Pressburg

“ He had just returned from the Imperial Diet held at Pressburg, and, obtaining a safe-conduct, immediately repaired to the camp of the Hussites to try to make a treaty with them. He was joined by envoys from the cities of Bamberg, Wurzburg, Nuremberg, and by John, the Duke of Bavaria. A truce of six months was agreed upon, and the cities redeemed themselves from further molestation by paying the Hussites 50,000 Rhine guilders. A public disputation was also to be held at Nuremburg, with the understanding that what was there proved from Scripture was to be accepted by both sides. ”

“ Hamburg almost alone still remained a great centre of wealth and intelligence, but this was owing to causes quite peculiar to herself." A. de Tocqueville, State of Society in France before 1789, note C. See, also, HANSA TOWNS. Of the 48 Free Cities of the Empire remaining in 1803, 42 were then robbed of their franchises, under the exigencies of the Treaty of Luneville (see GERMANY: A. D. 1801-1803) . After the Peace of Pressburg only three survived, namely, Hamburg, Lubeck and Bremen (see GERMANY: A. D. 1805-1806) . These were annexed to France by Napoleon in 1810. ”

“ Kingdom of Württemberg and Bavaria.♦ The next war led to the Peace of Pressburg, in which the Electors of Bavaria, Württemberg, and Baden appear as allies of France, and by which those of Bavaria and Württemberg{221} are acknowledged as Kings. ♦They divide the western lands of Austria.♦ Austria was now wholly cut off from south-western Germany. Württemberg and Baden divided her Swabian possessions, while Tyrol, Trent, Brixen, together with the free city of Augsburg, fell to the lot of Bavaria. ♦Grand Duchy of Würzburg.♦ Austria received Salzburg ”

“ One of the most conspicuous buildings of the town is the royal palace, situated on the Schlossberg, a plateau 270 ft. above the Danube, which was destroyed by fire in 1811 and has since been in ruins. Other noteworthy buildings are the cathedral, a Gothic edifice of the 13th century, restored in 1861-1880, in which many of the Hungarian kings were crowned ”

“ A plain piece of duty; punctually done: the beginning of it falls here in the Camp at Philipsburg, July-August 1734; in May, 1736, we shall see some glimpse of the end!—
His Prussian Majesty in Camp at Philipsburg—so distinguished a volunteer, doing us the honor to encamp here—"was asked to all the Councils-of-war that were held," say the Books. And he did attend, the Crown-Prince and he, on important occasions: but, alas, there was, so to speak, nothing to be consulted of. Fascines and hurdles lay useless; no attempt was made to relieve Philipsburg. ”

“ Angry and ashamed, Pittsburg is a type of the city that has tried to be free and failed.
148A sturdy city it is, too, the second in Pennsylvania. Two rivers flow past it to make a third, the Ohio, in front, and all around and beneath it are natural gas and coal which feed a thousand furnaces that smoke all day and flame all night to make Pittsburg the Birmingham of America. Rich in natural resources, it is richest in the quality of its population. Six days and six nights these people labor, molding iron and forging steel, and they are not tired ”

“ Pittsburg is proud of the fact that she handles more tons of freight in a year than any other city in the world. Indeed, the tonnage is greater than that of New York and Chicago taken together.
The old “point” between the rivers is filled with tall buildings. Inclined railways run up the steep bluffs on the further side of each river and lead to the beautiful streets and the homes where many of the people live. For Pittsburg is not all coal and furnaces and smoke, but has fine churches, the great Carnegie Library and Museum, and many schools. ”

“ There came a moment, as I have pointed out in an earlier page in this book, when the Prussian kingship and the electorate of Brandenburg coincided in one person. All men of education know, and all men whatsoever feel, what influence an historical origin will have upon national outlook. East Prussia, therefore, remains to-day something of a political fetish. Its towns may be called colonies of the Germans, the birthplaces or the residences of men famous in the German story. ”

“ After going through another dreamy place—a long aqueduct across the Alleghany River, which was stranger than the bridge at Harrisburg, being a vast, low, wooden chamber full of water—we emerged upon that ugly confusion of backs of buildings and crazy galleries and stairs, which always abuts on water, whether it be river, sea, canal, or ditch: and were at Pittsburg.
Pittsburg is like Birmingham in England; at least its townspeople say so. Setting aside the streets, the shops, the houses, waggons, factories, public buildings, and population, perhaps it may be. ”

“ From Magdeburg I went straight to Berlin, without caring to stop at Potsdam, as the king was not there. The fearful Prussian roads with their sandy soil made me take three days to do eighteen Prussian miles. Prussia is a country of which much could be made with labour and capital, but I do not think it will ever become a really fine country.
I put up at the "Hotel de Paris," which was both comfortable and economical. Madame Rufin who kept it had entered into the spirit of her business without losing her French politeness, and thus the inn had got a reputation. ”

“ The writer says that in Prussia, whose population is two thirds that of all Germany, only one twentieth of the householders have an income equal to $750 a year, while over fifty per cent are living on $225 a year or less; more than 820,000 of the population of Berlin are living in single rooms, while 49,991 of these single rooms house from five to thirteen people each. Large numbers of the Prussian work people are doomed to live and die in quarters narrower than a prison cell. ”

“ More than twenty railway lines converge to Pittsburg, which also has the advantage of three navigable rivers, and a network of canals. And round about the town are suburbs full of machine factories, steel works, and glass works. The neighbourhood has a million of inhabitants, [Pg 327] a third of them foreigners, mostly Slavs, Italians, and Hungarians. You have a kind of feeling of oppression when you see from a height this forest of reeking factory chimneys, and when you think of the unfortunate men that slave under this cloud of coal smoke. ”

“ Yes, after Harrisburg, the metropolis spoke, a flourishing example of freedom's self-developing energy; and after the metropolis, now so mighty a centre of nations, and it ally of international law—next came Pittsburg, the immense manufacturing workshop, alike memorable for its moral power and its natural advantages, which made it a link with the great valley of the West, a cradle of a new world, which is linked in its turn to the old world by boundless agricultural interests. ”

“ Pittsburg, a city and capital of Alleghany county, Pennsylvania, two hundred and ninety-seven miles west by north of Philadelphia, is situated on a beautiful plain at the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers. It is built on the old site of the famous fort Du Quesne, whose ruins are still seen in the neighborhood. The situation of Pittsburg is as advantageous as can well be imagined; it is the key to the western country, and, excepting New Orleans and Cincinnati, is the first town of the whole valley of the Mississippi. ”

“ Two days before, Austria's brave people in Vienna had broken its yoke; and summing up despots in the person of their tool, old Metternich, drove him away; and the Hapsburgs, trembling in their imperial cavern of imperial crimes, trembling, but treacherous, and lying and false, wrote with yard-long letters, the words, "Constitution" and "Free Press" upon Vienna's walls; and the people in joy cheered the inveterate liars, because the people knows no falsehood.
On the 14th, I announced the tidings from Vienna to our Parliament at Presburg. ”

“ A few days later, on a commission from McClure's, I was in Pittsburg writing an article on "Homestead and Its Perilous Trades," and the clouds of smoke, the flaming chimneys, the clang of steel, the roar of blast-furnaces and the thunder of monstrous steel rollers made Wisconsin lumber camps idyllic. The serene white peace of West Salem set Pittsburg apart as a sulphurous hell and my description of it became a passionate indictment of an industrial system which could so work and so house its men. The grimy hovels in which the toilers lived made my own homestead a poem. ”

“ Almost as soon as I reached the church on Sunday evening, the doors and windows being open for the admission of air, I perceived the church was filled with a cloud of smoke. Surely Pittsburg is a smoky city. I ask the pardon of its inhabitants for this doleful description. The town certainly [Pg 44] bears marks of great thrift and prosperity, and its inhabitants do not lack in sterling excellencies of character. I should be very ungrateful if I did not here record the acknowledgement of the many acts of kindness and hospitality that were extended to me during my temporary stay. ”

“ I cannot wish for papist Austria with her Croatians, Pandurs and Sclaves; my own personal feeling draws me to our northern brothers, with whom we have so much in common, but that Prussian influence should be all-powerful in Germany without any counterpoise, I cannot certainly desire; from Berlin came the Rationalism now threatening the whole Protestant Church with its dangerous indifference. May God direct and enlighten our king that he may choose aright, and preserve the pure Lutheran church in our beloved Hanover. ”

“ Philipsburg is but a hamlet, fed by an irrigation ditch that leads the life-giving waters down from a distant mountain, and it has neither the beauty of nature nor that given by the hand of man, but the people will point importantly to the square wooden hotel of only two stories, and tell you that there occurred the great crisis in the most famous and picturesque Presidential campaign ever waged in the United States ”

“ Behind the Blue mountains we saw grain and Indian corn flourish in a cultivated region, and reached Harrisburg. We delayed here about two hours, and met with a stage which had come from Pittsburgh by the southern road. Harrisburg is two hundred and nine miles from Pittsburgh, and a hundred from Philadelphia, occupies a somewhat elevated position between the left side of the Susquehanna and Paxton creek, and may contain about four thousand inhabitants. It is the metropolis and seat of government of the state of Pennsylvania, and contains a capitol, with the other necessary buildings. ”

“ There is a sand bar across the entrance to the bay fronting Philipsburg, so we entered cautiously, watching the color of the water and sounding as we went. Once inside, we anchored just off the town and were quickly and efficiently cleared by officials who spoke absolutely correct English. We found Philipsburg an exceptionally clean and attractive little town. Jessica and Barbara, who went off for a walk by themselves, claim they even saw women sweeping the beaches. ”

“ In the manner in which the people regarded the unpleasant appendage connected with Pittsburg to which I have just adverted, I saw another evidence of the benevolence and wisdom of the Creator in constituting us with capabilities of adapting ourselves to whatever is around us. The smoky atmosphere, so far from being an annoyance to the citizens of Pittsburg, is constantly spoken of by them as its beauty and glory, and seems associated in their minds with all the delights and interest of home. ”

“ We broke down innumerable times in the dismal recesses of the forests, were sheltered and fed by the kind Samaritans who inhabited the wilderness, where snow and ice-clothed field and dell, and where Winter seemed too firmly established ever again to yield to Spring's soft influences.
The day was dark and dreary upon our arrival at Pittsburg. Smoke hung like a pall over town and country, and but for the sociability and hospitality that reigns within doors, Pittsburg would be the gloomiest of places. ”

“ From Quay this was comical, but the Pittsburgers were too serious to laugh. They were fighting for their life, too, so to speak, and the sight of a boss on their side must have encouraged those business men who “found it easier to deal with a boss than with the people’s representatives.” However that may be, a majority of the ballots cast in the municipal election of Pittsburg in February, 1896, were against the ring. ”

“ Yearly they draw closer together, reaching their arms about one another's necks, a solemn yet wild sisterhood. The plains, the hills, and the valleys come with gifts to adorn and feed the tall sisters, and the sisters give back gold and laughter and song. But though their faces are beautiful, their garments are soiled with slums.
Pittsburg, I think, is their siren—a smoky city, whose hair by day drifts gray over the darkening streets, and by night is gusts of fire flaring a lightning along the rivers. ”

“ Spying is just as essential an ingredient of Prussian character as conceit, indifference to the feelings of others, jealousy, envy, self-satisfaction, conceit, industry, inquisitiveness, veneration for officialdom, imitativeness, materialism, and the other national attributes that will occur to those who know Prussia, as distinct from the other German States. ”