Chapter 25

The wind continued fair, and they sailed all along in the sight of land, drawing nearer and nearer to it, which was pleasant to those who had been in such storms, and were not a little longing to be at their native home. They came about ten o'clock in the morning to the road at Lübeck, and no sooner was the ship settled there but the wind ceased and blew not at all, but it became a great calm; wherein also the providence and goodness of God was seen, that had they not come to an anchor at this very moment, they must have been still roaming on the sea till the wind had come about again for them, and perhaps might have been kept out at sea many days longer. They were all filled with joy, having passed one half of their voyage, and seeing the place of their first descent on land. The 'Amarantha,' having let fall her anchors, fired two guns, and a ship of the Duke of Courland's, in the road, answered them with three. This road is a gulf between two arms of land, at the first entrance from one another about a league; but it becomes more narrow as one approacheth nearer to the mouth of the river, which is called Trave, and divides the two Duchies of Mecklenburg and Holstein. This is the road or haven belonging to the town of Lübeck, and is of good defence and safety to secure the riding of ships, and of conveniency for the trade of that town into the Baltic Sea.

After this perilous voyage of eight days' sailing on the angry Baltic Seas,--escaping the dismal, infinite, vast, craggy rocks, seen and unseen, and the covered sands and dangerous coasts, in the highest storms,--it pleased Him who giveth bounds to the deep waters and stilleth the waves thereof, to conduct Whitelocke and all his people in safety to this haven. They were not negligent to prepare for their going on shore, in order whereunto Whitelocke sent Colonel Potley and some of his servants to land, to provide horses for his coach, and waggons for his train and baggage; purposing to go that night to Lübeck, being but two German leagues from Tremon, and the days now at longest.

Potley, according to order, gave notice to the Governor of Tremon of Whitelocke's coming on shore in the territories of his masters, the Lords of Lübeck, and provided boats, horses, waggons, and all things necessary, with diligence and dexterity. Whilst this was doing, Whitelocke calls his company together into his cabin, where they gave thanks to God for their safe arrival in this place, and humbly prayed for the continuance of his blessing and presence with them, the rest of their journey yet to come.

After dinner, Whitelocke sent for Vice-Admiral Clerke and Captain Sinclair into his cabin, where he gave them thanks for the care and pains they had taken for him and his company, and for their particular respects to himself and observance of his desires; whereof he said he would by letters acquaint his Majesty of Sweden, and report to the Protector their respects to him. He desired them to accept a small testimony of his thankfulness for their civilities. He gave the Vice-Admiral sixty dollars, to distribute to the mariners, and sixty dollars more to the officers of the ship,--that is, the master and his mate, the boatswain, the constable (so they call the master gunner), the gunner's mate, and the rest. To Captain Sinclair he gave eighty ducats, and to the Vice-Admiral one hundred ducats, which were the best compliments, and thankfully accepted by them; and Whitelocke was the more liberal in these rewards, being to strangers, and for the honour of his nation.

The boats being gone, with the coaches, baggage, and most of the people, and the rest not unwilling to be on shore, Whitelocke, with most of his gentlemen, went in one of the ship-boats; the Vice-Admiral bare him company, and did him the honour to steer the boat himself; the rest of the company went in the other ship-boat. After Whitelocke was gone off the length of two or three boats, and whilst the other boat lay by the side of the ship, they fired forty pieces of ordnance, which, being so very near, did, with the wind, or fear of the cannon, strike down some that were in the boat, who were more than frighted, insomuch that one of them, after he came to Lübeck, continued very ill with swooning fits; but by the care of Doctor Whistler and good cordials, through the blessing of God, he recovered, and was well again.

They went about half a league by water from the ship to the mouth of the river, where there is a little fort with some great guns mounted, and without that are small towers for lights to direct the seamen, and a village called Tremon, where they landed, all belonging to the city of Lübeck. _Mon_, in High Dutch, signifies a mouth, and _Tre_ is the name of the river; so Tremon is the mouth of the river Tre. At their landing stood, ready to receive them, a tall old man, with a long, white, venerable beard; he wore a broad belt, with a long basket-hilted sword; he was a Colonel, and Governor of that fort. He spake to Whitelocke in High Dutch, which Potley interpreted to this effect:--

"My Lord Ambassador,

"In the name of my masters, the Lords of Lübeck, I bid your Excellence welcome on shore and to this place."

Whitelocke answered him as shortly:--

"Noble Colonel,

"I heartily thank you for your civility, whereof I hope ere long to have the opportunity to acquaint your masters the Lords of Lübeck."

As Whitelocke passed by they fired three guns from the fort. The Colonel conducted Whitelocke to his house, near the landing-place, multitudes of people flocking together. The house was not stately, nor very convenient. There they were entertained with great store of very strong beer, which they call _mum_; and the Colonel was exceeding free to call for large flagons of it for Whitelocke and for all his people; which Whitelocke apprehending to have been the generosity of the Governor, yet fearing some disorder by it among the inferior sort, and being whispered by Colonel Potley that the Governor expected to be paid for his drink, which he usually sold to the passengers, Whitelocke ordered the reckoning to be paid, and hasted from this honourable alehouse to his coach.

It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when Whitelocke went from Tremon, from whence to Lübeck is two Dutch miles, that is, eight of our English miles. And coming with such a train, and to pass the usual ceremony in such cases to the Lords of Lübeck, Whitelocke sent Mr. Berkman and one of his servants before, to salute the Lords of Lübeck in the name of the Protector, as friends to the Commonwealth of England, and to advertise them, that the English Ambassador having occasions to pass through this city, and to be there this day, he thought it requisite to give them notice of it. In the midway between Tremon and Lübeck they came to a ferry over the Trave; the boat was large enough to carry at once two coaches and many horses. At each end of the ferryboat such artificial work is made with planks that it serves both at the coming in and going out of the boat, meeting with the planks on each side of the shore. By the weight of coach, horses, waggons, cattle, or men, the planks are so wrought that they rise and fall according to the weight upon them, and so as both those on the shore and the ends of the boat come to be even, and without more trouble in the passing over them than a bridge would be.

The great company, and some mishap of tearing one of his coaches, hindered Whitelocke's journey; but they went on in good time. About an English mile before they came to Lübeck, some company appearing on the road, Whitelocke's lacqueys alighted out of their waggons, and Whitelocke was met upon the way by an ancient person of a good portly carriage, with a great white beard, and a greater ruff. He was attended with four coaches; the first had six good horses in it, and was handsome, but not rich. The gentleman, being alighted, and then Whitelocke also, he came and saluted Whitelocke, and spake to him in the High Dutch, to this effect:--

"My Lord Ambassador,

"My masters, the Lords of Lübeck, have sent me with their coaches to conduct your Excellence into their city, and to bid you welcome hither; and to assure you likewise that whatsoever this city will afford shall be at your Excellence's service."

Whitelocke returned this answer:--

"Sir,

"I esteem it an honour to receive this respect from the Lords of Lübeck, your masters, for which ere long I hope to have the opportunity to give them thanks; and in the meantime give me leave to acknowledge your civility."

This person they call the Marshal of the town, whom the Lords sent to meet Whitelocke, to answer his civility of sending to them, which they took kindly. Then a young gentleman, well mounted and habited, met Whitelocke on the way with a packet of three weeks' letters from England, which he said Mr. Missenden, his father, received from Mr. Bradshaw, the Protector's Resident at Hamburg, with order to send them to Whitelocke to Lübeck.

Whitelocke went into the coach of the Lords of Lübeck; with him were the Marshal, and Colonel Potley to interpret for him. The country through which they passed was pleasant and fruitful, stored with groves, and fields of corn not enclosed, but much like the champaign counties of England, only more woody, and seemed the pleasanter to those who were lately come out of Sweden and from the Baltic Sea. Part of the country was the Duchy of Mecklenburg, and part of it Holstein.

When they drew near the city Whitelocke ordered that his staffiers and lacqueys, in their liveries, should walk by his coach bare, and his pages after them; then his gentlemen and others in the other coaches and waggons, in which equipage they entered the city. At the first fort they saluted Whitelocke with three pieces of ordnance, and at the gates of the city were good guards, with their muskets. The streets were filled with people, and many in the windows--not so many men as women; and those of the best rank and habit were with their bodies and smock sleeves, like the maids in England in hot weather. Here the best women, whose age will bear it, are thus habited, and with it sometimes rich clothes and jewels. When they were come into the city, the Marshal took his leave of Whitelocke, saying that he must go to the Lord, to advertise him of Whitelocke's arrival.

Whitelocke passed through a great part of the town before he came to the inn appointed for his reception, which was fairer without than within doors, the rooms for eating and lodging neither handsome nor well finished. About half an hour after he was come to the inn, the Lords of the town sent one of their officers to him, to know what time he would be pleased to appoint for them to come and salute him. Whitelocke answered, that whensoever they thought fit to do him the honour to visit him they should be welcome, and left to them the time which should be most convenient for their own occasions.

Being settled and at a little quiet, he read his letters from England. Thurloe acquaints him that the issue of his negotiation, and the prudent conduct of it, had very good acceptance in England, whither his return was much wished and prayed for. Then he informs him of all the news both foreign and domestic, and the readiness of the Protector to send ships for him to Hamburg. From Mr. Cokaine he had several letters about his bills of exchange, and other particular affairs. He had also letters from Mr. Taylor, from Resident Bradshaw, from his wife, and from several loving friends in England.

_June 8, 1654._

[SN: Whitelocke receives the Senate of Lübeck.]

In the morning the Lords of Lübeck sent again to Whitelocke, to know what time they might come to visit him. He answered, at their own time, and that they should be welcome to him within an hour. There came to him Martin Bokel, Doctor of the Laws, Syndic of the city, of good reputation for his learning and abilities, Jerome Bilderbeck, and Matthew Rodde, Senators and Lords of the city. The Syndic spake in French to Whitelocke to this effect:--"That, by command of the Lords of this city, those gentlemen, part of their number, and himself, were come in the name of the Lords of Lübeck to salute Whitelocke, and to bid him welcome to their city; that they rejoiced at his safe arrival here, and for the good success of those affairs wherein he had been employed." Whitelocke answered them in French, the same language in which they spake to him, and which is expected in these parts, to this effect:--"That the Lords of Lübeck had testified much respect to the Protector of England by the honour done to his servant, of which he would inform his Highness; and in the meantime he thanked them for the favour of this visit."

After many compliments, Whitelocke gave them the precedence into his lodging, which is the custom here, as in Sweden, and their discourse was in French in these matters of ceremony. Being sat together in his bedchamber, the Syndic told Whitelocke that he had a message to deliver to him from his Lords; and, according to the custom in matters of business, he desired to deliver what he had to say in Latin, and then spake to him in the following oration:--

"Illustrissime et Excellentissime Domine Legate,

"Amplissimus Senatus Lubicensis grato animo recognoscit celeberrimam nationem Anglicanam multiplici favore à multis retro annis populum mercatoresque hujus civitatis affecisse, atque etiam sæviente inter utrasque respublicas durissimo bello, incolas nostras gratiam, et, ex occasione suarum navium ad mare captarum, justitiam accepisse: amplissimus Senatus humillimè gratias suas refert, quas melius testari non potuerunt, quam erga personam illius conditionis tantæque eminentiæ quantæ Excellentiam vestram esse acceperant, suo speciali respectu, ad hæc cum etiam Extraordinarii Legati munere à clarissimo illo statu nunc dignissimè fungatur. Gratulatur amplissimus Senatus negotiationis ab Excellentia vestra peractæ felicem successum, ut et tanti viri in suam civitatem adventum. Quod si apud se in sua civitate aliquid sit Excellentiæ vestræ acceptu dignum, illud quicquid sit offerre in mandatis habemus.

"Dolore etiam afficitur Senatus, se tam sero de Excellentiæ vestræ adventu certiorem esse factum, ut rationes unde tantus hospes, et qui in ipsius comitatu sunt, pro merito exciperentur; melius inire non potuerit, se tamen sperare à clementia vestra ipsis id crimini non datum iri. Per nos rogant hujus urbis magistratus, Excellentiæ vestræ placeat, cervisiæ Lubicensis vinique Rhenani (quod officiariis Excellentiæ vestræ tradi curaverant) parvulum utut munus boni consulere.

"Excellentissime Domine, candore vestro freti speramus, non nobis id vitio datum iri, si etiam hoc temporis articulo paucula ex rebus nostris vestræ Excellentiæ consideranda proponamus: intempestivè fatemur importuni sumus, sed certiores facti, non diuturnam fore vestram in civitate nostra moram, id solliciti timemus, ne aliquando nobis similis offeratur opportunitas; ideo à dominis nostris jubemur Excellentiam vestram certiorem facere, quam plures hujus urbis naves inter navigandum negotii causâ, occurrentes navibus præliaribus Anglis, ab iisdem examen subiisse, liberatas tamen extemplò et dimissas, quod nihil suppetiarum hostibus vestris contulisse deprehendebantur; nihilominus easdem naves à quibusdam privatis vestris captoribus, _capers_ dictis, non multò post apprehensas fuisse, et hucusque detentas esse, magno dominorum detrimento.

"Sperat amplissimus Senatus, intercedente Excellentia vestra, ex justitia et favore Domini Protectoris, restitutionem earundem secundum jus et æquum suo populo futuram, quem in finem, tam magistratus, quem hujusce civitatis populus suppliciter rogat favorem et amicitiam Celsitudinis suæ Domini Protectoris, et illustrissimæ reipublicæ Angliæ, in iis, quæ vel commercia vel etiam alia spectant, posse sibi continuari."

After a little pause Whitelocke made answer in Latin to the Syndic's speech, to the effect following:--

"Spectatissimi viri,

"Rectè à vobis observatum est, antiquam fuisse inter populum Anglicanum civesque Lubicenses amicitiam et mutuam officiorum benevolentiam; nec defuisse unquam nobis, data occasione, Domini mei Domini Protectoris reipublicæ Angliæ, Scotiæ, et Hiberniæ, animum benevolentissimum, quem integrum adhuc à Serenissima sua Celsitudine erga vos conservari nullus dubito. Nec suspicio mihi est, quin amplissimus Senatus, hujusque celeberrimæ urbis liberi cives, Dominum meum Dominum Protectorem honore omni debito prosequentur, et benevolo affectu quotquot Anglorum, commercii aut conversationis causâ, apud vos appellere voluerint.

"Referte, quæso, meo nomine, amplissimo hujus civitatis Senatui, gratias ob respectum erga Dominum meum Dominum Protectorem rempublicamque Anglicanam, in honorificâ mei eorum ministri receptione significatum, tam in appulsu meo ad suum portum, quam ad civitatem suam aditu, necnon in munere quod mihi offerre ipsis placuit: honori duco quod per me, in suis negotiis, Dominum Protectorem compellare ipsis visum est, quod munus in me libenter recipio præstandum, quamprimum Deo placuerit ad Serenissimam suam Celsitudinem mihi reditum indulgere, cui id curæ est, ut unicuique quod est juris uniuscujusque tribuatur. Non equidem dubito, quin particularia favoris et respectûs erga hanc celeberrimam civitatem specimina reipsa effecta comperiamini."

The Syndic replied in French, that they did give many thanks to Whitelocke, in that he was pleased to take in so good part the respect of this City to him, and desired that if there were anything here which might do him service, that he would command it. Whitelocke said he came by this City in a desire to see it and the fortifications of it, which, if they pleased to give him leave to do, he should take it as a favour. They said, that even now the Senate had ordered Monsieur Bilderbeck and the commander of their forces to wait upon Whitelocke at such time as he should appoint, to view the city, with their fortifications and magazines, and whatsoever here should be thought by him worthy of his sight. Whitelocke thanked them, and discoursed touching the government of the City, and what laws they used, to which the Syndic answered, that their government was chiefly and generally by the municipal laws and customs of the city.

[SN: The franchises of Lübeck.]

Of these gentlemen and others Whitelocke learned this city is the chief and most ancient of the Hanse Towns of Germany, and a kind of free State; that they have power to send Commissioners as public ministers to any foreign prince or State, to treat and conclude with them about any matters relating to their city, and that without the leave or knowledge of the Emperor.

The people of the city chiefly are the merchants and artificers, most of them tradesmen; and both they who are masters, and their servants, being constantly employed in trades and personal businesses, they are the less troublesome in the government of them; as to the criminal part, idleness, being the mother of mischief, causeth quarrels and debaucheries, from whence pilferings, robberies, fightings, and murders do arise; but where people are kept to occupations, traffic, and employments, as they are here, it breeds civility, peaceableness of disposition, desire of rest and quiet, and a plentiful subsistence, and gives less occasion of proceedings in criminal offences. But as to suits upon bargains and contracts, they are the more, because there be so many contracts as merchants and tradesmen must make; yet those suits are here brought to a speedy determination within themselves by their ordinary judges, which are three, and usually assisted with a doctor or licentiate in the laws, who are in great esteem in this country. These judges commonly sit thrice a week, to determine civil controversies, which they do by their own laws and customs, which also have much affinity to the civil law, especially as to the forms and manners of their proceedings; and where the matter contended for exceeds the value of a thousand rix-dollars, there the party grieved may, if he please, appeal from the sentence of these judges to the Imperial Chamber at Spires, as they also do in capital causes; but civil causes under the value of a thousand dollars are finally determined within themselves, and no appeal lies from them.

They acknowledge the Emperor as their protector, but afford him no gabels or taxes but what their deputies, whom they elect and send to the general Diet of the Empire, do assent unto. Their chief officers are a Burgomaster, like our Mayor, twenty-four Senators, like our Common Council, and a Syndic, as our Recorder. These are the chief Council and Judicatory of the city, and order all the public affairs thereof; only in some extraordinary occasions of making laws or foreign treaties, matters of war and peace, the people of the town make choice of deputies, sometimes forty or fifty,--more or less, as they please,--who sit and consult with the Senate, and by their votes by the people, who willingly submit thereunto.

The town-house of their Guildhall is reasonably fair, not extraordinary. Their Court of Justice is below at the upper end of a large hall, made four-square, with seats like the Court of Exchequer in England; above this is another Court or Council-house, greater than that below, which is for the meeting of the Deputies of the Hanse Towns, who usually all assemble here; they have also several other chambers for the meetings and consultations of their own Senators and officers about the affairs of the city.

[SN: Aspect of the city.]

In the afternoon the Commander or Lieutenant-General of the forces of the town, whom they call Obrist Lieutenant, Monsieur Andreas Keiser, and the Senator Bilderbeck, came, with four of the city coaches, to accompany Whitelocke to see the town and fortifications of it. The Senator spoke only Latin, the Lieutenant spoke good French. They went through most parts of the town, and found the figure of it exactly done in painting in a table in their magazine, with the fortifications of it: upon the view of the whole town, it seemed a pleasant and noble city. It is of great antiquity, freedom, privileges, trade, polity, and strength, few in these parts exceeding it; not unhealthful in the situation, beautiful in the buildings, profitable in the commerce, strong in the fortifications, and rich in the inhabitants.

The streets are large and fair, kept clean and sweet; the houses built of brick, generally uniform, most in the frontispieces, and covered with tile; at the entry into them, usually the first and lower room is largest, paved with Orland stone, full of streaks of red and white, and some with black and white rich marble. In this first room they use to set their best household stuff, as the chief room for entertainment; yet they will also in some part of the room have a partition with boards, above a man's height, for a kitchen, where they dress meat and hang their bacon and other provision{9}, which are not out of sight nor smell; and here also, in this room, some of their goods of merchandise are placed; but the better sort keep their houses more neat, and have kitchens and larders out of view. In the second story are ordinarily the lodging-rooms, and some for entertainment; the third and fourth stories are granaries and storehouses, which they hold better for such uses than cellars and lower rooms, which, they say, cause damage to the commodities.