MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



479 



Eugene and Villars concluded the 

 peace of Utrecht, and, in later 

 days, the famous Congress of 

 Rastadt, to which the eyes of 

 Europe were directed from 1797 

 to 1799, held here their sittings. 



After dining at the table d'hote, 

 crowded with Swiss merchants 

 returning from the Frankfort fair, 

 we crossed the rapid Murg, and 

 leaving the high Basle road, en- 

 tered a rich pasture valley, in the 

 green recesses of which Baden is 

 situated. The villages by the 

 road side were neat and bustling, 

 and the hills higher and bolder as 

 we penetrated up the valley, now 

 and then covered with vines, but 

 more frequently with rich forest 

 foliage, beginning to reflect the 

 diversified tints of autumn. 



Baden is romantic without 

 being wild. A chain of the fir- 

 clad Black Forest Mountains rise 

 on one side of the smiling valley; 

 while another irregular ridge 

 screens the back of the town, its 

 rocky wooded top crowned by the 

 ruins of the old Castle of Baden. 

 The town stands stragglingly on 

 an abrupt slope, with the stream 

 of the valley at the bottom ; the 

 more modern Castle overlooking 

 it from a commanding terrace. 

 The streets are narrow, and not 

 remarkable for cleanliness. The 

 summer residences of the Grand 

 Duchess of Baden, and some 

 others, occupied by different 

 princes during the season, are 

 neat and pleasantly situated: but 

 itsnatural beauties, and the virtues 

 of its waters, are the only recom- 

 mendations of the place. This 

 was peculiarly the case on our 

 visit, when the season was at an 

 end ; the saloons shut up, the 

 actors gone, the rouge et noir 



tables dusty and deserted, and 

 about a dozen heavy Germans, 

 the only remnants of the motley 

 assemblage of all nations who had 

 enlivened it in July and August. 



We lodged at one of the prin- 

 cipal bathing hotels, containing 

 about twenty four baths, and 

 thirty or forty rooms, fitted up 

 with tolerable comfort; but almost 

 all empty. There were seven or 

 eight more houses of similar ca- 

 pacity in the town, and one-third 

 of the private houses let lodgings 

 in the season. Baden contains 

 not less than thirteen sources of 

 hot water ; the heat of the prin- 

 cipal one is about fifty-four de- 

 grees. Their names are curious 

 enough ; such as the Jew's Spring, 

 the Moor's Spring, the Hellish 

 Spring, which rises in a part of 

 the town called the Hell, and the 

 Scalding Spring, christened from 

 the useful purpose it serves of 

 scalding pigs, poultry, &c. A fat 

 kitchen maid was saving herself 

 the trouble of picking a lapful of 

 pigeons by dipping them in the 

 spring, which, with a slight rub- 

 ing, stripped them with an agree- 

 able expedition. The waters are 

 increasing every year in celebrity, 

 and are said to work surprising 

 cures of gout, rheumatism, indi- 

 gestion, and surgical disorders. 

 The air of the place is fresh and 

 pure, and theneighbouringscenery 

 abounds with beauties, which good 

 roads render accessible. 



In spite of the unfashionable 

 season, a pretty numerous party 

 assembled at the table d'hote, 

 headed, as usual, by the substan- 

 tial landlord and his pretty wife, 

 who fed daintily, and looked and 

 talked softly to the admiring con- 

 <oives. Her spouse was a complete 

 ^ German 



