fhip, obtain'd the Bishoprick. The Danes, who had made themselves Mafters of Eutin, abandon'd it again, and, at Length, by the Mediation of England and Holland, the above-mention'd Prince Chriftian Auguft was, in 1706, confirm'd in the Poffeffion of the Bishoprick. At the Treaty of Raftadt, between the Emperor and Sweden, in 1707, the Agreement I mention'd above was again ratified; by Virtue of which, two Sons of the faid Christian Auguft were fucceffively elected to this Bifhoprick, viz. Prince Charles, in 1726; and, after his Death, at Petersburg, where he was upon the Point of being married to the Ruffian Princefs, Elizabeth, to his Brother Prince Adolph Frideric, this prefent Year 1727, a young Prince, yet unmarried. But it is to be obferv'd, that, pursuant to an Agreement made between the King of Denmark, and the Houfe of Gottorp, at Gluckstadt, in the Year 1667, after the Death of thefe fix fucceeding Bishops, of the House of Gottorp, the Princes of the Royal Family of Denmark are to be eligible alternately.

BUT to return to the City of Lubeck: I before obferv'd, that it is fituate on the River Trave, in the Territory of Wagria, of which it is the Capital, about two German Miles from the Baltick, (or Eaft-Sea) out of which this River brings Ships of Burden into the Heart of the City, and likewise surrounds it, without its Walls, as it were a Ditch, and adds to its Strength, as well as to its Wealth by Trade; which however is not near fo confiderable as it was formerly, the Hamburghers having rival'd them in almost every Branch of it, but that to the North, by the Sea which washes almoft their very Gates. This City, befides its fpacious Streets, has feveral large Market-Places, and ftately publick Buildings; among which, the Senat-Houfe, the Archive of the Hanfee-Towns, the Arfenal, the Spital, and the

Churches

Churches are the moft remarkable, and of the latter, the Collegiate Church of St. Mary's is a noble Pile, which far exceeds any of the Reft. To defcend to a particular Defcription of all, or indeed any of thefe, would carry me too great a Length; I fhall therefore only take Notice of two or three Singularities.

IN the St. Mary's Church they fhew you the remarkable Picture, well known in Germany, by the Name of Death's Dance. It reprefents the common Figure of Death leading an Emperor, in his Imperial Robes, and he taking hold, with his other Hand, of another fuch Figure of Death, which leads up a King, and fo alternately a Figure of Death and of a human Perfon, throughout all the Stations and Stages of Life, down to an Infant in fwadling Cloaths. The Defign is to fhew that Death fpares no Age nor Condition, which is more particularly exprefs'd in fundry Verfes underneath: But as I have bought a Print of it, with these Verfes, and a farther Defcription, which I fhall fend you as Opportunity offers, I forbear faying any thing farther of it now. In the fame Church, on one of the Pillars of it which fupports the Roof, I obferv'd a fmall Chain of three or four Links, and, being led by Curiofity, I enquir'd the Meaning of it; but how was I furpriz'd to find it affix'd, in fo facred a Place, for the Standard of Virility, and that a Judgment of Impotency would ly against any Man who could not come up to it: But whether in a relax'd or extended State 1 am not inform'd; if the latter, I believe very few are in Danger. In another Church, I was fhewn the Hand of a Parricide, of which they tell you, that the Corpfe being buried, this Hand, the following Night, made its Way thro' the Coffin and Earth, and appear'd, the next Morning above Ground; and tho' it was again buried, feveral Ee

Times

Times afterwards, it always appear'd again the next Morning, and never putrified. The latter Part of the Story may be accounted for, in the fame Manner, as that of the Corpfe in the Cathedral of Bremen, and for the former Part, if it be fo ancient (which however I can't affirm) as the Days of the Monks (for it has pretty much the Appearance of one of their Legends) we need not wonder at the Miracle *. I believe my next will be from the University of Roftock, for which Place I defign to depart, in a few Days: In the mean Time, I remain, as ever, &c.

Monf. Aubery de Maurier, in his Memoirs of Hamburg, Lubeck, &c. gives the following Account of an ancient Monument in this City, which as I never, tho' I have frequently been there, obferv'd myself. I fhall give in his Words. "I "cannot (fays this Author) leave Lubeck, without mentioning 66 one remarkable Thing, which is to be feen at the Cathe"dral: On one of the Pediments of this Church, you read "nine Latin Diftichs, which were given me, and make men"tion of the following very memorable Hiftory. The Emperor, Charlemaign, being diverting himself with the Chase, " in these Parts of Lower Saxony, took a Stag alive, and order"ing a Collar of Gold, with a Crofs upon it, bearing the Infcription, Hoc Cæfar me donavit, and the Date of the "Year, to be put about his Neck, turn'd him loose again "into the Foreft. Four hundred Years after, one Leon, Duke "of Saxony, having caught this fame Stag, and obferving the "Crofs about his Neck, took a Fancy to build a Cathedral "Church on the fame Spot, to endow it with a proper Re"venue, and to grant the Bishops a Crofs Or, in a Field Gules, " for their Arms. As a Monument of this Fact, the Effigies "of a Stag is plac'd on the Top of the Church.

66

LETTER

SIR,

A

LETTER XLVII.

ROSTOCK. SI have been here already a few Days, I have had Time to make fome Enquiry into the ancient and prefent State of this City and Univerfity, and fhall therefore begin this Letter with a Defcription of it. ROSTOCK, which is reckon'd very near, if not quite, as large as Lubeck, is a very ancient and famous City, the Capital of a Lordship of the fame Name, in the Duchy of Mecklenburg, about a German Mile from the Baltick, at the Mouth of the River Warne, which forms a fmall Bay, and a good Haven, with a Sconce call'd Warnemund, (or the Mouth of the Warne.) They pretend it was known fo early as the Year 329, when, however, it was but a Village, which was afterwards (at what Time History does not inform us) converted to a Town, by Godefchalk, a King of the ObotriteWenden. I do not, however, find any Thing particular of it, 'till the Year 1160, when Pribislaus, the laft King of the Obotrites, is faid to have rebuilt it, out of the Ruins of the City of Kyffin, which is now but a Village, and furrounded it with a Wall. After the Death of Pribislaus, his Son Henry Burewin, I, and his Nephew, Niclotus, quarrel'd for the Succeffion to this Lordship, which the latter, however, obtain'd, about the Year 1190, with the Affiftance of the Danes, as a Fief to Denmark. After his Death, it was restor❜d to Burewin, I,

E e 2

and,

and, from him, fell to the Share of his younger Son, Burewin, II, who being fucceeded by one of his four Sons, Burewin, III, he begun a Line there, which, however, became extinct in his Grandfon, Niclotus, furnam'd the Child of Rostock. This Niclotus made a Ceffion of his Lordfhip to the Danes; which, however, was transfer'd, in the Year 1323, by Christopher, III, King of Denmark, as a Fief of that Crown, to Henry the Lion, Duke of Mecklenburg. The Fealty was, neverthelefs, remitted by Waldemar, IV, in 1360, to Albert, II, (who was likewife King of Sweden) by Agreement, from which Time, it has remain'd peaceable, and without any Interruption, in the Dukes of Mecklenburg, who, at fundry Times, have granted it great Privileges, especially that of Coining. After this City acceeded to the Hanfeatick League, it often even refus'd Allegiance to the Dukes, especially before the Year 1573, in which Year a Sedition arifing against the Duke, he enter'd it by Force of Arms, treated the Senat with great Severity, and the Inhabitants were oblig'd to fwear Fealty. In the Year 1415, the Dukes John and Albert, IV, founded a University here, which, however, was not open'd 'till 1419. Among other learned Men bred in this University, the Germans reckon Grantffus, Chytraus, Bocerus, Poffelius, Cafelius, and Fechtius. The Lordship, of which this City is the Capital, contains, likewise, the Towns, Bailiwicks and Convents of Bitzow, Dargun, Dobran, Gnoien, Laga, Marlow, Petzkow, Ribnitz, Salinas, Sulte, Schwan, Teffin, and feveral others. The City of Rostock, in its modern State, is divided into the old, the new, and the middle Towns. In the old Town, are the Churches of St. Peters, St. Nicholas, and St. Katherine's, together with the College of the Juridical Faculty, which however is now in Ruins. The middle Town