much in the style in which exhibitors array their wax figures-coarse and showy rather than rich.

Strasburg is a grand old fortified town, full of life and animation, and a famous place to go shopping for every possible thing that is to say nearly as good as New York or Philadelphia in this respect. Our Hotel de la Ville de Paris is very handsome; our bed-rooms are hung with crimson and gold, and the beds elegantly canopied with the most tasteful draperies in fine worked muslin, and supplied with quantities of great, downy, frilled pillows. The stairs and courtyard are ornamented with fine flowering plants, and everything about the place is elegant, the table-furniture included, with the exception of cups and saucers of some ware so clumsy and heavy, that we conclude they must have been turned out of the stone that was left of the cathedral. This is a curious anomaly in so pretentious an establishment, where silver seems common as tin.

We should have liked to taste a paté de foie gras in its native air, but we could not do it without waiting six weeks for the season to begin, so we were obliged to forego the pleasure! But we are nevertheless very fond of Strasburg, which is French, and yet not too French for our notions.

BADEN-BADEN.

WE left Strasburg in the rain, in an omnibus with two prodigiously fat men, bound, like ourselves, for Kehl.

Not that we wanted to see Kehl,—a town, or rather village built only to be burnt down by the French every time a French army crosses the Rhine. But here is one of those purgatories called custom-houses, through which one must pass before entering any of the earthly heavens beyond. At this place was a female official-the first we have seen on these occasions; and the way in which she walked round us,-the looks with which she guaged us, scanned our faces, and appreciated our general appearance-all the time attempting to appear to mean nothing in particular, set me in convulsions of laughter. Our faces seemed to be our passport, for the knowing dame walked quietly off, with only a private glance of assurance at the presiding officer. Our trunks were opened; mine only glanced at, for it was packed like mosaic and looked extremely inoffensive; the others slightly examined, as seeming more promising, but passed without difficulty. We took very good care not to put ourselves in any danger of impertinence from these officials. I think the trouble of getting dutiable articles through such places would be more than they would be worth. Swiss wooden ware, which is as tempting as anything after we leave Italy, can be sent to the United States direct, if one buys anything worth while. The charges made for any weight of luggage above the amount allowed by law are enormous. The stipulated weight is about forty pounds, and in some places only thirty; and if your luggage-all told -umbrellas, hand-baskets,-every trifle-weigh a single pound over this, you are charged as for a hundred. The lightest trunks are therefore preferable, for if they give way their place may be supplied in a moment; while the

heavy, leathern, iron-framed trunks used in the United States, reach nearly the permitted weight before anything is put into them. The traveller may even in some cases be obliged to leave his luggage behind him if it exceed the stipulated weight; for there are places where, in case the Diligence is full, no extra weight is allowed, even upon extra payment. Thus much as a caution to those who may not study the guide-books (as they should) before setting out.

The railway-stations on this road are beautified with flower-gardens-a charming feature which we have never seen elsewhere. At this time dahlias and other autumnal flowers are in great abundance, and trained in these places and kept in excellent order. The waiting-rooms are also very elegant-furnished with velvet couches, gas, and all the appliances of comfort. We saw nothing in England comparable in this respect; and our waitingrooms at home are absolutely disgraceful in comparisonstrangely enough, too, considering that no expense is spared in the decoration of our railway carriages. The exterior of the station-houses here, is always ambitious in architectural design, and beautifully neat. The gaycolored tiles on the roofs in this region are very quaint and pretty, arranged in regular patterns, and kept so clean that they glisten in the sun.

Baden-Baden is truly a beautiful rural place, the portion prepared for the annual visitation of travellers from all over the world particularly elegant and tasteful. It seems all one pleasure-ground, intersected by a river, and shaded everywhere with fine trees and the most luxuriant shrubbery. But the general aspect of things at

this celebrated spot is very different from what we have always expected to see here. The check given to foreign travel has kept at home nearly all the English; the commotions in Germany find work for those who usually come here to play. The French, too, have their hands full at home. So that Baden-Baden this summer shows almost deserted halls, and the few people who are here seem dull and spiritless.

The Hotel de l'Europe faces the Conversations Haus and the public promenade, to reach which, however, we have to cross a small bridge over the Oes. It is a large and handsome house, but now nearly empty, and consequently chilling and uncomfortable from its echoing vastness. A very handsome building is provided for the waters, and in this there are many pictures. The gambling-rooms, as well as the rooms for dancing and music, are in the Conversations Haus, and this is of course the point of attraction. The whole edifice is in splendid style and lighted by immense chandeliers. In the great assembly room was a roulette-table, at which two persons presided, whose ominous looks, and brief and half-uttered words, seemed to imply a consciousnesss of the detestable nature of the work in which they were engaged. There is no kind of wickedness which seems to me so coldblooded as this of deliberately helping on the destructive wickedness of others, with a cool purpose of making money out of their ruin. The gamblers seem respectable compared with the markers of the game. The table was surrounded, but not numerously, with players, and outside of the players were a few spectators; while on the sofas sat a small number of persons engaged in conver

sation, seemingly too well habituated to the scene to feel any interest in it. Roulette is a pretty, toyish looking game; but it seems to me the sheerest gambling that can be; since those who stake their money have nothing whatever to do with the process by means of which it changes hands. They place the stake in a certain compartment, and wait in silence while the people who keep the table set the roulette whirling and bring about the result. It is all sheer chance, except in case of cheating, which I suppose often occurs. It really seems to me the most stupid and unattractive kind of wickedness.

Passing through this grand hall, we entered another not quite so large or splendid, where Rouge et Noir was going on. At this table were more persons-I think mostly Jews, if we may judge by their physiognomy, and some women. One, and only one distinguished-looking person was here-a man of five-and-thirty, perhaps, English, and evidently of aristocratic pretension. He would have been handsome but for a haggard look about the eyes, and a general air of weariness and disgust. He staked his money with the utmost indifference; lost― staked again-lost again, and so went on for some time. He never won while we staid. A large woman, showily dressed, and displaying a huge diamond ring—which indeed few of the players did not-disgusted us particularly by her keen and greedy air. She evidently threw her whole soul, such as it was, into the business, taking care after each decision of fate to cover up her ill-gotten gains under her handkerchief, which lay on the table. An old man ready to drop into the grave was among the