The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-08 00:00:00

two, there is not the slightest doubt that at least
four-fifths have come in for the races, not for the
gaming-tables. In that indisputable fact, in the
tremendous, unprecedented influx of strangers at
this particular period since the races were first insti-
tuted, six years ago, one may read the future des-
tinies of Batten, should it so fargive in to the outcry
of all good people as to do away with what so many
set down as a public nuisance. You have only to
supply as great a variety of harmless public amuse-
ments as the races evidently afford to the majority
of people here assembled. This is what persons
interested in the prosperity of Baden begin to con-
sider, and the result of their cogitations will soon
be apparent. They say :--" If we have horse-races
nt Iffestzheim, close to the bank of the Rhine, why
should we not have boat-races on the waters of the
Rhine? Where would be the great difficulty in
engaging a few of the veteran members of the Ox-
ford and Cambridge clubs to bring here the boats
and oars which assemble all the pride of London
and England to see the glories of a Putney regatta ?
Why should not cricket-matches be attempted
here as We have seen them lately tried at Hom-
burg ? A tendency to adopt their neighbours'
games to beat their neighbours at their own
weapons, is rapidly developing itself among the
peace-blessed, pleasure-seekine nations of Europe.
People arc becoming unprejudiced, eclectic in their
tastes ; they display a vast amount of Roman ac-
commodativeness and adaptability. Nothing in cos-
mopolitic Baden should be considered out of place.
We should have German Turner-Vereine, Swiss rifle
matches, English archery, Spanish bull-fights,
Pallone. That athletic Pallone which lingered
in Italy during the long period of the utter emascu-
lation of that noble Latin race is likely enough to
make the tour of the globe, now that it is taken up by
the more energetic English. If people come hither
for health, means should be afforded not less for its
utmost preservation and development than the
waters supply for its restoration.

Such are the thoughts of those who busy them-
selves with the capabilities of Baden. Amusements
of a more common place description—ltalian operas,
the French drama and vaudeville, illuminations, fire-
works, are already provided, and altsuch things are
to be enjoyed here in the greatest perfection. To
those who love the world for its own sake, the mere
looking at each other in such crowded and motley
Ttlynions as we have here is of itself unspeakable de-
light. What could be more. enlivening, more inspi-
riting, than the well-dressed, well-behaved aristo-
cratic mob whom we had yesterday (Sunday) after-
noon on and about the Conversationhaus ? What a
muster of great names, what a galaxy of unmatched
beauties ! Later in the evening the crowd became a
crush, for excursion trains brought in multitudes
from Strasburg, and breathing in the open air be-
came matter of difficulty. But the odi-profanum-
vulgus-et-arceo set well know that such Philistine in-
vasions are few And far between in this place, and
they have their sancta-sanctorunt besides, secure from
intrusion. Go to their subscription balls, attend their
private receptions, and you will be able to tell us
something about Parisian fashions, about the gloss
of silks and the blaze of diamonds. - Well might old
Blucher gloat over shop windows in Ludgate-hill
and along the Strand with his naive " Was fib'
Beate !" But here it is not under glass cases and
behind counters that we see the frippery and trinkets.
We see the use and fitness of things. We have lace
shawls on shoulders, necklaces round throats, upon
which those even who stripped the shrine at Loretto
would deem it too great a sacrilege to lay hands.
Now, there are people who fatten upon the mere
sight of such dross ; and for such all I have to say
is, here they will have such things to their hearts'
content.

But for those who have had enough of the world
and its baubles during a long lifetime, for those who
have known sorrow and vexation, and those worst
of all evils,. satiety and weariness, where can escape
from their sickness be found more readily at hand
than on the very outskirts of this gay Baden world ?
If loathing for your fellow-beings seizes you in Pall-
mall or the Boulevards, how many miles of railway
journey will be required before you be allowed to fall
back on yourself ! But here at Baden you have only
to go 20 yards away from the din of the Conversa-
tionshaus, and under the shades of the Lichtenthal,
or up the slope of the hills, you may enjoy all the
musings of a Marius amid the rubbish of Carthage.
Never despair of yourself till you are dead to the
charms of nature. Wait to cut your throat till you
can look upon so pearly a sky as we had here last
evening as the sun set behind the pine-crested
summits of Hohenbaden, and the eye pierced
through the heat dissolved air till you fancied you
could look into the world beyond, and the strains
of the Kursaal music reached you, softened by dis-
tance,—wait till you can look on this God's world
SO fresh and so new in its eternal youth, and see
if you can still feel inclined to quarrel with it as
you do with man's world. Or put off quaffing your
cup of laudanum till you have taken your early
coffee here, out of doors, at one of the tables in the
garden of this Stephanien-Bad, surely the sweetest
of all European caravanserais, where, hardly at
three minutes' walk from the heart
of Baden, you
may fancy yourself in Eden, and where the spring
fourt breaks in upon you in the midst of such calra-
ness and silence, as if nature had worked for your_
self alone—wait till you' have such a breakfast, and
then say whether you are not t ntful to yourAtaker ,
for suffering another day to dawn upon you.
Sept. 5.

Napoleon, it is well known, flattered Talma's pro-
fessional pride by gathering together at Dresden for
his benefit a parterre de Rois. I wonder if race horses
are greatly stimulated in their exertions by running
in the presence of a standfull of "swells." For
decidedly, as far as attendance is concerned, Long-
champs or Chantilly, or even Ascot or Goodwood,
are not to be named in the same breath with the
race-course at Iffetzheim. Yesterday was the third
meeting and grand day of the Badm races, and, to
say nothing of the elite of the frequenters of those
renowned French and English meetings, we had the
pick of all the people in Europe that delight in
seeing and being seen: - The number again, I should
think, was limited to about 2,000, but they happened
mostly to be those 2,000 who do not grudge a ticket
at 30 francs and a carriage at 30 florins, besides I
know not how long a bill at their milliners' and
glove shops. Eyes get used to the splendour of
royalty in a place where members of half a dozen
royal 4naili;= mingle with the va:i,;us groups,unm-
cognisable by any outrrazl mirk, ;:avi; only Fri-14p

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