The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-22 00:00:00

THE KINGS AND THE EMPEROR.

I am now in Baden• Baden, refreshed by my
rambles, and renewed by my rest.
There were no less than nine crowned heads in
this little town during Saturday and the Sabbath
which has just passed. One could hardly walk
in any direction without stumbling upon a grand
duke, or being run over by the horses of an em-
peror. Some of the largest hotels, being
favoured with regal tenancy, were so crowded
with the attendants and households of the kings
that they could not receive ordinary travellers,
whose patronage they had aforetime courted and

enjoyed.
The Emperor of the French passed through Stras-
bourg on Friday, at about five in the afternoon.
There were great crowds in the streets, a liberal
display of flags and streamers, and great multitudes
of soldiery. The Emperor seemed to be enthusias-
tically received in this
_border city of France, al-
though I cannot speak with authority as to the
cheers which he received, for our conveyance was
ordered into back streets quite out of the line of
route, and we were at too great a distance to have
heard the shouts of the popitlace. Every one ap-
peared to be happy and full of excitement, and
when wo rode along the streets after the Emperor
had departed, we were struck with the number of
country people, who had evidently come from their
rural homes to see the great sight. The whole city
was like a great fair, and the tri-coloured flags and
garlands of oak leaves presented a most attractive
appearance as they decorated the quaint old-
fashioned houses of the older streets, and the ele-
gant mansions of the new. The very guards at the
frontier 2elaxed their severity, and the most polite
of bows was an admirable substitute for the rigid
examination of which many travellers complain.
On the German side of the river the town of Kehl
was resplendent with the orange and red colours of
the Grand Duke of Baden. I suppose the inhabi-
tants have a sufficiently large admixture of the
French element to account for their being seized
with the Imperial fever, as well as their opposite
neighbours of Strasbourg.
If the people of Kehl received the Emperor
heartily, they were the only Germans who would
have done so, for everywhere throughout Belgium,
Prussia, and the small German kingdoms, he is
either dreaded or execrated. It is the universal
belief that he will never be content until ho has
completed the " natural boundary" scheme by sub-
duing all the territory on the west of the Rhine to
his Imperial sway. If the English are no friends
to Napoleon, the Germans go even farther, and are
more anti-Imperial than ourselves.

On Saturday the Emperor might be seen early
in the morning walking in the garden, leaning upon
his walking-stick, and looking more decrepit than
his age might justify. It is a theme for great gra-
titude that he is not a young man, and that, be his
ambition what it may, he has no great time before
him in which to work out his political adventures.
On horseback or in his carriage, all men confess
his noble bearing, and no signs of decay are
manifest ; but, when he is walking, the spectator
foresees that the greatest of men are mortal.
During the greater part of the day the
Emperor returned the visits of the Princes who
had waited upon him in the morning. Possibly the
laws of etiquette may in this case have been
very agreeable to the great one, for it enabled him
first to see all the Princes together, and then to
give them a lesson privately and individually.
Who can tell what devices were in the heart of the
mighty ? who shall fathom the depth of the thoughts
of Kings ? May the Lord rule and overrule, and
out of every evil may His glory spring. The Princes
and Dukes may have rejoiced at the coming of the
Lord of France, but the people wondered what all
could mean, and forebodings of evil were neither
rare nor frivolous. As for the little Kings, they
came to this place like moths to a candle. Uninvited
and unexpected, they must needs come forth to the
presence of the potentate, if not to be lacqueys to
his pride, at least to sun themselves in his superior
glory. It is to be hoped that the dexterous player
has not succeeded in throwing the apple of dis-
cord among those minor monarchs; divided,
they would soon be overcome ; but united,
they might oppose a serious barrier to
any aggrandisement he may contemplate. I like
not to see either thieves in company or kings in
conclave. Eagles come not together unless they
scent the prey. All may be well, and the meeting
may be a friendly visit, and an exchange of cour-
tesies, but uneasy thoughts will suggest themselves ;
for, when the wolf inspects the sheepfolds, and
dines with the shepherds, the silliest of the sheep
are troubled at nightfall.
When the Emperor came forth from the hotel to
his carriage, the populace of Baden gave him un-
mistakeable evidence of their feeling towards him.
Several gentlemen have assured me that the hissing
was ♦ery far in excess of the few notes of acclama-

tion. Even in the Conversation House, where the
elite of the visitors were assembled, the hisses were
very distinct, and must have been an unpleasant
sound to one who breaths the air of flattery and
eats the bread of adulation. When the Grand
Duke afterwards appeared, the people cheered him
very heartily, as if to show for whom the sounds
of disapproval had been intended.
After all, as far as I can judge, it is not what he
has done, but what he may do, which causes this
ill-feeling towards him. Some men would have
done less, and have had more credit for it, but this
man continues to mar all his good deeds by a crooked
policy, which leads most men to suspect his best
actions, and to impute to him designs which may
be very far from his thoughts. Worse men than
he have been better liked ; and yet there is no in-
justice in this treatment of him, for his conduct
courts suspicion, and his dark reserve creates dis-
trust.

Sunday was the great day of discussion, deli-
beration, arrangement, or whatever else may have
been the end and aim of the interview. How
little is God in the thoughts of the great when
His own day is the chosen season for their coun-
cils, and that, too, when no crisis is impending,
and no immediate disaster compels them to
hasty deliberations. Here were all the days in the
week all equally available, no haste compelling, no
wars alarming, and yet none of their own six days
will suit them, they must usurp God's peculiar day,
as if they were lords of the Sabbath or irresponsible
to the laws of Heaven. What but confusion can
be the result of such councils ? Will not the Lord
be avenged on such a people as this ?
The companies of country people who filled the
roads were very interesting to observe, and as I
looked from the windows of my quiet chamber
upon the gaiety which the advent of these Princes
had caused upon a day consecrated to rest and
worship, I could not fail to remember that men in
high places have vast responsibilities, and God
alone knows how much of the sins of the nations
will be visited upon the heads of their governors.
They are not only partakers of other men's sins
but creators of evil. Surely there are chains of
darkness of unusual weight reserved for these ring-
leaders in rebellion.
The Emperor left for Strasbourg at ten o'clock
p.m., and his train started in the midst of a silence
more profound than I had ever remarked before.
Standing on the edge of the crowd, I was astonished
to the utmost at a stillness like that of death—a