Part 51

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 Luebeck, 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 Luebeck. 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 Luebeck, 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 Luebeck."

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 Luebeck 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 Luebeck, Whitelocke sent Mr. Berkman and one of his servants before, to salute the Lords of Luebeck 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 Luebeck 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 Luebeck, 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 Luebeck, 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 Luebeck, 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 Luebeck.

Whitelocke went into the coach of the Lords of Luebeck; 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.

In the morning the Lords of Luebeck 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 Luebeck 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 Luebeck 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 a multis retro annis populum mercatoresque hujus civitatis affecisse, atque etiam saeviente inter utrasque respublicas durissimo bello, incolas nostras gratiam, et, ex occasione suarum navium ad mare captarum, justitiam accepisse: amplissimus Senatus humillime gratias suas refert, quas melius testari non potuerunt, quam erga personam illius conditionis tantaeque eminentiae quantae Excellentiam vestram esse acceperant, suo speciali respectu, ad haec cum etiam Extraordinarii Legati munere a clarissimo illo statu nunc dignissime fungatur. Gratulatur amplissimus Senatus negotiationis ab Excellentia vestra peractae felicem successum, ut et tanti viri in suam civitatem adventum. Quod si apud se in sua civitate aliquid sit Excellentiae vestrae acceptu dignum, illud quicquid sit offerre in mandatis habemus.

"Dolore etiam afficitur Senatus, se tam sero de Excellentiae vestrae 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 a clementia vestra ipsis id crimini non datum iri. Per nos rogant hujus urbis magistratus, Excellentiae vestrae placeat, cervisiae Lubicensis vinique Rhenani (quod officiariis Excellentiae vestrae 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 vestrae Excellentiae consideranda proponamus: intempestive fatemur importuni sumus, sed certiores facti, non diuturnam fore vestram in civitate nostra moram, id solliciti timemus, ne aliquando nobis similis offeratur opportunitas; ideo a dominis nostris jubemur Excellentiam vestram certiorem facere, quam plures hujus urbis naves inter navigandum negotii causa, occurrentes navibus praeliaribus Anglis, ab iisdem examen subiisse, liberatas tamen extemplo et dimissas, quod nihil suppetiarum hostibus vestris contulisse deprehendebantur; nihilominus easdem naves a quibusdam privatis vestris captoribus, capers dictis, non multo post apprehensas fuisse, et hucusque detentas esse, magno dominorum detrimento.