Amherstburg

“ Instead, however, of marching without delay upon Amherstburg, as ill defended as it was weakly garrisoned, he contented himself with pushing forward skirmishers, who amused themselves during the day, against an advanced post of regulars, militia and Indians, stationed for the defence of an important pass, and retired invariably on the approach of night. ”

“ Barclay, on returning, saw with dismay that the American fleet had escaped from Presqu'isle, and, realizing that the control of the lake had passed from his hands, he directed his course towards Amherstburg to hasten the completion of the Detroit.
Starvation threatened the garrison at Amherstburg. Indians swarmed about the fort, their numbers seeming to increase as the food supply diminished. ”

“ In the event of the accomplishment of this design, Detroit and Amherstburg would necessarily be released from all apprehension, since, even admitting the Americans could acquire a superiority of naval force on the lake, such superiority could only be essentially injurious to us, as a means of affording transport to, and covering the operations of an invading army. ”

“ The report transmitted by Captain Dixon, of the Royal Engineers, to Lieut.-Colonel Bruyeres, of the state of defence in which he had placed Fort Amherstburg, together with the description of the troops allotted for its defence, give me a foreboding that the result of General Hull's attempt upon that fort will terminate honorably to our arms.
If Lieut.-Colonel St. George be possessed of the talents and resources required to form a soldier, he is fortunate in the opportunity of displaying them. ”

“ From thence he proceeded along the north shore of Lake Erie until abreast of the Miami, a confluent of the Ohio River, on the south shore, then turned northward up the Detroit River, twenty-five miles farther, reaching Amherstburg—called Malden by the Americans—250 miles from Fort Erie. ”

“ He was born at Amherstburgh, in the county of Essex, Upper Canada, on the 1st of January, 1840. He is a son of the late Mr. William Schultz, a native of Denmark, who was for many years engaged in business as a merchant at Amherstburgh. His mother was Eliza, daughter of Mr. Willam Riley, of Bandon, Ireland.
After receiving his primary education at the public schools of Amherstburgh, he entered Oberlin College, Ohio. This institution was then held in high consideration by many persons in this country, and some of our prominent men have been educated there. Mr. ”

“ Amherst had ever behaved with as much coolness and modesty as sense. His honour started at the word pension—yet not so fiercely but it was thought he would acquiesce; at least Lord Hillsborough, who had not so much delicacy, too lightly conceived the bargain struck, and too officiously to make his court, as Lord Bottetort was a favourite, named him Governor. The event was unfortunate to Amherst, whose wounded pride drew him into discovering too full a fund of vanity, self-interest, and vehement obstinacy. ”

“ Ludwig Gross raised his head proudly. "Certainly I am, Countess. If there was ever a true citizen of Ammergau, I am one. Learn to know us better, and you will soon be convinced that we are all of one mind. Though one has perhaps learned more than another, that is a mere accident; the same purpose, the same idea, unites us all." ”

“ A long street, or rather road, lined by comfortable detached timber houses, leads to the handsome church, around which the older part of the village groups itself above the clear rushing Ammer, and is highly picturesque. Beyond the village, in the meadows overlooked by the peak of the Kofel, is the theatre where the great drama of the Passion is enacted, which, ever since 1634, has commemorated every tenth year the then deliverance of Ammergau from the plague which was devastating the neighbouring villages. ”

“ Ober-Ammergau is a beautiful little village, standing in a level valley of the Bavarian Alps, which made the trip here one of beauty; at no place did we enjoy the scenic beauty of the Alps more than on our ride to the “Linderhof” Palace, a delicious ride from Ober-Ammergau, the day before we witnessed the play. Through this village the Ammer runs—the swift Ammer river, clear as crystal. The population of Ober-Ammergau is not more than 1300. Everybody has a cow. It is the ideal to be realized—thirty acres and a cow. ”

“ That would be a great feat--one might say: 'Faith removes mountains,' for on account of the Passion Play consent would perhaps be granted, then your name, down to the latest times, would be mentioned in the history of Ammergau with gratitude and praise. But do you know what you will have done? You will have let down the drawbridge to the mortal foe of everything for which you battle, removed the wall which protected the individuality of Ammergau and amid all the changes of the times, the equalizing power of progress, has kept it that miracle of faith to which the world makes pilgrimages. ”

“ There was no security in the year 1763 for the dwellers between Bedford and Carlisle: ‘Every tree is become an Indian for the terrified inhabitants,’ wrote Bouquet to Amherst from Carlisle on the 29th of June. [10] Pennsylvania Difficulties with the Pennsylvanian legislature. raised 700 men to protect the farmers while gathering their harvest, but no representations of Amherst would induce the cross-grained Legislature to place them under his command, to allow them to be used for offensive purposes, or even for garrison duty. ”

“ I think it should be a point of honor with us Ammergau people not to leave a member of the parish in the lurch, when he returns home poor and needy, especially a man like Freyer, whom we have more cause to thank than to reproach, say what you will. We are not a penal institution. ”

“ This soul, which might also be called the soul of Ammergau, for it cherished the whole population of the village, lived for the people, gave them all and kept nothing for itself--this noble spirit, to whom the gratitude of the survivors, and they embraced the whole community, had created a monument, was Alois Daisenberger--the reformer of the Passion Play.
It is a peculiar phenomenon that the people of Ammergau, in contrast to all others, are grateful only for intellectual gifts while they punish physical benefits with scorn. ”

“ There were as accomplished and well poised matrons, as chivalric young men,—nay, men both old and young, as full of high purpose and generous achievement as could be found in any town, university or commercial. Under President Humphrey and also under President Hitchcock, Amherst College and Amherst were one. The village, being smaller then, was fully represented at all the college levees, as the receptions were then called, and entered warmly into all college affairs, lectures, and literary occasions. ”

“ In 1812, for more economical living, he had removed to Amherst, Mass., where he was instrumental in founding Amherst college, and became the first president of its board of trustees. He was the centre of a small literary circle there, and his large library was always open to his neighbors. ”

“ As we started on our trip to Ober-Ammergau we were filled with the thoughts of the great and only Passion Play, and found our daylight ride from Munich to Ober-Ammergau, through the German Alps, one panoramic view of loveliness. It is impossible to convey to you the charms of these Bavarian highlands, with crystal-clear trout streams, lovely woods of many tints, mountains of wild, weather-worn shape, and, above all, that deep blue sky overhanging the landscape. The mountains are clothed with fir trees,—fine old trees,—making a worthy background for an equally charming picture. ”

“ I thought the performance as near dramatic and artistic perfection as human acting could be, and that it could be done nowhere else than here, where such a peculiar combination of circumstances exist, generations for centuries having been brought up to it; but I am grateful also for the safeguards which exist--since the villagers' temptations are great and the sums they have refused are enormous--for preserving its simplicity, devotion, and art.
Firstly, the Ammergauers are quite cut off, by their geographical position, from the contaminating influence of the outer world. ”

“ In 1908 the college had 25 instructors and 350 students, of whom 57 were in the Ecclesiastical Seminary, and 61 in the Minim Department. Half a mile S. of the town is St Joseph’s College and Academy (incorporated in 1816) , for young women, which is conducted by the Sisters of Charity—this order was introduced into the United States at Emmitsburg by Mrs Elizabeth Ann Seton in 1809. The first settlement at Emmitsburg was made about 1773. It was at first called “Silver Fancy,” and then for a time was known as “Poplar Fields” ”

“ There are also iron foundries and machine factories. The old minster church, built in the middle of the 11th century, contains some fine choir stalls.
Emmerich, formerly called Embrika and Emrik, originally a Roman colony, is mentioned in records so early as the 7th century. St Willibrord founded a monastery and church here. In 1233 the place came into the possession of the dukes of Gelderland and received the status of a town in 1247. In 1371 it fell to the duchy of Cleves, and passed with it in 1609 to Brandenburg. The town joined the Hanseatic League in 1407. ”

“ By the end of the century, however, its prosperity had sunk owing to the perpetual feud with Mainz, the internecine war in Saxony, and the consequent dwindling of trade. By the convention of Amorbach in 1483 the overlordship of Erfurt was ultimately transferred by the electors of Mainz to Saxony. The political and religious quarrels of the 16th century still further depressed the city, in which the reformed religion was established in 1521. Then came the Thirty Years’ War, during which Erfurt was for a while occupied by the Swedes. ”

“ We do not receive payment for what is not eaten!" replied Andreas Gross with such impressive firmness that the lady looked at him in astonishment. "The Ammergau people do not make a business of renting lodgings, Countess; that is done only by the foreign speculators who wish to make a great deal of money at this time, and alas! bring upon Ammergau the reputation of extortion! We natives of the village do it for the sake of having as many guests witness the play as possible, and are glad if we meet our expenses. We expect nothing more." ”

“ But there is no admittance to paradise for you. Knock on, knock on! The gates of the Electoral mansion are not undone for you. Knock on; the castle of the Elector of Brandenburg is locked against you, and you must stand without, you Counts of Schwarzenberg, for you shall not thrust me out of the palace of my fathers! I shall be Elector of Brandenburg in spite of you, and then, Count Schwarzenberg, Stadtholder in the Mark, then be on your guard! I shall remember, Count Adolphus Schwarzenberg, that your finger rapped at this door, threatening to bring shame and disgrace upon this house! ”

“ Though many thousands of people from many quarters of the earth had lodged that night in Ober-Ammergau, the place at dawn was as silent as a hunter's cabin in any of the mountains of Bavaria. The Ammergauers are a quiet people. They speak in low tones, and are themselves masters of the art of silence. ”

“ Apart from the free cities, Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck, the kingdom of Saxony is the most, and Mecklenburg-Strelitz the least, closely peopled state of the empire. The most thinly populated districts are found, not as might be expected in the mountain regions, but in some parts of the plains. Leaving out of account the small centres, Germany may be roughly divided into two thinly and two densely populated parts. In the former division has to be classed all the North German plain. ”

“ And truly in this the actual visit to Ober-Ammergau may be as full of teaching as the great representation itself—the simple contact with such men as ‘Christus Maier,’ [488] as he is called, whose life’s work is ‘to endeavour to do God’s will aufs innersten, and to be helpful to those around him.’ Here, in Ober-Ammergau—perhaps here alone—religion takes no heed of Roman Catholic or Protestant vagaries; the will of God, the example of Christ, those are the only guidance of life. ”

“ After the Peace of Westphalia, the Emperor Leopold summon’d the Dyet of the Empire to Augsbourg in 1690, and there he caus’d himself to be crown’d, and his Son Joseph to be elected King of the Romans.
The assembling of the Dyets, and the flourishing Trade at Augsbourg, have render’d it one of the most magnificent Cities in Germany. Its Squares are large, its Streets spacious, and its Fountains very beautiful. The Town-House is one of the finest Buildings that I have seen. ’Tis a vast square Edifice, well built of Free-Stone. The Porch is all of Marble. ”

“ In time of Rain the Roads are so bad that sometimes it takes up a whole Day to come from Erfurt to Gotha. Erfurt is a City belonging to the Elector of Mentz, is the Capital of Thuringia, and may be rank'd among those of the second Class in Germany. Its Inhabitants are almost all Lutherans, yet the principal Churches belong to the Catholics. Erfurt is fortified with good Ramparts, and by a Castle on a Hill which absolutely commands the Town. There is always a good Garison in the Place, which consists of the Emperor's Soldiers and those of Mentz ”

“ Zalt-Bommel, with an old church (1304) , and a railway bridge over the Waal; and Kuilenburg, with a fine railway bridge (1863–1868) over the Rhine. Five m. S. of Zalt-Bommel, on the Maas, is the medieval castle of Ammerzode or Ammersooi, also called Amelroy during the French occupation in 1674. It is in an excellent state of preservation and has been restored in modern times. The first authentic record of the castle is its possession by John de Herlar of the noble family of Loo at the end of the 13th century. ”