Chap. III. 
through S w I s 
o 
great Way with Out- works belonging to it. There are 
alfo fmall Forts at the two ‘chief Gates that lead to Al- 
face^ by which the City is fo bridled, that thefe can cut 
off all its Communication with the Country about, in 
cafe of a Revolt. The Bridge is well fortified ; there 
are alfo Forts in fome Iflands in the Rhine^ and fome 
Redoubts ; fo that all round this Place there is one of 
the greateft Fortifications in Europe. 
Hitherto the Capitulation, with relation to Religion, 
hath been well kept j and there is fo fm.all a Number 
of new Converts, and thefe are for the greateft Part fo 
inconfiderable, not being in all above two hundred, as I 
was told, that if they do not employ the new-fafliion’d 
Miffionaries a la Eragonne, the old ones are not like to 
have fo great a Flarveft there as they promifed them- 
felves, though they are Jefuits. The Lutherans., for 
the greateft Part, retain their Animofities almoft to an 
equal Degree both againft Papijls and Calvinifts. I was 
in their Church, where, if the Mufick of their Pfalms 
pleafed me much, the Irreverence in Singing (it being 
free to keep on or put off the Hat) did appear very 
ftrange to me. The Churches are full of Pidlures, in 
which the chief Paftages of our Saviour’s Life are re- 
prefented, but there is no Sort of religious Refpe6t paid 
them : They bow when they name the Holy Ghoft, as 
well as at the Name of Jeius ; but they have not the 
Ceremonies that the Lutherans of Saxony ufe, which Mr. 
Belel., their Profeftbr of Divinity, faid was a great Hap- 
pinefs j for a Similitude in outward Rites might difpofe 
the ignorant People to change too eafily. I found fe- 
veral good People, both of the Lutheran Minifters, 
and others, acknowledge, that there was fuch a Cor- 
ruption of Morals fpread over the whole City, that as- 
they had juftly drawn down on their Heads the Plague 
of the Lofs of their Liberty, fo this having touch’d 
them fo little, they had Reafon to look for fevcrer 
Strokes. 
One fees, in the Ruin of this City, what a mifchie- 
vous Thing the popular Pride of a free City is : They 
fancied they were able to defend themfelves, and fo they 
refufed to let an Imperial Garrifon come within their 
Town ; for if they had received only five hundred Men, 
as that fmall Number would not have been able to have 
opprefs’d their Liberties, fo it would have fo fecurcd the 
Town, that the French could not have befieged it with- 
out making War on the Empire : But the Town 
thought this was a Diminution of their Freedom, and 
fo chofe rather to pay a Garrifon of three thoufand 
Soldiers, which as it exhaufted their Revenue, and 
brought them under great Taxes, fo it proved too 
weak for their Defence when the French Army came 
before them. The Town begins to fink in its Trade, 
notwithftanding the great Circulation of Money that 
the Expence of the Fortifications hath brought to it i 
but when that is at an End, it will fink more fenfibly ; 
for it is impoffible for a Place of Trade, that is to have al- 
ways eight or ten thoufand Soldiers in it, to continue long 
in a fiourifhing State. There was a great Animofity 
between two of the chief Families of the Town, Die- 
trick and Ohrecht ; the former was the Burgo-mafter, and 
was once almoft run down by a Faftion that the other 
had raifed againft him ; but he turned the Tide, and got 
fuch an Advantage againft Obrecht^ who had writ fome- 
what againft the Condudl of their Affairs, that he was 
condemned and beheaded for writing Libels againft the 
Government. His Son is a learned Man, and was 
Profeffor of the Civil Law ; and he, to have his T urn 
of Revenge againft Dietrick^i went to Paris, and that 
he might make his Court the better, changed his Reli- 
gion. Dietrick had been always look’d on as one of the 
chief of the French Fadtion, though he had been at firft 
an Imperialiji, fo it was thought that he fhould have been 
well rewarded ; yet it was expedted, that to make him- 
felf capable of that, he fhould have changed his Reli- 
gion •, but he was an ancient Man, and would not pay 
his Court at that Rate ; fo without any Reafon given, 
and againft the exprefs Words of the Capitulation, he 
was confined to one of the midland Provinces of France 
(as I remember, it was Limofm : ) And thus he that had 
been thought the chief Caufe of this Town’s falling un- 
Yot. II. Numb. 112. 
SERLAND, ^C. 
der the Power of French, is the firft Ma-n that hath 
felt the Effedls of ir.5;^ 
The Library here is confiderable ; the Cafe is a great 
Room Very well contrived ; for it is divided into Cld- 
fets all over the Body of the Room, which runs about 
thefe as a Gallery, and in thefe Clofets all round, there 
are the Books, of the feveral Profefilons lodged apart : 
There is one for Manufcripts, in which there are fome 
of confiderable Antiquity, I need fay Nothing to you 
of the vaft Height and Gothick Architedfure of the Steeple, 
and of the great Church, nor of the curious Clock, 
where there is fo vaft a Variety of Motions ; for thefe 
are well known. The Bas-relieves upon the Tops of 
the great Pillars of the Church are not fo vifible, but 
they are furprizing for this being a Fabrick of three 
or four hundred Years old, it is very ftrange to fee fuch 
Reprefentations as are there. There is a Proeeffion re- 
prefented, in which a Hog carrieth the Pot with the 
holy Water, and Affes and Hogs in prieftly Veftments 
follow to make up the Proeeffion : There is alfo 
an Afs ftanding before an Altar, as if he were going 
to confecrate *, and one carrieth a Cafe w'ith Reliques, 
within which one feeth a Fox ; and the Trains of all 
that go in this Proeeffion are fopported by Monkies. 
This feems to have been mafie in Hatred of the Monks, 
whom the fecular Clergy afihorred at that Time, be- 
caufe they had drawn the Wealth and the Following of 
the World after them ; and they had expofed the fecu- 
lar Clergy fo much for their Ignorance, that it is pro- 
bable, after fome Ages the Monks falling under the 
fame Contempt, the fecular Clergy took their Turn in 
expofing them in fo lafting a Reprefentation to the Scorn 
of the World. There is alfo in the Pulpit a Nun cut 
in Wood lying along, and a Fryar lying near her with 
his Breviary open before him, and his Hand under the 
Nun’s Habit, and the Nun’s Feet are ffiod with Iron 
Shoes. I confefs I did not look for thefe Things, for I 
had not heard of them •, but my noble Friend Mr. Ab- 
lancoiirt viewM them with great Exadfnefs while he was 
the French King’s Refident at Strasburg, in the Compa- 
ny of one of the Magiftrates that waited on him ; and it 
is Upon his Credit, to which all that know his eminent 
Sincerity, know how much is due, that I give you this 
Particular. 
The Habits of the People here, but more efpecially 
of the Women, are very fingular, and furprize Stran- 
gers greatly j they are without Doubt very antique, and 
there is good Reafon to believe that the Tyranny of 
Fafhion has never born hard upon thefe honeft People. 
They, are ftrongly of Opinion, that as Cloaths are in- 
tended to hide Nakednefs, fo the Manner of CJoathing 
ought to be fuitable to the Condition ; and upon this 
Principle it is, that you fee every body regulate their 
Drefs here ; fo that when you are once acquainted with 
their Cuftom, you naay diftinguifh by the Garb of every 
Woman you meet what Condition of Life fhe is in. 
As for Inftance, a Country Farmer s Wife wears ftiort 
Petticoats, a Kind of Boddice, and over thefe a Sort of 
long Jacket, which in the Winter Time is lined with 
Lambs-skin for Want of better Furs. Her Hair is 
curled with her beft Skill, and upon her Head ffie wears 
a Hat deck’d with Flowers. The lower Sort of Coun- 
try People wear a Kind of Coif, under which their Hair 
is gathered up tight. A Tradefman’s Wife in Mourn- 
ing makes a very folemn Figure •, her Petticoats are 
long, fhe has a ftiff- bodied Gown, clofe Sleeves, with 
Cufi's that turn up almoft to the Elbows, and a Piece of 
fine Cloth turns up under the Chin over their Mouths, 
fo that between that and a very clofe round Cap, you 
fee Nothing but their Nofe and their Eyes. A Bur- 
gher’s Wife is ftill a more extraordinary Spedacle, for 
file has a white Robe that covers all her Cloaths, a 
Hood and Fore-head-cloth upon her Head, the Corners 
of which are ftiffened and ftick out on both Sides, To 
that a ftranger Figure can hardly be feen. Ordinary 
Women mourn in Black, but with a white Veil before 
them, which reaches up to their Mouths, and below 
their Knees. A Dodlor’s Wife has a Garb not eafily 
exprefs’d, her Petticoats are very long, her Sleeves 
flounc’d upon her Shoulders, clofe on her Arms, and 
7 ^ Elbows 
