I met with, in my Time, who, after having spent feven or eight of the beft Years of their Life, in a renown'd School, have not been able to give a reasonable Answer to a Question ask'd them, on any Subject whatsoever, except of the Clafficks; and who have been fo little fit for any Company or Conversation, that it has been the Business of three or four Years more to unlearn (if I may be allowed the Expreffion) the ill Habits they have got in their School-Years, and happy if they have not carried the School-Boy with them to their Graves. A learned Pedant is moft certainly a most despicable Creature, and I cannot but allow a Man of no Learning, with a tolerable Knowledge of the World, to be infinitely his Superior. Thefe and the like Confiderations, make me, notwithstanding all that can be faid in Defence of a publick Education (which I allow to be a great deal) give the Preference, by much, to a private one: Not fuch a one however, as a young Gentleman or Nobleman can have of the Parfon of the Parish, or his Father's Chaplain, as arrant a Pedant perhaps as I have been defcribing; but, where it can be afforded of a Gentleman, who has travelled and feen the World; and has himself had fuch an Education as I would recommend. A noble Peer, in your Neighbourhood, has been very happy in his Choice this Way, and has found the Succefs even exceed his Hopes. But what a Length have these Reflections carried me, and how far out of my Province; but your Goodness will excufe it, as well as my being oblig'd, for this Reafon, to postpone,'till my next, the Hiftorical Account of the ancient and prefent State of this City, which I promis'd you. I am, in the mean Time, as ever, &c.

LETTER

SIR,

LETTER XLVI.

LUBECK. URSUANT to the Promife, with which I concluded my laft, this Letter is deftin'd to give you an Historical Account of the ancient and prefent State of this famous City.

THO' the City of Lubeck may boaft of its Antiquity, yet, in this Refpect, it cannot pretend to come in Competition either with Bremen or Hamburg, as I think I have already observ'd, in a former Letter. There was, however, a Time, in which this City had its Advantages, particularly in Trade, Riches, and Power, confiderably beyond either of the other two; and was always accounted the Head of that once formidable Body, known by the Name of the Hanfeatick League. Whence this City had its Name is uncertain, and the Conjectures we have of it are fo far fetch'd, that they are hardly worth mentioning: Nor is it fo exactly known when it was firft built. Accord

Monf. Aubery de Maurier, in his Memoirs of Hamburg, Lubec, &c. written a hundred Years ago, fays, La Ville de Lubec n'eft ni moins celebre, ni moins fameux que celle d' Hambourg, And, in another Place, fpeaking of the Power of Lubec, he fays; Pour faire voir la Force et la Puiffance de cette Ville; je dirai feulement qu'elle a foutenu des Guerres, de plufieurs Années, tant contre les Ducs de Mecklenbourg, que contre les Rois de Danne marc et de Suede: And he likewife fhews, that these Wars were not merely defenfive, but even offenfive, carrying the Terror of Fire and Sword into the Territories of their Enemies,

ing to the Opinion of many, the firft Foundation was laid by Godfchale, King of the Venedi, in the Year 1040, but being deftroy'd by Prince Razo, of Rügen, in the Year 1134, was rebuilt, An. 1140, by Adolph, II, Count of Holstein, and then was first endow'd with the Immunities of a City. In 1158, it was again totally reduc'd to a Heap of Ruins, by Fire; and was afterwards re-inftated by Henry, the Lion, Duke of Saxony; and, at the fame Time, the Collegiate Church was founded. In 1181, Emperor, Frideric, I, brought it under the Subjection of the Empire; but it was retaken from him, by Henry, the Lion; upon which, it fell into the Hands of Holstein, and afterwards of Denmark : But being heavily opprefs'd by the latter, the Inhabitants fent an Ambaffy to Emperor, Frideric, II, imploring his Affiftance to free them from this Yoke; which, as it is faid, was done in 1227. The Danes, indeed, left no Stone unturn'd, to bring this City again under their Dominion; but all their Endeavours were fruitlefs; and they were oblig'd to fuffer an Invasion themselves, from the Forces of this City, which ravag'd in Denmark, far and near, and commited great Depredations. This City having, in the mean while, fuffer'd feveral Times greatly by Fire, and particularly in the Year 1276, it was that Year rebuilt, in the magnificent Manner we now fee it. In 1350, this City was almost depopulated by the Plague, which, if we may believe Paulus Langius, carried off 90,000 of its Inhabitants. In 1422, this City was again engag'd in a War with Denmark, which lafted thirteen Years; but did not, however, prove by far fo detrimental to this Crown, as that which begun in 1509, during which the Lübeckers contributed not a little in difmembring the Crown of Sweden from that Kingdom. In 1563, this City enter'd into a League with Frideric, II, King of

Denmark,

Denmark, against Erick, King of Sweden; and, on this Occafion, furnished a great Number of Ships as well as Troops. The Year 1629 made this City famous, for the Peace concluded here, between the Emperor and the King of Denmark, by which all that had been taken, by the ImperiaLifts, from the latter, in Holstein, was reftored; but with this Condition, that the Kings of Denmark fhould not, for the future, intermeddle in Favour of the Protestants in Germany. In 1651, a Treaty was fet on Foot, in this City, between Sweden and Poland; but after the Conferences had lafted feveral Months, they broke up without coming to any Conclufion.

As to the Government of this City, it remain'd long under the Jurifdiction of Henry, the Lion, Duke of Saxony, the Counts of Holstein-Schaumburg, and likewife under the Crown of Denmark, as has already been obferv'd; but after it became an Imperial City, under the Emperor, Frederic II, (of which a Monument is yet remaining at the Gate, call'd the Mill-Port) it began to be govern'd by its own Burghermafters, and Senators, and taking then a Kind of Aristocratical Form, has preferv'd the fame ever fince.

LUB ECK, in its prefent State, is a fine and noble City; which tho', as I obferv'd before, it be not fo ancient as Hamburg, or Bremen, has nevertheless the Appearance of a greater Antiquity than either, more of the ancient Buildings of it being yet standing, and fewer modern Ones being built in the Room of these which are either already fallen, or now falling to Ruins. The principal Streets are larger and more commodious than the ancient Streets in Hamburg. The Houfes are large and ftately, but inconvenient, and built much in the fame Manner as thofe I have given a Defcription of in Hamburg. The Churches are magnifi

cent,

cent, and fome of them far exceed the best in Hamburg: But, before I defcend to Particulars, give me leave to fay a Word or two of the Bishoprick, which bears the Name of this City.

THIS Bishoprick was firft establish'd, by its Founder, Emperor, Otto I, at Oldenburg, in Wagria; but was afterwards transfer'd, in the Year 1163, by Henry, the Lion, Duke of Saxony, with the Confent of the Emperor Frideric, I, to this City; tho' the Bifhop himself often refided at Eutin, which is likewife, to this Day, the Refidence of the Bishops of Lubeck. In the Year 1530, Detleff von Rantzau being then Bishop, this See embrac'd the Auguftan Confeffion. In the Year 1586, John Adolph, the third Son of the Duke of Gottorp, who was then Archbishop of Bremen, was elected Bishop of Lubeck; and from that Time, this Dignity has generally been conferr'd, as an Apennage, on the younger Sons of that illuftrious Houfe; and the Chapter have only, as it were, a Shadow of Election left; nay, in the Year 1647, they bound themselves under an Obligation to the House of Gottorp, that the fix next fucceeding Bifhops fhould abfolutely be elected out of that Family. Pursuant to this Agreement, in 1655, Christian Albrecht, who afterwards became Duke Regent, and, in 1666, August Frideric obtain'd the Epifcopal Dignity: But when, during the Life of this Bishop, it was proposed to elect a Coadjutor, the King of Denmark attempted to get this Stipulation annull'd. It was, however, confirm'd, by the Imperial Court, in 1701, and tho', at the Election of a Coadjutor, which enfued, the King of Denmark had gain'd eight Canons, who gave their Votes for his Brother Charles; yet, after the Death of the Bishop, in 1705, Prince Chriftian August, of the Houfe of Gottorp, who had the Votes of the remaining Canons, for the Coadjutor