Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Sidor ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
40 SWEDENBORG’S TRAVELS AND DIARIES. [Doc. 205.
the cathedral rises, the whole town may be seen, and also
that church which preserves the wood which was conveyed
hither by the devil from Rome. 10. I examined also the
town-hall with its curious clock, which points out the hours,
and also the lunar periods ; likewise all kinds of statues placed
in various parts of the streets and public squares.
July 25. I was in the monastery of the Jesuits, the
"Jesuitencloster,"* which is situated in the old town or Alt
stadt, where I first of all admired the magnificence of the
building itself. It is very large, equalling, if not surpassing,
the palaces of kings ; it has numerous passages, leading in
every direction, both in the lower and the higher stories ; no
palace in Prague surpasses it in size and splendour. They
have likewise a gymnasium [a higher school] and a church.
The church is small but elegant; its columns are of marble,
as well those which are round, and which surround the altar,
as those which are near the walls and in the outer circum
ference about the altar. No marble can be more precious ;
the figures in it play delightfully on account of the variety of
the colours, just as if they were dendrites from Italy. I have
never seen anything more beautiful than this marble, which is
said to have been quarried in Bohemia. I afterwards entered
their mathematical chamber, where I saw the greatest variety
of mathematical instruments, air-pumps, &c. What, however,
attracted the eye most, was the number of their mechanical
and optical contrivances ; of which they had a large stock, where
with to impose upon the simple. For instance, there were a
machine which caused a young man to beat a drum, his lips
and eyes, and his head moving at the same time ; likewise
artificial balls which by an interior mechanism showed the
degrees of the sun in the ecliptic ; a clock which not only
struck the hours, but also played melodies, and indicated on
a globe the motion of the sun, and over what regions the sun
passed in the meridian, and over which it did not pass ; likewise
what the time is everywhere. There were also paintings which
changed their countenances by machinery. Through holes also
men could be seen coming up, who were startled when the
* Now the so-called Collegium Clementinum.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
