all to repentance and amendment. They were joined of course, by a crowd of
idle vagabonds, who, under the mask of extraordinary sanctity and humble
penitence, indulged in every species of disorder and debauchery. At last
the affair assumed so grave an aspect, that the pope and many secular
princes declared themselves against the Flagellants, and speedily put an
end to their extravagancies. Various ways were still, however, resorted to
by various tempers to snatch the full enjoyment of that life which they
were so soon to lose, at the expense of every possible violation of the
laws of morality. Only a few lived on in a quiet and orderly manner, in
reliance on the saving help of God, without running into any excess of
anxiety or indulgence. After this desolating scourge had raged during four
years, its violence seemed at length to be exhausted.--_Ibid._

* * * * *

WATERING PLACES IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.

Baden, the well-known and much-frequented watering-place, has been long
celebrated. The following account of it in the fifteenth century is
interesting. Those warriors who would wile away the interval between one
campaign and another agreeably, betook themselves to Baden in Aargau. Here
in a narrow valley, where the Limmat flows through its rocky bed, are hot
springs of highly medicinal properties. Hither, to the numerous houses of
public entertainment, resorted prelates, abbots, monks, nuns, soldiers,
statesmen, and all sorts of artificers. As in our fashionable
watering-places, most of the visitors merely sought to dissipate ennui,
enjoy life, and pursue pleasure. The baths were most crowded at an early
hour in the morning, and those who did not bathe resorted thither to see
acquaintances, with whom they could hold conversation from the galleries
round the bath-rooms, while the bathers played at various games, or ate