New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-10-28
EYIT RADEN

EXIT BADEN
r. ia settled, and there is no help for It. Baden
mnst soon be sacrificed TO Prussias Omnlvorous
nav. France may fret and Austria may stahd
aghast, but the former is powerless to trustrate
the rapacious schemes of her powerful rival,
M the futile Wurtemburg quarrel proved, ana
the latter is too wise to interpose a single re-
mopstrance. Prussia covets her neighbours land
and fine sovereign of the 1ourishing little Duchy
has sipnifed his willingness to be absorbed,
II ia the inevitable destiny of the lords OF all
the outlying Hohenzolern territories One by
one they lay down their power and their heredi-
tory elories-evcrything but their barren titles
at the feet of the restless and insatiate ruler
of Germany. The instinct OF self-preseryatlon
requires them to accept their fate with an al
fectation Of content If not of gratitude, LOT
opposition would only provoke compulspn'
and lose them their personal possessions
and safety with their crowns. The Grand
Duke having promptly acquiesced in Prusslas
proposals, may retain his nominal rank ana
fair proportion, at least, of his revenues; but
his place among the mOnarchs of Europe VIII
be blotted out forever.
less loudly and bitterly expressed. They do not,
indeed proceed from the people of Baden, who'
if they trouble themselves with political rehec-
tons of any kind, are we'll aware that the In
fluence of Prussia has for years been supreme.
and that no substantial change in their cOndl-
ton is likely to occur. Nor from the pocket
potentate himself who, whatever may be the
feelings with which he sees his easy sway over
two millions Of souls and 5000 fertile square
miles wrested from him, and the brilliant MS
toric memories of his family, covering space
of more than thousand years, ruthlessly dis
persed and obliterated, is far too cautious to
give them offensive utterance They are in
no sense the outCry of wounded patriotism or
of outraged honor. The lamentation is purely
of social and fashionable origin, and it comes
from the lively capitals OF st. Petersburg and
Vienna, from the Boulevards of Paris, and
from Belgravia and Bloomsbury. It's echo may
be family heard in our own Fifth Avenue.
For Baden was by universal consent and usage
the shining central European rendezvous OF all
that is most alluring and fascinating in the
dainty designations and the captivating cOrrup-
tions of modern existence. We mean, of
course, by Baden the pretty town upon
the banks Of the Cos, with its little popula-
ton of 1000 permanent inhabitants, and its
annual overflow of q quarter OF mil
lion. For the pleasure seeking world, no
other Baden exists. Carlsruhe, the political
capital, Mannheim, the commercial, and Hell
delberg. the intellectual, are unknown lands.
Baden Baden, NJ. B6nazet's stronghold, the cap
ital of vice, alone claims their attention and ar
rests their footsteps. For twenty years 1t has
been the Mecca of gded folly, extravaganza,
passion, and infamy For twenty years its con-
tinually increasing armies OF devotees have
clung to it with answering tenacity. Now
the hour Of separation has come. It's guilty
glorcs will presently cease to glow Tor
Prussia, whatever her other weaknesses, has
one virtuous impulse and that Is the summary
extirpation Of all licensed gaming haunts
within her borders.
Baden Baden is a natural Paradise; and
Prussia could not, if it would, destroy the in
Vulnerable charms of its picturesque ruins, its
perfumed meadows its lovely valleys, and its
stately forest-covered hills. But unluckily,
these are not the real attractions to the multi
tude who yearly make it their temporary home.
The only brightness that such scenic at
tributes possess In the eyes of the vast majority
of visitors is reflected from the unwholesome
glare of the Conversation Hall $50 called,
perhaps because the internal frenzy that seizes
upon all who enter it at once and effectively
precludes every interchange of thought. The
rainbow hues of field and sky are forgotten in
the harlequin colors of rouge-et-noir; the fresh
and nvigorating breezes in the sitting crowds
that hurry day and night to fight with for
tune the pleasant murmurings of the harps in
the Old Castle in the dull, monOtonous click of
the roulette ball the outward atmosphere of
lneffable tranquility and gentleness in the hot
strife and anguish aud greed of play. Vice
banished from Baden will leave it a purified
resort for the few who can be satisfied with
nature, unstained by those tawdry and ruin
Gus, accessories which blas6 and prohigate APP
petites demand, but as the blazing focus of
wild excitement and lurid license, its day will
soon have passed In its new character of a
small provincial town, it will lose all the gaudy
glitter which now distinguishes it, but we may
nevertheless congratulate it on the prospect of
better, if an humber future-one more in
harmony with the matchless physical endow
ments it enjoys.