sides the Statues of several Saints, which if they had been done by a better hand, would have prov'd an Ornament. There is a Crucifix also which is pretended to be of Gold, and to have been erected formerly at the Expence of the Jews, pursuant to an Order of the Government, as a Punishment for their having crucified a Christian Infant upon Easter-Day, to insult the Memory of our Saviour's Death.
The Jews are the only Sectaries that are tolerated in Bohemia. There are some Hussites still subsisting, but they keep so close, that the Government does not seem to know that there are any at all. I was assur'd that in Prague alone there were no less than 80,000 Jews; whether there are quite so many, I know not; but 'tis certain they are very numerous. Their Quarter in the old City forms a little separate Town. They have all the Trade in their own hands, follow all sorts of Callings, and by their receiving all old-fashion'd things in Payment, they quite ruin the Christian Handicrafts-men. As these People multiply like Rabbets, 'tis said the Emperor is going to issue an Ordinance prohibiting any but their eldest Sons to marry; the Report of which is so alarming to the Jews, that they would advance great Sums to prevent its taking effect.
If we except Rome, Paris, and London, there is no City where there are more Gentry, or a Gentry that is more wealthy: Every body here lives grand; and in no Part of the World do the Nobility keep greater State, or take more Pride in their Substance. They are polite and civil to Strangers, whom they know to be Persons of Quality. For my own part, I like them prodigiously, and I can safely say it, I have hardly met with a Foreigner who has not the same Notion of Prague that I have.
There is not a Gentleman in this Country but has seen at least Holland, France, and Italy, and indeed they are under some necessity of travelling, for the Education they have at home is none of the best. But they don't travel as People of their Birth and Fortunes ought to do. They are commonly attended by a sort of Governors, who make it their Profession to ramble abroad with young Gentlemen, and are for the most part Walloons, Luxemburghers, Lorrainers, or Liegeois, Soldiers of Fortune, without Education, and without Manners; who think 'tis enough for their Pupils to see Houses and Churches, and having not the Courage or the Capacity to put themselves forward, or even to shew their Heads, don't care that their Gentlemen should keep Company. They tell young Master, that my Lord his Father, who put him under their Care, recommended Œconomy to them; that they might game at Assemblies, but that 'tis not well to play while they are travelling: Therefore the Spark is oblig'd to keep in his Quarters, or if he is perhaps permitted to go to the public Shews, even this Pleasure, because it is not to be had without Money, must be taken in Moderation; the Governor's Aim is only to crib all he can, and sink his Pupil's Money into his own Purse. This is so true that I have known some who never eat Suppers, yet always brought them to Accompt; many of 'em get a Profit by every thing they buy, and they make such hard Bargains that 'tis ten to one if they don't chouse the Merchant as well as their Pupil. If the Governor does not like the Place they come to, he must be gone, tho' it were the most proper Town in the World to form the young Gentleman; for the Governor only writes to the Father or Mother that the Air did not agree with their Son, and that therefore he had remov'd him. The Generality of these wretched Guides maintain that six Weeks or
three Months Stay at most is sufficient to know Paris; a Fortnight to be thoroughly acquainted with the Genius of the English; a Month to know Rome; a Week to see Naples; and so of the rest: And when they have shewn their Gentleman at Paris, the Anatomical Wax-work and the Observatory; at London, the Lions in the Tower; at Rome, the Catacombs; and at Naples, the Liquefaction of St. Januarius's Blood, and Mount Vesuvius; they think they have done great matters, and away they go without having made an Acquaintance with one Soul at any of the Courts. They have seen the King of France touch for the Evil; The King of England go to the Parliament-House; and the Pope sitting in his Elbow-Chair, distributing his Benedictions. With a Mind thus adorn'd, the young Man, after eighteen Months or two Years Absence abroad, returns home. The Governor has two or three thousand Florins, and sometimes more as a Gratuity, besides his Stipend. Again, the worthy Mentor makes a Bubble of the Father who trusts his Son with him, and behold now, he is ready for another Tour. One would think that, instead of travelling in this manner, it were better to send abroad for the Plans of all the Towns, I am sure 'twould be cheaper; the Parents would have the comfort to see their Sons at home, and they would also have wherewithal to furnish a little Box in the Country.
There are no People of Quality in the World more addicted to an expensive way of Living than those of Prague, which is the Reason that for all their immense Revenues they are sometimes over Head and Ears in Debt; but by good Luck they have a Settlement which prevents them from total Ruin: For most of their Lands are intail'd for ever on the eldest Son of the Family, so that he can neither alienate nor incumber them without the Consent
of the whole Family, and of the King himself, which is a Thing very hard to be obtain'd. When an eldest Son of a Family has squander'd his Freehold, and runs himself more and more in debt, the Creditors, and sometimes the Parents themselves, present a Petition to the King and desire a Sequestration. The King after being inform'd of the List of the Debts, and of the Majorat (which is the Name they give here to the Lands that are intail'd) names Trustees for the Administration of the Estates of the Spendthrift, who is allow'd a Pension till all the Debts are paid. There's another very good Establishment here for securing the Sale of Landed Estates and Mortgages. Every Nobleman gives in a Particular of his Estate to a Tribunal which is call'd the Landtaffel, where the same is register'd. When a Person wants to borrow Money or to make a Sale, the Lender or the Purchaser has recourse to the Landtaffel's Office, where he sees whether the Lands are incumber'd; and if the Borrower's Debts don't exceed two Thirds of the Price at which they are rated by the Landtaffel, he may lend his Money very safely.
Tho' the Bohemians are brave and good Soldiers, yet they don't love the Service, I mean the Gentry: Most of them prefer the Civil to Military Employments, and a private Life to Posts in the Army or at Court. They are so us'd to be absolute Masters at their Estates where the Peasants are their Slaves, and to be homag'd like Petty Sovereigns by the Burghers at Prague, that they don't care to reside at Vienna, and to be oblig'd like other Subjects to pay their Court to the Sovereign and the Ministers. As soon as a Gentleman of Bohemia comes of Age, he is oblig'd to take an Oath of Fidelity to the Emperor as his King; which is a Law as much binding on the Nobility as the Gentry; and none of 'em dare to go out of the Kingdom without express
Leave from the Emperor, on the Penalty of forfeiting his Estate. When the Noblemen are return'd from their Travels to France and Italy, they put in to be Chamberlains, not so much for the sake of engaging themselves to Attendance at Court as to procure a Precedency for their Wives, it being a Custom with most of 'em to marry as soon as they come of Age. Afterwards they aim to be Counsellors of State, and Stadtholders, and this is the Ne plus ultra of their Preferments. The Counsellors of State challenge the Title of Excellency: But this is what those who are not of that Denomination, and of as good Families as themselves, scruple to allow them, so that generally speaking they have it only given them by their Domestics and Dependants. So that one may say of their Excellencies what the Duchess of Elbœuf of the Lorrain Family said in France concerning the Princes of Bouillon, that they were Domestic Highnesses, because none but their own Servants give them the Title of Highness.