634 Bijhop B u R N E T^S Travels Book If, 
ElbowSj ftraiter at the Wrlfts with Cuffs of white Linnen, 
and Rings and Bracelets in Abundance. The Body of 
the Gown is very ft iff with Wings that reft upon their 
Shoulders, a round Ruff about their Necks, and a mon- 
ftrous large Head-drefs, beyond the Size of a Turbant, 
Their young Women^ however, have a more agreeable 
Habit, their Sleeves are open, they wear very fine Lin- 
nen, ftiff- bodied Gowns, their Necks clofe covered. 
Petticoats' fo long that Nothing appears under them 
but the very Points of their Shoes, and on their 
Heads they wear very large Hats, like thofe before de- 
fcribed in fpeaking of the Women of Baftl. Thefe 
Dreffes will be better comprehended by feeing them in 
a Print, than by any Dcfcription that can be given, 
and this is the more reafonable, becaufe now there is no- 
thing of this Kind to be feen, the French Cuftoms gene- 
rally prevail, and Strangers can difcover no Difference 
between the Habits of the Women at Strasbourg^ and 
thofe of other Frontier Towns in the French Dominions. 
27. From Strasburg we went down the Rhine to Philips- 
burg^ which lies at a quarter of a Mile’s Diftance from 
the River ; it is but a fmall Place, and the Baftions are 
but little j there is a Ravelin before almoft all the Cor- 
tins 5 and there lie fuch Marfhes round it, that in thefe 
confift the chief Strength of the Place. The French had 
begun a great Crown- work on that Side that lies to the 
Rhine, and had caft out a Horn-work beyond that ; 
but by all that appears, it feems they intended to continue 
their Works quite round the Town, and to make a fecond 
W^all and Ditch all round it, which would have enlarg- 
ed the Place vaftly, and made a Compafs capable to 
lodge ten thoufand Men 5 and this would have been fo 
terrible a Neighbour to the Palatinate, and all Franco- 
nia, that it was a Mafter-piece in Charles-Lewis, the 
late Eleftor Palatine, to engage the Empire in this Siege : 
He faw well, how much it concerned him to have it 
out of the Hands of the French \ fo that he took great 
Care to have the Duke of Lorrain’^ Camp fo well fup- 
plied with all Things neceffary during the Siege, that 
the Army lay not under the leaft Uneafinefs. From 
thence, in three Hours, we came to Spire, which is fo 
naked a Town, that if it were attacked, it could not 
make the leaft Reftftance. The Town is neither great 
nor rich, and is fubfifted chiefly by the Imperal Cham- 
ber that fitteth here, though there is a conftant Difpute 
between the Town and the Chamber concerning Pri- 
vileges 5 for the Government of the Town pretends, 
that the Judges of the Chamber, as they are private 
Men, and out of the Court of Judicature, are fubjeT 
to them ; and fo about a Year ago they put one of 
the Judges in Prifon : On the other Hand, the Judges 
pretend, that their Perfons are facred. It was the 
Confideration of the Chamber that procured to the 
Town the Neutrality that they enjoyed all the laft War. 
I thought to have feen the Forms of this Court, and 
the Way of laying up and preferving their Records, 
but it was not then fitting. The Building, the Halls, 
and Chambers of this famous Court are mean beyond 
Imagination, and look more like the Halls of fome 
fmall Company, than of fo great a Body ; and I could 
not fee the Places where they lay up their Archives. 
The Government of the City is Lutheran ; but not 
only the Cathedral is in the Hands of the Bifhop and 
Chapter, but there are likewife feveral Convents of both 
Sexes, and the Jefuits have a College there. There is 
little remarkable in the Cathedral, which is a huge 
Building in the Gothick Manner, of the worft Sort. 
The Tombs of many Emperors that lie buried there 
are fingular only for their Meannefs, • they being barely 
great Flag-ftones laid on fome fmall Stone Ballifters of 
a Foot and an half high ; There are alfo the Marks of 
a ridiculous Fable concerning St. Bernard, which is too 
foolifti to be related •, yet fmee they have taken fuch 
Pains to preferve the Remembrance of it, I ftiall venture 
to write it. There are from the Gate, all along the Nave 
of the Church up to the Steps that go up to the Choir, 
four round Plates of Brafs, above a F’’oot Diameter, 
and at the Diftance of thirty foot one from another, 
laid- in the Pavement ; on tne firft of thefe is engraven 
O Clemens, on the fecond 0 Pia, on the third 0 Felice, 
and on the fourth Maria ! The laft is about thirty Foot 
diftant from a Statue of the Virgin j fo they fay that 
St. Bernard came up the whole Length of the Church 
at four Steps, and that thofe four Plates were laid where 
he ftepp’d y and that at every Step he pronounced the 
V/ord that is engraven on the Plate 5 and when he came 
to the laft, the Image of the Virgin anfwered him, 
Salve Bernarde *, upon which he anfwered, let a Woman 
keep Silence in the Church 5 and that the Virgin’s Statue 
has kept Silence ever fince. This laft Part of the Story 
is certainly very credible : He was a Man of Learnino* 
that fhewed me this 5 and he repeated it fo gravely to 
me, that I faw he either believed it, or at leaft that he 
had a Mind to make me believe it ; and I asked him 
as gravely, if that was as firmly believed there Fie 
told me, that one had lately writ a Book to prove the 
Truth of it, as I remember, it was a Jefuit : He acknow- 
ledged it was not an Article of Faith, fo I was fa- 
tisfied. 
28. There is in theCloifter an old Reprefen tation 
of our SaviouPs Agony in Stone, with a great manyFio-ures 
of his Apoftles and the Company that came to feize 
him, that is not ill for the Time in which it was made 
it being fome Ages old. The Calvinifis have a Church 
in this Town, but their Numbers are not confiderable. 
I was told there were fome ancient Manuferipts iri 
the Library that belongeth to the Cathedral ; but one 
of the Prebendaries, to whom I addreffed myfelf, be- 
ing, according to the German Cuftom, a Man of great- 
er Quality than Learning, told me, he heard they had 
fome ancient Manuferipts, but he knew nothino- of 
them ; and the Dean was abfent, fo I could not^ fee 
them, for he kept one of the Keys. The lower Pala- 
tinate is certainly one of the fweeteft Countries in all 
Germany y it is a great Plain till one comes to the Hills 
of Heidelberg y the Town is ill fituated, juft in a Bot- 
tom, between two Ranges of Hills, yet the Air is much 
commended. I need fay nothing of the Caftle, nor of 
the prodigious Wine-cellar, in which, though there is but 
one celebrated Tun, that is feventeen FS)t high, and 
twenty-fix Foot long, and is built with a Strength more 
like that of the Ribs of a Ship, than the Staves of a 
Tun y yet there are many other Tuns of fuch a prodi- 
gious Bignefs, that they would feem very extraordinary, 
if this vaft one did not eclipfe them. The late Prince 
Charles-Lewis fhewed his Capacity in the Peopling and 
Settling this State, that had been fo entirely ruined, 
being for many Years the Seat of War ; for in four 
Years time he brought it to a flourilhing Condition : 
He raifed the Taxes as high as was poffible without dif- 
peopling his Country ; all Men’s Eftates were valued, 
and they were taxed at Five per Cent, of the Value of 
their Eftates 5 but their Eftates were not valued to the 
Rigour, but with fuch Abatements as have been ordi- 
nary in England in the times of Subfidies y fo that when 
his Son offered to bring the Taxes down to Two per 
Cent, of the real Value, the Subjedfs all defired him 
rather to continue them as they were. There is no 
Prince in Germany, that is more abfolute than the Elec- 
tor Palatine y for he layeth on his SubjeRs what Taxes 
he pleafeth, without being limited to any Forms of 
Government. And here I faw that which I had always 
believed to be true, that the Subjedls of Germany are 
only bound to their particular Prince 5 for they fwear 
Allegiance fingly to the EleRor, without any Referve 
for the Emperor ; and in their Prayers for him, they 
name him their Sovereign. It is true, the Prince is un- 
der fome Ties to the Emperor, but the Subjedls are 
under none. And by this Z). Fabritius, a learned and 
judicious Profeffor there, explained thofe Words of Pa-- 
reuses Commentary on the Romans, which had refpedl 
only to the Princes of the Empire, and were quite 
mifunderftood by thofe who fancied that they favoured 
Rebellion ; for there is no Place in Europe where all 
rebellious Dodlrine is more born down than here. 
29. I found a great Spirit of Moderation, with Re- 
lation to thofe warm Controverfies that have occa- 
fioned fuch Heat in the Proteftant Churches reigning 
in the Univerfity there, which is in a great Meafure 
owing CO the Prudence, the Learning, and the happy 
Temper 
