June 9, 1654.
The Lutheran Church at Lübeck. Several gentlemen of the English company at Hamburg, and among them his nephew, Sir Humphry Bennett’s son, came hither to visit and accompany Whitelocke to Hamburg. The Senators and Syndic and Obrist-Lieutenant, who had been before with Whitelocke, came to take their leaves of him. From them and others Whitelocke learnt, that the religion professed in this city is after the doctrine of Luther and the Augsburg confession; yet some Calvinists are permitted, though not publicly, among them, and some Papists are also connived at, though not publicly tolerated to exercise their worship; yet some of them live in a college of Canons, who have a fair house and good revenues in this city.
They have many images and crucifixes in their churches: one, made of earth, of the Virgin Mary, very exactly, is believed by many goodwives of the town, that, upon worshiping and praying to it, they shall become fruitful. In the same church is a rare tablet of the passion of our Saviour, admired by artists for the rare painting and lineaments of it. Above the altar is a little image of our Lady, so contrived with wires fastened to it, that one, being hid on the other side of it, may make it turn forward and backward, to the admiration of the multitude of spectators, who know, by the motion of the image, whether the offerings which they make, and lay upon the altar, be acceptable or not; if one gives a small offering, the image turns away from it in disdain of it; if it be a fat offering, it turns towards it in token of acceptance; and though they tell these stories themselves, yet still they retain these images and trumperies among them. This church is of a good length and breadth, but the height is not proportionable: it hath few monuments of note, only some of their Bishops and Canons, among which one is indeed remarkable, which they will needs have to be believed, where a Canon was buried some hundreds of years since, yet now sometimes is heard to knock in his grave, whereupon instantly some one or other of his surviving brethren, the Canons, gives up the ghost, and comes to the dead Canon at his call.
From hence Whitelocke went and viewed the other churches, all alike furnished with images and crucifixes, and full of pews, fitted according to the quality of the parishioners. The churches are built of brick, and some of them covered with copper, which they brought from Sweden in older times. They use a liturgy, not much differing from our old Book of Common Prayer; their ministers are grave and formal; they commend them for pious and learned and good preachers; but Whitelocke, not having the favour to see one of them at his lodging, can give the less particular account of them.
The trade of Lübeck. Whitelocke also learnt that the trade of this city is the most of any town on this side the Baltic Sea, having a convenient port or road at Tremon, belonging to this city, from whence they send into all parts of that sea, and have the advantage for the commerce of copper, deal, hemp, flax, pitch, tar, and all the commodities of those parts; and by this port, they save the trouble and charge of going about through the Sound, which southern merchants do.
Before the Swedes had much traffic, and built their own ships, and employed their own mariners, which is not ancient, Lübeck did more flourish, and had the sole trade of Sweden, and of vending their commodities again into all parts of the world; whereby the Lübeckers grew great and rich, especially by the copper and iron which they brought from Sweden hither, and wrought it into utensils and arms, and then carried it back to Sweden for the use of the inhabitants there; who, growing in time more wise, and learning to work their own materials, and to build and employ their own ships in trade, and the city of Hamburg growing up and increasing in trade, and particularly by the staple for English cloth being there settled, and those of Lübeck not admitting strangers among them, their town began to decay, and to lessen in their trade and wealth, and is not now so considerable as in former times, yet still they drive a good trade into the Baltic Sea and other parts, but not with so great ships as others use, which they build at home, of about a hundred and fifty and two hundred tons; and they affirm that they have built here ships of four hundred tons, but there is difficulty for them to go down to the river, by reason of the shallows, which yet serves to bring up their commodities in great boats by the river, from the ships to this town. They find the smaller vessels useful for their trade, and to build them they are provided of good store of timber out of Germany, Denmark, and Sweden; and, by their consent, the King of Denmark doth sometimes make use of their town and carpenters to build ships for himself.
About three o’clock in the afternoon, the baggage and most of Whitelocke’s inferior servants went away. The Lords offered Whitelocke a party of their horse for the guard of his person; but he, with thanks for their courtesy, refused it, having store of company well armed of his own retinue, besides some English of Hamburg who were come to him. The Lübeckers commended the sobriety and plainness of Whitelocke and his company; only they said his liveries were very noble; and they wondered that they saw no more drinking among them, and that he had so constant exercises of religious duties in his family.
Whitelocke proceeds to Hamburg. The Senators and Syndic came again to compliment Whitelocke for the Lords, and to wish him a good journey; and, after ceremonies passed, about four o’clock in the afternoon, Whitelocke took his coach for Hamburg; he had another coach and four waggons for his people. As he passed through the streets, multitudes of all sorts stood to see him go by, respectively saluting him. At the gates were guards of soldiers, and having passed the last port, they saluted him with three pieces of ordnance, according to their custom, but with no volleys of small-shot; and so he took his leave of Lübeck. Being come into the road, and his pages and lacqueys in the waggons, he made what haste he could in his journey with hired horses, and so much company.
The country was pleasant and fruitful, groves of wood, fields of corn, pastures, brooks, and meadows adorning it: it is an open champaign; few hedges, but some little ones made with dry wood, like our hurdles, for fencing their gardens and dividing their corn-grounds. The way was exceeding bad, especially for this time of the year, full of deep holes and sloughs in some places and of great stones in others. This Duchy of Holstein seems to take its name from holt, which, with them and in Sweden and with us, signifies wood, and stein, which is a stone; and this country is very full of wood and stone; yet is it fruitful, and, like England, delightful to the view, but it is not so full of towns, there not being one in the way between Lübeck and this night’s quarter, which is five German, twenty English, miles. But a few small houses lie scattered by the way; and about four miles from Kettell, this night’s lodging was a fair brick house by the side of a large pond, which is the house belonging to Lübeck, where they offered Whitelocke to be entertained, and he found cause afterwards to repent his not accepting their courtesy.
When they came to the lamentable lodging taken up for him this night, they found in all but two beds for their whole company. The beds were made only of straw and fleas mingled together; the antechamber was like a great barn, wherein was the kitchen on the one side, the stable on the other side; the cattle, hogs, waggons, and coaches were also in the same great chamber together. They made themselves as merry as they could in this posture, Whitelocke cheering and telling them that it was in their way home, and therefore to be borne with the less regret. They of the house excused the want of accommodations, because the war had raged there, and the soldiers had pillaged the people of all they had, who could not yet recover their former happy and plentiful condition; which was not helpful to Whitelocke and his people, who must take things as they were, and make the best shift they could. His officers had provided meat sufficient for them; he caused fresh straw enough to be laid all over the room, which was the more tolerable in this hot season. He himself lay in one of his coaches, his sons and some of his servants in straw, near him; the rest of the company, men and women, on straw, where they chose to lie in the room, only affording place for the horses, cows, sheep, and hogs, which quartered in the same chamber together with this good company.