Ml s s o n’s Travels through the Book II. 
Foot thick, and feem as if they were not at firft de- 
ligned for a Church, but rather for a Fortrefs. The 
Cathedral is both very long and lofty, adorn’d with a 
Tower on each of the four Corners ; it is a ftrong Fa- 
brick with fome Ornaments after the Gothick Way. 
Over one Door of this Church they fhew you the Fi- 
gure of a ftrange Animal of the Bignefs of an Afs, 
with four Heads, one the Head of a Man, the fecond 
of an Ox, the third of an Eagle, and the fourth of a 
Lyon ; the two firft ftand upright, and the two others 
hang downwards ; the right Fore-foot is of a Man, the 
left of an Ox, and the] two hinder of an Eagle and 
a Lyon ; a Woman fits on the Back of it. The Peo- 
ple here tell you very odd Stories concerning it, but 
we may fuppofe it to be an Hieroglyphick compofed of 
the four Beafts in the Vifion of Ezekiel^ and the Wo- 
man to reprefent the Gofpel. Over the Altar of one 
of the Chapels of the lame Church I obferved a Pidlure, 
in which the Virgin received Chrift as he was defcend- 
ing from the Crols, whilft the Angels were carrying 
the Inftruments of his Crucifixion to Heaven. But the 
Pi 61 ;ure at the Entrance of St. Martin* % Church, juft 
over a moveable Altar, is of any here moft worth 
the peculiar Obfervation of a Traveller ; it is about 
five Foot fquare, and in it God the Father is repre- 
fented on the very Top of one Corner, from whence 
he feems to addrels himfelf to the Virgin Af^ry, who 
is on her Knees in the Midft of the Pi6lure, holding 
the Infant Chrift by the Feet, and putting his Head 
into the Hopper of a Mill, which is turn’d by the 
twelve Apoftlcs Hands by the Help of a Wheel, affifted 
by the four Beafts of Ezekiel^ who give a helping Hand 
on the other Side* Hard by the Pope is painted upon 
his Knees, receiving the Hofts, which fall ready made 
from the Mill into a golden Chalice or Cup, one of 
which he prefents to a Cardinal, who gives it to a 
Bilhop, the Bifhop to a Prieft, and the Prieft to a Lay- 
nian. There are two publick Edifices in this City, one 
intended for the Senate, where they meet twice a Week 
about Matters of State, the other for the Courts of Ju- 
ftice. It was in the firft that Luther made his fo- 
lemn Appeal, concerning which they tell you, that the 
Docftor being much heated with the Eagernefs of the 
Difpute, as alfo by a Fire that was near hirn, he de- 
fired a Glafs of Wine ; which being brought, he for- 
got to drink it, but being ftill eager in the Purfuit of 
his Difcourfe, fet it down upon a Bench, where foon 
after it broke’ without being touch’d by any body, 
which made it pafs for current, that there was fome 
Poifon mix’d with the Wine, of which the Lutherans 
were fo fully perfuaded, that they broke the Bench on 
which the Glafs ftood into Shivers, and kept fome Pieces 
of it, which are ftill preferved in Memory of Luther*^ 
Deliverance. We alfo took a View of theHoufe call’d 
the Mint, where, among ocher Curiofities, they fhew’d 
us a fquare Piece of Parchment in a Frame, upon which 
there are twelve Sorts of Hands written with divers 
Miniatures and Draughts excellently done with a Pen, 
by one ‘Thomas Schuveiker, only with his Feet, he being 
born without Arms, as the following Infcription teftifies ; 
Mira nsides, pedibus Juvenis facit omnia rebfa 
Cui pariens Mater brachia nulla dedit. 
In a fpacious Portico belonging to this Houfe you fee 
a vaft Number of Bones and Horns hanging betwixt 
the Arches : The firft, they fay, are the Remnants of 
Giants, and the laft of the Oxen which drew the 
Stones with which the Cathedral was built. The Out- 
fide of the Houfe was adorn’d with Variety of Piftures, 
and among the reft with many arm’d Giants, which, 
in the Infcription underneath, are call’d Vangiones : 
That this Part of the Rhine was inhabited by a Race 
of People call’d Vangiones, is evident from ‘Tacitus and 
others \ but how they became Giants, I am not able to 
tell. Proceeding on our Journey, we pafs’d by Fran^ 
hendal, the Fortifications of which Place would not be 
defpifeable, if they were faced with Brick ; wheras now 
they are flop’d too much, by realbn of the Softnefs of 
the Earth, which could not be fupported Otherwife, but 
would fink into a Heap. 
The fame Defed, but in a higher Degree, is evident 
in the Fortifications of Manheim, both which belong 
to the Eledor Palatine, and are not above two Hours 
diftant from each other *, but the laft has a confider- 
able Advantage by its Situation in a flat Country, and 
its being almoft inclofed by the Neckar and the Rhine. 
The moft remarkable Piece in Manheim is the Temple 
of Concord, founded by the Eledor Charles Lewis, Fa- 
ther of Charles, the laft of that Race, who being a 
Perfon of no harfli Dilpofition, efpecially in Matters 
of Religion, order’d, that the Lutherans and Calviniiis 
fhould by Turns exercife their Divine Worlhip in this 
Church i and the prefent Eledor Palatine, who is a 
Roman Catholick, has thought fit to join the Romanijts 
with the others ; fince which Time, the Minifters of 
three different Religions perform, each in their Turn, 
their Religious Service in the Church of Concord ; fo 
that in three fucceflive Sundays, each of the three Mi- 
nifters has the Privilege of beginning firft. The Church 
is not very large, but exceeding neat *, the Pulpit com- 
mon to all three. The Roman Catholicks, after they 
have faid Mafs, draw a Curtain, and fo hide the Altar, 
at which they have perform’d it. 
Manheim was about forty Years ago no more than a 
Village, and owes its Increafe to Frederick the Father 
of Charles Lewis, who at the fame Time built and for- 
tified it : The Streets are very ftreight and regular, and 
fome of them planted with Trees, as in Holland. After 
having palfed the "Neckar at Manheim, over a Bridge of 
Boats, we travel’d for three Hours thro* a fertile Plain, 
extending to the Foot of the Mountains of Heidelburgh, 
which, by a continued Ridge, feem’d to intercept our 
Paffage j but that the Neckar pafles thro’ an Opening, 
and fhews you a dired Way to Heidelburgh, by a co- 
ver’d Bridge which brings you to the other Side, where 
this City is feated very pleafantly among the Trees and 
Rocks. But as to its interior Beauties, we cannot boaft, 
for the City is neither fine nor well built, moft of their 
Houfes being of Wood, tho’ they dwell among the 
Rocks : The Eledoral Palace is of hewn Stone, fome 
Parts whereof are of good Architedure, but none of 
them quite finifhed. They have made divers fine Gar- 
dens among the Rocks, but at the beft they are ir- 
regular. 
Not long before the Dutchefs of Orleans, Sifter to 
the laft Eledor, and Heirefs tp Part of his perfonal 
Eftate, had taken the Furniture of this Palace away, 
at the fame Time they fold every Thing, even to the 
W ine of the famous Tun of Heidelburgh. This fp 
much celebrated Tun is thirty one Foot long, and 
twenty one high, unto which you afcend by a Pair of 
Stairs of fifty' Steps, to a Kind of Platform or Balcony 
of twenty Foot long, inclofed with Rails : The Elec- 
tor’s Arms are placed on the Front of the Tun, and 
Bacchus on the Top, attended by Satyrs, Drunkards, 
and fuch-like. Vines, Grapes, Glafles and Leather 
Jacks make a great Part of the Ornaments of this Tun, 
in baffo relievo. Abundance of Jefts and Apothegms, 
relating to the fame Subjed, are to be feen, in High 
Hutch, oi. divers Parts of this enormous Tun. 
The various Chances of War have reduced this Coun- 
try to a poor Condition, tho* naturally very good. All 
Religions are tolerated, but the Magiftrates are gene- 
rally Protefiants, as in other Parts of the Palatinate, 
The great Church of this City contains many magnifi- 
cent Tombs of the Counts Palatines, and among the 
reft that of Robert King of the Romans, the Founder 
of the Univerfity of Heidelburgh. You know by what 
ill Fate this City loft its famous Library, which, in 
1622, was tranfported thence 10 xht Vatican. 
9. We were fcarce two Hours riding from Heidelburgh, 
but we met with nothing but whole Forefts of Fir-trees, 
and a Country fo poor, that about Wifeloth and Sintz- 
heim, you might buy a wheaten Loaf of eight Pounds 
for two Pence ; and in four Days Journey we did not 
fo much as get Sight of one confiderable Town : The 
beft of them is Win/heim, an Imperial City, as well as 
Wimphen, 
I 
