The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume II / Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia Thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &c. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts.

by Freiherr von Karl Ludwig Pöllnitz

LETTER XLVI.

SIR,Cologn, July, 13, 1732.

The Road from Liege to Spa is very disagreeable, and, really, the Place itself is not worth the Trouble of going to it; I mean, for such as are not under a Necessity of using the Waters; for I am not willing to embroil myself with the English, who neglect the best Waters in the World, which they have at Bath and Tunbridge, to go to those of the Spa. Here are several Springs, which the Physicians of the Place adjust to all Distempers. That of Poubon, which is in the Middle of the Square of Spa, is good for the Gravel, the Sciatica, and in short, for every Thing, except the Stomach; but then, on the other hand, this Part of the human Body may be set to Rights by the Water of the Geronstere, which must be taken every Morning, three Quarters of a League from Spa, in a little Coppice, where a sorry Hovel is built, to shelter the Water-drinkers from the Rain. But how good soever the Geronstere Spring is for the Stomach, it is of no manner of Service to the Breast; in which Case they must go to another Fountain, of which I have forgot the Name. The Physicians and Inhabitants of Spa, good People, consulting their own Interest more than the Health of the Foreigners, tell them absolutely, that they must continue to drink the Waters, at least, six Weeks successively;

which Precepts the English follow very readily, and even go beyond them. I knew a young Irishman, who for three Years fansied himself to be sick, and was continually taking the Waters of the Spa. He would fain have persuaded me, that otherwise he should have died: He complained of a great Pain in his Kidneys; yet he look’d very well, eat heartily, slept sound, and danced like one mad. While I was at Spa, I thought myself at London, there being ten Englishmen to one Foreigner. I believe that Nation, in short, has laid a Plot to take away Spa from the Bishop of Liege. I was overjoy’d to renew my Acquaintance there with Persons of good Families, whom I had known at London. Tho’ I am extremely prepossessed in Favour of England and Englishmen; yet I cannot help agreeing with many others, that they are more amiable, and more sociable Abroad, than they are at Home.

In my Road from Spa to Aix la Chapelle, I came to Limbourg, the Capital Town of the Duchy of that Name, and truly, the most dismal Capital in the World. It stands upon a Mountain, as it were, by itself, and in one of the most disagreeable Situations that can be imagined. Heretofore it was fortified, but is now dismantled. There are, however, three hundred Invalids that keep Guard here, such a one as it is. The whole Country has a very miserable Appearance; yet I have been assured, that the Inhabitants are very well to pass. They have good Store of Cattle, make a great deal of Cheese, and manufacture very good Cloth, for which they have a great Vend in the Netherlands, and at Frankfort Fair; where a great many Pieces are sold, which pass for the Cloth of Holland, and even of England. The Road from Limbourg to Aix la Chapelle, which is

four Leagues, is very disagreeable to travel in a Chaise, because of the Rocks and Mountains.

Aix la Chapelle, which is an Imperial City, owes its Foundation to Charlemagne, who established the Seat of his Empire here; and, they say, that the Town-house was formerly Part of his Palace. This City is fixed by the Golden Bull, to be the Place for Crowning the Emperors. Charlemagne caused his Son Louis the Pious to be crowned there, by Hildebold, Archbishop of Cologne; since which, there have been thirty-six Emperors crowned in Aix. They who have been crowned elsewhere, have always given an Instrument to the City of Aix, and to the Chapter Royal of the Church of our Lady, declaring, that this Ceremony, performed elsewhere, shall be of no Prejudice either to the City, or its Church.

The Annals of Aix, among several other miraculous Events, report, That during the Coronation of Rodolph I. there appeared a great bright Cross over the Church of our Lady, as a Mark that God approved of the Choice which the Electors had made of that Prince, according to the Advice given them by Albert the Great, of the Dominican Order, Bishop of Ratisbon, and Rodolph’s Confessor. When the Electors were going to take the Oath of Fidelity to Rodolph, according to Custom, the Sceptre which they were to touch, was not to be found; whereupon Rodolph, who did not think this Ceremony absolutely needless, took a Crucifix from the Altar: See, (said he to the Electors, who stood round Charlemagne’s Chair, in which Rodolph sat) see the Signal of that by which we and all the World have been redeemed; we will make use of this, instead of the Sceptre. Then kissing the Crucifix very devoutly, it so wrought upon the Princes and Electors, that without staying for the Sceptre, they took the Oath, and paid Homage with their

Hands crossing each other. I forgot to tell you, that the Cross which appeared in the Firmament, during this Transaction, tho’ white at first, became red as Blood; which being told to the Emperor Rodolph, he said, If God gives me Life, I will go beyond Sea, and there sacrifice my Blood for my Sins, for the Honour of my Saviour Jesus Christ. Probably, this Emperor did not live to perform his pious Resolution; for History does not say, that he ever went to Sea; but it mentions, that when this Prince was only the Count de Hapsbourg, he met a Priest in a Field, walking on Foot, and carrying the Viaticum to a Person that was sick, and that Rodolph, such was his Devotion for the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, alighted from his Horse, and set the Priest upon it, using this Expression, That it should never be said, that the Man who carried the Saviour of the World, should walk on Foot, while he, Rodolph, sate on Horseback. The Priest, who was wrought upon by the Zeal of the Prince, and inspired by God, prophesied to him, That he should be chose Emperor, and that his Posterity should attain to the highest Honours. The Event has answered the Prediction; for God has so blessed Rodolph’s Family, which now goes by the Name of the House of Austria, that since his Time, the Imperial Sceptre has not departed from it; Charles VI. being the fifteenth Emperor, besides seven Kings of the Romans, who are descended, without Interruption, from the Rodolphin Line.

The Church of our Lady is very ancient, being consecrated by Pope Leo III. in Presence of the Emperor Charlemaign, and as many Bishops attended at the Ceremony as there are Days in the Year; of whom, no doubt, a great many were Bishops in Parts beyond the Seas. At this Consecration a Thing happened very surprising and