From St. Gaul I took horse to the lake of Conftance, which lies at two leagues distance from it, and is formed by the entry of the Rhine. This is the only lake in Europe that difputes for greatnefs with that of Geneva; it appears more beautiful to the eye, but wants the fruitful fields and vineyards that border upon the other. It receives its name from Conflance, the chief town on its banks. When the cantons of Bern and Zurich propofed, at a general diet, the incorporating Geneva in the number of the cantons, the Roman catholic party, fearing the proteftant interest might receive by it too great a strengthening, proposed at the fame time the incantoning of Conftance, as a counterpoife; to which the proteftants not confenting, the whole project fell to the ground. We croffed the lake to Lindaw, and in feveral parts of it obferved abundance of little bubbles of air, that came working upward from the very bottom of the lake. The waterman told us, that they are obferved always to rife in the same places, from whence they conclude them to be fo many fprings that break out of the bottom of the lake. Lindaw is an imperial town on a little island that lies at about three hundred paces from the firm land, to which it is joined by a huge bridge of wood. The inhabitants were all in arms when we paffed through it, being under great apprehenfions of the Duke of Bavaria, after his having fallen upon Ulm and Memminghen. They flatter themselves, that by cutting their bridge, they could hold out against his army: But, in all probability, a fhower of bombs would quickly reduce the bourgeois to furrender. They were formerly bombarded by Gustavus Adolphus. We

were

were advised by our merchants by no means to venture curfelves in the Duke of Bavaria's country, fo that we had the mortification to lose the fight of Munich, Aufburg, and Ratisbon, and were forced to take our way to Vienna, through the Tirol, where we had very little to entertain us befide the natural face of the country.

TIROL,

TIROL,

IN SPRUCK,

HALL,

&c.

FTER having coafted the Alps for fome

A time, we at laft entered them by a paffage

which leads into the long valley of the Tirol; and following the courfe of the river Inn, we came to Infpruck, that receives its name from this river, and is the capital city of the Tirol,

Infpruck is a handföme town, though not a great one, and was formerly the refidence of the archDukes who were Counts of Tirol: The palace where they used to keep their court is rather convenient than magnificent. The great hall is indeed a very noble room : the walls of it are painted in Fresco, and represent the labours of Hercules. Many of them look very finely, though a great part of the work has been cracked by earthquakes, which are very frequent in this country. There is a little. wooden palace that borders on the other, whither the court ufed to retire at the first shake of an earthquake. I faw here the largest manage that I have met with any where elfe. At one end of it is a great partition defigned for an opera. They fhewed

fhewed us alo a very pretty theatre. The laft comedy that was acted on it was defigned by the jefuits for the entertainment of the Queen of the Romans, who paffed this way from Hanover to Vienna. The compliment, which the fathers made her majesty on this occafion, was very particular, and did not a little expofe them to the raillery of the court. For the arms of Hanover being a horse, the fathers thought it a very pretty allufion to reprefent the Queen by Bucephalus, that would letno body get upon him but Alexander the great. The wooden horse that acted this notable part is ftill to be feen behind the fcenes. In one of the rooms of the palace, which is hung with the pictures of feveral illustrious perfons, they fhewed us the portrait of Mary Queen of Scots, who was beheaded in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The gardens about the house are very large, but ill kept. There is in the middle of them a beatiful ftatue in brass of an Arch-Duke Leopold on horfe back. There are near it twelve other figures of water-nymphs and river-gods, well caft, and as big as the life. They were defigned for the ornaments of a waterwork, as one might easily make a great variety of jetteaus, at a mall expence, in a garden that has the river Inn running by its walls. The late Duke of Lorrain had this palace, and the government of the Tirol, affigned him by the Emperor, and his lady the Queen Dowager of Poland lived here several years after the death of the Duke her husband. There are covered gallies that lead from the palace to five different churches. I passed through a very long one, which reaches to the church of the Capuchin convent, where the Duke of Lorrain ufed often to affift at their midnight devotions. They fhewed us in this convent the

apart.

apartments of Maximilian, who was Arch-Duke and Count of Tirol about fourfcore years ago. This Prince, at the fame time that he kept the government in his hands, lived in this convent with all the rigour and aufterity of a Capuchin. His antichamber and room of audience are little fquare chambers wainscotted. His private lodgings are three or four small rooms faced with a kind of fretwork, that makes them look like little hollow caverns in a rock. They preferve this apartment of the convent uninhabited, and shew in it the altar, bed and stove, as likewife a picture and a stamp of this devout Prince. The church of the Franciscan convent is famous for the monument of the Emperor Maximilian the first, which stands in the midst of it. It was erected to him by his grandfon Ferdinand the firft, who probably looked upon this Emperor as the founder of the Auftrian greatnefs. For as by his own marriage he annexed the low-countries to the houfe of Auftria, fo, by matching his fon to Joan of Arragon, he fettled on his pofterity the kingdom of Spain, and, by the marriage of his grand-fon Ferdinand, got into his family the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary. This monument is only honorary; for the afhes of the Emperor lie elsewhere. On the top of it is a brazen figure of Maximilian on his knees, and on the fides of it a beautiful Bas-Relief representing the actions of this Prince. His whole history is digefted into twenty-four square pannels of fculpture in Bas-Relief. The fubject of two of them is his confederacy with Henry the eighth, and the wars they made together upon France. On each fide of this monument is a row of very noble brazen ftatues much bigger than the life, moft of them reprefenting fuch as were fome way or other

related