A View of Society and Manners in France, Switzerland, and Germany, Vol. 1 (of 2): With Anecdotes Relating to Some Eminent CharactersMoore, John
History
A View of Society and Manners in France, Switzerland, and Germany, Vol. 1 (of 2): With Anecdotes Relating to Some Eminent Characters
Moore, John
Europe -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800
The Jews have a synagogue in this city, where they perform their
religious rites; but the Calvinists have never been allowed any public
house of worship within the territory of Frankfort. They attend divine
service at a place called Bockenheim in the county of Hanau, where they
have built a church.
This is but unkind treatment; and it seems, at first sight, a little
extraordinary, that Martin Luther should show more indulgence to his
old enemy Lord Peter, and even to Judas Iscariot himself, than to his
fellow-reformer John Calvin.
Though Frankfort is thought a fine town, and the effect produced by the
whole is magnificent, yet there are no buildings in particular worthy
of attention. It is expected, however, that all strangers should visit
the town-house, and see the chamber where the Emperor is elected. And
it would be reckoned a great want of curiosity, not to see the famous
golden bull which is kept there with the utmost care. A sight of this
costs a golden ducat; a sufficient price for a glance of an old
manuscript, which not one person in a hundred can read, and still fewer
can understand.
A countryman of ours, who expected more amusement for his money,
complained loudly of this as an imposition, and on hearing a German talk
of the high price which every thing bore in England, he retorted on him
in these words:—Il n’y a rien en Angleterre si cher que votre _taureau_
d’or à Frankfort.
There is a custom observed here, which I shall mention on account of its
singularity, though I enquired in vain for its origin. Two women appear
every day at noon on the battlements of the principal steeple, and play
some very solemn airs with trumpets. This music is accompanied by vocal
psalmody, performed by four or five men, who always attend the female
trumpeters for that purpose.
The people here have a violent taste for psalm-singing. There are a
considerable number of men and boys, who have this for their only
profession. They are engaged by some families to officiate two or three
times a week in the morning, before the master and mistress of the family
get out of bed.
When any person in tolerable circumstances dies, a band of these sweet
singers assemble in the streets before the house, and chant an hour every
day to the corpse, till it is interred. The same band accompanies the
funeral, singing hymns all the way.
Funerals are conducted with an uncommon degree of solemnity in this
town:—A man clothed in a black cloak, and carrying a crucifix, at the end
of a long pole, leads the procession:—A great number of hired mourners in
the same dress, and each with a lemon in his hand, march after him:—Then
come the singers, followed by the corpse in a hearse; and lastly, the
relations in mourning coaches.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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