As to the Muhlbadt ’tis but little more than lukewarm: ’Tis not very long that the Physicians have prescrib’d the Use of this Water, which formerly serv’d to wash diseased Cattle in with very good Success; but the Physicians taking the nature of this Water into Consideration, have since recommended it to those People who find the Waters of the Sproudel too violent in their Operation: I have made Use of both, and they work’d with me very well: They have no ill Taste; and ’tis certain, that if it were ever so little disagreeable, it would be impossible for People to drink so much of it, as they do every Day: The thing that I dislike them most for, is, that they must be taken in one’s Chamber, which must be also kept close shut up, because the Sproudel makes one sweat largely, so that were ever so little Air to be let into the Room, one should be in Danger of catching Rheumatisms: People scarce ever stir out till Three or Four Hours after they have done drinking the Waters; and the rest of the Day there’s an absolute Necessity of walking about to prevent sleeping, which after Dinner is dangerous: The worst on’t is, that as necessary as Walking is, there’s not one agreeable Place to walk in, the Walks being all extremely narrow, and nothing but Rocks to be seen, look which way one will: The finest Walk of all is in a square Place, which is planted with Rows of Lime-Trees: Opposite to this Square is a great House, where there are very fine Rooms, in which the Persons of Quality, who drink the Waters, assemble at Five o’Clock, and play till Eight, the Hour for Supper, at which Meal People ought to be very sparing; Regimen being one of the most necessary things to be observ’d in the Taking of those Waters.
When I had done taking them I set out Post for Prague, where I knew that their Imperial Majesties were to be present for their Consecration and Coronation: I arriv’d there the Day before their Majesties were to make their Entry, which was perform’d with great Magnificence, but would have been abundantly more pompous, if the bad Weather had not prevented the intended Cavalcade, which would have been one of the noblest Sights in the World: The Emperor propos’d to have enter’d this Capital on Horseback, at the Head of all the Nobility of Bohemia, and they had all laid out prodigious Sums in Horses and Equipages; but a monstrous Shower of Rain fell, which frustrated all the Preparations: Their Majesties made their Entry in a magnificent Coach lin’d with crimson Velvet, richly embroider’d with Gold: The Emperor, who sate alone in the Back part of it, was dress’d in a Habit of Silver Brocade embroider’d with Gold, with a Hat on in the Imperial Fashion, with straw-colour’d Plumes: The Empress, who sate over-against him, was dress’d in a green silver’d Stuff all cover’d with Diamonds: The Two young Archduchesses follow’d in another Coach, with the Princess of Aversberg their Governess in Company.
As soon as it was known in the City that their Majesties were coming, all the Bells were rung, the Cannon fir’d from the Ramparts, and the Burghers and Garison made several Salvo’s of the Small Arms: The Magistrates of the Three Towns which compose the City of Prague receiv’d their Majesties at the City Gates, where the chief Burgomaster of the Quarter call’d the Old Town gave them the Keys of the Three Towns, and congratulated them on their Arrival
at the City of Prague: After he had ended his Speech, their Majesties were welcom’d a second time by the Cannon of the Ramparts, and by the Salvo’s of the Small Arms from the Burghers and the Garison: They then continued their March towards the Palace, and in their Passage met with the Friars and Nuns, who saluted them at the Gates of their several Convents: The Emperor and the Empress stopp’d their Coach every now-and-then, on Purpose to be seen by those Friars; but there was no Convent that was treated with so many Marks of Distinction as that of the Jesuits: They had the Honour of complimenting their Majesties in a Speech, with which they seem’d well satisfy’d: When they were arriv’d at the Palace, their Majesties alighted from the Coach, and went to the Metropolitan Church, which joins to the Palace: The Archbishop of Prague, at the Head of the Bishops his Suffragans and his Chapter, receiv’d them as they alighted out of the Coach, and after having complimented them in the Name of all the Clergy, he conducted them to their Praying-Desk, which was plac’d over-against the High Altar, and there their Majesties receiv’d the Blessing of the Holy Sacrament: After this there was a Te Deum, during which there was a triple Discharge of the Cannon and Small Arms: This done, they retir’d to their Apartments thro’ a cover’d Gallery, which runs from the Church to the Castle: At Night they supp’d in public with the Two young Archduchesses.
Next Day their Majesties receiv’d the Compliments of the Three Estates of the Kingdom: On the following Days the Court return’d to their old Custom; I mean, they liv’d at Prague, after the same manner as they did at Vienna, till
every thing was ready for the Ceremonies of the Consecration and Coronation, which were to be perform’d on Two different Days.
Mean time I amus’d myself in viewing what was most remarkable in the Town, and had Reason to be very well pleas’d with the Steps, which I was oblig’d to take to be well acquainted with this Capital[36], which may in my Opinion be reckon’d among the first Towns in Europe: It stands in a pleasant and fruitful Country, and the Palace and Pleasure-houses round it form a sort of Amphitheatre, which the River of Moldaw divides into Two Parts, that are join’d by one of the finest Bridges in the World.
Prague is divided into Three Parts, viz. The Old Town, which alone is as big as the other two Thirds of the City, namely, The Little Town and The New Town: In the Little Town stands the Metropolitan Church, and the Castle of the Kings of Bohemia, upon a Hill which they call Ratschin: This is the first Quarter of Prague that one comes to from Nuremberg or Carelsbadt.
The Metropolitan would be a great and noble Church, if it was finish’d; or rather, if it was rebuilt; for ’twas burnt by the Swedes in 1648; what remains of it is inconsiderable, excepting however some very fine Chapels, that contain the Relics of certain Saints, for whom Bohemia has a singular Veneration: Such is the Chapel in which rests the Body of St. Wenceslaus King of Bohemia, by whom the Church was founded: This Saint is the Patron of Bohemia, and the whole Kingdom has a great Confidence in his Intercession: On one Side of the Choir is a stately Mausoleum, which contains the Body of St. John