The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-05 00:00:00

110LYDAY-MAKERS.

(Iron the Times' Correspondent)
BADEN-BADEN, Aug. 31.

4 6 Nous appelons cela Bade." Why it should be
so lamat a logs to say. Prussians and English,
Italians and Spaniards are content that it should be
Baden ; but the French have a peculiar knack of
clipping and crippling foreign words, and, withal,
of grandly patronising the natives till the latter are
fain to submit and accept the French spelling and
utterance as correct. I shall never forget the anec-
dote I heard from an accomplished Prussian diplo-
matist. He was once at a large dinner party, he
said, where he was asked by his French colleague,
4i A propos, Chevalier, quel est le nom de votre
maison regnante de Prusse ?" "Mais, c'est la dynas-
tie de Hohenzollern," answered the Chevalier.
" Justement, je m' en souviens," replied the French-
man ; " nous appelons cela Hohenlohe." What
could the Prussian say to that ? Why, what else
but what he did? He bowed his head on his plate
and acquiesced.
,‘ Nous appelons cela Bade." And Bade let it be,
for the French muster strong at this " house of call
for all nations," and are thoroughly at home in it.
The Grand Duchy borders on their own Imperial
territory, and was for a long time a hotbed of Gallic
notions of liberty, equality, and fraternity, which
tarried on the spot, like all fashions taken at second-
hand, long after they had been thrown aside, as
cast-off garments, at the fountain-head. At the pre-
sent moment a Parisian more or less pure is the
language spoken by every third person you meet
here on your way.
Bade or Baden, I confess I do love the place,
and fully understand and appreciate the attrac-
tion that brings hither no less than 500 new
visitors daily, to take by storm its over-crowded
hotels. Something to be idle about here, at least ;
something to do towards helping the idlers, and
keeping them in countenance. It is not the
mere be-studded and be-ringed bourgeoisie of
Frankfort, Mayence, Manheim, and Cologne that
makes up the majority of the assemblage here as it
does at most of the Taunus Spas. We have here a
good sprinkling of the upper ten thousand of Lon-
don, Paris, Berlin, and St. Petersburg ; every phase
of metropolitan life throughout Europe ; all its glare
and glitter, without the misery that constitutes the
dark side of the picture, though not without some of
those somewhat questionable features and shapes
which the lover of the good no less than the beauti-
ful would rather were left behind—two score thou-
sand people, most of them burdened with a redund-
ance of wealth, of which they are at no loss here for
the means of ridding themselves. Along the verdant
aide of the Lichenthal, on the bank of the shallow
but pure bubbling stream of the Oos, you have here,
in the cool hour of the afternoon, a miniature Hyde
Park and Bois de Boulogne, a torso of stylish equi-
pages, with groups of gallant equestrians and gaily-
dressed baronesses, princesses, and fraulein, both the
genuine and the counterfeit articles, tugging for very
life at the reins of their playfully restiff or fidgetty
steeds, from the low seats of their elegant basket
pony phaetons or more pretentious barouches.
We have concerts in the evening with Patti, at
20f. ; the last of Verdi's operas, with half the Paris,
half the Vienna orchestras, in a golden theatre, the
lustre of which is out-dazzled by the diamonds *of a
hundred ladies' tiaras; we have all that taste and
luxury can contrive to drown care or beguile sorrow
by dint of light, sound, and beauty.
But for those who are too familiar with the
world's jewel, and rather sick of it, is there not
charm enough in the mere casket in which these
few months' holiday season sets in ? Is there in the
world a spot more highly favoured by nature than
Baden? lam a grateful, and perhaps over-dutiful
child of the Great Mother, and rather apt to think
the charms she exhibits at the present nwment un-
matched by anything she displayed before me yes-
terday or may feast my eyes with to-morrow. But
really this is the Happy Valley, and he must be a
very fretful llasselas indeed who would quarrel with
his present abode by dwelling on the recollections of
grander sights enjoyed in the past, or indulging
vague longings for lovelier scenes iu store for him in
the future.

A town creeping up the side of a bill, so situated
as to allow every one of its dwellings as much of
God's air and light as heart can desire ; on its heights
a lordly residence, barely visible through the glori-
ous foliage, shading grounds entertained for the de-
light no more of the Sovereign than of the meanest
subject ; and, further up, the dark fir wood, spread-
ing far and wide over the broad side of a real moun-
tain, with the ruins of an old castle at the summit, a
grand feudal castle, which the tapering stems and
the spreading roots of the lofty timber as old as
itself have vainly striven to overgrow and to obli-
terate for centuries—such is the town of Baden.
Out of town, up the valley, on every ledge and
knoll, on the hill side; lovely villas which the wealth
of Europe has reared, on gardens and parks which
the wealth of Europe has spread and tended, delight-
ful homes far away for miles, everywhere diversify-
ing and enlivening, nowhere encumbering, the land-
scape; and above all,. all round, south, east, and
west, the great mantle of the Black Forest, its
smooth, rounded hills, with here and there the rifts
of its narrow glens, the dusky evergreen of its dense
pine woods, enhancing the more vivid verdure of the
lower grounds, a verdure just slightly varied here and
there by the first brown tints of the nipping autumn.
I went up to the Alte Schloss yesterday towards
evening. The ascent from the new to the old castle
is about one hour's walk, and the summit may be
gained by carriages over a long, winding road. I
went up on foot and alone, along smooth but rather
steep paths, always in the shade of those grand fir-
trees, which seem to attain greater age and more
luxurious growth the higher you go. I went
through the portals of the ancient stronghold of the
Margraves, passed on from court to court, climbed
from one high tower up to a loftier one, and then
further up, up, up endless flights of stairs, wonder-
ing, as the ascent took away my breath, at the giant
power of the lords who could pile up such massive
structures, one upon another, half-way up to
Heaven—wondering whether the stupendous mass
so boldly defying the work of Time could be really
the same that I had been gazing at from below,
and which seemed but a handful of broken stones
and rubbish, and seen from afar in the valley.
Glorious relic of colossal medival power ! The
lord who stood on the platform of the topmost
turret surveying the whole valley of the Rhine from
Spire to Strasburg, with a view over the vast plain,
and the broad river winding through it like a silver
riband through a green :cloth—a view bounded in
front only by the French Vosges, and at the back
by the mountains of his own Schwartzwald home—
the lord who could build his home upon this pinnacle
of rocks had no sooner provided for security than
by an irresistible impulse he aspired to dominion.a
All those broad level lands, those many-spired
cities, were his natural prey. To perch on this
hawk's nest and not to yield to falcon instincts was
beyond human power. The Margraves of Baden
were indeed birds of prey. They were robber
knights on a large scale, and the tales of the torture
chambers which are even :now thrown open to the
curiosity of strangers tell of their ruthless deeds ;
while the traditions of the Fehmgericht held in their
halls betray their longing to create an unperium in
imperio, to give local jurisdiction full develop-
ment at the expense of the Imperial authority,
and pave the way for that sovereignindepen-
dence of the members which weakened the whole
body, that particularismus which doomed the
broad Fatherland to endless division and anarchy.
Yet the power of the Margraves was not wholly
grounded on blood and violence. The time was
when the red-and-gold banner of Baden waved fore-
most in the ranks of the combatants who drove the
Turks from the boundaries of the common country.
The valour and genius of the Margraves held up
against adversities before which the llapsburgs fell
prostrate, and among the tombs that the stranger is
advised to visit at the Pfarrkirche are the monu-
ments of that Ludwig and of that Leopold Wilhelm
who deserved so well of the cause of humanity and
of Christendom, and whose swords dried, perhaps,
more tears than the tyranny and rapacity of their
forefathers had caused to flow.

At the back of the old castle, along the brow of the
hill, I clambered over the rocks which give so much

grandeur to the spot, and which afford so great a
delight to the lovers of the picturesque. Like every-
thing else about Baden, these rocks are set out for
the best convenience of strangers, accessible in all
their steep places by rough but safe st s, penetra-
ble in every direction above and beneath, affording
as much frolic to the flocks of French girls who were
tripping up and down them as they are calculated to
inspire with awe a beholder of more earnest mood.
From the rocks immediately close to the castle there
is a path leading to the Angel and the Devil's Pul-
pits, two perpendicular ledges, on the brink of which
the great advocate and the great enemy of mankind
hold forth their perpetual harangues, and plead the
never-ending suit, though it is hardly doubtful which
of the two disputants has the best of the argument,
and which occupies the higher platform and gathers
at his feet the larger congregation.

SEPTEMBER 1.

This is race week at Baden, and I attended the
first meeting yesterday in the afternoon. The race-
course lies at the distance of about one hour's drive
down on the plain at Iffesheim, not far from the
bank of the Rhine. It is a pleasant, open spot, with
green, dry, solid turf, on one side of which rise the
Grand Stand, the Royal Pavilion, and that of the
Jockey Club, while it is on the other side bounded
by white chalky ravines that give it somewhat the
look of an amphitheatre. The stand and pavilions
were all, more Germanico, decked out with masses
of festive evergreen. On the summit of all these
buildings waved the colours of Baden, gules and or ;
on four posts on the course itself, in long streamers,
the same banner of Baden, that of Prussia, the
French tricolour, and the union jack of England.
No human wish gratified to the full could ever
have contrived a day better calculated for the pur-
pose immediately before us, or for the mere enjoy-
ment of existence. The sun had risen in the morn-
ing perfectly cloudless, but its rays were later in the
day so tempered by flitting clouds and by a fresh,
healthy breeze, that every drop of blood in the veins
of men and horses tingled with vigour and mettle
and eagerness for exertion.
At a quarter before 2 the first notes of the• Baden
military band from the top of the Grand Stand were
heard, and by 2, or half-past, all the company that
intended to grace the festival with their presence had
been brought together. There was no very crowded
assemblage. Hardly any one had come here except
in a carriage, and if I number the vehicles at about
500 I shall not probably be greatly below the mark.
That would give an attendance of about 2,000 per-
sons, and I rather think that was all. They were,
however, all that would be called below stairs in
England " carriage company." The multitude of
Baden, many of its middle ranks, and not a few also
of the bathing people, apparently took no interest
in the proceedings of the day, and did not show.
Anything more enjoyable than a stroll up and
down the green before the course, in the midst
of those gaily-attired groups, with that lively air
fanning one's cheeks, could not be easily con-
ceived. Draw just such a number of such persons
out into the open air, no matter for what object, and
you make them sufficiently happy in each other. It
was the first time in my whole life that I happened
to walk about in an assemblage of both sexes with-
out heartily, in the inmost of my soul, anathema-
tising the crinolines. Here we had ample room for
the broadest of them, and the sweeping of silk and
muslin trains was by no means suggestive of un-
cleanness here, where they only trailed on the green
turf, as smooth and compact as the best drawing-
room carpet. Seen from a height, as, for instance,
from the top of the Grand Stand, all those moving
masses of pink, green, and lilac of the ladies' dresses
had the effect of an animated parterre of flowers. I
will not say anything as to the taste with which the
greater number of those stylishly-robed beauties
were got up, but the fitting of most dresses was per-
fect, and reflects the highest credit on the tailor or
man-milliner, who in Germany, as elsewhere on the
continent, to a great extent supersedes the bungling
m antu a- maker.

The men looked for the most part fresh and tidy.
Shooting-jackets and wide-awakes had the upper
hand, but white and light colours were frequent, and
wore no traces of such little dust as they night have
gathered on the road. I saw few or no race-veils or
race-coats. None were needed. Mixed with the
crowd were groups of officers in glittering uniforms,
Prussians, Badensians, mostly Austrians from the
neighbouring garrison at Rastadt. All along the
ravines on the opposite side there were soldiers of
the latter-named nation lying on the ground, and
looking at a distance not unlike so many rows of
tents pitched on the green.
The King and Queen of Prussia drove up in car-
riages drawn by splended black horses, and took
their places in front of the Royal Pavilion. With
them were Prince Charles of Prussia, Prince Fre-
derick William of Hesse, and their suites. I saw in
the crowd that notable king of men, Count Bismark
Schonhausen, a personage any man, no matter of
whatsoever opinion he may be, would at the present
day go many miles to catch a glimpse of. I saw the
young Duke of Hamilton, and several English gen-
tlemen riders, and others well known in the sport-
ing world. The arrivals at Baden in these latter
days have been unusually numerous. lam not sure
all or many of them were present at the races,
though, no doubt, these were a main object of
attraction ; but among those who came in yesterday
or the day before were the Hon. G. J. R. Gordon
(her Majesty's Minister at Stuttgart), Gen. Sir F.
Love, Col. Fraser, Capt. Macdonald, the Marquis
of Blandford, Captain C. D. Manning, Viscount
Dunlo, Sir Watkin Wynn, Captain Rowley, &c.
Conspicuous among the crowd were Count Lagrange
and a Maltese who broke the bank the other day.
Soon after half-past 2 they were making ready for
the first race, and an attempt at betting was made
before the Jockey Club Pavilion. I heard frequent
bidding of a louis, or cinquante francs, moderate
sums, which can be won or lost without great emo-
tion. " Ponies" and " monkeys" seem to be un-
known words at Baden-Baden.

Five horses ran the first race, Prix de la Favorite,
three-year-olds, for 1,500 f., 25f. stakes, 1,500
metres' distance. They were M. Desvigne's Perle,
M. Delamarre's Anecdote, Count Dampierre's Jar-
nicoton, M. A. Lupin's Vaucresson, and Count La-
grange's Brioche. The bets against the latter were
7to 4. Anecdote and Vaucresson took the lead,
followed by Brioche at two lengths' distance, and
came in almost together, Vaucresson best.
The second race, Prix de la Foret Noire,. three-
year-olds, 2,400 metres' distance, for 2,000 f., was
contested by four horses —M. H. L. Noblee's Go-
ram, ex cEnone, Count G. Lehndorff's Said, M.
Delamarre's Coloquinte, and Count Lagrange's Le
Fronde. Said, the favourite, won, easily, in ad-
vance of his rivals by about 20 metres, from first to
last, with hardly any strain on his powers, which
would fit him for a nobler contest.

The third trial was made by five horses. This
was the Prix d'lffesheim, 3,000 f., three year olds,
3,200 metres in length. The horse were Count
Lagrange's Doge, Count Lehndorff's Fontenoy, M.
Delamarre's Vera Cruz, M. A. Voisin's Le Dieu
Mars, and Major Fridolin's Touriste, who kept it
up with great spirit from beginning to end, and
came in so closely together that the nearest spec-
tators proclaimed Touriste as the winner, when
the umpires gave sentence in favour of Doge. It
aeo
nt merely
s;d osee Leger
aea
ree.
neck-and
neck, it was almost a
wasnoTse-
hn
Continental, for 10,000 f., three
year olds, 3,000 metres distance, was the great race
of the day. Only three horses Were entered, Count
Lagrange's Mandarin, M. Fridolin's Gontran,
and
M. A. Lupin's Tourmalet. Gontran and liour-
malet stretched out at a grand pace from the out-
set, and tried to outdo each other, to the intense
delight of the spectators, the suffrages of most of
whom were evidently in favour of Gontran. Man-
darin, ridden by Grimshaw, followed at about three
husbanding his
lengths behind, close to the ropes,
forces, and watching the chances of the game.
When at about 20 metres from the winning post,
Mandarin seemed to wake up suddenly, and by two
or three mighty strides closed the gap between
him and his competitors, coming up with them.
There was now a cry of " Mandarin ! Mandarin !"
from the entranced spectators, and the noble crea-
ture, as if inspirited by the shouts, and answering
the call, bounded past both his wearied antagonists,
and carried a victory which was certainly due no