A SUPPLEMENT TO Dr. BURNET's LETTERS Relating to his TRAVELS through Switzerland, Italy, Germany, etc. In the Years 1685, and 1686.  
Being Further REMARKS On Switzerland, and Italy, etc.  
Written by ● Nobleman of Italy, and Communicated to the Author.  
●hich he has since thought fit to Publish in Vindication of some Passages in the LETTERS.  
ROTTERDAM, ●…nted by Abraham Acher, Bookseller by the Exchange, 1687.   

The Contents.  
Remarks upon Switzerland, the Grisons Country, the Bailiage of Lugane, the Lakes, the Duchy of Ferrara, the Estate of Bolognia, the Country of the Great Duke of Tuscany; with particular Observations on the Temporal Government of the POPE, and the Reduction of the Interest due by the Monks at Rome, and of the Avarice of the Jesuits and Priests.   

A SUPPLEMENT Containing Some Remarks, that have been sent to me by a Person of Quality.  
A Person of great Rank, that is of Italian extraction, and that by consequence knows the Country well, having spent much of his time in it, bade heard that I was giving the World an account of the Reflections that I had made on the present State of Italy, and upon that he writ the following Paper to one of his Friends, to be communicated to me; for I have not the honour of any Commerce with himself: The Observations that he had made, agreed so exactly with my own, that I thought it would be no small Advantage towards the supporting the Credit of those that I had made, to find them confirmed by so extraordinary a Person, whose Character (as those who know him well have assured me) is so undisputed, that if I durst name him, this alone would ●…rve to establish the belief of the most critical parts of 〈…〉 Letters in the minds of all that should read his Paper: But since I cannot adventure on this, without ●…btaining his Leave, and since he is now at such a di●…lance, that it is not easy to g●t his Friend to write to ●…im, or to receive an Answer from him time enough, therefore I have added this Memorial in the Language in which he writ it. Which I thought fit than to give a Translation of it into English. There are two Particulars in which He and I differ, and is s● great a Variety of Observations, that are so Critical, and so much out of the Common road, it will not appear strange, if there should be some disagreement, when he mentions the Tax that the Pope has laid on the Corn; he does not add one thing which I mention, and that is, that the Measure, by which th● Pope sells, is by a fifth part less than that by which he buys: The other is more considerable; for in the Account that he gives of the present Pope's break●…g in upon the settlement of the Bank, though it is upon the matter very near the same with that which I give, y●t there is a difference of some Importance as to the manner of doing it; but as to that, all I can say, is, that the first Account I had of that Transaction, was the same that is in this Gentleman's Paper; but afterwards I had occasion to talk of this matter very Copiously with one, that has lived many years in the Pope's Dominions, and that he has dealt much is those Affairs; be has now a Character upon him, and so it is not expedient to name him: It was from him that I had the particular recital of this matter, and therefore I thought it surer to go upon the Information that I had from him, than upon the general Report that all Strangers may find at Rome. This Paper had been more copious, if the Person that writ it, had not been restrained by some particular Considerations fr●m saving any thing relating to the Government of Venice.  

REMARKS Upon SWITZERLAND.  
IT is very surprising when one comes out of France, (which is an Extraordinary good Country) into Switzerland, which is not near so fertile, and yet to see so great a difference between the People of those two Countries. The People in France, and especially the Peasants, are very poor, and most of them reduced to great Misery and Want. The People in Switzerland cannot be said to be very Rich; but yet there are very few, even amongst the Peasants themselves that are miserably poor; the most part of them have enough to live upon, from their Labour, and the Fruits of the Earth. Every where in France, even in the best Cities, there are Swarms of Beggars; and yet scarce any to be seen throughout all Switzerland. The Houses of the Peasants, or Countrypeople in France are extremely mean, and in them no ●…ther Furniture to be found besides poor nasty Beds, straw Chairs, and Plates and Dishes of Wood and Earth: In Switzerland the Peasants ●…ave than Houses furnished with good Fea●…er-beds, good Chairs, and other Houshold-●…uff for their Convenience, as well as their Necessity; their Windows are all of Glass, al●…ays kept mended and whole, and their Lin●…n very neat and white, and as well for their ●…d●ing as their Tables.   

Of the GRISONS Country.  
THe Grisons Country is much more Barren than Switzerland, because 'tis wholly upon the Mountains, which produce nothing at all; yet notwithstanding (all Excess and Luxury being banished from amongst them, and the Inhabitants being extremely Laborious) there are none to be seen there that are very poor and needy; but they live at Ease, and there are a great many Gentry of good Estates. Their Government is altogether Popular; there are but three or four Royalties belonging to Nobility in all the Country. All the rest of their Lands are in Demean, which may yet well be called Royalties too, because exempt from all deuce and payments whatsoever. There is nothing at all to be paid for bringing into the Country any sort of Goods or Merchandises, or for exporting of them thence; every one there fully enjoys the Fruit of his own Labours, and the revenues of his Land; although the Wine they drink is brought upon Horses four or five days Journey, yet they have it cheaper there than in most parts of Italy or France, where it so plentifully grows. There are Villages upon the very tops of the Mountains, consi●ting of 250. and 200. Houses apiece; and altho' they have no Corn or grain that grows there, and but very little Grass, yet the Peasants keep three or four hundred Horses which they employ to carry goods and Merchandises, which turns to so good account that they live very well, and want nothing either for the Necessity of Convenience of life. The Inns upon the Mountains are very good; and there is always to be had, besides good Bread and Wine, great quantity of Game and Venison, according to the Season of the Year, good Trout, very good Chambers, and Beds after the manner of the Country. When you leave the Grisons Country, and are come into the Country of Chavenne, the People begin to speak broken Italian: altho' this latter is a more fertile Country, yet the Inhabitants and Peasants do not live so well as in the Grisons Country, for that the Natives are more slothful and lazy: and here again there are abundance of poor People, as you will find in all parts of Italy.   

Of the Bailiage of LUGANE.  
THere are on the other side of the Mountains four Bailiages, which where formerly part of the Dutehy of Milan; Lewis XII. when he lost that Duchy, gave these Bailiages to some of the Switz Cantons. These Bailiages are called, Lugane, Lucarno, Mendris, and Belinston: I shall only take notice of the Bailiage of Lugane, which contains ninety nine Villages: The Territories of this Bailiage and of the others, are not near so good as that of Milan, to which it ●…oyns; yet the Villages of this Bailiage are very ●…opulous; the Lands is very fruitful, because it is ●…ll cultivated, and all the Inhabitants live contented and well; there are no Beggars amongst them, nor hardly any Object of Misery and Want: their Houses are all good, well built, and kept in good repair. The Territory of Milan is certainly one of the best in all Italy; it produceth Wine, Corn and Oil in abundance, very great quantity of Silk, and (generally speaking) all sorts of Fruits; there is also excellent Pasture for Cattles, and yet the Peasants there do not live so well by much as in the Bailiage of Lugane; for there is a great deal of Land that lies unmanured, and the Country is not near so populous as in Lugane. There can be no other Reason given for this Difference but that Milan is under the Dominion of Spain: That the People are loaden with Imposts, Subsidies and Taxes, which makes them very poor; whereas the People of Lugane are under the Government of Switzerland, who put no Taxes or Subsidies upon them.   

Remarks upon the LAKES.  
I Do not know that in the Kingdom of France, as it was thirty years since, there were any Lakes, except perhaps in the Mountains of Dauphine. From the Lake of Jour to the Lake of Garde, which is at Desenesan, between Bresse and Veronne. In the Territories of Venice, there are a great number of Lakes; one of the most considerable is that of Geneva; then there is the Lake of Newchattel, the Lake d'Yverdun, the Lake of Morat, the Lake of Bienne, the Lake of Qvinti, the Lake of Lucerne, the Lake of Constance, the Lake of Valestat, and many others in the Mountains of Switzerland. There is on the other side the Mountains a great and considerable Lake, called Come, also the Lake of Lugane, the Lake Maj r, which is above 60 miles long, and likewise the Lake de Garde. All these Lakes are replenished with most excellent Fish, and particularly Trout; but in the Lake de Garde there is found an admirable Fish, called Carpion, which is far more delicate than either Trout or Salmon, but they are not so great; for those of the largest size do not weigh above fifteen pounds. I do not think that in any part of Europe there are so many fine Lakes to be found in so narrow a Compass, as these which I have here mentioned.   

Concerning the Duchy of FERRARA.  
THe Duke of Ferrara hath always been but a little Prince, because his Dominions are not very great; yet there have been several of the said Dukes for above 150. years ago, and since, that have made a handsome Figure, and held a considerable Rank amongst the Princes of Italy. The Country was formerly very populous, and the Lands being fertile, and well cultivated: the Revenue of the Prince were considerable, and he kept a good Court. But since that Duchy is devolved upon the See of Rome, by the Death of the last Duke, who died without Issue Male, the Country is almost depopulated: the most part of the Lands are desolate; and for several Years last past the Duchy is infected with Diseases, purely for want of Inhabitants. There were formly in the time of the Dukes of Ferrara, more than one hundred thousand People, and at present there are not 15000. The Grass grows in the Streets, and most of the Houses are void.  
Polesino is one of the best parts of Italy; and that part of it which is possessed by the Venetians, is very well cultivated and populous; and 'tis one of the best of their small Princes. As soon as you pass the great Arm of the River Po, which is called the Lagoscouro, which separates that part of the Polisino which belongs to the Venetians, from that which belongs to the Pope, although the Land and Country is the very fame, yet the most part of those Lands of the Polesino, which belongs to the Ecclesiastical State, are desolate and waste: the Grass lies withered and rotten upon the ground, because there is no body takes care to mow it; and in passing through great Villages, you'll find all the Houses abandoned, and not one Inhabitant to be found. It is not easily to be imagined how it is possible, that a Country so populous and flourishing, should in less than 80. years be so entirely ruined and dispeopled: by this it is very apparent, that no Subjects are so unhappy, as those that live under the Domination of the Clergy.   

Concerning the Estates of BOLOGNIA.  
IF the Popes had been able to have made themselves Masters of Bolognia, as they have done of Ferrara, they would thereby have reduced it to the same miserable condition; but Bolognia hath always preserved their Privileges and the Civil Government, by means of the Gonfalonniers, under whom they are governed; They have the Right of sending Ambassadors to the Pope, who enjoy the same Prerogatives as do the Ambassadors of the other free Princes and States: The Pope cannot confiscate the Goods of any Subject of Bolognia for any Crime whatsoever. The great Mischiefs which too frequently happen here, more than in other parts, are Assassinations and Murders; those that commit them fly for shelter to some of the Churches, as to an inviolable Asylum, from whence the Legates themselves cannot bring them to be Punished; or perhaps they retire into the Country, into some Strong hold, or into the Territories of a Neighbouring Prince, where they are certainly secure, and there remain until the Legation of the then Cardinal be finished, and afterwards make an agreement with the Successor, who for Money pardons them (having Power so to do) all the Crimes and Murders they have committed: In other respects the People of Bolognia are very happy, and live in great plenty, for that the Country is mighty fruitful; and they pay no Taxes to the Prince.   

Remarks upon the Country of the Great Duke of TUSCANY.  
THere are in this Great Dukedom three considerable Cities, Florence, Pisa, and Sienna. All those who have read the History of Italy, do know, that Pisa was formerly a very powerful Commonwealth, that it flourished in Trade and Commerce, and that there were a great many wealthy Citizens belonging to it; There needs no other proof of this, than what we read, that upon a certain occasion, a hundred of the Citizens equipped each of them a Galley at their own Charges, which they maintained during all the War. The great Actions are well known which they have done in the Levant by their Fleets, and how they along time opposed the Duke of Florence, who at length subdued them by the Assistance of the Spanish Arms.  
Pisa is one of the largest and most beautiful Cities of Italy; the Buildings are stately and fine; and so is one of their Churches, which with its dependencies, is one of the finest in all Italy. The City is built upon the River of Arne, which divides it in the midst; it is Navigable for Vessels of a great burden: and at Legorne, which is Twelve Miles distance, it falls into the Sea. It is one of the best situated Towns in all Italy for Trade, with which it flourished extremely whilst it was a Republic: at present not only the City, but the Country belonging to it, is wholly depopulated. Writers say, that there were formerly above one hundred and fifty Thousand Inhabitants, whereas now there are not twelve Thousand. The Grass grows in most of the Places and Streets of the City, and most of the Houses are deserted, and lie void. I was myself in a fair large Palace, which was let for six Pistoles per annum; the greatest part of their Lands lie waste, and the Air is very unhealthy in most parts, because of the small number of Inhabitants. The Duke of Florence thought there was no way to secure himself of this Great City, but by depopulating of it, and ruining the Trade, which rendered it so Potent, so that at present there is not any Trade there at all.  
The City of Sienna was also formerly a very fine Commonwealth, and had in it many noble, rich, and powerful Families; but since that the Duke of Florence hath reduced it to his Obedience, he hath ruined most of the Nobility and Gentry, many of them retiring into France, and into the Territories of some of the Princes of Italy.  
As to the City of Florence itself, it is extremely decayed to what it was since it came under the Government of the House of Medicis. It is plain from the History of Machiavil, and other Italian Authors that lived in those times, that it was three times more populous when it was a Republic, than it is now. The Great Duke keeping his Court and Residence there, one would think should make the City flourish the more; yet it wants a great deal of that Luster and Splendour it had when it was a Commonwealth.   

Remarks upon the Temporal Government of the POPE.  
THere are certainly very few People, so miserable, as those who live under the Dominion of the Pope: most of the States of Italy, and where there are the most Subsidies and Impositions, have not put any Tax upon Corn and Grain which make Bread, because there is no Person, though never so miserable, that can subsist without it; there is that humanity and regard had to the People, in not laying Taxes upon Bread, because 'tis the common Nourishment, and absolutely necessary even for the most Indigent and Poor; though Impositions are laid without scruple upon Wine and other Merchandises, because they are not so necessary as Bread: yet the Pope makes no scruple to lay very great Impositions upon Corn and Bread, throughout all his Dominions, except in those places that have yet preserved their Liberties. It was Donna Olimpia, that during the Pontificat of Innocent the X. began to put Taxes and Imposts upon Corn, and made such Laws, which have ruined the most part of the great Nobility and Gentry, that live under the Ecclesiastical Government, who had their Revenues consisting in Corn. All the Popes who have Reigned since Innocents' time, have found such a great advantage to themselves by these Laws of Donna Olympia, that they have continued them ever since; and it is at present a very considerable part of the Ecclesiastical Revenue. The substance of which said Law or Ordinance is this, That no Person whatsoever is suffered to sell Corn to any Strangers; but all those that have any, are obliged to sell it at a price certain to the Ecclesiastical Chamber; which is not above one moiety of the real Value; and then the Ecclesiastical Chamber sells it again at double the price. In Italy there is no person either in City or Country, in the Pope's Dominions, who is permitted to make their own Bread, but every one is obliged to buy it of the Bakers, who are appointed by the Chamber; in each Village and Burrough, there is but one Baker Established by the Chamber to make and sell Bread; the Baker is obliged to take the Corn of the Chamber at a certain price, and to make the Bread of such a quality and weight, and to sell it at a price certain. In the great Cities, as at Rome, there are very many Bakers, who are all obliged to buy a certain quantity of Corn of the Ecclesiastical Chamber for a whole Year to come, which they pay for beforehand, and give ten Crowns the Salme or measure, when at the same time the Chamber bought it of the particular Persons for five Crowns, at the beginning of the Year; all the Bakers are obliged to take the same quantity of Corn for the Year ensuing, although sometimes they have a great deal of the last Years Corn upon their hands, which they must deliver to the Chamber for five Crowns the Salme or Measure, and then the very same Corn is sold them again for Ten Crowns. I do not believe that there is any Country in the World, that draws more profit from their Subjects for Corn, than the Pope doth in his Dominions, which hath ●…een partly the Cause of the ruin of the Ecclesiastical Estate, since the Establishment of the said Law, which was about thirty Years since: the Country is unpeopled, and great part of the Lands lie void and uncultivated, because it is not worth while to manure them when the greatest advantage and profit, arising thereby, goes to the Pope. In travelling through the Ecclesiastical Territories in Romania, and between Rome and Naples, there are vast quantities of Land unmanured. A Traveller passing through the Estate of a Roman Prince, told the Prince upon his return to Naples, He would if he pleased send him Husbandmen that should Manure his Lands; thinking that it had been for want of Labourers that the Land lay void and waste: The Prince told him, That he did not want People to Cultivate his Lands; but because they were obliged to Sell all their Corn and Grain to the Chamber at a very low Price, it would not quit cost to Manure and Cultivate it.   

Touching the Reduction of the Interest of Money Due by the MONTES at Rome from 4. to 3. per Cent.  
EVery body almost knows what 'tis which in Italy, and especially at Rome, they call the Montes; It is much like the Rents upon the Town-House at Paris. The Pope's having occasion of Money, borrow great Sums of particular Persons at 4 per cent. Interest; This they call at Rome the Establishment of the Monte, that is, the Creation of certain Officers, and the assignment of several Rents for the payment of those who have lent Money to the Pope. The present Pope, finding the Chamber engaged to the Annual Payments of I know not how many Millions of Roman Crowns Interest, to those that had Lent Money upon the Monte, resolved in part to reduce and lessen the great Sum of Money which the Interest amounted to, and having for this purpose raised several Million of Roman Crowns, he acquainted those that had Money upon the Monte, that they should come and receive their principal Money, unless they would take 3 per cent. Interest, for the 4 per cent. which they formerly received; whereupon there being really no Trade in all the Ecclesiastical Territories, and the Lands worth nothing, and that the Estates of the Nobility were all Sold to a penny, all Persons who had Money upon the Monte, not knowing how to Employ it to advantage elsewhere, let it there remain, contenting themselves with three per cent. instead of four per cent. which they had before. So that by this means every one concerned lost a fourth part of their yearly Income, and the Chamber got I know not how many Million of Crowns yearly by this Retrenchment of one per cent.  
It is almost incredible the Immense Sums the Pope hath raised by retrenching of so many superfluous Expenses, and extinguishing several Offices, to which great Salaries were paid by the Ecclesiastical Chamber, and by divers other means. Those who are well informed in these matters, do for certain affirm, that all the Subsidies which the Pope hath remitted to the Emperor, and King of Poland, to carry on the War against the Turks, are not the thirtieth part of the Money which he hath Treasured up; although likewise he hath paid many Debts of the Chamber, which were not very chargeable upon the Montes.  
I ought not here to omit relating, that the Inns, especially in Tuscany, in Romania, and between Rome and Naples, are very sordid and incommodious; one may give a pretty good guess at the prodigious Wealth belonging to the Clergy in the Kingdom of Naples by the great quantity of Plate, Vessels, and Statues of Silver in the Churches, and by the Riches and Magnificent Furniture of their Habitations, and Vestments of the Priests. One may upon the whole Matter make this Important Reflection, That if the King of Spain doth not think of some Expedient, to hinder the Clergy from Increasing their Estates in Lands, which they do daily, they will in a very little time become Masters of the greatest part of the Kingdom of Naples; for they are already possessed of more than the half of the Lands of that Kingdom, besides the other vast profits they make continually under pretence of Service to the Church, for their Masses, Buildings, Burials, Marriages, Confessions, and by their Indulgences, and the Legacies left them by Will.  
Tho these are Remarks made in haste, yet they may be of use to the Author.  
I know several very pleasant Stories of the Jesuits at Naples. The Prince of Salerme gave them the Moiety of a great House which he had at Naples, and thereupon an Inscription was Engraven in Capital Letters upon the Frontespiece of the House, of the Donation thereof given to the Jesuits by the said Prince; within these few years the Jesuits have turned the Hieres of the Prince of Salerme out of possession of the other Moiety of the said House, and have defaced the Inscription upon the House; and all this they have done by Colour of Law and Justice. Upon the first Establishment of the Society of Jesuits, the Carthusians of Naples, who are very Rich, voluntarily assigned them a yearly Pension of several thousand Ducats; but the Carthusians perceiving that of late years, several of the Jesuits were grown mighty Rich, resolved to withdraw the said Pension; the Jesuits hereupon went to Law with them, and obtained Sentence, that the said Pension should be continued. The Jesuits have got a very considerable part of the Lands of the Nobility of the Kingdom of Naples. All the Religious, of what Order soever they be, who have Houses at Naples, have the Privilege of purchasing all Houses that are contiguous to them on the one side or the other, to the very end of the Street, in order to make their Houses entire, and to stand alone like an Island; and for this purpose they have no more to do, than only pay the Proprietor for his House, not according to the present Value, but as it was last sold, perhaps 50, 60, or 100 years ago; and so hath descended from Father to Son successively to the person then in Possession.  
Many other very considerable Remarks might be made of the divers Tricks and Methods the Clergy of this Kingdom make use of to Wheedle and Trapan the Laity out of their Estates.   
FINIS.