I have formerly censured the French for their extreme attachment to
theatrical exhibitions, because I thought that they tended to render
them vain and unnatural characters; but I must acknowledge, especially
as women of the town never appear in the Parisian as at our theatres,
that the little saving of the week is more usefully expended there every
Sunday than in porter or brandy, to intoxicate or stupify the mind. The
common people of France have a great superiority over that class in
every other country on this very score. It is merely the sobriety of the
Parisians which renders their fêtes more interesting, their gaiety never
becoming disgusting or dangerous, as is always the case when liquor
circulates. Intoxication is the pleasure of savages, and of all those
whose employments rather exhaust their animal spirits than exercise
their faculties. Is not this, in fact, the vice, both in England and the
northern states of Europe, which appears to be the greatest impediment
to general improvement? Drinking is here the principal relaxation of
the men, including smoking, but the women are very abstemious, though
they have no public amusements as a substitute. I ought to except one
theatre, which appears more than is necessary; for when I was there it
was not half full, and neither the ladies nor actresses displayed much
fancy in their dress.
The play was founded on the story of the "Mock Doctor;" and, from the
gestures of the servants, who were the best actors, I should imagine
contained some humour. The farce, termed ballet, was a kind of
pantomime, the childish incidents of which were sufficient to show the
state of the dramatic art in Denmark, and the gross taste of the
audience. A magician, in the disguise of a tinker, enters a cottage
where the women are all busy ironing, and rubs a dirty frying-pan
against the linen. The women raise a hue-and-cry, and dance after him,
rousing their husbands, who join in the dance, but get the start of them
in the pursuit. The tinker, with the frying-pan for a shield, renders
them immovable, and blacks their cheeks. Each laughs at the other,
unconscious of his own appearance; meanwhile the women enter to enjoy
the sport, "the rare fun," with other incidents of the same species.
The singing was much on a par with the dancing, the one as destitute of
grace as the other of expression; but the orchestra was well filled, the
instrumental being far superior to the vocal music.
I have likewise visited the public library and museum, as well as the
palace of Rosembourg. This palace, now deserted, displays a gloomy kind
of grandeur throughout, for the silence of spacious apartments always
makes itself to be felt; I at least feel it, and I listen for the sound
of my footsteps as I have done at midnight to the ticking of the
death-watch, encouraging a kind of fanciful superstition. Every object
carried me back to past times, and impressed the manners of the age
forcibly on my mind. In this point of view the preservation of old
palaces and their tarnished furniture is useful, for they may be
considered as historical documents.
The vacuum left by departed greatness was everywhere observable, whilst
the battles and processions portrayed on the walls told you who had here
excited revelry after retiring from slaughter, or dismissed pageantry in
search of pleasure. It seemed a vast tomb full of the shadowy phantoms
of those who had played or toiled their hour out and sunk behind the
tapestry which celebrated the conquests of love or war. Could they be no
more--to whom my imagination thus gave life? Could the thoughts, of
which there remained so many vestiges, have vanished quite away? And
these beings, composed of such noble materials of thinking and feeling,
have they only melted into the elements to keep in motion the grand mass
of life? It cannot be!--as easily could I believe that the large silver
lions at the top of the banqueting room thought and reasoned. But
avaunt! ye waking dreams! yet I cannot describe the curiosities to you.
There were cabinets full of baubles and gems, and swords which must have
been wielded by giant's hand. The coronation ornaments wait quietly here
till wanted, and the wardrobe exhibits the vestments which formerly
graced these shows. It is a pity they do not lend them to the actors,
instead of allowing them to perish ingloriously.
I have not visited any other palace, excepting Hirsholm, the gardens of
which are laid out with taste, and command the finest views the country
affords. As they are in the modern and English style, I thought I was
following the footsteps of Matilda, who wished to multiply around her
the images of her beloved country. I was also gratified by the sight of
a Norwegian landscape in miniature, which with great propriety makes a
part of the Danish King's garden. The cottage is well imitated, and the
whole has a pleasing effect, particularly so to me who love Norway--its
peaceful farms and spacious wilds.
The public library consists of a collection much larger than I expected
to see; and it is well arranged. Of the value of the Icelandic
manuscripts I could not form a judgment, though the alphabet of some of
them amused me, by showing what immense labour men will submit to, in
order to transmit their ideas to posterity. I have sometimes thought it
a great misfortune for individuals to acquire a certain delicacy of
sentiment, which often makes them weary of the common occurrences of
life; yet it is this very delicacy of feeling and thinking which
probably has produced most of the performances that have benefited
mankind. It might with propriety, perhaps, be termed the malady of
genius; the cause of that characteristic melancholy which "grows with
its growth, and strengthens with its strength."
There are some good pictures in the royal museum. Do not start, I am not
going to trouble you with a dull catalogue, or stupid criticisms on
masters to whom time has assigned their just niche in the temple of
fame; had there been any by living artists of this country, I should
have noticed them, as making a part of the sketches I am drawing of the
present state of the place. The good pictures were mixed
indiscriminately with the bad ones, in order to assort the frames. The
same fault is conspicuous in the new splendid gallery forming at Paris;
though it seems an obvious thought that a school for artists ought to be
arranged in such a manner, as to show the progressive discoveries and
improvements in the art.
A collection of the dresses, arms, and implements of the Laplanders
attracted my attention, displaying that first species of ingenuity which
is rather a proof of patient perseverance, than comprehension of mind.
The specimens of natural history, and curiosities of art, were likewise
huddled together without that scientific order which alone renders them
useful; but this may partly have been occasioned by the hasty manner in
which they were removed from the palace when in flames.
There are some respectable men of science here, but few literary
characters, and fewer artists. They want encouragement, and will
continue, I fear, from the present appearance of things, to languish
unnoticed a long time; for neither the vanity of wealth, nor the
enterprising spirit of commerce, has yet thrown a glance that way.
Besides, the Prince Royal, determined to be economical, almost descends
to parsimony; and perhaps depresses his subjects, by labouring not to
oppress them; for his intentions always seem to be good--yet nothing can
give a more forcible idea of the dulness which eats away all activity of
mind, than the insipid routine of a court, without magnificence or
elegance.
The Prince, from what I can now collect, has very moderate abilities;
yet is so well disposed, that Count Bernstorff finds him as tractable as
he could wish; for I consider the Count as the real sovereign, scarcely
behind the curtain; the Prince having none of that obstinate
self-sufficiency of youth, so often the forerunner of decision of
character. He and the Princess his wife, dine every day with the King,
to save the expense of two tables. What a mummery it must be to treat as
a king a being who has lost the majesty of man! But even Count
Bernstorff's morality submits to this standing imposition; and he avails
himself of it sometimes, to soften a refusal of his own, by saying it is
the _will_ of the King, my master, when everybody knows that he has
neither will nor memory. Much the same use is made of him as, I have
observed, some termagant wives make of their husbands; they would dwell
on the necessity of obeying their husbands, poor passive souls, who
never were allowed _to will_, when they wanted to conceal their own
tyranny.
A story is told here of the King's formerly making a dog counsellor of
state, because when the dog, accustomed to eat at the royal table,
snatched a piece of meat off an old officer's plate, he reproved him
jocosely, saying that he, _monsieur le chien_, had not the privilege of
dining with his majesty, a privilege annexed to this distinction.
The burning of the palace was, in fact, a fortunate circumstance, as it
afforded a pretext for reducing the establishment of the household,
which was far too great for the revenue of the Crown. The Prince Royal,
at present, runs into the opposite extreme; and the formality, if not
the parsimony, of the court, seems to extend to all the other branches
of society, which I had an opportunity of observing; though hospitality
still characterises their intercourse with strangers.
But let me now stop; I may be a little partial, and view everything with
the jaundiced eye of melancholy--for I am sad--and have cause.
God bless you!