Bijhop Burn 
verty, as well as in other Places. The married Women 
fcarce appear abroad, except at Church % but the young 
Women have more Liberty before they are married. 
There: is fuch a Plenty of all Things, by Reafon of the 
Gentlenefs of the Government, and the Induftry of the 
People, that in the ten Days I ftaid at Coire^ I was but 
once ask’d an Alms in the Streets. There are two 
Churches; in the one there is an Organ, that joins with 
their Voices in the Singing of the Pfalms ; and there 
was for the Honour of the Diet, while we were there, 
an Anthem fung very regularly. In all the Churches 
both of Switzerland and the Grifons, except in this, the 
Minifter preaches covered, but here he is bare-headed. 
And I obferved a particular Devotion ufed here in fay- 
ing of the Lord’s Prayer, that the Minifters, who wear 
Caps, put them off. The Women, as in BerUy turn all 
to the Eaft in Time of Prayer, and in their private De- 
votions before and after the publick Prayers : Many 
alfo bow at the Name of Jefus. They chriften dif- 
covering the whole Head, and pouring the Water 
on the" Hind-head, ufing a trine Afperfion ; which 
is alfo the Pradlice of the Switz. It was Matter 
of much Edification, to fee the great Numbers, both 
here and all Switzerland over, that come every 
Day to Prayers Morning and Evening. They give 
here, in the Middle of the Prayer, a good Interval 
of Silence for the private Devotions of the Affembly. 
The Schools here go not above Latin^ Greeks and Logick ; 
and for the reft they fend their Children to Zurich or 
Bajil. The Clergy are very meanly provided ; for the 
the moft Part they have nothing but the Benevolence of 
their People. They complained much to me of a Cold- 
nefs in their People in the Matters of Religion, and of 
a crreat Corruption in their Morals. The Commons are 
extreme infolent, and many Crimes’ go unpunifhed, if 
the Perfons that commit them have either great Credit 
or much Money. The poor Minifters here are under 
a terrible Slavery for the Grifons pretend a Prefcrip- 
tion not only for the Patronage of their Churches, but 
a Power to difmifs their Churchmen as they fee caufe. 
Flow it is among the Papifts I cannot tell ; but the Dean 
of the Synod of the Houfe of God told me, they had an 
ill Cuftom of ordaining their Minifters without a Title, 
upon Examination of their Abilities, which took them 
up generally fix or feven Hours ; and when this Tryal 
was^difpatch’d, if the Perfon was qualified they ordain- 
ec him *, and it was too ordinary for thofe to endeavour 
to undermine the Minifters already in Employment, if 
their People grew difgufted at them, or they became 
dilabled by Age ; and often the Intereft and Kindred of 
the Intruder carried the Matter againft the Incumbent 
without any Pretence ; and in that Cafe the Synod was 
bound to receive the Intruder. In one Half of the 
Country they preach in High Butch, and in the other 
Half in a corrupt Italian, which they call Romanijh, 
that is, a Mixture of Brench and Italian. In every 
Leao-ue they have a Synod *, and as the People choofe 
thei? Minifters, fo, in Imitation of the Switz, every 
Synod choofes their Antilles, or Superintendent. He is 
call’d the Dean among the Grifons, and hath a Sort of 
Epifcopal Power ; but he is accountable to the Synod : 
The Office is for Life; but the Synod, upon great 
Caufe, may make a Change. The People are much 
more ’ lively than the Switzers, and they begin to 
have a Tindure of the Italian Temper. They are ex- 
treme civil to Strangers ; but it feems, in all Common- 
wealths Innkeepers think they have a Right to exad upon 
Strangers ; which one finds here, as well as in Holland, 
or in Switzerland. 
15. I fliali conclude what I have to fay of the Grifons 
with an extraordinary Story, which I had from the Mi- 
nifters of Coire, and feveral other Gentlemen, that faw 
in jApril 1685, about five hundred Perfons of different 
Sexes and Ages, that paffed through the Town, who 
crave this Account of themfelves. They were the Inha- 
bitants of a Valley in Tyrol, belonging the Arch- 
biftioprick of Salizhurg, but fome of them were in the 
Diocefts of Trent and Breffe. They feemed to be a 
Remnant of the^old V/cddenfes ; they worffiipped nei- 
ther Images nor Saints, and tiiey believed the Sacrament 
E Th Travels Book II. 
was only a Commemoration of the Death of Chrift ; in 
many other Points they had their peculiar Opinions, 
different from thofe of the Church of Rome: They 
knew nothing either of Lutherans or Calvinijis ; and the 
Grifons, though their Neighbours, had never heard of 
this Nearnefs to the Proteftant Religion. They had 
Mafs faid among them ; but fome Years fince fome of 
the Valley going over Germany to earn fomewhat by 
their Labour, happened into the Palatinate, where 
they were better inftruded in Matters of Religion ; and 
thefe brought back with them into the Valley the Hei~ 
delburg Catechifm, with fome other German Books, 
which ran over the Valley ; and they being in a good 
Difpofition, thofe Books had fuch an Effed upon them, 
that they gave over going to Mafs, and began to wor- 
ffiip God in a Way more fuitable to the Rules fet down 
in Scripture. Some of their Priefts concurred in this 
Change ; but others who adhered ftill to the Mafs, went 
and gave the Archbifliop of Saltzhurg an Account of 
it ; upon which he fent fome to examine the Matter, 
to exhort them to return to Mafs, and to threaten them 
with Severity, if they continued obftinate : So they fee- 
ing a terrible Storm ready to break on them, refolved 
to abandon their Houfes, and all they had, radier than 
fin againft their Confciences ; and the whole Inhabi- 
tants, old and young. Men and Women, to the Num- 
ber of two thoufand, divided themfelves into feveral 
Bodies ; fome to go to Brandenburg, others to the Pa~ 
latinate, and about five hundred took the Way of Coire, 
intending to difperfe themfelves in Switzerland. The 
Minifters told me, they were much edified with their 
Simplicity ; for a Colleftion being made for them, 
they defired only a little Bread to carry them on theft 
Way. From Coire we went to Tojfano, and from thence 
through the Way that is juftly called Via Mala. It lies 
through a Bottom between two Rocks, through which 
the Rhine runs, but under Ground, for a great Part of 
the Way : The Way is cut out in the Middle of the 
Rock in fome Places ; and in feveral, the Steepnefs of 
the Rock being fuch, that a Way could not be cut, 
there are Beams driven into it, over which Boards and 
Earth are laid. This Way holds an Hour ; after that, 
there is for two Hours a good Road, and we pafs’d 
through two confiderable Villages, finding good Lodg- 
ing in both : From thence there is, for two Hours 
Journey, terrible Way, almoft as bad as the Via Mala ; 
then an Hour’s Journey good Way to Splugen, which is 
a large Village of two hundred Houfes that aire well 
built, and the Inhabitants feem to live at their Eafe, 
though they have no Soil but a little Meadow Ground 
about them. This is the laft Proteftant Church that 
was in our Rout : It was well endow’d ; for the Mi- 
nifter had near two hundred Crowns. Thofe of this 
Village are the Carriers between Italy and Germany, 
and drive a great Trade ; for there is here a perpetual 
Carriage going and coming ; and we were told, that 
there pafs generally a hundred Horfes through this 
Town, one Day with another ; and there are above 
five hundred Carriage-horfes that belong to if. From 
this Place we went mounting for three Hours, till we 
got to the Top of the Hills, where there is only one 
great Inn. After that, the Way was tolerably good for 
two Hours ; and for two Hours there is a conftant De- 
feent, which, for the moft part, is as fteep as if we were 
going down Stairs. At the Foot of this is a little Vil- 
lage, called Campodolin ; and here we found we were 
in Italy, both by the vaft Difference of the Climate,- 
(for whereas we were freezing on the other Side, the 
Heat of the Sun was uneafy here) and by the Number 
of the Beggars ; though it may feem the Reverfe of 
what one ought to exped, fince the richeft Country of 
Europe is full of Beggars ; and the Grifons, one of the 
pooreft States, have no Beggars at all. One Thing is 
alfo ftrange, that among the Grifons, the rich Wine of 
the Valteline, after carried three Days Journey, is fold 
cheaper than the Wine of other Countries at the Door ; 
but there are no Taxes nor Impofitions here. From 
Campodolin there are three Hours Journey to Chavennes, 
all in a flow Defcent, and in fome Places the Way is 
extreme rugged and ftony. 
16. Chavennes 
