The Good Journey

And in the City of London we went to the Fort which is called the Tower, and there I saw lions and an eagle one hundred years old and a great snake from India and another snake and other wild beasts in iron chains, and I also saw a room perhaps fifty cubits long and more, divided into many chambers, the walls between which are guns and weapons most beautifully made, then another wall, with an open door in the middle, the sides and the roof wondrously decorated with thousands and tens of thousands and more weapons. I also saw effigies of all the Kings of England in armour riding on armoured horses and anyone, to look at them, would think that they are alive. I also saw many coats of mail of different kinds arranged in rows, and many kinds of large cannons and weapons of war and shields and lances, which they had captured from their enemies from the time when England first existed and all kinds of strange vessels fearful and big. And in a room, somewhat dark, with an iron rail round inside, was shown the royal crown and sparkling precious stones, full of fire, giving light and flashing, and a golden cup, from which the King drank, and other precious vessels and royal treasure of precious stones and pearls. All this I saw with a sad heart, praying that if He does thus for those who break His commandments, may He do so to those who keep them. May the days come for the glory and grandeur and deliverance of the house of Israel and may our eyes see it and witness the saviour shining forth like the sunlight seven times, crowned with the crown of crown and the holy of holies; thus may it be His will! I delivered a sermon on Sabbath. [ . . . ]

This city [Paris], the capital of France, is of great size, it is said to be fifteen miles round. Its streets and squares are wide enough for two coaches to pass each other with ease, even though foot passengers are walking along the sides of the roads. The city is served by its river, the Seine, over which there is a great bridge, long and wide, called the “Pont Neuf,” that is to say, the “New Bridge.” All day long, and all through the night, without ceasing, pedestrians are wending their way over it. Here stands the clock “la Samaritaine,” which is surrounded by water. There is a saying that never in the twenty-four hours is there an instant without a white horse, a monk and a prostitute at this spot. The city is of great beauty and everything is to be found in it, but all at a very high price, except prostitution, which is very cheap and openly displayed; there are said to be thirty thousand public prostitutes inscribed on the registers, without counting the thousands who are not public and offered to all comers. There are academies in great numbers, and every kind of manufacture is carried on. The Jews enjoy tranquillity, there are many Germans, many Portuguese from Bordeaux and Bayonne, and many who hail from Avignon. People pray together every Saturday, but there is no fixed community, birds of passage for the most part resorting hither for trading purposes. The synagogues are without “privilege,” and exist only by a miracle.