{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_70838/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_70838","id":"gutenberg_70838","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70838","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Travel Writing","Germany -- Description and travel","Italy -- Description and travel","Switzerland -- Description and travel"],"text":"THE JOURNAL OF\n    MONTAIGNE\u2019S TRAVELS\n    IN ITALY\n\n[Illustration: _Michel de Montaigne_]\n\n\n\u0346\n\n    THE JOURNAL OF\n    MONTAIGNE\u2019S TRAVELS\n    IN ITALY BY WAY OF SWITZERLAND\n    AND GERMANY\n    IN 1580 AND 1581\n\n    TRANSLATED AND EDITED\n    WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES\n\n    BY W. G. WATERS\n    AUTHOR OF \u201cJEROME CARDAN,\u201d ETC.\n\n    IN THREE VOLUMES\n\n    VOL. I\n\n    LONDON\n    JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET\n    1903\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nUp to February 16, 1581, the \u201cJournal\u201d of Montaigne\u2019s travels was\nwritten down from dictation by a confidential servant, who seems to\nhave combined the duties of secretary and valet. On the date aforesaid\nMontaigne either dismissed him or gave him leave of absence, and set to\nwork to keep the diary himself. The portion of the \u201cJournal\u201d written\nby the secretary presents certain difficulties in translation, seeing\nthat he wrote sometimes in the first and sometimes in the third person,\nand occasionally had to describe events which happened in his absence,\nbut as far as possible uniform diction has been secured. In the earlier\npart Montaigne added divers notes to the margin of the MS. in his own\nhandwriting, thus showing that he revised that portion which he did not\nwrite. From May 15, to November 1, 1581, Montaigne used the Italian\ntongue, reverting to French as soon as he crossed Mont Cenis.\n\nA translation of the \u201cJournal\u201d was made by W. Hazlitt in 1842 and\nannexed to his edition of Cotton\u2019s \u201cEssays.\u201d In a recent reprint of\nthe \u201cEssays\u201d and of all the extant \u201cLetters,\u201d Mr. W. C. Hazlitt, in an\nintroduction, remarks, as a reason for not including the \u201cJournal,\u201d\nthat it is all in the third person, and was dictated by Montaigne to\nhis secretary, being unaware, apparently, that more than half of it was\nwritten in the first person by Montaigne himself.\n\nThe portions of the \u201cJournal\u201d which deal with Montaigne\u2019s sojourn at\nthe baths of Lucca are full of details of the symptoms of the malady\nwhich troubled him, and of the results of the curative treatment. In\nthese it has been thought permissible to abbreviate some passages\nand to omit others entirely, seeing that they are at the same time\nvalueless and unpleasant. But not a word which refers to any matter\nof general interest has been repressed; uninteresting medical details\nalone have been left out.\n\n    W. G. WATERS.\n\n    _August 1903._\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n    CHAP.      PAGE\n\n    INTRODUCTION                                                       1\n\n    I. FRANCE                                                         25\n\n    II. SWITZERLAND                                                   60\n\n    III. THE EMPIRE                                                   97\n\n    IV. TIROL                                                        159\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\nVOL. I\n\n\n    MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE (_Photogravure_)      _Frontispiece_\n\n    MEAUX        _To face page_ 26\n\n    BASEL              \u201d        62\n\n    BADEN EN ARGOW     \u201d        76\n\n    CONSTANCE          \u201d        96\n\n    KEMPTEN            \u201d       116\n\n    AUGSBURG           \u201d       128\n\n    MUNICH             \u201d       150\n\n    INNSBRUCK          \u201d       158\n\n    BRIXEN             \u201d       172\n\n    TRENT              \u201d       180\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nIn the world of literature there are many instances which exhibit\nthe personality of a particular writer identified so completely with\ncertain of his works that he is, so to speak, divorced from all\nassociation with any others, however great their merit, which he\nmay have left behind him. The popular verdict, so often swayed by\nincomprehensible impulse, is given in favour of one or two books,\nand all the rest fall into oblivion or neglect. How trifling is the\nvogue of Walton\u2019s \u201cLives\u201d compared with that of the \u201cAngler.\u201d To the\nmultitude Swift is known almost entirely as the author of Gulliver,\nand the name of Gray suggests the \u201cElegy\u201d as inevitably as that of\nCowper suggests \u201cJohn Gilpin.\u201d In like manner we find the fame of\nMontaigne resting on the \u201cEssays\u201d alone; but this case is in a measure\nexceptional. Montaigne died in 1592, and until 1774 the \u201cEssays\u201d\ncomprised the whole of his literary legacy. In the year last mentioned,\na certain M. Prunis, who was collecting materials for a history of\nPerigord, discovered in a chest at the Ch\u00e2teau de Montaigne the\nmanuscript account of the writer\u2019s travels in Switzerland, the Empire,\nand Italy in the years 1580 and 1581.\n\nNotwithstanding the fame of the writer, and the inherent interest of\nthe long-hidden work, the \u201cJournal\u201d failed to win the public favour,\nand virtually Montaigne still kept the status of a single book author.\nIt has never roused much enthusiasm in France, in spite of a generous\nand appreciative article by Sainte-Beuve in the _Nouveaux Lundis_.\n\u201cMontaigne,\u201d he writes, \u201cis the intimate friend of every one of us,\nand of our intimate friends it is impossible to know too much.\u201d And he\nthen goes on to demonstrate the extraordinary value and interest of the\n\u201cJournal\u201d when read in connection with the \u201cEssays.\u201d It is casting\nno slur on the \u201cJournal\u201d to say that it is inferior to the writers\nmasterpiece in literary grace; and, so much being granted, it may be\nasserted that nowhere in Montaigne\u2019s writings is his personality, with\nits attractive wisdom and no less attractive weaknesses, more clearly\nand completely exhibited than in the work under consideration.\n\nThis excellence of self-portraiture may be explained by the fact that\nthe Montaigne of the \u201cEssays\u201d greets us as the philosopher in his\nstudy, face to face with the innumerable problems to be canvassed\nin determining the rules which should guide man\u2019s conduct towards\nhis fellows. Here with laborious care he searches the world of books\nfor illustrations apt for the establishment of his position and\nfor its defence. Now and then, in spite of the quaint charm of the\nwriting, it seems as if we cannot see the wood for the trees, and we\nregret that we cannot enjoy a closer personal acquaintance with the\nauthor, a knowledge at first hand, and not blurred by the cloud of\napproving witnesses which it has pleased him to summon up from the\ncaverns of the libraries. But with the Montaigne of the \u201cJournal\u201d it\nis altogether different. Here we find the man giving his experience\nof a phase of life which, for good or evil, has become almost normal\nin these latter days. Most of us have crossed the Alps and descended\nupon Italy; and, changed as the conditions of travel are, it raises a\nsympathetic interest to read of the humours of the road in Montaigne\u2019s\ntime, and to compare his experience with our own. We are introduced\nto him face to face with troubles and pleasures, the intensity of\nwhich it is not difficult to gauge: the knavery of postmasters: the\nstupidity of guides: the discomfort of this inn, and the excellence\nof that. We listen to his simple narrative of his experience of men\nand cities, and learn to know him better here than when encumbered by\nthe swarming hypotheses and guarding clauses which fill the pages of\nhis _opus magnum_. When he begins to speculate, his reflections are\ngiven in the plainest words, and rarely fail to reveal one or other\nof those lovable personal traits with which acquaintance, as well as\ntradition, will have invested him. His large-minded toleration, his\nfastidious care lest any judgment given should be based on insufficient\nknowledge, and his reluctance to commit himself to any positive\nstatement--characteristics which dominate the drift of thought in the\n\u201cEssays\u201d--reappear in the \u201cJournal,\u201d and help to give to his utterances\non the world as he found it an authority which few contemporary\ntravellers could claim.\n\nIn any comparison he felt bound to draw between things in France and\nthings over the frontier, toleration is his watchword; and he knew\nno more of the spirit of Chauvinism than he did of the word. But he\nseems to have found some tendencies in that direction in the carriage\nof certain young Frenchmen whom he met at Padua, and he goes on to\nlament that the number of these should be large enough to constitute a\nsociety in itself, and that on this account his young countrymen should\nbe debarred from making acquaintance with the people of the place.\nAgain, he shows a little resentment at finding himself surrounded by\nsuch a crowd of Frenchmen as he found in Rome. He is full of praise\nof the iron work of Switzerland, and of the cookery as well. The\nbed-chambers in Germany did not always please him, but he could not\nsay too much in favour of the porcelain stoves and the coverlets\nstuffed with feathers; and when he found the charges at the baths of\nBaden a little arbitrary, he adds that he would have fared no better\nin France. He describes the private houses round Constance as being\nfar superior to the parallel class of house in France; and, in taking\nexception in a general way to defects in the service at the inns, he\nremarks that these things seemed amiss to him chiefly because they were\nunfamiliar: indeed, he lavished so much praise on German ways of living\nthat the patriotism of his amanuensis, was in one instance stirred\nto remonstrance. Montaigne had evidently a strong liking for Germany\n(though indeed he is somewhat uncomplimentary as to the personal charms\nof the ladies of Augsburg) and he left it with reluctance; for, when he\narrived at Botzen and marked the prevalence of Italian customs there,\nhe wrote in a strain of regret to Francis Hottoman, the jurisconsult\nwhom he had met at Basel, expressing his satisfaction at the treatment\nhe had met with in that city and his regrets at bidding farewell to\nthe Empire, even though his goal were Italy. Vanity is the proverbial\nweakness of the Frenchman, but the only trace of it in Montaigne\u2019s\nrecord is to be found in his action at Augsburg when some of the town\nofficers took him for a baron, and he bade his companions not correct\nthe error. His remarks thereanent show that he was more swayed by\nconsiderations of practical utility than by the desire of personal\nexaltation; as he goes on to say that, being credited with a baron\u2019s\nrank, he would doubtless receive more attention from the hands of the\nauthorities.\n\nTo show how little of the braggart was in him it may be noted that when\nhe visited the church of S. Lorenzo at Florence he did not refrain\nfrom naming, amongst the other sights he saw there, the French banners\ncaptured from Marshal Strozzi\u2019s forces by the Florentines, and when\non his way home he passed by Fornovo, the scene of the great French\nvictory in 1495, does not allude to the battle at all. On the other\nhand, he expressly records that he turned aside from the road between\nPavia and Milan to view the field of the battle so disastrous to the\narms of France.\n\nThe bent of Montaigne\u2019s mind led him to devote his chief attention to\nthe rules and institutions which regulated public life in the lands he\nvisited, rather than to what modern travellers call \u201csights,\u201d and in\nFynes Moryson\u2019s travels about ten, and in Coryat\u2019s about thirty years\nlater, the same tendencies appear. When at any time he does describe\nany human achievement, it is usually some mechanical device, such as\nthe watch-tower and the water-works at Augsburg. Italy was rich, or\nprobably much richer, in paintings than she is now, but only on three\nor four occasions does he find any worth mentioning. Nevertheless he\nwrites pages in praise of the ridiculous squirts and tubes which are\ndevised to drench the unwary visitors to Italian gardens now, just as\nthey did at the time when he was on his travels. Artificial water-works\nof all sorts seem to have had a peculiar fascination for him: indeed\non his way back to France he paid a second visit to Pratolino, near\nFlorence, in order to compare the merits of the fountains there with\nthose which he had seen at Tivoli. He ends the description of his\nexpedition with the following thoroughly characteristic sentences: \u201cEt\nessendo pregato dal casiero del palazzo di dire la mia sentenzia di\nquelle bellezze e di Tivoli, ne discorsi non comparando questi luoghi\nin generale, ma parte per parte, con le diverse considerazioni dell\u2019un\ne dell\u2019altro, essendo vicendevolmente vittore ora questo, or quello.\u201d\n\nPerhaps it would be unfair to attribute to indifference Montaigne\u2019s\ncomparative silence over Italian painting. In his day it was not the\nfashion to write so copiously as at present concerning this particular\nphase of art, nor was it deemed necessary that every third-rate painter\nshould possess his exponent and prophet. Whatever the reason, Montaigne\npassed it by in silence, save in a few instances, and the cause of\nhis appreciation in these cases was evidently that the pictures\npossessed historic interest. At Caprarola he found portraits of Henry\nII. of France, Catherine dei Medici and their two sons. He mentions\nthe pictures at Loreto, referring probably to the _ex voto_ daubs and\nnot to the works of Signorelli and Melozzo da Forli. In his visit to\nthe Vatican he notices a certain gallery which was being decorated\nwith views of Italy, ancient and modern, by the order of Gregory\nXIII., the reigning Pope, and also those by Vasari in the Sala Regia\ndepicting recent events of history which could hardly fail to interest\nhim--the battle of Lepanto, the massacre of S. Bartholomew, and the\ndeath of Coligny. At Padua he praises the gardens of the Arena, but\nleaves unnoticed the chapel and its frescoes: probably he had never\nheard Giotto\u2019s name. He has much to say of the Piazza at Siena, of\nthe fountain and of the bronze wolf, but only a few words as to the\nexterior of the Cathedral, and not one about the many works of art\nwithin. At the Certosa at Pavia he mentions the carven fa\u00e7ade and the\ntomb of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, but ignores the paintings. Sculpture\nseems to have had much greater fascination for him: he gives the names\nof many of the great works in the Vatican and Capitol, and praises\nMichael Angelo\u2019s \u201cMoses\u201d and his statues in the Medici Chapel at\nFlorence. He makes special mention of \u201cla belle fame qui est aus pieds\ndu Pape Pol tiers en la nouvelle \u00e9glise de S. Pierre,\u201d the statue which\nthe prudery of a later Pontiff caused to be encased in robes of bronze.\n\nMontaigne would occasionally throw a hard word at the Jesuits, and\nprobably he disliked them as a body, but, however this might be, he\nseldom failed to seek out any member of the order who might be resident\nin the cities he visited; no doubt because he knew he would meet a\nwell-educated man, and one able to converse with him on the topics\nhe had most at heart. At Rome he gives high praise to the diligence\nand ability of the Jesuits, probably for the reason that he found\nthe practical drift of their policy congenial to his own humour. He\ncertainly showed no sign of enthusiasm in contemplating the scenes of\nthe more emotional phenomena of Catholicism, for he made no reference\nto S. Catherine when describing Siena, and Assisi he did not deem\nworth a visit. He probably went to Loreto on account of the historic\nfame of the Santa Casa, and he was certainly much more impressed by\nthe material aspect of the prevalent legend, the crowds of pilgrims,\nthe shops for the sale of candles and _ex votos_, the riches of the\ntreasury, and the profit of the pilgrimage to the townsfolk, than by\nthe spiritual aspect of the same.\n\nMontaigne, sceptic as he was in dealing with religious questions,\nnever allowed this disposition to induce him to take up an unqualified\nattitude of hostility. Over the claims of the miraculous he kept his\njudgment in suspense, and did not condemn as a necessary imposture\nwhat he could not accept as a proven truth. Joseph Glanvil, in\n_Sadducismus Triumphatus_, holds a similar position in condemning what\nhe calls \u201cthe credulity of unbelief,\u201d that is, when sceptics, by way\nof discrediting phenomena which they cannot accept, suggest, as an\nalternative explanation, something still harder to believe. At Loreto,\nin commenting on the alleged miraculous cure of a certain M. Marteau,\nMontaigne shows a marked inclination to accept the popular version\nof the story, and omits to appraise the divers subjective influences\nwhich invariably play an important part in remedial phenomena of\nthis description. Again, he is swayed by the same humour in writing\nconcerning the peculiar virtue of the earth in the Campo Santo at Pisa,\nwhich was fabled to preserve human remains from corruption for any\nlength of time.\n\nNothing that Montaigne saw in his travels seems to have given him more\npleasure than the sight of the exquisite cultivation of the plains and\nhillsides in Italy and the consequent well-being of the _contadini_.\nOn this subject he writes with enthusiasm and even astonishment while\ndescending the southern slopes of the Alps, and traversing the Lombard\nplain and the lovely valley of Clitumnus. Nowhere in the \u201cJournal\u201d\ndoes he speak with a stronger note of gratification than in describing\nthese evidences of material prosperity: not even when he tells of an\ninterview with some learned man, or sets down some new facts concerning\nprevalent laws and institutions, or ventures on some shrewd and\nluminous inference founded on his experiences of the men and cities he\nhad got to know in the course of his travels.\n\nThe part of the \u201cJournal\u201d which will be found most interesting to\ncontemporary readers is unquestionably that which describes his sojourn\nin Rome. His perception was dazzled and awe-stricken at the spectacle\nof the vast and ruinous habitation which then sheltered the greatest\nunifying influence still existing in the world; but, impressed as he\nwas by the majesty of the Papal power, he made it quite clear that\nthis was not for him the true Rome. His conception of the genius of\nthe place was in the main a subjective one. With an intelligence\ndisciplined and enriched by historic study, he seemed to behold at\nevery turn the phantom of that astounding domination, now empty, vain,\nand shattered; and, in recording his reflections on this pregnant\ntheme, his style rises as near to rhapsody as his well-balanced\ntemperament would allow.\n\nWith respect to Rome as he found it, Montaigne was profoundly impressed\nby the manifestation of the concentrated power of the Catholic\nChurch, the splendour of the religious functions, and the activity and\ndevotion of the various confraternities. He estimates this show of\nreligious enthusiasm, and the ardour of the people over their spiritual\nexercises, as the chief glory of the place as it then existed. At the\nsame time he was quite unconvinced by the spectacle of an attempt by\nsome priests to exorcise evil spirits, and evidently viewed the whole\naffair as a nauseous imposture, like Fynes Moryson on a subsequent\nvisit. His tolerant disposition is shown by the keen interest he took\nover the Lutheran baptismal and marriage rites which he witnessed at\nAugsburg, and few experiences of his travels seem to have interested\nhim more than the ceremony of circumcision, which he witnessed in the\nhouse of a Jew in Rome, and described in minute detail and at great\nlength.\n\nThe main object of Montaigne\u2019s journey was to visit certain foreign\nbaths, with the hope of getting relief from the pains which he\nsuffered through gall-stone and gravel. Seeing that he must almost\nalways have been in pain, or at least discomfort, and that the\ninconveniences of travel were in themselves no light burden in these\ndays, the constant cheerfulness of his temper, and his freshness\nof sentiment and speech, whenever he chanced to be brought face to\nface with some attractive experience, prove what a sweet and happy\nnature his must have been. He records how on the road from Terni to\nSpoleto he was suffering from colic, which had vexed him for the\nlast four-and-twenty hours, but this plague did not prevent him from\nexpressing his delight over the exquisite scenery on either hand.\nTravel by itself was to him the keenest pleasure, as he shows in the\nquaint remarks he lets fall when journeying from Trent to Rovere. His\ncompanions were seemingly aggrieved that he occasionally led them a\nwild-goose chase, and brought them back to the point from which they\nstarted; but he gaily assured them that he never missed his way,\nbecause, as he never made plans, the place in which he might find\nhimself at sunset must needs be the legitimate end of the day\u2019s travel.\nPerhaps of all the humours he displayed _en route_, the most marked\nwas his insatiable curiosity and his avidity of fresh experience. He\nmet the Pope (Gregory XIII.), the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the Duke of\nFerrara, and cardinals, ambassadors, chancellors, and officials out\nof number, and hardly one of these got rid of him without having to\nlisten and reply to divers well-judged questions. He even went so far\nas to pay visits to the lodgings of the fashionable _cortigiane_ in\nRome, as Coryat did at Venice. In many places he writes in a strain\nwhich shows that, in spite of bodily ills and his clear perception\nof the troubles of the world, he felt a keen joy in life. On setting\nout for Italy he declared he seemed to be in like case to one who\nreads some delightful story or good book and dreads to turn the last\npage. The pleasure of travel was to him so intense, that he hated the\nsight of the place where he ought by rights to stop and rest. The\ngrant of Roman citizenship evidently pleased him greatly, as did his\nelection as Mayor of Bordeaux, though he coquetted a little with the\nburgesses at first. But though he and the world were good friends, he\nkept constantly before his mind the certainty and the nearness of the\nhour when they must part. There is nothing of fear, nothing even of\nquerulousness, in his reflections when he was evidently very ill at\nLucca. \u201cIt would be too great cowardice and _ischifilt\u00e0_ on my part if,\nknowing that I am every day in danger of death from these ailments, and\ndrawing nearer thereto every hour in the course of nature, I did not\ndo my best to bring myself into a fitting mood to meet my end whenever\nit may come. And in this respect it is wise to take joyfully all the\ngood fortune God may send. Moreover there is no remedy, nor rule, nor\nknowledge whereby to keep clear of these evils which, from every side\nand at every minute, gather round man\u2019s footsteps, save in the resolve\nto endure them with dignity, or boldly and promptly make an end of\nthem.\u201d We seem here to be very far from the traditional frivolity of\nthe Frenchman; much nearer to the calm wisdom of Epictetus or Marcus\nAurelius.\n\nMontaigne travelled in company with M. Mattecoulon, his younger\nbrother; M. d\u2019Estissac, probably the son of the lady to whom he\ndedicated the \u201cEssay,\u201d Book ii. No. 8; M. de Caselis, who left the\nparty to stay on at Padua; and M. d\u2019Hautoy, who seems to have remained\nwith him all through the journey. Mattecoulon remained in Rome after\nMontaigne\u2019s final departure, and shortly after he was imprisoned on\naccount of a duel (\u201cEssays,\u201d ii. 27), and liberated by the good offices\nof the King of France. M. d\u2019Estissac seems to have remained behind with\nhim.\n\nThe first two books of the \u201cEssays\u201d were published in 1580, before the\nauthor set forth on his travels, and the work, as we know it, was first\ngiven to the world in 1588, with the third book added. In this book\nhe refers to several incidents of his sojourn in Rome--notably to the\ngrant of Roman citizenship which was then made to him. In addition,\nhe carefully revised the first and second books by the light of his\nforeign experiences, and made some six hundred additions, many of which\nrefer to incidents connected with his journey. He mentions the strange\nstory of Mary Germain, who underwent transformation from the female to\nthe male sex, a story also noticed by Ambrose Par\u00e9, the great French\nsurgeon; the execution at Rome of Catena, a notorious criminal; and his\nvisit to Tasso at Ferrara. Curiously enough, he makes no mention of\nthis visit in the \u201cJournal.\u201d\n\nIt is hard to believe that a man so communicative as Montaigne would\nhave kept secret from his friends the existence of the written record\nhe made of his journey; and, taking it for granted that the existence\nof the MS. was suspected, it is just as hard to understand how it\nhappened that a search was not made for it after his death, and that\nit should have lain undiscovered till M. Prunis found it in 1774. The\nMS. was complete, except a leaf or so at the beginning, and nearly\nhalf of it seems to have been written from dictation by a valet or\nsecretary, Montaigne himself having taken up the task on February 16th,\n1581. The handwriting, both of master and man, was very bad, and it\nneeded all the skill of M. Capperonier, the royal librarian at Paris,\nand of other experts, to disentangle the meaning of the caligraphy, and\nmake a legible copy. When this was finished, it was placed in the hands\nof M. Querlon, who brought out the first edition in 1774.\n\nIt would be unreasonable to expect any elegancies of style in the\nportion of the \u201cJournal\u201d written down by the secretary from dictation,\nand when Montaigne himself takes the pen in hand he does not greatly\nmend matters. All through will be found the strangest mixture of\nsubjects, and jerkiness of style. The most incongruous themes are\ntreated in juxtaposition. At Augsburg, at the end of a discussion with\na Lutheran theologian, he throws in the remark that they had white\nhares for supper; and again, while speaking of mixed marriages, he\nrecords that here they clean windows with a hairbrush fixed on the end\nof a stick. At Rome he passes in a breath from a consideration of the\nrelative prevalence of heresy in France and Spain to a remark that all\nthe cargo boats on the Tiber are towed by buffaloes. In cataloguing\nthe advantages of the city as a place of abode he tells how many\nof the palaces of the high nobility were at the disposition of any\nstrange gentleman who might wish to repair thither for the night with a\ncompanion to his taste, and how in no other city in the world could be\nheard so many sermons and theological disputes.\n\nAs soon as he had crossed the Alps on his homeward way Montaigne\nevidently looked upon his journey as over. The entries in the \u201cJournal\u201d\nare merely memoranda of the various stopping places, and the note of\nsadness in these closing sentences is very evident. All interest in the\nplaces he passed is now vanished, and the humours of the road appeal to\nhim no more. He is going home, an old man afflicted by an ailment which\nhas proved incurable, with only the prospect of a few years of invalid\nlife before him, and he may well be excused for falling into a mood\nwhich throws a darker shade over the last pages of his record.\n\n\n\n\nTHE JOURNAL OF MONTAIGNE\u2019S TRAVELS IN ITALY\n\nBY WAY OF SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY[1] IN 1580 AND 1581\n\n\n\n\nI\n\nFRANCE\n\n\n... Monsieur de Montaigne sent Monsieur Mattecoulon[2] with his squire\nby post to pay a visit to the count[3] aforesaid, whom they found\nwounded, but not mortally. At Beaumont M. d\u2019Estissac joined our party\nfor the sake of company, our routes being the same. He had with him a\ngentleman, a _valet-de-chambre_, two lackeys, a muleteer and a mule,\nan addition equal in number to our own party, the outlay being equally\ndivided. On Monday, September 5th, we left Beaumont after dinner, and\nrode in one bout to Meaux, where we arrived in time for supper.\n\n[Illustration: MEAUX\n\n    _To face p. 26_, vol. i.\n]\n\nMeaux is a small and handsome town on the Marne, divided into three\nparts. The town itself and its suburbs are on this side of the river\ntowards Paris, and over the Marne lies another portion--the third--a\nlarge suburb known as the March\u00e9, surrounded on all sides by the\nriver and a well-constructed ditch, and containing many houses and\ninhabitants. This place was formerly strongly fortified by high and\nformidable walls and towers, but in the second period of our Huguenot\ntroubles, the greater part of the inhabitants being of that party, all\nthese defences were thrown down. This quarter also withstood the attack\nof the English, the other portions of the town being ruined, and by way\nof reward the inhabitants of the March\u00e9 are still exempted from payment\nof _taille_ and other taxes. They point out in the Marne an island, two\nor three hundred feet in length, which was, they say, originally an\nembankment made by the English as a position from which the fortress of\nthe March\u00e9 might be bombarded by warlike engines, the artificial work\nhaving become firm ground in the course of time.[4] In this faubourg\nwe saw the abbey of Saint Faron, a building of great antiquity, where\nthey show certain chambers in which Ogier the Dane[5] is said to have\ndwelt. There is also an ancient refectory, with tables of stone, very\nlong and massive, and of an unwonted size, and in the middle of this\nhall was formerly a spring of fresh water which served for drinking.\nTo this day most of the monks are men of gentle birth. Amongst other\nthings is to be seen an ancient and stately tomb, upon which are carved\nin stone the figures of two knights of abnormal stature, and legend\nsays that these represent Ogier the Dane and one of his paladins. It\nhas neither inscription nor armorial device, nothing save a sentence\nin Latin which an abbot caused to be set thereon some hundred years\nago, recording that two unknown heroes lie buried below; and in the\ntreasury they still show the bones of these knights, the bone of the\narm, from shoulder to elbow, being about the length of the entire arm\nof a man of average stature in these days, and a little longer than\nthat of M. de Montaigne. They show likewise two of their swords, about\nthe length of our own two-handed swords, the edges gapped by strokes\nof battle. At Meaux, M. de Montaigne paid a visit to the treasurer of\nthe church of St. Stephen, one Juste Terrelle,[6] a man of note amongst\nthe savants of France, a little old man, sixty years of age, who has\nvisited Egypt and Jerusalem, and lived seven years in Constantinople.\nHe showed us his library and the curiosities of his garden, where the\nmost wonderful thing we saw was a tree of box of round growth, and so\nthick by artificial cutting, that it seemed to be a circular ball,\nmassive and trim, about a man\u2019s height.\n\nFrom Meaux, where we took our dinner on the Tuesday, we set out and\nslept at Charly, seven leagues distant. On Wednesday after dinner we\nwent on to sleep at Dormans, seven leagues farther on, and on the\nmorrow we arrived in time for dinner at Esprenei.[7] After our arrival\nM. de Montaigne and M. d\u2019Estissac went to the church of Notre Dame\nto hear Mass, as was their wont. M. de Montaigne had taken note that\nwhen M. de Strozzi[8] was slain some years ago at Thionville they had\nburied his body in this church, wherefore he now inquired what manner\nof sepulture had been given him, and found that he had been buried\nin a spot in front of the high altar which was marked neither by\nmemorial nor tombstone, nor armorial device, nor epitaph. They told\nus, moreover, that the queen[9] had caused him to be buried thus simply\nbecause this was his desire. The day being the feast of our Lady of\nSeptember[10] the office was said by the bishop of Rennes, one of the\nParisian family of Hanequin and abb\u00e9 of this church. After the Mass was\nfinished, M. de Montaigne met in the church M. Maldonat,[11] a Jesuit\nwell known to fame by reason of his philosophical and theological\nlearning. They held divers learned discourses together during and after\ndinner in M. de Montaigne\u2019s lodging, whither Maldonat had come to see\nhim. Amongst other matters Maldonat described the baths of Spa, near\nby to Li\u00e8ge, where he had recently sojourned in company with M. de\nNevers. These are exceedingly cold, and it is there considered that\nthe colder the water the better. The springs are so cold that some who\ndrink thereof fall into a trembling and shuddering, but soon after the\nwater causes a fine feeling of warmth in the stomach. In his case he\ntook a hundred ounces; the glasses being supplied by the attendants of\nwhatever measure each particular visitor may require. The waters may\nbe drunk fasting and also after a meal, and their effect seemed to be\nsimilar to those of Gascony. As to his own experience he gave certain\nobservations concerning their strength, and as to the hurt which had\nbefallen him through drinking the same when sweating and fatigued. He\nmarked how frogs and other small animals died immediately they were\nthrown into the water, and how a handkerchief, which was placed over\na glass filled with the same, quickly became yellow. The shortest\ncourse of treatment is fifteen days or three weeks. It is a place where\nexcellent accommodation and lodgment may be found, and is most salutary\nin cases of gravel or obstruction. Nevertheless neither the speaker nor\nM. de Nevers got any relief from the waters.\n\nMaldonat had with him the _ma\u00eetre d\u2019h\u00f4tel_ of M. de Nevers. They gave\nto M. de Montaigne the printed paper relating to the dispute between\nM. de Montpensier and M. de Nevers,[12] so that he might be rightly\ninformed concerning the matter, and be able to explain the same to\nany gentlefolk who might question him thereanent. We set forth on the\nFriday morning and travelled seven leagues to Ch\u00e2lons.[13] Here we\nlodged at the \u201cCrown,\u201d a fine house, where we were served on silver\nplate, and most of us were provided with silken bedding. The ordinary\nhouses of this district are built of chalk stone, cut into small blocks\nabout half a foot square; some, however, are of turf, treated in like\nfashion. On the morrow we set out after dinner and slept at Vitri le\nFran\u00e7ois, seven leagues farther on.\n\nThis is a small town on the banks of the Marne, built some thirty-five\nor forty years ago in place of the former town, which had been burnt.\nIt still keeps its original form, pleasant and well proportioned, and\nin the midst thereof is a large square, one of the finest in France.\nDuring our sojourn there, three marvellous stories were told to us.\nOne was that Madame the Dowager de Guise de Bourbon,[14] who was\nliving at the age of eighty-seven years, could still go afoot for the\ndistance of a quarter of a league. Another was, that a short time ago,\nexecution had been done at Montirandet,[15] a place close by, upon one\ncondemned for a certain offence. Several years before, seven or eight\ngirls belonging to Chaumont-en-Bassigni had secretly determined to\nput on male attire, and to live the life of men. Amongst these one,\ncalled Mary, came from Vitry aforenamed. She got her living by weaving,\npassing as a well-favoured young man, and on friendly terms with every\none. She engaged herself to marry a woman of Vitry, who is still alive,\nbut on account of some strife which arose between them, the match went\nno further. Afterwards, having gone to Montirandet, and still following\nthe weavers calling, she fell in love again with a certain woman, with\nwhom she married and lived, as the story goes, contentedly four or five\nmonths. But, having been recognised by some one living at Chaumont, and\nthe matter having been brought to the notice of the courts, she was\ncondemned to be hanged; whereupon she declared she would liefer suffer\nthus than live a woman\u2019s life. She was hanged on the charge of using\nunlawful appliances to remedy the defects of her sex.\n\nThe third story is of a man still living named Germain,[16] of humble\ncondition, and engaged in no employment. Up to the age of twenty-two\nyears he had been regarded by all the townsfolk as a girl, albeit the\nchin was more hairy than that of other girls, for which reason she\nwas called _Marie la barbue_. It came to pass one day when she put\nforth all her strength in taking a leap, that the distinctive signs\nof manhood showed themselves, whereupon the Cardinal of Lenoncourt,\nat that time bishop of Ch\u00e2lons, gave him the name of Germain. This\npersonage is still unmarried, and has a large thick beard. We could not\nsee him because he was away at the village where he lived. A popular\nsong, sung by the girls of the place, warns all girls against taking\nlong strides lest they should become men like Marie Germain. Report\nsays that Ambrose Par\u00e9 has taken note of this tale in his book on\nsurgery. It is certainly true, and testimony thereof was given to M. de\nMontaigne by the chief officials of the town. We left this place after\nbreakfast on Sunday morning and travelled to Bar,[17] a distance of\nnine leagues.\n\nM. de Montaigne had already visited this town. He now came upon\nnothing fresh worth noting, save the extraordinary outlay which a\ncertain priest, the dean of the place, had made, and was still making,\nover public works. His name was Gilles de Tr\u00e8ves.[18] He has built a\nchapel of marble, with paintings and ornaments, the most sumptuous of\nany in France; and besides this, he has erected and almost furnished a\nhouse which is the finest in the town, of the fairest structure, the\nbest planned and furnished, elaborated with rich carved work and most\ncomfortable as a residence. This he desires to make a college, to endow\nthe same, and set it to work at his own charges. From Bar, where we\ntook our dinner on the Monday morning, we journeyed four leagues to\nMannese,[19] where we slept.\n\nThis was a small village, where M. de Montaigne was forced to halt by\nreason of a colic, for which same cause he put aside the plan he had\nformed of seeing Toul, Metz, Nancy, Joinville, and St. Disier, towns\nscattered along the route, and repaired direct by diligence to the\nbaths of Plombi\u00e8res. From Mannese we departed on the Tuesday morning,\nand took our dinner at Vaucouleur, a place a league farther on. Passing\nalong the banks of the Meuse we came to Donremy-sur-Meuse, seven\nleagues from Vaucouleur, where was born the famous Maid of Orleans\nnamed Jeanne Day or Dallis. Her family was afterwards ennobled by the\nking,[20] who made a grant of arms which was shown to us; azure with a\nstraight sword, crowned and with a golden hilt, and two _fleurs-de-lis_\nin gold beside the sword aforenamed. A certain receiver of Vaucouleur\ngave a painted escutcheon of the same to M. de Caselis. The front of\nthe little house where she was born is all painted with her feats, but\nthe colour is much decayed through age. There is also a tree beside\na vineyard which they call \u201c_l\u2019arbre de la Pucelle_,\u201d but there is\nnothing remarkable about it. That evening we slept, after travelling\nfive leagues, at Neufchasteau.\n\nHere in the church of the Cordeliers are many ancient tombs, three or\nfour hundred years old, erected to the memory of the nobles of the\nprovince. The inscriptions thereon all run in these terms: \u201cHere lies\na certain one who died when the tale of years was passing through the\ntwelve hundreds,\u201d &c.[21] M. de Montaigne went to see the library,\nwhich contains many books, but none of them rare; and a well from which\nwater is drawn by vast buckets which are turned by stepping with the\nfeet on to a wooden plank attached to a wheel: the axle of the wheel\naforesaid being a piece of wood to which the well rope is fastened. He\nhad seen elsewhere others like it. Beside the well is a great stone\ntrough, six or seven feet above the brim, and the bucket rises and\nempties water into this trough without further help, and lowers itself\nwhen empty. This trough is raised so high that by means of leaden pipes\nthe water of the well finds its way to the refectory and kitchen and\nbath-house. It likewise springs forth out of masses of stone, built\nto counterfeit natural fountains. We breakfasted in the morning at\nNeufchasteau, and after travelling six leagues we supped at Mirecourt.\n\nThis is a fair little town where M. de Montaigne heard tidings of M.\nand Madame de Bourbon who dwelt near thereto. On the morning of the\nmorrow after breakfast he went a quarter of a league or so aside from\nour route to see the nuns of Poussay. This was one of those religious\nhouses, of which there are many in these parts, established for the\nmaintenance of women of good family. Each one has pension by way of\nsustenance, of one, two, or three hundred crowns, some less, some\nmore, and a separate dwelling where each one can live apart. There\nlittle girls are taken in to nurse; no obligation of virginity is\nlaid upon any except those holding office, to wit, the abbess, the\nprioress, and certain others. They have liberty to dress as they will,\nlike other ladies, except that they wear on their heads a white veil;\nand, in church during the Mass, they wear a large cloak which they\nleave behind them in their seat in the choir. The inmates can receive\nany acquaintance who may come to seek them, whether to urge them to\nmatrimony or for any other reason. Any one who is so minded may sell\nher annuity to whomsoever she will, provided that this person be of the\nclass and condition required. For certain of the nobles of the district\nhave this duty laid upon them, to wit, that they must be satisfied by a\nsworn declaration as to the lineage of the candidate whom any one may\nbring forward. It is not unbecoming for one nun to hold three or four\nannuities. During their sojourn they attend religious services the same\nas in other places, and the greater part of them end their days there\nwithout desiring change of condition.\n\nOn leaving this place we rode five leagues to supper at Espine,[22] a\nwell-built little town where entry was denied to us for that we had\njourneyed by Neufchasteau where the plague had raged a short time ago.\nOn the next day in the morning we reached Plommieres[23] in time for\ndinner, a journey of four leagues.\n\nFrom Bar-le-Duc onwards the leagues are again of the Gascon measure,\nand as one approaches Germany they become longer and longer, so that,\nat last, they wax double, or even treble. We entered Plommieres on\nFriday the 16th of September 1580, at two o\u2019clock in the afternoon.\nIt is on the borders of Lorraine and Germany, situated in a chasm\nbetween divers lofty scarped hills, which close it in on all sides. At\nthe bottom of this valley several springs, cold and hot as well, flow\nforth. The hot water has neither smell nor taste, and is by nature as\nhot as any one can endure to drink: so much so that M. de Montaigne\nwas obliged to pass it from glass to glass. Only two of the springs\nare drunk. One which flows from the eastward and forms the bath, which\nthey call the Queen\u2019s Bath, leaves in the mouth a certain sweet taste,\nnot unlike liquorice, and no disagreeable aftertaste. But after very\ncareful attention, M. de Montaigne declared that a slight flavour of\niron might be detected therein. The other spring which rises at the\nbase of the mountain opposite, and of which M. de Montaigne drank only\none day, is slightly harsh, and has the flavour of alum. The habit\nof the place is to take a bath two or three times a day. Some take\ntheir meals in the bath, where they are cupped and scarified, and do\nnot drink the waters except after a purge. If they drink at all, they\ntake a glass or two in the bath. They deemed the practice of M. de\nMontaigne a mighty strange one, to wit that, without any preparatory\nmedicine, he should take nine glasses of water, amounting to a potful,\nevery morning at seven, and dine at mid-day; that on the days when he\nbathed--every other one--he should fix upon four o\u2019clock, and only stay\nabout an hour in the water. And on these days he willingly went without\nhis supper.\n\nWe saw some men cured of ulcers and others of pimples on the body.\nThe wonted course is a month at least, and rooms are let most readily\nin May. Few people frequent the place after the month of August, by\nreason of the cold, but we found much company there still, because the\nheat and drought had been abnormally prolonged. Amongst others, M.\nde Montaigne gained the friendship and acquaintance of the Seigneur\nd\u2019Andelot of Franche Cont\u00e9,[24] the son of the master of the horse of\nthe Emperor Charles V. He himself was chief field-marshal in the army\nof Don John of Austria, and he held the governorship of St. Quentin\nafter we lost the place. One portion of his beard and one side of his\neyebrow had become white, and he told M. de Montaigne how this change\nhad come about in a moment of time, on a certain day when he was filled\nwith distress over the death of one of his brothers, whom the Duke of\nAlva had put to death as an accomplice of the Counts Egmont and Horn.\nHe was sitting resting his head upon his hand, which touched the places\nbeforenamed, wherefore his attendants, when they saw what had happened\nto him, deemed that some flour must have fallen upon him by accident.\nHe has been like this ever since.\n\nThis bath was formerly used only by Germans, but for several years past\nthe people of Franche Cont\u00e9 and France have come in great numbers.\nThere are several baths, and the principal one is built oval in shape,\nafter the fashion of an ancient edifice. It is thirty-five paces long\nand fifteen wide. The hot water rises from several springs, and cold\nwater is made to trickle down into the bath so that the heat may be\nmoderated according to the taste of those who use it. The places in\nthe bath are set out side by side by bars suspended like those in our\nstables, and planks are laid over the top so as to keep off the heat of\nthe sun and the rain. The visitors in this place maintain a singular\npropriety of carriage, and it is reckoned indecent for men to bathe\nnaked or with less clothing than a little jacket, or for women to wear\nless than a chemise. We lodged at the \u201cAngel,\u201d which is the best house,\nbecause it communicates with two of the baths. The charge for lodging,\nwhen several rooms were engaged, was no more than fifteen sous a day.\nThe hosts supply all wood for this charge, but the country is so rich\ntherein that it costs nothing but the cutting, and the hostesses do\nexceedingly well in the kitchens. When the high season comes a lodging\nlike this one would cost a crown a day, and be cheap at the price.\nHorse feed is seven sous a day, and everything else the visitor needs\nto buy is good and reasonable in price. The chambers are not sumptuous,\nbut very convenient, and, by reason of the numerous galleries, there is\nnever need to pass through one to reach another; but the wine and bread\nare bad. The people are worthy, independent, sensible, and obliging.\nAll the laws of the land are religiously observed, and every year they\nwrite afresh on a tablet, hung up in front of the principal bath, the\nlaws there inscribed in the German and French tongues as follows:--\n\n\u201cClaude de Rynach, knight, lord of St. Balesmont, Montureulz en\nFerette, Lendacourt, &c., councillor and chamberlain of our sovereign\nlord monseigneur the Duke &c., and his balli of the Vosges.\n\n\u201cLet it be known that for securing the comfort and quietude of the many\nladies and other persons, coming from divers countries to these baths\nof Plommieres, we have (according to the intention of his Highness)\ndecreed and ordained as follows:\n\n\u201cLet it be known that corrective discipline for light offences shall\nremain as heretofore in the hands of the Germans, who are enjoined\nto enforce observation of all ceremonies, regulations, and police,\nwhich have hitherto been used for the seemly maintenance of the baths\naforesaid, and for the punishment of offences committed by those of\ntheir own nation, without granting exception to any person by the\npayment of ransom, and without using blasphemy or other irreverent\nremarks against the Catholic Church and the traditions of the same.\n\n\u201cIt is forbidden to all people, of whatever quality, condition,\nregion, or province they may be, to use provocation in insulting\nlanguage tending to lead to quarrels: to carry arms while at the baths\naforesaid: to give the lie: to put hand to arms under pain of severe\npunishment as breakers of the peace, rebels and disobedient to his\nHighness.\n\n\u201cAlso it is forbidden to all prostitutes and immodest women to enter\nthe baths, or to be found within five hundred paces of the same\nunder penalty of a whipping at the four corners of the town. And the\nhouseholders who shall receive or conceal them shall incur the pain of\nimprisonment and arbitrary fine.\n\n\u201cThe same penalty will fall on those who shall use any lascivious or\nimmodest discourse to any ladies, or damsels, or other women and girls\nwho may be visiting the baths, or touch them in a manner unbecoming, or\nenter or quit the baths in ribald fashion, contrary to public decency.\n\n\u201cAnd because by the boon of the baths aforenamed God and nature\nhave afforded us cure and relief in many cases, and because decent\ncleanliness and purity are necessary in order to keep off the many\ncontagions and infections which might well engender in such a place,\nit is expressly commanded to the governor of these baths to take the\nutmost care, and to inspect the persons of those who frequent the\nsame by day and by night; to make them keep decency and silence during\nthe night, making no noise, nor scandal, nor horse-play. And if any\nperson will not render obedience the governor shall forthwith carry the\naffair before the magistrate, so that an exemplary punishment may be\ngiven. Beyond this it is prohibited to all persons coming from infected\nplaces to repair to Plommieres under pain of death. It is expressly\nlaid upon all mayors and officers of justice to have careful watch\nover the place; and upon all the townsfolk, to furnish us with billets\ncontaining the names, surnames, and residence of all the people they\nmay have taken into their lodgings, under pain of imprisonment. All\nthe ordinances above declared have been this day published in front of\nthe great bath of Plommieres aforesaid, and copies of the same, both\nin French and in German, affixed to the nearest and most prominent\nportion of the bath, and signed by us, Balli of the Vosges: Given at\nPlommieres the fourth day of May in the year of our Lord 15--.\u201d\n\nWe tarried at this place from the 18th to the 27th of September. M.\nde Montaigne drank the water eleven days, nine glasses on eight days,\nand seven glasses the other three, and took five baths. He found the\nwater easy to drink, and the effects of the same all he could wish.\nAppetite, digestion, and sleep were alike good, and his general health\nsuffered no injury from these waters. On the sixth day he was seized\nwith a colic, more violent than his ordinary attacks, and with pain on\nthe right side, where he had never hitherto been troubled, save once\nin the course of a very trifling attack at Arsac. This seizure lasted\nfour hours, and while it was on him he felt plainly the working and the\nmovement of the stone in the urethra and the lower part of the stomach.\nThe first two days he passed two small stones from the bladder, and\ngravel occasionally afterwards. When he left these baths he deemed that\nhe had still in his bladder both the stone of this attack of colic,\nand certain other small ones of which he had felt the downward passage.\nHe judged the qualities of these waters, with regard to his own case,\nto be much the same as those of the high spring of Banieres,[25] where\nthere is a bath. He found the temperature of the bath very mild,\nindeed, children of six months or a year old are wont to sprawl about\ntherein. His perspiration was copious and gentle. He directed me for\nthe gratification of his landlady to let her have the escutcheon of his\narms on wood--this being the custom of the country--which escutcheon a\npainter of the place did for a crown, and the hostess caused it to be\nhung up on the outside wall.\n\nOn the 27th of September, after dinner, we set forth and traversed a\nmountainous country, the soil of which resounded under our horses\u2019 feet\nas if we were going over a vault, or even as if men were beating drums\nall around us. At the end of two leagues we stopped for the night at\nRemiremont, a fair little town, where we found excellent lodging at the\n\u201cUnicorn\u201d: indeed, in all the towns of Lorraine, and this was the last\nof them, the traveller finds as convenient lodging and as excellent\nfare as in any part of France. At Remiremont is that famous abbey of\nreligious women of the same rank as those of Poussai before described.\nThey claim, as against M. de Lorrene,[26] the sovereignty and ownership\nof this town. M. d\u2019Estissac and M. de Montaigne paid them a visit\nvery soon after their arrival, and inspected several of the sets of\nlodgings, all of which were very seemly and well furnished. The abbess,\nof the family of D\u2019Inteville, had lately died, and they were about to\nelect another to the office, the sister of the Count de Salmes being a\ncandidate. They also went to see the _doyenne_, a member of the house\nof Lutre, a lady who had done M. de Montaigne the honour of sending to\ngreet him while he was at Plommieres, despatching also a supply of\nartichokes and partridges, and a barrel of wine for his use. Messieurs\nwere informed that certain neighbouring villages are bound to deliver\non the day of Pentecost every year two bowls of snow; and, failing\nthese, a cart equipped with four white oxen. It is said that they never\nfail to find snow for their rent, but it is certain that, when we were\nthere, the heat was as great as is felt at any season in Gascony. The\nnun\u2019s dress is a white veil, worn on the head, and a little lappel of\ncrape over it. Their robes are black, made of any stuff and pattern\nthey may choose, while on the premises, but otherwise they may wear\ncolours, petticoats to their liking, and shoes and pattens; and dress\ntheir hair under the veil in ordinary fashion. Each nun must be\ndescended from at least four noble houses on the father\u2019s side and the\nmother\u2019s as well. Messieurs took leave of the ladies at eventide. Early\non the morrow we set forth, and after we had mounted, the _doyenne_\nsent a gentleman to M. de Montaigne begging him to go to her. He went,\nand this visit cost us an hour\u2019s delay. This society of ladies gave\nhim procuration to deal with their affairs at Rome. After we left we\nfollowed for some distance a lovely and pleasant valley, skirting the\nbanks of the Moselle, and reached Bossan,[27] four leagues distant, in\ntime for dinner.\n\nThis is a little ugly town, the last place where French is spoken. Here\nM. d\u2019Estissac and M. de Montaigne, clad in garments of linen which\nwere lent to them, went to see the silver mines which M. de Lorenne\npossesses in this place, situated some two thousand paces up a mountain\ngorge. After dinner we took a road through the mountains, where they\npointed out to us, amongst other things, the nests of the goshawks\nperched on inaccessible rocks [the birds aforesaid being worth about\nthree testoons], and the source of the Moselle. We arrived, after\ntravelling four leagues, in time for supper at Tane.[28]\n\nThis is a handsome town, the first over the German frontier, and\nsubject to the Emperor. The following morning we found ourselves in a\nfine wide plain, bounded on the left hand by slopes full of vineyards,\nfair and excellently cultivated, and of such extent that the Gascons\nwho were with us declared they had never seen the like. This was the\ntime of vintage.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nSWITZERLAND\n\n\nWe travelled two leagues farther to dinner at Melhouse,[29] a fair\nlittle Swiss town of the canton of Basle. There M. de Montaigne went to\nvisit the church, the people of this town being no longer Catholics.\nThis he found, as elsewhere in the country, in good condition, for\nscarcely any change has been made, except with regard to the altars\nand the images, the churches themselves having suffered no defacement.\nHe was vastly pleased to behold the liberty and order prevalent among\nthese people; how our host of the \u201cGrapes\u201d returned from the council\nboard of the town, held in a magnificent palace, over which he had\npresided, to do service to his guests at table; and to hear how\nthis man, without any following or office, who poured out the wine\nat dinner, had formerly led four troops of footmen into France under\nCasimir to fight against the king, and was now the king\u2019s pensioner,\nhaving received three hundred crowns per annum for the last twenty\nyears.[30] While M. de Montaigne was sitting at table, this gentleman\ntalked to him, without the least pretentiousness or affectation,\nof his condition and way of life; and how he and others found that\ntheir religion was no bar to their serving the king, even against\nthe Huguenots. This we heard likewise from others whom we met in our\ntravels, and also at the siege of La F\u00e8re[31] more than fifty of these\npeople served with us, and that they made no scruple of being married\nby a priest to Catholic women, who were never required to change their\nreligion. After dinner we set out travelling through a fine country,\nabundant, very fertile, and ornamented with divers pretty villages and\nhostelries, and arrived at Basle, three leagues\u2019 journey, in time for\nbed.\n\n[Illustration: BASEL\n\n_From Civitates Orbis Terrarum_\n\n    _To face p. 62_, vol. i.\n]\n\nBasle is a fine town, about the size of Blois, and divided into two\nparts, for the Rhine flows through the midst under a large wooden\nbridge of great width. The city authorities did the honour to M.\nd\u2019Estissac and M. de Montaigne of sending a present of wine by one of\ntheir officers, who made a long speech to them as they sat at table. M.\nde Montaigne made a similar reply in the presence of certain Germans\nand Frenchmen, who were seated with them round the stove, the host\nserving as interpreter. The wines were very good. We went in separate\nparties to the house of a certain physician, named Felix Plater, which\nwas painted and decorated in delicate French fashion with the utmost\ncare. This house the aforesaid physician had built for himself in\nvery large, ample, and sumptuous style. Amongst other work he was\npreparing a book of simples, which was then well advanced, and it was\nhis practice, instead of painting like other botanists the plants\naccording to their natural colours, to glue the same upon paper with\nso great care and dexterity that the smallest leaves and fibres should\nbe visible, exactly as in nature. He can turn the leaves of this book\nwithout fear of any plant falling out, and he showed us certain simples\nwhich had been fastened therein more than twenty years ago. At this\nhouse, and in the public school as well, we saw entire skeletons of men.\n\nThey have a custom in the town, but not in the suburbs, that the clocks\nshall strike one hour in advance of the true time, to wit, if it should\nstrike ten, the time would be really nine. They say the reason of this\ncustom is that in past years an attempt against the city miscarried\non account of a similar fault of the town clock. It is called\n_Basilee_,[32] not from the Greek word, but because _Base_ in German\nmeans _passage_. We saw many learned men: Gryn\u00e6us,[33] and the author\nof the _Theatrum_, and Platerus the physician already mentioned, and\nFrancis Hottoman.[34] The two last-named supped with M. de Montaigne\nthe day after his arrival. From answers given to certain questions he\nput, M. de Montaigne gathered that there was in Basle considerable\nreligious discord, some calling themselves Zwinglians, some Calvinists,\nand others Martinists, while many, as he was informed, had in their\nhearts a hidden liking for the Roman religion. The ordinary form\nof administering the sacrament is to place it in the mouth, but at\nthe same time any one, who so wishes, may reach out his hand for\nit, the ministers being chary of stirring up afresh the antagonisms\nof religion. The interiors of the churches are like those I have\nheretofore described. The exteriors are still garnished with images\nand with ancient tombs unmutilated, and inscribed with prayers for the\nsouls of the departed. The organs, the bells, the crosses on the bell\ntowers, and all the different images in the painted windows are whole\nas ever they were, as well as the benches and the seats of the choirs.\nThe Calvinists place the baptismal font where the high altar stood\naforetime, and build at the head of the nave another altar to serve for\ntheir Lord\u2019s Supper; the one at Basle being beautifully arranged. The\nchurch of the Carthusians is a very fine building, preserved and kept\nup most carefully; the same furniture and ornaments are still there,\na circumstance which the reformers bring forward as a testimony of\ntheir good faith, seeing that they gave a promise to maintain these at\nthe time of their agreement. The bishop of the place, who is strongly\ninimical to them, lives outside the city, and holds the greater part\nof the country people to the ancient religion. He enjoys an income of\nfifty thousand livres from the city, and thus the succession to the\nbishopric is kept up.\n\nCertain of the people lamented to M. de Montaigne over the dissolute\ncarriage of the women, and the prevalent drunkenness of the city. We\nwitnessed an operation for rupture done by a surgeon on the child of a\npoor man, who was very roughly handled by the operator, and likewise\nsaw the very fine public library overlooking the river in a pleasant\nsituation. We spent one more day at Basle, and on the next after dinner\nwe took the road along the Rhine for some two leagues. Then we left\nit on our left hand and traversed a fertile country. In these parts\nsprings abound, and no village or crossroads lack fair running water;\nin Basle indeed they number some three hundred. Balconies are so\ncommon in all houses, even in Lorraine, that in building they always\nleave between the windows of the chambers doorways looking over the\nstreets, with the view of letting a balcony be built thereto at some\nfuture time. All through the country beyond Espine even the smallest\ncottages have glass windows, and the good houses are well fitted with\nthe same, excellently arranged both within and without, the glass\nbeing made in various fashions. There is abundance of iron, and the\nworkers thereof are very skilful, greatly in advance of ourselves,\nand furthermore the smallest church will always have a magnificent\nclock and dial. Their work in tiles is excellent, and on this account\nthe roofs of the houses are decorated with a medley of tiles, glazed\nin various colours, and the floors of their chambers are the same.\nMoreover it would be impossible to find more delicate work than that\nof their stoves, which are of pottery. They make much use of pine wood\nand are skilled carpenters, their casks being all carven and many of\nthem varnished and painted. They are very lavish in stoves, that is to\nsay, in the public dining-rooms. In all rooms of this sort, which are\nalways well furnished, there will be five or six tables fitted with\nbenches at which all the guests will dine together, each party at its\nown particular table. The smallest houses of entertainment will have\nthree or four well-appointed rooms of this kind. They are pierced for\nmany windows which are filled with rich glass, but on the whole it\nseems that the hosts concern themselves more with the dinner than with\naught else, for the bed-chambers are often mean enough, the beds never\ncurtained and always placed three or four together, the rooms being\nwithout chimneys, and only heated from the general stove. Beyond this\nthere is no sign of a fire, and they take it very ill if a stranger\nshould go into their kitchens. There is much want of cleanliness in\ntheir bed-chambers, and he who gets a white sheet may deem himself\nfortunate: moreover, it is their fashion never to cover the pillow with\nsheeting; there is rarely any other covering than a feather quilt,\nwhich is very dirty.\n\nThey are good cooks, of fish especially. In fine weather or in storm\ntheir houses have no other protection from the weather than bare glass\nwindows without wooden shutters. The houses are well windowed and\nvery light, both below and in the chambers, the windows being rarely\nclosed even at night. Their service at table differs greatly from ours.\nThey never mix water with their wine, and they are justified in this\npractice, for their wines are so thin that our gentlemen found them\nless potent than those of Gascony when diluted. They are, however, very\nlight and delicate.\n\nThe body-servants dine either at their master\u2019s table or at one close\nby, one valet being enough to attend to the high table, seeing that\neach gentleman has always his own goblet or silver cup beside him,\nwherefore the servant only needs to fill this as soon as it may be\nempty, without moving it. For this purpose they use a vessel of pewter\nor wood with a long spout. As to the meat, they serve only two or three\ndishes thereof, cut in slices. Unlike our fashion, they serve in the\nsame dish divers sorts of well-dressed meats; sometimes indeed they\nbring to table one course with the other, using certain appliances of\niron made with long legs, in which they carry one dish above and one\nbelow. Some of their tables are round and some square, but all are\nvery wide, so that it is very difficult to place the dishes thereon.\nThe valet, however, can easily manage dishes arranged as above named,\nletting them follow, two by two, up to six or seven changes.\n\nA fresh dish is never served till the foregoing one shall have been\nfinished; and as to the plates, as soon as the service of viands has\ncome to an end and the dessert is ready, the valet puts on the table a\nlarge wicker basket on a vessel of painted wood into which the chief\nperson present first puts his plate; the others follow suit, the order\nof rank being closely observed. The valet removes this vessel without\ndifficulty, and then serves the fruit in two dishes all mixed together\nlike the other courses. At this stage they often serve radishes, and\nwith your roast meat you will most likely have been offered cooked\npears. Amongst other edibles they give a high place to the crayfish,\nand honour it by serving it in a covered dish, a tribute they pay to\nhardly any other viand. The whole country abounds in these fish, and\nthey are served every day, and rated as a delicacy.\n\nThey take no care to wash on sitting down or on rising from table.\nMost people go to a little laver, set in a corner of the room as in a\nmonastery. In most places they use wooden plates and pots, clean and\nwhite as they can be made; but in some they set on the wooden plates\nothers of pewter, until they serve the fruit, for which wood is always\nused. They serve this wooden ware only from custom, for in the same\nhouses where it is seen they give their guests silver goblets in any\nquantity. They clean and polish their wooden furniture with great care\nand even the boards of their chambers. The beds are so high that steps\nare generally needed to mount the same, and nearly everywhere small\nbeds are placed beside the large ones.\n\nSeeing that they are such excellent smiths, nearly all their spits\nare made to revolve by springs, or by weights like clocks, or even by\nwooden fans fixed in the chimney and made to turn by the draught of the\nsmoke and the vapour of the fire. These appliances cause the roast to\nrevolve gently and slowly. They over-roast their meat somewhat. These\nsmoke-jacks[35] are only worked in large hostelries which burn great\nfires, as at Baden, and they turn at a uniform and steady pace. After\nleaving Lorrenne we found the chimneys built in a fashion different\nfrom ours. They build up the hearths in the middle or in the corner\nof the kitchen, using almost the entire width of the place for the\nchimney flue. This is a vast opening seven or eight paces square, which\nbecomes narrower as it rises to the top of the house. This structure\ngives them the chance to place in position their large wheel, which, in\nchimneys built like ours, would occupy so much room in the flue that\nthe smoke would not be able to find a passage. The lightest repasts\nlast three or four hours, because of the method of service aforesaid,\nand in sooth these people eat vastly more leisurely than we do, and in\nmore healthful manner. There is everywhere abundance of provisions, of\nflesh and fish, and every table is sumptuously spread--at least this\nwas our experience. On Fridays no flesh is served, and report says that\nin these parts the people willingly abstain therefrom entirely, the\npractice of fasting being similar to that in France round about Paris.\nAs a rule they give their horses more fodder than they can eat. We\ntravelled four leagues and arrived in time for bed at Hornes.\n\nThis is a small village in the duchy of Austria. On the morrow, as it\nwas Sunday, we went to Mass, and observed that in church the women sat\non the left-hand side of the church and the men on the right, without\nmixing. The women have several rows of seats, set reversed, one behind\nthe other, of a convenient height for sitting, and upon these they\nkneel, and not upon the ground, wherefore they seem to be upright.\nThe men have also pieces of wood in front of them to lean upon, and\nthey only kneel upon the chairs which are in front of them. Instead of\njoining the hands as we do at the elevation, they stretch them out\napart, and open and keep them thus raised until the priest exhibits\nthe pyx. They assigned to M. d\u2019Estissac and M. de Montaigne the third\nbench on the men\u2019s side, while those of less worship in our company\nwere afterwards given seats amongst the lesser folk; and the same on\nthe women\u2019s side. It seemed to us that the front rows were not held in\nthe highest honour. The interpreter and guide whom we engaged at Basle,\na sworn messenger of the city, went to the Mass with us, and showed\nby his carriage that he had come there with great longing and devout\nfeeling. After dinner we crossed the river Arat[36] to Broug, a fair\nlittle town belonging to the seigniory of Berne, and beyond that we\nwent to see an abbey which Queen Catherine of Hungary gave to the lords\nof Berne in 1524,[37] where are buried Leopold, Archduke of Austria,\nand a great number of gentlemen who were overthrown by the Swiss in\n1386. Their arms and names are there inscribed, and their remains\nkept with great care. M. de Montaigne held converse with the Bernese\ngentleman in charge of the place, who ordered that everything should be\nshown to him. In this abbey slices of bread and soup are always ready\nat hand for any wayfarer who may demand the same, and no refusal has\never been made by the heads of the abbey. From this place we crossed by\na boat, which is attached by an iron pulley to a rope stretched high\nabove the Reix,[38] a river flowing out of the Lake of Lucerne, and\narrived, after a journey of four leagues, at Baden, a little town with\na suburb adjoining, where there are baths.\n\n[Illustration: BADEN EN ARGOW\n\n    _To face p. 76_, vol. i.\n]\n\nBaden is a Catholic town, under protection of the eight[39] Swiss\ncantons, in which divers great gatherings of princes have taken place.\nWe did not lodge in the town but in the suburb, which lies at the\nfoot of the mountain on the bank of the Limmat, a stream, or rather\ntorrent, which flows out of the Lake of Z\u00fcrich. There are two or three\nuncovered public baths, which are frequented only by poor folk. Of the\nother kind there are great number within the houses, divided into small\nprivate rooms, both closed and open, which are let with the lodgings,\nand are as dainty and well fitted as possible, hot water being drawn\nfrom the water-courses for each bath. The lodgment is magnificent. In\nthe house where we stayed three hundred mouths had to be fed every day;\nand, while we were there, beds were made for a hundred-and-seventy\nsojourners. It possessed seventeen stoves and eleven kitchens, and\nin the house adjoining were fifty furnished chambers, the walls of\nall the rooms being hung with the coats-of-arms of the gentry who\nhad lodged therein. The town, perched high on the crest of a hill,\nis small and very fair, like almost all the towns of this country.\nMoreover, they build their streets wider and more open than ours, and\ntheir market-places more ample, and there is a wealth of richly-glazed\nwindows everywhere. They paint almost all the houses outside with\nvarious devices, and the towns consequently are very pleasant to look\nupon. Again, there is scarcely a town without running water in the\nstreets, and at every cross-street will be found a handsome fountain,\nbuilt either in stone or in wood, and on this account their towns are\nmuch fairer to view than those of France. The water of the baths gives\nout an odour of sulphur like those of Aigues-Caudes[40] and certain\nothers. The heat is tempered as at Barbotan[41] or Aigues-Caudes, and\nfor this reason the baths are very soft and pleasant.\n\nLadies who are fain to take their bath with daintiness and decency can\nrepair to Baden with confidence, for they will be alone in the bath,\nwhich is like an elegant cabinet, light, with glazed windows, painted\npanelling, and clean flooring. Everywhere are chairs and small tables\nfor reading or gaming while in the bath. The bather may empty and fill\nthe bath as often as he likes, and will find a chamber adjoining.\nThere are fine walks along the river, besides artificial ones under\ngalleries. These baths are placed in a valley commanded by the slopes\nof high mountains, which nevertheless are fertile and well cultivated.\nThe water when drunk tastes rather flat and soft, like water heated\nup, and there is a smell of sulphur about it, and a certain prickling\nflavour of salt. Amongst the people of the place it is chiefly used\nin the bath, in which they subject themselves also to cupping and\nbleeding, so that I have at times seen the water in the two public\nbaths the colour of blood. Those who drink it by habit take a glass or\ntwo at the most. The guests as a rule stay six or seven weeks, and\nsome or other frequent the baths all through the summer. No country\nsends so many visitors as Germany, from whence come great crowds.\n\nThe practice of bathing here is of high antiquity and is remarked by\nTacitus,[42] who searched to the utmost to find the chief spring, but\ncould get no knowledge thereof; but apparently the springs rise from\na great depth below the level even of the river. The water is less\nclear than that of the other springs we have seen, and when drawn\nfrom the spring it shows certain minute fibres. Moreover, it contains\nno sparkling bubbles like other sulphurous waters when the glass is\nfilled; like those of Spa, for instance, of which M. de Maldonat told\nus. M. de Montaigne took some of it on the Monday morning after we\narrived, seven small glasses, and on the next day five large glasses,\namounting to ten of the aforesaid. On this same day, Tuesday, at nine\nin the morning, while the others were at table, he took a bath and fell\ninto a heavy sweat in bed afterwards, having stayed in the bath only\nhalf-an-hour. The people of the country, who stay all day in the bath\nplaying and drinking, stand only up to the middle in water, but M. de\nMontaigne lay full length and was covered to the neck.[43]\n\nOn this day departed from the baths a certain Swiss gentleman, an\nexcellent servant of our State, who all the day before had held\nconverse with M. de Montaigne concerning Swiss affairs, and had shown\nhim a letter which the French ambassador, son of our President du\nHarlay, had written from Souleure, where he was staying, committing\nto him the king\u2019s interests while he himself should be absent. The\nambassador had been summoned by the queen to meet her at Lyons, in\norder to devise some plan of checkmating the schemes of Spain and\nthe late Duke of Savoy. The duke shortly before his death had allied\nhimself with certain of the cantons, an alliance which our king had\nresisted, alleging that the cantons, being already pledged to him,\ncould incur no fresh obligations without his leave. Some of the\ncantons, when this was pointed out to them by the Swiss gentleman\naforesaid, drew back from the alliance. Indeed, all through this\ncountry they showed great respect and friendship to our king\u2019s name\nand the utmost civility to ourselves. The Swiss gentleman had a train\nof four horses. His son, who is also in the king\u2019s service, on one, a\nvalet on another, his daughter, a tall, handsome girl, on another, with\na horsecloth and footboard in French fashion, a trunk on the crupper,\nand a bonnet box on the saddle-bow, without any waiting-maid, though\nthey were two long days\u2019 journey from their abode, which is in a town\nwhere the gentleman aforesaid was the governor. He himself rode the\nremaining horse.\n\nThe common dress of the women does not seem to me so becoming as that\nusually worn in France, nor the headgear either. This is a bonnet,\n_\u00e0 la cognard_, turned up before and behind, and having in front a\nslight peak enriched with stripes of silk and fur trimmings. The hair\nhangs down behind in a braid. If you should jestingly take off this\nbonnet--for it is lightly attached as with us--they will show no\noffence, and you will see the head quite uncovered. The younger women\nwear simple garlands in lieu of a bonnet. There is little difference of\nattire to make the distinction of classes, and the habit is to salute\nby kissing the hand, and by offering to touch the lady\u2019s. Otherwise,\nif in passing you give a greeting and bow they will generally make no\nsign of acknowledgment, according to ancient usage, but some will bow\nthe head slightly by way of returning the salutation. They are for the\nmost part well-favoured women, tall, and fair.\n\nAs a nation they have an excellent disposition, even towards those\nwho [do not][44] agree with them. M. de Montaigne, in order to make\nfull trial of diverse manners and customs of the countries he visited,\nalways conformed to local usage, however greatly such a usage may have\nirked him. Nevertheless, in Switzerland he said that he suffered no\ninconvenience except that he had at table, by way of napkin, only a\npiece of linen half a foot long: moreover, the Swiss themselves only\nunfold this napkin at dinner when many sauces and divers sorts of soup\nare served; but, on the other hand, they always provide as many wooden\nspoons with silver handles as there are guests. And a Swiss will always\nbe provided with a knife with which he will eat everything, and never\nput his fingers in his plate.\n\nIn almost all the towns the proper arms of the place are displayed,\nand above them those of the Emperor and of the house of Austria, but\nthe greater part of the towns have been detached from the archduke\naforesaid by ill policy. They say that all members of the Austrian\nhouse, except the Catholic king, have been brought to great poverty,\neven the Emperor,[45] who is held very lightly in Germany. On the\nWednesday the host bought a large quantity of fish, and being asked by\nM. de Montaigne the reason why, he replied that the greater part of the\npeople of Baden ate fish on Wednesdays on religious grounds, a remark\nwhich confirmed what he had before heard on this subject: to wit, that\nthose who have remained Catholics are confirmed in their faith by the\nfact that they have to reckon on an opposition. The host added, when\ndivision and religious strife shows itself in a particular town, and\ninfects the governing body, the bond of good feeling is loosened, and\nthe effect of this admixture is felt in individual families, as has\nbeen manifested in Augsburg and in the imperial cities. But when a town\nhas one central government--and every Swiss town has its separate laws\nand administration, is dependent on its neighbours for the preservation\nof order, and keeps up alliance and union only for purposes affecting\nthe whole community--those towns which possess special civic rights,\nwith a separate civil government complete in all parts, find therein\na support for their strengthening and upholding. Towns in this case\nundoubtedly become stronger, closing their ranks and recruiting their\nforces through the contagious shock of conflicts near at hand.\n\nTheir custom of warming the houses by stoves pleased us greatly, and\nnone of our company complained thereof; for, after you have taken in\na breath or two of the air which indeed may seem strange on entering\na room, you are sensible only of a soft and regular heat. M. de\nMontaigne, who slept in a room with a stove, was loud in its praises,\nsaying that all night he felt a pleasant moderate warmth. In warming\nyourself you burn neither your face nor your boots, and are free from\nthe smoke of a French fireplace. At home we put on our warm furred\ndressing-gowns when we enter our apartments, but here people appear in\ndoublet and bareheaded in the warm rooms, and put on thick garments\nbefore going into the air. On the Thursday M. de Montaigne drank the\nsame quantity of water, which acted well and rid him of a small amount\nof gravel. Still, he found these waters more powerful than any others\nwhich he had ever tried--whether from the strength of the water itself\nor from the present habit of his body--and accordingly he drank them\nmore sparingly.\n\nOn this same Thursday he held discourse with a minister from Z\u00fcrich,\na native of that city, and heard from him that the religion there\nwas formerly Zwinglian, but that now it had come nearer to Calvinism,\na somewhat milder creed. Being questioned as to predestination, he\nreplied that they kept the mean between Geneva and Augsburg, but that\ntheir people were free to debate this question. For his own part he\ninclined rather to the side of Zwingli, praising him highly as one who\ncame the nearest to primitive Christianity.\n\nOn Friday, October 7th, at seven in the morning, after breakfast, we\nquitted Baden; and, before we set out, M. de Montaigne drank the same\nquantity of the water as he had taken on five previous occasions. With\nregard to the operation of the same, concerning which he was more\nsanguine than he was in the case of any other bath he had visited (both\nas to the bathing and the drinking), he was free in his praise of these\nbaths beyond all the rest, not only because the place itself, and the\nbaths and the private apartments, are comfortably and conveniently\nmanaged, but also because, in all apartments, visitors are always\nable to go to their own rooms without passing through the rooms of\nother people. Moreover, persons of small means may find quarters to\nsuit them quite as easily as those who are rich. Bathrooms, kitchens,\ncabinets, and chapels may be hired for a large retinue, and at the\nhouse adjacent to our own, the Cour de la Ville--ours being the Cour\nde derri\u00e8re--there are public apartments belonging to the cantonal\nauthorities, and occupied by lodgers. This same house has several\nchimneys built in French fashion, and there are stoves in all the\nchief apartments. The demand for payment from strangers is a little\narbitrary, as in all countries and notably in our own. Four furnished\nchambers, with nine beds in all, two of which had stoves and one bath\nbesides, cost us a crown a day for the masters, and for the servants\nfour batzen:[46] that is to say, a little more than nine sous apiece;\nthe horses cost six batzen, about four sous, but in addition to this\nthey added certain nonsensical charges which were not customary. A\nguard is kept in the town and even in the bath quarter, which is\nnothing but a village, and every night two sentinels make the round of\nthe houses, not so much to keep off the foe, as for fear of fire or\nother disturbance. When the hour strikes one of them is bound to cry\nout at the top of his voice to the other, and ask what is the hour,\nwhereupon the other in like manner tells him the hour, and adds that he\nis keeping good watch. The women do their washing in the open in the\npublic place, bringing out their little wooden tubs to the river side\nwhere they heat water and do their work excellently; they also clean\nthe earthenware far better than do our French women in the inns. Here\neach chambermaid and each valet has a special charge.\n\nOne disadvantage of travel is that with ever so great diligence it\nis impossible for a stranger to ascertain from the people of the\ncountry whom he may meet--I speak of the cultivated folk as well as\nthe vulgar--what objects of interest may be worthy of a visit, and to\nmake them understand what he may ask. I write thus because, after we\nhad spent five days at Baden, and had inquired curiously concerning\neverything there which might be worth seeing, we were told naught about\na certain object of interest which we saw by chance afterwards as we\nwere leaving the town. This was a stone, about the height of a man,\napparently a portion of some column, without adornment or workmanship,\nplaced at the angle of a house, and easily visible to any passer-by on\nthe high-road. There was a Latin inscription, which I was not able to\ndecipher fully, but it seemed to be a simple dedication to the Emperors\nNerva and Trajan. We crossed the Rhine at Kaiserstuhl, a Catholic town\nand allied to the Swiss, and onward thence we traversed a fine flat\ncountry until we came to some rapids where the river is broken up by\nrocks, which they call cataracts, like those of the Nile. And below\nSchaffhausen there is in the Rhine a gulf full of vast rocks where it\nbecomes rapid, and farther down, amongst the same rocks, it comes to a\nfall of two pikes\u2019 length, where it makes a mighty leap, foaming and\nroaring marvellously. This fall stops the boats, and interrupts the\nnavigation of the river. We travelled four leagues at a stretch, and\ncame in time for supper to Schaffhausen.\n\nThis town, the capital of a Swiss canton, has the same form of religion\nas Z\u00fcrich. On our departure from Baden we left on our right hand\nZ\u00fcrich, whither M. de Montaigne had determined to journey, the town\nbeing not more than two leagues distant. But word was brought to him\nof an outbreak of plague there. At Schaffhausen he saw naught which\ninterested him. The citizens were erecting a citadel which promised to\nbe a good work; and they have, moreover, a butt for crossbow practice,\nand a place for this exercise, as fine and large and shady and well\nprovided with seats and galleries and rooms as man could desire.\nThere is also a similar place for shooting with the arquebus, and\nwater-mills for the sawing of wood, like those we have seen elsewhere,\nand others for the scutching of flax and the shelling of millet.\nLikewise a tree of the sort we saw at Baden and elsewhere, but not so\nlarge. Out of the lowest branches they contrive to make the floor of\na sort of circular gallery, twenty paces or so in diameter. They next\nbraid these branches together in an upward direction so as to form the\nside of the gallery aforesaid, and likewise let them grow upwards as\nhigh as possible. They afterwards clip the tree, and prevent the growth\nof any branch from the trunk, so far as it passes through the gallery,\nwhich is for the space of ten feet. They take the upper branches of the\ntree, and these they lay down upon supports of willow in order to form\na roof to the little chamber. Then branches are plaited from below, and\nat last joined to those which grow upward from the contrary direction:\nthus the whole space is filled with green growth. Then they clip the\ntree as high as the top branches, which they allow to grow naturally.\nThe tree brought into this form is a very beautiful object. In addition\nthey have made spring up at its feet a fountain of water which mounts\nup as high as the floor of the gallery already mentioned.\n\nM. de Montaigne paid a visit to the burgomasters of the town, who\nafterwards, to show him courtesy, came with certain other public\nofficers to sup at our apartments, when they brought a present of\nwine for him and M. d\u2019Estissac, and certain speeches were made on\nboth sides. The chief burgomaster was a man of good family who had\nbeen brought up as a page in the house of M. d\u2019Orl\u00e9ans,[47] and had\nnow quite forgotten French. This canton professed to be well affected\ntowards our interests, and had given proof of this disposition by a\nrefusal to join the league of the other cantons, which the late Duke\nof Savoy had tried to bring about, and of which mention has been\nmade already. On Saturday, October 8th, we set forth at eight in\nthe morning, after breakfast, from Schaffhausen, where we had found\nexcellent lodgment at the \u201cCrown.\u201d One of the most learned men of the\nplace had a conversation with M. de Montaigne, and told him, amongst\nother matters, that in truth the people of the town were not over\nwell disposed to our Court, forasmuch as whenever he had listened to\ndiscourse concerning an alliance with our king, the majority of the\npeople were always disposed to break it, but that by the intervention\nof certain rich citizens the opposite policy had hitherto been adopted.\nAs we left the town we saw an engine made of iron, like certain others\nwe had seen elsewhere, by the help of which carts could be loaded with\nheavy stones without the aid of human muscles. We passed along beside\nthe Rhine, leaving it on our right hand, as far as Stein, a small town,\nthe ally of the cantons, and of the same religion as Schaffhausen. Also\non the road we observed many stone crosses. Here we again crossed\nthe Rhine by a wooden bridge and, still keeping beside the river on\nthe left, we passed by another small town allied to the Catholic\ncantons. Here the Rhine spreads out to a vast width, equal to that of\nthe Garonne at Blaye, and then narrows itself till the approach to\nConstance, a distance of four leagues.\n\n[Illustration: CONSTANCE\n\n_From Civitates Orbis Terrarum_\n\n    _To face p. 96_, vol. i.\n]\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nTHE EMPIRE\n\n\nWe arrived at Constance at four o\u2019clock. This town, which is about the\nsize of Ch\u00e2lons, belongs to the Archduke of Austria, and holds to the\nCatholic religion, though up to thirty years ago it was in the hands\nof the Lutherans, whom the Emperor Charles V. drove out by force. The\nchurches still show signs of images, and the bishop is a gentleman\nof the country, who lives at Rome, and as a cardinal draws from this\nbenefice an income of forty thousand crowns. There are canonries, too,\nof the church of Notre Dame, which are worth fifteen hundred crowns,\nand are held by men of gentle family. We saw one of these on horseback\ncoming in from the country, attired gallantly like a gentleman-of-arms;\nand report says that in the town are many Lutherans. We ascended\nthe clock tower, which is very high, and there found a man as fixed\nsentinel, who is shut therein and not suffered to quit his post,\nwhatever may call him thence. They were constructing beside the Rhine a\nlarge covered building, fifty feet long and forty wide, or thereabouts,\nand fixing therein twelve or fifteen great wheels, by means of which\nthey propose to raise continuously a large quantity of water up to a\nwooden tower, one storey higher, where will be an equal number of iron\nwheels (the lower ones are of wood), which will raise the water from\nthe first floor to the one above. The water, having been lifted to the\nheight of some fifty feet, will discharge itself by a large artificial\nchannel and flow down into the town, and set several mills to work. The\nartisan who has the direction of this building had for his labour alone\nfive thousand seven hundred florins, and wine to boot. In the deep\nwater they were fixing a strong wooden erection all around to break the\ncurrent; so that, when the force of the water should be moderated,\nthey might be able to draw it upwards more easily. There was also an\narrangement of machinery by which the whole system of wheelwork can be\nraised or lowered according to the level of the water.\n\nAt this point the stream is not called the Rhine, for by the upper part\nof the city it spreads out into a lake full four German leagues in\nwidth and five or six in length. There is a fine terrace overlooking\nthis lake where merchandise is stored, and about fifty paces from the\nshore stands a finely-built lodge, where a sentinel is always on duty.\nA chain is here prepared, by which the way of access to the bridge may\nbe closed, and high palisades are set, which enclose on both sides that\npart of the lake in which boats lie and take in cargo. Near the church\nof Notre Dame there is a conduit by which water from the Rhine higher\nup finds its way to the suburbs of the town.\n\nWe perceived that we were leaving behind us the country of the Swiss,\nfor the reason that, shortly before we came to the entrance to the\ntown, we saw several noblemen\u2019s dwellings, such as are seldom or never\nseen in Switzerland; and as to the private houses, both in town and\ncountry, we found them beyond all comparison better than in France,\nand they seem to lack nothing except slate roofs. To speak more\nparticularly of the hostelries, they might perhaps provide a somewhat\nbetter style of entertainment; moreover, with regard to certain\ndeficiencies which we found in the service, these could not have been\nthe result of poverty. What we had seen of their way of life in other\nrespects forbade us to believe this, seeing that it is hard to name a\nplace where they do not drink from fine silver cups, gilded and chased;\nwherefore, what seemed to us strange, was simply local custom. The\ncountry is very rich, especially in wine. To return to the town of\nConstance, we were badly lodged at the \u201cEagle,\u201d and we got from our\nhost a sample of the barbaric German arrogance and independence over\nthe quarrel of one of our serving-men with our guide from Basle. And\nwhen the question came before the judges to whom the guide made an\nappeal, it chanced that M. de Montaigne asked the provost of the place,\nan Italian gentleman, married and settled there for a long time with\nfull right of citizenship, whether the servants he had with him could\ngive evidence on our behalf. The provost answered that they could,\nprovided M. de Montaigne should have discharged them from his service.\nHe might, of course, re-engage them immediately afterwards; a reply\nwhich seemed full of subtlety.\n\nOn the following day, Sunday, on account of this tumult, we only\ntarried until after dinner, and then changed our quarters to the\n\u201cPike,\u201d where we fared excellently. The son of the captain of the town,\nwho was brought up as a page in the household of M. de Meru,[48] was\nalways in attendance upon Messieurs at table and elsewhere. He did\nnot know a word of French. The service at table is very often varied.\nThey gave us here, and subsequently in other places, after the cloth\nwas removed, other courses with our wine. The first what the Gascons\ncall _canaules_, then spiced bread, and lastly white bread cut into\nslices, but still holding together. In the cuttings they put plenty\nof spices and salt, as also in the crust of the bread. There are many\nlepers in this country, the highways being full of them. The villagers\ngive their workmen for mid-day meal large flat loaves,[49] made with\nfennel, and spread upon these a mess of bacon, cut very small and mixed\nwith cloves of garlic. The Germans, when they would do honour to a man,\nalways place themselves on his left side, whatever seat he may occupy,\nand maintain that to sit on his right hand is to put an insult on him,\nsaying that to show true deference to a man it is necessary to leave\nhis right side free, so that he may easily put his hand to his arms.\nAfter dinner on the Sunday we quitted Constance, and after crossing the\nlake at a point about a league from the town, we reached Smardorff in\ntime for bed, after travelling two leagues.\n\nSmardorff[50] is a small Catholic town. We had lodging at the \u201cStandard\nof Cologne,\u201d a post-house which is kept here for the Emperor\u2019s route\ninto Italy. There, as in other places, they fill the mattresses with\nthe leaves of a certain tree, which serves the purpose better than\nstraw and lasts longer. The town is surrounded by a wide plain of\nvineyard which produces excellent wine. On Monday, the 10th October,\nwe started after breakfast; for M. de Montaigne was persuaded by\nthe beauty of the day to change the plan he had made of going to\nRavensburg, and make a day\u2019s journey to Lindau instead. M. de Montaigne\nnever took breakfast, but caused to be brought to him a piece of\ndry bread which he would eat during the journey, adding thereto\noccasionally such grapes as he could get on the road, the vintage being\nstill in course of gathering in this region even up to the outskirts of\nLindau. Their practice is to train the vines up on trellises, and they\nleave therein divers verdurous alleys which are delightful to the view.\nWe passed through Sonchem,[51] an imperial Catholic town on the bank\nof the Lake of Constance, to which all the wares of Ulm and Nuremburg\nand divers other places are brought in waggons, thence to be conveyed\nthrough the lake to the Rhine route. After travelling three leagues we\narrived about three in the afternoon at Linde.[52]\n\nThe little town is situated some hundred paces out into the lake, which\ndistance is traversed over a stone bridge. There is no other entrance,\nall the rest of the town being surrounded by the lake, which is at\nleast a league in width, and on the other side rise the mountains of\nthe Grisons. The lake and all the streams are low in winter and full in\nsummer on account of the melting of the snow. All through these parts\nthe women cover their heads with bonnets of fur like our skull-caps,\neach costing about three testoons;[53] the outside being trimmed with\nsome seemly grey fur, and the inside with lambs\u2019-wool. The opening\nwhich in our caps is in front is in theirs behind, and through it may\nbe seen their hair tucked up. Their favourite foot-gear is boots, and\nthese are either red or white, each sort suiting the wearer not amiss.\nBoth religions are followed. We went to see the Catholic cathedral,\nbuilt in 866, where all things are as they have always been, and we\nsaw also the church served by the Lutheran ministers. All the imperial\ntowns have liberty in the matter of the two religions, Catholic and\nLutheran, according to the leanings of the people, and they devote\nthemselves more or less to that form which they prefer. At Lindau,\nfrom what the priest told M. de Montaigne, there are not more than two\nor three Catholics. The priests do not fail to draw their incomes and\nto perform the service, and the nuns who are there do the same. M. de\nMontaigne had some talk also with the minister, from whom he got but\nlittle information, except to learn that the common hatred against\nZwingle and Calvin was prevalent here likewise. It seems clear that\nalmost every separate place holds for its belief some particular view;\nand, under the authority of Martin, whom they hail as their head, they\nset up divers disputes on the interpretation of the meaning of Martin\u2019s\nworks.\n\nWe lodged at the \u201cCrown,\u201d a good house. Near the stone on the panelled\nwall there was a sort of wooden cage for the keeping of a vast number\nof birds. It was fitted with hanging perches made of copper wire,\nwhich gave room for the birds to shift from one end to the other. The\nfurniture and woodwork of their houses is generally made of pine,\nthe most common forest tree, but they paint and varnish and polish it\ncarefully, and even use hair brushes for the furbishing of their chairs\nand tables. They have great abundance of cabbages, which they shred\nwith a tool made for the purpose, and then salt the same in vessels for\nmaking soup in the winter. At this place M. de Montaigne made trial of\nthe feather coverlets, such as they use in bed, and was full of praise\nthereof, finding them light and warm at the same time. It was a saying\nof his that people of fastidious taste had more occasion to complain\nwhen travelling of their bed furniture than of aught else, and he\ncommended those who carried a mattress or curtains amongst the baggage\nwhen visiting strange countries.\n\nAs to fare at table, they have such vast abundance of provisions,\nand vary the service so widely in the matter of soups, sauces, and\nsalads, that nothing in our own way of living can be found to equal\nit. They gave us soups made of quince, of apples cooked and cut into\nstrips, and cabbage salad. They make pottage of all sorts, one of rice\nwhich they eat in common, having no separate service of this dish, an\nexcellently flavoured one. The kitchens are incomparably superior to\nthose of our great houses, and the sitting-rooms are better furnished\nthan with us.\n\nThey have abundance of excellent fish, which is served at the table\nwith the meat. Of trout they only eat the liver, and they have also\ngreat plenty of game, hares, and woodcocks, which they dress in a\nfashion differing from our own, but a good one all the same; indeed\nI have never met with meat so tender as that which was commonly set\nbefore us. They serve with the meat cooked plums and slices of apples\nand pears, sometimes putting the roast first and the soup last, and\nsometimes reversing this order. As to their fruits, they have only\npears and apples, which are both good, and nuts and cheese. During the\nmeat course they hand round a utensil, made either of silver or tin,\nhaving four compartments filled with divers sorts of spices. They also\nuse cummin, or some similar grain with a hot stinging savour, as an\nadmixture to their bread; this bread being made for the most part with\nfennel added thereto. After the meal they replace the glasses filled\nfull on the table, and offer two or three sorts of eatables which serve\nto provoke thirst.\n\nWhile he was travelling M. de Montaigne noted with regret three steps\nwhich he had neglected to take with regard to his journey. One was that\nhe had not taken with him a cook, who might have learnt the particular\nmethods of foreign lands, and some day at home have shown proof of\nhis skill. The next was that he had not engaged a German valet, or\njoined himself to some gentleman of the country, for he felt it very\nirksome to be always at the mercy of a blockhead of a guide; and the\nlast was that, before setting out, he had neither consulted those\nbooks which might have pointed out to him what rare and remarkable\nsights were to be seen in every place, nor included in his baggage a\ncopy of M\u00fcnster[54] or some similar book. In sooth there was mixed\nup with his judgments a certain asperity and want of regard for his\nown country, against which for other reasons he harboured dislike and\ndiscontent:[55] certain it is that he preferred the accommodation of\nthese lands, without comparison, to those of France, and conformed to\nthem so far as to drink his wine without water. In drinking he never\ntook wine for its own sake, but simply out of courtesy. Travel is more\ncostly in High Germany than in France: for at our reckoning a man with\na horse will lay out at least one crown of the sun[56] per diem. In\nthe first place the innkeepers here charge for food at table d\u2019h\u00f4te\nfour, five, or six batzen. They make a separate item of everything,\neven the smallest refreshment that is taken before or after the two\nregular meals, wherefore the Germans as a rule quit their lodgings in\nthe morning without drinking aught. Any additional service after the\nprincipal meals, and the wine consumed therewith--which is for them\nthe chief expense--they reckon together. In sooth, when we consider\nthe plentiful fare put on the table, and this especially applies to\nwine, even where it is exceedingly dear and brought from afar, I find\nthe prices charged to be quite justified. They themselves have a way\nof urging the servants of their guests to drink, and make them keep\nat table two or three hours. The wine is served from large jugs, and\nit is reckoned a breach of good manners to let a cup be empty and not\nreplenish it forthwith. They will never give water even to those who\nask for it, except these should be persons of great worship. They add\nto the bill the oats eaten by the horses, and lastly the charge for\nthe stable, which includes also the hay. A good point about them is\nthat they ask at once what they mean to accept, and one gains naught\nby bargaining. They are boastful, quick-tempered, and drunken, but\nthey are neither deceitful nor robbers, according to M. de Montaigne\u2019s\nopinion. We departed after breakfast and made a journey of two leagues,\nand arrived at Vanguen[57] at two in the afternoon.\n\nHere a mishap befell our baggage mule, which injured itself, and\ncompelled us in consequence to halt and to hire a cart for the next\nday at three crowns per diem, the driver, who had four horses, keeping\nhimself in victual for this sum. Vanguen is a small imperial town which\nhas always refused to harbour a congregation of any form of religion\nother than the Catholic. They make here scythes so famous that they\nare sent for sale as far as Lorrenne. M. de Montaigne left it on the\nmorrow, to wit, on the morning of Wednesday, October 12th, and set out\nfor Trent by the shortest route. We halted to dine at Isne,[58] two\nleagues on our road, a small imperial town very pleasantly situated;\nand M. de Montaigne, according to his wont, went straightway to call\nupon a doctor of theology for the sake of discourse, and this doctor\nhe brought in to dine with us. He found that all the people were\nLutherans, and he went to visit the Lutheran church which, as with\nall the churches they occupy in the imperial cities, had been taken\nfrom the Catholic. While they were holding divers arguments concerning\nthe Sacrament, M. de Montaigne bethought him how, during the journey,\ncertain Calvinists had informed him that the Lutherans now intermix\nwith the original tenets of Martin divers new errors, such as the\n\u201cUbi-quis me,\u201d and maintain that the body of Christ is everywhere as\nwell as in the Host; wherefore they fall into the same difficulty as do\nthe Zwinglians, though by a different road, the one by limiting too\nmuch the bodily presence, and the other by a too lavish application of\nthe words (for by their reasoning the Sacrament would be no privilege\nto the body of the Church or to those two or three just men gathered\ntogether). Moreover, the principal Lutheran arguments were that the\ndivinity was inseparable from the body, wherefore the divinity being\nomnipresent the body must be omnipresent also. They declare, in the\nsecond place, that Jesus Christ, being bound to be always at the right\nhand of His Father, is omnipresent, seeing that the right hand of God,\nto wit, His power, is in all places. The doctor aforesaid gave strong\ndenial to this imputation, and set up a defence against the same as\nagainst a calumny; but, indeed, M. de Montaigne gathered the impression\nthat his defence was somewhat weak.\n\nThis doctor went afterwards in company with M. de Montaigne to visit\na grand and sumptuous monastery, where Mass was being said, and he\nentered and bided there without removing his headgear until M.\nd\u2019Estissac and M. de Montaigne had finished their prayers. They next\nwent to view in a cellar of the abbey a long cylinder-shaped fragment\nof stone,[59] which apparently had once formed part of a column. On it,\nwritten in easily legible Latin letters, was an inscription telling how\nthe Emperors Pertinax and Antonius Verus had repaired all the roads and\nbridges for a distance of eleven thousand paces around Campidonium,\nthat is to say, Kempten, whither we were bound for the night. This\nstone might have been set up to record some later repair of the road,\nfor report says that this village of Isny is of no great antiquity.\nIn any case, having inspected all the roads about Kempten, we could\nfind no repairs worthy of such artificers, and there was not a single\nbridge. We certainly remarked that a way had been cut through some of\nthe hills, but this work was not of prime importance.\n\n[Illustration: KEMPTEN\n\n_From Civitates Orbis Terrarum_\n\n    _To face p. 116_, vol. i.\n]\n\nKempten, three leagues farther on, is a town as big as St. Foy,\nhandsome, populous, and abounding in good lodgings. We stayed at the\n\u201cBear,\u201d an excellent house. At our meals they brought in great silver\nvessels of various kinds (these in sooth were intended to serve merely\nas ornaments, being richly worked and covered with the arms of divers\ngentlemen), the sort of plate which is only to be seen in houses of\nhigh quality. Here it was that we were brought to see the truth of an\nobservation which M. de Montaigne had made elsewhere, to wit, that if\nforeigners ignore certain usages favoured by ourselves, it is because\nthey hold these usages in slight esteem. For instance, these people,\nthough they possess vast store of pewter utensils as well scoured\nas those at Montaigne, will only make use of wooden platters, which\nindeed are both well made and well kept. In all these countries they\nput cushions on the seats in the evening, and nearly all the panelled\nceilings of the apartments are vaulted half-moon fashion, which gives\nthem a very graceful appearance. As to the linen, concerning which\nwe had previously made certain complaints, we had no occasion to be\ndissatisfied; indeed, as far as my master was concerned,[60] I never\nfailed to procure enough of the same wherewith to fashion a pair of\ncurtains for his bed, and whenever he happened to want an extra towel\nit was always given to him. In this town lives a certain merchant\nwho carries on a traffic of a hundred thousand florins annually in\nlinen. M. de Montaigne, on leaving Constance, would fain have visited\nthat canton of Switzerland[61] which supplies linen for the whole\nof Christendom, if there had not been four or five hours needed for\ncrossing the lake and back to Lindau. This town (Kempten) is Lutheran,\nand here, as at Isne, the strange custom obtains that the Catholic\nchurch is most sumptuously served, notwithstanding the lack of\nworshippers. On the morrow, Thursday, a working day, the Mass was said\nat the abbey outside the town, as it is given in Notre Dame, at Paris,\non Easter Day, with organ music, though none were present but priests.\nThose who dwell outside the imperial towns are not free to change\ntheir religion, and many in this case attend the service aforesaid on\nfeast days. This is a very magnificent abbey.[62] The abbot holds the\nsame as a prince, and receives therefrom an income of fifty thousand\nflorins yearly, the present abbot being of the house of Estain. All\nthe brethren are of gentle birth. The abbey was founded in 783 by\nHildegarde, the wife of Charlemagne, who is buried there and honoured\nas a saint; and her bones have been disinterred from the vault in which\nthey were laid to be placed elsewhere in a shrine.\n\nOn the same Thursday morning M. de Montaigne went to the Lutheran\nchurch, which was similar to others of the same sect and of the\nHuguenots, except that close by the altar, which is at the head of the\nnave, there are several wooden benches, with stools below, so that\nthose who receive the supper may kneel, as is their custom. M. de\nMontaigne found there two ministers, elderly men, of whom one preached\nin German to a scanty congregation. When he had finished they sang a\npsalm in German, to music differing somewhat from what we use. After\neach verse the fine organ, which had recently been erected, made a\nresponse in music, and whenever the preacher named the name of Christ\nhe and all his hearers uncovered themselves. The sermon being finished,\nthe other minister placed himself in front of the altar with his face\ntowards the people, holding in his hand a book. A young woman with bare\nhead and loosened hair approached him, and, after saluting him in the\nway these people use, remained standing before him. Soon afterwards a\nyoung man, an artisan with a sword by his side, presented himself, and\nstood beside the young woman. The minister spoke a few words into the\near of each, directed them both to repeat a paternoster, and then began\nto read from his book. There were certain ceremonies to be undergone\nby those seeking marriage, and next the minister made them take each\nother by the hand without kissing. When this ceremony was finished\nthe minister went his way, and M. de Montaigne caught him up, and they\nheld a long discourse together after he had taken M. de Montaigne to\nhis house, which was seemly and well appointed. His name was Johannes\nTillianus, a native of Augsburg. M. de Montaigne asked concerning\na new Confession, lately formulated by the Lutherans to which all\nthe doctors and princes who supported it have put their names; this\nhowever, is not written in Latin. When they were leaving the church a\ncompany with violins and tambourines came to meet the newly-married\npair and escorted them home. On being asked if they permitted dancing,\nthe minister exclaimed, \u201cAnd why not!\u201d and again to the question: Why\nhad they let Jesus Christ be represented in the windows of the church,\nand upon the organs newly built? and why had they set up divers images?\nhe replied that they did not condemn the use of images as warnings and\nexamples, but only as objects of worship. Again, when he was asked\nwhy they had removed from the churches the ancient images, he answered\nthat it was not they who had done this, but their worthy disciples the\nZwinglians, who had occupied the churches in the first instance, and,\nbeing stirred up by a spiteful humour, had done this outrage and divers\nothers to boot. The same explanation was given to M. de Montaigne by\nother members of this confession during his travels, the doctor at Isne\nto wit, who, when he was asked whether he hated the figure and effigy\nof the Cross, cried out straightway: \u201cHow can I be such an atheist\nas to hate this figure so full of joy and glory to all Christians!\nOpinions like these are of the devil.\u201d And as they sat at ease at table\nall declared the same: that they would rather hear a hundred masses\nthan take part in the Calvinist supper. At this place they served us\nwhite hares at table. The town is on the river Isler,[63] and, after\ntaking our dinner there on the Thursday aforesaid, we travelled four\nleagues over a rocky, sterile road to Frienten,[64] a small village,\nCatholic like all the rest of this country, which is under the Archduke\nof Austria.\n\nWhen treating of Linde, I forgot to say that at the entrance of the\ntown there is a large wall bearing signs of great antiquity, and having\nnaught written thereon that I see. I heard that its name in German\nsignified \u201cthe old wall.\u201d\n\nOn this Friday morning, though our lodging was a very mean one, we\ndid not fail to find plentiful provision. It is the habit of these\npeople to warm neither their sheets before going to bed nor their\nclothes before getting up, and they take it ill if any one should\nhave a fire lighted in the kitchen for this service, or even make use\nof such fire as may be burning. This was one of the chief causes of\nwrangling we encountered in the houses where we lodged; indeed, even in\nthe depths of the mountains and forests, where ten thousand feet of\npinewood could be bought for less than fifty sous, they were just as\nill disposed to let us make a fire as elsewhere. On the Friday morning\nwe departed, and followed the more easy road to the left, instead of\ntaking the mountain path which leads direct to Trent, M. de Montaigne\nbeing minded to make a d\u00e9tour of several days in order to visit certain\nfine cities of Germany; and annoyed that, when at Vanguen, he had\naltered his plan which he had first made of going direct to Germany,\nand had taken another route. On our road we saw, as in divers other\nplaces, certain water-mills which have water brought to them simply by\nwooden troughs, which take in the water at the foot of some mountain,\nand then, being raised and propped high above the ground, discharge the\nstream down a very steep incline from the end of the last trough. After\ngoing a league on the road, we stopped to dine at Frissen.[65]\n\nThis is a small Catholic town, belonging to the bishop of Augsburg. We\nfound there numerous members of the train of the Archduke of Austria,\nwho was paying a visit to the Duke of Bavaria in a castle hard by.[66]\nIt was decided to leave there on the banks of the Lech our heavy\nbaggage, and that I and certain others should take them on to Augsburg\non a raft, as they term the trunks of trees bound together, which they\nbreak up when in harbour. There is an abbey in which they showed to\nMessieurs a chalice and a stole which they hold to be relics. These\nbelonged to a saint named Magnus,[67] who was, as they declare, the son\nof a king of Scotland, and a disciple of Columbanus. Pepin founded this\nmonastery for the benefit of this Magnus, whom he made the first abbot.\nHe likewise caused to be written there on the roof of the nave this\ninscription, and below the same notes of music to which it might be\nsung: \u201c_Comperta virtute beati Magni fama, Pipinus Princeps locum quem\nSanctus incoluit regia largitate donavit._\u201d Charlemagne subsequently\nenriched the place still further, as an inscription in the monastery\nrecords. After dinner we all met at Chonguen[68] at bedtime, after a\njourney of four leagues.\n\nChonguen is a small town under the Duke of Bavaria, and consequently\nentirely Catholic; for this prince, beyond any other in Germany, has\nkept his jurisdiction free from all touch of religious innovation, and\nis stiffly set in his views. There is excellent lodging at the \u201cStar,\u201d\nwhere we found a new fashion at table. On a square board they arrange\nthe salt-cellars from one corner to another, the candlesticks being set\nbetween the two other corners, thus forming a Saint Andrew\u2019s cross.\nThey never serve eggs, or at least only when boiled hard and cut in\nquarters in the salads, which are of the best, the vegetables being\nquite fresh. The wine is drunk new, as a rule, immediately after it is\nmade. They thresh out the corn in the barns as they may want it, using\nin this work the heavy end of a flail. On the Saturday we journeyed\nfour leagues and dined at Lanspergs,[69] a small town belonging also to\nthe Duke of Bavaria aforesaid, and situated on the banks of the Lech,\nthe town, the suburbs, and the castle alike exhibiting a remarkably\nfine aspect. We arrived there on a market day, when the place was\ncrowded with people, and remarked in the middle of a very large square\na fountain which sent up water through a hundred pipes to the height of\na pike shaft, and scattered the jets in elaborate fashion, according\nto the manipulation of the pipes. There is a very fine church in the\ntown and another in the suburb, both high up on the hill, which is\nvery steep, and the castle is similarly situated. M. de Montaigne went\nthither to visit the Jesuit college, finely housed in quite a new\nbuilding, to which they are about to add a church. M. de Montaigne\nspent as much time as he had to spare in conversing with the Jesuits.\n\nThe Count of Helfenstein[70] was in command at the castle. Here, if\nany one should favour another religion than the Roman, he would be\nwise to keep silent thereanent. On the gate between the town and the\nsuburb there is a long inscription in Latin, written in the year\n1552, which declares that the _Senatus populusque_ of the town built\nthis monument to the memory of the brothers William and Louis, dukes\n_utriusque Boiari\u00e6_. Here there are many conceits after the following\nfashion: \u201c_Horridum militem esse decet, nec auro c\u0153latum, sed animo et\nferro fretum_;\u201d and at the top thereof, \u201c_Cavea stultorum mundus_.\u201d\nAnd in another place, very conspicuous, are certain words taken from\nsome Latin historian,[71] concerning the battle which the Consul\nMarcellus lost to a king of this nation: \u201c_Carolami Boiorumque Regis\ncum Marcello Cos. pugna qu\u00e2 eum vicit_,\u201d &c. Besides these there are\ndivers appropriate mottoes in Latin over the doors of private houses.\nThese people constantly refurbish their towns and churches, which in\nconsequence have a most prosperous look; and, as it happened most\nseasonably for the amenity of our visit, everything had been newly set\nin order in this place three or four years before; for they always\nput the date upon their work. The clock of this town, like those in\nmany other towns in this country, sounds all the quarters; and they\nsay there is one in Nuremburg which sounds the minutes. We left the\ntown after dinner, and after going four leagues over a lengthy plain\nof pasture, very level, like the plain of La Beausse, we arrived at\nAugsburg.\n\n[Illustration: AUGSBURG\n\n    _To face p. 128_, vol. i.\n]\n\nThis is reckoned the fairest town of Germany, as Strasburg is the\nstrongest. The first sight we got of their household arrangements was a\nstrange one, but it assuredly bore witness to their cleanliness. This\nwas when we found the steps of the staircase of our lodging covered\nwith pieces of linen cloth, upon which we were required to walk in\norder that we might not soil the steps aforesaid, seeing that they had\njust washed and polished them, as is their wont to do every Saturday.\nWe saw no trace of cobweb or of mud in our lodging: in certain of the\nrooms were curtains which any one may at will draw over the windows. It\nis rare to find tables in the chambers, save those which are attached\nto the foot of the bed, and these are made to go with hinges so they\ncan be raised or lowered at pleasure. The footboards of the beds are\nelevated two or three feet above the frame, and are often as high as\nthe bolsters, beautifully carven in pinewood, but the pine they use is\ninferior to our walnut. They make use of pewter plates polished bright,\nbut they put inside these other plates of wood, and on the walls,\nbeside the beds, they often hang up linen cloths and curtains in order\nthat the walls may not be sullied by the spitting of the guests. The\nGermans set great store on coats-of-arms, and in every apartment may\nbe found a great number of these which the gentlefolk of the country\non their travels have left behind; the glass in the windows, moreover,\nis often garnished with the same. The routine of table service varies\ngreatly. Here they gave us first crayfish of a wonderful size, but in\nother places this dish has always come last. In many of the large inns\nthey bring everything in covered dishes. The reason why their window\nglass is so brilliant is that they have no set window-frames like ours,\nbut casements which open at will and which they clean often.\n\nOn the following morning, which was Sunday, M. de Montaigne went to see\nseveral churches. He went to some which were Catholic, and everywhere\nhe found the service very well done. Six of the churches are Lutheran\nand are served by sixteen ministers, two of these churches being taken\nfrom the Catholics, and four built by the Lutherans themselves. One\nof the last-named he visited in the morning, and found it like the\ngreat hall of a college, with neither images nor organs nor cross,\nbut with the walls covered with inscriptions in German taken from the\nBible. There were two chairs, one for the minister or for whomsoever\nmight preach, and another one placed lower for the leader in singing\nthe psalms. At every verse the people wait for the leader aforesaid,\nwho gives the note. They sing in haphazard fashion, each one according\nto his humour, and with head bare or covered. After the singing, a\nminister who had been in the assembly went to the altar, and read\nfrom a book several prayers, at certain of which the people stood up\nand clasped their hands, and made deep reverence at the name of Jesus\nChrist. After he had finished his reading to the assembly, he put\nbefore him on the altar a napkin, a basin, and a saucer, in which was\nwater. A woman, followed by a dozen others, brought to him a child,\nswaddled and with face bare, whereupon the minister thrice took the\nwater in the saucer and sprinkled it on the child\u2019s face and said\ncertain words. This being finished, two men approached and each one of\nthem placed two fingers of the right hand upon the child; the minister\nthen addressed them, and this was all.\n\nM. de Montaigne held a conversation with this minister after he left\nthe church, and was informed that the ministers receive no stipend from\nthe church, their salary being paid by the Senate as a public charge;\nthat there was a greater crowd of worshippers in this one church than\nin two or three of the Catholic churches together. We did not see a\nsingle handsome woman. The women wear a vast variety of attire, and in\nthe case of the men it is a hard matter to say who is noble and who is\nnot, forasmuch as all sorts of men wear bonnets of velvet and carry\nswords by the side. We had our lodging at the sign of the \u201cLinde,\u201d\ncalled after a tree of the country, which stands adjoining the palace\nof the Foulcres.[72] A certain member of this family, who died some\nyears ago, left a sum of two millions of French crowns to his heirs,\nand these heirs made over to the Jesuits of the city thirty thousand\nflorins for prayers for the soul of the deceased, with which sum the\nJesuits are very handsomely equipped and provided. This house of the\nFoulcres is roofed with copper: as a rule the houses are much finer,\nlarger, and higher than in any French town, and the streets much wider.\nM. de Montaigne estimated the population of Augsburg to equal that of\nOrl\u00e9ans.\n\nAfter dinner we went to see a show of fencing in the public hall, where\nthere was a vast crowd. We had to pay for entrance as to a puppet\nshow, and for our seats in addition. They showed us some play with\nthe poignard, with the two-handed sword, with the quarter-staff, and\nwith the hanger. Afterwards we saw them shooting for a prize with bow\nand crossbow, on a ground far finer than that of Schaffhausen. Beyond\nthis place, at the city gate by which we had entered, we observed a\ncopious stream of water which was brought into the city from outside\nand led under the bridge used for traffic. It is conveyed by a wooden\naqueduct built below the bridge aforesaid, and is thus carried over the\nstream which forms the city ditch. This current in its course turns a\nnumber of water-wheels attached to pumps which, by means of two leaden\npipes, raise the water of a spring, which rises in a hollow, to the\ntop of a tower some fifty feet in height. On the top of this tower the\nwater is poured into a great stone cistern, and from this cistern it\nruns down through divers pipes and is distributed all over the city,\nwhich in consequence is abundantly supplied with fountains. Private\npersons, if it be their wish, may have a right of water for their own\nuse on payment of an annual rent of ten florins to the city, or for two\nhundred florins paid down. The city was enriched by this magnificent\nwork about forty years ago.[73]\n\nMarriages of Catholics with Lutherans are common, and the one most\nkeenly set on marriage commonly conforms to the faith of the other.\nThere are thousands of marriages of this sort. Our host was a Catholic\nand his wife a Lutheran. Here they clean the glasses with a hairbrush\nfixed to the end of a stick. According to report, excellent houses may\nbe bought for forty or fifty crowns apiece. The city guard did M. de\nMontaigne and M. d\u2019Estissac the honour of presenting to them fourteen\nlarge vessels of wine for supper. This was brought by seven sergeants\nclad in uniform and an officer of worship, whom our gentlemen invited\nto sup, as is the custom in such cases. Something, moreover, is always\ngiven to the bearers of the offering, and the sergeants aforesaid got a\ncrown. The officer who remained to supper told M. de Montaigne that the\ncity maintained three officials whose duty it was to greet strangers\nof quality who came to visit the place, and that on this account they\nalways took care to ascertain the quality of each visitor, so that he\nmight receive the honours due to him. Moreover, they offered more wine\nto some than to others. If a duke should arrive in the city, one of the\nburgomasters would attend to bid him welcome. Us they took for barons\nand knights. For certain reasons M. de Montaigne was inclined to assume\nthis counterfeit dignity, and to keep silence as to our real quality.\nHe spent the whole of the day walking through the town by himself, and\nwas convinced that he was treated with greater consideration on account\nof the aforesaid subterfuge. A like honour indeed was paid by all the\nGerman towns.\n\nAs he was passing through the church of Notre Dame on a very cold\nday (for, after having enjoyed the finest weather possible up to our\ndeparture from Kempten, we had of late been sharply pricked by the\ncold), he carried, without thinking thereof, his handkerchief at his\nnose, deeming that, being alone and plainly dressed, no one would\nremark him; but after he had become more familiar with certain of\nthe citizens, they told him that the church officers had found his\ncarriage on the morning aforesaid very strange. Thus he committed the\nfault he was ever most studious to avoid, to wit, that he had made\nhimself conspicuous by a trick alien to the taste of those who remarked\nthe same; for, as far as in him lay, he always conformed and brought\nhimself in line with the manners of whatever place he might frequent;\nindeed, while he was in Augsburg he always wore a fur cap when he went\nabout the town. Augsburg, they say, is free from the mice and large\nrats with which the rest of Germany is infested, and they tell many\nwonderful stories thereanent, attributing this immunity to one of their\nbishops who is buried there, and affirming that the earth from his\ntomb, which is sold in little portions the bigness of a nut, will drive\naway the vermin aforesaid from any place to which it may be taken.[74]\n\nOn the Monday we repaired to the church of Notre Dame to witness the\nmarriage of a rich young lady of the city--albeit ill-favoured--to a\ncertain Venetian, a factor in the house of the Foulcres. Amongst the\nguests there was not one good-looking woman. This family is a very\nnumerous one; they are all very rich, and hold the highest position\nin this city. We visited two apartments in their house, one high, of\ngrand measurement, and paved with marble, and the other low-ceilinged,\nenriched with medals, both ancient and modern, and having a small\nroom at the end. These are the most sumptuous rooms I ever beheld.\nAt the gathering after the wedding we saw some dancing, and they\ndanced nothing but _Alemandes_. They constantly stop dancing and\nlead the ladies back to their seats, which are ranged in double rows\nagainst the walls and covered with red cloth; but the gentlemen do\nnot sit there with them. After a slight pause they take their dames\nout again, kissing their hands, which salutation the ladies accept\nwithout returning it; and then, having placed the arm under the ladies\u2019\narmpits, they embrace them, and the ladies put their right hands on the\ngentlemen\u2019s shoulders. They dance and chat together with heads bare and\nin sober attire.\n\nWe saw more houses belonging to the Foulcres in other parts of the\ncity, which is beholden to this family for the great outlay of money\nthey spend in its adornment. These houses are summer residences. In\none we saw a clock which was worked by the flow of water which serves\nas a counterpoise. At the same place were two large covered fish-ponds\nfull of fish, and twenty paces square. Round the brink of each of\nthe ponds are divers small pipes, some straight and others curving\nupwards, and through each of these water is poured in very pleasant\nwise into the pond, some delivering it in a direct jet, and others\nspouting it upwards to the height of a pikestaff. Between the ponds is\na space some ten paces in width floored with planks, and between these\nplanks are hidden certain little taps of brass. Thus, at any time when\nladies may go to divert themselves by seeing the fish play about the\npond, it needs only the letting go a certain spring to make every tap\naforesaid send a jet of water straight upward to the height of a man,\nand drench the petticoats and cool the thighs of the ladies. In another\nplace there is a fountain pipe, contrived to play a merry jest upon the\nspectator, for, while you look at the same, any one who is so minded\nmay turn on the water in tiny hidden jets, which will throw in your\nface a hundred little threads of water; and there is set up a Latin\ninscription: _Qu\u00e6sisti nugas, nugis gaudeto repertis_. Near thereto is\na large cage, twenty paces square and twelve or fifteen feet high,\nwhich is enclosed all round with copper wire, well knit and fastened,\nand inside are ten or twelve fir trees and a fountain. This cage is\nfull of birds, amongst others Polish pigeons, which they call _D\u2019inde_,\nand which I have seen elsewhere: these are large birds beaked like\npartridges.\n\nWe saw also the handiwork of a certain gardener who, foreseeing\ncold, inclement weather, had transported into a little shed a great\nquantity of artichokes, cabbages, lettuces, spinach, chicory, and other\nvegetables, which he had gathered as if to consume them at once, but in\nlieu thereof had set them by the root in soil, and hoped to keep them\ngood and fresh three or four months; and indeed he had there a hundred\nartichokes, not the least withered, though they had been plucked more\nthan six weeks. We saw also an instrument of lead bent and open at\neither end. If any one should fill this with water and, keeping both\nends upwards, reverse it dexterously, so that one end shall suck up\nfrom a vessel filled with water, while the other shall discharge\noutside, they say that if the stream be once set going, the water will\ncontinuously rush into the tube and discharge itself at the other end,\nso as not to produce a vacuum in the tube.\n\nThe escutcheon of the Foulcres is a shield divided in the midst; on\nthe left a _fleur de lys_ of azure on a golden ground; on the right\na _fleur de lys_ of gold on an azure ground. These arms the Emperor\nCharles V. granted when he ennobled them. We went to see certain men\nwho were conveying from Venice two ostriches to the Duke of Saxony. The\nmale was the blacker of the two, and had a red neck; the female was\nof a grey colour and laid a great number of eggs. The men said that\nthese beasts felt less fatigue than they themselves, and constantly\ncontrived to escape, but they kept them in hand by means of a band\nwhich girt them round the back above the thighs, and another one above\nthe shoulders. These bands held them in all round, and the guards had\ncaused to be fastened thereto long reins, by means of which they could\nstop them, and make them turn as they desired. On the Tuesday the chief\nmen of the city showed us with great courtesy a postern gate, through\nwhich all who wish may enter the city at any hour of the night, whether\non horse or on foot, by simply giving his name, and the name of the\ncitizen to whom he is going, or the name of the hostelry he purposes to\nvisit. Two trusty men, paid by the city, keep guard, and horsemen on\nentering pay two batzen, and footmen one. The gate opposite to this one\nin the outer wall is covered with iron, and beside it, attached to a\nchain, is a handle, also of iron, which, being pulled, moves the chain\nand strikes a bell in the bedchamber of one of the porters in a high\ntower. The porter, though undressed and in bed, by means of machinery\nwhich he moves backwards and forwards can open the door aforesaid,\nalbeit it is a hundred paces distant from his chamber. The incomer will\nfind himself on a bridge, some forty paces long, covered throughout,\nwhich stretches over the city ditch. Along this bridge is a wooden\ncasing, within which works the machinery devised to open the outside\ndoor, which is quickly closed behind the incomer. The bridge being\npassed, the next place is a small enclosure; and here a stranger will\nhave to speak to the porter aforesaid and give his name and address.\nThen the porter with a bell gives notice to his mate, who is lodged on\na lower floor of the gate tower, which contains many apartments; and\nthis porter, by working a spring in a gallery adjacent to his chamber,\nopens, in the first instance, a little iron gate; and next, by means\nof a great wheel, raises the drawbridge in such quiet fashion that no\none can detect any movement (for everything works by means of weights\non the walls and on the doors), and straightway everything closes again\nwith a great clatter. Beyond the bridge a great door, very thick, opens\nby itself: this is of wood and strengthened by large sheets of iron.\nThe stranger now finds himself in a hall, and in all his passage\nhe meets no one with whom he may speak. When he is shut up in this\napartment another door, similar to the aforesaid, is opened for him,\nand he can enter a second hall, lighted, where he will find a brazen\nvessel, suspended by a chain, into which he casts the coin due for\nhis entry, and this the porter hoists up to his chamber. If he is not\ncontent therewith he lets the stranger bide below till morning; but, if\nhe be satisfied, he opens by similar means another great door, which\ncloses immediately it has been passed by the stranger, who then finds\nhimself in the town.[75] This is one of the most carefully wrought\ndevices to be found anywhere, and the Queen of England sent thither a\nspecial ambassador to inquire of the city authority how it was worked,\nbut the explanation of the secret was refused to her. Underneath this\ngateway there is a vast vault, in which can be stabled under cover\nfive hundred horses, to be maintained and to be used in war without the\nknowledge or consent of the town council.\n\nAfter our visit to this place we went to see the church of Sainte\nCroix, which is very beautiful. There at certain seasons they have a\ngreat ceremony on account of a miracle which came to pass some hundred\nyears ago. It chanced that a woman instead of swallowing the body of\nour Lord, took the same from her mouth and put it, wrapped in wax, into\na box. She confessed what she had done, and afterwards found what she\nhad placed in the box had changed into real flesh. They bring forward\ndivers testimonies to confirm the above statement, written both in\nLatin and German, in divers parts of the church. They exhibit this bit\nof wax enclosed in a crystal case and a little scrap of something red\nlike flesh. This church, like the house of the Foulcres, is covered\nwith copper, a thing not uncommon in these parts. The Lutheran church\nis built adjoining thereto, this religion being housed and established\nhere, as in certain other places, almost in the cloisters of the\nCatholic churches. In the churchyard of this church they have set up\nthe image of our Lady holding Christ in her arms, together with images\nof saints and infants, and this inscription: _Sinite parvulos venire\nad me_, &c. In our lodging there was a machine made of iron fixed so\nas to reach down to the bottom of a very deep well. Then up above a\nservant, by working a handle which moves the machinery up and down\nwithin a space of three or four feet, produces a pressure on the water\nat the bottom of the well, and propels it by the pistons of the machine\naforesaid, so that it is forced to ascend by a leaden pipe, which takes\nit to the kitchens and whithersoever else it may be needed. They have a\npaid cleaner who puts in order immediately any befoulment of the walls.\n\nAt table we were offered pasties, large and small, made in earthen\ndishes, of form and colour exactly resembling that of a pasty crust;\nand it is very rare to sit down to a meal without sweetmeats or boxes\nof confectionery. The bread is the best to be had anywhere, and the\nwines good. In this country the wine is, for the most part, white,\nand what we drank was not grown near Augsburg, but five or six days\u2019\njourney distant. For every hundred florins which an innkeeper lays out\nin wine, the city government takes sixty as a tax, and half this amount\nis demanded of a private person who only buys for his own consumption.\nIn many places they still retain the custom of putting perfumes in the\nbed-chambers and in the stoves.\n\nSome time ago the town was entirely Zwinglian. But since the Catholics\nhave been recalled,[76] those of the reformed faith take the second\nplace, and at this time, though they are greatly superior in number to\nthe Catholics, they are ousted from all authority. M. de Montaigne also\npaid a visit to the Jesuits, whom he found to be men of much learning.\nOn the morning of Wednesday, October 19, we took our breakfast, and\nM. de Montaigne was much grieved to depart and leave unvisited the\nDanube and the town of Ulm which it passes, seeing that he was only one\nday\u2019s journey distant. He also desired to go to a bath some half-day\u2019s\njourney farther on called Sourbronne,[77] which is in a level country,\nand has a spring of cold water, good both for drinking and for the bath\nwhen duly warmed. It has, moreover, a pleasant relish on the palate\nwhich makes it agreeable to drink, and it is excellent for distempers\nof the head and stomach. The bath is in great repute, and visitors can\nbe most sumptuously housed there in fine apartments, the same as at\nBaden, according to what we were told thereanent; but the season of\nwinter was now approaching, and this place lay in a direction opposite\nto that in which we were bound, wherefore it would have been necessary\nfor us to retrace our steps to Augsburg, and M. de Montaigne was\ngreatly averse from traversing the same road twice. I left a shield\nwith the arms of M. de Montaigne in front of the door of the room he\nhad occupied, marvellously well painted, at a cost of two crowns to the\npainter and twenty sous to the joiner. The town is on the banks of the\nriver Lech, _Lycus_. We traversed a very fine country, fertile with\ncornfields, and after travelling five leagues, we arrived at Broug[78]\nin time for bed.\n\nThis is a large Catholic village, finely situated, and belonging to the\nduchy of Bavaria. We started on the morrow, Thursday, October 20, and\nafter having traversed a vast plain of corn-land (for in this country\nno vines are planted), and then one of pasturage stretching as far as\nthe eye could see, we arrived, after four leagues\u2019 journey, in time for\ndinner at Munich, a large city about the size of Bourdeaux, the capital\nof the duchy of Bavaria, and the principal residence of the dukes,\nsituated on the river Yser, _Ister_.\n\n[Illustration: MUNICH\n\n_From Civitates Orbis Terrarum_\n\n    _To face p. 150_, vol. i.\n]\n\nThe castle is fine, and its stables are the best I have ever seen\neither in France or Italy, vaulted, and big enough to contain two\nhundred horses. The city is strongly Catholic, and it is populous,\nfinely built, and busy. Since the day after we quitted Augsburg we\ncould reckon the cost of man and horse to be four livres a day, and\nforty sous for a footman at the lowest. Here we found curtains in the\nchambers, and though there were no testers to the beds, everything\nbelonging thereto was exceedingly well found. They clean the floors\nwith sawdust boiled. Everywhere in these parts they slice the radishes\nand turnips with as great care and attention as if they were threshing\ncorn. Seven or eight men, each one with a big knife in his hand, will\nset to work on the same with regular stroke, as they work in our\nwine-presses. These vegetables, like their great-headed cabbages, are\nsalted for winter use, and they plant them in their fields in the\ncountry, rather than their gardens, and harvest them. The duke, who was\nat this time in the city, has to wife the sister of M. de Lorene,[79]\nand has by her two sons, big boys, and a daughter. The two brothers\nlive also in the city, but they, together with the ladies and all the\nrest, were gone hunting the day we were there. On the Friday morning\nwe went our way, and, as we passed through the duke\u2019s forests, we saw\ncountless red deer in flocks like sheep. We went in one stretch to\nKinief, an insignificant village, about six leagues distant.\n\nThe Jesuits, who sway the government mightily in this country, have\nmade a movement which has roused against them the hatred of the\npeople;[80] to wit, that they have put constraint on the priests to\nmake them send away their concubines under severe penalties. To judge\nfrom the complaints made thereanent, it appears that this licence was\nformerly granted to them so freely that they treated it as a legitimate\nthing; moreover, they are now about to address a remonstrance to the\nduke. It was here for the first time in Germany that they served us\neggs on a fast-day in any other way than quartered in a salad. At\ntable we had, amongst the silver, some wooden goblets made of pipe\nstaff and hooped. A young lady, the daughter of a gentleman of this\nvillage, sent some wine to M. de Montaigne. Early on the Saturday we\nset out and, after seeing on our right hand the river Yser and a great\nlake[81] lying at the foot of the Bavarian mountains, and ascending\nby road for an hour, we came to the summit of the pass, where we\nfound an inscription, recording how some hundred years ago a duke of\nBavaria had cleft this way through the rocks. Then we plunged straight\ninto the bowels of the Alps by an easy, convenient, and charmingly\nmade road, the fine calm weather being greatly in our favour. As we\ndescended from the summit aforesaid, we passed a very lovely lake[82]\nabout a Gascon league in length and the same in width, surrounded by\nhigh and inaccessible mountains; and, keeping always the same road at\nthe base of the mountains, we came now and again upon small pleasant\nlevel meadows with dwellings thereon, and arrived without halting at\nMittevol,[83] a little Bavarian village, pleasantly placed on the bank\nof the Yser. Here we ate the first chestnuts we had seen in Germany,\nserved raw. In the hostelry there is a hot room, in which travellers\ngo to get sweated for a charge of a batz and a half. I myself went\nto see it, while Messieurs were at supper, and found there several\nGermans, who were being cupped and bled. On the morrow, Sunday, October\n23rd, we set forth on the same path amongst the mountains, and soon\ncame to a house and a gate which barred the passage. This was the\nentrance to the country of Tirol, belonging to the Archduke of Austria,\nand after travelling three leagues we arrived in time for dinner\nat Seefelden,[84] a small village with an abbey standing in a very\npleasant site.\n\nThe church there is a very fair one, and famous for a miracle. In\n1384 a certain man, whose name has been preserved there by adequate\nand unbroken record, refused to content himself on Easter day with\nthe Eucharist as offered to the people, and demanded to receive that\nwhich was wont to be given to the priesthood alone. While he had this\nin his mouth the earth beneath him opened and swallowed him up to the\nneck, and while he held on for a moment to the corner of the altar the\npriest withdrew the Host from his mouth. They still exhibit the hole\ncovered with an iron grating, the altar which bears the impress of this\nman\u2019s fingers, and the Host of a reddish hue like drops of blood. We\nfound there, written in recent Latin, an account how a certain Tiroler,\nwho had swallowed some days before a bit of flesh which stuck in his\nthroat and could neither be swallowed nor vomited, made a vow and\nrepaired to this church, where he was healed forthwith. On quitting\nthis place we found on the high land several nice villages, and after\nhalf-an-hour\u2019s descent, we perceived at the foot of the hill a fair\nhamlet finely placed, and high above it on a cloven and seemingly\ninaccessible rock, a magnificent castle commanding the road we had\ncome down, which is narrow and cut in the mountain side. The road is\nscarcely wide enough to let pass a common cart, as in divers other\nplaces amongst these mountains, so much so that the carters hereabout\nare wont to reduce the size of their carts a foot at the least. Beyond\nthis we came upon a valley of great extent through which the Inn flows\nto join the Danube at Vienna. In Latin it is called \u0152nus. It is five or\nsix days\u2019 journey by water from Insprug to Vienna. To M. de Montaigne\nthis valley seemed the fairest country he had ever seen, now narrowing\nitself with the mountains pressing close on it, now spreading out wide\non our side of the river--the left--and forming a space meet for\ncultivation on the very slopes of the mountains, which were not too\nsteep for this, and now expanding on the other bank. Next it would\nreveal to the eye platforms on two or three different levels, one above\nthe other, and everywhere fair houses of noblemen and churches. And\nall this in a country shut and walled in on every side by mountains of\nimmeasurable height. On our side of the valley we espied in a rocky\nplace a crucifix, set up where no man could have gone save by being let\ndown by cords from above.[85] They say that the Emperor Maximilian,\ngrandfather of Charles V., lost himself one day while hunting in these\nmountains; and, as a witness of the danger he escaped, he erected this\nimage, a story which is recorded by a painting in the hall of the\nArquebusiers at Augsburg. We arrived that evening, after travelling\nthree leagues, at Insprug.[86]\n\n[Illustration: INSBRUCK\n\n_Reproduced from Civitates Orbis Terrarum_\n\n    _To face p. 158_, vol. i.\n]\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nTIROL\n\n\nThis is the chief town of the county of Tirol, _\u0152nopontum_ in Latin,\nthe residence of Fernand, Archduke of Austria.[87] It is a very\nbeautiful little town and well built, standing in the bottom of the\nvalley and full of fountains and running water, a convenience most\ncommon in all the towns we have seen in Germany and Switzerland. The\nhouses are almost all built terraced, and we found lodgment at the\n\u201cRose,\u201d an excellent house where they served us on plates of pewter.\nAs to napkins of French fashion, we had already had them given us\nseveral days previous. Round about some of the beds they had hung\ncurtains which, as typical of the character of the people, were fine\nand rich, of a certain sort of cloth, slashed and open worked, and also\nvery short and narrow. In fine they were quite unfitted for the use to\nwhich we put such things, and there was besides a little tester, three\nfingers wide, with a lot of tassels. They gave me for M. de Montaigne\nwhite sheets trimmed with lace, four fingers wide, as is the custom of\nmost towns in Germany. All night long men go about the streets crying\nthe hour. Everywhere we have been they have the fashion of serving\nthe fish the same time as the meat; but, as far as we saw, they offer\nno meat on fish days. On the Monday we departed, travelling along the\nright bank of the Inn through a fair plain for two leagues until we\nreached Hala.\n\nWe made the journey solely to see this place. Like Insprug it is a\nsmall town, about the size of Libourne, on the river Inn, which we\ncrossed by a bridge. Here is produced all the salt used in Germany;\nthey make nine hundred loaves thereof weekly at one crown apiece, the\nloaves being about the thickness of a half-hogshead, and somewhat\nof the same shape, for the vessel which serves as a mould is of the\naforesaid kind. This traffic belongs to the archduke, and is carried\non at a vast cost. To produce the salt they had gathered together the\ngreatest store of wood I ever saw, for they boil in vast stoves of iron\nthe brine, which is brought from a mountain more than two good leagues\ndistant.\n\nThere are several fine churches, notably one belonging to the Jesuits,\nand this, as well as the one in Insprug, M. de Montaigne visited. Other\nchurches there are, richly adorned and finely situated. After dinner we\nrecrossed the river, forasmuch as the fine palace where the Archduke\nFernand of Austria dwells is there situated. M. de Montaigne desired to\nkiss the hand of this prince, as he passed thereby in the morning, but\nfrom what a certain count told him he learned that the archduke was\nholding a council.\n\nWhen we retraced our steps thither after dinner, and found that the\narchduke was in his garden, we hoped at least to be presented to him;\nbut those who went to inform him that Messieurs were there, and at his\nservice, brought word back that he prayed to be excused from granting\nan interview at that moment, but that on the morrow he would find it\nconvenient so to do. Meantime, if Messieurs desired any favour of him,\nthey might state their wants to a certain Milanese count. This cold\nreception, added to the fact that he refused to allow us to see the\ncastle, ruffled somewhat M. de Montaigne\u2019s temper; and when we spoke\nof this offence to an officer of the household this gentleman told him\nthat the prince had said he was averse from seeing Frenchmen, for that\nthe house of France was the foe of his own. We then returned to Insprug.\n\nWe next saw in a church eighteen magnificent bronze statues of the\nprinces and princesses of the house of Austria.[88] We also went to\nsup with the Cardinal of Austria[89] and the Marquis of Burgant,[90]\nsons of the archduke by a concubine, the daughter of a merchant of\nAugsburg. She bore him only these two sons, and then he married her\nto make them legitimate. She died during the present year and all the\ncourt still wears mourning. Here the ceremonial is almost the same as\nwith our princes. The hall, the dais, and the chairs were all covered\nwith black cloth. The cardinal, the elder, is not, I fancy, more than\ntwenty; he drank wine freely diluted with water, and the marquis naught\nbut sweet drink.[91] The dinner was not served in a closed tray,[92]\nbut everything uncovered, the service of viands being conducted as with\nus. When they took their seats they placed themselves some distance\nfrom the table, which was moved towards them, laden with dishes; the\ncardinal sat highest, the right-hand place being always reckoned the\nchief one. In this palace we saw two tennis-courts and a seemly garden.\n\nThis archduke is a mighty builder and planner of all such useful\ndevices. There we saw ten or twelve field-pieces, each carrying a ball\nas big as a goose\u2019s egg, and mounted on wheels enriched and gilded all\nover; the very pieces themselves being gilded. They are made of nothing\nstronger than wood, but the muzzles are covered with iron plating, and\ninside the guns this plating is of double thickness. A man can carry\none on his back. These guns are not fired so often as those cast in\niron, but they will carry a ball almost as far. At the archduke\u2019s\ncountry house we saw two oxen of an extraordinary size, grey with white\nheads, which M. de Ferrara had given him; for the aforesaid Duke of\nFerrara had married one of his sisters, the Duke of Florence another,\nand the Duke of Mantua a third. At Hala three others formerly resided\nwho were called \u201cthe Three Queens,\u201d[93] for to the daughters of the\nEmperor they give this style, as they call the daughters of other\nrulers countesses and duchesses, according to their estates; also to\nthe Emperor\u2019s daughters is given a surname from the kingdoms ruled\nby the Emperor. Two of these three are dead, and the third, who was\nstill residing there, M. de Montaigne was unable to see. She lives in\nreligious seclusion, and has called in and established the Jesuits at\nHala.\n\nReport goes that the archduke cannot leave his possessions to his\nchildren, but that these must revert to the successor to the Empire.\nThey could not, however, give the reason for this arrangement; and, as\nfar as this remark applies to the wife, it seems to carry no meaning,\nforasmuch as, though she was not of suitable rank, still he married\nher, and all men hold her to have been his lawful wife, and her\nchildren legitimate. However, he has amassed much money in order to\nbequeath them something.\n\nOn the Tuesday morning we resumed our journey, crossing the plain and\nfollowing the mountain path. At the end of the first league we ascended\nfor an hour a small mountain by an easy road. On the left hand we\nhad a view of divers other mountains, which for the reason that they\nsloped gently, were covered with villages and churches and for the most\npart tilled up to the very tops, a pleasing prospect on account of\nthe diversity of the landscape aforesaid. The mountains on the right\nwere somewhat wilder and sparsely peopled. We crossed several brooks\nand torrents, running in varied course, and on the road we passed\nseveral large towns and villages and good inns, at the very base of the\nmountains. Also on the left hand were two castles and some gentlemen\u2019s\ndwellings; and, about four leagues from Insprug, on the left side of\na very narrow passage, we came upon a bronze tablet, richly engraved,\nattached to the rock and inscribed thus: \u201cThe Emperor Charles V.,\nreturning from Spain and Italy,[94] where he had received the Imperial\ncrown; and his brother Ferdinand, King of Hungary and Bohemia, coming\nfrom Pannonia, seeking one another after an interval of eight years,\nmet at this spot in the year 1530. Ferdinand commanded this memorial to\nbe placed here.\u201d They are represented embracing one another.\n\nA short distance farther on, as we passed beneath a gate which blocked\nthe road, we found written thereon some Latin verses recording the\npassage of the Emperor aforesaid, and of his stay in this place\nafter his capture of the King of France and of Rome. M. de Montaigne\nfound the scenery of this pass greatly to his taste on account of\nthe diversity of the objects to be seen, and we encountered no\ninconvenience, except the thickest and most intolerable dust we had\never experienced, which kept with us the whole of our mountain passage.\nAfter we had been on the road ten hours, M. de Montaigne affirmed that\nthis journey seemed to him like moonlight travelling.[95] It was always\nhis habit, whether he purposed to halt on the road or not, to let his\nhorses have oats to eat in the morning at the inn before starting.\nAfter faring seven leagues, we all arrived fasting late at night at\nStertzinguen, a decent little town,[96] belonging to the county of\nTirol, with a fine new castle built on the rock above. At table they\ngave us round loaves, joined one to another, and as everywhere else\nin Germany, the mustard was liquid, with the taste of white French\nmustard. Everywhere the vinegar is white. No wine grows in these\nmountains, but corn enough for the inhabitants, who drink three sorts\nof good white wine. All these roads are perfectly safe, being much\nused by merchants, coachmen, and carters. Instead of the cold, which\nhad been instanced as a detriment to this road, we were troubled with\nintolerable heat. The women of the country wear cloth hats, like our\nscholars\u2019 caps, with their hair braided and hanging down as in other\nplaces. M. de Montaigne, having espied a fair young girl in a church,\nasked if she could speak Latin, deeming she was a scholar.\n\nHere we had curtains to our beds of thick linen dyed red. In all our\ntravels in Germany we found no room or chamber which was not panelled,\nthe ceilings being very low. M. de Montaigne suffered this night from\ncolic for two or three hours, and very sharply, to judge from what he\nsaid next morning. Then indeed, when he rose from bed, he passed a\nstone of medium size which crumbled easily: outside it was yellowish,\nand when broken showed white in the middle. He had taken cold the\nprevious day and found himself ailing, but he had not suffered from\ncolic since Plommieres. This seizure partially removed the fear he\nfelt that at Plommieres some gravel had descended into the bladder\nwithout passing therefrom, and that certain matter, there arrested, was\ncollecting and consolidating. Now, seeing what had happened, he felt\nhe might reasonably infer that, if there were indeed other particles,\nthey would have joined themselves to the stone he had just passed. On\nthe way he complained of pain in his loins, and now he declared he\nhad prolonged the day\u2019s journey simply on this account, deeming that\nhe would find greater ease on horseback than elsewhere. At this place\nhe called for the schoolmaster to converse with him in Latin, but the\nfellow was a fool from whom he could get no information as to the\ncountry.\n\nOn the morrow, Wednesday, October 26, we set out over a plain some\nhalf-quarter of a league in width, having the river Aisoc[97] on our\nright hand, and traversed this plain for two leagues. At the foot of\nthe neighbouring mountains we saw here and there spaces of ground,\ninhabited and cultivated and often adjacent one to the other, but could\ndiscern no road leading thereto. We passed four or five castles, and\ncrossed the river on a wooden bridge, and came upon some roadmakers\nwho were repairing the way because it was somewhat stony, but not\nworse than the roads in Perigord. Then, having passed a stone gateway,\nwe mounted to higher ground, where we came upon a level space about\na league in length, and espied a similar plain on the other side of\nthe river, both being sterile and rocky. There were some very fine\nlow-lying meadows on our side of the stream. After going four leagues\nwithout halt we arrived in time for supper at Brixen, a fair little\ntown, through which flows the river aforesaid, crossed by a wooden\nbridge. A bishop resides here and we saw two fine churches. We found\ngood lodging at the \u201cEagle.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: BRIXEN\n\n_From Civitates Orbis Terrarum_\n\n    _To face p. 172_, vol. i.\n]\n\nThe level ground here is of no great extent, but the adjacent mountains\nrise so gently, even on the left-hand side, that they can, so to\nspeak, be curled and combed up to the very ears.[98] The whole country\nseems full of clock towers and villages high up in the hills, and\nnear the town are several fine houses well built and situated. M. de\nMontaigne declared \u201cthat he had all his life distrusted the verdict\nof other people upon the amenities of foreign lands, no one being\nable, apparently, to appreciate them except by the rule of his own\npeculiar habit, and the custom of his village; and that he paid very\nlittle respect to the information given him by travellers. But now he\nwas more amazed than ever over their stupidity, seeing that he had\nheard tell--and especially concerning travelling in this region--of\nthe exceeding difficulties to be overcome in these passes of the Alps;\nthat the manners of the people were uncouth, the roads impassable, the\nlodging rough, and the air intolerable. As to the air, he thanked God\nto find it so mild--for he was fain of excess of heat rather than of\ncold, and up to the present we had experienced only three days of cold,\nand an hour or so of rain--and moreover, if he were minded to take\nhis little girl[99] of eight out for a walk, he would as lief take\nher out on this road as in his own garden; that, as to the lodgings,\nhe had never seen a country where they were so plentiful and good,\nhaving always found accommodation in handsome towns well supplied with\nprovision and wine at a cheaper rate than elsewhere.\u201d\n\nThey use in these parts a machine with various wheels to turn the\nspits. They bind closely a strong cord round a great spindle of iron;\nthis unwinds itself, and, the movement thereof being arrested somehow,\nthe process lasts an hour. When it stops the machine has to be wound\nup afresh. As to smoke-jacks we saw several of these. So great is\nthe abundance of iron that, besides fitting gratings of divers sorts\nto their windows and doors, they cover even the wooden shutters with\nplates of iron. Here we came again into the land of vines, which we\nhad lost sight of since we quitted Augsburg. Round about these parts\nmost of the houses have every storey vaulted. In Germany they do what\nwe cannot do in France, to wit, they use hollow tiles to cover the\nnarrowest slopes of roofing, as in their clock towers. Their tiling is\nsmaller and more hollowed, and sometimes plastered at the joints. We\nquitted Brixen on the morning of the morrow, and traversed the same\nwide open valley, the roadsides being adorned with divers fine houses.\nTravelling with the river Eisock on our left, we passed a small village\nnamed Clause,[100] inhabited by various sorts of workers, and at the\nend of three leagues came to Colman[101] in time for dinner, a small\nplace where the archduke has a pleasure-house.\n\nAt table they gave us, together with silver goblets, others of painted\nearthenware, and they washed the glasses with white salt. The first\nservice was sent up in a hot dish, very handy, which they placed on the\ntable with an iron implement. It contained eggs poached with butter.\nOn quitting this place we found the road somewhat narrow, and the\nrocks closed upon us so much that the pass was hardly wide enough for\nourselves and the river together. In sooth we should have been in\ndanger of pushing one another into the abyss, if they had not built\nbetween the river and the wayfarers a wall which was continued in\nplaces a German league at a stretch. The more lofty of the mountains\nwhich stood around us were wild rocks, some in solid masses, some\nscored and broken up by the passage of the torrents, and some of a kind\nof shale which let fall below innumerable fragments of astonishing\nsize, wherefore it impressed us that it would be perilous to travel\nhere during a tempest. We saw likewise whole forests of pine trees torn\nup by the roots which still carried masses of earth. But the country\nis well peopled, for, beyond these lower hills, we caught sight of\nothers higher up, cultivated and inhabited; and we learned also that\nabove these were fine, broad, level fields and good houses occupied\nby rich farmers, who raised abundant corn for the villages below. We\ncrossed the stream by one of the numerous wooden bridges and then had\nit on our left hand. Amongst other objects we saw a castle, perched on\nthe loftiest and most inaccessible point of the mountains, which they\ntold us belonged to a baron of the country, who lived there and enjoyed\nhis fine lands and hunting. Beyond these hills there is always to be\nseen the range of high Alps, which we left to themselves. They indeed\nbar the issue from this pass, so that the traveller has continually to\nreturn to the course of the stream, and to emerge again at some turn\nor other. This county of Tirol, which yields no revenue except from\nthe mountains, is worth three hundred thousand florins a year to the\narchduke, more than he gets from all the rest of his dominions. We\ncrossed the river again by a stone bridge, and, after a bout of four\nleagues, we arrived in good time at Bolzan.[102]\n\nThis town, about the size of Libourne, is situated on the river before\nnamed, and is somewhat less pleasing than other towns we had visited in\nGermany, so much so that M. de Montaigne exclaimed that it was evident\nwe were about to cross the German border. The streets are narrow, and\nthere is no fine public place, but we still found fountains, running\nwater, paintings, and glass windows. Wine is so plentiful that they\nsupply the whole of Germany with what it needs, and the bread eaten in\nthese mountains is the best in the world. The church is a very fine\none, and possesses amongst other things a wooden organ, which is very\nhigh and placed close to the crucifix by the great altar. But the\nplayer sits some twelve feet lower, beside the column to which the\norgan is attached, and the bellows are underground outside the church,\nabout fifteen paces behind the organist. The open space in which this\ntown is situated is only just large enough to contain it, but the\nmountains to the right hand stand back somewhat, thus giving a little\nextra ground. From here M. de Montaigne wrote to Fran\u00e7ois Hottoman,\nwhom he had met at Basel, \u201cthat albeit he was bound for Italy, he had\nfared so well in Germany that he quitted it with much regret; that\nstrangers had to suffer the exactions of innkeepers there as elsewhere,\nbut that this abuse would soon right itself, and that the traveller\nwould no longer be at the mercy of guides and interpreters who sold him\nand shared the profit. In every other respect he had always met with\nunbounded courtesy and convenience, and was specially struck with the\njustice and security everywhere prevalent.\u201d[103] We left Bolzan early\non Friday morning, and at two leagues\u2019 end we halted for breakfast and\nto feed our horses at Brounsol.[104]\n\nThis was a small village standing above the river Eysock which, after\nbearing us company so far, now mixed itself with the Adisse[105] and\nflowed therewith to the Adriatic Sea, broad and tranquil, and no longer\nresembling the brawling and furious torrents of the mountains above.\nThe plain, too, became a little broader as far as Trante,[106] and\nthe hills showed their peaks less prominently. The slopes of these,\nhowever, are less fertile than those higher up, and in the valley are\nsome swamps which encroach upon the road in places, but elsewhere the\ntravelling is easy in the bottom of the valley and along the plain.\nTwo leagues after leaving Brounsol we came to a large village where a\ngreat crowd was assembled by reason of a fair. Farther on was another\nwell-built village, called Solorne,[107] where the archduke has a small\ncastle on the left of the road, set in a strange position on the point\nof a rock. Five leagues\u2019 journey took us to Trante, where we arrived in\ntime for bed.\n\n[Illustration: TRENT\n\n    _To face p. 180_, vol. i.\n]\n\nTrante is somewhat larger than Aagen, an unpleasant place, and quite\nlacking in the grace of the German towns, with narrow and crooked\nstreets.[108] Two leagues before reaching it we heard the Italian\ntongue, and the town itself is equally divided between the two\nlanguages, one quarter thereof being called after the Germans, with a\nchurch in which they have a preacher of their own speech. We heard no\ntalk of the new forms of religion after we left Augsburg. In Trante,\nwhich is on the Adisse, we saw the cathedral, which had a look of\ngreat antiquity,[109] and the same may be said of a square tower near\nthereto. We likewise visited Notre Dame, the new church where the\nCouncil was held, in which church there is an organ, the gift of a\nprivate gentleman. This is exceedingly beautiful; it is set up in a\nmarble gallery which is carved and adorned with divers fine statues,\nthose of some singing children being especially lovely.[110] This\nchurch was built by _Bernardus Clesius Cardinalis_ in 1520, a native\nof Trante and afterwards bishop.[111] Trante is a free town under the\ncharge and governance of the bishop, but at a time when they were hard\npressed in a struggle with the Venetians, the people called in the\nCount of Tirol to help them, and in return therefor he has retained\ncertain authority and rights over the town. There has been a contention\nbetween him and the bishop over this matter, but the bishop, who is a\nCardinal Madruccio, now holds possession.[112]\n\nOn this point M. de Montaigne said \u201cthat he had taken note during his\njourney of those citizens who had done good service to the towns where\nthey were born; of the Foulcres of Augsburg, to whom was due the main\npart of the embellishment of that city, who had placed palaces at all\nthe crossings of the streets, and filled the churches with all kinds\nof works of art; of this Cardinal Clesius also, who, besides building\nthis church and several streets at his own charges, added a very fine\nbuilding to the castle of the town.\u201d The outside of this building is\nnothing remarkable, but within it is furnished and painted and enriched\nin a fashion beyond anything that can be imagined. All the panel work\nbelow is enriched with painted patterns, the bosses of the ceilings\nare gilded and carven, the floors are made of a kind of hardened\nearth painted like marble, a part of the rooms being fitted after one\nfashion, and part, _\u00e0 l\u2019Allemande_, with stoves. One of these is of\nporcelain darkened to the colour of bronze, and made in the form of\na group of large human figures, which, being heated warm the room.\nMoreover there are certain others, stationed close to the wall, which\ngive out water, this being brought to them from the fountain in the\ncourt below. This is a fine piece of work. We saw there also amongst\nthe other designs on the ceilings a torchlight procession by night,\nwhich M. de Montaigne admired greatly, also two or three circular\nchambers, in one of which was an inscription recording how \u201cClesius,\nhaving been sent in the year 1530 to the coronation of the Emperor\nCharles V. by Pope Clement VII., on St. Matthias\u2019s Day, as envoy on\nthe part of Ferdinand, King of Hungary and Bohemia, Count of Tirol,\nand brother of the aforenamed Emperor, was made a cardinal, being\nalready Bishop of Trent.\u201d Moreover, they have set round the chamber\nthe armorial bearings, and painted on the walls the arms and the names\nof the gentlemen who accompanied him: some fifty in number, all counts\nand barons owing service to the bishopric. In one of these chambers\nthere is a trap door through which a man can slip into the town without\npassing the main entrance, and two richly ornamented chimney-pieces.\nThis was an excellent cardinal. The Foulcres have done great building\nwork, but they have built for their posterity, while the cardinal\naforesaid has built for the public weal, for he has left this castle,\ntogether with the furniture still in it worth more than a hundred\nthousand crowns, to his successors in office. Besides this he left to\nthe public fund of the bishopric a hundred and fifty silver thalers,\nwhich is held without payment of interest on the same. In spite of\nthese benefactions they have left his church of Notre Dame unfinished,\nand have erected a very mean tomb over his body. His successors provide\nthemselves with no other furniture than the aforenamed for the castle.\nSome of this is fitted for the winter, some for the summer, and none of\nit can be alienated.\n\nHere they reckon distance by the Italian mile, of which five go to make\none mile of Germany, and they count the hours through to twenty-four\nwithout dividing them in the midst. We found good lodging at the\n\u201cRose,\u201d and left Trante on the Saturday after dinner. We followed a\nroad like the last we traversed in the valley, which was here wider and\ngirt by higher, uninhabited mountains, having the river Adisse on our\nright hand. There we passed a castle[113] belonging to the archduke,\nwhich commands the road, like various other strongholds elsewhere,\nbuilt to control the passage, and arrived at Rovere[114] very late,\nafter travelling fifteen miles. Never until now did we journey in the\ndewfall,[115] so carefully had we laid out our time on the road.\n\nThis town belongs to the archduke aforenamed. Here in our lodging we\nfound once more the usages with which we were familiar: we found,\nindeed, not merely German neatness in rooms and furniture and glass\nwindows, but German stoves as well, which commended themselves to M. de\nMontaigne much more than open chimneys.[116] As to food, we had here\nno crayfish, which thing M. de Montaigne found very strange, seeing\nthat, ever since we left Plommieres, a distance of two hundred leagues,\nthis dish had been put before us at every meal. Here and in all this\nmountainous country they commonly eat snails larger and fatter than\nthose of France, but not so well flavoured; also truffles which they\npeel and serve sliced with oil and vinegar, a passably good dish. The\ntruffles we ate at Trante had been kept for a year. Here at Rovere,\ngreatly to the gratification of M. de Montaigne, we were plentifully\nsupplied with oranges and citrons and olives. The bed curtains are cut\nshort and made either of cloth or serge. M. de Montaigne also regretted\nthe lack of those beds which they use as coverings in Germany; made\nnot like our beds, but of the finest down enclosed in an envelope of\nwell-bleached fustian. The beds used for lying upon in Germany are not\nof this character, and could not be used as coverlets with comfort.\n\nI verily believe that, if he had been alone with his own following, M.\nde Montaigne would rather have gone to Cracow or to Greece by land than\nhave turned towards Italy. He took great pleasure in his visits to\nstrange countries, finding therein forgetfulness of his age and of his\nill-health, but he could never win over the rest of the company to this\nview, each one of them being anxious to have done with travel and to\nreturn. He was ever wont to say that, after an uneasy night, he would\nrise eager and lively when he remembered he was about to sally forth to\nsee some fresh town or district. Never did I see him less subject to\nfatigue or less querulous of his ailments; so full of spirit both on\nthe road and at his lodgings; so appreciative of everything he saw, and\neager for conversation with strangers; indeed I believe that this habit\ndrew off his thoughts from his infirmities. When the others complained\nto him of his practice of leading the party over indirect and winding\nroads, often returning to the spot whence they had set out (which he\nwould often do when he heard report of something worth seeing, or when\nhe saw reason for varying his plan of travel), he would reply that,\nfor his own part, he never set forth for any place other than that\nin which he might at present find himself; and that it was impossible\nhe should miss or go aside from his route, because this route always\nlay where places unfamiliar to him were to be seen; and that, provided\nhe did not fare the same road twice over, or see one place a second\ntime, he never considered that he had failed one jot in his original\npurpose. As to Rome, which other people might easily see, he was less\nfain to visit it than other places, because it was well known to every\none, and moreover every lackey was ready to give news of Florence and\nFerrara. He said that he seemed to be in like case to one who reads\nsome delightful story or good book, and dreads to turn the last page.\nThe pleasure of travel was to him so keen, that he hated the sight of\nthe place where he ought rightly to stop and rest; moreover, he devised\nseveral projects of travelling exactly as the mood might seize him,\nsupposing that he should separate from his present companions.\n\nOn the Sunday morning, having a wish to see the Lake of Garda, a famous\nlake of these parts and rich in the finest fish,[117] he hired three\nhorses for himself and Messieurs de Caselis and Mattecoulon at twenty\nbatzen apiece. M. d\u2019Estissac hired two others for himself and the Sieur\ndu Hautoy, and with no escort--having left their own horses at this\nplace, Rovere, for the day--they rode eight miles to Torbole, where\nthey dined. This is a village under Tirolese jurisdiction, situated at\nthe head of the lake, and opposite to it is a small town and a castle\ncalled Riva.[118] To this place they were taken by water, five miles,\nand the same distance to return; they accomplished the journey in about\nthree hours, being rowed by five boatmen. They saw nothing at Riva save\na tower which had the appearance of great age, and the governor of\nthe place, the Seigneur Hortimato Madruccio, brother of the present\ncardinal bishop of Trante. In looking down the lake the farther end is\nnot in view, for it is thirty-five miles long, while the width and all\nthey could see of it did not exceed five miles. The head of the lake\nis in the county of Tirol, but all the lower part on either side is\nunder the Signiory of Venice, a region rich in fine churches, gardens\nof olives, oranges, and other similar fruits. This lake is terribly\nrough in times of tempest, and the surrounding mountains are more bare\nand threatening than any of those we had hitherto passed, according\nto the report of Messieurs.[119] On quitting Rovere they crossed the\nAdisse, leaving the road to Verona to the left hand, and entered a deep\nvalley where they passed through a long village and a small town, the\nroad being the roughest and the view the most forbidding of any they\nhad yet experienced, by reason of these mountains which obstructed the\nway. On leaving Torbole, they returned to Rovere to supper.\n\nAt this place we put our trunks on one of the rafts, which are called\n_flottes_ in Germany, for conveyance to Verona by the river Adisse,\npaying therefor a florin, and on the morrow I had the charge of this\ntransport. For supper they gave us poached eggs and a pike, together\nwith a great plenty of flesh of all kinds. On the next morning, Monday,\nthey set forth early, and following the valley, fairly populous but not\nover fertile and flanked by high, rocky mountains, they arrived after\nriding fifteen miles at Bourquet[120] in time for dinner. This town\nlies within the county of Tirol, which is very large. In this matter\nM. de Montaigne, when he asked whether this county included aught else\nthan the valley we had traversed and the mountain tops we had seen,\nwas informed that it contained divers other mountain valleys, fully as\nextensive and fertile, and fine towns: that the county was, as we saw\nit, like a robe in folds, but that, were it spread out, it would cover\na very wide stretch of country. The river was all this time on the\nright hand, and when they resumed their journey after dinner they kept\nthe same road as far as Chiusa, a small fort in a mountain cleft above\nthe Adisse, which the Venetians had taken. They followed the course of\nthe river, descending a steep slope of solid rock over which the horses\ncould hardly keep their feet, and passing the fort aforesaid, where the\nVenetian government, in whose territory they had been after a mile or\ntwo on this side of Bourquet, kept twenty-five soldiers. They arrived\nin time for bed at Volarne after riding twelve miles. At this place\nthey found wretched lodging, as everywhere else on the way to Verona. A\nyoung lady, the daughter of the lord of the castle who was then absent,\nsent M. de Montaigne a present of wine. On the morrow there were no\nmore mountains visible on the right of the road, and to the left even\nthe hills which lay upon the skirts of the plain were far distant.\nThe way was for some time over a sterile plain, but when it neared the\nriver it improved, and vines, trained upon trees, as is the fashion\nin these parts, came in sight. After a journey of twelve miles they\narrived on All Saints\u2019 Day before mass at Verona.\n\n\nEND OF VOL. I.\n\n\n    Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.\n    Edinburgh & London\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] The MS. of the Journal was incomplete at the time of its discovery,\ncertain leaves having been torn away from the beginning, but the\nconcluding paragraphs supply the date at which Montaigne must have left\nhome, _i.e._ June 22, 1580. He seems to have halted at the outset of\nhis journey near La F\u00e8re, which was at that time besieged by the forces\nof the League under Marshal de Matigon, and to have gone thence to\nBeaumont-sur-Oise, where the Journal begins on September 4th. The siege\nof La F\u00e8re was undertaken by Henry III. as a counter-move to the recent\ncapture of Cahors by the Huguenots. Operations were some time delayed\nby the shortness of money and by an outbreak of whooping-cough, the\nfirst recorded appearance of this distemper. The king, the greater part\nof the courtiers, and thousands of the people of Paris were attacked,\nand the whole city was panic-stricken. When the Catholic leaders were\nat length ready to move, they spoke of the task before them as \u201c_un\nsi\u00e8ge de velours_,\u201d anticipating little difficulty or danger; but they\nlost two thousand men before the place fell on August 31st.\n\n[2] For notice of Mattecoulon and D\u2019Estissac, see Introduction.\n\n[3] There is no exact clue to the identity of this person, but there\nis a passage in the Essais, iii. 4, which seems to refer to him: \u201cJe\nfus entre plusieurs autres de ses amis, conduire \u00e0 Soissons le corps de\nMonsieur de Grammont, du si\u00e8ge de la F\u00e8re, o\u00f9 il fut tu\u00e9.\u201d\n\n[4] Meaux was besieged by the English under Henry V. in 1422. The\nMarch\u00e9 was the last part to surrender. After the English had gained\nthe town, Monstrelet writes (_Ch._ cclvii.): \u201cDedens laquelle ville se\nloga le roy d\u2019Angleterre et grant multitude de ses gens. Et tantost\napr\u00e8s gaigna une petite ysle assez pr\u00e8s du marchi\u00e9, en laquelle il fit\nasseoir plusieurs grosses bombardes qui moult terriblement cravent\u00e8rent\nles maisons du dit marchi\u00e9 et aussi les murailles d\u2019icelleui.\u201d Ed.\nParis, 1860.\n\n[5] \u201cDans les premi\u00e8res ann\u00e9es du xviii. si\u00e8cle on venait encore\nadmirer \u00e0 Saint Faron le somptueux tombeau d\u2019Ogier, monument execut\u00e9\ncertainement avant le xii^e. si\u00e8cle, et suivant Mabillon d\u00e8s le ix^e.,\nfort peu de temps apr\u00e8s la mort du h\u00e9ros. Ce n\u2019est pas ici le lieu de\nd\u00e9crire ce tombeau, dont une gravure nous est heureusement rest\u00e9e; mais\npour faire voir l\u2019\u00e9troit lieu qui unit les souvenirs historiques et les\ntraditions romanesques, nous ajuterons que devant les colonnes avanc\u00e9es\nqui formaient une sorte de p\u00e9ristyle autour de la tombe d\u2019Ogier et\nde Beno\u00eet, son compagnon de guerre, on distinguait les statues de\nRoland, d\u2019Aude la fianc\u00e9e de Roland, d\u2019Olivier, et d\u2019un pr\u00e9lat qui\nsemblait b\u00e9nir l\u2019union d\u2019Aude et de Roland. Dans les mains d\u2019Olivier\n\u00e9tait un rouleau sur laquelle Mabillon avait lu ces deux vers: \u2018_Aud\u00e6,\nconjugium tibi do, Rollande, sororis, Perpetuumque mei socialis f\u0153dus\namoris_\u2019.... Ogier voulut-il consacrer dans l\u2019abbaye de Saint Faron\nun immortel souvenir aux h\u00e9ros de Roncevaux? et lui m\u00eame aurait-il\nainsi pr\u00e9sid\u00e9 \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9rection d\u2019un riche monument qui devait lui servir\nde sepulchre? ou bien les moines de Saint Faron, plusieurs si\u00e8cles\napr\u00e8s sa mort auraient-ils eu la premi\u00e8re pens\u00e9e d\u2019un mausol\u00e9e dont ils\nauraient emprunt\u00e9 les principaux d\u00e9tails de sculpture et d\u2019architecture\nau traditions populaires?\u201d--_Histoire litt\u00e9raire de la France_, xx. 690.\n\nGaston Paris (_Histoire po\u00e9tique de Charlemagne_) remarks: \u201cLe monument\nde Saint Faron de Meaux tendrait aussi \u00e0 faire croire qu\u2019il (Ogier) a\n\u00e9t\u00e9 confondu avec Olivier.\u201d--P. 307.\n\n[6] He was a cleric attached to the diocese of Auxerre, and in 1546\nbecame treasurer of the cathedral of Meaux. He was sent by Francis I.\nto the East with instructions to acquire Greek MSS., and some of his\ncollections are now in the Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale. He died in 1590, and\nwas buried in the cathedral of Meaux.\n\n[7] Epernay.\n\n[8] Piero Strozzi, son of Filippo, and an exile. He entered the service\nof Francis I. in 1542, and served under the French kings till his death\nat the siege of Thionville in 1558.\n\n[9] Catherine dei Medici. Strozzi was bitterly hostile to the Medicis\nthen ruling in Florence.\n\n[10] September 8th, the Nativity of the Virgin.\n\n[11] A Spaniard educated at Salamanca and a member of the Jesuit order\nsince 1562. He taught theology and philosophy at Paris, and was said to\nhave converted many Protestants. His success raised envy amongst the\nother orders, and he was accused of heretical views on the immaculate\nconception. De Thou, who was hostile to the Jesuits, speaks of him as\na man of the highest character and the most brilliant parts. His chief\nwork is a commentary on the Bible. He died at Rome in 1583.\n\n[12] Montpensier was Louis de Bourbon, who died in 1582. Nevers was the\nson of Federigo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. He married Henrietta, the last\nof the house of Cleves, and abandoned his Italian title for that of\nDuc de Nevers. He died in 1595. The dispute referred to was over some\nquestion of Court precedence.\n\n[13] Ch\u00e2lons-sur-Marne.\n\n[14] Antoinette de Bourbon, daughter of Fran\u00e7ois de Bourbon, Comte de\nVend\u00f4me, and Marie de Luxembourg. She married in 1513 Claude, Duke of\nGuise and Aumale, who died in 1550. She lived till 1583.\n\n[15] Montier-en-Der.\n\n[16] This strange story is worthy of remark on account of the notice\nthereof by Ambroise Par\u00e9, the illustrious French surgeon. He writes\n(_\u0152uvres_, vol. iii., p. 19, Paris, 1841): \u201cAussi estant \u00e0 la\nsuite du roy \u00e0 Vitry le Fran\u00e7ois en Champagne, i\u2019y vis un certain\npersonnage nomm\u00e9 Germain Garnier: aucuns le nommoient Germain Marie,\nparcequ\u2019estant fille estoit appell\u00e9 Marie: jeune homme de taille\nmoyenne, trapp\u00e9 et bien amass\u00e9, portant barbe rousse assez espaisse,\nlequel jusqu\u2019au quinzi\u00e8me an de son aage avoit est\u00e9 tenu pour fille,\nattendu qu\u2019en luy ne se monstroit aucune marque de virilit\u00e9, et m\u00eame\nqu\u2019il se ten\u00f4it avec les filles en habit de femme. Or ayant atteint\nl\u2019aage susdit, comme il estoit aux champs et poursuiuoit assez vivement\nses porceaux qui alloient dedans un bl\u00e9, trouvant un foss\u00e9 le voulut\naffranchir: et l\u2019ayant saut\u00e9, \u00e0 l\u2019instant se viennent \u00e0 lui d\u00e9velopper\nles genitoires et la verge virile, s\u2019estans rompu les ligamens par\nles quels auparavant estoient tenus clos et enserr\u00e9s (ce qui ne luy\naduint sans douleur) et s\u2019en retourna, larmoyant en la maison de sa\nm\u00e8re, disant que ses trippes estoient sorti\u00e9s hors du ventre: la quelle\nf\u00fbt fort estonn\u00e9e de ce spectacle. Et ayant assembl\u00e9 des M\u00e9dicins\net Chirugiens pour la dessus auoir advis, on trouva qu\u2019elle estoit\nhomme, et non plus fille: et tantost apr\u00e8s avoir rapport\u00e9 \u00e0 l\u2019\u00c9uesque,\nqu\u2019estoit le d\u00e9funt Cardinal de Lenoncourt, par son autorit\u00e9 et\nassembl\u00e9e du peuple, il receut le nom d\u2019homme; et au lieu de Marie (car\nil estoit ainsi nomm\u00e9 auparavant) il fut appell\u00e9 Germain, et lui f\u00fbt\nbaill\u00e9 habit d\u2019homme.\u201d\n\nGoulart (_Histoires admirables et m\u00e9morables_, Senlis, 1628) also\nnotices the story. In the _Novell\u00e6_ of Morlini, which was first\npublished at Naples in 1520, Novella XXII. is of a character somewhat\nsimilar, and was borrowed by Straparola for the ninth fable of the\nthirteenth night of the _Piacevoli Notti_.\n\nMontaigne refers to this matter again in the \u201cEssays,\u201d i. 20: \u201cPassant\n\u00e0 Vitry le Fran\u00e7ois je p\u00fbs voir un homme que l\u2019\u00c9vesque de Soissons\navoit nomm\u00e9 Germain,\u201d a manifest lapse of memory, as in the text above\nhe expressly states that he was not able to see Germain. His memory was\nevidently treacherous. \u201cMa librairie est assise \u00e0 un coin de ma maison:\ns\u2019il me tombe en fantaisie chose que j\u2019y vueille aller chercher ou\nescrire, de peur qu\u2019elle ne m\u2019eschappe en traversant seulement ma cour,\nil faut que je la donne en garde \u00e0 quelqu\u2019autre. Si je m\u2019enhardis en\nparlant, \u00e0 me d\u00e9tourner tant soit peu de mon fil, je ne faux jamais de\nle perdre: qui fait que je me tiens en mes discours, contraint, sec, et\nreserr\u00e9. Les gens qui me servent, il faut que je les appelle par le nom\nde leurs charges ou de leur pa\u00efs: car il m\u2019est tres-malais\u00e9 de retenir\ndes noms. Je diray bien qu\u2019il a trois syllabes, que le son en est rude,\nqu\u2019il commence ou termine par telle lettre: et si je durois \u00e0 vivre\nlongtemps, je ne crois pas que je n\u2019oubliasse mon nom propre, comme ont\nfait d\u2019autres.\u201d--_Essais_, ii. 17.\n\n[17] Bar-le-Duc.\n\n[18] Son of a certain Pierre de Tr\u00e8ves. The college he founded was\ndirected by the Jesuits up to the outbreak of the Revolution; the\nchapel alluded to was added to the collegiate church of St Mark. He\nbecame dean of the college, and died in 1582; and his portrait now\nhangs in the museum at Bar-le-Duc.\n\n[19] Manois.\n\n[20] Charles VII.\n\n[21] \u201cCy git tel qui fut mors lors que li milliaires courroit per mil\ndeux cens.\u201d Querlon in his note in the edition of 1774 adds: \u201cEntre\nautres plusieurs tombeaux de Seigneurs de la Maison du Ch\u00e2telet il est\nrapport\u00e9 dans les observations de l\u2019Abb\u00e9 Desfontaines (_Lettre 467_)\nqu\u2019un du Ch\u00e2telet voulut y \u00eatre enterr\u00e9 tout debout dans le creux d\u2019un\npillier, disant que \u2018jamais vilain ne passeroit par dessus son ventre.\u2019\u201d\n\n[22] \u00c9pinal.\n\n[23] Plombi\u00e8res.\n\n[24] Jean d\u2019Andelot, who fought on the Imperial side at Pavia. He was\nof the family of Andelot of Montague.\n\n[25] Bagn\u00e8res de Bigorre.\n\n[26] The Duke of Lorraine.\n\n[27] Bussang, a well-known medicinal spring near the source of the\nMoselle.\n\n[28] Thann.\n\n[29] M\u00fclhausen. It was not incorporated with France till 1798.\n\n[30] The host\u2019s story is somewhat contradictory. He says that for\ntwenty years past he had been the pensioner of the King of France, and\nin the same breath talks of having marched with John Casimir, the son\nof Frederic III., Elector Palatine, to fight against this same king in\n1567. Perhaps his pension may have been in arrear.\n\n[31] La F\u00e8re had fallen on August 31st.\n\n[32] \u201cDe nomine hujus urbis quidam scribunt, sed sine probatione, ipsum\ntractum a Basalisco. Fuerunt alii qui priusquam evulgarentur omnes\nlibri Ammiani Marcellini (saltem qui extant) putabant Basileam sic\ndictam a passagio et trajectu, qui in eo fuit loco anteaqu\u0101 civitas\nextrueretur, ut scilicet a passagio illo rectius Pastel quam Basel\nprimum fuerit vocata. At Ammianus irrita reddit hanc c\u014djecturam,\nqui civitat\u0113 illam Gr\u00e6ca voce \u03b2\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9\u03bb\u03b5\u03af\u03b1\u03bd, id est regn\u016b vocat, quasi\nRegnopolim seu regiam civitatem.\u201d--Munster, _Cosmographie_ 1566, p. 400.\n\n[33] It is difficult to identify this personage; probably he was Simon\nGryn\u00e6us _minor_ (so called to distinguish him from his grandfather\nGryn\u00e6us _major_) who wrote on medicine and mathematics, and died in\nSeptember 1582. Or he might have been Samuel, a younger son of Gryn\u00e6us\nmajor, a jurisconsult who was syndic of Basel, and died in 1599. There\nwas also a John James, a famous theologian, who died in 1617.\n\n[34] Fran\u00e7ois Hottoman was a French jurisconsult, sprung from Silesian\nparentage, born at Paris in 1524. Though he became a Calvinist, he\nretained the favour of Catherine dei Medici, who sent him twice on\nmissions into Germany. He fled from Paris after St. Bartholomew, and\ndied at Basel in 1590. He was always in poverty through his attempts to\nfind the philosopher\u2019s stone.\n\n[35] Cardan, in his _De Rerum Varietate_, first published in 1553,\ngives a description and drawing of smoke-jacks then used in Italy. Book\nxii. c. 58.\n\n[36] The Aar to Brugg.\n\n[37] This sentence is confused and incorrect. The reference is\nmanifestly to the abbey of K\u00f6nigsfelden, close to Brugg, which was\nfounded in 1310 by the Empress Elizabeth and her daughter Agnes,\nQueen of Hungary, on the spot where Albert of Austria, husband of the\nformer, was killed by John of Suabia in 1308. Duke Leopold and sixty\nof the knights who fell at Sempach in 1386 were buried here, but were\ndisinterred by the order of Maria Theresa in 1770, and re-entombed at\nSt. Blasien, in the Black Forest. Querlon mistakes it for the abbey of\nMouri.\n\n[38] Reuss.\n\n[39] At this date there were thirteen cantons in the Confederation.\n\n[40] Eaux-Chaudes, in B\u00e9arn.\n\n[41] A village in the Department of the Gers.\n\n[42] The ancient name was Aqu\u00e6 Helveti\u00e6. In the time of Nero, according\nto Tacitus (_Hist._, i. 67), it had all the appearance of a town: \u201cIn\nmodum municipii extructus locus, am\u0153no salubrium aquarum usu frequens.\u201d\nBut nothing is said about the personal investigations of Tacitus, to\nwhich Montaigne alludes.\n\nQuerlon, in a note on this passage, remarks: \u201cJe ne sais o\u00f9 l\u2019\u00e9crivain\na pris cela. La m\u00e9moire trompoit quelquefois Montaigne come tous ceux\nqui citent beaucoup, car on ne peut mettre cette \u00e9rudition que sur son\ncompte.\u201d\n\n[43] In the spring of 1416 Poggio Bracciolini visited Baden, and\nduring his stay wrote to his friend, Niccolo Niccoli, a description\nof the place, which is one of the most graphic and vivid pictures of\ncontemporary life. It is given in Shepherd\u2019s \u201cLife of Poggio.\u201d\n\n[44] \u201c... \u00e0 ceus qui se conforment \u00e0 eux.\u201d But sense seems to show that\na \u201c_ne_\u201d must have slipped out of the text.\n\n[45] Rodolf II.\n\n[46] 21 batzen = 1 Rhenish florin.\n\n[47] Probably Charles, the younger brother of Henry II., who died in\n1545.\n\n[48] According to Querlon this gentleman was Charles de Montmorenci,\nafterwards Duc d\u2019Anville and Admiral of France, son of the Constable,\nAnne de Montmorenci.\n\n[49] _Fouasses_, which Querlon describes as \u201cesp\u00e8ce de galettes.\u201d See\nalso Rabelais, Book i., ch. xxv.\n\n[50] Markdorf.\n\n[51] This is probably meant for Buchhorn, a free imperial city. In\n1810 it came under the rule of W\u00fcrtemberg and received the name of\nFriedrickshafen.\n\n[52] Lindau.\n\n[53] A silver coin worth about eighteen pence in English money.\n\n[54] The _Cosmographia_ of Sebastian M\u00fcnster, one of the earliest\nguide-books.\n\n[55] \u201cIl me semble que je n\u2019ay rencontr\u00e9 gu\u00e8res de mani\u00e8res qui ne\nvaillent les nostres,\u201d _Essais_, iii. 9. Montaigne\u2019s liking for Germany\nand German ways is very marked. It may perhaps be explained by a\npassage in _Essais_, i. 25: \u201cMon p\u00e8re me donna en charge \u00e0 un Allemand,\nqui depuis est mort fameux medecin en France.\u201d\n\n[56] A gold coin of the time of Louis XI.\n\n[57] Wangen.\n\n[58] Isny.\n\n[59] Now in the museum at Augsburg. The inscription is in Mommsen,\n_Corpus Insc._, iii. n. 5987:--\n\n                    IMP. CAESAR.\n    I. SEPTIMIUS. SEVERUS. PIUS.\n    PERTINAX. AUG. ARABIC.\n    ADIAB. PARTHICUS. MAXIMUS.\n    PONTIF. MX. TRB. POT. VIII.\n    IMP. XII. COS. II. P. P. PROCOS. ET\n    IMP. CAESAR. MRCUS. AUREL.\n    ANTONINUS. PIUS. AUG. TRB.\n    POT. IIII. PROCOS. ET.\n            A. CAMB. M. P.\n                XI.\n\n\n[60] This passage seems to show that the servant who acted as\nMontaigne\u2019s amanuensis for this part of the diary was also his\n_valet-de-chambre_.\n\n[61] St. Gallen.\n\n[62] The abbey of Kempten was the most important of South German\nmonasteries. It was founded by Benedictines from St. Gallen in the\neighth century, became an imperial free town in 1289, and in 1360 the\nabbot was made a prince. The old town, as Montaigne saw it, is still\nProtestant, and a new Catholic suburb has grown up outside the walls.\nThe legend of Hildegarde\u2019s burial there and that she was once abbess of\nthe convent seems to be false.\n\n[63] Iller.\n\n[64] Pfronten.\n\n[65] F\u00fcssen.\n\n[66] Hohenschwangau.\n\n[67] St. Magnus was the first abbot of Kempten.\n\n[68] Schongan.\n\n[69] Landsberg.\n\n[70] Schweikhart, son of Count George von Helfenstein. He was president\nof the Imperial Court at Innsbruck from 1562-1564. He was a man of\nlearning and literary taste, and translated into German the works of S.\nBasil and the story of Barlaam and Josaphat. He died in 1591.\n\n[71] Livy.\n\n[72] Fuggers.\n\n[73] Augsburg was one of the first cities in Europe to be supplied with\nwater by artificial means. The old water-works are still to be seen.\nThe view of Augsburg in M\u00fcnster\u2019s _Cosmographia_ shows them exactly as\nMontaigne writes of them.\n\n[74] Variants of this legend are numerous. Hector Boece (cap. ix.)\naffirms there are no rats in Buchan, and Sir Robert Gordon, writing on\nSutherlandshire, says: \u201cIf they come thither from other parts in ships\nthey die presently as soon as they do smell the air of that country.\u201d\nIn Sir John Sinclair\u2019s \u201cStatistical Account of Scotland,\u201d in an account\nof Roseneath, in Argyleshire, it is stated: \u201cFrom a prevailing opinion\nthat the soil of this parish is hostile to that animal, some years ago\na West India planter actually carried out to Jamaica several casks of\nRoseneath earth, with a view to kill the rats that were destroying his\nsugar canes.\u201d\n\n[75] \u201cAnd this their entrance is so curiously admitted, as many\nstrangers desirous to see the fashion, suffer themselves of purpose\nto be locked out at night, and willing give a reward to the souldiers\nletting them in.\u201d--Fynes Moryson, _Itinerary_, i. 20.\n\n[76] In 1552: M\u00fcnster, _Cosmographia_ (1559), p. 607.\n\n[77] Sauerbrunnen.\n\n[78] Bruck.\n\n[79] Wilhelm, who married Ren\u00e9e of Lorraine, and abdicated in 1596.\n\n[80] \u201c... denique Laici usque adeo persuasum habent nullos C\u0153libes esse\nut in plerisque parochiis non aliter velint Presbyterum tolerare, nisi\nConcubinam habeat, quo vel sic suis sit consuetum uxoribus, qu\u00e6 nec sic\nquidem usque quaque sunt extra periculam.\u201d Nicolaus de Clemangis, _De\nPr\u00e6sulibus Simoniacis_, p. 165.\n\n[81] Probably the Starnberger See. This road was made by the Romans.\n\n[82] The Kochel, or Walchen See.\n\n[83] Mittenwald.\n\n[84] Seefeld.\n\n[85] Martinswand.\n\n[86] Innsbruck.\n\n[87] Ferdinand of Tirol, son of the Emperor Ferdinand I. and brother of\nMaximilian II. He was born 1537 and died 1595.\n\n[88] The tomb of Maximilian I. in the Hofkirche at Innsbruck.\n\n[89] Cardinal Andreas, the son of Ferdinand of Tirol and Philippina\nWelser. He was made a cardinal at nineteen years of age by Gregory\nXIII. He became legate in Germany, and Philip II. at one time wanted to\nmake him governor of the Netherlands. He died in Rome in 1600, and lies\nburied in the church of S. Maria dell\u2019 Anima. He was about twenty-four\nwhen Montaigne saw him.\n\n[90] Karl, the second son of the Archduke.\n\n[91] _Bouchet_, sugar and water flavoured with cinnamon.\n\n[92] _Nef_, which, according to Querlon, here means, \u201c_\u00e9tui ou bo\u00eete o\u00f9\nse met le couvert des princes et des rois_.\u201d\n\n[93] Ferdinand I. left nine daughters. The Three Queens were Margaret,\nwho died in 1566; Helena, who died in 1570; and Magdalen, who was alive\nat the time of Montaigne\u2019s visit. Barbara was duchess of Ferrara,\nJoanna, grand-duchess of Florence, and Catherine duchess of Mantua.\n\n[94] Charles was crowned at Bologna in 1530. The monument referred to\nstill stands in the pass of Lueg on the Brenner.\n\n[95] \u201cM. de Montaigne disoit que c\u2019estoit la lune de ses tretes.\u201d\nQuerlon remarks, by way of explanation: \u201cParceque cette poussi\u00e8re\nobscurcissait le jour, ne lui laissoit, ainsi que la lune, que ce qu\u2019il\nfalloit de clart\u00e9 pour se conduire.\u201d\n\n[96] Stertzing. Here the watchman still calls the hours of the night as\nhe did at Innsbruck in Montaigne\u2019s time.\n\n[97] Eisack, a stream which rises on the Brenner and joins the Adige\nnear Botzen.\n\n[98] \u201cQu\u2019elles se laissent testonner et peigner jusques aus oreilles.\u201d\n\n[99] Leonore, the only one of his children who survived him. In\nalluding to those who died in infancy he says, _Essais_, ii. 8: \u201cIls\nme meurent touts en nourrice: mais Leonor, une seule fille qui est\nechapp\u00e9e \u00e0 cette infortune, a attainct six ans et plus.\u201d\n\n[100] Klausen.\n\n[101] Kolmann.\n\n[102] Botzen.\n\n[103] In his _Voyage faict en 1600_, the Duc de Rohan puts this matter\nin a different light: \u201cJe passay \u00e0 Trente nullement agr\u00e9able--et\nsi ce n\u2019estoit pour ce qu\u2019elle est demy Italienne, me rejouissait\nde sortir de la petite barbarie et beuvette universelle, je n\u2019en\nparlerois pas: ne trouvant point que tous les mathematiciens de nostre\ntemps puissent jamais si bien trouver le mouvement perpetuel que les\nAllemans le font faire \u00e0 leur goblets ... cette si grand frequentation\nde bouteils obscurcit tellement leurs autres belles parties que cela\nles rends m\u00e9prisables et inaccostables de tout le monde. Car ils ne\npensent faire bonne ch\u00e8re ny permettre amiti\u00e9 ou fraternit\u00e9, comme\nils disent, \u00e0 personne sans y apporter le seau plein de vin pour la\nsceler \u00e0 perpetuit\u00e9.\u201d The love of eating and drinking is still a marked\ncharacteristic amongst the Tirolese.\n\n[104] Branzoll.\n\n[105] Adige.\n\n[106] Trent.\n\n[107] Salurn.\n\n[108] Montaigne shows himself here less judicial than usual. He had\nevidently been so well pleased with his sojourn in Germany that he\nlooked on everything over the frontier with a jaundiced eye.\n\n[109] It was begun in 1212 and is built entirely of marble. The tower\nalluded to is the Torre di Piazza, in which was hung Rengo, the great\nbell of Trent.\n\n[110] The work of Vincenzio Vicentini, 1534.\n\n[111] Bernardo Clesio, bishop from 1514 to 1539. He was made cardinal\nin 1530.\n\n[112] The relations of the bishops of Trent with the counts of Tirol,\nwhich resulted in the _quasi_ subjection of the first named, had been\nembroiled by disputes over the right of taxation which the counts of\nTirol claimed over Church property in Trent ever since the twelfth\ncentury. Cardinal Madruccio held the see from 1567 to 1600. He was a\nmember of an illustrious family of the city.\n\n[113] Probably Castel Beseno, a notable stronghold in these times. Or\nit might have been Castelbarco, afterwards a Venetian frontier fortress.\n\n[114] Roveredo. It had formerly been Venetian, but was now under Tirol\nas a fee of the bishop of Trent.\n\n[115] In the _Essais_, iii. 13, Montaigne writes of his horror of dew\nand vapours.\n\n[116] Another instance of his love of German customs.\n\n[117] Garda has always been famous for its fish, and the fishing\nindustry gave its name to the town at the outlet, Peschiera. Cardan\n(_De Vita Prop._, c. xxx.) tells of a mighty pike he ate at Sirmio\nafter a narrow escape from drowning in the lake. In Coryat\u2019s time it\nwas celebrated for its abundance of \u201cCarpes, Troutes, and Eeles.\u201d\n\n[118] Now an important town at the head of the lake.\n\n[119] In describing this excursion the secretary uses sometimes the\nfirst and sometimes the third person plural, but this sentence seems to\nshow that he did not accompany the others, and on leaving Roveredo he\nwent to Verona on a raft in charge of the luggage.\n\n[120] Borghetto.\n\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s Notes\n\nObvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations\nin hyphenation have been standardised but all other spelling and\npunctuation remains unchanged.\n\nItalics are represented thus _italic_, superscripts are represented\nthus y^n.","title":"The journal of Montaigne's travels in Italy by way of Switzerland and Germany in 1580 and 1581, Volume 1 (of 3)","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":36226}