +_Hubertsbourg_, and employ'd the remainder of his time at _Dresden_, in +all manner of Exercises, being admired in every Action, for the Grace, +Strength, and Dexterity with which he perform'd it, as well as for the +Sobriety and Regularity of his Manners; for he kept as regular Hours +then, as he does now. + +_Augustus_ III. never knew what it was to be idle or vicious. Such is his +Chastity and Fidelity to his august Spouse, that he never gave her the +least Reason so much as to suspect his Honour. He games only for +amusement, and never plays so high that the loss of the Stake can put +those out of temper who have the Honour to be of his Party. But of all the +Virtues of _Augustus_ III. there is none, most certainly, which has made +him more the Favourite of Heaven, than the inviolable Respect he always +manifested for the King his Father, who tenderly lov'd him; and never was +a Son, Heir to so powerful a Dominion, more affected for the loss of a +Father, than he was when he heard of the death of his. His Affliction was +impress'd deeply in his Countenance, when he receiv'd the homage of his +capital City, at his first appearance in publick; and to this very day, he +is ready to melt in tears at the sight of any Object that calls him to +mind; for which reason the People of _Dresden_, rather than renew his +Sorrow, forbear the mention of a King whom _Europe_ has plac'd in the Rank +of its greatest Men. + +Prince FREDERIC-AUGUSTUS, when he became Elector, did not alter his +Manners, but retain'd the same Piety, the same Regularity. He kept most of +the Servants of the late King his Father, and settled Pensions on those +whom he thought fit to dismiss. His first Care, when he came to the +Electorate, was to provide himself with Ministers, whose Candor and +Sincerity were above Envy it self. For this purpose, he call'd to his +Cabinet-Council, the Count _de Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour_, M. _de +Baudissin_, the Count _Sulkowski_, and M. _de Bruhl_; to the two last of +whom he committed the Direction of Affairs. + +All _Saxony_ applauded this Choice, and doubted not of being very happy +under the Reign of a Prince, who was capable of forming so true a Judgment +of Persons for his Ministers. But what the _Saxons_ saw with extraordinary +Satisfaction, was the sure Proof the King gave of his Gratitude and Esteem +for Virtue, in recalling M. _de Miltitz_, heretofore his Governor, who for +some Years past was retired to his Estate. This Gentleman wou'd fain have +been excus'd from returning to Court, alledging his great Age, and his +being a Stranger to Business; when his Majesty sent him word, that he +requir'd no more at his hands than what his Health wou'd permit; that he +knew his Probity, his Love for his Country, and his Attachment to himself; +that therefore he was willing he shou'd be near his Person, and assist him +with his Advice, which he knew wou'd be solid, by what he gave him when he +had the charge of his Education. In this manner FREDERIC-AUGUSTUS, by the +display of his Gratitude, an uncommon Virtue (especially among Princes) +encourag'd his Courtiers to do what might also give them a Title to it. + +These great Qualities procur'd him the Suffrages of the most judicious +Part of the Republic of _Poland_ which chose him for King. His Majesty +having sent the Count _de Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour_, and M. +_Baudissin_ to _Warsaw_, with the Character of Plenipotentiaries, to take +care of his Interests, these Ministers found the _Polish_ Lords very much +divided: Foreign Gold, with the Intrigues, Cabals, and ensnaring Promises +of a Minister who was lavish of it; all these had corrupted a great number +of them, and others were oppress'd, and must undoubtedly have submitted to +Violence, if they had not had a very great share of Courage and Love to +their Country. God, who never abandons the Virtuous, was their Support and +their Protector, as well as the Shield of the Plenipotentiaries, whose +sacred Character could not guard them from all manner of Outrage. And tho' +the Blood of the _Jagellons_, which flows in this Prince's Veins, tho' his +being the Son of one of the greatest Kings that _Poland_ ever had, as well +as his own Dignity of a Sovereign, ought to have procured him the Respect +of all the _Poles_, yet every Person and Thing belonging to him at +_Warsaw_, was maltreated. Such was, at that time, the unhappy Fate of +_Poland_; Oppression and Tyranny having succeeded the glorious, mild, and +peaceful Reign of _Augustus_ II. + +Mean time, those generous Noblemen who had so bravely stood up in the +defence of the Liberties and Honour of their Country, after having tried +all their Efforts to reclaim their wandering Brethren, found they could +not succeed, and therefore broke up; after which, they met in the very +same Place where _Henry de Valois_ had been elected, and there they chose +and proclaim'd AUGUSTUS Elector of _Saxony_, King of _Poland_. They then +sent a Deputation to his Majesty, to intreat him to come immediately, with +the Queen his Consort, to take possession of the Throne. The King comply'd +with their Intreaty, and set out from _Dresden_, after having return'd +solemn Thanks to God, the sovereign Disposer of Crowns, and of the Fortune +of Kings. + +In a few days the Queen followed the King, and overtook him at +_Tarnovitz_, where their Majesties received the grand Deputation from +_Poland_; and after giving them Audience, proceeded in their Journey +towards _Cracow_. There the King made his Royal Entry on the 14th of +_January_ 1734, and on the 17th of that Month, their Majesties were +consecrated and crowned by _Lipsky_ the Bishop of that See. + +Some time after this august Ceremony, which, in _Poland_, is absolutely +necessary and essential for a King Elect, the Queen return'd to _Saxony_; +but the King staid at _Cracow_, where he held a Diet, in which he made +several Regulations for restoring the Tranquillity of the Kingdom. When +the Diet was ended, his Majesty march'd towards _Dantzic_, which the +_Russians_, his Allies, had invested, in order to drive out the Primate +and his Adherents, who were retir'd thither. + +But after a March of several Days, which the Severity of the Weather +render'd very painful, his Majesty yielded to the Instances that were made +to him from _Saxony_, to assist in Person at the opening of the Assembly +of States which he was under a necessity of calling; and he returned to +_Dresden_, where his Arrival caus'd an inexpressible Joy. Mean time the +Army, under the Command of the Prince of _Saxe-Weissenfels_ continued its +March towards _Dantzic_. + +The King was accompanied by a great number of _Polish_ Noblemen, who +finding themselves unable to oppose the Rage of the Primate's Party in +their several Countries, came to seek shelter in _Saxony_, where his +Majesty receiv'd them, and still entertains them, in a manner which cannot +but convince them of his Gratitude, and give them greater Hopes of what +Favours they may expect, when the Tranquillity of _Poland_ is restor'd. + +The King, after his Return from _Cracow_, summon'd the States of his +Electorate, and open'd the Assembly with the usual Ceremonies. He was +seated on his Throne, accompanied by the chief Lords of his Court, as well +the _Polish_ as _Saxons_. M. _de Miltitz_, his Privy Counsellor, sat on +the Right-hand of the Throne; and, in the King's Name, made a Speech to +the States, wherein he declared to them that his Majesty intended to make +no Innovation in the Affairs of Religion, but to let his Protestant +Subjects enjoy their Privileges, as they had been granted and confirm'd to +them by the late King. Then they told him the Motives which had engag'd +the King to call them together, and demanded the necessary Subsidies for +defraying the extraordinary Expences which his Majesty had been +necessarily involved in thro' the Calamities of the Time. M. _de Hesler_, +Administrator of the Office of hereditary Marshal of _Saxony_, return'd an +Answer in the Name of the States, and spoke with a Dignity, and all the +Decorum due to so august an Assembly. He assur'd the King of the +respectful and inviolable Fidelity and Attachment of his Subjects to his +sacred Person. And in truth, 'tis impossible for a People to be better +affected to their Sovereign, and more disposed to contribute to every +thing that is capable of augmenting his Glory. + +The King's voluntary Declaration to his States that he would make no +Innovation in the Affairs of Religion, won the Hearts of his Subjects to +such a degree, that there is not a _Saxon_ who would make any scruple to +sacrifice his Life and Fortune for his Service. And the said Declaration +does equal Honour to the Justice of the Monarch, and the Wisdom of his +Ministers. + +While the King was employ'd with his States in securing the Happiness and +Tranquility of _Saxony_, his Majesty received Advice, that his Army, after +having join'd the _Russians_, had obliged the _Dantzickers_ to surrender, +and that the _Polish_ Lords of the contrary Party petition'd for leave to +remove to some Place where they might pay him their homage. The King, in +imitation of the great Emperor whose Name he bears, after having made a +Conquest, thought, like him, of nothing more than to make those happy whom +the Fortune of War had submitted to his Arms. His Majesty did not take +any advantage of his Victory, but forgetting past Offences, repair'd to +the Abbey of _Oliva_, near _Dantzic_, where he receiv'd the Submission of +the _Dantzickers_, and the Allegiance of the Lords that were the Primate's +Adherents. By his Modesty and Goodness, he charm'd the Vanquished, and +convinc'd them of their Obligation to pay him that Esteem which before +perhaps they did not think was their Duty to grant to him. The Greatness +of his Soul, which inclines him to sympathize with the Misfortunes of the +Unhappy, hinder'd him from entering _Dantzic_, the desolate State of that +City being so afflicting a Scene to him, that he cou'd not bear to see it. +The _Dantzickers_, by their submission, were become his Subjects; their +present Misfortunes, and their past Mistakes, affected him to such a +degree, that he was fearful of being put in mind of them, and refus'd to +appear among them, crown'd with those Laurels which he had reap'd by their +defeat. So much Modesty, worthy of the most glorious Triumph, gain'd him +the Prayers of the People, in which his Majesty saw more Charms, than he +wou'd have found in Trophies, and the most stately Triumphal Arches. + +The King having provided for the pressing Necessities of his Kingdom, +return'd to his Electorate, where the States continued their Deliberations +ever since his Absence. Now that his Majesty is return'd, the Care of the +State is almost his constant Employment. His Recreations are either taking +the Air on horseback, Hunting, the _Italian_ Opera, or else going to +Concerts, which the Queen, who is a great Lover of Music, causes to be +perform'd in her own Apartment. Their Majesties generally dine together, +and admit the Nobility of both Sexes to their Table. + +There, the King observes that Temperance which so much becomes sovereign +Princes. All his Hours, as has been already observ'd, are regulated; and +all his Actions accompanied with Devotion, good Order, and Equity. Never +did King better discharge that sacred Character; being always firm and +tranquil, Danger cou'd never affright him. He accepted the Crown, tho' he +saw he cou'd never fix it on his Head without infinite Pains, Peril, and +Cares. The Advantage he had gain'd over his Enemies did not seem to have +flush'd him; he was sorry he had not been able to reclaim them by gentle +Methods, and ascribes the happy Success of his Arms solely to Providence. + +Thus have I given you a very imperfect Account of the Virtues and Actions +of a King, which plainly denote that the perfect honest Man (a Title not +unworthy even of the sacred Majesty of Kings) forms his Character. As for +his Stature, 'tis such as, one wou'd think, those ought to have who are +born to command. He has a robust and vigorous Constitution, a sound +Judgment, a happy Memory, a generous and beneficent Soul, the necessary +Constituents of the Hero and the Christian. His Conduct is regulated by a +great Attachment to the Principles of Religion. His Aim and his +Application are to render his Subjects happy; and he only longs for Peace +that they may taste the Fruits of it. + +As to her MAJESTY the QUEEN, the Name of that august Princess, whom Heaven +has endowed with all manner of Virtues, to be the worthy Wife of a King, +is MARIA JOSEPHA, who was born the 8th of _December_ 1699, and is the +eldest Daughter of _Joseph_ Emperor of the _Romans_, and of +_Wilhelmina-Amelia_ of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Hanover_. Her Marriage to the +King, then the Prince Royal, was celebrated at _Vienna_, the 20th of +_August_ 1719, betwixt 8 and 9 a Clock at Night, in the Chapel of the +Palace of the _Favorita_, by the Pope's Nuncio, who next day perform'd the +solemn Mass. In a few days after, this Princess set out with her Husband +for _Saxony_. It has already been observed with what Pomp she was received +by the King her Father-in-law; and the Veneration paid her by the +Subjects, was equal to the Magnificence of her Reception by the King. The +Returns that the Princess made on her part, manifested a Goodness which +nothing cou'd resist; so that she had the Homage and the Hearts both of +the Courtiers and the common People. Being the Daughter of a Princess, +whom the World respects even more for her Virtues than for the Splendour +of that extraordinary Grandeur with which she is inviron'd, her Royal +Highness's sole Concern was to walk in the Steps of that august Mother, +the Pattern of Princesses, and the Honour of Religion. She conceiv'd a +Respect for the King her Father-in-law, and the Queen her Mother-in-law, +from which she never departed; and now that she is a Sovereign, she has no +other Cares than to render a Nation happy which is worthy of being so for +its Affection and Fidelity to its Electors. She is inviolably attach'd to +her Duties, full of Tenderness and Respect for her Husband, and always +wisely employ'd in what may procure him solid Comfort. She continually +gives him Examples of Piety and Charity; she is beneficent to all that +make their Necessities known to her, and seems to think every unfortunate +Subject merits her Protection. The Care she takes of her Children is not +only the Care of a tender Mother, but of a Queen, who, in love to the +State, is desirous to form their Minds, so as to render them worthy of +being its Sovereigns, and to procure them the advantage of being more +respected, if possible, for their Virtues than their Birth. + +The Queen, who went with the King to _Cracow_, and there receiv'd the +Crown, return'd after her Coronation to _Saxony_, where she is belov'd and +reverenc'd by People of all Ranks. This august Princess seems to have an +Air of Gravity, as have all the Princes of the most serene House of +_Austria_; but as she is serious, so she is discreet, modest, and +good-natur'd. She was educated, as are all the Archdutchesses, in the +knowledge of Things useful for those who are born to govern States; she +speaks several Languages very readily, and particularly the _Latin_, in +such a manner as both charms and surprizes the _Poles_. She is Mistress of +History and Geography, and has a solid Taste of Musick, Painting, and all +the Sciences in general: Yet never did Queen take less Pride in her +Talents; for, by kindly condescending to accommodate her self to the +Capacities of those with whom she converses, she conceals all her +Superiority. Her high Rank serves only to render her affable; she is the +Mother of the People, and particularly of the Poor. And to sum up the +Character of this great Princess, it may be said in short, that she is a +virtuous Wife, a faithful Companion, a tender Mother, and a compassionate +Sovereign. + +His Royal Highness the PRINCE ROYAL and ELECTORAL was born at _Dresden_, +the 5th of _September_ 1722, and baptized in the _Roman_ Catholick Church, +by the Name of _Frederic-Christian_: He is handsome, and has a Countenance +full of Good-nature, and indeed his Goodness charms all that pay their +court to him. His Knowledge and Learning are beyond one of his tender +Years; he talks several Languages justly, and with ease; and his strong +Inclination to follow the wise Counsels of his Governor, the Count +_Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour_, is a sure Presage that when he comes to +the Age of Maturity, he will walk in the glorious Steps of the King his +Father. + +As to their Royal Highnesses the other Princes, the eldest of them, Prince +AUGUSTUS-ALBERT-CHRISTIAN-XAVIER was born the 25th of _August_ 1730. He is +handsome, full of Life and Spirit, and already discovers a great +Inclination to every thing military. He is infinitely better pleased to +see the Officers of his Regiment about him than the Women his Attendants. +The Noise of Drums and Trumpets is the most agreeable Music to him, and +according to all appearance, 'tis what he will always prefer to the Flute. +When he went with their Majesties to _Cracow_, and heard talk of the +Ravages committed by the Palatine of _Kiow_, he said, he had a mind to go +and fight him, and cut off his Head. In fine, all the Actions of this +young Prince give hopes that he will add one to the Number of Heroes +descended from the august Blood of _Saxony_. + +CHARLES-CHRISTIAN-JOSEPH came into the World _July_ 13, 1733, so that his +Royal Highness is too young as yet for any Character in History; and I +shall proceed next to their Royal Highnesses the Princesses. + +Her Royal Highness MARY-AMELIA, their Majesties eldest Daughter, was born +at _Dresden_, the 24th of _September_ 1724. She is fair, very well shap'd, +and has the Air of her Mother. Her Features are regular, and 'tis heartily +to be wish'd that the Small-Pox may spare them. The Care the Queen takes +of her Education is so well bestow'd on her, that she is much better +form'd than Princesses of her Age generally are. + +MARY-ANNE-SOPHIA was born the 24th of _August_ 1728. She is brown, and +likely to be much admir'd for her Beauty. There is something in her +Physiognomy so subtle and witty, that she has already secur'd the +Suffrages of the Courtiers. + +The Princess MARY-JOSEPHA was born the 4th of _November_ 1731. Heaven has +been pleas'd to grant her a share of Beauty with all the Princes and +Princesses her Brothers and Sisters. + +I should make some mention of all the PRINCES and PRINCESSES of the BLOOD, +_viz._ all the most serene Dukes, Princes and Princesses of the Family of +_Saxony_, particularly those who are deriv'd from the _Albertine_ Branch, +as descending with the King from the Elector _John-George_ I. who form'd +the four Branches, _viz._ the Electoral Branch, and those of +_Weissenfels_, _Mersbourg_, and _Zeits_. But as this is only an Epitome of +_Augustus_ III's Court, I shall only take notice of those Princes who +reside there; _viz._ JOHN-ADOLPHUS Duke of SAXE-WEISSENFELS, and the +Princess CHRISTINA of SAXE-WEISSENFELS. + +The Duke, who was born _September_ 4, 1685, is of a good Stature. His Air, +Behaviour, and way of thinking, denote his Birth; and never was Prince +more worthy of being so. He is beneficent, generous; and all the Qualities +which attract Love and Esteem are united in his Person. After having spent +his early Days in the Service of _Hesse-Cassel_, he enter'd into that of +the late King; and in the several Campaigns which he made in _Germany_, +_Italy_, _Flanders_, and _Poland_, he always signaliz'd his Valour; and +particularly not long ago, when he supported the Reputation of the King's +Arms before _Dantzic_ in a conspicuous manner. His Goodness, his Modesty, +and his Care to distinguish true Merit, gain him the Love and Veneration +both of the Officers and Soldiers. This Prince is actually a +Lieutenant-General in the Emperor's Army, General of the _Saxon_ Horse and +Foot, Colonel of the Life-Guards, and of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight of +the Order of the _White Eagle_. He is the Widower of _Caroline_ Princess +of _Saxe-Eysenach_, and professes the _Lutheran_ Religion. + +The Princess CHRISTINA of SAXE-WEISSENFELS, who was born the 27th of +_July_ 1690, adheres to the _Roman_ Catholic Doctrine, Prince _Albert_ her +Father being a Convert to that Communion. She is of a good Stature, has a +grand Majestic Air, and her Behaviour is graceful and polite. Her most +serene Highness receives all that draw near to her with Respect and +Kindness, and demonstrates her high Birth only by discharging the +Obligations of it. She is so firmly attach'd to the Queen by the Bands of +Love and Virtue that she is caress'd and distinguish'd by her; and all the +Court honours and respects her more out of Inclination than Duty. + +You will not perhaps be sorry to know the Names, _&c._ of the late King's +legitimated Natural Issue, who are rank'd immediately after the Princes of +the Blood. They are four Sons and three Daughters, of whom I shall now +give you an Account, and who were their Mothers. + +1. Count _Maurice_ of _Saxony_ is the eldest of the late King's Natural +Children, by _Aurora_ Countess of _Koningsmark_, the most worthy of her +Sex in _Europe_ to be the Mistress of a great King; and of all the King's +Favourite Ladies, she kept longest in his Favour, so that after her +Retirement she acquitted her self so well that she continued in the +possession of his Majesty's Esteem and Regard. She is still living, +and after having been a Prioress of the Imperial _Lutheran_ +Abbey _Quedlinbourg_ she rose to be the Abbess. The Count is a +Lieutenant-General, and Colonel of a Regiment of Foot in _France_. + +2. The next is the Count _Rotofski_ or _Rutowski_, Lieutenant-General, and +Colonel of the Crown-Guards, who owes his Birth to the King's tender +Passion for _Fatima_ a _Turkish_ Lady who was taken Prisoner very young, +and fell to the share of M. _Schoning_, a Lieutenant-General in the +Service of the Elector of _Brandenbourg_, who carried her to _Berlin_, and +had her baptiz'd without altering her Name, tho' she afterwards went by +that of Madame _de Spiegel_. Madamoiselle _de Flemming_, known by the Name +of _Brebentau_, having married the Palatine of that Name, took a fancy to +her, obtain'd her of M. _de Schoning_, and carried her with her into +_Poland_, where from a Slave she became the King's Mistress, tho' Madame +_Brebentau_ did not perceive it till _Fatima_'s Waist betray'd her. She +had as much Wit as Beauty, and every body said she deserv'd her Fortune. +Nevertheless, she did not enjoy it long; for Madame _de Lubomirski_, who +was Wife to the Great Chamberlain of the Crown, stole away the King's +Heart from her. The Count _Rutowski_ is a Major-General of the King's +Forces, Colonel of the Life-Guards, and of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight +of the Order of the _White Eagle_. This Nobleman very much resembles the +late King his Father, having his Strength, Dexterity, Valour and +Politeness. He had his Education in _France_, and from thence went into +the _Service_ of _Victor Amadeus_ the late King of _Sardinia_. Then he +enter'd for a little while into the Service of the King of _Prussia_, and +at length fix'd himself in that of _Saxony_, when he signaliz'd his Valour +at the Siege of _Dantzic_, and afterwards made the Campaign as a Voluntier +in the Imperial Army on the _Rhine_. As for his Religion, he professes the +_Roman_ Catholic. + +3. The third of the late King's Natural Sons is _George_ Prince _de +Teschen_, otherwise call'd the _Chevalier de Saxony_, whom he had by +Madame _de Lubomirski_ above-mentioned, who was Niece to the famous +Cardinal _Radjouski_ Archbishop of _Gnesna_, and Primate of _Poland_. +After this Lady had indulg'd the King's Passion she got a Divorce from +Prince _Lubomirski_, and took the Title of the Princess _de Teschen_, +which was granted to her by the Emperor. This Son of her's was brought up +in the _Roman_ Catholic Religion. He is a Colonel in the King's Service, +and Knight of the Order of the _White Eagle_. He is a well-set Man, has a +noble Air, and supports his Title by a great share of Valour and good +Sense. He is perfect Master of military Architecture, and has great +Talents for War, which he cultivates to such a degree that his very +Amusements are the Study of what a great Captain ought to know. This +Desire of his to be qualify'd some day or other for the Command of an Army +engag'd him, at his return from the Siege of _Dantzic_, to repair to the +Army of Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_ to improve himself in the Art of War +under that Great Master. + +4. The fourth and youngest of the Natural Sons of the late King of +_Poland_ is the Count _de Cosel_, Knight of the Order of the _White +Eagle_, whose Mother was the Countess _de Cosel_; which Lady is also +Mother to the Countesses of _Friesland_[62] and _Moschinski_[63]. The +Count is a tall handsome Youth, modest and reserv'd, and more prudent than +might be expected from his Years. This Nobleman, who does not disparage +his Birth, is now making the Campaign upon the _Rhine_ in the Imperial +Army. He is of the _Lutheran_ Communion. + +Madame _de Cosel_ is of the Family of _Bruchstorf_, and a Native of +_Holstein_. She was Maid of Honour to the Dutchess of _Wolfembuttle_, when +the Count _de Hoym_ Minister of State to the King of _Poland_ married her: +The Count soon after the Marriage carried her to _Dresden_, where the King +fell in love with her, and no sooner made it known to her but gain'd her +compliance. M. _de Hoym_ enrag'd at this, demanded a Divorce from her, +which his Wife readily came into; so that the Consistory of _Dresden_ +declared their Marriage null and void. M. _de Hoym_ married again, and +Madame took the Title of the Countess _de Cosel_; but this Lady at once +lost the King's Favour and her Liberty into the bargain, and is kept close +Prisoner in a Castle, where she has nothing to do but to indulge her +melancholy Reflections upon the Revolutions of her Fortune[64]. + +The NATURAL DAUGHTERS of the late King are, 1. The Countess of _Bilinski_, +(Sister of the Count _Rutowski_) who was born in _Poland_ as well as her +Brother, and educated in the _Roman_ Catholic Religion. _Augustus_ II. +gave her in Marriage to the Count _Bilinski_. The Countess's frequent +Ailments obliged her to go to _Paris_ for her Health; so that not being of +this Court, 'twill not be expected I should give her Character. + +2. The Countess of _Orselska_, who was born at _Warsaw_, of one _Renard_ a +_French_ Woman, and bred up in the _Roman_ Catholic Faith: She is of a +good Stature, and very charming. Of all the late King's legitimated +Children his Majesty seem'd to be fondest of this. She was at first very +much neglected, and it did not appear that the King ever intended to own +her. But Count _Rotofski_ seeing her at _Warsaw_ in a Plight too mean for +her Birth took the freedom to mention her to the King her Father, and told +him that she merited some Kindness from him. The King thereupon desir'd to +see her, and she came into his Presence in the _Amazonian_ Habit, which +was her favourite Dress. The King thought she resembled him very much, and +not being able to resist the tender Impressions of Nature he embrac'd her, +and call'd her his Daughter. At the same time he order'd the whole Court +to acknowledge her in that Quality, gave her a magnificent Palace, with +Diamonds without number, and settled great Pensions on her. 'Tis certain, +in short, that never was Daughter more like her Father; she had the same +Features, Temper and Genius. It was impossible for her to be handsomer +with a more grand Air. She is fond of Magnificence, Expence, and +Pleasures. One of her Diversions is to dress in Mens Apparel. It was in +this Habit that I saw her the first time, when she was on horseback, in a +purple Habit embroider'd with Silver, and wore the blue Ribband of +_Poland_. Being all alone, I could not learn who she was, but really took +her to be some young Foreign Nobleman whom I had not yet seen. I never +beheld any body sit better than she did on horseback, or have a more +amiable Air; insomuch, that many Ladies would have been glad of a Lover so +handsome. The same evening I saw her at the Ball, where she was still +dress'd like a Man, only her Habit was more rich than it was in the +morning, and her dishevell'd Locks of Hair hung down in fine Curls about +her Shoulders; so that _Cupid_ himself was not more tempting when he +appear'd before _Psyche_. Her good Mien, and the graceful Air with which I +saw her dance a Minuet, made me inquire who this pretty Youth was? Count +_Rotofski_, who overheard me, made answer, _The young Man whom you admire +wou'd do you no great harm if you were a Woman, but may possibly hurt you +as the Case stands; but come along with me_, continued he, taking me by +the Hand, _I will make him known to you, then leave you to come off with +him as well as you can_. I guess'd by these Words that the Person he was +going to usher me to was the Countess _Orselska_; and I was confirmed in +my Suspicion when I heard Count _Rotofski_ say to her, _Sister, here is a +Gentleman who has all due Respects for you, and who, I'll engage will be +ready to serve you in whatever you shall require of him_. Madamoiselle +_Orselska_ smiling at this Discourse, I saluted her with all the Respect +which I ow'd to her Rank, and she receiv'd me in the most obliging manner +possible. I saw her next day in Womens Apparel, and thought her still more +amiable. I visit her every day, and now whenever I go to her I generally +find with her _Charles Lewis_, a younger Prince of the Family of +_Holstein-Beck_, who 'tis said is the happy Man for whom she is design'd +in Marriage[65]. + +3. The Countess _Moschinski_, Daughter of the Countess of _Cosel_, was +born at _Dresden_, and match'd by the late King to the Count _de +Moschinski_, a _Polish_ Nobleman. Her sober and courteous Deportment, and +the Goodness of her Temper, have procured her both Love and Reverence. + +Having now treated of the Princes of the Royal Family, I proceed to give +you an account of the chief Noblemen of the Court; and in the first place, +of the MINISTERS of the CABINET.--These are, 1. _Waldemar_ Baron _de +Lowendahl_ Grand Marshal, Knight of the _Saxon_ Order of the _White +Eagle_, and of the _Danish_ Order of the _Elephant_, who by his Post of +Grand Marshal holds the first Rank at the Court of _Saxony_, because the +Elector is Arch Grand Marshal of the Empire. He is a _Dane_ by birth, and +is descended from a Count of _Guldenlowe_, a natural Son of the +Blood-Royal of _Denmark_. He spent his youthful Days in the Service of the +_States-General_, and was made a Captain in the Blue Guards; which he +afterwards quitted, and went into the Service of the Emperor _Leopold_, +and distinguish'd himself in quality of a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1683, at +the raising of the Siege of _Vienna_; after which he return'd to +_Denmark_, where he serv'd with Honour. But leaving that Court upon some +Disgust, he came into _Saxony_, where _Augustus_ II. declared him +President of the Chamber, which Office he held when the King of _Denmark_ +recall'd him home. It was with the Approbation of his Master the King of +_Poland_ that he return'd to _Copenhagen_, where his _Danish_ Majesty gave +him the Command of his Army in _Norway_ against the _Swedes_; which +Commission he discharged with so much Honour, that he was dignify'd with +the Order of the _Elephant_, as he had already been by that of +_Dannebroc_. He might, had he pleased, have enjoy'd the greatest Offices +in _Denmark_; but he had promised _Augustus_ II. not to forsake him, so +that he refus'd all the Advantages which _Frederic_ IV. offer'd him, and +return'd into _Saxony_. After the death of the Count _de Phlug_, the late +King appointed him Grand Marshal, which Office he still executes with +Honour. Tho' he is now advanced in years he has a sound Constitution, and +the Air, Behaviour, and Way of Thinking of a Man of his Quality. Being +affable and polite, he does the Honours of the Court in a Gentleman-like +manner, for which the Courtiers reverence him, and the King professes an +esteem for him. His Majesty is the sixth King whom this Minister has +serv'd. He has married to his second Wife a Lady of the Family of +_Rantzau_, in the Country of _Holstein_, who bears a valuable Character, +and is as polite as can be desired, speaking _French_ as well as if she +was born at _Versailles_. The Grand Marshal has two Sons by his first +Marriage with a Lady of _Revenclau_: his youngest, _viz._ _Woldemar_ Baron +_de Lowendahl_ is Major-General of the King's Armies, Inspector General of +the _Saxon_ Infantry, and Colonel of a Regiment of Foot. He was fourteen +years old when the Grand Marshal sent him to _Denmark_; where he made a +Campaign at Sea under Admiral _Tordenschild_. At his return to _Dresden_ +he carried a Musket, and afterwards pass'd through all the subaltern +Degrees. When he was but a Lieutenant he accompany'd General _Seckendorf_ +to _Vienna_, where the Marshal Count _Guido de Staremberg_ gave him a +Company in his Regiment, and he distinguish'd himself in a particular +manner at the Sieges of _Temiswaer_ and _Belgrade_, and in _Sicily_. Since +that, he enter'd into the Service of _Augustus_ II. who gave him a +Regiment. Afterwards he made two Campaigns as a Voluntier with the +Imperialists in _Corsica_; and upon all occasions manifested that Valour, +Skill, and Prudence, as he did lately in the Defence of _Cracow_; where, +with a weak and sickly Garrison, he not only made a vigorous stand against +the Attacks of the Primate's _Polish_ Adherents, but also obliged them to +retire. This General is so fond of signalizing his Bravery, that he was +scarce return'd from _Poland_, but he went to make the Campaign as a +Voluntier, with the Imperial Army on the _Rhine_. He lives magnificently, +keeps a good Table, and is very civil to Foreigners. + +2. _Anthony_ Count de _Lutzelbourg_, who is by birth a _Lorrainer_, +and an exemplary Professor of the _Roman_ Catholic Religion, is +Lieutenant-General of the Forces, Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, +and General of the Horse. He is pretty tall, and has a chearful +Countenance, with a noble easy Behaviour, which shews the Man of Quality. +His Merit procured him the Honour of being the King's Governour after the +Decease of the Count _de Costa_, which Post he held 'till his Majesty came +of age, when he was appointed Steward of his Houshold, and was as much +esteem'd by their Royal Highnesses as he is valued by the Courtiers, and +belov'd by the Domestics of the Prince who are under his command: but his +frequent Ailments oblig'd him to quit that Office: Nevertheless he was +last year at _Vienna_, where he receiv'd for the King his Master the +Investiture of the Feudatory States of the Empire, and concluded the +Treaty of Alliance still subsisting between the two Courts. + +3. _Henry-Frederic_ Count of _Friesland_, is Great Chamberlain, General of +the Infantry, Lieutenant-General of the King's Forces, and Knight of the +Order of the _White Eagle_. He is descended from a Family which has for a +long time been of illustrious Rank in _Saxony_. He spent part of his Youth +in the Service of _Peter_ the Great, Czar of _Muscovy_, and signaliz'd his +Valour very much at the Battle of _Pultowa_; where _Charles_ XII. King of +_Sweden_ in a few Hours lost all the fruit of nine years Toil, and of an +infinite number of Victories. Soon after this great Battle he shew'd his +Wisdom to be equal to his Bravery at the Battle of _Pruth_; which though +it did not turn out so much to the Czar's Honour, was altogether as +fortunate to him, since it extricated that Prince out of the worst scrape +that perhaps ever King was reduced to. He enter'd afterwards into the +Service of the late King; who being sensible of his Merit, raised him to +the greatest Dignities of his Court, and married him to one of the +Daughters that he had by the Countess of _Cosel_. The Great Chamberlain, +who has the Looks and Behaviour of a Man of Quality, thinks and acts too +like a Nobleman. Few Persons surpass him in Politeness and Learning: He is +perfect Master of several Languages, and of every thing that forms the +Minister and the General. He loves Literature and the Arts, and was always +their Supporter. He lives handsomely, and has such a Presence as commands +the Veneration of all that have to do with him. + +4. _Joseph_ Count _de Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour_, the adopted Son of +the Velt-Marshal _Augustus Christopher_ Count _de Wackerbarth_ who +succeeded Marshal _de Flemming_ in the chief command of the Troops in +_Saxony_, and was not only Marshal, but a Minister of State, Grand Master +of the Artillery, Governour of _Dresden_, and Knight of the Order of the +_White Eagle_. The Father was born of a good Family in _Mecklembourg_; but +from his very youth he attach'd himself to the Elector of _Saxony_; and by +his own Merit, and the Friendship of his Predecessor Count _Flemming_, he +was raised to the chief Posts in the Army and the Court. In 1709 he had +the Command of the _Saxon_ Troops before _Tournay_, as he had in 1715 +before _Strahlsund_, when 'twas besieg'd by the Kings of _Denmark_ and +_Prussia_, and defended by _Charles_ XII. King of _Sweden_. M. _de +Wackerbarth_ was made Count of the Empire by the King his Master, while +that Prince was Vicar of the Empire, after the death of the Emperor +_Joseph_. After being grac'd with this Dignity, the Count _de +Wackerbarth_ was employ'd in sundry important Negotiations, especially at +_Vienna_; where he married a _Piedmontese_ Lady, the Dowager of _Charles_ +Margrave of _Brandenbourg_, Brother to _Frederic_ I. King of _Prussia_, +who when he was but very young at the University of _Turin_; married her +by the Left-hand, as you know is the Fashion among our Princes when they +marry below themselves. However the Lady went by the Name of Madame _de +Brandenbourg_ to the very day that the Count _de Wackerbarth_ married her, +being so proud of the Title that she was resolv'd never to part with it +'till she was married again: Notwithstanding the advantageous Offers made +to her from the King of _Prussia_ to engage her to renounce it, her +refusal of which was the more generous because it was at a time too when +she was in narrow Circumstances; yet her constant Answer was, that nothing +in the Universe should tempt her to debase herself; and that she had +rather be poor, and pass for the Wife of the Margrave of _Brandenbourg_, +than be rich, and pass for his Mistress. Before she became Madame _de +Brandenbourg_ she was the Widow of a certain Count _de Salmour_, by whom +she had a Son whom she engaged the Count _de Wackerbarth_, when she +married him, to adopt for his own. I confess I never saw this Lady; for at +the time of my former Voyage hither she was at _Vienna_; and now she is +dead. They talk of her still as one of the acutest Women of her time. But +to return to the Marshal; he is very civil, lives with great Splendor, and +his House is open to all Foreigners. He is mighty intimate with the Count +_de Flemming_, Prime Minister and Favourite of the King; so that they +fully contradicted the Proverb, _That Fire and Water can't agree_; for +Count _Flemming_ was lively almost to the Degree of a Fury, whereas the +Count _de Wackerbarth_, on the contrary, abounds with Phlegm[66]. We go +back now to his adopted Son _Joseph_ above-mention'd, a _Piedmontese_, at +present one of the Ministers of the Cabinet[67]. + +He is also Knight of the Order of the _White Eagle_, and Governour of his +Royal Highness the Prince Royal and Electoral. He bears the Name and Arms +of _Wackerbarth_, by reason of his being adopted as above by the +Velt-Marshal his Father-in-law; upon whose death, he succeeded to his +Estate. He took to arms betimes; but having receiv'd a Wound in the Foot, +which he feels to this day, he was oblig'd to quit a Profession in which +he distinguish'd himself, and apply'd afterwards to Affairs of State. The +late King sent him to the Courts of _Bavaria_ and _Vienna_, where he +supported the Prerogatives of his Character with Dignity, and gain'd the +extraordinary Esteem of their Imperial Majesties and the Ministers. +_Augustus_ II. recall'd him from _Vienna_, and sent him to _Rome_, to the +new Pope _Clement_ XII. The _Romans_, those Masters in the Art of +Politics, were soon convinced that this Minister knew more than they could +teach him: They admired the Prudence and Resolution with which he behav'd +when the _Sbirri_ presum'd to invade the Franchise of his Quarter; and all +own'd that the most experienced Minister could not have better supported +the Honour of his Master. At his Return from _Rome_, the late King, to the +Satisfaction of all Men, appointed him Governour to Prince _Frederic_, the +present Prince Royal and Electoral; the Count having all the necessary +Qualifications to fill that Post with Honour: For besides a good Share of +Religion, he is a Gentleman of known Candour, great Experience in +Business, and abundance of Good-nature, Politeness, and Modesty: And he is +not only deeply learn'd, but always studious how to answer the great Trust +repos'd in him by their Majesties; and as the Method he takes to instruct +the Prince has won him his Royal Highness's Esteem and Friendship, so it +cannot fail of procuring him one day the Praise and Gratitude of those who +are concern'd for the Glory of the Royal Family. + +When _Augustus_ III. came to the Government he sent the Count, with M. _de +Baudissin_, in Quality of his Plenipotentiaries, to the Republic of +_Poland_; in which Post he answer'd the Expectation which the King had of +his Capacity. His Wisdom got the better of all Opposition; and he had the +advantage of triumphing over the Intrigues and Cabals of the Primate. +After the King had been proclaim'd the Count swore, in his Majesty's Name, +in the Church at _Warsaw_, to the Observation of the _Pacta Conventa_ +drawn up by the Members of the Republic; and then accompanied the Grand +Deputation of the _Polish_ Nobility at _Tarnowitz_. 'Twas he that made +answer, in the Name of their Majesties, to the Harangues of the Bishop of +_Cracow_ declaring the Republic's Acknowledgement of his Title, and their +Obedience. And the Answer he return'd was in the two Languages in which +the Prelate address'd him: He spoke in _Latin_ for the King, and in +_French_ for the Queen. + +The Count being return'd to _Dresden_ since their Majesties Coronation, is +wholly taken up in the Education of the Prince Royal; and his care of him +has been crown'd with such Success, that we may prophesy his Royal +Highness will one day draw down that Blessing of God upon himself, which +is upon the Head of the Just. + +5. _Wolff-Henry de Baudissin_, General of the Horse, Colonel of a Regiment +of Carabiniers, and Knight of the Order of the _White Eagle_, and that of +_Dannebroc_, has all the Qualities requisite for a well-born Gentleman, +_viz._ an agreeable Aspect, a good Stature, a noble Air, easy and engaging +Behaviour, approv'd Valour, a Generosity free of all Ostentation; and +finally what is superior to all these Qualities, he has a Fund of Probity +and Candour which nothing can corrupt. He is a Native of _Holstein_, and +spent his early Years in the Service of _Sweden_, and afterwards in that +of the Duke his Sovereign, who gave him a Regiment, with which he serv'd +all the last War in the _Netherlands_, in the Post of Major-General. +_Augustus_ II. calling him to his Service, made him Lieutenant-General of +his Forces, and then General of the Cavalry. When _Augustus_ III. came to +the Government he summon'd him to his Cabinet-Council, and sent him as his +Plenipotentiary to _Poland_, where he had a hand in every Transaction for +the Advantage and Honour of the King. He afterwards commanded the Army +which his Majesty was obliged to carry into his Kingdom for the Defence of +his oppressed Subjects; and there he fell so dangerously ill that he was +obliged to return to _Germany_, to make use of the Waters of _Pyrmont_; by +which he found benefit; and he is now at _Dresden_, where his Seniority +gives him the Command in chief of the Forces. + +6. _Alexander-Joseph_ Count _de Sulkowski_, Starost of _Sokolnick_, Chief +Huntsman of _Lithuania_, Master of the Horse, Great Master of the +Wardrobe, Major-General of the King's Forces, Colonel of the Crown-Guards +and of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight of the Order of the _White Eagle_, +is a _Polander_. Being taken into Service very young as Page to the King, +then Prince Royal and Electoral, he accompanied him in his Travels, and +there acquir'd a good Fund of Knowledge. His great Sobriety, his +Assiduity, his Application to the discharge of his Duties, his Sense, and +his sincere Attachment to Religion, won his Master's Heart, of which he +keeps possession even to this day; with a Distinction that does him the +more Honour, because he derives it from the King's thorough conviction of +his Merit. + +The Count is of a good Stature, has a noble and modest Air, and a Candour +in his Conversation and his Action, which is very engaging. He is civil, +and makes no other Use of his Favour but to do as much Good as he can, +without prejudicing the Interests of the King whom he serves with +Gratitude, Affection, and Zeal. He is a generous Minister, and his House +is open to all Persons of Distinction. + +After he had serv'd as a Page, he was by the late King made a Gentleman of +the Bed-Chamber; and not long after that, his present Majesty, who was +then still Prince Royal, declar'd him Director of his Hunting Equipage, +and trusted him with the Management of his Domestic Affairs. The late King +also appointed him one of his Chamberlains. + +At the famous Camp at _Zeithaim_, the Count commanded an Independent +Company. He discover'd so great Application, and such a happy Genius for +the Art of War, that the late King, whose Penetration nothing cou'd +escape, took it for a good Omen, and gave him a Regiment of Foot. Thus did +the Count make his way towards the splendid Fortune which he now enjoys. +M. _de Bruhl_ resigning his Post of Great Master of the Wardrobe, soon +after the King's Accession to the Government, his Majesty gave that Post +to his Favourite. He afterwards call'd him to his Cabinet-Council; and at +his Coronation, he made him Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. After +the Court's Return from _Cracow_, the Count went to the Army before +_Dantzic_; where he gave demonstration of his being as good a Soldier as +he is an able Statesman. It being not compatible with his Ministry to be +long absent, and _Dantzic_ being on the point of capitulating, he went to +give the King an account of the Success of its Siege, and the Prosperity +of his Arms. He accompanied his Majesty to the Abbey of _Oliva_, and by +his Prudence contributed very much to put such _Polish_ Lords in mind of +their Obedience, who had thought of being exempted from it. And his only +View being more and more to deserve that Favour with which the King +honours him, and being desirous of having it in his power to serve him, as +well in his Armies, as in his Cabinet, he went last of all to the Imperial +Army, in order to qualify himself for a Command under Prince _Eugene_ of +_Savoy_. + +To complete the good Fortune of this Count, he married a Lady, who, +besides her Birth and personal Charms, has a Character which gains her the +Applause and Veneration of all that know her. She is hereditary Baroness +of _Stein_; and when he marry'd her, she was Lady of Honour to the Queen. +They are both Members of the _Roman_ Catholic Church. + +7. _Henry de Bruhl_, Knight of the Orders of _Poland_ and _Prussia_, a +Member of the Privy-Council, President of the Chamber of Finances, +Director General of the Excise, and Vice-President of the Taxes, is the +Son of _John de Bruhl_, who was of the Privy-Council to _Augustus_ II. and +Grand Marshal and Director of the Privy-Council to the Duke Regent of +_Saxe-Weissenfels_. He is by Birth a _Saxon_, and has a Brother who is +Knight of the Teutonick Order. He made great progress at _Leipsic_ in the +_Belles Lettres_, and in the Exercises suitable to a Person of his +Extraction. His Recreations there, were Music, and Conversation with +Persons of his own Taste. He sometimes made Verses, which were esteem'd +for the bright Thoughts in them, and the Harmony of the Versification. +When he quitted _Leipsic_, he was enter'd Page to the late King: In this +Post he behaved with so much Sobriety and Assiduity, that his Majesty soon +distinguish'd him from the Croud, admitted him to Familiarity with him; +and finding he had a sound Judgment, a quick Apprehension, a Penetration +beyond what might be expected from one of his Age, and that he was a +Person of Discretion, and inviolable Secrecy, join'd with a noble Freedom, +and such a happy way of expressing himself as to render the most difficult +Subjects easy and pleasant; he readily judg'd that such a one was fit to +be employ'd in great Affairs. He had a mind to instruct him; and having +nominated him one of the Gentlemen of his Bed-Chamber, he had him under +his Eye. M. _de Bruhl_ improv'd so well from the Lessons of this great +Master, so thoroughly study'd his Humour, and so exactly suited himself to +his Genius, that he made himself necessary. His Application, his Love to +Business, and the Ease with which he dispatch'd it, won him the intire +Confidence of _Augustus_ II. who declar'd him Great Master of the +Wardrobe, and a Privy Counsellor; and to him he moreover committed the +Direction and Regulation of Affairs, Foreign and Domestic. Never had the +King shewn more Affection or Esteem for any of his Favourites; yet this +Nobleman took ne'er the more State upon him for it, but living always +humble, polite, and ready to do Services, he made himself Friends, and +secur'd himself by that means against all the Hatred and Envy with which +Courtiers are very ready to treat those who are in Power. + +When the King of _Prussia_ went to the Camp at _Zeithaim_, he conferr'd +his Order of the Black Eagle upon M. _de Bruhl_: The late King also +honour'd him with that of the White Eagle; but this was at a time when +this Minister had no Relish for Honours, and wou'd have been glad to have +renounc'd them for ever, if he cou'd thereby have prolong'd the Days of a +Master so worthy of Immortality. + +It was in those last Moments, when the Professions of Friendship cannot be +so much as suspected, that _Augustus_ II. gave his Favourite his Order, as +a certain Token that he retain'd a value for him even to Death. This great +King having finish'd his glorious Career, M. _de Bruhl_, without suffering +himself to be too much cast down, knowing that an Ocean of Tears was too +little to shed for the Loss he had sustain'd, thought of nothing more than +paying the due Devoirs to the deceas'd Sovereign, and to the Prince, his +Son and Successor. Having therefore caus'd the Corpse of the former to be +embalm'd, and put a Seal upon all the Effects which belong'd to him, +besides securing the Jewels and Papers of Consequence; he came to +_Dresden_ to join the Elector, now King of _Poland_, who received him with +such Marks of Kindness, as were enough to have put the deceas'd Monarch +out of the Minister's Thoughts, if his Gratitude had not dictated to him, +that such a King and such a Master ought never to be forgot. + +The King confirm'd him in all the Employments and Honours which he had +held by the Favour of _Augustus_ II. and moreover appointed him one of the +Ministers of his Cabinet. Some time after this, his Majesty declar'd him +President of the Chamber of Finances; consequently, this great, this true +King, by distinguishing Merit, did farther Honour to the Memory of his +august Father, since he did what that magnanimous Prince wou'd have +undoubtedly done for his Favourite. + +At this time the Minister resign'd to the King his Office of Great Master +of the Wardrobe, which his various Occupations did not permit him to +manage with that Care he thought was necessary. After the Return of the +Court from _Cracow_, whither this Gentleman had accompany'd the King, he +marry'd the Countess _de Collowrat_, one of the Queen's Ladies of Honour, +whose high Birth was supported with such personal Qualities as can never +be enough commended. The Bride being a _Roman_ Catholic, the Ceremony of +the Marriage was performed at _Moritzbourg_, in presence of their +Majesties, by the Bishop of _Cracow_. Never was a Couple better match'd; +the Lady's Person being a Collection of Charms, and M. _de Bruhl_ a Man of +as noble Presence as one wou'd wish to see; which he generally sets off +with a rich Dress of a good Fancy. No body at Court surpasses him in a +generous way of living; for he keeps a noble Table, and at his House +Persons of Distinction have their Assemblies. This Minister has something +so attracting in his Looks and Behaviour that he easily wins the Hearts of +People who are the most indifferent to him. He is so polite, affable, and +engaging, that he listens attentively to those who lay their Wants before +him, returns them courteous and distinct Answers; and whenever he is +constrain'd to give a Denial, he does it in such a manner as plainly +demonstrates his Concern that 'tis not in his power to oblige. And 'tis +owing to this Good-nature of his, and to the Kindness with which he treats +his Inferiors, that he can boast of possessing the Love and Veneration of +the Public. + +In short, the Count _de Sulkowski_ who has the first place in the Cabinet, +and this Gentleman who has the second, are the Ministers who decide all +Affairs with the King's good Pleasure. They are Gentlemen who know +nothing of Jealousy nor Envy; and, as they act from one and the same +Principle, so they have both the same View, which is to increase, if +possible, the Glory of the King, and the Happiness of the Government. + +The Office of all the above-mention'd, as Ministers of the Cabinet, is so +eminent at this Court that it gives those who are invested with it the +Precedence of all the Generals, both of Horse and Foot. + +Besides these, there are three other Ministers of the Cabinet, who, tho' +retir'd from Court, enjoy the Rank and Pensions annex'd to the Ministry. +They are the Count _de Manteuffel_, the Count _de Promnitz_, and the +Marquiss _de Fleuri_. + +_Ernest_ Count _de Manteuffel_, Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, is +descended of a Family which has been for a long time of distinguish'd Rank +in _Prussian Pomerania_. He was Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber to _Frederic_ +I. King of _Prussia_. Certain Ballads being handed about at Court, which +were insulting Lampoons upon the Count _de Wartemberg_, the King's Prime +Minister and Favourite, M. _de Manteuffel_ was charged with being the +Author of 'em; who knowing that the Favourite wou'd not put up with the +Affront, retir'd to _Saxony_, where the Count _de Flemming_, who then bore +the greatest sway at the King of _Poland_'s Court, receiv'd him as his +Countryman, and employ'd him in foreign Affairs; which he managed with the +Approbation both of his Majesty and the foreign Ministers he had to treat +with. M. _de Manteuffel_ kept in with the Favourite without giving into +the Flattery which that Minister expected from his Creatures; and while +the King was Vicar of the Empire, he made M. _de Manteuffel_ Count of the +Empire. His Majesty had some time before honour'd him with the Order of +the White Eagle, and preferr'd him to his Cabinet-Council; and after +Marshal _Flemming_'s Death, M. _de Manteuffel_[68] had the principal +Direction of the foreign Affairs. But this able Minister, and one of the +chief Ornaments and Confidents of the late King's Court, retir'd from it +in 1730, to his Estate in _Pomerania_, and now resides at _Berlin_; where +he still enjoys a Pension of 24000 Crowns, or 12000 Rixdollars, which was +secur'd to him by the present Elector. It adds to his Character, that +after he was retired, the Want of him was lamented. + +He is pretty tall, well set, has a grand Air, and is one of the handsomest +Men that I have seen. His Behaviour is noble and easy, he has a good Fund +of Learning, an extraordinary Memory, and such a Happiness of expressing +himself that when he talks he never fails to give Pleasure. He lives +nobly, and when he was at _Dresden_ his House was open to all Persons of +Distinction and Merit. He married a Baroness of _Pludouska_, who is, as +well as himself, of the _Lutheran_ Religion. + +_Erdmann_, Count _de Promnitz_, is more at his Estate than at Court; he is +also Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. He married a Princess of +_Saxe-Weissenfels_. He always distinguish'd himself by his Zeal, and his +Attachment to the Royal Family; of which he gave Proofs by raising an +Independent Company at his own Expence, for the Service of the late King, +which he sent to reinforce his Majesty's Troops in the Camp before +_Zeithaim_: And for the same Use he has since rais'd a Regiment of Horse. + +_Francis Vicardel_, Marquiss _de Fleuri_ and _de Beaufort_, is a +_Savoyard_. He was the King of _Sardinia_'s Minister, and his Envoy to the +Court of _Vienna_, when the late King of _Poland_ invited him into his +Service, admitted him to his Cabinet-Council, and made him a Knight of +his Order. This Minister is endow'd with all the Talents that can be +desir'd in a Man who has an Employment. He has an agreeable Aspect, +engaging Manners, a just Discernment, a quick Apprehension, and a very +even Temper. But his frequent Ailments disabling him from the Exercise of +his Talents, he desir'd, and obtain'd leave to retire to his Estate in +_Savoy_; and the late King, who had always a great and noble Soul, being +desirous that he shou'd be a Witness of his Goodness and Royal +Magnificence, secur'd the Enjoyment of his Pensions to him; which the +present King has also been pleased to confirm. + +Another of the Cabinet Ministers, who was also formerly Prime Minister to +the late King of _Poland_, was the Count _de Hoym_, descended from one of +the principal Families in _Saxony_, and Brother to the Gentleman that +married Madame _de Cosel_. I knew him intimately before he was advanced to +the Ministry, at _Paris_, and at _Vienna_, as well as here at _Dresden_. +You must have seen him in _Silesia_, where he has a very fine Estate. +There is not a Minister at this Court more civil, more learned, or a +better Friend to learned Men. During his long Residence at _Paris_ as +Ambassador from the King of _Poland_, his House was open to all Men of +Learning as it is now at _Dresden_; and he had the splendid Title given +him of the _Mecnas_ of _Saxony_[69]. + +They who are actually PRIVY COUNSELLORS, or MINISTERS OF STATE here, are +eight in number. They are descended from some of the best Families in +_Saxony_, and profess the Protestant Religion. The Detail of their +Characters, their Experience, and their Merit, wou'd oblige me to +transgress the Limits of this Work, were I only to treat of those who are +bound by their Employments to attend the King's Person, and who compose +his Majesty's Houshold. But for the Reputation of the Privy Council, 'tis +proper just to observe that all its Members are Subjects who do Honour to +the King's Choice; that they are vigilant for promoting the Good of the +Public, and that in their Deliberations they manifest their Zeal for the +King, and their Affection to their Country. + +The President of this Council, is _Alexander de Miltitz de Scharffenberg_, +who is a Native of _Saxony_, the same that was the King's Governour; of +whom so much has been already said, that I avoid to make any more +particular mention of him here. + +Two of the Privy Counsellors are Counsellors of the Conferences, which are +held in presence of his Majesty, _viz._ _Gotlob-Frederic_ Baron _de +Gersdorff_, and _Bernard_ Baron _de Zech_. The former comes from an +ancient Family of Distinction, which has given several great Men to this +State. The latter has acquitted himself with Success in the several +Negociations wherein he has been employ'd. They are both laborious, +vigilant, upright Men, and of great Experience in Business. + +_The King's_ GREAT OFFICERS_ are,_ + +I. The GRAND MARSHAL; which Office is now held by _Waldemar_, Baron _de +Lowendahl_, who has under him + + The Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber, + The Pages, + The Huntsmen, + The Musicians of the Chapel and the Chamber, + The Dancers, + The Comedians, + The Trumpeters, + The Footmen, + The _Turks_, + The _Heydukes_, + The Messengers, + The _Negroes_; + +and in short, a considerable number of other Officers and Domestics of the +King's Houshold. His Jurisdiction extends not only over those that I have +mention'd, but also over all Foreigners of Quality who happen to be at +_Dresden_; and there is a Tribunal or Court for this purpose, of which the +Great Chamberlain, the Great Master of the Kitchens, the Great Cup-Bearer +and the Marshal of the Court are Members. + +II. The GREAT CHAMBERLAIN; who is at present _Henry-Frederic_ Count of +_Friesland_. 'Tis he that receives the Ambassadors and other foreign +Ministers, and introduces them to an Audience of the King. He has under +him the several Chamberlains. + +III. The MASTER of the HORSE, _Alexander-Joseph_ Count _de Sulkowski_, is +in possession of this Office, which is one of the best and noblest +Employments at Court, the Person who is invested with it being serv'd by +the King's Equipages and Livery, and having the disposal of all the +inferior Offices appertaining to the Stables. He has under him the +Equerries, the Prickers, and all the Workmen employ'd for the Service of +the Stables, and the making of the Equipages. + +He that is the only chief Equerry is _Adolphus de Bruhl_, one of the +King's Chamberlains. He officiates in the absence of the Master of the +Horse, is Brother to _Henry de Bruhl_ Minister of the Cabinet, and +resembles him in Candour and Integrity. His Honesty, which is imprinted on +his very Countenance, reflects a Lustre on all his Actions. He is so +sensible of the Charms of Friendship that he fulfils all the Obligations +of it; and besides those Qualities of the Mind, he makes an agreeable +Appearance, is dextrous in his Exercises, has a solid Relish of the Arts +and Sciences, is perfect Master of Music, and plays on several +Instruments. + +He was heretofore in the Service of the Duke Regent of _Weissenfels_, and +next in that of the Duke of _Saxe-Weimar_, who had such an Esteem for his +Merit that to him he referred the Direction of his Court. Nevertheless he +left this Prince, and enter'd into the Service of the late King, who +conferred those Employments on him which he now enjoys. Since he came to +Court, he married a young Lady of Quality of the Family of _Opelen_, whose +Fortune and Charms into the bargain made her such a considerable Match +that she did not want Suitors. + +IV. The GREAT HUNTSMAN. The Gentleman who at present possesses this +Office, one of the most lucrative at Court, is _Charles de Leubnitz_. It +gives him the Superintendance over all the Officers of the Venery, in +which Number are included the Rangers, the Verdurers, the Gentlemen and +Pages, and above a hundred Huntsmen or other Persons depending on them. +The Great Huntsman is a Protestant, as well as his Lady, who is of the +Family of _Schaurot_. + +V. The GREAT MASTER of the KITCHENS is _Adolphus_ Baron _de Seyffertitz_, +of a Family which has been for a long time distinguish'd in this +Electorate. His first Step at Court was in the Employment of Gentleman of +the Bed-Chamber. _Augustus_ II. at the request of the late Czar _Peter the +Great_, plac'd him Governor to the Czarowitz when that young Prince came +into _Germany_. He continued in this Post till after the Marriage of the +Czarowitz to the Princess of _Brunswic-Wolfembuttle-Blanckenbourg_. After +his return to _Saxony_ he accompanied the late King to _Berlin_, when his +Majesty together with _Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_, went thither to +make a visit to _Frederic_ I. King of _Prussia_. In 1711, M. _de +Seyffertitz_ was appointed Marshal of the Embassy which _Augustus_ II. +sent to _Francfort_, for the Election of an Emperor. His Imperial Majesty +_Charles_ VI. at the Ceremony of his Coronation, made him a Knight of the +Empire, and at length the late King made him one of his Chamberlains, and +then Great Master of the Kitchens, which Office he manages with Dignity +and Politeness. He married a Lady of the Family of _Haxthausen_, Widow of +the Count _de Beichling_ the Great Faulconer. They are both of the +_Lutheran_ Communion. + +In the absence of the Grand Marshal, the Great Master of the Kitchens +officiates, and at the grand Ceremonies wears like him a Staff tipp'd with +Silver gilt. Under his Province are the Comptrollers of the Kitchen and of +the Houshold, the Clerks of the Kitchen, the Purveyors, the Cooks and +Turn-spits, the Pastry-Cooks, the Pursers, Fishmongers, _&c._ + +VI. The GREAT CUP-BEARER is _John-Adolphus de Haugwitz_, a Gentleman of +good Extraction. His Father was Grand Marshal to the late King. He is a +handsome Man, has a noble Mien, performs all sorts of Exercises with a +Grace and with Dexterity, and does the Honours of the Court in a becoming +manner. He is of the Protestant Religion, and married to a Lady of the +Family of _Beist_. His Employment sets him above all the Officers of the +King's Buttery, Cellar, and Pantry. In the absence of the Grand Marshal +and the Master of the Kitchens, he officiates for them, and at great +Ceremonies he carries like them a Staff of Silver gilt. + +VII. The GREAT FAULCONER is an Office held by _Anthony_ Count _de +Moschinski_, a _Polish_ Nobleman, and a _Roman_ Catholic. He was formerly +Page to the King, and attended his Majesty in his Tours to _France_ and +_Italy_, where he acquir'd great Politeness, and a very engaging +Deportment. At his return to _Dresden_, he was made one of the Gentlemen +of the Bed-Chamber to the King, who was then the Prince Royal. Afterwards +the late King appointed him one of his Chamberlains; and when the Count +_de Fitztuhm_ unhappily lost his life at _Warsaw_, his Majesty who had +given his Office of Great Chamberlain to the Count _de Friesland_, +bestow'd that of _Great Faulconer_, which was held by that Nobleman, upon +the Count _de Moschinski_, who was grac'd almost at the same time with the +Order of the _White Eagle_, and the Post of Treasurer to the Court of +_Poland_. His Majesty also granted him in Marriage one of his natural +Children, the Daughter of the Countess _de Cosel_. Never was a Person more +deserving of Honours than the Great Faulconer, who is truly magnificent, +and makes such an Appearance, that he does an Honour to his Character. By +his Behaviour he engages the Friendship and Regard of all that have to do +with him. He has under his command the Officers of the Faulconry or Mews +where the Hawks are kept, the Faulconers, and in general all those Persons +that have any relation to the Faulconry. + +VIII. The GREAT MASTER of the WARDROBE is _Alexander-Joseph_ Count _de +Sulkowski_. He has under his Jurisdiction the _Catholic_ Clergy, the +_Physicians_ of the _Body_, the _Footmen_, the _Secretaries_, _Writers_ +and _Clerks_ of the _Chamber_, the _Inspectors_ of the _Chamber_ of +_Curiosities_, the _Ushers_ of the _Chamber_ and of the _King's Closet_, +his _Peruke-makers_, _Surgeons_ and _Taylors_, the _Negroes_, _Dwarfs_, +and _Pages_ of the _Back-Stairs_, the _Architects_, _Engineers_ and +_Designers_. + +IX. The POST-MASTER-GENERAL is _Maurice-Charles_ Count _de Linar_, who is +also one of the Chamberlains, and a Knight of the Order of St. _John_. He +is descended from a Family which has been of Eminence for a long time in +this Electorate. His good Mien is answerable to his Birth, and by his +Politeness, his Manners, and his Expences, he does an honour to the Prince +that employs him. The King, after his Coronation, sent him to _Muscovy_ to +notify the Accomplishment of that Ceremony to the Empress of the +_Russians_, and he still continues at that Princess's Court, to take care +of his Master's Interests, which he does in a way that cannot but turn to +his own Advantage, and the Honour of the King.[70] This Gentleman was also +employ'd by the late King at the Court of _Prussia_, and at the _British_ +Court when at _Hanover_, and always discharg'd his Commissions with such +Success as was crown'd with his Majesty's Approbation. + +X. The MARSHAL of the COURT is _John-George d'Einsiedel_, who is also a +Privy-Counsellor, and a Gentleman of a good Family, his Ancestors having +possessed the chief Offices of the State. He has visited the principal +Courts of _Europe_, where he contracted that polite Turn which is seen in +his Behaviour. He is a handsome Man, has a noble Air, and his Demeanour is +answerable. He knows a great deal, and performs all the academical +Exercises very well. He married the Daughter of the General Count _de +Flemming_ Governor of _Leipsic_, who was a rich Heiress, and to be valued +for the Qualities of her Mind. The Marshal of the Court and his Lady are +both of the _Lutheran_ Communion. His Office joins him in Commission with +the Grand Marshal, the Great Master of the Kitchens, and the Great +Cup-Bearer; and like those Officers he carries the short Staff of Silver +gilt at the grand Ceremonies. 'Tis commonly he that makes the +Court-Entertainments. + +_Curt d'Einsiedel_ Marshal of the Court, and one of the Chamberlains, is +remarked for his genteel Mien and Extraction. His good Qualities and +Deportment render him worthy of all Employments. He is of the establish'd +Religion of _Saxony_, and lately married Madamoiselle _de Schoneberg de +Maxen_, whose Personal Charms are an Ornament to the Court. + +_Ernest-Ferdinand d'Ermandsdorff_, Marshal of the King's Houshold, and one +of the Chamberlains, has procur'd himself Esteem by his Merit as well as +his good Birth and Breeding. Besides his Knowledge of various kinds which +qualifies him for Business, he is Master of several Languages, +particularly the _French_. He married a Lady of the Family of _Hesler_, +and they are both of the _Lutheran_ Religion. + +XI. The CHAMBERLAINS. Of these there are too many to be all mention'd +here, so that I shall only take notice of the twelve Pensioners who are in +waiting about their Majesties, and without regarding the Seniority of +their Admittance. They commonly attend the King and Queen, each a whole +Week in their turn, and have the Rank of Major-Generals. The finest +Prerogative of their Employment; is the Honour of eating with their +Majesties when they are in Waiting, and of being the Depositaries of the +Petitions which are presented to the King in his Passage. + +1. _Henry Rodolph de Schonfeld_, Lord of _Lowenitz_, is the King's first +Chamberlain. He has a fine Presence and Behaviour, and a sweet and amiable +Temper. He keeps a handsome Table and Equipage, suitable to his Fortune. +He attended the King, by his Majesty's Order, to _Cracow_, and lastly to +_Oliva_. + +2. _Helmuth de Plesk_ is of a Family in the Dutchy of _Holstein_, of some +Note for their great Estate there, and for the Rank they bear at the Court +of _Denmark_, where several Lords of _Plesk_ are in the Ministry. The +Gentleman here mention'd is actually the King's Envoy Extraordinary to the +Court of _Denmark_. + +3. _Augustus-Henry Gottlob_, Count _de Callenberg_, is of this Electorate, +where his Family has for a long time enjoy'd a considerable Rank, and a +fine Estate. He has been the King's Envoy Extraordinary to the Courts of +_France_, _Brussels_, _Cologn_, _Triers_, and the Elector _Palatine_, to +notify the Death of the late King, and the Accession of their present +Majesties to the Electorate. He married the Countess of _Bose_, lives +nobly, and adorns the Court by his Politeness. He is of the Protestant +Communion. + +4. _John-George de Carlowitz_ is of the same Religion. He is a _Saxon_, +and married to Madamoiselle _de Neitsch_. He has a peculiar Talent of +gaining the Love of all Mankind; which he owes to his Travels, and his +natural Genius. + +5. _Frederic-Augustus de Brandstein_, after having finish'd his Studies at +_Wittenberg_, travell'd to good purpose to the principal Countries of +_Europe_. At his return the late King declar'd him a Gentleman of his +Bed-Chamber, and some time after one of his Chamberlains. He is well +descended, and what is convenient for a Courtier, he adheres to the +Religion which is uppermost in the State. + +6. _Detler-Henry d'Einsiedel_, Brother to the Marshal of the Court, +honours his Name by his personal Qualities. He is a handsome tall +Gentleman, has a grand Presence, and few Gentlemen surpass him in Good +Manners, Address, and polite Literature. He study'd at _Wittenberg_, and +afterwards made a Visit to the principal Courts of _Europe_: The last he +made was to that of _Sweden_, whither he was sent by the King to notify +the Death of his late Majesty, and the Accession of his present Majesty to +the Electorate. + +7. _Sigismond d'Arnim_, is not only one of the King's Chamberlains, but +Colonel of a Regiment of Horse. He is of an ancient Family which has Lands +in _Lusatia_. His Employments are owing both to his Birth and personal +Merit. He is of the Religion of the Country. + +8. _Maximilian_, Count _d'Herzan_, is of _Bohemia_. The late Countess his +Mother was the Queen's first Lady of Honour, and attended her Majesty +hither from _Vienna_. He is able to cut a Figure at Court, but is absent +above half of his time; and is a _Roman_ Catholic. + +9. _Charles-Christian de Minckwitz_, is a Gentleman of a fine Mien. As he +has been a great Traveller, he has acquir'd a great share of Knowledge and +Politeness. He was born a _Saxon_, but has embrac'd the _Roman_ Catholic +Faith; tho' he has defeated himself by it of the Reversion of a +considerable Inheritance. + +10. _Henry-Augustus de Breitenbauch_, is a Gentleman of fine Sense and +Manners suitable to his Extraction. Such is his good Taste and Skill in +Music, that he has been singled out for the Direction of the King's +Pleasures. He is of the Communion of the Country, and marry'd to a Lady of +the Family of _Schonberg_. + +11. _Nicholas-Schwizinski_ is a Native of _Poland_; he has valuable +Qualities, and a great Attachment to the _Roman_ Catholic Religion. + +12. _N. N. de Sehgutt-Stanislawski_ is of a Family which was formerly +possess'd of a great Estate in _Silesia_, with the Title of the Counts _de +Sehgutt_, till the Conquest of the Country by the _Teutonic_ Knights, when +his Ancestors remov'd to _Prussia_; and spreading afterwards in _Poland_, +they assum'd the Name of _Stanislawski_, as what was more agreeable to the +_Poles_. This Chamberlain is a Person of strict Honour and Integrity, +without any manner of Guile. He spent his Youth at the Academy of _Berlin_ +which was erected by King _Frederic_ I. and afterwards enter'd as +Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber to _Augustus_ II. who not many Years after +made him a Chamberlain of _Poland_, and put him upon the Establishment of +_Saxony_; and when the present King came to the Government, he continued +him in his Employment. His Majesty also made choice of him to attend him +to _Cracow_, and lastly to _Oliva_. + +XII. Of the STEWARD of the QUEEN'S HOUSHOLD. Since the Queen's Arrival at +_Dresden_, there have been four Stewards of her Majesty's Houshold. The +Count _de Diedrichstein_ was the first that had this Place, which he +resign'd for the Grand Priory of _Bohemia_. His Successor was the Count +_de Konigsegg_ who actually commands the Emperor's Army in _Lombardy_. +This General being recall'd to _Vienna_, was replac'd by the Count _de +Wratislau_, and he by the Count _de Waldstein_ who lately quitted that +Post to go and take possession of the Office of _Landshauptmann_, or +Intendant of _Silesia_, which was conferr'd on him by the Emperor. The +Count _de Wratislaw_, who has the care of his Imperial Majesty's Affairs +at this Court, officiates there again as Steward. This is the Officer who +leads the Queen, and gives Orders to all her Officers and Domestics, and +who must be apply'd to by those that solicite for an Audience of her +Majesty. + +XIII. The _Queen's first Lady of Honour_, is _Theresa_ Baroness of +_Stein_, and Countess Dowager of _Collowrat_; who honours her Station by +her Virtues, and by the Dignity with which she fills it. The late Count +_de Collowrat_ her Husband was Great Chamberlain of _Bohemia_, and one of +the chief Noblemen of that Kingdom. This Lady, his Relict, is a _Roman_ +Catholic, and is such in an exemplary manner. Those Ladies who want to +kiss the Queen's Hand, or to pay their Duty to her, must apply to this +Lady, who introduces and presents them. She has the Precedence before all +other Ladies, and only yields it to the Princesses of the Blood. + +XIV. Of the _Governess of the Ladies of Honour, and of the Ladies of +Honour themselves_. In the absence of the first Lady of Honour, the +Governess of the Ladies officiates. The Baroness Dowager of _Rohr_ +worthily fills this Station, and has under her six Ladies, two of whom, +_viz._ the Countesses of _Waldstein_ and _Kokersowitz_, are Ladies of the +Bed-Chamber, a Title which procures them Admittance to the Queen's Closet. +All the Ladies of Honour must always appear in the Court-Dress. Their +manner of Living is such that it obliges Calumny itself to respect them. + +XV. Of the _Lords and Ladies that are attach'd to the Court by their +Offices, or by the Favours of the King_. + +Tho' the _Polish_ Lords cannot be put upon the Establishment of the Court +of _Saxony_, that there may be nothing in common between the two States, +yet it may be thought inexcusable not to mention in this place +_John-Alexander Lipski_, Bishop of _Cracow_, Duke of _Servia_, and Great +Chancellor of _Poland_; not only because this Prelate, who is descended +from one of the best Families in the Kingdom, was appointed Bishop of +_Cracow_ by the late King, but because he has given signal Proofs of his +Gratitude and Attachment to the august Family of his Benefactor. The +Virtues of this Gentleman intitle him to Respect: He is pious without +Hypocrisy, generous without Ostentation, magnificent without Pageantry, +officious meerly for the Pleasure of obliging, a Courtier without +Servility, a Man strictly attach'd to his King and his Country, learned +without being positive, a great Orator, a good Bishop, and a wise +Minister, always ready to embrace a good Proposal, and firm to support it, +laborious, vigilant, acting only out of Principle, and by consequence +susceptible of Friendship, and scorning Revenge. The late King, out of his +Esteem for the Qualities of this Prelate, made him Bishop of _Cracow_, +Great Chancellor of _Poland_, and honour'd him with his Order of the White +Eagle. By this means he so rivetted him to his Interest, and to that of +the Prince his Son, that after his Majesty's Decease, his most Reverend +Highness directed Affairs in such a manner that the Republic chose his Son +for their King. _Augustus_ II. being proclaim'd accordingly, the Prince +and Bishop was appointed Head of the Embassy which the States of the +Kingdom sent to the new Monarch at _Tarnowitz_, to carry him the Diploma +of his Election. He spoke upon this occasion with a noble Eloquence, +rendering to their Majesties all due Respects, and yet maintaining the +Dignity of the most Serene Republic. Having discharg'd this Commission, +he went before the King to _Cracow_, made his Entry there, and took +possession of the Bishoprick. Some days after this, he consecrated and +crown'd their Majesties in his Metropolis. When the King return'd to +_Saxony_, the Prelate followed him, and attended him to _Oliva_; and 'twas +he that receiv'd the Allegiance and Homage of the _Dantzickers_ to his +Majesty. He is since come hither to rejoin the Court, is belov'd, +reverenc'd, and every one does Justice to his Virtues. + +_Charles-Lewis_, Prince of _Holstein-Beck_, Colonel in the Service of the +King, and Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, is the second Son of the +late _Lewis-Frederic_ Veldt-Marshal of _Prussia_, Governour of +_Koningsberg_, and Knight of the Order of the Elephant. This Prince +married _Anne_ Countess of _Orselska_, the legitimated Daughter of the +late King. + +_George-Ignatius_, Prince _de Lubomirski_, Sword-Bearer of the Crown, +Lieutenant-General of the King's Forces, Colonel of the Life-Guards, and +Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, is descended from a Family of very +great Distinction in _Poland_. After he return'd from his Travels, being +attach'd to the Court of _Augustus_ II. he married the Daughter of the +Count _de Fitztuhm_, who was Great Chamberlain; a Lady of such Beauty, +such personal Charms, and such fine Sense, that she engages the Veneration +of all that know her. Prince _Lubomirski_ is a jolly handsome Man, very +polite, thinks and acts agreeable to his Birth, has a good share of +Literature, and is perfect Master of Music. He lives in a handsome manner +very suitable to his Rank. + +The _Princess_ of _Teschen_ is a _Polish_ Lady, and ally'd to the greatest +Families in the Kingdom. Her Uncle was the famous Cardinal _Radjowski_, +Archbishop of _Gnesna_, and Primate of the Kingdom. She was formerly +marry'd to Prince _Lubomirski_, Great Chamberlain of the Crown; but the +Marriage was dissolved, so that she quitted the Name of _Lubomirski_ for +that of _Teschen_, which she still bears, tho' she afterwards marry'd +Prince _Lewis_ of _Wirtemberg_. This Princess supports her Rank with +Dignity, has a grand Air, is respected for a noble distinguish'd and +engaging Behaviour, and lives in so handsome a manner, that she is one of +the most shining Ornaments of this Court. + +_Josepha_ Countess _de Lagnasco_ is the Daughter of the Count _de +Wallenstein_, who was Great Chamberlain to the Emperor _Joseph_, and one +of the most worthy Noblemen of the Imperial Court, by _Eleonora_ Countess +of _Losenstein_; a Lady whose Memory is with Justice rever'd by all +_Vienna_. The Countess _de Lagnasco_ was the Widow of Count _Thaun_, when +she marry'd the late Count _de Lagnasco_, Minister of the Cabinet to +_Augustus_ II. General of the _Saxon_ Cavalry, Captain of the +Horse-Guards, and Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. Since that +Nobleman's Decease, which was in _April_ 1732, his Widow has always liv'd +at _Dresden_; where she enjoys the Esteem of their Majesties, and the +Veneration of the Courtiers. This Countess is Mistress of several +Languages to Perfection, thoroughly understands Music, and sings with +Grace and Method. Her noble generous way of living, and her graceful and +distinguish'd Behaviour cannot be express'd, nor indeed equall'd to any +thing but the Goodness of her Temper. The late Count _de Lagnasco_ is of a +good Stature, and his Behaviour polite and civil. I think you know that he +was of a Family in _Piedmont_ of some Distinction. How, or when he first +enter'd into the Service of the King of _Poland_, I cannot tell you; but I +know that he presently insinuated himself into his Master's Favour, by +his very great Assiduity, agreeable Temper, and by a vast Complaisance to +enter into his Pleasures. He establish'd himself so firmly in the King's +Favour that the Count _de Flemming_ look'd upon him as the only Rival he +had to fear, and therefore he never much lik'd him. The Count _de +Lagnasco_ was employ'd in several Embassies; and when he had finish'd that +at _Rome_, which was his last, there was a Talk that he was to go +Ambassador to _Vienna_, and that the young Count _de Wackerbart_ was to go +to _Rome_. I must further acquaint you that M. _de Lagnasco_ was happy in +all respects, even in Marriage, not only with his first, but his second +Wife, who, when he married her, was a young, rich, brisk Widow. His first +Wife was the Daughter of the Count _de Noyelles_, Lieutenant-General in +_Holland_, a Lady of great Virtue, esteemed by all the People at the +_Hague_, and possess'd of a considerable Estate, of which, dying young, +and without Issue, she made her Husband sole Heir. + +_Francis_, Count _de Montmorency_, is a Name too well known to speak of +his Extraction. He was a Colonel in _France_ when he went into the Service +of _Augustus_ II. who receiv'd him with that Demonstration of Esteem which +that King was so ready to grant to Persons of Merit. His Majesty first +appointed him Major-General of his Forces, and some time after he declar'd +him a Lieutenant-General, and Captain of his Horse-Guards. At that time +the Count married Madame _Potschin_, Widow of the Great General of +_Lithuania_; a Lady whose Birth, Qualities, and Fortune, recommended her +for a very considerable Match. The Countess _de Montmorency_, in the time +of her former Husband, went to _Paris_ for the Recovery of her Health, and +receiv'd extraordinary Honours at the _French_ Court, where she was +admir'd for her Politeness, the Delicacy of her Sentiments, and the Ease +with which she express'd them in the Language of _France_; from whence +they conceiv'd an advantagious Idea of the Court of _Augustus_ II. not +imagining how 'twas possible for the Manners of a Foreign Lady so much to +resemble their own. She is also as much rever'd at _Dresden_ as at +_Paris_; and all that know her, agree she is highly to be valued for her +Sentiments. + +_Antoinetta_ of _Lichtenstein_, Countess of _Wallenstein_, is Wife to +_Leopold_ Count _de Wallenstein_, heretofore Great Master of the Queen's +Houshold; a Lady both belov'd and honour'd at this place, for her Virtues +and civil Deportment; and as she is preparing to follow her Husband into +_Silesia_, she will carry with her the Esteem of their Majesties, and +leave the Court sorry for her Absence. + +XVI. _Of the Foreign Ministers who reside at this Court._ + +_Francis-Charles_ Count _de Wratislaw_, one of the Emperor's Privy +Council, and Knight of the Orders of _Russia_ and _Poland_, resides at +this Court in quality of Ambassador from his Imperial and Catholic +Majesty. He is descended from one of the greatest Families in the Kingdom +of _Bohemia_, and a Family which has given wise Ministers to the august +House of _Austria_. This Gentleman has been for a long time in the +Management of the most important Affairs: He was Ambassador for the +Kingdom of _Bohemia_ to the Dyet of the Empire at _Ratisbon_; From thence +he went in the same Character to _Poland_, where he was present at the +Dyet of _Grodno_. The Emperor afterwards nam'd him Great Master of the +Houshold to the Princess Royal and Electoral, now Queen of _Poland_. The +Count having worthily acquitted himself of that Office, was for several +Years Ambassador at _Russia_, where he concluded that happy Alliance +subsisting between the two Empires, and acquired the Esteem of the +Empress, who honor'd him with her Order of St. _Andrew_; _Augustus_ II. +having before given him that of the White Eagle. + +This Minister, since his Return from _Muscovy_, has moreover been charg'd +by the Emperor with important Commissions to the Courts of _Prussia_, +_Brunswic_, and _Holstein_. At length he is come back again to this Court, +as Ambassador from his Imperial and Catholic Majesty; and officiates also +as Great Master of the Queen's Houshold. This Nobleman is of a middling +Stature, of a happy Physiognomy, is civil, beneficent, and loves Grandeur +and Pleasures, but does not abandon himself to them so far as to neglect +the Interests of his Master, whose Affairs he negociates with a noble +Candour which has render'd him as much esteem'd at the Courts where he has +resided, as he is beloved for his Affability and Politeness. His Wife is +the Countess of _Kinski_, whose Father was Great Chancellor of _Bohemia_, +under the Emperor _Leopold_, and whose Brother is now in that Office under +the most August _Charles_ VI. + +_Hermann-Charles Keyserling_, Plenipotentiary Minister from the Empress of +the _Russians_, is of a Family of Note in _Courland_. He study'd at +_Koningsberg_ in _Prussia_. After he had visited the principal Courts of +_Germany_, and return'd to his own Country, he was made Gentleman of the +Bed-Chamber to the Dutchess of _Courland_, _Anne_ of _Muscovy_, the +present Empress, who employ'd him in several Commissions to the Courts of +_Prussia_ and _Poland_. Nevertheless he quitted her Service for one of the +judicial Offices in that Country. + +When _Anne_ came to the Throne, the States of _Courland_ deputed M. +_Keyserling_ to that Princess, who offer'd him an Employment at her +Court, and appointed him Vice-President of the Chamber of Justice of the +_Russian_ Empire. Some time after, she made him President of the Academy +of Sciences at _Petersbourg_, and sent him to this Court, where he +discharges his Ministerial Office with universal Approbation. The Wife of +this Minister is the Daughter of the Starost _Forchs_, who, for opposing +the Pretensions of a certain Power which challeng'd more Respect, was +assassinated at _Mittaw_. Both he and his Lady are of the _Lutheran_ +Communion. + +_John-Hartwig-Ernest_, Baron of _Bernsdorff_, Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber +to the King of _Denmark_, and his Majesty's Envoy at this Court, is of a +Family which is possess'd of a fine Estate in _Mecklembourg_, and has +given an able Minister to the House of _Hanover_. The Envoy, of whom +mention is here made, does honour to his Character, and behaves with a +Prudence not inferior to Ministers of the greatest Experience. + + * * * * * + +By the Detail I have now given you, Sir, you must have observ'd that the +chief Employments of the Court are in the hands of Foreigners, and that +_Saxons_ have little to do in Affairs of State, for which they are oblig'd +indeed to the Count _de Flemming_. This vain, haughty, and imperious +Minister expected every one shou'd truckle to him. He found that +Foreigners were much more submissive than the _Saxons_, who are by nature +stately, and Enemies to Slavery in any shape. Count _Flemming_ being dead, +it's probable that the _Saxons_ will be more employ'd than they have been; +and indeed they have Capacities equal to any Nation in the World. They are +well made, robust, agile, laborious, good Soldiers, cunning Courtiers. +They have naturally more Spirit than the _French_ allow to the _Germans_; +they improve in the Sciences, and in bodily Exercises, and they have good +Writers among them upon all sorts of Subjects; witness the Works of M. +_Leibnitz_, the famous Philosopher, and of _Thomasius_, one of the most +able Civilians of his time. The _Saxons_ are addicted indeed to all +Pleasures in general, but to none so much as the Bottle and Gaming. They +love Pomp and Expence, and are naturally not very engaging, being +exceeding ceremonious, and affecting more than all the _Germans_ to ape +the _French_, with whom they sympathise very much, particularly in their +Fondness for new Fashions, their Forwardness to make new Acquaintance and +Friendships, and perhaps too in their Readiness to fall out with them upon +very trivial Occasion. + +Since I have spoke so much of the Men, I must also give you some account +of the _Saxon_ Women. They are all of a fair Complexion, and there are +among them the finest Faces in the World. They are generally well shap'd +too, which is what they are chiefly taken notice of for: They are tall and +slender; they dance well, and have a surprising genteel Air, which they +take great care to improve by rich Dress. One Fault I find with them is, +that they are very affected, and that they have too much Action when they +talk. As to their Tempers, they are reckon'd to be good-natur'd; but then +they are subtile and crafty. They love Dress and Ornament more than all +Women that I ever saw. They are lively and gay, and passionately fond of +Dancing and Merriment. When they are told that they are handsome, they are +so far from being surpriz'd that they look upon it as a Compliment due to +them. When once they love, they love with Tenderness; and there are among +them such Examples of Constancy as would eclipse even a _Cleopatra_, or a +_Clelia_. These heroic Sentiments of Love they learn from Romances, which +they are vastly fond of: But this must be said to their Honour, that +Gallantry does not take up so much of their Time and Thoughts as to make +them neglect their Business; for they are laborious, dextrous, and amuse +themselves with all sorts of Work. They do every thing too with a good +Grace; and in a word it may be added to their Praise, that a _Saxon_ Woman +wants nothing more to make her amiable, but an Inclination to acquire that +Character. + +Pleasures and Recreations commonly attend the Ladies so closely, that in +treating of the one I can't but remember the other; and the Inhabitants of +_Dresden_ are so much devoted to Pleasures, that I think I ought to put +them into a separate Article. When the King is at _Dresden_ there are +Pleasures in abundance, such as Plays, Masquerades, Balls, Feasts, Running +at the Ring, and Races on Sleds, Turnaments, Hunting-Matches; but when the +King is in _Poland_ there's a very great _Vacuum_. The Electoral Prince +and Princess are often at _Wermstorff_, alias _Hubertsbourg_; and even +when their Royal Highnesses are in Town, they are pretty retir'd: They see +Company while they are at Dinner, but for the rest of the day none come +near them besides the few that have the honour of their Confidence. The +rest are scatter'd up and down the Town to the great Disappointment of +Foreigners that happen then to be here; for there's no body keeps open +House, they being all select Societies to which 'tis very difficult to +gain admittance. If one is invited to dine with some Lord of the Court, +one has a good Dinner 'tis true, but after Dinner is over a Man knows not +how to bestow himself. One is sure of finding Company no where except at +the Houses of Madame _de Brebentau_ the Widow of the great Treasurer of +_Poland_, and of the Countess _de Lagnasco_; nor are their Houses always +open, for Madame _de Brebentau_ is often sick, and Madame _de Lagnasco_ +often abroad, or engag'd in Parties with the Electoral Princess, and then +one knows not where to go; for there's no Play to be seen, and as for the +young People, they amuse themselves with the common Pleasures of that +Stage of Life; they drink, they game, and do something more. + +When the King is at _Dresden_, the People partake in most of the Pleasures +of the Court, the generality of the Entertainments which the King gives +being public. Plays and Masquerades are free for any People of Fashion; +there's nothing to pay, and all divert themselves as they like best. The +Citizens Wives are more tractable here than in any Town in _Germany_: They +love to imitate the Ladies of Quality, and 'tis sometimes as good as a +Comedy to see what Airs they give themselves. + +They are extremely fond of Dressing, which Luxurious Taste extends even to +Wives of the Mechanics, and of the Livery; so that were a Stranger to come +hither on a Sunday or a Holiday, when every body is dress'd, he wou'd be +tempted to think that _Plutus_ had scatter'd all his Wealth among these +People; and a very great Nobleman, who 'tis like was not acquainted with +the God _Plutus_, returning home once from _Dresden_, told his Wife that +he was come from a City to which the Devil had carry'd all the Money. + +The Parsons here do indeed cry aloud against these Abuses, but the worst +on't is, that like the Clergy in many other Places, they preach what they +don't practise; and while they are declaiming against Luxury and new +Fashions, they suffer their Wives and Daughters to be the first to set off +their Charms with the gayest and the newest Patterns. + +While I am speaking of the Pastors, I must be a little more particular. +These Gentlemen stand very high in the Opinion of the Laity, and are +ready to think themselves Bishops. Having such Notions as these in their +Heads, they anathematise all that are not _Lutherans_: The _Catholics_ and +the _Reform'd_, or, to speak as they do, the _Papists_ and _Calvinists_, +all Christians in short who are of a contrary Opinion to those charitable +Ecclesiastics are damn'd without Mercy. Yet by the Appearance of these +severe Judges, one would think they preach'd only Peace and Paradise; and +they have such a meek, humble, modest, and timorous Air, that you wou'd be +apt to take them for Saints. + +A few days ago I had an Adventure with one of those Clergymen, which I +will acquaint you of, because I think it may give you an Idea of their +Character; for he that sees one of them, sees all. + +I happen'd to be making a Visit to a _Lutheran_ Lady, who passes for a +very devout one: There was already a pretty deal of Company, and who +should come in to add to it but a Minister that was a Doctor, and by +consequence a Man of Importance; as such too he was receiv'd by the +Mistress of the House, who said to me as soon as she saw his Face, _You +will now see a holy Man_. The good Man, or Saint, as he wou'd be reckon'd, +enter'd the Room with his Eyes cast downward, making profound Reverences, +and prostrating himself in such a manner as if he had said _Domine non sum +dignus_. At last, after a great many Compliments, he sat down, was silent +for a few Moments, and then he spoke. His Words were all sacred, and his +Sentences such as if the wise Man himself had spoke with his Lips: _God be +prais'd_ was in every Phrase, and he was hearken'd to with as much +Attention as an Oracle. I listen'd to him first like the rest, but at +length I thought I might as well talk to a pretty young Lady that sat just +by me. The Doctor offended to see the little Regard I paid to what he +said, enquir'd of the Mistress of the House who I was. She told him my +Name, and withal that I was once a _Calvinist_, but that I was turn'd +_Papist_. What a Thunder-stroke was this to the Doctor! He threw himself +to the back of his Chair, lifted up his Eyes to Heaven, sigh'd, and cry'd +out, _Das Gott erbarme_, i. e. _God help us_. Then transported by a Fit of +Zeal, he turn'd about to me and ask'd me what had induc'd me to embrace a +Religion which he treated as Idolatry? I told him that I did not think he +need to give himself any Trouble about my Conversion, since according to +his System I was damn'd when a _Calvinist_ as well as when a _Catholic_. +_The Case is not quite the same_, said the Minister; but to turn _Papist_! +cry'd he, to _adore Baal! to become a Disciple of Antichrist! alas! it +were better to be a damn'd Calvinist!_ I own that I had much ado to help +laughing outright at the Minister's impertinent Zeal: yet I had the +Discretion to contain myself, for I had a mind to see to what length he +wou'd carry his sanctify'd Rant. He said indeed a great deal, and because +I made no Answer, he thought he had convinc'd me, if not touch'd me to the +quick. He was actually applauding himself for the good Work he had wrought +upon my Soul, when I told him that he ought not to conclude from my +Silence that he had convinc'd me; that it neither consisted with my +Character nor my Temper to dispute about Religion, that I left every Man +to his own Opinion, and that I knew which to adhere to. _What Blindness is +here!_ cry'd the Doctor again, _What a mad Papist are you? If you will not +be of our Communion_, return to the _Religion which you have abandon'd, in +which there are some Hopes at least that God will pardon you_. + +The fanatical Doctor concluded his Exclamations by a Prayer, in which he +begg'd God to preserve every good _Lutheran_ Soul from the Errors of +Popery; and then he went away, leaving the Company more scandaliz'd than +edify'd by his Zeal. + +Formerly the Preachers had the pleasure of venting their Choler in the +Pulpit, but the King by a wise Decree, which indeed ought to be followed +in all Countries, has confin'd them to the Preaching of the Gospel, and to +treat of Controversial Matters no farther than is merely necessary for the +People's Instruction. For the rest, the Parsons need not fear being soon +supplanted, for the _Saxons_ are hearty _Lutherans_; and if they tolerate +the Catholics, 'tis because they can't help it. They have excluded them +from Offices in the Courts of Judicature, and from the Privilege of +enjoying Lands; but they have not been able to keep them out of Places in +the Ministry, or at Court, nor from Employments in the Army, which are +three very engaging Articles to make Proselytes among the Gentry. + + * * * * * + +Thus, Sir, you have all that I can say to you relating to _Dresden_ and +_Saxony_. 'Tis now high time to put an end to my Legend. I kiss your hand, +and am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER VI. + + + _SIR_, _Weimar, Sept. 5, 1729._ + +Before I write you an account of what became of me when I left _Dresden_, +I shall endeavour to give you the Intelligence you desire concerning the +late Count _de Flemming_, Prime Minister and Velt-Marshal of _Saxony_. +That Nobleman was of a good Extraction, being descended of a Family which +pretends to derive its Origin from that of _Flemming_, which has been of +considerable Rank for a long time in _Scotland_, _Sweden_, _Germany_, and +_Poland_. My Lord _Wigtoun_ is the Chief of that Family in _Scotland_. + +_James-Henry_ Count _de Flemming_, whose Pourtraiture and Character you +desire of me, was born the 8th of _March_ 1667. His Father was President +of the Regency of _Stargard_, the Capital of _Prussian Pomerania_, who had +three Sons, of whom this Count was the second. He had an Education +suitable to his Birth. He study'd first at _Francfort_ upon the _Oder_, +and afterwards at _Utrecht_ under the celebrated _Grevius_, where he +learnt _Latin_ to such a degree that he always spoke it with very great +Eloquence. After he had finish'd his Studies he enter'd into the Service +of _Brandenbourg_, where the Baron _de Span_, his Uncle by the Mother's +side, was Velt-Marshal. His first Preferment was to a Pair of Colours; but +in a little time he had a Company given him, which he commanded at the +Battle of _Orbassan_ in _Piedmont_. In 1694, he enter'd as a +Lieutenant-Colonel into the Service of _John-George_ IV. Elector of +_Saxony_; upon whose Death, and the Succession of _Frederic-Augustus_, +_Flemming_ obtain'd a Regiment, and accompany'd the new Elector into +_Hungary_, where he commanded the Emperor's Army against the Infidels +during the Campaigns of 1695, and 1696. There it was that _Flemming_ +kill'd in a Duel the Baron _de Lovel_, who was Lieutenant-Colonel in the +Service of _Saxony_. In 1697, he was sent into _Poland_, where, by the +Interest of his Cousin-german, the Daughter of Velt-Marshal _Span_ of +_Berlin_, Wife of M. _Brebentau_ Palatine of _Marienbourg_, who died Great +Treasurer of _Poland_, and by the Credit of _Benedict Sapieha_ he had the +Happiness of getting his Master chose King of _Poland_. This Negotiation +obtain'd him the Post of Major-General, and laid the Foundation of his +Fortune. In 1700, he was made a Lieutenant-General, and in that Quality +laid siege to _Riga_, which the King of _Sweden_ oblig'd him to raise. In +1702, he marry'd _Sapieha_, a Daughter of one of the chief Noblemen of +_Lithuania_. He was wounded the same Year at the Battle of _Clischhoff_, +at which time the King of _Sweden_ being every where victorious, demanded +that the King of _Poland_ shou'd deliver up _Flemming_ to him. But upon +this he retir'd to _Brandenbourg_, till King _Stanislaus_ had made +_Charles_ XII. easy. _Flemming_ being return'd to _Saxony_, fought a Duel +with M. _de Schulembourg_, who giving him a Fall, insisted that he should +beg his Life; but _Flemming_ got out of this ugly Scrape by a scurvy Joke, +and _Schulembourg_ gave him his Life. The latter was a younger +Lieutenant-General than _Flemming_, but in every respect his Rival, and +wou'd have been a Marshal if his Fortune had been as good as his Valour. +At the Battle of _Frauenstad_ in 1705, where he was defeated by the +_Swedes_, _Schulembourg_ quitted the Service of _Saxony_ and went into +that _of Venice_. By this means _Flemming_, who had now no Rival left, was +made a Marshal, and happen'd to be at _Dresden_ when the King of _Sweden_ +made that strange Visit to the King of _Poland_; at which time, if +_Augustus_ had been as ungenerous as _Flemming_, _Charles_ wou'd have been +detain'd. Many People accuse _Flemming_ of having persuaded the King his +Master to deliver up _Patkul_: This I can't pretend to affirm, but that +there was a mortal Antipathy betwixt him and the Minister of _Russia_ is +certain; for the latter having presented a Memorial to the King of +_Poland_, setting forth the wretched condition of the _Muscovite_ Troops +in the Pay of _Saxony_, concluded it with these _Latin_ Words, + + DIXI, ET SALVAVI ANIMAM. + +Which Memorial, when _Flemming_ had read, and found himself not very well +used in it, he took a Pen and underwrote these Words, + + MALEDIXISTI, ET DAMNABERIS. + +After the Disaster which _Charles_ XII. met with near _Pultowa_, +_Flemming_ contributed very much to the Re-establishment of King +_Augustus_ in _Poland_. He confirm'd the Alliance betwixt his Master and +the Czar, made Peace with the Confederates, and concluded another Alliance +with _Denmark_. The Czar and the King of _Denmark_ honour'd him with their +Orders of Knighthood, and he had that of _Poland_ before. He went +Ambassador to the unsuccessful Congress at _Brunswic_, and was afterwards +at _Hanover_ to attend _George_ I. King of _Great Britain_. When the King +of _Sweden_ return'd to _Pomerania_, _Flemming_ left no Stone unturn'd to +draw the King of _Prussia_ into his Master's Alliance. He had some Years +before procur'd him the Sequestration of the Town of _Stetin_, and 'twas +lucky enough for him that the Pride and Obstinacy of the King of _Sweden_ +obliged the King of _Prussia_ to declare himself his Enemy. At that time +_Flemming_ was rather a Courier between _Dresden_, _Berlin_, and _Warsaw_, +than an Ambassador and Prime Minister, which Dignity he enjoy'd after the +Death of the Prince _de Furstemberg_ his Predecessor. When the Peace of +the North was settled, _Flemming_ went Ambassador to _Vienna_, where he +concluded the Marriage of the Electoral Prince of _Saxony_ with the +Archduchess, eldest Daughter to the Emperor _Joseph_, tho' the Contract +had been settled before by the Count de _Wackerbarth_, who it may be said +had the Pains to negotiate it, and _Flemming_ the Glory of finishing it. + +At this time Count _Flemming_ had resign'd all the Salaries of his +Employments in _Saxony_, and only reserv'd to himself the private +Perquisites and the Franchise of the Post-Offices; and his Journeys, which +were very frequent, were all at the Expence of the King. It was about this +time that he caus'd his Marriage with _Sapieha_ to be dissolv'd, and +marry'd one _Radzevil_, by whom he had a Son, who was but a Year and a +half old when the Count died at _Vienna_, to which place he was return'd +with the Character of Ambassador. He left all his Estate to this Child, +without making any Intail on his Family; so that when this Son died, who +did not long survive him, his Estate went to Madame _de Flemming_, who by +marrying again carry'd the Bulk of it into another Family. They say that +his Inheritance was worth sixteen Millions of Crowns, exclusive of what he +had expended during the Splendor of his Fortune, which lasted thirty +Years, or thereabouts. Whether _Richelieu_ and _Mazarine_ got greater +Estates, I cannot say; but in _Germany_ there is not an Instance of one +sooner acquir'd, more resplendent, and better supported than his was. He +was Prime Minister, Velt-Marshal of _Saxony_, and Master of the Horse of +_Lithuania_; by which Offices he gain'd immense Sums. He made considerable +Purchases in _Silesia_ and _Poland_, but very little in _Saxony_. Whether +he left any thing to the King is not said; tho' he ought really to have +made him some Restitution, and he might naturally have given up with a +good Grace what he cou'd not but foresee wou'd be taken by force from his +Heir. As it was just that his Succession shou'd pass thro' the Purgatory +of a _Chambre Ardente_, the King establish'd one, which 'tis said has +adjudg'd eight Millions to his Majesty, and the same to his Widow; which +is a very fair Dividend. + +Count _Flemming_ was taller than ordinary, but a handsome Man; he had very +regular Features, a lively Eye, a disdainful Sneer, a haughty Air, and he +was really proud, and beyond measure ambitious. He was generous to a +degree of Ostentation, and always aim'd to do something to be talk'd of. +He was vigilant, laborious, indefatigable, allow'd himself little Sleep; +and whenever he took a Debauch, a Nap of two Hours set him to rights +again. It was no more for him to go from a Debauch to Business, than from +Business to a Debauch; and he never fatigu'd himself, but dispatch'd the +greatest Affairs with so much Ease as if they were only a Diversion. He +lov'd to banter, but did not always make use of the Terms suitable to his +Character; and Persons who did not dare to answer him again, were commonly +the Butts of his Raillery. He was polite when he had a mind to it, but in +the general Course of his Behaviour he carry'd an Air fitter for a Captain +of Dragoons than for a Marshal and a Prime Minister. He never did a thing +for any body without some View; he scrupl'd neither Cunning nor even +Perjury, and provided he could gain his Ends, all ways were alike fair to +him. All his Life-time he took care to do his own Business first, and +then his Master's the King's; and I question whether I do him any +Injustice if I say that he was the King of _Prussia_'s Minister, much more +than the King of _Poland_'s. + +This, Sir, is all that I have to say to you concerning Count _Flemming_. I +have told you very nakedly what I always thought of him, and I don't +believe that I have mistaken his Character. Be this as it will, my +Decision is of too little weight to do either Good or Harm; the Publick +will always judge of him according to their best Information. I proceed +now with the Narrative of my Travels. + + * * * * * + +After I had set out from _Dresden_ I went to _Altenbourg_ in hopes of +finding the Court of _Gotha_ there, which I had been told, intended to +spend the Remainder of the fine Season there; but it was set out the Night +before for _Gotha_, where I hope to see it to-morrow. + +The City of ALTENBOURG is the Capital of a County of that Name, of which +the Duke of _Saxe-Gotha_ is the Sovereign. This Prince has a Palace there +which makes a handsome appearance, but I shall say nothing more of it +because I neglected to go and see it. The Peasants of the County of +_Altenbourg_ are the richest in _Germany_, and may almost vye with those +of _Holland_. I have been assur'd that some of them have given 20 or 30000 +Crowns in Marriage with their Daughters; and like the _Dutch_ Peasants, +they take care to match them to none but the Sons of substantial Farmers. + +As I left _Altenbourg_ I came upon a fine Causey with a Row of Trees on +each side, which brought me to the Frontiers of the County. I afterwards +fell into very bad Roads all the way to _Leipsic_, where I stay'd but a +very few Hours, and proceeded the same day to MERSEBOURG. This City was +much more considerable formerly than now. It was the See of a Bishop, but +was seculariz'd by the Treaty of _Passaw_ in favour of the House of +_Saxony_. Its Situation is charming, with Gardens and Meadows all round +it, and its Walls are wash'd by the River _Sala_. The great Church which +was formerly a Cathedral is a _Gothic_ Building, where there is a stately +Tomb of the Emperor _Rodolph_ of _Schwartzbourg_, who died after he had +lost one Hand in a Battle he fought with the Emperor _Henry_ IV. with whom +he was Competitor. This Prince a few Moments before he expir'd, took up +his Hand that was cut off, and holding it up to those who were about him, +said to them, _Behold this Hand; 'tis the same that I lifted up when I +promis'd Faith and Allegiance to my Emperor and Lord; but by your Advice +and Instigation I have not kept my Promise to him, for which you will one +day give an account to God._ Some time after this unfortunate Prince's +Death, the Emperor _Henry_ IV. coming to _Mersebourg_ and taking a view of +_Rodolphus's_ Tomb, of which he admir'd the Magnificence, certain +Flatterers told him that the Tomb ought to be destroy'd as too pompous for +a Rebel; but the Emperor scorning such a pitiful Revenge, made answer, +_Wou'd to God that all my Enemies were thus pompously interr'd_. + +The City of _Mersebourg_ is the Residence of a Duke of the House of +_Saxony_, who is Sovereign of all the Country that formerly constituted +the Bishoprick, which enables him to keep a splendid Court[71]. The next +day after my Arrival I had the Honour to pay him my Compliments, and had a +very satisfactory Reception. The Prince conducted me into a Hall which was +hung with Bass-Viols from the Bottom to the Top, in the same manner as an +Arsenal is with Helmets and Breast-Plates. In the middle of the Hall there +was a Viol which was distinguish'd from the rest. It reach'd up to the +very Cieling, and there was a Ladder set, which such as had the Curiosity +to take a particular View of it were oblig'd to ascend, for surely it was +the most stately Instrument of the kind that ever was made. The Duke made +me take particular notice of it, and was pleas'd with the Admiration which +I express'd of it. He regal'd me also with some Airs upon another +Bass-Viol which he call'd his _Favorite_, and which was but one fourth +part as big as the other. + +After this Concert I din'd with the Duke and Duchess. This Princess is the +Daughter of the late Prince of _Nassau-Idstein_, than whom there cannot be +a more amiable Lady. She has an Air of Mildness, Goodness and Prudence +diffused over all her Features; and her Wit is of the same Stamp as her +Beauty, amiable without Parade and Ostentation. Some of her Courtiers +assur'd me, that her Mind is as charming as her Person. If that be true, +which I am loth to doubt of, this Princess deserves a more splendid +Fortune than what she enjoys. + +After Dinner, I was one at a Match of Quadrille with the Duchess, and at +night there was dancing, and I never saw any body dance with a better +Grace than this Princess. The Ball held till the Night was far advanced, +when there was a grand Supper, which was no sooner over than I took leave +of the Duke and Duchess and retir'd to my Quarters, with a design to set +out in a few Hours and proceed in my Journey. At my Lodging I found a +Gentleman from the Duke, who said to me, 'That as he was passing by he saw +my Men packing up my things, and that therefore he came in purely to wish +me a good Journey. He assured me that he had a secret Kindness for me; +that I might safely take his Word; that he was Sincerity it self; and that +he wish'd 500000 Devils might twist his Neck if he was not heartily my +Friend: And to give you proofs of it, _said he_, I will treat you with +some Trifle, such as a Dram of Anniseed, Orange-Water, or Ratasia. Upon my +word my Apothecary has what is choice good; he lives but at the end of the +Street; Come, I will shew you the way to his House.' + +While he harangu'd me in this manner he reel'd, being so drunk that he +cou'd not stand. I thank'd him therefore for his Love, and told him that I +did not drink Drams, but that if he had a mind to any Liquor of that sort, +I would send for some for him; and I bid my Landlord fetch it. The +Apothecary, as ill luck would have it, was not yet got up. 'Soho, here, +_said my new Friend_, there is nothing to drink but Aquavit; here, +Landlord, a Glass of Brandy, Pipes and Tobacco. You must have something, +_said he_, to be doing.' Every thing he call'd for being brought, my +Gentleman drank two or three Glasses of Brandy, and smoak'd as many Pipes +of Tobacco. I hoped to see him tumble down, and by consequence to get rid +of him, when he took it into his head to call for some Dishes of Tea that +I had order'd to be made for my self, and which made him so sober that he +recover'd his Reason. I laid hold of this happy Interval (for I heard him +calling out for Brandy, which I apprehended would occasion a Relapse) and +talk'd to him about his Master's Bass-Viols; upon which, without much +Intreaty, he said to me, 'You know, Sir, that every Man almost has his +particular Whim, Princes as well as private Persons. One is an Admirer of +Magnificence, another of Troops, and a third of Mistresses. As for my +august Master, his Fancy runs only on Bass-Viols, and whoever sollicits +him for an Employment or any other Favour, can't do better than to +accommodate his Arsenal with one of these Instruments. That very large +one, _said he_, which you saw in the Room where all his Viols are, was +presented to him by one who wanted to be a Privy-Counsellor; his Petition +was granted, and had he ask'd for any thing else he might have had it.' +This officious Gentleman told me a great many other Particulars which let +me into the very Chronicle of the Court of _Mersebourg_; but I don't +trouble you with it, because the Truth is not to be told at all times. + +My Equipage being ready, I set out for NAUMBOURG, where I arrived at Noon. +This City was formerly the See of a Bishop. Its ancient Cathedral is still +standing, and tho' _Lutheran_, has a Chapter and Canons who must prove +their Nobility both by the Father's side and Mother's side, by sixteen +Descents. When this Bishoprick was seculariz'd it was said that no +Catholic Prince could ever be possess'd of this State. Therefore when the +last Duke of _Saxe-Zeits_, Administrator of _Naumbourg_, turn'd Catholic, +the King of _Poland_ as eldest of the _Saxon_ Family and Executor of the +_Pacta_ or Conventions made between the Princes of that Family, took +possession of _Naumbourg_. The Duke's being reconciled to the _Lutheran_ +Communion was to no purpose, the King did not restore his Dominions to +him, but still possesses them, tho' he is more a Catholic than the Duke of +_Zeits_ perhaps ever was. You know that this Prince has left a Nephew who +wou'd have been his Heir, if he had not been a Catholic and a Priest. This +is the Prince who, I acquainted you from _Dresden_, was Bishop of +_Konigsgratz_ in _Bohemia_. He was born a _Lutheran_, as are all those of +his Family. His Uncle the Cardinal of _Saxe_, Brother to the Duke of +_Zeits_, made him embrace the Roman Catholic Religion when he was very +young, and afterwards persuaded him to enter into Ecclesiastical Orders, +by which step he deprived his Nephew of the glorious Prerogative of being +a Sovereign Prince, and transferred his Rights to the King of _Poland_ +his distant Cousin. + +_Naumbourg_ is famous for its Fairs, which next to those of _Leipsic_, are +the most considerable in _Saxony_. The Suburbs of this City are almost all +Vineyards; but why, I know not, for the Wine is so detestably bad, that +they give it away in a manner for nothing. + +Finding nothing at _Naumbourg_ which was worth my while to stay there for, +I only chang'd Horses and came hither. As one approaches this Place, we +meet with Corn-Fields and Hop-Grounds instead of Vines, and the Country +rises into Hills, so that one does not see the Town of WEIMAR till we are +just upon it. The City, which is not more considerable than _Naumbourg_, +is the Residence of the Duke of _Saxe-Weimar_, who has a Palace here which +does not want for Magnificence, and tho' unfinish'd, has an air of +Grandeur. The Connoisseurs in Architecture highly extol the grand +Stair-Case there, which two Persons may ascend and descend at the same +time without meeting one another, and yet always keeping each other in +view. It consists of two Flights of Stairs upon one Spindle, laid one over +the other in the same Well of a square Form. The Curious who have observ'd +it, admire it, because there are few such to be seen. + +The great Hall which is an oval, is beautiful, but not lightsome enough. +There are the Pictures of all the Dukes of _Saxe-Weimar_ at full length, +from the first Duke that ever was down to the Father of the present. They +are all drawn on Horseback, and done by no mean Hand. + +In the same Palace is the Duke's Library, which tho' not very large, +consists of sundry scarce Books. 'Tis open twice a week, when the Curious +are not only permitted to peruse them, but even to borrow them, upon +leaving a Note with the Librarian. + +The Duke of _Weimar_ spends very little Time in his Capital, but commonly +resides at a Seat which he has caus'd to be built about a League out of +Town. He has given it the Name of _Belle-Vue_, because of the fine +Prospect which it commands from the Apartments of the first Story. The +House is small and not very commodious, so that the chief Beauty of it is +its Situation, which is very charming. The Gardens which are begun upon +very good Plans will be beautiful when finish'd, as well as the +Pheasant-Walk and Menagerie where there are Turkeys and all sorts of Fowl. + +The Duke of _Weimar's_ Name is _Ernest-Augustus_: He is the eldest of the +_Ernestine_ Branch which lost the Electorate when _Charles_ V. was +Emperor. He marry'd a Princess of _Anhalt-Cothen_, who I have been told, +was a Lady of distinguish'd Merit. She died and left him a Son and three +Daughters. + +The young Prince is about ten Years of age[72]. He can neither hear nor +pronounce well, and is withal of a very tender Constitution. The +Physicians say it signifies nothing, and that as he grows up he will +acquire a Freedom of Speech. But I question it, and am apt to think rather +that those Disciples of _sculapius_ will send him into the other World. +The only Hopes of any Male Issue of _Weimar_ are founded upon this Child. +The Duke of _Saxe-Eysenach_ who is the next a-kin has no Children; so that +the Dominions of _Weimar_ and _Eysenach_ too are ready to devolve to the +Family of _Saxe-Gotha_. The Duke of _Weimar's_ Subjects teaze him very +much to marry, but the Prince does not seem to be in a Humour to satisfy +them; for I have often heard him say that he can't bear the mention of +Marriage. + +No body presumes to go to _Belle-Vue_ without being sent for, except only +on _Mondays_ when poor People are permitted to go thither with their +Petitions which they deliver to the Secretary, and he gives them to the +Duke. Persons of Quality, whether Foreigners or others, that have a mind +to speak with the Duke, apply for it to the Marshal of the Court, but are +seldom admitted to an Audience. + +The Duke has rarely any other Company at _Belle-Vue_ but two young Ladies +whom he calls his Maids of Honour, and three young Women, Citizens +Daughters, who go by the Name of his Chamber-Maids; a Major of his Troops, +and the Officer of his Guard, who is a Lieutenant or an Ensign. I had +forgot to mention the Baron _de Bruhl_, who is the Duke's Favourite and +his Master of the Horse. + +'Tis with these Persons that the Prince passes his Time. He wakes early in +the Morning, but makes it late before he rises; for he takes his Tea in +Bed, and sometimes plays on the Violin. At other times he sends for his +Architects and Gardeners, with whom he amuses himself in drawing of Plans. +His Ministers also come to him while he is in Bed to talk upon Business. +About Noon he gets up, and as soon as he is dress'd, sees his Guard mount, +which consists of 33 Men, commanded by a Lieutenant or an Ensign. He +exercises his Soldiers himself, and corrects them too when they commit any +Fault. This done he takes the Air, and at two or three o'clock sits down +to Table, where the two Maids of Honour, the Master of the Horse, the +Major, the Officer of the Guard, and even Foreigners if any happen to be +there, are of the Company. The Dinner holds a long while, and 'tis +sometimes three, four, and five Hours before they rise from Table. The +Glass never stands still hardly, and the Duke talks a great deal, but the +Conversation is commonly on Subjects that are not very agreeable. When +Dinner is over they drink Coffee, after which the Duke retires for a few +Minutes, and then plays at Quadrille with his two young Ladies and the +Major; but sometimes he does nothing but smoak Tobacco, and he often +retires to his Chamber where he amuses himself with Drawing or else +playing on the Violin till he goes to Bed. + +There scarce a Week passes but the Duke gives an Invitation at least once +or twice to all the Persons of Quality of the Court, and all the Officers +of his Troops, at which time there are two great Tables spread, where they +dine, play, sup, and afterwards dance till next Day. + +The Duke's Troops consist of a Battalion of 700 Men, a Squadron of 180 +Troopers, and a Company of Cadets on horseback. His Infantry consists of +pick'd Men. Since the famous _Bernard de Weimar_ who was Pensioner to +_Lewis_ XIII. King of _France_, no Duke of _Weimar_ had so many Troops, +and really they must be chargeable to the Duke whose Revenues 'tis said +don't exceed 400000 Crowns. This Prince has made a Treaty with the King of +_Poland_, whereby he engages to assist the King with his Battalion +whenever his Majesty thinks it necessary for his Service; in which Case +the King promises to give that Battalion the same Pay as he does his own +Troops. Mean time the Duke is obliged to clothe them all according to the +Pattern which is sent to him from _Dresden_; and indeed their Clothes are +very rich, especially those of the Officers and Cadets, which are so +bedaub'd with Gold and Silver Lace, that a Foreigner who comes to _Weimar_ +cannot but admire it. + +The Duke's Family is very numerous, for besides the Prince his Son and the +three Princesses his Daughters, he has a Sister, and a Mother-in-law, who +is a Princess of _Hesse-Hombourg_: Mean time he has a numerous Court, and +may boast that some of them are Persons of very great Merit. + +The Gentleman who is at the Head of Affairs is the Baron _de Reinbabe_, +who has the Title of President of the Council of State. He is a Person of +a good Family, in _Silesia_, has very great Abilities, and withal so much +Good-nature and Modesty as are seldom to be met with. When he was young he +travell'd very much abroad, where he learnt what was valuable in every +Country that he came to. He speaks several Languages well, is a great +Historian, a learned Civilian, and a good Poet. Notwithstanding the +Business that goes thro' his Hands, and his Care of a numerous Family, he +is always almost at his Studies, and never better pleas'd than when he is +in his Library; yet he is no Enemy to Pleasures, but enjoys them without +abandoning himself to them, and takes them as they fall in his way without +pursuing 'em. To finish his Character I will add what was said of him by a +Prince who knew him intimately: _If Probity was intirely lost in the rest +of Mankind_, said he to me, _I think I shou'd be sure to find it again in +the Baron_ de Reinbabe. + +The Baron _de Schmiedel_ is Marshal of the Court and Director of the +military Chest. He is a Person of great Piety, whose Aspect is not indeed +the most engaging, yet a very good Man to have to do with. He is a sincere +Friend, loves to do a kind Thing, is exact in the Duties of his Offices, +an Enemy to Vice, and very much attach'd to the Interests of his Master, +tho' he does not always please him because he has not the Talent of +Dissimulation so necessary at Courts. + +The Baron _de Studenitz_ a _Silesian_ is a Privy-Counsellor, and President +of the Chamber. He was formerly in the Service of the Duke of +_Saxe-Barbi_, and afterwards he enter'd into that of the Duke of +_Saxe-Hilburgshausen_, whose Finances he directed for several Years, in +which he acquired a Reputation, and came to _Weimar_ where he was +continued in the same Employment. He is a Gentleman of very great Learning +and Integrity, and having travell'd a long time in his Youth, very well +knows how to carry himself. + +M. _de Hering_ is of a noble Family in the Country of _Anhalt-Cothen_. He +is the Duke's Aulic Counsellor, a Gentleman of Worth, and both Learned and +Polite. He is on the point of leaving this Court, which will be a Loss to +the Duke that he will not easily repair. + +M. _de Bruhl_ the Duke's Master of the Horse and Favourite, is a _Saxon_. +His Birth, good Qualities, and especially his sweet Temper render him very +worthy of a Sovereign's Favour. Yet I doubt whether, notwithstanding so +much Merit, he has a firm Footing in the Duke's Friendship; he has too +much Candor, too much Sincerity, and is too zealous to do Services; and +perhaps also too much attach'd to the Interests and Honour of his Master: +for tho' these Qualities have the Appearance of Virtues, yet they are +sometimes Errors in the Eyes of Princes. + +Thus, Sir, have I given you the Names of the most distinguish'd Persons at +the Court of _Weimar_. I set out to-morrow for _Gotha_. I hope for a Line +from you at _Wurtzbourg_, and don't propose to write again to you till I +know whether you are living or dead. + + _I am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER VII. + + + _SIR_, _Gotha, Sept. 9, 1732._ + +I set out from _Weimar_ at 5 o'clock in the Morning, and by eight was at +_Erfurt_, where I walk'd about an Hour, and came at Noon to _Gotha_. + +'Tis all a flat Country abounding with Corn. In time of Rain the Roads are +so bad that sometimes it takes up a whole Day to come from _Erfurt_ to +_Gotha_. ERFURT is a City belonging to the Elector of _Mentz_, is the +Capital of _Thuringia_, and may be rank'd among those of the second Class +in _Germany_. Its Inhabitants are almost all _Lutherans_, yet the +principal Churches belong to the Catholics. _Erfurt_ is fortified with +good Ramparts, and by a Castle on a Hill which absolutely commands the +Town. There is always a good Garison in the Place, which consists of the +Emperor's Soldiers and those of _Mentz_; and the Elector has a Governor +here with the Title of _Stadtholder_, who presides in the Regency. + +GOTHA, which is not near so big as _Erfurt_, is a City situate in the +middle of a fine fruitful Plain, so that which way soever one approaches +it, one always perceives the Castle or Palace of the Duke, which stands on +an Eminence by itself, and has a Prospect of a vast Extent of Country. +This Castle, which is one of the biggest in _Germany_, was built by +_Ernest_ Duke of _Gotha_, surnamed the _Pious_; who caused both that and +the Town to be encompassed with Ditches and Ramparts. To the Glory of this +Prince, he undertook and finished these Great Works, at a time when +_Germany_ was so impoverished by intestine Wars that few of its Princes +were able to erect Palaces[73]. + +As of all the _Saxon_ Princes of the _Ernestine_ Branch, the Duke of +_Gotha_ is the most powerful, so his Court is of all the _Saxon_ Courts +next to that of _Dresden_, the most Numerous and the most Magnificent. + +Nevertheless the Subjects of the Duke of _Gotha_[74] are the least +burthen'd with Taxes of any in _Germany_. To this Prince's wise Management +of his Finances is owing not only his own Happiness, but that of his +People too, by whom he is ador'd; and really he treats them more like a +Father, than a Sovereign; and never makes them sensible of his Power, but +when he is to do them Justice. He is a kind good Master, easy of Access, +temperate in his way of Living, gives very great Application to the +Affairs of his Government, loves Reading, understands Books, and knows +every thing which a Prince ought to be acquainted with. As to his Person, +he is handsome and comely; is civil in his Deportment, but reserv'd; and +therefore seldom speaks to Strangers, if he can help it; but endeavours +first of all to know those he has Business with, and when he has found out +their Character, talks with them upon such Subjects as he thinks they are +best acquainted with. He keeps regular Hours, rises at seven o'clock, +first spends an Hour in Prayer, and the reading of some pious Treatise; +and then gets himself dress'd, and gives Audience to his Ministers, or to +other Persons that desire it. At Noon he dines with the Duchess his Wife, +the Princes his Children, and other Persons of Distinction; stays about an +Hour and a half at Table, and then takes a Walk in the Gardens of the +Palace, or if the Weather does not permit, he employs himself in his +Closet, or spends the Time in reading till five o'clock. Then he goes to +the House of some Person of Distinction at his Court where all the +Nobility have an Assembly, and plays at Ombre, after which he returns to +his Palace, sups in the manner that he din'd, and at nine o'clock retires. + +There is a Drawing-Room at Court three times a Week when the Company meets +in a great Hall, where they make Parties at Ombre and Piquet. At seven +o'clock a large Table is spread, which is free for all the Company. Then a +Carver cuts up the Victuals, which are handed to that, and to all the +Gaming-Tables that are cover'd with Napkins. Those who don't play may sit +down at what Table they like best. The Duke, the Duchess, or the Princes, +generally do Foreigners the Honour to admit them to their Table. During +the Supper there is a Concert of Music, and at nine o'Clock all the +Company retires. + +The Duke by his Marriage with _Magdalen-Augusta_ of _Anhalt-Zerbst_, has +seven Sons and two Daughters[75]: The eldest is the Hereditary Prince, who +has been twice in _Paris_, and once in _Italy_, _England_, _Holland_, +_Denmark_, _Sweden_, and at all the Courts of _Germany_, in which Travels +he has acquir'd a great deal of Politeness and valuable Knowledge. I had +the Honour of making my Compliments to him both at _Paris_, and the +_Hague_, and found him of such a Temper as induces me to think that the +Subjects of _Gotha_ will be as happy hereafter under his Government, as +they are under that of the Duke his Father. He was lately married to his +Cousin-German _Louisa-Dorothea_ of _Saxe-Meinungen_, a very lovely young +Princess, who, with all her Graces and Charms, has abundance of +Good-nature and Modesty[76]. + +The Duke has all the Great Officers common to other Sovereigns. The Count +_de Ronaw_ is Great Marshal, and the chief Man at Court. They give him +here the Character of Favourite; whether he is such I know not, but this I +know, that he is not unworthy of it. I was very well acquainted with him +at _Ratisbon_ in 1720; he was not then in any Place, and expressed a +Friendship for me; and now that I see him here in a Post, I find him the +same Man as at _Ratisbon_, always a Friend to his Friends; which for a +Favourite is a very great Character. + +The Duke's Revenues are computed at a Million of Crowns a year, with which +he maintains near 3000 Men of regular Troops. His Family is large and his +Livery fine; his Guards are very well cloath'd; his Table is serv'd with +more Delicacy than Profusion; his Palace is well furnish'd; every body +punctually paid; and no body dissatisfied. + +I don't mention the Library to you, nor the Chamber of Rarities, because I +am not yet well enough inform'd of such Things there as are worth +observing. I propose to take another Round before I go hence, and shall +not fail to transmit to you what Observations I shall make there. Mean +time, I am, _&c._[77] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER VIII. + + + _SIR_, _Wurtzbourg, Sept. 22, 1729._ + +When I came hither I had the very great Pleasure to find your Letters, and +to hear that you enjoy perfect Health. Continue, I beseech you, to write +to me; that being the only Means by which you can persuade me what I wish +to be convinced of more than any thing in the World, that my Letters are +acceptable to you. + +I have been in one of the most disagreeable Roads in all _Germany_; and +tho' the Country abounds with Provisions of all sorts, I had like to have +been famished in the Public Houses. + +From _Gotha_, I went to EYSENACH, thinking to pass a few Days at that +Court, but I found the[78] Duke sick, and the Hereditary Prince and +Princess[79] absent, so that I had only my Labour for my Pains. + +As the Town of _Eysenach_ offers nothing at all to View which is worth a +Traveller's Attention, I set out the same Day for FULDE, where I arrived +the next. You know, that this City is the Capital of the Principality of +_Fulde_, the Sovereign of which is an Abbot, a Prince of the Empire, and +Chancellor to the Empress. The present Sovereign is _Adolphus_ Baron of +_Bahlberg_, who was chose by the Chapter of the Abbey Church in 1726, in +the room of _Constantine_ Baron of _Buthler_, who died suddenly, and not +without suspicion of Poison. _Fulde_ is a dirty little Town open on all +sides, and has nothing remarkable but the Abbey Church, and the Prince's +Palace, which are two Freestone Buildings that make a very grand +Appearance. The Apartments of the Palace are very richly furnish'd. The +last Abbot being a Man of good Understanding and great Views, caused this +Palace to be so adorn'd as to demonstrate the Wealth of the Abbey. + +The Prince Abbot has a Grand Marshal, a Master of the Horse, a Marshal of +the Court, several Privy and Aulic Counsellors, a Number of Gentlemen, a +Company of Horse-Guards well cloathed and well mounted, a Regiment of Foot +Guards, eight Pages, a Number of Footmen, and several Sets of Horses. He +gives a rich Livery, and in a word, his Houshold is spruce and +magnificent. There are very few Sovereigns in _Germany_ whose Table is +better served; for there is plenty of every thing, particularly delicious +Wines, of which they tipple to such Excess that in a very little time they +are not capable of distinguishing their Liquor. There are, I believe, the +hardest Drinkers here in _Europe_; and I being on the other hand but a +Milksop, thought that _Fulde_ was not a Country for me to pitch my Tent +in. I dined with the Prince, went home drunk to my Quarters, slept sound, +and next day set out for _Wurtzbourg_, where I am happily arriv'd after +having gone through such horrible bad Ways, and met with such dismal +Lodging, that I wish my Enemies were but condemned to travel this Road +four times a Year. + +Here I make myself amends for the Mortification which I met with coming +hither. WURTZBOURG is a considerable City though not very large. The +_Main_ divides it into two Parts. It is the Residence of the Prince Bishop +of _Wurtzbourg_ Duke of _Franconia_. The Person who now enjoys that great +Dignity is _Christopher-Francis de Houtten_[80]. He was elected by the +Chapter to succeed _John Philip Francis_ Count de _Schonborn_, who was one +of the greatest and most magnificent Prelates that perhaps ever fill'd the +Episcopal See of _Wurtzbourg_. This Prince, in the five Years time that he +has been Bishop, has done more things for the Embellishment of +_Wurtzbourg_ than ten of his Predecessors put together. He has furnished +one Part of the Town with new Fortifications, and has laid the Basis of a +stately Palace, which will be one of the greatest, the compleatest and +most regular Fabrics that we have in _Germany_; he having for that end +consulted the most skilful Architects, and sent for the most celebrated +Sculptors from _Italy_. As he was a passionate Admirer of the Arts and +Sciences, and perfectly understood them, especially Architecture; he chose +the best Parts of all the Designs that were presented to him, and from +them he compos'd the Plan of the Work, which was executed with such +diligence that in four Years time two thirds of the Building were rooft. +His unexpected Death put a stop for a while to this Great Work. The +present Bishop took it in hand again, but after having made considerable +Alterations in those great and magnificent Projects, the Work advances so +slowly that when it will be finished no body knows. + +The deceased Bishop _Schonborn_ has also caused a Chapel to be built near +the Metropolitan Church, which he has lined with very uncommon Marble +brought for the purpose from _Italy_ at a very great Expence. Brass, +Gilding, and every thing that can render a Chapel superb, has been +employed in it in a very curious manner. This stately Edifice is as yet +imperfect, and will require great Sums to finish it. As it was designed +for the Burial-Place of the Bishop and his Family, it is to be presum'd +that the House of _Schonborn_, now so rich and so powerful, will not +suffer a Monument to lie unfinish'd which is to perpetuate the remembrance +of its Grandeur. + +The Great Hospital founded by a Bishop whose Name was _Julius_, is worth +seeing. 'Tis a stately Building, which looks more like the Palace of a +Prince than a Hospital. Four hundred Persons of both Sexes are maintained +in it. There are two fine Halls which are particularly made use of upon +_Holy Thursday_. In the one, the Bishop performs the Ceremony of washing +the Feet of the Poor, who are afterwards sumptuously feasted in it; and in +the other, he regales his Chapter, and all his Family. + +The Castle stands upon an Eminence on the other side of the River which we +pass over a Stone Bridge, adorn'd like that of St. _Angelo_ at _Rome_, +with twelve fine Statues representing so many Saints. This Castle is a +strong Place, and entirely commands the Town. The Form of it is quite +irregular, it consisting of several Buildings erected by several Bishops. +Those Prelates always liv'd in it, till the last, who, while he was +building a new Palace in the Town, lodged in a neighbouring Gentleman's +House, from whence he could see how the Work went on. The Apartments of +the old Castle are spacious and noble. I found in them all that Furniture +with which they were adorn'd for the Reception of the Archduchess +_Mary-Elizabeth_, when that Princess came to _Wurtzbourg_ in her way to +the Government of the _Netherlands_. I have not seen richer Furniture at +the Palace of any Prince of the Empire. + +In this Castle there are two things that are well worth seeing; the +Arsenal and the Vault; the one full of all the Stores invented by _Mars_ +and _Bellona_, for the Destruction of Mankind, and the other furnish'd +with every thing to satiate the Thirst of an Army of Drunkards. If ever +you come hither and should have the Curiosity to visit these Magazines of +_Mars_ and _Bacchus_, I advise you to begin with the Arsenal, especially +if you can get some Courtier to go with you; for these Gentlemen, tho' +very civil, think, that the least thing which a Foreigner ought to do for +them is to forfeit his Reason to them in this Vault. I am sure, I speak by +dear Experience. Three days ago I told the Bishop that I had a mind to see +the Castle. This Prince was so complaisant as to order one of his +Gentlemen to go with me. My honest Companion fearing, 'tis like, that a +Conversation _tete-a-tete_ would be too melancholy, chose two Topers to +bear us Company, whom _Silenus_ would not have disown'd for his Children. +Being a stranger to the Virtues for which those Gentlemen were eminent, I +put my self entirely under their Direction without the least Apprehension +of my Misfortune. When they had shewed me the Apartments, the Arsenal, +Fortifications, and every thing, they carried me at last into the Vault, +which I found illuminated like a Chapel wherein I was to lie in State; and +indeed, my Funeral Obsequies were perform'd in Pomp, for the Glasses +served instead of Bells, and Torrents of Wine gush'd out instead of +Tears: At length, after the Service was over, two of the Prince's +_Heydukes_ carry'd me to a Coach, and from thence to Bed; that was my +Tomb. Yesterday I rose again, but scarce know at this Moment whether I am +quite come to myself. 'Tis true that this does not give me much Concern, +for ever since I have been here, I have followed the laudable Custom of +getting drunk twice a day. You perceive that I am improv'd by my Travels, +and that I am apt enough to learn the pretty Manners of the Countries +where I make any Stay. I fancy that you will find me very much alter'd for +the better. There is nothing that accomplishes a Man so much as +travelling; judge you of this by the Life which I lead here. + +I rise at ten o'clock, my Lungs very much inflam'd with the Wine I drank +the Night before: I take a large Dose of Tea, dress myself, and then go to +make my Compliments to the Bishop. The Baron _de Pechtelsheim_ the Marshal +of the Court invites me to dine with the Prince: He promises, nay, and +sometimes swears too that I shall not drink. At Noon we sit down to Table. +The Bishop does me the honour to drink two or three Healths to me. The +Baron _de Zobel_, Master of the Horse, and the Baron _de Pechtelsheim_, +toast the same number to me, and I am under a necessity of drinking to no +less than fourteen Persons at the Table; so that I am drown'd in Liquor +before I have din'd. When the Company rises, I wait on the Prince to his +Chamber-Door, where he retires, and I think to do the same, but I find an +Embargo put upon me in the Antichamber by the Master of the Horse, and the +Marshal of the Court, who with great Bumpers in their Hands drink the +Prince's Health to me, and _Prosperity for ever to the most laudable +Chapter of +Wurtzbourg+_. I protest to them that I am the Bishop's most +humble Servant, and that I have a very great Veneration for the most +laudable Chapter, but that to drink their Healths wou'd destroy mine, and +therefore I beg they wou'd excuse my pledging them; but I may as well talk +to the Wind; these two Healths must be drank, or I shall be reckon'd no +Friend to the Prince and his Chapter. If this were all my Task I shou'd be +well off; but then comes M. _de Zobel_, one of the most intrepid Carousers +of the Age, who squeezes me by the Hand, and with an Air and Tone of +perfect Cordiality, says to me, _You love our Prince so well that you +can't refuse drinking to the Prosperity of the illustrious Family of ++Houtten+_. And when he has made this moving Speech, he takes off a great +Glass to witness his Zeal for the Life of his Master; after which an +officious _Heyduke_ brings me a Glass, and being infected with the Goust +that prevails at this Court, assures me that this Wine cannot possibly do +me Harm, because 'tis the very same that the Prince drinks. By a +Persuasion, founded on so just an Inference, I have the Courage to venture +on t'other Glass, which is no sooner drank but I reel, and can drink no +more; when in order to finish me M. _de Pechtelsheim_, one of the +honestest Gentlemen living, but the staunchest Wine-bibber that I know, +accosts me with a Smile and says, _Come_, dear Baron, _one Glass more to +better Acquaintance_. I conjure him to give me Quarter, but he embraces +me, kisses me, and calls me _Herr Bruder_, (his dear Brother.) How can a +Man withstand such tender Compliments! At last I put myself in a fit +Posture to run away; I sneak off, steal down the Steps as well as I can, +and squeeze myself into a Sedan which carries me home; where my People +drag me out like a dead Corpse, and fling me on a Bed, as if the next +thing was to lay me out. I sleep three or four hours, awake in a perfect +Maze, put myself to rights again, and prepare to make Visits, or to +receive them; but whichsoever I do, I presently find my self in such a +pickle again, that I cannot walk alone. There's no such thing as +Conversation here betwixt one Friend and another without the Bottle; so +that I am tempted to think the Inhabitants of this City are descended from +_Silenus_, and that the old Sot left them the Faculty of hard drinking for +a Legacy, as St. _Hubert_ bequeath'd to his Family the power of curing a +Frenzy. + +I din'd yesterday with the Reverend the _Scots Benedictine_ Fryars, who +gave me a hearty Welcome, and an excellent sort of Liquor call'd _Stein +Wein_, or Stone-Wine, probably because it grows on a Rock; which is the +only time that I have departed from the Regimen I keep to here, I mean +that I was not drunk. The House of these _Benedictines_ is one of the five +Houses which form a sort of a Republic in their Order, and which, without +depending on their General, chuse a President out of their number who has +the direction of all their Affairs. These five Houses are in five +different Towns, _viz._ at _Vienna_ in _Austria_, at _Ratisbon_, +_Wurtzbourg_, at _Doway_ in _Flanders_, and at _Dieulegarde_, near +_Pont-a-Mousson_ in _Lorrain_. + +These _Benedictines_ put me in mind of the Reverend Fathers the _Jesuits_, +who have a very fine House in this City: These are they who are Directors +of the University, and instruct the Youth with a Zeal which cannot but +confound their Enemies. + +The Prince and Bishop lives in very great Splendor, and is one of the most +powerful of our Spiritual Sovereigns. His Dominion includes seventy +Bailywics, and his Country is the finest and fruitfullest in _Germany_. +The only thing that is scarce here is Money, and this is owing to their +want of Trade, and to the great number of Monks and Priests who ingross +all to themselves. The Bishop has 50000 Crowns a-year for his Privy-Purse. +The Chamber is oblig'd to maintain him in every thing. It furnishes his +Wardrobe, his Table, and pays his Houshold and his Troops, which actually +consist of 3500 Men, who are commanded by General _Eib_, the Governour of +_Wurtzbourg_. In time of War the Bishop has no less than 10000. + +The Court is numerous, and I can assure you that upon Festival-Days 'tis +very magnificent. On St. _Quilian_'s Day, who is the Patron of +_Wurtzbourg_ and _Franconia_, the Bishop repairs with a great Train to the +Metropolitan Church. Six of the Bishop's Coaches, drawn each by six +Horses, begin the March, attended by twenty four Footmen and sixteen +Pages; and above fourscore Gentlemen richly dress'd walk before the +Bishop's Coach, guarded by two Files of Halbardiers. The Master of the +Horse and the Marshal of the Court walk by the sides of the Coach, the +latter bearing the Sword of the Duke of _Franconia_ with the Point +uppermost; and the Coach is surrounded by _Heydukes_, and followed by a +company of Life-Guards. + +The Bishop of _Wurtzbourg_ has one Prerogative which the other Bishops +have not; for while he officiates, his Great Marshal bears the Sword of +the Duke of _Franconia_ naked and upright till the Consecration of the +Elements, and then he puts it up in the Scabbard, and carries it before +the Prince with the Point downwards; which is a Distinction I take to be +altogether as extraordinary as that of the Abbot and Count _de Gemblours_, +the first Nobleman of the States of _Brabant_, who has the Privilege of +celebrating Mass with his Boots and Spurs on. + +The Bishop's ordinary Expence is perfectly suitable to the Dignity of a +great Prince; and his Table, which is commonly spread for eighteen +Guests, is serv'd with a Magnificence to the degree of Profusion; not that +this Prince affects Pomp, but because he is oblig'd to conform to the +antient establish'd Customs of his Court. This Prelate gives very great +Application to the Affairs of his Government, for which purpose he rises +early in the Morning: When he is dress'd he spends some time in Prayer, +and then confers with his Ministers, or with the Chiefs of the several +Tribunals. At ten o'clock he hears Mass, and afterwards goes to Council: +At Noon he dines, and after having sate an Hour and an half at Table, he +retires, and spends the Evening with his Family, which is numerous, and +compos'd of Persons of Worth. In Carnival-time he makes great +Entertainments twice or thrice a week for all the Nobility of +_Wurtzbourg_, and there is sometimes a Ball and even Masquerades at Court. +In the Winter-time Persons of Rank have Assemblies for Gaming; and during +the Carnival there's a Ball three times a week in a House kept by the +Undertaker, at which they bespeak Places beforehand, and where Foreigners +are admitted _gratis_. All this wou'd be pretty enough if the Company was +not sometimes disturb'd by People in Liquor, tho' 'tis true that such are +not very chagrining to the Natives, who are us'd to such Sights; and the +very Ladies, who elsewhere fly such Company, do not seem to have a staunch +Aversion to them. Foreigners have reason to applaud the Civilities both of +the Prince and his Courtiers. As for my own part I am infinitely oblig'd +for the Respect they have been pleas'd to shew to me. The Prince heaps his +Favours on me, and the Nobility their Courtesies. If it were not that one +is forc'd to drink hard, I shou'd like the Town very well. Two Days hence +I shall set out for _Anspach_, and from thence I shall go by the way of +_Nuremberg_ and _Bareith_ to _Prague_. I shall write to you by the very +first Opportunity: Mean time I am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER IX. + + + _SIR_, _Anspach, Sept. 29, 1729._ + +I came in one day from _Wurtzbourg_ to ANSPACH, which is twelve Miles, and +pass'd thro' two or three little Towns not worth naming. _Anspach_ is the +Capital of the Margraviate so call'd, and the Residence of the Margrave of +_Brandenbourg_, Chief of the second Branch of that Family settled in +_Franconia_. 'Tis a small but pretty Town, and very well built. It has no +Fortifications, and is only shut in by Walls surrounded with Walks which +form a Bulwark. The Prince has a large Castle or Palace building here, +which when finish'd will be magnificent. The late Margrave, Father of the +present, had begun to build it according to the Models of an _Italian_ +Architect; but as he did nothing to answer the Opinion conceiv'd by the +_Germans_ that the _Italians_ are the best Architects in the World, +perhaps because he was oblig'd to patch up old Walls for the sake of some +Rooms: Madame the Margravine Regent, Mother of the young Margrave, +continued what her Husband began, but changed the Architect, and makes use +of the Baron _de Zochau_ to carry on those Works; who, tho' oblig'd to +conform to what was done by the _Italian_, has succeeded much better than +that Foreigner. Madame the Margravine Regent has likewise caus'd some +noble Gardens to be laid out; and this Princess spares no Cost for +embellishing the Town of _Anspach_. + +The Margravine Regent[81] is of the Family of _Wurtenberg_, and may be +compar'd for Beauty with the finest Princesses in the World. Being left a +Widow at twenty nine Years of Age, she renounc'd all Pleasures, and +thought of nothing but the Education of her Son, and the Affairs of her +Regency; both of which Duties this Princess discharges in such a manner +that her Subjects bless her Government, and the young Margrave cannot but +have very great Obligations to her. + +Madame the Margravine, besides a charming Person, has a sparkling Wit and +a solid Judgment, which she has taken care to cultivate by great reading, +and maintains by a Piety and Charity truly Christian. There is in all her +Actions such Politeness, and so much Good-nature, as gain her the hearts +of all Persons. In fine, without flattering this Princess, I can assure +you that her Life is a Pattern of Virtue. She is wean'd from all the +Vanities of the Age; she wears neither Gold nor Lace, and has given her +Diamonds, which were of very great value, to her Son. She keeps so retir'd +to her Apartment, that she is never seen but at Church, at Table, or when +she gives Audience; which she never refuses to any body unless when she is +tir'd. She is incessantly employ'd, and takes delight in it. She is her +own Minister, and her Counsellors are only the Executioners of her Orders. + +'Tis pity that _Germany_ is so soon like to lose a Princess who does her +Country so much Honour: The Margravine is in so declining a Condition +that there's no hopes of her Recovery. The Physicians have actually told +her so; but the Princess, far from being terrify'd at the sad Tidings, +receiv'd it like a Christian Heroine: _God gave me my Life_, said she to +her Physicians, _he will take it from me when he pleases, his Will be +done_. She continues to live in the way she always did; and the Approach +of Death, which she sees advancing to her with slow Pace, gives her no +Trouble nor Tremor; but submitting to the Decrees of Providence, she waits +with Resignation for that awful Moment which often makes the stoutest +Hearts tremble. + +The young Margrave is actually at _Paris_, so that I cou'd have given you +no manner of Account of this Prince, if I had not had the Honour to see +him two Years ago. He was born the 12th of _May_, 1712. He is a handsome, +comely, lively Man, has an extraordinary Memory, and if Age matures his +Understanding, bids fair to be one day a Prince of a sublime Genius. His +Governour was M. _de Bremer_, a Gentleman of _Livonia_; and his Prceptor +M. _Neukirch_[82], celebrated for several Essays in Poetry. + +Notwithstanding the Reform which Madame the Margravine made in her Court +when she came to the Regency, 'tis still very numerous. The Count _de +Castel_ is the first Man at this Court, and has the Title of Lord Steward. +His Lady commonly attends Madame the Margravine, and does the Offices of +Lady of Honour without affecting the Title. M. _de Bremer_, the Baron _de +Seckendorf_, and the Baron _de Zochau_, are Privy Counsellors; and the +Baron _de Kinsberg_ is Marshal of the Court. As to the Troops the +Margravine Regent only keeps up such a number as is necessary to furnish +her Quota to the Empire, and to guard her Person. + +The Margraviate of _Anspach_ is very much interspersed with Woods, which +makes it a fine Country for Hunting. 'Tis said that it brings in 500000 +Crowns every Year to its Sovereign. The Principal Towns are _Anspach_ and +_Schwabach_, in which Manufactures are erected that do great Prejudice to +the City of _Nuremberg_. + +I think I ought not to omit acquainting you with two things which are +fondly believ'd by the common People, and which the Landlord of the House +where I quarter'd affirm'd to me to be Facts. The one is, that there are +no Rats in all the Country of _Anspach_, since one of the Family of the +Rat-killing St. _Hubert_ pass'd that way. The other is of the same Tenor, +and admitted for a certain Truth by every Subject in the Dominions of the +House of _Brandenbourg_, _viz._ When any one of this Family dies, whether +Prince or Princess, a Woman in White always appears just before in the +Palace. I know not whether you ever heard any thing concerning this +Prophetess of Ill Luck. Be that as it will, the Story which is told of her +is this: + +_Joachim_ II. Elector of _Brandenbourg_, having a mind to enlarge his +Palace at _Berlin_, wanted to buy in several Houses; but an old Woman, the +Owner of one of those Houses, resolv'd not to sell it to him upon any +Terms. The Elector finding her so obstinate sent her the Purchase-Money +and turn'd her out of it; upon which the old Woman swore in a Rage that +she wou'd be an eternal Plague to _Joachim_ and his Posterity. They +pretend that the good Lady keeps her Word, and that she haunts all the +Palaces of the _Brandenbourg_ Family. Yet I never heard any body at +_Berlin_ say they had ever seen her there, tho' that is the Place where +she ought naturally to have taken up her head Quarters. My Landlord added +to these fine Stories that the Margravine would not die yet a while, +because the Woman in White had not yet appear'd to any body at Court. + + _I am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER X. + + + _SIR_, _Carlsbad, October 10, 1729._ + +When I took leave of the Court of _Anspach_, I was honour'd with a +precious mark of the Margravine's Goodness, _viz._ a weighty Gold Medal; +and now I am again upon my Journey. I was not many hours in travelling +from _Anspach_ to _Nuremberg_, thro' a Country extremely sandy, but very +well cultivated, and interspers'd with considerable Villages which in our +Country wou'd be reckon'd Towns. + +So much has already been said by others of the City of NUREMBERG, that I +have very little to add to it. I assure you this Town is the most +disagreeable Place in _Europe_ to live in. The Patricians are the People +of the first Rank there, and lord it like the petty Nobles of _Venice_. +The Government here too has very great Resemblance with the _Venetian_, +and they have a sort of Doge. In short they are very much like the Frog in +the Fable that strove to swell it self to the Size of the Ox. Of these +Patricians some are very rich, but they are so rude that no body visits +them, and they scarce visit one another. Perhaps you will ask me what I +mean by the Term _Patricians_? 'Tis this; they are Gentlemen: There are +Patrician Families old enough to dispute Antiquity with any of the +Nobility whatsoever, and who were formerly admitted into all the Chapters. +But now the case is otherwise; for the Nobility not only exclude them out +of the Chapters, but dispute their being Gentlemen; pretending that they +derogate from the Title by their Magistratical Offices. Such is, you know, +our _Germanic_ Vanity; the things which are honourable in other Countries, +are with us diminutive: The Court, the Sword, and the Church, are the only +Professions that a Gentleman can follow: If he has not the Talents proper +for one or other of these, or if Fortune frown upon him, he had better be +out of the World than take any Offices of the Magistracy upon him, or +enter into Trade: He had better beg Alms nobly than marry beneath himself. +But I shall not here set up for a Censor of the _Germanic_ Customs. Let us +talk of _Nuremberg_. This City has 6 Gates, 12 Conduits, and 118 Wells. Of +the Churches St. _Laurence_'s is the biggest: There's a great many +Reliques in it, particularly a part of the Manger in which our Saviour was +laid, a piece of his Garment, and three Links of the Chains which bound +St. _Peter_, St. _Paul_, and St. _John_. As the _Lutherans_ make no great +account of those Reliques, they wou'd do well to give them to some poor +Catholic Convent, which would thereby soon be enrich'd. + +You know that the Government here is altogether Evangelical, _i. e._ +_Lutheran_. The Catholics have a small Church in the House of the Teutonic +Order: The _Calvinists_ go to the Church in the Territory of _Anspach_; +but the _Jews_ are not tolerated because 'tis said they formerly poisoned +the Wells. They live in a Place not far from _Nuremberg_, but come to Town +every Morning, paying something for their Entrance, have an old Woman set +over them, who is commonly both their Guard and their Guide, and are +permitted to trade and trick wherever they can till Night, when they are +obliged to retire. + +In the Church of the Hospital is kept _Charlemain_'s Crown, said to weigh +fourteen Pounds, the Sceptre and the Globe, in short all the Ornaments of +Empire except _Charlemain_'s Sword said to have been brought from Heaven +by an Angel, the same very likely that carry'd the holy Vial and the +Oriflamb to _France_. That Sword is kept at _Aix la Chapelle_. + +The Trade of _Nuremberg_ is very much fallen off; for besides that the +Toys and Knick-knacks which were formerly made in this City are much out +of fashion, especially in _Germany_, the Manufactures which the Margraves +of _Bareith_ and _Anspach_ have settled in their Dominions do considerable +Prejudice to _Nuremberg_. + +The Inhabitants of this City may be, (at least I think 'em so) the +honestest People in the World, but they are the most horrible +Complimenters that I know. I cou'd not set my Foot in a Shop, but the +Master, the Mistress, the Children and the Apprentices waited on me into +the very Street, than king me for the Honour I had done them. My Landlord +too, who saw me go in and out twenty times a day, receiv'd me always with +great Ceremony, and ask'd me how I did. And when I went out he pray'd me +not to leave his House long in Contempt, without honouring it with my +Presence. + +_Nuremberg_ is the richest and most potent Imperial City next to +_Hambourg_. The Domain of _Nuremberg_ is even much larger than that of +_Hambourg_, but the latter bears the Bell for Wealth. 'Tis said that +_Nuremberg_ has seven other Towns in its Territory, with 480 Villages and +Parishes. Yet for all this 'tis not a rich City; for the Patricians +pocket all the Money, and the Citizens are poor. + +Next Day after my Arrival at _Nuremberg_ I set out for +_Christian_-ERLANGEN, a Town in the Margraviate of _Brandenbourg-Bareith_, +which owes its flourishing State to a Colony of _French_ People who fled +out of _France_ on account of their Religion. + +Forty Years ago _Erlangen_ was but a little Village in the middle of a +Forest of Fir-Trees. The Margrave _Christian_ giving shelter to the +_French_ who left their Country after the Revocation of the Edict of +_Nantz_, assign'd them _Erlangen_ to settle in. When they cut down the +Woods they built the Town, to which they gave the Name of +_Christian-Erlangen_, in Memory of _Christian_ their Benefactor. All the +Streets are in a strait Line. The _French_ have set up all sorts of +Manufactures here, and have made it one of the prettiest Towns of +_Germany_. Madame[83] _Elizabeth-Sophia_ of _Brandenbourg_, second +Daughter of the Elector _Frederic-William_, and third Wife of the Margrave +_Christian_ Founder of _Erlangen_, caus'd a very handsome Palace to be +built in the great Square of this City, to which there are noble Gardens. +'Tis at present occupy'd by _Sophia_ of _Saxe-Weissenfels_, Widow of the +last Margrave of _Bareith_. This Princess was to have dwelt at _Neustadt_, +which was settled on her for her Dowry; but as 'tis a lonesome, +melancholy, scoundrel Place, the Margrave Regent was willing she should +live at _Erlangen_. The Margravine Dowager was one of the most beautiful +Princesses in the World, of which she still preserves the fair Remains, +and none can have an Air more grand. She lives at _Erlangen_ with all the +Dignity becoming her Rank. Foreigners are very well received at her Court, +and particularly by the Princess herself, who for Politeness has few +Equals. + +From _Christian-Erlangen_ I went in less than a Day to _Bamberg_, tho' I +stay'd two or three Hours at FORCHEIM a Place in the Bishoprick of +_Bamberg_, whose Buildings appear'd to me to be old and out of repair. + +The Bishoprick of BAMBERG is the first Bishoprick of the Empire. The +Bishop is Suffragan to no Archbishop. He depends only as to Spirituals +upon the Holy See, and receives the Pall as an Archbishop. He has moreover +this Distinction, that the Electors are his great Officers as they are +those of the Empire, and he has the Privilege of summoning them to come +and do the Duties of their Offices on the Day of his Installation. I have +not heard that any Bishop ever made use of this mighty Prerogative, for +the Retinue which those great Officers would bring along with them might +be a Charge to him. The great Privileges which this Prelate enjoys are +counter-balanc'd by one Mortification; for if the Electors happen to chuse +an Emperor who has no Dominions, the Bishop of _Bamberg_ would be oblig'd +to yield him his Episcopal City and Palace. 'Tis said that the Emperor has +the same Right to _Rome_, and that if he should chuse that ancient City of +the World for his Residence, the Pope wou'd be oblig'd to yield him the +Palace of the Vatican and to retire to that of St. _John de Lateran_. But +I really think that the Holy Father and the Bishop of _Bamberg_ will not +be so soon turn'd out. + +The late Elector of _Mentz_, _Lotharius-Francis de Schonborn_, who was +also Bishop of _Bamberg_, embellish'd the City with a new Episcopal +Palace, a great and stately Building that stands on an Eminence, from +whence there is an extensive Prospect of various Beauties. + +The City of _Bamberg_ is very well built, and has beautiful Churches. +Herein is to be seen the Tomb of the Emperor _Henry_ II. and his Wife the +Empress _Cunegonda_. This Princess lies at the right hand of her Husband, +because she kept her Virginity to her Death. Was not this abusing the +Sacrament of Marriage? + +The Bishop who fills the Episcopal See of _Bamberg_ is _Frederic-Charles_, +Count de _Schonborn_, Vice-Chancellor of the Empire. This Prelate being +Minister of State to the Emperor commonly resides at _Vienna_, and is now +there, so that I have nothing to say to you of his Court; but I reckon I +shall be able to give you some Account of him after I have paid my +Respects to him at _Vienna_. + +The Neighbourhood of _Bamberg_ is very agreeable, but as one comes to it +from _Nuremberg_ thro' a certain Forest of Fir-Trees, it strikes a Man +with Horror to find an Avenue to it a quarter of a League in length form'd +by Wheels and Gibbets. This, at first sight gives a Stranger no very great +Idea of the Honesty of the People; but he is of another Opinion when he +comes to know that these expos'd Malefactors are for the most part +Foreigners. The Bishoprick of _Bamberg_ is contiguous to seven or eight +different States, and the Town it self lies in the greatest Road of all +_Germany_, which is the Reason that 'tis so infested by Rogues from all +Quarters. In the time of the Elector of _Mentz_, _Bamberg_ was their _Ne +plus ultra_, for that Prince gave them no Quarter: Being an Enemy to +Wickedness, and one of the greatest Justiciaries that we have had in +_Germany_, he sent all to the Gallows that deserv'd Hanging. + +About a League out of the Town the Bishop has a charming Pleasure-House; +but there is nothing in all _Germany_ more magnificent than the Castle of +POMMERSFELDEN belonging to the Count _de Schonborn_, which is three +Leagues from _Bamberg_. _Francis Lotharius de Schonborn_ Elector of +_Mentz_ caus'd this stately Fabric to be built, the whole of which forms a +great Body of Building flank'd by two Pavilions with two advanc'd Wings. +The whole is regularly built, and decorated with well-fancy'd +Architecture. The Entry is supported by several Colonnades, where the +first thing that presents it self is the grand Stair-Case, which is +extraordinary magnificent, and perhaps one of the best contrived in +_Europe_. This Entry leads into a Salon which serves as a Passage to the +Garden; 'tis in form of a Grotto adorn'd with several Fountains, Columns, +and Statues of Marble: The Cieling is painted as well as the Sky-Light of +the Stair-Case, and the Arches of the principal Apartments. They are all +painted by Hands that the Elector sent for on purpose from _Italy_. I +don't give you the Particulars of the great Salon, nor of the Apartments, +because it would take up a Volume. The whole are laid out with Art, and +furnish'd with great Choice, Judgment and Splendor. + +The Stables answer exactly to the Castle which they front. They are built +in form of a Half-Moon with a Pavilion in the middle, which is an oval +Salon, from both Sides of which you see all the Horses. The Mangers are of +Marble in form of Shells, and the Racks of Iron neatly wrought in form of +a Basket or Scuttle. + +The Salon in the middle of the two Stables is painted in Fresco, and looks +one way to the Court, and the other to the Riding-House, where the Elector +us'd to see the Horses manag'd belonging to the Studs of his Bishoprick +near _Bamberg_, one of the best in _Germany_. + +The Gardens of _Pommersfelden_ are very answerable to the Magnificence of +the Buildings: In a word, every Thing belonging to this fine House is +worthy of it. The Builder of it had sublime Ideas: He spared no Cost to +leave Monuments of his Grandeur and Wealth to Posterity, and has made a +House of _Pommersfelden_ which really surpasses some Royal Palaces. But +'tis time to take you out of this fine Place and to carry you back to +_Bamberg_. + +There is a good Number of the Nobility settled in this Town. The Chapter +consists of Persons of Quality: It has the Right of chusing the Bishop; +and 'tis he who governs in the Absence of the Prince. Such a Resort as +here is of the Nobility makes the Time pass away agreeably; but they drink +as hard here as at _Fulde_ and _Wurtzbourg_, so that it looks as if +Drinking was an inseparable Function of the Ecclesiastical Courts. Having +some Relations in this Town I stay'd there three Days, during which I had +the Pleasure of Drinking every Day with one of my Cousins out of a great +Goblet of solid Gold which weigh'd to the Value of a thousand Ducats. You +can't imagine how well the Wine went down out of a Cup of that Value. I +heartily wish'd that my Cousin wou'd have dealt by me as _Joseph_ did by +_Benjamin_, and that he had put up his Cup in my Portmanteau, provided he +wou'd not have sent to fetch me back again, as the Governour of _Egypt_ +did his Brother; but this was what my dear Cousin did not think fit to do. +He made me drink my Skin-full of Wine, and only wish'd me my Pockets full +of Gold. + +From _Bamberg_ I went to BAREITH the Residence of the Margrave of +_Brandenbourg_. The elder of the two Branches of that Family settled in +_Franconia_. _John George_ Elector of _Brandenbourg_ divided his Dominions +between his three Sons: He left the Electorate with its Appendages to his +eldest Son, and gave the Margraviate of _Culmbach_ to _Christian_ his +second Son, and that of _Anspach_ to his third Son. _Christian_ form'd +two Branches, that of _Bareith_ and that of _Culmbach_. The Branch of +_Bareith_ became extinct in 1726, by the Death of _George-William_, whose +Widow lives at _Erlangen_. _George-Frederic-Charles_ Margrave of +_Culmbach_ his Cousin, succeeded him. This Prince has five Children, +_viz._ two Princes[84] and three Princesses[85]. He marry'd _Dorothy_ of +_Holstein-Beck_ at _Berlin_ in 1709. I had then the Honour to see him: He +was a Prince of a noble Aspect, very civil, good-natur'd, and temperate, +and a Lover of Books and Men of Learning. He did an Act of Generosity that +perhaps is not to be parallel'd, and which I relate to you as the most +authentic Testimony that can be of his Good-nature and Integrity. + +His Predecessor had left an empty Exchequer and a great many Debts; and +the Margrave at his Accession to the Regency was oblig'd to pay the King +of _Prussia_ 460000 Florins, upon condition that his Majesty wou'd +renounce any Pretensions he might have to the Margraviate, by virtue of +the Resignation of all Rights to the Succession which had been made by the +Margrave of _Culmbach_ his Father, in favour of _Frederic_ I. King of +_Prussia_. To raise this Sum on People already overburden'd by the common +Taxes, was to seek their Ruin. The Margrave in pity of their miserable +Condition, chose rather to borrow this Money of the States of the Circle +of _Franconia_ at great Interest. When he found himself in peaceable +possession of his Dominions by the Payment made to the King of _Prussia_, +he undertook to pay off not only his own, but the Debts of his +Predecessor. To enable himself to do this, he began by turning off his +Court, kept but a small Number of Counsellors and Gentlemen, and disbanded +3000 Men of the Troops which the late Margrave kept in pay to no purpose. +He reduc'd his Table to the greatest Frugality; his Clothes were plain, +and he avoided Magnificence and Gaming. Some time after this, he made +another Reform in his House, and kept up but a very small Number of +Domestics. He establish'd a Council of Regency, and to save the Expence +which his Rank as a Sovereign would have engag'd him in whether he wou'd +or not, he left his Dominions, and went to live incognito with the +Hereditary Prince his Son at _Geneva_. I believe that both of them are +actually at _Montpellier_[86]. He is resolv'd not to return to his +Dominions till all his Debts are paid off. Mean time his Subjects wish for +his Return with Impatience, for he has such a Kindness for them, and +governs them with such mildness that they look on him as their Father and +Benefactor. This Retirement of the Margrave from the Splendors of +Sovereignty is the more to be commended because 'tis absolutely voluntary: +He was not at all oblig'd to pay the Debts of his Predecessor; for they +were of such a Nature as not to be rank'd among the Debts of the +Government. Nevertheless it was his Pleasure to do it, and he chose rather +to abridge himself of the Charms of Sovereignty than that People, whose +Faith in the Government had made them part with their Money, shou'd lose +their Debts. Such a glorious Action as this, is in my Judgment equal to +the Laurels of twenty Victories: This was owing to his Virtue, whereas +Victory is generally the Consequent of Chance and Fortune. + +You will easily imagine that while the Sovereign is absent this City is +not very gay. It appear'd to me the more melancholy because I had seen it +in the time of the late Margrave, at whose Court there was continual +Feasting and Jollitry. + +The City of _Bareith_ is inferior to _Erlangen_. The Margrave's Palace is +a great old Pile, but not very commodious, and meanly furnish'd. This +Prince has a very pretty House, a League from _Bareith_, call'd the +_Hermitage_, which was built by Order of the late Margrave. + +It stands in the middle of a thick Wood, in which there are a great many +Pavilions built, without any Symmetry indeed, but very ingeniously +contriv'd within for the Use to which they serve. When the late Margrave +came to the Hermitage, he and his whole Court were in the Dress of +Hermits. There were certain Hours in which the Hermit Brothers went to pay +a Visit to the Hermit Sisters, who liv'd in the Pavilions. The Brothers +and Sisters who gave each other Collations, were subject to certain Rules +from which they could not be dispensed but by the Remission of the +Superior of either Sex, who were then the Margrave, and his Lady the +Margravine. In the Evening they met again in the Hall of the Castle, where +they supp'd; and that every thing might be done according to the Rules, at +the beginning of the Supper certain Verses were read, or some little Story +compos'd by one or other of the Hermit Brothers; then Silence was broke, +and every one gave his Opinion upon what had been read, upon which there +ensued a general Conversation. The Supper held till pretty late, and was +commonly followed with a Ball. No body could be admitted into the Order +without the general Consent of the Chapter. And the Superior himself had +no Right but to propose such as were Candidates for Admission. To give you +all the Statutes of this Society, would be too tedious; besides I should +be afraid of adding or diminishing to them, because I only have them from +Tradition. + +The Margrave has a Mother still alive, _viz._ _Sophia-Christina_ Countess +of _Wolffenstein_, who lives at _Copenhagen_ with her Daughter the +Princess Royal[87] of _Denmark_. The King of _Denmark_ grants her the +Title of Royal Highness, and causes the same Honours to be paid to her as +to the Princesses of his Family. + +The Margrave has also three Brothers and two Sisters. The eldest of the +Brothers is a Major-General and Colonel of Foot in the Service of the +Emperor, and the two others are in the Service of _Denmark_. The two +Princesses are marry'd, one to the Prince Royal of _Denmark_, the other to +_George-Albert_ Prince of _East-Friesland_. So that the intire Family of +_Brandenbourg-Culmbach_ consists of Princes and Princesses to the number +of twelve. + +The Revenues of this Margrave are pretty near the same as those of the +Margrave of _Anspach_. His Fortress is the Castle of _Plassenberg_. + +From _Bareith_ I came in two Days to CARLSBAD, a Place of Fame for its hot +Waters, of which there are two Sorts differing from one another both in +Strength and Heat. They derive their Source from the middle of a River +form'd by Torrents from the neighbouring Mountains, whose Waters are +extremely cold; yet they make not the least Alteration in the heat of the +Mineral Waters. They are said to be very wholesome for all sorts of +Maladies, particularly for the Gravel, and for the Barrenness of Women. M. +_Hofman_, a celebrated Professor of Physic at _Hall_, has published a +Treatise, wherein he examines the nature of those Waters, and prescribes +how they ought to be used. The Manner is very disagreeable; you are +obliged to be shut up in a Room, and be the Weather ever so hot, the +Stove must be heated, you must be tormented by taking off two or three +Pots of Water, which are almost equal to thirty Chocolate Cups; besides +walking about very much, and sweating great Drops. + +To make amends for the Fatigue of the Morning, there is good Company to be +seen here all Day long; for Abundance of Strangers come to _Carlsbad_, +particularly the Nobility of _Bohemia_ and _Austria_. There are publick +Walks and a great Room adjacent, where they play, dance and walk till the +Evening. They who love to live by Rule retire without Supper. + +Whoever would be well accommodated at _Carlsbad_ must carry three things +thither with him, his own Bed, Wine, and Cook; tho' a Foot-boy may serve +for the Cook, because one is generally invited by the _Bohemian_ or +_Austrian_ Noblemen, who always keep a great Table, and love Company to +dine with 'em. + +The Inhabitants of _Carlsbad_ are generally Armourers, who work very neat +and vastly cheap. At the Season for using the Waters, Merchants flock +hither from all Parts, and _Carlsbad_ is superior to many great Towns. I +had a great deal of Amusement during the two different Seasons that I +pass'd there, and I contracted a World of good Acquaintance, who, I hope, +will be of Service to me at _Prague_, for which Place I propose to set out +to-morrow. I am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XI. + + + _SIR_, _Prague, November 15, 1729._ + +I have now been a Month in this City, yet it seems but as a Day; for I +find infinite Amusements here, and a thousand things that I like, only I +want your Company. The City of PRAGUE is ancient, and has been time out of +mind, the Seat of the Kings of _Bohemia_. 'Tis without dispute one of the +Biggest Towns in _Europe_. 'Tis encompass'd with Ramparts, and as well +fortified as a Place of that Extent can be, and commanded by several +Hills, which 'tis impossible to level. This City is divided by the River +_Molde_ or _Muldaw_, into two Parts, _viz._ _Old Prague_ and _Little +Prague_; and during the Course of the last Century, it suffer'd the +greatest Cruelties that a City can possibly undergo in a time of War. The +Archduke _Leopold_ Bishop of _Passau_ surpriz'd and plunder'd the lesser +Part, and would have done the same by the old Town, if the Emperor +_Matthias_ King of _Hungary_ had not come in time to relieve it. Nine +Years after this, _Prague_ was again plunder'd by those who were most +concerned to preserve it; I mean the Imperialists, who, after the Battle +at _Weissenberg_, near _Prague_, wherein they defeated _Frederic_ Elector +Palatine whom a Party had chose King of _Bohemia_, enter'd the City, and +carried off inestimable Booty. _Prague_ was used no better in 1631, by the +Elector of _Saxony_, after that Prince made himself Master of _Bohemia_. +The Great _Walstein_ of so much Note for his Glorious Actions, and his +Tragical Exit, recover'd _Bohemia_ from the _Saxon_ in 1632, and took +_Prague_ by Storm. Some time after this the _Swedes_ attack'd it, and took +the lesser _Prague_; but could not force the old Town, it was so +courageously defended by the Students and Burghers. The _Swedes_ thereupon +retired, and carry'd off immense Wealth. At length the Peace of +_Westphalia_ restored Tranquillity to _Bohemia_ and the City of _Prague_, +which has been subject ever since to the House of _Austria_; and the +Kingdom which before was Elective, had the Mortification to become +Hereditary. + +The Situation of _Prague_ is pleasant in the midst of Gardens and fine +Fields, and 'tis adorn'd with noble Buildings, of which the Houses of the +Counts _Tschernin_ and _Sternberg_ are as fine as any. The Furniture of +the former is extremely rich; there is a Gallery adorned with excellent +Pictures, a Cabinet of choice Porcellane with entire Services of the +finest _Indian Lacca_; and another Room full of fine Arms and other +Curiosities. Count _Sternberg_'s House is not so large, yet better +contriv'd; and in _Rome_ it self would pass for a fine Palace. But there +is one built by the late Count _de Gallasch_, who died Viceroy at +_Naples_, that bears the Bell above all. You know that Nobleman was +prodigiously rich and magnificent. He spared no Cost in his Buildings. +'Tis pity the House is not well situate, but it certainly would be so, if +the young Count _de Gallasch_ was of the same Way of Thinking with his +Father, who intended to have had five or six old Hovels belonging to it +pull'd down to the ground, by which means he would have had a fine Square. + +The Convents of both Sexes are another Ornament of this Great City. The +House of the Reverend Fathers the Jesuits is one of the most magnificent. +They have lately caused a Church to be built, which is one of the best +adorned that I have seen out of _Italy_. If you were but here, we would +go together and see all those Buildings. I would carry you first of all to +the Cathedral, which is in lesser _Prague_, on the Top of the Hill call'd +_Ratschin_, and from thence we would go and take a View of the Castle +which is upon the same Hill. + +The Metropolitan Church is a very antient Structure, which was burnt down +by the _Swedes_, and is only rebuilt in part. Its Magnificence and Beauty +consist in the thickness of its Walls and Arches; and the Architecture of +this Church is such, that I fancy it would appear _Gothic_ to the very +_Goths_ themselves. 'Tis in this Cathedral that the Kings and Queens of +_Bohemia_ are consecrated. The Archbishop of _Prague_'s Office is to +perform the Unction upon both; but the Abbess of St. _George_, whose Abbey +is also upon the Hill of _Ratschin_, is to place the Crown upon the Head +of the Queen, and in this Function she is assisted by the Wives of the +Great Officers of the Crown. + +In this Metropolitan Church are preserved with great Veneration the Bodies +of a couple of Saints extremely dear to the _Bohemians_. The one is St. +_Wenceslaus_ King of _Bohemia_, the other St. _John Nepomucene_. The +latter was very lately canonized by Pope _Benedict_ XIII. at the Request +of the States of this Kingdom, who were at the whole Expence of the +Ceremony, which was performed in the Church of St. _John de Lateran_ at +_Rome_ with extraordinary Pomp. + +The Story of this Saint is very singular: He was Confessor to the Wife of +that cruel Emperor _Wenceslaus_, who was deposed by the Electors. That +Prince being jealous of his Queen enjoined St. _John Nepomucene_ to reveal +that Princess's Confessions to him. He employed Presents, Prayers and +Threats, to persuade the Saint to make this Discovery, but all to no +purpose; upon which he caused him to be cast headlong from the Bridge +into the River of _Molde_. The Body was seen floating at some distance +from the Place, attended with five Stars swimming on the Water; then he +was added to the Number of the Saints and Martyrs, and his Corpse was +taken out of the River, and carried with Pomp to _Prague_, where it was +interr'd in the Church of _Dain_ in the old Town, of which he was a Canon. +His Corpse being found some Years ago, his Tongue appearing to be as fresh +as ever, was taken out of his Mouth and put into a Silver Gilt Box; the +Body was enclosed in a stately Coffin, and the whole carried with great +Ceremony to the Cathedral. An Altar being erected in the middle of the +right Wing of the Choir, there the Saint was interr'd in a Tomb of Silver +Gilt; and the Tongue put into a sort of Tabernacle where it has wrought +and does still work great Miracles. There is a great Concourse of People +hither from all Parts to invoke this Saint, whose Tomb is loaded with +precious Gifts, and adorned by the Empress with a rich Canopy. But no body +has given more illustrious Proofs of Devotion to St. _Nepomucene_ than the +Prince _de Schwartzenberg_[88] Master of the Horse to the Emperor, and the +Count _de Martinitz_ Marshal of the Imperial Court; who both ascribe the +Conception of their Wives, and the Birth of their Sons, to the Protection +of that Saint, tho' I should have thought all this feasible enough without +a Miracle. The Princess _de Schwartzenberg_ had not been married many +Years before she had a Daughter[89]; her Husband had not seen her for +fourteen Years after this, during which she had no Children. This is no +more than common; after they came together again Madam is brought to Bed +of a Son, in which tho' there is nothing but what is very natural, yet +'tis cry'd up for a Miracle; the Birth is ascribed to the Devotion which +the Princes paid to the Tomb of St. _Nepomucene_ for nine Days together, +and to make the Saint some amends, his Tomb and his Altar are adorn'd by a +great many Vessels of Silver and Silver gilt. + +As to Count _Martinitz_ there seems indeed to be better colour for a +Miracle in his favour. He had been married fourteen or fifteen Years, and +his Lady never given the least Sign of Teemingness. She was in good plight +of body, her Husband liv'd with her, and they went together several times +to the Baths of _Carlsbad_, but all had signified nothing. The Count +longing passionately for a Son had perform'd more than nine days Devotion +successively, for he went the last Holy Year to _Loretto_ and to _Rome_. +But Heaven deaf to his Cries granted him no Heir; at last knowing not what +Saint to pray to, his Lady propos'd, that they should go and worship nine +days together at the Tomb of St. _Nepomucene_. They set out, they arrive +at _Prague_, they prostrate themselves before the sacred Tomb. Soon after, +Madame _de Martinitz_ proves with Child, and at nine Months end is +delivered of a Son. You may say whatever you please, but such a Favour +sure was worth some Lamps of solid Silver before the Saint's Tomb; and the +Count _de Martinitz_ full of Zeal and Gratitude has given some that are +very magnificent. + +The _Bohemians_ have so great confidence in St. _John de Nepomucene_, that +they have almost forgot St. _Wenceslaus_ their old Patron. There is no +Church where St. _John_ has not a Chapel, no Bridge without his Effigy; +every body Gentle and Simple, Men and Women, wear his Picture as if it +were the Badge of an Order, hanging to a straw-colour'd Ribbon, and you +would swear that all the _Bohemians_ were Knights of St. _Louis_. In +short, St. _Nepomucene_ is the only Saint in vogue; and Presents are +heap'd upon him to such a degree that if it continues much longer, he will +be as rich as our Lady of _Loretto_. + +The Palace or Castle which joins to the Cathedral is a great Building +composed of several Main Bodies without Symmetry or Architecture. The +Apartments are but low and plain, but here is one of the most beautiful +Prospects in the World. The great Hall in which the Royal Feast is kept on +the Day of the Coronation of the Kings is the largest of the kind, next to +the spacious Hall of _Westminster_. The Palace-Gardens are large, but have +nothing to recommend them besides their Situation. The Tribunals of the +Regency meet in the Palace: The first of these consists of Stadtholders +who are of the Emperor's Privy Council. They are to the Number of twelve, +and represent the Sovereign. Most of them are the great Officers of the +Crown. There must be always two of them private Gentlemen to take care of +the Interests of the Gentry against the Nobility; for you must know that +the Princes, Counts, and Barons, who compose the Nobility, form a separate +Body here, and would think it a Disparagement to be call'd _Gentlemen_; +tho' _Henry_ IV. King of _France_ counted it an honour to be the first +Gentleman in his Kingdom, and King _Francis_ I. whenever he affirmed a +thing, said, _Upon the Word of a Gentleman_. + +The Chief of the Council of the Stadtholders is call'd the _Great +Burgrave_, whose Dignity is the highest in the Kingdom. He represents the +Person of the Emperor, and is inferior to none but the Chancery of +_Bohemia_ which always attends the Emperor. + +The Bridge over the _Muldaw_ which joins little _Prague_ to the old Town, +is one of the longest and most substantial Bridges in _Europe_. It has on +both sides the Statues of several Saints, which if they had been done by +a better hand, would have prov'd an Ornament. There is a Crucifix also +which is pretended to be of Gold, and to have been erected formerly at the +Expence of the _Jews_, pursuant to an Order of the Government, as a +Punishment for their having crucified a Christian Infant upon +_Easter_-Day, to insult the Memory of our Saviour's Death. + +The _Jews_ are the only Sectaries that are tolerated in _Bohemia_. There +are some _Hussites_ still subsisting, but they keep so close, that the +Government does not seem to know that there are any at all. I was assur'd +that in _Prague_ alone there were no less than 80,000 _Jews_; whether +there are quite so many, I know not; but 'tis certain they are very +numerous. Their Quarter in the old City forms a little separate Town. They +have all the Trade in their own hands, follow all sorts of Callings, and +by their receiving all old-fashion'd things in Payment, they quite ruin +the Christian Handicrafts-men. As these People multiply like Rabbets, 'tis +said the Emperor is going to issue an Ordinance prohibiting any but their +eldest Sons to marry; the Report of which is so alarming to the _Jews_, +that they would advance great Sums to prevent its taking effect. + +If we except _Rome_, _Paris_, and _London_, there is no City where there +are more Gentry, or a Gentry that is more wealthy: Every body here lives +grand; and in no Part of the World do the Nobility keep greater State, or +take more Pride in their Substance. They are polite and civil to +Strangers, whom they know to be Persons of Quality. For my own part, I +like them prodigiously, and I can safely say it, I have hardly met with a +Foreigner who has not the same Notion of _Prague_ that I have. + +There is not a Gentleman in this Country but has seen at least _Holland_, +_France_, and _Italy_, and indeed they are under some necessity of +travelling, for the Education they have at home is none of the best. But +they don't travel as People of their Birth and Fortunes ought to do. They +are commonly attended by a sort of Governors, who make it their Profession +to ramble abroad with young Gentlemen, and are for the most part +_Walloons_, _Luxemburghers_, _Lorrainers_, or _Liegeois_, Soldiers of +Fortune, without Education, and without Manners; who think 'tis enough for +their Pupils to see Houses and Churches, and having not the Courage or the +Capacity to put themselves forward, or even to shew their Heads, don't +care that their Gentlemen should keep Company. They tell _young Master_, +that my Lord his Father, who put him under their Care, recommended +[OE]conomy to them; that they might game at Assemblies, but that 'tis not +well to play while they are travelling: Therefore the Spark is oblig'd to +keep in his Quarters, or if he is perhaps permitted to go to the public +Shews, even this Pleasure, because it is not to be had without Money, must +be taken in Moderation; the Governor's Aim is only to crib all he can, and +sink his Pupil's Money into his own Purse. This is so true that I have +known some who never eat Suppers, yet always brought them to Accompt; many +of 'em get a Profit by every thing they buy, and they make such hard +Bargains that 'tis ten to one if they don't chouse the Merchant as well as +their Pupil. If the Governor does not like the Place they come to, he must +be gone, tho' it were the most proper Town in the World to form the young +Gentleman; for the Governor only writes to the Father or Mother that the +Air did not agree with their Son, and that therefore he had remov'd him. +The Generality of these wretched Guides maintain that six Weeks or three +Months Stay at most is sufficient to know _Paris_; a Fortnight to be +thoroughly acquainted with the Genius of the _English_; a Month to know +_Rome_; a Week to see _Naples_; and so of the rest: And when they have +shewn their Gentleman at _Paris_, the Anatomical Wax-work and the +Observatory; at _London_, the Lions in the Tower; at _Rome_, the +Catacombs; and at _Naples_, the Liquefaction of St. _Januarius_'s Blood, +and Mount _Vesuvius_; they think they have done great matters, and away +they go without having made an Acquaintance with one Soul at any of the +Courts. They have seen the King of _France_ touch for the Evil; The King +of _England_ go to the Parliament-House; and the Pope sitting in his +Elbow-Chair, distributing his Benedictions. With a Mind thus adorn'd, the +young Man, after eighteen Months or two Years Absence abroad, returns +home. The Governor has two or three thousand Florins, and sometimes more +as a Gratuity, besides his Stipend. Again, the worthy _Mentor_ makes a +Bubble of the Father who trusts his Son with him, and behold now, he is +ready for another Tour. One would think that, instead of travelling in +this manner, it were better to send abroad for the Plans of all the Towns, +I am sure 'twould be cheaper; the Parents would have the comfort to see +their Sons at home, and they would also have wherewithal to furnish a +little Box in the Country. + +There are no People of Quality in the World more addicted to an expensive +way of Living than those of _Prague_, which is the Reason that for all +their immense Revenues they are sometimes over Head and Ears in Debt; but +by good Luck they have a Settlement which prevents them from total Ruin: +For most of their Lands are intail'd for ever on the eldest Son of the +Family, so that he can neither alienate nor incumber them without the +Consent of the whole Family, and of the King himself, which is a Thing +very hard to be obtain'd. When an eldest Son of a Family has squander'd +his Freehold, and runs himself more and more in debt, the Creditors, and +sometimes the Parents themselves, present a Petition to the King and +desire a Sequestration. The King after being inform'd of the List of the +Debts, and of the _Majorat_ (which is the Name they give here to the Lands +that are intail'd) names Trustees for the Administration of the Estates of +the Spendthrift, who is allow'd a Pension till all the Debts are paid. +There's another very good Establishment here for securing the Sale of +Landed Estates and Mortgages. Every Nobleman gives in a Particular of his +Estate to a Tribunal which is call'd the _Landtaffel_, where the same is +register'd. When a Person wants to borrow Money or to make a Sale, the +Lender or the Purchaser has recourse to the _Landtaffel_'s Office, where +he sees whether the Lands are incumber'd; and if the Borrower's Debts +don't exceed two Thirds of the Price at which they are rated by the +_Landtaffel_, he may lend his Money very safely. + +Tho' the _Bohemians_ are brave and good Soldiers, yet they don't love the +Service, I mean the Gentry: Most of them prefer the Civil to Military +Employments, and a private Life to Posts in the Army or at Court. They are +so us'd to be absolute Masters at their Estates where the Peasants are +their Slaves, and to be homag'd like Petty Sovereigns by the Burghers at +_Prague_, that they don't care to reside at _Vienna_, and to be oblig'd +like other Subjects to pay their Court to the Sovereign and the Ministers. +As soon as a Gentleman of _Bohemia_ comes of Age, he is oblig'd to take an +Oath of Fidelity to the Emperor as his King; which is a Law as much +binding on the Nobility as the Gentry; and none of 'em dare to go out of +the Kingdom without express Leave from the Emperor, on the Penalty of +forfeiting his Estate. When the Noblemen are return'd from their Travels +to _France_ and _Italy_, they put in to be Chamberlains, not so much for +the sake of engaging themselves to Attendance at Court as to procure a +Precedency for their Wives, it being a Custom with most of 'em to marry as +soon as they come of Age. Afterwards they aim to be Counsellors of State, +and Stadtholders, and this is the _Ne plus ultra_ of their Preferments. +The Counsellors of State challenge the Title of _Excellency_: But this is +what those who are not of that Denomination, and of as good Families as +themselves, scruple to allow them, so that generally speaking they have it +only given them by their Domestics and Dependants. So that one may say of +their Excellencies what the Duchess of _Elboeuf_ of the _Lorrain_ Family +said in _France_ concerning the Princes of _Bouillon_, that they were +_Domestic Highnesses_, because none but their own Servants give them the +Title of _Highness_. + +Of all the great and wealthy Families, those of _Lobkowitz_, _Kinski_, +_Schlick_, _Collobradt_, and _Martinitz_ are the only ones that make a +Figure at the Imperial Court. 'Tis true there are several other Noblemen +at _Vienna_ who have Lands in _Bohemia_, but then their Families are not +originally descended from that Kingdom. + +The _Kinski_'s Family is actually the most splendid at Court. There are +five Brothers of it in Employments. The eldest is the Great Chancellor of +_Bohemia_[90]. The second who is call'd Count _Stephen_, is Great Marshal +of _Bohemia_, a Minister of State, and the Emperor's Ambassador at the +Court of _France_[91]. The third, Count _Philip_, is the Emperor's +Minister Plenipotentiary to _Great Britain_; and the two youngest are in +the Army, where one of them is a Lieutenant-Colonel. Count _Philip_ was +sent Ambassador when but twenty nine Years old. He has demonstrated by his +Conduct that Wisdom does not always stay for Age, and that he is the +worthy Son of one of the greatest Ministers that[92] the Emperors +_Leopold_ and _Joseph_ ever had. The City of _Prague_ is a very great +Loser by his Absence, for he liv'd there with Splendor, and his House was +always open, particularly to Foreigners. For my own part I receiv'd such +Civilities there as I shall never forget. + +As I have told you that the Nobility of _Bohemia_ are the richest in the +Empire, I must also acquaint you that the Peasants there are miserable to +the last degree; their Persons, and all they have, are at the Command of +their Lord. The poor Wretches have often not a Bit of Bread to eat, in a +Country which is one of the most plentiful in _Europe_ for all sorts of +Provisions. They dare not go from one Village to another to work, nor +learn a Handicraft without their Lord's Consent. So much Subjection keeps +the poor Creatures always trembling and humble, so that if you do but +speak to 'em they are ready to lick the Dust off your Feet. The Severity +with which these People are us'd is really terrible, but 'tis as true on +the other hand, that gentle Usage has no Effect upon 'em; for they are +excessively lazy and stubborn, and being moreover us'd to harsh Treatment +from Generation to Generation, Blows scarce terrify them, tho' tis the +only way to make 'em good for any thing. + +The _Bohemians_ have a great many Talents for Music, so that there's no +Village, be it ever so small, but the Mass is sung in Concert, and they +are very happy at winding the Hunters Horn. + +'Tis certain that this Kingdom is one of the best Countries in the +Emperor's possession, and next to _Hungary_, brings him in most Money. + +_Bohemia_ is a Country of States, whom the Emperor as King of it, summons +every Year to the City of _Prague_. They consist of the Clergy, Nobility, +Gentry, and Towns. The Assembly is open'd by a Commissioner of the +Emperor's Nomination, who lays before them his Imperial Majesty's Demands. +The States, such is their Submission and Zeal, grant the full Demand which +is commonly a very great Sum; yet for all this, the _Bohemians_ wou'd not +complain of Taxes if the Emperor resided among them, but they are sorry to +see their Country exhausted to enrich the _Austrians_ to whom they have a +natural Aversion, and the _Austrians_ as heartily hate the _Bohemians_. + +I own to you I shall be sorry to leave _Prague_. I take the _Bohemians_ to +be the best People upon Earth, and _Prague_ to be one of those Towns of +the Empire where a Gentleman may have most choice of Company. The Ladies +here are very amiable. Gaming, which may be call'd the universal Pleasure, +is carry'd as high here as they please in Houses of the Quality, where +Assemblies of both Sexes are held every Night, with good Cheer, +particularly Pheasants and Ortolans in plenty; and upon Fish-Days, there +are Trouts, Salmon, and Cray-Fish; and that there may be nothing wanting, +_Bohemia_ likewise furnishes good Wine. At the Estate of the young Count +_Tschernin_ at _Melneg_, there is a red sort not inferior to _Burgundy_. +Of all these good Things many partake together, and for my part I own I am +taken more with this Pleasure than any other, because we make it last as +long as we will, and then 'tis suited to all Ages. + +There is a tolerable _Italian Opera_ here. In Winter they have Races in +stately Sledges: There is great Masquerading, and they dance till they are +ready to drop to the ground: For this end there are public Balls which are +extraordinary splendid, and might be compar'd, if any can be compar'd, +with the Balls at the _Hay-Market_ in _London_. + +In the Summer-Time when there is not so much Company in Town, these +Assemblies are thinner. The Gentry meet at Night in a Garden belonging to +the Prince _de Schwartzenberg_, where they game, chat, and walk up and +down, after which they always go to some House or other to sup. When one +has a mind to go to the Country, we are sure of a good Reception, and the +longer one stays the greater Pleasure one gives to the Master of the +House. Here they pass the Time in Hunting of all sorts. Many of the +Nobility keep Packs of Hounds, and others Hawks. The Generality keep +Musicians in their Service, so that let the Weather be what it will, one +may be always amused in this Country. Besides, one enjoys all the Freedom +here that can be. After this, Sir, can you blame me for being sorry to +leave _Bohemia_? But 'tis what I'm now preparing to do, and I purpose to +go to _Vienna_. You will be so good as to let me have a Line from you +there; for to be plain with you, to write three Letters for one is too +hard. 'Tis true that your's are of inestimable Value, and that therefore +you are in the right not to be lavish of them; but the same Reason +justifies me in desiring them. Adieu, Sir: Love me always a little, and be +assur'd that no Man is more than I, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XII. + + + _SIR_, _Vienna, Nov. 30, 1729._ + +The Court of VIENNA consists of so many Princes and Noblemen, that it +cannot be deny'd to be the greatest and most magnificent Court in +_Europe_. Nevertheless Ceremonies, and the _Etiquette_, a Name by which +they call ancient Usages, give it an Air of Constraint that is to be seen +no where else. There's a universal Out-cry against the latter, and even +the Emperor sometimes seems to be disturb'd at it, yet 'tis observ'd as +strictly as if it was an Article of Religion, and nothing cou'd set it +aside but an Oecumenical Council. + +Notwithstanding this, a Foreigner of Quality (for such he must be here) +finds Advantages at this Court which he does not meet with either at +_Paris_ or _London_, I mean Opportunities of making Acquaintance. After a +Person has been to wait on their Imperial Majesties he need only be +introduc'd into one single Family to be soon made known to all the rest, +with this Advantage too, that go where you will, they speak the _German_, +_French_, _Italian_, and _Spanish_ Languages; whereas a Foreigner at +_Paris_ is under a Necessity of speaking _French_, and at _London_ +_English_; but a Man may shift very well at _Vienna_ without the +_High-Dutch_ or _German_ Language. + +The Ministers and great Lords of the Court are Civil, Courteous, and of +easy Access, especially to such as want no Favour of 'em, and come to +_Vienna_ only for Curiosity or Business. The Way of these Gentlemen is to +return no Visits: but they invite People to their Tables, which being +always well fill'd, a Man soon gets a great deal of Acquaintance. + +'Tis a very easy matter to be admitted to kiss the Hands of their Imperial +Majesties, and even to obtain a private Audience of 'em; for there needs +nothing more than to give in your Name to the Emperor's Great Chamberlain +and the Empress's Great Master of the Houshold. When you kiss their Hands +you bend one Knee to the Ground, and the Time for it is generally when +their Majesties pass by to Dinner. But private Audiences are attended with +more Ceremonies. The Great Chamberlain having appointed the Hour of +meeting in his Antichamber, which is commonly five o'clock in the Evening, +he repairs thither at that Time, and introduces to the Audience; and if he +be absent, 'tis done by the Chamberlain in Waiting. The Ceremony observ'd +is this: The Emperor stands up under a Canopy, leaning with his Back +against a Table, and an Arm-Chair by his Side, A Screen of red Velvet with +Gold Fringe is plac'd at the Entrance of the Room, so that the Emperor is +not perceiv'd at the opening of the Door. Behind this Screen near the +Door, stands the Great Chamberlain. As soon as the Person comes in sight +of the Emperor he bends the Knee, which he repeats as he advances a little +farther, and again when he comes near to his Imperial Majesty. To these +Genuflexions the Emperor gives a Nod of the Head, hearkens very +attentively to the Person who addresses him, and returns a succinct and +gracious Answer. Then the Person kneeling with one Knee on the Ground +kisses his Majesty's Hand, after which he retires, going backwards and +making three Genuflexions as he did at Entrance. The same Ceremonies are +observ'd at an Audience of the Empress, who gives it standing just as the +Emperor does, with this Difference only that the Emperor is all alone, and +the Empress is attended with one of her Ladies of Honour, who nevertheless +stands off at such a Distance that she can't hear what is said. + +The Emperor commonly eats with the Empress and the Arch-Duchesses. But +there are particular Days, such as the Installation of the Knights of the +_Golden Fleece_, when the Empress herself is not allow'd to sit down at +Table with his Imperial Majesty. The Dinner is commonly in the Emperor's +Apartment, and the Supper at the Empress's. At Dinner two Chamberlains +hold the Ewer for their Majesties to wash, and the Steward, or in his +absence the Great Chamberlain presents them the Napkin, which is done +after the manner of _Spain_, with one Knee on the Ground. The Number of +Dishes at the Emperor's Table is forty eight, and the same at the +Empress's; but tho' their Majesties eat together they are each serv'd by +their own Officers and Cooks. They commonly drink both together at the +first Time; and till they have drank, the Ambassadors, Courtiers, and +Ladies all wait at Dinner. After the Emperor has drank, the Steward, the +Master of the Horse, the Great Chamberlain, and the Captain of the Guards +receive his Orders: The Lady of Honour in Waiting and the Empress's +Steward receive her Orders in like manner. None remain in the Room but the +Officers necessary for the Service, and some curious People who are not +us'd to see Sovereigns eat. On Sundays, Saints Days, and Days of _Gala_, +which is the Name they give here to Days of Festival and Ceremony, the +Dinner is attended with Music. I forgot to acquaint you that the Emperor +is always cover'd at Table, and that when he puts his Hat on the +Ambassadors put on theirs. + +At Supper the Lady of Honour who is in waiting presents the Napkin, and +the Ladies of the Bed-Chamber not only carve and hand the Victuals, but +taste both the Meat and the Wine. The Pages carry the Dishes and Plates, +and fetch the Wine from the Beaufet which they give to the Ladies, and +they to their Majesties. During the Supper as well as at Dinner all the +Gentlemen and Ladies stand up, so that here neither Princes nor Princesses +have any Distinction shew'd them, but all Ranks are levell'd and +confounded, and no body sits down in presence of the Sovereign. + +On the Days of _Gala_ the Court is extremely gay, and nothing is to be +seen but Gold and Diamonds. The Days of this kind that are celebrated with +most Splendor are those of St. _Charles_ and St. _Elizabeth_, the Name +Days of the Emperor and Empress. The Emperor, who commonly dresses very +plain, is cover'd all over with Diamonds upon St. _Elizabeth_'s Day. And +as for the Empress, her Apparel is commonly rich, and so loaded with +Jewels upon St. _Charles_'s Day that she can scarce stand under it. Except +on these Days of _Gala_ the Court dresses very plain. 'Tis true that these +Days are very frequent, and that consequently plain Clothes are not very +much wore, for if it be a Holiday, or the Birth-Day of some Minister, or +if some Lady of Distinction sends but for a Surgeon to bleed her, 'tis +enough to put the whole City in _Gala_. These _Gala's_ may be divided into +three Classes; the _Court Gala_ which is universal both for the Nobles and +Plebeians; the _Grand Gala_ which is kept in the City is for the Festival +of some Minister; and the third and last is the _Little Gala_, which is +when the Ladies are let blood. A Husband makes a _Gala_ here for his Wife, +the Wife for her Husband, the Children for their Parents, and Brothers and +Sisters for one another; so that to be sure two Thirds of _Vienna_ are +always in _Gala_; which made a _French_ Jester say, 'twould take up a +great deal of Brimstone to cure the _Austrians_ of the _Gale_[93]. +However, they take care not to appear in this domestic _Gala_ before the +Emperor and Empress, because it would be reckon'd a Disrespect to them. + +On the great Festival-Days the Emperor goes with a grand Retinue to St. +_Stephen_'s Cathedral: He takes up one whole Side of the Coach, and the +Empress sits fronting him. Their Majesties are preceded by the +Chamberlains and Knights of the _Golden Fleece_ on horseback: The Pages +and Footmen walk bare-headed immediately after the Coach of the Master of +the Horse, and their Imperial Majesties Coach is guarded on each side by a +File of Archers, and attended by the Coaches of the Arch-Duchesses and the +Ladies. Then the Horse-Guards appear with their Kettle-Drums and Trumpets, +and the March is clos'd by the Pope's _Nuncio_ and the Ambassadors with +their Train, which consists of three magnificent Coaches and six Horses +each. + +On _Corpus Christi_ Day the Emperor accompanies the Holy Sacrament, when +the Streets thro' which the Procession passes are cover'd with Planks. +Their Imperial Majesties repair in the Morning with great Attendance to +St. _Stephen_'s Cathedral, and after assisting at Divine Service join in +the Procession. The Emperor is immediately follow'd by the Empress, who is +accompany'd by all the Ladies in rich Dresses, which renders this one of +the most magnificent Processions in the World. + +The same Honours and Respects are paid to the Empress Dowager as to the +Empress Regent. She has her separate Houshold, and her own Guards. She has +an Apartment in the Palace, but commonly lives in a Convent of her own +founding in one of the Suburbs, and does not come to Town except on the +great Festivals or for some extraordinary Function. You know, without +doubt, that the Empress Dowagers can never quit Mourning; their Apartments +must be always hung with Black, and their Coaches and Liveries are of the +same Colour: Nor can they be present at any Play, Ball, or Concert. In +short by losing their Husbands they must renounce the Pleasures of this +Life. These severe Obligations on a Widow are fully discharg'd by the +Empress Dowager. Being retir'd to a Convent where she is almost +continually prostrate before the Altars in Prayer and Supplication, she +makes her Mansion a Place of Piety and Peace, and never appears in public +but when Conveniency requires. This Princess was always an Example of the +most uncommon Virtue. In the Life-time of her Husband the Emperor +_Joseph_, she lov'd Pleasures and Grandeur; but when she became a Widow +she renounc'd all, and only employ'd herself in Works of Piety, and in the +Education of the two Arch-Duchesses her Daughters, whom she has now the +Comfort of seeing marry'd to two powerful Princes of the Empire[94]. +There's not a Person that draws near her Imperial Majesty but admires her +eminent Qualities. I have not yet had the Honour this Journey of casting +my self at her Feet, but the first Time I was here I had the Advantage of +paying my Duty to her at _Schonborn_, where she then pass'd the Summer. I +was receiv'd by her with such Proofs of her Kindness as charm'd me, and +which I shall always remember with Pleasure and Respect. This Princess is +the Daughter of _John-Frederic_ Duke of _Brunswic-Hanover_ and of +_Henrietta-Benedictine_ Princess Palatine. After the Death of the Duke her +Father, who left no Son, she went with the Duchess of _Brunswic_ to +_France_, where this Princess was very glad to retire to her Sister the +Princess of _Cond_. The Empress who was then the Princess _Amelia_, +spent some Years in _France_, where she learned the Language and +Politeness of that Nation to perfection, and in short acquir'd that Merit +and Virtue for which she is now so much admir'd, and which perhaps have +contributed equally with her illustrious Extraction to gain her possession +of the first Throne in Christendom. The Marriage of her elder Sister to +_Renaud d'Este_ Duke of _Modena_ obliging the Dutchess of _Brunswic_ to +leave _France_, and go and settle at _Modena_, the Princess _Amelia_ +follow'd her also into _Italy_. She had no reason to be sorry for her +leaving _France_, and rejecting the Addresses of a _French_ Nobleman who +had presum'd to court her, for not long after her Arrival at _Modena_ she +was marry'd to the King of the _Romans_, afterwards the Emperor _Joseph_. +This Empress is not only endow'd with the Christian but all the Moral +Virtues, and there are few Princesses of a more generous Soul, of greater +Courage, or of a Genius more sublime, more refin'd, or more adorn'd. There +was a Time when she might be rank'd among the most beautiful Princesses of +_Europe_: she still retains all the Marks of it; and therewith preserves +such a majestic Air that whenever I behold her it revives the profound +Veneration I have for her sacred Person. + +The Emperor _Charles_ VI. is of a middling Stature, and in good Plight of +Body: He is of a swarthy hale Complection, has a brisk Eye, and thick +Lips, for which last his Family in general have been remarkable. This +Monarch is the second Son of the Emperor _Leopold_ by _Eleonora_ of +_Newbourg_, and the fifteenth Emperor[95] of his Family. Being design'd +when a Minor for Successor to _Charles_ II. King of _Spain_, he had a +grave Education suitable to the People whom he was one day to govern. This +made him contract an Air of Seriousness, which, to those who have not the +Honour of Access to him, favours of Severity; yet he is affable and very +humane. He hears those with Attention that speak to him, and his Answers +are full of Good-nature. When he attain'd to an Age hardly ripe enough for +the Crown of _Spain_, he met with various Fortune in that Kingdom; but he +supported himself in every Event with an heroic Magnanimity, being always +submissive to the Will of that Providence which he knew was the Master of +the Fortune of Kings. The Adversitys with which it pleas'd God to try his +Patience by the Siege of _Barcelona_ which he carry'd on in Person, and by +the Loss of the Battle of _Villa Viciosa_, only serv'd to confirm his +Constancy, and his natural Integrity, a Principle which renders him even +more venerable than the Splendor of his Crowns and the vast Extent of his +Power. Heaven, which always rewards Virtue, has granted this Monarch one +of the best and most fortunate Reigns that any Emperor has had since +_Germany_ has been the Seat of Empire. He wants nothing to crown his +Happiness but a Male Heir, which is so much the Desire of the People, as +well as of the Emperor and the most virtuous Empress the World ever saw, +that God grant he may have one. + +This Princess is descended from the august House of _Brunswic_, to which +_Europe_ is at this Time oblig'd for two Empresses[96], one King[97], and +a Queen[98]. She is the Daughter of _Lewis Rodolph_ Duke of +_Brunswic-Blankenbourg_[99] by _Christiana-Louisa_ Princess of _Oetingen_, +of whom I gave you an Account in my Letter from _Blankenbourg_. The +Character of this august Princess for her Affability and Goodness is so +well known in the World that 'tis needless to speak of it here. You know +likewise how beautiful and handsome she was when she was marry'd to the +Emperor. And notwithstanding the Pimples in her Face and her present +Corpulency she may still be reckon'd in the number of the beautiful +Princesses. Such an Air of Modesty, Mildness, and Majesty, accompanies +every thing she does, as inspires those that approach her with equal +Courage and Respect. Her Duty is her Law, and her principal Care is to +please the Emperor, whose Wisdom she knows to be sufficient to govern his +Dominions, and to him she therefore leaves all Affairs. Indeed she is very +earnest with him to get Favours for those who petition her, which she +thinks a Happiness to obtain, and she bestows them in such manner as is +very affecting to the Receivers. This Princess is charitable, generous, +and magnificent. She maintains her Dignity without Conceit, and supports +her solid Piety without Ostentation. She was educated in the _Lutheran_ +Religion, but abjur'd it at _Bamberg_ when she came thither in her Way to +be marry'd to the Emperor, then King of _Spain_, and is now a good +Catholic, yet without any Hatred to the Protestants; being convinc'd that +the Love of one's Neighbour is one of the Duties which God most strictly +enjoins upon Mankind, and that Charitableness and good Examples are the +best Means to reconcile those to the Church who are separated from it. + +In the same sublime Sentiments of Virtue does the Empress educate the +Archduchesses her Daughters, and those young Princesses are like to make +worthy Proficients. The eldest Archduchess _Mary Theresa_ is brought up in +the agreeable Prospect of being one day Mistress of the vast Dominions +possessed by the Emperor[100]. This young Princess has very much of the +Air of the Empress her Mother; and if Heaven designs her for the +Sovereignty of the Empire, God grant she may also resemble her in her +Virtues! + +The Emperor has three Sisters. The eldest is the Archduchess _Mary +Elizabeth_ Governess of the (_Austrian_) _Netherlands_; the second is +_Mary-Anne_ Queen of _Portugal_; and the third is the Archduchess _Mary +Magdalen_, who 'tis said is intended to be Governess of _Tirol_. The +intire August House of _Austria_ consists at present of the sacred Person +of the Emperor and of eight Princesses[101], of whom three are married; +and God grant it may be augmented by the Birth of a Prince; for without +setting up here for a zealous Subject, I don't think that the Houses of +_Austria_ and _Bourbon_ ought ever to be extinct, both of them having made +the Fortunes of an infinite Number of Gentlemen. + +The Emperor's ordinary Pastime (when he has a Desire to unbend his Mind +from Affairs of State, to which he applies with all the Earnestness of a +Monarch that loves his People) is Hunting, or Shooting at a Mark; and the +Empress is generally a Sharer in his Diversions. His Imperial Majesty goes +sometimes also to the Riding-House, where he exercises himself in Riding: +At other times Music is his Amusement, which the Monarch not only performs +by Book, but is also a Composer; and some Years ago an Opera was acted +here of his composing. All the Actors as well as the Dancers and the +Musicians of the Orchestre were Persons of Quality. The Emperor himself +made one, and the two eldest Archduchesses his Daughters danced. The +Spectators were the Empress Regent and the Empress Dowager, and every +Actor had the Liberty of carrying two of his Kindred or intimate Friends. + +Tho' their Imperial Majesties are very fond of Music they have seldom more +than two Operas in a Year, _viz._ on the Days of St. _Charles_ and St. +_Elizabeth_, and sometimes the same Operas are play'd again during the +Carnival. At this time, which is devoted to Mirth, there is a Ball at +Court, and on the Flesh-days there is commonly a great Masquerade +representing a Country-Wedding. In the Palace there is a very magnificent +Theatre, which indeed is almost the only thing there that is worth seeing, +for the Imperial Palace is so wretched a Mansion that few Monarchs are +lodged worse than the Emperor. The Furniture too is old-fashion'd and not +very rich, which is somewhat unaccountable, because the Wardrobes are full +of costly Pieces of Tapestry, stately Pictures, and other fine Goods which +probably they are restrained from making use of by the _Etiquette_. The +Emperor's Pleasure-Houses are no better than his Palace in the City. The +Castle of the _Favorita_ which is in one of the Suburbs, is a great +Building full of Turnings and Windings like the Street which it looks +into, and has more of the Appearance of a great Convent of _Capuchin_ +Fryars than of the Dwelling of a Prince who is the Head of so many +Sovereigns. The Gardens are as mean as the House, and only considerable +for their Extent. _Laxembourg_ is still very much inferior to the +_Favorita_; but the Court is there no more than a Month or six Weeks, +during the Hunting of the Heron. The Ministers that are obliged to attend +the Emperor thither have Houses there, which though not very grand, are +commodious. When a Person goes to _Laxembourg_ to pay a Visit to the Court +he is under a Necessity of returning to _Vienna_ for a Bed, which is a +very great Inconveniency. + +The Emperor _Joseph_ had begun a very fine House at _Schonborn_ about a +League from _Vienna_, but did not live to finish it; and the Empress +_Amelia_ to whom the Emperor gave it, instead of carrying on the Works +which her Husband had begun, lets it run to ruin; which is great pity, for +if that Building had been finish'd the Emperor wou'd not have had a +_Versailles_, but he wou'd at least have had a Mansion-House suitable to +his Dignity. 'Tis said that a new Palace is going to be built for the +Emperor; which, if true, 'twere to be wish'd that better Architects may be +employ'd in it than those who have had the Direction of the new Stables +and of St. _Charles_'s Church, which are Buildings lately erected with +very great Expence, but without any Taste. The Stables are a Range of +Buildings of a vast Length, divided into seven Pavilions which appear at +first sight to be so many different Houses. The middlemost Pavilion which +is design'd to lodge the Master of the Horse is much higher than the other +six, which sink gradually on the two sides. Nor are the inner Rooms better +contriv'd; for the Horses stand all in one Row, and the Stable is so +narrow withal, that one is every Minute in danger from the Horses Heels; +which is purely owing to the Indiscretion of the Architect, who having +ground enough and to spare might for the same Expence have made something +grand and noble. + +Whether the same Architect that built the Stables had the Direction +likewise of St. _Charles_'s Church, is what I know not; but if they are +two different Men their Head-pieces are very much alike. This Church would +perhaps have been admir'd in the Days of the _Goths_, but in so refined an +Age as the present, one cannot look on it without being sorry for the Sums +of Money laid out in it. + +This bad Taste as to Buildings prevails too much at _Vienna_, not but that +there are Hotels and even Palaces in which the Rules of Architecture are +observ'd, but then the Builders are got into such a way of ornamenting and +charging their Houses with Sculpture as is altogether contrary to the +noble Simplicity of the ancient Architecture. The Palace of Prince +_Eugene_ of _Savoy_ is stately, but situate in a narrow Street with a very +little Court before it. The Stair-case is very well contriv'd were it not +too much confin'd. The Apartments of the first Story are as well laid out +as the Ground wou'd admit of. We enter first into a spacious Salon adorn'd +with great Pictures representing the chief Victories of Prince _Eugene_ +over the _French_ and the _Turks_. In the two Rooms next to this are very +rich Hangings wherein the Maker _Devos_ at _Brussels_ has very correctly +delineated the whole Military Science. The Bed-chamber beyond that has a +Set of Furniture of green Velvet richly embroider'd with Gold and Silk. In +the same Room there is a Lustre of Rock Crystal which is said to have cost +40,000 Florins. All the other Furniture is extraordinary magnificent, and +wou'd be cry'd up at _Paris_ it self, where it must be allow'd a Taste for +fine Furniture prevails more than any where. + +The Palace of _Lichtenstein_ is bigger than that of _Savoy_, and not less +magnificent. 'Tis worth seeing were it only for its Paintings. I pass over +the Hotels of _Schwartzenberg_, _Daun_, _Diedrichstein_, _Harrach_, and +several other noble Edifices, lest my Letter shou'd swell into a Volume. + +The Palaces of the Suburbs are infinitely more grand than those of the +City, and they have both Court-yards and Gardens. The most noble are the +Palaces of _Trautsheim_, _Rofrano_, _Schwartzenberg_, _Altheim_, and +_Eugene_ of _Savoy_. This last especially is a superb Structure with +magnificent Gardens, a fine Orangery, and a Menagery stor'd with the most +uncommon Creatures that the four Parts of the World can furnish. 'Tis in +this fine great House that Prince _Eugene_ passes the beautiful Season of +the Year. There is not so fine a Sight as an Assembly at this Prince's +House, for not only the outer Court, in which there's a fine Piece of +Water, but the Gardens are illuminated by an infinite Number of Lanthorns +made in form of a Bowl of extraordinary white Glass, which cast a very +great Light and make a glorious appearance. The Assembles at this Prince's +House are always very numerous; for his Birth, Employments and Interest, +draw a great Court to him. + +Prince _Eugene_ is of a middling Stature, and well made. His Air is +extremely serious, and his Deportment grave and reserv'd; but +notwithstanding that Reservedness he is a hearty Friend to his Adherents. +He is a thorough Judge of Merit, and loves to distinguish it. He is +perfectly genteel and civil, very polite to the Ladies, respectful and +submissive to his Lord and Master, but without Flattery or Servility. He +is generous and noble in every thing excepting his Apparel. He is an Enemy +to Ostentation, Ceremonies, and Constraint. In his youthful Days he lov'd +Pleasures, but he abandon'd them as soon as he was animated with a Thirst +for Glory. He was born in _France_, but left that Kingdom in 1683, out of +disgust that he was no more taken notice of, and came to _Vienna_ just +before the _Turks_ laid siege to it. He made the Campaign as a Volunteer, +and distinguish'd himself in such a manner that the Emperor _Leopold_ gave +him in _December_ following that Regiment of Dragoons which still goes by +his Name. When the Siege of _Vienna_ was rais'd, he serv'd in _Hungary_ +under Duke _Charles_ of _Lorrain_, and _Maximilian-Emanuel_ Elector of +_Bavaria_. The first time that he obtain'd the Command of the Imperial +Army was in 1697, when he began with the Victory at _Zenta_ whereby 22,000 +_Turks_ lost their Lives; a Loss which they could not recover, and which +put them upon suing for the Peace that was granted to them at _Carlowitz_ +in 1699. The Prince afterwards commanded in _Italy_, _Germany_, +_Flanders_, and lastly in _Hungary_; and wherever he went Conquest +attended him. To give you a Detail of his Achievements would be to +anticipate the _History_ which is to immortalize them, and to which you +will not take it ill if I refer you. As to the Dignities and great +Employments of this Prince, he is Chief Counsellor of the Council of +Conferences; President of the Aulic Council of War; Commander in Chief or +Lieutenant-General of the Armies of the Emperor and Empire; his Imperial +Majesty's Vicar-General in _Italy_; Colonel of a Regiment of Dragoons; and +Knight of the Golden Fleece. All his Employments may be worth about +300,000 Florins a year to him. Besides this, he has a considerable Estate +in _Hungary_ and in the Neighbourhood of _Vienna_, which brings him in +about 100,000 Florins _per Ann._ more. He holds those Lands by the +Emperor's Bounty who gave them to him as a Reward for his important +Services.[102] + +The Marshal Count _Guido Staremberg_ is one of those Gentlemen also who +deserve particular respect for their Virtue. He is descended of a Family +which has given great Generals and wise Ministers to the Emperors of the +_Austrian_ Family, and has supported the Glory of his Ancestors in a +signal manner; _Hungary_, _Italy_, and _Spain_, have been Witnesses of +Bravery and consummate Wisdom in the Art of commanding Armies, and have +admir'd him the more because they saw him always gaining Victories with +Armies ill paid, destitute of all Necessaries, and very much inferior to +his Enemies. This General enter'd very young into the Service in quality +of an Ensign, and advanc'd himself by degrees. He was made +Lieutenant-Colonel a little before the _Turks_ Undertaking against +_Vienna_, and while it was besieg'd, serv'd as Adjutant to his Cousin +_Ernest-Rudiger_ Count _de Staremberg_, the Defender of _Vienna_. This +Count _Guido_, after having been a few years in the Service, was preferr'd +to the Regiment of Foot of which he is still Colonel. When he was very +young he was made Great _Commander_ of the _Teutonic_ Order. I do not +mention his Exploits to you, because they are so much celebrated by Fame +that you cannot but know them. This General, tho' very much advanc'd in +years, retains all his juvenile Ardor, and wou'd still be very capable of +commanding. + +Having mention'd two of the Emperor's greatest Generals you will not be +sorry, I fancy, if I shou'd give you some Account also of his chief +Ministers. They are five in Number, and are call'd _Counsellors of the +Conferences_. Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_ is the first Counsellor, but +without the Title of Prime Minister, that being a Dignity not known at the +Imperial Court. + +The Count _Lewis de Zinzendorf_, Chancellor of the Court, and Knight of +the _Golden Fleece_, is the second Counsellor of the Conference. He is a +Nobleman descended of a Family which has been for a long time eminent in +_Austria_. His Mother was a Princess of _Holstein_, who married to her +second Husband the Marshal Count _de Rabutin_ Governor of _Transylvania_, +but died a few years ago in a very advanc'd Age. I had the honour to know +her the last time I was here; her House being the Rendezvous of all People +of Rank. Count _Zinzendorf_ was in the Ministry in the Reign of _Leopold_. +He was that Emperor's Minister Plenipotentiary in _France_, while the +Marshal _de Villars_ was at _Vienna_ with the same Character from _Lewis_ +XIV. At the Death of the Emperor _Joseph_, the Count _de Zinzendorf_ was +that Prince's Ambassador to the States-General, in which Character he was +confirmed by the Empress _Eleonora_ who was Regent during the Absence of +King _Charles_. He repaired from the _Hague_ to _Frankfort_ to assist at +the Coronation of _Charles_ VI. and officiated at the Ceremony as Vicar to +the Great Treasurer of the Empire, a Dignity which is Hereditary in his +Family. At the Congress of _Utrecht_ which was open'd not long after, the +Count _de Zinzendorf_ assisted as the Emperor's first Ambassador. He +afterwards went to the unsuccessful Congress of _Soissons_, and from +thence to _Versailles_, where he succeeded so well with the Cardinal _de +Fleury_, that he kept him tight in those pacific Sentiments which the +Enemies of his Tranquillity, if not of his Glory, aim'd to make him give +up. The Count is now return'd hither, and almost the only Man that acts in +the Province of foreign Affairs. His Interest is very great, for besides +the Esteem which the Emperor has for his Person and Services, he is +related to all the most distinguished Persons at Court, and strictly +attached to the Interest of Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_, of whose Integrity +and disinterested Zeal for the Emperor he is very sensible. The Count _de +Zinzendorf_ is pretty tall and has a happy engaging Aspect. His Deportment +is noble. He is pretty reserv'd, but civil. He is very polite to +Strangers, and his House is open to them. He keeps the noblest and most +elegant Table at _Vienna_. He is magnificent in every thing he does, and +all his Actions favour of the Man of Quality. He is Father of a numerous +Family. The second of his Sons is a Cardinal and Bishop in _Hungary_[103]. +Another is Knight of _Malta_, and Lieutenant-Colonel. As these are the two +with whom I am best acquainted, so they are the only ones I shall mention. +I know not whether 'tis possible for a Man to be more sprightly than they +both are. The Chevalier has more Mettle and Life than a _Gascon_: He is +very blunt in his witty Sallies, but the variety of them pleases, and +their novelty and justness are surprizing. + +The Count _Gundacker de Staremberg_, President of the Chamber of Finances, +and Knight of the Golden Fleece, is the third Counsellor of the +Conferences. His Integrity is very much cry'd up, and he has manag'd the +Finances in such a manner as to guard against the Public Hatred. + +The Count _de Schonborn_, Bishop of _Bamberg_ and _Wurtzbourg_, +Vice-Chancellor of the Empire, is the fourth Counsellor of the +Conferences[104]. You know, Sir, that the _Schonborn_ Family has given us +several worthy Gentlemen; but I may venture to say, with all due Regard to +the Memory of those great Men, and without flattering the Vice-Chancellor, +that of all the Family he has the greatest Capacity for Business, the most +generous Temper, and the most engaging and most civil Behaviour. As this +Prelate has not his Equal at _Vienna_ for Grandeur and Riches, so he has +not his Fellow for Magnificence. The Emperor has a singular Esteem for +him. The Vice-Chancellor has the Chancery of the Empire under him, and no +body above him but the Emperor, and the Elector of _Mentz_, who is the +Great Chancellor of the Empire. + +The Count _de Konigseck_, Vice-President of the Aulic Council of War, is +the fifth Counsellor of the Conferences. This Nobleman, whose Extraction +is from a Family of Distinction in the Empire, is one of the tallest and +handsomest Men at Court: He is the Emperor's Ambassador Extraordinary at +the Court of _Spain_. His Family has for a long time past been attach'd to +the House of _Austria_. He studied at _Besanon_, and was design'd for the +Church; but he quitted the Band, took to Arms, and enter'd into the +Service of the Emperor _Leopold_; in which he had not been many Years +before he had a Regiment of Foot, and the Emperor _Joseph_ made him his +Chamberlain. He also gave him the Government of _Mantua_, from whence he +was recall'd by _Charles_ VI. and sent to take possession of the +_Netherlands_ in the Name of the Emperor, to whom they were evacuated for +that purpose by the Maritime Powers. The Count _de Konigseck_, during his +Administration of the _Netherlands_, concluded the Barrier Treaty with the +States-General. At _Brussels_ he married Madamoiselle _de Lanoi la +Motterie_, a young Lady of a good Family, and distinguish'd Merit. When he +left the _Netherlands_ he went Ambassador from the Emperor to the Court of +_France_, where he gain'd great Esteem, especially from the Duke of +_Orleans_, the Regent; a Prince who was an excellent Judge of Merit, and +very sparing of his Applause. After three Years stay at _Paris_, the Count +return'd to _Vienna_. He attended the Archduchess, Wife to the Electoral +Prince of _Saxony_, in quality of Steward, to _Dresden_; and at his return +went to the Government of _Transilvania_. But the Emperor recall'd him +from this Post and sent him his Ambassador Extraordinary to _Spain_; where +the Count is as much esteem'd as he was at _Paris_. 'Tis said that he is +in entire Favour with their Catholic Majesties; nevertheless he makes such +earnest Application to be recall'd, that 'tis said he will obtain his +Request, and that his Nephew[105], who is the Emperor's Minister +Plenipotentiary to the States-General, is already nominated to relieve +him[106]. + +In the Council of Conferences the most important Affairs of the Empire are +taken into Consideration, and the Emperor is always present. + +Besides the five Ministers whom I have now mention'd to you, there are +several others whose Interest is more circumscrib'd. Every Kingdom subject +to the Emperor has its Minister and particular Chancery. + +Count _Badiani_ directs the Affairs of _Hungary_, in quality of its +Vice-Chancellor. + +The Affairs of _Bohemia_ are in the Province of Count _Kinski_, the +Chancellor of that Kingdom, who has a Vice-Chancellor under him, with a +great many Assessors and Counsellors. + +The Council of _Spain_ consists of a President, Vice-President, and +Counsellors. Its Authority extends over all the Kingdoms that were +formerly subject to _Spain_, but yielded to the Emperor by the Peace. The +Count _de Monte-Santo_, a Grandee of _Spain_, Brother to the Count _de +Cinfuentes_, Constable of _Castile_, is President of this Council[107]; in +which Office he succeeded the Archbishop of _Valentia_, who quitted his +See to follow the Emperor whom he had acknowledg'd for his Sovereign in +_Spain_. + +Of all the Tribunals at _Vienna_ the _Aulic Council_ is the most +venerable; because 'tis the Parliament of the Empire. It is compos'd of a +President, _viz._ the Count _de Wurmbrandt_; a Vice-President, who is the +Count _de Metsch_; and of eighteen Counsellors, among whom there must be +six Protestants, and of these one must be a _Calvinist_. This Tribunal +judges of all Civil Causes between the Princes and private Men of the +Empire. Its Authority terminates with the Emperor's Life; and 'tis on this +account only that the supreme Tribunal of _Wetzlar_, which subsists even +during the Vacancy of the Imperial Throne, challenges Precedence of the +Aulic Council. 'Tis a Mistake to think, as many Foreigners do, that the +Aulic Council takes Cognizance of Affairs of State; for its sole Business +is to do Justice: It registers no Edict unless it be its own +Sentences[108]; and is much more limited than the Parliaments of _France_, +which have at least the Privilege of losing Time in Remonstrances. + +I perceive too that I am in a fair way to make you lose a great deal, if I +don't put an end to my Legend; which therefore I now do, and refer the +rest of the Remarks that I have to entertain you with to another Post. + + _I kiss your Hand, and am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XIII. + + + _SIR_, _Vienna, Decem. 10, 1729._ + +There are some other Articles which I cannot but add to those I have +already given you from _Vienna_. The Police of this City is administer'd +by a Stadtholder. The Person that now fills that Post is the Count _de +Kehvenhuller_; who is also a Minister of State, and Knight of the Golden +Fleece. His Functions are the same with those of the Lieutenant of the +Police at _Paris_, and nothing makes the Difference but the Title; only it +must be observ'd that the Stadtholder is always a Person of noble +Extraction, and a Gentleman of the Army, whereas the Lieutenant of the +Police at _Paris_ is often of mean Extraction, but always a Gentleman of +the long Robe. + +The Governour of _Vienna_ had seldom any other Title than _Colonel of the +City_. The present Governour is the Marshal Count _de Daun_, the same that +defended _Turin_, who was six Years Viceroy of _Naples_, six Months +Governour of the _Netherlands_, and afterwards four Years Governour of +_Milan_[109]. His Lieutenant-Colonel, who is the Count _Maximilian de +Staremberg_, Lieutenant-General of the Emperor's Forces, and Colonel of a +Regiment of Foot, commands in his absence, and has the Direction of the +Fortifications, the Arsenal, and the Garison. This Garison consists of a +Regiment of Foot, compos'd of veteran Soldiers, or the Burghers and +Artificers of _Vienna_, from whence this Regiment never stirs. The +Employments in this Corps are very lucrative; but as they don't lie in the +Road to the Temple of Honour, they are not much solicited by Persons of +any considerable Extraction. Yet this Regiment, as little esteem'd as it +is, perform'd very good Services during the Siege of _Vienna_ by _Kara +Mustapha_, Grand Vizier to _Mahomet_ IV. It acted then under +_Ernest-Rudiger_ Count _de Staremberg_, who was Commandant in the City; +and both the General and his Garison acquir'd very great Glory by the +Resistance which they made. But perhaps with all their Bravery they cou'd +not have prevented the Place from being taken, had it not been for the +Avarice of the Grand Vizier, who hoped to be Master himself of the vast +Treasures that he knew were in the City, and was therefore against +storming the Town, for fear lest if it were carry'd by that means, the +Soldiers would have shar'd the Plunder. + +The Siege of _Vienna_ being foreign to my purpose, I shall say nothing of +it. You know that it was raised by the Assistance that was brought to it +by the brave _John Sobieski_ King of _Poland_; who defeated the _Turks_ on +the 12th of _September_, 1683, and return'd home laden with Glory and +Booty, having made himself Master of all the Grand Vizier's Equipage. Upon +this occasion he said a pleasant thing in a Letter which he wrote to the +Queen his Wife, who had not a very implicit Faith in the Maxims of +_Seneca_ on the Contempt of Riches; 'You shan't say when I come home, as +the _Tartary_ Women do to their Husbands when they return from the Army +without Booty, _You are not a Man for me, because you come empty-handed_; +for the Grand Vizier has made me sole Heir of all he had.' + +You need not be told that this was the second time the _Turks_ were forc'd +to raise the Siege of _Vienna_; for _Soliman_ the Sultan besieg'd it in +the Reign of _Charles_ V. but with no better Success than _Kara Mustapha_. +'Tis true that the Disappointment he met with was not so fatal in its +Consequence to the Sultan as the other was to the Vizier of _Mahomet_ IV. +who was strangled at _Belgrade_ when _Mahomet_ was there: And the Head of +this Minister is still to be seen in the Arsenal at _Vienna_. The +Translation of this _Turkish_ Relique hither from _Belgrade_ was pretty +extraordinary. Some Years after _Kara Mustapha_ had been strangled, when +the _Germans_ took _Belgrade_, the Soldiers being inform'd where the Grand +Vizier was buried, open'd his Tomb in hopes of Treasure, but found nothing +except the Body in its Shirt, on which there were several _Arabic_ +Characters, and an Alcoran. The Governour being told of it, remember'd +that this very Grand Vizier, when he laid Siege to _Raab_, which he was +oblig'd to raise, said, That if he took the Town he wou'd have the Head of +its Bishop cut off, who was then the Count _Leopold de Collonitz_, and +send it to the Sultan, to be reveng'd of that Prelate for taking Money out +of the Convents, and encouraging the Garison therewith to make a vigorous +Resistance. The Governour of _Belgrade_ remembring, I say, the Menaces of +the Grand Vizier, thought it wou'd be a very agreeable Present to the +Count _de Collonitz_, now a Cardinal[110], to send him the Vizier's Head +and Body too, together with the Shirt and Alcoran; and he put up the whole +very neatly in a Crystal Shrine, adorn'd with Silver Plates, and sent it +accordingly to his Eminence; who not thinking this odd Present a proper +Relique to be deposited in his Chapel, gave it to the Arsenal here at +_Vienna_, where I have both seen the Mussulman and felt him. I wou'd fain +have pluck'd some of the Hairs of his Mustachio, but the Guardian of the +precious Treasure watch'd my Fingers too narrowly. They say that a piece +of the Halter by which a Man hangs himself is lucky, and why mayn't there +be the same Virtue in the Mustachio of the Grand Vizier? Be it so or not, +'twill always deserve an honourable Station in some Cabinet of Rarities. + +Since the Siege of _Vienna_ this City is much inlarg'd. Its Fortifications +are so augmented too that if the _Turks_ should ever be prompted by their +ill Fate to besiege it again, they wou'd find a stouter Resistance, and a +greater number of their Mustachios sindged than they imagine. + +The Emperor has lately given new Lustre to his Capital, by prevailing with +Pope _Benedict_ XIII. to erect it into an Archbishopric. Several Bishops, +particularly the Archbishop of _Passaw_, have dismember'd their Dioceses +to aggrandise its Jurisdiction. The Cardinal _de Collonitz_ is the Person +who at present enjoys this Dignity, which gives him the Character and Rank +of a Prince. + +The _Roman_ Catholic is the only Religion exercis'd in _Vienna_, and in +all _Austria_; but the Ministers of the Protestant Crown'd Heads have the +Liberty here, as well as elsewhere, of keeping a Chapel. When the holy +Sacrament or the Viaticum is carried to any sick Person, 'tis always +attended by Guards who oblige all People that meet it to kneel. I have +seen the Emperor, when the Viaticum was passing by, alight out of his +Coach and accompany it to Church. This Prince, and indeed all those of his +Family, always paid a very great Devotion to the holy Sacrament of the +Altar. Of this _Philip_ IV. King of _Spain_ gave a very edifying Proof; +for this Monarch going the very day that the King his Father died, from +the Palace of _Madrid_ to the Monastery of St. _Jeronimo del Passo_ in a +close Coach, that he might be _incog._ alighted out of it to accompany +the Viaticum which they were carrying to a sick Man; whereupon the Cond +Duke _d'Olivarez_ told him, That the King his Father was so lately dead +that he ought not to have been seen in public. _My Lord_, said the King, +_this Custom cannot excuse me from paying that Worship to God which I owe +him_. + +It may be said of the august House of _Austria_, That as few Princes equal +them in Piety, so there are few that equal them in Birth. There may be +Families that have been longer grac'd with the Diadem; but of these there +are very few that have such great Alliances. There is no King, and not +many Sovereign Princes but what are related to them; and there are very +few Kingdoms to which the House of _Austria_ has not given Queens. 'Tis +now 300 Years that it has been Mistress of the Empire; and since _Albert_ +II. it has given thirteen Emperors to _Europe_ successively. One of the +Princesses of _Austria_ had so many great Relations that I cannot help +mentioning her. This was the Empress _Mary_, Wife to the Emperor +_Maximilian_, Son to _Ferdinand_ I. This Princess was Sister to _Philip_ +II. King of _Spain_, and the Daughter, the Wife, the Daughter-in-law, and +the Mother of five Emperors; the Grand-daughter, the Daughter, the Sister, +and the Aunt of four Kings of _Spain_; and the Mother-in-law of two Kings, +_viz._ _Charles_ IX. King of _France_, and _Philip_ II. King of _Spain_. A +modern Author says, that the Origin and Kindred of this Princess +infinitely surpassed those of _Agrippina_, who, according to the Report of +_Tacitus_, was the Daughter of _Germanicus_, the Sister of _Caligula_, the +Wife of _Claudius_, and the Mother of _Nero_. But when I consider how +perfect a Master you are, both of History and Genealogy, I ought to beg +your pardon for my Impertinence in troubling you with these Instances. + +What remains for me now, is to communicate some Remarks to you which I +have made upon the _Austrians_ in general. I shall begin with the Women, +whom I shall paint to you, as _Burrhus_ says, with the Freedom of a +Soldier, who is not the best Limner. + +The Women here, as in all other Countries, are either handsome or ugly. In +general they are rather handsome than pretty, for they are dull Beauties. +They are all tall and well shap'd; they walk well, but when they curt'sy, +do it in such an aukward manner, that one would think their Backs were in +danger of breaking. In their Dress they affect Finery rather than a good +Fancy. Two or three excepted, there's none that lay on the Red, much less +the White, and Patches are very little worn; in a word, they have nothing +about them that denotes Coquettry. As to their Humour, they are reckon'd +frank, tho' not easily made familiar; they are naturally vain, and like +all our _German_ Women, pretty reserv'd, and not so fond of Gallantry as +they are of Gaming, Luxury, and Magnificence. Such is their Indolence that +they concern themselves no more about their Houshold Affairs than if they +were Strangers. They know no Books but their Prayer-Books, are extremely +credulous, and give into all the Externals of Religion: This makes their +Conversation sometimes insipid; and unless now and then a Love-Story falls +in, Rain and Fair-Weather are their general Topics. They have at least as +great a Conceit of _Vienna_ as the _Parisians_ have of _Paris_; for out of +_Vienna_ they think there's no Salvation. But all these little Defects are +repair'd by an uncommon Greatness of Soul, and Generosity. They are hearty +Friends, and warm Protectors of those whose Interests they espouse. When +they are in love, their Passion is sincere; and instead of ruining their +Lovers, there are some who have made the Fortunes of those to whom they +have taken a Fancy. Upon this Head I have been told, that in the Reign of +the Emperor _Joseph_, when Gallantry was more in vogue than 'tis now, +there was a Lady, who being in love with a Gentleman, and having a mind to +make his Fortune without the Censure of the Public, thought fit in an +Assembly where her Spark cut at Basset, to punt against him. She set a +Bett, without telling a Soul how much she stak'd. Her Husband coming into +the Room where they were at play, she rose up, took the Marks that were +against her, threw them on the Ground, and said to the Banker, loud enough +to be heard by her Husband, _I owe you, +Sir+, 40000 Florins_. The Husband +in a very great Surprize ask'd what was the matter? _I have been such a +Fool_, said she, pointing to the Banker, _as to lose 40000 Florins to ++Monsieur N----+. You have reason to chide me; but however my Debt must be +paid_. The Husband indeed grumbled very much, and said he wou'd not pay. +_What!_ reply'd the Wife, _won't you pay the Gentleman? It shall fare the +worse with you if you don't, for I am resolv'd to pay him in some Coin or +other_. The Husband perceiving his Wife so resolute, and that if he did +not deposite the Money it wou'd subject him to the Loss of what was more +precious, chose rather to part with the Cash; and indeed he had no reason +to repent of it, for the Lady's Heart was so won by it, that she renounc'd +the Sight of her Lover from that Moment, and made a very sober Wife. + +This, Sir, is all I have to give you concerning the Temper of the Women. +Let me tell you also how they spend their Time. They rise late. As soon +almost as their Eyes are open, they call for Chocolate, and send to their +Husbands to know who they have invited to Dinner, and whether there is +room for any more Guests. If the Lady does not like the Company, she +sends notice to some Lady of her Acquaintance that she intends to dine +with her; but if there be room at home, as a polite Husband always takes +care to leave some at the Disposal of his Wife, she sends an Invitation to +whom she pleases. After this she dresses and goes to Mass; for here the +Ladies are all so devout that there's none but what hears at least one +Mass in a day. There they read in five or six different Prayer-Books, kiss +all the Pictures that are at the head of the Prayers, and very devoutly +toss their Beads. After the Office is over, they commonly chat a quarter +of an Hour in the Church. Then they go abroad and make some friendly +Visits, or else go home to receive them. At these Visits, they hear all +the News in _Vienna_. During this they have all a little Box of _Indian_ +Lack upon their Knees, in which they thread Gold till Dinner-time. When +that's over, they drink Coffee or play at _Quinze_ till Night, when they +go to Court. From the Empress's Apartment they adjourn to the Assembly, +where they divert themselves at _Piquet_, or at _Quadrille_; and then +retire, undress themselves, go to Supper, and thence to Bed, well pleased +to think with what Indolence and Idleness they have spent the Day. + +The Women of the second Class, in which I include the Gentlewomen that +have no Titles of Honour, _viz._ the Wives of the Assessors, Referendaries +and Agents of the Court, discover such an Air of Plenty and Prosperity as +is remarkably surprizing. Their Houses are richly furnished, and their +Tables well served. If a Referendary has a mind to a nice bit, no body +must offer to take it; and the best of every thing is what they are sure +to lay hands on. Belly Cheer is one of those things which the _Austrians_ +generally think of most: They require a great many Dishes, and those +well-cramm'd. They are so very much accustom'd to this Profusion of +Eatables that I have known some young People in _Austria_ affirm they +don't know what good Eating is in _France_, because they don't serve up a +couple of Loins of Veal in one Dish. Different sorts of Wines are what +they are also very much us'd to, which certainly is very expensive because +foreign Wines pay considerable Duties; yet nothing less will serve them +than eight or ten sorts of Wine, and I have been at Houses where there +have been no less than eighteen. They place a Note upon every Plate +expressing the several sorts of Wine at the Beaufet. + +The Burghers and common sort of People mimick the Nobility as far as their +Purses will afford; and it may be said that no Nation in the World is so +extravagant as this. + +The _Austrians_ are naturally proud and haughty, and expect all Mankind +should stoop to them. As their Sovereign is in the first Rank among the +Christian Princes, so they think theirs to be the chief Nation in the +World. Nothing is more vain nor more insupportable than a young +_Austrian_, whose Father is in any Rank at Court. They are intoxicated +with Pride and Presumption; and as they know themselves to be rich, and +their Fathers to be great Lords, they think they may despise all the +World, and lay aside that courteous and polite Behaviour which would so +well become their Birth. Yet what I here observe to you concerning the +young People is not so universally true as not to admit of great +Exceptions, which is the Case of every thing asserted in the general. + +The Court is not without Ladies who are much to be valued. The Empress +Regent honours with her Confidence Madame the Countess _de Fuchs_, whose +Husband was Minister of State to the Emperor, and his Plenipotentiary at +_Hambourg_, where he died. This Countess is Sister to the Count _de +Molard_, Steward of the Emperor's Kitchens. She is a very polite Lady, +and is so far from being envy'd for being a Favourite that all Persons of +Distinction agree she deserves it, because she supports it with Modesty, +and makes no other Use of it but to do good. + +Madamoiselle _de Klenck_ has a very great share in the Favour of the +Empress Dowager, which I take to be a Reward due to her long Services, and +to her Merit. She is chief Maid of Honour to that Princess, and has been +engag'd to her ever since she has been at _Vienna_. If the Character of a +thorough Gentlewoman may be attributed to any of the Sex, Madamoiselle _de +Klenck_ deserves it more than any other, it being impossible for a Person +to have more Integrity, and more Generosity. + +The Countess Dowager of _Altheim_, of the _Pignatelli_ Family, in regard +to whose Rank I ought to have mention'd her first, if I observ'd a very +strict Order in my Writings, is a Native of _Spain_. The Count _d'Altheim_ +married her at _Barcelona_. Her Beauty was the more admir'd in _Spain_ +because she was fair. This Lady has a noble Air, and has a Genius capable +for Affairs of the greatest Consequence. Their Imperial Majesties pay her +great Distinction, and all the Courtiers honour and respect her, so that +now in her Widowhood she continues in good Credit, and almost as much +Authority as she had when that great Favourite her Husband was living. + +The Gentry of _Austria_, and of all the Emperor's Hereditary Dominions, +are so fond of the Title of Count, that the Gentlemen buy and sollicit it +as eagerly as if it was a great Estate. 'Tis well for them that the +Dispatch of their Patents does not cost much; for the greatest Privilege +which this brings them is all a Chimra. These Counts may be said to hold +the same Rank among the ancient Counts of the Empire as the King's +Secretaries in _France_ do among the Gentlemen of good Families. + +As for Gentlemen, they are so common here that there are scarce any others +to be seen. All the Agents of the Court, and all the Referendaries procure +themselves a Title, tho' I know not why; for neither they nor their Wives +dare to rank themselves among the Prime Nobility. This Madness of theirs +to be enobled is so common, and so easy to be gratified, that I have known +a Man, who was formerly Messenger to the Emperor _Joseph_, purchase the +Title of Baron; and his Children begin to mix with the _Grand Monde_. + +These, Sir, were all the Remarks that I made upon the _Austrians_. I must +give you a few Particulars concerning the Emperor's Person. I have already +said something to you of his Character: What follows is to shew you how +grateful he is, and how friendly, Virtues which are the more to be +esteem'd in him because they are not the most familiar to great Men. + +The Emperor shows all possible Marks of Gratitude to those _Spaniards_ who +adher'd to him while he was at _Barcelona_. He has loaded them with Wealth +and Honours; and if it's possible for one's native Country to be forgot, +he has put them in a Situation to forget theirs. This particular Goodness +of the Emperor extends to all that followed his Fortunes in _Spain_; whom +he distinguishes upon all Occasions, and does them good preferably to his +other Subjects. As to Friendship, no Monarch ever had more for any +Favourite than _Charles_ had for the late Count _d'Altheim_, his Master of +the Horse. This Nobleman was the Emperor's Page, when he was only +Arch-Duke; and he attended that Prince to _Spain_, where his Care, his +Services, his Assiduity, and above all his Honesty and his Integrity, won +him the intire Confidence of the young Monarch. When this Prince became +Emperor he rewarded the Count with Honours, Wealth, and Dignities. He +lov'd him as long as he liv'd, and his Memory is still dear to him. As +soon as he died, the Emperor declar'd himself Guardian to his Children, +gave Orders in what manner they shou'd be brought up, and now treats them +much more like his own Children than his Subjects. But what wou'd you say +of the Emperor's tender Love for the Empress? Some time ago this Princess +being dangerously ill, the Emperor not only sent for his Physicians, and +conjur'd them to employ all their Art to save her Life, but promised them +Rewards suitable to that Service, and actually watched with her several +Nights to see her take the Remedies they prescrib'd. Does not a +Conjugal-Love so perfect, deserve to be rewarded by the Birth of an +Archduke? Adieu, Sir. If I were Emperor, you shou'd be my Count +_d'Altheim_; but in the Condition I am in, you are the Person whom I +honour most of all Mankind; and am, &c. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XIV. + + + _SIR_, _Munich, Jan. 5, 1730._ + +As I came hither from _Vienna_, I stay'd two Days at LINTZ, the Capital of +_Upper Austria_. This City lies on the _Danube_, over which there is a +wooden Bridge. 'Tis a little Town, but well built, and has fine Churches. +Its Inhabitants are thriving, and they drive a great Trade in +Linnen-Cloth. 'Tis the Residence of a great many Persons of Quality, and +of the Regency of the Province, of which the Count _de Thirheim_ is the +Chief. This Nobleman lodges in the Imperial Palace, which stands upon an +Eminence, and commands the City. The Building is commodious enough, but +not so magnificent. The Emperor _Leopold_ stay'd here during the Siege of +_Vienna_; till not thinking himself safe in it he retir'd to _Passaw_. The +Neighbourhood of _Lintz_ is very agreeable. All the way hither from +_Vienna_ the _Danube_ is lin'd on both sides with Vineyards; but from +_Lintz_ to this Place, instead of Vines, there are Plantations of Hops. + +MUNICH, in the _German_ Tongue _Munchen_, stands in the middle of a large +Plain, and in the Center of _Bavaria_, of which it is the Capital City. +The Walls of it are washed by the River _Iser_; 'tis a small Town, but +better built than fortified, for within these few Years several fine +Houses have been rais'd in it. The Elector's Palace is one of the biggest +Piles of Building in _Europe_, but it wants a great deal of being so +handsome a Structure as _Misson_ and several other Authors have +represented it; for its Magnificence consists principally in its Bulk. The +chief Front, which looks towards a very narrow Street, has the Resemblance +of a fair Convent; to which the Image of the Virgin _Mary_ over the great +Gate contributes not a little. That for which 'tis held in most Esteem is +the great Apartment which is call'd the _Emperor's_ Apartment. The +Connoisseurs in Painting admire the Pictures in the great Hall, which +represent both Sacred and Prophane History, and are performed by the Hand +of _Candi_. The Chimney-piece in the same Room is very much esteem'd: +Among other fine Figures with which it is adorn'd, there's a Statue of +Porphyry that represents _Virtue_ holding a Spear in the Right Hand, and +in the Left a gilt Palm-Branch. In 1632, when _Gustavus Adolphus_ King of +_Sweden_ made himself Master of _Munich_, he thought this so beautiful a +Room that he was sorry he could not get it transported to _Stockholm_. In +the Reign of _Ferdinand Mary_, Grandfather to the present Elector, great +part of the Palace of _Munich_ was reduc'd to Ashes, which Accident was, +'tis said, the Occasion of that Prince's Death; for being at _Straubingen_ +when he received the sad News of the Fire, he took Horse immediately and +rode with such Fury to _Munich_ that he receiv'd a Fall which in a little +time prov'd his Death. + +The present Elector _Charles-Albert-Cajetan_ has embellish'd the Palace +with a new Apartment, which, tho' not so big as the Emperor's, exceeds it +in Magnificence. 'Tis adorn'd with noble Pictures, antique Busts, and +Vases plac'd upon[111] Tables of very great Value; and among other Things +there's the Picture of the Virgin done by St. _Luke_. + +There's a secret Passage from the Palace thro' little Galleries to all the +Churches and Convents in the Town. The nearest Church is that of the +_Theatins_, which together with their Monastery was built by +_Maria-Adelaide_ of _Savoy_ Wife to _Ferdinand-Mary_. The Fryars of this +Convent must be twenty seven in number, and all Men of Quality. They +subsist by charitable Donations; but dare not ask Alms, and must wait for +such Provisions as Providence shall please to send them. When they have +suffer'd extreme Want at any Time for three Days together, they are +permitted to ring a Bell as a Token of their Distress; but it has been +observ'd that this never happen'd above twice since their first +Establishment, because the Electors are too charitable to let them want. +The Tomb of the Princes of _Bavaria_ is in the Church of these honest +Fryars. + +The Church of our Lady is the parochial Church of _Munich_. In it is the +stately Tomb of the Emperor _Lewis_ of _Bavaria_ who died of Poison. 'Tis +adorn'd with a great many fine Figures of Brass and Marble. In this Church +the Elector on the 24th of _April_ last instituted the Order of St. +_George_, by Authority of Pope _Benedict_ XIII. The Ceremony was perform'd +with a vast deal of Pomp, and the Elector of _Cologn_ officiated at the +High Mass. The Promotion consisted of three Grand Priors, six Grand +Crosses, a Commander, and six Knights. Some time after this first +Promotion the Elector made a second, in which he appointed one Grand +Cross, and nine Knights. 'Tis said there will speedily be a third +Promotion of eight more Knights, the whole Number being to consist of +forty[112]. + +The Elector intends to annex Commanderies to his Order. They who are +admitted into it must give Proofs of their Extraction from sixteen +Descents; and this is so strictly observ'd that his most Serene Electoral +Highness, as Grand Master of the Order, has renounc'd all Power of +granting any Dispensation from it. According to the Statutes of this Order +all the Knights are oblig'd to be Catholics, to defend the Faith and the +Church, to protect Widows and Orphans, and to practise all the Christian +Virtues. The Badge of the Order is a large Sky-blue Ribbon border'd about +the breadth of an Inch with a black and white Stripe; and at the end of +the Ribbon hangs a Cross enamell'd with blue, in the middle of which there +is a St. _George_. + +The Church and Convent of the Reverend Fathers the Jesuits are two very +magnificent Structures. The Roof of the Church which is one single Nave is +a Work of Skill and Ingenuity, wherein the Apertures are contriv'd with +very great Art; for which reason, the Curious look upon this Fabric as a +Master-piece of Architecture. + +The Church of the Reverend Fathers of St. _Austin_, tho' but of a moderate +Size, contains Beauties that are not always to be met with in greater +Fabrics. The Pictures with which it is adorn'd are highly esteem'd, and +good Judges agree there are few that can parallel them. + +Tho' the Houses of _Munich_ are all very well built, there are few that +can be call'd Hotels or Palaces. The Count _Piosas_ a _Piedmontese_ has +caus'd one to be built of late Years which is a considerable Structure +with regard to the true Proportions of its Outside, and to the ingenious +Distribution of the Apartments, which have fine Decorations and good +Furniture. + +The Court of _Bavaria_ observes most of the Customs of the Court of +_Vienna_ in matters of Ceremony, but as for the rest, their Way of living +is different; here being more Freedom, and more Diversion. + +The Elector _Charles-Albert_ delights in Pleasures and bodily Exercise, +and acquits himself therein with a Grace. He is a comely Personage, and +has a grave, noble, and majestic Air, so that he is taken for a proud Man; +yet few Princes are more gracious and more civil to Strangers, and to his +Subjects also he is easy of Access. He was full of Life and Spirit when he +was a Prince, and now that he is a Sovereign is become sedate and +moderate. He is genteel, talks _French_, _Italian_, and _Latin_ well, is +Master of History, and perfectly acquainted with the Interest of Princes +in general, and that of his own Family in particular. He sticks to +Business, and above all seems to be very earnest in redressing his +Finances which he found in great Disorder when he acceded to the +Electorate. The Elector was born the 6th of _August_, 1697. He is Son of +_Maximilian-Emanuel_ famous for his Victories and for his Disgrace, and of +_Theresa-Cunegunda-Sobieski_, Daughter of _John Sobieski_ King of +_Poland_. When _Charles_ came into the World he had a Brother living who +was born of the Arch-Duchess _Mary-Maximilian_, _Emanuel_'s first Wife. +This young Prince who all _Europe_ expected wou'd be the Successor of +_Charles_ II. King of _Spain_, dying at _Brussels_ the 6th of _February_, +1699, _Charles_ thereby became the Electoral Prince: He was bred up at +_Munich_ with four of his Brothers, but both he and his Brothers +surrender'd Prisoners to the Emperor _Joseph_ after the Battle of +_Hochstet_, which subjected all _Bavaria_ to his Imperial Majesty. That +Monarch had the young Princes remov'd to _Gratz_, where he caus'd them to +be treated in a manner not so suitable to their high Birth as to their +decay'd Fortune. When _Joseph_ died, his Successor _Charles_ VI. used the +Princes with less Severity, caus'd them to be honourably attended, and +sent them Masters to instruct them; and upon the Peace of _Rastadt_ which +reinstated the Elector _Maximilian-Emanuel_ in his Dominions, the Princes +his Children were restor'd to him. They finish'd their Studies at +_Munich_, after which the Elector sent the four eldest to _Rome_, where +the second, whose Name was Duke _Philip_, died not long after he had been +chose Bishop of _Munster_ and _Paderborn_. _Charles_ returning from +_Italy_ went to _Vienna_, made the Campaign of _Belgrade_, and some Years +after that, he marry'd _Mary-Amelia-Anne_ of _Austria_, the late Emperor +_Joseph_'s second Daughter. In 1725, _Charles_ and his three Brothers were +at _Fontainbleau_, at the Marriage of _Lewis_ XV. and next Year he +succeeded his Father who died at _Munich_ lamented as he was ador'd by his +Courtiers. + +The Electoress who is a little Woman, very much resembles the Empress her +Mother, and has more Vivacity than is common to the Princes of the House +of _Austria_. She prefers Hunting to all other Pleasures, and there are +few Days but she partakes of that Diversion with the Elector, who, as well +as the Princes his Brothers, is fond of it. + +The Elector has by his Marriage two[113] Princes and two Princesses. The +eldest of the Sons who has the Title of the Electoral Prince is call'd +_Maximilian-Joseph_, and was born the 28th of _March_, 1727. His most +serene Electoral Highness's three Brothers are Duke _Ferdinand_, the +Elector of _Cologn_, and the Bishop of _Freisingen_ and _Ratisbon_. Of +these Princes Duke _Ferdinand_ is the only one who resides at _Munich_. +His most serene Highness is a Lieutenant-General, and has a Regiment of +Cuirassiers in the Emperor's Service. He is also a Knight of the _Golden +Fleece_, and Grand Prior of the Order of St. _George_. He marry'd +_Mary-Ann-Caroline_ of _Newbourg_, by whom he has two Sons and one +Daughter. I have already told you that he was educated with the Elector +his Brother, with whom he made the Campaign of _Belgrade_, travell'd +several times to _Italy_, and last of all to _France_, where those Princes +were admir'd for their Splendor, their Politeness, their good Taste, and +their fine Understanding. One shan't find a Man more affable than Duke +_Ferdinand_ who is even ador'd at _Munich_, and is dearly belov'd by the +Elector his Brother. The Duchess his Wife who is the best-natur'd Princess +in the World makes grand Entertainments, and is particularly civil to +Strangers. + +The Bishop of _Freisingen_ and _Ratisbon_ spends more of his Time at +_Munich_ than in his Diocese. He is a Prince of great Penetration, Spirit +and Vivacity, is generous, liberal, and charitable, extremely civil, and +'tis impossible to be acquainted with him without adding Love to that +Respect and Veneration which are due to his Birth and Character. He +enter'd very young into Orders, and was consecrated Bishop by his Brother +the Elector of _Cologn_. 'Twas thought at first that he wou'd have made +but an indifferent Ecclesiastic, but he has demonstrated that he knows how +to reconcile the Gravity of a Prelate with the Magnanimity of a Temporal +Prince. + +The Court of _Bavaria_ is without dispute the most gallant, and the +politest in _Germany_. We have a _French_ Comedy here together with Balls +and Gaming every Day, and a Concert of Music three Times a Week, at which +all the Company is mask'd; and after the Concert there's Gaming and +Dancing. These public Assemblies, at which the Elector and the whole Court +are present, bring in a great Revenue to the Elector's _Valets de +Chambre_; for besides the Money which every one pays at Entrance, they are +also paid for the Cards, and are concern'd in almost all the Banks; so +that those Domestics have almost all the Cash of the Nobility, with whom +they don't scruple neither to rank themselves. Besides these noisy +Pleasures we have others that are more tranquil, I mean those of civil +Society. Of this kind there's more here than in the other Towns of +_Germany_; but more still among the Foreigners that are in the Elector's +Service than among the _Bavarians_; for these are generally proud, tho' +'tis certainly more owing to their Opinion that it gives them a good Air +to be so than to their Temper; and they actually become more sociable when +they are made sensible that their grand Airs are not astonishing. + +The Title of Count is as common here as at _Vienna_, and the _Bavarian_ +Counts have no greater Privileges than those of _Austria_, for they are as +much Subjects as the meanest Gentlemen. I find that those in Places, and +who bear any Rank at Court are much more polite than others. The Counts +_de Thirheim_, _Torring_, and _Preising_ who have the chief Employments +are so civil that I believe there's few Foreigners but will give them +their Encomium. + +The Elector has a very large Houshold, and a number of great Officers. +I'll mention some of them to you. + +The Count _Maximilian de Torring-Seefeldt_ is Steward of the Elector's +Houshold, a Minister of State, and Knight of the _Golden Fleece_. This +Nobleman who is advanc'd in Years, is good-natur'd and civil, speaks +little, is naturally grave, not fond of Pomp, and lives retir'd in the +middle of a Court, but when he makes any Entertainment does it with +Grandeur. He never once abandon'd the Elector _Maximilian-Emanuel_ his +former Master, but follow'd him in his Fortunes both good and bad. + +The Count _Sigismond de Thirheim_ is Great Chamberlain, a Minister of +State, and Grand Croix of the Order of St. _George_. He is very tall, and +tho' his Air is not the most affable, he is courteous and civil. He lives +very nobly, and does the Honours of the Court very handsomely; +consequently he is generally beloved and esteem'd. He was Governor of the +Elector, who, contrary to most Princes that are not apt to retain an +Esteem for those who once had the Care of their Education, gives great +Proofs of his Regard for the Count _de Thirheim_. + +The Count _Maximilian de Fugger_ is Grand Marshal[114]. As he does not +live at _Munich_, I have nothing particular to tell you of him. + +The Count _Maximilian de Preysing_ Master of the Horse, President of the +Chamber of Finances, a Minister of State, and Grand Croix of the Order of +St. _George_, is a very polite Nobleman, but serious and grave to the last +degree. 'Tis difficult for any Man to be more attach'd to his Religion, to +have more Candor, and to be more upright than this Minister. His Probity +has brought Envy upon him, but it has procur'd him the Elector's intire +Confidence, of which however the Count makes no farther Advantage than is +requisite for his Master's Business. He is accus'd of being close-fisted, +and of dissuading the Elector from giving Gratuities; but 'tis agreed that +he is very charitable to the Poor. 'Tis a hard matter for a Minister who +has the Direction of the Finances to please every body, and he is commonly +the Butt of public Censure. + +The Count _de Rechberg_ Great Huntsman[115], Minister of State, President +of the Council of War, Lieutenant-General, and Grand Croix of the Order of +St. _George_, is Commander in Chief of the Elector's Forces: He +accompany'd the late Elector to _France_ where he acquir'd the Reputation +of an experienc'd skilful General. + +_Ignatius-Joseph_ Count _de Torring_ is a Minister of State, Grand Master +of the Artillery, and a Grand Croix of St. _George_. He followed the late +Elector into _France_, and after that Prince was restor'd he went as +Minister Plenipotentiary to the Imperial Court, where he negotiated the +Marriage of the present Elector with the Archduchess, youngest Daughter to +the late Emperor _Joseph_. + +I cou'd tell you of many other Persons of Distinction at the Court of +_Bavaria_, only I fear that being too particular wou'd tire your Patience. +The Ministers who bear the greatest Sway are the Counts _Maximilian de +Preysing_ and _de Torring_, and M. _d'Unertel_. The first is Director of +the Finances; the second has the Province of Foreign Affairs; and the +third takes care of Affairs Domestic and Military. These three Ministers +are the Arbiters of _Bavaria_, and to them the Tribunals of the several +Provinces must apply. + +_Bavaria_ is divided into four Cantons or Provinces, _viz._ the Cantons +_of Munich_, _Burghausen_, _Landstrut_ and _Straubingen_. Each of these +Provinces has a Regency or Parliament; and an Appeal lies from Sentences +therein pass'd to the Elector's Council of State. + +'Tis certain that _Bavaria_ is one of the best States in the Empire. 'Tis +said that it brings in seven Millions of Florins, and I have been assured +by Persons who have Opportunities of being inform'd of the State of the +Finances, that there was a time when the late Elector received eleven +Millions _per Ann._ The Riches of _Bavaria_ are owing to the Exportation +of Salt and Corn, and to the Consumption of the Beer brew'd in the +Country, which is as good as any in the World. _Tirol_, and the Country +of _Saltzbourg_, have almost all the Corn which they spend from +_Bavaria_, and the Elector has a Florin for every Sack that is exported. +Another thing which is a Treasure to _Bavaria_ is the Fir-Trees, a Wood +that serves for every Use that can be imagin'd, whether for Building, or +for Houshold-Stuff. There is not a Province in the Empire where Provisions +are cheaper, and in the mean time there's a vast Home-Consumption; for +besides that the _Bavarians_ love good Eating and Drinking, the Country is +very populous; and 'tis computed that the Inhabitants of _Munich_ alone +are above 40,000. + +Of all the Sovereigns in _Europe_, next to the King of _France_, the +Elector of _Bavaria_ has the finest Pleasure-Houses, for which he may +thank the Elector his Father who had a wonderful good Fancy and Judgment. + +NYMPHENBOURG a short League from _Munich_ is a charming Place. The Castle +is to be seen a great way off by reason of its Situation in the middle of +a great Plain, so that from the Apartments of the second Story one +discovers a vast Tract of Country, and an infinite number of Rural +Beauties that are in the Neighbourhood of _Munich_. _Mary-Adelaide de +Savoy_ (Mother to _Maximilian-Emanuel_) who was extremely fond of the Arts +and Sciences, and knew them perfectly well, was the Person who laid the +Foundations of that Castle. The Man that she employ'd to build it was an +_Italian_ Architect whom she sent for out of _Italy_ for the purpose. But +all this Palace consisted only of one great Pavilion. _Maximilian-Emanuel_ +thinking the Castle too small, caused several Mansions to be added to it, +together with fine Stables and grand Gardens; in short, he put the whole +into that magnificent Condition we see it in at this day. His most serene +Electoral Highness lets the Pavilion stand in pure respect to the Memory +of his Mother who built it, but 'tis pity he does; for 'tis much higher +than the rest of the Edifice, and is no good Ornament to the main +Building. In order to give you a more perfect Idea of this House, I will +tell you that it looks towards a great and magnificent Canal terminated at +each end by a spacious Basin adorn'd with Water-works and double Rows of +Trees on each side which form the Avenues. We enter into the Castle by an +Ascent of Marble Steps: The first Room we come to is a very great high +Salon adorn'd with Architecture of Plaister of _Paris_ very well executed. +From each side of this Salon there is a Passage into several Apartments of +which I shall not stop to give you the Detail, because I don't think it in +my power to convey a suitable Idea to you of the Richness of the +Furniture, and all the fine things that are in it. Imagine only that the +late Elector who had an exquisite Taste, and a noble Soul, spar'd no Cost +to adorn these Apartments. I pass to the Gardens which one enters from the +Great Hall by a Descent of Marble Steps. The first thing that strikes the +Eye is a Parterre of a vast Extent, at the Entrance of which there is a +great Bason ornamented with a Group of Figures of mill'd Lead gilt with +Water-Gold representing _Flora_ receiving Flowers from _Nymphs_ and +_Cupids_. At the end of the Parterre there is one of the most agreeable +Woods in the World, which is cut by three Walks in form of a Goose's Foot. +The middlemost fronts the great Pavilion of the Castle, and has a large +Canal in the middle of it of which one can't see the end: 'Tis terminated +by a fine Cascade form'd by several Blocks of Marble, and adorn'd with +fine Statues. The second Walk on the right hand leads one to the Mall +which forms a Semi-Circle, and is one of the finest and longest I ever +saw. At the Entrance of this Mall there is a Pavilion call'd _Pagodebourg_ +(the _Castle of the Pagode_;) 'tis two Stories high, and built in form of +the _Pagodes_ Temples. I believe there never was any thing prettier. All +the Furniture of this little Palace is _Indian_, of a charming Contrivance +and Elegancy; and the whole is so well laid out that notwithstanding the +smallness of the House, the Elector has every Convenience in it that can +be desir'd. Over-against _Pagodebourg_ on the other side of the Canal in +the third Walk is _Badenbourg_ (the _Castle of Baths_) which is a more +considerable Building, and has all the Beauty of the Modern Bagnios. The +Baths are spacious and lin'd with Marble. There is an Apartment consisting +of several Pieces adorned with Stucco, and Pictures representing _Venus_ +in the Bath, _Diana_ in the Water with her Nymphs, and the other Subjects +of the Fable. The whole Apartment glitters with Gold, and the Furniture of +it is rich, and of a charming Fancy. This beautiful House is surrounded +with fine Pieces of Water adorned with Cascades and Statues. These Baths +wou'd most certainly deserve a particular Description, and I am angry with +myself for not being able to give it. + +'Tis certain that next to the Gardens of _Versailles_, there is none so +magnificent as those of _Nymphenbourg_; which is a Place that Art and +Nature seem to have joined their Forces in order to render noble and +agreeable. + +The Castle of _Schleisheim_ is a more regular Building than that of +_Nymphenbourg_, and makes so grand an Appearance that I don't know any +House in _Germany_ that can compare with it. The great Stair-Case and the +Salon in the large Apartment are the only Pieces in their kind. They are +fac'd with Marble, and painted in a most correct and beautiful manner. + +_Taco_, _Furstenriet_ and _Starenberg_ are Houses fit for the Solacement +of a Great Prince, and will be Testimonies to Posterity of the Elector +_Maximilian-Emanuel_'s grand and happy Taste. + +Of all the Elector's Houses _Nymphenbourg_ is that where the Court resides +most. It is as well a Hunting-House as a Pleasure-House, by reason of a +Park in the Neighbourhood which is eight Leagues in compass, and cut out +into a great number of fine long Roads. Here the Elector comes to rouze +the Stag; and there is a little Park adjoining to the Gardens, which, as +well as the adjacent Fields, abounds with Pheasants, Partridges, and all +other Game of that sort. + +When the Court is at _Nymphenbourg_ the Electress has a Drawing-Room there +three times a Week where there is Gaming, and when that is over the Ladies +sup with their Electoral Highnesses, who sometimes admit Gentlemen of +their Court to their Table, but commonly all Foreigners. They who prefer +taking the Air to Gaming, find open Calashes every Evening drawn by two +Horses, at the bottom of the Steps on the side of the Garden: A Gentleman +drives the Calash, two Ladies ride in it, and a Gentleman stands behind. +And such as prefer the Water find very neat Gondolas finely gilt upon the +Canal at their Service; so that there is no want of any thing to add to +the Pleasures of all sorts in this inchanting Place. + +Were I to enumerate to you all the various Pleasures of this Court I +should never have done. For the present I shall confine myself to these +already mentioned. I am resolved to set out in three or four days for +_Stutgard_. I shall lie at _Augsbourg_, and at _Ulm_. A Frost which has +held for a Month without ceasing has made the Roads so hard that I hope I +shall roll along finely. I expect to hear from you at _Stutgard_. Pray +take care that I be not disappointed, and believe that I am very +sincerely, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XV. + + + _SIR_, _Stutgard, Jan. 14, 1730._ + +There is nothing remarkable between _Munich_ and _Augsbourg_ except it be +the fine Abbey of FURSTENFELDT, which is in possession of the _Bernardin_ +Fryars. It was founded by _Lewis the Severe_ Duke of _Bavaria_ to attone +for his Wickedness in putting _Joan_ of _Brabant_ his Wife unjustly to +death. The History of _Bavaria_ relates the Fact thus: _Joan_ was a very +beautiful Princess. Her Husband who was doatingly fond of her being +obliged to take a Journey, put her under the Guard of one of his Aunts. +While he was gone _Joan_ wrote frequently to her Husband, and sometimes to +his Prime Minister and Favourite. One day she put her Letters into the +hands of a Domestic, charging him to deliver them as they were directed; +but the Man made a Mistake, and gave the Letter which was for the Duke to +his Favourite, and that which was for the Minister to the Duke. _Lewis_ +thought that his Wife's Style was too obliging to a Subject, and was even +mad with Jealousy. He first kill'd his Favourite, and then taking horse +posted to _Donawert_ where his Wife was. He came to the Castle in the +Night-time, murder'd the Porter with his own hand, put his Aunt and all +with whom he had left his Wife in charge to Death; and then like another +_Herod_, caused the unfortunate _Joan_ to be beheaded. The Night after +this barbarous Action, the Heirs of _Lewis_'s Head turn'd gray, tho' he +was but twenty-eight Years old; which Accident made him sensible of his +Guilt and of the Innocence of his Wife. As his Barbarity was great, so was +his Repentance. He went on foot to _Rome_ to beg the Pope's Absolution for +his Sins, and obtain'd it on condition that he wou'd cause a Church to be +built, and found a Monastery in his Dominions. _Lewis_ returning from +_Rome_ founded the Abbey at _Furstenfeldt_. The first Establishment was +only for eight Fryars; but the Piety of the Princes of _Bavaria_ having +wrought upon them to bestow their Favours upon this House, it now +maintains thirty Fryars and an Abbot, whom the Monks have the Prerogative +to chuse out of their own Body. These good Fathers are actually erecting a +very stately Church, and they enjoy all the Conveniences of Life. + +The Country between _Munich_ and _Augsbourg_ is level and intermix'd with +Woods and Plains. AUGSBOURG which is a Bishop's See, and an Imperial City, +is the Capital of _Swabia_, and one of the biggest and handsomest Towns in +_Germany_. A small Branch of the _Leck_ passes thro' it, and supplies it +with plenty of Water. The Streets of _Augsbourg_ are broad, strait and +lightsome; the Houses well built, and many of 'em full of Paintings. The +Inhabitants look upon _Augustus_ to be the Founder of their City. 'Tis +true that Emperor sent a Colony thither, but the Town was founded before. +It is not said what Name it went by before the Name of _Augusta +Vindelicorum_ was given it to distinguish it from the other Towns that +bore the Name of _Augusta_. The clearing up of this difficulty is what I +shall leave to the Antiquarians, and confine my self to the Transactions +at _Augsbourg_ for about two hundred Years past. What will render this +City for ever famous is the Confession of Faith which the Protestant +Princes presented here to the Emperor _Charles_ V. in the year 1530. Tho' +the Protestants were at that time very powerful in _Augsbourg_ they cou'd +not keep their ground, for they were drove out by the _Bavarians_; but +_Gustavus Adolphus_ restored them in 1632, since which time they have kept +their Footing there, and share the Government with the Roman Catholics. In +1687, the Emperor, _Spain_, the United Provinces, and the Electors of +_Saxony_, _Brandenbourg_, and the Palatinate concluded that famous League +at _Augsbourg_ against _Lewis_ XIV. who was beginning to inforce the Claim +of the Duchess of _Orleans_ his Sister-in-law to the Succession of the +Elector Palatine _Charles-Lewis_, who was that Princess's Brother. In +1690, _Joseph_ Archduke of _Austria_ King of _Hungary_, the eldest Son of +the Emperor _Leopold_, was consecrated and crown'd King of the _Romans_ at +_Augsbourg_, at which Ceremony the Emperor, the Empress, the Electors of +_Mentz_, _Cologn_, _Triers_, _Bavaria_, and the Palatinate were personally +present. + +In 1703, the Elector _Maximilian_ of _Bavaria_, made himself Master of +_Augsbourg_ in one Week's time. This City had demanded and obtained a +Neutrality, but having afterwards received an Imperial Garrison the +Elector made use of that Pretence to lay Siege to it. He caused the +Fortifications to be demolish'd, foreseeing, no doubt, that he should not +be able to keep the Place. _Augsbourg_ was set free again by the Battle of +_Hochstet_, and still enjoys its Freedom under its own Magistrates, the +Bishop having no Authority in the City as to Temporals. The present Bishop +is of the Family of _Neubourg_, and Brother to the Elector Palatine. This +Prince has the same Goodness of Temper which is so natural to all his +Family. As his Bishoprick is not one of the most considerable in +_Germany_, so his Court is none of the biggest, but his Houshold is well +regulated, and every thing conducted in it with Order and Splendor. + +The Chapter of the Cathedral consists of Persons of Quality who are +oblig'd to make Proof of their Nobility. The Canons have the Prerogative +of chusing their Bishop, who like all the Prelates of _Germany_ is a +Sovereign Prince. He dwells at _Augsbourg_, tho' he ought to reside at +_Dillingen_. The Episcopal Palace is old, and not very commodious: It +joins to the Cathedral, which is a _Gothic_ gloomy unwieldy Fabric, but +its Ornaments are very rich. + +The most considerable Building is the Town-house, a very substantial Pile +built all of Freestone except the Portico, which is of Marble. The Rooms +are very fine, and the great Hall especially is to the last degree +magnificent. The Walls are cover'd with Painting, being such Emblems and +Devices as have relation to the Government. Nothing can be more beautiful +than the Cieling which consists all of Compartments whose Frames are +carv'd and gilt in an extraordinary manner, the whole enrich'd with +Pictures and other Ornaments perfectly well dispos'd. + +Before the Town-house there's a very stately Fountain, where, among other +fine Figures of Brass, the Statue of _Augustus_ which is represented in a +most noble Attitude is highly esteem'd. + +The City of _Augsbourg_ is in my Opinion something like _Antwerp_ with +regard to the Spaciousness of the Streets and the Substantialness of its +Buildings; and formerly when the _Venetians_ were Masters of all the +Commerce, it resembled it in Trade; for _Augsbourg_ was then the Staple +for Merchandize, which was from thence transported to a great part of +_Europe_. But since _London_ and _Amsterdam_ are become the Warehouses of +the whole World, and the Commerce of _Venice_ decays, the greatest Trade +of _Augsbourg_ consists in Goldsmith's Wares, with which this City +furnishes _Germany_, _Poland_, and in general almost all the North. These +Wares are much cheaper here than elsewhere, and when the Patterns are +furnish'd People are well serv'd. Notwithstanding the Decay of its +Commerce there are several very rich Families; but whether any can do what +_Fugger_ did to the Emperor _Charles_ V. is a Question. That Monarch +passing thro' _Augsbourg_ lodg'd at _Fugger_'s House, who entertain'd him +like an Emperor. The Fewel he burnt in every Chimney was Cedar, and after +the Repast, which was extraordinary sumptuous, _Fugger_ took a Bond for a +very considerable Sum which the Emperor ow'd him, and threw it into the +Fire. + +The Nobility assemble commonly every Evening at the _Three Kings_ Inn +where I quarter. There's a very fine Hall well lighted, where they game, +club for a Supper, and after Supper dance. Be not scandaliz'd that the +Nobility have their Assembly at an Inn, it being one of the best Houses in +_Germany_ and the most superb Inn in _Europe_. There's very good +Attendance. I have supp'd at it twice, and one cannot be better +accommodated in any House whatsoever. + +From _Augsbourg_ I came to ULM another Imperial City. Tho' all the Country +is even, yet 'tis very tiresome to Travellers because of the Pavement of +the Causeys; but Thanks to the Snow which has levell'd the Ways, I have +not been much incommoded; tho' on the other hand I had like to have been +lost in the Snow, such a quantity of it having fallen for two Days that +one could not distinguish the Roads. I found my self at a Post-Stage where +my Guide, tho' he was a Man that had grown grey in the Business of +Postilion upon the same Road, did not know the Way. I was in danger every +Moment of tumbling into some Ditch, when just as we entered a certain +Valley my Postilion sounded a Horn to give notice to any Carriages or +Horses that might happen to meet us to make way, when a Voice from the +Hollow call'd out to the Postilion, _Who's that? Stephen? Oh!_ cry'd the +Postilion, _Is it you, Christopher? God be thank'd that I met with you_! +Then turning towards me, he said with an Air of Satisfaction, _Now you are +out of all Danger, for here's a blind Man that will conduct us to the +Place we are going to_. I thought the Droll jok'd with me, but we had not +gone many Yards farther before I really saw a poor Wretch who could not +see, yet offer'd to be my Guide, and promis'd he wou'd conduct me very +well. I abandon'd my self to him, and he walk'd so fast before my Chaise +that the Horses follow'd him in a gentle Trot till we came safe to the +Stage. There he told me that 'twas fifteen Years ago that he lost his +Sight by the breaking of an Imposthume in his Eyes, after having suffer'd +such horrible Pains for two Months that he bless'd himself for the Loss of +his Sight; so that when I ask'd him if he was not very much concern'd at +it, he said that at first it made him melancholy for some time, but that +he always comforted himself by the Remembrance of the Torture he had +undergone in the Loss of his Sight, and that he thought it were much +better to be blind and to have his Health than to see, and suffer the +Pains that he had endur'd; but that now he was so us'd to his Condition it +gave him no Concern. Indeed, when I ask'd him, if he should not be very +glad to recover his Sight? he said, Yes, if it were possible; but that if +he must undergo the same Pains to recover it as he had felt in the Loss of +it, he had rather by a thousand times continue blind. When I told him of +my Surprize that he should find out the Way better than those who see, he +told me that since he had been blind he came regularly on Sundays and +Saints Days to the Place where we were to hear Mass, and that therefore +the Road was become very familiar to him. He added, that he sometimes +went alone to beg three or four Leagues from his Village, which was a +quarter of a League from the hollow Way where I met with him. I sent the +Man away, after giving him some Relief; and could not but admire the +divine Providence, which tho' it had afflicted the poor Wretch with what +to me seems more terrible than Death, gave him Strength to bear his +Misfortune with Patience. + +The City of _Ulm_ is not above half as big as _Augsbourg_, but is much +better fortify'd. The _Danube_ which washes its Walls, becomes navigable +at this Place, and a Boat goes from hence every Week for _Vienna_, which +is a great Ease to People who are not in a Condition to lay out much +Money; for it costs but a _Creutzer_, which is one Penny a _German_ Mile. +Tho' the City of _Ulm_ maintains a very numerous Garison, and is very well +fortify'd, and furnished with a good Arsenal, the Elector _Maximilian_ of +_Bavaria_ took it by Surprize in 1702, it being a Place necessary for him +to secure his Dominions on that side, and to facilitate the Passage of the +_French_ Troops that were to join his Army. General _Thungen_ robb'd him +of this Conquest the 10th of _Sept._ 1704, after about a Week's Siege. + +Then it was that _Ulm_ became again subject to its Magistrates who are all +_Lutherans_. The Catholics cannot enjoy Offices, but have several +Churches. This City drives a great Trade in Linnen, but few of the Gentry +live here except the Patricians who are not more sociable than those of +_Nuremberg_ and _Augsbourg_. The Burghers and the Women in particular go +dress'd like those at _Augsbourg_. To see them go to and come from Church +is next kin to seeing a Masquerade, and 'tis certainly one of the most +diverting Sights in this City, where really I did not give my self time to +be tired, for I set out again the very next Day after I came, and arrived +in this Town, where I have now rested my self a couple of Days. + +STUTGARD lies in the middle of a Valley surrounded with Vineyards. 'Tis +pretty large, has Streets broad and strait, but the Houses are of Timber. +'Tis the Capital of the Duchy of _Wirtemberg_, and was formerly the +Residence of the Sovereigns of the Country; but _Eberhard-Lewis_ the +present Duke of _Wirtemberg_ established his Seat some Years ago at[116] +_Ludwigsbourg_, a new City and a new Palace of his own building. + +The Duke's Castle is an old Structure of Freestone, compos'd of four Piles +of Building, flank'd at each Angle by a Tower. The Walls of it are wash'd +by Ditches which give it the disagreeable Air of a Prison. The Duchess who +is the Duke's Wife, and Sister to the Margrave of _Baden-Dourlach_, has an +Apartment in this Palace. You know that this Princess and her Husband +don't live well together. The Prince[117] about twenty Years ago preferr'd +a Mistress to her[118], who certainly has neither the Beauty, nor the +Merit of the Duchess. The Princess is remarkably patient under the +Indifference of a Husband, and the Contempt of the most haughty Rival that +ever was. The frequent Visits paid her by her only Son are all the Comfort +she has. The Court neglects her, no body dares to go near her, and +whoever pays the Duchess the Respects that are naturally due to her, is +sure to incur the merciless Hatred of the Mistress. I may be able perhaps +to give you a farther Account of this Princess and her Rival when I have +been at _Ludwigsbourg_, whither I propose to go to-morrow, and where I +hope for a Line from you. + + _I am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XVI. + + + _SIR_, _Ludwigsbourg, Feb. 2, 1730._ + +The Duke of _Wirtemberg_ is a Prince of a middling Size, and before he +grew so fat was very well shap'd. He is genteel, affable, and +well-belov'd, and few Princes treat their Courtiers with more Familiarity. +He has been one of the best Dancers of his Time. He also sits perfectly +well on horseback, and performs all bodily Exercises with infinite +Gracefulness, and incomparable Dexterity. He takes pleasure sometimes in +driving his own Coaches, and I have seen him drive eight Horses without a +Postilion, and manage them with as much Ease as if there was but one Horse +in the Harness. He is a Prince that loves Magnificence, is generous, +gallant, and amorous. Tho' 'tis above twenty Years that he has kept one +and the same Mistress, he is as passionately fond of her, and gives as +shining Proofs of it as ever. During the last War his most Serene Highness +commanded the army of the Empire on the _Upper Rhine_. He has an only Son +marry'd to _Henrietta_ of _Prussia_, Daughter of the Margrave _Philip_, +Brother to _Frederic_ I. King of _Prussia_. This young Prince is called +the hereditary Prince. He is short of Stature, but handsome. He has one of +the best Tempers that can be desir'd in a Sovereign, being humane, +good-natur'd, affable, and civil. It may be said that the Father and the +Son are the two politest Men at the Court of _Wirtemberg_. The Father has +spent several Years in _Holland_, _Lorrain_, _Geneva_, _Turin_, _Italy_ +and _France_. When he return'd from his Travels he went and marry'd at +_Berlin_. He has an only Daughter who is very amiable. The hereditary +Prince is vastly fond of Grandeur, Dancing, Plays and Music: He fatigues +himself very much, and commonly rides seven or eight Horses in a Morning. +His tender Constitution and the little Care he takes of it make me +apprehensive he will not live to be an old Man[119]. + +The hereditary Princess has an Air of Grandeur and Majesty suitable to her +Rank. She is tall and handsome, has a noble Mien, and tho' she is not a +regular Beauty, 'tis certain that she has a very good Look. She is +extremely grave, and does not seem to take a great share in the Pleasures +of the Court. She seems to be most of all taken with Dress, and her +Apparel is not only splendid but well-fancy'd. Her Royal Highness, which +is a Title given her because she is the Daughter of a King's Brother, is +extremely gracious and civil to all Mankind, but particularly to those +whom she knew at the Court of _Prussia_. She does me the honour to +discourse with me sometimes. I find she thinks very justly, and that her +Sentiments are very agreeable to her Birth. This Princess is of the +_Calvinist_ Religion, and she keeps a Chaplain who preaches to her in her +own Apartment; so that now while the Prince _Alexander de Wirtemberg_ is +here, there are three Chapels in the Castles of as many different +Religions. + +The Countess _de Wurben_ is the first Lady at Court next to her Royal +Highness. She has been the Duke's sole Favourite for a long time. She is +_Gravenitz_ by Name, and is descended of a noble Family in _Mecklembourg_. +The Duke first fell in love with her when she was but a Girl. She had the +Assurance after she had been some Years in Favour to insist that the Duke +should get a Divorce from the Duchess his Wife, by whom he had a Son, and +marry her. When the Duchess was inform'd of her Rival's Demand she sued +for the Emperor's Protection, and obtain'd it. That Monarch signified to +the Duke that he would do well to remove his Favourite, who was therefore +oblig'd to retire to _Swisserland_. The Duke who could not bear her out of +his sight, followed her thither and stay'd there with her for some time, +but at last being oblig'd to return to his Dominions, and not being able +to take Madamoiselle _de Gravenitz_ to him without reviving the just +Suspicions of the Duchess, he look'd out for a Husband for his Mistress. +The Count _de Wurben_ a Gentleman of a good Family, and in mean +Circumstances, but a very eager Stickler for the Favours of Fortune at any +rate whatsoever, made an offer to marry Madamoiselle _de Gravenitz_. She +was bestowed upon him with a Pension of 24000 Florins, and the Character +of the Duke's Envoy Extraordinary to the Imperial Court. He engag'd never +to make use of the Husband's Prerogative and never to require of his Wife +to leave the Court. Upon this Condition he obtain'd even before he set out +for _Vienna_ the Office of _Landthoffmeister_ or Lord Lieutenant of +_Wirtemberg_, which is the highest Dignity in the Country. When the +Marriage was concluded, Madam _de Wurben_ returned to _Stutgard_, where +she had Lodgings in the Palace. All her Aim was to insult the Duchess, in +hopes of provoking her to commit something so outragious as might embroil +her with the Duke, and make him resolve never to forgive her; but this +Princess equally virtuous and prudent, and always patient, bore all this +Mortification without murmuring. The Mistress, who could not endure to see +her in the Palace, obtain'd an Order from the Duke for her Retirement to +the Estate which was settled on her for her Jointure; but the Duchess +would never comply to it, saying, that if she had not been unfortunate +enough in the Loss of her Husband she would not retire to her Jointure. +This Refusal, how reasonable soever it was, affronted the Duke, who +acquainted the Duchess that he did not look upon her any longer as his +Wife, and gave orders that she should be treated no longer as a Sovereign. +During this, Madam _de Wurben_ became a Widow; whereupon all the Hopes +reviv'd that she had presumed to entertain when a Maid. She persuaded the +Duke to leave _Stutgard_, and to found _Ludwigsbourg_. As soon as this +House was in a Condition to be occupy'd, the Duke and his Mistress came +and liv'd in it. There's no sort of Intrigue which this Favourite has not +try'd to put herself in the Duchess's Rank, but hitherto she has not been +able to succeed. Mean-while she enjoys all the Honours of a Sovereign. +'Tis at her Apartments that the Court is kept. Whenever the Duke plays +'tis there, and there it is he diets. In short she is treated in every +thing upon a par with her Royal Highness. Her Excellency (which is the +only Title given to this imperious Favourite since the Death of her +Husband) is drawing on to fifty Years of Age, and yet carries a mighty +Sway. She employs all the Remedies imaginable to cancel the Injuries which +Time has done to her Complexion, and also to conceal her natural Temper; +for Artifice and Dissimulation are the Compounds of her Character. She is +so eager in amassing of Riches that she makes it her chief Business. While +she pretends a mighty Respect for the Duke, she expects like another +_Astarte_ that every Knee should bend and tremble before her. As she is +the Reservoir of Favour, greater Court is made to her than to the Duke +himself, and Woe be to those that dare to disoblige her! I must own +however that she knows how to behave as well as any Woman in _Germany_, +when she has a mind to shew her Politeness. The worst on't is, that she is +not always so inclin'd; for she has been so long us'd to give herself +great Airs that they are become habitual to her. The principal Offices of +the Court are distributed among her Kindred or Creatures. Her Brother the +Count _de Gravenitz_ is Grand Marshal and Prime Minister. I hardly ever +saw a handsomer Man: I must also do him the justice to declare that he is +as civil as his Sister is haughty. Some Years ago the Duke obtain'd for +him the Dignity of a Count of the Empire, in which Quality he was admitted +also at the Dyet, and he has a Seat there on the Bench of the Counts of +_Swabia_. His Authority is never oppos'd but by his Sister, to whom he +will not always be obedient. 'Tis said their Divisions have sometimes gone +so far that the Favourite has done all in her power to turn out her +Brother, and he has try'd all Ways in his turn to remove his Sister, but +the Duke has always been so good as to reconcile them. The Prime Minister +and his eldest Son are honour'd with the Order of _Prussia_. There is no +Court in _Europe_ where there's such a Variety of Orders and Ribbons. The +Duke bears alternatively the _Danish_ Order of the _Elephant_, the +_Prussian_ Order of the _Black Eagle_, and his own Order which is that of +St. _Hubert_. + +The Hereditary Prince has the Order of _Prussia_ and that of the Duke his +Father. + +The Prince _Charles-Alexander_ wears the _Fleece_, and the Order of +_Wirtemberg_[120]. Prince _Lewis_ his Brother wears the _Polish_ Order of +the _White Eagle_. + +The Baron _de Schunck_ heretofore the Duke's Minister of State, and at +present Great Bailiff of a Bailywic, is Knight of the Order of +_Dannebrog_. + +I should never have done were I to give you the Names of all the Knights +of the Order of St. _Hubert_, and the many petty Sovereigns that have been +the Grand Masters. + +The Duke's particular or Cabinet-Council is compos'd of the Hereditary +Prince and the Counts _de Gravenitz_, Father and Son, the Baron _de +Schutz_, and M. _de Pollnitz_[121]. There are many other Counsellors of +State, but not being admitted to the Cabinet-Council they are not in so +much Esteem as the others. + +His most Serene Highness keeps the Estimate of his Forces to himself. I +think that he has now 4000 Men without reckoning his Life-Guards, which +are two Companies, the finest of all the Guards in _Germany_. One of these +Companies is commanded by the Lieutenant-General Baron _de Phul_, and the +other by a Count of _Witgenstein_. They are dress'd in yellow, and are +only distinguish'd by the Facing of their Clothes and their Bandeliers, +one of which is Black and the other Red. Their Regimental Clothes are +Yellow with Silver Lace. The Duke has also a Company of Cadets on +Horseback, all Gentlemen. They are dress'd in Red, with black Velvet +Facings and Silver Lace. They mount Guard at the Duke's Apartment only. +Two of them always stand Centry before his Highness's Chamber-Door. + +The Court of _Wirtemberg_ is one of the most numerous in _Germany_. + +There's a Grand Marshal, who as I have told you is the Count _de +Gravenitz_, Brother to the Favourite. + +A Marshal of the Court, who is second Son to the Grand Marshal. + +A Travelling Marshal, who is Brother-in-law to the Prime Minister. + +A Great Cup-bearer, who is the Baron _de Frakenberg_. + +A Master of the Horse. + +A Great Huntsman. + +Four Chamberlains. + +A Number of Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber, and Gentlemen of the Court. + +Two Captains of the Guards. + +A considerable number of Counsellors of State and Aulic Counsellors. + +Twenty Pages, all Men of good Families. + +And finally a great many Footmen, and Officers of the Kitchen, Pantry, and +Buttery. + +The Duke's Stables are the best furnish'd of any in _Europe_. One shall +not see finer Horses, or any that are better manag'd. The Hunting Equipage +is also very magnificent; and I don't know one thing that is wanting. His +Highness keeps a Company of _French_ Comedians to whose Performance every +body is admitted _gratis_. We have often Balls, Masquerades, and Concerts +of Music. There is an Assembly at the Favourite's House every day, where +the Company plays at Piquet, Quadrille, and Pharo; so that here are all +the Pleasures of a great Court. The Duke's Table is serv'd with very great +Cost and Delicacy, and is commonly spread for sixteen Guests. The Duke +sits at the upper end, between her Royal Highness and her Excellency. The +Gentlemen are plac'd according to the Rank which they derive from their +Employments, and the Ladies according to the Offices which are borne by +their Husbands. + +There's a Ceremonial observ'd here which is not known in any other Court, +_viz._ the Duke's Ministers give place to no Foreigner, unless he be a +Minister like themselves to some Prince, or unless he be a Count of the +Empire. These have so distinguish'd a Rank at this Court that all who are +not Counts must give place to them. A Count of the Empire, tho' he be a +Cadet in the hundredth Generation, a Lieutenant or an Ensign, as it +sometimes happens, in the Duke's Service, takes place of all Ministers and +great Officers who are not Counts. This is a Regulation which her +Excellency made after her Brother was created a Count, to the end that her +Family might have the more Honour, and that the greater Respect might be +paid to her own Dignity of Countess without a County. + +I have told you that the Duke had transferr'd his Residence from +_Stutgard_ to _Ludwigsbourg_, and the reason which made him abandon the +Capital of his Dominions; but why he preferr'd the Situation of his new +Town to a hundred others that he might have chose more agreeable, is what +I cannot account for. + +LUDWIGSBOURG is remote from any River, great Roads and Forests. The Duke +at first only built a small Mansion-House with two advanced Wings, so +disposed that the Court lay between the House and the Garden; but he has +since made great Additions to it, and is actually building a large +Mansion between the Court and the Garden, to which the Wings of the former +Building are to be joined. One _Frisoni_, an _Italian_, has the direction +of these Works; in which it appears that he is a much better Mason than an +Architect. The new Building runs so far out that it discovers all the +Effects of it. The Front of the Mansion consists of three Stories, +including the Ground-Floor; but on the Garden side there are only two of a +moderate Height, so that one wou'd take this Building rather for an +Orangerie than for the Palace of a Sovereign. The great Stair-Case is +dark, the Apartments want Light, the Chambers are long and narrow, and +have very few Outlets. However, this single Building was undertaken by +_Frisoni_ for 700000 Florins, exclusive of several sorts of Materials with +which he was furnished. + +The old Mansion, which fronts the new, is not near so large, tho' it is +three Stories high every way. The Apartments are small and too +inconvenient to live in, yet no Cost has been spar'd to adorn them; +Carving, Gilding, and Painting being employ'd in them with more Profusion +than Judgment. The Furniture is rich, but of a very odd Fancy. The best +thing in all the Palace is the Chapel, which would every where be reckon'd +a fine noble Structure. But notwithstanding all the Faults which are +observ'd in the Palace, it must be allow'd that whoever lives to see it +finish'd will find it a magnificent Piece of Work. In the Gardens there +are several Terrasses, which rising by degrees one above another, intirely +bound the Prospect of the Palace. 'Tis certain that when the Duke's +Architects saw this Prince resolutely determin'd to build at +_Ludwigsbourg_, they ought at least to have advis'd him to place his +Palace at the very spot where his Gardens end: In this case it would have +stood in the middle of a Plain, the Apartments would not have been cramp'd +by the Buttresses, with which the Palace is encompass'd, and the Gardens +wou'd have had a gentle Descent; and for a very little Expence there might +have been a fine Piece of Water at one end, betwixt them and a Coppice, +which is a Walk for Pheasants. + +The City of _Ludwigsbourg_ is as irregular as the Palace; and its +Scituation, which is very disadvantageous, will always render it a very +incommodious Town, because of the unevenness of the Ground. Most of the +Houses are of Timber, and slightly built; for those who build them do it +with an Ill-will, either out of Necessity, or to please the Duke who seems +to be fond of building. This Prince has ruin'd _Stutgard_, and will never +make a good Town of _Ludwigsbourg_; for if the Court was absent from it +but one Year, 'twou'd be one of the meanest Villages in _Wirtemberg_. This +Town is in no respect very agreeable. The Nobility here don't seem very +fond of Strangers, and there are no Entertainments but what are made by +the Duke. No body here, not even the Prime Minister keeps a Table; and all +the Expence of the Courtiers is in their Dress, and their Horses. Yet +there is not a Prince of the Empire who gives handsomer Salaries, except +the Electors; so that the Case is the very reverse here to what it is at +almost all other Courts, for here People grow rich, whereas elsewhere they +are beggar'd. I have known Persons that came to this Court in mean +Circumstances, and in a few Years got Estates. The Duke is by nature +generous and beneficent, and wou'd be more so if his Liberality was not +curb'd. He has given several Gentlemen Materials for building _gratis_; +and the Houses were no sooner up but he purchas'd them, and paid as dear +for 'em as if he had not contributed a Shilling towards raising them. I +have been assur'd that his most Serene Highness's Revenues amounted to +four Millions of Florins. 'Tis certain that he is Master of one of the +finest Countries in all _Germany_; a Country which has plenty of every +thing, but Money is scarce by reason of the Fertility of the neighbouring +Provinces, _viz._ the _Palatinate_, _Bavaria_, _Franconia_, and _Alsace_. +The People are desirous of a War upon the Upper _Rhine_, in hopes of +putting off their Commodities. + +The _Lutheran_ is the only Religion tolerated in the Duchy of +_Wirtemberg_, tho' the Duke has permitted _Frisoni_ the Director of his +Buildings to erect a Chapel for the Use of the Catholic Workmen whom he +has sent for from _Italy_ to build the Palace; which Chapel however is +design'd to be demolish'd as soon as the Works are finish'd: But I am +rather inclin'd to think that the Court itself will one day have a +Catholic Chapel; for if the hereditary Prince shou'd happen to die without +Male-Issue, _Wirtemberg_ will fall to the Share of Prince _Alexander_, +(Cousin-german to the Duke) who has embraced our Religion; and who having +Children by the Princess of _Tour_ and _Taxis_ whom he marry'd at +_Brussels_, sees them brought up in the Catholic Faith. + + _I kiss your hand, and am_, &c. + + _POSTSCRIPT._ + +Since I wrote the above, the Countess _de Wurben_ is fallen under +Disgrace, which I have been told happen'd by this means. + +The Duke's Carriage to his Mistress had been cold for some time, when the +King of _Prussia_ came to _Ludwigsbourg_ and exhorted him to be reconcil'd +to his Wife, in order to get Heirs. The Duke cou'd not persuade himself to +take the Duchess again; but however the King's Representations prevail'd +so far, as to put him quite out of conceit with his Mistress. He just kept +up a bare Acquaintance with her, and that was all; which she perceiv'd, +and made no scruple to try the most extraordinary Methods to maintain +herself in Favour. The Duke having been blooded in her Presence, she +secreted a Napkin stain'd with his Blood. What Use she propos'd to make of +it I know not, but she carry'd it to her Apartment. The Duke's _Valets de +Chambre_ missing the Napkin acquainted their Master of it. M. _de Roder_, +a Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber, and a Favourite of his Highness, said that +no body cou'd possibly take it but the Countess, and that to be sure she +did it for no good. The Duke order'd M. _de Roder_ to go to the Countess's +Apartment and enquire into the Fact. _Roder_ ask'd for the Napkin. The +Countess deny'd her having it; but _Roder_ affirm'd he saw her take it, +upon which she was in a Passion with him, and told him she wou'd make him +repent of his Ill-manners to her. _Roder_ made answer, that all the Airs +she gave herself were out of season, that her Reign was over, and that he +wou'd oblige her to return the Napkin. The Countess not us'd to be talk'd +to at such a rate, was frighten'd, and restor'd the fatal Napkin, which +completed her Ruin. The Duke, when inform'd by his Favourite of what had +pass'd, sent an Order to the Countess not to stir from her Apartment: And +this Prince setting out soon after for _Berlin_, charged the hereditary +Prince his Son to command Madamoiselle _de Wurben_ to retire to her +Estate. The Countess obey'd, and being indulg'd to carry what she had a +mind to along with her, retir'd to a Territory of hers depending +immediately on the Empire, not many Leagues from _Ludwigsbourg_. There it +was that she heard of the Duke's Reconciliation with the Duchess, upon the +Duke's return from _Berlin_. This News extremely shock'd her, because she +always flatter'd herself that the Prince wou'd return to her: And +perceiving now that she had no Hopes of being restor'd to Favour by the +power of her own Charms, she had a mind to try what she cou'd do by I know +not what Charm in the Magic Art. To carry her Point she was under a +necessity of having a little of the Duke's Blood; and she wrote to his +_Valet de Chambre_, promising him great Rewards if he cou'd procure her +some. What does the Domestic but carry the Letter to the Duke? who +immediately gave Orders to Colonel _Streithorst_ to arrest the Countess, +and carry her to some Place of Security. The Colonel taking a Detachment +of Soldiers along with him, contriv'd it so that he came to the Countess's +Seat at Night, and immediately surrounding the House, knock'd at the Gate, +but no body making answer he thunder'd so hard at the Gate, that at length +Madame _de Sultman_ the Countess's Sister put her Head out at the Window, +and ask'd who it was that dar'd to make such a Noise. _Streithorst_ told +her his Name, and said he came thither by Order of the Duke. Madame _de +Sultman_ made answer that the Countess was not well, and cou'd not be +spoke with. The Colonel, who knew the contrary, said, that if they did not +let him in he wou'd break open the Doors; upon which they thought fit to +open them. During this the Countess was got to Bed; and _Streithorst_ +entring her Chamber found her there with her Sister and her two +Brothers-in-law, the General _N----_ and _Sultman_, who was formerly at +_Berlin_ Equerry to the Countess of _Wartenberg_, and afterwards +Privy-Counsellor to the Duke of _Wirtemberg_. The Colonel having signify'd +his Order to the Countess, she affected to be in a dying Condition; but +said that if she was able enough to get up she did not intend it, she +being at home, and in a free House of the Circle of _Swabia_, from whence +she did not think the Duke had Authority to remove her. The Colonel +threaten'd that his Grenadiers shou'd pull her out of Bed; and the Lady +seeing that she must obey, thought fit to rise. She fell on her Knees to +_Streithorst_; but the hard-hearted Officer was deaf to her Cries, and +conducted her to a place of Security where she is closely confin'd, and +like to be a Prisoner as long as the Duke lives. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XVII. + + + _SIR_, _Carlsrouhe, Feb. 15, 1730._ + +I Deny that any Man can be happier than I am at this Juncture. You have +wrote an excellent long Letter to me; you assure me that you are well, and +that you have still an Affection for me; what more is there wanting to +compleat my Joy? I am preparing to make you the best amends I can, and +instead of a Letter to write you a Volume. + +I came in one Day from _Ludwigsbourg_ to CARLSROUHE, which is the +Residence of the Margrave of _Baden-Dourlach_. The Name _Carlsrouhe_ +signifies _Charles_'s Rest. The present Margrave _Charles_ of +_Baden-Dourlach_ was the very Man that laid both the Plan and Foundation +of this City, and its Castle. Nothing is so pretty as the Disposition of +the whole: I wish I were able to give you an Idea of it. Imagine the +Margrave's House to be at the Entrance of a great Forest, in the Center of +a Star form'd by thirty two Walks, the chief of which behind the Palace is +three _German_ Leagues in length. Two large Wings advance from the main +Body of the House, which deviating from each other in proportion as they +lengthen, the whole together looks like a Theatre. Behind the principal +Building there's a very high Octogon Tower which commands all the Walks. +The Space between the two Wings forms the Court, and then come the Gardens +and Parterres, at the end of which there's a Semi-Circle of Houses of an +equal Height, built Arch-wise, and three Stories high including the +Ground-Floor. Between these Houses there run five Streets, the middlemost +of which fronts the Palace. At the end of the three chief Streets opposite +to the Palace are three Churches; one belonging to the _Lutherans_, +another to the _Calvinists_, and a third to the _Roman_ Catholics; to +which three prevailing Religions of the Empire the Margrave gave equal +Liberty of Conscience when he founded the new Town. + +The chief part of the Town lies behind the Houses that front the Palace. +This properly speaking consists but of one Street, which is of a +prodigious Length. All these Houses as well as the Margrave's are of +Timber, so that you are not to look for fine or substantial Buildings at +_Carlsrouhe_; but the Contrivance and Distribution of the whole taken +together is really wonderful. I took the Freedom to tell the Margrave that +I was surpriz'd that he had not at least employ'd Brick in the building of +his Palace, and of the Houses which form the Half-Moon about his Gardens. +'I was wil'ing, _said the Prince_, to make myself a Place of Retirement, +and to build without putting the Burthen on my Subjects. I chose moreover +to have the Comfort of enjoying what I built. If I had us'd Bricks it +wou'd have cost me a great deal more Money; and I cou'd not have finish'd +my Buildings without laying an extraordinary Impost upon my Country. It +wou'd have taken me up abundance of Time too, and perhaps I shou'd never +have had the Satisfaction of seeing an end to my Labours. Another Reason +was, that my Country is so scituate as to be liable to be the Theatre of +Wars, and I am not in a Condition to make this a strong Place, nor cou'd I +encompass it with Walls. Do you think therefore that I shou'd have been +justified in laying out a great deal of Money on a Place to see it burnt +down before my Face, as I did my House at _Dourlach_, and my other Houses +which the _French_ reduc'd to Ashes. I am but a petty Sovereign; I have +built a House according to my Condition, and I had rather it shou'd be +said of me that I have but a mean Habitation, and owe no Money, than that +I have a stately Palace and am over Head and Ears in Debt.' + +I have given you this account of what the Margrave said to me, because I +thought it wou'd let you into an Idea of his Character. This Prince, to +whom I was introduc'd on the very day of my Arrival here, took the trouble +himself to shew me his Palace, and all about it. I thought the Apartments +very well laid out, but there is not room enough to lodge the hereditary +Prince, who lives in one of the Houses in the Semi-Circle fronting the +Palace. + +The Pheasant-Walk, which joins to the Castle, is the prettiest thing in +the World. 'Tis a very large Inclosure, dispos'd in various Walks planted +with Fir-Trees cut in the shape of a Fan. There's a great Basin in the +Center always full of wild Ducks. 'Tis encompass'd with four Pavilions, +made in the Form of _Turkish_ Tents. Two of the Pavilions are Volarys, and +the two others Summer-Houses, with Window-Curtains of Green Cloth. There +are Sofas and Couches, after the manner of the Eastern Countries. In this +Place of Retirement and Rest the Margrave spends some Hours every Day, +and he is generally accompany'd by some young Ladies whom he teaches +Music; so that they perform agreeable Concerts. + +The Margrave was in the right to give his House the Name of _Charles's +Rest_, for he leads the most tranquil Life here that can be. Far from +being infatuated with vain Grandeur, he has the Charms of it, without the +Check and Constraint of it. This Prince is of a very robust Constitution, +and tho' he underwent a vast deal of Fatigue in his Youth, he is as +fresh-colour'd and as vigorous as if he was but forty Years of Age. He +travell'd when he was a young Man into the principal parts of _Europe_; +and during his Father's Life-time was several Years in the Service of +_Sweden_. When he return'd to his Dominions he serv'd in the Army of the +Empire on the Upper _Rhine_, under his Cousin Prince _Lewis_ of _Baden_. +Tho' the Margrave is very fat, yet he uses a great deal of Exercise. He +rises in Summer at five o'Clock in the Morning, and walks in his Gardens +till the Heat of the Weather obliges him to retire within doors; then he +does Business with his Counsellors, or else employs himself in Experiments +of Chymistry, and sometimes he draws. He commonly dines at four o'clock, +and is attended by Waiting-Women, of whom there are no less than +threescore, tho' no more than eight wait upon one Day. These, when the +Margrave goes abroad, attend him on horseback, dress'd like _Hussurs_. The +Generality of these Damsels understand Music and Dancing; they also +perform Operas at the Theatre of the Palace, and are Musicians of the +Chappel. They have all Lodgings in the Palace. After Dinner is over the +Margrave grants Audience to his Subjects; and upon particular Days of the +Week hears all that come. Few Princes render Justice more speedily, and +more punctually. Sometimes he goes a Hunting. He makes very light +Suppers, and retires early to Bed. He delights in Agriculture, and is one +of the greatest Florists living. This Prince is never unemploy'd. There +are few things which he does not know, and very many which he understands +to Perfection. His Conversation is as agreeable as any I know. He speaks +several Languages well. His Behaviour is obliging and courteous. He loves +Foreigners, treats them with Distinction, and loads them with Civilities. +Upon Sundays and Holidays he eats with the Prince his Son, and the +Princess his Daughter-in-law. His Table, which is then spread for sixteen +Guests, is serv'd with more Delicacy than Profusion. + +The hereditary Prince[122], only Son to the Margrave, is pretty short, and +has not the Life and Spirit of his Father. He is very complaisant and +civil, and seems to me of a good-natur'd Disposition. He has been at +_Paris_, in _England_, and in _Holland_, where he marry'd the Daughter of +the unfortunate Prince of _Nassau_, who was drown'd in 1711, as he was +passing the _Maerdyke_ to the _Hague_, to adjust with _Frederic_ I. King +of _Prussia_, such Differences as related to the Succession of the late +King _William_ of _Great Britain_, to which they both laid Claim. The +hereditary Princess seems to me to be well behav'd; and she makes very +handsome Entertainments. The Court assembles at her House every day, +_viz._ at Noon, and at five o'clock in the Evening; and there they dine, +game, and sup. Foreigners are very well receiv'd there, and both the +Ladies and Gentlemen are very civil and complaisant. + +The Grand Marshal, and his Brother the Great Huntsman, are Persons capable +of making a Figure with Distinction in the greatest Courts. The first +marry'd a legitimated Daughter of the Margrave. + +The Baron _d'Ixter_, President of the Regency, and Chief of the Council, +is a Person of signal Merit, and capable of any Business, be it ever so +great. + +Generally speaking the Margrave's Court is extremely well regulated. This +Prince is fond of the Nobility, and seeks to do them a Pleasure. He has +none but Persons of Quality in his Service. 'Tis great pity that this +Court does not come together again. The Margravine, who is Sister to the +Duke of _Wirtemberg_, resides at _Dourlach_, and never comes to +_Carlsrouhe_ but when 'tis a Holiday, or when some foreign Prince is +there. This Princess is actually very much indispos'd, so that I don't +think I shall have the Honour of kissing her Hand. The Margrave also +educates at his Court three young Princes his Nephews, the Sons of his +Brother. They are under the Government of the Baron _de Gemming_, who +takes very great Care of their Education. + +As to the Margrave's Revenues, I cannot be positive what they are, because +I found that People who ought to know best, vary in their Calculations not +a little; some assur'd me they were 400,000, some 500,000 Florins, and +others much more. Be it as it will, 'tis certain that the Margrave lives +nobly, that every body is well paid, and that the Subjects are not +over-burthen'd. Farewell, Sir, I set out to-morrow for _Rastadt_, and +shall write to you as soon as I can, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XVIII. + + + _SIR_, _Strasbourg, Feb. 28, 1730._ + +It took me up no more than four Hours to go from _Carlsrouhe_ to RASTADT. +As soon as I alighted there I notified my Arrival to the Grand Marshal, +with a Request that he wou'd procure me the Honour of paying my +Compliments to their Highnesses of _Baden-Baden_. I had for answer, that +the Margrave was out a Hunting, and that therefore I cou'd not have an +Audience before next day. I had patience to stay; and having by Good luck +some Books at hand, I spent all that day in Reading, and the next day too, +but did not hear a Word from the Grand Marshal. Mean time as I did not +come to _Rastadt_ purely to read, and as 'tis a Town does not afford much +Amusement, since a quarter of an hour is enough to know all the Streets, I +was very chagrin. I sent a second Message to the Grand Marshal, but had +the same Answer as before. I thought it improper to insist any farther, +and gave over all hopes of seeing the Court of _Rastadt_. However I went +to see the Margrave's Palace, which his Father the late Prince _Lewis_ of +_Baden_ built from the ground. It is very much like to the Palace of _St. +Cloud_ near _Paris_, and seems to be a Building conducted with more +Regularity than I observ'd in several new Houses in _Germany_ left solely +to the Direction of ignorant Masons, who without a Taste for Building have +the Assurance to call themselves Architects. + +The principal Stair-Case is large and lightsome. The Apartments have all +the Conveniences they can admit of. Those which are contiguous to the +grand Stair-Case are distributed into several Partitions, for Shew and for +Convenience. They are painted, gilt, and gaily furnish'd. The Margravine +Dowager to Prince _Lewis_ put them in this Condition against the Marriage +of her Daughter to the Duke of _Orleans_; and the Furniture is indeed rich +and well fancy'd. The Keeper shewed me the Closet in which Prince _Eugene_ +of _Savoy_ and Marshal _Villars_ sign'd the Peace in 1714. 'Tis pity that +this truly magnificent Palace has no Gardens to it. There's Ground mark'd +out for that purpose, and if Prince _Lewis_ had liv'd they wou'd have been +finish'd. + +After having seen the Apartments and the Chapel, which is small, but +exceedingly adorn'd, not knowing what to do with myself I went to a +Billiard-Table fronting the Palace, where I found some Gentlemen of the +Court as idle as myself. They treated me as a Foreigner, and were +complaisant to me. A young Fellow of a good Appearance, and who seem'd to +have an Air of Politeness, having refus'd as well as myself to play, +enter'd into a Conversation with me: And by degrees that Sympathy of our +Tempers, which was a Stranger to the Laws of Reason, made us talk to one +another with as much Freedom as if we had been old Acquaintance. I +complain'd to him that tho' I had been three days at _Rastadt_ I cou'd not +get an Opportunity of paying my Duty to their Highnesses of _Baden_. He +told me that I need not be surpriz'd at it; that since the Death of the +late Prince _Lewis_, the Margravine his Dowager, who was hereditary +Princess of _Saxe-Lawenbourg_, had introduc'd into her Court the +Ceremonial of the Eastern Princes; that she never appear'd but in a full +Divan, and that she did not permit any one whatsoever to come near to her +Son except the Bashaws and Dervizes who were of the Council. The young +Gentleman's manner of accounting for this matter made me smile, and put me +upon asking him several Questions. 'How! _said I_, according to the +Character I have had of the Margravine, she is very much of a Christian, +and of that virtuous Heroine which the wise Man, if he had been still +living, wou'd have propos'd to us for a Model. Indeed, _said the +Gentleman_, the Character you have had of her is right enough: The +Margravine has Piety and Virtues that render her valuable; but she has a +Haughtiness, and a certain _Particularity_ in her Temper, which is hardly +to be parallell'd. For instance, if she had receiv'd you it wou'd have +been standing under a Canopy by an Arm-Chair, with as much State as the +Empress. She wou'd have ask'd you two or three Questions, after which she +wou'd have assur'd you of her Protection, and then have dismiss'd you +without detaining you to dine with her, as is the manner of all the +Princes of the Empire; but 'tis not the fashion here, _continued the +Gentleman_. The Margravine commonly dines in private, and we who are of +her Court don't see her but at Mass. The young Margrave our Master wou'd +like well enough to see Company, but his Mother giving him to understand +that she does not care for it, he conforms to her Pleasure. The young +Margravine, who is the Daughter of the Prince _de Schwartzenbourg_, has no +Authority, because tho' naturally obliging and civil she durst not put her +good Qualities in practice, because the Margravine Dowager reproaches her +that she does not know how to carry it like a Sovereign; by which means +this poor Princess is oblig'd to be proud against her Inclination. If you +were to see her you wou'd be charm'd with her; for she is tall and +handsome, of a lively fair Complexion, but not languid, and has a very +noble Air. When the Margrave marry'd her she was an only Daughter, and the +Princess of _Schwartzenbourg_ her Mother, who had not lived with her +Husband for near fifteen Years, was not like to have any more Children. +But the Event has proved contrary; for the Prince and Princess of +_Schwartzenbourg_ are reconcil'd, and the Princess has had a Son, who has +frustrated the Hopes of our young Margravine of being some day or other +one of the richest Heiresses in the Empire. This has not advanc'd her in +the Favour of her Mother-in-law, who often snaps at her; but there being +no Remedy, the young Princess bears her Ill-humours with Patience. As she +is just brought to bed too of a Son, we hope she will have more Interest; +at least 'tis what we all wish, because she is a very good Princess. 'Tis +not a Year, _continued the Gentleman_, that our young Margrave has been of +Age, nevertheless his Majority is so controll'd by the Ascendancy which +the Dowager keeps over her Son, that it may be said 'tis she who governs +still. This Prince accustom'd to obey knows not what is the Pleasure of +commanding. There's the same likelihood of his being a Dependant as long +as his Mother lives; and indeed he ought to humour that Princess, as well +because she was always a good Mother to him, as for the Advantages she is +capable of doing him; for she is very rich, and has a noble Estate in +_Bohemia_, which she wou'd perhaps give to her youngest Son, who is Canon +of _Cologne_ and _Augsbourg_, if the Margrave disobliged her; tho' I +believe it must be a great Offence indeed that wou'd provoke her to +disinherit him, because he was always her Darling, and perhaps too the +most dutiful of all her Children. Such is her Tenderness for this Son +that when there was a Talk of his going abroad she wou'd needs go with +him; and she actually accompany'd him all over _Italy_. Some People were +indeed so ill-natur'd as to say that 'twas not out of Love to the Prince, +but because she was afraid he wou'd wean himself from her Company, and +break quite away from her. 'Tis said however that she is going to quit the +Court, and to retire to _Etlingen_, which is the Place assign'd for her +Jointure. We all wish it, not that we have any reason to complain of this +Princess, but because we hope then to have a gayer Court. For the rest, to +do the Margravine Dowager Justice, she has manag'd her Son's Finances with +a great deal of [OE]conomy. When the late Prince _Lewis_ died he left a +heavy Debt upon the Country, which was also ruin'd by the late War. But +the Margravine Regent has paid off all, and so happily retriev'd the +Government and the Finances, that when her Son came of Age she gave him +considerable Sums, and the Country was in a better Condition than ever.' + +There the Gentleman concluded. After putting several Questions to him I +learnt that the Duchess of _Orleans_ had been promis'd in Marriage to +Prince _Alexander_ of _Tour_ and _Taxis_[123], that the Presents were made +for the Wedding, and that the same was very soon to be celebrated: But +when the Duke of _Orleans_ actually sent M. _d'Argenson_ his Chancellor to +_Rastadt_ to demand the Princess in Marriage, the Margravine her Mother +thinking this a better Match beyond comparison, call'd back the Promise +she had made to the Prince _de la Tour_, and concluded the Treaty with the +Duke of _Orleans_. The young Margrave marry'd his Sister by Proxy, in +presence of M. _d'Argenson_, and the Princess was conducted to +_Strasbourg_, where finding a Set of Domestics sent from _Paris_ to +receive her, she turn'd off all her _German_ Servants and proceeded on her +Journey to _Chalons_, whither the Duke of _Orleans_ went to meet her. + +The same Gentleman from whom I learnt all these Particulars told me +likewise that the young Margrave, before he marry'd the Princess of +_Schwartzenbourg_, was to have had the Daughter of King _Stanislaus_, but +that the Margravine broke off the Marriage-Treaty which was very far +advanc'd, because the King was not able to pay down a hundred thousand +Crowns ready Money for his Daughter's Dowry. It was undoubtedly owing to +that Princess's happy Star that the King could not raise the Sum, for in +such case his Daughter would not now have worn one of the first Crowns in +the World. The Gentleman told me moreover that the Margravine was +mortify'd to the last degree when she heard that the Princess whom she had +refus'd for her Daughter-in-law was become the Queen of _France_. She was +apprehensive too that this Princess or the King her Father would take +revenge for the Slight she had put upon their Alliance, and she wrote a +Letter to King _Stanislaus_ to congratulate him on an Event so glorious to +him, and to recommend to him the Duchess of _Orleans_ her Daughter. _I +intreat you, Sir_, said she, _to prevail with the Queen your Daughter to +honour my Daughter and all my Family with her Favour. I will presume to +say that both I and Mine deserve it at your Hands for the Respect we have +always had for you_. This Letter, which was as submissive as the +Margravine's Conduct had been haughty, was receiv'd with very great +Civility by King _Stanislaus_, who, after having read it to the Queen his +Wife, could not help saying, _I am much oblig'd to the Margravine for +this Letter_, and he return'd her a very engaging Answer. 'Tis my Opinion +that at that time, instead of bearing the Princess any Ill-will he took it +very kindly of her that she had refus'd his Daughter for a +Daughter-in-law. The officious Gentleman would perhaps have inform'd me of +other Particulars concerning the Court of _Rastadt_, if the Margrave's +Return from Hunting had not oblig'd him to go to the Castle. I thank'd him +for the trouble he had given himself, and went and shut my self up at my +Quarters. + +I set out next day for _Strasbourg_, and in less than five Hours arrived +at KEHL. 'Tis all an even Country, and admirable Roads. We travel thro' +the Dominions of _Spire_, the Bishoprick of _Strasbourg_, and the County +of _Hanau_. At _Kehl_ I paid a Visit to the General Baron _de Roth_, the +Governour of the Place, who entertain'd me at Dinner, and made me +exceeding welcome, but so ply'd me with Liquor that I thought my self at +_Fulde_ or _Wurtzbourg_. After Dinner M. _de Roth_ shewed me the +Fortifications, which I found in a very bad State. The Commandant told me +that he had taken a world of pains to represent it to the Dyet of the +Empire at _Ratisbonne_, but that he might as well have talk'd to so many +deaf Men. 'Tis certain that if Care be not taken, the _Rhine_ will wash +away the Fort one day or other, and carry it to _Holland_. The Marshal _de +Bourg_ said to me a while ago when we were talking of _Kehl_, that M. _de +Roth_ would do well to fasten his Fort with Chains to the Citadel of +_Strasbourg_. + +There's only a Bridge over the _Rhine_ to pass from _Kehl_ to STRASBOURG +the Capital of _Alsace_, and formerly an Imperial City. The _French_ made +themselves Masters of it in _September_ 1681, when they came to the very +Gates of the Place before the Town had notice of their March, and when it +was in no Condition to make resistance; for whether they thought they had +no need of being upon their guard, or whether the chief Burgomasters had +been corrupted, the Town wanted but every thing. The Capitulation was +signed on one side by the Marquis _de Louvois_, and the Baron _de Monclar_ +Commandant in _Alsace_; and on the other by eight Deputies of the City, +which was secured in all its Privileges, Prerogatives and Customs, both +ecclesiastical and civil. The Bishop was nevertheless restored to his See, +and the Canons to the Cathedral, which had belonged for 152 Years to the +_Lutherans_. _Lewis_ XIV. made his entry into _Strasbourg_ the 23d of +_October_ following, and immediately order'd a Citadel and other Works to +be erected, which have since been so augmented that _Strasbourg_ may now +be rank'd among the most important Places of _Europe_. The Marshal Count +_de Bourg_ commands in it, and has one of the King's Lieutenants under +him, who is always a General Officer. M. _Dangervilliers_[124] formerly +Intendant of _Dauphiny_, is Intendant of the Province of _Alsace_ and the +City of _Strasbourg_. These Gentlemen, whom I have been to see, receiv'd +me with prodigious Civility, and very punctually return'd my Visit. + +The Marshal Count _de Bourg_ preserves a stately Mien in an advanced Age, +and one may easily perceive he has been a very fine Man in his time. He +was Page to _Philip_ of _France_ Duke of _Orleans_, Brother to _Lewis_ the +Great, and to that Duke's Favour his Advancement to Military Employments +is very much owing, tho' 'tis true that he has distinguished himself in +the Service. On the 26th of _August_ 1709, he defeated near _Rumersheim_ +the Count _de Mercy_, who commanded a flying Camp of 9000 Men detach'd +from the Army of the Empire, then under Command of the Elector of +_Hanover_, afterwards _George_ I. King of _Great Britain_. This Victory +gain'd M. _de Bourg_ the blue Ribbon. King _Lewis_ XV. gave him the Staff +of a Marshal of _France_, and confirmed him in the Government of +_Strasbourg_. The _French_ Officers accuse this Marshal of Pride, but for +my part, I have all the Reason that can be to love him for his Civility. + +M. _Dangervilliers_ is really more engaging than the Marshal, and is +therefore more beloved by the Officers. He is affable and civil, +complaisant to Foreigners, and lives with a vast deal of Splendor. The +Princes of the Empire that border upon _Alsace_ like him very well, and +think he is more candid, and less haughty than his Predecessors. + +There's not many of the Nobility settled in this City, and of these few +that are wealthy; and therefore they live very much retir'd. The Canons of +the Great Chapter who ought all to be Princes or Counts, are not of very +great Service, because most of 'em holding other Benefices, only come to +_Strasbourg_ to pass away three Months there of their Residence, and by +consequence they are here as Strangers. The best Houses therefore are the +Intendant's and the King's Lieutenant's. There are always a great many +Officers here who are indeed amiable Fellows, and know how to serve, and +to be good Company too upon occasion. The Commandants of the Corps are in +Years, and Officers of Experience, and the rest are clever smart Youths +who long sadly to be fighting, and would fain make you believe the four +Corners of the World will quickly be on fire. I have not seen finer +Infantry than the _French_ Infantry at this present time. There are very +fine Gentlemen too in the Cavalry, but then they are not near so well +mounted as ours. You know the Cry with us is that the _French_ are ruin'd, +and not able to do any thing more. How the Case stands with them, I really +know not, but if one may judge of it by Appearances, it cannot be so. No +Troops were ever better cloathed, better paid, more spruce, nor finer. The +Officers are splendid; they game, divert themselves, and eat and drink +well, which does not seem to me to be the Life of People in want. Upon +these terms, I would be content to be in such want all my Life long. + +The Garrison maintains a Company of Comedians who are paid by the +Captains, and commanding Officers, for the Subalterns are admitted +_gratis_. The Theatre, which is one of the prettiest in the Country, is +maintain'd by the City. + +A Man that has a Taste for a plain home-bred Girl may here find Amusement +and good Blood. 'Tis observ'd that the _Lutheran_ Women are the most +beautiful, and the Sex at this Place is said to be very indulgent, and +very tractable; so that I should be apt to think, a Man need not be very +open-hearted to them. + +Tho' _Strasbourg_ may be reckon'd among the finest Towns in _France_, one +can't say there's a single House in it that is magnificent, or makes a +grand Appearance. The Cathedral is a very stately Building of _Gothic_ +Architecture; its famous Spire is one of the most lofty, and of the +neatest Workmanship of any in _Europe_. _Misson_, who 'tis like always +carried his Plummet and Foot-Rule in his Pocket, because he never fails to +give the Length and Breadth and Height of a Thing, says that 'tis 574 Foot +in height; and I believe he is not mistaken. _Erkivin de Stembach_ who was +the Architect, finish'd it in the Year 1449. 'Tis said that _Lewis_ XIV. +had a mind to have a Spire erected upon the second Tower which seems to +have been built with that View. He order'd M. _de Vauban_ to draw a Model +of it, and to compute the Cost, which he found would amount to several +Millions of Livres. The King thinking that he could employ that Sum to a +better purpose, contented himself with making a Present to the Cathedral +of the Ornaments, and all the Priests Vestments for celebrating Mass upon +the several annual Festivals; the whole of which is extraordinary +sumptuous, and becoming the Magnificence of one of the greatest Kings in +the World. 'Twas in the Cathedral of _Strasbourg_ that the Duke of +_Orleans_ the first Prince of the Blood of _France_ married as Proxy to +_Lewis_ XV. _Mary Lescinski_, the Daughter of King _Stanislaus_. This +Ceremony, at which I was present, was more magnificent than what was +observ'd at _Fontainbleau_ at the Queen's Arrival; and the Concourse of +_German_ Noblemen and Princes hither upon the Occasion was prodigious. The +Cardinal _de Rohan_, as Bishop of _Strasbourg_, gave the Nuptial +Benediction. Nothing can be finer than the Speeches which his Eminency +made upon that Solemnity: As they fell into my hands, I think I ought to +communicate them to you. You will find them _verbatim_ at the End of this +Letter. _Poland_ in this Instance, made a worthy Restitution to _France_, +which many Years ago gave the _Poles_ a King who was afterwards the +unfortunate _Henry_ III; and they have now in their turn given a Queen to +_France_. But _Germany_ may boast that the Queen derives from the Empire +that Fund of Virtue which is the Source of her Happiness, and makes her +admir'd by the Universe. _France_ had for a long time left off sending to +our Climates for her Queens. _Mary-Anne Victoria_ of _Bavaria_ was in a +fair way to be one, but she died a Dauphiness[125]. _Lorrain_, _Scotland_, +_Italy_ and _Spain_, had as it were engross'd the Crown of _France_ for +their Princesses. But I hope the Virtues of the present Queen and the +other _German_[126] Princesses who are now at the Court of _France_ will +oblige the _French_ to confess that if our Princesses have not Crowns for +their Dowries like the Infanta's of _Spain_, they have an Estate of more +Value than all the Wealth in the World, _viz._ Piety, Charity, and Love +for the People. + +A great many young _German_ Gentlemen come hither for the sake of learning +_French_, and their Exercises, but I don't think they are a jot the better +for it, because the Masters of their Exercises are not better Scholars +here than they are in many Towns of _Germany_; and as to the _French_, +they speak it very ill in this City; for the Inhabitants talk +_High-Dutch_, and our young Sparks are so pleas'd to hear their own +Language spoke that they neglect to learn any other. Besides they always +herd together, and too easily catch one another's Vices as well as +Virtues. As they have not many Parts to shew, they spend their time at the +Billiard-Table, the Coffee-House, and often at other Places not so honest, +of which there are but too many here, this being a City as noted for +Libertines as any in _Europe_. + + _I am_, &c. + + * * * * * + +_The Speech of Cardinal +de Rohan+ to the_ QUEEN_, before the Celebration +of the Marriage._ + +_MADAME_, + +'While I see you in this sacred Temple approaching to our Altars to +contract that illustrious Alliance which is to unite you to the greatest +of Kings and the most amiable of Princes, I adore what God designs you +for, and admire with Transport the Course that Providence is steering to +conduct you to the Throne which you are going to ascend. You are +descended, MADAME, from a Family illustrious for its Antiquity, for its +Alliances, and for the eminent Employments which the great Men it has +given to _Poland_ have fill'd successively with so much Glory. You are the +Daughter of a Father, who, thro' the various Events of a busy Life, +chequer'd by good and bad Fortune, has always shewn himself the Gentleman, +the Hero, and the Christian. You have for your Mother, and your +Grandmother, Princesses, who like to _Judith_, and to that virtuous Woman +whose Character is drawn in the Scriptures, have attracted the Veneration +and Respect of the whole World, by the Fidelity with which they always +walk'd in the Fear of the Lord. In your Person, MADAME, are center'd all +the Accomplishments that can be form'd by a happy Birth, and an admirable +Education, supported by Examples equally strong and affecting. In you, +that Goodness, that Mildness, and those Charms are predominant, which gain +Love at the same time as they inforce Respect; that Integrity of Heart +which nothing can resist; that Superiority of Understanding and Knowledge +which are conspicuous, as it were in spite of you, and in spite of that +Modesty and noble Simplicity which are natural to you; and finally that +which is the Crown of so much Merit, that Taste for Piety, and that +Attachment to the true Principles of Religion, which animate your Actions, +and regulate your Conduct. Adorn'd with all these Virtues, what Crown is +there to which you might not reasonably aspire, exclusive of the Custom +which in some measure obliges Kings to look no farther than round the +Throne for Princesses that they have a mind would reign with them? He who +disposes of Empires puts the Sceptre of _Poland_ into the hands of a +Prince to whom you owe your Being, and by giving the Father that Splendor +conducts the Daughter insensibly to the sublime Station he is preparing +for her. But, O God, how impenetrable are thy Designs, and how far above +human Prudence are the Means thou makest use of to bring about thy wise +Purposes! This Prince was scarce seated on the Throne in which the Choice +of the Grandees, and the Affection of the People had plac'd him, but he +was oblig'd to quit it: He is abandon'd, betray'd, persecuted; one fatal +Shot bereaves him of the Hero his Friend, and the chief Stay of his Hopes: +He submits to the necessity of the Times without abating in his Courage: +He seeks refuge in a Country which is the common Shelter of unfortunate +Kings: He comes to _France_, and thither, MADAME, you are following him. +All that see you there, touch'd with your Misfortunes, admire your Virtue, +the Odour of which spreads to the Throne of a young Monarch, who, such is +the Lustre of his Crown, the Extent of his Power, and above all, the +Charms of his Person, might have made his choice out of all the Princesses +of the World: But being guided by wise Counsels, he fixes it upon You; and +here the Finger of God is plainly visible in improving that very +Misfortune which separates the King your Father from his Subjects, and +takes you out of _Poland_ to give Us in your Person, a Queen who shall be +the Glory of a Father and of a Mother, of whom she is now the Comfort and +Delight; a Queen, who shall render that Nation happy which most richly +deserves it, at least for its Respect and its Fidelity to its Sovereigns; +a Queen, who being inviolably attach'd to her Duty, full of Tenderness and +Respect for her Husband, and her King, and wisely employ'd in what is +capable of procuring her solid Happiness, will revive to us the Reign of +the Empress _Flaccilla_, of whom History says, that having always kept the +Precepts of the Divine Law in her view, she conferr'd thereupon daily with +the great _Theodosius_, and that her Words like a fruitful Rain, water'd +with success those Seeds of Virtue which God had sown in the Heart of her +Husband. Come then, MADAME, Come to the Altar. May the Engagements you are +going to enter into, sacred of themselves, (since according to the +Apostle, they are the Symbol of the Union of Jesus Christ with his Church) +may they be also sanctify'd by your own Disposition. May you be so +sensible of what you are going to be, that you may acknowledge that in +crowning your Merits, he crowns his Gifts: And may you Christians that +hear me, when you see the shining Rewards that are bestowed in this World +upon true Virtue, learn to respect and love it.' + + * * * * * + +_The Cardinal's Speech after the Celebration of the Marriage._ + +_MADAME_, + +'Now that august Ceremony is ended which crowns our Hopes and our Wishes; +give me leave to desire your Majesty's Royal Protection for the Church of +_Strasbourg_. This Church has not forgot and never will forget the signal +Favours it has received from our former Kings. How great are its +Obligations to our last Monarch! Being deliver'd up by the Misfortunes of +the Times to the Furys of Schism and Heresy, it would perhaps have +perish'd as many others did, if that great Prince, by resuming the Rights +of his Ancestors, had not undertaken its defence, and supported it with +all his Power. To him it is oblig'd for the Advantage of being restored +to the Possession of this sacred Temple from which it had been banished. +There's nothing here but what puts us in mind of his Pious and Royal +Magnificence. Temples adorn'd, Pastors liberally maintain'd, Missions +founded, new Converts protected and supported, are so many Monuments of +the Zeal and Piety of a King whose Memory will never die. He had not the +Comfort to finish the Work which he had undertaken; that is to say, the +reuniting of all the Sheep of this illustrious Flock in one and the same +Fold: This was reserv'd to the worthy Heir of his Zeal and Crown. It will +be your part, MADAME, to represent to your August Spouse how much the +Remembrance of his Great Grandfather, his own Glory, and our Necessities, +which are even those of Religion, require of him. You will not desire that +Recourse shou'd be had to those Methods which exasperate, without +persuading; such would not be to your Majesty's liking, and God forbid +that we should suggest them to you. Those Children who disown us are your +Subjects, MADAME, and the Church of _Strasbourg_ confiding intirely in +God's Mercy, still looks on itself as their Mother. We therefore conjure +you by the Bowels of Jesus Christ, to employ, for the sake of uniting +them, every Thing with which an active but sympathizing Charity may +inspire you. God will bless your Majesty's Endeavours, and our Desires, +and will employ the Instances of your Piety and your Faith to the total +Confusion of Error, and the Triumph of the Truth. May your Reign be long +over us, MADAME, for the Happiness of the King, and the Welfare of this +great Kingdom. May God hear the Prayers which the Church has now offer'd +up for your Majesty, and may you be so good as to place us in the Rank of +your most zealous and most faithful Subjects.' + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XIX. + + + _SIR_, _Heidelberg, March 12, 1730._ + +Being in the Neighbourhood of SAVERNE where the Cardinal _de Rohan_ lives, +I had a mind to go thither. I have had the Honour to be known to that +Prelate a long time, and was overjoy'd at the opportunity of paying my +respects to him. + +_Armand Gaston_ Cardinal _de Rohan_ was elected Bishop of _Strasbourg_ the +10th of _April_ 1704[127], and received the Cardinal's Cap from the Hands +of _Lewis_ XIV. the 18th of _May_, 1712. The Year following he succeeded +the Cardinal _de Janson_ as Great Almoner. The Emperor granted him the +Temporal Investiture of the See of _Strasbourg_[128] on the 10th of +_June_ 1723, and in 1724, he obtain'd a Seat in the College of Princes at +the Assembly of _Ratisbon_. This Prelate who is considerable for his Birth +and Dignities, is much more so for his great Soul, his polite and obliging +Behaviour, and for an Air of Grandeur which accompanies all his Actions. +He is a comely Person, as are indeed all of his Family. Being noble and +magnificent in every thing that he does, he lives wherever he is like a +great Nobleman, but particularly at _Saverne_. I found at his Palace the +Duke and Duchess of _Tallard_, the Duchess _de la Meilleraie_, +Madamoiselle _de Melun_, the Prince and Princess of _Birkensfield_, M. +_Dangervilliers_, the Intendant of _Strasbourg_, the Count and Princess of +_Hanau_, and in short a great many Officers of Distinction. They had all +convenient Lodgings and Accommodation in the Castle; and Gaming, taking +the Air, Hunting, Music, and Good Cheer were their constant Diversions. + +The Bishops of _Strasbourg_ have resided for a long time at the Palace of +_Saverne_, which was always a convenient House; but the Cardinal _de +Roban_ has made it very considerable. The outside of this Palace is not so +magnificent as the inside. The Entry which leads to the chief Stair-Case +is lighted to great advantage, and has several Outlets that have a +convenient Communication with the lower Apartments, which are high, and +very finely embellish'd. The principal Stair-Case is very grand, and leads +to a stately Salon with most curious Decorations. It has a double +Apartment which is render'd as commodious as possible; and the Furniture +consists of Embroidery of Gold and Silver, which may be thought perhaps +too rich. The Queen, who lodg'd at the Cardinal's House when she came to +_Saverne_, was charm'd with the Splendor of it, and the extraordinary +Respect with which she was attended here. + +The Cardinal _de Rohan_ designs that this rich Furniture shall remain +annex'd to the See; for which his Successor will certainly have very great +Obligations to him: But his Eminence was not so much oblig'd to his +Predecessors; for when he was chose Bishop he found a House very much out +of order, and scarce a Chair in it, whereas 'tis now fit for a King. His +Eminency is about making very large fine Gardens, which are in very great +forwardness, and perfectly answerable to the Grandeur and Beauty of the +Palace; and at the end of them there is a stately Canal which cost +infinite Labour and Expence. The whole of it is the more magnificent +because _Saverne_ stands at the foot of very high Mountains; and in +digging the Canal the Workmen often met with Rocks which they were forc'd +to blow up. + +At the Cardinal's Table there's both Abundance and Elegance; and his +Eminency entertains in such a manner as really charms his Guests. All his +Domestics follow his example; and 'tis certain that they are all very +diligent; and that there is not a House in _France_, or in _Europe_, where +there's better Attendance. His Eminency's Houshold, and all his Temporal +Affairs in general, are directed by the Abbott _de Ravanne_, Counsellor in +the Parliament of _Paris_. + +The Cardinal is one of the richest Noblemen in _France_, and without +dispute the most expensive. He has built a Hotel at _Paris_, and furnish'd +it sumptuously. He has made considerable Works at _Saverne_, and laid out +a great deal of Money in Plate, Furniture, Pictures, antique Vessels, and +Busts, Medals, and Books. Some time ago he purchas'd of the President +_Menard_ the famous Library of the illustrious Messieurs _de Thou_, +formerly one of the most celebrated in _France_; and he daily in-riches +it with all the most curious and uncommon Books and Manuscripts. + +Besides all these Expences, the Cardinal intends also to build a new +episcopal Palace at _Strasbourg_[129], where he is indeed but +indifferently lodg'd at present. The Marquiss _de N----_ talking of the +Cardinal _de Rohan_'s Expence, said, _That, to be sure, his Eminency had +found out the Philosopher's Stone_. I think so too, and that he has done +it by procuring himself five or six hundred thousand Livres a-year in good +Benefices. + +From _Saverne_ I went to HAGUENAU, and to WEISSENBOURG, formerly Imperial +Cities, and now subject to _France_, but Places of little consequence. +King _Stanislaus_ after the Death of _Charles_ XII. King of _Sweden_, +being forc'd to quit _Deux-Ponts_ to which he had retired with his Family, +came and resided at _Weissenbourg_; and here it was that he receiv'd the +first Proposals that were made to him for the Marriage of his Daughter +with King _Lewis_ XV. I came and took up my Quarters at LANDAU, one of the +most scoundrel Places in the World, but the best fortify'd; and famous for +having stood out several Sieges. The Emperor _Joseph_ took it when he was +King of the _Romans_. The _French_ retook it a little before the signing +of the Peace at _Rastadt_, by which Treaty it was left in their hands. +They maintain a good Garison in it, and have added several Works to it. + +From _Landau_ I pass'd to BRHOUSEL, with an Intention to pay my respects +to the Cardinal _de Schonborn_ Bishop of _Spire_ who resides there, but I +did not succeed better there than at _Rastadt_; for his Eminency excus'd +himself from seeing me because he was going a hunting, and put me off till +next day; but I did not think it worth while to wait, what had happen'd to +me at the Court of _Baden_ being too fresh in my Memory. I was afraid of +the same Fate at _Brhousel_, where I lay at such sorry Quarters that I +cou'd not avoid catching Cold, my Lodging-Room being without Glass, and be +famish'd into the bargain, there being nothing to eat: Besides, my +Landlord told me that the Cardinal made even those People who came to him +upon Business dance attendance for three or four days. I said to my self +therefore that he had much more reason to make me wait, who came to his +Court out of meer Curiosity. I resolv'd therefore, as any Gentleman ought +to have done in the like case, and took the opportunity of the Cardinal's +Absence to go and view the outside of his Palace. 'Tis a great Structure +not yet entirely finish'd, which the Cardinal has hitherto carry'd on from +the very Foundation; but if I must be sincere with you, all these Works, +considerable as they are, have been form'd upon pitiful Plans. It has cost +a very large Sum of Money; and I fancy that in the time of the ancient +_Teutonics_, it wou'd have been reckon'd a very fine Structure. The chief +Beauty of it lies in its Situation; for a great Variety of agreeable +Objects are discovered from the Apartments. The Gardens are also so new +that one can scarce know the Plan of 'em; it seems to me that they are not +of an extraordinary Taste, and that they wou'd be much more suitable for a +private Man than for a Sovereign. + +The Cardinal _de Schonborn_ is a keen Sportsman. He has Game enough in his +own Bishoprick, for the Country so abounds with all sorts that the Fields +are ruin'd by the Deer. The Peasants are so hard put to it to preserve +their Corn that they are oblig'd to watch it day and night. The Cardinal +often makes Hunting-Matches for the Stag and wild Boar, in which they kill +hundreds; at such times the Peasants are oblig'd to take a certain +quantity of Meat, for which they pay so much a Pound, according to a +Price that is regulated. The Bishoprick of _Spire_ is one of the +fruitfullest Provinces in _Germany_, but the Inhabitants are extremely +poor; for their Provisions lie on their hands, and they have scarce +wherewithal to pay the great Taillies due to their Sovereigns. + +The Dignity of the Bishop of _Spire_ is elective, as are all the +Bishopricks of _Germany_ which are not in the hereditary Dominions of the +House of _Austria_. The Bishop is Sovereign of the Country, but the City +of _Spire_ has particular Privileges, as have all the Imperial Cities. You +know it was at _Spire_ that the Emperor _Charles_ V. establish'd the +Imperial Chamber, which is as it were the Parliament of the Empire. The +_French_ having destroy'd _Spire_ when they ravag'd the _Palatinate_, the +Chamber or supreme Tribunal was transferred to _Wetzlar_ in _Wetteravia_, +where indeed it seem'd to be more in the Center of _Germany_, and secur'd +from all manner of Insult. + +_Damien-Hugo_ Count _de Schonborn_ Cardinal, is at this present Bishop of +_Spire_, and Co-adjutor of _Constance_. He is also grand Commander of the +Teutonic-Order. He was heretofore a Member of the Emperor's Privy-Council, +and his Plenipotentiary to the Circle of Lower _Saxony_. _Clement_ XI. of +the _Albani_ Family honour'd him with the Purple. He is descended of a +Family in which Merit has happen'd to be back'd by Fortune. The Cardinal's +Father was the first Count of it. He was also one of the Emperor's +Privy-Council, and Brother to _Lotharius-Francis_ Elector of _Mentz_ and +Bishop of _Bamberg_. The Cardinal has actually a Brother who is Elector of +_Triers_, another who is Bishop of _Wurtzbourg_ and _Bamberg_, whom I have +mention'd to you upon other occasions; and lastly, a third who is a +Counsellor of State[130] to the Emperor, and is now the Head of the +Family. Messieurs _de Schonborn_ had formerly an Elector of _Mentz_ in +their Family, who was at the same time Bishop of _Wurtzbourg_, but that +Prince left them no great Estate; so that they were not very rich when +_Lotharius-Francis_, Uncle to them all, was chose Elector of _Mentz_. But +this Prince procur'd them both Wealth and Honours, and render'd the Count +_de Schonborn_, who is Counsellor of State to the Emperor, one of the +richest Noblemen in _Germany_. + +From _Brhousel_ to _Heidelberg_ there's one of the finest Countries in the +World, planted with Fruit, and especially Walnut-Trees, which bring in a +great Revenue. + +The City of HEIDELBERG, upon the _Necker_, is very much pent up by that +River, and a Chain of Hills, so that 'tis not near so broad as 'tis long. +This City is the Capital of the Lower _Palatinate_, and was formerly the +Residence of the Electors. Here is a University which was founded in 1346, +by _Robert_ Prince _Palatine_, who was chose King of the _Romans_. No Town +has smarted more by the Scourge of War. Since the Disgrace of _Frederic_ +Elector _Palatine_, whom the _Bohemians_ chose for their King, it has been +taken, plunder'd, or burnt four times. In 1622, the Emperor's General +_Tilly_ put 500 _Palatines_ in it to the Sword, and at the same time the +Emperor carry'd off the famous Library, which he gave in part to _Urban_ +VIII. who caused it to be placed in the _Vatican_, where 'tis still to be +seen. In 1634, _Heidelberg_ was besieg'd twice. _John de Werth_ took it +for _Lewis_ XIV. but not being able to carry the Castle he retir'd. Not +many days after, the Marshals _de Force_ and _Brez_ forc'd the Quarters +of the _Germans_, and took both the Town and Castle. The _French_ took +this City a third time in 1688, and again in 1693, which was the last +time, Sword in hand; at what time they committed Cruelties shocking to +remember, and of which there are woful Marks still left in _Heidelberg_, +and all the Towns in the _Palatinate_. This City was beginning to recover +it self by the Elector's residing there, when it brought a more heavy +Disgrace upon it self than all the Misfortunes it had suffer'd by the War. +The Case was thus: + +The great Church of _Heidelberg_ since the Peace of _Westphalia_ belongs +half to _Roman_ Catholics, and half to the _Calvinists_, of whom the +former have the Choir, and the others the Body, and nothing but a thin +Partition separates the two Communions. The Choir not being big enough to +contain the Catholics when the Court resided at _Heidelberg_, the Elector +propos'd to the _Calvinists_ to yield him the Body of the Church, +alledging that not only the Choir was too scanty, but that he shou'd be +very glad that the Church in which the _Palatine_ Princes lie interr'd +were altogether Catholic. He promis'd at the same time that another Church +should be built for them larger and finer than what they were to yield to +him. The _Calvinists_ said that the great Church had been granted to them +by the Treaty of _Munster_; that all the Princes who were Guarantees of +the Peace of _Westphalia_ were engag'd to preserve them in the enjoyment +of it; that therefore they could not give it up without violating that +Treaty, which was their Security, and without rendring themselves unworthy +of the Protection of the Protestant Powers. The Elector, in order to +remove those Obstacles, consented that the Powers who were Guarantees of +the _Westphalian_ Treaty of Peace, in which the Church he desir'd was +expressly mentioned, should be Guarantees of the Church which he promis'd +should be built for them: But all these Offers how reasonable soever were +not accepted by the _Calvinists_. The Elector being thereby incens'd, +made use of his Sovereign Authority, and took by force what they were not +willing to yield to him; whereupon the _Calvinists_ had recourse to the +Protestant Princes of the Empire, the _Lutherans_ as well as the +_Calvinists_, who constituting but one Body and one Communion when the +Catholics are to be oppos'd, united together, and engag'd in their Quarrel +the Kings of _Great Britain_, _Denmark_, _Sweden_, and _Prussia_, and the +_States-General_. These Powers caused the Catholic Churches in their +Dominions to be shut up, sequester'd the Estates of the Convents, and made +such Clamors and Menaces that the Elector was oblig'd to reinstate the +_Calvinists_ in the Nave of the Church; but he was so angry with the +Inhabitants of _Heidelberg_ for their Disrespect to him that he remov'd +his Residence to _Manheim_. The Burghers were not very sorry at first for +the Departure of the Court; for being accustom'd to its Absence, they +flattered themselves that the Tribunals of the Regency, which, since the +Accession of the _Newbourg_ Family to the Electorate, had constantly been +kept at _Heidelberg_, would remain there still. But they were soon thrown +into the utmost Consternation when they saw those Tribunals follow the +Elector. They went and cast themselves at the Feet of their angry +Sovereign, and asking his Pardon for having affronted him, they offer'd +him the Church which was the cause of his Displeasure, and conjur'd him to +return to their City. But all their Supplications were fruitless; the +Elector was stedfast in his Resolution to punish _Heidelberg_, and +abandon'd it for ever. _Heidelberg_ having no Trade, and subsisting only +by the Court, or by the Tribunals of the Regency, of which it was totally +depriv'd, falls now into decay, and will, no doubt, e'er 'tis long dwindle +to little or nothing. + +The Elector's Palace is higher than the City, and situate in such a manner +that there's a Prospect from the great Apartments quite through the +Opening between the Mountains, by which the _Necker_ runs into the Plain. +The Palace is built of Free-Stone, and is a magnificent Structure. The +greatest part of it was burnt by the _French_ when they destroy'd the +_Palatinate_: The Lodging-Rooms that are subsisting are very substantial, +tho' not built in the modern Taste. The Apartments are large, but want +Ornament, especially since they have been stript of their Furniture. The +Gardens were formerly reckon'd the finest in _Germany_; but there's scarce +any thing left of them except the Place where they flourished. If one may +judge of what they were by their Situation, they must have been very +pleasant, by reason of the extensive Prospect they afforded into the +Country. + +I do not intend to detain you with an Account of the famous Tun, _Misson_ +having given a more exact Description of that than of many Towns which he +treats of. You will in his _Travels_ find a Cut of this Vessel, which will +give you a more perfect Idea of it than any Narrative whatsoever. The +Elector _John-William_, the Predecessor of the present Elector, gave a +Companion to this Tun, which is not altogether so large, but much more +adorn'd. They are both full of Wine. I remember that in 1719, when I was +at the _Palatine_ Court, the Elector ask'd me at Table whether I had seen +the Great Tun; and upon my saying that I had not, that Prince, than whom +there was not a more gracious Sovereign in the whole World, told me he +would carry me to it. He made a Proposal to the Princess his Daughter, who +was marry'd to the hereditary Prince of _Sullzbach_, to go thither after +Dinner was over; which she accepted. The Trumpets led the way, and the +Court followed in great Ceremony. When we had mounted the Platform which +is over the Tun, the Elector did me the honour to drink to me out of the +_Wilkom_, which was a Silver gilt Cup, of a large dimension. He took it +off clean at one Draught, and having caused it to be replenished, sent it +to me by a Page. Good Manners, and the Respect I ow'd to the Elector's +Commands, not permitting me to refuse the Chalice, I begg'd heartily that +he would suffer me to drink it off at several Draughts; which was indulg'd +me; and the Elector talking in the mean time with the Ladies, I took the +opportunity of his Absence, and made no scruple to deceive him, for I +return'd great part of the Wine to the bottom of the Tun, threw a part of +it on the ground, and the rest, which was the least part of it, I drank. I +thought my self well off that he did not perceive in what manner I bubbled +him; for I saw he was very well pleased with me. Then several other great +Glasses went round, and the very Ladies wet their Lips, which was the +thing that effectually contributed to demolish us. I was one of the first +that was overpower'd. I perceived those convulsive Motions that threaten'd +me if I drank any more, therefore I sneak'd off and made the best of my +way down from the Platform. I was endeavouring to get out of the Vault, +but was stop'd at the Door by two Life-Guard Men, who with their Carabines +crossing each other, cry'd, _Stand, there's no coming this way_. I +conjur'd them to let me pass, and told them that I had very important +Reasons for my departure; but I might as well have talk'd to the Wind. I +found my self in a terrible Quandary: To get up again to the head of the +Tun was Death: What would become of me I could not tell. In short I crept +under the Tun, and there hoped to hide my self; but it was a fruitless +Precaution: There's no avoiding a Man's Destiny. It was my Fate to be +carry'd out of the Vault, and to know nothing of the matter. For the +Elector perceiv'd I was a Deserter, and I heard him say, _Where is he? +What's become of him? Let him be look'd after, and brought up to me dead +or alive_. The Guards at the Door being examin'd said that I came that way +in order to get out, but that they sent me back again. All these +Inquiries, which I heard from my Hole, made me burrow my self the more. I +crept under the Covert of a couple of Boards I met with by chance, where +nothing but a Cat, Devil, or Page could possibly find me out. But a little +Page, who was indeed both Devil and Page too, ferreted me, and baul'd out +like one that was mad, _Here he is! Here he is!_ and then I was taken out +of my Covert. You may imagine what a silly Figure I made. I was carry'd +before my Judge, who was the Elector himself. But I took the liberty to +challenge both him and all the Gentlemen in his Retinue, as being Parties +in the Cause. _Alas! my little Gentleman_, said the Prince to me, _You +refuse us for your Judges; I will appoint you others then, and we shall +see whether you come off any better_. He nominated the Princess his +Daughter, and her Ladies to try me, and the Elector was my Accuser. After +pleading my own Cause they put it to the Vote, and I was condemn'd +unanimously to drink as long as I could swallow. The Elector said, that as +he was the Sovereign he would mitigate my Sentence; that I should that day +drink four Pint Glasses of Wine, and that for a Fortnight running I should +tip off the like Glass to his Health immediately after Dinner. Every body +admir'd the Elector's Clemency, and whether I did or not, I was fain to do +as they did, and to return him Thanks. Then I underwent the heaviest part +of my Sentence; I did not lose my Life indeed, but for some Hours I lost +both my Speech and my Reason. I was carry'd to a Bed, where when I came +to my self I was told that my Accusers were in the same pickle as I was; +and that none of them went out of the Vault in the same manner as they +enter'd it. Next day the Elector was so good as to mitigate the remaining +part of my Sentence, and excus'd me from the Penance to which I was +condemn'd, upon my promising him that I wou'd make one at his Table for a +Month to come. + + _I am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XX. + + + _SIR_, _Manheim, March 17, 1730._ + +In going from _Heidelberg_ to MANHEIM we leave the _Necker_ on the right +hand, but keep almost all the way by the side of that River. 'Tis three +Leagues from one City to the other, over a fruitful Plain. _Manheim_ lies +between the _Rhine_ and the _Necker_, in a marshy Country, which has +always been reckon'd very unwholesome. About fourscore Years ago this City +was but a Village. _Frederic_ Elector _Palatine_, who was chose King of +_Bohemia_, caus'd it to be fortify'd, and built a Castle or Citadel there, +which he call'd _Fredericsbourg_. At the same time a Town was built, of +which all the Streets run parallel, the chief that passes thro' the middle +of the Town was planted with Trees after the manner of _Holland_. But the +_French_ having taken _Manheim_ in 1693, raz'd it to the ground, and by +the Treaty of _Nimeguen_ it was stipulated that _Manheim_ should be +demolished; which was done accordingly. _John-William_ of _Newbourg_, the +last Elector, began again to fortify _Manheim_, according to the Plans +laid down by the famous _Cohorn_; but those Works were suspended, so that +no more than two Bastions and a Courtain were finish'd. When the present +Elector _Charles-Philip_ came to live at _Manheim_ he caus'd those Works +to be resumed which his Brother had discontinued, and to be carried on +with such Diligence that in a few Years he put the Place in a state of +Defence[131]. The Fortifications are all fac'd with Brick; and _Manheim_ +is now one of the best Places in all _Germany_. + +This City has three fine Gates, of which that of the _Necker_ is the most +magnificent, and the best adorned; in which one sees beautiful +Basso-relievos, after a Plan very happily executed. This Gate opens +towards a long and spacious Street, at the end of which stands the +Elector's Palace, one of the largest and most substantial Buildings in +_Europe_. It were to be wish'd indeed that the Architecture had been more +regular: Never had any Architect more Advantage, for he built it new from +the Foundation, was not stinted for want of room, and as he set no Limits +to his Expence, I should have thought that a masterly hand might have +produc'd something curious. Nevertheless there are Faults in the Building +which are shocking to such as have the least Skill in Architecture; +insomuch that they who have a Taste for that Science are sorry that a +Building which has been so expensive has been no better conducted. The +Situation of this Palace is indeed very fine, at the end of the City, and +of a very noble large Street, which like all the rest runs in a strait +Line. The Palace, which has a great Square before it, consists of a large +number of Lodging-Rooms, with a great high Pavilion in the middle, and two +advanc'd Wings, with ample Pavilions at the ends; where two other very +extensive Wings rise on both sides that are likewise terminated by +Pavilions, behind which there are other Lodging-Rooms. The inside of the +Palace is form'd by two great Courts, which are to be separated by an open +Gallery or Terrass, the Model of which is very much adorned with +Architecture; but I can't think it will look well when 'tis done. The +Apartments are adorn'd with fine noble Floors and Cielings, and have the +finest Prospect in the World to _Spire_, _Franckendahl_, _Worms_, and all +the Country in general, as far as the Mountains of _Alsace_, which +consists wholly of Towns and Villages. All this fine fruitful Country is +water'd by the _Rhine_, which passes behind the Palace of _Manheim_, and +washes its Fortifications. Upon this beautiful Canal there are to be the +Gardens of the Palace, for which there are intended two Courtains and a +Bastion. + +'Tis almost inconceivable how the Elector was able to get all the Works +about _Manheim_ finished in so few Years; for in short I remember to have +seen Partridges where there are now Houses and Palaces. The whole Town is +laid out in a most regular and charming manner; and 'tis without dispute +one of the prettiest Towns in _Europe_. 'Tis pity the Houses are not +higher: The reason they alledge for it is, that _Manheim_ is a fortify'd +Town, and that by consequence the Houses ought to be low. I know not what +Authority there is for this, since _Strasbourg_, _Metz_, _Luxembourg_, and +_Lisle_, are Places of much more Importance than _Manheim_, and yet the +Houses are as high there as they are in other Towns. + +The Palace is commodious, and yet, for what reason I know not, the Elector +does not live in it[132]. Some say that he has been told of so many +Faults in it as have quite put him out of conceit with it, and others that +'tis because a certain Astrologer prophesy'd he would die there; but I am +apt to believe that the latter Reason is no more than a Joke, and I dare +to say that the Elector is too wise a Man to credit it. Mean time this +Prince dwells in a House belonging to a _Jew_, to which several other +private Houses are join'd; but for all that the Lodgings are very bad. + +There can't be a better-natur'd Man than _Charles-Philip_ of _Newbourg_, +Elector _Palatine_. He is the best of Masters, and the most affable of +Princes. He is reckoned extremely handsome, and one of the chief Dancers +in his time; and he has a noble Aspect. His Behaviour and Conversation +engage one to love him, and to pay one's court to him out of pure +Inclination. He formerly was fond of Pomp and Pleasure, but since the loss +of his only Daughter and his Son-in-law, who died within a few Years one +of another, he seems to be no longer taken with what was heretofore his +Amusement. The Elector has been twice marry'd, _viz._ first to +_Louisa-Charlotte_ Princess of _Radzeville_, and secondly to _Theresa +Lubomirski_, both _Polish_ Ladies. The former left him a Daughter that was +marry'd to _Joseph-Charles_ Prince _Palatine_ of _Sultzbach_, but died in +1728; as did her Husband the Year following. This Princess had such Beauty +and Merit, that she was the Comfort of her Father and the Admiration of +her Acquaintance. She left three young Princesses, whom the Elector causes +to be educated at his Court, where they are now all that he has to delight +him; but then they incessantly renew to him the sorrowful Remembrance of a +Daughter who was extremely dear to him. + +The Death of that Princess has been a very great Affliction to the +Elector, and chang'd the Face of the _Palatine_ Court. Indeed as to +Affability, and to the Goodness of his Temper, he is still the same +Elector, but he has no longer that Gaiety of Humour which his Daughter's +Company rais'd in him; for she had a thousand different Amusements for +him, and Pleasures and Merriment every where accompany'd her. The Elector +eats always in private, except on Holidays, and when there's any foreign +Prince at his Court. After he has been in public at Mass, he commonly +stops in one of his Apartments to chat with the Courtiers, or to play at +Billiards till Dinner-time. After Dinner he goes to Bed, and lies there +two Hours; then he rises, and after having caus'd himself to be dress'd, +he gives Audience to his Ministers, and to such private Persons as want to +talk with him. He is very attentive to those who speak to him, and answers +them with Good-nature and Kindness. He seldom refuses what is in his power +to grant; and when Reasons force him to a denial, 'tis visible that he is +uneasy, and he refuses in so civil a manner, that People go away at least +comforted, if not contented. At six o'clock in the Evening the whole Court +meets in his Electoral Highness's Apartment, where there is Play till nine +o'clock, and then the Elector retires, makes a very slight Supper, and +goes to Bed in good time. + +Tho' the Elector dines in private there's always a Table sumptuously +serv'd for the hereditary Prince of _Sultzbach_, Brother to him who was +the Elector's Son-in-law. This passes for the Elector's Table, is spread +for eighteen Guests, and is serv'd by Pages. + +The Prince _de Sultzbach_ is look'd upon as the Elector's Heir, because +'tis not supposed that the Elector's Brother, the Elector of _Mentz_, +would be willing to quit the first Electorate of the Empire, and the +great Benefices which he possesses, to become Elector _Palatine_, if he +should happen to survive his Brother[133]. The Bishop of _Augsbourg_, the +Elector's second Brother, being a Priest, cannot succeed. The Prince _de +Sultzbach_'s Father is still living; but being as old as the Elector, he +is not like to survive him very long[134]. The Prince _John-Christian_ of +_Sultzbach_ was born in 1700. He is the Widower of the Princess _de la +Tour_ of _Auvergne_, who brought him for her Portion the Sovereignty of +_Bergopzoom_; and left him a Son, who is educated at _Brussels_ with his +Great-Grandmother the Duchess Dowager of _Aremberg_. The Prince +_John-Christian_ is tall and extremely corpulent, insomuch that 'tis well +if he has not the Dropsy. He spent the first Days of his Youth at the +Court of _Lorrain_ in _France_, and in the _Netherlands_, by which Travels +he acquired a great deal of Politeness. He was lately betrothed to +_Eleonora-Philippina_ of _Hesse-Rhinfelds_, Sister to the Princess of +_Piedmont_[135], and to the Duchess of _Bourbon_. This Princess is every +day expected from _Turin_, to which Place she accompanied her Sister. +Their Highnesses will then go and keep their Court at _Heidelberg_[136]. + +The Principal Noblemen of the _Palatine_ Court are the following: + +_Francis-George_ Count of _Manderscheldt-Blanckenheim_[137], the Steward +of the Houshold, Prime Minister, and Knight of the Order of St. _Hubert_. +He is of illustrious Extraction; is a Man of Integrity and very great +Probity, incapable of doing an ill thing, but not at all engaging in his +Deportment; for he is reserved, with an Air of Haughtiness, which is a +Defect that he was born with, and endeavours to conquer, but cannot. When +one knows him intimately he proves a good Friend, and capable of doing one +Service. He has very great Pensions from the Elector, and is the oldest of +his Family, which being pretty numerous, he does not live in a very grand +manner. + +The Baron _de Sickingen_ is Great Chamberlain, Minister of State, and +Knight of the Order of St. _Hubert_. He is a Gentleman of a fine Presence, +of an easy and engaging Access, with profound Learning, and Sentiments +suitable to his Birth. He was Governor of the late Prince _de Sultzbach_, +Son-in-law to the Elector; and he imprinted such Ideas of Men and Things +in the Mind of that young Prince, as gave great hopes that his Government +would be happy if ever he attain'd to it. M. _de Sickingen_ was afterward +the Elector's Envoy Extraordinary to the Imperial Court; and I knew him at +_Vienna_ where he was exceedingly beloved. At his return he succeeded his +Brother in the Office of Great Chamberlain, which he exercises with the +Approbation of the whole Court. + +_John-Frederic_ Count _de Globe_, is Grand Marshal, Minister of State, and +Knight of the Order of St. _Hubert_. He is very rich, and has a fine +Estate in _Bohemia_. He was once the Elector's Page, who finding him at +the bottom a Man of Integrity and Honour, took care of his Fortune, gave +him the best Employments at his Court, and raised him to the Dignity of +Count. M. _de Globe_ has been seldom at _Manheim_ for some Years past; +which is a Loss both to Court and City, because he liv'd very nobly, and +more than all, was very civil to Foreigners[138]. + +The Baron _de Wohlin_ is Master of the Horse[139]. He is one of those Men +in whom we meet with that Candor and Probity so much boasted by our +Fathers. + +The Count _de la Tour_ and _Taxis_ is Captain of the Life-Guards, +Lieutenant-General, and Knight of the Order of St. _Hubert_. His Carriage +seems blunt and proud, yet he is familiar with those that are in his +Confidence. He has considerable Credit at Court, owing to his Sister's +being so long in favour with the Elector. + +_Julius Augustus_ Count _de la Marck_, Lieutenant-General, Captain of the +hundred _Swissers_, and Knight of St. _Hubert_, is descended of an +illustrious Family in the Empire. He spent part of his Youth in the +Service of _France_, where his eldest Brother is now actually a +Lieutenant-General, Colonel of a foreign Regiment, and a Commander of the +Order of the _Holy Ghost_. He has learnt all the _French_ Politeness; his +Behaviour resembles the Man of Quality; his Temper is gay, and he loves +good Cheer, Joy and Pleasures. + +The Count _Egmont de Hatzfeldt_ Lieutenant-General, Minister of State, and +Secretary at War, comes from one of the best Families in the Empire, This +Nobleman is extraordinary civil; his House is open to all Persons of +Distinction; he lives very nobly, and both his Lady and himself are very +fond of entertaining Foreigners. They were both intrusted to conduct to +_Piedmont_ the Princess of _Sultzbach_ first Wife to _Charles_ Prince of +_Piedmont_[140], and discharged their Employments in such a manner that +they had the general Approbation of the _Sardinian_ Court. + +The Barons of _Hildesheim_ and _Beveren_ are both Ministers of State. The +former acquired a very great Reputation in the Negotiations that were +carry'd on at _Heidelberg_ in 1719, for the Church of the _Calvinists_ +which the Elector had a mind shou'd be Catholic. The second has been Envoy +to the King of _Great Britain_. They are both to be valued for their +Merit, live very honourably, and make Foreigners welcome. + +I could tell you of many other Persons of Birth and Merit employ'd at this +Court, but really my Letter would be too tedious. Nevertheless I cannot +omit the mention of the Baron _d'Obsten_, whom you saw at _Breslau_, after +he had quitted the Service of the _Czar_. He is settled here, but has no +Character. He and all his Family are become of our Communion. He has a +considerable Pension from the Elector, and is generally very well +esteem'd. His Son, who is a Captain, is a young Gentleman of Merit, and +his Daughters are young Ladies highly to be esteem'd for their good +Behaviour and Politeness. + +The Count _de Nassau-Weilbourg_ lives here also. His Birth would engage me +to give you an Account of him tho' I were not induc'd to it by the +Consideration of his Merit. This Nobleman has an infinite share of it; he +is generous, magnificent, genteel, and civil, knowing what Family he is +descended from; but knowing it for no other reason than to discharge all +the Obligations of it. He is the Ornament of this Court, tho' he is not in +the Service of the Elector. His Father was Velt-Marshal, and Commander in +Chief of the _Palatine_ Troops during the Reign of the late Elector _John +William_. The Count I am speaking of was Envoy Extraordinary from the +Elector to the Court of _France_ during the Minority of _Lewis_ XV. He +then went often to the Royal Palace to pay his court to the Regent's +Mother, and there it was that I knew him; for that Lady and the whole +Court of France had a very great Value for him. That Princess speaking of +him one day to me, said she was very glad that he was a Count of _Nassau_; +for indeed, said she, he deserves to bear a great Name[141]. + +There are amiable People here of both Sexes who are very sociable, so that +'tis a Stranger's own fault if he misses of Amusement here; for such are +generally treated very civilly. As for my own part, I have received so +many Courtesies from the Elector, and so many Favours from his Court that +I shall for ever acknowledge them. + +The Nobility maintain a Company of _French_ Comedians who act three times +a Week upon a very little Theatre, but both the Townsmen and Foreigners +pay. Tho' this Company, of which the Count _de la Marck_ has the +Direction is not the best, yet 'tis a pleasure to go to it for the sake of +seeing Company. In the time of the late Princess there were a thousand +Pleasures which there are not now, so that her Death is still lamented. + +The Elector's Revenues are reckon'd at two Millions of Crowns. You may +rate them more or less, 'tis no matter; for my own part, I affirm nothing, +being not willing to imitate the Marquis _de Breton-Villiers_, who in his +Memoirs of the Regency values the Revenues of all the Princes of the +Universe with as much assurance as if he had been Superintendant of every +one's Finances. The Elector has about 7 or 8000 Soldiers, exclusive of his +Guards. His best Places are _Manheim_, _Juliers_, and _Dusseldorp_. The +three Religions tolerated in the Empire have Churches here, and the _Jews_ +a large Synagogue. They are very numerous at this Place, and two thirds of +the Houses belong to them, as being either built by them, or mortgag'd to +'em. Some of them are very rich, and drive a great Trade with the _Jews_ +at _Meiz_, _Frankfort_ and _Amsterdam_. 'Tis certain that they do a great +injury to the Christian Merchants, and that they are not honester here +than elsewhere. + +Don't write to me, if you please, before I have sent you my Direction, +because I know not whether I shall stay long enough at _Frankfort_, to +which some Affairs call me, to receive your Letters. + +Just now we hear of the Death of Pope _Benedict_ XIII. As I never saw a +Conclave, and am in the Humour of Travelling, I have an inclination to +take a tour to _Rome_. I shall not resolve on it till I come to +_Frankfort_. Which way soever I go you shall be inform'd, and I will not +fail to desire your Commands. Mean time I am always very sincerely, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXI. + + + _SIR_, _Frankfort, March 21, 1730._ + +At my Departure from _Manheim_ I pass'd the _Rhine_ over a Bridge of +Boats, and in three Hours time arrived at FRANCKENDAHL, which was formerly +fortified, but after having suffered by the general Conflagration in the +_Palatinate_, was dismantled by the Peace of _Nimeguen_, and so it has +remained ever since. It still bears the Marks of _French_ Fury; and a +great many Houses that were burn'd have not been rebuilt. + +There's the finest Country in the World between _Franckendahl_ and WORMS. +I came hither at ten o'clock in the Morning, and spent the rest of the +Forenoon in seeing what was most remarkable. _Worms_ is not the Place now +that it was before the _French_ burn'd it. Its most wealthy Inhabitants +instead of rebuilding their Houses, retir'd to _Frankfort_ and _Holland_, +so that the Chapter of _Worms_, which is wholly compos'd of Persons of +Quality, is now the chief Glory of the Town. The Bishop of it is the +Elector[142] of _Mentz_, who was chose _July_ 12, 1694. This Prince has +built a new Episcopal Palace, the Contrivance of which is beautiful. It +joins to the Cathedral which is ancient, and built very substantially. The +_Lutherans_ have just built a fine Church, the Roof of which is painted. +In several Compartiments there's the History of _Luther_'s pretended +Reformation. That Doctor is there represented as appearing before the Dyet +of the Empire which met at _Worms_ _An._ 1521. You know that he was cited +to it by the Emperor _Charles_ V. His Friends, to dissuade him from +appearing, put him in mind of _John Huss_, who notwithstanding the +Safe-Conduct that had been granted him by the Emperor _Sigismond_, was +burnt by a Decree of the Council of _Constance_. _Luther_, without being +intimidated, said, that _tho' he was sure to be engag'd with as many +Devils as there were Tiles upon the Houses of +Worms+, he was resolv'd to +go_. He went thither accordingly, and appear'd the 17th of _April_ before +the Dyet, where he offer'd, with a Courage deserving a better Cause, to +maintain his Doctrine and his Writings against all that should go about to +demolish them from the Holy Scriptures. + +The City of _Worms_ stands in the middle of a fine spacious Plain, +abounding with Corn, Vineyards, and Fruit-Trees. A Wine is produced here +which is call'd _Lieben-Frauen-Milch_, i. e. _Our Lady's Milk_. The +_Rhine_ is about three or four hundred Paces from the Town, but 'tis said +it formerly ran close by the Walls of it. Which way soever one comes to +_Worms_, one perceives at a great Distance the four Towers of the +Cathedral which are all built of red Freestone. Two drunken Fellows +mistook those Towers one day for Capuchin Fryars. Being in the Country at +a pretty good Distance from the Town, as the Sun was going down, one of +them said to his Comrade, _We have no Time to lose, the Gates are going to +be shut.--No matter_, said the other, pointing to the Towers; _Don't you +see those Capuchins there before us? They are of the Town, and are +going thither as well as we. You are in the right_, reply'd the former, +_let us drink the good Fryar's Health_. They had a Gourd Bottle full of +Wine, of which they drank every Drop, so that they did not overtake the +imaginary Capuchins till next Day. + +There is not a finer Country than that between _Worms_ and OPPENHEIM, a +little Town upon an Eminence, on the left Side of the _Rhine_, to which we +pass over a flying Bridge. The Road from _Oppenheim_ is unpassable for +near two Leagues, because 'tis commonly overflown by that River; but +afterwards the Way is perfectly good to _Frankfort_. 'Twas very late when +I came to this City, but by good luck the People of _Frankfort_ who +formerly shut their Gates at Sun-set have lately chose to keep them open +till ten o'clock, so that for paying a Trifle one may enter the Town. + +I know not whether I need give any Account of the City of FRANKFORT. It +has been so often describ'd, and is so well known to the World, that I +fancy every body knows what sort of Town it is, tho' they have not seen +it. _Frankfort_ is famous for its two yearly Fairs, _viz._ at _Easter_ and +_Michaelmas_. It suffer'd much by a great Fire in 1619, but the whole has +been since rebuilt, and the Houses are finer than before. There are few +Places upon the whole more disagreeable, and few Towns in _Germany_ where +the Common People are more unpolish'd. The Burghers are not to be match'd +for Affectedness, and their Conversation is insupportable. The Magistrates +are all _Lutherans_; nevertheless the principal Churches belong to the +Catholics. The _Calvinists_ may live in the Town, but cannot hold any +Employments, and are oblig'd to go for Worship to _Bockenheim_ in the +County of _Hanau_, and to cause their Children to be baptiz'd in the +_Lutheran_ Churches. The great Church in which the Ceremony of the +Emperor's Coronation is perform'd is dark, and by no means proper for such +an august Solemnity. You know that _Aix la Chapelle_ is properly the Place +set apart for the Coronation of our Emperors, and _Frankfort_ for their +Election. But since _Maximilian_ I. no Emperor has been crown'd at _Aix_. +_Frankfort_ being situate in the Centre of the Empire is much more +commodious for all the Princes, but particularly for the Spiritual +Electors and for the Elector Palatine, who may send for their Equipages by +Water and return them back by the same Convenience. When _Charles_ VI. was +crown'd at _Frankfort_ in 1711, there was an extraordinary Concourse of +Princes and Noblemen. Certain speculative Gentlemen made two Remarks on +this Occasion, from which they presag'd two Things. The one was, that the +Emperor made his Entrance into this City in close Mourning for the Emperor +_Joseph_ his Brother; whereupon they said that _Charles_ wore Mourning +because he foresaw that he should be the last Emperor of his Family. The +second was, that as _Charles_ return'd from the Church invested with all +the Marks of Sovereignty, _Charlemain_'s Sword had like to have dropp'd +out of the Scabbard; which the Elector of _Triers_ of the _Lorrain_ Family +observing, catch'd hold of the Sword, and put it in again before it was +quite fallen out of the Scabbard. Upon this, the same Calculators of +Nativities said it was an Omen that the Emperor would never have a quiet +Reign, and that he would always be in a Situation that would oblige him to +draw his Sword for his Defence[143]. + +As to Persons of great Distinction at _Frankfort_, they are very few. The +Chief are the Princess-Dowager of _Nassau-Ousingen_, born Princess of +_Lovestein_; the Count _de Degenfeldt_ (_Schomberg_)[144] Major-General of +the King of _Prussia_'s Forces, and a Commander of the Order of the _Black +Eagle_; and finally, Madame _la Raugrave_[145] Daughter of _Charles-Lewis_ +Elector Palatine: She is the last of the Blood of the Protestant +_Palatine_ Princes. The Senate of _Frankfort_, in consideration of her +great Age, and in respect to her Birth, has granted her the Liberty of +keeping a _Calvinist_ Chaplain to preach in her own House. Sometimes the +Prince _de la Tour_ and _Taxis_[146] Hereditary Post-Master of the Empire +resides at _Frankfort_. His House is a great Relief to Foreigners. His +Princess[147] is a Lady of very great Merit, and has the Soul and +Sentiments of a Queen. In the Houses of the Persons that I have mention'd +there's an Assembly of both Sexes every Evening; but take them one with +another they are very thin except at the Fairs, when there's a vast Resort +of Nobility and Gentry. Most of the Electors and Princes of the Empire +have their Agents at _Frankfort_, to whom they give the Title of +Residents; but those Gentlemen are not a jot the more respected for it, +most of them being Merchants of the City of _Frankfort_ it self, who +sollicit the Title in order to be exempt from the Authority of the Senate, +and from the Payment of the Customs, and to qualify themselves to place +over their Doors the Arms of the Princes to whom they send the +News-papers. + +The Count _de Degenfeldt_ makes such a Figure here that he deserves a more +particular mention. He is a Nobleman of good Extraction. He is a Native of +the _Palatinate_, and spent his Youth in the Service of the Elector +Palatine. He was at that Time a _Calvinist_, but turn'd Catholic. Some +Years after, he was reconcil'd to his former Communion, and married in +_England_ a Cousin of his, the Daughter of the Duke _de Schomberg_, with +whom he had a very great Estate. He has also a considerable Expectancy +from Madame _la Raugrave_ a _Palatine_, his Aunt[148]. The Relation of M. +_de Degenfeldt_ to this Lady, brings to my Mind the History of the Mother +of Madame _la Raugrave_, who as I have observ'd was a _Degenfeldt_. I have +chose to give it you from what was told me by the late Madame of _France_, +and from very good Memoirs that have been put into my hands. I have plac'd +this History as a Transaction in the Time of the ancient _Germans_; and as +I design'd to insert it in a Work which I have undertaken, for want of +something else to employ my Time, I chuse to do it by way of a Discourse +from Madame the late Electress of _Hanover_ to her Daughter-in-law. I +herewith send you the entire History, and at the End of it you will find +the Key. As I fancy you are quite disengag'd in the Country, I don't +apprehend that the reading of it will be Loss of your Time. I rather fear +you won't like it; but in either case 'twill be your own Fault; I don't +force you to read; you may if you please let _Gertrude_ alone. + + _History of GERTRUDE a +Marcoman+ Lady._ + +The History of _Gertrude_, of which I propose to give you, my Princess, a +Relation, is properly the History of the Extinction of my Family; for the +fatal Passion of my Brother King _Malcolm_ for that Lady, is in all +appearance the Reason that there are no more left in my Family than three +Princesses[149], and my self. + +There was such a Harmony in Sentiments betwixt my Brother and me, that it +united us in the strictest Friendship. We had been brought up together in +_Belgium_[150], where the King my Father had been oblig'd to take refuge, +that he might be nearer at hand to receive Succours from _Alfred_ King of +_Albion_, Father of the Queen my Mother, against the _Romans_, who after a +long and bloody War had turn'd him out of his Dominions. That King amus'd +him a long while with fair Promises; but the Misunderstanding which there +was at that time between him and the States of his Kingdom, added to a +certain Indolence in his natural Temper, hinder'd him from seeing the +Effect of them; and the King my Father did not live long enough to be +witness of the Peace which the _Romans_ were at length oblig'd by his +Allies to conclude. This was not an advantageous Peace for _Malcolm_ my +Brother, because in order to obtain it he was oblig'd to yield a part of +his Dominions to the Prince of the[151]_Boyens_, an Ally of the _Romans_, +and upon these Terms he was left in quiet possession of the rest. + +When my Brother saw himself establish'd on the Throne, he thought of +marrying. His Ministers propos'd the Princess of the _Catti_ as the +fittest Match for him, and assur'd him that besides her illustrious +Extraction he could not marry a more beautiful Princess, or one of a +better Temper. My Brother who only alter'd his Condition for Reasons of +State, was willing enough to follow their Advice, and accordingly espous'd +her. The Marriage at first prov'd very happy; the Queen his Wife had her +share of Beauty, and tho' her Temper was very different from what it had +been represented to my Brother, yet she so cunningly disguis'd it for some +time that this Prince thought himself very happy in his Choice. But their +Agreement was of a short Duration; the Queen's true Humour soon discover'd +it self: It appear'd that she was ill-natur'd, and intolerably +high-spirited; of an odd sullen Temper, always ready to contradict, and +frequently subject to Chagrin, of which she herself knew not the Cause, +and which she vented upon all that approach'd her without distinction. The +King my Brother was of a Temper quite the reverse: He lov'd Diversions, +was civil, affable, naturally gay, beneficent; and I don't speak it out of +Partiality in favour of a Brother whose Memory is still dear to me, but +I'll be bold to say, that if he had not been quite so choleric, he would +have been the most accomplish'd Prince of his Time. Nevertheless he bore +with his Wife's ill Humours very patiently at first, and endeavour'd to +reclaim her by gentle Usage; but when he saw that all the Pains he took +were to no purpose, he resolv'd at length to seek out some other +Amusement. + +The Beauty of _Gertrude_, Maid of Honour to the Queen his Wife, had for a +long time smitten him, but hitherto he had only discover'd his Passion to +her by his Glances, for fear of disgusting the Queen. _Gertrude_ who +perceiv'd that my Brother did not look upon her with Indifference, +affected to shun every Opportunity that Prince might take of revealing his +Love to her. But Fortune favour'd my Brother, who being one day with his +Queen in her Apartment, when the Discourse fell upon Jewels, perceiv'd +that the Princess had left off wearing a certain Bracelet of which he had +made her a Present, and asking her what she had done with it, the Queen +told him that she believ'd she had laid it up in a Casket of which she had +the Key in her Pocket. She made one of her Maids fetch it, and open'd it, +but the Bracelet was not there, at which she seem'd uneasy. This my +Brother observ'd, and taking a Pleasure in making her more uneasy, he said +to her, tho' in a manner that shew'd he did not think as he spoke, that +she had undoubtedly some Gallant in a Corner, to whom she had either given +that Bracelet, or who had stole it from her. These Words, tho' deliver'd +in jest, made a deep Impression upon the Queen, and as it was her Nature +soon to take fire, she was stung to the quick at what he had said, and +forgetting the Respect she ow'd to the King her Husband, was in such a +Passion with him that she let fall some Words that were very affronting. +My Brother who was naturally mettlesome and fiery, and far from expecting +any such Treatment, made her answer, that if she continued to forget +herself after that manner, he would find ways and means to humble her. +Upon this he went out of the Room abruptly, and passing through the +Antichamber, met the fair _Gertrude_. Such was his Disgust that instead of +being upon the reserve as he had been, he had a long Conversation with +her, and found her so sprightly and good-natur'd that he was compleatly +charm'd with her. He declar'd his Love to her, and she was so artful that +tho' she gave him no Hopes, yet she did not rebuff him. + +When my Brother was retir'd, _Gertrude_ went into the Apartment of the +Queen her Mistress, who plac'd her whole Confidence in her. That Princess +no sooner saw her but she made a thousand Complaints of the King's +Treatment of her. _Gertrude_ seem'd to sympathize in her Resentment, and +believing that the Queen could not fail to know that the King had talk'd +with her in the Antichamber, she told her that the Prince having met her +in her Passage gave her an angry Account of what had passed; and that she +had done all she could to pacify him, but to no purpose: At the same time +she blam'd the King's Proceeding; and encourag'd by the Liberty which the +Queen gave her, told her that if she who was but a private Gentlewoman was +so treated by any Husband, she would never pardon him tho' he were a King. +She added several other Sayings which instead of pacifying this silly +Queen, did but exasperate her the more. + +In the mean time, _Malcolm_, who was impatient to know the Success of his +Amour, wrote a Letter to _Gertrude_ which he sent her by one of his chief +Domestics, together with a rich Diamond Equipage. But the artful +_Gertrude_ whose Aim was to draw on his Passion, rather than to gratify +it, was far from yielding to his first Attacks, and sent him back the +Diamonds, tho' with a modest and respectful Answer, wherein she desir'd +him to talk no more to her of Love. My Brother was too deeply smitten to +be repuls'd; he doubled his Presents, was assiduous, and eager in his +Courtship; and as 'tis very rare for a King of his amiable Personage to +meet with long Resistance, _Gertrude_ abated of her Shyness by degrees, +and at length discovered that she was not insensible of Love. Their +Correspondence which did not exceed the Bounds of Honour, was kept secret +for a considerable time, but made the greater Blaze when it was known. +_Malcolm_ being one day with his Wife, happen'd, without perceiving it, to +drop a Letter which the Queen took up, and found to be the Hand-writing of +_Gertrude_. The Letter being written in _Latin_ made the Queen the more +curious to know what was in it; and she gave it to her Cousin, Prince +_Valamir_, desiring him to unfold the Contents of it to her. This Prince +was so unwise as to satisfy her Curiosity, and acquainted her that +_Gertrude_ by this Letter assur'd the King that he had gain'd her Heart. +You will easily imagine how much the Queen was ruffled when she heard of +this Intrigue: She could not contain herself; and without giving ear to +the Arguments made use of by _Valamir_, she ran immediately to +_Gertrude_'s Apartment in the Palace, who by good luck was gone abroad. +The Queen thinking her Casket was in _Gertrude_'s Closet caused it to be +broke open, and finding it there, open'd it, and took out all the Letters, +of which several that appear'd to be from the King her Husband left her no +room to doubt of that Prince's extraordinary Passion for _Gertrude_, and +of the Intimacy there was between them. My Brother was quickly inform'd of +what the Queen had been doing, but conceal'd his Uneasiness, shew'd his +Wife no manner of Resentment, and only sent a Caution to _Gertrude_ not to +return to the Palace. _Malcolm_'s Silence deceiv'd the Queen, who indeed +was not a Lady of very great Penetration, so that she flatter'd herself +the King might possibly be ignorant of the Outrage she had committed; and +upon this Supposition she thought it her best way to dissemble her Hatred +and Wrath against _Gertrude_. She pretended therefore to be very uneasy +for fear of what had happen'd to her, caus'd a Search to be made for her +several days, and seem'd very much dejected at her Absence. She hoped by +all these Demonstrations of Friendship to decoy her back to the Palace, in +order then to be compleatly reveng'd of her. + +Thus Matters stood when the King of the _Suevi_, the Brother-in-law of the +Queen my Sister-in-law, came to Court with the Queen his Wife. This Prince +having observ'd the Queen's Melancholy on several occasions, ask'd her the +reason of it one day as they sate at Table. 'You must not be surpriz'd, +said _Malcolm_, to see the Queen my Wife out of temper; 'tis her common +Infirmity, and very often she her self knows not the cause of it. My +Ailment is but too real (reply'd the Queen in a great Pet;) and (then +addressing herself to her Husband) said she, it does not at all become you +whose dishonourable Amours have been the only Cause of my Disorder, to +insinuate as if it were but imaginary.' This Answer made in so public a +manner, so nettled my Brother that he turn'd pale for meer Vexation, and +not being able to curb his Passion, forgot his Dignity so far as to strike +her; upon which the unfortunate Princess rose from Table, and retir'd in +Tears to her own Apartment. My Brother, whose Passion was always as soon +over as it was easily kindled, was sorry in a very few moments after for +what he had done, made his Excuses to the King and Queen of the _Suevi_, +and rising from Table, went with them to his Wife's Apartment, where he +ask'd her pardon for what had pass'd. This Atonement, which the Queen did +not expect so soon, touch'd her to the quick: The King and she embrac'd +each other, and exchang'd their Promises to forget as well as to forgive +every Offence. But would you believe it? that fickle, fantastical Creature +my Sister-in-law chang'd her mind all on a sudden, and when her Husband +came in the Evening with an intention to spend the Night with her, she +absolutely refus'd to let him bed with her unless he would resolve to +deliver up _Gertrude_ to her. _Malcolm_, who was still asham'd at what he +had done in his last Fury, receiv'd so violent a Proposition with more +Patience than he would have done upon another Occasion. He endeavour'd by +fair Words to pacify his Wife, assuring her that nothing criminal had ever +pass'd between him and _Gertrude_, and that tho' he had corresponded with +the Girl by Letters, it was not out of any Love he had for her, so much as +to know whether it was true that she wrote as good _Latin_ as he had been +told she did. Tho' this Speech of his was not very probable, yet as People +are easily inclin'd to believe what they wish to be true, the Queen +suffer'd herself to be at last persuaded, and was reconciled to her +Husband without insisting any farther on the Sacrifice she at first +demanded. + +The Emperor being come to spend some Time at _Pluibourg_, summon'd an +Assembly thither of the Princes of the Empire. My Brother went thither +with the Queen his Wife; but the Consequence was that they were more +embroil'd than ever; and my Sister-in-law was so unadvised as to let +_Csar_ and his Court be Witnesses of certain Brawls, which for her own +Interest as well as her Husband's, she ought to have carefully confin'd +within the Limits of her own Houshold. 'Tis true that my Brother had no +very great Respect for her, and he lov'd _Gertrude_ more than ever. Being +hindred by a slight Indisposition from going to _Montpayen_ where he kept +her at one of his Houses, not a Day pass'd but he sent an Express to know +how she did, and the Queen's ill Temper, who no doubt had better have +try'd good-natur'd Methods to reclaim him, only incens'd him against her, +and made him the fonder of _Gertrude_. + +The Assembly of the Princes of _Germany_ being over, and the Emperor +return'd to _Rome_, my Brother set out for _Montpayen_ the Capital of his +Kingdom, and gave orders for his Queen to follow him next Day. But for a +Reason which I never could dive into, the Princess instead of obeying him +stay'd a Month longer at _Pluibourg_, without vouchsafing to let the King +her Husband know the Reason of her delay; and not only so, but when she +came to _Montpayen_, she had the Assurance to go with a bold Face to her +Husband's Apartment, without knowing how he would take it: But the Prince +who had just Reason to be angry, foreseeing that she was like enough to +take such a step, had given orders to refuse her Entrance; wherefore she +was oblig'd to retire to her Apartment, whither a Captain of the Guards +came in a Moment after, to tell her from the King that she was a Prisoner. + +This unhappy Princess bore her Disgrace very weakly. She repented, but too +late, of having been so imprudent as to contravene the Orders of the King +her Husband; and hoping to work upon his Good-nature, she wrote him a most +submissive Letter, begging his pardon for her Disobedience, and intreating +him to restore her to her Liberty. My Brother sent her an Answer, wherein +he only gave her the Title of the Princess of _Cattia_. He told her, 'that +having consider'd the Disagreement there was betwixt his Temper and her's, +he resolved to be divorc'd from her, and that she would do well herself to +give her Consent to it; which if she did with a good Grace, he would +restore her to her Liberty and settle a Revenue on her suitable to her +Rank.' + +This Answer was a Thunder-stroke to my Sister-in-law; she rav'd and tore +like a mad Woman. She was for a long while like one out of her Senses, but +recovering them at length by the help of her Women, and consulting with +those that had the greatest share of her Confidence, she sent the King +word that he was Master, and might make use of his Authority, but that +she would never consent to the Divorce. + +My Brother who had fix'd his Resolution, and saw no other way to get +possession of _Gertrude_ than by marrying that Girl who had presum'd to +set so high a Price upon her Favours, took off the Mask, notify'd his +Design to the Court, and in a few days after, the Marriage was perform'd +in the manner that you know is practis'd in _Germany_ by Princes who marry +beneath themselves, which excludes the Children by such _Venter_ from +succeeding to the Father's Estate. As soon as he was marry'd, he restor'd +the Queen to her Liberty, and acquainted her, 'That by the Advice and +Consent of the Priests of his Kingdom whom he had caused to be assembled, +he had marry'd _Gertrude_. That the Thing being done and past remedy, he +hoped she would resolve to make her self easy. That however, he would +always treat her as a Princess; that she should be welcome to continue in +her Apartment at the Palace; that she should have her Guards to attend +her, and that he had set apart a sufficient Fund for her Maintenance; but +that he expected she would be so complaisant as to acknowledge _Gertrude_ +hereafter for the lawful Queen.' + +My Sister-in-law who then saw that her Disgrace was infallible, gave her +self up to Complaints and Tears, wrote to the King her Husband in the most +moving Language, and implor'd the assistance of the King her Brother: But +all was to no purpose; she was oblig'd to submit to her Misfortune, and to +be patient under an Affliction which she had partly brought upon her self +by her Folly. + +While all this pass'd, my Brother was at one of his Seats not far[152] +from his Capital, where he caus'd _Gertrude_ to be treated as a Queen, +and not long after carried her to _Montpayen_ where the sight of her +Royalty was a fresh Mortification to the Queen my Sister-in-law. However, +the unfortunate Princess not yet despairing of the means of reclaiming her +Husband, was resolv'd to make the last Attempt to turn that Prince's +Heart. She dress'd herself in the most gay and rich Apparel that she could +get, and taking her Children along with her, went to meet the King her +Husband in the Room next to the Hall where he was at Table with +_Gertrude_, and thro' which he must necessarily return. When he appear'd, +she threw herself with her Children at his Feet, clasp'd his Knees, +conjur'd him with Tears in her Eyes to look with Pity on an unhappy +Princess whom he had formerly thought fit to make his Wife, and to +consider that the Affront he put upon her by divorcing her, would be a +Reproach to those very Children of whom he had been so fond. My Brother +seem'd to be melted at so moving a Spectacle, look'd for some Moments on +his Wife and Children with Tears in his Eyes, and he was just ready to +raise her from the Ground, when _Gertrude_ who was at his Heels, fearing +what might be the Consequence of the Confusion that she saw him in, talk'd +earnestly to him in the _Tuscan_ Language, saying, _Remember_, my Lord, +_what you promis'd me_. These few Words wrought so much on the unsteady +Mind of my Brother that he only lifted up his Hands to Heaven and went on, +shewing by the Trouble he was under, how little he was Master of his +Reason upon this Occasion. The Queen my Sister-in-law remain'd for a while +speechless, but Fury and Despair quickly seiz'd her Soul. She rose up and +ran into her Closet, where snatching up a Dagger[153] she came back again +with an Intention to stick it into her Rival's Heart. But the Rage she +was in having so confounded her that she had not a Thought of concealing +that Instrument of her Revenge, it was perceiv'd by one of the chief +Courtiers who pluck'd it from her just as she was going into the Closet +where my Brother was with _Gertrude_. That Prince hearing a Noise so near +him ran out, and demanded what was the matter. 'Tis I, (said the Queen +very couragiously) 'who was coming to revenge my self and you too on the +Monster which disunites us; but that Traytor there (said she, pointing to +the Man that had wrested the Dagger out of her Hands) has depriv'd me of +the only Opportunity that I could call a Pleasure.--Princess, (said the +King to her very calmly) don't indulge your self any longer in such +extravagant Passions, if you are unwilling that I should use you roughly.' +Then he retir'd with _Gertrude_, and my Sister-in-law return'd to her +Apartment in a Temper which you may easily imagine. + +_Clodius_, who now governs the Empire, being at that time proclaim'd +Emperor, this Princess made her Complaints to him, and desir'd him to +reconcile _Malcolm_ to her. But _Csar_ having excus'd himself, my +Sister-in-law who could no longer bear the Presence of her Rival, retir'd +to the King her Brother, there to wait the End of her Misfortunes. My +Brother liv'd afterwards very lovingly with his new Spouse, and had by her +four Sons and as many Daughters. But Death having at last robb'd him of a +Person so dear to him, the Prince was so afflicted for the Loss of her, +that he spent two Years in continual Sorrow, and at length himself paid +the same Tribute to Nature. + +He left but one Son and a Daughter by his lawful Spouse who surviv'd him +some Years. The King my Nephew was marry'd, but he was of such a +melancholy Temper, his Humour was so different from the Queen's, and there +was so little Love betwixt them, that he died without Issue. With him I +have seen my Family utterly extinct, its Dominions transferr'd to the +Power of a Prince who is hardly related to us, and my Country abandon'd to +the most dismal Desolation. For my Niece having marry'd _Meroveus_, +Brother to _Ariovisto_ King of the _Gauls_, the latter who is an ambitious +Prince and goes to War upon every the least Pretence, asserted the Rights +of his Sister-in-law without Delay, and pleading that she ought to succeed +to the Inheritance of the King her Brother, notwithstanding the _Salic_ +Law establish'd in _Germany_, he sent a formidable Army into the Dominions +of my deceased Nephew, where the _Gauls_ at first meeting with no +Resistance, committed enormous Cruelties, and extended their Fury even to +the Violation of the Tomb of the Kings my Ancestors, whose dead Bodies +were stripp'd and exposed to the Caprice of the unruly Soldiers: +Calamities, which perhaps would never have happen'd, had it not been for +my Brother's fatal Passion for _Gertrude_; because in all Appearance if he +had liv'd in a good Understanding with his lawful Spouse; he would have +had more Children by her, and I would not have had the Vexation to see the +Throne of my Fathers posses'd by a foreign Family. + + _KEY to the History of GERTRUDE_. + + _Albion_, England. + _Alfrede I._ James I. _King of_ England. + _Ariovisto_, Lewis XIV. + _Belgium_, Holland. + _Boyens, (Prince of) the Elector of_ Bavaria. + _Catti, (Princess of) the Princess of_ Hesse-Cassel. + _Csar, the_ Emperor. + _Clodius, the Emperor_ Leopold. + _Germania_, Germany. + _Gertrude, the Baroness of_ Degenfeldt. + _Malcolm_, Charles-Lewis _Elector_ Palatine. + _Meroveus_, Philip _of_ France, _Duke of_ Orleans, _Brother to_ + Lewis XIV. + _Montpayen_, Heidelberg. + _Pluibourg_, Ratisbon. + _Romans, the_ Imperialists. + _Rome_, Vienna. + _Suevi, (King of) the Margrave of_ Baden-Dourlach. + + _End of the History of_ Gertrude. + + * * * * * + +I have not scrupled to give you this History, because all the Persons who +are Subjects of it are dead. I wrote it very much in haste, for the +Diversion of the Princess _d'A----_, so that you must not be surpriz'd if +you don't meet with all that Exactness which there ought to be in this +little Narrative; tho' I must tell you again that every Tittle of it is +true, so that you may read it as a History, and not as a Romance. + +I have fix'd my Resolution, and now am setting out for _Rome_; therefore +please to direct to me at _Venice_. I go to-morrow to a great +Hunting-Match that is to be at _Darmstadt_, where I shall stay two Days: +From thence I shall go and spend two more with the Count _de Hanau_; and +then will I begin my Pilgrimage to the Holy Places. I am most entirely, +&c. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXII. + + + _SIR_, _Munich, April_ 2, 1730. + +Since you received my last I have done and seen a great many Things. On +the 23d of _March_ I set out from _Frankfort_ for DARMSTADT, the Capital +of the upper County of _Catzenellenbogen_, and the Residence of +_Ernest-Lewis_ Landgrave of _Hesse-Darmstadt_[154]. + +This Town is extremely small, and only enclosed with Pallisadoes. If the +Prince's Palace had been finish'd according to its Model, it would have +been one of the greatest and most magnificent in _Europe_, and there might +have been Lodgings for the Emperor, and all the nine Electors of the +Empire. It would have been bigger than the Town, and have cost immense +Sums: That Part which is finish'd makes a very grand Appearance. But all +those magnificent Works which the Landgrave Regent at first carried on +with very great Vigour are entirely discontinu'd, and there's no +Appearance that they will ever be taken in hand again. The old Palace is +much more commodious than it seems to be; its Apartments being convenient, +and richly furnish'd. The Landgrave does not live in the Palace, but leads +a very retir'd Life in a little House upon the Square, where he is never +seen but upon Sundays and Holidays. He amuses himself in turning of Ivory, +making Chymical Experiments, and in Drawing. He loves Hunting above all +things whatsoever. He delights in Agriculture, and in Music, and it may +strictly be said that he is never unemploy'd. He has very great Knowledge +natural and acquir'd. He has seen a great many Countries, and tho' sixty +Years of Age he still looks well, and his grey Hairs, not to call them +white, give him a venerable Air. He sits a Horse very well, walks well, +and seems to enjoy perfect Health. His Wife was _Dorothy_ of +_Brandenbourg-Onoltzbach_, who died in 1705. They say that he lately +married _N---- de Spiegel_ the Widow of Count _Seibelsdorf_ a +Lieutenant-General in the Service of _Bavaria_. Be that as it will, the +Marriage is not public, and the Lady still goes by the Name of her former +Husband by whom she has Children. 'Tis true that the Landgrave pays her +very great Distinction, and indeed she is very amiable. + +This Prince commonly dines at a little Table spread only for four People; +but on Sundays and Holidays he goes to the Palace, and dines with his Son +at a Table cover'd for sixteen Guests, and sups with the Ladies who are +never seen at Court but upon those Days. 'Tis a very hard matter to come +at the Speech of the Landgrave, and much more to that of his only Son the +hereditary Prince. The Hunting-Officers are the only Persons that have the +Privilege of Access to them; for which reason this is not one of the most +entertaining Courts; and a Man is under a necessity of throwing himself +into the Town, where indeed there are a great many People of Merit who are +civil to Foreigners. + +The hereditary Prince _Lewis_, the only Son of the Landgrave, who was born +the 5th of _April_ 1691, is a handsome Man, has a noble Air, dances well, +mounts a Horse well, has Vivacity, Spirit, and Politeness, but is often +thoughtful, melancholy, and goes for Retirement to the Woods, where he is +passionately fond of Hunting; but is apt to create himself Uneasiness, and +does not know how to dissemble it. Tho' he has all the Qualities necessary +to shine in Company, yet he sees but very little. He married +_Charlotta-Christina of Hanau_, who dying in 1726, left him three Sons and +two Daughters, the eldest of which was then seven Years of Age. By virtue +of this Marriage the Prince is Heir to the Count of _Hanau's_ Estate in +_Alsace_, and to all his Freeholds in general, which will be a very rich +Succession. + +Nevertheless the Court of _Darmstadt_ is very numerous. The Landgrave has +a great many Counsellors of State, Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber and Court, +and a greater Number still of Officers of the Venery, and Huntsmen. There +is not a Province in _Germany_ more proper for Hunting, nor in _Europe_ +where there are more Deer. 'Tis a flat even Country, and a gravelly Soil +interspersed with Woods thro' which there are cut noble Roads. I have seen +the Deer come up close to the Pallisadoes of the Town, and at their +Rutting-time I have heard them cry as I lay in my Bed. This great plenty +of Deer is extremely troublesome to the Peasants who are abroad day and +night to watch their Fields. The Landgrave and the hereditary Prince are +so jealous of their Game that they reckon it as bad a Crime as Murder for +any one to kill a Deer; and tho' 'tis an establish'd Custom among almost +all Sovereigns to punish with Severity all those that kill a Creature +which God however certainly created for the Use of all Mankind, yet there +is no Prince who observes this Law more strictly than the Landgrave. + +I cannot give you a more certain Account of the Revenues of this Prince +than of those of all the other Sovereigns. 'Tis said that he has 5 or +600000 Florins _per Ann._ I am not very well inform'd of the number of his +Troops, for I have only seen his Regiment of Guards which is in very +compleat Order. His Horse-Guards are also very fine Troops, and commanded +by the General _Miltitz_, who is at the same time Grand Marshal of the +Court, the Honours of which he performs in a very handsome manner. + +Tho' the Soil at _Darmstadt_ is very gravelly, it produces excellent +Pulse. I have seen Asparagus at the Landgrave's Table, three of which +weigh'd a Pound, tho' indeed they were not altogether so nice. I remember +that in a former Journey which I made hither in the Month of _December_, +there were brought to the Landgrave in several Pots of Porcellain, a Dwarf +Cherry-Tree laden with Cherries; Strawberry-Plants, an Almond-Tree, and in +short, the Fruits of all the Seasons. + +The intended Hunting-Match, for what reason I know not, was put off; and +as I came hither only to see it, I staid but one Day and went to HANAU. +The Count and the Princess of _Hanau_ were but lately return'd from +_Alsace_. The Town of _Hanau_ is situate on a large Plain to the right of +the _Main_. 'Tis divided into two Wards, the old and the new Town: The +latter is much bigger than the former: It was built by the _Walloon_ +Protestants, who, during the Duke of _Alva's_ Persecution under _Philip_ +II. King of _Spain_, quitted the _Netherlands_ and came to settle at +_Hanau_, which they fortify'd, and built in such a manner that all the +Streets run parallel. The Count keeps several Companies in pay, from which +he makes Detachments for the Quota he is oblig'd to furnish, as a Member +of the Circle of the _Upper Rhine_. + +The _Walloons_ who are settled at _Hanau_ have established several +Manufactures there, especially Woollen Stuffs. The _Calvinists_, the +_Lutherans_, and the _Jews_ are tolerated here, and as for us Catholics, +we may go to Mass where we please. + +The Count's Palace is in the old Town: 'Tis an ancient Building, and makes +no great Appearance, but the Apartments are commodious, and very richly +furnish'd. The Count has a very pretty Pleasure-House a quarter of a +League from _Hanau_, call'd PHILIPSRUHE, _i. e._ (_Philip's Repose_) and +built by the late Count _de Hanau_, Brother to the Count Regent[155]. +'Twas at this Seat that I found the Count of _Hanau_. There was a very +numerous Attendance, and I heartily wish'd I could have staid there a few +days. Few Princes in the Empire live more elegantly than the Count _de +Hanau_. The Lady who directs the whole Houshold, and keeps all things in +wonderful Order is the Princess[156] who is of the Family of +_Brandenbourg-Anspach_, and Sister to the Queen of _England_. At this +Court you have all the Liberty than can be desired. When you first come a +Chamber is provided for your Lodging, and a Footman order'd to wait on +you. Every Morning an Officer comes to know what you will please to have +for Breakfast; and there's every Thing to be had that you call for. If +afterwards you have a mind to go out a Hunting, you send to the Great +Huntsman for a Guide and to the Count for Horses out of his Stables. If +you come back too late for Dinner at Court, you are serv'd very elegantly +in your own Apartment. In the Evening when you are retir'd from Company, a +Butler takes care to provide you with Wine and Beer. The Servants of +Foreigners diet with those of the Count. His own Table which is commonly +for eighteen Guests is served as well as most, and a second Table is +serv'd with the same Magnificence. The Count has a very great Family, and +lives every way like a Prince; and indeed 'tis his own Fault that he is +not one, for he has had the Imperial Diploma for it a long while, but he +does not care to make use of it; saying, he had rather be the first Count +than the lowest Prince. He is the last Male of his Family. After his Death +the County of _Hanau_ relapses to the Landgrave of _Hesse-Cassel_, +according to the Treaty of Confraternity made between the several Families +of _Saxony_, _Hesse_, and _Hanau_, which imports that the said Families +shall succeed one another. The King of _Poland_ as Elector of _Saxony_ +ought to have had his Share in the Succession to the County of _Hanau_, +but his Majesty by a Treaty yielded his Rights to the Landgrave of +_Cassel_. As to the Lands in _Alsace_, and the Freeholds, they revert, as +I told you before, to the Children of the hereditary Prince of +_Darmstadt_. + +The Count of _Hanau_ seems to be much older than he is in reality. He is a +very civil Nobleman, and Hunting is a Diversion of which he is extremely +fond, so that to kill a Deer upon his Lands is an unpardonable Crime; and +the lesser Game, such as Rabbits, Hares, and Partridges, are equally his +Care. All these Creatures spoil the Fields; but they serve for the Count's +Amusement, while the poor Peasant is oblig'd to pay his Tax, and dares not +speak a Word. + +From _Hanau_ to MUNICH I never made a stop; but after having travell'd +thro' _Wurtzbourg_, _Nurembourg_, and _Augsbourg_ arrived here last night, +and propose to set out again to-morrow, and after two or three days stay +at _Saltzbourg_ shall proceed by the way of _Tirol_ to _Venice_, where I +beg you would not fail to let me hear from you. + +I am just come from attending the Obsequies of _Theresa-Cunegunda +Sobieski_ Electoress of _Bavaria_, Mother to the Elector. This Princess +died lately at _Venice_, to which City she retir'd eighteen Months ago, +and her Corpse is forthwith expected to be interr'd in the Tomb of the +Electoral Family. She has left, as 'tis said, near six millions of +Florins, which, since she has made no Will, are to be equally shar'd +between the four Princes her Sons. She has moreover left a Daughter who is +a Nun in a Convent of this City. In 1719, when she took the Habit, I was +present. She chose this retir'd Life against the Will of her Father the +Elector, who did all he could to dissuade her from it; and she liv'd in +great Reputation for her Piety. But to return to the Obsequies of the +Electoress: The Elector and Electoress assisted at them, together with the +Elector of _Cologne_, the Duke _Ferdinand_, the Bishop of _Freisingen_, +the Duchess _Ferdinand_, and the two Princes her Sons. These Princes had +Cowls upon their Heads, and great Cloaks, which is not one of the most +becoming Dresses. The Family of _Bavaria_ observes a very singular Custom, +which is, never to give a black Livery, nor to line their Coaches. I think +this reasonable enough, for it does not look very well in a pompous +Funeral. + + _I am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXIII. + + + _SIR_, _Saltzbourg, April 2, 1730._ + +At my departure from _Munich_ I went and din'd at _Eversberg_, a Village +belonging to the Reverend Fathers the Jesuits, who have a House there +which is a large one, and that's all 'tis good for. I went and lay at +WASSERBOURG a Town of _Bavaria_ built upon a Rock, so encompass'd with the +River _Inn_ that 'tis a perfect Peninsula. Mountains and Rocks hang over +this Town as if they wou'd crush it, and indeed the Place is not worth +much Description. It was settled as a Dowry on the Electoress +_Theresa-Cunigunda Sobieski_ who died last Month, but this Princess would +never live in it, nor indeed do I know any other Prince that would. + +After having pass'd the _Inn_[157] over a very slender wooden Bridge I +climb'd a high Mountain, got down another, ascended a third, and so I +travell'd all the way up Hill and down Hill till I came within two Leagues +of _Saltzbourg_, where the Country becomes more passible. + +The City of SALTZBOURG as well as the whole Archbishoprick takes its Name +from the River _Saltz_ which passes thro' the City and Country. It rises +in _Tirol_ and loses itself in the _Inn_. The Mountains that are about +the Town make it not near so broad as 'tis long, tho' take it all together +'tis not a large Town. 'Tis very well fortify'd, and has a Castle which +standing on an Eminence forms as it were a Citadel. 'Tis furnish'd with a +good Arsenal, and all manner of Ammunition, and I have been assur'd that +of Gunpowder alone there are no less than 20000 Quintals. Some Years ago +when I was here, Lightning fell so near this Magazine that it wanted but +half a Foot of penetrating to the Powder, which if it had touch'd I fancy +I shou'd never have wrote to you more. There is always a Guard of fifty +Men at the Castle, and the Garison of the Town consists of 600 Men who are +lodg'd in the Caserns. + +The City of _Saltzbourg_ contains finer Edifices than many great Towns. It +has a magnificent Cathedral which was consecrated the 24th of _September_ +1628, by an Archbishop who was of the Family of the Counts _de Lodron_. +'Tis a vast Structure of Free-stone, and has a stately Front which may be +reckon'd the compleatest in _Germany_. The skilful Architect by whom it +was directed has very much copy'd the Front of St. _Agnes's_ Church in the +Square of _Navona_ at _Rome_. It has four Marble Statues bigger than the +Life, which represent St. _Peter_, St. _Paul_, St. _Rupert_, and St. +_Virgilius_, of whom the two latter were the first Archbishops of this +See. The whole Church is adorn'd in the inside with Pilastres of the +_Corinthian_ Order. 'Tis built in the Form of a Cross with a very high +Dome which separates the Nave from the Choir. The high Altar which is at +the bottom of the Choir is of Marble, as are the two Chapels that form the +Cross: The Pavement of the Church is of great Squares of Marble of various +Colours. 'Tis pity there was not more Inlet for Light, the Dome being the +only lightsome Part of it. But as the Church is magnificent the Ornaments +of the high Altar are more so. Upon the Grand Festivals it bears a Sun of +Gold adorn'd with precious Stones to the Value of 100000 Crowns, a great +Cross of massy Gold, and four golden Candlesticks. The Front of the Altar, +and the Tabernacle are of massy Silver of excellent Workmanship. + +St. _Rupert_ surnam'd the Apostle of _Bavaria_ was the first Bishop of +_Saltzbourg_ in 582. _Leo_ III. whom the Church honour'd as a Saint, +erected this Bishoprick into an Archbishoprick in favour of St. _Arnould_, +in the Year 798. He had for Suffragans the Bishops of _Freisingen_, +_Ratisbon_, _Passau_, _Briken_, _Gurck_, _Chiemsee_, _Seggau_, and +_Lavant_. + +The Archbishop has a Right of Nomination to the four last Bishopricks; +only the Nomination to the Bishoprick of _Gurck_ is alternative between +this Prelate and the Emperor, as Archduke of _Austria_. The four Bishops +bear the Title of Princes of the Empire, and enjoy all the Prerogatives +annexed to that high Dignity. Notwithstanding this, the Archbishop never +gives them the Preference, and when he talks to them, only compliments +them with the Title of _Euer Freuntschaft_, i. e. _Your Friendship_. +Service is perform'd in this Metropolis according to the Usage observ'd in +St. _Peter's_ Church at _Rome_. The Chapter is compos'd of the Archbishop, +a Provost, a Dean, and twenty four Canons, all Men of Quality, who are +only oblig'd to four Months Residence, and the rest of the Time they may +go where they please. Both the Provost and Dean have the Crosier and +Mitre[158]. The Archbishop, as well as the Elector of _Cologn_, has the +Privilege of dressing in the Habit of a Cardinal. This Prelate has the +Directorship of the College of Princes at the Dyet of the Empire +alternatively with the Archduke of _Austria_. He is moreover _Legatus +natus & perpetuus_ of the Holy See, and Primate of _Germany_. His +Titles are these, '_Leopold_, by the Grace of God, Archbishop of +_Saltzbourg_, and Prince of the Empire, perpetual Legate of the Holy +Apostolic See of _Rome_, Primate of _Germany_, descended of the +illustrious Family of the Barons of _Firmian_.' + +The Archbishop at his coming to the See must pay 100000 Crowns to _Rome_ +for the Pall, but the Country generally raises it for him, besides making +a free Gift of the like Sum to its new Prince. The Revenues of this +Prelate are about 1500000 Florins a Year. The very Salt which is carried +into _Bavaria_ and _Swabia_ brings him in 30000 Crowns. He is absolute +Master of all his Revenues, and accountable to no body for what he lays +out. The present Archbishop is of _Tirol_, of a distinguish'd Family, but +not favour'd much by Fortune. He was born the 26th of _May_ 1679, and +succeeded _Francis-Anthony_ the Count _de Harrach_. His Advancement was +owing to the Division of the Chapter, who all wanted to be either Bishops +themselves, or else to advance some one Friend or Cousin. After a great +many Debates and Messages sent forwards and backwards, their Choice fell +upon the Baron _de Firmian_ who was at that time very infirm, which was +the only Thing that procur'd him the Mitre; for the Parties that divided +the Chapter united in his favour, because they thought him a Man not very +long-liv'd; but they believ'd however he might live long enough to give +each Party time to form its Cabals for advancing that Person to the +Bishoprick who they thought would best serve their Purpose. But all those +Gentlemen were mightily mistaken as to the Archbishop's Life. For this +Prelate, like another Pope _Sixtus_ V. lost all his Infirmities when he +found the Mitre, and is very like to out-live many of his Electors. + +This Prince is tall, has an austere haughty Air; seldom makes any +Compliments, and talks much less, except when he is hunting, which is all +the Pleasure of his Life. He is almost always alone, and generally eats by +himself. In the Summer-time he keeps altogether in the Country where he is +of very difficult Access, and keeps no Retinue, nor Company. He is accus'd +of being too thrifty, and I don't know but there may be something in it; +but perhaps he would not appear to be quite so saving if he had succeeded +any body else in the Bishoprick but the Count _de Harrach_, the most +generous, noble, and most magnificent Prelate of his Time. The Archbishop +is naturally a Valetudinarian; and under God, he is oblig'd for the +Preservation of his Life to his Physician _Gersner_, a Native of _Vienna_, +a Man of great Skill in his Profession, and of strict Honour and +Integrity, who has got so much the length of the Prelate's Foot that he is +almost the only Person that dares to speak to him with Freedom. The Count +_d'Arco_ Son to the Archbishop's Sister is this Prelate's only Darling; +for to the surprize of the whole Court, and Chapter, he prefers him before +a Nephew of his own Name, a Canon of _Saltzbourg_ and of _Trent_, a young +Clergyman of great Hopes. + +The Archbishop of the _Lodron_ Family who caus'd the Metropolis to be +built, likewise founded the Archiepiscopal Palace, the Fortifications, and +the Stables, which were all finish'd in the thirty two Years that he was +Archbishop. The Apartments of the Palace being not laid out altogether in +the modern Taste, the deceased Archbishop _Anthony_ Count _de Harrach_, +made a thorough Change in them, and left little more than the Outside +standing. The Palace at _Saltzbourg_ is now more magnificent than many +royal Houses. It contains 173 Rooms all richly furnish'd, without +reckoning the Halls and Galleries. The Archbishop's Apartment is stately: +It has a great Marble Stair-case divided into three Flights, which leads +into a spacious Guard-Chamber, from whence one enters into the +Archbishop's Apartment consisting of several Rooms, where able _Italian_ +Masters have adorn'd the Cielings with very good Draughts. One is really +surprized to see the Richness of the Furniture, and the infinite Variety +of other things that are distributed up and down this vast Apartment; such +as Marble Tables adorn'd with gilt Mouldings; old Porcellain of the most +beautiful sort; Lustres of massy Silver, and Rock Crystal of uncommon +Workmanship; Chandeliers also of Silver or Crystal upon large gilded +Stands, and a multitude of other things very well worth observation. + +How magnificent soever this Apartment is, there's another made use of upon +Days of Ceremony which infinitely surpasses it. I will only mention the +principal Rooms of it. We first enter into a great Salon adorn'd with the +Pictures of no less than fourscore Archbishops of _Saltzbourg_. Next to it +there's another Salon ingeniously and magnificently decorated, which +discovers Grandeur in every part of it. 'Tis furnish'd with a Suit of +Hangings of Crimson-Damask with Gold Lace, forming a rich Architecture in +Pilasters of the Composite Order, the Frize of which is adorn'd with a +pair of Brackets, which is a vast Addition to the whole Decoration. The +rich Gilding shines every where with profusion. At one end of the Room +there stands in the Wall a sumptuous Beaufet of Silver gilt, and at the +other there's a rich Canopy under which the Archbishop sits when he dines +in State. There's a stately Lustre in the middle of the Room which +consists of magnificent pieces of Rock Crystal. At the end of this grand +Apartment there are two Galleries that deserve the attention of the +Curious in Painting, who will certainly pass their time here very +agreeably, and find a great many choice Pictures done by the best +Masters. The Chimney-piece of the first of these Galleries is a great +Ornament to it, being of the finest Marble adorn'd with Brass, gilt with +Water-Gold. Over it there's a Statue of Brass as big as the Life +representing _Antinous_. The second Gallery is as magnificent as the +first. The Floor, Cieling, Door-Cases, and all the Ornaments in general +are of fine Marble. The Walls are painted in Fresco, and exhibit +Geographical Charts of the principal Dominions in _Europe_ in divers +Pictures, which are executed with very great Art and Exactness both as to +the Painting and Disposition of the Things that are the Subjects of it. + +A third Apartment which is over the Archbishop's is for lodging foreign +Princes, and is not inferiour to the others in Grandeur and Magnificence. +It consists of several Rooms all in a row. In one Room there are all the +Pictures of the Emperors from _Charlemain_ to _Charles_ VI. The Rooms that +follow it are hung with very rich Tapestry, particularly one Set +representing the War between _Pompey_ and _Csar_, which is so wonderfully +well drawn that the Marshal _de Daun_ Governour of _Milan_ offer'd 40000 +Florins for it to the late Archbishop. I shall say nothing of the other +Apartments, having treated so much of the Archiepiscopal Palace; tho' if +it had belong'd to a Temporal Prince I should have said much less of it, +but I thought fit to give you an Idea of the Wealth of a Prelate. + +Adjoining to the Palace there is a great Building which serves for lodging +the Archbishop's Domestics. The Stables are fit for a King, and if a +_Frenchman_ was to see them he would be forc'd to own that as to the +Inside they are more magnificent than the so much boasted Stables of +_Versailles_. They hold 150 Horses in two Rows, with a broad Walk in the +middle; and the Roof which is pretty high is supported by two Ranges of +Stone-Pillars. Next to these Stables is a Riding-House cover'd, the +Ceiling of which being painted in Fresco, represents a Tournament; and all +round it there is a Gallery. 'Tis pity that this magnificent Riding-House +is not broader. There's another Riding-House uncovered which has not its +Fellow in the World. 'Tis a very great square Place, three Sides of which +are lin'd by very high Rocks, in which three Rows of Seats are very +artfully cut out for the Spectators, when there is any Carousal, or Combat +of wild Beasts. The whole Work is really magnificent, and the old _Romans_ +would not have been ashamed to own it. + +_Trinity-College_ Church is extremely well adorned. The Floor is of +Marble, and the Roof painted with a great deal of Art, representing the +Assumption of the Virgin, and the Crown placing on her Head by God the +Father and by Jesus Christ. The High-Altar is of a very singular Form, but +very magnificent. Two Angels of Brass, exceeding human Stature, in a +Posture of Humility and Adoration, support a Heart of Brass which serves +for a Tabernacle. Over it is a Globe, between God the Father and the +Redeemer. God the Father seems to rest his right hand upon the Globe, and +presents the left to our Lord, who puts his left upon the Globe, and in +the right holds a Cross. They are supported by very large Rays which shine +with very rich Gilding. This stately Groupe is surmounted with a Glory, in +the midst of which the Holy Ghost appears in form of a Dove, extending its +Rays over God the Father, and God the Son. The whole is of Brass gilt with +Gold, of a very curious Fancy. + +Near this magnificent Church is the Palace of _Mirabel_, where the late +Archbishop the Count _de Harrach_, used to spend the Summer. This Prince +who is truly magnificent in every thing, caus'd this House to be built at +a great Expence from the very Foundation; but the Architect whom he +employ'd has not answer'd his Intention, and it appears that he did not +understand the proper Distribution of the Apartments. Every Part of it +indeed taken distinctly, is beautiful, but there is not one in its proper +Place. The grand Stair-Case is very fine, as well for its Contrivance as +for its rich Ornaments, but 'tis placed in a Corner, and without a Guide +'tis no easy matter to find it. The Salon, which is the Master-piece of +the Archbishop's Apartments, is worth the Observation of the Curious, with +respect to the grand Manner in which 'tis painted: Marble, Brass, and +Gilding, seem to have been bestowed on it with profusion. As to the +Pilasters, the _Corinthian_ Order is entirely observed; and there are +Basso-Relievos imitating Brass which are well design'd, and make a very +good appearance. 'Tis pity this fine Salon wants proportion, it being much +too lofty for its Size; and 'tis still more to be lamented that it has not +a Prospect over the Gardens, the River of _Saltz_, and the adjacent +Country, which are the Objects that are discover'd from the Apartments +next to the Salon. + +The Chapel of _Mirabel_ is also very magnificent; and though but of a +middling Size, is not inferior to the finest Churches. This Palace is +accompanied with Gardens finely adorned with Fountains and Statues; and +there are several Orange-Trees planted in the Ground, which are cover'd up +in the Winter in a wooden Box. + +Thus, Sir, have I given you a very particular Account of the City of +_Saltzbourg_: What remains for me is to speak of the Archbishop's +Houshold, which will give you an Idea of his Wealth and Grandeur. This +Prince has + + A Steward, + A Great Chamberlain, + A Grand Marshal, + A Master of the Horse, + A Great Huntsman, + A Captain of the Guards, + A Master-Cook, + A Pay-Master, + Twenty-four Chamberlains, + Sixteen Gentlemen-Servants called _Truchsses_, + Sixteen Pages, + Fifteen Ushers of the Cabinet, + Eleven Ushers of the Chamber, + Forty-two Valets de Chambre, + Twenty-eight Footmen, + Eighteen Cooks. + +How many Coachmen and Grooms he has I know not, but there must be a great +number of 'em, the Archbishop having 750 Horses. + +Besides the Officers that I have now mentioned, there are also the Great +Hereditary Officers of the Archbishoprick, who are four. + +The eldest of the _Lodron_ Family is Hereditary Grand Marshal. + +The Count _de Kuenbourg_ is Great-Cup-Bearer. + +The Office of Master of the Pantry is vacant by the death of the Count _de +Thanhausen_, the last of his Family. + +The Count _de Torring_ is Great Chamberlain. + +All these Offices are executed by the eldest Sons of the Families +above-mentioned. + +The Archbishop confers the Order of St. _Hubert_, which was instituted the +25th of _November_, 1702, by the Archbishop _John-Ernest_, who has thereto +annexed six Commanderies, or Prebends, of a considerable Revenue. + +The Archbishops are obliged for most of their Wealth to the Princes of +_Bavaria_[159]. Mean time the Members of the Chapter of _Saltzbourg_ admit +of no Princes, that they may have a Plea for refusing the Princes of +_Bavaria_, of whose Power they are jealous; in which I think they shew +more regard to the Rules of Policy than those of Gratitude. + +The City of _Saltzbourg_ is worth seeing, but does not afford Amusement. +Every one lives here for his own sake, and except some Gentlemen of the +Chapter, and the Master of the Horse, who is the Count _de Truchsses +Zeil_, there's nobody to visit. The latter is a Nobleman whose Manners and +Sentiments are intirely conformable to his Birth. I know nobody that is +more polite; and I have abundant reason to praise his Civility to me. He +is of a Family, one Branch of which is settled in _Prussia_, where it has +for a long time held distinguished Employments, and produced Subjects of +great Merit who have done the State good Service. + +I forgot to mention two things to you that are worth seeing, _viz._ the +Capuchins Convent, from whence there's a Prospect of a vast Tract of +Country; and St. _Sebastian_'s Church-yard, in which is interr'd the +celebrated _Paracelsus_; his Tomb lies in a Place very much neglected, +behind a Door, where a _Latin_ Epitaph says, 'There rests +_Philip-Theophrastus Paracelsus_, the famous Physician, who with wonderful +Art cured the Leprosy, Gout, Dropsy, and other incurable Distempers; and +who after having given all his Estate to the Poor, died _September_ 24, +1541.' + +_Paracelsus_ cured most of his Patients by Sympathy, which made the +Vulgar, who are always apt to run into extremes, believe that he was a +Magician. He wrote several Books, whereof one of the most curious is his +_Treatise of Secret Philosophy_, which really contains such Passages as +would make one believe that if _Paracelsus_ was not a Conjurer himself, he +was at least one of the Sect. + +St. _Sebastian_'s Church-yard is a square Place, encompassed with a +Gallery supported by Arches: 'tis 119 Paces in length, and 96 in breadth. + +The Neighbourhood of _Saltzbourg_ is not disagreeable; and though the +Valley in which the City lies is pretty much inclosed with Mountains, yet +it presents several Objects that are pleasing to the Sight. + +The Archbishop has two Pleasure-Houses, _viz._ _Cleisheim_ and _Heilbron_, +which are both of them beautiful and magnificent. _Heilbron_ especially is +worth seeing on account of its fine Waters and Cascades. + +I hope to write to you speedily from _Venice_, and perhaps you will hear +from me when I come to _Inspruc_; but this will depend on the Stay I shall +make there, and on the departure of the Post. + + _POSTSCRIPT._ + + Since the year 1730, that this Letter was wrote, great + Revolutions have happened in the Archbishoprick of _Saltzbourg_, + with regard to Religion; for about 22,000 Persons have abandoned + this Country, together with their Estates and their Fortunes, + and declared themselves of the _Lutheran_ Communion; which is + very strange, and almost inconceivable! For in short, those + People never knew any Clergy but their own Priests, they lived + in a Country where there was no Controversy about Religion, + because all the Inhabitants were reckon'd staunch Catholics, by + consequence those People could not be instructed; and even the + greatest part of them could not read, but were bred up in such + gross Ignorance that they scarce knew the Principles of + Christianity. Therefore how could these poor People know that + they were in an Error? + + I am not ignorant that at the beginning of the pretended + Reformation, there were _Saltzburghers_ that followed the + Doctrines of _Luther_, such as _Staupitz_, Abbot of _St. + Peter_'s at _Saltzbourg_; _Paul Speratus_, a Preacher in the + Cathedral of this City; and several others. But _Lutheranism_ + was thought to be quite suppressed in this Province, when it + seem'd all on a sudden to take deeper Root than ever; tho', as I + said before, I can't conceive how it should happen. Is it + possible that the Archbishop, the Curates and _Priests_ should + take so little care of what ought to have been most dear to + them, I mean the Salvation of Souls, as that so many Thousands + of People should pass with them for good _Romans_, at the same + time that they abhorred _Rome_ and its Precepts? For in short, I + suppose, and believe too, that there have ever been Protestants + in this Country, since the pretended Reformation; it being not + in the power of Man to destroy a Religion when once it has had + Followers in a Country; but the Difficulty is, how those + Sectaries should subsist there, without the Knowledge of an + ecclesiastical Sovereign; and how it was possible for them, not + only to subsist, but even to multiply, and the Priests and + Archbishop not perceive it. Ought not the Curates to know the + Sentiments of their Parishioners by Confession? Ought they not + to acquaint the Archbishop their Head of it? and ought not this + Prelate and his Priests to endeavour to reclaim those that go + astray, by the Example of a lively Faith, and by charitable + Exhortations, and from a Compassion for their Error, diligently + to oppose the Propagation of it? But all this has been + neglected: The Priests, and their Archbishop, knew not there was + a Fire, 'till 'twas too late to put it out; and instead of the + Good-nature, Compassion, and Charity, which like Water were + necessary to extinguish it, they pour'd in the Oil of Hatred and + Violence, and abandoned themselves to their furious Zeal. The + haughty, rigid, and severe Archbishop, forgetting that he was + both a Father and an Archbishop, and giving way to the Violence + of his Temper, has for ever lost those Souls which he might have + hoped to reclaim, by Instructions truly pastoral, and treating + them as Children led astray; whereas this Prelate, by using the + contrary Method, has caused a great many Persons to declare + themselves Protestants, who would have died in the Bosom of the + Church, if the proper Remedies had been employed, to bring them + back to it. + + But I am persuaded that among the Emigrants of _Saltzbourg_, + there is a vast number who made Religion only a Cloak to leave + their Country, in hopes of bettering their Fortunes elsewhere, + and who were seduced by the ensnaring Temptation of throwing off + the Yoak of Submission. Be this as it will, those unfortunate + Subjects, like the _Jews_, are spread into divers Countries, as + _Germany_, _Holland_, and _Prussia_, where the King, I must + confess, (as much a Catholic as I am) has received them with a + Charity and Generosity perfectly christian and royal; his + Majesty having grudg'd neither Care nor Expence to convince the + World that as _France_ is the Asylum of unfortunate Kings, so + the Dominions of _Prussia_ are the Refuge of oppressed + Subjects. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXIV. + + + _SIR_, _Inspruc, April 9, 1730._ + +I travelled hither all the way from _Saltzbourg_, with the same Horses, +which is what I will never do again; for travelling by Post is always +best; and though 'tis more expensive, yet on the other hand 'tis less +fatiguing. + +Three Leagues from _Saltzbourg_ stands the little Town of HALLE, which +belongs to the Elector of _Bavaria_, and is a Place considerable for its +Salt-Pits. It lies in a small Valley crossed by three Rivers, form'd by +Torrents from the Mountains, which bring down a vast quantity of floating +Wood, that is stopp'd at _Halle_ by the Piles which either cross or shut +up the Rivers. They lay the Wood up in store for the Salt-Works, which +consume a great quantity of it. + +After I had been all over the Salt-Works, I went and din'd at +_Schneitzenrieth_, a sorry Village, where, however, I far'd better than I +have done at many good Towns. + +When I had dined I pursued my Journey, and having travelled four Leagues, +entred the Country of TIROL, the Passage to which is very much straitened, +so that there's scarce room for a Waggon, by two very high Rocks or +Mountains, and two Forts between them, one belonging to the Archbishoprick +of _Saltzbourg_, and the other to the County of _Tirol_. Each Sovereign +keeps a Garrison in his Fort, and Officers to receive the Duties. + +I lay that Evening at WAHTRINGEN, the first Village in the Dominions of +_Tirol_, as one comes out of _Germany_. I here found a Parcel of Boys +running about with lighted Touchwood in their hands, to the Houses, Woods, +and Fields. Having ask'd an old Man the meaning of it, he told me that the +Wood so lighted was consecrated by the Parson of the Parish, and had the +virtue of securing all Places to which it was carried, against Lightning. +This Consecration of the Wood is always perform'd the _Saturday_ before +_Easter_, when a great Pile is erected before the Church, into which the +Parson throws Holy water, and then sets fire to It. When the whole is well +kindled, every one strives to snatch a Firebrand, with which they run to +their Houses and Lands, but with so little care that I wonder they don't +set every place they come to in a Flame. + +From _Halle_ to _Wahtringen_ the Country is every bit uncultivated. The +Inhabitants live upon Milk, Pickled Cabbage, and Water-gruel. They have no +Corn but what comes from _Bavaria_. All their Substance and Trade is in +Cattle, and their Mountains afford excellent Pasture. + +Upon _Easter-day_ I heard Mass at _St. John_'s, a great Village where +there's a very pretty Church. I was very much pleased with the Sermon that +was preached by the Parson, and with the Regularity with which the whole +Divine Service was performed. + +After Mass I went and din'd at ELVAN, to which place I came through a +Valley, which in the Summer time must be very agreeable, but at the +present Season is all covered with Snow. I was not more edified at +_Wahtringen_, than I was scandalized at _Elvan_, to catch my Landlord, a +clever, merry Blade, engaged with one of his Maids in something else +instead of telling their Beads. My Presence was so far from spoiling +Sport that my Landlord invited me very civilly to do as he did, assuring +me that his House was well furnish'd with Nymphs. In a very little time I +was convinced that what he said was true, for being obliged by the Cold to +stay in the common Room while one was aired for me, I saw half a score +Lasses come in, who were all of them my Landlord's very humble Servants, +and not in the least disposed to imitate the eleven thousand Virgins. + +After Dinner, pursuing my way through Snows and Rocks, I went and lay at +_Kundahl_. Next day I got beyond the Snow, and crossed a very pleasant +Valley which brought me to RATENBERG, a Town on the Banks of the _Inn_, +defended by a Castle built on a Rock, and stronger by its Situation than +by its Works. The Elector _Maximilian-Emanuel_ of _Bavaria_ coming before +this Castle on the 13th of _June_, 1703, obliged the Garrison, which was +composed of the Militia, to surrender at Discretion. From this Fort to +_Inspruc_ I always kept along the River _Inn_, which runs through a fine +Valley between high Mountains that are much steeper on the right side of +the River than the left; nevertheless there are Houses on them that are +inhabited by the Miners. I can't imagine how it was possible for the good +People to build in Places so inconvenient; for their Houses look as if +they were stuck on to the Rocks, and as if nothing but a Goat or a Swallow +could come at them. The whole Valley is very populous, and abounds with +pretty Villages, Castles, and fine Country-Houses. + +At the end of it stands the Town of SCHWATZ, which is very well built. The +Parish Church is an ancient, fair, large Edifice; and wholly covered with +Copper, as most of the Churches in _Tirol_ are with Tin painted green, +which has a very pretty look. The Houses at _Schwatz_ are generally of +Brick, so that 'tis very rare to see one of Timber. I observ'd at the Inn +where I din'd, and throughout the whole Country of _Tirol_, that when +People came into any House, they said to the Master of it, _Hail, Jesus +Christ!_ to which he answered, _May Christ be praised, and the holy Virgin +his Mother_. Then the Master of the House stepp'd forward, and took the +Visitor by his hand. This method of saluting is practised among all the +People throughout _Tirol_; and the Salutation is fix'd up in Print at all +the Doors, with an Advertisement tack'd to it, importing, that Pope +_Clement_ XI. had granted an hundred Days of Indulgence, and plenary +Absolution, in favour of those who should pronounce the Salutation and the +Answer. + +After having din'd at _Schwatz_, I continued to ride along the _Inn_; and +three Leagues beyond that I pass'd the River, over a Bridge near +_Fultishau_, a fine Convent of the Servite-Fryars, and went to HALLE, the +second City of _Tirol_. The reverend Fathers the _Jesuits_ have a fine +House here, and a noble Church, with a great Garden to it. The Mint is +also worth seeing, where they coin a great quantity of Species from the +Silver and Copper taken out of the Mines of _Tirol_. The Water is brought +to it by wooden Pipes. They drive a great Trade at _Halle_ in Copper, Tin, +and Salt, which is produced there in abundance, the Vent of it being +promoted by means of the River _Inn_, which becomes navigable at _Halle_. + +From this Town to _Inspruc_ 'tis two Leagues, and a strait even Road which +deserves to be planted on each side with Trees. INSPRUC, the Capital City +of _Tirol_, stands in the middle of a Valley, on the Banks of the _Inn_, +over which there's a wooden Bridge that leads to the Suburbs. _Inspruc_ +was heretofore the Residence of the Archdukes, the Sovereigns of _Tirol_; +but since the august House of _Austria_ has been reduced in _Germany_ to +the Imperial Branch singly, this City has been only subject to Governors, +who however were always great Noblemen. _Charles_ Duke of _Lorrain_, who +married the Queen Dowager of _Poland_, Sister to the Emperor _Leopold_, +and who made himself famous by the Victories which he gain'd over the +_Turks_, held this important Office. That Prince dying at _Inspruc_, was +succeeded by _Charles_ Prince Palatine of _Newbourg_, Brother to the +Empress _Eleonora_, _Leopold_'s third Wife, but he renounced the +Government of _Tirol_, on his Accession to the Electorate. He liv'd at +_Inspruc_, with great Pomp, and his Absence is still very much lamented +there. Since he went away, the Government of _Tirol_ has remain'd vacant. +They say 'tis designed for the Archduchess _Mary-Magdalen_, the Emperor's +youngest Sister. This I know is what the Burghers of _Inspruc_ wish for; +but I don't think the Nobility do; because the Presence of the Archduchess +would oblige the People of Quality to be at very great Expence; for they +would be under a necessity of going to Court, as well as of carrying it +more civilly to their Vassals. + +The Count _de Konickel_ is the Chief of the Regency: He has the Title of +_Landshauptman_, which is much the same with Lieutenant-General of the +Province, wherein he has the absolute Command, and all the Sovereign +Courts depend on him. This Nobleman is a _Tirolese_, and lodges in a fine +House which has been built by order of the States of _Tirol_, for the +Residence of their _Landshauptman_. He conducts himself with Dignity, and +is civil to Foreigners. + +'Twas at _Inspruc_ that the Emperor _Charles_ V. received one of the +greatest Shocks he had met with in all his Life. For he was surprized +there with his Brother _Ferdinand_, King of the _Romans_, by _Maurice_ +Elector of _Saxony_, who, though his Creature, made War upon him +nevertheless, on account of Religion. The Emperor and his Brother were so +near being taken that they had but just time to make their Escape to +_Villaco_, a little Town upon the _Drave_ in _Carinthia_. This was a +terrible Reverse of Fortune for a Prince, who, but a few years before, had +a Pope and a King of _France_ too, his Prisoners. + +_Maximilian-Emanuel_ Elector of _Bavaria_ was not more fortunate at +_Inspruc_ than _Charles_ V. for though he made himself Master of it in +_June_ 1703, he was obliged to abandon it in _July_ following, and to +retire to _Bavaria_, after having tried in vain to force Passes which were +in a manner inaccessible by Nature, and guarded not only by the Peasants +but by regular Troops. His Design was to have joined M. _de Vendosme_ in +the County of _Trent_, and by that means to have opened a Communication +with the _Milanese_. The Elector, whilst he was retreating, ran the hazard +several times of losing his Life; and his Troops were for the most part +knock'd o' th' head by Stones which the Peasants hurl'd at them in the +Defiles which they were obliged to pass. + +The City of _Inspruc_ is absolutely defenceless, and were it not for its +Suburbs, would be one of the least Cities in all _Germany_; but those +Suburbs are very large, and the Residence of Persons of the greatest +Distinction. The Houses are very commodious, well built of Brick, and for +the most part with Piazzas, which is a great Conveniency to the +Foot-passengers. There was heretofore great Store of Salt here, but for +some years past the Pits are dry, which is a Loss to _Inspruc_ of no less +than 200,000 Florins a-year. + +Though the City is small yet there are several very fine things to be seen +in it. Such is the ancient Palace of the Archdukes, a vast large +Structure, but without Architecture, or any manner of Regularity. There +are Pictures in it done by skilful Hands, particularly in that call'd the +Giant's-Hall, where the Story of _Dejanira_ is represented with very great +Art and Perfection. + +The Palace has very great Gardens belonging to it, but they are not well +kept; yet there are the Remains of noble Fountains and brazen Statues. +Among the latter is an Equestrian Statue of an Archduke of _Austria_, who +is represented as large as the Life, in Armour, with Breeches after the +Fashion of the Ancients, a Ruff, and little Boots. The Horse seems to rest +upon his Haunches, in an Attitude as if he was just ready to leap off the +Pedestal. + +The Prince _Charles_ of _Newbourg_, the present Elector Palatine, finding +the old Castle not commodious enough, caused one to be built of Wood; +which was some years ago burnt down to the ground by an accidental Fire. + +The Parish Church is of modern Building, with a great Dome raised in the +middle of the Cross. The whole Architecture of this Edifice is of the +_Corinthian_ Order. The Front is expos'd to an advantagious Point of View +on a Square, and is adorned with three Orders, one above another, which +makes the Fabric to rise in the whole to about 120 Foot height, exclusive +of a great flight of Steps to it, after the manner of _Italy_. All the +Parts of this Structure are charged with Ornaments of a clumsey Invention, +and very ill executed; so that the Confusion resulting from it is +infinitely shocking to those that have a nice Taste of Architecture. The +Inside is more tolerable than the Outside, and is even magnificent. The +whole Length from the Entrance to the Foot of the High-Altar, is 432 Feet. +The Foundation of it was laid while _Charles de Newbourg_ was Governor of +_Tirol_, who plac'd the first Stone of it. The whole Decoration of this +Church consists in Pilasters of red Marble, with a Vein of white, and the +Chapiters are of Plaister. The Roof is painted in Fresco by _Gosman-Daniel +Ossem_, a Native of _Munich_, who has succeeded so well as to give entire +satisfaction to such as have a Taste for, and Skill in things that are +curious. The High-Altar stands under the Arch at the end opposite to the +Nave of the Church. 'Tis perfectly magnificent, adorned with four great +Pillars of the Composite Order, of green Marble with white Veins, whose +Chapiters and Basons are of Marble of various Colours; and they support a +Canopy, which is form'd by four Curves fill'd with a Glory. + +The Tabernacle and the Front of the Altar are of massy Silver, charged +with several Mouldings, and Foliages of Silver gilt; and there are few +Altars more splendidly decorated. There is a miraculous Image of the holy +Virgin, which the Archduke _Leopold_, the Sovereign of _Tirol_, brought +hither from _Dresden_. That Prince made a Visit to the Elector of +_Saxony_, who shewing him his Treasure, desir'd him to chuse any Piece +that he lik'd best; _Leopold_ singled out this Figure, because he was told +that in the early days of Lutheranism, it had been cast three times in the +Fire, and always taken out again without any damage. The Archduke on his +return to his Dominions, made a Present of this Image to the Parish, and +it has ever since been held in great veneration, and never fail'd of +working great Miracles. Three great Lamps of massy Silver are continually +burning before it; and the other Chapels have each a Lamp of solid Silver +whose Light is always shining. All this Plate was given to the Church by +the Elector Palatine. + +The famous golden Roof is near the Parish Church, and serves to cover a +Balcony of the Chancery which fronts the Square. They say that _Frederic_ +of _Austria_, the Sovereign of _Tirol_, caused this Roof to be made, to +let his Subjects see that he was not so bare of Money as they thought him, +and that he did not deserve the Nickname they had given him of the +_Pennyless Prince_. There are many however who affirm that this Roof is +not of Gold, while others say the contrary. As far as I can judge of it, I +believe 'tis of Copper only covered with very thin Plates of Gold, and by +consequence of no great Value. And supposing the whole Roof was of solid +Gold, I don't believe the Expence was very extraordinary, though to be +sure it was by much too great for so mean a purpose. + +The House or College of the reverend Fathers the Jesuits, is a very great +Building in which no Cost has been spared. Its principal Front is 166 +Paces in length. These Fathers are the Directors of the University. Near +to their College is the Church of the _Franciscans_, whose Convent was +founded by the pious Legacies of the Emperor _Maximilian_, who on his +Death-bed ordered his Successor to cause this House and Church to be built +at _Inspruc_. His Grandson _Ferdinand_ I. Son to _Philip_ the Fair, +perform'd his Will, and in honour of his Grandfather's Memory, raised him +a Marble Tomb which may be rank'd among the most stately _Mausoleums_ in +_Europe_. The Emperor _Maximilian_ is there represented on his Knees upon +a Cushion, with his Hands lifted up to Heaven, and as it were prostrate in +Prayer: He is adorned with the Crown, and the Imperial _Dalmatic_. This +Figure is of a gigantic Size, and admirably well done in Brass. 'Tis +plac'd on a great high Base of black Marble, forming an oblong Square, on +an Ascent of three Steps of red Marble. The whole Base is divided into +twenty-four Compartiments, or square Tables of white Marble, representing +the memorable Actions of _Maximilian_ in excellent Bas-Reliefs. The four +cardinal Virtues in a mournful Attitude, are represented in Brass, as +sitting on the Corners of the _Mausoleum_, and looking on _Maximilian_'s +Statue. The entire _Mausoleum_ stands by itself in the middle of the +Church; and the following Inscription is engraved in Letters of Gold all +round the Base of this Monument; + + IMPERATORI CSARI MAXIMILIANO, PIO, FELICI, AUGUSTO, PRINCIPI + TUM PACIS TUM BELLI ARTIBUS OMNIUM TATIS SU REGUM LONGE + CLARISSIMO; SUB CUJUS FELICI IMPERIO INCLYTA GERMANIA, + DULCISSIMA IPSIUS PATRIA, TAM ARMIS QUAM LITERARUM STUDIIS PLUS + QUAM UNQUAM ANTEHAC FLORERE CAPUTQUE SUPER ALIAS NATIONES + EXTOLLERE C[OE]PIT: CUJUS INSIGNIA FACTA TABELLIS INFERIORIBUS, + QUAMVIS SUB COMPENDIO, EXPRESSA CONSPICIUNTUR. IMPERATOR CSAR + FERDINANDUS, PIUS, FELIX, AUGUSTUS, AVO PATERNO PERQUAM COLENDO, + AC BENE MERITO, PIETATIS ATQUE GRATITUDINIS ERGO POSUIT. NATUS + EST DIE XXVII MARTII ANNO DOMINI M.CCCC.LIX. WELS IN AUSTRIA + DENATUS. + +All this fine _Mausoleum_ was executed with very great Care and Skill, by +_Alexander Colin_, a Native of _Mechlin_; the Picture of which ingenious +Painter, and that of his Wife, are kept in the Church, as an +Acknowledgment due to that excellent Artist. This _Mausoleum_ was mightily +enriched by the Magnificence of _Frederic_ Archduke of _Austria_, surnamed +the _Pennyless Prince_, who caused to be placed in the Nave of the Church +twenty-eight Statues of Brass seven Foot in height, representing so many +Princes and Princesses that were related to the House of _Austria_. They +are set up in two Rows from the great Gate to the Altar, and therefore +separate the Nave from the two Wings on the Sides. 'Tis pity that those +Statues are in the hands of Monks who neglect them very much, and suffer +the Dust to eat into them. They would do much better in a Royal Palace: +Some of them are in great perfection. I fancy you will be glad to know the +Names of the Persons they represent. + + * * * * * + +I. The first, beginning on the right Side of the Altar, is the Figure of +_Joan_ of _Castile_, Mother to _Charles_ V. and _Ferdinand_ I. the Heads +of the two Branches of the House of _Austria_; the first of which became +extinct by the Death of _Charles_ II. King of _Spain_, but the second +still flourishes among us with Glory in the Person of the August _Charles_ +VI. + +II. _Ferdinand_ the Catholic, Father to _Joan_. + +III. _Cunigonda_ Archduchess, Daughter to the Emperor _Frederic_ IV. and +Wife to _Albert_ of _Bavaria_, who died a Nun. + +IV. _Margaret_, Daughter to _Henry_ Duke of _Carinthia_ and Count of +_Tirol_, surnamed the _Pious_, because she founded and built several +Convents. This Princess was nicknamed _Margaret Wide-Mouth_: She was +marry'd first to _John_ Margrave of _Moravia_, Son to the Emperor +_Charles_ IV. whom she surviv'd, and marry'd to her second Husband +_Lewis_, Margrave of _Brandenburg_, Son to the Emperor _Lewis_ of +_Bavaria_, whom she also surviv'd, and finding herself a Widow a second +time, and without Issue to enjoy what she had, she made a Present of the +County of _Tirol_ whereof she was Sovereign, to her Cousins _Rodolph_, +_Albert_, and _Leopold_ of _Austria_, which Grant was confirm'd by the +Emperor _Charles_ IV. in 1364. + +V. _Mary of Burgundy_, Wife to the Emperor _Maximilian_ I. the richest +Heiress of her Time. + +VI. _Elizabeth_, the Daughter of the Emperor _Sigismond_, and Wife to the +Emperor _Albert_ II. who carry'd the Duchy of _Luxembourg_ to the House of +_Austria_. She was Mother to the unfortunate King _Ladislaus_. + +VII. _Godfrey_ of _Bouillon_, Duke of _Lorrain_, King of _Jerusalem_, +plac'd here among the Princes of the House of _Austria_, as being +descended from the same Family as they. + +VIII. _Albert_ I. Emperor. + +IX. _Frederic_, Archduke of _Austria_, he who was nicknamed Prince +_Pennyless_. + +X. _Leopold_ of _Austria_, surnamed the _Virtuous_, Son of _Albert_ the +_Wise_. + +XI, and XII. Opinions are very much divided about the Persons who are +represented by these two Statues; but 'tis generally thought they are the +Emperors _Charles_ V. and _Ferdinand_ I. + +XIII. The Emperor _Frederic_ IV. Father to _Maximilian_ I. + +XIV. _Albert_ II. Emperor, King of _Hungary_ and _Bohemia_, and Father to +the unfortunate King _Ladislaus_. + +XV. _Clovis_, the first Christian King of _France_, who is plac'd among +the Princes of the House of _Austria_, because their Genealogists derive +them from the ancient _Franks_ who subdued _France_. + +XVI. _Philip_ I. call'd the Fair, King of _Spain_. + +XVII. The Emperor _Rodolph_ I. + +XVIII. The Archduke _Albert_, call'd the _Wise_. + +XIX. _Theodoric_ King of the _Goths_. I am not a Genealogist good enough +to tell you in what Relation he stands to the House of _Austria_. + +XX. _Ernest_, Archduke, Grandfather to _Maximilian_ I. + +XXI. _Theodebert_ Count of _Provence_, from whom descended the Dukes of +_Burgundy_ and the Counts of _Hapsburg_. + +XXII. _Arthur_, Prince of _Wales_, who marry'd _Catherine_ of _Arragon_. + +XXIII. _Sigismond_, Archduke and Count of _Tirol_, who adopted the Emperor +_Maximilian_ I. + +XXIV. _Blanche Mary_, the second Wife of _Maximilian_ I. which Princess +was the Daughter of _John Galeas_ Duke of _Milan_. + +XXV. _Margaret_, Daughter of _Maximilian_ I. who was marry'd first to +_John_ a Prince of _Spain_, and secondly to _Philibert_ Duke of _Savoy_. + +XXVI. _Cimburge_, Wife of _Ernest_ the Archduke, and Mother to the Emperor +_Frederic_ IV. + +XXVII. _Charles_ the _Bold_, Duke of _Burgundy_, Father to _Mary_ of +_Burgundy_ who was Wife to _Maximilian_ I. + +XXVIII. _Philip_, Duke of _Burgundy_, Father to _Charles_ the _Bold_. + + * * * * * + +Besides these twenty-eight Statues there are twenty three others plac'd +upon the Cornish of the Portico which separates the Nave from the Choir: +They are of Brass two Foot high, and represent those Kings and Princes +whom the Church honours as Saints. + +I am farther to acquaint you of the Chapel of this Church, call'd the +Silver Chapel, because of the Image of the Virgin there of solid Silver as +big as the Life in the middle of the Altar, with a great many Images of +Saints all of the same Metal. The Ascent to this Chapel is by a winding +Stair-Case. Here is to be seen the stately Tomb of _Ferdinand_ Archduke of +_Austria_, Count of _Tirol_, Son to the Emperor _Ferdinand_ I. This +Mausoleum is under an Arch which is pretty high. _Ferdinand_, whose +Figure is of white Marble, seems to be asleep upon a Bed of black Marble +rais'd one Foot from the Ground. The whole Arch is lin'd with Marble of +various Colours, forming divers Compartments of very curious Workmanship, +where you see the Arms of the Provinces reduc'd to the Obedience of the +House of _Austria_: The different Colours are shewn by precious Stones +enchas'd in Marble, and so curiously done that the Work seems to be +enamel'd. Round the same Arch are plac'd five Bas-Reliefs, representing in +as many Pictures the memorable Actions of _Ferdinand_. Five other +Bas-Reliefs contain the Images of that Prince's Patrons, _viz._ JESUS +CHRIST, St. _Anthony_ of _Padua_, St. _George_, St. _Thomas_, and St. +_Leopold_. + +Near the said Tomb stands that of _Philippina_ of _Welserin_, who was born +at _Augsburg_, and the Wife of the Archduke _Ferdinand_, by whom she had +two Sons, _Charles_ the Margrave of _Burgau_, and _Andrew_ Cardinal of +_Austria_. This _Mausoleum_ is of Free-stone and has nothing remarkable +more than the following Epitaph: + + FERDINANDUS D. G. ARCHIDUX, DUX BURGUNDI, COMES TIROL, + PHILIPPIN CONJUGI CHARISSIM FIERI CURAVIT. OBIIT 24 Aprilis, + 1580. + +The Franciscan who shew'd me this Chapel assur'd me that it was one of the +First-rate Chapels in the World, on account of the Indulgences which had +been annex'd to it by the Beneficence of the Popes; that it was upon a par +with the Chapel of the _Holy Sepulchre_ at _Jerusalem_, with the Churches +of _St. John de Lateran_, _St. Mary major_, and _St. Gregory_ at _Rome_; +and that, in fine, a Mass said in this Chapel for the Repose of a Soul +departed, was enough to deliver it out of Purgatory. + +These, Sir, are the Remarks that I made in this City, from whence I am +making ready to set out to-morrow. I expect to be well jolted all the way +to _Venice_, where to make my self amends I will take my Pleasure in a +_Gondola_. I wish with all my heart I had your Company there; we should +then have the Satisfaction of seeing a great many fine Sights together. +But for want of this Satisfaction I shall never cease to think of you; and +pray don't forget me, but believe me to be for ever, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXV. + + + _SIR_, _Venice, April_ 27, 1730. + +I wrote to you from _Inspruc_ the very Day before I set out from thence +for this Place, to which I arriv'd without any Misfortune. About three +quarters of a League from _Inspruc_ we came among very tiresome and +disagreeable Mountains, the highest of which is call'd the _Brenner_, a +Name that the Country People gave it when they clear'd it of the Wood, and +burnt it. This Mountain is much more rugged on the side of _Trent_ than +'tis towards _Inspruc_; 'tis for nine Months together cover'd with Snow, +and I found a great deal remaining on it still; yet 'tis inhabited to the +very Top. There is a Post-House, a Tavern, and a Chapel in which Mass is +only said when the Snows are melted: It produces Corn and Hay in +abundance. Near the Post-House there is a considerable Spring which at +first forms a large Basin, and then divides into two Torrents which +quickly change into Rivers, one whereof falls into the _Inn_ above +_Inspruc_, and the other, after becoming navigable two Leagues from +_Bolsano_, loses itself in the _Adige_ above _Trent_. The Passage of the +_Brenner_ is very painful, and sometimes impracticable when it snows or +rains; so that Travellers are often oblig'd to stay several Days till the +Return of fair Weather, which is the more inconvenient because the Inns on +both Sides are of the worst sort. + +_Stertzingen_ a little Town four Post-Stages from _Inspruc_, has nothing +remarkable; however I was well accommodated there. Next Day I went and +din'd at BRIXEN an Episcopal City in an agreeable Valley, where I found +the Season very forward. The Country between _Brixen_ and _Bolsano_ is +extremely populous, and so manur'd that the steepest Mountains are +cultivated. + +BOLSANO is a pretty Town well inhabited, and drives a considerable Trade, +having no less than four Fairs a Year. Its Situation is very agreeable, in +the middle of a fine large Valley full of Villages and Vineyards. The Air +here is much softer than in the rest of _Tirol_, and I found Trees here in +full Verdure while in the Country they were but just budded. The Vines are +very carefully watched by Men who keep Guard in Huts rais'd upon three +Poles plac'd cross-wise, and high enough to command the Vineyards. +_Misson_ in his Voyage to _Italy_ says, that these Huts or _Guerites_ were +for lodging the Guards that are posted to hinder the Bears from eating the +Grapes. I know not who could tell him that there were any Bears in this +Country, and if there are 'tis hardly probable they would venture into a +Valley so populous as that of _Bolsano_. The Wines of this Valley are the +best in all _Tirol_; but they must be drank, as must all the Wines of this +Country, the very Year of their Growth, or else they grow luscious, and +then turn crabbed. + +The Valley of _Bolsano_ which extends to _Trent_ is throughout equally +agreeable; and is not incumber'd by those horrid Mountains that we were +pester'd with in the Road from _Inspruc_. + +TRENT is celebrated for the Council formerly held there. I went to see the +Church of St. _Mary major_, where the Fathers of that Council held their +Assembly. It has nothing remarkable besides its Organs which are of too +enormous a Size for a Church, but are a very curious piece of Work; for +they not only exhibit various Sounds, but imitate Vocal Music, the Notes +of divers Birds, and the Noise of Kettle-Drums and Trumpets. The Bishop of +_Trent_ is a Prince of the Empire. The See is now vacant by the Death of +the Count _de Wolckenstein_ the last Bishop. The Chapter has fix'd the +Election for next _May_. A great many Travellers highly extol the Bishop's +Palace, but for my own part, I was not so fortunate as to observe any +thing in it that was worthy of Attention. + +Throughout all _Tirol_ the Common People are very ill-favour'd: Most of +the Women are disguis'd by Wens in their Throat[160], and as if that was +not enough they disfigure themselves by their Dress. The Country Women +wear Stockings which have no Feet, and are gather'd into many little Folds +from the Ancle to the Calf of the Leg: Their Shoes are exactly like those +the Men wear. Their Petticoats are exceeding short, and ty'd up almost as +high as their Breasts which are very large. With all this they have a Pair +of Stays which reaches down to their Waist, and renders them compleatly +deform'd. Instead of other Head-dress they wear a green high-crown'd Hat, +the Brims of which are let down, and is as unbecoming a part of their +Dress as any of the rest. At _Brixen_ the Blood mends, the Women are +handsomer, the Men more genteel, and the People in general more civiliz'd; +tho' take 'em all together the _Tirolese_ are very honest People. They are +staunch zealous Catholics, tho' they say that some of the Peasants, are +_Lutherans_. The _Holy Virgin_ and St. _Christopher_ are the principal +Objects of the People's Devotion: The latter is painted on all their +Houses, and the Roads are full of little Chapels of the _Virgin_ who is +represented in all manner of ways. I have seen her painted in a Chapel +standing with a great Veil over her Head which she extended with her Arms +to cover the Pope, the Emperor, seven Kings, and as many Electors, who +seem to be prostrate at her Knees. + +As I left _Trent_ I began to ascend a Mountain which does not become +smooth till we reach to _Berschen_ which is a Post-Stage and a half from +_Trent_. This Mountain is exceeding steep, troublesome, and tiresome, and +after 'tis pass'd, one is in a manner buried among Rocks and horrid +Mountains which seem as if they would fall on the Heads of the Travellers; +and I have been assur'd that this sometimes happens in rainy Weather, when +so many Pieces crumble off of the Rock that it requires 4 or 500 Carts to +clear the Roads. In short, all the Way till one comes within a League of +_Bossagno_ a City in the State of _Venice_ is full of Rocks and +Precipices; but from that Town to _Mestre_ which is four Post-Stages from +it, the Country is the finest in the World; and in short, every thing is +good and pleasant except their Wine and their publick Houses. The Wine has +naturally a musty Taste, and no Body, and the Colour is like that of the +thick Wine of _Bourdeaux_. This Country so abounds in Quails that the +Post-Master of _Bossagno_ assur'd me he had taken 720 in a Morning, that +he drove a great Trade with 'em, and sent some of 'em to the State of +_Venice_, and to _Lombardy_. Whether he said true, I know not, but he +shew'd me 1100 live Quails which he kept in Wicker-Cages in a great Barn +where he had hung all the Cages to Pack-Thread to keep them from Rats and +Cats. + +At MESTRE one embarks for _Venice_ which is about seven Leagues from it; I +made the Voyage in a Gondola in less than an Hour and half. As I travell'd +post to _Mestre_, my Gondoliers, when I came to _Venice_, carry'd me to +the Post-Office, where I was oblig'd to tell my Name, and the Business for +which I came to _Venice_; but this is a Ceremony to which they who don't +travel post are not subject. I went and took up my Lodging at the _White +Lion_, highly rejoic'd that I could rest my self there after my Fatigue, +and that I had lost sight of the _Alps_, those horrid Mountains which no +body would chuse to live amongst but a _Swiss_ or a _Tirolese_, who, as +Cardinal _Bentivoglio_ justly observes in his Voyage to _Swisserland_, are +a People made for the _Alps_, and the _Alps_ for them. + +As I have been twice before at _Venice_, I serve as a _Cicerone_[161] to +two _Bohemian_ Counts whom I was acquainted with at _Prague_, and whom I +happen'd to meet with at my Quarters. As 'tis customary to do to all +Foreigners, I began with shewing them the Square of St. _Mark_, the chief +Square of _Venice_, if not of the whole World. 'Tis adorn'd by the Palace +of the _Doge_, the Church of St. _Mark_, and the _Procuraties_, or Houses +of the Procurators, and has been pav'd within these few Years with great +Squares of Free-stone. We ascended the famous Tower of St. _Mark_ which is +a four-square Building, by a Stair without Steps. It was built by the Doge +_Domingo Morosini_, to serve as a Watch-Tower to Ships at Sea; and that it +might be seen a great way off he caus'd the Angel on the top of it to be +gilt; but Time the Destroyer of all Things has stripp'd off the Gold. From +this Tower one sees the whole City of _Venice_, the neighbouring Islands, +and the _Terra Firma_, which all together makes a noble Prospect. + +We afterwards enter'd St. _Mark_'s Church, which is an Edifice of +_Grecian_ Architecture, pretty dark and not very high, but after all, full +of Curiosities worthy the Attention of a Traveller. As this Church has +been describ'd with more Exactness than I can pretend to, I shall treat +very succinctly of the chief Things which it contains. The grand Portico +is so low that one must even go down some Steps to enter into the Church. +There is a Platform over it on which are plac'd four brazen Horses brought +from _Constantinople_, to which they were first carry'd from _Rome_ by +_Constantine_ when that Prince transferr'd the Seat of the Empire from the +one City to the other. Nothing is so magnificent and beautiful as those +Horses. They were heretofore all over gilt, but People out of mere Avarice +scrap'd off great part of the precious Metal, and all the rest is almost +worn off by Time. + +At the Entrance of the Church on the right-hand Side there is a square +Stone which seem'd to me to be of white Marble, and is said to be a piece +of the Rock which _Moses_ struck in the Wilderness, whereupon there issued +out Water. If this be really that Stone, what that Legislator did is so +much the more to be admir'd, and may be reckon'd doubly miraculous; first +in fetching Water to a Place where there was none before, and then the +bringing a quantity of it through four Holes no bigger than Pease +sufficient to quench the Thirst of so numerous a Multitude. The Pavement +of this Church is very grand, being of _Mosaic_ Work exceedingly +diversify'd with Stones of various Colours, Marble and Porphyry: But the +stateliest Thing in all the Church are the Ornaments of the Altar for the +great Holidays, of which that of St. _Mark_ the Patron of the Republic is +the most strictly kept. St. _Mark_'s Treasure is then all laid open, which +consists in the rich Spoils taken from the Emperors of _Constantinople_. +Every part shines with solid Gold, Pearls, and Diamonds; so that the +Temple of _Jerusalem_ excepted, I believe there's not a House devoted to +God that could ever boast of so much Riches. All this Treasure is kept in +St. _Mark_'s Tower, and none of it can be taken out but in presence of one +of the Procurators, who must also be at the Altar when the Treasure is +plac'd on it, and dare not stir from it till 'tis put up safe again. + +St. _Mark_'s Church serves as a public Chapel to the Doge, who always is +or at least ought to be attended thither by the Pope's Nuncio and the +Ambassadors; but M. _de Gersi_ the _French_ Ambassador, from I know not +what Punctilio of Honour, avoids being present at the same Functions with +the Count _de Bolagnos_ the Emperor's Ambassador[162], whom he can't +endure to see go before him. When the Doge goes to St. _Mark_'s Church +'tis always with great Ceremony: He walks between the Pope's Nuncio and +the Emperor's Ambassador, and the other Ambassadors walk in the same Row +according to the Rank of their Masters. They are preceded by six Trumpets, +and six Banners are born before the Doge together with a Chair or Stool of +State, there being no Back to it, and a Cushion of Gold Brocade. The +Prince is dress'd in a long Robe of Gold Brocade also lin'd and fac'd with +Ermin. The Senators follow him in Robes of red Damask, walking two and +two. He is receiv'd at the Entrance of the Church by the Clergy of St. +_Mark_ who bring him Holy Water and Incense, which the Ambassadors receive +after him. His Serenity and the Ambassadors fall on their Knees in the +middle of the Nave, and then repeat the Prayers of _Domine salvum fac +Principem nostrum_. Afterwards the Doge goes and places himself at the End +of the Choir on the right Hand as we go in, and sits in the first upper +Row of the Canons with the Pope's Nuncio on his Right and the Emperor's +Ambassador on the Right of the Nuncio, and so on with the rest. The Doge +does not sit down 'till the Senators are all enter'd, who, as they pass by +his Serenity, make him a profound Obeisance, to which the Doge makes no +manner of return. When every body is seated, the Doge accompany'd by the +Ambassadors advances towards the Altar, the Nuncio strikes up High Mass +and says the Overture, to which the Doge answers. After this, the Doge and +the Ambassadors return to their Places, and the Prelate of St. _Mark_ who +is in waiting, continues the Office. + +After the Mass is over, the Doge returns to his Palace attended by the +same Train that accompanied him to Church. When he has ascended the grand +Stair-case of his Palace he seats himself in an Arm-Chair which is plac'd +over-against the Stair-case. After he has sate a few Moments, he dismisses +the Ambassadors and the other Persons of his Retinue, and retires to his +Apartment. + +Next to St. _Mark_'s Church is the Doge's Palace, a vast Building, of +which you will find a large Account in _Misson_'s Travels. + +The present Doge is _Aloisio Mocenigo_[163], a Prince as much to be +respected for his Merit as for his Dignity. He is a Gentleman of great +Sagacity, talks well, is very polite, and has infinitely more Generosity +than is ascribed to those of his Country. He is a handsome Man, and has a +noble Aspect that is improv'd by his white Locks of Hair which render him +venerable. Before he was advanc'd to be a Doge, which was in 1722, he +serv'd the Republic with distinction in quality of Generalissimo. The vain +Honours which this new Dignity has procur'd him have not puff'd him up, +and he seems to think them rather a Burden than a Pleasure. Before he came +to be Doge he was the most sociable Nobleman at _Venice_, and he now sees +more Company than ever his Predecessors did. He masks himself at publick +Rejoicings, goes out every Night in a common Gondola without Guard or +Retinue, and diverts himself at his Brother's. He has sometimes too been +upon _Terra Firma_, not valuing it tho' he lost for a while all the +Honours annexed to his Dignity as Doge; for you know that this Character +does not go beyond the Lakes. He is oblig'd to be present at all the +public Ceremonies, tho' very much against his Inclination and Temper, +which is far more uniform than that of the other _Italians_. + +The Ceremony in which he shines with the greatest Lustre, is that of +marrying the Sea, which without dispute is one of the finest Shews in all +the World. 'Tis perform'd on _Ascension-Day_, when the Doge, the +Ambassadors, and the Senate ride out into the _Adriatic_ on board a Vessel +call'd the _Bucentaur_, attended by the State-Gondolas of the Ambassadors +gilded, with a vast number of other Gondolas and Galleasses which surround +the _Bucentaur_, the most stately Vessel that was ever built, and more +magnificent than all that History (or even Romance) tells us of the +sumptuous Vessel of _Cleopatra_. When the Doge goes on board the +_Bucentaur_ he is saluted by the great Guns from the Galleys, the Men of +War, and the Merchant-Ships in the Harbour; and while he performs the +Ceremony of marrying the Sea by throwing in a Ring to denote the +Sovereignty of the Republic over the Gulph, there's nothing heard but +Kettle-Drums, Trumpets, and Concerts of Music, with the loud Acclamations +of the People. + +His Serene Highness marries two other Wives whom he maintains with as +little Trouble as the Sea. They are the Abbesses of the Convents of the +_Virgin_ and St. _Daniel_. This Ceremony is perform'd upon St. _Philip_'s +Day, when the Doge in a Galeass accompany'd by the Ambassadors and the +Senate, repairs with a great Train to those Convents which are situate on +the Shore behind the Arsenal. The Prelate who officiates for the Day +receives him at the Entrance of the Church, brings him the Holy Water, and +conducts him to a Place prepared for him in the Choir where he assists at +High Mass. Then he repairs to the Grate, in which there's a large Opening +where the Lady Abbess appears with her Nuns. The Abbess addressing herself +to the Doge intreats him to continue the Favour of his Protection to +herself and the Nuns; to which the Doge returns answer, that she and all +the Convent may depend upon his Good-Will. Then he turns about and walks +on foot to the Convent of St. _Daniel_, where his Reception and +Transaction are the same as at the Convent of the _Virgin_. These two +Convents have very singular Privileges. The Abbesses have the +Crosier-Staff, and both they and their Nuns depend solely upon the Doge, +and not at all upon the Pope or the Court of _Rome_ either in Spirituals +or Temporals. They have good Revenues and live as much as can be at their +Ease. The Dress of these Nuns is rather gay than modest. Like the Nuns at +_Strasbourg_ they wear their Hair in Tresses: Their Petticoats are so +short that you may see their Ancles; and instead of Stays they wear +Jackets with short Skirts, which are very becoming to those that are of a +good Shape. Their Necks are quite bare, only when they go into the Choir +they cover them with Veils of fine white Wool, which trail on the ground. +These Nuns are the Daughters of the Nobles, and enjoy great Liberty, more +than I believe they have under their Father's Roof. + +The Festival of St. _Mark_ is always celebrated with very great Solemnity. +On the Day preceding, the Doge accompany'd by the Ambassadors repairs with +a great Train to St. _Mark_'s Church, where he assists at the Vespers. +Next Day the Confraternities, who are nine in number, meet at the Ducal +Palace, accompany the Doge to Church in Procession, and are present at +High Mass. After this the Doge returns to his Palace, and the Brotherhoods +go round the Square. Each Society has magnificent Images, and two Canopies +richly embroider'd with Gold and Silver; whose Poles or Supporters are of +solid Silver. The Procession is clos'd by a Man dress'd in a Gown of red +Damask, carrying a Pole with a moving Wheel at the end of it; which serves +to support a gilt Lion surrounded with Laurel Branches, and little +Standards of divers Colours. The Lion turns round incessantly, and the Man +who carries it makes him leap, and play a hundred Gambols: He is +surrounded with a Multitude of People, who cry out, God bless St. _Mark_. +This Sight, how ridiculous soever, is nevertheless amusing, draws +abundance of the Nobility to the Square, and on that Day every body is +mask'd. After the Procession is over, the Maskers go to see the Doge's +Table, who entertains the Ambassadors and the Senate at Dinner, on a +Table in form of a Horse-shoe; which is extravagantly adorn'd with +Kickshaws, and Machines made of Starch, which are here call'd _Triumphs_. +Nothing of the kind can be better executed, or more magnificent. As there +is a great Apprehension of a Croud, all the Maskers are turn'd away at +Dinner-time. They keep on their Masks all day long; and after Dinner all +the Nobility, or to speak more properly, the whole City of _Venice_ +appears mask'd upon the Square of St. _Mark_; and indeed, for one who +never saw it before, 'tis a remarkable fine Shew. What surpriz'd me, and +if I may say it, made me laugh, was to see all the Maskers fall on their +Knees at the Sound of the _Angelus_; you wou'd swear every body was in +Rapture, yet every thing that goes before and that follows the Stroke of +the Bell is not the most devout. + +The Day after St. _Mark_'s we had another publick Shew, and by consequence +a fresh occasion for the _Venetians_ to masquerade it. That was the +Election which the Fishermen, who are here call'd the _Nicolotti_, made of +a Chief, who bears the Title of the Doge of the _Nicolotti_. Their Choice +fell this Bout upon a Gondolier belonging to the noble _Giustiniani_. +After the Election he was conducted to an Audience of the Doge of +_Venice_, dress'd in a Robe of red Sattin, and otherwise accoutred like a +Jackpudding. He was preceded by a great Mob of Pipers, Hautboys, and +Fishermen. Just before him was carry'd a red Flag, with the Effigies of +St. _Mark_. The Doge receiv'd him sitting on his Throne, and attended by +the Council. The Complement of the Doge of the Fishermen was made with +great Gravity, and answer'd by the Doge of the Republick in few Words; +which done, he return'd in the same Order that he came. This sham Doge +has authority over all the Fishermen, is their Judge, gives them Licence +to fish, and takes care that the City be well supplied with that sort of +Provision. 'Tis said that this Office, which is for Life, is worth above +1000 Crowns _per Annum_. He had formerly the Privilege of commanding in a +certain Quarter of the City, and assisted at all the Ceremonies where the +Doge was present: He even accompany'd that Prince on board the +_Bucentaur_, and had Precedency of all the Ambassadors; but they have lost +that Right since, upon what occasion I know not, they gave up the +Precedency to an Ambassador from the Emperor. + +The Patriarch of _Venice_ is the second Person in the State. The present +Patriarch is of the Family of _Gradenigo_. The Authority of this Prelate +is so stinted, that he only nominates to two or three Benefices. The +Inhabitants of every Parish chuse their Parsons, which is always attended +with Intriguing; for their Livings being very lucrative, have great +Interest made for them. The Patriot has a Privilege of having a Gondola +painted Purple and Gold, with a Roof or Covering of Red Velvet; but this +Gondola must not exceed a certain Degree of Magnificence. You know that +the Gondolas of private Men must be black, and that none but Ambassadors +have the Privilege of having theirs gilded. + +Tho' the Churches of _Venice_ have been sufficiently describ'd, I cannot +help saying something of those that I thought the most remarkable. Without +doubt the Front of the Church of the bare-footed _Carmelites_, situate +upon the Great Canal, is the most magnificent, not only of _Venice_, but +perhaps of _Europe_; as well with regard to the Proportions of +Architecture that have been carefully observ'd, as with regard to the +Fineness of the Marble, white as Alabaster, with which this beautiful +Front is wholly embellish'd. The Inside of this Church is extremely +magnificent. The Roof is richly gilded, and curiously painted. The Walls +are fac'd with Marble Pilasters; the Floor is of Stones inlaid with +various Colours, and the Altars are exceeding stately: But of all these +different things there seems to be too great a number, so that I could +wish many of the Ornaments had been spar'd; for a noble Simplicity wou'd +have look'd much better. + +This sort of Simplicity is conspicuous in the Church of St. _George_, one +of the biggest in _Venice_, the Architecture of which is surprizing. A +Convent belongs to it, which for Magnificence and Regularity surpasses +many Sovereign Palaces. The great Stair-Case is a fine piece of +Architecture, and wou'd become a King's Palace much better than a Convent. +This House has two noble Cloysters planted with Orange-Trees, a couple of +spacious Courts, and two large Gardens well cultivated, which have +Terrasses from whence there is a Prospect of the Sea, and the neighbouring +Islands. + +The Capuchins, whose Churches are very plain every where else, have a very +noble one here, which is called _Al Redemptore_. It was built by order of +the Republic to discharge a Vow they had made in the time of a Plague. The +honest Capuchin who shew'd me the Church, made me take special notice of a +Crucifix of Brass over the high Altar, whereon our Saviour is represented +expiring, with his Head leaning on his right Shoulder. My Guide assur'd me +that when the Crucifix was plac'd in the Church the Head of our Lord's +Image was erect, but that it fell afterwards into its present Posture. + +There are other Churches worth seeing, were it only for the stately Tombs +of the most distinguish'd Families of the Republic. Such is the Tomb of +the noble Family of _Cornaro_, in the Church of the _Cajetans_, where are +the Marble Effigies of eight Cardinals, and four Doges descended from that +Family. In the Churches of St. _Paul_ and St. _John_ are Pictures very +much esteem'd by the _Connoisseurs_, and there's the sumptuous Tomb of the +_Valerios_, where the Father, the Mother, with the Son, are carv'd in +their natural Proportion in Marble, apparell'd in the Habit of the Doge +and Dogess. + +Before I have done with the Churches, I think I ought to give you some +account of that of the _Jesuits_; the Front whereof is of noble +Architecture, well disposed, and the Ornaments not too much crouded; but +the Decoration of the Inside is really grand. Nothing can be richer than +the Choir, and the high Altar. The Choir consists of a spacious Dome +supported by four large Pillars of white Marble, lin'd with great +Flower-pieces of old green Marble. The Roof is painted and gilt. The high +Altar, which is all of Marble, is a Pavilion or Dome supported by ten +Columns wreath'd of the ancient _Greek_ Marble. The Tabernacle is of +Alabaster, incrustated with _Lapis-Lazuli_. To all this rich Work are +added two Angels in their natural Proportion, over which are the Effigies +of God the Father, and God the Son. The five Steps leading to the Altar +are of green Marble, incrustated with old yellow Marble so artfully that +this Work would easily be taken for a Piece of _Persian_ Tapestry. The +Pulpit and the Balustrade, which separates the Nave from the Choir, are of +Marble, and perfectly answerable to the Magnificence of the whole Church. + +I now proceed to the Arsenal, so much celebrated in _Europe_, perhaps more +for what it has been than what it is at present. Three Nobles have the +Management or Custody of it, who relieve one another every Week. He that +is in waiting must visit the Posts in the Night-time; and the Centinels +are oblig'd each to ring a Bell every Hour, that the Officer upon Guard +may know they are at their Posts. No body can see the Arsenal without +Leave of the Nobleman in waiting, who never refuses it to Persons of Rank. +The first thing I was shew'd were four Rooms full of Arms necessary for +the Marines, where are also kept the Cuirasses of those Generals who have +most distinguish'd themselves in the Service of the Republic; but they are +all full of Dust. Then I was shewed the Magazine of Anchors, and the +Cellar to which the Workmen of the Arsenal go when they please to a +Fountain of Wine and Water mix'd. As much diluted as this Wine is, 'tis +said that there's no less spent here every Year than amounts to 74000 +Crowns. This is an Endowment which was settled by one _Cornaro_ Queen of +_Cyprus_, for the Relief of the Workmen. Near this Cellar are the Forges, +of which there are twelve; but there are only two actually at work. The +Rope-Yard just by it, is 410 Paces in length, and serves at the same time +for a Warehouse of Hemp, of which I did not see any great Quantity. In +another Court there were a great many Cannon, both Iron and Brass, a Room +full of Bullets, a Magazine of Cordage, a Timber-Yard, and three great +Rooms full of Arms for the Foot Soldiers. There was another that serv'd as +an Arsenal for the Horse, but 'twas lately burnt down by the Carelessness +of a Centinel. The Dock for building and refitting of Ships forms a +separate Court, in the midst of which there's a great Bason that +communicates with the Sea, and is encompass'd with twenty six Sheds +cover'd over, which contain as many Ships, Galleys, and Galleasses. The +latter are Machines of a terrible Size, which have a sort of Battery at +both ends. My Guide assur'd me that a _Venetian_ Galleass was not afraid +of twenty five _Turkish_ Galleys: This may be; but I wou'd venture a +Wager on the side of the Infidels. In this same Dock are the Prowes of +twelve _Turkish_ Galleys taken at the famous Battle of _Lepanto_. But the +most noble thing in all this Dock, is the _Bucentaur_, which went out of +Port for the first time in the Year 1728. This superb Vessel was built by +_Antonio Corradini_; and is so well design'd, and the Ornaments of +Sculpture, of which there's a great number, so well plac'd, that every +thing is easily distinguish'd, and strikes with Amazement. 'Tis gilded +down to the Water-edge, and 'tis said that the Expence of it amounted to +70000 Sequins. The Deck is cover'd from Head to Stern with Crimson-Velvet, +bedaub'd with a broad Lace, and Gold Fringes. And the inside if possible +is more magnificent than the Outside. There's a great Room the length of +the Ship, where the Doge sits on a Throne, and the Ambassadors and +Senators on Seats like those of the Canons in the Choir. The Cieling +consists of Bas-reliefs in divers Compartments intirely gilt. The Floor is +of Walnut-tree, incrusted with Ebony-Wood and Mother of Pearl. The Rowers +who sit in the Hold of the Ship are all of one Livery, and their Oars +gilt, which makes a very fine Sight when all hands strike together. + +You know that the _Bucentaur_ never goes out but once a-year, upon +Ascension-day, when the Captain who then commands must take an Oath before +he stirs out of the Harbour, that he will bring her back again into the +Arsenal. He carries nothing aboard of his own, for unless the Weather be +very fair indeed, the Ceremony is put off to another day. They build a new +_Bucentaur_ every hundred Years, and the old ones are laid up till they +rot. + +I just now hear that the Post is going off, so that I am oblig'd to defer +what I have farther to say of _Venice_ till the next. I shall be +infinitely pleas'd if I can satisfy your Curiosity, and much more if I +can prove to you that no body has a more profound Veneration for you than +I, _Who am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXVI. + + + _SIR_, _Venice, May 15, 1730._ + +The Common-wealth keeps twelve Galleys in pay, and twenty Men of War. The +_Capitana_ Galley, call'd the _Fusta_, never goes out of the Great Canal, +but is continually at Anchor before the Square of St. _Mark_. There's +commonly four Galleys and as many Men of War in the _Levant_. Others lie +at Anchor in the Canal of _Zueca_, which were lately drawn out of the +Arsenal, because for want of Water the Ships receive Damage. The Power of +the Republic consists chiefly in its Maritime Force. It maintains very few +Land Forces, and those they have are all kept at _Corfou_, which is the +Rampart of _Venice_, and the Defence of the Gulph; the Preservation of +which is owing to the Count _de Schulemburg_, General in chief of the +Republic; for in the last War when the _Turks_ attempted to take it, 'twas +he that oblig'd them to raise the Siege: And the Republic in +acknowledgment of this important Service caus'd his Statue on Horseback to +be erected in the Square of the Old Castle of _Corfou_; and settled a +Pension upon him of 5000 Crowns a-year for his Life, besides his ordinary +Salary. + +'Tis certain that _Venice_ has suffer'd a Decay both of Power and +Commerce. The _Turks_ have taken the _Morea_ from her; she has little or +nothing left in the _Levant_; and as to her Places in the _Terra Firma_ +they are poor, depopulated, and meanly fortified. One of the main +Securities of _Venice_ is her Lakes; but for some Years past they begin to +thicken so by the Mud and Dirt brought by the Rivers which fall into the +Gulph, as in time must prove to the very great Detriment of _Venice_, +because Ships which us'd formerly to go in or out with ease, can only go +out now by the help of a Canal which has been cut for the purpose. This +Inconvenience might have formerly been prevented for a trifle of Expence, +whereas now 'tis past all remedy. + +The Powers of which the _Venetians_ ought to be most jealous, are the +_Turks_ and the Emperor, in whose Dominions they are in a manner inclos'd. +The Great Duke of _Tuscany_ and the Duke of _Parma_ were formerly Powers +which were of little or no Terror to the Republic; but if those Dominions +shou'd ever come under the Sovereignty of _Don Carlos_, the political +System of _Italy_ will be very much alter'd, and the _Venetians_ will in +all probability be oblig'd to keep fair with him. The Republic has for a +long time observ'd an exact Neutrality in the Quarrels among the Princes +of Christendom, perhaps because it knows not for which side to determine +itself; for tho' the Senate hates the _Spaniards_, and cannot forget the +famous Conspiracy of the Marquiss _de Bedmar_ the Catholic King's +Ambassador; they don't much like either the _Germans_ or _French_, whose +Power gives them Umbrage. And I believe, were it possible for the +_Venetians_ to hurt those three Powers at the same time, we shou'd quickly +see their Republic rouze itself from that Lethargy in which it's profound +State-Policy has doz'd it. + +Since the _English_ and _Dutch_ became Masters of the Commerce of +_Europe_, the Trade of _Venice_ is as much decay'd as its Power; and +their Manufactures are sunk extremely. The _Venetians_ heretofore +furnished almost all _Europe_ with Cloth; their Looking-Glasses, and those +for Drinking, were also in great vogue, but those Manufactures are since +transplanted into other Countries, so that _Venice_ scarce furnishes any +more than _Italy_. 'Tis worth while however to go and see the Glass-House +where they work Night and Day, except in _August_ and _September_, when +the Heats are too violent. 'Tis certain the Drinking-Glasses made here are +much stronger than any other, but as they are blown they are not near so +substantial as the Glass that is run; however they require less Labour, +and have the Advantage when they are broke of being melted again; the +Matter of which they are composed being much more flexible than that of +the run Glass. + +The Nobles of _Venice_ are Slaves to Policy, Diffidence, and Suspicion; +and Ambassadors are much more so, whom every one shuns as suspected +Persons, and whom a Foreigner can scarce talk to without renouncing his +Correspondence with the Nobles. An Ambassador is oblig'd to confine +himself to his own Family, or else to amuse himself in the Company of +Foreigners, of whom there is always a good number in this City; for no +Nobleman dare visit him without the express leave of the Senate, who now +indeed grant it much more freely than they did formerly. + +Customs are alter'd here in very many things. 'Twas formerly a Crime to +see a Woman in private, and a Foreigner did not dare to run the Venture; +but now the case is quite different, for there are several Houses of +Quality where I am indulg'd, and am often _tte a tte_ with the Mistress +of the House, without any more notice taken of me than if I were in +_France_, where Ease and Freedom are so much boasted. The Ladies are +great Visiters, and have Assemblies every Night, to which they repair +alone in their Gondola's without any other Attendance but a Valet de +Chambre, who serves as their Gentleman-Usher. They are mask'd at all +public Performances, and go where they have a mind to it. This easy access +to the Ladies contributes not a little to make my Stay in this City +agreeable. I own to you that I am infinitely charm'd with it; there are a +thousand Things here that please me, and were I to chuse any City in +_Italy_ to live in, 'twould certainly be this, where People enjoy entire +Liberty, provided they don't meddle with the State and its Government, +which after all too, I don't think a Foreigner has much to do with. Here +one is in the Centre of civil Pleasures and Debauchery. God is as +exemplarily serv'd here as in any Place whatsoever. Few Nations observe +the Externals of Religion better than the _Italians_ in general and the +_Venetians_ in particular, of whom it may be said that they spend one half +of their time in committing Sin, and the other half in begging God's +pardon. + +Masquerades are more in fashion here than elsewhere. People go in Masks to +take the Air, as well as to Plays and Balls; and 'tis the favourite +Pleasure both of the Grandees and the Commonalty. This gives rise to many +Adventures, and sometimes one makes Acquaintance under a Mask which would +be impracticable perhaps, were not such Disguises in Fashion. I remember +that the first time I was here I struck up an Acquaintance in the Square +of St. _Mark_ with two of the first-rate Ladies of this Country. They were +mask'd, and I was in a Scarlet Domino embroider'd with Silver, which being +a Habit that had been seldom seen here, drew the Eyes of all the Company +in the Square upon me, and in particular of two Ladies, one of whom +twitching me by the Sleeve, said to me, 'Sir, I and the Lady here, my +Friend, fancy by your Air which outstrips our Gentlemen, that you are a +Foreigner, and we are inclin'd to think that you are no mean Person. We +should be glad of your Conversation, and you will do us a Pleasure to take +a turn with us round the Square.--You do me too much Honour, fair Lady +(said I, walking on) and what you tell me of my Appearance pleases me the +more because you are both the compleatest Ladies in the Place. As you +guess by my Habit that I am not a common Person, your Air persuades me +that I have the Honour to speak to Ladies of Quality.--You are not +mistaken (said the same Lady to me) this Lady my Companion is Madame +_M----_ and I am the Wife of Mr. _C----_. You find (continu'd she) that +our Names are pretty well known in _Venice_. Now, after having told you +who we are, may we presume to ask who you are?' I gratify'd their +Curiosity by pulling off my Mask, which I thought a Compliment due to +their Quality. I had scarce told my Name, when the Lady who had not yet +spoke one Word, said to me, 'You are not so much a Stranger among us as +you imagine; your Name is very well known to me, and the late Madame +_Duhamel_, your Aunt, whose[164] Husband was Commander in chief of our +Forces, was one of my most intimate Friends, and she often told me how +much she wish'd to see you here; but 'twas a Comfort she did not live to +enjoy. She went with her Husband to _Corfou_, where he died not without +Suspicion of Poison; for he was accus'd of being too great a _Frenchman_; +and your Aunt who was return'd from _Corfou_ with a Design to go and +spend the Remainder of her Days at _Berlin_, died as she was performing +Quarentine in our Port. You caus'd her Body to be remov'd to _Berlin_, and +you was one of her Heirs; and, tho' I don't mention it to make a Merit of +it, I must tell you that you are oblig'd to me for it, since I pleaded for +you against a very great number of M. _Duhamel_'s Relations. My Love to +your Aunt put me upon engaging Mr. _M----_ to espouse your Interest, which +he promoted with Success, and prevail'd on the Senate to prefer the +Recommendations of the King of _Prussia_ and the Elector of _Hanover_ who +both protected you, before the Instances made by the _French_ Ambassador +in the Name of the King his Master, in favour of Messieurs _Duhamel_. I +was infinitely pleas'd (continu'd Madame _M----_) that I had an +Opportunity of serving you, and you may depend upon it that Mr. _M----_ +and I shall ever interest our selves heartily for all that belong to our +deceased Friend.' I made answer to Madame _M----_ in Terms suitable to her +obliging Expressions, and crav'd her Permission to pay my respects to her +at her House. She answer'd me very civilly that she would send her Husband +to me, and that then she should be glad to see me at her House. Next +Morning as I was ready to go out, and wait upon Mr. _M----_ to whom I +thought I ow'd a Visit after the Civilities I had receiv'd from his Wife, +I was told that he was at my Door and desir'd to speak with me. I went and +receiv'd him, and found him every whit as polite as his Lady. He offer'd +to shew me the Curiosities of _Venice_ till his Wife was stirring. We went +and saw several Churches, after which he conducted me to his House where I +found Madame _M----_ who receiv'd me with all the Civility possible. She +was a Woman who tho' forty Years of Age shew'd that she had been a very +beautiful Lady in her time. Madame _C----_ happen'd to be in her Company, +with whom she had been the Day before in the Square of St. _Mark_. I never +saw a more beautiful Lady, or that had a nobler Carriage. She was not yet +twenty Years of Age, but had been marry'd five Years to a Man, who tho' +the most ill-favour'd of his Sex had a most amiable Behaviour. I fell in +love with Madame _C----_ as soon as ever I saw her, and when I beheld her +Husband, I had Presumption enough to believe that my Application to the +Lady would not be disagreeable. But I soon perceiv'd that she was not a +Woman for my turn; she quickly depriv'd me of all Hopes of Success; and I +no sooner saw those Hopes vanish'd, which are the only Support of Lovers, +but I dropp'd my Amour. I had another in view which was attended with +better Success: M. _M----_ carry'd me to a Country-House of his towards +_Padua_, and I don't know where I was ever more agreeably entertain'd in +my whole Life. 'Tis at these Country Seats one sees the _Venetians_ in +Perfection, who are quite another sort of People here than in the City; +for here they put off that grave serious Air which they affect in Town, +and are quite sociable, civil, courteous, and live with more splendor. As +these Country-Houses are near one another, the Gentlemen to whom they +belong visit each other very much, and are almost always together; but at +_Venice_ they live with more Restraint. + +I am in some doubt whether I should reckon the Music of the _Venetian_ +Churches in the number of its Pleasures; but upon the whole, I think I +ought, because certainly their Churches are frequented more to please the +Ear, than for real Devotion. The Church of _la Pieta_ which belongs to the +Nuns who know no other Father but Love, is most frequented. These Nuns are +enter'd very young, and are taught Music, and to play on all sorts of +Instruments, in which some of 'em are excellent Performers. _Apollonia_ +actually passes for the finest Singer, and _Anna-Maria_'s for the first +Violin in _Italy_. The Concourse of People to this Church on Sundays and +Holidays is extraordinary. 'Tis the Rendezvous of all the Coquettes in +_Venice_, and such as are fond of Intrigues have here both their Hands and +Hearts full. Not many Days after my Arrival in this City I was at this +very Church, where was a vast Audience, and the finest of Music. As I was +going out, a Woman who hid her Face accosted me, saying, there was a Lady +in a Gondola who desir'd to speak with me. Tho' this smelt strong of an +Adventure, which I was never very fond of, I however went along with the +Woman; and really, not above ten Paces from the Spot I found a Gondola, in +which was a Lady whom I knew to be the Daughter of the unfortunate Baron +_de H----_ of whose tragical Catastrophe you have heard. I own it mov'd my +Compassion, as well as Sorrow, to see before my Eyes a young Lady of Rank +in a strange Country and in such a Situation as made me surmise that she +was in a bad Way. But it even touch'd me to the quick, when after having +made her Apology to me for having sent for me, she said to me with a Voice +interrupted with Sighs, 'For God's sake tell me what's become of my poor +Father; is he still living? He has been the Cause of his own Unhappiness +and mine too; he has plung'd me into an Abyss of Woe, but he is still my +Father: Nothing can make me forget the Duty I owe him; I should be glad +even to lay down my Life to relieve his Misfortunes.' I told her that I +had not been at _Berlin_ for a long time; that I had not kept up a +Correspondence there with any body, and that consequently I could not tell +her any News of her Father. I knew at the same time that he died in +Prison at _Spandaw_; but I was loth to be the Messenger of such bad News +to a Person who seem'd to be already too much afflicted. 'I did not know +you were at _Venice_ (reply'd Madamoiselle _de H----_) or I should have +sought an Opportunity to speak with you. I saw you at the Church of _la +Pieta_, and the sight of you call'd my Misfortunes fresh to my Memory, as +well as the sad Catastrophe of your old Friend my Father. I could not +refrain shedding Tears, and the Remembrance of my Disgrace has eclips'd +the Pleasure I take in seeing you.' I endeavour'd to assuage her Grief, +and to calm her ruffled Soul; and therefore I went with her to her House, +and when I saw her a little compos'd I ask'd her questions about her state +of Life, and desir'd her to tell me how she had pass'd her time since she +left _Berlin_. She answer'd me in every Point with a great deal of Honesty +and Simplicity. 'After the Execution of that Sentence (said she) which +degraded my Father from Nobility and Honour, and set him on a level with +the basest Scoundrels, I had not the Courage to stay at _Berlin_. I went +to _H----_ to find out Madame _de B----_ my Aunt from whom I hoped to meet +with Protection; but I soon experienc'd that the Unfortunate have no +Relations. My Aunt would not give me House-room, and sent a Confident of +her's to tell me that she advis'd me to be gone from _H----_ or else to +change my Name and not to call me her Cousin, unless I had a Desire to be +confin'd. But alas! I would then have taken it as a Favour if my Aunt had +shut me up; for I was in extreme Want, and knew not what would become of +me. I lodg'd at an Inn where I got my Living by making of Linnen and +Washing, when a good likely young Man came and took up his Quarters in the +very same House, who immediately struck up an Acquaintance with me. I know +not what he saw in me to charm him, for I did nothing but cry all the day +long. Mean time he talk'd to me of Love, and gave me so many +Demonstrations of his flaming Passion that I found he was really smitten +with me. To tell you the whole Truth, I was not long insensible of the +same Passion. He even offer'd to marry me, which, since he would not be +deny'd, I consented to. He told me that he was an Officer in the Emperor's +Service, and a Native of _Lubeck_, and that he was come hither to take +possession of an Estate fallen to him by Inheritance. I took what he said +to be true because he was handsomely equipp'd, and had his Pockets well +lin'd. In short, I was smitten with him, and thought I should be very +happy in taking him for my Husband. Not many Days after our Marriage, he +told me that he must needs set out for _Hungary_ where the Regiment was +quarter'd, whereof he said he was a Lieutenant, and that consequently I +must make ready to go with him.--We set out from _H----_ and arriv'd +happily at _Vienna_. It was in that very City that my Husband, who till +then behav'd well towards me, and whose Conduct had been very regular, +chang'd all on a sudden to the reverse. He spent the whole Day in +Gaming-Houses, and the Night in Debauchery. Sometimes he never once came +home for four or five Days together, and when he did, 'twas only to insult +me, and to upbraid me with the misfortune of my Father, which I discover'd +to him before Marriage, for fear he should reproach me one time or other +with having deceiv'd him. He told me that I was a Disgrace to him, that +his Colonel had broke him for marrying me, and that I was the Author of +his Ruin. I try'd to pacify him, and spar'd no Pains nor Complaisance for +it, but all to no purpose. I heard that my Husband was desperately in love +with a common Prostitute, that he had ruin'd himself for her sake; and in +a little time he was oblig'd to sell the very Clothes off his back. He had +contracted Debts, and expecting every day to be arrested by his Creditors, +he left _Vienna_ privately, abandoning me to the most dreadful Despair. +'Twas eight Months before I heard a Word of him. At last I came to know +that he was here at _Venice_, and I resolv'd to find him out. Madame the +Countess of _W----_ who had generously assisted me, fitted me out for the +Journey, but when I came hither I did not find my Husband, who I heard was +at _Padua_. I was making my self ready to follow him thither, when I heard +the News that he was kill'd by a Student with whom he had a Quarrel at +Gaming. His Death fill'd up the Measure of my Sorrow. I found my self +quite a Stranger here without Friends or Subsistence. I endeavour'd, but +in vain, to get my Living by my Labour, as I had done at _H----_ but I +found so little to do that 'twas impossible for me to hold out long; and I +must undoubtedly have sunk under my Misery if it had not been for the +noble _D----_ who out of Pity to my Condition reliev'd me six Years ago by +granting me a Pension: But how happy should I be if I could live without +it, and retire for ever to some religious Foundation!' Here the +unfortunate _H----_ concluded her Narrative. I sifted her Sentiments about +Religion: I knew she had been educated in the _Lutheran_, but she +express'd her Inclination to embrace the Catholic Religion, and also to +turn Nun. I promis'd to serve her all that lay in my power, and that same +Evening I spoke to Madame _M----_ who promis'd me to enter her into Orders +as soon as she was turn'd Catholic. A Jesuit who has had the tutoring of +her for near a Month gives us Hopes that she will instantly be qualify'd +to take the Veil. She seems to me to be very eager for it. A few days ago +I acquainted her with her Father's Death, with which she seem'd very much +affected, but at the same time she express'd her Submission to the Decrees +of Providence, and told me her Misfortunes with so much Resignation, that +I have Reason to think she will be very happy in the Retirement which she +is about to embrace. If this be the Case, I shall think my self very +fortunate in having contributed by my Advice to her Tranquillity. Heaven +grant her Prayers may prevail that I my self may put those Lessons in +practice which I have taught her, as to the Necessity of Conversion. + +Pardon me, Sir, this long Digression. As you knew the unfortunate _H----_ +in his Prosperity, and as you are also inform'd of his Disgrace, I thought +you would not be sorry to hear of the Fate of his Daughter. I now resume +my Remarks on _Venice_. + +Two Days ago I went to see the _Scuola St. Rocco_, which are Rooms where +the Fraternities of that Saint meet, in which are Pictures done by the +greatest Masters, particularly one in the great Room below, which is the +Picture of the _Annunciation_ done by _Tintoret_, a Piece highly esteem'd. +This Picture is, without Contradiction, one of the finest and most +affecting Paintings at _Venice_, because of the lively Expressions of +Surprise, Admiration, and Joy which appear in the _Virgin's_ Face. She is +sitting in her Chamber, which the skilful Painter has represented as a +plain mean Room in some Disorder with old and worn out Furniture. Upon the +grand Stair-case there's another Picture representing the _Annunciation_ +in like manner, which is done by _Titian_, and is not one of the worst of +his Performances. The upper Rooms are adorn'd with several Pictures done +by _Tintoret_, in which he has described our Lord's Passion. Our Saviour +appearing before _Pilate_ is an admirable Piece; 'tis really moving to see +the Modesty and Serenity of his Countenance. A second Picture represents +our Lord carrying his Cross. In a third, we see him fasten'd on it, and +expiring for the Salvation of Mankind. These are invaluable Pieces, and +are reckon'd the compleatest that ever _Tintoret_ painted. + +I have also been to see the chief Palaces, which lie for the most part on +the great Canal, and that call'd _Reggio_. They are very magnificent, but +they are generally so like one another that he who has seen one may say he +has seen them all. They have little Court-Yards, less Gardens, and no +Stables. Nothing goes to form a Palace at _Venice_ but the main Body of +the Building, a great Salon in the middle, and Apartments on the Right and +Left; and setting aside the Marble, there are Palaces as magnificent +elsewhere which have only the name of a House. + +The Square of St. _Mark_ is the ordinary Rendezvous of all the Gentry at +_Venice_. There are Nobles who keep their constant Circuits here as it +were, and who never stir from the Place but to Bed, for they pass their +whole Time in Gaming at the Coffee-Houses, or in the Peruke-Makers Shops. +The number of their Nobles is not limited; and any body for paying down +100000 Ducats may purchase Nobility. These Gentlemen compliment each other +with the Title of _Excellency_, and 'tis what they all challenge from +Foreigners. Mean time, some of those _Excellencies_ go to the Shambles, +and to the Fish-Market, and carry home their Meat or their Fish under +their Robes, and some are so very poor that they go a begging. This Title +is so very common here that I had much ado to hinder a Lackey whom I hired +from giving it to me. Tho' I told him that I was by no means _Excellent_, +he made me answer that he knew full well what Obligations were due to my +Excellency, and that he would not be thought to be wanting in Respect to +my Excellency. A _Frenchman_ lately come from _Constantinople_ to whom I +made my Complaints, how much this Title was prophan'd, assur'd me that the +_Venetians_ were still more lavish of it out of _Venice_, so that he heard +the very Grooms belonging to the Baillo of the Republic at +_Constantinople_, compliment one another with the Title of _Excellency_. + +Among the _Venetian_ Excellencies there are also _Petits-Maitres_ who are +known by their Doublets lin'd with Scarlet, their fine white Perukes, by +their fantastical Step, and that Air of lolling which they give themselves +in their Gondola's, which are much smaller and nimbler than the common +sort. These _Petits-Maitres_ are great Beaus, and have commonly more than +one Mistress at a time, and indeed there are few Nobles but have one at +least. These Creatures, excepting the little Liberty they enjoy, are as +happy as Sultana's. Their Lovers treat them like Princesses, and the +_Venetians_ in general pay great respect to the whole Sex. I have seen +_Faustina_ the famous Singer, and _Stringuetta_ the noted Courtezan come +mask'd upon the Square of St. _Mark_, leaning on the Shoulders of +Noblemen, and every Man paying them as much Obeisance as if they had been +Ladies of great Importance. The same day that they appear'd on the Square +there happen'd to be a Skirmish between two Women mask'd that were Rivals, +who, as soon as they knew one another, fell out, went to Cuffs, tore off +each other's Masks, and at last Knives were drawn, with which they cut one +another so deeply that one of 'em was left dead on the Spot. + + * * * * * + +I now think it high time to finish my Letter which is already very long, +and perhaps too full of Trifles. I have told you every Thing that came +uppermost in my Mind, so that you have a perfect Farrago, which however +is a Proof of the Pleasure I take in corresponding with you. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXVII. + + + _SIR_, _Ronciglione, May 30, 1730._ + +As it appears by all the Letters from _Rome_ that they are on the point of +chusing a new Pope, I set out sooner from _Venice_ than I should otherways +have done, and came post to this City without stopping much by the Way. I +pass'd thro' PADUA, where I had the Honour to pay my Respects to the +Prince _Emanuel_ of _Portugal_, who is come to reside there for some time, +and I was afterwards at the Comedy, which was indeed, a most wretched +Performance, but the Assembly was gay and numerous: Among the rest there +were a great number of Students and young Fellows, particularly one that +made a very finical Appearance, who had ten or twelve Patches on his Face, +a red Coat embroider'd with black Gawse, a Hat, a Shoulder-Knot, +Stockings, _&c._ the whole trimm'd with Gawse. I took him at first for a +Mountebank, but I plainly saw that the Whimsicalness of his Dress was the +Humour of the Country. What gave me some Amusement was, to see a Hare +which Harlequin had taught to play Tricks, to tumble Top over Tail, to +leap over a Stick, and to beat a Drum with his two Fore-feet. + +From _Padua_ I went to FERRARA a City in the Ecclesiastical State, where +the Pope keeps a Legat who is always a Cardinal. It appear'd to me to be a +large City with spacious Streets, and some fine Palaces, but it did not +seem to be very populous, which is ascrib'd to the bad Air in this +Country, otherwise one of the finest in all _Italy_. + +The Road from _Ferrara_ to BOLOGNA is extremely level, and as good and +agreeable in Summer as 'tis unpassable in Winter. _Bologna_ is the second +City in the Ecclesiastical State, and is a large fine Town. 'Tis in a most +charming Situation, all the Country round it being properly a Garden, and +one of the most fruitful and fairest Plats in Nature. 'Tis said this City +contains near 80000 Inhabitants. The common People are civil and well +bred, and none more polite to Foreigners than the Noblemen. There are +stately Palaces here, of which I will only mention that of the Marquis +_Rinucci_, because to me it seem'd to be one of the most considerable in +the City. 'Tis very magnificent, and of a vast extent. The Ground-Floor +contains three large Apartments, the first Story five, and the second as +many. The Stair-case of this Palace is very much esteem'd for its +Contrivance. In one of the Halls are two large Pictures: The first is the +Consecration of the Emperor _Charles_ V. perform'd by the Pope at +_Bologna_: The second represents _Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_ giving +Audience to the Senate of _Bologna_: and their complimenting him on his +Arrival. In another of those Halls are two other curious large Pictures; +the one of Cardinal _Rinucci_, having Audience of the King of _Poland_ +when he was sent to him as Nuncio; and the second shews the same Cardinal +receiving the Cap from _Lewis_ XIV. King of _France_, at whose Court he +was Nuncio when he was promoted to the Purple. The Apartments adjoining to +these Halls are also adorn'd with excellent Paintings and very richly +furnish'd. + +The Churches of _Bologna_ are not less magnificent than the finest +Churches in _Italy_. I thought that of St. _Paul_ the most worthy of +Remark, which is serv'd by _Bernardine_ Fryars. The Roof is adorn'd with +Paintings representing the History of St. _Paul_. These Pictures which are +highly esteem'd are the Performances of _Antonio Caccioli_ and _Rolli_ two +Natives of _Bologna_, and they have both out-done themselves. The Painting +of the Dome where St. _Paul_ is represented on his Knees ready to have his +Head struck off is admirably fine. The high Altar is of Marble of various +Colours, finish'd with a great deal of Art. The Seats of the Monks are of +Wallnut-Tree, and over them are several Pictures of the Life of St. _Paul_ +drawn by an able Hand, who was _Carache_'s Pupil. The Churches of St. +_Catherine_ of _Bologna_, and St. _Michael_ in _Bosco_ are well worth the +Traveller's Observation, on account of the choice Pictures with which they +are adorn'd. St. _Michael_'s in _Bosco_ stands upon an Eminence three +Miles from _Bologna_, to which there's an Entrance thro' a cover'd Gallery +made like a Piazza. 'Twas a Work erected by the Citizens of _Bologna_, out +of their Devotion to a miraculous Image of the _Holy Virgin_ which is +reverenc'd in this Church. + +The Legate's Palace is very ancient, but grand and magnificent. 'Tis as +strictly guarded during the Vacancy of the Holy See as if the Enemy were +at the Gates of the City. All the Avenues to it are hung with Chains: The +_Swiss_ Guards are arm'd with Cuirasses: The Guard which consists of fifty +Soldiers is barricaded with Pallisades and Chevaux de Frise, and the +Palace-Gate is defended by eight Pieces of Cannon. + +What remains for me to tell you of _Bologna_ is, that 'tis one of the +Cities in _Italy_ where a Foreigner finds most Amusement. The Nobility not +only strive to give him Pleasure, but he has fine Paintings to feast his +Eye, and here are often excellent Concerts of Music, Operas, and Comedies, +charming Walks, and genteel Country-Houses; which I take to be all that +can be desir'd in Life. + +From _Bologna_ I travell'd in two days to _Florence_, after having been +dragg'd in my Chaise thro' the _Apennines_, a prodigious Range of +Mountains; which is a thing I shall never do again while I live; for I +really suffer'd very much in this Road, and if ever you should have a +fancy to come this way, I would advise you to carry Provisions or a Cook +with you, for there is not one considerable Place in all the Road. +_Fiorenzola_, which is almost half way, is a sorry little Town. From +thence to _Scarperia_ the Road is extremely rugged. One descends a high +Mountain pav'd like a Stair-case, which to attempt in a Chaise, you are +sure of being, if I may so call it, broke upon the Wheel, and therefore I +chose to walk down. At _Scarperia_ the Road becomes more passable, and it +mends as you come near _Florence_. In our Way we pass'd thro' a Town +call'd _Ponte_ that stands at the Foot of a Hill, where the Great Duke has +a Castle which appear'd to me to be very well fortify'd. + +One perceives FLORENCE a great way off, and indeed it makes a fine point +of View to see so great a City in a beautiful Valley between Hills which +rise insensibly, and end at length in high Mountains, inhabited in such a +manner that they may be reckon'd the Suburbs of _Florence_. The River +_Arno_ passes thro' both the City and the Valley. Among all the Cities of +_Italy_, _Florence_ may justly be surnamed the _Fair_, since it has all +that can be desir'd in a great and wealthy Town, such as sacred and +profane Edifices, Bridges, Monuments, and Fountains; yet 'tis not so +large nor populous as _Bologna_. As I enter'd _Florence_ I perceived over +the Gate a Table of white Marble with a _Latin_ Inscription on it, as +follows: + + FLORENTIA, ADVENTU FRIDERICI IV. DANI ET NORVEGI, AUGUSTI, + FELICIS, QUOD EAM SUA PRSENTIA MAGNUS HOSPES IMPLEVERIT, + AUGUSTA FELIX, AN. S. 1708. MENSE MARTIO. + +'Twas the late Great Duke _Cosmo_ who caus'd this to be engrav'd to the +Honour of the King of _Denmark_. + +The City of _Florence_ has been so well describ'd that I shall pass very +briefly over all that relates to the Buildings. The Square call'd _Piazza +del Gran Duca_ or the old Palace, contains Ornaments enough to embellish a +great Town. Here you see a spacious Fountain which _Cosmo_ I. caus'd to be +built after the Designs of _Amminati_ and _Philip Baldinucci_, two of the +most famous Sculptors at that Time. Not far from this Fountain is the +Equestrian Statue of _Cosmo_ I. which is rais'd upon a great Pedestal of +white Marble, with this Inscription engrav'd on the chief Front of it: + + COSMO MEDICI, MAGNO ETRURI DUCI PRIMO, PIO, FELICI, INVICTO, + JUSTO, CLEMENTI, SACR MILITI PACISQUE IN ETRURIA AUTHORI, + PATRI ET PRINCIPI OPTIMO, FERDINANDUS F. MAG. DUX III. EREXIT, + AN. CI[REVERSED C] I[REVERSED C] LXXXXIIII. + +On the other three Sides of the Pedestal are very fine Bas-Reliefs of +Brass. The first represents _Cosmo_ I. recogniz'd for Sovereign by the +Senate of _Florence_; the second the Ceremony of _Cosmo_'s Coronation, +and the third the same _Cosmo_ in an antique triumphant Car making his +pompous Entry into _Sienna_, which was submitted to his Government. +_Ferdinand_ I. _de Medicis_ when he erected this Statue to the Honour of +his Father, employ'd in the Direction of it the famous _John Bologna_, who +has very well answer'd the Opinion that had been conceiv'd of him. + +In the Great Duke's Gallery near the Square, I saw the greatest +Curiosities, both among the Antients and Moderns. A Busto of _Alexander_ +the Great, the famous Statue of _Venus_, cut by _Apollodorus_, with those +of the Emperors and Empresses of _Rome_, and the greatest Personages of +former Centuries; the best Originals of the greatest Painters; and a +thousand uncommon things, such as Diamonds, Rubies, Pearls, Emeralds, +Saphirs, Topazes, Amber, Porcellain, Crystal, Porphyry, Coral, Marble, and +Granite, the Particulars of which wou'd form a Volume. They are actually +engraving on Plates, and several Persons of Quality are contributing to +the Expence of this fine Work, which is considerable, and for which +excellent Designers are employ'd. This wou'd have been worthy of the Great +Duke, and it seems to me that this Prince when he sees his Family extinct, +and his Estate pass into the hands of Foreigners, ought at least to +eternize the Glory of his Ancestors by publishing an Inventory of the +immense Wealth which they have acquired, and transmitted to their +Posterity. + +Of all the Churches in _Italy_ there are none more magnificent as to the +outside than the Dome of _Milan_, and the Cathedral of _Florence_, both +which are entirely lin'd with Marble of various Colours. A Citizen of +_Florence_, who pretended to know the History of this City perfectly well, +assur'd me that its Cathedral was built out of the Impost of five _Sous_ +which had been laid upon every Piece of Cloth that was then sold at +_Florence_; but I believe you may without Breach of Charity take this for +a Story. + +Over against the Cathedral is the magnificent Baptistery, to which there's +an Entrance thro' three Gates of Brass, so artfully wrought that _Michael +Angelo_ said they were good enough to be the Gates of Paradise. + +St. _Laurence_'s Chapel, which is not yet finish'd, is the Admiration of +all Connoisseurs, and is design'd to be the Place for the Burial of the +Great Dukes, whose Remains are to be deposited in a Mausoleum of wonderful +Workmanship, adorn'd with precious Stones. 'Tis 150 years ago that this +Chapel has been building, and yet it wants two Thirds of being finish'd. +If it were lawful to criticise the Conduct of Princes, I must say it +again, that the Great Duke, who sees that his Greatness and his Family +must end with him, ought to put the last hand to this Monument of the +Magnificence of the _Medicis_: For can he hope, that if he himself +neglects to transmit the Lustre of his Family to Posterity, his Successors +will think to do it, who are nothing to him, or at least but very little? +But such is the Humour of _John Gaston_ Great Duke of _Tuscany_; he is so +indifferent and unconcern'd about every thing, that he sees Foreigners +dispose of his Dominions, and nominate his Successor, and the Courtiers +ready to abandon him and to worship the said Successor; and yet the +Prospect, how disagreeable soever it may be, does not seem to give him any +Uneasiness: And he said some days ago, after he had sign'd his Last Will +and Testament, declaring _Don Carlos_ Infante of _Spain_ his Successor, +_that he had just got a Son and Heir by a Dash of his Pen, which he had +not been able to get in thirty four years Marriage_. + +Thus, Sir, I have given all you will have of me this time touching +_Florence_, where I cou'd stay but a few days, and then made no +Acquaintance, having only been taken up in seeing the Curiosities of this +City. At my Return from _Rome_ I propose to come hither again, and make +some stay in order to get a little Knowledge of the Court; and then you +shall be inform'd of every Remark that I make. + +From _Florence_ I went and din'd at _Castilloncello_, and lay at SIENNA a +City in the Duchy of _Tuscany_, to which _Cosmo_ I. _de Medicis_ made it +subject, not without great Resistance from the _Siennois_. The City which +is both an Archbishoprick and an University, is very pleasantly situate, +and enjoys a very good Air. 'Tis said that _Italian_ is spoke here with +more Purity than in any other Town in _Italy_. It seem'd to me to want +Inhabitants, for I went thro' several Streets and did not meet a Soul. +'Tis said that a great many of the Nobility are settled in _Sienna_, and +that Strangers are sure to meet with a civil Reception here, but as I +staid no more than one day, I had only a cursory View of the Town. The +Cathedral appear'd to me to be a great and noble Building lin'd with +Marble. The Great Duke's Palace is ancient, but commodious. It has a Tower +which is look'd upon as a singular piece of Architecture. The Great +Princess[165] _Violante_ of _Bavaria_ is Governess of _Sienna_. She liv'd +formerly in this City, and was mightily belov'd in it; but she has resided +for some time at _Florence_. The Square which is before the Palace is +oval, and hollow in the Middle, so that it may be laid under-water like +the Square _Navona_ at _Rome_. + +From _Sienna_ to _Viterbo_ the Road is extremely bad, I passed the +Mountain of _Radifocani_, situate in one of the vilest Countries in all +_Italy_. At the top of the Mountain there's a Castle, where a Garison of +fifteen Men is kept, with a Commanding Officer, whom I found at the House +of Entertainment where I alighted. He had been a Lieutenant in _France_ in +the Royal _Italian_ Regiment, and spoke very good _French_. He told me +that the Inhabitants under his Government were as bad as the Country, of +which some Moments after, I saw a Proof. A Mule-driver having a Quarrel +with the Drawer, the latter stabb'd him with a Knife in the Rim of the +Belly, with as much Sedateness as if he had been doing a good Action; and +the Commandant never caus'd the Assassin to be apprehended: for which when +I express'd my Surprize to him, he said he had nothing to do out of his +Place; and that besides he did not dare to cause the Assassin to be +apprehended, because he had three Brothers as wicked as himself, who wou'd +not fail to take a Revenge if he was punish'd. And then, said he, I shou'd +have enough to do if I were to cause all to be apprehended who give Wounds +with Knives. + +AQUAPENDENTE is a sorry little Town, and yet a Metropolis. BOLSENA is no +better, and MONTEFIASCONE tho' a Bishoprick, wou'd not be worth +mentioning, were it not for its Vineyards which produce excellent +_Muscadine_ Wine. + +VITERBO, three Leagues from _Montefiascone_, seem'd to me to be a pretty +Town. 'Tis adorn'd with three fine Fountains, and pav'd with great Flint +Stones which are four foot long and two foot broad. This City has some +fine Houses in it. 'Tis the See of a Bishop, and its Cathedral is a +Structure which does not want for Grandeur. In this Church the Archbishop +and Elector of _Cologn_ was consecrated by Pope _Benedict_ XIII. who came +hither on purpose to save the Elector all manner of dispute about +Precedency with the Cardinals; who were in their turn so disgruntled with +the Pope, that none of them accompany'd him in this Journey. + +MONTEROSO is a pretty Town, but RONCIGLIONE outdoes it; and indeed in all +the Ecclesiastical State there is not a pleasanter. It drives a great +Trade in Snuff. I came hither yesterday at Noon, and don't think of going +away 'till this Evening, my Chaise being broke. I hope however to lie this +Night at _Rome_, from whence I purpose to send you many good Stories +forthwith. You will do me a Pleasure to let me hear from you; and to +believe me in _Italy_, as well as elsewhere, yours, _&c._ + + _End of Volume_ I. + +[Illustration] + + + + + _BOOKS of Voyages, and Travels, lately + publish'd, printed for +D. Browne+, + without +Temple-Bar+._ + + +I. A COLLECTION OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS; some now first printed from +original Manuscripts, others now first publish'd in English; with a +general Preface, giving an Account of the Progress of Navigation from its +first Beginning. Illustrated with a great number of useful Maps and Cuts +curiously engraven. In 6 Volumes, Folio. Price 9_l._ + +N. B. Those Gentlemen who have the first four Volumes of this Collection, +which were commonly call'd _Churchill_'s Travels, may have the 5th and 6th +Volumes to compleat their Setts. + +II. Mr. LE BRUYN'S TRAVELS into _Muscovy_, _Persia_, and the _East +Indies_: containing an accurate Description of whatever is most remarkable +in those Countries; and embelish'd with above 320 Copper-Plates, +representing the finest Prospects, and most considerable Cities in those +Parts; the different Habits of the People, the singular and extraordinary +Birds, Fishes, and Plants, which are to be found: as likewise the +Antiquities of those Countries, and particularly the noble Ruins of the +famous Palace of _Persepolis_, call'd _Chelminar_ by the _Persians_: the +whole being delineated on the Spot from the respective Objects. To which +is added, An Account of the Journey of Mr. _Isbrants_, Embassador from +_Muscovy_, thro' _Russia_ and _Tartary_ to _China_: together with Remarks +on the Travels of Sir _John Chardix_ and Mr. _Kempfer_, and a Letter to +the Author on that Subject. Translated from the French, with the original +Copper-Plates. In two Volumes, Folio. Price 2_l._ 10_s._ + +III. REMARKS ON SEVERAL PARTS OF EUROPE: relating chiefly to the History, +Antiquities, and Geography of those Countries, thro' which the Author has +travel'd; as _France_, the _Low-Countries_, _Lorrain_, _Alsatia_, +_Germany_, _Savoy_, _Tyrol_, _Switzerland_, _Italy_, and _Spain_. +Illustrated with several Maps, Plans, and above forty Copper-Plates. By J. +BREVAL Esq; In two Volumes, Folio. Price 2_l._ 2_s._ + +IV. SIR HANS SLOANE'S Voyage to the Islands of _Madera_, _Barbadoes_, +_Nevis_, _St. Christopher's_, and JAMAICA; with the Natural History of the +Herbs and Trees, Four-footed Beasts, Fishes, Birds, Insects, Reptiles, +_&c._ of the last of those Islands. Illustrated with the Figures of the +Things described, in above 300 large Copper-Plates, as big as the Life, in +2 vol. Folio. Price 5_l._ 10_s._ _N. B._ The second Volume may be had +alone. + +V. ITINERARIUM SEPTENTRIONALE; or a Journey thro' most of the Counties of +_Scotland_, and those in the North of _England_. In two Parts. Illustrated +with 66 Copper-Plates. By _Alexander Gordon_ A. M. Folio. Price one +Guinea. + +VI. ROMA ILLUSTRATA; or a Description of the most beautiful Pieces of +Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, antique and modern, at and near +ROME. In a neat Pocket Volume. Price 2_s._ 6_d._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + An Alphabetical INDEX + + TO THE + + FIRST VOLUME. + + + A. + + _Abbesses_ of two Convents, the Ceremony of marrying them by every Doge + of _Venice_, 400. + Their Dress, 401. + + _Agrippina_, Empress of _Rome_, 250. + + _Ahlen-Castle_, in the Dutchy of _Zell_; the Retreat of the Duke's + unfortunate Daughter, 62. + + AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, _t._ 199, 341. + + _Albert_, Margrave of _Brandenbourg_, 82. + + _Albert_ I. Emperor, 388. + + _Albert_ II. Emperor, 388. + + _Aller_, R. 61. + + _Alpes_, for whom those Mountains were made, 395. + + ALTENA, _t._ 53, 57. + Distress of the Inhabitants, 58. + Privileg'd Place for Bankrupts, 59. + + ALTENBOURG, _t._ 167. + + _Altheim_, Count and Countess, 255, 256. + + _Amelia_, Empress of Germany, 228 to 230, &c. 344. + + _Amminati_, Sculptor, 426. + + _Andrew_, Cardinal of _Austria_, 390. + + St. _Andrew_'s Order of _Muscovy_, 76. + + _Angelo, Michael_, his saying that certain Gates were good enough for + Paradise, 428. + + _Anhalt-Cothen_, Princess, 173. + + _Anhalt-Dessau Leopold_, Pr. 37. + His Amour and Marriage, and his Menace to shoot his Tutor, 38, 39. + His Character by the late D. of _Savoy_, 39. + His Valour, 39, 40. + His Government, 82. + + _Augustus Lewis_, Pr. his Wives and Issue, 83. + + _Anhalt-Zerbst, Magdalen-Augusta_, Duchess of _Saxe-Gotha_, 181. + + _Anna-Maria_'s Violin, 415. + + _Anne_, Princess Royal of _Denmark_, and Electress-Dowager of _Saxony_, + 100. + + _Anne-Frederica_, of _Promnitz_, 83. + + _Anne-Sophia-Charlotte_, of _Prussia_, Duchess of _Saxe-Eysenach_, 183. + + _Annunciation-Pictures_, done by _Tintoret_ and _Titian_, 419. + + ANSPACH, 193, 204. + See _Brandenbourg_. + + _Anthony-Ulric_, D. of _Brunswic-Lunenburg-Wolfembuttle_, 69, 71, 73, + 75, 79. + + _Antinous_'s Statue, 370. + + _Antonietta-Amelia_ of _Brunswic-Blanckenbourg_, 72. + + _Apollodorus_ Statuary, 427. + + _Apollonia_, the Singer, 415. + + _Appel_, a Merchant at _Leipsic_, his House the Residence of the K. of + _Poland_, 85. + + _Appennine_ Mountains, 425. + + AQUAPENDENTE, _t._ 430. + + _Arch-duchess_, 232, 233, 381. + + _Architecture_, the best Article that Princes can lay out their Money + in, 10. + + _Aremberg_, Duke and Duchess Dowager, 332, 333. + + _Argenson_, M. de, 303. + + _Arlington_, Countess of, 67. + + _Arnheim_, Marshal de, 40. + + _Arnim, Sigismond_ de, 146. + + _Arnould_, St. 366. + + _Arthur_, Prince of Wales, 389. + + AUGSBOURG, _t._ 273. + Its Comparison with _Antwerp_, 275. + Its chief Trade, 275, 276. + + _Augusta_, of _Saxe-Gotha_, Princess of _Wales_, 182. + + _Augustus_ III. K. of _Poland_, 97, 99. + His Travels and Conversion to Popery, 101. + His Marriage, 102, 165. + His Love and Duty to his Father, 104. + His Election and Coronation, 106. + His Tutor, 126, 127. + His Queen, 98. + Their Children, 99. + + _Augustus-William_ D. of _Brunswic-Lunenburg Wolfembuttle_, 69, 71, 73. + + _Augustus-Albert_, Prince of _Prussia_, 113. + + _Augustus_, Emperor, 273. + + _Aulic Council_, at _Berlin_, 14. + At _Vienna_, 244. + + St. _Austin_'s Tract of the City of God, 179. + + _Austria_, House, of whom it now consists, 233. + A Wish that it never may be extinct, 233. + Its great Alliances, 250. + + _Austrian Princes_, remarkable for an Air of Gravity, 112. + Their People's Avertion to the _Bohemians_, 222. + The scurvy Pun of a _French_ Jester upon them, 228. + Their Epicurism, 253. + Pride, 254. + Their Fondness for the Title of Count, 255. + + _Austrian_ and _Lorrain_ Families united, 233, 341. + + _Auvergne_, Princesses, 332, 333. + + + B. + + _Backover_, M. Chancellor of _Saxe-Gotha_, 182. + + _Baden-Baden_, Margrave and Margravine, 213, 299, 300. + + _Baden-Dourlach, Christian_, Margrave of, 183, 279. + _Charles_, 293, 296. 298. + Margravine, 298, 300, 301, 304. + + _Badiani_, Count, 244. + + _Bahlberg, Adolphus_, Baron of, 184. + + _Baldinucci, Philip_, the Sculptor, 426. + + _Balls_ of _Bohemia_, compar'd with those in the _Hay-Market_, 223. + + BAMBERG, t. 201, &c. the mighty Prerogative of its Bishop, 201. + + BARBI, _t._ 82. + + _Bareith_, Margraves. See _Brandenbourg_. + + BAREITH, _t._ 204. + Princess, 303. + + _Baron_, the Title purchased in + _Germany_ by a Messenger, 256. + + _Basset_, how a Lady made her Gallant's Fortune at it, 252. + + _Bass-Viols_, a _German_ Duke's Fondness for 'em, 168, to 171. + + _Bavaria_, Electors of, 259, 262, 263. + Its Division, 267. + Riches and Revenue, 167, 268. + Electoress, 363, 364. + Its Apostle, 366. + + _Baudissin_, M. _Wolf, Henry_ de, 104, 127, 128. + + _Baumgarten_, General, 84. + + _Beaufort_, Marquis de, 135. + + _Beausobre_, M. 15. + + _Bedmar_, Marquis de, his Conspiracy, 409. + + _Beichling_, M. Chancellor, 91. + + _Beichling_, Countess Dowager, 141. + + _Belgrade_, 248. + + _Belvedere-Palace_, 4. + + _Benedict_ XIII. Pope, 337, 430. + + _Benedictines_, a sort of Republic form'd in that Order, 190. + + _Benson, William_, Esq; Director of the fine Water-works at + _Herenhausen_, 67. + + _Bentivoglio_, Cardinal, his Remark upon the _Alps_ and the + neighbouring People, 395. + + _Bergenopzoom_, 332. + + BERLIN, t. 3. Its Obligation to the _French_ Refugees, 3. + Its Academy, 147. + + _Bernsdorff, John Hartwig Ernest_, Baron of, 155. + + _Berschen_, t. 394. + + _Beveren_, Baron de, 334, 335. + + _Bevern, Brunswic_ Branch, 71. + _Charles_, Prince of, 26, 72. + _Ferdinand-Albert_, Prince of 70, 71, 72. + _Elizabeth-Christina_, Princess, 72. + + _Bilinski_, Count and Countess, 118. + + _Bishoprick_, which the first in _Germany_, 201. + + _Black Liveries_, never given by a certain _German_ Family, 363. + + _Blanc_, M. de, 306. + + _Blanche, Mary_, Wife to the Emperor _Maximilian_, 389. + + _Blanckenbourg_, County, 79. + + BLANCKENBOURG, t. 76, 78. + Stupidity of the People, 78. + + _Blanckenbourg_'s Duke and Duchess, 71, 76, 78. + The Duke's Treaty with the Elector of _Hanover_ for a Vote and Seat + in the Dyet, 79. + His Accession to the Title of the D. of _Wolfembuttle_, 80. + + _Blanckenheim-Mandersheldt, Francis George_, Count de, 333. + + _Bockenheim_, t. 340. + + _Bohemia_, 210, 211, &c. 244. + Where and by whom its Kings and Queens are consecrated, 212. + Its Saints, _ib._. + The Wealth and Grandeur of its Nobility, and the Poverty and Slavery + of the Peasants, 218, 219, 221. + Its States, of whom compos'd, 222. + Their Aversion to the _Austrians_, 222. + + _Bolagnos_, Count de, 397. + + _Bologna, John_, 427. + + BOLOGNA, t. 423, 424. + + BOLSANO. t. 392. + + _Bolsena_, t. 430. + + _Bork_, the _Prussian_ Minister and General, 31, 42. + + _Bose_, Countess of, 145. + + _Bossagno_, t. 394. + + _Bot_, the Architect, 10, 18. + Compar'd to _Bernini_, 94. + + _Bothmar_, Count de, 65. + + _Bouillon_, Princes, why they had the Title of _Domestic_ Highnesses, + 210. + + _Bourbon_ and _Austria_, Houses, our Author's Wish that they might + never be extinct, 233. + + _Bourbon_, Duchess of, 310, 332. + + _Bourg_, Marshal de, 306, 307. + + _Brandenbourg_, Electors of, _Joachim_ II. 196. + _John George_, 204. + + _Brandenbourg, Lewis_, Margrave of, 387. + + _Brandenbourg-Anspach_, Margraves, capital, 193, &c., 195, 361. + Margravine, 194. + Her Present to our Author, 197. + Death in this Family pretended to be always foretold by the + Appearance of a Spirit, 196. + + _Brandenbourg-Bareith_, Margraves, 200, &c. 205, &c. 303, 342. + + BRANDENBOURG, t. 2. + + _Brandenbourg-Schwedt_, Marquis of, 26. + Margravine Dowager, 125. + + _Brandstein, Frederic-Augustus_ de, 145. + + _Brebentau_, Mademoiselle de, 116, 157. + + _Brebentau_, the Palatine of _Marienbourg_, 163. + + _Breitenbauch, Henry-Augustus_ de, 146. + + _Bremer_, M. de, 195. + + _Brenner_, Mountain, 391, 392. + + _Breslau_, the Road from it to _Berlin_, 1. + + _Breton-Villiers_, Marquis, Reflection on his Memoirs, 337. + + _Brez_, Marshal de, 321. + + BRHOUSEL, t. 318. + + _Brimstone_, prescrib'd to the _Austrians_ by a _French_ Jester, 228. + + BRIXEN, t. 392, 394. + + _Brocks_, a _Hamburgher_ and Poet, 53. + + _Brou_, M. de, 306. + + _Bruhl, John_ and _Henry_ de, 104, 129, 130, 131, 132, 140. + _Adolphus_ de, 140. + Baron de, 174, 177. + + _Brunswic Hanover, John-Frederic_, Duke of, 229. + + _Brunswic_ Family, 61, 69, 71. + The Princes descended from it, 231. + + BRUNSWIC, t. 69, 75. + + _Brunswic-Blanckenbourg, Lewis Rodolf_, Duke of, 70, 231. + + _Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Wolfembuttle_, Duke of, 231. + + _Bucentaur_, a fine Venetian Galley, 399, 407. + + _Bulau_, Baron de, 65, 66. + Baroness, 66. + + _Burgau, Charles_, Margrave of, 390. + + _Burgundy, Charles_ the Bold, Duke of, 389. + _Philip_ Duke, 389. + + _Buthler, Constantine_, Baron of, 184. + + + C. + + _Cabinet Ministers_, their Precedence at the Court of _Prussia_, 134. + + _Caccioli Antonio_, Painter, 424. + + _Cadets Academies_, 48. + + _Csar_'s War with Pompey, painted, 370. + + _Callenberg, Augustus-Henry Gottlob_, Count de, 145. + + _Camke_, Madame de, 25. + + _Camke_, Messieurs de, 44. + + _Candi_, a famous Painter, 261. + + _Carinthia, Henry_ Duke of, 387. + + _Carlowitz, John-George_ de, 145. + Treaty, 238. + + CARLSBAD, t. 208, &c. + Virtue of its Baths, _ib._ + + CARLSROUHE, t. 293. + + _Caroline_, Princess of _Saxe-Eysenach_, 115. + + _Cassel_, See _Hesse_. + + _Castel_, Count de, 195. + + _Castilloncello_, t. 429. + + _Catsch_, M. a Minister of _Prussia_, 5, 17, 43. + + _Catzenellenbogen_, upper County, 357. + + _Chains_, that bound St. _Peter_, St. _Paul_, and St. _John_, three + Links of them, 198. + + _Chalisac_, M. 37. + + _Charlemain_'s Crown and Sword, 199. + _Charles_, Margrave of _Burgau_, 390. + _Charles_ II. K. of _Spain_, 387. + _Charles_ IV. Emperor, 387. + + _Charles_ V. Emperor, 381, 387, 423. + + _Charles_ VI. Emperor, 70, 230, 341. + His Diversions, 233. + His Friendship and Gratitude, 256. + His Love for the Empress, 257. + Remarks on his Coronation, 341. + + _Charles-Christian_, Prince of _Prussia_, 113. + + _Charles_, K. of _Sardinia_, 335. + + _Charles_ XII. K. of _Sweden_, 55, 56, 123, 124. + + _Charles_, Prince Palatine of _Sultzbach_, 332. + + _Charles_, the Bold, Duke of _Burgundy_, 389. + + _Charles-Albert_, Elector of _Bavaria_, 259, 262, 263. + His Electoress, 263. + + _Charles-Lewis_, Elector Palatine, 274, 342, 381, 383. + _Philip_ ditto, 328, 330, 331. + His Revenues, 337. + + _Charlottemburg_ House, 35. + + _Child-bearing_, ascrib'd to the Miracles of the two _Bohemian_ Saints, + 213, 214. + + _Christian_, Margrave of _Brandenburg-Bareith_, 200. + + _Christian-Lewis_, Margrave of _Brandenburg_, 28. + Ulric, Duke of _Wirtemberg-Oels_, and _Bernstad_, 83. + _William_, of _Saxe-Gotha_, Prince, 182. + + _Christina-Louisa_, of _Oetingen, Duchess of Blanckenbourg_, 70. + + _Christina_, Princess of _Saxe-Weissenfels_, 114, 115. + + _Christopher_, St. where most worshipped, 394. + + _Cicerone_, the Meaning of that Word in Italy, 395. + + _Cinfuentes_, Count de, 244. + + _Cleisheim_, 375. + + _Clischoff_, Battle, 163. + + _Clovis_, K. of _France_, 388. + + _Coburg_, t. 200. + + _Cohorn_, Engineer, 328. + + COHTEN, t. 83. + + _Colin, Alexander_, Statuary, 386. + + _Collobradt_, Count, 220. + + _Collonitz_, the Count and the Cardinal, 248, 249. + + _Collowrat_, Count and Countess, 133, 148. + + _Complimenters_, nauseous, 199. + + _Cond_, Princess of, 344. + + _Conferences_, Counsellors of, 240, 244. + + _Constance_, Council of, 15, 339. + + _Coquets_, in _Venice_, the Place of their Rendezvous, 415. + + _Corfou_, Island, 408. + + _Cornaro_ Family's Tomb, 404. + + _Cosel_ Countess of, Mistress of the late K. of _Poland_, 90, 91, 117, + 118, 120, 124. + Her Menaces against him, 118. + Count, 117, 136. + Her Daughter, 142. + + _Cosmo_ I. Duke of _Florence_, 426, 427. + + _Costa_, Count de, 101, 123. + + _Counts_ of the Empire, their Preheminence, 287. + + _Courland_, Duchess Dowager, 200. + + _Craut_, his surprising Rise from behind the Compter to the Ministry, + 4. + + _Creutz_, M. de, _Prussian_ Minister, 5, 45. + + _Creutzer_, Coin, 278. + + _Crossen_, t. 1. + + _Culmbach-Brandenburg_, Margraviate, 204. + _George-Frederic-Charles_, the Margrave, 205. + His Family and Revenues, 204, &c. 208. + + _Cunegonda_, Empress, her Tomb, 202, 387. + + _Cup_, which _Joseph_ put in _Benjamin's_ Sack; the Reason our + Author had to remember that Passage, 204. + + _Customs_, a remarkable Attachment to old ones, 78, 79. + + _Cyprianus_, Dr. 179. + + _Cyprus, Cornaro_, Q. of, 406. + + _Czarowitz_, 70. + + + D. + + _Damnitz_, M. de, Grand Marshal of _Saxe-Gotha_, 182. + + _Danckelman_, Baron de, 15. + He prophesies his own Fate, 16. + + _Dangervilliers_, M. 306, 307. + + _Danneberg, Henry_ de, 71. + + _Danebrock_ Order, 74. + + _Dantzick_, t. invested, 107. + Reduc'd, 108, 109. + + _Danube_, R. 278. + + _Darmstadt_, t. 357. + Landgraves, 357, 362. + + _Daun_, Count and Marshal de, 246, 370. + + _Degenfeldt_ (_Schomberg_) Count de, 342, 343. + + _Dehn_, Count de, 72, 73. + A very fine Dancer, as well as Minister of State, 74. + + _Dejanira's_ Story painted, 383. + + _Delitz_, Countess of, 66. + + _Denhoff_, General, 7. + + _Denmark_, Q. of, 208. + The Prince Royal, 208. + + _Devos_, Tapestry-maker at _Brussels_, 236. + + _Diedrichstein_, Count, 147. + + _Doberginsky_, M. 35. + + _Doges_ of _Venice_, their Marriage of the Sea, and of the Abbesses of + two Convents, 399, 400. + + _Dohna_, Count de, 6. + + _Dorffling_, a Taylor, his Rise to be a General in the Army, 12. + + _Dorothea-Sophia_, Princess of _Prussia_, 19. + + _Dorothy_, Electress of _Brandenburg_, 19. + + DRESDEN, t. 87, 157, &c. + + _Drinking_ hard, in _Germany_, our Author's humourous Account how it + affected him, 184, 187, to 190, 204, 325, to 327. + Where he reckons it an inseparable Function of the Ecclesiastical + Courts, 204. + + _Duhamel, Francis_, General, 7, 412. + His Lady, 412. + + _Duvaine_, General, 5. + + _Duval_, a famous Soop-maker, 56. + + + E. + + _East-Friesland, George-Albert_, Prince of, 208. + + _Eib_, General, 191. + + _Einsiedel, John George_ de, 143. + + _Einsiedel, Curt_ de, 144. + His Lady, 144. + + _Einsiedel Detler, Henry_ de, 146. + + _Eleonora_, Empress, 240, 381. + + _Eleonora_, Princess of _Neubourg_, 230. + + _Eleonora-Philippina_, Princess of _Hesse-Rhinfels_, 332. + + _Elizabeth_, Empress of _Germany_, 232, &c. + Her Abjuration of the _Lutheran_ Religion, 232. + + _Elizabeth-Sophia_ of _Brandenbourg_, Duchess Dowager of _Courland_, + 200. + + _Elizabeth-Christina_ of _Oetingen_, Duchess of _Blanckenbourg_, 76. + + _Elvan_, t. 378. + + _Emanuel_, Prince of _Savoy_, 238. + + _Emigrants_, of _Saltzbourg_, 375, 376. + + _Emperors_ of _Germany_, the Ceremony of their Audiences, 225. + Their Dining, 225. + Suppers, 227. + Pictures, 370. + + _Empresses_, the Respect paid to them, 228 to 230, &c. + + _Empress_ Dowager, 229. + + _Eosander_, the Architect, 10. + + _Erdmansdorff, Ernest-Ferdinand_ de, 144. + + ERFURT, t. 178. + + ERLANGEN, _Christian_, t. 200. + + _Ernest-Augustus_, the first Elector of _Hanover_, 63, 67. + How he obtain'd that Dignity, 68. + + _Ernest_, Arch-Duke, and his Wife, 389. + + _Ernest-Augustus_, Duke of _Saxe-Weimar_, 173. + + _Ernest_ the _Pious_, Duke of _Gotha_, 178. + + _Etiquette_, in foreign Courts, what, 224. + + _Etlingen_, t. 303. + + _Eversberg_, t. 364. + + _Eugene_ of _Savoy_, Prince, his Palace, 236. + His Character, 237, 141. + His Regiment of Dragoons, 237. + His Sickness, Death, and Interment, 238. + His Employments and Estate, 238, 240. + His last Will, 239. + His Library, 239. + His Nephew, 239. + + _Excellency_, the _Venetians_ Fondness for the Title, 420, 421. + + EYSENACH, t. 183. See _Saxe_. + + + F. + + _Fatima_, a _Turkish_ Lady, 115, 116. + + _Favourita_, the Emperor's Palace, 234. + + _Faustina_, the Singer, 421. + + _Ferbellin_, t. 50. + + _Ferdinand_, I. _de Medicis_, 427. + + _Ferdinand_, K. of _Castille_, 387. + + _Ferdinand_, K. of the _Romans_, 381. + + _Ferdinand_ I. Emperor, 385, 387. + His Son's Tomb, 389, + and Wife, 390. + + _Ferdinand-Albert_, D. of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg_ and _Bevern_, 70, 71, + 72. + His Merit and Preferment, 72. + + _Ferdinand-Mary_, Elector of _Bavaria_, 259. + His Wife, 260. + + _Ferdinand_, Duke of _Bavaria_, 263, 264. + His Duchess, 263. + + FERRARA, t. 423. + + _Finck_, of _Finckenstein_, Count, 25. + + _Fiorenzola_, t. 425. + + _Fermian_, Barons of, 367. + + _Fishermen_, at _Venice_, their Election of their Doge or Chief, 402. + + _Fitztuhm_, Count de, 91, 142. + His Daughter, 150. + + _Fleming, James-Henry_, Count de, Prime Minister of _Poland_, 73, 74, + 89, 90, 92, 102, 125, 144, 152, 155, 162. + His Reason for employing Foreigners before _Saxons_, 155. + The Origin of his Family and his Education, 162. + His Preferments from first to last, 162, &c. + His Marriage and his Duels, 163, 165. + His Conduct with regard to _Patkul_, 164. + His Estate, 165, 166. + His general Character, 166. + + _Fleming_, Mademoiselle de, 116. + + _Fleury_, Marquis de, 135. + Cardinal de, 241. + + FLORENCE, t. 425. + + _Fohsen_, Mademoiselle de, 38. + + _Forbenius_ he saved the Life of the Elector of _Brandenbourg_, 51. + + _Force_, Marshall de, 321. + + _Forchs_, the _Starost_ assassinated, 155. + + _Francfort_, on the _Rhine_, 340. + Privilege of those here called Residents, 342. + + _Francfort_, on the _Oder_, t. 2. + + _Francis_ I. K. of _France_, his solemn Affirmation, 215. + + _Franconia_, Duke, 185, 191. + + _Frankenberg_, Baron de, 236. + + FRANKENDAHL, t. 338. + + _Frauenstad_, Battle, 163. + + _Frederic_, of _Austria_, nicknam'd the _Pennyless_ Prince, 385, 386, + 388. + + _Frederic_, Elector Palatine, who was chose K. of _Bohemia_, 210. + + _Frederic_ IV. Emperor, 387, 388. + His Mother, 389. + + _Frederic_, Electoral Prince of _Saxony_, 99, 112. + + _Frederic_ II. Duke of _Gotha_, 180, 181. + III. the present Duke, 181, 182. + His Brother _William_, 181. + His other Brothers and Sisters, and his Revenues and Guards, &c. 182. + + _Frederic-Augustus_ II. K. of _Poland_, 94, 102. + His Nativity calculated at _Venice_, 95, 96. + His Death, 96. + His Queen, and her Death, 97. + His Change of Religion, 100. + The Method he took to convert his Son, 101. + His Natural Issue, 115, &c. + His Generosity, 164. + + FREDERIC IV. K. of _Denmark's_ Compassion to the _Altenois_, 58, 59. + His Queen's Retirement, 59. + His giving Audience to the Senate at _Bologna_, 423, 426. + + _Frederic_, the _Fair_, 230. + + _Frederic-William_, Elector of _Brandenbourg_, his Statue, 9. + His remarkable Speech to his Soldiers, 50. + His daughter, 200. + + _Frederic_ I. K. of _Prussia_, his Statue, 8, 297. + + _Frederic_, Prince Royal of _Prussia_, 25. + + _Frederica-Sophia_, Princess of _Prussia_, 25, 26. + + _Frederica-Louisa_, Princess of _Prussia_, 26. + Of _Saxe-Gotha_, Princess, 182. + + _Fredericsfeld_, House, 27. + + _Friesberg_, Baron de, 61. + + _Friesland, Henry-Frederic_, Count of, 123, 139, 142. + + _Frisoni_, an Architect, 288, 290. + + _Fuchs_, Baron de, the _Prussian_ Minister, 4, 29, 41. + + _Fuchs_, Countess de, 254. + + _Fugger, Maximilian_, Count, 266. + His generous Entertainment of the Emperor _Charles_ V. 276. + + _Fuhl_, de, Great Marshal, 90. + + FULDE, t. 184. Magnificence of its Abbot, 184. + + _Fultishau_, Convent, 380. + + _Furstemberg_, Prince, 165. + Cardinal, 315. + + _Furstenfeldt_, Abbey, 272, 273. + + + G. + + _Gala_, Days of, what, 226, 227, 228. + + _Galeas, John_ Duke of _Milan_, 389. + + _Gallasch_, Count de, 211. + + _Gardeners_, the best in all _Germany_, 85. + + _Garment_, Christ's, a Relique of it, 198. + + _Gaston, John_, Great Duke of _Tuscany_, 428. + + _Gates_, thought by _Michael Angelo_ to be good enough for Paradise, + 428. + + _Gemblours_, Abbot of, his sole Privilege of celebrating Mass booted + and spurr'd, 191. + + _Gemming_, Baron de, 208. + + _Gentleman_, two _French_ Kings fond of the Title, 215. + + GEORGE I. K. of _Great Britain_, his Wife, 61, 62. + His Administration, 61, 64, 68. + + _George_ II. King, 64, 69. + + _George-William_, Margrave of _Brandenbourg-Bareith_, 205. + + _George_ (St.) Abbess of, 212. + Order _Bavarian_, 260. + + _George_ I. Landgrave of _Darmstad_, 357. + + _German_ Language, its Excellency. 53, 195. + Vanity of the _Germans_, 198. + + _Gersi_, the _French_ Ambassador, 397. + + _Gersner_, Physician, 368. + + _Gerstorf, Gotlob-Frederic_, Baron de, 47. + + _Gertrude_, a _Marcoman_ Lady, History of her, an entertaining Novel, + 343, &c. + Its Key, 355. + + _Gilles_ (_St._) Count de, 92. + + _Glass_ Manufacture of _Venice_, 410. + + _Globe, John-Frederic_ Count de, 334. + + _Goblet_ of Gold, the Pleasure with which our Author drank out of it; + and how he wish'd to carry it off, 204. + + _Godfrey_ of _Bouillon_, K. of _Jerusalem_, 388. + + _Gohren_, Baron de, 45. + + _Gortz_, (_Henry_) Baron de, 54. + His famous Copper Coin, 56. + His Execution, 57. + + _Gortz_, the _Hanovarian_, 64. + + _Gotha_, see _Saxe_, and _Frederic_, and _Ernest_. + + GOTHA, _t._ 178. + Its Dukes, 178, 179, &c. + Duchesses, 181. + The noble Library here, 179. + Their Revenues, 182. + + _Gravenitz_, Count de, 284, 285, 286. + + _Gravenitz_, Countess de, Mistress of the D. of _Wirtemberg_, 279, 282, + to 284. + + _Gravity_, an Air peculiar to the _Austrian_ Princes, 112. + + _Grosh_, the Value of that Coin, 85. + + _Grumkau_, the _Prussian_ Minister, 5, 31, 43. + + _Grunberg_, the Architect, 6. + + _Guide_, a remarkable one that was blind, 277. + + _Guides_, the Name given to them in _Italy_, 305. + + _Guldenstein-Huguetan_, Count de, 35. + + _Gundacker de Staremberg_, Count, 241. + + _Gustavus Adolphus_, 259, 274. + + + H. + + _Hacke_, M. de, 46. + + _Hagen_, Baron de, 75, 101. + + HAGUENAU, 381, _t._ + + _Hall_, the largest next to _Westminster_, 215. + + _Halle_, t. 82, 377, 380. + University, 85. + + HAMBURGH, _t._ 51, 199. + Its Dispute with _Denmark_, 52. + Its Opera, 52. + Its Mob, 54. + Vindication of its Citizens from the Charge of Cruelty to the + _Altenois_, 58. + Their Respect to the _Jews_, 53, 59. + + _Hamelen_, t. 68. + + _Hanau_, Count of, 359, 361, 362. + + _Hanau, Charlotta-Christina_ of, 359. + + HANAU, _t._ 360, 362. + + HANOVER, 63, 68. + _Roman_ Catholics there, 63. + Revenues of the Electorate, 68. + ---- Electoress of, 343, 344. + + HARBOURG, _t._ 60, 68. + + _Hardenberg_, M. Grand Marshal of _Hanover_, 64, 65. + + _Harlay_, M. de. 306. + + _Harrach_, Count de, 242, 367, 368, 371. + + _Hattorfs_, Ministers compar'd to _Louvois_ and _Barbesieux_, 65, 66. + + _Hatzfield, Egmont_ Count, 335. + + _Haugwitz, John-Adolphus_ de, 142. + + HEIDELBERG, _t._ 321, 322. + Its Decay to what owing, 323. + Its famous Tun, 324. + + _Heilbron_, 375. + + _Henrietta-Benedictine_, the Princess _Palatine_, 229. + + _Henry_ II. Emperor, his Tomb, 202. + + _Henry_ IV. Emperor, the pompous Interment he wish'd his Enemies, 168. + + _Henry_ III. K. of _France_, 309. + + _Henry_ IV. K. of _France_, his Ambition to be called the first + Gentleman in his Kingdom, 215. + + _Herenhausen_ Palace, 67. + + _Herford_ Abbey, 27. + + _Hering_, M. de, Vice-Chancellor of _Saxe-Gotha_, 177, 182. + + _Hermitage_, a Seat near _Bareith_, 207. + + _Herzan, Maximilian_ Count de, 146. + + _Hesler_, M. de, 108. + + _Hesse_ Princes, 357. + + _Hesse-Cassel, Philip_ the Landgrave of, 357, 362. + + _Hesse-Darmstadt, Ernest-Lewis_ Landgrave of, 357. + His Wife, 358. + His Son and his Wife, 359. + His Revenues and Troops, 360. + + _Hesse-Rhinfels_, Princess of, 332. + + _Hildesheim_, Baron, 335. + + _Hochstet_ Battle, 262. + + _Hoffman_, Professor of Physic at _Halle_, 208. + + _Hohenlo_, Count de, 353. + + _Holstein-Beck, Lewis-Frederic_ Pr. of, 150. + + ---- _Charles-Lewis_ Pr. of, 120, 150. + _Dorothy_, Princess of, 205. + + _Houtten, Christopher-Francis_ de, Pr. and Bp. of _Wurtzbourgh_, 185. + + _Hoym_, Count de, 91, 92, 117, 118. + His Catastrophe, 136, 137. + + _Hubert_ (St.) his Legacy, 190. + Noted for killing Rats, 196. + + HUBERTSBOURGH, _t._ 86, 103, 157. + + _Huss, John_, 339. + + _Hussites_, the Remains of 'em, 216. + + + I. + + _Jacobi_, the Statuary, 9. + + _Jacquelot_, M. 15. + + _Janson_, Cardinal, 315. + + _Jews_, the Respect shewed them at _Hamburg_, 53, 59. + Not tolerated at _Anspach_, and why, 198. + Their Punishment for crucifying an Infant of Christian Parents on + _Christmass-day_, 216. + Vast number of 'em in _Bohemia_, 216. + and the _Palatinate_, 337. + + _Ilgen_, Baron, _Prussian_ Minister, 31, 41. + + _Ilten_, Messieurs de, of _Hanover_, 66, 67. + + _Inn_ River, 364, 379, 380. + + INSPRUC, t. 380. + + _Joan_ of _Castille_, 387. + + _John_'s (St.) Village in _Tirol_, 378. + + _John_ (St.) of _Jerusalem_, Kts. of, 28. + + _John_ (St.) _Nepomucene_, 212, 213. + + _John-Ernest_ ABp. of _Saltzbourg_, 373. + + _John-Adolphus_ of _Saxe-Weissenfels_, 99, 114. + + _John-George_ I. Elector of _Saxony_, 114. + + _John-George_ III. Elector of _Saxony_, 94. + + _John-George_ IV. Elector, 94. + + _John-Augustus_ of _Saxe-Gotha_, Pr. 182. + + ---- _Adolphus_, ditto, 182. + + _John William_, D. of _Saxe-Eisenach_, 183. + Elector Palatine, 324, 328. + + _Jonas_, the tall Grenadier, 35. + + _Joseph_, Emperor, 274. + + _Iser_ R. 258. + + _Isselbach_, General, 336. + + _Judas_'s Lanthorn to be seen in two Places, 81. + + _Ixter_, Baron de, 298. + + + K. + + _Kalestein_, Baron de, 25. + + _Kara Mustapha_, Grand Vizier, 247, 248. + + KEHL, _t._ 305. + + _Kendal_, Duchess, 66. + + _Kevenbuller_, Count de, 246. + + _Keyserling-Hermann-Charles_, 154. + + _Kilmanseck_, Madame de, 67. + + _Kinsberg_, Baron de, 195. + + _Kinski_, Counts, 154, 220, 221, 244. + + _Kinski_, Countess of, 154. + + _Klenzek_, Mademoiselle de, 55. + + _Kniphausen_, Baron, the _Prussian_ Minister, 31, 44. + + _Kokersowitz_, Countess, 148. + + _Konickel_, Count de, 381. + + _Konigsegg_, Count de, 147, 239, 242, 243. + His Marriage, 243. + His Nephew, 243, 244. + + _Konigstern_ Castle, 87. + + _Koningsmark, Aurora_ Countess of, 115. + + _Kuenbourgh_, Count de, 373. + + _Kundahl_, t. 379. + + _Kurtzrok_, Baron, 54. + + + L. + + _Lactantius_'s Works, 179. + + _Ladies, Venetian_, in Masks, pick'd up by our Author, 411. + and himself pick'd up by a Lady in Distress who knew him, 416. + + _Ladislaus_, King, 388. + + _Lagnasco_, Count, and _Josepha_ Countess of, 151, 152, 157, 158. + + LANDAU, _t._ 318. + + _Lands_, how entail'd, and how secur'd in _Bohemia_, 218, 219. + + _Larks_, where they most abound, 85. + + _Laxembourg_, the Emperor's Palace, 234. + + _Leibnitz_, the Philosopher, 156. + + _Leine_, _r._ 63. + + LEIPSICK, _t._ 83. + Why 'tis called the Jewel of _Saxony_, 84. + Its Fairs frequented by a great number of Princes and Princesses, 85. + + _Lenfant_, M. Author of the Council of _Constance_, 15. + + _Leopold_ of _Austria_, surnam'd _the Virtuous_, 388. + + _Leopold_, Archduke, 210. + + ---- Emperor, 230. + + ---- Bp. of _Saltzbourgh_, his Houshold and his Revenues, 367, 373. + Why compared to Pope _Sixtus_ V. 367. + + _Levant_ Women, their great Confinement within doors, 52. + + _Leubnitz, Charles_, 140. + + _Lewis_ VI. Landgrave of _Darmstad_, 357. + + _Lewis_, the Hereditary Prince, 359. + + _Lewis_ of _Bavaria_, Emperor, 260, 387. + + ---- of _Baden_, Pr. 299, 303. + + ---- _Ernest_ of _Saxe-Gotha_, P. 182. + + ---- _the Severe_, Duke of _Bavaria_, his Murder of his Minister and his + Wife, 272. + His Repentance, 273. + + ---- _Rodolph_, D. of _Brunswic-Lunenburg,_ and _Blanckenbourg_, 70, + 231. + + ---- Margrave of _Brandenburg_, 387. + + _Lewis_ XV. K. of _France_, his Marriage, 304, 309. + Cardinal _Rohan_'s Speeches upon it, 310, 313. + + _Lichtenstein_ Palace, 236. + + _Lieutenant_ of the Police at _Paris_, 246. + + _Linange, Mary-Christina-Felicite_, Countess of, her Husbands, 183. + + _Linar, Maurice-Charles_, Count de, 143. + + LINTZ _t._ 258. + + _Lipski, John-Alexander_, Bp. of _Cracow_, 149. + + _Lobkowitz_, Pr. and Princess, 342. + + _Lodron_, Counts of, 365, 373. + + _Lopel_, General de, 30. + + _Lorrain, Francis_ Duke of, his Marriage to the Archduchess, 233, 341. + + ---- _Charles_, Pr. 239, 381. + + _Losenstein, Eleonora_ Countess of, 151. + + _Lovel_, Baron de, kill'd in a Duel with Count _Flemming_, 163. + + _Louestein_, Princess, 342. + + _Louisa-Dorothea_ Duchess of _Saxe-Gotha_, 181. + + _Louvois_, Marquiss, 306. + + _Lowendahl, Waldemar_ Baron of, 121. + His Service to six Kings, 121. + His Wives and Issue, 122. + His Son _Waldemar_, 122, 139. + + _Lowinitz, Henry-Rodolph de Schonfeld_ Lord of, 145. + + _Lubomirski-Theresa_, Electoress _Palatine_, 330. + + _Lubomirski_, Madame de, Rival to _Fatima_ a _Turkish_ Lady, Mistress + to the late K. of _Poland_, 116, 117. + + _Lubomirski, George-Ignatius_ Pr. of, 150, 151. + + _Lude_, Count de, his wise Reason for marrying a Tradesman's Daughter, + 45. + + _Ludwigsbourg_ t. 279, 287. + + LUNENBURG _t._ 68. + + _Lunenburg-Zell_ and _Lunenburg-Hanover_ Families united, 61. + + _Luther, Martin_, his resolute Expression when dissuaded to go the + Dyet, 339. + + _Lutzelbourg, Anthony_ Count de, 123. + + + M. + + _Magdebourg_ Duchy yielded to the House of _Brandenbourg_, 80. + Character of it, 82. + + MAGDEBOURG _t._ 48, 80. + + _Maintenon_, Madame de, Mistress of _Lewis_ XIV. her Fortune told by a + Mason, 96. + + _Malchau_ House near _Berlin_, 29. + + _Manger_, a Relique of our Saviour's, 198. + + MANHEIM _t._ 327. + + _Manteuffel, Ernest_ Count de, 134. + + _Marck, Julius-Augustus_, Count de la 334, 337. + + _Marcoman_ Lady, the History of one, 344. _&c._ + + _Margaret_ of _Tyrol_ surnam'd _the Pious_, and nicknam'd _Wide-Mouth_, + 387. + + _Maria-Anne-Caroline_ of _Newbourgh_, 263. + + _Maria-Magdalena_, Archduchess, 233, 381. + + _Maria Elizabetha_, Archduchess and Governess of the _Netherlands_, + 233. + + _Maria-Amelia_ Princess of _Poland_, 113. + + _Maria-Anne-Sophia_ Princess of _Poland_, 113. + + _Maria-Josepha_ Princess of _Poland_, 114. + + _Maria-Theresa_ Archduchess, 232, _&c._ + Her Marriage to the D. of _Lorrain_, 233. + + _Maria-Josepha_ Q. of _Poland_, 98, 102, 110, 111, 112. + + _Maria-Anne-Victoria_ of _Bavaria_, 309. + + _Maria_ Empress of _Germany_, her illustrious Relations, 250, 388. + + _Marie-Adelaide_ of _Savoy_, 260, 268. + + _Maria-Lescinski_ Q. of _France_, 304, 309. + + _Mark's_, St. Festival, how celebrated at _Venice_, 401. + + _Marriage_ of the Sea, 399, 400. + + _Marriage_ of Princes how limited by the Laws of Germany, 60, 352. + A Princess charg'd with abusing that Sacrament of the Church of + _Rome_, 202. + + _Martinitz_, Count of, 213, 214. + + _Masquerades_ at _Venice_, 412. + + _Mass_, by whom alone celebrated with Boots and Spurs on, 192. + + _Matthias_ Emperor of _Germany_, 210. + + _Maubrisson_, Abbess of, 344. + + _Maurice, William_, Pr. of _Saxe-Zeits_, 99. + + ---- Elector of _Saxony_, 381. + + ---- Count of _Saxony_, 115. + + ---- of _Saxe-Gotha_ Pr., 182. + + _Maximilian_, Emperor, 385, 388. + His Statue, 386. + Wife, 388, 389. + His Daughter, 389. + Father-in-law, 389. + + _Maximilian-Emanuel_, Elector of _Bavaria_, 262, 263, 268, 274, 278, + 379, 382. + _Joseph_ the Electoral Pr. 263. + + _Meinders_, M. de, the _Prussian_ Minister, 41. + + MEISSEN _t._ 86. + + _Melvil_, M., 65. + + _Menard_, President, 317. + + _Mentz, Lotharius-Francis de Schonborn_ Elector, 201, 203, 310, 321, + 338. + His Severity to Robbers, 202. + + _Mercy_, Count de, 244. + His Defeat, 307. + + MERSEBOURG _t._ 167, 168. + Its Duke's Fondness for Bass-Viols, 168, 170, 171. + His Duchess, 169. + + MESTRE. _t._ 394, 395. + + _Metsch_, Count de, 54, 242, 245. + + _Mile-posts_ in _Saxony_, 84. + + _Milk_ of our Lady, a Wine so called, 339. + + _Miltitz_, General, _Alexander de_, 78, 100, 105, 107, 360. + + _Minckwitz, Charles-Christian de_, 146. + + _Miracles_ ascrib'd to the two Saints of _Bohemia_, 213, 214. + + _Misson, Maximilian_, criticized, 308, 392. + + _Mobs_ of _Amsterdam_ and _Hamburg_ compar'd, 54. + + _Mocenigo-Aloisio_, Doge of _Venice_, 399. + + _Modena, Renaud d'Este_, Duke of, 230. + + _Molard_, Count de, 255. + + _Molsheim_ t. 315. + + _Monclar_, Baron de, 306. + + _Montbijou_ Palace, 3. + + MONTEFIASCONE _t._ 430. + + MONTEROSO _t._ 430. + + _Monte-Sancto_, Count of, 244. + + _Montmorency, Francis_ Count de, 152. + His Countess, 152. + + _Moravia, John_ Margrave of, 387. + + _Moschinski, Anthony_, Count and + Countess, 117, 120, 142. + + _Moses_, a Piece of his Rock, 396. + + _Motterie_, Mademoiselle, 243. + + _Mount-Pleasant_, a fine Seat near _Hanover_, 67. + + _Muchlberg_, the strong Lines cast up there by the Prince of _Beveren_, + 72. + + _Munchausen_, M. 65, 77. + + _Munchenbourg_ t. 2. + + MUNICH _t._ 258, 268, 363. + + _Muscovy, Anne_ Czarina of, her Marriage, 200. + + + N. + + _Nassau-Friesland_, Prince, his untimely end, 297. + His Daughter, who is Sister to the Pr. of _Orange_, 297. + + _Nassau, Idstein_, Pr. 169. + + ---- _Weilbourg_, Count, 336. + + ---- _Ousingen_ Princess, 342. + + _Nativities_, Calculators of 'em + refuted, 341. + + _Natzmer_, Marshal de, 33, 40. + + NAUMBOURG, _t._ 171, 172. + + _Neitsch_, Mademoiselle de, 145. + + _Nepomucene_ (St.) _John_, 212, to 215. + + _Nesselrod_, Count de, 334. + + _Neukirch, Benjamin_, a Poet, 195. + + NEUSTADT, _t._ 200. + + _Nicolotti_, Fishermen at _Venice_ so call'd, their Election of a Doge + of their own, 402. + + _Nightingales_, a Multitude of 'em, 86. + + _Nobility_ at _Venice_, the Purchase of it, 420. + + _Noyelles_, Count de, 152. + + NUREMBERG, _t._ 196, 197. + Its Government compar'd to the _Venetian_, 197. + + NYMPHENBOURG Palace, 268, 270, 271. + + + O. + + _Occo_ the Antiquary, 179. + + _Oder_, River, 2. + + _Oetingen_, t. 80. + Princesses, 70, 76, 231. + + _Ohsten_, Baron de, 335. + + _Olbreuse_, Madamoiselle de, 60, 62. + Her Daughter, 62. + + OPPENHEIM, _t._ 340. + + _Oranjebourg_, t. 49. + + _Orders of Knighthood_, the _Prussian_, 29. + The _Bavarian_, 260. + Of St. _Hubert_, 373. + + _Orleans_, Duke of, 243, 306. + Duchess, 274, 303, 304, 310. + + _Orselska_, _Anne_ Countess of, 119, 150. + + _Ossem, Gosman-Daniel_, the Painter, 384. + + + P. + + PADUA, _t._ 422. + + _Palatinate, Upper_, 344. + + _Palatine_, Electors, 274, 322, 323, &c. 328, 381. + Revenues, 337. + Who the last of the Protestant Princes of this Title, 342. + + _Paracelsus_, where bury'd, 374. + How he wrought most of his Cures, 374. + + _Passau_, t. 366. + + _Patkul_, Count, 164. + + _Patriarch_ of _Venice_, 403. + + _Patricians_ in _Germany_, who they are, 197, 198, 200. + + _Pechtelsheim_, Baron de, 188, 189. + + _Peine_, Painter, 11, 83. + + _Pennyless Prince_, the Nickname of an _Austrian_, 385, 386, 388. + + _Petits-Maitres_, at _Venice_, 421. + + _Philibert_ D. of _Savoy_, 389. + + _Philip_ IV. of _Spain_, his Reverence to the Viaticum, 249. + + ---- D. of _Burgundy_, 389. + + ---- Margrave of _Brandenburg_, 19, 20, 281. + His Dowager, 20, 26. + His Sons, 27. + His Uncle _Albert_, 27. + _Albert_'s Sons, 27. + + _Philippina-Charlotte_, Princess + of _Prussia_, 26, 72. + + _Philippina_ of _Welserin_, Archduchess, 390. + + _Philipsruhe_, a Pleasure-House, 361. + + _Phul_, Baron de, 285. + + _Pilate_'s Basin, 81. + + _Piosas_, Count, 261. + + _Plassenberg_ Castle, 208. + + _Platen_, Count de, 66. + Countess, 67. + + _Pleasure-Houses_, who has the finest in _Europe_, 268. + + _Plesk_, _Helmuth_ de, 145. + + _Pludowska_, Baroness, 135. + + _Poddewitz_, the _Prussian_ Minister, 31. + + _Poland_, the Equivalent it has given to _France_ of a Queen for a + King, 309. + + _Polentz_, M. de, 78. + + _Pollnitz_, M. de, Cabinet-Counsellor to the D. of _Wirtemberg_, 285. + + ---- Baron, (our Author) his Conference with a _Lutheran_ Doctor after + he had turn'd _Papist_ from a _Calvinist_, 160. + + ---- _Henrietta_, 7. + + _Pomerania, Hither_, yielded to _Sweden_, 80. + + POMMERSFELDEN, _t._ Seat of the Elector of _Mentz_, 203, 204. + + _Pompey_'s War with _Csar_ painted, 370. + + _Ponte_, t. 425. + + _Porcellane_, finer in _Germany_ than in _Japan_, 87, 88. + + _Portugal_, _Mary-Anne_ Queen of, 233. + + ---- _Emanuel_ Pr. of, 422. + + _Pose_, a Merchant at _Leipsic_, his fine Garden, 85. + + _Potschin_, Madame de, 152. + + _Potzdam_ Castle, 34. + + PRAGUE, _t._ 210. + + _Preysing, Maximilian_ Count de, 266, 267. + + _Princes_, petty, more inaccessible than great ones, 83. + + _Privy-Counsellor_'s Preferment owing to a Present of a Bass-Viol, 171. + + _Profusion_ of Princes in what Article 'tis most justifiable, 10, 103. + + _Promnitz, Erdmann_ Count de, 135. + + _Proselytes_, by what means they are soonest made among the Gentry, + 161. + + _Provence, Theodebert_ Count of, 389. + + _Prussia_, K. 21, 31, _&c._ 376. + His Queen, 24. + His Soldiery, 21, to 24, 34. + His Children, 25, _&c._ 30, 72. + Princess Royal's Marriage, 205. + + _Pruth_ Battle, 123. + + _Pultowa_ Battle, 123, 164. + + + Q. + + _Quails_, abundance of 'em, where, 395. + + _Quilian_, St. 191. + + + R. + + _Rabutin_, Marshal de, 240. + + _Radifocani_, M. 429. + + _Radjowski_, Cardinal, 116, 150. + + _Radzevil, Louisa-Charlotte_ Pss. of, 330. + + _Radzevil_, 2d Wife of Marshal _Flemming_, 92, 165. + + RASTADT, _t._ 299. + Prince of _Baden_'s Palace here compar'd to _St. Cloud_ near _Paris_, + 299. + Treaty sign'd there, 300. + + _Ratenau_, t. 50. + + RATENBERG, _t._ 379. + + _Rats_, a Saint that was famous for killing them, 196. + + _Ravanne_, Abbot de, 317. + + _Raugrave_, Madame la, 342, 343. + + _Rechberg, Gaudentz_ Count de, 266. + + _Reinbabe_, Baron de, 176. + + _Religion_, the Externals of it, where best observ'd, 412. + + _Residents_ for the _German_ Princes at _Franckfort_, their Privileges, + 342. + + _Rheden_, M. de, 64, 66. + + _Rhenen_, t. 344. + + _Riga_ Siege, 163. + + _Rinucci_, the Cardinal and the Marquiss, 423. + + _Robert_, Prince Palatine, K. of the _Romans_, 321. + + _Rock, Moses_'s, a piece of it, 396. + + _Rocoule_, Madam de, 25. + + _Roder_, M. de, 261. + + _Rodolph_, Emperor, the Speech he made after he had one of his Hands + cut off in Battle, 168. + + _Rohan_, Cardinal _Armand Gaston_, 309. + His Speeches on the Marriage of the Queen of _France_, 310, 313. + His Election and Death, 315. + Character, 316. + + _Rohr_, Baroness Dowager of, 148. + + _Roll_, the _Brandenburg_ Minister, 4. + + _Rolli_, the Painter, 424. + + ROME, _t._ the _German_ Emperor's Right to live there, 201. + + _Ronaw_, Count de, Envoy of _Saxe Gotha_, 181, 182. + + RONCIGLIONE, _t._ 430. + + _Rossing_, M. de, 78. + + _Roth_, Baron de, 305. + + _Rotofski_, Count, 115, 119. + + _Rupert_, St. 365, 366. + + _Rutowski_, Count, 115, 116, 118. + + _Ruzzini Carlo_, Doge of _Venice_, 399. + + + S. + + _Saltz_, R. 364. + + _Saltzbourg_, t. 364. + Its Revenues, and Houshold of its Archbishop, 367, 373. + A great Revolution in this Country, 375. + + _Saltzdahl_ Seat near _Brunswic_, 75. + + _Sapieha, Benedict_, 163. + + _Sardinia_, King and Queen, 332, 335. + + SAVERNE, _t._ 315. + + Savoy, see _Eugene_ and _Emanuel_. + + _Saxe-Lawenburg_, Princess, 300. + + ---- _Weissensels, John-Adolphus_ Prince of, 99, 115. + _Sophia_ Princess of, 200. + _Christina_ Princess of, 114, 115. + + ---- _Weymar_ Dukes, 172, 173, 174, 175. + + _Saxe-Zeits, Maurice-William_ Pr. of, 99, 171. + + ---- Cardinal, 171. + + ---- _Gotha_ Duchy, 167. + Wealth of its peasants, 167. + + ---- _Gotha_ Dukes, 173, &c. + Duchesses, 181. + + ---- _Barbi_ Duke, 82, 83. + + ---- _Meynungen_ Princess, 181, 200. + + ---- Chevalier de, 116. + + ---- _Eysenach_ Dukes, 173, 183. + + _Saxony_ ill provided with Ordinaries, 86. + Present State of its Court, 99, to 155. + Character of the Men, 155. + of the Women, 156. + of the Clergy, 159. + + _Scarperia_, t. 425. + + _Schindler_'s Lace Manufactory, 7. + + _Schleisheim_ Palace, 270 + + _Schluter_ the Architect, 10. + + _Schmiedel_, Baron de, 176. + + _Schneitzenrieth_, t. 377. + + _Schomberg_, Marshal, 17. + + _Schonborn, Francis George_, Count, 328. + + ---- _John-Phillip-Francis_, Count, 54, 185, 186. + _Damian-Hugo_ the Cardinal, 318, 319, 320. + + ---- _Frederic-Charles_, Bp. of _Bamberg_, 185, 190, 191, 201, 242. + _Lotharius-Francis_, another of its Bishops, 201. + + _Schoning_, General, 116. + + _Schorror_, the Pope's Vicar at _Hanover_, 64. + + _Schulemburg_, Count de, 408. + + _Schulenbourg_, General, 61. + His Duel with Count _Fleming_, 163. + + _Schwabach_, t. 196. + + _Schwartzenborg_, Pr. 213, 223, 301, 302, 304. + + _Schwetzingen_, t. 352. + + _Schwizinski, Nicholas_, 147. + + SCHWATZ, _t._ 379. + + _Schunck_ and _Schutz_, Barons _de_, 285. + + _Sea_, the Ceremony of marrying it, 399, 400. + + _Seckendorf_, Baron and Count, 54, 195. + + _Seefelde-Terring, Maximilian_, Count _de_, 265. + + _Sehgutt_, Counts of, 147. + + _Seibelsdorf_, General, 358. + + _Seiffertitz, Adolphus_ Baron _de_, 141. + + _Sickengen_, Baron _de_, 333. + + SIENNA _t._ 429. + + _Sigismond_, Emperor, 339, 388. + + _Sigismond_, Archduke and Count of _Tirol_, 389. + + _Silenus_'s Legacy, 190. + + _Sobieski, John_ K. of _Poland_, 247. + His Daughter, 262. + + _Soissons_, Countess of, 238, 239. + + _Soliman_, the Sultan, 248. + + _Solkcofski, Alexander-Joseph_, Count _de_, 98, 103, 104, 128, 133, + 139, 143. + + _Sophia-Wilhelmina_, Princess of _East-Friesland_, 83. + + ---- _Christiana-Louisa_, Princess of _Bareith_, 205. + + _Spain_, Council of, at _Vienna_, 244. + + _Span_, Baron _de_, 162, 163. + + _Speratus, Paul_, 375. + + _Spiegel_, Madame _de_, 116, 358. + + _Spiga_, the Pope's Vicar at _Hanover_, 63. + + SPIRE _t._ 320. + + _Sporcke_, M. _de_, 77. + + _Spree_, River, 3. + + _Staden_, Siege, 57. + + _Stadtholder_ at _Vienna_, 246. + + _Stanislaus_, K. 318. + His Daughter's March on foot with the Prince of _Baden_, 304. + Marriage to _Lewis_ XV. 309. + + _Stanislawski, N. N. de Sehgutt_, 147. + + _Staremberg, Maximilian_, 246. + + _Staremberg, Ernest-Rudiger_, Count _de_, 239, 247. + + _Staremberg, Guido_, Marshal, 239. + + _Staremberg, Gundacker_, Count, 241. + + STARGARD, _t._ 162. + + _Staupitz_, Abbot, 375. + + _Stein_, Baron, 72. + Baroness, 130, 148. + + _Steinbock_, General, prov'd cruel, Incendiary, 57. + + _Stein Wein_, a sort of Wine so called, 190. + + _Steinbach_, the Architect, 308. + + _Sternberg_, Count, 211. + + STERTZINGEN, _t._ 392. + + _Stetin_, t. its Sequestration, by whom obtain'd, 164. + + _Stetterheim_, M. _de_, Cup-bearer to the D. of _Saxe-Gotha_, 183. + + _Strada, James de_, 179. + + _Strahlsund_, Siege, 124. + + STRASBOURG, _t._ 305, 315. + Noted for Libertines, 310. + + _Streithorst_, Colonel, 292. + + _Stringuetta_, the _Venetian_ Courtezan, 421. + + _Studenitz_, Baron _de_, 176. + + STUTGARD, _t._ 279, 289. + + _Sulkowski._ See _Solkcofski_. + + _Sultman_, M. and Madame _de_, 292. + + _Sultzbach, Joseph-Charles_, Pr. and Princess of, 324, 330, 331. + + ---- _Theodore_, Prince, 332. + + ---- _John-Christian_, Prince, 332, 333. + + ---- _Charles_, Prince, 332. + + _Sympathy_, its Power, 374. + + + T. + + _Tartary_ Women, what they say to their Husbands when they come home + without Booty, 247. + + _Telemachus_, translated into _German_ Verse, 195. + + _Teschen, George_, Prince of, 116, 117. + Princess of, 117, 150. + + _Thanhausen_, Count de, 373. + + _Thaun_, Count and Countess, 151. + + _Theodebert_, Count of _Provence_, 389. + + _Thirheim, Sigismond_, Count _de_, 258, 265, 266. + + _Thomasius_, the Civilian, 156. + + _Thorn_ of our Saviour's Crown, 81. + + _Thou_, Messieurs, their Library, by whom purchased, 317. + + _Thungen_, General, 278. + + _Tilly_, Count, his Massacre of the _Swedes_ at _Brandenburgh_, 2. + Of the _Palatines_ at _Heidelberg_, 321. + + _Tintoret_, the Painter, 419, 420. + + _Tirol_, Country, 377. + Manner of Salutation here, 380. + Dress of the People, 393. + Their Saints, 394. + + _Titian_, the Painter, 419. + + _Torring, Ignatius-Joseph_, Count _de_, 265, 267, 373. + + _Tour_ of _Auvergne_, Princess, 332. + + _Tour_ and _Taxis, Alexander_, Pr. of, 205, 303, 342. + + ---- ---- ---- _Mary-Augusta_, Princess of, 285, 290. + + _Tournay_, Siege, 124. + + _Towers_, mistaken for _Capuchin_ Friars, 339. + + TRENT, _t._ 393. + + _Truchsses, Zeil_, Count _de_, 374. + + _Tschernin_, Count, 211, 222. + + _Tuhlmeier_, Secretary, _Prussian_, 43. + + _Tun_, at _Heidelberg_, 324. + + _Turks_, where they have reason to laugh at the Christians, 54. + + _Tuscany, John Gaston_, the Great Duke, 428. + His Saying when he declared Don _Carlos_ his Successor, 428. + + _Tutors_, or Governors, a mercenary sort, 217, 218. + + + V. + + _Valerio_'s Tomb at _Venice_, 405. + + _Vatican_ Library, 321. + + _Vauban_, M. Engineer, 309. + + VENICE, _t._ 395, 396, &c. + Its Doges, 389, 390. + Patriarch, 403. + Churches, 403, _&c._ + Arsenal, 405, _&c._ + Bucentaur, 399, 407. + Forces, 408. + Lakes, 409. + Its political Interest, 409. + Trade, 410. + Nobles and Ambassadors, 410. + Ladies, 411. + Music, 414, 415. + Palaces and Gentry, 420. + + _Vernesobre_, Baron _de_, his Gains by _Missisippi_, 8. + + _Viaticum_, the Homage paid to it in Popish Countries, 249. + + _Vicardel, Francis_, Marquis of _Fleuri_ and _Beaufort_, 135. + + _Vieban_, M. _de_, _Prussian_ Minister, 43. + + VIENNA, _t._ 224. + Sieges, 237, 239, 247, 248. + Its Police, 246. + Its Governour how stil'd, 246. + Its Garrison, 247. + Fortifications, 249. + Women, 251, &c. + + _Vierec_, M. _de_, 46. + + _Villaco_, t. 382. + + _Violante_, of _Bavaria_, Princess, 429. + + _Violin_, the first in _Italy_, 415. + + _Virgilius_, St. 365. + + _Virgin Mary_'s miraculous Image at _Inspruc_, 384. + The Adoration paid to her in the Countries of _Trent_ and _Tirol_, + 394. + + VITERBO, _t._ 430. + + ULM, _t._ 276. + + _Unertel_, M. _de_, 267. + + _Voltaire_'s Life of _Charles_ XII. King of _Sweden_, Reflection on it, + 32. + + + W. + + _Wackerbarth, Augustus Christopher_, Marshal _de_, 91, 99, 102, 124. + + _Wakerbarth, Salmour-Gabaleon-Joseph_, Count _de_, 104, 112, 124, 126, + 165. + His Countess, 125. + + _Wagenheim_, M. _de_, of _Hanover_, 66. + + WAHTRINGEN, _t._ 377. + + _Walbourg de Truchsses_, Count _de_, 27. + + _Waldstein_, Count and Countess _de_, 147. 148. + + _Wales_, FREDERIC, Prince of, 26, 64. + AUGUSTA, Princess of, 182. + + _Wallenstein_, Count and Countess of, 151, 153. + + _Walrave_, M. Engineer, 82. + + _Walstein_, the great Soldier, 210. + + _Wartemberg_, Count and Countess, 3, 5, 6, 7. + The King of _Prussia_'s Tears at his Funeral, 7. + His Administration, 36, 42, 44, 134. + + _Wartensteben_, Count, 17, 36. + + _Wasserbourg_, t. 364. + + _Water-works_, at _Herenhausen_, 67. + + _Wederkopf_, M. _de_, 80. + + _Weiller_, a _Prussian_ Colonel, 20. + + _Weimar_, t. 172. + Its Dukes, 172 to 176. + + _Weissenberg_ Battle, 210. + + WEISSENBOURG, t. 318. + + _Wenceslaus_ (St.) K. of _Bohemia_, 212, 213. + + _Wens_ in Throats, 393. + + _Wensen_, M. Marshal of the _Prussian_ Court, 7, 8. + + WERMSTORF, _t._ 86, 103, 157. + + _Werth, John de_, 321. + + _Wetzlar_ Tribunal, 245, 320. + + _Whim_, a fine Seat so called near _Hanover_, 67. + + _William_ of _Saxe-Gotha_, Prince, 182. + + _William-Henry_, Duke of _Saxe-Eysenach_, 183. + + _Willigise_, ABp. of _Mentz_, 179. + + _Wirtemberg, Lewis_ Prince of, 151, 285. + _Charles-Alexander_ Duke, 279, 285, 290. + His Duchess, 285. + His Brother _Frederic_, 285. + + _Wirtemberg, Eberhard-Lewis_ D. 279, 280, 289. + His Duchess, _ib._ 280. + His Son, 281. + Daughter, _ib._ + + _Wirtemberg-Oels, Augusta-Louisa_, Princess of, 83. + _Christian-Ulric_, Duke of, 83. + + _Witgenstein_, Count, 285. + + _Woad_, three sorts of it, 179. + + _Wohlin_, Baron _de_, 334. + + _Wolckenstein_, Count _de_, 393. + + _Wolfembuttle_ Family and Court, 69 to 72. + Its Inhabitants compared to the Hogs of _Westphalia_, 75. + The Duchess Dowager, 80. + + WOLFEMBUTTLE, _t._ 75. + + _Wolffenstein, Sophia-Christina_, Countess of, 208. + + _Women_, of the _Levant_ and _Hamburg_, their great Confinement, 52. + + WORMS, _t._ 338. + + _Wratislaw, Francis-Charles_, Co. _de_, 147, 148, 153. + His Countess, 154. + + _Wreech, de_, Colonel, 30. + + _Wurben_, Countess _de_, Mistress to the D. of _Wirtemberg_, 279, 282, + 283, 284. + Her Disgrace, 290, &c. + + _Wurm_, M. _de_, Master of the Horse to the D. of _Saxe-Gotha_, 183. + + _Wurmbrandt_, Count _de_, 245. + + _Wurtenberg, Christina-Charlotta de_, Margravine of + _Brandenburg-Anspach_, 194. + + WURTZBOURG, _t._ 185. + Power and Splendor of its Bishop, 190. + + + Z. + + _Zech, Bernard_, Baron _de_, 138. + + _Zell_, Duke and Duchess, 60, 61, 62. + + ZELL, _t._ 61, 68. + + _Zensa_, Prince _Eugene's_ Victory there, 237. + + _Zinzendorf, Lewis_, Count _de_, 240. + The Dignity hereditary in his Family, _ib._ + + _Zebel_, Baron _de_, 188, 189, 336. + + _Zechau_, Baron _de_, 193, 195. + + _FINIS._ + + + + + ERRATA. + + +In the first Col. of Letter M, in the Index, Line 6 from the Bottom, for +p. 113, read 114. Line 7, 9, and 11, for _Prussia_ r. _Poland_. In the 3d. +Column of the same Letter, read lines 34, 35, 36, thus: + +_Moschinski, Anthony_, Count and Countess, 117, 120, 142. + +_Moses_, a Piece of his Rock, 396. + +[Illustration] + + + + + FOOTNOTES: + + +[1] The Reader will please to observe, that this Preface was written +during the late Distractions in _Poland_, before the Malecontent Lords had +reconcil'd themselves to their Allegiance to their lawful Sovereign. + +[2] This Church being destroy'd by Lightning in 1730, is magnificently +rebuilt. The 21st of _August_ 1734, the new Spire of it, which had been 4 +Years erecting, and was carry'd up to the Height of about 190 Feet, fell +at 9 o'clock at Night upon the Roof of the Church, whereby that and the +neighbouring Houses suffer'd very great Damage. How it happen'd, no body +yet knows; some say it was caus'd by Thunder, others by an Earthquake, and +some will have it that it fell down of its own accord. + +[3] This House is no longer the Governour's; for the King, who has caused +great Additions to be made to it, has given it to the Prince Royal, and it +goes by the Name of the _Prince Royal's Palace_. The Governour lives at +present in the Street _Royale_, the King having purchas'd the fine House +of _Catsch_ there purposely for the Governour's Residence. + +[4] This Prince died at _Schwedt_, _Dec._ 19, 1711. He left two Sons, one +of whom was marry'd in 1734, to the Princess _Dorothea-Sophia_, the King +of _Prussia_'s fourth Daughter, then about fifteen Years of age. So that +his Majesty, who had six Daughters, married four of them within the space +of four Years, and has now but two more to dispose of. + +[5] Her Name is _Jean Charlotte_, and she is the youngest Sister of Prince +_Leopold_ of _Anhalt Dessau_, being the Daughter of the Prince +_John-George_ II. by _Henrietta Catherine_, Daughter of _Frederic-Henry_ +Prince of _Orange_. + +[6] Since the Original was publish'd, this Ward has been lengthen'd two +thirds. There is one Street so long, that in this respect there are few +that equal it: 'tis as strait as a Line; and terminates in an Oval, +surrounded with very fine Houses. A new Ward is also erected at the End of +that call'd the New Town; from whence it ranges behind _Frederic-Stadt_. +Here most of the chief Nobility are building Hotels or Palaces, rather +than Houses. In a word, if the Number of the Inhabitants of _Berlin_ was +proportionable to that of the Houses, it would be the finest, and the most +flourishing Town in all _Germany_. + +[7] He married (in _June_ 1733,) the Princess _Elizabeth-Christina_ of +_Brunswic-Lunenburgh_, and _Bevern_, Daughter of _Ferdinand-Albert_ Duke +of _Brunswic-Lunenburgh_, and _Bevern_, Field-Marshal General of the +Armies of the Emperor and Empire: and Presumptive Heir to the Duke Regent +of _Brunswic-Lunenburg Wolfembuttle_. + +[8] This was his Royal Highness, now Prince of _Wales_. All _Europe_, in +short, thought, as did the Poets of that Time; and every one in general +mark'd out the Princess for this Prince. It was then too the Desire of +both the Queens; and the Princess herself seem'd to have been brought up +in that Notion. But when 'twas least of all expected, certain Reasons of +State cancell'd all these Views; and the King of _Prussia_ thought fit to +marry his eldest Daughter in 1731, to the Hereditary Prince of +_Brandenburg-Bareith_: as King _George_ II. _of Great Britain_, in 1756, +thought fit to marry his eldest Son to her Highness, _Augusta_, youngest +Sister of the present Duke of _Saxe-Gotha_. + +[9] The Marriage was actually celebrated between them, in _July_ 1733. + +[10] The fourth married in 1734, to the King's Cousin, the Margrave of +_Brandenburgh-Schwedt_. + +[11] This Prince died in 1731. His eldest Son, the Margrave _Charles_, +succeeded him in the Grand Mastership of the Order of St. _John_; and had +his Regiment of Foot in the Service of _Prussia_. Prince _Frederic_, his +Royal Highness's second Son, had his Regiment in the Service of the +States-General of the _United Provinces_; and the Count _de +Truchsses-Walbourgh_, a Major-General, had his Regiment of Horse. He was +sent to compliment _Lewis_ XV. upon his Coronation; and afterwards on the +same Commission to the Emperor at _Prague_. His Wit and Politeness were +applauded at both those Courts. + +[12] He died suddenly in _August_ 1734, at _Malchau_, aged 57, being born +the 4th of _May_ 1677, O. S. He was not married. + +[13] The King thought fit some time ago, to confer this Regiment of Horse +upon his second Son, Prince _Augustus-William_, and to give the Prince +Royal a Regiment of Foot. + +[14] M. _de Lopel_ died the beginning of 1735, in his Government of +_Custrin_. + +[15] The first and the last have been dead some Years, and their Places +supply'd by Messieurs _Bork_ and _Poddewitz_, who have a just Title to the +intire Possession of the King's Confidence. + +[16] Since the writing of this, he is dead, and succeeded in the +Management of Foreign Affairs by M. _de Borck_, Lieutenant-General of the +King's Forces, Knight of the Black Eagle and St. _John_, Governor of +_Stetin_, and Colonel of a Regiment of Foot. This Gentleman is descended +from a very good Family in _Pomerania_, and served with Distinction in the +Army in _Flanders_. Since the Peace of _Utrecht_, he has been twice +charged with the King's Affairs at the Emperor's Court, where he was +highly esteemed, especially by Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_. Those Foreign +Ministers who have to do with him, and who knew M. _d'Ilgen_, observe a +great Contrariety in the Characters of the two Ministers. The one was a +Man of Intrigue, Craft, and Mystery, the other, of Candour, Sincerity, and +a noble Frankness. M. _de Tuhlmeier_, Nephew to the late M. _d'Ilgen_, who +is Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, was, as it were, born to the +Business; having been trusted from his Youth by his late Uncle. The +Foreign Ministers speak well of him: he is very assiduous in his Office, +and indeed suffers no Business to sleep in his hands. + +The Person who has the Affairs Criminal in his Cognizance, is M. _de +Vieban_, Minister of State, and Auditor-General of the Army. He succeeded +M. _de Catsch_; is a Native of _Cologn_; and as he was at _Berlin_ without +Relations or Friends, his Advancement is only to be ascribed to his own +Merit and Abilities. + +[17] He fell into Disgrace, after this Account of him was written, and +died at his Commandery. + +[18] M. _de Creutz_ died the beginning of An. 1733, leaving only one +Daughter, who is married to M. _de Hacke_, a Gentleman of a good Family, +and his Majesty's Aid-de-Camp and Favourite. This Marriage was solemnized +with a great deal of Pomp, and honoured with the Presence of their +Majesties, the whole Royal Family, and the Duke of _Lorrain_. + +[19] This Resolution was taken by his Majesty in 1725, on account of a +Recoinage, which the _Hamburghers_ thought necessary, partly in order to +hinder their Silver from being carried out of their City to _Denmark_. +This Dispute had considerable Consequences; so that the King of _Denmark_ +not being able to bring the _Hamburghers_ to his Terms, push'd Matters so +far as to fit out a couple of Frigats to cruise at the Mouth of the +_Elbe_, which seized all Merchant Ships bound for that City. But in +_March_ 1736, the Affair was happily accommodated. + +[20] It was set up, carried on, and directed by some of the Foreign +Ministers residing at _Hamburgh_, who had each his particular Province; so +that M. _d'A----_ presided at the Rehearsals, M. _de W----_ regulated the +Dances, and M. _S----_ had the ordering of the Clothes, the Head-dresses, +the Paint and the Patches of the Actresses. + +[21] This is what scarce any body has doubted of, but Pere _Boubours_. + +[22] The _Hamburghers_ have nothing to fear from the _Jews_, with regard +to their Republic, but they cannot so well trust the turbulent and +enterprizing Temper of the _Roman_ Catholic Clergy, who aim at their +Churches. The popular Commotions which are but too frequent at _Hamburgh_, +would soon furnish those Gentlemen with an Opportunity to re-assert Claims +which are incompatible with the present Liberty of the City. But this +Pretext, how plausible soever in favour of the Papists, is not at all +conclusive against the _Calvinists_ at _Hamburgh_, who surely might be as +safely tolerated as the _Jews_. + +[23] His Post of Plenipotentiary of the Circle of Lower _Saxony_, was +conferr'd in 1733 upon the Count _de Seckendorf_, one of the Emperor's +Lieutenant-Generals; but the Functions of the Embassy are perform'd by the +Baron _de Kurtzrok_, the Imperial President. + +[24] In 1734, he was install'd Vice-Chancellor of the Empire, in the room +of the Count _de Schonborn_, Bishop of _Bamberg_, who retir'd. + +[25] The common People cou'd never forgive him for his manner of raising +Taxes; by filling the King's Coffers with all the Silver of the Kingdom, +and substituting instead of it a Copper Money, which will perpetuate his +Memory; especially the Coins on which he caus'd the seven Planets to be +engrav'd; which are sought after, and hoarded up as Monuments of his +Administration. + +[26] Second Wife of King _Frederic_ IV. who died in _October_ 1730. Her +being so much in favour with that Prince, was the cause of her Disgrace +after the Death of that Monarch; and she retir'd to the Isle of _Fuhnen_, +where she leads a very melancholy Life. + +[27] She was called _Eleanor d'Emiers_, and was the Daughter of _Alexander +d'Olbreuse_, a Gentleman of _Poictou_. + +[28] The House of _Brunswic_ has for its Head _Ernest_ of _Zell_, who by +_Bernard_ and _Albert_ the Great, the Son of _Otho_ the Infant, descended +from the Familys of _Este_ and _Witikind_. _George-William_ Duke of +_Zell_, was Grandson to _William_, the second Son of _Ernest_; from whom +came the two Branches of _Lunenbourg-Zell_, and _Lunenbourg-Hanover_; both +which were united in the single Family of _Hanover_, by the Death of the +Duke of _Zell_, who left no Issue besides a Daughter married to his Cousin +_George_ I. King of _Great Britain_, as well as Elector of _Hanover_. + +[29] Monsieur _de Schulenbourgh_ died the beginning of the Year 1733. + +[30] Pope _Clement_ XII. on his Accession to the Pontificate, appointed +for his Successor _Schorror_, Bishop of _Helenopolis_, a Native of _Bonn_, +in the Electorate of _Cologne_; a Prelate as amiable as venerable. + +[31] He retir'd some Years since from Court, to his Estate at _Schlitz_, +in _Franconia_. + +[32] The Count _de Bothmar_ died at _London_ in the beginning of _An._ +1732, in a very advanc'd Age, and much lamented by all that knew him. The +Baron _de Hattorf_ succeeded him in the Ministry to the King as Elector. + +[33] Since this was written, the continual Ailments and great Age of M. +_de Bulau_, have obliged the King to make an Alteration in the Command of +his Troops. M. _de Hardenberg_, a Knight of the _Teutonic_ Order, is +Commander in Chief of the Horse, and M. _Melvil_, who is descended of a +noble Family in _Scotland_, has the Command of the Foot. They are both +Officers of Reputation, and signaliz'd their Valour during the late Wars. + +[34] These auxiliary Forces have been of late years disbanded. + +[35] These Works were set up by the Direction of WM. BENSON, Esq; who went +over to _Hanover_ for that purpose in 1716, was soon after made +Surveyor-General of His Majesty's Works in _England_, and is now one of +the Auditors of the Imprest. + +[36] He died in _March_, 1731, without Issue by either of his three Wives; +who were, 1. _Christina-Sophia_ of _Brunswic_, 2. _Sophia-Amelia_ of +_Holstein-Gottorp_, and 3. _Elizabeth-Sophia_ of _Holstein-Norbourg_, whom +he left a Widow, after two Years Marriage. His Brother _Lewis-Rudolph_, +Duke of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg_ and _Blanckenbourg_, succeeded him. He was +born in 1671, and in 1690 married _Christiana-Louisa_ of _Oetingen_, by +whom he had three Daughters; the eldest of whom was married to the Emperor +_Charles_ VI. the second to the _Czarowitz_, Son of _Peter_ the Great; and +the third, to the Duke _Ferdinand-Albert_ of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg_ and +_Bevern_. + +[37] The Branch of _Brunswic-Bevern_ is descended from _Henry de +Danneberg_, eldest Son of Duke _Ernest_, Head of the _Brunswic_ Family. +_Henry_ left two Sons; the youngest of whom, _Augustus_ of _Wolfembuttle_, +had three Sons who form'd three Branches, _Brunswic_, _Wolfembuttle_, and +_Bevern_. The two first were united in _Anthony-Ulric_. _Ferdinand-Albert_ +I. Chief of the Line of _Bevern_, left five Sons and a Daughter. Three of +his Sons are dead; of whom the Eldest lost his life at the Battle of +_Schellenburg_, in 1704; the Third died in 1706, when he was Provost of +St. _Blaise_ of _Brunswic_; as did the Fifth also, in 1706, at the Battle +of _Turin_. There remain two Sons, _viz._ Duke _Ferdinand-Albert_ II. and +Duke _Ernest-Ferdinand_. + +[38] See the foregoing Note. + +[39] This Prince was Velt-Marshal-General of the Emperor's Forces, and in +that Quality he commanded the Emperor's Army, in the War which _France_ +declared against his Imperial Majesty in 1733. He acquired great +Reputation at the Head of a very weak Army, by hindering the _French_ from +doing any thing more than taking Fort _Kehl_ in the first Campaign, when +the Emperor was surpriz'd and unprovided. At the Opening of the Campaign +in 1734, this Prince oppos'd the Designs of the Marshal _Berwick_, by +Lines which he cast up at _Muhlberg_, and which were of good service to +Prince _Eugene_ in facilitating his Retreat towards _Heilbron_, when he +came to take upon him the Command of the Imperial Army. That great General +own'd he never saw any thing look better, or that was stronger and better +disposed than those Lines, which the Duke of _Bevern_ had guarded till +then, with an Army of not 25000 Men. His most Serene Highness was in 1734, +declared by the Dyet of the Empire, Velt-Marshal-General of the Armies of +the Empire. + +[40] He had fourteen Children, _viz._ seven Sons and seven Daughters, the +last of whom was born in 1732. + +[41] He married _Philippina-Charlotte_, the King of _Prussia_'s third +Daughter, in 1733. + +[42] This Princess was married to the Prince Royal of _Prussia_, in 1733. + +[43] The Baron having quitted the Service of _Wolfembuttle_, is actually a +Minister of State at _Hanover_. + +[44] The Count _de Dehn_, after being disgrac'd, went to _Denmark_, of +which he already wore the Order of _Dannebrock_, and obtained the Title of +one of the King's Counsellors of State. From that time he stay'd at his +Estate in the Country of _Wolfembuttle_, till the Year 1734, that the King +of _Denmark_ appointed him to go to _Petersburg_, to fill up the Post of +his Envoy Extraordinary vacant by the Death of M. _Westphal_. + +[45] Since the Duke succeeded his Father, M. _de Munchausen_ is become +first Minister of State, and manages all the Branches of that Office with +that Care and Justice which procure him universal Love and Esteem. + +[46] He is at present Marshal of the Court; M. _de Miltitz_ is Great +Cup-Bearer, and M. _de Rossing_ Great Huntsman. + +[47] The reason is, perhaps, because out of _their Attachment to old +Customs_, they had the Curiosity to go a little higher back than their +Fathers. + +[48] The Duke of _Blanckenbourg_ being become Duke of _Wolfembuttle_, by +the Death of his Brother, has scarce made any Alteration in his Court. The +Persons who were heretofore his Creatures and Favourites continue in the +same Employments. The Dutchess Dowager remains at _Brunswic_, in the fine +House which the late Duke caus'd to be built; and of which the said Prince +made a Present to her, with all its rich Furniture. This Princess is +immensely rich, and lives with very great Dignity. Her Steward is M. _de +Wederkopf_, who was formerly Privy Counsellor to the King of _Denmark_, +and his Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of _France_. + +[49] The Treasury of St. _Dennis_, near _Paris_, boasts also of this +Lanthorn; so that _Judas_ must have had at least two Lanthorns. + +[50] He died in 1731, as is before observed. + +[51] Her Name is _Augusta-Louisa_, she was born the 11th of _January_ +1698, and is the Daughter of _Christian-Ulric_, Duke of _Wirtemberg-Oels_ +and _Bernstadt_, by his 3d Wife, _Sophia Wilhelmina_, of _East-Friesland_. + +[52] This is _Augustus-Lewis_, who in 1728, succeeded his Brother +_Leopold_. His second Wife _Emilia_ of _Promnitz_, dying in 1732, he +marry'd his Sister _Ann-Frederica_ of _Promnitz_; which Match, at that +time, made a very great Noise. The Curious are referr'd to a Paper call'd +_le Glaneur_, or the Gleaner, published in 1733, for what was said upon +it. This Prince has had Children, by his three Wives; and two Sons in +particular by his second. + +[53] 'Tis the 24th part of a Dollar, or about 2_d._-1/2 _Sterling_. + +[54] He had been in the King's Service ever since he was only Prince of +_Saxony_, and always took care to keep in Favour; he being, of all the +Favourites, the Person that had the greatest Share of the Prince's +Confidence: Nevertheless, he ow'd his Advancement, and his illustrious +Post of Minister of the Cabinet, to the Interest of the Countess _de +Cosel_, who caus'd the Chancellor _Beichling_, who had always been the +Favourite Minister, to be turn'd out. + +[55] This part of the Prophecy did not take place, for the King of +_Poland_ died in his Bed at _Warsaw_ the 1st of _Feb._ 1733, O. S. This +Monarch set out in the Month of _January_, from _Dresden_, to hold the +Dyet of _Poland_, which was open'd at _Warsaw_, and every thing seem'd +like to pass to the Satisfaction of the King and Kingdom, when these fine +Hopes were demolished by the Death of this Prince, who in his last +Sickness, preserved the Character of the Hero, betraying neither Fear nor +Folly; all his Wish being that he might live to embrace his Son. + +The King found himself in a declining State, several Years. During the +last Dyet at _Grodno_, a Mortification seiz'd his Foot; for which reason, +M. _de Petit_, a Surgeon of _Paris_, whom the King sent for on purpose, +cut off two Toes, and set his Majesty upon his Legs again, but told him +withall, he must observe such a Regimen as he prescribed to him, or else +it would break out again. But the King finding himself better, neglected +_Petit_'s Advice, and died of the Mortification, as the Surgeon had +foretold. + +[56] _Eberhardina_ of _Brandenbourg-Bareith_ Queen of _Poland_, and +Electoress of _Saxony_: she died at her Seat at _Pretch_ near +_Wittenberg_, some Years before the King. + +[57] This Prince succeeding his Father in the Electorate, and afterwards +in the Throne of _Poland_, rais'd M. _Solckofski_ to the Dignity of a +Count, and appointed him his Master of the Horse, and one of his Cabinet +Ministers. + +[58] The Electoral Prince (now Elector of _Saxony_ and King of _Poland_) +has eight Children, _viz._ three Princes and five Princesses; so that the +Electoral Branch is not like to be extinct very soon. + +[59] The Velt-Marshal the Count de _Wackerbarth_ being dead, the Elector +nam'd this Prince Generalissimo of the Troops of the Electorate in 1734. + +[60] This Prince has for some time past resided at _Konigsgratz_. + +[61] Who died, _August_ 13, 1734, a Minister of the Cabinet, Velt-Marshal +and Governour of _Dresden_. + +[62] She died at _Dresden_ soon after this was written. + +[63] Count _Moschinski_, the Husband of this Lady, was Great Treasurer of +the Court in _Poland_, and is Great Faulconer in _Saxony_. + +[64] Madame _de Cosel_ may thank no body but herself for her Disgrace; for +when she was in Royal Keeping, she had the assurance to threaten the King +more than once that if ever he abandon'd her she wou'd pistol him. The +King, who knew her to be a Woman that always kept her word, thought it his +best way to be beforehand with her, tho' it was not till some time after +that he caus'd her to be arrested. Madame _de Cosel_, who was retir'd to +_Berlin_, did not dissemble her Chagrin; and 'tis said she declar'd in +publick that the King should pay dear for being so false to her: Threats +which his Majesty wou'd perhaps have despis'd, if Madame _de Cosel_ had +not refused to give him back a Promise which he had made to her of +marrying her in case the Queen shou'd die. Mean time the King desir'd of +the King of _Prussia_ to give orders for arresting her, which was done +accordingly; and Madame _de Cosel_ was carried under a Guard to _Saxony_, +where she remain'd a Prisoner till the death of the King. But we have been +told by the publick News-Papers that she obtain'd her Liberty in 1734. + +[65] This Marriage was actually consummated at _Dresden_. But since the +King's death, the Prince of _Holstein_ has abandon'd his Wife, whom he +only married with a view of obtaining some considerable Employment from +the King. The present Elector has eas'd her of most of that Wealth which +the late King had heap'd on her. + +[66] He died in _August_, 1734; and was succeeded in his Employments by +the Prince of _Saxe-Weissenfels_, and the Count of _Friesland_. + +[67] The Count _de Wackerbarth Salmour_ distinguish'd himself, in the year +1733, when the new Elector sent him Commissary Plenipotentiary to +_Poland_; where he manag'd the Interests of his Master so well, that he +was chose King. + +[68] He was created a Count of the Empire (not by the King of _Poland_, +but) by the Emperor. As he is a Lover of the Belles Lettres, in the late +War he wrote and publish'd several solid Pieces, which were well penn'd. + +[69] He was disgrac'd in 1731, upon which he retir'd to his Estate. The +Catastrophe of this Gentleman is so tragical an Incident, that it will be +proper to give a short but true History of it, as it is related in the +following Circular Letter, wrote by the King of _Poland_'s Order, to his +Ministers abroad, for the Information of all the Foreign Courts. The +Letter was dated at _Warsaw_, the 12th of _May_, O. S. 1736, as follows. + +SIR, + +'The tragical Death of the Count _de Hoym_ having been variously reported +both in printed Papers and written Letters, and with Circumstances not +strictly true; the King has order'd me to give you an exact Information of +this Affair. + +'You will remember what the late King, of glorious Memory, signified to +his Ministers abroad, concerning the Reasons and Circumstances that +preceded, accompanied, and followed the Disgrace of the Count _de Hoym_. + +'This Count having been a second time arrested for other Crimes, after the +Death of the late King, was committed in 1733, to _Sonnenstein_, from +whence the present King was so merciful as to release him some Weeks +after; contenting himself to bind him again by Oaths stronger than the +former; whereby the Count obliged himself to continue quiet at his Estate, +without concerning himself with any but his own private Affairs. + +'Yet towards the close of the Year 1734, and at the time when the King was +in _Poland_, the Count, notwithstanding his Engagements, took the +Opportunity of his Majesty's Absence, to set on foot other Intrigues, in +defiance of his Oaths and his Promises; whereof the King being timely +inform'd, order'd him to be arrested and committed Prisoner to +_Konigstein_; which was the reason of his attempting his Life by a Pistol, +whereof I acquainted you by my Circular Letter of the 15th of _January_, +1735. + +'An Information was afterwards preparing for the Trial of him and his +Accomplices; but not many days after the first Examination, the said Count +being stung by the Remorse of his Conscience, and vexed to see all his +Pranks laid open, chose to shorten the Course of Justice by putting an end +to his own Life, notwithstanding the undeniable Proofs he had before +experienc'd of his Majesty's Clemency. For this purpose he first pretended +to be sick, and having order'd his Domestics not to disturb him, he hang'd +himself the 21st of _April_ last, at Night, with a Handkerchief ty'd to a +Hook that supported his Looking-glass. The Letter he wrote to his +Domestics with a Pencil, and which was found upon the Floor, is an +indisputable Mark of the deliberate Purpose and cold Blood with which he +executed this Design. Moreover, in searching his Pockets a Razor was found +on him, with a Penknife, Scissars, and the like Instruments. + +The Family of the Deceas'd having petition'd the King not to proceed +against the Corpse with the Severity of the Law, his Majesty has been so +good as to order the Body of the Self-murderer to be privately interr'd, +just without the Church-Yard of the Garrison at the Fort of _Konigstein_.' + + _I am_, &c. + +The Night before the Count dispatch'd himself, he left a Note upon his +Table for his two Servants, as follows: + +'Be prudent, make no Noise or Alarm, untie me immediately, put me to Bed, +and then shut the Door after you, by bolting it when you are out, which +you may do by the help of this Pack-thread; and by this means no body will +know you have been in my Chamber. The World will doubtless believe I died +of an Apoplexy; if you perform my Orders discreetly and faithfully, my +Family will pay you 1000 Ducats, on sight of this Note.' + +[70] In _October_ 1736, he return'd to _Dresden_. + +[71] The Duke of _Mersebourg_ died in 1731, and was succeeded by his +Uncle, the Duke _de Sprinberg_. + +[72] This Prince died in 1732. + +[73] The chief Trade of this Town is in _Woad_, of which they have three +sorts. The first they sow about _Christmas_, the next in the _Spring_, +_Summer_, and _Harvest_, of which they have three Crops, and the third +grows wild. This Herb is such a sovereign Balsamic, that it cures Wounds +almost with a touch, if taken in time. It resembles Plantain, but has a +longer Leaf. The Roots fatten and improve barren Ground exceedingly, and +being brought over to _England_, with _Clover_, _Cinque-Foil_, &c. grows +with good Success in _Northamptonshire_, and other Places. In the Duke's +Palace there is a Chamber of valuable Rarities, and a noble Library, of +which the late Duke caus'd a Catalogue to be publish'd of the MSS. that +the Learned might know where to have recourse to them. The Person he +imployed to form it, was Dr. _Cyprianus_ Ecclesiastical Counsellor and +Assessor in the Consistory of _Gotha_. They are for the most part the MSS. +of Ecclesiastical Authors, Ancient and Modern, especially the latter. +There is a great Number of Papers and Letters in the _Latin_ and _German_ +Languages, concerning _Luther_'s Reformation, and several MSS. of the +vulgar Translation of the Bible. There is a correcter Copy than that at +_Leipsic_, of the Works of _Lactantius_; another of St. _Austin_'s +Treatise of the _City of God_, which belonged to _Willigise_ Archbishop of +_Mentz_, about the year 1000; another of the ancient Capitularies of the +Kings of _France_, with the Salic Laws, and the Laws of the _Lombards_, +_Almains_, &c. There are thirty one MS. Volumes containing the Abridgments +of the Lives of the Emperors of the _West_, and of the _East_, their +Pictures and Medals, and those of their Families, the whole collected in +1550, by _James de Strada_ of _Mantua_. The Medals are very well design'd, +and _Occo_ the famous Antiquary affirms in a Letter quoted by M. _Patin_, +that every Figure on them cost a Crown the engraving. There is a +particular MS. which contains a Collection of Tracts by certain _Greek_ +Chymists concerning the desirable _Art of making Gold_. For the rest the +Curious are referred to the Catalogue it self. + +[74] This Prince, who was _Frederic_ II. died in 1732, _March_ 12. + +[75] He had ten Sons and six Daughters by her. The Hereditary Prince who +succeeds him is _Frederic_ III. born _April_ 4, 1699. He has a Brother +named _William_ born _March_ 12, 1701, and some time an Officer in the +_Dutch_ Service. + +[76] She was born _August_ 10, 1710. + +[77] Since these Letters were written the Face of the Court of _Gotha_ is +very much altered. The Duke therein mentioned is dead. The Hereditary +Prince _Frederic_ has succeeded him, and his Mother the Duchess Dowager +retired to _Altenbourg_, with the Princesses her Daughters, who are +_Frederica_ born _July_ 6, 1715, O. S. and _Augusta_ born _Nov._ 18, 1719, +and married _April_ 27, 1736, to his Royal Highness _Frederic_ Prince of +_Wales_. The Duke's Brothers, who are _William_, _John-Augustus_, +_Christian-William_, _Lewis-Ernest_, _Maurice_ and _John-Adolphus_, are +gone into the Service of the Emperor, the King of _Poland_, and the Prince +of _Hesse-Cassel_. As to the Government, the Duke treads in the very Steps +of his late Father. M. _Backover_ is his Chancellor, and the First Man in +his Council. M. _de Hering_, formerly in the service of the Duke of +_Saxe-Weimar_, is Vice-Chancellor. The Count _de Ronaw_ is now Envoy at +the Dyet of _Ratisbon_, M. _de Damnitz_, heretofore in the Service of the +Prince _de Rudelstad_, is Grand Marshal; and seems to have a Share in the +new Duke's Confidence. This Gentleman is also a Major-General, and the +Camp seems to be a fitter Element for him than the Court.--The Office of +Master of the Horse is not yet fill'd up. M. _de Wurm_, a Person of +Quality and Merit, was in possession of that Office in the late Duke's +time, but he lately resigned it of his own accord. M. _de Stotterheim_, is +to be appointed Great Cup-Bearer, who is as yet, I think, in the Service +of some Foreign Prince. + +[78] _John William_ Duke of _Saxe-Eysenach_, died at sixty-one Years of +Age, soon after having married to his fourth Wife _Mary Christina +Felicite_ Countess of _Linange_, the Widow of _Christian_ Margrave of +_Baden-Dourlach_. + +[79] _Ann Sophia Charlotte_ of _Prussia_ Daughter of the late Margrave +_Albert_, and Wife to _William Henry_ the present Duke of _Saxe-Eysenach_. + +[80] His Successor was _Frederic Charles_ Count _de Schonborn_ Bishop of +_Bamberg_ and Vice-Chancellor of the Empire, who was before his +Competitor. In 1734, he resigned the Post of Vice-Chancellor, and retired +to his Bishoprick. + +[81] _Christina-Charlotta de Wurtenberg_, Margravine Dowager of +_Brandenbourg-Anspach_, who was Regent for her Son, died at _Anspach_ +1730, soon after she had resign'd the Regency to this young Margrave, and +match'd him to _Frederica-Louisa_, second Daughter of the King of +_Prussia_. + +[82] This was _Benjamin Neukirch_. He put _Telemachus_ into Verse, and was +the Author of a great many other Works, which shew that the _German_ +Language is capable of conveying as fine Sentiments as those which are +more us'd by Authors. He died lately at _Anspach_. + +[83] This Princess was the Dowager of the Duke of _Courland_, when she +marry'd the Margrave _Christian_ who was very old. After his Death she +marry'd the Duke of _Saxe-Meinungen_ whom she has surviv'd. She resides at +_Coburg_ in _Franconia_. She never had but one Son, and that was he who +marry'd the present _Czarina_, but died soon after his Marriage. + +[84] The Hereditary Prince who is the eldest, marry'd the Princess Royal +of _Prussia_ in 1731. + +[85] The eldest of the Princesses, _Sophia-Christiana-Louisa_, was marry'd +in 1731 to the Prince _Alexander de la Tour_ and _Taxis_. She lately +embrac'd the _Romish_ Religion. + +[86] The Margrave and the Prince are now return'd to _Bareith_, where they +live with all the Splendor of Sovereignty. + +[87] She is the present Queen. + +[88] He had the Misfortune to be killed as he was hunting in _Bohemia_, by +the Emperor himself in 1732. + +[89] She is now Margravine of _Baden-Baden_. + +[90] His fickle State of Health oblig'd him to quit this Employment, in +which he was succeeded by the Count _de Collobradt_, who in 1734 was made +Vice-Chancellor. + +[91] He is return'd to _Vienna_ since 1732. + +[92] This Minister was Great Chancellor of _Bohemia_ and a Knight of the +_Golden Fleece_. Count _Joseph_ was nominated Ambassador to _Great +Britain_ in 1736, in the room of his Brother _Philip_. + +[93] This Word in _French_ signifies a _Scab_. + +[94] The Electoresses of _Bavaria_ and _Saxony_. + +[95] I conform to the Opinion of almost all the Historians, who do not +place _Frederic_ the Fair in the List of the Emperors. + +[96] The Empress Regent and the Empress Dowager. + +[97] The King of _Great Britain_. + +[98] The Queen of _Prussia_. + +[99] The present Duke Regent of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Wolfembuttle_. + +[100] _Feb._ 1, 1736, she was marry'd to the Duke of _Lorrain_. + +[101] There are but seven Archduchesses since 1730; the Emperor's third +Daughter being dead. + +[102] This great General who was born the 8th of _October_ 1663, O. S. +died on the 10th of _April_ 1736, O. S. so suddenly, that when his +Gentleman went that Morning, as usual, into his Chamber to awake him, he +was found dead in his Bed. He had been the day before very gay with +Company whom he entertain'd at Dinner, and made not the least Complaint of +any Ailment, tho' he had for some time before been so indispos'd that he +did not venture abroad. 'Tis supposed that he was choak'd by an immoderate +Defluxion of Rheum with which he was now and then troubled. His sudden +Death cast the City and Court of _Vienna_ into such a Consternation as did +prodigious Honour to his immortal Memory. On the 15th, after having lain +three days in State, he was interr'd in the Tomb of his Nephew _Emanuel_ +Prince of _Savoy_ (which the Princess of _Savoy_ Countess of _Soissons_ +caus'd to be erected in the Metropolitan Church of St. _Stephen_) with all +the Military Honours, and all the Magnificence due to his illustrious +Birth, and to these important Services which he perform'd to the August +House of _Austria_ during the Reigns of three successive Emperors. A Will +was found among his Papers, whereby he declar'd the late Prince _Eugene_ +of _Savoy_ his Nephew who died the year before at _Manheim_ his universal +Heir. But after that time a Codicil was made, tho' never sign'd by Prince +_Eugene_, declaring for his Heir his Niece _Louisa de Seissons_ of +_Carignan_ (who was born _December_ 16, 1686.) then at a _Nunnery_ in +_France_. The Prince left behind him a numerous and curious library of +Books, many of which he bought when at _London_ of _Christopher Bateman_ +in _Pater-noster Row_, besides a fine Cabinet of Medals and other +Curiosities. The Emperor has bought his Library of his Niece for 20000 +Florins. + +Since the Prince's Death the Count _de Konigseg_, Vice-President of the +Council of War, has the chief Direction of Military Affairs at this Court, +and signs all Dispatches and Commissions which that Prince sign'd as first +President of the said Council, for thirty-three years. His Regiment of +Dragoons is given to Prince _Charles_ of _Lorrain_, but the Honours he +held as General in Chief of the Emperor's Forces, and his Imperial +Majesty's Vicar-General in _Italy_, are like to continue vacant by reason +of the Peace. + +[103] He is now Bishop of _Breslaw_, a Dignity which gives him a +distinguish'd Rank in this Duchy. + +[104] The Count _de Metsch_, Vice-President of the Aulic Council of the +Empire, succeeded him in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor; and the Count +_Aloysius-Thomas Raimond_ of _Harrach Rohram_, heretofore Viceroy of +_Naples_, hereditary Master of the Horse of Upper and Lower _Austria_, +Marshal of the States of the Country, Knight of the Golden Fleece, is +appointed Counsellor of the Conferences in the room of the Count _de +Schonborn_. + +[105] The Count _de Konigseck-Erps_. He actually went to _Spain_, with a +design to relieve his Uncle; but as the Face of Affairs is alter'd at this +Court, they are both return'd. The Count _de Konigseck-Erps_ is at +_Brussels_ Counsellor of State of _Brabant_. + +[106] The Count _de Konigseck_ is return'd home from his Embassy to +_Spain_. He actually officiates as Vice-President of the Aulic Council of +War, and as Privy-Counsellor of the Conferences. He is Lieutenant-General +of the Emperor's Armies, Colonel of a Regiment of Foot; and is lately +created a Knight of the Golden Fleece. The Count _de Mercy_ being kill'd +at the Battle of _Parma_, the 29th of _June_, 1734, the Emperor sent the +Count _de Konigseck_ to _Italy_, and gave him the Command of his Army, +which was in a very shatter'd Condition, and which the Count _de +Konigseck_ set to rights again, in such a manner as to command Respect +even from his Enemies. + +[107] His Name and Title is _Joseph de Silva y Meneses_, Marquess _de +Villasor_, Count _de Monte-Santo_. + +[108] They are barely _Opinions_, and do not pass into Decrees till they +are approved by the Emperor. + +[109] When he return'd to _Vienna_, after the _French_ and _Savoyards_ had +taken _Milan_ in 1733, several Articles of Complaint were exhibited +against him; but he made so full a Defence against the Impeachment, that +the Emperor has the same Confidence in him as before. + +[110] He was Uncle to the Cardinal _Collonitz_ ABp. of _Vienna_. + +[111] In the Beginning of the Year 1730, this Apartment was burnt down by +a Fire which broke out in the Night-time; so that the Elector and +Electress had like to have been burnt in their Beds, and scarce any of the +fine Furniture was sav'd. + +[112] The Order consists at present of a Grand Master who is the Elector, +and two Grand Priors, who are the Electoral Prince and Duke _Ferdinand_, +six Grand Crosses, nine Commanders, and several Knights. + +[113] The second is dead. + +[114] The present Grand Marshal is the Count _Gaudentz de Rechberg_, a +Grand Croix of the Order of St. _George_. + +[115] The Baron _de Freysing_ is at present Great Huntsman. + +[116] He died _An._ 1733, and leaving no Children, his Son and Grandson +dying before him, was succeeded by _Charles-Alexander_, the eldest of his +Cousin-Germans, the Son of Duke _Frederic-Charles_, who had been his +Guardian till the Year 1693. The Duke _Eberhard-Lewis_ was 57 Years of +Age. + +[117] The Duke was reconcil'd to her two Years before she died, and tho' +she was no less than fifty Years of Age, it was reported for a good while +that she was with Child. + +[118] This was the Countess _de Gravenitz_. Since the Duke's Death the +Duke Regent has commenc'd a Prosecution against her, and she traverses +from one Court to another for that Protection which every one denies her. + +[119] He died at _Ludwigsbourg_ the 23d of _Nov._ 1731. + +[120] He was Velt-Marshal of the Emperor's Forces, and Governor of +_Servia_ and _Belgrade_. He is one of the famous Generals of our Age, on +whom Prince _Eugene_ set a great Value. When he came to the Succession he +obtain'd of the Diet of the Empire the Post of Velt-Marshal-General +jointly with the Duke of _Brunswic-Bevern_ and the Prince of _Anhalt_. He +married _Mary-Augusta_ of _Tour Taxis_, by whom he has Children. He has +two Brothers in the Emperor's Service, _viz._ Prince _Frederic_, and +Prince _Lewis_, who distinguish'd themselves in the last War upon the +_Rhine_. + +[121] M. _de Pollnitz_ left the Court in 1732, and is since retir'd to his +lands in _Saxony_. + +[122] This Prince died the Beginning of the Year 1732, and left one Son. + +[123] He his since marry'd a Princess of _Brandenburg-Bareith_, who has +embrac'd the Catholic Religion. + +[124] He was advanc'd to the Office of Secretary at War in the room of M. +_le Blanc_, and was succeeded as Intendant of _Alsace_ by M. _de Harlay_, +formerly Intendant of _Metz_; and when the latter was made Intendant of +_Paris_ he was succeeded by M. _de Brou_. + +[125] The Wife of _Lewis_ the Dauphin who was _Lewis_ XIVth's only Son. + +[126] The Duchess of _Orleans_ who is of the _Baden_ Family, and the +Duchess of _Bourbon_. + +[127] The famous Cardinal _William Egon de Furstemberg_ Bishop of +_Strasbourg_ died the 10th of _April_ 1704, and was immediately succeeded +by the Abbot _de Rohan_, who was chose Co-adjutor _Jan._ 31, 1701. + +[128] _Strasbourg_ was an Episcopal See before the Year 376, for one +_Arnaud_ Bishop of _Strasbourg_ was then present at the Council of +_Cologne_. The Chapter is composed of 24 Members, _viz._ 12 Capitulars, +and 12 Domicilairs, who must be all Princes or Counts. From 1592 the +Canons were _Lutherans_, and Catholics till 1681, when _Lewis_ XIV. having +taken _Strasbourg_, established a Bishop there whose See was at +_Molsheim_, and caused the Cathedral to be restored to the Catholic +Canons; and notwithstanding the contrary Dispositions of the Treaty of +_Westphalia_, in 1687, he turn'd the _Lutheran_ Canons out of +_Brudersdorff_, and the Prebends which they retain'd in the Chapter: +Nevertheless the _Lutheran_ Religion is tolerated in this City. + +[129] 'Tis already far advanc'd. + +[130] He was admitted Kt. of the _Golden Fleece_ at the last Promotion. + +[131] This Fortress is now finish'd, and the Elector, who continues to +keep his Court here, has a strong Garison in it. + +[132] He actually lodges there now. + +[133] This Prince died at _Breslau_ in _April_ 1732. + +[134] His Name was _Theodore_. He was born in 1659, and died in 1732. + +[135] The late Queen of _Sardinia_. + +[136] The Prince _John-Christian_ became Prince Regent of _Sultzbach_ +after his Father's Death, but did not long survive him, for he died +suddenly _July_ 20, 1733; so that Prince _Charles_ his Son, born +_December_ 10, 1724, is now Prince _Palatine_ of _Sultzbach_, Marquiss of +_Bergopzoom_, and presumptive Heir to the Elector. He is a very forward +hopeful Youth. The Elector has sent for him from _Brussels_ to _Manheim_, +notwithstanding the Intreaty of the Duchess _d'Aremberg_, his +Great-Grandmother by the Mother's side, (who had the care of his +Education,) that he might be permitted to stay with her. This young +Prince's Grandmother is the Princess Dowager _d'Auvergne_, Sister to the +Duke _d'Aremberg_, one of the toasted Beauties of her Time. She retir'd to +a Nunnery, is a Lady of good Learning, and now one of the Heads of the +_Jansenist_ Party of _Holland_. + +[137] He died soon after this was written, and his Place is not yet fill'd +up. + +[138] I suppose M. _de Globe_ is dead; at least he is no longer Grand +Marshal, that Post being occupied by the Baron _de Beveren_, a +Privy-Counsellor and President of the Ecclesiastic Administration at +_Heidelberg_. This Minister does an Honour to the Elector's Choice of his +Person. + +[139] The Office of Master of the Horse is vacant; but the Count _de +Nesselrod_ does the Duties of it, in quality of Vice-Master of the horse. + +[140] The present King of _Sardinia_. + +[141] General _Isselbach_ Commander in Chief of the _Palatine_ Troops, and +Governor of Manheim, dying in _August_ 1734, the Elector gave the Command +of his Troops to the Count _de Nassau-Weilbourg_, and the Government of +_Manheim_ to the Baron _de Zobel_. + +[142] Since this was written the Elector of _Mentz_, of the _Palatine_ +Family of _Newbourg_ dying, the Chapter of _Worms_ unanimously chose for +its Bishop _Francis-George_ Count _de Schonborn_, Archbishop and Elector +of _Triers_. + +[143] These sharp-sighted Gentlemen were not so happy as to foresee the +Marriage which has lately united the Families of _Austria_ and _Lorrain_, +and brought the latter within View of the Imperial Crown, of which the +Elector of _Triers_ saving the Sword in the Scabbard seems to have been a +remarkable Omen. + +[144] He was the King of _Prussia_'s Plenipotentiary to the King of _Great +Britain_, and is return'd to _Frankfort_, where he is Minister from the +King of _Prussia_ to the Circle of the _Rhine_. + +[145] This Lady died _An._ 1733. + +[146] Since the Author was at _Frankfort_ the Prince _Alexander de la +Tour_ and _Taxis_ who married a Princess of _Brandenbourg-Bareith_, +resides in this City and is building a House there. + +[147] She is _Louisa-Anne-Frances_ of _Lobkowitz_, Daughter to the late +Prince _Leopold_ of _Lobkowitz_ who was the Empress's chief Steward till +1708. + +[148] This Lady died at _Frankfort_ in _Feb._ 1733. + +[149] Madame the Abbess of _Maubrisson_, Sister to Madame the Electress of +_Hanover_, who is supposed to be the Person that speaks here; Madame the +Duchess of _Hanover_, Mother to the Empress _Amelia_, and Madame the +Princess of _Cond_. + +[150] At _Rhenen_, a small Town in the Province of _Utrecht_. + +[151] The _Upper Palatinate_ yielded to the Elector of _Bavaria_ by the +Treaty of _Westphalia_. + +[152] At _Schwetzingeu_, a League from _Heidelberg_. + +[153] Twas a Pistol which the Count _de Hehenlo_ snatch'd from her, and +shot into the Air from the Window. But here it was absolutely necessary to +call it a Dagger, Fire-Arms being not known at the Time of which this +History bears date. + +[154] _Phillip_ the Magnanimous, Landgrave of _Hesse-Cassel_, was in 1518 +Sovereign of all the Country of _Hesse_. He died in 1567, and left four +Sons who shar'd his Dominions and form'd the four Branches of +_Hesse-Cassel_, _Hesse-Marpurg_, _Hesse-Rheinfels_ and _Hesse-Darmstadt_ +The landgraves _Lewis de Marpurg_ and _Philip de Rheinfels_ had no Issue, +but their Nephew _Maurice_ of _Cassel_ having 18 Children, _Earnest_ one +of the Sons reviv'd a Branch of _Rheinfels_ which was divided into those +of _Rotenburg_ and _Vanfried_, that are still subsisting. The Posterity of +_George_ I, Landgrave of _Darmstadt_ was altogether as fruitful, and +form'd the Branches of _Darmstadt_, _Butzbach_, _Hombourg_, and +_Lauterbach_, some of which are extinct. The Landgrave-Regent is one of +the sixteen Children of the Landgrave _Lewis_ VI. Great-Grandson of +_George_ I. There are at present these six Branches of the Family of +_Hesse, viz._ 1. _Hesse-Cassel_, 2. _Hesse-Philipstall_, 3. +_Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenbourg_, 4. _Hesse-Rheinfels-Vanfried_, 5. +_Hesse-Darmstadt_, 6. _Hesse-Hambourg_. + +[155] This Count died in 1736. + +[156] She died at _Hanau_ after a very long Illness. + +[157] This River rises in _Tirol_ a little above _Inspruc_, becomes +navigable at _Halle_, and loses itself in the _Danube_ near _Passau_. + +[158] The Provost and Dean of _Passau_ enjoy the same Prerogative. + +[159] The Revenue of this Archbishoprick amounts to 600,000 Florins. The +Archbishop has 60,000 Florins a-year for his private Expences, and 24,000 +Crowns for officiating at three solemn Services, without reckoning the +Deanery, which is worth 24,000 Florins to him. + +[160] The People about the _Alps_ are very subject to those Swellings by +drinking too much cold unwholesome Water. + +[161] This is the Name which they give in _Italy_ to those who do the +Office of Guides to shew Foreigners the Curiosities of any Town. + +[162] This Minister died at _Venice_ in 1732, and was succeeded by Prince +_Pio_. + +[163] He is dead, and succeeded by Don _Carlo Ruzzini_. + +[164] _Francis_, Count _Duhamel_, Lieutenant-General of the King of +_Prussia_'s Army, Knight of the Order of the _Black Eagle_, and Colonel of +a Regiment of Horse. The _Venetians_ invited him to their Service in 1704, +and gave him the chief Command of their Forces. + +[165] This Princess died in 1731, at _Florence_. + + * * * * * + + + Transcriber's Amendments + +Transcriber's Note: A table of contents has been added. Blank pages have +been deleted. On pages that remain, some unnecessary page numbers may have +been deleted when they fall in the middle of lists. Some illustrations may +have been moved. Footnotes have been moved to just above this paragraph. +The hyphenation of words varies widely but has not been changed. The +spelling of words varies widely and has not been changed except as listed +below. The publisher's inadvertent omissions of important punctuation have +been corrected. + +The following list indicates any additional changes. The page number +represents that of the original publication and applies in this etext +except for footnotes and illustrations since they may have been moved. +Corrections specified by the publisher are marked with an asterisk (*). + + Page Change + + title [Vol. I] + ix for he threatned[threaten'd] to get a Preface compos'd + xxiv BARON DE POLLNITZ being the Oservations[Observations] he made + 5 for his Favourite the Connt[Count] _de Wartemberg_, + 11 But the late Czar coming no[on] _Berlin_ + 15 upon which ocasion[occasion] + 17 To go from the Ambassaors[Ambassadors] Hotel to the New Town + 38 for her, woud[would] be to send him abroad; + 41 I thing[think] it incumbent on me to give you + 84 Travellers, who were heretefore[heretofore] often impos'd upon + 57 As soon as he appear'd be-[del] before _Altena_, + 96 at _Warsaw_ the 1st of _Feb._ 1733, N.[O.] S. + 133 In short, the Count _de Sulkouski[Sulkowski]_ who has + 134 The Office of all the abovementioned[above-mention'd], as + 146 the Religion which is upermost[uppermost] in the State. + 151 but the Marriage was dissoved[dissolved], + 251 their Conversattion[Conversation] sometimes insipid; + 172 They are all drawn or[on] Horseback, + 187 for the Glasses served in-[del] instead of Bells, + 194 which were of gery[very] great value, + 199 Knick-knacks which where[were] formerly made in this city + 220 the _Ne plus ultra_ of their Perferments[Preferments]. + 220 The[There] are five Brothers of it in Employments. + 225 The Empreor[Emperor] stands up under a Canopy + 236 Simplicity of the ancient Arcitecture[Architecture]. + 317 most celebrated in _France_; and he daily in-riches[enriches] + 320 He was addmitted[admitted] Kt. of the _Golden Fleece_ at the + 348 found to be the Hand-writting[Hand-writing] of _Gertrude_. + 351 whither a Captian[Captain] of the Guards came in + 359 This great p'enty[plenty] of Deer is extremely troublesome + 361 Circle of of[del 2nd of] the _Upper Rhine_. + 364 LETTER XIII[XXIII]. + 379 runs through a fine Valley beween[between] high Mountains + 394 they would fall on the Heads of the Travallers[Travellers]; +Index _Brandenbourg-Anspach_, Margraves, {?}[capital], 193, +Index _Kara-Mustapha_, Grand Visier[Vizier], 247, 248. +Index _Lowinitz, Henry-Rodolph de Schonfield[Schonfeld]_ Lord of, 145. +Index * _Maria-Amelia_ Princess of _Prussia[Poland]_, 113. +Index * _Maria-Anne-Sophia_ Princess of _Prussia[Poland]_, 113. +Index * _Maria-Josepha_ Princess of _Prussia[Poland]_, 113[114]. +Index _Staupitz_, Abbat[Abbot], 375. + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de +Pollnitz, Volume I, by Karl Ludwig von Pllnitz + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS--BARON DE POLLNITZ, VOL I *** + +***** This file should be named 38495-8.txt or 38495-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/4/9/38495/ + +Produced by Robert Connal, Henry Gardiner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by the Bibliothque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume I + Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from + Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, + England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not + Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but + the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several + Courts. + +Author: Karl Ludwig von Pllnitz + +Release Date: January 5, 2012 [EBook #38495] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS--BARON DE POLLNITZ, VOL I *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Connal, Henry Gardiner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by the Bibliothque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="center" style="width: 25em; margin: auto; border: solid 1px; padding: 1em;"> +Transcriber's Note: The original publication has been replicated faithfully except as listed +<a href="#Changes" name="Start" id="Start">here</a>. +</div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<!--001.png--> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 396px;"> +<img src="images/i01.png" width="396" height="370" alt="Lestevenon de Berkenroode" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Lestevenon de Berkenroode</span> +</div> + +<!--003.png--> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<h1><small>THE</small><br /> +<br /> +<big>MEMOIRS</big><br /> +<br /> +<small>OF</small><br /> +<br /> +<i>CHARLES-LEWIS</i>,<br /> +<br /> +Baron de <span class="smcap">Pollnitz</span>.</h1> + +<div class="c3"> +<small>BEING</small><br /> +<br /> +The OBSERVATIONS He made in his<br /> +late <span class="smcap">Travels</span> from <i>Prussia</i> thro'<br /> +<br /> +<i>GERMANY</i>,<br /> +<i>ITALY</i>,<br /> +<i>FRANCE</i>,<br /> +<i>FLANDERS</i>,<br /> +<i>HOLLAND</i>,<br /> +<i>ENGLAND</i>, &c.<br /> +<br /> +In LETTERS to his <span class="smcap">Friend</span>.<br /> +<br /> +Discovering not only the PRESENT STATE<br /> +of the Chief <span class="smcap">Cities</span> and <span class="smcap">Towns</span>;<br /> +<br /> +BUT<br /> +<br /> +The CHARACTERS of the <span class="smcap">Principal Persons</span><br /> +at the Several COURTS.<br /> +<br /> +In TWO VOLUMES.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap"><big>Vol. I.</big></span><br /> +<br /> +The <span class="smcap">Second Edition</span>, with <span class="smcap">Additions</span>. +</div> + +<div class="center" style="padding-top: 1em;"><i>LONDON:</i><br /> +Printed for <span class="smcap">Daniel Browne</span>, at the <i>Black Swan</i>,<br /> +without <i>Temple-Bar</i>. <span class="smcap">M.dcc.xxxix.</span></div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<h2 style="padding-bottom: 1em;">TABLE OF CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class="center" style="width: 18em; margin: auto;"> +<span style="float: left">PREFACE, BY THE TRANSLATOR</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_v">v</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">AUTHOR'S PREFACE</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_ix">ix</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_xiv">xiv</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">PREFACE</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_xv">xv</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">ADDENDA to Vol. I</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">ADDENDA to Vol. II</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">BOOKS LATELY PUBLISHED</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_xxiv">xxiv</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER I</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER II</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_49">49</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER III</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER IV</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER V</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_80">80</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER VI</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_162">162</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER VII</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_178">178</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER VIII</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_183">183</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER IX</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER X</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_197">197</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XI</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_210">210</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XII</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_224">224</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XIII</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_246">246</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XIV</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_258">258</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XV</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_272">272</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XVI</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_280">280</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XVII</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_293">293</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XVIII</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_299">299</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XIX</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_315">315</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XX</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_327">327</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XXI</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_338">338</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XXII</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_357">357</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XXIII</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_364">364</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XXIV</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_377">377</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XXV</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_391">391</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XXVI</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_408">408</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">LETTER XXVII</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_422">422</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">OTHER BOOKS</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_432">432</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left">INDEX</span><span style="float: right"><a href="#Page_433">433</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left"><a href="#ERRATA">ERRATA</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="float: left"><a href="#FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES</a></span><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--004.png--><p><span class="pagenum">iii</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px; margin: auto;"> +<img src="images/i20.png" width="430" height="47" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="center" style="padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em;">To the Right Honourable<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Philip</span>, <i>Lord</i> <span class="smcap">Hardwicke</span>;<br /> +<br /> +Baron of <i>Hardwicke</i>, in the<br /> +County of <i>Gloucester</i>;<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Lord High Chancellor</span><br /> +of <i>Great Britain</i>;<br /> +<br /> +AND<br /> +<br /> +One of the <span class="smcap">Lords</span> of His Majesty's most<br /> +Honourable <span class="smcap">Privy Council</span>.</div> + +<div><span class="smcap">My Lord</span>,</div> + +<p>The good Reception these Memoirs, which I most humbly offer to your +Lordship, have met with Abroad; and the Protection and Favour the <i>Author</i> +has obtain'd at one of the Chief Protestant Courts of <span class="smcap">Europe</span>; encourage +me, tho' with the profoundest Submission, to intreat your Lordship's +favourable Acceptance of this <i>Translation</i>.</p> + +<!--005.png--><p><span class="pagenum">iv</span></p> + +<p>'Tis, my Lord, the only Homage I am capable of paying your Lordship, and +the best Testimony I can give with what Zeal and Pleasure I join in the +Congratulation of the Public for that illustrious Regard paid to your +Lordship's Merit, and Their Wishes, by his <span class="smcap">Sacred Majesty</span>, this Day in +Council.</p> + +<p>That your Lordship may very long enjoy a sufficient Portion of Health, +equal to the Abilities of your Great Mind, for supporting you under that +vast Weight of Service which you have now taken upon you for your King and +Country, is the hearty Prayer of all good <span class="smcap">Englishmen</span>; and particularly of +Him, My Lord, who has the Honour to subscribe</p> + +<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Your Lordship's</span><br /> +<i>Most Devoted,<br /> + Most Obedient, and<br /> + Most Humble Servant.</i></div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--006.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">v</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 431px;"> +<img src="images/i13.png" width="431" height="63" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>PREFACE,<br /> +<br /> +By the <span class="smcap">Translator</span>.</h2> + +<p>The Author of these <i>Memoirs</i>, who is a Person of an honourable Family in +<i>Prussia</i>, and confess'd by all that know him to be a Gentleman of +extraordinary Talents, is one that may be truly said to have seen the +World; he having not only travell'd twice thro' the principal Parts of +<i>Europe</i>, but by his Acquaintance with People of the first Rank, and a +diligent Inquiry and nice Inspection into Men and Things, attained to that +Knowledge of Both, which is of such Service and Entertainment to Mankind +in the general, and so particularly necessary for All who attend to what +is doing in high Life.</p> + +<p>He has succeeded very happily in the right Narrative Stile; and the +<i>French</i> Language, in which he wrote the following Letters, seems to be as +natural to him as if it was his Mother-Tongue. But the Thing which has +most contributed to the Demand for these Memoirs, is the Multitude of +Characters that the Baron has interspers'd, not only of the Deceas'd, but +even<!--007.png--><span class="pagenum">vi</span> +of Persons that are still living, and distinguish'd by the exalted +Spheres in which they move.</p> + +<p>That every one of those Characters is equally just, or that every +Circumstance relating to them is told with the utmost Exactness, is not to +be imagin'd: For supposing the Author to have been ever so circumspect and +impartial, how was it possible for him to take the true Likeness of every +one, in such a Variety of Personages of both Sexes, and to be perfectly +sure of every Particular that he mentions; since he could not be +Eye-Witness of every thing, and must be oblig'd for many to Information +from other Persons, of whom, 'tis no wonder if some were prejudic'd? But +to do the Baron Justice, it must be allow'd, that he no where fails in +that Respect and Decorum to Princes which are their due; and that he has +not discover'd a predominant Passion for Satire: because where he has +painted in the strongest Colours, and represented his Subjects in the most +disadvantageous Light, they were such whose Follies or whose Vices were +too flagrant and notorious to be either conceal'd or disguis'd: And, +considering the Groupe of Courtiers whom he has crouded into his Canvass, +the Reader will rather be surpris'd to meet with so few Imperfections in +his Characters, and so many excellent Qualities. By this means, his +Memoirs have, upon the whole, done Honour to his Understanding, without +offending his Conscience, or hurting his +Fortune;<!--008.png--><span class="pagenum">vii</span> +he being, at this very +time, upon a handsome Establishment at the Court of <i>Prussia</i>.</p> + +<p>It cannot possibly escape the Observation of the Reader, that the Baron, +when he wrote these Letters to his noble Friend, was a profess'd Member of +the Church of <i>Rome</i>; but that nevertheless, he was not such a Bigot to +its Constitution, nor such a Believer in the Legends of its Writers, or +the pretended Miracles of its Saints, as to incur the Character of a blind +and furious Zealot; it appearing on the contrary, from several +Declarations of his Mind in the following Pages, that he did not want +Charity either in his Nature or Principles for those from whom he differ'd +in religious Sentiments. Such a Catholic Spirit, assisted by his good +Sense, made it, no doubt, much easier for him, after reflecting upon the +Fopperies and Impostures which he had seen in that Church during his +Travels, to abjure the <i>Romish</i> and to embrace the <i>Protestant</i> Religion, +which he did accordingly with great Devotion last Summer, at <i>Berlin</i>; +after which, his <i>Prussian</i> Majesty was pleas'd to distinguish him with +peculiar Marks of his Favour and Esteem, by declaring him one of the +Gentlemen of his Bed-Chamber, and Chief Cup-Bearer of his Court; and he +has very lately given him a considerable Prebend.</p> + +<p>To the new Edition of his Memoirs, from which the following Sheets are +translated, there's not only a great number of material Additions in the +Body of the Work, as is observ'd by the +Editor<!--009.png--><span class="pagenum">viii</span> +of it, <i>Amsterdam</i>, but +several new Notes: In this Translation, these Notes are likewise +considerably augmented, for the sake of continuing the Thread of the +History to the present Time, by the Notice taken of certain remarkable +Alterations, or other curious Particulars that have happen'd to the +Persons or the Places mentioned, since 1734, when the said Edition was +publish'd.</p> + +<p>One great Defect for which the foreign Editor has been very much blam'd, +was the want of a Table to these Memoirs; which, if not absolutely +necessary in a Work of this kind, wherein so many Persons and Facts are +mentioned, cannot be necessary for any Book whatsoever that comes from the +Press. To supply this Defect, the Translator has added an Alphabetical +Index to each of the two Volumes; which Indexes are the more copious, that +the Reader might know where to turn in an Instant for some Account of the +Characters, Conduct, or Familys of those public Personages, whose Names so +often occur in the News-Papers.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 161px;"> +<img src="images/i08.png" width="161" height="138" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--010.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">ix</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/i20.png" width="430" height="47" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>THE<br /> +<br /> +AUTHOR's PREFACE<br /> +<br /> +TO THE<br /> +<br /> +FIRST EDITION.</h2> + +<p><i>There are very few Books without a <span class="f">Preface</span>; and that there are so, is in +a great measure owing to the Fancy of the <span class="f">Booksellers</span>, who think them to +be absolutely necessary, and too often judge of the merit of a Copy by the +Flights of its Preface, and the insinuating Tone of the <span class="f">Author's</span> Voice in +reading it. I had the misfortune to fall into the hands of one of these +Booksellers, so fond of Prefaces, whom nothing would serve but he must +have one at the Head of my <span class="f">Memoirs</span>. My telling him that I did not know +what to put into a Preface, signify'd no more than if I had been talking +to a Post; for he threaten'd to get a Preface compos'd by an Author who +wrote for Wages. This startled me, and I trembled for the fate of my Book, +not doubting that a Preface written by a Man of Letters, who made it his +profession to compose such marvellous Pieces, would altogether eclipse the +few Excellencies in this Work of mine. What, said I to myself, the Sale of +my Book then must depend only on the Goodness of the Preface, which, when +the Readers compare with the Book it self, they will say, O! what a +wonderful Man is the Author of the <span class="f">Preface</span>! What a pitiful Writer, the +Compiler of the <span class="f">Memoirs</span>! No, said I again to my self, I am resolv'd that +the Preface and the Book shall run the same risk; and +since</i><!--011.png--><span class="pagenum">x</span> +<i>Chance has +enter'd me an Author, I'll play out the whole part of one.</i></p> + +<p><i>I am told, that the Design of a Preface is to give the Publick an +account, in the first place, of the Reasons that have engag'd the Author +to compose his Work; that then he is to inform the Publick, that 'tis in +meer Complaisance to his Friends, and because there are mangled Copies of +his Manuscript abroad, that he has been determined to put it to the Press; +and finally, that he is to conclude with a sort of Petition, wherein he is +to beg the Reader's Indulgence for his Productions. This, I have been +assured, is the Plan of a Preface; let us now see how well I can execute +it.</i></p> + +<p><i>As to the first Article, <span class="f">viz.</span> what Motives I had to write, I sincerely +own that when I set Pen to Paper, I meant nothing more than to amuse +myself. I was the farthest in the World from thinking that I should one +day be overtaken with the Temptation of setting up for an Author. I wrote +Letters to a Friend of mine, purely to divert him with an Account of such +things as came in my way; the Minutes of which Letters I preserved till I +had insensibly formed a Volume of 'em; and having nothing else to do, I +augmented and digested them in the manner that I now give them to the +Publick. The truth is, that my Friends have not used the least Importunity +with me to commit my Manuscript to the Press, nor was it possible for any +spurious Copies of it to get abroad, because no body ever saw it till I +put it into the hands of the Bookseller.</i></p> + +<p><i>But I shall be ask'd, what possess'd me to commence Author, and how came +I to be so idle as to put my Name at the Head of a sorry book? I must +answer again, that it was downright Indolence. As to my Name, it would +have been very difficult to have concealed it from Persons to whom I have +the greatest Obligations. I should have been suspected to have been the +Author of these Memoirs at certain Courts, for which I have a Respect both +by Inclination and Duty; and +perhaps,</i><!--012.png--><span class="pagenum">xi</span> +<i>if I had left this Copy to the +wide World, as some do those Foundlings which they are asham'd to own, +such Passages might have been foisted into it, as would have been father'd +upon me, in spite of all Protestations of my Innocence.</i></p> + +<p><i>As to the Book itself, I am apt to think there is nothing in it that any +Person whatsoever ought to take offence at. When I speak of Sovereign +Princes, 'tis with the Reverence due to the <span class="f">Lord's Anointed</span>; and I also +endeavour to honour them in their Ministers, being taught by my Religion +that I ought to honour God in his Saints. I have done my utmost to paint +the true Characters of People in Place, and can safely say, that my +Authorities are not meer hear-says or scraps out of News-Papers; for, +thank to God, my Birth and Fortune have put me in a capacity to see, hear, +and judge for myself.</i></p> + +<p><i>It will be thought perhaps, that when I speak of Nations in general, I +judge too rashly. It may be so; this being an Article especially in which +all Men do not think alike. The <span class="f">French</span> have a quite different Idea of the +<span class="f">Germans</span> from what the <span class="f">English</span> have, and the <span class="f">English</span> do not pass the same +Verdict on the <span class="f">French</span> as the <span class="f">Swedes</span> do. 'Tis the same in private Life. +Every one makes his own Condition the Standard of his Judgment. The Man of +Quality, the Citizen, the Soldier, the Merchant, have all different Ideas. +The Traveller judges of the Nation where he is, by the Company he keeps. A +<span class="f">Frenchman</span> who in <span class="f">Germany</span> converses with none but those of the second +Class, will say that the <span class="f">Germans</span> are honest People, but clownish; whereas +another, who keeps company with Persons of Quality, or those in Offices, +will agree, that the <span class="f">Germans</span> are more polite than they have been painted +by certain <span class="f">French</span> Writers, who have been transplanted to <span class="f">Germany</span> either by +their Distresses, or by meer Chance. So, a <span class="f">German</span>, who, when he is at +<span class="f">Paris</span>, sees no better Company than the Marchionesses of +the</i><!--013.png--><span class="pagenum">xii</span> +<i>Suburb of +<span class="f">St. Germain</span>, imagines that all the Women both at Court and in the City are +like them. In fine, a Foreigner who takes up his Residence in the City of +<span class="f">London</span>, will entertain a different Idea of the <span class="f">English</span> from what another +shall do who lodges at <span class="f">St. James</span>'s end of the town. They are, as one may +say, so many different Nations in one and the same State, which stand in +little relation to one another; and sometimes attribute Virtues and Vices +to each other without due Consideration. A Foreigner therefore can form a +solid Judgment of none but those with whom he is conversant; and if he has +the good luck to pitch his Tent well, he entertains an advantageous +Opinion of the Nation in general. Let Foreigners, when they return home, +after having kept such various sorts of Company, sit down to draw the +Characters of the Nations they have seen, I do but think what a strange +difference would appear in their Descriptions! The Judgment therefore +which I make of People, is founded upon the Company I kept, and upon what +I heard from such Inhabitants of the Country as appear'd to me to be +altogether unprejudiced, and were pleased to honour me with their +Information. I do not say but, after all, I may have been mistaken; for I +do not pretend to have painted things in any other light than as they +appear'd to me. If, nevertheless, any particular Person thinks himself +particularly intended when I speak of the Inhabitants of any Province or +Town in general, I beg him to remember, that I confess in my Memoirs there +are worthy People in all parts of the World, and 'tis not my fault if his +Conscience does not permit him to rank himself in that number.</i></p> + +<p><i>No doubt I shall be reproach'd for relating too many Trifles, and passing +too lightly over things of greater Importance. To speak freely again, I +will make no difficulty to own, that, if when I began these Memoirs, I had +ever thought of printing them, the desire of promoting their Sale might +perhaps have put upon +inserting<!--014.png--><span class="pagenum">xiii</span> +a great many Nothings which I omitted, as +not thinking it worth while to charge my Memory with 'em. The far greatest +part of what the World reads is Trifles, and a History will make its +fortune not by the instructive Facts that are in it, but by the Romantic +Turn the Author gives it. Besides, I am not so vain as to write with a +design of Instructing; for what could I relate in my Travels which others +have not done before me in better Terms? To talk of Learned Men, to make a +Catalogue of Books and MSS. that are to be met with in Libraries, to +ransack the Cabinet of the Curious, to publish Inscriptions, to treat of +antique Medals, to affirm that I have seen an <span class="f">Otho</span> of Brass, which is +known to be but of Silver, what a Posse of Men of Learning would rise up +against me! Whereas, now I fear nothing; the Learned don't read Trifles, +or if they do, they scorn to criticise them. I shall to them remain +unknown, or at least, my Meanness will be my Protection against their +Indignation.</i></p> + +<p><i>I would fain be as secure against the Criticism of those, who reading for +the sake of their amusement, require an exact, elegant Stile in trifles, +that is, adorn'd with the Flowers and Garlands of Rhetorick. But how shall +I gain their Indulgence? If I own to them that I could do no better, they +will say to me, and justly enough, <span class="f">Alas! then what made you write?</span> To +which I shall answer, as I said before, that it was meerly for want of +something else to do. If they will but forgive me this time, I assure them +that I not only will never relapse into the same error, but that I shall +not be sorry if they disdain to take Notice of my Book: And if the reading +of these Memoirs inclines them to sleep, I shall think my self very well +rewarded for having contributed to their Repose.</i></p> + +<p><i>After all, I am more particularly obliged to ask pardon of the <span class="f">French</span> +than any other Nation: 'Tis in their Language I have presumed to write, +and they are my proper Judges. Such is their Politeness and their</i> +<!--015.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">xiv</a></span><i>Readiness +to assist Foreigners, that I doubt not of Mercy. And in +return, I promise them, that if a <span class="f">Frenchman</span> ever vouchsafes to write in +the <span class="f">German</span> Language, I will forgive him any Errors that he may commit.</i></p> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<h2>ADVERTISEMENT by the <span class="smcap">Editor</span>.</h2> + +<p>N. B. "These Memoirs went off so quick, that before they had been out +scarce six Months, the <i>French</i> Bookseller was oblig'd to prepare for this +<i>Second Edition</i>; to which, there are considerable Additions both in the +Body of the Work and in the Notes, of curious and interesting Facts and +Characters, and the principal Alterations that have happen'd at the +several Courts, since the first Edition.</p> + +<p>"There is added in particular, a very circumstantial Account of the +present Elector of <i>Saxony</i>'s Family, his Ministers, and Officers; and in +short, of the Chief Persons of both Sexes belonging to his Court and +Houshold. This is prefix'd in the Original, at the Head of the Memoirs; +but the Translator thought it more regular as well as more consistent with +the Method observ'd every where else by the Author, to place it at the End +of his Description of the City of <i>Dresden</i>. The Baron has dedicated that +Account to the present Elector (<i>Augustus</i>, King of <i>Poland</i>) and +introduc'd it with the following Preface."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 98px;"> +<img src="images/i03.png" width="98" height="56" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--016.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">xv</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 416px;"> +<img src="images/i02.png" width="416" height="62" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>PREFACE,<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">To the Second Edition</span>.</h2> + +<p><i>The</i> <span class="smcap">Present State of the Court of Saxony</span><i>, which is added to this +Edition, has no need of a Preface to recommend it, the very Title shewing +that 'tis what concerns every <span class="f">Saxon</span> especially to be acquainted with.</i></p> + +<p><i>All Subjects have a desire to know something of their Sovereign; and +private Men in every State have this Curiosity, with respect to their +Ministers and Courtiers. These are the Characters which I have ventured to +draw, tho' I own, that I don't think I have always hit the Life, for want +of that Penetration and Delicacy of Imagination which Nature, to me a +Step-Mother, has deny'd me; and also because it would have been necessary +for me to have stay'd longer than I did at <span class="f">Dresden</span>. Three Months Residence +at so great a Court, are hardly sufficient to make a Man acquainted with +it, were his Fund of Knowledge even as deep as mine is shallow. Then what +a Presumption would it be for me to think I have attained to it!</i></p> + +<p><i>I must not dissemble, that this Book with all its Imperfections, has cost +me more trouble in composing than one much larger would have done upon a +Subject that had been more familiar to me. There was a necessity for me to +make Inquiry into many Particulars, and to get some of my Information from +a private hand. I own my Obligation to the Civility of M. <span class="f">Konig</span>, the +Counsellor of the Court, for the Intelligence I +wanted</i><!--017.png--><span class="pagenum">xvi</span> +<i>relating to some +of the Court-Nobility. If I had been so happy as to have found out but one +or two Persons more as active for me as he was, my Work would have been +more correct and more extensive. Such as it is, I intreat the Reader to +accept it, and to forgive any Errors in it, in consideration that I am the +first who has ventured to treat of such a Subject. I own, there is a +certain degree of Rashness in the Undertaking, but the noble Motive that +has induc'd me to it, seems to plead for my excuse.</i></p> + +<p><i>All <span class="f">Saxony</span> knows in general, that 'tis govern'd by a Sovereign, gracious, +and vigilant to render it happy. It were needless to set the King's +Virtues and Actions before their Eyes, which the People already admire, +and pray for him. But as this Great Prince does not want those who envy +his Glory, they are the Persons whom I have chose to make asham'd of +themselves; and have endeavoured, if possible, to reclaim others whom a +fatal blindness keeps at a distance from his Majesty's Person<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>.</i></p> + +<p><i>All that ever had the honour of approaching <span class="f">Augustus III.</span> will agree with +me that he adorns that Throne, upon which a respectful Nation has plac'd +him; and that whatever I have said of this Monarch is short of what might +be mention'd. How is it possible to give the true Portraiture of a King +born without Vice, by Principle virtuous, and religiously good? To admire +him in silence is the only way to please him, which I know too well, not +to conform to it; and therefore I have not presum'd to expatiate so far in +his Praise as the Sublimity of the Subject demands.</i></p> + +<p><i>The same Aversion of the Queen to Praise, has confin'd me within the same +bounds. How many Virtues have not I been forc'd to smother? What Thoughts</i> +<!--018.png--><span class="pagenum">xvii</span><i>have +not I sacrific'd, lest I should offend the noble Modesty of that +August Princess, who with a Simplicity attending her Grandeur, makes her +Glory to consist in being humble in the midst of Honours?</i></p> + +<p><i>I believe no body will dispute the Truth of what I have advanc'd relating +to the</i> <span class="smcap">Prince Royal</span><i> and </i><span class="smcap">Electoral</span><i>, the</i> <span class="smcap">Princes his Brothers</span><i>, and the +</i><span class="smcap">Princesses his Sisters</span><i>. The hopes I have raised of what may be expected +from</i> <span class="smcap">their Royal Highnesses</span><i>, will surely be confirm'd by Time, and by +all those who have access to them.</i></p> + +<p><i>The Actions of the Duke <span class="f">John-Adolphus</span> of <span class="f">Saxe-Weissenfels</span> are so well +establish'd that I have not thought fit to anticipate History, by which +they are to be consecrated: And for the same reason, I have but just +touch'd upon the amiable Qualities of his Mind, which are rever'd both by +the Court and the Army.</i></p> + +<p><i>As to the Princess of <span class="f">Saxe-Weissenfels</span>, I frankly own, that as I had not +the honour of paying my Court to her, what I have said of her Virtues has +no other Authority than the Voice of the Publick, which can never speak +enough in her Praise.</i></p> + +<p><i>I have been more copious in treating of the Ministers; and what I have +said of them is so true, that they who know them not may thereby form a +just Idea of what they are.</i></p> + +<p><i>I have taken as much notice of the principal Lords and the most +distinguish'd Ladies of the Court, as the little time I had for this Work, +and the Limits to which I was confin'd, would permit. I flatter myself +they will forgive the Freedom with which I use them; and hope I have +preserv'd a Decency in my Language which will secure me from Reproach.</i></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 98px;"> +<img src="images/i03.png" width="98" height="56" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--019.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">xviii</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 416px;"> +<img src="images/i02.png" width="416" height="62" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>ADDENDA to Vol. I.</h2> + +<p>Pap. 15. M. <i>Beausobre</i>, Minister of the Gospel at <i>Berlin</i>, and Author of +several learned Treatises, died in <i>May</i> 1738.</p> + +<p>P. 26. The Princess of <i>Brandenburg-Schwedt</i>, fourth Daughter of the King +of <i>Prussia</i>, was deliver'd of a Daughter in <i>April</i> 1738.</p> + +<p>P. 27. The Count <i>de Truchses-Walbourg</i>, Major-General in the Service of +the King of <i>Prussia</i>, died at <i>Berlin</i> in <i>April</i> 1738.</p> + +<p>P. 34. In <i>July</i> 1738, his <i>Prussian</i> Majesty, together with the Prince +Royal and Prince <i>William</i>, made a Tour to <i>Holland</i>, and paid a Visit to +his most Serene Highness the Prince of <i>Orange</i>.</p> + +<p>P. 66. His Excellency Baron <i>Hattorf</i>, Secretary of State for the Affairs +of <i>Hanover</i>, died in <i>August</i> 1737.</p> + +<p>P. 70. <i>Christina-Louisa</i>, Princess of <i>Oetingen</i>, died in 1736.</p> + +<p>P. 72. <i>Philippina-Charlotte</i>, Duchess of <i>Brunswic-Wolfembuttle</i>, and +third Daughter to the King of <i>Prussia</i>, after having had two Sons by Duke +<i>Charles</i> her Husband, <i>viz.</i> the first born in 1735, and the other, who +is called <i>George-Francis</i>, in 1736, was deliver'd also of a Daughter in +<i>September</i> 1737, who in the Month following was baptiz'd by the Names of +<i>Christina-Sophia-Maria</i>.</p> + +<p>P. 105. M. <i>de Miltitz</i>, who was Tutor to the present King <i>Augustus</i> when +he was Electoral Prince of <i>Saxony</i>, died in <i>March</i> 1738.</p> + +<!--020.png--><p><span class="pagenum">xix</span></p> + +<p>P. 113. The Princess Royal of <i>Poland</i> was married in <i>July</i> 1738, to Don +<i>Carlos</i> King of <i>Naples</i> and <i>Sicily</i>.</p> + +<p>P. 130. The Count <i>de Sulkowski</i> in <i>January</i> 1738 fell under some +Disgrace, so that his Majesty order'd his Papers to be seal'd up, and +excused him from farther Attendance on him, but was willing he should keep +the Title and Rank of Minister of the Cabinet, and General of the Foot, +with 6000 Crowns Pension.</p> + +<p>P. 140. <i>Adolphus de Bruhl</i> was in <i>January</i> 1738 appointed Grand-Master +of the Horse, at the <i>Saxon</i> Court, in the room of the Count <i>de +Sulkowski</i>.</p> + +<p>P. 142. The Count <i>de Moschinski</i> died in <i>September</i> 1737.</p> + +<p>P. 147. The Count <i>de Diedrichstein</i> died at <i>Prague</i> in <i>September</i> 1737. +He was Baron of <i>Hollenbourg</i>, <i>Finckenstein</i>, <i>Dahlberg</i> and +<i>Landskroon</i>, Hereditary Great Huntsman of <i>Styria</i>, Hereditary Cup-Bearer +of <i>Carinthia</i>, Knight of the Order of St. <i>John</i> of <i>Jerusalem</i>, Grand +Prior in <i>Bohemia</i>, <i>Moravia</i>, <i>Silesia</i>, <i>Carinthia</i>, <i>Styria</i>, <i>Tirol</i>, +<i>Austria</i> and <i>Poland</i>, Bailiff of the aforesaid Order, and Commander of +the Commanderies of <i>Little Oels</i>, <i>Furstenfeld</i> and <i>Mosling</i>, a +Privy-Counsellor of the Emperor, and Governour-General of the Kingdom of +<i>Bohemia</i>.</p> + +<p>P. 168. The last Duke of <i>Saxe-Mersebourg</i> mention'd in the Note of that +Page, died in <i>May</i> 1738.</p> + +<p>P. 182. In <i>April</i> 1738, the Emperor appointed the Prince of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i> +Lieutenant Velt-Marshal of his Armies; and in <i>September</i> following he +solicited the Diet of <i>Ratisbon</i> for the Post of second +Velt-Marshal-General of the Empire, in the Disposal of the Protestant +States, vacant by the Death of the Baron <i>de Wutgenau</i>.</p> + +<!--021.png--><p><span class="pagenum">xx</span></p> + +<p>P. 182. <i>Augusta</i> Princess of <i>Wales</i> was deliver'd of a Princess on the +31st of <i>July</i> 1737, who was baptized after her own Name; and on the 24th +of <i>May</i> 1738, she was deliver'd of a Prince who was baptiz'd +<i>George-William Frederic</i>.</p> + +<p>P. 208. The Margravine of <i>Brandenbourg-Culmbach</i>, Mother to the Queen of +<i>Denmark</i>, died at <i>Copenhagen</i> in <i>August</i> 1737, in the 70th Year of her +Age, very much lamented.</p> + +<p>P. 220. Count <i>Philip Kinski</i> was made Chancellor of <i>Bohemia</i>, in <i>May</i> +1738, in the room of the late Count <i>de Collowrat</i>.</p> + +<p>P. 233. The Archduchess, Wife to the Duke of <i>Lorrain</i>, had a Daughter, +born <i>January</i> 25, 1737, and another born in <i>September</i> 1738.</p> + +<p>P. 264. The eldest Son of the Duke <i>Ferdinand</i> of <i>Bavaria</i>, died in +<i>April</i> 1738.</p> + +<p>P. 266. The Count <i>Maximilian de Fugger</i> died at <i>Vienna</i>, in <i>January</i> +1738.</p> + +<p>P. 266. The Count <i>de Thirheim</i> died in <i>January</i> 1738, at <i>Lintz</i>, the +Capital of <i>Upper Austria</i>.</p> + +<p>P. 285. <i>Charles-Alexander</i> Duke of <i>Wirtemberg-Stutgard</i>, died on the 1st +of <i>March</i> 1737, and was succeeded by his eldest Son <i>Eugene-Lewis</i> the +present Duke, who was born the 30th of <i>January</i> 1728.</p> + +<p>P. 298. The Margrave of <i>Baden-Dourlach</i> died the first of <i>May</i> 1738, at +<i>Carelsruhe</i>, who having no Issue living, is succeeded by <i>Frederic</i> of +<i>Witgenstein</i>, who is marry'd to the Princess <i>Augusta-Amelia-Albertina</i> +of <i>Nassau-Siegen</i>. The Deceased was 58 Years and near 11 Months of Age, +being born the 17th of <i>June</i> 1679. He was a General in the Emperor's +Army, and Great Master of the Artillery in the Circle <i>of Suabia</i>. By his +Wife, a Daughter of the Duke of <i>Wirtemberg-Stutgard</i>, he had four +Children, who +are<!--022.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxi" id="Page_xxi">xxi</a></span> +all dead. When he laid the Plan and Foundation of the +City and Castle of <i>Carelsruhe</i>, he gave equal Liberty of Conscience to +the Lutherans, Calvinists, and Roman Catholics.</p> + +<p>P. 321. The Cardinal <i>de Schonborn</i> died in <i>August</i> 1737.</p> + +<p>P. 335. The Baron <i>de Beveren</i>, Grand Marshal at the Elector Palatine's +Court, died there in <i>January</i> 1738.</p> + +<p>P. 357. In <i>January</i> 1738, the Prince of <i>Hesse-Hombourg</i> was married to +the Velt-Marshal <i>Trubetskay</i>'s Daughter.</p> + +<p>P. 362. After the Death of the Count of <i>Hanau</i> without Issue, the +Succession was awarded to the Prince of <i>Darmstad</i> as next Heir, on +condition of his paying 200000<i>l.</i> by way of Compensation to the House of +<i>Cassel</i>.</p> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/i20.png" width="430" height="47" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>ADDENDA to Vol. II.</h2> + +<p>Pag. 14. Cardinal <i>Bissi</i> died in <i>August</i> 1737.</p> + +<p>P. 44. Cardinal <i>Olivieri</i>, Secretary of the Pope's Briefs, died at <i>Rome</i> +in <i>February</i> 1738.</p> + +<p>P. 61. Prince <i>James Sobieski</i> died in <i>December</i> 1737.</p> + +<p>P. 136. On the 28th of <i>June</i> 1737, the Great Duke of <i>Tuscany</i> died in +the 67th Year of his Age, and was succeeded by <i>Francis</i> Duke of <i>Lorrain</i> +(who married the Emperor's Daughter) for whom possession was immediately +taken of the Duchy by the <i>German</i> Forces.</p> + +<!--023.png--><p><span class="pagenum">xxii</span></p> + +<p><i>Ferdinand</i>, Duke of <i>Courland</i>, who is mentioned in the same Page, died +in 1737; and the Nobility assembling at <i>Mittau</i> elected Count <i>Biron</i>, a +Native, to succeed him.</p> + +<p>P. 150. The Affairs of <i>Corsica</i> are very much alter'd since the first +Edition of these Volumes. Baron <i>Theodore</i> having left the Island, and +promis'd to return soon with Succours, went to <i>Amsterdam</i>, where he was +confin'd for Debt; but being soon discharg'd by the Interest of some +foreign Power, he proceeded to <i>Paris</i>, and thence to <i>Marseilles</i>, in +order, as he gave out, to put himself again at the Head of the +<i>Corsicans</i>: But during this the <i>French</i> having undertaken to be +Mediators betwixt the <i>Corsicans</i> and <i>Genoese</i>, have, with the +Approbation of both, sent a General thither with some Troops, and the +<i>Corsicans</i> have agreed to send over a dozen of their chief Men to the +Court of <i>France</i> as Hostages for their good Behaviour; but since this, +<i>Theodore</i> has set his Foot again upon that Island.</p> + +<p>P. 257. The Duke of <i>Liria</i>, Son and Successor to the late Marshal Duke of +<i>Berwic</i>, died at <i>Naples</i> in <i>May</i> 1738.</p> + +<p>P. 260. The Marshal <i>d'Estrees</i> died the 5th of <i>December</i> 1737.</p> + +<p>P. 309. The Marshal <i>de Wrangel</i>, Governour of <i>Brussels</i>, died in +<i>August</i> 1737, in the 87th Year of his Age.</p> + +<p>P. 332. The Succession to the Duchies of <i>Juliers</i> and <i>Berg</i>, is an +Affair which has been very much canvass'd for several Months past, between +the Elector Palatine and the Courts of <i>Prussia</i> and <i>Saxony</i>. The +maritime Powers of <i>Great Britain</i> and <i>Holland</i> have proposed an +Accommodation, with regard to the Succession, into which the Elector +Palatine is willing to enter; but the Courts of <i>France</i>, <i>Prussia</i> and +<i>Saxony</i> don't +concur<!--024.png--><span class="pagenum">xxiii</span> +with it; and <i>France</i> has guarantee'd the actual +Possession of those Duchies to the Prince of <i>Sultzbach</i>.</p> + +<p>P. 447. On the 20th of <i>November</i> 1737, <i>Wilhelmina-Carolina</i> Queen of +<i>Great Britain</i> died of a Mortification in her Bowels; and on the 17th of +<i>December</i> following she was privately interr'd in <i>Westminster-Abbey</i>.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 210px;"> +<img src="images/i05.png" width="210" height="149" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--025.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xxiv" id="Page_xxiv">xxiv</a></span></p> + +<h2>BOOKS <i>lately published</i>,</h2> + +<p>1. The Third and Fourth Volumes of the MEMOIRS of <span class="smcap">Charles-Lewis Baron de +Pollnitz</span> being the Observations he made in his late Travels from <i>Prussia</i> +thro' <i>Poland</i>, <i>Germany</i>, <i>Italy</i>, <i>France</i>, <i>Spain</i>, <i>Flanders</i>, +<i>Holland</i>, <i>England</i>, &c. discovering not only the present State of the +chief Cities and Towns, but the Characters of the principal Persons at the +several Courts.</p> + +<p>2. CYCLOPDIA; or, An Universal Dictionary of ARTS and SCIENCES: +Containing, An Explication of the Terms, and an Account of the Things +signified thereby in the several Arts, both Liberal and Mechanical, and +the several Sciences, Human and Divine: The Figures, Kinds, Properties, +Productions, Preparations and Uses of Things, Natural and Artificial: The +Rise, Progress, and State of Things, Ecclesiastical, Civil, Military and +Commercial; with the several Systems, Sects, Opinions, &c. among +Philosophers, Divines, Mathematicians, Physicians, Antiquaries, Critics, +&c. The Whole intended as a Course of Antient and Modern Learning, +extracted from the best Authors, Dictionaries, Journals, Memoirs, +Transactions, Ephemerides, &c. in several languages. By <span class="smcap">E. Chambers</span>, +<i>F.R.S.</i> The Second Edition, corrected and amended, with some <span class="smcap">Additions</span>. +In Two Volumes, Folio.</p> + +<p>3. BAYLE's <span class="smcap">Great Historical</span> and <span class="smcap">Critical Dictionary</span>, the second Edition, +carefully collated with the several Editions of the Original; in which +many Passages are restored, and the Whole greatly augmented; particularly +with a Translation of the Quotations from eminent Writers in various +Languages: To which is prefixed, the Life of the Author, revised, +corrected and enlarged, by Mr. Des Maizeaux, Fellow of the Royal Society; +compleat in 5 Volumes, Folio.</p> + +<p>4. A Tour thro' the whole Island of Great Britain, divided into Circuits +or Journies, giving a particular and entertaining Account of whatever is +Curious, and worth Observation, viz. 1. A Description of the principal +Cities and Towns, their Situation, Government and Commerce. 2. The +Customs, Manners, Exercises, Diversions, and Employment of the People. 3. +The Produce and Improvement of the Lands, the Trade and Manufactury. 4. +The Sea-Ports and Fortifications, the Course of Rivers, and the Inland +Navigation. 5. The public Edifices, Seats and Palaces of the Nobility, and +Gentry. Interspersed with useful Observations. Particularly fitted for the +Perusal of such as desire to travel over the Island. The second Edition, +with very great Additions, Improvements and Corrections, which bring it +down to the beginning of the Year 1738, in three neat Pocket Volumes. +<i>Price, Nine Shillings.</i></p> + +<p>All printed for <span class="smcap">D. Browne</span>, without <i>Temple-Bar</i>.</p> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--026.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 390px;"> +<img src="images/i11.png" width="390" height="129" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="c1">MEMOIRS<br /> +<br /> +<small>OF THE</small><br /> +<br /> +Baron de <span class="smcap">Pollnitz</span>.<br /> +<br /> +<small>In SEVERAL LETTERS to Mr. <i>L. C. D. S.</i></small></div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<h2>LETTER I.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Berlin, June 6, 1729.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>From <i>Breslaw</i> to <i>Berlin</i> 'tis 40 <i>German</i> Miles of very even Country, +well peopled and cultivated. There are I know not how many little Towns in +the Road, not worth mentioning.</p> + +<p>The first Place of any Importance is <span class="smcap">Crossen</span>. This City is the Capital of +the Dutchy from whence it has its Name, which formerly made a Part of +<i>Silesia</i>, but is now annex'd to the Electorate of <i>Brandenburgh</i>. There's +a Bridge at <i>Crossen</i>, by which we pass the River <i>Oder</i>, defended by +Fortifications. The Town is situate in a pleasant fruitful Country. The +Houses, which are all of Brick, are uniform, and the Streets as strait as +a Line. The chief of +them<!--027.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">2</a></span> +terminate in a great Square in the middle of +the Town, where there is a Statue of the King of <i>Prussia</i>. The River +<i>Oder</i> is of great advantage to the Commerce of <i>Crossen</i>, which carries +on a considerable Trade in Linnen-Cloth and Earthen Ware.</p> + +<p>Going out of <i>Crossen</i>, we pass this River by a Bridge, as we do a second +time over to <span class="smcap">Francfort</span>, a considerable City of the Marquisate of +<i>Brandenbourg</i>, famous for its Fairs, and its University. This City has +stood the Shock of various Revolutions. It was put under the Ban of the +Empire by the Emperor <i>Charles</i> IV. for having disobey'd his Orders; and +the Inhabitants to make him easy were forc'd to pay him down 12000 Marks +of Silver, which at that time was an immense Sum. In 1631 the <i>Swedes</i> +besieg'd and took it by Storm, when they put all the Inhabitants to the +Sword in reprisal for the Massacre of 2000 <i>Swedes</i>, whom the Emperor's +General Count <i>Tilly</i> had inhumanly put to death in the City of +<i>Brandenbourg</i>. By the Peace of <i>Munster</i>, or <i>Westphalia</i>, which +establish'd the Tranquility of the Empire, <i>Francfort</i> was restor'd to the +Elector of <i>Brandenbourg</i> its lawful Sovereign.</p> + +<p>Here is a University founded by <i>Joachim</i> I. (Margrave of <i>Brandenbourg</i>) +in 1506, which is very much frequented by the <i>Silesians</i>, and by the +<i>Hungarian</i> Protestants.</p> + +<p>There are two Fairs a Year at <i>Francfort</i>, which render it a trading City, +and its Commerce consists in Linnen-Cloth, and Fells.</p> + +<p>'Tis ten Miles from <i>Francfort</i> to <i>Berlin</i>, and a flat sandy Country. The +Road leads thro' <i>Munchenbourg</i>, a little Town chiefly inhabited by the +Descendants of <i>French</i> Men, who left their Country upon the Revocation of +the Edict of <i>Nantes</i>.</p> + +<p>The nearer one comes to the Capital of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, the more sandy is +the Soil, yet the Country produces plenty of Corn and Fruits.</p> + +<!--028.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Berlin</span> is the common Residence of the King of <i>Prussia</i>, and one of the +largest, best built, and best govern'd Cities in all <i>Germany</i>. The +Streets are spacious, strait, neat and well pav'd. The Situation is +advantageous; for tho' it lies in a very sandy Soil, yet it is encompass'd +with agreeable Gardens producing Fruits and excellent Pulse, and its +Commerce is much improv'd by the River <i>Spree</i>; which passes thro' the +City, and has a Communication with the <i>Havel</i>, the <i>Oder</i>, and the +<i>Elbe</i>.</p> + +<p>The <i>French</i>, who for the sake of Religion became Refugees, have +contributed in an extraordinary manner to the Establishment and +Aggrandisement of <i>Berlin</i>, by the establishing of all sorts of +Manufactures, and the introducing of Arts into it; and it may be said of +them, that they have omitted nothing to testify their Gratitude to the +Elector <i>Frederic-William</i> and his Posterity, for the generous Reception +which he gave them in his Dominions.</p> + +<p><i>Berlin</i> is divided into five Wards exclusive of the Suburbs, which are +very extensive. I will run thro' these Wards in the Order of their +Situation: But before I do this, I propose to shew you what is most +remarkable in the Suburbs; where the Houses are generally of Timber, but +so well plaister'd that they seem to be of Stone; and the Streets are +broad, lightsome and strait.</p> + +<p>In the Suburb of <i>Spandau</i> the Queen has a delightful House and Gardens. +The House is called <i>Monbijou</i>; a very proper Name for it, because 'tis +really a Jewel. 'Tis a Pavilion, the Apartments of which are laid out with +Art, and furnish'd with great Judgment and Elegance. The Gardens are +charming, and lie finely open to the River. This House was built by the +Countess <i>de Wartemberg</i>, Wife to the Prime Minister of King <i>Frederic</i> I. +As her Husband's Power and Favour were at that time so great, that he did +whatever he pleas'd, all +the<!--029.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> +King's Workmen and Architects us'd the +utmost Diligence to serve her well. But she did not enjoy this fine House +long; for it was scarce compleated when the King removed the Count from +all his Employments, and banish'd him to <i>Francfort</i> on the <i>Maine</i>. +However, he settled a Pension upon him and his Lady of 24000 Crowns, and +the Countess by way of Acknowledgement gave the King this House, which of +all the immense Treasure that she had amass'd, was the only Piece that she +cou'd not carry with her. The King gave this House to the Princess Royal +now Queen, who has added great Embellishments to it, and brought it to its +present State of Perfection.</p> + +<p>In the Suburbs of <i>Stralau</i> is the House and Gardens of <i>Belvedere</i>, +belonging to the King. <i>Roll</i> Superintendant of the Finances to the +Elector <i>Frederic-William</i>, caus'd this Garden to be made, in which he +laid out considerable Sums; and as this Minister was at other very great +Expences, it so impair'd his Fortune, that he was oblig'd to throw up all +and retir'd to <i>Holland</i>; and being very much in debt to the Elector, his +Garden was forfeited to that Prince, who made a Present of it to M. <i>de +Fuchs</i>, one of his Ministers. King <i>Frederic</i> I. purchas'd it of the +latter, and after having embellished it, made a Present of it to the Queen +his third Wife; but that Princess's ill state of Health obliging her to +retire to <i>Mecklenbourg</i> her Native Country, <i>Belvedere</i> became neglected.</p> + +<p>Near this Royal House is the magnificent Gardens of <i>Craut</i>, who from a +Boy behind the Counter rais'd himself by his Industry to the Post of +Pay-master General of the Army, and at length to that of Minister of +State. He was to have been call'd to account in his last stage of Life, +but he cunningly diverted that Storm by feigning himself Lunatic; and +dying, he left an immense Estate, part of +which<!--030.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span> +fell to the King by way +of Restitution, and the rest to his Nephew, who makes a grand Figure at +<i>Paris</i>.</p> + +<p>I enter'd <i>Berlin</i> thro' that call'd the Gate <i>Royale</i>, which has had that +Name ever since the Day that <i>Frederic</i> I. made his Entry there, after his +Coronation at <i>Koningsberg</i> in <i>Prussia</i>. This Gate is defended by a +Half-Moon, and two Bastions fac'd with Brick, and fronts that call'd the +Street <i>Royale</i>; one of the longest and most frequented in all the City. +There are very fine Houses in it, particularly that of M. <i>de Catsch</i>, a +Minister of State, that of <i>Grumkau</i>, and the Post-House, which last +Building was begun by order of the late King, for his Favourite the Count +<i>de Wartemberg</i>, who was hereditary Post-Master.</p> + +<p>Thro' the Street <i>Royale</i> there run fine, spacious and beautiful Streets. +The first is call'd <i>la Rue du Cloitre</i>, in which we see the Royal +Manufactory. <i>Frederic</i> I. who bought it of the Heirs of the Marshal <i>de +Flemming</i>, established an Academy of Nobles there; so that, on the Payment +of three hundred Crowns, they had Lodging, Provision, and Instruction in +every thing that it's natural a Man of Quality shou'd know. This +Establishment existed a few Years, but sunk at last meerly thro' the +Neglect of Persons whose Business 'twas to take care of it. The present +King has chang'd this Fabrick into a Work-house, and allowed Lodgings in +it for several Woollen Manufacturers.</p> + +<p>Adjoining to the Royal Manufactory, there are public Warehouses, which +were established and built by the late King; and being destroyed by Fire, +the present King caus'd them to be rebuilt. Opposite to the Warehouses +stands the House of M. <i>de Creutz</i>, Minister of State; which has fine +Apartments, and is very neatly furnish'd. Higher in the same Street +there's the House of M. +<i>Duvaine</i>,<!--031.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> +a <i>French</i> Man by Birth, and +Lieutenant-General of his <i>Prussian</i> Majesty's Forces: And contiguous to +his House, which makes a fine Appearance, is the <i>Calvinists</i> new Church, +a Structure rais'd after the Model of <i>Grunberg</i>, an Architect who had +before acquir'd a Reputation, which did not suffer by his Contrivance of +this great Fabrick: The Front of it is magnificent, but the inside plain, +as are all the Churches of the <i>Calvinists</i>, which you know don't admit of +Images. The subterranean Places or Catacombs, for interring those that +worship here, are worth seeing. Several Persons have been interr'd there +of great Note, particularly <i>Casimir de Colbe</i>, Count <i>de Wartemberg</i>, +Prime Minister, Great Chamberlain, Master of the Horse, +Post-Master-General, Protector of all the Academies in the Dominions of +the King of <i>Prussia</i>, and Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle. Being +banish'd in 1711, to <i>Francfort</i> upon the <i>Maine</i>, where he died the Year +following, he ordered that his Corpse shou'd be carry'd to <i>Berlin</i>; and +his Will was accordingly fulfill'd. He was so dear to King <i>Frederic</i> I. +that he was very loth to part with him; but was, as it were, compell'd to +it by a Cabal, who oppos'd his Ministerial Authority; tho' he was provok'd +at the Insolence of <i>Wartemberg</i>'s Wife, and at his mean Submission to +her. The King made an Offer to him afterwards, by the Count <i>Christophle +de Dohna</i>, (who was then his Ambassador at <i>Francfort</i>, for the Election +of the Emperor,) to come and resume his Employments, on condition that he +wou'd not bring his Wife with him; but <i>Wartemberg</i> refus'd, saying, he +was engag'd in honour not to forsake her. Perhaps he was very glad of this +Excuse for not returning, because he had once experienc'd the Vicissitude +of Fortune, and knew well that he had been too powerful a Man not to be +hated. King <i>Frederic</i> I. who was +desirous<!--032.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> +to see his Funeral pass by, +cou'd not refrain Tears; which undoubtedly was the greatest Character that +he cou'd give of his Minister.</p> + +<p>Next to the Count <i>de Wartemberg</i>'s Tomb, is that of <i>Henrietta de +Pollnitz</i>, Wife to <i>Francis</i> Count <i>de Duhamel</i>, the <i>Venetians</i> +Generalissimo. Her Husband dying in the <i>Morea</i>, this Lady return'd to +<i>Venice</i>, proposing to go and end her Days at <i>Berlin</i>, where she was +born; but while she was performing her Quarantain she died, after desiring +her Body to be carry'd to <i>Berlin</i>; which was accordingly done by two of +her Nephews, and one of her Nieces, whom she made her Heirs. There is also +the Tomb of the Count <i>de Denhoff</i>, Lieutenant-General of the King's +Armies, Knight of his Order of the Black Eagle, Minister of State, +Governour of <i>Memel</i>, and Ambassador at the Treaty of <i>Utrecht</i>, where he +acquired a high Reputation among the foreign Ministers. The Marshal <i>de +Villars</i>, who had known him at <i>Vienna</i>, when he the Marshal resided there +in the quality of Minister, to take care of the Affairs of <i>France</i>, said +to me one day, speaking of the Count <i>de Denhoff</i>, that the King of +<i>Prussia</i> cou'd not do enough to reward the Count's great Merit. <i>If he +wou'd have been rul'd by me</i>, added he, <i>he wou'd have been in the Service +of the King my Master</i>.</p> + +<p>The second Street that crosses the Street <i>Royale</i>, is the <i>Jews</i> Street, +which runs into the Square <i>Molcke-Marck</i>; where the Hotel <i>de Schwerin</i> +makes a fine Appearance. Within a few Houses lower down, there's a +Manufactory of Gold and Silver Lace, which one <i>Schindler</i> has established +with good success: This House belong'd to the Wife of M. <i>de Wensen</i>, +Marshal of the Court to King <i>Frederic</i> I. but she resign'd it as part of +Payment of a Fine, to which her Husband had been condemn'd by the Count +<i>de Wartemberg</i>, then prime +Minister;<!--033.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> +who confin'd M. <i>Wensen</i> in +<i>Custrin</i> Castle, because he had presum'd to represent to the King that +the Table of the prime Minister, which was served by his Majesty's Cooks +and Butlers, was more expensive than his Majesty's own Table. <i>Wensen</i> +however, upon the Payment of this Fine, obtain'd his Liberty, and was +banish'd to his Lands in the Dutchy of <i>Zell</i>.</p> + +<p>In the middle of <i>Molcke-Marck</i> is the Statue of <i>Frederic</i> I. Father to +the present King, with a Crown on his Head, and a royal Mantle on his +Shoulders. The Statue was cast by order of <i>Frederic</i> I. himself, who +intended to have it plac'd in the Court of the Arsenal; but dying before +it cou'd be brought about, the King his Son caus'd it to be set up where +it now stands, which is indeed a much better Place for it.</p> + +<p>The <i>Spandau</i> Street, which is the third that crosses the Street <i>Royale</i>, +contains the Town-House, and other fine Buildings: The Street <i>St. Esprit</i> +is altogether as beautiful, as is the Kay, which fronts the Castle or +Palace of the King. Upon this Kay we see the House of the Baron <i>de +Vernesobre</i>, whose Ancestors being <i>French</i> Protestant Merchants, settled +at <i>Koningsberg</i> in <i>Prussia</i>. He was in <i>France</i> at the time of the +<i>Mississippy</i> Plague, which, tho' so fatal to others, prov'd so fortunate +to him, that he gain'd several Millions of Livres, with which he came and +set up at <i>Berlin</i>, where he has taken to building, having purchas'd the +Estate of <i>Hohensihn</i> from Monsieur <i>de Borstel</i>, one of the best +Gentlemen of the Country, procur'd himself the Title of Counsellor of +State, and cuts a Figure now among Persons of Quality.</p> + +<p>The Churches of St. <i>Mary</i>, St. <i>Nicholas</i>, and that belonging to the +Garrison, are as magnificent as any of the Protestant Churches. St. +<i>Mary</i>'s has a beautiful Spire. When <i>Frederic</i> I. made his royal Entry +here, at his return from his Coronation, a Man ascended to the Globe of +this Spire, and +saluted<!--034.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span> +the new King by flourishing a pair of Colours. +The Church of the Garrison was founded by the late King, but was very much +damag'd some Years ago by the blowing up of a Magazine of Gun-Powder in +the Neighbourhood, just as they were removing it to a safer Place. King +<i>Frederic William</i> has caus'd it to be rebuilt with more Magnificence than +before. The Organs are very fine, and the Galleries very well contriv'd.</p> + +<p>That Ward of <i>Berlin</i> which I have now run through, is separated from that +of <i>Coln</i> or <i>Cologne</i> by the River <i>Spree</i>, over which there are four +Bridges, whereof there is one of Stone, call'd the <i>Pont-neuf</i>. <i>Frederic</i> +I. in imitation of the <i>Pont-neuf</i> at <i>Paris</i>, famous for the Statue of +<i>Henry</i> IV. caused the Equestrian Statue of his Father, the Elector +<i>Frederic-William</i>, to be erected upon this Bridge, with very great Pomp +and Splendor; for no Prince in <i>Germany</i> strove more than he did to copy +<i>Lewis</i> XIV. in Magnificence and every thing else. When this Statue was +dedicated, the Count <i>de Lottum</i>, who was then Grand Marshal of the Court, +accompanied by most of the Courtiers on horseback, and by the City +Companies, assisted at the Ceremony, which was performed with an +<i>Apparatus</i>, till then unknown in <i>Germany</i> upon the like Occasions; but +had been practised at <i>Paris</i>, when the Statue of <i>Lewis le Grand</i> was +erected in that City.</p> + +<p>This entire Monument was design'd by one <i>Jacobi</i>, who after several Years +Labour and constant Application to it, has brought it to its present +State. This skilful Operator has represented the Elector in a <i>Roman</i> +Dress, and in an heroic Stature; that is to say, above the natural Size. +The Statue is placed on a magnificent Pedestal of white Marble. At the +four Corners of the Base, are placed as many Slaves in Brass, who seem as +if they were chain'd to it.</p> + +<!--035.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span></p> + +<p>When one has pass'd the Bridge, the King's Palace offers itself to view; a +great and stately Fabric, which <i>Frederic</i> I. began in the Year 1699, and +a worthy Monument of that Prince's Magnificence, who was of Opinion, that +of all the Sums expended by Sovereigns, those which they lay out in +Buildings are least liable to Censure. And indeed Magnificence is well +bestowed, and even Profusion seems justifiable in Architecture, because +grand Edifices are the principal Ornament of any State.</p> + +<p>The Palace has been the Workmanship of several Architects; the Name of the +first was <i>Schluter</i>, but he not giving Satisfaction was dismiss'd, and +went into the Service of the Czar <i>Peter Alexiowitz</i>. Whatever he did is +extremely incumber'd with Ornaments which have not a due Proportion. His +Successor was <i>Eosander</i>, a <i>Swede</i>, who is a Lieutenant-General in the +Service of the King of <i>Poland</i>: He was oblig'd in some measure to pursue +what <i>Schluter</i> had begun; so that if he has not come off well every +where, he has at least that for his Excuse. The third was <i>Bot</i>, a +<i>Frenchman</i>, and now General Officer in <i>Poland</i>; who without dispute was +a much better Artist than the others. Every thing that he has done is more +simple, yet more grand, noble, and complete.</p> + +<p>These three Architects having gone upon different Plans, you will easily +imagine that the Fronts are not perfectly regular; yet for all this, had +the Palace been finish'd according to the Models approv'd of by the late +King, it wou'd have been inferior to no Edifice for Grandeur and +Magnificence, except the <i>Louvre</i> of <i>Paris</i>. King <i>Frederic-William</i> does +not think fit to carry on this Building, but leaves that Honour to his +Son, the Prince Royal.</p> + +<p>As to giving you all the Particulars of this vast Palace, you will be so +good as to excuse me: +Be<!--036.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> +satisfied if I only tell you, that it consists +of four Stories: The Apartments are large, have fine Cielings, and are +royally furnish'd. In no part of the World did I ever see such a +prodigious quantity of Plate, Tables, Stands, Lustres, Chandeliers, +Screens, Looking-Glass Frames, Couches, Arm-Chairs, all of Silver. The +late King left Plate to the value of two Millions eight hundred thousand +Crowns, not reckoning the Fashion. In that call'd the Knights Hall, +there's a Beaufet which takes up one intire side of the Room, where there +are Cisterns and Basons Silver gilt, of an extraordinary Size.</p> + +<p>The Furniture of the grand Apartment is very rich; there's a fine Gallery +adorn'd with Pictures, the Cieling of which was painted by one <i>Peine</i>, a +<i>Frenchman</i>, who in divers Compartments has skilfully represented the +principal Actions of King <i>Frederic</i> I. At the End of this Gallery there's +a Saloon, which was formerly magnificent to the last degree, being +wainscotted, if I may so call it, with Amber: But the late Czar coming on +<i>Berlin</i> in his return from <i>Holland</i> and <i>France</i>, and not a little +admiring this Furniture, which was the only thing of its kind, the King +made him a Present of it: so that what had been amass'd with great Care +and Cost by several Electors, fell in one Day into the hands of a Nation, +which, no longer ago than the beginning of the present Century, was +reckon'd Barbarian.</p> + +<p>The Palace had fine Gardens belonging to it before they were destroy'd, +and converted into a Place of Arms, and a Parade for the Guards.</p> + +<p>Hard by the Palace are the King's Stables, a very grand Building, facing +the great Street. The Architecture without is <i>Gothic</i>, but the inside is +more magnificent; the Stables are broad and +spacious,<!--037.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> +very lofty, and +very lightsome: the Mangers are of Stone, and the Pillars which mark the +Stands for the Horses, are of Iron, and adorn'd with the King's Cypher, +gilt: Over the Mangers are several great Pictures of the finest Horses +that ever came out of his Majesty's Studs. The Backside of the Stables +projects towards the River <i>Spree</i>, to which they can lead the Horses by a +Stair-Case without Steps, built in the form of a Horse-Shoe.</p> + +<p>The Main Body of the House contains grand Lodgings for the Master of the +Horse, and the Officers under him. Over the Stables are great Rooms where +they keep a deal of fine Furniture, both for the Horse and Mule; +magnificent Sleds, with convenient Harness, adorn'd with Bells of Silver, +or Silver gilt; a great number of fine Arms; the rich Accoutrements of the +Horse which serv'd <i>Frederic</i> I. on the Day of his public Entry; all the +Ornaments of the Bridle, the Breast-Leather, and Crupper, as well as the +Bits and Stirrups, being of Gold adorn'd with Brilliants.</p> + +<p>Over the Riding-House is the great Theatre, where, in the late King's +time, Interludes and Comedies us'd to be acted before the whole Court; but +the Opera of <i>Roxana</i> and <i>Alexander</i> was the last that was acted on it. +It was play'd in 1708, upon the Marriage of King <i>Frederic</i> I. with +<i>Sophia</i> of <i>Mecklemberg</i>. In 1706, an Interlude was acted there, on +account of the Arrival of the Princess Royal, now Queen; intitled, <i>Beauty +triumphing over Heroes</i>; at which the Markgraves <i>Frederic-Albert</i> and +<i>Christian-Lewis</i>, the late King's Brothers, danc'd, with all the young +Courtiers.</p> + +<p>As we go farther down the great Street, we come to the Fish-Market, where +is the Hotel of the City of <i>Cologne</i>, and <i>Dorffling</i>'s Hotel occupied by +the Count <i>de Finck</i>. This Family is oblig'd for its Rise to the Marshal +<i>Dorffling</i>, who from an +Apprentice<!--038.png--><span class="pagenum">13</span> +to a Taylor rais'd himself by his +Valour and Merit to the highest Posts in the Army. The Story goes, that +when he had serv'd his Apprenticeship at <i>Tangermunde</i>, having a mind to +go to <i>Berlin</i>, he came to a part of the Country where he cou'd not +proceed without crossing the <i>Elbe</i>, but not having wherewithal to pay his +Passage, the Ferry-Men refus'd to carry him over; which so vex'd him, that +he threw his Knapsack into the River in a Pet, curs'd the Trade of a +Taylor, and went back to <i>Tangermunde</i>, where he listed himself a Soldier. +There being a War at that time all over <i>Germany</i>, it was no difficult +matter for the young Warrior to find an Opportunity to shew his Courage; +and he signaliz'd it in such a manner, that his Officers, who were all in +love with him, strove to advance him, and therefore made him known to the +Elector <i>Frederic-William</i>. This Prince who lov'd, rewarded, and was a +good Judge of Valour, did not depend upon what Fame reported of him; but +in order to see his Officers and Soldiers fight with his own Eyes, +conducted them himself to the Enemy, and very soon took notice of +<i>Dorffling</i>. He saw him at every part of the Field where there was Honour +to be won: He saw he was a sensible industrious Fellow, that he hated +Parties and Cabals, and that he had that <i>Germanic</i> Probity which was the +distinguish'd Virtue of our Forefathers, but which we now content +ourselves with admiring. The Elector observing such a Stock of Virtue in +<i>Dorffling</i>, thought him deserving of his Favour, advanc'd him to the +tip-top Employments, and made him very rich. Envy, which is as old as the +World itself, and which like that, never stands still, made several of the +Courtiers jealous of the Fortune or rather the Merit of <i>Dorffling</i>, and +there were some who did not stick to say, that if the Marshal came to be +ever so great a Nobleman, he wou'd always retain the Air of a Taylor. This +<!--039.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span>being +carry'd to <i>Dorffling</i>, <i>True enough</i>, said he, <i>I was a Taylor, +and I have cut out Cloth; but now</i>, said he, clapping his Hand to the Hilt +of his Sword, <i>I have an Instrument in my Hand, with which I'll cut off +the Ears of any Man that slanders me</i>.</p> + +<p>This brave Fellow liv'd to a great Age, and left a Son who was one of the +King of <i>Prussia</i>'s Lieutenant-Generals, and Colonel of a Regiment of +Dragoons, but died without Issue. He had not quite the Vivacity of his +Father, but he had his Honour and Integrity.</p> + +<p>Going out of the Fish-market, as we turn to the right, one perceives the +<i>Lutheran</i> Church of <i>St. Peter</i><a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>, which is a considerable Structure; +and then we come into that call'd the <i>Fryars</i> Street, the Houses of which +are all well built. In this Street stands the Palace where the <i>Aulic</i> +Council meets, which in <i>France</i> they call the <i>Parlement</i>; 'tis here that +all Civil Causes are try'd, and from thence there lies an Appeal to the +King's Council.</p> + +<p>Beyond the Palace there is a Square, on the Right side of which there's a +Church with a Cupola which belongs to the <i>Calvinists</i>, and is look'd upon +as the Cathedral of <i>Berlin</i>: For you know that the late King made two +Bishops, one in <i>Prussia</i> and the other at <i>Berlin</i>, and they were the +Prelates that crown'd him. They are since dead, and the present King lets +their Sees lie vacant. In this Church is the Tomb of the Royal Family. +There's a great Row of Buildings over against it, which consists of +several uniform Houses belonging to +Merchants,<!--040.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> +and supported by stately +Arches with Shops under them, where are sold all sorts of Goods. Turning +round by that Piazza, brings one to a second Branch of the River, which +divides the Ward of <i>Coln</i> from that of <i>Werder</i>. This River, which has +three wooden Bridges over it, is confin'd in a Canal lin'd with Freestone, +and form'd by two fine Kays.</p> + +<p>The most considerable Edifices in the Ward of <i>Werder</i> are the Royal +Custom-House, so commodiously situate that Boats can come up close to it: +The <i>French</i> School, and their Church, which is serv'd by able Ministers; +some of whom, as the late M. <i>Lenfant</i> (Author of the celebrated <i>History</i> +of the <i>Council of Constance</i>, &c. and Chaplain to the King of <i>Prussia</i>) +M. <i>de Beausobre</i> and M. <i>Jacquelot</i>, &c. have acquir'd a Reputation in +the Republic of Letters. The Royal Hunting-House is a large magnificent +Structure for lodging the great Huntsman and all his inferior Officers: +There too is the great Dog-Kennel and the Magazines for all the Hunting +Equipage. Near this place is the Hotel or Palace for Ambassadors, where +are likewise entertain'd such Foreign Princes as are not of a Rank high +enough to be accommodated in the King's Palace. This Hotel belong'd +formerly to the Baron <i>de Danckelman</i>, Prime Minister to King <i>Frederic</i> +when he was only Elector, and being built by the said Minister at a time +when he was such a Favourite that he did almost what he pleas'd, he spar'd +no Cost to render it a Mansion worthy of his high Station. I was assur'd +by Persons of Credit then alive, that after it was built, the late King +had a Desire to see it, upon which occasion M. <i>de Danckelman</i> made a +great Entertainment for him; and that while the Queen and the whole Court +were dancing, the King retir'd into his Minister's Closet, to have a +private Conference with him; and looking very earnestly on a certain +Picture<!--041.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> +there, M. <i>de Danckelman</i> told him, that Picture and all that he +saw would soon be his Majesty's. The King not knowing what he meant, +desir'd his Minister to explain himself; whereupon he made answer, 'That +he shou'd very shortly incur his Displeasure; that his Fall wou'd be +attended by the Forfeiture of all his Estate; that he should be arrested +and committed to the <i>Spandau</i> Prison; and that there he should be +confin'd ten Years, at the Expiration of which his Innocence wou'd be made +to appear, his Estate wou'd be restor'd to him, and he shou'd be taken +again into his Majesty's Favour.' The King, who was at that time very fond +of his Minister, and did not think he cou'd ever do without him, ridicul'd +what he had said as the Surmise of a Visionary, and was going to swear by +the New Testament then upon a Table in the Room, that this sad Prophecy +wou'd never come to pass. But the Minister held his Hand, and begg'd him +not to take an Oath which it wou'd not be in his power to keep.</p> + +<p>I tell you this Story just as I had it from a Lady of Quality to whom the +King himself told it: But in short, let the Story be as it will, 'tis very +certain that M. <i>de Danckelman</i> was disgrac'd, committed Prisoner to +<i>Spandau</i>, and from thence remov'd to <i>Peitz</i>, without any Companion but +his Wife, who generously desir'd to suffer Imprisonment with him. His +Confinement lasted much longer than he had prophesy'd, and when at length +he obtained his Release, he was not restor'd to his Employments, nor even +to his Estate. 'Tis said indeed that the present King, who on his +Accession to the Crown sent for M. <i>de Danckelman</i> to <i>Berlin</i>, offer'd +him the Ministry; but that the Baron excus'd himself by reason of his +great Age and his tedious Imprisonment, which had made him lose the +Connection of Public Affairs. This Minister +died<!--042.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> +lately, having lived to +the Age of fourscore. His remarkable Disgrace, and fifteen Years +Confinement in a Prison, had not sunk his Spirits, nor shock'd his +Constancy of Mind; and one shall scarce meet with an Instance in History, +either before or since, of more Merit and more Misfortune in one and the +same Person. He was a passionate Admirer of Learned Men, and a Rewarder of +Virtue. In a word, by the Disgrace of this Great Man, the State lost a +faithful disinterested Minister, and Men of Learning lost a <i>Mecnas</i>, +full of Zeal and solid Knowledge, who never fail'd to support by his own +Authority, and to procure a Reward from his Master, for all Persons that +apply'd to him with any Proposal that was useful and uncommon.</p> + +<p>To go from the Ambassadors Hotel to the New Town, one must pass before the +House belonging to the Governour of <i>Berlin</i><a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>, who is at present the +Marshal Count <i>de Wartensleben</i>; a Nobleman whose Virtues, long Services, +and great Age, challenge Veneration. The House he lives in was built by +order of the Elector <i>Frederic-William</i>, for the Reception of the Marshal +<i>de Schomberg</i>, who resign'd the Battoon of the Marshal of <i>France</i> to +<i>Lewis</i> XIV. after that Prince had revok'd the Edict of <i>Nantes</i>, and came +with a numerous Retinue of Gentlemen, to desire Employment under the +Elector. Accordingly that Prince gave him the Command of his Troops, but +the Marshal quitted that Employment, to accompany the <span class="smcap">Prince</span> of <span class="smcap">Orange</span> to +<i>England</i>, in his famous Expedition against his Father-in-Law; and he +likewise attended that Prince to <i>Ireland</i>, where he acquir'd great Glory, +but was kill'd in passing the River <i>Boyne</i>.</p> + +<!--043.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span></p> + +<p>The <i>Governour's House</i> is separated by a great Square from the <i>Arsenal</i>, +which is one of the compleatest Fabrics in <i>Europe</i>, and was built +according to a Model design'd by <i>Bot</i>, whom I mention'd to you before; +which skilful Architect has, upon this occasion, equalled any thing that +was ever done by the famous <i>Bernin</i>.</p> + +<p>The intire Structure consists of four main Bodies of Building, which form +a spacious Quadrangle in the middle. The lower Story is of Rustic +Architecture, with arch'd Windows. There are three great Porticoes at the +Entrance to each Front. Over the principal Gate there's the Picture of the +late King, in a great Medal of Brass. The four Cardinal Virtues of a +Gigantic Size, are plac'd on Pedestals by the Portico, and seem to look +towards the King's Effigies, which is supported by Fame and Victory. The +<i>Corinthian</i> Order prevails throughout the first Story, and is very +artfully executed. A Gallery or Ballustrade runs round the whole Edifice, +and is adorn'd with Trophies and Statues, particularly a very perfect one +of <i>Mars</i>, sitting upon a Heap of Arms of different sorts; and the +Decoration of all together is noble and majestic. Studs of Iron in form of +Cannon are plac'd at proper Distances, and support Iron Chains, hung in +Festoons, which hinder People from clambering up to the Windows.</p> + +<p>The Inside of this <i>Arsenal</i> is as magnificent as the Outside. The lower +Rooms are stor'd with a great number of Brass Cannon. The Walls and +Pillars that support the Arch are garnish'd with Cuirasses and Helmets. In +the upper Story there are several Rooms full of Arms, rang'd in such Order +as can never be enough admir'd.</p> + +<p>Behind the <i>Arsenal</i> there's the House of the General of the Ordnance, +which also contains the Foundery, where Men are continually at work.</p> + +<p>Besides this <i>Arsenal</i>, there are several others in <i>Berlin</i>, where they +keep Field-Pieces, Iron +Cannon,<!--044.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> +and all that belongs to the Train of +Artillery. 'Twas the late Margrave <i>Philip</i><a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>, Brother to <i>Frederic</i> I. +who when he was Great Master of the Ordnance began to put the King's +<i>Arsenals</i> into a good State. But King <i>Frederic-William</i> has finish'd +what his said Uncle began, and has put the Artillery on such a footing, +that 'tis a question if any <i>Arsenal</i> in <i>Europe</i> is on a better +Regulation.</p> + +<p>A Rampart and a Ditch separate the <i>Werder</i> from the <i>Dorothy-Stadt</i>, or +new Town, which is for most part inhabited by <i>French</i> Families. It had +the Name of <i>Dorothy-Stadt</i> in honour of the Electress <i>Dorothy</i> of +<i>Holstein-Glucksburg</i>, the second Wife of <i>Frederic-William</i>, who with her +own Hand planted the first Lime-Tree of the seven great Rows which divide +this Ward into two Parts. The middlemost Row, which is the widest, is +inclos'd with Ballustrades, and forms a pleasant Grass-Walk for +Foot-Passengers. The Walks on each side are pav'd, and serve as a Ring for +the Coaches. Nothing is more beneficial and agreeable than taking the Air +in this Place, where you may have any thing that can be desir'd in a City. +At the end of one of these Walks is a Gate which opens to the Park, the +Walks of which being above a League in length, form a fine Point of View.</p> + +<p>On both sides the Lime-Tree Rows, are Houses, among which the Palace of +Madame the Margravine, Dowager<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> to the Margrave <i>Philip</i>, Brother to the +late King, is one of the best. The late +Margrave<!--045.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> +purchas'd this Palace +(which at that time was inconsiderable) of the Wife of <i>Weiller</i> Colonel +of the Artillery, who had thrown up his Employments, Wife, Children and +all, to go with a Lady of Quality, that was in love with him, to <i>Vienna</i>. +This Gentlewoman pass'd for a modern <i>Sappho</i>, and every body talk'd of +her Virtue and good Sense. But being a Slave to the Follies of Love, and +asham'd to let them be seen at <i>Berlin</i>, where she was counted an Oracle, +she resolv'd to quit the Place of her Birth, and engag'd her Lover to +leave all and follow her.</p> + +<p>The Margrave made considerable Augmentations to this House, and render'd +it very commodious. The Furniture of the Palace also is rich, and worthy +of the Princess who resides in it.</p> + +<p>Opposite to the Margravine's Palace is a Building which was formerly +call'd the King's Little Stables, but has been metamorphos'd into Caserns +for the Gendarmery; they discover the Magnificence of <i>Frederic</i> I. who +caused them to be built. The Apartments that run over the Stables are +occupied by the Academy of Painters, and that of Arts and Sciences. Behind +the Stables there's the Observatory, with a great number of Astronomical +and Mathematical Instruments, of which there are many of a new Invention.</p> + +<p><i>Frederic-Stadt</i>, which is the fifth Ward of <i>Berlin</i>, communicates with +the New Town and the <i>Werder</i>. This is one of the pleasantest Wards in the +whole City, the Streets being spacious, strait, and planted with +Lime-Trees<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a>.</p> + +<!--046.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span></p> + +<p>Perhaps I have dwelt too long upon the Metropolis of the Electorate of +<i>Brandenburgh</i>; but I thought that as there had been no true Account yet +given of this City, you wou'd not be sorry to have it from me.</p> + +<p>The next day after my Arrival here, I had the Honour to see the King, who +was then seeing his Soldiers mount guard. He is a Prince of a middling +Stature, and in very good Plight of Body: His Air commands Respect; yet, +when he pleases, no Prince in the World can be more gracious. I heard him +speak to his Officers in such a kind manner as cou'd not but charm them; I +admir'd his Genius for military Discipline, and perceiv'd that with the +Glance of an Eye he cou'd discover the least Fault committed against that +wonderful Exactness which is introduc'd in the Evolutions of his Troops. +After the Guards had perform'd their Exercise, the King stay'd to see them +file off. I never yet saw Troops march with more Order and State, so that +it seem'd as if they were all mov'd by one Spring. All the Soldiers are +young, of an even Stature, and the cleverest Fellows that Nature ever +form'd: they are well cloth'd, and have such an Air of Neatness, that even +the private Centinels might all pass for Officers. I remember you was +prejudic'd against their Clothing; their Clothes you said were too strait, +and too short. I was of your Opinion once, and think so still, when I +happen to see one of their Officers and Soldiers singly among us, who wear +Night-Gowns rather than Coats; but when I see a whole Body of <i>Prussians</i> +together, I am of another Opinion, and think their Dress gives them a +warlike Air which other Troops have not. You will tell me perhaps, that +the Clothing of the <i>Prussians</i> is good in a Garrison, but that in the +Field their Garments +are<!--047.png--><span class="pagenum">22</span> +not wide enough to cover the Soldiers in the +Night. I answer, that the <i>Prussian</i> Soldiers are in no danger of not +being cover'd, because when they are in the Field, every Captain is to +carry as many Coverlids, as there are Comrades in his Company. But you'll +say, this must be a very great Incumbrance, and take up a deal of +Equipage. 'Tis true, it may require two Sumpter Horses in a Company, but a +Soldier fares the better for it; because when he goes wet into the Camp, +he can get his Clothes dry'd in the Night while he is under his Coverlid. +After all, the Incumbrance is no greater at present, for those Troops, +than it was at the time when all the <i>Prussian</i> Infantry had Cloaks, which +the Soldiers wore, was the Weather ever so hot, folded over their +Shoulders, and ty'd both before and behind by their Belt. If they had any +hasty March to make, such as I saw they made in <i>Flanders</i> in 1708, when +they went to attack the <i>French</i> near <i>Audenarde</i>, the <i>Prussians</i> left +their Cloaks behind with a Guard, and when the Battle was join'd, the +Captains were oblig'd to send for their Cloaks. In short, what makes me +think the <i>Prussian</i> Clothing the most convenient for a Soldier, is, that +most of the <i>German</i> Princes are now come into it, and like it well: The +Troops of <i>Saxony</i>, and <i>Brunswic</i> in particular, are cloth'd like those +of <i>Prussia</i>.</p> + +<p>The <i>Prussian</i> Troops, which are new cloth'd every Year, have Breeches of +Woollen Cloth for the Winter, and of Linnen for the Summer; and they are +allow'd Shirts, Necks and Spatterdashes: Their Pay is good and regular; +the Soldier is compell'd to do his Duty, but when he does it, enjoys more +Liberty than in the Service of any other Nation: so that were I to carry a +Musket, I fancy it wou'd be in the Service of <i>Prussia</i>, where such a +strict Discipline is observ'd, that the Soldier is no Swearer, and is not +allow'd to game, and where in a word he does +not<!--048.png--><span class="pagenum">23</span> +abandon himself to +Licentiousness. On Sundays and Saints Days they are requir'd to go twice a +day to hear a Sermon: The Catholicks have the liberty of going to Mass. In +short, good Manners are introduc'd and observ'd in those Troops to such a +Nicety, that you would wonder at it.</p> + +<p>All the Infantry is cloth'd in blue. It depends on the Colonel of every +Regiment, to order what Waistcoats and Trimming he pleases for the +Clothes. The Horse and Dragoons wear white, but the Houshold Troops blue, +with Campaign Coats of Gold Lace. The Hussars Clothing is red, but the +Garbs of the Officers both of Foot and Horse are plain, and only differ +from the Apparel of the Soldiers in the fineness of the Cloth; tho' there +are some Regiments whose Waistcoats are bedaub'd all over with Gold or +Silver Lace.</p> + +<p>The Colours, which are uniform in all the Regiments, are white, with the +King's Device, representing an Eagle flying towards the Sun with this +Motto, <i>Nec Soli cedit</i>. There's such a Uniformity preserv'd in all things +throughout the Army, even in their Guns, Swords, Bayonets, &c. that in +every Regiment they wear the very same, even to their Shoe-Buckles.</p> + +<p>The same Regularity is observ'd in the Horse and Dragoons, which ride both +upon black Horses; and indeed they are not permitted to have any others, +the Officers themselves being not exempt from this Rule, when they are at +the head of their Squadrons or Companies. The Housings and Equipage of the +latter are of the same Pattern, and extremely rich. All the Horse wear +Buff-Coats, and underneath Cuirasses. They perform their Exercise on Foot +like the Infantry, and with the same Exactness. The Kettle-Drums and +Trumpets of all the Horse are of Silver.</p> + +<p>There is not a Captain in all the <i>Prussian</i> Army but has at least ten +supernumerary Men; +so<!--049.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> +that these included, the King's Forces amount to +near 100000, all pick'd Men. You cou'd not but admire if you were to see +how they behave; insomuch that whenever they take the Field, 'tis pity but +Fortune shou'd favour them.</p> + +<p>Not many Days after my Arrival here, the King being gone to visit his +Kingdom, I had the Honour of waiting on the Queen. This Princess, whose +Name is <i>Sophia-Dorothea</i>, is Sister to the present King of <i>Great +Britain</i>, being the Daughter of <i>George</i> I. the late King, and of +<i>Sophia-Dorothea</i> Princess of <i>Brunswic-Zell</i>. And she does every thing +that is worthy of her August Extraction; for surely never did Daughter +more resemble a Father; she has the same Benignity and Wisdom, the same +Equity and Justice, and Sweetness of Temper. Like him she knows the Charms +of a private Life, and Friendship, on a Throne: Like him she is ador'd by +her Subjects and her Domestics, and is the chief Blessing and Darling of +both. To extend Goodness and Affability farther, were impossible; there +being no Foreigners but what are charm'd with the gracious Manner in which +this Princess receives them. To a thousand Virtues worthy of Veneration, +she has added the singular Talent of speaking the Language of several +Countries which she never saw, with as much Delicacy as if they had been +her Mother Tongues. The <i>French</i> Language especially, is so familiar to +her, that one wou'd take her to be a Princess of the Royal Family of +<i>France</i>; and the Grandeur and Majesty that accompany all her Actions, +induce those even who don't know her, to be of Opinion that she was born +to reign.</p> + +<p>That which still more endears this Queen to her People, is the Care she +takes of the Education of her Family; which consists of four Princes, and +six Princesses. The eldest of the Sons is stil'd +the<!--050.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> +<i>Prince Royal</i><a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>. +This young Prince is handsome, charms every one by his Kindness and +Good-Nature; and loves Reading, Musick, the Arts, and Magnificence: His +Sentiments, his Behaviour, and his Actions, make it probable, that if he +comes to the Crown, his Reign will be one of those mild and peaceable +Reigns, which procure Kings that Love of their People, wherein consists +their true Glory. The Care of the Prince Royal's Education was committed +first of all to Madam <i>de Camke</i>, one of the Queen's Ladies of Honour, and +Governess of the Children of <i>Prussia</i>. But this Lady left the Charge of +the latter to the Sub-Governess, Madam <i>de Rocoule</i>, and her Daughter +Madamoiselle <i>de Montbail</i>. Madam <i>de Rocoule</i> had also the honour to be +Sub-Governess to the King; so that she was no Novice in the forming of +young Princes. As she talks nothing but <i>French</i>, she has taught it to the +King's Children; who speak it with as much ease as they do the <i>German</i> +Language. At seven Years of Age the Prince Royal was taken out of the +Hands of the Women; and the Count <i>de Finck</i> of <i>Finckenstein</i>, +Lieutenant-General of the King's Forces, a Knight of his Order, and +Colonel of a Regiment of Horse, was appointed his Royal Highness's +Governour; and the Baron <i>de Kalestein</i> was made Sub-Governour. The King's +Choice of both these Gentlemen was universally applauded.</p> + +<p>The eldest of the King's Children is <i>Frederica-Sophia-Wilhelmina</i>, the +Princess Royal; who was born in 1709. I was at <i>Berlin</i> at the Ceremony of +her Baptism, which was performed in the Chapel of the Castle, in presence +of <i>Frederic</i> IV. King +of<!--051.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> +<i>Denmark</i>, <i>Frederic-Augustus</i> King of +<i>Poland</i>, and <i>Frederic</i> I. King of <i>Prussia</i>. The Birth of this Princess, +and the Circumstances of three Kings and a Queen attending at her Baptism, +gave occasion to a great many Copies of Verses. All the Poets said that +the Presence of these three Kings, was a Sign that she wou'd one day have +Possession of three Crowns. They had then in view the Crowns of <i>Great +Britain</i>, that were to devolve to the Family of <i>Hanover</i>; in which there +was a young Prince<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a>, who, it was then imagin'd, was to be in time the +Husband of this Princess. Whether this Match will ever take place, and +whether the Princess will be Queen, I can't say; but if she is not, +Fortune will not do Justice to her Merit.</p> + +<p>The Princess <i>Frederica-Louisa</i>, the King's second Daughter, is lately +married to the Margrave of <i>Brandenburgh Anspach</i>. 'Tis said that his +Majesty's third Daughter, the Princess <i>Philippina-Charlotte</i>, is promised +to<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a><i>Charles</i>, hereditary Prince of <i>Brunswic-Bevern</i>, Nephew to the +Empress Regent.</p> + +<p>The other Princes and Princesses, the King's Children<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>, are as yet too +young to furnish any Particulars for their Character. In a word, put them +all together, they form a very fine Family.</p> + +<p>The Margravine, Dowager of the +Margrave<!--052.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> +<i>Philip</i>, Brother to the late +King, is the first in Rank at Court, next to the King's Children: She was +born Princess of <i>Anhalt-Dessau</i>. Her Royal Highness was lately chose +Abbess of <i>Herford</i>, a sovereign Abby in <i>Westphalia</i>, (in a Town +belonging to the King of <i>Prussia</i>, as part of the Principality of +<i>Ravensberg</i>;) whose Canonesses must be all Princesses, or Countesses of +the Empire. This Princess, tho' she is past her Bloom, is still the +Ornament of the Court; and no Person can be more civil than she is to +Foreigners; so that 'tis as much a Pleasure as a Duty to pay one's Court +to her. When the King is at <i>Berlin</i>, and the Queen has no Drawing-Room, +the whole Court repairs to the Margravine's House, where her Royal +Highness daily keeps an elegant Table; to which she admits the Quality of +both Sexes. She is the Mother of two Princes and a Princess; the Sons are +the Margraves <i>Frederic</i> and <i>Henry</i>, and the Daughter is married to the +hereditary Prince of <i>Wirtemberg</i>. The young Margrave <i>Frederic</i> resides +at <i>Schwedt</i> upon the <i>Oder</i>, where he has a very fine House; but does not +come to Court but when he can't avoid it. The young Margrave <i>Henry</i> +resides commonly at <i>Berlin</i>. Both these Princes are handsome, lusty, and +well shap'd.</p> + +<p>The Margrave <i>Albert</i>, the King's Uncle<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a>, lives in his Majesty's +Palace, tho' he is eight Months of the Year at <i>Frederichsfelde</i>, a +Pleasure-House about a League from <i>Berlin</i>. He is the second Son of the +Elector <i>Frederic-William</i>, and <i>Dorothy</i> of +<i>Holstein</i><!--053.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> +<i>Glucksburg</i>: He +is well shap'd, has a noble Air, and has been in his time a very good +Dancer: He is fond of Grandeur and Pleasures. At the beginning of the last +War he distinguished himself very much at the Siege of <i>Keyserswaert</i>, and +other Places, where he commanded the Troops of the King his Brother. His +Royal Highness is Governor of <i>Pomerania</i>, Knight of the Black Eagle, and +Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, and of another of Horse, in the King's +Service: He has also a Regiment of Foot in the Service of the <i>United +Provinces</i>; and is Grand Master of the six Commanderies of the Order of +St. <i>John</i> of <i>Jerusalem</i>, who, at the Alteration of Religion in the time +of <i>Luther</i>, withdrew from the Grand Master of <i>Malta</i>, and assum'd to +themselves a Right of chusing a Grand Master under the Protection of the +Elector of <i>Brandenburgh</i>. The Margrave marry'd a Princess of <i>Courland</i>, +Heiress to the Freeholds of her Uncle Duke <i>Ferdinand</i>, the last of her +Family. This Princess, tho' not reckon'd a Beauty of the first Rate, has a +great Share of Charms and Good-nature, Modesty and Politeness. Their Royal +Highnesses are perfectly civil to those who have Access to them; which is +the reason, that notwithstanding the little Concern they have in Business, +they have always a numerous Court. They have three Princes, and two +Princesses. The eldest of the Sons is <i>Charles</i>, a Prince whose Person and +Character are very amiable. The eldest of the Daughters is married to the +Duke of <i>Saxe-Eysenach</i>.</p> + +<p>The last Prince of the Royal Family, is the Margrave <i>Christian-Lewis</i>, +third Son of the Elector <i>Frederic-William</i> by the second Marriage. This +Prince is Governour of the City and County of <i>Halberstadt</i>; he has a +Regiment of Foot, is Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle, and Commander +of that of St. <i>John</i>. He studied at <i>Leyden</i>; after which, +he<!--054.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> +serv'd +with distinction in <i>Italy</i>. He now lives retir'd from Court at <i>Malchau</i>, +a House about a Mile from <i>Berlin</i>, which the late King bought of the +Heirs of M. <i>de Fuchs</i>, his Minister of State. There the Margrave, who has +a Relish for the Pleasures of private Life, passes his Time in Hunting, +Reading, and every innocent Pleasure that an agreeable Country is capable +of furnishing. This Prince has been a handsome well-made Man; he has a +grand Air, and there's something heroic in his Physiognomy: In the very +Flower of his Youth he was a constant Admirer of Virtue, and might ever be +quoted for an Example of Sobriety. He is so exceeding fat, that it's +fear'd he won't live to be a very old Man<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a>.</p> + +<p>All the Princes of the Royal Family wear the <i>Prussian</i> Order, <i>viz.</i> that +of the Black Eagle; and receive it as soon as they are born. 'Tis an +Orange Ribband, to which is appendant a Cross enamel'd with blue, +resembling the Cross of <i>Malta</i>. A Star of Silver is embroider'd on the +Coat; and in the middle of it is an Orange Escutcheon, over which is a +black Eagle crown'd with Wings display'd, holding in one of its Talons a +Crown of Laurel, and in the other a Thunder-bolt, with the Motto, <span class="smcap">Suum +cuique</span>, in Letters of Gold. This Order was instituted by <i>Frederic</i> I. the +sixth of <i>January</i> 1701, <i>O. S.</i> on account of his Coronation at +<i>Koningsberg</i>. He call'd it the Order of the Black Eagle, because a Black +Eagle forms the Arms of <i>Prussia</i>; and he chose an Orange Ribband, in +memory of the Electress his Mother, who was a Princess of <i>Orange</i>; in +Right of whom he pretends to be next Heir to <i>William</i> III. King of +<i>England</i>, and Prince of <i>Orange</i>.</p> + +<!--055.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span></p> + +<p>The Princes of the Royal Family are not exempt from passing thro' the +Degrees of military Service; and 'tis not here as in other places, where +they have Regiments and Governments as soon as they are born. The King +will have them to know how to obey, before they come to command; and 'tis +an Encouragement to the Officers to find themselves so far honour'd, as to +be on a Par in the Service, with those who are born to be their +Sovereigns. The Prince Royal has a Regiment of Horse<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a>. M. <i>de +Lopel</i><a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a>, a Major-General, commanded that Regiment formerly, but the +King preferring him to the Government of <i>Custrin</i>, this Regiment has for +Colonel M. <i>de Wreech</i>, a Person of a good Family in the new Marquisate. +His Father, who was one of the King's Lieutenant-Generals, had serv'd the +late Elector <i>Frederic-William</i>, the late King, and his present Majesty. +M. <i>de Wreech</i>, whom I am speaking of, was, at his return from his +Travels, appointed by the late King a Gentleman of his Bed-chamber: After +that Prince's Death, his present Majesty enter'd him into his Service, and +gave him a Troop of Horse. This Gentleman distinguished himself greatly in +1708, at the Battle of <i>Audenarde</i>; where he was <i>Aid de Camp</i> to the +Marshal <i>de Natzmer</i>, then General of the Cavalry: He had a Horse kill'd +under him, and was taken Prisoner; but the Enemy in their Flight not +watching him very strictly, he found means to get off when the Night came +and put an end to the Battle. He lay hid in a Ditch till next day, in +danger every moment of being knock'd on the head by our own Men; but when +the Day broke, he rejoin'd his General, who had received +a<!--056.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> +slight Wound +in the Head. M. <i>de Wreech</i> is one of the richest Subjects the King has; +but he is worthy of his Fortune, and uses it like a Man of Quality. He is +certainly a valuable Gentleman, has a noble Soul, and Sense and Knowledge +enough to capacitate him to serve his King and Country both in Peace and +War.</p> + +<p><i>Berlin</i> is not a City where you ought to look for the most lively +Diversions; the King, to whose Will every body conforms, not being fond of +them himself. Yet when once a Man is known there, he will find Amusement +enough; for the People are affable and civil, make plentiful +Entertainments, and have very good Wine.</p> + +<p>When the King is absent, the Queen has a Drawing-Room every Night, from +seven o'clock till ten; when her Majesty sups with the Princes and +Princesses of her Family, and other Persons of Distinction of both Sexes. +But when the King is at <i>Berlin</i>, the Queen keeps no Drawing-Room, unless +some Foreign Prince happen to be there. Then there are Assemblies in the +City alternatively, among Persons of the first Rank, at which they +sometimes dance; and the King and Prince Royal frequently honour these +Assemblies with their Presence. When there is no grand Assembly, there are +particular Societies, where they sup, and play at small Game.</p> + +<p>The Ministers of most consequence at this Court are Messieurs <i>d'Ilgen</i>, +<i>Grumkau</i>, and <i>Kniphausen</i><a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a>; these are they who treat of Foreign +Affairs, and thro' whose hands pass the Secrets of State: but the King's +Prime Minister is the King himself, who is inform'd of every thing, and is +desirous to know every thing. He gives great Application to Business, but +does it with extraordinary Ease; and +nothing<!--057.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> +escapes his Penetration, nor +his Memory, which is a very happy one. No body knows better than he where +his Government is strong, and where 'tis weak; and no Sovereign in the +World is of more easy Access, his Subjects being actually permitted to +write to him, without any other Formality than superscribing the Letter, +<i>To the King</i>. By writing underneath, <i>To be deliver'd into his Majesty's +own Hands</i>, one may be sure that the King receives and reads it, and that +the next Post he will answer it, either with his own Hand or by his +Secretary: these Answers are short, but peremptory, and they prevent a +tedious painful Attendance. The King, who is an Enemy to vain Pomp and +Pageantry, always goes abroad without any Guards, with only a small +Retinue, and sometimes too walks on foot; he makes his Greatness to +consist in solid Power, in the having his Troops well disciplin'd, his +Places kept up in good Order, his Arsenals well provided, and his Treasury +full enough to enable him to oppose his Enemy in case he be attack'd. He +never aims so much as to disturb his Neighbours, much less to rob them: I +heard him say one day, that <i>he had no Intention of attacking any body, +nor of beginning a War; but if he was attack'd, he would defend himself +the best he could</i>: a Conduct which he has religiously observed ever since +he has been plac'd upon the Throne, even towards <i>Charles</i> XII. King of +<i>Sweden</i>, notwithstanding what is said of him by a certain Author, who +from sorry Memoirs has wrote that Prince's Life. But I will not deviate +from my Subject.</p> + +<p>There's no Town in all the King of <i>Prussia</i>'s Dominions, except +<i>Neufchtel</i>, where he has not been; no Province which he does not know +full well; not a noble Family but he can tell their Revenues; nor a Court +of Justice but he is well acquainted with their chief Members. His +Behaviour is plain; +he<!--058.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> +knows no Gallantry, and does not easily pardon it +in his Officers. He is so true to his Consort the Queen, that he wishes +all Men would follow his Example, and that every Husband would live only +with the Woman whom God has allotted him. His Diversion is Hunting; and +for this reason, he resides commonly at <i>Potzdam</i> or <i>Wusterhausen</i>, which +are Pleasure-Houses four Miles from <i>Berlin</i>. Yet he generally goes on +<i>Saturdays</i> into his Capital, where he holds a Council on <i>Sunday</i>, and +returns on <i>Monday</i>. In the Winter he makes a longer stay at <i>Berlin</i>: but +let him be either here or there, he is on the Parade every Day at ten +o'clock, when his Soldiers mount the Guard; after which he gives Audience +to his Ministers, and holds a Council, or goes abroad for the Air. At Noon +the King appears in a great Saloon, where are all the Generals and +Officers, the Foreign Ministers, and all the Court in general: There he +converses a few Moments, and then goes into another Room, where he dines +with the Queen, the Princes and Princesses of his Family, and any other +Persons whom he has caused to be invited. His Table is commonly spread for +eighteen Guests. After he has sate about an Hour and half at Table, he +retires to his Closet till six at Night, when he appears again in the Room +where he held his Levee: There his Majesty gives Orders to the Marshal +<i>Wartensleben</i> Governor of <i>Berlin</i>, and to the Marshal <i>Natzmer</i> +Commandant of the Gendarmery. After this, he talks a while with those that +are present, and then passes into a Room at some distance from his +Apartment, to which the Queen repairs sometimes with one or two Ladies in +company. There are ten or a dozen Officers whom the King honours with his +Confidence, who play here at <i>Picquet</i>, <i>Ombre</i>, and <i>Backgammon</i>. Here +they also smoak, and to this Place the King sends for such as he has a +mind +to<!--059.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span> +talk with about special Affairs. I have been there twice upon +such an account. Here there is no manner of Restraint, but every body sits +down, the King dispensing with all the Respect that is due to him, and at +eleven o'clock he dismisses the Company and retires.</p> + +<p>The King hunts when he is at <i>Potzdam</i> and <i>Wusterhausen</i>; but in other +respects he leads the same Life there as he does at <i>Berlin</i>. At <i>Potzdam</i> +he hunts the Stag, having for that end caused a great Forest to be paled +in, where he has made noble Roads.</p> + +<p>The Castle at <i>Potzdam</i>, which is very convenient, was built by the +Elector <i>Frederic-William</i>, who commonly resided at it; and after having +run his glorious Race, died here the 29th of <i>April</i>, 1688. King +<i>Frederic</i> I. made considerable Embellishments to it, particularly the +great Gate opening into the main Court of the Castle, which is an +admirable Piece of Architecture that was design'd by M. <i>Bot</i>, my Hero for +Buildings. But all that the late King did, does not come up to the Works +that have been added to it of late Years. The Town of <i>Potzdam</i> has been +augmented two Thirds; the Streets are as strait as a Line, with Trees +planted, and Canals cut in them after the manner of <i>Holland</i>; the Houses +are uniform and built with Bricks. Besides a great Hospital, which the +King has founded here for his Soldiers' Orphans, here is a considerable +Fabric for Armourers, who make all those Arms for the Forces and Arsenals, +which were formerly made at <i>Liege</i>.</p> + +<p>This Town is the Garrison for the first Battalion of those <i>Tall +Grenadiers</i>, so much talk'd of in <i>Europe</i>. I protest to you that they +exceed the common Report, being the compleatest, the finest, and +best-disciplin'd Body that can be imagin'd. The Men are of all Nations, +there being scarce a Prince in <i>Europe</i> but takes a pleasure in sending +Recruits<!--060.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> +to it. Some of these Grenadiers have had 1500 Crowns List-Money; +and several receive two Florins <i>per diem</i>: Some of them are very rich; +others there are who trade, and have good Houses at <i>Potzdam</i>. The tallest +and the best Man among them all was one call'd <i>Jonas</i>, (lately dead) who +work'd heretofore in the Mines of <i>Norway</i>. The famous <i>Huguetan</i>, whom +<i>Frederic</i> IV. King of <i>Denmark</i> created Count <i>de Guldenstein</i>, took him +from the Mines, and presented him to the King. He then stoop'd in the +Shoulders, and hobbled in walking; but by tricking him up, they gave him +that good Air which he wanted.</p> + +<p>'Tis certain, there are no Troops in the World where the Peasant sooner +shakes off the clownish Air, and more easily assumes the military one. +This gigantic Regiment has requir'd great Pains, and considerable Sums to +establish it; and I am assured it has cost the King more than six other +Regiments. But 'tis all his Majesty takes delight in; and surely this +Prince cannot but be commended for giving into a Pleasure so noble, and so +innocent.</p> + +<p>Having given you some Account of <i>Potzdam</i>, I must also mention +<i>Charlottenbourg</i>, another Royal House, a Mile from <i>Berlin</i>. This Castle +stands on the <i>Spree</i>, so that one may go to it by Water: but the common +Way is thro' the Park which is at the end of the great Walk from the new +Town.</p> + +<p>In the late King's time, whenever he was at <i>Charlottenbourg</i>, all the +Road from <i>Berlin</i> to this Palace was lighted by Lanthorns erected on both +sides.</p> + +<p><i>Charlottenbourg</i> was formerly call'd <i>Lutzenbourg</i>. It was a small +Village belonging to M. <i>Doberginsky</i>, Steward of the Houshold to the +Queen, (the King's Mother.) He had built a trifling House there, and that +Queen taking the Air there one day, lik'd the Situation of the Place so +well, that she bought it, and set about building there; but she died +before all +the<!--061.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> +Works she had undertaken were finished. However, her +Husband King <i>Frederic</i> I. caused them to be carried on, and made +considerable Additions to them; and in order to perpetuate the Queen's +Name, which was <i>Sophia-Charlotte</i>, he caused <i>Lutzenbourg</i> to be called +<i>Charlottenbourg</i>. This Castle is one of the most considerable Structures +in <i>Germany</i>; the Apartments are grand and splendid, and the Furniture +very rich. There's a Cabinet adorn'd with the choicest Porcellane, ranged +in such order as is surprising: In another Cabinet there are Lustres, a +Tea-Table with Dishes, a Coffee-Pot, and the whole Equipage in short of +solid Gold. The Chapel is one of the most superb that can be; every side +being adorn'd with Gold and Painting. The Orangery is one of the most +magnificent in <i>Europe</i>; not only with regard to the Beauty and Number of +its Trees, but the Greatness of the Building in which they are kept all +the Winter.</p> + +<p>I could tell you of several more Houses which the late King had in the +Neighbourhood of <i>Berlin</i>; but as they were suffer'd to run to ruin after +he died, I think I had better entertain you with the Characters of the +prime Nobility at this Court.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>de Wartensleben</i> is the oldest Marshal. He is by Birth a +<i>Westphalian</i>, and pass'd his early days in the Service of <i>France</i>. He +was Commander in chief of the Troops of the Duke of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i>, when +King <i>Frederic</i> I. called him to his Service. The Count <i>de Wartemberg</i>, +who was at that time the Chief Minister, wanted a Person to be at the head +of the Troops, who should be intirely devoted to himself: This was an +Obedience he did not expect to find in the Counts <i>de Lottum</i>, <i>Dhona</i>, +and <i>Denhoff</i>, nor in the other Generals whose long Services and Birth +might make them aspire to this military Dignity. He believed the fittest +Person to be his Tool would be a Foreigner that should +be<!--062.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> +oblig'd to him +for his Fortune: Therefore he caus'd the Marshal's Batoon to be given to +the Count <i>de Wartensleben</i>, who answer'd to a tittle the Intention of the +Minister his Benefactor. 'Tis true, that he never seconded his Revenge, +but neither did he oppose it. He did the Business of his Office, and +meddled not with the Intrigues of the Court. It may be said of him, that +he never deviated from the Path of Equity, and in Justice to him it must +be own'd that he always did good, when it was in his power. Since the +Death of the late King, his Authority and Interest are very much lessened. +Besides, he is too far advanc'd in years to concern himself with almost +any Business at all.</p> + +<p>The General whose Power is most rever'd, is the Prince <i>Leopold</i> of +<i>Anhalt-Dessau</i>. In consideration of his high Birth, and the Rank of +Sovereign which he holds in the Empire, I ought to have nam'd him first; +only the Count <i>de Wartensleben</i> is the oldest Marshal.</p> + +<p>The Prince of <i>Anhalt</i> is Marshal, Governour of the City of <i>Magdebourg</i>, +Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle. +This Prince, who is a Person of a good Stature and noble Presence, happy +Features and a lively Aspect, was born with all the Qualifications of a +General and a Soldier, being vigilant, laborious, indefatigable, equally +patient of Heat and Cold, Want and Abundance; Brave even to Intrepidity, +and possibly never equalled in this respect, unless we except <i>Charles</i> +XII. King of <i>Sweden</i>: Being a Man of unexampled Rigour in Military +Discipline, he will be obey'd; but then he rewards his Soldiers when they +do their Duty, and sometimes makes himself familiar with them: A warm and +constant Friend, but an implacable Enemy when he thinks himself not well +us'd; haughty to his Equals, civil and courteous to his Inferiors. In his +Youth, he was a Wine-Bibber, and a +Deboshee;<!--063.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> +but it has been observ'd, +that neither Wine nor Women can detain him, when he is in the pursuit of +Glory. He is a religious Observer of his Promises, and never makes any but +after mature Reflection. He is an Enemy to the Pomp and Constraint of the +Lives of Great Men; an Œconomist, perhaps more than becomes his +Dignity; and is an absolute Master in his Family and his Government, +having poor, but dutiful Subjects, and well-regulated Finances.</p> + +<p>The Care of the Prince of <i>Anhalt</i>'s Education was committed to M. <i>de +Chalisac</i>, a Native of <i>Guienne</i>. This Gentleman found an ungovernable +Temper in the young Prince which he had much ado to manage. The Prince +happen'd very early to have a liking for Madamoiselle <i>de Fohsen</i>, (whom +he afterwards marry'd) which being not at all pleasing to his Mother, (who +was born Princess of <i>Orange</i>) she thought the best way to cure him of his +Fondness for her, would be to send him abroad; and therefore appointed M. +<i>de Chalisac</i> to travel with him to <i>Italy</i>, and accordingly they made +that Tour.</p> + +<p><i>Chalisac</i>, who was my particular Friend, and whose Memory I honour, told +me that this Prince's extraordinary Vivacity and Intemperance, had often +made his Heart ake; but that whenever he happen'd to run astray, he was +sure to reclaim him by setting the Motives of Honour and Ambition in his +View. To this purpose he related what happen'd when they were at <i>Venice</i>, +viz. that the Prince came home one Morning very much in Liquor, after +having spent the whole Night in a Debauch; and M. <i>de Chalisac</i> reproving +him, perhaps a little too sharply, as the young Prince thought, he ran and +snatch'd up a Pistol, and returning with it to his Governour, said, <i>You +Dog, I must kill you</i>. M. <i>de Chalisac</i>, without +appearing<!--064.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> +surpriz'd, +looking sternly at the Prince, made him answer; <i>Shoot me if you think +fit; but think how worthy a Figure you'll make in History, when it shall +be recorded that a Prince of <span class="f">Anhalt</span>, a Prince of a Family that has given +Emperors to <span class="f">Germany</span>, murder'd his Tutor</i>. These Words spoke with an Air of +Authority made such an Impression on the young Prince, that he laid down +his Pistol saying, <i>You are indeed in the right; I should have committed a +villainous Action</i>.</p> + +<p>The Prince on his Return from <i>Italy</i> to <i>Dessau</i> shew'd that Time and +Absence had not that Effect upon him as they generally have upon Lovers. +He returned as much in love with Madamoiselle <i>de Fohsen</i> as he was at +setting out. He married her in 1698, and soon after, <i>viz.</i> in 1701, she +was by the Emperor acknowledged a Princess of the Empire. He has had five +Sons and two Daughters by her, the eldest of whom is dead.</p> + +<p>But the Embraces of a tender Spouse cou'd not keep him at home; a Warrior +he was born, and a Warrior he would be. The War being then kindled between +the Emperor and the <i>French</i>, the Prince went to serve in the Army on the +<i>Rhine</i>, and was present at the taking of <i>Keiserswaert</i>. Soon after, King +<i>Frederic</i> I. gave him the Command of 6000 Men, whom he sent to the +Emperor's Assistance in <i>Italy</i>, where he signaliz'd himself in every +Campaign, but especially at the raising of the Siege of <i>Turin</i>. The Duke +of <i>Savoy</i>, afterwards King of <i>Sardinia</i>, with whom the Prince had not a +very good Understanding, doing me the Honour to talk to me about him one +day, said, <i>The Prince of <span class="f">Anhalt</span> has too much Fire; but when he is ripen'd +by Age, he will be a great General. He was born with the Genius of a +Captain, and he has contributed to save my Crown</i>.</p> + +<!--065.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span></p> + +<p>When a Neutrality was agreed on for <i>Italy</i> between the Emperor, his +Allies, and <i>France</i>, the Prince of <i>Anhalt</i> was recall'd, and the King +gave him the Command of his Troops in <i>Flanders</i>, where he maintain'd the +Reputation which he had acquir'd in <i>Italy</i>, and was continued in his +Command till the Peace of <i>Utrecht</i>.</p> + +<p>The Obstinacy of <i>Charles</i> XII. King of <i>Sweden</i> in refusing to hearken to +a Treaty for the Sequestration of <i>Stetin</i>, having oblig'd the King of +<i>Prussia</i> to make war upon him, the Prince of <i>Anhalt</i> serving under the +King, who then commanded his Army in Person, had the Honour to defend the +Isle of <i>Rugen</i>, against the King of <i>Sweden</i>, who came in the Night and +attack'd it with Fury; but the <i>Swedes</i> were repulsed, after having lost a +number of considerable Officers in the Action. Since the Treaty with +<i>Sweden</i>, this Prince has had no occasion to signalize his Valour. He +resides commonly at <i>Dessau</i>, or at <i>Magdebourg</i>; and does not come to +Court but when Affairs call him. He has three Sons in the King's Service, +of whom the two eldest have Regiments of their own, and the third commands +his Father's.</p> + +<p>The King, who has a great Affection for the Prince of <i>Anhalt</i>, makes no +considerable Regulation with regard to his Troops, or in any thing +relating to the War-Office, without his Advice. His Majesty has given him +considerable Tracts of Land in <i>Prussia</i>, where 'tis said the Prince is +building not only Villages, but entire Towns.</p> + +<p>M. <i>d'Arnheim</i> is the third Marshal. This old Gentleman, who is past +fourscore, learnt the Art of War under two Great Masters, the Elector +<i>Frederic-William</i> of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, and <i>Montecuculi</i> the Rival of +<i>Turenne</i>.</p> + +<p>The Marshal <i>de Natzmer</i> is an old Soldier also, who has serv'd under +several Commanders with very +great<!--066.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> +Distinction; particularly the Prince +of <i>Waldeck</i>, General of the <i>Dutch</i> Forces, the Prince of <i>Orange</i> +afterwards King of <i>England</i>, and lastly under the Duke of <i>Marlborough</i> +and Prince <i>Eugene</i> of <i>Savoy</i>; who had all an Esteem for his Valour and +Military Experience; this Marshal having been in all the Battles which +those Generals fought in the <i>Netherlands</i>, and having been always wounded +or had a Horse shot under him.</p> + +<p>After having mentioned the chief Commanders of the King's Forces to you, I +think it incumbent on me to give you an Account of those Persons whose +Credit or Employments have the greatest Influence upon the Government; in +which you will please to excuse me, if I do not follow that Order I have +hitherto observ'd in my Narrative.</p> + +<p>The Baron <i>d'Ilgen</i> First Minister of State, was born of an obscure Family +in <i>Westphalia</i>. After he had finished his Studies, he commenc'd Secretary +to M. <i>de Meinders</i>, Minister of State to the Elector <i>Frederic-William</i>, +and to King <i>Frederic</i> I. His Discretion and his Industry soon procur'd +him the Favour of his Master, who put him Governour over his Nephew the +Baron <i>de Heidekam</i>. M. <i>d'Ilgen</i> travell'd with the young Baron to +<i>Holland</i>, <i>England</i>, and <i>France</i>, in which Tour they spent two Years. At +his Return to <i>Berlin</i>, M. <i>de Meinders</i> enter'd him in Business, and the +Elector <i>Frederic-William</i> dying not long after, he procur'd him the +Office of Secretary to the new Elector. In this Employment he behav'd with +such Circumspection that he is still continued in it, notwithstanding the +many Changes that have happen'd in the Ministry. The Baron <i>de Fuchs</i> one +of the most able Ministers that ever <i>Germany</i> produc'd, being charm'd +with his Genius, gave him such a Recommendation to the late King, that he +preferr'd him to a Seat in the Council, where <i>Ilgen</i> soon found out the +way to make himself necessary. +The<!--067.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> +Count <i>de Wartemberg</i>, whose Abilities +were not so great but he stood in need of a Second, being then at the Head +of the Council, consulted in all matters with M. <i>d'Ilgen</i>, who, after the +Count <i>de Wartemberg</i> retired, had the Province of Foreign Affairs +committed to him solely, and has kept it ever since.</p> + +<p>M. <i>d'Ilgen</i> has both Gaiety and Solidity in his Temper, a lively, +fruitful Imagination, and most pleasing Aspect. He is extremely sober, and +an excellent Œconomist, being as great an Enemy to Pleasure, as he is a +Friend to Riches. He is humble sometimes, even to excess; revengeful, +crafty; a Master of his Temper, his Countenance, his Tongue, and his Eyes, +which he accommodates altogether to the Situation of his Affairs. As by +his Parts he raised himself, so by his Parts he supports himself. He is +the sole Repositary of his own Secrets, having no Confident nor Favourite +to share them. He is so indefatigable, that he composes and writes all +himself, keeping his Secretaries only to copy. In short, he works like a +Day-labourer, and makes the Ministry, as it were, a Handicraft. He speaks +well, but writes better; he affects <i>double Entendres</i> in his Answers, and +artfully has recourse, when he needs it, to an ambiguous Expression. He +has so little scruple, in point of Oaths, that he takes and breaks them +with equal Indifference. He never made himself a Creature, but always +removed and humbled those that ever gave him any Umbrage. That which +heightens his Character, and proves his Genius, is, that he has supported +himself a long time, without Kindred, Friends, or Creatures, and perhaps +without being too much honoured by the Favour of his Master<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a>.</p> + +<!--068.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span></p> + +<p>M. <i>de Grumkau</i> Minister of State, Lieutenant-General of the King's +Forces, Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight of the Orders of St. +<i>Andrew</i> of <i>Muscovy</i>, and of the White Eagle of <i>Poland</i>, is descended of +an illustrious Family in <i>Pomerania</i>. His Father was Grand Marshal of the +Elector <i>Frederic-William</i>, and died in that Post, at the beginning of the +late King's Reign. M. <i>de Grumkau</i> being left a Minor, was sent very young +to <i>France</i>, to learn his Exercises, where he acquitted himself with +Diligence, and the Approbation of his Superiors. At his return to +<i>Berlin</i>, <i>Frederic</i> I. appointed him Gentleman of his Bed-chamber, and +gave him a Company of Foot. Soon after which, he married Madamoiselle <i>de +la Chevallerie</i>, who was Maid of Honour to the Queen <i>Sophia-Charlotte</i>. +It was not long before he was advanced; and during the last War he served +as a Brigadier in the Army in the <i>Netherlands</i>. At the same time he had +the Care of the King's Affairs with my Lord Duke of <i>Marlborough</i>, and +Prince <i>Eugene</i> of <i>Savoy</i>. His manner of</p> + +<!--069.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span></p> + +<p>Behaviour shew'd that he was fit to be employ'd in great Affairs: but the +Count <i>Wartemberg</i>, the Favourite, and Prime Minister, being jealous of +his Genius, kept him as much as he could out of any Share in Authority, +and chose rather to prefer him by War, than to employ him in the Ministry. +The Favourites (Messieurs <i>de Camke</i>) who succeeded <i>Wartemberg</i>, +perceiving M. <i>de Grumkau</i>'s superior Abilities, were not more favourable +to him than the Count was. He was preferr'd to be a Major-General at one +of the last Promotions that was made by the late King; and +<i>Frederic-William</i>, on his Accession to the Throne, made him +Lieutenant-General, and Minister of State.</p> + +<p>M. <i>de Grumkau</i> is good-natur'd, civil, and affable. He has the Manners +and Sentiments of a Man of Quality, as he really is; he is generous, +liberal, loves Splendor and Pleasures, but is not so much addicted to them +as to neglect the Affairs of the Ministry. He is laborious, has a clear +and quick Apprehension; a pleasant, lively, and penetrating Fancy; and is +no Enemy to Satyr, when it does not attack his Neighbour's Reputation. As +he is of a beneficent Temper, he has Friends, and makes himself Creatures. +Of all the Ministers, he speaks to the King with the greatest Freedom; and +I believe one may safely venture to put him in the Rank of Favourites.</p> + +<p>The Baron <i>de Kniphausen</i><a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a>, Minister of State, and Commander of the +Order of St. <i>John</i>, is descended of an illustrious Family in +<i>East-Friesland</i>. In the late King's time, his Father was President of the +Chamber, which is properly, Superintendant of the Finances. No Minister +has been employed in more Embassies. He was the King's Resident in +<i>Spain</i>, with <i>Charles</i> III. the present Emperor; +he<!--070.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> +was the same in +<i>Denmark</i>, <i>Muscovy</i>, and <i>France</i>; and every where supported the Dignity +of his Master, and the Honour of his Character. So many Embassies had very +much disconcerted his Affairs; and talking to me one day at <i>Paris</i> about +his Lady, who was the Daughter of M. <i>d'Ilgen</i>, 'I know, <i>said he</i>, that +her Rank is not equal to mine, and that I may be reproach'd for having +married her; but I can return the same Answer which they report of the +Count <i>de Lude</i> (Governor to <i>Gaston</i> of <i>France</i>, <i>Lewis</i> XIIIth's +Brother) who, when he was ruin'd like me, married a Tradesman's Daughter; +<i>Could I do better</i>, said he, <i>when I was persecuted Day and Night by my +Creditors, than to take Refuge in a Shop, rather than be carried to an +Alms-House</i>?'</p> + +<p>M. <i>de Kniphausen</i> has a wonderful natural Genius, and would have every +Talent requisite for a Minister, if he was not quite so averse to Labour; +but being as lazy as his Father-in-Law is laborious, Affairs suffer in his +hands by delay. Not but that he knows how to dispatch them, if he will, +for nobody is more lively nor more vigilant than he, when he sets his +heart upon a thing; but he is naturally indolent, being fond of his Ease +and good Cheer.</p> + +<p>The Baron <i>de Gohren</i>, who is Director of the Chamber of Finances, and of +the Post-Office, is a Man of a good Family in the Marquisate of +<i>Brandenburg</i>. He has not been many years in the Ministry, but has the +Reputation of an upright Man, and one not to be corrupted. He is very +reserved, and a Person of few Words, which gives him an Air that those who +are not conversant with him mistake for Haughtiness.</p> + +<p>M. <i>de Creutz</i> has a happy Physiognomy, being a mixture of hard Features +with mild ones, that carry an Air of Probity and Frankness, which of all +external Appearances is undoubtedly the +most<!--071.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> +advantageous. He is polite, +and magnificent; has an extraordinary Vivacity, an admirable Facility of +expressing himself, and an easy, affable, and genteel Behaviour. He never +promises but when he means to perform, and his Word may be safely depended +on. I always found him very sincere, and I cannot help saying, I love him. +<i>Frederic-William</i> called him to his Councils, he having been his +Secretary when he was Prince Royal. His Assiduity and Punctuality in +performing the Duties of his Office, had procured him the King's Affection +to such a degree that his Majesty continues to honour him with his +Good-will, and gives heed to his Representations<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a>.</p> + +<p>M. <i>de Creutz</i> is one of the richest Subjects in the Country, having had a +very great Estate by his Wife: She has also brought him a Daughter, an +only Child, who is said to have a great deal of Wit; and being a rich +Heiress into the bargain, she will not fail of Suitors.</p> + +<p>M. <i>de Vierec</i> is a Man of Quality, and a Native of <i>Mecklemburg</i>; his +Father was Counsellor of State to the late King, and his Envoy +Extraordinary in <i>Denmark</i>. The Son, of whom I am now writing, quitted the +Service of Duke <i>Anthony-Ulric</i> of <i>Brunswic-Wolfembuttle</i>, to be a +Gentleman of the late King's Bed-chamber. When he came to Court, he had no +Relations there, but he was so happy as to raise himself Friends; for his +modest Air, and his polite and submissive Deportment, gain'd him the +Good-will of the Favourites; and as he lov'd Play, he soon made himself +acquainted with +the<!--072.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> +Court-Ladies, who always gave him their good Word.</p> + +<p>In 1711, when the Count <i>de Dohna</i> went as the King's Ambassador to +<i>Francfort</i>, for the Election of an Emperor, he desir'd of the King that +M. <i>de Vierec</i>, who was reckon'd the most sober young Man at Court, might +be Marshal of the Embassy, which was perform'd at the King's Expence. M. +<i>de Vierec</i> acquitted himself so well in that Employment, that he had the +same Post at the Congress of <i>Utrecht</i>. He had afterwards, for a while, +the Care of the King's Affairs at the Court of <i>France</i>, when the Duke of +<i>Orleans</i> was Regent; and at his Return from thence, he was employed in +the Regency of <i>Cleves</i>; from whence he was called home to better +Preferment, by means of <i>Gerstorf</i>, whose Daughter he had married. For +this General's only Son being killed in <i>Sicily</i>, his Majesty, in order to +comfort the Father, whom he lov'd, and who he saw took it very much to +heart, declared M. <i>de Vierec</i> his Son-in-Law, Minister of State. M. <i>de +Gerstorf</i>'s Daughter dying afterwards, M. <i>de Vierec</i> thereby came +possessed of a very great Estate, and married again to the Daughter of the +Count <i>de Finck</i>, who was formerly the Prince Royal's Governor.</p> + +<p>M. <i>de Vierec</i> is perfectly polite, and altogether as modest now as he was +before he was a Minister; but he is close and reserv'd, mysterious more +than needs must, and jealous. His Circumspection, which extends to the +minutest things, gave him the Air of a Minister, before he had a thought, +perhaps, of ever being one. What with his Kindred, his Estate, and his +Preferment, he is become powerful at Court.</p> + +<p>These, Sir, are the Persons of the greatest Consequence at the Court of +<i>Prussia</i>, with whom I had a particular Acquaintance. I am not so vain as +to think I have painted them in their true +Colours;<!--073.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> +but such as they +appear'd to be in my eyes, I have represented them to you. Men are not +always the same; nor do they appear in the same light to all that see +them; every Man having his own way of thinking, and few judging solidly.</p> + +<p>I have now told you all the Particulars that I know of this Court. What +remains for me is to mention some things to you, which are worth your +seeing, if ever you live to come hither.</p> + +<p>Such are the King's Cabinets of Medals and Antiquities; that of Natural +Curiosities, in which are a great many things not to be seen elsewhere; +the Chymical Laboratory, with its Furnaces and Instruments of a new +Invention; the magnificent Theatre, which the King caused to be built for +Anatomical Demonstrations, with all the Curiosities and Instruments which +are there kept; the Royal Library, one of the most valuable and compleat +in all <i>Germany</i>, where, besides scarce Books and Manuscripts, is a very +curious <i>Chinese</i> Printing-Press.</p> + +<p>All these things would be worth particularizing; but to do this, a Man +must have a larger Acquaintance here than I pretend to: Besides, my +Relation is already spun to such a length that I believe 'tis time to +conclude it.</p> + +<p>I will, however, just acquaint you of a Foundation by the present King, in +favour of the young Gentlemen of his Dominions, which are the Academies of +Cadets, in <i>Berlin</i>, <i>Magdebourg</i>, and other Towns, where they are taught +the Rudiments of War; so that 'tis a Nursery from whence the King makes a +Draught of good Officers. His Majesty has moreover ordered his Generals of +Foot to take each a young Gentleman, whose Fortune does not happen to be +equal to his Birth, to keep them as Pages, and to make them learn their +Exercises, and every thing that an Officer ought +to<!--074.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> +know. An excellent +Institution this, and a fine Resource for the poor Nobility!</p> + +<p>I am preparing to set out forthwith for <i>Hamburgh</i>, <i>Hanover</i>, and the +Court of <i>Brunswic</i>; and after I have made that Tour, you shall have a +second Letter from me. Mean time, I am, <i>&c.</i></p> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 431px;"> +<img src="images/i13.png" width="431" height="63" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER II.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Hamburgh, June 20, 1729.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>Nothing gives me greater pleasure, than the Approbation with which you are +pleased to honour the Account I sent you of the Court of <i>Prussia</i>; which +I esteem as an infinite Reward for the little trouble it cost me. You must +not imagine that I can ever be weary of writing to you; I can never do any +thing more agreeable to myself, than to contribute to your Amusement; and +shall think myself exceeding happy, if I can succeed.</p> + +<p>I set out from <i>Berlin</i> upon the 10th of <i>June</i>, and in less than four +Hours came to <span class="smcap">Oranjebourg</span>, a royal Seat, which King <i>Frederic</i> I. caused +to be built, and to which he gave the Name of <i>Oranjebourg</i>, to perpetuate +the Memory of his Mother, who was born Princess of <i>Orange</i>. This Prince, +great in every Action, spar'd no Cost to render this House worthy of his +magnificent Taste. The Situation of this Place is very charming, in the +midst of fine large Meadows, with Canals cut in them after the manner of +<i>Holland</i>. The Apartments of the +Palace<!--075.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> +are grand, tho' the rich +Furniture it had formerly has been removed to <i>Berlin</i>. The present King +not taking a fancy to it, all runs to ruin; the Gardens, which were the +finest in <i>Germany</i>, are not kept in order; the great Vessels of +Porcellane; which were not to be match'd in <i>Europe</i>, the late King having +procur'd the choicest Rarities of that Ware, that were in the Magazines of +<i>Holland</i>; all these fine things, I say, are pass'd into the hands of the +King of <i>Poland</i>, at <i>Dresden</i>. The Gallery and the Salon of +<i>Oranjebourg</i>, which were furnish'd with them, and which were reckoned +among the Beauties of <i>Germany</i>, are of no account now but for the +Richness of their Cielings.</p> + +<p>From <i>Oranjebourg</i>, I went and lay at <span class="smcap">Ferbellin</span>, a Town which is only +remarkable for a Victory gain'd here by the Elector <i>Frederic-William</i> +over the <i>Swedes</i>. The latter enter'd his Dominions, while he was engag'd +with his Army in defence of the Empire then attack'd by the <i>French</i> on +the <i>Upper Rhine</i>. The Elector being inform'd of the Invasion of his own +Country by the <i>Swedes</i>, came away from the <i>Rhine</i> with his Troops, and +by one of the bravest Marches that ever any General made, deliver'd it +from the Enemy. He surprized them in <i>Ratenau</i>, a Town in the Marquisate +of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, the Garrison of which he made Prisoners; and then +continuing his March, he came up with the <i>Swedes</i> near <i>Ferbellin</i>, at a +time when the latter thought him still upon the <i>Rhine</i>, and gain'd a +compleat Victory. A venerable old Gentleman, who was very near the +Elector's Person at this Battle, told me, that before the Engagement +began, the Prince being at the head of his Army, took out his Pistols, +fir'd them in the Air, and lifting up his Eyes to Heaven, said, <i>'Tis to +thy Glory, </i><span class="smcap">Great God</span><i>, that I discharge my Arms; defend my Cause, thou +knowest it to be just; punish my +Enemies</i>.<!--076.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> +Then drawing his Sword, and +turning about to his Soldiers, <i>My Comrades</i>, said he, <i>I desire no other +Defence, nor no other Weapons, but the Protection of God, your Courage, +and my Sword. Follow me therefore, my Friends, do as I do, and be assur'd +of Victory</i>.</p> + +<p>In this Battle, <i>Forbenius</i>, the Elector's Gentleman of the Horse, +perceiving that a white Steed which his Master rode, made his Person a +very plain Mark for his Enemy, so that they had singled him out to fire +at, desir'd the Prince to change Horses with him. The Elector, who had a +great Soul, above all Fear, refus'd at first to do so, but upon the +repeated Instances of <i>Forbenius</i>, he consented to it; and the Moment that +the Gentleman mounted the Horse which the Elector quitted, a Cannon-Shot +kill'd him dead upon the Place, so quick, that he expir'd without the +Comfort of knowing that he had thereby preserved the Life of his Master.</p> + +<p><i>HAMBURGH</i>, a Hanse-Town in the Circle of Lower <i>Saxony</i>, is, without +dispute, one of the richest and most considerable Towns in all the Empire +of <i>Germany</i>. It depends solely upon its Magistrates, who are chose by the +Burgers themselves. Its Liberty has been often contested by the Kings of +<i>Denmark</i>, who as Dukes of <i>Holstein</i>, pretend that <i>Hamburgh</i> is built +upon their Territory, and that therefore they ought to be the Sovereigns +of it. The Electors of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, and the Princes of the House of +<i>Brunswic</i>, always opposed the Incroachments of the <i>Danes</i>; nor will they +suffer any Power whatsoever to oppress the City of <i>Hamburgh</i>, because, if +it were possible, they would be glad to annex it to their own Domains. The +City being exposed to these Attacks, has taken all the Measures possible +to be in a condition to defend its Liberty. 'Tis very well fortified, +maintains a +good<!--077.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> +Garrison, and has an Arsenal provided with all +Necessaries.</p> + +<p>The Commerce of <i>Hamburgh</i> is considerable, tho' 'tis very much lessen'd +since <i>Frederic</i> IV. King of <i>Denmark</i>, prohibited the Importation of +Merchandize from <i>Hamburgh</i> to his Dominions<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a>.</p> + +<p>The manner of living in this City is different from that of all the Hanse +Towns. Here is a tolerable Opera all the Year round<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a>; charming Walks, +choice Company, much Visiting and hearty Cheer. There are several good +Houses of the Nobility, where Foreigners are well receiv'd. The Merchants +are affable and civil; most of them in their youth travel to the most +remarkable Countries of <i>Europe</i>, where they then pass for Gentlemen of +<i>Holstein</i>. As they are rich, they can easily afford to make a good +Appearance where-ever they come. There they learn that polite Air, and +that Behaviour which one would wish to see in all Gentlemen of good +Families. The only thing for which I find fault with them, is, that they +treat their Wives too much like the <i>Levant</i> People, where the Women are +only suffer'd to go to the Mosques; so here, the Women scarce go any where +but to Church, or if they at any time take the Air, 'tis in company with +<!--078.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span>their +Husbands: and a Foreigner is so seldom admitted to their +Assemblies, that when he is, those poor Women are as much astonish'd at +the sight of him, as a Sultana would be to see a Capuchin enter the +<i>Seraglio</i>.</p> + +<p>There's a great many worthy People here. I have made an Acquaintance with +M. <i>de Brocks</i>, one of the Magistrates, who has acquir'd a Reputation for +his Skill in Poetry, by such Compositions as cannot but convince +Foreigners, who understand the <i>High-Dutch</i>, that as good things may be +said in that Language, as in any other<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a>. This M. <i>de Brocks</i> is of an +amiable Character, civil, and complaisant, and has acquir'd the Love and +Esteem of all that know him.</p> + +<p>Most of the <i>European</i> Princes have Residents here, for which reason here +are several Chappels of the <i>Roman</i> Catholicks, who otherwise would be +obliged to go to the Church at <i>Altena</i>, as the <i>Calvinists</i> are forc'd to +do, the <i>Lutheran</i> being the Religion that is uppermost at <i>Hamburgh</i>; but +the <i>Jews</i> have their Synagogues here. What an odd Establishment is this +in a Christian Country!<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> how uncharitable, and even nonsensical! and +how must it make the <i>Turks</i> laugh! We grant Synagogues to the <i>Jews</i>, the +Enemies of <span class="smcap">Jesus Christ</span>, who would crucify him again, if they had not done +it already; and we refuse Churches and +Temples<!--079.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> +to those that believe as +we do in <span class="smcap">Jesus Christ</span>! No, were you to call me Heretic a thousand times, I +would say, <span class="smcap">Holland for ever!</span> where 'tis a Maxim, to leave every Man to his +Conscience; and where they think it would be a Contradiction to admit +People to be their Fellow-Citizens, and to deny them the Liberty of +worshipping God in their own way.</p> + +<p>The Emperor's Minister, who has the Title of <i>His Imperial Majesty's +Plenipotentiary</i> to the Circle of Lower <i>Saxony</i>, commonly resides at +<i>Hamburgh</i>. The last Gentleman that had this Employment was the Count <i>de +Metsch</i><a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a>; and since his being made Vice-President of the Emperor's +<i>Aulic</i> Council, it has not been fill'd up<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a>.</p> + +<p>The Populace of <i>Hamburgh</i>, just such another ungovernable Herd as the +<i>Amsterdam</i> Mobs, having taken it into their heads some years ago, out of +a mad sort of Zeal for Religion, to plunder the House and Chapel of the +Emperor's Resident; the City in order to make Satisfaction for the Insult, +was condemned to build a House which was to be the Residence of the +Emperor's Minister always for the future. For this end, the City bought +the Palace of the late Baron <i>de Gortz</i>, a Man of great Fame in the +History of <i>Charles</i> XII. King of <i>Sweden</i>; and whose Fortune and +Catastrophe are worthy your notice.</p> + +<p><i>Henry</i> Baron <i>de Gortz</i> was born of an independent Family in <i>Franconia</i>, +which is a Province that abounds with Nobility of Distinction. He enter'd +young into the Service of the Duke of <i>Holstein-Schleswic</i>, and rose to be +his Minister. He was a Man +generous,<!--080.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> +noble, and magnificent, even to +Profusion; vigilant, full of Projects and Stratagems; a Man whom nothing +could surprize, nothing dissuade from a Design that he had once form'd; +whose Ambition was boundless, and who always aim'd to do something to be +talk'd of. In the <i>North</i> there was no Intrigue in which he had not a +hand, and into which he did not likewise draw his Master, whom he push'd +upon Enterprizes so far above his Power to execute, that he thereby lost +his Dominions. The Baron <i>de Gortz</i> thought <i>Holstein</i> too narrow a Sphere +for him to move in, and therefore he attach'd himself to <i>Charles</i> XII. +King of <i>Sweden</i>, after that Prince return'd from his long Stay at +<i>Bender</i>. <i>Charles</i> was just such a Master as the Baron wanted, and he +just such a Minister as was necessary for the King of <i>Sweden</i>; nor was +there ever in the World a greater Sympathy between two Men. <i>Gortz</i> was +born to form great Designs, <i>Charles</i> to put them in execution; and the +constant Design of both was only to throw <i>Europe</i> into a Ferment.</p> + +<p>The Baron, besides other happy Gifts of Nature, had the Talent of +insinuating and pleasing. He soon got an Ascendant over <i>Charles</i>, to such +a degree that tho' this Prince was never to be advis'd by his Ministers, +yet the Baron's Opinion was a Law to him. <i>Gortz</i> frighten'd <i>Europe</i>, and +made <i>Sweden</i> tremble; being as much fear'd and dreaded there as the King +himself. The <i>Swedes</i> were uneasy to see so great a Share of Authority +vested in a Foreigner; and therefore form'd Parties and Cabals to strip +him of it; but they durst not discover their Designs. The Minister knew +all the while they envy'd him, but was in no manner of Concern about it; +for being sure of the Favour of the King, he despised the +Hatred,<!--081.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> +both of +the Populace and the Great Men<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a>.</p> + +<p>But after the Death of <i>Charles</i> XII. who was killed at the Siege of +<i>Frederickshall</i>, in the Month of <i>December</i>, the <i>Swedes</i> did not fail to +punish him; for the Baron, before he cou'd have Intelligence of the King's +Death, was actually put under an Arrest; and upon that Occasion he said to +the Officer, <i>Surely the King must be dead!</i> From that Moment he was never +once heard to complain or murmur; for he was intrepid even to Death; the +Sentence of which he received with a wonderful Constancy of Mind, chose to +die like a Philosopher, and thought too freely of Religion to the very +last. A Divine, who is now one of the King of <i>Denmark</i>'s Chaplains, +turn'd his Heart, and brought him to acknowledge that 'twas the Hand of +God which smote him. He was conducted to the Place of Execution in a +mourning Coach, in which the Chaplain rode with him. He had a long Robe of +black Velvet, ty'd with Ribbands over his Shoulders; and as he was +mounting the Scaffold, which was hung with black Cloth, perceiving one +<i>Duval</i>, a <i>Frenchman</i>, who was his Steward, he held out his Hand, saying, +<i>Farewell <span class="f">Duval</span>, I shall eat no more of thy Soups</i>. When he was on the +Scaffold, an Officer of Justice read a Paper to him with a loud Voice; in +which it was declared that he was degraded from the Rank of Nobility, and +that the Queen had order'd him to be beheaded. <i>Alas!</i> said he, <i>I am born +a free Baron of the Empire. <span class="f">Sweden</span> cannot take from me what it never gave +me; and if I had really deserv'd to be degraded, none has a Right to do it +but the <span class="f">Emperor</span>.</i> Having requir'd one of his Valets de +Chambre<!--082.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> +to undress +him, he deliver'd the Ribband of the Order of the Black Eagle of <i>Prussia</i> +to a Gentleman who stood near him, and enjoin'd him to carry it to one of +his Kindred, that he might return it to the King of <i>Prussia</i>. Then he +fell on his Knees, without shewing the least Sign of Fear; and receiv'd +the Stroke of Death with a Constancy of which there are very few Examples. +His Head being exposed to the People, was a pleasing Victim to their +Hatred and Revenge. The Baron's Corpse was interr'd, at the Place of +Execution, from whence one of his Footmen took it away in the Night-time, +put it into a Barrel, and carry'd it to <i>Hamburgh</i>; where it was laid upon +a Bed of State, and bury'd with all the Formalities fitting the Rank which +he had held in the World.</p> + +<p>Within a Cannon-Shot of <i>Hamburgh</i>, stands the Town of <span class="smcap">Altena</span>, which +belongs to the King of <i>Denmark</i>. The <i>Swedish</i> General, <i>Steinbock</i>, +reduc'd it to Ashes, the 9th of <i>January</i> 1712, by way of Reprisal, as he +said, because the <i>Danes</i> had burnt <i>Staden</i>: but there was this +Difference, that the <i>Danes</i> had besieg'd <i>Staden</i> in form, and destroy'd +it by their Bombs; whereas <i>Steinbock</i> acted the part of an Incendiary. As +soon as he appear'd before <i>Altena</i>, he sent in a Message to advise the +Inhabitants to retire with what they could carry off, for that he was +going to destroy their Town. The Magistrates came out in a Body, and +falling at his Feet, begg'd for Mercy, and offer'd him a considerable Sum +of Money. <i>Steinbock</i> insisting on more, they granted him his whole +Demand, only they desir'd Time to go to <i>Hamburgh</i> for the Money. The +merciless General would admit of no such Delay. The poor Inhabitants were +oblig'd to turn out; the Mothers carry'd out their Infants; the young +Fellows, the paralytick old Men; some groan'd under Loads of Furniture; +all lamented their +Fate,<!--083.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> +and uter'd Cries that wou'd have almost pierc'd +a Stone. The <i>Swedes</i> stood at the Barriers, with flaming Torches in their +Hands, to see them pass; and before the poor Inhabitants were all gone +out, they enter'd the Town, and set fire to all parts of it; not sparing +even the Vaults of the Dead.</p> + +<p>Never was a greater Desolation known; but what compleated the Ruin of the +<i>Altenois</i>, was the Necessity of the Times, which was such as oblig'd the +<i>Hamburghers</i> not to entertain them. Several prejudic'd Authors have said +that the <i>Hamburghers</i>, insensible, if not overjoy'd at the Calamity of +their Neighbours, kept their Gates shut, that they might see them perish. +But the truth is, that the <i>Hamburghers</i> were oblig'd to be thus strict; +because the Plague raging at that time in <i>Holstein</i>, the Elector of +<i>Hanover</i> had forc'd them to stop all Commerce with that Country; +threatning them, that if he heard they had the least Communication with +<i>Altena</i>, he wou'd prohibit his Subjects from all manner of Correspondence +with the City of <i>Hamburgh</i>. Besides, it wou'd not have been prudent in +the <i>Hamburghers</i> to have open'd their Gates in the Night-time; for the +<i>Swedish</i> Army being so near, they could not tell but the <i>Swedes</i> might +come into the Town as well as the <i>Altenois</i>. To the Misfortune of the +Times therefore must be ascribed the Distress of the Inhabitants of +<i>Altena</i>, most of whom perished with Cold, Want, and Despair.</p> + +<p><i>Frederic</i> IV. King of <i>Denmark</i>, being touched with Compassion for the +Misfortune of his Subjects of <i>Altena</i>, relieved them as far as the +Necessity of the Times wou'd give him leave. He caus'd them to be supply'd +with Materials for rebuilding their Houses; and now <i>Altena</i> has recovered +her Losses: for the King of <i>Denmark</i> has not only granted it many new +Privileges, but has caus'd a +Harbour<!--084.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> +to be made there; and does all that +is in his power to draw a Trade to it. This City being a privileg'd Place +for Bankrupts, many of that Character come from <i>Hamburgh</i> to settle here; +and there is a general Toleration for those of all Religions, who have +their Churches and Temples here; which draws such numbers of People, that +in time <i>Altena</i> will probably become <i>Hamburgh</i>, and <i>Hamburgh</i> <i>Altena</i>: +For the <i>Hamburghers</i>, on the contrary, will tolerate no Christian Sects; +tho' they grant the <i>Jews</i> the public Exercise of their Religion, as has +been already observed. The Governour of <i>Danish Holstein</i> resides here, +who is the Count <i>de Reventlau</i>, Brother to the<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a>Queen of <i>Denmark</i>. I +am, <i>&c.</i></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 303px;"> +<img src="images/i12.png" width="303" height="218" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--085.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 418px;"> +<img src="images/i18.png" width="418" height="61" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER III.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Hanover, July 5, 1729.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>This Letter is to acquaint you of some things that I remark'd in the Road +from <i>Hamburgh</i>, and in this City itself; where I have now been these +three Days.</p> + +<p>I set out from <i>Hamburgh</i> the 22d of <i>June</i>, and went by Water to +<span class="smcap">Harbourg</span>, having sent my Chaise thither the Day before. This Town is a +Dependant on the Dutchy of <i>Lunenbourg</i>, and belongs to the Elector of +<i>Brunswic-Lunenbourg</i>. It has nothing very remarkable but its Castle, +which is a Pentagon, lin'd with a good Cover'd-Way. Madamoiselle +<i>d'Olbreuse</i><a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a>, whom the Duke of <i>Zell</i> marry'd, had the Title of Madame +<i>de Harbourg</i>, till she was recogniz'd by the Emperor a Princess of the +Empire. For by the Laws of <i>Germany</i>, a Prince of a Sovereign Family can +marry none but a Princess, or a Countess. If he weds a private +Gentlewoman, he not only marries below himself, but his Wife does not go +by his Name; and the Children of such Marriage cannot succeed, unless the +Emperor declare the Mother a Princess; as he commonly does in favour of +Princes of antient Families.</p> + +<p>Between <i>Harbourg</i> and <i>Zell</i>, which is twelve Miles, there is scarce any +thing but Heath. The Post-Stages, which are of four Miles, are very ill +<!--086.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span>serv'd, +and the Inns the worst in <i>Germany</i>; all which together render +the Road extremely disagreeable.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Zell</span> is a little Town with great Suburbs. All its Buildings are of Timber, +except the Churches, the Castle, and the House of Correction, which are of +Brick. There is a Trade from hence to <i>Bremen</i>, by the River <i>Aller</i>.</p> + +<p>After the Death of <i>George-William</i>, the last Duke of <i>Zell</i><a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a>, this +City, and its Dependency, the Dutchy of <i>Lunenbourg</i>, devolv'd to his +Nephew <i>George</i>, Elector of <i>Brunswic-Hanover</i>, afterwards King of <i>Great +Britain</i>. This Prince had a Regency at <i>Zell</i>, which judged all Causes, +without any Appeal but to the Council of State at <i>Hanover</i>. The President +of it at this time, is the Baron <i>de Friesberg</i>, a Person of a good Family +in the Country of <i>Hildesheim</i>; who has been a long time the Elector's +Envoy at the Diet of <i>Ratisbon</i>, where I knew him, and received a world of +Civilities from him. He is esteem'd for the prudent Management of his +Office, and his noble manner of living. There are a great many Persons of +Quality settled at <i>Zell</i>, who for a trifling Expence enjoy the Pleasures +of agreeable Society. They visit and regale one another very much, and are +not wanting in Civilities to Foreigners. Monsieur <i>de Schulenbourgh</i><a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a>, +Lieutenant-General of the <i>Hanoverian</i> Horse, +and<!--087.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> +Knight of the +<i>Prussian</i> Order of the Black Eagle, is the Governour of this Town. He is +a Gentleman of good Extraction, of Behaviour, Noble, Polite, and Easy; and +though he is Father of a numerous Family, he affects to live grand, and +keeps a very good Table. One of his Sons is in the Service of <i>Prussia</i>, +the others are in that of the King of <i>England</i>. I mention them to you, +because they are worthy Gentlemen; and whoever knows them, cannot but +esteem them.</p> + +<p>Here are a great many <i>French</i> People, <i>Catholick</i> as well as +<i>Protestant</i>, of whom the former have a Chapel, and the latter a Church; +but the Religion which is predominant, is the <i>Lutheran</i>. The last +Dutchess of <i>Zell</i>, of the Family of <i>Olbreuse</i>, being a <i>French</i> Woman, +fill'd her Husband's Court and Guards with her own Countrymen; who were +even preferr'd before the Natives of <i>Zell</i>. I have been told that these +<i>Frenchmen</i> really thought themselves so much at home, that there happen'd +to be one day no less than a dozen of 'em at Dinner at the Duke's Table, +who all except the Prince were <i>Frenchmen</i>; which one of them observing, +said to the Duke, <i>My Lord, this is really very pleasant; there is no +Foreigner here but you</i>!</p> + +<p>In the Neighbourhood of this Town there's the Castle of <i>Ahlen</i>, where, +(about nine Years ago,) the unfortunate Daughter of the last Duke of +<i>Zell</i>, by Madamoiselle <i>d'Olbreuse</i>, ended her Days, after she had been +retir'd thither about thirty six Years: She had been promised in Marriage +to <i>Augustus-William</i>, the hereditary Prince of +<i>Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Wolfemhuttle</i>; but her Father the Duke, by the +Intrigues of the Princess <i>Sophia</i>, Dutchess of <i>Hanover</i>, marry'd her +against her Will, and against the Consent of her Mother, to the hereditary +Prince <i>George-Lewis</i>, who was afterwards King of <i>Great Britain</i>, by +Right of his Mother, and who died +in<!--088.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> +the Year 1727, as he came to make +the Tour of his hereditary Dominions. She was sixteen Years old at her +Marriage with that Prince, who was then twenty-two.</p> + +<p>Tho' there's a good deal of Heath between <i>Zell</i> and <i>Hanover</i>, yet the +Country is very well cultivated; for the Inhabitants not only make Turfs +of the Heath for Fewel, but it serves also for Pasturage, and for Manure. +'Tis about five <i>German</i> Miles from one Town to the other, and I travell'd +it in less than five Hours.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Hanover</span>, the Capital of the Electorate of <i>Brunswic-Lunenbourg</i>, is bigger +than <i>Zell</i>. The River <i>Leine</i> divides it into the old and new Towns, +which are both encompass'd with Ramparts that scarce deserve the Name. +There is nothing very extraordinary in the Palace or Castle, which is +rather commodious than magnificent; and the Town of <i>Hanover</i>, generally +speaking, is but ill built. The most remarkable Structure in it, is the +<i>Roman Catholick</i> Church, which was granted to those of that Communion by +<i>Ernest-Augustus</i> of <i>Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Hanover</i>; that being one of the +Conditions which the Emperor <i>Leopold</i> demanded of him when he honour'd +him with the Electoral Dignity. That Prince moreover engag'd to admit of +an Apostolical Vicar in his Dominions, and to give him leave to reside at +<i>Hanover</i>, as <i>Spiga</i>, who lately died at <i>Francfort</i><a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a>, did for many +Years. Divine Service is perform'd in this Church as regularly as in a +Cathedral; and they who officiate in it are Missionaries. The number of +Catholicks is very considerable; but few Persons of +Quality<!--089.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> +are of that +Communion, the Nobility being all <i>Lutherans</i>.</p> + +<p>When <i>George</i> I. King of <i>Great Britain</i> left his <i>German</i> Dominions to +take possession of his Kingdom, he was willing that all Affairs at +<i>Hanover</i> shou'd continue on the same footing as they were before he was +called to the Throne; and he left behind him Prince <i>Frederic</i> his +Grandson, now Prince of <i>Wales</i>; who not only had a Drawing-Room every +Day, but the same Attendance as had the Elector before he was King.</p> + +<p>His Majesty King <i>George</i> II. has made no Alteration in the Establishment +of the King his Father. When he sent for the Prince of <i>Wales</i> to +<i>England</i>, he order'd the Courtiers to continue their Assemblies at the +Castle; and that his Table shou'd always be serv'd in the same manner as +if he himself was at <i>Hanover</i>. His Majesty keeps up the same number of +Gentlemen, Pages, Domestics, and Guards; and the same number of Horses, +Grooms, &c. in his Stables. There's a <i>French</i> Comedy acted three times a +Week at the Palace, to which all People are admitted <i>gratis</i>; and there +are frequently Concerts, Balls and Assemblies. The Gentlemen who do the +Court-Honours at these Entertainments, and who invite Persons to dine or +sup at the King's Table, are either M. <i>de Hardenberg</i>, the Grand Marshal, +or, in his absence, the Baron <i>de Gortz</i><a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a>, Chief Steward of the +Houshold; or else M. <i>de Rheden</i>, Captain of the Castle of <i>Hanover</i>.</p> + +<p>In the King's absence, the Government is compos'd of a Council of State, +whereof M. <i>de Hardenberg</i> is Chief or President; which meets every day in +an Apartment of the Castle. To this all the Courts of Justice in the +Dominions of <i>Hanover</i> are subject, and accountable. The +Council<!--090.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> +of State +receives its Orders immediately from the King; and they are counter-signed +either by the Count <i>de Bothmar</i>, or by M. <i>de Hattorf</i>, the two <i>German</i> +Ministers that attend his Majesty's Person.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>de Bothmar</i><a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> is an old Gentleman, who for a long time +resided in quality of the Elector's Envoy at the Court of <i>England</i>, +where, by his prudent Management for his Master, he cherished the most +incontestable Right that a Prince can possibly have to a Crown; I mean, +the Voice of the People.</p> + +<p>M. <i>de Hattorf</i> is not only the Minister's Son, but has been his +Co-adjutor, for they had both the War-Office in their Province; for which +reason they were called <i>Louvois</i> and <i>Barbesieux</i>, a Comparison which +does no Dishonour either to the one or to the other: for if the two +<i>Hattorfs</i> have not made such a Blaze in the World, 'tis because they had +not a <i>Lewis</i> XIV. for their Master, for they were not inferior to the +<i>French</i> Ministers in Capacity, and Application to Business, and had not +their Pride and Arrogance.</p> + +<p>M. <i>de Munchausen</i> is one of those Ministers of State who bears the most +Sway. He is of a Temper beneficent, mild, civil, very candid, sober, and +religious. He lives with Dignity, and his House is as open to Foreigners +as any in the City.</p> + +<p>The Marshal Baron <i>de Bulau</i>, is Commander in chief of the Forces<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a>. He +has no manner of +Dependance<!--091.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> +on the Council of State, and receives his +Orders immediately from the King, by M. <i>de Hattorf</i> the Secretary at War. +The Promotion which the King makes of Officers is by the Recommendation of +M. <i>de Bulau</i>; and such as would enter into the Service must make their +Application to him. He serv'd with Distinction in the <i>Netherlands</i>, under +my Lord Duke of <i>Marlborough</i>. He has actually under his Command 18000 +Men, which is the Complement of the King of <i>Great Britain</i>'s Forces, as +Elector. His Majesty indeed, keeps in pay 12000 <i>Hessians</i>,<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> and 4000 +Men of the Troops of <i>Wolfenbuttle</i>. 'Tis true, those Forces are paid by +<i>England</i>, but to me it seems they are only to defend the King's Dominions +in <i>Germany</i>.</p> + +<p>Tho' the Sovereign is absent, yet here are not wanting Amusements; there +being many good Families, and a number of amiable Persons.</p> + +<p>The lovely Countess of <i>Delitz</i>, Niece to the Dutchess of <i>Kendal</i>, cou'd +not fail of Adorers, even in the most barbarous Countries; for the Charms +of her Mind are not inferior to the Beauty, Sweetness, and Gracefulness of +her Person.</p> + +<p>No Lady can have a better Temper or Behaviour than the Baroness <i>de +Bulau</i>, Daughter-in-law to the Marshal, and Daughter to the late Countess +of <i>Platen</i>: her Husband is a worthy Gentleman, and keeps a very good +House.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>de Platen</i>, hereditary Post-Master-General, is one of the +richest Subjects in the Electorate, and one that spends the most Money. A +Foreigner will always have cause to speak well of M. <i>de Rheden</i>, Captain +of the Castle, and M. <i>de Wagenheim</i>, the great Cup-Bearer. Messieurs +<i>d'Ilten</i><!--092.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> +live splendidly; and both the Brothers, the eldest of whom is a +Colonel of the Guards, are amiable and infinitely polite. If ever you come +hither, you will certainly have reason to be fond of their Company.</p> + +<p>The Situation of <i>Hanover</i> is very agreeable; and in its Neighbourhood are +several pretty Seats. Among these <i>Herenhausen</i> (the House of the <i>Lord</i>, +or the <i>Master</i>) is a Castle which was built by Order of the Elector +<i>Ernest-Augustus</i>, the King's Grandfather. This House, to which a strait +Walk leads, bears no proportion to the Magnificence of its Gardens, which +are undeniably some of the finest in all <i>Europe</i>; being particularly +adorn'd with Water-Works that throw the Water up much higher than the +famous Fountain at <i>St. Cloud</i>, which was always look'd upon as the most +considerable of the kind<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a>.</p> + +<p>Between <i>Hanover</i> and <i>Herenhausen</i>, there are two fine Seats; of which, +one is call'd <i>Fantasie</i>, i. e. <i>the Whim</i>; and the other, <i>Monbrillant</i>, +or, <i>Mount-Pleasant</i>. They were built by two Sisters-in-law, <i>viz.</i> Madame +<i>de Kilmanseck</i>, (who after her Husband's Death, was by King <i>George</i> I. +created Countess of <i>Arlington</i>) and the Countess of <i>Platen</i>. These two +Houses are a Proof of the good Taste of those Ladies, who were really an +Honour to <i>Germany</i>, for their Beauty, good Sense, Manners, and Genius. +They both died in their Prime, a little time after one another; my Lady +<i>Arlington</i> in <i>England</i>, and the Countess of <i>Platen</i> at <i>Hanover</i>, to +which she was not only an Ornament, but a Lustre.</p> + +<!--093.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span></p> + +<p>The Dominions of <i>Hanover</i> are so considerable, that I have been assured +the Revenues are no less than six Millions of Crowns <i>per An.</i> Whether +this be true, I do not know; but I tell you what I was told myself.</p> + +<p><i>Hamelen</i> upon the <i>Weser</i> is the only Town that can be reckoned a Place +of Defence. <i>Hanover</i>, <i>Zell</i>, and <i>Lunenbourg</i>, have Ramparts; +<i>Harbourg</i>, a Castle, or Citadel; but all so inconsiderable, that they are +not worth mentioning.</p> + +<p>There are few Sovereigns whose Finances are in so good a Condition as this +Elector's; which has been the happy Produce of three succeeding Reigns; +and the good Œconomy wherewith they were managed by the three last +Princes of the Electoral Family, has contributed infinitely to the Figure +it makes at this time. Mean-while, notwithstanding these Regulations, the +People were never oppress'd, and the Princes always lived with a Splendor +suitable to their Grandeur. <i>Ernest-Augustus</i> obtained the Electoral +Dignity, not without making great Presents to the Court of <i>Vienna</i>, at a +time too when his Power was limited to the Dutchy of <i>Hanover</i>, and the +Bishoprick of <i>Osnabrug</i>. Tho' this Prince had a numerous Family to +provide for, he lived with Splendor, was fond of Magnificence and +Pleasures, gallant, generous, and liberal; and when he died, he left no +Debts to pay, and his Finances were in a good State.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">George</span> I. his Son and Successor kept up a considerable Body of Troops, and +had a very splendid Court. As his Acquisitions were great, he distributed +his Favours where-ever he was inform'd there was a Necessity; and when he +came to the Throne, he made no Reform in this Court; so that their not +seeing him was the only Token of his Absence. At his Death, he left +immense Sums in his +Treasury,<!--094.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> +and so glorious a Character, that his +Subjects still bless the Memory of his Reign.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">George</span> II. his Son, and the Heir of his Crown, his Dominions, and Virtues, +behaves in the very same manner. While he lives and acts like a King, he +neither gives, on the one hand, into the Extravagance of vain Pomp and +Pageantry, nor on the other, into that sordid Thriftiness which debases +Royal Majesty, and extinguishes the Love of Subjects. He accumulates +Treasure without oppressing his People, who love him, and offer up their +Prayers for him, as I do for your Preservation; and</p> + +<div class="right"> +<i>Am</i>, &c. +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 432px;"> +<img src="images/i14.png" width="432" height="53" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER IV.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Blanckenbourg, July 30, 1729.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>I was six Hours travelling from <i>Hanover</i> to <span class="smcap">Brunswic</span>, the Capital of the +Dutchy of that Name, which is a very great City, with Houses for the most +part of Timber. It was formerly a Free and Imperial City, and one of the +<i>Hanse</i>-Towns; but falling under the Sovereignty of the Princes of the +House of <i>Brunswic</i>, they reduced it to a level with the other Towns of +their Dominions. It belongs to the Duke of <i>Brunswic-Lunenbourg +Wolfembuttle</i>. The Duke <i>Anthony-Ulric</i> began to fortify it; and his Son +<i>Augustus-William</i>, the present Duke<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a>, +perfected<!--095.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> +what remained +unfinished at his Father's Death, and made <i>Brunswic</i> a Place which cannot +be besieged without a numerous Army: But then on the other hand, it would +require such an Army to garison it as the Duke could not furnish without +the help of his Neighbours, and which besides, wou'd not perhaps be +extraordinary convenient for him to introduce. The said Duke has caused a +new Palace to be built, which is large and magnificent, and the Furniture +is rich, new, and excellently well chosen. Among the rest, there are very +fine Pictures, and a Cabinet full of Curiosities.</p> + +<p>The Duke of <i>Blanckenbourg</i>, Brother to the Duke of <i>Wolfembuttle</i>, has a +particular Palace, where he resides in the Fair-time, but it did not +appear to me to be a House of any consequence.</p> + +<p>The Fairs of <i>Brunswic</i> contribute very much to make it a rich and famous +City, there being two held every Year, and a considerable Trade carried on +at both.</p> + +<p>There is very good Diversion during these Fairs; for then all the Ducal +Family is generally at <i>Brunswic</i>; to which foreign Princes come often, +and there is always a great Concourse of the Nobility. The Duke sends +every Morning to invite the Quality of both Sexes, who at Noon repair to +the Palace. The Grand Marshal, for avoiding all Disputes about Precedency, +causes the Ladies to be match'd with the Gentlemen by the drawing of +Tickets; and sometimes it happens that a +Dutchess<!--096.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> +is at the lower end of +the Table, which is served with very great Magnificence and Elegance. When +there are too many Guests to sit at one Table, the two Brothers keep each +a separate Table at his own Palace. At Night, the Company repairs to the +<i>German</i> Opera, which being ended, they pass into Rooms joining to the +Theatre where they play, and sup, and then dance. The Ball is open'd by +the Gentleman who happened to draw the first Number in the Morning, and +continues till Day-break.</p> + +<p>The Ducal Family of <i>Brunswic-Wolfembuttle</i> consists now but of two +Brothers; the eldest of whom, the Duke<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> <i>Augustus-William</i>, has had +three Wives, but no Issue. He is married to a Princess of +<i>Holstein-Norbourg</i>.</p> + +<p>These two Princes are so far advanced in Years, that the Duke +<i>Ferdinand-Albert</i> of <i>Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Bevern</i>, Son-in-law to the Duke +of <i>Blanckenbourg</i><a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a>, is looked upon as their presumptive Heir. <i>Europe</i> +produces few Princes of more distinguished Merit, who have equal +Knowledge, more Learning, and Integrity, or more Valour and Experience in +War. He has acquired a noble Reputation in <i>Hungary</i>; and he is not only a +Brother-in-law to the Emperor, but one of his favourite Generals, and has +a Regiment in his Service<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a>.</p> + +<!--097.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span></p> + +<p>His Family consists of four Sons and three Daughters<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> by his Wife +<i>Antonietta-Amelia</i> of <i>Brunswic-Blanckenbourg</i>. These are very hopeful +young Princes. The eldest, whose Name is <i>Charles</i><a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a>, is of a lovely +Make, and has Sense infinitely beyond his Years. The eldest Princess, +<i>Elizabeth-Christina</i><a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a>, at twelve Years of Age may pass for one that is +compleatly grown; her Air is noble and modest; her Features regular; in a +word, she is form'd to make that Prince happy who is one day to be her +Husband.</p> + +<p>The Court of <i>Wolfembuttle</i> is numerous, and when assembled does not want +for Magnificence.</p> + +<p>The Ministers of most Power are the Baron <i>Stein</i><a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a>, and the Count <i>de +Debn</i><a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a>. The +former<!--098.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> +is descended of an illustrious Family in <i>Swabia</i>: +He was in the Service of the Landgrave of <i>Darmstadt</i>, and his Envoy at +the Dyet of <i>Ratisbon</i>, and several Courts, where he made himself +considerable by his Eloquence, the Justness of his Sentiments, by the Ease +with which he expresses them, and by his Politeness.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>de Dehn</i> is a Native of <i>Mecklemburg</i>, where he was born of a +good Family, and enter'd very young a Page to Duke <i>Anthony-Ulric</i> of +<i>Brunswic-Wolfembuttle</i>. He had the Happiness to please that Prince, but +much more his Successor, the Duke <i>Augustus-William</i>, who of his Page, +made him his Favourite and Minister, heaped Wealth and Honours upon him, +and match'd him to the Daughter of his Chancellor, who was one of the +richest Heiresses in all <i>Germany</i>.</p> + +<p>The young Minister finding himself rich and powerful, quickly thought the +Court of <i>Wolfembuttle</i> too narrow a Stage for Action. He had chose the +Count <i>de Fleming</i>, Prime Minister of the King of <i>Poland</i>, for a Model. +He saw that this Minister, under pretence of important Negotiations, went +to the chief Courts of the Empire to make a Parade of his Riches; and +young <i>Dehn</i> long'd with Impatience to imitate him. He procur'd himself to +be nominated the Duke's Envoy Extraordinary to <i>Holland</i> and <i>France</i>, +where he vy'd in every respect with the Ambassadors of the chief Crowns. +In fine, after having staid about eighteen Months at <i>Paris</i>, he went away +very much lamented by the Merchants and Workmen with whom he had dealings. +He came to <i>Wolfembuttle</i> to receive the Applauses of his +Master,<!--099.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> +and to +rest himself after the Fatigues he had undergone in his important +Negotiations.</p> + +<p>As Count <i>Fleming</i> was honoured with the Orders of <i>Denmark</i>, <i>Russia</i>, +and <i>Poland</i>, his Rival too thought he could not do without one Ribbon at +least; and thinking the Order of <i>Dannebrock</i> the most proper for him, +because it was white, he demanded and obtained it of <i>Frederic</i> IV. the +King of <i>Denmark</i>. When he saw himself thus adorn'd, he procured himself +to be sent to <i>Vienna</i>. What business he had there, I know not; but he was +scarce ever from the Emperor, and in order to be nearer to his Person, he +lodged just by the Palace of the <i>Favorita</i>. He often relieved the Cares +of the Ministry by making some Entertainment or Ball. He had an admirable +Genius for Dancing, so that every body thought him the Inventor of +Country-Dances. The Emperor gave him the Title of a Count, with which he +returned to his own Court.</p> + +<p>When Glory has once fir'd a noble Soul, nothing can keep it within Bounds. +The Count <i>de Dehn</i> had lost his first Wife, who left him the Heir of +three great Estates; and he married again to an amiable Lady, who return'd +him Love for Love. Tho' he was dear to his Master, yet he could not +resolve to continue at <i>Wolfembuttle</i>, because he had a Taste for nothing +but Treaties and Negotiations. He returned a second time, as Envoy +Extraordinary to the <i>States-General</i>, but did not stay long at the +<i>Hague</i>; for after having had his publick Audience, wherein he assured +their High-Mightinesses of the sincere Affection of his Master for their +Republic, and of his own personal Joy to find himself seated in an +Arm-Chair in their Assembly, he went over to <i>England</i> to reside at the +Court of his <i>Britannic</i> Majesty. He was admired for his Grandeur, as much +in <i>England</i> as elsewhere; but the Air of that Country not agreeing with +the Delicacy of his +Constitution,<!--100.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> +he return'd to <i>Germany</i>; and, after +having made a tour to the chief Courts of the Empire, he is come back to +<i>Wolfembuttle</i>, where he stays in expectation that some great Event or +other will turn up, that he may be employ'd in some remarkable Embassy, +whereby <i>Europe</i>, attentive to every thing that relates to him, may have +fresh Proofs of his great Talents.</p> + +<p>The Baron <i>de Hagen</i> is Commander in Chief of the Duke's Troops, which +actually amount to above 4000 Men, and 'tis said, that his Highness's +Revenues exceed two Millions of Crowns. His Subjects are not the worst +used of any in <i>Germany</i>. 'Tis a good fruitful Country; the Peasants, who +are sober and laborious, are as clownish and as stupid as those that herd +with the Hogs in <i>Westphalia</i>; but they are robust, strong, and good +Soldiers.</p> + +<p>In <i>Brunswic</i> there is a Catholick Church which is small, but neat. The +Duke <i>Anthony-Ulric</i> caus'd it to be built at the time he embraced the +Catholick Religion; which he did, after full Conviction, not many Years +before his Death.</p> + +<p><i>Saltzdahl</i>, a Pleasure-House belonging to the Duke, is a League from +<i>Brunswic</i>, and from <i>Wolfembuttle</i>. It was built by Duke <i>Anthony-Ulric</i>, +one of the most magnificent Princes of his Time, and one who had the most +elegant Taste. This House is worthy of nice Observation. It has a great +Gallery with a Collection of Pictures in it by the chief Painters, which +is not to be met with elsewhere. In one great Cabinet there is very fine +Porcellane; and in another, a vast number of Vessels and Urns painted by +<i>Raphael</i>. In short, the Curious can't want here for Entertainment.</p> + +<p>The Road from <i>Brunswic</i> to <span class="smcap">Wolfembuttle</span> is as pleasant as most Roads. We +cross a little Wood through which there are several Routes cut, and +as<!--101.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> +we +come near the Town, several pretty Seats appear in view.</p> + +<p>The Town of <i>Wolfembuttle</i> is not half so big as <i>Brunswic</i>, nor is it +better built, the Houses being of Timber. The Fortifications seem to me to +be in good Repair. The Castle, or Ducal Palace, is ancient, and makes no +great Appearance, but 'tis commodious, and has good Lodging-Rooms. That +which most deserves the Attention of a Traveller, is the Library, which is +one of the best chosen in <i>Europe</i>, and contains very scarce Books and +Manuscripts.</p> + +<p>As I had left the Court at <i>Brunswic</i> I did not stay many Hours at +<i>Wolfembuttle</i>, but came to lie here at <span class="smcap">Blanckenbourg</span>, where I have all +that Heart can wish for.</p> + +<p>The Duke is as affable and as civil a Prince as any in the World. In his +Youth he visited the principal Courts of <i>Europe</i>, where he contracted a +great Politeness, and a solid Taste of Elegancy. He loves the <i>Belles +Lettres</i>, protects the Arts and Sciences, and looks out for Men of Ability +to serve him. He is magnificent, generous, a good Prince, and a kind +Master. He was at one and the same time, the Father of an Empress, and the +Grandfather of an Emperor. As a Father, he has a considerable Pension from +the Emperor of <i>Germany</i>; and as a Grandfather, he has been honour'd with +the Order of St. <i>Andrew</i> of <i>Muscovy</i>, founded by <i>Peter</i> the Great, +which is a blue Ribbon, with St. <i>Andrew</i>'s Cross appendant to it +enamell'd with blue. This Prince is also a Commander of <i>Suplenbourg</i>, a +Commandery of the Order of St. <i>John</i>, annexed to the House of <i>Brunswic</i>. +He has had three Daughters by his Wife <i>Elizabeth-Christina</i> of +<i>Oetingen</i>.</p> + +<p>The Dutchess, tho' advanc'd in Years, retains an Air of Grandeur and +Majesty which strikes the Beholders, and her Features discover the Marks +of<!--102.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> +that shining Beauty which she had in her Youth. But what renders this +Princess more venerable than even her Birth, is her solid Piety, her just +Discernment, her lively Imagination, her noble and easy manner of +expressing herself, and her Principles of Humanity, accompany'd with a +Generosity free from all Ostentation.</p> + +<p>I had the honour to pay my Duty to her at <i>Brunswic</i>, some Years ago, when +she receiv'd me with such Tokens of Goodness as rejoic'd my very Heart; +and upon all Occasions since, she has been pleas'd to give me fresh Proofs +of it. As I can be of no service to this Princess in any Case, nor so +happy as to be able to contribute to her Glory, 'tis my Ambition to make +every one, and you, Sir, in particular, sensible of the Respect and +Attachment with which I am devoted to her, and of the grateful Sense I +have of the Benevolence with which she has honour'd me.</p> + +<p>The Courtiers of <i>Blanckenbourg</i> are, like their Master, very polite. M. +<i>de Munchausen</i> is the chief of the Duke's Council, and was formerly in +the Service of the Duke of <i>Wolfembuttle</i>. He is a Gentleman of great +Learning, Labour, and Vigilance, and has a distinct and noble Manner of +Delivery. He is heartily attach'd to his Master; and the Courtiers seem'd +to me to have an Esteem and Affection for him. Men of solid Judgment, and +who have been more conversant with this Minister than I, have assured me +that he is one of the greatest Genius's at this present, in <i>Germany</i><a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a>.</p> + +<p>M. <i>de Sporck</i> is the Grand Marshal, which Employment he acquits himself +in with very great Politeness and Care. He is come of a good Family, his +<!--103.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span>Father +being Minister of State, and Director of the Dutchies of <i>Zell</i> +and <i>Lunenbourg</i>. M. <i>de Polentz</i><a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> does the Honours of the Court under +him, in quality of Great Cup-Bearer. As he had his Education at Court, he +is vastly polite; and Foreigners cannot but be pleas'd with his good +Behaviour.</p> + +<p>The Duke and Dutchess delight to see Foreigners at their Court, whom they +load with Civilities, and will have them always to dine and sup with their +Highnesses. After Dinner, they take the Air, or make Visits; and in the +Evening there's an Assembly in the Dutchess's Apartment, where they play, +then sup, and afterwards every one retires. We have had a Comedy twice or +thrice, which is acted by the young People of the Family, who perform +their Parts very well; especially in the Tragedies of <i>Corneille</i> and +<i>Racine</i>, translated into <i>High-Dutch</i>.</p> + +<p>The Pleasures of the Carnival are more gay, at which time the Duke makes +Entertainments: There's a Ball, a Masquerade, and Comedy at Court, every +Day; and for the time there's so great a Concourse of Strangers here from +the neighbouring Towns, that sometimes 'tis impossible to get a Lodging.</p> + +<p>The Town of <span class="smcap">Blanckenbourg</span> is small, and the Houses ill built, and +inconvenient. The Duke has done all in his power to engage the Inhabitants +to build; he has offer'd them Materials <i>gratis</i>, and has moreover +endeavour'd to inspire them with a Taste for the Arts; but all without +Success.</p> + +<p>I never in my whole Life, saw People more indolent and clownish than those +of <i>Blanckenbourg</i>, and the neighbouring Towns. They are so bigotted to +old Customs, that they say, <i>My Father liv'd so, and so will I; My Father +did not do this, nor will I</i>. I cannot conceive how People, so dull as +they are, and so strongly attach'd to the Institutions of their +<!--104.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span>Forefathers, +came to give into <i>Luther</i>'s Reformation.<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> + +<p><i>Blanckenbourg</i> is a petty County, which Duke <i>Anthony-Ulric</i> yielded in +his Life-time to his second Son, to make him some sort of Compensation for +the Right of Primogeniture, which he had newly introduc'd into his Family, +to that Son's prejudice: For the Princes of <i>Brunswic</i> had for a long time +been us'd to a Partition of Lands in their Families. The <i>Hanover</i> Branch +was the first that abolish'd that Custom, pernicious to great Families. +Duke <i>Anthony-Ulric</i> was only restrain'd from it by Pr. <i>Lewis</i> his second +Son, whom he lov'd more than his eldest; and not caring to leave him +without Dominions, to the Discretion of a Brother, he gave him Possession +of this State in his Life-time; because he was of Opinion, that after his +Death, his Will wou'd have the Fate of not being executed by his +Successor, according to the Custom introduc'd among Sovereigns. With them +'tis a Right of Regale, but for us to do so, is a Crime.</p> + +<p>As the County of <i>Blanckenbourg</i> does not give Admittance into the College +of Princes at the Dyet of the Empire, so it does not give the Rank of a +Sovereign Prince to the Person in possession of it. The Duke, in order to +procure himself both these Privileges, made a Treaty with the Elector of +<i>Hanover</i>, whereby he got that Prince to yield him the Vote and Seat which +he enjoy'd in the Dyet for his Dutchy of <i>Grubenhagen</i>: And the Duke, on +his part, engaged never to vote at the Dyet but in conformity to the +Sentiments of the Elector. After his Decease, or if he happens to succeed +his +Brother,<!--105.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> +the Vote and Session for <i>Grubenhagen</i> revert to the +Elector<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a>.</p> + +<p>This, Sir, is all that I can say to you at present. Their Highnesses being +to set out in a few days for <i>Oetingen</i>, where they use to go every +Summer, I propose to go forthwith to <i>Leipsic</i> and <i>Dresden</i>: And at the +latter Place I hope to hear from you.</p> + +<div class="right"> +I am, <i>&c.</i> +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 434px;"> +<img src="images/i04.png" width="434" height="43" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER V.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Dresden, August 30, 1729.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>From <i>Blanckenbourg</i> we have till'd Lands, and fruitful Fields; with Woods +of Oak interspers'd all the way, till we come to <span class="smcap">Magdebourg</span>, the Capital +of a Dutchy of that Name, formerly an Archbishoprick, but secularised at +the Treaty of <i>Westphalia</i>, in favour of the House of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, to +whom that Dutchy was yielded in exchange for their resigning Hither +<i>Pomerania</i> to <i>Sweden</i>. This City has for these +two<!--106.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> +Centuries past, +suffer'd very much. It was besieg'd by the Emperor <i>Charles</i> V. who +squeez'd considerable Sums from it. But it fared worse in that unhappy War +which divided <i>Germany</i> during the space of 30 Years; for the Counts <i>de +Tilly</i> and <i>Papenheim</i> commanding the Imperial Army in 1631, took it by +Storm, put the Inhabitants to the Sword, and reduc'd the whole City almost +to Ashes. Nevertheless, 'tis since pretty well recover'd, and has some +fine Houses. The great Square before the King's Palace has few equal to it +for its Extent, and for the fine Houses that encompass it, which are all +uniform, three Stories high, and were all raised in this Reign. In this +same Square there's an Arsenal, which really is not so magnificent as that +of <i>Berlin</i>, but may be rank'd among the chief Arsenals in <i>Europe</i>. This +is a populous Town, and has a more flourishing Trade than any other City +in the King of <i>Prussia</i>'s Dominions.</p> + +<p>The great Church, which was formerly the Metropolitan, is ancient, and one +of the largest and most magnificent Buildings in <i>Germany</i>. It has still +some Reliques to shew, particularly the Basin in which <i>Pilate</i> washed his +Hands, after having pass'd Sentence of Death upon our Saviour; the +Lanthorn<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> which <i>Judas</i> made use of when he went to apprehend him; a +Thorn of the Crown that was planted on his Head: and things of the like +kind.</p> + +<p>The Chapter of <i>Magdebourg</i> is still, bating the change of Religion, on +the same footing as before the Reformation. The Canons must all make Proof +of their Nobility; tho' 'tis a <i>Punctilio</i> with which the King, who +confers all the Prebends and Dignities of the Chapter, sometimes +dispenses. The +present<!--107.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> +Provost is the Duke of <i>Saxe-Barbi</i>, who succeeded +his Father in that Dignity, which brings him in 12000 Crowns a-year. He +lives in a fine House on the great Square, fronting the Palace, built by +the Order of King <i>Frederic</i> I. who also caus'd a Citadel to be erected +here, on the other side of the <i>Elbe</i>, over which there is a Bridge. That +King began likewise to fortify the Town; and King <i>Frederic-William</i>, who +carried on, and finish'd the Fortifications, has now made <i>Magdebourg</i> one +of the most important Places in <i>Europe</i>. M. <i>de Walrave</i>, Chief Engineer, +had the Direction of those Works, which are a Proof of his great Ability.</p> + +<p>The Margrave <i>Albert</i> of <i>Brandenbourg</i><a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a>, Brother to the late King +<i>Frederic</i> I. is Governour of the Dutchy of <i>Magdebourg</i>; as is the Prince +of <i>Anhalt-Dessau</i> of the Town, where he has a numerous Garrison under his +command. The Arsenal, which is a fine Structure, and full of Cannon, and +small Arms, is worth seeing.</p> + +<p>The King of <i>Prussia</i> having it much at heart to render <i>Magdebourg</i> a +flourishing Town, has transferr'd the Regency of the Dutchy hither, which +was heretofore at <i>Halle</i>; and for this reason there are several good +Houses in the Town. The Dutchy of <i>Magdebourg</i> is one of the best +Provinces in the <i>Prussian</i> Dominions. It has a great Income from the +<i>Elbe</i>, and the Salt-Works. The Catholicks are allowed a Toleration of +their Religion in the Dutchy, and have Churches in the Town.</p> + +<p>The Roads from <i>Magdebourg</i> to <i>Leipsic</i>, are so bad at this time, by +reason of the Rains that have fallen for some Days past, that I have been +three Days in getting from the one Town to the other. Indeed I went some +Leagues out of my way, on purpose to see <span class="smcap">Barbi</span> and <span class="smcap">Cohten</span>. The first of +these Towns belongs to a Prince of the House +of<!--108.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> +<i>Saxony</i>, of the Branch +of <i>Weissenfeld</i>; and has nothing considerable but the Prince's Palace, +which makes a good appearance, and has commodious Apartments, elegantly +furnished. There is a Salon, and a Closet, the Cielings of which are +painted by <i>Peine</i>, and not the worst things he has done. The Palace has +Gardens delightfully situate by the side of the <i>Elbe</i>. The Duke <i>de +Barbi</i> is the only Prince of the House of <i>Saxony</i> who professes the +<i>Calvinist</i> Religion, in which he was educated by his Father, who was at +first a <i>Lutheran</i>. This Prince is a comely handsome young Man. He married +<i>N—— de Wirtemberg-Oels</i><a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a>, but has no Children. He has been in the +Service of <i>Prussia</i>, and is Grand Provost of the Chapter of <i>Magdebourg</i>, +and Knight of the Order of the White Eagle of <i>Poland</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cohten</span>, which is bigger than <i>Barbi</i> by one half, belongs to a Prince of +<i>Anhalt</i><a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a>; the only one of his Branch, tho' he has had two Wives. I +desired leave to kiss his Hand; but he excused himself by pretending an +Indisposition. I have observed that petty Princes are always more +difficult of Access than great ones. The Town has no Fortifications; and I +walk'd about a good while to see if there was any thing remarkable, but +'twas to no purpose; and I was oblig'd to confine myself to my Inn, which +was one of the worst in <i>Europe</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Leipsic</span> stands in a fruitful Plain. This City, so famous for its Fairs, +and for its University, +may<!--109.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> +justly pass for the Jewel of the Electorate +of <i>Saxony</i>; not only for the Beauty of its Structures, but for the +considerable Revenue which it yields to its Sovereign, the King of +<i>Poland</i>. 'Tis small, and fac'd with Ramparts, and a Ditch; but all these +Fortifications are of little consequence. Its Castle, or rather Citadel, +which joins to the Town, is a Place of greater Importance. There is always +a good Garrison and Governour in it, who is at present General +<i>Baumgarten</i>. As the Castle passes under the Denomination of the King's +House, the <i>Roman</i> Catholicks have had a Chapel there ever since +<i>Augustus</i> II. embraced their Religion.</p> + +<p>The Suburbs of <i>Leipsic</i> are very large. The City has four Gates newly +built of Free-Stone, which are magnificent, tho' not according to the +Rules of Architecture.</p> + +<p>At each Gate they have newly set up a Mile-Post, such as the <i>Romans</i> had +formerly. There are the like Posts at the Gates of all the Towns, and even +at the Villages in the Electorate of <i>Saxony</i>. From hence they count the +Leagues, which are divided at the end of every Quarter of a Mile, by other +Posts not so big, upon all the great Roads, shewing the Distances of the +Places, and of the chief Towns; which is a mighty Convenience to +Travellers, who were heretofore often impos'd upon by the Post-Masters, as +to the Length of the Roads.</p> + +<p>The Houses of <i>Leipsic</i> are large, very high, and substantially built of +Free-Stone; and their being adorn'd with great fine Windows helps to set +them off to the Eye. The Ground-Floors of most of the Houses are +Warehouses, in which the foreign Merchants store the Goods they sell at +the Fairs, which are three in number every Year, <i>viz.</i> at +<i>New-Year's-day</i>, <i>Easter</i>, and <i>Michaelmass</i>. The Concourse of Foreigners +here at the Fair-Season, is so great that 'tis often a hard matter to get +a<!--110.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> +Lodging here for Love or Money. I myself saw in 1709, at the +<i>New-year's</i> Fair, the late King of <i>Prussia</i>, the King and Queen of +<i>Poland</i>, and 44 Princes or Princesses of Sovereign Families. The two +Kings and the Queen lodged at the House of <i>Appel</i>, a Merchant; where the +King of <i>Poland</i> always resides when he comes to <i>Leipsic</i>.</p> + +<p>The University, formerly so famous, is very much decay'd: That of <i>Halle</i>, +its Neighbour, and its Rival, in the King of <i>Prussia</i>'s Dominions, takes +away a great many Students from it. They say that for some time past there +have been more able Professors at <i>Halle</i>, where besides 'tis much cheaper +living than at <i>Leipsic</i>; and where the Students are not such +Spendthrifts, nor so much addicted to Expence and Gallantry.</p> + +<p>The Gardens of Messieurs <i>Appel</i> and <i>Pose</i>, Merchants, in the Suburbs, +are worth seeing. The first is large and magnificent: In the second are +very uncommon Plants, cultivated with very great Care. The Gardeners of +<i>Leipsic</i>, who are reckon'd the best in all <i>Germany</i>, value themselves +upon forcing Nature; so that I have seen here, at <i>Easter</i> Fair, the +Fruits, Flowers, and Pulse, of all the Seasons. The Asparagus here is +delicious, and extraordinary large. Another Nicety at <i>Leipsic</i>, is its +Larks, which are sent over all <i>Germany</i>; nay, to <i>Poland</i>, <i>Holland</i> and +<i>Denmark</i>. I was assured, but I will not vouch for the Truth of it, that +the very Custom-Duty paid for Larks at <i>Leipsic</i>, amounted to 12000 Crowns +a-year; which Sum I thought the more considerable, because I think I have +heard it said, that 60 Larks pay but a Grosh<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> the Duty; judge then how +many there must be to make up the Sum of 12000 Crowns. But be it true or +false, 'tis certain that there is not a Country in the World where these +Birds are taken in such quantities; +for,<!--111.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> +from <i>Michaelmass</i> to +<i>Martinmass</i>, the Fields are cover'd with 'em.</p> + +<p>Another Singularity is the multitude of Nightingales, in the Woods near +<i>Leipsic</i>; whereof they take great numbers, and keep them in Cages: The +Innkeeper's Daughter, where I lodged, had seven of them; and I have seen a +great many at other Houses.</p> + +<p>'Tis surprizing that so plentiful a Country as <i>Saxony</i> shou'd have no +better Ordinarys. I don't mean <i>Leipsic</i> and <i>Dresden</i>, where, considering +one is in <i>Germany</i>, we come off pretty well; tho' were it so in +<i>Holland</i>, the <i>Netherlands</i>, or in <i>France</i>, we shou'd not think +ourselves well us'd. I mean the little Towns and Villages in a Road so +frequented as that from <i>Leipsic</i> to <i>Dresden</i>. There's Provision to be +had at these Ordinarys, but then 'tis so ill dress'd, and the Houses so +nasty, that 'tis enough to turn one's Stomach.</p> + +<p>Setting out from <i>Leipsic</i>, at the opening of the Gates, I came betimes to +<span class="smcap">Wermstorf</span>, or <span class="smcap">Hubertsbourg</span>, (St. <i>Hubert</i>'s Palace,) a magnificent +Hunting-Seat, which the Electoral Prince of <i>Saxony</i> is building at the +Entrance of a Forest, where there are several Roads cut. This House is +five Miles from <i>Leipsic</i>, and eight from <i>Dresden</i>; and when 'tis +finish'd, will be large and magnificent: Men are hard at work upon it, and +the main Body of it is already compleated. Their Royal Highnesses, the +Prince and Princess, generally hunt here at Spring and Autumn. The +Equipage for the Stag-hunting is very fine, the Liveries being Yellow, +with Facings of blue Velvet, and Silver Lace at all the Seams.</p> + +<p>After I had walk'd an Hour or two at <i>Hubertsbourg</i>, I proceeded on my +Journey, and came to Dinner at <span class="smcap">Meissen</span>, the Capital of <i>Misnia</i>. This City +has nothing particular, besides its +Manufacture<!--112.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> +of Porcellane, which is +so finely painted and enamell'd with Gold, that it is more beautiful than +the Porcellane of <i>Japan</i>, and much dearer. The Invention of it is owing +to an Alchymist, or one that pretended to be such; who had persuaded a +great many People he cou'd make Gold. The King of <i>Poland</i> believ'd it as +well as others, and to make sure of his Person, caus'd him to be committed +to the Castle of <i>Konigstein</i>, three Miles from <i>Dresden</i>. There, instead +of making Gold, that solid precious Metal, which puts Mankind on +committing so many Follies, he invented Brittle Porcellane; by which, in +one Sense, he made Gold, because the great Vent of that Ware brings a deal +of Money into the Country.</p> + +<p>After having pass'd the <i>Elbe</i>, over a wooden Bridge, going out of +<i>Meissen</i>, I came in less than three Hours to <span class="smcap">Dresden</span>, the Capital of the +Electorate of <i>Saxony</i>. The City is pretty large, fortify'd with Art and +Regularity; and very lightsome. Its Houses are high and substantial, the +Streets broad, strait, well pav'd, neat, and in the Night-time well +lighted. There are great Squares in it; and the whole City is so well laid +out, that <i>Dresden</i> may be rank'd among the finest in the World.</p> + +<p>The <i>Elbe</i> divides it into two Parts; which are distinguished by Old and +New <i>Dresden</i>, and join'd together by a Bridge of Stone.</p> + +<p>In order to give you a more perfect Idea of this City, I shall point out +to you such things as I took most notice of. I shall begin with Old +<i>Dresden</i>, which is the first that we come to from <i>Meissen</i>. At the +Entrance of the Town, on the right hand, there is a great House, called +the Palace of the <i>Indies</i>, or <i>Holland</i> House, which the King bought some +Years ago of his Prime Minister, the Marshal Count <i>de Fleming</i>. All the +Rooms of this +Palace,<!--113.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> +which consists of three Stories, are so many +Closets of <i>Japan</i> and <i>China</i> Wares. I don't believe that all the +Warehouses in <i>Amsterdam</i> put together, are capable of furnishing such a +quantity of uncommon old Porcellane, as is to be found here. The value of +it is computed at a Million of Crowns. The very Houshold-Goods are +<i>Indian</i>. There is one Set of Furniture, the like of which I never saw +elsewhere: It consists of Feathers of various Colours, and all natural; +inlaid with so much Art, that it might be taken for a fine flower'd +Sattin.</p> + +<p>This magnificent Palace has a Garden belonging to it, which looks towards +the <i>Elbe</i>. It is adorn'd with Statues of white Marble, which the King +caus'd to be purchas'd at <i>Rome</i>, of the Cardinals <i>Annibal</i> and +<i>Alexander Albani</i>, Nephews to <i>Clement</i> XI. These Statues are much more +priz'd here than they were at <i>Rome</i>.</p> + +<p>Near the Palace of the <i>Indies</i> stands that of the Cadets; a magnificent +Structure built by the States of <i>Saxony</i>, for maintaining two Companies +of Cadets, all Gentlemen of the Country; who are there instructed in all +the Sciences fitting for Persons of Quality.</p> + +<p>Farther up in the same Street, there is an Amphitheatre, or Area, for the +Battles of wild Beasts; of which a great number is kept for that purpose. +Here are Lions, Tigers, Bears; in short, all the fiercest Animals from the +four Quarters of the World.</p> + +<p>The Bridge over the <i>Elbe</i>, which joins Old <i>Dresden</i> to the New, is +scarce to be parallel'd, either for its Length or Substance. It has lately +been made broader by forming Demy-Arches which support the Riders on each +side. The Barriers are of Iron, well wrought. An Equestrian Statue of the +King is going to be erected upon it.</p> + +<!--114.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span></p> + +<p>The Palace or Castle joins to the Bridge, at the Entrance of New +<i>Dresden</i>. This is an ancient Structure, which makes but a mean +Appearance; and 'tis said, that the King intends it shall be pull'd down, +and another built in its room; and that his Majesty has set apart eight +Millions of Crowns for the Expence of it.</p> + +<p>The inside of the Castle surpasses the outside. The State-Room is +splendidly furnish'd. The Great Gallery contains several Curiosities, such +as antique Busts, Vessels, and Pictures.</p> + +<p>This Palace has two Chapels, one of which belongs to the <i>Roman</i> +Catholicks, and the other to the <i>Lutherans</i>. The first was heretofore the +Theatre for Operas, but the King turn'd it into a Chapel, upon account of +the Marriage of his only Son with the Archdutchess, eldest Daughter to the +Emperor <i>Joseph</i>; the second was always the Chapel of the Electors of +<i>Saxony</i>. The King might, if he pleas'd, have order'd Mass to be +celebrated in it, but he wou'd not give his Subjects that Handle for +Complaint; besides, the late Queen, his Wife, having always stuck to the +<i>Lutheran</i> Religion, in which she was born, he left her that Chapel for +her use. The Treasure of it is extremely rich, and contains Vessels, +Chasubles, and other things heretofore consecrated and given to this +Chapel by the Piety of the Electors.</p> + +<p>The Royal Treasury, commonly call'd the <i>Grune Gewlbe</i>, (the Green +Vault,) is in the Palace. They are three arch'd Rooms, which contain +immense Riches, and shine all over with Gold, Precious Stones, and +Diamonds. 'Tis one of the finest Places in the World. There are several +Sets of Brilliant Diamonds, Rubies, Emeralds, Pearls, Saphirs, and other +Precious Stones. Every Set is compleat, and consists of Buttons for +Clothes, Loops for Hats, Swords, Hangers, Canes, Sleeve-Buttons, +<!--115.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span>Shoe-Buckles, +Muffs, and Sword-Belts, Snuff-Boxes, Watches, +Tweezer-Cases, Pocket-Books; in short, all the Jewels that can possibly be +imagin'd, even to the Furniture of a Horse; so that were I to write down +every Particular, I should furnish you a Volume. And they all look the +better, for being ranged with wonderful Nicety in Cases of Crystal.</p> + +<p>To the Castle belongs a Garden, call'd the <i>Zwinger Garten</i>, which is the +<i>Tuilleries</i> of <i>Dresden</i>, but not extensive enough to deserve the Name of +a Garden. 'Tis encompass'd with Buildings of Free-Stone, which are +Green-Houses for Orange-Trees. The Structure consists but of one Floor, on +which are rais'd six large Pavilions, <i>viz.</i> three in front at the +Entrance, two on the sides, and one over the Portico at the Entrance; +which have all a Communication with one another, by a Platform that has +Balustrades adorn'd with Statues. It wou'd be hard to lay what Order of +Architecture prevails most in this Edifice, the Carv'd-Work with which it +is decorated, being more of the <i>Gothic</i> than the modern Taste.</p> + +<p>Near to this Building there's a Palace which makes a great Shew, but the +Apartments are by much too small, and too low for the Ornaments employ'd +about them. The King caus'd this House to be built for the Countess <i>de +Cosel</i>, at the time when that Lady was in high Favour. No Cost was spar'd +in it; but 'tis pity that a more skilful Architect had not been pitched +upon to conduct it.</p> + +<p>There are five or six other Houses, which are here call'd <i>Hotels</i>, but in +<i>Italy</i> wou'd certainly pass for Palaces. The Hotel <i>de Fuhl</i> in the +Street of <i>Pirnitz</i> is one of this number. It was erected by the Great +Marshal <i>de Fuhl</i> who on his Death-bed left it to his Wife, of whom it was +purchas'd by the Count <i>de Fleming</i>. That Minister sold it +soon<!--116.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> +after to +the King, who made considerable Embellishments in it, and furnished it +richly. In this Condition his Majesty gave it in 1728, to the Marshal <i>de +Wackerbarth</i>, to make him amends when he had been burnt out of the House +he liv'd in, as Governour of <i>Dresden</i>. After this, the Governour's House +being rebuilt, the King bought the other House again of the Count <i>de +Wackerbarth</i>, and has made it a Depositary of his Medals, Antiquities, and +Curiosities.</p> + +<p>To be sure you have heard that this Fire broke out at the Governour's +House in the Night-time, while the King of <i>Prussia</i> was here. His Majesty +actually lodg'd at the Governour's House; and was in Bed when the Fire +burst out with such fury that he had but just time to make his Escape in +his Night-Gown, and to save a little Box in which there were Papers of +consequence; for the Floor of his Bed-Chamber fell in, the moment after +the King was gone out of it. An Officer, his Wife, and her Maid-Servant +perish'd in the Flames. The Count <i>de Wackerbarth</i> only sav'd his Wardrobe +and his Plate; for his fine Library, and a noble Collection which he had +of Drawings, one of the compleatest and best chosen Setts in <i>Europe</i>, +were consum'd.</p> + +<p>The Hotel of <i>Hoyhm</i> is the most considerable Building in <i>Dresden</i>. In +about six Years time it had four different Owners. It was founded by the +King's Favourite, the Count <i>de Fitztuhm</i><a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a>, his Great Chamberlain, and +Minister of State; who having been kill'd in a Duel at <i>Warsaw</i>, by the +Count +<i>de</i><!--117.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> +<i>St. Gilles</i>, a <i>Piedmontese</i> that came to <i>Poland</i> to seek +his Fortune, his Widow sold it to Marshal <i>Fleming</i>, who dying at <i>Vienna</i> +not long after he had purchased it, the House fell to his Son, a weakly +Child, who did not long survive him. His Mother, who was a <i>Radzivil</i>, was +his Heiress, and one of the greatest Matches in <i>Europe</i>. She was soon +after married again to a <i>Polander</i> whom she follow'd into his own +Country; and when she left <i>Dresden</i>, she sold her House to the Count <i>de +Hoym</i>, who at present occupies it.</p> + +<p>Not far from this House are the King's Stables, which are well worth +seeing, there being a great number of wonderful fine Horses, and some of +all sorts of the rarest Breeds. Over the Stables, are Rooms full of fine +Equipage, consisting of sumptuous Saddles and Housings, Sleds and +magnificent Harness. Many of these Equipages are of the <i>Turkish</i> Mode, +and plated with massy Silver, adorn'd with precious Stones.</p> + +<p>The Arsenal, which is much boasted of here, cannot be reckon'd a fine one +by any but such as have not seen the Arsenal of <i>Berlin</i>, to which it is +not to be compar'd. There are several Rooms in it full of Arms, Brass +Cannon, Helmets, and Cuirasses, which are the Tapestry of Arsenals.</p> + +<p>Thus, Sir, you have all that I observed in <i>Dresden</i>: it remains for me to +give you some Account of its Suburbs, and of the Pleasure-Houses which the +King has in the Neighbourhood of this City.</p> + +<p>The Suburbs of <i>Dresden</i> are very extensive, but have no Building of +consequence, except the Palace in the King's great Garden, built by his +Majesty's Mother, and that call'd the <i>Turkish</i> Palace, because it is +furnished entirely after the <i>Turkish</i> manner. The King gave an +Entertainment at this Palace to the Princess his Daughter-in-law, on +account +of<!--118.png--><span class="pagenum">93</span> +her Arrival at <i>Dresden</i>, which was so particular that I think +it deserves a Digression.</p> + +<p>Upon the Feast-Day, the whole Court appeared at the <i>Turkish</i> Palace, in +the Habits of <i>Turks</i>. The King came in the Dress of a <i>Sultan</i>, but +without any Attendance. His Majesty was soon after follow'd by the +Princess his Daughter-in-law, with her Ladies. Her Royal Highness, for +whom the Entertainment was made, found a Body of Janizaries drawn up in +the Court-Yard of the Palace. The King receiv'd her at the Entrance of his +Apartment, and conducted her into a Hall spread with fine Tapestry, and +laid with Cushions richly embroider'd.</p> + +<p>The King and Princess being seated, were served by twenty-four Negroes in +sumptuous Dresses, with Sherbet, Coffee, and Sweet-Meats, in great Vessels +of massy Silver; nor were scented Waters, and perfumed Handkerchiefs +forgot. After this Collation, they drew near the Windows to see the +<i>Pillau</i> (which is the Rice of <i>Turky</i>) and the King's Bounty-Money +distributed to the Janizaries. This was follow'd by a Comedy, with an +Entertainment of <i>Turkish</i> Dances. Then came the Supper, the Guests +sitting cross-legg'd upon the Cushions, and the Courses being served up +after the fashion of <i>Turky</i>, by the Negroes and young <i>Turks</i>. While they +were at Table, the Company was diverted by the various Leaps and Postures +of certain Tumblers and Rope-Dancers. Supper being over, they went into +the Garden, which was illuminated with several Thousands of Crystal Lamps. +There was Tilting, and shooting at the Mark, and whenever the Mark was +hit, a Sky-Rocket was sent up, which for the time seem'd to sprinkle +Thousands of Stars among those in the Firmament. After this, the Company +retir'd into the Palace, where the King and the Princess open'd the Ball, +and there was dancing till five o'clock +in<!--119.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> +the Morning, when the Ball was +concluded with a sumptuous Breakfast that was serv'd at the several +Tables, after the manner of our own Country; which, with the leave of the +<i>Mussulmen</i>, is as good as theirs.</p> + +<p>The finest Royal Houses, are <i>Pilnitz</i> and <i>Moritzbourg</i>. The King, who is +certainly of all Sovereigns the most magnificent, keeps Men continually at +work, in embellishing those Places. The Works are carried on by the +Direction of Mons. <i>Bot</i>, whom I think to be not inferior to <i>Bernini</i>, +and I doubt not, such is my high Idea of him, that as he is supported by +the Generosity of a Great King, he will accomplish such Works as are +worthy of himself, and of his Master too.</p> + +<p>I have now done with the Description of the Palaces and Royal Houses, in +which, I own I have been defective, and would gladly have been excus'd +from giving it; but you would have it, and I cou'd not help gratifying +you. I pass now to something more important; and shall entertain you with +the present State of the Royal Family, and the Characters of the most +distinguish'd Persons at Court.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Frederic-Augustus</span> II. King of <i>Poland</i>, and Elector of <i>Saxony</i>, is the +Chief of this August Family. This Monarch, whom no Man surpasses in +Strength and Dexterity, and whom few Princes equal in Generosity, is the +second Son of <i>John George</i> III. Elector of <i>Saxony</i>. He succeeded his +Brother <i>John George</i> IV. in the Electorate, and was chose King of +<i>Poland</i> after the Death of the Great <i>Sobieski</i>, notwithstanding the +Intrigues of the Emissaries of <i>France</i> who declared for the Prince of +<i>Conti</i>.</p> + +<p>When <i>Frederic-Augustus</i> ascended the Throne, he brought all the Virtues +to it fitting for a Great King. The Agreeableness of his Person, his +Majestic Air, his Heroic Strength, his Good-Nature, his Politeness, and +his well-known Valour, +were<!--120.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> +the least of his Qualities. Never was any +Prince more magnificent, nor did any one either give more, or with a +better Grace. As a General and a Statesman, he was never too much lifted +up by Prosperity, nor shock'd by Adversity; so that he was observed, when +in the depth of his Misfortunes, to act and treat even with his Enemies, +with that Air of Complaisance and Satisfaction, which Men inur'd to great +Affairs know how to assume, in the midst of the cruellest Mortifications. +This Prince, in his Youth, travelled to the chief Countries of <i>Europe</i>, +and where-ever he came, was admir'd for his Strength, his Air, and +Dexterity. Amongst other Adventures, a very odd one befel him in his +Travels, at <i>Venice</i>. There happen'd to be in that City a famous +Astrologer, who had the Reputation of being well read in the Book of Fate. +The King, who was only Prince at that time, had a mind that he should +calculate his Nativity, and for that purpose went to the Astrologer's +House, accompanied by two Gentlemen. They were all three dress'd in plain +Apparel, and the Prince, to disguise himself still the more, had conceal'd +his brown Hair under a fair Peruke. He enter'd the last Man, into the +Astrologer's House, and seem'd to be rather as an Attendant, than a +Companion of the others. But to him the Astrologer first address'd +himself, calling him by the Titles of <i>My Lord</i> and <i>Highness</i>. The Prince +told him that his Rank in the World was much too mean for such high +Compliments; but the Astrologer made answer, he knew very well whom he +spoke to, and that it was in vain for him to think of concealing himself +from such a Man as he. The Prince and his small Retinue were then +conducted by him into a Closet, where he shewed him a Looking-Glass. <i>Cast +your Eye on that Mirror</i>, said he to the Prince, <i>and there you will see +the principal Events of your Life</i>. The Prince +without<!--121.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> +any scruple, +look'd accordingly, and saw himself at first in the Habit of an Elector; +afterwards, with a Crown on his Head, and a royal Mantle on his Shoulders; +and at last, full of Wounds, and bath'd in his Blood.</p> + +<p>This Story, which I should not give you for true, if I had not heard it +from a great Nobleman who told me he had it from the King's own Mouth, is +however, not without a Parallel; for it is pretended, that a Mason told +Madam <i>de Maintenon</i>, when she was no more than Madam <i>Scarron</i>, what her +Fortune and Rank would be in <i>France</i>. I could mention several other +Instances to you of the same nature, which all surprize me, tho' they +don't convince me. Be it as it will, two Articles of the Prediction made +to the King of <i>Poland</i> are fully accomplished; as to the third, may +Heaven confound the Astrologer<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a>.</p> + +<p>The King of <i>Poland</i> spends part of his time in his Kingdom, and part of +it in his Electorate. 'Tis true, that he seems to take more delight in +<i>Saxony</i> than in <i>Poland</i>; and 'tis in my Opinion very natural for him to +do so; <i>Saxony</i> being his +hereditary<!--122.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> +Country, where he is so absolute +that his Will is the Law of his Subjects, by whom he is rather ador'd than +belov'd: besides, 'tis <i>Saxony</i> that furnishes him wherewithal to support +his Dignity, and offers him every thing conducive to the Pleasures of a +Great King; and it is there that he has a Court, the most brilliant in +<i>Europe</i>, not only for its Splendor, but for Magnificence and Pleasures; +whereas in <i>Poland</i>, he has only the vain Pageantry of Royalty; being +under greater Limitations than any Sovereign in the World; so that the +least Innovation, the least Act of Authority, makes the <i>Poles</i> clamorous, +and they presently think they are excused from paying him that Obedience +which they owe him. All the Gentlemen here are their own Masters; and the +Noblemen behave so much like Sovereigns, that they never go to Court but +to demand Favours, which if they obtain, they go away ungrateful, and if +they are deny'd, they retire with the Intention of taking a Revenge on the +first Opportunity: For the Climate being rough, the People are fierce; and +the King, tho' adored in <i>Saxony</i>, is scarce beloved in <i>Poland</i>.</p> + +<p>The Electoral Prince, this King's only Son, is lusty, proper, and well +made, and like the King his Father is adroit in all bodily Exercises. He +loves Pleasure, but 'tis with Moderation, and is heartily attach'd to the +Religion which he has embrac'd. He is stiff and reserved, without being +haughty, which is a Temper that he derives from the late Queen his +Mother<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a>, whom he very much resembles. To such as have the Honour of +Access to him, and of being known to him, he is gracious, familiar and +very civil. His Royal Highness has been admit'd for his good Qualities in +a +great<!--123.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> +part of <i>Europe</i>, particularly in <i>Germany</i>, <i>France</i>, and +<i>Italy</i>, where he has spent several Years. No Son can have more respect to +a Parent than he has for the King his Father, whose Will and Pleasure he +never oppos'd in any one Instance; and whose Person he has always honour'd +even in his Ministers. Of all Pleasures he seems to bestow most Time in +Hunting; nevertheless he makes it only as an Amusement without being +passionately fond of it. His Royal Highness's Confident is <i>Solckofski</i> or +<i>Sulkowski</i><a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a>, a <i>Polish</i> Gentleman who was once his Page; and by thus +making him his Favourite, for which he cannot but be applauded, he shews +that he is capable of distinguishing true Merit. I had frequently the +Honour of making my Compliments to this Prince while he was at <i>Paris</i>, +and this is now the second time that I have had the same favour at +<i>Dresden</i>, where I find he is the same gracious Personage as ever. The +last time that I had the Honour of being introduc'd to him he talk'd a +great deal to me about <i>Paris</i>, and when he dismiss'd me, he said he was +sorry to think that <i>Dresden</i> would not afford me so many Pleasures as +<i>Paris</i>.</p> + +<p>The same Day that I waited on the Prince, I was introduced to the Princess +his Royal Highness's Consort, who is the late Emperor <i>Joseph</i>'s eldest +Daughter. The Voice of the People is unanimous in the Character of this +Princess. All Mankind agrees that she has not her superior for +Good-nature, Piety, Charity, Modesty, and in a word for all, the Virtue of +the Soul: To please her Husband, and to give her Children an Education +suitable to their Birth, is her principal Endeavour. 'Tis rare to find a +happier Couple than their Royal Highnesses; for Marriage, which generally +cools the warmest Passions, seems on the contrary to have animated their +<!--124.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span>reciprocal +Affection to such a degree that they are a Pattern for the +Imitation of their Court.</p> + +<p>Their Royal Highnesses Children are so young that I shall say but little +of them<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a>. Their eldest Son very much resembles the Pictures that I have +seen of the Emperor <i>Joseph</i> when he was a Child. This young Prince seems +to me to be of a very delicate Constitution, and has so great a Weakness +in his Knees that he can scarce stand: The Physicians say it will go off +as he grows up, but their Promises are no Gospel for me.</p> + +<p>The two Princes of the Blood, who commonly reside at <i>Dresden</i>, are +<i>John-Adolphus</i> of <i>Saxe-Weissenfels</i><a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a>, a Prince of uncommon Merit, +whose Sentiments and Actions are no disparagement to his Birth; and +<i>Maurice-William</i> of <i>Saxe-Zeits</i>, the last of his Branch. He was +persuaded by his Uncle the late Cardinal <i>de Saxe-Zeits</i> to abjure the +<i>Lutheran</i> Religion and to embrace the ecclesiastical State: He is Bishop +of <i>Konigsgratz</i> in <i>Bohemia</i>, Provost of <i>Alten Ottingen</i> in <i>Bavaria</i>, +and a Canon of <i>Cologne</i>, <i>Liege</i>, and <i>Aichstedt</i>, and is descended from +such a Family that it may be presum'd, he will some day or other, be +advanc'd to the Purple<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot">N. B. <i>What follows, is a more particular Account of the +Electoral Family of <span class="f">Saxony</span>, translated from the Baron's State of +it; which is prefix'd to the second Edition of these <span class="f">Memoirs</span>.</i></div> + +<p><i>Augustus</i> III. King of <i>Poland</i> Great Duke of <i>Lithuania</i> and Elector of +<i>Saxony</i>, was born the seventh of <i>October</i> 1696. He is the only Son of +<i>Augustus</i> II. the last King of <i>Poland</i> and of <i>Eberhardina</i> of +<i>Brandenbourg-Bareith</i>. His Grandmother, +<i>Anne</i><!--125.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> +Princess Royal of +<i>Denmark</i>, Widow of <i>John George</i> the third Elector of <i>Saxony</i>, took care +of him in his Infancy, and impress'd him with those Sentiments of Piety, +Humanity, and Justice, which render him at this day the Darling of his +People, and the Pattern of Kings.</p> + +<p>At a proper Age, the King his Father took him out of the hands of the +Women, and committed him to the Care of Monsieur <i>de Miltitz</i>, a Gentleman +of a good Family; whom Learning, good Behaviour and solid Virtue render'd +worthy of such an Employment.</p> + +<p>The Prince, who always found Charms in Virtue, was sensible of the Merit +of his Governor: He lov'd him, was inseparable from him, and receiv'd his +Advice with a Docility, which, at his tender Age, was a presage he wou'd +be possess'd of that Fund of Wisdom which now renders him worthy of his +Throne.</p> + +<p>While the young Prince was under the Conduct of the Women, God was pleas'd +to touch the Heart of the late King his Father: That Monarch, who happen'd +to be born a <i>Lutheran</i>, was converted to the <i>Roman</i> Catholick Religion, +and not long after elected King of <i>Poland</i>; and his Majesty being +convinc'd of the Purity of the Religion which he had embrac'd, was +inclin'd to make a Convert also of the Prince his Son. Nevertheless, such +was the Respect the King had for her Royal Highness his Mother, that he +was loth that august Princess shou'd be an Eye-witness of the young +Prince's renouncing a Religion which she had taught him, and to which she +was strenuously attach'd: He resolv'd therefore to remove him, and sent +him to <i>Francfort</i> to be present at the Coronation of the Emperor +<i>Charles</i> VI. His Companion in this Journey, was M. <i>de Miltitz</i>; but as +this Gentleman's Attachment to <i>Luther</i>'s Doctrine made the King +apprehensive that he wou'd thwart his Views, +he<!--126.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> +recall'd him, and +appointed the Count <i>de Costa</i>, and the Baron <i>de Hagen</i>, to be his Son's +Governors.</p> + +<p>The Count who was a <i>Polander</i> and Palatine of <i>Livonia</i>, was not only of +noble Birth, but a Gentleman of solid Piety, profound Learning, great +Probity, and as much respected for his Principles as belov'd for his good +Behaviour and Politeness.</p> + +<p>The Baron <i>de Hagen</i> was of a Family of some Distinction in the Electorate +of <i>Triers</i>: He was Ambassador from the King at the Emperor's Election, +and at his Coronation at <i>Francfort</i>: His Behaviour was more grave than +the Count <i>de Costa</i>'s, but he was not inferior to the Count for Learning, +Integrity, and good Sense.</p> + +<p>Under the Conduct of these two Gentlemen, the Prince set out to visit a +part of <i>Germany</i> and <i>Italy</i>, where he embrac'd the <i>Roman</i> Catholick +Religion; his Profession of which, was however for a long time as private +as it is now exemplary; for he did not declare his alteration of Religion +'till after the Death of her most Serene Highness his Grandmother, who +died the first of <i>July</i> 1717. During this the Prince made the Tour of +<i>France</i>, where, tho' he travell'd under the Name of the Count <i>de +Misnia</i>, <i>Lewis</i> XIV. caus'd all the Honours to be paid to him which were +due to the Son of a great King.</p> + +<p>The Court of <i>France</i> was charm'd with that Politeness, that noble +Modesty, and that Fund of Wisdom which accompany'd this Prince's Actions +and Conversation: They admir'd him and were sorry for his Departure. He +travell'd a second time to <i>Italy</i>, where he acquired that fine Taste of +Men and Things and that Knowledge of Architecture, Painting, and other +curious Arts, which is so useful for great Princes. <i>Germany</i>, upon the +return of this Prince, bless'd itself for having given him birth, and +offer'd up Prayers that all its Princes might be like him. His Royal +Highness stay'd a considerable while at +<i>Vienna</i>,<!--127.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> +where he maintain'd the +Reputation he had acquir'd in the several Countries he had seen. He +returned at length to <i>Saxony</i>, where there was an universal Joy for his +Arrival. The <i>Saxons</i> were charm'd to see the Prince that was design'd by +Heaven to be their Sovereign, so worthy of that Command. One day or other, +they said, we shall lose the most righteous of Kings, and the best of +Masters, but we shall find restor'd in his Son, his heroic Stature, his +majestic Air, his Magnanimity, the same Temper for Goodness, Equity and +Generosity; the Spirit of the great <i>Augustus</i> will be always present with +us; and all our Loss will be that of his Personal Appearance.</p> + +<p>Not long after the Prince's Return to <i>Dresden</i>, <i>Augustus Christopher</i> +Count <i>de Wackerbarth</i><a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> treated at <i>Vienna</i> for the Marriage of his +Royal Highness to the most serene Archdutchess <i>Maria Josepha</i>, eldest +Daughter of the late Emperor <i>Joseph</i>. The Count <i>de Flemming</i>, Prime +Minister and Velt-Marshal of <i>Saxony</i>, solemnly demanded the most serene +Archdutchess in Marriage; and the Prince repair'd to <i>Vienna</i> to espouse +her. The Ceremony was perform'd in the Chapel of <i>la Favorita</i>, with all +the Pomp suitable to so great a Match. Some Days after this, their Royal +Highnesses set out for <i>Dresden</i>, where they were receiv'd with an +unparallell'd Magnificence. <i>Augustus</i> II. the most splendid of Kings, and +a Prince who had the best Fancy for ordering of Entertainments, outdid +himself; he thought nothing too good for celebrating the Nuptials of his +so worthy a Son, with a Princess whose Ancestors were all Emperors.</p> + +<p>The Rejoicings having lasted forty Days, the King set out for his Kingdom, +leaving the Prince Regent, as he always did whenever he went from his +Electorate.</p> + +<!--128.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span></p> + +<p>In 1726, the Prince himself took a Journey to <i>Poland</i>, to which Country +he had once before accompanied the King his Father in 1711, but then made +no long stay. There he won the Hearts of the chief Nobility, who from that +moment thought him worthy of succeeding one day to their Governor, the +Great <i>Augustus</i>. They were pleased to see, that he honour'd their +Countryman, the Count <i>Sulkowski</i>, with his Confidence, and they thought +it a happy Omen for their Nation, blessing their Stars, that the Prince +distinguished Virtue in one born among themselves.</p> + +<p>His Royal Highness being convinced that of all the Sums laid out by +Princes, there are none less liable to censure than what they expend in +Buildings, undertook that of <i>Wermsdorf</i>, which he afterwards call'd +<i>Hubertsbourg</i>; and he finish'd that great Work in a little time, by the +assistance of the King his Father: For, in short, it would have been +impossible for his Royal Highness to have defray'd all the Expence of it +himself. It was already very wonderful to see with what Prudence he +directed his Finances. His Revenue being settled, his Expence was suitable +to his Rank; he had a numerous Houshold, his Hunting Equipage was +sumptuous, yet he did good to all that made their Necessity known to him; +his Charities were truly Royal, every body was paid; the Noblemen and the +Tradesmen receiv'd their Pensions and Salaries punctually; and his +Accounts were so regularly kept and discharged by the Count <i>Sulkowski</i>, +that the Prince was never in debt.</p> + +<p>The Prince commonly spent the Season for hunting the Stag at +<i>Hubertsbourg</i>, and employ'd the remainder of his time at <i>Dresden</i>, in +all manner of Exercises, being admired in every Action, for the Grace, +Strength, and Dexterity with which he perform'd it, as well as for the +Sobriety and +Regularity<!--129.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> +of his Manners; for he kept as regular Hours +then, as he does now.</p> + +<p><i>Augustus</i> III. never knew what it was to be idle or vicious. Such is his +Chastity and Fidelity to his august Spouse, that he never gave her the +least Reason so much as to suspect his Honour. He games only for +amusement, and never plays so high that the loss of the Stake can put +those out of temper who have the Honour to be of his Party. But of all the +Virtues of <i>Augustus</i> III. there is none, most certainly, which has made +him more the Favourite of Heaven, than the inviolable Respect he always +manifested for the King his Father, who tenderly lov'd him; and never was +a Son, Heir to so powerful a Dominion, more affected for the loss of a +Father, than he was when he heard of the death of his. His Affliction was +impress'd deeply in his Countenance, when he receiv'd the homage of his +capital City, at his first appearance in publick; and to this very day, he +is ready to melt in tears at the sight of any Object that calls him to +mind; for which reason the People of <i>Dresden</i>, rather than renew his +Sorrow, forbear the mention of a King whom <i>Europe</i> has plac'd in the Rank +of its greatest Men.</p> + +<p>Prince <span class="smcap">Frederic-Augustus</span>, when he became Elector, did not alter his +Manners, but retain'd the same Piety, the same Regularity. He kept most of +the Servants of the late King his Father, and settled Pensions on those +whom he thought fit to dismiss. His first Care, when he came to the +Electorate, was to provide himself with Ministers, whose Candor and +Sincerity were above Envy it self. For this purpose, he call'd to his +Cabinet-Council, the Count <i>de Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour</i>, M. <i>de +Baudissin</i>, the Count <i>Sulkowski</i>, and M. <i>de Bruhl</i>; to the two last of +whom he committed the Direction of Affairs.</p> + +<!--130.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span></p> + +<p>All <i>Saxony</i> applauded this Choice, and doubted not of being very happy +under the Reign of a Prince, who was capable of forming so true a Judgment +of Persons for his Ministers. But what the <i>Saxons</i> saw with extraordinary +Satisfaction, was the sure Proof the King gave of his Gratitude and Esteem +for Virtue, in recalling M. <i>de Miltitz</i>, heretofore his Governor, who for +some Years past was retired to his Estate. This Gentleman wou'd fain have +been excus'd from returning to Court, alledging his great Age, and his +being a Stranger to Business; when his Majesty sent him word, that he +requir'd no more at his hands than what his Health wou'd permit; that he +knew his Probity, his Love for his Country, and his Attachment to himself; +that therefore he was willing he shou'd be near his Person, and assist him +with his Advice, which he knew wou'd be solid, by what he gave him when he +had the charge of his Education. In this manner <span class="smcap">Frederic-Augustus</span>, by the +display of his Gratitude, an uncommon Virtue (especially among Princes) +encourag'd his Courtiers to do what might also give them a Title to it.</p> + +<p>These great Qualities procur'd him the Suffrages of the most judicious +Part of the Republic of <i>Poland</i> which chose him for King. His Majesty +having sent the Count <i>de Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour</i>, and M. +<i>Baudissin</i> to <i>Warsaw</i>, with the Character of Plenipotentiaries, to take +care of his Interests, these Ministers found the <i>Polish</i> Lords very much +divided: Foreign Gold, with the Intrigues, Cabals, and ensnaring Promises +of a Minister who was lavish of it; all these had corrupted a great number +of them, and others were oppress'd, and must undoubtedly have submitted to +Violence, if they had not had a very great share of Courage and Love to +their Country. God, who never abandons the Virtuous, was their Support and +their<!--131.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> +Protector, as well as the Shield of the Plenipotentiaries, whose +sacred Character could not guard them from all manner of Outrage. And tho' +the Blood of the <i>Jagellons</i>, which flows in this Prince's Veins, tho' his +being the Son of one of the greatest Kings that <i>Poland</i> ever had, as well +as his own Dignity of a Sovereign, ought to have procured him the Respect +of all the <i>Poles</i>, yet every Person and Thing belonging to him at +<i>Warsaw</i>, was maltreated. Such was, at that time, the unhappy Fate of +<i>Poland</i>; Oppression and Tyranny having succeeded the glorious, mild, and +peaceful Reign of <i>Augustus</i> II.</p> + +<p>Mean time, those generous Noblemen who had so bravely stood up in the +defence of the Liberties and Honour of their Country, after having tried +all their Efforts to reclaim their wandering Brethren, found they could +not succeed, and therefore broke up; after which, they met in the very +same Place where <i>Henry de Valois</i> had been elected, and there they chose +and proclaim'd <span class="smcap">Augustus</span> Elector of <i>Saxony</i>, King of <i>Poland</i>. They then +sent a Deputation to his Majesty, to intreat him to come immediately, with +the Queen his Consort, to take possession of the Throne. The King comply'd +with their Intreaty, and set out from <i>Dresden</i>, after having return'd +solemn Thanks to God, the sovereign Disposer of Crowns, and of the Fortune +of Kings.</p> + +<p>In a few days the Queen followed the King, and overtook him at +<i>Tarnovitz</i>, where their Majesties received the grand Deputation from +<i>Poland</i>; and after giving them Audience, proceeded in their Journey +towards <i>Cracow</i>. There the King made his Royal Entry on the 14th of +<i>January</i> 1734, and on the 17th of that Month, their Majesties were +consecrated and crowned by <i>Lipsky</i> the Bishop of that See.</p> + +<!--132.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span></p> + +<p>Some time after this august Ceremony, which, in <i>Poland</i>, is absolutely +necessary and essential for a King Elect, the Queen return'd to <i>Saxony</i>; +but the King staid at <i>Cracow</i>, where he held a Diet, in which he made +several Regulations for restoring the Tranquillity of the Kingdom. When +the Diet was ended, his Majesty march'd towards <i>Dantzic</i>, which the +<i>Russians</i>, his Allies, had invested, in order to drive out the Primate +and his Adherents, who were retir'd thither.</p> + +<p>But after a March of several Days, which the Severity of the Weather +render'd very painful, his Majesty yielded to the Instances that were made +to him from <i>Saxony</i>, to assist in Person at the opening of the Assembly +of States which he was under a necessity of calling; and he returned to +<i>Dresden</i>, where his Arrival caus'd an inexpressible Joy. Mean time the +Army, under the Command of the Prince of <i>Saxe-Weissenfels</i> continued its +March towards <i>Dantzic</i>.</p> + +<p>The King was accompanied by a great number of <i>Polish</i> Noblemen, who +finding themselves unable to oppose the Rage of the Primate's Party in +their several Countries, came to seek shelter in <i>Saxony</i>, where his +Majesty receiv'd them, and still entertains them, in a manner which cannot +but convince them of his Gratitude, and give them greater Hopes of what +Favours they may expect, when the Tranquillity of <i>Poland</i> is restor'd.</p> + +<p>The King, after his Return from <i>Cracow</i>, summon'd the States of his +Electorate, and open'd the Assembly with the usual Ceremonies. He was +seated on his Throne, accompanied by the chief Lords of his Court, as well +the <i>Polish</i> as <i>Saxons</i>. M. <i>de Miltitz</i>, his Privy Counsellor, sat on +the Right-hand of the Throne; and, in the King's Name, made a Speech to +the States, wherein he declared to them that his Majesty intended to make +no +Innovation<!--133.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> +in the Affairs of Religion, but to let his Protestant +Subjects enjoy their Privileges, as they had been granted and confirm'd to +them by the late King. Then they told him the Motives which had engag'd +the King to call them together, and demanded the necessary Subsidies for +defraying the extraordinary Expences which his Majesty had been +necessarily involved in thro' the Calamities of the Time. M. <i>de Hesler</i>, +Administrator of the Office of hereditary Marshal of <i>Saxony</i>, return'd an +Answer in the Name of the States, and spoke with a Dignity, and all the +Decorum due to so august an Assembly. He assur'd the King of the +respectful and inviolable Fidelity and Attachment of his Subjects to his +sacred Person. And in truth, 'tis impossible for a People to be better +affected to their Sovereign, and more disposed to contribute to every +thing that is capable of augmenting his Glory.</p> + +<p>The King's voluntary Declaration to his States that he would make no +Innovation in the Affairs of Religion, won the Hearts of his Subjects to +such a degree, that there is not a <i>Saxon</i> who would make any scruple to +sacrifice his Life and Fortune for his Service. And the said Declaration +does equal Honour to the Justice of the Monarch, and the Wisdom of his +Ministers.</p> + +<p>While the King was employ'd with his States in securing the Happiness and +Tranquility of <i>Saxony</i>, his Majesty received Advice, that his Army, after +having join'd the <i>Russians</i>, had obliged the <i>Dantzickers</i> to surrender, +and that the <i>Polish</i> Lords of the contrary Party petition'd for leave to +remove to some Place where they might pay him their homage. The King, in +imitation of the great Emperor whose Name he bears, after having made a +Conquest, thought, like him, of nothing more than to make those happy whom +the Fortune of War had submitted to his Arms. His Majesty did not take +<!--134.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span>any +advantage of his Victory, but forgetting past Offences, repair'd to +the Abbey of <i>Oliva</i>, near <i>Dantzic</i>, where he receiv'd the Submission of +the <i>Dantzickers</i>, and the Allegiance of the Lords that were the Primate's +Adherents. By his Modesty and Goodness, he charm'd the Vanquished, and +convinc'd them of their Obligation to pay him that Esteem which before +perhaps they did not think was their Duty to grant to him. The Greatness +of his Soul, which inclines him to sympathize with the Misfortunes of the +Unhappy, hinder'd him from entering <i>Dantzic</i>, the desolate State of that +City being so afflicting a Scene to him, that he cou'd not bear to see it. +The <i>Dantzickers</i>, by their submission, were become his Subjects; their +present Misfortunes, and their past Mistakes, affected him to such a +degree, that he was fearful of being put in mind of them, and refus'd to +appear among them, crown'd with those Laurels which he had reap'd by their +defeat. So much Modesty, worthy of the most glorious Triumph, gain'd him +the Prayers of the People, in which his Majesty saw more Charms, than he +wou'd have found in Trophies, and the most stately Triumphal Arches.</p> + +<p>The King having provided for the pressing Necessities of his Kingdom, +return'd to his Electorate, where the States continued their Deliberations +ever since his Absence. Now that his Majesty is return'd, the Care of the +State is almost his constant Employment. His Recreations are either taking +the Air on horseback, Hunting, the <i>Italian</i> Opera, or else going to +Concerts, which the Queen, who is a great Lover of Music, causes to be +perform'd in her own Apartment. Their Majesties generally dine together, +and admit the Nobility of both Sexes to their Table.</p> + +<!--135.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span></p> + +<p>There, the King observes that Temperance which so much becomes sovereign +Princes. All his Hours, as has been already observ'd, are regulated; and +all his Actions accompanied with Devotion, good Order, and Equity. Never +did King better discharge that sacred Character; being always firm and +tranquil, Danger cou'd never affright him. He accepted the Crown, tho' he +saw he cou'd never fix it on his Head without infinite Pains, Peril, and +Cares. The Advantage he had gain'd over his Enemies did not seem to have +flush'd him; he was sorry he had not been able to reclaim them by gentle +Methods, and ascribes the happy Success of his Arms solely to Providence.</p> + +<p>Thus have I given you a very imperfect Account of the Virtues and Actions +of a King, which plainly denote that the perfect honest Man (a Title not +unworthy even of the sacred Majesty of Kings) forms his Character. As for +his Stature, 'tis such as, one wou'd think, those ought to have who are +born to command. He has a robust and vigorous Constitution, a sound +Judgment, a happy Memory, a generous and beneficent Soul, the necessary +Constituents of the Hero and the Christian. His Conduct is regulated by a +great Attachment to the Principles of Religion. His Aim and his +Application are to render his Subjects happy; and he only longs for Peace +that they may taste the Fruits of it.</p> + +<p>As to her <span class="smcap">Majesty</span> the <span class="smcap">Queen</span>, the Name of that august Princess, whom Heaven +has endowed with all manner of Virtues, to be the worthy Wife of a King, +is <span class="smcap">Maria Josepha</span>, who was born the 8th of <i>December</i> 1699, and is the +eldest Daughter of <i>Joseph</i> Emperor of the <i>Romans</i>, and of +<i>Wilhelmina-Amelia</i> of <i>Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Hanover</i>. Her Marriage to the +King, then the Prince Royal, was celebrated at <i>Vienna</i>, the 20th of +<i>August</i> +1719,<!--136.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> +betwixt 8 and 9 a Clock at Night, in the Chapel of the +Palace of the <i>Favorita</i>, by the Pope's Nuncio, who next day perform'd the +solemn Mass. In a few days after, this Princess set out with her Husband +for <i>Saxony</i>. It has already been observed with what Pomp she was received +by the King her Father-in-law; and the Veneration paid her by the +Subjects, was equal to the Magnificence of her Reception by the King. The +Returns that the Princess made on her part, manifested a Goodness which +nothing cou'd resist; so that she had the Homage and the Hearts both of +the Courtiers and the common People. Being the Daughter of a Princess, +whom the World respects even more for her Virtues than for the Splendour +of that extraordinary Grandeur with which she is inviron'd, her Royal +Highness's sole Concern was to walk in the Steps of that august Mother, +the Pattern of Princesses, and the Honour of Religion. She conceiv'd a +Respect for the King her Father-in-law, and the Queen her Mother-in-law, +from which she never departed; and now that she is a Sovereign, she has no +other Cares than to render a Nation happy which is worthy of being so for +its Affection and Fidelity to its Electors. She is inviolably attach'd to +her Duties, full of Tenderness and Respect for her Husband, and always +wisely employ'd in what may procure him solid Comfort. She continually +gives him Examples of Piety and Charity; she is beneficent to all that +make their Necessities known to her, and seems to think every unfortunate +Subject merits her Protection. The Care she takes of her Children is not +only the Care of a tender Mother, but of a Queen, who, in love to the +State, is desirous to form their Minds, so as to render them worthy of +being its Sovereigns, and to procure them the advantage of being more +respected, if possible, for their Virtues than their Birth.</p> + +<!--137.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span></p> + +<p>The Queen, who went with the King to <i>Cracow</i>, and there receiv'd the +Crown, return'd after her Coronation to <i>Saxony</i>, where she is belov'd and +reverenc'd by People of all Ranks. This august Princess seems to have an +Air of Gravity, as have all the Princes of the most serene House of +<i>Austria</i>; but as she is serious, so she is discreet, modest, and +good-natur'd. She was educated, as are all the Archdutchesses, in the +knowledge of Things useful for those who are born to govern States; she +speaks several Languages very readily, and particularly the <i>Latin</i>, in +such a manner as both charms and surprizes the <i>Poles</i>. She is Mistress of +History and Geography, and has a solid Taste of Musick, Painting, and all +the Sciences in general: Yet never did Queen take less Pride in her +Talents; for, by kindly condescending to accommodate her self to the +Capacities of those with whom she converses, she conceals all her +Superiority. Her high Rank serves only to render her affable; she is the +Mother of the People, and particularly of the Poor. And to sum up the +Character of this great Princess, it may be said in short, that she is a +virtuous Wife, a faithful Companion, a tender Mother, and a compassionate +Sovereign.</p> + +<p>His Royal Highness the <span class="smcap">Prince Royal</span> and <span class="smcap">Electoral</span> was born at <i>Dresden</i>, +the 5th of <i>September</i> 1722, and baptized in the <i>Roman</i> Catholick Church, +by the Name of <i>Frederic-Christian</i>: He is handsome, and has a Countenance +full of Good-nature, and indeed his Goodness charms all that pay their +court to him. His Knowledge and Learning are beyond one of his tender +Years; he talks several Languages justly, and with ease; and his strong +Inclination to follow the wise Counsels of his Governor, the Count +<i>Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour</i>, is a sure Presage that when he comes to +the Age of Maturity, he will walk in the glorious Steps of the King his +Father.</p> + +<!--138.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span></p> + +<p>As to their Royal Highnesses the other Princes, the eldest of them, Prince +<span class="smcap">Augustus-Albert-Christian-Xavier</span> was born the 25th of <i>August</i> 1730. He is +handsome, full of Life and Spirit, and already discovers a great +Inclination to every thing military. He is infinitely better pleased to +see the Officers of his Regiment about him than the Women his Attendants. +The Noise of Drums and Trumpets is the most agreeable Music to him, and +according to all appearance, 'tis what he will always prefer to the Flute. +When he went with their Majesties to <i>Cracow</i>, and heard talk of the +Ravages committed by the Palatine of <i>Kiow</i>, he said, he had a mind to go +and fight him, and cut off his Head. In fine, all the Actions of this +young Prince give hopes that he will add one to the Number of Heroes +descended from the august Blood of <i>Saxony</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Charles-Christian-Joseph</span> came into the World <i>July</i> 13, 1733, so that his +Royal Highness is too young as yet for any Character in History; and I +shall proceed next to their Royal Highnesses the Princesses.</p> + +<p>Her Royal Highness <span class="smcap">Mary-Amelia</span>, their Majesties eldest Daughter, was born +at <i>Dresden</i>, the 24th of <i>September</i> 1724. She is fair, very well shap'd, +and has the Air of her Mother. Her Features are regular, and 'tis heartily +to be wish'd that the Small-Pox may spare them. The Care the Queen takes +of her Education is so well bestow'd on her, that she is much better +form'd than Princesses of her Age generally are.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mary-Anne-Sophia</span> was born the 24th of <i>August</i> 1728. She is brown, and +likely to be much admir'd for her Beauty. There is something in her +Physiognomy so subtle and witty, that she has already secur'd the +Suffrages of the Courtiers.</p> + +<!--139.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span></p> + +<p>The Princess <span class="smcap">Mary-Josepha</span> was born the 4th of <i>November</i> 1731. Heaven has +been pleas'd to grant her a share of Beauty with all the Princes and +Princesses her Brothers and Sisters.</p> + +<p>I should make some mention of all the <span class="smcap">Princes</span> and <span class="smcap">Princesses</span> of the <span class="smcap">Blood</span>, +<i>viz.</i> all the most serene Dukes, Princes and Princesses of the Family of +<i>Saxony</i>, particularly those who are deriv'd from the <i>Albertine</i> Branch, +as descending with the King from the Elector <i>John-George</i> I. who form'd +the four Branches, <i>viz.</i> the Electoral Branch, and those of +<i>Weissenfels</i>, <i>Mersbourg</i>, and <i>Zeits</i>. But as this is only an Epitome of +<i>Augustus</i> III's Court, I shall only take notice of those Princes who +reside there; <i>viz.</i> <span class="smcap">John-Adolphus</span> Duke of <span class="smcap">Saxe-Weissenfels</span>, and the +Princess <span class="smcap">Christina</span> of <span class="smcap">Saxe-Weissenfels</span>.</p> + +<p>The Duke, who was born <i>September</i> 4, 1685, is of a good Stature. His Air, +Behaviour, and way of thinking, denote his Birth; and never was Prince +more worthy of being so. He is beneficent, generous; and all the Qualities +which attract Love and Esteem are united in his Person. After having spent +his early Days in the Service of <i>Hesse-Cassel</i>, he enter'd into that of +the late King; and in the several Campaigns which he made in <i>Germany</i>, +<i>Italy</i>, <i>Flanders</i>, and <i>Poland</i>, he always signaliz'd his Valour; and +particularly not long ago, when he supported the Reputation of the King's +Arms before <i>Dantzic</i> in a conspicuous manner. His Goodness, his Modesty, +and his Care to distinguish true Merit, gain him the Love and Veneration +both of the Officers and Soldiers. This Prince is actually a +Lieutenant-General in the Emperor's Army, General of the <i>Saxon</i> Horse and +Foot, Colonel of the Life-Guards, and of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight of +the Order of the <i>White Eagle</i>. +He<!--140.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> +is the Widower of <i>Caroline</i> Princess +of <i>Saxe-Eysenach</i>, and professes the <i>Lutheran</i> Religion.</p> + +<p>The Princess <span class="smcap">Christina</span> of <span class="smcap">Saxe-Weissenfels</span>, who was born the 27th of +<i>July</i> 1690, adheres to the <i>Roman</i> Catholic Doctrine, Prince <i>Albert</i> her +Father being a Convert to that Communion. She is of a good Stature, has a +grand Majestic Air, and her Behaviour is graceful and polite. Her most +serene Highness receives all that draw near to her with Respect and +Kindness, and demonstrates her high Birth only by discharging the +Obligations of it. She is so firmly attach'd to the Queen by the Bands of +Love and Virtue that she is caress'd and distinguish'd by her; and all the +Court honours and respects her more out of Inclination than Duty.</p> + +<p>You will not perhaps be sorry to know the Names, <i>&c.</i> of the late King's +legitimated Natural Issue, who are rank'd immediately after the Princes of +the Blood. They are four Sons and three Daughters, of whom I shall now +give you an Account, and who were their Mothers.</p> + +<p>1. Count <i>Maurice</i> of <i>Saxony</i> is the eldest of the late King's Natural +Children, by <i>Aurora</i> Countess of <i>Koningsmark</i>, the most worthy of her +Sex in <i>Europe</i> to be the Mistress of a great King; and of all the King's +Favourite Ladies, she kept longest in his Favour, so that after her +Retirement she acquitted her self so well that she continued in the +possession of his Majesty's Esteem and Regard. She is still living, and +after having been a Prioress of the Imperial <i>Lutheran</i> Abbey +<i>Quedlinbourg</i> she rose to be the Abbess. The Count is a +Lieutenant-General, and Colonel of a Regiment of Foot in <i>France</i>.</p> + +<p>2. The next is the Count <i>Rotofski</i> or <i>Rutowski</i>, Lieutenant-General, and +Colonel of the Crown-Guards, who owes his Birth to the King's tender +Passion for <i>Fatima</i> a <i>Turkish</i> Lady who was taken Prisoner +very<!--141.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> +young, +and fell to the share of M. <i>Schoning</i>, a Lieutenant-General in the +Service of the Elector of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, who carried her to <i>Berlin</i>, and +had her baptiz'd without altering her Name, tho' she afterwards went by +that of Madame <i>de Spiegel</i>. Madamoiselle <i>de Flemming</i>, known by the Name +of <i>Brebentau</i>, having married the Palatine of that Name, took a fancy to +her, obtain'd her of M. <i>de Schoning</i>, and carried her with her into +<i>Poland</i>, where from a Slave she became the King's Mistress, tho' Madame +<i>Brebentau</i> did not perceive it till <i>Fatima</i>'s Waist betray'd her. She +had as much Wit as Beauty, and every body said she deserv'd her Fortune. +Nevertheless, she did not enjoy it long; for Madame <i>de Lubomirski</i>, who +was Wife to the Great Chamberlain of the Crown, stole away the King's +Heart from her. The Count <i>Rutowski</i> is a Major-General of the King's +Forces, Colonel of the Life-Guards, and of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight +of the Order of the <i>White Eagle</i>. This Nobleman very much resembles the +late King his Father, having his Strength, Dexterity, Valour and +Politeness. He had his Education in <i>France</i>, and from thence went into +the <i>Service</i> of <i>Victor Amadeus</i> the late King of <i>Sardinia</i>. Then he +enter'd for a little while into the Service of the King of <i>Prussia</i>, and +at length fix'd himself in that of <i>Saxony</i>, when he signaliz'd his Valour +at the Siege of <i>Dantzic</i>, and afterwards made the Campaign as a Voluntier +in the Imperial Army on the <i>Rhine</i>. As for his Religion, he professes the +<i>Roman</i> Catholic.</p> + +<p>3. The third of the late King's Natural Sons is <i>George</i> Prince <i>de +Teschen</i>, otherwise call'd the <i>Chevalier de Saxony</i>, whom he had by +Madame <i>de Lubomirski</i> above-mentioned, who was Niece to the famous +Cardinal <i>Radjouski</i> Archbishop of <i>Gnesna</i>, and Primate of <i>Poland</i>. +After this Lady had indulg'd the King's Passion she got a Divorce from +<!--142.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span>Prince +<i>Lubomirski</i>, and took the Title of the Princess <i>de Teschen</i>, +which was granted to her by the Emperor. This Son of her's was brought up +in the <i>Roman</i> Catholic Religion. He is a Colonel in the King's Service, +and Knight of the Order of the <i>White Eagle</i>. He is a well-set Man, has a +noble Air, and supports his Title by a great share of Valour and good +Sense. He is perfect Master of military Architecture, and has great +Talents for War, which he cultivates to such a degree that his very +Amusements are the Study of what a great Captain ought to know. This +Desire of his to be qualify'd some day or other for the Command of an Army +engag'd him, at his return from the Siege of <i>Dantzic</i>, to repair to the +Army of Prince <i>Eugene</i> of <i>Savoy</i> to improve himself in the Art of War +under that Great Master.</p> + +<p>4. The fourth and youngest of the Natural Sons of the late King of +<i>Poland</i> is the Count <i>de Cosel</i>, Knight of the Order of the <i>White +Eagle</i>, whose Mother was the Countess <i>de Cosel</i>; which Lady is also +Mother to the Countesses of <i>Friesland</i><a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> and <i>Moschinski</i><a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a>. The +Count is a tall handsome Youth, modest and reserv'd, and more prudent than +might be expected from his Years. This Nobleman, who does not disparage +his Birth, is now making the Campaign upon the <i>Rhine</i> in the Imperial +Army. He is of the <i>Lutheran</i> Communion.</p> + +<p>Madame <i>de Cosel</i> is of the Family of <i>Bruchstorf</i>, and a Native of +<i>Holstein</i>. She was Maid of Honour to the Dutchess of <i>Wolfembuttle</i>, when +the Count <i>de Hoym</i> Minister of State to the King of <i>Poland</i> married her: +The Count soon after the Marriage carried her to <i>Dresden</i>, where the King +fell +in<!--143.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> +love with her, and no sooner made it known to her but gain'd her +compliance. M. <i>de Hoym</i> enrag'd at this, demanded a Divorce from her, +which his Wife readily came into; so that the Consistory of <i>Dresden</i> +declared their Marriage null and void. M. <i>de Hoym</i> married again, and +Madame took the Title of the Countess <i>de Cosel</i>; but this Lady at once +lost the King's Favour and her Liberty into the bargain, and is kept close +Prisoner in a Castle, where she has nothing to do but to indulge her +melancholy Reflections upon the Revolutions of her Fortune<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a>.</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcap">Natural Daughters</span> of the late King are, 1. The Countess of <i>Bilinski</i>, +(Sister of the Count <i>Rutowski</i>) who was born in <i>Poland</i> as well as her +Brother, and educated in the <i>Roman</i> Catholic Religion. <i>Augustus</i> II. +gave her in Marriage to the Count <i>Bilinski</i>. The Countess's frequent +Ailments obliged her to go to <i>Paris</i> for her Health; so that not being of +this Court, 'twill not be expected I should give her Character.</p> + +<!--144.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span></p> + +<p>2. The Countess of <i>Orselska</i>, who was born at <i>Warsaw</i>, of one <i>Renard</i> a +<i>French</i> Woman, and bred up in the <i>Roman</i> Catholic Faith: She is of a +good Stature, and very charming. Of all the late King's legitimated +Children his Majesty seem'd to be fondest of this. She was at first very +much neglected, and it did not appear that the King ever intended to own +her. But Count <i>Rotofski</i> seeing her at <i>Warsaw</i> in a Plight too mean for +her Birth took the freedom to mention her to the King her Father, and told +him that she merited some Kindness from him. The King thereupon desir'd to +see her, and she came into his Presence in the <i>Amazonian</i> Habit, which +was her favourite Dress. The King thought she resembled him very much, and +not being able to resist the tender Impressions of Nature he embrac'd her, +and call'd her his Daughter. At the same time he order'd the whole Court +to acknowledge her in that Quality, gave her a magnificent Palace, with +Diamonds without number, and settled great Pensions on her. 'Tis certain, +in short, that never was Daughter more like her Father; she had the same +Features, Temper and Genius. It was impossible for her to be handsomer +with a more grand Air. She is fond of Magnificence, Expence, and +Pleasures. One of her Diversions is to dress in Mens Apparel. It was in +this Habit that I saw her the first time, when she was on horseback, in a +purple Habit embroider'd with Silver, and wore the blue Ribband of +<i>Poland</i>. Being all alone, I could not learn who she was, but really took +her to be some young Foreign Nobleman whom I had not yet seen. I never +beheld any body sit better than she did on horseback, or have a more +amiable Air; insomuch, that many Ladies would have been glad of a Lover so +handsome. The same evening I saw her at the Ball, where she was still +dress'd like a Man, only her Habit was more rich than it was in the +morning,<!--145.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> +and her dishevell'd Locks of Hair hung down in fine Curls about +her Shoulders; so that <i>Cupid</i> himself was not more tempting when he +appear'd before <i>Psyche</i>. Her good Mien, and the graceful Air with which I +saw her dance a Minuet, made me inquire who this pretty Youth was? Count +<i>Rotofski</i>, who overheard me, made answer, <i>The young Man whom you admire +wou'd do you no great harm if you were a Woman, but may possibly hurt you +as the Case stands; but come along with me</i>, continued he, taking me by +the Hand, <i>I will make him known to you, then leave you to come off with +him as well as you can</i>. I guess'd by these Words that the Person he was +going to usher me to was the Countess <i>Orselska</i>; and I was confirmed in +my Suspicion when I heard Count <i>Rotofski</i> say to her, <i>Sister, here is a +Gentleman who has all due Respects for you, and who, I'll engage will be +ready to serve you in whatever you shall require of him</i>. Madamoiselle +<i>Orselska</i> smiling at this Discourse, I saluted her with all the Respect +which I ow'd to her Rank, and she receiv'd me in the most obliging manner +possible. I saw her next day in Womens Apparel, and thought her still more +amiable. I visit her every day, and now whenever I go to her I generally +find with her <i>Charles Lewis</i>, a younger Prince of the Family of +<i>Holstein-Beck</i>, who 'tis said is the happy Man for whom she is design'd +in Marriage<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a>.</p> + +<p>3. The Countess <i>Moschinski</i>, Daughter of the Countess of <i>Cosel</i>, was +born at <i>Dresden</i>, and match'd by the late King to the Count <i>de +Moschinski</i>, a <i>Polish</i> Nobleman. Her sober and courteous +Deportment,<!--146.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> +and +the Goodness of her Temper, have procured her both Love and Reverence.</p> + +<p>Having now treated of the Princes of the Royal Family, I proceed to give +you an account of the chief Noblemen of the Court; and in the first place, +of the <span class="smcap">Ministers</span> of the <span class="smcap">Cabinet</span>.—These are, 1. <i>Waldemar</i> Baron <i>de +Lowendahl</i> Grand Marshal, Knight of the <i>Saxon</i> Order of the <i>White +Eagle</i>, and of the <i>Danish</i> Order of the <i>Elephant</i>, who by his Post of +Grand Marshal holds the first Rank at the Court of <i>Saxony</i>, because the +Elector is Arch Grand Marshal of the Empire. He is a <i>Dane</i> by birth, and +is descended from a Count of <i>Guldenlowe</i>, a natural Son of the +Blood-Royal of <i>Denmark</i>. He spent his youthful Days in the Service of the +<i>States-General</i>, and was made a Captain in the Blue Guards; which he +afterwards quitted, and went into the Service of the Emperor <i>Leopold</i>, +and distinguish'd himself in quality of a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1683, at +the raising of the Siege of <i>Vienna</i>; after which he return'd to +<i>Denmark</i>, where he serv'd with Honour. But leaving that Court upon some +Disgust, he came into <i>Saxony</i>, where <i>Augustus</i> II. declared him +President of the Chamber, which Office he held when the King of <i>Denmark</i> +recall'd him home. It was with the Approbation of his Master the King of +<i>Poland</i> that he return'd to <i>Copenhagen</i>, where his <i>Danish</i> Majesty gave +him the Command of his Army in <i>Norway</i> against the <i>Swedes</i>; which +Commission he discharged with so much Honour, that he was dignify'd with +the Order of the <i>Elephant</i>, as he had already been by that of +<i>Dannebroc</i>. He might, had he pleased, have enjoy'd the greatest Offices +in <i>Denmark</i>; but he had promised <i>Augustus</i> II. not to forsake him, so +that he refus'd all the Advantages which <i>Frederic</i> IV. offer'd him, and +return'd into <i>Saxony</i>. After the death of the Count <i>de Phlug</i>, the late +King appointed him Grand Marshal, which Office he +still<!--147.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> +executes with +Honour. Tho' he is now advanced in years he has a sound Constitution, and +the Air, Behaviour, and Way of Thinking of a Man of his Quality. Being +affable and polite, he does the Honours of the Court in a Gentleman-like +manner, for which the Courtiers reverence him, and the King professes an +esteem for him. His Majesty is the sixth King whom this Minister has +serv'd. He has married to his second Wife a Lady of the Family of +<i>Rantzau</i>, in the Country of <i>Holstein</i>, who bears a valuable Character, +and is as polite as can be desired, speaking <i>French</i> as well as if she +was born at <i>Versailles</i>. The Grand Marshal has two Sons by his first +Marriage with a Lady of <i>Revenclau</i>: his youngest, <i>viz.</i> <i>Woldemar</i> Baron +<i>de Lowendahl</i> is Major-General of the King's Armies, Inspector General of +the <i>Saxon</i> Infantry, and Colonel of a Regiment of Foot. He was fourteen +years old when the Grand Marshal sent him to <i>Denmark</i>; where he made a +Campaign at Sea under Admiral <i>Tordenschild</i>. At his return to <i>Dresden</i> +he carried a Musket, and afterwards pass'd through all the subaltern +Degrees. When he was but a Lieutenant he accompany'd General <i>Seckendorf</i> +to <i>Vienna</i>, where the Marshal Count <i>Guido de Staremberg</i> gave him a +Company in his Regiment, and he distinguish'd himself in a particular +manner at the Sieges of <i>Temiswaer</i> and <i>Belgrade</i>, and in <i>Sicily</i>. Since +that, he enter'd into the Service of <i>Augustus</i> II. who gave him a +Regiment. Afterwards he made two Campaigns as a Voluntier with the +Imperialists in <i>Corsica</i>; and upon all occasions manifested that Valour, +Skill, and Prudence, as he did lately in the Defence of <i>Cracow</i>; where, +with a weak and sickly Garrison, he not only made a vigorous stand against +the Attacks of the Primate's <i>Polish</i> Adherents, but also obliged them to +retire. This General is so fond of signalizing his Bravery, that he was +scarce return'd from +<i>Poland</i>,<!--148.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> +but he went to make the Campaign as a +Voluntier, with the Imperial Army on the <i>Rhine</i>. He lives magnificently, +keeps a good Table, and is very civil to Foreigners.</p> + +<p>2. <i>Anthony</i> Count de <i>Lutzelbourg</i>, who is by birth a <i>Lorrainer</i>, and an +exemplary Professor of the <i>Roman</i> Catholic Religion, is +Lieutenant-General of the Forces, Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, +and General of the Horse. He is pretty tall, and has a chearful +Countenance, with a noble easy Behaviour, which shews the Man of Quality. +His Merit procured him the Honour of being the King's Governour after the +Decease of the Count <i>de Costa</i>, which Post he held 'till his Majesty came +of age, when he was appointed Steward of his Houshold, and was as much +esteem'd by their Royal Highnesses as he is valued by the Courtiers, and +belov'd by the Domestics of the Prince who are under his command: but his +frequent Ailments oblig'd him to quit that Office: Nevertheless he was +last year at <i>Vienna</i>, where he receiv'd for the King his Master the +Investiture of the Feudatory States of the Empire, and concluded the +Treaty of Alliance still subsisting between the two Courts.</p> + +<p>3. <i>Henry-Frederic</i> Count of <i>Friesland</i>, is Great Chamberlain, General of +the Infantry, Lieutenant-General of the King's Forces, and Knight of the +Order of the <i>White Eagle</i>. He is descended from a Family which has for a +long time been of illustrious Rank in <i>Saxony</i>. He spent part of his Youth +in the Service of <i>Peter</i> the Great, Czar of <i>Muscovy</i>, and signaliz'd his +Valour very much at the Battle of <i>Pultowa</i>; where <i>Charles</i> XII. King of +<i>Sweden</i> in a few Hours lost all the fruit of nine years Toil, and of an +infinite number of Victories. Soon after this great Battle he shew'd his +Wisdom to be equal to his Bravery at the Battle of <i>Pruth</i>; which though +it did not turn out so much to the Czar's +Honour,<!--149.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> +was altogether as +fortunate to him, since it extricated that Prince out of the worst scrape +that perhaps ever King was reduced to. He enter'd afterwards into the +Service of the late King; who being sensible of his Merit, raised him to +the greatest Dignities of his Court, and married him to one of the +Daughters that he had by the Countess of <i>Cosel</i>. The Great Chamberlain, +who has the Looks and Behaviour of a Man of Quality, thinks and acts too +like a Nobleman. Few Persons surpass him in Politeness and Learning: He is +perfect Master of several Languages, and of every thing that forms the +Minister and the General. He loves Literature and the Arts, and was always +their Supporter. He lives handsomely, and has such a Presence as commands +the Veneration of all that have to do with him.</p> + +<p>4. <i>Joseph</i> Count <i>de Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour</i>, the adopted Son of +the Velt-Marshal <i>Augustus Christopher</i> Count <i>de Wackerbarth</i> who +succeeded Marshal <i>de Flemming</i> in the chief command of the Troops in +<i>Saxony</i>, and was not only Marshal, but a Minister of State, Grand Master +of the Artillery, Governour of <i>Dresden</i>, and Knight of the Order of the +<i>White Eagle</i>. The Father was born of a good Family in <i>Mecklembourg</i>; but +from his very youth he attach'd himself to the Elector of <i>Saxony</i>; and by +his own Merit, and the Friendship of his Predecessor Count <i>Flemming</i>, he +was raised to the chief Posts in the Army and the Court. In 1709 he had +the Command of the <i>Saxon</i> Troops before <i>Tournay</i>, as he had in 1715 +before <i>Strahlsund</i>, when 'twas besieg'd by the Kings of <i>Denmark</i> and +<i>Prussia</i>, and defended by <i>Charles</i> XII. King of <i>Sweden</i>. M. <i>de +Wackerbarth</i> was made Count of the Empire by the King his Master, while +that Prince was Vicar of the Empire, after the death of the Emperor +<i>Joseph</i>. After being grac'd with this +Dignity,<!--150.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> +the Count <i>de +Wackerbarth</i> was employ'd in sundry important Negotiations, especially at +<i>Vienna</i>; where he married a <i>Piedmontese</i> Lady, the Dowager of <i>Charles</i> +Margrave of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, Brother to <i>Frederic</i> I. King of <i>Prussia</i>, +who when he was but very young at the University of <i>Turin</i>; married her +by the Left-hand, as you know is the Fashion among our Princes when they +marry below themselves. However the Lady went by the Name of Madame <i>de +Brandenbourg</i> to the very day that the Count <i>de Wackerbarth</i> married her, +being so proud of the Title that she was resolv'd never to part with it +'till she was married again: Notwithstanding the advantageous Offers made +to her from the King of <i>Prussia</i> to engage her to renounce it, her +refusal of which was the more generous because it was at a time too when +she was in narrow Circumstances; yet her constant Answer was, that nothing +in the Universe should tempt her to debase herself; and that she had +rather be poor, and pass for the Wife of the Margrave of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, +than be rich, and pass for his Mistress. Before she became Madame <i>de +Brandenbourg</i> she was the Widow of a certain Count <i>de Salmour</i>, by whom +she had a Son whom she engaged the Count <i>de Wackerbarth</i>, when she +married him, to adopt for his own. I confess I never saw this Lady; for at +the time of my former Voyage hither she was at <i>Vienna</i>; and now she is +dead. They talk of her still as one of the acutest Women of her time. But +to return to the Marshal; he is very civil, lives with great Splendor, and +his House is open to all Foreigners. He is mighty intimate with the Count +<i>de Flemming</i>, Prime Minister and Favourite of the King; so that they +fully contradicted the Proverb, <i>That Fire and Water can't agree</i>; for +Count <i>Flemming</i> was lively almost to the Degree of a Fury, whereas the +Count <i>de Wackerbarth</i>, on the +contrary,<!--151.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> +abounds with Phlegm<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a>. We go +back now to his adopted Son <i>Joseph</i> above-mention'd, a <i>Piedmontese</i>, at +present one of the Ministers of the Cabinet<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a>.</p> + +<p>He is also Knight of the Order of the <i>White Eagle</i>, and Governour of his +Royal Highness the Prince Royal and Electoral. He bears the Name and Arms +of <i>Wackerbarth</i>, by reason of his being adopted as above by the +Velt-Marshal his Father-in-law; upon whose death, he succeeded to his +Estate. He took to arms betimes; but having receiv'd a Wound in the Foot, +which he feels to this day, he was oblig'd to quit a Profession in which +he distinguish'd himself, and apply'd afterwards to Affairs of State. The +late King sent him to the Courts of <i>Bavaria</i> and <i>Vienna</i>, where he +supported the Prerogatives of his Character with Dignity, and gain'd the +extraordinary Esteem of their Imperial Majesties and the Ministers. +<i>Augustus</i> II. recall'd him from <i>Vienna</i>, and sent him to <i>Rome</i>, to the +new Pope <i>Clement</i> XII. The <i>Romans</i>, those Masters in the Art of +Politics, were soon convinced that this Minister knew more than they could +teach him: They admired the Prudence and Resolution with which he behav'd +when the <i>Sbirri</i> presum'd to invade the Franchise of his Quarter; and all +own'd that the most experienced Minister could not have better supported +the Honour of his Master. At his Return from <i>Rome</i>, the late King, to the +Satisfaction of all Men, appointed him Governour to Prince <i>Frederic</i>, the +present Prince Royal and Electoral; the Count having all the necessary +Qualifications to fill that Post with Honour: For besides +a<!--152.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> +good Share of +Religion, he is a Gentleman of known Candour, great Experience in +Business, and abundance of Good-nature, Politeness, and Modesty: And he is +not only deeply learn'd, but always studious how to answer the great Trust +repos'd in him by their Majesties; and as the Method he takes to instruct +the Prince has won him his Royal Highness's Esteem and Friendship, so it +cannot fail of procuring him one day the Praise and Gratitude of those who +are concern'd for the Glory of the Royal Family.</p> + +<p>When <i>Augustus</i> III. came to the Government he sent the Count, with M. <i>de +Baudissin</i>, in Quality of his Plenipotentiaries, to the Republic of +<i>Poland</i>; in which Post he answer'd the Expectation which the King had of +his Capacity. His Wisdom got the better of all Opposition; and he had the +advantage of triumphing over the Intrigues and Cabals of the Primate. +After the King had been proclaim'd the Count swore, in his Majesty's Name, +in the Church at <i>Warsaw</i>, to the Observation of the <i>Pacta Conventa</i> +drawn up by the Members of the Republic; and then accompanied the Grand +Deputation of the <i>Polish</i> Nobility at <i>Tarnowitz</i>. 'Twas he that made +answer, in the Name of their Majesties, to the Harangues of the Bishop of +<i>Cracow</i> declaring the Republic's Acknowledgement of his Title, and their +Obedience. And the Answer he return'd was in the two Languages in which +the Prelate address'd him: He spoke in <i>Latin</i> for the King, and in +<i>French</i> for the Queen.</p> + +<p>The Count being return'd to <i>Dresden</i> since their Majesties Coronation, is +wholly taken up in the Education of the Prince Royal; and his care of him +has been crown'd with such Success, that we may prophesy his Royal +Highness will one day draw down that Blessing of God upon himself, which +is upon the Head of the Just.</p> + +<!--153.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span></p> + +<p>5. <i>Wolff-Henry de Baudissin</i>, General of the Horse, Colonel of a Regiment +of Carabiniers, and Knight of the Order of the <i>White Eagle</i>, and that of +<i>Dannebroc</i>, has all the Qualities requisite for a well-born Gentleman, +<i>viz.</i> an agreeable Aspect, a good Stature, a noble Air, easy and engaging +Behaviour, approv'd Valour, a Generosity free of all Ostentation; and +finally what is superior to all these Qualities, he has a Fund of Probity +and Candour which nothing can corrupt. He is a Native of <i>Holstein</i>, and +spent his early Years in the Service of <i>Sweden</i>, and afterwards in that +of the Duke his Sovereign, who gave him a Regiment, with which he serv'd +all the last War in the <i>Netherlands</i>, in the Post of Major-General. +<i>Augustus</i> II. calling him to his Service, made him Lieutenant-General of +his Forces, and then General of the Cavalry. When <i>Augustus</i> III. came to +the Government he summon'd him to his Cabinet-Council, and sent him as his +Plenipotentiary to <i>Poland</i>, where he had a hand in every Transaction for +the Advantage and Honour of the King. He afterwards commanded the Army +which his Majesty was obliged to carry into his Kingdom for the Defence of +his oppressed Subjects; and there he fell so dangerously ill that he was +obliged to return to <i>Germany</i>, to make use of the Waters of <i>Pyrmont</i>; by +which he found benefit; and he is now at <i>Dresden</i>, where his Seniority +gives him the Command in chief of the Forces.</p> + +<p>6. <i>Alexander-Joseph</i> Count <i>de Sulkowski</i>, Starost of <i>Sokolnick</i>, Chief +Huntsman of <i>Lithuania</i>, Master of the Horse, Great Master of the +Wardrobe, Major-General of the King's Forces, Colonel of the Crown-Guards +and of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight of the Order of the <i>White Eagle</i>, +is a <i>Polander</i>. Being taken into Service very young as Page to the King, +then Prince Royal and Electoral, he accompanied him in his Travels, and +there<!--154.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> +acquir'd a good Fund of Knowledge. His great Sobriety, his +Assiduity, his Application to the discharge of his Duties, his Sense, and +his sincere Attachment to Religion, won his Master's Heart, of which he +keeps possession even to this day; with a Distinction that does him the +more Honour, because he derives it from the King's thorough conviction of +his Merit.</p> + +<p>The Count is of a good Stature, has a noble and modest Air, and a Candour +in his Conversation and his Action, which is very engaging. He is civil, +and makes no other Use of his Favour but to do as much Good as he can, +without prejudicing the Interests of the King whom he serves with +Gratitude, Affection, and Zeal. He is a generous Minister, and his House +is open to all Persons of Distinction.</p> + +<p>After he had serv'd as a Page, he was by the late King made a Gentleman of +the Bed-Chamber; and not long after that, his present Majesty, who was +then still Prince Royal, declar'd him Director of his Hunting Equipage, +and trusted him with the Management of his Domestic Affairs. The late King +also appointed him one of his Chamberlains.</p> + +<p>At the famous Camp at <i>Zeithaim</i>, the Count commanded an Independent +Company. He discover'd so great Application, and such a happy Genius for +the Art of War, that the late King, whose Penetration nothing cou'd +escape, took it for a good Omen, and gave him a Regiment of Foot. Thus did +the Count make his way towards the splendid Fortune which he now enjoys. +M. <i>de Bruhl</i> resigning his Post of Great Master of the Wardrobe, soon +after the King's Accession to the Government, his Majesty gave that Post +to his Favourite. He afterwards call'd him to his Cabinet-Council; and at +his Coronation, he made him Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. After +the Court's +Return<!--155.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> +from <i>Cracow</i>, the Count went to the Army before +<i>Dantzic</i>; where he gave demonstration of his being as good a Soldier as +he is an able Statesman. It being not compatible with his Ministry to be +long absent, and <i>Dantzic</i> being on the point of capitulating, he went to +give the King an account of the Success of its Siege, and the Prosperity +of his Arms. He accompanied his Majesty to the Abbey of <i>Oliva</i>, and by +his Prudence contributed very much to put such <i>Polish</i> Lords in mind of +their Obedience, who had thought of being exempted from it. And his only +View being more and more to deserve that Favour with which the King +honours him, and being desirous of having it in his power to serve him, as +well in his Armies, as in his Cabinet, he went last of all to the Imperial +Army, in order to qualify himself for a Command under Prince <i>Eugene</i> of +<i>Savoy</i>.</p> + +<p>To complete the good Fortune of this Count, he married a Lady, who, +besides her Birth and personal Charms, has a Character which gains her the +Applause and Veneration of all that know her. She is hereditary Baroness +of <i>Stein</i>; and when he marry'd her, she was Lady of Honour to the Queen. +They are both Members of the <i>Roman</i> Catholic Church.</p> + +<p>7. <i>Henry de Bruhl</i>, Knight of the Orders of <i>Poland</i> and <i>Prussia</i>, a +Member of the Privy-Council, President of the Chamber of Finances, +Director General of the Excise, and Vice-President of the Taxes, is the +Son of <i>John de Bruhl</i>, who was of the Privy-Council to <i>Augustus</i> II. and +Grand Marshal and Director of the Privy-Council to the Duke Regent of +<i>Saxe-Weissenfels</i>. He is by Birth a <i>Saxon</i>, and has a Brother who is +Knight of the Teutonick Order. He made great progress at <i>Leipsic</i> in the +<i>Belles Lettres</i>, and in the Exercises suitable to a Person of his +Extraction. His +Recreations<!--156.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> +there, were Music, and Conversation with +Persons of his own Taste. He sometimes made Verses, which were esteem'd +for the bright Thoughts in them, and the Harmony of the Versification. +When he quitted <i>Leipsic</i>, he was enter'd Page to the late King: In this +Post he behaved with so much Sobriety and Assiduity, that his Majesty soon +distinguish'd him from the Croud, admitted him to Familiarity with him; +and finding he had a sound Judgment, a quick Apprehension, a Penetration +beyond what might be expected from one of his Age, and that he was a +Person of Discretion, and inviolable Secrecy, join'd with a noble Freedom, +and such a happy way of expressing himself as to render the most difficult +Subjects easy and pleasant; he readily judg'd that such a one was fit to +be employ'd in great Affairs. He had a mind to instruct him; and having +nominated him one of the Gentlemen of his Bed-Chamber, he had him under +his Eye. M. <i>de Bruhl</i> improv'd so well from the Lessons of this great +Master, so thoroughly study'd his Humour, and so exactly suited himself to +his Genius, that he made himself necessary. His Application, his Love to +Business, and the Ease with which he dispatch'd it, won him the intire +Confidence of <i>Augustus</i> II. who declar'd him Great Master of the +Wardrobe, and a Privy Counsellor; and to him he moreover committed the +Direction and Regulation of Affairs, Foreign and Domestic. Never had the +King shewn more Affection or Esteem for any of his Favourites; yet this +Nobleman took ne'er the more State upon him for it, but living always +humble, polite, and ready to do Services, he made himself Friends, and +secur'd himself by that means against all the Hatred and Envy with which +Courtiers are very ready to treat those who are in Power.</p> + +<!--157.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span></p> + +<p>When the King of <i>Prussia</i> went to the Camp at <i>Zeithaim</i>, he conferr'd +his Order of the Black Eagle upon M. <i>de Bruhl</i>: The late King also +honour'd him with that of the White Eagle; but this was at a time when +this Minister had no Relish for Honours, and wou'd have been glad to have +renounc'd them for ever, if he cou'd thereby have prolong'd the Days of a +Master so worthy of Immortality.</p> + +<p>It was in those last Moments, when the Professions of Friendship cannot be +so much as suspected, that <i>Augustus</i> II. gave his Favourite his Order, as +a certain Token that he retain'd a value for him even to Death. This great +King having finish'd his glorious Career, M. <i>de Bruhl</i>, without suffering +himself to be too much cast down, knowing that an Ocean of Tears was too +little to shed for the Loss he had sustain'd, thought of nothing more than +paying the due Devoirs to the deceas'd Sovereign, and to the Prince, his +Son and Successor. Having therefore caus'd the Corpse of the former to be +embalm'd, and put a Seal upon all the Effects which belong'd to him, +besides securing the Jewels and Papers of Consequence; he came to +<i>Dresden</i> to join the Elector, now King of <i>Poland</i>, who received him with +such Marks of Kindness, as were enough to have put the deceas'd Monarch +out of the Minister's Thoughts, if his Gratitude had not dictated to him, +that such a King and such a Master ought never to be forgot.</p> + +<p>The King confirm'd him in all the Employments and Honours which he had +held by the Favour of <i>Augustus</i> II. and moreover appointed him one of the +Ministers of his Cabinet. Some time after this, his Majesty declar'd him +President of the Chamber of Finances; consequently, this great, this true +King, by distinguishing Merit, did farther Honour to the Memory of his +august Father, +since<!--158.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> +he did what that magnanimous Prince wou'd have +undoubtedly done for his Favourite.</p> + +<p>At this time the Minister resign'd to the King his Office of Great Master +of the Wardrobe, which his various Occupations did not permit him to +manage with that Care he thought was necessary. After the Return of the +Court from <i>Cracow</i>, whither this Gentleman had accompany'd the King, he +marry'd the Countess <i>de Collowrat</i>, one of the Queen's Ladies of Honour, +whose high Birth was supported with such personal Qualities as can never +be enough commended. The Bride being a <i>Roman</i> Catholic, the Ceremony of +the Marriage was performed at <i>Moritzbourg</i>, in presence of their +Majesties, by the Bishop of <i>Cracow</i>. Never was a Couple better match'd; +the Lady's Person being a Collection of Charms, and M. <i>de Bruhl</i> a Man of +as noble Presence as one wou'd wish to see; which he generally sets off +with a rich Dress of a good Fancy. No body at Court surpasses him in a +generous way of living; for he keeps a noble Table, and at his House +Persons of Distinction have their Assemblies. This Minister has something +so attracting in his Looks and Behaviour that he easily wins the Hearts of +People who are the most indifferent to him. He is so polite, affable, and +engaging, that he listens attentively to those who lay their Wants before +him, returns them courteous and distinct Answers; and whenever he is +constrain'd to give a Denial, he does it in such a manner as plainly +demonstrates his Concern that 'tis not in his power to oblige. And 'tis +owing to this Good-nature of his, and to the Kindness with which he treats +his Inferiors, that he can boast of possessing the Love and Veneration of +the Public.</p> + +<p>In short, the Count <i>de Sulkowski</i> who has the first place in the Cabinet, +and this Gentleman who has the second, are the Ministers who decide all +Affairs<!--159.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> +with the King's good Pleasure. They are Gentlemen who know +nothing of Jealousy nor Envy; and, as they act from one and the same +Principle, so they have both the same View, which is to increase, if +possible, the Glory of the King, and the Happiness of the Government.</p> + +<p>The Office of all the above-mention'd, as Ministers of the Cabinet, is so +eminent at this Court that it gives those who are invested with it the +Precedence of all the Generals, both of Horse and Foot.</p> + +<p>Besides these, there are three other Ministers of the Cabinet, who, tho' +retir'd from Court, enjoy the Rank and Pensions annex'd to the Ministry. +They are the Count <i>de Manteuffel</i>, the Count <i>de Promnitz</i>, and the +Marquiss <i>de Fleuri</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Ernest</i> Count <i>de Manteuffel</i>, Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, is +descended of a Family which has been for a long time of distinguish'd Rank +in <i>Prussian Pomerania</i>. He was Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber to <i>Frederic</i> +I. King of <i>Prussia</i>. Certain Ballads being handed about at Court, which +were insulting Lampoons upon the Count <i>de Wartemberg</i>, the King's Prime +Minister and Favourite, M. <i>de Manteuffel</i> was charged with being the +Author of 'em; who knowing that the Favourite wou'd not put up with the +Affront, retir'd to <i>Saxony</i>, where the Count <i>de Flemming</i>, who then bore +the greatest sway at the King of <i>Poland</i>'s Court, receiv'd him as his +Countryman, and employ'd him in foreign Affairs; which he managed with the +Approbation both of his Majesty and the foreign Ministers he had to treat +with. M. <i>de Manteuffel</i> kept in with the Favourite without giving into +the Flattery which that Minister expected from his Creatures; and while +the King was Vicar of the Empire, he made M. <i>de Manteuffel</i> Count of the +Empire. His Majesty had some time before honour'd him with the Order of +the White Eagle, and preferr'd him to his Cabinet-Council; and after +Marshal +<i>Flemming</i>'s<!--160.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> +Death, M. <i>de Manteuffel</i><a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> had the principal +Direction of the foreign Affairs. But this able Minister, and one of the +chief Ornaments and Confidents of the late King's Court, retir'd from it +in 1730, to his Estate in <i>Pomerania</i>, and now resides at <i>Berlin</i>; where +he still enjoys a Pension of 24000 Crowns, or 12000 Rixdollars, which was +secur'd to him by the present Elector. It adds to his Character, that +after he was retired, the Want of him was lamented.</p> + +<p>He is pretty tall, well set, has a grand Air, and is one of the handsomest +Men that I have seen. His Behaviour is noble and easy, he has a good Fund +of Learning, an extraordinary Memory, and such a Happiness of expressing +himself that when he talks he never fails to give Pleasure. He lives +nobly, and when he was at <i>Dresden</i> his House was open to all Persons of +Distinction and Merit. He married a Baroness of <i>Pludouska</i>, who is, as +well as himself, of the <i>Lutheran</i> Religion.</p> + +<p><i>Erdmann</i>, Count <i>de Promnitz</i>, is more at his Estate than at Court; he is +also Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. He married a Princess of +<i>Saxe-Weissenfels</i>. He always distinguish'd himself by his Zeal, and his +Attachment to the Royal Family; of which he gave Proofs by raising an +Independent Company at his own Expence, for the Service of the late King, +which he sent to reinforce his Majesty's Troops in the Camp before +<i>Zeithaim</i>: And for the same Use he has since rais'd a Regiment of Horse.</p> + +<p><i>Francis Vicardel</i>, Marquiss <i>de Fleuri</i> and <i>de Beaufort</i>, is a +<i>Savoyard</i>. He was the King of <i>Sardinia</i>'s Minister, and his Envoy to the +Court of <i>Vienna</i>, when the late King of <i>Poland</i> invited him into his +Service, admitted him to his +Cabinet-Council,<!--161.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> +and made him a Knight of +his Order. This Minister is endow'd with all the Talents that can be +desir'd in a Man who has an Employment. He has an agreeable Aspect, +engaging Manners, a just Discernment, a quick Apprehension, and a very +even Temper. But his frequent Ailments disabling him from the Exercise of +his Talents, he desir'd, and obtain'd leave to retire to his Estate in +<i>Savoy</i>; and the late King, who had always a great and noble Soul, being +desirous that he shou'd be a Witness of his Goodness and Royal +Magnificence, secur'd the Enjoyment of his Pensions to him; which the +present King has also been pleased to confirm.</p> + +<p>Another of the Cabinet Ministers, who was also formerly Prime Minister to +the late King of <i>Poland</i>, was the Count <i>de Hoym</i>, descended from one of +the principal Families in <i>Saxony</i>, and Brother to the Gentleman that +married Madame <i>de Cosel</i>. I knew him intimately before he was advanced to +the Ministry, at <i>Paris</i>, and at <i>Vienna</i>, as well as here at <i>Dresden</i>. +You must have seen him in <i>Silesia</i>, where he has a very fine Estate. +There is not a Minister at this Court more civil, more learned, or a +better Friend to learned Men. During his long Residence at <i>Paris</i> as +Ambassador from the King of <i>Poland</i>, his House was open to all Men of +Learning as it is now at <i>Dresden</i>; and he had the splendid Title given +him of the <i>Mecnas</i> of <i>Saxony</i><a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a>.</p> + +<!--162.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span></p> + +<p>They who are actually <span class="smcap">Privy Counsellors</span>, or <span class="smcap">Ministers of State</span> here, are +eight in number. They are descended from some of the best Families in +<i>Saxony</i>, and profess the Protestant Religion. The Detail of their +Characters, their Experience, and their Merit, wou'd oblige me to +transgress the Limits of this Work, were I only to treat of those who are +bound by their Employments to attend the King's Person, and who compose +his Majesty's Houshold. But for the Reputation of the Privy Council, 'tis +proper just to observe that all its Members are Subjects who do Honour to +the King's Choice; that they are vigilant for +promoting<!--163.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> +the Good of the +Public, and that in their Deliberations they manifest their Zeal for the +King, and their Affection to their Country.</p> + +<p>The President of this Council, is <i>Alexander de Miltitz de Scharffenberg</i>, +who is a Native of <i>Saxony</i>, the same that was the King's Governour; of +whom so much has been already said, that I avoid to make any more +particular mention of him here.</p> + +<p>Two of the Privy Counsellors are Counsellors of the Conferences, which are +held in presence of his Majesty, <i>viz.</i> <i>Gotlob-Frederic</i> Baron <i>de +Gersdorff</i>, and <i>Bernard</i> Baron <i>de Zech</i>. The former comes from an +ancient Family of Distinction, +which<!--164.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> +has given several great Men to this +State. The latter has acquitted himself with Success in the several +Negociations wherein he has been employ'd. They are both laborious, +vigilant, upright Men, and of great Experience in Business.</p> + +<p><i>The King's</i> <span class="smcap">Great Officers</span><i> are,</i></p> + +<p>I. The <span class="smcap">Grand Marshal</span>; which Office is now held by <i>Waldemar</i>, Baron <i>de +Lowendahl</i>, who has under him</p> + +<div class="center">The Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber,<br /> +The Pages,<br /> +The Huntsmen,<br /> +The Musicians of the Chapel and the Chamber,<br /> +The Dancers,<br /> +The Comedians,<br /> +The Trumpeters,<br /> +The Footmen,<br /> +The <i>Turks</i>,<br /> +The <i>Heydukes</i>,<br /> +The Messengers,<br /> +The <i>Negroes</i>;</div> + +<p>and in short, a considerable number of other Officers and Domestics of the +King's Houshold. His Jurisdiction extends not only over those that I have +mention'd, but also over all Foreigners of Quality who happen to be at +<i>Dresden</i>; and there is a Tribunal or Court for this purpose, of which the +Great Chamberlain, the Great Master of the Kitchens, the Great Cup-Bearer +and the Marshal of the Court are Members.</p> + +<p>II. The <span class="smcap">Great Chamberlain</span>; who is at present <i>Henry-Frederic</i> Count of +<i>Friesland</i>. 'Tis he that receives the Ambassadors and other foreign +Ministers, and introduces them to an Audience of the King. He has under +him the several Chamberlains.</p> + +<p>III. The <span class="smcap">Master</span> of the <span class="smcap">Horse</span>, <i>Alexander-Joseph</i> Count <i>de Sulkowski</i>, is +in possession of this Office, which is one of the best and noblest +Employments<!--165.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> +at Court, the Person who is invested with it being serv'd by +the King's Equipages and Livery, and having the disposal of all the +inferior Offices appertaining to the Stables. He has under him the +Equerries, the Prickers, and all the Workmen employ'd for the Service of +the Stables, and the making of the Equipages.</p> + +<p>He that is the only chief Equerry is <i>Adolphus de Bruhl</i>, one of the +King's Chamberlains. He officiates in the absence of the Master of the +Horse, is Brother to <i>Henry de Bruhl</i> Minister of the Cabinet, and +resembles him in Candour and Integrity. His Honesty, which is imprinted on +his very Countenance, reflects a Lustre on all his Actions. He is so +sensible of the Charms of Friendship that he fulfils all the Obligations +of it; and besides those Qualities of the Mind, he makes an agreeable +Appearance, is dextrous in his Exercises, has a solid Relish of the Arts +and Sciences, is perfect Master of Music, and plays on several +Instruments.</p> + +<p>He was heretofore in the Service of the Duke Regent of <i>Weissenfels</i>, and +next in that of the Duke of <i>Saxe-Weimar</i>, who had such an Esteem for his +Merit that to him he referred the Direction of his Court. Nevertheless he +left this Prince, and enter'd into the Service of the late King, who +conferred those Employments on him which he now enjoys. Since he came to +Court, he married a young Lady of Quality of the Family of <i>Opelen</i>, whose +Fortune and Charms into the bargain made her such a considerable Match +that she did not want Suitors.</p> + +<p>IV. The <span class="smcap">Great Huntsman</span>. The Gentleman who at present possesses this +Office, one of the most lucrative at Court, is <i>Charles de Leubnitz</i>. It +gives him the Superintendance over all the Officers of the Venery, in +which Number are included the Rangers, the Verdurers, the Gentlemen and +Pages,<!--166.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> +and above a hundred Huntsmen or other Persons depending on them. +The Great Huntsman is a Protestant, as well as his Lady, who is of the +Family of <i>Schaurot</i>.</p> + +<p>V. The <span class="smcap">Great Master</span> of the <span class="smcap">Kitchens</span> is <i>Adolphus</i> Baron <i>de Seyffertitz</i>, +of a Family which has been for a long time distinguish'd in this +Electorate. His first Step at Court was in the Employment of Gentleman of +the Bed-Chamber. <i>Augustus</i> II. at the request of the late Czar <i>Peter the +Great</i>, plac'd him Governor to the Czarowitz when that young Prince came +into <i>Germany</i>. He continued in this Post till after the Marriage of the +Czarowitz to the Princess of <i>Brunswic-Wolfembuttle-Blanckenbourg</i>. After +his return to <i>Saxony</i> he accompanied the late King to <i>Berlin</i>, when his +Majesty together with <i>Frederic</i> IV. King of <i>Denmark</i>, went thither to +make a visit to <i>Frederic</i> I. King of <i>Prussia</i>. In 1711, M. <i>de +Seyffertitz</i> was appointed Marshal of the Embassy which <i>Augustus</i> II. +sent to <i>Francfort</i>, for the Election of an Emperor. His Imperial Majesty +<i>Charles</i> VI. at the Ceremony of his Coronation, made him a Knight of the +Empire, and at length the late King made him one of his Chamberlains, and +then Great Master of the Kitchens, which Office he manages with Dignity +and Politeness. He married a Lady of the Family of <i>Haxthausen</i>, Widow of +the Count <i>de Beichling</i> the Great Faulconer. They are both of the +<i>Lutheran</i> Communion.</p> + +<p>In the absence of the Grand Marshal, the Great Master of the Kitchens +officiates, and at the grand Ceremonies wears like him a Staff tipp'd with +Silver gilt. Under his Province are the Comptrollers of the Kitchen and of +the Houshold, the Clerks of the Kitchen, the Purveyors, the Cooks and +Turn-spits, the Pastry-Cooks, the Pursers, Fishmongers, <i>&c.</i></p> + +<!--167.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span></p> + +<p>VI. The <span class="smcap">Great Cup-Bearer</span> is <i>John-Adolphus de Haugwitz</i>, a Gentleman of +good Extraction. His Father was Grand Marshal to the late King. He is a +handsome Man, has a noble Mien, performs all sorts of Exercises with a +Grace and with Dexterity, and does the Honours of the Court in a becoming +manner. He is of the Protestant Religion, and married to a Lady of the +Family of <i>Beist</i>. His Employment sets him above all the Officers of the +King's Buttery, Cellar, and Pantry. In the absence of the Grand Marshal +and the Master of the Kitchens, he officiates for them, and at great +Ceremonies he carries like them a Staff of Silver gilt.</p> + +<p>VII. The <span class="smcap">Great Faulconer</span> is an Office held by <i>Anthony</i> Count <i>de +Moschinski</i>, a <i>Polish</i> Nobleman, and a <i>Roman</i> Catholic. He was formerly +Page to the King, and attended his Majesty in his Tours to <i>France</i> and +<i>Italy</i>, where he acquir'd great Politeness, and a very engaging +Deportment. At his return to <i>Dresden</i>, he was made one of the Gentlemen +of the Bed-Chamber to the King, who was then the Prince Royal. Afterwards +the late King appointed him one of his Chamberlains; and when the Count +<i>de Fitztuhm</i> unhappily lost his life at <i>Warsaw</i>, his Majesty who had +given his Office of Great Chamberlain to the Count <i>de Friesland</i>, +bestow'd that of <i>Great Faulconer</i>, which was held by that Nobleman, upon +the Count <i>de Moschinski</i>, who was grac'd almost at the same time with the +Order of the <i>White Eagle</i>, and the Post of Treasurer to the Court of +<i>Poland</i>. His Majesty also granted him in Marriage one of his natural +Children, the Daughter of the Countess <i>de Cosel</i>. Never was a Person more +deserving of Honours than the Great Faulconer, who is truly magnificent, +and makes such an Appearance, that he does an Honour to his Character. By +his Behaviour he engages the Friendship and Regard of all that have to do +with him. He +has<!--168.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> +under his command the Officers of the Faulconry or Mews +where the Hawks are kept, the Faulconers, and in general all those Persons +that have any relation to the Faulconry.</p> + +<p>VIII. The <span class="smcap">Great Master</span> of the <span class="smcap">Wardrobe</span> is <i>Alexander-Joseph</i> Count <i>de +Sulkowski</i>. He has under his Jurisdiction the <i>Catholic</i> Clergy, the +<i>Physicians</i> of the <i>Body</i>, the <i>Footmen</i>, the <i>Secretaries</i>, <i>Writers</i> +and <i>Clerks</i> of the <i>Chamber</i>, the <i>Inspectors</i> of the <i>Chamber</i> of +<i>Curiosities</i>, the <i>Ushers</i> of the <i>Chamber</i> and of the <i>King's Closet</i>, +his <i>Peruke-makers</i>, <i>Surgeons</i> and <i>Taylors</i>, the <i>Negroes</i>, <i>Dwarfs</i>, +and <i>Pages</i> of the <i>Back-Stairs</i>, the <i>Architects</i>, <i>Engineers</i> and +<i>Designers</i>.</p> + +<p>IX. The <span class="smcap">Post-Master-General</span> is <i>Maurice-Charles</i> Count <i>de Linar</i>, who is +also one of the Chamberlains, and a Knight of the Order of St. <i>John</i>. He +is descended from a Family which has been of Eminence for a long time in +this Electorate. His good Mien is answerable to his Birth, and by his +Politeness, his Manners, and his Expences, he does an honour to the Prince +that employs him. The King, after his Coronation, sent him to <i>Muscovy</i> to +notify the Accomplishment of that Ceremony to the Empress of the +<i>Russians</i>, and he still continues at that Princess's Court, to take care +of his Master's Interests, which he does in a way that cannot but turn to +his own Advantage, and the Honour of the King.<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> This Gentleman was also +employ'd by the late King at the Court of <i>Prussia</i>, and at the <i>British</i> +Court when at <i>Hanover</i>, and always discharg'd his Commissions with such +Success as was crown'd with his Majesty's Approbation.</p> + +<p>X. The <span class="smcap">Marshal</span> of the <span class="smcap">Court</span> is <i>John-George d'Einsiedel</i>, who is also a +Privy-Counsellor, and a Gentleman of a good Family, his Ancestors having +<!--169.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span>possessed +the chief Offices of the State. He has visited the principal +Courts of <i>Europe</i>, where he contracted that polite Turn which is seen in +his Behaviour. He is a handsome Man, has a noble Air, and his Demeanour is +answerable. He knows a great deal, and performs all the academical +Exercises very well. He married the Daughter of the General Count <i>de +Flemming</i> Governor of <i>Leipsic</i>, who was a rich Heiress, and to be valued +for the Qualities of her Mind. The Marshal of the Court and his Lady are +both of the <i>Lutheran</i> Communion. His Office joins him in Commission with +the Grand Marshal, the Great Master of the Kitchens, and the Great +Cup-Bearer; and like those Officers he carries the short Staff of Silver +gilt at the grand Ceremonies. 'Tis commonly he that makes the +Court-Entertainments.</p> + +<p><i>Curt d'Einsiedel</i> Marshal of the Court, and one of the Chamberlains, is +remarked for his genteel Mien and Extraction. His good Qualities and +Deportment render him worthy of all Employments. He is of the establish'd +Religion of <i>Saxony</i>, and lately married Madamoiselle <i>de Schoneberg de +Maxen</i>, whose Personal Charms are an Ornament to the Court.</p> + +<p><i>Ernest-Ferdinand d'Ermandsdorff</i>, Marshal of the King's Houshold, and one +of the Chamberlains, has procur'd himself Esteem by his Merit as well as +his good Birth and Breeding. Besides his Knowledge of various kinds which +qualifies him for Business, he is Master of several Languages, +particularly the <i>French</i>. He married a Lady of the Family of <i>Hesler</i>, +and they are both of the <i>Lutheran</i> Religion.</p> + +<p>XI. The <span class="smcap">Chamberlains</span>. Of these there are too many to be all mention'd +here, so that I shall only take notice of the twelve Pensioners who are in +waiting about their Majesties, and without regarding the Seniority of +their Admittance. +They<!--170.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> +commonly attend the King and Queen, each a whole +Week in their turn, and have the Rank of Major-Generals. The finest +Prerogative of their Employment; is the Honour of eating with their +Majesties when they are in Waiting, and of being the Depositaries of the +Petitions which are presented to the King in his Passage.</p> + +<p>1. <i>Henry Rodolph de Schonfeld</i>, Lord of <i>Lowenitz</i>, is the King's first +Chamberlain. He has a fine Presence and Behaviour, and a sweet and amiable +Temper. He keeps a handsome Table and Equipage, suitable to his Fortune. +He attended the King, by his Majesty's Order, to <i>Cracow</i>, and lastly to +<i>Oliva</i>.</p> + +<p>2. <i>Helmuth de Plesk</i> is of a Family in the Dutchy of <i>Holstein</i>, of some +Note for their great Estate there, and for the Rank they bear at the Court +of <i>Denmark</i>, where several Lords of <i>Plesk</i> are in the Ministry. The +Gentleman here mention'd is actually the King's Envoy Extraordinary to the +Court of <i>Denmark</i>.</p> + +<p>3. <i>Augustus-Henry Gottlob</i>, Count <i>de Callenberg</i>, is of this Electorate, +where his Family has for a long time enjoy'd a considerable Rank, and a +fine Estate. He has been the King's Envoy Extraordinary to the Courts of +<i>France</i>, <i>Brussels</i>, <i>Cologn</i>, <i>Triers</i>, and the Elector <i>Palatine</i>, to +notify the Death of the late King, and the Accession of their present +Majesties to the Electorate. He married the Countess of <i>Bose</i>, lives +nobly, and adorns the Court by his Politeness. He is of the Protestant +Communion.</p> + +<p>4. <i>John-George de Carlowitz</i> is of the same Religion. He is a <i>Saxon</i>, +and married to Madamoiselle <i>de Neitsch</i>. He has a peculiar Talent of +gaining the Love of all Mankind; which he owes to his Travels, and his +natural Genius.</p> + +<p>5. <i>Frederic-Augustus de Brandstein</i>, after having finish'd his Studies at +<i>Wittenberg</i>, travell'd to +good<!--171.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> +purpose to the principal Countries of +<i>Europe</i>. At his return the late King declar'd him a Gentleman of his +Bed-Chamber, and some time after one of his Chamberlains. He is well +descended, and what is convenient for a Courtier, he adheres to the +Religion which is uppermost in the State.</p> + +<p>6. <i>Detler-Henry d'Einsiedel</i>, Brother to the Marshal of the Court, +honours his Name by his personal Qualities. He is a handsome tall +Gentleman, has a grand Presence, and few Gentlemen surpass him in Good +Manners, Address, and polite Literature. He study'd at <i>Wittenberg</i>, and +afterwards made a Visit to the principal Courts of <i>Europe</i>: The last he +made was to that of <i>Sweden</i>, whither he was sent by the King to notify +the Death of his late Majesty, and the Accession of his present Majesty to +the Electorate.</p> + +<p>7. <i>Sigismond d'Arnim</i>, is not only one of the King's Chamberlains, but +Colonel of a Regiment of Horse. He is of an ancient Family which has Lands +in <i>Lusatia</i>. His Employments are owing both to his Birth and personal +Merit. He is of the Religion of the Country.</p> + +<p>8. <i>Maximilian</i>, Count <i>d'Herzan</i>, is of <i>Bohemia</i>. The late Countess his +Mother was the Queen's first Lady of Honour, and attended her Majesty +hither from <i>Vienna</i>. He is able to cut a Figure at Court, but is absent +above half of his time; and is a <i>Roman</i> Catholic.</p> + +<p>9. <i>Charles-Christian de Minckwitz</i>, is a Gentleman of a fine Mien. As he +has been a great Traveller, he has acquir'd a great share of Knowledge and +Politeness. He was born a <i>Saxon</i>, but has embrac'd the <i>Roman</i> Catholic +Faith; tho' he has defeated himself by it of the Reversion of a +considerable Inheritance.</p> + +<p>10. <i>Henry-Augustus de Breitenbauch</i>, is a Gentleman of fine Sense and +Manners suitable to his +Extraction.<!--172.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> +Such is his good Taste and Skill in +Music, that he has been singled out for the Direction of the King's +Pleasures. He is of the Communion of the Country, and marry'd to a Lady of +the Family of <i>Schonberg</i>.</p> + +<p>11. <i>Nicholas-Schwizinski</i> is a Native of <i>Poland</i>; he has valuable +Qualities, and a great Attachment to the <i>Roman</i> Catholic Religion.</p> + +<p>12. <i>N. N. de Sehgutt-Stanislawski</i> is of a Family which was formerly +possess'd of a great Estate in <i>Silesia</i>, with the Title of the Counts <i>de +Sehgutt</i>, till the Conquest of the Country by the <i>Teutonic</i> Knights, when +his Ancestors remov'd to <i>Prussia</i>; and spreading afterwards in <i>Poland</i>, +they assum'd the Name of <i>Stanislawski</i>, as what was more agreeable to the +<i>Poles</i>. This Chamberlain is a Person of strict Honour and Integrity, +without any manner of Guile. He spent his Youth at the Academy of <i>Berlin</i> +which was erected by King <i>Frederic</i> I. and afterwards enter'd as +Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber to <i>Augustus</i> II. who not many Years after +made him a Chamberlain of <i>Poland</i>, and put him upon the Establishment of +<i>Saxony</i>; and when the present King came to the Government, he continued +him in his Employment. His Majesty also made choice of him to attend him +to <i>Cracow</i>, and lastly to <i>Oliva</i>.</p> + +<p>XII. Of the <span class="smcap">Steward</span> of the <span class="smcap">Queen's Houshold</span>. Since the Queen's Arrival at +<i>Dresden</i>, there have been four Stewards of her Majesty's Houshold. The +Count <i>de Diedrichstein</i> was the first that had this Place, which he +resign'd for the Grand Priory of <i>Bohemia</i>. His Successor was the Count +<i>de Konigsegg</i> who actually commands the Emperor's Army in <i>Lombardy</i>. +This General being recall'd to <i>Vienna</i>, was replac'd by the Count <i>de +Wratislau</i>, and he by the Count <i>de Waldstein</i> who lately quitted that +Post to go and take possession +of<!--173.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> +the Office of <i>Landshauptmann</i>, or +Intendant of <i>Silesia</i>, which was conferr'd on him by the Emperor. The +Count <i>de Wratislaw</i>, who has the care of his Imperial Majesty's Affairs +at this Court, officiates there again as Steward. This is the Officer who +leads the Queen, and gives Orders to all her Officers and Domestics, and +who must be apply'd to by those that solicite for an Audience of her +Majesty.</p> + +<p>XIII. The <i>Queen's first Lady of Honour</i>, is <i>Theresa</i> Baroness of +<i>Stein</i>, and Countess Dowager of <i>Collowrat</i>; who honours her Station by +her Virtues, and by the Dignity with which she fills it. The late Count +<i>de Collowrat</i> her Husband was Great Chamberlain of <i>Bohemia</i>, and one of +the chief Noblemen of that Kingdom. This Lady, his Relict, is a <i>Roman</i> +Catholic, and is such in an exemplary manner. Those Ladies who want to +kiss the Queen's Hand, or to pay their Duty to her, must apply to this +Lady, who introduces and presents them. She has the Precedence before all +other Ladies, and only yields it to the Princesses of the Blood.</p> + +<p>XIV. Of the <i>Governess of the Ladies of Honour, and of the Ladies of +Honour themselves</i>. In the absence of the first Lady of Honour, the +Governess of the Ladies officiates. The Baroness Dowager of <i>Rohr</i> +worthily fills this Station, and has under her six Ladies, two of whom, +<i>viz.</i> the Countesses of <i>Waldstein</i> and <i>Kokersowitz</i>, are Ladies of the +Bed-Chamber, a Title which procures them Admittance to the Queen's Closet. +All the Ladies of Honour must always appear in the Court-Dress. Their +manner of Living is such that it obliges Calumny itself to respect them.</p> + +<p>XV. Of the <i>Lords and Ladies that are attach'd to the Court by their +Offices, or by the Favours of the King</i>.</p> + +<!--174.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span></p> + +<p>Tho' the <i>Polish</i> Lords cannot be put upon the Establishment of the Court +of <i>Saxony</i>, that there may be nothing in common between the two States, +yet it may be thought inexcusable not to mention in this place +<i>John-Alexander Lipski</i>, Bishop of <i>Cracow</i>, Duke of <i>Servia</i>, and Great +Chancellor of <i>Poland</i>; not only because this Prelate, who is descended +from one of the best Families in the Kingdom, was appointed Bishop of +<i>Cracow</i> by the late King, but because he has given signal Proofs of his +Gratitude and Attachment to the august Family of his Benefactor. The +Virtues of this Gentleman intitle him to Respect: He is pious without +Hypocrisy, generous without Ostentation, magnificent without Pageantry, +officious meerly for the Pleasure of obliging, a Courtier without +Servility, a Man strictly attach'd to his King and his Country, learned +without being positive, a great Orator, a good Bishop, and a wise +Minister, always ready to embrace a good Proposal, and firm to support it, +laborious, vigilant, acting only out of Principle, and by consequence +susceptible of Friendship, and scorning Revenge. The late King, out of his +Esteem for the Qualities of this Prelate, made him Bishop of <i>Cracow</i>, +Great Chancellor of <i>Poland</i>, and honour'd him with his Order of the White +Eagle. By this means he so rivetted him to his Interest, and to that of +the Prince his Son, that after his Majesty's Decease, his most Reverend +Highness directed Affairs in such a manner that the Republic chose his Son +for their King. <i>Augustus</i> II. being proclaim'd accordingly, the Prince +and Bishop was appointed Head of the Embassy which the States of the +Kingdom sent to the new Monarch at <i>Tarnowitz</i>, to carry him the Diploma +of his Election. He spoke upon this occasion with a noble Eloquence, +rendering to their Majesties all due Respects, and yet maintaining the +Dignity of the most +Serene<!--175.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> +Republic. Having discharg'd this Commission, +he went before the King to <i>Cracow</i>, made his Entry there, and took +possession of the Bishoprick. Some days after this, he consecrated and +crown'd their Majesties in his Metropolis. When the King return'd to +<i>Saxony</i>, the Prelate followed him, and attended him to <i>Oliva</i>; and 'twas +he that receiv'd the Allegiance and Homage of the <i>Dantzickers</i> to his +Majesty. He is since come hither to rejoin the Court, is belov'd, +reverenc'd, and every one does Justice to his Virtues.</p> + +<p><i>Charles-Lewis</i>, Prince of <i>Holstein-Beck</i>, Colonel in the Service of the +King, and Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, is the second Son of the +late <i>Lewis-Frederic</i> Veldt-Marshal of <i>Prussia</i>, Governour of +<i>Koningsberg</i>, and Knight of the Order of the Elephant. This Prince +married <i>Anne</i> Countess of <i>Orselska</i>, the legitimated Daughter of the +late King.</p> + +<p><i>George-Ignatius</i>, Prince <i>de Lubomirski</i>, Sword-Bearer of the Crown, +Lieutenant-General of the King's Forces, Colonel of the Life-Guards, and +Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, is descended from a Family of very +great Distinction in <i>Poland</i>. After he return'd from his Travels, being +attach'd to the Court of <i>Augustus</i> II. he married the Daughter of the +Count <i>de Fitztuhm</i>, who was Great Chamberlain; a Lady of such Beauty, +such personal Charms, and such fine Sense, that she engages the Veneration +of all that know her. Prince <i>Lubomirski</i> is a jolly handsome Man, very +polite, thinks and acts agreeable to his Birth, has a good share of +Literature, and is perfect Master of Music. He lives in a handsome manner +very suitable to his Rank.</p> + +<p>The <i>Princess</i> of <i>Teschen</i> is a <i>Polish</i> Lady, and ally'd to the greatest +Families in the Kingdom. Her Uncle was the famous Cardinal <i>Radjowski</i>, +<!--176.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span>Archbishop +of <i>Gnesna</i>, and Primate of the Kingdom. She was formerly +marry'd to Prince <i>Lubomirski</i>, Great Chamberlain of the Crown; but the +Marriage was dissolved, so that she quitted the Name of <i>Lubomirski</i> for +that of <i>Teschen</i>, which she still bears, tho' she afterwards marry'd +Prince <i>Lewis</i> of <i>Wirtemberg</i>. This Princess supports her Rank with +Dignity, has a grand Air, is respected for a noble distinguish'd and +engaging Behaviour, and lives in so handsome a manner, that she is one of +the most shining Ornaments of this Court.</p> + +<p><i>Josepha</i> Countess <i>de Lagnasco</i> is the Daughter of the Count <i>de +Wallenstein</i>, who was Great Chamberlain to the Emperor <i>Joseph</i>, and one +of the most worthy Noblemen of the Imperial Court, by <i>Eleonora</i> Countess +of <i>Losenstein</i>; a Lady whose Memory is with Justice rever'd by all +<i>Vienna</i>. The Countess <i>de Lagnasco</i> was the Widow of Count <i>Thaun</i>, when +she marry'd the late Count <i>de Lagnasco</i>, Minister of the Cabinet to +<i>Augustus</i> II. General of the <i>Saxon</i> Cavalry, Captain of the +Horse-Guards, and Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. Since that +Nobleman's Decease, which was in <i>April</i> 1732, his Widow has always liv'd +at <i>Dresden</i>; where she enjoys the Esteem of their Majesties, and the +Veneration of the Courtiers. This Countess is Mistress of several +Languages to Perfection, thoroughly understands Music, and sings with +Grace and Method. Her noble generous way of living, and her graceful and +distinguish'd Behaviour cannot be express'd, nor indeed equall'd to any +thing but the Goodness of her Temper. The late Count <i>de Lagnasco</i> is of a +good Stature, and his Behaviour polite and civil. I think you know that he +was of a Family in <i>Piedmont</i> of some Distinction. How, or when he first +enter'd into the Service of the King of <i>Poland</i>, I cannot tell you; but I +know that he presently insinuated +himself<!--177.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> +into his Master's Favour, by +his very great Assiduity, agreeable Temper, and by a vast Complaisance to +enter into his Pleasures. He establish'd himself so firmly in the King's +Favour that the Count <i>de Flemming</i> look'd upon him as the only Rival he +had to fear, and therefore he never much lik'd him. The Count <i>de +Lagnasco</i> was employ'd in several Embassies; and when he had finish'd that +at <i>Rome</i>, which was his last, there was a Talk that he was to go +Ambassador to <i>Vienna</i>, and that the young Count <i>de Wackerbart</i> was to go +to <i>Rome</i>. I must further acquaint you that M. <i>de Lagnasco</i> was happy in +all respects, even in Marriage, not only with his first, but his second +Wife, who, when he married her, was a young, rich, brisk Widow. His first +Wife was the Daughter of the Count <i>de Noyelles</i>, Lieutenant-General in +<i>Holland</i>, a Lady of great Virtue, esteemed by all the People at the +<i>Hague</i>, and possess'd of a considerable Estate, of which, dying young, +and without Issue, she made her Husband sole Heir.</p> + +<p><i>Francis</i>, Count <i>de Montmorency</i>, is a Name too well known to speak of +his Extraction. He was a Colonel in <i>France</i> when he went into the Service +of <i>Augustus</i> II. who receiv'd him with that Demonstration of Esteem which +that King was so ready to grant to Persons of Merit. His Majesty first +appointed him Major-General of his Forces, and some time after he declar'd +him a Lieutenant-General, and Captain of his Horse-Guards. At that time +the Count married Madame <i>Potschin</i>, Widow of the Great General of +<i>Lithuania</i>; a Lady whose Birth, Qualities, and Fortune, recommended her +for a very considerable Match. The Countess <i>de Montmorency</i>, in the time +of her former Husband, went to <i>Paris</i> for the Recovery of her Health, and +receiv'd extraordinary Honours at the <i>French</i> Court, where she was +admir'd for her +Politeness,<!--178.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> +the Delicacy of her Sentiments, and the Ease +with which she express'd them in the Language of <i>France</i>; from whence +they conceiv'd an advantagious Idea of the Court of <i>Augustus</i> II. not +imagining how 'twas possible for the Manners of a Foreign Lady so much to +resemble their own. She is also as much rever'd at <i>Dresden</i> as at +<i>Paris</i>; and all that know her, agree she is highly to be valued for her +Sentiments.</p> + +<p><i>Antoinetta</i> of <i>Lichtenstein</i>, Countess of <i>Wallenstein</i>, is Wife to +<i>Leopold</i> Count <i>de Wallenstein</i>, heretofore Great Master of the Queen's +Houshold; a Lady both belov'd and honour'd at this place, for her Virtues +and civil Deportment; and as she is preparing to follow her Husband into +<i>Silesia</i>, she will carry with her the Esteem of their Majesties, and +leave the Court sorry for her Absence.</p> + +<p>XVI. <i>Of the Foreign Ministers who reside at this Court.</i></p> + +<p><i>Francis-Charles</i> Count <i>de Wratislaw</i>, one of the Emperor's Privy +Council, and Knight of the Orders of <i>Russia</i> and <i>Poland</i>, resides at +this Court in quality of Ambassador from his Imperial and Catholic +Majesty. He is descended from one of the greatest Families in the Kingdom +of <i>Bohemia</i>, and a Family which has given wise Ministers to the august +House of <i>Austria</i>. This Gentleman has been for a long time in the +Management of the most important Affairs: He was Ambassador for the +Kingdom of <i>Bohemia</i> to the Dyet of the Empire at <i>Ratisbon</i>; From thence +he went in the same Character to <i>Poland</i>, where he was present at the +Dyet of <i>Grodno</i>. The Emperor afterwards nam'd him Great Master of the +Houshold to the Princess Royal and Electoral, now Queen of <i>Poland</i>. The +Count having worthily acquitted himself of that Office, was for several +Years +Ambassador<!--179.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> +at <i>Russia</i>, where he concluded that happy Alliance +subsisting between the two Empires, and acquired the Esteem of the +Empress, who honor'd him with her Order of St. <i>Andrew</i>; <i>Augustus</i> II. +having before given him that of the White Eagle.</p> + +<p>This Minister, since his Return from <i>Muscovy</i>, has moreover been charg'd +by the Emperor with important Commissions to the Courts of <i>Prussia</i>, +<i>Brunswic</i>, and <i>Holstein</i>. At length he is come back again to this Court, +as Ambassador from his Imperial and Catholic Majesty; and officiates also +as Great Master of the Queen's Houshold. This Nobleman is of a middling +Stature, of a happy Physiognomy, is civil, beneficent, and loves Grandeur +and Pleasures, but does not abandon himself to them so far as to neglect +the Interests of his Master, whose Affairs he negociates with a noble +Candour which has render'd him as much esteem'd at the Courts where he has +resided, as he is beloved for his Affability and Politeness. His Wife is +the Countess of <i>Kinski</i>, whose Father was Great Chancellor of <i>Bohemia</i>, +under the Emperor <i>Leopold</i>, and whose Brother is now in that Office under +the most August <i>Charles</i> VI.</p> + +<p><i>Hermann-Charles Keyserling</i>, Plenipotentiary Minister from the Empress of +the <i>Russians</i>, is of a Family of Note in <i>Courland</i>. He study'd at +<i>Koningsberg</i> in <i>Prussia</i>. After he had visited the principal Courts of +<i>Germany</i>, and return'd to his own Country, he was made Gentleman of the +Bed-Chamber to the Dutchess of <i>Courland</i>, <i>Anne</i> of <i>Muscovy</i>, the +present Empress, who employ'd him in several Commissions to the Courts of +<i>Prussia</i> and <i>Poland</i>. Nevertheless he quitted her Service for one of the +judicial Offices in that Country.</p> + +<p>When <i>Anne</i> came to the Throne, the States of <i>Courland</i> deputed M. +<i>Keyserling</i> to that +Princess,<!--180.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> +who offer'd him an Employment at her +Court, and appointed him Vice-President of the Chamber of Justice of the +<i>Russian</i> Empire. Some time after, she made him President of the Academy +of Sciences at <i>Petersbourg</i>, and sent him to this Court, where he +discharges his Ministerial Office with universal Approbation. The Wife of +this Minister is the Daughter of the Starost <i>Forchs</i>, who, for opposing +the Pretensions of a certain Power which challeng'd more Respect, was +assassinated at <i>Mittaw</i>. Both he and his Lady are of the <i>Lutheran</i> +Communion.</p> + +<p><i>John-Hartwig-Ernest</i>, Baron of <i>Bernsdorff</i>, Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber +to the King of <i>Denmark</i>, and his Majesty's Envoy at this Court, is of a +Family which is possess'd of a fine Estate in <i>Mecklembourg</i>, and has +given an able Minister to the House of <i>Hanover</i>. The Envoy, of whom +mention is here made, does honour to his Character, and behaves with a +Prudence not inferior to Ministers of the greatest Experience.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>By the Detail I have now given you, Sir, you must have observ'd that the +chief Employments of the Court are in the hands of Foreigners, and that +<i>Saxons</i> have little to do in Affairs of State, for which they are oblig'd +indeed to the Count <i>de Flemming</i>. This vain, haughty, and imperious +Minister expected every one shou'd truckle to him. He found that +Foreigners were much more submissive than the <i>Saxons</i>, who are by nature +stately, and Enemies to Slavery in any shape. Count <i>Flemming</i> being dead, +it's probable that the <i>Saxons</i> will be more employ'd than they have been; +and indeed they have Capacities equal to any Nation in the World. They are +well made, robust, agile, laborious, good Soldiers, cunning Courtiers. +They have naturally more Spirit than the <i>French</i> allow to the <i>Germans</i>; +they improve in the Sciences, +and<!--181.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> +in bodily Exercises, and they have good +Writers among them upon all sorts of Subjects; witness the Works of M. +<i>Leibnitz</i>, the famous Philosopher, and of <i>Thomasius</i>, one of the most +able Civilians of his time. The <i>Saxons</i> are addicted indeed to all +Pleasures in general, but to none so much as the Bottle and Gaming. They +love Pomp and Expence, and are naturally not very engaging, being +exceeding ceremonious, and affecting more than all the <i>Germans</i> to ape +the <i>French</i>, with whom they sympathise very much, particularly in their +Fondness for new Fashions, their Forwardness to make new Acquaintance and +Friendships, and perhaps too in their Readiness to fall out with them upon +very trivial Occasion.</p> + +<p>Since I have spoke so much of the Men, I must also give you some account +of the <i>Saxon</i> Women. They are all of a fair Complexion, and there are +among them the finest Faces in the World. They are generally well shap'd +too, which is what they are chiefly taken notice of for: They are tall and +slender; they dance well, and have a surprising genteel Air, which they +take great care to improve by rich Dress. One Fault I find with them is, +that they are very affected, and that they have too much Action when they +talk. As to their Tempers, they are reckon'd to be good-natur'd; but then +they are subtile and crafty. They love Dress and Ornament more than all +Women that I ever saw. They are lively and gay, and passionately fond of +Dancing and Merriment. When they are told that they are handsome, they are +so far from being surpriz'd that they look upon it as a Compliment due to +them. When once they love, they love with Tenderness; and there are among +them such Examples of Constancy as would eclipse even a <i>Cleopatra</i>, or a +<i>Clelia</i>. These heroic Sentiments of Love they learn from Romances, which +they +are<!--182.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> +vastly fond of: But this must be said to their Honour, that +Gallantry does not take up so much of their Time and Thoughts as to make +them neglect their Business; for they are laborious, dextrous, and amuse +themselves with all sorts of Work. They do every thing too with a good +Grace; and in a word it may be added to their Praise, that a <i>Saxon</i> Woman +wants nothing more to make her amiable, but an Inclination to acquire that +Character.</p> + +<p>Pleasures and Recreations commonly attend the Ladies so closely, that in +treating of the one I can't but remember the other; and the Inhabitants of +<i>Dresden</i> are so much devoted to Pleasures, that I think I ought to put +them into a separate Article. When the King is at <i>Dresden</i> there are +Pleasures in abundance, such as Plays, Masquerades, Balls, Feasts, Running +at the Ring, and Races on Sleds, Turnaments, Hunting-Matches; but when the +King is in <i>Poland</i> there's a very great <i>Vacuum</i>. The Electoral Prince +and Princess are often at <i>Wermstorff</i>, alias <i>Hubertsbourg</i>; and even +when their Royal Highnesses are in Town, they are pretty retir'd: They see +Company while they are at Dinner, but for the rest of the day none come +near them besides the few that have the honour of their Confidence. The +rest are scatter'd up and down the Town to the great Disappointment of +Foreigners that happen then to be here; for there's no body keeps open +House, they being all select Societies to which 'tis very difficult to +gain admittance. If one is invited to dine with some Lord of the Court, +one has a good Dinner 'tis true, but after Dinner is over a Man knows not +how to bestow himself. One is sure of finding Company no where except at +the Houses of Madame <i>de Brebentau</i> the Widow of the great Treasurer of +<i>Poland</i>, and of the Countess <i>de Lagnasco</i>; nor are their Houses always +open, for Madame <i>de Brebentau</i> +is<!--183.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> +often sick, and Madame <i>de Lagnasco</i> +often abroad, or engag'd in Parties with the Electoral Princess, and then +one knows not where to go; for there's no Play to be seen, and as for the +young People, they amuse themselves with the common Pleasures of that +Stage of Life; they drink, they game, and do something more.</p> + +<p>When the King is at <i>Dresden</i>, the People partake in most of the Pleasures +of the Court, the generality of the Entertainments which the King gives +being public. Plays and Masquerades are free for any People of Fashion; +there's nothing to pay, and all divert themselves as they like best. The +Citizens Wives are more tractable here than in any Town in <i>Germany</i>: They +love to imitate the Ladies of Quality, and 'tis sometimes as good as a +Comedy to see what Airs they give themselves.</p> + +<p>They are extremely fond of Dressing, which Luxurious Taste extends even to +Wives of the Mechanics, and of the Livery; so that were a Stranger to come +hither on a Sunday or a Holiday, when every body is dress'd, he wou'd be +tempted to think that <i>Plutus</i> had scatter'd all his Wealth among these +People; and a very great Nobleman, who 'tis like was not acquainted with +the God <i>Plutus</i>, returning home once from <i>Dresden</i>, told his Wife that +he was come from a City to which the Devil had carry'd all the Money.</p> + +<p>The Parsons here do indeed cry aloud against these Abuses, but the worst +on't is, that like the Clergy in many other Places, they preach what they +don't practise; and while they are declaiming against Luxury and new +Fashions, they suffer their Wives and Daughters to be the first to set off +their Charms with the gayest and the newest Patterns.</p> + +<p>While I am speaking of the Pastors, I must be a little more particular. +These Gentlemen stand very high in the Opinion of the Laity, and are +<!--184.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span>ready +to think themselves Bishops. Having such Notions as these in their +Heads, they anathematise all that are not <i>Lutherans</i>: The <i>Catholics</i> and +the <i>Reform'd</i>, or, to speak as they do, the <i>Papists</i> and <i>Calvinists</i>, +all Christians in short who are of a contrary Opinion to those charitable +Ecclesiastics are damn'd without Mercy. Yet by the Appearance of these +severe Judges, one would think they preach'd only Peace and Paradise; and +they have such a meek, humble, modest, and timorous Air, that you wou'd be +apt to take them for Saints.</p> + +<p>A few days ago I had an Adventure with one of those Clergymen, which I +will acquaint you of, because I think it may give you an Idea of their +Character; for he that sees one of them, sees all.</p> + +<p>I happen'd to be making a Visit to a <i>Lutheran</i> Lady, who passes for a +very devout one: There was already a pretty deal of Company, and who +should come in to add to it but a Minister that was a Doctor, and by +consequence a Man of Importance; as such too he was receiv'd by the +Mistress of the House, who said to me as soon as she saw his Face, <i>You +will now see a holy Man</i>. The good Man, or Saint, as he wou'd be reckon'd, +enter'd the Room with his Eyes cast downward, making profound Reverences, +and prostrating himself in such a manner as if he had said <i>Domine non sum +dignus</i>. At last, after a great many Compliments, he sat down, was silent +for a few Moments, and then he spoke. His Words were all sacred, and his +Sentences such as if the wise Man himself had spoke with his Lips: <i>God be +prais'd</i> was in every Phrase, and he was hearken'd to with as much +Attention as an Oracle. I listen'd to him first like the rest, but at +length I thought I might as well talk to a pretty young Lady that sat just +by me. The Doctor offended to see the little Regard I paid to what he +said, enquir'd of the Mistress of the House who I +was.<!--185.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> +She told him my +Name, and withal that I was once a <i>Calvinist</i>, but that I was turn'd +<i>Papist</i>. What a Thunder-stroke was this to the Doctor! He threw himself +to the back of his Chair, lifted up his Eyes to Heaven, sigh'd, and cry'd +out, <i>Das Gott erbarme</i>, i. e. <i>God help us</i>. Then transported by a Fit of +Zeal, he turn'd about to me and ask'd me what had induc'd me to embrace a +Religion which he treated as Idolatry? I told him that I did not think he +need to give himself any Trouble about my Conversion, since according to +his System I was damn'd when a <i>Calvinist</i> as well as when a <i>Catholic</i>. +<i>The Case is not quite the same</i>, said the Minister; but to turn <i>Papist</i>! +cry'd he, to <i>adore Baal! to become a Disciple of Antichrist! alas! it +were better to be a damn'd Calvinist!</i> I own that I had much ado to help +laughing outright at the Minister's impertinent Zeal: yet I had the +Discretion to contain myself, for I had a mind to see to what length he +wou'd carry his sanctify'd Rant. He said indeed a great deal, and because +I made no Answer, he thought he had convinc'd me, if not touch'd me to the +quick. He was actually applauding himself for the good Work he had wrought +upon my Soul, when I told him that he ought not to conclude from my +Silence that he had convinc'd me; that it neither consisted with my +Character nor my Temper to dispute about Religion, that I left every Man +to his own Opinion, and that I knew which to adhere to. <i>What Blindness is +here!</i> cry'd the Doctor again, <i>What a mad Papist are you? If you will not +be of our Communion</i>, return to the <i>Religion which you have abandon'd, in +which there are some Hopes at least that God will pardon you</i>.</p> + +<p>The fanatical Doctor concluded his Exclamations by a Prayer, in which he +begg'd God to preserve every good <i>Lutheran</i> Soul from the Errors of +<!--186.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span>Popery; +and then he went away, leaving the Company more scandaliz'd than +edify'd by his Zeal.</p> + +<p>Formerly the Preachers had the pleasure of venting their Choler in the +Pulpit, but the King by a wise Decree, which indeed ought to be followed +in all Countries, has confin'd them to the Preaching of the Gospel, and to +treat of Controversial Matters no farther than is merely necessary for the +People's Instruction. For the rest, the Parsons need not fear being soon +supplanted, for the <i>Saxons</i> are hearty <i>Lutherans</i>; and if they tolerate +the Catholics, 'tis because they can't help it. They have excluded them +from Offices in the Courts of Judicature, and from the Privilege of +enjoying Lands; but they have not been able to keep them out of Places in +the Ministry, or at Court, nor from Employments in the Army, which are +three very engaging Articles to make Proselytes among the Gentry.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Thus, Sir, you have all that I can say to you relating to <i>Dresden</i> and +<i>Saxony</i>. 'Tis now high time to put an end to my Legend. I kiss your hand, +and am, <i>&c.</i></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 294px;"> +<img src="images/i09.png" width="294" height="97" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--187.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/i07.png" width="430" height="46" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER VI.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Weimar, Sept. 5, 1729.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>Before I write you an account of what became of me when I left <i>Dresden</i>, +I shall endeavour to give you the Intelligence you desire concerning the +late Count <i>de Flemming</i>, Prime Minister and Velt-Marshal of <i>Saxony</i>. +That Nobleman was of a good Extraction, being descended of a Family which +pretends to derive its Origin from that of <i>Flemming</i>, which has been of +considerable Rank for a long time in <i>Scotland</i>, <i>Sweden</i>, <i>Germany</i>, and +<i>Poland</i>. My Lord <i>Wigtoun</i> is the Chief of that Family in <i>Scotland</i>.</p> + +<p><i>James-Henry</i> Count <i>de Flemming</i>, whose Pourtraiture and Character you +desire of me, was born the 8th of <i>March</i> 1667. His Father was President +of the Regency of <i>Stargard</i>, the Capital of <i>Prussian Pomerania</i>, who had +three Sons, of whom this Count was the second. He had an Education +suitable to his Birth. He study'd first at <i>Francfort</i> upon the <i>Oder</i>, +and afterwards at <i>Utrecht</i> under the celebrated <i>Grevius</i>, where he +learnt <i>Latin</i> to such a degree that he always spoke it with very great +Eloquence. After he had finish'd his Studies he enter'd into the Service +of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, where the Baron <i>de Span</i>, his Uncle by the Mother's +side, was Velt-Marshal. His first Preferment was to a Pair of Colours; but +in a little time he had a Company given him, which he commanded at the +Battle of <i>Orbassan</i> in <i>Piedmont</i>. In 1694, he enter'd as a +<!--188.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span>Lieutenant-Colonel +into the Service of <i>John-George</i> IV. Elector of +<i>Saxony</i>; upon whose Death, and the Succession of <i>Frederic-Augustus</i>, +<i>Flemming</i> obtain'd a Regiment, and accompany'd the new Elector into +<i>Hungary</i>, where he commanded the Emperor's Army against the Infidels +during the Campaigns of 1695, and 1696. There it was that <i>Flemming</i> +kill'd in a Duel the Baron <i>de Lovel</i>, who was Lieutenant-Colonel in the +Service of <i>Saxony</i>. In 1697, he was sent into <i>Poland</i>, where, by the +Interest of his Cousin-german, the Daughter of Velt-Marshal <i>Span</i> of +<i>Berlin</i>, Wife of M. <i>Brebentau</i> Palatine of <i>Marienbourg</i>, who died Great +Treasurer of <i>Poland</i>, and by the Credit of <i>Benedict Sapieha</i> he had the +Happiness of getting his Master chose King of <i>Poland</i>. This Negotiation +obtain'd him the Post of Major-General, and laid the Foundation of his +Fortune. In 1700, he was made a Lieutenant-General, and in that Quality +laid siege to <i>Riga</i>, which the King of <i>Sweden</i> oblig'd him to raise. In +1702, he marry'd <i>Sapieha</i>, a Daughter of one of the chief Noblemen of +<i>Lithuania</i>. He was wounded the same Year at the Battle of <i>Clischhoff</i>, +at which time the King of <i>Sweden</i> being every where victorious, demanded +that the King of <i>Poland</i> shou'd deliver up <i>Flemming</i> to him. But upon +this he retir'd to <i>Brandenbourg</i>, till King <i>Stanislaus</i> had made +<i>Charles</i> XII. easy. <i>Flemming</i> being return'd to <i>Saxony</i>, fought a Duel +with M. <i>de Schulembourg</i>, who giving him a Fall, insisted that he should +beg his Life; but <i>Flemming</i> got out of this ugly Scrape by a scurvy Joke, +and <i>Schulembourg</i> gave him his Life. The latter was a younger +Lieutenant-General than <i>Flemming</i>, but in every respect his Rival, and +wou'd have been a Marshal if his Fortune had been as good as his Valour. +At the Battle of <i>Frauenstad</i> in 1705, where he was defeated by the +<i>Swedes</i>, <i>Schulembourg</i> +quitted<!--189.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> +the Service of <i>Saxony</i> and went into +that <i>of Venice</i>. By this means <i>Flemming</i>, who had now no Rival left, was +made a Marshal, and happen'd to be at <i>Dresden</i> when the King of <i>Sweden</i> +made that strange Visit to the King of <i>Poland</i>; at which time, if +<i>Augustus</i> had been as ungenerous as <i>Flemming</i>, <i>Charles</i> wou'd have been +detain'd. Many People accuse <i>Flemming</i> of having persuaded the King his +Master to deliver up <i>Patkul</i>: This I can't pretend to affirm, but that +there was a mortal Antipathy betwixt him and the Minister of <i>Russia</i> is +certain; for the latter having presented a Memorial to the King of +<i>Poland</i>, setting forth the wretched condition of the <i>Muscovite</i> Troops +in the Pay of <i>Saxony</i>, concluded it with these <i>Latin</i> Words,</p> + +<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Dixi, et Salvavi Animam.</span></div> + +<p>Which Memorial, when <i>Flemming</i> had read, and found himself not very well +used in it, he took a Pen and underwrote these Words,</p> + +<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Maledixisti, et Damnaberis.</span></div> + +<p>After the Disaster which <i>Charles</i> XII. met with near <i>Pultowa</i>, +<i>Flemming</i> contributed very much to the Re-establishment of King +<i>Augustus</i> in <i>Poland</i>. He confirm'd the Alliance betwixt his Master and +the Czar, made Peace with the Confederates, and concluded another Alliance +with <i>Denmark</i>. The Czar and the King of <i>Denmark</i> honour'd him with their +Orders of Knighthood, and he had that of <i>Poland</i> before. He went +Ambassador to the unsuccessful Congress at <i>Brunswic</i>, and was afterwards +at <i>Hanover</i> to attend <i>George</i> I. King of <i>Great Britain</i>. When the King +of <i>Sweden</i> return'd to <i>Pomerania</i>, <i>Flemming</i> left no Stone unturn'd to +draw the King of <i>Prussia</i> into his Master's Alliance. He had some Years +before procur'd him the Sequestration of the Town of <i>Stetin</i>, and 'twas +lucky +enough<!--190.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> +for him that the Pride and Obstinacy of the King of <i>Sweden</i> +obliged the King of <i>Prussia</i> to declare himself his Enemy. At that time +<i>Flemming</i> was rather a Courier between <i>Dresden</i>, <i>Berlin</i>, and <i>Warsaw</i>, +than an Ambassador and Prime Minister, which Dignity he enjoy'd after the +Death of the Prince <i>de Furstemberg</i> his Predecessor. When the Peace of +the North was settled, <i>Flemming</i> went Ambassador to <i>Vienna</i>, where he +concluded the Marriage of the Electoral Prince of <i>Saxony</i> with the +Archduchess, eldest Daughter to the Emperor <i>Joseph</i>, tho' the Contract +had been settled before by the Count de <i>Wackerbarth</i>, who it may be said +had the Pains to negotiate it, and <i>Flemming</i> the Glory of finishing it.</p> + +<p>At this time Count <i>Flemming</i> had resign'd all the Salaries of his +Employments in <i>Saxony</i>, and only reserv'd to himself the private +Perquisites and the Franchise of the Post-Offices; and his Journeys, which +were very frequent, were all at the Expence of the King. It was about this +time that he caus'd his Marriage with <i>Sapieha</i> to be dissolv'd, and +marry'd one <i>Radzevil</i>, by whom he had a Son, who was but a Year and a +half old when the Count died at <i>Vienna</i>, to which place he was return'd +with the Character of Ambassador. He left all his Estate to this Child, +without making any Intail on his Family; so that when this Son died, who +did not long survive him, his Estate went to Madame <i>de Flemming</i>, who by +marrying again carry'd the Bulk of it into another Family. They say that +his Inheritance was worth sixteen Millions of Crowns, exclusive of what he +had expended during the Splendor of his Fortune, which lasted thirty +Years, or thereabouts. Whether <i>Richelieu</i> and <i>Mazarine</i> got greater +Estates, I cannot say; but in <i>Germany</i> there is not an Instance of one +sooner acquir'd, more resplendent, and better supported than his was. He +was Prime Minister, Velt-Marshal +of<!--191.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> +<i>Saxony</i>, and Master of the Horse of +<i>Lithuania</i>; by which Offices he gain'd immense Sums. He made considerable +Purchases in <i>Silesia</i> and <i>Poland</i>, but very little in <i>Saxony</i>. Whether +he left any thing to the King is not said; tho' he ought really to have +made him some Restitution, and he might naturally have given up with a +good Grace what he cou'd not but foresee wou'd be taken by force from his +Heir. As it was just that his Succession shou'd pass thro' the Purgatory +of a <i>Chambre Ardente</i>, the King establish'd one, which 'tis said has +adjudg'd eight Millions to his Majesty, and the same to his Widow; which +is a very fair Dividend.</p> + +<p>Count <i>Flemming</i> was taller than ordinary, but a handsome Man; he had very +regular Features, a lively Eye, a disdainful Sneer, a haughty Air, and he +was really proud, and beyond measure ambitious. He was generous to a +degree of Ostentation, and always aim'd to do something to be talk'd of. +He was vigilant, laborious, indefatigable, allow'd himself little Sleep; +and whenever he took a Debauch, a Nap of two Hours set him to rights +again. It was no more for him to go from a Debauch to Business, than from +Business to a Debauch; and he never fatigu'd himself, but dispatch'd the +greatest Affairs with so much Ease as if they were only a Diversion. He +lov'd to banter, but did not always make use of the Terms suitable to his +Character; and Persons who did not dare to answer him again, were commonly +the Butts of his Raillery. He was polite when he had a mind to it, but in +the general Course of his Behaviour he carry'd an Air fitter for a Captain +of Dragoons than for a Marshal and a Prime Minister. He never did a thing +for any body without some View; he scrupl'd neither Cunning nor even +Perjury, and provided he could gain his Ends, all ways were alike fair to +him. All his Life-time he took care to do his own +Business<!--192.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> +first, and +then his Master's the King's; and I question whether I do him any +Injustice if I say that he was the King of <i>Prussia</i>'s Minister, much more +than the King of <i>Poland</i>'s.</p> + +<p>This, Sir, is all that I have to say to you concerning Count <i>Flemming</i>. I +have told you very nakedly what I always thought of him, and I don't +believe that I have mistaken his Character. Be this as it will, my +Decision is of too little weight to do either Good or Harm; the Publick +will always judge of him according to their best Information. I proceed +now with the Narrative of my Travels.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>After I had set out from <i>Dresden</i> I went to <i>Altenbourg</i> in hopes of +finding the Court of <i>Gotha</i> there, which I had been told, intended to +spend the Remainder of the fine Season there; but it was set out the Night +before for <i>Gotha</i>, where I hope to see it to-morrow.</p> + +<p>The City of <span class="smcap">Altenbourg</span> is the Capital of a County of that Name, of which +the Duke of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i> is the Sovereign. This Prince has a Palace there +which makes a handsome appearance, but I shall say nothing more of it +because I neglected to go and see it. The Peasants of the County of +<i>Altenbourg</i> are the richest in <i>Germany</i>, and may almost vye with those +of <i>Holland</i>. I have been assur'd that some of them have given 20 or 30000 +Crowns in Marriage with their Daughters; and like the <i>Dutch</i> Peasants, +they take care to match them to none but the Sons of substantial Farmers.</p> + +<p>As I left <i>Altenbourg</i> I came upon a fine Causey with a Row of Trees on +each side, which brought me to the Frontiers of the County. I afterwards +fell into very bad Roads all the way to <i>Leipsic</i>, where I stay'd but a +very few Hours, and proceeded the same day to <span class="smcap">Mersebourg</span>. This City was +much more considerable formerly than now. It was +the<!--193.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> +See of a Bishop, but +was seculariz'd by the Treaty of <i>Passaw</i> in favour of the House of +<i>Saxony</i>. Its Situation is charming, with Gardens and Meadows all round +it, and its Walls are wash'd by the River <i>Sala</i>. The great Church which +was formerly a Cathedral is a <i>Gothic</i> Building, where there is a stately +Tomb of the Emperor <i>Rodolph</i> of <i>Schwartzbourg</i>, who died after he had +lost one Hand in a Battle he fought with the Emperor <i>Henry</i> IV. with whom +he was Competitor. This Prince a few Moments before he expir'd, took up +his Hand that was cut off, and holding it up to those who were about him, +said to them, <i>Behold this Hand; 'tis the same that I lifted up when I +promis'd Faith and Allegiance to my Emperor and Lord; but by your Advice +and Instigation I have not kept my Promise to him, for which you will one +day give an account to God.</i> Some time after this unfortunate Prince's +Death, the Emperor <i>Henry</i> IV. coming to <i>Mersebourg</i> and taking a view of +<i>Rodolphus's</i> Tomb, of which he admir'd the Magnificence, certain +Flatterers told him that the Tomb ought to be destroy'd as too pompous for +a Rebel; but the Emperor scorning such a pitiful Revenge, made answer, +<i>Wou'd to God that all my Enemies were thus pompously interr'd</i>.</p> + +<p>The City of <i>Mersebourg</i> is the Residence of a Duke of the House of +<i>Saxony</i>, who is Sovereign of all the Country that formerly constituted +the Bishoprick, which enables him to keep a splendid Court<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a>. The next +day after my Arrival I had the Honour to pay him my Compliments, and had a +very satisfactory Reception. The Prince conducted me into a Hall which was +hung with Bass-Viols from the Bottom to the Top, in the same manner as an +Arsenal is with Helmets and Breast-Plates. In the middle of the Hall there +was a Viol which +was<!--194.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> +distinguish'd from the rest. It reach'd up to the +very Cieling, and there was a Ladder set, which such as had the Curiosity +to take a particular View of it were oblig'd to ascend, for surely it was +the most stately Instrument of the kind that ever was made. The Duke made +me take particular notice of it, and was pleas'd with the Admiration which +I express'd of it. He regal'd me also with some Airs upon another +Bass-Viol which he call'd his <i>Favorite</i>, and which was but one fourth +part as big as the other.</p> + +<p>After this Concert I din'd with the Duke and Duchess. This Princess is the +Daughter of the late Prince of <i>Nassau-Idstein</i>, than whom there cannot be +a more amiable Lady. She has an Air of Mildness, Goodness and Prudence +diffused over all her Features; and her Wit is of the same Stamp as her +Beauty, amiable without Parade and Ostentation. Some of her Courtiers +assur'd me, that her Mind is as charming as her Person. If that be true, +which I am loth to doubt of, this Princess deserves a more splendid +Fortune than what she enjoys.</p> + +<p>After Dinner, I was one at a Match of Quadrille with the Duchess, and at +night there was dancing, and I never saw any body dance with a better +Grace than this Princess. The Ball held till the Night was far advanced, +when there was a grand Supper, which was no sooner over than I took leave +of the Duke and Duchess and retir'd to my Quarters, with a design to set +out in a few Hours and proceed in my Journey. At my Lodging I found a +Gentleman from the Duke, who said to me, 'That as he was passing by he saw +my Men packing up my things, and that therefore he came in purely to wish +me a good Journey. He assured me that he had a secret Kindness for me; +that I might safely take his Word; that he was Sincerity it self; and that +he wish'd 500000 Devils might twist his Neck if he was not heartily my +Friend:<!--195.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> +And to give you proofs of it, <i>said he</i>, I will treat you with +some Trifle, such as a Dram of Anniseed, Orange-Water, or Ratasia. Upon my +word my Apothecary has what is choice good; he lives but at the end of the +Street; Come, I will shew you the way to his House.'</p> + +<p>While he harangu'd me in this manner he reel'd, being so drunk that he +cou'd not stand. I thank'd him therefore for his Love, and told him that I +did not drink Drams, but that if he had a mind to any Liquor of that sort, +I would send for some for him; and I bid my Landlord fetch it. The +Apothecary, as ill luck would have it, was not yet got up. 'Soho, here, +<i>said my new Friend</i>, there is nothing to drink but Aquavit; here, +Landlord, a Glass of Brandy, Pipes and Tobacco. You must have something, +<i>said he</i>, to be doing.' Every thing he call'd for being brought, my +Gentleman drank two or three Glasses of Brandy, and smoak'd as many Pipes +of Tobacco. I hoped to see him tumble down, and by consequence to get rid +of him, when he took it into his head to call for some Dishes of Tea that +I had order'd to be made for my self, and which made him so sober that he +recover'd his Reason. I laid hold of this happy Interval (for I heard him +calling out for Brandy, which I apprehended would occasion a Relapse) and +talk'd to him about his Master's Bass-Viols; upon which, without much +Intreaty, he said to me, 'You know, Sir, that every Man almost has his +particular Whim, Princes as well as private Persons. One is an Admirer of +Magnificence, another of Troops, and a third of Mistresses. As for my +august Master, his Fancy runs only on Bass-Viols, and whoever sollicits +him for an Employment or any other Favour, can't do better than to +accommodate his Arsenal with one of these Instruments. That very large +one, <i>said he</i>, which you saw in the Room where all his Viols are, was +<!--196.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span>presented +to him by one who wanted to be a Privy-Counsellor; his Petition +was granted, and had he ask'd for any thing else he might have had it.' +This officious Gentleman told me a great many other Particulars which let +me into the very Chronicle of the Court of <i>Mersebourg</i>; but I don't +trouble you with it, because the Truth is not to be told at all times.</p> + +<p>My Equipage being ready, I set out for <span class="smcap">Naumbourg</span>, where I arrived at Noon. +This City was formerly the See of a Bishop. Its ancient Cathedral is still +standing, and tho' <i>Lutheran</i>, has a Chapter and Canons who must prove +their Nobility both by the Father's side and Mother's side, by sixteen +Descents. When this Bishoprick was seculariz'd it was said that no +Catholic Prince could ever be possess'd of this State. Therefore when the +last Duke of <i>Saxe-Zeits</i>, Administrator of <i>Naumbourg</i>, turn'd Catholic, +the King of <i>Poland</i> as eldest of the <i>Saxon</i> Family and Executor of the +<i>Pacta</i> or Conventions made between the Princes of that Family, took +possession of <i>Naumbourg</i>. The Duke's being reconciled to the <i>Lutheran</i> +Communion was to no purpose, the King did not restore his Dominions to +him, but still possesses them, tho' he is more a Catholic than the Duke of +<i>Zeits</i> perhaps ever was. You know that this Prince has left a Nephew who +wou'd have been his Heir, if he had not been a Catholic and a Priest. This +is the Prince who, I acquainted you from <i>Dresden</i>, was Bishop of +<i>Konigsgratz</i> in <i>Bohemia</i>. He was born a <i>Lutheran</i>, as are all those of +his Family. His Uncle the Cardinal of <i>Saxe</i>, Brother to the Duke of +<i>Zeits</i>, made him embrace the Roman Catholic Religion when he was very +young, and afterwards persuaded him to enter into Ecclesiastical Orders, +by which step he deprived his Nephew of the glorious Prerogative of being +a Sovereign Prince, and transferred +his<!--197.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> +Rights to the King of <i>Poland</i> +his distant Cousin.</p> + +<p><i>Naumbourg</i> is famous for its Fairs, which next to those of <i>Leipsic</i>, are +the most considerable in <i>Saxony</i>. The Suburbs of this City are almost all +Vineyards; but why, I know not, for the Wine is so detestably bad, that +they give it away in a manner for nothing.</p> + +<p>Finding nothing at <i>Naumbourg</i> which was worth my while to stay there for, +I only chang'd Horses and came hither. As one approaches this Place, we +meet with Corn-Fields and Hop-Grounds instead of Vines, and the Country +rises into Hills, so that one does not see the Town of <span class="smcap">Weimar</span> till we are +just upon it. The City, which is not more considerable than <i>Naumbourg</i>, +is the Residence of the Duke of <i>Saxe-Weimar</i>, who has a Palace here which +does not want for Magnificence, and tho' unfinish'd, has an air of +Grandeur. The Connoisseurs in Architecture highly extol the grand +Stair-Case there, which two Persons may ascend and descend at the same +time without meeting one another, and yet always keeping each other in +view. It consists of two Flights of Stairs upon one Spindle, laid one over +the other in the same Well of a square Form. The Curious who have observ'd +it, admire it, because there are few such to be seen.</p> + +<p>The great Hall which is an oval, is beautiful, but not lightsome enough. +There are the Pictures of all the Dukes of <i>Saxe-Weimar</i> at full length, +from the first Duke that ever was down to the Father of the present. They +are all drawn on Horseback, and done by no mean Hand.</p> + +<p>In the same Palace is the Duke's Library, which tho' not very large, +consists of sundry scarce Books. 'Tis open twice a week, when the Curious +are not only permitted to peruse them, but even to borrow them, upon +leaving a Note with the Librarian.</p> + +<!--198.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span></p> + +<p>The Duke of <i>Weimar</i> spends very little Time in his Capital, but commonly +resides at a Seat which he has caus'd to be built about a League out of +Town. He has given it the Name of <i>Belle-Vue</i>, because of the fine +Prospect which it commands from the Apartments of the first Story. The +House is small and not very commodious, so that the chief Beauty of it is +its Situation, which is very charming. The Gardens which are begun upon +very good Plans will be beautiful when finish'd, as well as the +Pheasant-Walk and Menagerie where there are Turkeys and all sorts of Fowl.</p> + +<p>The Duke of <i>Weimar's</i> Name is <i>Ernest-Augustus</i>: He is the eldest of the +<i>Ernestine</i> Branch which lost the Electorate when <i>Charles</i> V. was +Emperor. He marry'd a Princess of <i>Anhalt-Cothen</i>, who I have been told, +was a Lady of distinguish'd Merit. She died and left him a Son and three +Daughters.</p> + +<p>The young Prince is about ten Years of age<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a>. He can neither hear nor +pronounce well, and is withal of a very tender Constitution. The +Physicians say it signifies nothing, and that as he grows up he will +acquire a Freedom of Speech. But I question it, and am apt to think rather +that those Disciples of <i>sculapius</i> will send him into the other World. +The only Hopes of any Male Issue of <i>Weimar</i> are founded upon this Child. +The Duke of <i>Saxe-Eysenach</i> who is the next a-kin has no Children; so that +the Dominions of <i>Weimar</i> and <i>Eysenach</i> too are ready to devolve to the +Family of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i>. The Duke of <i>Weimar's</i> Subjects teaze him very +much to marry, but the Prince does not seem to be in a Humour to satisfy +them; for I have often heard him say that he can't bear the mention of +Marriage.</p> + +<!--199.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span></p> + +<p>No body presumes to go to <i>Belle-Vue</i> without being sent for, except only +on <i>Mondays</i> when poor People are permitted to go thither with their +Petitions which they deliver to the Secretary, and he gives them to the +Duke. Persons of Quality, whether Foreigners or others, that have a mind +to speak with the Duke, apply for it to the Marshal of the Court, but are +seldom admitted to an Audience.</p> + +<p>The Duke has rarely any other Company at <i>Belle-Vue</i> but two young Ladies +whom he calls his Maids of Honour, and three young Women, Citizens +Daughters, who go by the Name of his Chamber-Maids; a Major of his Troops, +and the Officer of his Guard, who is a Lieutenant or an Ensign. I had +forgot to mention the Baron <i>de Bruhl</i>, who is the Duke's Favourite and +his Master of the Horse.</p> + +<p>'Tis with these Persons that the Prince passes his Time. He wakes early in +the Morning, but makes it late before he rises; for he takes his Tea in +Bed, and sometimes plays on the Violin. At other times he sends for his +Architects and Gardeners, with whom he amuses himself in drawing of Plans. +His Ministers also come to him while he is in Bed to talk upon Business. +About Noon he gets up, and as soon as he is dress'd, sees his Guard mount, +which consists of 33 Men, commanded by a Lieutenant or an Ensign. He +exercises his Soldiers himself, and corrects them too when they commit any +Fault. This done he takes the Air, and at two or three o'clock sits down +to Table, where the two Maids of Honour, the Master of the Horse, the +Major, the Officer of the Guard, and even Foreigners if any happen to be +there, are of the Company. The Dinner holds a long while, and 'tis +sometimes three, four, and five Hours before they rise from Table. The +Glass never stands still hardly, and the Duke talks a great deal, but the +Conversation is commonly on Subjects that are not very agreeable. When +Dinner is over they +drink<!--200.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> +Coffee, after which the Duke retires for a few +Minutes, and then plays at Quadrille with his two young Ladies and the +Major; but sometimes he does nothing but smoak Tobacco, and he often +retires to his Chamber where he amuses himself with Drawing or else +playing on the Violin till he goes to Bed.</p> + +<p>There scarce a Week passes but the Duke gives an Invitation at least once +or twice to all the Persons of Quality of the Court, and all the Officers +of his Troops, at which time there are two great Tables spread, where they +dine, play, sup, and afterwards dance till next Day.</p> + +<p>The Duke's Troops consist of a Battalion of 700 Men, a Squadron of 180 +Troopers, and a Company of Cadets on horseback. His Infantry consists of +pick'd Men. Since the famous <i>Bernard de Weimar</i> who was Pensioner to +<i>Lewis</i> XIII. King of <i>France</i>, no Duke of <i>Weimar</i> had so many Troops, +and really they must be chargeable to the Duke whose Revenues 'tis said +don't exceed 400000 Crowns. This Prince has made a Treaty with the King of +<i>Poland</i>, whereby he engages to assist the King with his Battalion +whenever his Majesty thinks it necessary for his Service; in which Case +the King promises to give that Battalion the same Pay as he does his own +Troops. Mean time the Duke is obliged to clothe them all according to the +Pattern which is sent to him from <i>Dresden</i>; and indeed their Clothes are +very rich, especially those of the Officers and Cadets, which are so +bedaub'd with Gold and Silver Lace, that a Foreigner who comes to <i>Weimar</i> +cannot but admire it.</p> + +<p>The Duke's Family is very numerous, for besides the Prince his Son and the +three Princesses his Daughters, he has a Sister, and a Mother-in-law, who +is a Princess of <i>Hesse-Hombourg</i>: Mean time +he<!--201.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> +has a numerous Court, and +may boast that some of them are Persons of very great Merit.</p> + +<p>The Gentleman who is at the Head of Affairs is the Baron <i>de Reinbabe</i>, +who has the Title of President of the Council of State. He is a Person of +a good Family, in <i>Silesia</i>, has very great Abilities, and withal so much +Good-nature and Modesty as are seldom to be met with. When he was young he +travell'd very much abroad, where he learnt what was valuable in every +Country that he came to. He speaks several Languages well, is a great +Historian, a learned Civilian, and a good Poet. Notwithstanding the +Business that goes thro' his Hands, and his Care of a numerous Family, he +is always almost at his Studies, and never better pleas'd than when he is +in his Library; yet he is no Enemy to Pleasures, but enjoys them without +abandoning himself to them, and takes them as they fall in his way without +pursuing 'em. To finish his Character I will add what was said of him by a +Prince who knew him intimately: <i>If Probity was intirely lost in the rest +of Mankind</i>, said he to me, <i>I think I shou'd be sure to find it again in +the Baron</i> de Reinbabe.</p> + +<p>The Baron <i>de Schmiedel</i> is Marshal of the Court and Director of the +military Chest. He is a Person of great Piety, whose Aspect is not indeed +the most engaging, yet a very good Man to have to do with. He is a sincere +Friend, loves to do a kind Thing, is exact in the Duties of his Offices, +an Enemy to Vice, and very much attach'd to the Interests of his Master, +tho' he does not always please him because he has not the Talent of +Dissimulation so necessary at Courts.</p> + +<p>The Baron <i>de Studenitz</i> a <i>Silesian</i> is a Privy-Counsellor, and President +of the Chamber. He was formerly in the Service of the Duke of +<i>Saxe-Barbi</i>, and afterwards he enter'd into that of the Duke of +<i>Saxe-Hilburgshausen</i>, whose Finances +he<!--202.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span> +directed for several Years, in +which he acquired a Reputation, and came to <i>Weimar</i> where he was +continued in the same Employment. He is a Gentleman of very great Learning +and Integrity, and having travell'd a long time in his Youth, very well +knows how to carry himself.</p> + +<p>M. <i>de Hering</i> is of a noble Family in the Country of <i>Anhalt-Cothen</i>. He +is the Duke's Aulic Counsellor, a Gentleman of Worth, and both Learned and +Polite. He is on the point of leaving this Court, which will be a Loss to +the Duke that he will not easily repair.</p> + +<p>M. <i>de Bruhl</i> the Duke's Master of the Horse and Favourite, is a <i>Saxon</i>. +His Birth, good Qualities, and especially his sweet Temper render him very +worthy of a Sovereign's Favour. Yet I doubt whether, notwithstanding so +much Merit, he has a firm Footing in the Duke's Friendship; he has too +much Candor, too much Sincerity, and is too zealous to do Services; and +perhaps also too much attach'd to the Interests and Honour of his Master: +for tho' these Qualities have the Appearance of Virtues, yet they are +sometimes Errors in the Eyes of Princes.</p> + +<p>Thus, Sir, have I given you the Names of the most distinguish'd Persons at +the Court of <i>Weimar</i>. I set out to-morrow for <i>Gotha</i>. I hope for a Line +from you at <i>Wurtzbourg</i>, and don't propose to write again to you till I +know whether you are living or dead.</p> + +<div class="right"> +<i>I am</i>, &c. +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--203.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/i20.png" width="430" height="47" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER VII.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Gotha, Sept. 9, 1732.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>I set out from <i>Weimar</i> at 5 o'clock in the Morning, and by eight was at +<i>Erfurt</i>, where I walk'd about an Hour, and came at Noon to <i>Gotha</i>.</p> + +<p>'Tis all a flat Country abounding with Corn. In time of Rain the Roads are +so bad that sometimes it takes up a whole Day to come from <i>Erfurt</i> to +<i>Gotha</i>. <span class="smcap">Erfurt</span> is a City belonging to the Elector of <i>Mentz</i>, is the +Capital of <i>Thuringia</i>, and may be rank'd among those of the second Class +in <i>Germany</i>. Its Inhabitants are almost all <i>Lutherans</i>, yet the +principal Churches belong to the Catholics. <i>Erfurt</i> is fortified with +good Ramparts, and by a Castle on a Hill which absolutely commands the +Town. There is always a good Garison in the Place, which consists of the +Emperor's Soldiers and those of <i>Mentz</i>; and the Elector has a Governor +here with the Title of <i>Stadtholder</i>, who presides in the Regency.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Gotha</span>, which is not near so big as <i>Erfurt</i>, is a City situate in the +middle of a fine fruitful Plain, so that which way soever one approaches +it, one always perceives the Castle or Palace of the Duke, which stands on +an Eminence by itself, and has a Prospect of a vast Extent of Country. +This Castle, which is one of the biggest in <i>Germany</i>, was built by +<i>Ernest</i> Duke of <i>Gotha</i>, surnamed the <i>Pious</i>; +who<!--204.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> +caused both that and +the Town to be encompassed with Ditches and Ramparts. To the Glory of this +Prince, he undertook and finished these Great Works, at a time when +<i>Germany</i> was so impoverished by intestine Wars that few of its Princes +were able to erect Palaces<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a>.</p> + +<p>As of all the <i>Saxon</i> Princes of the <i>Ernestine</i> Branch, the Duke of +<i>Gotha</i> is the most powerful, so his Court is of all the <i>Saxon</i> Courts +next to that of <i>Dresden</i>, the most Numerous and the most Magnificent.</p> + +<!--205.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span></p> + +<p>Nevertheless the Subjects of the Duke of <i>Gotha</i><a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> are the least +burthen'd with Taxes of any in <i>Germany</i>. To this Prince's wise Management +of his Finances is owing not only his own Happiness, but that of his +People too, by whom he is ador'd; and really he treats them more like a +Father, than a Sovereign; and never makes them sensible of his Power, but +when he is to do them Justice. He is a kind good Master, easy of Access, +temperate in his way of Living, gives very great Application to the +Affairs of his Government, loves Reading, understands Books, and knows +every thing which a Prince ought to be acquainted with. As to his Person, +he is handsome and comely; is civil in his Deportment, but reserv'd; and +therefore seldom speaks to Strangers, if he can help it; but endeavours +first of all to know those he has Business with, and when he has found out +their Character, talks with them upon such Subjects as he thinks they are +best acquainted with. He keeps regular Hours, rises at seven o'clock, +first spends an Hour in Prayer, and the reading of some pious Treatise; +and then gets himself dress'd, and gives Audience to his Ministers, or to +other Persons that desire it. At Noon he dines with the Duchess his Wife, +the Princes his Children, and other Persons of Distinction; stays about an +Hour and a half at Table, and then takes a Walk in the Gardens of the +Palace, or if the Weather does not permit, he employs himself in his +Closet, or spends the Time in reading till five o'clock. Then he goes to +the House of some Person of Distinction at his Court where all the +Nobility have an Assembly, and plays at Ombre, after which he returns to +his Palace, sups in the manner that he din'd, and at nine o'clock retires.</p> + +<p>There is a Drawing-Room at Court three times a Week when the Company meets +in a great +Hall,<!--206.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span> +where they make Parties at Ombre and Piquet. At seven +o'clock a large Table is spread, which is free for all the Company. Then a +Carver cuts up the Victuals, which are handed to that, and to all the +Gaming-Tables that are cover'd with Napkins. Those who don't play may sit +down at what Table they like best. The Duke, the Duchess, or the Princes, +generally do Foreigners the Honour to admit them to their Table. During +the Supper there is a Concert of Music, and at nine o'Clock all the +Company retires.</p> + +<p>The Duke by his Marriage with <i>Magdalen-Augusta</i> of <i>Anhalt-Zerbst</i>, has +seven Sons and two Daughters<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a>: The eldest is the Hereditary Prince, who +has been twice in <i>Paris</i>, and once in <i>Italy</i>, <i>England</i>, <i>Holland</i>, +<i>Denmark</i>, <i>Sweden</i>, and at all the Courts of <i>Germany</i>, in which Travels +he has acquir'd a great deal of Politeness and valuable Knowledge. I had +the Honour of making my Compliments to him both at <i>Paris</i>, and the +<i>Hague</i>, and found him of such a Temper as induces me to think that the +Subjects of <i>Gotha</i> will be as happy hereafter under his Government, as +they are under that of the Duke his Father. He was lately married to his +Cousin-German <i>Louisa-Dorothea</i> of <i>Saxe-Meinungen</i>, a very lovely young +Princess, who, with all her Graces and Charms, has abundance of +Good-nature and Modesty<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a>.</p> + +<p>The Duke has all the Great Officers common to other Sovereigns. The Count +<i>de Ronaw</i> is Great Marshal, and the chief Man at Court. They give him +here the Character of Favourite; whether he is such I know not, but this I +know, that he is +not<!--207.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> +unworthy of it. I was very well acquainted with him +at <i>Ratisbon</i> in 1720; he was not then in any Place, and expressed a +Friendship for me; and now that I see him here in a Post, I find him the +same Man as at <i>Ratisbon</i>, always a Friend to his Friends; which for a +Favourite is a very great Character.</p> + +<p>The Duke's Revenues are computed at a Million of Crowns a year, with which +he maintains near 3000 Men of regular Troops. His Family is large and his +Livery fine; his Guards are very well cloath'd; his Table is serv'd with +more Delicacy than Profusion; his Palace is well furnish'd; every body +punctually paid; and no body dissatisfied.</p> + +<p>I don't mention the Library to you, nor the Chamber of Rarities, because I +am not yet well enough inform'd of such Things there as are worth +observing. I propose to take another Round before I go hence, and shall +not fail to transmit to you what Observations I shall make there. Mean +time, I am, <i>&c.</i><a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a></p> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--208.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/i07.png" width="430" height="46" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER VIII.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Wurtzbourg, Sept. 22, 1729.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>When I came hither I had the very great Pleasure to find your Letters, and +to hear that you enjoy perfect Health. Continue, I beseech you, to write +to me; that being the only Means by which you can persuade me what I wish +to be convinced of more than any thing in the World, that my Letters are +acceptable to you.</p> + +<p>I have been in one of the most disagreeable Roads in all <i>Germany</i>; and +tho' the Country abounds with Provisions of all sorts, I had like to have +been famished in the Public Houses.</p> + +<p>From <i>Gotha</i>, I went to <span class="smcap">Eysenach</span>, thinking to pass a few Days at that +Court, but I found the<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> Duke sick, and the Hereditary Prince and +Princess<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> absent, so that I had only my Labour for my Pains.</p> + +<!--209.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span></p> + +<p>As the Town of <i>Eysenach</i> offers nothing at all to View which is worth a +Traveller's Attention, I set out the same Day for <span class="smcap">Fulde</span>, where I arrived +the next. You know, that this City is the Capital of the Principality of +<i>Fulde</i>, the Sovereign of which is an Abbot, a Prince of the Empire, and +Chancellor to the Empress. The present Sovereign is <i>Adolphus</i> Baron of +<i>Bahlberg</i>, who was chose by the Chapter of the Abbey Church in 1726, in +the room of <i>Constantine</i> Baron of <i>Buthler</i>, who died suddenly, and not +without suspicion of Poison. <i>Fulde</i> is a dirty little Town open on all +sides, and has nothing remarkable but the Abbey Church, and the Prince's +Palace, which are two Freestone Buildings that make a very grand +Appearance. The Apartments of the Palace are very richly furnish'd. The +last Abbot being a Man of good Understanding and great Views, caused this +Palace to be so adorn'd as to demonstrate the Wealth of the Abbey.</p> + +<p>The Prince Abbot has a Grand Marshal, a Master of the Horse, a Marshal of +the Court, several Privy and Aulic Counsellors, a Number of Gentlemen, a +Company of Horse-Guards well cloathed and well mounted, a Regiment of Foot +Guards, eight Pages, a Number of Footmen, and several Sets of Horses. He +gives a rich Livery, and in a word, his Houshold is spruce and +magnificent. There are very few Sovereigns in <i>Germany</i> whose Table is +better served; for there is plenty of every thing, particularly delicious +Wines, of which they tipple to such Excess that in a very little time they +are not capable of distinguishing their Liquor. There are, I believe, the +hardest Drinkers here in <i>Europe</i>; and I being on the other hand but a +Milksop, thought that <i>Fulde</i> was not a Country for me to pitch my Tent +in. I dined with the Prince, went home drunk to my Quarters, slept sound, +and next +day<!--210.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> +set out for <i>Wurtzbourg</i>, where I am happily arriv'd after +having gone through such horrible bad Ways, and met with such dismal +Lodging, that I wish my Enemies were but condemned to travel this Road +four times a Year.</p> + +<p>Here I make myself amends for the Mortification which I met with coming +hither. <span class="smcap">Wurtzbourg</span> is a considerable City though not very large. The +<i>Main</i> divides it into two Parts. It is the Residence of the Prince Bishop +of <i>Wurtzbourg</i> Duke of <i>Franconia</i>. The Person who now enjoys that great +Dignity is <i>Christopher-Francis de Houtten</i><a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a>. He was elected by the +Chapter to succeed <i>John Philip Francis</i> Count de <i>Schonborn</i>, who was one +of the greatest and most magnificent Prelates that perhaps ever fill'd the +Episcopal See of <i>Wurtzbourg</i>. This Prince, in the five Years time that he +has been Bishop, has done more things for the Embellishment of +<i>Wurtzbourg</i> than ten of his Predecessors put together. He has furnished +one Part of the Town with new Fortifications, and has laid the Basis of a +stately Palace, which will be one of the greatest, the compleatest and +most regular Fabrics that we have in <i>Germany</i>; he having for that end +consulted the most skilful Architects, and sent for the most celebrated +Sculptors from <i>Italy</i>. As he was a passionate Admirer of the Arts and +Sciences, and perfectly understood them, especially Architecture; he chose +the best Parts of all the Designs that were presented to him, and from +them he compos'd the Plan of the Work, which was executed with such +diligence that in four Years time two thirds of the Building were rooft. +His unexpected Death put a stop for a while to this Great Work. The +<!--211.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span>present +Bishop took it in hand again, but after having made considerable +Alterations in those great and magnificent Projects, the Work advances so +slowly that when it will be finished no body knows.</p> + +<p>The deceased Bishop <i>Schonborn</i> has also caused a Chapel to be built near +the Metropolitan Church, which he has lined with very uncommon Marble +brought for the purpose from <i>Italy</i> at a very great Expence. Brass, +Gilding, and every thing that can render a Chapel superb, has been +employed in it in a very curious manner. This stately Edifice is as yet +imperfect, and will require great Sums to finish it. As it was designed +for the Burial-Place of the Bishop and his Family, it is to be presum'd +that the House of <i>Schonborn</i>, now so rich and so powerful, will not +suffer a Monument to lie unfinish'd which is to perpetuate the remembrance +of its Grandeur.</p> + +<p>The Great Hospital founded by a Bishop whose Name was <i>Julius</i>, is worth +seeing. 'Tis a stately Building, which looks more like the Palace of a +Prince than a Hospital. Four hundred Persons of both Sexes are maintained +in it. There are two fine Halls which are particularly made use of upon +<i>Holy Thursday</i>. In the one, the Bishop performs the Ceremony of washing +the Feet of the Poor, who are afterwards sumptuously feasted in it; and in +the other, he regales his Chapter, and all his Family.</p> + +<p>The Castle stands upon an Eminence on the other side of the River which we +pass over a Stone Bridge, adorn'd like that of St. <i>Angelo</i> at <i>Rome</i>, +with twelve fine Statues representing so many Saints. This Castle is a +strong Place, and entirely commands the Town. The Form of it is quite +irregular, it consisting of several Buildings erected by several Bishops. +Those Prelates always liv'd in it, till the last, who, while he was +building a new Palace in the Town, lodged in a neighbouring Gentleman's +<!--212.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span>House, +from whence he could see how the Work went on. The Apartments of +the old Castle are spacious and noble. I found in them all that Furniture +with which they were adorn'd for the Reception of the Archduchess +<i>Mary-Elizabeth</i>, when that Princess came to <i>Wurtzbourg</i> in her way to +the Government of the <i>Netherlands</i>. I have not seen richer Furniture at +the Palace of any Prince of the Empire.</p> + +<p>In this Castle there are two things that are well worth seeing; the +Arsenal and the Vault; the one full of all the Stores invented by <i>Mars</i> +and <i>Bellona</i>, for the Destruction of Mankind, and the other furnish'd +with every thing to satiate the Thirst of an Army of Drunkards. If ever +you come hither and should have the Curiosity to visit these Magazines of +<i>Mars</i> and <i>Bacchus</i>, I advise you to begin with the Arsenal, especially +if you can get some Courtier to go with you; for these Gentlemen, tho' +very civil, think, that the least thing which a Foreigner ought to do for +them is to forfeit his Reason to them in this Vault. I am sure, I speak by +dear Experience. Three days ago I told the Bishop that I had a mind to see +the Castle. This Prince was so complaisant as to order one of his +Gentlemen to go with me. My honest Companion fearing, 'tis like, that a +Conversation <i>tete-a-tete</i> would be too melancholy, chose two Topers to +bear us Company, whom <i>Silenus</i> would not have disown'd for his Children. +Being a stranger to the Virtues for which those Gentlemen were eminent, I +put my self entirely under their Direction without the least Apprehension +of my Misfortune. When they had shewed me the Apartments, the Arsenal, +Fortifications, and every thing, they carried me at last into the Vault, +which I found illuminated like a Chapel wherein I was to lie in State; and +indeed, my Funeral Obsequies were perform'd in Pomp, for the Glasses +served<!--213.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span> +instead of Bells, and Torrents of Wine gush'd out instead of +Tears: At length, after the Service was over, two of the Prince's +<i>Heydukes</i> carry'd me to a Coach, and from thence to Bed; that was my +Tomb. Yesterday I rose again, but scarce know at this Moment whether I am +quite come to myself. 'Tis true that this does not give me much Concern, +for ever since I have been here, I have followed the laudable Custom of +getting drunk twice a day. You perceive that I am improv'd by my Travels, +and that I am apt enough to learn the pretty Manners of the Countries +where I make any Stay. I fancy that you will find me very much alter'd for +the better. There is nothing that accomplishes a Man so much as +travelling; judge you of this by the Life which I lead here.</p> + +<p>I rise at ten o'clock, my Lungs very much inflam'd with the Wine I drank +the Night before: I take a large Dose of Tea, dress myself, and then go to +make my Compliments to the Bishop. The Baron <i>de Pechtelsheim</i> the Marshal +of the Court invites me to dine with the Prince: He promises, nay, and +sometimes swears too that I shall not drink. At Noon we sit down to Table. +The Bishop does me the honour to drink two or three Healths to me. The +Baron <i>de Zobel</i>, Master of the Horse, and the Baron <i>de Pechtelsheim</i>, +toast the same number to me, and I am under a necessity of drinking to no +less than fourteen Persons at the Table; so that I am drown'd in Liquor +before I have din'd. When the Company rises, I wait on the Prince to his +Chamber-Door, where he retires, and I think to do the same, but I find an +Embargo put upon me in the Antichamber by the Master of the Horse, and the +Marshal of the Court, who with great Bumpers in their Hands drink the +Prince's Health to me, and <i>Prosperity for ever to the most laudable +Chapter of <span class="f">Wurtzbourg</span></i>. I protest to them that I am +the<!--214.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> +Bishop's most +humble Servant, and that I have a very great Veneration for the most +laudable Chapter, but that to drink their Healths wou'd destroy mine, and +therefore I beg they wou'd excuse my pledging them; but I may as well talk +to the Wind; these two Healths must be drank, or I shall be reckon'd no +Friend to the Prince and his Chapter. If this were all my Task I shou'd be +well off; but then comes M. <i>de Zobel</i>, one of the most intrepid Carousers +of the Age, who squeezes me by the Hand, and with an Air and Tone of +perfect Cordiality, says to me, <i>You love our Prince so well that you +can't refuse drinking to the Prosperity of the illustrious Family of +<span class="f">Houtten</span></i>. And when he has made this moving Speech, he takes off a great +Glass to witness his Zeal for the Life of his Master; after which an +officious <i>Heyduke</i> brings me a Glass, and being infected with the Goust +that prevails at this Court, assures me that this Wine cannot possibly do +me Harm, because 'tis the very same that the Prince drinks. By a +Persuasion, founded on so just an Inference, I have the Courage to venture +on t'other Glass, which is no sooner drank but I reel, and can drink no +more; when in order to finish me M. <i>de Pechtelsheim</i>, one of the +honestest Gentlemen living, but the staunchest Wine-bibber that I know, +accosts me with a Smile and says, <i>Come</i>, dear Baron, <i>one Glass more to +better Acquaintance</i>. I conjure him to give me Quarter, but he embraces +me, kisses me, and calls me <i>Herr Bruder</i>, (his dear Brother.) How can a +Man withstand such tender Compliments! At last I put myself in a fit +Posture to run away; I sneak off, steal down the Steps as well as I can, +and squeeze myself into a Sedan which carries me home; where my People +drag me out like a dead Corpse, and fling me on a Bed, as if the next +thing was to lay me out. I sleep three or four hours, awake in a perfect +Maze, put +myself<!--215.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span> +to rights again, and prepare to make Visits, or to +receive them; but whichsoever I do, I presently find my self in such a +pickle again, that I cannot walk alone. There's no such thing as +Conversation here betwixt one Friend and another without the Bottle; so +that I am tempted to think the Inhabitants of this City are descended from +<i>Silenus</i>, and that the old Sot left them the Faculty of hard drinking for +a Legacy, as St. <i>Hubert</i> bequeath'd to his Family the power of curing a +Frenzy.</p> + +<p>I din'd yesterday with the Reverend the <i>Scots Benedictine</i> Fryars, who +gave me a hearty Welcome, and an excellent sort of Liquor call'd <i>Stein +Wein</i>, or Stone-Wine, probably because it grows on a Rock; which is the +only time that I have departed from the Regimen I keep to here, I mean +that I was not drunk. The House of these <i>Benedictines</i> is one of the five +Houses which form a sort of a Republic in their Order, and which, without +depending on their General, chuse a President out of their number who has +the direction of all their Affairs. These five Houses are in five +different Towns, <i>viz.</i> at <i>Vienna</i> in <i>Austria</i>, at <i>Ratisbon</i>, +<i>Wurtzbourg</i>, at <i>Doway</i> in <i>Flanders</i>, and at <i>Dieulegarde</i>, near +<i>Pont-a-Mousson</i> in <i>Lorrain</i>.</p> + +<p>These <i>Benedictines</i> put me in mind of the Reverend Fathers the <i>Jesuits</i>, +who have a very fine House in this City: These are they who are Directors +of the University, and instruct the Youth with a Zeal which cannot but +confound their Enemies.</p> + +<p>The Prince and Bishop lives in very great Splendor, and is one of the most +powerful of our Spiritual Sovereigns. His Dominion includes seventy +Bailywics, and his Country is the finest and fruitfullest in <i>Germany</i>. +The only thing that is scarce here is Money, and this is owing to their +want of Trade, and to the great number of Monks +and<!--216.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> +Priests who ingross +all to themselves. The Bishop has 50000 Crowns a-year for his Privy-Purse. +The Chamber is oblig'd to maintain him in every thing. It furnishes his +Wardrobe, his Table, and pays his Houshold and his Troops, which actually +consist of 3500 Men, who are commanded by General <i>Eib</i>, the Governour of +<i>Wurtzbourg</i>. In time of War the Bishop has no less than 10000.</p> + +<p>The Court is numerous, and I can assure you that upon Festival-Days 'tis +very magnificent. On St. <i>Quilian</i>'s Day, who is the Patron of +<i>Wurtzbourg</i> and <i>Franconia</i>, the Bishop repairs with a great Train to the +Metropolitan Church. Six of the Bishop's Coaches, drawn each by six +Horses, begin the March, attended by twenty four Footmen and sixteen +Pages; and above fourscore Gentlemen richly dress'd walk before the +Bishop's Coach, guarded by two Files of Halbardiers. The Master of the +Horse and the Marshal of the Court walk by the sides of the Coach, the +latter bearing the Sword of the Duke of <i>Franconia</i> with the Point +uppermost; and the Coach is surrounded by <i>Heydukes</i>, and followed by a +company of Life-Guards.</p> + +<p>The Bishop of <i>Wurtzbourg</i> has one Prerogative which the other Bishops +have not; for while he officiates, his Great Marshal bears the Sword of +the Duke of <i>Franconia</i> naked and upright till the Consecration of the +Elements, and then he puts it up in the Scabbard, and carries it before +the Prince with the Point downwards; which is a Distinction I take to be +altogether as extraordinary as that of the Abbot and Count <i>de Gemblours</i>, +the first Nobleman of the States of <i>Brabant</i>, who has the Privilege of +celebrating Mass with his Boots and Spurs on.</p> + +<p>The Bishop's ordinary Expence is perfectly suitable to the Dignity of a +great Prince; and +his<!--217.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> +Table, which is commonly spread for eighteen +Guests, is serv'd with a Magnificence to the degree of Profusion; not that +this Prince affects Pomp, but because he is oblig'd to conform to the +antient establish'd Customs of his Court. This Prelate gives very great +Application to the Affairs of his Government, for which purpose he rises +early in the Morning: When he is dress'd he spends some time in Prayer, +and then confers with his Ministers, or with the Chiefs of the several +Tribunals. At ten o'clock he hears Mass, and afterwards goes to Council: +At Noon he dines, and after having sate an Hour and an half at Table, he +retires, and spends the Evening with his Family, which is numerous, and +compos'd of Persons of Worth. In Carnival-time he makes great +Entertainments twice or thrice a week for all the Nobility of +<i>Wurtzbourg</i>, and there is sometimes a Ball and even Masquerades at Court. +In the Winter-time Persons of Rank have Assemblies for Gaming; and during +the Carnival there's a Ball three times a week in a House kept by the +Undertaker, at which they bespeak Places beforehand, and where Foreigners +are admitted <i>gratis</i>. All this wou'd be pretty enough if the Company was +not sometimes disturb'd by People in Liquor, tho' 'tis true that such are +not very chagrining to the Natives, who are us'd to such Sights; and the +very Ladies, who elsewhere fly such Company, do not seem to have a staunch +Aversion to them. Foreigners have reason to applaud the Civilities both of +the Prince and his Courtiers. As for my own part I am infinitely oblig'd +for the Respect they have been pleas'd to shew to me. The Prince heaps his +Favours on me, and the Nobility their Courtesies. If it were not that one +is forc'd to drink hard, I shou'd like the Town very well. Two Days hence +I shall set out for <i>Anspach</i>, +and<!--218.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> +from thence I shall go by the way of +<i>Nuremberg</i> and <i>Bareith</i> to <i>Prague</i>. I shall write to you by the very +first Opportunity: Mean time I am, <i>&c.</i></p> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/i20.png" width="430" height="47" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER IX.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Anspach, Sept. 29, 1729.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>I came in one day from <i>Wurtzbourg</i> to <span class="smcap">Anspach</span>, which is twelve Miles, and +pass'd thro' two or three little Towns not worth naming. <i>Anspach</i> is the +Capital of the Margraviate so call'd, and the Residence of the Margrave of +<i>Brandenbourg</i>, Chief of the second Branch of that Family settled in +<i>Franconia</i>. 'Tis a small but pretty Town, and very well built. It has no +Fortifications, and is only shut in by Walls surrounded with Walks which +form a Bulwark. The Prince has a large Castle or Palace building here, +which when finish'd will be magnificent. The late Margrave, Father of the +present, had begun to build it according to the Models of an <i>Italian</i> +Architect; but as he did nothing to answer the Opinion conceiv'd by the +<i>Germans</i> that the <i>Italians</i> are the best Architects in the World, +perhaps because he was oblig'd to patch up old Walls for the sake of some +Rooms: Madame the Margravine Regent, Mother of the young Margrave, +continued what her Husband began, but changed the Architect, and makes use +of the Baron <i>de Zochau</i> to carry on those Works; who, tho' oblig'd to +conform to what was done by the <i>Italian</i>, has succeeded much better than +that Foreigner. Madame the Margravine Regent has +likewise<!--219.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> +caus'd some +noble Gardens to be laid out; and this Princess spares no Cost for +embellishing the Town of <i>Anspach</i>.</p> + +<p>The Margravine Regent<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> is of the Family of <i>Wurtenberg</i>, and may be +compar'd for Beauty with the finest Princesses in the World. Being left a +Widow at twenty nine Years of Age, she renounc'd all Pleasures, and +thought of nothing but the Education of her Son, and the Affairs of her +Regency; both of which Duties this Princess discharges in such a manner +that her Subjects bless her Government, and the young Margrave cannot but +have very great Obligations to her.</p> + +<p>Madame the Margravine, besides a charming Person, has a sparkling Wit and +a solid Judgment, which she has taken care to cultivate by great reading, +and maintains by a Piety and Charity truly Christian. There is in all her +Actions such Politeness, and so much Good-nature, as gain her the hearts +of all Persons. In fine, without flattering this Princess, I can assure +you that her Life is a Pattern of Virtue. She is wean'd from all the +Vanities of the Age; she wears neither Gold nor Lace, and has given her +Diamonds, which were of very great value, to her Son. She keeps so retir'd +to her Apartment, that she is never seen but at Church, at Table, or when +she gives Audience; which she never refuses to any body unless when she is +tir'd. She is incessantly employ'd, and takes delight in it. She is her +own Minister, and her Counsellors are only the Executioners of her Orders.</p> + +<p>'Tis pity that <i>Germany</i> is so soon like to lose a Princess who does her +Country so much Honour: The Margravine is in so declining a Condition +<!--220.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span>that +there's no hopes of her Recovery. The Physicians have actually told +her so; but the Princess, far from being terrify'd at the sad Tidings, +receiv'd it like a Christian Heroine: <i>God gave me my Life</i>, said she to +her Physicians, <i>he will take it from me when he pleases, his Will be +done</i>. She continues to live in the way she always did; and the Approach +of Death, which she sees advancing to her with slow Pace, gives her no +Trouble nor Tremor; but submitting to the Decrees of Providence, she waits +with Resignation for that awful Moment which often makes the stoutest +Hearts tremble.</p> + +<p>The young Margrave is actually at <i>Paris</i>, so that I cou'd have given you +no manner of Account of this Prince, if I had not had the Honour to see +him two Years ago. He was born the 12th of <i>May</i>, 1712. He is a handsome, +comely, lively Man, has an extraordinary Memory, and if Age matures his +Understanding, bids fair to be one day a Prince of a sublime Genius. His +Governour was M. <i>de Bremer</i>, a Gentleman of <i>Livonia</i>; and his Prceptor +M. <i>Neukirch</i><a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a>, celebrated for several Essays in Poetry.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the Reform which Madame the Margravine made in her Court +when she came to the Regency, 'tis still very numerous. The Count <i>de +Castel</i> is the first Man at this Court, and has the Title of Lord Steward. +His Lady commonly attends Madame the Margravine, and does the Offices of +Lady of Honour without affecting the Title. M. <i>de Bremer</i>, the Baron <i>de +Seckendorf</i>, and the Baron <i>de Zochau</i>, are Privy Counsellors; and the +Baron <i>de Kinsberg</i> is Marshal of the Court. As to the Troops the +Margravine Regent only keeps +up<!--221.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> +such a number as is necessary to furnish +her Quota to the Empire, and to guard her Person.</p> + +<p>The Margraviate of <i>Anspach</i> is very much interspersed with Woods, which +makes it a fine Country for Hunting. 'Tis said that it brings in 500000 +Crowns every Year to its Sovereign. The Principal Towns are <i>Anspach</i> and +<i>Schwabach</i>, in which Manufactures are erected that do great Prejudice to +the City of <i>Nuremberg</i>.</p> + +<p>I think I ought not to omit acquainting you with two things which are +fondly believ'd by the common People, and which the Landlord of the House +where I quarter'd affirm'd to me to be Facts. The one is, that there are +no Rats in all the Country of <i>Anspach</i>, since one of the Family of the +Rat-killing St. <i>Hubert</i> pass'd that way. The other is of the same Tenor, +and admitted for a certain Truth by every Subject in the Dominions of the +House of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, <i>viz.</i> When any one of this Family dies, whether +Prince or Princess, a Woman in White always appears just before in the +Palace. I know not whether you ever heard any thing concerning this +Prophetess of Ill Luck. Be that as it will, the Story which is told of her +is this:</p> + +<p><i>Joachim</i> II. Elector of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, having a mind to enlarge his +Palace at <i>Berlin</i>, wanted to buy in several Houses; but an old Woman, the +Owner of one of those Houses, resolv'd not to sell it to him upon any +Terms. The Elector finding her so obstinate sent her the Purchase-Money +and turn'd her out of it; upon which the old Woman swore in a Rage that +she wou'd be an eternal Plague to <i>Joachim</i> and his Posterity. They +pretend that the good Lady keeps her Word, and that she haunts all the +Palaces of the <i>Brandenbourg</i> Family. Yet I never heard any body at +<i>Berlin</i> say they had ever seen her there, tho' that is the Place where +she ought naturally to have taken up her head +Quarters.<!--222.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span> +My Landlord added +to these fine Stories that the Margravine would not die yet a while, +because the Woman in White had not yet appear'd to any body at Court.</p> + +<div class="right"> +<i>I am</i>, &c. +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 416px;"> +<img src="images/i02.png" width="416" height="62" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER X.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Carlsbad, October 10, 1729.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>When I took leave of the Court of <i>Anspach</i>, I was honour'd with a +precious mark of the Margravine's Goodness, <i>viz.</i> a weighty Gold Medal; +and now I am again upon my Journey. I was not many hours in travelling +from <i>Anspach</i> to <i>Nuremberg</i>, thro' a Country extremely sandy, but very +well cultivated, and interspers'd with considerable Villages which in our +Country wou'd be reckon'd Towns.</p> + +<p>So much has already been said by others of the City of <span class="smcap">Nuremberg</span>, that I +have very little to add to it. I assure you this Town is the most +disagreeable Place in <i>Europe</i> to live in. The Patricians are the People +of the first Rank there, and lord it like the petty Nobles of <i>Venice</i>. +The Government here too has very great Resemblance with the <i>Venetian</i>, +and they have a sort of Doge. In short they are very much like the Frog in +the Fable that strove to swell it self to the Size of the Ox. Of these +Patricians some are very rich, but they are so rude that no body visits +them, and they scarce visit one another. Perhaps you will ask me what I +mean by the Term <i>Patricians</i>? 'Tis this; they are +Gentlemen:<!--223.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> +There are +Patrician Families old enough to dispute Antiquity with any of the +Nobility whatsoever, and who were formerly admitted into all the Chapters. +But now the case is otherwise; for the Nobility not only exclude them out +of the Chapters, but dispute their being Gentlemen; pretending that they +derogate from the Title by their Magistratical Offices. Such is, you know, +our <i>Germanic</i> Vanity; the things which are honourable in other Countries, +are with us diminutive: The Court, the Sword, and the Church, are the only +Professions that a Gentleman can follow: If he has not the Talents proper +for one or other of these, or if Fortune frown upon him, he had better be +out of the World than take any Offices of the Magistracy upon him, or +enter into Trade: He had better beg Alms nobly than marry beneath himself. +But I shall not here set up for a Censor of the <i>Germanic</i> Customs. Let us +talk of <i>Nuremberg</i>. This City has 6 Gates, 12 Conduits, and 118 Wells. Of +the Churches St. <i>Laurence</i>'s is the biggest: There's a great many +Reliques in it, particularly a part of the Manger in which our Saviour was +laid, a piece of his Garment, and three Links of the Chains which bound +St. <i>Peter</i>, St. <i>Paul</i>, and St. <i>John</i>. As the <i>Lutherans</i> make no great +account of those Reliques, they wou'd do well to give them to some poor +Catholic Convent, which would thereby soon be enrich'd.</p> + +<p>You know that the Government here is altogether Evangelical, <i>i. e.</i> +<i>Lutheran</i>. The Catholics have a small Church in the House of the Teutonic +Order: The <i>Calvinists</i> go to the Church in the Territory of <i>Anspach</i>; +but the <i>Jews</i> are not tolerated because 'tis said they formerly poisoned +the Wells. They live in a Place not far from <i>Nuremberg</i>, but come to Town +every Morning, paying something for their Entrance, have an old Woman set +over<!--224.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> +them, who is commonly both their Guard and their Guide, and are +permitted to trade and trick wherever they can till Night, when they are +obliged to retire.</p> + +<p>In the Church of the Hospital is kept <i>Charlemain</i>'s Crown, said to weigh +fourteen Pounds, the Sceptre and the Globe, in short all the Ornaments of +Empire except <i>Charlemain</i>'s Sword said to have been brought from Heaven +by an Angel, the same very likely that carry'd the holy Vial and the +Oriflamb to <i>France</i>. That Sword is kept at <i>Aix la Chapelle</i>.</p> + +<p>The Trade of <i>Nuremberg</i> is very much fallen off; for besides that the +Toys and Knick-knacks which were formerly made in this City are much out +of fashion, especially in <i>Germany</i>, the Manufactures which the Margraves +of <i>Bareith</i> and <i>Anspach</i> have settled in their Dominions do considerable +Prejudice to <i>Nuremberg</i>.</p> + +<p>The Inhabitants of this City may be, (at least I think 'em so) the +honestest People in the World, but they are the most horrible +Complimenters that I know. I cou'd not set my Foot in a Shop, but the +Master, the Mistress, the Children and the Apprentices waited on me into +the very Street, than king me for the Honour I had done them. My Landlord +too, who saw me go in and out twenty times a day, receiv'd me always with +great Ceremony, and ask'd me how I did. And when I went out he pray'd me +not to leave his House long in Contempt, without honouring it with my +Presence.</p> + +<p><i>Nuremberg</i> is the richest and most potent Imperial City next to +<i>Hambourg</i>. The Domain of <i>Nuremberg</i> is even much larger than that of +<i>Hambourg</i>, but the latter bears the Bell for Wealth. 'Tis said that +<i>Nuremberg</i> has seven other Towns in its Territory, with 480 Villages and +Parishes. Yet +for<!--225.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> +all this 'tis not a rich City; for the Patricians +pocket all the Money, and the Citizens are poor.</p> + +<p>Next Day after my Arrival at <i>Nuremberg</i> I set out for +<i>Christian</i>-<span class="smcap">Erlangen</span>, a Town in the Margraviate of <i>Brandenbourg-Bareith</i>, +which owes its flourishing State to a Colony of <i>French</i> People who fled +out of <i>France</i> on account of their Religion.</p> + +<p>Forty Years ago <i>Erlangen</i> was but a little Village in the middle of a +Forest of Fir-Trees. The Margrave <i>Christian</i> giving shelter to the +<i>French</i> who left their Country after the Revocation of the Edict of +<i>Nantz</i>, assign'd them <i>Erlangen</i> to settle in. When they cut down the +Woods they built the Town, to which they gave the Name of +<i>Christian-Erlangen</i>, in Memory of <i>Christian</i> their Benefactor. All the +Streets are in a strait Line. The <i>French</i> have set up all sorts of +Manufactures here, and have made it one of the prettiest Towns of +<i>Germany</i>. Madame<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> <i>Elizabeth-Sophia</i> of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, second +Daughter of the Elector <i>Frederic-William</i>, and third Wife of the Margrave +<i>Christian</i> Founder of <i>Erlangen</i>, caus'd a very handsome Palace to be +built in the great Square of this City, to which there are noble Gardens. +'Tis at present occupy'd by <i>Sophia</i> of <i>Saxe-Weissenfels</i>, Widow of the +last Margrave of <i>Bareith</i>. This Princess was to have dwelt at <i>Neustadt</i>, +which was settled on her for her Dowry; but as 'tis a lonesome, +melancholy, scoundrel Place, the Margrave Regent was willing she should +live at <i>Erlangen</i>. The Margravine Dowager was one of the most beautiful +Princesses in the World, of which she still preserves the fair Remains, +and none can have an Air more grand. She +lives<!--226.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> +at <i>Erlangen</i> with all the +Dignity becoming her Rank. Foreigners are very well received at her Court, +and particularly by the Princess herself, who for Politeness has few +Equals.</p> + +<p>From <i>Christian-Erlangen</i> I went in less than a Day to <i>Bamberg</i>, tho' I +stay'd two or three Hours at <span class="smcap">Forcheim</span> a Place in the Bishoprick of +<i>Bamberg</i>, whose Buildings appear'd to me to be old and out of repair.</p> + +<p>The Bishoprick of <span class="smcap">Bamberg</span> is the first Bishoprick of the Empire. The +Bishop is Suffragan to no Archbishop. He depends only as to Spirituals +upon the Holy See, and receives the Pall as an Archbishop. He has moreover +this Distinction, that the Electors are his great Officers as they are +those of the Empire, and he has the Privilege of summoning them to come +and do the Duties of their Offices on the Day of his Installation. I have +not heard that any Bishop ever made use of this mighty Prerogative, for +the Retinue which those great Officers would bring along with them might +be a Charge to him. The great Privileges which this Prelate enjoys are +counter-balanc'd by one Mortification; for if the Electors happen to chuse +an Emperor who has no Dominions, the Bishop of <i>Bamberg</i> would be oblig'd +to yield him his Episcopal City and Palace. 'Tis said that the Emperor has +the same Right to <i>Rome</i>, and that if he should chuse that ancient City of +the World for his Residence, the Pope wou'd be oblig'd to yield him the +Palace of the Vatican and to retire to that of St. <i>John de Lateran</i>. But +I really think that the Holy Father and the Bishop of <i>Bamberg</i> will not +be so soon turn'd out.</p> + +<p>The late Elector of <i>Mentz</i>, <i>Lotharius-Francis de Schonborn</i>, who was +also Bishop of <i>Bamberg</i>, embellish'd the City with a new Episcopal +Palace, a great and stately Building that stands on an +Eminence,<!--227.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> +from +whence there is an extensive Prospect of various Beauties.</p> + +<p>The City of <i>Bamberg</i> is very well built, and has beautiful Churches. +Herein is to be seen the Tomb of the Emperor <i>Henry</i> II. and his Wife the +Empress <i>Cunegonda</i>. This Princess lies at the right hand of her Husband, +because she kept her Virginity to her Death. Was not this abusing the +Sacrament of Marriage?</p> + +<p>The Bishop who fills the Episcopal See of <i>Bamberg</i> is <i>Frederic-Charles</i>, +Count de <i>Schonborn</i>, Vice-Chancellor of the Empire. This Prelate being +Minister of State to the Emperor commonly resides at <i>Vienna</i>, and is now +there, so that I have nothing to say to you of his Court; but I reckon I +shall be able to give you some Account of him after I have paid my +Respects to him at <i>Vienna</i>.</p> + +<p>The Neighbourhood of <i>Bamberg</i> is very agreeable, but as one comes to it +from <i>Nuremberg</i> thro' a certain Forest of Fir-Trees, it strikes a Man +with Horror to find an Avenue to it a quarter of a League in length form'd +by Wheels and Gibbets. This, at first sight gives a Stranger no very great +Idea of the Honesty of the People; but he is of another Opinion when he +comes to know that these expos'd Malefactors are for the most part +Foreigners. The Bishoprick of <i>Bamberg</i> is contiguous to seven or eight +different States, and the Town it self lies in the greatest Road of all +<i>Germany</i>, which is the Reason that 'tis so infested by Rogues from all +Quarters. In the time of the Elector of <i>Mentz</i>, <i>Bamberg</i> was their <i>Ne +plus ultra</i>, for that Prince gave them no Quarter: Being an Enemy to +Wickedness, and one of the greatest Justiciaries that we have had in +<i>Germany</i>, he sent all to the Gallows that deserv'd Hanging.</p> + +<p>About a League out of the Town the Bishop has a charming Pleasure-House; +but there is nothing +in<!--228.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> +all <i>Germany</i> more magnificent than the Castle of +<span class="smcap">Pommersfelden</span> belonging to the Count <i>de Schonborn</i>, which is three +Leagues from <i>Bamberg</i>. <i>Francis Lotharius de Schonborn</i> Elector of +<i>Mentz</i> caus'd this stately Fabric to be built, the whole of which forms a +great Body of Building flank'd by two Pavilions with two advanc'd Wings. +The whole is regularly built, and decorated with well-fancy'd +Architecture. The Entry is supported by several Colonnades, where the +first thing that presents it self is the grand Stair-Case, which is +extraordinary magnificent, and perhaps one of the best contrived in +<i>Europe</i>. This Entry leads into a Salon which serves as a Passage to the +Garden; 'tis in form of a Grotto adorn'd with several Fountains, Columns, +and Statues of Marble: The Cieling is painted as well as the Sky-Light of +the Stair-Case, and the Arches of the principal Apartments. They are all +painted by Hands that the Elector sent for on purpose from <i>Italy</i>. I +don't give you the Particulars of the great Salon, nor of the Apartments, +because it would take up a Volume. The whole are laid out with Art, and +furnish'd with great Choice, Judgment and Splendor.</p> + +<p>The Stables answer exactly to the Castle which they front. They are built +in form of a Half-Moon with a Pavilion in the middle, which is an oval +Salon, from both Sides of which you see all the Horses. The Mangers are of +Marble in form of Shells, and the Racks of Iron neatly wrought in form of +a Basket or Scuttle.</p> + +<p>The Salon in the middle of the two Stables is painted in Fresco, and looks +one way to the Court, and the other to the Riding-House, where the Elector +us'd to see the Horses manag'd belonging to the Studs of his Bishoprick +near <i>Bamberg</i>, one of the best in <i>Germany</i>.</p> + +<p>The Gardens of <i>Pommersfelden</i> are very answerable to the Magnificence of +the Buildings: In +a<!--229.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> +word, every Thing belonging to this fine House is +worthy of it. The Builder of it had sublime Ideas: He spared no Cost to +leave Monuments of his Grandeur and Wealth to Posterity, and has made a +House of <i>Pommersfelden</i> which really surpasses some Royal Palaces. But +'tis time to take you out of this fine Place and to carry you back to +<i>Bamberg</i>.</p> + +<p>There is a good Number of the Nobility settled in this Town. The Chapter +consists of Persons of Quality: It has the Right of chusing the Bishop; +and 'tis he who governs in the Absence of the Prince. Such a Resort as +here is of the Nobility makes the Time pass away agreeably; but they drink +as hard here as at <i>Fulde</i> and <i>Wurtzbourg</i>, so that it looks as if +Drinking was an inseparable Function of the Ecclesiastical Courts. Having +some Relations in this Town I stay'd there three Days, during which I had +the Pleasure of Drinking every Day with one of my Cousins out of a great +Goblet of solid Gold which weigh'd to the Value of a thousand Ducats. You +can't imagine how well the Wine went down out of a Cup of that Value. I +heartily wish'd that my Cousin wou'd have dealt by me as <i>Joseph</i> did by +<i>Benjamin</i>, and that he had put up his Cup in my Portmanteau, provided he +wou'd not have sent to fetch me back again, as the Governour of <i>Egypt</i> +did his Brother; but this was what my dear Cousin did not think fit to do. +He made me drink my Skin-full of Wine, and only wish'd me my Pockets full +of Gold.</p> + +<p>From <i>Bamberg</i> I went to <span class="smcap">Bareith</span> the Residence of the Margrave of +<i>Brandenbourg</i>. The elder of the two Branches of that Family settled in +<i>Franconia</i>. <i>John George</i> Elector of <i>Brandenbourg</i> divided his Dominions +between his three Sons: He left the Electorate with its Appendages to his +eldest Son, and gave the Margraviate of <i>Culmbach</i> to <i>Christian</i> his +second Son, and that of <i>Anspach</i> to his third +Son.<!--230.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span> +<i>Christian</i> form'd +two Branches, that of <i>Bareith</i> and that of <i>Culmbach</i>. The Branch of +<i>Bareith</i> became extinct in 1726, by the Death of <i>George-William</i>, whose +Widow lives at <i>Erlangen</i>. <i>George-Frederic-Charles</i> Margrave of +<i>Culmbach</i> his Cousin, succeeded him. This Prince has five Children, +<i>viz.</i> two Princes<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> and three Princesses<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a>. He marry'd <i>Dorothy</i> of +<i>Holstein-Beck</i> at <i>Berlin</i> in 1709. I had then the Honour to see him: He +was a Prince of a noble Aspect, very civil, good-natur'd, and temperate, +and a Lover of Books and Men of Learning. He did an Act of Generosity that +perhaps is not to be parallel'd, and which I relate to you as the most +authentic Testimony that can be of his Good-nature and Integrity.</p> + +<p>His Predecessor had left an empty Exchequer and a great many Debts; and +the Margrave at his Accession to the Regency was oblig'd to pay the King +of <i>Prussia</i> 460000 Florins, upon condition that his Majesty wou'd +renounce any Pretensions he might have to the Margraviate, by virtue of +the Resignation of all Rights to the Succession which had been made by the +Margrave of <i>Culmbach</i> his Father, in favour of <i>Frederic</i> I. King of +<i>Prussia</i>. To raise this Sum on People already overburden'd by the common +Taxes, was to seek their Ruin. The Margrave in pity of their miserable +Condition, chose rather to borrow this Money of the States of the Circle +of <i>Franconia</i> at great Interest. When he found himself in peaceable +possession of his Dominions by the Payment made to the King of <i>Prussia</i>, +he undertook to pay off not only his own, but the Debts of his +Predecessor. To enable himself to +do<!--231.png--><span class="pagenum">206</span> +this, he began by turning off his +Court, kept but a small Number of Counsellors and Gentlemen, and disbanded +3000 Men of the Troops which the late Margrave kept in pay to no purpose. +He reduc'd his Table to the greatest Frugality; his Clothes were plain, +and he avoided Magnificence and Gaming. Some time after this, he made +another Reform in his House, and kept up but a very small Number of +Domestics. He establish'd a Council of Regency, and to save the Expence +which his Rank as a Sovereign would have engag'd him in whether he wou'd +or not, he left his Dominions, and went to live incognito with the +Hereditary Prince his Son at <i>Geneva</i>. I believe that both of them are +actually at <i>Montpellier</i><a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a>. He is resolv'd not to return to his +Dominions till all his Debts are paid off. Mean time his Subjects wish for +his Return with Impatience, for he has such a Kindness for them, and +governs them with such mildness that they look on him as their Father and +Benefactor. This Retirement of the Margrave from the Splendors of +Sovereignty is the more to be commended because 'tis absolutely voluntary: +He was not at all oblig'd to pay the Debts of his Predecessor; for they +were of such a Nature as not to be rank'd among the Debts of the +Government. Nevertheless it was his Pleasure to do it, and he chose rather +to abridge himself of the Charms of Sovereignty than that People, whose +Faith in the Government had made them part with their Money, shou'd lose +their Debts. Such a glorious Action as this, is in my Judgment equal to +the Laurels of twenty Victories: This was owing to his Virtue, whereas +Victory is generally the Consequent of Chance and Fortune.</p> + +<p>You will easily imagine that while the Sovereign is absent this City is +not very gay. It +appear'd<!--232.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> +to me the more melancholy because I had seen it +in the time of the late Margrave, at whose Court there was continual +Feasting and Jollitry.</p> + +<p>The City of <i>Bareith</i> is inferior to <i>Erlangen</i>. The Margrave's Palace is +a great old Pile, but not very commodious, and meanly furnish'd. This +Prince has a very pretty House, a League from <i>Bareith</i>, call'd the +<i>Hermitage</i>, which was built by Order of the late Margrave.</p> + +<p>It stands in the middle of a thick Wood, in which there are a great many +Pavilions built, without any Symmetry indeed, but very ingeniously +contriv'd within for the Use to which they serve. When the late Margrave +came to the Hermitage, he and his whole Court were in the Dress of +Hermits. There were certain Hours in which the Hermit Brothers went to pay +a Visit to the Hermit Sisters, who liv'd in the Pavilions. The Brothers +and Sisters who gave each other Collations, were subject to certain Rules +from which they could not be dispensed but by the Remission of the +Superior of either Sex, who were then the Margrave, and his Lady the +Margravine. In the Evening they met again in the Hall of the Castle, where +they supp'd; and that every thing might be done according to the Rules, at +the beginning of the Supper certain Verses were read, or some little Story +compos'd by one or other of the Hermit Brothers; then Silence was broke, +and every one gave his Opinion upon what had been read, upon which there +ensued a general Conversation. The Supper held till pretty late, and was +commonly followed with a Ball. No body could be admitted into the Order +without the general Consent of the Chapter. And the Superior himself had +no Right but to propose such as were Candidates for Admission. To give you +all the Statutes of this Society, would be too tedious; besides I should +be afraid of adding or +diminishing<!--233.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span> +to them, because I only have them from +Tradition.</p> + +<p>The Margrave has a Mother still alive, <i>viz.</i> <i>Sophia-Christina</i> Countess +of <i>Wolffenstein</i>, who lives at <i>Copenhagen</i> with her Daughter the +Princess Royal<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> of <i>Denmark</i>. The King of <i>Denmark</i> grants her the +Title of Royal Highness, and causes the same Honours to be paid to her as +to the Princesses of his Family.</p> + +<p>The Margrave has also three Brothers and two Sisters. The eldest of the +Brothers is a Major-General and Colonel of Foot in the Service of the +Emperor, and the two others are in the Service of <i>Denmark</i>. The two +Princesses are marry'd, one to the Prince Royal of <i>Denmark</i>, the other to +<i>George-Albert</i> Prince of <i>East-Friesland</i>. So that the intire Family of +<i>Brandenbourg-Culmbach</i> consists of Princes and Princesses to the number +of twelve.</p> + +<p>The Revenues of this Margrave are pretty near the same as those of the +Margrave of <i>Anspach</i>. His Fortress is the Castle of <i>Plassenberg</i>.</p> + +<p>From <i>Bareith</i> I came in two Days to <span class="smcap">Carlsbad</span>, a Place of Fame for its hot +Waters, of which there are two Sorts differing from one another both in +Strength and Heat. They derive their Source from the middle of a River +form'd by Torrents from the neighbouring Mountains, whose Waters are +extremely cold; yet they make not the least Alteration in the heat of the +Mineral Waters. They are said to be very wholesome for all sorts of +Maladies, particularly for the Gravel, and for the Barrenness of Women. M. +<i>Hofman</i>, a celebrated Professor of Physic at <i>Hall</i>, has published a +Treatise, wherein he examines the nature of those Waters, and prescribes +how they ought to be used. The Manner is very disagreeable; you are +obliged to be shut up in a Room, and be the Weather ever +so<!--234.png--><span class="pagenum">209</span> +hot, the +Stove must be heated, you must be tormented by taking off two or three +Pots of Water, which are almost equal to thirty Chocolate Cups; besides +walking about very much, and sweating great Drops.</p> + +<p>To make amends for the Fatigue of the Morning, there is good Company to be +seen here all Day long; for Abundance of Strangers come to <i>Carlsbad</i>, +particularly the Nobility of <i>Bohemia</i> and <i>Austria</i>. There are publick +Walks and a great Room adjacent, where they play, dance and walk till the +Evening. They who love to live by Rule retire without Supper.</p> + +<p>Whoever would be well accommodated at <i>Carlsbad</i> must carry three things +thither with him, his own Bed, Wine, and Cook; tho' a Foot-boy may serve +for the Cook, because one is generally invited by the <i>Bohemian</i> or +<i>Austrian</i> Noblemen, who always keep a great Table, and love Company to +dine with 'em.</p> + +<p>The Inhabitants of <i>Carlsbad</i> are generally Armourers, who work very neat +and vastly cheap. At the Season for using the Waters, Merchants flock +hither from all Parts, and <i>Carlsbad</i> is superior to many great Towns. I +had a great deal of Amusement during the two different Seasons that I +pass'd there, and I contracted a World of good Acquaintance, who, I hope, +will be of Service to me at <i>Prague</i>, for which Place I propose to set out +to-morrow. I am, <i>&c.</i></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 245px;"> +<img src="images/i10.png" width="245" height="105" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--235.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/i07.png" width="430" height="46" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER XI.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Prague, November 15, 1729.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>I have now been a Month in this City, yet it seems but as a Day; for I +find infinite Amusements here, and a thousand things that I like, only I +want your Company. The City of <span class="smcap">Prague</span> is ancient, and has been time out of +mind, the Seat of the Kings of <i>Bohemia</i>. 'Tis without dispute one of the +Biggest Towns in <i>Europe</i>. 'Tis encompass'd with Ramparts, and as well +fortified as a Place of that Extent can be, and commanded by several +Hills, which 'tis impossible to level. This City is divided by the River +<i>Molde</i> or <i>Muldaw</i>, into two Parts, <i>viz.</i> <i>Old Prague</i> and <i>Little +Prague</i>; and during the Course of the last Century, it suffer'd the +greatest Cruelties that a City can possibly undergo in a time of War. The +Archduke <i>Leopold</i> Bishop of <i>Passau</i> surpriz'd and plunder'd the lesser +Part, and would have done the same by the old Town, if the Emperor +<i>Matthias</i> King of <i>Hungary</i> had not come in time to relieve it. Nine +Years after this, <i>Prague</i> was again plunder'd by those who were most +concerned to preserve it; I mean the Imperialists, who, after the Battle +at <i>Weissenberg</i>, near <i>Prague</i>, wherein they defeated <i>Frederic</i> Elector +Palatine whom a Party had chose King of <i>Bohemia</i>, enter'd the City, and +carried off inestimable Booty. <i>Prague</i> was used no better in 1631, by the +Elector of <i>Saxony</i>, after that Prince made himself Master of <i>Bohemia</i>. +The Great <i>Walstein</i> of so much Note +for<!--236.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span> +his Glorious Actions, and his +Tragical Exit, recover'd <i>Bohemia</i> from the <i>Saxon</i> in 1632, and took +<i>Prague</i> by Storm. Some time after this the <i>Swedes</i> attack'd it, and took +the lesser <i>Prague</i>; but could not force the old Town, it was so +courageously defended by the Students and Burghers. The <i>Swedes</i> thereupon +retired, and carry'd off immense Wealth. At length the Peace of +<i>Westphalia</i> restored Tranquillity to <i>Bohemia</i> and the City of <i>Prague</i>, +which has been subject ever since to the House of <i>Austria</i>; and the +Kingdom which before was Elective, had the Mortification to become +Hereditary.</p> + +<p>The Situation of <i>Prague</i> is pleasant in the midst of Gardens and fine +Fields, and 'tis adorn'd with noble Buildings, of which the Houses of the +Counts <i>Tschernin</i> and <i>Sternberg</i> are as fine as any. The Furniture of +the former is extremely rich; there is a Gallery adorned with excellent +Pictures, a Cabinet of choice Porcellane with entire Services of the +finest <i>Indian Lacca</i>; and another Room full of fine Arms and other +Curiosities. Count <i>Sternberg</i>'s House is not so large, yet better +contriv'd; and in <i>Rome</i> it self would pass for a fine Palace. But there +is one built by the late Count <i>de Gallasch</i>, who died Viceroy at +<i>Naples</i>, that bears the Bell above all. You know that Nobleman was +prodigiously rich and magnificent. He spared no Cost in his Buildings. +'Tis pity the House is not well situate, but it certainly would be so, if +the young Count <i>de Gallasch</i> was of the same Way of Thinking with his +Father, who intended to have had five or six old Hovels belonging to it +pull'd down to the ground, by which means he would have had a fine Square.</p> + +<p>The Convents of both Sexes are another Ornament of this Great City. The +House of the Reverend Fathers the Jesuits is one of the most magnificent. +They have lately caused a Church to be built, which is one of the best +adorned that I +have<!--237.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span> +seen out of <i>Italy</i>. If you were but here, we would +go together and see all those Buildings. I would carry you first of all to +the Cathedral, which is in lesser <i>Prague</i>, on the Top of the Hill call'd +<i>Ratschin</i>, and from thence we would go and take a View of the Castle +which is upon the same Hill.</p> + +<p>The Metropolitan Church is a very antient Structure, which was burnt down +by the <i>Swedes</i>, and is only rebuilt in part. Its Magnificence and Beauty +consist in the thickness of its Walls and Arches; and the Architecture of +this Church is such, that I fancy it would appear <i>Gothic</i> to the very +<i>Goths</i> themselves. 'Tis in this Cathedral that the Kings and Queens of +<i>Bohemia</i> are consecrated. The Archbishop of <i>Prague</i>'s Office is to +perform the Unction upon both; but the Abbess of St. <i>George</i>, whose Abbey +is also upon the Hill of <i>Ratschin</i>, is to place the Crown upon the Head +of the Queen, and in this Function she is assisted by the Wives of the +Great Officers of the Crown.</p> + +<p>In this Metropolitan Church are preserved with great Veneration the Bodies +of a couple of Saints extremely dear to the <i>Bohemians</i>. The one is St. +<i>Wenceslaus</i> King of <i>Bohemia</i>, the other St. <i>John Nepomucene</i>. The +latter was very lately canonized by Pope <i>Benedict</i> XIII. at the Request +of the States of this Kingdom, who were at the whole Expence of the +Ceremony, which was performed in the Church of St. <i>John de Lateran</i> at +<i>Rome</i> with extraordinary Pomp.</p> + +<p>The Story of this Saint is very singular: He was Confessor to the Wife of +that cruel Emperor <i>Wenceslaus</i>, who was deposed by the Electors. That +Prince being jealous of his Queen enjoined St. <i>John Nepomucene</i> to reveal +that Princess's Confessions to him. He employed Presents, Prayers and +Threats, to persuade the Saint to make this Discovery, but all to no +purpose; upon which he caused him to +be<!--238.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span> +cast headlong from the Bridge +into the River of <i>Molde</i>. The Body was seen floating at some distance +from the Place, attended with five Stars swimming on the Water; then he +was added to the Number of the Saints and Martyrs, and his Corpse was +taken out of the River, and carried with Pomp to <i>Prague</i>, where it was +interr'd in the Church of <i>Dain</i> in the old Town, of which he was a Canon. +His Corpse being found some Years ago, his Tongue appearing to be as fresh +as ever, was taken out of his Mouth and put into a Silver Gilt Box; the +Body was enclosed in a stately Coffin, and the whole carried with great +Ceremony to the Cathedral. An Altar being erected in the middle of the +right Wing of the Choir, there the Saint was interr'd in a Tomb of Silver +Gilt; and the Tongue put into a sort of Tabernacle where it has wrought +and does still work great Miracles. There is a great Concourse of People +hither from all Parts to invoke this Saint, whose Tomb is loaded with +precious Gifts, and adorned by the Empress with a rich Canopy. But no body +has given more illustrious Proofs of Devotion to St. <i>Nepomucene</i> than the +Prince <i>de Schwartzenberg</i><a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> Master of the Horse to the Emperor, and the +Count <i>de Martinitz</i> Marshal of the Imperial Court; who both ascribe the +Conception of their Wives, and the Birth of their Sons, to the Protection +of that Saint, tho' I should have thought all this feasible enough without +a Miracle. The Princess <i>de Schwartzenberg</i> had not been married many +Years before she had a Daughter<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a>; her Husband had not seen her for +fourteen Years after this, during which she had no Children. This is no +more than common; after they came together again Madam is brought to Bed +of a Son, in which tho' there is nothing but what is +very<!--239.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> +natural, yet +'tis cry'd up for a Miracle; the Birth is ascribed to the Devotion which +the Princes paid to the Tomb of St. <i>Nepomucene</i> for nine Days together, +and to make the Saint some amends, his Tomb and his Altar are adorn'd by a +great many Vessels of Silver and Silver gilt.</p> + +<p>As to Count <i>Martinitz</i> there seems indeed to be better colour for a +Miracle in his favour. He had been married fourteen or fifteen Years, and +his Lady never given the least Sign of Teemingness. She was in good plight +of body, her Husband liv'd with her, and they went together several times +to the Baths of <i>Carlsbad</i>, but all had signified nothing. The Count +longing passionately for a Son had perform'd more than nine days Devotion +successively, for he went the last Holy Year to <i>Loretto</i> and to <i>Rome</i>. +But Heaven deaf to his Cries granted him no Heir; at last knowing not what +Saint to pray to, his Lady propos'd, that they should go and worship nine +days together at the Tomb of St. <i>Nepomucene</i>. They set out, they arrive +at <i>Prague</i>, they prostrate themselves before the sacred Tomb. Soon after, +Madame <i>de Martinitz</i> proves with Child, and at nine Months end is +delivered of a Son. You may say whatever you please, but such a Favour +sure was worth some Lamps of solid Silver before the Saint's Tomb; and the +Count <i>de Martinitz</i> full of Zeal and Gratitude has given some that are +very magnificent.</p> + +<p>The <i>Bohemians</i> have so great confidence in St. <i>John de Nepomucene</i>, that +they have almost forgot St. <i>Wenceslaus</i> their old Patron. There is no +Church where St. <i>John</i> has not a Chapel, no Bridge without his Effigy; +every body Gentle and Simple, Men and Women, wear his Picture as if it +were the Badge of an Order, hanging to a straw-colour'd Ribbon, and you +would swear that all the <i>Bohemians</i> were Knights of St. <i>Louis</i>. In +short, St. <i>Nepomucene</i> +is<!--240.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span> +the only Saint in vogue; and Presents are +heap'd upon him to such a degree that if it continues much longer, he will +be as rich as our Lady of <i>Loretto</i>.</p> + +<p>The Palace or Castle which joins to the Cathedral is a great Building +composed of several Main Bodies without Symmetry or Architecture. The +Apartments are but low and plain, but here is one of the most beautiful +Prospects in the World. The great Hall in which the Royal Feast is kept on +the Day of the Coronation of the Kings is the largest of the kind, next to +the spacious Hall of <i>Westminster</i>. The Palace-Gardens are large, but have +nothing to recommend them besides their Situation. The Tribunals of the +Regency meet in the Palace: The first of these consists of Stadtholders +who are of the Emperor's Privy Council. They are to the Number of twelve, +and represent the Sovereign. Most of them are the great Officers of the +Crown. There must be always two of them private Gentlemen to take care of +the Interests of the Gentry against the Nobility; for you must know that +the Princes, Counts, and Barons, who compose the Nobility, form a separate +Body here, and would think it a Disparagement to be call'd <i>Gentlemen</i>; +tho' <i>Henry</i> IV. King of <i>France</i> counted it an honour to be the first +Gentleman in his Kingdom, and King <i>Francis</i> I. whenever he affirmed a +thing, said, <i>Upon the Word of a Gentleman</i>.</p> + +<p>The Chief of the Council of the Stadtholders is call'd the <i>Great +Burgrave</i>, whose Dignity is the highest in the Kingdom. He represents the +Person of the Emperor, and is inferior to none but the Chancery of +<i>Bohemia</i> which always attends the Emperor.</p> + +<p>The Bridge over the <i>Muldaw</i> which joins little <i>Prague</i> to the old Town, +is one of the longest and most substantial Bridges in <i>Europe</i>. It has on +both<!--241.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span> +sides the Statues of several Saints, which if they had been done by +a better hand, would have prov'd an Ornament. There is a Crucifix also +which is pretended to be of Gold, and to have been erected formerly at the +Expence of the <i>Jews</i>, pursuant to an Order of the Government, as a +Punishment for their having crucified a Christian Infant upon +<i>Easter</i>-Day, to insult the Memory of our Saviour's Death.</p> + +<p>The <i>Jews</i> are the only Sectaries that are tolerated in <i>Bohemia</i>. There +are some <i>Hussites</i> still subsisting, but they keep so close, that the +Government does not seem to know that there are any at all. I was assur'd +that in <i>Prague</i> alone there were no less than 80,000 <i>Jews</i>; whether +there are quite so many, I know not; but 'tis certain they are very +numerous. Their Quarter in the old City forms a little separate Town. They +have all the Trade in their own hands, follow all sorts of Callings, and +by their receiving all old-fashion'd things in Payment, they quite ruin +the Christian Handicrafts-men. As these People multiply like Rabbets, 'tis +said the Emperor is going to issue an Ordinance prohibiting any but their +eldest Sons to marry; the Report of which is so alarming to the <i>Jews</i>, +that they would advance great Sums to prevent its taking effect.</p> + +<p>If we except <i>Rome</i>, <i>Paris</i>, and <i>London</i>, there is no City where there +are more Gentry, or a Gentry that is more wealthy: Every body here lives +grand; and in no Part of the World do the Nobility keep greater State, or +take more Pride in their Substance. They are polite and civil to +Strangers, whom they know to be Persons of Quality. For my own part, I +like them prodigiously, and I can safely say it, I have hardly met with a +Foreigner who has not the same Notion of <i>Prague</i> that I have.</p> + +<!--242.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span></p> + +<p>There is not a Gentleman in this Country but has seen at least <i>Holland</i>, +<i>France</i>, and <i>Italy</i>, and indeed they are under some necessity of +travelling, for the Education they have at home is none of the best. But +they don't travel as People of their Birth and Fortunes ought to do. They +are commonly attended by a sort of Governors, who make it their Profession +to ramble abroad with young Gentlemen, and are for the most part +<i>Walloons</i>, <i>Luxemburghers</i>, <i>Lorrainers</i>, or <i>Liegeois</i>, Soldiers of +Fortune, without Education, and without Manners; who think 'tis enough for +their Pupils to see Houses and Churches, and having not the Courage or the +Capacity to put themselves forward, or even to shew their Heads, don't +care that their Gentlemen should keep Company. They tell <i>young Master</i>, +that my Lord his Father, who put him under their Care, recommended +Œconomy to them; that they might game at Assemblies, but that 'tis not +well to play while they are travelling: Therefore the Spark is oblig'd to +keep in his Quarters, or if he is perhaps permitted to go to the public +Shews, even this Pleasure, because it is not to be had without Money, must +be taken in Moderation; the Governor's Aim is only to crib all he can, and +sink his Pupil's Money into his own Purse. This is so true that I have +known some who never eat Suppers, yet always brought them to Accompt; many +of 'em get a Profit by every thing they buy, and they make such hard +Bargains that 'tis ten to one if they don't chouse the Merchant as well as +their Pupil. If the Governor does not like the Place they come to, he must +be gone, tho' it were the most proper Town in the World to form the young +Gentleman; for the Governor only writes to the Father or Mother that the +Air did not agree with their Son, and that therefore he had remov'd him. +The Generality of these wretched Guides maintain that six Weeks +or<!--243.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span> +three +Months Stay at most is sufficient to know <i>Paris</i>; a Fortnight to be +thoroughly acquainted with the Genius of the <i>English</i>; a Month to know +<i>Rome</i>; a Week to see <i>Naples</i>; and so of the rest: And when they have +shewn their Gentleman at <i>Paris</i>, the Anatomical Wax-work and the +Observatory; at <i>London</i>, the Lions in the Tower; at <i>Rome</i>, the +Catacombs; and at <i>Naples</i>, the Liquefaction of St. <i>Januarius</i>'s Blood, +and Mount <i>Vesuvius</i>; they think they have done great matters, and away +they go without having made an Acquaintance with one Soul at any of the +Courts. They have seen the King of <i>France</i> touch for the Evil; The King +of <i>England</i> go to the Parliament-House; and the Pope sitting in his +Elbow-Chair, distributing his Benedictions. With a Mind thus adorn'd, the +young Man, after eighteen Months or two Years Absence abroad, returns +home. The Governor has two or three thousand Florins, and sometimes more +as a Gratuity, besides his Stipend. Again, the worthy <i>Mentor</i> makes a +Bubble of the Father who trusts his Son with him, and behold now, he is +ready for another Tour. One would think that, instead of travelling in +this manner, it were better to send abroad for the Plans of all the Towns, +I am sure 'twould be cheaper; the Parents would have the comfort to see +their Sons at home, and they would also have wherewithal to furnish a +little Box in the Country.</p> + +<p>There are no People of Quality in the World more addicted to an expensive +way of Living than those of <i>Prague</i>, which is the Reason that for all +their immense Revenues they are sometimes over Head and Ears in Debt; but +by good Luck they have a Settlement which prevents them from total Ruin: +For most of their Lands are intail'd for ever on the eldest Son of the +Family, so that he can neither alienate nor incumber them without the +Consent<!--244.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span> +of the whole Family, and of the King himself, which is a Thing +very hard to be obtain'd. When an eldest Son of a Family has squander'd +his Freehold, and runs himself more and more in debt, the Creditors, and +sometimes the Parents themselves, present a Petition to the King and +desire a Sequestration. The King after being inform'd of the List of the +Debts, and of the <i>Majorat</i> (which is the Name they give here to the Lands +that are intail'd) names Trustees for the Administration of the Estates of +the Spendthrift, who is allow'd a Pension till all the Debts are paid. +There's another very good Establishment here for securing the Sale of +Landed Estates and Mortgages. Every Nobleman gives in a Particular of his +Estate to a Tribunal which is call'd the <i>Landtaffel</i>, where the same is +register'd. When a Person wants to borrow Money or to make a Sale, the +Lender or the Purchaser has recourse to the <i>Landtaffel</i>'s Office, where +he sees whether the Lands are incumber'd; and if the Borrower's Debts +don't exceed two Thirds of the Price at which they are rated by the +<i>Landtaffel</i>, he may lend his Money very safely.</p> + +<p>Tho' the <i>Bohemians</i> are brave and good Soldiers, yet they don't love the +Service, I mean the Gentry: Most of them prefer the Civil to Military +Employments, and a private Life to Posts in the Army or at Court. They are +so us'd to be absolute Masters at their Estates where the Peasants are +their Slaves, and to be homag'd like Petty Sovereigns by the Burghers at +<i>Prague</i>, that they don't care to reside at <i>Vienna</i>, and to be oblig'd +like other Subjects to pay their Court to the Sovereign and the Ministers. +As soon as a Gentleman of <i>Bohemia</i> comes of Age, he is oblig'd to take an +Oath of Fidelity to the Emperor as his King; which is a Law as much +binding on the Nobility as the Gentry; and none of 'em dare to go out of +the Kingdom without +express<!--245.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span> +Leave from the Emperor, on the Penalty of +forfeiting his Estate. When the Noblemen are return'd from their Travels +to <i>France</i> and <i>Italy</i>, they put in to be Chamberlains, not so much for +the sake of engaging themselves to Attendance at Court as to procure a +Precedency for their Wives, it being a Custom with most of 'em to marry as +soon as they come of Age. Afterwards they aim to be Counsellors of State, +and Stadtholders, and this is the <i>Ne plus ultra</i> of their Preferments. +The Counsellors of State challenge the Title of <i>Excellency</i>: But this is +what those who are not of that Denomination, and of as good Families as +themselves, scruple to allow them, so that generally speaking they have it +only given them by their Domestics and Dependants. So that one may say of +their Excellencies what the Duchess of <i>Elbœuf</i> of the <i>Lorrain</i> Family +said in <i>France</i> concerning the Princes of <i>Bouillon</i>, that they were +<i>Domestic Highnesses</i>, because none but their own Servants give them the +Title of <i>Highness</i>.</p> + +<p>Of all the great and wealthy Families, those of <i>Lobkowitz</i>, <i>Kinski</i>, +<i>Schlick</i>, <i>Collobradt</i>, and <i>Martinitz</i> are the only ones that make a +Figure at the Imperial Court. 'Tis true there are several other Noblemen +at <i>Vienna</i> who have Lands in <i>Bohemia</i>, but then their Families are not +originally descended from that Kingdom.</p> + +<p>The <i>Kinski</i>'s Family is actually the most splendid at Court. There are +five Brothers of it in Employments. The eldest is the Great Chancellor of +<i>Bohemia</i><a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a>. The second who is call'd Count <i>Stephen</i>, is Great Marshal +of <i>Bohemia</i>, a Minister of State, and the Emperor's Ambassador at the +Court of <i>France</i><a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a>. The third, Count <i>Philip</i>, is the Emperor's +<!--246.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span>Minister +Plenipotentiary to <i>Great Britain</i>; and the two youngest are in +the Army, where one of them is a Lieutenant-Colonel. Count <i>Philip</i> was +sent Ambassador when but twenty nine Years old. He has demonstrated by his +Conduct that Wisdom does not always stay for Age, and that he is the +worthy Son of one of the greatest Ministers that<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> the Emperors +<i>Leopold</i> and <i>Joseph</i> ever had. The City of <i>Prague</i> is a very great +Loser by his Absence, for he liv'd there with Splendor, and his House was +always open, particularly to Foreigners. For my own part I receiv'd such +Civilities there as I shall never forget.</p> + +<p>As I have told you that the Nobility of <i>Bohemia</i> are the richest in the +Empire, I must also acquaint you that the Peasants there are miserable to +the last degree; their Persons, and all they have, are at the Command of +their Lord. The poor Wretches have often not a Bit of Bread to eat, in a +Country which is one of the most plentiful in <i>Europe</i> for all sorts of +Provisions. They dare not go from one Village to another to work, nor +learn a Handicraft without their Lord's Consent. So much Subjection keeps +the poor Creatures always trembling and humble, so that if you do but +speak to 'em they are ready to lick the Dust off your Feet. The Severity +with which these People are us'd is really terrible, but 'tis as true on +the other hand, that gentle Usage has no Effect upon 'em; for they are +excessively lazy and stubborn, and being moreover us'd to harsh Treatment +from Generation to Generation, Blows scarce terrify them, tho' tis the +only way to make 'em good for any thing.</p> + +<!--247.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span></p> + +<p>The <i>Bohemians</i> have a great many Talents for Music, so that there's no +Village, be it ever so small, but the Mass is sung in Concert, and they +are very happy at winding the Hunters Horn.</p> + +<p>'Tis certain that this Kingdom is one of the best Countries in the +Emperor's possession, and next to <i>Hungary</i>, brings him in most Money.</p> + +<p><i>Bohemia</i> is a Country of States, whom the Emperor as King of it, summons +every Year to the City of <i>Prague</i>. They consist of the Clergy, Nobility, +Gentry, and Towns. The Assembly is open'd by a Commissioner of the +Emperor's Nomination, who lays before them his Imperial Majesty's Demands. +The States, such is their Submission and Zeal, grant the full Demand which +is commonly a very great Sum; yet for all this, the <i>Bohemians</i> wou'd not +complain of Taxes if the Emperor resided among them, but they are sorry to +see their Country exhausted to enrich the <i>Austrians</i> to whom they have a +natural Aversion, and the <i>Austrians</i> as heartily hate the <i>Bohemians</i>.</p> + +<p>I own to you I shall be sorry to leave <i>Prague</i>. I take the <i>Bohemians</i> to +be the best People upon Earth, and <i>Prague</i> to be one of those Towns of +the Empire where a Gentleman may have most choice of Company. The Ladies +here are very amiable. Gaming, which may be call'd the universal Pleasure, +is carry'd as high here as they please in Houses of the Quality, where +Assemblies of both Sexes are held every Night, with good Cheer, +particularly Pheasants and Ortolans in plenty; and upon Fish-Days, there +are Trouts, Salmon, and Cray-Fish; and that there may be nothing wanting, +<i>Bohemia</i> likewise furnishes good Wine. At the Estate of the young Count +<i>Tschernin</i> at <i>Melneg</i>, there is a red sort not inferior to <i>Burgundy</i>. +Of all these good Things many partake together, and for my part I own I am +taken more with +this<!--248.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span> +Pleasure than any other, because we make it last as +long as we will, and then 'tis suited to all Ages.</p> + +<p>There is a tolerable <i>Italian Opera</i> here. In Winter they have Races in +stately Sledges: There is great Masquerading, and they dance till they are +ready to drop to the ground: For this end there are public Balls which are +extraordinary splendid, and might be compar'd, if any can be compar'd, +with the Balls at the <i>Hay-Market</i> in <i>London</i>.</p> + +<p>In the Summer-Time when there is not so much Company in Town, these +Assemblies are thinner. The Gentry meet at Night in a Garden belonging to +the Prince <i>de Schwartzenberg</i>, where they game, chat, and walk up and +down, after which they always go to some House or other to sup. When one +has a mind to go to the Country, we are sure of a good Reception, and the +longer one stays the greater Pleasure one gives to the Master of the +House. Here they pass the Time in Hunting of all sorts. Many of the +Nobility keep Packs of Hounds, and others Hawks. The Generality keep +Musicians in their Service, so that let the Weather be what it will, one +may be always amused in this Country. Besides, one enjoys all the Freedom +here that can be. After this, Sir, can you blame me for being sorry to +leave <i>Bohemia</i>? But 'tis what I'm now preparing to do, and I purpose to +go to <i>Vienna</i>. You will be so good as to let me have a Line from you +there; for to be plain with you, to write three Letters for one is too +hard. 'Tis true that your's are of inestimable Value, and that therefore +you are in the right not to be lavish of them; but the same Reason +justifies me in desiring them. Adieu, Sir: Love me always a little, and be +assur'd that no Man is more than I, <i>&c.</i></p> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--249.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/i20.png" width="430" height="47" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER XII.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Vienna, Nov. 30, 1729.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>The Court of <span class="smcap">Vienna</span> consists of so many Princes and Noblemen, that it +cannot be deny'd to be the greatest and most magnificent Court in +<i>Europe</i>. Nevertheless Ceremonies, and the <i>Etiquette</i>, a Name by which +they call ancient Usages, give it an Air of Constraint that is to be seen +no where else. There's a universal Out-cry against the latter, and even +the Emperor sometimes seems to be disturb'd at it, yet 'tis observ'd as +strictly as if it was an Article of Religion, and nothing cou'd set it +aside but an Oecumenical Council.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this, a Foreigner of Quality (for such he must be here) +finds Advantages at this Court which he does not meet with either at +<i>Paris</i> or <i>London</i>, I mean Opportunities of making Acquaintance. After a +Person has been to wait on their Imperial Majesties he need only be +introduc'd into one single Family to be soon made known to all the rest, +with this Advantage too, that go where you will, they speak the <i>German</i>, +<i>French</i>, <i>Italian</i>, and <i>Spanish</i> Languages; whereas a Foreigner at +<i>Paris</i> is under a Necessity of speaking <i>French</i>, and at <i>London</i> +<i>English</i>; but a Man may shift very well at <i>Vienna</i> without the +<i>High-Dutch</i> or <i>German</i> Language.</p> + +<p>The Ministers and great Lords of the Court are Civil, Courteous, and of +easy Access, especially to such as want no Favour of 'em, and come to +<i>Vienna</i><!--250.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span> +only for Curiosity or Business. The Way of these Gentlemen is to +return no Visits: but they invite People to their Tables, which being +always well fill'd, a Man soon gets a great deal of Acquaintance.</p> + +<p>'Tis a very easy matter to be admitted to kiss the Hands of their Imperial +Majesties, and even to obtain a private Audience of 'em; for there needs +nothing more than to give in your Name to the Emperor's Great Chamberlain +and the Empress's Great Master of the Houshold. When you kiss their Hands +you bend one Knee to the Ground, and the Time for it is generally when +their Majesties pass by to Dinner. But private Audiences are attended with +more Ceremonies. The Great Chamberlain having appointed the Hour of +meeting in his Antichamber, which is commonly five o'clock in the Evening, +he repairs thither at that Time, and introduces to the Audience; and if he +be absent, 'tis done by the Chamberlain in Waiting. The Ceremony observ'd +is this: The Emperor stands up under a Canopy, leaning with his Back +against a Table, and an Arm-Chair by his Side, A Screen of red Velvet with +Gold Fringe is plac'd at the Entrance of the Room, so that the Emperor is +not perceiv'd at the opening of the Door. Behind this Screen near the +Door, stands the Great Chamberlain. As soon as the Person comes in sight +of the Emperor he bends the Knee, which he repeats as he advances a little +farther, and again when he comes near to his Imperial Majesty. To these +Genuflexions the Emperor gives a Nod of the Head, hearkens very +attentively to the Person who addresses him, and returns a succinct and +gracious Answer. Then the Person kneeling with one Knee on the Ground +kisses his Majesty's Hand, after which he retires, going backwards and +making three Genuflexions as he did at Entrance. The same Ceremonies are +observ'd at an Audience of +the<!--251.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span> +Empress, who gives it standing just as the +Emperor does, with this Difference only that the Emperor is all alone, and +the Empress is attended with one of her Ladies of Honour, who nevertheless +stands off at such a Distance that she can't hear what is said.</p> + +<p>The Emperor commonly eats with the Empress and the Arch-Duchesses. But +there are particular Days, such as the Installation of the Knights of the +<i>Golden Fleece</i>, when the Empress herself is not allow'd to sit down at +Table with his Imperial Majesty. The Dinner is commonly in the Emperor's +Apartment, and the Supper at the Empress's. At Dinner two Chamberlains +hold the Ewer for their Majesties to wash, and the Steward, or in his +absence the Great Chamberlain presents them the Napkin, which is done +after the manner of <i>Spain</i>, with one Knee on the Ground. The Number of +Dishes at the Emperor's Table is forty eight, and the same at the +Empress's; but tho' their Majesties eat together they are each serv'd by +their own Officers and Cooks. They commonly drink both together at the +first Time; and till they have drank, the Ambassadors, Courtiers, and +Ladies all wait at Dinner. After the Emperor has drank, the Steward, the +Master of the Horse, the Great Chamberlain, and the Captain of the Guards +receive his Orders: The Lady of Honour in Waiting and the Empress's +Steward receive her Orders in like manner. None remain in the Room but the +Officers necessary for the Service, and some curious People who are not +us'd to see Sovereigns eat. On Sundays, Saints Days, and Days of <i>Gala</i>, +which is the Name they give here to Days of Festival and Ceremony, the +Dinner is attended with Music. I forgot to acquaint you that the Emperor +is always cover'd at Table, and that when he puts his Hat on the +Ambassadors put on theirs.</p> + +<!--252.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span></p> + +<p>At Supper the Lady of Honour who is in waiting presents the Napkin, and +the Ladies of the Bed-Chamber not only carve and hand the Victuals, but +taste both the Meat and the Wine. The Pages carry the Dishes and Plates, +and fetch the Wine from the Beaufet which they give to the Ladies, and +they to their Majesties. During the Supper as well as at Dinner all the +Gentlemen and Ladies stand up, so that here neither Princes nor Princesses +have any Distinction shew'd them, but all Ranks are levell'd and +confounded, and no body sits down in presence of the Sovereign.</p> + +<p>On the Days of <i>Gala</i> the Court is extremely gay, and nothing is to be +seen but Gold and Diamonds. The Days of this kind that are celebrated with +most Splendor are those of St. <i>Charles</i> and St. <i>Elizabeth</i>, the Name +Days of the Emperor and Empress. The Emperor, who commonly dresses very +plain, is cover'd all over with Diamonds upon St. <i>Elizabeth</i>'s Day. And +as for the Empress, her Apparel is commonly rich, and so loaded with +Jewels upon St. <i>Charles</i>'s Day that she can scarce stand under it. Except +on these Days of <i>Gala</i> the Court dresses very plain. 'Tis true that these +Days are very frequent, and that consequently plain Clothes are not very +much wore, for if it be a Holiday, or the Birth-Day of some Minister, or +if some Lady of Distinction sends but for a Surgeon to bleed her, 'tis +enough to put the whole City in <i>Gala</i>. These <i>Gala's</i> may be divided into +three Classes; the <i>Court Gala</i> which is universal both for the Nobles and +Plebeians; the <i>Grand Gala</i> which is kept in the City is for the Festival +of some Minister; and the third and last is the <i>Little Gala</i>, which is +when the Ladies are let blood. A Husband makes a <i>Gala</i> here for his Wife, +the Wife for her Husband, the Children for their Parents, and Brothers and +Sisters for one another; so that to be sure two Thirds of <i>Vienna</i> are +<!--253.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span>always +in <i>Gala</i>; which made a <i>French</i> Jester say, 'twould take up a +great deal of Brimstone to cure the <i>Austrians</i> of the <i>Gale</i><a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a>. +However, they take care not to appear in this domestic <i>Gala</i> before the +Emperor and Empress, because it would be reckon'd a Disrespect to them.</p> + +<p>On the great Festival-Days the Emperor goes with a grand Retinue to St. +<i>Stephen</i>'s Cathedral: He takes up one whole Side of the Coach, and the +Empress sits fronting him. Their Majesties are preceded by the +Chamberlains and Knights of the <i>Golden Fleece</i> on horseback: The Pages +and Footmen walk bare-headed immediately after the Coach of the Master of +the Horse, and their Imperial Majesties Coach is guarded on each side by a +File of Archers, and attended by the Coaches of the Arch-Duchesses and the +Ladies. Then the Horse-Guards appear with their Kettle-Drums and Trumpets, +and the March is clos'd by the Pope's <i>Nuncio</i> and the Ambassadors with +their Train, which consists of three magnificent Coaches and six Horses +each.</p> + +<p>On <i>Corpus Christi</i> Day the Emperor accompanies the Holy Sacrament, when +the Streets thro' which the Procession passes are cover'd with Planks. +Their Imperial Majesties repair in the Morning with great Attendance to +St. <i>Stephen</i>'s Cathedral, and after assisting at Divine Service join in +the Procession. The Emperor is immediately follow'd by the Empress, who is +accompany'd by all the Ladies in rich Dresses, which renders this one of +the most magnificent Processions in the World.</p> + +<p>The same Honours and Respects are paid to the Empress Dowager as to the +Empress Regent. She has her separate Houshold, and her own Guards. She has +an Apartment in the Palace, but commonly lives in a Convent of her own +founding in one of the Suburbs, and does not come to Town except on the +great Festivals or for some extraordinary +Function.<!--254.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span> +You know, without +doubt, that the Empress Dowagers can never quit Mourning; their Apartments +must be always hung with Black, and their Coaches and Liveries are of the +same Colour: Nor can they be present at any Play, Ball, or Concert. In +short by losing their Husbands they must renounce the Pleasures of this +Life. These severe Obligations on a Widow are fully discharg'd by the +Empress Dowager. Being retir'd to a Convent where she is almost +continually prostrate before the Altars in Prayer and Supplication, she +makes her Mansion a Place of Piety and Peace, and never appears in public +but when Conveniency requires. This Princess was always an Example of the +most uncommon Virtue. In the Life-time of her Husband the Emperor +<i>Joseph</i>, she lov'd Pleasures and Grandeur; but when she became a Widow +she renounc'd all, and only employ'd herself in Works of Piety, and in the +Education of the two Arch-Duchesses her Daughters, whom she has now the +Comfort of seeing marry'd to two powerful Princes of the Empire<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a>. +There's not a Person that draws near her Imperial Majesty but admires her +eminent Qualities. I have not yet had the Honour this Journey of casting +my self at her Feet, but the first Time I was here I had the Advantage of +paying my Duty to her at <i>Schonborn</i>, where she then pass'd the Summer. I +was receiv'd by her with such Proofs of her Kindness as charm'd me, and +which I shall always remember with Pleasure and Respect. This Princess is +the Daughter of <i>John-Frederic</i> Duke of <i>Brunswic-Hanover</i> and of +<i>Henrietta-Benedictine</i> Princess Palatine. After the Death of the Duke her +Father, who left no Son, she went with the Duchess of <i>Brunswic</i> to +<i>France</i>, where this Princess was very glad to retire to her Sister the +Princess of <i>Cond</i>. The Empress who +was<!--255.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span> +then the Princess <i>Amelia</i>, +spent some Years in <i>France</i>, where she learned the Language and +Politeness of that Nation to perfection, and in short acquir'd that Merit +and Virtue for which she is now so much admir'd, and which perhaps have +contributed equally with her illustrious Extraction to gain her possession +of the first Throne in Christendom. The Marriage of her elder Sister to +<i>Renaud d'Este</i> Duke of <i>Modena</i> obliging the Dutchess of <i>Brunswic</i> to +leave <i>France</i>, and go and settle at <i>Modena</i>, the Princess <i>Amelia</i> +follow'd her also into <i>Italy</i>. She had no reason to be sorry for her +leaving <i>France</i>, and rejecting the Addresses of a <i>French</i> Nobleman who +had presum'd to court her, for not long after her Arrival at <i>Modena</i> she +was marry'd to the King of the <i>Romans</i>, afterwards the Emperor <i>Joseph</i>. +This Empress is not only endow'd with the Christian but all the Moral +Virtues, and there are few Princesses of a more generous Soul, of greater +Courage, or of a Genius more sublime, more refin'd, or more adorn'd. There +was a Time when she might be rank'd among the most beautiful Princesses of +<i>Europe</i>: she still retains all the Marks of it; and therewith preserves +such a majestic Air that whenever I behold her it revives the profound +Veneration I have for her sacred Person.</p> + +<p>The Emperor <i>Charles</i> VI. is of a middling Stature, and in good Plight of +Body: He is of a swarthy hale Complection, has a brisk Eye, and thick +Lips, for which last his Family in general have been remarkable. This +Monarch is the second Son of the Emperor <i>Leopold</i> by <i>Eleonora</i> of +<i>Newbourg</i>, and the fifteenth Emperor<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> of his Family. Being design'd +when a Minor for Successor to <i>Charles</i> II. King of <i>Spain</i>, he had a +grave Education suitable to the People whom he was one day to govern. This +<!--256.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span>made +him contract an Air of Seriousness, which, to those who have not the +Honour of Access to him, favours of Severity; yet he is affable and very +humane. He hears those with Attention that speak to him, and his Answers +are full of Good-nature. When he attain'd to an Age hardly ripe enough for +the Crown of <i>Spain</i>, he met with various Fortune in that Kingdom; but he +supported himself in every Event with an heroic Magnanimity, being always +submissive to the Will of that Providence which he knew was the Master of +the Fortune of Kings. The Adversitys with which it pleas'd God to try his +Patience by the Siege of <i>Barcelona</i> which he carry'd on in Person, and by +the Loss of the Battle of <i>Villa Viciosa</i>, only serv'd to confirm his +Constancy, and his natural Integrity, a Principle which renders him even +more venerable than the Splendor of his Crowns and the vast Extent of his +Power. Heaven, which always rewards Virtue, has granted this Monarch one +of the best and most fortunate Reigns that any Emperor has had since +<i>Germany</i> has been the Seat of Empire. He wants nothing to crown his +Happiness but a Male Heir, which is so much the Desire of the People, as +well as of the Emperor and the most virtuous Empress the World ever saw, +that God grant he may have one.</p> + +<p>This Princess is descended from the august House of <i>Brunswic</i>, to which +<i>Europe</i> is at this Time oblig'd for two Empresses<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a>, one King<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a>, and +a Queen<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a>. She is the Daughter of <i>Lewis Rodolph</i> Duke of +<i>Brunswic-Blankenbourg</i><a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> by <i>Christiana-Louisa</i> Princess of <i>Oetingen</i>, +of whom I gave +you<!--257.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span> +an Account in my Letter from <i>Blankenbourg</i>. The +Character of this august Princess for her Affability and Goodness is so +well known in the World that 'tis needless to speak of it here. You know +likewise how beautiful and handsome she was when she was marry'd to the +Emperor. And notwithstanding the Pimples in her Face and her present +Corpulency she may still be reckon'd in the number of the beautiful +Princesses. Such an Air of Modesty, Mildness, and Majesty, accompanies +every thing she does, as inspires those that approach her with equal +Courage and Respect. Her Duty is her Law, and her principal Care is to +please the Emperor, whose Wisdom she knows to be sufficient to govern his +Dominions, and to him she therefore leaves all Affairs. Indeed she is very +earnest with him to get Favours for those who petition her, which she +thinks a Happiness to obtain, and she bestows them in such manner as is +very affecting to the Receivers. This Princess is charitable, generous, +and magnificent. She maintains her Dignity without Conceit, and supports +her solid Piety without Ostentation. She was educated in the <i>Lutheran</i> +Religion, but abjur'd it at <i>Bamberg</i> when she came thither in her Way to +be marry'd to the Emperor, then King of <i>Spain</i>, and is now a good +Catholic, yet without any Hatred to the Protestants; being convinc'd that +the Love of one's Neighbour is one of the Duties which God most strictly +enjoins upon Mankind, and that Charitableness and good Examples are the +best Means to reconcile those to the Church who are separated from it.</p> + +<p>In the same sublime Sentiments of Virtue does the Empress educate the +Archduchesses her Daughters, and those young Princesses are like to make +worthy Proficients. The eldest Archduchess <i>Mary Theresa</i> is brought up in +the agreeable Prospect of being one day Mistress of the vast Dominions +possessed<!--258.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span> +by the Emperor<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a>. This young Princess has very much of the +Air of the Empress her Mother; and if Heaven designs her for the +Sovereignty of the Empire, God grant she may also resemble her in her +Virtues!</p> + +<p>The Emperor has three Sisters. The eldest is the Archduchess <i>Mary +Elizabeth</i> Governess of the (<i>Austrian</i>) <i>Netherlands</i>; the second is +<i>Mary-Anne</i> Queen of <i>Portugal</i>; and the third is the Archduchess <i>Mary +Magdalen</i>, who 'tis said is intended to be Governess of <i>Tirol</i>. The +intire August House of <i>Austria</i> consists at present of the sacred Person +of the Emperor and of eight Princesses<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a>, of whom three are married; +and God grant it may be augmented by the Birth of a Prince; for without +setting up here for a zealous Subject, I don't think that the Houses of +<i>Austria</i> and <i>Bourbon</i> ought ever to be extinct, both of them having made +the Fortunes of an infinite Number of Gentlemen.</p> + +<p>The Emperor's ordinary Pastime (when he has a Desire to unbend his Mind +from Affairs of State, to which he applies with all the Earnestness of a +Monarch that loves his People) is Hunting, or Shooting at a Mark; and the +Empress is generally a Sharer in his Diversions. His Imperial Majesty goes +sometimes also to the Riding-House, where he exercises himself in Riding: +At other times Music is his Amusement, which the Monarch not only performs +by Book, but is also a Composer; and some Years ago an Opera was acted +here of his composing. All the Actors as well as the Dancers and the +Musicians of the Orchestre were Persons of Quality. The Emperor himself +made one, and the two eldest Archduchesses his Daughters danced. The +Spectators were the Empress Regent and the Empress Dowager, and every +Actor had the +Liberty<!--259.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> +of carrying two of his Kindred or intimate Friends.</p> + +<p>Tho' their Imperial Majesties are very fond of Music they have seldom more +than two Operas in a Year, <i>viz.</i> on the Days of St. <i>Charles</i> and St. +<i>Elizabeth</i>, and sometimes the same Operas are play'd again during the +Carnival. At this time, which is devoted to Mirth, there is a Ball at +Court, and on the Flesh-days there is commonly a great Masquerade +representing a Country-Wedding. In the Palace there is a very magnificent +Theatre, which indeed is almost the only thing there that is worth seeing, +for the Imperial Palace is so wretched a Mansion that few Monarchs are +lodged worse than the Emperor. The Furniture too is old-fashion'd and not +very rich, which is somewhat unaccountable, because the Wardrobes are full +of costly Pieces of Tapestry, stately Pictures, and other fine Goods which +probably they are restrained from making use of by the <i>Etiquette</i>. The +Emperor's Pleasure-Houses are no better than his Palace in the City. The +Castle of the <i>Favorita</i> which is in one of the Suburbs, is a great +Building full of Turnings and Windings like the Street which it looks +into, and has more of the Appearance of a great Convent of <i>Capuchin</i> +Fryars than of the Dwelling of a Prince who is the Head of so many +Sovereigns. The Gardens are as mean as the House, and only considerable +for their Extent. <i>Laxembourg</i> is still very much inferior to the +<i>Favorita</i>; but the Court is there no more than a Month or six Weeks, +during the Hunting of the Heron. The Ministers that are obliged to attend +the Emperor thither have Houses there, which though not very grand, are +commodious. When a Person goes to <i>Laxembourg</i> to pay a Visit to the Court +he is under a Necessity of returning to <i>Vienna</i> for a Bed, which is a +very great Inconveniency.</p> + +<!--260.png--><p><span class="pagenum">235</span></p> + +<p>The Emperor <i>Joseph</i> had begun a very fine House at <i>Schonborn</i> about a +League from <i>Vienna</i>, but did not live to finish it; and the Empress +<i>Amelia</i> to whom the Emperor gave it, instead of carrying on the Works +which her Husband had begun, lets it run to ruin; which is great pity, for +if that Building had been finish'd the Emperor wou'd not have had a +<i>Versailles</i>, but he wou'd at least have had a Mansion-House suitable to +his Dignity. 'Tis said that a new Palace is going to be built for the +Emperor; which, if true, 'twere to be wish'd that better Architects may be +employ'd in it than those who have had the Direction of the new Stables +and of St. <i>Charles</i>'s Church, which are Buildings lately erected with +very great Expence, but without any Taste. The Stables are a Range of +Buildings of a vast Length, divided into seven Pavilions which appear at +first sight to be so many different Houses. The middlemost Pavilion which +is design'd to lodge the Master of the Horse is much higher than the other +six, which sink gradually on the two sides. Nor are the inner Rooms better +contriv'd; for the Horses stand all in one Row, and the Stable is so +narrow withal, that one is every Minute in danger from the Horses Heels; +which is purely owing to the Indiscretion of the Architect, who having +ground enough and to spare might for the same Expence have made something +grand and noble.</p> + +<p>Whether the same Architect that built the Stables had the Direction +likewise of St. <i>Charles</i>'s Church, is what I know not; but if they are +two different Men their Head-pieces are very much alike. This Church would +perhaps have been admir'd in the Days of the <i>Goths</i>, but in so refined an +Age as the present, one cannot look on it without being sorry for the Sums +of Money laid out in it.</p> + +<p>This bad Taste as to Buildings prevails too much at <i>Vienna</i>, not but that +there are Hotels and +even<!--261.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span> +Palaces in which the Rules of Architecture are +observ'd, but then the Builders are got into such a way of ornamenting and +charging their Houses with Sculpture as is altogether contrary to the +noble Simplicity of the ancient Architecture. The Palace of Prince +<i>Eugene</i> of <i>Savoy</i> is stately, but situate in a narrow Street with a very +little Court before it. The Stair-case is very well contriv'd were it not +too much confin'd. The Apartments of the first Story are as well laid out +as the Ground wou'd admit of. We enter first into a spacious Salon adorn'd +with great Pictures representing the chief Victories of Prince <i>Eugene</i> +over the <i>French</i> and the <i>Turks</i>. In the two Rooms next to this are very +rich Hangings wherein the Maker <i>Devos</i> at <i>Brussels</i> has very correctly +delineated the whole Military Science. The Bed-chamber beyond that has a +Set of Furniture of green Velvet richly embroider'd with Gold and Silk. In +the same Room there is a Lustre of Rock Crystal which is said to have cost +40,000 Florins. All the other Furniture is extraordinary magnificent, and +wou'd be cry'd up at <i>Paris</i> it self, where it must be allow'd a Taste for +fine Furniture prevails more than any where.</p> + +<p>The Palace of <i>Lichtenstein</i> is bigger than that of <i>Savoy</i>, and not less +magnificent. 'Tis worth seeing were it only for its Paintings. I pass over +the Hotels of <i>Schwartzenberg</i>, <i>Daun</i>, <i>Diedrichstein</i>, <i>Harrach</i>, and +several other noble Edifices, lest my Letter shou'd swell into a Volume.</p> + +<p>The Palaces of the Suburbs are infinitely more grand than those of the +City, and they have both Court-yards and Gardens. The most noble are the +Palaces of <i>Trautsheim</i>, <i>Rofrano</i>, <i>Schwartzenberg</i>, <i>Altheim</i>, and +<i>Eugene</i> of <i>Savoy</i>. This last especially is a superb Structure with +magnificent Gardens, a fine Orangery, and a Menagery stor'd with the most +uncommon Creatures that the four Parts +of<!--262.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span> +the World can furnish. 'Tis in +this fine great House that Prince <i>Eugene</i> passes the beautiful Season of +the Year. There is not so fine a Sight as an Assembly at this Prince's +House, for not only the outer Court, in which there's a fine Piece of +Water, but the Gardens are illuminated by an infinite Number of Lanthorns +made in form of a Bowl of extraordinary white Glass, which cast a very +great Light and make a glorious appearance. The Assembles at this Prince's +House are always very numerous; for his Birth, Employments and Interest, +draw a great Court to him.</p> + +<p>Prince <i>Eugene</i> is of a middling Stature, and well made. His Air is +extremely serious, and his Deportment grave and reserv'd; but +notwithstanding that Reservedness he is a hearty Friend to his Adherents. +He is a thorough Judge of Merit, and loves to distinguish it. He is +perfectly genteel and civil, very polite to the Ladies, respectful and +submissive to his Lord and Master, but without Flattery or Servility. He +is generous and noble in every thing excepting his Apparel. He is an Enemy +to Ostentation, Ceremonies, and Constraint. In his youthful Days he lov'd +Pleasures, but he abandon'd them as soon as he was animated with a Thirst +for Glory. He was born in <i>France</i>, but left that Kingdom in 1683, out of +disgust that he was no more taken notice of, and came to <i>Vienna</i> just +before the <i>Turks</i> laid siege to it. He made the Campaign as a Volunteer, +and distinguish'd himself in such a manner that the Emperor <i>Leopold</i> gave +him in <i>December</i> following that Regiment of Dragoons which still goes by +his Name. When the Siege of <i>Vienna</i> was rais'd, he serv'd in <i>Hungary</i> +under Duke <i>Charles</i> of <i>Lorrain</i>, and <i>Maximilian-Emanuel</i> Elector of +<i>Bavaria</i>. The first time that he obtain'd the Command of the Imperial +Army was in 1697, when he began with the Victory at <i>Zenta</i> whereby 22,000 +<i>Turks</i> lost their Lives; a Loss which they could not +recover,<!--263.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span> +and which +put them upon suing for the Peace that was granted to them at <i>Carlowitz</i> +in 1699. The Prince afterwards commanded in <i>Italy</i>, <i>Germany</i>, +<i>Flanders</i>, and lastly in <i>Hungary</i>; and wherever he went Conquest +attended him. To give you a Detail of his Achievements would be to +anticipate the <i>History</i> which is to immortalize them, and to which you +will not take it ill if I refer you. As to the Dignities and great +Employments of this Prince, he is Chief Counsellor of the Council of +Conferences; President of the Aulic Council of War; Commander in Chief or +Lieutenant-General of the Armies of the Emperor and Empire; his Imperial +Majesty's Vicar-General in <i>Italy</i>; Colonel of a Regiment of Dragoons; and +Knight of the Golden Fleece. All his Employments may be worth about +300,000 Florins a year to him. Besides this, he has a considerable Estate +in <i>Hungary</i> and in the Neighbourhood of <i>Vienna</i>, which brings him in +about 100,000 Florins <i>per Ann.</i> more. He holds those Lands by the +Emperor's Bounty who gave them to him as a Reward for his important +Services.<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a></p> + +<!--264.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span></p> + +<p>The Marshal Count <i>Guido Staremberg</i> is one of those Gentlemen also who +deserve particular respect for their Virtue. He is descended of a Family +which has given great Generals and wise Ministers to the Emperors of the +<i>Austrian</i> Family, and has supported the Glory of his Ancestors in a +signal manner; <i>Hungary</i>, <i>Italy</i>, and <i>Spain</i>, have been Witnesses of +Bravery and consummate Wisdom in the Art of commanding Armies, and have +admir'd him the more because they saw him always gaining Victories with +Armies ill paid, destitute of all Necessaries, and very much inferior to +his Enemies. This General enter'd very young into the Service in quality +of an Ensign, and advanc'd himself by degrees. He was made +Lieutenant-Colonel a little before the <i>Turks</i> Undertaking against +<i>Vienna</i>, and while it was besieg'd, serv'd as Adjutant to his Cousin +<i>Ernest-Rudiger</i> Count <i>de Staremberg</i>, the Defender of <i>Vienna</i>. This +Count <i>Guido</i>, after having been a few years in the Service, was preferr'd +to the Regiment of Foot of which he is still +Colonel.<!--265.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span> +When he was very +young he was made Great <i>Commander</i> of the <i>Teutonic</i> Order. I do not +mention his Exploits to you, because they are so much celebrated by Fame +that you cannot but know them. This General, tho' very much advanc'd in +years, retains all his juvenile Ardor, and wou'd still be very capable of +commanding.</p> + +<p>Having mention'd two of the Emperor's greatest Generals you will not be +sorry, I fancy, if I shou'd give you some Account also of his chief +Ministers. They are five in Number, and are call'd <i>Counsellors of the +Conferences</i>. Prince <i>Eugene</i> of <i>Savoy</i> is the first Counsellor, but +without the Title of Prime Minister, that being a Dignity not known at the +Imperial Court.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>Lewis de Zinzendorf</i>, Chancellor of the Court, and Knight of +the <i>Golden Fleece</i>, is the second Counsellor of the Conference. He is a +Nobleman descended of a Family which has been for a long time eminent in +<i>Austria</i>. His Mother was a Princess of <i>Holstein</i>, who married to her +second Husband the Marshal Count <i>de Rabutin</i> Governor of <i>Transylvania</i>, +but died a few years ago in a very advanc'd Age. I had the honour to know +her the last time I was here; her House being the Rendezvous of all People +of Rank. Count <i>Zinzendorf</i> was in the Ministry in the Reign of <i>Leopold</i>. +He was that Emperor's Minister Plenipotentiary in <i>France</i>, while the +Marshal <i>de Villars</i> was at <i>Vienna</i> with the same Character from <i>Lewis</i> +XIV. At the Death of the Emperor <i>Joseph</i>, the Count <i>de Zinzendorf</i> was +that Prince's Ambassador to the States-General, in which Character he was +confirmed by the Empress <i>Eleonora</i> who was Regent during the Absence of +King <i>Charles</i>. He repaired from the <i>Hague</i> to <i>Frankfort</i> to assist at +the Coronation of <i>Charles</i> VI. and officiated at the Ceremony as Vicar to +the Great Treasurer of the Empire, a Dignity which is Hereditary in his +Family.<!--266.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span> +At the Congress of <i>Utrecht</i> which was open'd not long after, the +Count <i>de Zinzendorf</i> assisted as the Emperor's first Ambassador. He +afterwards went to the unsuccessful Congress of <i>Soissons</i>, and from +thence to <i>Versailles</i>, where he succeeded so well with the Cardinal <i>de +Fleury</i>, that he kept him tight in those pacific Sentiments which the +Enemies of his Tranquillity, if not of his Glory, aim'd to make him give +up. The Count is now return'd hither, and almost the only Man that acts in +the Province of foreign Affairs. His Interest is very great, for besides +the Esteem which the Emperor has for his Person and Services, he is +related to all the most distinguished Persons at Court, and strictly +attached to the Interest of Prince <i>Eugene</i> of <i>Savoy</i>, of whose Integrity +and disinterested Zeal for the Emperor he is very sensible. The Count <i>de +Zinzendorf</i> is pretty tall and has a happy engaging Aspect. His Deportment +is noble. He is pretty reserv'd, but civil. He is very polite to +Strangers, and his House is open to them. He keeps the noblest and most +elegant Table at <i>Vienna</i>. He is magnificent in every thing he does, and +all his Actions favour of the Man of Quality. He is Father of a numerous +Family. The second of his Sons is a Cardinal and Bishop in <i>Hungary</i><a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a>. +Another is Knight of <i>Malta</i>, and Lieutenant-Colonel. As these are the two +with whom I am best acquainted, so they are the only ones I shall mention. +I know not whether 'tis possible for a Man to be more sprightly than they +both are. The Chevalier has more Mettle and Life than a <i>Gascon</i>: He is +very blunt in his witty Sallies, but the variety of them pleases, and +their novelty and justness are surprizing.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>Gundacker de Staremberg</i>, President of the Chamber of Finances, +and Knight of +the<!--267.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span> +Golden Fleece, is the third Counsellor of the +Conferences. His Integrity is very much cry'd up, and he has manag'd the +Finances in such a manner as to guard against the Public Hatred.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>de Schonborn</i>, Bishop of <i>Bamberg</i> and <i>Wurtzbourg</i>, +Vice-Chancellor of the Empire, is the fourth Counsellor of the +Conferences<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a>. You know, Sir, that the <i>Schonborn</i> Family has given us +several worthy Gentlemen; but I may venture to say, with all due Regard to +the Memory of those great Men, and without flattering the Vice-Chancellor, +that of all the Family he has the greatest Capacity for Business, the most +generous Temper, and the most engaging and most civil Behaviour. As this +Prelate has not his Equal at <i>Vienna</i> for Grandeur and Riches, so he has +not his Fellow for Magnificence. The Emperor has a singular Esteem for +him. The Vice-Chancellor has the Chancery of the Empire under him, and no +body above him but the Emperor, and the Elector of <i>Mentz</i>, who is the +Great Chancellor of the Empire.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>de Konigseck</i>, Vice-President of the Aulic Council of War, is +the fifth Counsellor of the Conferences. This Nobleman, whose Extraction +is from a Family of Distinction in the Empire, is one of the tallest and +handsomest Men at Court: He is the Emperor's Ambassador Extraordinary at +the Court of <i>Spain</i>. His Family has for a long time past been attach'd to +the House of <i>Austria</i>. He studied at <i>Besanon</i>, and was design'd for the +Church; but he quitted the Band, took to +Arms,<!--268.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span> +and enter'd into the +Service of the Emperor <i>Leopold</i>; in which he had not been many Years +before he had a Regiment of Foot, and the Emperor <i>Joseph</i> made him his +Chamberlain. He also gave him the Government of <i>Mantua</i>, from whence he +was recall'd by <i>Charles</i> VI. and sent to take possession of the +<i>Netherlands</i> in the Name of the Emperor, to whom they were evacuated for +that purpose by the Maritime Powers. The Count <i>de Konigseck</i>, during his +Administration of the <i>Netherlands</i>, concluded the Barrier Treaty with the +States-General. At <i>Brussels</i> he married Madamoiselle <i>de Lanoi la +Motterie</i>, a young Lady of a good Family, and distinguish'd Merit. When he +left the <i>Netherlands</i> he went Ambassador from the Emperor to the Court of +<i>France</i>, where he gain'd great Esteem, especially from the Duke of +<i>Orleans</i>, the Regent; a Prince who was an excellent Judge of Merit, and +very sparing of his Applause. After three Years stay at <i>Paris</i>, the Count +return'd to <i>Vienna</i>. He attended the Archduchess, Wife to the Electoral +Prince of <i>Saxony</i>, in quality of Steward, to <i>Dresden</i>; and at his return +went to the Government of <i>Transilvania</i>. But the Emperor recall'd him +from this Post and sent him his Ambassador Extraordinary to <i>Spain</i>; where +the Count is as much esteem'd as he was at <i>Paris</i>. 'Tis said that he is +in entire Favour with their Catholic Majesties; nevertheless he makes such +earnest Application to be recall'd, that 'tis said he will obtain his +Request, and that his Nephew<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a>, who is the Emperor's Minister +Plenipotentiary to the States-General, is already nominated to relieve +him<a name="FNanchor_106_106" id="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a>.</p> + +<!--269.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span></p> + +<p>In the Council of Conferences the most important Affairs of the Empire are +taken into Consideration, and the Emperor is always present.</p> + +<p>Besides the five Ministers whom I have now mention'd to you, there are +several others whose Interest is more circumscrib'd. Every Kingdom subject +to the Emperor has its Minister and particular Chancery.</p> + +<p>Count <i>Badiani</i> directs the Affairs of <i>Hungary</i>, in quality of its +Vice-Chancellor.</p> + +<p>The Affairs of <i>Bohemia</i> are in the Province of Count <i>Kinski</i>, the +Chancellor of that Kingdom, who has a Vice-Chancellor under him, with a +great many Assessors and Counsellors.</p> + +<p>The Council of <i>Spain</i> consists of a President, Vice-President, and +Counsellors. Its Authority extends over all the Kingdoms that were +formerly subject to <i>Spain</i>, but yielded to the Emperor by the Peace. The +Count <i>de Monte-Santo</i>, a Grandee of <i>Spain</i>, Brother to the Count <i>de +Cinfuentes</i>, Constable of <i>Castile</i>, is President of this Council<a name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a>; in +which Office he succeeded the Archbishop of <i>Valentia</i>, who quitted his +See to follow the Emperor whom he had acknowledg'd for his Sovereign in +<i>Spain</i>.</p> + +<p>Of all the Tribunals at <i>Vienna</i> the <i>Aulic Council</i> is the most +venerable; because 'tis the Parliament of the Empire. It is compos'd of a +President, +<i>viz.</i><!--270.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span> +the Count <i>de Wurmbrandt</i>; a Vice-President, who is the +Count <i>de Metsch</i>; and of eighteen Counsellors, among whom there must be +six Protestants, and of these one must be a <i>Calvinist</i>. This Tribunal +judges of all Civil Causes between the Princes and private Men of the +Empire. Its Authority terminates with the Emperor's Life; and 'tis on this +account only that the supreme Tribunal of <i>Wetzlar</i>, which subsists even +during the Vacancy of the Imperial Throne, challenges Precedence of the +Aulic Council. 'Tis a Mistake to think, as many Foreigners do, that the +Aulic Council takes Cognizance of Affairs of State; for its sole Business +is to do Justice: It registers no Edict unless it be its own +Sentences<a name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a>; and is much more limited than the Parliaments of <i>France</i>, +which have at least the Privilege of losing Time in Remonstrances.</p> + +<p>I perceive too that I am in a fair way to make you lose a great deal, if I +don't put an end to my Legend; which therefore I now do, and refer the +rest of the Remarks that I have to entertain you with to another Post.</p> + +<div class="right"> +<i>I kiss your Hand, and am</i>, &c. +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 266px;"> +<img src="images/i06.png" width="266" height="200" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--271.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 418px;"> +<img src="images/i18.png" width="418" height="61" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER XIII.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Vienna, Decem. 10, 1729.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>There are some other Articles which I cannot but add to those I have +already given you from <i>Vienna</i>. The Police of this City is administer'd +by a Stadtholder. The Person that now fills that Post is the Count <i>de +Kehvenhuller</i>; who is also a Minister of State, and Knight of the Golden +Fleece. His Functions are the same with those of the Lieutenant of the +Police at <i>Paris</i>, and nothing makes the Difference but the Title; only it +must be observ'd that the Stadtholder is always a Person of noble +Extraction, and a Gentleman of the Army, whereas the Lieutenant of the +Police at <i>Paris</i> is often of mean Extraction, but always a Gentleman of +the long Robe.</p> + +<p>The Governour of <i>Vienna</i> had seldom any other Title than <i>Colonel of the +City</i>. The present Governour is the Marshal Count <i>de Daun</i>, the same that +defended <i>Turin</i>, who was six Years Viceroy of <i>Naples</i>, six Months +Governour of the <i>Netherlands</i>, and afterwards four Years Governour of +<i>Milan</i><a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a>. His Lieutenant-Colonel, who is the Count <i>Maximilian de +Staremberg</i>, Lieutenant-General of the Emperor's Forces, and Colonel of a +Regiment of Foot, commands in his absence, and has the +Direction<!--272.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">247</a></span> +of the +Fortifications, the Arsenal, and the Garison. This Garison consists of a +Regiment of Foot, compos'd of veteran Soldiers, or the Burghers and +Artificers of <i>Vienna</i>, from whence this Regiment never stirs. The +Employments in this Corps are very lucrative; but as they don't lie in the +Road to the Temple of Honour, they are not much solicited by Persons of +any considerable Extraction. Yet this Regiment, as little esteem'd as it +is, perform'd very good Services during the Siege of <i>Vienna</i> by <i>Kara +Mustapha</i>, Grand Vizier to <i>Mahomet</i> IV. It acted then under +<i>Ernest-Rudiger</i> Count <i>de Staremberg</i>, who was Commandant in the City; +and both the General and his Garison acquir'd very great Glory by the +Resistance which they made. But perhaps with all their Bravery they cou'd +not have prevented the Place from being taken, had it not been for the +Avarice of the Grand Vizier, who hoped to be Master himself of the vast +Treasures that he knew were in the City, and was therefore against +storming the Town, for fear lest if it were carry'd by that means, the +Soldiers would have shar'd the Plunder.</p> + +<p>The Siege of <i>Vienna</i> being foreign to my purpose, I shall say nothing of +it. You know that it was raised by the Assistance that was brought to it +by the brave <i>John Sobieski</i> King of <i>Poland</i>; who defeated the <i>Turks</i> on +the 12th of <i>September</i>, 1683, and return'd home laden with Glory and +Booty, having made himself Master of all the Grand Vizier's Equipage. Upon +this occasion he said a pleasant thing in a Letter which he wrote to the +Queen his Wife, who had not a very implicit Faith in the Maxims of +<i>Seneca</i> on the Contempt of Riches; 'You shan't say when I come home, as +the <i>Tartary</i> Women do to their Husbands when they return from the Army +without Booty, <i>You are not a Man for me, because you come empty-handed</i>; +for +the<!--273.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">248</a></span> +Grand Vizier has made me sole Heir of all he had.'</p> + +<p>You need not be told that this was the second time the <i>Turks</i> were forc'd +to raise the Siege of <i>Vienna</i>; for <i>Soliman</i> the Sultan besieg'd it in +the Reign of <i>Charles</i> V. but with no better Success than <i>Kara Mustapha</i>. +'Tis true that the Disappointment he met with was not so fatal in its +Consequence to the Sultan as the other was to the Vizier of <i>Mahomet</i> IV. +who was strangled at <i>Belgrade</i> when <i>Mahomet</i> was there: And the Head of +this Minister is still to be seen in the Arsenal at <i>Vienna</i>. The +Translation of this <i>Turkish</i> Relique hither from <i>Belgrade</i> was pretty +extraordinary. Some Years after <i>Kara Mustapha</i> had been strangled, when +the <i>Germans</i> took <i>Belgrade</i>, the Soldiers being inform'd where the Grand +Vizier was buried, open'd his Tomb in hopes of Treasure, but found nothing +except the Body in its Shirt, on which there were several <i>Arabic</i> +Characters, and an Alcoran. The Governour being told of it, remember'd +that this very Grand Vizier, when he laid Siege to <i>Raab</i>, which he was +oblig'd to raise, said, That if he took the Town he wou'd have the Head of +its Bishop cut off, who was then the Count <i>Leopold de Collonitz</i>, and +send it to the Sultan, to be reveng'd of that Prelate for taking Money out +of the Convents, and encouraging the Garison therewith to make a vigorous +Resistance. The Governour of <i>Belgrade</i> remembring, I say, the Menaces of +the Grand Vizier, thought it wou'd be a very agreeable Present to the +Count <i>de Collonitz</i>, now a Cardinal<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a>, to send him the Vizier's Head +and Body too, together with the Shirt and Alcoran; and he put up the whole +very neatly in a Crystal Shrine, adorn'd with Silver Plates, and sent it +accordingly to his Eminence; who not thinking this odd Present a proper +Relique to be deposited in his Chapel, gave it to the Arsenal here at +<!--274.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span><i>Vienna</i>, +where I have both seen the Mussulman and felt him. I wou'd fain +have pluck'd some of the Hairs of his Mustachio, but the Guardian of the +precious Treasure watch'd my Fingers too narrowly. They say that a piece +of the Halter by which a Man hangs himself is lucky, and why mayn't there +be the same Virtue in the Mustachio of the Grand Vizier? Be it so or not, +'twill always deserve an honourable Station in some Cabinet of Rarities.</p> + +<p>Since the Siege of <i>Vienna</i> this City is much inlarg'd. Its Fortifications +are so augmented too that if the <i>Turks</i> should ever be prompted by their +ill Fate to besiege it again, they wou'd find a stouter Resistance, and a +greater number of their Mustachios sindged than they imagine.</p> + +<p>The Emperor has lately given new Lustre to his Capital, by prevailing with +Pope <i>Benedict</i> XIII. to erect it into an Archbishopric. Several Bishops, +particularly the Archbishop of <i>Passaw</i>, have dismember'd their Dioceses +to aggrandise its Jurisdiction. The Cardinal <i>de Collonitz</i> is the Person +who at present enjoys this Dignity, which gives him the Character and Rank +of a Prince.</p> + +<p>The <i>Roman</i> Catholic is the only Religion exercis'd in <i>Vienna</i>, and in +all <i>Austria</i>; but the Ministers of the Protestant Crown'd Heads have the +Liberty here, as well as elsewhere, of keeping a Chapel. When the holy +Sacrament or the Viaticum is carried to any sick Person, 'tis always +attended by Guards who oblige all People that meet it to kneel. I have +seen the Emperor, when the Viaticum was passing by, alight out of his +Coach and accompany it to Church. This Prince, and indeed all those of his +Family, always paid a very great Devotion to the holy Sacrament of the +Altar. Of this <i>Philip</i> IV. King of <i>Spain</i> gave a very edifying Proof; +for this Monarch going the very day that the King his Father died, from +the Palace of <i>Madrid</i> to the Monastery of St. <i>Jeronimo del Passo</i> in a +close Coach, that he +might<!--275.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span> +be <i>incog.</i> alighted out of it to accompany +the Viaticum which they were carrying to a sick Man; whereupon the Cond +Duke <i>d'Olivarez</i> told him, That the King his Father was so lately dead +that he ought not to have been seen in public. <i>My Lord</i>, said the King, +<i>this Custom cannot excuse me from paying that Worship to God which I owe +him</i>.</p> + +<p>It may be said of the august House of <i>Austria</i>, That as few Princes equal +them in Piety, so there are few that equal them in Birth. There may be +Families that have been longer grac'd with the Diadem; but of these there +are very few that have such great Alliances. There is no King, and not +many Sovereign Princes but what are related to them; and there are very +few Kingdoms to which the House of <i>Austria</i> has not given Queens. 'Tis +now 300 Years that it has been Mistress of the Empire; and since <i>Albert</i> +II. it has given thirteen Emperors to <i>Europe</i> successively. One of the +Princesses of <i>Austria</i> had so many great Relations that I cannot help +mentioning her. This was the Empress <i>Mary</i>, Wife to the Emperor +<i>Maximilian</i>, Son to <i>Ferdinand</i> I. This Princess was Sister to <i>Philip</i> +II. King of <i>Spain</i>, and the Daughter, the Wife, the Daughter-in-law, and +the Mother of five Emperors; the Grand-daughter, the Daughter, the Sister, +and the Aunt of four Kings of <i>Spain</i>; and the Mother-in-law of two Kings, +<i>viz.</i> <i>Charles</i> IX. King of <i>France</i>, and <i>Philip</i> II. King of <i>Spain</i>. A +modern Author says, that the Origin and Kindred of this Princess +infinitely surpassed those of <i>Agrippina</i>, who, according to the Report of +<i>Tacitus</i>, was the Daughter of <i>Germanicus</i>, the Sister of <i>Caligula</i>, the +Wife of <i>Claudius</i>, and the Mother of <i>Nero</i>. But when I consider how +perfect a Master you are, both of History and Genealogy, I ought to beg +your pardon for my Impertinence in troubling you with these Instances.</p> + +<!--276.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span></p> + +<p>What remains for me now, is to communicate some Remarks to you which I +have made upon the <i>Austrians</i> in general. I shall begin with the Women, +whom I shall paint to you, as <i>Burrhus</i> says, with the Freedom of a +Soldier, who is not the best Limner.</p> + +<p>The Women here, as in all other Countries, are either handsome or ugly. In +general they are rather handsome than pretty, for they are dull Beauties. +They are all tall and well shap'd; they walk well, but when they curt'sy, +do it in such an aukward manner, that one would think their Backs were in +danger of breaking. In their Dress they affect Finery rather than a good +Fancy. Two or three excepted, there's none that lay on the Red, much less +the White, and Patches are very little worn; in a word, they have nothing +about them that denotes Coquettry. As to their Humour, they are reckon'd +frank, tho' not easily made familiar; they are naturally vain, and like +all our <i>German</i> Women, pretty reserv'd, and not so fond of Gallantry as +they are of Gaming, Luxury, and Magnificence. Such is their Indolence that +they concern themselves no more about their Houshold Affairs than if they +were Strangers. They know no Books but their Prayer-Books, are extremely +credulous, and give into all the Externals of Religion: This makes their +Conversation sometimes insipid; and unless now and then a Love-Story falls +in, Rain and Fair-Weather are their general Topics. They have at least as +great a Conceit of <i>Vienna</i> as the <i>Parisians</i> have of <i>Paris</i>; for out of +<i>Vienna</i> they think there's no Salvation. But all these little Defects are +repair'd by an uncommon Greatness of Soul, and Generosity. They are hearty +Friends, and warm Protectors of those whose Interests they espouse. When +they are in love, their Passion is sincere; and instead of ruining their +Lovers, there are some who +have<!--277.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">252</a></span> +made the Fortunes of those to whom they +have taken a Fancy. Upon this Head I have been told, that in the Reign of +the Emperor <i>Joseph</i>, when Gallantry was more in vogue than 'tis now, +there was a Lady, who being in love with a Gentleman, and having a mind to +make his Fortune without the Censure of the Public, thought fit in an +Assembly where her Spark cut at Basset, to punt against him. She set a +Bett, without telling a Soul how much she stak'd. Her Husband coming into +the Room where they were at play, she rose up, took the Marks that were +against her, threw them on the Ground, and said to the Banker, loud enough +to be heard by her Husband, <i>I owe you, <span class="f">Sir</span>, 40000 Florins</i>. The Husband +in a very great Surprize ask'd what was the matter? <i>I have been such a +Fool</i>, said she, pointing to the Banker, <i>as to lose 40000 Florins to +<span class="f">Monsieur N——</span>. You have reason to chide me; but however my Debt must be +paid</i>. The Husband indeed grumbled very much, and said he wou'd not pay. +<i>What!</i> reply'd the Wife, <i>won't you pay the Gentleman? It shall fare the +worse with you if you don't, for I am resolv'd to pay him in some Coin or +other</i>. The Husband perceiving his Wife so resolute, and that if he did +not deposite the Money it wou'd subject him to the Loss of what was more +precious, chose rather to part with the Cash; and indeed he had no reason +to repent of it, for the Lady's Heart was so won by it, that she renounc'd +the Sight of her Lover from that Moment, and made a very sober Wife.</p> + +<p>This, Sir, is all I have to give you concerning the Temper of the Women. +Let me tell you also how they spend their Time. They rise late. As soon +almost as their Eyes are open, they call for Chocolate, and send to their +Husbands to know who they have invited to Dinner, and whether there is +room for any more Guests. If the Lady +does<!--278.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span> +not like the Company, she +sends notice to some Lady of her Acquaintance that she intends to dine +with her; but if there be room at home, as a polite Husband always takes +care to leave some at the Disposal of his Wife, she sends an Invitation to +whom she pleases. After this she dresses and goes to Mass; for here the +Ladies are all so devout that there's none but what hears at least one +Mass in a day. There they read in five or six different Prayer-Books, kiss +all the Pictures that are at the head of the Prayers, and very devoutly +toss their Beads. After the Office is over, they commonly chat a quarter +of an Hour in the Church. Then they go abroad and make some friendly +Visits, or else go home to receive them. At these Visits, they hear all +the News in <i>Vienna</i>. During this they have all a little Box of <i>Indian</i> +Lack upon their Knees, in which they thread Gold till Dinner-time. When +that's over, they drink Coffee or play at <i>Quinze</i> till Night, when they +go to Court. From the Empress's Apartment they adjourn to the Assembly, +where they divert themselves at <i>Piquet</i>, or at <i>Quadrille</i>; and then +retire, undress themselves, go to Supper, and thence to Bed, well pleased +to think with what Indolence and Idleness they have spent the Day.</p> + +<p>The Women of the second Class, in which I include the Gentlewomen that +have no Titles of Honour, <i>viz.</i> the Wives of the Assessors, Referendaries +and Agents of the Court, discover such an Air of Plenty and Prosperity as +is remarkably surprizing. Their Houses are richly furnished, and their +Tables well served. If a Referendary has a mind to a nice bit, no body +must offer to take it; and the best of every thing is what they are sure +to lay hands on. Belly Cheer is one of those things which the <i>Austrians</i> +generally think of most: They require a great many Dishes, and those +well-cramm'd.<!--279.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span> +They are so very much accustom'd to this Profusion of +Eatables that I have known some young People in <i>Austria</i> affirm they +don't know what good Eating is in <i>France</i>, because they don't serve up a +couple of Loins of Veal in one Dish. Different sorts of Wines are what +they are also very much us'd to, which certainly is very expensive because +foreign Wines pay considerable Duties; yet nothing less will serve them +than eight or ten sorts of Wine, and I have been at Houses where there +have been no less than eighteen. They place a Note upon every Plate +expressing the several sorts of Wine at the Beaufet.</p> + +<p>The Burghers and common sort of People mimick the Nobility as far as their +Purses will afford; and it may be said that no Nation in the World is so +extravagant as this.</p> + +<p>The <i>Austrians</i> are naturally proud and haughty, and expect all Mankind +should stoop to them. As their Sovereign is in the first Rank among the +Christian Princes, so they think theirs to be the chief Nation in the +World. Nothing is more vain nor more insupportable than a young +<i>Austrian</i>, whose Father is in any Rank at Court. They are intoxicated +with Pride and Presumption; and as they know themselves to be rich, and +their Fathers to be great Lords, they think they may despise all the +World, and lay aside that courteous and polite Behaviour which would so +well become their Birth. Yet what I here observe to you concerning the +young People is not so universally true as not to admit of great +Exceptions, which is the Case of every thing asserted in the general.</p> + +<p>The Court is not without Ladies who are much to be valued. The Empress +Regent honours with her Confidence Madame the Countess <i>de Fuchs</i>, whose +Husband was Minister of State to the Emperor, and his Plenipotentiary at +<i>Hambourg</i>, where he died. This Countess is Sister to the Count <i>de</i> +<!--280.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">255</a></span><i>Molard</i>, +Steward of the Emperor's Kitchens. She is a very polite Lady, +and is so far from being envy'd for being a Favourite that all Persons of +Distinction agree she deserves it, because she supports it with Modesty, +and makes no other Use of it but to do good.</p> + +<p>Madamoiselle <i>de Klenck</i> has a very great share in the Favour of the +Empress Dowager, which I take to be a Reward due to her long Services, and +to her Merit. She is chief Maid of Honour to that Princess, and has been +engag'd to her ever since she has been at <i>Vienna</i>. If the Character of a +thorough Gentlewoman may be attributed to any of the Sex, Madamoiselle <i>de +Klenck</i> deserves it more than any other, it being impossible for a Person +to have more Integrity, and more Generosity.</p> + +<p>The Countess Dowager of <i>Altheim</i>, of the <i>Pignatelli</i> Family, in regard +to whose Rank I ought to have mention'd her first, if I observ'd a very +strict Order in my Writings, is a Native of <i>Spain</i>. The Count <i>d'Altheim</i> +married her at <i>Barcelona</i>. Her Beauty was the more admir'd in <i>Spain</i> +because she was fair. This Lady has a noble Air, and has a Genius capable +for Affairs of the greatest Consequence. Their Imperial Majesties pay her +great Distinction, and all the Courtiers honour and respect her, so that +now in her Widowhood she continues in good Credit, and almost as much +Authority as she had when that great Favourite her Husband was living.</p> + +<p>The Gentry of <i>Austria</i>, and of all the Emperor's Hereditary Dominions, +are so fond of the Title of Count, that the Gentlemen buy and sollicit it +as eagerly as if it was a great Estate. 'Tis well for them that the +Dispatch of their Patents does not cost much; for the greatest Privilege +which this brings them is all a Chimra. These Counts may be said to hold +the same Rank among the ancient +Counts<!--281.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">256</a></span> +of the Empire as the King's +Secretaries in <i>France</i> do among the Gentlemen of good Families.</p> + +<p>As for Gentlemen, they are so common here that there are scarce any others +to be seen. All the Agents of the Court, and all the Referendaries procure +themselves a Title, tho' I know not why; for neither they nor their Wives +dare to rank themselves among the Prime Nobility. This Madness of theirs +to be enobled is so common, and so easy to be gratified, that I have known +a Man, who was formerly Messenger to the Emperor <i>Joseph</i>, purchase the +Title of Baron; and his Children begin to mix with the <i>Grand Monde</i>.</p> + +<p>These, Sir, were all the Remarks that I made upon the <i>Austrians</i>. I must +give you a few Particulars concerning the Emperor's Person. I have already +said something to you of his Character: What follows is to shew you how +grateful he is, and how friendly, Virtues which are the more to be +esteem'd in him because they are not the most familiar to great Men.</p> + +<p>The Emperor shows all possible Marks of Gratitude to those <i>Spaniards</i> who +adher'd to him while he was at <i>Barcelona</i>. He has loaded them with Wealth +and Honours; and if it's possible for one's native Country to be forgot, +he has put them in a Situation to forget theirs. This particular Goodness +of the Emperor extends to all that followed his Fortunes in <i>Spain</i>; whom +he distinguishes upon all Occasions, and does them good preferably to his +other Subjects. As to Friendship, no Monarch ever had more for any +Favourite than <i>Charles</i> had for the late Count <i>d'Altheim</i>, his Master of +the Horse. This Nobleman was the Emperor's Page, when he was only +Arch-Duke; and he attended that Prince to <i>Spain</i>, where his Care, his +Services, his Assiduity, and above all his Honesty and his Integrity, won +him the intire Confidence of the +young<!--282.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">257</a></span> +Monarch. When this Prince became +Emperor he rewarded the Count with Honours, Wealth, and Dignities. He +lov'd him as long as he liv'd, and his Memory is still dear to him. As +soon as he died, the Emperor declar'd himself Guardian to his Children, +gave Orders in what manner they shou'd be brought up, and now treats them +much more like his own Children than his Subjects. But what wou'd you say +of the Emperor's tender Love for the Empress? Some time ago this Princess +being dangerously ill, the Emperor not only sent for his Physicians, and +conjur'd them to employ all their Art to save her Life, but promised them +Rewards suitable to that Service, and actually watched with her several +Nights to see her take the Remedies they prescrib'd. Does not a +Conjugal-Love so perfect, deserve to be rewarded by the Birth of an +Archduke? Adieu, Sir. If I were Emperor, you shou'd be my Count +<i>d'Altheim</i>; but in the Condition I am in, you are the Person whom I +honour most of all Mankind; and am, &c.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 181px;"> +<img src="images/i15.png" width="181" height="140" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--283.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">258</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/i20.png" width="430" height="47" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER XIV.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Munich, Jan. 5, 1730.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>As I came hither from <i>Vienna</i>, I stay'd two Days at <span class="smcap">Lintz</span>, the Capital of +<i>Upper Austria</i>. This City lies on the <i>Danube</i>, over which there is a +wooden Bridge. 'Tis a little Town, but well built, and has fine Churches. +Its Inhabitants are thriving, and they drive a great Trade in +Linnen-Cloth. 'Tis the Residence of a great many Persons of Quality, and +of the Regency of the Province, of which the Count <i>de Thirheim</i> is the +Chief. This Nobleman lodges in the Imperial Palace, which stands upon an +Eminence, and commands the City. The Building is commodious enough, but +not so magnificent. The Emperor <i>Leopold</i> stay'd here during the Siege of +<i>Vienna</i>; till not thinking himself safe in it he retir'd to <i>Passaw</i>. The +Neighbourhood of <i>Lintz</i> is very agreeable. All the way hither from +<i>Vienna</i> the <i>Danube</i> is lin'd on both sides with Vineyards; but from +<i>Lintz</i> to this Place, instead of Vines, there are Plantations of Hops.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Munich</span>, in the <i>German</i> Tongue <i>Munchen</i>, stands in the middle of a large +Plain, and in the Center of <i>Bavaria</i>, of which it is the Capital City. +The Walls of it are washed by the River <i>Iser</i>; 'tis a small Town, but +better built than fortified, for within these few Years several fine +Houses have +been<!--284.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">259</a></span> +rais'd in it. The Elector's Palace is one of the biggest +Piles of Building in <i>Europe</i>, but it wants a great deal of being so +handsome a Structure as <i>Misson</i> and several other Authors have +represented it; for its Magnificence consists principally in its Bulk. The +chief Front, which looks towards a very narrow Street, has the Resemblance +of a fair Convent; to which the Image of the Virgin <i>Mary</i> over the great +Gate contributes not a little. That for which 'tis held in most Esteem is +the great Apartment which is call'd the <i>Emperor's</i> Apartment. The +Connoisseurs in Painting admire the Pictures in the great Hall, which +represent both Sacred and Prophane History, and are performed by the Hand +of <i>Candi</i>. The Chimney-piece in the same Room is very much esteem'd: +Among other fine Figures with which it is adorn'd, there's a Statue of +Porphyry that represents <i>Virtue</i> holding a Spear in the Right Hand, and +in the Left a gilt Palm-Branch. In 1632, when <i>Gustavus Adolphus</i> King of +<i>Sweden</i> made himself Master of <i>Munich</i>, he thought this so beautiful a +Room that he was sorry he could not get it transported to <i>Stockholm</i>. In +the Reign of <i>Ferdinand Mary</i>, Grandfather to the present Elector, great +part of the Palace of <i>Munich</i> was reduc'd to Ashes, which Accident was, +'tis said, the Occasion of that Prince's Death; for being at <i>Straubingen</i> +when he received the sad News of the Fire, he took Horse immediately and +rode with such Fury to <i>Munich</i> that he receiv'd a Fall which in a little +time prov'd his Death.</p> + +<p>The present Elector <i>Charles-Albert-Cajetan</i> has embellish'd the Palace +with a new Apartment, which, tho' not so big as the Emperor's, exceeds it +in Magnificence. 'Tis adorn'd with noble Pictures, antique Busts, and +Vases plac'd upon<a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a> Tables of +very<!--285.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</a></span> +great Value; and among other Things +there's the Picture of the Virgin done by St. <i>Luke</i>.</p> + +<p>There's a secret Passage from the Palace thro' little Galleries to all the +Churches and Convents in the Town. The nearest Church is that of the +<i>Theatins</i>, which together with their Monastery was built by +<i>Maria-Adelaide</i> of <i>Savoy</i> Wife to <i>Ferdinand-Mary</i>. The Fryars of this +Convent must be twenty seven in number, and all Men of Quality. They +subsist by charitable Donations; but dare not ask Alms, and must wait for +such Provisions as Providence shall please to send them. When they have +suffer'd extreme Want at any Time for three Days together, they are +permitted to ring a Bell as a Token of their Distress; but it has been +observ'd that this never happen'd above twice since their first +Establishment, because the Electors are too charitable to let them want. +The Tomb of the Princes of <i>Bavaria</i> is in the Church of these honest +Fryars.</p> + +<p>The Church of our Lady is the parochial Church of <i>Munich</i>. In it is the +stately Tomb of the Emperor <i>Lewis</i> of <i>Bavaria</i> who died of Poison. 'Tis +adorn'd with a great many fine Figures of Brass and Marble. In this Church +the Elector on the 24th of <i>April</i> last instituted the Order of St. +<i>George</i>, by Authority of Pope <i>Benedict</i> XIII. The Ceremony was perform'd +with a vast deal of Pomp, and the Elector of <i>Cologn</i> officiated at the +High Mass. The Promotion consisted of three Grand Priors, six Grand +Crosses, a Commander, and six Knights. Some time after this first +Promotion the Elector made a second, in which he appointed one Grand +Cross, and nine Knights. 'Tis said there will speedily be a third +Promotion of eight more Knights, the whole Number being to consist of +forty<a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a>.</p> + +<!--286.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">261</a></span></p> + +<p>The Elector intends to annex Commanderies to his Order. They who are +admitted into it must give Proofs of their Extraction from sixteen +Descents; and this is so strictly observ'd that his most Serene Electoral +Highness, as Grand Master of the Order, has renounc'd all Power of +granting any Dispensation from it. According to the Statutes of this Order +all the Knights are oblig'd to be Catholics, to defend the Faith and the +Church, to protect Widows and Orphans, and to practise all the Christian +Virtues. The Badge of the Order is a large Sky-blue Ribbon border'd about +the breadth of an Inch with a black and white Stripe; and at the end of +the Ribbon hangs a Cross enamell'd with blue, in the middle of which there +is a St. <i>George</i>.</p> + +<p>The Church and Convent of the Reverend Fathers the Jesuits are two very +magnificent Structures. The Roof of the Church which is one single Nave is +a Work of Skill and Ingenuity, wherein the Apertures are contriv'd with +very great Art; for which reason, the Curious look upon this Fabric as a +Master-piece of Architecture.</p> + +<p>The Church of the Reverend Fathers of St. <i>Austin</i>, tho' but of a moderate +Size, contains Beauties that are not always to be met with in greater +Fabrics. The Pictures with which it is adorn'd are highly esteem'd, and +good Judges agree there are few that can parallel them.</p> + +<p>Tho' the Houses of <i>Munich</i> are all very well built, there are few that +can be call'd Hotels or Palaces. The Count <i>Piosas</i> a <i>Piedmontese</i> has +caus'd one to be built of late Years which is a considerable Structure +with regard to the true Proportions of its Outside, and to the ingenious +Distribution of the Apartments, which have fine Decorations and good +Furniture.</p> + +<p>The Court of <i>Bavaria</i> observes most of the Customs of the Court of +<i>Vienna</i> in matters of +Ceremony,<!--287.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">262</a></span> +but as for the rest, their Way of living +is different; here being more Freedom, and more Diversion.</p> + +<p>The Elector <i>Charles-Albert</i> delights in Pleasures and bodily Exercise, +and acquits himself therein with a Grace. He is a comely Personage, and +has a grave, noble, and majestic Air, so that he is taken for a proud Man; +yet few Princes are more gracious and more civil to Strangers, and to his +Subjects also he is easy of Access. He was full of Life and Spirit when he +was a Prince, and now that he is a Sovereign is become sedate and +moderate. He is genteel, talks <i>French</i>, <i>Italian</i>, and <i>Latin</i> well, is +Master of History, and perfectly acquainted with the Interest of Princes +in general, and that of his own Family in particular. He sticks to +Business, and above all seems to be very earnest in redressing his +Finances which he found in great Disorder when he acceded to the +Electorate. The Elector was born the 6th of <i>August</i>, 1697. He is Son of +<i>Maximilian-Emanuel</i> famous for his Victories and for his Disgrace, and of +<i>Theresa-Cunegunda-Sobieski</i>, Daughter of <i>John Sobieski</i> King of +<i>Poland</i>. When <i>Charles</i> came into the World he had a Brother living who +was born of the Arch-Duchess <i>Mary-Maximilian</i>, <i>Emanuel</i>'s first Wife. +This young Prince who all <i>Europe</i> expected wou'd be the Successor of +<i>Charles</i> II. King of <i>Spain</i>, dying at <i>Brussels</i> the 6th of <i>February</i>, +1699, <i>Charles</i> thereby became the Electoral Prince: He was bred up at +<i>Munich</i> with four of his Brothers, but both he and his Brothers +surrender'd Prisoners to the Emperor <i>Joseph</i> after the Battle of +<i>Hochstet</i>, which subjected all <i>Bavaria</i> to his Imperial Majesty. That +Monarch had the young Princes remov'd to <i>Gratz</i>, where he caus'd them to +be treated in a manner not so suitable to their high Birth as to their +decay'd Fortune. When <i>Joseph</i> died, his Successor <i>Charles</i> VI. used the +Princes<!--288.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">263</a></span> +with less Severity, caus'd them to be honourably attended, and +sent them Masters to instruct them; and upon the Peace of <i>Rastadt</i> which +reinstated the Elector <i>Maximilian-Emanuel</i> in his Dominions, the Princes +his Children were restor'd to him. They finish'd their Studies at +<i>Munich</i>, after which the Elector sent the four eldest to <i>Rome</i>, where +the second, whose Name was Duke <i>Philip</i>, died not long after he had been +chose Bishop of <i>Munster</i> and <i>Paderborn</i>. <i>Charles</i> returning from +<i>Italy</i> went to <i>Vienna</i>, made the Campaign of <i>Belgrade</i>, and some Years +after that, he marry'd <i>Mary-Amelia-Anne</i> of <i>Austria</i>, the late Emperor +<i>Joseph</i>'s second Daughter. In 1725, <i>Charles</i> and his three Brothers were +at <i>Fontainbleau</i>, at the Marriage of <i>Lewis</i> XV. and next Year he +succeeded his Father who died at <i>Munich</i> lamented as he was ador'd by his +Courtiers.</p> + +<p>The Electoress who is a little Woman, very much resembles the Empress her +Mother, and has more Vivacity than is common to the Princes of the House +of <i>Austria</i>. She prefers Hunting to all other Pleasures, and there are +few Days but she partakes of that Diversion with the Elector, who, as well +as the Princes his Brothers, is fond of it.</p> + +<p>The Elector has by his Marriage two<a name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> Princes and two Princesses. The +eldest of the Sons who has the Title of the Electoral Prince is call'd +<i>Maximilian-Joseph</i>, and was born the 28th of <i>March</i>, 1727. His most +serene Electoral Highness's three Brothers are Duke <i>Ferdinand</i>, the +Elector of <i>Cologn</i>, and the Bishop of <i>Freisingen</i> and <i>Ratisbon</i>. Of +these Princes Duke <i>Ferdinand</i> is the only one who resides at <i>Munich</i>. +His most serene Highness is a Lieutenant-General, and has a Regiment of +Cuirassiers in the Emperor's Service. He is also a Knight of the <i>Golden +Fleece</i>, and Grand Prior of the Order of St. <i>George</i>. He marry'd +<i>Mary-Ann-Caroline</i> +of<!--289.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">264</a></span> +<i>Newbourg</i>, by whom he has two Sons and one +Daughter. I have already told you that he was educated with the Elector +his Brother, with whom he made the Campaign of <i>Belgrade</i>, travell'd +several times to <i>Italy</i>, and last of all to <i>France</i>, where those Princes +were admir'd for their Splendor, their Politeness, their good Taste, and +their fine Understanding. One shan't find a Man more affable than Duke +<i>Ferdinand</i> who is even ador'd at <i>Munich</i>, and is dearly belov'd by the +Elector his Brother. The Duchess his Wife who is the best-natur'd Princess +in the World makes grand Entertainments, and is particularly civil to +Strangers.</p> + +<p>The Bishop of <i>Freisingen</i> and <i>Ratisbon</i> spends more of his Time at +<i>Munich</i> than in his Diocese. He is a Prince of great Penetration, Spirit +and Vivacity, is generous, liberal, and charitable, extremely civil, and +'tis impossible to be acquainted with him without adding Love to that +Respect and Veneration which are due to his Birth and Character. He +enter'd very young into Orders, and was consecrated Bishop by his Brother +the Elector of <i>Cologn</i>. 'Twas thought at first that he wou'd have made +but an indifferent Ecclesiastic, but he has demonstrated that he knows how +to reconcile the Gravity of a Prelate with the Magnanimity of a Temporal +Prince.</p> + +<p>The Court of <i>Bavaria</i> is without dispute the most gallant, and the +politest in <i>Germany</i>. We have a <i>French</i> Comedy here together with Balls +and Gaming every Day, and a Concert of Music three Times a Week, at which +all the Company is mask'd; and after the Concert there's Gaming and +Dancing. These public Assemblies, at which the Elector and the whole Court +are present, bring in a great Revenue to the Elector's <i>Valets de +Chambre</i>; for besides the Money which every one pays at Entrance, they are +also paid for the Cards, and +are<!--290.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">265</a></span> +concern'd in almost all the Banks; so +that those Domestics have almost all the Cash of the Nobility, with whom +they don't scruple neither to rank themselves. Besides these noisy +Pleasures we have others that are more tranquil, I mean those of civil +Society. Of this kind there's more here than in the other Towns of +<i>Germany</i>; but more still among the Foreigners that are in the Elector's +Service than among the <i>Bavarians</i>; for these are generally proud, tho' +'tis certainly more owing to their Opinion that it gives them a good Air +to be so than to their Temper; and they actually become more sociable when +they are made sensible that their grand Airs are not astonishing.</p> + +<p>The Title of Count is as common here as at <i>Vienna</i>, and the <i>Bavarian</i> +Counts have no greater Privileges than those of <i>Austria</i>, for they are as +much Subjects as the meanest Gentlemen. I find that those in Places, and +who bear any Rank at Court are much more polite than others. The Counts +<i>de Thirheim</i>, <i>Torring</i>, and <i>Preising</i> who have the chief Employments +are so civil that I believe there's few Foreigners but will give them +their Encomium.</p> + +<p>The Elector has a very large Houshold, and a number of great Officers. +I'll mention some of them to you.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>Maximilian de Torring-Seefeldt</i> is Steward of the Elector's +Houshold, a Minister of State, and Knight of the <i>Golden Fleece</i>. This +Nobleman who is advanc'd in Years, is good-natur'd and civil, speaks +little, is naturally grave, not fond of Pomp, and lives retir'd in the +middle of a Court, but when he makes any Entertainment does it with +Grandeur. He never once abandon'd the Elector <i>Maximilian-Emanuel</i> his +former Master, but follow'd him in his Fortunes both good and bad.</p> + +<!--291.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">266</a></span></p> + +<p>The Count <i>Sigismond de Thirheim</i> is Great Chamberlain, a Minister of +State, and Grand Croix of the Order of St. <i>George</i>. He is very tall, and +tho' his Air is not the most affable, he is courteous and civil. He lives +very nobly, and does the Honours of the Court very handsomely; +consequently he is generally beloved and esteem'd. He was Governor of the +Elector, who, contrary to most Princes that are not apt to retain an +Esteem for those who once had the Care of their Education, gives great +Proofs of his Regard for the Count <i>de Thirheim</i>.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>Maximilian de Fugger</i> is Grand Marshal<a name="FNanchor_114_114" id="FNanchor_114_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a>. As he does not +live at <i>Munich</i>, I have nothing particular to tell you of him.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>Maximilian de Preysing</i> Master of the Horse, President of the +Chamber of Finances, a Minister of State, and Grand Croix of the Order of +St. <i>George</i>, is a very polite Nobleman, but serious and grave to the last +degree. 'Tis difficult for any Man to be more attach'd to his Religion, to +have more Candor, and to be more upright than this Minister. His Probity +has brought Envy upon him, but it has procur'd him the Elector's intire +Confidence, of which however the Count makes no farther Advantage than is +requisite for his Master's Business. He is accus'd of being close-fisted, +and of dissuading the Elector from giving Gratuities; but 'tis agreed that +he is very charitable to the Poor. 'Tis a hard matter for a Minister who +has the Direction of the Finances to please every body, and he is commonly +the Butt of public Censure.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>de Rechberg</i> Great Huntsman<a name="FNanchor_115_115" id="FNanchor_115_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a>, Minister of State, President +of the Council of War, Lieutenant-General, and Grand Croix of the Order of +St. <i>George</i>, is Commander in Chief of the +Elector's<!--292.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">267</a></span> +Forces: He +accompany'd the late Elector to <i>France</i> where he acquir'd the Reputation +of an experienc'd skilful General.</p> + +<p><i>Ignatius-Joseph</i> Count <i>de Torring</i> is a Minister of State, Grand Master +of the Artillery, and a Grand Croix of St. <i>George</i>. He followed the late +Elector into <i>France</i>, and after that Prince was restor'd he went as +Minister Plenipotentiary to the Imperial Court, where he negotiated the +Marriage of the present Elector with the Archduchess, youngest Daughter to +the late Emperor <i>Joseph</i>.</p> + +<p>I cou'd tell you of many other Persons of Distinction at the Court of +<i>Bavaria</i>, only I fear that being too particular wou'd tire your Patience. +The Ministers who bear the greatest Sway are the Counts <i>Maximilian de +Preysing</i> and <i>de Torring</i>, and M. <i>d'Unertel</i>. The first is Director of +the Finances; the second has the Province of Foreign Affairs; and the +third takes care of Affairs Domestic and Military. These three Ministers +are the Arbiters of <i>Bavaria</i>, and to them the Tribunals of the several +Provinces must apply.</p> + +<p><i>Bavaria</i> is divided into four Cantons or Provinces, <i>viz.</i> the Cantons +<i>of Munich</i>, <i>Burghausen</i>, <i>Landstrut</i> and <i>Straubingen</i>. Each of these +Provinces has a Regency or Parliament; and an Appeal lies from Sentences +therein pass'd to the Elector's Council of State.</p> + +<p>'Tis certain that <i>Bavaria</i> is one of the best States in the Empire. 'Tis +said that it brings in seven Millions of Florins, and I have been assured +by Persons who have Opportunities of being inform'd of the State of the +Finances, that there was a time when the late Elector received eleven +Millions <i>per Ann.</i> The Riches of <i>Bavaria</i> are owing to the Exportation +of Salt and Corn, and to the Consumption of the Beer brew'd in the +Country, which is as good as any in the World. <i>Tirol</i>, and the Country +<!--293.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">268</a></span>of +<i>Saltzbourg</i>, have almost all the Corn which they spend from +<i>Bavaria</i>, and the Elector has a Florin for every Sack that is exported. +Another thing which is a Treasure to <i>Bavaria</i> is the Fir-Trees, a Wood +that serves for every Use that can be imagin'd, whether for Building, or +for Houshold-Stuff. There is not a Province in the Empire where Provisions +are cheaper, and in the mean time there's a vast Home-Consumption; for +besides that the <i>Bavarians</i> love good Eating and Drinking, the Country is +very populous; and 'tis computed that the Inhabitants of <i>Munich</i> alone +are above 40,000.</p> + +<p>Of all the Sovereigns in <i>Europe</i>, next to the King of <i>France</i>, the +Elector of <i>Bavaria</i> has the finest Pleasure-Houses, for which he may +thank the Elector his Father who had a wonderful good Fancy and Judgment.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Nymphenbourg</span> a short League from <i>Munich</i> is a charming Place. The Castle +is to be seen a great way off by reason of its Situation in the middle of +a great Plain, so that from the Apartments of the second Story one +discovers a vast Tract of Country, and an infinite number of Rural +Beauties that are in the Neighbourhood of <i>Munich</i>. <i>Mary-Adelaide de +Savoy</i> (Mother to <i>Maximilian-Emanuel</i>) who was extremely fond of the Arts +and Sciences, and knew them perfectly well, was the Person who laid the +Foundations of that Castle. The Man that she employ'd to build it was an +<i>Italian</i> Architect whom she sent for out of <i>Italy</i> for the purpose. But +all this Palace consisted only of one great Pavilion. <i>Maximilian-Emanuel</i> +thinking the Castle too small, caused several Mansions to be added to it, +together with fine Stables and grand Gardens; in short, he put the whole +into that magnificent Condition we see it in at this day. His most serene +Electoral Highness lets the Pavilion stand in pure respect to the Memory +of his Mother who built +it,<!--294.png--><span class="pagenum">269</span> +but 'tis pity he does; for 'tis much higher +than the rest of the Edifice, and is no good Ornament to the main +Building. In order to give you a more perfect Idea of this House, I will +tell you that it looks towards a great and magnificent Canal terminated at +each end by a spacious Basin adorn'd with Water-works and double Rows of +Trees on each side which form the Avenues. We enter into the Castle by an +Ascent of Marble Steps: The first Room we come to is a very great high +Salon adorn'd with Architecture of Plaister of <i>Paris</i> very well executed. +From each side of this Salon there is a Passage into several Apartments of +which I shall not stop to give you the Detail, because I don't think it in +my power to convey a suitable Idea to you of the Richness of the +Furniture, and all the fine things that are in it. Imagine only that the +late Elector who had an exquisite Taste, and a noble Soul, spar'd no Cost +to adorn these Apartments. I pass to the Gardens which one enters from the +Great Hall by a Descent of Marble Steps. The first thing that strikes the +Eye is a Parterre of a vast Extent, at the Entrance of which there is a +great Bason ornamented with a Group of Figures of mill'd Lead gilt with +Water-Gold representing <i>Flora</i> receiving Flowers from <i>Nymphs</i> and +<i>Cupids</i>. At the end of the Parterre there is one of the most agreeable +Woods in the World, which is cut by three Walks in form of a Goose's Foot. +The middlemost fronts the great Pavilion of the Castle, and has a large +Canal in the middle of it of which one can't see the end: 'Tis terminated +by a fine Cascade form'd by several Blocks of Marble, and adorn'd with +fine Statues. The second Walk on the right hand leads one to the Mall +which forms a Semi-Circle, and is one of the finest and longest I ever +saw. At the Entrance of this Mall there is a Pavilion call'd <i>Pagodebourg</i> +(the <i>Castle of the Pagode</i>;) 'tis two +Stories<!--295.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">270</a></span> +high, and built in form of +the <i>Pagodes</i> Temples. I believe there never was any thing prettier. All +the Furniture of this little Palace is <i>Indian</i>, of a charming Contrivance +and Elegancy; and the whole is so well laid out that notwithstanding the +smallness of the House, the Elector has every Convenience in it that can +be desir'd. Over-against <i>Pagodebourg</i> on the other side of the Canal in +the third Walk is <i>Badenbourg</i> (the <i>Castle of Baths</i>) which is a more +considerable Building, and has all the Beauty of the Modern Bagnios. The +Baths are spacious and lin'd with Marble. There is an Apartment consisting +of several Pieces adorned with Stucco, and Pictures representing <i>Venus</i> +in the Bath, <i>Diana</i> in the Water with her Nymphs, and the other Subjects +of the Fable. The whole Apartment glitters with Gold, and the Furniture of +it is rich, and of a charming Fancy. This beautiful House is surrounded +with fine Pieces of Water adorned with Cascades and Statues. These Baths +wou'd most certainly deserve a particular Description, and I am angry with +myself for not being able to give it.</p> + +<p>'Tis certain that next to the Gardens of <i>Versailles</i>, there is none so +magnificent as those of <i>Nymphenbourg</i>; which is a Place that Art and +Nature seem to have joined their Forces in order to render noble and +agreeable.</p> + +<p>The Castle of <i>Schleisheim</i> is a more regular Building than that of +<i>Nymphenbourg</i>, and makes so grand an Appearance that I don't know any +House in <i>Germany</i> that can compare with it. The great Stair-Case and the +Salon in the large Apartment are the only Pieces in their kind. They are +fac'd with Marble, and painted in a most correct and beautiful manner.</p> + +<p><i>Taco</i>, <i>Furstenriet</i> and <i>Starenberg</i> are Houses fit for the Solacement +of a Great Prince, and will +be<!--296.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">271</a></span> +Testimonies to Posterity of the Elector +<i>Maximilian-Emanuel</i>'s grand and happy Taste.</p> + +<p>Of all the Elector's Houses <i>Nymphenbourg</i> is that where the Court resides +most. It is as well a Hunting-House as a Pleasure-House, by reason of a +Park in the Neighbourhood which is eight Leagues in compass, and cut out +into a great number of fine long Roads. Here the Elector comes to rouze +the Stag; and there is a little Park adjoining to the Gardens, which, as +well as the adjacent Fields, abounds with Pheasants, Partridges, and all +other Game of that sort.</p> + +<p>When the Court is at <i>Nymphenbourg</i> the Electress has a Drawing-Room there +three times a Week where there is Gaming, and when that is over the Ladies +sup with their Electoral Highnesses, who sometimes admit Gentlemen of +their Court to their Table, but commonly all Foreigners. They who prefer +taking the Air to Gaming, find open Calashes every Evening drawn by two +Horses, at the bottom of the Steps on the side of the Garden: A Gentleman +drives the Calash, two Ladies ride in it, and a Gentleman stands behind. +And such as prefer the Water find very neat Gondolas finely gilt upon the +Canal at their Service; so that there is no want of any thing to add to +the Pleasures of all sorts in this inchanting Place.</p> + +<p>Were I to enumerate to you all the various Pleasures of this Court I +should never have done. For the present I shall confine myself to these +already mentioned. I am resolved to set out in three or four days for +<i>Stutgard</i>. I shall lie at <i>Augsbourg</i>, and at <i>Ulm</i>. A Frost which has +held for a Month without ceasing has made the Roads so hard that I hope I +shall roll along finely. I expect to hear from you at <i>Stutgard</i>. Pray +take care that I be not disappointed, and believe that I am very +sincerely, <i>&c.</i></p> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--297.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">272</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 442px;"> +<img src="images/i16.png" width="442" height="75" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER XV.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Stutgard, Jan. 14, 1730.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>There is nothing remarkable between <i>Munich</i> and <i>Augsbourg</i> except it be +the fine Abbey of <span class="smcap">Furstenfeldt</span>, which is in possession of the <i>Bernardin</i> +Fryars. It was founded by <i>Lewis the Severe</i> Duke of <i>Bavaria</i> to attone +for his Wickedness in putting <i>Joan</i> of <i>Brabant</i> his Wife unjustly to +death. The History of <i>Bavaria</i> relates the Fact thus: <i>Joan</i> was a very +beautiful Princess. Her Husband who was doatingly fond of her being +obliged to take a Journey, put her under the Guard of one of his Aunts. +While he was gone <i>Joan</i> wrote frequently to her Husband, and sometimes to +his Prime Minister and Favourite. One day she put her Letters into the +hands of a Domestic, charging him to deliver them as they were directed; +but the Man made a Mistake, and gave the Letter which was for the Duke to +his Favourite, and that which was for the Minister to the Duke. <i>Lewis</i> +thought that his Wife's Style was too obliging to a Subject, and was even +mad with Jealousy. He first kill'd his Favourite, and then taking horse +posted to <i>Donawert</i> where his Wife was. He came to the Castle in the +Night-time, murder'd the Porter with his own hand, put his Aunt and all +with whom he had left his Wife in charge to Death; and then like another +<i>Herod</i>, caused the unfortunate <i>Joan</i> to be beheaded. The Night after +this barbarous Action, the Heirs +of<!--298.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">273</a></span> +<i>Lewis</i>'s Head turn'd gray, tho' he +was but twenty-eight Years old; which Accident made him sensible of his +Guilt and of the Innocence of his Wife. As his Barbarity was great, so was +his Repentance. He went on foot to <i>Rome</i> to beg the Pope's Absolution for +his Sins, and obtain'd it on condition that he wou'd cause a Church to be +built, and found a Monastery in his Dominions. <i>Lewis</i> returning from +<i>Rome</i> founded the Abbey at <i>Furstenfeldt</i>. The first Establishment was +only for eight Fryars; but the Piety of the Princes of <i>Bavaria</i> having +wrought upon them to bestow their Favours upon this House, it now +maintains thirty Fryars and an Abbot, whom the Monks have the Prerogative +to chuse out of their own Body. These good Fathers are actually erecting a +very stately Church, and they enjoy all the Conveniences of Life.</p> + +<p>The Country between <i>Munich</i> and <i>Augsbourg</i> is level and intermix'd with +Woods and Plains. <span class="smcap">Augsbourg</span> which is a Bishop's See, and an Imperial City, +is the Capital of <i>Swabia</i>, and one of the biggest and handsomest Towns in +<i>Germany</i>. A small Branch of the <i>Leck</i> passes thro' it, and supplies it +with plenty of Water. The Streets of <i>Augsbourg</i> are broad, strait and +lightsome; the Houses well built, and many of 'em full of Paintings. The +Inhabitants look upon <i>Augustus</i> to be the Founder of their City. 'Tis +true that Emperor sent a Colony thither, but the Town was founded before. +It is not said what Name it went by before the Name of <i>Augusta +Vindelicorum</i> was given it to distinguish it from the other Towns that +bore the Name of <i>Augusta</i>. The clearing up of this difficulty is what I +shall leave to the Antiquarians, and confine my self to the Transactions +at <i>Augsbourg</i> for about two hundred Years past. What will render this +City for ever famous is the Confession of Faith which the Protestant +Princes presented here to the Emperor <i>Charles</i> +V.<!--299.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">274</a></span> +in the year 1530. Tho' +the Protestants were at that time very powerful in <i>Augsbourg</i> they cou'd +not keep their ground, for they were drove out by the <i>Bavarians</i>; but +<i>Gustavus Adolphus</i> restored them in 1632, since which time they have kept +their Footing there, and share the Government with the Roman Catholics. In +1687, the Emperor, <i>Spain</i>, the United Provinces, and the Electors of +<i>Saxony</i>, <i>Brandenbourg</i>, and the Palatinate concluded that famous League +at <i>Augsbourg</i> against <i>Lewis</i> XIV. who was beginning to inforce the Claim +of the Duchess of <i>Orleans</i> his Sister-in-law to the Succession of the +Elector Palatine <i>Charles-Lewis</i>, who was that Princess's Brother. In +1690, <i>Joseph</i> Archduke of <i>Austria</i> King of <i>Hungary</i>, the eldest Son of +the Emperor <i>Leopold</i>, was consecrated and crown'd King of the <i>Romans</i> at +<i>Augsbourg</i>, at which Ceremony the Emperor, the Empress, the Electors of +<i>Mentz</i>, <i>Cologn</i>, <i>Triers</i>, <i>Bavaria</i>, and the Palatinate were personally +present.</p> + +<p>In 1703, the Elector <i>Maximilian</i> of <i>Bavaria</i>, made himself Master of +<i>Augsbourg</i> in one Week's time. This City had demanded and obtained a +Neutrality, but having afterwards received an Imperial Garrison the +Elector made use of that Pretence to lay Siege to it. He caused the +Fortifications to be demolish'd, foreseeing, no doubt, that he should not +be able to keep the Place. <i>Augsbourg</i> was set free again by the Battle of +<i>Hochstet</i>, and still enjoys its Freedom under its own Magistrates, the +Bishop having no Authority in the City as to Temporals. The present Bishop +is of the Family of <i>Neubourg</i>, and Brother to the Elector Palatine. This +Prince has the same Goodness of Temper which is so natural to all his +Family. As his Bishoprick is not one of the most considerable in +<i>Germany</i>, so his Court is none of the biggest, +but<!--300.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">275</a></span> +his Houshold is well +regulated, and every thing conducted in it with Order and Splendor.</p> + +<p>The Chapter of the Cathedral consists of Persons of Quality who are +oblig'd to make Proof of their Nobility. The Canons have the Prerogative +of chusing their Bishop, who like all the Prelates of <i>Germany</i> is a +Sovereign Prince. He dwells at <i>Augsbourg</i>, tho' he ought to reside at +<i>Dillingen</i>. The Episcopal Palace is old, and not very commodious: It +joins to the Cathedral, which is a <i>Gothic</i> gloomy unwieldy Fabric, but +its Ornaments are very rich.</p> + +<p>The most considerable Building is the Town-house, a very substantial Pile +built all of Freestone except the Portico, which is of Marble. The Rooms +are very fine, and the great Hall especially is to the last degree +magnificent. The Walls are cover'd with Painting, being such Emblems and +Devices as have relation to the Government. Nothing can be more beautiful +than the Cieling which consists all of Compartments whose Frames are +carv'd and gilt in an extraordinary manner, the whole enrich'd with +Pictures and other Ornaments perfectly well dispos'd.</p> + +<p>Before the Town-house there's a very stately Fountain, where, among other +fine Figures of Brass, the Statue of <i>Augustus</i> which is represented in a +most noble Attitude is highly esteem'd.</p> + +<p>The City of <i>Augsbourg</i> is in my Opinion something like <i>Antwerp</i> with +regard to the Spaciousness of the Streets and the Substantialness of its +Buildings; and formerly when the <i>Venetians</i> were Masters of all the +Commerce, it resembled it in Trade; for <i>Augsbourg</i> was then the Staple +for Merchandize, which was from thence transported to a great part of +<i>Europe</i>. But since <i>London</i> and <i>Amsterdam</i> are become the Warehouses of +the whole World, and the Commerce of <i>Venice</i> decays, the greatest Trade +of <i>Augsbourg</i> consists in Goldsmith's Wares, with which this City +furnishes <i>Germany</i>, <i>Poland</i>, and in +general<!--301.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">276</a></span> +almost all the North. These +Wares are much cheaper here than elsewhere, and when the Patterns are +furnish'd People are well serv'd. Notwithstanding the Decay of its +Commerce there are several very rich Families; but whether any can do what +<i>Fugger</i> did to the Emperor <i>Charles</i> V. is a Question. That Monarch +passing thro' <i>Augsbourg</i> lodg'd at <i>Fugger</i>'s House, who entertain'd him +like an Emperor. The Fewel he burnt in every Chimney was Cedar, and after +the Repast, which was extraordinary sumptuous, <i>Fugger</i> took a Bond for a +very considerable Sum which the Emperor ow'd him, and threw it into the +Fire.</p> + +<p>The Nobility assemble commonly every Evening at the <i>Three Kings</i> Inn +where I quarter. There's a very fine Hall well lighted, where they game, +club for a Supper, and after Supper dance. Be not scandaliz'd that the +Nobility have their Assembly at an Inn, it being one of the best Houses in +<i>Germany</i> and the most superb Inn in <i>Europe</i>. There's very good +Attendance. I have supp'd at it twice, and one cannot be better +accommodated in any House whatsoever.</p> + +<p>From <i>Augsbourg</i> I came to <span class="smcap">Ulm</span> another Imperial City. Tho' all the Country +is even, yet 'tis very tiresome to Travellers because of the Pavement of +the Causeys; but Thanks to the Snow which has levell'd the Ways, I have +not been much incommoded; tho' on the other hand I had like to have been +lost in the Snow, such a quantity of it having fallen for two Days that +one could not distinguish the Roads. I found my self at a Post-Stage where +my Guide, tho' he was a Man that had grown grey in the Business of +Postilion upon the same Road, did not know the Way. I was in danger every +Moment of tumbling into some Ditch, when just as we entered a certain +Valley my Postilion sounded a Horn to give notice to +any<!--302.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">277</a></span> +Carriages or +Horses that might happen to meet us to make way, when a Voice from the +Hollow call'd out to the Postilion, <i>Who's that? Stephen? Oh!</i> cry'd the +Postilion, <i>Is it you, Christopher? God be thank'd that I met with you</i>! +Then turning towards me, he said with an Air of Satisfaction, <i>Now you are +out of all Danger, for here's a blind Man that will conduct us to the +Place we are going to</i>. I thought the Droll jok'd with me, but we had not +gone many Yards farther before I really saw a poor Wretch who could not +see, yet offer'd to be my Guide, and promis'd he wou'd conduct me very +well. I abandon'd my self to him, and he walk'd so fast before my Chaise +that the Horses follow'd him in a gentle Trot till we came safe to the +Stage. There he told me that 'twas fifteen Years ago that he lost his +Sight by the breaking of an Imposthume in his Eyes, after having suffer'd +such horrible Pains for two Months that he bless'd himself for the Loss of +his Sight; so that when I ask'd him if he was not very much concern'd at +it, he said that at first it made him melancholy for some time, but that +he always comforted himself by the Remembrance of the Torture he had +undergone in the Loss of his Sight, and that he thought it were much +better to be blind and to have his Health than to see, and suffer the +Pains that he had endur'd; but that now he was so us'd to his Condition it +gave him no Concern. Indeed, when I ask'd him, if he should not be very +glad to recover his Sight? he said, Yes, if it were possible; but that if +he must undergo the same Pains to recover it as he had felt in the Loss of +it, he had rather by a thousand times continue blind. When I told him of +my Surprize that he should find out the Way better than those who see, he +told me that since he had been blind he came regularly on Sundays and +Saints Days to the Place where we were to hear Mass, and that therefore +the +Road<!--303.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">278</a></span> +was become very familiar to him. He added, that he sometimes +went alone to beg three or four Leagues from his Village, which was a +quarter of a League from the hollow Way where I met with him. I sent the +Man away, after giving him some Relief; and could not but admire the +divine Providence, which tho' it had afflicted the poor Wretch with what +to me seems more terrible than Death, gave him Strength to bear his +Misfortune with Patience.</p> + +<p>The City of <i>Ulm</i> is not above half as big as <i>Augsbourg</i>, but is much +better fortify'd. The <i>Danube</i> which washes its Walls, becomes navigable +at this Place, and a Boat goes from hence every Week for <i>Vienna</i>, which +is a great Ease to People who are not in a Condition to lay out much +Money; for it costs but a <i>Creutzer</i>, which is one Penny a <i>German</i> Mile. +Tho' the City of <i>Ulm</i> maintains a very numerous Garison, and is very well +fortify'd, and furnished with a good Arsenal, the Elector <i>Maximilian</i> of +<i>Bavaria</i> took it by Surprize in 1702, it being a Place necessary for him +to secure his Dominions on that side, and to facilitate the Passage of the +<i>French</i> Troops that were to join his Army. General <i>Thungen</i> robb'd him +of this Conquest the 10th of <i>Sept.</i> 1704, after about a Week's Siege.</p> + +<p>Then it was that <i>Ulm</i> became again subject to its Magistrates who are all +<i>Lutherans</i>. The Catholics cannot enjoy Offices, but have several +Churches. This City drives a great Trade in Linnen, but few of the Gentry +live here except the Patricians who are not more sociable than those of +<i>Nuremberg</i> and <i>Augsbourg</i>. The Burghers and the Women in particular go +dress'd like those at <i>Augsbourg</i>. To see them go to and come from Church +is next kin to seeing a Masquerade, and 'tis certainly one of the most +diverting Sights in this City, where really I did not give my self time to +be tired, for I set +out<!--304.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">279</a></span> +again the very next Day after I came, and arrived +in this Town, where I have now rested my self a couple of Days.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Stutgard</span> lies in the middle of a Valley surrounded with Vineyards. 'Tis +pretty large, has Streets broad and strait, but the Houses are of Timber. +'Tis the Capital of the Duchy of <i>Wirtemberg</i>, and was formerly the +Residence of the Sovereigns of the Country; but <i>Eberhard-Lewis</i> the +present Duke of <i>Wirtemberg</i> established his Seat some Years ago at<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> +<i>Ludwigsbourg</i>, a new City and a new Palace of his own building.</p> + +<p>The Duke's Castle is an old Structure of Freestone, compos'd of four Piles +of Building, flank'd at each Angle by a Tower. The Walls of it are wash'd +by Ditches which give it the disagreeable Air of a Prison. The Duchess who +is the Duke's Wife, and Sister to the Margrave of <i>Baden-Dourlach</i>, has an +Apartment in this Palace. You know that this Princess and her Husband +don't live well together. The Prince<a name="FNanchor_117_117" id="FNanchor_117_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a> about twenty Years ago preferr'd +a Mistress to her<a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a>, who certainly has neither the Beauty, nor the +Merit of the Duchess. The Princess is remarkably patient under the +Indifference of a Husband, and the Contempt of the most haughty Rival that +ever was. The frequent Visits paid her by her only Son are all the Comfort +she has. The Court neglects her, no body +dares<!--305.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">280</a></span> +to go near her, and +whoever pays the Duchess the Respects that are naturally due to her, is +sure to incur the merciless Hatred of the Mistress. I may be able perhaps +to give you a farther Account of this Princess and her Rival when I have +been at <i>Ludwigsbourg</i>, whither I propose to go to-morrow, and where I +hope for a Line from you.</p> + +<div class="right"> +<i>I am</i>, &c. +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 434px;"> +<img src="images/i04.png" width="434" height="43" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER XVI.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Ludwigsbourg, Feb. 2, 1730.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>The Duke of <i>Wirtemberg</i> is a Prince of a middling Size, and before he +grew so fat was very well shap'd. He is genteel, affable, and +well-belov'd, and few Princes treat their Courtiers with more Familiarity. +He has been one of the best Dancers of his Time. He also sits perfectly +well on horseback, and performs all bodily Exercises with infinite +Gracefulness, and incomparable Dexterity. He takes pleasure sometimes in +driving his own Coaches, and I have seen him drive eight Horses without a +Postilion, and manage them with as much Ease as if there was but one Horse +in the Harness. He is a Prince that loves Magnificence, is generous, +gallant, and amorous. Tho' 'tis above twenty Years that he has kept one +and the same Mistress, he is as passionately fond of her, and gives as +shining Proofs of it as ever. During the last War his most Serene Highness +commanded the army of the Empire on the <i>Upper Rhine</i>. He +has<!--306.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">281</a></span> +an only Son +marry'd to <i>Henrietta</i> of <i>Prussia</i>, Daughter of the Margrave <i>Philip</i>, +Brother to <i>Frederic</i> I. King of <i>Prussia</i>. This young Prince is called +the hereditary Prince. He is short of Stature, but handsome. He has one of +the best Tempers that can be desir'd in a Sovereign, being humane, +good-natur'd, affable, and civil. It may be said that the Father and the +Son are the two politest Men at the Court of <i>Wirtemberg</i>. The Father has +spent several Years in <i>Holland</i>, <i>Lorrain</i>, <i>Geneva</i>, <i>Turin</i>, <i>Italy</i> +and <i>France</i>. When he return'd from his Travels he went and marry'd at +<i>Berlin</i>. He has an only Daughter who is very amiable. The hereditary +Prince is vastly fond of Grandeur, Dancing, Plays and Music: He fatigues +himself very much, and commonly rides seven or eight Horses in a Morning. +His tender Constitution and the little Care he takes of it make me +apprehensive he will not live to be an old Man<a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a>.</p> + +<p>The hereditary Princess has an Air of Grandeur and Majesty suitable to her +Rank. She is tall and handsome, has a noble Mien, and tho' she is not a +regular Beauty, 'tis certain that she has a very good Look. She is +extremely grave, and does not seem to take a great share in the Pleasures +of the Court. She seems to be most of all taken with Dress, and her +Apparel is not only splendid but well-fancy'd. Her Royal Highness, which +is a Title given her because she is the Daughter of a King's Brother, is +extremely gracious and civil to all Mankind, but particularly to those +whom she knew at the Court of <i>Prussia</i>. She does me the honour to +discourse with me sometimes. I find she thinks very justly, and that her +Sentiments are very agreeable to her Birth. This Princess is of the +<i>Calvinist</i> Religion, and she keeps a Chaplain who preaches to her in her +own Apartment; so that now while the +Prince<!--307.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">282</a></span> +<i>Alexander de Wirtemberg</i> is +here, there are three Chapels in the Castles of as many different +Religions.</p> + +<p>The Countess <i>de Wurben</i> is the first Lady at Court next to her Royal +Highness. She has been the Duke's sole Favourite for a long time. She is +<i>Gravenitz</i> by Name, and is descended of a noble Family in <i>Mecklembourg</i>. +The Duke first fell in love with her when she was but a Girl. She had the +Assurance after she had been some Years in Favour to insist that the Duke +should get a Divorce from the Duchess his Wife, by whom he had a Son, and +marry her. When the Duchess was inform'd of her Rival's Demand she sued +for the Emperor's Protection, and obtain'd it. That Monarch signified to +the Duke that he would do well to remove his Favourite, who was therefore +oblig'd to retire to <i>Swisserland</i>. The Duke who could not bear her out of +his sight, followed her thither and stay'd there with her for some time, +but at last being oblig'd to return to his Dominions, and not being able +to take Madamoiselle <i>de Gravenitz</i> to him without reviving the just +Suspicions of the Duchess, he look'd out for a Husband for his Mistress. +The Count <i>de Wurben</i> a Gentleman of a good Family, and in mean +Circumstances, but a very eager Stickler for the Favours of Fortune at any +rate whatsoever, made an offer to marry Madamoiselle <i>de Gravenitz</i>. She +was bestowed upon him with a Pension of 24000 Florins, and the Character +of the Duke's Envoy Extraordinary to the Imperial Court. He engag'd never +to make use of the Husband's Prerogative and never to require of his Wife +to leave the Court. Upon this Condition he obtain'd even before he set out +for <i>Vienna</i> the Office of <i>Landthoffmeister</i> or Lord Lieutenant of +<i>Wirtemberg</i>, which is the highest Dignity in the Country. When the +Marriage was concluded, Madam <i>de Wurben</i> returned to <i>Stutgard</i>, where +she<!--308.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">283</a></span> +had Lodgings in the Palace. All her Aim was to insult the Duchess, in +hopes of provoking her to commit something so outragious as might embroil +her with the Duke, and make him resolve never to forgive her; but this +Princess equally virtuous and prudent, and always patient, bore all this +Mortification without murmuring. The Mistress, who could not endure to see +her in the Palace, obtain'd an Order from the Duke for her Retirement to +the Estate which was settled on her for her Jointure; but the Duchess +would never comply to it, saying, that if she had not been unfortunate +enough in the Loss of her Husband she would not retire to her Jointure. +This Refusal, how reasonable soever it was, affronted the Duke, who +acquainted the Duchess that he did not look upon her any longer as his +Wife, and gave orders that she should be treated no longer as a Sovereign. +During this, Madam <i>de Wurben</i> became a Widow; whereupon all the Hopes +reviv'd that she had presumed to entertain when a Maid. She persuaded the +Duke to leave <i>Stutgard</i>, and to found <i>Ludwigsbourg</i>. As soon as this +House was in a Condition to be occupy'd, the Duke and his Mistress came +and liv'd in it. There's no sort of Intrigue which this Favourite has not +try'd to put herself in the Duchess's Rank, but hitherto she has not been +able to succeed. Mean-while she enjoys all the Honours of a Sovereign. +'Tis at her Apartments that the Court is kept. Whenever the Duke plays +'tis there, and there it is he diets. In short she is treated in every +thing upon a par with her Royal Highness. Her Excellency (which is the +only Title given to this imperious Favourite since the Death of her +Husband) is drawing on to fifty Years of Age, and yet carries a mighty +Sway. She employs all the Remedies imaginable to cancel the Injuries which +Time has done to her Complexion, and also to conceal her natural Temper; +for +Artifice<!--309.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">284</a></span> +and Dissimulation are the Compounds of her Character. She is +so eager in amassing of Riches that she makes it her chief Business. While +she pretends a mighty Respect for the Duke, she expects like another +<i>Astarte</i> that every Knee should bend and tremble before her. As she is +the Reservoir of Favour, greater Court is made to her than to the Duke +himself, and Woe be to those that dare to disoblige her! I must own +however that she knows how to behave as well as any Woman in <i>Germany</i>, +when she has a mind to shew her Politeness. The worst on't is, that she is +not always so inclin'd; for she has been so long us'd to give herself +great Airs that they are become habitual to her. The principal Offices of +the Court are distributed among her Kindred or Creatures. Her Brother the +Count <i>de Gravenitz</i> is Grand Marshal and Prime Minister. I hardly ever +saw a handsomer Man: I must also do him the justice to declare that he is +as civil as his Sister is haughty. Some Years ago the Duke obtain'd for +him the Dignity of a Count of the Empire, in which Quality he was admitted +also at the Dyet, and he has a Seat there on the Bench of the Counts of +<i>Swabia</i>. His Authority is never oppos'd but by his Sister, to whom he +will not always be obedient. 'Tis said their Divisions have sometimes gone +so far that the Favourite has done all in her power to turn out her +Brother, and he has try'd all Ways in his turn to remove his Sister, but +the Duke has always been so good as to reconcile them. The Prime Minister +and his eldest Son are honour'd with the Order of <i>Prussia</i>. There is no +Court in <i>Europe</i> where there's such a Variety of Orders and Ribbons. The +Duke bears alternatively the <i>Danish</i> Order of the <i>Elephant</i>, the +<i>Prussian</i> Order of the <i>Black Eagle</i>, and his own Order which is that of +St. <i>Hubert</i>.</p> + +<!--310.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">285</a></span></p> + +<p>The Hereditary Prince has the Order of <i>Prussia</i> and that of the Duke his +Father.</p> + +<p>The Prince <i>Charles-Alexander</i> wears the <i>Fleece</i>, and the Order of +<i>Wirtemberg</i><a name="FNanchor_120_120" id="FNanchor_120_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a>. Prince <i>Lewis</i> his Brother wears the <i>Polish</i> Order of +the <i>White Eagle</i>.</p> + +<p>The Baron <i>de Schunck</i> heretofore the Duke's Minister of State, and at +present Great Bailiff of a Bailywic, is Knight of the Order of +<i>Dannebrog</i>.</p> + +<p>I should never have done were I to give you the Names of all the Knights +of the Order of St. <i>Hubert</i>, and the many petty Sovereigns that have been +the Grand Masters.</p> + +<p>The Duke's particular or Cabinet-Council is compos'd of the Hereditary +Prince and the Counts <i>de Gravenitz</i>, Father and Son, the Baron <i>de +Schutz</i>, and M. <i>de Pollnitz</i><a name="FNanchor_121_121" id="FNanchor_121_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a>. There are many other Counsellors of +State, but not being admitted to the Cabinet-Council they are not in so +much Esteem as the others.</p> + +<p>His most Serene Highness keeps the Estimate of his Forces to himself. I +think that he has now 4000 Men without reckoning his Life-Guards, which +are two Companies, the finest of all the Guards in <i>Germany</i>. One of these +Companies is commanded by the Lieutenant-General Baron <i>de Phul</i>, and the +other by a Count of <i>Witgenstein</i>. They are dress'd in yellow, and are +only distinguish'd by the Facing of their Clothes and their Bandeliers, +<!--311.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">286</a></span>one +of which is Black and the other Red. Their Regimental Clothes are +Yellow with Silver Lace. The Duke has also a Company of Cadets on +Horseback, all Gentlemen. They are dress'd in Red, with black Velvet +Facings and Silver Lace. They mount Guard at the Duke's Apartment only. +Two of them always stand Centry before his Highness's Chamber-Door.</p> + +<p>The Court of <i>Wirtemberg</i> is one of the most numerous in <i>Germany</i>.</p> + +<p>There's a Grand Marshal, who as I have told you is the Count <i>de +Gravenitz</i>, Brother to the Favourite.</p> + +<p>A Marshal of the Court, who is second Son to the Grand Marshal.</p> + +<p>A Travelling Marshal, who is Brother-in-law to the Prime Minister.</p> + +<p>A Great Cup-bearer, who is the Baron <i>de Frakenberg</i>.</p> + +<p>A Master of the Horse.</p> + +<p>A Great Huntsman.</p> + +<p>Four Chamberlains.</p> + +<p>A Number of Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber, and Gentlemen of the Court.</p> + +<p>Two Captains of the Guards.</p> + +<p>A considerable number of Counsellors of State and Aulic Counsellors.</p> + +<p>Twenty Pages, all Men of good Families.</p> + +<p>And finally a great many Footmen, and Officers of the Kitchen, Pantry, and +Buttery.</p> + +<p>The Duke's Stables are the best furnish'd of any in <i>Europe</i>. One shall +not see finer Horses, or any that are better manag'd. The Hunting Equipage +is also very magnificent; and I don't know one thing that is wanting. His +Highness keeps a Company of <i>French</i> Comedians to whose Performance every +body is admitted <i>gratis</i>. We have often Balls, Masquerades, and Concerts +of Music. +There<!--312.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">287</a></span> +is an Assembly at the Favourite's House every day, where +the Company plays at Piquet, Quadrille, and Pharo; so that here are all +the Pleasures of a great Court. The Duke's Table is serv'd with very great +Cost and Delicacy, and is commonly spread for sixteen Guests. The Duke +sits at the upper end, between her Royal Highness and her Excellency. The +Gentlemen are plac'd according to the Rank which they derive from their +Employments, and the Ladies according to the Offices which are borne by +their Husbands.</p> + +<p>There's a Ceremonial observ'd here which is not known in any other Court, +<i>viz.</i> the Duke's Ministers give place to no Foreigner, unless he be a +Minister like themselves to some Prince, or unless he be a Count of the +Empire. These have so distinguish'd a Rank at this Court that all who are +not Counts must give place to them. A Count of the Empire, tho' he be a +Cadet in the hundredth Generation, a Lieutenant or an Ensign, as it +sometimes happens, in the Duke's Service, takes place of all Ministers and +great Officers who are not Counts. This is a Regulation which her +Excellency made after her Brother was created a Count, to the end that her +Family might have the more Honour, and that the greater Respect might be +paid to her own Dignity of Countess without a County.</p> + +<p>I have told you that the Duke had transferr'd his Residence from +<i>Stutgard</i> to <i>Ludwigsbourg</i>, and the reason which made him abandon the +Capital of his Dominions; but why he preferr'd the Situation of his new +Town to a hundred others that he might have chose more agreeable, is what +I cannot account for.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Ludwigsbourg</span> is remote from any River, great Roads and Forests. The Duke +at first only built a small Mansion-House with two advanced Wings, so +disposed that the Court lay between the House and the Garden; but he has +since made great +Additions<!--313.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">288</a></span> +to it, and is actually building a large +Mansion between the Court and the Garden, to which the Wings of the former +Building are to be joined. One <i>Frisoni</i>, an <i>Italian</i>, has the direction +of these Works; in which it appears that he is a much better Mason than an +Architect. The new Building runs so far out that it discovers all the +Effects of it. The Front of the Mansion consists of three Stories, +including the Ground-Floor; but on the Garden side there are only two of a +moderate Height, so that one wou'd take this Building rather for an +Orangerie than for the Palace of a Sovereign. The great Stair-Case is +dark, the Apartments want Light, the Chambers are long and narrow, and +have very few Outlets. However, this single Building was undertaken by +<i>Frisoni</i> for 700000 Florins, exclusive of several sorts of Materials with +which he was furnished.</p> + +<p>The old Mansion, which fronts the new, is not near so large, tho' it is +three Stories high every way. The Apartments are small and too +inconvenient to live in, yet no Cost has been spar'd to adorn them; +Carving, Gilding, and Painting being employ'd in them with more Profusion +than Judgment. The Furniture is rich, but of a very odd Fancy. The best +thing in all the Palace is the Chapel, which would every where be reckon'd +a fine noble Structure. But notwithstanding all the Faults which are +observ'd in the Palace, it must be allow'd that whoever lives to see it +finish'd will find it a magnificent Piece of Work. In the Gardens there +are several Terrasses, which rising by degrees one above another, intirely +bound the Prospect of the Palace. 'Tis certain that when the Duke's +Architects saw this Prince resolutely determin'd to build at +<i>Ludwigsbourg</i>, they ought at least to have advis'd him to place his +Palace at the very spot where his Gardens end: In this case it would have +stood in the middle of a Plain, the Apartments would not have been cramp'd +by +the<!--314.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">289</a></span> +Buttresses, with which the Palace is encompass'd, and the Gardens +wou'd have had a gentle Descent; and for a very little Expence there might +have been a fine Piece of Water at one end, betwixt them and a Coppice, +which is a Walk for Pheasants.</p> + +<p>The City of <i>Ludwigsbourg</i> is as irregular as the Palace; and its +Scituation, which is very disadvantageous, will always render it a very +incommodious Town, because of the unevenness of the Ground. Most of the +Houses are of Timber, and slightly built; for those who build them do it +with an Ill-will, either out of Necessity, or to please the Duke who seems +to be fond of building. This Prince has ruin'd <i>Stutgard</i>, and will never +make a good Town of <i>Ludwigsbourg</i>; for if the Court was absent from it +but one Year, 'twou'd be one of the meanest Villages in <i>Wirtemberg</i>. This +Town is in no respect very agreeable. The Nobility here don't seem very +fond of Strangers, and there are no Entertainments but what are made by +the Duke. No body here, not even the Prime Minister keeps a Table; and all +the Expence of the Courtiers is in their Dress, and their Horses. Yet +there is not a Prince of the Empire who gives handsomer Salaries, except +the Electors; so that the Case is the very reverse here to what it is at +almost all other Courts, for here People grow rich, whereas elsewhere they +are beggar'd. I have known Persons that came to this Court in mean +Circumstances, and in a few Years got Estates. The Duke is by nature +generous and beneficent, and wou'd be more so if his Liberality was not +curb'd. He has given several Gentlemen Materials for building <i>gratis</i>; +and the Houses were no sooner up but he purchas'd them, and paid as dear +for 'em as if he had not contributed a Shilling towards raising them. I +have been assur'd that his most Serene Highness's Revenues amounted to +four Millions of Florins. 'Tis certain that he +is<!--315.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">290</a></span> +Master of one of the +finest Countries in all <i>Germany</i>; a Country which has plenty of every +thing, but Money is scarce by reason of the Fertility of the neighbouring +Provinces, <i>viz.</i> the <i>Palatinate</i>, <i>Bavaria</i>, <i>Franconia</i>, and <i>Alsace</i>. +The People are desirous of a War upon the Upper <i>Rhine</i>, in hopes of +putting off their Commodities.</p> + +<p>The <i>Lutheran</i> is the only Religion tolerated in the Duchy of +<i>Wirtemberg</i>, tho' the Duke has permitted <i>Frisoni</i> the Director of his +Buildings to erect a Chapel for the Use of the Catholic Workmen whom he +has sent for from <i>Italy</i> to build the Palace; which Chapel however is +design'd to be demolish'd as soon as the Works are finish'd: But I am +rather inclin'd to think that the Court itself will one day have a +Catholic Chapel; for if the hereditary Prince shou'd happen to die without +Male-Issue, <i>Wirtemberg</i> will fall to the Share of Prince <i>Alexander</i>, +(Cousin-german to the Duke) who has embraced our Religion; and who having +Children by the Princess of <i>Tour</i> and <i>Taxis</i> whom he marry'd at +<i>Brussels</i>, sees them brought up in the Catholic Faith.</p> + +<div class="right"> +<i>I kiss your hand, and am</i>, &c. +</div> + +<div class="c3"><i>POSTSCRIPT.</i></div> + +<p>Since I wrote the above, the Countess <i>de Wurben</i> is fallen under +Disgrace, which I have been told happen'd by this means.</p> + +<p>The Duke's Carriage to his Mistress had been cold for some time, when the +King of <i>Prussia</i> came to <i>Ludwigsbourg</i> and exhorted him to be reconcil'd +to his Wife, in order to get Heirs. The Duke cou'd not persuade himself to +take the Duchess again; but however the King's Representations prevail'd +so far, as to put him quite out of conceit with his Mistress. He just kept +up a bare Acquaintance with her, and that was all; which +she<!--316.png--><span class="pagenum">291</span> +perceiv'd, +and made no scruple to try the most extraordinary Methods to maintain +herself in Favour. The Duke having been blooded in her Presence, she +secreted a Napkin stain'd with his Blood. What Use she propos'd to make of +it I know not, but she carry'd it to her Apartment. The Duke's <i>Valets de +Chambre</i> missing the Napkin acquainted their Master of it. M. <i>de Roder</i>, +a Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber, and a Favourite of his Highness, said that +no body cou'd possibly take it but the Countess, and that to be sure she +did it for no good. The Duke order'd M. <i>de Roder</i> to go to the Countess's +Apartment and enquire into the Fact. <i>Roder</i> ask'd for the Napkin. The +Countess deny'd her having it; but <i>Roder</i> affirm'd he saw her take it, +upon which she was in a Passion with him, and told him she wou'd make him +repent of his Ill-manners to her. <i>Roder</i> made answer, that all the Airs +she gave herself were out of season, that her Reign was over, and that he +wou'd oblige her to return the Napkin. The Countess not us'd to be talk'd +to at such a rate, was frighten'd, and restor'd the fatal Napkin, which +completed her Ruin. The Duke, when inform'd by his Favourite of what had +pass'd, sent an Order to the Countess not to stir from her Apartment: And +this Prince setting out soon after for <i>Berlin</i>, charged the hereditary +Prince his Son to command Madamoiselle <i>de Wurben</i> to retire to her +Estate. The Countess obey'd, and being indulg'd to carry what she had a +mind to along with her, retir'd to a Territory of hers depending +immediately on the Empire, not many Leagues from <i>Ludwigsbourg</i>. There it +was that she heard of the Duke's Reconciliation with the Duchess, upon the +Duke's return from <i>Berlin</i>. This News extremely shock'd her, because she +always flatter'd herself that the Prince wou'd return to her: And +perceiving now that she had no Hopes of being +restor'd<!--317.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">292</a></span> +to Favour by the +power of her own Charms, she had a mind to try what she cou'd do by I know +not what Charm in the Magic Art. To carry her Point she was under a +necessity of having a little of the Duke's Blood; and she wrote to his +<i>Valet de Chambre</i>, promising him great Rewards if he cou'd procure her +some. What does the Domestic but carry the Letter to the Duke? who +immediately gave Orders to Colonel <i>Streithorst</i> to arrest the Countess, +and carry her to some Place of Security. The Colonel taking a Detachment +of Soldiers along with him, contriv'd it so that he came to the Countess's +Seat at Night, and immediately surrounding the House, knock'd at the Gate, +but no body making answer he thunder'd so hard at the Gate, that at length +Madame <i>de Sultman</i> the Countess's Sister put her Head out at the Window, +and ask'd who it was that dar'd to make such a Noise. <i>Streithorst</i> told +her his Name, and said he came thither by Order of the Duke. Madame <i>de +Sultman</i> made answer that the Countess was not well, and cou'd not be +spoke with. The Colonel, who knew the contrary, said, that if they did not +let him in he wou'd break open the Doors; upon which they thought fit to +open them. During this the Countess was got to Bed; and <i>Streithorst</i> +entring her Chamber found her there with her Sister and her two +Brothers-in-law, the General <i>N——</i> and <i>Sultman</i>, who was formerly at +<i>Berlin</i> Equerry to the Countess of <i>Wartenberg</i>, and afterwards +Privy-Counsellor to the Duke of <i>Wirtemberg</i>. The Colonel having signify'd +his Order to the Countess, she affected to be in a dying Condition; but +said that if she was able enough to get up she did not intend it, she +being at home, and in a free House of the Circle of <i>Swabia</i>, from whence +she did not think the Duke had Authority to remove her. The Colonel +threaten'd that his Grenadiers shou'd pull her out of Bed; and the Lady +seeing that she must +obey,<!--318.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">293</a></span> +thought fit to rise. She fell on her Knees to +<i>Streithorst</i>; but the hard-hearted Officer was deaf to her Cries, and +conducted her to a place of Security where she is closely confin'd, and +like to be a Prisoner as long as the Duke lives.</p> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 442px;"> +<img src="images/i16.png" width="442" height="75" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER XVII.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Carlsrouhe, Feb. 15, 1730.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>I Deny that any Man can be happier than I am at this Juncture. You have +wrote an excellent long Letter to me; you assure me that you are well, and +that you have still an Affection for me; what more is there wanting to +compleat my Joy? I am preparing to make you the best amends I can, and +instead of a Letter to write you a Volume.</p> + +<p>I came in one Day from <i>Ludwigsbourg</i> to <span class="smcap">Carlsrouhe</span>, which is the +Residence of the Margrave of <i>Baden-Dourlach</i>. The Name <i>Carlsrouhe</i> +signifies <i>Charles</i>'s Rest. The present Margrave <i>Charles</i> of +<i>Baden-Dourlach</i> was the very Man that laid both the Plan and Foundation +of this City, and its Castle. Nothing is so pretty as the Disposition of +the whole: I wish I were able to give you an Idea of it. Imagine the +Margrave's House to be at the Entrance of a great Forest, in the Center of +a Star form'd by thirty two Walks, the chief of which behind the Palace is +three <i>German</i> Leagues in length. Two large Wings advance from the main +<!--319.png--><span class="pagenum">294</span>Body +of the House, which deviating from each other in proportion as they +lengthen, the whole together looks like a Theatre. Behind the principal +Building there's a very high Octogon Tower which commands all the Walks. +The Space between the two Wings forms the Court, and then come the Gardens +and Parterres, at the end of which there's a Semi-Circle of Houses of an +equal Height, built Arch-wise, and three Stories high including the +Ground-Floor. Between these Houses there run five Streets, the middlemost +of which fronts the Palace. At the end of the three chief Streets opposite +to the Palace are three Churches; one belonging to the <i>Lutherans</i>, +another to the <i>Calvinists</i>, and a third to the <i>Roman</i> Catholics; to +which three prevailing Religions of the Empire the Margrave gave equal +Liberty of Conscience when he founded the new Town.</p> + +<p>The chief part of the Town lies behind the Houses that front the Palace. +This properly speaking consists but of one Street, which is of a +prodigious Length. All these Houses as well as the Margrave's are of +Timber, so that you are not to look for fine or substantial Buildings at +<i>Carlsrouhe</i>; but the Contrivance and Distribution of the whole taken +together is really wonderful. I took the Freedom to tell the Margrave that +I was surpriz'd that he had not at least employ'd Brick in the building of +his Palace, and of the Houses which form the Half-Moon about his Gardens. +'I was wil'ing, <i>said the Prince</i>, to make myself a Place of Retirement, +and to build without putting the Burthen on my Subjects. I chose moreover +to have the Comfort of enjoying what I built. If I had us'd Bricks it +wou'd have cost me a great deal more Money; and I cou'd not have finish'd +my Buildings without laying an extraordinary Impost upon my Country. It +wou'd have taken me +up<!--320.png--><span class="pagenum">295</span> +abundance of Time too, and perhaps I shou'd never +have had the Satisfaction of seeing an end to my Labours. Another Reason +was, that my Country is so scituate as to be liable to be the Theatre of +Wars, and I am not in a Condition to make this a strong Place, nor cou'd I +encompass it with Walls. Do you think therefore that I shou'd have been +justified in laying out a great deal of Money on a Place to see it burnt +down before my Face, as I did my House at <i>Dourlach</i>, and my other Houses +which the <i>French</i> reduc'd to Ashes. I am but a petty Sovereign; I have +built a House according to my Condition, and I had rather it shou'd be +said of me that I have but a mean Habitation, and owe no Money, than that +I have a stately Palace and am over Head and Ears in Debt.'</p> + +<p>I have given you this account of what the Margrave said to me, because I +thought it wou'd let you into an Idea of his Character. This Prince, to +whom I was introduc'd on the very day of my Arrival here, took the trouble +himself to shew me his Palace, and all about it. I thought the Apartments +very well laid out, but there is not room enough to lodge the hereditary +Prince, who lives in one of the Houses in the Semi-Circle fronting the +Palace.</p> + +<p>The Pheasant-Walk, which joins to the Castle, is the prettiest thing in +the World. 'Tis a very large Inclosure, dispos'd in various Walks planted +with Fir-Trees cut in the shape of a Fan. There's a great Basin in the +Center always full of wild Ducks. 'Tis encompass'd with four Pavilions, +made in the Form of <i>Turkish</i> Tents. Two of the Pavilions are Volarys, and +the two others Summer-Houses, with Window-Curtains of Green Cloth. There +are Sofas and Couches, after the manner of the Eastern Countries. In this +Place of Retirement and +Rest<!--321.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">296</a></span> +the Margrave spends some Hours every Day, +and he is generally accompany'd by some young Ladies whom he teaches +Music; so that they perform agreeable Concerts.</p> + +<p>The Margrave was in the right to give his House the Name of <i>Charles's +Rest</i>, for he leads the most tranquil Life here that can be. Far from +being infatuated with vain Grandeur, he has the Charms of it, without the +Check and Constraint of it. This Prince is of a very robust Constitution, +and tho' he underwent a vast deal of Fatigue in his Youth, he is as +fresh-colour'd and as vigorous as if he was but forty Years of Age. He +travell'd when he was a young Man into the principal parts of <i>Europe</i>; +and during his Father's Life-time was several Years in the Service of +<i>Sweden</i>. When he return'd to his Dominions he serv'd in the Army of the +Empire on the Upper <i>Rhine</i>, under his Cousin Prince <i>Lewis</i> of <i>Baden</i>. +Tho' the Margrave is very fat, yet he uses a great deal of Exercise. He +rises in Summer at five o'Clock in the Morning, and walks in his Gardens +till the Heat of the Weather obliges him to retire within doors; then he +does Business with his Counsellors, or else employs himself in Experiments +of Chymistry, and sometimes he draws. He commonly dines at four o'clock, +and is attended by Waiting-Women, of whom there are no less than +threescore, tho' no more than eight wait upon one Day. These, when the +Margrave goes abroad, attend him on horseback, dress'd like <i>Hussurs</i>. The +Generality of these Damsels understand Music and Dancing; they also +perform Operas at the Theatre of the Palace, and are Musicians of the +Chappel. They have all Lodgings in the Palace. After Dinner is over the +Margrave grants Audience to his Subjects; and upon particular Days of the +Week hears all that come. Few Princes render Justice more speedily, and +more punctually. Sometimes he goes a +Hunting.<!--322.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">297</a></span> +He makes very light +Suppers, and retires early to Bed. He delights in Agriculture, and is one +of the greatest Florists living. This Prince is never unemploy'd. There +are few things which he does not know, and very many which he understands +to Perfection. His Conversation is as agreeable as any I know. He speaks +several Languages well. His Behaviour is obliging and courteous. He loves +Foreigners, treats them with Distinction, and loads them with Civilities. +Upon Sundays and Holidays he eats with the Prince his Son, and the +Princess his Daughter-in-law. His Table, which is then spread for sixteen +Guests, is serv'd with more Delicacy than Profusion.</p> + +<p>The hereditary Prince<a name="FNanchor_122_122" id="FNanchor_122_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a>, only Son to the Margrave, is pretty short, and +has not the Life and Spirit of his Father. He is very complaisant and +civil, and seems to me of a good-natur'd Disposition. He has been at +<i>Paris</i>, in <i>England</i>, and in <i>Holland</i>, where he marry'd the Daughter of +the unfortunate Prince of <i>Nassau</i>, who was drown'd in 1711, as he was +passing the <i>Maerdyke</i> to the <i>Hague</i>, to adjust with <i>Frederic</i> I. King +of <i>Prussia</i>, such Differences as related to the Succession of the late +King <i>William</i> of <i>Great Britain</i>, to which they both laid Claim. The +hereditary Princess seems to me to be well behav'd; and she makes very +handsome Entertainments. The Court assembles at her House every day, +<i>viz.</i> at Noon, and at five o'clock in the Evening; and there they dine, +game, and sup. Foreigners are very well receiv'd there, and both the +Ladies and Gentlemen are very civil and complaisant.</p> + +<p>The Grand Marshal, and his Brother the Great Huntsman, are Persons capable +of making a Figure with Distinction in the greatest +Courts.<!--323.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">298</a></span> +The first +marry'd a legitimated Daughter of the Margrave.</p> + +<p>The Baron <i>d'Ixter</i>, President of the Regency, and Chief of the Council, +is a Person of signal Merit, and capable of any Business, be it ever so +great.</p> + +<p>Generally speaking the Margrave's Court is extremely well regulated. This +Prince is fond of the Nobility, and seeks to do them a Pleasure. He has +none but Persons of Quality in his Service. 'Tis great pity that this +Court does not come together again. The Margravine, who is Sister to the +Duke of <i>Wirtemberg</i>, resides at <i>Dourlach</i>, and never comes to +<i>Carlsrouhe</i> but when 'tis a Holiday, or when some foreign Prince is +there. This Princess is actually very much indispos'd, so that I don't +think I shall have the Honour of kissing her Hand. The Margrave also +educates at his Court three young Princes his Nephews, the Sons of his +Brother. They are under the Government of the Baron <i>de Gemming</i>, who +takes very great Care of their Education.</p> + +<p>As to the Margrave's Revenues, I cannot be positive what they are, because +I found that People who ought to know best, vary in their Calculations not +a little; some assur'd me they were 400,000, some 500,000 Florins, and +others much more. Be it as it will, 'tis certain that the Margrave lives +nobly, that every body is well paid, and that the Subjects are not +over-burthen'd. Farewell, Sir, I set out to-morrow for <i>Rastadt</i>, and +shall write to you as soon as I can, <i>&c.</i></p> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--324.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">299</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/i20.png" width="430" height="47" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER XVIII.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Strasbourg, Feb. 28, 1730.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>It took me up no more than four Hours to go from <i>Carlsrouhe</i> to <span class="smcap">Rastadt</span>. +As soon as I alighted there I notified my Arrival to the Grand Marshal, +with a Request that he wou'd procure me the Honour of paying my +Compliments to their Highnesses of <i>Baden-Baden</i>. I had for answer, that +the Margrave was out a Hunting, and that therefore I cou'd not have an +Audience before next day. I had patience to stay; and having by Good luck +some Books at hand, I spent all that day in Reading, and the next day too, +but did not hear a Word from the Grand Marshal. Mean time as I did not +come to <i>Rastadt</i> purely to read, and as 'tis a Town does not afford much +Amusement, since a quarter of an hour is enough to know all the Streets, I +was very chagrin. I sent a second Message to the Grand Marshal, but had +the same Answer as before. I thought it improper to insist any farther, +and gave over all hopes of seeing the Court of <i>Rastadt</i>. However I went +to see the Margrave's Palace, which his Father the late Prince <i>Lewis</i> of +<i>Baden</i> built from the ground. It is very much like to the Palace of <i>St. +Cloud</i> near <i>Paris</i>, and seems to be a Building conducted with more +Regularity than I observ'd in several new Houses in <i>Germany</i> left solely +to the Direction of ignorant Masons, who without a Taste for Building have +the Assurance to call themselves Architects.</p> + +<!--325.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">300</a></span></p> + +<p>The principal Stair-Case is large and lightsome. The Apartments have all +the Conveniences they can admit of. Those which are contiguous to the +grand Stair-Case are distributed into several Partitions, for Shew and for +Convenience. They are painted, gilt, and gaily furnish'd. The Margravine +Dowager to Prince <i>Lewis</i> put them in this Condition against the Marriage +of her Daughter to the Duke of <i>Orleans</i>; and the Furniture is indeed rich +and well fancy'd. The Keeper shewed me the Closet in which Prince <i>Eugene</i> +of <i>Savoy</i> and Marshal <i>Villars</i> sign'd the Peace in 1714. 'Tis pity that +this truly magnificent Palace has no Gardens to it. There's Ground mark'd +out for that purpose, and if Prince <i>Lewis</i> had liv'd they wou'd have been +finish'd.</p> + +<p>After having seen the Apartments and the Chapel, which is small, but +exceedingly adorn'd, not knowing what to do with myself I went to a +Billiard-Table fronting the Palace, where I found some Gentlemen of the +Court as idle as myself. They treated me as a Foreigner, and were +complaisant to me. A young Fellow of a good Appearance, and who seem'd to +have an Air of Politeness, having refus'd as well as myself to play, +enter'd into a Conversation with me: And by degrees that Sympathy of our +Tempers, which was a Stranger to the Laws of Reason, made us talk to one +another with as much Freedom as if we had been old Acquaintance. I +complain'd to him that tho' I had been three days at <i>Rastadt</i> I cou'd not +get an Opportunity of paying my Duty to their Highnesses of <i>Baden</i>. He +told me that I need not be surpriz'd at it; that since the Death of the +late Prince <i>Lewis</i>, the Margravine his Dowager, who was hereditary +Princess of <i>Saxe-Lawenbourg</i>, had introduc'd into her Court the +Ceremonial of the Eastern Princes; that she never appear'd but in a full +Divan,<!--326.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">301</a></span> +and that she did not permit any one whatsoever to come near to her +Son except the Bashaws and Dervizes who were of the Council. The young +Gentleman's manner of accounting for this matter made me smile, and put me +upon asking him several Questions. 'How! <i>said I</i>, according to the +Character I have had of the Margravine, she is very much of a Christian, +and of that virtuous Heroine which the wise Man, if he had been still +living, wou'd have propos'd to us for a Model. Indeed, <i>said the +Gentleman</i>, the Character you have had of her is right enough: The +Margravine has Piety and Virtues that render her valuable; but she has a +Haughtiness, and a certain <i>Particularity</i> in her Temper, which is hardly +to be parallell'd. For instance, if she had receiv'd you it wou'd have +been standing under a Canopy by an Arm-Chair, with as much State as the +Empress. She wou'd have ask'd you two or three Questions, after which she +wou'd have assur'd you of her Protection, and then have dismiss'd you +without detaining you to dine with her, as is the manner of all the +Princes of the Empire; but 'tis not the fashion here, <i>continued the +Gentleman</i>. The Margravine commonly dines in private, and we who are of +her Court don't see her but at Mass. The young Margrave our Master wou'd +like well enough to see Company, but his Mother giving him to understand +that she does not care for it, he conforms to her Pleasure. The young +Margravine, who is the Daughter of the Prince <i>de Schwartzenbourg</i>, has no +Authority, because tho' naturally obliging and civil she durst not put her +good Qualities in practice, because the Margravine Dowager reproaches her +that she does not know how to carry it like a Sovereign; by which means +this poor Princess is oblig'd to be proud against her Inclination. If you +were to see +her<!--327.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">302</a></span> +you wou'd be charm'd with her; for she is tall and +handsome, of a lively fair Complexion, but not languid, and has a very +noble Air. When the Margrave marry'd her she was an only Daughter, and the +Princess of <i>Schwartzenbourg</i> her Mother, who had not lived with her +Husband for near fifteen Years, was not like to have any more Children. +But the Event has proved contrary; for the Prince and Princess of +<i>Schwartzenbourg</i> are reconcil'd, and the Princess has had a Son, who has +frustrated the Hopes of our young Margravine of being some day or other +one of the richest Heiresses in the Empire. This has not advanc'd her in +the Favour of her Mother-in-law, who often snaps at her; but there being +no Remedy, the young Princess bears her Ill-humours with Patience. As she +is just brought to bed too of a Son, we hope she will have more Interest; +at least 'tis what we all wish, because she is a very good Princess. 'Tis +not a Year, <i>continued the Gentleman</i>, that our young Margrave has been of +Age, nevertheless his Majority is so controll'd by the Ascendancy which +the Dowager keeps over her Son, that it may be said 'tis she who governs +still. This Prince accustom'd to obey knows not what is the Pleasure of +commanding. There's the same likelihood of his being a Dependant as long +as his Mother lives; and indeed he ought to humour that Princess, as well +because she was always a good Mother to him, as for the Advantages she is +capable of doing him; for she is very rich, and has a noble Estate in +<i>Bohemia</i>, which she wou'd perhaps give to her youngest Son, who is Canon +of <i>Cologne</i> and <i>Augsbourg</i>, if the Margrave disobliged her; tho' I +believe it must be a great Offence indeed that wou'd provoke her to +disinherit him, because he was always her Darling, and perhaps too the +most dutiful +of<!--328.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">303</a></span> +all her Children. Such is her Tenderness for this Son +that when there was a Talk of his going abroad she wou'd needs go with +him; and she actually accompany'd him all over <i>Italy</i>. Some People were +indeed so ill-natur'd as to say that 'twas not out of Love to the Prince, +but because she was afraid he wou'd wean himself from her Company, and +break quite away from her. 'Tis said however that she is going to quit the +Court, and to retire to <i>Etlingen</i>, which is the Place assign'd for her +Jointure. We all wish it, not that we have any reason to complain of this +Princess, but because we hope then to have a gayer Court. For the rest, to +do the Margravine Dowager Justice, she has manag'd her Son's Finances with +a great deal of Œconomy. When the late Prince <i>Lewis</i> died he left a +heavy Debt upon the Country, which was also ruin'd by the late War. But +the Margravine Regent has paid off all, and so happily retriev'd the +Government and the Finances, that when her Son came of Age she gave him +considerable Sums, and the Country was in a better Condition than ever.'</p> + +<p>There the Gentleman concluded. After putting several Questions to him I +learnt that the Duchess of <i>Orleans</i> had been promis'd in Marriage to +Prince <i>Alexander</i> of <i>Tour</i> and <i>Taxis</i><a name="FNanchor_123_123" id="FNanchor_123_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a>, that the Presents were made +for the Wedding, and that the same was very soon to be celebrated: But +when the Duke of <i>Orleans</i> actually sent M. <i>d'Argenson</i> his Chancellor to +<i>Rastadt</i> to demand the Princess in Marriage, the Margravine her Mother +thinking this a better Match beyond comparison, call'd back the Promise +she had made to the Prince <i>de la Tour</i>, and concluded the Treaty with the +Duke of <i>Orleans</i>. The young Margrave marry'd his Sister by Proxy, in +<!--329.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">304</a></span>presence +of M. <i>d'Argenson</i>, and the Princess was conducted to +<i>Strasbourg</i>, where finding a Set of Domestics sent from <i>Paris</i> to +receive her, she turn'd off all her <i>German</i> Servants and proceeded on her +Journey to <i>Chalons</i>, whither the Duke of <i>Orleans</i> went to meet her.</p> + +<p>The same Gentleman from whom I learnt all these Particulars told me +likewise that the young Margrave, before he marry'd the Princess of +<i>Schwartzenbourg</i>, was to have had the Daughter of King <i>Stanislaus</i>, but +that the Margravine broke off the Marriage-Treaty which was very far +advanc'd, because the King was not able to pay down a hundred thousand +Crowns ready Money for his Daughter's Dowry. It was undoubtedly owing to +that Princess's happy Star that the King could not raise the Sum, for in +such case his Daughter would not now have worn one of the first Crowns in +the World. The Gentleman told me moreover that the Margravine was +mortify'd to the last degree when she heard that the Princess whom she had +refus'd for her Daughter-in-law was become the Queen of <i>France</i>. She was +apprehensive too that this Princess or the King her Father would take +revenge for the Slight she had put upon their Alliance, and she wrote a +Letter to King <i>Stanislaus</i> to congratulate him on an Event so glorious to +him, and to recommend to him the Duchess of <i>Orleans</i> her Daughter. <i>I +intreat you, Sir</i>, said she, <i>to prevail with the Queen your Daughter to +honour my Daughter and all my Family with her Favour. I will presume to +say that both I and Mine deserve it at your Hands for the Respect we have +always had for you</i>. This Letter, which was as submissive as the +Margravine's Conduct had been haughty, was receiv'd with very great +Civility by King <i>Stanislaus</i>, who, after having read it to the Queen his +Wife, could not help saying, <i>I am much oblig'd to +the</i><!--330.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">305</a></span> +<i>Margravine for +this Letter</i>, and he return'd her a very engaging Answer. 'Tis my Opinion +that at that time, instead of bearing the Princess any Ill-will he took it +very kindly of her that she had refus'd his Daughter for a +Daughter-in-law. The officious Gentleman would perhaps have inform'd me of +other Particulars concerning the Court of <i>Rastadt</i>, if the Margrave's +Return from Hunting had not oblig'd him to go to the Castle. I thank'd him +for the trouble he had given himself, and went and shut my self up at my +Quarters.</p> + +<p>I set out next day for <i>Strasbourg</i>, and in less than five Hours arrived +at <span class="smcap">Kehl</span>. 'Tis all an even Country, and admirable Roads. We travel thro' +the Dominions of <i>Spire</i>, the Bishoprick of <i>Strasbourg</i>, and the County +of <i>Hanau</i>. At <i>Kehl</i> I paid a Visit to the General Baron <i>de Roth</i>, the +Governour of the Place, who entertain'd me at Dinner, and made me +exceeding welcome, but so ply'd me with Liquor that I thought my self at +<i>Fulde</i> or <i>Wurtzbourg</i>. After Dinner M. <i>de Roth</i> shewed me the +Fortifications, which I found in a very bad State. The Commandant told me +that he had taken a world of pains to represent it to the Dyet of the +Empire at <i>Ratisbonne</i>, but that he might as well have talk'd to so many +deaf Men. 'Tis certain that if Care be not taken, the <i>Rhine</i> will wash +away the Fort one day or other, and carry it to <i>Holland</i>. The Marshal <i>de +Bourg</i> said to me a while ago when we were talking of <i>Kehl</i>, that M. <i>de +Roth</i> would do well to fasten his Fort with Chains to the Citadel of +<i>Strasbourg</i>.</p> + +<p>There's only a Bridge over the <i>Rhine</i> to pass from <i>Kehl</i> to <span class="smcap">Strasbourg</span> +the Capital of <i>Alsace</i>, and formerly an Imperial City. The <i>French</i> made +themselves Masters of it in <i>September</i> 1681, when they came to the very +Gates of the Place before the Town had notice of their March, and when it +was<!--331.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">306</a></span> +in no Condition to make resistance; for whether they thought they had +no need of being upon their guard, or whether the chief Burgomasters had +been corrupted, the Town wanted but every thing. The Capitulation was +signed on one side by the Marquis <i>de Louvois</i>, and the Baron <i>de Monclar</i> +Commandant in <i>Alsace</i>; and on the other by eight Deputies of the City, +which was secured in all its Privileges, Prerogatives and Customs, both +ecclesiastical and civil. The Bishop was nevertheless restored to his See, +and the Canons to the Cathedral, which had belonged for 152 Years to the +<i>Lutherans</i>. <i>Lewis</i> XIV. made his entry into <i>Strasbourg</i> the 23d of +<i>October</i> following, and immediately order'd a Citadel and other Works to +be erected, which have since been so augmented that <i>Strasbourg</i> may now +be rank'd among the most important Places of <i>Europe</i>. The Marshal Count +<i>de Bourg</i> commands in it, and has one of the King's Lieutenants under +him, who is always a General Officer. M. <i>Dangervilliers</i><a name="FNanchor_124_124" id="FNanchor_124_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a> formerly +Intendant of <i>Dauphiny</i>, is Intendant of the Province of <i>Alsace</i> and the +City of <i>Strasbourg</i>. These Gentlemen, whom I have been to see, receiv'd +me with prodigious Civility, and very punctually return'd my Visit.</p> + +<p>The Marshal Count <i>de Bourg</i> preserves a stately Mien in an advanced Age, +and one may easily perceive he has been a very fine Man in his time. He +was Page to <i>Philip</i> of <i>France</i> Duke of <i>Orleans</i>, Brother to <i>Lewis</i> the +Great, and to that Duke's Favour his Advancement to Military Employments +is very much owing, tho' 'tis true that he has distinguished himself in +the Service. On +the<!--332.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">307</a></span> +26th of <i>August</i> 1709, he defeated near <i>Rumersheim</i> +the Count <i>de Mercy</i>, who commanded a flying Camp of 9000 Men detach'd +from the Army of the Empire, then under Command of the Elector of +<i>Hanover</i>, afterwards <i>George</i> I. King of <i>Great Britain</i>. This Victory +gain'd M. <i>de Bourg</i> the blue Ribbon. King <i>Lewis</i> XV. gave him the Staff +of a Marshal of <i>France</i>, and confirmed him in the Government of +<i>Strasbourg</i>. The <i>French</i> Officers accuse this Marshal of Pride, but for +my part, I have all the Reason that can be to love him for his Civility.</p> + +<p>M. <i>Dangervilliers</i> is really more engaging than the Marshal, and is +therefore more beloved by the Officers. He is affable and civil, +complaisant to Foreigners, and lives with a vast deal of Splendor. The +Princes of the Empire that border upon <i>Alsace</i> like him very well, and +think he is more candid, and less haughty than his Predecessors.</p> + +<p>There's not many of the Nobility settled in this City, and of these few +that are wealthy; and therefore they live very much retir'd. The Canons of +the Great Chapter who ought all to be Princes or Counts, are not of very +great Service, because most of 'em holding other Benefices, only come to +<i>Strasbourg</i> to pass away three Months there of their Residence, and by +consequence they are here as Strangers. The best Houses therefore are the +Intendant's and the King's Lieutenant's. There are always a great many +Officers here who are indeed amiable Fellows, and know how to serve, and +to be good Company too upon occasion. The Commandants of the Corps are in +Years, and Officers of Experience, and the rest are clever smart Youths +who long sadly to be fighting, and would fain make you believe the four +Corners of the World will quickly be on fire. I have not seen finer +Infantry than the <i>French</i> Infantry at this present time. +There<!--333.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">308</a></span> +are very +fine Gentlemen too in the Cavalry, but then they are not near so well +mounted as ours. You know the Cry with us is that the <i>French</i> are ruin'd, +and not able to do any thing more. How the Case stands with them, I really +know not, but if one may judge of it by Appearances, it cannot be so. No +Troops were ever better cloathed, better paid, more spruce, nor finer. The +Officers are splendid; they game, divert themselves, and eat and drink +well, which does not seem to me to be the Life of People in want. Upon +these terms, I would be content to be in such want all my Life long.</p> + +<p>The Garrison maintains a Company of Comedians who are paid by the +Captains, and commanding Officers, for the Subalterns are admitted +<i>gratis</i>. The Theatre, which is one of the prettiest in the Country, is +maintain'd by the City.</p> + +<p>A Man that has a Taste for a plain home-bred Girl may here find Amusement +and good Blood. 'Tis observ'd that the <i>Lutheran</i> Women are the most +beautiful, and the Sex at this Place is said to be very indulgent, and +very tractable; so that I should be apt to think, a Man need not be very +open-hearted to them.</p> + +<p>Tho' <i>Strasbourg</i> may be reckon'd among the finest Towns in <i>France</i>, one +can't say there's a single House in it that is magnificent, or makes a +grand Appearance. The Cathedral is a very stately Building of <i>Gothic</i> +Architecture; its famous Spire is one of the most lofty, and of the +neatest Workmanship of any in <i>Europe</i>. <i>Misson</i>, who 'tis like always +carried his Plummet and Foot-Rule in his Pocket, because he never fails to +give the Length and Breadth and Height of a Thing, says that 'tis 574 Foot +in height; and I believe he is not mistaken. <i>Erkivin de Stembach</i> who was +the Architect, finish'd it in the Year 1449. 'Tis said that <i>Lewis</i> XIV. +had a mind to have a Spire erected upon the +second<!--334.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">309</a></span> +Tower which seems to +have been built with that View. He order'd M. <i>de Vauban</i> to draw a Model +of it, and to compute the Cost, which he found would amount to several +Millions of Livres. The King thinking that he could employ that Sum to a +better purpose, contented himself with making a Present to the Cathedral +of the Ornaments, and all the Priests Vestments for celebrating Mass upon +the several annual Festivals; the whole of which is extraordinary +sumptuous, and becoming the Magnificence of one of the greatest Kings in +the World. 'Twas in the Cathedral of <i>Strasbourg</i> that the Duke of +<i>Orleans</i> the first Prince of the Blood of <i>France</i> married as Proxy to +<i>Lewis</i> XV. <i>Mary Lescinski</i>, the Daughter of King <i>Stanislaus</i>. This +Ceremony, at which I was present, was more magnificent than what was +observ'd at <i>Fontainbleau</i> at the Queen's Arrival; and the Concourse of +<i>German</i> Noblemen and Princes hither upon the Occasion was prodigious. The +Cardinal <i>de Rohan</i>, as Bishop of <i>Strasbourg</i>, gave the Nuptial +Benediction. Nothing can be finer than the Speeches which his Eminency +made upon that Solemnity: As they fell into my hands, I think I ought to +communicate them to you. You will find them <i>verbatim</i> at the End of this +Letter. <i>Poland</i> in this Instance, made a worthy Restitution to <i>France</i>, +which many Years ago gave the <i>Poles</i> a King who was afterwards the +unfortunate <i>Henry</i> III; and they have now in their turn given a Queen to +<i>France</i>. But <i>Germany</i> may boast that the Queen derives from the Empire +that Fund of Virtue which is the Source of her Happiness, and makes her +admir'd by the Universe. <i>France</i> had for a long time left off sending to +our Climates for her Queens. <i>Mary-Anne Victoria</i> of <i>Bavaria</i> was in a +fair way to be one, but she died a Dauphiness<a name="FNanchor_125_125" id="FNanchor_125_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a>. <i>Lorrain</i>, <i>Scotland</i>, +<i>Italy</i> and +<i>Spain</i>,<!--335.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">310</a></span> +had as it were engross'd the Crown of <i>France</i> for +their Princesses. But I hope the Virtues of the present Queen and the +other <i>German</i><a name="FNanchor_126_126" id="FNanchor_126_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a> Princesses who are now at the Court of <i>France</i> will +oblige the <i>French</i> to confess that if our Princesses have not Crowns for +their Dowries like the Infanta's of <i>Spain</i>, they have an Estate of more +Value than all the Wealth in the World, <i>viz.</i> Piety, Charity, and Love +for the People.</p> + +<p>A great many young <i>German</i> Gentlemen come hither for the sake of learning +<i>French</i>, and their Exercises, but I don't think they are a jot the better +for it, because the Masters of their Exercises are not better Scholars +here than they are in many Towns of <i>Germany</i>; and as to the <i>French</i>, +they speak it very ill in this City; for the Inhabitants talk +<i>High-Dutch</i>, and our young Sparks are so pleas'd to hear their own +Language spoke that they neglect to learn any other. Besides they always +herd together, and too easily catch one another's Vices as well as +Virtues. As they have not many Parts to shew, they spend their time at the +Billiard-Table, the Coffee-House, and often at other Places not so honest, +of which there are but too many here, this being a City as noted for +Libertines as any in <i>Europe</i>.</p> + +<div class="right"> +<i>I am</i>, &c. +</div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p><i>The Speech of Cardinal <span class="f">de Rohan</span> to the</i> <span class="smcap">Queen</span><i>, before the Celebration of +the Marriage.</i></p> + +<div> +<i>MADAME</i>, +</div> + +<p>'While I see you in this sacred Temple approaching to our Altars to +contract that illustrious Alliance which is to unite you to the greatest +of Kings and the most amiable of Princes, +I<!--336.png--><span class="pagenum">311</span> +adore what God designs you +for, and admire with Transport the Course that Providence is steering to +conduct you to the Throne which you are going to ascend. You are +descended, <span class="smcap">Madame</span>, from a Family illustrious for its Antiquity, for its +Alliances, and for the eminent Employments which the great Men it has +given to <i>Poland</i> have fill'd successively with so much Glory. You are the +Daughter of a Father, who, thro' the various Events of a busy Life, +chequer'd by good and bad Fortune, has always shewn himself the Gentleman, +the Hero, and the Christian. You have for your Mother, and your +Grandmother, Princesses, who like to <i>Judith</i>, and to that virtuous Woman +whose Character is drawn in the Scriptures, have attracted the Veneration +and Respect of the whole World, by the Fidelity with which they always +walk'd in the Fear of the Lord. In your Person, <span class="smcap">Madame</span>, are center'd all +the Accomplishments that can be form'd by a happy Birth, and an admirable +Education, supported by Examples equally strong and affecting. In you, +that Goodness, that Mildness, and those Charms are predominant, which gain +Love at the same time as they inforce Respect; that Integrity of Heart +which nothing can resist; that Superiority of Understanding and Knowledge +which are conspicuous, as it were in spite of you, and in spite of that +Modesty and noble Simplicity which are natural to you; and finally that +which is the Crown of so much Merit, that Taste for Piety, and that +Attachment to the true Principles of Religion, which animate your Actions, +and regulate your Conduct. Adorn'd with all these Virtues, what Crown is +there to which you might not reasonably aspire, exclusive of the Custom +which in some measure obliges Kings to look no farther than round the +Throne for Princesses that they have a mind would reign with +them?<!--337.png--><span class="pagenum">312</span> +He who +disposes of Empires puts the Sceptre of <i>Poland</i> into the hands of a +Prince to whom you owe your Being, and by giving the Father that Splendor +conducts the Daughter insensibly to the sublime Station he is preparing +for her. But, O God, how impenetrable are thy Designs, and how far above +human Prudence are the Means thou makest use of to bring about thy wise +Purposes! This Prince was scarce seated on the Throne in which the Choice +of the Grandees, and the Affection of the People had plac'd him, but he +was oblig'd to quit it: He is abandon'd, betray'd, persecuted; one fatal +Shot bereaves him of the Hero his Friend, and the chief Stay of his Hopes: +He submits to the necessity of the Times without abating in his Courage: +He seeks refuge in a Country which is the common Shelter of unfortunate +Kings: He comes to <i>France</i>, and thither, <span class="smcap">Madame</span>, you are following him. +All that see you there, touch'd with your Misfortunes, admire your Virtue, +the Odour of which spreads to the Throne of a young Monarch, who, such is +the Lustre of his Crown, the Extent of his Power, and above all, the +Charms of his Person, might have made his choice out of all the Princesses +of the World: But being guided by wise Counsels, he fixes it upon You; and +here the Finger of God is plainly visible in improving that very +Misfortune which separates the King your Father from his Subjects, and +takes you out of <i>Poland</i> to give Us in your Person, a Queen who shall be +the Glory of a Father and of a Mother, of whom she is now the Comfort and +Delight; a Queen, who shall render that Nation happy which most richly +deserves it, at least for its Respect and its Fidelity to its Sovereigns; +a Queen, who being inviolably attach'd to her Duty, full of Tenderness and +Respect for her Husband, and her King, and +wisely<!--338.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">313</a></span> +employ'd in what is +capable of procuring her solid Happiness, will revive to us the Reign of +the Empress <i>Flaccilla</i>, of whom History says, that having always kept the +Precepts of the Divine Law in her view, she conferr'd thereupon daily with +the great <i>Theodosius</i>, and that her Words like a fruitful Rain, water'd +with success those Seeds of Virtue which God had sown in the Heart of her +Husband. Come then, <span class="smcap">Madame</span>, Come to the Altar. May the Engagements you are +going to enter into, sacred of themselves, (since according to the +Apostle, they are the Symbol of the Union of Jesus Christ with his Church) +may they be also sanctify'd by your own Disposition. May you be so +sensible of what you are going to be, that you may acknowledge that in +crowning your Merits, he crowns his Gifts: And may you Christians that +hear me, when you see the shining Rewards that are bestowed in this World +upon true Virtue, learn to respect and love it.'</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p><i>The Cardinal's Speech after the Celebration of the Marriage.</i></p> + +<div> +<i>MADAME</i>, +</div> + +<p>'Now that august Ceremony is ended which crowns our Hopes and our Wishes; +give me leave to desire your Majesty's Royal Protection for the Church of +<i>Strasbourg</i>. This Church has not forgot and never will forget the signal +Favours it has received from our former Kings. How great are its +Obligations to our last Monarch! Being deliver'd up by the Misfortunes of +the Times to the Furys of Schism and Heresy, it would perhaps have +perish'd as many others did, if that great Prince, by resuming the Rights +of his Ancestors, had not undertaken its defence, and supported it with +all his Power. To him it is oblig'd for +the<!--339.png--><span class="pagenum">314</span> +Advantage of being restored +to the Possession of this sacred Temple from which it had been banished. +There's nothing here but what puts us in mind of his Pious and Royal +Magnificence. Temples adorn'd, Pastors liberally maintain'd, Missions +founded, new Converts protected and supported, are so many Monuments of +the Zeal and Piety of a King whose Memory will never die. He had not the +Comfort to finish the Work which he had undertaken; that is to say, the +reuniting of all the Sheep of this illustrious Flock in one and the same +Fold: This was reserv'd to the worthy Heir of his Zeal and Crown. It will +be your part, <span class="smcap">Madame</span>, to represent to your August Spouse how much the +Remembrance of his Great Grandfather, his own Glory, and our Necessities, +which are even those of Religion, require of him. You will not desire that +Recourse shou'd be had to those Methods which exasperate, without +persuading; such would not be to your Majesty's liking, and God forbid +that we should suggest them to you. Those Children who disown us are your +Subjects, <span class="smcap">Madame</span>, and the Church of <i>Strasbourg</i> confiding intirely in +God's Mercy, still looks on itself as their Mother. We therefore conjure +you by the Bowels of Jesus Christ, to employ, for the sake of uniting +them, every Thing with which an active but sympathizing Charity may +inspire you. God will bless your Majesty's Endeavours, and our Desires, +and will employ the Instances of your Piety and your Faith to the total +Confusion of Error, and the Triumph of the Truth. May your Reign be long +over us, <span class="smcap">Madame</span>, for the Happiness of the King, and the Welfare of this +great Kingdom. May God hear the Prayers which the Church has now offer'd +up for your Majesty, and may you be so good as to place us in the Rank of +your most zealous and most faithful Subjects.'</p> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--340.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">315</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 432px;"> +<img src="images/i14.png" width="432" height="53" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER XIX.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Heidelberg, March 12, 1730.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>Being in the Neighbourhood of <span class="smcap">Saverne</span> where the Cardinal <i>de Rohan</i> lives, +I had a mind to go thither. I have had the Honour to be known to that +Prelate a long time, and was overjoy'd at the opportunity of paying my +respects to him.</p> + +<p><i>Armand Gaston</i> Cardinal <i>de Rohan</i> was elected Bishop of <i>Strasbourg</i> the +10th of <i>April</i> 1704<a name="FNanchor_127_127" id="FNanchor_127_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a>, and received the Cardinal's Cap from the Hands +of <i>Lewis</i> XIV. the 18th of <i>May</i>, 1712. The Year following he succeeded +the Cardinal <i>de Janson</i> as Great Almoner. The Emperor granted him the +Temporal Investiture of the See of <i>Strasbourg</i><a name="FNanchor_128_128" id="FNanchor_128_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a> +on<!--341.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">316</a></span> +the 10th of +<i>June</i> 1723, and in 1724, he obtain'd a Seat in the College of Princes at +the Assembly of <i>Ratisbon</i>. This Prelate who is considerable for his Birth +and Dignities, is much more so for his great Soul, his polite and obliging +Behaviour, and for an Air of Grandeur which accompanies all his Actions. +He is a comely Person, as are indeed all of his Family. Being noble and +magnificent in every thing that he does, he lives wherever he is like a +great Nobleman, but particularly at <i>Saverne</i>. I found at his Palace the +Duke and Duchess of <i>Tallard</i>, the Duchess <i>de la Meilleraie</i>, +Madamoiselle <i>de Melun</i>, the Prince and Princess of <i>Birkensfield</i>, M. +<i>Dangervilliers</i>, the Intendant of <i>Strasbourg</i>, the Count and Princess of +<i>Hanau</i>, and in short a great many Officers of Distinction. They had all +convenient Lodgings and Accommodation in the Castle; and Gaming, taking +the Air, Hunting, Music, and Good Cheer were their constant Diversions.</p> + +<p>The Bishops of <i>Strasbourg</i> have resided for a long time at the Palace of +<i>Saverne</i>, which was always a convenient House; but the Cardinal <i>de +Roban</i> has made it very considerable. The outside of this Palace is not so +magnificent as the inside. The Entry which leads to the chief Stair-Case +is lighted to great advantage, and has several Outlets that have a +convenient Communication with the lower Apartments, which are high, and +very finely embellish'd. The principal Stair-Case is very grand, and leads +to a stately Salon with most curious Decorations. It has a double +Apartment which is render'd as commodious as possible; and the Furniture +consists of Embroidery of Gold and Silver, which may be thought perhaps +too rich. The Queen, who lodg'd at the Cardinal's House when she came to +<i>Saverne</i>, was charm'd with the Splendor of it, and the extraordinary +Respect with which she was attended here.</p> + +<!--342.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">317</a></span></p> + +<p>The Cardinal <i>de Rohan</i> designs that this rich Furniture shall remain +annex'd to the See; for which his Successor will certainly have very great +Obligations to him: But his Eminence was not so much oblig'd to his +Predecessors; for when he was chose Bishop he found a House very much out +of order, and scarce a Chair in it, whereas 'tis now fit for a King. His +Eminency is about making very large fine Gardens, which are in very great +forwardness, and perfectly answerable to the Grandeur and Beauty of the +Palace; and at the end of them there is a stately Canal which cost +infinite Labour and Expence. The whole of it is the more magnificent +because <i>Saverne</i> stands at the foot of very high Mountains; and in +digging the Canal the Workmen often met with Rocks which they were forc'd +to blow up.</p> + +<p>At the Cardinal's Table there's both Abundance and Elegance; and his +Eminency entertains in such a manner as really charms his Guests. All his +Domestics follow his example; and 'tis certain that they are all very +diligent; and that there is not a House in <i>France</i>, or in <i>Europe</i>, where +there's better Attendance. His Eminency's Houshold, and all his Temporal +Affairs in general, are directed by the Abbott <i>de Ravanne</i>, Counsellor in +the Parliament of <i>Paris</i>.</p> + +<p>The Cardinal is one of the richest Noblemen in <i>France</i>, and without +dispute the most expensive. He has built a Hotel at <i>Paris</i>, and furnish'd +it sumptuously. He has made considerable Works at <i>Saverne</i>, and laid out +a great deal of Money in Plate, Furniture, Pictures, antique Vessels, and +Busts, Medals, and Books. Some time ago he purchas'd of the President +<i>Menard</i> the famous Library of the illustrious Messieurs <i>de Thou</i>, +formerly one of the most celebrated in <i>France</i>; and he daily in-riches +<!--343.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">318</a></span>it +with all the most curious and uncommon Books and Manuscripts.</p> + +<p>Besides all these Expences, the Cardinal intends also to build a new +episcopal Palace at <i>Strasbourg</i><a name="FNanchor_129_129" id="FNanchor_129_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a>, where he is indeed but +indifferently lodg'd at present. The Marquiss <i>de N——</i> talking of the +Cardinal <i>de Rohan</i>'s Expence, said, <i>That, to be sure, his Eminency had +found out the Philosopher's Stone</i>. I think so too, and that he has done +it by procuring himself five or six hundred thousand Livres a-year in good +Benefices.</p> + +<p>From <i>Saverne</i> I went to <span class="smcap">Haguenau</span>, and to <span class="smcap">Weissenbourg</span>, formerly Imperial +Cities, and now subject to <i>France</i>, but Places of little consequence. +King <i>Stanislaus</i> after the Death of <i>Charles</i> XII. King of <i>Sweden</i>, +being forc'd to quit <i>Deux-Ponts</i> to which he had retired with his Family, +came and resided at <i>Weissenbourg</i>; and here it was that he receiv'd the +first Proposals that were made to him for the Marriage of his Daughter +with King <i>Lewis</i> XV. I came and took up my Quarters at <span class="smcap">Landau</span>, one of the +most scoundrel Places in the World, but the best fortify'd; and famous for +having stood out several Sieges. The Emperor <i>Joseph</i> took it when he was +King of the <i>Romans</i>. The <i>French</i> retook it a little before the signing +of the Peace at <i>Rastadt</i>, by which Treaty it was left in their hands. +They maintain a good Garison in it, and have added several Works to it.</p> + +<p>From <i>Landau</i> I pass'd to <span class="smcap">Brhousel</span>, with an Intention to pay my respects +to the Cardinal <i>de Schonborn</i> Bishop of <i>Spire</i> who resides there, but I +did not succeed better there than at <i>Rastadt</i>; for his Eminency excus'd +himself from seeing me because he was going a hunting, and put me off till +next day; but I did not think it worth while to wait, what had happen'd to +me at the Court of <i>Baden</i> being too fresh in my Memory. I was afraid of +the<!--344.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">319</a></span> +same Fate at <i>Brhousel</i>, where I lay at such sorry Quarters that I +cou'd not avoid catching Cold, my Lodging-Room being without Glass, and be +famish'd into the bargain, there being nothing to eat: Besides, my +Landlord told me that the Cardinal made even those People who came to him +upon Business dance attendance for three or four days. I said to my self +therefore that he had much more reason to make me wait, who came to his +Court out of meer Curiosity. I resolv'd therefore, as any Gentleman ought +to have done in the like case, and took the opportunity of the Cardinal's +Absence to go and view the outside of his Palace. 'Tis a great Structure +not yet entirely finish'd, which the Cardinal has hitherto carry'd on from +the very Foundation; but if I must be sincere with you, all these Works, +considerable as they are, have been form'd upon pitiful Plans. It has cost +a very large Sum of Money; and I fancy that in the time of the ancient +<i>Teutonics</i>, it wou'd have been reckon'd a very fine Structure. The chief +Beauty of it lies in its Situation; for a great Variety of agreeable +Objects are discovered from the Apartments. The Gardens are also so new +that one can scarce know the Plan of 'em; it seems to me that they are not +of an extraordinary Taste, and that they wou'd be much more suitable for a +private Man than for a Sovereign.</p> + +<p>The Cardinal <i>de Schonborn</i> is a keen Sportsman. He has Game enough in his +own Bishoprick, for the Country so abounds with all sorts that the Fields +are ruin'd by the Deer. The Peasants are so hard put to it to preserve +their Corn that they are oblig'd to watch it day and night. The Cardinal +often makes Hunting-Matches for the Stag and wild Boar, in which they kill +hundreds; at such times the Peasants are oblig'd to take a certain +quantity of Meat, for which they pay so much +a<!--345.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">320</a></span> +Pound, according to a +Price that is regulated. The Bishoprick of <i>Spire</i> is one of the +fruitfullest Provinces in <i>Germany</i>, but the Inhabitants are extremely +poor; for their Provisions lie on their hands, and they have scarce +wherewithal to pay the great Taillies due to their Sovereigns.</p> + +<p>The Dignity of the Bishop of <i>Spire</i> is elective, as are all the +Bishopricks of <i>Germany</i> which are not in the hereditary Dominions of the +House of <i>Austria</i>. The Bishop is Sovereign of the Country, but the City +of <i>Spire</i> has particular Privileges, as have all the Imperial Cities. You +know it was at <i>Spire</i> that the Emperor <i>Charles</i> V. establish'd the +Imperial Chamber, which is as it were the Parliament of the Empire. The +<i>French</i> having destroy'd <i>Spire</i> when they ravag'd the <i>Palatinate</i>, the +Chamber or supreme Tribunal was transferred to <i>Wetzlar</i> in <i>Wetteravia</i>, +where indeed it seem'd to be more in the Center of <i>Germany</i>, and secur'd +from all manner of Insult.</p> + +<p><i>Damien-Hugo</i> Count <i>de Schonborn</i> Cardinal, is at this present Bishop of +<i>Spire</i>, and Co-adjutor of <i>Constance</i>. He is also grand Commander of the +Teutonic-Order. He was heretofore a Member of the Emperor's Privy-Council, +and his Plenipotentiary to the Circle of Lower <i>Saxony</i>. <i>Clement</i> XI. of +the <i>Albani</i> Family honour'd him with the Purple. He is descended of a +Family in which Merit has happen'd to be back'd by Fortune. The Cardinal's +Father was the first Count of it. He was also one of the Emperor's +Privy-Council, and Brother to <i>Lotharius-Francis</i> Elector of <i>Mentz</i> and +Bishop of <i>Bamberg</i>. The Cardinal has actually a Brother who is Elector of +<i>Triers</i>, another who is Bishop of <i>Wurtzbourg</i> and <i>Bamberg</i>, whom I have +mention'd to you upon other occasions; and lastly, a third who is a +Counsellor of State<a name="FNanchor_130_130" id="FNanchor_130_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a> to the +Emperor,<!--346.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">321</a></span> +and is now the Head of the +Family. Messieurs <i>de Schonborn</i> had formerly an Elector of <i>Mentz</i> in +their Family, who was at the same time Bishop of <i>Wurtzbourg</i>, but that +Prince left them no great Estate; so that they were not very rich when +<i>Lotharius-Francis</i>, Uncle to them all, was chose Elector of <i>Mentz</i>. But +this Prince procur'd them both Wealth and Honours, and render'd the Count +<i>de Schonborn</i>, who is Counsellor of State to the Emperor, one of the +richest Noblemen in <i>Germany</i>.</p> + +<p>From <i>Brhousel</i> to <i>Heidelberg</i> there's one of the finest Countries in the +World, planted with Fruit, and especially Walnut-Trees, which bring in a +great Revenue.</p> + +<p>The City of <span class="smcap">Heidelberg</span>, upon the <i>Necker</i>, is very much pent up by that +River, and a Chain of Hills, so that 'tis not near so broad as 'tis long. +This City is the Capital of the Lower <i>Palatinate</i>, and was formerly the +Residence of the Electors. Here is a University which was founded in 1346, +by <i>Robert</i> Prince <i>Palatine</i>, who was chose King of the <i>Romans</i>. No Town +has smarted more by the Scourge of War. Since the Disgrace of <i>Frederic</i> +Elector <i>Palatine</i>, whom the <i>Bohemians</i> chose for their King, it has been +taken, plunder'd, or burnt four times. In 1622, the Emperor's General +<i>Tilly</i> put 500 <i>Palatines</i> in it to the Sword, and at the same time the +Emperor carry'd off the famous Library, which he gave in part to <i>Urban</i> +VIII. who caused it to be placed in the <i>Vatican</i>, where 'tis still to be +seen. In 1634, <i>Heidelberg</i> was besieg'd twice. <i>John de Werth</i> took it +for <i>Lewis</i> XIV. but not being able to carry the Castle he retir'd. Not +many days after, the Marshals <i>de Force</i> and <i>Brez</i> forc'd the Quarters +of the <i>Germans</i>, and took both the Town and Castle. The <i>French</i> took +this City a third time in 1688, and again in 1693, +which<!--347.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">322</a></span> +was the last +time, Sword in hand; at what time they committed Cruelties shocking to +remember, and of which there are woful Marks still left in <i>Heidelberg</i>, +and all the Towns in the <i>Palatinate</i>. This City was beginning to recover +it self by the Elector's residing there, when it brought a more heavy +Disgrace upon it self than all the Misfortunes it had suffer'd by the War. +The Case was thus:</p> + +<p>The great Church of <i>Heidelberg</i> since the Peace of <i>Westphalia</i> belongs +half to <i>Roman</i> Catholics, and half to the <i>Calvinists</i>, of whom the +former have the Choir, and the others the Body, and nothing but a thin +Partition separates the two Communions. The Choir not being big enough to +contain the Catholics when the Court resided at <i>Heidelberg</i>, the Elector +propos'd to the <i>Calvinists</i> to yield him the Body of the Church, +alledging that not only the Choir was too scanty, but that he shou'd be +very glad that the Church in which the <i>Palatine</i> Princes lie interr'd +were altogether Catholic. He promis'd at the same time that another Church +should be built for them larger and finer than what they were to yield to +him. The <i>Calvinists</i> said that the great Church had been granted to them +by the Treaty of <i>Munster</i>; that all the Princes who were Guarantees of +the Peace of <i>Westphalia</i> were engag'd to preserve them in the enjoyment +of it; that therefore they could not give it up without violating that +Treaty, which was their Security, and without rendring themselves unworthy +of the Protection of the Protestant Powers. The Elector, in order to +remove those Obstacles, consented that the Powers who were Guarantees of +the <i>Westphalian</i> Treaty of Peace, in which the Church he desir'd was +expressly mentioned, should be Guarantees of the Church which he promis'd +should be built for them: But all these Offers how reasonable soever were +not accepted +by<!--348.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">323</a></span> +the <i>Calvinists</i>. The Elector being thereby incens'd, +made use of his Sovereign Authority, and took by force what they were not +willing to yield to him; whereupon the <i>Calvinists</i> had recourse to the +Protestant Princes of the Empire, the <i>Lutherans</i> as well as the +<i>Calvinists</i>, who constituting but one Body and one Communion when the +Catholics are to be oppos'd, united together, and engag'd in their Quarrel +the Kings of <i>Great Britain</i>, <i>Denmark</i>, <i>Sweden</i>, and <i>Prussia</i>, and the +<i>States-General</i>. These Powers caused the Catholic Churches in their +Dominions to be shut up, sequester'd the Estates of the Convents, and made +such Clamors and Menaces that the Elector was oblig'd to reinstate the +<i>Calvinists</i> in the Nave of the Church; but he was so angry with the +Inhabitants of <i>Heidelberg</i> for their Disrespect to him that he remov'd +his Residence to <i>Manheim</i>. The Burghers were not very sorry at first for +the Departure of the Court; for being accustom'd to its Absence, they +flattered themselves that the Tribunals of the Regency, which, since the +Accession of the <i>Newbourg</i> Family to the Electorate, had constantly been +kept at <i>Heidelberg</i>, would remain there still. But they were soon thrown +into the utmost Consternation when they saw those Tribunals follow the +Elector. They went and cast themselves at the Feet of their angry +Sovereign, and asking his Pardon for having affronted him, they offer'd +him the Church which was the cause of his Displeasure, and conjur'd him to +return to their City. But all their Supplications were fruitless; the +Elector was stedfast in his Resolution to punish <i>Heidelberg</i>, and +abandon'd it for ever. <i>Heidelberg</i> having no Trade, and subsisting only +by the Court, or by the Tribunals of the Regency, of which it was totally +depriv'd, falls now into decay, and will, no doubt, e'er 'tis long dwindle +to little or nothing.</p> + +<!--349.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">324</a></span></p> + +<p>The Elector's Palace is higher than the City, and situate in such a manner +that there's a Prospect from the great Apartments quite through the +Opening between the Mountains, by which the <i>Necker</i> runs into the Plain. +The Palace is built of Free-Stone, and is a magnificent Structure. The +greatest part of it was burnt by the <i>French</i> when they destroy'd the +<i>Palatinate</i>: The Lodging-Rooms that are subsisting are very substantial, +tho' not built in the modern Taste. The Apartments are large, but want +Ornament, especially since they have been stript of their Furniture. The +Gardens were formerly reckon'd the finest in <i>Germany</i>; but there's scarce +any thing left of them except the Place where they flourished. If one may +judge of what they were by their Situation, they must have been very +pleasant, by reason of the extensive Prospect they afforded into the +Country.</p> + +<p>I do not intend to detain you with an Account of the famous Tun, <i>Misson</i> +having given a more exact Description of that than of many Towns which he +treats of. You will in his <i>Travels</i> find a Cut of this Vessel, which will +give you a more perfect Idea of it than any Narrative whatsoever. The +Elector <i>John-William</i>, the Predecessor of the present Elector, gave a +Companion to this Tun, which is not altogether so large, but much more +adorn'd. They are both full of Wine. I remember that in 1719, when I was +at the <i>Palatine</i> Court, the Elector ask'd me at Table whether I had seen +the Great Tun; and upon my saying that I had not, that Prince, than whom +there was not a more gracious Sovereign in the whole World, told me he +would carry me to it. He made a Proposal to the Princess his Daughter, who +was marry'd to the hereditary Prince of <i>Sullzbach</i>, to go thither after +Dinner was over; which she accepted. The Trumpets led the way, and the +Court followed +in<!--350.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">325</a></span> +great Ceremony. When we had mounted the Platform which +is over the Tun, the Elector did me the honour to drink to me out of the +<i>Wilkom</i>, which was a Silver gilt Cup, of a large dimension. He took it +off clean at one Draught, and having caused it to be replenished, sent it +to me by a Page. Good Manners, and the Respect I ow'd to the Elector's +Commands, not permitting me to refuse the Chalice, I begg'd heartily that +he would suffer me to drink it off at several Draughts; which was indulg'd +me; and the Elector talking in the mean time with the Ladies, I took the +opportunity of his Absence, and made no scruple to deceive him, for I +return'd great part of the Wine to the bottom of the Tun, threw a part of +it on the ground, and the rest, which was the least part of it, I drank. I +thought my self well off that he did not perceive in what manner I bubbled +him; for I saw he was very well pleased with me. Then several other great +Glasses went round, and the very Ladies wet their Lips, which was the +thing that effectually contributed to demolish us. I was one of the first +that was overpower'd. I perceived those convulsive Motions that threaten'd +me if I drank any more, therefore I sneak'd off and made the best of my +way down from the Platform. I was endeavouring to get out of the Vault, +but was stop'd at the Door by two Life-Guard Men, who with their Carabines +crossing each other, cry'd, <i>Stand, there's no coming this way</i>. I +conjur'd them to let me pass, and told them that I had very important +Reasons for my departure; but I might as well have talk'd to the Wind. I +found my self in a terrible Quandary: To get up again to the head of the +Tun was Death: What would become of me I could not tell. In short I crept +under the Tun, and there hoped to hide my self; but it was a fruitless +Precaution: There's no avoiding a Man's Destiny. It was +my<!--351.png--><span class="pagenum">326</span> +Fate to be +carry'd out of the Vault, and to know nothing of the matter. For the +Elector perceiv'd I was a Deserter, and I heard him say, <i>Where is he? +What's become of him? Let him be look'd after, and brought up to me dead +or alive</i>. The Guards at the Door being examin'd said that I came that way +in order to get out, but that they sent me back again. All these +Inquiries, which I heard from my Hole, made me burrow my self the more. I +crept under the Covert of a couple of Boards I met with by chance, where +nothing but a Cat, Devil, or Page could possibly find me out. But a little +Page, who was indeed both Devil and Page too, ferreted me, and baul'd out +like one that was mad, <i>Here he is! Here he is!</i> and then I was taken out +of my Covert. You may imagine what a silly Figure I made. I was carry'd +before my Judge, who was the Elector himself. But I took the liberty to +challenge both him and all the Gentlemen in his Retinue, as being Parties +in the Cause. <i>Alas! my little Gentleman</i>, said the Prince to me, <i>You +refuse us for your Judges; I will appoint you others then, and we shall +see whether you come off any better</i>. He nominated the Princess his +Daughter, and her Ladies to try me, and the Elector was my Accuser. After +pleading my own Cause they put it to the Vote, and I was condemn'd +unanimously to drink as long as I could swallow. The Elector said, that as +he was the Sovereign he would mitigate my Sentence; that I should that day +drink four Pint Glasses of Wine, and that for a Fortnight running I should +tip off the like Glass to his Health immediately after Dinner. Every body +admir'd the Elector's Clemency, and whether I did or not, I was fain to do +as they did, and to return him Thanks. Then I underwent the heaviest part +of my Sentence; I did not lose my Life indeed, but for some Hours I lost +both my Speech and +my<!--352.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">327</a></span> +Reason. I was carry'd to a Bed, where when I came +to my self I was told that my Accusers were in the same pickle as I was; +and that none of them went out of the Vault in the same manner as they +enter'd it. Next day the Elector was so good as to mitigate the remaining +part of my Sentence, and excus'd me from the Penance to which I was +condemn'd, upon my promising him that I wou'd make one at his Table for a +Month to come.</p> + +<div class="right"> +<i>I am</i>, &c. +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 432px;"> +<img src="images/i14.png" width="432" height="53" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER XX.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Manheim, March 17, 1730.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>In going from <i>Heidelberg</i> to <span class="smcap">Manheim</span> we leave the <i>Necker</i> on the right +hand, but keep almost all the way by the side of that River. 'Tis three +Leagues from one City to the other, over a fruitful Plain. <i>Manheim</i> lies +between the <i>Rhine</i> and the <i>Necker</i>, in a marshy Country, which has +always been reckon'd very unwholesome. About fourscore Years ago this City +was but a Village. <i>Frederic</i> Elector <i>Palatine</i>, who was chose King of +<i>Bohemia</i>, caus'd it to be fortify'd, and built a Castle or Citadel there, +which he call'd <i>Fredericsbourg</i>. At the same time a Town was built, of +which all the Streets run parallel, the chief that passes thro' the middle +of the Town was planted with Trees after the manner of <i>Holland</i>. But the +<i>French</i> having taken <i>Manheim</i> in 1693, raz'd it to the +ground,<!--353.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">328</a></span> +and by +the Treaty of <i>Nimeguen</i> it was stipulated that <i>Manheim</i> should be +demolished; which was done accordingly. <i>John-William</i> of <i>Newbourg</i>, the +last Elector, began again to fortify <i>Manheim</i>, according to the Plans +laid down by the famous <i>Cohorn</i>; but those Works were suspended, so that +no more than two Bastions and a Courtain were finish'd. When the present +Elector <i>Charles-Philip</i> came to live at <i>Manheim</i> he caus'd those Works +to be resumed which his Brother had discontinued, and to be carried on +with such Diligence that in a few Years he put the Place in a state of +Defence<a name="FNanchor_131_131" id="FNanchor_131_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a>. The Fortifications are all fac'd with Brick; and <i>Manheim</i> +is now one of the best Places in all <i>Germany</i>.</p> + +<p>This City has three fine Gates, of which that of the <i>Necker</i> is the most +magnificent, and the best adorned; in which one sees beautiful +Basso-relievos, after a Plan very happily executed. This Gate opens +towards a long and spacious Street, at the end of which stands the +Elector's Palace, one of the largest and most substantial Buildings in +<i>Europe</i>. It were to be wish'd indeed that the Architecture had been more +regular: Never had any Architect more Advantage, for he built it new from +the Foundation, was not stinted for want of room, and as he set no Limits +to his Expence, I should have thought that a masterly hand might have +produc'd something curious. Nevertheless there are Faults in the Building +which are shocking to such as have the least Skill in Architecture; +insomuch that they who have a Taste for that Science are sorry that a +Building which has been so expensive has been no better conducted. The +Situation of this Palace is indeed very fine, at the end of the City, and +of a very noble large Street, which like all the rest runs in a strait +Line. The Palace, which has a great +Square<!--354.png--><span class="pagenum">329</span> +before it, consists of a large +number of Lodging-Rooms, with a great high Pavilion in the middle, and two +advanc'd Wings, with ample Pavilions at the ends; where two other very +extensive Wings rise on both sides that are likewise terminated by +Pavilions, behind which there are other Lodging-Rooms. The inside of the +Palace is form'd by two great Courts, which are to be separated by an open +Gallery or Terrass, the Model of which is very much adorned with +Architecture; but I can't think it will look well when 'tis done. The +Apartments are adorn'd with fine noble Floors and Cielings, and have the +finest Prospect in the World to <i>Spire</i>, <i>Franckendahl</i>, <i>Worms</i>, and all +the Country in general, as far as the Mountains of <i>Alsace</i>, which +consists wholly of Towns and Villages. All this fine fruitful Country is +water'd by the <i>Rhine</i>, which passes behind the Palace of <i>Manheim</i>, and +washes its Fortifications. Upon this beautiful Canal there are to be the +Gardens of the Palace, for which there are intended two Courtains and a +Bastion.</p> + +<p>'Tis almost inconceivable how the Elector was able to get all the Works +about <i>Manheim</i> finished in so few Years; for in short I remember to have +seen Partridges where there are now Houses and Palaces. The whole Town is +laid out in a most regular and charming manner; and 'tis without dispute +one of the prettiest Towns in <i>Europe</i>. 'Tis pity the Houses are not +higher: The reason they alledge for it is, that <i>Manheim</i> is a fortify'd +Town, and that by consequence the Houses ought to be low. I know not what +Authority there is for this, since <i>Strasbourg</i>, <i>Metz</i>, <i>Luxembourg</i>, and +<i>Lisle</i>, are Places of much more Importance than <i>Manheim</i>, and yet the +Houses are as high there as they are in other Towns.</p> + +<p>The Palace is commodious, and yet, for what reason I know not, the Elector +does not +live<!--355.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">330</a></span> +in it<a name="FNanchor_132_132" id="FNanchor_132_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a>. Some say that he has been told of so many +Faults in it as have quite put him out of conceit with it, and others that +'tis because a certain Astrologer prophesy'd he would die there; but I am +apt to believe that the latter Reason is no more than a Joke, and I dare +to say that the Elector is too wise a Man to credit it. Mean time this +Prince dwells in a House belonging to a <i>Jew</i>, to which several other +private Houses are join'd; but for all that the Lodgings are very bad.</p> + +<p>There can't be a better-natur'd Man than <i>Charles-Philip</i> of <i>Newbourg</i>, +Elector <i>Palatine</i>. He is the best of Masters, and the most affable of +Princes. He is reckoned extremely handsome, and one of the chief Dancers +in his time; and he has a noble Aspect. His Behaviour and Conversation +engage one to love him, and to pay one's court to him out of pure +Inclination. He formerly was fond of Pomp and Pleasure, but since the loss +of his only Daughter and his Son-in-law, who died within a few Years one +of another, he seems to be no longer taken with what was heretofore his +Amusement. The Elector has been twice marry'd, <i>viz.</i> first to +<i>Louisa-Charlotte</i> Princess of <i>Radzeville</i>, and secondly to <i>Theresa +Lubomirski</i>, both <i>Polish</i> Ladies. The former left him a Daughter that was +marry'd to <i>Joseph-Charles</i> Prince <i>Palatine</i> of <i>Sultzbach</i>, but died in +1728; as did her Husband the Year following. This Princess had such Beauty +and Merit, that she was the Comfort of her Father and the Admiration of +her Acquaintance. She left three young Princesses, whom the Elector causes +to be educated at his Court, where they are now all that he has to delight +him; but then they incessantly renew to him the sorrowful Remembrance of a +Daughter who was extremely dear to him.</p> + +<!--356.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">331</a></span></p> + +<p>The Death of that Princess has been a very great Affliction to the +Elector, and chang'd the Face of the <i>Palatine</i> Court. Indeed as to +Affability, and to the Goodness of his Temper, he is still the same +Elector, but he has no longer that Gaiety of Humour which his Daughter's +Company rais'd in him; for she had a thousand different Amusements for +him, and Pleasures and Merriment every where accompany'd her. The Elector +eats always in private, except on Holidays, and when there's any foreign +Prince at his Court. After he has been in public at Mass, he commonly +stops in one of his Apartments to chat with the Courtiers, or to play at +Billiards till Dinner-time. After Dinner he goes to Bed, and lies there +two Hours; then he rises, and after having caus'd himself to be dress'd, +he gives Audience to his Ministers, and to such private Persons as want to +talk with him. He is very attentive to those who speak to him, and answers +them with Good-nature and Kindness. He seldom refuses what is in his power +to grant; and when Reasons force him to a denial, 'tis visible that he is +uneasy, and he refuses in so civil a manner, that People go away at least +comforted, if not contented. At six o'clock in the Evening the whole Court +meets in his Electoral Highness's Apartment, where there is Play till nine +o'clock, and then the Elector retires, makes a very slight Supper, and +goes to Bed in good time.</p> + +<p>Tho' the Elector dines in private there's always a Table sumptuously +serv'd for the hereditary Prince of <i>Sultzbach</i>, Brother to him who was +the Elector's Son-in-law. This passes for the Elector's Table, is spread +for eighteen Guests, and is serv'd by Pages.</p> + +<p>The Prince <i>de Sultzbach</i> is look'd upon as the Elector's Heir, because +'tis not supposed that the Elector's Brother, the Elector of <i>Mentz</i>, +would<!--357.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">332</a></span> +be willing to quit the first Electorate of the Empire, and the +great Benefices which he possesses, to become Elector <i>Palatine</i>, if he +should happen to survive his Brother<a name="FNanchor_133_133" id="FNanchor_133_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a>. The Bishop of <i>Augsbourg</i>, the +Elector's second Brother, being a Priest, cannot succeed. The Prince <i>de +Sultzbach</i>'s Father is still living; but being as old as the Elector, he +is not like to survive him very long<a name="FNanchor_134_134" id="FNanchor_134_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a>. The Prince <i>John-Christian</i> of +<i>Sultzbach</i> was born in 1700. He is the Widower of the Princess <i>de la +Tour</i> of <i>Auvergne</i>, who brought him for her Portion the Sovereignty of +<i>Bergopzoom</i>; and left him a Son, who is educated at <i>Brussels</i> with his +Great-Grandmother the Duchess Dowager of <i>Aremberg</i>. The Prince +<i>John-Christian</i> is tall and extremely corpulent, insomuch that 'tis well +if he has not the Dropsy. He spent the first Days of his Youth at the +Court of <i>Lorrain</i> in <i>France</i>, and in the <i>Netherlands</i>, by which Travels +he acquired a great deal of Politeness. He was lately betrothed to +<i>Eleonora-Philippina</i> of <i>Hesse-Rhinfelds</i>, Sister to the Princess of +<i>Piedmont</i><a name="FNanchor_135_135" id="FNanchor_135_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a>, and to the Duchess of <i>Bourbon</i>. This Princess is every +day expected from <i>Turin</i>, to which Place she accompanied her Sister. +Their Highnesses will then go and keep their Court at <i>Heidelberg</i><a name="FNanchor_136_136" id="FNanchor_136_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a>.</p> + +<!--358.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">333</a></span></p> + +<p>The Principal Noblemen of the <i>Palatine</i> Court are the following:</p> + +<p><i>Francis-George</i> Count of <i>Manderscheldt-Blanckenheim</i><a name="FNanchor_137_137" id="FNanchor_137_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_137_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a>, the Steward +of the Houshold, Prime Minister, and Knight of the Order of St. <i>Hubert</i>. +He is of illustrious Extraction; is a Man of Integrity and very great +Probity, incapable of doing an ill thing, but not at all engaging in his +Deportment; for he is reserved, with an Air of Haughtiness, which is a +Defect that he was born with, and endeavours to conquer, but cannot. When +one knows him intimately he proves a good Friend, and capable of doing one +Service. He has very great Pensions from the Elector, and is the oldest of +his Family, which being pretty numerous, he does not live in a very grand +manner.</p> + +<p>The Baron <i>de Sickingen</i> is Great Chamberlain, Minister of State, and +Knight of the Order of St. <i>Hubert</i>. He is a Gentleman of a fine Presence, +of an easy and engaging Access, with profound Learning, and Sentiments +suitable to his Birth. He was Governor of the late Prince <i>de Sultzbach</i>, +Son-in-law to the Elector; and he imprinted such Ideas of Men and Things +in the Mind of that young Prince, as gave great hopes that his Government +would be happy if ever he attain'd to it. M. <i>de Sickingen</i> was afterward +the Elector's Envoy Extraordinary to the Imperial Court; and I knew him at +<i>Vienna</i> where he was exceedingly beloved. At his return he succeeded his +Brother in the Office of Great Chamberlain, which he exercises with the +Approbation of the whole Court.</p> + +<!--359.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">334</a></span></p> + +<p><i>John-Frederic</i> Count <i>de Globe</i>, is Grand Marshal, Minister of State, and +Knight of the Order of St. <i>Hubert</i>. He is very rich, and has a fine +Estate in <i>Bohemia</i>. He was once the Elector's Page, who finding him at +the bottom a Man of Integrity and Honour, took care of his Fortune, gave +him the best Employments at his Court, and raised him to the Dignity of +Count. M. <i>de Globe</i> has been seldom at <i>Manheim</i> for some Years past; +which is a Loss both to Court and City, because he liv'd very nobly, and +more than all, was very civil to Foreigners<a name="FNanchor_138_138" id="FNanchor_138_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a>.</p> + +<p>The Baron <i>de Wohlin</i> is Master of the Horse<a name="FNanchor_139_139" id="FNanchor_139_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a>. He is one of those Men +in whom we meet with that Candor and Probity so much boasted by our +Fathers.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>de la Tour</i> and <i>Taxis</i> is Captain of the Life-Guards, +Lieutenant-General, and Knight of the Order of St. <i>Hubert</i>. His Carriage +seems blunt and proud, yet he is familiar with those that are in his +Confidence. He has considerable Credit at Court, owing to his Sister's +being so long in favour with the Elector.</p> + +<p><i>Julius Augustus</i> Count <i>de la Marck</i>, Lieutenant-General, Captain of the +hundred <i>Swissers</i>, and Knight of St. <i>Hubert</i>, is descended of an +illustrious Family in the Empire. He spent part of his Youth in the +Service of <i>France</i>, where his eldest Brother is now actually a +Lieutenant-General, Colonel of a foreign Regiment, and a Commander of the +Order of the <i>Holy Ghost</i>. He has learnt all the <i>French</i> Politeness; his +<!--360.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">335</a></span>Behaviour +resembles the Man of Quality; his Temper is gay, and he loves +good Cheer, Joy and Pleasures.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>Egmont de Hatzfeldt</i> Lieutenant-General, Minister of State, and +Secretary at War, comes from one of the best Families in the Empire, This +Nobleman is extraordinary civil; his House is open to all Persons of +Distinction; he lives very nobly, and both his Lady and himself are very +fond of entertaining Foreigners. They were both intrusted to conduct to +<i>Piedmont</i> the Princess of <i>Sultzbach</i> first Wife to <i>Charles</i> Prince of +<i>Piedmont</i><a name="FNanchor_140_140" id="FNanchor_140_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_140_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a>, and discharged their Employments in such a manner that +they had the general Approbation of the <i>Sardinian</i> Court.</p> + +<p>The Barons of <i>Hildesheim</i> and <i>Beveren</i> are both Ministers of State. The +former acquired a very great Reputation in the Negotiations that were +carry'd on at <i>Heidelberg</i> in 1719, for the Church of the <i>Calvinists</i> +which the Elector had a mind shou'd be Catholic. The second has been Envoy +to the King of <i>Great Britain</i>. They are both to be valued for their +Merit, live very honourably, and make Foreigners welcome.</p> + +<p>I could tell you of many other Persons of Birth and Merit employ'd at this +Court, but really my Letter would be too tedious. Nevertheless I cannot +omit the mention of the Baron <i>d'Obsten</i>, whom you saw at <i>Breslau</i>, after +he had quitted the Service of the <i>Czar</i>. He is settled here, but has no +Character. He and all his Family are become of our Communion. He has a +considerable Pension from the Elector, and is generally very well +esteem'd. His Son, who is a Captain, is a young Gentleman of Merit, and +his Daughters are young Ladies highly to be esteem'd for their good +Behaviour and Politeness.</p> + +<!--361.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">336</a></span></p> + +<p>The Count <i>de Nassau-Weilbourg</i> lives here also. His Birth would engage me +to give you an Account of him tho' I were not induc'd to it by the +Consideration of his Merit. This Nobleman has an infinite share of it; he +is generous, magnificent, genteel, and civil, knowing what Family he is +descended from; but knowing it for no other reason than to discharge all +the Obligations of it. He is the Ornament of this Court, tho' he is not in +the Service of the Elector. His Father was Velt-Marshal, and Commander in +Chief of the <i>Palatine</i> Troops during the Reign of the late Elector <i>John +William</i>. The Count I am speaking of was Envoy Extraordinary from the +Elector to the Court of <i>France</i> during the Minority of <i>Lewis</i> XV. He +then went often to the Royal Palace to pay his court to the Regent's +Mother, and there it was that I knew him; for that Lady and the whole +Court of France had a very great Value for him. That Princess speaking of +him one day to me, said she was very glad that he was a Count of <i>Nassau</i>; +for indeed, said she, he deserves to bear a great Name<a name="FNanchor_141_141" id="FNanchor_141_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a>.</p> + +<p>There are amiable People here of both Sexes who are very sociable, so that +'tis a Stranger's own fault if he misses of Amusement here; for such are +generally treated very civilly. As for my own part, I have received so +many Courtesies from the Elector, and so many Favours from his Court that +I shall for ever acknowledge them.</p> + +<p>The Nobility maintain a Company of <i>French</i> Comedians who act three times +a Week upon a very little Theatre, but both the Townsmen and Foreigners +pay. Tho' this Company, of which the Count +<i>de</i><!--362.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">337</a></span> +<i>la Marck</i> has the +Direction is not the best, yet 'tis a pleasure to go to it for the sake of +seeing Company. In the time of the late Princess there were a thousand +Pleasures which there are not now, so that her Death is still lamented.</p> + +<p>The Elector's Revenues are reckon'd at two Millions of Crowns. You may +rate them more or less, 'tis no matter; for my own part, I affirm nothing, +being not willing to imitate the Marquis <i>de Breton-Villiers</i>, who in his +Memoirs of the Regency values the Revenues of all the Princes of the +Universe with as much assurance as if he had been Superintendant of every +one's Finances. The Elector has about 7 or 8000 Soldiers, exclusive of his +Guards. His best Places are <i>Manheim</i>, <i>Juliers</i>, and <i>Dusseldorp</i>. The +three Religions tolerated in the Empire have Churches here, and the <i>Jews</i> +a large Synagogue. They are very numerous at this Place, and two thirds of +the Houses belong to them, as being either built by them, or mortgag'd to +'em. Some of them are very rich, and drive a great Trade with the <i>Jews</i> +at <i>Meiz</i>, <i>Frankfort</i> and <i>Amsterdam</i>. 'Tis certain that they do a great +injury to the Christian Merchants, and that they are not honester here +than elsewhere.</p> + +<p>Don't write to me, if you please, before I have sent you my Direction, +because I know not whether I shall stay long enough at <i>Frankfort</i>, to +which some Affairs call me, to receive your Letters.</p> + +<p>Just now we hear of the Death of Pope <i>Benedict</i> XIII. As I never saw a +Conclave, and am in the Humour of Travelling, I have an inclination to +take a tour to <i>Rome</i>. I shall not resolve on it till I come to +<i>Frankfort</i>. Which way soever I go you shall be inform'd, and I will not +fail to desire your Commands. Mean time I am always very sincerely, <i>&c.</i></p> + +<!--363.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">338</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 432px;"> +<img src="images/i14.png" width="432" height="53" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER XXI.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Frankfort, March 21, 1730.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>At my Departure from <i>Manheim</i> I pass'd the <i>Rhine</i> over a Bridge of +Boats, and in three Hours time arrived at <span class="smcap">Franckendahl</span>, which was formerly +fortified, but after having suffered by the general Conflagration in the +<i>Palatinate</i>, was dismantled by the Peace of <i>Nimeguen</i>, and so it has +remained ever since. It still bears the Marks of <i>French</i> Fury; and a +great many Houses that were burn'd have not been rebuilt.</p> + +<p>There's the finest Country in the World between <i>Franckendahl</i> and <span class="smcap">Worms</span>. +I came hither at ten o'clock in the Morning, and spent the rest of the +Forenoon in seeing what was most remarkable. <i>Worms</i> is not the Place now +that it was before the <i>French</i> burn'd it. Its most wealthy Inhabitants +instead of rebuilding their Houses, retir'd to <i>Frankfort</i> and <i>Holland</i>, +so that the Chapter of <i>Worms</i>, which is wholly compos'd of Persons of +Quality, is now the chief Glory of the Town. The Bishop of it is the +Elector<a name="FNanchor_142_142" id="FNanchor_142_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_142_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a> of <i>Mentz</i>, who was chose <i>July</i> 12, 1694. This Prince has +built a new Episcopal Palace, the Contrivance +of<!--364.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">339</a></span> +which is beautiful. It +joins to the Cathedral which is ancient, and built very substantially. The +<i>Lutherans</i> have just built a fine Church, the Roof of which is painted. +In several Compartiments there's the History of <i>Luther</i>'s pretended +Reformation. That Doctor is there represented as appearing before the Dyet +of the Empire which met at <i>Worms</i> <i>An.</i> 1521. You know that he was cited +to it by the Emperor <i>Charles</i> V. His Friends, to dissuade him from +appearing, put him in mind of <i>John Huss</i>, who notwithstanding the +Safe-Conduct that had been granted him by the Emperor <i>Sigismond</i>, was +burnt by a Decree of the Council of <i>Constance</i>. <i>Luther</i>, without being +intimidated, said, that <i>tho' he was sure to be engag'd with as many +Devils as there were Tiles upon the Houses of <span class="f">Worms</span>, he was resolv'd to +go</i>. He went thither accordingly, and appear'd the 17th of <i>April</i> before +the Dyet, where he offer'd, with a Courage deserving a better Cause, to +maintain his Doctrine and his Writings against all that should go about to +demolish them from the Holy Scriptures.</p> + +<p>The City of <i>Worms</i> stands in the middle of a fine spacious Plain, +abounding with Corn, Vineyards, and Fruit-Trees. A Wine is produced here +which is call'd <i>Lieben-Frauen-Milch</i>, i. e. <i>Our Lady's Milk</i>. The +<i>Rhine</i> is about three or four hundred Paces from the Town, but 'tis said +it formerly ran close by the Walls of it. Which way soever one comes to +<i>Worms</i>, one perceives at a great Distance the four Towers of the +Cathedral which are all built of red Freestone. Two drunken Fellows +mistook those Towers one day for Capuchin Fryars. Being in the Country at +a pretty good Distance from the Town, as the Sun was going down, one of +them said to his Comrade, <i>We have no Time to lose, the Gates are going to +be shut.—No matter</i>, said the other, pointing to the Towers; <i>Don't you +see those +Capuchins</i><!--365.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">340</a></span> +<i>there before us? They are of the Town, and are +going thither as well as we. You are in the right</i>, reply'd the former, +<i>let us drink the good Fryar's Health</i>. They had a Gourd Bottle full of +Wine, of which they drank every Drop, so that they did not overtake the +imaginary Capuchins till next Day.</p> + +<p>There is not a finer Country than that between <i>Worms</i> and <span class="smcap">Oppenheim</span>, a +little Town upon an Eminence, on the left Side of the <i>Rhine</i>, to which we +pass over a flying Bridge. The Road from <i>Oppenheim</i> is unpassable for +near two Leagues, because 'tis commonly overflown by that River; but +afterwards the Way is perfectly good to <i>Frankfort</i>. 'Twas very late when +I came to this City, but by good luck the People of <i>Frankfort</i> who +formerly shut their Gates at Sun-set have lately chose to keep them open +till ten o'clock, so that for paying a Trifle one may enter the Town.</p> + +<p>I know not whether I need give any Account of the City of <span class="smcap">Frankfort</span>. It +has been so often describ'd, and is so well known to the World, that I +fancy every body knows what sort of Town it is, tho' they have not seen +it. <i>Frankfort</i> is famous for its two yearly Fairs, <i>viz.</i> at <i>Easter</i> and +<i>Michaelmas</i>. It suffer'd much by a great Fire in 1619, but the whole has +been since rebuilt, and the Houses are finer than before. There are few +Places upon the whole more disagreeable, and few Towns in <i>Germany</i> where +the Common People are more unpolish'd. The Burghers are not to be match'd +for Affectedness, and their Conversation is insupportable. The Magistrates +are all <i>Lutherans</i>; nevertheless the principal Churches belong to the +Catholics. The <i>Calvinists</i> may live in the Town, but cannot hold any +Employments, and are oblig'd to go for Worship to <i>Bockenheim</i> in the +County of <i>Hanau</i>, and to cause their Children to be baptiz'd in the +<i>Lutheran</i> Churches. The great Church in which the +Ceremony<!--366.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">341</a></span> +of the +Emperor's Coronation is perform'd is dark, and by no means proper for such +an august Solemnity. You know that <i>Aix la Chapelle</i> is properly the Place +set apart for the Coronation of our Emperors, and <i>Frankfort</i> for their +Election. But since <i>Maximilian</i> I. no Emperor has been crown'd at <i>Aix</i>. +<i>Frankfort</i> being situate in the Centre of the Empire is much more +commodious for all the Princes, but particularly for the Spiritual +Electors and for the Elector Palatine, who may send for their Equipages by +Water and return them back by the same Convenience. When <i>Charles</i> VI. was +crown'd at <i>Frankfort</i> in 1711, there was an extraordinary Concourse of +Princes and Noblemen. Certain speculative Gentlemen made two Remarks on +this Occasion, from which they presag'd two Things. The one was, that the +Emperor made his Entrance into this City in close Mourning for the Emperor +<i>Joseph</i> his Brother; whereupon they said that <i>Charles</i> wore Mourning +because he foresaw that he should be the last Emperor of his Family. The +second was, that as <i>Charles</i> return'd from the Church invested with all +the Marks of Sovereignty, <i>Charlemain</i>'s Sword had like to have dropp'd +out of the Scabbard; which the Elector of <i>Triers</i> of the <i>Lorrain</i> Family +observing, catch'd hold of the Sword, and put it in again before it was +quite fallen out of the Scabbard. Upon this, the same Calculators of +Nativities said it was an Omen that the Emperor would never have a quiet +Reign, and that he would always be in a Situation that would oblige him to +draw his Sword for his Defence<a name="FNanchor_143_143" id="FNanchor_143_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_143_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a>.</p> + +<!--367.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">342</a></span></p> + +<p>As to Persons of great Distinction at <i>Frankfort</i>, they are very few. The +Chief are the Princess-Dowager of <i>Nassau-Ousingen</i>, born Princess of +<i>Lovestein</i>; the Count <i>de Degenfeldt</i> (<i>Schomberg</i>)<a name="FNanchor_144_144" id="FNanchor_144_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_144_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> Major-General of +the King of <i>Prussia</i>'s Forces, and a Commander of the Order of the <i>Black +Eagle</i>; and finally, Madame <i>la Raugrave</i><a name="FNanchor_145_145" id="FNanchor_145_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_145_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a> Daughter of <i>Charles-Lewis</i> +Elector Palatine: She is the last of the Blood of the Protestant +<i>Palatine</i> Princes. The Senate of <i>Frankfort</i>, in consideration of her +great Age, and in respect to her Birth, has granted her the Liberty of +keeping a <i>Calvinist</i> Chaplain to preach in her own House. Sometimes the +Prince <i>de la Tour</i> and <i>Taxis</i><a name="FNanchor_146_146" id="FNanchor_146_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_146_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a> Hereditary Post-Master of the Empire +resides at <i>Frankfort</i>. His House is a great Relief to Foreigners. His +Princess<a name="FNanchor_147_147" id="FNanchor_147_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_147_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a> is a Lady of very great Merit, and has the Soul and +Sentiments of a Queen. In the Houses of the Persons that I have mention'd +there's an Assembly of both Sexes every Evening; but take them one with +another they are very thin except at the Fairs, when there's a vast Resort +of Nobility and Gentry. Most of the Electors and Princes of the Empire +have their Agents at <i>Frankfort</i>, to whom they give the Title of +Residents; but those Gentlemen are not a jot the more respected for it, +most of them being Merchants of the City of <i>Frankfort</i> it self, who +sollicit the Title in order to be exempt from the Authority of the Senate, +and from the Payment of the Customs, and to qualify +themselves<!--368.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">343</a></span> +to place +over their Doors the Arms of the Princes to whom they send the +News-papers.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>de Degenfeldt</i> makes such a Figure here that he deserves a more +particular mention. He is a Nobleman of good Extraction. He is a Native of +the <i>Palatinate</i>, and spent his Youth in the Service of the Elector +Palatine. He was at that Time a <i>Calvinist</i>, but turn'd Catholic. Some +Years after, he was reconcil'd to his former Communion, and married in +<i>England</i> a Cousin of his, the Daughter of the Duke <i>de Schomberg</i>, with +whom he had a very great Estate. He has also a considerable Expectancy +from Madame <i>la Raugrave</i> a <i>Palatine</i>, his Aunt<a name="FNanchor_148_148" id="FNanchor_148_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_148_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a>. The Relation of M. +<i>de Degenfeldt</i> to this Lady, brings to my Mind the History of the Mother +of Madame <i>la Raugrave</i>, who as I have observ'd was a <i>Degenfeldt</i>. I have +chose to give it you from what was told me by the late Madame of <i>France</i>, +and from very good Memoirs that have been put into my hands. I have plac'd +this History as a Transaction in the Time of the ancient <i>Germans</i>; and as +I design'd to insert it in a Work which I have undertaken, for want of +something else to employ my Time, I chuse to do it by way of a Discourse +from Madame the late Electress of <i>Hanover</i> to her Daughter-in-law. I +herewith send you the entire History, and at the End of it you will find +the Key. As I fancy you are quite disengag'd in the Country, I don't +apprehend that the reading of it will be Loss of your Time. I rather fear +you won't like it; but in either case 'twill be your own Fault; I don't +force you to read; you may if you please let <i>Gertrude</i> alone.</p> + +<!--369.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">344</a></span></p> + +<h3><i>History of GERTRUDE a <span class="f">Marcoman</span> Lady.</i></h3> + +<p>The History of <i>Gertrude</i>, of which I propose to give you, my Princess, a +Relation, is properly the History of the Extinction of my Family; for the +fatal Passion of my Brother King <i>Malcolm</i> for that Lady, is in all +appearance the Reason that there are no more left in my Family than three +Princesses<a name="FNanchor_149_149" id="FNanchor_149_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_149_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a>, and my self.</p> + +<p>There was such a Harmony in Sentiments betwixt my Brother and me, that it +united us in the strictest Friendship. We had been brought up together in +<i>Belgium</i><a name="FNanchor_150_150" id="FNanchor_150_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_150_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a>, where the King my Father had been oblig'd to take refuge, +that he might be nearer at hand to receive Succours from <i>Alfred</i> King of +<i>Albion</i>, Father of the Queen my Mother, against the <i>Romans</i>, who after a +long and bloody War had turn'd him out of his Dominions. That King amus'd +him a long while with fair Promises; but the Misunderstanding which there +was at that time between him and the States of his Kingdom, added to a +certain Indolence in his natural Temper, hinder'd him from seeing the +Effect of them; and the King my Father did not live long enough to be +witness of the Peace which the <i>Romans</i> were at length oblig'd by his +Allies to conclude. This was not an advantageous Peace for <i>Malcolm</i> my +Brother, because in order to obtain it he was oblig'd to yield a part of +his Dominions to the Prince of the<a name="FNanchor_151_151" id="FNanchor_151_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_151_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a><i>Boyens</i>, an Ally of the <i>Romans</i>, +and upon these Terms he was left in quiet possession of the rest.</p> + +<!--370.png--><p><span class="pagenum">345</span></p> + +<p>When my Brother saw himself establish'd on the Throne, he thought of +marrying. His Ministers propos'd the Princess of the <i>Catti</i> as the +fittest Match for him, and assur'd him that besides her illustrious +Extraction he could not marry a more beautiful Princess, or one of a +better Temper. My Brother who only alter'd his Condition for Reasons of +State, was willing enough to follow their Advice, and accordingly espous'd +her. The Marriage at first prov'd very happy; the Queen his Wife had her +share of Beauty, and tho' her Temper was very different from what it had +been represented to my Brother, yet she so cunningly disguis'd it for some +time that this Prince thought himself very happy in his Choice. But their +Agreement was of a short Duration; the Queen's true Humour soon discover'd +it self: It appear'd that she was ill-natur'd, and intolerably +high-spirited; of an odd sullen Temper, always ready to contradict, and +frequently subject to Chagrin, of which she herself knew not the Cause, +and which she vented upon all that approach'd her without distinction. The +King my Brother was of a Temper quite the reverse: He lov'd Diversions, +was civil, affable, naturally gay, beneficent; and I don't speak it out of +Partiality in favour of a Brother whose Memory is still dear to me, but +I'll be bold to say, that if he had not been quite so choleric, he would +have been the most accomplish'd Prince of his Time. Nevertheless he bore +with his Wife's ill Humours very patiently at first, and endeavour'd to +reclaim her by gentle Usage; but when he saw that all the Pains he took +were to no purpose, he resolv'd at length to seek out some other +Amusement.</p> + +<p>The Beauty of <i>Gertrude</i>, Maid of Honour to the Queen his Wife, had for a +long time smitten him, but hitherto he had only discover'd his Passion to +her by his Glances, for fear of disgusting the +Queen.<!--371.png--><span class="pagenum">346</span> +<i>Gertrude</i> who +perceiv'd that my Brother did not look upon her with Indifference, +affected to shun every Opportunity that Prince might take of revealing his +Love to her. But Fortune favour'd my Brother, who being one day with his +Queen in her Apartment, when the Discourse fell upon Jewels, perceiv'd +that the Princess had left off wearing a certain Bracelet of which he had +made her a Present, and asking her what she had done with it, the Queen +told him that she believ'd she had laid it up in a Casket of which she had +the Key in her Pocket. She made one of her Maids fetch it, and open'd it, +but the Bracelet was not there, at which she seem'd uneasy. This my +Brother observ'd, and taking a Pleasure in making her more uneasy, he said +to her, tho' in a manner that shew'd he did not think as he spoke, that +she had undoubtedly some Gallant in a Corner, to whom she had either given +that Bracelet, or who had stole it from her. These Words, tho' deliver'd +in jest, made a deep Impression upon the Queen, and as it was her Nature +soon to take fire, she was stung to the quick at what he had said, and +forgetting the Respect she ow'd to the King her Husband, was in such a +Passion with him that she let fall some Words that were very affronting. +My Brother who was naturally mettlesome and fiery, and far from expecting +any such Treatment, made her answer, that if she continued to forget +herself after that manner, he would find ways and means to humble her. +Upon this he went out of the Room abruptly, and passing through the +Antichamber, met the fair <i>Gertrude</i>. Such was his Disgust that instead of +being upon the reserve as he had been, he had a long Conversation with +her, and found her so sprightly and good-natur'd that he was compleatly +charm'd with her. He declar'd his Love to her, and she was so artful that +<!--372.png--><span class="pagenum">347</span>tho' +she gave him no Hopes, yet she did not rebuff him.</p> + +<p>When my Brother was retir'd, <i>Gertrude</i> went into the Apartment of the +Queen her Mistress, who plac'd her whole Confidence in her. That Princess +no sooner saw her but she made a thousand Complaints of the King's +Treatment of her. <i>Gertrude</i> seem'd to sympathize in her Resentment, and +believing that the Queen could not fail to know that the King had talk'd +with her in the Antichamber, she told her that the Prince having met her +in her Passage gave her an angry Account of what had passed; and that she +had done all she could to pacify him, but to no purpose: At the same time +she blam'd the King's Proceeding; and encourag'd by the Liberty which the +Queen gave her, told her that if she who was but a private Gentlewoman was +so treated by any Husband, she would never pardon him tho' he were a King. +She added several other Sayings which instead of pacifying this silly +Queen, did but exasperate her the more.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, <i>Malcolm</i>, who was impatient to know the Success of his +Amour, wrote a Letter to <i>Gertrude</i> which he sent her by one of his chief +Domestics, together with a rich Diamond Equipage. But the artful +<i>Gertrude</i> whose Aim was to draw on his Passion, rather than to gratify +it, was far from yielding to his first Attacks, and sent him back the +Diamonds, tho' with a modest and respectful Answer, wherein she desir'd +him to talk no more to her of Love. My Brother was too deeply smitten to +be repuls'd; he doubled his Presents, was assiduous, and eager in his +Courtship; and as 'tis very rare for a King of his amiable Personage to +meet with long Resistance, <i>Gertrude</i> abated of her Shyness by degrees, +and at length discovered that she was not insensible of Love. Their +Correspondence which did not exceed the Bounds of Honour, +was<!--373.png--><span class="pagenum">348</span> +kept secret +for a considerable time, but made the greater Blaze when it was known. +<i>Malcolm</i> being one day with his Wife, happen'd, without perceiving it, to +drop a Letter which the Queen took up, and found to be the Hand-writing of +<i>Gertrude</i>. The Letter being written in <i>Latin</i> made the Queen the more +curious to know what was in it; and she gave it to her Cousin, Prince +<i>Valamir</i>, desiring him to unfold the Contents of it to her. This Prince +was so unwise as to satisfy her Curiosity, and acquainted her that +<i>Gertrude</i> by this Letter assur'd the King that he had gain'd her Heart. +You will easily imagine how much the Queen was ruffled when she heard of +this Intrigue: She could not contain herself; and without giving ear to +the Arguments made use of by <i>Valamir</i>, she ran immediately to +<i>Gertrude</i>'s Apartment in the Palace, who by good luck was gone abroad. +The Queen thinking her Casket was in <i>Gertrude</i>'s Closet caused it to be +broke open, and finding it there, open'd it, and took out all the Letters, +of which several that appear'd to be from the King her Husband left her no +room to doubt of that Prince's extraordinary Passion for <i>Gertrude</i>, and +of the Intimacy there was between them. My Brother was quickly inform'd of +what the Queen had been doing, but conceal'd his Uneasiness, shew'd his +Wife no manner of Resentment, and only sent a Caution to <i>Gertrude</i> not to +return to the Palace. <i>Malcolm</i>'s Silence deceiv'd the Queen, who indeed +was not a Lady of very great Penetration, so that she flatter'd herself +the King might possibly be ignorant of the Outrage she had committed; and +upon this Supposition she thought it her best way to dissemble her Hatred +and Wrath against <i>Gertrude</i>. She pretended therefore to be very uneasy +for fear of what had happen'd to her, caus'd a Search to be made for her +several days, and seem'd very much dejected at +her<!--374.png--><span class="pagenum">349</span> +Absence. She hoped by +all these Demonstrations of Friendship to decoy her back to the Palace, in +order then to be compleatly reveng'd of her.</p> + +<p>Thus Matters stood when the King of the <i>Suevi</i>, the Brother-in-law of the +Queen my Sister-in-law, came to Court with the Queen his Wife. This Prince +having observ'd the Queen's Melancholy on several occasions, ask'd her the +reason of it one day as they sate at Table. 'You must not be surpriz'd, +said <i>Malcolm</i>, to see the Queen my Wife out of temper; 'tis her common +Infirmity, and very often she her self knows not the cause of it. My +Ailment is but too real (reply'd the Queen in a great Pet;) and (then +addressing herself to her Husband) said she, it does not at all become you +whose dishonourable Amours have been the only Cause of my Disorder, to +insinuate as if it were but imaginary.' This Answer made in so public a +manner, so nettled my Brother that he turn'd pale for meer Vexation, and +not being able to curb his Passion, forgot his Dignity so far as to strike +her; upon which the unfortunate Princess rose from Table, and retir'd in +Tears to her own Apartment. My Brother, whose Passion was always as soon +over as it was easily kindled, was sorry in a very few moments after for +what he had done, made his Excuses to the King and Queen of the <i>Suevi</i>, +and rising from Table, went with them to his Wife's Apartment, where he +ask'd her pardon for what had pass'd. This Atonement, which the Queen did +not expect so soon, touch'd her to the quick: The King and she embrac'd +each other, and exchang'd their Promises to forget as well as to forgive +every Offence. But would you believe it? that fickle, fantastical Creature +my Sister-in-law chang'd her mind all on a sudden, and when her Husband +came in the Evening with an intention to spend the Night with her, she +absolutely refus'd to let him bed with her unless +he<!--375.png--><span class="pagenum">350</span> +would resolve to +deliver up <i>Gertrude</i> to her. <i>Malcolm</i>, who was still asham'd at what he +had done in his last Fury, receiv'd so violent a Proposition with more +Patience than he would have done upon another Occasion. He endeavour'd by +fair Words to pacify his Wife, assuring her that nothing criminal had ever +pass'd between him and <i>Gertrude</i>, and that tho' he had corresponded with +the Girl by Letters, it was not out of any Love he had for her, so much as +to know whether it was true that she wrote as good <i>Latin</i> as he had been +told she did. Tho' this Speech of his was not very probable, yet as People +are easily inclin'd to believe what they wish to be true, the Queen +suffer'd herself to be at last persuaded, and was reconciled to her +Husband without insisting any farther on the Sacrifice she at first +demanded.</p> + +<p>The Emperor being come to spend some Time at <i>Pluibourg</i>, summon'd an +Assembly thither of the Princes of the Empire. My Brother went thither +with the Queen his Wife; but the Consequence was that they were more +embroil'd than ever; and my Sister-in-law was so unadvised as to let +<i>Csar</i> and his Court be Witnesses of certain Brawls, which for her own +Interest as well as her Husband's, she ought to have carefully confin'd +within the Limits of her own Houshold. 'Tis true that my Brother had no +very great Respect for her, and he lov'd <i>Gertrude</i> more than ever. Being +hindred by a slight Indisposition from going to <i>Montpayen</i> where he kept +her at one of his Houses, not a Day pass'd but he sent an Express to know +how she did, and the Queen's ill Temper, who no doubt had better have +try'd good-natur'd Methods to reclaim him, only incens'd him against her, +and made him the fonder of <i>Gertrude</i>.</p> + +<p>The Assembly of the Princes of <i>Germany</i> being over, and the Emperor +return'd to <i>Rome</i>, my +Brother<!--376.png--><span class="pagenum">351</span> +set out for <i>Montpayen</i> the Capital of his +Kingdom, and gave orders for his Queen to follow him next Day. But for a +Reason which I never could dive into, the Princess instead of obeying him +stay'd a Month longer at <i>Pluibourg</i>, without vouchsafing to let the King +her Husband know the Reason of her delay; and not only so, but when she +came to <i>Montpayen</i>, she had the Assurance to go with a bold Face to her +Husband's Apartment, without knowing how he would take it: But the Prince +who had just Reason to be angry, foreseeing that she was like enough to +take such a step, had given orders to refuse her Entrance; wherefore she +was oblig'd to retire to her Apartment, whither a Captain of the Guards +came in a Moment after, to tell her from the King that she was a Prisoner.</p> + +<p>This unhappy Princess bore her Disgrace very weakly. She repented, but too +late, of having been so imprudent as to contravene the Orders of the King +her Husband; and hoping to work upon his Good-nature, she wrote him a most +submissive Letter, begging his pardon for her Disobedience, and intreating +him to restore her to her Liberty. My Brother sent her an Answer, wherein +he only gave her the Title of the Princess of <i>Cattia</i>. He told her, 'that +having consider'd the Disagreement there was betwixt his Temper and her's, +he resolved to be divorc'd from her, and that she would do well herself to +give her Consent to it; which if she did with a good Grace, he would +restore her to her Liberty and settle a Revenue on her suitable to her +Rank.'</p> + +<p>This Answer was a Thunder-stroke to my Sister-in-law; she rav'd and tore +like a mad Woman. She was for a long while like one out of her Senses, but +recovering them at length by the help of her Women, and consulting with +those that had the greatest share of her Confidence, she sent the King +<!--377.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">352</a></span>word +that he was Master, and might make use of his Authority, but that +she would never consent to the Divorce.</p> + +<p>My Brother who had fix'd his Resolution, and saw no other way to get +possession of <i>Gertrude</i> than by marrying that Girl who had presum'd to +set so high a Price upon her Favours, took off the Mask, notify'd his +Design to the Court, and in a few days after, the Marriage was perform'd +in the manner that you know is practis'd in <i>Germany</i> by Princes who marry +beneath themselves, which excludes the Children by such <i>Venter</i> from +succeeding to the Father's Estate. As soon as he was marry'd, he restor'd +the Queen to her Liberty, and acquainted her, 'That by the Advice and +Consent of the Priests of his Kingdom whom he had caused to be assembled, +he had marry'd <i>Gertrude</i>. That the Thing being done and past remedy, he +hoped she would resolve to make her self easy. That however, he would +always treat her as a Princess; that she should be welcome to continue in +her Apartment at the Palace; that she should have her Guards to attend +her, and that he had set apart a sufficient Fund for her Maintenance; but +that he expected she would be so complaisant as to acknowledge <i>Gertrude</i> +hereafter for the lawful Queen.'</p> + +<p>My Sister-in-law who then saw that her Disgrace was infallible, gave her +self up to Complaints and Tears, wrote to the King her Husband in the most +moving Language, and implor'd the assistance of the King her Brother: But +all was to no purpose; she was oblig'd to submit to her Misfortune, and to +be patient under an Affliction which she had partly brought upon her self +by her Folly.</p> + +<p>While all this pass'd, my Brother was at one of his Seats not far<a name="FNanchor_152_152" id="FNanchor_152_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_152_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a> +from his Capital, where he +caus'd<!--378.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">353</a></span> +<i>Gertrude</i> to be treated as a Queen, +and not long after carried her to <i>Montpayen</i> where the sight of her +Royalty was a fresh Mortification to the Queen my Sister-in-law. However, +the unfortunate Princess not yet despairing of the means of reclaiming her +Husband, was resolv'd to make the last Attempt to turn that Prince's +Heart. She dress'd herself in the most gay and rich Apparel that she could +get, and taking her Children along with her, went to meet the King her +Husband in the Room next to the Hall where he was at Table with +<i>Gertrude</i>, and thro' which he must necessarily return. When he appear'd, +she threw herself with her Children at his Feet, clasp'd his Knees, +conjur'd him with Tears in her Eyes to look with Pity on an unhappy +Princess whom he had formerly thought fit to make his Wife, and to +consider that the Affront he put upon her by divorcing her, would be a +Reproach to those very Children of whom he had been so fond. My Brother +seem'd to be melted at so moving a Spectacle, look'd for some Moments on +his Wife and Children with Tears in his Eyes, and he was just ready to +raise her from the Ground, when <i>Gertrude</i> who was at his Heels, fearing +what might be the Consequence of the Confusion that she saw him in, talk'd +earnestly to him in the <i>Tuscan</i> Language, saying, <i>Remember</i>, my Lord, +<i>what you promis'd me</i>. These few Words wrought so much on the unsteady +Mind of my Brother that he only lifted up his Hands to Heaven and went on, +shewing by the Trouble he was under, how little he was Master of his +Reason upon this Occasion. The Queen my Sister-in-law remain'd for a while +speechless, but Fury and Despair quickly seiz'd her Soul. She rose up and +ran into her Closet, where snatching up a Dagger<a name="FNanchor_153_153" id="FNanchor_153_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_153_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a> she came back again +with an +Intention<!--379.png--><span class="pagenum">354</span> +to stick it into her Rival's Heart. But the Rage she +was in having so confounded her that she had not a Thought of concealing +that Instrument of her Revenge, it was perceiv'd by one of the chief +Courtiers who pluck'd it from her just as she was going into the Closet +where my Brother was with <i>Gertrude</i>. That Prince hearing a Noise so near +him ran out, and demanded what was the matter. 'Tis I, (said the Queen +very couragiously) 'who was coming to revenge my self and you too on the +Monster which disunites us; but that Traytor there (said she, pointing to +the Man that had wrested the Dagger out of her Hands) has depriv'd me of +the only Opportunity that I could call a Pleasure.—Princess, (said the +King to her very calmly) don't indulge your self any longer in such +extravagant Passions, if you are unwilling that I should use you roughly.' +Then he retir'd with <i>Gertrude</i>, and my Sister-in-law return'd to her +Apartment in a Temper which you may easily imagine.</p> + +<p><i>Clodius</i>, who now governs the Empire, being at that time proclaim'd +Emperor, this Princess made her Complaints to him, and desir'd him to +reconcile <i>Malcolm</i> to her. But <i>Csar</i> having excus'd himself, my +Sister-in-law who could no longer bear the Presence of her Rival, retir'd +to the King her Brother, there to wait the End of her Misfortunes. My +Brother liv'd afterwards very lovingly with his new Spouse, and had by her +four Sons and as many Daughters. But Death having at last robb'd him of a +Person so dear to him, the Prince was so afflicted for the Loss of her, +that he spent two Years in continual Sorrow, and at length himself paid +the same Tribute to Nature.</p> + +<!--380.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">355</a></span></p> + +<p>He left but one Son and a Daughter by his lawful Spouse who surviv'd him +some Years. The King my Nephew was marry'd, but he was of such a +melancholy Temper, his Humour was so different from the Queen's, and there +was so little Love betwixt them, that he died without Issue. With him I +have seen my Family utterly extinct, its Dominions transferr'd to the +Power of a Prince who is hardly related to us, and my Country abandon'd to +the most dismal Desolation. For my Niece having marry'd <i>Meroveus</i>, +Brother to <i>Ariovisto</i> King of the <i>Gauls</i>, the latter who is an ambitious +Prince and goes to War upon every the least Pretence, asserted the Rights +of his Sister-in-law without Delay, and pleading that she ought to succeed +to the Inheritance of the King her Brother, notwithstanding the <i>Salic</i> +Law establish'd in <i>Germany</i>, he sent a formidable Army into the Dominions +of my deceased Nephew, where the <i>Gauls</i> at first meeting with no +Resistance, committed enormous Cruelties, and extended their Fury even to +the Violation of the Tomb of the Kings my Ancestors, whose dead Bodies +were stripp'd and exposed to the Caprice of the unruly Soldiers: +Calamities, which perhaps would never have happen'd, had it not been for +my Brother's fatal Passion for <i>Gertrude</i>; because in all Appearance if he +had liv'd in a good Understanding with his lawful Spouse; he would have +had more Children by her, and I would not have had the Vexation to see the +Throne of my Fathers posses'd by a foreign Family.</p> + +<div class="center" style="padding-top: 1em;"><i>KEY to the History of GERTRUDE</i>.</div> + +<div style="padding: 1em 0 1em 0;"> +<i>Albion</i>, England.<br /> +<i>Alfrede I.</i> James I. <i>King of</i> England.<br /> +<i>Ariovisto</i>, Lewis XIV.<br /> +<i>Belgium</i>, Holland.<br /> +<!--381.png--><span class="pagenum">356</span> +<i>Boyens, (Prince of) the Elector of</i> Bavaria.<br /> +<i>Catti, (Princess of) the Princess of</i> Hesse-Cassel.<br /> +<i>Csar, the</i> Emperor.<br /> +<i>Clodius, the Emperor</i> Leopold.<br /> +<i>Germania</i>, Germany.<br /> +<i>Gertrude, the Baroness of</i> Degenfeldt.<br /> +<i>Malcolm</i>, Charles-Lewis <i>Elector</i> Palatine.<br /> +<i>Meroveus</i>, Philip <i>of</i> France, <i>Duke of</i> Orleans, <i>Brother to</i> Lewis XIV.<br /> +<i>Montpayen</i>, Heidelberg.<br /> +<i>Pluibourg</i>, Ratisbon.<br /> +<i>Romans, the</i> Imperialists.<br /> +<i>Rome</i>, Vienna.<br /> +<i>Suevi, (King of) the Margrave of</i> Baden-Dourlach. +</div> + +<div class="center"><i>End of the History of</i> Gertrude.</div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>I have not scrupled to give you this History, because all the Persons who +are Subjects of it are dead. I wrote it very much in haste, for the +Diversion of the Princess <i>d'A——</i>, so that you must not be surpriz'd if +you don't meet with all that Exactness which there ought to be in this +little Narrative; tho' I must tell you again that every Tittle of it is +true, so that you may read it as a History, and not as a Romance.</p> + +<p>I have fix'd my Resolution, and now am setting out for <i>Rome</i>; therefore +please to direct to me at <i>Venice</i>. I go to-morrow to a great +Hunting-Match that is to be at <i>Darmstadt</i>, where I shall stay two Days: +From thence I shall go and spend two more with the Count <i>de Hanau</i>; and +then will I begin my Pilgrimage to the Holy Places. I am most entirely, +&c.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 181px;"> +<img src="images/i15.png" width="181" height="140" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--382.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">357</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 426px;"> +<img src="images/i17.png" width="426" height="51" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER XXII.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Munich, April</i> 2, 1730.</span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>Since you received my last I have done and seen a great many Things. On +the 23d of <i>March</i> I set out from <i>Frankfort</i> for <span class="smcap">Darmstadt</span>, the Capital +of the upper County of <i>Catzenellenbogen</i>, and the Residence of +<i>Ernest-Lewis</i> Landgrave of <i>Hesse-Darmstadt</i><a name="FNanchor_154_154" id="FNanchor_154_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_154_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a>.</p> + +<p>This Town is extremely small, and only enclosed with Pallisadoes. If the +Prince's Palace had been finish'd according to its Model, it would have +been one of the greatest and most magnificent in <i>Europe</i>, and there might +have been Lodgings for the Emperor, and all the nine Electors of the +Empire. It would have been bigger than the Town, and +have<!--383.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">358</a></span> +cost immense +Sums: That Part which is finish'd makes a very grand Appearance. But all +those magnificent Works which the Landgrave Regent at first carried on +with very great Vigour are entirely discontinu'd, and there's no +Appearance that they will ever be taken in hand again. The old Palace is +much more commodious than it seems to be; its Apartments being convenient, +and richly furnish'd. The Landgrave does not live in the Palace, but leads +a very retir'd Life in a little House upon the Square, where he is never +seen but upon Sundays and Holidays. He amuses himself in turning of Ivory, +making Chymical Experiments, and in Drawing. He loves Hunting above all +things whatsoever. He delights in Agriculture, and in Music, and it may +strictly be said that he is never unemploy'd. He has very great Knowledge +natural and acquir'd. He has seen a great many Countries, and tho' sixty +Years of Age he still looks well, and his grey Hairs, not to call them +white, give him a venerable Air. He sits a Horse very well, walks well, +and seems to enjoy perfect Health. His Wife was <i>Dorothy</i> of +<i>Brandenbourg-Onoltzbach</i>, who died in 1705. They say that he lately +married <i>N—— de Spiegel</i> the Widow of Count <i>Seibelsdorf</i> a +Lieutenant-General in the Service of <i>Bavaria</i>. Be that as it will, the +Marriage is not public, and the Lady still goes by the Name of her former +Husband by whom she has Children. 'Tis true that the Landgrave pays her +very great Distinction, and indeed she is very amiable.</p> + +<p>This Prince commonly dines at a little Table spread only for four People; +but on Sundays and Holidays he goes to the Palace, and dines with his Son +at a Table cover'd for sixteen Guests, and sups with the Ladies who are +never seen at Court but upon those Days. 'Tis a very hard matter to come +at the Speech of the Landgrave, and much +more<!--384.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">359</a></span> +to that of his only Son the +hereditary Prince. The Hunting-Officers are the only Persons that have the +Privilege of Access to them; for which reason this is not one of the most +entertaining Courts; and a Man is under a necessity of throwing himself +into the Town, where indeed there are a great many People of Merit who are +civil to Foreigners.</p> + +<p>The hereditary Prince <i>Lewis</i>, the only Son of the Landgrave, who was born +the 5th of <i>April</i> 1691, is a handsome Man, has a noble Air, dances well, +mounts a Horse well, has Vivacity, Spirit, and Politeness, but is often +thoughtful, melancholy, and goes for Retirement to the Woods, where he is +passionately fond of Hunting; but is apt to create himself Uneasiness, and +does not know how to dissemble it. Tho' he has all the Qualities necessary +to shine in Company, yet he sees but very little. He married +<i>Charlotta-Christina of Hanau</i>, who dying in 1726, left him three Sons and +two Daughters, the eldest of which was then seven Years of Age. By virtue +of this Marriage the Prince is Heir to the Count of <i>Hanau's</i> Estate in +<i>Alsace</i>, and to all his Freeholds in general, which will be a very rich +Succession.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless the Court of <i>Darmstadt</i> is very numerous. The Landgrave has +a great many Counsellors of State, Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber and Court, +and a greater Number still of Officers of the Venery, and Huntsmen. There +is not a Province in <i>Germany</i> more proper for Hunting, nor in <i>Europe</i> +where there are more Deer. 'Tis a flat even Country, and a gravelly Soil +interspersed with Woods thro' which there are cut noble Roads. I have seen +the Deer come up close to the Pallisadoes of the Town, and at their +Rutting-time I have heard them cry as I lay in my Bed. This great plenty +of Deer is extremely troublesome to the Peasants who are abroad day and +night to watch their Fields. +The<!--385.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">360</a></span> +Landgrave and the hereditary Prince are +so jealous of their Game that they reckon it as bad a Crime as Murder for +any one to kill a Deer; and tho' 'tis an establish'd Custom among almost +all Sovereigns to punish with Severity all those that kill a Creature +which God however certainly created for the Use of all Mankind, yet there +is no Prince who observes this Law more strictly than the Landgrave.</p> + +<p>I cannot give you a more certain Account of the Revenues of this Prince +than of those of all the other Sovereigns. 'Tis said that he has 5 or +600000 Florins <i>per Ann.</i> I am not very well inform'd of the number of his +Troops, for I have only seen his Regiment of Guards which is in very +compleat Order. His Horse-Guards are also very fine Troops, and commanded +by the General <i>Miltitz</i>, who is at the same time Grand Marshal of the +Court, the Honours of which he performs in a very handsome manner.</p> + +<p>Tho' the Soil at <i>Darmstadt</i> is very gravelly, it produces excellent +Pulse. I have seen Asparagus at the Landgrave's Table, three of which +weigh'd a Pound, tho' indeed they were not altogether so nice. I remember +that in a former Journey which I made hither in the Month of <i>December</i>, +there were brought to the Landgrave in several Pots of Porcellain, a Dwarf +Cherry-Tree laden with Cherries; Strawberry-Plants, an Almond-Tree, and in +short, the Fruits of all the Seasons.</p> + +<p>The intended Hunting-Match, for what reason I know not, was put off; and +as I came hither only to see it, I staid but one Day and went to <span class="smcap">Hanau</span>. +The Count and the Princess of <i>Hanau</i> were but lately return'd from +<i>Alsace</i>. The Town of <i>Hanau</i> is situate on a large Plain to the right of +the <i>Main</i>. 'Tis divided into two Wards, the old and the new Town: The +latter is much bigger than the former: It was built by the <i>Walloon</i> +Protestants, who, +during<!--386.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">361</a></span> +the Duke of <i>Alva's</i> Persecution under <i>Philip</i> +II. King of <i>Spain</i>, quitted the <i>Netherlands</i> and came to settle at +<i>Hanau</i>, which they fortify'd, and built in such a manner that all the +Streets run parallel. The Count keeps several Companies in pay, from which +he makes Detachments for the Quota he is oblig'd to furnish, as a Member +of the Circle of the <i>Upper Rhine</i>.</p> + +<p>The <i>Walloons</i> who are settled at <i>Hanau</i> have established several +Manufactures there, especially Woollen Stuffs. The <i>Calvinists</i>, the +<i>Lutherans</i>, and the <i>Jews</i> are tolerated here, and as for us Catholics, +we may go to Mass where we please.</p> + +<p>The Count's Palace is in the old Town: 'Tis an ancient Building, and makes +no great Appearance, but the Apartments are commodious, and very richly +furnish'd. The Count has a very pretty Pleasure-House a quarter of a +League from <i>Hanau</i>, call'd <span class="smcap">Philipsruhe</span>, <i>i. e.</i> (<i>Philip's Repose</i>) and +built by the late Count <i>de Hanau</i>, Brother to the Count Regent<a name="FNanchor_155_155" id="FNanchor_155_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_155_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a>. +'Twas at this Seat that I found the Count of <i>Hanau</i>. There was a very +numerous Attendance, and I heartily wish'd I could have staid there a few +days. Few Princes in the Empire live more elegantly than the Count <i>de +Hanau</i>. The Lady who directs the whole Houshold, and keeps all things in +wonderful Order is the Princess<a name="FNanchor_156_156" id="FNanchor_156_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_156_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a> who is of the Family of +<i>Brandenbourg-Anspach</i>, and Sister to the Queen of <i>England</i>. At this +Court you have all the Liberty than can be desired. When you first come a +Chamber is provided for your Lodging, and a Footman order'd to wait on +you. Every Morning an Officer comes to know what you will please to have +for Breakfast; and there's every Thing to be had that you call for. If +afterwards you have a mind to go out a Hunting, you send to the Great +Huntsman<!--387.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">362</a></span> +for a Guide and to the Count for Horses out of his Stables. If +you come back too late for Dinner at Court, you are serv'd very elegantly +in your own Apartment. In the Evening when you are retir'd from Company, a +Butler takes care to provide you with Wine and Beer. The Servants of +Foreigners diet with those of the Count. His own Table which is commonly +for eighteen Guests is served as well as most, and a second Table is +serv'd with the same Magnificence. The Count has a very great Family, and +lives every way like a Prince; and indeed 'tis his own Fault that he is +not one, for he has had the Imperial Diploma for it a long while, but he +does not care to make use of it; saying, he had rather be the first Count +than the lowest Prince. He is the last Male of his Family. After his Death +the County of <i>Hanau</i> relapses to the Landgrave of <i>Hesse-Cassel</i>, +according to the Treaty of Confraternity made between the several Families +of <i>Saxony</i>, <i>Hesse</i>, and <i>Hanau</i>, which imports that the said Families +shall succeed one another. The King of <i>Poland</i> as Elector of <i>Saxony</i> +ought to have had his Share in the Succession to the County of <i>Hanau</i>, +but his Majesty by a Treaty yielded his Rights to the Landgrave of +<i>Cassel</i>. As to the Lands in <i>Alsace</i>, and the Freeholds, they revert, as +I told you before, to the Children of the hereditary Prince of +<i>Darmstadt</i>.</p> + +<p>The Count of <i>Hanau</i> seems to be much older than he is in reality. He is a +very civil Nobleman, and Hunting is a Diversion of which he is extremely +fond, so that to kill a Deer upon his Lands is an unpardonable Crime; and +the lesser Game, such as Rabbits, Hares, and Partridges, are equally his +Care. All these Creatures spoil the Fields; but they serve for the Count's +Amusement, while the poor Peasant is oblig'd to pay his Tax, and dares not +speak a Word.</p> + +<!--388.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">363</a></span></p> + +<p>From <i>Hanau</i> to <span class="smcap">Munich</span> I never made a stop; but after having travell'd +thro' <i>Wurtzbourg</i>, <i>Nurembourg</i>, and <i>Augsbourg</i> arrived here last night, +and propose to set out again to-morrow, and after two or three days stay +at <i>Saltzbourg</i> shall proceed by the way of <i>Tirol</i> to <i>Venice</i>, where I +beg you would not fail to let me hear from you.</p> + +<p>I am just come from attending the Obsequies of <i>Theresa-Cunegunda +Sobieski</i> Electoress of <i>Bavaria</i>, Mother to the Elector. This Princess +died lately at <i>Venice</i>, to which City she retir'd eighteen Months ago, +and her Corpse is forthwith expected to be interr'd in the Tomb of the +Electoral Family. She has left, as 'tis said, near six millions of +Florins, which, since she has made no Will, are to be equally shar'd +between the four Princes her Sons. She has moreover left a Daughter who is +a Nun in a Convent of this City. In 1719, when she took the Habit, I was +present. She chose this retir'd Life against the Will of her Father the +Elector, who did all he could to dissuade her from it; and she liv'd in +great Reputation for her Piety. But to return to the Obsequies of the +Electoress: The Elector and Electoress assisted at them, together with the +Elector of <i>Cologne</i>, the Duke <i>Ferdinand</i>, the Bishop of <i>Freisingen</i>, +the Duchess <i>Ferdinand</i>, and the two Princes her Sons. These Princes had +Cowls upon their Heads, and great Cloaks, which is not one of the most +becoming Dresses. The Family of <i>Bavaria</i> observes a very singular Custom, +which is, never to give a black Livery, nor to line their Coaches. I think +this reasonable enough, for it does not look very well in a pompous +Funeral.</p> + +<div class="right"> +<i>I am</i>, &c. +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--389.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">364</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 431px;"> +<img src="images/i13.png" width="431" height="63" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER XXIII.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Saltzbourg, April 2, 1730.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>At my departure from <i>Munich</i> I went and din'd at <i>Eversberg</i>, a Village +belonging to the Reverend Fathers the Jesuits, who have a House there +which is a large one, and that's all 'tis good for. I went and lay at +<span class="smcap">Wasserbourg</span> a Town of <i>Bavaria</i> built upon a Rock, so encompass'd with the +River <i>Inn</i> that 'tis a perfect Peninsula. Mountains and Rocks hang over +this Town as if they wou'd crush it, and indeed the Place is not worth +much Description. It was settled as a Dowry on the Electoress +<i>Theresa-Cunigunda Sobieski</i> who died last Month, but this Princess would +never live in it, nor indeed do I know any other Prince that would.</p> + +<p>After having pass'd the <i>Inn</i><a name="FNanchor_157_157" id="FNanchor_157_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_157_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a> over a very slender wooden Bridge I +climb'd a high Mountain, got down another, ascended a third, and so I +travell'd all the way up Hill and down Hill till I came within two Leagues +of <i>Saltzbourg</i>, where the Country becomes more passible.</p> + +<p>The City of <span class="smcap">Saltzbourg</span> as well as the whole Archbishoprick takes its Name +from the River <i>Saltz</i> which passes thro' the City and Country. It rises +in <i>Tirol</i> and loses itself in the <i>Inn</i>. The Mountains that +are<!--390.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">365</a></span> +about +the Town make it not near so broad as 'tis long, tho' take it all together +'tis not a large Town. 'Tis very well fortify'd, and has a Castle which +standing on an Eminence forms as it were a Citadel. 'Tis furnish'd with a +good Arsenal, and all manner of Ammunition, and I have been assur'd that +of Gunpowder alone there are no less than 20000 Quintals. Some Years ago +when I was here, Lightning fell so near this Magazine that it wanted but +half a Foot of penetrating to the Powder, which if it had touch'd I fancy +I shou'd never have wrote to you more. There is always a Guard of fifty +Men at the Castle, and the Garison of the Town consists of 600 Men who are +lodg'd in the Caserns.</p> + +<p>The City of <i>Saltzbourg</i> contains finer Edifices than many great Towns. It +has a magnificent Cathedral which was consecrated the 24th of <i>September</i> +1628, by an Archbishop who was of the Family of the Counts <i>de Lodron</i>. +'Tis a vast Structure of Free-stone, and has a stately Front which may be +reckon'd the compleatest in <i>Germany</i>. The skilful Architect by whom it +was directed has very much copy'd the Front of St. <i>Agnes's</i> Church in the +Square of <i>Navona</i> at <i>Rome</i>. It has four Marble Statues bigger than the +Life, which represent St. <i>Peter</i>, St. <i>Paul</i>, St. <i>Rupert</i>, and St. +<i>Virgilius</i>, of whom the two latter were the first Archbishops of this +See. The whole Church is adorn'd in the inside with Pilastres of the +<i>Corinthian</i> Order. 'Tis built in the Form of a Cross with a very high +Dome which separates the Nave from the Choir. The high Altar which is at +the bottom of the Choir is of Marble, as are the two Chapels that form the +Cross: The Pavement of the Church is of great Squares of Marble of various +Colours. 'Tis pity there was not more Inlet for Light, the Dome being the +only lightsome Part of it. But as the Church is magnificent +the<!--391.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">366</a></span> +Ornaments +of the high Altar are more so. Upon the Grand Festivals it bears a Sun of +Gold adorn'd with precious Stones to the Value of 100000 Crowns, a great +Cross of massy Gold, and four golden Candlesticks. The Front of the Altar, +and the Tabernacle are of massy Silver of excellent Workmanship.</p> + +<p>St. <i>Rupert</i> surnam'd the Apostle of <i>Bavaria</i> was the first Bishop of +<i>Saltzbourg</i> in 582. <i>Leo</i> III. whom the Church honour'd as a Saint, +erected this Bishoprick into an Archbishoprick in favour of St. <i>Arnould</i>, +in the Year 798. He had for Suffragans the Bishops of <i>Freisingen</i>, +<i>Ratisbon</i>, <i>Passau</i>, <i>Briken</i>, <i>Gurck</i>, <i>Chiemsee</i>, <i>Seggau</i>, and +<i>Lavant</i>.</p> + +<p>The Archbishop has a Right of Nomination to the four last Bishopricks; +only the Nomination to the Bishoprick of <i>Gurck</i> is alternative between +this Prelate and the Emperor, as Archduke of <i>Austria</i>. The four Bishops +bear the Title of Princes of the Empire, and enjoy all the Prerogatives +annexed to that high Dignity. Notwithstanding this, the Archbishop never +gives them the Preference, and when he talks to them, only compliments +them with the Title of <i>Euer Freuntschaft</i>, i. e. <i>Your Friendship</i>. +Service is perform'd in this Metropolis according to the Usage observ'd in +St. <i>Peter's</i> Church at <i>Rome</i>. The Chapter is compos'd of the Archbishop, +a Provost, a Dean, and twenty four Canons, all Men of Quality, who are +only oblig'd to four Months Residence, and the rest of the Time they may +go where they please. Both the Provost and Dean have the Crosier and +Mitre<a name="FNanchor_158_158" id="FNanchor_158_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_158_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a>. The Archbishop, as well as the Elector of <i>Cologn</i>, has the +Privilege of dressing in the Habit of a Cardinal. This Prelate has the +Directorship of the College of Princes at the Dyet of the Empire +alternatively with the Archduke of <i>Austria</i>. He is moreover <i>Legatus +natus</i><!--392.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">367</a></span> +<i>& perpetuus</i> of the Holy See, and Primate of <i>Germany</i>. His +Titles are these, '<i>Leopold</i>, by the Grace of God, Archbishop of +<i>Saltzbourg</i>, and Prince of the Empire, perpetual Legate of the Holy +Apostolic See of <i>Rome</i>, Primate of <i>Germany</i>, descended of the +illustrious Family of the Barons of <i>Firmian</i>.'</p> + +<p>The Archbishop at his coming to the See must pay 100000 Crowns to <i>Rome</i> +for the Pall, but the Country generally raises it for him, besides making +a free Gift of the like Sum to its new Prince. The Revenues of this +Prelate are about 1500000 Florins a Year. The very Salt which is carried +into <i>Bavaria</i> and <i>Swabia</i> brings him in 30000 Crowns. He is absolute +Master of all his Revenues, and accountable to no body for what he lays +out. The present Archbishop is of <i>Tirol</i>, of a distinguish'd Family, but +not favour'd much by Fortune. He was born the 26th of <i>May</i> 1679, and +succeeded <i>Francis-Anthony</i> the Count <i>de Harrach</i>. His Advancement was +owing to the Division of the Chapter, who all wanted to be either Bishops +themselves, or else to advance some one Friend or Cousin. After a great +many Debates and Messages sent forwards and backwards, their Choice fell +upon the Baron <i>de Firmian</i> who was at that time very infirm, which was +the only Thing that procur'd him the Mitre; for the Parties that divided +the Chapter united in his favour, because they thought him a Man not very +long-liv'd; but they believ'd however he might live long enough to give +each Party time to form its Cabals for advancing that Person to the +Bishoprick who they thought would best serve their Purpose. But all those +Gentlemen were mightily mistaken as to the Archbishop's Life. For this +Prelate, like another Pope <i>Sixtus</i> V. lost all his Infirmities when he +found the Mitre, and is very like to out-live many of his Electors.</p> + +<!--393.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">368</a></span></p> + +<p>This Prince is tall, has an austere haughty Air; seldom makes any +Compliments, and talks much less, except when he is hunting, which is all +the Pleasure of his Life. He is almost always alone, and generally eats by +himself. In the Summer-time he keeps altogether in the Country where he is +of very difficult Access, and keeps no Retinue, nor Company. He is accus'd +of being too thrifty, and I don't know but there may be something in it; +but perhaps he would not appear to be quite so saving if he had succeeded +any body else in the Bishoprick but the Count <i>de Harrach</i>, the most +generous, noble, and most magnificent Prelate of his Time. The Archbishop +is naturally a Valetudinarian; and under God, he is oblig'd for the +Preservation of his Life to his Physician <i>Gersner</i>, a Native of <i>Vienna</i>, +a Man of great Skill in his Profession, and of strict Honour and +Integrity, who has got so much the length of the Prelate's Foot that he is +almost the only Person that dares to speak to him with Freedom. The Count +<i>d'Arco</i> Son to the Archbishop's Sister is this Prelate's only Darling; +for to the surprize of the whole Court, and Chapter, he prefers him before +a Nephew of his own Name, a Canon of <i>Saltzbourg</i> and of <i>Trent</i>, a young +Clergyman of great Hopes.</p> + +<p>The Archbishop of the <i>Lodron</i> Family who caus'd the Metropolis to be +built, likewise founded the Archiepiscopal Palace, the Fortifications, and +the Stables, which were all finish'd in the thirty two Years that he was +Archbishop. The Apartments of the Palace being not laid out altogether in +the modern Taste, the deceased Archbishop <i>Anthony</i> Count <i>de Harrach</i>, +made a thorough Change in them, and left little more than the Outside +standing. The Palace at <i>Saltzbourg</i> is now more magnificent than many +royal Houses. It contains 173 Rooms all richly furnish'd, without +reckoning the Halls and Galleries. The Archbishop's Apartment +is<!--394.png--><span class="pagenum">369</span> +stately: +It has a great Marble Stair-case divided into three Flights, which leads +into a spacious Guard-Chamber, from whence one enters into the +Archbishop's Apartment consisting of several Rooms, where able <i>Italian</i> +Masters have adorn'd the Cielings with very good Draughts. One is really +surprized to see the Richness of the Furniture, and the infinite Variety +of other things that are distributed up and down this vast Apartment; such +as Marble Tables adorn'd with gilt Mouldings; old Porcellain of the most +beautiful sort; Lustres of massy Silver, and Rock Crystal of uncommon +Workmanship; Chandeliers also of Silver or Crystal upon large gilded +Stands, and a multitude of other things very well worth observation.</p> + +<p>How magnificent soever this Apartment is, there's another made use of upon +Days of Ceremony which infinitely surpasses it. I will only mention the +principal Rooms of it. We first enter into a great Salon adorn'd with the +Pictures of no less than fourscore Archbishops of <i>Saltzbourg</i>. Next to it +there's another Salon ingeniously and magnificently decorated, which +discovers Grandeur in every part of it. 'Tis furnish'd with a Suit of +Hangings of Crimson-Damask with Gold Lace, forming a rich Architecture in +Pilasters of the Composite Order, the Frize of which is adorn'd with a +pair of Brackets, which is a vast Addition to the whole Decoration. The +rich Gilding shines every where with profusion. At one end of the Room +there stands in the Wall a sumptuous Beaufet of Silver gilt, and at the +other there's a rich Canopy under which the Archbishop sits when he dines +in State. There's a stately Lustre in the middle of the Room which +consists of magnificent pieces of Rock Crystal. At the end of this grand +Apartment there are two Galleries that deserve the attention of the +Curious in Painting, who will certainly pass their time here very +agreeably,<!--395.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">370</a></span> +and find a great many choice Pictures done by the best +Masters. The Chimney-piece of the first of these Galleries is a great +Ornament to it, being of the finest Marble adorn'd with Brass, gilt with +Water-Gold. Over it there's a Statue of Brass as big as the Life +representing <i>Antinous</i>. The second Gallery is as magnificent as the +first. The Floor, Cieling, Door-Cases, and all the Ornaments in general +are of fine Marble. The Walls are painted in Fresco, and exhibit +Geographical Charts of the principal Dominions in <i>Europe</i> in divers +Pictures, which are executed with very great Art and Exactness both as to +the Painting and Disposition of the Things that are the Subjects of it.</p> + +<p>A third Apartment which is over the Archbishop's is for lodging foreign +Princes, and is not inferiour to the others in Grandeur and Magnificence. +It consists of several Rooms all in a row. In one Room there are all the +Pictures of the Emperors from <i>Charlemain</i> to <i>Charles</i> VI. The Rooms that +follow it are hung with very rich Tapestry, particularly one Set +representing the War between <i>Pompey</i> and <i>Csar</i>, which is so wonderfully +well drawn that the Marshal <i>de Daun</i> Governour of <i>Milan</i> offer'd 40000 +Florins for it to the late Archbishop. I shall say nothing of the other +Apartments, having treated so much of the Archiepiscopal Palace; tho' if +it had belong'd to a Temporal Prince I should have said much less of it, +but I thought fit to give you an Idea of the Wealth of a Prelate.</p> + +<p>Adjoining to the Palace there is a great Building which serves for lodging +the Archbishop's Domestics. The Stables are fit for a King, and if a +<i>Frenchman</i> was to see them he would be forc'd to own that as to the +Inside they are more magnificent than the so much boasted Stables of +<i>Versailles</i>. They hold 150 Horses in two Rows, with a broad Walk in the +middle; and the Roof which is pretty +high<!--396.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">371</a></span> +is supported by two Ranges of +Stone-Pillars. Next to these Stables is a Riding-House cover'd, the +Ceiling of which being painted in Fresco, represents a Tournament; and all +round it there is a Gallery. 'Tis pity that this magnificent Riding-House +is not broader. There's another Riding-House uncovered which has not its +Fellow in the World. 'Tis a very great square Place, three Sides of which +are lin'd by very high Rocks, in which three Rows of Seats are very +artfully cut out for the Spectators, when there is any Carousal, or Combat +of wild Beasts. The whole Work is really magnificent, and the old <i>Romans</i> +would not have been ashamed to own it.</p> + +<p><i>Trinity-College</i> Church is extremely well adorned. The Floor is of +Marble, and the Roof painted with a great deal of Art, representing the +Assumption of the Virgin, and the Crown placing on her Head by God the +Father and by Jesus Christ. The High-Altar is of a very singular Form, but +very magnificent. Two Angels of Brass, exceeding human Stature, in a +Posture of Humility and Adoration, support a Heart of Brass which serves +for a Tabernacle. Over it is a Globe, between God the Father and the +Redeemer. God the Father seems to rest his right hand upon the Globe, and +presents the left to our Lord, who puts his left upon the Globe, and in +the right holds a Cross. They are supported by very large Rays which shine +with very rich Gilding. This stately Groupe is surmounted with a Glory, in +the midst of which the Holy Ghost appears in form of a Dove, extending its +Rays over God the Father, and God the Son. The whole is of Brass gilt with +Gold, of a very curious Fancy.</p> + +<p>Near this magnificent Church is the Palace of <i>Mirabel</i>, where the late +Archbishop the Count <i>de Harrach</i>, used to spend the Summer. This Prince +who is truly magnificent in every thing, caus'd this House to be built at +a great Expence from the +very<!--397.png--><span class="pagenum">372</span> +Foundation; but the Architect whom he +employ'd has not answer'd his Intention, and it appears that he did not +understand the proper Distribution of the Apartments. Every Part of it +indeed taken distinctly, is beautiful, but there is not one in its proper +Place. The grand Stair-Case is very fine, as well for its Contrivance as +for its rich Ornaments, but 'tis placed in a Corner, and without a Guide +'tis no easy matter to find it. The Salon, which is the Master-piece of +the Archbishop's Apartments, is worth the Observation of the Curious, with +respect to the grand Manner in which 'tis painted: Marble, Brass, and +Gilding, seem to have been bestowed on it with profusion. As to the +Pilasters, the <i>Corinthian</i> Order is entirely observed; and there are +Basso-Relievos imitating Brass which are well design'd, and make a very +good appearance. 'Tis pity this fine Salon wants proportion, it being much +too lofty for its Size; and 'tis still more to be lamented that it has not +a Prospect over the Gardens, the River of <i>Saltz</i>, and the adjacent +Country, which are the Objects that are discover'd from the Apartments +next to the Salon.</p> + +<p>The Chapel of <i>Mirabel</i> is also very magnificent; and though but of a +middling Size, is not inferior to the finest Churches. This Palace is +accompanied with Gardens finely adorned with Fountains and Statues; and +there are several Orange-Trees planted in the Ground, which are cover'd up +in the Winter in a wooden Box.</p> + +<p>Thus, Sir, have I given you a very particular Account of the City of +<i>Saltzbourg</i>: What remains for me is to speak of the Archbishop's +Houshold, which will give you an Idea of his Wealth and Grandeur. This +Prince has</p> + +<div class="center"> +A Steward,<br /> +A Great Chamberlain,<br /> +A Grand Marshal,<br /> +A Master of the Horse,<br /> +<!--398.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">373</a></span>A +Great Huntsman,<br /> +A Captain of the Guards,<br /> +A Master-Cook,<br /> +A Pay-Master,<br /> +Twenty-four Chamberlains,<br /> +Sixteen Gentlemen-Servants called <i>Truchsses</i>,<br /> +Sixteen Pages,<br /> +Fifteen Ushers of the Cabinet,<br /> +Eleven Ushers of the Chamber,<br /> +Forty-two Valets de Chambre,<br /> +Twenty-eight Footmen,<br /> +Eighteen Cooks. +</div> + +<p>How many Coachmen and Grooms he has I know not, but there must be a great +number of 'em, the Archbishop having 750 Horses.</p> + +<p>Besides the Officers that I have now mentioned, there are also the Great +Hereditary Officers of the Archbishoprick, who are four.</p> + +<p>The eldest of the <i>Lodron</i> Family is Hereditary Grand Marshal.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>de Kuenbourg</i> is Great-Cup-Bearer.</p> + +<p>The Office of Master of the Pantry is vacant by the death of the Count <i>de +Thanhausen</i>, the last of his Family.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>de Torring</i> is Great Chamberlain.</p> + +<p>All these Offices are executed by the eldest Sons of the Families +above-mentioned.</p> + +<p>The Archbishop confers the Order of St. <i>Hubert</i>, which was instituted the +25th of <i>November</i>, 1702, by the Archbishop <i>John-Ernest</i>, who has thereto +annexed six Commanderies, or Prebends, of a considerable Revenue.</p> + +<p>The Archbishops are obliged for most of their Wealth to the Princes of +<i>Bavaria</i><a name="FNanchor_159_159" id="FNanchor_159_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_159_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a>. Mean time the Members of the Chapter of <i>Saltzbourg</i> admit +of<!--399.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">374</a></span> +no Princes, that they may have a Plea for refusing the Princes of +<i>Bavaria</i>, of whose Power they are jealous; in which I think they shew +more regard to the Rules of Policy than those of Gratitude.</p> + +<p>The City of <i>Saltzbourg</i> is worth seeing, but does not afford Amusement. +Every one lives here for his own sake, and except some Gentlemen of the +Chapter, and the Master of the Horse, who is the Count <i>de Truchsses +Zeil</i>, there's nobody to visit. The latter is a Nobleman whose Manners and +Sentiments are intirely conformable to his Birth. I know nobody that is +more polite; and I have abundant reason to praise his Civility to me. He +is of a Family, one Branch of which is settled in <i>Prussia</i>, where it has +for a long time held distinguished Employments, and produced Subjects of +great Merit who have done the State good Service.</p> + +<p>I forgot to mention two things to you that are worth seeing, <i>viz.</i> the +Capuchins Convent, from whence there's a Prospect of a vast Tract of +Country; and St. <i>Sebastian</i>'s Church-yard, in which is interr'd the +celebrated <i>Paracelsus</i>; his Tomb lies in a Place very much neglected, +behind a Door, where a <i>Latin</i> Epitaph says, 'There rests +<i>Philip-Theophrastus Paracelsus</i>, the famous Physician, who with wonderful +Art cured the Leprosy, Gout, Dropsy, and other incurable Distempers; and +who after having given all his Estate to the Poor, died <i>September</i> 24, +1541.'</p> + +<p><i>Paracelsus</i> cured most of his Patients by Sympathy, which made the +Vulgar, who are always apt to run into extremes, believe that he was a +Magician. He wrote several Books, whereof one of the most curious is his +<i>Treatise of Secret Philosophy</i>, which really contains such Passages as +would make one believe that if <i>Paracelsus</i> was not a Conjurer himself, he +was at least one of the Sect.</p> + +<!--400.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">375</a></span></p> + +<p>St. <i>Sebastian</i>'s Church-yard is a square Place, encompassed with a +Gallery supported by Arches: 'tis 119 Paces in length, and 96 in breadth.</p> + +<p>The Neighbourhood of <i>Saltzbourg</i> is not disagreeable; and though the +Valley in which the City lies is pretty much inclosed with Mountains, yet +it presents several Objects that are pleasing to the Sight.</p> + +<p>The Archbishop has two Pleasure-Houses, <i>viz.</i> <i>Cleisheim</i> and <i>Heilbron</i>, +which are both of them beautiful and magnificent. <i>Heilbron</i> especially is +worth seeing on account of its fine Waters and Cascades.</p> + +<p>I hope to write to you speedily from <i>Venice</i>, and perhaps you will hear +from me when I come to <i>Inspruc</i>; but this will depend on the Stay I shall +make there, and on the departure of the Post.</p> + +<div class="c3"><i>POSTSCRIPT.</i></div> + +<div class="blockquot">Since the year 1730, that this Letter was wrote, great +Revolutions have happened in the Archbishoprick of <i>Saltzbourg</i>, +with regard to Religion; for about 22,000 Persons have abandoned +this Country, together with their Estates and their Fortunes, +and declared themselves of the <i>Lutheran</i> Communion; which is +very strange, and almost inconceivable! For in short, those +People never knew any Clergy but their own Priests, they lived +in a Country where there was no Controversy about Religion, +because all the Inhabitants were reckon'd staunch Catholics, by +consequence those People could not be instructed; and even the +greatest part of them could not read, but were bred up in such +gross Ignorance that they scarce knew the Principles of +Christianity. Therefore how could these poor People know that +they were in an Error?</div> + +<div class="blockquot">I am not ignorant that at the beginning of the pretended +Reformation, there were <i>Saltzburghers</i> that followed the +Doctrines of <i>Luther</i>, such as <i>Staupitz</i>, Abbot of <i>St. +Peter</i>'s at <i>Saltzbourg</i>; <i>Paul Speratus</i>, a Preacher in the +Cathedral of this City; and several others. But <i>Lutheranism</i> +was thought to be quite suppressed in this Province, when it +seem'd all on a sudden to take deeper Root than ever; tho', as I +said before, I can't conceive how it should happen. Is it +possible that the Archbishop, the +Curates<!--401.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">376</a></span> +and <i>Priests</i> should +take so little care of what ought to have been most dear to +them, I mean the Salvation of Souls, as that so many Thousands +of People should pass with them for good <i>Romans</i>, at the same +time that they abhorred <i>Rome</i> and its Precepts? For in short, I +suppose, and believe too, that there have ever been Protestants +in this Country, since the pretended Reformation; it being not +in the power of Man to destroy a Religion when once it has had +Followers in a Country; but the Difficulty is, how those +Sectaries should subsist there, without the Knowledge of an +ecclesiastical Sovereign; and how it was possible for them, not +only to subsist, but even to multiply, and the Priests and +Archbishop not perceive it. Ought not the Curates to know the +Sentiments of their Parishioners by Confession? Ought they not +to acquaint the Archbishop their Head of it? and ought not this +Prelate and his Priests to endeavour to reclaim those that go +astray, by the Example of a lively Faith, and by charitable +Exhortations, and from a Compassion for their Error, diligently +to oppose the Propagation of it? But all this has been +neglected: The Priests, and their Archbishop, knew not there was +a Fire, 'till 'twas too late to put it out; and instead of the +Good-nature, Compassion, and Charity, which like Water were +necessary to extinguish it, they pour'd in the Oil of Hatred and +Violence, and abandoned themselves to their furious Zeal. The +haughty, rigid, and severe Archbishop, forgetting that he was +both a Father and an Archbishop, and giving way to the Violence +of his Temper, has for ever lost those Souls which he might have +hoped to reclaim, by Instructions truly pastoral, and treating +them as Children led astray; whereas this Prelate, by using the +contrary Method, has caused a great many Persons to declare +themselves Protestants, who would have died in the Bosom of the +Church, if the proper Remedies had been employed, to bring them +back to it.</div> + +<div class="blockquot">But I am persuaded that among the Emigrants of <i>Saltzbourg</i>, +there is a vast number who made Religion only a Cloak to leave +their Country, in hopes of bettering their Fortunes elsewhere, +and who were seduced by the ensnaring Temptation of throwing off +the Yoak of Submission. Be this as it will, those unfortunate +Subjects, like the <i>Jews</i>, are spread into divers Countries, as +<i>Germany</i>, <i>Holland</i>, and <i>Prussia</i>, where the King, I must +confess, (as much a Catholic as I am) has received them with a +Charity and Generosity perfectly christian and royal; his +Majesty having grudg'd neither Care nor Expence to convince the +World that as <i>France</i> is the Asylum of unfortunate Kings, so +the Dominions of <i>Prussia</i> are the Refuge of oppressed Subjects.</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--402.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">377</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 418px;"> +<img src="images/i18.png" width="418" height="61" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER XXIV.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Inspruc, April 9, 1730.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>I travelled hither all the way from <i>Saltzbourg</i>, with the same Horses, +which is what I will never do again; for travelling by Post is always +best; and though 'tis more expensive, yet on the other hand 'tis less +fatiguing.</p> + +<p>Three Leagues from <i>Saltzbourg</i> stands the little Town of <span class="smcap">Halle</span>, which +belongs to the Elector of <i>Bavaria</i>, and is a Place considerable for its +Salt-Pits. It lies in a small Valley crossed by three Rivers, form'd by +Torrents from the Mountains, which bring down a vast quantity of floating +Wood, that is stopp'd at <i>Halle</i> by the Piles which either cross or shut +up the Rivers. They lay the Wood up in store for the Salt-Works, which +consume a great quantity of it.</p> + +<p>After I had been all over the Salt-Works, I went and din'd at +<i>Schneitzenrieth</i>, a sorry Village, where, however, I far'd better than I +have done at many good Towns.</p> + +<p>When I had dined I pursued my Journey, and having travelled four Leagues, +entred the Country of <span class="smcap">Tirol</span>, the Passage to which is very much straitened, +so that there's scarce room for a Waggon, by two very high Rocks or +Mountains, and two Forts between them, one belonging to the Archbishoprick +of <i>Saltzbourg</i>, and the other to the County of <i>Tirol</i>. Each Sovereign +keeps a Garrison in his Fort, and Officers to receive the Duties.</p> + +<!--403.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">378</a></span></p> + +<p>I lay that Evening at <span class="smcap">Wahtringen</span>, the first Village in the Dominions of +<i>Tirol</i>, as one comes out of <i>Germany</i>. I here found a Parcel of Boys +running about with lighted Touchwood in their hands, to the Houses, Woods, +and Fields. Having ask'd an old Man the meaning of it, he told me that the +Wood so lighted was consecrated by the Parson of the Parish, and had the +virtue of securing all Places to which it was carried, against Lightning. +This Consecration of the Wood is always perform'd the <i>Saturday</i> before +<i>Easter</i>, when a great Pile is erected before the Church, into which the +Parson throws Holy water, and then sets fire to It. When the whole is well +kindled, every one strives to snatch a Firebrand, with which they run to +their Houses and Lands, but with so little care that I wonder they don't +set every place they come to in a Flame.</p> + +<p>From <i>Halle</i> to <i>Wahtringen</i> the Country is every bit uncultivated. The +Inhabitants live upon Milk, Pickled Cabbage, and Water-gruel. They have no +Corn but what comes from <i>Bavaria</i>. All their Substance and Trade is in +Cattle, and their Mountains afford excellent Pasture.</p> + +<p>Upon <i>Easter-day</i> I heard Mass at <i>St. John</i>'s, a great Village where +there's a very pretty Church. I was very much pleased with the Sermon that +was preached by the Parson, and with the Regularity with which the whole +Divine Service was performed.</p> + +<p>After Mass I went and din'd at <span class="smcap">Elvan</span>, to which place I came through a +Valley, which in the Summer time must be very agreeable, but at the +present Season is all covered with Snow. I was not more edified at +<i>Wahtringen</i>, than I was scandalized at <i>Elvan</i>, to catch my Landlord, a +clever, merry Blade, engaged with one of his Maids in something else +instead of telling their Beads. My Presence +was<!--404.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">379</a></span> +so far from spoiling +Sport that my Landlord invited me very civilly to do as he did, assuring +me that his House was well furnish'd with Nymphs. In a very little time I +was convinced that what he said was true, for being obliged by the Cold to +stay in the common Room while one was aired for me, I saw half a score +Lasses come in, who were all of them my Landlord's very humble Servants, +and not in the least disposed to imitate the eleven thousand Virgins.</p> + +<p>After Dinner, pursuing my way through Snows and Rocks, I went and lay at +<i>Kundahl</i>. Next day I got beyond the Snow, and crossed a very pleasant +Valley which brought me to <span class="smcap">Ratenberg</span>, a Town on the Banks of the <i>Inn</i>, +defended by a Castle built on a Rock, and stronger by its Situation than +by its Works. The Elector <i>Maximilian-Emanuel</i> of <i>Bavaria</i> coming before +this Castle on the 13th of <i>June</i>, 1703, obliged the Garrison, which was +composed of the Militia, to surrender at Discretion. From this Fort to +<i>Inspruc</i> I always kept along the River <i>Inn</i>, which runs through a fine +Valley between high Mountains that are much steeper on the right side of +the River than the left; nevertheless there are Houses on them that are +inhabited by the Miners. I can't imagine how it was possible for the good +People to build in Places so inconvenient; for their Houses look as if +they were stuck on to the Rocks, and as if nothing but a Goat or a Swallow +could come at them. The whole Valley is very populous, and abounds with +pretty Villages, Castles, and fine Country-Houses.</p> + +<p>At the end of it stands the Town of <span class="smcap">Schwatz</span>, which is very well built. The +Parish Church is an ancient, fair, large Edifice; and wholly covered with +Copper, as most of the Churches in <i>Tirol</i> are with Tin painted green, +which has a very pretty look. The Houses at <i>Schwatz</i> are generally of +Brick, so that 'tis very rare to see one of Timber. I +observ'd<!--405.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">380</a></span> +at the Inn +where I din'd, and throughout the whole Country of <i>Tirol</i>, that when +People came into any House, they said to the Master of it, <i>Hail, Jesus +Christ!</i> to which he answered, <i>May Christ be praised, and the holy Virgin +his Mother</i>. Then the Master of the House stepp'd forward, and took the +Visitor by his hand. This method of saluting is practised among all the +People throughout <i>Tirol</i>; and the Salutation is fix'd up in Print at all +the Doors, with an Advertisement tack'd to it, importing, that Pope +<i>Clement</i> XI. had granted an hundred Days of Indulgence, and plenary +Absolution, in favour of those who should pronounce the Salutation and the +Answer.</p> + +<p>After having din'd at <i>Schwatz</i>, I continued to ride along the <i>Inn</i>; and +three Leagues beyond that I pass'd the River, over a Bridge near +<i>Fultishau</i>, a fine Convent of the Servite-Fryars, and went to <span class="smcap">Halle</span>, the +second City of <i>Tirol</i>. The reverend Fathers the <i>Jesuits</i> have a fine +House here, and a noble Church, with a great Garden to it. The Mint is +also worth seeing, where they coin a great quantity of Species from the +Silver and Copper taken out of the Mines of <i>Tirol</i>. The Water is brought +to it by wooden Pipes. They drive a great Trade at <i>Halle</i> in Copper, Tin, +and Salt, which is produced there in abundance, the Vent of it being +promoted by means of the River <i>Inn</i>, which becomes navigable at <i>Halle</i>.</p> + +<p>From this Town to <i>Inspruc</i> 'tis two Leagues, and a strait even Road which +deserves to be planted on each side with Trees. <span class="smcap">Inspruc</span>, the Capital City +of <i>Tirol</i>, stands in the middle of a Valley, on the Banks of the <i>Inn</i>, +over which there's a wooden Bridge that leads to the Suburbs. <i>Inspruc</i> +was heretofore the Residence of the Archdukes, the Sovereigns of <i>Tirol</i>; +but since the august House of <i>Austria</i> has been reduced in <i>Germany</i> to +the +Imperial<!--406.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">381</a></span> +Branch singly, this City has been only subject to Governors, +who however were always great Noblemen. <i>Charles</i> Duke of <i>Lorrain</i>, who +married the Queen Dowager of <i>Poland</i>, Sister to the Emperor <i>Leopold</i>, +and who made himself famous by the Victories which he gain'd over the +<i>Turks</i>, held this important Office. That Prince dying at <i>Inspruc</i>, was +succeeded by <i>Charles</i> Prince Palatine of <i>Newbourg</i>, Brother to the +Empress <i>Eleonora</i>, <i>Leopold</i>'s third Wife, but he renounced the +Government of <i>Tirol</i>, on his Accession to the Electorate. He liv'd at +<i>Inspruc</i>, with great Pomp, and his Absence is still very much lamented +there. Since he went away, the Government of <i>Tirol</i> has remain'd vacant. +They say 'tis designed for the Archduchess <i>Mary-Magdalen</i>, the Emperor's +youngest Sister. This I know is what the Burghers of <i>Inspruc</i> wish for; +but I don't think the Nobility do; because the Presence of the Archduchess +would oblige the People of Quality to be at very great Expence; for they +would be under a necessity of going to Court, as well as of carrying it +more civilly to their Vassals.</p> + +<p>The Count <i>de Konickel</i> is the Chief of the Regency: He has the Title of +<i>Landshauptman</i>, which is much the same with Lieutenant-General of the +Province, wherein he has the absolute Command, and all the Sovereign +Courts depend on him. This Nobleman is a <i>Tirolese</i>, and lodges in a fine +House which has been built by order of the States of <i>Tirol</i>, for the +Residence of their <i>Landshauptman</i>. He conducts himself with Dignity, and +is civil to Foreigners.</p> + +<p>'Twas at <i>Inspruc</i> that the Emperor <i>Charles</i> V. received one of the +greatest Shocks he had met with in all his Life. For he was surprized +there with his Brother <i>Ferdinand</i>, King of the <i>Romans</i>, by <i>Maurice</i> +Elector of <i>Saxony</i>, who, though his Creature, made War upon him +nevertheless, on account +of<!--407.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">382</a></span> +Religion. The Emperor and his Brother were so +near being taken that they had but just time to make their Escape to +<i>Villaco</i>, a little Town upon the <i>Drave</i> in <i>Carinthia</i>. This was a +terrible Reverse of Fortune for a Prince, who, but a few years before, had +a Pope and a King of <i>France</i> too, his Prisoners.</p> + +<p><i>Maximilian-Emanuel</i> Elector of <i>Bavaria</i> was not more fortunate at +<i>Inspruc</i> than <i>Charles</i> V. for though he made himself Master of it in +<i>June</i> 1703, he was obliged to abandon it in <i>July</i> following, and to +retire to <i>Bavaria</i>, after having tried in vain to force Passes which were +in a manner inaccessible by Nature, and guarded not only by the Peasants +but by regular Troops. His Design was to have joined M. <i>de Vendosme</i> in +the County of <i>Trent</i>, and by that means to have opened a Communication +with the <i>Milanese</i>. The Elector, whilst he was retreating, ran the hazard +several times of losing his Life; and his Troops were for the most part +knock'd o' th' head by Stones which the Peasants hurl'd at them in the +Defiles which they were obliged to pass.</p> + +<p>The City of <i>Inspruc</i> is absolutely defenceless, and were it not for its +Suburbs, would be one of the least Cities in all <i>Germany</i>; but those +Suburbs are very large, and the Residence of Persons of the greatest +Distinction. The Houses are very commodious, well built of Brick, and for +the most part with Piazzas, which is a great Conveniency to the +Foot-passengers. There was heretofore great Store of Salt here, but for +some years past the Pits are dry, which is a Loss to <i>Inspruc</i> of no less +than 200,000 Florins a-year.</p> + +<p>Though the City is small yet there are several very fine things to be seen +in it. Such is the ancient Palace of the Archdukes, a vast large +Structure, but without Architecture, or any manner +of<!--408.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">383</a></span> +Regularity. There +are Pictures in it done by skilful Hands, particularly in that call'd the +Giant's-Hall, where the Story of <i>Dejanira</i> is represented with very great +Art and Perfection.</p> + +<p>The Palace has very great Gardens belonging to it, but they are not well +kept; yet there are the Remains of noble Fountains and brazen Statues. +Among the latter is an Equestrian Statue of an Archduke of <i>Austria</i>, who +is represented as large as the Life, in Armour, with Breeches after the +Fashion of the Ancients, a Ruff, and little Boots. The Horse seems to rest +upon his Haunches, in an Attitude as if he was just ready to leap off the +Pedestal.</p> + +<p>The Prince <i>Charles</i> of <i>Newbourg</i>, the present Elector Palatine, finding +the old Castle not commodious enough, caused one to be built of Wood; +which was some years ago burnt down to the ground by an accidental Fire.</p> + +<p>The Parish Church is of modern Building, with a great Dome raised in the +middle of the Cross. The whole Architecture of this Edifice is of the +<i>Corinthian</i> Order. The Front is expos'd to an advantagious Point of View +on a Square, and is adorned with three Orders, one above another, which +makes the Fabric to rise in the whole to about 120 Foot height, exclusive +of a great flight of Steps to it, after the manner of <i>Italy</i>. All the +Parts of this Structure are charged with Ornaments of a clumsey Invention, +and very ill executed; so that the Confusion resulting from it is +infinitely shocking to those that have a nice Taste of Architecture. The +Inside is more tolerable than the Outside, and is even magnificent. The +whole Length from the Entrance to the Foot of the High-Altar, is 432 Feet. +The Foundation of it was laid while <i>Charles de Newbourg</i> was Governor of +<i>Tirol</i>, who plac'd the first Stone of it. The whole +Decoration<!--409.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">384</a></span> +of this +Church consists in Pilasters of red Marble, with a Vein of white, and the +Chapiters are of Plaister. The Roof is painted in Fresco by <i>Gosman-Daniel +Ossem</i>, a Native of <i>Munich</i>, who has succeeded so well as to give entire +satisfaction to such as have a Taste for, and Skill in things that are +curious. The High-Altar stands under the Arch at the end opposite to the +Nave of the Church. 'Tis perfectly magnificent, adorned with four great +Pillars of the Composite Order, of green Marble with white Veins, whose +Chapiters and Basons are of Marble of various Colours; and they support a +Canopy, which is form'd by four Curves fill'd with a Glory.</p> + +<p>The Tabernacle and the Front of the Altar are of massy Silver, charged +with several Mouldings, and Foliages of Silver gilt; and there are few +Altars more splendidly decorated. There is a miraculous Image of the holy +Virgin, which the Archduke <i>Leopold</i>, the Sovereign of <i>Tirol</i>, brought +hither from <i>Dresden</i>. That Prince made a Visit to the Elector of +<i>Saxony</i>, who shewing him his Treasure, desir'd him to chuse any Piece +that he lik'd best; <i>Leopold</i> singled out this Figure, because he was told +that in the early days of Lutheranism, it had been cast three times in the +Fire, and always taken out again without any damage. The Archduke on his +return to his Dominions, made a Present of this Image to the Parish, and +it has ever since been held in great veneration, and never fail'd of +working great Miracles. Three great Lamps of massy Silver are continually +burning before it; and the other Chapels have each a Lamp of solid Silver +whose Light is always shining. All this Plate was given to the Church by +the Elector Palatine.</p> + +<p>The famous golden Roof is near the Parish Church, and serves to cover a +Balcony of the Chancery which fronts the Square. They say that <i>Frederic</i> +of <i>Austria</i>, the Sovereign of <i>Tirol</i>, caused +this<!--410.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">385</a></span> +Roof to be made, to +let his Subjects see that he was not so bare of Money as they thought him, +and that he did not deserve the Nickname they had given him of the +<i>Pennyless Prince</i>. There are many however who affirm that this Roof is +not of Gold, while others say the contrary. As far as I can judge of it, I +believe 'tis of Copper only covered with very thin Plates of Gold, and by +consequence of no great Value. And supposing the whole Roof was of solid +Gold, I don't believe the Expence was very extraordinary, though to be +sure it was by much too great for so mean a purpose.</p> + +<p>The House or College of the reverend Fathers the Jesuits, is a very great +Building in which no Cost has been spared. Its principal Front is 166 +Paces in length. These Fathers are the Directors of the University. Near +to their College is the Church of the <i>Franciscans</i>, whose Convent was +founded by the pious Legacies of the Emperor <i>Maximilian</i>, who on his +Death-bed ordered his Successor to cause this House and Church to be built +at <i>Inspruc</i>. His Grandson <i>Ferdinand</i> I. Son to <i>Philip</i> the Fair, +perform'd his Will, and in honour of his Grandfather's Memory, raised him +a Marble Tomb which may be rank'd among the most stately <i>Mausoleums</i> in +<i>Europe</i>. The Emperor <i>Maximilian</i> is there represented on his Knees upon +a Cushion, with his Hands lifted up to Heaven, and as it were prostrate in +Prayer: He is adorned with the Crown, and the Imperial <i>Dalmatic</i>. This +Figure is of a gigantic Size, and admirably well done in Brass. 'Tis +plac'd on a great high Base of black Marble, forming an oblong Square, on +an Ascent of three Steps of red Marble. The whole Base is divided into +twenty-four Compartiments, or square Tables of white Marble, representing +the memorable Actions of <i>Maximilian</i> in excellent Bas-Reliefs. +The<!--411.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">386</a></span> +four +cardinal Virtues in a mournful Attitude, are represented in Brass, as +sitting on the Corners of the <i>Mausoleum</i>, and looking on <i>Maximilian</i>'s +Statue. The entire <i>Mausoleum</i> stands by itself in the middle of the +Church; and the following Inscription is engraved in Letters of Gold all +round the Base of this Monument;</p> + +<div class="blockquot">IMPERATORI CSARI MAXIMILIANO, PIO, FELICI, AUGUSTO, PRINCIPI TUM PACIS +TUM BELLI ARTIBUS OMNIUM TATIS SU REGUM LONGE CLARISSIMO; SUB CUJUS +FELICI IMPERIO INCLYTA GERMANIA, DULCISSIMA IPSIUS PATRIA, TAM ARMIS QUAM +LITERARUM STUDIIS PLUS QUAM UNQUAM ANTEHAC FLORERE CAPUTQUE SUPER ALIAS +NATIONES EXTOLLERE CŒPIT: CUJUS INSIGNIA FACTA TABELLIS +INFERIORIBUS, QUAMVIS SUB COMPENDIO, EXPRESSA CONSPICIUNTUR. IMPERATOR +CSAR FERDINANDUS, PIUS, FELIX, AUGUSTUS, AVO PATERNO PERQUAM COLENDO, AC +BENE MERITO, PIETATIS ATQUE GRATITUDINIS ERGO POSUIT. NATUS EST DIE XXVII +MARTII ANNO DOMINI M.CCCC.LIX. WELS IN AUSTRIA DENATUS.</div> + +<p>All this fine <i>Mausoleum</i> was executed with very great Care and Skill, by +<i>Alexander Colin</i>, a Native of <i>Mechlin</i>; the Picture of which ingenious +Painter, and that of his Wife, are kept in the Church, as an +Acknowledgment due to that excellent Artist. This <i>Mausoleum</i> was mightily +enriched by the Magnificence of <i>Frederic</i> Archduke of <i>Austria</i>, surnamed +the <i>Pennyless Prince</i>, who caused to be placed +in<!--412.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">387</a></span> +the Nave of the Church +twenty-eight Statues of Brass seven Foot in height, representing so many +Princes and Princesses that were related to the House of <i>Austria</i>. They +are set up in two Rows from the great Gate to the Altar, and therefore +separate the Nave from the two Wings on the Sides. 'Tis pity that those +Statues are in the hands of Monks who neglect them very much, and suffer +the Dust to eat into them. They would do much better in a Royal Palace: +Some of them are in great perfection. I fancy you will be glad to know the +Names of the Persons they represent.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>I. The first, beginning on the right Side of the Altar, is the Figure of +<i>Joan</i> of <i>Castile</i>, Mother to <i>Charles</i> V. and <i>Ferdinand</i> I. the Heads +of the two Branches of the House of <i>Austria</i>; the first of which became +extinct by the Death of <i>Charles</i> II. King of <i>Spain</i>, but the second +still flourishes among us with Glory in the Person of the August <i>Charles</i> +VI.</p> + +<p>II. <i>Ferdinand</i> the Catholic, Father to <i>Joan</i>.</p> + +<p>III. <i>Cunigonda</i> Archduchess, Daughter to the Emperor <i>Frederic</i> IV. and +Wife to <i>Albert</i> of <i>Bavaria</i>, who died a Nun.</p> + +<p>IV. <i>Margaret</i>, Daughter to <i>Henry</i> Duke of <i>Carinthia</i> and Count of +<i>Tirol</i>, surnamed the <i>Pious</i>, because she founded and built several +Convents. This Princess was nicknamed <i>Margaret Wide-Mouth</i>: She was +marry'd first to <i>John</i> Margrave of <i>Moravia</i>, Son to the Emperor +<i>Charles</i> IV. whom she surviv'd, and marry'd to her second Husband +<i>Lewis</i>, Margrave of <i>Brandenburg</i>, Son to the Emperor <i>Lewis</i> of +<i>Bavaria</i>, whom she also surviv'd, and finding herself a Widow a second +time, and without Issue to enjoy what she had, she made a Present of the +County of <i>Tirol</i> whereof she was Sovereign, to her Cousins <i>Rodolph</i>, +<i>Albert</i>, and <i>Leopold</i> +of<!--413.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">388</a></span> +<i>Austria</i>, which Grant was confirm'd by the +Emperor <i>Charles</i> IV. in 1364.</p> + +<p>V. <i>Mary of Burgundy</i>, Wife to the Emperor <i>Maximilian</i> I. the richest +Heiress of her Time.</p> + +<p>VI. <i>Elizabeth</i>, the Daughter of the Emperor <i>Sigismond</i>, and Wife to the +Emperor <i>Albert</i> II. who carry'd the Duchy of <i>Luxembourg</i> to the House of +<i>Austria</i>. She was Mother to the unfortunate King <i>Ladislaus</i>.</p> + +<p>VII. <i>Godfrey</i> of <i>Bouillon</i>, Duke of <i>Lorrain</i>, King of <i>Jerusalem</i>, +plac'd here among the Princes of the House of <i>Austria</i>, as being +descended from the same Family as they.</p> + +<p>VIII. <i>Albert</i> I. Emperor.</p> + +<p>IX. <i>Frederic</i>, Archduke of <i>Austria</i>, he who was nicknamed Prince +<i>Pennyless</i>.</p> + +<p>X. <i>Leopold</i> of <i>Austria</i>, surnamed the <i>Virtuous</i>, Son of <i>Albert</i> the +<i>Wise</i>.</p> + +<p>XI, and XII. Opinions are very much divided about the Persons who are +represented by these two Statues; but 'tis generally thought they are the +Emperors <i>Charles</i> V. and <i>Ferdinand</i> I.</p> + +<p>XIII. The Emperor <i>Frederic</i> IV. Father to <i>Maximilian</i> I.</p> + +<p>XIV. <i>Albert</i> II. Emperor, King of <i>Hungary</i> and <i>Bohemia</i>, and Father to +the unfortunate King <i>Ladislaus</i>.</p> + +<p>XV. <i>Clovis</i>, the first Christian King of <i>France</i>, who is plac'd among +the Princes of the House of <i>Austria</i>, because their Genealogists derive +them from the ancient <i>Franks</i> who subdued <i>France</i>.</p> + +<p>XVI. <i>Philip</i> I. call'd the Fair, King of <i>Spain</i>.</p> + +<p>XVII. The Emperor <i>Rodolph</i> I.</p> + +<p>XVIII. The Archduke <i>Albert</i>, call'd the <i>Wise</i>.</p> + +<p>XIX. <i>Theodoric</i> King of the <i>Goths</i>. I am not a Genealogist good enough +to tell you in what Relation he stands to the House of <i>Austria</i>.</p> + +<!--414.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">389</a></span></p> + +<p>XX. <i>Ernest</i>, Archduke, Grandfather to <i>Maximilian</i> I.</p> + +<p>XXI. <i>Theodebert</i> Count of <i>Provence</i>, from whom descended the Dukes of +<i>Burgundy</i> and the Counts of <i>Hapsburg</i>.</p> + +<p>XXII. <i>Arthur</i>, Prince of <i>Wales</i>, who marry'd <i>Catherine</i> of <i>Arragon</i>.</p> + +<p>XXIII. <i>Sigismond</i>, Archduke and Count of <i>Tirol</i>, who adopted the Emperor +<i>Maximilian</i> I.</p> + +<p>XXIV. <i>Blanche Mary</i>, the second Wife of <i>Maximilian</i> I. which Princess +was the Daughter of <i>John Galeas</i> Duke of <i>Milan</i>.</p> + +<p>XXV. <i>Margaret</i>, Daughter of <i>Maximilian</i> I. who was marry'd first to +<i>John</i> a Prince of <i>Spain</i>, and secondly to <i>Philibert</i> Duke of <i>Savoy</i>.</p> + +<p>XXVI. <i>Cimburge</i>, Wife of <i>Ernest</i> the Archduke, and Mother to the Emperor +<i>Frederic</i> IV.</p> + +<p>XXVII. <i>Charles</i> the <i>Bold</i>, Duke of <i>Burgundy</i>, Father to <i>Mary</i> of +<i>Burgundy</i> who was Wife to <i>Maximilian</i> I.</p> + +<p>XXVIII. <i>Philip</i>, Duke of <i>Burgundy</i>, Father to <i>Charles</i> the <i>Bold</i>.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Besides these twenty-eight Statues there are twenty three others plac'd +upon the Cornish of the Portico which separates the Nave from the Choir: +They are of Brass two Foot high, and represent those Kings and Princes +whom the Church honours as Saints.</p> + +<p>I am farther to acquaint you of the Chapel of this Church, call'd the +Silver Chapel, because of the Image of the Virgin there of solid Silver as +big as the Life in the middle of the Altar, with a great many Images of +Saints all of the same Metal. The Ascent to this Chapel is by a winding +Stair-Case. Here is to be seen the stately Tomb of <i>Ferdinand</i> Archduke of +<i>Austria</i>, Count of <i>Tirol</i>, Son to the Emperor <i>Ferdinand</i> I. This +Mausoleum is under an Arch which is pretty high. +<i>Ferdinand</i>,<!--415.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">390</a></span> +whose +Figure is of white Marble, seems to be asleep upon a Bed of black Marble +rais'd one Foot from the Ground. The whole Arch is lin'd with Marble of +various Colours, forming divers Compartments of very curious Workmanship, +where you see the Arms of the Provinces reduc'd to the Obedience of the +House of <i>Austria</i>: The different Colours are shewn by precious Stones +enchas'd in Marble, and so curiously done that the Work seems to be +enamel'd. Round the same Arch are plac'd five Bas-Reliefs, representing in +as many Pictures the memorable Actions of <i>Ferdinand</i>. Five other +Bas-Reliefs contain the Images of that Prince's Patrons, <i>viz.</i> <span class="smcap">Jesus +Christ</span>, St. <i>Anthony</i> of <i>Padua</i>, St. <i>George</i>, St. <i>Thomas</i>, and St. +<i>Leopold</i>.</p> + +<p>Near the said Tomb stands that of <i>Philippina</i> of <i>Welserin</i>, who was born +at <i>Augsburg</i>, and the Wife of the Archduke <i>Ferdinand</i>, by whom she had +two Sons, <i>Charles</i> the Margrave of <i>Burgau</i>, and <i>Andrew</i> Cardinal of +<i>Austria</i>. This <i>Mausoleum</i> is of Free-stone and has nothing remarkable +more than the following Epitaph:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><span class="smcap">Ferdinandus D. G. Archidux, Dux Burgundi, Comes Tirol, +Philippin Conjugi Charissim fieri curavit.</span> <span class="smcap">Obiit</span> 24 Aprilis, +1580.</div> + +<p>The Franciscan who shew'd me this Chapel assur'd me that it was one of the +First-rate Chapels in the World, on account of the Indulgences which had +been annex'd to it by the Beneficence of the Popes; that it was upon a par +with the Chapel of the <i>Holy Sepulchre</i> at <i>Jerusalem</i>, with the Churches +of <i>St. John de Lateran</i>, <i>St. Mary major</i>, and <i>St. Gregory</i> at <i>Rome</i>; +and that, in fine, a Mass said in this Chapel for the Repose of a Soul +departed, was enough to deliver it out of Purgatory.</p> + +<!--416.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">391</a></span></p> + +<p>These, Sir, are the Remarks that I made in this City, from whence I am +making ready to set out to-morrow. I expect to be well jolted all the way +to <i>Venice</i>, where to make my self amends I will take my Pleasure in a +<i>Gondola</i>. I wish with all my heart I had your Company there; we should +then have the Satisfaction of seeing a great many fine Sights together. +But for want of this Satisfaction I shall never cease to think of you; and +pray don't forget me, but believe me to be for ever, <i>&c.</i></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 430px;"> +<img src="images/i20.png" width="430" height="47" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<h2>LETTER XXV.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Venice, April</i> 27, 1730.</span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>I wrote to you from <i>Inspruc</i> the very Day before I set out from thence +for this Place, to which I arriv'd without any Misfortune. About three +quarters of a League from <i>Inspruc</i> we came among very tiresome and +disagreeable Mountains, the highest of which is call'd the <i>Brenner</i>, a +Name that the Country People gave it when they clear'd it of the Wood, and +burnt it. This Mountain is much more rugged on the side of <i>Trent</i> than +'tis towards <i>Inspruc</i>; 'tis for nine Months together cover'd with Snow, +and I found a great deal remaining on it still; yet 'tis inhabited to the +very Top. There is a Post-House, a Tavern, and a Chapel in which Mass is +only said when the +Snows<!--417.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">392</a></span> +are melted: It produces Corn and Hay in +abundance. Near the Post-House there is a considerable Spring which at +first forms a large Basin, and then divides into two Torrents which +quickly change into Rivers, one whereof falls into the <i>Inn</i> above +<i>Inspruc</i>, and the other, after becoming navigable two Leagues from +<i>Bolsano</i>, loses itself in the <i>Adige</i> above <i>Trent</i>. The Passage of the +<i>Brenner</i> is very painful, and sometimes impracticable when it snows or +rains; so that Travellers are often oblig'd to stay several Days till the +Return of fair Weather, which is the more inconvenient because the Inns on +both Sides are of the worst sort.</p> + +<p><i>Stertzingen</i> a little Town four Post-Stages from <i>Inspruc</i>, has nothing +remarkable; however I was well accommodated there. Next Day I went and +din'd at <span class="smcap">Brixen</span> an Episcopal City in an agreeable Valley, where I found +the Season very forward. The Country between <i>Brixen</i> and <i>Bolsano</i> is +extremely populous, and so manur'd that the steepest Mountains are +cultivated.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Bolsano</span> is a pretty Town well inhabited, and drives a considerable Trade, +having no less than four Fairs a Year. Its Situation is very agreeable, in +the middle of a fine large Valley full of Villages and Vineyards. The Air +here is much softer than in the rest of <i>Tirol</i>, and I found Trees here in +full Verdure while in the Country they were but just budded. The Vines are +very carefully watched by Men who keep Guard in Huts rais'd upon three +Poles plac'd cross-wise, and high enough to command the Vineyards. +<i>Misson</i> in his Voyage to <i>Italy</i> says, that these Huts or <i>Guerites</i> were +for lodging the Guards that are posted to hinder the Bears from eating the +Grapes. I know not who could tell him that there were any Bears in this +Country, and if there are 'tis hardly probable they would venture into a +Valley so populous as that of <i>Bolsano</i>. +The<!--418.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">393</a></span> +Wines of this Valley are the +best in all <i>Tirol</i>; but they must be drank, as must all the Wines of this +Country, the very Year of their Growth, or else they grow luscious, and +then turn crabbed.</p> + +<p>The Valley of <i>Bolsano</i> which extends to <i>Trent</i> is throughout equally +agreeable; and is not incumber'd by those horrid Mountains that we were +pester'd with in the Road from <i>Inspruc</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Trent</span> is celebrated for the Council formerly held there. I went to see the +Church of St. <i>Mary major</i>, where the Fathers of that Council held their +Assembly. It has nothing remarkable besides its Organs which are of too +enormous a Size for a Church, but are a very curious piece of Work; for +they not only exhibit various Sounds, but imitate Vocal Music, the Notes +of divers Birds, and the Noise of Kettle-Drums and Trumpets. The Bishop of +<i>Trent</i> is a Prince of the Empire. The See is now vacant by the Death of +the Count <i>de Wolckenstein</i> the last Bishop. The Chapter has fix'd the +Election for next <i>May</i>. A great many Travellers highly extol the Bishop's +Palace, but for my own part, I was not so fortunate as to observe any +thing in it that was worthy of Attention.</p> + +<p>Throughout all <i>Tirol</i> the Common People are very ill-favour'd: Most of +the Women are disguis'd by Wens in their Throat<a name="FNanchor_160_160" id="FNanchor_160_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_160_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a>, and as if that was +not enough they disfigure themselves by their Dress. The Country Women +wear Stockings which have no Feet, and are gather'd into many little Folds +from the Ancle to the Calf of the Leg: Their Shoes are exactly like those +the Men wear. Their Petticoats are exceeding short, and ty'd up almost as +high as their Breasts which are very large. With all this they have a Pair +of Stays which reaches down +to<!--419.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">394</a></span> +their Waist, and renders them compleatly +deform'd. Instead of other Head-dress they wear a green high-crown'd Hat, +the Brims of which are let down, and is as unbecoming a part of their +Dress as any of the rest. At <i>Brixen</i> the Blood mends, the Women are +handsomer, the Men more genteel, and the People in general more civiliz'd; +tho' take 'em all together the <i>Tirolese</i> are very honest People. They are +staunch zealous Catholics, tho' they say that some of the Peasants, are +<i>Lutherans</i>. The <i>Holy Virgin</i> and St. <i>Christopher</i> are the principal +Objects of the People's Devotion: The latter is painted on all their +Houses, and the Roads are full of little Chapels of the <i>Virgin</i> who is +represented in all manner of ways. I have seen her painted in a Chapel +standing with a great Veil over her Head which she extended with her Arms +to cover the Pope, the Emperor, seven Kings, and as many Electors, who +seem to be prostrate at her Knees.</p> + +<p>As I left <i>Trent</i> I began to ascend a Mountain which does not become +smooth till we reach to <i>Berschen</i> which is a Post-Stage and a half from +<i>Trent</i>. This Mountain is exceeding steep, troublesome, and tiresome, and +after 'tis pass'd, one is in a manner buried among Rocks and horrid +Mountains which seem as if they would fall on the Heads of the Travellers; +and I have been assur'd that this sometimes happens in rainy Weather, when +so many Pieces crumble off of the Rock that it requires 4 or 500 Carts to +clear the Roads. In short, all the Way till one comes within a League of +<i>Bossagno</i> a City in the State of <i>Venice</i> is full of Rocks and +Precipices; but from that Town to <i>Mestre</i> which is four Post-Stages from +it, the Country is the finest in the World; and in short, every thing is +good and pleasant except their Wine and their publick Houses. The Wine has +naturally a musty Taste, and no Body, and the Colour is like that of the +thick Wine of +<i>Bourdeaux</i>.<!--420.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">395</a></span> +This Country so abounds in Quails that the +Post-Master of <i>Bossagno</i> assur'd me he had taken 720 in a Morning, that +he drove a great Trade with 'em, and sent some of 'em to the State of +<i>Venice</i>, and to <i>Lombardy</i>. Whether he said true, I know not, but he +shew'd me 1100 live Quails which he kept in Wicker-Cages in a great Barn +where he had hung all the Cages to Pack-Thread to keep them from Rats and +Cats.</p> + +<p>At <span class="smcap">Mestre</span> one embarks for <i>Venice</i> which is about seven Leagues from it; I +made the Voyage in a Gondola in less than an Hour and half. As I travell'd +post to <i>Mestre</i>, my Gondoliers, when I came to <i>Venice</i>, carry'd me to +the Post-Office, where I was oblig'd to tell my Name, and the Business for +which I came to <i>Venice</i>; but this is a Ceremony to which they who don't +travel post are not subject. I went and took up my Lodging at the <i>White +Lion</i>, highly rejoic'd that I could rest my self there after my Fatigue, +and that I had lost sight of the <i>Alps</i>, those horrid Mountains which no +body would chuse to live amongst but a <i>Swiss</i> or a <i>Tirolese</i>, who, as +Cardinal <i>Bentivoglio</i> justly observes in his Voyage to <i>Swisserland</i>, are +a People made for the <i>Alps</i>, and the <i>Alps</i> for them.</p> + +<p>As I have been twice before at <i>Venice</i>, I serve as a +<i>Cicerone</i><a name="FNanchor_161_161" id="FNanchor_161_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_161_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a> to +two <i>Bohemian</i> Counts whom I was acquainted with at <i>Prague</i>, and whom I +happen'd to meet with at my Quarters. As 'tis customary to do to all +Foreigners, I began with shewing them the Square of St. <i>Mark</i>, the chief +Square of <i>Venice</i>, if not of the whole World. 'Tis adorn'd by the Palace +of the <i>Doge</i>, the Church of St. <i>Mark</i>, and the <i>Procuraties</i>, or Houses +of the Procurators, and has been pav'd within these few Years +with<!--421.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">396</a></span> +great +Squares of Free-stone. We ascended the famous Tower of St. <i>Mark</i> which is +a four-square Building, by a Stair without Steps. It was built by the Doge +<i>Domingo Morosini</i>, to serve as a Watch-Tower to Ships at Sea; and that it +might be seen a great way off he caus'd the Angel on the top of it to be +gilt; but Time the Destroyer of all Things has stripp'd off the Gold. From +this Tower one sees the whole City of <i>Venice</i>, the neighbouring Islands, +and the <i>Terra Firma</i>, which all together makes a noble Prospect.</p> + +<p>We afterwards enter'd St. <i>Mark</i>'s Church, which is an Edifice of +<i>Grecian</i> Architecture, pretty dark and not very high, but after all, full +of Curiosities worthy the Attention of a Traveller. As this Church has +been describ'd with more Exactness than I can pretend to, I shall treat +very succinctly of the chief Things which it contains. The grand Portico +is so low that one must even go down some Steps to enter into the Church. +There is a Platform over it on which are plac'd four brazen Horses brought +from <i>Constantinople</i>, to which they were first carry'd from <i>Rome</i> by +<i>Constantine</i> when that Prince transferr'd the Seat of the Empire from the +one City to the other. Nothing is so magnificent and beautiful as those +Horses. They were heretofore all over gilt, but People out of mere Avarice +scrap'd off great part of the precious Metal, and all the rest is almost +worn off by Time.</p> + +<p>At the Entrance of the Church on the right-hand Side there is a square +Stone which seem'd to me to be of white Marble, and is said to be a piece +of the Rock which <i>Moses</i> struck in the Wilderness, whereupon there issued +out Water. If this be really that Stone, what that Legislator did is so +much the more to be admir'd, and may be reckon'd doubly miraculous; first +in fetching Water to a Place where there was none before, and then the +<!--422.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">397</a></span>bringing +a quantity of it through four Holes no bigger than Pease +sufficient to quench the Thirst of so numerous a Multitude. The Pavement +of this Church is very grand, being of <i>Mosaic</i> Work exceedingly +diversify'd with Stones of various Colours, Marble and Porphyry: But the +stateliest Thing in all the Church are the Ornaments of the Altar for the +great Holidays, of which that of St. <i>Mark</i> the Patron of the Republic is +the most strictly kept. St. <i>Mark</i>'s Treasure is then all laid open, which +consists in the rich Spoils taken from the Emperors of <i>Constantinople</i>. +Every part shines with solid Gold, Pearls, and Diamonds; so that the +Temple of <i>Jerusalem</i> excepted, I believe there's not a House devoted to +God that could ever boast of so much Riches. All this Treasure is kept in +St. <i>Mark</i>'s Tower, and none of it can be taken out but in presence of one +of the Procurators, who must also be at the Altar when the Treasure is +plac'd on it, and dare not stir from it till 'tis put up safe again.</p> + +<p>St. <i>Mark</i>'s Church serves as a public Chapel to the Doge, who always is +or at least ought to be attended thither by the Pope's Nuncio and the +Ambassadors; but M. <i>de Gersi</i> the <i>French</i> Ambassador, from I know not +what Punctilio of Honour, avoids being present at the same Functions with +the Count <i>de Bolagnos</i> the Emperor's Ambassador<a name="FNanchor_162_162" id="FNanchor_162_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_162_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a>, whom he can't +endure to see go before him. When the Doge goes to St. <i>Mark</i>'s Church +'tis always with great Ceremony: He walks between the Pope's Nuncio and +the Emperor's Ambassador, and the other Ambassadors walk in the same Row +according to the Rank of their Masters. They are preceded by six Trumpets, +and six Banners are born before the Doge together with a Chair or Stool of +State,<!--423.png--><span class="pagenum">398</span> +there being no Back to it, and a Cushion of Gold Brocade. The +Prince is dress'd in a long Robe of Gold Brocade also lin'd and fac'd with +Ermin. The Senators follow him in Robes of red Damask, walking two and +two. He is receiv'd at the Entrance of the Church by the Clergy of St. +<i>Mark</i> who bring him Holy Water and Incense, which the Ambassadors receive +after him. His Serenity and the Ambassadors fall on their Knees in the +middle of the Nave, and then repeat the Prayers of <i>Domine salvum fac +Principem nostrum</i>. Afterwards the Doge goes and places himself at the End +of the Choir on the right Hand as we go in, and sits in the first upper +Row of the Canons with the Pope's Nuncio on his Right and the Emperor's +Ambassador on the Right of the Nuncio, and so on with the rest. The Doge +does not sit down 'till the Senators are all enter'd, who, as they pass by +his Serenity, make him a profound Obeisance, to which the Doge makes no +manner of return. When every body is seated, the Doge accompany'd by the +Ambassadors advances towards the Altar, the Nuncio strikes up High Mass +and says the Overture, to which the Doge answers. After this, the Doge and +the Ambassadors return to their Places, and the Prelate of St. <i>Mark</i> who +is in waiting, continues the Office.</p> + +<p>After the Mass is over, the Doge returns to his Palace attended by the +same Train that accompanied him to Church. When he has ascended the grand +Stair-case of his Palace he seats himself in an Arm-Chair which is plac'd +over-against the Stair-case. After he has sate a few Moments, he dismisses +the Ambassadors and the other Persons of his Retinue, and retires to his +Apartment.</p> + +<p>Next to St. <i>Mark</i>'s Church is the Doge's Palace, a vast Building, of +which you will find a large Account in <i>Misson</i>'s Travels.</p> + +<!--424.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">399</a></span></p> + +<p>The present Doge is <i>Aloisio Mocenigo</i><a name="FNanchor_163_163" id="FNanchor_163_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_163_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a>, a Prince as much to be +respected for his Merit as for his Dignity. He is a Gentleman of great +Sagacity, talks well, is very polite, and has infinitely more Generosity +than is ascribed to those of his Country. He is a handsome Man, and has a +noble Aspect that is improv'd by his white Locks of Hair which render him +venerable. Before he was advanc'd to be a Doge, which was in 1722, he +serv'd the Republic with distinction in quality of Generalissimo. The vain +Honours which this new Dignity has procur'd him have not puff'd him up, +and he seems to think them rather a Burden than a Pleasure. Before he came +to be Doge he was the most sociable Nobleman at <i>Venice</i>, and he now sees +more Company than ever his Predecessors did. He masks himself at publick +Rejoicings, goes out every Night in a common Gondola without Guard or +Retinue, and diverts himself at his Brother's. He has sometimes too been +upon <i>Terra Firma</i>, not valuing it tho' he lost for a while all the +Honours annexed to his Dignity as Doge; for you know that this Character +does not go beyond the Lakes. He is oblig'd to be present at all the +public Ceremonies, tho' very much against his Inclination and Temper, +which is far more uniform than that of the other <i>Italians</i>.</p> + +<p>The Ceremony in which he shines with the greatest Lustre, is that of +marrying the Sea, which without dispute is one of the finest Shews in all +the World. 'Tis perform'd on <i>Ascension-Day</i>, when the Doge, the +Ambassadors, and the Senate ride out into the <i>Adriatic</i> on board a Vessel +call'd the <i>Bucentaur</i>, attended by the State-Gondolas of the Ambassadors +gilded, with a vast number of other Gondolas and Galleasses which surround +the <i>Bucentaur</i>, the most stately Vessel that was ever built, and more +magnificent than all that History +(or<!--425.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">400</a></span> +even Romance) tells us of the +sumptuous Vessel of <i>Cleopatra</i>. When the Doge goes on board the +<i>Bucentaur</i> he is saluted by the great Guns from the Galleys, the Men of +War, and the Merchant-Ships in the Harbour; and while he performs the +Ceremony of marrying the Sea by throwing in a Ring to denote the +Sovereignty of the Republic over the Gulph, there's nothing heard but +Kettle-Drums, Trumpets, and Concerts of Music, with the loud Acclamations +of the People.</p> + +<p>His Serene Highness marries two other Wives whom he maintains with as +little Trouble as the Sea. They are the Abbesses of the Convents of the +<i>Virgin</i> and St. <i>Daniel</i>. This Ceremony is perform'd upon St. <i>Philip</i>'s +Day, when the Doge in a Galeass accompany'd by the Ambassadors and the +Senate, repairs with a great Train to those Convents which are situate on +the Shore behind the Arsenal. The Prelate who officiates for the Day +receives him at the Entrance of the Church, brings him the Holy Water, and +conducts him to a Place prepared for him in the Choir where he assists at +High Mass. Then he repairs to the Grate, in which there's a large Opening +where the Lady Abbess appears with her Nuns. The Abbess addressing herself +to the Doge intreats him to continue the Favour of his Protection to +herself and the Nuns; to which the Doge returns answer, that she and all +the Convent may depend upon his Good-Will. Then he turns about and walks +on foot to the Convent of St. <i>Daniel</i>, where his Reception and +Transaction are the same as at the Convent of the <i>Virgin</i>. These two +Convents have very singular Privileges. The Abbesses have the +Crosier-Staff, and both they and their Nuns depend solely upon the Doge, +and not at all upon the Pope or the Court of <i>Rome</i> either in Spirituals +or Temporals. They have good Revenues and live as much as can be at their +Ease. +The<!--426.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">401</a></span> +Dress of these Nuns is rather gay than modest. Like the Nuns at +<i>Strasbourg</i> they wear their Hair in Tresses: Their Petticoats are so +short that you may see their Ancles; and instead of Stays they wear +Jackets with short Skirts, which are very becoming to those that are of a +good Shape. Their Necks are quite bare, only when they go into the Choir +they cover them with Veils of fine white Wool, which trail on the ground. +These Nuns are the Daughters of the Nobles, and enjoy great Liberty, more +than I believe they have under their Father's Roof.</p> + +<p>The Festival of St. <i>Mark</i> is always celebrated with very great Solemnity. +On the Day preceding, the Doge accompany'd by the Ambassadors repairs with +a great Train to St. <i>Mark</i>'s Church, where he assists at the Vespers. +Next Day the Confraternities, who are nine in number, meet at the Ducal +Palace, accompany the Doge to Church in Procession, and are present at +High Mass. After this the Doge returns to his Palace, and the Brotherhoods +go round the Square. Each Society has magnificent Images, and two Canopies +richly embroider'd with Gold and Silver; whose Poles or Supporters are of +solid Silver. The Procession is clos'd by a Man dress'd in a Gown of red +Damask, carrying a Pole with a moving Wheel at the end of it; which serves +to support a gilt Lion surrounded with Laurel Branches, and little +Standards of divers Colours. The Lion turns round incessantly, and the Man +who carries it makes him leap, and play a hundred Gambols: He is +surrounded with a Multitude of People, who cry out, God bless St. <i>Mark</i>. +This Sight, how ridiculous soever, is nevertheless amusing, draws +abundance of the Nobility to the Square, and on that Day every body is +mask'd. After the Procession is over, the Maskers go to see the Doge's +Table, who +entertains<!--427.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">402</a></span> +the Ambassadors and the Senate at Dinner, on a +Table in form of a Horse-shoe; which is extravagantly adorn'd with +Kickshaws, and Machines made of Starch, which are here call'd <i>Triumphs</i>. +Nothing of the kind can be better executed, or more magnificent. As there +is a great Apprehension of a Croud, all the Maskers are turn'd away at +Dinner-time. They keep on their Masks all day long; and after Dinner all +the Nobility, or to speak more properly, the whole City of <i>Venice</i> +appears mask'd upon the Square of St. <i>Mark</i>; and indeed, for one who +never saw it before, 'tis a remarkable fine Shew. What surpriz'd me, and +if I may say it, made me laugh, was to see all the Maskers fall on their +Knees at the Sound of the <i>Angelus</i>; you wou'd swear every body was in +Rapture, yet every thing that goes before and that follows the Stroke of +the Bell is not the most devout.</p> + +<p>The Day after St. <i>Mark</i>'s we had another publick Shew, and by consequence +a fresh occasion for the <i>Venetians</i> to masquerade it. That was the +Election which the Fishermen, who are here call'd the <i>Nicolotti</i>, made of +a Chief, who bears the Title of the Doge of the <i>Nicolotti</i>. Their Choice +fell this Bout upon a Gondolier belonging to the noble <i>Giustiniani</i>. +After the Election he was conducted to an Audience of the Doge of +<i>Venice</i>, dress'd in a Robe of red Sattin, and otherwise accoutred like a +Jackpudding. He was preceded by a great Mob of Pipers, Hautboys, and +Fishermen. Just before him was carry'd a red Flag, with the Effigies of +St. <i>Mark</i>. The Doge receiv'd him sitting on his Throne, and attended by +the Council. The Complement of the Doge of the Fishermen was made with +great Gravity, and answer'd by the Doge of the Republick in few Words; +which done, he return'd in the same Order that +he<!--428.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">403</a></span> +came. This sham Doge +has authority over all the Fishermen, is their Judge, gives them Licence +to fish, and takes care that the City be well supplied with that sort of +Provision. 'Tis said that this Office, which is for Life, is worth above +1000 Crowns <i>per Annum</i>. He had formerly the Privilege of commanding in a +certain Quarter of the City, and assisted at all the Ceremonies where the +Doge was present: He even accompany'd that Prince on board the +<i>Bucentaur</i>, and had Precedency of all the Ambassadors; but they have lost +that Right since, upon what occasion I know not, they gave up the +Precedency to an Ambassador from the Emperor.</p> + +<p>The Patriarch of <i>Venice</i> is the second Person in the State. The present +Patriarch is of the Family of <i>Gradenigo</i>. The Authority of this Prelate +is so stinted, that he only nominates to two or three Benefices. The +Inhabitants of every Parish chuse their Parsons, which is always attended +with Intriguing; for their Livings being very lucrative, have great +Interest made for them. The Patriot has a Privilege of having a Gondola +painted Purple and Gold, with a Roof or Covering of Red Velvet; but this +Gondola must not exceed a certain Degree of Magnificence. You know that +the Gondolas of private Men must be black, and that none but Ambassadors +have the Privilege of having theirs gilded.</p> + +<p>Tho' the Churches of <i>Venice</i> have been sufficiently describ'd, I cannot +help saying something of those that I thought the most remarkable. Without +doubt the Front of the Church of the bare-footed <i>Carmelites</i>, situate +upon the Great Canal, is the most magnificent, not only of <i>Venice</i>, but +perhaps of <i>Europe</i>; as well with regard to the Proportions of +Architecture that have been carefully observ'd, as with regard to the +Fineness of the Marble, white +as<!--429.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">404</a></span> +Alabaster, with which this beautiful +Front is wholly embellish'd. The Inside of this Church is extremely +magnificent. The Roof is richly gilded, and curiously painted. The Walls +are fac'd with Marble Pilasters; the Floor is of Stones inlaid with +various Colours, and the Altars are exceeding stately: But of all these +different things there seems to be too great a number, so that I could +wish many of the Ornaments had been spar'd; for a noble Simplicity wou'd +have look'd much better.</p> + +<p>This sort of Simplicity is conspicuous in the Church of St. <i>George</i>, one +of the biggest in <i>Venice</i>, the Architecture of which is surprizing. A +Convent belongs to it, which for Magnificence and Regularity surpasses +many Sovereign Palaces. The great Stair-Case is a fine piece of +Architecture, and wou'd become a King's Palace much better than a Convent. +This House has two noble Cloysters planted with Orange-Trees, a couple of +spacious Courts, and two large Gardens well cultivated, which have +Terrasses from whence there is a Prospect of the Sea, and the neighbouring +Islands.</p> + +<p>The Capuchins, whose Churches are very plain every where else, have a very +noble one here, which is called <i>Al Redemptore</i>. It was built by order of +the Republic to discharge a Vow they had made in the time of a Plague. The +honest Capuchin who shew'd me the Church, made me take special notice of a +Crucifix of Brass over the high Altar, whereon our Saviour is represented +expiring, with his Head leaning on his right Shoulder. My Guide assur'd me +that when the Crucifix was plac'd in the Church the Head of our Lord's +Image was erect, but that it fell afterwards into its present Posture.</p> + +<p>There are other Churches worth seeing, were it only for the stately Tombs +of the most distinguish'd Families of the Republic. Such is the Tomb of +the noble Family of <i>Cornaro</i>, in the Church of +the<!--430.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">405</a></span> +<i>Cajetans</i>, where are +the Marble Effigies of eight Cardinals, and four Doges descended from that +Family. In the Churches of St. <i>Paul</i> and St. <i>John</i> are Pictures very +much esteem'd by the <i>Connoisseurs</i>, and there's the sumptuous Tomb of the +<i>Valerios</i>, where the Father, the Mother, with the Son, are carv'd in +their natural Proportion in Marble, apparell'd in the Habit of the Doge +and Dogess.</p> + +<p>Before I have done with the Churches, I think I ought to give you some +account of that of the <i>Jesuits</i>; the Front whereof is of noble +Architecture, well disposed, and the Ornaments not too much crouded; but +the Decoration of the Inside is really grand. Nothing can be richer than +the Choir, and the high Altar. The Choir consists of a spacious Dome +supported by four large Pillars of white Marble, lin'd with great +Flower-pieces of old green Marble. The Roof is painted and gilt. The high +Altar, which is all of Marble, is a Pavilion or Dome supported by ten +Columns wreath'd of the ancient <i>Greek</i> Marble. The Tabernacle is of +Alabaster, incrustated with <i>Lapis-Lazuli</i>. To all this rich Work are +added two Angels in their natural Proportion, over which are the Effigies +of God the Father, and God the Son. The five Steps leading to the Altar +are of green Marble, incrustated with old yellow Marble so artfully that +this Work would easily be taken for a Piece of <i>Persian</i> Tapestry. The +Pulpit and the Balustrade, which separates the Nave from the Choir, are of +Marble, and perfectly answerable to the Magnificence of the whole Church.</p> + +<p>I now proceed to the Arsenal, so much celebrated in <i>Europe</i>, perhaps more +for what it has been than what it is at present. Three Nobles have the +Management or Custody of it, who relieve one another every Week. He that +is in waiting must visit the Posts in the Night-time; and the Centinels +<!--431.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">406</a></span>are +oblig'd each to ring a Bell every Hour, that the Officer upon Guard +may know they are at their Posts. No body can see the Arsenal without +Leave of the Nobleman in waiting, who never refuses it to Persons of Rank. +The first thing I was shew'd were four Rooms full of Arms necessary for +the Marines, where are also kept the Cuirasses of those Generals who have +most distinguish'd themselves in the Service of the Republic; but they are +all full of Dust. Then I was shewed the Magazine of Anchors, and the +Cellar to which the Workmen of the Arsenal go when they please to a +Fountain of Wine and Water mix'd. As much diluted as this Wine is, 'tis +said that there's no less spent here every Year than amounts to 74000 +Crowns. This is an Endowment which was settled by one <i>Cornaro</i> Queen of +<i>Cyprus</i>, for the Relief of the Workmen. Near this Cellar are the Forges, +of which there are twelve; but there are only two actually at work. The +Rope-Yard just by it, is 410 Paces in length, and serves at the same time +for a Warehouse of Hemp, of which I did not see any great Quantity. In +another Court there were a great many Cannon, both Iron and Brass, a Room +full of Bullets, a Magazine of Cordage, a Timber-Yard, and three great +Rooms full of Arms for the Foot Soldiers. There was another that serv'd as +an Arsenal for the Horse, but 'twas lately burnt down by the Carelessness +of a Centinel. The Dock for building and refitting of Ships forms a +separate Court, in the midst of which there's a great Bason that +communicates with the Sea, and is encompass'd with twenty six Sheds +cover'd over, which contain as many Ships, Galleys, and Galleasses. The +latter are Machines of a terrible Size, which have a sort of Battery at +both ends. My Guide assur'd me that a <i>Venetian</i> Galleass was not afraid +of twenty five <i>Turkish</i> Galleys: This may be; but +I<!--432.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">407</a></span> +wou'd venture a +Wager on the side of the Infidels. In this same Dock are the Prowes of +twelve <i>Turkish</i> Galleys taken at the famous Battle of <i>Lepanto</i>. But the +most noble thing in all this Dock, is the <i>Bucentaur</i>, which went out of +Port for the first time in the Year 1728. This superb Vessel was built by +<i>Antonio Corradini</i>; and is so well design'd, and the Ornaments of +Sculpture, of which there's a great number, so well plac'd, that every +thing is easily distinguish'd, and strikes with Amazement. 'Tis gilded +down to the Water-edge, and 'tis said that the Expence of it amounted to +70000 Sequins. The Deck is cover'd from Head to Stern with Crimson-Velvet, +bedaub'd with a broad Lace, and Gold Fringes. And the inside if possible +is more magnificent than the Outside. There's a great Room the length of +the Ship, where the Doge sits on a Throne, and the Ambassadors and +Senators on Seats like those of the Canons in the Choir. The Cieling +consists of Bas-reliefs in divers Compartments intirely gilt. The Floor is +of Walnut-tree, incrusted with Ebony-Wood and Mother of Pearl. The Rowers +who sit in the Hold of the Ship are all of one Livery, and their Oars +gilt, which makes a very fine Sight when all hands strike together.</p> + +<p>You know that the <i>Bucentaur</i> never goes out but once a-year, upon +Ascension-day, when the Captain who then commands must take an Oath before +he stirs out of the Harbour, that he will bring her back again into the +Arsenal. He carries nothing aboard of his own, for unless the Weather be +very fair indeed, the Ceremony is put off to another day. They build a new +<i>Bucentaur</i> every hundred Years, and the old ones are laid up till they +rot.</p> + +<p>I just now hear that the Post is going off, so that I am oblig'd to defer +what I have farther to say of <i>Venice</i> till the next. I shall be +infinitely +pleas'd<!--433.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">408</a></span> +if I can satisfy your Curiosity, and much more if I +can prove to you that no body has a more profound Veneration for you than +I, <i>Who am</i>, &c.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 418px;"> +<img src="images/i18.png" width="418" height="61" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<h2>LETTER XXVI.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Venice, May 15, 1730.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>The Common-wealth keeps twelve Galleys in pay, and twenty Men of War. The +<i>Capitana</i> Galley, call'd the <i>Fusta</i>, never goes out of the Great Canal, +but is continually at Anchor before the Square of St. <i>Mark</i>. There's +commonly four Galleys and as many Men of War in the <i>Levant</i>. Others lie +at Anchor in the Canal of <i>Zueca</i>, which were lately drawn out of the +Arsenal, because for want of Water the Ships receive Damage. The Power of +the Republic consists chiefly in its Maritime Force. It maintains very few +Land Forces, and those they have are all kept at <i>Corfou</i>, which is the +Rampart of <i>Venice</i>, and the Defence of the Gulph; the Preservation of +which is owing to the Count <i>de Schulemburg</i>, General in chief of the +Republic; for in the last War when the <i>Turks</i> attempted to take it, 'twas +he that oblig'd them to raise the Siege: And the Republic in +acknowledgment of this important Service caus'd his Statue on Horseback to +be erected in the Square of the Old Castle of <i>Corfou</i>; and settled a +Pension upon him of 5000 Crowns a-year for his Life, besides his ordinary +Salary.</p> + +<p>'Tis certain that <i>Venice</i> has suffer'd a Decay both of Power and +Commerce. The <i>Turks</i> have +taken<!--434.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">409</a></span> +the <i>Morea</i> from her; she has little or +nothing left in the <i>Levant</i>; and as to her Places in the <i>Terra Firma</i> +they are poor, depopulated, and meanly fortified. One of the main +Securities of <i>Venice</i> is her Lakes; but for some Years past they begin to +thicken so by the Mud and Dirt brought by the Rivers which fall into the +Gulph, as in time must prove to the very great Detriment of <i>Venice</i>, +because Ships which us'd formerly to go in or out with ease, can only go +out now by the help of a Canal which has been cut for the purpose. This +Inconvenience might have formerly been prevented for a trifle of Expence, +whereas now 'tis past all remedy.</p> + +<p>The Powers of which the <i>Venetians</i> ought to be most jealous, are the +<i>Turks</i> and the Emperor, in whose Dominions they are in a manner inclos'd. +The Great Duke of <i>Tuscany</i> and the Duke of <i>Parma</i> were formerly Powers +which were of little or no Terror to the Republic; but if those Dominions +shou'd ever come under the Sovereignty of <i>Don Carlos</i>, the political +System of <i>Italy</i> will be very much alter'd, and the <i>Venetians</i> will in +all probability be oblig'd to keep fair with him. The Republic has for a +long time observ'd an exact Neutrality in the Quarrels among the Princes +of Christendom, perhaps because it knows not for which side to determine +itself; for tho' the Senate hates the <i>Spaniards</i>, and cannot forget the +famous Conspiracy of the Marquiss <i>de Bedmar</i> the Catholic King's +Ambassador; they don't much like either the <i>Germans</i> or <i>French</i>, whose +Power gives them Umbrage. And I believe, were it possible for the +<i>Venetians</i> to hurt those three Powers at the same time, we shou'd quickly +see their Republic rouze itself from that Lethargy in which it's profound +State-Policy has doz'd it.</p> + +<p>Since the <i>English</i> and <i>Dutch</i> became Masters of the Commerce of +<i>Europe</i>, the Trade of <i>Venice</i> is as +much<!--435.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">410</a></span> +decay'd as its Power; and +their Manufactures are sunk extremely. The <i>Venetians</i> heretofore +furnished almost all <i>Europe</i> with Cloth; their Looking-Glasses, and those +for Drinking, were also in great vogue, but those Manufactures are since +transplanted into other Countries, so that <i>Venice</i> scarce furnishes any +more than <i>Italy</i>. 'Tis worth while however to go and see the Glass-House +where they work Night and Day, except in <i>August</i> and <i>September</i>, when +the Heats are too violent. 'Tis certain the Drinking-Glasses made here are +much stronger than any other, but as they are blown they are not near so +substantial as the Glass that is run; however they require less Labour, +and have the Advantage when they are broke of being melted again; the +Matter of which they are composed being much more flexible than that of +the run Glass.</p> + +<p>The Nobles of <i>Venice</i> are Slaves to Policy, Diffidence, and Suspicion; +and Ambassadors are much more so, whom every one shuns as suspected +Persons, and whom a Foreigner can scarce talk to without renouncing his +Correspondence with the Nobles. An Ambassador is oblig'd to confine +himself to his own Family, or else to amuse himself in the Company of +Foreigners, of whom there is always a good number in this City; for no +Nobleman dare visit him without the express leave of the Senate, who now +indeed grant it much more freely than they did formerly.</p> + +<p>Customs are alter'd here in very many things. 'Twas formerly a Crime to +see a Woman in private, and a Foreigner did not dare to run the Venture; +but now the case is quite different, for there are several Houses of +Quality where I am indulg'd, and am often <i>tte a tte</i> with the Mistress +of the House, without any more notice taken of me than if I were in +<i>France</i>, where Ease and Freedom +are<!--436.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">411</a></span> +so much boasted. The Ladies are +great Visiters, and have Assemblies every Night, to which they repair +alone in their Gondola's without any other Attendance but a Valet de +Chambre, who serves as their Gentleman-Usher. They are mask'd at all +public Performances, and go where they have a mind to it. This easy access +to the Ladies contributes not a little to make my Stay in this City +agreeable. I own to you that I am infinitely charm'd with it; there are a +thousand Things here that please me, and were I to chuse any City in +<i>Italy</i> to live in, 'twould certainly be this, where People enjoy entire +Liberty, provided they don't meddle with the State and its Government, +which after all too, I don't think a Foreigner has much to do with. Here +one is in the Centre of civil Pleasures and Debauchery. God is as +exemplarily serv'd here as in any Place whatsoever. Few Nations observe +the Externals of Religion better than the <i>Italians</i> in general and the +<i>Venetians</i> in particular, of whom it may be said that they spend one half +of their time in committing Sin, and the other half in begging God's +pardon.</p> + +<p>Masquerades are more in fashion here than elsewhere. People go in Masks to +take the Air, as well as to Plays and Balls; and 'tis the favourite +Pleasure both of the Grandees and the Commonalty. This gives rise to many +Adventures, and sometimes one makes Acquaintance under a Mask which would +be impracticable perhaps, were not such Disguises in Fashion. I remember +that the first time I was here I struck up an Acquaintance in the Square +of St. <i>Mark</i> with two of the first-rate Ladies of this Country. They were +mask'd, and I was in a Scarlet Domino embroider'd with Silver, which being +a Habit that had been seldom seen here, drew the Eyes of all the Company +in the Square upon me, and in particular of two Ladies, one of whom +twitching<!--437.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">412</a></span> +me by the Sleeve, said to me, 'Sir, I and the Lady here, my +Friend, fancy by your Air which outstrips our Gentlemen, that you are a +Foreigner, and we are inclin'd to think that you are no mean Person. We +should be glad of your Conversation, and you will do us a Pleasure to take +a turn with us round the Square.—You do me too much Honour, fair Lady +(said I, walking on) and what you tell me of my Appearance pleases me the +more because you are both the compleatest Ladies in the Place. As you +guess by my Habit that I am not a common Person, your Air persuades me +that I have the Honour to speak to Ladies of Quality.—You are not +mistaken (said the same Lady to me) this Lady my Companion is Madame +<i>M——</i> and I am the Wife of Mr. <i>C——</i>. You find (continu'd she) that +our Names are pretty well known in <i>Venice</i>. Now, after having told you +who we are, may we presume to ask who you are?' I gratify'd their +Curiosity by pulling off my Mask, which I thought a Compliment due to +their Quality. I had scarce told my Name, when the Lady who had not yet +spoke one Word, said to me, 'You are not so much a Stranger among us as +you imagine; your Name is very well known to me, and the late Madame +<i>Duhamel</i>, your Aunt, whose<a name="FNanchor_164_164" id="FNanchor_164_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_164_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a> Husband was Commander in chief of our +Forces, was one of my most intimate Friends, and she often told me how +much she wish'd to see you here; but 'twas a Comfort she did not live to +enjoy. She went with her Husband to <i>Corfou</i>, where he died not without +Suspicion of Poison; for he was accus'd of being too great a <i>Frenchman</i>; +and your Aunt who was return'd from <i>Corfou</i> with a +Design<!--438.png--><span class="pagenum">413</span> +to go and +spend the Remainder of her Days at <i>Berlin</i>, died as she was performing +Quarentine in our Port. You caus'd her Body to be remov'd to <i>Berlin</i>, and +you was one of her Heirs; and, tho' I don't mention it to make a Merit of +it, I must tell you that you are oblig'd to me for it, since I pleaded for +you against a very great number of M. <i>Duhamel</i>'s Relations. My Love to +your Aunt put me upon engaging Mr. <i>M——</i> to espouse your Interest, which +he promoted with Success, and prevail'd on the Senate to prefer the +Recommendations of the King of <i>Prussia</i> and the Elector of <i>Hanover</i> who +both protected you, before the Instances made by the <i>French</i> Ambassador +in the Name of the King his Master, in favour of Messieurs <i>Duhamel</i>. I +was infinitely pleas'd (continu'd Madame <i>M——</i>) that I had an +Opportunity of serving you, and you may depend upon it that Mr. <i>M——</i> +and I shall ever interest our selves heartily for all that belong to our +deceased Friend.' I made answer to Madame <i>M——</i> in Terms suitable to her +obliging Expressions, and crav'd her Permission to pay my respects to her +at her House. She answer'd me very civilly that she would send her Husband +to me, and that then she should be glad to see me at her House. Next +Morning as I was ready to go out, and wait upon Mr. <i>M——</i> to whom I +thought I ow'd a Visit after the Civilities I had receiv'd from his Wife, +I was told that he was at my Door and desir'd to speak with me. I went and +receiv'd him, and found him every whit as polite as his Lady. He offer'd +to shew me the Curiosities of <i>Venice</i> till his Wife was stirring. We went +and saw several Churches, after which he conducted me to his House where I +found Madame <i>M——</i> who receiv'd me with all the Civility possible. She +was a Woman who tho' forty Years of Age shew'd that she +had<!--439.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">414</a></span> +been a very +beautiful Lady in her time. Madame <i>C——</i> happen'd to be in her Company, +with whom she had been the Day before in the Square of St. <i>Mark</i>. I never +saw a more beautiful Lady, or that had a nobler Carriage. She was not yet +twenty Years of Age, but had been marry'd five Years to a Man, who tho' +the most ill-favour'd of his Sex had a most amiable Behaviour. I fell in +love with Madame <i>C——</i> as soon as ever I saw her, and when I beheld her +Husband, I had Presumption enough to believe that my Application to the +Lady would not be disagreeable. But I soon perceiv'd that she was not a +Woman for my turn; she quickly depriv'd me of all Hopes of Success; and I +no sooner saw those Hopes vanish'd, which are the only Support of Lovers, +but I dropp'd my Amour. I had another in view which was attended with +better Success: M. <i>M——</i> carry'd me to a Country-House of his towards +<i>Padua</i>, and I don't know where I was ever more agreeably entertain'd in +my whole Life. 'Tis at these Country Seats one sees the <i>Venetians</i> in +Perfection, who are quite another sort of People here than in the City; +for here they put off that grave serious Air which they affect in Town, +and are quite sociable, civil, courteous, and live with more splendor. As +these Country-Houses are near one another, the Gentlemen to whom they +belong visit each other very much, and are almost always together; but at +<i>Venice</i> they live with more Restraint.</p> + +<p>I am in some doubt whether I should reckon the Music of the <i>Venetian</i> +Churches in the number of its Pleasures; but upon the whole, I think I +ought, because certainly their Churches are frequented more to please the +Ear, than for real Devotion. The Church of <i>la Pieta</i> which belongs to the +Nuns who know no other Father but Love, is most frequented. These Nuns are +enter'd very young, and are +taught<!--440.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">415</a></span> +Music, and to play on all sorts of +Instruments, in which some of 'em are excellent Performers. <i>Apollonia</i> +actually passes for the finest Singer, and <i>Anna-Maria</i>'s for the first +Violin in <i>Italy</i>. The Concourse of People to this Church on Sundays and +Holidays is extraordinary. 'Tis the Rendezvous of all the Coquettes in +<i>Venice</i>, and such as are fond of Intrigues have here both their Hands and +Hearts full. Not many Days after my Arrival in this City I was at this +very Church, where was a vast Audience, and the finest of Music. As I was +going out, a Woman who hid her Face accosted me, saying, there was a Lady +in a Gondola who desir'd to speak with me. Tho' this smelt strong of an +Adventure, which I was never very fond of, I however went along with the +Woman; and really, not above ten Paces from the Spot I found a Gondola, in +which was a Lady whom I knew to be the Daughter of the unfortunate Baron +<i>de H——</i> of whose tragical Catastrophe you have heard. I own it mov'd my +Compassion, as well as Sorrow, to see before my Eyes a young Lady of Rank +in a strange Country and in such a Situation as made me surmise that she +was in a bad Way. But it even touch'd me to the quick, when after having +made her Apology to me for having sent for me, she said to me with a Voice +interrupted with Sighs, 'For God's sake tell me what's become of my poor +Father; is he still living? He has been the Cause of his own Unhappiness +and mine too; he has plung'd me into an Abyss of Woe, but he is still my +Father: Nothing can make me forget the Duty I owe him; I should be glad +even to lay down my Life to relieve his Misfortunes.' I told her that I +had not been at <i>Berlin</i> for a long time; that I had not kept up a +Correspondence there with any body, and that consequently I could not tell +her any News of her Father. I knew at the same time that he died in +<!--441.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">416</a></span>Prison +at <i>Spandaw</i>; but I was loth to be the Messenger of such bad News +to a Person who seem'd to be already too much afflicted. 'I did not know +you were at <i>Venice</i> (reply'd Madamoiselle <i>de H——</i>) or I should have +sought an Opportunity to speak with you. I saw you at the Church of <i>la +Pieta</i>, and the sight of you call'd my Misfortunes fresh to my Memory, as +well as the sad Catastrophe of your old Friend my Father. I could not +refrain shedding Tears, and the Remembrance of my Disgrace has eclips'd +the Pleasure I take in seeing you.' I endeavour'd to assuage her Grief, +and to calm her ruffled Soul; and therefore I went with her to her House, +and when I saw her a little compos'd I ask'd her questions about her state +of Life, and desir'd her to tell me how she had pass'd her time since she +left <i>Berlin</i>. She answer'd me in every Point with a great deal of Honesty +and Simplicity. 'After the Execution of that Sentence (said she) which +degraded my Father from Nobility and Honour, and set him on a level with +the basest Scoundrels, I had not the Courage to stay at <i>Berlin</i>. I went +to <i>H——</i> to find out Madame <i>de B——</i> my Aunt from whom I hoped to meet +with Protection; but I soon experienc'd that the Unfortunate have no +Relations. My Aunt would not give me House-room, and sent a Confident of +her's to tell me that she advis'd me to be gone from <i>H——</i> or else to +change my Name and not to call me her Cousin, unless I had a Desire to be +confin'd. But alas! I would then have taken it as a Favour if my Aunt had +shut me up; for I was in extreme Want, and knew not what would become of +me. I lodg'd at an Inn where I got my Living by making of Linnen and +Washing, when a good likely young Man came and took up his Quarters in the +very same House, who immediately struck up an Acquaintance with me. I know +not what he +saw<!--442.png--><span class="pagenum">417</span> +in me to charm him, for I did nothing but cry all the day +long. Mean time he talk'd to me of Love, and gave me so many +Demonstrations of his flaming Passion that I found he was really smitten +with me. To tell you the whole Truth, I was not long insensible of the +same Passion. He even offer'd to marry me, which, since he would not be +deny'd, I consented to. He told me that he was an Officer in the Emperor's +Service, and a Native of <i>Lubeck</i>, and that he was come hither to take +possession of an Estate fallen to him by Inheritance. I took what he said +to be true because he was handsomely equipp'd, and had his Pockets well +lin'd. In short, I was smitten with him, and thought I should be very +happy in taking him for my Husband. Not many Days after our Marriage, he +told me that he must needs set out for <i>Hungary</i> where the Regiment was +quarter'd, whereof he said he was a Lieutenant, and that consequently I +must make ready to go with him.—We set out from <i>H——</i> and arriv'd +happily at <i>Vienna</i>. It was in that very City that my Husband, who till +then behav'd well towards me, and whose Conduct had been very regular, +chang'd all on a sudden to the reverse. He spent the whole Day in +Gaming-Houses, and the Night in Debauchery. Sometimes he never once came +home for four or five Days together, and when he did, 'twas only to insult +me, and to upbraid me with the misfortune of my Father, which I discover'd +to him before Marriage, for fear he should reproach me one time or other +with having deceiv'd him. He told me that I was a Disgrace to him, that +his Colonel had broke him for marrying me, and that I was the Author of +his Ruin. I try'd to pacify him, and spar'd no Pains nor Complaisance for +it, but all to no purpose. I heard that my Husband was desperately in love +with a +common<!--443.png--><span class="pagenum">418</span> +Prostitute, that he had ruin'd himself for her sake; and in +a little time he was oblig'd to sell the very Clothes off his back. He had +contracted Debts, and expecting every day to be arrested by his Creditors, +he left <i>Vienna</i> privately, abandoning me to the most dreadful Despair. +'Twas eight Months before I heard a Word of him. At last I came to know +that he was here at <i>Venice</i>, and I resolv'd to find him out. Madame the +Countess of <i>W——</i> who had generously assisted me, fitted me out for the +Journey, but when I came hither I did not find my Husband, who I heard was +at <i>Padua</i>. I was making my self ready to follow him thither, when I heard +the News that he was kill'd by a Student with whom he had a Quarrel at +Gaming. His Death fill'd up the Measure of my Sorrow. I found my self +quite a Stranger here without Friends or Subsistence. I endeavour'd, but +in vain, to get my Living by my Labour, as I had done at <i>H——</i> but I +found so little to do that 'twas impossible for me to hold out long; and I +must undoubtedly have sunk under my Misery if it had not been for the +noble <i>D——</i> who out of Pity to my Condition reliev'd me six Years ago by +granting me a Pension: But how happy should I be if I could live without +it, and retire for ever to some religious Foundation!' Here the +unfortunate <i>H——</i> concluded her Narrative. I sifted her Sentiments about +Religion: I knew she had been educated in the <i>Lutheran</i>, but she +express'd her Inclination to embrace the Catholic Religion, and also to +turn Nun. I promis'd to serve her all that lay in my power, and that same +Evening I spoke to Madame <i>M——</i> who promis'd me to enter her into Orders +as soon as she was turn'd Catholic. A Jesuit who has had the tutoring of +her for near a Month gives us Hopes that she will instantly be qualify'd +to take the Veil. She seems +to<!--444.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">419</a></span> +me to be very eager for it. A few days ago +I acquainted her with her Father's Death, with which she seem'd very much +affected, but at the same time she express'd her Submission to the Decrees +of Providence, and told me her Misfortunes with so much Resignation, that +I have Reason to think she will be very happy in the Retirement which she +is about to embrace. If this be the Case, I shall think my self very +fortunate in having contributed by my Advice to her Tranquillity. Heaven +grant her Prayers may prevail that I my self may put those Lessons in +practice which I have taught her, as to the Necessity of Conversion.</p> + +<p>Pardon me, Sir, this long Digression. As you knew the unfortunate <i>H——</i> +in his Prosperity, and as you are also inform'd of his Disgrace, I thought +you would not be sorry to hear of the Fate of his Daughter. I now resume +my Remarks on <i>Venice</i>.</p> + +<p>Two Days ago I went to see the <i>Scuola St. Rocco</i>, which are Rooms where +the Fraternities of that Saint meet, in which are Pictures done by the +greatest Masters, particularly one in the great Room below, which is the +Picture of the <i>Annunciation</i> done by <i>Tintoret</i>, a Piece highly esteem'd. +This Picture is, without Contradiction, one of the finest and most +affecting Paintings at <i>Venice</i>, because of the lively Expressions of +Surprise, Admiration, and Joy which appear in the <i>Virgin's</i> Face. She is +sitting in her Chamber, which the skilful Painter has represented as a +plain mean Room in some Disorder with old and worn out Furniture. Upon the +grand Stair-case there's another Picture representing the <i>Annunciation</i> +in like manner, which is done by <i>Titian</i>, and is not one of the worst of +his Performances. The upper Rooms are adorn'd with several Pictures done +by <i>Tintoret</i>, in which he has described our Lord's Passion. Our Saviour +appearing before <i>Pilate</i> is an admirable Piece; 'tis really moving to see +the Modesty and +Serenity<!--445.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">420</a></span> +of his Countenance. A second Picture represents +our Lord carrying his Cross. In a third, we see him fasten'd on it, and +expiring for the Salvation of Mankind. These are invaluable Pieces, and +are reckon'd the compleatest that ever <i>Tintoret</i> painted.</p> + +<p>I have also been to see the chief Palaces, which lie for the most part on +the great Canal, and that call'd <i>Reggio</i>. They are very magnificent, but +they are generally so like one another that he who has seen one may say he +has seen them all. They have little Court-Yards, less Gardens, and no +Stables. Nothing goes to form a Palace at <i>Venice</i> but the main Body of +the Building, a great Salon in the middle, and Apartments on the Right and +Left; and setting aside the Marble, there are Palaces as magnificent +elsewhere which have only the name of a House.</p> + +<p>The Square of St. <i>Mark</i> is the ordinary Rendezvous of all the Gentry at +<i>Venice</i>. There are Nobles who keep their constant Circuits here as it +were, and who never stir from the Place but to Bed, for they pass their +whole Time in Gaming at the Coffee-Houses, or in the Peruke-Makers Shops. +The number of their Nobles is not limited; and any body for paying down +100000 Ducats may purchase Nobility. These Gentlemen compliment each other +with the Title of <i>Excellency</i>, and 'tis what they all challenge from +Foreigners. Mean time, some of those <i>Excellencies</i> go to the Shambles, +and to the Fish-Market, and carry home their Meat or their Fish under +their Robes, and some are so very poor that they go a begging. This Title +is so very common here that I had much ado to hinder a Lackey whom I hired +from giving it to me. Tho' I told him that I was by no means <i>Excellent</i>, +he made me answer that he knew full well what Obligations were due to my +Excellency, and that he would not be thought to be wanting in Respect to +my Excellency. +A<!--446.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">421</a></span> +<i>Frenchman</i> lately come from <i>Constantinople</i> to whom I +made my Complaints, how much this Title was prophan'd, assur'd me that the +<i>Venetians</i> were still more lavish of it out of <i>Venice</i>, so that he heard +the very Grooms belonging to the Baillo of the Republic at +<i>Constantinople</i>, compliment one another with the Title of <i>Excellency</i>.</p> + +<p>Among the <i>Venetian</i> Excellencies there are also <i>Petits-Maitres</i> who are +known by their Doublets lin'd with Scarlet, their fine white Perukes, by +their fantastical Step, and that Air of lolling which they give themselves +in their Gondola's, which are much smaller and nimbler than the common +sort. These <i>Petits-Maitres</i> are great Beaus, and have commonly more than +one Mistress at a time, and indeed there are few Nobles but have one at +least. These Creatures, excepting the little Liberty they enjoy, are as +happy as Sultana's. Their Lovers treat them like Princesses, and the +<i>Venetians</i> in general pay great respect to the whole Sex. I have seen +<i>Faustina</i> the famous Singer, and <i>Stringuetta</i> the noted Courtezan come +mask'd upon the Square of St. <i>Mark</i>, leaning on the Shoulders of +Noblemen, and every Man paying them as much Obeisance as if they had been +Ladies of great Importance. The same day that they appear'd on the Square +there happen'd to be a Skirmish between two Women mask'd that were Rivals, +who, as soon as they knew one another, fell out, went to Cuffs, tore off +each other's Masks, and at last Knives were drawn, with which they cut one +another so deeply that one of 'em was left dead on the Spot.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>I now think it high time to finish my Letter which is already very long, +and perhaps too full of Trifles. I have told you every Thing that came +uppermost in my Mind, so that you have a +perfect<!--447.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">422</a></span> +Farrago, which however +is a Proof of the Pleasure I take in corresponding with you.</p> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 426px;"> +<img src="images/i17.png" width="426" height="51" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>LETTER XXVII.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<span style="float: left"><i>SIR</i>,</span><span style="float: right"><i>Ronciglione, May 30, 1730.</i></span> +<span style="clear: none;"> </span> +</div> + +<p>As it appears by all the Letters from <i>Rome</i> that they are on the point of +chusing a new Pope, I set out sooner from <i>Venice</i> than I should otherways +have done, and came post to this City without stopping much by the Way. I +pass'd thro' <span class="smcap">Padua</span>, where I had the Honour to pay my Respects to the +Prince <i>Emanuel</i> of <i>Portugal</i>, who is come to reside there for some time, +and I was afterwards at the Comedy, which was indeed, a most wretched +Performance, but the Assembly was gay and numerous: Among the rest there +were a great number of Students and young Fellows, particularly one that +made a very finical Appearance, who had ten or twelve Patches on his Face, +a red Coat embroider'd with black Gawse, a Hat, a Shoulder-Knot, +Stockings, <i>&c.</i> the whole trimm'd with Gawse. I took him at first for a +Mountebank, but I plainly saw that the Whimsicalness of his Dress was the +Humour of the Country. What gave me some Amusement was, to see a Hare +which Harlequin had taught to play Tricks, to tumble Top over Tail, to +leap over a Stick, and to beat a Drum with his two Fore-feet.</p> + +<!--448.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">423</a></span></p> + +<p>From <i>Padua</i> I went to <span class="smcap">Ferrara</span> a City in the Ecclesiastical State, where +the Pope keeps a Legat who is always a Cardinal. It appear'd to me to be a +large City with spacious Streets, and some fine Palaces, but it did not +seem to be very populous, which is ascrib'd to the bad Air in this +Country, otherwise one of the finest in all <i>Italy</i>.</p> + +<p>The Road from <i>Ferrara</i> to <span class="smcap">Bologna</span> is extremely level, and as good and +agreeable in Summer as 'tis unpassable in Winter. <i>Bologna</i> is the second +City in the Ecclesiastical State, and is a large fine Town. 'Tis in a most +charming Situation, all the Country round it being properly a Garden, and +one of the most fruitful and fairest Plats in Nature. 'Tis said this City +contains near 80000 Inhabitants. The common People are civil and well +bred, and none more polite to Foreigners than the Noblemen. There are +stately Palaces here, of which I will only mention that of the Marquis +<i>Rinucci</i>, because to me it seem'd to be one of the most considerable in +the City. 'Tis very magnificent, and of a vast extent. The Ground-Floor +contains three large Apartments, the first Story five, and the second as +many. The Stair-case of this Palace is very much esteem'd for its +Contrivance. In one of the Halls are two large Pictures: The first is the +Consecration of the Emperor <i>Charles</i> V. perform'd by the Pope at +<i>Bologna</i>: The second represents <i>Frederic</i> IV. King of <i>Denmark</i> giving +Audience to the Senate of <i>Bologna</i>: and their complimenting him on his +Arrival. In another of those Halls are two other curious large Pictures; +the one of Cardinal <i>Rinucci</i>, having Audience of the King of <i>Poland</i> +when he was sent to him as Nuncio; and the second shews the same Cardinal +receiving the Cap from <i>Lewis</i> XIV. King of <i>France</i>, at whose Court he +was Nuncio when he was promoted to the Purple. The Apartments adjoining to +these Halls are +also<!--449.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">424</a></span> +adorn'd with excellent Paintings and very richly +furnish'd.</p> + +<p>The Churches of <i>Bologna</i> are not less magnificent than the finest +Churches in <i>Italy</i>. I thought that of St. <i>Paul</i> the most worthy of +Remark, which is serv'd by <i>Bernardine</i> Fryars. The Roof is adorn'd with +Paintings representing the History of St. <i>Paul</i>. These Pictures which are +highly esteem'd are the Performances of <i>Antonio Caccioli</i> and <i>Rolli</i> two +Natives of <i>Bologna</i>, and they have both out-done themselves. The Painting +of the Dome where St. <i>Paul</i> is represented on his Knees ready to have his +Head struck off is admirably fine. The high Altar is of Marble of various +Colours, finish'd with a great deal of Art. The Seats of the Monks are of +Wallnut-Tree, and over them are several Pictures of the Life of St. <i>Paul</i> +drawn by an able Hand, who was <i>Carache</i>'s Pupil. The Churches of St. +<i>Catherine</i> of <i>Bologna</i>, and St. <i>Michael</i> in <i>Bosco</i> are well worth the +Traveller's Observation, on account of the choice Pictures with which they +are adorn'd. St. <i>Michael</i>'s in <i>Bosco</i> stands upon an Eminence three +Miles from <i>Bologna</i>, to which there's an Entrance thro' a cover'd Gallery +made like a Piazza. 'Twas a Work erected by the Citizens of <i>Bologna</i>, out +of their Devotion to a miraculous Image of the <i>Holy Virgin</i> which is +reverenc'd in this Church.</p> + +<p>The Legate's Palace is very ancient, but grand and magnificent. 'Tis as +strictly guarded during the Vacancy of the Holy See as if the Enemy were +at the Gates of the City. All the Avenues to it are hung with Chains: The +<i>Swiss</i> Guards are arm'd with Cuirasses: The Guard which consists of fifty +Soldiers is barricaded with Pallisades and Chevaux de Frise, and the +Palace-Gate is defended by eight Pieces of Cannon.</p> + +<!--450.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">425</a></span></p> + +<p>What remains for me to tell you of <i>Bologna</i> is, that 'tis one of the +Cities in <i>Italy</i> where a Foreigner finds most Amusement. The Nobility not +only strive to give him Pleasure, but he has fine Paintings to feast his +Eye, and here are often excellent Concerts of Music, Operas, and Comedies, +charming Walks, and genteel Country-Houses; which I take to be all that +can be desir'd in Life.</p> + +<p>From <i>Bologna</i> I travell'd in two days to <i>Florence</i>, after having been +dragg'd in my Chaise thro' the <i>Apennines</i>, a prodigious Range of +Mountains; which is a thing I shall never do again while I live; for I +really suffer'd very much in this Road, and if ever you should have a +fancy to come this way, I would advise you to carry Provisions or a Cook +with you, for there is not one considerable Place in all the Road. +<i>Fiorenzola</i>, which is almost half way, is a sorry little Town. From +thence to <i>Scarperia</i> the Road is extremely rugged. One descends a high +Mountain pav'd like a Stair-case, which to attempt in a Chaise, you are +sure of being, if I may so call it, broke upon the Wheel, and therefore I +chose to walk down. At <i>Scarperia</i> the Road becomes more passable, and it +mends as you come near <i>Florence</i>. In our Way we pass'd thro' a Town +call'd <i>Ponte</i> that stands at the Foot of a Hill, where the Great Duke has +a Castle which appear'd to me to be very well fortify'd.</p> + +<p>One perceives <span class="smcap">Florence</span> a great way off, and indeed it makes a fine point +of View to see so great a City in a beautiful Valley between Hills which +rise insensibly, and end at length in high Mountains, inhabited in such a +manner that they may be reckon'd the Suburbs of <i>Florence</i>. The River +<i>Arno</i> passes thro' both the City and the Valley. Among all the Cities of +<i>Italy</i>, <i>Florence</i> may justly be surnamed the <i>Fair</i>, since it has all +that can be desir'd in a great and wealthy Town, such as sacred and +profane +Edifices,<!--451.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">426</a></span> +Bridges, Monuments, and Fountains; yet 'tis not so +large nor populous as <i>Bologna</i>. As I enter'd <i>Florence</i> I perceived over +the Gate a Table of white Marble with a <i>Latin</i> Inscription on it, as +follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><span class="smcap">Florentia, Adventu Friderici IV. +Dani et Norvegi, Augusti, Felicis, quod eam sua Prsentia magnus Hospes +impleverit, Augusta felix, An. S. 1708. Mense Martio.</span></div> + +<p>'Twas the late Great Duke <i>Cosmo</i> who caus'd this to be engrav'd to the +Honour of the King of <i>Denmark</i>.</p> + +<p>The City of <i>Florence</i> has been so well describ'd that I shall pass very +briefly over all that relates to the Buildings. The Square call'd <i>Piazza +del Gran Duca</i> or the old Palace, contains Ornaments enough to embellish a +great Town. Here you see a spacious Fountain which <i>Cosmo</i> I. caus'd to be +built after the Designs of <i>Amminati</i> and <i>Philip Baldinucci</i>, two of the +most famous Sculptors at that Time. Not far from this Fountain is the +Equestrian Statue of <i>Cosmo</i> I. which is rais'd upon a great Pedestal of +white Marble, with this Inscription engrav'd on the chief Front of it:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><span class="smcap">Cosmo Medici, Magno Etruri Duci Primo, +Pio, Felici, Invicto, Justo, Clementi, Sacr Militi Pacisque in Etruria +Authori, Patri et Principi Optimo, Ferdinandus F. Mag. Dux III. erexit, +An.ci</span>ɔ<span class="smcap"> i</span>ɔ <span class="smcap">lxxxxiiii.</span></div> + +<p>On the other three Sides of the Pedestal are very fine Bas-Reliefs of +Brass. The first represents <i>Cosmo</i> I. recogniz'd for Sovereign by the +Senate +of<!--452.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">427</a></span> +<i>Florence</i>; the second the Ceremony of <i>Cosmo</i>'s Coronation, +and the third the same <i>Cosmo</i> in an antique triumphant Car making his +pompous Entry into <i>Sienna</i>, which was submitted to his Government. +<i>Ferdinand</i> I. <i>de Medicis</i> when he erected this Statue to the Honour of +his Father, employ'd in the Direction of it the famous <i>John Bologna</i>, who +has very well answer'd the Opinion that had been conceiv'd of him.</p> + +<p>In the Great Duke's Gallery near the Square, I saw the greatest +Curiosities, both among the Antients and Moderns. A Busto of <i>Alexander</i> +the Great, the famous Statue of <i>Venus</i>, cut by <i>Apollodorus</i>, with those +of the Emperors and Empresses of <i>Rome</i>, and the greatest Personages of +former Centuries; the best Originals of the greatest Painters; and a +thousand uncommon things, such as Diamonds, Rubies, Pearls, Emeralds, +Saphirs, Topazes, Amber, Porcellain, Crystal, Porphyry, Coral, Marble, and +Granite, the Particulars of which wou'd form a Volume. They are actually +engraving on Plates, and several Persons of Quality are contributing to +the Expence of this fine Work, which is considerable, and for which +excellent Designers are employ'd. This wou'd have been worthy of the Great +Duke, and it seems to me that this Prince when he sees his Family extinct, +and his Estate pass into the hands of Foreigners, ought at least to +eternize the Glory of his Ancestors by publishing an Inventory of the +immense Wealth which they have acquired, and transmitted to their +Posterity.</p> + +<p>Of all the Churches in <i>Italy</i> there are none more magnificent as to the +outside than the Dome of <i>Milan</i>, and the Cathedral of <i>Florence</i>, both +which are entirely lin'd with Marble of various Colours. A Citizen of +<i>Florence</i>, who pretended to know the History of this City perfectly well, +assur'd me that its Cathedral was built out of the Impost +of<!--453.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">428</a></span> +five <i>Sous</i> +which had been laid upon every Piece of Cloth that was then sold at +<i>Florence</i>; but I believe you may without Breach of Charity take this for +a Story.</p> + +<p>Over against the Cathedral is the magnificent Baptistery, to which there's +an Entrance thro' three Gates of Brass, so artfully wrought that <i>Michael +Angelo</i> said they were good enough to be the Gates of Paradise.</p> + +<p>St. <i>Laurence</i>'s Chapel, which is not yet finish'd, is the Admiration of +all Connoisseurs, and is design'd to be the Place for the Burial of the +Great Dukes, whose Remains are to be deposited in a Mausoleum of wonderful +Workmanship, adorn'd with precious Stones. 'Tis 150 years ago that this +Chapel has been building, and yet it wants two Thirds of being finish'd. +If it were lawful to criticise the Conduct of Princes, I must say it +again, that the Great Duke, who sees that his Greatness and his Family +must end with him, ought to put the last hand to this Monument of the +Magnificence of the <i>Medicis</i>: For can he hope, that if he himself +neglects to transmit the Lustre of his Family to Posterity, his Successors +will think to do it, who are nothing to him, or at least but very little? +But such is the Humour of <i>John Gaston</i> Great Duke of <i>Tuscany</i>; he is so +indifferent and unconcern'd about every thing, that he sees Foreigners +dispose of his Dominions, and nominate his Successor, and the Courtiers +ready to abandon him and to worship the said Successor; and yet the +Prospect, how disagreeable soever it may be, does not seem to give him any +Uneasiness: And he said some days ago, after he had sign'd his Last Will +and Testament, declaring <i>Don Carlos</i> Infante of <i>Spain</i> his Successor, +<i>that he had just got a Son and Heir by a Dash of his Pen, which he had +not been able to get in thirty four years Marriage</i>.</p> + +<!--454.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">429</a></span></p> + +<p>Thus, Sir, I have given all you will have of me this time touching +<i>Florence</i>, where I cou'd stay but a few days, and then made no +Acquaintance, having only been taken up in seeing the Curiosities of this +City. At my Return from <i>Rome</i> I propose to come hither again, and make +some stay in order to get a little Knowledge of the Court; and then you +shall be inform'd of every Remark that I make.</p> + +<p>From <i>Florence</i> I went and din'd at <i>Castilloncello</i>, and lay at <span class="smcap">Sienna</span> a +City in the Duchy of <i>Tuscany</i>, to which <i>Cosmo</i> I. <i>de Medicis</i> made it +subject, not without great Resistance from the <i>Siennois</i>. The City which +is both an Archbishoprick and an University, is very pleasantly situate, +and enjoys a very good Air. 'Tis said that <i>Italian</i> is spoke here with +more Purity than in any other Town in <i>Italy</i>. It seem'd to me to want +Inhabitants, for I went thro' several Streets and did not meet a Soul. +'Tis said that a great many of the Nobility are settled in <i>Sienna</i>, and +that Strangers are sure to meet with a civil Reception here, but as I +staid no more than one day, I had only a cursory View of the Town. The +Cathedral appear'd to me to be a great and noble Building lin'd with +Marble. The Great Duke's Palace is ancient, but commodious. It has a Tower +which is look'd upon as a singular piece of Architecture. The Great +Princess<a name="FNanchor_165_165" id="FNanchor_165_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_165_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a> <i>Violante</i> of <i>Bavaria</i> is Governess of <i>Sienna</i>. She liv'd +formerly in this City, and was mightily belov'd in it; but she has resided +for some time at <i>Florence</i>. The Square which is before the Palace is +oval, and hollow in the Middle, so that it may be laid under-water like +the Square <i>Navona</i> at <i>Rome</i>.</p> + +<p>From <i>Sienna</i> to <i>Viterbo</i> the Road is extremely bad, I passed the +Mountain of <i>Radifocani</i>, situate in one of the vilest Countries in all +<i>Italy</i>. At the top of the Mountain there's a Castle, where a +Garison<!--455.png--><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">430</a></span> +of +fifteen Men is kept, with a Commanding Officer, whom I found at the House +of Entertainment where I alighted. He had been a Lieutenant in <i>France</i> in +the Royal <i>Italian</i> Regiment, and spoke very good <i>French</i>. He told me +that the Inhabitants under his Government were as bad as the Country, of +which some Moments after, I saw a Proof. A Mule-driver having a Quarrel +with the Drawer, the latter stabb'd him with a Knife in the Rim of the +Belly, with as much Sedateness as if he had been doing a good Action; and +the Commandant never caus'd the Assassin to be apprehended: for which when +I express'd my Surprize to him, he said he had nothing to do out of his +Place; and that besides he did not dare to cause the Assassin to be +apprehended, because he had three Brothers as wicked as himself, who wou'd +not fail to take a Revenge if he was punish'd. And then, said he, I shou'd +have enough to do if I were to cause all to be apprehended who give Wounds +with Knives.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Aquapendente</span> is a sorry little Town, and yet a Metropolis. <span class="smcap">Bolsena</span> is no +better, and <span class="smcap">Montefiascone</span> tho' a Bishoprick, wou'd not be worth +mentioning, were it not for its Vineyards which produce excellent +<i>Muscadine</i> Wine.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Viterbo</span>, three Leagues from <i>Montefiascone</i>, seem'd to me to be a pretty +Town. 'Tis adorn'd with three fine Fountains, and pav'd with great Flint +Stones which are four foot long and two foot broad. This City has some +fine Houses in it. 'Tis the See of a Bishop, and its Cathedral is a +Structure which does not want for Grandeur. In this Church the Archbishop +and Elector of <i>Cologn</i> was consecrated by Pope <i>Benedict</i> XIII. who came +hither on purpose to save the Elector all manner of dispute about +Precedency with the Cardinals; who were in their turn so disgruntled with +the Pope, that none of them accompany'd him in this Journey.</p> + +<!--456.png--><p><span class="pagenum">431</span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Monteroso</span> is a pretty Town, but <span class="smcap">Ronciglione</span> outdoes it; and indeed in all +the Ecclesiastical State there is not a pleasanter. It drives a great +Trade in Snuff. I came hither yesterday at Noon, and don't think of going +away 'till this Evening, my Chaise being broke. I hope however to lie this +Night at <i>Rome</i>, from whence I purpose to send you many good Stories +forthwith. You will do me a Pleasure to let me hear from you; and to +believe me in <i>Italy</i>, as well as elsewhere, yours, <i>&c.</i></p> + +<div class="center" style="padding: 1em 0 1em 0;"><i>End of Volume</i> I.</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 181px;"> +<img src="images/i15.png" width="181" height="140" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--457.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">432</a></span></p> + +<h2><i>BOOKS of Voyages, and Travels, lately publish'd, printed for <span class="f">D. Browne</span>,<br /> +without <span class="f">Temple-Bar</span>.</i></h2> + +<p>I. <span class="smcap">A Collection of Voyages and Travels</span>; some now first printed from +original Manuscripts, others now first publish'd in English; with a +general Preface, giving an Account of the Progress of Navigation from its +first Beginning. Illustrated with a great number of useful Maps and Cuts +curiously engraven. In 6 Volumes, Folio. Price 9<i>l.</i></p> + +<p>N. B. Those Gentlemen who have the first four Volumes of this Collection, +which were commonly call'd <i>Churchill</i>'s Travels, may have the 5th and 6th +Volumes to compleat their Setts.</p> + +<p>II. Mr. <span class="smcap">Le Bruyn's Travels</span> into <i>Muscovy</i>, <i>Persia</i>, and the <i>East +Indies</i>: containing an accurate Description of whatever is most remarkable +in those Countries; and embelish'd with above 320 Copper-Plates, +representing the finest Prospects, and most considerable Cities in those +Parts; the different Habits of the People, the singular and extraordinary +Birds, Fishes, and Plants, which are to be found: as likewise the +Antiquities of those Countries, and particularly the noble Ruins of the +famous Palace of <i>Persepolis</i>, call'd <i>Chelminar</i> by the <i>Persians</i>: the +whole being delineated on the Spot from the respective Objects. To which +is added, An Account of the Journey of Mr. <i>Isbrants</i>, Embassador from +<i>Muscovy</i>, thro' <i>Russia</i> and <i>Tartary</i> to <i>China</i>: together with Remarks +on the Travels of Sir <i>John Chardix</i> and Mr. <i>Kempfer</i>, and a Letter to +the Author on that Subject. Translated from the French, with the original +Copper-Plates. In two Volumes, Folio. Price 2<i>l.</i> 10<i>s.</i></p> + +<p>III. <span class="smcap">Remarks on several Parts of Europe</span>: relating chiefly to the History, +Antiquities, and Geography of those Countries, thro' which the Author has +travel'd; as <i>France</i>, the <i>Low-Countries</i>, <i>Lorrain</i>, <i>Alsatia</i>, +<i>Germany</i>, <i>Savoy</i>, <i>Tyrol</i>, <i>Switzerland</i>, <i>Italy</i>, and <i>Spain</i>. +Illustrated with several Maps, Plans, and above forty Copper-Plates. By <span class="smcap">J. +Breval</span> Esq; In two Volumes, Folio. Price 2<i>l.</i> 2<i>s.</i></p> + +<p>IV. <span class="smcap">Sir Hans Sloane's</span> Voyage to the Islands of <i>Madera</i>, <i>Barbadoes</i>, +<i>Nevis</i>, <i>St. Christopher's</i>, and <span class="smcap">Jamaica</span>; with the Natural History of the +Herbs and Trees, Four-footed Beasts, Fishes, Birds, Insects, Reptiles, +<i>&c.</i> of the last of those Islands. Illustrated with the Figures of the +Things described, in above 300 large Copper-Plates, as big as the Life, in +2 vol. Folio. Price 5<i>l.</i> 10<i>s.</i> <i>N. B.</i> The second Volume may be had +alone.</p> + +<p>V. <span class="smcap">Itinerarium Septentrionale</span>; or a Journey thro' most of the Counties of +<i>Scotland</i>, and those in the North of <i>England</i>. In two Parts. Illustrated +with 66 Copper-Plates. By <i>Alexander Gordon</i> A. M. Folio. Price one +Guinea.</p> + +<p>VI. <span class="smcap">Roma Illustrata</span>; or a Description of the most beautiful Pieces of +Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, antique and modern, at and near +<span class="smcap">Rome</span>. In a neat Pocket Volume. Price 2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<!--458.png--><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">433</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 447px;"> +<img src="images/i21.png" width="447" height="55" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>An Alphabetical INDEX<br /> +<br /> +TO THE<br /> +<br /> +FIRST VOLUME.</h2> + +<dl class="index"> +<dt class="indexsubhdr">A.</dt> + +<dt><i>Abbesses</i> of two Convents, the Ceremony of marrying them by every Doge of <i>Venice</i>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>.</dt> + <dd>Their Dress, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Agrippina</i>, Empress of <i>Rome</i>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ahlen-Castle</i>, in the Dutchy of <i>Zell</i>; the Retreat of the Duke's unfortunate Daughter, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Aix-la-chapelle</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Albert</i>, Margrave of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Albert</i> I. Emperor, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Albert</i> II. Emperor, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Aller</i>, R. <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Alpes</i>, for whom those Mountains were made, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Altena</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</dt> + <dd>Distress of the Inhabitants, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</dd> + <dd>Privileg'd Place for Bankrupts, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Altenbourg</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Altheim</i>, Count and Countess, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Amelia</i>, Empress of Germany, 228 to <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, &c. <a href="#Page_344">344</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Amminati</i>, Sculptor, <a href="#Page_426">426</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Andrew</i>, Cardinal of <i>Austria</i>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>.</dt> + +<dt>St. <i>Andrew</i>'s Order of <i>Muscovy</i>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Angelo, Michael</i>, his saying that certain Gates were good enough for Paradise, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Anhalt-Cothen</i>, Princess, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Anhalt-Dessau Leopold</i>, Pr. <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Amour and Marriage, and his Menace to shoot his Tutor, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Character by the late D. of <i>Savoy</i>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Valour, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Government, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Augustus Lewis</i>, Pr. his Wives and Issue, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Anhalt-Zerbst, Magdalen-Augusta</i>, Duchess of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Anna-Maria</i>'s Violin, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Anne</i>, Princess Royal of <i>Denmark</i>, and Electress-Dowager of <i>Saxony</i>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Anne-Frederica</i>, of <i>Promnitz</i>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Anne-Sophia-Charlotte</i>, of <i>Prussia</i>, Duchess of <i>Saxe-Eysenach</i>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Annunciation-Pictures</i>, done by <i>Tintoret</i> and <i>Titian</i>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Anspach</span>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</dt> + <dd>See <i>Brandenbourg</i>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Anthony-Ulric</i>, D. of <i>Brunswic-Lunenburg-Wolfembuttle</i>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Antinous</i>'s Statue, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>.</dt> + +<dt><!--459.png--></dt> + +<dt><i>Antonietta-Amelia</i> of <i>Brunswic-Blanckenbourg</i>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Apollodorus</i> Statuary, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Apollonia</i>, the Singer, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Appel</i>, a Merchant at <i>Leipsic</i>, his House the Residence of the K. of <i>Poland</i>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Appennine</i> Mountains, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Aquapendente</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_430">430</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Arch-duchess</i>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Architecture</i>, the best Article that Princes can lay out their Money in, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Aremberg</i>, Duke and Duchess Dowager, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Argenson</i>, M. de, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Arlington</i>, Countess of, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Arnheim</i>, Marshal de, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Arnim, Sigismond</i> de, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Arnould</i>, St. <a href="#Page_366">366</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Arthur</i>, Prince of Wales, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Augsbourg</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.</dt> + <dd>Its Comparison with <i>Antwerp</i>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</dd> + <dd>Its chief Trade, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Augusta</i>, of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i>, Princess of <i>Wales</i>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Augustus</i> III. K. of <i>Poland</i>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Travels and Conversion to Popery, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Marriage, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Love and Duty to his Father, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Election and Coronation, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Tutor, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Queen, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</dd> + <dd>Their Children, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Augustus-William</i> D. of <i>Brunswic-Lunenburg Wolfembuttle</i>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Augustus-Albert</i>, Prince of <i>Prussia</i>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Augustus</i>, Emperor, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Aulic Council</i>, at <i>Berlin</i>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</dt> + <dd>At <i>Vienna</i>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</dd> + +<dt>St. <i>Austin</i>'s Tract of the City of God, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Austria</i>, House, of whom it now consists, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</dt> + <dd>A Wish that it never may be extinct, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</dd> + <dd>Its great Alliances, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Austrian Princes</i>, remarkable for an Air of Gravity, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</dt> + <dd>Their People's Avertion to the <i>Bohemians</i>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</dd> + <dd>The scurvy Pun of a <i>French</i> Jester upon them, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</dd> + <dd>Their Epicurism, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</dd> + <dd>Pride, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.</dd> + <dd>Their Fondness for the Title of Count, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Austrian</i> and <i>Lorrain</i> Families united, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Auvergne</i>, Princesses, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">B.</dt> + +<dt><i>Backover</i>, M. Chancellor of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Baden-Baden</i>, Margrave and Margravine, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Baden-Dourlach, Christian</i>, Margrave of, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>.</dt> + <dd><i>Charles</i>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>. <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</dd> + <dd>Margravine, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Badiani</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bahlberg, Adolphus</i>, Baron of, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Baldinucci, Philip</i>, the Sculptor, <a href="#Page_426">426</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Balls</i> of <i>Bohemia</i>, compar'd with those in the <i>Hay-Market</i>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Bamberg</span>, t. <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, &c. the mighty Prerogative of its Bishop, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Barbi</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bareith</i>, Margraves. See <i>Brandenbourg</i>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Bareith</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</dt> + <dd>Princess, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Baron</i>, the Title purchased in</dt> + +<dt><i>Germany</i> by a Messenger, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Basset</i>, how a Lady made her Gallant's Fortune at it, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bass-Viols</i>, a <i>German</i> Duke's Fondness for 'em, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, to <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bavaria</i>, Electors of, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</dt> + <dd>Its Division, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</dd> + <dd>Riches and Revenue, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</dd> + +<dt><!--460.png--> Electoress, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>.</dt> + <dd>Its Apostle, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Baudissin</i>, M. <i>Wolf, Henry</i> de, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Baumgarten</i>, General, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Beaufort</i>, Marquis de, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Beausobre</i>, M. <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bedmar</i>, Marquis de, his Conspiracy, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Beichling</i>, M. Chancellor, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Beichling</i>, Countess Dowager, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Belgrade</i>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Belvedere-Palace</i>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Benedict</i> XIII. Pope, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Benedictines</i>, a sort of Republic form'd in that Order, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Benson, William</i>, Esq; Director of the fine Water-works at <i>Herenhausen</i>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bentivoglio</i>, Cardinal, his Remark upon the <i>Alps</i> and the neighbouring People, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bergenopzoom</i>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Berlin</span>, t. <a href="#Page_3">3</a>. Its Obligation to the <i>French</i> Refugees, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</dt> + <dd>Its Academy, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Bernsdorff, John Hartwig Ernest</i>, Baron of, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Berschen</i>, t. <a href="#Page_394">394</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Beveren</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bevern, Brunswic</i> Branch, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</dt> + <dd><i>Charles</i>, Prince of, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</dd> + <dd><i>Ferdinand-Albert</i>, Prince of <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</dd> + <dd><i>Elizabeth-Christina</i>, Princess, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Bilinski</i>, Count and Countess, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bishoprick</i>, which the first in <i>Germany</i>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Black Liveries</i>, never given by a certain <i>German</i> Family, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Blanc</i>, M. de, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Blanche, Mary</i>, Wife to the Emperor <i>Maximilian</i>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Blanckenbourg</i>, County, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Blanckenbourg</span>, t. <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</dt> + <dd>Stupidity of the People, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Blanckenbourg</i>'s Duke and Duchess, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</dt> + <dd>The Duke's Treaty with the Elector of <i>Hanover</i> for a Vote and Seat in the Dyet, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Accession to the Title of the D. of <i>Wolfembuttle</i>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Blanckenheim-Mandersheldt, Francis George</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bockenheim</i>, t. <a href="#Page_340">340</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bohemia</i>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, &c. <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</dt> + <dd>Where and by whom its Kings and Queens are consecrated, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.</dd> + <dd>Its Saints, <i>ib.</i>.</dd> + <dd>The Wealth and Grandeur of its Nobility, and the Poverty and Slavery of the Peasants, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>.</dd> + <dd>Its States, of whom compos'd, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</dd> + <dd>Their Aversion to the <i>Austrians</i>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Bolagnos</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bologna, John</i>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Bologna</span>, t. <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Bolsano</span>. t. <a href="#Page_392">392</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bolsena</i>, t. <a href="#Page_430">430</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bork</i>, the <i>Prussian</i> Minister and General, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bose</i>, Countess of, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bossagno</i>, t. <a href="#Page_394">394</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bot</i>, the Architect, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</dt> + <dd>Compar'd to <i>Bernini</i>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Bothmar</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bouillon</i>, Princes, why they had the Title of <i>Domestic</i> Highnesses, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bourbon</i> and <i>Austria</i>, Houses, our Author's Wish that they might never be extinct, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bourbon</i>, Duchess of, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bourg</i>, Marshal de, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Brandenbourg</i>, Electors of, <i>Joachim</i> II. <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</dt> + <dd><i>John George</i>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Brandenbourg, Lewis</i>, Margrave of, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Brandenbourg-Anspach</i>, Margraves, capital, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, &c., <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>.</dt> + +<dt><!--461.png--> Margravine, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</dt> + <dd>Her Present to our Author, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.</dd> + <dd>Death in this Family pretended to be always foretold by the Appearance of a Spirit, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Brandenbourg-Bareith</i>, Margraves, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, &c. <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, &c. <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Brandenbourg</span>, t. <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Brandenbourg-Schwedt</i>, Marquis of, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</dt> + <dd>Margravine Dowager, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Brandstein, Frederic-Augustus</i> de, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Brebentau</i>, Mademoiselle de, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Brebentau</i>, the Palatine of <i>Marienbourg</i>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Breitenbauch, Henry-Augustus</i> de, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bremer</i>, M. de, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Brenner</i>, Mountain, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Breslau</i>, the Road from it to <i>Berlin</i>, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Breton-Villiers</i>, Marquis, Reflection on his Memoirs, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Brez</i>, Marshal de, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Brhousel</span>, t. <a href="#Page_318">318</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Brimstone</i>, prescrib'd to the <i>Austrians</i> by a <i>French</i> Jester, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Brixen</span>, t. <a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Brocks</i>, a <i>Hamburgher</i> and Poet, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Brou</i>, M. de, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bruhl, John</i> and <i>Henry</i> de, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</dt> + <dd><i>Adolphus</i> de, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</dd> + <dd>Baron de, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Brunswic Hanover, John-Frederic</i>, Duke of, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Brunswic</i> Family, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</dt> + <dd>The Princes descended from it, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Brunswic</span>, t. <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Brunswic-Blanckenbourg, Lewis Rodolf</i>, Duke of, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Wolfembuttle</i>, Duke of, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bucentaur</i>, a fine Venetian Galley, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Bulau</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</dt> + <dd>Baroness, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Burgau, Charles</i>, Margrave of, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Burgundy, Charles</i> the Bold, Duke of, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</dt> + <dd><i>Philip</i> Duke, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Buthler, Constantine</i>, Baron of, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">C.</dt> + +<dt><i>Cabinet Ministers</i>, their Precedence at the Court of <i>Prussia</i>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Caccioli Antonio</i>, Painter, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Cadets Academies</i>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Csar</i>'s War with Pompey, painted, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Callenberg, Augustus-Henry Gottlob</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Camke</i>, Madame de, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Camke</i>, Messieurs de, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Candi</i>, a famous Painter, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Carinthia, Henry</i> Duke of, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Carlowitz, John-George</i> de, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</dt> + <dd>Treaty, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Carlsbad</span>, t. <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, &c.</dt> + <dd>Virtue of its Baths, <i>ib.</i></dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Carlsrouhe</span>, t. <a href="#Page_293">293</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Caroline</i>, Princess of <i>Saxe-Eysenach</i>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Cassel</i>, See <i>Hesse</i>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Castel</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Castilloncello</i>, t. <a href="#Page_429">429</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Catsch</i>, M. a Minister of <i>Prussia</i>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Catzenellenbogen</i>, upper County, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Chains</i>, that bound St. <i>Peter</i>, St. <i>Paul</i>, and St. <i>John</i>, three Links of them, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Chalisac</i>, M. <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Charlemain</i>'s Crown and Sword, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</dt> + <dd><i>Charles</i>, Margrave of <i>Burgau</i>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>.</dd> + <dd><i>Charles</i> II. K. of <i>Spain</i>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</dd> + +<dt><!--462.png--> <i>Charles</i> IV. Emperor, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Charles</i> V. Emperor, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Charles</i> VI. Emperor, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Diversions, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Friendship and Gratitude, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Love for the Empress, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</dd> + <dd>Remarks on his Coronation, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Charles-Christian</i>, Prince of <i>Prussia</i>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Charles</i>, K. of <i>Sardinia</i>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Charles</i> XII. K. of <i>Sweden</i>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Charles</i>, Prince Palatine of <i>Sultzbach</i>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Charles</i>, the Bold, Duke of <i>Burgundy</i>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Charles-Albert</i>, Elector of <i>Bavaria</i>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Electoress, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Charles-Lewis</i>, Elector Palatine, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>.</dt> + <dd><i>Philip</i> ditto, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Revenues, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Charlottemburg</i> House, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Child-bearing</i>, ascrib'd to the Miracles of the two <i>Bohemian</i> Saints, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Christian</i>, Margrave of <i>Brandenburg-Bareith</i>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Christian-Lewis</i>, Margrave of <i>Brandenburg</i>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</dt> + <dd>Ulric, Duke of <i>Wirtemberg-Oels</i>, and <i>Bernstad</i>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</dd> + <dd><i>William</i>, of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i>, Prince, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Christina-Louisa</i>, of <i>Oetingen, Duchess of Blanckenbourg</i>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Christina</i>, Princess of <i>Saxe-Weissenfels</i>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Christopher</i>, St. where most worshipped, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Cicerone</i>, the Meaning of that Word in Italy, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Cinfuentes</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Cleisheim</i>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Clischoff</i>, Battle, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Clovis</i>, K. of <i>France</i>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Coburg</i>, t. <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Cohorn</i>, Engineer, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Cohten</span>, t. <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Colin, Alexander</i>, Statuary, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Collobradt</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Collonitz</i>, the Count and the Cardinal, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Collowrat</i>, Count and Countess, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Complimenters</i>, nauseous, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Cond</i>, Princess of, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Conferences</i>, Counsellors of, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Constance</i>, Council of, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Coquets</i>, in <i>Venice</i>, the Place of their Rendezvous, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Corfou</i>, Island, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Cornaro</i> Family's Tomb, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Cosel</i> Countess of, Mistress of the late K. of <i>Poland</i>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</dt> + <dd>Her Menaces against him, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</dd> + <dd>Count, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</dd> + <dd>Her Daughter, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Cosmo</i> I. Duke of <i>Florence</i>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Costa</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Counts</i> of the Empire, their Preheminence, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Courland</i>, Duchess Dowager, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Craut</i>, his surprising Rise from behind the Compter to the Ministry, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Creutz</i>, M. de, <i>Prussian</i> Minister, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Creutzer</i>, Coin, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Crossen</i>, t. <a href="#Page_1">1</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Culmbach-Brandenburg</i>, Margraviate, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</dt> + <dd><i>George-Frederic-Charles</i>, the Margrave, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Family and Revenues, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, &c. <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Cunegonda</i>, Empress, her Tomb, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Cup</i>, which <i>Joseph</i> put in <i>Benjamin's</i> Sack; the Reason our</dt> + +<dt><!--463.png--> Author had to remember that Passage, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Customs</i>, a remarkable Attachment to old ones, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Cyprianus</i>, Dr. <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Cyprus, Cornaro</i>, Q. of, <a href="#Page_406">406</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Czarowitz</i>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">D.</dt> + +<dt><i>Damnitz</i>, M. de, Grand Marshal of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Danckelman</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</dt> + <dd>He prophesies his own Fate, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Dangervilliers</i>, M. <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Danneberg, Henry</i> de, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Danebrock</i> Order, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Dantzick</i>, t. invested, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</dt> + <dd>Reduc'd, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Danube</i>, R. <a href="#Page_278">278</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Darmstadt</i>, t. <a href="#Page_357">357</a>.</dt> + <dd>Landgraves, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Daun</i>, Count and Marshal de, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Degenfeldt</i> (<i>Schomberg</i>) Count de, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Dehn</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</dt> + <dd>A very fine Dancer, as well as Minister of State, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Dejanira's</i> Story painted, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Delitz</i>, Countess of, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Denhoff</i>, General, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Denmark</i>, Q. of, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</dt> + <dd>The Prince Royal, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Devos</i>, Tapestry-maker at <i>Brussels</i>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Diedrichstein</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Doberginsky</i>, M. <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Doges</i> of <i>Venice</i>, their Marriage of the Sea, and of the Abbesses of two Convents, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Dohna</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Dorffling</i>, a Taylor, his Rise to be a General in the Army, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Dorothea-Sophia</i>, Princess of <i>Prussia</i>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Dorothy</i>, Electress of <i>Brandenburg</i>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Dresden</span>, t. <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, &c.</dt> + +<dt><i>Drinking</i> hard, in <i>Germany</i>, our Author's humourous Account how it affected him, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, to <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, to <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.</dt> + <dd>Where he reckons it an inseparable Function of the Ecclesiastical Courts, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Duhamel, Francis</i>, General, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Lady, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Duvaine</i>, General, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Duval</i>, a famous Soop-maker, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">E.</dt> + +<dt><i>East-Friesland, George-Albert</i>, Prince of, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Eib</i>, General, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Einsiedel, John George</i> de, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Einsiedel, Curt</i> de, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Lady, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Einsiedel Detler, Henry</i> de, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Eleonora</i>, Empress, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Eleonora</i>, Princess of <i>Neubourg</i>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Eleonora-Philippina</i>, Princess of <i>Hesse-Rhinfels</i>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Elizabeth</i>, Empress of <i>Germany</i>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, &c.</dt> + <dd>Her Abjuration of the <i>Lutheran</i> Religion, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Elizabeth-Sophia</i> of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, Duchess Dowager of <i>Courland</i>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Elizabeth-Christina</i> of <i>Oetingen</i>, Duchess of <i>Blanckenbourg</i>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Elvan</i>, t. <a href="#Page_378">378</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Emanuel</i>, Prince of <i>Savoy</i>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Emigrants</i>, of <i>Saltzbourg</i>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Emperors</i> of <i>Germany</i>, the Ceremony of their Audiences, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</dt> + <dd>Their Dining, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</dd> + <dd>Suppers, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>.</dd> + <dd>Pictures, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Empresses</i>, the Respect paid to them, 228 to <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, &c.</dt> + +<dt><!--464.png--></dt> + +<dt><i>Empress</i> Dowager, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Eosander</i>, the Architect, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Erdmansdorff, Ernest-Ferdinand</i> de, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Erfurt</span>, t. <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Erlangen</span>, <i>Christian</i>, t. <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ernest-Augustus</i>, the first Elector of <i>Hanover</i>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</dt> + <dd>How he obtain'd that Dignity, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Ernest</i>, Arch-Duke, and his Wife, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ernest-Augustus</i>, Duke of <i>Saxe-Weimar</i>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ernest</i> the <i>Pious</i>, Duke of <i>Gotha</i>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Etiquette</i>, in foreign Courts, what, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Etlingen</i>, t. <a href="#Page_303">303</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Eversberg</i>, t. <a href="#Page_364">364</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Eugene</i> of <i>Savoy</i>, Prince, his Palace, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Character, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Regiment of Dragoons, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Sickness, Death, and Interment, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Employments and Estate, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</dd> + <dd>His last Will, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Library, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Nephew, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Excellency</i>, the <i>Venetians</i> Fondness for the Title, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Eysenach</span>, t. <a href="#Page_183">183</a>. See <i>Saxe</i>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">F.</dt> + +<dt><i>Fatima</i>, a <i>Turkish</i> Lady, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Favourita</i>, the Emperor's Palace, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Faustina</i>, the Singer, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ferbellin</i>, t. <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ferdinand</i>, I. <i>de Medicis</i>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ferdinand</i>, K. of <i>Castille</i>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ferdinand</i>, K. of the <i>Romans</i>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ferdinand</i> I. Emperor, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Son's Tomb, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>,</dd> + <dd>and Wife, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Ferdinand-Albert</i>, D. of <i>Brunswic-Lunenbourg</i> and <i>Bevern</i>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Merit and Preferment, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Ferdinand-Mary</i>, Elector of <i>Bavaria</i>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Wife, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Ferdinand</i>, Duke of <i>Bavaria</i>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Duchess, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Ferrara</span>, t. <a href="#Page_423">423</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Finck</i>, of <i>Finckenstein</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Fiorenzola</i>, t. <a href="#Page_425">425</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Fermian</i>, Barons of, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Fishermen</i>, at <i>Venice</i>, their Election of their Doge or Chief, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Fitztuhm</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Daughter, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Fleming, James-Henry</i>, Count de, Prime Minister of <i>Poland</i>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Reason for employing Foreigners before <i>Saxons</i>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</dd> + <dd>The Origin of his Family and his Education, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Preferments from first to last, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, &c.</dd> + <dd>His Marriage and his Duels, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Conduct with regard to <i>Patkul</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Estate, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</dd> + <dd>His general Character, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Fleming</i>, Mademoiselle de, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Fleury</i>, Marquis de, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</dt> + <dd>Cardinal de, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Florence</span>, t. <a href="#Page_425">425</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Fohsen</i>, Mademoiselle de, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Forbenius</i> he saved the Life of the Elector of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Force</i>, Marshall de, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Forchs</i>, the <i>Starost</i> assassinated, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Francfort</i>, on the <i>Rhine</i>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>.</dt> + <dd>Privilege of those here called Residents, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Francfort</i>, on the <i>Oder</i>, t. <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Francis</i> I. K. of <i>France</i>, his solemn Affirmation, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Franconia</i>, Duke, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</dt> + +<dt><!--465.png--></dt> + +<dt><i>Frankenberg</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Frankendahl</span>, t. <a href="#Page_338">338</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Frauenstad</i>, Battle, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Frederic</i>, of <i>Austria</i>, nicknam'd the <i>Pennyless</i> Prince, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Frederic</i>, Elector Palatine, who was chose K. of <i>Bohemia</i>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Frederic</i> IV. Emperor, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Mother, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Frederic</i>, Electoral Prince of <i>Saxony</i>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Frederic</i> II. Duke of <i>Gotha</i>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</dt> + <dd>III. the present Duke, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Brother <i>William</i>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</dd> + <dd>His other Brothers and Sisters, and his Revenues and Guards, &c. <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Frederic-Augustus</i> II. K. of <i>Poland</i>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Nativity calculated at <i>Venice</i>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Death, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Queen, and her Death, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Change of Religion, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</dd> + <dd>The Method he took to convert his Son, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Natural Issue, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, &c.</dd> + <dd>His Generosity, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Frederic</span> IV. K. of <i>Denmark's</i> Compassion to the <i>Altenois</i>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Queen's Retirement, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</dd> + <dd>His giving Audience to the Senate at <i>Bologna</i>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Frederic</i>, the <i>Fair</i>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Frederic-William</i>, Elector of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, his Statue, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</dt> + <dd>His remarkable Speech to his Soldiers, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</dd> + <dd>His daughter, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Frederic</i> I. K. of <i>Prussia</i>, his Statue, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Frederic</i>, Prince Royal of <i>Prussia</i>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Frederica-Sophia</i>, Princess of <i>Prussia</i>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Frederica-Louisa</i>, Princess of <i>Prussia</i>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</dt> + <dd>Of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i>, Princess, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Fredericsfeld</i>, House, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Friesberg</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Friesland, Henry-Frederic</i>, Count of, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Frisoni</i>, an Architect, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Fuchs</i>, Baron de, the <i>Prussian</i> Minister, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Fuchs</i>, Countess de, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Fugger, Maximilian</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</dt> + <dd>His generous Entertainment of the Emperor <i>Charles</i> V. <a href="#Page_276">276</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Fuhl</i>, de, Great Marshal, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Fulde</span>, t. <a href="#Page_184">184</a>. Magnificence of its Abbot, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Fultishau</i>, Convent, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Furstemberg</i>, Prince, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</dt> + <dd>Cardinal, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Furstenfeldt</i>, Abbey, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">G.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gala</i>, Days of, what, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Galeas, John</i> Duke of <i>Milan</i>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gallasch</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gardeners</i>, the best in all <i>Germany</i>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Garment</i>, Christ's, a Relique of it, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gaston, John</i>, Great Duke of <i>Tuscany</i>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gates</i>, thought by <i>Michael Angelo</i> to be good enough for Paradise, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gemblours</i>, Abbot of, his sole Privilege of celebrating Mass booted and spurr'd, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gemming</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gentleman</i>, two <i>French</i> Kings fond of the Title, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">George</span> I. K. of <i>Great Britain</i>, his Wife, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Administration, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>George</i> II. King, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>George-William</i>, Margrave of <i>Brandenbourg-Bareith</i>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.</dt> + +<dt><!--466.png--></dt> + +<dt><i>George</i> (St.) Abbess of, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.</dt> + <dd>Order <i>Bavarian</i>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>George</i> I. Landgrave of <i>Darmstad</i>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>German</i> Language, its Excellency. <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</dt> + <dd>Vanity of the <i>Germans</i>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Gersi</i>, the <i>French</i> Ambassador, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gersner</i>, Physician, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gerstorf, Gotlob-Frederic</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gertrude</i>, a <i>Marcoman</i> Lady, History of her, an entertaining Novel, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, &c.</dt> + <dd>Its Key, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Gilles</i> (<i>St.</i>) Count de, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Glass</i> Manufacture of <i>Venice</i>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Globe, John-Frederic</i> Count de, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Goblet</i> of Gold, the Pleasure with which our Author drank out of it; and how he wish'd to carry it off, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Godfrey</i> of <i>Bouillon</i>, K. of <i>Jerusalem</i>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gohren</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gortz</i>, (<i>Henry</i>) Baron de, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</dt> + <dd>His famous Copper Coin, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Execution, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Gortz</i>, the <i>Hanovarian</i>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gotha</i>, see <i>Saxe</i>, and <i>Frederic</i>, and <i>Ernest</i>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Gotha</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</dt> + <dd>Its Dukes, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, &c.</dd> + <dd>Duchesses, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</dd> + <dd>The noble Library here, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</dd> + <dd>Their Revenues, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Gravenitz</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gravenitz</i>, Countess de, Mistress of the D. of <i>Wirtemberg</i>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, to <a href="#Page_284">284</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gravity</i>, an Air peculiar to the <i>Austrian</i> Princes, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Grosh</i>, the Value of that Coin, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Grumkau</i>, the <i>Prussian</i> Minister, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Grunberg</i>, the Architect, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Guide</i>, a remarkable one that was blind, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Guides</i>, the Name given to them in <i>Italy</i>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Guldenstein-Huguetan</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gundacker de Staremberg</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Gustavus Adolphus</i>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">H.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hacke</i>, M. de, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hagen</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Haguenau</span>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <i>t.</i></dt> + +<dt><i>Hall</i>, the largest next to <i>Westminster</i>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Halle</i>, t. <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>.</dt> + <dd>University, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Hamburgh</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</dt> + <dd>Its Dispute with <i>Denmark</i>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</dd> + <dd>Its Opera, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</dd> + <dd>Its Mob, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</dd> + <dd>Vindication of its Citizens from the Charge of Cruelty to the <i>Altenois</i>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</dd> + <dd>Their Respect to the <i>Jews</i>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Hamelen</i>, t. <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hanau</i>, Count of, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hanau, Charlotta-Christina</i> of, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Hanau</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Hanover</span>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</dt> + <dd><i>Roman</i> Catholics there, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</dd> + <dd>Revenues of the Electorate, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</dd> + <dd>—— Electoress of, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>.</dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Harbourg</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hardenberg</i>, M. Grand Marshal of <i>Hanover</i>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Harlay</i>, M. de. <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Harrach</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hattorfs</i>, Ministers compar'd to <i>Louvois</i> and <i>Barbesieux</i>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hatzfield, Egmont</i> Count, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Haugwitz, John-Adolphus</i> de, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</dt> + +<dt><!--467.png--></dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Heidelberg</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>.</dt> + <dd>Its Decay to what owing, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>.</dd> + <dd>Its famous Tun, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Heilbron</i>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Henrietta-Benedictine</i>, the Princess <i>Palatine</i>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Henry</i> II. Emperor, his Tomb, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Henry</i> IV. Emperor, the pompous Interment he wish'd his Enemies, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Henry</i> III. K. of <i>France</i>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Henry</i> IV. K. of <i>France</i>, his Ambition to be called the first Gentleman in his Kingdom, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Herenhausen</i> Palace, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Herford</i> Abbey, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hering</i>, M. de, Vice-Chancellor of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hermitage</i>, a Seat near <i>Bareith</i>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Herzan, Maximilian</i> Count de, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hesler</i>, M. de, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hesse</i> Princes, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hesse-Cassel, Philip</i> the Landgrave of, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hesse-Darmstadt, Ernest-Lewis</i> Landgrave of, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Wife, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Son and his Wife, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Revenues and Troops, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Hesse-Rhinfels</i>, Princess of, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hildesheim</i>, Baron, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hochstet</i> Battle, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hoffman</i>, Professor of Physic at <i>Halle</i>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hohenlo</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Holstein-Beck, Lewis-Frederic</i> Pr. of, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>Charles-Lewis</i> Pr. of, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</dt> + <dd><i>Dorothy</i>, Princess of, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Houtten, Christopher-Francis</i> de, Pr. and Bp. of <i>Wurtzbourgh</i>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hoym</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Catastrophe, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Hubert</i> (St.) his Legacy, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</dt> + <dd>Noted for killing Rats, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Hubertsbourgh</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Huss, John</i>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Hussites</i>, the Remains of 'em, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">I.</dt> + +<dt><i>Jacobi</i>, the Statuary, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Jacquelot</i>, M. <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Janson</i>, Cardinal, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Jews</i>, the Respect shewed them at <i>Hamburg</i>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>.</dt> + <dd>Not tolerated at <i>Anspach</i>, and why, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</dd> + <dd>Their Punishment for crucifying an Infant of Christian Parents on <i>Christmass-day</i>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</dd> + <dd>Vast number of 'em in <i>Bohemia</i>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</dd> + <dd>and the <i>Palatinate</i>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Ilgen</i>, Baron, <i>Prussian</i> Minister, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ilten</i>, Messieurs de, of <i>Hanover</i>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Inn</i> River, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Inspruc</span>, t. <a href="#Page_380">380</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Joan</i> of <i>Castille</i>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>John</i>'s (St.) Village in <i>Tirol</i>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>John</i> (St.) of <i>Jerusalem</i>, Kts. of, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>John</i> (St.) <i>Nepomucene</i>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>John-Ernest</i> ABp. of <i>Saltzbourg</i>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>John-Adolphus</i> of <i>Saxe-Weissenfels</i>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>John-George</i> I. Elector of <i>Saxony</i>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>John-George</i> III. Elector of <i>Saxony</i>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>John-George</i> IV. Elector, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>John-Augustus</i> of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i>, Pr. <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>Adolphus</i>, ditto, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</dt> + +<dt><!--468.png--></dt> + +<dt><i>John William</i>, D. of <i>Saxe-Eisenach</i>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</dt> + <dd>Elector Palatine, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Jonas</i>, the tall Grenadier, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Joseph</i>, Emperor, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Iser</i> R. <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Isselbach</i>, General, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Judas</i>'s Lanthorn to be seen in two Places, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ixter</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">K.</dt> + +<dt><i>Kalestein</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Kara Mustapha</i>, Grand Vizier, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Kehl</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_305">305</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Kendal</i>, Duchess, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Kevenbuller</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Keyserling-Hermann-Charles</i>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Kilmanseck</i>, Madame de, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Kinsberg</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Kinski</i>, Counts, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Kinski</i>, Countess of, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Klenzek</i>, Mademoiselle de, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Kniphausen</i>, Baron, the <i>Prussian</i> Minister, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Kokersowitz</i>, Countess, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Konickel</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Konigsegg</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Marriage, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Nephew, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Konigstern</i> Castle, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Koningsmark, Aurora</i> Countess of, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Kuenbourgh</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Kundahl</i>, t. <a href="#Page_379">379</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Kurtzrok</i>, Baron, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">L.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lactantius</i>'s Works, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ladies, Venetian</i>, in Masks, pick'd up by our Author, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>.</dt> + <dd>and himself pick'd up by a Lady in Distress who knew him, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Ladislaus</i>, King, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lagnasco</i>, Count, and <i>Josepha</i> Countess of, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Landau</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_318">318</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lands</i>, how entail'd, and how secur'd in <i>Bohemia</i>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Larks</i>, where they most abound, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Laxembourg</i>, the Emperor's Palace, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Leibnitz</i>, the Philosopher, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Leine</i>, <i>r.</i> <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Leipsick</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</dt> + <dd>Why 'tis called the Jewel of <i>Saxony</i>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</dd> + <dd>Its Fairs frequented by a great number of Princes and Princesses, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Lenfant</i>, M. Author of the Council of <i>Constance</i>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Leopold</i> of <i>Austria</i>, surnam'd <i>the Virtuous</i>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Leopold</i>, Archduke, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— Emperor, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— Bp. of <i>Saltzbourgh</i>, his Houshold and his Revenues, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>.</dt> + <dd>Why compared to Pope <i>Sixtus</i> V. <a href="#Page_367">367</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Levant</i> Women, their great Confinement within doors, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Leubnitz, Charles</i>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lewis</i> VI. Landgrave of <i>Darmstad</i>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lewis</i>, the Hereditary Prince, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lewis</i> of <i>Bavaria</i>, Emperor, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— of <i>Baden</i>, Pr. <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>Ernest</i> of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i>, P. <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>the Severe</i>, Duke of <i>Bavaria</i>, his Murder of his Minister and his Wife, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Repentance, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.</dd> + +<dt>—— <i>Rodolph</i>, D. of <i>Brunswic-Lunenburg,</i> and <i>Blanckenbourg</i>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— Margrave of <i>Brandenburg</i>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</dt> + +<dt><!--469.png--></dt> + +<dt><i>Lewis</i> XV. K. of <i>France</i>, his Marriage, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>.</dt> + <dd>Cardinal <i>Rohan</i>'s Speeches upon it, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Lichtenstein</i> Palace, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lieutenant</i> of the Police at <i>Paris</i>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Linange, Mary-Christina-Felicite</i>, Countess of, her Husbands, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Linar, Maurice-Charles</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Lintz</span> <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lipski, John-Alexander</i>, Bp. of <i>Cracow</i>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lobkowitz</i>, Pr. and Princess, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lodron</i>, Counts of, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lopel</i>, General de, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lorrain, Francis</i> Duke of, his Marriage to the Archduchess, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>Charles</i>, Pr. <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Losenstein, Eleonora</i> Countess of, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lovel</i>, Baron de, kill'd in a Duel with Count <i>Flemming</i>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Louestein</i>, Princess, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Louisa-Dorothea</i> Duchess of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Louvois</i>, Marquiss, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lowendahl, Waldemar</i> Baron of, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Service to six Kings, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Wives and Issue, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Son <i>Waldemar</i>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Lowinitz, Henry-Rodolph de Schonfeld</i> Lord of, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lubomirski-Theresa</i>, Electoress <i>Palatine</i>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lubomirski</i>, Madame de, Rival to <i>Fatima</i> a <i>Turkish</i> Lady, Mistress to the late K. of <i>Poland</i>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lubomirski, George-Ignatius</i> Pr. of, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lude</i>, Count de, his wise Reason for marrying a Tradesman's Daughter, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ludwigsbourg</i> t. <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Lunenburg</span> <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lunenburg-Zell</i> and <i>Lunenburg-Hanover</i> Families united, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Luther, Martin</i>, his resolute Expression when dissuaded to go the Dyet, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Lutzelbourg, Anthony</i> Count de, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">M.</dt> + +<dt><i>Magdebourg</i> Duchy yielded to the House of <i>Brandenbourg</i>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</dt> + <dd>Character of it, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Magdebourg</span> <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Maintenon</i>, Madame de, Mistress of <i>Lewis</i> XIV. her Fortune told by a Mason, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Malchau</i> House near <i>Berlin</i>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Manger</i>, a Relique of our Saviour's, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Manheim</span> <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Manteuffel, Ernest</i> Count de, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Marck, Julius-Augustus</i>, Count de la <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Marcoman</i> Lady, the History of one, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>. <i>&c.</i></dt> + +<dt><i>Margaret</i> of <i>Tyrol</i> surnam'd <i>the Pious</i>, and nicknam'd <i>Wide-Mouth</i>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Maria-Anne-Caroline</i> of <i>Newbourgh</i>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Maria-Magdalena</i>, Archduchess, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Maria Elizabetha</i>, Archduchess and Governess of the <i>Netherlands</i>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Maria-Amelia</i> Princess of <i>Poland</i>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Maria-Anne-Sophia</i> Princess of <i>Poland</i>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Maria-Josepha</i> Princess of <i>Poland</i>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Maria-Theresa</i> Archduchess, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <i>&c.</i></dt> + <dd>Her Marriage to the D. of <i>Lorrain</i>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Maria-Josepha</i> Q. of <i>Poland</i>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</dt> + +<dt><!--470.png--></dt> + +<dt><i>Maria-Anne-Victoria</i> of <i>Bavaria</i>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Maria</i> Empress of <i>Germany</i>, her illustrious Relations, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Marie-Adelaide</i> of <i>Savoy</i>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Maria-Lescinski</i> Q. of <i>France</i>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Mark's</i>, St. Festival, how celebrated at <i>Venice</i>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Marriage</i> of the Sea, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Marriage</i> of Princes how limited by the Laws of Germany, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>.</dt> + <dd>A Princess charg'd with abusing that Sacrament of the Church of <i>Rome</i>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Martinitz</i>, Count of, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Masquerades</i> at <i>Venice</i>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Mass</i>, by whom alone celebrated with Boots and Spurs on, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Matthias</i> Emperor of <i>Germany</i>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Maubrisson</i>, Abbess of, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Maurice, William</i>, Pr. of <i>Saxe-Zeits</i>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— Elector of <i>Saxony</i>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— Count of <i>Saxony</i>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i> Pr., <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Maximilian</i>, Emperor, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Statue, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>.</dd> + <dd>Wife, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Daughter, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</dd> + <dd>Father-in-law, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Maximilian-Emanuel</i>, Elector of <i>Bavaria</i>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>.</dt> + <dd><i>Joseph</i> the Electoral Pr. <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Meinders</i>, M. de, the <i>Prussian</i> Minister, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Meissen</span> <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Melvil</i>, M., <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Menard</i>, President, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Mentz, Lotharius-Francis de Schonborn</i> Elector, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Severity to Robbers, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Mercy</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Defeat, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Mersebourg</span> <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</dt> + <dd>Its Duke's Fondness for Bass-Viols, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Duchess, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Mestre</span>. <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Metsch</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Mile-posts</i> in <i>Saxony</i>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Milk</i> of our Lady, a Wine so called, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Miltitz</i>, General, <i>Alexander de</i>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Minckwitz, Charles-Christian de</i>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Miracles</i> ascrib'd to the two Saints of <i>Bohemia</i>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Misson, Maximilian</i>, criticized, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Mobs</i> of <i>Amsterdam</i> and <i>Hamburg</i> compar'd, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Mocenigo-Aloisio</i>, Doge of <i>Venice</i>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Modena, Renaud d'Este</i>, Duke of, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Molard</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Molsheim</i> t. <a href="#Page_315">315</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Monclar</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Montbijou</i> Palace, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Montefiascone</span> <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_430">430</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Monteroso</span> <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_430">430</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Monte-Sancto</i>, Count of, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Montmorency, Francis</i> Count de, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Countess, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Moravia, John</i> Margrave of, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Moschinski, Anthony</i>, Count and</dt> + <dd>Countess, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Moses</i>, a Piece of his Rock, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Motterie</i>, Mademoiselle, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Mount-Pleasant</i>, a fine Seat near <i>Hanover</i>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Muchlberg</i>, the strong Lines cast up there by the Prince of <i>Beveren</i>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Munchausen</i>, M. <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Munchenbourg</i> t. <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Munich</span> <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Muscovy, Anne</i> Czarina of, her Marriage, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</dt> + +<dt><!--471.png--></dt> +<dt class="indexsubhdr">N.</dt> + +<dt><i>Nassau-Friesland</i>, Prince, his untimely end, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Daughter, who is Sister to the Pr. of <i>Orange</i>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Nassau, Idstein</i>, Pr. <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>Weilbourg</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>Ousingen</i> Princess, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Nativities</i>, Calculators of 'em</dt> + +<dt>refuted, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Natzmer</i>, Marshal de, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Naumbourg</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Neitsch</i>, Mademoiselle de, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Nepomucene</i> (St.) <i>John</i>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, to <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Nesselrod</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Neukirch, Benjamin</i>, a Poet, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Neustadt</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Nicolotti</i>, Fishermen at <i>Venice</i> so call'd, their Election of a Doge of their own, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Nightingales</i>, a Multitude of 'em, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Nobility</i> at <i>Venice</i>, the Purchase of it, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Noyelles</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Nuremberg</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.</dt> + <dd>Its Government compar'd to the <i>Venetian</i>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.</dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Nymphenbourg</span> Palace, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">O.</dt> + +<dt><i>Occo</i> the Antiquary, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Oder</i>, River, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Oetingen</i>, t. <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</dt> + <dd>Princesses, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Ohsten</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Olbreuse</i>, Madamoiselle de, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</dt> + <dd>Her Daughter, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Oppenheim</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_340">340</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Oranjebourg</i>, t. <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Orders of Knighthood</i>, the <i>Prussian</i>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</dt> + <dd>The <i>Bavarian</i>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</dd> + <dd>Of St. <i>Hubert</i>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Orleans</i>, Duke of, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</dt> + <dd>Duchess, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Orselska</i>, <i>Anne</i> Countess of, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ossem, Gosman-Daniel</i>, the Painter, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">P.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Padua</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_422">422</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Palatinate, Upper</i>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Palatine</i>, Electors, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, &c. <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>.</dt> + <dd>Revenues, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.</dd> + <dd>Who the last of the Protestant Princes of this Title, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Paracelsus</i>, where bury'd, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>.</dt> + <dd>How he wrought most of his Cures, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Passau</i>, t. <a href="#Page_366">366</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Patkul</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Patriarch</i> of <i>Venice</i>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Patricians</i> in <i>Germany</i>, who they are, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Pechtelsheim</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Peine</i>, Painter, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Pennyless Prince</i>, the Nickname of an <i>Austrian</i>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Petits-Maitres</i>, at <i>Venice</i>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Philibert</i> D. of <i>Savoy</i>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Philip</i> IV. of <i>Spain</i>, his Reverence to the Viaticum, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— D. of <i>Burgundy</i>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— Margrave of <i>Brandenburg</i>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Dowager, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Sons, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Uncle <i>Albert</i>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</dd> + <dd><i>Albert</i>'s Sons, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Philippina-Charlotte</i>, Princess</dt> + +<dt>of <i>Prussia</i>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Philippina</i> of <i>Welserin</i>, Archduchess, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Philipsruhe</i>, a Pleasure-House, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Phul</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Pilate</i>'s Basin, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Piosas</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Plassenberg</i> Castle, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Platen</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</dt> + <dd>Countess, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Pleasure-Houses</i>, who has the finest in <i>Europe</i>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Plesk</i>, <i>Helmuth</i> de, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</dt> + +<dt><!--472.png--></dt> + +<dt><i>Pludowska</i>, Baroness, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Poddewitz</i>, the <i>Prussian</i> Minister, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Poland</i>, the Equivalent it has given to <i>France</i> of a Queen for a King, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Polentz</i>, M. de, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Pollnitz</i>, M. de, Cabinet-Counsellor to the D. of <i>Wirtemberg</i>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— Baron, (our Author) his Conference with a <i>Lutheran</i> Doctor after he had turn'd <i>Papist</i> from a <i>Calvinist</i>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>Henrietta</i>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Pomerania, Hither</i>, yielded to <i>Sweden</i>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Pommersfelden</span>, <i>t.</i> Seat of the Elector of <i>Mentz</i>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Pompey</i>'s War with <i>Csar</i> painted, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ponte</i>, t. <a href="#Page_425">425</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Porcellane</i>, finer in <i>Germany</i> than in <i>Japan</i>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Portugal</i>, <i>Mary-Anne</i> Queen of, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>Emanuel</i> Pr. of, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Pose</i>, a Merchant at <i>Leipsic</i>, his fine Garden, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Potschin</i>, Madame de, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Potzdam</i> Castle, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Prague</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Preysing, Maximilian</i> Count de, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Princes</i>, petty, more inaccessible than great ones, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Privy-Counsellor</i>'s Preferment owing to a Present of a Bass-Viol, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Profusion</i> of Princes in what Article 'tis most justifiable, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Promnitz, Erdmann</i> Count de, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Proselytes</i>, by what means they are soonest made among the Gentry, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Provence, Theodebert</i> Count of, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Prussia</i>, K. <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <i>&c.</i> <a href="#Page_376">376</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Queen, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Soldiery, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, to <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Children, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <i>&c.</i> <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</dd> + <dd>Princess Royal's Marriage, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Pruth</i> Battle, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Pultowa</i> Battle, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">Q.</dt> + +<dt><i>Quails</i>, abundance of 'em, where, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Quilian</i>, St. <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">R.</dt> + +<dt><i>Rabutin</i>, Marshal de, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Radifocani</i>, M. <a href="#Page_429">429</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Radjowski</i>, Cardinal, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Radzevil, Louisa-Charlotte</i> Pss. of, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Radzevil</i>, 2d Wife of Marshal <i>Flemming</i>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Rastadt</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_299">299</a>.</dt> + <dd>Prince of <i>Baden</i>'s Palace here compar'd to <i>St. Cloud</i> near <i>Paris</i>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>.</dd> + <dd>Treaty sign'd there, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Ratenau</i>, t. <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Ratenberg</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_379">379</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Rats</i>, a Saint that was famous for killing them, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ravanne</i>, Abbot de, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Raugrave</i>, Madame la, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Rechberg, Gaudentz</i> Count de, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Reinbabe</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Religion</i>, the Externals of it, where best observ'd, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Residents</i> for the <i>German</i> Princes at <i>Franckfort</i>, their Privileges, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Rheden</i>, M. de, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Rhenen</i>, t. <a href="#Page_344">344</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Riga</i> Siege, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Rinucci</i>, the Cardinal and the Marquiss, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Robert</i>, Prince Palatine, K. of the <i>Romans</i>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Rock, Moses</i>'s, a piece of it, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Rocoule</i>, Madam de, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</dt> + +<dt><!--473.png--></dt> + +<dt><i>Roder</i>, M. de, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Rodolph</i>, Emperor, the Speech he made after he had one of his Hands cut off in Battle, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Rohan</i>, Cardinal <i>Armand Gaston</i>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Speeches on the Marriage of the Queen of <i>France</i>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Election and Death, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>.</dd> + <dd>Character, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Rohr</i>, Baroness Dowager of, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Roll</i>, the <i>Brandenburg</i> Minister, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Rolli</i>, the Painter, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Rome</span>, <i>t.</i> the <i>German</i> Emperor's Right to live there, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ronaw</i>, Count de, Envoy of <i>Saxe Gotha</i>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Ronciglione</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_430">430</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Rossing</i>, M. de, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Roth</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Rotofski</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Rupert</i>, St. <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Rutowski</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Ruzzini Carlo</i>, Doge of <i>Venice</i>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">S.</dt> + +<dt><i>Saltz</i>, R. <a href="#Page_364">364</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Saltzbourg</i>, t. <a href="#Page_364">364</a>.</dt> + <dd>Its Revenues, and Houshold of its Archbishop, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>.</dd> + <dd>A great Revolution in this Country, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Saltzdahl</i> Seat near <i>Brunswic</i>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Sapieha, Benedict</i>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Sardinia</i>, King and Queen, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Saverne</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_315">315</a>.</dt> + +<dt>Savoy, see <i>Eugene</i> and <i>Emanuel</i>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Saxe-Lawenburg</i>, Princess, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>Weissensels, John-Adolphus</i> Prince of, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</dt> + <dd><i>Sophia</i> Princess of, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</dd> + <dd><i>Christina</i> Princess of, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</dd> + +<dt>—— <i>Weymar</i> Dukes, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Saxe-Zeits, Maurice-William</i> Pr. of, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— Cardinal, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>Gotha</i> Duchy, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</dt> + <dd>Wealth of its peasants, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</dd> + +<dt>—— <i>Gotha</i> Dukes, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, &c.</dt> + <dd>Duchesses, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</dd> + +<dt>—— <i>Barbi</i> Duke, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>Meynungen</i> Princess, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— Chevalier de, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>Eysenach</i> Dukes, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Saxony</i> ill provided with Ordinaries, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</dt> + <dd>Present State of its Court, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, to <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</dd> + <dd>Character of the Men, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</dd> + <dd>of the Women, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</dd> + <dd>of the Clergy, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Scarperia</i>, t. <a href="#Page_425">425</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Schindler</i>'s Lace Manufactory, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Schleisheim</i> Palace, 270</dt> + +<dt><i>Schluter</i> the Architect, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Schmiedel</i>, Baron de, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Schneitzenrieth</i>, t. <a href="#Page_377">377</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Schomberg</i>, Marshal, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Schonborn, Francis George</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>John-Phillip-Francis</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</dt> + <dd><i>Damian-Hugo</i> the Cardinal, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>.</dd> + +<dt>—— <i>Frederic-Charles</i>, Bp. of <i>Bamberg</i>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</dt> + <dd><i>Lotharius-Francis</i>, another of its Bishops, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Schoning</i>, General, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Schorror</i>, the Pope's Vicar at <i>Hanover</i>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Schulemburg</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Schulenbourg</i>, General, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Duel with Count <i>Fleming</i>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Schwabach</i>, t. <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Schwartzenborg</i>, Pr. <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Schwetzingen</i>, t. <a href="#Page_352">352</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Schwizinski, Nicholas</i>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Schwatz</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_379">379</a>.</dt> + +<dt><!--474.png--></dt> + +<dt><i>Schunck</i> and <i>Schutz</i>, Barons <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Sea</i>, the Ceremony of marrying it, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Seckendorf</i>, Baron and Count, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Seefelde-Terring, Maximilian</i>, Count <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Sehgutt</i>, Counts of, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Seibelsdorf</i>, General, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Seiffertitz, Adolphus</i> Baron <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Sickengen</i>, Baron <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Sienna</span> <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_429">429</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Sigismond</i>, Emperor, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Sigismond</i>, Archduke and Count of <i>Tirol</i>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Silenus</i>'s Legacy, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Sobieski, John</i> K. of <i>Poland</i>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Daughter, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Soissons</i>, Countess of, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Soliman</i>, the Sultan, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Solkcofski, Alexander-Joseph</i>, Count <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Sophia-Wilhelmina</i>, Princess of <i>East-Friesland</i>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>Christiana-Louisa</i>, Princess of <i>Bareith</i>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Spain</i>, Council of, at <i>Vienna</i>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Span</i>, Baron <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Speratus, Paul</i>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Spiegel</i>, Madame <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Spiga</i>, the Pope's Vicar at <i>Hanover</i>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Spire</span> <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_320">320</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Sporcke</i>, M. <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Spree</i>, River, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Staden</i>, Siege, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Stadtholder</i> at <i>Vienna</i>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Stanislaus</i>, K. <a href="#Page_318">318</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Daughter's March on foot with the Prince of <i>Baden</i>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.</dd> + <dd>Marriage to <i>Lewis</i> XV. <a href="#Page_309">309</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Stanislawski, N. N. de Sehgutt</i>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Staremberg, Maximilian</i>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Staremberg, Ernest-Rudiger</i>, Count <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Staremberg, Guido</i>, Marshal, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Staremberg, Gundacker</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Stargard</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Staupitz</i>, Abbot, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Stein</i>, Baron, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</dt> + <dd>Baroness, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Steinbock</i>, General, prov'd cruel, Incendiary, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Stein Wein</i>, a sort of Wine so called, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Steinbach</i>, the Architect, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Sternberg</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Stertzingen</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_392">392</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Stetin</i>, t. its Sequestration, by whom obtain'd, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Stetterheim</i>, M. <i>de</i>, Cup-bearer to the D. of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Strada, James de</i>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Strahlsund</i>, Siege, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Strasbourg</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>.</dt> + <dd>Noted for Libertines, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Streithorst</i>, Colonel, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Stringuetta</i>, the <i>Venetian</i> Courtezan, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Studenitz</i>, Baron <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Stutgard</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Sulkowski.</i> See <i>Solkcofski</i>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Sultman</i>, M. and Madame <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Sultzbach, Joseph-Charles</i>, Pr. and Princess of, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>Theodore</i>, Prince, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>John-Christian</i>, Prince, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— <i>Charles</i>, Prince, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Sympathy</i>, its Power, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">T.</dt> + +<dt><i>Tartary</i> Women, what they say to their Husbands when they come home without Booty, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</dt> + +<dt><!--475.png--></dt> + +<dt><i>Telemachus</i>, translated into <i>German</i> Verse, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Teschen, George</i>, Prince of, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</dt> + <dd>Princess of, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Thanhausen</i>, Count de, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Thaun</i>, Count and Countess, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Theodebert</i>, Count of <i>Provence</i>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Thirheim, Sigismond</i>, Count <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Thomasius</i>, the Civilian, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Thorn</i> of our Saviour's Crown, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Thou</i>, Messieurs, their Library, by whom purchased, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Thungen</i>, General, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Tilly</i>, Count, his Massacre of the <i>Swedes</i> at <i>Brandenburgh</i>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</dt> + <dd>Of the <i>Palatines</i> at <i>Heidelberg</i>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Tintoret</i>, the Painter, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Tirol</i>, Country, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>.</dt> + <dd>Manner of Salutation here, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>.</dd> + <dd>Dress of the People, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>.</dd> + <dd>Their Saints, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Titian</i>, the Painter, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Torring, Ignatius-Joseph</i>, Count <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Tour</i> of <i>Auvergne</i>, Princess, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Tour</i> and <i>Taxis, Alexander</i>, Pr. of, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>.</dt> + +<dt>—— —— —— <i>Mary-Augusta</i>, Princess of, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Tournay</i>, Siege, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Towers</i>, mistaken for <i>Capuchin</i> Friars, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Trent</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_393">393</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Truchsses, Zeil</i>, Count <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Tschernin</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Tuhlmeier</i>, Secretary, <i>Prussian</i>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Tun</i>, at <i>Heidelberg</i>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Turks</i>, where they have reason to laugh at the Christians, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Tuscany, John Gaston</i>, the Great Duke, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Saying when he declared Don <i>Carlos</i> his Successor, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Tutors</i>, or Governors, a mercenary sort, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</dt> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">V.</dt> + +<dt><i>Valerio</i>'s Tomb at <i>Venice</i>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Vatican</i> Library, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Vauban</i>, M. Engineer, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Venice</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, &c.</dt> + <dd>Its Doges, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>.</dd> + <dd>Patriarch, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>.</dd> + <dd>Churches, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, <i>&c.</i></dd> + <dd>Arsenal, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>, <i>&c.</i></dd> + <dd>Bucentaur, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>.</dd> + <dd>Forces, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>.</dd> + <dd>Lakes, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>.</dd> + <dd>Its political Interest, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>.</dd> + <dd>Trade, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>.</dd> + <dd>Nobles and Ambassadors, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>.</dd> + <dd>Ladies, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>.</dd> + <dd>Music, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>.</dd> + <dd>Palaces and Gentry, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Vernesobre</i>, Baron <i>de</i>, his Gains by <i>Missisippi</i>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Viaticum</i>, the Homage paid to it in Popish Countries, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Vicardel, Francis</i>, Marquis of <i>Fleuri</i> and <i>Beaufort</i>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Vieban</i>, M. <i>de</i>, <i>Prussian</i> Minister, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Vienna</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.</dt> + <dd>Sieges, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</dd> + <dd>Its Police, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</dd> + <dd>Its Governour how stil'd, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</dd> + <dd>Its Garrison, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</dd> + <dd>Fortifications, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</dd> + <dd>Women, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, &c.</dd> + +<dt><i>Vierec</i>, M. <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Villaco</i>, t. <a href="#Page_382">382</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Violante</i>, of <i>Bavaria</i>, Princess, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Violin</i>, the first in <i>Italy</i>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Virgilius</i>, St. <a href="#Page_365">365</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Virgin Mary</i>'s miraculous Image at <i>Inspruc</i>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>.</dt> + <dd>The Adoration paid to her in the Countries of <i>Trent</i> and <i>Tirol</i>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>.</dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Viterbo</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_430">430</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Ulm</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_276">276</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Unertel</i>, M. <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Voltaire</i>'s Life of <i>Charles</i> XII. King of <i>Sweden</i>, Reflection on it, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</dt> + +<dt><!--476.png--></dt> +<dt class="indexsubhdr">W.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wackerbarth, Augustus Christopher</i>, Marshal <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wakerbarth, Salmour-Gabaleon-Joseph</i>, Count <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Countess, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Wagenheim</i>, M. <i>de</i>, of <i>Hanover</i>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Wahtringen</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_377">377</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Walbourg de Truchsses</i>, Count <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Waldstein</i>, Count and Countess <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>. <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wales</i>, <span class="smcap">Frederic</span>, Prince of, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.</dt> + <dd><span class="smcap">Augusta</span>, Princess of, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Wallenstein</i>, Count and Countess of, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Walrave</i>, M. Engineer, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Walstein</i>, the great Soldier, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wartemberg</i>, Count and Countess, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</dt> + <dd>The King of <i>Prussia</i>'s Tears at his Funeral, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Administration, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Wartensteben</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wasserbourg</i>, t. <a href="#Page_364">364</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Water-works</i>, at <i>Herenhausen</i>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wederkopf</i>, M. <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Weiller</i>, a <i>Prussian</i> Colonel, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Weimar</i>, t. <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.</dt> + <dd>Its Dukes, 172 to <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Weissenberg</i> Battle, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Weissenbourg</span>, t. <a href="#Page_318">318</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wenceslaus</i> (St.) K. of <i>Bohemia</i>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wens</i> in Throats, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wensen</i>, M. Marshal of the <i>Prussian</i> Court, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Wermstorf</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Werth, John de</i>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wetzlar</i> Tribunal, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Whim</i>, a fine Seat so called near <i>Hanover</i>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>William</i> of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i>, Prince, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>William-Henry</i>, Duke of <i>Saxe-Eysenach</i>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Willigise</i>, ABp. of <i>Mentz</i>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wirtemberg, Lewis</i> Prince of, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</dt> + <dd><i>Charles-Alexander</i> Duke, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Duchess, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Brother <i>Frederic</i>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Wirtemberg, Eberhard-Lewis</i> D. <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Duchess, <i>ib.</i> <a href="#Page_280">280</a>.</dd> + <dd>His Son, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.</dd> + <dd>Daughter, <i>ib.</i></dd> + +<dt><i>Wirtemberg-Oels, Augusta-Louisa</i>, Princess of, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</dt> + <dd><i>Christian-Ulric</i>, Duke of, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Witgenstein</i>, Count, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Woad</i>, three sorts of it, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wohlin</i>, Baron <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wolckenstein</i>, Count <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wolfembuttle</i> Family and Court, 69 to <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</dt> + <dd>Its Inhabitants compared to the Hogs of <i>Westphalia</i>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</dd> + <dd>The Duchess Dowager, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</dd> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Wolfembuttle</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wolffenstein, Sophia-Christina</i>, Countess of, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Women</i>, of the <i>Levant</i> and <i>Hamburg</i>, their great Confinement, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Worms</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_338">338</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wratislaw, Francis-Charles</i>, Co. <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</dt> + <dd>His Countess, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</dd> + +<dt><i>Wreech, de</i>, Colonel, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wurben</i>, Countess <i>de</i>, Mistress to the D. of <i>Wirtemberg</i>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>.</dt> + <dd>Her Disgrace, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, &c.</dd> + +<dt><i>Wurm</i>, M. <i>de</i>, Master of the Horse to the D. of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wurmbrandt</i>, Count <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Wurtenberg, Christina-Charlotta de</i>, Margravine of <i>Brandenburg-Anspach</i>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Wurtzbourg</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</dt> + <dd>Power and Splendor of its Bishop, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</dd> + +<dt class="indexsubhdr">Z.</dt> + +<dt><i>Zech, Bernard</i>, Baron <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</dt> + +<dt><!--477.png--></dt> + +<dt><i>Zell</i>, Duke and Duchess, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</dt> + +<dt><span class="smcap">Zell</span>, <i>t.</i> <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Zensa</i>, Prince <i>Eugene's</i> Victory there, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Zinzendorf, Lewis</i>, Count <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</dt> + <dd>The Dignity hereditary in his Family, <i>ib.</i></dd> + +<dt><i>Zebel</i>, Baron <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</dt> + +<dt><i>Zechau</i>, Baron <i>de</i>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</dt></dl> + +<div class="center"><i>FINIS.</i></div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<h2><a name="ERRATA" id="ERRATA"></a>ERRATA.</h2> + +<p>In the first Col. of Letter M, in the Index, Line 6 from the Bottom, for +p. 113, read 114. Line 7, 9, and 11, for <i>Prussia</i> r. <i>Poland</i>. In the 3d. +Column of the same Letter, read lines 34, 35, 36, thus:</p> + +<p><i>Moschinski, Anthony</i>, Count and Countess, 117, 120, 142.</p> + +<p><i>Moses</i>, a Piece of his Rock, 396.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 327px;"> +<img src="images/i19.png" width="327" height="195" alt="Decoration." title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<h2><a name="FOOTNOTES" id="FOOTNOTES"></a>FOOTNOTES:</h2> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The Reader will please to observe, that this Preface was +written during the late Distractions in <i>Poland</i>, before the Malecontent +Lords had reconcil'd themselves to their Allegiance to their lawful +Sovereign.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> This Church being destroy'd by Lightning in 1730, is +magnificently rebuilt. The 21st of <i>August</i> 1734, the new Spire of it, +which had been 4 Years erecting, and was carry'd up to the Height of about +190 Feet, fell at 9 o'clock at Night upon the Roof of the Church, whereby +that and the neighbouring Houses suffer'd very great Damage. How it +happen'd, no body yet knows; some say it was caus'd by Thunder, others by +an Earthquake, and some will have it that it fell down of its own accord.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> This House is no longer the Governour's; for the King, who +has caused great Additions to be made to it, has given it to the Prince +Royal, and it goes by the Name of the <i>Prince Royal's Palace</i>. The +Governour lives at present in the Street <i>Royale</i>, the King having +purchas'd the fine House of <i>Catsch</i> there purposely for the Governour's +Residence.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> This Prince died at <i>Schwedt</i>, <i>Dec.</i> 19, 1711. He left two +Sons, one of whom was marry'd in 1734, to the Princess <i>Dorothea-Sophia</i>, +the King of <i>Prussia</i>'s fourth Daughter, then about fifteen Years of age. +So that his Majesty, who had six Daughters, married four of them within +the space of four Years, and has now but two more to dispose of.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Her Name is <i>Jean Charlotte</i>, and she is the youngest Sister +of Prince <i>Leopold</i> of <i>Anhalt Dessau</i>, being the Daughter of the Prince +<i>John-George</i> II. by <i>Henrietta Catherine</i>, Daughter of <i>Frederic-Henry</i> +Prince of <i>Orange</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Since the Original was publish'd, this Ward has been +lengthen'd two thirds. There is one Street so long, that in this respect +there are few that equal it: 'tis as strait as a Line; and terminates in +an Oval, surrounded with very fine Houses. A new Ward is also erected at +the End of that call'd the New Town; from whence it ranges behind +<i>Frederic-Stadt</i>. Here most of the chief Nobility are building Hotels or +Palaces, rather than Houses. In a word, if the Number of the Inhabitants +of <i>Berlin</i> was proportionable to that of the Houses, it would be the +finest, and the most flourishing Town in all <i>Germany</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> He married (in <i>June</i> 1733,) the Princess +<i>Elizabeth-Christina</i> of <i>Brunswic-Lunenburgh</i>, and <i>Bevern</i>, Daughter of +<i>Ferdinand-Albert</i> Duke of <i>Brunswic-Lunenburgh</i>, and <i>Bevern</i>, +Field-Marshal General of the Armies of the Emperor and Empire: and +Presumptive Heir to the Duke Regent of <i>Brunswic-Lunenburg Wolfembuttle</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> This was his Royal Highness, now Prince of <i>Wales</i>. All +<i>Europe</i>, in short, thought, as did the Poets of that Time; and every one +in general mark'd out the Princess for this Prince. It was then too the +Desire of both the Queens; and the Princess herself seem'd to have been +brought up in that Notion. But when 'twas least of all expected, certain +Reasons of State cancell'd all these Views; and the King of <i>Prussia</i> +thought fit to marry his eldest Daughter in 1731, to the Hereditary Prince +of <i>Brandenburg-Bareith</i>: as King <i>George</i> II. <i>of Great Britain</i>, in +1756, thought fit to marry his eldest Son to her Highness, <i>Augusta</i>, +youngest Sister of the present Duke of <i>Saxe-Gotha</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> The Marriage was actually celebrated between them, in <i>July</i> +1733.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> The fourth married in 1734, to the King's Cousin, the +Margrave of <i>Brandenburgh-Schwedt</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> This Prince died in 1731. His eldest Son, the Margrave +<i>Charles</i>, succeeded him in the Grand Mastership of the Order of St. +<i>John</i>; and had his Regiment of Foot in the Service of <i>Prussia</i>. Prince +<i>Frederic</i>, his Royal Highness's second Son, had his Regiment in the +Service of the States-General of the <i>United Provinces</i>; and the Count <i>de +Truchsses-Walbourgh</i>, a Major-General, had his Regiment of Horse. He was +sent to compliment <i>Lewis</i> XV. upon his Coronation; and afterwards on the +same Commission to the Emperor at <i>Prague</i>. His Wit and Politeness were +applauded at both those Courts.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> He died suddenly in <i>August</i> 1734, at <i>Malchau</i>, aged 57, +being born the 4th of <i>May</i> 1677, O. S. He was not married.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> The King thought fit some time ago, to confer this Regiment +of Horse upon his second Son, Prince <i>Augustus-William</i>, and to give the +Prince Royal a Regiment of Foot.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> M. <i>de Lopel</i> died the beginning of 1735, in his Government +of <i>Custrin</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> The first and the last have been dead some Years, and their +Places supply'd by Messieurs <i>Bork</i> and <i>Poddewitz</i>, who have a just Title +to the intire Possession of the King's Confidence.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Since the writing of this, he is dead, and succeeded in the +Management of Foreign Affairs by M. <i>de Borck</i>, Lieutenant-General of the +King's Forces, Knight of the Black Eagle and St. <i>John</i>, Governor of +<i>Stetin</i>, and Colonel of a Regiment of Foot. This Gentleman is descended +from a very good Family in <i>Pomerania</i>, and served with Distinction in the +Army in <i>Flanders</i>. Since the Peace of <i>Utrecht</i>, he has been twice +charged with the King's Affairs at the Emperor's Court, where he was +highly esteemed, especially by Prince <i>Eugene</i> of <i>Savoy</i>. Those Foreign +Ministers who have to do with him, and who knew M. <i>d'Ilgen</i>, observe a +great Contrariety in the Characters of the two Ministers. The one was a +Man of Intrigue, Craft, and Mystery, the other, of Candour, Sincerity, and +a noble Frankness. M. <i>de Tuhlmeier</i>, Nephew to the late M. <i>d'Ilgen</i>, who +is Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, was, as it were, born to the +Business; having been trusted from his Youth by his late Uncle. The +Foreign Ministers speak well of him: he is very assiduous in his Office, +and indeed suffers no Business to sleep in his hands. +</p> + +<p>The Person who has the Affairs Criminal in his Cognizance, is M. <i>de +Vieban</i>, Minister of State, and Auditor-General of the Army. He succeeded +M. <i>de Catsch</i>; is a Native of <i>Cologn</i>; and as he was at <i>Berlin</i> without +Relations or Friends, his Advancement is only to be ascribed to his own +Merit and Abilities.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> He fell into Disgrace, after this Account of him was +written, and died at his Commandery.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> M. <i>de Creutz</i> died the beginning of An. 1733, leaving only +one Daughter, who is married to M. <i>de Hacke</i>, a Gentleman of a good +Family, and his Majesty's Aid-de-Camp and Favourite. This Marriage was +solemnized with a great deal of Pomp, and honoured with the Presence of +their Majesties, the whole Royal Family, and the Duke of <i>Lorrain</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> This Resolution was taken by his Majesty in 1725, on account +of a Recoinage, which the <i>Hamburghers</i> thought necessary, partly in order +to hinder their Silver from being carried out of their City to <i>Denmark</i>. +This Dispute had considerable Consequences; so that the King of <i>Denmark</i> +not being able to bring the <i>Hamburghers</i> to his Terms, push'd Matters so +far as to fit out a couple of Frigats to cruise at the Mouth of the +<i>Elbe</i>, which seized all Merchant Ships bound for that City. But in +<i>March</i> 1736, the Affair was happily accommodated.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> It was set up, carried on, and directed by some of the +Foreign Ministers residing at <i>Hamburgh</i>, who had each his particular +Province; so that M. <i>d'A——</i> presided at the Rehearsals, M. <i>de W——</i> +regulated the Dances, and M. <i>S——</i> had the ordering of the Clothes, the +Head-dresses, the Paint and the Patches of the Actresses.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> This is what scarce any body has doubted of, but Pere +<i>Boubours</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> The <i>Hamburghers</i> have nothing to fear from the <i>Jews</i>, with +regard to their Republic, but they cannot so well trust the turbulent and +enterprizing Temper of the <i>Roman</i> Catholic Clergy, who aim at their +Churches. The popular Commotions which are but too frequent at <i>Hamburgh</i>, +would soon furnish those Gentlemen with an Opportunity to re-assert Claims +which are incompatible with the present Liberty of the City. But this +Pretext, how plausible soever in favour of the Papists, is not at all +conclusive against the <i>Calvinists</i> at <i>Hamburgh</i>, who surely might be as +safely tolerated as the <i>Jews</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> His Post of Plenipotentiary of the Circle of Lower <i>Saxony</i>, +was conferr'd in 1733 upon the Count <i>de Seckendorf</i>, one of the Emperor's +Lieutenant-Generals; but the Functions of the Embassy are perform'd by the +Baron <i>de Kurtzrok</i>, the Imperial President.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> In 1734, he was install'd Vice-Chancellor of the Empire, in +the room of the Count <i>de Schonborn</i>, Bishop of <i>Bamberg</i>, who retir'd.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> The common People cou'd never forgive him for his manner of +raising Taxes; by filling the King's Coffers with all the Silver of the +Kingdom, and substituting instead of it a Copper Money, which will +perpetuate his Memory; especially the Coins on which he caus'd the seven +Planets to be engrav'd; which are sought after, and hoarded up as +Monuments of his Administration.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Second Wife of King <i>Frederic</i> IV. who died in <i>October</i> +1730. Her being so much in favour with that Prince, was the cause of her +Disgrace after the Death of that Monarch; and she retir'd to the Isle of +<i>Fuhnen</i>, where she leads a very melancholy Life.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> She was called <i>Eleanor d'Emiers</i>, and was the Daughter of +<i>Alexander d'Olbreuse</i>, a Gentleman of <i>Poictou</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> The House of <i>Brunswic</i> has for its Head <i>Ernest</i> of <i>Zell</i>, +who by <i>Bernard</i> and <i>Albert</i> the Great, the Son of <i>Otho</i> the Infant, +descended from the Familys of <i>Este</i> and <i>Witikind</i>. <i>George-William</i> Duke +of <i>Zell</i>, was Grandson to <i>William</i>, the second Son of <i>Ernest</i>; from +whom came the two Branches of <i>Lunenbourg-Zell</i>, and <i>Lunenbourg-Hanover</i>; +both which were united in the single Family of <i>Hanover</i>, by the Death of +the Duke of <i>Zell</i>, who left no Issue besides a Daughter married to his +Cousin <i>George</i> I. King of <i>Great Britain</i>, as well as Elector of +<i>Hanover</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Monsieur <i>de Schulenbourgh</i> died the beginning of the Year +1733.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Pope <i>Clement</i> XII. on his Accession to the Pontificate, +appointed for his Successor <i>Schorror</i>, Bishop of <i>Helenopolis</i>, a Native +of <i>Bonn</i>, in the Electorate of <i>Cologne</i>; a Prelate as amiable as +venerable.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> He retir'd some Years since from Court, to his Estate at +<i>Schlitz</i>, in <i>Franconia</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> The Count <i>de Bothmar</i> died at <i>London</i> in the beginning of +<i>An.</i> 1732, in a very advanc'd Age, and much lamented by all that knew +him. The Baron <i>de Hattorf</i> succeeded him in the Ministry to the King as +Elector.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Since this was written, the continual Ailments and great Age +of M. <i>de Bulau</i>, have obliged the King to make an Alteration in the +Command of his Troops. M. <i>de Hardenberg</i>, a Knight of the <i>Teutonic</i> +Order, is Commander in Chief of the Horse, and M. <i>Melvil</i>, who is +descended of a noble Family in <i>Scotland</i>, has the Command of the Foot. +They are both Officers of Reputation, and signaliz'd their Valour during +the late Wars.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> These auxiliary Forces have been of late years disbanded.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> These Works were set up by the Direction of <span class="smcap">Wm. Benson</span>, Esq; +who went over to <i>Hanover</i> for that purpose in 1716, was soon after made +Surveyor-General of His Majesty's Works in <i>England</i>, and is now one of +the Auditors of the Imprest.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> He died in <i>March</i>, 1731, without Issue by either of his +three Wives; who were, 1. <i>Christina-Sophia</i> of <i>Brunswic</i>, 2. +<i>Sophia-Amelia</i> of <i>Holstein-Gottorp</i>, and 3. <i>Elizabeth-Sophia</i> of +<i>Holstein-Norbourg</i>, whom he left a Widow, after two Years Marriage. His +Brother <i>Lewis-Rudolph</i>, Duke of <i>Brunswic-Lunenbourg</i> and +<i>Blanckenbourg</i>, succeeded him. He was born in 1671, and in 1690 married +<i>Christiana-Louisa</i> of <i>Oetingen</i>, by whom he had three Daughters; the +eldest of whom was married to the Emperor <i>Charles</i> VI. the second to the +<i>Czarowitz</i>, Son of <i>Peter</i> the Great; and the third, to the Duke +<i>Ferdinand-Albert</i> of <i>Brunswic-Lunenbourg</i> and <i>Bevern</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> The Branch of <i>Brunswic-Bevern</i> is descended from <i>Henry de +Danneberg</i>, eldest Son of Duke <i>Ernest</i>, Head of the <i>Brunswic</i> Family. +<i>Henry</i> left two Sons; the youngest of whom, <i>Augustus</i> of <i>Wolfembuttle</i>, +had three Sons who form'd three Branches, <i>Brunswic</i>, <i>Wolfembuttle</i>, and +<i>Bevern</i>. The two first were united in <i>Anthony-Ulric</i>. <i>Ferdinand-Albert</i> +I. Chief of the Line of <i>Bevern</i>, left five Sons and a Daughter. Three of +his Sons are dead; of whom the Eldest lost his life at the Battle of +<i>Schellenburg</i>, in 1704; the Third died in 1706, when he was Provost of +St. <i>Blaise</i> of <i>Brunswic</i>; as did the Fifth also, in 1706, at the Battle +of <i>Turin</i>. There remain two Sons, <i>viz.</i> Duke <i>Ferdinand-Albert</i> II. and +Duke <i>Ernest-Ferdinand</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> See the foregoing Note.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> This Prince was Velt-Marshal-General of the Emperor's +Forces, and in that Quality he commanded the Emperor's Army, in the War +which <i>France</i> declared against his Imperial Majesty in 1733. He acquired +great Reputation at the Head of a very weak Army, by hindering the +<i>French</i> from doing any thing more than taking Fort <i>Kehl</i> in the first +Campaign, when the Emperor was surpriz'd and unprovided. At the Opening of +the Campaign in 1734, this Prince oppos'd the Designs of the Marshal +<i>Berwick</i>, by Lines which he cast up at <i>Muhlberg</i>, and which were of good +service to Prince <i>Eugene</i> in facilitating his Retreat towards <i>Heilbron</i>, +when he came to take upon him the Command of the Imperial Army. That great +General own'd he never saw any thing look better, or that was stronger and +better disposed than those Lines, which the Duke of <i>Bevern</i> had guarded +till then, with an Army of not 25000 Men. His most Serene Highness was in +1734, declared by the Dyet of the Empire, Velt-Marshal-General of the +Armies of the Empire.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> He had fourteen Children, <i>viz.</i> seven Sons and seven +Daughters, the last of whom was born in 1732.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> He married <i>Philippina-Charlotte</i>, the King of <i>Prussia</i>'s +third Daughter, in 1733.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> This Princess was married to the Prince Royal of <i>Prussia</i>, +in 1733.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> The Baron having quitted the Service of <i>Wolfembuttle</i>, is +actually a Minister of State at <i>Hanover</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> The Count <i>de Dehn</i>, after being disgrac'd, went to +<i>Denmark</i>, of which he already wore the Order of <i>Dannebrock</i>, and +obtained the Title of one of the King's Counsellors of State. From that +time he stay'd at his Estate in the Country of <i>Wolfembuttle</i>, till the +Year 1734, that the King of <i>Denmark</i> appointed him to go to <i>Petersburg</i>, +to fill up the Post of his Envoy Extraordinary vacant by the Death of M. +<i>Westphal</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> Since the Duke succeeded his Father, M. <i>de Munchausen</i> is +become first Minister of State, and manages all the Branches of that +Office with that Care and Justice which procure him universal Love and +Esteem.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> He is at present Marshal of the Court; M. <i>de Miltitz</i> is +Great Cup-Bearer, and M. <i>de Rossing</i> Great Huntsman.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> The reason is, perhaps, because out of <i>their Attachment to +old Customs</i>, they had the Curiosity to go a little higher back than their +Fathers.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> The Duke of <i>Blanckenbourg</i> being become Duke of +<i>Wolfembuttle</i>, by the Death of his Brother, has scarce made any +Alteration in his Court. The Persons who were heretofore his Creatures and +Favourites continue in the same Employments. The Dutchess Dowager remains +at <i>Brunswic</i>, in the fine House which the late Duke caus'd to be built; +and of which the said Prince made a Present to her, with all its rich +Furniture. This Princess is immensely rich, and lives with very great +Dignity. Her Steward is M. <i>de Wederkopf</i>, who was formerly Privy +Counsellor to the King of <i>Denmark</i>, and his Envoy Extraordinary at the +Court of <i>France</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> The Treasury of St. <i>Dennis</i>, near <i>Paris</i>, boasts also of +this Lanthorn; so that <i>Judas</i> must have had at least two Lanthorns.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> He died in 1731, as is before observed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Her Name is <i>Augusta-Louisa</i>, she was born the 11th of +<i>January</i> 1698, and is the Daughter of <i>Christian-Ulric</i>, Duke of +<i>Wirtemberg-Oels</i> and <i>Bernstadt</i>, by his 3d Wife, <i>Sophia Wilhelmina</i>, of +<i>East-Friesland</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> This is <i>Augustus-Lewis</i>, who in 1728, succeeded his Brother +<i>Leopold</i>. His second Wife <i>Emilia</i> of <i>Promnitz</i>, dying in 1732, he +marry'd his Sister <i>Ann-Frederica</i> of <i>Promnitz</i>; which Match, at that +time, made a very great Noise. The Curious are referr'd to a Paper call'd +<i>le Glaneur</i>, or the Gleaner, published in 1733, for what was said upon +it. This Prince has had Children, by his three Wives; and two Sons in +particular by his second.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> 'Tis the 24th part of a Dollar, or about 2<i>d.</i>-<sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>2</sub> +<i>Sterling</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> He had been in the King's Service ever since he was only +Prince of <i>Saxony</i>, and always took care to keep in Favour; he being, of +all the Favourites, the Person that had the greatest Share of the Prince's +Confidence: Nevertheless, he ow'd his Advancement, and his illustrious +Post of Minister of the Cabinet, to the Interest of the Countess <i>de +Cosel</i>, who caus'd the Chancellor <i>Beichling</i>, who had always been the +Favourite Minister, to be turn'd out.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> This part of the Prophecy did not take place, for the King +of <i>Poland</i> died in his Bed at <i>Warsaw</i> the 1st of <i>Feb.</i> 1733, O. S. This +Monarch set out in the Month of <i>January</i>, from <i>Dresden</i>, to hold the +Dyet of <i>Poland</i>, which was open'd at <i>Warsaw</i>, and every thing seem'd +like to pass to the Satisfaction of the King and Kingdom, when these fine +Hopes were demolished by the Death of this Prince, who in his last +Sickness, preserved the Character of the Hero, betraying neither Fear nor +Folly; all his Wish being that he might live to embrace his Son. +</p> + +<p>The King found himself in a declining State, several Years. During the +last Dyet at <i>Grodno</i>, a Mortification seiz'd his Foot; for which reason, +M. <i>de Petit</i>, a Surgeon of <i>Paris</i>, whom the King sent for on purpose, +cut off two Toes, and set his Majesty upon his Legs again, but told him +withall, he must observe such a Regimen as he prescribed to him, or else +it would break out again. But the King finding himself better, neglected +<i>Petit</i>'s Advice, and died of the Mortification, as the Surgeon had +foretold.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> <i>Eberhardina</i> of <i>Brandenbourg-Bareith</i> Queen of <i>Poland</i>, +and Electoress of <i>Saxony</i>: she died at her Seat at <i>Pretch</i> near +<i>Wittenberg</i>, some Years before the King.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> This Prince succeeding his Father in the Electorate, and +afterwards in the Throne of <i>Poland</i>, rais'd M. <i>Solckofski</i> to the +Dignity of a Count, and appointed him his Master of the Horse, and one of +his Cabinet Ministers.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> The Electoral Prince (now Elector of <i>Saxony</i> and King of +<i>Poland</i>) has eight Children, <i>viz.</i> three Princes and five Princesses; so +that the Electoral Branch is not like to be extinct very soon.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> The Velt-Marshal the Count de <i>Wackerbarth</i> being dead, the +Elector nam'd this Prince Generalissimo of the Troops of the Electorate in +1734.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> This Prince has for some time past resided at +<i>Konigsgratz</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> Who died, <i>August</i> 13, 1734, a Minister of the Cabinet, +Velt-Marshal and Governour of <i>Dresden</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> She died at <i>Dresden</i> soon after this was written.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Count <i>Moschinski</i>, the Husband of this Lady, was Great +Treasurer of the Court in <i>Poland</i>, and is Great Faulconer in <i>Saxony</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Madame <i>de Cosel</i> may thank no body but herself for her +Disgrace; for when she was in Royal Keeping, she had the assurance to +threaten the King more than once that if ever he abandon'd her she wou'd +pistol him. The King, who knew her to be a Woman that always kept her +word, thought it his best way to be beforehand with her, tho' it was not +till some time after that he caus'd her to be arrested. Madame <i>de Cosel</i>, +who was retir'd to <i>Berlin</i>, did not dissemble her Chagrin; and 'tis said +she declar'd in publick that the King should pay dear for being so false +to her: Threats which his Majesty wou'd perhaps have despis'd, if Madame +<i>de Cosel</i> had not refused to give him back a Promise which he had made to +her of marrying her in case the Queen shou'd die. Mean time the King +desir'd of the King of <i>Prussia</i> to give orders for arresting her, which +was done accordingly; and Madame <i>de Cosel</i> was carried under a Guard to +<i>Saxony</i>, where she remain'd a Prisoner till the death of the King. But we +have been told by the publick News-Papers that she obtain'd her Liberty in +1734.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> This Marriage was actually consummated at <i>Dresden</i>. But +since the King's death, the Prince of <i>Holstein</i> has abandon'd his Wife, +whom he only married with a view of obtaining some considerable Employment +from the King. The present Elector has eas'd her of most of that Wealth +which the late King had heap'd on her.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> He died in <i>August</i>, 1734; and was succeeded in his +Employments by the Prince of <i>Saxe-Weissenfels</i>, and the Count of +<i>Friesland</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> The Count <i>de Wackerbarth Salmour</i> distinguish'd himself, in +the year 1733, when the new Elector sent him Commissary Plenipotentiary to +<i>Poland</i>; where he manag'd the Interests of his Master so well, that he +was chose King.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> He was created a Count of the Empire (not by the King of +<i>Poland</i>, but) by the Emperor. As he is a Lover of the Belles Lettres, in +the late War he wrote and publish'd several solid Pieces, which were well +penn'd.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> He was disgrac'd in 1731, upon which he retir'd to his +Estate. The Catastrophe of this Gentleman is so tragical an Incident, that +it will be proper to give a short but true History of it, as it is related +in the following Circular Letter, wrote by the King of <i>Poland</i>'s Order, +to his Ministers abroad, for the Information of all the Foreign Courts. +The Letter was dated at <i>Warsaw</i>, the 12th of <i>May</i>, O. S. 1736, as +follows.</p> + +<div> +<span class="smcap">Sir,</span> +</div> + +<p>'The tragical Death of the Count <i>de Hoym</i> having been variously reported +both in printed Papers and written Letters, and with Circumstances not +strictly true; the King has order'd me to give you an exact Information of +this Affair. +</p> + +<p>'You will remember what the late King, of glorious Memory, signified to +his Ministers abroad, concerning the Reasons and Circumstances that +preceded, accompanied, and followed the Disgrace of the Count <i>de Hoym</i>. +</p> + +<p>'This Count having been a second time arrested for other Crimes, after the +Death of the late King, was committed in 1733, to <i>Sonnenstein</i>, from +whence the present King was so merciful as to release him some Weeks +after; contenting himself to bind him again by Oaths stronger than the +former; whereby the Count obliged himself to continue quiet at his Estate, +without concerning himself with any but his own private Affairs. +</p> + +<p>'Yet towards the close of the Year 1734, and at the time when the King was +in <i>Poland</i>, the Count, notwithstanding his Engagements, took the +Opportunity of his Majesty's Absence, to set on foot other Intrigues, in +defiance of his Oaths and his Promises; whereof the King being timely +inform'd, order'd him to be arrested and committed Prisoner to +<i>Konigstein</i>; which was the reason of his attempting his Life by a Pistol, +whereof I acquainted you by my Circular Letter of the 15th of <i>January</i>, +1735. +</p> + +<p>'An Information was afterwards preparing for the Trial of him and his +Accomplices; but not many days after the first Examination, the said Count +being stung by the Remorse of his Conscience, and vexed to see all his +Pranks laid open, chose to shorten the Course of Justice by putting an end +to his own Life, notwithstanding the undeniable Proofs he had before +experienc'd of his Majesty's Clemency. For this purpose he first pretended +to be sick, and having order'd his Domestics not to disturb him, he hang'd +himself the 21st of <i>April</i> last, at Night, with a Handkerchief ty'd to a +Hook that supported his Looking-glass. The Letter he wrote to his +Domestics with a Pencil, and which was found upon the Floor, is an +indisputable Mark of the deliberate Purpose and cold Blood with which he +executed this Design. Moreover, in searching his Pockets a Razor was found +on him, with a Penknife, Scissars, and the like Instruments. +</p> + +<p>The Family of the Deceas'd having petition'd the King not to proceed +against the Corpse with the Severity of the Law, his Majesty has been so +good as to order the Body of the Self-murderer to be privately interr'd, +just without the Church-Yard of the Garrison at the Fort of <i>Konigstein</i>.' +</p> + +<div class="right"> +<i>I am</i>, &c. +</div> + +<p>The Night before the Count dispatch'd himself, he left a Note upon his +Table for his two Servants, as follows: +</p> + +<p>'Be prudent, make no Noise or Alarm, untie me immediately, put me to Bed, +and then shut the Door after you, by bolting it when you are out, which +you may do by the help of this Pack-thread; and by this means no body will +know you have been in my Chamber. The World will doubtless believe I died +of an Apoplexy; if you perform my Orders discreetly and faithfully, my +Family will pay you 1000 Ducats, on sight of this Note.'</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> In <i>October</i> 1736, he return'd to <i>Dresden</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> The Duke of <i>Mersebourg</i> died in 1731, and was succeeded by +his Uncle, the Duke <i>de Sprinberg</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> This Prince died in 1732.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> The chief Trade of this Town is in <i>Woad</i>, of which they +have three sorts. The first they sow about <i>Christmas</i>, the next in the +<i>Spring</i>, <i>Summer</i>, and <i>Harvest</i>, of which they have three Crops, and the +third grows wild. This Herb is such a sovereign Balsamic, that it cures +Wounds almost with a touch, if taken in time. It resembles Plantain, but +has a longer Leaf. The Roots fatten and improve barren Ground exceedingly, +and being brought over to <i>England</i>, with <i>Clover</i>, <i>Cinque-Foil</i>, &c. +grows with good Success in <i>Northamptonshire</i>, and other Places. In the +Duke's Palace there is a Chamber of valuable Rarities, and a noble +Library, of which the late Duke caus'd a Catalogue to be publish'd of the +MSS. that the Learned might know where to have recourse to them. The +Person he imployed to form it, was Dr. <i>Cyprianus</i> Ecclesiastical +Counsellor and Assessor in the Consistory of <i>Gotha</i>. They are for the +most part the MSS. of Ecclesiastical Authors, Ancient and Modern, +especially the latter. There is a great Number of Papers and Letters in +the <i>Latin</i> and <i>German</i> Languages, concerning <i>Luther</i>'s Reformation, and +several MSS. of the vulgar Translation of the Bible. There is a correcter +Copy than that at <i>Leipsic</i>, of the Works of <i>Lactantius</i>; another of St. +<i>Austin</i>'s Treatise of the <i>City of God</i>, which belonged to <i>Willigise</i> +Archbishop of <i>Mentz</i>, about the year 1000; another of the ancient +Capitularies of the Kings of <i>France</i>, with the Salic Laws, and the Laws +of the <i>Lombards</i>, <i>Almains</i>, &c. There are thirty one MS. Volumes +containing the Abridgments of the Lives of the Emperors of the <i>West</i>, and +of the <i>East</i>, their Pictures and Medals, and those of their Families, the +whole collected in 1550, by <i>James de Strada</i> of <i>Mantua</i>. The Medals are +very well design'd, and <i>Occo</i> the famous Antiquary affirms in a Letter +quoted by M. <i>Patin</i>, that every Figure on them cost a Crown the +engraving. There is a particular MS. which contains a Collection of Tracts +by certain <i>Greek</i> Chymists concerning the desirable <i>Art of making Gold</i>. +For the rest the Curious are referred to the Catalogue it self.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> This Prince, who was <i>Frederic</i> II. died in 1732, <i>March</i> +12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> He had ten Sons and six Daughters by her. The Hereditary +Prince who succeeds him is <i>Frederic</i> III. born <i>April</i> 4, 1699. He has a +Brother named <i>William</i> born <i>March</i> 12, 1701, and some time an Officer in +the <i>Dutch</i> Service.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> She was born <i>August</i> 10, 1710.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> Since these Letters were written the Face of the Court of +<i>Gotha</i> is very much altered. The Duke therein mentioned is dead. The +Hereditary Prince <i>Frederic</i> has succeeded him, and his Mother the Duchess +Dowager retired to <i>Altenbourg</i>, with the Princesses her Daughters, who +are <i>Frederica</i> born <i>July</i> 6, 1715, O. S. and <i>Augusta</i> born <i>Nov.</i> 18, +1719, and married <i>April</i> 27, 1736, to his Royal Highness <i>Frederic</i> +Prince of <i>Wales</i>. The Duke's Brothers, who are <i>William</i>, +<i>John-Augustus</i>, <i>Christian-William</i>, <i>Lewis-Ernest</i>, <i>Maurice</i> and +<i>John-Adolphus</i>, are gone into the Service of the Emperor, the King of +<i>Poland</i>, and the Prince of <i>Hesse-Cassel</i>. As to the Government, the Duke +treads in the very Steps of his late Father. M. <i>Backover</i> is his +Chancellor, and the First Man in his Council. M. <i>de Hering</i>, formerly in +the service of the Duke of <i>Saxe-Weimar</i>, is Vice-Chancellor. The Count +<i>de Ronaw</i> is now Envoy at the Dyet of <i>Ratisbon</i>, M. <i>de Damnitz</i>, +heretofore in the Service of the Prince <i>de Rudelstad</i>, is Grand Marshal; +and seems to have a Share in the new Duke's Confidence. This Gentleman is +also a Major-General, and the Camp seems to be a fitter Element for him +than the Court.—The Office of Master of the Horse is not yet fill'd up. +M. <i>de Wurm</i>, a Person of Quality and Merit, was in possession of that +Office in the late Duke's time, but he lately resigned it of his own +accord. M. <i>de Stotterheim</i>, is to be appointed Great Cup-Bearer, who is +as yet, I think, in the Service of some Foreign Prince.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> <i>John William</i> Duke of <i>Saxe-Eysenach</i>, died at sixty-one +Years of Age, soon after having married to his fourth Wife <i>Mary Christina +Felicite</i> Countess of <i>Linange</i>, the Widow of <i>Christian</i> Margrave of +<i>Baden-Dourlach</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> <i>Ann Sophia Charlotte</i> of <i>Prussia</i> Daughter of the late +Margrave <i>Albert</i>, and Wife to <i>William Henry</i> the present Duke of +<i>Saxe-Eysenach</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> His Successor was <i>Frederic Charles</i> Count <i>de Schonborn</i> +Bishop of <i>Bamberg</i> and Vice-Chancellor of the Empire, who was before his +Competitor. In 1734, he resigned the Post of Vice-Chancellor, and retired +to his Bishoprick.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> <i>Christina-Charlotta de Wurtenberg</i>, Margravine Dowager of +<i>Brandenbourg-Anspach</i>, who was Regent for her Son, died at <i>Anspach</i> +1730, soon after she had resign'd the Regency to this young Margrave, and +match'd him to <i>Frederica-Louisa</i>, second Daughter of the King of +<i>Prussia</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> This was <i>Benjamin Neukirch</i>. He put <i>Telemachus</i> into +Verse, and was the Author of a great many other Works, which shew that the +<i>German</i> Language is capable of conveying as fine Sentiments as those +which are more us'd by Authors. He died lately at <i>Anspach</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> This Princess was the Dowager of the Duke of <i>Courland</i>, +when she marry'd the Margrave <i>Christian</i> who was very old. After his +Death she marry'd the Duke of <i>Saxe-Meinungen</i> whom she has surviv'd. She +resides at <i>Coburg</i> in <i>Franconia</i>. She never had but one Son, and that +was he who marry'd the present <i>Czarina</i>, but died soon after his +Marriage.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> The Hereditary Prince who is the eldest, marry'd the +Princess Royal of <i>Prussia</i> in 1731.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> The eldest of the Princesses, <i>Sophia-Christiana-Louisa</i>, +was marry'd in 1731 to the Prince <i>Alexander de la Tour</i> and <i>Taxis</i>. She +lately embrac'd the <i>Romish</i> Religion.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> The Margrave and the Prince are now return'd to <i>Bareith</i>, +where they live with all the Splendor of Sovereignty.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> She is the present Queen.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> He had the Misfortune to be killed as he was hunting in +<i>Bohemia</i>, by the Emperor himself in 1732.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> She is now Margravine of <i>Baden-Baden</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> His fickle State of Health oblig'd him to quit this +Employment, in which he was succeeded by the Count <i>de Collobradt</i>, who in +1734 was made Vice-Chancellor.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> He is return'd to <i>Vienna</i> since 1732.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> This Minister was Great Chancellor of <i>Bohemia</i> and a Knight +of the <i>Golden Fleece</i>. Count <i>Joseph</i> was nominated Ambassador to <i>Great +Britain</i> in 1736, in the room of his Brother <i>Philip</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> This Word in <i>French</i> signifies a <i>Scab</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> The Electoresses of <i>Bavaria</i> and <i>Saxony</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> I conform to the Opinion of almost all the Historians, who +do not place <i>Frederic</i> the Fair in the List of the Emperors.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> The Empress Regent and the Empress Dowager.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> The King of <i>Great Britain</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> The Queen of <i>Prussia</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> The present Duke Regent of +<i>Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Wolfembuttle</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> <i>Feb.</i> 1, 1736, she was marry'd to the Duke of <i>Lorrain</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> There are but seven Archduchesses since 1730; the Emperor's +third Daughter being dead.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> This great General who was born the 8th of <i>October</i> 1663, +O. S. died on the 10th of <i>April</i> 1736, O. S. so suddenly, that when his +Gentleman went that Morning, as usual, into his Chamber to awake him, he +was found dead in his Bed. He had been the day before very gay with +Company whom he entertain'd at Dinner, and made not the least Complaint of +any Ailment, tho' he had for some time before been so indispos'd that he +did not venture abroad. 'Tis supposed that he was choak'd by an immoderate +Defluxion of Rheum with which he was now and then troubled. His sudden +Death cast the City and Court of <i>Vienna</i> into such a Consternation as did +prodigious Honour to his immortal Memory. On the 15th, after having lain +three days in State, he was interr'd in the Tomb of his Nephew <i>Emanuel</i> +Prince of <i>Savoy</i> (which the Princess of <i>Savoy</i> Countess of <i>Soissons</i> +caus'd to be erected in the Metropolitan Church of St. <i>Stephen</i>) with all +the Military Honours, and all the Magnificence due to his illustrious +Birth, and to these important Services which he perform'd to the August +House of <i>Austria</i> during the Reigns of three successive Emperors. A Will +was found among his Papers, whereby he declar'd the late Prince <i>Eugene</i> +of <i>Savoy</i> his Nephew who died the year before at <i>Manheim</i> his universal +Heir. But after that time a Codicil was made, tho' never sign'd by Prince +<i>Eugene</i>, declaring for his Heir his Niece <i>Louisa de Seissons</i> of +<i>Carignan</i> (who was born <i>December</i> 16, 1686.) then at a <i>Nunnery</i> in +<i>France</i>. The Prince left behind him a numerous and curious library of +Books, many of which he bought when at <i>London</i> of <i>Christopher Bateman</i> +in <i>Pater-noster Row</i>, besides a fine Cabinet of Medals and other +Curiosities. The Emperor has bought his Library of his Niece for 20000 +Florins. +</p> + +<p>Since the Prince's Death the Count <i>de Konigseg</i>, Vice-President of the +Council of War, has the chief Direction of Military Affairs at this Court, +and signs all Dispatches and Commissions which that Prince sign'd as first +President of the said Council, for thirty-three years. His Regiment of +Dragoons is given to Prince <i>Charles</i> of <i>Lorrain</i>, but the Honours he +held as General in Chief of the Emperor's Forces, and his Imperial +Majesty's Vicar-General in <i>Italy</i>, are like to continue vacant by reason +of the Peace.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> He is now Bishop of <i>Breslaw</i>, a Dignity which gives him a +distinguish'd Rank in this Duchy.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> The Count <i>de Metsch</i>, Vice-President of the Aulic Council +of the Empire, succeeded him in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor; and the +Count <i>Aloysius-Thomas Raimond</i> of <i>Harrach Rohram</i>, heretofore Viceroy of +<i>Naples</i>, hereditary Master of the Horse of Upper and Lower <i>Austria</i>, +Marshal of the States of the Country, Knight of the Golden Fleece, is +appointed Counsellor of the Conferences in the room of the Count <i>de +Schonborn</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> The Count <i>de Konigseck-Erps</i>. He actually went to <i>Spain</i>, +with a design to relieve his Uncle; but as the Face of Affairs is alter'd +at this Court, they are both return'd. The Count <i>de Konigseck-Erps</i> is at +<i>Brussels</i> Counsellor of State of <i>Brabant</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> The Count <i>de Konigseck</i> is return'd home from his Embassy +to <i>Spain</i>. He actually officiates as Vice-President of the Aulic Council +of War, and as Privy-Counsellor of the Conferences. He is +Lieutenant-General of the Emperor's Armies, Colonel of a Regiment of Foot; +and is lately created a Knight of the Golden Fleece. The Count <i>de Mercy</i> +being kill'd at the Battle of <i>Parma</i>, the 29th of <i>June</i>, 1734, the +Emperor sent the Count <i>de Konigseck</i> to <i>Italy</i>, and gave him the Command +of his Army, which was in a very shatter'd Condition, and which the Count +<i>de Konigseck</i> set to rights again, in such a manner as to command Respect +even from his Enemies.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> His Name and Title is <i>Joseph de Silva y Meneses</i>, Marquess +<i>de Villasor</i>, Count <i>de Monte-Santo</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> They are barely <i>Opinions</i>, and do not pass into Decrees +till they are approved by the Emperor.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> When he return'd to <i>Vienna</i>, after the <i>French</i> and +<i>Savoyards</i> had taken <i>Milan</i> in 1733, several Articles of Complaint were +exhibited against him; but he made so full a Defence against the +Impeachment, that the Emperor has the same Confidence in him as before.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> He was Uncle to the Cardinal <i>Collonitz</i> ABp. of <i>Vienna</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> In the Beginning of the Year 1730, this Apartment was burnt +down by a Fire which broke out in the Night-time; so that the Elector and +Electress had like to have been burnt in their Beds, and scarce any of the +fine Furniture was sav'd.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> The Order consists at present of a Grand Master who is the +Elector, and two Grand Priors, who are the Electoral Prince and Duke +<i>Ferdinand</i>, six Grand Crosses, nine Commanders, and several Knights.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> The second is dead.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> The present Grand Marshal is the Count <i>Gaudentz de +Rechberg</i>, a Grand Croix of the Order of St. <i>George</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> The Baron <i>de Freysing</i> is at present Great Huntsman.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> He died <i>An.</i> 1733, and leaving no Children, his Son and +Grandson dying before him, was succeeded by <i>Charles-Alexander</i>, the +eldest of his Cousin-Germans, the Son of Duke <i>Frederic-Charles</i>, who had +been his Guardian till the Year 1693. The Duke <i>Eberhard-Lewis</i> was 57 +Years of Age.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> The Duke was reconcil'd to her two Years before she died, +and tho' she was no less than fifty Years of Age, it was reported for a +good while that she was with Child.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> This was the Countess <i>de Gravenitz</i>. Since the Duke's +Death the Duke Regent has commenc'd a Prosecution against her, and she +traverses from one Court to another for that Protection which every one +denies her.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> He died at <i>Ludwigsbourg</i> the 23d of <i>Nov.</i> 1731.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_120_120" id="Footnote_120_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> He was Velt-Marshal of the Emperor's Forces, and Governor +of <i>Servia</i> and <i>Belgrade</i>. He is one of the famous Generals of our Age, +on whom Prince <i>Eugene</i> set a great Value. When he came to the Succession +he obtain'd of the Diet of the Empire the Post of Velt-Marshal-General +jointly with the Duke of <i>Brunswic-Bevern</i> and the Prince of <i>Anhalt</i>. He +married <i>Mary-Augusta</i> of <i>Tour Taxis</i>, by whom he has Children. He has +two Brothers in the Emperor's Service, <i>viz.</i> Prince <i>Frederic</i>, and +Prince <i>Lewis</i>, who distinguish'd themselves in the last War upon the +<i>Rhine</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_121_121" id="Footnote_121_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> M. <i>de Pollnitz</i> left the Court in 1732, and is since +retir'd to his lands in <i>Saxony</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122_122" id="Footnote_122_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> This Prince died the Beginning of the Year 1732, and left +one Son.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_123_123" id="Footnote_123_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> He his since marry'd a Princess of <i>Brandenburg-Bareith</i>, +who has embrac'd the Catholic Religion.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_124_124" id="Footnote_124_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> He was advanc'd to the Office of Secretary at War in the +room of M. <i>le Blanc</i>, and was succeeded as Intendant of <i>Alsace</i> by M. +<i>de Harlay</i>, formerly Intendant of <i>Metz</i>; and when the latter was made +Intendant of <i>Paris</i> he was succeeded by M. <i>de Brou</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_125_125" id="Footnote_125_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> The Wife of <i>Lewis</i> the Dauphin who was <i>Lewis</i> XIVth's +only Son.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_126_126" id="Footnote_126_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> The Duchess of <i>Orleans</i> who is of the <i>Baden</i> Family, and +the Duchess of <i>Bourbon</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127_127" id="Footnote_127_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> The famous Cardinal <i>William Egon de Furstemberg</i> Bishop of +<i>Strasbourg</i> died the 10th of <i>April</i> 1704, and was immediately succeeded +by the Abbot <i>de Rohan</i>, who was chose Co-adjutor <i>Jan.</i> 31, 1701.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_128_128" id="Footnote_128_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> <i>Strasbourg</i> was an Episcopal See before the Year 376, for +one <i>Arnaud</i> Bishop of <i>Strasbourg</i> was then present at the Council of +<i>Cologne</i>. The Chapter is composed of 24 Members, <i>viz.</i> 12 Capitulars, +and 12 Domicilairs, who must be all Princes or Counts. From 1592 the +Canons were <i>Lutherans</i>, and Catholics till 1681, when <i>Lewis</i> XIV. having +taken <i>Strasbourg</i>, established a Bishop there whose See was at +<i>Molsheim</i>, and caused the Cathedral to be restored to the Catholic +Canons; and notwithstanding the contrary Dispositions of the Treaty of +<i>Westphalia</i>, in 1687, he turn'd the <i>Lutheran</i> Canons out of +<i>Brudersdorff</i>, and the Prebends which they retain'd in the Chapter: +Nevertheless the <i>Lutheran</i> Religion is tolerated in this City.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_129_129" id="Footnote_129_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> 'Tis already far advanc'd.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_130_130" id="Footnote_130_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> He was admitted Kt. of the <i>Golden Fleece</i> at the last +Promotion.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_131_131" id="Footnote_131_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> This Fortress is now finish'd, and the Elector, who +continues to keep his Court here, has a strong Garison in it.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_132_132" id="Footnote_132_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> He actually lodges there now.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_133_133" id="Footnote_133_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> This Prince died at <i>Breslau</i> in <i>April</i> 1732.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_134_134" id="Footnote_134_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> His Name was <i>Theodore</i>. He was born in 1659, and died in +1732.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_135_135" id="Footnote_135_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> The late Queen of <i>Sardinia</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_136_136" id="Footnote_136_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> The Prince <i>John-Christian</i> became Prince Regent of +<i>Sultzbach</i> after his Father's Death, but did not long survive him, for he +died suddenly <i>July</i> 20, 1733; so that Prince <i>Charles</i> his Son, born +<i>December</i> 10, 1724, is now Prince <i>Palatine</i> of <i>Sultzbach</i>, Marquiss of +<i>Bergopzoom</i>, and presumptive Heir to the Elector. He is a very forward +hopeful Youth. The Elector has sent for him from <i>Brussels</i> to <i>Manheim</i>, +notwithstanding the Intreaty of the Duchess <i>d'Aremberg</i>, his +Great-Grandmother by the Mother's side, (who had the care of his +Education,) that he might be permitted to stay with her. This young +Prince's Grandmother is the Princess Dowager <i>d'Auvergne</i>, Sister to the +Duke <i>d'Aremberg</i>, one of the toasted Beauties of her Time. She retir'd to +a Nunnery, is a Lady of good Learning, and now one of the Heads of the +<i>Jansenist</i> Party of <i>Holland</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_137_137" id="Footnote_137_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> He died soon after this was written, and his Place is not +yet fill'd up.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_138_138" id="Footnote_138_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> I suppose M. <i>de Globe</i> is dead; at least he is no longer +Grand Marshal, that Post being occupied by the Baron <i>de Beveren</i>, a +Privy-Counsellor and President of the Ecclesiastic Administration at +<i>Heidelberg</i>. This Minister does an Honour to the Elector's Choice of his +Person.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_139_139" id="Footnote_139_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> The Office of Master of the Horse is vacant; but the Count +<i>de Nesselrod</i> does the Duties of it, in quality of Vice-Master of the +horse.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_140_140" id="Footnote_140_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> The present King of <i>Sardinia</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_141_141" id="Footnote_141_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_141_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> General <i>Isselbach</i> Commander in Chief of the <i>Palatine</i> +Troops, and Governor of Manheim, dying in <i>August</i> 1734, the Elector gave +the Command of his Troops to the Count <i>de Nassau-Weilbourg</i>, and the +Government of <i>Manheim</i> to the Baron <i>de Zobel</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_142_142" id="Footnote_142_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_142_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> Since this was written the Elector of <i>Mentz</i>, of the +<i>Palatine</i> Family of <i>Newbourg</i> dying, the Chapter of <i>Worms</i> unanimously +chose for its Bishop <i>Francis-George</i> Count <i>de Schonborn</i>, Archbishop and +Elector of <i>Triers</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_143_143" id="Footnote_143_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_143_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> These sharp-sighted Gentlemen were not so happy as to +foresee the Marriage which has lately united the Families of <i>Austria</i> and +<i>Lorrain</i>, and brought the latter within View of the Imperial Crown, of +which the Elector of <i>Triers</i> saving the Sword in the Scabbard seems to +have been a remarkable Omen.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_144_144" id="Footnote_144_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> He was the King of <i>Prussia</i>'s Plenipotentiary to the King +of <i>Great Britain</i>, and is return'd to <i>Frankfort</i>, where he is Minister +from the King of <i>Prussia</i> to the Circle of the <i>Rhine</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_145_145" id="Footnote_145_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_145_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> This Lady died <i>An.</i> 1733.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_146_146" id="Footnote_146_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_146_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> Since the Author was at <i>Frankfort</i> the Prince <i>Alexander +de la Tour</i> and <i>Taxis</i> who married a Princess of <i>Brandenbourg-Bareith</i>, +resides in this City and is building a House there.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_147_147" id="Footnote_147_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_147_147"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> She is <i>Louisa-Anne-Frances</i> of <i>Lobkowitz</i>, Daughter to +the late Prince <i>Leopold</i> of <i>Lobkowitz</i> who was the Empress's chief +Steward till 1708.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_148_148" id="Footnote_148_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_148_148"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> This Lady died at <i>Frankfort</i> in <i>Feb.</i> 1733.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_149_149" id="Footnote_149_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_149_149"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> Madame the Abbess of <i>Maubrisson</i>, Sister to Madame the +Electress of <i>Hanover</i>, who is supposed to be the Person that speaks here; +Madame the Duchess of <i>Hanover</i>, Mother to the Empress <i>Amelia</i>, and +Madame the Princess of <i>Cond</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_150_150" id="Footnote_150_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_150_150"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> At <i>Rhenen</i>, a small Town in the Province of <i>Utrecht</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_151_151" id="Footnote_151_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_151_151"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> The <i>Upper Palatinate</i> yielded to the Elector of <i>Bavaria</i> +by the Treaty of <i>Westphalia</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_152_152" id="Footnote_152_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_152_152"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> At <i>Schwetzingeu</i>, a League from <i>Heidelberg</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_153_153" id="Footnote_153_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_153_153"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> Twas a Pistol which the Count <i>de Hehenlo</i> snatch'd from +her, and shot into the Air from the Window. But here it was absolutely +necessary to call it a Dagger, Fire-Arms being not known at the Time of +which this History bears date.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_154_154" id="Footnote_154_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_154_154"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> <i>Phillip</i> the Magnanimous, Landgrave of <i>Hesse-Cassel</i>, was +in 1518 Sovereign of all the Country of <i>Hesse</i>. He died in 1567, and left +four Sons who shar'd his Dominions and form'd the four Branches of +<i>Hesse-Cassel</i>, <i>Hesse-Marpurg</i>, <i>Hesse-Rheinfels</i> and <i>Hesse-Darmstadt</i> +The landgraves <i>Lewis de Marpurg</i> and <i>Philip de Rheinfels</i> had no Issue, +but their Nephew <i>Maurice</i> of <i>Cassel</i> having 18 Children, <i>Earnest</i> one +of the Sons reviv'd a Branch of <i>Rheinfels</i> which was divided into those +of <i>Rotenburg</i> and <i>Vanfried</i>, that are still subsisting. The Posterity of +<i>George</i> I, Landgrave of <i>Darmstadt</i> was altogether as fruitful, and +form'd the Branches of <i>Darmstadt</i>, <i>Butzbach</i>, <i>Hombourg</i>, and +<i>Lauterbach</i>, some of which are extinct. The Landgrave-Regent is one of +the sixteen Children of the Landgrave <i>Lewis</i> VI. Great-Grandson of +<i>George</i> I. There are at present these six Branches of the Family of +<i>Hesse, viz.</i> 1. <i>Hesse-Cassel</i>, 2. <i>Hesse-Philipstall</i>, 3. +<i>Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenbourg</i>, 4. <i>Hesse-Rheinfels-Vanfried</i>, 5. +<i>Hesse-Darmstadt</i>, 6. <i>Hesse-Hambourg</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_155_155" id="Footnote_155_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_155_155"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> This Count died in 1736.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_156_156" id="Footnote_156_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_156_156"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> She died at <i>Hanau</i> after a very long Illness.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_157_157" id="Footnote_157_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_157_157"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> This River rises in <i>Tirol</i> a little above <i>Inspruc</i>, +becomes navigable at <i>Halle</i>, and loses itself in the <i>Danube</i> near +<i>Passau</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_158_158" id="Footnote_158_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_158_158"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> The Provost and Dean of <i>Passau</i> enjoy the same +Prerogative.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_159_159" id="Footnote_159_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_159_159"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> The Revenue of this Archbishoprick amounts to 600,000 +Florins. The Archbishop has 60,000 Florins a-year for his private +Expences, and 24,000 Crowns for officiating at three solemn Services, +without reckoning the Deanery, which is worth 24,000 Florins to him.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_160_160" id="Footnote_160_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_160_160"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> The People about the <i>Alps</i> are very subject to those +Swellings by drinking too much cold unwholesome Water.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_161_161" id="Footnote_161_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_161_161"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> This is the Name which they give in <i>Italy</i> to those who do +the Office of Guides to shew Foreigners the Curiosities of any Town.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_162_162" id="Footnote_162_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_162_162"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> This Minister died at <i>Venice</i> in 1732, and was succeeded +by Prince <i>Pio</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_163_163" id="Footnote_163_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_163_163"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> He is dead, and succeeded by Don <i>Carlo Ruzzini</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_164_164" id="Footnote_164_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_164_164"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> <i>Francis</i>, Count <i>Duhamel</i>, Lieutenant-General of the King +of <i>Prussia</i>'s Army, Knight of the Order of the <i>Black Eagle</i>, and Colonel +of a Regiment of Horse. The <i>Venetians</i> invited him to their Service in +1704, and gave him the chief Command of their Forces.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_165_165" id="Footnote_165_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165_165"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> This Princess died in 1731, at <i>Florence</i>.</p></div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + +<div class="c3"><a name="Changes" id="Changes"></a>Transcriber's Amendments</div> + +<p>Transcriber's Note: A table of contents has been added. Blank pages have +been deleted. On pages that remain, some unnecessary page numbers may have +been deleted when they fall in the middle of lists. Some illustrations may +have been moved. Footnotes have been moved to just above this paragraph. +The hyphenation of words varies widely but has not been changed. The +spelling of words varies widely and has not been changed except as listed +below. The publisher's inadvertent omissions of important punctuation have +been corrected.</p> + +<p>The following list indicates any additional changes. The page number +represents that of the original publication and applies in this etext +except for footnotes and illustrations since they may have been moved. +Corrections specified by the publisher are marked with an asterisk (*).</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="right">Page</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">Change</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">title</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">[Vol. I]</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">ix</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">for he threatned[threaten'd] to get a Preface compos'd</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">xxiv</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Baron de Pollnitz</span> being the Oservations[Observations] he made</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">5</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">for his Favourite the Connt[Count] <i>de Wartemberg</i>,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">11</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">But the late Czar coming no[on] <i>Berlin</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">15</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">upon which ocasion[occasion]</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">17</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">To go from the Ambassaors[Ambassadors] Hotel to the New Town</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">38</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">for her, woud[would] be to send him abroad;</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">41</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">I thing[think] it incumbent on me to give you</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">84</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">Travellers, who were heretefore[heretofore] often impos'd upon</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">57</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">As soon as he appear'd be-[del] before <i>Altena</i>,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">96</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">at <i>Warsaw</i> the 1st of <i>Feb.</i> 1733, N.[O.] S.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">133</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">In short, the Count <i>de Sulkouski[Sulkowski]</i> who has</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">134</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">The Office of all the abovementioned[above-mention'd], as</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">146</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">the Religion which is upermost[uppermost] in the State.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">151</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">but the Marriage was dissoved[dissolved],</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">251</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">their Conversattion[Conversation] sometimes insipid;</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">172</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">They are all drawn or[on] Horseback,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">187</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">for the Glasses served in-[del] instead of Bells,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">194</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">which were of gery[very] great value,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">199</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">Knick-knacks which where[were] formerly made in this city</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">220</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">the <i>Ne plus ultra</i> of their Perferments[Preferments].</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">220</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">The[There] are five Brothers of it in Employments.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">225</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">The Empreor[Emperor] stands up under a Canopy</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">236</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">Simplicity of the ancient Arcitecture[Architecture].</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">317</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">most celebrated in <i>France</i>; and he daily in-riches[enriches]</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">320</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">He was addmitted[admitted] Kt. of the <i>Golden Fleece</i> at the</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">348</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">found to be the Hand-writting[Hand-writing] of <i>Gertrude</i>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">351</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">whither a Captian[Captain] of the Guards came in</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">359</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">This great p'enty[plenty] of Deer is extremely troublesome</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">361</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">Circle of of[del 2nd of] the <i>Upper Rhine</i>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">364</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">LETTER XIII[XXIII].</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">379</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">runs through a fine Valley beween[between] high Mountains</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">394</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left">they would fall on the Heads of the Travallers[Travellers];</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Index</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left"><i>Brandenbourg-Anspach</i>, Margraves, {?}[capital], 193,</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Index</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left"><i>Kara-Mustapha</i>, Grand Visier[Vizier], 247, 248.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Index</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left"><i>Lowinitz, Henry-Rodolph de Schonfield[Schonfeld]</i> Lord of, 145.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Index</td><td align="center">*</td><td align="left"><i>Maria-Amelia</i> Princess of <i>Prussia[Poland]</i>, 113.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Index</td><td align="center">*</td><td align="left"><i>Maria-Anne-Sophia</i> Princess of <i>Prussia[Poland]</i>, 113.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Index</td><td align="center">*</td><td align="left"><i>Maria-Josepha</i> Princess of <i>Prussia[Poland]</i>, 113[114].</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Index</td><td align="center"> </td><td align="left"><i>Staupitz</i>, Abbat[Abbot], 375.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div style="padding-top: 1em;"><a href="#Start">Start of text.</a></div> + +<hr class="ChapterTopRule" /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de +Pollnitz, Volume I, by Karl Ludwig von Pllnitz + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS--BARON DE POLLNITZ, VOL I *** + +***** This file should be named 38495-h.htm or 38495-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/4/9/38495/ + +Produced by Robert Connal, Henry Gardiner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by the Bibliothque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume I + Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from + Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, + England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not + Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but + the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several + Courts. + +Author: Karl Ludwig von Poellnitz + +Release Date: January 5, 2012 [EBook #38495] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS--BARON DE POLLNITZ, VOL I *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Connal, Henry Gardiner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr) + + + + + + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Note: The original publication has been replicated +faithfully except as shown in the Transcriber's Amendments at the end of +the text. This etext presumes a mono-spaced font on the user's device, +such as Courier New. Words in italics are indicated like _this_. But the +publisher also wanted to emphasize words in sentences already italicized, +so he printed them in the regular font which is indicated here with: _The +pirates then went to +Hispaniola+._ Obscured letters in the original +publication are indicated with {?}. Superscripts are indicated like this: +S^{ta} Maria. Footnotes are located near the end of the work. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: Lestevenon de Berkenroode] + + + + + THE + + MEMOIRS + + OF + + _CHARLES-LEWIS_, + + Baron de POLLNITZ. + + BEING + + The OBSERVATIONS He made in his + late TRAVELS from _Prussia_ thro' + + _GERMANY_, + _ITALY_, + _FRANCE_, + _FLANDERS_, + _HOLLAND_, + _ENGLAND_, &c. + + In LETTERS to his FRIEND. + + Discovering not only the PRESENT STATE + of the Chief CITIES and TOWNS; + + BUT + + The CHARACTERS of the PRINCIPAL PERSONS + at the Several COURTS. + + In TWO VOLUMES. + + Vol. I + + The SECOND EDITION, with ADDITIONS. + + + _LONDON:_ + Printed for DANIEL BROWNE, at the _Black Swan_, + without _Temple-Bar_. M.DCC.XXXIX. + + + + + TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + PREFACE, BY THE TRANSLATOR v + + AUTHOR'S PREFACE ix + + ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR xiv + + PREFACE xv + + ADDENDA to Vol. I xviii + + ADDENDA to Vol. II xxi + + BOOKS LATELY PUBLISHED xxiv + + LETTER I 1 + + LETTER II 49 + + LETTER III 60 + + LETTER IV 69 + + LETTER V 80 + + LETTER VI 162 + + LETTER VII 178 + + LETTER VIII 183 + + LETTER IX 193 + + LETTER X 197 + + LETTER XI 210 + + LETTER XII 224 + + LETTER XIII 246 + + LETTER XIV 258 + + LETTER XV 272 + + LETTER XVI 280 + + LETTER XVII 293 + + LETTER XVIII 299 + + LETTER XIX 315 + + LETTER XX 327 + + LETTER XXI 338 + + LETTER XXII 357 + + LETTER XXIII 364 + + LETTER XXIV 377 + + LETTER XXV 391 + + LETTER XXVI 408 + + LETTER XXVII 422 + + OTHER BOOKS 432 + + INDEX 433 + + ERRATA + + FOOTNOTES + + +[Illustration] + + + + + To the Right Honourable + + PHILIP, _Lord_ HARDWICKE; + + Baron of _Hardwicke_, in the + County of _Gloucester_; + + LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR + of _Great Britain_; + + AND + + One of the LORDS of His Majesty's most + Honourable PRIVY COUNCIL. + + + MY LORD, + +The good Reception these Memoirs, which I most humbly offer to your +Lordship, have met with Abroad; and the Protection and Favour the _Author_ +has obtain'd at one of the Chief Protestant Courts of EUROPE; encourage +me, tho' with the profoundest Submission, to intreat your Lordship's +favourable Acceptance of this _Translation_. + +'Tis, my Lord, the only Homage I am capable of paying your Lordship, and +the best Testimony I can give with what Zeal and Pleasure I join in the +Congratulation of the Public for that illustrious Regard paid to your +Lordship's Merit, and Their Wishes, by his SACRED MAJESTY, this Day in +Council. + +That your Lordship may very long enjoy a sufficient Portion of Health, +equal to the Abilities of your Great Mind, for supporting you under that +vast Weight of Service which you have now taken upon you for your King and +Country, is the hearty Prayer of all good ENGLISHMEN; and particularly of +Him, My Lord, who has the Honour to subscribe + + YOUR LORDSHIP'S + _Most Devoted, + Most Obedient, and + Most Humble Servant._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + PREFACE, + + By the TRANSLATOR. + + +The Author of these _Memoirs_, who is a Person of an honourable Family in +_Prussia_, and confess'd by all that know him to be a Gentleman of +extraordinary Talents, is one that may be truly said to have seen the +World; he having not only travell'd twice thro' the principal Parts of +_Europe_, but by his Acquaintance with People of the first Rank, and a +diligent Inquiry and nice Inspection into Men and Things, attained to that +Knowledge of Both, which is of such Service and Entertainment to Mankind +in the general, and so particularly necessary for All who attend to what +is doing in high Life. + +He has succeeded very happily in the right Narrative Stile; and the +_French_ Language, in which he wrote the following Letters, seems to be as +natural to him as if it was his Mother-Tongue. But the Thing which has +most contributed to the Demand for these Memoirs, is the Multitude of +Characters that the Baron has interspers'd, not only of the Deceas'd, but +even of Persons that are still living, and distinguish'd by the exalted +Spheres in which they move. + +That every one of those Characters is equally just, or that every +Circumstance relating to them is told with the utmost Exactness, is not to +be imagin'd: For supposing the Author to have been ever so circumspect and +impartial, how was it possible for him to take the true Likeness of every +one, in such a Variety of Personages of both Sexes, and to be perfectly +sure of every Particular that he mentions; since he could not be +Eye-Witness of every thing, and must be oblig'd for many to Information +from other Persons, of whom, 'tis no wonder if some were prejudic'd? But +to do the Baron Justice, it must be allow'd, that he no where fails in +that Respect and Decorum to Princes which are their due; and that he has +not discover'd a predominant Passion for Satire: because where he has +painted in the strongest Colours, and represented his Subjects in the most +disadvantageous Light, they were such whose Follies or whose Vices were +too flagrant and notorious to be either conceal'd or disguis'd: And, +considering the Groupe of Courtiers whom he has crouded into his Canvass, +the Reader will rather be surpris'd to meet with so few Imperfections in +his Characters, and so many excellent Qualities. By this means, his +Memoirs have, upon the whole, done Honour to his Understanding, without +offending his Conscience, or hurting his Fortune; he being, at this very +time, upon a handsome Establishment at the Court of _Prussia_. + +It cannot possibly escape the Observation of the Reader, that the Baron, +when he wrote these Letters to his noble Friend, was a profess'd Member of +the Church of _Rome_; but that nevertheless, he was not such a Bigot to +its Constitution, nor such a Believer in the Legends of its Writers, or +the pretended Miracles of its Saints, as to incur the Character of a blind +and furious Zealot; it appearing on the contrary, from several +Declarations of his Mind in the following Pages, that he did not want +Charity either in his Nature or Principles for those from whom he differ'd +in religious Sentiments. Such a Catholic Spirit, assisted by his good +Sense, made it, no doubt, much easier for him, after reflecting upon the +Fopperies and Impostures which he had seen in that Church during his +Travels, to abjure the _Romish_ and to embrace the _Protestant_ Religion, +which he did accordingly with great Devotion last Summer, at _Berlin_; +after which, his _Prussian_ Majesty was pleas'd to distinguish him with +peculiar Marks of his Favour and Esteem, by declaring him one of the +Gentlemen of his Bed-Chamber, and Chief Cup-Bearer of his Court; and he +has very lately given him a considerable Prebend. + +To the new Edition of his Memoirs, from which the following Sheets are +translated, there's not only a great number of material Additions in the +Body of the Work, as is observ'd by the Editor of it, _Amsterdam_, but +several new Notes: In this Translation, these Notes are likewise +considerably augmented, for the sake of continuing the Thread of the +History to the present Time, by the Notice taken of certain remarkable +Alterations, or other curious Particulars that have happen'd to the +Persons or the Places mentioned, since 1734, when the said Edition was +publish'd. + +One great Defect for which the foreign Editor has been very much blam'd, +was the want of a Table to these Memoirs; which, if not absolutely +necessary in a Work of this kind, wherein so many Persons and Facts are +mentioned, cannot be necessary for any Book whatsoever that comes from the +Press. To supply this Defect, the Translator has added an Alphabetical +Index to each of the two Volumes; which Indexes are the more copious, that +the Reader might know where to turn in an Instant for some Account of the +Characters, Conduct, or Familys of those public Personages, whose Names so +often occur in the News-Papers. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + THE + + AUTHOR's PREFACE + + TO THE + + FIRST EDITION. + + +_There are very few Books without a +Preface+; and that there are +so, is in a great measure owing to the Fancy of the +Booksellers+, +who think them to be absolutely necessary, and too often judge of +the merit of a Copy by the Flights of its Preface, and the +insinuating Tone of the +Author's+ Voice in reading it. I had the +misfortune to fall into the hands of one of these Booksellers, so +fond of Prefaces, whom nothing would serve but he must have one at +the Head of my +Memoirs+. My telling him that I did not know what to +put into a Preface, signify'd no more than if I had been talking to +a Post; for he threaten'd to get a Preface compos'd by an Author who +wrote for Wages. This startled me, and I trembled for the fate of my +Book, not doubting that a Preface written by a Man of Letters, who +made it his profession to compose such marvellous Pieces, would +altogether eclipse the few Excellencies in this Work of mine. What, +said I to myself, the Sale of my Book then must depend only on the +Goodness of the Preface, which, when the Readers compare with the +Book it self, they will say, O! what a wonderful Man is the Author +of the +Preface+! What a pitiful Writer, the Compiler of the ++Memoirs+! No, said I again to my self, I am resolv'd that the +Preface and the Book shall run the same risk; and since Chance has +enter'd me an Author, I'll play out the whole part of one._ + +_I am told, that the Design of a Preface is to give the Publick an +account, in the first place, of the Reasons that have engag'd the Author +to compose his Work; that then he is to inform the Publick, that 'tis in +meer Complaisance to his Friends, and because there are mangled Copies of +his Manuscript abroad, that he has been determined to put it to the Press; +and finally, that he is to conclude with a sort of Petition, wherein he is +to beg the Reader's Indulgence for his Productions. This, I have been +assured, is the Plan of a Preface; let us now see how well I can execute +it._ + +_As to the first Article, +viz.+ what Motives I had to write, I sincerely +own that when I set Pen to Paper, I meant nothing more than to amuse +myself. I was the farthest in the World from thinking that I should one +day be overtaken with the Temptation of setting up for an Author. I wrote +Letters to a Friend of mine, purely to divert him with an Account of such +things as came in my way; the Minutes of which Letters I preserved till I +had insensibly formed a Volume of 'em; and having nothing else to do, I +augmented and digested them in the manner that I now give them to the +Publick. The truth is, that my Friends have not used the least Importunity +with me to commit my Manuscript to the Press, nor was it possible for any +spurious Copies of it to get abroad, because no body ever saw it till I +put it into the hands of the Bookseller._ + +_But I shall be ask'd, what possess'd me to commence Author, and how came +I to be so idle as to put my Name at the Head of a sorry book? I must +answer again, that it was downright Indolence. As to my Name, it would +have been very difficult to have concealed it from Persons to whom I have +the greatest Obligations. I should have been suspected to have been the +Author of these Memoirs at certain Courts, for which I have a Respect both +by Inclination and Duty; and perhaps, if I had left this Copy to the +wide World, as some do those Foundlings which they are asham'd to own, +such Passages might have been foisted into it, as would have been father'd +upon me, in spite of all Protestations of my Innocence._ + +_As to the Book itself, I am apt to think there is nothing in it that any +Person whatsoever ought to take offence at. When I speak of Sovereign +Princes, 'tis with the Reverence due to the +Lord's Anointed+; and I also +endeavour to honour them in their Ministers, being taught by my Religion +that I ought to honour God in his Saints. I have done my utmost to paint +the true Characters of People in Place, and can safely say, that my +Authorities are not meer hear-says or scraps out of News-Papers; for, +thank to God, my Birth and Fortune have put me in a capacity to see, hear, +and judge for myself._ + +_It will be thought perhaps, that when I speak of Nations in general, I +judge too rashly. It may be so; this being an Article especially in which +all Men do not think alike. The +French+ have a quite different Idea of +the +Germans+ from what the +English+ have, and the +English+ do not pass +the same Verdict on the +French+ as the +Swedes+ do. 'Tis the same in +private Life. Every one makes his own Condition the Standard of his +Judgment. The Man of Quality, the Citizen, the Soldier, the Merchant, have +all different Ideas. The Traveller judges of the Nation where he is, by +the Company he keeps. A +Frenchman+ who in +Germany+ converses with none +but those of the second Class, will say that the +Germans+ are honest +People, but clownish; whereas another, who keeps company with Persons of +Quality, or those in Offices, will agree, that the +Germans+ are more +polite than they have been painted by certain +French+ Writers, who have +been transplanted to +Germany+ either by their Distresses, or by meer +Chance. So, a +German+, who, when he is at +Paris+, sees no better Company +than the Marchionesses of the Suburb of +St. Germain+, imagines +that all the Women both at Court and in the City are like them. In fine, a +Foreigner who takes up his Residence in the City of +London+, will +entertain a different Idea of the +English+ from what another shall do who +lodges at +St. James+'s end of the town. They are, as one may say, so many +different Nations in one and the same State, which stand in little +relation to one another; and sometimes attribute Virtues and Vices to each +other without due Consideration. A Foreigner therefore can form a solid +Judgment of none but those with whom he is conversant; and if he has the +good luck to pitch his Tent well, he entertains an advantageous Opinion of +the Nation in general. Let Foreigners, when they return home, after having +kept such various sorts of Company, sit down to draw the Characters of the +Nations they have seen, I do but think what a strange difference would +appear in their Descriptions! The Judgment therefore which I make of +People, is founded upon the Company I kept, and upon what I heard from +such Inhabitants of the Country as appear'd to me to be altogether +unprejudiced, and were pleased to honour me with their Information. I do +not say but, after all, I may have been mistaken; for I do not pretend to +have painted things in any other light than as they appear'd to me. If, +nevertheless, any particular Person thinks himself particularly intended +when I speak of the Inhabitants of any Province or Town in general, I beg +him to remember, that I confess in my Memoirs there are worthy People in +all parts of the World, and 'tis not my fault if his Conscience does not +permit him to rank himself in that number._ + +_No doubt I shall be reproach'd for relating too many Trifles, and passing +too lightly over things of greater Importance. To speak freely again, I +will make no difficulty to own, that, if when I began these Memoirs, I had +ever thought of printing them, the desire of promoting their Sale might +perhaps have put upon inserting a great many Nothings which I omitted, as +not thinking it worth while to charge my Memory with 'em. The far greatest +part of what the World reads is Trifles, and a History will make its +fortune not by the instructive Facts that are in it, but by the Romantic +Turn the Author gives it. Besides, I am not so vain as to write with a +design of Instructing; for what could I relate in my Travels which others +have not done before me in better Terms? To talk of Learned Men, to make a +Catalogue of Books and MSS. that are to be met with in Libraries, to +ransack the Cabinet of the Curious, to publish Inscriptions, to treat of +antique Medals, to affirm that I have seen an +Otho+ of Brass, which is +known to be but of Silver, what a Posse of Men of Learning would rise up +against me! Whereas, now I fear nothing; the Learned don't read Trifles, +or if they do, they scorn to criticise them. I shall to them remain +unknown, or at least, my Meanness will be my Protection against their +Indignation._ + +_I would fain be as secure against the Criticism of those, who reading for +the sake of their amusement, require an exact, elegant Stile in trifles, +that is, adorn'd with the Flowers and Garlands of Rhetorick. But how shall +I gain their Indulgence? If I own to them that I could do no better, they +will say to me, and justly enough, +Alas! then what made you write?+ To +which I shall answer, as I said before, that it was meerly for want of +something else to do. If they will but forgive me this time, I assure them +that I not only will never relapse into the same error, but that I shall +not be sorry if they disdain to take Notice of my Book: And if the reading +of these Memoirs inclines them to sleep, I shall think my self very well +rewarded for having contributed to their Repose._ + +_After all, I am more particularly obliged to ask pardon of the +French+ +than any other Nation: 'Tis in their Language I have presumed to write, +and they are my proper Judges. Such is their Politeness and their +Readiness to assist Foreigners, that I doubt not of Mercy. And in +return, I promise them, that if a +Frenchman+ ever vouchsafes to write in +the +German+ Language, I will forgive him any Errors that he may commit._ + + + + + ADVERTISEMENT by the EDITOR. + + +N. B. "These Memoirs went off so quick, that before they had been out +scarce six Months, the _French_ Bookseller was oblig'd to prepare for this +_Second Edition_; to which, there are considerable Additions both in the +Body of the Work and in the Notes, of curious and interesting Facts and +Characters, and the principal Alterations that have happen'd at the +several Courts, since the first Edition. + +"There is added in particular, a very circumstantial Account of the +present Elector of _Saxony_'s Family, his Ministers, and Officers; and in +short, of the Chief Persons of both Sexes belonging to his Court and +Houshold. This is prefix'd in the Original, at the Head of the Memoirs; +but the Translator thought it more regular as well as more consistent with +the Method observ'd every where else by the Author, to place it at the End +of his Description of the City of _Dresden_. The Baron has dedicated that +Account to the present Elector (_Augustus_, King of _Poland_) and +introduc'd it with the following Preface." + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + PREFACE, + + TO THE SECOND EDITION. + + +_The_ PRESENT STATE OF THE COURT OF SAXONY_, which is added to this +Edition, has no need of a Preface to recommend it, the very Title shewing +that 'tis what concerns every +Saxon+ especially to be acquainted with._ + +_All Subjects have a desire to know something of their Sovereign; and +private Men in every State have this Curiosity, with respect to their +Ministers and Courtiers. These are the Characters which I have ventured to +draw, tho' I own, that I don't think I have always hit the Life, for want +of that Penetration and Delicacy of Imagination which Nature, to me a +Step-Mother, has deny'd me; and also because it would have been necessary +for me to have stay'd longer than I did at +Dresden+. Three Months +Residence at so great a Court, are hardly sufficient to make a Man +acquainted with it, were his Fund of Knowledge even as deep as mine is +shallow. Then what a Presumption would it be for me to think I have +attained to it!_ + +_I must not dissemble, that this Book with all its Imperfections, has cost +me more trouble in composing than one much larger would have done upon a +Subject that had been more familiar to me. There was a necessity for me to +make Inquiry into many Particulars, and to get some of my Information from +a private hand. I own my Obligation to the Civility of M. +Konig+, the +Counsellor of the Court, for the Intelligence I wanted relating +to some of the Court-Nobility. If I had been so happy as to have found out +but one or two Persons more as active for me as he was, my Work would have +been more correct and more extensive. Such as it is, I intreat the Reader +to accept it, and to forgive any Errors in it, in consideration that I am +the first who has ventured to treat of such a Subject. I own, there is a +certain degree of Rashness in the Undertaking, but the noble Motive that +has induc'd me to it, seems to plead for my excuse._ + +_All +Saxony+ knows in general, that 'tis govern'd by a Sovereign, +gracious, and vigilant to render it happy. It were needless to set the +King's Virtues and Actions before their Eyes, which the People already +admire, and pray for him. But as this Great Prince does not want those who +envy his Glory, they are the Persons whom I have chose to make asham'd of +themselves; and have endeavoured, if possible, to reclaim others whom a +fatal blindness keeps at a distance from his Majesty's Person[1]._ + +_All that ever had the honour of approaching +Augustus III.+ will agree +with me that he adorns that Throne, upon which a respectful Nation has +plac'd him; and that whatever I have said of this Monarch is short of what +might be mention'd. How is it possible to give the true Portraiture of a +King born without Vice, by Principle virtuous, and religiously good? To +admire him in silence is the only way to please him, which I know too +well, not to conform to it; and therefore I have not presum'd to expatiate +so far in his Praise as the Sublimity of the Subject demands._ + +_The same Aversion of the Queen to Praise, has confin'd me within the same +bounds. How many Virtues have not I been forc'd to smother? What Thoughts_ +_have not I sacrific'd, lest I should offend the noble Modesty of that +August Princess, who with a Simplicity attending her Grandeur, makes her +Glory to consist in being humble in the midst of Honours?_ + +_I believe no body will dispute the Truth of what I have advanc'd relating +to the_ PRINCE ROYAL_ and _ELECTORAL_, the_ PRINCES HIS BROTHERS_, and the +_PRINCESSES HIS SISTERS_. The hopes I have raised of what may be expected +from_ THEIR ROYAL HIGHNESSES_, will surely be confirm'd by Time, and by +all those who have access to them._ + +_The Actions of the Duke +John-Adolphus+ of +Saxe-Weissenfels+ are so well +establish'd that I have not thought fit to anticipate History, by which +they are to be consecrated: And for the same reason, I have but just +touch'd upon the amiable Qualities of his Mind, which are rever'd both by +the Court and the Army._ + +_As to the Princess of +Saxe-Weissenfels+, I frankly own, that as I had +not the honour of paying my Court to her, what I have said of her Virtues +has no other Authority than the Voice of the Publick, which can never +speak enough in her Praise._ + +_I have been more copious in treating of the Ministers; and what I have +said of them is so true, that they who know them not may thereby form a +just Idea of what they are._ + +_I have taken as much notice of the principal Lords and the most +distinguish'd Ladies of the Court, as the little time I had for this Work, +and the Limits to which I was confin'd, would permit. I flatter myself +they will forgive the Freedom with which I use them; and hope I have +preserv'd a Decency in my Language which will secure me from Reproach._ + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + ADDENDA to Vol. I. + + +Pap. 15. M. _Beausobre_, Minister of the Gospel at _Berlin_, and Author of +several learned Treatises, died in _May_ 1738. + +P. 26. The Princess of _Brandenburg-Schwedt_, fourth Daughter of the King +of _Prussia_, was deliver'd of a Daughter in _April_ 1738. + +P. 27. The Count _de Truchses-Walbourg_, Major-General in the Service of +the King of _Prussia_, died at _Berlin_ in _April_ 1738. + +P. 34. In _July_ 1738, his _Prussian_ Majesty, together with the Prince +Royal and Prince _William_, made a Tour to _Holland_, and paid a Visit to +his most Serene Highness the Prince of _Orange_. + +P. 66. His Excellency Baron _Hattorf_, Secretary of State for the Affairs +of _Hanover_, died in _August_ 1737. + +P. 70. _Christina-Louisa_, Princess of _Oetingen_, died in 1736. + +P. 72. _Philippina-Charlotte_, Duchess of _Brunswic-Wolfembuttle_, and +third Daughter to the King of _Prussia_, after having had two Sons by Duke +_Charles_ her Husband, _viz._ the first born in 1735, and the other, who +is called _George-Francis_, in 1736, was deliver'd also of a Daughter in +_September_ 1737, who in the Month following was baptiz'd by the Names of +_Christina-Sophia-Maria_. + +P. 105. M. _de Miltitz_, who was Tutor to the present King _Augustus_ when +he was Electoral Prince of _Saxony_, died in _March_ 1738. + +P. 113. The Princess Royal of _Poland_ was married in _July_ 1738, to Don +_Carlos_ King of _Naples_ and _Sicily_. + +P. 130. The Count _de Sulkowski_ in _January_ 1738 fell under some +Disgrace, so that his Majesty order'd his Papers to be seal'd up, and +excused him from farther Attendance on him, but was willing he should keep +the Title and Rank of Minister of the Cabinet, and General of the Foot, +with 6000 Crowns Pension. + +P. 140. _Adolphus de Bruhl_ was in _January_ 1738 appointed Grand-Master +of the Horse, at the _Saxon_ Court, in the room of the Count _de +Sulkowski_. + +P. 142. The Count _de Moschinski_ died in _September_ 1737. + +P. 147. The Count _de Diedrichstein_ died at _Prague_ in _September_ 1737. +He was Baron of _Hollenbourg_, _Finckenstein_, _Dahlberg_ and +_Landskroon_, Hereditary Great Huntsman of _Styria_, Hereditary Cup-Bearer +of _Carinthia_, Knight of the Order of St. _John_ of _Jerusalem_, Grand +Prior in _Bohemia_, _Moravia_, _Silesia_, _Carinthia_, _Styria_, _Tirol_, +_Austria_ and _Poland_, Bailiff of the aforesaid Order, and Commander of +the Commanderies of _Little Oels_, _Furstenfeld_ and _Mosling_, a +Privy-Counsellor of the Emperor, and Governour-General of the Kingdom of +_Bohemia_. + +P. 168. The last Duke of _Saxe-Mersebourg_ mention'd in the Note of that +Page, died in _May_ 1738. + +P. 182. In _April_ 1738, the Emperor appointed the Prince of _Saxe-Gotha_ +Lieutenant Velt-Marshal of his Armies; and in _September_ following +he solicited the Diet of _Ratisbon_ for the Post of second +Velt-Marshal-General of the Empire, in the Disposal of the Protestant +States, vacant by the Death of the Baron _de Wutgenau_. + +P. 182. _Augusta_ Princess of _Wales_ was deliver'd of a Princess on the +31st of _July_ 1737, who was baptized after her own Name; and on the 24th +of _May_ 1738, she was deliver'd of a Prince who was baptiz'd +_George-William Frederic_. + +P. 208. The Margravine of _Brandenbourg-Culmbach_, Mother to the Queen of +_Denmark_, died at _Copenhagen_ in _August_ 1737, in the 70th Year of her +Age, very much lamented. + +P. 220. Count _Philip Kinski_ was made Chancellor of _Bohemia_, in _May_ +1738, in the room of the late Count _de Collowrat_. + +P. 233. The Archduchess, Wife to the Duke of _Lorrain_, had a Daughter, +born _January_ 25, 1737, and another born in _September_ 1738. + +P. 264. The eldest Son of the Duke _Ferdinand_ of _Bavaria_, died in +_April_ 1738. + +P. 266. The Count _Maximilian de Fugger_ died at _Vienna_, in _January_ +1738. + +P. 266. The Count _de Thirheim_ died in _January_ 1738, at _Lintz_, the +Capital of _Upper Austria_. + +P. 285. _Charles-Alexander_ Duke of _Wirtemberg-Stutgard_, died on the 1st +of _March_ 1737, and was succeeded by his eldest Son _Eugene-Lewis_ the +present Duke, who was born the 30th of _January_ 1728. + +P. 298. The Margrave of _Baden-Dourlach_ died the first of _May_ 1738, at +_Carelsruhe_, who having no Issue living, is succeeded by _Frederic_ of +_Witgenstein_, who is marry'd to the Princess _Augusta-Amelia-Albertina_ +of _Nassau-Siegen_. The Deceased was 58 Years and near 11 Months of Age, +being born the 17th of _June_ 1679. He was a General in the Emperor's +Army, and Great Master of the Artillery in the Circle _of Suabia_. By his +Wife, a Daughter of the Duke of _Wirtemberg-Stutgard_, he had four +Children, who are all dead. When he laid the Plan and Foundation of the +City and Castle of _Carelsruhe_, he gave equal Liberty of Conscience to +the Lutherans, Calvinists, and Roman Catholics. + +P. 321. The Cardinal _de Schonborn_ died in _August_ 1737. + +P. 335. The Baron _de Beveren_, Grand Marshal at the Elector Palatine's +Court, died there in _January_ 1738. + +P. 357. In _January_ 1738, the Prince of _Hesse-Hombourg_ was married to +the Velt-Marshal _Trubetskay_'s Daughter. + +P. 362. After the Death of the Count of _Hanau_ without Issue, the +Succession was awarded to the Prince of _Darmstad_ as next Heir, on +condition of his paying 200000_l._ by way of Compensation to the House of +_Cassel_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + ADDENDA to Vol. II. + + +Pag. 14. Cardinal _Bissi_ died in _August_ 1737. + +P. 44. Cardinal _Olivieri_, Secretary of the Pope's Briefs, died at _Rome_ +in _February_ 1738. + +P. 61. Prince _James Sobieski_ died in _December_ 1737. + +P. 136. On the 28th of _June_ 1737, the Great Duke of _Tuscany_ died in +the 67th Year of his Age, and was succeeded by _Francis_ Duke of _Lorrain_ +(who married the Emperor's Daughter) for whom possession was immediately +taken of the Duchy by the _German_ Forces. + +_Ferdinand_, Duke of _Courland_, who is mentioned in the same Page, died +in 1737; and the Nobility assembling at _Mittau_ elected Count _Biron_, a +Native, to succeed him. + +P. 150. The Affairs of _Corsica_ are very much alter'd since the first +Edition of these Volumes. Baron _Theodore_ having left the Island, and +promis'd to return soon with Succours, went to _Amsterdam_, where he was +confin'd for Debt; but being soon discharg'd by the Interest of some +foreign Power, he proceeded to _Paris_, and thence to _Marseilles_, in +order, as he gave out, to put himself again at the Head of the +_Corsicans_: But during this the _French_ having undertaken to be +Mediators betwixt the _Corsicans_ and _Genoese_, have, with the +Approbation of both, sent a General thither with some Troops, and the +_Corsicans_ have agreed to send over a dozen of their chief Men to the +Court of _France_ as Hostages for their good Behaviour; but since this, +_Theodore_ has set his Foot again upon that Island. + +P. 257. The Duke of _Liria_, Son and Successor to the late Marshal Duke of +_Berwic_, died at _Naples_ in _May_ 1738. + +P. 260. The Marshal _d'Estrees_ died the 5th of _December_ 1737. + +P. 309. The Marshal _de Wrangel_, Governour of _Brussels_, died in +_August_ 1737, in the 87th Year of his Age. + +P. 332. The Succession to the Duchies of _Juliers_ and _Berg_, is an +Affair which has been very much canvass'd for several Months past, between +the Elector Palatine and the Courts of _Prussia_ and _Saxony_. The +maritime Powers of _Great Britain_ and _Holland_ have proposed an +Accommodation, with regard to the Succession, into which the Elector +Palatine is willing to enter; but the Courts of _France_, _Prussia_ and +_Saxony_ don't concur with it; and _France_ has guarantee'd the actual +Possession of those Duchies to the Prince of _Sultzbach_. + +P. 447. On the 20th of _November_ 1737, _Wilhelmina-Carolina_ Queen of +_Great Britain_ died of a Mortification in her Bowels; and on the 17th of +_December_ following she was privately interr'd in _Westminster-Abbey_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + BOOKS _lately published_, + + +1. The Third and Fourth Volumes of the MEMOIRS of CHARLES-LEWIS BARON DE +POLLNITZ being the Observations he made in his late Travels from _Prussia_ +thro' _Poland_, _Germany_, _Italy_, _France_, _Spain_, _Flanders_, +_Holland_, _England_, &c. discovering not only the present State of the +chief Cities and Towns, but the Characters of the principal Persons at the +several Courts. + +2. CYCLOPAEDIA; or, An Universal Dictionary of ARTS and SCIENCES: +Containing, An Explication of the Terms, and an Account of the Things +signified thereby in the several Arts, both Liberal and Mechanical, and +the several Sciences, Human and Divine: The Figures, Kinds, Properties, +Productions, Preparations and Uses of Things, Natural and Artificial: The +Rise, Progress, and State of Things, Ecclesiastical, Civil, Military and +Commercial; with the several Systems, Sects, Opinions, &c. among +Philosophers, Divines, Mathematicians, Physicians, Antiquaries, Critics, +&c. The Whole intended as a Course of Antient and Modern Learning, +extracted from the best Authors, Dictionaries, Journals, Memoirs, +Transactions, Ephemerides, &c. in several languages. By E. CHAMBERS, +_F.R.S._ The Second Edition, corrected and amended, with some ADDITIONS. +In Two Volumes, Folio. + +3. BAYLE's GREAT HISTORICAL and CRITICAL DICTIONARY, the second Edition, +carefully collated with the several Editions of the Original; in which +many Passages are restored, and the Whole greatly augmented; particularly +with a Translation of the Quotations from eminent Writers in various +Languages: To which is prefixed, the Life of the Author, revised, +corrected and enlarged, by Mr. Des Maizeaux, Fellow of the Royal Society; +compleat in 5 Volumes, Folio. + +4. A Tour thro' the whole Island of Great Britain, divided into Circuits +or Journies, giving a particular and entertaining Account of whatever is +Curious, and worth Observation, viz. 1. A Description of the principal +Cities and Towns, their Situation, Government and Commerce. 2. The +Customs, Manners, Exercises, Diversions, and Employment of the People. 3. +The Produce and Improvement of the Lands, the Trade and Manufactury. 4. +The Sea-Ports and Fortifications, the Course of Rivers, and the Inland +Navigation. 5. The public Edifices, Seats and Palaces of the Nobility, and +Gentry. Interspersed with useful Observations. Particularly fitted for the +Perusal of such as desire to travel over the Island. The second Edition, +with very great Additions, Improvements and Corrections, which bring it +down to the beginning of the Year 1738, in three neat Pocket Volumes. +_Price, Nine Shillings._ + +All printed for D. BROWNE, without _Temple-Bar_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + MEMOIRS + + OF THE + + Baron de POLLNITZ. + + In SEVERAL LETTERS to Mr. _L. C. D. S._ + + + + + LETTER I. + + + _SIR_, _Berlin, June 6, 1729._ + +From _Breslaw_ to _Berlin_ 'tis 40 _German_ Miles of very even Country, +well peopled and cultivated. There are I know not how many little Towns in +the Road, not worth mentioning. + +The first Place of any Importance is CROSSEN. This City is the Capital of +the Dutchy from whence it has its Name, which formerly made a Part of +_Silesia_, but is now annex'd to the Electorate of _Brandenburgh_. There's +a Bridge at _Crossen_, by which we pass the River _Oder_, defended by +Fortifications. The Town is situate in a pleasant fruitful Country. The +Houses, which are all of Brick, are uniform, and the Streets as strait as +a Line. The chief of them terminate in a great Square in the middle of +the Town, where there is a Statue of the King of _Prussia_. The River +_Oder_ is of great advantage to the Commerce of _Crossen_, which carries +on a considerable Trade in Linnen-Cloth and Earthen Ware. + +Going out of _Crossen_, we pass this River by a Bridge, as we do a second +time over to FRANCFORT, a considerable City of the Marquisate of +_Brandenbourg_, famous for its Fairs, and its University. This City has +stood the Shock of various Revolutions. It was put under the Ban of the +Empire by the Emperor _Charles_ IV. for having disobey'd his Orders; and +the Inhabitants to make him easy were forc'd to pay him down 12000 Marks +of Silver, which at that time was an immense Sum. In 1631 the _Swedes_ +besieg'd and took it by Storm, when they put all the Inhabitants to the +Sword in reprisal for the Massacre of 2000 _Swedes_, whom the Emperor's +General Count _Tilly_ had inhumanly put to death in the City of +_Brandenbourg_. By the Peace of _Munster_, or _Westphalia_, which +establish'd the Tranquility of the Empire, _Francfort_ was restor'd to the +Elector of _Brandenbourg_ its lawful Sovereign. + +Here is a University founded by _Joachim_ I. (Margrave of _Brandenbourg_) +in 1506, which is very much frequented by the _Silesians_, and by the +_Hungarian_ Protestants. + +There are two Fairs a Year at _Francfort_, which render it a trading City, +and its Commerce consists in Linnen-Cloth, and Fells. + +'Tis ten Miles from _Francfort_ to _Berlin_, and a flat sandy Country. The +Road leads thro' _Munchenbourg_, a little Town chiefly inhabited by the +Descendants of _French_ Men, who left their Country upon the Revocation of +the Edict of _Nantes_. + +The nearer one comes to the Capital of _Brandenbourg_, the more sandy is +the Soil, yet the Country produces plenty of Corn and Fruits. + +BERLIN is the common Residence of the King of _Prussia_, and one of the +largest, best built, and best govern'd Cities in all _Germany_. The +Streets are spacious, strait, neat and well pav'd. The Situation is +advantageous; for tho' it lies in a very sandy Soil, yet it is encompass'd +with agreeable Gardens producing Fruits and excellent Pulse, and its +Commerce is much improv'd by the River _Spree_; which passes thro' the +City, and has a Communication with the _Havel_, the _Oder_, and the +_Elbe_. + +The _French_, who for the sake of Religion became Refugees, have +contributed in an extraordinary manner to the Establishment and +Aggrandisement of _Berlin_, by the establishing of all sorts of +Manufactures, and the introducing of Arts into it; and it may be said of +them, that they have omitted nothing to testify their Gratitude to the +Elector _Frederic-William_ and his Posterity, for the generous Reception +which he gave them in his Dominions. + +_Berlin_ is divided into five Wards exclusive of the Suburbs, which are +very extensive. I will run thro' these Wards in the Order of their +Situation: But before I do this, I propose to shew you what is most +remarkable in the Suburbs; where the Houses are generally of Timber, but +so well plaister'd that they seem to be of Stone; and the Streets are +broad, lightsome and strait. + +In the Suburb of _Spandau_ the Queen has a delightful House and Gardens. +The House is called _Monbijou_; a very proper Name for it, because 'tis +really a Jewel. 'Tis a Pavilion, the Apartments of which are laid out with +Art, and furnish'd with great Judgment and Elegance. The Gardens are +charming, and lie finely open to the River. This House was built by the +Countess _de Wartemberg_, Wife to the Prime Minister of King _Frederic_ I. +As her Husband's Power and Favour were at that time so great, that he did +whatever he pleas'd, all the King's Workmen and Architects us'd the +utmost Diligence to serve her well. But she did not enjoy this fine House +long; for it was scarce compleated when the King removed the Count from +all his Employments, and banish'd him to _Francfort_ on the _Maine_. +However, he settled a Pension upon him and his Lady of 24000 Crowns, and +the Countess by way of Acknowledgement gave the King this House, which of +all the immense Treasure that she had amass'd, was the only Piece that she +cou'd not carry with her. The King gave this House to the Princess Royal +now Queen, who has added great Embellishments to it, and brought it to its +present State of Perfection. + +In the Suburbs of _Stralau_ is the House and Gardens of _Belvedere_, +belonging to the King. _Rolle_ Superintendant of the Finances to the +Elector _Frederic-William_, caus'd this Garden to be made, in which he +laid out considerable Sums; and as this Minister was at other very great +Expences, it so impair'd his Fortune, that he was oblig'd to throw up all +and retir'd to _Holland_; and being very much in debt to the Elector, his +Garden was forfeited to that Prince, who made a Present of it to M. _de +Fuchs_, one of his Ministers. King _Frederic_ I. purchas'd it of the +latter, and after having embellished it, made a Present of it to the Queen +his third Wife; but that Princess's ill state of Health obliging her to +retire to _Mecklenbourg_ her Native Country, _Belvedere_ became neglected. + +Near this Royal House is the magnificent Gardens of _Craut_, who from a +Boy behind the Counter rais'd himself by his Industry to the Post of +Pay-master General of the Army, and at length to that of Minister of +State. He was to have been call'd to account in his last stage of Life, +but he cunningly diverted that Storm by feigning himself Lunatic; and +dying, he left an immense Estate, part of which fell to the King by way +of Restitution, and the rest to his Nephew, who makes a grand Figure at +_Paris_. + +I enter'd _Berlin_ thro' that call'd the Gate _Royale_, which has had that +Name ever since the Day that _Frederic_ I. made his Entry there, after his +Coronation at _Koningsberg_ in _Prussia_. This Gate is defended by a +Half-Moon, and two Bastions fac'd with Brick, and fronts that call'd the +Street _Royale_; one of the longest and most frequented in all the City. +There are very fine Houses in it, particularly that of M. _de Catsch_, a +Minister of State, that of _Grumkau_, and the Post-House, which last +Building was begun by order of the late King, for his Favourite the Count +_de Wartemberg_, who was hereditary Post-Master. + +Thro' the Street _Royale_ there run fine, spacious and beautiful Streets. +The first is call'd _la Rue du Cloitre_, in which we see the Royal +Manufactory. _Frederic_ I. who bought it of the Heirs of the Marshal _de +Flemming_, established an Academy of Nobles there; so that, on the Payment +of three hundred Crowns, they had Lodging, Provision, and Instruction in +every thing that it's natural a Man of Quality shou'd know. This +Establishment existed a few Years, but sunk at last meerly thro' the +Neglect of Persons whose Business 'twas to take care of it. The present +King has chang'd this Fabrick into a Work-house, and allowed Lodgings in +it for several Woollen Manufacturers. + +Adjoining to the Royal Manufactory, there are public Warehouses, which +were established and built by the late King; and being destroyed by Fire, +the present King caus'd them to be rebuilt. Opposite to the Warehouses +stands the House of M. _de Creutz_, Minister of State; which has fine +Apartments, and is very neatly furnish'd. Higher in the same Street +there's the House of M. _Duvaine_, a _French_ Man by Birth, and +Lieutenant-General of his _Prussian_ Majesty's Forces: And contiguous to +his House, which makes a fine Appearance, is the _Calvinists_ new Church, +a Structure rais'd after the Model of _Grunberg_, an Architect who had +before acquir'd a Reputation, which did not suffer by his Contrivance of +this great Fabrick: The Front of it is magnificent, but the inside plain, +as are all the Churches of the _Calvinists_, which you know don't +admit of Images. The subterranean Places or Catacombs, for interring +those that worship here, are worth seeing. Several Persons have been +interr'd there of great Note, particularly _Casimir de Colbe_, Count +_de Wartemberg_, Prime Minister, Great Chamberlain, Master of the Horse, +Post-Master-General, Protector of all the Academies in the Dominions of +the King of _Prussia_, and Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle. Being +banish'd in 1711, to _Francfort_ upon the _Maine_, where he died the Year +following, he ordered that his Corpse shou'd be carry'd to _Berlin_; and +his Will was accordingly fulfill'd. He was so dear to King _Frederic_ I. +that he was very loth to part with him; but was, as it were, compell'd to +it by a Cabal, who oppos'd his Ministerial Authority; tho' he was provok'd +at the Insolence of _Wartemberg_'s Wife, and at his mean Submission to +her. The King made an Offer to him afterwards, by the Count _Christophle +de Dohna_, (who was then his Ambassador at _Francfort_, for the Election +of the Emperor,) to come and resume his Employments, on condition that he +wou'd not bring his Wife with him; but _Wartemberg_ refus'd, saying, he +was engag'd in honour not to forsake her. Perhaps he was very glad of this +Excuse for not returning, because he had once experienc'd the Vicissitude +of Fortune, and knew well that he had been too powerful a Man not to be +hated. King _Frederic_ I. who was desirous to see his Funeral pass by, +cou'd not refrain Tears; which undoubtedly was the greatest Character that +he cou'd give of his Minister. + +Next to the Count _de Wartemberg_'s Tomb, is that of _Henrietta de +Pollnitz_, Wife to _Francis_ Count _de Duhamel_, the _Venetians_ +Generalissimo. Her Husband dying in the _Morea_, this Lady return'd to +_Venice_, proposing to go and end her Days at _Berlin_, where she was +born; but while she was performing her Quarantain she died, after desiring +her Body to be carry'd to _Berlin_; which was accordingly done by two of +her Nephews, and one of her Nieces, whom she made her Heirs. There is also +the Tomb of the Count _de Denhoff_, Lieutenant-General of the King's +Armies, Knight of his Order of the Black Eagle, Minister of State, +Governour of _Memel_, and Ambassador at the Treaty of _Utrecht_, where he +acquired a high Reputation among the foreign Ministers. The Marshal _de +Villars_, who had known him at _Vienna_, when he the Marshal resided there +in the quality of Minister, to take care of the Affairs of _France_, said +to me one day, speaking of the Count _de Denhoff_, that the King of +_Prussia_ cou'd not do enough to reward the Count's great Merit. _If he +wou'd have been rul'd by me_, added he, _he wou'd have been in the Service +of the King my Master_. + +The second Street that crosses the Street _Royale_, is the _Jews_ Street, +which runs into the Square _Molcke-Marck_; where the Hotel _de Schwerin_ +makes a fine Appearance. Within a few Houses lower down, there's a +Manufactory of Gold and Silver Lace, which one _Schindler_ has established +with good success: This House belong'd to the Wife of M. _de Wensen_, +Marshal of the Court to King _Frederic_ I. but she resign'd it as part of +Payment of a Fine, to which her Husband had been condemn'd by the Count +_de Wartemberg_, then prime Minister; who confin'd M. _Wensen_ in +_Custrin_ Castle, because he had presum'd to represent to the King that +the Table of the prime Minister, which was served by his Majesty's Cooks +and Butlers, was more expensive than his Majesty's own Table. _Wensen_ +however, upon the Payment of this Fine, obtain'd his Liberty, and was +banish'd to his Lands in the Dutchy of _Zell_. + +In the middle of _Molcke-Marck_ is the Statue of _Frederic_ I. Father to +the present King, with a Crown on his Head, and a royal Mantle on his +Shoulders. The Statue was cast by order of _Frederic_ I. himself, who +intended to have it plac'd in the Court of the Arsenal; but dying before +it cou'd be brought about, the King his Son caus'd it to be set up where +it now stands, which is indeed a much better Place for it. + +The _Spandau_ Street, which is the third that crosses the Street _Royale_, +contains the Town-House, and other fine Buildings: The Street _St. Esprit_ +is altogether as beautiful, as is the Kay, which fronts the Castle or +Palace of the King. Upon this Kay we see the House of the Baron _de +Vernesobre_, whose Ancestors being _French_ Protestant Merchants, settled +at _Koningsberg_ in _Prussia_. He was in _France_ at the time of the +_Mississippy_ Plague, which, tho' so fatal to others, prov'd so fortunate +to him, that he gain'd several Millions of Livres, with which he came and +set up at _Berlin_, where he has taken to building, having purchas'd the +Estate of _Hohensihn_ from Monsieur _de Borstel_, one of the best +Gentlemen of the Country, procur'd himself the Title of Counsellor of +State, and cuts a Figure now among Persons of Quality. + +The Churches of St. _Mary_, St. _Nicholas_, and that belonging to the +Garrison, are as magnificent as any of the Protestant Churches. St. +_Mary_'s has a beautiful Spire. When _Frederic_ I. made his royal Entry +here, at his return from his Coronation, a Man ascended to the Globe of +this Spire, and saluted the new King by flourishing a pair of Colours. +The Church of the Garrison was founded by the late King, but was very much +damag'd some Years ago by the blowing up of a Magazine of Gun-Powder in +the Neighbourhood, just as they were removing it to a safer Place. King +_Frederic William_ has caus'd it to be rebuilt with more Magnificence than +before. The Organs are very fine, and the Galleries very well contriv'd. + +That Ward of _Berlin_ which I have now run through, is separated from that +of _Coln_ or _Cologne_ by the River _Spree_, over which there are four +Bridges, whereof there is one of Stone, call'd the _Pont-neuf_. _Frederic_ +I. in imitation of the _Pont-neuf_ at _Paris_, famous for the Statue of +_Henry_ IV. caused the Equestrian Statue of his Father, the Elector +_Frederic-William_, to be erected upon this Bridge, with very great Pomp +and Splendor; for no Prince in _Germany_ strove more than he did to copy +_Lewis_ XIV. in Magnificence and every thing else. When this Statue was +dedicated, the Count _de Lottum_, who was then Grand Marshal of the Court, +accompanied by most of the Courtiers on horseback, and by the City +Companies, assisted at the Ceremony, which was performed with an +_Apparatus_, till then unknown in _Germany_ upon the like Occasions; but +had been practised at _Paris_, when the Statue of _Lewis le Grand_ was +erected in that City. + +This entire Monument was design'd by one _Jacobi_, who after several Years +Labour and constant Application to it, has brought it to its present +State. This skilful Operator has represented the Elector in a _Roman_ +Dress, and in an heroic Stature; that is to say, above the natural Size. +The Statue is placed on a magnificent Pedestal of white Marble. At the +four Corners of the Base, are placed as many Slaves in Brass, who seem as +if they were chain'd to it. + +When one has pass'd the Bridge, the King's Palace offers itself to view; a +great and stately Fabric, which _Frederic_ I. began in the Year 1699, and +a worthy Monument of that Prince's Magnificence, who was of Opinion, that +of all the Sums expended by Sovereigns, those which they lay out in +Buildings are least liable to Censure. And indeed Magnificence is well +bestowed, and even Profusion seems justifiable in Architecture, because +grand Edifices are the principal Ornament of any State. + +The Palace has been the Workmanship of several Architects; the Name of the +first was _Schluter_, but he not giving Satisfaction was dismiss'd, and +went into the Service of the Czar _Peter Alexiowitz_. Whatever he did is +extremely incumber'd with Ornaments which have not a due Proportion. His +Successor was _Eosander_, a _Swede_, who is a Lieutenant-General in the +Service of the King of _Poland_: He was oblig'd in some measure to pursue +what _Schluter_ had begun; so that if he has not come off well every +where, he has at least that for his Excuse. The third was _Bot_, a +_Frenchman_, and now General Officer in _Poland_; who without dispute was +a much better Artist than the others. Every thing that he has done is more +simple, yet more grand, noble, and complete. + +These three Architects having gone upon different Plans, you will easily +imagine that the Fronts are not perfectly regular; yet for all this, had +the Palace been finish'd according to the Models approv'd of by the late +King, it wou'd have been inferior to no Edifice for Grandeur and +Magnificence, except the _Louvre_ of _Paris_. King _Frederic-William_ does +not think fit to carry on this Building, but leaves that Honour to his +Son, the Prince Royal. + +As to giving you all the Particulars of this vast Palace, you will be so +good as to excuse me: Be satisfied if I only tell you, that it consists +of four Stories: The Apartments are large, have fine Cielings, and are +royally furnish'd. In no part of the World did I ever see such a +prodigious quantity of Plate, Tables, Stands, Lustres, Chandeliers, +Screens, Looking-Glass Frames, Couches, Arm-Chairs, all of Silver. The +late King left Plate to the value of two Millions eight hundred thousand +Crowns, not reckoning the Fashion. In that call'd the Knights Hall, +there's a Beaufet which takes up one intire side of the Room, where there +are Cisterns and Basons Silver gilt, of an extraordinary Size. + +The Furniture of the grand Apartment is very rich; there's a fine Gallery +adorn'd with Pictures, the Cieling of which was painted by one _Peine_, a +_Frenchman_, who in divers Compartments has skilfully represented the +principal Actions of King _Frederic_ I. At the End of this Gallery there's +a Saloon, which was formerly magnificent to the last degree, being +wainscotted, if I may so call it, with Amber: But the late Czar coming on +_Berlin_ in his return from _Holland_ and _France_, and not a little +admiring this Furniture, which was the only thing of its kind, the King +made him a Present of it: so that what had been amass'd with great Care +and Cost by several Electors, fell in one Day into the hands of a Nation, +which, no longer ago than the beginning of the present Century, was +reckon'd Barbarian. + +The Palace had fine Gardens belonging to it before they were destroy'd, +and converted into a Place of Arms, and a Parade for the Guards. + +Hard by the Palace are the King's Stables, a very grand Building, facing +the great Street. The Architecture without is _Gothic_, but the inside is +more magnificent; the Stables are broad and spacious, very lofty, and +very lightsome: the Mangers are of Stone, and the Pillars which mark the +Stands for the Horses, are of Iron, and adorn'd with the King's Cypher, +gilt: Over the Mangers are several great Pictures of the finest Horses +that ever came out of his Majesty's Studs. The Backside of the Stables +projects towards the River _Spree_, to which they can lead the Horses by a +Stair-Case without Steps, built in the form of a Horse-Shoe. + +The Main Body of the House contains grand Lodgings for the Master of the +Horse, and the Officers under him. Over the Stables are great Rooms where +they keep a deal of fine Furniture, both for the Horse and Mule; +magnificent Sleds, with convenient Harness, adorn'd with Bells of Silver, +or Silver gilt; a great number of fine Arms; the rich Accoutrements of the +Horse which serv'd _Frederic_ I. on the Day of his public Entry; all the +Ornaments of the Bridle, the Breast-Leather, and Crupper, as well as the +Bits and Stirrups, being of Gold adorn'd with Brilliants. + +Over the Riding-House is the great Theatre, where, in the late King's +time, Interludes and Comedies us'd to be acted before the whole Court; but +the Opera of _Roxana_ and _Alexander_ was the last that was acted on it. +It was play'd in 1708, upon the Marriage of King _Frederic_ I. with +_Sophia_ of _Mecklemberg_. In 1706, an Interlude was acted there, on +account of the Arrival of the Princess Royal, now Queen; intitled, _Beauty +triumphing over Heroes_; at which the Markgraves _Frederic-Albert_ and +_Christian-Lewis_, the late King's Brothers, danc'd, with all the young +Courtiers. + +As we go farther down the great Street, we come to the Fish-Market, where +is the Hotel of the City of _Cologne_, and _Dorffling_'s Hotel occupied by +the Count _de Finck_. This Family is oblig'd for its Rise to the Marshal +_Dorffling_, who from an Apprentice to a Taylor rais'd himself by his +Valour and Merit to the highest Posts in the Army. The Story goes, that +when he had serv'd his Apprenticeship at _Tangermunde_, having a mind to +go to _Berlin_, he came to a part of the Country where he cou'd not +proceed without crossing the _Elbe_, but not having wherewithal to pay his +Passage, the Ferry-Men refus'd to carry him over; which so vex'd him, that +he threw his Knapsack into the River in a Pet, curs'd the Trade of a +Taylor, and went back to _Tangermunde_, where he listed himself a Soldier. +There being a War at that time all over _Germany_, it was no difficult +matter for the young Warrior to find an Opportunity to shew his Courage; +and he signaliz'd it in such a manner, that his Officers, who were all in +love with him, strove to advance him, and therefore made him known to the +Elector _Frederic-William_. This Prince who lov'd, rewarded, and was a +good Judge of Valour, did not depend upon what Fame reported of him; but +in order to see his Officers and Soldiers fight with his own Eyes, +conducted them himself to the Enemy, and very soon took notice of +_Dorffling_. He saw him at every part of the Field where there was Honour +to be won: He saw he was a sensible industrious Fellow, that he hated +Parties and Cabals, and that he had that _Germanic_ Probity which was the +distinguish'd Virtue of our Forefathers, but which we now content +ourselves with admiring. The Elector observing such a Stock of Virtue in +_Dorffling_, thought him deserving of his Favour, advanc'd him to the +tip-top Employments, and made him very rich. Envy, which is as old as the +World itself, and which like that, never stands still, made several of the +Courtiers jealous of the Fortune or rather the Merit of _Dorffling_, and +there were some who did not stick to say, that if the Marshal came to be +ever so great a Nobleman, he wou'd always retain the Air of a Taylor. This +being carry'd to _Dorffling_, _True enough_, said he, _I was a Taylor, +and I have cut out Cloth; but now_, said he, clapping his Hand to the Hilt +of his Sword, _I have an Instrument in my Hand, with which I'll cut off +the Ears of any Man that slanders me_. + +This brave Fellow liv'd to a great Age, and left a Son who was one of the +King of _Prussia_'s Lieutenant-Generals, and Colonel of a Regiment of +Dragoons, but died without Issue. He had not quite the Vivacity of his +Father, but he had his Honour and Integrity. + +Going out of the Fish-market, as we turn to the right, one perceives the +_Lutheran_ Church of _St. Peter_[2], which is a considerable Structure; +and then we come into that call'd the _Fryars_ Street, the Houses of which +are all well built. In this Street stands the Palace where the _Aulic_ +Council meets, which in _France_ they call the _Parlement_; 'tis here that +all Civil Causes are try'd, and from thence there lies an Appeal to the +King's Council. + +Beyond the Palace there is a Square, on the Right side of which there's a +Church with a Cupola which belongs to the _Calvinists_, and is look'd upon +as the Cathedral of _Berlin_: For you know that the late King made two +Bishops, one in _Prussia_ and the other at _Berlin_, and they were the +Prelates that crown'd him. They are since dead, and the present King lets +their Sees lie vacant. In this Church is the Tomb of the Royal Family. +There's a great Row of Buildings over against it, which consists of +several uniform Houses belonging to Merchants, and supported by stately +Arches with Shops under them, where are sold all sorts of Goods. Turning +round by that Piazza, brings one to a second Branch of the River, which +divides the Ward of _Coln_ from that of _Werder_. This River, which has +three wooden Bridges over it, is confin'd in a Canal lin'd with Freestone, +and form'd by two fine Kays. + +The most considerable Edifices in the Ward of _Werder_ are the Royal +Custom-House, so commodiously situate that Boats can come up close to it: +The _French_ School, and their Church, which is serv'd by able Ministers; +some of whom, as the late M. _Lenfant_ (Author of the celebrated _History_ +of the _Council of Constance_, &c. and Chaplain to the King of _Prussia_) +M. _de Beausobre_ and M. _Jacquelot_, &c. have acquir'd a Reputation in +the Republic of Letters. The Royal Hunting-House is a large magnificent +Structure for lodging the great Huntsman and all his inferior Officers: +There too is the great Dog-Kennel and the Magazines for all the Hunting +Equipage. Near this place is the Hotel or Palace for Ambassadors, where +are likewise entertain'd such Foreign Princes as are not of a Rank high +enough to be accommodated in the King's Palace. This Hotel belong'd +formerly to the Baron _de Danckelman_, Prime Minister to King _Frederic_ +when he was only Elector, and being built by the said Minister at a time +when he was such a Favourite that he did almost what he pleas'd, he spar'd +no Cost to render it a Mansion worthy of his high Station. I was assur'd +by Persons of Credit then alive, that after it was built, the late King +had a Desire to see it, upon which occasion M. _de Danckelman_ made a +great Entertainment for him; and that while the Queen and the whole Court +were dancing, the King retir'd into his Minister's Closet, to have a +private Conference with him; and looking very earnestly on a certain +Picture there, M. _de Danckelman_ told him, that Picture and all that he +saw would soon be his Majesty's. The King not knowing what he meant, +desir'd his Minister to explain himself; whereupon he made answer, 'That +he shou'd very shortly incur his Displeasure; that his Fall wou'd be +attended by the Forfeiture of all his Estate; that he should be arrested +and committed to the _Spandau_ Prison; and that there he should be +confin'd ten Years, at the Expiration of which his Innocence wou'd be made +to appear, his Estate wou'd be restor'd to him, and he shou'd be taken +again into his Majesty's Favour.' The King, who was at that time very fond +of his Minister, and did not think he cou'd ever do without him, ridicul'd +what he had said as the Surmise of a Visionary, and was going to swear by +the New Testament then upon a Table in the Room, that this sad Prophecy +wou'd never come to pass. But the Minister held his Hand, and begg'd him +not to take an Oath which it wou'd not be in his power to keep. + +I tell you this Story just as I had it from a Lady of Quality to whom the +King himself told it: But in short, let the Story be as it will, 'tis very +certain that M. _de Danckelman_ was disgrac'd, committed Prisoner to +_Spandau_, and from thence remov'd to _Peitz_, without any Companion but +his Wife, who generously desir'd to suffer Imprisonment with him. His +Confinement lasted much longer than he had prophesy'd, and when at length +he obtained his Release, he was not restor'd to his Employments, nor even +to his Estate. 'Tis said indeed that the present King, who on his +Accession to the Crown sent for M. _de Danckelman_ to _Berlin_, offer'd +him the Ministry; but that the Baron excus'd himself by reason of his +great Age and his tedious Imprisonment, which had made him lose the +Connection of Public Affairs. This Minister died lately, having lived to +the Age of fourscore. His remarkable Disgrace, and fifteen Years +Confinement in a Prison, had not sunk his Spirits, nor shock'd his +Constancy of Mind; and one shall scarce meet with an Instance in History, +either before or since, of more Merit and more Misfortune in one and the +same Person. He was a passionate Admirer of Learned Men, and a Rewarder of +Virtue. In a word, by the Disgrace of this Great Man, the State lost a +faithful disinterested Minister, and Men of Learning lost a _Mecaenas_, +full of Zeal and solid Knowledge, who never fail'd to support by his own +Authority, and to procure a Reward from his Master, for all Persons that +apply'd to him with any Proposal that was useful and uncommon. + +To go from the Ambassadors Hotel to the New Town, one must pass before the +House belonging to the Governour of _Berlin_[3], who is at present the +Marshal Count _de Wartensleben_; a Nobleman whose Virtues, long Services, +and great Age, challenge Veneration. The House he lives in was built by +order of the Elector _Frederic-William_, for the Reception of the Marshal +_de Schomberg_, who resign'd the Battoon of the Marshal of _France_ to +_Lewis_ XIV. after that Prince had revok'd the Edict of _Nantes_, and came +with a numerous Retinue of Gentlemen, to desire Employment under the +Elector. Accordingly that Prince gave him the Command of his Troops, but +the Marshal quitted that Employment, to accompany the PRINCE of ORANGE to +_England_, in his famous Expedition against his Father-in-Law; and he +likewise attended that Prince to _Ireland_, where he acquir'd great Glory, +but was kill'd in passing the River _Boyne_. + +The _Governour's House_ is separated by a great Square from the _Arsenal_, +which is one of the compleatest Fabrics in _Europe_, and was built +according to a Model design'd by _Bot_, whom I mention'd to you before; +which skilful Architect has, upon this occasion, equalled any thing that +was ever done by the famous _Bernin_. + +The intire Structure consists of four main Bodies of Building, which form +a spacious Quadrangle in the middle. The lower Story is of Rustic +Architecture, with arch'd Windows. There are three great Porticoes at the +Entrance to each Front. Over the principal Gate there's the Picture of the +late King, in a great Medal of Brass. The four Cardinal Virtues of a +Gigantic Size, are plac'd on Pedestals by the Portico, and seem to look +towards the King's Effigies, which is supported by Fame and Victory. The +_Corinthian_ Order prevails throughout the first Story, and is very +artfully executed. A Gallery or Ballustrade runs round the whole Edifice, +and is adorn'd with Trophies and Statues, particularly a very perfect one +of _Mars_, sitting upon a Heap of Arms of different sorts; and the +Decoration of all together is noble and majestic. Studs of Iron in form of +Cannon are plac'd at proper Distances, and support Iron Chains, hung in +Festoons, which hinder People from clambering up to the Windows. + +The Inside of this _Arsenal_ is as magnificent as the Outside. The lower +Rooms are stor'd with a great number of Brass Cannon. The Walls and +Pillars that support the Arch are garnish'd with Cuirasses and Helmets. In +the upper Story there are several Rooms full of Arms, rang'd in such Order +as can never be enough admir'd. + +Behind the _Arsenal_ there's the House of the General of the Ordnance, +which also contains the Foundery, where Men are continually at work. + +Besides this _Arsenal_, there are several others in _Berlin_, where they +keep Field-Pieces, Iron Cannon, and all that belongs to the Train of +Artillery. 'Twas the late Margrave _Philip_[4], Brother to _Frederic_ I. +who when he was Great Master of the Ordnance began to put the King's +_Arsenals_ into a good State. But King _Frederic-William_ has finish'd +what his said Uncle began, and has put the Artillery on such a footing, +that 'tis a question if any _Arsenal_ in _Europe_ is on a better +Regulation. + +A Rampart and a Ditch separate the _Werder_ from the _Dorothy-Stadt_, or +new Town, which is for most part inhabited by _French_ Families. It had +the Name of _Dorothy-Stadt_ in honour of the Electress _Dorothy_ of +_Holstein-Glucksburg_, the second Wife of _Frederic-William_, who with her +own Hand planted the first Lime-Tree of the seven great Rows which divide +this Ward into two Parts. The middlemost Row, which is the widest, is +inclos'd with Ballustrades, and forms a pleasant Grass-Walk for +Foot-Passengers. The Walks on each side are pav'd, and serve as a Ring for +the Coaches. Nothing is more beneficial and agreeable than taking the Air +in this Place, where you may have any thing that can be desir'd in a City. +At the end of one of these Walks is a Gate which opens to the Park, the +Walks of which being above a League in length, form a fine Point of View. + +On both sides the Lime-Tree Rows, are Houses, among which the Palace of +Madame the Margravine, Dowager[5] to the Margrave _Philip_, Brother to the +late King, is one of the best. The late Margrave purchas'd this Palace +(which at that time was inconsiderable) of the Wife of _Weiller_ Colonel +of the Artillery, who had thrown up his Employments, Wife, Children and +all, to go with a Lady of Quality, that was in love with him, to _Vienna_. +This Gentlewoman pass'd for a modern _Sappho_, and every body talk'd of +her Virtue and good Sense. But being a Slave to the Follies of Love, and +asham'd to let them be seen at _Berlin_, where she was counted an Oracle, +she resolv'd to quit the Place of her Birth, and engag'd her Lover to +leave all and follow her. + +The Margrave made considerable Augmentations to this House, and render'd +it very commodious. The Furniture of the Palace also is rich, and worthy +of the Princess who resides in it. + +Opposite to the Margravine's Palace is a Building which was formerly +call'd the King's Little Stables, but has been metamorphos'd into Caserns +for the Gendarmery; they discover the Magnificence of _Frederic_ I. who +caused them to be built. The Apartments that run over the Stables are +occupied by the Academy of Painters, and that of Arts and Sciences. Behind +the Stables there's the Observatory, with a great number of Astronomical +and Mathematical Instruments, of which there are many of a new Invention. + +_Frederic-Stadt_, which is the fifth Ward of _Berlin_, communicates with +the New Town and the _Werder_. This is one of the pleasantest Wards in the +whole City, the Streets being spacious, strait, and planted with +Lime-Trees[6]. + +Perhaps I have dwelt too long upon the Metropolis of the Electorate of +_Brandenburgh_; but I thought that as there had been no true Account yet +given of this City, you wou'd not be sorry to have it from me. + +The next day after my Arrival here, I had the Honour to see the King, who +was then seeing his Soldiers mount guard. He is a Prince of a middling +Stature, and in very good Plight of Body: His Air commands Respect; yet, +when he pleases, no Prince in the World can be more gracious. I heard him +speak to his Officers in such a kind manner as cou'd not but charm them; I +admir'd his Genius for military Discipline, and perceiv'd that with the +Glance of an Eye he cou'd discover the least Fault committed against that +wonderful Exactness which is introduc'd in the Evolutions of his Troops. +After the Guards had perform'd their Exercise, the King stay'd to see them +file off. I never yet saw Troops march with more Order and State, so that +it seem'd as if they were all mov'd by one Spring. All the Soldiers are +young, of an even Stature, and the cleverest Fellows that Nature ever +form'd: they are well cloth'd, and have such an Air of Neatness, that even +the private Centinels might all pass for Officers. I remember you was +prejudic'd against their Clothing; their Clothes you said were too strait, +and too short. I was of your Opinion once, and think so still, when I +happen to see one of their Officers and Soldiers singly among us, who wear +Night-Gowns rather than Coats; but when I see a whole Body of _Prussians_ +together, I am of another Opinion, and think their Dress gives them a +warlike Air which other Troops have not. You will tell me perhaps, that +the Clothing of the _Prussians_ is good in a Garrison, but that in the +Field their Garments are not wide enough to cover the Soldiers in the +Night. I answer, that the _Prussian_ Soldiers are in no danger of not +being cover'd, because when they are in the Field, every Captain is to +carry as many Coverlids, as there are Comrades in his Company. But you'll +say, this must be a very great Incumbrance, and take up a deal of +Equipage. 'Tis true, it may require two Sumpter Horses in a Company, but a +Soldier fares the better for it; because when he goes wet into the Camp, +he can get his Clothes dry'd in the Night while he is under his Coverlid. +After all, the Incumbrance is no greater at present, for those Troops, +than it was at the time when all the _Prussian_ Infantry had Cloaks, which +the Soldiers wore, was the Weather ever so hot, folded over their +Shoulders, and ty'd both before and behind by their Belt. If they had any +hasty March to make, such as I saw they made in _Flanders_ in 1708, when +they went to attack the _French_ near _Audenarde_, the _Prussians_ left +their Cloaks behind with a Guard, and when the Battle was join'd, the +Captains were oblig'd to send for their Cloaks. In short, what makes me +think the _Prussian_ Clothing the most convenient for a Soldier, is, that +most of the _German_ Princes are now come into it, and like it well: The +Troops of _Saxony_, and _Brunswic_ in particular, are cloth'd like those +of _Prussia_. + +The _Prussian_ Troops, which are new cloth'd every Year, have Breeches of +Woollen Cloth for the Winter, and of Linnen for the Summer; and they are +allow'd Shirts, Necks and Spatterdashes: Their Pay is good and regular; +the Soldier is compell'd to do his Duty, but when he does it, enjoys more +Liberty than in the Service of any other Nation: so that were I to carry a +Musket, I fancy it wou'd be in the Service of _Prussia_, where such a +strict Discipline is observ'd, that the Soldier is no Swearer, and is not +allow'd to game, and where in a word he does not abandon himself to +Licentiousness. On Sundays and Saints Days they are requir'd to go twice a +day to hear a Sermon: The Catholicks have the liberty of going to Mass. In +short, good Manners are introduc'd and observ'd in those Troops to such a +Nicety, that you would wonder at it. + +All the Infantry is cloth'd in blue. It depends on the Colonel of every +Regiment, to order what Waistcoats and Trimming he pleases for the +Clothes. The Horse and Dragoons wear white, but the Houshold Troops blue, +with Campaign Coats of Gold Lace. The Hussars Clothing is red, but the +Garbs of the Officers both of Foot and Horse are plain, and only differ +from the Apparel of the Soldiers in the fineness of the Cloth; tho' there +are some Regiments whose Waistcoats are bedaub'd all over with Gold or +Silver Lace. + +The Colours, which are uniform in all the Regiments, are white, with the +King's Device, representing an Eagle flying towards the Sun with this +Motto, _Nec Soli cedit_. There's such a Uniformity preserv'd in all things +throughout the Army, even in their Guns, Swords, Bayonets, &c. that in +every Regiment they wear the very same, even to their Shoe-Buckles. + +The same Regularity is observ'd in the Horse and Dragoons, which ride both +upon black Horses; and indeed they are not permitted to have any others, +the Officers themselves being not exempt from this Rule, when they are at +the head of their Squadrons or Companies. The Housings and Equipage of the +latter are of the same Pattern, and extremely rich. All the Horse wear +Buff-Coats, and underneath Cuirasses. They perform their Exercise on Foot +like the Infantry, and with the same Exactness. The Kettle-Drums and +Trumpets of all the Horse are of Silver. + +There is not a Captain in all the _Prussian_ Army but has at least ten +supernumerary Men; so that these included, the King's Forces amount to +near 100000, all pick'd Men. You cou'd not but admire if you were to see +how they behave; insomuch that whenever they take the Field, 'tis pity but +Fortune shou'd favour them. + +Not many Days after my Arrival here, the King being gone to visit his +Kingdom, I had the Honour of waiting on the Queen. This Princess, whose +Name is _Sophia-Dorothea_, is Sister to the present King of _Great +Britain_, being the Daughter of _George_ I. the late King, and of +_Sophia-Dorothea_ Princess of _Brunswic-Zell_. And she does every thing +that is worthy of her August Extraction; for surely never did Daughter +more resemble a Father; she has the same Benignity and Wisdom, the same +Equity and Justice, and Sweetness of Temper. Like him she knows the Charms +of a private Life, and Friendship, on a Throne: Like him she is ador'd by +her Subjects and her Domestics, and is the chief Blessing and Darling of +both. To extend Goodness and Affability farther, were impossible; there +being no Foreigners but what are charm'd with the gracious Manner in which +this Princess receives them. To a thousand Virtues worthy of Veneration, +she has added the singular Talent of speaking the Language of several +Countries which she never saw, with as much Delicacy as if they had been +her Mother Tongues. The _French_ Language especially, is so familiar to +her, that one wou'd take her to be a Princess of the Royal Family of +_France_; and the Grandeur and Majesty that accompany all her Actions, +induce those even who don't know her, to be of Opinion that she was born +to reign. + +That which still more endears this Queen to her People, is the Care she +takes of the Education of her Family; which consists of four Princes, and +six Princesses. The eldest of the Sons is stil'd the _Prince Royal_[7]. +This young Prince is handsome, charms every one by his Kindness and +Good-Nature; and loves Reading, Musick, the Arts, and Magnificence: His +Sentiments, his Behaviour, and his Actions, make it probable, that if he +comes to the Crown, his Reign will be one of those mild and peaceable +Reigns, which procure Kings that Love of their People, wherein consists +their true Glory. The Care of the Prince Royal's Education was committed +first of all to Madam _de Camke_, one of the Queen's Ladies of Honour, and +Governess of the Children of _Prussia_. But this Lady left the Charge of +the latter to the Sub-Governess, Madam _de Rocoule_, and her Daughter +Madamoiselle _de Montbail_. Madam _de Rocoule_ had also the honour to be +Sub-Governess to the King; so that she was no Novice in the forming of +young Princes. As she talks nothing but _French_, she has taught it to the +King's Children; who speak it with as much ease as they do the _German_ +Language. At seven Years of Age the Prince Royal was taken out of the +Hands of the Women; and the Count _de Finck_ of _Finckenstein_, +Lieutenant-General of the King's Forces, a Knight of his Order, and +Colonel of a Regiment of Horse, was appointed his Royal Highness's +Governour; and the Baron _de Kalestein_ was made Sub-Governour. The King's +Choice of both these Gentlemen was universally applauded. + +The eldest of the King's Children is _Frederica-Sophia-Wilhelmina_, the +Princess Royal; who was born in 1709. I was at _Berlin_ at the Ceremony of +her Baptism, which was performed in the Chapel of the Castle, in presence +of _Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_, _Frederic-Augustus_ King of +_Poland_, and _Frederic_ I. King of _Prussia_. The Birth of this Princess, +and the Circumstances of three Kings and a Queen attending at her Baptism, +gave occasion to a great many Copies of Verses. All the Poets said that +the Presence of these three Kings, was a Sign that she wou'd one day have +Possession of three Crowns. They had then in view the Crowns of _Great +Britain_, that were to devolve to the Family of _Hanover_; in which there +was a young Prince[8], who, it was then imagin'd, was to be in time the +Husband of this Princess. Whether this Match will ever take place, and +whether the Princess will be Queen, I can't say; but if she is not, +Fortune will not do Justice to her Merit. + +The Princess _Frederica-Louisa_, the King's second Daughter, is lately +married to the Margrave of _Brandenburgh Anspach_. 'Tis said that his +Majesty's third Daughter, the Princess _Philippina-Charlotte_, is promised +to[9]_Charles_, hereditary Prince of _Brunswic-Bevern_, Nephew to the +Empress Regent. + +The other Princes and Princesses, the King's Children[10], are as yet too +young to furnish any Particulars for their Character. In a word, put them +all together, they form a very fine Family. + +The Margravine, Dowager of the Margrave _Philip_, Brother to the late +King, is the first in Rank at Court, next to the King's Children: She was +born Princess of _Anhalt-Dessau_. Her Royal Highness was lately chose +Abbess of _Herford_, a sovereign Abby in _Westphalia_, (in a Town +belonging to the King of _Prussia_, as part of the Principality of +_Ravensberg_;) whose Canonesses must be all Princesses, or Countesses of +the Empire. This Princess, tho' she is past her Bloom, is still the +Ornament of the Court; and no Person can be more civil than she is to +Foreigners; so that 'tis as much a Pleasure as a Duty to pay one's Court +to her. When the King is at _Berlin_, and the Queen has no Drawing-Room, +the whole Court repairs to the Margravine's House, where her Royal +Highness daily keeps an elegant Table; to which she admits the Quality of +both Sexes. She is the Mother of two Princes and a Princess; the Sons are +the Margraves _Frederic_ and _Henry_, and the Daughter is married to the +hereditary Prince of _Wirtemberg_. The young Margrave _Frederic_ resides +at _Schwedt_ upon the _Oder_, where he has a very fine House; but does not +come to Court but when he can't avoid it. The young Margrave _Henry_ +resides commonly at _Berlin_. Both these Princes are handsome, lusty, and +well shap'd. + +The Margrave _Albert_, the King's Uncle[11], lives in his Majesty's +Palace, tho' he is eight Months of the Year at _Frederichsfelde_, a +Pleasure-House about a League from _Berlin_. He is the second Son of the +Elector _Frederic-William_, and _Dorothy_ of _Holstein Glucksburg_: He +is well shap'd, has a noble Air, and has been in his time a very good +Dancer: He is fond of Grandeur and Pleasures. At the beginning of the last +War he distinguished himself very much at the Siege of _Keyserswaert_, and +other Places, where he commanded the Troops of the King his Brother. His +Royal Highness is Governor of _Pomerania_, Knight of the Black Eagle, and +Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, and of another of Horse, in the King's +Service: He has also a Regiment of Foot in the Service of the _United +Provinces_; and is Grand Master of the six Commanderies of the Order of +St. _John_ of _Jerusalem_, who, at the Alteration of Religion in the time +of _Luther_, withdrew from the Grand Master of _Malta_, and assum'd to +themselves a Right of chusing a Grand Master under the Protection of the +Elector of _Brandenburgh_. The Margrave marry'd a Princess of _Courland_, +Heiress to the Freeholds of her Uncle Duke _Ferdinand_, the last of her +Family. This Princess, tho' not reckon'd a Beauty of the first Rate, has a +great Share of Charms and Good-nature, Modesty and Politeness. Their Royal +Highnesses are perfectly civil to those who have Access to them; which is +the reason, that notwithstanding the little Concern they have in Business, +they have always a numerous Court. They have three Princes, and two +Princesses. The eldest of the Sons is _Charles_, a Prince whose Person and +Character are very amiable. The eldest of the Daughters is married to the +Duke of _Saxe-Eysenach_. + +The last Prince of the Royal Family, is the Margrave _Christian-Lewis_, +third Son of the Elector _Frederic-William_ by the second Marriage. This +Prince is Governour of the City and County of _Halberstadt_; he has a +Regiment of Foot, is Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle, and Commander +of that of St. _John_. He studied at _Leyden_; after which, he serv'd +with distinction in _Italy_. He now lives retir'd from Court at _Malchau_, +a House about a Mile from _Berlin_, which the late King bought of the +Heirs of M. _de Fuchs_, his Minister of State. There the Margrave, who has +a Relish for the Pleasures of private Life, passes his Time in Hunting, +Reading, and every innocent Pleasure that an agreeable Country is capable +of furnishing. This Prince has been a handsome well-made Man; he has a +grand Air, and there's something heroic in his Physiognomy: In the very +Flower of his Youth he was a constant Admirer of Virtue, and might ever be +quoted for an Example of Sobriety. He is so exceeding fat, that it's +fear'd he won't live to be a very old Man[12]. + +All the Princes of the Royal Family wear the _Prussian_ Order, _viz._ that +of the Black Eagle; and receive it as soon as they are born. 'Tis an +Orange Ribband, to which is appendant a Cross enamel'd with blue, +resembling the Cross of _Malta_. A Star of Silver is embroider'd on the +Coat; and in the middle of it is an Orange Escutcheon, over which is a +black Eagle crown'd with Wings display'd, holding in one of its Talons a +Crown of Laurel, and in the other a Thunder-bolt, with the Motto, SUUM +CUIQUE, in Letters of Gold. This Order was instituted by _Frederic_ I. the +sixth of _January_ 1701, _O. S._ on account of his Coronation at +_Koningsberg_. He call'd it the Order of the Black Eagle, because a Black +Eagle forms the Arms of _Prussia_; and he chose an Orange Ribband, in +memory of the Electress his Mother, who was a Princess of _Orange_; in +Right of whom he pretends to be next Heir to _William_ III. King of +_England_, and Prince of _Orange_. + +The Princes of the Royal Family are not exempt from passing thro' the +Degrees of military Service; and 'tis not here as in other places, where +they have Regiments and Governments as soon as they are born. The King +will have them to know how to obey, before they come to command; and 'tis +an Encouragement to the Officers to find themselves so far honour'd, as to +be on a Par in the Service, with those who are born to be their +Sovereigns. The Prince Royal has a Regiment of Horse[13]. M. _de +Lopel_[14], a Major-General, commanded that Regiment formerly, but the +King preferring him to the Government of _Custrin_, this Regiment has for +Colonel M. _de Wreech_, a Person of a good Family in the new Marquisate. +His Father, who was one of the King's Lieutenant-Generals, had serv'd the +late Elector _Frederic-William_, the late King, and his present Majesty. +M. _de Wreech_, whom I am speaking of, was, at his return from his +Travels, appointed by the late King a Gentleman of his Bed-chamber: After +that Prince's Death, his present Majesty enter'd him into his Service, and +gave him a Troop of Horse. This Gentleman distinguished himself greatly in +1708, at the Battle of _Audenarde_; where he was _Aid de Camp_ to the +Marshal _de Natzmer_, then General of the Cavalry: He had a Horse kill'd +under him, and was taken Prisoner; but the Enemy in their Flight not +watching him very strictly, he found means to get off when the Night came +and put an end to the Battle. He lay hid in a Ditch till next day, in +danger every moment of being knock'd on the head by our own Men; but when +the Day broke, he rejoin'd his General, who had received a slight Wound +in the Head. M. _de Wreech_ is one of the richest Subjects the King has; +but he is worthy of his Fortune, and uses it like a Man of Quality. He is +certainly a valuable Gentleman, has a noble Soul, and Sense and Knowledge +enough to capacitate him to serve his King and Country both in Peace and +War. + +_Berlin_ is not a City where you ought to look for the most lively +Diversions; the King, to whose Will every body conforms, not being fond of +them himself. Yet when once a Man is known there, he will find Amusement +enough; for the People are affable and civil, make plentiful +Entertainments, and have very good Wine. + +When the King is absent, the Queen has a Drawing-Room every Night, from +seven o'clock till ten; when her Majesty sups with the Princes and +Princesses of her Family, and other Persons of Distinction of both Sexes. +But when the King is at _Berlin_, the Queen keeps no Drawing-Room, unless +some Foreign Prince happen to be there. Then there are Assemblies in the +City alternatively, among Persons of the first Rank, at which they +sometimes dance; and the King and Prince Royal frequently honour these +Assemblies with their Presence. When there is no grand Assembly, there are +particular Societies, where they sup, and play at small Game. + +The Ministers of most consequence at this Court are Messieurs _d'Ilgen_, +_Grumkau_, and _Kniphausen_[15]; these are they who treat of Foreign +Affairs, and thro' whose hands pass the Secrets of State: but the King's +Prime Minister is the King himself, who is inform'd of every thing, and is +desirous to know every thing. He gives great Application to Business, but +does it with extraordinary Ease; and nothing escapes his Penetration, nor +his Memory, which is a very happy one. No body knows better than he where +his Government is strong, and where 'tis weak; and no Sovereign in the +World is of more easy Access, his Subjects being actually permitted to +write to him, without any other Formality than superscribing the Letter, +_To the King_. By writing underneath, _To be deliver'd into his Majesty's +own Hands_, one may be sure that the King receives and reads it, and that +the next Post he will answer it, either with his own Hand or by his +Secretary: these Answers are short, but peremptory, and they prevent a +tedious painful Attendance. The King, who is an Enemy to vain Pomp and +Pageantry, always goes abroad without any Guards, with only a small +Retinue, and sometimes too walks on foot; he makes his Greatness to +consist in solid Power, in the having his Troops well disciplin'd, his +Places kept up in good Order, his Arsenals well provided, and his Treasury +full enough to enable him to oppose his Enemy in case he be attack'd. He +never aims so much as to disturb his Neighbours, much less to rob them: I +heard him say one day, that _he had no Intention of attacking any body, +nor of beginning a War; but if he was attack'd, he would defend himself +the best he could_: a Conduct which he has religiously observed ever since +he has been plac'd upon the Throne, even towards _Charles_ XII. King of +_Sweden_, notwithstanding what is said of him by a certain Author, who +from sorry Memoirs has wrote that Prince's Life. But I will not deviate +from my Subject. + +There's no Town in all the King of _Prussia_'s Dominions, except +_Neufchatel_, where he has not been; no Province which he does not know +full well; not a noble Family but he can tell their Revenues; nor a Court +of Justice but he is well acquainted with their chief Members. His +Behaviour is plain; he knows no Gallantry, and does not easily pardon it +in his Officers. He is so true to his Consort the Queen, that he wishes +all Men would follow his Example, and that every Husband would live only +with the Woman whom God has allotted him. His Diversion is Hunting; and +for this reason, he resides commonly at _Potzdam_ or _Wusterhausen_, which +are Pleasure-Houses four Miles from _Berlin_. Yet he generally goes on +_Saturdays_ into his Capital, where he holds a Council on _Sunday_, and +returns on _Monday_. In the Winter he makes a longer stay at _Berlin_: but +let him be either here or there, he is on the Parade every Day at ten +o'clock, when his Soldiers mount the Guard; after which he gives Audience +to his Ministers, and holds a Council, or goes abroad for the Air. At Noon +the King appears in a great Saloon, where are all the Generals and +Officers, the Foreign Ministers, and all the Court in general: There he +converses a few Moments, and then goes into another Room, where he dines +with the Queen, the Princes and Princesses of his Family, and any other +Persons whom he has caused to be invited. His Table is commonly spread for +eighteen Guests. After he has sate about an Hour and half at Table, he +retires to his Closet till six at Night, when he appears again in the Room +where he held his Levee: There his Majesty gives Orders to the Marshal +_Wartensleben_ Governor of _Berlin_, and to the Marshal _Natzmer_ +Commandant of the Gendarmery. After this, he talks a while with those that +are present, and then passes into a Room at some distance from his +Apartment, to which the Queen repairs sometimes with one or two Ladies in +company. There are ten or a dozen Officers whom the King honours with his +Confidence, who play here at _Picquet_, _Ombre_, and _Backgammon_. Here +they also smoak, and to this Place the King sends for such as he has a +mind to talk with about special Affairs. I have been there twice upon +such an account. Here there is no manner of Restraint, but every body sits +down, the King dispensing with all the Respect that is due to him, and at +eleven o'clock he dismisses the Company and retires. + +The King hunts when he is at _Potzdam_ and _Wusterhausen_; but in other +respects he leads the same Life there as he does at _Berlin_. At _Potzdam_ +he hunts the Stag, having for that end caused a great Forest to be paled +in, where he has made noble Roads. + +The Castle at _Potzdam_, which is very convenient, was built by the +Elector _Frederic-William_, who commonly resided at it; and after having +run his glorious Race, died here the 29th of _April_, 1688. King +_Frederic_ I. made considerable Embellishments to it, particularly the +great Gate opening into the main Court of the Castle, which is an +admirable Piece of Architecture that was design'd by M. _Bot_, my Hero for +Buildings. But all that the late King did, does not come up to the Works +that have been added to it of late Years. The Town of _Potzdam_ has been +augmented two Thirds; the Streets are as strait as a Line, with Trees +planted, and Canals cut in them after the manner of _Holland_; the Houses +are uniform and built with Bricks. Besides a great Hospital, which the +King has founded here for his Soldiers' Orphans, here is a considerable +Fabric for Armourers, who make all those Arms for the Forces and Arsenals, +which were formerly made at _Liege_. + +This Town is the Garrison for the first Battalion of those _Tall +Grenadiers_, so much talk'd of in _Europe_. I protest to you that they +exceed the common Report, being the compleatest, the finest, and +best-disciplin'd Body that can be imagin'd. The Men are of all Nations, +there being scarce a Prince in _Europe_ but takes a pleasure in sending +Recruits to it. Some of these Grenadiers have had 1500 Crowns List-Money; +and several receive two Florins _per diem_: Some of them are very rich; +others there are who trade, and have good Houses at _Potzdam_. The tallest +and the best Man among them all was one call'd _Jonas_, (lately dead) who +work'd heretofore in the Mines of _Norway_. The famous _Huguetan_, whom +_Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_ created Count _de Guldenstein_, took him +from the Mines, and presented him to the King. He then stoop'd in the +Shoulders, and hobbled in walking; but by tricking him up, they gave him +that good Air which he wanted. + +'Tis certain, there are no Troops in the World where the Peasant sooner +shakes off the clownish Air, and more easily assumes the military one. +This gigantic Regiment has requir'd great Pains, and considerable Sums to +establish it; and I am assured it has cost the King more than six other +Regiments. But 'tis all his Majesty takes delight in; and surely this +Prince cannot but be commended for giving into a Pleasure so noble, and so +innocent. + +Having given you some Account of _Potzdam_, I must also mention +_Charlottenbourg_, another Royal House, a Mile from _Berlin_. This Castle +stands on the _Spree_, so that one may go to it by Water: but the common +Way is thro' the Park which is at the end of the great Walk from the new +Town. + +In the late King's time, whenever he was at _Charlottenbourg_, all the +Road from _Berlin_ to this Palace was lighted by Lanthorns erected on both +sides. + +_Charlottenbourg_ was formerly call'd _Lutzenbourg_. It was a small +Village belonging to M. _Doberginsky_, Steward of the Houshold to the +Queen, (the King's Mother.) He had built a trifling House there, and that +Queen taking the Air there one day, lik'd the Situation of the Place so +well, that she bought it, and set about building there; but she died +before all the Works she had undertaken were finished. However, her +Husband King _Frederic_ I. caused them to be carried on, and made +considerable Additions to them; and in order to perpetuate the Queen's +Name, which was _Sophia-Charlotte_, he caused _Lutzenbourg_ to be called +_Charlottenbourg_. This Castle is one of the most considerable Structures +in _Germany_; the Apartments are grand and splendid, and the Furniture +very rich. There's a Cabinet adorn'd with the choicest Porcellane, ranged +in such order as is surprising: In another Cabinet there are Lustres, a +Tea-Table with Dishes, a Coffee-Pot, and the whole Equipage in short of +solid Gold. The Chapel is one of the most superb that can be; every side +being adorn'd with Gold and Painting. The Orangery is one of the most +magnificent in _Europe_; not only with regard to the Beauty and Number of +its Trees, but the Greatness of the Building in which they are kept all +the Winter. + +I could tell you of several more Houses which the late King had in the +Neighbourhood of _Berlin_; but as they were suffer'd to run to ruin after +he died, I think I had better entertain you with the Characters of the +prime Nobility at this Court. + +The Count _de Wartensleben_ is the oldest Marshal. He is by Birth a +_Westphalian_, and pass'd his early days in the Service of _France_. He +was Commander in chief of the Troops of the Duke of _Saxe-Gotha_, when +King _Frederic_ I. called him to his Service. The Count _de Wartemberg_, +who was at that time the Chief Minister, wanted a Person to be at the head +of the Troops, who should be intirely devoted to himself: This was an +Obedience he did not expect to find in the Counts _de Lottum_, _Dhona_, +and _Denhoff_, nor in the other Generals whose long Services and Birth +might make them aspire to this military Dignity. He believed the fittest +Person to be his Tool would be a Foreigner that should be oblig'd to him +for his Fortune: Therefore he caus'd the Marshal's Batoon to be given to +the Count _de Wartensleben_, who answer'd to a tittle the Intention of the +Minister his Benefactor. 'Tis true, that he never seconded his Revenge, +but neither did he oppose it. He did the Business of his Office, and +meddled not with the Intrigues of the Court. It may be said of him, that +he never deviated from the Path of Equity, and in Justice to him it must +be own'd that he always did good, when it was in his power. Since the +Death of the late King, his Authority and Interest are very much lessened. +Besides, he is too far advanc'd in years to concern himself with almost +any Business at all. + +The General whose Power is most rever'd, is the Prince _Leopold_ of +_Anhalt-Dessau_. In consideration of his high Birth, and the Rank of +Sovereign which he holds in the Empire, I ought to have nam'd him first; +only the Count _de Wartensleben_ is the oldest Marshal. + +The Prince of _Anhalt_ is Marshal, Governour of the City of _Magdebourg_, +Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle. +This Prince, who is a Person of a good Stature and noble Presence, happy +Features and a lively Aspect, was born with all the Qualifications of a +General and a Soldier, being vigilant, laborious, indefatigable, equally +patient of Heat and Cold, Want and Abundance; Brave even to Intrepidity, +and possibly never equalled in this respect, unless we except _Charles_ +XII. King of _Sweden_: Being a Man of unexampled Rigour in Military +Discipline, he will be obey'd; but then he rewards his Soldiers when they +do their Duty, and sometimes makes himself familiar with them: A warm and +constant Friend, but an implacable Enemy when he thinks himself not well +us'd; haughty to his Equals, civil and courteous to his Inferiors. In his +Youth, he was a Wine-Bibber, and a Deboshee; but it has been observ'd, +that neither Wine nor Women can detain him, when he is in the pursuit of +Glory. He is a religious Observer of his Promises, and never makes any but +after mature Reflection. He is an Enemy to the Pomp and Constraint of the +Lives of Great Men; an [OE]conomist, perhaps more than becomes his +Dignity; and is an absolute Master in his Family and his Government, +having poor, but dutiful Subjects, and well-regulated Finances. + +The Care of the Prince of _Anhalt_'s Education was committed to M. _de +Chalisac_, a Native of _Guienne_. This Gentleman found an ungovernable +Temper in the young Prince which he had much ado to manage. The Prince +happen'd very early to have a liking for Madamoiselle _de Fohsen_, (whom +he afterwards marry'd) which being not at all pleasing to his Mother, (who +was born Princess of _Orange_) she thought the best way to cure him of his +Fondness for her, would be to send him abroad; and therefore appointed M. +_de Chalisac_ to travel with him to _Italy_, and accordingly they made +that Tour. + +_Chalisac_, who was my particular Friend, and whose Memory I honour, told +me that this Prince's extraordinary Vivacity and Intemperance, had often +made his Heart ake; but that whenever he happen'd to run astray, he was +sure to reclaim him by setting the Motives of Honour and Ambition in his +View. To this purpose he related what happen'd when they were at _Venice_, +viz. that the Prince came home one Morning very much in Liquor, after +having spent the whole Night in a Debauch; and M. _de Chalisac_ reproving +him, perhaps a little too sharply, as the young Prince thought, he ran and +snatch'd up a Pistol, and returning with it to his Governour, said, _You +Dog, I must kill you_. M. _de Chalisac_, without appearing surpriz'd, +looking sternly at the Prince, made him answer; _Shoot me if you think +fit; but think how worthy a Figure you'll make in History, when it shall +be recorded that a Prince of +Anhalt+, a Prince of a Family that has given +Emperors to +Germany+, murder'd his Tutor_. These Words spoke with an Air +of Authority made such an Impression on the young Prince, that he laid +down his Pistol saying, _You are indeed in the right; I should have +committed a villainous Action_. + +The Prince on his Return from _Italy_ to _Dessau_ shew'd that Time and +Absence had not that Effect upon him as they generally have upon Lovers. +He returned as much in love with Madamoiselle _de Fohsen_ as he was at +setting out. He married her in 1698, and soon after, _viz._ in 1701, she +was by the Emperor acknowledged a Princess of the Empire. He has had five +Sons and two Daughters by her, the eldest of whom is dead. + +But the Embraces of a tender Spouse cou'd not keep him at home; a Warrior +he was born, and a Warrior he would be. The War being then kindled between +the Emperor and the _French_, the Prince went to serve in the Army on the +_Rhine_, and was present at the taking of _Keiserswaert_. Soon after, King +_Frederic_ I. gave him the Command of 6000 Men, whom he sent to the +Emperor's Assistance in _Italy_, where he signaliz'd himself in every +Campaign, but especially at the raising of the Siege of _Turin_. The Duke +of _Savoy_, afterwards King of _Sardinia_, with whom the Prince had not a +very good Understanding, doing me the Honour to talk to me about him one +day, said, _The Prince of +Anhalt+ has too much Fire; but when he is +ripen'd by Age, he will be a great General. He was born with the Genius of +a Captain, and he has contributed to save my Crown_. + +When a Neutrality was agreed on for _Italy_ between the Emperor, his +Allies, and _France_, the Prince of _Anhalt_ was recall'd, and the King +gave him the Command of his Troops in _Flanders_, where he maintain'd the +Reputation which he had acquir'd in _Italy_, and was continued in his +Command till the Peace of _Utrecht_. + +The Obstinacy of _Charles_ XII. King of _Sweden_ in refusing to hearken to +a Treaty for the Sequestration of _Stetin_, having oblig'd the King of +_Prussia_ to make war upon him, the Prince of _Anhalt_ serving under the +King, who then commanded his Army in Person, had the Honour to defend the +Isle of _Rugen_, against the King of _Sweden_, who came in the Night and +attack'd it with Fury; but the _Swedes_ were repulsed, after having lost a +number of considerable Officers in the Action. Since the Treaty with +_Sweden_, this Prince has had no occasion to signalize his Valour. He +resides commonly at _Dessau_, or at _Magdebourg_; and does not come to +Court but when Affairs call him. He has three Sons in the King's Service, +of whom the two eldest have Regiments of their own, and the third commands +his Father's. + +The King, who has a great Affection for the Prince of _Anhalt_, makes no +considerable Regulation with regard to his Troops, or in any thing +relating to the War-Office, without his Advice. His Majesty has given him +considerable Tracts of Land in _Prussia_, where 'tis said the Prince is +building not only Villages, but entire Towns. + +M. _d'Arnheim_ is the third Marshal. This old Gentleman, who is past +fourscore, learnt the Art of War under two Great Masters, the Elector +_Frederic-William_ of _Brandenbourg_, and _Montecuculi_ the Rival of +_Turenne_. + +The Marshal _de Natzmer_ is an old Soldier also, who has serv'd under +several Commanders with very great Distinction; particularly the Prince +of _Waldeck_, General of the _Dutch_ Forces, the Prince of _Orange_ +afterwards King of _England_, and lastly under the Duke of _Marlborough_ +and Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_; who had all an Esteem for his Valour and +Military Experience; this Marshal having been in all the Battles which +those Generals fought in the _Netherlands_, and having been always wounded +or had a Horse shot under him. + +After having mentioned the chief Commanders of the King's Forces to you, I +think it incumbent on me to give you an Account of those Persons whose +Credit or Employments have the greatest Influence upon the Government; in +which you will please to excuse me, if I do not follow that Order I have +hitherto observ'd in my Narrative. + +The Baron _d'Ilgen_ First Minister of State, was born of an obscure Family +in _Westphalia_. After he had finished his Studies, he commenc'd Secretary +to M. _de Meinders_, Minister of State to the Elector _Frederic-William_, +and to King _Frederic_ I. His Discretion and his Industry soon procur'd +him the Favour of his Master, who put him Governour over his Nephew the +Baron _de Heidekam_. M. _d'Ilgen_ travell'd with the young Baron to +_Holland_, _England_, and _France_, in which Tour they spent two Years. At +his Return to _Berlin_, M. _de Meinders_ enter'd him in Business, and the +Elector _Frederic-William_ dying not long after, he procur'd him the +Office of Secretary to the new Elector. In this Employment he behav'd with +such Circumspection that he is still continued in it, notwithstanding the +many Changes that have happen'd in the Ministry. The Baron _de Fuchs_ one +of the most able Ministers that ever _Germany_ produc'd, being charm'd +with his Genius, gave him such a Recommendation to the late King, that he +preferr'd him to a Seat in the Council, where _Ilgen_ soon found out the +way to make himself necessary. The Count _de Wartemberg_, whose Abilities +were not so great but he stood in need of a Second, being then at the Head +of the Council, consulted in all matters with M. _d'Ilgen_, who, after the +Count _de Wartemberg_ retired, had the Province of Foreign Affairs +committed to him solely, and has kept it ever since. + +M. _d'Ilgen_ has both Gaiety and Solidity in his Temper, a lively, +fruitful Imagination, and most pleasing Aspect. He is extremely sober, and +an excellent [OE]conomist, being as great an Enemy to Pleasure, as he is a +Friend to Riches. He is humble sometimes, even to excess; revengeful, +crafty; a Master of his Temper, his Countenance, his Tongue, and his Eyes, +which he accommodates altogether to the Situation of his Affairs. As by +his Parts he raised himself, so by his Parts he supports himself. He is +the sole Repositary of his own Secrets, having no Confident nor Favourite +to share them. He is so indefatigable, that he composes and writes all +himself, keeping his Secretaries only to copy. In short, he works like a +Day-labourer, and makes the Ministry, as it were, a Handicraft. He speaks +well, but writes better; he affects _double Entendres_ in his Answers, and +artfully has recourse, when he needs it, to an ambiguous Expression. He +has so little scruple, in point of Oaths, that he takes and breaks them +with equal Indifference. He never made himself a Creature, but always +removed and humbled those that ever gave him any Umbrage. That which +heightens his Character, and proves his Genius, is, that he has supported +himself a long time, without Kindred, Friends, or Creatures, and perhaps +without being too much honoured by the Favour of his Master[16]. + +M. _de Grumkau_ Minister of State, Lieutenant-General of the King's +Forces, Colonel of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight of the Orders of St. +_Andrew_ of _Muscovy_, and of the White Eagle of _Poland_, is descended of +an illustrious Family in _Pomerania_. His Father was Grand Marshal of the +Elector _Frederic-William_, and died in that Post, at the beginning of the +late King's Reign. M. _de Grumkau_ being left a Minor, was sent very young +to _France_, to learn his Exercises, where he acquitted himself with +Diligence, and the Approbation of his Superiors. At his return to +_Berlin_, _Frederic_ I. appointed him Gentleman of his Bed-chamber, and +gave him a Company of Foot. Soon after which, he married Madamoiselle _de +la Chevallerie_, who was Maid of Honour to the Queen _Sophia-Charlotte_. +It was not long before he was advanced; and during the last War he served +as a Brigadier in the Army in the _Netherlands_. At the same time he had +the Care of the King's Affairs with my Lord Duke of _Marlborough_, and +Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_. His manner of + +Behaviour shew'd that he was fit to be employ'd in great Affairs: but the +Count _Wartemberg_, the Favourite, and Prime Minister, being jealous of +his Genius, kept him as much as he could out of any Share in Authority, +and chose rather to prefer him by War, than to employ him in the Ministry. +The Favourites (Messieurs _de Camke_) who succeeded _Wartemberg_, +perceiving M. _de Grumkau_'s superior Abilities, were not more favourable +to him than the Count was. He was preferr'd to be a Major-General at one +of the last Promotions that was made by the late King; and +_Frederic-William_, on his Accession to the Throne, made him +Lieutenant-General, and Minister of State. + +M. _de Grumkau_ is good-natur'd, civil, and affable. He has the Manners +and Sentiments of a Man of Quality, as he really is; he is generous, +liberal, loves Splendor and Pleasures, but is not so much addicted to them +as to neglect the Affairs of the Ministry. He is laborious, has a clear +and quick Apprehension; a pleasant, lively, and penetrating Fancy; and is +no Enemy to Satyr, when it does not attack his Neighbour's Reputation. As +he is of a beneficent Temper, he has Friends, and makes himself Creatures. +Of all the Ministers, he speaks to the King with the greatest Freedom; and +I believe one may safely venture to put him in the Rank of Favourites. + +The Baron _de Kniphausen_[17], Minister of State, and Commander of the +Order of St. _John_, is descended of an illustrious Family in +_East-Friesland_. In the late King's time, his Father was President of the +Chamber, which is properly, Superintendant of the Finances. No Minister +has been employed in more Embassies. He was the King's Resident in +_Spain_, with _Charles_ III. the present Emperor; he was the same in +_Denmark_, _Muscovy_, and _France_; and every where supported the Dignity +of his Master, and the Honour of his Character. So many Embassies had very +much disconcerted his Affairs; and talking to me one day at _Paris_ about +his Lady, who was the Daughter of M. _d'Ilgen_, 'I know, _said he_, that +her Rank is not equal to mine, and that I may be reproach'd for having +married her; but I can return the same Answer which they report of the +Count _de Lude_ (Governor to _Gaston_ of _France_, _Lewis_ XIIIth's +Brother) who, when he was ruin'd like me, married a Tradesman's Daughter; +_Could I do better_, said he, _when I was persecuted Day and Night by my +Creditors, than to take Refuge in a Shop, rather than be carried to an +Alms-House_?' + +M. _de Kniphausen_ has a wonderful natural Genius, and would have every +Talent requisite for a Minister, if he was not quite so averse to Labour; +but being as lazy as his Father-in-Law is laborious, Affairs suffer in his +hands by delay. Not but that he knows how to dispatch them, if he will, +for nobody is more lively nor more vigilant than he, when he sets his +heart upon a thing; but he is naturally indolent, being fond of his Ease +and good Cheer. + +The Baron _de Gohren_, who is Director of the Chamber of Finances, and of +the Post-Office, is a Man of a good Family in the Marquisate of +_Brandenburg_. He has not been many years in the Ministry, but has the +Reputation of an upright Man, and one not to be corrupted. He is very +reserved, and a Person of few Words, which gives him an Air that those who +are not conversant with him mistake for Haughtiness. + +M. _de Creutz_ has a happy Physiognomy, being a mixture of hard Features +with mild ones, that carry an Air of Probity and Frankness, which of all +external Appearances is undoubtedly the most advantageous. He is polite, +and magnificent; has an extraordinary Vivacity, an admirable Facility of +expressing himself, and an easy, affable, and genteel Behaviour. He never +promises but when he means to perform, and his Word may be safely depended +on. I always found him very sincere, and I cannot help saying, I love him. +_Frederic-William_ called him to his Councils, he having been his +Secretary when he was Prince Royal. His Assiduity and Punctuality in +performing the Duties of his Office, had procured him the King's Affection +to such a degree that his Majesty continues to honour him with his +Good-will, and gives heed to his Representations[18]. + +M. _de Creutz_ is one of the richest Subjects in the Country, having had a +very great Estate by his Wife: She has also brought him a Daughter, an +only Child, who is said to have a great deal of Wit; and being a rich +Heiress into the bargain, she will not fail of Suitors. + +M. _de Vierec_ is a Man of Quality, and a Native of _Mecklemburg_; his +Father was Counsellor of State to the late King, and his Envoy +Extraordinary in _Denmark_. The Son, of whom I am now writing, quitted the +Service of Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ of _Brunswic-Wolfembuttle_, to be a +Gentleman of the late King's Bed-chamber. When he came to Court, he had no +Relations there, but he was so happy as to raise himself Friends; for his +modest Air, and his polite and submissive Deportment, gain'd him the +Good-will of the Favourites; and as he lov'd Play, he soon made himself +acquainted with the Court-Ladies, who always gave him their good Word. + +In 1711, when the Count _de Dohna_ went as the King's Ambassador to +_Francfort_, for the Election of an Emperor, he desir'd of the King that +M. _de Vierec_, who was reckon'd the most sober young Man at Court, might +be Marshal of the Embassy, which was perform'd at the King's Expence. M. +_de Vierec_ acquitted himself so well in that Employment, that he had the +same Post at the Congress of _Utrecht_. He had afterwards, for a while, +the Care of the King's Affairs at the Court of _France_, when the Duke of +_Orleans_ was Regent; and at his Return from thence, he was employed in +the Regency of _Cleves_; from whence he was called home to better +Preferment, by means of _Gerstorf_, whose Daughter he had married. For +this General's only Son being killed in _Sicily_, his Majesty, in order to +comfort the Father, whom he lov'd, and who he saw took it very much to +heart, declared M. _de Vierec_ his Son-in-Law, Minister of State. M. _de +Gerstorf_'s Daughter dying afterwards, M. _de Vierec_ thereby came +possessed of a very great Estate, and married again to the Daughter of the +Count _de Finck_, who was formerly the Prince Royal's Governor. + +M. _de Vierec_ is perfectly polite, and altogether as modest now as he was +before he was a Minister; but he is close and reserv'd, mysterious more +than needs must, and jealous. His Circumspection, which extends to the +minutest things, gave him the Air of a Minister, before he had a thought, +perhaps, of ever being one. What with his Kindred, his Estate, and his +Preferment, he is become powerful at Court. + +These, Sir, are the Persons of the greatest Consequence at the Court of +_Prussia_, with whom I had a particular Acquaintance. I am not so vain as +to think I have painted them in their true Colours; but such as they +appear'd to be in my eyes, I have represented them to you. Men are not +always the same; nor do they appear in the same light to all that see +them; every Man having his own way of thinking, and few judging solidly. + +I have now told you all the Particulars that I know of this Court. What +remains for me is to mention some things to you, which are worth your +seeing, if ever you live to come hither. + +Such are the King's Cabinets of Medals and Antiquities; that of Natural +Curiosities, in which are a great many things not to be seen elsewhere; +the Chymical Laboratory, with its Furnaces and Instruments of a new +Invention; the magnificent Theatre, which the King caused to be built for +Anatomical Demonstrations, with all the Curiosities and Instruments which +are there kept; the Royal Library, one of the most valuable and compleat +in all _Germany_, where, besides scarce Books and Manuscripts, is a very +curious _Chinese_ Printing-Press. + +All these things would be worth particularizing; but to do this, a Man +must have a larger Acquaintance here than I pretend to: Besides, my +Relation is already spun to such a length that I believe 'tis time to +conclude it. + +I will, however, just acquaint you of a Foundation by the present King, in +favour of the young Gentlemen of his Dominions, which are the Academies of +Cadets, in _Berlin_, _Magdebourg_, and other Towns, where they are taught +the Rudiments of War; so that 'tis a Nursery from whence the King makes a +Draught of good Officers. His Majesty has moreover ordered his Generals of +Foot to take each a young Gentleman, whose Fortune does not happen to be +equal to his Birth, to keep them as Pages, and to make them learn their +Exercises, and every thing that an Officer ought to know. An excellent +Institution this, and a fine Resource for the poor Nobility! + +I am preparing to set out forthwith for _Hamburgh_, _Hanover_, and the +Court of _Brunswic_; and after I have made that Tour, you shall have a +second Letter from me. Mean time, I am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER II. + + + _SIR_, _Hamburgh, June 20, 1729._ + +Nothing gives me greater pleasure, than the Approbation with which you are +pleased to honour the Account I sent you of the Court of _Prussia_; which +I esteem as an infinite Reward for the little trouble it cost me. You must +not imagine that I can ever be weary of writing to you; I can never do any +thing more agreeable to myself, than to contribute to your Amusement; and +shall think myself exceeding happy, if I can succeed. + +I set out from _Berlin_ upon the 10th of _June_, and in less than four +Hours came to ORANJEBOURG, a royal Seat, which King _Frederic_ I. caused +to be built, and to which he gave the Name of _Oranjebourg_, to perpetuate +the Memory of his Mother, who was born Princess of _Orange_. This Prince, +great in every Action, spar'd no Cost to render this House worthy of his +magnificent Taste. The Situation of this Place is very charming, in the +midst of fine large Meadows, with Canals cut in them after the manner of +_Holland_. The Apartments of the Palace are grand, tho' the rich +Furniture it had formerly has been removed to _Berlin_. The present King +not taking a fancy to it, all runs to ruin; the Gardens, which were the +finest in _Germany_, are not kept in order; the great Vessels of +Porcellane; which were not to be match'd in _Europe_, the late King having +procur'd the choicest Rarities of that Ware, that were in the Magazines of +_Holland_; all these fine things, I say, are pass'd into the hands of the +King of _Poland_, at _Dresden_. The Gallery and the Salon of +_Oranjebourg_, which were furnish'd with them, and which were reckoned +among the Beauties of _Germany_, are of no account now but for the +Richness of their Cielings. + +From _Oranjebourg_, I went and lay at FERBELLIN, a Town which is only +remarkable for a Victory gain'd here by the Elector _Frederic-William_ +over the _Swedes_. The latter enter'd his Dominions, while he was engag'd +with his Army in defence of the Empire then attack'd by the _French_ on +the _Upper Rhine_. The Elector being inform'd of the Invasion of his own +Country by the _Swedes_, came away from the _Rhine_ with his Troops, and +by one of the bravest Marches that ever any General made, deliver'd it +from the Enemy. He surprized them in _Ratenau_, a Town in the Marquisate +of _Brandenbourg_, the Garrison of which he made Prisoners; and then +continuing his March, he came up with the _Swedes_ near _Ferbellin_, at a +time when the latter thought him still upon the _Rhine_, and gain'd a +compleat Victory. A venerable old Gentleman, who was very near the +Elector's Person at this Battle, told me, that before the Engagement +began, the Prince being at the head of his Army, took out his Pistols, +fir'd them in the Air, and lifting up his Eyes to Heaven, said, _'Tis to +thy Glory, _GREAT GOD_, that I discharge my Arms; defend my Cause, thou +knowest it to be just; punish my Enemies_. Then drawing his Sword, and +turning about to his Soldiers, _My Comrades_, said he, _I desire no other +Defence, nor no other Weapons, but the Protection of God, your Courage, +and my Sword. Follow me therefore, my Friends, do as I do, and be assur'd +of Victory_. + +In this Battle, _Forbenius_, the Elector's Gentleman of the Horse, +perceiving that a white Steed which his Master rode, made his Person a +very plain Mark for his Enemy, so that they had singled him out to fire +at, desir'd the Prince to change Horses with him. The Elector, who had a +great Soul, above all Fear, refus'd at first to do so, but upon the +repeated Instances of _Forbenius_, he consented to it; and the Moment that +the Gentleman mounted the Horse which the Elector quitted, a Cannon-Shot +kill'd him dead upon the Place, so quick, that he expir'd without the +Comfort of knowing that he had thereby preserved the Life of his Master. + +_HAMBURGH_, a Hanse-Town in the Circle of Lower _Saxony_, is, without +dispute, one of the richest and most considerable Towns in all the Empire +of _Germany_. It depends solely upon its Magistrates, who are chose by the +Burgers themselves. Its Liberty has been often contested by the Kings of +_Denmark_, who as Dukes of _Holstein_, pretend that _Hamburgh_ is built +upon their Territory, and that therefore they ought to be the Sovereigns +of it. The Electors of _Brandenbourg_, and the Princes of the House of +_Brunswic_, always opposed the Incroachments of the _Danes_; nor will they +suffer any Power whatsoever to oppress the City of _Hamburgh_, because, if +it were possible, they would be glad to annex it to their own Domains. The +City being exposed to these Attacks, has taken all the Measures possible +to be in a condition to defend its Liberty. 'Tis very well fortified, +maintains a good Garrison, and has an Arsenal provided with all +Necessaries. + +The Commerce of _Hamburgh_ is considerable, tho' 'tis very much lessen'd +since _Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_, prohibited the Importation of +Merchandize from _Hamburgh_ to his Dominions[19]. + +The manner of living in this City is different from that of all the Hanse +Towns. Here is a tolerable Opera all the Year round[20]; charming Walks, +choice Company, much Visiting and hearty Cheer. There are several good +Houses of the Nobility, where Foreigners are well receiv'd. The Merchants +are affable and civil; most of them in their youth travel to the most +remarkable Countries of _Europe_, where they then pass for Gentlemen of +_Holstein_. As they are rich, they can easily afford to make a good +Appearance where-ever they come. There they learn that polite Air, and +that Behaviour which one would wish to see in all Gentlemen of good +Families. The only thing for which I find fault with them, is, that they +treat their Wives too much like the _Levant_ People, where the Women are +only suffer'd to go to the Mosques; so here, the Women scarce go any where +but to Church, or if they at any time take the Air, 'tis in company with +their Husbands: and a Foreigner is so seldom admitted to their +Assemblies, that when he is, those poor Women are as much astonish'd at +the sight of him, as a Sultana would be to see a Capuchin enter the +_Seraglio_. + +There's a great many worthy People here. I have made an Acquaintance with +M. _de Brocks_, one of the Magistrates, who has acquir'd a Reputation for +his Skill in Poetry, by such Compositions as cannot but convince +Foreigners, who understand the _High-Dutch_, that as good things may be +said in that Language, as in any other[21]. This M. _de Brocks_ is of an +amiable Character, civil, and complaisant, and has acquir'd the Love and +Esteem of all that know him. + +Most of the _European_ Princes have Residents here, for which reason here +are several Chappels of the _Roman_ Catholicks, who otherwise would be +obliged to go to the Church at _Altena_, as the _Calvinists_ are forc'd to +do, the _Lutheran_ being the Religion that is uppermost at _Hamburgh_; but +the _Jews_ have their Synagogues here. What an odd Establishment is this +in a Christian Country![22] how uncharitable, and even nonsensical! and +how must it make the _Turks_ laugh! We grant Synagogues to the _Jews_, the +Enemies of JESUS CHRIST, who would crucify him again, if they had not done +it already; and we refuse Churches and Temples to those that believe as +we do in JESUS CHRIST! No, were you to call me Heretic a thousand times, I +would say, HOLLAND FOR EVER! where 'tis a Maxim, to leave every Man to his +Conscience; and where they think it would be a Contradiction to admit +People to be their Fellow-Citizens, and to deny them the Liberty of +worshipping God in their own way. + +The Emperor's Minister, who has the Title of _His Imperial Majesty's +Plenipotentiary_ to the Circle of Lower _Saxony_, commonly resides at +_Hamburgh_. The last Gentleman that had this Employment was the Count _de +Metsch_[23]; and since his being made Vice-President of the Emperor's +_Aulic_ Council, it has not been fill'd up[24]. + +The Populace of _Hamburgh_, just such another ungovernable Herd as the +_Amsterdam_ Mobs, having taken it into their heads some years ago, out of +a mad sort of Zeal for Religion, to plunder the House and Chapel of the +Emperor's Resident; the City in order to make Satisfaction for the Insult, +was condemned to build a House which was to be the Residence of the +Emperor's Minister always for the future. For this end, the City bought +the Palace of the late Baron _de Gortz_, a Man of great Fame in the +History of _Charles_ XII. King of _Sweden_; and whose Fortune and +Catastrophe are worthy your notice. + +_Henry_ Baron _de Gortz_ was born of an independent Family in _Franconia_, +which is a Province that abounds with Nobility of Distinction. He enter'd +young into the Service of the Duke of _Holstein-Schleswic_, and rose to be +his Minister. He was a Man generous, noble, and magnificent, even to +Profusion; vigilant, full of Projects and Stratagems; a Man whom nothing +could surprize, nothing dissuade from a Design that he had once form'd; +whose Ambition was boundless, and who always aim'd to do something to be +talk'd of. In the _North_ there was no Intrigue in which he had not a +hand, and into which he did not likewise draw his Master, whom he push'd +upon Enterprizes so far above his Power to execute, that he thereby lost +his Dominions. The Baron _de Gortz_ thought _Holstein_ too narrow a Sphere +for him to move in, and therefore he attach'd himself to _Charles_ XII. +King of _Sweden_, after that Prince return'd from his long Stay at +_Bender_. _Charles_ was just such a Master as the Baron wanted, and he +just such a Minister as was necessary for the King of _Sweden_; nor was +there ever in the World a greater Sympathy between two Men. _Gortz_ was +born to form great Designs, _Charles_ to put them in execution; and the +constant Design of both was only to throw _Europe_ into a Ferment. + +The Baron, besides other happy Gifts of Nature, had the Talent of +insinuating and pleasing. He soon got an Ascendant over _Charles_, to such +a degree that tho' this Prince was never to be advis'd by his Ministers, +yet the Baron's Opinion was a Law to him. _Gortz_ frighten'd _Europe_, and +made _Sweden_ tremble; being as much fear'd and dreaded there as the King +himself. The _Swedes_ were uneasy to see so great a Share of Authority +vested in a Foreigner; and therefore form'd Parties and Cabals to strip +him of it; but they durst not discover their Designs. The Minister knew +all the while they envy'd him, but was in no manner of Concern about it; +for being sure of the Favour of the King, he despised the Hatred, both of +the Populace and the Great Men[25]. + +But after the Death of _Charles_ XII. who was killed at the Siege of +_Frederickshall_, in the Month of _December_, the _Swedes_ did not fail to +punish him; for the Baron, before he cou'd have Intelligence of the King's +Death, was actually put under an Arrest; and upon that Occasion he said to +the Officer, _Surely the King must be dead!_ From that Moment he was never +once heard to complain or murmur; for he was intrepid even to Death; the +Sentence of which he received with a wonderful Constancy of Mind, chose to +die like a Philosopher, and thought too freely of Religion to the very +last. A Divine, who is now one of the King of _Denmark_'s Chaplains, +turn'd his Heart, and brought him to acknowledge that 'twas the Hand of +God which smote him. He was conducted to the Place of Execution in a +mourning Coach, in which the Chaplain rode with him. He had a long Robe of +black Velvet, ty'd with Ribbands over his Shoulders; and as he was +mounting the Scaffold, which was hung with black Cloth, perceiving one +_Duval_, a _Frenchman_, who was his Steward, he held out his Hand, saying, +_Farewell +Duval+, I shall eat no more of thy Soups_. When he was on the +Scaffold, an Officer of Justice read a Paper to him with a loud Voice; in +which it was declared that he was degraded from the Rank of Nobility, and +that the Queen had order'd him to be beheaded. _Alas!_ said he, _I am born +a free Baron of the Empire. +Sweden+ cannot take from me what it never gave +me; and if I had really deserv'd to be degraded, none has a Right to do it +but the +Emperor+._ Having requir'd one of his Valets de Chambre to undress +him, he deliver'd the Ribband of the Order of the Black Eagle of _Prussia_ +to a Gentleman who stood near him, and enjoin'd him to carry it to one of +his Kindred, that he might return it to the King of _Prussia_. Then he +fell on his Knees, without shewing the least Sign of Fear; and receiv'd +the Stroke of Death with a Constancy of which there are very few Examples. +His Head being exposed to the People, was a pleasing Victim to their +Hatred and Revenge. The Baron's Corpse was interr'd, at the Place of +Execution, from whence one of his Footmen took it away in the Night-time, +put it into a Barrel, and carry'd it to _Hamburgh_; where it was laid upon +a Bed of State, and bury'd with all the Formalities fitting the Rank which +he had held in the World. + +Within a Cannon-Shot of _Hamburgh_, stands the Town of ALTENA, which +belongs to the King of _Denmark_. The _Swedish_ General, _Steinbock_, +reduc'd it to Ashes, the 9th of _January_ 1712, by way of Reprisal, as he +said, because the _Danes_ had burnt _Staden_: but there was this +Difference, that the _Danes_ had besieg'd _Staden_ in form, and destroy'd +it by their Bombs; whereas _Steinbock_ acted the part of an Incendiary. As +soon as he appear'd before _Altena_, he sent in a Message to advise the +Inhabitants to retire with what they could carry off, for that he was +going to destroy their Town. The Magistrates came out in a Body, and +falling at his Feet, begg'd for Mercy, and offer'd him a considerable Sum +of Money. _Steinbock_ insisting on more, they granted him his whole +Demand, only they desir'd Time to go to _Hamburgh_ for the Money. The +merciless General would admit of no such Delay. The poor Inhabitants were +oblig'd to turn out; the Mothers carry'd out their Infants; the young +Fellows, the paralytick old Men; some groan'd under Loads of Furniture; +all lamented their Fate, and uter'd Cries that wou'd have almost pierc'd +a Stone. The _Swedes_ stood at the Barriers, with flaming Torches in their +Hands, to see them pass; and before the poor Inhabitants were all gone +out, they enter'd the Town, and set fire to all parts of it; not sparing +even the Vaults of the Dead. + +Never was a greater Desolation known; but what compleated the Ruin of the +_Altenois_, was the Necessity of the Times, which was such as oblig'd the +_Hamburghers_ not to entertain them. Several prejudic'd Authors have said +that the _Hamburghers_, insensible, if not overjoy'd at the Calamity of +their Neighbours, kept their Gates shut, that they might see them perish. +But the truth is, that the _Hamburghers_ were oblig'd to be thus strict; +because the Plague raging at that time in _Holstein_, the Elector of +_Hanover_ had forc'd them to stop all Commerce with that Country; +threatning them, that if he heard they had the least Communication with +_Altena_, he wou'd prohibit his Subjects from all manner of Correspondence +with the City of _Hamburgh_. Besides, it wou'd not have been prudent in +the _Hamburghers_ to have open'd their Gates in the Night-time; for the +_Swedish_ Army being so near, they could not tell but the _Swedes_ might +come into the Town as well as the _Altenois_. To the Misfortune of the +Times therefore must be ascribed the Distress of the Inhabitants of +_Altena_, most of whom perished with Cold, Want, and Despair. + +_Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_, being touched with Compassion for the +Misfortune of his Subjects of _Altena_, relieved them as far as the +Necessity of the Times wou'd give him leave. He caus'd them to be supply'd +with Materials for rebuilding their Houses; and now _Altena_ has recovered +her Losses: for the King of _Denmark_ has not only granted it many new +Privileges, but has caus'd a Harbour to be made there; and does all that +is in his power to draw a Trade to it. This City being a privileg'd Place +for Bankrupts, many of that Character come from _Hamburgh_ to settle here; +and there is a general Toleration for those of all Religions, who have +their Churches and Temples here; which draws such numbers of People, that +in time _Altena_ will probably become _Hamburgh_, and _Hamburgh_ _Altena_: +For the _Hamburghers_, on the contrary, will tolerate no Christian Sects; +tho' they grant the _Jews_ the public Exercise of their Religion, as has +been already observed. The Governour of _Danish Holstein_ resides here, +who is the Count _de Reventlau_, Brother to the[26]Queen of _Denmark_. I +am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER III. + + + _SIR_, _Hanover, July 5, 1729._ + +This Letter is to acquaint you of some things that I remark'd in the Road +from _Hamburgh_, and in this City itself; where I have now been these +three Days. + +I set out from _Hamburgh_ the 22d of _June_, and went by Water to +HARBOURG, having sent my Chaise thither the Day before. This Town is a +Dependant on the Dutchy of _Lunenbourg_, and belongs to the Elector of +_Brunswic-Lunenbourg_. It has nothing very remarkable but its Castle, +which is a Pentagon, lin'd with a good Cover'd-Way. Madamoiselle +_d'Olbreuse_[27], whom the Duke of _Zell_ marry'd, had the Title of Madame +_de Harbourg_, till she was recogniz'd by the Emperor a Princess of the +Empire. For by the Laws of _Germany_, a Prince of a Sovereign Family can +marry none but a Princess, or a Countess. If he weds a private +Gentlewoman, he not only marries below himself, but his Wife does not go +by his Name; and the Children of such Marriage cannot succeed, unless the +Emperor declare the Mother a Princess; as he commonly does in favour of +Princes of antient Families. + +Between _Harbourg_ and _Zell_, which is twelve Miles, there is scarce any +thing but Heath. The Post-Stages, which are of four Miles, are very ill +serv'd, and the Inns the worst in _Germany_; all which together render +the Road extremely disagreeable. + +ZELL is a little Town with great Suburbs. All its Buildings are of Timber, +except the Churches, the Castle, and the House of Correction, which are of +Brick. There is a Trade from hence to _Bremen_, by the River _Aller_. + +After the Death of _George-William_, the last Duke of _Zell_[28], this +City, and its Dependency, the Dutchy of _Lunenbourg_, devolv'd to his +Nephew _George_, Elector of _Brunswic-Hanover_, afterwards King of _Great +Britain_. This Prince had a Regency at _Zell_, which judged all Causes, +without any Appeal but to the Council of State at _Hanover_. The President +of it at this time, is the Baron _de Friesberg_, a Person of a good Family +in the Country of _Hildesheim_; who has been a long time the Elector's +Envoy at the Diet of _Ratisbon_, where I knew him, and received a world of +Civilities from him. He is esteem'd for the prudent Management of his +Office, and his noble manner of living. There are a great many Persons of +Quality settled at _Zell_, who for a trifling Expence enjoy the Pleasures +of agreeable Society. They visit and regale one another very much, and are +not wanting in Civilities to Foreigners. Monsieur _de Schulenbourgh_[29], +Lieutenant-General of the _Hanoverian_ Horse, and Knight of the +_Prussian_ Order of the Black Eagle, is the Governour of this Town. He is +a Gentleman of good Extraction, of Behaviour, Noble, Polite, and Easy; and +though he is Father of a numerous Family, he affects to live grand, and +keeps a very good Table. One of his Sons is in the Service of _Prussia_, +the others are in that of the King of _England_. I mention them to you, +because they are worthy Gentlemen; and whoever knows them, cannot but +esteem them. + +Here are a great many _French_ People, _Catholick_ as well as +_Protestant_, of whom the former have a Chapel, and the latter a Church; +but the Religion which is predominant, is the _Lutheran_. The last +Dutchess of _Zell_, of the Family of _Olbreuse_, being a _French_ Woman, +fill'd her Husband's Court and Guards with her own Countrymen; who were +even preferr'd before the Natives of _Zell_. I have been told that these +_Frenchmen_ really thought themselves so much at home, that there happen'd +to be one day no less than a dozen of 'em at Dinner at the Duke's Table, +who all except the Prince were _Frenchmen_; which one of them observing, +said to the Duke, _My Lord, this is really very pleasant; there is no +Foreigner here but you_! + +In the Neighbourhood of this Town there's the Castle of _Ahlen_, where, +(about nine Years ago,) the unfortunate Daughter of the last Duke of +_Zell_, by Madamoiselle _d'Olbreuse_, ended her Days, after she had been +retir'd thither about thirty six Years: She had been promised +in Marriage to _Augustus-William_, the hereditary Prince of +_Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Wolfemhuttle_; but her Father the Duke, by the +Intrigues of the Princess _Sophia_, Dutchess of _Hanover_, marry'd her +against her Will, and against the Consent of her Mother, to the hereditary +Prince _George-Lewis_, who was afterwards King of _Great Britain_, by +Right of his Mother, and who died in the Year 1727, as he came to make +the Tour of his hereditary Dominions. She was sixteen Years old at her +Marriage with that Prince, who was then twenty-two. + +Tho' there's a good deal of Heath between _Zell_ and _Hanover_, yet the +Country is very well cultivated; for the Inhabitants not only make Turfs +of the Heath for Fewel, but it serves also for Pasturage, and for Manure. +'Tis about five _German_ Miles from one Town to the other, and I travell'd +it in less than five Hours. + +HANOVER, the Capital of the Electorate of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg_, is bigger +than _Zell_. The River _Leine_ divides it into the old and new Towns, +which are both encompass'd with Ramparts that scarce deserve the Name. +There is nothing very extraordinary in the Palace or Castle, which is +rather commodious than magnificent; and the Town of _Hanover_, generally +speaking, is but ill built. The most remarkable Structure in it, is the +_Roman Catholick_ Church, which was granted to those of that Communion by +_Ernest-Augustus_ of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Hanover_; that being one of the +Conditions which the Emperor _Leopold_ demanded of him when he honour'd +him with the Electoral Dignity. That Prince moreover engag'd to admit of +an Apostolical Vicar in his Dominions, and to give him leave to reside at +_Hanover_, as _Spiga_, who lately died at _Francfort_[30], did for many +Years. Divine Service is perform'd in this Church as regularly as in a +Cathedral; and they who officiate in it are Missionaries. The number of +Catholicks is very considerable; but few Persons of Quality are of that +Communion, the Nobility being all _Lutherans_. + +When _George_ I. King of _Great Britain_ left his _German_ Dominions to +take possession of his Kingdom, he was willing that all Affairs at +_Hanover_ shou'd continue on the same footing as they were before he was +called to the Throne; and he left behind him Prince _Frederic_ his +Grandson, now Prince of _Wales_; who not only had a Drawing-Room every +Day, but the same Attendance as had the Elector before he was King. + +His Majesty King _George_ II. has made no Alteration in the Establishment +of the King his Father. When he sent for the Prince of _Wales_ to +_England_, he order'd the Courtiers to continue their Assemblies at the +Castle; and that his Table shou'd always be serv'd in the same manner as +if he himself was at _Hanover_. His Majesty keeps up the same number of +Gentlemen, Pages, Domestics, and Guards; and the same number of Horses, +Grooms, &c. in his Stables. There's a _French_ Comedy acted three times a +Week at the Palace, to which all People are admitted _gratis_; and there +are frequently Concerts, Balls and Assemblies. The Gentlemen who do the +Court-Honours at these Entertainments, and who invite Persons to dine or +sup at the King's Table, are either M. _de Hardenberg_, the Grand Marshal, +or, in his absence, the Baron _de Gortz_[31], Chief Steward of the +Houshold; or else M. _de Rheden_, Captain of the Castle of _Hanover_. + +In the King's absence, the Government is compos'd of a Council of State, +whereof M. _de Hardenberg_ is Chief or President; which meets every day in +an Apartment of the Castle. To this all the Courts of Justice in the +Dominions of _Hanover_ are subject, and accountable. The Council of State +receives its Orders immediately from the King; and they are counter-signed +either by the Count _de Bothmar_, or by M. _de Hattorf_, the two _German_ +Ministers that attend his Majesty's Person. + +The Count _de Bothmar_[32] is an old Gentleman, who for a long time +resided in quality of the Elector's Envoy at the Court of _England_, +where, by his prudent Management for his Master, he cherished the most +incontestable Right that a Prince can possibly have to a Crown; I mean, +the Voice of the People. + +M. _de Hattorf_ is not only the Minister's Son, but has been his +Co-adjutor, for they had both the War-Office in their Province; for which +reason they were called _Louvois_ and _Barbesieux_, a Comparison which +does no Dishonour either to the one or to the other: for if the two +_Hattorfs_ have not made such a Blaze in the World, 'tis because they had +not a _Lewis_ XIV. for their Master, for they were not inferior to the +_French_ Ministers in Capacity, and Application to Business, and had not +their Pride and Arrogance. + +M. _de Munchausen_ is one of those Ministers of State who bears the most +Sway. He is of a Temper beneficent, mild, civil, very candid, sober, and +religious. He lives with Dignity, and his House is as open to Foreigners +as any in the City. + +The Marshal Baron _de Bulau_, is Commander in chief of the Forces[33]. He +has no manner of Dependance on the Council of State, and receives his +Orders immediately from the King, by M. _de Hattorf_ the Secretary at War. +The Promotion which the King makes of Officers is by the Recommendation of +M. _de Bulau_; and such as would enter into the Service must make their +Application to him. He serv'd with Distinction in the _Netherlands_, under +my Lord Duke of _Marlborough_. He has actually under his Command 18000 +Men, which is the Complement of the King of _Great Britain_'s Forces, as +Elector. His Majesty indeed, keeps in pay 12000 _Hessians_,[34] and 4000 +Men of the Troops of _Wolfenbuttle_. 'Tis true, those Forces are paid by +_England_, but to me it seems they are only to defend the King's Dominions +in _Germany_. + +Tho' the Sovereign is absent, yet here are not wanting Amusements; there +being many good Families, and a number of amiable Persons. + +The lovely Countess of _Delitz_, Niece to the Dutchess of _Kendal_, cou'd +not fail of Adorers, even in the most barbarous Countries; for the Charms +of her Mind are not inferior to the Beauty, Sweetness, and Gracefulness of +her Person. + +No Lady can have a better Temper or Behaviour than the Baroness _de +Bulau_, Daughter-in-law to the Marshal, and Daughter to the late Countess +of _Platen_: her Husband is a worthy Gentleman, and keeps a very good +House. + +The Count _de Platen_, hereditary Post-Master-General, is one of the +richest Subjects in the Electorate, and one that spends the most Money. A +Foreigner will always have cause to speak well of M. _de Rheden_, Captain +of the Castle, and M. _de Wagenheim_, the great Cup-Bearer. Messieurs +_d'Ilten_ live splendidly; and both the Brothers, the eldest of whom is a +Colonel of the Guards, are amiable and infinitely polite. If ever you come +hither, you will certainly have reason to be fond of their Company. + +The Situation of _Hanover_ is very agreeable; and in its Neighbourhood are +several pretty Seats. Among these _Herenhausen_ (the House of the _Lord_, +or the _Master_) is a Castle which was built by Order of the Elector +_Ernest-Augustus_, the King's Grandfather. This House, to which a strait +Walk leads, bears no proportion to the Magnificence of its Gardens, which +are undeniably some of the finest in all _Europe_; being particularly +adorn'd with Water-Works that throw the Water up much higher than the +famous Fountain at _St. Cloud_, which was always look'd upon as the most +considerable of the kind[35]. + +Between _Hanover_ and _Herenhausen_, there are two fine Seats; of which, +one is call'd _Fantasie_, i. e. _the Whim_; and the other, _Monbrillant_, +or, _Mount-Pleasant_. They were built by two Sisters-in-law, _viz._ Madame +_de Kilmanseck_, (who after her Husband's Death, was by King _George_ I. +created Countess of _Arlington_) and the Countess of _Platen_. These two +Houses are a Proof of the good Taste of those Ladies, who were really an +Honour to _Germany_, for their Beauty, good Sense, Manners, and Genius. +They both died in their Prime, a little time after one another; my Lady +_Arlington_ in _England_, and the Countess of _Platen_ at _Hanover_, to +which she was not only an Ornament, but a Lustre. + +The Dominions of _Hanover_ are so considerable, that I have been assured +the Revenues are no less than six Millions of Crowns _per An._ Whether +this be true, I do not know; but I tell you what I was told myself. + +_Hamelen_ upon the _Weser_ is the only Town that can be reckoned a Place +of Defence. _Hanover_, _Zell_, and _Lunenbourg_, have Ramparts; +_Harbourg_, a Castle, or Citadel; but all so inconsiderable, that they are +not worth mentioning. + +There are few Sovereigns whose Finances are in so good a Condition as this +Elector's; which has been the happy Produce of three succeeding Reigns; +and the good [OE]conomy wherewith they were managed by the three last +Princes of the Electoral Family, has contributed infinitely to the Figure +it makes at this time. Mean-while, notwithstanding these Regulations, the +People were never oppress'd, and the Princes always lived with a Splendor +suitable to their Grandeur. _Ernest-Augustus_ obtained the Electoral +Dignity, not without making great Presents to the Court of _Vienna_, at a +time too when his Power was limited to the Dutchy of _Hanover_, and the +Bishoprick of _Osnabrug_. Tho' this Prince had a numerous Family to +provide for, he lived with Splendor, was fond of Magnificence and +Pleasures, gallant, generous, and liberal; and when he died, he left no +Debts to pay, and his Finances were in a good State. + +GEORGE I. his Son and Successor kept up a considerable Body of Troops, and +had a very splendid Court. As his Acquisitions were great, he distributed +his Favours where-ever he was inform'd there was a Necessity; and when he +came to the Throne, he made no Reform in this Court; so that their not +seeing him was the only Token of his Absence. At his Death, he left +immense Sums in his Treasury, and so glorious a Character, that his +Subjects still bless the Memory of his Reign. + +GEORGE II. his Son, and the Heir of his Crown, his Dominions, and Virtues, +behaves in the very same manner. While he lives and acts like a King, he +neither gives, on the one hand, into the Extravagance of vain Pomp and +Pageantry, nor on the other, into that sordid Thriftiness which debases +Royal Majesty, and extinguishes the Love of Subjects. He accumulates +Treasure without oppressing his People, who love him, and offer up their +Prayers for him, as I do for your Preservation; and + + _Am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER IV. + + + _SIR_, _Blanckenbourg, July 30, 1729._ + +I was six Hours travelling from _Hanover_ to BRUNSWIC, the Capital of the +Dutchy of that Name, which is a very great City, with Houses for the most +part of Timber. It was formerly a Free and Imperial City, and one of the +_Hanse_-Towns; but falling under the Sovereignty of the Princes of the +House of _Brunswic_, they reduced it to a level with the other Towns of +their Dominions. It belongs to the Duke of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg +Wolfembuttle_. The Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ began to fortify it; and his Son +_Augustus-William_, the present Duke[36], perfected what remained +unfinished at his Father's Death, and made _Brunswic_ a Place which cannot +be besieged without a numerous Army: But then on the other hand, it would +require such an Army to garison it as the Duke could not furnish without +the help of his Neighbours, and which besides, wou'd not perhaps be +extraordinary convenient for him to introduce. The said Duke has caused a +new Palace to be built, which is large and magnificent, and the Furniture +is rich, new, and excellently well chosen. Among the rest, there are very +fine Pictures, and a Cabinet full of Curiosities. + +The Duke of _Blanckenbourg_, Brother to the Duke of _Wolfembuttle_, has a +particular Palace, where he resides in the Fair-time, but it did not +appear to me to be a House of any consequence. + +The Fairs of _Brunswic_ contribute very much to make it a rich and famous +City, there being two held every Year, and a considerable Trade carried on +at both. + +There is very good Diversion during these Fairs; for then all the Ducal +Family is generally at _Brunswic_; to which foreign Princes come often, +and there is always a great Concourse of the Nobility. The Duke sends +every Morning to invite the Quality of both Sexes, who at Noon repair to +the Palace. The Grand Marshal, for avoiding all Disputes about Precedency, +causes the Ladies to be match'd with the Gentlemen by the drawing of +Tickets; and sometimes it happens that a Dutchess is at the lower end of +the Table, which is served with very great Magnificence and Elegance. When +there are too many Guests to sit at one Table, the two Brothers keep each +a separate Table at his own Palace. At Night, the Company repairs to the +_German_ Opera, which being ended, they pass into Rooms joining to the +Theatre where they play, and sup, and then dance. The Ball is open'd by +the Gentleman who happened to draw the first Number in the Morning, and +continues till Day-break. + +The Ducal Family of _Brunswic-Wolfembuttle_ consists now but of two +Brothers; the eldest of whom, the Duke[37] _Augustus-William_, has had +three Wives, but no Issue. He is married to a Princess of +_Holstein-Norbourg_. + +These two Princes are so far advanced in Years, that the Duke +_Ferdinand-Albert_ of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Bevern_, Son-in-law to the Duke +of _Blanckenbourg_[38], is looked upon as their presumptive Heir. _Europe_ +produces few Princes of more distinguished Merit, who have equal +Knowledge, more Learning, and Integrity, or more Valour and Experience in +War. He has acquired a noble Reputation in _Hungary_; and he is not only a +Brother-in-law to the Emperor, but one of his favourite Generals, and has +a Regiment in his Service[39]. + +His Family consists of four Sons and three Daughters[40] by his Wife +_Antonietta-Amelia_ of _Brunswic-Blanckenbourg_. These are very hopeful +young Princes. The eldest, whose Name is _Charles_[41], is of a lovely +Make, and has Sense infinitely beyond his Years. The eldest Princess, +_Elizabeth-Christina_[42], at twelve Years of Age may pass for one that is +compleatly grown; her Air is noble and modest; her Features regular; in a +word, she is form'd to make that Prince happy who is one day to be her +Husband. + +The Court of _Wolfembuttle_ is numerous, and when assembled does not want +for Magnificence. + +The Ministers of most Power are the Baron _Stein_[43], and the Count _de +Debn_[44]. The former is descended of an illustrious Family in _Swabia_: +He was in the Service of the Landgrave of _Darmstadt_, and his Envoy at +the Dyet of _Ratisbon_, and several Courts, where he made himself +considerable by his Eloquence, the Justness of his Sentiments, by the Ease +with which he expresses them, and by his Politeness. + +The Count _de Dehn_ is a Native of _Mecklemburg_, where he was born of a +good Family, and enter'd very young a Page to Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ of +_Brunswic-Wolfembuttle_. He had the Happiness to please that Prince, but +much more his Successor, the Duke _Augustus-William_, who of his Page, +made him his Favourite and Minister, heaped Wealth and Honours upon him, +and match'd him to the Daughter of his Chancellor, who was one of the +richest Heiresses in all _Germany_. + +The young Minister finding himself rich and powerful, quickly thought the +Court of _Wolfembuttle_ too narrow a Stage for Action. He had chose the +Count _de Fleming_, Prime Minister of the King of _Poland_, for a Model. +He saw that this Minister, under pretence of important Negotiations, went +to the chief Courts of the Empire to make a Parade of his Riches; and +young _Dehn_ long'd with Impatience to imitate him. He procur'd himself to +be nominated the Duke's Envoy Extraordinary to _Holland_ and _France_, +where he vy'd in every respect with the Ambassadors of the chief Crowns. +In fine, after having staid about eighteen Months at _Paris_, he went away +very much lamented by the Merchants and Workmen with whom he had dealings. +He came to _Wolfembuttle_ to receive the Applauses of his Master, and to +rest himself after the Fatigues he had undergone in his important +Negotiations. + +As Count _Fleming_ was honoured with the Orders of _Denmark_, _Russia_, +and _Poland_, his Rival too thought he could not do without one Ribbon at +least; and thinking the Order of _Dannebrock_ the most proper for him, +because it was white, he demanded and obtained it of _Frederic_ IV. the +King of _Denmark_. When he saw himself thus adorn'd, he procured himself +to be sent to _Vienna_. What business he had there, I know not; but he was +scarce ever from the Emperor, and in order to be nearer to his Person, he +lodged just by the Palace of the _Favorita_. He often relieved the Cares +of the Ministry by making some Entertainment or Ball. He had an admirable +Genius for Dancing, so that every body thought him the Inventor of +Country-Dances. The Emperor gave him the Title of a Count, with which he +returned to his own Court. + +When Glory has once fir'd a noble Soul, nothing can keep it within Bounds. +The Count _de Dehn_ had lost his first Wife, who left him the Heir of +three great Estates; and he married again to an amiable Lady, who return'd +him Love for Love. Tho' he was dear to his Master, yet he could not +resolve to continue at _Wolfembuttle_, because he had a Taste for nothing +but Treaties and Negotiations. He returned a second time, as Envoy +Extraordinary to the _States-General_, but did not stay long at the +_Hague_; for after having had his publick Audience, wherein he assured +their High-Mightinesses of the sincere Affection of his Master for their +Republic, and of his own personal Joy to find himself seated in an +Arm-Chair in their Assembly, he went over to _England_ to reside at the +Court of his _Britannic_ Majesty. He was admired for his Grandeur, as much +in _England_ as elsewhere; but the Air of that Country not agreeing with +the Delicacy of his Constitution, he return'd to _Germany_; and, after +having made a tour to the chief Courts of the Empire, he is come back to +_Wolfembuttle_, where he stays in expectation that some great Event or +other will turn up, that he may be employ'd in some remarkable Embassy, +whereby _Europe_, attentive to every thing that relates to him, may have +fresh Proofs of his great Talents. + +The Baron _de Hagen_ is Commander in Chief of the Duke's Troops, which +actually amount to above 4000 Men, and 'tis said, that his Highness's +Revenues exceed two Millions of Crowns. His Subjects are not the worst +used of any in _Germany_. 'Tis a good fruitful Country; the Peasants, who +are sober and laborious, are as clownish and as stupid as those that herd +with the Hogs in _Westphalia_; but they are robust, strong, and good +Soldiers. + +In _Brunswic_ there is a Catholick Church which is small, but neat. The +Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ caus'd it to be built at the time he embraced the +Catholick Religion; which he did, after full Conviction, not many Years +before his Death. + +_Saltzdahl_, a Pleasure-House belonging to the Duke, is a League from +_Brunswic_, and from _Wolfembuttle_. It was built by Duke _Anthony-Ulric_, +one of the most magnificent Princes of his Time, and one who had the most +elegant Taste. This House is worthy of nice Observation. It has a great +Gallery with a Collection of Pictures in it by the chief Painters, which +is not to be met with elsewhere. In one great Cabinet there is very fine +Porcellane; and in another, a vast number of Vessels and Urns painted by +_Raphael_. In short, the Curious can't want here for Entertainment. + +The Road from _Brunswic_ to WOLFEMBUTTLE is as pleasant as most Roads. We +cross a little Wood through which there are several Routes cut, and as we +come near the Town, several pretty Seats appear in view. + +The Town of _Wolfembuttle_ is not half so big as _Brunswic_, nor is it +better built, the Houses being of Timber. The Fortifications seem to me to +be in good Repair. The Castle, or Ducal Palace, is ancient, and makes no +great Appearance, but 'tis commodious, and has good Lodging-Rooms. That +which most deserves the Attention of a Traveller, is the Library, which is +one of the best chosen in _Europe_, and contains very scarce Books and +Manuscripts. + +As I had left the Court at _Brunswic_ I did not stay many Hours at +_Wolfembuttle_, but came to lie here at BLANCKENBOURG, where I have all +that Heart can wish for. + +The Duke is as affable and as civil a Prince as any in the World. In his +Youth he visited the principal Courts of _Europe_, where he contracted a +great Politeness, and a solid Taste of Elegancy. He loves the _Belles +Lettres_, protects the Arts and Sciences, and looks out for Men of Ability +to serve him. He is magnificent, generous, a good Prince, and a kind +Master. He was at one and the same time, the Father of an Empress, and the +Grandfather of an Emperor. As a Father, he has a considerable Pension from +the Emperor of _Germany_; and as a Grandfather, he has been honour'd with +the Order of St. _Andrew_ of _Muscovy_, founded by _Peter_ the Great, +which is a blue Ribbon, with St. _Andrew_'s Cross appendant to it +enamell'd with blue. This Prince is also a Commander of _Suplenbourg_, a +Commandery of the Order of St. _John_, annexed to the House of _Brunswic_. +He has had three Daughters by his Wife _Elizabeth-Christina_ of +_Oetingen_. + +The Dutchess, tho' advanc'd in Years, retains an Air of Grandeur and +Majesty which strikes the Beholders, and her Features discover the Marks +of that shining Beauty which she had in her Youth. But what renders this +Princess more venerable than even her Birth, is her solid Piety, her just +Discernment, her lively Imagination, her noble and easy manner of +expressing herself, and her Principles of Humanity, accompany'd with a +Generosity free from all Ostentation. + +I had the honour to pay my Duty to her at _Brunswic_, some Years ago, when +she receiv'd me with such Tokens of Goodness as rejoic'd my very Heart; +and upon all Occasions since, she has been pleas'd to give me fresh Proofs +of it. As I can be of no service to this Princess in any Case, nor so +happy as to be able to contribute to her Glory, 'tis my Ambition to make +every one, and you, Sir, in particular, sensible of the Respect and +Attachment with which I am devoted to her, and of the grateful Sense I +have of the Benevolence with which she has honour'd me. + +The Courtiers of _Blanckenbourg_ are, like their Master, very polite. M. +_de Munchausen_ is the chief of the Duke's Council, and was formerly in +the Service of the Duke of _Wolfembuttle_. He is a Gentleman of great +Learning, Labour, and Vigilance, and has a distinct and noble Manner of +Delivery. He is heartily attach'd to his Master; and the Courtiers seem'd +to me to have an Esteem and Affection for him. Men of solid Judgment, and +who have been more conversant with this Minister than I, have assured me +that he is one of the greatest Genius's at this present, in _Germany_[45]. + +M. _de Sporck_ is the Grand Marshal, which Employment he acquits himself +in with very great Politeness and Care. He is come of a good Family, his +Father being Minister of State, and Director of the Dutchies of _Zell_ +and _Lunenbourg_. M. _de Polentz_[46] does the Honours of the Court under +him, in quality of Great Cup-Bearer. As he had his Education at Court, he +is vastly polite; and Foreigners cannot but be pleas'd with his good +Behaviour. + +The Duke and Dutchess delight to see Foreigners at their Court, whom they +load with Civilities, and will have them always to dine and sup with their +Highnesses. After Dinner, they take the Air, or make Visits; and in the +Evening there's an Assembly in the Dutchess's Apartment, where they play, +then sup, and afterwards every one retires. We have had a Comedy twice or +thrice, which is acted by the young People of the Family, who perform +their Parts very well; especially in the Tragedies of _Corneille_ and +_Racine_, translated into _High-Dutch_. + +The Pleasures of the Carnival are more gay, at which time the Duke makes +Entertainments: There's a Ball, a Masquerade, and Comedy at Court, every +Day; and for the time there's so great a Concourse of Strangers here from +the neighbouring Towns, that sometimes 'tis impossible to get a Lodging. + +The Town of BLANCKENBOURG is small, and the Houses ill built, and +inconvenient. The Duke has done all in his power to engage the Inhabitants +to build; he has offer'd them Materials _gratis_, and has moreover +endeavour'd to inspire them with a Taste for the Arts; but all without +Success. + +I never in my whole Life, saw People more indolent and clownish than those +of _Blanckenbourg_, and the neighbouring Towns. They are so bigotted to +old Customs, that they say, _My Father liv'd so, and so will I; My Father +did not do this, nor will I_. I cannot conceive how People, so dull as +they are, and so strongly attach'd to the Institutions of their +Forefathers, came to give into _Luther_'s Reformation.[47] + +_Blanckenbourg_ is a petty County, which Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ yielded in +his Life-time to his second Son, to make him some sort of Compensation for +the Right of Primogeniture, which he had newly introduc'd into his Family, +to that Son's prejudice: For the Princes of _Brunswic_ had for a long time +been us'd to a Partition of Lands in their Families. The _Hanover_ Branch +was the first that abolish'd that Custom, pernicious to great Families. +Duke _Anthony-Ulric_ was only restrain'd from it by Pr. _Lewis_ his second +Son, whom he lov'd more than his eldest; and not caring to leave him +without Dominions, to the Discretion of a Brother, he gave him Possession +of this State in his Life-time; because he was of Opinion, that after his +Death, his Will wou'd have the Fate of not being executed by his +Successor, according to the Custom introduc'd among Sovereigns. With them +'tis a Right of Regale, but for us to do so, is a Crime. + +As the County of _Blanckenbourg_ does not give Admittance into the College +of Princes at the Dyet of the Empire, so it does not give the Rank of a +Sovereign Prince to the Person in possession of it. The Duke, in order to +procure himself both these Privileges, made a Treaty with the Elector of +_Hanover_, whereby he got that Prince to yield him the Vote and Seat which +he enjoy'd in the Dyet for his Dutchy of _Grubenhagen_: And the Duke, on +his part, engaged never to vote at the Dyet but in conformity to the +Sentiments of the Elector. After his Decease, or if he happens to succeed +his Brother, the Vote and Session for _Grubenhagen_ revert to the +Elector[48]. + +This, Sir, is all that I can say to you at present. Their Highnesses being +to set out in a few days for _Oetingen_, where they use to go every +Summer, I propose to go forthwith to _Leipsic_ and _Dresden_: And at the +latter Place I hope to hear from you. + + I am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER V. + + + _SIR_, _Dresden, August 30, 1729._ + +From _Blanckenbourg_ we have till'd Lands, and fruitful Fields; with Woods +of Oak interspers'd all the way, till we come to MAGDEBOURG, the Capital +of a Dutchy of that Name, formerly an Archbishoprick, but secularised at +the Treaty of _Westphalia_, in favour of the House of _Brandenbourg_, to +whom that Dutchy was yielded in exchange for their resigning Hither +_Pomerania_ to _Sweden_. This City has for these two Centuries past, +suffer'd very much. It was besieg'd by the Emperor _Charles_ V. who +squeez'd considerable Sums from it. But it fared worse in that unhappy War +which divided _Germany_ during the space of 30 Years; for the Counts _de +Tilly_ and _Papenheim_ commanding the Imperial Army in 1631, took it by +Storm, put the Inhabitants to the Sword, and reduc'd the whole City almost +to Ashes. Nevertheless, 'tis since pretty well recover'd, and has some +fine Houses. The great Square before the King's Palace has few equal to it +for its Extent, and for the fine Houses that encompass it, which are all +uniform, three Stories high, and were all raised in this Reign. In this +same Square there's an Arsenal, which really is not so magnificent as that +of _Berlin_, but may be rank'd among the chief Arsenals in _Europe_. This +is a populous Town, and has a more flourishing Trade than any other City +in the King of _Prussia_'s Dominions. + +The great Church, which was formerly the Metropolitan, is ancient, and one +of the largest and most magnificent Buildings in _Germany_. It has still +some Reliques to shew, particularly the Basin in which _Pilate_ washed his +Hands, after having pass'd Sentence of Death upon our Saviour; the +Lanthorn[49] which _Judas_ made use of when he went to apprehend him; a +Thorn of the Crown that was planted on his Head: and things of the like +kind. + +The Chapter of _Magdebourg_ is still, bating the change of Religion, on +the same footing as before the Reformation. The Canons must all make Proof +of their Nobility; tho' 'tis a _Punctilio_ with which the King, who +confers all the Prebends and Dignities of the Chapter, sometimes +dispenses. The present Provost is the Duke of _Saxe-Barbi_, who succeeded +his Father in that Dignity, which brings him in 12000 Crowns a-year. He +lives in a fine House on the great Square, fronting the Palace, built by +the Order of King _Frederic_ I. who also caus'd a Citadel to be erected +here, on the other side of the _Elbe_, over which there is a Bridge. That +King began likewise to fortify the Town; and King _Frederic-William_, who +carried on, and finish'd the Fortifications, has now made _Magdebourg_ one +of the most important Places in _Europe_. M. _de Walrave_, Chief Engineer, +had the Direction of those Works, which are a Proof of his great Ability. + +The Margrave _Albert_ of _Brandenbourg_[50], Brother to the late King +_Frederic_ I. is Governour of the Dutchy of _Magdebourg_; as is the Prince +of _Anhalt-Dessau_ of the Town, where he has a numerous Garrison under his +command. The Arsenal, which is a fine Structure, and full of Cannon, and +small Arms, is worth seeing. + +The King of _Prussia_ having it much at heart to render _Magdebourg_ a +flourishing Town, has transferr'd the Regency of the Dutchy hither, which +was heretofore at _Halle_; and for this reason there are several good +Houses in the Town. The Dutchy of _Magdebourg_ is one of the best +Provinces in the _Prussian_ Dominions. It has a great Income from the +_Elbe_, and the Salt-Works. The Catholicks are allowed a Toleration of +their Religion in the Dutchy, and have Churches in the Town. + +The Roads from _Magdebourg_ to _Leipsic_, are so bad at this time, by +reason of the Rains that have fallen for some Days past, that I have been +three Days in getting from the one Town to the other. Indeed I went some +Leagues out of my way, on purpose to see BARBI and COHTEN. The first of +these Towns belongs to a Prince of the House of _Saxony_, of the Branch +of _Weissenfeld_; and has nothing considerable but the Prince's Palace, +which makes a good appearance, and has commodious Apartments, elegantly +furnished. There is a Salon, and a Closet, the Cielings of which are +painted by _Peine_, and not the worst things he has done. The Palace has +Gardens delightfully situate by the side of the _Elbe_. The Duke _de +Barbi_ is the only Prince of the House of _Saxony_ who professes the +_Calvinist_ Religion, in which he was educated by his Father, who was at +first a _Lutheran_. This Prince is a comely handsome young Man. He married +_N---- de Wirtemberg-Oels_[51], but has no Children. He has been in the +Service of _Prussia_, and is Grand Provost of the Chapter of _Magdebourg_, +and Knight of the Order of the White Eagle of _Poland_. + +COHTEN, which is bigger than _Barbi_ by one half, belongs to a Prince of +_Anhalt_[52]; the only one of his Branch, tho' he has had two Wives. I +desired leave to kiss his Hand; but he excused himself by pretending an +Indisposition. I have observed that petty Princes are always more +difficult of Access than great ones. The Town has no Fortifications; and I +walk'd about a good while to see if there was any thing remarkable, but +'twas to no purpose; and I was oblig'd to confine myself to my Inn, which +was one of the worst in _Europe_. + +LEIPSIC stands in a fruitful Plain. This City, so famous for its Fairs, +and for its University, may justly pass for the Jewel of the Electorate +of _Saxony_; not only for the Beauty of its Structures, but for the +considerable Revenue which it yields to its Sovereign, the King of +_Poland_. 'Tis small, and fac'd with Ramparts, and a Ditch; but all these +Fortifications are of little consequence. Its Castle, or rather Citadel, +which joins to the Town, is a Place of greater Importance. There is always +a good Garrison and Governour in it, who is at present General +_Baumgarten_. As the Castle passes under the Denomination of the King's +House, the _Roman_ Catholicks have had a Chapel there ever since +_Augustus_ II. embraced their Religion. + +The Suburbs of _Leipsic_ are very large. The City has four Gates newly +built of Free-Stone, which are magnificent, tho' not according to the +Rules of Architecture. + +At each Gate they have newly set up a Mile-Post, such as the _Romans_ had +formerly. There are the like Posts at the Gates of all the Towns, and even +at the Villages in the Electorate of _Saxony_. From hence they count the +Leagues, which are divided at the end of every Quarter of a Mile, by other +Posts not so big, upon all the great Roads, shewing the Distances of the +Places, and of the chief Towns; which is a mighty Convenience to +Travellers, who were heretofore often impos'd upon by the Post-Masters, as +to the Length of the Roads. + +The Houses of _Leipsic_ are large, very high, and substantially built of +Free-Stone; and their being adorn'd with great fine Windows helps to set +them off to the Eye. The Ground-Floors of most of the Houses are +Warehouses, in which the foreign Merchants store the Goods they sell at +the Fairs, which are three in number every Year, _viz._ at +_New-Year's-day_, _Easter_, and _Michaelmass_. The Concourse of Foreigners +here at the Fair-Season, is so great that 'tis often a hard matter to get +a Lodging here for Love or Money. I myself saw in 1709, at the +_New-year's_ Fair, the late King of _Prussia_, the King and Queen of +_Poland_, and 44 Princes or Princesses of Sovereign Families. The two +Kings and the Queen lodged at the House of _Appel_, a Merchant; where the +King of _Poland_ always resides when he comes to _Leipsic_. + +The University, formerly so famous, is very much decay'd: That of _Halle_, +its Neighbour, and its Rival, in the King of _Prussia_'s Dominions, takes +away a great many Students from it. They say that for some time past there +have been more able Professors at _Halle_, where besides 'tis much cheaper +living than at _Leipsic_; and where the Students are not such +Spendthrifts, nor so much addicted to Expence and Gallantry. + +The Gardens of Messieurs _Appel_ and _Pose_, Merchants, in the Suburbs, +are worth seeing. The first is large and magnificent: In the second are +very uncommon Plants, cultivated with very great Care. The Gardeners of +_Leipsic_, who are reckon'd the best in all _Germany_, value themselves +upon forcing Nature; so that I have seen here, at _Easter_ Fair, the +Fruits, Flowers, and Pulse, of all the Seasons. The Asparagus here is +delicious, and extraordinary large. Another Nicety at _Leipsic_, is its +Larks, which are sent over all _Germany_; nay, to _Poland_, _Holland_ and +_Denmark_. I was assured, but I will not vouch for the Truth of it, that +the very Custom-Duty paid for Larks at _Leipsic_, amounted to 12000 Crowns +a-year; which Sum I thought the more considerable, because I think I have +heard it said, that 60 Larks pay but a Grosh[53] the Duty; judge then how +many there must be to make up the Sum of 12000 Crowns. But be it true or +false, 'tis certain that there is not a Country in the World where these +Birds are taken in such quantities; for, from _Michaelmass_ to +_Martinmass_, the Fields are cover'd with 'em. + +Another Singularity is the multitude of Nightingales, in the Woods near +_Leipsic_; whereof they take great numbers, and keep them in Cages: The +Innkeeper's Daughter, where I lodged, had seven of them; and I have seen a +great many at other Houses. + +'Tis surprizing that so plentiful a Country as _Saxony_ shou'd have no +better Ordinarys. I don't mean _Leipsic_ and _Dresden_, where, considering +one is in _Germany_, we come off pretty well; tho' were it so in +_Holland_, the _Netherlands_, or in _France_, we shou'd not think +ourselves well us'd. I mean the little Towns and Villages in a Road so +frequented as that from _Leipsic_ to _Dresden_. There's Provision to be +had at these Ordinarys, but then 'tis so ill dress'd, and the Houses so +nasty, that 'tis enough to turn one's Stomach. + +Setting out from _Leipsic_, at the opening of the Gates, I came betimes to +WERMSTORF, or HUBERTSBOURG, (St. _Hubert_'s Palace,) a magnificent +Hunting-Seat, which the Electoral Prince of _Saxony_ is building at the +Entrance of a Forest, where there are several Roads cut. This House is +five Miles from _Leipsic_, and eight from _Dresden_; and when 'tis +finish'd, will be large and magnificent: Men are hard at work upon it, and +the main Body of it is already compleated. Their Royal Highnesses, the +Prince and Princess, generally hunt here at Spring and Autumn. The +Equipage for the Stag-hunting is very fine, the Liveries being Yellow, +with Facings of blue Velvet, and Silver Lace at all the Seams. + +After I had walk'd an Hour or two at _Hubertsbourg_, I proceeded on my +Journey, and came to Dinner at MEISSEN, the Capital of _Misnia_. This City +has nothing particular, besides its Manufacture of Porcellane, which is +so finely painted and enamell'd with Gold, that it is more beautiful than +the Porcellane of _Japan_, and much dearer. The Invention of it is owing +to an Alchymist, or one that pretended to be such; who had persuaded a +great many People he cou'd make Gold. The King of _Poland_ believ'd it as +well as others, and to make sure of his Person, caus'd him to be committed +to the Castle of _Konigstein_, three Miles from _Dresden_. There, instead +of making Gold, that solid precious Metal, which puts Mankind on +committing so many Follies, he invented Brittle Porcellane; by which, in +one Sense, he made Gold, because the great Vent of that Ware brings a deal +of Money into the Country. + +After having pass'd the _Elbe_, over a wooden Bridge, going out of +_Meissen_, I came in less than three Hours to DRESDEN, the Capital of the +Electorate of _Saxony_. The City is pretty large, fortify'd with Art and +Regularity; and very lightsome. Its Houses are high and substantial, the +Streets broad, strait, well pav'd, neat, and in the Night-time well +lighted. There are great Squares in it; and the whole City is so well laid +out, that _Dresden_ may be rank'd among the finest in the World. + +The _Elbe_ divides it into two Parts; which are distinguished by Old and +New _Dresden_, and join'd together by a Bridge of Stone. + +In order to give you a more perfect Idea of this City, I shall point out +to you such things as I took most notice of. I shall begin with Old +_Dresden_, which is the first that we come to from _Meissen_. At the +Entrance of the Town, on the right hand, there is a great House, called +the Palace of the _Indies_, or _Holland_ House, which the King bought some +Years ago of his Prime Minister, the Marshal Count _de Fleming_. All the +Rooms of this Palace, which consists of three Stories, are so many +Closets of _Japan_ and _China_ Wares. I don't believe that all the +Warehouses in _Amsterdam_ put together, are capable of furnishing such a +quantity of uncommon old Porcellane, as is to be found here. The value of +it is computed at a Million of Crowns. The very Houshold-Goods are +_Indian_. There is one Set of Furniture, the like of which I never saw +elsewhere: It consists of Feathers of various Colours, and all natural; +inlaid with so much Art, that it might be taken for a fine flower'd +Sattin. + +This magnificent Palace has a Garden belonging to it, which looks towards +the _Elbe_. It is adorn'd with Statues of white Marble, which the King +caus'd to be purchas'd at _Rome_, of the Cardinals _Annibal_ and +_Alexander Albani_, Nephews to _Clement_ XI. These Statues are much more +priz'd here than they were at _Rome_. + +Near the Palace of the _Indies_ stands that of the Cadets; a magnificent +Structure built by the States of _Saxony_, for maintaining two Companies +of Cadets, all Gentlemen of the Country; who are there instructed in all +the Sciences fitting for Persons of Quality. + +Farther up in the same Street, there is an Amphitheatre, or Area, for the +Battles of wild Beasts; of which a great number is kept for that purpose. +Here are Lions, Tigers, Bears; in short, all the fiercest Animals from the +four Quarters of the World. + +The Bridge over the _Elbe_, which joins Old _Dresden_ to the New, is +scarce to be parallel'd, either for its Length or Substance. It has lately +been made broader by forming Demy-Arches which support the Riders on each +side. The Barriers are of Iron, well wrought. An Equestrian Statue of the +King is going to be erected upon it. + +The Palace or Castle joins to the Bridge, at the Entrance of New +_Dresden_. This is an ancient Structure, which makes but a mean +Appearance; and 'tis said, that the King intends it shall be pull'd down, +and another built in its room; and that his Majesty has set apart eight +Millions of Crowns for the Expence of it. + +The inside of the Castle surpasses the outside. The State-Room is +splendidly furnish'd. The Great Gallery contains several Curiosities, such +as antique Busts, Vessels, and Pictures. + +This Palace has two Chapels, one of which belongs to the _Roman_ +Catholicks, and the other to the _Lutherans_. The first was heretofore the +Theatre for Operas, but the King turn'd it into a Chapel, upon account of +the Marriage of his only Son with the Archdutchess, eldest Daughter to the +Emperor _Joseph_; the second was always the Chapel of the Electors of +_Saxony_. The King might, if he pleas'd, have order'd Mass to be +celebrated in it, but he wou'd not give his Subjects that Handle for +Complaint; besides, the late Queen, his Wife, having always stuck to the +_Lutheran_ Religion, in which she was born, he left her that Chapel for +her use. The Treasure of it is extremely rich, and contains Vessels, +Chasubles, and other things heretofore consecrated and given to this +Chapel by the Piety of the Electors. + +The Royal Treasury, commonly call'd the _Grune Gewoelbe_, (the Green +Vault,) is in the Palace. They are three arch'd Rooms, which contain +immense Riches, and shine all over with Gold, Precious Stones, and +Diamonds. 'Tis one of the finest Places in the World. There are several +Sets of Brilliant Diamonds, Rubies, Emeralds, Pearls, Saphirs, and other +Precious Stones. Every Set is compleat, and consists of Buttons for +Clothes, Loops for Hats, Swords, Hangers, Canes, Sleeve-Buttons, +Shoe-Buckles, Muffs, and Sword-Belts, Snuff-Boxes, Watches, +Tweezer-Cases, Pocket-Books; in short, all the Jewels that can possibly be +imagin'd, even to the Furniture of a Horse; so that were I to write down +every Particular, I should furnish you a Volume. And they all look the +better, for being ranged with wonderful Nicety in Cases of Crystal. + +To the Castle belongs a Garden, call'd the _Zwinger Garten_, which is the +_Tuilleries_ of _Dresden_, but not extensive enough to deserve the Name of +a Garden. 'Tis encompass'd with Buildings of Free-Stone, which are +Green-Houses for Orange-Trees. The Structure consists but of one Floor, on +which are rais'd six large Pavilions, _viz._ three in front at the +Entrance, two on the sides, and one over the Portico at the Entrance; +which have all a Communication with one another, by a Platform that has +Balustrades adorn'd with Statues. It wou'd be hard to lay what Order of +Architecture prevails most in this Edifice, the Carv'd-Work with which it +is decorated, being more of the _Gothic_ than the modern Taste. + +Near to this Building there's a Palace which makes a great Shew, but the +Apartments are by much too small, and too low for the Ornaments employ'd +about them. The King caus'd this House to be built for the Countess _de +Cosel_, at the time when that Lady was in high Favour. No Cost was spar'd +in it; but 'tis pity that a more skilful Architect had not been pitched +upon to conduct it. + +There are five or six other Houses, which are here call'd _Hotels_, but in +_Italy_ wou'd certainly pass for Palaces. The Hotel _de Fuhl_ in the +Street of _Pirnitz_ is one of this number. It was erected by the Great +Marshal _de Fuhl_ who on his Death-bed left it to his Wife, of whom it was +purchas'd by the Count _de Fleming_. That Minister sold it soon after to +the King, who made considerable Embellishments in it, and furnished it +richly. In this Condition his Majesty gave it in 1728, to the Marshal _de +Wackerbarth_, to make him amends when he had been burnt out of the House +he liv'd in, as Governour of _Dresden_. After this, the Governour's House +being rebuilt, the King bought the other House again of the Count _de +Wackerbarth_, and has made it a Depositary of his Medals, Antiquities, and +Curiosities. + +To be sure you have heard that this Fire broke out at the Governour's +House in the Night-time, while the King of _Prussia_ was here. His Majesty +actually lodg'd at the Governour's House; and was in Bed when the Fire +burst out with such fury that he had but just time to make his Escape in +his Night-Gown, and to save a little Box in which there were Papers of +consequence; for the Floor of his Bed-Chamber fell in, the moment after +the King was gone out of it. An Officer, his Wife, and her Maid-Servant +perish'd in the Flames. The Count _de Wackerbarth_ only sav'd his Wardrobe +and his Plate; for his fine Library, and a noble Collection which he had +of Drawings, one of the compleatest and best chosen Setts in _Europe_, +were consum'd. + +The Hotel of _Hoyhm_ is the most considerable Building in _Dresden_. In +about six Years time it had four different Owners. It was founded by the +King's Favourite, the Count _de Fitztuhm_[54], his Great Chamberlain, and +Minister of State; who having been kill'd in a Duel at _Warsaw_, by the +Count _de St. Gilles_, a _Piedmontese_ that came to _Poland_ to seek +his Fortune, his Widow sold it to Marshal _Fleming_, who dying at _Vienna_ +not long after he had purchased it, the House fell to his Son, a weakly +Child, who did not long survive him. His Mother, who was a _Radzivil_, was +his Heiress, and one of the greatest Matches in _Europe_. She was soon +after married again to a _Polander_ whom she follow'd into his own +Country; and when she left _Dresden_, she sold her House to the Count _de +Hoym_, who at present occupies it. + +Not far from this House are the King's Stables, which are well worth +seeing, there being a great number of wonderful fine Horses, and some of +all sorts of the rarest Breeds. Over the Stables, are Rooms full of fine +Equipage, consisting of sumptuous Saddles and Housings, Sleds and +magnificent Harness. Many of these Equipages are of the _Turkish_ Mode, +and plated with massy Silver, adorn'd with precious Stones. + +The Arsenal, which is much boasted of here, cannot be reckon'd a fine one +by any but such as have not seen the Arsenal of _Berlin_, to which it is +not to be compar'd. There are several Rooms in it full of Arms, Brass +Cannon, Helmets, and Cuirasses, which are the Tapestry of Arsenals. + +Thus, Sir, you have all that I observed in _Dresden_: it remains for me to +give you some Account of its Suburbs, and of the Pleasure-Houses which the +King has in the Neighbourhood of this City. + +The Suburbs of _Dresden_ are very extensive, but have no Building of +consequence, except the Palace in the King's great Garden, built by his +Majesty's Mother, and that call'd the _Turkish_ Palace, because it is +furnished entirely after the _Turkish_ manner. The King gave an +Entertainment at this Palace to the Princess his Daughter-in-law, on +account of her Arrival at _Dresden_, which was so particular that I think +it deserves a Digression. + +Upon the Feast-Day, the whole Court appeared at the _Turkish_ Palace, in +the Habits of _Turks_. The King came in the Dress of a _Sultan_, but +without any Attendance. His Majesty was soon after follow'd by the +Princess his Daughter-in-law, with her Ladies. Her Royal Highness, for +whom the Entertainment was made, found a Body of Janizaries drawn up in +the Court-Yard of the Palace. The King receiv'd her at the Entrance of his +Apartment, and conducted her into a Hall spread with fine Tapestry, and +laid with Cushions richly embroider'd. + +The King and Princess being seated, were served by twenty-four Negroes in +sumptuous Dresses, with Sherbet, Coffee, and Sweet-Meats, in great Vessels +of massy Silver; nor were scented Waters, and perfumed Handkerchiefs +forgot. After this Collation, they drew near the Windows to see the +_Pillau_ (which is the Rice of _Turky_) and the King's Bounty-Money +distributed to the Janizaries. This was follow'd by a Comedy, with an +Entertainment of _Turkish_ Dances. Then came the Supper, the Guests +sitting cross-legg'd upon the Cushions, and the Courses being served up +after the fashion of _Turky_, by the Negroes and young _Turks_. While they +were at Table, the Company was diverted by the various Leaps and Postures +of certain Tumblers and Rope-Dancers. Supper being over, they went into +the Garden, which was illuminated with several Thousands of Crystal Lamps. +There was Tilting, and shooting at the Mark, and whenever the Mark was +hit, a Sky-Rocket was sent up, which for the time seem'd to sprinkle +Thousands of Stars among those in the Firmament. After this, the Company +retir'd into the Palace, where the King and the Princess open'd the Ball, +and there was dancing till five o'clock in the Morning, when the Ball was +concluded with a sumptuous Breakfast that was serv'd at the several +Tables, after the manner of our own Country; which, with the leave of the +_Mussulmen_, is as good as theirs. + +The finest Royal Houses, are _Pilnitz_ and _Moritzbourg_. The King, who is +certainly of all Sovereigns the most magnificent, keeps Men continually at +work, in embellishing those Places. The Works are carried on by the +Direction of Mons. _Bot_, whom I think to be not inferior to _Bernini_, +and I doubt not, such is my high Idea of him, that as he is supported by +the Generosity of a Great King, he will accomplish such Works as are +worthy of himself, and of his Master too. + +I have now done with the Description of the Palaces and Royal Houses, in +which, I own I have been defective, and would gladly have been excus'd +from giving it; but you would have it, and I cou'd not help gratifying +you. I pass now to something more important; and shall entertain you with +the present State of the Royal Family, and the Characters of the most +distinguish'd Persons at Court. + +FREDERIC-AUGUSTUS II. King of _Poland_, and Elector of _Saxony_, is the +Chief of this August Family. This Monarch, whom no Man surpasses in +Strength and Dexterity, and whom few Princes equal in Generosity, is the +second Son of _John George_ III. Elector of _Saxony_. He succeeded his +Brother _John George_ IV. in the Electorate, and was chose King of +_Poland_ after the Death of the Great _Sobieski_, notwithstanding the +Intrigues of the Emissaries of _France_ who declared for the Prince of +_Conti_. + +When _Frederic-Augustus_ ascended the Throne, he brought all the Virtues +to it fitting for a Great King. The Agreeableness of his Person, his +Majestic Air, his Heroic Strength, his Good-Nature, his Politeness, and +his well-known Valour, were the least of his Qualities. Never was any +Prince more magnificent, nor did any one either give more, or with a +better Grace. As a General and a Statesman, he was never too much lifted +up by Prosperity, nor shock'd by Adversity; so that he was observed, when +in the depth of his Misfortunes, to act and treat even with his Enemies, +with that Air of Complaisance and Satisfaction, which Men inur'd to great +Affairs know how to assume, in the midst of the cruellest Mortifications. +This Prince, in his Youth, travelled to the chief Countries of _Europe_, +and where-ever he came, was admir'd for his Strength, his Air, and +Dexterity. Amongst other Adventures, a very odd one befel him in his +Travels, at _Venice_. There happen'd to be in that City a famous +Astrologer, who had the Reputation of being well read in the Book of Fate. +The King, who was only Prince at that time, had a mind that he should +calculate his Nativity, and for that purpose went to the Astrologer's +House, accompanied by two Gentlemen. They were all three dress'd in plain +Apparel, and the Prince, to disguise himself still the more, had conceal'd +his brown Hair under a fair Peruke. He enter'd the last Man, into the +Astrologer's House, and seem'd to be rather as an Attendant, than a +Companion of the others. But to him the Astrologer first address'd +himself, calling him by the Titles of _My Lord_ and _Highness_. The Prince +told him that his Rank in the World was much too mean for such high +Compliments; but the Astrologer made answer, he knew very well whom he +spoke to, and that it was in vain for him to think of concealing himself +from such a Man as he. The Prince and his small Retinue were then +conducted by him into a Closet, where he shewed him a Looking-Glass. _Cast +your Eye on that Mirror_, said he to the Prince, _and there you will see +the principal Events of your Life_. The Prince without any scruple, +look'd accordingly, and saw himself at first in the Habit of an Elector; +afterwards, with a Crown on his Head, and a royal Mantle on his Shoulders; +and at last, full of Wounds, and bath'd in his Blood. + +This Story, which I should not give you for true, if I had not heard it +from a great Nobleman who told me he had it from the King's own Mouth, is +however, not without a Parallel; for it is pretended, that a Mason told +Madam _de Maintenon_, when she was no more than Madam _Scarron_, what her +Fortune and Rank would be in _France_. I could mention several other +Instances to you of the same nature, which all surprize me, tho' they +don't convince me. Be it as it will, two Articles of the Prediction made +to the King of _Poland_ are fully accomplished; as to the third, may +Heaven confound the Astrologer[55]. + +The King of _Poland_ spends part of his time in his Kingdom, and part of +it in his Electorate. 'Tis true, that he seems to take more delight in +_Saxony_ than in _Poland_; and 'tis in my Opinion very natural for him to +do so; _Saxony_ being his hereditary Country, where he is so absolute +that his Will is the Law of his Subjects, by whom he is rather ador'd than +belov'd: besides, 'tis _Saxony_ that furnishes him wherewithal to support +his Dignity, and offers him every thing conducive to the Pleasures of a +Great King; and it is there that he has a Court, the most brilliant in +_Europe_, not only for its Splendor, but for Magnificence and Pleasures; +whereas in _Poland_, he has only the vain Pageantry of Royalty; being +under greater Limitations than any Sovereign in the World; so that the +least Innovation, the least Act of Authority, makes the _Poles_ clamorous, +and they presently think they are excused from paying him that Obedience +which they owe him. All the Gentlemen here are their own Masters; and the +Noblemen behave so much like Sovereigns, that they never go to Court but +to demand Favours, which if they obtain, they go away ungrateful, and if +they are deny'd, they retire with the Intention of taking a Revenge on the +first Opportunity: For the Climate being rough, the People are fierce; and +the King, tho' adored in _Saxony_, is scarce beloved in _Poland_. + +The Electoral Prince, this King's only Son, is lusty, proper, and well +made, and like the King his Father is adroit in all bodily Exercises. He +loves Pleasure, but 'tis with Moderation, and is heartily attach'd to the +Religion which he has embrac'd. He is stiff and reserved, without being +haughty, which is a Temper that he derives from the late Queen his +Mother[56], whom he very much resembles. To such as have the Honour of +Access to him, and of being known to him, he is gracious, familiar and +very civil. His Royal Highness has been admit'd for his good Qualities in +a great part of _Europe_, particularly in _Germany_, _France_, and +_Italy_, where he has spent several Years. No Son can have more respect to +a Parent than he has for the King his Father, whose Will and Pleasure he +never oppos'd in any one Instance; and whose Person he has always honour'd +even in his Ministers. Of all Pleasures he seems to bestow most Time in +Hunting; nevertheless he makes it only as an Amusement without being +passionately fond of it. His Royal Highness's Confident is _Solckofski_ or +_Sulkowski_[57], a _Polish_ Gentleman who was once his Page; and by thus +making him his Favourite, for which he cannot but be applauded, he shews +that he is capable of distinguishing true Merit. I had frequently the +Honour of making my Compliments to this Prince while he was at _Paris_, +and this is now the second time that I have had the same favour at +_Dresden_, where I find he is the same gracious Personage as ever. The +last time that I had the Honour of being introduc'd to him he talk'd a +great deal to me about _Paris_, and when he dismiss'd me, he said he was +sorry to think that _Dresden_ would not afford me so many Pleasures as +_Paris_. + +The same Day that I waited on the Prince, I was introduced to the Princess +his Royal Highness's Consort, who is the late Emperor _Joseph_'s eldest +Daughter. The Voice of the People is unanimous in the Character of this +Princess. All Mankind agrees that she has not her superior for +Good-nature, Piety, Charity, Modesty, and in a word for all, the Virtue of +the Soul: To please her Husband, and to give her Children an Education +suitable to their Birth, is her principal Endeavour. 'Tis rare to find a +happier Couple than their Royal Highnesses; for Marriage, which generally +cools the warmest Passions, seems on the contrary to have animated their +reciprocal Affection to such a degree that they are a Pattern for the +Imitation of their Court. + +Their Royal Highnesses Children are so young that I shall say but little +of them[58]. Their eldest Son very much resembles the Pictures that I have +seen of the Emperor _Joseph_ when he was a Child. This young Prince seems +to me to be of a very delicate Constitution, and has so great a Weakness +in his Knees that he can scarce stand: The Physicians say it will go off +as he grows up, but their Promises are no Gospel for me. + +The two Princes of the Blood, who commonly reside at _Dresden_, are +_John-Adolphus_ of _Saxe-Weissenfels_[59], a Prince of uncommon Merit, +whose Sentiments and Actions are no disparagement to his Birth; and +_Maurice-William_ of _Saxe-Zeits_, the last of his Branch. He was +persuaded by his Uncle the late Cardinal _de Saxe-Zeits_ to abjure the +_Lutheran_ Religion and to embrace the ecclesiastical State: He is Bishop +of _Konigsgratz_ in _Bohemia_, Provost of _Alten Ottingen_ in _Bavaria_, +and a Canon of _Cologne_, _Liege_, and _Aichstedt_, and is descended from +such a Family that it may be presum'd, he will some day or other, be +advanc'd to the Purple[60]. + +N. B. _What follows, is a more particular Account of the Electoral +Family of +Saxony+, translated from the Baron's State of it; which +is prefix'd to the second Edition of these +Memoirs+._ + +_Augustus_ III. King of _Poland_ Great Duke of _Lithuania_ and Elector of +_Saxony_, was born the seventh of _October_ 1696. He is the only Son of +_Augustus_ II. the last King of _Poland_ and of _Eberhardina_ of +_Brandenbourg-Bareith_. His Grandmother, _Anne_ Princess Royal of +_Denmark_, Widow of _John George_ the third Elector of _Saxony_, took care +of him in his Infancy, and impress'd him with those Sentiments of Piety, +Humanity, and Justice, which render him at this day the Darling of his +People, and the Pattern of Kings. + +At a proper Age, the King his Father took him out of the hands of the +Women, and committed him to the Care of Monsieur _de Miltitz_, a Gentleman +of a good Family; whom Learning, good Behaviour and solid Virtue render'd +worthy of such an Employment. + +The Prince, who always found Charms in Virtue, was sensible of the Merit +of his Governor: He lov'd him, was inseparable from him, and receiv'd his +Advice with a Docility, which, at his tender Age, was a presage he wou'd +be possess'd of that Fund of Wisdom which now renders him worthy of his +Throne. + +While the young Prince was under the Conduct of the Women, God was pleas'd +to touch the Heart of the late King his Father: That Monarch, who happen'd +to be born a _Lutheran_, was converted to the _Roman_ Catholick Religion, +and not long after elected King of _Poland_; and his Majesty being +convinc'd of the Purity of the Religion which he had embrac'd, was +inclin'd to make a Convert also of the Prince his Son. Nevertheless, such +was the Respect the King had for her Royal Highness his Mother, that he +was loth that august Princess shou'd be an Eye-witness of the young +Prince's renouncing a Religion which she had taught him, and to which she +was strenuously attach'd: He resolv'd therefore to remove him, and sent +him to _Francfort_ to be present at the Coronation of the Emperor +_Charles_ VI. His Companion in this Journey, was M. _de Miltitz_; but as +this Gentleman's Attachment to _Luther_'s Doctrine made the King +apprehensive that he wou'd thwart his Views, he recall'd him, and +appointed the Count _de Costa_, and the Baron _de Hagen_, to be his Son's +Governors. + +The Count who was a _Polander_ and Palatine of _Livonia_, was not only of +noble Birth, but a Gentleman of solid Piety, profound Learning, great +Probity, and as much respected for his Principles as belov'd for his good +Behaviour and Politeness. + +The Baron _de Hagen_ was of a Family of some Distinction in the Electorate +of _Triers_: He was Ambassador from the King at the Emperor's Election, +and at his Coronation at _Francfort_: His Behaviour was more grave than +the Count _de Costa_'s, but he was not inferior to the Count for Learning, +Integrity, and good Sense. + +Under the Conduct of these two Gentlemen, the Prince set out to visit a +part of _Germany_ and _Italy_, where he embrac'd the _Roman_ Catholick +Religion; his Profession of which, was however for a long time as private +as it is now exemplary; for he did not declare his alteration of Religion +'till after the Death of her most Serene Highness his Grandmother, who +died the first of _July_ 1717. During this the Prince made the Tour of +_France_, where, tho' he travell'd under the Name of the Count _de +Misnia_, _Lewis_ XIV. caus'd all the Honours to be paid to him which were +due to the Son of a great King. + +The Court of _France_ was charm'd with that Politeness, that noble +Modesty, and that Fund of Wisdom which accompany'd this Prince's Actions +and Conversation: They admir'd him and were sorry for his Departure. He +travell'd a second time to _Italy_, where he acquired that fine Taste of +Men and Things and that Knowledge of Architecture, Painting, and other +curious Arts, which is so useful for great Princes. _Germany_, upon the +return of this Prince, bless'd itself for having given him birth, and +offer'd up Prayers that all its Princes might be like him. His Royal +Highness stay'd a considerable while at _Vienna_, where he maintain'd the +Reputation he had acquir'd in the several Countries he had seen. He +returned at length to _Saxony_, where there was an universal Joy for his +Arrival. The _Saxons_ were charm'd to see the Prince that was design'd by +Heaven to be their Sovereign, so worthy of that Command. One day or other, +they said, we shall lose the most righteous of Kings, and the best of +Masters, but we shall find restor'd in his Son, his heroic Stature, his +majestic Air, his Magnanimity, the same Temper for Goodness, Equity and +Generosity; the Spirit of the great _Augustus_ will be always present with +us; and all our Loss will be that of his Personal Appearance. + +Not long after the Prince's Return to _Dresden_, _Augustus Christopher_ +Count _de Wackerbarth_[61] treated at _Vienna_ for the Marriage of his +Royal Highness to the most serene Archdutchess _Maria Josepha_, eldest +Daughter of the late Emperor _Joseph_. The Count _de Flemming_, Prime +Minister and Velt-Marshal of _Saxony_, solemnly demanded the most serene +Archdutchess in Marriage; and the Prince repair'd to _Vienna_ to espouse +her. The Ceremony was perform'd in the Chapel of _la Favorita_, with all +the Pomp suitable to so great a Match. Some Days after this, their Royal +Highnesses set out for _Dresden_, where they were receiv'd with an +unparallell'd Magnificence. _Augustus_ II. the most splendid of Kings, and +a Prince who had the best Fancy for ordering of Entertainments, outdid +himself; he thought nothing too good for celebrating the Nuptials of his +so worthy a Son, with a Princess whose Ancestors were all Emperors. + +The Rejoicings having lasted forty Days, the King set out for his Kingdom, +leaving the Prince Regent, as he always did whenever he went from his +Electorate. + +In 1726, the Prince himself took a Journey to _Poland_, to which Country +he had once before accompanied the King his Father in 1711, but then made +no long stay. There he won the Hearts of the chief Nobility, who from that +moment thought him worthy of succeeding one day to their Governor, the +Great _Augustus_. They were pleased to see, that he honour'd their +Countryman, the Count _Sulkowski_, with his Confidence, and they thought +it a happy Omen for their Nation, blessing their Stars, that the Prince +distinguished Virtue in one born among themselves. + +His Royal Highness being convinced that of all the Sums laid out by +Princes, there are none less liable to censure than what they expend in +Buildings, undertook that of _Wermsdorf_, which he afterwards call'd +_Hubertsbourg_; and he finish'd that great Work in a little time, by the +assistance of the King his Father: For, in short, it would have been +impossible for his Royal Highness to have defray'd all the Expence of it +himself. It was already very wonderful to see with what Prudence he +directed his Finances. His Revenue being settled, his Expence was suitable +to his Rank; he had a numerous Houshold, his Hunting Equipage was +sumptuous, yet he did good to all that made their Necessity known to him; +his Charities were truly Royal, every body was paid; the Noblemen and the +Tradesmen receiv'd their Pensions and Salaries punctually; and his +Accounts were so regularly kept and discharged by the Count _Sulkowski_, +that the Prince was never in debt. + +The Prince commonly spent the Season for hunting the Stag at +_Hubertsbourg_, and employ'd the remainder of his time at _Dresden_, in +all manner of Exercises, being admired in every Action, for the Grace, +Strength, and Dexterity with which he perform'd it, as well as for the +Sobriety and Regularity of his Manners; for he kept as regular Hours +then, as he does now. + +_Augustus_ III. never knew what it was to be idle or vicious. Such is his +Chastity and Fidelity to his august Spouse, that he never gave her the +least Reason so much as to suspect his Honour. He games only for +amusement, and never plays so high that the loss of the Stake can put +those out of temper who have the Honour to be of his Party. But of all the +Virtues of _Augustus_ III. there is none, most certainly, which has made +him more the Favourite of Heaven, than the inviolable Respect he always +manifested for the King his Father, who tenderly lov'd him; and never was +a Son, Heir to so powerful a Dominion, more affected for the loss of a +Father, than he was when he heard of the death of his. His Affliction was +impress'd deeply in his Countenance, when he receiv'd the homage of his +capital City, at his first appearance in publick; and to this very day, he +is ready to melt in tears at the sight of any Object that calls him to +mind; for which reason the People of _Dresden_, rather than renew his +Sorrow, forbear the mention of a King whom _Europe_ has plac'd in the Rank +of its greatest Men. + +Prince FREDERIC-AUGUSTUS, when he became Elector, did not alter his +Manners, but retain'd the same Piety, the same Regularity. He kept most of +the Servants of the late King his Father, and settled Pensions on those +whom he thought fit to dismiss. His first Care, when he came to the +Electorate, was to provide himself with Ministers, whose Candor and +Sincerity were above Envy it self. For this purpose, he call'd to his +Cabinet-Council, the Count _de Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour_, M. _de +Baudissin_, the Count _Sulkowski_, and M. _de Bruhl_; to the two last of +whom he committed the Direction of Affairs. + +All _Saxony_ applauded this Choice, and doubted not of being very happy +under the Reign of a Prince, who was capable of forming so true a Judgment +of Persons for his Ministers. But what the _Saxons_ saw with extraordinary +Satisfaction, was the sure Proof the King gave of his Gratitude and Esteem +for Virtue, in recalling M. _de Miltitz_, heretofore his Governor, who for +some Years past was retired to his Estate. This Gentleman wou'd fain have +been excus'd from returning to Court, alledging his great Age, and his +being a Stranger to Business; when his Majesty sent him word, that he +requir'd no more at his hands than what his Health wou'd permit; that he +knew his Probity, his Love for his Country, and his Attachment to himself; +that therefore he was willing he shou'd be near his Person, and assist him +with his Advice, which he knew wou'd be solid, by what he gave him when he +had the charge of his Education. In this manner FREDERIC-AUGUSTUS, by the +display of his Gratitude, an uncommon Virtue (especially among Princes) +encourag'd his Courtiers to do what might also give them a Title to it. + +These great Qualities procur'd him the Suffrages of the most judicious +Part of the Republic of _Poland_ which chose him for King. His Majesty +having sent the Count _de Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour_, and M. +_Baudissin_ to _Warsaw_, with the Character of Plenipotentiaries, to take +care of his Interests, these Ministers found the _Polish_ Lords very much +divided: Foreign Gold, with the Intrigues, Cabals, and ensnaring Promises +of a Minister who was lavish of it; all these had corrupted a great number +of them, and others were oppress'd, and must undoubtedly have submitted to +Violence, if they had not had a very great share of Courage and Love to +their Country. God, who never abandons the Virtuous, was their Support and +their Protector, as well as the Shield of the Plenipotentiaries, whose +sacred Character could not guard them from all manner of Outrage. And tho' +the Blood of the _Jagellons_, which flows in this Prince's Veins, tho' his +being the Son of one of the greatest Kings that _Poland_ ever had, as well +as his own Dignity of a Sovereign, ought to have procured him the Respect +of all the _Poles_, yet every Person and Thing belonging to him at +_Warsaw_, was maltreated. Such was, at that time, the unhappy Fate of +_Poland_; Oppression and Tyranny having succeeded the glorious, mild, and +peaceful Reign of _Augustus_ II. + +Mean time, those generous Noblemen who had so bravely stood up in the +defence of the Liberties and Honour of their Country, after having tried +all their Efforts to reclaim their wandering Brethren, found they could +not succeed, and therefore broke up; after which, they met in the very +same Place where _Henry de Valois_ had been elected, and there they chose +and proclaim'd AUGUSTUS Elector of _Saxony_, King of _Poland_. They then +sent a Deputation to his Majesty, to intreat him to come immediately, with +the Queen his Consort, to take possession of the Throne. The King comply'd +with their Intreaty, and set out from _Dresden_, after having return'd +solemn Thanks to God, the sovereign Disposer of Crowns, and of the Fortune +of Kings. + +In a few days the Queen followed the King, and overtook him at +_Tarnovitz_, where their Majesties received the grand Deputation from +_Poland_; and after giving them Audience, proceeded in their Journey +towards _Cracow_. There the King made his Royal Entry on the 14th of +_January_ 1734, and on the 17th of that Month, their Majesties were +consecrated and crowned by _Lipsky_ the Bishop of that See. + +Some time after this august Ceremony, which, in _Poland_, is absolutely +necessary and essential for a King Elect, the Queen return'd to _Saxony_; +but the King staid at _Cracow_, where he held a Diet, in which he made +several Regulations for restoring the Tranquillity of the Kingdom. When +the Diet was ended, his Majesty march'd towards _Dantzic_, which the +_Russians_, his Allies, had invested, in order to drive out the Primate +and his Adherents, who were retir'd thither. + +But after a March of several Days, which the Severity of the Weather +render'd very painful, his Majesty yielded to the Instances that were made +to him from _Saxony_, to assist in Person at the opening of the Assembly +of States which he was under a necessity of calling; and he returned to +_Dresden_, where his Arrival caus'd an inexpressible Joy. Mean time the +Army, under the Command of the Prince of _Saxe-Weissenfels_ continued its +March towards _Dantzic_. + +The King was accompanied by a great number of _Polish_ Noblemen, who +finding themselves unable to oppose the Rage of the Primate's Party in +their several Countries, came to seek shelter in _Saxony_, where his +Majesty receiv'd them, and still entertains them, in a manner which cannot +but convince them of his Gratitude, and give them greater Hopes of what +Favours they may expect, when the Tranquillity of _Poland_ is restor'd. + +The King, after his Return from _Cracow_, summon'd the States of his +Electorate, and open'd the Assembly with the usual Ceremonies. He was +seated on his Throne, accompanied by the chief Lords of his Court, as well +the _Polish_ as _Saxons_. M. _de Miltitz_, his Privy Counsellor, sat on +the Right-hand of the Throne; and, in the King's Name, made a Speech to +the States, wherein he declared to them that his Majesty intended to make +no Innovation in the Affairs of Religion, but to let his Protestant +Subjects enjoy their Privileges, as they had been granted and confirm'd to +them by the late King. Then they told him the Motives which had engag'd +the King to call them together, and demanded the necessary Subsidies for +defraying the extraordinary Expences which his Majesty had been +necessarily involved in thro' the Calamities of the Time. M. _de Hesler_, +Administrator of the Office of hereditary Marshal of _Saxony_, return'd an +Answer in the Name of the States, and spoke with a Dignity, and all the +Decorum due to so august an Assembly. He assur'd the King of the +respectful and inviolable Fidelity and Attachment of his Subjects to his +sacred Person. And in truth, 'tis impossible for a People to be better +affected to their Sovereign, and more disposed to contribute to every +thing that is capable of augmenting his Glory. + +The King's voluntary Declaration to his States that he would make no +Innovation in the Affairs of Religion, won the Hearts of his Subjects to +such a degree, that there is not a _Saxon_ who would make any scruple to +sacrifice his Life and Fortune for his Service. And the said Declaration +does equal Honour to the Justice of the Monarch, and the Wisdom of his +Ministers. + +While the King was employ'd with his States in securing the Happiness and +Tranquility of _Saxony_, his Majesty received Advice, that his Army, after +having join'd the _Russians_, had obliged the _Dantzickers_ to surrender, +and that the _Polish_ Lords of the contrary Party petition'd for leave to +remove to some Place where they might pay him their homage. The King, in +imitation of the great Emperor whose Name he bears, after having made a +Conquest, thought, like him, of nothing more than to make those happy whom +the Fortune of War had submitted to his Arms. His Majesty did not take +any advantage of his Victory, but forgetting past Offences, repair'd to +the Abbey of _Oliva_, near _Dantzic_, where he receiv'd the Submission of +the _Dantzickers_, and the Allegiance of the Lords that were the Primate's +Adherents. By his Modesty and Goodness, he charm'd the Vanquished, and +convinc'd them of their Obligation to pay him that Esteem which before +perhaps they did not think was their Duty to grant to him. The Greatness +of his Soul, which inclines him to sympathize with the Misfortunes of the +Unhappy, hinder'd him from entering _Dantzic_, the desolate State of that +City being so afflicting a Scene to him, that he cou'd not bear to see it. +The _Dantzickers_, by their submission, were become his Subjects; their +present Misfortunes, and their past Mistakes, affected him to such a +degree, that he was fearful of being put in mind of them, and refus'd to +appear among them, crown'd with those Laurels which he had reap'd by their +defeat. So much Modesty, worthy of the most glorious Triumph, gain'd him +the Prayers of the People, in which his Majesty saw more Charms, than he +wou'd have found in Trophies, and the most stately Triumphal Arches. + +The King having provided for the pressing Necessities of his Kingdom, +return'd to his Electorate, where the States continued their Deliberations +ever since his Absence. Now that his Majesty is return'd, the Care of the +State is almost his constant Employment. His Recreations are either taking +the Air on horseback, Hunting, the _Italian_ Opera, or else going to +Concerts, which the Queen, who is a great Lover of Music, causes to be +perform'd in her own Apartment. Their Majesties generally dine together, +and admit the Nobility of both Sexes to their Table. + +There, the King observes that Temperance which so much becomes sovereign +Princes. All his Hours, as has been already observ'd, are regulated; and +all his Actions accompanied with Devotion, good Order, and Equity. Never +did King better discharge that sacred Character; being always firm and +tranquil, Danger cou'd never affright him. He accepted the Crown, tho' he +saw he cou'd never fix it on his Head without infinite Pains, Peril, and +Cares. The Advantage he had gain'd over his Enemies did not seem to have +flush'd him; he was sorry he had not been able to reclaim them by gentle +Methods, and ascribes the happy Success of his Arms solely to Providence. + +Thus have I given you a very imperfect Account of the Virtues and Actions +of a King, which plainly denote that the perfect honest Man (a Title not +unworthy even of the sacred Majesty of Kings) forms his Character. As for +his Stature, 'tis such as, one wou'd think, those ought to have who are +born to command. He has a robust and vigorous Constitution, a sound +Judgment, a happy Memory, a generous and beneficent Soul, the necessary +Constituents of the Hero and the Christian. His Conduct is regulated by a +great Attachment to the Principles of Religion. His Aim and his +Application are to render his Subjects happy; and he only longs for Peace +that they may taste the Fruits of it. + +As to her MAJESTY the QUEEN, the Name of that august Princess, whom Heaven +has endowed with all manner of Virtues, to be the worthy Wife of a King, +is MARIA JOSEPHA, who was born the 8th of _December_ 1699, and is the +eldest Daughter of _Joseph_ Emperor of the _Romans_, and of +_Wilhelmina-Amelia_ of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Hanover_. Her Marriage to the +King, then the Prince Royal, was celebrated at _Vienna_, the 20th of +_August_ 1719, betwixt 8 and 9 a Clock at Night, in the Chapel of the +Palace of the _Favorita_, by the Pope's Nuncio, who next day perform'd the +solemn Mass. In a few days after, this Princess set out with her Husband +for _Saxony_. It has already been observed with what Pomp she was received +by the King her Father-in-law; and the Veneration paid her by the +Subjects, was equal to the Magnificence of her Reception by the King. The +Returns that the Princess made on her part, manifested a Goodness which +nothing cou'd resist; so that she had the Homage and the Hearts both of +the Courtiers and the common People. Being the Daughter of a Princess, +whom the World respects even more for her Virtues than for the Splendour +of that extraordinary Grandeur with which she is inviron'd, her Royal +Highness's sole Concern was to walk in the Steps of that august Mother, +the Pattern of Princesses, and the Honour of Religion. She conceiv'd a +Respect for the King her Father-in-law, and the Queen her Mother-in-law, +from which she never departed; and now that she is a Sovereign, she has no +other Cares than to render a Nation happy which is worthy of being so for +its Affection and Fidelity to its Electors. She is inviolably attach'd to +her Duties, full of Tenderness and Respect for her Husband, and always +wisely employ'd in what may procure him solid Comfort. She continually +gives him Examples of Piety and Charity; she is beneficent to all that +make their Necessities known to her, and seems to think every unfortunate +Subject merits her Protection. The Care she takes of her Children is not +only the Care of a tender Mother, but of a Queen, who, in love to the +State, is desirous to form their Minds, so as to render them worthy of +being its Sovereigns, and to procure them the advantage of being more +respected, if possible, for their Virtues than their Birth. + +The Queen, who went with the King to _Cracow_, and there receiv'd the +Crown, return'd after her Coronation to _Saxony_, where she is belov'd and +reverenc'd by People of all Ranks. This august Princess seems to have an +Air of Gravity, as have all the Princes of the most serene House of +_Austria_; but as she is serious, so she is discreet, modest, and +good-natur'd. She was educated, as are all the Archdutchesses, in the +knowledge of Things useful for those who are born to govern States; she +speaks several Languages very readily, and particularly the _Latin_, in +such a manner as both charms and surprizes the _Poles_. She is Mistress of +History and Geography, and has a solid Taste of Musick, Painting, and all +the Sciences in general: Yet never did Queen take less Pride in her +Talents; for, by kindly condescending to accommodate her self to the +Capacities of those with whom she converses, she conceals all her +Superiority. Her high Rank serves only to render her affable; she is the +Mother of the People, and particularly of the Poor. And to sum up the +Character of this great Princess, it may be said in short, that she is a +virtuous Wife, a faithful Companion, a tender Mother, and a compassionate +Sovereign. + +His Royal Highness the PRINCE ROYAL and ELECTORAL was born at _Dresden_, +the 5th of _September_ 1722, and baptized in the _Roman_ Catholick Church, +by the Name of _Frederic-Christian_: He is handsome, and has a Countenance +full of Good-nature, and indeed his Goodness charms all that pay their +court to him. His Knowledge and Learning are beyond one of his tender +Years; he talks several Languages justly, and with ease; and his strong +Inclination to follow the wise Counsels of his Governor, the Count +_Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour_, is a sure Presage that when he comes to +the Age of Maturity, he will walk in the glorious Steps of the King his +Father. + +As to their Royal Highnesses the other Princes, the eldest of them, Prince +AUGUSTUS-ALBERT-CHRISTIAN-XAVIER was born the 25th of _August_ 1730. He is +handsome, full of Life and Spirit, and already discovers a great +Inclination to every thing military. He is infinitely better pleased to +see the Officers of his Regiment about him than the Women his Attendants. +The Noise of Drums and Trumpets is the most agreeable Music to him, and +according to all appearance, 'tis what he will always prefer to the Flute. +When he went with their Majesties to _Cracow_, and heard talk of the +Ravages committed by the Palatine of _Kiow_, he said, he had a mind to go +and fight him, and cut off his Head. In fine, all the Actions of this +young Prince give hopes that he will add one to the Number of Heroes +descended from the august Blood of _Saxony_. + +CHARLES-CHRISTIAN-JOSEPH came into the World _July_ 13, 1733, so that his +Royal Highness is too young as yet for any Character in History; and I +shall proceed next to their Royal Highnesses the Princesses. + +Her Royal Highness MARY-AMELIA, their Majesties eldest Daughter, was born +at _Dresden_, the 24th of _September_ 1724. She is fair, very well shap'd, +and has the Air of her Mother. Her Features are regular, and 'tis heartily +to be wish'd that the Small-Pox may spare them. The Care the Queen takes +of her Education is so well bestow'd on her, that she is much better +form'd than Princesses of her Age generally are. + +MARY-ANNE-SOPHIA was born the 24th of _August_ 1728. She is brown, and +likely to be much admir'd for her Beauty. There is something in her +Physiognomy so subtle and witty, that she has already secur'd the +Suffrages of the Courtiers. + +The Princess MARY-JOSEPHA was born the 4th of _November_ 1731. Heaven has +been pleas'd to grant her a share of Beauty with all the Princes and +Princesses her Brothers and Sisters. + +I should make some mention of all the PRINCES and PRINCESSES of the BLOOD, +_viz._ all the most serene Dukes, Princes and Princesses of the Family of +_Saxony_, particularly those who are deriv'd from the _Albertine_ Branch, +as descending with the King from the Elector _John-George_ I. who form'd +the four Branches, _viz._ the Electoral Branch, and those of +_Weissenfels_, _Mersbourg_, and _Zeits_. But as this is only an Epitome of +_Augustus_ III's Court, I shall only take notice of those Princes who +reside there; _viz._ JOHN-ADOLPHUS Duke of SAXE-WEISSENFELS, and the +Princess CHRISTINA of SAXE-WEISSENFELS. + +The Duke, who was born _September_ 4, 1685, is of a good Stature. His Air, +Behaviour, and way of thinking, denote his Birth; and never was Prince +more worthy of being so. He is beneficent, generous; and all the Qualities +which attract Love and Esteem are united in his Person. After having spent +his early Days in the Service of _Hesse-Cassel_, he enter'd into that of +the late King; and in the several Campaigns which he made in _Germany_, +_Italy_, _Flanders_, and _Poland_, he always signaliz'd his Valour; and +particularly not long ago, when he supported the Reputation of the King's +Arms before _Dantzic_ in a conspicuous manner. His Goodness, his Modesty, +and his Care to distinguish true Merit, gain him the Love and Veneration +both of the Officers and Soldiers. This Prince is actually a +Lieutenant-General in the Emperor's Army, General of the _Saxon_ Horse and +Foot, Colonel of the Life-Guards, and of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight of +the Order of the _White Eagle_. He is the Widower of _Caroline_ Princess +of _Saxe-Eysenach_, and professes the _Lutheran_ Religion. + +The Princess CHRISTINA of SAXE-WEISSENFELS, who was born the 27th of +_July_ 1690, adheres to the _Roman_ Catholic Doctrine, Prince _Albert_ her +Father being a Convert to that Communion. She is of a good Stature, has a +grand Majestic Air, and her Behaviour is graceful and polite. Her most +serene Highness receives all that draw near to her with Respect and +Kindness, and demonstrates her high Birth only by discharging the +Obligations of it. She is so firmly attach'd to the Queen by the Bands of +Love and Virtue that she is caress'd and distinguish'd by her; and all the +Court honours and respects her more out of Inclination than Duty. + +You will not perhaps be sorry to know the Names, _&c._ of the late King's +legitimated Natural Issue, who are rank'd immediately after the Princes of +the Blood. They are four Sons and three Daughters, of whom I shall now +give you an Account, and who were their Mothers. + +1. Count _Maurice_ of _Saxony_ is the eldest of the late King's Natural +Children, by _Aurora_ Countess of _Koningsmark_, the most worthy of her +Sex in _Europe_ to be the Mistress of a great King; and of all the King's +Favourite Ladies, she kept longest in his Favour, so that after her +Retirement she acquitted her self so well that she continued in the +possession of his Majesty's Esteem and Regard. She is still living, +and after having been a Prioress of the Imperial _Lutheran_ +Abbey _Quedlinbourg_ she rose to be the Abbess. The Count is a +Lieutenant-General, and Colonel of a Regiment of Foot in _France_. + +2. The next is the Count _Rotofski_ or _Rutowski_, Lieutenant-General, and +Colonel of the Crown-Guards, who owes his Birth to the King's tender +Passion for _Fatima_ a _Turkish_ Lady who was taken Prisoner very young, +and fell to the share of M. _Schoning_, a Lieutenant-General in the +Service of the Elector of _Brandenbourg_, who carried her to _Berlin_, and +had her baptiz'd without altering her Name, tho' she afterwards went by +that of Madame _de Spiegel_. Madamoiselle _de Flemming_, known by the Name +of _Brebentau_, having married the Palatine of that Name, took a fancy to +her, obtain'd her of M. _de Schoning_, and carried her with her into +_Poland_, where from a Slave she became the King's Mistress, tho' Madame +_Brebentau_ did not perceive it till _Fatima_'s Waist betray'd her. She +had as much Wit as Beauty, and every body said she deserv'd her Fortune. +Nevertheless, she did not enjoy it long; for Madame _de Lubomirski_, who +was Wife to the Great Chamberlain of the Crown, stole away the King's +Heart from her. The Count _Rutowski_ is a Major-General of the King's +Forces, Colonel of the Life-Guards, and of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight +of the Order of the _White Eagle_. This Nobleman very much resembles the +late King his Father, having his Strength, Dexterity, Valour and +Politeness. He had his Education in _France_, and from thence went into +the _Service_ of _Victor Amadeus_ the late King of _Sardinia_. Then he +enter'd for a little while into the Service of the King of _Prussia_, and +at length fix'd himself in that of _Saxony_, when he signaliz'd his Valour +at the Siege of _Dantzic_, and afterwards made the Campaign as a Voluntier +in the Imperial Army on the _Rhine_. As for his Religion, he professes the +_Roman_ Catholic. + +3. The third of the late King's Natural Sons is _George_ Prince _de +Teschen_, otherwise call'd the _Chevalier de Saxony_, whom he had by +Madame _de Lubomirski_ above-mentioned, who was Niece to the famous +Cardinal _Radjouski_ Archbishop of _Gnesna_, and Primate of _Poland_. +After this Lady had indulg'd the King's Passion she got a Divorce from +Prince _Lubomirski_, and took the Title of the Princess _de Teschen_, +which was granted to her by the Emperor. This Son of her's was brought up +in the _Roman_ Catholic Religion. He is a Colonel in the King's Service, +and Knight of the Order of the _White Eagle_. He is a well-set Man, has a +noble Air, and supports his Title by a great share of Valour and good +Sense. He is perfect Master of military Architecture, and has great +Talents for War, which he cultivates to such a degree that his very +Amusements are the Study of what a great Captain ought to know. This +Desire of his to be qualify'd some day or other for the Command of an Army +engag'd him, at his return from the Siege of _Dantzic_, to repair to the +Army of Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_ to improve himself in the Art of War +under that Great Master. + +4. The fourth and youngest of the Natural Sons of the late King of +_Poland_ is the Count _de Cosel_, Knight of the Order of the _White +Eagle_, whose Mother was the Countess _de Cosel_; which Lady is also +Mother to the Countesses of _Friesland_[62] and _Moschinski_[63]. The +Count is a tall handsome Youth, modest and reserv'd, and more prudent than +might be expected from his Years. This Nobleman, who does not disparage +his Birth, is now making the Campaign upon the _Rhine_ in the Imperial +Army. He is of the _Lutheran_ Communion. + +Madame _de Cosel_ is of the Family of _Bruchstorf_, and a Native of +_Holstein_. She was Maid of Honour to the Dutchess of _Wolfembuttle_, when +the Count _de Hoym_ Minister of State to the King of _Poland_ married her: +The Count soon after the Marriage carried her to _Dresden_, where the King +fell in love with her, and no sooner made it known to her but gain'd her +compliance. M. _de Hoym_ enrag'd at this, demanded a Divorce from her, +which his Wife readily came into; so that the Consistory of _Dresden_ +declared their Marriage null and void. M. _de Hoym_ married again, and +Madame took the Title of the Countess _de Cosel_; but this Lady at once +lost the King's Favour and her Liberty into the bargain, and is kept close +Prisoner in a Castle, where she has nothing to do but to indulge her +melancholy Reflections upon the Revolutions of her Fortune[64]. + +The NATURAL DAUGHTERS of the late King are, 1. The Countess of _Bilinski_, +(Sister of the Count _Rutowski_) who was born in _Poland_ as well as her +Brother, and educated in the _Roman_ Catholic Religion. _Augustus_ II. +gave her in Marriage to the Count _Bilinski_. The Countess's frequent +Ailments obliged her to go to _Paris_ for her Health; so that not being of +this Court, 'twill not be expected I should give her Character. + +2. The Countess of _Orselska_, who was born at _Warsaw_, of one _Renard_ a +_French_ Woman, and bred up in the _Roman_ Catholic Faith: She is of a +good Stature, and very charming. Of all the late King's legitimated +Children his Majesty seem'd to be fondest of this. She was at first very +much neglected, and it did not appear that the King ever intended to own +her. But Count _Rotofski_ seeing her at _Warsaw_ in a Plight too mean for +her Birth took the freedom to mention her to the King her Father, and told +him that she merited some Kindness from him. The King thereupon desir'd to +see her, and she came into his Presence in the _Amazonian_ Habit, which +was her favourite Dress. The King thought she resembled him very much, and +not being able to resist the tender Impressions of Nature he embrac'd her, +and call'd her his Daughter. At the same time he order'd the whole Court +to acknowledge her in that Quality, gave her a magnificent Palace, with +Diamonds without number, and settled great Pensions on her. 'Tis certain, +in short, that never was Daughter more like her Father; she had the same +Features, Temper and Genius. It was impossible for her to be handsomer +with a more grand Air. She is fond of Magnificence, Expence, and +Pleasures. One of her Diversions is to dress in Mens Apparel. It was in +this Habit that I saw her the first time, when she was on horseback, in a +purple Habit embroider'd with Silver, and wore the blue Ribband of +_Poland_. Being all alone, I could not learn who she was, but really took +her to be some young Foreign Nobleman whom I had not yet seen. I never +beheld any body sit better than she did on horseback, or have a more +amiable Air; insomuch, that many Ladies would have been glad of a Lover so +handsome. The same evening I saw her at the Ball, where she was still +dress'd like a Man, only her Habit was more rich than it was in the +morning, and her dishevell'd Locks of Hair hung down in fine Curls about +her Shoulders; so that _Cupid_ himself was not more tempting when he +appear'd before _Psyche_. Her good Mien, and the graceful Air with which I +saw her dance a Minuet, made me inquire who this pretty Youth was? Count +_Rotofski_, who overheard me, made answer, _The young Man whom you admire +wou'd do you no great harm if you were a Woman, but may possibly hurt you +as the Case stands; but come along with me_, continued he, taking me by +the Hand, _I will make him known to you, then leave you to come off with +him as well as you can_. I guess'd by these Words that the Person he was +going to usher me to was the Countess _Orselska_; and I was confirmed in +my Suspicion when I heard Count _Rotofski_ say to her, _Sister, here is a +Gentleman who has all due Respects for you, and who, I'll engage will be +ready to serve you in whatever you shall require of him_. Madamoiselle +_Orselska_ smiling at this Discourse, I saluted her with all the Respect +which I ow'd to her Rank, and she receiv'd me in the most obliging manner +possible. I saw her next day in Womens Apparel, and thought her still more +amiable. I visit her every day, and now whenever I go to her I generally +find with her _Charles Lewis_, a younger Prince of the Family of +_Holstein-Beck_, who 'tis said is the happy Man for whom she is design'd +in Marriage[65]. + +3. The Countess _Moschinski_, Daughter of the Countess of _Cosel_, was +born at _Dresden_, and match'd by the late King to the Count _de +Moschinski_, a _Polish_ Nobleman. Her sober and courteous Deportment, and +the Goodness of her Temper, have procured her both Love and Reverence. + +Having now treated of the Princes of the Royal Family, I proceed to give +you an account of the chief Noblemen of the Court; and in the first place, +of the MINISTERS of the CABINET.--These are, 1. _Waldemar_ Baron _de +Lowendahl_ Grand Marshal, Knight of the _Saxon_ Order of the _White +Eagle_, and of the _Danish_ Order of the _Elephant_, who by his Post of +Grand Marshal holds the first Rank at the Court of _Saxony_, because the +Elector is Arch Grand Marshal of the Empire. He is a _Dane_ by birth, and +is descended from a Count of _Guldenlowe_, a natural Son of the +Blood-Royal of _Denmark_. He spent his youthful Days in the Service of the +_States-General_, and was made a Captain in the Blue Guards; which he +afterwards quitted, and went into the Service of the Emperor _Leopold_, +and distinguish'd himself in quality of a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1683, at +the raising of the Siege of _Vienna_; after which he return'd to +_Denmark_, where he serv'd with Honour. But leaving that Court upon some +Disgust, he came into _Saxony_, where _Augustus_ II. declared him +President of the Chamber, which Office he held when the King of _Denmark_ +recall'd him home. It was with the Approbation of his Master the King of +_Poland_ that he return'd to _Copenhagen_, where his _Danish_ Majesty gave +him the Command of his Army in _Norway_ against the _Swedes_; which +Commission he discharged with so much Honour, that he was dignify'd with +the Order of the _Elephant_, as he had already been by that of +_Dannebroc_. He might, had he pleased, have enjoy'd the greatest Offices +in _Denmark_; but he had promised _Augustus_ II. not to forsake him, so +that he refus'd all the Advantages which _Frederic_ IV. offer'd him, and +return'd into _Saxony_. After the death of the Count _de Phlug_, the late +King appointed him Grand Marshal, which Office he still executes with +Honour. Tho' he is now advanced in years he has a sound Constitution, and +the Air, Behaviour, and Way of Thinking of a Man of his Quality. Being +affable and polite, he does the Honours of the Court in a Gentleman-like +manner, for which the Courtiers reverence him, and the King professes an +esteem for him. His Majesty is the sixth King whom this Minister has +serv'd. He has married to his second Wife a Lady of the Family of +_Rantzau_, in the Country of _Holstein_, who bears a valuable Character, +and is as polite as can be desired, speaking _French_ as well as if she +was born at _Versailles_. The Grand Marshal has two Sons by his first +Marriage with a Lady of _Revenclau_: his youngest, _viz._ _Woldemar_ Baron +_de Lowendahl_ is Major-General of the King's Armies, Inspector General of +the _Saxon_ Infantry, and Colonel of a Regiment of Foot. He was fourteen +years old when the Grand Marshal sent him to _Denmark_; where he made a +Campaign at Sea under Admiral _Tordenschild_. At his return to _Dresden_ +he carried a Musket, and afterwards pass'd through all the subaltern +Degrees. When he was but a Lieutenant he accompany'd General _Seckendorf_ +to _Vienna_, where the Marshal Count _Guido de Staremberg_ gave him a +Company in his Regiment, and he distinguish'd himself in a particular +manner at the Sieges of _Temiswaer_ and _Belgrade_, and in _Sicily_. Since +that, he enter'd into the Service of _Augustus_ II. who gave him a +Regiment. Afterwards he made two Campaigns as a Voluntier with the +Imperialists in _Corsica_; and upon all occasions manifested that Valour, +Skill, and Prudence, as he did lately in the Defence of _Cracow_; where, +with a weak and sickly Garrison, he not only made a vigorous stand against +the Attacks of the Primate's _Polish_ Adherents, but also obliged them to +retire. This General is so fond of signalizing his Bravery, that he was +scarce return'd from _Poland_, but he went to make the Campaign as a +Voluntier, with the Imperial Army on the _Rhine_. He lives magnificently, +keeps a good Table, and is very civil to Foreigners. + +2. _Anthony_ Count de _Lutzelbourg_, who is by birth a _Lorrainer_, +and an exemplary Professor of the _Roman_ Catholic Religion, is +Lieutenant-General of the Forces, Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, +and General of the Horse. He is pretty tall, and has a chearful +Countenance, with a noble easy Behaviour, which shews the Man of Quality. +His Merit procured him the Honour of being the King's Governour after the +Decease of the Count _de Costa_, which Post he held 'till his Majesty came +of age, when he was appointed Steward of his Houshold, and was as much +esteem'd by their Royal Highnesses as he is valued by the Courtiers, and +belov'd by the Domestics of the Prince who are under his command: but his +frequent Ailments oblig'd him to quit that Office: Nevertheless he was +last year at _Vienna_, where he receiv'd for the King his Master the +Investiture of the Feudatory States of the Empire, and concluded the +Treaty of Alliance still subsisting between the two Courts. + +3. _Henry-Frederic_ Count of _Friesland_, is Great Chamberlain, General of +the Infantry, Lieutenant-General of the King's Forces, and Knight of the +Order of the _White Eagle_. He is descended from a Family which has for a +long time been of illustrious Rank in _Saxony_. He spent part of his Youth +in the Service of _Peter_ the Great, Czar of _Muscovy_, and signaliz'd his +Valour very much at the Battle of _Pultowa_; where _Charles_ XII. King of +_Sweden_ in a few Hours lost all the fruit of nine years Toil, and of an +infinite number of Victories. Soon after this great Battle he shew'd his +Wisdom to be equal to his Bravery at the Battle of _Pruth_; which though +it did not turn out so much to the Czar's Honour, was altogether as +fortunate to him, since it extricated that Prince out of the worst scrape +that perhaps ever King was reduced to. He enter'd afterwards into the +Service of the late King; who being sensible of his Merit, raised him to +the greatest Dignities of his Court, and married him to one of the +Daughters that he had by the Countess of _Cosel_. The Great Chamberlain, +who has the Looks and Behaviour of a Man of Quality, thinks and acts too +like a Nobleman. Few Persons surpass him in Politeness and Learning: He is +perfect Master of several Languages, and of every thing that forms the +Minister and the General. He loves Literature and the Arts, and was always +their Supporter. He lives handsomely, and has such a Presence as commands +the Veneration of all that have to do with him. + +4. _Joseph_ Count _de Gabaleon-Wackerbarth-Salmour_, the adopted Son of +the Velt-Marshal _Augustus Christopher_ Count _de Wackerbarth_ who +succeeded Marshal _de Flemming_ in the chief command of the Troops in +_Saxony_, and was not only Marshal, but a Minister of State, Grand Master +of the Artillery, Governour of _Dresden_, and Knight of the Order of the +_White Eagle_. The Father was born of a good Family in _Mecklembourg_; but +from his very youth he attach'd himself to the Elector of _Saxony_; and by +his own Merit, and the Friendship of his Predecessor Count _Flemming_, he +was raised to the chief Posts in the Army and the Court. In 1709 he had +the Command of the _Saxon_ Troops before _Tournay_, as he had in 1715 +before _Strahlsund_, when 'twas besieg'd by the Kings of _Denmark_ and +_Prussia_, and defended by _Charles_ XII. King of _Sweden_. M. _de +Wackerbarth_ was made Count of the Empire by the King his Master, while +that Prince was Vicar of the Empire, after the death of the Emperor +_Joseph_. After being grac'd with this Dignity, the Count _de +Wackerbarth_ was employ'd in sundry important Negotiations, especially at +_Vienna_; where he married a _Piedmontese_ Lady, the Dowager of _Charles_ +Margrave of _Brandenbourg_, Brother to _Frederic_ I. King of _Prussia_, +who when he was but very young at the University of _Turin_; married her +by the Left-hand, as you know is the Fashion among our Princes when they +marry below themselves. However the Lady went by the Name of Madame _de +Brandenbourg_ to the very day that the Count _de Wackerbarth_ married her, +being so proud of the Title that she was resolv'd never to part with it +'till she was married again: Notwithstanding the advantageous Offers made +to her from the King of _Prussia_ to engage her to renounce it, her +refusal of which was the more generous because it was at a time too when +she was in narrow Circumstances; yet her constant Answer was, that nothing +in the Universe should tempt her to debase herself; and that she had +rather be poor, and pass for the Wife of the Margrave of _Brandenbourg_, +than be rich, and pass for his Mistress. Before she became Madame _de +Brandenbourg_ she was the Widow of a certain Count _de Salmour_, by whom +she had a Son whom she engaged the Count _de Wackerbarth_, when she +married him, to adopt for his own. I confess I never saw this Lady; for at +the time of my former Voyage hither she was at _Vienna_; and now she is +dead. They talk of her still as one of the acutest Women of her time. But +to return to the Marshal; he is very civil, lives with great Splendor, and +his House is open to all Foreigners. He is mighty intimate with the Count +_de Flemming_, Prime Minister and Favourite of the King; so that they +fully contradicted the Proverb, _That Fire and Water can't agree_; for +Count _Flemming_ was lively almost to the Degree of a Fury, whereas the +Count _de Wackerbarth_, on the contrary, abounds with Phlegm[66]. We go +back now to his adopted Son _Joseph_ above-mention'd, a _Piedmontese_, at +present one of the Ministers of the Cabinet[67]. + +He is also Knight of the Order of the _White Eagle_, and Governour of his +Royal Highness the Prince Royal and Electoral. He bears the Name and Arms +of _Wackerbarth_, by reason of his being adopted as above by the +Velt-Marshal his Father-in-law; upon whose death, he succeeded to his +Estate. He took to arms betimes; but having receiv'd a Wound in the Foot, +which he feels to this day, he was oblig'd to quit a Profession in which +he distinguish'd himself, and apply'd afterwards to Affairs of State. The +late King sent him to the Courts of _Bavaria_ and _Vienna_, where he +supported the Prerogatives of his Character with Dignity, and gain'd the +extraordinary Esteem of their Imperial Majesties and the Ministers. +_Augustus_ II. recall'd him from _Vienna_, and sent him to _Rome_, to the +new Pope _Clement_ XII. The _Romans_, those Masters in the Art of +Politics, were soon convinced that this Minister knew more than they could +teach him: They admired the Prudence and Resolution with which he behav'd +when the _Sbirri_ presum'd to invade the Franchise of his Quarter; and all +own'd that the most experienced Minister could not have better supported +the Honour of his Master. At his Return from _Rome_, the late King, to the +Satisfaction of all Men, appointed him Governour to Prince _Frederic_, the +present Prince Royal and Electoral; the Count having all the necessary +Qualifications to fill that Post with Honour: For besides a good Share of +Religion, he is a Gentleman of known Candour, great Experience in +Business, and abundance of Good-nature, Politeness, and Modesty: And he is +not only deeply learn'd, but always studious how to answer the great Trust +repos'd in him by their Majesties; and as the Method he takes to instruct +the Prince has won him his Royal Highness's Esteem and Friendship, so it +cannot fail of procuring him one day the Praise and Gratitude of those who +are concern'd for the Glory of the Royal Family. + +When _Augustus_ III. came to the Government he sent the Count, with M. _de +Baudissin_, in Quality of his Plenipotentiaries, to the Republic of +_Poland_; in which Post he answer'd the Expectation which the King had of +his Capacity. His Wisdom got the better of all Opposition; and he had the +advantage of triumphing over the Intrigues and Cabals of the Primate. +After the King had been proclaim'd the Count swore, in his Majesty's Name, +in the Church at _Warsaw_, to the Observation of the _Pacta Conventa_ +drawn up by the Members of the Republic; and then accompanied the Grand +Deputation of the _Polish_ Nobility at _Tarnowitz_. 'Twas he that made +answer, in the Name of their Majesties, to the Harangues of the Bishop of +_Cracow_ declaring the Republic's Acknowledgement of his Title, and their +Obedience. And the Answer he return'd was in the two Languages in which +the Prelate address'd him: He spoke in _Latin_ for the King, and in +_French_ for the Queen. + +The Count being return'd to _Dresden_ since their Majesties Coronation, is +wholly taken up in the Education of the Prince Royal; and his care of him +has been crown'd with such Success, that we may prophesy his Royal +Highness will one day draw down that Blessing of God upon himself, which +is upon the Head of the Just. + +5. _Wolff-Henry de Baudissin_, General of the Horse, Colonel of a Regiment +of Carabiniers, and Knight of the Order of the _White Eagle_, and that of +_Dannebroc_, has all the Qualities requisite for a well-born Gentleman, +_viz._ an agreeable Aspect, a good Stature, a noble Air, easy and engaging +Behaviour, approv'd Valour, a Generosity free of all Ostentation; and +finally what is superior to all these Qualities, he has a Fund of Probity +and Candour which nothing can corrupt. He is a Native of _Holstein_, and +spent his early Years in the Service of _Sweden_, and afterwards in that +of the Duke his Sovereign, who gave him a Regiment, with which he serv'd +all the last War in the _Netherlands_, in the Post of Major-General. +_Augustus_ II. calling him to his Service, made him Lieutenant-General of +his Forces, and then General of the Cavalry. When _Augustus_ III. came to +the Government he summon'd him to his Cabinet-Council, and sent him as his +Plenipotentiary to _Poland_, where he had a hand in every Transaction for +the Advantage and Honour of the King. He afterwards commanded the Army +which his Majesty was obliged to carry into his Kingdom for the Defence of +his oppressed Subjects; and there he fell so dangerously ill that he was +obliged to return to _Germany_, to make use of the Waters of _Pyrmont_; by +which he found benefit; and he is now at _Dresden_, where his Seniority +gives him the Command in chief of the Forces. + +6. _Alexander-Joseph_ Count _de Sulkowski_, Starost of _Sokolnick_, Chief +Huntsman of _Lithuania_, Master of the Horse, Great Master of the +Wardrobe, Major-General of the King's Forces, Colonel of the Crown-Guards +and of a Regiment of Foot, and Knight of the Order of the _White Eagle_, +is a _Polander_. Being taken into Service very young as Page to the King, +then Prince Royal and Electoral, he accompanied him in his Travels, and +there acquir'd a good Fund of Knowledge. His great Sobriety, his +Assiduity, his Application to the discharge of his Duties, his Sense, and +his sincere Attachment to Religion, won his Master's Heart, of which he +keeps possession even to this day; with a Distinction that does him the +more Honour, because he derives it from the King's thorough conviction of +his Merit. + +The Count is of a good Stature, has a noble and modest Air, and a Candour +in his Conversation and his Action, which is very engaging. He is civil, +and makes no other Use of his Favour but to do as much Good as he can, +without prejudicing the Interests of the King whom he serves with +Gratitude, Affection, and Zeal. He is a generous Minister, and his House +is open to all Persons of Distinction. + +After he had serv'd as a Page, he was by the late King made a Gentleman of +the Bed-Chamber; and not long after that, his present Majesty, who was +then still Prince Royal, declar'd him Director of his Hunting Equipage, +and trusted him with the Management of his Domestic Affairs. The late King +also appointed him one of his Chamberlains. + +At the famous Camp at _Zeithaim_, the Count commanded an Independent +Company. He discover'd so great Application, and such a happy Genius for +the Art of War, that the late King, whose Penetration nothing cou'd +escape, took it for a good Omen, and gave him a Regiment of Foot. Thus did +the Count make his way towards the splendid Fortune which he now enjoys. +M. _de Bruhl_ resigning his Post of Great Master of the Wardrobe, soon +after the King's Accession to the Government, his Majesty gave that Post +to his Favourite. He afterwards call'd him to his Cabinet-Council; and at +his Coronation, he made him Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. After +the Court's Return from _Cracow_, the Count went to the Army before +_Dantzic_; where he gave demonstration of his being as good a Soldier as +he is an able Statesman. It being not compatible with his Ministry to be +long absent, and _Dantzic_ being on the point of capitulating, he went to +give the King an account of the Success of its Siege, and the Prosperity +of his Arms. He accompanied his Majesty to the Abbey of _Oliva_, and by +his Prudence contributed very much to put such _Polish_ Lords in mind of +their Obedience, who had thought of being exempted from it. And his only +View being more and more to deserve that Favour with which the King +honours him, and being desirous of having it in his power to serve him, as +well in his Armies, as in his Cabinet, he went last of all to the Imperial +Army, in order to qualify himself for a Command under Prince _Eugene_ of +_Savoy_. + +To complete the good Fortune of this Count, he married a Lady, who, +besides her Birth and personal Charms, has a Character which gains her the +Applause and Veneration of all that know her. She is hereditary Baroness +of _Stein_; and when he marry'd her, she was Lady of Honour to the Queen. +They are both Members of the _Roman_ Catholic Church. + +7. _Henry de Bruhl_, Knight of the Orders of _Poland_ and _Prussia_, a +Member of the Privy-Council, President of the Chamber of Finances, +Director General of the Excise, and Vice-President of the Taxes, is the +Son of _John de Bruhl_, who was of the Privy-Council to _Augustus_ II. and +Grand Marshal and Director of the Privy-Council to the Duke Regent of +_Saxe-Weissenfels_. He is by Birth a _Saxon_, and has a Brother who is +Knight of the Teutonick Order. He made great progress at _Leipsic_ in the +_Belles Lettres_, and in the Exercises suitable to a Person of his +Extraction. His Recreations there, were Music, and Conversation with +Persons of his own Taste. He sometimes made Verses, which were esteem'd +for the bright Thoughts in them, and the Harmony of the Versification. +When he quitted _Leipsic_, he was enter'd Page to the late King: In this +Post he behaved with so much Sobriety and Assiduity, that his Majesty soon +distinguish'd him from the Croud, admitted him to Familiarity with him; +and finding he had a sound Judgment, a quick Apprehension, a Penetration +beyond what might be expected from one of his Age, and that he was a +Person of Discretion, and inviolable Secrecy, join'd with a noble Freedom, +and such a happy way of expressing himself as to render the most difficult +Subjects easy and pleasant; he readily judg'd that such a one was fit to +be employ'd in great Affairs. He had a mind to instruct him; and having +nominated him one of the Gentlemen of his Bed-Chamber, he had him under +his Eye. M. _de Bruhl_ improv'd so well from the Lessons of this great +Master, so thoroughly study'd his Humour, and so exactly suited himself to +his Genius, that he made himself necessary. His Application, his Love to +Business, and the Ease with which he dispatch'd it, won him the intire +Confidence of _Augustus_ II. who declar'd him Great Master of the +Wardrobe, and a Privy Counsellor; and to him he moreover committed the +Direction and Regulation of Affairs, Foreign and Domestic. Never had the +King shewn more Affection or Esteem for any of his Favourites; yet this +Nobleman took ne'er the more State upon him for it, but living always +humble, polite, and ready to do Services, he made himself Friends, and +secur'd himself by that means against all the Hatred and Envy with which +Courtiers are very ready to treat those who are in Power. + +When the King of _Prussia_ went to the Camp at _Zeithaim_, he conferr'd +his Order of the Black Eagle upon M. _de Bruhl_: The late King also +honour'd him with that of the White Eagle; but this was at a time when +this Minister had no Relish for Honours, and wou'd have been glad to have +renounc'd them for ever, if he cou'd thereby have prolong'd the Days of a +Master so worthy of Immortality. + +It was in those last Moments, when the Professions of Friendship cannot be +so much as suspected, that _Augustus_ II. gave his Favourite his Order, as +a certain Token that he retain'd a value for him even to Death. This great +King having finish'd his glorious Career, M. _de Bruhl_, without suffering +himself to be too much cast down, knowing that an Ocean of Tears was too +little to shed for the Loss he had sustain'd, thought of nothing more than +paying the due Devoirs to the deceas'd Sovereign, and to the Prince, his +Son and Successor. Having therefore caus'd the Corpse of the former to be +embalm'd, and put a Seal upon all the Effects which belong'd to him, +besides securing the Jewels and Papers of Consequence; he came to +_Dresden_ to join the Elector, now King of _Poland_, who received him with +such Marks of Kindness, as were enough to have put the deceas'd Monarch +out of the Minister's Thoughts, if his Gratitude had not dictated to him, +that such a King and such a Master ought never to be forgot. + +The King confirm'd him in all the Employments and Honours which he had +held by the Favour of _Augustus_ II. and moreover appointed him one of the +Ministers of his Cabinet. Some time after this, his Majesty declar'd him +President of the Chamber of Finances; consequently, this great, this true +King, by distinguishing Merit, did farther Honour to the Memory of his +august Father, since he did what that magnanimous Prince wou'd have +undoubtedly done for his Favourite. + +At this time the Minister resign'd to the King his Office of Great Master +of the Wardrobe, which his various Occupations did not permit him to +manage with that Care he thought was necessary. After the Return of the +Court from _Cracow_, whither this Gentleman had accompany'd the King, he +marry'd the Countess _de Collowrat_, one of the Queen's Ladies of Honour, +whose high Birth was supported with such personal Qualities as can never +be enough commended. The Bride being a _Roman_ Catholic, the Ceremony of +the Marriage was performed at _Moritzbourg_, in presence of their +Majesties, by the Bishop of _Cracow_. Never was a Couple better match'd; +the Lady's Person being a Collection of Charms, and M. _de Bruhl_ a Man of +as noble Presence as one wou'd wish to see; which he generally sets off +with a rich Dress of a good Fancy. No body at Court surpasses him in a +generous way of living; for he keeps a noble Table, and at his House +Persons of Distinction have their Assemblies. This Minister has something +so attracting in his Looks and Behaviour that he easily wins the Hearts of +People who are the most indifferent to him. He is so polite, affable, and +engaging, that he listens attentively to those who lay their Wants before +him, returns them courteous and distinct Answers; and whenever he is +constrain'd to give a Denial, he does it in such a manner as plainly +demonstrates his Concern that 'tis not in his power to oblige. And 'tis +owing to this Good-nature of his, and to the Kindness with which he treats +his Inferiors, that he can boast of possessing the Love and Veneration of +the Public. + +In short, the Count _de Sulkowski_ who has the first place in the Cabinet, +and this Gentleman who has the second, are the Ministers who decide all +Affairs with the King's good Pleasure. They are Gentlemen who know +nothing of Jealousy nor Envy; and, as they act from one and the same +Principle, so they have both the same View, which is to increase, if +possible, the Glory of the King, and the Happiness of the Government. + +The Office of all the above-mention'd, as Ministers of the Cabinet, is so +eminent at this Court that it gives those who are invested with it the +Precedence of all the Generals, both of Horse and Foot. + +Besides these, there are three other Ministers of the Cabinet, who, tho' +retir'd from Court, enjoy the Rank and Pensions annex'd to the Ministry. +They are the Count _de Manteuffel_, the Count _de Promnitz_, and the +Marquiss _de Fleuri_. + +_Ernest_ Count _de Manteuffel_, Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, is +descended of a Family which has been for a long time of distinguish'd Rank +in _Prussian Pomerania_. He was Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber to _Frederic_ +I. King of _Prussia_. Certain Ballads being handed about at Court, which +were insulting Lampoons upon the Count _de Wartemberg_, the King's Prime +Minister and Favourite, M. _de Manteuffel_ was charged with being the +Author of 'em; who knowing that the Favourite wou'd not put up with the +Affront, retir'd to _Saxony_, where the Count _de Flemming_, who then bore +the greatest sway at the King of _Poland_'s Court, receiv'd him as his +Countryman, and employ'd him in foreign Affairs; which he managed with the +Approbation both of his Majesty and the foreign Ministers he had to treat +with. M. _de Manteuffel_ kept in with the Favourite without giving into +the Flattery which that Minister expected from his Creatures; and while +the King was Vicar of the Empire, he made M. _de Manteuffel_ Count of the +Empire. His Majesty had some time before honour'd him with the Order of +the White Eagle, and preferr'd him to his Cabinet-Council; and after +Marshal _Flemming_'s Death, M. _de Manteuffel_[68] had the principal +Direction of the foreign Affairs. But this able Minister, and one of the +chief Ornaments and Confidents of the late King's Court, retir'd from it +in 1730, to his Estate in _Pomerania_, and now resides at _Berlin_; where +he still enjoys a Pension of 24000 Crowns, or 12000 Rixdollars, which was +secur'd to him by the present Elector. It adds to his Character, that +after he was retired, the Want of him was lamented. + +He is pretty tall, well set, has a grand Air, and is one of the handsomest +Men that I have seen. His Behaviour is noble and easy, he has a good Fund +of Learning, an extraordinary Memory, and such a Happiness of expressing +himself that when he talks he never fails to give Pleasure. He lives +nobly, and when he was at _Dresden_ his House was open to all Persons of +Distinction and Merit. He married a Baroness of _Pludouska_, who is, as +well as himself, of the _Lutheran_ Religion. + +_Erdmann_, Count _de Promnitz_, is more at his Estate than at Court; he is +also Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. He married a Princess of +_Saxe-Weissenfels_. He always distinguish'd himself by his Zeal, and his +Attachment to the Royal Family; of which he gave Proofs by raising an +Independent Company at his own Expence, for the Service of the late King, +which he sent to reinforce his Majesty's Troops in the Camp before +_Zeithaim_: And for the same Use he has since rais'd a Regiment of Horse. + +_Francis Vicardel_, Marquiss _de Fleuri_ and _de Beaufort_, is a +_Savoyard_. He was the King of _Sardinia_'s Minister, and his Envoy to the +Court of _Vienna_, when the late King of _Poland_ invited him into his +Service, admitted him to his Cabinet-Council, and made him a Knight of +his Order. This Minister is endow'd with all the Talents that can be +desir'd in a Man who has an Employment. He has an agreeable Aspect, +engaging Manners, a just Discernment, a quick Apprehension, and a very +even Temper. But his frequent Ailments disabling him from the Exercise of +his Talents, he desir'd, and obtain'd leave to retire to his Estate in +_Savoy_; and the late King, who had always a great and noble Soul, being +desirous that he shou'd be a Witness of his Goodness and Royal +Magnificence, secur'd the Enjoyment of his Pensions to him; which the +present King has also been pleased to confirm. + +Another of the Cabinet Ministers, who was also formerly Prime Minister to +the late King of _Poland_, was the Count _de Hoym_, descended from one of +the principal Families in _Saxony_, and Brother to the Gentleman that +married Madame _de Cosel_. I knew him intimately before he was advanced to +the Ministry, at _Paris_, and at _Vienna_, as well as here at _Dresden_. +You must have seen him in _Silesia_, where he has a very fine Estate. +There is not a Minister at this Court more civil, more learned, or a +better Friend to learned Men. During his long Residence at _Paris_ as +Ambassador from the King of _Poland_, his House was open to all Men of +Learning as it is now at _Dresden_; and he had the splendid Title given +him of the _Mecaenas_ of _Saxony_[69]. + +They who are actually PRIVY COUNSELLORS, or MINISTERS OF STATE here, are +eight in number. They are descended from some of the best Families in +_Saxony_, and profess the Protestant Religion. The Detail of their +Characters, their Experience, and their Merit, wou'd oblige me to +transgress the Limits of this Work, were I only to treat of those who are +bound by their Employments to attend the King's Person, and who compose +his Majesty's Houshold. But for the Reputation of the Privy Council, 'tis +proper just to observe that all its Members are Subjects who do Honour to +the King's Choice; that they are vigilant for promoting the Good of the +Public, and that in their Deliberations they manifest their Zeal for the +King, and their Affection to their Country. + +The President of this Council, is _Alexander de Miltitz de Scharffenberg_, +who is a Native of _Saxony_, the same that was the King's Governour; of +whom so much has been already said, that I avoid to make any more +particular mention of him here. + +Two of the Privy Counsellors are Counsellors of the Conferences, which are +held in presence of his Majesty, _viz._ _Gotlob-Frederic_ Baron _de +Gersdorff_, and _Bernard_ Baron _de Zech_. The former comes from an +ancient Family of Distinction, which has given several great Men to this +State. The latter has acquitted himself with Success in the several +Negociations wherein he has been employ'd. They are both laborious, +vigilant, upright Men, and of great Experience in Business. + +_The King's_ GREAT OFFICERS_ are,_ + +I. The GRAND MARSHAL; which Office is now held by _Waldemar_, Baron _de +Lowendahl_, who has under him + + The Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber, + The Pages, + The Huntsmen, + The Musicians of the Chapel and the Chamber, + The Dancers, + The Comedians, + The Trumpeters, + The Footmen, + The _Turks_, + The _Heydukes_, + The Messengers, + The _Negroes_; + +and in short, a considerable number of other Officers and Domestics of the +King's Houshold. His Jurisdiction extends not only over those that I have +mention'd, but also over all Foreigners of Quality who happen to be at +_Dresden_; and there is a Tribunal or Court for this purpose, of which the +Great Chamberlain, the Great Master of the Kitchens, the Great Cup-Bearer +and the Marshal of the Court are Members. + +II. The GREAT CHAMBERLAIN; who is at present _Henry-Frederic_ Count of +_Friesland_. 'Tis he that receives the Ambassadors and other foreign +Ministers, and introduces them to an Audience of the King. He has under +him the several Chamberlains. + +III. The MASTER of the HORSE, _Alexander-Joseph_ Count _de Sulkowski_, is +in possession of this Office, which is one of the best and noblest +Employments at Court, the Person who is invested with it being serv'd by +the King's Equipages and Livery, and having the disposal of all the +inferior Offices appertaining to the Stables. He has under him the +Equerries, the Prickers, and all the Workmen employ'd for the Service of +the Stables, and the making of the Equipages. + +He that is the only chief Equerry is _Adolphus de Bruhl_, one of the +King's Chamberlains. He officiates in the absence of the Master of the +Horse, is Brother to _Henry de Bruhl_ Minister of the Cabinet, and +resembles him in Candour and Integrity. His Honesty, which is imprinted on +his very Countenance, reflects a Lustre on all his Actions. He is so +sensible of the Charms of Friendship that he fulfils all the Obligations +of it; and besides those Qualities of the Mind, he makes an agreeable +Appearance, is dextrous in his Exercises, has a solid Relish of the Arts +and Sciences, is perfect Master of Music, and plays on several +Instruments. + +He was heretofore in the Service of the Duke Regent of _Weissenfels_, and +next in that of the Duke of _Saxe-Weimar_, who had such an Esteem for his +Merit that to him he referred the Direction of his Court. Nevertheless he +left this Prince, and enter'd into the Service of the late King, who +conferred those Employments on him which he now enjoys. Since he came to +Court, he married a young Lady of Quality of the Family of _Opelen_, whose +Fortune and Charms into the bargain made her such a considerable Match +that she did not want Suitors. + +IV. The GREAT HUNTSMAN. The Gentleman who at present possesses this +Office, one of the most lucrative at Court, is _Charles de Leubnitz_. It +gives him the Superintendance over all the Officers of the Venery, in +which Number are included the Rangers, the Verdurers, the Gentlemen and +Pages, and above a hundred Huntsmen or other Persons depending on them. +The Great Huntsman is a Protestant, as well as his Lady, who is of the +Family of _Schaurot_. + +V. The GREAT MASTER of the KITCHENS is _Adolphus_ Baron _de Seyffertitz_, +of a Family which has been for a long time distinguish'd in this +Electorate. His first Step at Court was in the Employment of Gentleman of +the Bed-Chamber. _Augustus_ II. at the request of the late Czar _Peter the +Great_, plac'd him Governor to the Czarowitz when that young Prince came +into _Germany_. He continued in this Post till after the Marriage of the +Czarowitz to the Princess of _Brunswic-Wolfembuttle-Blanckenbourg_. After +his return to _Saxony_ he accompanied the late King to _Berlin_, when his +Majesty together with _Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_, went thither to +make a visit to _Frederic_ I. King of _Prussia_. In 1711, M. _de +Seyffertitz_ was appointed Marshal of the Embassy which _Augustus_ II. +sent to _Francfort_, for the Election of an Emperor. His Imperial Majesty +_Charles_ VI. at the Ceremony of his Coronation, made him a Knight of the +Empire, and at length the late King made him one of his Chamberlains, and +then Great Master of the Kitchens, which Office he manages with Dignity +and Politeness. He married a Lady of the Family of _Haxthausen_, Widow of +the Count _de Beichling_ the Great Faulconer. They are both of the +_Lutheran_ Communion. + +In the absence of the Grand Marshal, the Great Master of the Kitchens +officiates, and at the grand Ceremonies wears like him a Staff tipp'd with +Silver gilt. Under his Province are the Comptrollers of the Kitchen and of +the Houshold, the Clerks of the Kitchen, the Purveyors, the Cooks and +Turn-spits, the Pastry-Cooks, the Pursers, Fishmongers, _&c._ + +VI. The GREAT CUP-BEARER is _John-Adolphus de Haugwitz_, a Gentleman of +good Extraction. His Father was Grand Marshal to the late King. He is a +handsome Man, has a noble Mien, performs all sorts of Exercises with a +Grace and with Dexterity, and does the Honours of the Court in a becoming +manner. He is of the Protestant Religion, and married to a Lady of the +Family of _Beist_. His Employment sets him above all the Officers of the +King's Buttery, Cellar, and Pantry. In the absence of the Grand Marshal +and the Master of the Kitchens, he officiates for them, and at great +Ceremonies he carries like them a Staff of Silver gilt. + +VII. The GREAT FAULCONER is an Office held by _Anthony_ Count _de +Moschinski_, a _Polish_ Nobleman, and a _Roman_ Catholic. He was formerly +Page to the King, and attended his Majesty in his Tours to _France_ and +_Italy_, where he acquir'd great Politeness, and a very engaging +Deportment. At his return to _Dresden_, he was made one of the Gentlemen +of the Bed-Chamber to the King, who was then the Prince Royal. Afterwards +the late King appointed him one of his Chamberlains; and when the Count +_de Fitztuhm_ unhappily lost his life at _Warsaw_, his Majesty who had +given his Office of Great Chamberlain to the Count _de Friesland_, +bestow'd that of _Great Faulconer_, which was held by that Nobleman, upon +the Count _de Moschinski_, who was grac'd almost at the same time with the +Order of the _White Eagle_, and the Post of Treasurer to the Court of +_Poland_. His Majesty also granted him in Marriage one of his natural +Children, the Daughter of the Countess _de Cosel_. Never was a Person more +deserving of Honours than the Great Faulconer, who is truly magnificent, +and makes such an Appearance, that he does an Honour to his Character. By +his Behaviour he engages the Friendship and Regard of all that have to do +with him. He has under his command the Officers of the Faulconry or Mews +where the Hawks are kept, the Faulconers, and in general all those Persons +that have any relation to the Faulconry. + +VIII. The GREAT MASTER of the WARDROBE is _Alexander-Joseph_ Count _de +Sulkowski_. He has under his Jurisdiction the _Catholic_ Clergy, the +_Physicians_ of the _Body_, the _Footmen_, the _Secretaries_, _Writers_ +and _Clerks_ of the _Chamber_, the _Inspectors_ of the _Chamber_ of +_Curiosities_, the _Ushers_ of the _Chamber_ and of the _King's Closet_, +his _Peruke-makers_, _Surgeons_ and _Taylors_, the _Negroes_, _Dwarfs_, +and _Pages_ of the _Back-Stairs_, the _Architects_, _Engineers_ and +_Designers_. + +IX. The POST-MASTER-GENERAL is _Maurice-Charles_ Count _de Linar_, who is +also one of the Chamberlains, and a Knight of the Order of St. _John_. He +is descended from a Family which has been of Eminence for a long time in +this Electorate. His good Mien is answerable to his Birth, and by his +Politeness, his Manners, and his Expences, he does an honour to the Prince +that employs him. The King, after his Coronation, sent him to _Muscovy_ to +notify the Accomplishment of that Ceremony to the Empress of the +_Russians_, and he still continues at that Princess's Court, to take care +of his Master's Interests, which he does in a way that cannot but turn to +his own Advantage, and the Honour of the King.[70] This Gentleman was also +employ'd by the late King at the Court of _Prussia_, and at the _British_ +Court when at _Hanover_, and always discharg'd his Commissions with such +Success as was crown'd with his Majesty's Approbation. + +X. The MARSHAL of the COURT is _John-George d'Einsiedel_, who is also a +Privy-Counsellor, and a Gentleman of a good Family, his Ancestors having +possessed the chief Offices of the State. He has visited the principal +Courts of _Europe_, where he contracted that polite Turn which is seen in +his Behaviour. He is a handsome Man, has a noble Air, and his Demeanour is +answerable. He knows a great deal, and performs all the academical +Exercises very well. He married the Daughter of the General Count _de +Flemming_ Governor of _Leipsic_, who was a rich Heiress, and to be valued +for the Qualities of her Mind. The Marshal of the Court and his Lady are +both of the _Lutheran_ Communion. His Office joins him in Commission with +the Grand Marshal, the Great Master of the Kitchens, and the Great +Cup-Bearer; and like those Officers he carries the short Staff of Silver +gilt at the grand Ceremonies. 'Tis commonly he that makes the +Court-Entertainments. + +_Curt d'Einsiedel_ Marshal of the Court, and one of the Chamberlains, is +remarked for his genteel Mien and Extraction. His good Qualities and +Deportment render him worthy of all Employments. He is of the establish'd +Religion of _Saxony_, and lately married Madamoiselle _de Schoneberg de +Maxen_, whose Personal Charms are an Ornament to the Court. + +_Ernest-Ferdinand d'Ermandsdorff_, Marshal of the King's Houshold, and one +of the Chamberlains, has procur'd himself Esteem by his Merit as well as +his good Birth and Breeding. Besides his Knowledge of various kinds which +qualifies him for Business, he is Master of several Languages, +particularly the _French_. He married a Lady of the Family of _Hesler_, +and they are both of the _Lutheran_ Religion. + +XI. The CHAMBERLAINS. Of these there are too many to be all mention'd +here, so that I shall only take notice of the twelve Pensioners who are in +waiting about their Majesties, and without regarding the Seniority of +their Admittance. They commonly attend the King and Queen, each a whole +Week in their turn, and have the Rank of Major-Generals. The finest +Prerogative of their Employment; is the Honour of eating with their +Majesties when they are in Waiting, and of being the Depositaries of the +Petitions which are presented to the King in his Passage. + +1. _Henry Rodolph de Schonfeld_, Lord of _Lowenitz_, is the King's first +Chamberlain. He has a fine Presence and Behaviour, and a sweet and amiable +Temper. He keeps a handsome Table and Equipage, suitable to his Fortune. +He attended the King, by his Majesty's Order, to _Cracow_, and lastly to +_Oliva_. + +2. _Helmuth de Plesk_ is of a Family in the Dutchy of _Holstein_, of some +Note for their great Estate there, and for the Rank they bear at the Court +of _Denmark_, where several Lords of _Plesk_ are in the Ministry. The +Gentleman here mention'd is actually the King's Envoy Extraordinary to the +Court of _Denmark_. + +3. _Augustus-Henry Gottlob_, Count _de Callenberg_, is of this Electorate, +where his Family has for a long time enjoy'd a considerable Rank, and a +fine Estate. He has been the King's Envoy Extraordinary to the Courts of +_France_, _Brussels_, _Cologn_, _Triers_, and the Elector _Palatine_, to +notify the Death of the late King, and the Accession of their present +Majesties to the Electorate. He married the Countess of _Bose_, lives +nobly, and adorns the Court by his Politeness. He is of the Protestant +Communion. + +4. _John-George de Carlowitz_ is of the same Religion. He is a _Saxon_, +and married to Madamoiselle _de Neitsch_. He has a peculiar Talent of +gaining the Love of all Mankind; which he owes to his Travels, and his +natural Genius. + +5. _Frederic-Augustus de Brandstein_, after having finish'd his Studies at +_Wittenberg_, travell'd to good purpose to the principal Countries of +_Europe_. At his return the late King declar'd him a Gentleman of his +Bed-Chamber, and some time after one of his Chamberlains. He is well +descended, and what is convenient for a Courtier, he adheres to the +Religion which is uppermost in the State. + +6. _Detler-Henry d'Einsiedel_, Brother to the Marshal of the Court, +honours his Name by his personal Qualities. He is a handsome tall +Gentleman, has a grand Presence, and few Gentlemen surpass him in Good +Manners, Address, and polite Literature. He study'd at _Wittenberg_, and +afterwards made a Visit to the principal Courts of _Europe_: The last he +made was to that of _Sweden_, whither he was sent by the King to notify +the Death of his late Majesty, and the Accession of his present Majesty to +the Electorate. + +7. _Sigismond d'Arnim_, is not only one of the King's Chamberlains, but +Colonel of a Regiment of Horse. He is of an ancient Family which has Lands +in _Lusatia_. His Employments are owing both to his Birth and personal +Merit. He is of the Religion of the Country. + +8. _Maximilian_, Count _d'Herzan_, is of _Bohemia_. The late Countess his +Mother was the Queen's first Lady of Honour, and attended her Majesty +hither from _Vienna_. He is able to cut a Figure at Court, but is absent +above half of his time; and is a _Roman_ Catholic. + +9. _Charles-Christian de Minckwitz_, is a Gentleman of a fine Mien. As he +has been a great Traveller, he has acquir'd a great share of Knowledge and +Politeness. He was born a _Saxon_, but has embrac'd the _Roman_ Catholic +Faith; tho' he has defeated himself by it of the Reversion of a +considerable Inheritance. + +10. _Henry-Augustus de Breitenbauch_, is a Gentleman of fine Sense and +Manners suitable to his Extraction. Such is his good Taste and Skill in +Music, that he has been singled out for the Direction of the King's +Pleasures. He is of the Communion of the Country, and marry'd to a Lady of +the Family of _Schonberg_. + +11. _Nicholas-Schwizinski_ is a Native of _Poland_; he has valuable +Qualities, and a great Attachment to the _Roman_ Catholic Religion. + +12. _N. N. de Sehgutt-Stanislawski_ is of a Family which was formerly +possess'd of a great Estate in _Silesia_, with the Title of the Counts _de +Sehgutt_, till the Conquest of the Country by the _Teutonic_ Knights, when +his Ancestors remov'd to _Prussia_; and spreading afterwards in _Poland_, +they assum'd the Name of _Stanislawski_, as what was more agreeable to the +_Poles_. This Chamberlain is a Person of strict Honour and Integrity, +without any manner of Guile. He spent his Youth at the Academy of _Berlin_ +which was erected by King _Frederic_ I. and afterwards enter'd as +Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber to _Augustus_ II. who not many Years after +made him a Chamberlain of _Poland_, and put him upon the Establishment of +_Saxony_; and when the present King came to the Government, he continued +him in his Employment. His Majesty also made choice of him to attend him +to _Cracow_, and lastly to _Oliva_. + +XII. Of the STEWARD of the QUEEN'S HOUSHOLD. Since the Queen's Arrival at +_Dresden_, there have been four Stewards of her Majesty's Houshold. The +Count _de Diedrichstein_ was the first that had this Place, which he +resign'd for the Grand Priory of _Bohemia_. His Successor was the Count +_de Konigsegg_ who actually commands the Emperor's Army in _Lombardy_. +This General being recall'd to _Vienna_, was replac'd by the Count _de +Wratislau_, and he by the Count _de Waldstein_ who lately quitted that +Post to go and take possession of the Office of _Landshauptmann_, or +Intendant of _Silesia_, which was conferr'd on him by the Emperor. The +Count _de Wratislaw_, who has the care of his Imperial Majesty's Affairs +at this Court, officiates there again as Steward. This is the Officer who +leads the Queen, and gives Orders to all her Officers and Domestics, and +who must be apply'd to by those that solicite for an Audience of her +Majesty. + +XIII. The _Queen's first Lady of Honour_, is _Theresa_ Baroness of +_Stein_, and Countess Dowager of _Collowrat_; who honours her Station by +her Virtues, and by the Dignity with which she fills it. The late Count +_de Collowrat_ her Husband was Great Chamberlain of _Bohemia_, and one of +the chief Noblemen of that Kingdom. This Lady, his Relict, is a _Roman_ +Catholic, and is such in an exemplary manner. Those Ladies who want to +kiss the Queen's Hand, or to pay their Duty to her, must apply to this +Lady, who introduces and presents them. She has the Precedence before all +other Ladies, and only yields it to the Princesses of the Blood. + +XIV. Of the _Governess of the Ladies of Honour, and of the Ladies of +Honour themselves_. In the absence of the first Lady of Honour, the +Governess of the Ladies officiates. The Baroness Dowager of _Rohr_ +worthily fills this Station, and has under her six Ladies, two of whom, +_viz._ the Countesses of _Waldstein_ and _Kokersowitz_, are Ladies of the +Bed-Chamber, a Title which procures them Admittance to the Queen's Closet. +All the Ladies of Honour must always appear in the Court-Dress. Their +manner of Living is such that it obliges Calumny itself to respect them. + +XV. Of the _Lords and Ladies that are attach'd to the Court by their +Offices, or by the Favours of the King_. + +Tho' the _Polish_ Lords cannot be put upon the Establishment of the Court +of _Saxony_, that there may be nothing in common between the two States, +yet it may be thought inexcusable not to mention in this place +_John-Alexander Lipski_, Bishop of _Cracow_, Duke of _Servia_, and Great +Chancellor of _Poland_; not only because this Prelate, who is descended +from one of the best Families in the Kingdom, was appointed Bishop of +_Cracow_ by the late King, but because he has given signal Proofs of his +Gratitude and Attachment to the august Family of his Benefactor. The +Virtues of this Gentleman intitle him to Respect: He is pious without +Hypocrisy, generous without Ostentation, magnificent without Pageantry, +officious meerly for the Pleasure of obliging, a Courtier without +Servility, a Man strictly attach'd to his King and his Country, learned +without being positive, a great Orator, a good Bishop, and a wise +Minister, always ready to embrace a good Proposal, and firm to support it, +laborious, vigilant, acting only out of Principle, and by consequence +susceptible of Friendship, and scorning Revenge. The late King, out of his +Esteem for the Qualities of this Prelate, made him Bishop of _Cracow_, +Great Chancellor of _Poland_, and honour'd him with his Order of the White +Eagle. By this means he so rivetted him to his Interest, and to that of +the Prince his Son, that after his Majesty's Decease, his most Reverend +Highness directed Affairs in such a manner that the Republic chose his Son +for their King. _Augustus_ II. being proclaim'd accordingly, the Prince +and Bishop was appointed Head of the Embassy which the States of the +Kingdom sent to the new Monarch at _Tarnowitz_, to carry him the Diploma +of his Election. He spoke upon this occasion with a noble Eloquence, +rendering to their Majesties all due Respects, and yet maintaining the +Dignity of the most Serene Republic. Having discharg'd this Commission, +he went before the King to _Cracow_, made his Entry there, and took +possession of the Bishoprick. Some days after this, he consecrated and +crown'd their Majesties in his Metropolis. When the King return'd to +_Saxony_, the Prelate followed him, and attended him to _Oliva_; and 'twas +he that receiv'd the Allegiance and Homage of the _Dantzickers_ to his +Majesty. He is since come hither to rejoin the Court, is belov'd, +reverenc'd, and every one does Justice to his Virtues. + +_Charles-Lewis_, Prince of _Holstein-Beck_, Colonel in the Service of the +King, and Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, is the second Son of the +late _Lewis-Frederic_ Veldt-Marshal of _Prussia_, Governour of +_Koningsberg_, and Knight of the Order of the Elephant. This Prince +married _Anne_ Countess of _Orselska_, the legitimated Daughter of the +late King. + +_George-Ignatius_, Prince _de Lubomirski_, Sword-Bearer of the Crown, +Lieutenant-General of the King's Forces, Colonel of the Life-Guards, and +Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, is descended from a Family of very +great Distinction in _Poland_. After he return'd from his Travels, being +attach'd to the Court of _Augustus_ II. he married the Daughter of the +Count _de Fitztuhm_, who was Great Chamberlain; a Lady of such Beauty, +such personal Charms, and such fine Sense, that she engages the Veneration +of all that know her. Prince _Lubomirski_ is a jolly handsome Man, very +polite, thinks and acts agreeable to his Birth, has a good share of +Literature, and is perfect Master of Music. He lives in a handsome manner +very suitable to his Rank. + +The _Princess_ of _Teschen_ is a _Polish_ Lady, and ally'd to the greatest +Families in the Kingdom. Her Uncle was the famous Cardinal _Radjowski_, +Archbishop of _Gnesna_, and Primate of the Kingdom. She was formerly +marry'd to Prince _Lubomirski_, Great Chamberlain of the Crown; but the +Marriage was dissolved, so that she quitted the Name of _Lubomirski_ for +that of _Teschen_, which she still bears, tho' she afterwards marry'd +Prince _Lewis_ of _Wirtemberg_. This Princess supports her Rank with +Dignity, has a grand Air, is respected for a noble distinguish'd and +engaging Behaviour, and lives in so handsome a manner, that she is one of +the most shining Ornaments of this Court. + +_Josepha_ Countess _de Lagnasco_ is the Daughter of the Count _de +Wallenstein_, who was Great Chamberlain to the Emperor _Joseph_, and one +of the most worthy Noblemen of the Imperial Court, by _Eleonora_ Countess +of _Losenstein_; a Lady whose Memory is with Justice rever'd by all +_Vienna_. The Countess _de Lagnasco_ was the Widow of Count _Thaun_, when +she marry'd the late Count _de Lagnasco_, Minister of the Cabinet to +_Augustus_ II. General of the _Saxon_ Cavalry, Captain of the +Horse-Guards, and Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. Since that +Nobleman's Decease, which was in _April_ 1732, his Widow has always liv'd +at _Dresden_; where she enjoys the Esteem of their Majesties, and the +Veneration of the Courtiers. This Countess is Mistress of several +Languages to Perfection, thoroughly understands Music, and sings with +Grace and Method. Her noble generous way of living, and her graceful and +distinguish'd Behaviour cannot be express'd, nor indeed equall'd to any +thing but the Goodness of her Temper. The late Count _de Lagnasco_ is of a +good Stature, and his Behaviour polite and civil. I think you know that he +was of a Family in _Piedmont_ of some Distinction. How, or when he first +enter'd into the Service of the King of _Poland_, I cannot tell you; but I +know that he presently insinuated himself into his Master's Favour, by +his very great Assiduity, agreeable Temper, and by a vast Complaisance to +enter into his Pleasures. He establish'd himself so firmly in the King's +Favour that the Count _de Flemming_ look'd upon him as the only Rival he +had to fear, and therefore he never much lik'd him. The Count _de +Lagnasco_ was employ'd in several Embassies; and when he had finish'd that +at _Rome_, which was his last, there was a Talk that he was to go +Ambassador to _Vienna_, and that the young Count _de Wackerbart_ was to go +to _Rome_. I must further acquaint you that M. _de Lagnasco_ was happy in +all respects, even in Marriage, not only with his first, but his second +Wife, who, when he married her, was a young, rich, brisk Widow. His first +Wife was the Daughter of the Count _de Noyelles_, Lieutenant-General in +_Holland_, a Lady of great Virtue, esteemed by all the People at the +_Hague_, and possess'd of a considerable Estate, of which, dying young, +and without Issue, she made her Husband sole Heir. + +_Francis_, Count _de Montmorency_, is a Name too well known to speak of +his Extraction. He was a Colonel in _France_ when he went into the Service +of _Augustus_ II. who receiv'd him with that Demonstration of Esteem which +that King was so ready to grant to Persons of Merit. His Majesty first +appointed him Major-General of his Forces, and some time after he declar'd +him a Lieutenant-General, and Captain of his Horse-Guards. At that time +the Count married Madame _Potschin_, Widow of the Great General of +_Lithuania_; a Lady whose Birth, Qualities, and Fortune, recommended her +for a very considerable Match. The Countess _de Montmorency_, in the time +of her former Husband, went to _Paris_ for the Recovery of her Health, and +receiv'd extraordinary Honours at the _French_ Court, where she was +admir'd for her Politeness, the Delicacy of her Sentiments, and the Ease +with which she express'd them in the Language of _France_; from whence +they conceiv'd an advantagious Idea of the Court of _Augustus_ II. not +imagining how 'twas possible for the Manners of a Foreign Lady so much to +resemble their own. She is also as much rever'd at _Dresden_ as at +_Paris_; and all that know her, agree she is highly to be valued for her +Sentiments. + +_Antoinetta_ of _Lichtenstein_, Countess of _Wallenstein_, is Wife to +_Leopold_ Count _de Wallenstein_, heretofore Great Master of the Queen's +Houshold; a Lady both belov'd and honour'd at this place, for her Virtues +and civil Deportment; and as she is preparing to follow her Husband into +_Silesia_, she will carry with her the Esteem of their Majesties, and +leave the Court sorry for her Absence. + +XVI. _Of the Foreign Ministers who reside at this Court._ + +_Francis-Charles_ Count _de Wratislaw_, one of the Emperor's Privy +Council, and Knight of the Orders of _Russia_ and _Poland_, resides at +this Court in quality of Ambassador from his Imperial and Catholic +Majesty. He is descended from one of the greatest Families in the Kingdom +of _Bohemia_, and a Family which has given wise Ministers to the august +House of _Austria_. This Gentleman has been for a long time in the +Management of the most important Affairs: He was Ambassador for the +Kingdom of _Bohemia_ to the Dyet of the Empire at _Ratisbon_; From thence +he went in the same Character to _Poland_, where he was present at the +Dyet of _Grodno_. The Emperor afterwards nam'd him Great Master of the +Houshold to the Princess Royal and Electoral, now Queen of _Poland_. The +Count having worthily acquitted himself of that Office, was for several +Years Ambassador at _Russia_, where he concluded that happy Alliance +subsisting between the two Empires, and acquired the Esteem of the +Empress, who honor'd him with her Order of St. _Andrew_; _Augustus_ II. +having before given him that of the White Eagle. + +This Minister, since his Return from _Muscovy_, has moreover been charg'd +by the Emperor with important Commissions to the Courts of _Prussia_, +_Brunswic_, and _Holstein_. At length he is come back again to this Court, +as Ambassador from his Imperial and Catholic Majesty; and officiates also +as Great Master of the Queen's Houshold. This Nobleman is of a middling +Stature, of a happy Physiognomy, is civil, beneficent, and loves Grandeur +and Pleasures, but does not abandon himself to them so far as to neglect +the Interests of his Master, whose Affairs he negociates with a noble +Candour which has render'd him as much esteem'd at the Courts where he has +resided, as he is beloved for his Affability and Politeness. His Wife is +the Countess of _Kinski_, whose Father was Great Chancellor of _Bohemia_, +under the Emperor _Leopold_, and whose Brother is now in that Office under +the most August _Charles_ VI. + +_Hermann-Charles Keyserling_, Plenipotentiary Minister from the Empress of +the _Russians_, is of a Family of Note in _Courland_. He study'd at +_Koningsberg_ in _Prussia_. After he had visited the principal Courts of +_Germany_, and return'd to his own Country, he was made Gentleman of the +Bed-Chamber to the Dutchess of _Courland_, _Anne_ of _Muscovy_, the +present Empress, who employ'd him in several Commissions to the Courts of +_Prussia_ and _Poland_. Nevertheless he quitted her Service for one of the +judicial Offices in that Country. + +When _Anne_ came to the Throne, the States of _Courland_ deputed M. +_Keyserling_ to that Princess, who offer'd him an Employment at her +Court, and appointed him Vice-President of the Chamber of Justice of the +_Russian_ Empire. Some time after, she made him President of the Academy +of Sciences at _Petersbourg_, and sent him to this Court, where he +discharges his Ministerial Office with universal Approbation. The Wife of +this Minister is the Daughter of the Starost _Forchs_, who, for opposing +the Pretensions of a certain Power which challeng'd more Respect, was +assassinated at _Mittaw_. Both he and his Lady are of the _Lutheran_ +Communion. + +_John-Hartwig-Ernest_, Baron of _Bernsdorff_, Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber +to the King of _Denmark_, and his Majesty's Envoy at this Court, is of a +Family which is possess'd of a fine Estate in _Mecklembourg_, and has +given an able Minister to the House of _Hanover_. The Envoy, of whom +mention is here made, does honour to his Character, and behaves with a +Prudence not inferior to Ministers of the greatest Experience. + + * * * * * + +By the Detail I have now given you, Sir, you must have observ'd that the +chief Employments of the Court are in the hands of Foreigners, and that +_Saxons_ have little to do in Affairs of State, for which they are oblig'd +indeed to the Count _de Flemming_. This vain, haughty, and imperious +Minister expected every one shou'd truckle to him. He found that +Foreigners were much more submissive than the _Saxons_, who are by nature +stately, and Enemies to Slavery in any shape. Count _Flemming_ being dead, +it's probable that the _Saxons_ will be more employ'd than they have been; +and indeed they have Capacities equal to any Nation in the World. They are +well made, robust, agile, laborious, good Soldiers, cunning Courtiers. +They have naturally more Spirit than the _French_ allow to the _Germans_; +they improve in the Sciences, and in bodily Exercises, and they have good +Writers among them upon all sorts of Subjects; witness the Works of M. +_Leibnitz_, the famous Philosopher, and of _Thomasius_, one of the most +able Civilians of his time. The _Saxons_ are addicted indeed to all +Pleasures in general, but to none so much as the Bottle and Gaming. They +love Pomp and Expence, and are naturally not very engaging, being +exceeding ceremonious, and affecting more than all the _Germans_ to ape +the _French_, with whom they sympathise very much, particularly in their +Fondness for new Fashions, their Forwardness to make new Acquaintance and +Friendships, and perhaps too in their Readiness to fall out with them upon +very trivial Occasion. + +Since I have spoke so much of the Men, I must also give you some account +of the _Saxon_ Women. They are all of a fair Complexion, and there are +among them the finest Faces in the World. They are generally well shap'd +too, which is what they are chiefly taken notice of for: They are tall and +slender; they dance well, and have a surprising genteel Air, which they +take great care to improve by rich Dress. One Fault I find with them is, +that they are very affected, and that they have too much Action when they +talk. As to their Tempers, they are reckon'd to be good-natur'd; but then +they are subtile and crafty. They love Dress and Ornament more than all +Women that I ever saw. They are lively and gay, and passionately fond of +Dancing and Merriment. When they are told that they are handsome, they are +so far from being surpriz'd that they look upon it as a Compliment due to +them. When once they love, they love with Tenderness; and there are among +them such Examples of Constancy as would eclipse even a _Cleopatra_, or a +_Clelia_. These heroic Sentiments of Love they learn from Romances, which +they are vastly fond of: But this must be said to their Honour, that +Gallantry does not take up so much of their Time and Thoughts as to make +them neglect their Business; for they are laborious, dextrous, and amuse +themselves with all sorts of Work. They do every thing too with a good +Grace; and in a word it may be added to their Praise, that a _Saxon_ Woman +wants nothing more to make her amiable, but an Inclination to acquire that +Character. + +Pleasures and Recreations commonly attend the Ladies so closely, that in +treating of the one I can't but remember the other; and the Inhabitants of +_Dresden_ are so much devoted to Pleasures, that I think I ought to put +them into a separate Article. When the King is at _Dresden_ there are +Pleasures in abundance, such as Plays, Masquerades, Balls, Feasts, Running +at the Ring, and Races on Sleds, Turnaments, Hunting-Matches; but when the +King is in _Poland_ there's a very great _Vacuum_. The Electoral Prince +and Princess are often at _Wermstorff_, alias _Hubertsbourg_; and even +when their Royal Highnesses are in Town, they are pretty retir'd: They see +Company while they are at Dinner, but for the rest of the day none come +near them besides the few that have the honour of their Confidence. The +rest are scatter'd up and down the Town to the great Disappointment of +Foreigners that happen then to be here; for there's no body keeps open +House, they being all select Societies to which 'tis very difficult to +gain admittance. If one is invited to dine with some Lord of the Court, +one has a good Dinner 'tis true, but after Dinner is over a Man knows not +how to bestow himself. One is sure of finding Company no where except at +the Houses of Madame _de Brebentau_ the Widow of the great Treasurer of +_Poland_, and of the Countess _de Lagnasco_; nor are their Houses always +open, for Madame _de Brebentau_ is often sick, and Madame _de Lagnasco_ +often abroad, or engag'd in Parties with the Electoral Princess, and then +one knows not where to go; for there's no Play to be seen, and as for the +young People, they amuse themselves with the common Pleasures of that +Stage of Life; they drink, they game, and do something more. + +When the King is at _Dresden_, the People partake in most of the Pleasures +of the Court, the generality of the Entertainments which the King gives +being public. Plays and Masquerades are free for any People of Fashion; +there's nothing to pay, and all divert themselves as they like best. The +Citizens Wives are more tractable here than in any Town in _Germany_: They +love to imitate the Ladies of Quality, and 'tis sometimes as good as a +Comedy to see what Airs they give themselves. + +They are extremely fond of Dressing, which Luxurious Taste extends even to +Wives of the Mechanics, and of the Livery; so that were a Stranger to come +hither on a Sunday or a Holiday, when every body is dress'd, he wou'd be +tempted to think that _Plutus_ had scatter'd all his Wealth among these +People; and a very great Nobleman, who 'tis like was not acquainted with +the God _Plutus_, returning home once from _Dresden_, told his Wife that +he was come from a City to which the Devil had carry'd all the Money. + +The Parsons here do indeed cry aloud against these Abuses, but the worst +on't is, that like the Clergy in many other Places, they preach what they +don't practise; and while they are declaiming against Luxury and new +Fashions, they suffer their Wives and Daughters to be the first to set off +their Charms with the gayest and the newest Patterns. + +While I am speaking of the Pastors, I must be a little more particular. +These Gentlemen stand very high in the Opinion of the Laity, and are +ready to think themselves Bishops. Having such Notions as these in their +Heads, they anathematise all that are not _Lutherans_: The _Catholics_ and +the _Reform'd_, or, to speak as they do, the _Papists_ and _Calvinists_, +all Christians in short who are of a contrary Opinion to those charitable +Ecclesiastics are damn'd without Mercy. Yet by the Appearance of these +severe Judges, one would think they preach'd only Peace and Paradise; and +they have such a meek, humble, modest, and timorous Air, that you wou'd be +apt to take them for Saints. + +A few days ago I had an Adventure with one of those Clergymen, which I +will acquaint you of, because I think it may give you an Idea of their +Character; for he that sees one of them, sees all. + +I happen'd to be making a Visit to a _Lutheran_ Lady, who passes for a +very devout one: There was already a pretty deal of Company, and who +should come in to add to it but a Minister that was a Doctor, and by +consequence a Man of Importance; as such too he was receiv'd by the +Mistress of the House, who said to me as soon as she saw his Face, _You +will now see a holy Man_. The good Man, or Saint, as he wou'd be reckon'd, +enter'd the Room with his Eyes cast downward, making profound Reverences, +and prostrating himself in such a manner as if he had said _Domine non sum +dignus_. At last, after a great many Compliments, he sat down, was silent +for a few Moments, and then he spoke. His Words were all sacred, and his +Sentences such as if the wise Man himself had spoke with his Lips: _God be +prais'd_ was in every Phrase, and he was hearken'd to with as much +Attention as an Oracle. I listen'd to him first like the rest, but at +length I thought I might as well talk to a pretty young Lady that sat just +by me. The Doctor offended to see the little Regard I paid to what he +said, enquir'd of the Mistress of the House who I was. She told him my +Name, and withal that I was once a _Calvinist_, but that I was turn'd +_Papist_. What a Thunder-stroke was this to the Doctor! He threw himself +to the back of his Chair, lifted up his Eyes to Heaven, sigh'd, and cry'd +out, _Das Gott erbarme_, i. e. _God help us_. Then transported by a Fit of +Zeal, he turn'd about to me and ask'd me what had induc'd me to embrace a +Religion which he treated as Idolatry? I told him that I did not think he +need to give himself any Trouble about my Conversion, since according to +his System I was damn'd when a _Calvinist_ as well as when a _Catholic_. +_The Case is not quite the same_, said the Minister; but to turn _Papist_! +cry'd he, to _adore Baal! to become a Disciple of Antichrist! alas! it +were better to be a damn'd Calvinist!_ I own that I had much ado to help +laughing outright at the Minister's impertinent Zeal: yet I had the +Discretion to contain myself, for I had a mind to see to what length he +wou'd carry his sanctify'd Rant. He said indeed a great deal, and because +I made no Answer, he thought he had convinc'd me, if not touch'd me to the +quick. He was actually applauding himself for the good Work he had wrought +upon my Soul, when I told him that he ought not to conclude from my +Silence that he had convinc'd me; that it neither consisted with my +Character nor my Temper to dispute about Religion, that I left every Man +to his own Opinion, and that I knew which to adhere to. _What Blindness is +here!_ cry'd the Doctor again, _What a mad Papist are you? If you will not +be of our Communion_, return to the _Religion which you have abandon'd, in +which there are some Hopes at least that God will pardon you_. + +The fanatical Doctor concluded his Exclamations by a Prayer, in which he +begg'd God to preserve every good _Lutheran_ Soul from the Errors of +Popery; and then he went away, leaving the Company more scandaliz'd than +edify'd by his Zeal. + +Formerly the Preachers had the pleasure of venting their Choler in the +Pulpit, but the King by a wise Decree, which indeed ought to be followed +in all Countries, has confin'd them to the Preaching of the Gospel, and to +treat of Controversial Matters no farther than is merely necessary for the +People's Instruction. For the rest, the Parsons need not fear being soon +supplanted, for the _Saxons_ are hearty _Lutherans_; and if they tolerate +the Catholics, 'tis because they can't help it. They have excluded them +from Offices in the Courts of Judicature, and from the Privilege of +enjoying Lands; but they have not been able to keep them out of Places in +the Ministry, or at Court, nor from Employments in the Army, which are +three very engaging Articles to make Proselytes among the Gentry. + + * * * * * + +Thus, Sir, you have all that I can say to you relating to _Dresden_ and +_Saxony_. 'Tis now high time to put an end to my Legend. I kiss your hand, +and am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER VI. + + + _SIR_, _Weimar, Sept. 5, 1729._ + +Before I write you an account of what became of me when I left _Dresden_, +I shall endeavour to give you the Intelligence you desire concerning the +late Count _de Flemming_, Prime Minister and Velt-Marshal of _Saxony_. +That Nobleman was of a good Extraction, being descended of a Family which +pretends to derive its Origin from that of _Flemming_, which has been of +considerable Rank for a long time in _Scotland_, _Sweden_, _Germany_, and +_Poland_. My Lord _Wigtoun_ is the Chief of that Family in _Scotland_. + +_James-Henry_ Count _de Flemming_, whose Pourtraiture and Character you +desire of me, was born the 8th of _March_ 1667. His Father was President +of the Regency of _Stargard_, the Capital of _Prussian Pomerania_, who had +three Sons, of whom this Count was the second. He had an Education +suitable to his Birth. He study'd first at _Francfort_ upon the _Oder_, +and afterwards at _Utrecht_ under the celebrated _Grevius_, where he +learnt _Latin_ to such a degree that he always spoke it with very great +Eloquence. After he had finish'd his Studies he enter'd into the Service +of _Brandenbourg_, where the Baron _de Span_, his Uncle by the Mother's +side, was Velt-Marshal. His first Preferment was to a Pair of Colours; but +in a little time he had a Company given him, which he commanded at the +Battle of _Orbassan_ in _Piedmont_. In 1694, he enter'd as a +Lieutenant-Colonel into the Service of _John-George_ IV. Elector of +_Saxony_; upon whose Death, and the Succession of _Frederic-Augustus_, +_Flemming_ obtain'd a Regiment, and accompany'd the new Elector into +_Hungary_, where he commanded the Emperor's Army against the Infidels +during the Campaigns of 1695, and 1696. There it was that _Flemming_ +kill'd in a Duel the Baron _de Lovel_, who was Lieutenant-Colonel in the +Service of _Saxony_. In 1697, he was sent into _Poland_, where, by the +Interest of his Cousin-german, the Daughter of Velt-Marshal _Span_ of +_Berlin_, Wife of M. _Brebentau_ Palatine of _Marienbourg_, who died Great +Treasurer of _Poland_, and by the Credit of _Benedict Sapieha_ he had the +Happiness of getting his Master chose King of _Poland_. This Negotiation +obtain'd him the Post of Major-General, and laid the Foundation of his +Fortune. In 1700, he was made a Lieutenant-General, and in that Quality +laid siege to _Riga_, which the King of _Sweden_ oblig'd him to raise. In +1702, he marry'd _Sapieha_, a Daughter of one of the chief Noblemen of +_Lithuania_. He was wounded the same Year at the Battle of _Clischhoff_, +at which time the King of _Sweden_ being every where victorious, demanded +that the King of _Poland_ shou'd deliver up _Flemming_ to him. But upon +this he retir'd to _Brandenbourg_, till King _Stanislaus_ had made +_Charles_ XII. easy. _Flemming_ being return'd to _Saxony_, fought a Duel +with M. _de Schulembourg_, who giving him a Fall, insisted that he should +beg his Life; but _Flemming_ got out of this ugly Scrape by a scurvy Joke, +and _Schulembourg_ gave him his Life. The latter was a younger +Lieutenant-General than _Flemming_, but in every respect his Rival, and +wou'd have been a Marshal if his Fortune had been as good as his Valour. +At the Battle of _Frauenstad_ in 1705, where he was defeated by the +_Swedes_, _Schulembourg_ quitted the Service of _Saxony_ and went into +that _of Venice_. By this means _Flemming_, who had now no Rival left, was +made a Marshal, and happen'd to be at _Dresden_ when the King of _Sweden_ +made that strange Visit to the King of _Poland_; at which time, if +_Augustus_ had been as ungenerous as _Flemming_, _Charles_ wou'd have been +detain'd. Many People accuse _Flemming_ of having persuaded the King his +Master to deliver up _Patkul_: This I can't pretend to affirm, but that +there was a mortal Antipathy betwixt him and the Minister of _Russia_ is +certain; for the latter having presented a Memorial to the King of +_Poland_, setting forth the wretched condition of the _Muscovite_ Troops +in the Pay of _Saxony_, concluded it with these _Latin_ Words, + + DIXI, ET SALVAVI ANIMAM. + +Which Memorial, when _Flemming_ had read, and found himself not very well +used in it, he took a Pen and underwrote these Words, + + MALEDIXISTI, ET DAMNABERIS. + +After the Disaster which _Charles_ XII. met with near _Pultowa_, +_Flemming_ contributed very much to the Re-establishment of King +_Augustus_ in _Poland_. He confirm'd the Alliance betwixt his Master and +the Czar, made Peace with the Confederates, and concluded another Alliance +with _Denmark_. The Czar and the King of _Denmark_ honour'd him with their +Orders of Knighthood, and he had that of _Poland_ before. He went +Ambassador to the unsuccessful Congress at _Brunswic_, and was afterwards +at _Hanover_ to attend _George_ I. King of _Great Britain_. When the King +of _Sweden_ return'd to _Pomerania_, _Flemming_ left no Stone unturn'd to +draw the King of _Prussia_ into his Master's Alliance. He had some Years +before procur'd him the Sequestration of the Town of _Stetin_, and 'twas +lucky enough for him that the Pride and Obstinacy of the King of _Sweden_ +obliged the King of _Prussia_ to declare himself his Enemy. At that time +_Flemming_ was rather a Courier between _Dresden_, _Berlin_, and _Warsaw_, +than an Ambassador and Prime Minister, which Dignity he enjoy'd after the +Death of the Prince _de Furstemberg_ his Predecessor. When the Peace of +the North was settled, _Flemming_ went Ambassador to _Vienna_, where he +concluded the Marriage of the Electoral Prince of _Saxony_ with the +Archduchess, eldest Daughter to the Emperor _Joseph_, tho' the Contract +had been settled before by the Count de _Wackerbarth_, who it may be said +had the Pains to negotiate it, and _Flemming_ the Glory of finishing it. + +At this time Count _Flemming_ had resign'd all the Salaries of his +Employments in _Saxony_, and only reserv'd to himself the private +Perquisites and the Franchise of the Post-Offices; and his Journeys, which +were very frequent, were all at the Expence of the King. It was about this +time that he caus'd his Marriage with _Sapieha_ to be dissolv'd, and +marry'd one _Radzevil_, by whom he had a Son, who was but a Year and a +half old when the Count died at _Vienna_, to which place he was return'd +with the Character of Ambassador. He left all his Estate to this Child, +without making any Intail on his Family; so that when this Son died, who +did not long survive him, his Estate went to Madame _de Flemming_, who by +marrying again carry'd the Bulk of it into another Family. They say that +his Inheritance was worth sixteen Millions of Crowns, exclusive of what he +had expended during the Splendor of his Fortune, which lasted thirty +Years, or thereabouts. Whether _Richelieu_ and _Mazarine_ got greater +Estates, I cannot say; but in _Germany_ there is not an Instance of one +sooner acquir'd, more resplendent, and better supported than his was. He +was Prime Minister, Velt-Marshal of _Saxony_, and Master of the Horse of +_Lithuania_; by which Offices he gain'd immense Sums. He made considerable +Purchases in _Silesia_ and _Poland_, but very little in _Saxony_. Whether +he left any thing to the King is not said; tho' he ought really to have +made him some Restitution, and he might naturally have given up with a +good Grace what he cou'd not but foresee wou'd be taken by force from his +Heir. As it was just that his Succession shou'd pass thro' the Purgatory +of a _Chambre Ardente_, the King establish'd one, which 'tis said has +adjudg'd eight Millions to his Majesty, and the same to his Widow; which +is a very fair Dividend. + +Count _Flemming_ was taller than ordinary, but a handsome Man; he had very +regular Features, a lively Eye, a disdainful Sneer, a haughty Air, and he +was really proud, and beyond measure ambitious. He was generous to a +degree of Ostentation, and always aim'd to do something to be talk'd of. +He was vigilant, laborious, indefatigable, allow'd himself little Sleep; +and whenever he took a Debauch, a Nap of two Hours set him to rights +again. It was no more for him to go from a Debauch to Business, than from +Business to a Debauch; and he never fatigu'd himself, but dispatch'd the +greatest Affairs with so much Ease as if they were only a Diversion. He +lov'd to banter, but did not always make use of the Terms suitable to his +Character; and Persons who did not dare to answer him again, were commonly +the Butts of his Raillery. He was polite when he had a mind to it, but in +the general Course of his Behaviour he carry'd an Air fitter for a Captain +of Dragoons than for a Marshal and a Prime Minister. He never did a thing +for any body without some View; he scrupl'd neither Cunning nor even +Perjury, and provided he could gain his Ends, all ways were alike fair to +him. All his Life-time he took care to do his own Business first, and +then his Master's the King's; and I question whether I do him any +Injustice if I say that he was the King of _Prussia_'s Minister, much more +than the King of _Poland_'s. + +This, Sir, is all that I have to say to you concerning Count _Flemming_. I +have told you very nakedly what I always thought of him, and I don't +believe that I have mistaken his Character. Be this as it will, my +Decision is of too little weight to do either Good or Harm; the Publick +will always judge of him according to their best Information. I proceed +now with the Narrative of my Travels. + + * * * * * + +After I had set out from _Dresden_ I went to _Altenbourg_ in hopes of +finding the Court of _Gotha_ there, which I had been told, intended to +spend the Remainder of the fine Season there; but it was set out the Night +before for _Gotha_, where I hope to see it to-morrow. + +The City of ALTENBOURG is the Capital of a County of that Name, of which +the Duke of _Saxe-Gotha_ is the Sovereign. This Prince has a Palace there +which makes a handsome appearance, but I shall say nothing more of it +because I neglected to go and see it. The Peasants of the County of +_Altenbourg_ are the richest in _Germany_, and may almost vye with those +of _Holland_. I have been assur'd that some of them have given 20 or 30000 +Crowns in Marriage with their Daughters; and like the _Dutch_ Peasants, +they take care to match them to none but the Sons of substantial Farmers. + +As I left _Altenbourg_ I came upon a fine Causey with a Row of Trees on +each side, which brought me to the Frontiers of the County. I afterwards +fell into very bad Roads all the way to _Leipsic_, where I stay'd but a +very few Hours, and proceeded the same day to MERSEBOURG. This City was +much more considerable formerly than now. It was the See of a Bishop, but +was seculariz'd by the Treaty of _Passaw_ in favour of the House of +_Saxony_. Its Situation is charming, with Gardens and Meadows all round +it, and its Walls are wash'd by the River _Sala_. The great Church which +was formerly a Cathedral is a _Gothic_ Building, where there is a stately +Tomb of the Emperor _Rodolph_ of _Schwartzbourg_, who died after he had +lost one Hand in a Battle he fought with the Emperor _Henry_ IV. with whom +he was Competitor. This Prince a few Moments before he expir'd, took up +his Hand that was cut off, and holding it up to those who were about him, +said to them, _Behold this Hand; 'tis the same that I lifted up when I +promis'd Faith and Allegiance to my Emperor and Lord; but by your Advice +and Instigation I have not kept my Promise to him, for which you will one +day give an account to God._ Some time after this unfortunate Prince's +Death, the Emperor _Henry_ IV. coming to _Mersebourg_ and taking a view of +_Rodolphus's_ Tomb, of which he admir'd the Magnificence, certain +Flatterers told him that the Tomb ought to be destroy'd as too pompous for +a Rebel; but the Emperor scorning such a pitiful Revenge, made answer, +_Wou'd to God that all my Enemies were thus pompously interr'd_. + +The City of _Mersebourg_ is the Residence of a Duke of the House of +_Saxony_, who is Sovereign of all the Country that formerly constituted +the Bishoprick, which enables him to keep a splendid Court[71]. The next +day after my Arrival I had the Honour to pay him my Compliments, and had a +very satisfactory Reception. The Prince conducted me into a Hall which was +hung with Bass-Viols from the Bottom to the Top, in the same manner as an +Arsenal is with Helmets and Breast-Plates. In the middle of the Hall there +was a Viol which was distinguish'd from the rest. It reach'd up to the +very Cieling, and there was a Ladder set, which such as had the Curiosity +to take a particular View of it were oblig'd to ascend, for surely it was +the most stately Instrument of the kind that ever was made. The Duke made +me take particular notice of it, and was pleas'd with the Admiration which +I express'd of it. He regal'd me also with some Airs upon another +Bass-Viol which he call'd his _Favorite_, and which was but one fourth +part as big as the other. + +After this Concert I din'd with the Duke and Duchess. This Princess is the +Daughter of the late Prince of _Nassau-Idstein_, than whom there cannot be +a more amiable Lady. She has an Air of Mildness, Goodness and Prudence +diffused over all her Features; and her Wit is of the same Stamp as her +Beauty, amiable without Parade and Ostentation. Some of her Courtiers +assur'd me, that her Mind is as charming as her Person. If that be true, +which I am loth to doubt of, this Princess deserves a more splendid +Fortune than what she enjoys. + +After Dinner, I was one at a Match of Quadrille with the Duchess, and at +night there was dancing, and I never saw any body dance with a better +Grace than this Princess. The Ball held till the Night was far advanced, +when there was a grand Supper, which was no sooner over than I took leave +of the Duke and Duchess and retir'd to my Quarters, with a design to set +out in a few Hours and proceed in my Journey. At my Lodging I found a +Gentleman from the Duke, who said to me, 'That as he was passing by he saw +my Men packing up my things, and that therefore he came in purely to wish +me a good Journey. He assured me that he had a secret Kindness for me; +that I might safely take his Word; that he was Sincerity it self; and that +he wish'd 500000 Devils might twist his Neck if he was not heartily my +Friend: And to give you proofs of it, _said he_, I will treat you with +some Trifle, such as a Dram of Anniseed, Orange-Water, or Ratasia. Upon my +word my Apothecary has what is choice good; he lives but at the end of the +Street; Come, I will shew you the way to his House.' + +While he harangu'd me in this manner he reel'd, being so drunk that he +cou'd not stand. I thank'd him therefore for his Love, and told him that I +did not drink Drams, but that if he had a mind to any Liquor of that sort, +I would send for some for him; and I bid my Landlord fetch it. The +Apothecary, as ill luck would have it, was not yet got up. 'Soho, here, +_said my new Friend_, there is nothing to drink but Aquavitae; here, +Landlord, a Glass of Brandy, Pipes and Tobacco. You must have something, +_said he_, to be doing.' Every thing he call'd for being brought, my +Gentleman drank two or three Glasses of Brandy, and smoak'd as many Pipes +of Tobacco. I hoped to see him tumble down, and by consequence to get rid +of him, when he took it into his head to call for some Dishes of Tea that +I had order'd to be made for my self, and which made him so sober that he +recover'd his Reason. I laid hold of this happy Interval (for I heard him +calling out for Brandy, which I apprehended would occasion a Relapse) and +talk'd to him about his Master's Bass-Viols; upon which, without much +Intreaty, he said to me, 'You know, Sir, that every Man almost has his +particular Whim, Princes as well as private Persons. One is an Admirer of +Magnificence, another of Troops, and a third of Mistresses. As for my +august Master, his Fancy runs only on Bass-Viols, and whoever sollicits +him for an Employment or any other Favour, can't do better than to +accommodate his Arsenal with one of these Instruments. That very large +one, _said he_, which you saw in the Room where all his Viols are, was +presented to him by one who wanted to be a Privy-Counsellor; his Petition +was granted, and had he ask'd for any thing else he might have had it.' +This officious Gentleman told me a great many other Particulars which let +me into the very Chronicle of the Court of _Mersebourg_; but I don't +trouble you with it, because the Truth is not to be told at all times. + +My Equipage being ready, I set out for NAUMBOURG, where I arrived at Noon. +This City was formerly the See of a Bishop. Its ancient Cathedral is still +standing, and tho' _Lutheran_, has a Chapter and Canons who must prove +their Nobility both by the Father's side and Mother's side, by sixteen +Descents. When this Bishoprick was seculariz'd it was said that no +Catholic Prince could ever be possess'd of this State. Therefore when the +last Duke of _Saxe-Zeits_, Administrator of _Naumbourg_, turn'd Catholic, +the King of _Poland_ as eldest of the _Saxon_ Family and Executor of the +_Pacta_ or Conventions made between the Princes of that Family, took +possession of _Naumbourg_. The Duke's being reconciled to the _Lutheran_ +Communion was to no purpose, the King did not restore his Dominions to +him, but still possesses them, tho' he is more a Catholic than the Duke of +_Zeits_ perhaps ever was. You know that this Prince has left a Nephew who +wou'd have been his Heir, if he had not been a Catholic and a Priest. This +is the Prince who, I acquainted you from _Dresden_, was Bishop of +_Konigsgratz_ in _Bohemia_. He was born a _Lutheran_, as are all those of +his Family. His Uncle the Cardinal of _Saxe_, Brother to the Duke of +_Zeits_, made him embrace the Roman Catholic Religion when he was very +young, and afterwards persuaded him to enter into Ecclesiastical Orders, +by which step he deprived his Nephew of the glorious Prerogative of being +a Sovereign Prince, and transferred his Rights to the King of _Poland_ +his distant Cousin. + +_Naumbourg_ is famous for its Fairs, which next to those of _Leipsic_, are +the most considerable in _Saxony_. The Suburbs of this City are almost all +Vineyards; but why, I know not, for the Wine is so detestably bad, that +they give it away in a manner for nothing. + +Finding nothing at _Naumbourg_ which was worth my while to stay there for, +I only chang'd Horses and came hither. As one approaches this Place, we +meet with Corn-Fields and Hop-Grounds instead of Vines, and the Country +rises into Hills, so that one does not see the Town of WEIMAR till we are +just upon it. The City, which is not more considerable than _Naumbourg_, +is the Residence of the Duke of _Saxe-Weimar_, who has a Palace here which +does not want for Magnificence, and tho' unfinish'd, has an air of +Grandeur. The Connoisseurs in Architecture highly extol the grand +Stair-Case there, which two Persons may ascend and descend at the same +time without meeting one another, and yet always keeping each other in +view. It consists of two Flights of Stairs upon one Spindle, laid one over +the other in the same Well of a square Form. The Curious who have observ'd +it, admire it, because there are few such to be seen. + +The great Hall which is an oval, is beautiful, but not lightsome enough. +There are the Pictures of all the Dukes of _Saxe-Weimar_ at full length, +from the first Duke that ever was down to the Father of the present. They +are all drawn on Horseback, and done by no mean Hand. + +In the same Palace is the Duke's Library, which tho' not very large, +consists of sundry scarce Books. 'Tis open twice a week, when the Curious +are not only permitted to peruse them, but even to borrow them, upon +leaving a Note with the Librarian. + +The Duke of _Weimar_ spends very little Time in his Capital, but commonly +resides at a Seat which he has caus'd to be built about a League out of +Town. He has given it the Name of _Belle-Vue_, because of the fine +Prospect which it commands from the Apartments of the first Story. The +House is small and not very commodious, so that the chief Beauty of it is +its Situation, which is very charming. The Gardens which are begun upon +very good Plans will be beautiful when finish'd, as well as the +Pheasant-Walk and Menagerie where there are Turkeys and all sorts of Fowl. + +The Duke of _Weimar's_ Name is _Ernest-Augustus_: He is the eldest of the +_Ernestine_ Branch which lost the Electorate when _Charles_ V. was +Emperor. He marry'd a Princess of _Anhalt-Cothen_, who I have been told, +was a Lady of distinguish'd Merit. She died and left him a Son and three +Daughters. + +The young Prince is about ten Years of age[72]. He can neither hear nor +pronounce well, and is withal of a very tender Constitution. The +Physicians say it signifies nothing, and that as he grows up he will +acquire a Freedom of Speech. But I question it, and am apt to think rather +that those Disciples of _AEsculapius_ will send him into the other World. +The only Hopes of any Male Issue of _Weimar_ are founded upon this Child. +The Duke of _Saxe-Eysenach_ who is the next a-kin has no Children; so that +the Dominions of _Weimar_ and _Eysenach_ too are ready to devolve to the +Family of _Saxe-Gotha_. The Duke of _Weimar's_ Subjects teaze him very +much to marry, but the Prince does not seem to be in a Humour to satisfy +them; for I have often heard him say that he can't bear the mention of +Marriage. + +No body presumes to go to _Belle-Vue_ without being sent for, except only +on _Mondays_ when poor People are permitted to go thither with their +Petitions which they deliver to the Secretary, and he gives them to the +Duke. Persons of Quality, whether Foreigners or others, that have a mind +to speak with the Duke, apply for it to the Marshal of the Court, but are +seldom admitted to an Audience. + +The Duke has rarely any other Company at _Belle-Vue_ but two young Ladies +whom he calls his Maids of Honour, and three young Women, Citizens +Daughters, who go by the Name of his Chamber-Maids; a Major of his Troops, +and the Officer of his Guard, who is a Lieutenant or an Ensign. I had +forgot to mention the Baron _de Bruhl_, who is the Duke's Favourite and +his Master of the Horse. + +'Tis with these Persons that the Prince passes his Time. He wakes early in +the Morning, but makes it late before he rises; for he takes his Tea in +Bed, and sometimes plays on the Violin. At other times he sends for his +Architects and Gardeners, with whom he amuses himself in drawing of Plans. +His Ministers also come to him while he is in Bed to talk upon Business. +About Noon he gets up, and as soon as he is dress'd, sees his Guard mount, +which consists of 33 Men, commanded by a Lieutenant or an Ensign. He +exercises his Soldiers himself, and corrects them too when they commit any +Fault. This done he takes the Air, and at two or three o'clock sits down +to Table, where the two Maids of Honour, the Master of the Horse, the +Major, the Officer of the Guard, and even Foreigners if any happen to be +there, are of the Company. The Dinner holds a long while, and 'tis +sometimes three, four, and five Hours before they rise from Table. The +Glass never stands still hardly, and the Duke talks a great deal, but the +Conversation is commonly on Subjects that are not very agreeable. When +Dinner is over they drink Coffee, after which the Duke retires for a few +Minutes, and then plays at Quadrille with his two young Ladies and the +Major; but sometimes he does nothing but smoak Tobacco, and he often +retires to his Chamber where he amuses himself with Drawing or else +playing on the Violin till he goes to Bed. + +There scarce a Week passes but the Duke gives an Invitation at least once +or twice to all the Persons of Quality of the Court, and all the Officers +of his Troops, at which time there are two great Tables spread, where they +dine, play, sup, and afterwards dance till next Day. + +The Duke's Troops consist of a Battalion of 700 Men, a Squadron of 180 +Troopers, and a Company of Cadets on horseback. His Infantry consists of +pick'd Men. Since the famous _Bernard de Weimar_ who was Pensioner to +_Lewis_ XIII. King of _France_, no Duke of _Weimar_ had so many Troops, +and really they must be chargeable to the Duke whose Revenues 'tis said +don't exceed 400000 Crowns. This Prince has made a Treaty with the King of +_Poland_, whereby he engages to assist the King with his Battalion +whenever his Majesty thinks it necessary for his Service; in which Case +the King promises to give that Battalion the same Pay as he does his own +Troops. Mean time the Duke is obliged to clothe them all according to the +Pattern which is sent to him from _Dresden_; and indeed their Clothes are +very rich, especially those of the Officers and Cadets, which are so +bedaub'd with Gold and Silver Lace, that a Foreigner who comes to _Weimar_ +cannot but admire it. + +The Duke's Family is very numerous, for besides the Prince his Son and the +three Princesses his Daughters, he has a Sister, and a Mother-in-law, who +is a Princess of _Hesse-Hombourg_: Mean time he has a numerous Court, and +may boast that some of them are Persons of very great Merit. + +The Gentleman who is at the Head of Affairs is the Baron _de Reinbabe_, +who has the Title of President of the Council of State. He is a Person of +a good Family, in _Silesia_, has very great Abilities, and withal so much +Good-nature and Modesty as are seldom to be met with. When he was young he +travell'd very much abroad, where he learnt what was valuable in every +Country that he came to. He speaks several Languages well, is a great +Historian, a learned Civilian, and a good Poet. Notwithstanding the +Business that goes thro' his Hands, and his Care of a numerous Family, he +is always almost at his Studies, and never better pleas'd than when he is +in his Library; yet he is no Enemy to Pleasures, but enjoys them without +abandoning himself to them, and takes them as they fall in his way without +pursuing 'em. To finish his Character I will add what was said of him by a +Prince who knew him intimately: _If Probity was intirely lost in the rest +of Mankind_, said he to me, _I think I shou'd be sure to find it again in +the Baron_ de Reinbabe. + +The Baron _de Schmiedel_ is Marshal of the Court and Director of the +military Chest. He is a Person of great Piety, whose Aspect is not indeed +the most engaging, yet a very good Man to have to do with. He is a sincere +Friend, loves to do a kind Thing, is exact in the Duties of his Offices, +an Enemy to Vice, and very much attach'd to the Interests of his Master, +tho' he does not always please him because he has not the Talent of +Dissimulation so necessary at Courts. + +The Baron _de Studenitz_ a _Silesian_ is a Privy-Counsellor, and President +of the Chamber. He was formerly in the Service of the Duke of +_Saxe-Barbi_, and afterwards he enter'd into that of the Duke of +_Saxe-Hilburgshausen_, whose Finances he directed for several Years, in +which he acquired a Reputation, and came to _Weimar_ where he was +continued in the same Employment. He is a Gentleman of very great Learning +and Integrity, and having travell'd a long time in his Youth, very well +knows how to carry himself. + +M. _de Hering_ is of a noble Family in the Country of _Anhalt-Cothen_. He +is the Duke's Aulic Counsellor, a Gentleman of Worth, and both Learned and +Polite. He is on the point of leaving this Court, which will be a Loss to +the Duke that he will not easily repair. + +M. _de Bruhl_ the Duke's Master of the Horse and Favourite, is a _Saxon_. +His Birth, good Qualities, and especially his sweet Temper render him very +worthy of a Sovereign's Favour. Yet I doubt whether, notwithstanding so +much Merit, he has a firm Footing in the Duke's Friendship; he has too +much Candor, too much Sincerity, and is too zealous to do Services; and +perhaps also too much attach'd to the Interests and Honour of his Master: +for tho' these Qualities have the Appearance of Virtues, yet they are +sometimes Errors in the Eyes of Princes. + +Thus, Sir, have I given you the Names of the most distinguish'd Persons at +the Court of _Weimar_. I set out to-morrow for _Gotha_. I hope for a Line +from you at _Wurtzbourg_, and don't propose to write again to you till I +know whether you are living or dead. + + _I am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER VII. + + + _SIR_, _Gotha, Sept. 9, 1732._ + +I set out from _Weimar_ at 5 o'clock in the Morning, and by eight was at +_Erfurt_, where I walk'd about an Hour, and came at Noon to _Gotha_. + +'Tis all a flat Country abounding with Corn. In time of Rain the Roads are +so bad that sometimes it takes up a whole Day to come from _Erfurt_ to +_Gotha_. ERFURT is a City belonging to the Elector of _Mentz_, is the +Capital of _Thuringia_, and may be rank'd among those of the second Class +in _Germany_. Its Inhabitants are almost all _Lutherans_, yet the +principal Churches belong to the Catholics. _Erfurt_ is fortified with +good Ramparts, and by a Castle on a Hill which absolutely commands the +Town. There is always a good Garison in the Place, which consists of the +Emperor's Soldiers and those of _Mentz_; and the Elector has a Governor +here with the Title of _Stadtholder_, who presides in the Regency. + +GOTHA, which is not near so big as _Erfurt_, is a City situate in the +middle of a fine fruitful Plain, so that which way soever one approaches +it, one always perceives the Castle or Palace of the Duke, which stands on +an Eminence by itself, and has a Prospect of a vast Extent of Country. +This Castle, which is one of the biggest in _Germany_, was built by +_Ernest_ Duke of _Gotha_, surnamed the _Pious_; who caused both that and +the Town to be encompassed with Ditches and Ramparts. To the Glory of this +Prince, he undertook and finished these Great Works, at a time when +_Germany_ was so impoverished by intestine Wars that few of its Princes +were able to erect Palaces[73]. + +As of all the _Saxon_ Princes of the _Ernestine_ Branch, the Duke of +_Gotha_ is the most powerful, so his Court is of all the _Saxon_ Courts +next to that of _Dresden_, the most Numerous and the most Magnificent. + +Nevertheless the Subjects of the Duke of _Gotha_[74] are the least +burthen'd with Taxes of any in _Germany_. To this Prince's wise Management +of his Finances is owing not only his own Happiness, but that of his +People too, by whom he is ador'd; and really he treats them more like a +Father, than a Sovereign; and never makes them sensible of his Power, but +when he is to do them Justice. He is a kind good Master, easy of Access, +temperate in his way of Living, gives very great Application to the +Affairs of his Government, loves Reading, understands Books, and knows +every thing which a Prince ought to be acquainted with. As to his Person, +he is handsome and comely; is civil in his Deportment, but reserv'd; and +therefore seldom speaks to Strangers, if he can help it; but endeavours +first of all to know those he has Business with, and when he has found out +their Character, talks with them upon such Subjects as he thinks they are +best acquainted with. He keeps regular Hours, rises at seven o'clock, +first spends an Hour in Prayer, and the reading of some pious Treatise; +and then gets himself dress'd, and gives Audience to his Ministers, or to +other Persons that desire it. At Noon he dines with the Duchess his Wife, +the Princes his Children, and other Persons of Distinction; stays about an +Hour and a half at Table, and then takes a Walk in the Gardens of the +Palace, or if the Weather does not permit, he employs himself in his +Closet, or spends the Time in reading till five o'clock. Then he goes to +the House of some Person of Distinction at his Court where all the +Nobility have an Assembly, and plays at Ombre, after which he returns to +his Palace, sups in the manner that he din'd, and at nine o'clock retires. + +There is a Drawing-Room at Court three times a Week when the Company meets +in a great Hall, where they make Parties at Ombre and Piquet. At seven +o'clock a large Table is spread, which is free for all the Company. Then a +Carver cuts up the Victuals, which are handed to that, and to all the +Gaming-Tables that are cover'd with Napkins. Those who don't play may sit +down at what Table they like best. The Duke, the Duchess, or the Princes, +generally do Foreigners the Honour to admit them to their Table. During +the Supper there is a Concert of Music, and at nine o'Clock all the +Company retires. + +The Duke by his Marriage with _Magdalen-Augusta_ of _Anhalt-Zerbst_, has +seven Sons and two Daughters[75]: The eldest is the Hereditary Prince, who +has been twice in _Paris_, and once in _Italy_, _England_, _Holland_, +_Denmark_, _Sweden_, and at all the Courts of _Germany_, in which Travels +he has acquir'd a great deal of Politeness and valuable Knowledge. I had +the Honour of making my Compliments to him both at _Paris_, and the +_Hague_, and found him of such a Temper as induces me to think that the +Subjects of _Gotha_ will be as happy hereafter under his Government, as +they are under that of the Duke his Father. He was lately married to his +Cousin-German _Louisa-Dorothea_ of _Saxe-Meinungen_, a very lovely young +Princess, who, with all her Graces and Charms, has abundance of +Good-nature and Modesty[76]. + +The Duke has all the Great Officers common to other Sovereigns. The Count +_de Ronaw_ is Great Marshal, and the chief Man at Court. They give him +here the Character of Favourite; whether he is such I know not, but this I +know, that he is not unworthy of it. I was very well acquainted with him +at _Ratisbon_ in 1720; he was not then in any Place, and expressed a +Friendship for me; and now that I see him here in a Post, I find him the +same Man as at _Ratisbon_, always a Friend to his Friends; which for a +Favourite is a very great Character. + +The Duke's Revenues are computed at a Million of Crowns a year, with which +he maintains near 3000 Men of regular Troops. His Family is large and his +Livery fine; his Guards are very well cloath'd; his Table is serv'd with +more Delicacy than Profusion; his Palace is well furnish'd; every body +punctually paid; and no body dissatisfied. + +I don't mention the Library to you, nor the Chamber of Rarities, because I +am not yet well enough inform'd of such Things there as are worth +observing. I propose to take another Round before I go hence, and shall +not fail to transmit to you what Observations I shall make there. Mean +time, I am, _&c._[77] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER VIII. + + + _SIR_, _Wurtzbourg, Sept. 22, 1729._ + +When I came hither I had the very great Pleasure to find your Letters, and +to hear that you enjoy perfect Health. Continue, I beseech you, to write +to me; that being the only Means by which you can persuade me what I wish +to be convinced of more than any thing in the World, that my Letters are +acceptable to you. + +I have been in one of the most disagreeable Roads in all _Germany_; and +tho' the Country abounds with Provisions of all sorts, I had like to have +been famished in the Public Houses. + +From _Gotha_, I went to EYSENACH, thinking to pass a few Days at that +Court, but I found the[78] Duke sick, and the Hereditary Prince and +Princess[79] absent, so that I had only my Labour for my Pains. + +As the Town of _Eysenach_ offers nothing at all to View which is worth a +Traveller's Attention, I set out the same Day for FULDE, where I arrived +the next. You know, that this City is the Capital of the Principality of +_Fulde_, the Sovereign of which is an Abbot, a Prince of the Empire, and +Chancellor to the Empress. The present Sovereign is _Adolphus_ Baron of +_Bahlberg_, who was chose by the Chapter of the Abbey Church in 1726, in +the room of _Constantine_ Baron of _Buthler_, who died suddenly, and not +without suspicion of Poison. _Fulde_ is a dirty little Town open on all +sides, and has nothing remarkable but the Abbey Church, and the Prince's +Palace, which are two Freestone Buildings that make a very grand +Appearance. The Apartments of the Palace are very richly furnish'd. The +last Abbot being a Man of good Understanding and great Views, caused this +Palace to be so adorn'd as to demonstrate the Wealth of the Abbey. + +The Prince Abbot has a Grand Marshal, a Master of the Horse, a Marshal of +the Court, several Privy and Aulic Counsellors, a Number of Gentlemen, a +Company of Horse-Guards well cloathed and well mounted, a Regiment of Foot +Guards, eight Pages, a Number of Footmen, and several Sets of Horses. He +gives a rich Livery, and in a word, his Houshold is spruce and +magnificent. There are very few Sovereigns in _Germany_ whose Table is +better served; for there is plenty of every thing, particularly delicious +Wines, of which they tipple to such Excess that in a very little time they +are not capable of distinguishing their Liquor. There are, I believe, the +hardest Drinkers here in _Europe_; and I being on the other hand but a +Milksop, thought that _Fulde_ was not a Country for me to pitch my Tent +in. I dined with the Prince, went home drunk to my Quarters, slept sound, +and next day set out for _Wurtzbourg_, where I am happily arriv'd after +having gone through such horrible bad Ways, and met with such dismal +Lodging, that I wish my Enemies were but condemned to travel this Road +four times a Year. + +Here I make myself amends for the Mortification which I met with coming +hither. WURTZBOURG is a considerable City though not very large. The +_Main_ divides it into two Parts. It is the Residence of the Prince Bishop +of _Wurtzbourg_ Duke of _Franconia_. The Person who now enjoys that great +Dignity is _Christopher-Francis de Houtten_[80]. He was elected by the +Chapter to succeed _John Philip Francis_ Count de _Schonborn_, who was one +of the greatest and most magnificent Prelates that perhaps ever fill'd the +Episcopal See of _Wurtzbourg_. This Prince, in the five Years time that he +has been Bishop, has done more things for the Embellishment of +_Wurtzbourg_ than ten of his Predecessors put together. He has furnished +one Part of the Town with new Fortifications, and has laid the Basis of a +stately Palace, which will be one of the greatest, the compleatest and +most regular Fabrics that we have in _Germany_; he having for that end +consulted the most skilful Architects, and sent for the most celebrated +Sculptors from _Italy_. As he was a passionate Admirer of the Arts and +Sciences, and perfectly understood them, especially Architecture; he chose +the best Parts of all the Designs that were presented to him, and from +them he compos'd the Plan of the Work, which was executed with such +diligence that in four Years time two thirds of the Building were rooft. +His unexpected Death put a stop for a while to this Great Work. The +present Bishop took it in hand again, but after having made considerable +Alterations in those great and magnificent Projects, the Work advances so +slowly that when it will be finished no body knows. + +The deceased Bishop _Schonborn_ has also caused a Chapel to be built near +the Metropolitan Church, which he has lined with very uncommon Marble +brought for the purpose from _Italy_ at a very great Expence. Brass, +Gilding, and every thing that can render a Chapel superb, has been +employed in it in a very curious manner. This stately Edifice is as yet +imperfect, and will require great Sums to finish it. As it was designed +for the Burial-Place of the Bishop and his Family, it is to be presum'd +that the House of _Schonborn_, now so rich and so powerful, will not +suffer a Monument to lie unfinish'd which is to perpetuate the remembrance +of its Grandeur. + +The Great Hospital founded by a Bishop whose Name was _Julius_, is worth +seeing. 'Tis a stately Building, which looks more like the Palace of a +Prince than a Hospital. Four hundred Persons of both Sexes are maintained +in it. There are two fine Halls which are particularly made use of upon +_Holy Thursday_. In the one, the Bishop performs the Ceremony of washing +the Feet of the Poor, who are afterwards sumptuously feasted in it; and in +the other, he regales his Chapter, and all his Family. + +The Castle stands upon an Eminence on the other side of the River which we +pass over a Stone Bridge, adorn'd like that of St. _Angelo_ at _Rome_, +with twelve fine Statues representing so many Saints. This Castle is a +strong Place, and entirely commands the Town. The Form of it is quite +irregular, it consisting of several Buildings erected by several Bishops. +Those Prelates always liv'd in it, till the last, who, while he was +building a new Palace in the Town, lodged in a neighbouring Gentleman's +House, from whence he could see how the Work went on. The Apartments of +the old Castle are spacious and noble. I found in them all that Furniture +with which they were adorn'd for the Reception of the Archduchess +_Mary-Elizabeth_, when that Princess came to _Wurtzbourg_ in her way to +the Government of the _Netherlands_. I have not seen richer Furniture at +the Palace of any Prince of the Empire. + +In this Castle there are two things that are well worth seeing; the +Arsenal and the Vault; the one full of all the Stores invented by _Mars_ +and _Bellona_, for the Destruction of Mankind, and the other furnish'd +with every thing to satiate the Thirst of an Army of Drunkards. If ever +you come hither and should have the Curiosity to visit these Magazines of +_Mars_ and _Bacchus_, I advise you to begin with the Arsenal, especially +if you can get some Courtier to go with you; for these Gentlemen, tho' +very civil, think, that the least thing which a Foreigner ought to do for +them is to forfeit his Reason to them in this Vault. I am sure, I speak by +dear Experience. Three days ago I told the Bishop that I had a mind to see +the Castle. This Prince was so complaisant as to order one of his +Gentlemen to go with me. My honest Companion fearing, 'tis like, that a +Conversation _tete-a-tete_ would be too melancholy, chose two Topers to +bear us Company, whom _Silenus_ would not have disown'd for his Children. +Being a stranger to the Virtues for which those Gentlemen were eminent, I +put my self entirely under their Direction without the least Apprehension +of my Misfortune. When they had shewed me the Apartments, the Arsenal, +Fortifications, and every thing, they carried me at last into the Vault, +which I found illuminated like a Chapel wherein I was to lie in State; and +indeed, my Funeral Obsequies were perform'd in Pomp, for the Glasses +served instead of Bells, and Torrents of Wine gush'd out instead of +Tears: At length, after the Service was over, two of the Prince's +_Heydukes_ carry'd me to a Coach, and from thence to Bed; that was my +Tomb. Yesterday I rose again, but scarce know at this Moment whether I am +quite come to myself. 'Tis true that this does not give me much Concern, +for ever since I have been here, I have followed the laudable Custom of +getting drunk twice a day. You perceive that I am improv'd by my Travels, +and that I am apt enough to learn the pretty Manners of the Countries +where I make any Stay. I fancy that you will find me very much alter'd for +the better. There is nothing that accomplishes a Man so much as +travelling; judge you of this by the Life which I lead here. + +I rise at ten o'clock, my Lungs very much inflam'd with the Wine I drank +the Night before: I take a large Dose of Tea, dress myself, and then go to +make my Compliments to the Bishop. The Baron _de Pechtelsheim_ the Marshal +of the Court invites me to dine with the Prince: He promises, nay, and +sometimes swears too that I shall not drink. At Noon we sit down to Table. +The Bishop does me the honour to drink two or three Healths to me. The +Baron _de Zobel_, Master of the Horse, and the Baron _de Pechtelsheim_, +toast the same number to me, and I am under a necessity of drinking to no +less than fourteen Persons at the Table; so that I am drown'd in Liquor +before I have din'd. When the Company rises, I wait on the Prince to his +Chamber-Door, where he retires, and I think to do the same, but I find an +Embargo put upon me in the Antichamber by the Master of the Horse, and the +Marshal of the Court, who with great Bumpers in their Hands drink the +Prince's Health to me, and _Prosperity for ever to the most laudable +Chapter of +Wurtzbourg+_. I protest to them that I am the Bishop's most +humble Servant, and that I have a very great Veneration for the most +laudable Chapter, but that to drink their Healths wou'd destroy mine, and +therefore I beg they wou'd excuse my pledging them; but I may as well talk +to the Wind; these two Healths must be drank, or I shall be reckon'd no +Friend to the Prince and his Chapter. If this were all my Task I shou'd be +well off; but then comes M. _de Zobel_, one of the most intrepid Carousers +of the Age, who squeezes me by the Hand, and with an Air and Tone of +perfect Cordiality, says to me, _You love our Prince so well that you +can't refuse drinking to the Prosperity of the illustrious Family of ++Houtten+_. And when he has made this moving Speech, he takes off a great +Glass to witness his Zeal for the Life of his Master; after which an +officious _Heyduke_ brings me a Glass, and being infected with the Goust +that prevails at this Court, assures me that this Wine cannot possibly do +me Harm, because 'tis the very same that the Prince drinks. By a +Persuasion, founded on so just an Inference, I have the Courage to venture +on t'other Glass, which is no sooner drank but I reel, and can drink no +more; when in order to finish me M. _de Pechtelsheim_, one of the +honestest Gentlemen living, but the staunchest Wine-bibber that I know, +accosts me with a Smile and says, _Come_, dear Baron, _one Glass more to +better Acquaintance_. I conjure him to give me Quarter, but he embraces +me, kisses me, and calls me _Herr Bruder_, (his dear Brother.) How can a +Man withstand such tender Compliments! At last I put myself in a fit +Posture to run away; I sneak off, steal down the Steps as well as I can, +and squeeze myself into a Sedan which carries me home; where my People +drag me out like a dead Corpse, and fling me on a Bed, as if the next +thing was to lay me out. I sleep three or four hours, awake in a perfect +Maze, put myself to rights again, and prepare to make Visits, or to +receive them; but whichsoever I do, I presently find my self in such a +pickle again, that I cannot walk alone. There's no such thing as +Conversation here betwixt one Friend and another without the Bottle; so +that I am tempted to think the Inhabitants of this City are descended from +_Silenus_, and that the old Sot left them the Faculty of hard drinking for +a Legacy, as St. _Hubert_ bequeath'd to his Family the power of curing a +Frenzy. + +I din'd yesterday with the Reverend the _Scots Benedictine_ Fryars, who +gave me a hearty Welcome, and an excellent sort of Liquor call'd _Stein +Wein_, or Stone-Wine, probably because it grows on a Rock; which is the +only time that I have departed from the Regimen I keep to here, I mean +that I was not drunk. The House of these _Benedictines_ is one of the five +Houses which form a sort of a Republic in their Order, and which, without +depending on their General, chuse a President out of their number who has +the direction of all their Affairs. These five Houses are in five +different Towns, _viz._ at _Vienna_ in _Austria_, at _Ratisbon_, +_Wurtzbourg_, at _Doway_ in _Flanders_, and at _Dieulegarde_, near +_Pont-a-Mousson_ in _Lorrain_. + +These _Benedictines_ put me in mind of the Reverend Fathers the _Jesuits_, +who have a very fine House in this City: These are they who are Directors +of the University, and instruct the Youth with a Zeal which cannot but +confound their Enemies. + +The Prince and Bishop lives in very great Splendor, and is one of the most +powerful of our Spiritual Sovereigns. His Dominion includes seventy +Bailywics, and his Country is the finest and fruitfullest in _Germany_. +The only thing that is scarce here is Money, and this is owing to their +want of Trade, and to the great number of Monks and Priests who ingross +all to themselves. The Bishop has 50000 Crowns a-year for his Privy-Purse. +The Chamber is oblig'd to maintain him in every thing. It furnishes his +Wardrobe, his Table, and pays his Houshold and his Troops, which actually +consist of 3500 Men, who are commanded by General _Eib_, the Governour of +_Wurtzbourg_. In time of War the Bishop has no less than 10000. + +The Court is numerous, and I can assure you that upon Festival-Days 'tis +very magnificent. On St. _Quilian_'s Day, who is the Patron of +_Wurtzbourg_ and _Franconia_, the Bishop repairs with a great Train to the +Metropolitan Church. Six of the Bishop's Coaches, drawn each by six +Horses, begin the March, attended by twenty four Footmen and sixteen +Pages; and above fourscore Gentlemen richly dress'd walk before the +Bishop's Coach, guarded by two Files of Halbardiers. The Master of the +Horse and the Marshal of the Court walk by the sides of the Coach, the +latter bearing the Sword of the Duke of _Franconia_ with the Point +uppermost; and the Coach is surrounded by _Heydukes_, and followed by a +company of Life-Guards. + +The Bishop of _Wurtzbourg_ has one Prerogative which the other Bishops +have not; for while he officiates, his Great Marshal bears the Sword of +the Duke of _Franconia_ naked and upright till the Consecration of the +Elements, and then he puts it up in the Scabbard, and carries it before +the Prince with the Point downwards; which is a Distinction I take to be +altogether as extraordinary as that of the Abbot and Count _de Gemblours_, +the first Nobleman of the States of _Brabant_, who has the Privilege of +celebrating Mass with his Boots and Spurs on. + +The Bishop's ordinary Expence is perfectly suitable to the Dignity of a +great Prince; and his Table, which is commonly spread for eighteen +Guests, is serv'd with a Magnificence to the degree of Profusion; not that +this Prince affects Pomp, but because he is oblig'd to conform to the +antient establish'd Customs of his Court. This Prelate gives very great +Application to the Affairs of his Government, for which purpose he rises +early in the Morning: When he is dress'd he spends some time in Prayer, +and then confers with his Ministers, or with the Chiefs of the several +Tribunals. At ten o'clock he hears Mass, and afterwards goes to Council: +At Noon he dines, and after having sate an Hour and an half at Table, he +retires, and spends the Evening with his Family, which is numerous, and +compos'd of Persons of Worth. In Carnival-time he makes great +Entertainments twice or thrice a week for all the Nobility of +_Wurtzbourg_, and there is sometimes a Ball and even Masquerades at Court. +In the Winter-time Persons of Rank have Assemblies for Gaming; and during +the Carnival there's a Ball three times a week in a House kept by the +Undertaker, at which they bespeak Places beforehand, and where Foreigners +are admitted _gratis_. All this wou'd be pretty enough if the Company was +not sometimes disturb'd by People in Liquor, tho' 'tis true that such are +not very chagrining to the Natives, who are us'd to such Sights; and the +very Ladies, who elsewhere fly such Company, do not seem to have a staunch +Aversion to them. Foreigners have reason to applaud the Civilities both of +the Prince and his Courtiers. As for my own part I am infinitely oblig'd +for the Respect they have been pleas'd to shew to me. The Prince heaps his +Favours on me, and the Nobility their Courtesies. If it were not that one +is forc'd to drink hard, I shou'd like the Town very well. Two Days hence +I shall set out for _Anspach_, and from thence I shall go by the way of +_Nuremberg_ and _Bareith_ to _Prague_. I shall write to you by the very +first Opportunity: Mean time I am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER IX. + + + _SIR_, _Anspach, Sept. 29, 1729._ + +I came in one day from _Wurtzbourg_ to ANSPACH, which is twelve Miles, and +pass'd thro' two or three little Towns not worth naming. _Anspach_ is the +Capital of the Margraviate so call'd, and the Residence of the Margrave of +_Brandenbourg_, Chief of the second Branch of that Family settled in +_Franconia_. 'Tis a small but pretty Town, and very well built. It has no +Fortifications, and is only shut in by Walls surrounded with Walks which +form a Bulwark. The Prince has a large Castle or Palace building here, +which when finish'd will be magnificent. The late Margrave, Father of the +present, had begun to build it according to the Models of an _Italian_ +Architect; but as he did nothing to answer the Opinion conceiv'd by the +_Germans_ that the _Italians_ are the best Architects in the World, +perhaps because he was oblig'd to patch up old Walls for the sake of some +Rooms: Madame the Margravine Regent, Mother of the young Margrave, +continued what her Husband began, but changed the Architect, and makes use +of the Baron _de Zochau_ to carry on those Works; who, tho' oblig'd to +conform to what was done by the _Italian_, has succeeded much better than +that Foreigner. Madame the Margravine Regent has likewise caus'd some +noble Gardens to be laid out; and this Princess spares no Cost for +embellishing the Town of _Anspach_. + +The Margravine Regent[81] is of the Family of _Wurtenberg_, and may be +compar'd for Beauty with the finest Princesses in the World. Being left a +Widow at twenty nine Years of Age, she renounc'd all Pleasures, and +thought of nothing but the Education of her Son, and the Affairs of her +Regency; both of which Duties this Princess discharges in such a manner +that her Subjects bless her Government, and the young Margrave cannot but +have very great Obligations to her. + +Madame the Margravine, besides a charming Person, has a sparkling Wit and +a solid Judgment, which she has taken care to cultivate by great reading, +and maintains by a Piety and Charity truly Christian. There is in all her +Actions such Politeness, and so much Good-nature, as gain her the hearts +of all Persons. In fine, without flattering this Princess, I can assure +you that her Life is a Pattern of Virtue. She is wean'd from all the +Vanities of the Age; she wears neither Gold nor Lace, and has given her +Diamonds, which were of very great value, to her Son. She keeps so retir'd +to her Apartment, that she is never seen but at Church, at Table, or when +she gives Audience; which she never refuses to any body unless when she is +tir'd. She is incessantly employ'd, and takes delight in it. She is her +own Minister, and her Counsellors are only the Executioners of her Orders. + +'Tis pity that _Germany_ is so soon like to lose a Princess who does her +Country so much Honour: The Margravine is in so declining a Condition +that there's no hopes of her Recovery. The Physicians have actually told +her so; but the Princess, far from being terrify'd at the sad Tidings, +receiv'd it like a Christian Heroine: _God gave me my Life_, said she to +her Physicians, _he will take it from me when he pleases, his Will be +done_. She continues to live in the way she always did; and the Approach +of Death, which she sees advancing to her with slow Pace, gives her no +Trouble nor Tremor; but submitting to the Decrees of Providence, she waits +with Resignation for that awful Moment which often makes the stoutest +Hearts tremble. + +The young Margrave is actually at _Paris_, so that I cou'd have given you +no manner of Account of this Prince, if I had not had the Honour to see +him two Years ago. He was born the 12th of _May_, 1712. He is a handsome, +comely, lively Man, has an extraordinary Memory, and if Age matures his +Understanding, bids fair to be one day a Prince of a sublime Genius. His +Governour was M. _de Bremer_, a Gentleman of _Livonia_; and his Praeceptor +M. _Neukirch_[82], celebrated for several Essays in Poetry. + +Notwithstanding the Reform which Madame the Margravine made in her Court +when she came to the Regency, 'tis still very numerous. The Count _de +Castel_ is the first Man at this Court, and has the Title of Lord Steward. +His Lady commonly attends Madame the Margravine, and does the Offices of +Lady of Honour without affecting the Title. M. _de Bremer_, the Baron _de +Seckendorf_, and the Baron _de Zochau_, are Privy Counsellors; and the +Baron _de Kinsberg_ is Marshal of the Court. As to the Troops the +Margravine Regent only keeps up such a number as is necessary to furnish +her Quota to the Empire, and to guard her Person. + +The Margraviate of _Anspach_ is very much interspersed with Woods, which +makes it a fine Country for Hunting. 'Tis said that it brings in 500000 +Crowns every Year to its Sovereign. The Principal Towns are _Anspach_ and +_Schwabach_, in which Manufactures are erected that do great Prejudice to +the City of _Nuremberg_. + +I think I ought not to omit acquainting you with two things which are +fondly believ'd by the common People, and which the Landlord of the House +where I quarter'd affirm'd to me to be Facts. The one is, that there are +no Rats in all the Country of _Anspach_, since one of the Family of the +Rat-killing St. _Hubert_ pass'd that way. The other is of the same Tenor, +and admitted for a certain Truth by every Subject in the Dominions of the +House of _Brandenbourg_, _viz._ When any one of this Family dies, whether +Prince or Princess, a Woman in White always appears just before in the +Palace. I know not whether you ever heard any thing concerning this +Prophetess of Ill Luck. Be that as it will, the Story which is told of her +is this: + +_Joachim_ II. Elector of _Brandenbourg_, having a mind to enlarge his +Palace at _Berlin_, wanted to buy in several Houses; but an old Woman, the +Owner of one of those Houses, resolv'd not to sell it to him upon any +Terms. The Elector finding her so obstinate sent her the Purchase-Money +and turn'd her out of it; upon which the old Woman swore in a Rage that +she wou'd be an eternal Plague to _Joachim_ and his Posterity. They +pretend that the good Lady keeps her Word, and that she haunts all the +Palaces of the _Brandenbourg_ Family. Yet I never heard any body at +_Berlin_ say they had ever seen her there, tho' that is the Place where +she ought naturally to have taken up her head Quarters. My Landlord added +to these fine Stories that the Margravine would not die yet a while, +because the Woman in White had not yet appear'd to any body at Court. + + _I am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER X. + + + _SIR_, _Carlsbad, October 10, 1729._ + +When I took leave of the Court of _Anspach_, I was honour'd with a +precious mark of the Margravine's Goodness, _viz._ a weighty Gold Medal; +and now I am again upon my Journey. I was not many hours in travelling +from _Anspach_ to _Nuremberg_, thro' a Country extremely sandy, but very +well cultivated, and interspers'd with considerable Villages which in our +Country wou'd be reckon'd Towns. + +So much has already been said by others of the City of NUREMBERG, that I +have very little to add to it. I assure you this Town is the most +disagreeable Place in _Europe_ to live in. The Patricians are the People +of the first Rank there, and lord it like the petty Nobles of _Venice_. +The Government here too has very great Resemblance with the _Venetian_, +and they have a sort of Doge. In short they are very much like the Frog in +the Fable that strove to swell it self to the Size of the Ox. Of these +Patricians some are very rich, but they are so rude that no body visits +them, and they scarce visit one another. Perhaps you will ask me what I +mean by the Term _Patricians_? 'Tis this; they are Gentlemen: There are +Patrician Families old enough to dispute Antiquity with any of the +Nobility whatsoever, and who were formerly admitted into all the Chapters. +But now the case is otherwise; for the Nobility not only exclude them out +of the Chapters, but dispute their being Gentlemen; pretending that they +derogate from the Title by their Magistratical Offices. Such is, you know, +our _Germanic_ Vanity; the things which are honourable in other Countries, +are with us diminutive: The Court, the Sword, and the Church, are the only +Professions that a Gentleman can follow: If he has not the Talents proper +for one or other of these, or if Fortune frown upon him, he had better be +out of the World than take any Offices of the Magistracy upon him, or +enter into Trade: He had better beg Alms nobly than marry beneath himself. +But I shall not here set up for a Censor of the _Germanic_ Customs. Let us +talk of _Nuremberg_. This City has 6 Gates, 12 Conduits, and 118 Wells. Of +the Churches St. _Laurence_'s is the biggest: There's a great many +Reliques in it, particularly a part of the Manger in which our Saviour was +laid, a piece of his Garment, and three Links of the Chains which bound +St. _Peter_, St. _Paul_, and St. _John_. As the _Lutherans_ make no great +account of those Reliques, they wou'd do well to give them to some poor +Catholic Convent, which would thereby soon be enrich'd. + +You know that the Government here is altogether Evangelical, _i. e._ +_Lutheran_. The Catholics have a small Church in the House of the Teutonic +Order: The _Calvinists_ go to the Church in the Territory of _Anspach_; +but the _Jews_ are not tolerated because 'tis said they formerly poisoned +the Wells. They live in a Place not far from _Nuremberg_, but come to Town +every Morning, paying something for their Entrance, have an old Woman set +over them, who is commonly both their Guard and their Guide, and are +permitted to trade and trick wherever they can till Night, when they are +obliged to retire. + +In the Church of the Hospital is kept _Charlemain_'s Crown, said to weigh +fourteen Pounds, the Sceptre and the Globe, in short all the Ornaments of +Empire except _Charlemain_'s Sword said to have been brought from Heaven +by an Angel, the same very likely that carry'd the holy Vial and the +Oriflamb to _France_. That Sword is kept at _Aix la Chapelle_. + +The Trade of _Nuremberg_ is very much fallen off; for besides that the +Toys and Knick-knacks which were formerly made in this City are much out +of fashion, especially in _Germany_, the Manufactures which the Margraves +of _Bareith_ and _Anspach_ have settled in their Dominions do considerable +Prejudice to _Nuremberg_. + +The Inhabitants of this City may be, (at least I think 'em so) the +honestest People in the World, but they are the most horrible +Complimenters that I know. I cou'd not set my Foot in a Shop, but the +Master, the Mistress, the Children and the Apprentices waited on me into +the very Street, than king me for the Honour I had done them. My Landlord +too, who saw me go in and out twenty times a day, receiv'd me always with +great Ceremony, and ask'd me how I did. And when I went out he pray'd me +not to leave his House long in Contempt, without honouring it with my +Presence. + +_Nuremberg_ is the richest and most potent Imperial City next to +_Hambourg_. The Domain of _Nuremberg_ is even much larger than that of +_Hambourg_, but the latter bears the Bell for Wealth. 'Tis said that +_Nuremberg_ has seven other Towns in its Territory, with 480 Villages and +Parishes. Yet for all this 'tis not a rich City; for the Patricians +pocket all the Money, and the Citizens are poor. + +Next Day after my Arrival at _Nuremberg_ I set out for +_Christian_-ERLANGEN, a Town in the Margraviate of _Brandenbourg-Bareith_, +which owes its flourishing State to a Colony of _French_ People who fled +out of _France_ on account of their Religion. + +Forty Years ago _Erlangen_ was but a little Village in the middle of a +Forest of Fir-Trees. The Margrave _Christian_ giving shelter to the +_French_ who left their Country after the Revocation of the Edict of +_Nantz_, assign'd them _Erlangen_ to settle in. When they cut down the +Woods they built the Town, to which they gave the Name of +_Christian-Erlangen_, in Memory of _Christian_ their Benefactor. All the +Streets are in a strait Line. The _French_ have set up all sorts of +Manufactures here, and have made it one of the prettiest Towns of +_Germany_. Madame[83] _Elizabeth-Sophia_ of _Brandenbourg_, second +Daughter of the Elector _Frederic-William_, and third Wife of the Margrave +_Christian_ Founder of _Erlangen_, caus'd a very handsome Palace to be +built in the great Square of this City, to which there are noble Gardens. +'Tis at present occupy'd by _Sophia_ of _Saxe-Weissenfels_, Widow of the +last Margrave of _Bareith_. This Princess was to have dwelt at _Neustadt_, +which was settled on her for her Dowry; but as 'tis a lonesome, +melancholy, scoundrel Place, the Margrave Regent was willing she should +live at _Erlangen_. The Margravine Dowager was one of the most beautiful +Princesses in the World, of which she still preserves the fair Remains, +and none can have an Air more grand. She lives at _Erlangen_ with all the +Dignity becoming her Rank. Foreigners are very well received at her Court, +and particularly by the Princess herself, who for Politeness has few +Equals. + +From _Christian-Erlangen_ I went in less than a Day to _Bamberg_, tho' I +stay'd two or three Hours at FORCHEIM a Place in the Bishoprick of +_Bamberg_, whose Buildings appear'd to me to be old and out of repair. + +The Bishoprick of BAMBERG is the first Bishoprick of the Empire. The +Bishop is Suffragan to no Archbishop. He depends only as to Spirituals +upon the Holy See, and receives the Pall as an Archbishop. He has moreover +this Distinction, that the Electors are his great Officers as they are +those of the Empire, and he has the Privilege of summoning them to come +and do the Duties of their Offices on the Day of his Installation. I have +not heard that any Bishop ever made use of this mighty Prerogative, for +the Retinue which those great Officers would bring along with them might +be a Charge to him. The great Privileges which this Prelate enjoys are +counter-balanc'd by one Mortification; for if the Electors happen to chuse +an Emperor who has no Dominions, the Bishop of _Bamberg_ would be oblig'd +to yield him his Episcopal City and Palace. 'Tis said that the Emperor has +the same Right to _Rome_, and that if he should chuse that ancient City of +the World for his Residence, the Pope wou'd be oblig'd to yield him the +Palace of the Vatican and to retire to that of St. _John de Lateran_. But +I really think that the Holy Father and the Bishop of _Bamberg_ will not +be so soon turn'd out. + +The late Elector of _Mentz_, _Lotharius-Francis de Schonborn_, who was +also Bishop of _Bamberg_, embellish'd the City with a new Episcopal +Palace, a great and stately Building that stands on an Eminence, from +whence there is an extensive Prospect of various Beauties. + +The City of _Bamberg_ is very well built, and has beautiful Churches. +Herein is to be seen the Tomb of the Emperor _Henry_ II. and his Wife the +Empress _Cunegonda_. This Princess lies at the right hand of her Husband, +because she kept her Virginity to her Death. Was not this abusing the +Sacrament of Marriage? + +The Bishop who fills the Episcopal See of _Bamberg_ is _Frederic-Charles_, +Count de _Schonborn_, Vice-Chancellor of the Empire. This Prelate being +Minister of State to the Emperor commonly resides at _Vienna_, and is now +there, so that I have nothing to say to you of his Court; but I reckon I +shall be able to give you some Account of him after I have paid my +Respects to him at _Vienna_. + +The Neighbourhood of _Bamberg_ is very agreeable, but as one comes to it +from _Nuremberg_ thro' a certain Forest of Fir-Trees, it strikes a Man +with Horror to find an Avenue to it a quarter of a League in length form'd +by Wheels and Gibbets. This, at first sight gives a Stranger no very great +Idea of the Honesty of the People; but he is of another Opinion when he +comes to know that these expos'd Malefactors are for the most part +Foreigners. The Bishoprick of _Bamberg_ is contiguous to seven or eight +different States, and the Town it self lies in the greatest Road of all +_Germany_, which is the Reason that 'tis so infested by Rogues from all +Quarters. In the time of the Elector of _Mentz_, _Bamberg_ was their _Ne +plus ultra_, for that Prince gave them no Quarter: Being an Enemy to +Wickedness, and one of the greatest Justiciaries that we have had in +_Germany_, he sent all to the Gallows that deserv'd Hanging. + +About a League out of the Town the Bishop has a charming Pleasure-House; +but there is nothing in all _Germany_ more magnificent than the Castle of +POMMERSFELDEN belonging to the Count _de Schonborn_, which is three +Leagues from _Bamberg_. _Francis Lotharius de Schonborn_ Elector of +_Mentz_ caus'd this stately Fabric to be built, the whole of which forms a +great Body of Building flank'd by two Pavilions with two advanc'd Wings. +The whole is regularly built, and decorated with well-fancy'd +Architecture. The Entry is supported by several Colonnades, where the +first thing that presents it self is the grand Stair-Case, which is +extraordinary magnificent, and perhaps one of the best contrived in +_Europe_. This Entry leads into a Salon which serves as a Passage to the +Garden; 'tis in form of a Grotto adorn'd with several Fountains, Columns, +and Statues of Marble: The Cieling is painted as well as the Sky-Light of +the Stair-Case, and the Arches of the principal Apartments. They are all +painted by Hands that the Elector sent for on purpose from _Italy_. I +don't give you the Particulars of the great Salon, nor of the Apartments, +because it would take up a Volume. The whole are laid out with Art, and +furnish'd with great Choice, Judgment and Splendor. + +The Stables answer exactly to the Castle which they front. They are built +in form of a Half-Moon with a Pavilion in the middle, which is an oval +Salon, from both Sides of which you see all the Horses. The Mangers are of +Marble in form of Shells, and the Racks of Iron neatly wrought in form of +a Basket or Scuttle. + +The Salon in the middle of the two Stables is painted in Fresco, and looks +one way to the Court, and the other to the Riding-House, where the Elector +us'd to see the Horses manag'd belonging to the Studs of his Bishoprick +near _Bamberg_, one of the best in _Germany_. + +The Gardens of _Pommersfelden_ are very answerable to the Magnificence of +the Buildings: In a word, every Thing belonging to this fine House is +worthy of it. The Builder of it had sublime Ideas: He spared no Cost to +leave Monuments of his Grandeur and Wealth to Posterity, and has made a +House of _Pommersfelden_ which really surpasses some Royal Palaces. But +'tis time to take you out of this fine Place and to carry you back to +_Bamberg_. + +There is a good Number of the Nobility settled in this Town. The Chapter +consists of Persons of Quality: It has the Right of chusing the Bishop; +and 'tis he who governs in the Absence of the Prince. Such a Resort as +here is of the Nobility makes the Time pass away agreeably; but they drink +as hard here as at _Fulde_ and _Wurtzbourg_, so that it looks as if +Drinking was an inseparable Function of the Ecclesiastical Courts. Having +some Relations in this Town I stay'd there three Days, during which I had +the Pleasure of Drinking every Day with one of my Cousins out of a great +Goblet of solid Gold which weigh'd to the Value of a thousand Ducats. You +can't imagine how well the Wine went down out of a Cup of that Value. I +heartily wish'd that my Cousin wou'd have dealt by me as _Joseph_ did by +_Benjamin_, and that he had put up his Cup in my Portmanteau, provided he +wou'd not have sent to fetch me back again, as the Governour of _Egypt_ +did his Brother; but this was what my dear Cousin did not think fit to do. +He made me drink my Skin-full of Wine, and only wish'd me my Pockets full +of Gold. + +From _Bamberg_ I went to BAREITH the Residence of the Margrave of +_Brandenbourg_. The elder of the two Branches of that Family settled in +_Franconia_. _John George_ Elector of _Brandenbourg_ divided his Dominions +between his three Sons: He left the Electorate with its Appendages to his +eldest Son, and gave the Margraviate of _Culmbach_ to _Christian_ his +second Son, and that of _Anspach_ to his third Son. _Christian_ form'd +two Branches, that of _Bareith_ and that of _Culmbach_. The Branch of +_Bareith_ became extinct in 1726, by the Death of _George-William_, whose +Widow lives at _Erlangen_. _George-Frederic-Charles_ Margrave of +_Culmbach_ his Cousin, succeeded him. This Prince has five Children, +_viz._ two Princes[84] and three Princesses[85]. He marry'd _Dorothy_ of +_Holstein-Beck_ at _Berlin_ in 1709. I had then the Honour to see him: He +was a Prince of a noble Aspect, very civil, good-natur'd, and temperate, +and a Lover of Books and Men of Learning. He did an Act of Generosity that +perhaps is not to be parallel'd, and which I relate to you as the most +authentic Testimony that can be of his Good-nature and Integrity. + +His Predecessor had left an empty Exchequer and a great many Debts; and +the Margrave at his Accession to the Regency was oblig'd to pay the King +of _Prussia_ 460000 Florins, upon condition that his Majesty wou'd +renounce any Pretensions he might have to the Margraviate, by virtue of +the Resignation of all Rights to the Succession which had been made by the +Margrave of _Culmbach_ his Father, in favour of _Frederic_ I. King of +_Prussia_. To raise this Sum on People already overburden'd by the common +Taxes, was to seek their Ruin. The Margrave in pity of their miserable +Condition, chose rather to borrow this Money of the States of the Circle +of _Franconia_ at great Interest. When he found himself in peaceable +possession of his Dominions by the Payment made to the King of _Prussia_, +he undertook to pay off not only his own, but the Debts of his +Predecessor. To enable himself to do this, he began by turning off his +Court, kept but a small Number of Counsellors and Gentlemen, and disbanded +3000 Men of the Troops which the late Margrave kept in pay to no purpose. +He reduc'd his Table to the greatest Frugality; his Clothes were plain, +and he avoided Magnificence and Gaming. Some time after this, he made +another Reform in his House, and kept up but a very small Number of +Domestics. He establish'd a Council of Regency, and to save the Expence +which his Rank as a Sovereign would have engag'd him in whether he wou'd +or not, he left his Dominions, and went to live incognito with the +Hereditary Prince his Son at _Geneva_. I believe that both of them are +actually at _Montpellier_[86]. He is resolv'd not to return to his +Dominions till all his Debts are paid off. Mean time his Subjects wish for +his Return with Impatience, for he has such a Kindness for them, and +governs them with such mildness that they look on him as their Father and +Benefactor. This Retirement of the Margrave from the Splendors of +Sovereignty is the more to be commended because 'tis absolutely voluntary: +He was not at all oblig'd to pay the Debts of his Predecessor; for they +were of such a Nature as not to be rank'd among the Debts of the +Government. Nevertheless it was his Pleasure to do it, and he chose rather +to abridge himself of the Charms of Sovereignty than that People, whose +Faith in the Government had made them part with their Money, shou'd lose +their Debts. Such a glorious Action as this, is in my Judgment equal to +the Laurels of twenty Victories: This was owing to his Virtue, whereas +Victory is generally the Consequent of Chance and Fortune. + +You will easily imagine that while the Sovereign is absent this City is +not very gay. It appear'd to me the more melancholy because I had seen it +in the time of the late Margrave, at whose Court there was continual +Feasting and Jollitry. + +The City of _Bareith_ is inferior to _Erlangen_. The Margrave's Palace is +a great old Pile, but not very commodious, and meanly furnish'd. This +Prince has a very pretty House, a League from _Bareith_, call'd the +_Hermitage_, which was built by Order of the late Margrave. + +It stands in the middle of a thick Wood, in which there are a great many +Pavilions built, without any Symmetry indeed, but very ingeniously +contriv'd within for the Use to which they serve. When the late Margrave +came to the Hermitage, he and his whole Court were in the Dress of +Hermits. There were certain Hours in which the Hermit Brothers went to pay +a Visit to the Hermit Sisters, who liv'd in the Pavilions. The Brothers +and Sisters who gave each other Collations, were subject to certain Rules +from which they could not be dispensed but by the Remission of the +Superior of either Sex, who were then the Margrave, and his Lady the +Margravine. In the Evening they met again in the Hall of the Castle, where +they supp'd; and that every thing might be done according to the Rules, at +the beginning of the Supper certain Verses were read, or some little Story +compos'd by one or other of the Hermit Brothers; then Silence was broke, +and every one gave his Opinion upon what had been read, upon which there +ensued a general Conversation. The Supper held till pretty late, and was +commonly followed with a Ball. No body could be admitted into the Order +without the general Consent of the Chapter. And the Superior himself had +no Right but to propose such as were Candidates for Admission. To give you +all the Statutes of this Society, would be too tedious; besides I should +be afraid of adding or diminishing to them, because I only have them from +Tradition. + +The Margrave has a Mother still alive, _viz._ _Sophia-Christina_ Countess +of _Wolffenstein_, who lives at _Copenhagen_ with her Daughter the +Princess Royal[87] of _Denmark_. The King of _Denmark_ grants her the +Title of Royal Highness, and causes the same Honours to be paid to her as +to the Princesses of his Family. + +The Margrave has also three Brothers and two Sisters. The eldest of the +Brothers is a Major-General and Colonel of Foot in the Service of the +Emperor, and the two others are in the Service of _Denmark_. The two +Princesses are marry'd, one to the Prince Royal of _Denmark_, the other to +_George-Albert_ Prince of _East-Friesland_. So that the intire Family of +_Brandenbourg-Culmbach_ consists of Princes and Princesses to the number +of twelve. + +The Revenues of this Margrave are pretty near the same as those of the +Margrave of _Anspach_. His Fortress is the Castle of _Plassenberg_. + +From _Bareith_ I came in two Days to CARLSBAD, a Place of Fame for its hot +Waters, of which there are two Sorts differing from one another both in +Strength and Heat. They derive their Source from the middle of a River +form'd by Torrents from the neighbouring Mountains, whose Waters are +extremely cold; yet they make not the least Alteration in the heat of the +Mineral Waters. They are said to be very wholesome for all sorts of +Maladies, particularly for the Gravel, and for the Barrenness of Women. M. +_Hofman_, a celebrated Professor of Physic at _Hall_, has published a +Treatise, wherein he examines the nature of those Waters, and prescribes +how they ought to be used. The Manner is very disagreeable; you are +obliged to be shut up in a Room, and be the Weather ever so hot, the +Stove must be heated, you must be tormented by taking off two or three +Pots of Water, which are almost equal to thirty Chocolate Cups; besides +walking about very much, and sweating great Drops. + +To make amends for the Fatigue of the Morning, there is good Company to be +seen here all Day long; for Abundance of Strangers come to _Carlsbad_, +particularly the Nobility of _Bohemia_ and _Austria_. There are publick +Walks and a great Room adjacent, where they play, dance and walk till the +Evening. They who love to live by Rule retire without Supper. + +Whoever would be well accommodated at _Carlsbad_ must carry three things +thither with him, his own Bed, Wine, and Cook; tho' a Foot-boy may serve +for the Cook, because one is generally invited by the _Bohemian_ or +_Austrian_ Noblemen, who always keep a great Table, and love Company to +dine with 'em. + +The Inhabitants of _Carlsbad_ are generally Armourers, who work very neat +and vastly cheap. At the Season for using the Waters, Merchants flock +hither from all Parts, and _Carlsbad_ is superior to many great Towns. I +had a great deal of Amusement during the two different Seasons that I +pass'd there, and I contracted a World of good Acquaintance, who, I hope, +will be of Service to me at _Prague_, for which Place I propose to set out +to-morrow. I am, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XI. + + + _SIR_, _Prague, November 15, 1729._ + +I have now been a Month in this City, yet it seems but as a Day; for I +find infinite Amusements here, and a thousand things that I like, only I +want your Company. The City of PRAGUE is ancient, and has been time out of +mind, the Seat of the Kings of _Bohemia_. 'Tis without dispute one of the +Biggest Towns in _Europe_. 'Tis encompass'd with Ramparts, and as well +fortified as a Place of that Extent can be, and commanded by several +Hills, which 'tis impossible to level. This City is divided by the River +_Molde_ or _Muldaw_, into two Parts, _viz._ _Old Prague_ and _Little +Prague_; and during the Course of the last Century, it suffer'd the +greatest Cruelties that a City can possibly undergo in a time of War. The +Archduke _Leopold_ Bishop of _Passau_ surpriz'd and plunder'd the lesser +Part, and would have done the same by the old Town, if the Emperor +_Matthias_ King of _Hungary_ had not come in time to relieve it. Nine +Years after this, _Prague_ was again plunder'd by those who were most +concerned to preserve it; I mean the Imperialists, who, after the Battle +at _Weissenberg_, near _Prague_, wherein they defeated _Frederic_ Elector +Palatine whom a Party had chose King of _Bohemia_, enter'd the City, and +carried off inestimable Booty. _Prague_ was used no better in 1631, by the +Elector of _Saxony_, after that Prince made himself Master of _Bohemia_. +The Great _Walstein_ of so much Note for his Glorious Actions, and his +Tragical Exit, recover'd _Bohemia_ from the _Saxon_ in 1632, and took +_Prague_ by Storm. Some time after this the _Swedes_ attack'd it, and took +the lesser _Prague_; but could not force the old Town, it was so +courageously defended by the Students and Burghers. The _Swedes_ thereupon +retired, and carry'd off immense Wealth. At length the Peace of +_Westphalia_ restored Tranquillity to _Bohemia_ and the City of _Prague_, +which has been subject ever since to the House of _Austria_; and the +Kingdom which before was Elective, had the Mortification to become +Hereditary. + +The Situation of _Prague_ is pleasant in the midst of Gardens and fine +Fields, and 'tis adorn'd with noble Buildings, of which the Houses of the +Counts _Tschernin_ and _Sternberg_ are as fine as any. The Furniture of +the former is extremely rich; there is a Gallery adorned with excellent +Pictures, a Cabinet of choice Porcellane with entire Services of the +finest _Indian Lacca_; and another Room full of fine Arms and other +Curiosities. Count _Sternberg_'s House is not so large, yet better +contriv'd; and in _Rome_ it self would pass for a fine Palace. But there +is one built by the late Count _de Gallasch_, who died Viceroy at +_Naples_, that bears the Bell above all. You know that Nobleman was +prodigiously rich and magnificent. He spared no Cost in his Buildings. +'Tis pity the House is not well situate, but it certainly would be so, if +the young Count _de Gallasch_ was of the same Way of Thinking with his +Father, who intended to have had five or six old Hovels belonging to it +pull'd down to the ground, by which means he would have had a fine Square. + +The Convents of both Sexes are another Ornament of this Great City. The +House of the Reverend Fathers the Jesuits is one of the most magnificent. +They have lately caused a Church to be built, which is one of the best +adorned that I have seen out of _Italy_. If you were but here, we would +go together and see all those Buildings. I would carry you first of all to +the Cathedral, which is in lesser _Prague_, on the Top of the Hill call'd +_Ratschin_, and from thence we would go and take a View of the Castle +which is upon the same Hill. + +The Metropolitan Church is a very antient Structure, which was burnt down +by the _Swedes_, and is only rebuilt in part. Its Magnificence and Beauty +consist in the thickness of its Walls and Arches; and the Architecture of +this Church is such, that I fancy it would appear _Gothic_ to the very +_Goths_ themselves. 'Tis in this Cathedral that the Kings and Queens of +_Bohemia_ are consecrated. The Archbishop of _Prague_'s Office is to +perform the Unction upon both; but the Abbess of St. _George_, whose Abbey +is also upon the Hill of _Ratschin_, is to place the Crown upon the Head +of the Queen, and in this Function she is assisted by the Wives of the +Great Officers of the Crown. + +In this Metropolitan Church are preserved with great Veneration the Bodies +of a couple of Saints extremely dear to the _Bohemians_. The one is St. +_Wenceslaus_ King of _Bohemia_, the other St. _John Nepomucene_. The +latter was very lately canonized by Pope _Benedict_ XIII. at the Request +of the States of this Kingdom, who were at the whole Expence of the +Ceremony, which was performed in the Church of St. _John de Lateran_ at +_Rome_ with extraordinary Pomp. + +The Story of this Saint is very singular: He was Confessor to the Wife of +that cruel Emperor _Wenceslaus_, who was deposed by the Electors. That +Prince being jealous of his Queen enjoined St. _John Nepomucene_ to reveal +that Princess's Confessions to him. He employed Presents, Prayers and +Threats, to persuade the Saint to make this Discovery, but all to no +purpose; upon which he caused him to be cast headlong from the Bridge +into the River of _Molde_. The Body was seen floating at some distance +from the Place, attended with five Stars swimming on the Water; then he +was added to the Number of the Saints and Martyrs, and his Corpse was +taken out of the River, and carried with Pomp to _Prague_, where it was +interr'd in the Church of _Dain_ in the old Town, of which he was a Canon. +His Corpse being found some Years ago, his Tongue appearing to be as fresh +as ever, was taken out of his Mouth and put into a Silver Gilt Box; the +Body was enclosed in a stately Coffin, and the whole carried with great +Ceremony to the Cathedral. An Altar being erected in the middle of the +right Wing of the Choir, there the Saint was interr'd in a Tomb of Silver +Gilt; and the Tongue put into a sort of Tabernacle where it has wrought +and does still work great Miracles. There is a great Concourse of People +hither from all Parts to invoke this Saint, whose Tomb is loaded with +precious Gifts, and adorned by the Empress with a rich Canopy. But no body +has given more illustrious Proofs of Devotion to St. _Nepomucene_ than the +Prince _de Schwartzenberg_[88] Master of the Horse to the Emperor, and the +Count _de Martinitz_ Marshal of the Imperial Court; who both ascribe the +Conception of their Wives, and the Birth of their Sons, to the Protection +of that Saint, tho' I should have thought all this feasible enough without +a Miracle. The Princess _de Schwartzenberg_ had not been married many +Years before she had a Daughter[89]; her Husband had not seen her for +fourteen Years after this, during which she had no Children. This is no +more than common; after they came together again Madam is brought to Bed +of a Son, in which tho' there is nothing but what is very natural, yet +'tis cry'd up for a Miracle; the Birth is ascribed to the Devotion which +the Princes paid to the Tomb of St. _Nepomucene_ for nine Days together, +and to make the Saint some amends, his Tomb and his Altar are adorn'd by a +great many Vessels of Silver and Silver gilt. + +As to Count _Martinitz_ there seems indeed to be better colour for a +Miracle in his favour. He had been married fourteen or fifteen Years, and +his Lady never given the least Sign of Teemingness. She was in good plight +of body, her Husband liv'd with her, and they went together several times +to the Baths of _Carlsbad_, but all had signified nothing. The Count +longing passionately for a Son had perform'd more than nine days Devotion +successively, for he went the last Holy Year to _Loretto_ and to _Rome_. +But Heaven deaf to his Cries granted him no Heir; at last knowing not what +Saint to pray to, his Lady propos'd, that they should go and worship nine +days together at the Tomb of St. _Nepomucene_. They set out, they arrive +at _Prague_, they prostrate themselves before the sacred Tomb. Soon after, +Madame _de Martinitz_ proves with Child, and at nine Months end is +delivered of a Son. You may say whatever you please, but such a Favour +sure was worth some Lamps of solid Silver before the Saint's Tomb; and the +Count _de Martinitz_ full of Zeal and Gratitude has given some that are +very magnificent. + +The _Bohemians_ have so great confidence in St. _John de Nepomucene_, that +they have almost forgot St. _Wenceslaus_ their old Patron. There is no +Church where St. _John_ has not a Chapel, no Bridge without his Effigy; +every body Gentle and Simple, Men and Women, wear his Picture as if it +were the Badge of an Order, hanging to a straw-colour'd Ribbon, and you +would swear that all the _Bohemians_ were Knights of St. _Louis_. In +short, St. _Nepomucene_ is the only Saint in vogue; and Presents are +heap'd upon him to such a degree that if it continues much longer, he will +be as rich as our Lady of _Loretto_. + +The Palace or Castle which joins to the Cathedral is a great Building +composed of several Main Bodies without Symmetry or Architecture. The +Apartments are but low and plain, but here is one of the most beautiful +Prospects in the World. The great Hall in which the Royal Feast is kept on +the Day of the Coronation of the Kings is the largest of the kind, next to +the spacious Hall of _Westminster_. The Palace-Gardens are large, but have +nothing to recommend them besides their Situation. The Tribunals of the +Regency meet in the Palace: The first of these consists of Stadtholders +who are of the Emperor's Privy Council. They are to the Number of twelve, +and represent the Sovereign. Most of them are the great Officers of the +Crown. There must be always two of them private Gentlemen to take care of +the Interests of the Gentry against the Nobility; for you must know that +the Princes, Counts, and Barons, who compose the Nobility, form a separate +Body here, and would think it a Disparagement to be call'd _Gentlemen_; +tho' _Henry_ IV. King of _France_ counted it an honour to be the first +Gentleman in his Kingdom, and King _Francis_ I. whenever he affirmed a +thing, said, _Upon the Word of a Gentleman_. + +The Chief of the Council of the Stadtholders is call'd the _Great +Burgrave_, whose Dignity is the highest in the Kingdom. He represents the +Person of the Emperor, and is inferior to none but the Chancery of +_Bohemia_ which always attends the Emperor. + +The Bridge over the _Muldaw_ which joins little _Prague_ to the old Town, +is one of the longest and most substantial Bridges in _Europe_. It has on +both sides the Statues of several Saints, which if they had been done by +a better hand, would have prov'd an Ornament. There is a Crucifix also +which is pretended to be of Gold, and to have been erected formerly at the +Expence of the _Jews_, pursuant to an Order of the Government, as a +Punishment for their having crucified a Christian Infant upon +_Easter_-Day, to insult the Memory of our Saviour's Death. + +The _Jews_ are the only Sectaries that are tolerated in _Bohemia_. There +are some _Hussites_ still subsisting, but they keep so close, that the +Government does not seem to know that there are any at all. I was assur'd +that in _Prague_ alone there were no less than 80,000 _Jews_; whether +there are quite so many, I know not; but 'tis certain they are very +numerous. Their Quarter in the old City forms a little separate Town. They +have all the Trade in their own hands, follow all sorts of Callings, and +by their receiving all old-fashion'd things in Payment, they quite ruin +the Christian Handicrafts-men. As these People multiply like Rabbets, 'tis +said the Emperor is going to issue an Ordinance prohibiting any but their +eldest Sons to marry; the Report of which is so alarming to the _Jews_, +that they would advance great Sums to prevent its taking effect. + +If we except _Rome_, _Paris_, and _London_, there is no City where there +are more Gentry, or a Gentry that is more wealthy: Every body here lives +grand; and in no Part of the World do the Nobility keep greater State, or +take more Pride in their Substance. They are polite and civil to +Strangers, whom they know to be Persons of Quality. For my own part, I +like them prodigiously, and I can safely say it, I have hardly met with a +Foreigner who has not the same Notion of _Prague_ that I have. + +There is not a Gentleman in this Country but has seen at least _Holland_, +_France_, and _Italy_, and indeed they are under some necessity of +travelling, for the Education they have at home is none of the best. But +they don't travel as People of their Birth and Fortunes ought to do. They +are commonly attended by a sort of Governors, who make it their Profession +to ramble abroad with young Gentlemen, and are for the most part +_Walloons_, _Luxemburghers_, _Lorrainers_, or _Liegeois_, Soldiers of +Fortune, without Education, and without Manners; who think 'tis enough for +their Pupils to see Houses and Churches, and having not the Courage or the +Capacity to put themselves forward, or even to shew their Heads, don't +care that their Gentlemen should keep Company. They tell _young Master_, +that my Lord his Father, who put him under their Care, recommended +[OE]conomy to them; that they might game at Assemblies, but that 'tis not +well to play while they are travelling: Therefore the Spark is oblig'd to +keep in his Quarters, or if he is perhaps permitted to go to the public +Shews, even this Pleasure, because it is not to be had without Money, must +be taken in Moderation; the Governor's Aim is only to crib all he can, and +sink his Pupil's Money into his own Purse. This is so true that I have +known some who never eat Suppers, yet always brought them to Accompt; many +of 'em get a Profit by every thing they buy, and they make such hard +Bargains that 'tis ten to one if they don't chouse the Merchant as well as +their Pupil. If the Governor does not like the Place they come to, he must +be gone, tho' it were the most proper Town in the World to form the young +Gentleman; for the Governor only writes to the Father or Mother that the +Air did not agree with their Son, and that therefore he had remov'd him. +The Generality of these wretched Guides maintain that six Weeks or three +Months Stay at most is sufficient to know _Paris_; a Fortnight to be +thoroughly acquainted with the Genius of the _English_; a Month to know +_Rome_; a Week to see _Naples_; and so of the rest: And when they have +shewn their Gentleman at _Paris_, the Anatomical Wax-work and the +Observatory; at _London_, the Lions in the Tower; at _Rome_, the +Catacombs; and at _Naples_, the Liquefaction of St. _Januarius_'s Blood, +and Mount _Vesuvius_; they think they have done great matters, and away +they go without having made an Acquaintance with one Soul at any of the +Courts. They have seen the King of _France_ touch for the Evil; The King +of _England_ go to the Parliament-House; and the Pope sitting in his +Elbow-Chair, distributing his Benedictions. With a Mind thus adorn'd, the +young Man, after eighteen Months or two Years Absence abroad, returns +home. The Governor has two or three thousand Florins, and sometimes more +as a Gratuity, besides his Stipend. Again, the worthy _Mentor_ makes a +Bubble of the Father who trusts his Son with him, and behold now, he is +ready for another Tour. One would think that, instead of travelling in +this manner, it were better to send abroad for the Plans of all the Towns, +I am sure 'twould be cheaper; the Parents would have the comfort to see +their Sons at home, and they would also have wherewithal to furnish a +little Box in the Country. + +There are no People of Quality in the World more addicted to an expensive +way of Living than those of _Prague_, which is the Reason that for all +their immense Revenues they are sometimes over Head and Ears in Debt; but +by good Luck they have a Settlement which prevents them from total Ruin: +For most of their Lands are intail'd for ever on the eldest Son of the +Family, so that he can neither alienate nor incumber them without the +Consent of the whole Family, and of the King himself, which is a Thing +very hard to be obtain'd. When an eldest Son of a Family has squander'd +his Freehold, and runs himself more and more in debt, the Creditors, and +sometimes the Parents themselves, present a Petition to the King and +desire a Sequestration. The King after being inform'd of the List of the +Debts, and of the _Majorat_ (which is the Name they give here to the Lands +that are intail'd) names Trustees for the Administration of the Estates of +the Spendthrift, who is allow'd a Pension till all the Debts are paid. +There's another very good Establishment here for securing the Sale of +Landed Estates and Mortgages. Every Nobleman gives in a Particular of his +Estate to a Tribunal which is call'd the _Landtaffel_, where the same is +register'd. When a Person wants to borrow Money or to make a Sale, the +Lender or the Purchaser has recourse to the _Landtaffel_'s Office, where +he sees whether the Lands are incumber'd; and if the Borrower's Debts +don't exceed two Thirds of the Price at which they are rated by the +_Landtaffel_, he may lend his Money very safely. + +Tho' the _Bohemians_ are brave and good Soldiers, yet they don't love the +Service, I mean the Gentry: Most of them prefer the Civil to Military +Employments, and a private Life to Posts in the Army or at Court. They are +so us'd to be absolute Masters at their Estates where the Peasants are +their Slaves, and to be homag'd like Petty Sovereigns by the Burghers at +_Prague_, that they don't care to reside at _Vienna_, and to be oblig'd +like other Subjects to pay their Court to the Sovereign and the Ministers. +As soon as a Gentleman of _Bohemia_ comes of Age, he is oblig'd to take an +Oath of Fidelity to the Emperor as his King; which is a Law as much +binding on the Nobility as the Gentry; and none of 'em dare to go out of +the Kingdom without express Leave from the Emperor, on the Penalty of +forfeiting his Estate. When the Noblemen are return'd from their Travels +to _France_ and _Italy_, they put in to be Chamberlains, not so much for +the sake of engaging themselves to Attendance at Court as to procure a +Precedency for their Wives, it being a Custom with most of 'em to marry as +soon as they come of Age. Afterwards they aim to be Counsellors of State, +and Stadtholders, and this is the _Ne plus ultra_ of their Preferments. +The Counsellors of State challenge the Title of _Excellency_: But this is +what those who are not of that Denomination, and of as good Families as +themselves, scruple to allow them, so that generally speaking they have it +only given them by their Domestics and Dependants. So that one may say of +their Excellencies what the Duchess of _Elboeuf_ of the _Lorrain_ Family +said in _France_ concerning the Princes of _Bouillon_, that they were +_Domestic Highnesses_, because none but their own Servants give them the +Title of _Highness_. + +Of all the great and wealthy Families, those of _Lobkowitz_, _Kinski_, +_Schlick_, _Collobradt_, and _Martinitz_ are the only ones that make a +Figure at the Imperial Court. 'Tis true there are several other Noblemen +at _Vienna_ who have Lands in _Bohemia_, but then their Families are not +originally descended from that Kingdom. + +The _Kinski_'s Family is actually the most splendid at Court. There are +five Brothers of it in Employments. The eldest is the Great Chancellor of +_Bohemia_[90]. The second who is call'd Count _Stephen_, is Great Marshal +of _Bohemia_, a Minister of State, and the Emperor's Ambassador at the +Court of _France_[91]. The third, Count _Philip_, is the Emperor's +Minister Plenipotentiary to _Great Britain_; and the two youngest are in +the Army, where one of them is a Lieutenant-Colonel. Count _Philip_ was +sent Ambassador when but twenty nine Years old. He has demonstrated by his +Conduct that Wisdom does not always stay for Age, and that he is the +worthy Son of one of the greatest Ministers that[92] the Emperors +_Leopold_ and _Joseph_ ever had. The City of _Prague_ is a very great +Loser by his Absence, for he liv'd there with Splendor, and his House was +always open, particularly to Foreigners. For my own part I receiv'd such +Civilities there as I shall never forget. + +As I have told you that the Nobility of _Bohemia_ are the richest in the +Empire, I must also acquaint you that the Peasants there are miserable to +the last degree; their Persons, and all they have, are at the Command of +their Lord. The poor Wretches have often not a Bit of Bread to eat, in a +Country which is one of the most plentiful in _Europe_ for all sorts of +Provisions. They dare not go from one Village to another to work, nor +learn a Handicraft without their Lord's Consent. So much Subjection keeps +the poor Creatures always trembling and humble, so that if you do but +speak to 'em they are ready to lick the Dust off your Feet. The Severity +with which these People are us'd is really terrible, but 'tis as true on +the other hand, that gentle Usage has no Effect upon 'em; for they are +excessively lazy and stubborn, and being moreover us'd to harsh Treatment +from Generation to Generation, Blows scarce terrify them, tho' tis the +only way to make 'em good for any thing. + +The _Bohemians_ have a great many Talents for Music, so that there's no +Village, be it ever so small, but the Mass is sung in Concert, and they +are very happy at winding the Hunters Horn. + +'Tis certain that this Kingdom is one of the best Countries in the +Emperor's possession, and next to _Hungary_, brings him in most Money. + +_Bohemia_ is a Country of States, whom the Emperor as King of it, summons +every Year to the City of _Prague_. They consist of the Clergy, Nobility, +Gentry, and Towns. The Assembly is open'd by a Commissioner of the +Emperor's Nomination, who lays before them his Imperial Majesty's Demands. +The States, such is their Submission and Zeal, grant the full Demand which +is commonly a very great Sum; yet for all this, the _Bohemians_ wou'd not +complain of Taxes if the Emperor resided among them, but they are sorry to +see their Country exhausted to enrich the _Austrians_ to whom they have a +natural Aversion, and the _Austrians_ as heartily hate the _Bohemians_. + +I own to you I shall be sorry to leave _Prague_. I take the _Bohemians_ to +be the best People upon Earth, and _Prague_ to be one of those Towns of +the Empire where a Gentleman may have most choice of Company. The Ladies +here are very amiable. Gaming, which may be call'd the universal Pleasure, +is carry'd as high here as they please in Houses of the Quality, where +Assemblies of both Sexes are held every Night, with good Cheer, +particularly Pheasants and Ortolans in plenty; and upon Fish-Days, there +are Trouts, Salmon, and Cray-Fish; and that there may be nothing wanting, +_Bohemia_ likewise furnishes good Wine. At the Estate of the young Count +_Tschernin_ at _Melneg_, there is a red sort not inferior to _Burgundy_. +Of all these good Things many partake together, and for my part I own I am +taken more with this Pleasure than any other, because we make it last as +long as we will, and then 'tis suited to all Ages. + +There is a tolerable _Italian Opera_ here. In Winter they have Races in +stately Sledges: There is great Masquerading, and they dance till they are +ready to drop to the ground: For this end there are public Balls which are +extraordinary splendid, and might be compar'd, if any can be compar'd, +with the Balls at the _Hay-Market_ in _London_. + +In the Summer-Time when there is not so much Company in Town, these +Assemblies are thinner. The Gentry meet at Night in a Garden belonging to +the Prince _de Schwartzenberg_, where they game, chat, and walk up and +down, after which they always go to some House or other to sup. When one +has a mind to go to the Country, we are sure of a good Reception, and the +longer one stays the greater Pleasure one gives to the Master of the +House. Here they pass the Time in Hunting of all sorts. Many of the +Nobility keep Packs of Hounds, and others Hawks. The Generality keep +Musicians in their Service, so that let the Weather be what it will, one +may be always amused in this Country. Besides, one enjoys all the Freedom +here that can be. After this, Sir, can you blame me for being sorry to +leave _Bohemia_? But 'tis what I'm now preparing to do, and I purpose to +go to _Vienna_. You will be so good as to let me have a Line from you +there; for to be plain with you, to write three Letters for one is too +hard. 'Tis true that your's are of inestimable Value, and that therefore +you are in the right not to be lavish of them; but the same Reason +justifies me in desiring them. Adieu, Sir: Love me always a little, and be +assur'd that no Man is more than I, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XII. + + + _SIR_, _Vienna, Nov. 30, 1729._ + +The Court of VIENNA consists of so many Princes and Noblemen, that it +cannot be deny'd to be the greatest and most magnificent Court in +_Europe_. Nevertheless Ceremonies, and the _Etiquette_, a Name by which +they call ancient Usages, give it an Air of Constraint that is to be seen +no where else. There's a universal Out-cry against the latter, and even +the Emperor sometimes seems to be disturb'd at it, yet 'tis observ'd as +strictly as if it was an Article of Religion, and nothing cou'd set it +aside but an Oecumenical Council. + +Notwithstanding this, a Foreigner of Quality (for such he must be here) +finds Advantages at this Court which he does not meet with either at +_Paris_ or _London_, I mean Opportunities of making Acquaintance. After a +Person has been to wait on their Imperial Majesties he need only be +introduc'd into one single Family to be soon made known to all the rest, +with this Advantage too, that go where you will, they speak the _German_, +_French_, _Italian_, and _Spanish_ Languages; whereas a Foreigner at +_Paris_ is under a Necessity of speaking _French_, and at _London_ +_English_; but a Man may shift very well at _Vienna_ without the +_High-Dutch_ or _German_ Language. + +The Ministers and great Lords of the Court are Civil, Courteous, and of +easy Access, especially to such as want no Favour of 'em, and come to +_Vienna_ only for Curiosity or Business. The Way of these Gentlemen is to +return no Visits: but they invite People to their Tables, which being +always well fill'd, a Man soon gets a great deal of Acquaintance. + +'Tis a very easy matter to be admitted to kiss the Hands of their Imperial +Majesties, and even to obtain a private Audience of 'em; for there needs +nothing more than to give in your Name to the Emperor's Great Chamberlain +and the Empress's Great Master of the Houshold. When you kiss their Hands +you bend one Knee to the Ground, and the Time for it is generally when +their Majesties pass by to Dinner. But private Audiences are attended with +more Ceremonies. The Great Chamberlain having appointed the Hour of +meeting in his Antichamber, which is commonly five o'clock in the Evening, +he repairs thither at that Time, and introduces to the Audience; and if he +be absent, 'tis done by the Chamberlain in Waiting. The Ceremony observ'd +is this: The Emperor stands up under a Canopy, leaning with his Back +against a Table, and an Arm-Chair by his Side, A Screen of red Velvet with +Gold Fringe is plac'd at the Entrance of the Room, so that the Emperor is +not perceiv'd at the opening of the Door. Behind this Screen near the +Door, stands the Great Chamberlain. As soon as the Person comes in sight +of the Emperor he bends the Knee, which he repeats as he advances a little +farther, and again when he comes near to his Imperial Majesty. To these +Genuflexions the Emperor gives a Nod of the Head, hearkens very +attentively to the Person who addresses him, and returns a succinct and +gracious Answer. Then the Person kneeling with one Knee on the Ground +kisses his Majesty's Hand, after which he retires, going backwards and +making three Genuflexions as he did at Entrance. The same Ceremonies are +observ'd at an Audience of the Empress, who gives it standing just as the +Emperor does, with this Difference only that the Emperor is all alone, and +the Empress is attended with one of her Ladies of Honour, who nevertheless +stands off at such a Distance that she can't hear what is said. + +The Emperor commonly eats with the Empress and the Arch-Duchesses. But +there are particular Days, such as the Installation of the Knights of the +_Golden Fleece_, when the Empress herself is not allow'd to sit down at +Table with his Imperial Majesty. The Dinner is commonly in the Emperor's +Apartment, and the Supper at the Empress's. At Dinner two Chamberlains +hold the Ewer for their Majesties to wash, and the Steward, or in his +absence the Great Chamberlain presents them the Napkin, which is done +after the manner of _Spain_, with one Knee on the Ground. The Number of +Dishes at the Emperor's Table is forty eight, and the same at the +Empress's; but tho' their Majesties eat together they are each serv'd by +their own Officers and Cooks. They commonly drink both together at the +first Time; and till they have drank, the Ambassadors, Courtiers, and +Ladies all wait at Dinner. After the Emperor has drank, the Steward, the +Master of the Horse, the Great Chamberlain, and the Captain of the Guards +receive his Orders: The Lady of Honour in Waiting and the Empress's +Steward receive her Orders in like manner. None remain in the Room but the +Officers necessary for the Service, and some curious People who are not +us'd to see Sovereigns eat. On Sundays, Saints Days, and Days of _Gala_, +which is the Name they give here to Days of Festival and Ceremony, the +Dinner is attended with Music. I forgot to acquaint you that the Emperor +is always cover'd at Table, and that when he puts his Hat on the +Ambassadors put on theirs. + +At Supper the Lady of Honour who is in waiting presents the Napkin, and +the Ladies of the Bed-Chamber not only carve and hand the Victuals, but +taste both the Meat and the Wine. The Pages carry the Dishes and Plates, +and fetch the Wine from the Beaufet which they give to the Ladies, and +they to their Majesties. During the Supper as well as at Dinner all the +Gentlemen and Ladies stand up, so that here neither Princes nor Princesses +have any Distinction shew'd them, but all Ranks are levell'd and +confounded, and no body sits down in presence of the Sovereign. + +On the Days of _Gala_ the Court is extremely gay, and nothing is to be +seen but Gold and Diamonds. The Days of this kind that are celebrated with +most Splendor are those of St. _Charles_ and St. _Elizabeth_, the Name +Days of the Emperor and Empress. The Emperor, who commonly dresses very +plain, is cover'd all over with Diamonds upon St. _Elizabeth_'s Day. And +as for the Empress, her Apparel is commonly rich, and so loaded with +Jewels upon St. _Charles_'s Day that she can scarce stand under it. Except +on these Days of _Gala_ the Court dresses very plain. 'Tis true that these +Days are very frequent, and that consequently plain Clothes are not very +much wore, for if it be a Holiday, or the Birth-Day of some Minister, or +if some Lady of Distinction sends but for a Surgeon to bleed her, 'tis +enough to put the whole City in _Gala_. These _Gala's_ may be divided into +three Classes; the _Court Gala_ which is universal both for the Nobles and +Plebeians; the _Grand Gala_ which is kept in the City is for the Festival +of some Minister; and the third and last is the _Little Gala_, which is +when the Ladies are let blood. A Husband makes a _Gala_ here for his Wife, +the Wife for her Husband, the Children for their Parents, and Brothers and +Sisters for one another; so that to be sure two Thirds of _Vienna_ are +always in _Gala_; which made a _French_ Jester say, 'twould take up a +great deal of Brimstone to cure the _Austrians_ of the _Gale_[93]. +However, they take care not to appear in this domestic _Gala_ before the +Emperor and Empress, because it would be reckon'd a Disrespect to them. + +On the great Festival-Days the Emperor goes with a grand Retinue to St. +_Stephen_'s Cathedral: He takes up one whole Side of the Coach, and the +Empress sits fronting him. Their Majesties are preceded by the +Chamberlains and Knights of the _Golden Fleece_ on horseback: The Pages +and Footmen walk bare-headed immediately after the Coach of the Master of +the Horse, and their Imperial Majesties Coach is guarded on each side by a +File of Archers, and attended by the Coaches of the Arch-Duchesses and the +Ladies. Then the Horse-Guards appear with their Kettle-Drums and Trumpets, +and the March is clos'd by the Pope's _Nuncio_ and the Ambassadors with +their Train, which consists of three magnificent Coaches and six Horses +each. + +On _Corpus Christi_ Day the Emperor accompanies the Holy Sacrament, when +the Streets thro' which the Procession passes are cover'd with Planks. +Their Imperial Majesties repair in the Morning with great Attendance to +St. _Stephen_'s Cathedral, and after assisting at Divine Service join in +the Procession. The Emperor is immediately follow'd by the Empress, who is +accompany'd by all the Ladies in rich Dresses, which renders this one of +the most magnificent Processions in the World. + +The same Honours and Respects are paid to the Empress Dowager as to the +Empress Regent. She has her separate Houshold, and her own Guards. She has +an Apartment in the Palace, but commonly lives in a Convent of her own +founding in one of the Suburbs, and does not come to Town except on the +great Festivals or for some extraordinary Function. You know, without +doubt, that the Empress Dowagers can never quit Mourning; their Apartments +must be always hung with Black, and their Coaches and Liveries are of the +same Colour: Nor can they be present at any Play, Ball, or Concert. In +short by losing their Husbands they must renounce the Pleasures of this +Life. These severe Obligations on a Widow are fully discharg'd by the +Empress Dowager. Being retir'd to a Convent where she is almost +continually prostrate before the Altars in Prayer and Supplication, she +makes her Mansion a Place of Piety and Peace, and never appears in public +but when Conveniency requires. This Princess was always an Example of the +most uncommon Virtue. In the Life-time of her Husband the Emperor +_Joseph_, she lov'd Pleasures and Grandeur; but when she became a Widow +she renounc'd all, and only employ'd herself in Works of Piety, and in the +Education of the two Arch-Duchesses her Daughters, whom she has now the +Comfort of seeing marry'd to two powerful Princes of the Empire[94]. +There's not a Person that draws near her Imperial Majesty but admires her +eminent Qualities. I have not yet had the Honour this Journey of casting +my self at her Feet, but the first Time I was here I had the Advantage of +paying my Duty to her at _Schonborn_, where she then pass'd the Summer. I +was receiv'd by her with such Proofs of her Kindness as charm'd me, and +which I shall always remember with Pleasure and Respect. This Princess is +the Daughter of _John-Frederic_ Duke of _Brunswic-Hanover_ and of +_Henrietta-Benedictine_ Princess Palatine. After the Death of the Duke her +Father, who left no Son, she went with the Duchess of _Brunswic_ to +_France_, where this Princess was very glad to retire to her Sister the +Princess of _Conde_. The Empress who was then the Princess _Amelia_, +spent some Years in _France_, where she learned the Language and +Politeness of that Nation to perfection, and in short acquir'd that Merit +and Virtue for which she is now so much admir'd, and which perhaps have +contributed equally with her illustrious Extraction to gain her possession +of the first Throne in Christendom. The Marriage of her elder Sister to +_Renaud d'Este_ Duke of _Modena_ obliging the Dutchess of _Brunswic_ to +leave _France_, and go and settle at _Modena_, the Princess _Amelia_ +follow'd her also into _Italy_. She had no reason to be sorry for her +leaving _France_, and rejecting the Addresses of a _French_ Nobleman who +had presum'd to court her, for not long after her Arrival at _Modena_ she +was marry'd to the King of the _Romans_, afterwards the Emperor _Joseph_. +This Empress is not only endow'd with the Christian but all the Moral +Virtues, and there are few Princesses of a more generous Soul, of greater +Courage, or of a Genius more sublime, more refin'd, or more adorn'd. There +was a Time when she might be rank'd among the most beautiful Princesses of +_Europe_: she still retains all the Marks of it; and therewith preserves +such a majestic Air that whenever I behold her it revives the profound +Veneration I have for her sacred Person. + +The Emperor _Charles_ VI. is of a middling Stature, and in good Plight of +Body: He is of a swarthy hale Complection, has a brisk Eye, and thick +Lips, for which last his Family in general have been remarkable. This +Monarch is the second Son of the Emperor _Leopold_ by _Eleonora_ of +_Newbourg_, and the fifteenth Emperor[95] of his Family. Being design'd +when a Minor for Successor to _Charles_ II. King of _Spain_, he had a +grave Education suitable to the People whom he was one day to govern. This +made him contract an Air of Seriousness, which, to those who have not the +Honour of Access to him, favours of Severity; yet he is affable and very +humane. He hears those with Attention that speak to him, and his Answers +are full of Good-nature. When he attain'd to an Age hardly ripe enough for +the Crown of _Spain_, he met with various Fortune in that Kingdom; but he +supported himself in every Event with an heroic Magnanimity, being always +submissive to the Will of that Providence which he knew was the Master of +the Fortune of Kings. The Adversitys with which it pleas'd God to try his +Patience by the Siege of _Barcelona_ which he carry'd on in Person, and by +the Loss of the Battle of _Villa Viciosa_, only serv'd to confirm his +Constancy, and his natural Integrity, a Principle which renders him even +more venerable than the Splendor of his Crowns and the vast Extent of his +Power. Heaven, which always rewards Virtue, has granted this Monarch one +of the best and most fortunate Reigns that any Emperor has had since +_Germany_ has been the Seat of Empire. He wants nothing to crown his +Happiness but a Male Heir, which is so much the Desire of the People, as +well as of the Emperor and the most virtuous Empress the World ever saw, +that God grant he may have one. + +This Princess is descended from the august House of _Brunswic_, to which +_Europe_ is at this Time oblig'd for two Empresses[96], one King[97], and +a Queen[98]. She is the Daughter of _Lewis Rodolph_ Duke of +_Brunswic-Blankenbourg_[99] by _Christiana-Louisa_ Princess of _Oetingen_, +of whom I gave you an Account in my Letter from _Blankenbourg_. The +Character of this august Princess for her Affability and Goodness is so +well known in the World that 'tis needless to speak of it here. You know +likewise how beautiful and handsome she was when she was marry'd to the +Emperor. And notwithstanding the Pimples in her Face and her present +Corpulency she may still be reckon'd in the number of the beautiful +Princesses. Such an Air of Modesty, Mildness, and Majesty, accompanies +every thing she does, as inspires those that approach her with equal +Courage and Respect. Her Duty is her Law, and her principal Care is to +please the Emperor, whose Wisdom she knows to be sufficient to govern his +Dominions, and to him she therefore leaves all Affairs. Indeed she is very +earnest with him to get Favours for those who petition her, which she +thinks a Happiness to obtain, and she bestows them in such manner as is +very affecting to the Receivers. This Princess is charitable, generous, +and magnificent. She maintains her Dignity without Conceit, and supports +her solid Piety without Ostentation. She was educated in the _Lutheran_ +Religion, but abjur'd it at _Bamberg_ when she came thither in her Way to +be marry'd to the Emperor, then King of _Spain_, and is now a good +Catholic, yet without any Hatred to the Protestants; being convinc'd that +the Love of one's Neighbour is one of the Duties which God most strictly +enjoins upon Mankind, and that Charitableness and good Examples are the +best Means to reconcile those to the Church who are separated from it. + +In the same sublime Sentiments of Virtue does the Empress educate the +Archduchesses her Daughters, and those young Princesses are like to make +worthy Proficients. The eldest Archduchess _Mary Theresa_ is brought up in +the agreeable Prospect of being one day Mistress of the vast Dominions +possessed by the Emperor[100]. This young Princess has very much of the +Air of the Empress her Mother; and if Heaven designs her for the +Sovereignty of the Empire, God grant she may also resemble her in her +Virtues! + +The Emperor has three Sisters. The eldest is the Archduchess _Mary +Elizabeth_ Governess of the (_Austrian_) _Netherlands_; the second is +_Mary-Anne_ Queen of _Portugal_; and the third is the Archduchess _Mary +Magdalen_, who 'tis said is intended to be Governess of _Tirol_. The +intire August House of _Austria_ consists at present of the sacred Person +of the Emperor and of eight Princesses[101], of whom three are married; +and God grant it may be augmented by the Birth of a Prince; for without +setting up here for a zealous Subject, I don't think that the Houses of +_Austria_ and _Bourbon_ ought ever to be extinct, both of them having made +the Fortunes of an infinite Number of Gentlemen. + +The Emperor's ordinary Pastime (when he has a Desire to unbend his Mind +from Affairs of State, to which he applies with all the Earnestness of a +Monarch that loves his People) is Hunting, or Shooting at a Mark; and the +Empress is generally a Sharer in his Diversions. His Imperial Majesty goes +sometimes also to the Riding-House, where he exercises himself in Riding: +At other times Music is his Amusement, which the Monarch not only performs +by Book, but is also a Composer; and some Years ago an Opera was acted +here of his composing. All the Actors as well as the Dancers and the +Musicians of the Orchestre were Persons of Quality. The Emperor himself +made one, and the two eldest Archduchesses his Daughters danced. The +Spectators were the Empress Regent and the Empress Dowager, and every +Actor had the Liberty of carrying two of his Kindred or intimate Friends. + +Tho' their Imperial Majesties are very fond of Music they have seldom more +than two Operas in a Year, _viz._ on the Days of St. _Charles_ and St. +_Elizabeth_, and sometimes the same Operas are play'd again during the +Carnival. At this time, which is devoted to Mirth, there is a Ball at +Court, and on the Flesh-days there is commonly a great Masquerade +representing a Country-Wedding. In the Palace there is a very magnificent +Theatre, which indeed is almost the only thing there that is worth seeing, +for the Imperial Palace is so wretched a Mansion that few Monarchs are +lodged worse than the Emperor. The Furniture too is old-fashion'd and not +very rich, which is somewhat unaccountable, because the Wardrobes are full +of costly Pieces of Tapestry, stately Pictures, and other fine Goods which +probably they are restrained from making use of by the _Etiquette_. The +Emperor's Pleasure-Houses are no better than his Palace in the City. The +Castle of the _Favorita_ which is in one of the Suburbs, is a great +Building full of Turnings and Windings like the Street which it looks +into, and has more of the Appearance of a great Convent of _Capuchin_ +Fryars than of the Dwelling of a Prince who is the Head of so many +Sovereigns. The Gardens are as mean as the House, and only considerable +for their Extent. _Laxembourg_ is still very much inferior to the +_Favorita_; but the Court is there no more than a Month or six Weeks, +during the Hunting of the Heron. The Ministers that are obliged to attend +the Emperor thither have Houses there, which though not very grand, are +commodious. When a Person goes to _Laxembourg_ to pay a Visit to the Court +he is under a Necessity of returning to _Vienna_ for a Bed, which is a +very great Inconveniency. + +The Emperor _Joseph_ had begun a very fine House at _Schonborn_ about a +League from _Vienna_, but did not live to finish it; and the Empress +_Amelia_ to whom the Emperor gave it, instead of carrying on the Works +which her Husband had begun, lets it run to ruin; which is great pity, for +if that Building had been finish'd the Emperor wou'd not have had a +_Versailles_, but he wou'd at least have had a Mansion-House suitable to +his Dignity. 'Tis said that a new Palace is going to be built for the +Emperor; which, if true, 'twere to be wish'd that better Architects may be +employ'd in it than those who have had the Direction of the new Stables +and of St. _Charles_'s Church, which are Buildings lately erected with +very great Expence, but without any Taste. The Stables are a Range of +Buildings of a vast Length, divided into seven Pavilions which appear at +first sight to be so many different Houses. The middlemost Pavilion which +is design'd to lodge the Master of the Horse is much higher than the other +six, which sink gradually on the two sides. Nor are the inner Rooms better +contriv'd; for the Horses stand all in one Row, and the Stable is so +narrow withal, that one is every Minute in danger from the Horses Heels; +which is purely owing to the Indiscretion of the Architect, who having +ground enough and to spare might for the same Expence have made something +grand and noble. + +Whether the same Architect that built the Stables had the Direction +likewise of St. _Charles_'s Church, is what I know not; but if they are +two different Men their Head-pieces are very much alike. This Church would +perhaps have been admir'd in the Days of the _Goths_, but in so refined an +Age as the present, one cannot look on it without being sorry for the Sums +of Money laid out in it. + +This bad Taste as to Buildings prevails too much at _Vienna_, not but that +there are Hotels and even Palaces in which the Rules of Architecture are +observ'd, but then the Builders are got into such a way of ornamenting and +charging their Houses with Sculpture as is altogether contrary to the +noble Simplicity of the ancient Architecture. The Palace of Prince +_Eugene_ of _Savoy_ is stately, but situate in a narrow Street with a very +little Court before it. The Stair-case is very well contriv'd were it not +too much confin'd. The Apartments of the first Story are as well laid out +as the Ground wou'd admit of. We enter first into a spacious Salon adorn'd +with great Pictures representing the chief Victories of Prince _Eugene_ +over the _French_ and the _Turks_. In the two Rooms next to this are very +rich Hangings wherein the Maker _Devos_ at _Brussels_ has very correctly +delineated the whole Military Science. The Bed-chamber beyond that has a +Set of Furniture of green Velvet richly embroider'd with Gold and Silk. In +the same Room there is a Lustre of Rock Crystal which is said to have cost +40,000 Florins. All the other Furniture is extraordinary magnificent, and +wou'd be cry'd up at _Paris_ it self, where it must be allow'd a Taste for +fine Furniture prevails more than any where. + +The Palace of _Lichtenstein_ is bigger than that of _Savoy_, and not less +magnificent. 'Tis worth seeing were it only for its Paintings. I pass over +the Hotels of _Schwartzenberg_, _Daun_, _Diedrichstein_, _Harrach_, and +several other noble Edifices, lest my Letter shou'd swell into a Volume. + +The Palaces of the Suburbs are infinitely more grand than those of the +City, and they have both Court-yards and Gardens. The most noble are the +Palaces of _Trautsheim_, _Rofrano_, _Schwartzenberg_, _Altheim_, and +_Eugene_ of _Savoy_. This last especially is a superb Structure with +magnificent Gardens, a fine Orangery, and a Menagery stor'd with the most +uncommon Creatures that the four Parts of the World can furnish. 'Tis in +this fine great House that Prince _Eugene_ passes the beautiful Season of +the Year. There is not so fine a Sight as an Assembly at this Prince's +House, for not only the outer Court, in which there's a fine Piece of +Water, but the Gardens are illuminated by an infinite Number of Lanthorns +made in form of a Bowl of extraordinary white Glass, which cast a very +great Light and make a glorious appearance. The Assembles at this Prince's +House are always very numerous; for his Birth, Employments and Interest, +draw a great Court to him. + +Prince _Eugene_ is of a middling Stature, and well made. His Air is +extremely serious, and his Deportment grave and reserv'd; but +notwithstanding that Reservedness he is a hearty Friend to his Adherents. +He is a thorough Judge of Merit, and loves to distinguish it. He is +perfectly genteel and civil, very polite to the Ladies, respectful and +submissive to his Lord and Master, but without Flattery or Servility. He +is generous and noble in every thing excepting his Apparel. He is an Enemy +to Ostentation, Ceremonies, and Constraint. In his youthful Days he lov'd +Pleasures, but he abandon'd them as soon as he was animated with a Thirst +for Glory. He was born in _France_, but left that Kingdom in 1683, out of +disgust that he was no more taken notice of, and came to _Vienna_ just +before the _Turks_ laid siege to it. He made the Campaign as a Volunteer, +and distinguish'd himself in such a manner that the Emperor _Leopold_ gave +him in _December_ following that Regiment of Dragoons which still goes by +his Name. When the Siege of _Vienna_ was rais'd, he serv'd in _Hungary_ +under Duke _Charles_ of _Lorrain_, and _Maximilian-Emanuel_ Elector of +_Bavaria_. The first time that he obtain'd the Command of the Imperial +Army was in 1697, when he began with the Victory at _Zenta_ whereby 22,000 +_Turks_ lost their Lives; a Loss which they could not recover, and which +put them upon suing for the Peace that was granted to them at _Carlowitz_ +in 1699. The Prince afterwards commanded in _Italy_, _Germany_, +_Flanders_, and lastly in _Hungary_; and wherever he went Conquest +attended him. To give you a Detail of his Achievements would be to +anticipate the _History_ which is to immortalize them, and to which you +will not take it ill if I refer you. As to the Dignities and great +Employments of this Prince, he is Chief Counsellor of the Council of +Conferences; President of the Aulic Council of War; Commander in Chief or +Lieutenant-General of the Armies of the Emperor and Empire; his Imperial +Majesty's Vicar-General in _Italy_; Colonel of a Regiment of Dragoons; and +Knight of the Golden Fleece. All his Employments may be worth about +300,000 Florins a year to him. Besides this, he has a considerable Estate +in _Hungary_ and in the Neighbourhood of _Vienna_, which brings him in +about 100,000 Florins _per Ann._ more. He holds those Lands by the +Emperor's Bounty who gave them to him as a Reward for his important +Services.[102] + +The Marshal Count _Guido Staremberg_ is one of those Gentlemen also who +deserve particular respect for their Virtue. He is descended of a Family +which has given great Generals and wise Ministers to the Emperors of the +_Austrian_ Family, and has supported the Glory of his Ancestors in a +signal manner; _Hungary_, _Italy_, and _Spain_, have been Witnesses of +Bravery and consummate Wisdom in the Art of commanding Armies, and have +admir'd him the more because they saw him always gaining Victories with +Armies ill paid, destitute of all Necessaries, and very much inferior to +his Enemies. This General enter'd very young into the Service in quality +of an Ensign, and advanc'd himself by degrees. He was made +Lieutenant-Colonel a little before the _Turks_ Undertaking against +_Vienna_, and while it was besieg'd, serv'd as Adjutant to his Cousin +_Ernest-Rudiger_ Count _de Staremberg_, the Defender of _Vienna_. This +Count _Guido_, after having been a few years in the Service, was preferr'd +to the Regiment of Foot of which he is still Colonel. When he was very +young he was made Great _Commander_ of the _Teutonic_ Order. I do not +mention his Exploits to you, because they are so much celebrated by Fame +that you cannot but know them. This General, tho' very much advanc'd in +years, retains all his juvenile Ardor, and wou'd still be very capable of +commanding. + +Having mention'd two of the Emperor's greatest Generals you will not be +sorry, I fancy, if I shou'd give you some Account also of his chief +Ministers. They are five in Number, and are call'd _Counsellors of the +Conferences_. Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_ is the first Counsellor, but +without the Title of Prime Minister, that being a Dignity not known at the +Imperial Court. + +The Count _Lewis de Zinzendorf_, Chancellor of the Court, and Knight of +the _Golden Fleece_, is the second Counsellor of the Conference. He is a +Nobleman descended of a Family which has been for a long time eminent in +_Austria_. His Mother was a Princess of _Holstein_, who married to her +second Husband the Marshal Count _de Rabutin_ Governor of _Transylvania_, +but died a few years ago in a very advanc'd Age. I had the honour to know +her the last time I was here; her House being the Rendezvous of all People +of Rank. Count _Zinzendorf_ was in the Ministry in the Reign of _Leopold_. +He was that Emperor's Minister Plenipotentiary in _France_, while the +Marshal _de Villars_ was at _Vienna_ with the same Character from _Lewis_ +XIV. At the Death of the Emperor _Joseph_, the Count _de Zinzendorf_ was +that Prince's Ambassador to the States-General, in which Character he was +confirmed by the Empress _Eleonora_ who was Regent during the Absence of +King _Charles_. He repaired from the _Hague_ to _Frankfort_ to assist at +the Coronation of _Charles_ VI. and officiated at the Ceremony as Vicar to +the Great Treasurer of the Empire, a Dignity which is Hereditary in his +Family. At the Congress of _Utrecht_ which was open'd not long after, the +Count _de Zinzendorf_ assisted as the Emperor's first Ambassador. He +afterwards went to the unsuccessful Congress of _Soissons_, and from +thence to _Versailles_, where he succeeded so well with the Cardinal _de +Fleury_, that he kept him tight in those pacific Sentiments which the +Enemies of his Tranquillity, if not of his Glory, aim'd to make him give +up. The Count is now return'd hither, and almost the only Man that acts in +the Province of foreign Affairs. His Interest is very great, for besides +the Esteem which the Emperor has for his Person and Services, he is +related to all the most distinguished Persons at Court, and strictly +attached to the Interest of Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_, of whose Integrity +and disinterested Zeal for the Emperor he is very sensible. The Count _de +Zinzendorf_ is pretty tall and has a happy engaging Aspect. His Deportment +is noble. He is pretty reserv'd, but civil. He is very polite to +Strangers, and his House is open to them. He keeps the noblest and most +elegant Table at _Vienna_. He is magnificent in every thing he does, and +all his Actions favour of the Man of Quality. He is Father of a numerous +Family. The second of his Sons is a Cardinal and Bishop in _Hungary_[103]. +Another is Knight of _Malta_, and Lieutenant-Colonel. As these are the two +with whom I am best acquainted, so they are the only ones I shall mention. +I know not whether 'tis possible for a Man to be more sprightly than they +both are. The Chevalier has more Mettle and Life than a _Gascon_: He is +very blunt in his witty Sallies, but the variety of them pleases, and +their novelty and justness are surprizing. + +The Count _Gundacker de Staremberg_, President of the Chamber of Finances, +and Knight of the Golden Fleece, is the third Counsellor of the +Conferences. His Integrity is very much cry'd up, and he has manag'd the +Finances in such a manner as to guard against the Public Hatred. + +The Count _de Schonborn_, Bishop of _Bamberg_ and _Wurtzbourg_, +Vice-Chancellor of the Empire, is the fourth Counsellor of the +Conferences[104]. You know, Sir, that the _Schonborn_ Family has given us +several worthy Gentlemen; but I may venture to say, with all due Regard to +the Memory of those great Men, and without flattering the Vice-Chancellor, +that of all the Family he has the greatest Capacity for Business, the most +generous Temper, and the most engaging and most civil Behaviour. As this +Prelate has not his Equal at _Vienna_ for Grandeur and Riches, so he has +not his Fellow for Magnificence. The Emperor has a singular Esteem for +him. The Vice-Chancellor has the Chancery of the Empire under him, and no +body above him but the Emperor, and the Elector of _Mentz_, who is the +Great Chancellor of the Empire. + +The Count _de Konigseck_, Vice-President of the Aulic Council of War, is +the fifth Counsellor of the Conferences. This Nobleman, whose Extraction +is from a Family of Distinction in the Empire, is one of the tallest and +handsomest Men at Court: He is the Emperor's Ambassador Extraordinary at +the Court of _Spain_. His Family has for a long time past been attach'd to +the House of _Austria_. He studied at _Besancon_, and was design'd for the +Church; but he quitted the Band, took to Arms, and enter'd into the +Service of the Emperor _Leopold_; in which he had not been many Years +before he had a Regiment of Foot, and the Emperor _Joseph_ made him his +Chamberlain. He also gave him the Government of _Mantua_, from whence he +was recall'd by _Charles_ VI. and sent to take possession of the +_Netherlands_ in the Name of the Emperor, to whom they were evacuated for +that purpose by the Maritime Powers. The Count _de Konigseck_, during his +Administration of the _Netherlands_, concluded the Barrier Treaty with the +States-General. At _Brussels_ he married Madamoiselle _de Lanoi la +Motterie_, a young Lady of a good Family, and distinguish'd Merit. When he +left the _Netherlands_ he went Ambassador from the Emperor to the Court of +_France_, where he gain'd great Esteem, especially from the Duke of +_Orleans_, the Regent; a Prince who was an excellent Judge of Merit, and +very sparing of his Applause. After three Years stay at _Paris_, the Count +return'd to _Vienna_. He attended the Archduchess, Wife to the Electoral +Prince of _Saxony_, in quality of Steward, to _Dresden_; and at his return +went to the Government of _Transilvania_. But the Emperor recall'd him +from this Post and sent him his Ambassador Extraordinary to _Spain_; where +the Count is as much esteem'd as he was at _Paris_. 'Tis said that he is +in entire Favour with their Catholic Majesties; nevertheless he makes such +earnest Application to be recall'd, that 'tis said he will obtain his +Request, and that his Nephew[105], who is the Emperor's Minister +Plenipotentiary to the States-General, is already nominated to relieve +him[106]. + +In the Council of Conferences the most important Affairs of the Empire are +taken into Consideration, and the Emperor is always present. + +Besides the five Ministers whom I have now mention'd to you, there are +several others whose Interest is more circumscrib'd. Every Kingdom subject +to the Emperor has its Minister and particular Chancery. + +Count _Badiani_ directs the Affairs of _Hungary_, in quality of its +Vice-Chancellor. + +The Affairs of _Bohemia_ are in the Province of Count _Kinski_, the +Chancellor of that Kingdom, who has a Vice-Chancellor under him, with a +great many Assessors and Counsellors. + +The Council of _Spain_ consists of a President, Vice-President, and +Counsellors. Its Authority extends over all the Kingdoms that were +formerly subject to _Spain_, but yielded to the Emperor by the Peace. The +Count _de Monte-Santo_, a Grandee of _Spain_, Brother to the Count _de +Cinfuentes_, Constable of _Castile_, is President of this Council[107]; in +which Office he succeeded the Archbishop of _Valentia_, who quitted his +See to follow the Emperor whom he had acknowledg'd for his Sovereign in +_Spain_. + +Of all the Tribunals at _Vienna_ the _Aulic Council_ is the most +venerable; because 'tis the Parliament of the Empire. It is compos'd of a +President, _viz._ the Count _de Wurmbrandt_; a Vice-President, who is the +Count _de Metsch_; and of eighteen Counsellors, among whom there must be +six Protestants, and of these one must be a _Calvinist_. This Tribunal +judges of all Civil Causes between the Princes and private Men of the +Empire. Its Authority terminates with the Emperor's Life; and 'tis on this +account only that the supreme Tribunal of _Wetzlar_, which subsists even +during the Vacancy of the Imperial Throne, challenges Precedence of the +Aulic Council. 'Tis a Mistake to think, as many Foreigners do, that the +Aulic Council takes Cognizance of Affairs of State; for its sole Business +is to do Justice: It registers no Edict unless it be its own +Sentences[108]; and is much more limited than the Parliaments of _France_, +which have at least the Privilege of losing Time in Remonstrances. + +I perceive too that I am in a fair way to make you lose a great deal, if I +don't put an end to my Legend; which therefore I now do, and refer the +rest of the Remarks that I have to entertain you with to another Post. + + _I kiss your Hand, and am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XIII. + + + _SIR_, _Vienna, Decem. 10, 1729._ + +There are some other Articles which I cannot but add to those I have +already given you from _Vienna_. The Police of this City is administer'd +by a Stadtholder. The Person that now fills that Post is the Count _de +Kehvenhuller_; who is also a Minister of State, and Knight of the Golden +Fleece. His Functions are the same with those of the Lieutenant of the +Police at _Paris_, and nothing makes the Difference but the Title; only it +must be observ'd that the Stadtholder is always a Person of noble +Extraction, and a Gentleman of the Army, whereas the Lieutenant of the +Police at _Paris_ is often of mean Extraction, but always a Gentleman of +the long Robe. + +The Governour of _Vienna_ had seldom any other Title than _Colonel of the +City_. The present Governour is the Marshal Count _de Daun_, the same that +defended _Turin_, who was six Years Viceroy of _Naples_, six Months +Governour of the _Netherlands_, and afterwards four Years Governour of +_Milan_[109]. His Lieutenant-Colonel, who is the Count _Maximilian de +Staremberg_, Lieutenant-General of the Emperor's Forces, and Colonel of a +Regiment of Foot, commands in his absence, and has the Direction of the +Fortifications, the Arsenal, and the Garison. This Garison consists of a +Regiment of Foot, compos'd of veteran Soldiers, or the Burghers and +Artificers of _Vienna_, from whence this Regiment never stirs. The +Employments in this Corps are very lucrative; but as they don't lie in the +Road to the Temple of Honour, they are not much solicited by Persons of +any considerable Extraction. Yet this Regiment, as little esteem'd as it +is, perform'd very good Services during the Siege of _Vienna_ by _Kara +Mustapha_, Grand Vizier to _Mahomet_ IV. It acted then under +_Ernest-Rudiger_ Count _de Staremberg_, who was Commandant in the City; +and both the General and his Garison acquir'd very great Glory by the +Resistance which they made. But perhaps with all their Bravery they cou'd +not have prevented the Place from being taken, had it not been for the +Avarice of the Grand Vizier, who hoped to be Master himself of the vast +Treasures that he knew were in the City, and was therefore against +storming the Town, for fear lest if it were carry'd by that means, the +Soldiers would have shar'd the Plunder. + +The Siege of _Vienna_ being foreign to my purpose, I shall say nothing of +it. You know that it was raised by the Assistance that was brought to it +by the brave _John Sobieski_ King of _Poland_; who defeated the _Turks_ on +the 12th of _September_, 1683, and return'd home laden with Glory and +Booty, having made himself Master of all the Grand Vizier's Equipage. Upon +this occasion he said a pleasant thing in a Letter which he wrote to the +Queen his Wife, who had not a very implicit Faith in the Maxims of +_Seneca_ on the Contempt of Riches; 'You shan't say when I come home, as +the _Tartary_ Women do to their Husbands when they return from the Army +without Booty, _You are not a Man for me, because you come empty-handed_; +for the Grand Vizier has made me sole Heir of all he had.' + +You need not be told that this was the second time the _Turks_ were forc'd +to raise the Siege of _Vienna_; for _Soliman_ the Sultan besieg'd it in +the Reign of _Charles_ V. but with no better Success than _Kara Mustapha_. +'Tis true that the Disappointment he met with was not so fatal in its +Consequence to the Sultan as the other was to the Vizier of _Mahomet_ IV. +who was strangled at _Belgrade_ when _Mahomet_ was there: And the Head of +this Minister is still to be seen in the Arsenal at _Vienna_. The +Translation of this _Turkish_ Relique hither from _Belgrade_ was pretty +extraordinary. Some Years after _Kara Mustapha_ had been strangled, when +the _Germans_ took _Belgrade_, the Soldiers being inform'd where the Grand +Vizier was buried, open'd his Tomb in hopes of Treasure, but found nothing +except the Body in its Shirt, on which there were several _Arabic_ +Characters, and an Alcoran. The Governour being told of it, remember'd +that this very Grand Vizier, when he laid Siege to _Raab_, which he was +oblig'd to raise, said, That if he took the Town he wou'd have the Head of +its Bishop cut off, who was then the Count _Leopold de Collonitz_, and +send it to the Sultan, to be reveng'd of that Prelate for taking Money out +of the Convents, and encouraging the Garison therewith to make a vigorous +Resistance. The Governour of _Belgrade_ remembring, I say, the Menaces of +the Grand Vizier, thought it wou'd be a very agreeable Present to the +Count _de Collonitz_, now a Cardinal[110], to send him the Vizier's Head +and Body too, together with the Shirt and Alcoran; and he put up the whole +very neatly in a Crystal Shrine, adorn'd with Silver Plates, and sent it +accordingly to his Eminence; who not thinking this odd Present a proper +Relique to be deposited in his Chapel, gave it to the Arsenal here at +_Vienna_, where I have both seen the Mussulman and felt him. I wou'd fain +have pluck'd some of the Hairs of his Mustachio, but the Guardian of the +precious Treasure watch'd my Fingers too narrowly. They say that a piece +of the Halter by which a Man hangs himself is lucky, and why mayn't there +be the same Virtue in the Mustachio of the Grand Vizier? Be it so or not, +'twill always deserve an honourable Station in some Cabinet of Rarities. + +Since the Siege of _Vienna_ this City is much inlarg'd. Its Fortifications +are so augmented too that if the _Turks_ should ever be prompted by their +ill Fate to besiege it again, they wou'd find a stouter Resistance, and a +greater number of their Mustachios sindged than they imagine. + +The Emperor has lately given new Lustre to his Capital, by prevailing with +Pope _Benedict_ XIII. to erect it into an Archbishopric. Several Bishops, +particularly the Archbishop of _Passaw_, have dismember'd their Dioceses +to aggrandise its Jurisdiction. The Cardinal _de Collonitz_ is the Person +who at present enjoys this Dignity, which gives him the Character and Rank +of a Prince. + +The _Roman_ Catholic is the only Religion exercis'd in _Vienna_, and in +all _Austria_; but the Ministers of the Protestant Crown'd Heads have the +Liberty here, as well as elsewhere, of keeping a Chapel. When the holy +Sacrament or the Viaticum is carried to any sick Person, 'tis always +attended by Guards who oblige all People that meet it to kneel. I have +seen the Emperor, when the Viaticum was passing by, alight out of his +Coach and accompany it to Church. This Prince, and indeed all those of his +Family, always paid a very great Devotion to the holy Sacrament of the +Altar. Of this _Philip_ IV. King of _Spain_ gave a very edifying Proof; +for this Monarch going the very day that the King his Father died, from +the Palace of _Madrid_ to the Monastery of St. _Jeronimo del Passo_ in a +close Coach, that he might be _incog._ alighted out of it to accompany +the Viaticum which they were carrying to a sick Man; whereupon the Conde +Duke _d'Olivarez_ told him, That the King his Father was so lately dead +that he ought not to have been seen in public. _My Lord_, said the King, +_this Custom cannot excuse me from paying that Worship to God which I owe +him_. + +It may be said of the august House of _Austria_, That as few Princes equal +them in Piety, so there are few that equal them in Birth. There may be +Families that have been longer grac'd with the Diadem; but of these there +are very few that have such great Alliances. There is no King, and not +many Sovereign Princes but what are related to them; and there are very +few Kingdoms to which the House of _Austria_ has not given Queens. 'Tis +now 300 Years that it has been Mistress of the Empire; and since _Albert_ +II. it has given thirteen Emperors to _Europe_ successively. One of the +Princesses of _Austria_ had so many great Relations that I cannot help +mentioning her. This was the Empress _Mary_, Wife to the Emperor +_Maximilian_, Son to _Ferdinand_ I. This Princess was Sister to _Philip_ +II. King of _Spain_, and the Daughter, the Wife, the Daughter-in-law, and +the Mother of five Emperors; the Grand-daughter, the Daughter, the Sister, +and the Aunt of four Kings of _Spain_; and the Mother-in-law of two Kings, +_viz._ _Charles_ IX. King of _France_, and _Philip_ II. King of _Spain_. A +modern Author says, that the Origin and Kindred of this Princess +infinitely surpassed those of _Agrippina_, who, according to the Report of +_Tacitus_, was the Daughter of _Germanicus_, the Sister of _Caligula_, the +Wife of _Claudius_, and the Mother of _Nero_. But when I consider how +perfect a Master you are, both of History and Genealogy, I ought to beg +your pardon for my Impertinence in troubling you with these Instances. + +What remains for me now, is to communicate some Remarks to you which I +have made upon the _Austrians_ in general. I shall begin with the Women, +whom I shall paint to you, as _Burrhus_ says, with the Freedom of a +Soldier, who is not the best Limner. + +The Women here, as in all other Countries, are either handsome or ugly. In +general they are rather handsome than pretty, for they are dull Beauties. +They are all tall and well shap'd; they walk well, but when they curt'sy, +do it in such an aukward manner, that one would think their Backs were in +danger of breaking. In their Dress they affect Finery rather than a good +Fancy. Two or three excepted, there's none that lay on the Red, much less +the White, and Patches are very little worn; in a word, they have nothing +about them that denotes Coquettry. As to their Humour, they are reckon'd +frank, tho' not easily made familiar; they are naturally vain, and like +all our _German_ Women, pretty reserv'd, and not so fond of Gallantry as +they are of Gaming, Luxury, and Magnificence. Such is their Indolence that +they concern themselves no more about their Houshold Affairs than if they +were Strangers. They know no Books but their Prayer-Books, are extremely +credulous, and give into all the Externals of Religion: This makes their +Conversation sometimes insipid; and unless now and then a Love-Story falls +in, Rain and Fair-Weather are their general Topics. They have at least as +great a Conceit of _Vienna_ as the _Parisians_ have of _Paris_; for out of +_Vienna_ they think there's no Salvation. But all these little Defects are +repair'd by an uncommon Greatness of Soul, and Generosity. They are hearty +Friends, and warm Protectors of those whose Interests they espouse. When +they are in love, their Passion is sincere; and instead of ruining their +Lovers, there are some who have made the Fortunes of those to whom they +have taken a Fancy. Upon this Head I have been told, that in the Reign of +the Emperor _Joseph_, when Gallantry was more in vogue than 'tis now, +there was a Lady, who being in love with a Gentleman, and having a mind to +make his Fortune without the Censure of the Public, thought fit in an +Assembly where her Spark cut at Basset, to punt against him. She set a +Bett, without telling a Soul how much she stak'd. Her Husband coming into +the Room where they were at play, she rose up, took the Marks that were +against her, threw them on the Ground, and said to the Banker, loud enough +to be heard by her Husband, _I owe you, +Sir+, 40000 Florins_. The Husband +in a very great Surprize ask'd what was the matter? _I have been such a +Fool_, said she, pointing to the Banker, _as to lose 40000 Florins to ++Monsieur N----+. You have reason to chide me; but however my Debt must be +paid_. The Husband indeed grumbled very much, and said he wou'd not pay. +_What!_ reply'd the Wife, _won't you pay the Gentleman? It shall fare the +worse with you if you don't, for I am resolv'd to pay him in some Coin or +other_. The Husband perceiving his Wife so resolute, and that if he did +not deposite the Money it wou'd subject him to the Loss of what was more +precious, chose rather to part with the Cash; and indeed he had no reason +to repent of it, for the Lady's Heart was so won by it, that she renounc'd +the Sight of her Lover from that Moment, and made a very sober Wife. + +This, Sir, is all I have to give you concerning the Temper of the Women. +Let me tell you also how they spend their Time. They rise late. As soon +almost as their Eyes are open, they call for Chocolate, and send to their +Husbands to know who they have invited to Dinner, and whether there is +room for any more Guests. If the Lady does not like the Company, she +sends notice to some Lady of her Acquaintance that she intends to dine +with her; but if there be room at home, as a polite Husband always takes +care to leave some at the Disposal of his Wife, she sends an Invitation to +whom she pleases. After this she dresses and goes to Mass; for here the +Ladies are all so devout that there's none but what hears at least one +Mass in a day. There they read in five or six different Prayer-Books, kiss +all the Pictures that are at the head of the Prayers, and very devoutly +toss their Beads. After the Office is over, they commonly chat a quarter +of an Hour in the Church. Then they go abroad and make some friendly +Visits, or else go home to receive them. At these Visits, they hear all +the News in _Vienna_. During this they have all a little Box of _Indian_ +Lack upon their Knees, in which they thread Gold till Dinner-time. When +that's over, they drink Coffee or play at _Quinze_ till Night, when they +go to Court. From the Empress's Apartment they adjourn to the Assembly, +where they divert themselves at _Piquet_, or at _Quadrille_; and then +retire, undress themselves, go to Supper, and thence to Bed, well pleased +to think with what Indolence and Idleness they have spent the Day. + +The Women of the second Class, in which I include the Gentlewomen that +have no Titles of Honour, _viz._ the Wives of the Assessors, Referendaries +and Agents of the Court, discover such an Air of Plenty and Prosperity as +is remarkably surprizing. Their Houses are richly furnished, and their +Tables well served. If a Referendary has a mind to a nice bit, no body +must offer to take it; and the best of every thing is what they are sure +to lay hands on. Belly Cheer is one of those things which the _Austrians_ +generally think of most: They require a great many Dishes, and those +well-cramm'd. They are so very much accustom'd to this Profusion of +Eatables that I have known some young People in _Austria_ affirm they +don't know what good Eating is in _France_, because they don't serve up a +couple of Loins of Veal in one Dish. Different sorts of Wines are what +they are also very much us'd to, which certainly is very expensive because +foreign Wines pay considerable Duties; yet nothing less will serve them +than eight or ten sorts of Wine, and I have been at Houses where there +have been no less than eighteen. They place a Note upon every Plate +expressing the several sorts of Wine at the Beaufet. + +The Burghers and common sort of People mimick the Nobility as far as their +Purses will afford; and it may be said that no Nation in the World is so +extravagant as this. + +The _Austrians_ are naturally proud and haughty, and expect all Mankind +should stoop to them. As their Sovereign is in the first Rank among the +Christian Princes, so they think theirs to be the chief Nation in the +World. Nothing is more vain nor more insupportable than a young +_Austrian_, whose Father is in any Rank at Court. They are intoxicated +with Pride and Presumption; and as they know themselves to be rich, and +their Fathers to be great Lords, they think they may despise all the +World, and lay aside that courteous and polite Behaviour which would so +well become their Birth. Yet what I here observe to you concerning the +young People is not so universally true as not to admit of great +Exceptions, which is the Case of every thing asserted in the general. + +The Court is not without Ladies who are much to be valued. The Empress +Regent honours with her Confidence Madame the Countess _de Fuchs_, whose +Husband was Minister of State to the Emperor, and his Plenipotentiary at +_Hambourg_, where he died. This Countess is Sister to the Count _de +Molard_, Steward of the Emperor's Kitchens. She is a very polite Lady, +and is so far from being envy'd for being a Favourite that all Persons of +Distinction agree she deserves it, because she supports it with Modesty, +and makes no other Use of it but to do good. + +Madamoiselle _de Klenck_ has a very great share in the Favour of the +Empress Dowager, which I take to be a Reward due to her long Services, and +to her Merit. She is chief Maid of Honour to that Princess, and has been +engag'd to her ever since she has been at _Vienna_. If the Character of a +thorough Gentlewoman may be attributed to any of the Sex, Madamoiselle _de +Klenck_ deserves it more than any other, it being impossible for a Person +to have more Integrity, and more Generosity. + +The Countess Dowager of _Altheim_, of the _Pignatelli_ Family, in regard +to whose Rank I ought to have mention'd her first, if I observ'd a very +strict Order in my Writings, is a Native of _Spain_. The Count _d'Altheim_ +married her at _Barcelona_. Her Beauty was the more admir'd in _Spain_ +because she was fair. This Lady has a noble Air, and has a Genius capable +for Affairs of the greatest Consequence. Their Imperial Majesties pay her +great Distinction, and all the Courtiers honour and respect her, so that +now in her Widowhood she continues in good Credit, and almost as much +Authority as she had when that great Favourite her Husband was living. + +The Gentry of _Austria_, and of all the Emperor's Hereditary Dominions, +are so fond of the Title of Count, that the Gentlemen buy and sollicit it +as eagerly as if it was a great Estate. 'Tis well for them that the +Dispatch of their Patents does not cost much; for the greatest Privilege +which this brings them is all a Chimaera. These Counts may be said to hold +the same Rank among the ancient Counts of the Empire as the King's +Secretaries in _France_ do among the Gentlemen of good Families. + +As for Gentlemen, they are so common here that there are scarce any others +to be seen. All the Agents of the Court, and all the Referendaries procure +themselves a Title, tho' I know not why; for neither they nor their Wives +dare to rank themselves among the Prime Nobility. This Madness of theirs +to be enobled is so common, and so easy to be gratified, that I have known +a Man, who was formerly Messenger to the Emperor _Joseph_, purchase the +Title of Baron; and his Children begin to mix with the _Grand Monde_. + +These, Sir, were all the Remarks that I made upon the _Austrians_. I must +give you a few Particulars concerning the Emperor's Person. I have already +said something to you of his Character: What follows is to shew you how +grateful he is, and how friendly, Virtues which are the more to be +esteem'd in him because they are not the most familiar to great Men. + +The Emperor shows all possible Marks of Gratitude to those _Spaniards_ who +adher'd to him while he was at _Barcelona_. He has loaded them with Wealth +and Honours; and if it's possible for one's native Country to be forgot, +he has put them in a Situation to forget theirs. This particular Goodness +of the Emperor extends to all that followed his Fortunes in _Spain_; whom +he distinguishes upon all Occasions, and does them good preferably to his +other Subjects. As to Friendship, no Monarch ever had more for any +Favourite than _Charles_ had for the late Count _d'Altheim_, his Master of +the Horse. This Nobleman was the Emperor's Page, when he was only +Arch-Duke; and he attended that Prince to _Spain_, where his Care, his +Services, his Assiduity, and above all his Honesty and his Integrity, won +him the intire Confidence of the young Monarch. When this Prince became +Emperor he rewarded the Count with Honours, Wealth, and Dignities. He +lov'd him as long as he liv'd, and his Memory is still dear to him. As +soon as he died, the Emperor declar'd himself Guardian to his Children, +gave Orders in what manner they shou'd be brought up, and now treats them +much more like his own Children than his Subjects. But what wou'd you say +of the Emperor's tender Love for the Empress? Some time ago this Princess +being dangerously ill, the Emperor not only sent for his Physicians, and +conjur'd them to employ all their Art to save her Life, but promised them +Rewards suitable to that Service, and actually watched with her several +Nights to see her take the Remedies they prescrib'd. Does not a +Conjugal-Love so perfect, deserve to be rewarded by the Birth of an +Archduke? Adieu, Sir. If I were Emperor, you shou'd be my Count +_d'Altheim_; but in the Condition I am in, you are the Person whom I +honour most of all Mankind; and am, &c. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XIV. + + + _SIR_, _Munich, Jan. 5, 1730._ + +As I came hither from _Vienna_, I stay'd two Days at LINTZ, the Capital of +_Upper Austria_. This City lies on the _Danube_, over which there is a +wooden Bridge. 'Tis a little Town, but well built, and has fine Churches. +Its Inhabitants are thriving, and they drive a great Trade in +Linnen-Cloth. 'Tis the Residence of a great many Persons of Quality, and +of the Regency of the Province, of which the Count _de Thirheim_ is the +Chief. This Nobleman lodges in the Imperial Palace, which stands upon an +Eminence, and commands the City. The Building is commodious enough, but +not so magnificent. The Emperor _Leopold_ stay'd here during the Siege of +_Vienna_; till not thinking himself safe in it he retir'd to _Passaw_. The +Neighbourhood of _Lintz_ is very agreeable. All the way hither from +_Vienna_ the _Danube_ is lin'd on both sides with Vineyards; but from +_Lintz_ to this Place, instead of Vines, there are Plantations of Hops. + +MUNICH, in the _German_ Tongue _Munchen_, stands in the middle of a large +Plain, and in the Center of _Bavaria_, of which it is the Capital City. +The Walls of it are washed by the River _Iser_; 'tis a small Town, but +better built than fortified, for within these few Years several fine +Houses have been rais'd in it. The Elector's Palace is one of the biggest +Piles of Building in _Europe_, but it wants a great deal of being so +handsome a Structure as _Misson_ and several other Authors have +represented it; for its Magnificence consists principally in its Bulk. The +chief Front, which looks towards a very narrow Street, has the Resemblance +of a fair Convent; to which the Image of the Virgin _Mary_ over the great +Gate contributes not a little. That for which 'tis held in most Esteem is +the great Apartment which is call'd the _Emperor's_ Apartment. The +Connoisseurs in Painting admire the Pictures in the great Hall, which +represent both Sacred and Prophane History, and are performed by the Hand +of _Candi_. The Chimney-piece in the same Room is very much esteem'd: +Among other fine Figures with which it is adorn'd, there's a Statue of +Porphyry that represents _Virtue_ holding a Spear in the Right Hand, and +in the Left a gilt Palm-Branch. In 1632, when _Gustavus Adolphus_ King of +_Sweden_ made himself Master of _Munich_, he thought this so beautiful a +Room that he was sorry he could not get it transported to _Stockholm_. In +the Reign of _Ferdinand Mary_, Grandfather to the present Elector, great +part of the Palace of _Munich_ was reduc'd to Ashes, which Accident was, +'tis said, the Occasion of that Prince's Death; for being at _Straubingen_ +when he received the sad News of the Fire, he took Horse immediately and +rode with such Fury to _Munich_ that he receiv'd a Fall which in a little +time prov'd his Death. + +The present Elector _Charles-Albert-Cajetan_ has embellish'd the Palace +with a new Apartment, which, tho' not so big as the Emperor's, exceeds it +in Magnificence. 'Tis adorn'd with noble Pictures, antique Busts, and +Vases plac'd upon[111] Tables of very great Value; and among other Things +there's the Picture of the Virgin done by St. _Luke_. + +There's a secret Passage from the Palace thro' little Galleries to all the +Churches and Convents in the Town. The nearest Church is that of the +_Theatins_, which together with their Monastery was built by +_Maria-Adelaide_ of _Savoy_ Wife to _Ferdinand-Mary_. The Fryars of this +Convent must be twenty seven in number, and all Men of Quality. They +subsist by charitable Donations; but dare not ask Alms, and must wait for +such Provisions as Providence shall please to send them. When they have +suffer'd extreme Want at any Time for three Days together, they are +permitted to ring a Bell as a Token of their Distress; but it has been +observ'd that this never happen'd above twice since their first +Establishment, because the Electors are too charitable to let them want. +The Tomb of the Princes of _Bavaria_ is in the Church of these honest +Fryars. + +The Church of our Lady is the parochial Church of _Munich_. In it is the +stately Tomb of the Emperor _Lewis_ of _Bavaria_ who died of Poison. 'Tis +adorn'd with a great many fine Figures of Brass and Marble. In this Church +the Elector on the 24th of _April_ last instituted the Order of St. +_George_, by Authority of Pope _Benedict_ XIII. The Ceremony was perform'd +with a vast deal of Pomp, and the Elector of _Cologn_ officiated at the +High Mass. The Promotion consisted of three Grand Priors, six Grand +Crosses, a Commander, and six Knights. Some time after this first +Promotion the Elector made a second, in which he appointed one Grand +Cross, and nine Knights. 'Tis said there will speedily be a third +Promotion of eight more Knights, the whole Number being to consist of +forty[112]. + +The Elector intends to annex Commanderies to his Order. They who are +admitted into it must give Proofs of their Extraction from sixteen +Descents; and this is so strictly observ'd that his most Serene Electoral +Highness, as Grand Master of the Order, has renounc'd all Power of +granting any Dispensation from it. According to the Statutes of this Order +all the Knights are oblig'd to be Catholics, to defend the Faith and the +Church, to protect Widows and Orphans, and to practise all the Christian +Virtues. The Badge of the Order is a large Sky-blue Ribbon border'd about +the breadth of an Inch with a black and white Stripe; and at the end of +the Ribbon hangs a Cross enamell'd with blue, in the middle of which there +is a St. _George_. + +The Church and Convent of the Reverend Fathers the Jesuits are two very +magnificent Structures. The Roof of the Church which is one single Nave is +a Work of Skill and Ingenuity, wherein the Apertures are contriv'd with +very great Art; for which reason, the Curious look upon this Fabric as a +Master-piece of Architecture. + +The Church of the Reverend Fathers of St. _Austin_, tho' but of a moderate +Size, contains Beauties that are not always to be met with in greater +Fabrics. The Pictures with which it is adorn'd are highly esteem'd, and +good Judges agree there are few that can parallel them. + +Tho' the Houses of _Munich_ are all very well built, there are few that +can be call'd Hotels or Palaces. The Count _Piosas_ a _Piedmontese_ has +caus'd one to be built of late Years which is a considerable Structure +with regard to the true Proportions of its Outside, and to the ingenious +Distribution of the Apartments, which have fine Decorations and good +Furniture. + +The Court of _Bavaria_ observes most of the Customs of the Court of +_Vienna_ in matters of Ceremony, but as for the rest, their Way of living +is different; here being more Freedom, and more Diversion. + +The Elector _Charles-Albert_ delights in Pleasures and bodily Exercise, +and acquits himself therein with a Grace. He is a comely Personage, and +has a grave, noble, and majestic Air, so that he is taken for a proud Man; +yet few Princes are more gracious and more civil to Strangers, and to his +Subjects also he is easy of Access. He was full of Life and Spirit when he +was a Prince, and now that he is a Sovereign is become sedate and +moderate. He is genteel, talks _French_, _Italian_, and _Latin_ well, is +Master of History, and perfectly acquainted with the Interest of Princes +in general, and that of his own Family in particular. He sticks to +Business, and above all seems to be very earnest in redressing his +Finances which he found in great Disorder when he acceded to the +Electorate. The Elector was born the 6th of _August_, 1697. He is Son of +_Maximilian-Emanuel_ famous for his Victories and for his Disgrace, and of +_Theresa-Cunegunda-Sobieski_, Daughter of _John Sobieski_ King of +_Poland_. When _Charles_ came into the World he had a Brother living who +was born of the Arch-Duchess _Mary-Maximilian_, _Emanuel_'s first Wife. +This young Prince who all _Europe_ expected wou'd be the Successor of +_Charles_ II. King of _Spain_, dying at _Brussels_ the 6th of _February_, +1699, _Charles_ thereby became the Electoral Prince: He was bred up at +_Munich_ with four of his Brothers, but both he and his Brothers +surrender'd Prisoners to the Emperor _Joseph_ after the Battle of +_Hochstet_, which subjected all _Bavaria_ to his Imperial Majesty. That +Monarch had the young Princes remov'd to _Gratz_, where he caus'd them to +be treated in a manner not so suitable to their high Birth as to their +decay'd Fortune. When _Joseph_ died, his Successor _Charles_ VI. used the +Princes with less Severity, caus'd them to be honourably attended, and +sent them Masters to instruct them; and upon the Peace of _Rastadt_ which +reinstated the Elector _Maximilian-Emanuel_ in his Dominions, the Princes +his Children were restor'd to him. They finish'd their Studies at +_Munich_, after which the Elector sent the four eldest to _Rome_, where +the second, whose Name was Duke _Philip_, died not long after he had been +chose Bishop of _Munster_ and _Paderborn_. _Charles_ returning from +_Italy_ went to _Vienna_, made the Campaign of _Belgrade_, and some Years +after that, he marry'd _Mary-Amelia-Anne_ of _Austria_, the late Emperor +_Joseph_'s second Daughter. In 1725, _Charles_ and his three Brothers were +at _Fontainbleau_, at the Marriage of _Lewis_ XV. and next Year he +succeeded his Father who died at _Munich_ lamented as he was ador'd by his +Courtiers. + +The Electoress who is a little Woman, very much resembles the Empress her +Mother, and has more Vivacity than is common to the Princes of the House +of _Austria_. She prefers Hunting to all other Pleasures, and there are +few Days but she partakes of that Diversion with the Elector, who, as well +as the Princes his Brothers, is fond of it. + +The Elector has by his Marriage two[113] Princes and two Princesses. The +eldest of the Sons who has the Title of the Electoral Prince is call'd +_Maximilian-Joseph_, and was born the 28th of _March_, 1727. His most +serene Electoral Highness's three Brothers are Duke _Ferdinand_, the +Elector of _Cologn_, and the Bishop of _Freisingen_ and _Ratisbon_. Of +these Princes Duke _Ferdinand_ is the only one who resides at _Munich_. +His most serene Highness is a Lieutenant-General, and has a Regiment of +Cuirassiers in the Emperor's Service. He is also a Knight of the _Golden +Fleece_, and Grand Prior of the Order of St. _George_. He marry'd +_Mary-Ann-Caroline_ of _Newbourg_, by whom he has two Sons and one +Daughter. I have already told you that he was educated with the Elector +his Brother, with whom he made the Campaign of _Belgrade_, travell'd +several times to _Italy_, and last of all to _France_, where those Princes +were admir'd for their Splendor, their Politeness, their good Taste, and +their fine Understanding. One shan't find a Man more affable than Duke +_Ferdinand_ who is even ador'd at _Munich_, and is dearly belov'd by the +Elector his Brother. The Duchess his Wife who is the best-natur'd Princess +in the World makes grand Entertainments, and is particularly civil to +Strangers. + +The Bishop of _Freisingen_ and _Ratisbon_ spends more of his Time at +_Munich_ than in his Diocese. He is a Prince of great Penetration, Spirit +and Vivacity, is generous, liberal, and charitable, extremely civil, and +'tis impossible to be acquainted with him without adding Love to that +Respect and Veneration which are due to his Birth and Character. He +enter'd very young into Orders, and was consecrated Bishop by his Brother +the Elector of _Cologn_. 'Twas thought at first that he wou'd have made +but an indifferent Ecclesiastic, but he has demonstrated that he knows how +to reconcile the Gravity of a Prelate with the Magnanimity of a Temporal +Prince. + +The Court of _Bavaria_ is without dispute the most gallant, and the +politest in _Germany_. We have a _French_ Comedy here together with Balls +and Gaming every Day, and a Concert of Music three Times a Week, at which +all the Company is mask'd; and after the Concert there's Gaming and +Dancing. These public Assemblies, at which the Elector and the whole Court +are present, bring in a great Revenue to the Elector's _Valets de +Chambre_; for besides the Money which every one pays at Entrance, they are +also paid for the Cards, and are concern'd in almost all the Banks; so +that those Domestics have almost all the Cash of the Nobility, with whom +they don't scruple neither to rank themselves. Besides these noisy +Pleasures we have others that are more tranquil, I mean those of civil +Society. Of this kind there's more here than in the other Towns of +_Germany_; but more still among the Foreigners that are in the Elector's +Service than among the _Bavarians_; for these are generally proud, tho' +'tis certainly more owing to their Opinion that it gives them a good Air +to be so than to their Temper; and they actually become more sociable when +they are made sensible that their grand Airs are not astonishing. + +The Title of Count is as common here as at _Vienna_, and the _Bavarian_ +Counts have no greater Privileges than those of _Austria_, for they are as +much Subjects as the meanest Gentlemen. I find that those in Places, and +who bear any Rank at Court are much more polite than others. The Counts +_de Thirheim_, _Torring_, and _Preising_ who have the chief Employments +are so civil that I believe there's few Foreigners but will give them +their Encomium. + +The Elector has a very large Houshold, and a number of great Officers. +I'll mention some of them to you. + +The Count _Maximilian de Torring-Seefeldt_ is Steward of the Elector's +Houshold, a Minister of State, and Knight of the _Golden Fleece_. This +Nobleman who is advanc'd in Years, is good-natur'd and civil, speaks +little, is naturally grave, not fond of Pomp, and lives retir'd in the +middle of a Court, but when he makes any Entertainment does it with +Grandeur. He never once abandon'd the Elector _Maximilian-Emanuel_ his +former Master, but follow'd him in his Fortunes both good and bad. + +The Count _Sigismond de Thirheim_ is Great Chamberlain, a Minister of +State, and Grand Croix of the Order of St. _George_. He is very tall, and +tho' his Air is not the most affable, he is courteous and civil. He lives +very nobly, and does the Honours of the Court very handsomely; +consequently he is generally beloved and esteem'd. He was Governor of the +Elector, who, contrary to most Princes that are not apt to retain an +Esteem for those who once had the Care of their Education, gives great +Proofs of his Regard for the Count _de Thirheim_. + +The Count _Maximilian de Fugger_ is Grand Marshal[114]. As he does not +live at _Munich_, I have nothing particular to tell you of him. + +The Count _Maximilian de Preysing_ Master of the Horse, President of the +Chamber of Finances, a Minister of State, and Grand Croix of the Order of +St. _George_, is a very polite Nobleman, but serious and grave to the last +degree. 'Tis difficult for any Man to be more attach'd to his Religion, to +have more Candor, and to be more upright than this Minister. His Probity +has brought Envy upon him, but it has procur'd him the Elector's intire +Confidence, of which however the Count makes no farther Advantage than is +requisite for his Master's Business. He is accus'd of being close-fisted, +and of dissuading the Elector from giving Gratuities; but 'tis agreed that +he is very charitable to the Poor. 'Tis a hard matter for a Minister who +has the Direction of the Finances to please every body, and he is commonly +the Butt of public Censure. + +The Count _de Rechberg_ Great Huntsman[115], Minister of State, President +of the Council of War, Lieutenant-General, and Grand Croix of the Order of +St. _George_, is Commander in Chief of the Elector's Forces: He +accompany'd the late Elector to _France_ where he acquir'd the Reputation +of an experienc'd skilful General. + +_Ignatius-Joseph_ Count _de Torring_ is a Minister of State, Grand Master +of the Artillery, and a Grand Croix of St. _George_. He followed the late +Elector into _France_, and after that Prince was restor'd he went as +Minister Plenipotentiary to the Imperial Court, where he negotiated the +Marriage of the present Elector with the Archduchess, youngest Daughter to +the late Emperor _Joseph_. + +I cou'd tell you of many other Persons of Distinction at the Court of +_Bavaria_, only I fear that being too particular wou'd tire your Patience. +The Ministers who bear the greatest Sway are the Counts _Maximilian de +Preysing_ and _de Torring_, and M. _d'Unertel_. The first is Director of +the Finances; the second has the Province of Foreign Affairs; and the +third takes care of Affairs Domestic and Military. These three Ministers +are the Arbiters of _Bavaria_, and to them the Tribunals of the several +Provinces must apply. + +_Bavaria_ is divided into four Cantons or Provinces, _viz._ the Cantons +_of Munich_, _Burghausen_, _Landstrut_ and _Straubingen_. Each of these +Provinces has a Regency or Parliament; and an Appeal lies from Sentences +therein pass'd to the Elector's Council of State. + +'Tis certain that _Bavaria_ is one of the best States in the Empire. 'Tis +said that it brings in seven Millions of Florins, and I have been assured +by Persons who have Opportunities of being inform'd of the State of the +Finances, that there was a time when the late Elector received eleven +Millions _per Ann._ The Riches of _Bavaria_ are owing to the Exportation +of Salt and Corn, and to the Consumption of the Beer brew'd in the +Country, which is as good as any in the World. _Tirol_, and the Country +of _Saltzbourg_, have almost all the Corn which they spend from +_Bavaria_, and the Elector has a Florin for every Sack that is exported. +Another thing which is a Treasure to _Bavaria_ is the Fir-Trees, a Wood +that serves for every Use that can be imagin'd, whether for Building, or +for Houshold-Stuff. There is not a Province in the Empire where Provisions +are cheaper, and in the mean time there's a vast Home-Consumption; for +besides that the _Bavarians_ love good Eating and Drinking, the Country is +very populous; and 'tis computed that the Inhabitants of _Munich_ alone +are above 40,000. + +Of all the Sovereigns in _Europe_, next to the King of _France_, the +Elector of _Bavaria_ has the finest Pleasure-Houses, for which he may +thank the Elector his Father who had a wonderful good Fancy and Judgment. + +NYMPHENBOURG a short League from _Munich_ is a charming Place. The Castle +is to be seen a great way off by reason of its Situation in the middle of +a great Plain, so that from the Apartments of the second Story one +discovers a vast Tract of Country, and an infinite number of Rural +Beauties that are in the Neighbourhood of _Munich_. _Mary-Adelaide de +Savoy_ (Mother to _Maximilian-Emanuel_) who was extremely fond of the Arts +and Sciences, and knew them perfectly well, was the Person who laid the +Foundations of that Castle. The Man that she employ'd to build it was an +_Italian_ Architect whom she sent for out of _Italy_ for the purpose. But +all this Palace consisted only of one great Pavilion. _Maximilian-Emanuel_ +thinking the Castle too small, caused several Mansions to be added to it, +together with fine Stables and grand Gardens; in short, he put the whole +into that magnificent Condition we see it in at this day. His most serene +Electoral Highness lets the Pavilion stand in pure respect to the Memory +of his Mother who built it, but 'tis pity he does; for 'tis much higher +than the rest of the Edifice, and is no good Ornament to the main +Building. In order to give you a more perfect Idea of this House, I will +tell you that it looks towards a great and magnificent Canal terminated at +each end by a spacious Basin adorn'd with Water-works and double Rows of +Trees on each side which form the Avenues. We enter into the Castle by an +Ascent of Marble Steps: The first Room we come to is a very great high +Salon adorn'd with Architecture of Plaister of _Paris_ very well executed. +From each side of this Salon there is a Passage into several Apartments of +which I shall not stop to give you the Detail, because I don't think it in +my power to convey a suitable Idea to you of the Richness of the +Furniture, and all the fine things that are in it. Imagine only that the +late Elector who had an exquisite Taste, and a noble Soul, spar'd no Cost +to adorn these Apartments. I pass to the Gardens which one enters from the +Great Hall by a Descent of Marble Steps. The first thing that strikes the +Eye is a Parterre of a vast Extent, at the Entrance of which there is a +great Bason ornamented with a Group of Figures of mill'd Lead gilt with +Water-Gold representing _Flora_ receiving Flowers from _Nymphs_ and +_Cupids_. At the end of the Parterre there is one of the most agreeable +Woods in the World, which is cut by three Walks in form of a Goose's Foot. +The middlemost fronts the great Pavilion of the Castle, and has a large +Canal in the middle of it of which one can't see the end: 'Tis terminated +by a fine Cascade form'd by several Blocks of Marble, and adorn'd with +fine Statues. The second Walk on the right hand leads one to the Mall +which forms a Semi-Circle, and is one of the finest and longest I ever +saw. At the Entrance of this Mall there is a Pavilion call'd _Pagodebourg_ +(the _Castle of the Pagode_;) 'tis two Stories high, and built in form of +the _Pagodes_ Temples. I believe there never was any thing prettier. All +the Furniture of this little Palace is _Indian_, of a charming Contrivance +and Elegancy; and the whole is so well laid out that notwithstanding the +smallness of the House, the Elector has every Convenience in it that can +be desir'd. Over-against _Pagodebourg_ on the other side of the Canal in +the third Walk is _Badenbourg_ (the _Castle of Baths_) which is a more +considerable Building, and has all the Beauty of the Modern Bagnios. The +Baths are spacious and lin'd with Marble. There is an Apartment consisting +of several Pieces adorned with Stucco, and Pictures representing _Venus_ +in the Bath, _Diana_ in the Water with her Nymphs, and the other Subjects +of the Fable. The whole Apartment glitters with Gold, and the Furniture of +it is rich, and of a charming Fancy. This beautiful House is surrounded +with fine Pieces of Water adorned with Cascades and Statues. These Baths +wou'd most certainly deserve a particular Description, and I am angry with +myself for not being able to give it. + +'Tis certain that next to the Gardens of _Versailles_, there is none so +magnificent as those of _Nymphenbourg_; which is a Place that Art and +Nature seem to have joined their Forces in order to render noble and +agreeable. + +The Castle of _Schleisheim_ is a more regular Building than that of +_Nymphenbourg_, and makes so grand an Appearance that I don't know any +House in _Germany_ that can compare with it. The great Stair-Case and the +Salon in the large Apartment are the only Pieces in their kind. They are +fac'd with Marble, and painted in a most correct and beautiful manner. + +_Taco_, _Furstenriet_ and _Starenberg_ are Houses fit for the Solacement +of a Great Prince, and will be Testimonies to Posterity of the Elector +_Maximilian-Emanuel_'s grand and happy Taste. + +Of all the Elector's Houses _Nymphenbourg_ is that where the Court resides +most. It is as well a Hunting-House as a Pleasure-House, by reason of a +Park in the Neighbourhood which is eight Leagues in compass, and cut out +into a great number of fine long Roads. Here the Elector comes to rouze +the Stag; and there is a little Park adjoining to the Gardens, which, as +well as the adjacent Fields, abounds with Pheasants, Partridges, and all +other Game of that sort. + +When the Court is at _Nymphenbourg_ the Electress has a Drawing-Room there +three times a Week where there is Gaming, and when that is over the Ladies +sup with their Electoral Highnesses, who sometimes admit Gentlemen of +their Court to their Table, but commonly all Foreigners. They who prefer +taking the Air to Gaming, find open Calashes every Evening drawn by two +Horses, at the bottom of the Steps on the side of the Garden: A Gentleman +drives the Calash, two Ladies ride in it, and a Gentleman stands behind. +And such as prefer the Water find very neat Gondolas finely gilt upon the +Canal at their Service; so that there is no want of any thing to add to +the Pleasures of all sorts in this inchanting Place. + +Were I to enumerate to you all the various Pleasures of this Court I +should never have done. For the present I shall confine myself to these +already mentioned. I am resolved to set out in three or four days for +_Stutgard_. I shall lie at _Augsbourg_, and at _Ulm_. A Frost which has +held for a Month without ceasing has made the Roads so hard that I hope I +shall roll along finely. I expect to hear from you at _Stutgard_. Pray +take care that I be not disappointed, and believe that I am very +sincerely, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XV. + + + _SIR_, _Stutgard, Jan. 14, 1730._ + +There is nothing remarkable between _Munich_ and _Augsbourg_ except it be +the fine Abbey of FURSTENFELDT, which is in possession of the _Bernardin_ +Fryars. It was founded by _Lewis the Severe_ Duke of _Bavaria_ to attone +for his Wickedness in putting _Joan_ of _Brabant_ his Wife unjustly to +death. The History of _Bavaria_ relates the Fact thus: _Joan_ was a very +beautiful Princess. Her Husband who was doatingly fond of her being +obliged to take a Journey, put her under the Guard of one of his Aunts. +While he was gone _Joan_ wrote frequently to her Husband, and sometimes to +his Prime Minister and Favourite. One day she put her Letters into the +hands of a Domestic, charging him to deliver them as they were directed; +but the Man made a Mistake, and gave the Letter which was for the Duke to +his Favourite, and that which was for the Minister to the Duke. _Lewis_ +thought that his Wife's Style was too obliging to a Subject, and was even +mad with Jealousy. He first kill'd his Favourite, and then taking horse +posted to _Donawert_ where his Wife was. He came to the Castle in the +Night-time, murder'd the Porter with his own hand, put his Aunt and all +with whom he had left his Wife in charge to Death; and then like another +_Herod_, caused the unfortunate _Joan_ to be beheaded. The Night after +this barbarous Action, the Heirs of _Lewis_'s Head turn'd gray, tho' he +was but twenty-eight Years old; which Accident made him sensible of his +Guilt and of the Innocence of his Wife. As his Barbarity was great, so was +his Repentance. He went on foot to _Rome_ to beg the Pope's Absolution for +his Sins, and obtain'd it on condition that he wou'd cause a Church to be +built, and found a Monastery in his Dominions. _Lewis_ returning from +_Rome_ founded the Abbey at _Furstenfeldt_. The first Establishment was +only for eight Fryars; but the Piety of the Princes of _Bavaria_ having +wrought upon them to bestow their Favours upon this House, it now +maintains thirty Fryars and an Abbot, whom the Monks have the Prerogative +to chuse out of their own Body. These good Fathers are actually erecting a +very stately Church, and they enjoy all the Conveniences of Life. + +The Country between _Munich_ and _Augsbourg_ is level and intermix'd with +Woods and Plains. AUGSBOURG which is a Bishop's See, and an Imperial City, +is the Capital of _Swabia_, and one of the biggest and handsomest Towns in +_Germany_. A small Branch of the _Leck_ passes thro' it, and supplies it +with plenty of Water. The Streets of _Augsbourg_ are broad, strait and +lightsome; the Houses well built, and many of 'em full of Paintings. The +Inhabitants look upon _Augustus_ to be the Founder of their City. 'Tis +true that Emperor sent a Colony thither, but the Town was founded before. +It is not said what Name it went by before the Name of _Augusta +Vindelicorum_ was given it to distinguish it from the other Towns that +bore the Name of _Augusta_. The clearing up of this difficulty is what I +shall leave to the Antiquarians, and confine my self to the Transactions +at _Augsbourg_ for about two hundred Years past. What will render this +City for ever famous is the Confession of Faith which the Protestant +Princes presented here to the Emperor _Charles_ V. in the year 1530. Tho' +the Protestants were at that time very powerful in _Augsbourg_ they cou'd +not keep their ground, for they were drove out by the _Bavarians_; but +_Gustavus Adolphus_ restored them in 1632, since which time they have kept +their Footing there, and share the Government with the Roman Catholics. In +1687, the Emperor, _Spain_, the United Provinces, and the Electors of +_Saxony_, _Brandenbourg_, and the Palatinate concluded that famous League +at _Augsbourg_ against _Lewis_ XIV. who was beginning to inforce the Claim +of the Duchess of _Orleans_ his Sister-in-law to the Succession of the +Elector Palatine _Charles-Lewis_, who was that Princess's Brother. In +1690, _Joseph_ Archduke of _Austria_ King of _Hungary_, the eldest Son of +the Emperor _Leopold_, was consecrated and crown'd King of the _Romans_ at +_Augsbourg_, at which Ceremony the Emperor, the Empress, the Electors of +_Mentz_, _Cologn_, _Triers_, _Bavaria_, and the Palatinate were personally +present. + +In 1703, the Elector _Maximilian_ of _Bavaria_, made himself Master of +_Augsbourg_ in one Week's time. This City had demanded and obtained a +Neutrality, but having afterwards received an Imperial Garrison the +Elector made use of that Pretence to lay Siege to it. He caused the +Fortifications to be demolish'd, foreseeing, no doubt, that he should not +be able to keep the Place. _Augsbourg_ was set free again by the Battle of +_Hochstet_, and still enjoys its Freedom under its own Magistrates, the +Bishop having no Authority in the City as to Temporals. The present Bishop +is of the Family of _Neubourg_, and Brother to the Elector Palatine. This +Prince has the same Goodness of Temper which is so natural to all his +Family. As his Bishoprick is not one of the most considerable in +_Germany_, so his Court is none of the biggest, but his Houshold is well +regulated, and every thing conducted in it with Order and Splendor. + +The Chapter of the Cathedral consists of Persons of Quality who are +oblig'd to make Proof of their Nobility. The Canons have the Prerogative +of chusing their Bishop, who like all the Prelates of _Germany_ is a +Sovereign Prince. He dwells at _Augsbourg_, tho' he ought to reside at +_Dillingen_. The Episcopal Palace is old, and not very commodious: It +joins to the Cathedral, which is a _Gothic_ gloomy unwieldy Fabric, but +its Ornaments are very rich. + +The most considerable Building is the Town-house, a very substantial Pile +built all of Freestone except the Portico, which is of Marble. The Rooms +are very fine, and the great Hall especially is to the last degree +magnificent. The Walls are cover'd with Painting, being such Emblems and +Devices as have relation to the Government. Nothing can be more beautiful +than the Cieling which consists all of Compartments whose Frames are +carv'd and gilt in an extraordinary manner, the whole enrich'd with +Pictures and other Ornaments perfectly well dispos'd. + +Before the Town-house there's a very stately Fountain, where, among other +fine Figures of Brass, the Statue of _Augustus_ which is represented in a +most noble Attitude is highly esteem'd. + +The City of _Augsbourg_ is in my Opinion something like _Antwerp_ with +regard to the Spaciousness of the Streets and the Substantialness of its +Buildings; and formerly when the _Venetians_ were Masters of all the +Commerce, it resembled it in Trade; for _Augsbourg_ was then the Staple +for Merchandize, which was from thence transported to a great part of +_Europe_. But since _London_ and _Amsterdam_ are become the Warehouses of +the whole World, and the Commerce of _Venice_ decays, the greatest Trade +of _Augsbourg_ consists in Goldsmith's Wares, with which this City +furnishes _Germany_, _Poland_, and in general almost all the North. These +Wares are much cheaper here than elsewhere, and when the Patterns are +furnish'd People are well serv'd. Notwithstanding the Decay of its +Commerce there are several very rich Families; but whether any can do what +_Fugger_ did to the Emperor _Charles_ V. is a Question. That Monarch +passing thro' _Augsbourg_ lodg'd at _Fugger_'s House, who entertain'd him +like an Emperor. The Fewel he burnt in every Chimney was Cedar, and after +the Repast, which was extraordinary sumptuous, _Fugger_ took a Bond for a +very considerable Sum which the Emperor ow'd him, and threw it into the +Fire. + +The Nobility assemble commonly every Evening at the _Three Kings_ Inn +where I quarter. There's a very fine Hall well lighted, where they game, +club for a Supper, and after Supper dance. Be not scandaliz'd that the +Nobility have their Assembly at an Inn, it being one of the best Houses in +_Germany_ and the most superb Inn in _Europe_. There's very good +Attendance. I have supp'd at it twice, and one cannot be better +accommodated in any House whatsoever. + +From _Augsbourg_ I came to ULM another Imperial City. Tho' all the Country +is even, yet 'tis very tiresome to Travellers because of the Pavement of +the Causeys; but Thanks to the Snow which has levell'd the Ways, I have +not been much incommoded; tho' on the other hand I had like to have been +lost in the Snow, such a quantity of it having fallen for two Days that +one could not distinguish the Roads. I found my self at a Post-Stage where +my Guide, tho' he was a Man that had grown grey in the Business of +Postilion upon the same Road, did not know the Way. I was in danger every +Moment of tumbling into some Ditch, when just as we entered a certain +Valley my Postilion sounded a Horn to give notice to any Carriages or +Horses that might happen to meet us to make way, when a Voice from the +Hollow call'd out to the Postilion, _Who's that? Stephen? Oh!_ cry'd the +Postilion, _Is it you, Christopher? God be thank'd that I met with you_! +Then turning towards me, he said with an Air of Satisfaction, _Now you are +out of all Danger, for here's a blind Man that will conduct us to the +Place we are going to_. I thought the Droll jok'd with me, but we had not +gone many Yards farther before I really saw a poor Wretch who could not +see, yet offer'd to be my Guide, and promis'd he wou'd conduct me very +well. I abandon'd my self to him, and he walk'd so fast before my Chaise +that the Horses follow'd him in a gentle Trot till we came safe to the +Stage. There he told me that 'twas fifteen Years ago that he lost his +Sight by the breaking of an Imposthume in his Eyes, after having suffer'd +such horrible Pains for two Months that he bless'd himself for the Loss of +his Sight; so that when I ask'd him if he was not very much concern'd at +it, he said that at first it made him melancholy for some time, but that +he always comforted himself by the Remembrance of the Torture he had +undergone in the Loss of his Sight, and that he thought it were much +better to be blind and to have his Health than to see, and suffer the +Pains that he had endur'd; but that now he was so us'd to his Condition it +gave him no Concern. Indeed, when I ask'd him, if he should not be very +glad to recover his Sight? he said, Yes, if it were possible; but that if +he must undergo the same Pains to recover it as he had felt in the Loss of +it, he had rather by a thousand times continue blind. When I told him of +my Surprize that he should find out the Way better than those who see, he +told me that since he had been blind he came regularly on Sundays and +Saints Days to the Place where we were to hear Mass, and that therefore +the Road was become very familiar to him. He added, that he sometimes +went alone to beg three or four Leagues from his Village, which was a +quarter of a League from the hollow Way where I met with him. I sent the +Man away, after giving him some Relief; and could not but admire the +divine Providence, which tho' it had afflicted the poor Wretch with what +to me seems more terrible than Death, gave him Strength to bear his +Misfortune with Patience. + +The City of _Ulm_ is not above half as big as _Augsbourg_, but is much +better fortify'd. The _Danube_ which washes its Walls, becomes navigable +at this Place, and a Boat goes from hence every Week for _Vienna_, which +is a great Ease to People who are not in a Condition to lay out much +Money; for it costs but a _Creutzer_, which is one Penny a _German_ Mile. +Tho' the City of _Ulm_ maintains a very numerous Garison, and is very well +fortify'd, and furnished with a good Arsenal, the Elector _Maximilian_ of +_Bavaria_ took it by Surprize in 1702, it being a Place necessary for him +to secure his Dominions on that side, and to facilitate the Passage of the +_French_ Troops that were to join his Army. General _Thungen_ robb'd him +of this Conquest the 10th of _Sept._ 1704, after about a Week's Siege. + +Then it was that _Ulm_ became again subject to its Magistrates who are all +_Lutherans_. The Catholics cannot enjoy Offices, but have several +Churches. This City drives a great Trade in Linnen, but few of the Gentry +live here except the Patricians who are not more sociable than those of +_Nuremberg_ and _Augsbourg_. The Burghers and the Women in particular go +dress'd like those at _Augsbourg_. To see them go to and come from Church +is next kin to seeing a Masquerade, and 'tis certainly one of the most +diverting Sights in this City, where really I did not give my self time to +be tired, for I set out again the very next Day after I came, and arrived +in this Town, where I have now rested my self a couple of Days. + +STUTGARD lies in the middle of a Valley surrounded with Vineyards. 'Tis +pretty large, has Streets broad and strait, but the Houses are of Timber. +'Tis the Capital of the Duchy of _Wirtemberg_, and was formerly the +Residence of the Sovereigns of the Country; but _Eberhard-Lewis_ the +present Duke of _Wirtemberg_ established his Seat some Years ago at[116] +_Ludwigsbourg_, a new City and a new Palace of his own building. + +The Duke's Castle is an old Structure of Freestone, compos'd of four Piles +of Building, flank'd at each Angle by a Tower. The Walls of it are wash'd +by Ditches which give it the disagreeable Air of a Prison. The Duchess who +is the Duke's Wife, and Sister to the Margrave of _Baden-Dourlach_, has an +Apartment in this Palace. You know that this Princess and her Husband +don't live well together. The Prince[117] about twenty Years ago preferr'd +a Mistress to her[118], who certainly has neither the Beauty, nor the +Merit of the Duchess. The Princess is remarkably patient under the +Indifference of a Husband, and the Contempt of the most haughty Rival that +ever was. The frequent Visits paid her by her only Son are all the Comfort +she has. The Court neglects her, no body dares to go near her, and +whoever pays the Duchess the Respects that are naturally due to her, is +sure to incur the merciless Hatred of the Mistress. I may be able perhaps +to give you a farther Account of this Princess and her Rival when I have +been at _Ludwigsbourg_, whither I propose to go to-morrow, and where I +hope for a Line from you. + + _I am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XVI. + + + _SIR_, _Ludwigsbourg, Feb. 2, 1730._ + +The Duke of _Wirtemberg_ is a Prince of a middling Size, and before he +grew so fat was very well shap'd. He is genteel, affable, and +well-belov'd, and few Princes treat their Courtiers with more Familiarity. +He has been one of the best Dancers of his Time. He also sits perfectly +well on horseback, and performs all bodily Exercises with infinite +Gracefulness, and incomparable Dexterity. He takes pleasure sometimes in +driving his own Coaches, and I have seen him drive eight Horses without a +Postilion, and manage them with as much Ease as if there was but one Horse +in the Harness. He is a Prince that loves Magnificence, is generous, +gallant, and amorous. Tho' 'tis above twenty Years that he has kept one +and the same Mistress, he is as passionately fond of her, and gives as +shining Proofs of it as ever. During the last War his most Serene Highness +commanded the army of the Empire on the _Upper Rhine_. He has an only Son +marry'd to _Henrietta_ of _Prussia_, Daughter of the Margrave _Philip_, +Brother to _Frederic_ I. King of _Prussia_. This young Prince is called +the hereditary Prince. He is short of Stature, but handsome. He has one of +the best Tempers that can be desir'd in a Sovereign, being humane, +good-natur'd, affable, and civil. It may be said that the Father and the +Son are the two politest Men at the Court of _Wirtemberg_. The Father has +spent several Years in _Holland_, _Lorrain_, _Geneva_, _Turin_, _Italy_ +and _France_. When he return'd from his Travels he went and marry'd at +_Berlin_. He has an only Daughter who is very amiable. The hereditary +Prince is vastly fond of Grandeur, Dancing, Plays and Music: He fatigues +himself very much, and commonly rides seven or eight Horses in a Morning. +His tender Constitution and the little Care he takes of it make me +apprehensive he will not live to be an old Man[119]. + +The hereditary Princess has an Air of Grandeur and Majesty suitable to her +Rank. She is tall and handsome, has a noble Mien, and tho' she is not a +regular Beauty, 'tis certain that she has a very good Look. She is +extremely grave, and does not seem to take a great share in the Pleasures +of the Court. She seems to be most of all taken with Dress, and her +Apparel is not only splendid but well-fancy'd. Her Royal Highness, which +is a Title given her because she is the Daughter of a King's Brother, is +extremely gracious and civil to all Mankind, but particularly to those +whom she knew at the Court of _Prussia_. She does me the honour to +discourse with me sometimes. I find she thinks very justly, and that her +Sentiments are very agreeable to her Birth. This Princess is of the +_Calvinist_ Religion, and she keeps a Chaplain who preaches to her in her +own Apartment; so that now while the Prince _Alexander de Wirtemberg_ is +here, there are three Chapels in the Castles of as many different +Religions. + +The Countess _de Wurben_ is the first Lady at Court next to her Royal +Highness. She has been the Duke's sole Favourite for a long time. She is +_Gravenitz_ by Name, and is descended of a noble Family in _Mecklembourg_. +The Duke first fell in love with her when she was but a Girl. She had the +Assurance after she had been some Years in Favour to insist that the Duke +should get a Divorce from the Duchess his Wife, by whom he had a Son, and +marry her. When the Duchess was inform'd of her Rival's Demand she sued +for the Emperor's Protection, and obtain'd it. That Monarch signified to +the Duke that he would do well to remove his Favourite, who was therefore +oblig'd to retire to _Swisserland_. The Duke who could not bear her out of +his sight, followed her thither and stay'd there with her for some time, +but at last being oblig'd to return to his Dominions, and not being able +to take Madamoiselle _de Gravenitz_ to him without reviving the just +Suspicions of the Duchess, he look'd out for a Husband for his Mistress. +The Count _de Wurben_ a Gentleman of a good Family, and in mean +Circumstances, but a very eager Stickler for the Favours of Fortune at any +rate whatsoever, made an offer to marry Madamoiselle _de Gravenitz_. She +was bestowed upon him with a Pension of 24000 Florins, and the Character +of the Duke's Envoy Extraordinary to the Imperial Court. He engag'd never +to make use of the Husband's Prerogative and never to require of his Wife +to leave the Court. Upon this Condition he obtain'd even before he set out +for _Vienna_ the Office of _Landthoffmeister_ or Lord Lieutenant of +_Wirtemberg_, which is the highest Dignity in the Country. When the +Marriage was concluded, Madam _de Wurben_ returned to _Stutgard_, where +she had Lodgings in the Palace. All her Aim was to insult the Duchess, in +hopes of provoking her to commit something so outragious as might embroil +her with the Duke, and make him resolve never to forgive her; but this +Princess equally virtuous and prudent, and always patient, bore all this +Mortification without murmuring. The Mistress, who could not endure to see +her in the Palace, obtain'd an Order from the Duke for her Retirement to +the Estate which was settled on her for her Jointure; but the Duchess +would never comply to it, saying, that if she had not been unfortunate +enough in the Loss of her Husband she would not retire to her Jointure. +This Refusal, how reasonable soever it was, affronted the Duke, who +acquainted the Duchess that he did not look upon her any longer as his +Wife, and gave orders that she should be treated no longer as a Sovereign. +During this, Madam _de Wurben_ became a Widow; whereupon all the Hopes +reviv'd that she had presumed to entertain when a Maid. She persuaded the +Duke to leave _Stutgard_, and to found _Ludwigsbourg_. As soon as this +House was in a Condition to be occupy'd, the Duke and his Mistress came +and liv'd in it. There's no sort of Intrigue which this Favourite has not +try'd to put herself in the Duchess's Rank, but hitherto she has not been +able to succeed. Mean-while she enjoys all the Honours of a Sovereign. +'Tis at her Apartments that the Court is kept. Whenever the Duke plays +'tis there, and there it is he diets. In short she is treated in every +thing upon a par with her Royal Highness. Her Excellency (which is the +only Title given to this imperious Favourite since the Death of her +Husband) is drawing on to fifty Years of Age, and yet carries a mighty +Sway. She employs all the Remedies imaginable to cancel the Injuries which +Time has done to her Complexion, and also to conceal her natural Temper; +for Artifice and Dissimulation are the Compounds of her Character. She is +so eager in amassing of Riches that she makes it her chief Business. While +she pretends a mighty Respect for the Duke, she expects like another +_Astarte_ that every Knee should bend and tremble before her. As she is +the Reservoir of Favour, greater Court is made to her than to the Duke +himself, and Woe be to those that dare to disoblige her! I must own +however that she knows how to behave as well as any Woman in _Germany_, +when she has a mind to shew her Politeness. The worst on't is, that she is +not always so inclin'd; for she has been so long us'd to give herself +great Airs that they are become habitual to her. The principal Offices of +the Court are distributed among her Kindred or Creatures. Her Brother the +Count _de Gravenitz_ is Grand Marshal and Prime Minister. I hardly ever +saw a handsomer Man: I must also do him the justice to declare that he is +as civil as his Sister is haughty. Some Years ago the Duke obtain'd for +him the Dignity of a Count of the Empire, in which Quality he was admitted +also at the Dyet, and he has a Seat there on the Bench of the Counts of +_Swabia_. His Authority is never oppos'd but by his Sister, to whom he +will not always be obedient. 'Tis said their Divisions have sometimes gone +so far that the Favourite has done all in her power to turn out her +Brother, and he has try'd all Ways in his turn to remove his Sister, but +the Duke has always been so good as to reconcile them. The Prime Minister +and his eldest Son are honour'd with the Order of _Prussia_. There is no +Court in _Europe_ where there's such a Variety of Orders and Ribbons. The +Duke bears alternatively the _Danish_ Order of the _Elephant_, the +_Prussian_ Order of the _Black Eagle_, and his own Order which is that of +St. _Hubert_. + +The Hereditary Prince has the Order of _Prussia_ and that of the Duke his +Father. + +The Prince _Charles-Alexander_ wears the _Fleece_, and the Order of +_Wirtemberg_[120]. Prince _Lewis_ his Brother wears the _Polish_ Order of +the _White Eagle_. + +The Baron _de Schunck_ heretofore the Duke's Minister of State, and at +present Great Bailiff of a Bailywic, is Knight of the Order of +_Dannebrog_. + +I should never have done were I to give you the Names of all the Knights +of the Order of St. _Hubert_, and the many petty Sovereigns that have been +the Grand Masters. + +The Duke's particular or Cabinet-Council is compos'd of the Hereditary +Prince and the Counts _de Gravenitz_, Father and Son, the Baron _de +Schutz_, and M. _de Pollnitz_[121]. There are many other Counsellors of +State, but not being admitted to the Cabinet-Council they are not in so +much Esteem as the others. + +His most Serene Highness keeps the Estimate of his Forces to himself. I +think that he has now 4000 Men without reckoning his Life-Guards, which +are two Companies, the finest of all the Guards in _Germany_. One of these +Companies is commanded by the Lieutenant-General Baron _de Phul_, and the +other by a Count of _Witgenstein_. They are dress'd in yellow, and are +only distinguish'd by the Facing of their Clothes and their Bandeliers, +one of which is Black and the other Red. Their Regimental Clothes are +Yellow with Silver Lace. The Duke has also a Company of Cadets on +Horseback, all Gentlemen. They are dress'd in Red, with black Velvet +Facings and Silver Lace. They mount Guard at the Duke's Apartment only. +Two of them always stand Centry before his Highness's Chamber-Door. + +The Court of _Wirtemberg_ is one of the most numerous in _Germany_. + +There's a Grand Marshal, who as I have told you is the Count _de +Gravenitz_, Brother to the Favourite. + +A Marshal of the Court, who is second Son to the Grand Marshal. + +A Travelling Marshal, who is Brother-in-law to the Prime Minister. + +A Great Cup-bearer, who is the Baron _de Frakenberg_. + +A Master of the Horse. + +A Great Huntsman. + +Four Chamberlains. + +A Number of Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber, and Gentlemen of the Court. + +Two Captains of the Guards. + +A considerable number of Counsellors of State and Aulic Counsellors. + +Twenty Pages, all Men of good Families. + +And finally a great many Footmen, and Officers of the Kitchen, Pantry, and +Buttery. + +The Duke's Stables are the best furnish'd of any in _Europe_. One shall +not see finer Horses, or any that are better manag'd. The Hunting Equipage +is also very magnificent; and I don't know one thing that is wanting. His +Highness keeps a Company of _French_ Comedians to whose Performance every +body is admitted _gratis_. We have often Balls, Masquerades, and Concerts +of Music. There is an Assembly at the Favourite's House every day, where +the Company plays at Piquet, Quadrille, and Pharo; so that here are all +the Pleasures of a great Court. The Duke's Table is serv'd with very great +Cost and Delicacy, and is commonly spread for sixteen Guests. The Duke +sits at the upper end, between her Royal Highness and her Excellency. The +Gentlemen are plac'd according to the Rank which they derive from their +Employments, and the Ladies according to the Offices which are borne by +their Husbands. + +There's a Ceremonial observ'd here which is not known in any other Court, +_viz._ the Duke's Ministers give place to no Foreigner, unless he be a +Minister like themselves to some Prince, or unless he be a Count of the +Empire. These have so distinguish'd a Rank at this Court that all who are +not Counts must give place to them. A Count of the Empire, tho' he be a +Cadet in the hundredth Generation, a Lieutenant or an Ensign, as it +sometimes happens, in the Duke's Service, takes place of all Ministers and +great Officers who are not Counts. This is a Regulation which her +Excellency made after her Brother was created a Count, to the end that her +Family might have the more Honour, and that the greater Respect might be +paid to her own Dignity of Countess without a County. + +I have told you that the Duke had transferr'd his Residence from +_Stutgard_ to _Ludwigsbourg_, and the reason which made him abandon the +Capital of his Dominions; but why he preferr'd the Situation of his new +Town to a hundred others that he might have chose more agreeable, is what +I cannot account for. + +LUDWIGSBOURG is remote from any River, great Roads and Forests. The Duke +at first only built a small Mansion-House with two advanced Wings, so +disposed that the Court lay between the House and the Garden; but he has +since made great Additions to it, and is actually building a large +Mansion between the Court and the Garden, to which the Wings of the former +Building are to be joined. One _Frisoni_, an _Italian_, has the direction +of these Works; in which it appears that he is a much better Mason than an +Architect. The new Building runs so far out that it discovers all the +Effects of it. The Front of the Mansion consists of three Stories, +including the Ground-Floor; but on the Garden side there are only two of a +moderate Height, so that one wou'd take this Building rather for an +Orangerie than for the Palace of a Sovereign. The great Stair-Case is +dark, the Apartments want Light, the Chambers are long and narrow, and +have very few Outlets. However, this single Building was undertaken by +_Frisoni_ for 700000 Florins, exclusive of several sorts of Materials with +which he was furnished. + +The old Mansion, which fronts the new, is not near so large, tho' it is +three Stories high every way. The Apartments are small and too +inconvenient to live in, yet no Cost has been spar'd to adorn them; +Carving, Gilding, and Painting being employ'd in them with more Profusion +than Judgment. The Furniture is rich, but of a very odd Fancy. The best +thing in all the Palace is the Chapel, which would every where be reckon'd +a fine noble Structure. But notwithstanding all the Faults which are +observ'd in the Palace, it must be allow'd that whoever lives to see it +finish'd will find it a magnificent Piece of Work. In the Gardens there +are several Terrasses, which rising by degrees one above another, intirely +bound the Prospect of the Palace. 'Tis certain that when the Duke's +Architects saw this Prince resolutely determin'd to build at +_Ludwigsbourg_, they ought at least to have advis'd him to place his +Palace at the very spot where his Gardens end: In this case it would have +stood in the middle of a Plain, the Apartments would not have been cramp'd +by the Buttresses, with which the Palace is encompass'd, and the Gardens +wou'd have had a gentle Descent; and for a very little Expence there might +have been a fine Piece of Water at one end, betwixt them and a Coppice, +which is a Walk for Pheasants. + +The City of _Ludwigsbourg_ is as irregular as the Palace; and its +Scituation, which is very disadvantageous, will always render it a very +incommodious Town, because of the unevenness of the Ground. Most of the +Houses are of Timber, and slightly built; for those who build them do it +with an Ill-will, either out of Necessity, or to please the Duke who seems +to be fond of building. This Prince has ruin'd _Stutgard_, and will never +make a good Town of _Ludwigsbourg_; for if the Court was absent from it +but one Year, 'twou'd be one of the meanest Villages in _Wirtemberg_. This +Town is in no respect very agreeable. The Nobility here don't seem very +fond of Strangers, and there are no Entertainments but what are made by +the Duke. No body here, not even the Prime Minister keeps a Table; and all +the Expence of the Courtiers is in their Dress, and their Horses. Yet +there is not a Prince of the Empire who gives handsomer Salaries, except +the Electors; so that the Case is the very reverse here to what it is at +almost all other Courts, for here People grow rich, whereas elsewhere they +are beggar'd. I have known Persons that came to this Court in mean +Circumstances, and in a few Years got Estates. The Duke is by nature +generous and beneficent, and wou'd be more so if his Liberality was not +curb'd. He has given several Gentlemen Materials for building _gratis_; +and the Houses were no sooner up but he purchas'd them, and paid as dear +for 'em as if he had not contributed a Shilling towards raising them. I +have been assur'd that his most Serene Highness's Revenues amounted to +four Millions of Florins. 'Tis certain that he is Master of one of the +finest Countries in all _Germany_; a Country which has plenty of every +thing, but Money is scarce by reason of the Fertility of the neighbouring +Provinces, _viz._ the _Palatinate_, _Bavaria_, _Franconia_, and _Alsace_. +The People are desirous of a War upon the Upper _Rhine_, in hopes of +putting off their Commodities. + +The _Lutheran_ is the only Religion tolerated in the Duchy of +_Wirtemberg_, tho' the Duke has permitted _Frisoni_ the Director of his +Buildings to erect a Chapel for the Use of the Catholic Workmen whom he +has sent for from _Italy_ to build the Palace; which Chapel however is +design'd to be demolish'd as soon as the Works are finish'd: But I am +rather inclin'd to think that the Court itself will one day have a +Catholic Chapel; for if the hereditary Prince shou'd happen to die without +Male-Issue, _Wirtemberg_ will fall to the Share of Prince _Alexander_, +(Cousin-german to the Duke) who has embraced our Religion; and who having +Children by the Princess of _Tour_ and _Taxis_ whom he marry'd at +_Brussels_, sees them brought up in the Catholic Faith. + + _I kiss your hand, and am_, &c. + + _POSTSCRIPT._ + +Since I wrote the above, the Countess _de Wurben_ is fallen under +Disgrace, which I have been told happen'd by this means. + +The Duke's Carriage to his Mistress had been cold for some time, when the +King of _Prussia_ came to _Ludwigsbourg_ and exhorted him to be reconcil'd +to his Wife, in order to get Heirs. The Duke cou'd not persuade himself to +take the Duchess again; but however the King's Representations prevail'd +so far, as to put him quite out of conceit with his Mistress. He just kept +up a bare Acquaintance with her, and that was all; which she perceiv'd, +and made no scruple to try the most extraordinary Methods to maintain +herself in Favour. The Duke having been blooded in her Presence, she +secreted a Napkin stain'd with his Blood. What Use she propos'd to make of +it I know not, but she carry'd it to her Apartment. The Duke's _Valets de +Chambre_ missing the Napkin acquainted their Master of it. M. _de Roder_, +a Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber, and a Favourite of his Highness, said that +no body cou'd possibly take it but the Countess, and that to be sure she +did it for no good. The Duke order'd M. _de Roder_ to go to the Countess's +Apartment and enquire into the Fact. _Roder_ ask'd for the Napkin. The +Countess deny'd her having it; but _Roder_ affirm'd he saw her take it, +upon which she was in a Passion with him, and told him she wou'd make him +repent of his Ill-manners to her. _Roder_ made answer, that all the Airs +she gave herself were out of season, that her Reign was over, and that he +wou'd oblige her to return the Napkin. The Countess not us'd to be talk'd +to at such a rate, was frighten'd, and restor'd the fatal Napkin, which +completed her Ruin. The Duke, when inform'd by his Favourite of what had +pass'd, sent an Order to the Countess not to stir from her Apartment: And +this Prince setting out soon after for _Berlin_, charged the hereditary +Prince his Son to command Madamoiselle _de Wurben_ to retire to her +Estate. The Countess obey'd, and being indulg'd to carry what she had a +mind to along with her, retir'd to a Territory of hers depending +immediately on the Empire, not many Leagues from _Ludwigsbourg_. There it +was that she heard of the Duke's Reconciliation with the Duchess, upon the +Duke's return from _Berlin_. This News extremely shock'd her, because she +always flatter'd herself that the Prince wou'd return to her: And +perceiving now that she had no Hopes of being restor'd to Favour by the +power of her own Charms, she had a mind to try what she cou'd do by I know +not what Charm in the Magic Art. To carry her Point she was under a +necessity of having a little of the Duke's Blood; and she wrote to his +_Valet de Chambre_, promising him great Rewards if he cou'd procure her +some. What does the Domestic but carry the Letter to the Duke? who +immediately gave Orders to Colonel _Streithorst_ to arrest the Countess, +and carry her to some Place of Security. The Colonel taking a Detachment +of Soldiers along with him, contriv'd it so that he came to the Countess's +Seat at Night, and immediately surrounding the House, knock'd at the Gate, +but no body making answer he thunder'd so hard at the Gate, that at length +Madame _de Sultman_ the Countess's Sister put her Head out at the Window, +and ask'd who it was that dar'd to make such a Noise. _Streithorst_ told +her his Name, and said he came thither by Order of the Duke. Madame _de +Sultman_ made answer that the Countess was not well, and cou'd not be +spoke with. The Colonel, who knew the contrary, said, that if they did not +let him in he wou'd break open the Doors; upon which they thought fit to +open them. During this the Countess was got to Bed; and _Streithorst_ +entring her Chamber found her there with her Sister and her two +Brothers-in-law, the General _N----_ and _Sultman_, who was formerly at +_Berlin_ Equerry to the Countess of _Wartenberg_, and afterwards +Privy-Counsellor to the Duke of _Wirtemberg_. The Colonel having signify'd +his Order to the Countess, she affected to be in a dying Condition; but +said that if she was able enough to get up she did not intend it, she +being at home, and in a free House of the Circle of _Swabia_, from whence +she did not think the Duke had Authority to remove her. The Colonel +threaten'd that his Grenadiers shou'd pull her out of Bed; and the Lady +seeing that she must obey, thought fit to rise. She fell on her Knees to +_Streithorst_; but the hard-hearted Officer was deaf to her Cries, and +conducted her to a place of Security where she is closely confin'd, and +like to be a Prisoner as long as the Duke lives. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XVII. + + + _SIR_, _Carlsrouhe, Feb. 15, 1730._ + +I Deny that any Man can be happier than I am at this Juncture. You have +wrote an excellent long Letter to me; you assure me that you are well, and +that you have still an Affection for me; what more is there wanting to +compleat my Joy? I am preparing to make you the best amends I can, and +instead of a Letter to write you a Volume. + +I came in one Day from _Ludwigsbourg_ to CARLSROUHE, which is the +Residence of the Margrave of _Baden-Dourlach_. The Name _Carlsrouhe_ +signifies _Charles_'s Rest. The present Margrave _Charles_ of +_Baden-Dourlach_ was the very Man that laid both the Plan and Foundation +of this City, and its Castle. Nothing is so pretty as the Disposition of +the whole: I wish I were able to give you an Idea of it. Imagine the +Margrave's House to be at the Entrance of a great Forest, in the Center of +a Star form'd by thirty two Walks, the chief of which behind the Palace is +three _German_ Leagues in length. Two large Wings advance from the main +Body of the House, which deviating from each other in proportion as they +lengthen, the whole together looks like a Theatre. Behind the principal +Building there's a very high Octogon Tower which commands all the Walks. +The Space between the two Wings forms the Court, and then come the Gardens +and Parterres, at the end of which there's a Semi-Circle of Houses of an +equal Height, built Arch-wise, and three Stories high including the +Ground-Floor. Between these Houses there run five Streets, the middlemost +of which fronts the Palace. At the end of the three chief Streets opposite +to the Palace are three Churches; one belonging to the _Lutherans_, +another to the _Calvinists_, and a third to the _Roman_ Catholics; to +which three prevailing Religions of the Empire the Margrave gave equal +Liberty of Conscience when he founded the new Town. + +The chief part of the Town lies behind the Houses that front the Palace. +This properly speaking consists but of one Street, which is of a +prodigious Length. All these Houses as well as the Margrave's are of +Timber, so that you are not to look for fine or substantial Buildings at +_Carlsrouhe_; but the Contrivance and Distribution of the whole taken +together is really wonderful. I took the Freedom to tell the Margrave that +I was surpriz'd that he had not at least employ'd Brick in the building of +his Palace, and of the Houses which form the Half-Moon about his Gardens. +'I was wil'ing, _said the Prince_, to make myself a Place of Retirement, +and to build without putting the Burthen on my Subjects. I chose moreover +to have the Comfort of enjoying what I built. If I had us'd Bricks it +wou'd have cost me a great deal more Money; and I cou'd not have finish'd +my Buildings without laying an extraordinary Impost upon my Country. It +wou'd have taken me up abundance of Time too, and perhaps I shou'd never +have had the Satisfaction of seeing an end to my Labours. Another Reason +was, that my Country is so scituate as to be liable to be the Theatre of +Wars, and I am not in a Condition to make this a strong Place, nor cou'd I +encompass it with Walls. Do you think therefore that I shou'd have been +justified in laying out a great deal of Money on a Place to see it burnt +down before my Face, as I did my House at _Dourlach_, and my other Houses +which the _French_ reduc'd to Ashes. I am but a petty Sovereign; I have +built a House according to my Condition, and I had rather it shou'd be +said of me that I have but a mean Habitation, and owe no Money, than that +I have a stately Palace and am over Head and Ears in Debt.' + +I have given you this account of what the Margrave said to me, because I +thought it wou'd let you into an Idea of his Character. This Prince, to +whom I was introduc'd on the very day of my Arrival here, took the trouble +himself to shew me his Palace, and all about it. I thought the Apartments +very well laid out, but there is not room enough to lodge the hereditary +Prince, who lives in one of the Houses in the Semi-Circle fronting the +Palace. + +The Pheasant-Walk, which joins to the Castle, is the prettiest thing in +the World. 'Tis a very large Inclosure, dispos'd in various Walks planted +with Fir-Trees cut in the shape of a Fan. There's a great Basin in the +Center always full of wild Ducks. 'Tis encompass'd with four Pavilions, +made in the Form of _Turkish_ Tents. Two of the Pavilions are Volarys, and +the two others Summer-Houses, with Window-Curtains of Green Cloth. There +are Sofas and Couches, after the manner of the Eastern Countries. In this +Place of Retirement and Rest the Margrave spends some Hours every Day, +and he is generally accompany'd by some young Ladies whom he teaches +Music; so that they perform agreeable Concerts. + +The Margrave was in the right to give his House the Name of _Charles's +Rest_, for he leads the most tranquil Life here that can be. Far from +being infatuated with vain Grandeur, he has the Charms of it, without the +Check and Constraint of it. This Prince is of a very robust Constitution, +and tho' he underwent a vast deal of Fatigue in his Youth, he is as +fresh-colour'd and as vigorous as if he was but forty Years of Age. He +travell'd when he was a young Man into the principal parts of _Europe_; +and during his Father's Life-time was several Years in the Service of +_Sweden_. When he return'd to his Dominions he serv'd in the Army of the +Empire on the Upper _Rhine_, under his Cousin Prince _Lewis_ of _Baden_. +Tho' the Margrave is very fat, yet he uses a great deal of Exercise. He +rises in Summer at five o'Clock in the Morning, and walks in his Gardens +till the Heat of the Weather obliges him to retire within doors; then he +does Business with his Counsellors, or else employs himself in Experiments +of Chymistry, and sometimes he draws. He commonly dines at four o'clock, +and is attended by Waiting-Women, of whom there are no less than +threescore, tho' no more than eight wait upon one Day. These, when the +Margrave goes abroad, attend him on horseback, dress'd like _Hussurs_. The +Generality of these Damsels understand Music and Dancing; they also +perform Operas at the Theatre of the Palace, and are Musicians of the +Chappel. They have all Lodgings in the Palace. After Dinner is over the +Margrave grants Audience to his Subjects; and upon particular Days of the +Week hears all that come. Few Princes render Justice more speedily, and +more punctually. Sometimes he goes a Hunting. He makes very light +Suppers, and retires early to Bed. He delights in Agriculture, and is one +of the greatest Florists living. This Prince is never unemploy'd. There +are few things which he does not know, and very many which he understands +to Perfection. His Conversation is as agreeable as any I know. He speaks +several Languages well. His Behaviour is obliging and courteous. He loves +Foreigners, treats them with Distinction, and loads them with Civilities. +Upon Sundays and Holidays he eats with the Prince his Son, and the +Princess his Daughter-in-law. His Table, which is then spread for sixteen +Guests, is serv'd with more Delicacy than Profusion. + +The hereditary Prince[122], only Son to the Margrave, is pretty short, and +has not the Life and Spirit of his Father. He is very complaisant and +civil, and seems to me of a good-natur'd Disposition. He has been at +_Paris_, in _England_, and in _Holland_, where he marry'd the Daughter of +the unfortunate Prince of _Nassau_, who was drown'd in 1711, as he was +passing the _Maerdyke_ to the _Hague_, to adjust with _Frederic_ I. King +of _Prussia_, such Differences as related to the Succession of the late +King _William_ of _Great Britain_, to which they both laid Claim. The +hereditary Princess seems to me to be well behav'd; and she makes very +handsome Entertainments. The Court assembles at her House every day, +_viz._ at Noon, and at five o'clock in the Evening; and there they dine, +game, and sup. Foreigners are very well receiv'd there, and both the +Ladies and Gentlemen are very civil and complaisant. + +The Grand Marshal, and his Brother the Great Huntsman, are Persons capable +of making a Figure with Distinction in the greatest Courts. The first +marry'd a legitimated Daughter of the Margrave. + +The Baron _d'Ixter_, President of the Regency, and Chief of the Council, +is a Person of signal Merit, and capable of any Business, be it ever so +great. + +Generally speaking the Margrave's Court is extremely well regulated. This +Prince is fond of the Nobility, and seeks to do them a Pleasure. He has +none but Persons of Quality in his Service. 'Tis great pity that this +Court does not come together again. The Margravine, who is Sister to the +Duke of _Wirtemberg_, resides at _Dourlach_, and never comes to +_Carlsrouhe_ but when 'tis a Holiday, or when some foreign Prince is +there. This Princess is actually very much indispos'd, so that I don't +think I shall have the Honour of kissing her Hand. The Margrave also +educates at his Court three young Princes his Nephews, the Sons of his +Brother. They are under the Government of the Baron _de Gemming_, who +takes very great Care of their Education. + +As to the Margrave's Revenues, I cannot be positive what they are, because +I found that People who ought to know best, vary in their Calculations not +a little; some assur'd me they were 400,000, some 500,000 Florins, and +others much more. Be it as it will, 'tis certain that the Margrave lives +nobly, that every body is well paid, and that the Subjects are not +over-burthen'd. Farewell, Sir, I set out to-morrow for _Rastadt_, and +shall write to you as soon as I can, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XVIII. + + + _SIR_, _Strasbourg, Feb. 28, 1730._ + +It took me up no more than four Hours to go from _Carlsrouhe_ to RASTADT. +As soon as I alighted there I notified my Arrival to the Grand Marshal, +with a Request that he wou'd procure me the Honour of paying my +Compliments to their Highnesses of _Baden-Baden_. I had for answer, that +the Margrave was out a Hunting, and that therefore I cou'd not have an +Audience before next day. I had patience to stay; and having by Good luck +some Books at hand, I spent all that day in Reading, and the next day too, +but did not hear a Word from the Grand Marshal. Mean time as I did not +come to _Rastadt_ purely to read, and as 'tis a Town does not afford much +Amusement, since a quarter of an hour is enough to know all the Streets, I +was very chagrin. I sent a second Message to the Grand Marshal, but had +the same Answer as before. I thought it improper to insist any farther, +and gave over all hopes of seeing the Court of _Rastadt_. However I went +to see the Margrave's Palace, which his Father the late Prince _Lewis_ of +_Baden_ built from the ground. It is very much like to the Palace of _St. +Cloud_ near _Paris_, and seems to be a Building conducted with more +Regularity than I observ'd in several new Houses in _Germany_ left solely +to the Direction of ignorant Masons, who without a Taste for Building have +the Assurance to call themselves Architects. + +The principal Stair-Case is large and lightsome. The Apartments have all +the Conveniences they can admit of. Those which are contiguous to the +grand Stair-Case are distributed into several Partitions, for Shew and for +Convenience. They are painted, gilt, and gaily furnish'd. The Margravine +Dowager to Prince _Lewis_ put them in this Condition against the Marriage +of her Daughter to the Duke of _Orleans_; and the Furniture is indeed rich +and well fancy'd. The Keeper shewed me the Closet in which Prince _Eugene_ +of _Savoy_ and Marshal _Villars_ sign'd the Peace in 1714. 'Tis pity that +this truly magnificent Palace has no Gardens to it. There's Ground mark'd +out for that purpose, and if Prince _Lewis_ had liv'd they wou'd have been +finish'd. + +After having seen the Apartments and the Chapel, which is small, but +exceedingly adorn'd, not knowing what to do with myself I went to a +Billiard-Table fronting the Palace, where I found some Gentlemen of the +Court as idle as myself. They treated me as a Foreigner, and were +complaisant to me. A young Fellow of a good Appearance, and who seem'd to +have an Air of Politeness, having refus'd as well as myself to play, +enter'd into a Conversation with me: And by degrees that Sympathy of our +Tempers, which was a Stranger to the Laws of Reason, made us talk to one +another with as much Freedom as if we had been old Acquaintance. I +complain'd to him that tho' I had been three days at _Rastadt_ I cou'd not +get an Opportunity of paying my Duty to their Highnesses of _Baden_. He +told me that I need not be surpriz'd at it; that since the Death of the +late Prince _Lewis_, the Margravine his Dowager, who was hereditary +Princess of _Saxe-Lawenbourg_, had introduc'd into her Court the +Ceremonial of the Eastern Princes; that she never appear'd but in a full +Divan, and that she did not permit any one whatsoever to come near to her +Son except the Bashaws and Dervizes who were of the Council. The young +Gentleman's manner of accounting for this matter made me smile, and put me +upon asking him several Questions. 'How! _said I_, according to the +Character I have had of the Margravine, she is very much of a Christian, +and of that virtuous Heroine which the wise Man, if he had been still +living, wou'd have propos'd to us for a Model. Indeed, _said the +Gentleman_, the Character you have had of her is right enough: The +Margravine has Piety and Virtues that render her valuable; but she has a +Haughtiness, and a certain _Particularity_ in her Temper, which is hardly +to be parallell'd. For instance, if she had receiv'd you it wou'd have +been standing under a Canopy by an Arm-Chair, with as much State as the +Empress. She wou'd have ask'd you two or three Questions, after which she +wou'd have assur'd you of her Protection, and then have dismiss'd you +without detaining you to dine with her, as is the manner of all the +Princes of the Empire; but 'tis not the fashion here, _continued the +Gentleman_. The Margravine commonly dines in private, and we who are of +her Court don't see her but at Mass. The young Margrave our Master wou'd +like well enough to see Company, but his Mother giving him to understand +that she does not care for it, he conforms to her Pleasure. The young +Margravine, who is the Daughter of the Prince _de Schwartzenbourg_, has no +Authority, because tho' naturally obliging and civil she durst not put her +good Qualities in practice, because the Margravine Dowager reproaches her +that she does not know how to carry it like a Sovereign; by which means +this poor Princess is oblig'd to be proud against her Inclination. If you +were to see her you wou'd be charm'd with her; for she is tall and +handsome, of a lively fair Complexion, but not languid, and has a very +noble Air. When the Margrave marry'd her she was an only Daughter, and the +Princess of _Schwartzenbourg_ her Mother, who had not lived with her +Husband for near fifteen Years, was not like to have any more Children. +But the Event has proved contrary; for the Prince and Princess of +_Schwartzenbourg_ are reconcil'd, and the Princess has had a Son, who has +frustrated the Hopes of our young Margravine of being some day or other +one of the richest Heiresses in the Empire. This has not advanc'd her in +the Favour of her Mother-in-law, who often snaps at her; but there being +no Remedy, the young Princess bears her Ill-humours with Patience. As she +is just brought to bed too of a Son, we hope she will have more Interest; +at least 'tis what we all wish, because she is a very good Princess. 'Tis +not a Year, _continued the Gentleman_, that our young Margrave has been of +Age, nevertheless his Majority is so controll'd by the Ascendancy which +the Dowager keeps over her Son, that it may be said 'tis she who governs +still. This Prince accustom'd to obey knows not what is the Pleasure of +commanding. There's the same likelihood of his being a Dependant as long +as his Mother lives; and indeed he ought to humour that Princess, as well +because she was always a good Mother to him, as for the Advantages she is +capable of doing him; for she is very rich, and has a noble Estate in +_Bohemia_, which she wou'd perhaps give to her youngest Son, who is Canon +of _Cologne_ and _Augsbourg_, if the Margrave disobliged her; tho' I +believe it must be a great Offence indeed that wou'd provoke her to +disinherit him, because he was always her Darling, and perhaps too the +most dutiful of all her Children. Such is her Tenderness for this Son +that when there was a Talk of his going abroad she wou'd needs go with +him; and she actually accompany'd him all over _Italy_. Some People were +indeed so ill-natur'd as to say that 'twas not out of Love to the Prince, +but because she was afraid he wou'd wean himself from her Company, and +break quite away from her. 'Tis said however that she is going to quit the +Court, and to retire to _Etlingen_, which is the Place assign'd for her +Jointure. We all wish it, not that we have any reason to complain of this +Princess, but because we hope then to have a gayer Court. For the rest, to +do the Margravine Dowager Justice, she has manag'd her Son's Finances with +a great deal of [OE]conomy. When the late Prince _Lewis_ died he left a +heavy Debt upon the Country, which was also ruin'd by the late War. But +the Margravine Regent has paid off all, and so happily retriev'd the +Government and the Finances, that when her Son came of Age she gave him +considerable Sums, and the Country was in a better Condition than ever.' + +There the Gentleman concluded. After putting several Questions to him I +learnt that the Duchess of _Orleans_ had been promis'd in Marriage to +Prince _Alexander_ of _Tour_ and _Taxis_[123], that the Presents were made +for the Wedding, and that the same was very soon to be celebrated: But +when the Duke of _Orleans_ actually sent M. _d'Argenson_ his Chancellor to +_Rastadt_ to demand the Princess in Marriage, the Margravine her Mother +thinking this a better Match beyond comparison, call'd back the Promise +she had made to the Prince _de la Tour_, and concluded the Treaty with the +Duke of _Orleans_. The young Margrave marry'd his Sister by Proxy, in +presence of M. _d'Argenson_, and the Princess was conducted to +_Strasbourg_, where finding a Set of Domestics sent from _Paris_ to +receive her, she turn'd off all her _German_ Servants and proceeded on her +Journey to _Chalons_, whither the Duke of _Orleans_ went to meet her. + +The same Gentleman from whom I learnt all these Particulars told me +likewise that the young Margrave, before he marry'd the Princess of +_Schwartzenbourg_, was to have had the Daughter of King _Stanislaus_, but +that the Margravine broke off the Marriage-Treaty which was very far +advanc'd, because the King was not able to pay down a hundred thousand +Crowns ready Money for his Daughter's Dowry. It was undoubtedly owing to +that Princess's happy Star that the King could not raise the Sum, for in +such case his Daughter would not now have worn one of the first Crowns in +the World. The Gentleman told me moreover that the Margravine was +mortify'd to the last degree when she heard that the Princess whom she had +refus'd for her Daughter-in-law was become the Queen of _France_. She was +apprehensive too that this Princess or the King her Father would take +revenge for the Slight she had put upon their Alliance, and she wrote a +Letter to King _Stanislaus_ to congratulate him on an Event so glorious to +him, and to recommend to him the Duchess of _Orleans_ her Daughter. _I +intreat you, Sir_, said she, _to prevail with the Queen your Daughter to +honour my Daughter and all my Family with her Favour. I will presume to +say that both I and Mine deserve it at your Hands for the Respect we have +always had for you_. This Letter, which was as submissive as the +Margravine's Conduct had been haughty, was receiv'd with very great +Civility by King _Stanislaus_, who, after having read it to the Queen his +Wife, could not help saying, _I am much oblig'd to the Margravine for +this Letter_, and he return'd her a very engaging Answer. 'Tis my Opinion +that at that time, instead of bearing the Princess any Ill-will he took it +very kindly of her that she had refus'd his Daughter for a +Daughter-in-law. The officious Gentleman would perhaps have inform'd me of +other Particulars concerning the Court of _Rastadt_, if the Margrave's +Return from Hunting had not oblig'd him to go to the Castle. I thank'd him +for the trouble he had given himself, and went and shut my self up at my +Quarters. + +I set out next day for _Strasbourg_, and in less than five Hours arrived +at KEHL. 'Tis all an even Country, and admirable Roads. We travel thro' +the Dominions of _Spire_, the Bishoprick of _Strasbourg_, and the County +of _Hanau_. At _Kehl_ I paid a Visit to the General Baron _de Roth_, the +Governour of the Place, who entertain'd me at Dinner, and made me +exceeding welcome, but so ply'd me with Liquor that I thought my self at +_Fulde_ or _Wurtzbourg_. After Dinner M. _de Roth_ shewed me the +Fortifications, which I found in a very bad State. The Commandant told me +that he had taken a world of pains to represent it to the Dyet of the +Empire at _Ratisbonne_, but that he might as well have talk'd to so many +deaf Men. 'Tis certain that if Care be not taken, the _Rhine_ will wash +away the Fort one day or other, and carry it to _Holland_. The Marshal _de +Bourg_ said to me a while ago when we were talking of _Kehl_, that M. _de +Roth_ would do well to fasten his Fort with Chains to the Citadel of +_Strasbourg_. + +There's only a Bridge over the _Rhine_ to pass from _Kehl_ to STRASBOURG +the Capital of _Alsace_, and formerly an Imperial City. The _French_ made +themselves Masters of it in _September_ 1681, when they came to the very +Gates of the Place before the Town had notice of their March, and when it +was in no Condition to make resistance; for whether they thought they had +no need of being upon their guard, or whether the chief Burgomasters had +been corrupted, the Town wanted but every thing. The Capitulation was +signed on one side by the Marquis _de Louvois_, and the Baron _de Monclar_ +Commandant in _Alsace_; and on the other by eight Deputies of the City, +which was secured in all its Privileges, Prerogatives and Customs, both +ecclesiastical and civil. The Bishop was nevertheless restored to his See, +and the Canons to the Cathedral, which had belonged for 152 Years to the +_Lutherans_. _Lewis_ XIV. made his entry into _Strasbourg_ the 23d of +_October_ following, and immediately order'd a Citadel and other Works to +be erected, which have since been so augmented that _Strasbourg_ may now +be rank'd among the most important Places of _Europe_. The Marshal Count +_de Bourg_ commands in it, and has one of the King's Lieutenants under +him, who is always a General Officer. M. _Dangervilliers_[124] formerly +Intendant of _Dauphiny_, is Intendant of the Province of _Alsace_ and the +City of _Strasbourg_. These Gentlemen, whom I have been to see, receiv'd +me with prodigious Civility, and very punctually return'd my Visit. + +The Marshal Count _de Bourg_ preserves a stately Mien in an advanced Age, +and one may easily perceive he has been a very fine Man in his time. He +was Page to _Philip_ of _France_ Duke of _Orleans_, Brother to _Lewis_ the +Great, and to that Duke's Favour his Advancement to Military Employments +is very much owing, tho' 'tis true that he has distinguished himself in +the Service. On the 26th of _August_ 1709, he defeated near _Rumersheim_ +the Count _de Mercy_, who commanded a flying Camp of 9000 Men detach'd +from the Army of the Empire, then under Command of the Elector of +_Hanover_, afterwards _George_ I. King of _Great Britain_. This Victory +gain'd M. _de Bourg_ the blue Ribbon. King _Lewis_ XV. gave him the Staff +of a Marshal of _France_, and confirmed him in the Government of +_Strasbourg_. The _French_ Officers accuse this Marshal of Pride, but for +my part, I have all the Reason that can be to love him for his Civility. + +M. _Dangervilliers_ is really more engaging than the Marshal, and is +therefore more beloved by the Officers. He is affable and civil, +complaisant to Foreigners, and lives with a vast deal of Splendor. The +Princes of the Empire that border upon _Alsace_ like him very well, and +think he is more candid, and less haughty than his Predecessors. + +There's not many of the Nobility settled in this City, and of these few +that are wealthy; and therefore they live very much retir'd. The Canons of +the Great Chapter who ought all to be Princes or Counts, are not of very +great Service, because most of 'em holding other Benefices, only come to +_Strasbourg_ to pass away three Months there of their Residence, and by +consequence they are here as Strangers. The best Houses therefore are the +Intendant's and the King's Lieutenant's. There are always a great many +Officers here who are indeed amiable Fellows, and know how to serve, and +to be good Company too upon occasion. The Commandants of the Corps are in +Years, and Officers of Experience, and the rest are clever smart Youths +who long sadly to be fighting, and would fain make you believe the four +Corners of the World will quickly be on fire. I have not seen finer +Infantry than the _French_ Infantry at this present time. There are very +fine Gentlemen too in the Cavalry, but then they are not near so well +mounted as ours. You know the Cry with us is that the _French_ are ruin'd, +and not able to do any thing more. How the Case stands with them, I really +know not, but if one may judge of it by Appearances, it cannot be so. No +Troops were ever better cloathed, better paid, more spruce, nor finer. The +Officers are splendid; they game, divert themselves, and eat and drink +well, which does not seem to me to be the Life of People in want. Upon +these terms, I would be content to be in such want all my Life long. + +The Garrison maintains a Company of Comedians who are paid by the +Captains, and commanding Officers, for the Subalterns are admitted +_gratis_. The Theatre, which is one of the prettiest in the Country, is +maintain'd by the City. + +A Man that has a Taste for a plain home-bred Girl may here find Amusement +and good Blood. 'Tis observ'd that the _Lutheran_ Women are the most +beautiful, and the Sex at this Place is said to be very indulgent, and +very tractable; so that I should be apt to think, a Man need not be very +open-hearted to them. + +Tho' _Strasbourg_ may be reckon'd among the finest Towns in _France_, one +can't say there's a single House in it that is magnificent, or makes a +grand Appearance. The Cathedral is a very stately Building of _Gothic_ +Architecture; its famous Spire is one of the most lofty, and of the +neatest Workmanship of any in _Europe_. _Misson_, who 'tis like always +carried his Plummet and Foot-Rule in his Pocket, because he never fails to +give the Length and Breadth and Height of a Thing, says that 'tis 574 Foot +in height; and I believe he is not mistaken. _Erkivin de Stembach_ who was +the Architect, finish'd it in the Year 1449. 'Tis said that _Lewis_ XIV. +had a mind to have a Spire erected upon the second Tower which seems to +have been built with that View. He order'd M. _de Vauban_ to draw a Model +of it, and to compute the Cost, which he found would amount to several +Millions of Livres. The King thinking that he could employ that Sum to a +better purpose, contented himself with making a Present to the Cathedral +of the Ornaments, and all the Priests Vestments for celebrating Mass upon +the several annual Festivals; the whole of which is extraordinary +sumptuous, and becoming the Magnificence of one of the greatest Kings in +the World. 'Twas in the Cathedral of _Strasbourg_ that the Duke of +_Orleans_ the first Prince of the Blood of _France_ married as Proxy to +_Lewis_ XV. _Mary Lescinski_, the Daughter of King _Stanislaus_. This +Ceremony, at which I was present, was more magnificent than what was +observ'd at _Fontainbleau_ at the Queen's Arrival; and the Concourse of +_German_ Noblemen and Princes hither upon the Occasion was prodigious. The +Cardinal _de Rohan_, as Bishop of _Strasbourg_, gave the Nuptial +Benediction. Nothing can be finer than the Speeches which his Eminency +made upon that Solemnity: As they fell into my hands, I think I ought to +communicate them to you. You will find them _verbatim_ at the End of this +Letter. _Poland_ in this Instance, made a worthy Restitution to _France_, +which many Years ago gave the _Poles_ a King who was afterwards the +unfortunate _Henry_ III; and they have now in their turn given a Queen to +_France_. But _Germany_ may boast that the Queen derives from the Empire +that Fund of Virtue which is the Source of her Happiness, and makes her +admir'd by the Universe. _France_ had for a long time left off sending to +our Climates for her Queens. _Mary-Anne Victoria_ of _Bavaria_ was in a +fair way to be one, but she died a Dauphiness[125]. _Lorrain_, _Scotland_, +_Italy_ and _Spain_, had as it were engross'd the Crown of _France_ for +their Princesses. But I hope the Virtues of the present Queen and the +other _German_[126] Princesses who are now at the Court of _France_ will +oblige the _French_ to confess that if our Princesses have not Crowns for +their Dowries like the Infanta's of _Spain_, they have an Estate of more +Value than all the Wealth in the World, _viz._ Piety, Charity, and Love +for the People. + +A great many young _German_ Gentlemen come hither for the sake of learning +_French_, and their Exercises, but I don't think they are a jot the better +for it, because the Masters of their Exercises are not better Scholars +here than they are in many Towns of _Germany_; and as to the _French_, +they speak it very ill in this City; for the Inhabitants talk +_High-Dutch_, and our young Sparks are so pleas'd to hear their own +Language spoke that they neglect to learn any other. Besides they always +herd together, and too easily catch one another's Vices as well as +Virtues. As they have not many Parts to shew, they spend their time at the +Billiard-Table, the Coffee-House, and often at other Places not so honest, +of which there are but too many here, this being a City as noted for +Libertines as any in _Europe_. + + _I am_, &c. + + * * * * * + +_The Speech of Cardinal +de Rohan+ to the_ QUEEN_, before the Celebration +of the Marriage._ + +_MADAME_, + +'While I see you in this sacred Temple approaching to our Altars to +contract that illustrious Alliance which is to unite you to the greatest +of Kings and the most amiable of Princes, I adore what God designs you +for, and admire with Transport the Course that Providence is steering to +conduct you to the Throne which you are going to ascend. You are +descended, MADAME, from a Family illustrious for its Antiquity, for its +Alliances, and for the eminent Employments which the great Men it has +given to _Poland_ have fill'd successively with so much Glory. You are the +Daughter of a Father, who, thro' the various Events of a busy Life, +chequer'd by good and bad Fortune, has always shewn himself the Gentleman, +the Hero, and the Christian. You have for your Mother, and your +Grandmother, Princesses, who like to _Judith_, and to that virtuous Woman +whose Character is drawn in the Scriptures, have attracted the Veneration +and Respect of the whole World, by the Fidelity with which they always +walk'd in the Fear of the Lord. In your Person, MADAME, are center'd all +the Accomplishments that can be form'd by a happy Birth, and an admirable +Education, supported by Examples equally strong and affecting. In you, +that Goodness, that Mildness, and those Charms are predominant, which gain +Love at the same time as they inforce Respect; that Integrity of Heart +which nothing can resist; that Superiority of Understanding and Knowledge +which are conspicuous, as it were in spite of you, and in spite of that +Modesty and noble Simplicity which are natural to you; and finally that +which is the Crown of so much Merit, that Taste for Piety, and that +Attachment to the true Principles of Religion, which animate your Actions, +and regulate your Conduct. Adorn'd with all these Virtues, what Crown is +there to which you might not reasonably aspire, exclusive of the Custom +which in some measure obliges Kings to look no farther than round the +Throne for Princesses that they have a mind would reign with them? He who +disposes of Empires puts the Sceptre of _Poland_ into the hands of a +Prince to whom you owe your Being, and by giving the Father that Splendor +conducts the Daughter insensibly to the sublime Station he is preparing +for her. But, O God, how impenetrable are thy Designs, and how far above +human Prudence are the Means thou makest use of to bring about thy wise +Purposes! This Prince was scarce seated on the Throne in which the Choice +of the Grandees, and the Affection of the People had plac'd him, but he +was oblig'd to quit it: He is abandon'd, betray'd, persecuted; one fatal +Shot bereaves him of the Hero his Friend, and the chief Stay of his Hopes: +He submits to the necessity of the Times without abating in his Courage: +He seeks refuge in a Country which is the common Shelter of unfortunate +Kings: He comes to _France_, and thither, MADAME, you are following him. +All that see you there, touch'd with your Misfortunes, admire your Virtue, +the Odour of which spreads to the Throne of a young Monarch, who, such is +the Lustre of his Crown, the Extent of his Power, and above all, the +Charms of his Person, might have made his choice out of all the Princesses +of the World: But being guided by wise Counsels, he fixes it upon You; and +here the Finger of God is plainly visible in improving that very +Misfortune which separates the King your Father from his Subjects, and +takes you out of _Poland_ to give Us in your Person, a Queen who shall be +the Glory of a Father and of a Mother, of whom she is now the Comfort and +Delight; a Queen, who shall render that Nation happy which most richly +deserves it, at least for its Respect and its Fidelity to its Sovereigns; +a Queen, who being inviolably attach'd to her Duty, full of Tenderness and +Respect for her Husband, and her King, and wisely employ'd in what is +capable of procuring her solid Happiness, will revive to us the Reign of +the Empress _Flaccilla_, of whom History says, that having always kept the +Precepts of the Divine Law in her view, she conferr'd thereupon daily with +the great _Theodosius_, and that her Words like a fruitful Rain, water'd +with success those Seeds of Virtue which God had sown in the Heart of her +Husband. Come then, MADAME, Come to the Altar. May the Engagements you are +going to enter into, sacred of themselves, (since according to the +Apostle, they are the Symbol of the Union of Jesus Christ with his Church) +may they be also sanctify'd by your own Disposition. May you be so +sensible of what you are going to be, that you may acknowledge that in +crowning your Merits, he crowns his Gifts: And may you Christians that +hear me, when you see the shining Rewards that are bestowed in this World +upon true Virtue, learn to respect and love it.' + + * * * * * + +_The Cardinal's Speech after the Celebration of the Marriage._ + +_MADAME_, + +'Now that august Ceremony is ended which crowns our Hopes and our Wishes; +give me leave to desire your Majesty's Royal Protection for the Church of +_Strasbourg_. This Church has not forgot and never will forget the signal +Favours it has received from our former Kings. How great are its +Obligations to our last Monarch! Being deliver'd up by the Misfortunes of +the Times to the Furys of Schism and Heresy, it would perhaps have +perish'd as many others did, if that great Prince, by resuming the Rights +of his Ancestors, had not undertaken its defence, and supported it with +all his Power. To him it is oblig'd for the Advantage of being restored +to the Possession of this sacred Temple from which it had been banished. +There's nothing here but what puts us in mind of his Pious and Royal +Magnificence. Temples adorn'd, Pastors liberally maintain'd, Missions +founded, new Converts protected and supported, are so many Monuments of +the Zeal and Piety of a King whose Memory will never die. He had not the +Comfort to finish the Work which he had undertaken; that is to say, the +reuniting of all the Sheep of this illustrious Flock in one and the same +Fold: This was reserv'd to the worthy Heir of his Zeal and Crown. It will +be your part, MADAME, to represent to your August Spouse how much the +Remembrance of his Great Grandfather, his own Glory, and our Necessities, +which are even those of Religion, require of him. You will not desire that +Recourse shou'd be had to those Methods which exasperate, without +persuading; such would not be to your Majesty's liking, and God forbid +that we should suggest them to you. Those Children who disown us are your +Subjects, MADAME, and the Church of _Strasbourg_ confiding intirely in +God's Mercy, still looks on itself as their Mother. We therefore conjure +you by the Bowels of Jesus Christ, to employ, for the sake of uniting +them, every Thing with which an active but sympathizing Charity may +inspire you. God will bless your Majesty's Endeavours, and our Desires, +and will employ the Instances of your Piety and your Faith to the total +Confusion of Error, and the Triumph of the Truth. May your Reign be long +over us, MADAME, for the Happiness of the King, and the Welfare of this +great Kingdom. May God hear the Prayers which the Church has now offer'd +up for your Majesty, and may you be so good as to place us in the Rank of +your most zealous and most faithful Subjects.' + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XIX. + + + _SIR_, _Heidelberg, March 12, 1730._ + +Being in the Neighbourhood of SAVERNE where the Cardinal _de Rohan_ lives, +I had a mind to go thither. I have had the Honour to be known to that +Prelate a long time, and was overjoy'd at the opportunity of paying my +respects to him. + +_Armand Gaston_ Cardinal _de Rohan_ was elected Bishop of _Strasbourg_ the +10th of _April_ 1704[127], and received the Cardinal's Cap from the Hands +of _Lewis_ XIV. the 18th of _May_, 1712. The Year following he succeeded +the Cardinal _de Janson_ as Great Almoner. The Emperor granted him the +Temporal Investiture of the See of _Strasbourg_[128] on the 10th of +_June_ 1723, and in 1724, he obtain'd a Seat in the College of Princes at +the Assembly of _Ratisbon_. This Prelate who is considerable for his Birth +and Dignities, is much more so for his great Soul, his polite and obliging +Behaviour, and for an Air of Grandeur which accompanies all his Actions. +He is a comely Person, as are indeed all of his Family. Being noble and +magnificent in every thing that he does, he lives wherever he is like a +great Nobleman, but particularly at _Saverne_. I found at his Palace the +Duke and Duchess of _Tallard_, the Duchess _de la Meilleraie_, +Madamoiselle _de Melun_, the Prince and Princess of _Birkensfield_, M. +_Dangervilliers_, the Intendant of _Strasbourg_, the Count and Princess of +_Hanau_, and in short a great many Officers of Distinction. They had all +convenient Lodgings and Accommodation in the Castle; and Gaming, taking +the Air, Hunting, Music, and Good Cheer were their constant Diversions. + +The Bishops of _Strasbourg_ have resided for a long time at the Palace of +_Saverne_, which was always a convenient House; but the Cardinal _de +Roban_ has made it very considerable. The outside of this Palace is not so +magnificent as the inside. The Entry which leads to the chief Stair-Case +is lighted to great advantage, and has several Outlets that have a +convenient Communication with the lower Apartments, which are high, and +very finely embellish'd. The principal Stair-Case is very grand, and leads +to a stately Salon with most curious Decorations. It has a double +Apartment which is render'd as commodious as possible; and the Furniture +consists of Embroidery of Gold and Silver, which may be thought perhaps +too rich. The Queen, who lodg'd at the Cardinal's House when she came to +_Saverne_, was charm'd with the Splendor of it, and the extraordinary +Respect with which she was attended here. + +The Cardinal _de Rohan_ designs that this rich Furniture shall remain +annex'd to the See; for which his Successor will certainly have very great +Obligations to him: But his Eminence was not so much oblig'd to his +Predecessors; for when he was chose Bishop he found a House very much out +of order, and scarce a Chair in it, whereas 'tis now fit for a King. His +Eminency is about making very large fine Gardens, which are in very great +forwardness, and perfectly answerable to the Grandeur and Beauty of the +Palace; and at the end of them there is a stately Canal which cost +infinite Labour and Expence. The whole of it is the more magnificent +because _Saverne_ stands at the foot of very high Mountains; and in +digging the Canal the Workmen often met with Rocks which they were forc'd +to blow up. + +At the Cardinal's Table there's both Abundance and Elegance; and his +Eminency entertains in such a manner as really charms his Guests. All his +Domestics follow his example; and 'tis certain that they are all very +diligent; and that there is not a House in _France_, or in _Europe_, where +there's better Attendance. His Eminency's Houshold, and all his Temporal +Affairs in general, are directed by the Abbott _de Ravanne_, Counsellor in +the Parliament of _Paris_. + +The Cardinal is one of the richest Noblemen in _France_, and without +dispute the most expensive. He has built a Hotel at _Paris_, and furnish'd +it sumptuously. He has made considerable Works at _Saverne_, and laid out +a great deal of Money in Plate, Furniture, Pictures, antique Vessels, and +Busts, Medals, and Books. Some time ago he purchas'd of the President +_Menard_ the famous Library of the illustrious Messieurs _de Thou_, +formerly one of the most celebrated in _France_; and he daily in-riches +it with all the most curious and uncommon Books and Manuscripts. + +Besides all these Expences, the Cardinal intends also to build a new +episcopal Palace at _Strasbourg_[129], where he is indeed but +indifferently lodg'd at present. The Marquiss _de N----_ talking of the +Cardinal _de Rohan_'s Expence, said, _That, to be sure, his Eminency had +found out the Philosopher's Stone_. I think so too, and that he has done +it by procuring himself five or six hundred thousand Livres a-year in good +Benefices. + +From _Saverne_ I went to HAGUENAU, and to WEISSENBOURG, formerly Imperial +Cities, and now subject to _France_, but Places of little consequence. +King _Stanislaus_ after the Death of _Charles_ XII. King of _Sweden_, +being forc'd to quit _Deux-Ponts_ to which he had retired with his Family, +came and resided at _Weissenbourg_; and here it was that he receiv'd the +first Proposals that were made to him for the Marriage of his Daughter +with King _Lewis_ XV. I came and took up my Quarters at LANDAU, one of the +most scoundrel Places in the World, but the best fortify'd; and famous for +having stood out several Sieges. The Emperor _Joseph_ took it when he was +King of the _Romans_. The _French_ retook it a little before the signing +of the Peace at _Rastadt_, by which Treaty it was left in their hands. +They maintain a good Garison in it, and have added several Works to it. + +From _Landau_ I pass'd to BRHOUSEL, with an Intention to pay my respects +to the Cardinal _de Schonborn_ Bishop of _Spire_ who resides there, but I +did not succeed better there than at _Rastadt_; for his Eminency excus'd +himself from seeing me because he was going a hunting, and put me off till +next day; but I did not think it worth while to wait, what had happen'd to +me at the Court of _Baden_ being too fresh in my Memory. I was afraid of +the same Fate at _Brhousel_, where I lay at such sorry Quarters that I +cou'd not avoid catching Cold, my Lodging-Room being without Glass, and be +famish'd into the bargain, there being nothing to eat: Besides, my +Landlord told me that the Cardinal made even those People who came to him +upon Business dance attendance for three or four days. I said to my self +therefore that he had much more reason to make me wait, who came to his +Court out of meer Curiosity. I resolv'd therefore, as any Gentleman ought +to have done in the like case, and took the opportunity of the Cardinal's +Absence to go and view the outside of his Palace. 'Tis a great Structure +not yet entirely finish'd, which the Cardinal has hitherto carry'd on from +the very Foundation; but if I must be sincere with you, all these Works, +considerable as they are, have been form'd upon pitiful Plans. It has cost +a very large Sum of Money; and I fancy that in the time of the ancient +_Teutonics_, it wou'd have been reckon'd a very fine Structure. The chief +Beauty of it lies in its Situation; for a great Variety of agreeable +Objects are discovered from the Apartments. The Gardens are also so new +that one can scarce know the Plan of 'em; it seems to me that they are not +of an extraordinary Taste, and that they wou'd be much more suitable for a +private Man than for a Sovereign. + +The Cardinal _de Schonborn_ is a keen Sportsman. He has Game enough in his +own Bishoprick, for the Country so abounds with all sorts that the Fields +are ruin'd by the Deer. The Peasants are so hard put to it to preserve +their Corn that they are oblig'd to watch it day and night. The Cardinal +often makes Hunting-Matches for the Stag and wild Boar, in which they kill +hundreds; at such times the Peasants are oblig'd to take a certain +quantity of Meat, for which they pay so much a Pound, according to a +Price that is regulated. The Bishoprick of _Spire_ is one of the +fruitfullest Provinces in _Germany_, but the Inhabitants are extremely +poor; for their Provisions lie on their hands, and they have scarce +wherewithal to pay the great Taillies due to their Sovereigns. + +The Dignity of the Bishop of _Spire_ is elective, as are all the +Bishopricks of _Germany_ which are not in the hereditary Dominions of the +House of _Austria_. The Bishop is Sovereign of the Country, but the City +of _Spire_ has particular Privileges, as have all the Imperial Cities. You +know it was at _Spire_ that the Emperor _Charles_ V. establish'd the +Imperial Chamber, which is as it were the Parliament of the Empire. The +_French_ having destroy'd _Spire_ when they ravag'd the _Palatinate_, the +Chamber or supreme Tribunal was transferred to _Wetzlar_ in _Wetteravia_, +where indeed it seem'd to be more in the Center of _Germany_, and secur'd +from all manner of Insult. + +_Damien-Hugo_ Count _de Schonborn_ Cardinal, is at this present Bishop of +_Spire_, and Co-adjutor of _Constance_. He is also grand Commander of the +Teutonic-Order. He was heretofore a Member of the Emperor's Privy-Council, +and his Plenipotentiary to the Circle of Lower _Saxony_. _Clement_ XI. of +the _Albani_ Family honour'd him with the Purple. He is descended of a +Family in which Merit has happen'd to be back'd by Fortune. The Cardinal's +Father was the first Count of it. He was also one of the Emperor's +Privy-Council, and Brother to _Lotharius-Francis_ Elector of _Mentz_ and +Bishop of _Bamberg_. The Cardinal has actually a Brother who is Elector of +_Triers_, another who is Bishop of _Wurtzbourg_ and _Bamberg_, whom I have +mention'd to you upon other occasions; and lastly, a third who is a +Counsellor of State[130] to the Emperor, and is now the Head of the +Family. Messieurs _de Schonborn_ had formerly an Elector of _Mentz_ in +their Family, who was at the same time Bishop of _Wurtzbourg_, but that +Prince left them no great Estate; so that they were not very rich when +_Lotharius-Francis_, Uncle to them all, was chose Elector of _Mentz_. But +this Prince procur'd them both Wealth and Honours, and render'd the Count +_de Schonborn_, who is Counsellor of State to the Emperor, one of the +richest Noblemen in _Germany_. + +From _Brhousel_ to _Heidelberg_ there's one of the finest Countries in the +World, planted with Fruit, and especially Walnut-Trees, which bring in a +great Revenue. + +The City of HEIDELBERG, upon the _Necker_, is very much pent up by that +River, and a Chain of Hills, so that 'tis not near so broad as 'tis long. +This City is the Capital of the Lower _Palatinate_, and was formerly the +Residence of the Electors. Here is a University which was founded in 1346, +by _Robert_ Prince _Palatine_, who was chose King of the _Romans_. No Town +has smarted more by the Scourge of War. Since the Disgrace of _Frederic_ +Elector _Palatine_, whom the _Bohemians_ chose for their King, it has been +taken, plunder'd, or burnt four times. In 1622, the Emperor's General +_Tilly_ put 500 _Palatines_ in it to the Sword, and at the same time the +Emperor carry'd off the famous Library, which he gave in part to _Urban_ +VIII. who caused it to be placed in the _Vatican_, where 'tis still to be +seen. In 1634, _Heidelberg_ was besieg'd twice. _John de Werth_ took it +for _Lewis_ XIV. but not being able to carry the Castle he retir'd. Not +many days after, the Marshals _de Force_ and _Breze_ forc'd the Quarters +of the _Germans_, and took both the Town and Castle. The _French_ took +this City a third time in 1688, and again in 1693, which was the last +time, Sword in hand; at what time they committed Cruelties shocking to +remember, and of which there are woful Marks still left in _Heidelberg_, +and all the Towns in the _Palatinate_. This City was beginning to recover +it self by the Elector's residing there, when it brought a more heavy +Disgrace upon it self than all the Misfortunes it had suffer'd by the War. +The Case was thus: + +The great Church of _Heidelberg_ since the Peace of _Westphalia_ belongs +half to _Roman_ Catholics, and half to the _Calvinists_, of whom the +former have the Choir, and the others the Body, and nothing but a thin +Partition separates the two Communions. The Choir not being big enough to +contain the Catholics when the Court resided at _Heidelberg_, the Elector +propos'd to the _Calvinists_ to yield him the Body of the Church, +alledging that not only the Choir was too scanty, but that he shou'd be +very glad that the Church in which the _Palatine_ Princes lie interr'd +were altogether Catholic. He promis'd at the same time that another Church +should be built for them larger and finer than what they were to yield to +him. The _Calvinists_ said that the great Church had been granted to them +by the Treaty of _Munster_; that all the Princes who were Guarantees of +the Peace of _Westphalia_ were engag'd to preserve them in the enjoyment +of it; that therefore they could not give it up without violating that +Treaty, which was their Security, and without rendring themselves unworthy +of the Protection of the Protestant Powers. The Elector, in order to +remove those Obstacles, consented that the Powers who were Guarantees of +the _Westphalian_ Treaty of Peace, in which the Church he desir'd was +expressly mentioned, should be Guarantees of the Church which he promis'd +should be built for them: But all these Offers how reasonable soever were +not accepted by the _Calvinists_. The Elector being thereby incens'd, +made use of his Sovereign Authority, and took by force what they were not +willing to yield to him; whereupon the _Calvinists_ had recourse to the +Protestant Princes of the Empire, the _Lutherans_ as well as the +_Calvinists_, who constituting but one Body and one Communion when the +Catholics are to be oppos'd, united together, and engag'd in their Quarrel +the Kings of _Great Britain_, _Denmark_, _Sweden_, and _Prussia_, and the +_States-General_. These Powers caused the Catholic Churches in their +Dominions to be shut up, sequester'd the Estates of the Convents, and made +such Clamors and Menaces that the Elector was oblig'd to reinstate the +_Calvinists_ in the Nave of the Church; but he was so angry with the +Inhabitants of _Heidelberg_ for their Disrespect to him that he remov'd +his Residence to _Manheim_. The Burghers were not very sorry at first for +the Departure of the Court; for being accustom'd to its Absence, they +flattered themselves that the Tribunals of the Regency, which, since the +Accession of the _Newbourg_ Family to the Electorate, had constantly been +kept at _Heidelberg_, would remain there still. But they were soon thrown +into the utmost Consternation when they saw those Tribunals follow the +Elector. They went and cast themselves at the Feet of their angry +Sovereign, and asking his Pardon for having affronted him, they offer'd +him the Church which was the cause of his Displeasure, and conjur'd him to +return to their City. But all their Supplications were fruitless; the +Elector was stedfast in his Resolution to punish _Heidelberg_, and +abandon'd it for ever. _Heidelberg_ having no Trade, and subsisting only +by the Court, or by the Tribunals of the Regency, of which it was totally +depriv'd, falls now into decay, and will, no doubt, e'er 'tis long dwindle +to little or nothing. + +The Elector's Palace is higher than the City, and situate in such a manner +that there's a Prospect from the great Apartments quite through the +Opening between the Mountains, by which the _Necker_ runs into the Plain. +The Palace is built of Free-Stone, and is a magnificent Structure. The +greatest part of it was burnt by the _French_ when they destroy'd the +_Palatinate_: The Lodging-Rooms that are subsisting are very substantial, +tho' not built in the modern Taste. The Apartments are large, but want +Ornament, especially since they have been stript of their Furniture. The +Gardens were formerly reckon'd the finest in _Germany_; but there's scarce +any thing left of them except the Place where they flourished. If one may +judge of what they were by their Situation, they must have been very +pleasant, by reason of the extensive Prospect they afforded into the +Country. + +I do not intend to detain you with an Account of the famous Tun, _Misson_ +having given a more exact Description of that than of many Towns which he +treats of. You will in his _Travels_ find a Cut of this Vessel, which will +give you a more perfect Idea of it than any Narrative whatsoever. The +Elector _John-William_, the Predecessor of the present Elector, gave a +Companion to this Tun, which is not altogether so large, but much more +adorn'd. They are both full of Wine. I remember that in 1719, when I was +at the _Palatine_ Court, the Elector ask'd me at Table whether I had seen +the Great Tun; and upon my saying that I had not, that Prince, than whom +there was not a more gracious Sovereign in the whole World, told me he +would carry me to it. He made a Proposal to the Princess his Daughter, who +was marry'd to the hereditary Prince of _Sullzbach_, to go thither after +Dinner was over; which she accepted. The Trumpets led the way, and the +Court followed in great Ceremony. When we had mounted the Platform which +is over the Tun, the Elector did me the honour to drink to me out of the +_Wilkom_, which was a Silver gilt Cup, of a large dimension. He took it +off clean at one Draught, and having caused it to be replenished, sent it +to me by a Page. Good Manners, and the Respect I ow'd to the Elector's +Commands, not permitting me to refuse the Chalice, I begg'd heartily that +he would suffer me to drink it off at several Draughts; which was indulg'd +me; and the Elector talking in the mean time with the Ladies, I took the +opportunity of his Absence, and made no scruple to deceive him, for I +return'd great part of the Wine to the bottom of the Tun, threw a part of +it on the ground, and the rest, which was the least part of it, I drank. I +thought my self well off that he did not perceive in what manner I bubbled +him; for I saw he was very well pleased with me. Then several other great +Glasses went round, and the very Ladies wet their Lips, which was the +thing that effectually contributed to demolish us. I was one of the first +that was overpower'd. I perceived those convulsive Motions that threaten'd +me if I drank any more, therefore I sneak'd off and made the best of my +way down from the Platform. I was endeavouring to get out of the Vault, +but was stop'd at the Door by two Life-Guard Men, who with their Carabines +crossing each other, cry'd, _Stand, there's no coming this way_. I +conjur'd them to let me pass, and told them that I had very important +Reasons for my departure; but I might as well have talk'd to the Wind. I +found my self in a terrible Quandary: To get up again to the head of the +Tun was Death: What would become of me I could not tell. In short I crept +under the Tun, and there hoped to hide my self; but it was a fruitless +Precaution: There's no avoiding a Man's Destiny. It was my Fate to be +carry'd out of the Vault, and to know nothing of the matter. For the +Elector perceiv'd I was a Deserter, and I heard him say, _Where is he? +What's become of him? Let him be look'd after, and brought up to me dead +or alive_. The Guards at the Door being examin'd said that I came that way +in order to get out, but that they sent me back again. All these +Inquiries, which I heard from my Hole, made me burrow my self the more. I +crept under the Covert of a couple of Boards I met with by chance, where +nothing but a Cat, Devil, or Page could possibly find me out. But a little +Page, who was indeed both Devil and Page too, ferreted me, and baul'd out +like one that was mad, _Here he is! Here he is!_ and then I was taken out +of my Covert. You may imagine what a silly Figure I made. I was carry'd +before my Judge, who was the Elector himself. But I took the liberty to +challenge both him and all the Gentlemen in his Retinue, as being Parties +in the Cause. _Alas! my little Gentleman_, said the Prince to me, _You +refuse us for your Judges; I will appoint you others then, and we shall +see whether you come off any better_. He nominated the Princess his +Daughter, and her Ladies to try me, and the Elector was my Accuser. After +pleading my own Cause they put it to the Vote, and I was condemn'd +unanimously to drink as long as I could swallow. The Elector said, that as +he was the Sovereign he would mitigate my Sentence; that I should that day +drink four Pint Glasses of Wine, and that for a Fortnight running I should +tip off the like Glass to his Health immediately after Dinner. Every body +admir'd the Elector's Clemency, and whether I did or not, I was fain to do +as they did, and to return him Thanks. Then I underwent the heaviest part +of my Sentence; I did not lose my Life indeed, but for some Hours I lost +both my Speech and my Reason. I was carry'd to a Bed, where when I came +to my self I was told that my Accusers were in the same pickle as I was; +and that none of them went out of the Vault in the same manner as they +enter'd it. Next day the Elector was so good as to mitigate the remaining +part of my Sentence, and excus'd me from the Penance to which I was +condemn'd, upon my promising him that I wou'd make one at his Table for a +Month to come. + + _I am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XX. + + + _SIR_, _Manheim, March 17, 1730._ + +In going from _Heidelberg_ to MANHEIM we leave the _Necker_ on the right +hand, but keep almost all the way by the side of that River. 'Tis three +Leagues from one City to the other, over a fruitful Plain. _Manheim_ lies +between the _Rhine_ and the _Necker_, in a marshy Country, which has +always been reckon'd very unwholesome. About fourscore Years ago this City +was but a Village. _Frederic_ Elector _Palatine_, who was chose King of +_Bohemia_, caus'd it to be fortify'd, and built a Castle or Citadel there, +which he call'd _Fredericsbourg_. At the same time a Town was built, of +which all the Streets run parallel, the chief that passes thro' the middle +of the Town was planted with Trees after the manner of _Holland_. But the +_French_ having taken _Manheim_ in 1693, raz'd it to the ground, and by +the Treaty of _Nimeguen_ it was stipulated that _Manheim_ should be +demolished; which was done accordingly. _John-William_ of _Newbourg_, the +last Elector, began again to fortify _Manheim_, according to the Plans +laid down by the famous _Cohorn_; but those Works were suspended, so that +no more than two Bastions and a Courtain were finish'd. When the present +Elector _Charles-Philip_ came to live at _Manheim_ he caus'd those Works +to be resumed which his Brother had discontinued, and to be carried on +with such Diligence that in a few Years he put the Place in a state of +Defence[131]. The Fortifications are all fac'd with Brick; and _Manheim_ +is now one of the best Places in all _Germany_. + +This City has three fine Gates, of which that of the _Necker_ is the most +magnificent, and the best adorned; in which one sees beautiful +Basso-relievos, after a Plan very happily executed. This Gate opens +towards a long and spacious Street, at the end of which stands the +Elector's Palace, one of the largest and most substantial Buildings in +_Europe_. It were to be wish'd indeed that the Architecture had been more +regular: Never had any Architect more Advantage, for he built it new from +the Foundation, was not stinted for want of room, and as he set no Limits +to his Expence, I should have thought that a masterly hand might have +produc'd something curious. Nevertheless there are Faults in the Building +which are shocking to such as have the least Skill in Architecture; +insomuch that they who have a Taste for that Science are sorry that a +Building which has been so expensive has been no better conducted. The +Situation of this Palace is indeed very fine, at the end of the City, and +of a very noble large Street, which like all the rest runs in a strait +Line. The Palace, which has a great Square before it, consists of a large +number of Lodging-Rooms, with a great high Pavilion in the middle, and two +advanc'd Wings, with ample Pavilions at the ends; where two other very +extensive Wings rise on both sides that are likewise terminated by +Pavilions, behind which there are other Lodging-Rooms. The inside of the +Palace is form'd by two great Courts, which are to be separated by an open +Gallery or Terrass, the Model of which is very much adorned with +Architecture; but I can't think it will look well when 'tis done. The +Apartments are adorn'd with fine noble Floors and Cielings, and have the +finest Prospect in the World to _Spire_, _Franckendahl_, _Worms_, and all +the Country in general, as far as the Mountains of _Alsace_, which +consists wholly of Towns and Villages. All this fine fruitful Country is +water'd by the _Rhine_, which passes behind the Palace of _Manheim_, and +washes its Fortifications. Upon this beautiful Canal there are to be the +Gardens of the Palace, for which there are intended two Courtains and a +Bastion. + +'Tis almost inconceivable how the Elector was able to get all the Works +about _Manheim_ finished in so few Years; for in short I remember to have +seen Partridges where there are now Houses and Palaces. The whole Town is +laid out in a most regular and charming manner; and 'tis without dispute +one of the prettiest Towns in _Europe_. 'Tis pity the Houses are not +higher: The reason they alledge for it is, that _Manheim_ is a fortify'd +Town, and that by consequence the Houses ought to be low. I know not what +Authority there is for this, since _Strasbourg_, _Metz_, _Luxembourg_, and +_Lisle_, are Places of much more Importance than _Manheim_, and yet the +Houses are as high there as they are in other Towns. + +The Palace is commodious, and yet, for what reason I know not, the Elector +does not live in it[132]. Some say that he has been told of so many +Faults in it as have quite put him out of conceit with it, and others that +'tis because a certain Astrologer prophesy'd he would die there; but I am +apt to believe that the latter Reason is no more than a Joke, and I dare +to say that the Elector is too wise a Man to credit it. Mean time this +Prince dwells in a House belonging to a _Jew_, to which several other +private Houses are join'd; but for all that the Lodgings are very bad. + +There can't be a better-natur'd Man than _Charles-Philip_ of _Newbourg_, +Elector _Palatine_. He is the best of Masters, and the most affable of +Princes. He is reckoned extremely handsome, and one of the chief Dancers +in his time; and he has a noble Aspect. His Behaviour and Conversation +engage one to love him, and to pay one's court to him out of pure +Inclination. He formerly was fond of Pomp and Pleasure, but since the loss +of his only Daughter and his Son-in-law, who died within a few Years one +of another, he seems to be no longer taken with what was heretofore his +Amusement. The Elector has been twice marry'd, _viz._ first to +_Louisa-Charlotte_ Princess of _Radzeville_, and secondly to _Theresa +Lubomirski_, both _Polish_ Ladies. The former left him a Daughter that was +marry'd to _Joseph-Charles_ Prince _Palatine_ of _Sultzbach_, but died in +1728; as did her Husband the Year following. This Princess had such Beauty +and Merit, that she was the Comfort of her Father and the Admiration of +her Acquaintance. She left three young Princesses, whom the Elector causes +to be educated at his Court, where they are now all that he has to delight +him; but then they incessantly renew to him the sorrowful Remembrance of a +Daughter who was extremely dear to him. + +The Death of that Princess has been a very great Affliction to the +Elector, and chang'd the Face of the _Palatine_ Court. Indeed as to +Affability, and to the Goodness of his Temper, he is still the same +Elector, but he has no longer that Gaiety of Humour which his Daughter's +Company rais'd in him; for she had a thousand different Amusements for +him, and Pleasures and Merriment every where accompany'd her. The Elector +eats always in private, except on Holidays, and when there's any foreign +Prince at his Court. After he has been in public at Mass, he commonly +stops in one of his Apartments to chat with the Courtiers, or to play at +Billiards till Dinner-time. After Dinner he goes to Bed, and lies there +two Hours; then he rises, and after having caus'd himself to be dress'd, +he gives Audience to his Ministers, and to such private Persons as want to +talk with him. He is very attentive to those who speak to him, and answers +them with Good-nature and Kindness. He seldom refuses what is in his power +to grant; and when Reasons force him to a denial, 'tis visible that he is +uneasy, and he refuses in so civil a manner, that People go away at least +comforted, if not contented. At six o'clock in the Evening the whole Court +meets in his Electoral Highness's Apartment, where there is Play till nine +o'clock, and then the Elector retires, makes a very slight Supper, and +goes to Bed in good time. + +Tho' the Elector dines in private there's always a Table sumptuously +serv'd for the hereditary Prince of _Sultzbach_, Brother to him who was +the Elector's Son-in-law. This passes for the Elector's Table, is spread +for eighteen Guests, and is serv'd by Pages. + +The Prince _de Sultzbach_ is look'd upon as the Elector's Heir, because +'tis not supposed that the Elector's Brother, the Elector of _Mentz_, +would be willing to quit the first Electorate of the Empire, and the +great Benefices which he possesses, to become Elector _Palatine_, if he +should happen to survive his Brother[133]. The Bishop of _Augsbourg_, the +Elector's second Brother, being a Priest, cannot succeed. The Prince _de +Sultzbach_'s Father is still living; but being as old as the Elector, he +is not like to survive him very long[134]. The Prince _John-Christian_ of +_Sultzbach_ was born in 1700. He is the Widower of the Princess _de la +Tour_ of _Auvergne_, who brought him for her Portion the Sovereignty of +_Bergopzoom_; and left him a Son, who is educated at _Brussels_ with his +Great-Grandmother the Duchess Dowager of _Aremberg_. The Prince +_John-Christian_ is tall and extremely corpulent, insomuch that 'tis well +if he has not the Dropsy. He spent the first Days of his Youth at the +Court of _Lorrain_ in _France_, and in the _Netherlands_, by which Travels +he acquired a great deal of Politeness. He was lately betrothed to +_Eleonora-Philippina_ of _Hesse-Rhinfelds_, Sister to the Princess of +_Piedmont_[135], and to the Duchess of _Bourbon_. This Princess is every +day expected from _Turin_, to which Place she accompanied her Sister. +Their Highnesses will then go and keep their Court at _Heidelberg_[136]. + +The Principal Noblemen of the _Palatine_ Court are the following: + +_Francis-George_ Count of _Manderscheldt-Blanckenheim_[137], the Steward +of the Houshold, Prime Minister, and Knight of the Order of St. _Hubert_. +He is of illustrious Extraction; is a Man of Integrity and very great +Probity, incapable of doing an ill thing, but not at all engaging in his +Deportment; for he is reserved, with an Air of Haughtiness, which is a +Defect that he was born with, and endeavours to conquer, but cannot. When +one knows him intimately he proves a good Friend, and capable of doing one +Service. He has very great Pensions from the Elector, and is the oldest of +his Family, which being pretty numerous, he does not live in a very grand +manner. + +The Baron _de Sickingen_ is Great Chamberlain, Minister of State, and +Knight of the Order of St. _Hubert_. He is a Gentleman of a fine Presence, +of an easy and engaging Access, with profound Learning, and Sentiments +suitable to his Birth. He was Governor of the late Prince _de Sultzbach_, +Son-in-law to the Elector; and he imprinted such Ideas of Men and Things +in the Mind of that young Prince, as gave great hopes that his Government +would be happy if ever he attain'd to it. M. _de Sickingen_ was afterward +the Elector's Envoy Extraordinary to the Imperial Court; and I knew him at +_Vienna_ where he was exceedingly beloved. At his return he succeeded his +Brother in the Office of Great Chamberlain, which he exercises with the +Approbation of the whole Court. + +_John-Frederic_ Count _de Globe_, is Grand Marshal, Minister of State, and +Knight of the Order of St. _Hubert_. He is very rich, and has a fine +Estate in _Bohemia_. He was once the Elector's Page, who finding him at +the bottom a Man of Integrity and Honour, took care of his Fortune, gave +him the best Employments at his Court, and raised him to the Dignity of +Count. M. _de Globe_ has been seldom at _Manheim_ for some Years past; +which is a Loss both to Court and City, because he liv'd very nobly, and +more than all, was very civil to Foreigners[138]. + +The Baron _de Wohlin_ is Master of the Horse[139]. He is one of those Men +in whom we meet with that Candor and Probity so much boasted by our +Fathers. + +The Count _de la Tour_ and _Taxis_ is Captain of the Life-Guards, +Lieutenant-General, and Knight of the Order of St. _Hubert_. His Carriage +seems blunt and proud, yet he is familiar with those that are in his +Confidence. He has considerable Credit at Court, owing to his Sister's +being so long in favour with the Elector. + +_Julius Augustus_ Count _de la Marck_, Lieutenant-General, Captain of the +hundred _Swissers_, and Knight of St. _Hubert_, is descended of an +illustrious Family in the Empire. He spent part of his Youth in the +Service of _France_, where his eldest Brother is now actually a +Lieutenant-General, Colonel of a foreign Regiment, and a Commander of the +Order of the _Holy Ghost_. He has learnt all the _French_ Politeness; his +Behaviour resembles the Man of Quality; his Temper is gay, and he loves +good Cheer, Joy and Pleasures. + +The Count _Egmont de Hatzfeldt_ Lieutenant-General, Minister of State, and +Secretary at War, comes from one of the best Families in the Empire, This +Nobleman is extraordinary civil; his House is open to all Persons of +Distinction; he lives very nobly, and both his Lady and himself are very +fond of entertaining Foreigners. They were both intrusted to conduct to +_Piedmont_ the Princess of _Sultzbach_ first Wife to _Charles_ Prince of +_Piedmont_[140], and discharged their Employments in such a manner that +they had the general Approbation of the _Sardinian_ Court. + +The Barons of _Hildesheim_ and _Beveren_ are both Ministers of State. The +former acquired a very great Reputation in the Negotiations that were +carry'd on at _Heidelberg_ in 1719, for the Church of the _Calvinists_ +which the Elector had a mind shou'd be Catholic. The second has been Envoy +to the King of _Great Britain_. They are both to be valued for their +Merit, live very honourably, and make Foreigners welcome. + +I could tell you of many other Persons of Birth and Merit employ'd at this +Court, but really my Letter would be too tedious. Nevertheless I cannot +omit the mention of the Baron _d'Obsten_, whom you saw at _Breslau_, after +he had quitted the Service of the _Czar_. He is settled here, but has no +Character. He and all his Family are become of our Communion. He has a +considerable Pension from the Elector, and is generally very well +esteem'd. His Son, who is a Captain, is a young Gentleman of Merit, and +his Daughters are young Ladies highly to be esteem'd for their good +Behaviour and Politeness. + +The Count _de Nassau-Weilbourg_ lives here also. His Birth would engage me +to give you an Account of him tho' I were not induc'd to it by the +Consideration of his Merit. This Nobleman has an infinite share of it; he +is generous, magnificent, genteel, and civil, knowing what Family he is +descended from; but knowing it for no other reason than to discharge all +the Obligations of it. He is the Ornament of this Court, tho' he is not in +the Service of the Elector. His Father was Velt-Marshal, and Commander in +Chief of the _Palatine_ Troops during the Reign of the late Elector _John +William_. The Count I am speaking of was Envoy Extraordinary from the +Elector to the Court of _France_ during the Minority of _Lewis_ XV. He +then went often to the Royal Palace to pay his court to the Regent's +Mother, and there it was that I knew him; for that Lady and the whole +Court of France had a very great Value for him. That Princess speaking of +him one day to me, said she was very glad that he was a Count of _Nassau_; +for indeed, said she, he deserves to bear a great Name[141]. + +There are amiable People here of both Sexes who are very sociable, so that +'tis a Stranger's own fault if he misses of Amusement here; for such are +generally treated very civilly. As for my own part, I have received so +many Courtesies from the Elector, and so many Favours from his Court that +I shall for ever acknowledge them. + +The Nobility maintain a Company of _French_ Comedians who act three times +a Week upon a very little Theatre, but both the Townsmen and Foreigners +pay. Tho' this Company, of which the Count _de la Marck_ has the +Direction is not the best, yet 'tis a pleasure to go to it for the sake of +seeing Company. In the time of the late Princess there were a thousand +Pleasures which there are not now, so that her Death is still lamented. + +The Elector's Revenues are reckon'd at two Millions of Crowns. You may +rate them more or less, 'tis no matter; for my own part, I affirm nothing, +being not willing to imitate the Marquis _de Breton-Villiers_, who in his +Memoirs of the Regency values the Revenues of all the Princes of the +Universe with as much assurance as if he had been Superintendant of every +one's Finances. The Elector has about 7 or 8000 Soldiers, exclusive of his +Guards. His best Places are _Manheim_, _Juliers_, and _Dusseldorp_. The +three Religions tolerated in the Empire have Churches here, and the _Jews_ +a large Synagogue. They are very numerous at this Place, and two thirds of +the Houses belong to them, as being either built by them, or mortgag'd to +'em. Some of them are very rich, and drive a great Trade with the _Jews_ +at _Meiz_, _Frankfort_ and _Amsterdam_. 'Tis certain that they do a great +injury to the Christian Merchants, and that they are not honester here +than elsewhere. + +Don't write to me, if you please, before I have sent you my Direction, +because I know not whether I shall stay long enough at _Frankfort_, to +which some Affairs call me, to receive your Letters. + +Just now we hear of the Death of Pope _Benedict_ XIII. As I never saw a +Conclave, and am in the Humour of Travelling, I have an inclination to +take a tour to _Rome_. I shall not resolve on it till I come to +_Frankfort_. Which way soever I go you shall be inform'd, and I will not +fail to desire your Commands. Mean time I am always very sincerely, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXI. + + + _SIR_, _Frankfort, March 21, 1730._ + +At my Departure from _Manheim_ I pass'd the _Rhine_ over a Bridge of +Boats, and in three Hours time arrived at FRANCKENDAHL, which was formerly +fortified, but after having suffered by the general Conflagration in the +_Palatinate_, was dismantled by the Peace of _Nimeguen_, and so it has +remained ever since. It still bears the Marks of _French_ Fury; and a +great many Houses that were burn'd have not been rebuilt. + +There's the finest Country in the World between _Franckendahl_ and WORMS. +I came hither at ten o'clock in the Morning, and spent the rest of the +Forenoon in seeing what was most remarkable. _Worms_ is not the Place now +that it was before the _French_ burn'd it. Its most wealthy Inhabitants +instead of rebuilding their Houses, retir'd to _Frankfort_ and _Holland_, +so that the Chapter of _Worms_, which is wholly compos'd of Persons of +Quality, is now the chief Glory of the Town. The Bishop of it is the +Elector[142] of _Mentz_, who was chose _July_ 12, 1694. This Prince has +built a new Episcopal Palace, the Contrivance of which is beautiful. It +joins to the Cathedral which is ancient, and built very substantially. The +_Lutherans_ have just built a fine Church, the Roof of which is painted. +In several Compartiments there's the History of _Luther_'s pretended +Reformation. That Doctor is there represented as appearing before the Dyet +of the Empire which met at _Worms_ _An._ 1521. You know that he was cited +to it by the Emperor _Charles_ V. His Friends, to dissuade him from +appearing, put him in mind of _John Huss_, who notwithstanding the +Safe-Conduct that had been granted him by the Emperor _Sigismond_, was +burnt by a Decree of the Council of _Constance_. _Luther_, without being +intimidated, said, that _tho' he was sure to be engag'd with as many +Devils as there were Tiles upon the Houses of +Worms+, he was resolv'd to +go_. He went thither accordingly, and appear'd the 17th of _April_ before +the Dyet, where he offer'd, with a Courage deserving a better Cause, to +maintain his Doctrine and his Writings against all that should go about to +demolish them from the Holy Scriptures. + +The City of _Worms_ stands in the middle of a fine spacious Plain, +abounding with Corn, Vineyards, and Fruit-Trees. A Wine is produced here +which is call'd _Lieben-Frauen-Milch_, i. e. _Our Lady's Milk_. The +_Rhine_ is about three or four hundred Paces from the Town, but 'tis said +it formerly ran close by the Walls of it. Which way soever one comes to +_Worms_, one perceives at a great Distance the four Towers of the +Cathedral which are all built of red Freestone. Two drunken Fellows +mistook those Towers one day for Capuchin Fryars. Being in the Country at +a pretty good Distance from the Town, as the Sun was going down, one of +them said to his Comrade, _We have no Time to lose, the Gates are going to +be shut.--No matter_, said the other, pointing to the Towers; _Don't you +see those Capuchins there before us? They are of the Town, and are +going thither as well as we. You are in the right_, reply'd the former, +_let us drink the good Fryar's Health_. They had a Gourd Bottle full of +Wine, of which they drank every Drop, so that they did not overtake the +imaginary Capuchins till next Day. + +There is not a finer Country than that between _Worms_ and OPPENHEIM, a +little Town upon an Eminence, on the left Side of the _Rhine_, to which we +pass over a flying Bridge. The Road from _Oppenheim_ is unpassable for +near two Leagues, because 'tis commonly overflown by that River; but +afterwards the Way is perfectly good to _Frankfort_. 'Twas very late when +I came to this City, but by good luck the People of _Frankfort_ who +formerly shut their Gates at Sun-set have lately chose to keep them open +till ten o'clock, so that for paying a Trifle one may enter the Town. + +I know not whether I need give any Account of the City of FRANKFORT. It +has been so often describ'd, and is so well known to the World, that I +fancy every body knows what sort of Town it is, tho' they have not seen +it. _Frankfort_ is famous for its two yearly Fairs, _viz._ at _Easter_ and +_Michaelmas_. It suffer'd much by a great Fire in 1619, but the whole has +been since rebuilt, and the Houses are finer than before. There are few +Places upon the whole more disagreeable, and few Towns in _Germany_ where +the Common People are more unpolish'd. The Burghers are not to be match'd +for Affectedness, and their Conversation is insupportable. The Magistrates +are all _Lutherans_; nevertheless the principal Churches belong to the +Catholics. The _Calvinists_ may live in the Town, but cannot hold any +Employments, and are oblig'd to go for Worship to _Bockenheim_ in the +County of _Hanau_, and to cause their Children to be baptiz'd in the +_Lutheran_ Churches. The great Church in which the Ceremony of the +Emperor's Coronation is perform'd is dark, and by no means proper for such +an august Solemnity. You know that _Aix la Chapelle_ is properly the Place +set apart for the Coronation of our Emperors, and _Frankfort_ for their +Election. But since _Maximilian_ I. no Emperor has been crown'd at _Aix_. +_Frankfort_ being situate in the Centre of the Empire is much more +commodious for all the Princes, but particularly for the Spiritual +Electors and for the Elector Palatine, who may send for their Equipages by +Water and return them back by the same Convenience. When _Charles_ VI. was +crown'd at _Frankfort_ in 1711, there was an extraordinary Concourse of +Princes and Noblemen. Certain speculative Gentlemen made two Remarks on +this Occasion, from which they presag'd two Things. The one was, that the +Emperor made his Entrance into this City in close Mourning for the Emperor +_Joseph_ his Brother; whereupon they said that _Charles_ wore Mourning +because he foresaw that he should be the last Emperor of his Family. The +second was, that as _Charles_ return'd from the Church invested with all +the Marks of Sovereignty, _Charlemain_'s Sword had like to have dropp'd +out of the Scabbard; which the Elector of _Triers_ of the _Lorrain_ Family +observing, catch'd hold of the Sword, and put it in again before it was +quite fallen out of the Scabbard. Upon this, the same Calculators of +Nativities said it was an Omen that the Emperor would never have a quiet +Reign, and that he would always be in a Situation that would oblige him to +draw his Sword for his Defence[143]. + +As to Persons of great Distinction at _Frankfort_, they are very few. The +Chief are the Princess-Dowager of _Nassau-Ousingen_, born Princess of +_Lovestein_; the Count _de Degenfeldt_ (_Schomberg_)[144] Major-General of +the King of _Prussia_'s Forces, and a Commander of the Order of the _Black +Eagle_; and finally, Madame _la Raugrave_[145] Daughter of _Charles-Lewis_ +Elector Palatine: She is the last of the Blood of the Protestant +_Palatine_ Princes. The Senate of _Frankfort_, in consideration of her +great Age, and in respect to her Birth, has granted her the Liberty of +keeping a _Calvinist_ Chaplain to preach in her own House. Sometimes the +Prince _de la Tour_ and _Taxis_[146] Hereditary Post-Master of the Empire +resides at _Frankfort_. His House is a great Relief to Foreigners. His +Princess[147] is a Lady of very great Merit, and has the Soul and +Sentiments of a Queen. In the Houses of the Persons that I have mention'd +there's an Assembly of both Sexes every Evening; but take them one with +another they are very thin except at the Fairs, when there's a vast Resort +of Nobility and Gentry. Most of the Electors and Princes of the Empire +have their Agents at _Frankfort_, to whom they give the Title of +Residents; but those Gentlemen are not a jot the more respected for it, +most of them being Merchants of the City of _Frankfort_ it self, who +sollicit the Title in order to be exempt from the Authority of the Senate, +and from the Payment of the Customs, and to qualify themselves to place +over their Doors the Arms of the Princes to whom they send the +News-papers. + +The Count _de Degenfeldt_ makes such a Figure here that he deserves a more +particular mention. He is a Nobleman of good Extraction. He is a Native of +the _Palatinate_, and spent his Youth in the Service of the Elector +Palatine. He was at that Time a _Calvinist_, but turn'd Catholic. Some +Years after, he was reconcil'd to his former Communion, and married in +_England_ a Cousin of his, the Daughter of the Duke _de Schomberg_, with +whom he had a very great Estate. He has also a considerable Expectancy +from Madame _la Raugrave_ a _Palatine_, his Aunt[148]. The Relation of M. +_de Degenfeldt_ to this Lady, brings to my Mind the History of the Mother +of Madame _la Raugrave_, who as I have observ'd was a _Degenfeldt_. I have +chose to give it you from what was told me by the late Madame of _France_, +and from very good Memoirs that have been put into my hands. I have plac'd +this History as a Transaction in the Time of the ancient _Germans_; and as +I design'd to insert it in a Work which I have undertaken, for want of +something else to employ my Time, I chuse to do it by way of a Discourse +from Madame the late Electress of _Hanover_ to her Daughter-in-law. I +herewith send you the entire History, and at the End of it you will find +the Key. As I fancy you are quite disengag'd in the Country, I don't +apprehend that the reading of it will be Loss of your Time. I rather fear +you won't like it; but in either case 'twill be your own Fault; I don't +force you to read; you may if you please let _Gertrude_ alone. + + _History of GERTRUDE a +Marcoman+ Lady._ + +The History of _Gertrude_, of which I propose to give you, my Princess, a +Relation, is properly the History of the Extinction of my Family; for the +fatal Passion of my Brother King _Malcolm_ for that Lady, is in all +appearance the Reason that there are no more left in my Family than three +Princesses[149], and my self. + +There was such a Harmony in Sentiments betwixt my Brother and me, that it +united us in the strictest Friendship. We had been brought up together in +_Belgium_[150], where the King my Father had been oblig'd to take refuge, +that he might be nearer at hand to receive Succours from _Alfred_ King of +_Albion_, Father of the Queen my Mother, against the _Romans_, who after a +long and bloody War had turn'd him out of his Dominions. That King amus'd +him a long while with fair Promises; but the Misunderstanding which there +was at that time between him and the States of his Kingdom, added to a +certain Indolence in his natural Temper, hinder'd him from seeing the +Effect of them; and the King my Father did not live long enough to be +witness of the Peace which the _Romans_ were at length oblig'd by his +Allies to conclude. This was not an advantageous Peace for _Malcolm_ my +Brother, because in order to obtain it he was oblig'd to yield a part of +his Dominions to the Prince of the[151]_Boyens_, an Ally of the _Romans_, +and upon these Terms he was left in quiet possession of the rest. + +When my Brother saw himself establish'd on the Throne, he thought of +marrying. His Ministers propos'd the Princess of the _Catti_ as the +fittest Match for him, and assur'd him that besides her illustrious +Extraction he could not marry a more beautiful Princess, or one of a +better Temper. My Brother who only alter'd his Condition for Reasons of +State, was willing enough to follow their Advice, and accordingly espous'd +her. The Marriage at first prov'd very happy; the Queen his Wife had her +share of Beauty, and tho' her Temper was very different from what it had +been represented to my Brother, yet she so cunningly disguis'd it for some +time that this Prince thought himself very happy in his Choice. But their +Agreement was of a short Duration; the Queen's true Humour soon discover'd +it self: It appear'd that she was ill-natur'd, and intolerably +high-spirited; of an odd sullen Temper, always ready to contradict, and +frequently subject to Chagrin, of which she herself knew not the Cause, +and which she vented upon all that approach'd her without distinction. The +King my Brother was of a Temper quite the reverse: He lov'd Diversions, +was civil, affable, naturally gay, beneficent; and I don't speak it out of +Partiality in favour of a Brother whose Memory is still dear to me, but +I'll be bold to say, that if he had not been quite so choleric, he would +have been the most accomplish'd Prince of his Time. Nevertheless he bore +with his Wife's ill Humours very patiently at first, and endeavour'd to +reclaim her by gentle Usage; but when he saw that all the Pains he took +were to no purpose, he resolv'd at length to seek out some other +Amusement. + +The Beauty of _Gertrude_, Maid of Honour to the Queen his Wife, had for a +long time smitten him, but hitherto he had only discover'd his Passion to +her by his Glances, for fear of disgusting the Queen. _Gertrude_ who +perceiv'd that my Brother did not look upon her with Indifference, +affected to shun every Opportunity that Prince might take of revealing his +Love to her. But Fortune favour'd my Brother, who being one day with his +Queen in her Apartment, when the Discourse fell upon Jewels, perceiv'd +that the Princess had left off wearing a certain Bracelet of which he had +made her a Present, and asking her what she had done with it, the Queen +told him that she believ'd she had laid it up in a Casket of which she had +the Key in her Pocket. She made one of her Maids fetch it, and open'd it, +but the Bracelet was not there, at which she seem'd uneasy. This my +Brother observ'd, and taking a Pleasure in making her more uneasy, he said +to her, tho' in a manner that shew'd he did not think as he spoke, that +she had undoubtedly some Gallant in a Corner, to whom she had either given +that Bracelet, or who had stole it from her. These Words, tho' deliver'd +in jest, made a deep Impression upon the Queen, and as it was her Nature +soon to take fire, she was stung to the quick at what he had said, and +forgetting the Respect she ow'd to the King her Husband, was in such a +Passion with him that she let fall some Words that were very affronting. +My Brother who was naturally mettlesome and fiery, and far from expecting +any such Treatment, made her answer, that if she continued to forget +herself after that manner, he would find ways and means to humble her. +Upon this he went out of the Room abruptly, and passing through the +Antichamber, met the fair _Gertrude_. Such was his Disgust that instead of +being upon the reserve as he had been, he had a long Conversation with +her, and found her so sprightly and good-natur'd that he was compleatly +charm'd with her. He declar'd his Love to her, and she was so artful that +tho' she gave him no Hopes, yet she did not rebuff him. + +When my Brother was retir'd, _Gertrude_ went into the Apartment of the +Queen her Mistress, who plac'd her whole Confidence in her. That Princess +no sooner saw her but she made a thousand Complaints of the King's +Treatment of her. _Gertrude_ seem'd to sympathize in her Resentment, and +believing that the Queen could not fail to know that the King had talk'd +with her in the Antichamber, she told her that the Prince having met her +in her Passage gave her an angry Account of what had passed; and that she +had done all she could to pacify him, but to no purpose: At the same time +she blam'd the King's Proceeding; and encourag'd by the Liberty which the +Queen gave her, told her that if she who was but a private Gentlewoman was +so treated by any Husband, she would never pardon him tho' he were a King. +She added several other Sayings which instead of pacifying this silly +Queen, did but exasperate her the more. + +In the mean time, _Malcolm_, who was impatient to know the Success of his +Amour, wrote a Letter to _Gertrude_ which he sent her by one of his chief +Domestics, together with a rich Diamond Equipage. But the artful +_Gertrude_ whose Aim was to draw on his Passion, rather than to gratify +it, was far from yielding to his first Attacks, and sent him back the +Diamonds, tho' with a modest and respectful Answer, wherein she desir'd +him to talk no more to her of Love. My Brother was too deeply smitten to +be repuls'd; he doubled his Presents, was assiduous, and eager in his +Courtship; and as 'tis very rare for a King of his amiable Personage to +meet with long Resistance, _Gertrude_ abated of her Shyness by degrees, +and at length discovered that she was not insensible of Love. Their +Correspondence which did not exceed the Bounds of Honour, was kept secret +for a considerable time, but made the greater Blaze when it was known. +_Malcolm_ being one day with his Wife, happen'd, without perceiving it, to +drop a Letter which the Queen took up, and found to be the Hand-writing of +_Gertrude_. The Letter being written in _Latin_ made the Queen the more +curious to know what was in it; and she gave it to her Cousin, Prince +_Valamir_, desiring him to unfold the Contents of it to her. This Prince +was so unwise as to satisfy her Curiosity, and acquainted her that +_Gertrude_ by this Letter assur'd the King that he had gain'd her Heart. +You will easily imagine how much the Queen was ruffled when she heard of +this Intrigue: She could not contain herself; and without giving ear to +the Arguments made use of by _Valamir_, she ran immediately to +_Gertrude_'s Apartment in the Palace, who by good luck was gone abroad. +The Queen thinking her Casket was in _Gertrude_'s Closet caused it to be +broke open, and finding it there, open'd it, and took out all the Letters, +of which several that appear'd to be from the King her Husband left her no +room to doubt of that Prince's extraordinary Passion for _Gertrude_, and +of the Intimacy there was between them. My Brother was quickly inform'd of +what the Queen had been doing, but conceal'd his Uneasiness, shew'd his +Wife no manner of Resentment, and only sent a Caution to _Gertrude_ not to +return to the Palace. _Malcolm_'s Silence deceiv'd the Queen, who indeed +was not a Lady of very great Penetration, so that she flatter'd herself +the King might possibly be ignorant of the Outrage she had committed; and +upon this Supposition she thought it her best way to dissemble her Hatred +and Wrath against _Gertrude_. She pretended therefore to be very uneasy +for fear of what had happen'd to her, caus'd a Search to be made for her +several days, and seem'd very much dejected at her Absence. She hoped by +all these Demonstrations of Friendship to decoy her back to the Palace, in +order then to be compleatly reveng'd of her. + +Thus Matters stood when the King of the _Suevi_, the Brother-in-law of the +Queen my Sister-in-law, came to Court with the Queen his Wife. This Prince +having observ'd the Queen's Melancholy on several occasions, ask'd her the +reason of it one day as they sate at Table. 'You must not be surpriz'd, +said _Malcolm_, to see the Queen my Wife out of temper; 'tis her common +Infirmity, and very often she her self knows not the cause of it. My +Ailment is but too real (reply'd the Queen in a great Pet;) and (then +addressing herself to her Husband) said she, it does not at all become you +whose dishonourable Amours have been the only Cause of my Disorder, to +insinuate as if it were but imaginary.' This Answer made in so public a +manner, so nettled my Brother that he turn'd pale for meer Vexation, and +not being able to curb his Passion, forgot his Dignity so far as to strike +her; upon which the unfortunate Princess rose from Table, and retir'd in +Tears to her own Apartment. My Brother, whose Passion was always as soon +over as it was easily kindled, was sorry in a very few moments after for +what he had done, made his Excuses to the King and Queen of the _Suevi_, +and rising from Table, went with them to his Wife's Apartment, where he +ask'd her pardon for what had pass'd. This Atonement, which the Queen did +not expect so soon, touch'd her to the quick: The King and she embrac'd +each other, and exchang'd their Promises to forget as well as to forgive +every Offence. But would you believe it? that fickle, fantastical Creature +my Sister-in-law chang'd her mind all on a sudden, and when her Husband +came in the Evening with an intention to spend the Night with her, she +absolutely refus'd to let him bed with her unless he would resolve to +deliver up _Gertrude_ to her. _Malcolm_, who was still asham'd at what he +had done in his last Fury, receiv'd so violent a Proposition with more +Patience than he would have done upon another Occasion. He endeavour'd by +fair Words to pacify his Wife, assuring her that nothing criminal had ever +pass'd between him and _Gertrude_, and that tho' he had corresponded with +the Girl by Letters, it was not out of any Love he had for her, so much as +to know whether it was true that she wrote as good _Latin_ as he had been +told she did. Tho' this Speech of his was not very probable, yet as People +are easily inclin'd to believe what they wish to be true, the Queen +suffer'd herself to be at last persuaded, and was reconciled to her +Husband without insisting any farther on the Sacrifice she at first +demanded. + +The Emperor being come to spend some Time at _Pluibourg_, summon'd an +Assembly thither of the Princes of the Empire. My Brother went thither +with the Queen his Wife; but the Consequence was that they were more +embroil'd than ever; and my Sister-in-law was so unadvised as to let +_Caesar_ and his Court be Witnesses of certain Brawls, which for her own +Interest as well as her Husband's, she ought to have carefully confin'd +within the Limits of her own Houshold. 'Tis true that my Brother had no +very great Respect for her, and he lov'd _Gertrude_ more than ever. Being +hindred by a slight Indisposition from going to _Montpayen_ where he kept +her at one of his Houses, not a Day pass'd but he sent an Express to know +how she did, and the Queen's ill Temper, who no doubt had better have +try'd good-natur'd Methods to reclaim him, only incens'd him against her, +and made him the fonder of _Gertrude_. + +The Assembly of the Princes of _Germany_ being over, and the Emperor +return'd to _Rome_, my Brother set out for _Montpayen_ the Capital of his +Kingdom, and gave orders for his Queen to follow him next Day. But for a +Reason which I never could dive into, the Princess instead of obeying him +stay'd a Month longer at _Pluibourg_, without vouchsafing to let the King +her Husband know the Reason of her delay; and not only so, but when she +came to _Montpayen_, she had the Assurance to go with a bold Face to her +Husband's Apartment, without knowing how he would take it: But the Prince +who had just Reason to be angry, foreseeing that she was like enough to +take such a step, had given orders to refuse her Entrance; wherefore she +was oblig'd to retire to her Apartment, whither a Captain of the Guards +came in a Moment after, to tell her from the King that she was a Prisoner. + +This unhappy Princess bore her Disgrace very weakly. She repented, but too +late, of having been so imprudent as to contravene the Orders of the King +her Husband; and hoping to work upon his Good-nature, she wrote him a most +submissive Letter, begging his pardon for her Disobedience, and intreating +him to restore her to her Liberty. My Brother sent her an Answer, wherein +he only gave her the Title of the Princess of _Cattia_. He told her, 'that +having consider'd the Disagreement there was betwixt his Temper and her's, +he resolved to be divorc'd from her, and that she would do well herself to +give her Consent to it; which if she did with a good Grace, he would +restore her to her Liberty and settle a Revenue on her suitable to her +Rank.' + +This Answer was a Thunder-stroke to my Sister-in-law; she rav'd and tore +like a mad Woman. She was for a long while like one out of her Senses, but +recovering them at length by the help of her Women, and consulting with +those that had the greatest share of her Confidence, she sent the King +word that he was Master, and might make use of his Authority, but that +she would never consent to the Divorce. + +My Brother who had fix'd his Resolution, and saw no other way to get +possession of _Gertrude_ than by marrying that Girl who had presum'd to +set so high a Price upon her Favours, took off the Mask, notify'd his +Design to the Court, and in a few days after, the Marriage was perform'd +in the manner that you know is practis'd in _Germany_ by Princes who marry +beneath themselves, which excludes the Children by such _Venter_ from +succeeding to the Father's Estate. As soon as he was marry'd, he restor'd +the Queen to her Liberty, and acquainted her, 'That by the Advice and +Consent of the Priests of his Kingdom whom he had caused to be assembled, +he had marry'd _Gertrude_. That the Thing being done and past remedy, he +hoped she would resolve to make her self easy. That however, he would +always treat her as a Princess; that she should be welcome to continue in +her Apartment at the Palace; that she should have her Guards to attend +her, and that he had set apart a sufficient Fund for her Maintenance; but +that he expected she would be so complaisant as to acknowledge _Gertrude_ +hereafter for the lawful Queen.' + +My Sister-in-law who then saw that her Disgrace was infallible, gave her +self up to Complaints and Tears, wrote to the King her Husband in the most +moving Language, and implor'd the assistance of the King her Brother: But +all was to no purpose; she was oblig'd to submit to her Misfortune, and to +be patient under an Affliction which she had partly brought upon her self +by her Folly. + +While all this pass'd, my Brother was at one of his Seats not far[152] +from his Capital, where he caus'd _Gertrude_ to be treated as a Queen, +and not long after carried her to _Montpayen_ where the sight of her +Royalty was a fresh Mortification to the Queen my Sister-in-law. However, +the unfortunate Princess not yet despairing of the means of reclaiming her +Husband, was resolv'd to make the last Attempt to turn that Prince's +Heart. She dress'd herself in the most gay and rich Apparel that she could +get, and taking her Children along with her, went to meet the King her +Husband in the Room next to the Hall where he was at Table with +_Gertrude_, and thro' which he must necessarily return. When he appear'd, +she threw herself with her Children at his Feet, clasp'd his Knees, +conjur'd him with Tears in her Eyes to look with Pity on an unhappy +Princess whom he had formerly thought fit to make his Wife, and to +consider that the Affront he put upon her by divorcing her, would be a +Reproach to those very Children of whom he had been so fond. My Brother +seem'd to be melted at so moving a Spectacle, look'd for some Moments on +his Wife and Children with Tears in his Eyes, and he was just ready to +raise her from the Ground, when _Gertrude_ who was at his Heels, fearing +what might be the Consequence of the Confusion that she saw him in, talk'd +earnestly to him in the _Tuscan_ Language, saying, _Remember_, my Lord, +_what you promis'd me_. These few Words wrought so much on the unsteady +Mind of my Brother that he only lifted up his Hands to Heaven and went on, +shewing by the Trouble he was under, how little he was Master of his +Reason upon this Occasion. The Queen my Sister-in-law remain'd for a while +speechless, but Fury and Despair quickly seiz'd her Soul. She rose up and +ran into her Closet, where snatching up a Dagger[153] she came back again +with an Intention to stick it into her Rival's Heart. But the Rage she +was in having so confounded her that she had not a Thought of concealing +that Instrument of her Revenge, it was perceiv'd by one of the chief +Courtiers who pluck'd it from her just as she was going into the Closet +where my Brother was with _Gertrude_. That Prince hearing a Noise so near +him ran out, and demanded what was the matter. 'Tis I, (said the Queen +very couragiously) 'who was coming to revenge my self and you too on the +Monster which disunites us; but that Traytor there (said she, pointing to +the Man that had wrested the Dagger out of her Hands) has depriv'd me of +the only Opportunity that I could call a Pleasure.--Princess, (said the +King to her very calmly) don't indulge your self any longer in such +extravagant Passions, if you are unwilling that I should use you roughly.' +Then he retir'd with _Gertrude_, and my Sister-in-law return'd to her +Apartment in a Temper which you may easily imagine. + +_Clodius_, who now governs the Empire, being at that time proclaim'd +Emperor, this Princess made her Complaints to him, and desir'd him to +reconcile _Malcolm_ to her. But _Caesar_ having excus'd himself, my +Sister-in-law who could no longer bear the Presence of her Rival, retir'd +to the King her Brother, there to wait the End of her Misfortunes. My +Brother liv'd afterwards very lovingly with his new Spouse, and had by her +four Sons and as many Daughters. But Death having at last robb'd him of a +Person so dear to him, the Prince was so afflicted for the Loss of her, +that he spent two Years in continual Sorrow, and at length himself paid +the same Tribute to Nature. + +He left but one Son and a Daughter by his lawful Spouse who surviv'd him +some Years. The King my Nephew was marry'd, but he was of such a +melancholy Temper, his Humour was so different from the Queen's, and there +was so little Love betwixt them, that he died without Issue. With him I +have seen my Family utterly extinct, its Dominions transferr'd to the +Power of a Prince who is hardly related to us, and my Country abandon'd to +the most dismal Desolation. For my Niece having marry'd _Meroveus_, +Brother to _Ariovisto_ King of the _Gauls_, the latter who is an ambitious +Prince and goes to War upon every the least Pretence, asserted the Rights +of his Sister-in-law without Delay, and pleading that she ought to succeed +to the Inheritance of the King her Brother, notwithstanding the _Salic_ +Law establish'd in _Germany_, he sent a formidable Army into the Dominions +of my deceased Nephew, where the _Gauls_ at first meeting with no +Resistance, committed enormous Cruelties, and extended their Fury even to +the Violation of the Tomb of the Kings my Ancestors, whose dead Bodies +were stripp'd and exposed to the Caprice of the unruly Soldiers: +Calamities, which perhaps would never have happen'd, had it not been for +my Brother's fatal Passion for _Gertrude_; because in all Appearance if he +had liv'd in a good Understanding with his lawful Spouse; he would have +had more Children by her, and I would not have had the Vexation to see the +Throne of my Fathers posses'd by a foreign Family. + + _KEY to the History of GERTRUDE_. + + _Albion_, England. + _Alfrede I._ James I. _King of_ England. + _Ariovisto_, Lewis XIV. + _Belgium_, Holland. + _Boyens, (Prince of) the Elector of_ Bavaria. + _Catti, (Princess of) the Princess of_ Hesse-Cassel. + _Caesar, the_ Emperor. + _Clodius, the Emperor_ Leopold. + _Germania_, Germany. + _Gertrude, the Baroness of_ Degenfeldt. + _Malcolm_, Charles-Lewis _Elector_ Palatine. + _Meroveus_, Philip _of_ France, _Duke of_ Orleans, _Brother to_ + Lewis XIV. + _Montpayen_, Heidelberg. + _Pluibourg_, Ratisbon. + _Romans, the_ Imperialists. + _Rome_, Vienna. + _Suevi, (King of) the Margrave of_ Baden-Dourlach. + + _End of the History of_ Gertrude. + + * * * * * + +I have not scrupled to give you this History, because all the Persons who +are Subjects of it are dead. I wrote it very much in haste, for the +Diversion of the Princess _d'A----_, so that you must not be surpriz'd if +you don't meet with all that Exactness which there ought to be in this +little Narrative; tho' I must tell you again that every Tittle of it is +true, so that you may read it as a History, and not as a Romance. + +I have fix'd my Resolution, and now am setting out for _Rome_; therefore +please to direct to me at _Venice_. I go to-morrow to a great +Hunting-Match that is to be at _Darmstadt_, where I shall stay two Days: +From thence I shall go and spend two more with the Count _de Hanau_; and +then will I begin my Pilgrimage to the Holy Places. I am most entirely, +&c. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXII. + + + _SIR_, _Munich, April_ 2, 1730. + +Since you received my last I have done and seen a great many Things. On +the 23d of _March_ I set out from _Frankfort_ for DARMSTADT, the Capital +of the upper County of _Catzenellenbogen_, and the Residence of +_Ernest-Lewis_ Landgrave of _Hesse-Darmstadt_[154]. + +This Town is extremely small, and only enclosed with Pallisadoes. If the +Prince's Palace had been finish'd according to its Model, it would have +been one of the greatest and most magnificent in _Europe_, and there might +have been Lodgings for the Emperor, and all the nine Electors of the +Empire. It would have been bigger than the Town, and have cost immense +Sums: That Part which is finish'd makes a very grand Appearance. But all +those magnificent Works which the Landgrave Regent at first carried on +with very great Vigour are entirely discontinu'd, and there's no +Appearance that they will ever be taken in hand again. The old Palace is +much more commodious than it seems to be; its Apartments being convenient, +and richly furnish'd. The Landgrave does not live in the Palace, but leads +a very retir'd Life in a little House upon the Square, where he is never +seen but upon Sundays and Holidays. He amuses himself in turning of Ivory, +making Chymical Experiments, and in Drawing. He loves Hunting above all +things whatsoever. He delights in Agriculture, and in Music, and it may +strictly be said that he is never unemploy'd. He has very great Knowledge +natural and acquir'd. He has seen a great many Countries, and tho' sixty +Years of Age he still looks well, and his grey Hairs, not to call them +white, give him a venerable Air. He sits a Horse very well, walks well, +and seems to enjoy perfect Health. His Wife was _Dorothy_ of +_Brandenbourg-Onoltzbach_, who died in 1705. They say that he lately +married _N---- de Spiegel_ the Widow of Count _Seibelsdorf_ a +Lieutenant-General in the Service of _Bavaria_. Be that as it will, the +Marriage is not public, and the Lady still goes by the Name of her former +Husband by whom she has Children. 'Tis true that the Landgrave pays her +very great Distinction, and indeed she is very amiable. + +This Prince commonly dines at a little Table spread only for four People; +but on Sundays and Holidays he goes to the Palace, and dines with his Son +at a Table cover'd for sixteen Guests, and sups with the Ladies who are +never seen at Court but upon those Days. 'Tis a very hard matter to come +at the Speech of the Landgrave, and much more to that of his only Son the +hereditary Prince. The Hunting-Officers are the only Persons that have the +Privilege of Access to them; for which reason this is not one of the most +entertaining Courts; and a Man is under a necessity of throwing himself +into the Town, where indeed there are a great many People of Merit who are +civil to Foreigners. + +The hereditary Prince _Lewis_, the only Son of the Landgrave, who was born +the 5th of _April_ 1691, is a handsome Man, has a noble Air, dances well, +mounts a Horse well, has Vivacity, Spirit, and Politeness, but is often +thoughtful, melancholy, and goes for Retirement to the Woods, where he is +passionately fond of Hunting; but is apt to create himself Uneasiness, and +does not know how to dissemble it. Tho' he has all the Qualities necessary +to shine in Company, yet he sees but very little. He married +_Charlotta-Christina of Hanau_, who dying in 1726, left him three Sons and +two Daughters, the eldest of which was then seven Years of Age. By virtue +of this Marriage the Prince is Heir to the Count of _Hanau's_ Estate in +_Alsace_, and to all his Freeholds in general, which will be a very rich +Succession. + +Nevertheless the Court of _Darmstadt_ is very numerous. The Landgrave has +a great many Counsellors of State, Gentlemen of the Bed-Chamber and Court, +and a greater Number still of Officers of the Venery, and Huntsmen. There +is not a Province in _Germany_ more proper for Hunting, nor in _Europe_ +where there are more Deer. 'Tis a flat even Country, and a gravelly Soil +interspersed with Woods thro' which there are cut noble Roads. I have seen +the Deer come up close to the Pallisadoes of the Town, and at their +Rutting-time I have heard them cry as I lay in my Bed. This great plenty +of Deer is extremely troublesome to the Peasants who are abroad day and +night to watch their Fields. The Landgrave and the hereditary Prince are +so jealous of their Game that they reckon it as bad a Crime as Murder for +any one to kill a Deer; and tho' 'tis an establish'd Custom among almost +all Sovereigns to punish with Severity all those that kill a Creature +which God however certainly created for the Use of all Mankind, yet there +is no Prince who observes this Law more strictly than the Landgrave. + +I cannot give you a more certain Account of the Revenues of this Prince +than of those of all the other Sovereigns. 'Tis said that he has 5 or +600000 Florins _per Ann._ I am not very well inform'd of the number of his +Troops, for I have only seen his Regiment of Guards which is in very +compleat Order. His Horse-Guards are also very fine Troops, and commanded +by the General _Miltitz_, who is at the same time Grand Marshal of the +Court, the Honours of which he performs in a very handsome manner. + +Tho' the Soil at _Darmstadt_ is very gravelly, it produces excellent +Pulse. I have seen Asparagus at the Landgrave's Table, three of which +weigh'd a Pound, tho' indeed they were not altogether so nice. I remember +that in a former Journey which I made hither in the Month of _December_, +there were brought to the Landgrave in several Pots of Porcellain, a Dwarf +Cherry-Tree laden with Cherries; Strawberry-Plants, an Almond-Tree, and in +short, the Fruits of all the Seasons. + +The intended Hunting-Match, for what reason I know not, was put off; and +as I came hither only to see it, I staid but one Day and went to HANAU. +The Count and the Princess of _Hanau_ were but lately return'd from +_Alsace_. The Town of _Hanau_ is situate on a large Plain to the right of +the _Main_. 'Tis divided into two Wards, the old and the new Town: The +latter is much bigger than the former: It was built by the _Walloon_ +Protestants, who, during the Duke of _Alva's_ Persecution under _Philip_ +II. King of _Spain_, quitted the _Netherlands_ and came to settle at +_Hanau_, which they fortify'd, and built in such a manner that all the +Streets run parallel. The Count keeps several Companies in pay, from which +he makes Detachments for the Quota he is oblig'd to furnish, as a Member +of the Circle of the _Upper Rhine_. + +The _Walloons_ who are settled at _Hanau_ have established several +Manufactures there, especially Woollen Stuffs. The _Calvinists_, the +_Lutherans_, and the _Jews_ are tolerated here, and as for us Catholics, +we may go to Mass where we please. + +The Count's Palace is in the old Town: 'Tis an ancient Building, and makes +no great Appearance, but the Apartments are commodious, and very richly +furnish'd. The Count has a very pretty Pleasure-House a quarter of a +League from _Hanau_, call'd PHILIPSRUHE, _i. e._ (_Philip's Repose_) and +built by the late Count _de Hanau_, Brother to the Count Regent[155]. +'Twas at this Seat that I found the Count of _Hanau_. There was a very +numerous Attendance, and I heartily wish'd I could have staid there a few +days. Few Princes in the Empire live more elegantly than the Count _de +Hanau_. The Lady who directs the whole Houshold, and keeps all things in +wonderful Order is the Princess[156] who is of the Family of +_Brandenbourg-Anspach_, and Sister to the Queen of _England_. At this +Court you have all the Liberty than can be desired. When you first come a +Chamber is provided for your Lodging, and a Footman order'd to wait on +you. Every Morning an Officer comes to know what you will please to have +for Breakfast; and there's every Thing to be had that you call for. If +afterwards you have a mind to go out a Hunting, you send to the Great +Huntsman for a Guide and to the Count for Horses out of his Stables. If +you come back too late for Dinner at Court, you are serv'd very elegantly +in your own Apartment. In the Evening when you are retir'd from Company, a +Butler takes care to provide you with Wine and Beer. The Servants of +Foreigners diet with those of the Count. His own Table which is commonly +for eighteen Guests is served as well as most, and a second Table is +serv'd with the same Magnificence. The Count has a very great Family, and +lives every way like a Prince; and indeed 'tis his own Fault that he is +not one, for he has had the Imperial Diploma for it a long while, but he +does not care to make use of it; saying, he had rather be the first Count +than the lowest Prince. He is the last Male of his Family. After his Death +the County of _Hanau_ relapses to the Landgrave of _Hesse-Cassel_, +according to the Treaty of Confraternity made between the several Families +of _Saxony_, _Hesse_, and _Hanau_, which imports that the said Families +shall succeed one another. The King of _Poland_ as Elector of _Saxony_ +ought to have had his Share in the Succession to the County of _Hanau_, +but his Majesty by a Treaty yielded his Rights to the Landgrave of +_Cassel_. As to the Lands in _Alsace_, and the Freeholds, they revert, as +I told you before, to the Children of the hereditary Prince of +_Darmstadt_. + +The Count of _Hanau_ seems to be much older than he is in reality. He is a +very civil Nobleman, and Hunting is a Diversion of which he is extremely +fond, so that to kill a Deer upon his Lands is an unpardonable Crime; and +the lesser Game, such as Rabbits, Hares, and Partridges, are equally his +Care. All these Creatures spoil the Fields; but they serve for the Count's +Amusement, while the poor Peasant is oblig'd to pay his Tax, and dares not +speak a Word. + +From _Hanau_ to MUNICH I never made a stop; but after having travell'd +thro' _Wurtzbourg_, _Nurembourg_, and _Augsbourg_ arrived here last night, +and propose to set out again to-morrow, and after two or three days stay +at _Saltzbourg_ shall proceed by the way of _Tirol_ to _Venice_, where I +beg you would not fail to let me hear from you. + +I am just come from attending the Obsequies of _Theresa-Cunegunda +Sobieski_ Electoress of _Bavaria_, Mother to the Elector. This Princess +died lately at _Venice_, to which City she retir'd eighteen Months ago, +and her Corpse is forthwith expected to be interr'd in the Tomb of the +Electoral Family. She has left, as 'tis said, near six millions of +Florins, which, since she has made no Will, are to be equally shar'd +between the four Princes her Sons. She has moreover left a Daughter who is +a Nun in a Convent of this City. In 1719, when she took the Habit, I was +present. She chose this retir'd Life against the Will of her Father the +Elector, who did all he could to dissuade her from it; and she liv'd in +great Reputation for her Piety. But to return to the Obsequies of the +Electoress: The Elector and Electoress assisted at them, together with the +Elector of _Cologne_, the Duke _Ferdinand_, the Bishop of _Freisingen_, +the Duchess _Ferdinand_, and the two Princes her Sons. These Princes had +Cowls upon their Heads, and great Cloaks, which is not one of the most +becoming Dresses. The Family of _Bavaria_ observes a very singular Custom, +which is, never to give a black Livery, nor to line their Coaches. I think +this reasonable enough, for it does not look very well in a pompous +Funeral. + + _I am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXIII. + + + _SIR_, _Saltzbourg, April 2, 1730._ + +At my departure from _Munich_ I went and din'd at _Eversberg_, a Village +belonging to the Reverend Fathers the Jesuits, who have a House there +which is a large one, and that's all 'tis good for. I went and lay at +WASSERBOURG a Town of _Bavaria_ built upon a Rock, so encompass'd with the +River _Inn_ that 'tis a perfect Peninsula. Mountains and Rocks hang over +this Town as if they wou'd crush it, and indeed the Place is not worth +much Description. It was settled as a Dowry on the Electoress +_Theresa-Cunigunda Sobieski_ who died last Month, but this Princess would +never live in it, nor indeed do I know any other Prince that would. + +After having pass'd the _Inn_[157] over a very slender wooden Bridge I +climb'd a high Mountain, got down another, ascended a third, and so I +travell'd all the way up Hill and down Hill till I came within two Leagues +of _Saltzbourg_, where the Country becomes more passible. + +The City of SALTZBOURG as well as the whole Archbishoprick takes its Name +from the River _Saltz_ which passes thro' the City and Country. It rises +in _Tirol_ and loses itself in the _Inn_. The Mountains that are about +the Town make it not near so broad as 'tis long, tho' take it all together +'tis not a large Town. 'Tis very well fortify'd, and has a Castle which +standing on an Eminence forms as it were a Citadel. 'Tis furnish'd with a +good Arsenal, and all manner of Ammunition, and I have been assur'd that +of Gunpowder alone there are no less than 20000 Quintals. Some Years ago +when I was here, Lightning fell so near this Magazine that it wanted but +half a Foot of penetrating to the Powder, which if it had touch'd I fancy +I shou'd never have wrote to you more. There is always a Guard of fifty +Men at the Castle, and the Garison of the Town consists of 600 Men who are +lodg'd in the Caserns. + +The City of _Saltzbourg_ contains finer Edifices than many great Towns. It +has a magnificent Cathedral which was consecrated the 24th of _September_ +1628, by an Archbishop who was of the Family of the Counts _de Lodron_. +'Tis a vast Structure of Free-stone, and has a stately Front which may be +reckon'd the compleatest in _Germany_. The skilful Architect by whom it +was directed has very much copy'd the Front of St. _Agnes's_ Church in the +Square of _Navona_ at _Rome_. It has four Marble Statues bigger than the +Life, which represent St. _Peter_, St. _Paul_, St. _Rupert_, and St. +_Virgilius_, of whom the two latter were the first Archbishops of this +See. The whole Church is adorn'd in the inside with Pilastres of the +_Corinthian_ Order. 'Tis built in the Form of a Cross with a very high +Dome which separates the Nave from the Choir. The high Altar which is at +the bottom of the Choir is of Marble, as are the two Chapels that form the +Cross: The Pavement of the Church is of great Squares of Marble of various +Colours. 'Tis pity there was not more Inlet for Light, the Dome being the +only lightsome Part of it. But as the Church is magnificent the Ornaments +of the high Altar are more so. Upon the Grand Festivals it bears a Sun of +Gold adorn'd with precious Stones to the Value of 100000 Crowns, a great +Cross of massy Gold, and four golden Candlesticks. The Front of the Altar, +and the Tabernacle are of massy Silver of excellent Workmanship. + +St. _Rupert_ surnam'd the Apostle of _Bavaria_ was the first Bishop of +_Saltzbourg_ in 582. _Leo_ III. whom the Church honour'd as a Saint, +erected this Bishoprick into an Archbishoprick in favour of St. _Arnould_, +in the Year 798. He had for Suffragans the Bishops of _Freisingen_, +_Ratisbon_, _Passau_, _Briken_, _Gurck_, _Chiemsee_, _Seggau_, and +_Lavant_. + +The Archbishop has a Right of Nomination to the four last Bishopricks; +only the Nomination to the Bishoprick of _Gurck_ is alternative between +this Prelate and the Emperor, as Archduke of _Austria_. The four Bishops +bear the Title of Princes of the Empire, and enjoy all the Prerogatives +annexed to that high Dignity. Notwithstanding this, the Archbishop never +gives them the Preference, and when he talks to them, only compliments +them with the Title of _Euer Freuntschaft_, i. e. _Your Friendship_. +Service is perform'd in this Metropolis according to the Usage observ'd in +St. _Peter's_ Church at _Rome_. The Chapter is compos'd of the Archbishop, +a Provost, a Dean, and twenty four Canons, all Men of Quality, who are +only oblig'd to four Months Residence, and the rest of the Time they may +go where they please. Both the Provost and Dean have the Crosier and +Mitre[158]. The Archbishop, as well as the Elector of _Cologn_, has the +Privilege of dressing in the Habit of a Cardinal. This Prelate has the +Directorship of the College of Princes at the Dyet of the Empire +alternatively with the Archduke of _Austria_. He is moreover _Legatus +natus & perpetuus_ of the Holy See, and Primate of _Germany_. His +Titles are these, '_Leopold_, by the Grace of God, Archbishop of +_Saltzbourg_, and Prince of the Empire, perpetual Legate of the Holy +Apostolic See of _Rome_, Primate of _Germany_, descended of the +illustrious Family of the Barons of _Firmian_.' + +The Archbishop at his coming to the See must pay 100000 Crowns to _Rome_ +for the Pall, but the Country generally raises it for him, besides making +a free Gift of the like Sum to its new Prince. The Revenues of this +Prelate are about 1500000 Florins a Year. The very Salt which is carried +into _Bavaria_ and _Swabia_ brings him in 30000 Crowns. He is absolute +Master of all his Revenues, and accountable to no body for what he lays +out. The present Archbishop is of _Tirol_, of a distinguish'd Family, but +not favour'd much by Fortune. He was born the 26th of _May_ 1679, and +succeeded _Francis-Anthony_ the Count _de Harrach_. His Advancement was +owing to the Division of the Chapter, who all wanted to be either Bishops +themselves, or else to advance some one Friend or Cousin. After a great +many Debates and Messages sent forwards and backwards, their Choice fell +upon the Baron _de Firmian_ who was at that time very infirm, which was +the only Thing that procur'd him the Mitre; for the Parties that divided +the Chapter united in his favour, because they thought him a Man not very +long-liv'd; but they believ'd however he might live long enough to give +each Party time to form its Cabals for advancing that Person to the +Bishoprick who they thought would best serve their Purpose. But all those +Gentlemen were mightily mistaken as to the Archbishop's Life. For this +Prelate, like another Pope _Sixtus_ V. lost all his Infirmities when he +found the Mitre, and is very like to out-live many of his Electors. + +This Prince is tall, has an austere haughty Air; seldom makes any +Compliments, and talks much less, except when he is hunting, which is all +the Pleasure of his Life. He is almost always alone, and generally eats by +himself. In the Summer-time he keeps altogether in the Country where he is +of very difficult Access, and keeps no Retinue, nor Company. He is accus'd +of being too thrifty, and I don't know but there may be something in it; +but perhaps he would not appear to be quite so saving if he had succeeded +any body else in the Bishoprick but the Count _de Harrach_, the most +generous, noble, and most magnificent Prelate of his Time. The Archbishop +is naturally a Valetudinarian; and under God, he is oblig'd for the +Preservation of his Life to his Physician _Gersner_, a Native of _Vienna_, +a Man of great Skill in his Profession, and of strict Honour and +Integrity, who has got so much the length of the Prelate's Foot that he is +almost the only Person that dares to speak to him with Freedom. The Count +_d'Arco_ Son to the Archbishop's Sister is this Prelate's only Darling; +for to the surprize of the whole Court, and Chapter, he prefers him before +a Nephew of his own Name, a Canon of _Saltzbourg_ and of _Trent_, a young +Clergyman of great Hopes. + +The Archbishop of the _Lodron_ Family who caus'd the Metropolis to be +built, likewise founded the Archiepiscopal Palace, the Fortifications, and +the Stables, which were all finish'd in the thirty two Years that he was +Archbishop. The Apartments of the Palace being not laid out altogether in +the modern Taste, the deceased Archbishop _Anthony_ Count _de Harrach_, +made a thorough Change in them, and left little more than the Outside +standing. The Palace at _Saltzbourg_ is now more magnificent than many +royal Houses. It contains 173 Rooms all richly furnish'd, without +reckoning the Halls and Galleries. The Archbishop's Apartment is stately: +It has a great Marble Stair-case divided into three Flights, which leads +into a spacious Guard-Chamber, from whence one enters into the +Archbishop's Apartment consisting of several Rooms, where able _Italian_ +Masters have adorn'd the Cielings with very good Draughts. One is really +surprized to see the Richness of the Furniture, and the infinite Variety +of other things that are distributed up and down this vast Apartment; such +as Marble Tables adorn'd with gilt Mouldings; old Porcellain of the most +beautiful sort; Lustres of massy Silver, and Rock Crystal of uncommon +Workmanship; Chandeliers also of Silver or Crystal upon large gilded +Stands, and a multitude of other things very well worth observation. + +How magnificent soever this Apartment is, there's another made use of upon +Days of Ceremony which infinitely surpasses it. I will only mention the +principal Rooms of it. We first enter into a great Salon adorn'd with the +Pictures of no less than fourscore Archbishops of _Saltzbourg_. Next to it +there's another Salon ingeniously and magnificently decorated, which +discovers Grandeur in every part of it. 'Tis furnish'd with a Suit of +Hangings of Crimson-Damask with Gold Lace, forming a rich Architecture in +Pilasters of the Composite Order, the Frize of which is adorn'd with a +pair of Brackets, which is a vast Addition to the whole Decoration. The +rich Gilding shines every where with profusion. At one end of the Room +there stands in the Wall a sumptuous Beaufet of Silver gilt, and at the +other there's a rich Canopy under which the Archbishop sits when he dines +in State. There's a stately Lustre in the middle of the Room which +consists of magnificent pieces of Rock Crystal. At the end of this grand +Apartment there are two Galleries that deserve the attention of the +Curious in Painting, who will certainly pass their time here very +agreeably, and find a great many choice Pictures done by the best +Masters. The Chimney-piece of the first of these Galleries is a great +Ornament to it, being of the finest Marble adorn'd with Brass, gilt with +Water-Gold. Over it there's a Statue of Brass as big as the Life +representing _Antinous_. The second Gallery is as magnificent as the +first. The Floor, Cieling, Door-Cases, and all the Ornaments in general +are of fine Marble. The Walls are painted in Fresco, and exhibit +Geographical Charts of the principal Dominions in _Europe_ in divers +Pictures, which are executed with very great Art and Exactness both as to +the Painting and Disposition of the Things that are the Subjects of it. + +A third Apartment which is over the Archbishop's is for lodging foreign +Princes, and is not inferiour to the others in Grandeur and Magnificence. +It consists of several Rooms all in a row. In one Room there are all the +Pictures of the Emperors from _Charlemain_ to _Charles_ VI. The Rooms that +follow it are hung with very rich Tapestry, particularly one Set +representing the War between _Pompey_ and _Caesar_, which is so wonderfully +well drawn that the Marshal _de Daun_ Governour of _Milan_ offer'd 40000 +Florins for it to the late Archbishop. I shall say nothing of the other +Apartments, having treated so much of the Archiepiscopal Palace; tho' if +it had belong'd to a Temporal Prince I should have said much less of it, +but I thought fit to give you an Idea of the Wealth of a Prelate. + +Adjoining to the Palace there is a great Building which serves for lodging +the Archbishop's Domestics. The Stables are fit for a King, and if a +_Frenchman_ was to see them he would be forc'd to own that as to the +Inside they are more magnificent than the so much boasted Stables of +_Versailles_. They hold 150 Horses in two Rows, with a broad Walk in the +middle; and the Roof which is pretty high is supported by two Ranges of +Stone-Pillars. Next to these Stables is a Riding-House cover'd, the +Ceiling of which being painted in Fresco, represents a Tournament; and all +round it there is a Gallery. 'Tis pity that this magnificent Riding-House +is not broader. There's another Riding-House uncovered which has not its +Fellow in the World. 'Tis a very great square Place, three Sides of which +are lin'd by very high Rocks, in which three Rows of Seats are very +artfully cut out for the Spectators, when there is any Carousal, or Combat +of wild Beasts. The whole Work is really magnificent, and the old _Romans_ +would not have been ashamed to own it. + +_Trinity-College_ Church is extremely well adorned. The Floor is of +Marble, and the Roof painted with a great deal of Art, representing the +Assumption of the Virgin, and the Crown placing on her Head by God the +Father and by Jesus Christ. The High-Altar is of a very singular Form, but +very magnificent. Two Angels of Brass, exceeding human Stature, in a +Posture of Humility and Adoration, support a Heart of Brass which serves +for a Tabernacle. Over it is a Globe, between God the Father and the +Redeemer. God the Father seems to rest his right hand upon the Globe, and +presents the left to our Lord, who puts his left upon the Globe, and in +the right holds a Cross. They are supported by very large Rays which shine +with very rich Gilding. This stately Groupe is surmounted with a Glory, in +the midst of which the Holy Ghost appears in form of a Dove, extending its +Rays over God the Father, and God the Son. The whole is of Brass gilt with +Gold, of a very curious Fancy. + +Near this magnificent Church is the Palace of _Mirabel_, where the late +Archbishop the Count _de Harrach_, used to spend the Summer. This Prince +who is truly magnificent in every thing, caus'd this House to be built at +a great Expence from the very Foundation; but the Architect whom he +employ'd has not answer'd his Intention, and it appears that he did not +understand the proper Distribution of the Apartments. Every Part of it +indeed taken distinctly, is beautiful, but there is not one in its proper +Place. The grand Stair-Case is very fine, as well for its Contrivance as +for its rich Ornaments, but 'tis placed in a Corner, and without a Guide +'tis no easy matter to find it. The Salon, which is the Master-piece of +the Archbishop's Apartments, is worth the Observation of the Curious, with +respect to the grand Manner in which 'tis painted: Marble, Brass, and +Gilding, seem to have been bestowed on it with profusion. As to the +Pilasters, the _Corinthian_ Order is entirely observed; and there are +Basso-Relievos imitating Brass which are well design'd, and make a very +good appearance. 'Tis pity this fine Salon wants proportion, it being much +too lofty for its Size; and 'tis still more to be lamented that it has not +a Prospect over the Gardens, the River of _Saltz_, and the adjacent +Country, which are the Objects that are discover'd from the Apartments +next to the Salon. + +The Chapel of _Mirabel_ is also very magnificent; and though but of a +middling Size, is not inferior to the finest Churches. This Palace is +accompanied with Gardens finely adorned with Fountains and Statues; and +there are several Orange-Trees planted in the Ground, which are cover'd up +in the Winter in a wooden Box. + +Thus, Sir, have I given you a very particular Account of the City of +_Saltzbourg_: What remains for me is to speak of the Archbishop's +Houshold, which will give you an Idea of his Wealth and Grandeur. This +Prince has + + A Steward, + A Great Chamberlain, + A Grand Marshal, + A Master of the Horse, + A Great Huntsman, + A Captain of the Guards, + A Master-Cook, + A Pay-Master, + Twenty-four Chamberlains, + Sixteen Gentlemen-Servants called _Truchsses_, + Sixteen Pages, + Fifteen Ushers of the Cabinet, + Eleven Ushers of the Chamber, + Forty-two Valets de Chambre, + Twenty-eight Footmen, + Eighteen Cooks. + +How many Coachmen and Grooms he has I know not, but there must be a great +number of 'em, the Archbishop having 750 Horses. + +Besides the Officers that I have now mentioned, there are also the Great +Hereditary Officers of the Archbishoprick, who are four. + +The eldest of the _Lodron_ Family is Hereditary Grand Marshal. + +The Count _de Kuenbourg_ is Great-Cup-Bearer. + +The Office of Master of the Pantry is vacant by the death of the Count _de +Thanhausen_, the last of his Family. + +The Count _de Torring_ is Great Chamberlain. + +All these Offices are executed by the eldest Sons of the Families +above-mentioned. + +The Archbishop confers the Order of St. _Hubert_, which was instituted the +25th of _November_, 1702, by the Archbishop _John-Ernest_, who has thereto +annexed six Commanderies, or Prebends, of a considerable Revenue. + +The Archbishops are obliged for most of their Wealth to the Princes of +_Bavaria_[159]. Mean time the Members of the Chapter of _Saltzbourg_ admit +of no Princes, that they may have a Plea for refusing the Princes of +_Bavaria_, of whose Power they are jealous; in which I think they shew +more regard to the Rules of Policy than those of Gratitude. + +The City of _Saltzbourg_ is worth seeing, but does not afford Amusement. +Every one lives here for his own sake, and except some Gentlemen of the +Chapter, and the Master of the Horse, who is the Count _de Truchsses +Zeil_, there's nobody to visit. The latter is a Nobleman whose Manners and +Sentiments are intirely conformable to his Birth. I know nobody that is +more polite; and I have abundant reason to praise his Civility to me. He +is of a Family, one Branch of which is settled in _Prussia_, where it has +for a long time held distinguished Employments, and produced Subjects of +great Merit who have done the State good Service. + +I forgot to mention two things to you that are worth seeing, _viz._ the +Capuchins Convent, from whence there's a Prospect of a vast Tract of +Country; and St. _Sebastian_'s Church-yard, in which is interr'd the +celebrated _Paracelsus_; his Tomb lies in a Place very much neglected, +behind a Door, where a _Latin_ Epitaph says, 'There rests +_Philip-Theophrastus Paracelsus_, the famous Physician, who with wonderful +Art cured the Leprosy, Gout, Dropsy, and other incurable Distempers; and +who after having given all his Estate to the Poor, died _September_ 24, +1541.' + +_Paracelsus_ cured most of his Patients by Sympathy, which made the +Vulgar, who are always apt to run into extremes, believe that he was a +Magician. He wrote several Books, whereof one of the most curious is his +_Treatise of Secret Philosophy_, which really contains such Passages as +would make one believe that if _Paracelsus_ was not a Conjurer himself, he +was at least one of the Sect. + +St. _Sebastian_'s Church-yard is a square Place, encompassed with a +Gallery supported by Arches: 'tis 119 Paces in length, and 96 in breadth. + +The Neighbourhood of _Saltzbourg_ is not disagreeable; and though the +Valley in which the City lies is pretty much inclosed with Mountains, yet +it presents several Objects that are pleasing to the Sight. + +The Archbishop has two Pleasure-Houses, _viz._ _Cleisheim_ and _Heilbron_, +which are both of them beautiful and magnificent. _Heilbron_ especially is +worth seeing on account of its fine Waters and Cascades. + +I hope to write to you speedily from _Venice_, and perhaps you will hear +from me when I come to _Inspruc_; but this will depend on the Stay I shall +make there, and on the departure of the Post. + + _POSTSCRIPT._ + + Since the year 1730, that this Letter was wrote, great + Revolutions have happened in the Archbishoprick of _Saltzbourg_, + with regard to Religion; for about 22,000 Persons have abandoned + this Country, together with their Estates and their Fortunes, + and declared themselves of the _Lutheran_ Communion; which is + very strange, and almost inconceivable! For in short, those + People never knew any Clergy but their own Priests, they lived + in a Country where there was no Controversy about Religion, + because all the Inhabitants were reckon'd staunch Catholics, by + consequence those People could not be instructed; and even the + greatest part of them could not read, but were bred up in such + gross Ignorance that they scarce knew the Principles of + Christianity. Therefore how could these poor People know that + they were in an Error? + + I am not ignorant that at the beginning of the pretended + Reformation, there were _Saltzburghers_ that followed the + Doctrines of _Luther_, such as _Staupitz_, Abbot of _St. + Peter_'s at _Saltzbourg_; _Paul Speratus_, a Preacher in the + Cathedral of this City; and several others. But _Lutheranism_ + was thought to be quite suppressed in this Province, when it + seem'd all on a sudden to take deeper Root than ever; tho', as I + said before, I can't conceive how it should happen. Is it + possible that the Archbishop, the Curates and _Priests_ should + take so little care of what ought to have been most dear to + them, I mean the Salvation of Souls, as that so many Thousands + of People should pass with them for good _Romans_, at the same + time that they abhorred _Rome_ and its Precepts? For in short, I + suppose, and believe too, that there have ever been Protestants + in this Country, since the pretended Reformation; it being not + in the power of Man to destroy a Religion when once it has had + Followers in a Country; but the Difficulty is, how those + Sectaries should subsist there, without the Knowledge of an + ecclesiastical Sovereign; and how it was possible for them, not + only to subsist, but even to multiply, and the Priests and + Archbishop not perceive it. Ought not the Curates to know the + Sentiments of their Parishioners by Confession? Ought they not + to acquaint the Archbishop their Head of it? and ought not this + Prelate and his Priests to endeavour to reclaim those that go + astray, by the Example of a lively Faith, and by charitable + Exhortations, and from a Compassion for their Error, diligently + to oppose the Propagation of it? But all this has been + neglected: The Priests, and their Archbishop, knew not there was + a Fire, 'till 'twas too late to put it out; and instead of the + Good-nature, Compassion, and Charity, which like Water were + necessary to extinguish it, they pour'd in the Oil of Hatred and + Violence, and abandoned themselves to their furious Zeal. The + haughty, rigid, and severe Archbishop, forgetting that he was + both a Father and an Archbishop, and giving way to the Violence + of his Temper, has for ever lost those Souls which he might have + hoped to reclaim, by Instructions truly pastoral, and treating + them as Children led astray; whereas this Prelate, by using the + contrary Method, has caused a great many Persons to declare + themselves Protestants, who would have died in the Bosom of the + Church, if the proper Remedies had been employed, to bring them + back to it. + + But I am persuaded that among the Emigrants of _Saltzbourg_, + there is a vast number who made Religion only a Cloak to leave + their Country, in hopes of bettering their Fortunes elsewhere, + and who were seduced by the ensnaring Temptation of throwing off + the Yoak of Submission. Be this as it will, those unfortunate + Subjects, like the _Jews_, are spread into divers Countries, as + _Germany_, _Holland_, and _Prussia_, where the King, I must + confess, (as much a Catholic as I am) has received them with a + Charity and Generosity perfectly christian and royal; his + Majesty having grudg'd neither Care nor Expence to convince the + World that as _France_ is the Asylum of unfortunate Kings, so + the Dominions of _Prussia_ are the Refuge of oppressed + Subjects. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXIV. + + + _SIR_, _Inspruc, April 9, 1730._ + +I travelled hither all the way from _Saltzbourg_, with the same Horses, +which is what I will never do again; for travelling by Post is always +best; and though 'tis more expensive, yet on the other hand 'tis less +fatiguing. + +Three Leagues from _Saltzbourg_ stands the little Town of HALLE, which +belongs to the Elector of _Bavaria_, and is a Place considerable for its +Salt-Pits. It lies in a small Valley crossed by three Rivers, form'd by +Torrents from the Mountains, which bring down a vast quantity of floating +Wood, that is stopp'd at _Halle_ by the Piles which either cross or shut +up the Rivers. They lay the Wood up in store for the Salt-Works, which +consume a great quantity of it. + +After I had been all over the Salt-Works, I went and din'd at +_Schneitzenrieth_, a sorry Village, where, however, I far'd better than I +have done at many good Towns. + +When I had dined I pursued my Journey, and having travelled four Leagues, +entred the Country of TIROL, the Passage to which is very much straitened, +so that there's scarce room for a Waggon, by two very high Rocks or +Mountains, and two Forts between them, one belonging to the Archbishoprick +of _Saltzbourg_, and the other to the County of _Tirol_. Each Sovereign +keeps a Garrison in his Fort, and Officers to receive the Duties. + +I lay that Evening at WAHTRINGEN, the first Village in the Dominions of +_Tirol_, as one comes out of _Germany_. I here found a Parcel of Boys +running about with lighted Touchwood in their hands, to the Houses, Woods, +and Fields. Having ask'd an old Man the meaning of it, he told me that the +Wood so lighted was consecrated by the Parson of the Parish, and had the +virtue of securing all Places to which it was carried, against Lightning. +This Consecration of the Wood is always perform'd the _Saturday_ before +_Easter_, when a great Pile is erected before the Church, into which the +Parson throws Holy water, and then sets fire to It. When the whole is well +kindled, every one strives to snatch a Firebrand, with which they run to +their Houses and Lands, but with so little care that I wonder they don't +set every place they come to in a Flame. + +From _Halle_ to _Wahtringen_ the Country is every bit uncultivated. The +Inhabitants live upon Milk, Pickled Cabbage, and Water-gruel. They have no +Corn but what comes from _Bavaria_. All their Substance and Trade is in +Cattle, and their Mountains afford excellent Pasture. + +Upon _Easter-day_ I heard Mass at _St. John_'s, a great Village where +there's a very pretty Church. I was very much pleased with the Sermon that +was preached by the Parson, and with the Regularity with which the whole +Divine Service was performed. + +After Mass I went and din'd at ELVAN, to which place I came through a +Valley, which in the Summer time must be very agreeable, but at the +present Season is all covered with Snow. I was not more edified at +_Wahtringen_, than I was scandalized at _Elvan_, to catch my Landlord, a +clever, merry Blade, engaged with one of his Maids in something else +instead of telling their Beads. My Presence was so far from spoiling +Sport that my Landlord invited me very civilly to do as he did, assuring +me that his House was well furnish'd with Nymphs. In a very little time I +was convinced that what he said was true, for being obliged by the Cold to +stay in the common Room while one was aired for me, I saw half a score +Lasses come in, who were all of them my Landlord's very humble Servants, +and not in the least disposed to imitate the eleven thousand Virgins. + +After Dinner, pursuing my way through Snows and Rocks, I went and lay at +_Kundahl_. Next day I got beyond the Snow, and crossed a very pleasant +Valley which brought me to RATENBERG, a Town on the Banks of the _Inn_, +defended by a Castle built on a Rock, and stronger by its Situation than +by its Works. The Elector _Maximilian-Emanuel_ of _Bavaria_ coming before +this Castle on the 13th of _June_, 1703, obliged the Garrison, which was +composed of the Militia, to surrender at Discretion. From this Fort to +_Inspruc_ I always kept along the River _Inn_, which runs through a fine +Valley between high Mountains that are much steeper on the right side of +the River than the left; nevertheless there are Houses on them that are +inhabited by the Miners. I can't imagine how it was possible for the good +People to build in Places so inconvenient; for their Houses look as if +they were stuck on to the Rocks, and as if nothing but a Goat or a Swallow +could come at them. The whole Valley is very populous, and abounds with +pretty Villages, Castles, and fine Country-Houses. + +At the end of it stands the Town of SCHWATZ, which is very well built. The +Parish Church is an ancient, fair, large Edifice; and wholly covered with +Copper, as most of the Churches in _Tirol_ are with Tin painted green, +which has a very pretty look. The Houses at _Schwatz_ are generally of +Brick, so that 'tis very rare to see one of Timber. I observ'd at the Inn +where I din'd, and throughout the whole Country of _Tirol_, that when +People came into any House, they said to the Master of it, _Hail, Jesus +Christ!_ to which he answered, _May Christ be praised, and the holy Virgin +his Mother_. Then the Master of the House stepp'd forward, and took the +Visitor by his hand. This method of saluting is practised among all the +People throughout _Tirol_; and the Salutation is fix'd up in Print at all +the Doors, with an Advertisement tack'd to it, importing, that Pope +_Clement_ XI. had granted an hundred Days of Indulgence, and plenary +Absolution, in favour of those who should pronounce the Salutation and the +Answer. + +After having din'd at _Schwatz_, I continued to ride along the _Inn_; and +three Leagues beyond that I pass'd the River, over a Bridge near +_Fultishau_, a fine Convent of the Servite-Fryars, and went to HALLE, the +second City of _Tirol_. The reverend Fathers the _Jesuits_ have a fine +House here, and a noble Church, with a great Garden to it. The Mint is +also worth seeing, where they coin a great quantity of Species from the +Silver and Copper taken out of the Mines of _Tirol_. The Water is brought +to it by wooden Pipes. They drive a great Trade at _Halle_ in Copper, Tin, +and Salt, which is produced there in abundance, the Vent of it being +promoted by means of the River _Inn_, which becomes navigable at _Halle_. + +From this Town to _Inspruc_ 'tis two Leagues, and a strait even Road which +deserves to be planted on each side with Trees. INSPRUC, the Capital City +of _Tirol_, stands in the middle of a Valley, on the Banks of the _Inn_, +over which there's a wooden Bridge that leads to the Suburbs. _Inspruc_ +was heretofore the Residence of the Archdukes, the Sovereigns of _Tirol_; +but since the august House of _Austria_ has been reduced in _Germany_ to +the Imperial Branch singly, this City has been only subject to Governors, +who however were always great Noblemen. _Charles_ Duke of _Lorrain_, who +married the Queen Dowager of _Poland_, Sister to the Emperor _Leopold_, +and who made himself famous by the Victories which he gain'd over the +_Turks_, held this important Office. That Prince dying at _Inspruc_, was +succeeded by _Charles_ Prince Palatine of _Newbourg_, Brother to the +Empress _Eleonora_, _Leopold_'s third Wife, but he renounced the +Government of _Tirol_, on his Accession to the Electorate. He liv'd at +_Inspruc_, with great Pomp, and his Absence is still very much lamented +there. Since he went away, the Government of _Tirol_ has remain'd vacant. +They say 'tis designed for the Archduchess _Mary-Magdalen_, the Emperor's +youngest Sister. This I know is what the Burghers of _Inspruc_ wish for; +but I don't think the Nobility do; because the Presence of the Archduchess +would oblige the People of Quality to be at very great Expence; for they +would be under a necessity of going to Court, as well as of carrying it +more civilly to their Vassals. + +The Count _de Konickel_ is the Chief of the Regency: He has the Title of +_Landshauptman_, which is much the same with Lieutenant-General of the +Province, wherein he has the absolute Command, and all the Sovereign +Courts depend on him. This Nobleman is a _Tirolese_, and lodges in a fine +House which has been built by order of the States of _Tirol_, for the +Residence of their _Landshauptman_. He conducts himself with Dignity, and +is civil to Foreigners. + +'Twas at _Inspruc_ that the Emperor _Charles_ V. received one of the +greatest Shocks he had met with in all his Life. For he was surprized +there with his Brother _Ferdinand_, King of the _Romans_, by _Maurice_ +Elector of _Saxony_, who, though his Creature, made War upon him +nevertheless, on account of Religion. The Emperor and his Brother were so +near being taken that they had but just time to make their Escape to +_Villaco_, a little Town upon the _Drave_ in _Carinthia_. This was a +terrible Reverse of Fortune for a Prince, who, but a few years before, had +a Pope and a King of _France_ too, his Prisoners. + +_Maximilian-Emanuel_ Elector of _Bavaria_ was not more fortunate at +_Inspruc_ than _Charles_ V. for though he made himself Master of it in +_June_ 1703, he was obliged to abandon it in _July_ following, and to +retire to _Bavaria_, after having tried in vain to force Passes which were +in a manner inaccessible by Nature, and guarded not only by the Peasants +but by regular Troops. His Design was to have joined M. _de Vendosme_ in +the County of _Trent_, and by that means to have opened a Communication +with the _Milanese_. The Elector, whilst he was retreating, ran the hazard +several times of losing his Life; and his Troops were for the most part +knock'd o' th' head by Stones which the Peasants hurl'd at them in the +Defiles which they were obliged to pass. + +The City of _Inspruc_ is absolutely defenceless, and were it not for its +Suburbs, would be one of the least Cities in all _Germany_; but those +Suburbs are very large, and the Residence of Persons of the greatest +Distinction. The Houses are very commodious, well built of Brick, and for +the most part with Piazzas, which is a great Conveniency to the +Foot-passengers. There was heretofore great Store of Salt here, but for +some years past the Pits are dry, which is a Loss to _Inspruc_ of no less +than 200,000 Florins a-year. + +Though the City is small yet there are several very fine things to be seen +in it. Such is the ancient Palace of the Archdukes, a vast large +Structure, but without Architecture, or any manner of Regularity. There +are Pictures in it done by skilful Hands, particularly in that call'd the +Giant's-Hall, where the Story of _Dejanira_ is represented with very great +Art and Perfection. + +The Palace has very great Gardens belonging to it, but they are not well +kept; yet there are the Remains of noble Fountains and brazen Statues. +Among the latter is an Equestrian Statue of an Archduke of _Austria_, who +is represented as large as the Life, in Armour, with Breeches after the +Fashion of the Ancients, a Ruff, and little Boots. The Horse seems to rest +upon his Haunches, in an Attitude as if he was just ready to leap off the +Pedestal. + +The Prince _Charles_ of _Newbourg_, the present Elector Palatine, finding +the old Castle not commodious enough, caused one to be built of Wood; +which was some years ago burnt down to the ground by an accidental Fire. + +The Parish Church is of modern Building, with a great Dome raised in the +middle of the Cross. The whole Architecture of this Edifice is of the +_Corinthian_ Order. The Front is expos'd to an advantagious Point of View +on a Square, and is adorned with three Orders, one above another, which +makes the Fabric to rise in the whole to about 120 Foot height, exclusive +of a great flight of Steps to it, after the manner of _Italy_. All the +Parts of this Structure are charged with Ornaments of a clumsey Invention, +and very ill executed; so that the Confusion resulting from it is +infinitely shocking to those that have a nice Taste of Architecture. The +Inside is more tolerable than the Outside, and is even magnificent. The +whole Length from the Entrance to the Foot of the High-Altar, is 432 Feet. +The Foundation of it was laid while _Charles de Newbourg_ was Governor of +_Tirol_, who plac'd the first Stone of it. The whole Decoration of this +Church consists in Pilasters of red Marble, with a Vein of white, and the +Chapiters are of Plaister. The Roof is painted in Fresco by _Gosman-Daniel +Ossem_, a Native of _Munich_, who has succeeded so well as to give entire +satisfaction to such as have a Taste for, and Skill in things that are +curious. The High-Altar stands under the Arch at the end opposite to the +Nave of the Church. 'Tis perfectly magnificent, adorned with four great +Pillars of the Composite Order, of green Marble with white Veins, whose +Chapiters and Basons are of Marble of various Colours; and they support a +Canopy, which is form'd by four Curves fill'd with a Glory. + +The Tabernacle and the Front of the Altar are of massy Silver, charged +with several Mouldings, and Foliages of Silver gilt; and there are few +Altars more splendidly decorated. There is a miraculous Image of the holy +Virgin, which the Archduke _Leopold_, the Sovereign of _Tirol_, brought +hither from _Dresden_. That Prince made a Visit to the Elector of +_Saxony_, who shewing him his Treasure, desir'd him to chuse any Piece +that he lik'd best; _Leopold_ singled out this Figure, because he was told +that in the early days of Lutheranism, it had been cast three times in the +Fire, and always taken out again without any damage. The Archduke on his +return to his Dominions, made a Present of this Image to the Parish, and +it has ever since been held in great veneration, and never fail'd of +working great Miracles. Three great Lamps of massy Silver are continually +burning before it; and the other Chapels have each a Lamp of solid Silver +whose Light is always shining. All this Plate was given to the Church by +the Elector Palatine. + +The famous golden Roof is near the Parish Church, and serves to cover a +Balcony of the Chancery which fronts the Square. They say that _Frederic_ +of _Austria_, the Sovereign of _Tirol_, caused this Roof to be made, to +let his Subjects see that he was not so bare of Money as they thought him, +and that he did not deserve the Nickname they had given him of the +_Pennyless Prince_. There are many however who affirm that this Roof is +not of Gold, while others say the contrary. As far as I can judge of it, I +believe 'tis of Copper only covered with very thin Plates of Gold, and by +consequence of no great Value. And supposing the whole Roof was of solid +Gold, I don't believe the Expence was very extraordinary, though to be +sure it was by much too great for so mean a purpose. + +The House or College of the reverend Fathers the Jesuits, is a very great +Building in which no Cost has been spared. Its principal Front is 166 +Paces in length. These Fathers are the Directors of the University. Near +to their College is the Church of the _Franciscans_, whose Convent was +founded by the pious Legacies of the Emperor _Maximilian_, who on his +Death-bed ordered his Successor to cause this House and Church to be built +at _Inspruc_. His Grandson _Ferdinand_ I. Son to _Philip_ the Fair, +perform'd his Will, and in honour of his Grandfather's Memory, raised him +a Marble Tomb which may be rank'd among the most stately _Mausoleums_ in +_Europe_. The Emperor _Maximilian_ is there represented on his Knees upon +a Cushion, with his Hands lifted up to Heaven, and as it were prostrate in +Prayer: He is adorned with the Crown, and the Imperial _Dalmatic_. This +Figure is of a gigantic Size, and admirably well done in Brass. 'Tis +plac'd on a great high Base of black Marble, forming an oblong Square, on +an Ascent of three Steps of red Marble. The whole Base is divided into +twenty-four Compartiments, or square Tables of white Marble, representing +the memorable Actions of _Maximilian_ in excellent Bas-Reliefs. The four +cardinal Virtues in a mournful Attitude, are represented in Brass, as +sitting on the Corners of the _Mausoleum_, and looking on _Maximilian_'s +Statue. The entire _Mausoleum_ stands by itself in the middle of the +Church; and the following Inscription is engraved in Letters of Gold all +round the Base of this Monument; + + IMPERATORI CAESARI MAXIMILIANO, PIO, FELICI, AUGUSTO, PRINCIPI + TUM PACIS TUM BELLI ARTIBUS OMNIUM AETATIS SUAE REGUM LONGE + CLARISSIMO; SUB CUJUS FELICI IMPERIO INCLYTA GERMANIA, + DULCISSIMA IPSIUS PATRIA, TAM ARMIS QUAM LITERARUM STUDIIS PLUS + QUAM UNQUAM ANTEHAC FLORERE CAPUTQUE SUPER ALIAS NATIONES + EXTOLLERE C[OE]PIT: CUJUS INSIGNIA FACTA TABELLIS INFERIORIBUS, + QUAMVIS SUB COMPENDIO, EXPRESSA CONSPICIUNTUR. IMPERATOR CAESAR + FERDINANDUS, PIUS, FELIX, AUGUSTUS, AVO PATERNO PERQUAM COLENDO, + AC BENE MERITO, PIETATIS ATQUE GRATITUDINIS ERGO POSUIT. NATUS + EST DIE XXVII MARTII ANNO DOMINI M.CCCC.LIX. WELSAE IN AUSTRIA + DENATUS. + +All this fine _Mausoleum_ was executed with very great Care and Skill, by +_Alexander Colin_, a Native of _Mechlin_; the Picture of which ingenious +Painter, and that of his Wife, are kept in the Church, as an +Acknowledgment due to that excellent Artist. This _Mausoleum_ was mightily +enriched by the Magnificence of _Frederic_ Archduke of _Austria_, surnamed +the _Pennyless Prince_, who caused to be placed in the Nave of the Church +twenty-eight Statues of Brass seven Foot in height, representing so many +Princes and Princesses that were related to the House of _Austria_. They +are set up in two Rows from the great Gate to the Altar, and therefore +separate the Nave from the two Wings on the Sides. 'Tis pity that those +Statues are in the hands of Monks who neglect them very much, and suffer +the Dust to eat into them. They would do much better in a Royal Palace: +Some of them are in great perfection. I fancy you will be glad to know the +Names of the Persons they represent. + + * * * * * + +I. The first, beginning on the right Side of the Altar, is the Figure of +_Joan_ of _Castile_, Mother to _Charles_ V. and _Ferdinand_ I. the Heads +of the two Branches of the House of _Austria_; the first of which became +extinct by the Death of _Charles_ II. King of _Spain_, but the second +still flourishes among us with Glory in the Person of the August _Charles_ +VI. + +II. _Ferdinand_ the Catholic, Father to _Joan_. + +III. _Cunigonda_ Archduchess, Daughter to the Emperor _Frederic_ IV. and +Wife to _Albert_ of _Bavaria_, who died a Nun. + +IV. _Margaret_, Daughter to _Henry_ Duke of _Carinthia_ and Count of +_Tirol_, surnamed the _Pious_, because she founded and built several +Convents. This Princess was nicknamed _Margaret Wide-Mouth_: She was +marry'd first to _John_ Margrave of _Moravia_, Son to the Emperor +_Charles_ IV. whom she surviv'd, and marry'd to her second Husband +_Lewis_, Margrave of _Brandenburg_, Son to the Emperor _Lewis_ of +_Bavaria_, whom she also surviv'd, and finding herself a Widow a second +time, and without Issue to enjoy what she had, she made a Present of the +County of _Tirol_ whereof she was Sovereign, to her Cousins _Rodolph_, +_Albert_, and _Leopold_ of _Austria_, which Grant was confirm'd by the +Emperor _Charles_ IV. in 1364. + +V. _Mary of Burgundy_, Wife to the Emperor _Maximilian_ I. the richest +Heiress of her Time. + +VI. _Elizabeth_, the Daughter of the Emperor _Sigismond_, and Wife to the +Emperor _Albert_ II. who carry'd the Duchy of _Luxembourg_ to the House of +_Austria_. She was Mother to the unfortunate King _Ladislaus_. + +VII. _Godfrey_ of _Bouillon_, Duke of _Lorrain_, King of _Jerusalem_, +plac'd here among the Princes of the House of _Austria_, as being +descended from the same Family as they. + +VIII. _Albert_ I. Emperor. + +IX. _Frederic_, Archduke of _Austria_, he who was nicknamed Prince +_Pennyless_. + +X. _Leopold_ of _Austria_, surnamed the _Virtuous_, Son of _Albert_ the +_Wise_. + +XI, and XII. Opinions are very much divided about the Persons who are +represented by these two Statues; but 'tis generally thought they are the +Emperors _Charles_ V. and _Ferdinand_ I. + +XIII. The Emperor _Frederic_ IV. Father to _Maximilian_ I. + +XIV. _Albert_ II. Emperor, King of _Hungary_ and _Bohemia_, and Father to +the unfortunate King _Ladislaus_. + +XV. _Clovis_, the first Christian King of _France_, who is plac'd among +the Princes of the House of _Austria_, because their Genealogists derive +them from the ancient _Franks_ who subdued _France_. + +XVI. _Philip_ I. call'd the Fair, King of _Spain_. + +XVII. The Emperor _Rodolph_ I. + +XVIII. The Archduke _Albert_, call'd the _Wise_. + +XIX. _Theodoric_ King of the _Goths_. I am not a Genealogist good enough +to tell you in what Relation he stands to the House of _Austria_. + +XX. _Ernest_, Archduke, Grandfather to _Maximilian_ I. + +XXI. _Theodebert_ Count of _Provence_, from whom descended the Dukes of +_Burgundy_ and the Counts of _Hapsburg_. + +XXII. _Arthur_, Prince of _Wales_, who marry'd _Catherine_ of _Arragon_. + +XXIII. _Sigismond_, Archduke and Count of _Tirol_, who adopted the Emperor +_Maximilian_ I. + +XXIV. _Blanche Mary_, the second Wife of _Maximilian_ I. which Princess +was the Daughter of _John Galeas_ Duke of _Milan_. + +XXV. _Margaret_, Daughter of _Maximilian_ I. who was marry'd first to +_John_ a Prince of _Spain_, and secondly to _Philibert_ Duke of _Savoy_. + +XXVI. _Cimburge_, Wife of _Ernest_ the Archduke, and Mother to the Emperor +_Frederic_ IV. + +XXVII. _Charles_ the _Bold_, Duke of _Burgundy_, Father to _Mary_ of +_Burgundy_ who was Wife to _Maximilian_ I. + +XXVIII. _Philip_, Duke of _Burgundy_, Father to _Charles_ the _Bold_. + + * * * * * + +Besides these twenty-eight Statues there are twenty three others plac'd +upon the Cornish of the Portico which separates the Nave from the Choir: +They are of Brass two Foot high, and represent those Kings and Princes +whom the Church honours as Saints. + +I am farther to acquaint you of the Chapel of this Church, call'd the +Silver Chapel, because of the Image of the Virgin there of solid Silver as +big as the Life in the middle of the Altar, with a great many Images of +Saints all of the same Metal. The Ascent to this Chapel is by a winding +Stair-Case. Here is to be seen the stately Tomb of _Ferdinand_ Archduke of +_Austria_, Count of _Tirol_, Son to the Emperor _Ferdinand_ I. This +Mausoleum is under an Arch which is pretty high. _Ferdinand_, whose +Figure is of white Marble, seems to be asleep upon a Bed of black Marble +rais'd one Foot from the Ground. The whole Arch is lin'd with Marble of +various Colours, forming divers Compartments of very curious Workmanship, +where you see the Arms of the Provinces reduc'd to the Obedience of the +House of _Austria_: The different Colours are shewn by precious Stones +enchas'd in Marble, and so curiously done that the Work seems to be +enamel'd. Round the same Arch are plac'd five Bas-Reliefs, representing in +as many Pictures the memorable Actions of _Ferdinand_. Five other +Bas-Reliefs contain the Images of that Prince's Patrons, _viz._ JESUS +CHRIST, St. _Anthony_ of _Padua_, St. _George_, St. _Thomas_, and St. +_Leopold_. + +Near the said Tomb stands that of _Philippina_ of _Welserin_, who was born +at _Augsburg_, and the Wife of the Archduke _Ferdinand_, by whom she had +two Sons, _Charles_ the Margrave of _Burgau_, and _Andrew_ Cardinal of +_Austria_. This _Mausoleum_ is of Free-stone and has nothing remarkable +more than the following Epitaph: + + FERDINANDUS D. G. ARCHIDUX, DUX BURGUNDIAE, COMES TIROL, + PHILIPPINAE CONJUGI CHARISSIMAE FIERI CURAVIT. OBIIT 24 Aprilis, + 1580. + +The Franciscan who shew'd me this Chapel assur'd me that it was one of the +First-rate Chapels in the World, on account of the Indulgences which had +been annex'd to it by the Beneficence of the Popes; that it was upon a par +with the Chapel of the _Holy Sepulchre_ at _Jerusalem_, with the Churches +of _St. John de Lateran_, _St. Mary major_, and _St. Gregory_ at _Rome_; +and that, in fine, a Mass said in this Chapel for the Repose of a Soul +departed, was enough to deliver it out of Purgatory. + +These, Sir, are the Remarks that I made in this City, from whence I am +making ready to set out to-morrow. I expect to be well jolted all the way +to _Venice_, where to make my self amends I will take my Pleasure in a +_Gondola_. I wish with all my heart I had your Company there; we should +then have the Satisfaction of seeing a great many fine Sights together. +But for want of this Satisfaction I shall never cease to think of you; and +pray don't forget me, but believe me to be for ever, _&c._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXV. + + + _SIR_, _Venice, April_ 27, 1730. + +I wrote to you from _Inspruc_ the very Day before I set out from thence +for this Place, to which I arriv'd without any Misfortune. About three +quarters of a League from _Inspruc_ we came among very tiresome and +disagreeable Mountains, the highest of which is call'd the _Brenner_, a +Name that the Country People gave it when they clear'd it of the Wood, and +burnt it. This Mountain is much more rugged on the side of _Trent_ than +'tis towards _Inspruc_; 'tis for nine Months together cover'd with Snow, +and I found a great deal remaining on it still; yet 'tis inhabited to the +very Top. There is a Post-House, a Tavern, and a Chapel in which Mass is +only said when the Snows are melted: It produces Corn and Hay in +abundance. Near the Post-House there is a considerable Spring which at +first forms a large Basin, and then divides into two Torrents which +quickly change into Rivers, one whereof falls into the _Inn_ above +_Inspruc_, and the other, after becoming navigable two Leagues from +_Bolsano_, loses itself in the _Adige_ above _Trent_. The Passage of the +_Brenner_ is very painful, and sometimes impracticable when it snows or +rains; so that Travellers are often oblig'd to stay several Days till the +Return of fair Weather, which is the more inconvenient because the Inns on +both Sides are of the worst sort. + +_Stertzingen_ a little Town four Post-Stages from _Inspruc_, has nothing +remarkable; however I was well accommodated there. Next Day I went and +din'd at BRIXEN an Episcopal City in an agreeable Valley, where I found +the Season very forward. The Country between _Brixen_ and _Bolsano_ is +extremely populous, and so manur'd that the steepest Mountains are +cultivated. + +BOLSANO is a pretty Town well inhabited, and drives a considerable Trade, +having no less than four Fairs a Year. Its Situation is very agreeable, in +the middle of a fine large Valley full of Villages and Vineyards. The Air +here is much softer than in the rest of _Tirol_, and I found Trees here in +full Verdure while in the Country they were but just budded. The Vines are +very carefully watched by Men who keep Guard in Huts rais'd upon three +Poles plac'd cross-wise, and high enough to command the Vineyards. +_Misson_ in his Voyage to _Italy_ says, that these Huts or _Guerites_ were +for lodging the Guards that are posted to hinder the Bears from eating the +Grapes. I know not who could tell him that there were any Bears in this +Country, and if there are 'tis hardly probable they would venture into a +Valley so populous as that of _Bolsano_. The Wines of this Valley are the +best in all _Tirol_; but they must be drank, as must all the Wines of this +Country, the very Year of their Growth, or else they grow luscious, and +then turn crabbed. + +The Valley of _Bolsano_ which extends to _Trent_ is throughout equally +agreeable; and is not incumber'd by those horrid Mountains that we were +pester'd with in the Road from _Inspruc_. + +TRENT is celebrated for the Council formerly held there. I went to see the +Church of St. _Mary major_, where the Fathers of that Council held their +Assembly. It has nothing remarkable besides its Organs which are of too +enormous a Size for a Church, but are a very curious piece of Work; for +they not only exhibit various Sounds, but imitate Vocal Music, the Notes +of divers Birds, and the Noise of Kettle-Drums and Trumpets. The Bishop of +_Trent_ is a Prince of the Empire. The See is now vacant by the Death of +the Count _de Wolckenstein_ the last Bishop. The Chapter has fix'd the +Election for next _May_. A great many Travellers highly extol the Bishop's +Palace, but for my own part, I was not so fortunate as to observe any +thing in it that was worthy of Attention. + +Throughout all _Tirol_ the Common People are very ill-favour'd: Most of +the Women are disguis'd by Wens in their Throat[160], and as if that was +not enough they disfigure themselves by their Dress. The Country Women +wear Stockings which have no Feet, and are gather'd into many little Folds +from the Ancle to the Calf of the Leg: Their Shoes are exactly like those +the Men wear. Their Petticoats are exceeding short, and ty'd up almost as +high as their Breasts which are very large. With all this they have a Pair +of Stays which reaches down to their Waist, and renders them compleatly +deform'd. Instead of other Head-dress they wear a green high-crown'd Hat, +the Brims of which are let down, and is as unbecoming a part of their +Dress as any of the rest. At _Brixen_ the Blood mends, the Women are +handsomer, the Men more genteel, and the People in general more civiliz'd; +tho' take 'em all together the _Tirolese_ are very honest People. They are +staunch zealous Catholics, tho' they say that some of the Peasants, are +_Lutherans_. The _Holy Virgin_ and St. _Christopher_ are the principal +Objects of the People's Devotion: The latter is painted on all their +Houses, and the Roads are full of little Chapels of the _Virgin_ who is +represented in all manner of ways. I have seen her painted in a Chapel +standing with a great Veil over her Head which she extended with her Arms +to cover the Pope, the Emperor, seven Kings, and as many Electors, who +seem to be prostrate at her Knees. + +As I left _Trent_ I began to ascend a Mountain which does not become +smooth till we reach to _Berschen_ which is a Post-Stage and a half from +_Trent_. This Mountain is exceeding steep, troublesome, and tiresome, and +after 'tis pass'd, one is in a manner buried among Rocks and horrid +Mountains which seem as if they would fall on the Heads of the Travellers; +and I have been assur'd that this sometimes happens in rainy Weather, when +so many Pieces crumble off of the Rock that it requires 4 or 500 Carts to +clear the Roads. In short, all the Way till one comes within a League of +_Bossagno_ a City in the State of _Venice_ is full of Rocks and +Precipices; but from that Town to _Mestre_ which is four Post-Stages from +it, the Country is the finest in the World; and in short, every thing is +good and pleasant except their Wine and their publick Houses. The Wine has +naturally a musty Taste, and no Body, and the Colour is like that of the +thick Wine of _Bourdeaux_. This Country so abounds in Quails that the +Post-Master of _Bossagno_ assur'd me he had taken 720 in a Morning, that +he drove a great Trade with 'em, and sent some of 'em to the State of +_Venice_, and to _Lombardy_. Whether he said true, I know not, but he +shew'd me 1100 live Quails which he kept in Wicker-Cages in a great Barn +where he had hung all the Cages to Pack-Thread to keep them from Rats and +Cats. + +At MESTRE one embarks for _Venice_ which is about seven Leagues from it; I +made the Voyage in a Gondola in less than an Hour and half. As I travell'd +post to _Mestre_, my Gondoliers, when I came to _Venice_, carry'd me to +the Post-Office, where I was oblig'd to tell my Name, and the Business for +which I came to _Venice_; but this is a Ceremony to which they who don't +travel post are not subject. I went and took up my Lodging at the _White +Lion_, highly rejoic'd that I could rest my self there after my Fatigue, +and that I had lost sight of the _Alps_, those horrid Mountains which no +body would chuse to live amongst but a _Swiss_ or a _Tirolese_, who, as +Cardinal _Bentivoglio_ justly observes in his Voyage to _Swisserland_, are +a People made for the _Alps_, and the _Alps_ for them. + +As I have been twice before at _Venice_, I serve as a _Cicerone_[161] to +two _Bohemian_ Counts whom I was acquainted with at _Prague_, and whom I +happen'd to meet with at my Quarters. As 'tis customary to do to all +Foreigners, I began with shewing them the Square of St. _Mark_, the chief +Square of _Venice_, if not of the whole World. 'Tis adorn'd by the Palace +of the _Doge_, the Church of St. _Mark_, and the _Procuraties_, or Houses +of the Procurators, and has been pav'd within these few Years with great +Squares of Free-stone. We ascended the famous Tower of St. _Mark_ which is +a four-square Building, by a Stair without Steps. It was built by the Doge +_Domingo Morosini_, to serve as a Watch-Tower to Ships at Sea; and that it +might be seen a great way off he caus'd the Angel on the top of it to be +gilt; but Time the Destroyer of all Things has stripp'd off the Gold. From +this Tower one sees the whole City of _Venice_, the neighbouring Islands, +and the _Terra Firma_, which all together makes a noble Prospect. + +We afterwards enter'd St. _Mark_'s Church, which is an Edifice of +_Grecian_ Architecture, pretty dark and not very high, but after all, full +of Curiosities worthy the Attention of a Traveller. As this Church has +been describ'd with more Exactness than I can pretend to, I shall treat +very succinctly of the chief Things which it contains. The grand Portico +is so low that one must even go down some Steps to enter into the Church. +There is a Platform over it on which are plac'd four brazen Horses brought +from _Constantinople_, to which they were first carry'd from _Rome_ by +_Constantine_ when that Prince transferr'd the Seat of the Empire from the +one City to the other. Nothing is so magnificent and beautiful as those +Horses. They were heretofore all over gilt, but People out of mere Avarice +scrap'd off great part of the precious Metal, and all the rest is almost +worn off by Time. + +At the Entrance of the Church on the right-hand Side there is a square +Stone which seem'd to me to be of white Marble, and is said to be a piece +of the Rock which _Moses_ struck in the Wilderness, whereupon there issued +out Water. If this be really that Stone, what that Legislator did is so +much the more to be admir'd, and may be reckon'd doubly miraculous; first +in fetching Water to a Place where there was none before, and then the +bringing a quantity of it through four Holes no bigger than Pease +sufficient to quench the Thirst of so numerous a Multitude. The Pavement +of this Church is very grand, being of _Mosaic_ Work exceedingly +diversify'd with Stones of various Colours, Marble and Porphyry: But the +stateliest Thing in all the Church are the Ornaments of the Altar for the +great Holidays, of which that of St. _Mark_ the Patron of the Republic is +the most strictly kept. St. _Mark_'s Treasure is then all laid open, which +consists in the rich Spoils taken from the Emperors of _Constantinople_. +Every part shines with solid Gold, Pearls, and Diamonds; so that the +Temple of _Jerusalem_ excepted, I believe there's not a House devoted to +God that could ever boast of so much Riches. All this Treasure is kept in +St. _Mark_'s Tower, and none of it can be taken out but in presence of one +of the Procurators, who must also be at the Altar when the Treasure is +plac'd on it, and dare not stir from it till 'tis put up safe again. + +St. _Mark_'s Church serves as a public Chapel to the Doge, who always is +or at least ought to be attended thither by the Pope's Nuncio and the +Ambassadors; but M. _de Gersi_ the _French_ Ambassador, from I know not +what Punctilio of Honour, avoids being present at the same Functions with +the Count _de Bolagnos_ the Emperor's Ambassador[162], whom he can't +endure to see go before him. When the Doge goes to St. _Mark_'s Church +'tis always with great Ceremony: He walks between the Pope's Nuncio and +the Emperor's Ambassador, and the other Ambassadors walk in the same Row +according to the Rank of their Masters. They are preceded by six Trumpets, +and six Banners are born before the Doge together with a Chair or Stool of +State, there being no Back to it, and a Cushion of Gold Brocade. The +Prince is dress'd in a long Robe of Gold Brocade also lin'd and fac'd with +Ermin. The Senators follow him in Robes of red Damask, walking two and +two. He is receiv'd at the Entrance of the Church by the Clergy of St. +_Mark_ who bring him Holy Water and Incense, which the Ambassadors receive +after him. His Serenity and the Ambassadors fall on their Knees in the +middle of the Nave, and then repeat the Prayers of _Domine salvum fac +Principem nostrum_. Afterwards the Doge goes and places himself at the End +of the Choir on the right Hand as we go in, and sits in the first upper +Row of the Canons with the Pope's Nuncio on his Right and the Emperor's +Ambassador on the Right of the Nuncio, and so on with the rest. The Doge +does not sit down 'till the Senators are all enter'd, who, as they pass by +his Serenity, make him a profound Obeisance, to which the Doge makes no +manner of return. When every body is seated, the Doge accompany'd by the +Ambassadors advances towards the Altar, the Nuncio strikes up High Mass +and says the Overture, to which the Doge answers. After this, the Doge and +the Ambassadors return to their Places, and the Prelate of St. _Mark_ who +is in waiting, continues the Office. + +After the Mass is over, the Doge returns to his Palace attended by the +same Train that accompanied him to Church. When he has ascended the grand +Stair-case of his Palace he seats himself in an Arm-Chair which is plac'd +over-against the Stair-case. After he has sate a few Moments, he dismisses +the Ambassadors and the other Persons of his Retinue, and retires to his +Apartment. + +Next to St. _Mark_'s Church is the Doge's Palace, a vast Building, of +which you will find a large Account in _Misson_'s Travels. + +The present Doge is _Aloisio Mocenigo_[163], a Prince as much to be +respected for his Merit as for his Dignity. He is a Gentleman of great +Sagacity, talks well, is very polite, and has infinitely more Generosity +than is ascribed to those of his Country. He is a handsome Man, and has a +noble Aspect that is improv'd by his white Locks of Hair which render him +venerable. Before he was advanc'd to be a Doge, which was in 1722, he +serv'd the Republic with distinction in quality of Generalissimo. The vain +Honours which this new Dignity has procur'd him have not puff'd him up, +and he seems to think them rather a Burden than a Pleasure. Before he came +to be Doge he was the most sociable Nobleman at _Venice_, and he now sees +more Company than ever his Predecessors did. He masks himself at publick +Rejoicings, goes out every Night in a common Gondola without Guard or +Retinue, and diverts himself at his Brother's. He has sometimes too been +upon _Terra Firma_, not valuing it tho' he lost for a while all the +Honours annexed to his Dignity as Doge; for you know that this Character +does not go beyond the Lakes. He is oblig'd to be present at all the +public Ceremonies, tho' very much against his Inclination and Temper, +which is far more uniform than that of the other _Italians_. + +The Ceremony in which he shines with the greatest Lustre, is that of +marrying the Sea, which without dispute is one of the finest Shews in all +the World. 'Tis perform'd on _Ascension-Day_, when the Doge, the +Ambassadors, and the Senate ride out into the _Adriatic_ on board a Vessel +call'd the _Bucentaur_, attended by the State-Gondolas of the Ambassadors +gilded, with a vast number of other Gondolas and Galleasses which surround +the _Bucentaur_, the most stately Vessel that was ever built, and more +magnificent than all that History (or even Romance) tells us of the +sumptuous Vessel of _Cleopatra_. When the Doge goes on board the +_Bucentaur_ he is saluted by the great Guns from the Galleys, the Men of +War, and the Merchant-Ships in the Harbour; and while he performs the +Ceremony of marrying the Sea by throwing in a Ring to denote the +Sovereignty of the Republic over the Gulph, there's nothing heard but +Kettle-Drums, Trumpets, and Concerts of Music, with the loud Acclamations +of the People. + +His Serene Highness marries two other Wives whom he maintains with as +little Trouble as the Sea. They are the Abbesses of the Convents of the +_Virgin_ and St. _Daniel_. This Ceremony is perform'd upon St. _Philip_'s +Day, when the Doge in a Galeass accompany'd by the Ambassadors and the +Senate, repairs with a great Train to those Convents which are situate on +the Shore behind the Arsenal. The Prelate who officiates for the Day +receives him at the Entrance of the Church, brings him the Holy Water, and +conducts him to a Place prepared for him in the Choir where he assists at +High Mass. Then he repairs to the Grate, in which there's a large Opening +where the Lady Abbess appears with her Nuns. The Abbess addressing herself +to the Doge intreats him to continue the Favour of his Protection to +herself and the Nuns; to which the Doge returns answer, that she and all +the Convent may depend upon his Good-Will. Then he turns about and walks +on foot to the Convent of St. _Daniel_, where his Reception and +Transaction are the same as at the Convent of the _Virgin_. These two +Convents have very singular Privileges. The Abbesses have the +Crosier-Staff, and both they and their Nuns depend solely upon the Doge, +and not at all upon the Pope or the Court of _Rome_ either in Spirituals +or Temporals. They have good Revenues and live as much as can be at their +Ease. The Dress of these Nuns is rather gay than modest. Like the Nuns at +_Strasbourg_ they wear their Hair in Tresses: Their Petticoats are so +short that you may see their Ancles; and instead of Stays they wear +Jackets with short Skirts, which are very becoming to those that are of a +good Shape. Their Necks are quite bare, only when they go into the Choir +they cover them with Veils of fine white Wool, which trail on the ground. +These Nuns are the Daughters of the Nobles, and enjoy great Liberty, more +than I believe they have under their Father's Roof. + +The Festival of St. _Mark_ is always celebrated with very great Solemnity. +On the Day preceding, the Doge accompany'd by the Ambassadors repairs with +a great Train to St. _Mark_'s Church, where he assists at the Vespers. +Next Day the Confraternities, who are nine in number, meet at the Ducal +Palace, accompany the Doge to Church in Procession, and are present at +High Mass. After this the Doge returns to his Palace, and the Brotherhoods +go round the Square. Each Society has magnificent Images, and two Canopies +richly embroider'd with Gold and Silver; whose Poles or Supporters are of +solid Silver. The Procession is clos'd by a Man dress'd in a Gown of red +Damask, carrying a Pole with a moving Wheel at the end of it; which serves +to support a gilt Lion surrounded with Laurel Branches, and little +Standards of divers Colours. The Lion turns round incessantly, and the Man +who carries it makes him leap, and play a hundred Gambols: He is +surrounded with a Multitude of People, who cry out, God bless St. _Mark_. +This Sight, how ridiculous soever, is nevertheless amusing, draws +abundance of the Nobility to the Square, and on that Day every body is +mask'd. After the Procession is over, the Maskers go to see the Doge's +Table, who entertains the Ambassadors and the Senate at Dinner, on a +Table in form of a Horse-shoe; which is extravagantly adorn'd with +Kickshaws, and Machines made of Starch, which are here call'd _Triumphs_. +Nothing of the kind can be better executed, or more magnificent. As there +is a great Apprehension of a Croud, all the Maskers are turn'd away at +Dinner-time. They keep on their Masks all day long; and after Dinner all +the Nobility, or to speak more properly, the whole City of _Venice_ +appears mask'd upon the Square of St. _Mark_; and indeed, for one who +never saw it before, 'tis a remarkable fine Shew. What surpriz'd me, and +if I may say it, made me laugh, was to see all the Maskers fall on their +Knees at the Sound of the _Angelus_; you wou'd swear every body was in +Rapture, yet every thing that goes before and that follows the Stroke of +the Bell is not the most devout. + +The Day after St. _Mark_'s we had another publick Shew, and by consequence +a fresh occasion for the _Venetians_ to masquerade it. That was the +Election which the Fishermen, who are here call'd the _Nicolotti_, made of +a Chief, who bears the Title of the Doge of the _Nicolotti_. Their Choice +fell this Bout upon a Gondolier belonging to the noble _Giustiniani_. +After the Election he was conducted to an Audience of the Doge of +_Venice_, dress'd in a Robe of red Sattin, and otherwise accoutred like a +Jackpudding. He was preceded by a great Mob of Pipers, Hautboys, and +Fishermen. Just before him was carry'd a red Flag, with the Effigies of +St. _Mark_. The Doge receiv'd him sitting on his Throne, and attended by +the Council. The Complement of the Doge of the Fishermen was made with +great Gravity, and answer'd by the Doge of the Republick in few Words; +which done, he return'd in the same Order that he came. This sham Doge +has authority over all the Fishermen, is their Judge, gives them Licence +to fish, and takes care that the City be well supplied with that sort of +Provision. 'Tis said that this Office, which is for Life, is worth above +1000 Crowns _per Annum_. He had formerly the Privilege of commanding in a +certain Quarter of the City, and assisted at all the Ceremonies where the +Doge was present: He even accompany'd that Prince on board the +_Bucentaur_, and had Precedency of all the Ambassadors; but they have lost +that Right since, upon what occasion I know not, they gave up the +Precedency to an Ambassador from the Emperor. + +The Patriarch of _Venice_ is the second Person in the State. The present +Patriarch is of the Family of _Gradenigo_. The Authority of this Prelate +is so stinted, that he only nominates to two or three Benefices. The +Inhabitants of every Parish chuse their Parsons, which is always attended +with Intriguing; for their Livings being very lucrative, have great +Interest made for them. The Patriot has a Privilege of having a Gondola +painted Purple and Gold, with a Roof or Covering of Red Velvet; but this +Gondola must not exceed a certain Degree of Magnificence. You know that +the Gondolas of private Men must be black, and that none but Ambassadors +have the Privilege of having theirs gilded. + +Tho' the Churches of _Venice_ have been sufficiently describ'd, I cannot +help saying something of those that I thought the most remarkable. Without +doubt the Front of the Church of the bare-footed _Carmelites_, situate +upon the Great Canal, is the most magnificent, not only of _Venice_, but +perhaps of _Europe_; as well with regard to the Proportions of +Architecture that have been carefully observ'd, as with regard to the +Fineness of the Marble, white as Alabaster, with which this beautiful +Front is wholly embellish'd. The Inside of this Church is extremely +magnificent. The Roof is richly gilded, and curiously painted. The Walls +are fac'd with Marble Pilasters; the Floor is of Stones inlaid with +various Colours, and the Altars are exceeding stately: But of all these +different things there seems to be too great a number, so that I could +wish many of the Ornaments had been spar'd; for a noble Simplicity wou'd +have look'd much better. + +This sort of Simplicity is conspicuous in the Church of St. _George_, one +of the biggest in _Venice_, the Architecture of which is surprizing. A +Convent belongs to it, which for Magnificence and Regularity surpasses +many Sovereign Palaces. The great Stair-Case is a fine piece of +Architecture, and wou'd become a King's Palace much better than a Convent. +This House has two noble Cloysters planted with Orange-Trees, a couple of +spacious Courts, and two large Gardens well cultivated, which have +Terrasses from whence there is a Prospect of the Sea, and the neighbouring +Islands. + +The Capuchins, whose Churches are very plain every where else, have a very +noble one here, which is called _Al Redemptore_. It was built by order of +the Republic to discharge a Vow they had made in the time of a Plague. The +honest Capuchin who shew'd me the Church, made me take special notice of a +Crucifix of Brass over the high Altar, whereon our Saviour is represented +expiring, with his Head leaning on his right Shoulder. My Guide assur'd me +that when the Crucifix was plac'd in the Church the Head of our Lord's +Image was erect, but that it fell afterwards into its present Posture. + +There are other Churches worth seeing, were it only for the stately Tombs +of the most distinguish'd Families of the Republic. Such is the Tomb of +the noble Family of _Cornaro_, in the Church of the _Cajetans_, where are +the Marble Effigies of eight Cardinals, and four Doges descended from that +Family. In the Churches of St. _Paul_ and St. _John_ are Pictures very +much esteem'd by the _Connoisseurs_, and there's the sumptuous Tomb of the +_Valerios_, where the Father, the Mother, with the Son, are carv'd in +their natural Proportion in Marble, apparell'd in the Habit of the Doge +and Dogess. + +Before I have done with the Churches, I think I ought to give you some +account of that of the _Jesuits_; the Front whereof is of noble +Architecture, well disposed, and the Ornaments not too much crouded; but +the Decoration of the Inside is really grand. Nothing can be richer than +the Choir, and the high Altar. The Choir consists of a spacious Dome +supported by four large Pillars of white Marble, lin'd with great +Flower-pieces of old green Marble. The Roof is painted and gilt. The high +Altar, which is all of Marble, is a Pavilion or Dome supported by ten +Columns wreath'd of the ancient _Greek_ Marble. The Tabernacle is of +Alabaster, incrustated with _Lapis-Lazuli_. To all this rich Work are +added two Angels in their natural Proportion, over which are the Effigies +of God the Father, and God the Son. The five Steps leading to the Altar +are of green Marble, incrustated with old yellow Marble so artfully that +this Work would easily be taken for a Piece of _Persian_ Tapestry. The +Pulpit and the Balustrade, which separates the Nave from the Choir, are of +Marble, and perfectly answerable to the Magnificence of the whole Church. + +I now proceed to the Arsenal, so much celebrated in _Europe_, perhaps more +for what it has been than what it is at present. Three Nobles have the +Management or Custody of it, who relieve one another every Week. He that +is in waiting must visit the Posts in the Night-time; and the Centinels +are oblig'd each to ring a Bell every Hour, that the Officer upon Guard +may know they are at their Posts. No body can see the Arsenal without +Leave of the Nobleman in waiting, who never refuses it to Persons of Rank. +The first thing I was shew'd were four Rooms full of Arms necessary for +the Marines, where are also kept the Cuirasses of those Generals who have +most distinguish'd themselves in the Service of the Republic; but they are +all full of Dust. Then I was shewed the Magazine of Anchors, and the +Cellar to which the Workmen of the Arsenal go when they please to a +Fountain of Wine and Water mix'd. As much diluted as this Wine is, 'tis +said that there's no less spent here every Year than amounts to 74000 +Crowns. This is an Endowment which was settled by one _Cornaro_ Queen of +_Cyprus_, for the Relief of the Workmen. Near this Cellar are the Forges, +of which there are twelve; but there are only two actually at work. The +Rope-Yard just by it, is 410 Paces in length, and serves at the same time +for a Warehouse of Hemp, of which I did not see any great Quantity. In +another Court there were a great many Cannon, both Iron and Brass, a Room +full of Bullets, a Magazine of Cordage, a Timber-Yard, and three great +Rooms full of Arms for the Foot Soldiers. There was another that serv'd as +an Arsenal for the Horse, but 'twas lately burnt down by the Carelessness +of a Centinel. The Dock for building and refitting of Ships forms a +separate Court, in the midst of which there's a great Bason that +communicates with the Sea, and is encompass'd with twenty six Sheds +cover'd over, which contain as many Ships, Galleys, and Galleasses. The +latter are Machines of a terrible Size, which have a sort of Battery at +both ends. My Guide assur'd me that a _Venetian_ Galleass was not afraid +of twenty five _Turkish_ Galleys: This may be; but I wou'd venture a +Wager on the side of the Infidels. In this same Dock are the Prowes of +twelve _Turkish_ Galleys taken at the famous Battle of _Lepanto_. But the +most noble thing in all this Dock, is the _Bucentaur_, which went out of +Port for the first time in the Year 1728. This superb Vessel was built by +_Antonio Corradini_; and is so well design'd, and the Ornaments of +Sculpture, of which there's a great number, so well plac'd, that every +thing is easily distinguish'd, and strikes with Amazement. 'Tis gilded +down to the Water-edge, and 'tis said that the Expence of it amounted to +70000 Sequins. The Deck is cover'd from Head to Stern with Crimson-Velvet, +bedaub'd with a broad Lace, and Gold Fringes. And the inside if possible +is more magnificent than the Outside. There's a great Room the length of +the Ship, where the Doge sits on a Throne, and the Ambassadors and +Senators on Seats like those of the Canons in the Choir. The Cieling +consists of Bas-reliefs in divers Compartments intirely gilt. The Floor is +of Walnut-tree, incrusted with Ebony-Wood and Mother of Pearl. The Rowers +who sit in the Hold of the Ship are all of one Livery, and their Oars +gilt, which makes a very fine Sight when all hands strike together. + +You know that the _Bucentaur_ never goes out but once a-year, upon +Ascension-day, when the Captain who then commands must take an Oath before +he stirs out of the Harbour, that he will bring her back again into the +Arsenal. He carries nothing aboard of his own, for unless the Weather be +very fair indeed, the Ceremony is put off to another day. They build a new +_Bucentaur_ every hundred Years, and the old ones are laid up till they +rot. + +I just now hear that the Post is going off, so that I am oblig'd to defer +what I have farther to say of _Venice_ till the next. I shall be +infinitely pleas'd if I can satisfy your Curiosity, and much more if I +can prove to you that no body has a more profound Veneration for you than +I, _Who am_, &c. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXVI. + + + _SIR_, _Venice, May 15, 1730._ + +The Common-wealth keeps twelve Galleys in pay, and twenty Men of War. The +_Capitana_ Galley, call'd the _Fusta_, never goes out of the Great Canal, +but is continually at Anchor before the Square of St. _Mark_. There's +commonly four Galleys and as many Men of War in the _Levant_. Others lie +at Anchor in the Canal of _Zueca_, which were lately drawn out of the +Arsenal, because for want of Water the Ships receive Damage. The Power of +the Republic consists chiefly in its Maritime Force. It maintains very few +Land Forces, and those they have are all kept at _Corfou_, which is the +Rampart of _Venice_, and the Defence of the Gulph; the Preservation of +which is owing to the Count _de Schulemburg_, General in chief of the +Republic; for in the last War when the _Turks_ attempted to take it, 'twas +he that oblig'd them to raise the Siege: And the Republic in +acknowledgment of this important Service caus'd his Statue on Horseback to +be erected in the Square of the Old Castle of _Corfou_; and settled a +Pension upon him of 5000 Crowns a-year for his Life, besides his ordinary +Salary. + +'Tis certain that _Venice_ has suffer'd a Decay both of Power and +Commerce. The _Turks_ have taken the _Morea_ from her; she has little or +nothing left in the _Levant_; and as to her Places in the _Terra Firma_ +they are poor, depopulated, and meanly fortified. One of the main +Securities of _Venice_ is her Lakes; but for some Years past they begin to +thicken so by the Mud and Dirt brought by the Rivers which fall into the +Gulph, as in time must prove to the very great Detriment of _Venice_, +because Ships which us'd formerly to go in or out with ease, can only go +out now by the help of a Canal which has been cut for the purpose. This +Inconvenience might have formerly been prevented for a trifle of Expence, +whereas now 'tis past all remedy. + +The Powers of which the _Venetians_ ought to be most jealous, are the +_Turks_ and the Emperor, in whose Dominions they are in a manner inclos'd. +The Great Duke of _Tuscany_ and the Duke of _Parma_ were formerly Powers +which were of little or no Terror to the Republic; but if those Dominions +shou'd ever come under the Sovereignty of _Don Carlos_, the political +System of _Italy_ will be very much alter'd, and the _Venetians_ will in +all probability be oblig'd to keep fair with him. The Republic has for a +long time observ'd an exact Neutrality in the Quarrels among the Princes +of Christendom, perhaps because it knows not for which side to determine +itself; for tho' the Senate hates the _Spaniards_, and cannot forget the +famous Conspiracy of the Marquiss _de Bedmar_ the Catholic King's +Ambassador; they don't much like either the _Germans_ or _French_, whose +Power gives them Umbrage. And I believe, were it possible for the +_Venetians_ to hurt those three Powers at the same time, we shou'd quickly +see their Republic rouze itself from that Lethargy in which it's profound +State-Policy has doz'd it. + +Since the _English_ and _Dutch_ became Masters of the Commerce of +_Europe_, the Trade of _Venice_ is as much decay'd as its Power; and +their Manufactures are sunk extremely. The _Venetians_ heretofore +furnished almost all _Europe_ with Cloth; their Looking-Glasses, and those +for Drinking, were also in great vogue, but those Manufactures are since +transplanted into other Countries, so that _Venice_ scarce furnishes any +more than _Italy_. 'Tis worth while however to go and see the Glass-House +where they work Night and Day, except in _August_ and _September_, when +the Heats are too violent. 'Tis certain the Drinking-Glasses made here are +much stronger than any other, but as they are blown they are not near so +substantial as the Glass that is run; however they require less Labour, +and have the Advantage when they are broke of being melted again; the +Matter of which they are composed being much more flexible than that of +the run Glass. + +The Nobles of _Venice_ are Slaves to Policy, Diffidence, and Suspicion; +and Ambassadors are much more so, whom every one shuns as suspected +Persons, and whom a Foreigner can scarce talk to without renouncing his +Correspondence with the Nobles. An Ambassador is oblig'd to confine +himself to his own Family, or else to amuse himself in the Company of +Foreigners, of whom there is always a good number in this City; for no +Nobleman dare visit him without the express leave of the Senate, who now +indeed grant it much more freely than they did formerly. + +Customs are alter'd here in very many things. 'Twas formerly a Crime to +see a Woman in private, and a Foreigner did not dare to run the Venture; +but now the case is quite different, for there are several Houses of +Quality where I am indulg'd, and am often _tete a tete_ with the Mistress +of the House, without any more notice taken of me than if I were in +_France_, where Ease and Freedom are so much boasted. The Ladies are +great Visiters, and have Assemblies every Night, to which they repair +alone in their Gondola's without any other Attendance but a Valet de +Chambre, who serves as their Gentleman-Usher. They are mask'd at all +public Performances, and go where they have a mind to it. This easy access +to the Ladies contributes not a little to make my Stay in this City +agreeable. I own to you that I am infinitely charm'd with it; there are a +thousand Things here that please me, and were I to chuse any City in +_Italy_ to live in, 'twould certainly be this, where People enjoy entire +Liberty, provided they don't meddle with the State and its Government, +which after all too, I don't think a Foreigner has much to do with. Here +one is in the Centre of civil Pleasures and Debauchery. God is as +exemplarily serv'd here as in any Place whatsoever. Few Nations observe +the Externals of Religion better than the _Italians_ in general and the +_Venetians_ in particular, of whom it may be said that they spend one half +of their time in committing Sin, and the other half in begging God's +pardon. + +Masquerades are more in fashion here than elsewhere. People go in Masks to +take the Air, as well as to Plays and Balls; and 'tis the favourite +Pleasure both of the Grandees and the Commonalty. This gives rise to many +Adventures, and sometimes one makes Acquaintance under a Mask which would +be impracticable perhaps, were not such Disguises in Fashion. I remember +that the first time I was here I struck up an Acquaintance in the Square +of St. _Mark_ with two of the first-rate Ladies of this Country. They were +mask'd, and I was in a Scarlet Domino embroider'd with Silver, which being +a Habit that had been seldom seen here, drew the Eyes of all the Company +in the Square upon me, and in particular of two Ladies, one of whom +twitching me by the Sleeve, said to me, 'Sir, I and the Lady here, my +Friend, fancy by your Air which outstrips our Gentlemen, that you are a +Foreigner, and we are inclin'd to think that you are no mean Person. We +should be glad of your Conversation, and you will do us a Pleasure to take +a turn with us round the Square.--You do me too much Honour, fair Lady +(said I, walking on) and what you tell me of my Appearance pleases me the +more because you are both the compleatest Ladies in the Place. As you +guess by my Habit that I am not a common Person, your Air persuades me +that I have the Honour to speak to Ladies of Quality.--You are not +mistaken (said the same Lady to me) this Lady my Companion is Madame +_M----_ and I am the Wife of Mr. _C----_. You find (continu'd she) that +our Names are pretty well known in _Venice_. Now, after having told you +who we are, may we presume to ask who you are?' I gratify'd their +Curiosity by pulling off my Mask, which I thought a Compliment due to +their Quality. I had scarce told my Name, when the Lady who had not yet +spoke one Word, said to me, 'You are not so much a Stranger among us as +you imagine; your Name is very well known to me, and the late Madame +_Duhamel_, your Aunt, whose[164] Husband was Commander in chief of our +Forces, was one of my most intimate Friends, and she often told me how +much she wish'd to see you here; but 'twas a Comfort she did not live to +enjoy. She went with her Husband to _Corfou_, where he died not without +Suspicion of Poison; for he was accus'd of being too great a _Frenchman_; +and your Aunt who was return'd from _Corfou_ with a Design to go and +spend the Remainder of her Days at _Berlin_, died as she was performing +Quarentine in our Port. You caus'd her Body to be remov'd to _Berlin_, and +you was one of her Heirs; and, tho' I don't mention it to make a Merit of +it, I must tell you that you are oblig'd to me for it, since I pleaded for +you against a very great number of M. _Duhamel_'s Relations. My Love to +your Aunt put me upon engaging Mr. _M----_ to espouse your Interest, which +he promoted with Success, and prevail'd on the Senate to prefer the +Recommendations of the King of _Prussia_ and the Elector of _Hanover_ who +both protected you, before the Instances made by the _French_ Ambassador +in the Name of the King his Master, in favour of Messieurs _Duhamel_. I +was infinitely pleas'd (continu'd Madame _M----_) that I had an +Opportunity of serving you, and you may depend upon it that Mr. _M----_ +and I shall ever interest our selves heartily for all that belong to our +deceased Friend.' I made answer to Madame _M----_ in Terms suitable to her +obliging Expressions, and crav'd her Permission to pay my respects to her +at her House. She answer'd me very civilly that she would send her Husband +to me, and that then she should be glad to see me at her House. Next +Morning as I was ready to go out, and wait upon Mr. _M----_ to whom I +thought I ow'd a Visit after the Civilities I had receiv'd from his Wife, +I was told that he was at my Door and desir'd to speak with me. I went and +receiv'd him, and found him every whit as polite as his Lady. He offer'd +to shew me the Curiosities of _Venice_ till his Wife was stirring. We went +and saw several Churches, after which he conducted me to his House where I +found Madame _M----_ who receiv'd me with all the Civility possible. She +was a Woman who tho' forty Years of Age shew'd that she had been a very +beautiful Lady in her time. Madame _C----_ happen'd to be in her Company, +with whom she had been the Day before in the Square of St. _Mark_. I never +saw a more beautiful Lady, or that had a nobler Carriage. She was not yet +twenty Years of Age, but had been marry'd five Years to a Man, who tho' +the most ill-favour'd of his Sex had a most amiable Behaviour. I fell in +love with Madame _C----_ as soon as ever I saw her, and when I beheld her +Husband, I had Presumption enough to believe that my Application to the +Lady would not be disagreeable. But I soon perceiv'd that she was not a +Woman for my turn; she quickly depriv'd me of all Hopes of Success; and I +no sooner saw those Hopes vanish'd, which are the only Support of Lovers, +but I dropp'd my Amour. I had another in view which was attended with +better Success: M. _M----_ carry'd me to a Country-House of his towards +_Padua_, and I don't know where I was ever more agreeably entertain'd in +my whole Life. 'Tis at these Country Seats one sees the _Venetians_ in +Perfection, who are quite another sort of People here than in the City; +for here they put off that grave serious Air which they affect in Town, +and are quite sociable, civil, courteous, and live with more splendor. As +these Country-Houses are near one another, the Gentlemen to whom they +belong visit each other very much, and are almost always together; but at +_Venice_ they live with more Restraint. + +I am in some doubt whether I should reckon the Music of the _Venetian_ +Churches in the number of its Pleasures; but upon the whole, I think I +ought, because certainly their Churches are frequented more to please the +Ear, than for real Devotion. The Church of _la Pieta_ which belongs to the +Nuns who know no other Father but Love, is most frequented. These Nuns are +enter'd very young, and are taught Music, and to play on all sorts of +Instruments, in which some of 'em are excellent Performers. _Apollonia_ +actually passes for the finest Singer, and _Anna-Maria_'s for the first +Violin in _Italy_. The Concourse of People to this Church on Sundays and +Holidays is extraordinary. 'Tis the Rendezvous of all the Coquettes in +_Venice_, and such as are fond of Intrigues have here both their Hands and +Hearts full. Not many Days after my Arrival in this City I was at this +very Church, where was a vast Audience, and the finest of Music. As I was +going out, a Woman who hid her Face accosted me, saying, there was a Lady +in a Gondola who desir'd to speak with me. Tho' this smelt strong of an +Adventure, which I was never very fond of, I however went along with the +Woman; and really, not above ten Paces from the Spot I found a Gondola, in +which was a Lady whom I knew to be the Daughter of the unfortunate Baron +_de H----_ of whose tragical Catastrophe you have heard. I own it mov'd my +Compassion, as well as Sorrow, to see before my Eyes a young Lady of Rank +in a strange Country and in such a Situation as made me surmise that she +was in a bad Way. But it even touch'd me to the quick, when after having +made her Apology to me for having sent for me, she said to me with a Voice +interrupted with Sighs, 'For God's sake tell me what's become of my poor +Father; is he still living? He has been the Cause of his own Unhappiness +and mine too; he has plung'd me into an Abyss of Woe, but he is still my +Father: Nothing can make me forget the Duty I owe him; I should be glad +even to lay down my Life to relieve his Misfortunes.' I told her that I +had not been at _Berlin_ for a long time; that I had not kept up a +Correspondence there with any body, and that consequently I could not tell +her any News of her Father. I knew at the same time that he died in +Prison at _Spandaw_; but I was loth to be the Messenger of such bad News +to a Person who seem'd to be already too much afflicted. 'I did not know +you were at _Venice_ (reply'd Madamoiselle _de H----_) or I should have +sought an Opportunity to speak with you. I saw you at the Church of _la +Pieta_, and the sight of you call'd my Misfortunes fresh to my Memory, as +well as the sad Catastrophe of your old Friend my Father. I could not +refrain shedding Tears, and the Remembrance of my Disgrace has eclips'd +the Pleasure I take in seeing you.' I endeavour'd to assuage her Grief, +and to calm her ruffled Soul; and therefore I went with her to her House, +and when I saw her a little compos'd I ask'd her questions about her state +of Life, and desir'd her to tell me how she had pass'd her time since she +left _Berlin_. She answer'd me in every Point with a great deal of Honesty +and Simplicity. 'After the Execution of that Sentence (said she) which +degraded my Father from Nobility and Honour, and set him on a level with +the basest Scoundrels, I had not the Courage to stay at _Berlin_. I went +to _H----_ to find out Madame _de B----_ my Aunt from whom I hoped to meet +with Protection; but I soon experienc'd that the Unfortunate have no +Relations. My Aunt would not give me House-room, and sent a Confident of +her's to tell me that she advis'd me to be gone from _H----_ or else to +change my Name and not to call me her Cousin, unless I had a Desire to be +confin'd. But alas! I would then have taken it as a Favour if my Aunt had +shut me up; for I was in extreme Want, and knew not what would become of +me. I lodg'd at an Inn where I got my Living by making of Linnen and +Washing, when a good likely young Man came and took up his Quarters in the +very same House, who immediately struck up an Acquaintance with me. I know +not what he saw in me to charm him, for I did nothing but cry all the day +long. Mean time he talk'd to me of Love, and gave me so many +Demonstrations of his flaming Passion that I found he was really smitten +with me. To tell you the whole Truth, I was not long insensible of the +same Passion. He even offer'd to marry me, which, since he would not be +deny'd, I consented to. He told me that he was an Officer in the Emperor's +Service, and a Native of _Lubeck_, and that he was come hither to take +possession of an Estate fallen to him by Inheritance. I took what he said +to be true because he was handsomely equipp'd, and had his Pockets well +lin'd. In short, I was smitten with him, and thought I should be very +happy in taking him for my Husband. Not many Days after our Marriage, he +told me that he must needs set out for _Hungary_ where the Regiment was +quarter'd, whereof he said he was a Lieutenant, and that consequently I +must make ready to go with him.--We set out from _H----_ and arriv'd +happily at _Vienna_. It was in that very City that my Husband, who till +then behav'd well towards me, and whose Conduct had been very regular, +chang'd all on a sudden to the reverse. He spent the whole Day in +Gaming-Houses, and the Night in Debauchery. Sometimes he never once came +home for four or five Days together, and when he did, 'twas only to insult +me, and to upbraid me with the misfortune of my Father, which I discover'd +to him before Marriage, for fear he should reproach me one time or other +with having deceiv'd him. He told me that I was a Disgrace to him, that +his Colonel had broke him for marrying me, and that I was the Author of +his Ruin. I try'd to pacify him, and spar'd no Pains nor Complaisance for +it, but all to no purpose. I heard that my Husband was desperately in love +with a common Prostitute, that he had ruin'd himself for her sake; and in +a little time he was oblig'd to sell the very Clothes off his back. He had +contracted Debts, and expecting every day to be arrested by his Creditors, +he left _Vienna_ privately, abandoning me to the most dreadful Despair. +'Twas eight Months before I heard a Word of him. At last I came to know +that he was here at _Venice_, and I resolv'd to find him out. Madame the +Countess of _W----_ who had generously assisted me, fitted me out for the +Journey, but when I came hither I did not find my Husband, who I heard was +at _Padua_. I was making my self ready to follow him thither, when I heard +the News that he was kill'd by a Student with whom he had a Quarrel at +Gaming. His Death fill'd up the Measure of my Sorrow. I found my self +quite a Stranger here without Friends or Subsistence. I endeavour'd, but +in vain, to get my Living by my Labour, as I had done at _H----_ but I +found so little to do that 'twas impossible for me to hold out long; and I +must undoubtedly have sunk under my Misery if it had not been for the +noble _D----_ who out of Pity to my Condition reliev'd me six Years ago by +granting me a Pension: But how happy should I be if I could live without +it, and retire for ever to some religious Foundation!' Here the +unfortunate _H----_ concluded her Narrative. I sifted her Sentiments about +Religion: I knew she had been educated in the _Lutheran_, but she +express'd her Inclination to embrace the Catholic Religion, and also to +turn Nun. I promis'd to serve her all that lay in my power, and that same +Evening I spoke to Madame _M----_ who promis'd me to enter her into Orders +as soon as she was turn'd Catholic. A Jesuit who has had the tutoring of +her for near a Month gives us Hopes that she will instantly be qualify'd +to take the Veil. She seems to me to be very eager for it. A few days ago +I acquainted her with her Father's Death, with which she seem'd very much +affected, but at the same time she express'd her Submission to the Decrees +of Providence, and told me her Misfortunes with so much Resignation, that +I have Reason to think she will be very happy in the Retirement which she +is about to embrace. If this be the Case, I shall think my self very +fortunate in having contributed by my Advice to her Tranquillity. Heaven +grant her Prayers may prevail that I my self may put those Lessons in +practice which I have taught her, as to the Necessity of Conversion. + +Pardon me, Sir, this long Digression. As you knew the unfortunate _H----_ +in his Prosperity, and as you are also inform'd of his Disgrace, I thought +you would not be sorry to hear of the Fate of his Daughter. I now resume +my Remarks on _Venice_. + +Two Days ago I went to see the _Scuola St. Rocco_, which are Rooms where +the Fraternities of that Saint meet, in which are Pictures done by the +greatest Masters, particularly one in the great Room below, which is the +Picture of the _Annunciation_ done by _Tintoret_, a Piece highly esteem'd. +This Picture is, without Contradiction, one of the finest and most +affecting Paintings at _Venice_, because of the lively Expressions of +Surprise, Admiration, and Joy which appear in the _Virgin's_ Face. She is +sitting in her Chamber, which the skilful Painter has represented as a +plain mean Room in some Disorder with old and worn out Furniture. Upon the +grand Stair-case there's another Picture representing the _Annunciation_ +in like manner, which is done by _Titian_, and is not one of the worst of +his Performances. The upper Rooms are adorn'd with several Pictures done +by _Tintoret_, in which he has described our Lord's Passion. Our Saviour +appearing before _Pilate_ is an admirable Piece; 'tis really moving to see +the Modesty and Serenity of his Countenance. A second Picture represents +our Lord carrying his Cross. In a third, we see him fasten'd on it, and +expiring for the Salvation of Mankind. These are invaluable Pieces, and +are reckon'd the compleatest that ever _Tintoret_ painted. + +I have also been to see the chief Palaces, which lie for the most part on +the great Canal, and that call'd _Reggio_. They are very magnificent, but +they are generally so like one another that he who has seen one may say he +has seen them all. They have little Court-Yards, less Gardens, and no +Stables. Nothing goes to form a Palace at _Venice_ but the main Body of +the Building, a great Salon in the middle, and Apartments on the Right and +Left; and setting aside the Marble, there are Palaces as magnificent +elsewhere which have only the name of a House. + +The Square of St. _Mark_ is the ordinary Rendezvous of all the Gentry at +_Venice_. There are Nobles who keep their constant Circuits here as it +were, and who never stir from the Place but to Bed, for they pass their +whole Time in Gaming at the Coffee-Houses, or in the Peruke-Makers Shops. +The number of their Nobles is not limited; and any body for paying down +100000 Ducats may purchase Nobility. These Gentlemen compliment each other +with the Title of _Excellency_, and 'tis what they all challenge from +Foreigners. Mean time, some of those _Excellencies_ go to the Shambles, +and to the Fish-Market, and carry home their Meat or their Fish under +their Robes, and some are so very poor that they go a begging. This Title +is so very common here that I had much ado to hinder a Lackey whom I hired +from giving it to me. Tho' I told him that I was by no means _Excellent_, +he made me answer that he knew full well what Obligations were due to my +Excellency, and that he would not be thought to be wanting in Respect to +my Excellency. A _Frenchman_ lately come from _Constantinople_ to whom I +made my Complaints, how much this Title was prophan'd, assur'd me that the +_Venetians_ were still more lavish of it out of _Venice_, so that he heard +the very Grooms belonging to the Baillo of the Republic at +_Constantinople_, compliment one another with the Title of _Excellency_. + +Among the _Venetian_ Excellencies there are also _Petits-Maitres_ who are +known by their Doublets lin'd with Scarlet, their fine white Perukes, by +their fantastical Step, and that Air of lolling which they give themselves +in their Gondola's, which are much smaller and nimbler than the common +sort. These _Petits-Maitres_ are great Beaus, and have commonly more than +one Mistress at a time, and indeed there are few Nobles but have one at +least. These Creatures, excepting the little Liberty they enjoy, are as +happy as Sultana's. Their Lovers treat them like Princesses, and the +_Venetians_ in general pay great respect to the whole Sex. I have seen +_Faustina_ the famous Singer, and _Stringuetta_ the noted Courtezan come +mask'd upon the Square of St. _Mark_, leaning on the Shoulders of +Noblemen, and every Man paying them as much Obeisance as if they had been +Ladies of great Importance. The same day that they appear'd on the Square +there happen'd to be a Skirmish between two Women mask'd that were Rivals, +who, as soon as they knew one another, fell out, went to Cuffs, tore off +each other's Masks, and at last Knives were drawn, with which they cut one +another so deeply that one of 'em was left dead on the Spot. + + * * * * * + +I now think it high time to finish my Letter which is already very long, +and perhaps too full of Trifles. I have told you every Thing that came +uppermost in my Mind, so that you have a perfect Farrago, which however +is a Proof of the Pleasure I take in corresponding with you. + +[Illustration] + + + + + LETTER XXVII. + + + _SIR_, _Ronciglione, May 30, 1730._ + +As it appears by all the Letters from _Rome_ that they are on the point of +chusing a new Pope, I set out sooner from _Venice_ than I should otherways +have done, and came post to this City without stopping much by the Way. I +pass'd thro' PADUA, where I had the Honour to pay my Respects to the +Prince _Emanuel_ of _Portugal_, who is come to reside there for some time, +and I was afterwards at the Comedy, which was indeed, a most wretched +Performance, but the Assembly was gay and numerous: Among the rest there +were a great number of Students and young Fellows, particularly one that +made a very finical Appearance, who had ten or twelve Patches on his Face, +a red Coat embroider'd with black Gawse, a Hat, a Shoulder-Knot, +Stockings, _&c._ the whole trimm'd with Gawse. I took him at first for a +Mountebank, but I plainly saw that the Whimsicalness of his Dress was the +Humour of the Country. What gave me some Amusement was, to see a Hare +which Harlequin had taught to play Tricks, to tumble Top over Tail, to +leap over a Stick, and to beat a Drum with his two Fore-feet. + +From _Padua_ I went to FERRARA a City in the Ecclesiastical State, where +the Pope keeps a Legat who is always a Cardinal. It appear'd to me to be a +large City with spacious Streets, and some fine Palaces, but it did not +seem to be very populous, which is ascrib'd to the bad Air in this +Country, otherwise one of the finest in all _Italy_. + +The Road from _Ferrara_ to BOLOGNA is extremely level, and as good and +agreeable in Summer as 'tis unpassable in Winter. _Bologna_ is the second +City in the Ecclesiastical State, and is a large fine Town. 'Tis in a most +charming Situation, all the Country round it being properly a Garden, and +one of the most fruitful and fairest Plats in Nature. 'Tis said this City +contains near 80000 Inhabitants. The common People are civil and well +bred, and none more polite to Foreigners than the Noblemen. There are +stately Palaces here, of which I will only mention that of the Marquis +_Rinucci_, because to me it seem'd to be one of the most considerable in +the City. 'Tis very magnificent, and of a vast extent. The Ground-Floor +contains three large Apartments, the first Story five, and the second as +many. The Stair-case of this Palace is very much esteem'd for its +Contrivance. In one of the Halls are two large Pictures: The first is the +Consecration of the Emperor _Charles_ V. perform'd by the Pope at +_Bologna_: The second represents _Frederic_ IV. King of _Denmark_ giving +Audience to the Senate of _Bologna_: and their complimenting him on his +Arrival. In another of those Halls are two other curious large Pictures; +the one of Cardinal _Rinucci_, having Audience of the King of _Poland_ +when he was sent to him as Nuncio; and the second shews the same Cardinal +receiving the Cap from _Lewis_ XIV. King of _France_, at whose Court he +was Nuncio when he was promoted to the Purple. The Apartments adjoining to +these Halls are also adorn'd with excellent Paintings and very richly +furnish'd. + +The Churches of _Bologna_ are not less magnificent than the finest +Churches in _Italy_. I thought that of St. _Paul_ the most worthy of +Remark, which is serv'd by _Bernardine_ Fryars. The Roof is adorn'd with +Paintings representing the History of St. _Paul_. These Pictures which are +highly esteem'd are the Performances of _Antonio Caccioli_ and _Rolli_ two +Natives of _Bologna_, and they have both out-done themselves. The Painting +of the Dome where St. _Paul_ is represented on his Knees ready to have his +Head struck off is admirably fine. The high Altar is of Marble of various +Colours, finish'd with a great deal of Art. The Seats of the Monks are of +Wallnut-Tree, and over them are several Pictures of the Life of St. _Paul_ +drawn by an able Hand, who was _Carache_'s Pupil. The Churches of St. +_Catherine_ of _Bologna_, and St. _Michael_ in _Bosco_ are well worth the +Traveller's Observation, on account of the choice Pictures with which they +are adorn'd. St. _Michael_'s in _Bosco_ stands upon an Eminence three +Miles from _Bologna_, to which there's an Entrance thro' a cover'd Gallery +made like a Piazza. 'Twas a Work erected by the Citizens of _Bologna_, out +of their Devotion to a miraculous Image of the _Holy Virgin_ which is +reverenc'd in this Church. + +The Legate's Palace is very ancient, but grand and magnificent. 'Tis as +strictly guarded during the Vacancy of the Holy See as if the Enemy were +at the Gates of the City. All the Avenues to it are hung with Chains: The +_Swiss_ Guards are arm'd with Cuirasses: The Guard which consists of fifty +Soldiers is barricaded with Pallisades and Chevaux de Frise, and the +Palace-Gate is defended by eight Pieces of Cannon. + +What remains for me to tell you of _Bologna_ is, that 'tis one of the +Cities in _Italy_ where a Foreigner finds most Amusement. The Nobility not +only strive to give him Pleasure, but he has fine Paintings to feast his +Eye, and here are often excellent Concerts of Music, Operas, and Comedies, +charming Walks, and genteel Country-Houses; which I take to be all that +can be desir'd in Life. + +From _Bologna_ I travell'd in two days to _Florence_, after having been +dragg'd in my Chaise thro' the _Apennines_, a prodigious Range of +Mountains; which is a thing I shall never do again while I live; for I +really suffer'd very much in this Road, and if ever you should have a +fancy to come this way, I would advise you to carry Provisions or a Cook +with you, for there is not one considerable Place in all the Road. +_Fiorenzola_, which is almost half way, is a sorry little Town. From +thence to _Scarperia_ the Road is extremely rugged. One descends a high +Mountain pav'd like a Stair-case, which to attempt in a Chaise, you are +sure of being, if I may so call it, broke upon the Wheel, and therefore I +chose to walk down. At _Scarperia_ the Road becomes more passable, and it +mends as you come near _Florence_. In our Way we pass'd thro' a Town +call'd _Ponte_ that stands at the Foot of a Hill, where the Great Duke has +a Castle which appear'd to me to be very well fortify'd. + +One perceives FLORENCE a great way off, and indeed it makes a fine point +of View to see so great a City in a beautiful Valley between Hills which +rise insensibly, and end at length in high Mountains, inhabited in such a +manner that they may be reckon'd the Suburbs of _Florence_. The River +_Arno_ passes thro' both the City and the Valley. Among all the Cities of +_Italy_, _Florence_ may justly be surnamed the _Fair_, since it has all +that can be desir'd in a great and wealthy Town, such as sacred and +profane Edifices, Bridges, Monuments, and Fountains; yet 'tis not so +large nor populous as _Bologna_. As I enter'd _Florence_ I perceived over +the Gate a Table of white Marble with a _Latin_ Inscription on it, as +follows: + + FLORENTIA, ADVENTU FRIDERICI IV. DANIAE ET NORVEGIAE, AUGUSTI, + FELICIS, QUOD EAM SUA PRAESENTIA MAGNUS HOSPES IMPLEVERIT, + AUGUSTA FELIX, AN. S. 1708. MENSE MARTIO. + +'Twas the late Great Duke _Cosmo_ who caus'd this to be engrav'd to the +Honour of the King of _Denmark_. + +The City of _Florence_ has been so well describ'd that I shall pass very +briefly over all that relates to the Buildings. The Square call'd _Piazza +del Gran Duca_ or the old Palace, contains Ornaments enough to embellish a +great Town. Here you see a spacious Fountain which _Cosmo_ I. caus'd to be +built after the Designs of _Amminati_ and _Philip Baldinucci_, two of the +most famous Sculptors at that Time. Not far from this Fountain is the +Equestrian Statue of _Cosmo_ I. which is rais'd upon a great Pedestal of +white Marble, with this Inscription engrav'd on the chief Front of it: + + COSMO MEDICI, MAGNO ETRURIAE DUCI PRIMO, PIO, FELICI, INVICTO, + JUSTO, CLEMENTI, SACRAE MILITIAE PACISQUE IN ETRURIA AUTHORI, + PATRI ET PRINCIPI OPTIMO, FERDINANDUS F. MAG. DUX III. EREXIT, + AN. CI[REVERSED C] I[REVERSED C] LXXXXIIII. + +On the other three Sides of the Pedestal are very fine Bas-Reliefs of +Brass. The first represents _Cosmo_ I. recogniz'd for Sovereign by the +Senate of _Florence_; the second the Ceremony of _Cosmo_'s Coronation, +and the third the same _Cosmo_ in an antique triumphant Car making his +pompous Entry into _Sienna_, which was submitted to his Government. +_Ferdinand_ I. _de Medicis_ when he erected this Statue to the Honour of +his Father, employ'd in the Direction of it the famous _John Bologna_, who +has very well answer'd the Opinion that had been conceiv'd of him. + +In the Great Duke's Gallery near the Square, I saw the greatest +Curiosities, both among the Antients and Moderns. A Busto of _Alexander_ +the Great, the famous Statue of _Venus_, cut by _Apollodorus_, with those +of the Emperors and Empresses of _Rome_, and the greatest Personages of +former Centuries; the best Originals of the greatest Painters; and a +thousand uncommon things, such as Diamonds, Rubies, Pearls, Emeralds, +Saphirs, Topazes, Amber, Porcellain, Crystal, Porphyry, Coral, Marble, and +Granite, the Particulars of which wou'd form a Volume. They are actually +engraving on Plates, and several Persons of Quality are contributing to +the Expence of this fine Work, which is considerable, and for which +excellent Designers are employ'd. This wou'd have been worthy of the Great +Duke, and it seems to me that this Prince when he sees his Family extinct, +and his Estate pass into the hands of Foreigners, ought at least to +eternize the Glory of his Ancestors by publishing an Inventory of the +immense Wealth which they have acquired, and transmitted to their +Posterity. + +Of all the Churches in _Italy_ there are none more magnificent as to the +outside than the Dome of _Milan_, and the Cathedral of _Florence_, both +which are entirely lin'd with Marble of various Colours. A Citizen of +_Florence_, who pretended to know the History of this City perfectly well, +assur'd me that its Cathedral was built out of the Impost of five _Sous_ +which had been laid upon every Piece of Cloth that was then sold at +_Florence_; but I believe you may without Breach of Charity take this for +a Story. + +Over against the Cathedral is the magnificent Baptistery, to which there's +an Entrance thro' three Gates of Brass, so artfully wrought that _Michael +Angelo_ said they were good enough to be the Gates of Paradise. + +St. _Laurence_'s Chapel, which is not yet finish'd, is the Admiration of +all Connoisseurs, and is design'd to be the Place for the Burial of the +Great Dukes, whose Remains are to be deposited in a Mausoleum of wonderful +Workmanship, adorn'd with precious Stones. 'Tis 150 years ago that this +Chapel has been building, and yet it wants two Thirds of being finish'd. +If it were lawful to criticise the Conduct of Princes, I must say it +again, that the Great Duke, who sees that his Greatness and his Family +must end with him, ought to put the last hand to this Monument of the +Magnificence of the _Medicis_: For can he hope, that if he himself +neglects to transmit the Lustre of his Family to Posterity, his Successors +will think to do it, who are nothing to him, or at least but very little? +But such is the Humour of _John Gaston_ Great Duke of _Tuscany_; he is so +indifferent and unconcern'd about every thing, that he sees Foreigners +dispose of his Dominions, and nominate his Successor, and the Courtiers +ready to abandon him and to worship the said Successor; and yet the +Prospect, how disagreeable soever it may be, does not seem to give him any +Uneasiness: And he said some days ago, after he had sign'd his Last Will +and Testament, declaring _Don Carlos_ Infante of _Spain_ his Successor, +_that he had just got a Son and Heir by a Dash of his Pen, which he had +not been able to get in thirty four years Marriage_. + +Thus, Sir, I have given all you will have of me this time touching +_Florence_, where I cou'd stay but a few days, and then made no +Acquaintance, having only been taken up in seeing the Curiosities of this +City. At my Return from _Rome_ I propose to come hither again, and make +some stay in order to get a little Knowledge of the Court; and then you +shall be inform'd of every Remark that I make. + +From _Florence_ I went and din'd at _Castilloncello_, and lay at SIENNA a +City in the Duchy of _Tuscany_, to which _Cosmo_ I. _de Medicis_ made it +subject, not without great Resistance from the _Siennois_. The City which +is both an Archbishoprick and an University, is very pleasantly situate, +and enjoys a very good Air. 'Tis said that _Italian_ is spoke here with +more Purity than in any other Town in _Italy_. It seem'd to me to want +Inhabitants, for I went thro' several Streets and did not meet a Soul. +'Tis said that a great many of the Nobility are settled in _Sienna_, and +that Strangers are sure to meet with a civil Reception here, but as I +staid no more than one day, I had only a cursory View of the Town. The +Cathedral appear'd to me to be a great and noble Building lin'd with +Marble. The Great Duke's Palace is ancient, but commodious. It has a Tower +which is look'd upon as a singular piece of Architecture. The Great +Princess[165] _Violante_ of _Bavaria_ is Governess of _Sienna_. She liv'd +formerly in this City, and was mightily belov'd in it; but she has resided +for some time at _Florence_. The Square which is before the Palace is +oval, and hollow in the Middle, so that it may be laid under-water like +the Square _Navona_ at _Rome_. + +From _Sienna_ to _Viterbo_ the Road is extremely bad, I passed the +Mountain of _Radifocani_, situate in one of the vilest Countries in all +_Italy_. At the top of the Mountain there's a Castle, where a Garison of +fifteen Men is kept, with a Commanding Officer, whom I found at the House +of Entertainment where I alighted. He had been a Lieutenant in _France_ in +the Royal _Italian_ Regiment, and spoke very good _French_. He told me +that the Inhabitants under his Government were as bad as the Country, of +which some Moments after, I saw a Proof. A Mule-driver having a Quarrel +with the Drawer, the latter stabb'd him with a Knife in the Rim of the +Belly, with as much Sedateness as if he had been doing a good Action; and +the Commandant never caus'd the Assassin to be apprehended: for which when +I express'd my Surprize to him, he said he had nothing to do out of his +Place; and that besides he did not dare to cause the Assassin to be +apprehended, because he had three Brothers as wicked as himself, who wou'd +not fail to take a Revenge if he was punish'd. And then, said he, I shou'd +have enough to do if I were to cause all to be apprehended who give Wounds +with Knives. + +AQUAPENDENTE is a sorry little Town, and yet a Metropolis. BOLSENA is no +better, and MONTEFIASCONE tho' a Bishoprick, wou'd not be worth +mentioning, were it not for its Vineyards which produce excellent +_Muscadine_ Wine. + +VITERBO, three Leagues from _Montefiascone_, seem'd to me to be a pretty +Town. 'Tis adorn'd with three fine Fountains, and pav'd with great Flint +Stones which are four foot long and two foot broad. This City has some +fine Houses in it. 'Tis the See of a Bishop, and its Cathedral is a +Structure which does not want for Grandeur. In this Church the Archbishop +and Elector of _Cologn_ was consecrated by Pope _Benedict_ XIII. who came +hither on purpose to save the Elector all manner of dispute about +Precedency with the Cardinals; who were in their turn so disgruntled with +the Pope, that none of them accompany'd him in this Journey. + +MONTEROSO is a pretty Town, but RONCIGLIONE outdoes it; and indeed in all +the Ecclesiastical State there is not a pleasanter. It drives a great +Trade in Snuff. I came hither yesterday at Noon, and don't think of going +away 'till this Evening, my Chaise being broke. I hope however to lie this +Night at _Rome_, from whence I purpose to send you many good Stories +forthwith. You will do me a Pleasure to let me hear from you; and to +believe me in _Italy_, as well as elsewhere, yours, _&c._ + + _End of Volume_ I. + +[Illustration] + + + + + _BOOKS of Voyages, and Travels, lately + publish'd, printed for +D. Browne+, + without +Temple-Bar+._ + + +I. A COLLECTION OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS; some now first printed from +original Manuscripts, others now first publish'd in English; with a +general Preface, giving an Account of the Progress of Navigation from its +first Beginning. Illustrated with a great number of useful Maps and Cuts +curiously engraven. In 6 Volumes, Folio. Price 9_l._ + +N. B. Those Gentlemen who have the first four Volumes of this Collection, +which were commonly call'd _Churchill_'s Travels, may have the 5th and 6th +Volumes to compleat their Setts. + +II. Mr. LE BRUYN'S TRAVELS into _Muscovy_, _Persia_, and the _East +Indies_: containing an accurate Description of whatever is most remarkable +in those Countries; and embelish'd with above 320 Copper-Plates, +representing the finest Prospects, and most considerable Cities in those +Parts; the different Habits of the People, the singular and extraordinary +Birds, Fishes, and Plants, which are to be found: as likewise the +Antiquities of those Countries, and particularly the noble Ruins of the +famous Palace of _Persepolis_, call'd _Chelminar_ by the _Persians_: the +whole being delineated on the Spot from the respective Objects. To which +is added, An Account of the Journey of Mr. _Isbrants_, Embassador from +_Muscovy_, thro' _Russia_ and _Tartary_ to _China_: together with Remarks +on the Travels of Sir _John Chardix_ and Mr. _Kempfer_, and a Letter to +the Author on that Subject. Translated from the French, with the original +Copper-Plates. In two Volumes, Folio. Price 2_l._ 10_s._ + +III. REMARKS ON SEVERAL PARTS OF EUROPE: relating chiefly to the History, +Antiquities, and Geography of those Countries, thro' which the Author has +travel'd; as _France_, the _Low-Countries_, _Lorrain_, _Alsatia_, +_Germany_, _Savoy_, _Tyrol_, _Switzerland_, _Italy_, and _Spain_. +Illustrated with several Maps, Plans, and above forty Copper-Plates. By J. +BREVAL Esq; In two Volumes, Folio. Price 2_l._ 2_s._ + +IV. SIR HANS SLOANE'S Voyage to the Islands of _Madera_, _Barbadoes_, +_Nevis_, _St. Christopher's_, and JAMAICA; with the Natural History of the +Herbs and Trees, Four-footed Beasts, Fishes, Birds, Insects, Reptiles, +_&c._ of the last of those Islands. Illustrated with the Figures of the +Things described, in above 300 large Copper-Plates, as big as the Life, in +2 vol. Folio. Price 5_l._ 10_s._ _N. B._ The second Volume may be had +alone. + +V. ITINERARIUM SEPTENTRIONALE; or a Journey thro' most of the Counties of +_Scotland_, and those in the North of _England_. In two Parts. Illustrated +with 66 Copper-Plates. By _Alexander Gordon_ A. M. Folio. Price one +Guinea. + +VI. ROMA ILLUSTRATA; or a Description of the most beautiful Pieces of +Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, antique and modern, at and near +ROME. In a neat Pocket Volume. Price 2_s._ 6_d._ + +[Illustration] + + + + + An Alphabetical INDEX + + TO THE + + FIRST VOLUME. + + + A. + + _Abbesses_ of two Convents, the Ceremony of marrying them by every Doge + of _Venice_, 400. + Their Dress, 401. + + _Agrippina_, Empress of _Rome_, 250. + + _Ahlen-Castle_, in the Dutchy of _Zell_; the Retreat of the Duke's + unfortunate Daughter, 62. + + AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, _t._ 199, 341. + + _Albert_, Margrave of _Brandenbourg_, 82. + + _Albert_ I. Emperor, 388. + + _Albert_ II. Emperor, 388. + + _Aller_, R. 61. + + _Alpes_, for whom those Mountains were made, 395. + + ALTENA, _t._ 53, 57. + Distress of the Inhabitants, 58. + Privileg'd Place for Bankrupts, 59. + + ALTENBOURG, _t._ 167. + + _Altheim_, Count and Countess, 255, 256. + + _Amelia_, Empress of Germany, 228 to 230, &c. 344. + + _Amminati_, Sculptor, 426. + + _Andrew_, Cardinal of _Austria_, 390. + + St. _Andrew_'s Order of _Muscovy_, 76. + + _Angelo, Michael_, his saying that certain Gates were good enough for + Paradise, 428. + + _Anhalt-Cothen_, Princess, 173. + + _Anhalt-Dessau Leopold_, Pr. 37. + His Amour and Marriage, and his Menace to shoot his Tutor, 38, 39. + His Character by the late D. of _Savoy_, 39. + His Valour, 39, 40. + His Government, 82. + + _Augustus Lewis_, Pr. his Wives and Issue, 83. + + _Anhalt-Zerbst, Magdalen-Augusta_, Duchess of _Saxe-Gotha_, 181. + + _Anna-Maria_'s Violin, 415. + + _Anne_, Princess Royal of _Denmark_, and Electress-Dowager of _Saxony_, + 100. + + _Anne-Frederica_, of _Promnitz_, 83. + + _Anne-Sophia-Charlotte_, of _Prussia_, Duchess of _Saxe-Eysenach_, 183. + + _Annunciation-Pictures_, done by _Tintoret_ and _Titian_, 419. + + ANSPACH, 193, 204. + See _Brandenbourg_. + + _Anthony-Ulric_, D. of _Brunswic-Lunenburg-Wolfembuttle_, 69, 71, 73, + 75, 79. + + _Antinous_'s Statue, 370. + + _Antonietta-Amelia_ of _Brunswic-Blanckenbourg_, 72. + + _Apollodorus_ Statuary, 427. + + _Apollonia_, the Singer, 415. + + _Appel_, a Merchant at _Leipsic_, his House the Residence of the K. of + _Poland_, 85. + + _Appennine_ Mountains, 425. + + AQUAPENDENTE, _t._ 430. + + _Arch-duchess_, 232, 233, 381. + + _Architecture_, the best Article that Princes can lay out their Money + in, 10. + + _Aremberg_, Duke and Duchess Dowager, 332, 333. + + _Argenson_, M. de, 303. + + _Arlington_, Countess of, 67. + + _Arnheim_, Marshal de, 40. + + _Arnim, Sigismond_ de, 146. + + _Arnould_, St. 366. + + _Arthur_, Prince of Wales, 389. + + AUGSBOURG, _t._ 273. + Its Comparison with _Antwerp_, 275. + Its chief Trade, 275, 276. + + _Augusta_, of _Saxe-Gotha_, Princess of _Wales_, 182. + + _Augustus_ III. K. of _Poland_, 97, 99. + His Travels and Conversion to Popery, 101. + His Marriage, 102, 165. + His Love and Duty to his Father, 104. + His Election and Coronation, 106. + His Tutor, 126, 127. + His Queen, 98. + Their Children, 99. + + _Augustus-William_ D. of _Brunswic-Lunenburg Wolfembuttle_, 69, 71, 73. + + _Augustus-Albert_, Prince of _Prussia_, 113. + + _Augustus_, Emperor, 273. + + _Aulic Council_, at _Berlin_, 14. + At _Vienna_, 244. + + St. _Austin_'s Tract of the City of God, 179. + + _Austria_, House, of whom it now consists, 233. + A Wish that it never may be extinct, 233. + Its great Alliances, 250. + + _Austrian Princes_, remarkable for an Air of Gravity, 112. + Their People's Avertion to the _Bohemians_, 222. + The scurvy Pun of a _French_ Jester upon them, 228. + Their Epicurism, 253. + Pride, 254. + Their Fondness for the Title of Count, 255. + + _Austrian_ and _Lorrain_ Families united, 233, 341. + + _Auvergne_, Princesses, 332, 333. + + + B. + + _Backover_, M. Chancellor of _Saxe-Gotha_, 182. + + _Baden-Baden_, Margrave and Margravine, 213, 299, 300. + + _Baden-Dourlach, Christian_, Margrave of, 183, 279. + _Charles_, 293, 296. 298. + Margravine, 298, 300, 301, 304. + + _Badiani_, Count, 244. + + _Bahlberg, Adolphus_, Baron of, 184. + + _Baldinucci, Philip_, the Sculptor, 426. + + _Balls_ of _Bohemia_, compar'd with those in the _Hay-Market_, 223. + + BAMBERG, t. 201, &c. the mighty Prerogative of its Bishop, 201. + + BARBI, _t._ 82. + + _Bareith_, Margraves. See _Brandenbourg_. + + BAREITH, _t._ 204. + Princess, 303. + + _Baron_, the Title purchased in + _Germany_ by a Messenger, 256. + + _Basset_, how a Lady made her Gallant's Fortune at it, 252. + + _Bass-Viols_, a _German_ Duke's Fondness for 'em, 168, to 171. + + _Bavaria_, Electors of, 259, 262, 263. + Its Division, 267. + Riches and Revenue, 167, 268. + Electoress, 363, 364. + Its Apostle, 366. + + _Baudissin_, M. _Wolf, Henry_ de, 104, 127, 128. + + _Baumgarten_, General, 84. + + _Beaufort_, Marquis de, 135. + + _Beausobre_, M. 15. + + _Bedmar_, Marquis de, his Conspiracy, 409. + + _Beichling_, M. Chancellor, 91. + + _Beichling_, Countess Dowager, 141. + + _Belgrade_, 248. + + _Belvedere-Palace_, 4. + + _Benedict_ XIII. Pope, 337, 430. + + _Benedictines_, a sort of Republic form'd in that Order, 190. + + _Benson, William_, Esq; Director of the fine Water-works at + _Herenhausen_, 67. + + _Bentivoglio_, Cardinal, his Remark upon the _Alps_ and the + neighbouring People, 395. + + _Bergenopzoom_, 332. + + BERLIN, t. 3. Its Obligation to the _French_ Refugees, 3. + Its Academy, 147. + + _Bernsdorff, John Hartwig Ernest_, Baron of, 155. + + _Berschen_, t. 394. + + _Beveren_, Baron de, 334, 335. + + _Bevern, Brunswic_ Branch, 71. + _Charles_, Prince of, 26, 72. + _Ferdinand-Albert_, Prince of 70, 71, 72. + _Elizabeth-Christina_, Princess, 72. + + _Bilinski_, Count and Countess, 118. + + _Bishoprick_, which the first in _Germany_, 201. + + _Black Liveries_, never given by a certain _German_ Family, 363. + + _Blanc_, M. de, 306. + + _Blanche, Mary_, Wife to the Emperor _Maximilian_, 389. + + _Blanckenbourg_, County, 79. + + BLANCKENBOURG, t. 76, 78. + Stupidity of the People, 78. + + _Blanckenbourg_'s Duke and Duchess, 71, 76, 78. + The Duke's Treaty with the Elector of _Hanover_ for a Vote and Seat + in the Dyet, 79. + His Accession to the Title of the D. of _Wolfembuttle_, 80. + + _Blanckenheim-Mandersheldt, Francis George_, Count de, 333. + + _Bockenheim_, t. 340. + + _Bohemia_, 210, 211, &c. 244. + Where and by whom its Kings and Queens are consecrated, 212. + Its Saints, _ib._. + The Wealth and Grandeur of its Nobility, and the Poverty and Slavery + of the Peasants, 218, 219, 221. + Its States, of whom compos'd, 222. + Their Aversion to the _Austrians_, 222. + + _Bolagnos_, Count de, 397. + + _Bologna, John_, 427. + + BOLOGNA, t. 423, 424. + + BOLSANO. t. 392. + + _Bolsena_, t. 430. + + _Bork_, the _Prussian_ Minister and General, 31, 42. + + _Bose_, Countess of, 145. + + _Bossagno_, t. 394. + + _Bot_, the Architect, 10, 18. + Compar'd to _Bernini_, 94. + + _Bothmar_, Count de, 65. + + _Bouillon_, Princes, why they had the Title of _Domestic_ Highnesses, + 210. + + _Bourbon_ and _Austria_, Houses, our Author's Wish that they might + never be extinct, 233. + + _Bourbon_, Duchess of, 310, 332. + + _Bourg_, Marshal de, 306, 307. + + _Brandenbourg_, Electors of, _Joachim_ II. 196. + _John George_, 204. + + _Brandenbourg, Lewis_, Margrave of, 387. + + _Brandenbourg-Anspach_, Margraves, capital, 193, &c., 195, 361. + Margravine, 194. + Her Present to our Author, 197. + Death in this Family pretended to be always foretold by the + Appearance of a Spirit, 196. + + _Brandenbourg-Bareith_, Margraves, 200, &c. 205, &c. 303, 342. + + BRANDENBOURG, t. 2. + + _Brandenbourg-Schwedt_, Marquis of, 26. + Margravine Dowager, 125. + + _Brandstein, Frederic-Augustus_ de, 145. + + _Brebentau_, Mademoiselle de, 116, 157. + + _Brebentau_, the Palatine of _Marienbourg_, 163. + + _Breitenbauch, Henry-Augustus_ de, 146. + + _Bremer_, M. de, 195. + + _Brenner_, Mountain, 391, 392. + + _Breslau_, the Road from it to _Berlin_, 1. + + _Breton-Villiers_, Marquis, Reflection on his Memoirs, 337. + + _Breze_, Marshal de, 321. + + BRHOUSEL, t. 318. + + _Brimstone_, prescrib'd to the _Austrians_ by a _French_ Jester, 228. + + BRIXEN, t. 392, 394. + + _Brocks_, a _Hamburgher_ and Poet, 53. + + _Brou_, M. de, 306. + + _Bruhl, John_ and _Henry_ de, 104, 129, 130, 131, 132, 140. + _Adolphus_ de, 140. + Baron de, 174, 177. + + _Brunswic Hanover, John-Frederic_, Duke of, 229. + + _Brunswic_ Family, 61, 69, 71. + The Princes descended from it, 231. + + BRUNSWIC, t. 69, 75. + + _Brunswic-Blanckenbourg, Lewis Rodolf_, Duke of, 70, 231. + + _Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Wolfembuttle_, Duke of, 231. + + _Bucentaur_, a fine Venetian Galley, 399, 407. + + _Bulau_, Baron de, 65, 66. + Baroness, 66. + + _Burgau, Charles_, Margrave of, 390. + + _Burgundy, Charles_ the Bold, Duke of, 389. + _Philip_ Duke, 389. + + _Buthler, Constantine_, Baron of, 184. + + + C. + + _Cabinet Ministers_, their Precedence at the Court of _Prussia_, 134. + + _Caccioli Antonio_, Painter, 424. + + _Cadets Academies_, 48. + + _Caesar_'s War with Pompey, painted, 370. + + _Callenberg, Augustus-Henry Gottlob_, Count de, 145. + + _Camke_, Madame de, 25. + + _Camke_, Messieurs de, 44. + + _Candi_, a famous Painter, 261. + + _Carinthia, Henry_ Duke of, 387. + + _Carlowitz, John-George_ de, 145. + Treaty, 238. + + CARLSBAD, t. 208, &c. + Virtue of its Baths, _ib._ + + CARLSROUHE, t. 293. + + _Caroline_, Princess of _Saxe-Eysenach_, 115. + + _Cassel_, See _Hesse_. + + _Castel_, Count de, 195. + + _Castilloncello_, t. 429. + + _Catsch_, M. a Minister of _Prussia_, 5, 17, 43. + + _Catzenellenbogen_, upper County, 357. + + _Chains_, that bound St. _Peter_, St. _Paul_, and St. _John_, three + Links of them, 198. + + _Chalisac_, M. 37. + + _Charlemain_'s Crown and Sword, 199. + _Charles_, Margrave of _Burgau_, 390. + _Charles_ II. K. of _Spain_, 387. + _Charles_ IV. Emperor, 387. + + _Charles_ V. Emperor, 381, 387, 423. + + _Charles_ VI. Emperor, 70, 230, 341. + His Diversions, 233. + His Friendship and Gratitude, 256. + His Love for the Empress, 257. + Remarks on his Coronation, 341. + + _Charles-Christian_, Prince of _Prussia_, 113. + + _Charles_, K. of _Sardinia_, 335. + + _Charles_ XII. K. of _Sweden_, 55, 56, 123, 124. + + _Charles_, Prince Palatine of _Sultzbach_, 332. + + _Charles_, the Bold, Duke of _Burgundy_, 389. + + _Charles-Albert_, Elector of _Bavaria_, 259, 262, 263. + His Electoress, 263. + + _Charles-Lewis_, Elector Palatine, 274, 342, 381, 383. + _Philip_ ditto, 328, 330, 331. + His Revenues, 337. + + _Charlottemburg_ House, 35. + + _Child-bearing_, ascrib'd to the Miracles of the two _Bohemian_ Saints, + 213, 214. + + _Christian_, Margrave of _Brandenburg-Bareith_, 200. + + _Christian-Lewis_, Margrave of _Brandenburg_, 28. + Ulric, Duke of _Wirtemberg-Oels_, and _Bernstad_, 83. + _William_, of _Saxe-Gotha_, Prince, 182. + + _Christina-Louisa_, of _Oetingen, Duchess of Blanckenbourg_, 70. + + _Christina_, Princess of _Saxe-Weissenfels_, 114, 115. + + _Christopher_, St. where most worshipped, 394. + + _Cicerone_, the Meaning of that Word in Italy, 395. + + _Cinfuentes_, Count de, 244. + + _Cleisheim_, 375. + + _Clischoff_, Battle, 163. + + _Clovis_, K. of _France_, 388. + + _Coburg_, t. 200. + + _Cohorn_, Engineer, 328. + + COHTEN, t. 83. + + _Colin, Alexander_, Statuary, 386. + + _Collobradt_, Count, 220. + + _Collonitz_, the Count and the Cardinal, 248, 249. + + _Collowrat_, Count and Countess, 133, 148. + + _Complimenters_, nauseous, 199. + + _Conde_, Princess of, 344. + + _Conferences_, Counsellors of, 240, 244. + + _Constance_, Council of, 15, 339. + + _Coquets_, in _Venice_, the Place of their Rendezvous, 415. + + _Corfou_, Island, 408. + + _Cornaro_ Family's Tomb, 404. + + _Cosel_ Countess of, Mistress of the late K. of _Poland_, 90, 91, 117, + 118, 120, 124. + Her Menaces against him, 118. + Count, 117, 136. + Her Daughter, 142. + + _Cosmo_ I. Duke of _Florence_, 426, 427. + + _Costa_, Count de, 101, 123. + + _Counts_ of the Empire, their Preheminence, 287. + + _Courland_, Duchess Dowager, 200. + + _Craut_, his surprising Rise from behind the Compter to the Ministry, + 4. + + _Creutz_, M. de, _Prussian_ Minister, 5, 45. + + _Creutzer_, Coin, 278. + + _Crossen_, t. 1. + + _Culmbach-Brandenburg_, Margraviate, 204. + _George-Frederic-Charles_, the Margrave, 205. + His Family and Revenues, 204, &c. 208. + + _Cunegonda_, Empress, her Tomb, 202, 387. + + _Cup_, which _Joseph_ put in _Benjamin's_ Sack; the Reason our + Author had to remember that Passage, 204. + + _Customs_, a remarkable Attachment to old ones, 78, 79. + + _Cyprianus_, Dr. 179. + + _Cyprus, Cornaro_, Q. of, 406. + + _Czarowitz_, 70. + + + D. + + _Damnitz_, M. de, Grand Marshal of _Saxe-Gotha_, 182. + + _Danckelman_, Baron de, 15. + He prophesies his own Fate, 16. + + _Dangervilliers_, M. 306, 307. + + _Danneberg, Henry_ de, 71. + + _Danebrock_ Order, 74. + + _Dantzick_, t. invested, 107. + Reduc'd, 108, 109. + + _Danube_, R. 278. + + _Darmstadt_, t. 357. + Landgraves, 357, 362. + + _Daun_, Count and Marshal de, 246, 370. + + _Degenfeldt_ (_Schomberg_) Count de, 342, 343. + + _Dehn_, Count de, 72, 73. + A very fine Dancer, as well as Minister of State, 74. + + _Dejanira's_ Story painted, 383. + + _Delitz_, Countess of, 66. + + _Denhoff_, General, 7. + + _Denmark_, Q. of, 208. + The Prince Royal, 208. + + _Devos_, Tapestry-maker at _Brussels_, 236. + + _Diedrichstein_, Count, 147. + + _Doberginsky_, M. 35. + + _Doges_ of _Venice_, their Marriage of the Sea, and of the Abbesses of + two Convents, 399, 400. + + _Dohna_, Count de, 6. + + _Dorffling_, a Taylor, his Rise to be a General in the Army, 12. + + _Dorothea-Sophia_, Princess of _Prussia_, 19. + + _Dorothy_, Electress of _Brandenburg_, 19. + + DRESDEN, t. 87, 157, &c. + + _Drinking_ hard, in _Germany_, our Author's humourous Account how it + affected him, 184, 187, to 190, 204, 325, to 327. + Where he reckons it an inseparable Function of the Ecclesiastical + Courts, 204. + + _Duhamel, Francis_, General, 7, 412. + His Lady, 412. + + _Duvaine_, General, 5. + + _Duval_, a famous Soop-maker, 56. + + + E. + + _East-Friesland, George-Albert_, Prince of, 208. + + _Eib_, General, 191. + + _Einsiedel, John George_ de, 143. + + _Einsiedel, Curt_ de, 144. + His Lady, 144. + + _Einsiedel Detler, Henry_ de, 146. + + _Eleonora_, Empress, 240, 381. + + _Eleonora_, Princess of _Neubourg_, 230. + + _Eleonora-Philippina_, Princess of _Hesse-Rhinfels_, 332. + + _Elizabeth_, Empress of _Germany_, 232, &c. + Her Abjuration of the _Lutheran_ Religion, 232. + + _Elizabeth-Sophia_ of _Brandenbourg_, Duchess Dowager of _Courland_, + 200. + + _Elizabeth-Christina_ of _Oetingen_, Duchess of _Blanckenbourg_, 76. + + _Elvan_, t. 378. + + _Emanuel_, Prince of _Savoy_, 238. + + _Emigrants_, of _Saltzbourg_, 375, 376. + + _Emperors_ of _Germany_, the Ceremony of their Audiences, 225. + Their Dining, 225. + Suppers, 227. + Pictures, 370. + + _Empresses_, the Respect paid to them, 228 to 230, &c. + + _Empress_ Dowager, 229. + + _Eosander_, the Architect, 10. + + _Erdmansdorff, Ernest-Ferdinand_ de, 144. + + ERFURT, t. 178. + + ERLANGEN, _Christian_, t. 200. + + _Ernest-Augustus_, the first Elector of _Hanover_, 63, 67. + How he obtain'd that Dignity, 68. + + _Ernest_, Arch-Duke, and his Wife, 389. + + _Ernest-Augustus_, Duke of _Saxe-Weimar_, 173. + + _Ernest_ the _Pious_, Duke of _Gotha_, 178. + + _Etiquette_, in foreign Courts, what, 224. + + _Etlingen_, t. 303. + + _Eversberg_, t. 364. + + _Eugene_ of _Savoy_, Prince, his Palace, 236. + His Character, 237, 141. + His Regiment of Dragoons, 237. + His Sickness, Death, and Interment, 238. + His Employments and Estate, 238, 240. + His last Will, 239. + His Library, 239. + His Nephew, 239. + + _Excellency_, the _Venetians_ Fondness for the Title, 420, 421. + + EYSENACH, t. 183. See _Saxe_. + + + F. + + _Fatima_, a _Turkish_ Lady, 115, 116. + + _Favourita_, the Emperor's Palace, 234. + + _Faustina_, the Singer, 421. + + _Ferbellin_, t. 50. + + _Ferdinand_, I. _de Medicis_, 427. + + _Ferdinand_, K. of _Castille_, 387. + + _Ferdinand_, K. of the _Romans_, 381. + + _Ferdinand_ I. Emperor, 385, 387. + His Son's Tomb, 389, + and Wife, 390. + + _Ferdinand-Albert_, D. of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg_ and _Bevern_, 70, 71, + 72. + His Merit and Preferment, 72. + + _Ferdinand-Mary_, Elector of _Bavaria_, 259. + His Wife, 260. + + _Ferdinand_, Duke of _Bavaria_, 263, 264. + His Duchess, 263. + + FERRARA, t. 423. + + _Finck_, of _Finckenstein_, Count, 25. + + _Fiorenzola_, t. 425. + + _Fermian_, Barons of, 367. + + _Fishermen_, at _Venice_, their Election of their Doge or Chief, 402. + + _Fitztuhm_, Count de, 91, 142. + His Daughter, 150. + + _Fleming, James-Henry_, Count de, Prime Minister of _Poland_, 73, 74, + 89, 90, 92, 102, 125, 144, 152, 155, 162. + His Reason for employing Foreigners before _Saxons_, 155. + The Origin of his Family and his Education, 162. + His Preferments from first to last, 162, &c. + His Marriage and his Duels, 163, 165. + His Conduct with regard to _Patkul_, 164. + His Estate, 165, 166. + His general Character, 166. + + _Fleming_, Mademoiselle de, 116. + + _Fleury_, Marquis de, 135. + Cardinal de, 241. + + FLORENCE, t. 425. + + _Fohsen_, Mademoiselle de, 38. + + _Forbenius_ he saved the Life of the Elector of _Brandenbourg_, 51. + + _Force_, Marshall de, 321. + + _Forchs_, the _Starost_ assassinated, 155. + + _Francfort_, on the _Rhine_, 340. + Privilege of those here called Residents, 342. + + _Francfort_, on the _Oder_, t. 2. + + _Francis_ I. K. of _France_, his solemn Affirmation, 215. + + _Franconia_, Duke, 185, 191. + + _Frankenberg_, Baron de, 236. + + FRANKENDAHL, t. 338. + + _Frauenstad_, Battle, 163. + + _Frederic_, of _Austria_, nicknam'd the _Pennyless_ Prince, 385, 386, + 388. + + _Frederic_, Elector Palatine, who was chose K. of _Bohemia_, 210. + + _Frederic_ IV. Emperor, 387, 388. + His Mother, 389. + + _Frederic_, Electoral Prince of _Saxony_, 99, 112. + + _Frederic_ II. Duke of _Gotha_, 180, 181. + III. the present Duke, 181, 182. + His Brother _William_, 181. + His other Brothers and Sisters, and his Revenues and Guards, &c. 182. + + _Frederic-Augustus_ II. K. of _Poland_, 94, 102. + His Nativity calculated at _Venice_, 95, 96. + His Death, 96. + His Queen, and her Death, 97. + His Change of Religion, 100. + The Method he took to convert his Son, 101. + His Natural Issue, 115, &c. + His Generosity, 164. + + FREDERIC IV. K. of _Denmark's_ Compassion to the _Altenois_, 58, 59. + His Queen's Retirement, 59. + His giving Audience to the Senate at _Bologna_, 423, 426. + + _Frederic_, the _Fair_, 230. + + _Frederic-William_, Elector of _Brandenbourg_, his Statue, 9. + His remarkable Speech to his Soldiers, 50. + His daughter, 200. + + _Frederic_ I. K. of _Prussia_, his Statue, 8, 297. + + _Frederic_, Prince Royal of _Prussia_, 25. + + _Frederica-Sophia_, Princess of _Prussia_, 25, 26. + + _Frederica-Louisa_, Princess of _Prussia_, 26. + Of _Saxe-Gotha_, Princess, 182. + + _Fredericsfeld_, House, 27. + + _Friesberg_, Baron de, 61. + + _Friesland, Henry-Frederic_, Count of, 123, 139, 142. + + _Frisoni_, an Architect, 288, 290. + + _Fuchs_, Baron de, the _Prussian_ Minister, 4, 29, 41. + + _Fuchs_, Countess de, 254. + + _Fugger, Maximilian_, Count, 266. + His generous Entertainment of the Emperor _Charles_ V. 276. + + _Fuhl_, de, Great Marshal, 90. + + FULDE, t. 184. Magnificence of its Abbot, 184. + + _Fultishau_, Convent, 380. + + _Furstemberg_, Prince, 165. + Cardinal, 315. + + _Furstenfeldt_, Abbey, 272, 273. + + + G. + + _Gala_, Days of, what, 226, 227, 228. + + _Galeas, John_ Duke of _Milan_, 389. + + _Gallasch_, Count de, 211. + + _Gardeners_, the best in all _Germany_, 85. + + _Garment_, Christ's, a Relique of it, 198. + + _Gaston, John_, Great Duke of _Tuscany_, 428. + + _Gates_, thought by _Michael Angelo_ to be good enough for Paradise, + 428. + + _Gemblours_, Abbot of, his sole Privilege of celebrating Mass booted + and spurr'd, 191. + + _Gemming_, Baron de, 208. + + _Gentleman_, two _French_ Kings fond of the Title, 215. + + GEORGE I. K. of _Great Britain_, his Wife, 61, 62. + His Administration, 61, 64, 68. + + _George_ II. King, 64, 69. + + _George-William_, Margrave of _Brandenbourg-Bareith_, 205. + + _George_ (St.) Abbess of, 212. + Order _Bavarian_, 260. + + _George_ I. Landgrave of _Darmstad_, 357. + + _German_ Language, its Excellency. 53, 195. + Vanity of the _Germans_, 198. + + _Gersi_, the _French_ Ambassador, 397. + + _Gersner_, Physician, 368. + + _Gerstorf, Gotlob-Frederic_, Baron de, 47. + + _Gertrude_, a _Marcoman_ Lady, History of her, an entertaining Novel, + 343, &c. + Its Key, 355. + + _Gilles_ (_St._) Count de, 92. + + _Glass_ Manufacture of _Venice_, 410. + + _Globe, John-Frederic_ Count de, 334. + + _Goblet_ of Gold, the Pleasure with which our Author drank out of it; + and how he wish'd to carry it off, 204. + + _Godfrey_ of _Bouillon_, K. of _Jerusalem_, 388. + + _Gohren_, Baron de, 45. + + _Gortz_, (_Henry_) Baron de, 54. + His famous Copper Coin, 56. + His Execution, 57. + + _Gortz_, the _Hanovarian_, 64. + + _Gotha_, see _Saxe_, and _Frederic_, and _Ernest_. + + GOTHA, _t._ 178. + Its Dukes, 178, 179, &c. + Duchesses, 181. + The noble Library here, 179. + Their Revenues, 182. + + _Gravenitz_, Count de, 284, 285, 286. + + _Gravenitz_, Countess de, Mistress of the D. of _Wirtemberg_, 279, 282, + to 284. + + _Gravity_, an Air peculiar to the _Austrian_ Princes, 112. + + _Grosh_, the Value of that Coin, 85. + + _Grumkau_, the _Prussian_ Minister, 5, 31, 43. + + _Grunberg_, the Architect, 6. + + _Guide_, a remarkable one that was blind, 277. + + _Guides_, the Name given to them in _Italy_, 305. + + _Guldenstein-Huguetan_, Count de, 35. + + _Gundacker de Staremberg_, Count, 241. + + _Gustavus Adolphus_, 259, 274. + + + H. + + _Hacke_, M. de, 46. + + _Hagen_, Baron de, 75, 101. + + HAGUENAU, 381, _t._ + + _Hall_, the largest next to _Westminster_, 215. + + _Halle_, t. 82, 377, 380. + University, 85. + + HAMBURGH, _t._ 51, 199. + Its Dispute with _Denmark_, 52. + Its Opera, 52. + Its Mob, 54. + Vindication of its Citizens from the Charge of Cruelty to the + _Altenois_, 58. + Their Respect to the _Jews_, 53, 59. + + _Hamelen_, t. 68. + + _Hanau_, Count of, 359, 361, 362. + + _Hanau, Charlotta-Christina_ of, 359. + + HANAU, _t._ 360, 362. + + HANOVER, 63, 68. + _Roman_ Catholics there, 63. + Revenues of the Electorate, 68. + ---- Electoress of, 343, 344. + + HARBOURG, _t._ 60, 68. + + _Hardenberg_, M. Grand Marshal of _Hanover_, 64, 65. + + _Harlay_, M. de. 306. + + _Harrach_, Count de, 242, 367, 368, 371. + + _Hattorfs_, Ministers compar'd to _Louvois_ and _Barbesieux_, 65, 66. + + _Hatzfield, Egmont_ Count, 335. + + _Haugwitz, John-Adolphus_ de, 142. + + HEIDELBERG, _t._ 321, 322. + Its Decay to what owing, 323. + Its famous Tun, 324. + + _Heilbron_, 375. + + _Henrietta-Benedictine_, the Princess _Palatine_, 229. + + _Henry_ II. Emperor, his Tomb, 202. + + _Henry_ IV. Emperor, the pompous Interment he wish'd his Enemies, 168. + + _Henry_ III. K. of _France_, 309. + + _Henry_ IV. K. of _France_, his Ambition to be called the first + Gentleman in his Kingdom, 215. + + _Herenhausen_ Palace, 67. + + _Herford_ Abbey, 27. + + _Hering_, M. de, Vice-Chancellor of _Saxe-Gotha_, 177, 182. + + _Hermitage_, a Seat near _Bareith_, 207. + + _Herzan, Maximilian_ Count de, 146. + + _Hesler_, M. de, 108. + + _Hesse_ Princes, 357. + + _Hesse-Cassel, Philip_ the Landgrave of, 357, 362. + + _Hesse-Darmstadt, Ernest-Lewis_ Landgrave of, 357. + His Wife, 358. + His Son and his Wife, 359. + His Revenues and Troops, 360. + + _Hesse-Rhinfels_, Princess of, 332. + + _Hildesheim_, Baron, 335. + + _Hochstet_ Battle, 262. + + _Hoffman_, Professor of Physic at _Halle_, 208. + + _Hohenlo_, Count de, 353. + + _Holstein-Beck, Lewis-Frederic_ Pr. of, 150. + + ---- _Charles-Lewis_ Pr. of, 120, 150. + _Dorothy_, Princess of, 205. + + _Houtten, Christopher-Francis_ de, Pr. and Bp. of _Wurtzbourgh_, 185. + + _Hoym_, Count de, 91, 92, 117, 118. + His Catastrophe, 136, 137. + + _Hubert_ (St.) his Legacy, 190. + Noted for killing Rats, 196. + + HUBERTSBOURGH, _t._ 86, 103, 157. + + _Huss, John_, 339. + + _Hussites_, the Remains of 'em, 216. + + + I. + + _Jacobi_, the Statuary, 9. + + _Jacquelot_, M. 15. + + _Janson_, Cardinal, 315. + + _Jews_, the Respect shewed them at _Hamburg_, 53, 59. + Not tolerated at _Anspach_, and why, 198. + Their Punishment for crucifying an Infant of Christian Parents on + _Christmass-day_, 216. + Vast number of 'em in _Bohemia_, 216. + and the _Palatinate_, 337. + + _Ilgen_, Baron, _Prussian_ Minister, 31, 41. + + _Ilten_, Messieurs de, of _Hanover_, 66, 67. + + _Inn_ River, 364, 379, 380. + + INSPRUC, t. 380. + + _Joan_ of _Castille_, 387. + + _John_'s (St.) Village in _Tirol_, 378. + + _John_ (St.) of _Jerusalem_, Kts. of, 28. + + _John_ (St.) _Nepomucene_, 212, 213. + + _John-Ernest_ ABp. of _Saltzbourg_, 373. + + _John-Adolphus_ of _Saxe-Weissenfels_, 99, 114. + + _John-George_ I. Elector of _Saxony_, 114. + + _John-George_ III. Elector of _Saxony_, 94. + + _John-George_ IV. Elector, 94. + + _John-Augustus_ of _Saxe-Gotha_, Pr. 182. + + ---- _Adolphus_, ditto, 182. + + _John William_, D. of _Saxe-Eisenach_, 183. + Elector Palatine, 324, 328. + + _Jonas_, the tall Grenadier, 35. + + _Joseph_, Emperor, 274. + + _Iser_ R. 258. + + _Isselbach_, General, 336. + + _Judas_'s Lanthorn to be seen in two Places, 81. + + _Ixter_, Baron de, 298. + + + K. + + _Kalestein_, Baron de, 25. + + _Kara Mustapha_, Grand Vizier, 247, 248. + + KEHL, _t._ 305. + + _Kendal_, Duchess, 66. + + _Kevenbuller_, Count de, 246. + + _Keyserling-Hermann-Charles_, 154. + + _Kilmanseck_, Madame de, 67. + + _Kinsberg_, Baron de, 195. + + _Kinski_, Counts, 154, 220, 221, 244. + + _Kinski_, Countess of, 154. + + _Klenzek_, Mademoiselle de, 55. + + _Kniphausen_, Baron, the _Prussian_ Minister, 31, 44. + + _Kokersowitz_, Countess, 148. + + _Konickel_, Count de, 381. + + _Konigsegg_, Count de, 147, 239, 242, 243. + His Marriage, 243. + His Nephew, 243, 244. + + _Konigstern_ Castle, 87. + + _Koningsmark, Aurora_ Countess of, 115. + + _Kuenbourgh_, Count de, 373. + + _Kundahl_, t. 379. + + _Kurtzrok_, Baron, 54. + + + L. + + _Lactantius_'s Works, 179. + + _Ladies, Venetian_, in Masks, pick'd up by our Author, 411. + and himself pick'd up by a Lady in Distress who knew him, 416. + + _Ladislaus_, King, 388. + + _Lagnasco_, Count, and _Josepha_ Countess of, 151, 152, 157, 158. + + LANDAU, _t._ 318. + + _Lands_, how entail'd, and how secur'd in _Bohemia_, 218, 219. + + _Larks_, where they most abound, 85. + + _Laxembourg_, the Emperor's Palace, 234. + + _Leibnitz_, the Philosopher, 156. + + _Leine_, _r._ 63. + + LEIPSICK, _t._ 83. + Why 'tis called the Jewel of _Saxony_, 84. + Its Fairs frequented by a great number of Princes and Princesses, 85. + + _Lenfant_, M. Author of the Council of _Constance_, 15. + + _Leopold_ of _Austria_, surnam'd _the Virtuous_, 388. + + _Leopold_, Archduke, 210. + + ---- Emperor, 230. + + ---- Bp. of _Saltzbourgh_, his Houshold and his Revenues, 367, 373. + Why compared to Pope _Sixtus_ V. 367. + + _Levant_ Women, their great Confinement within doors, 52. + + _Leubnitz, Charles_, 140. + + _Lewis_ VI. Landgrave of _Darmstad_, 357. + + _Lewis_, the Hereditary Prince, 359. + + _Lewis_ of _Bavaria_, Emperor, 260, 387. + + ---- of _Baden_, Pr. 299, 303. + + ---- _Ernest_ of _Saxe-Gotha_, P. 182. + + ---- _the Severe_, Duke of _Bavaria_, his Murder of his Minister and his + Wife, 272. + His Repentance, 273. + + ---- _Rodolph_, D. of _Brunswic-Lunenburg,_ and _Blanckenbourg_, 70, + 231. + + ---- Margrave of _Brandenburg_, 387. + + _Lewis_ XV. K. of _France_, his Marriage, 304, 309. + Cardinal _Rohan_'s Speeches upon it, 310, 313. + + _Lichtenstein_ Palace, 236. + + _Lieutenant_ of the Police at _Paris_, 246. + + _Linange, Mary-Christina-Felicite_, Countess of, her Husbands, 183. + + _Linar, Maurice-Charles_, Count de, 143. + + LINTZ _t._ 258. + + _Lipski, John-Alexander_, Bp. of _Cracow_, 149. + + _Lobkowitz_, Pr. and Princess, 342. + + _Lodron_, Counts of, 365, 373. + + _Lopel_, General de, 30. + + _Lorrain, Francis_ Duke of, his Marriage to the Archduchess, 233, 341. + + ---- _Charles_, Pr. 239, 381. + + _Losenstein, Eleonora_ Countess of, 151. + + _Lovel_, Baron de, kill'd in a Duel with Count _Flemming_, 163. + + _Louestein_, Princess, 342. + + _Louisa-Dorothea_ Duchess of _Saxe-Gotha_, 181. + + _Louvois_, Marquiss, 306. + + _Lowendahl, Waldemar_ Baron of, 121. + His Service to six Kings, 121. + His Wives and Issue, 122. + His Son _Waldemar_, 122, 139. + + _Lowinitz, Henry-Rodolph de Schonfeld_ Lord of, 145. + + _Lubomirski-Theresa_, Electoress _Palatine_, 330. + + _Lubomirski_, Madame de, Rival to _Fatima_ a _Turkish_ Lady, Mistress + to the late K. of _Poland_, 116, 117. + + _Lubomirski, George-Ignatius_ Pr. of, 150, 151. + + _Lude_, Count de, his wise Reason for marrying a Tradesman's Daughter, + 45. + + _Ludwigsbourg_ t. 279, 287. + + LUNENBURG _t._ 68. + + _Lunenburg-Zell_ and _Lunenburg-Hanover_ Families united, 61. + + _Luther, Martin_, his resolute Expression when dissuaded to go the + Dyet, 339. + + _Lutzelbourg, Anthony_ Count de, 123. + + + M. + + _Magdebourg_ Duchy yielded to the House of _Brandenbourg_, 80. + Character of it, 82. + + MAGDEBOURG _t._ 48, 80. + + _Maintenon_, Madame de, Mistress of _Lewis_ XIV. her Fortune told by a + Mason, 96. + + _Malchau_ House near _Berlin_, 29. + + _Manger_, a Relique of our Saviour's, 198. + + MANHEIM _t._ 327. + + _Manteuffel, Ernest_ Count de, 134. + + _Marck, Julius-Augustus_, Count de la 334, 337. + + _Marcoman_ Lady, the History of one, 344. _&c._ + + _Margaret_ of _Tyrol_ surnam'd _the Pious_, and nicknam'd _Wide-Mouth_, + 387. + + _Maria-Anne-Caroline_ of _Newbourgh_, 263. + + _Maria-Magdalena_, Archduchess, 233, 381. + + _Maria Elizabetha_, Archduchess and Governess of the _Netherlands_, + 233. + + _Maria-Amelia_ Princess of _Poland_, 113. + + _Maria-Anne-Sophia_ Princess of _Poland_, 113. + + _Maria-Josepha_ Princess of _Poland_, 114. + + _Maria-Theresa_ Archduchess, 232, _&c._ + Her Marriage to the D. of _Lorrain_, 233. + + _Maria-Josepha_ Q. of _Poland_, 98, 102, 110, 111, 112. + + _Maria-Anne-Victoria_ of _Bavaria_, 309. + + _Maria_ Empress of _Germany_, her illustrious Relations, 250, 388. + + _Marie-Adelaide_ of _Savoy_, 260, 268. + + _Maria-Lescinski_ Q. of _France_, 304, 309. + + _Mark's_, St. Festival, how celebrated at _Venice_, 401. + + _Marriage_ of the Sea, 399, 400. + + _Marriage_ of Princes how limited by the Laws of Germany, 60, 352. + A Princess charg'd with abusing that Sacrament of the Church of + _Rome_, 202. + + _Martinitz_, Count of, 213, 214. + + _Masquerades_ at _Venice_, 412. + + _Mass_, by whom alone celebrated with Boots and Spurs on, 192. + + _Matthias_ Emperor of _Germany_, 210. + + _Maubrisson_, Abbess of, 344. + + _Maurice, William_, Pr. of _Saxe-Zeits_, 99. + + ---- Elector of _Saxony_, 381. + + ---- Count of _Saxony_, 115. + + ---- of _Saxe-Gotha_ Pr., 182. + + _Maximilian_, Emperor, 385, 388. + His Statue, 386. + Wife, 388, 389. + His Daughter, 389. + Father-in-law, 389. + + _Maximilian-Emanuel_, Elector of _Bavaria_, 262, 263, 268, 274, 278, + 379, 382. + _Joseph_ the Electoral Pr. 263. + + _Meinders_, M. de, the _Prussian_ Minister, 41. + + MEISSEN _t._ 86. + + _Melvil_, M., 65. + + _Menard_, President, 317. + + _Mentz, Lotharius-Francis de Schonborn_ Elector, 201, 203, 310, 321, + 338. + His Severity to Robbers, 202. + + _Mercy_, Count de, 244. + His Defeat, 307. + + MERSEBOURG _t._ 167, 168. + Its Duke's Fondness for Bass-Viols, 168, 170, 171. + His Duchess, 169. + + MESTRE. _t._ 394, 395. + + _Metsch_, Count de, 54, 242, 245. + + _Mile-posts_ in _Saxony_, 84. + + _Milk_ of our Lady, a Wine so called, 339. + + _Miltitz_, General, _Alexander de_, 78, 100, 105, 107, 360. + + _Minckwitz, Charles-Christian de_, 146. + + _Miracles_ ascrib'd to the two Saints of _Bohemia_, 213, 214. + + _Misson, Maximilian_, criticized, 308, 392. + + _Mobs_ of _Amsterdam_ and _Hamburg_ compar'd, 54. + + _Mocenigo-Aloisio_, Doge of _Venice_, 399. + + _Modena, Renaud d'Este_, Duke of, 230. + + _Molard_, Count de, 255. + + _Molsheim_ t. 315. + + _Monclar_, Baron de, 306. + + _Montbijou_ Palace, 3. + + MONTEFIASCONE _t._ 430. + + MONTEROSO _t._ 430. + + _Monte-Sancto_, Count of, 244. + + _Montmorency, Francis_ Count de, 152. + His Countess, 152. + + _Moravia, John_ Margrave of, 387. + + _Moschinski, Anthony_, Count and + Countess, 117, 120, 142. + + _Moses_, a Piece of his Rock, 396. + + _Motterie_, Mademoiselle, 243. + + _Mount-Pleasant_, a fine Seat near _Hanover_, 67. + + _Muchlberg_, the strong Lines cast up there by the Prince of _Beveren_, + 72. + + _Munchausen_, M. 65, 77. + + _Munchenbourg_ t. 2. + + MUNICH _t._ 258, 268, 363. + + _Muscovy, Anne_ Czarina of, her Marriage, 200. + + + N. + + _Nassau-Friesland_, Prince, his untimely end, 297. + His Daughter, who is Sister to the Pr. of _Orange_, 297. + + _Nassau, Idstein_, Pr. 169. + + ---- _Weilbourg_, Count, 336. + + ---- _Ousingen_ Princess, 342. + + _Nativities_, Calculators of 'em + refuted, 341. + + _Natzmer_, Marshal de, 33, 40. + + NAUMBOURG, _t._ 171, 172. + + _Neitsch_, Mademoiselle de, 145. + + _Nepomucene_ (St.) _John_, 212, to 215. + + _Nesselrod_, Count de, 334. + + _Neukirch, Benjamin_, a Poet, 195. + + NEUSTADT, _t._ 200. + + _Nicolotti_, Fishermen at _Venice_ so call'd, their Election of a Doge + of their own, 402. + + _Nightingales_, a Multitude of 'em, 86. + + _Nobility_ at _Venice_, the Purchase of it, 420. + + _Noyelles_, Count de, 152. + + NUREMBERG, _t._ 196, 197. + Its Government compar'd to the _Venetian_, 197. + + NYMPHENBOURG Palace, 268, 270, 271. + + + O. + + _Occo_ the Antiquary, 179. + + _Oder_, River, 2. + + _Oetingen_, t. 80. + Princesses, 70, 76, 231. + + _Ohsten_, Baron de, 335. + + _Olbreuse_, Madamoiselle de, 60, 62. + Her Daughter, 62. + + OPPENHEIM, _t._ 340. + + _Oranjebourg_, t. 49. + + _Orders of Knighthood_, the _Prussian_, 29. + The _Bavarian_, 260. + Of St. _Hubert_, 373. + + _Orleans_, Duke of, 243, 306. + Duchess, 274, 303, 304, 310. + + _Orselska_, _Anne_ Countess of, 119, 150. + + _Ossem, Gosman-Daniel_, the Painter, 384. + + + P. + + PADUA, _t._ 422. + + _Palatinate, Upper_, 344. + + _Palatine_, Electors, 274, 322, 323, &c. 328, 381. + Revenues, 337. + Who the last of the Protestant Princes of this Title, 342. + + _Paracelsus_, where bury'd, 374. + How he wrought most of his Cures, 374. + + _Passau_, t. 366. + + _Patkul_, Count, 164. + + _Patriarch_ of _Venice_, 403. + + _Patricians_ in _Germany_, who they are, 197, 198, 200. + + _Pechtelsheim_, Baron de, 188, 189. + + _Peine_, Painter, 11, 83. + + _Pennyless Prince_, the Nickname of an _Austrian_, 385, 386, 388. + + _Petits-Maitres_, at _Venice_, 421. + + _Philibert_ D. of _Savoy_, 389. + + _Philip_ IV. of _Spain_, his Reverence to the Viaticum, 249. + + ---- D. of _Burgundy_, 389. + + ---- Margrave of _Brandenburg_, 19, 20, 281. + His Dowager, 20, 26. + His Sons, 27. + His Uncle _Albert_, 27. + _Albert_'s Sons, 27. + + _Philippina-Charlotte_, Princess + of _Prussia_, 26, 72. + + _Philippina_ of _Welserin_, Archduchess, 390. + + _Philipsruhe_, a Pleasure-House, 361. + + _Phul_, Baron de, 285. + + _Pilate_'s Basin, 81. + + _Piosas_, Count, 261. + + _Plassenberg_ Castle, 208. + + _Platen_, Count de, 66. + Countess, 67. + + _Pleasure-Houses_, who has the finest in _Europe_, 268. + + _Plesk_, _Helmuth_ de, 145. + + _Pludowska_, Baroness, 135. + + _Poddewitz_, the _Prussian_ Minister, 31. + + _Poland_, the Equivalent it has given to _France_ of a Queen for a + King, 309. + + _Polentz_, M. de, 78. + + _Pollnitz_, M. de, Cabinet-Counsellor to the D. of _Wirtemberg_, 285. + + ---- Baron, (our Author) his Conference with a _Lutheran_ Doctor after + he had turn'd _Papist_ from a _Calvinist_, 160. + + ---- _Henrietta_, 7. + + _Pomerania, Hither_, yielded to _Sweden_, 80. + + POMMERSFELDEN, _t._ Seat of the Elector of _Mentz_, 203, 204. + + _Pompey_'s War with _Caesar_ painted, 370. + + _Ponte_, t. 425. + + _Porcellane_, finer in _Germany_ than in _Japan_, 87, 88. + + _Portugal_, _Mary-Anne_ Queen of, 233. + + ---- _Emanuel_ Pr. of, 422. + + _Pose_, a Merchant at _Leipsic_, his fine Garden, 85. + + _Potschin_, Madame de, 152. + + _Potzdam_ Castle, 34. + + PRAGUE, _t._ 210. + + _Preysing, Maximilian_ Count de, 266, 267. + + _Princes_, petty, more inaccessible than great ones, 83. + + _Privy-Counsellor_'s Preferment owing to a Present of a Bass-Viol, 171. + + _Profusion_ of Princes in what Article 'tis most justifiable, 10, 103. + + _Promnitz, Erdmann_ Count de, 135. + + _Proselytes_, by what means they are soonest made among the Gentry, + 161. + + _Provence, Theodebert_ Count of, 389. + + _Prussia_, K. 21, 31, _&c._ 376. + His Queen, 24. + His Soldiery, 21, to 24, 34. + His Children, 25, _&c._ 30, 72. + Princess Royal's Marriage, 205. + + _Pruth_ Battle, 123. + + _Pultowa_ Battle, 123, 164. + + + Q. + + _Quails_, abundance of 'em, where, 395. + + _Quilian_, St. 191. + + + R. + + _Rabutin_, Marshal de, 240. + + _Radifocani_, M. 429. + + _Radjowski_, Cardinal, 116, 150. + + _Radzevil, Louisa-Charlotte_ Pss. of, 330. + + _Radzevil_, 2d Wife of Marshal _Flemming_, 92, 165. + + RASTADT, _t._ 299. + Prince of _Baden_'s Palace here compar'd to _St. Cloud_ near _Paris_, + 299. + Treaty sign'd there, 300. + + _Ratenau_, t. 50. + + RATENBERG, _t._ 379. + + _Rats_, a Saint that was famous for killing them, 196. + + _Ravanne_, Abbot de, 317. + + _Raugrave_, Madame la, 342, 343. + + _Rechberg, Gaudentz_ Count de, 266. + + _Reinbabe_, Baron de, 176. + + _Religion_, the Externals of it, where best observ'd, 412. + + _Residents_ for the _German_ Princes at _Franckfort_, their Privileges, + 342. + + _Rheden_, M. de, 64, 66. + + _Rhenen_, t. 344. + + _Riga_ Siege, 163. + + _Rinucci_, the Cardinal and the Marquiss, 423. + + _Robert_, Prince Palatine, K. of the _Romans_, 321. + + _Rock, Moses_'s, a piece of it, 396. + + _Rocoule_, Madam de, 25. + + _Roder_, M. de, 261. + + _Rodolph_, Emperor, the Speech he made after he had one of his Hands + cut off in Battle, 168. + + _Rohan_, Cardinal _Armand Gaston_, 309. + His Speeches on the Marriage of the Queen of _France_, 310, 313. + His Election and Death, 315. + Character, 316. + + _Rohr_, Baroness Dowager of, 148. + + _Rolle_, the _Brandenburg_ Minister, 4. + + _Rolli_, the Painter, 424. + + ROME, _t._ the _German_ Emperor's Right to live there, 201. + + _Ronaw_, Count de, Envoy of _Saxe Gotha_, 181, 182. + + RONCIGLIONE, _t._ 430. + + _Rossing_, M. de, 78. + + _Roth_, Baron de, 305. + + _Rotofski_, Count, 115, 119. + + _Rupert_, St. 365, 366. + + _Rutowski_, Count, 115, 116, 118. + + _Ruzzini Carlo_, Doge of _Venice_, 399. + + + S. + + _Saltz_, R. 364. + + _Saltzbourg_, t. 364. + Its Revenues, and Houshold of its Archbishop, 367, 373. + A great Revolution in this Country, 375. + + _Saltzdahl_ Seat near _Brunswic_, 75. + + _Sapieha, Benedict_, 163. + + _Sardinia_, King and Queen, 332, 335. + + SAVERNE, _t._ 315. + + Savoy, see _Eugene_ and _Emanuel_. + + _Saxe-Lawenburg_, Princess, 300. + + ---- _Weissensels, John-Adolphus_ Prince of, 99, 115. + _Sophia_ Princess of, 200. + _Christina_ Princess of, 114, 115. + + ---- _Weymar_ Dukes, 172, 173, 174, 175. + + _Saxe-Zeits, Maurice-William_ Pr. of, 99, 171. + + ---- Cardinal, 171. + + ---- _Gotha_ Duchy, 167. + Wealth of its peasants, 167. + + ---- _Gotha_ Dukes, 173, &c. + Duchesses, 181. + + ---- _Barbi_ Duke, 82, 83. + + ---- _Meynungen_ Princess, 181, 200. + + ---- Chevalier de, 116. + + ---- _Eysenach_ Dukes, 173, 183. + + _Saxony_ ill provided with Ordinaries, 86. + Present State of its Court, 99, to 155. + Character of the Men, 155. + of the Women, 156. + of the Clergy, 159. + + _Scarperia_, t. 425. + + _Schindler_'s Lace Manufactory, 7. + + _Schleisheim_ Palace, 270 + + _Schluter_ the Architect, 10. + + _Schmiedel_, Baron de, 176. + + _Schneitzenrieth_, t. 377. + + _Schomberg_, Marshal, 17. + + _Schonborn, Francis George_, Count, 328. + + ---- _John-Phillip-Francis_, Count, 54, 185, 186. + _Damian-Hugo_ the Cardinal, 318, 319, 320. + + ---- _Frederic-Charles_, Bp. of _Bamberg_, 185, 190, 191, 201, 242. + _Lotharius-Francis_, another of its Bishops, 201. + + _Schoning_, General, 116. + + _Schorror_, the Pope's Vicar at _Hanover_, 64. + + _Schulemburg_, Count de, 408. + + _Schulenbourg_, General, 61. + His Duel with Count _Fleming_, 163. + + _Schwabach_, t. 196. + + _Schwartzenborg_, Pr. 213, 223, 301, 302, 304. + + _Schwetzingen_, t. 352. + + _Schwizinski, Nicholas_, 147. + + SCHWATZ, _t._ 379. + + _Schunck_ and _Schutz_, Barons _de_, 285. + + _Sea_, the Ceremony of marrying it, 399, 400. + + _Seckendorf_, Baron and Count, 54, 195. + + _Seefelde-Terring, Maximilian_, Count _de_, 265. + + _Sehgutt_, Counts of, 147. + + _Seibelsdorf_, General, 358. + + _Seiffertitz, Adolphus_ Baron _de_, 141. + + _Sickengen_, Baron _de_, 333. + + SIENNA _t._ 429. + + _Sigismond_, Emperor, 339, 388. + + _Sigismond_, Archduke and Count of _Tirol_, 389. + + _Silenus_'s Legacy, 190. + + _Sobieski, John_ K. of _Poland_, 247. + His Daughter, 262. + + _Soissons_, Countess of, 238, 239. + + _Soliman_, the Sultan, 248. + + _Solkcofski, Alexander-Joseph_, Count _de_, 98, 103, 104, 128, 133, + 139, 143. + + _Sophia-Wilhelmina_, Princess of _East-Friesland_, 83. + + ---- _Christiana-Louisa_, Princess of _Bareith_, 205. + + _Spain_, Council of, at _Vienna_, 244. + + _Span_, Baron _de_, 162, 163. + + _Speratus, Paul_, 375. + + _Spiegel_, Madame _de_, 116, 358. + + _Spiga_, the Pope's Vicar at _Hanover_, 63. + + SPIRE _t._ 320. + + _Sporcke_, M. _de_, 77. + + _Spree_, River, 3. + + _Staden_, Siege, 57. + + _Stadtholder_ at _Vienna_, 246. + + _Stanislaus_, K. 318. + His Daughter's March on foot with the Prince of _Baden_, 304. + Marriage to _Lewis_ XV. 309. + + _Stanislawski, N. N. de Sehgutt_, 147. + + _Staremberg, Maximilian_, 246. + + _Staremberg, Ernest-Rudiger_, Count _de_, 239, 247. + + _Staremberg, Guido_, Marshal, 239. + + _Staremberg, Gundacker_, Count, 241. + + STARGARD, _t._ 162. + + _Staupitz_, Abbot, 375. + + _Stein_, Baron, 72. + Baroness, 130, 148. + + _Steinbock_, General, prov'd cruel, Incendiary, 57. + + _Stein Wein_, a sort of Wine so called, 190. + + _Steinbach_, the Architect, 308. + + _Sternberg_, Count, 211. + + STERTZINGEN, _t._ 392. + + _Stetin_, t. its Sequestration, by whom obtain'd, 164. + + _Stetterheim_, M. _de_, Cup-bearer to the D. of _Saxe-Gotha_, 183. + + _Strada, James de_, 179. + + _Strahlsund_, Siege, 124. + + STRASBOURG, _t._ 305, 315. + Noted for Libertines, 310. + + _Streithorst_, Colonel, 292. + + _Stringuetta_, the _Venetian_ Courtezan, 421. + + _Studenitz_, Baron _de_, 176. + + STUTGARD, _t._ 279, 289. + + _Sulkowski._ See _Solkcofski_. + + _Sultman_, M. and Madame _de_, 292. + + _Sultzbach, Joseph-Charles_, Pr. and Princess of, 324, 330, 331. + + ---- _Theodore_, Prince, 332. + + ---- _John-Christian_, Prince, 332, 333. + + ---- _Charles_, Prince, 332. + + _Sympathy_, its Power, 374. + + + T. + + _Tartary_ Women, what they say to their Husbands when they come home + without Booty, 247. + + _Telemachus_, translated into _German_ Verse, 195. + + _Teschen, George_, Prince of, 116, 117. + Princess of, 117, 150. + + _Thanhausen_, Count de, 373. + + _Thaun_, Count and Countess, 151. + + _Theodebert_, Count of _Provence_, 389. + + _Thirheim, Sigismond_, Count _de_, 258, 265, 266. + + _Thomasius_, the Civilian, 156. + + _Thorn_ of our Saviour's Crown, 81. + + _Thou_, Messieurs, their Library, by whom purchased, 317. + + _Thungen_, General, 278. + + _Tilly_, Count, his Massacre of the _Swedes_ at _Brandenburgh_, 2. + Of the _Palatines_ at _Heidelberg_, 321. + + _Tintoret_, the Painter, 419, 420. + + _Tirol_, Country, 377. + Manner of Salutation here, 380. + Dress of the People, 393. + Their Saints, 394. + + _Titian_, the Painter, 419. + + _Torring, Ignatius-Joseph_, Count _de_, 265, 267, 373. + + _Tour_ of _Auvergne_, Princess, 332. + + _Tour_ and _Taxis, Alexander_, Pr. of, 205, 303, 342. + + ---- ---- ---- _Mary-Augusta_, Princess of, 285, 290. + + _Tournay_, Siege, 124. + + _Towers_, mistaken for _Capuchin_ Friars, 339. + + TRENT, _t._ 393. + + _Truchsses, Zeil_, Count _de_, 374. + + _Tschernin_, Count, 211, 222. + + _Tuhlmeier_, Secretary, _Prussian_, 43. + + _Tun_, at _Heidelberg_, 324. + + _Turks_, where they have reason to laugh at the Christians, 54. + + _Tuscany, John Gaston_, the Great Duke, 428. + His Saying when he declared Don _Carlos_ his Successor, 428. + + _Tutors_, or Governors, a mercenary sort, 217, 218. + + + V. + + _Valerio_'s Tomb at _Venice_, 405. + + _Vatican_ Library, 321. + + _Vauban_, M. Engineer, 309. + + VENICE, _t._ 395, 396, &c. + Its Doges, 389, 390. + Patriarch, 403. + Churches, 403, _&c._ + Arsenal, 405, _&c._ + Bucentaur, 399, 407. + Forces, 408. + Lakes, 409. + Its political Interest, 409. + Trade, 410. + Nobles and Ambassadors, 410. + Ladies, 411. + Music, 414, 415. + Palaces and Gentry, 420. + + _Vernesobre_, Baron _de_, his Gains by _Missisippi_, 8. + + _Viaticum_, the Homage paid to it in Popish Countries, 249. + + _Vicardel, Francis_, Marquis of _Fleuri_ and _Beaufort_, 135. + + _Vieban_, M. _de_, _Prussian_ Minister, 43. + + VIENNA, _t._ 224. + Sieges, 237, 239, 247, 248. + Its Police, 246. + Its Governour how stil'd, 246. + Its Garrison, 247. + Fortifications, 249. + Women, 251, &c. + + _Vierec_, M. _de_, 46. + + _Villaco_, t. 382. + + _Violante_, of _Bavaria_, Princess, 429. + + _Violin_, the first in _Italy_, 415. + + _Virgilius_, St. 365. + + _Virgin Mary_'s miraculous Image at _Inspruc_, 384. + The Adoration paid to her in the Countries of _Trent_ and _Tirol_, + 394. + + VITERBO, _t._ 430. + + ULM, _t._ 276. + + _Unertel_, M. _de_, 267. + + _Voltaire_'s Life of _Charles_ XII. King of _Sweden_, Reflection on it, + 32. + + + W. + + _Wackerbarth, Augustus Christopher_, Marshal _de_, 91, 99, 102, 124. + + _Wakerbarth, Salmour-Gabaleon-Joseph_, Count _de_, 104, 112, 124, 126, + 165. + His Countess, 125. + + _Wagenheim_, M. _de_, of _Hanover_, 66. + + WAHTRINGEN, _t._ 377. + + _Walbourg de Truchsses_, Count _de_, 27. + + _Waldstein_, Count and Countess _de_, 147. 148. + + _Wales_, FREDERIC, Prince of, 26, 64. + AUGUSTA, Princess of, 182. + + _Wallenstein_, Count and Countess of, 151, 153. + + _Walrave_, M. Engineer, 82. + + _Walstein_, the great Soldier, 210. + + _Wartemberg_, Count and Countess, 3, 5, 6, 7. + The King of _Prussia_'s Tears at his Funeral, 7. + His Administration, 36, 42, 44, 134. + + _Wartensteben_, Count, 17, 36. + + _Wasserbourg_, t. 364. + + _Water-works_, at _Herenhausen_, 67. + + _Wederkopf_, M. _de_, 80. + + _Weiller_, a _Prussian_ Colonel, 20. + + _Weimar_, t. 172. + Its Dukes, 172 to 176. + + _Weissenberg_ Battle, 210. + + WEISSENBOURG, t. 318. + + _Wenceslaus_ (St.) K. of _Bohemia_, 212, 213. + + _Wens_ in Throats, 393. + + _Wensen_, M. Marshal of the _Prussian_ Court, 7, 8. + + WERMSTORF, _t._ 86, 103, 157. + + _Werth, John de_, 321. + + _Wetzlar_ Tribunal, 245, 320. + + _Whim_, a fine Seat so called near _Hanover_, 67. + + _William_ of _Saxe-Gotha_, Prince, 182. + + _William-Henry_, Duke of _Saxe-Eysenach_, 183. + + _Willigise_, ABp. of _Mentz_, 179. + + _Wirtemberg, Lewis_ Prince of, 151, 285. + _Charles-Alexander_ Duke, 279, 285, 290. + His Duchess, 285. + His Brother _Frederic_, 285. + + _Wirtemberg, Eberhard-Lewis_ D. 279, 280, 289. + His Duchess, _ib._ 280. + His Son, 281. + Daughter, _ib._ + + _Wirtemberg-Oels, Augusta-Louisa_, Princess of, 83. + _Christian-Ulric_, Duke of, 83. + + _Witgenstein_, Count, 285. + + _Woad_, three sorts of it, 179. + + _Wohlin_, Baron _de_, 334. + + _Wolckenstein_, Count _de_, 393. + + _Wolfembuttle_ Family and Court, 69 to 72. + Its Inhabitants compared to the Hogs of _Westphalia_, 75. + The Duchess Dowager, 80. + + WOLFEMBUTTLE, _t._ 75. + + _Wolffenstein, Sophia-Christina_, Countess of, 208. + + _Women_, of the _Levant_ and _Hamburg_, their great Confinement, 52. + + WORMS, _t._ 338. + + _Wratislaw, Francis-Charles_, Co. _de_, 147, 148, 153. + His Countess, 154. + + _Wreech, de_, Colonel, 30. + + _Wurben_, Countess _de_, Mistress to the D. of _Wirtemberg_, 279, 282, + 283, 284. + Her Disgrace, 290, &c. + + _Wurm_, M. _de_, Master of the Horse to the D. of _Saxe-Gotha_, 183. + + _Wurmbrandt_, Count _de_, 245. + + _Wurtenberg, Christina-Charlotta de_, Margravine of + _Brandenburg-Anspach_, 194. + + WURTZBOURG, _t._ 185. + Power and Splendor of its Bishop, 190. + + + Z. + + _Zech, Bernard_, Baron _de_, 138. + + _Zell_, Duke and Duchess, 60, 61, 62. + + ZELL, _t._ 61, 68. + + _Zensa_, Prince _Eugene's_ Victory there, 237. + + _Zinzendorf, Lewis_, Count _de_, 240. + The Dignity hereditary in his Family, _ib._ + + _Zebel_, Baron _de_, 188, 189, 336. + + _Zechau_, Baron _de_, 193, 195. + + _FINIS._ + + + + + ERRATA. + + +In the first Col. of Letter M, in the Index, Line 6 from the Bottom, for +p. 113, read 114. Line 7, 9, and 11, for _Prussia_ r. _Poland_. In the 3d. +Column of the same Letter, read lines 34, 35, 36, thus: + +_Moschinski, Anthony_, Count and Countess, 117, 120, 142. + +_Moses_, a Piece of his Rock, 396. + +[Illustration] + + + + + FOOTNOTES: + + +[1] The Reader will please to observe, that this Preface was written +during the late Distractions in _Poland_, before the Malecontent Lords had +reconcil'd themselves to their Allegiance to their lawful Sovereign. + +[2] This Church being destroy'd by Lightning in 1730, is magnificently +rebuilt. The 21st of _August_ 1734, the new Spire of it, which had been 4 +Years erecting, and was carry'd up to the Height of about 190 Feet, fell +at 9 o'clock at Night upon the Roof of the Church, whereby that and the +neighbouring Houses suffer'd very great Damage. How it happen'd, no body +yet knows; some say it was caus'd by Thunder, others by an Earthquake, and +some will have it that it fell down of its own accord. + +[3] This House is no longer the Governour's; for the King, who has caused +great Additions to be made to it, has given it to the Prince Royal, and it +goes by the Name of the _Prince Royal's Palace_. The Governour lives at +present in the Street _Royale_, the King having purchas'd the fine House +of _Catsch_ there purposely for the Governour's Residence. + +[4] This Prince died at _Schwedt_, _Dec._ 19, 1711. He left two Sons, one +of whom was marry'd in 1734, to the Princess _Dorothea-Sophia_, the King +of _Prussia_'s fourth Daughter, then about fifteen Years of age. So that +his Majesty, who had six Daughters, married four of them within the space +of four Years, and has now but two more to dispose of. + +[5] Her Name is _Jean Charlotte_, and she is the youngest Sister of Prince +_Leopold_ of _Anhalt Dessau_, being the Daughter of the Prince +_John-George_ II. by _Henrietta Catherine_, Daughter of _Frederic-Henry_ +Prince of _Orange_. + +[6] Since the Original was publish'd, this Ward has been lengthen'd two +thirds. There is one Street so long, that in this respect there are few +that equal it: 'tis as strait as a Line; and terminates in an Oval, +surrounded with very fine Houses. A new Ward is also erected at the End of +that call'd the New Town; from whence it ranges behind _Frederic-Stadt_. +Here most of the chief Nobility are building Hotels or Palaces, rather +than Houses. In a word, if the Number of the Inhabitants of _Berlin_ was +proportionable to that of the Houses, it would be the finest, and the most +flourishing Town in all _Germany_. + +[7] He married (in _June_ 1733,) the Princess _Elizabeth-Christina_ of +_Brunswic-Lunenburgh_, and _Bevern_, Daughter of _Ferdinand-Albert_ Duke +of _Brunswic-Lunenburgh_, and _Bevern_, Field-Marshal General of the +Armies of the Emperor and Empire: and Presumptive Heir to the Duke Regent +of _Brunswic-Lunenburg Wolfembuttle_. + +[8] This was his Royal Highness, now Prince of _Wales_. All _Europe_, in +short, thought, as did the Poets of that Time; and every one in general +mark'd out the Princess for this Prince. It was then too the Desire of +both the Queens; and the Princess herself seem'd to have been brought up +in that Notion. But when 'twas least of all expected, certain Reasons of +State cancell'd all these Views; and the King of _Prussia_ thought fit to +marry his eldest Daughter in 1731, to the Hereditary Prince of +_Brandenburg-Bareith_: as King _George_ II. _of Great Britain_, in 1756, +thought fit to marry his eldest Son to her Highness, _Augusta_, youngest +Sister of the present Duke of _Saxe-Gotha_. + +[9] The Marriage was actually celebrated between them, in _July_ 1733. + +[10] The fourth married in 1734, to the King's Cousin, the Margrave of +_Brandenburgh-Schwedt_. + +[11] This Prince died in 1731. His eldest Son, the Margrave _Charles_, +succeeded him in the Grand Mastership of the Order of St. _John_; and had +his Regiment of Foot in the Service of _Prussia_. Prince _Frederic_, his +Royal Highness's second Son, had his Regiment in the Service of the +States-General of the _United Provinces_; and the Count _de +Truchsses-Walbourgh_, a Major-General, had his Regiment of Horse. He was +sent to compliment _Lewis_ XV. upon his Coronation; and afterwards on the +same Commission to the Emperor at _Prague_. His Wit and Politeness were +applauded at both those Courts. + +[12] He died suddenly in _August_ 1734, at _Malchau_, aged 57, being born +the 4th of _May_ 1677, O. S. He was not married. + +[13] The King thought fit some time ago, to confer this Regiment of Horse +upon his second Son, Prince _Augustus-William_, and to give the Prince +Royal a Regiment of Foot. + +[14] M. _de Lopel_ died the beginning of 1735, in his Government of +_Custrin_. + +[15] The first and the last have been dead some Years, and their Places +supply'd by Messieurs _Bork_ and _Poddewitz_, who have a just Title to the +intire Possession of the King's Confidence. + +[16] Since the writing of this, he is dead, and succeeded in the +Management of Foreign Affairs by M. _de Borck_, Lieutenant-General of the +King's Forces, Knight of the Black Eagle and St. _John_, Governor of +_Stetin_, and Colonel of a Regiment of Foot. This Gentleman is descended +from a very good Family in _Pomerania_, and served with Distinction in the +Army in _Flanders_. Since the Peace of _Utrecht_, he has been twice +charged with the King's Affairs at the Emperor's Court, where he was +highly esteemed, especially by Prince _Eugene_ of _Savoy_. Those Foreign +Ministers who have to do with him, and who knew M. _d'Ilgen_, observe a +great Contrariety in the Characters of the two Ministers. The one was a +Man of Intrigue, Craft, and Mystery, the other, of Candour, Sincerity, and +a noble Frankness. M. _de Tuhlmeier_, Nephew to the late M. _d'Ilgen_, who +is Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, was, as it were, born to the +Business; having been trusted from his Youth by his late Uncle. The +Foreign Ministers speak well of him: he is very assiduous in his Office, +and indeed suffers no Business to sleep in his hands. + +The Person who has the Affairs Criminal in his Cognizance, is M. _de +Vieban_, Minister of State, and Auditor-General of the Army. He succeeded +M. _de Catsch_; is a Native of _Cologn_; and as he was at _Berlin_ without +Relations or Friends, his Advancement is only to be ascribed to his own +Merit and Abilities. + +[17] He fell into Disgrace, after this Account of him was written, and +died at his Commandery. + +[18] M. _de Creutz_ died the beginning of An. 1733, leaving only one +Daughter, who is married to M. _de Hacke_, a Gentleman of a good Family, +and his Majesty's Aid-de-Camp and Favourite. This Marriage was solemnized +with a great deal of Pomp, and honoured with the Presence of their +Majesties, the whole Royal Family, and the Duke of _Lorrain_. + +[19] This Resolution was taken by his Majesty in 1725, on account of a +Recoinage, which the _Hamburghers_ thought necessary, partly in order to +hinder their Silver from being carried out of their City to _Denmark_. +This Dispute had considerable Consequences; so that the King of _Denmark_ +not being able to bring the _Hamburghers_ to his Terms, push'd Matters so +far as to fit out a couple of Frigats to cruise at the Mouth of the +_Elbe_, which seized all Merchant Ships bound for that City. But in +_March_ 1736, the Affair was happily accommodated. + +[20] It was set up, carried on, and directed by some of the Foreign +Ministers residing at _Hamburgh_, who had each his particular Province; so +that M. _d'A----_ presided at the Rehearsals, M. _de W----_ regulated the +Dances, and M. _S----_ had the ordering of the Clothes, the Head-dresses, +the Paint and the Patches of the Actresses. + +[21] This is what scarce any body has doubted of, but Pere _Boubours_. + +[22] The _Hamburghers_ have nothing to fear from the _Jews_, with regard +to their Republic, but they cannot so well trust the turbulent and +enterprizing Temper of the _Roman_ Catholic Clergy, who aim at their +Churches. The popular Commotions which are but too frequent at _Hamburgh_, +would soon furnish those Gentlemen with an Opportunity to re-assert Claims +which are incompatible with the present Liberty of the City. But this +Pretext, how plausible soever in favour of the Papists, is not at all +conclusive against the _Calvinists_ at _Hamburgh_, who surely might be as +safely tolerated as the _Jews_. + +[23] His Post of Plenipotentiary of the Circle of Lower _Saxony_, was +conferr'd in 1733 upon the Count _de Seckendorf_, one of the Emperor's +Lieutenant-Generals; but the Functions of the Embassy are perform'd by the +Baron _de Kurtzrok_, the Imperial President. + +[24] In 1734, he was install'd Vice-Chancellor of the Empire, in the room +of the Count _de Schonborn_, Bishop of _Bamberg_, who retir'd. + +[25] The common People cou'd never forgive him for his manner of raising +Taxes; by filling the King's Coffers with all the Silver of the Kingdom, +and substituting instead of it a Copper Money, which will perpetuate his +Memory; especially the Coins on which he caus'd the seven Planets to be +engrav'd; which are sought after, and hoarded up as Monuments of his +Administration. + +[26] Second Wife of King _Frederic_ IV. who died in _October_ 1730. Her +being so much in favour with that Prince, was the cause of her Disgrace +after the Death of that Monarch; and she retir'd to the Isle of _Fuhnen_, +where she leads a very melancholy Life. + +[27] She was called _Eleanor d'Emiers_, and was the Daughter of _Alexander +d'Olbreuse_, a Gentleman of _Poictou_. + +[28] The House of _Brunswic_ has for its Head _Ernest_ of _Zell_, who by +_Bernard_ and _Albert_ the Great, the Son of _Otho_ the Infant, descended +from the Familys of _Este_ and _Witikind_. _George-William_ Duke of +_Zell_, was Grandson to _William_, the second Son of _Ernest_; from whom +came the two Branches of _Lunenbourg-Zell_, and _Lunenbourg-Hanover_; both +which were united in the single Family of _Hanover_, by the Death of the +Duke of _Zell_, who left no Issue besides a Daughter married to his Cousin +_George_ I. King of _Great Britain_, as well as Elector of _Hanover_. + +[29] Monsieur _de Schulenbourgh_ died the beginning of the Year 1733. + +[30] Pope _Clement_ XII. on his Accession to the Pontificate, appointed +for his Successor _Schorror_, Bishop of _Helenopolis_, a Native of _Bonn_, +in the Electorate of _Cologne_; a Prelate as amiable as venerable. + +[31] He retir'd some Years since from Court, to his Estate at _Schlitz_, +in _Franconia_. + +[32] The Count _de Bothmar_ died at _London_ in the beginning of _An._ +1732, in a very advanc'd Age, and much lamented by all that knew him. The +Baron _de Hattorf_ succeeded him in the Ministry to the King as Elector. + +[33] Since this was written, the continual Ailments and great Age of M. +_de Bulau_, have obliged the King to make an Alteration in the Command of +his Troops. M. _de Hardenberg_, a Knight of the _Teutonic_ Order, is +Commander in Chief of the Horse, and M. _Melvil_, who is descended of a +noble Family in _Scotland_, has the Command of the Foot. They are both +Officers of Reputation, and signaliz'd their Valour during the late Wars. + +[34] These auxiliary Forces have been of late years disbanded. + +[35] These Works were set up by the Direction of WM. BENSON, Esq; who went +over to _Hanover_ for that purpose in 1716, was soon after made +Surveyor-General of His Majesty's Works in _England_, and is now one of +the Auditors of the Imprest. + +[36] He died in _March_, 1731, without Issue by either of his three Wives; +who were, 1. _Christina-Sophia_ of _Brunswic_, 2. _Sophia-Amelia_ of +_Holstein-Gottorp_, and 3. _Elizabeth-Sophia_ of _Holstein-Norbourg_, whom +he left a Widow, after two Years Marriage. His Brother _Lewis-Rudolph_, +Duke of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg_ and _Blanckenbourg_, succeeded him. He was +born in 1671, and in 1690 married _Christiana-Louisa_ of _Oetingen_, by +whom he had three Daughters; the eldest of whom was married to the Emperor +_Charles_ VI. the second to the _Czarowitz_, Son of _Peter_ the Great; and +the third, to the Duke _Ferdinand-Albert_ of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg_ and +_Bevern_. + +[37] The Branch of _Brunswic-Bevern_ is descended from _Henry de +Danneberg_, eldest Son of Duke _Ernest_, Head of the _Brunswic_ Family. +_Henry_ left two Sons; the youngest of whom, _Augustus_ of _Wolfembuttle_, +had three Sons who form'd three Branches, _Brunswic_, _Wolfembuttle_, and +_Bevern_. The two first were united in _Anthony-Ulric_. _Ferdinand-Albert_ +I. Chief of the Line of _Bevern_, left five Sons and a Daughter. Three of +his Sons are dead; of whom the Eldest lost his life at the Battle of +_Schellenburg_, in 1704; the Third died in 1706, when he was Provost of +St. _Blaise_ of _Brunswic_; as did the Fifth also, in 1706, at the Battle +of _Turin_. There remain two Sons, _viz._ Duke _Ferdinand-Albert_ II. and +Duke _Ernest-Ferdinand_. + +[38] See the foregoing Note. + +[39] This Prince was Velt-Marshal-General of the Emperor's Forces, and in +that Quality he commanded the Emperor's Army, in the War which _France_ +declared against his Imperial Majesty in 1733. He acquired great +Reputation at the Head of a very weak Army, by hindering the _French_ from +doing any thing more than taking Fort _Kehl_ in the first Campaign, when +the Emperor was surpriz'd and unprovided. At the Opening of the Campaign +in 1734, this Prince oppos'd the Designs of the Marshal _Berwick_, by +Lines which he cast up at _Muhlberg_, and which were of good service to +Prince _Eugene_ in facilitating his Retreat towards _Heilbron_, when he +came to take upon him the Command of the Imperial Army. That great General +own'd he never saw any thing look better, or that was stronger and better +disposed than those Lines, which the Duke of _Bevern_ had guarded till +then, with an Army of not 25000 Men. His most Serene Highness was in 1734, +declared by the Dyet of the Empire, Velt-Marshal-General of the Armies of +the Empire. + +[40] He had fourteen Children, _viz._ seven Sons and seven Daughters, the +last of whom was born in 1732. + +[41] He married _Philippina-Charlotte_, the King of _Prussia_'s third +Daughter, in 1733. + +[42] This Princess was married to the Prince Royal of _Prussia_, in 1733. + +[43] The Baron having quitted the Service of _Wolfembuttle_, is actually a +Minister of State at _Hanover_. + +[44] The Count _de Dehn_, after being disgrac'd, went to _Denmark_, of +which he already wore the Order of _Dannebrock_, and obtained the Title of +one of the King's Counsellors of State. From that time he stay'd at his +Estate in the Country of _Wolfembuttle_, till the Year 1734, that the King +of _Denmark_ appointed him to go to _Petersburg_, to fill up the Post of +his Envoy Extraordinary vacant by the Death of M. _Westphal_. + +[45] Since the Duke succeeded his Father, M. _de Munchausen_ is become +first Minister of State, and manages all the Branches of that Office with +that Care and Justice which procure him universal Love and Esteem. + +[46] He is at present Marshal of the Court; M. _de Miltitz_ is Great +Cup-Bearer, and M. _de Rossing_ Great Huntsman. + +[47] The reason is, perhaps, because out of _their Attachment to old +Customs_, they had the Curiosity to go a little higher back than their +Fathers. + +[48] The Duke of _Blanckenbourg_ being become Duke of _Wolfembuttle_, by +the Death of his Brother, has scarce made any Alteration in his Court. The +Persons who were heretofore his Creatures and Favourites continue in the +same Employments. The Dutchess Dowager remains at _Brunswic_, in the fine +House which the late Duke caus'd to be built; and of which the said Prince +made a Present to her, with all its rich Furniture. This Princess is +immensely rich, and lives with very great Dignity. Her Steward is M. _de +Wederkopf_, who was formerly Privy Counsellor to the King of _Denmark_, +and his Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of _France_. + +[49] The Treasury of St. _Dennis_, near _Paris_, boasts also of this +Lanthorn; so that _Judas_ must have had at least two Lanthorns. + +[50] He died in 1731, as is before observed. + +[51] Her Name is _Augusta-Louisa_, she was born the 11th of _January_ +1698, and is the Daughter of _Christian-Ulric_, Duke of _Wirtemberg-Oels_ +and _Bernstadt_, by his 3d Wife, _Sophia Wilhelmina_, of _East-Friesland_. + +[52] This is _Augustus-Lewis_, who in 1728, succeeded his Brother +_Leopold_. His second Wife _Emilia_ of _Promnitz_, dying in 1732, he +marry'd his Sister _Ann-Frederica_ of _Promnitz_; which Match, at that +time, made a very great Noise. The Curious are referr'd to a Paper call'd +_le Glaneur_, or the Gleaner, published in 1733, for what was said upon +it. This Prince has had Children, by his three Wives; and two Sons in +particular by his second. + +[53] 'Tis the 24th part of a Dollar, or about 2_d._-1/2 _Sterling_. + +[54] He had been in the King's Service ever since he was only Prince of +_Saxony_, and always took care to keep in Favour; he being, of all the +Favourites, the Person that had the greatest Share of the Prince's +Confidence: Nevertheless, he ow'd his Advancement, and his illustrious +Post of Minister of the Cabinet, to the Interest of the Countess _de +Cosel_, who caus'd the Chancellor _Beichling_, who had always been the +Favourite Minister, to be turn'd out. + +[55] This part of the Prophecy did not take place, for the King of +_Poland_ died in his Bed at _Warsaw_ the 1st of _Feb._ 1733, O. S. This +Monarch set out in the Month of _January_, from _Dresden_, to hold the +Dyet of _Poland_, which was open'd at _Warsaw_, and every thing seem'd +like to pass to the Satisfaction of the King and Kingdom, when these fine +Hopes were demolished by the Death of this Prince, who in his last +Sickness, preserved the Character of the Hero, betraying neither Fear nor +Folly; all his Wish being that he might live to embrace his Son. + +The King found himself in a declining State, several Years. During the +last Dyet at _Grodno_, a Mortification seiz'd his Foot; for which reason, +M. _de Petit_, a Surgeon of _Paris_, whom the King sent for on purpose, +cut off two Toes, and set his Majesty upon his Legs again, but told him +withall, he must observe such a Regimen as he prescribed to him, or else +it would break out again. But the King finding himself better, neglected +_Petit_'s Advice, and died of the Mortification, as the Surgeon had +foretold. + +[56] _Eberhardina_ of _Brandenbourg-Bareith_ Queen of _Poland_, and +Electoress of _Saxony_: she died at her Seat at _Pretch_ near +_Wittenberg_, some Years before the King. + +[57] This Prince succeeding his Father in the Electorate, and afterwards +in the Throne of _Poland_, rais'd M. _Solckofski_ to the Dignity of a +Count, and appointed him his Master of the Horse, and one of his Cabinet +Ministers. + +[58] The Electoral Prince (now Elector of _Saxony_ and King of _Poland_) +has eight Children, _viz._ three Princes and five Princesses; so that the +Electoral Branch is not like to be extinct very soon. + +[59] The Velt-Marshal the Count de _Wackerbarth_ being dead, the Elector +nam'd this Prince Generalissimo of the Troops of the Electorate in 1734. + +[60] This Prince has for some time past resided at _Konigsgratz_. + +[61] Who died, _August_ 13, 1734, a Minister of the Cabinet, Velt-Marshal +and Governour of _Dresden_. + +[62] She died at _Dresden_ soon after this was written. + +[63] Count _Moschinski_, the Husband of this Lady, was Great Treasurer of +the Court in _Poland_, and is Great Faulconer in _Saxony_. + +[64] Madame _de Cosel_ may thank no body but herself for her Disgrace; for +when she was in Royal Keeping, she had the assurance to threaten the King +more than once that if ever he abandon'd her she wou'd pistol him. The +King, who knew her to be a Woman that always kept her word, thought it his +best way to be beforehand with her, tho' it was not till some time after +that he caus'd her to be arrested. Madame _de Cosel_, who was retir'd to +_Berlin_, did not dissemble her Chagrin; and 'tis said she declar'd in +publick that the King should pay dear for being so false to her: Threats +which his Majesty wou'd perhaps have despis'd, if Madame _de Cosel_ had +not refused to give him back a Promise which he had made to her of +marrying her in case the Queen shou'd die. Mean time the King desir'd of +the King of _Prussia_ to give orders for arresting her, which was done +accordingly; and Madame _de Cosel_ was carried under a Guard to _Saxony_, +where she remain'd a Prisoner till the death of the King. But we have been +told by the publick News-Papers that she obtain'd her Liberty in 1734. + +[65] This Marriage was actually consummated at _Dresden_. But since the +King's death, the Prince of _Holstein_ has abandon'd his Wife, whom he +only married with a view of obtaining some considerable Employment from +the King. The present Elector has eas'd her of most of that Wealth which +the late King had heap'd on her. + +[66] He died in _August_, 1734; and was succeeded in his Employments by +the Prince of _Saxe-Weissenfels_, and the Count of _Friesland_. + +[67] The Count _de Wackerbarth Salmour_ distinguish'd himself, in the year +1733, when the new Elector sent him Commissary Plenipotentiary to +_Poland_; where he manag'd the Interests of his Master so well, that he +was chose King. + +[68] He was created a Count of the Empire (not by the King of _Poland_, +but) by the Emperor. As he is a Lover of the Belles Lettres, in the late +War he wrote and publish'd several solid Pieces, which were well penn'd. + +[69] He was disgrac'd in 1731, upon which he retir'd to his Estate. The +Catastrophe of this Gentleman is so tragical an Incident, that it will be +proper to give a short but true History of it, as it is related in the +following Circular Letter, wrote by the King of _Poland_'s Order, to his +Ministers abroad, for the Information of all the Foreign Courts. The +Letter was dated at _Warsaw_, the 12th of _May_, O. S. 1736, as follows. + +SIR, + +'The tragical Death of the Count _de Hoym_ having been variously reported +both in printed Papers and written Letters, and with Circumstances not +strictly true; the King has order'd me to give you an exact Information of +this Affair. + +'You will remember what the late King, of glorious Memory, signified to +his Ministers abroad, concerning the Reasons and Circumstances that +preceded, accompanied, and followed the Disgrace of the Count _de Hoym_. + +'This Count having been a second time arrested for other Crimes, after the +Death of the late King, was committed in 1733, to _Sonnenstein_, from +whence the present King was so merciful as to release him some Weeks +after; contenting himself to bind him again by Oaths stronger than the +former; whereby the Count obliged himself to continue quiet at his Estate, +without concerning himself with any but his own private Affairs. + +'Yet towards the close of the Year 1734, and at the time when the King was +in _Poland_, the Count, notwithstanding his Engagements, took the +Opportunity of his Majesty's Absence, to set on foot other Intrigues, in +defiance of his Oaths and his Promises; whereof the King being timely +inform'd, order'd him to be arrested and committed Prisoner to +_Konigstein_; which was the reason of his attempting his Life by a Pistol, +whereof I acquainted you by my Circular Letter of the 15th of _January_, +1735. + +'An Information was afterwards preparing for the Trial of him and his +Accomplices; but not many days after the first Examination, the said Count +being stung by the Remorse of his Conscience, and vexed to see all his +Pranks laid open, chose to shorten the Course of Justice by putting an end +to his own Life, notwithstanding the undeniable Proofs he had before +experienc'd of his Majesty's Clemency. For this purpose he first pretended +to be sick, and having order'd his Domestics not to disturb him, he hang'd +himself the 21st of _April_ last, at Night, with a Handkerchief ty'd to a +Hook that supported his Looking-glass. The Letter he wrote to his +Domestics with a Pencil, and which was found upon the Floor, is an +indisputable Mark of the deliberate Purpose and cold Blood with which he +executed this Design. Moreover, in searching his Pockets a Razor was found +on him, with a Penknife, Scissars, and the like Instruments. + +The Family of the Deceas'd having petition'd the King not to proceed +against the Corpse with the Severity of the Law, his Majesty has been so +good as to order the Body of the Self-murderer to be privately interr'd, +just without the Church-Yard of the Garrison at the Fort of _Konigstein_.' + + _I am_, &c. + +The Night before the Count dispatch'd himself, he left a Note upon his +Table for his two Servants, as follows: + +'Be prudent, make no Noise or Alarm, untie me immediately, put me to Bed, +and then shut the Door after you, by bolting it when you are out, which +you may do by the help of this Pack-thread; and by this means no body will +know you have been in my Chamber. The World will doubtless believe I died +of an Apoplexy; if you perform my Orders discreetly and faithfully, my +Family will pay you 1000 Ducats, on sight of this Note.' + +[70] In _October_ 1736, he return'd to _Dresden_. + +[71] The Duke of _Mersebourg_ died in 1731, and was succeeded by his +Uncle, the Duke _de Sprinberg_. + +[72] This Prince died in 1732. + +[73] The chief Trade of this Town is in _Woad_, of which they have three +sorts. The first they sow about _Christmas_, the next in the _Spring_, +_Summer_, and _Harvest_, of which they have three Crops, and the third +grows wild. This Herb is such a sovereign Balsamic, that it cures Wounds +almost with a touch, if taken in time. It resembles Plantain, but has a +longer Leaf. The Roots fatten and improve barren Ground exceedingly, and +being brought over to _England_, with _Clover_, _Cinque-Foil_, &c. grows +with good Success in _Northamptonshire_, and other Places. In the Duke's +Palace there is a Chamber of valuable Rarities, and a noble Library, of +which the late Duke caus'd a Catalogue to be publish'd of the MSS. that +the Learned might know where to have recourse to them. The Person he +imployed to form it, was Dr. _Cyprianus_ Ecclesiastical Counsellor and +Assessor in the Consistory of _Gotha_. They are for the most part the MSS. +of Ecclesiastical Authors, Ancient and Modern, especially the latter. +There is a great Number of Papers and Letters in the _Latin_ and _German_ +Languages, concerning _Luther_'s Reformation, and several MSS. of the +vulgar Translation of the Bible. There is a correcter Copy than that at +_Leipsic_, of the Works of _Lactantius_; another of St. _Austin_'s +Treatise of the _City of God_, which belonged to _Willigise_ Archbishop of +_Mentz_, about the year 1000; another of the ancient Capitularies of the +Kings of _France_, with the Salic Laws, and the Laws of the _Lombards_, +_Almains_, &c. There are thirty one MS. Volumes containing the Abridgments +of the Lives of the Emperors of the _West_, and of the _East_, their +Pictures and Medals, and those of their Families, the whole collected in +1550, by _James de Strada_ of _Mantua_. The Medals are very well design'd, +and _Occo_ the famous Antiquary affirms in a Letter quoted by M. _Patin_, +that every Figure on them cost a Crown the engraving. There is a +particular MS. which contains a Collection of Tracts by certain _Greek_ +Chymists concerning the desirable _Art of making Gold_. For the rest the +Curious are referred to the Catalogue it self. + +[74] This Prince, who was _Frederic_ II. died in 1732, _March_ 12. + +[75] He had ten Sons and six Daughters by her. The Hereditary Prince who +succeeds him is _Frederic_ III. born _April_ 4, 1699. He has a Brother +named _William_ born _March_ 12, 1701, and some time an Officer in the +_Dutch_ Service. + +[76] She was born _August_ 10, 1710. + +[77] Since these Letters were written the Face of the Court of _Gotha_ is +very much altered. The Duke therein mentioned is dead. The Hereditary +Prince _Frederic_ has succeeded him, and his Mother the Duchess Dowager +retired to _Altenbourg_, with the Princesses her Daughters, who are +_Frederica_ born _July_ 6, 1715, O. S. and _Augusta_ born _Nov._ 18, 1719, +and married _April_ 27, 1736, to his Royal Highness _Frederic_ Prince of +_Wales_. The Duke's Brothers, who are _William_, _John-Augustus_, +_Christian-William_, _Lewis-Ernest_, _Maurice_ and _John-Adolphus_, are +gone into the Service of the Emperor, the King of _Poland_, and the Prince +of _Hesse-Cassel_. As to the Government, the Duke treads in the very Steps +of his late Father. M. _Backover_ is his Chancellor, and the First Man in +his Council. M. _de Hering_, formerly in the service of the Duke of +_Saxe-Weimar_, is Vice-Chancellor. The Count _de Ronaw_ is now Envoy at +the Dyet of _Ratisbon_, M. _de Damnitz_, heretofore in the Service of the +Prince _de Rudelstad_, is Grand Marshal; and seems to have a Share in the +new Duke's Confidence. This Gentleman is also a Major-General, and the +Camp seems to be a fitter Element for him than the Court.--The Office of +Master of the Horse is not yet fill'd up. M. _de Wurm_, a Person of +Quality and Merit, was in possession of that Office in the late Duke's +time, but he lately resigned it of his own accord. M. _de Stotterheim_, is +to be appointed Great Cup-Bearer, who is as yet, I think, in the Service +of some Foreign Prince. + +[78] _John William_ Duke of _Saxe-Eysenach_, died at sixty-one Years of +Age, soon after having married to his fourth Wife _Mary Christina +Felicite_ Countess of _Linange_, the Widow of _Christian_ Margrave of +_Baden-Dourlach_. + +[79] _Ann Sophia Charlotte_ of _Prussia_ Daughter of the late Margrave +_Albert_, and Wife to _William Henry_ the present Duke of _Saxe-Eysenach_. + +[80] His Successor was _Frederic Charles_ Count _de Schonborn_ Bishop of +_Bamberg_ and Vice-Chancellor of the Empire, who was before his +Competitor. In 1734, he resigned the Post of Vice-Chancellor, and retired +to his Bishoprick. + +[81] _Christina-Charlotta de Wurtenberg_, Margravine Dowager of +_Brandenbourg-Anspach_, who was Regent for her Son, died at _Anspach_ +1730, soon after she had resign'd the Regency to this young Margrave, and +match'd him to _Frederica-Louisa_, second Daughter of the King of +_Prussia_. + +[82] This was _Benjamin Neukirch_. He put _Telemachus_ into Verse, and was +the Author of a great many other Works, which shew that the _German_ +Language is capable of conveying as fine Sentiments as those which are +more us'd by Authors. He died lately at _Anspach_. + +[83] This Princess was the Dowager of the Duke of _Courland_, when she +marry'd the Margrave _Christian_ who was very old. After his Death she +marry'd the Duke of _Saxe-Meinungen_ whom she has surviv'd. She resides at +_Coburg_ in _Franconia_. She never had but one Son, and that was he who +marry'd the present _Czarina_, but died soon after his Marriage. + +[84] The Hereditary Prince who is the eldest, marry'd the Princess Royal +of _Prussia_ in 1731. + +[85] The eldest of the Princesses, _Sophia-Christiana-Louisa_, was marry'd +in 1731 to the Prince _Alexander de la Tour_ and _Taxis_. She lately +embrac'd the _Romish_ Religion. + +[86] The Margrave and the Prince are now return'd to _Bareith_, where they +live with all the Splendor of Sovereignty. + +[87] She is the present Queen. + +[88] He had the Misfortune to be killed as he was hunting in _Bohemia_, by +the Emperor himself in 1732. + +[89] She is now Margravine of _Baden-Baden_. + +[90] His fickle State of Health oblig'd him to quit this Employment, in +which he was succeeded by the Count _de Collobradt_, who in 1734 was made +Vice-Chancellor. + +[91] He is return'd to _Vienna_ since 1732. + +[92] This Minister was Great Chancellor of _Bohemia_ and a Knight of the +_Golden Fleece_. Count _Joseph_ was nominated Ambassador to _Great +Britain_ in 1736, in the room of his Brother _Philip_. + +[93] This Word in _French_ signifies a _Scab_. + +[94] The Electoresses of _Bavaria_ and _Saxony_. + +[95] I conform to the Opinion of almost all the Historians, who do not +place _Frederic_ the Fair in the List of the Emperors. + +[96] The Empress Regent and the Empress Dowager. + +[97] The King of _Great Britain_. + +[98] The Queen of _Prussia_. + +[99] The present Duke Regent of _Brunswic-Lunenbourg-Wolfembuttle_. + +[100] _Feb._ 1, 1736, she was marry'd to the Duke of _Lorrain_. + +[101] There are but seven Archduchesses since 1730; the Emperor's third +Daughter being dead. + +[102] This great General who was born the 8th of _October_ 1663, O. S. +died on the 10th of _April_ 1736, O. S. so suddenly, that when his +Gentleman went that Morning, as usual, into his Chamber to awake him, he +was found dead in his Bed. He had been the day before very gay with +Company whom he entertain'd at Dinner, and made not the least Complaint of +any Ailment, tho' he had for some time before been so indispos'd that he +did not venture abroad. 'Tis supposed that he was choak'd by an immoderate +Defluxion of Rheum with which he was now and then troubled. His sudden +Death cast the City and Court of _Vienna_ into such a Consternation as did +prodigious Honour to his immortal Memory. On the 15th, after having lain +three days in State, he was interr'd in the Tomb of his Nephew _Emanuel_ +Prince of _Savoy_ (which the Princess of _Savoy_ Countess of _Soissons_ +caus'd to be erected in the Metropolitan Church of St. _Stephen_) with all +the Military Honours, and all the Magnificence due to his illustrious +Birth, and to these important Services which he perform'd to the August +House of _Austria_ during the Reigns of three successive Emperors. A Will +was found among his Papers, whereby he declar'd the late Prince _Eugene_ +of _Savoy_ his Nephew who died the year before at _Manheim_ his universal +Heir. But after that time a Codicil was made, tho' never sign'd by Prince +_Eugene_, declaring for his Heir his Niece _Louisa de Seissons_ of +_Carignan_ (who was born _December_ 16, 1686.) then at a _Nunnery_ in +_France_. The Prince left behind him a numerous and curious library of +Books, many of which he bought when at _London_ of _Christopher Bateman_ +in _Pater-noster Row_, besides a fine Cabinet of Medals and other +Curiosities. The Emperor has bought his Library of his Niece for 20000 +Florins. + +Since the Prince's Death the Count _de Konigseg_, Vice-President of the +Council of War, has the chief Direction of Military Affairs at this Court, +and signs all Dispatches and Commissions which that Prince sign'd as first +President of the said Council, for thirty-three years. His Regiment of +Dragoons is given to Prince _Charles_ of _Lorrain_, but the Honours he +held as General in Chief of the Emperor's Forces, and his Imperial +Majesty's Vicar-General in _Italy_, are like to continue vacant by reason +of the Peace. + +[103] He is now Bishop of _Breslaw_, a Dignity which gives him a +distinguish'd Rank in this Duchy. + +[104] The Count _de Metsch_, Vice-President of the Aulic Council of the +Empire, succeeded him in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor; and the Count +_Aloysius-Thomas Raimond_ of _Harrach Rohram_, heretofore Viceroy of +_Naples_, hereditary Master of the Horse of Upper and Lower _Austria_, +Marshal of the States of the Country, Knight of the Golden Fleece, is +appointed Counsellor of the Conferences in the room of the Count _de +Schonborn_. + +[105] The Count _de Konigseck-Erps_. He actually went to _Spain_, with a +design to relieve his Uncle; but as the Face of Affairs is alter'd at this +Court, they are both return'd. The Count _de Konigseck-Erps_ is at +_Brussels_ Counsellor of State of _Brabant_. + +[106] The Count _de Konigseck_ is return'd home from his Embassy to +_Spain_. He actually officiates as Vice-President of the Aulic Council of +War, and as Privy-Counsellor of the Conferences. He is Lieutenant-General +of the Emperor's Armies, Colonel of a Regiment of Foot; and is lately +created a Knight of the Golden Fleece. The Count _de Mercy_ being kill'd +at the Battle of _Parma_, the 29th of _June_, 1734, the Emperor sent the +Count _de Konigseck_ to _Italy_, and gave him the Command of his Army, +which was in a very shatter'd Condition, and which the Count _de +Konigseck_ set to rights again, in such a manner as to command Respect +even from his Enemies. + +[107] His Name and Title is _Joseph de Silva y Meneses_, Marquess _de +Villasor_, Count _de Monte-Santo_. + +[108] They are barely _Opinions_, and do not pass into Decrees till they +are approved by the Emperor. + +[109] When he return'd to _Vienna_, after the _French_ and _Savoyards_ had +taken _Milan_ in 1733, several Articles of Complaint were exhibited +against him; but he made so full a Defence against the Impeachment, that +the Emperor has the same Confidence in him as before. + +[110] He was Uncle to the Cardinal _Collonitz_ ABp. of _Vienna_. + +[111] In the Beginning of the Year 1730, this Apartment was burnt down by +a Fire which broke out in the Night-time; so that the Elector and +Electress had like to have been burnt in their Beds, and scarce any of the +fine Furniture was sav'd. + +[112] The Order consists at present of a Grand Master who is the Elector, +and two Grand Priors, who are the Electoral Prince and Duke _Ferdinand_, +six Grand Crosses, nine Commanders, and several Knights. + +[113] The second is dead. + +[114] The present Grand Marshal is the Count _Gaudentz de Rechberg_, a +Grand Croix of the Order of St. _George_. + +[115] The Baron _de Freysing_ is at present Great Huntsman. + +[116] He died _An._ 1733, and leaving no Children, his Son and Grandson +dying before him, was succeeded by _Charles-Alexander_, the eldest of his +Cousin-Germans, the Son of Duke _Frederic-Charles_, who had been his +Guardian till the Year 1693. The Duke _Eberhard-Lewis_ was 57 Years of +Age. + +[117] The Duke was reconcil'd to her two Years before she died, and tho' +she was no less than fifty Years of Age, it was reported for a good while +that she was with Child. + +[118] This was the Countess _de Gravenitz_. Since the Duke's Death the +Duke Regent has commenc'd a Prosecution against her, and she traverses +from one Court to another for that Protection which every one denies her. + +[119] He died at _Ludwigsbourg_ the 23d of _Nov._ 1731. + +[120] He was Velt-Marshal of the Emperor's Forces, and Governor of +_Servia_ and _Belgrade_. He is one of the famous Generals of our Age, on +whom Prince _Eugene_ set a great Value. When he came to the Succession he +obtain'd of the Diet of the Empire the Post of Velt-Marshal-General +jointly with the Duke of _Brunswic-Bevern_ and the Prince of _Anhalt_. He +married _Mary-Augusta_ of _Tour Taxis_, by whom he has Children. He has +two Brothers in the Emperor's Service, _viz._ Prince _Frederic_, and +Prince _Lewis_, who distinguish'd themselves in the last War upon the +_Rhine_. + +[121] M. _de Pollnitz_ left the Court in 1732, and is since retir'd to his +lands in _Saxony_. + +[122] This Prince died the Beginning of the Year 1732, and left one Son. + +[123] He his since marry'd a Princess of _Brandenburg-Bareith_, who has +embrac'd the Catholic Religion. + +[124] He was advanc'd to the Office of Secretary at War in the room of M. +_le Blanc_, and was succeeded as Intendant of _Alsace_ by M. _de Harlay_, +formerly Intendant of _Metz_; and when the latter was made Intendant of +_Paris_ he was succeeded by M. _de Brou_. + +[125] The Wife of _Lewis_ the Dauphin who was _Lewis_ XIVth's only Son. + +[126] The Duchess of _Orleans_ who is of the _Baden_ Family, and the +Duchess of _Bourbon_. + +[127] The famous Cardinal _William Egon de Furstemberg_ Bishop of +_Strasbourg_ died the 10th of _April_ 1704, and was immediately succeeded +by the Abbot _de Rohan_, who was chose Co-adjutor _Jan._ 31, 1701. + +[128] _Strasbourg_ was an Episcopal See before the Year 376, for one +_Arnaud_ Bishop of _Strasbourg_ was then present at the Council of +_Cologne_. The Chapter is composed of 24 Members, _viz._ 12 Capitulars, +and 12 Domicilairs, who must be all Princes or Counts. From 1592 the +Canons were _Lutherans_, and Catholics till 1681, when _Lewis_ XIV. having +taken _Strasbourg_, established a Bishop there whose See was at +_Molsheim_, and caused the Cathedral to be restored to the Catholic +Canons; and notwithstanding the contrary Dispositions of the Treaty of +_Westphalia_, in 1687, he turn'd the _Lutheran_ Canons out of +_Brudersdorff_, and the Prebends which they retain'd in the Chapter: +Nevertheless the _Lutheran_ Religion is tolerated in this City. + +[129] 'Tis already far advanc'd. + +[130] He was admitted Kt. of the _Golden Fleece_ at the last Promotion. + +[131] This Fortress is now finish'd, and the Elector, who continues to +keep his Court here, has a strong Garison in it. + +[132] He actually lodges there now. + +[133] This Prince died at _Breslau_ in _April_ 1732. + +[134] His Name was _Theodore_. He was born in 1659, and died in 1732. + +[135] The late Queen of _Sardinia_. + +[136] The Prince _John-Christian_ became Prince Regent of _Sultzbach_ +after his Father's Death, but did not long survive him, for he died +suddenly _July_ 20, 1733; so that Prince _Charles_ his Son, born +_December_ 10, 1724, is now Prince _Palatine_ of _Sultzbach_, Marquiss of +_Bergopzoom_, and presumptive Heir to the Elector. He is a very forward +hopeful Youth. The Elector has sent for him from _Brussels_ to _Manheim_, +notwithstanding the Intreaty of the Duchess _d'Aremberg_, his +Great-Grandmother by the Mother's side, (who had the care of his +Education,) that he might be permitted to stay with her. This young +Prince's Grandmother is the Princess Dowager _d'Auvergne_, Sister to the +Duke _d'Aremberg_, one of the toasted Beauties of her Time. She retir'd to +a Nunnery, is a Lady of good Learning, and now one of the Heads of the +_Jansenist_ Party of _Holland_. + +[137] He died soon after this was written, and his Place is not yet fill'd +up. + +[138] I suppose M. _de Globe_ is dead; at least he is no longer Grand +Marshal, that Post being occupied by the Baron _de Beveren_, a +Privy-Counsellor and President of the Ecclesiastic Administration at +_Heidelberg_. This Minister does an Honour to the Elector's Choice of his +Person. + +[139] The Office of Master of the Horse is vacant; but the Count _de +Nesselrod_ does the Duties of it, in quality of Vice-Master of the horse. + +[140] The present King of _Sardinia_. + +[141] General _Isselbach_ Commander in Chief of the _Palatine_ Troops, and +Governor of Manheim, dying in _August_ 1734, the Elector gave the Command +of his Troops to the Count _de Nassau-Weilbourg_, and the Government of +_Manheim_ to the Baron _de Zobel_. + +[142] Since this was written the Elector of _Mentz_, of the _Palatine_ +Family of _Newbourg_ dying, the Chapter of _Worms_ unanimously chose for +its Bishop _Francis-George_ Count _de Schonborn_, Archbishop and Elector +of _Triers_. + +[143] These sharp-sighted Gentlemen were not so happy as to foresee the +Marriage which has lately united the Families of _Austria_ and _Lorrain_, +and brought the latter within View of the Imperial Crown, of which the +Elector of _Triers_ saving the Sword in the Scabbard seems to have been a +remarkable Omen. + +[144] He was the King of _Prussia_'s Plenipotentiary to the King of _Great +Britain_, and is return'd to _Frankfort_, where he is Minister from the +King of _Prussia_ to the Circle of the _Rhine_. + +[145] This Lady died _An._ 1733. + +[146] Since the Author was at _Frankfort_ the Prince _Alexander de la +Tour_ and _Taxis_ who married a Princess of _Brandenbourg-Bareith_, +resides in this City and is building a House there. + +[147] She is _Louisa-Anne-Frances_ of _Lobkowitz_, Daughter to the late +Prince _Leopold_ of _Lobkowitz_ who was the Empress's chief Steward till +1708. + +[148] This Lady died at _Frankfort_ in _Feb._ 1733. + +[149] Madame the Abbess of _Maubrisson_, Sister to Madame the Electress of +_Hanover_, who is supposed to be the Person that speaks here; Madame the +Duchess of _Hanover_, Mother to the Empress _Amelia_, and Madame the +Princess of _Conde_. + +[150] At _Rhenen_, a small Town in the Province of _Utrecht_. + +[151] The _Upper Palatinate_ yielded to the Elector of _Bavaria_ by the +Treaty of _Westphalia_. + +[152] At _Schwetzingeu_, a League from _Heidelberg_. + +[153] Twas a Pistol which the Count _de Hehenlo_ snatch'd from her, and +shot into the Air from the Window. But here it was absolutely necessary to +call it a Dagger, Fire-Arms being not known at the Time of which this +History bears date. + +[154] _Phillip_ the Magnanimous, Landgrave of _Hesse-Cassel_, was in 1518 +Sovereign of all the Country of _Hesse_. He died in 1567, and left four +Sons who shar'd his Dominions and form'd the four Branches of +_Hesse-Cassel_, _Hesse-Marpurg_, _Hesse-Rheinfels_ and _Hesse-Darmstadt_ +The landgraves _Lewis de Marpurg_ and _Philip de Rheinfels_ had no Issue, +but their Nephew _Maurice_ of _Cassel_ having 18 Children, _Earnest_ one +of the Sons reviv'd a Branch of _Rheinfels_ which was divided into those +of _Rotenburg_ and _Vanfried_, that are still subsisting. The Posterity of +_George_ I, Landgrave of _Darmstadt_ was altogether as fruitful, and +form'd the Branches of _Darmstadt_, _Butzbach_, _Hombourg_, and +_Lauterbach_, some of which are extinct. The Landgrave-Regent is one of +the sixteen Children of the Landgrave _Lewis_ VI. Great-Grandson of +_George_ I. There are at present these six Branches of the Family of +_Hesse, viz._ 1. _Hesse-Cassel_, 2. _Hesse-Philipstall_, 3. +_Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenbourg_, 4. _Hesse-Rheinfels-Vanfried_, 5. +_Hesse-Darmstadt_, 6. _Hesse-Hambourg_. + +[155] This Count died in 1736. + +[156] She died at _Hanau_ after a very long Illness. + +[157] This River rises in _Tirol_ a little above _Inspruc_, becomes +navigable at _Halle_, and loses itself in the _Danube_ near _Passau_. + +[158] The Provost and Dean of _Passau_ enjoy the same Prerogative. + +[159] The Revenue of this Archbishoprick amounts to 600,000 Florins. The +Archbishop has 60,000 Florins a-year for his private Expences, and 24,000 +Crowns for officiating at three solemn Services, without reckoning the +Deanery, which is worth 24,000 Florins to him. + +[160] The People about the _Alps_ are very subject to those Swellings by +drinking too much cold unwholesome Water. + +[161] This is the Name which they give in _Italy_ to those who do the +Office of Guides to shew Foreigners the Curiosities of any Town. + +[162] This Minister died at _Venice_ in 1732, and was succeeded by Prince +_Pio_. + +[163] He is dead, and succeeded by Don _Carlo Ruzzini_. + +[164] _Francis_, Count _Duhamel_, Lieutenant-General of the King of +_Prussia_'s Army, Knight of the Order of the _Black Eagle_, and Colonel of +a Regiment of Horse. The _Venetians_ invited him to their Service in 1704, +and gave him the chief Command of their Forces. + +[165] This Princess died in 1731, at _Florence_. + + * * * * * + + + Transcriber's Amendments + +Transcriber's Note: A table of contents has been added. Blank pages have +been deleted. On pages that remain, some unnecessary page numbers may have +been deleted when they fall in the middle of lists. Some illustrations may +have been moved. Footnotes have been moved to just above this paragraph. +The hyphenation of words varies widely but has not been changed. The +spelling of words varies widely and has not been changed except as listed +below. The publisher's inadvertent omissions of important punctuation have +been corrected. + +The following list indicates any additional changes. The page number +represents that of the original publication and applies in this etext +except for footnotes and illustrations since they may have been moved. +Corrections specified by the publisher are marked with an asterisk (*). + + Page Change + + title [Vol. I] + ix for he threatned[threaten'd] to get a Preface compos'd + xxiv BARON DE POLLNITZ being the Oservations[Observations] he made + 5 for his Favourite the Connt[Count] _de Wartemberg_, + 11 But the late Czar coming no[on] _Berlin_ + 15 upon which ocasion[occasion] + 17 To go from the Ambassaors[Ambassadors] Hotel to the New Town + 38 for her, woud[would] be to send him abroad; + 41 I thing[think] it incumbent on me to give you + 84 Travellers, who were heretefore[heretofore] often impos'd upon + 57 As soon as he appear'd be-[del] before _Altena_, + 96 at _Warsaw_ the 1st of _Feb._ 1733, N.[O.] S. + 133 In short, the Count _de Sulkouski[Sulkowski]_ who has + 134 The Office of all the abovementioned[above-mention'd], as + 146 the Religion which is upermost[uppermost] in the State. + 151 but the Marriage was dissoved[dissolved], + 251 their Conversattion[Conversation] sometimes insipid; + 172 They are all drawn or[on] Horseback, + 187 for the Glasses served in-[del] instead of Bells, + 194 which were of gery[very] great value, + 199 Knick-knacks which where[were] formerly made in this city + 220 the _Ne plus ultra_ of their Perferments[Preferments]. + 220 The[There] are five Brothers of it in Employments. + 225 The Empreor[Emperor] stands up under a Canopy + 236 Simplicity of the ancient Arcitecture[Architecture]. + 317 most celebrated in _France_; and he daily in-riches[enriches] + 320 He was addmitted[admitted] Kt. of the _Golden Fleece_ at the + 348 found to be the Hand-writting[Hand-writing] of _Gertrude_. + 351 whither a Captian[Captain] of the Guards came in + 359 This great p'enty[plenty] of Deer is extremely troublesome + 361 Circle of of[del 2nd of] the _Upper Rhine_. + 364 LETTER XIII[XXIII]. + 379 runs through a fine Valley beween[between] high Mountains + 394 they would fall on the Heads of the Travallers[Travellers]; +Index _Brandenbourg-Anspach_, Margraves, {?}[capital], 193, +Index _Kara-Mustapha_, Grand Visier[Vizier], 247, 248. +Index _Lowinitz, Henry-Rodolph de Schonfield[Schonfeld]_ Lord of, 145. +Index * _Maria-Amelia_ Princess of _Prussia[Poland]_, 113. +Index * _Maria-Anne-Sophia_ Princess of _Prussia[Poland]_, 113. +Index * _Maria-Josepha_ Princess of _Prussia[Poland]_, 113[114]. +Index _Staupitz_, Abbat[Abbot], 375. + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de +Pollnitz, Volume I, by Karl Ludwig von Poellnitz + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS--BARON DE POLLNITZ, VOL I *** + +***** This file should be named 38495.txt or 38495.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/4/9/38495/ + +Produced by Robert Connal, Henry Gardiner and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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