Produced by Julia Miller and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
Transcriber's note:
4 pages of advertisements were printed on the first pages of the
book, and have been moved to the end of this ebook.
The author's incorrect/inconsistent spelling of names has been
retained (e.g. Troendhjem for Trondhjem, Roeskilde for Roskilde and
Gotha Canal for Goetha C.).
The two first references to Fredericksborg Castle (in "city to
Fredericksborg" and "surrounds Fredericksborg") should correctly say
"Fredericksberg Castle". This is a mistake by the author. The two
later references to Fredericksborg Castle (in "palace of
Fredericksborg" and "window of Fredericksborg") are correct.
* * * * *
DUE NORTH
OR
GLIMPSES OF SCANDINAVIA AND
RUSSIA
BY
MATURIN M. BALLOU
AUTHOR OF "EDGE-TOOLS OF SPEECH," "DUE SOUTH; OR, CUBA, PAST AND
PRESENT," "GENIUS IN SUNSHINE AND SHADOW," ETC.
Only that travelling is good which reveals to me the value of
home, and enables me to enjoy it better.--THOREAU.
BOSTON
TICKNOR AND COMPANY
1887
_Copyright, 1887_,
BY MATURIN M. BALLOU.
_All rights reserved._
University Press:
JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE.
PREFACE.
About five years ago, the Author, having then just returned from
circumnavigating the globe, was induced to record his experiences of
the long journey, which were published in a volume entitled "Due
West; or, Round the World in Ten Months." The public favor accorded
to this work led, a couple of years later, to the issuing of a second
volume of travels, upon the Author's return from the West Indies,
entitled "Due South; or, Cuba, Past and Present." The popular success
of both books and the flattering comments of the critics have caused
the undersigned to believe that a certain portion of the public is
pleased to see foreign lands and people through his eyes; and hence
the publication of the volume now in hand. These pages describing the
far North, from which the Author has just returned,--including
Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Russian Poland,--seem naturally to
suggest the title of "Due North." Without permitting prejudice to
circumscribe judgment in treating of Russia, the effort has been to
represent the condition of that country and its Polish province
truthfully, and to draw only reasonable deductions. This special
reference is made to the pages relating to the Tzar's government, as
it will be found that the Author does not accord with the popularly
expressed opinion upon this subject.
M. M. B.
BOSTON, March, 1887.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
Copenhagen. -- First Stroll in a Strange City. -- Danish
Children. -- Antiquity of Copenhagen. -- English Arrogance. --
The Baltic Sea. -- Danish Possessions. -- Descendants of the
Vikings. -- Covetous Germany. -- The Denmark of To-day. --
Thorwaldsen's Remarkable Museum. -- The Ethnological Museum.
-- Educational Matters. -- Eminent Natives. -- Charitable
Institutions. -- Antique Churches. -- Royal Palaces. --
Historical Memories. -- City Architecture. -- Zoological
Gardens
1-23
CHAPTER II.
Public Amusements in Copenhagen. -- Danish Sovereigns. -- The
Fashionable Promenade. -- Danish Women. -- Palace of Rosenborg.
-- A Golconda of Gems. -- A Poet's Monument. -- A Famous
Astronomer. -- Our Lady's Church. -- The King's Square. -- The
Curious Old Round Tower. -- The Peasantry. -- A Famous Deer Park.
-- Roeskilde. -- Elsinore. -- Gypsies. -- Kronborg Castle. -- The
Queen's Prison. -- Hamlet and Ophelia's Grave. -- A Danish
Legend
24-40
CHAPTER III.
Gottenburg. -- Ruins of Elfsborg. -- Gustavus Adolphus. -- A
Wrecked Monument. -- The Girdle-Duellists. -- Emigration to
America. -- Public and Private Gardens. -- A Kindly People. --
The Goetha Canal. -- Falls of Trollhaetta. -- Dainty Wild-Flowers.
-- Water-Ways. -- Stockholm and Lake Maelaren. -- Prehistoric
Tokens. -- Iron Mines of Sweden. -- Pleasing Episode with
Children. -- The Liquor Traffic Systematized. -- A Great
Practical Charity. -- A Domestic Habit
41-56
CHAPTER IV.
Capital of Norway. -- A Grand Fjord. -- A Free and Independent
State. -- The Legal Code. -- Royal Palace and Gardens. -- Oscar's
Hall. -- The University. -- Public Amusements. -- The Ice Trade.
-- Ancient Viking Ships. -- Heathen Tombs. -- An Interesting
Hostelry. -- A Steam Kitchen. -- Environs of Christiania. --
Horses and their Treatment. -- Harvest Time. -- Women's Work. --
The Saeter. -- A Remarkable Lake. -- Wild Birds. -- Inland Travel.
-- Scandinavian Wild Flowers. -- Lonely Habitations. -- A Land of
Alpine Heights
57-85
CHAPTER V.
Ancient Capital of Norway. -- Routes of Travel. -- Rain! --
Peasant Costumes. -- Commerce of Bergen. -- Shark's _vs._ Cod
Liver Oil. -- Ship-Building. -- Public Edifices. -- Quaint Shops.
-- Borgund Church. -- Leprosy in Norway. -- Sporting Country. --
Inland Experiences. -- Hay-Making. -- Pine-Forest Experiences. --
National Constitution. -- People's Schools. -- Girls' Industrial
School. -- Celebrated Citizens of Bergen. -- Two Grand Norwegian
Fjords. -- Remarkable Glaciers
86-101
CHAPTER VI.
Ancient and Modern Trondhjem. -- Runic Inscriptions. -- A Famous
Old Cathedral. -- Local Characteristics. -- Romantic Story of
King Olaf. -- Curious Local Productions. -- An Island Prison. --
Lafoss Falls. -- Corn Magazines. -- Land-owners. -- Wood-cutters.
-- Forests. -- A Tumble Overboard. -- A Genuine Cockney. --
Comparative Length of Days. -- Characteristics of Boreal Regions.
-- Arctic Winter Fisheries. -- The Ancient Town of Lund; the
Oxford of Sweden. -- Pagan Times
102-115
CHAPTER VII.
Along the Coast of Norway. -- Education at the Far North. -- An
Interesting Character. -- A Botanical Enthusiast. -- Remarkable
Mountain Tunnel. -- A Hard Climb. -- The Seven Sisters. -- Young
England. -- An Amateur Photographer. -- Horseman's Island. --
Ancient Town of Bodoee. -- Arctic Flowers. -- The Famous
Maelstroem. -- Illusions! -- The Wonderful Lofoden Islands. --
Grand and Unique Scenery. -- Glaciers. -- Nature's Architecture.
-- Mysterious Effects. -- Attraction for Artists
116-135
CHAPTER VIII.
Birds of the Arctic Regions. -- Effect of Continuous Daylight.
-- Town of Tromsoee. -- The Aurora Borealis. -- Love of Flowers.
-- The Growth of Trees. -- Butterflies. -- Home Flowers. --
Trees. -- Shooting Whales with Cannon. -- Prehistoric Relics. --
About Laplanders. -- Eider Ducks. -- A Norsk Wedding Present. --
Gypsies of the North. -- Pagan Rites. -- The Use of the Reindeer.
-- Domestic Life of the Lapps. -- Marriage Ceremony. -- A Gypsy
Queen. -- Lapp Babies. -- Graceful Acknowledgment
136-155
CHAPTER IX.
Experiences Sailing Northward. -- Arctic Whaling. -- The
Feathered Tribe. -- Caught in a Trap. -- Domestic Animals. -- The
Marvellous Gulf Stream. -- Town of Hammerfest. -- Commerce. --
Arctic Mosquitoes. -- The Public Crier. -- Norwegian Marriages.
-- Peculiar Bird Habits. -- A Hint to Naturalists. -- Bird
Island. -- A Lonely Habitation. -- High Latitude. -- Final
Landing at the North Cape. -- A Hard Climb. -- View of the
Wonderful Midnight Sun
156-168
CHAPTER X.
Journey Across Country. -- Capital of Sweden. -- Old and New.
-- Swedish History. -- Local Attractions. -- King Oscar II. --
The Royal Palace. -- The Westminster Abbey of Stockholm. -- A
Splendid Deer Park. -- Public Amusements. -- The Sabbath. -- An
Official Dude. -- An Awkward Statue. -- Swedish Nightingales. --
Linnaeus and Swedenborg. -- Dalecarlia Girls. -- A Remarkable
Group in Bronze. -- Rosedale Royal Cottage. -- Ancient Oaks. --
Upsala and its Surroundings. -- Ancient Mounds at old Upsala. --
Swedenborg's Study
169-192
CHAPTER XI.
The Northern Mediterranean. -- Depth of the Sea. -- Where Amber
Comes From. -- A Thousand Isles. -- City of Abo. -- Departed
Glory. -- Capital of Finland. -- Local Scenes. -- Russian
Government. -- Finland's Dependency. -- Billingsgate. -- A Woman
Sailor in an Exigency. -- Fortress of Sweaborg. -- Fortifications
of Cronstadt. -- Russia's Great Naval Station. -- The Emperor's
Steam Yacht. -- A Sail up the Neva. -- St. Petersburg in the
Distance. -- First Russian Dinner
193-205
CHAPTER XII.
St. Petersburg. -- Churches. -- The Alexander Column. --
Principal Street. -- Cathedral of Peter and Paul. -- Nevsky
Monastery. -- Russian Priesthood. -- The Canals. -- Public
Library. -- Cruelty of an Empress. -- Religious Devotion of the
People. -- A Dangerous Locality. -- Population. -- The Neva and
Lake Ladoga. -- The Nicholas Bridge. -- Winter Season. -- Begging
Nuns. -- Nihilism. -- Scandal Touching the Emperor. -- The
Fashionable Drive. -- St. Isaac's Church. -- Russian Bells. --
Famous Equestrian Statue. -- The Admiralty. -- Architecture
206-240
CHAPTER XIII.
The Winter Palace. -- The Hermitage and its Riches. -- An Empress
and her Fancies. -- A Royal Retreat. -- Russian Culture. --
Public Library. -- The Summer Garden. -- Temperature of the City.
-- Choosing of the Brides. -- Peter's Cottage. -- Champ de Mars.
-- Academy of Fine Arts. -- School of Mines. -- Precious Stones.
-- The Imperial Home at Peterhoff. -- Curious and Interesting
Buildings. -- Catherine's Oak. -- Alexander III. at Parade. --
Description of the Royal Family. -- Horse-Racing. -- The
Empress's Companions
241-264
CHAPTER XIV.
Power of the Greek Church. -- Freeing the Serfs. -- Education
Needed. -- Mammoth Russia. -- Religion and Superstition.
-- Memorial Structures. -- Church Fasts. -- Theatres and Public
Amusements. -- Night Revels. -- A Russian Bazaar. -- Children's
Nurses in Costume. -- The one Vehicle of Russia. -- Dress of the
People. -- Fire Brigade. -- Red Tape. -- Personal Surveillance.
-- Passports. -- Annoyances. -- Spying Upon Strangers. -- The
Author's Experience. -- Censorship of the Press
265-279
CHAPTER XV.
On the Road to Moscow. -- Russian Peasantry. -- Military Station
Masters. -- Peat Fuel for the War-Ships. -- Farm Products. --
Scenery. -- Wild-Flowers. -- City of Tver. -- Inland Navigation.
-- The Great River Volga. -- The Ancient Muscovite Capital. --
Spires and Minarets. -- A Russian Mecca. -- Pictorial Signs. --
The Kremlin. -- The Royal Palace. -- King of Bells. -- Cathedral
of St. Basil. -- The Royal Treasury. -- Church of Our Saviour. --
Chinese City. -- Rag Fair. -- Manufactures
280-305
CHAPTER XVI.
Domestic Life in Moscow. -- Oriental Seclusion of Women. -- The
Foundling Hospital. -- A Christian Charity. -- A Metropolitan
Centre. -- City Museum. -- The University. -- Tea-Drinking.
-- Pleasure Gardens. -- Drosky Drivers. -- Riding-School.
-- Theatres. -- Universal Bribery. -- Love of Country. --
Russians as Linguists. -- Sparrow Hill. -- Petrofski Park. --
Muscovite Gypsies. -- Fast Life. -- Intemperance. -- A Famous
Monastery. -- City Highways. -- Sacred Pigeons. -- Beggars
306-332
CHAPTER XVII.
Nijni-Novgorod. -- Hot Weather. -- The River Volga. -- Hundreds
of Steamers. -- Great Annual Fair. -- Peculiar Character of the
Trade. -- Motley Collection of Humanity. -- An Army of Beggars.
-- Rare and Precious Stones. -- The Famous Brick Tea. -- A Costly
Beverage. -- Sanitary Measures. -- Disgraceful Dance Halls. --
Fatal Beauty. -- A Sad History. -- Light-Fingered Gentry. --
Convicts. -- Facts about Siberia. -- Local Customs. -- Russian
Punishment
333-352
CHAPTER XVIII.
On the Road to Poland. -- Extensive Grain-Fields. -- Polish
Peasantry. -- A Russian General. -- No Evidence of Oppression.
-- Warsaw and its Surroundings. -- Mingled Squalor and Elegance.
-- Monuments of the City. -- Polish Nobility. -- Circassian
Troops. -- Polish Language. -- The Jews of Warsaw. -- Political
Condition of Poland. -- Public Parks. -- The Famous Saxony
Gardens. -- Present Commercial Prosperity. -- Local Sentiment.
-- Concerning Polish Ladies and Jewish Beauties
353-373
DUE NORTH;
OR,
GLIMPSES OF SCANDINAVIA AND RUSSIA.
CHAPTER I.
Copenhagen. -- First Stroll in a Strange City. -- Danish
Children. -- Antiquity of Copenhagen. -- English Arrogance. --
The Baltic Sea. -- Danish Possessions. -- Descendants of the
Vikings. -- Covetous Germany. -- The Denmark of To-day. --
Thorwaldsen's Remarkable Museum. -- The Ethnological Museum. --
Educational Matters. -- Eminent Natives. -- Charitable
Institutions. -- Antique Churches. -- Royal Palaces. --
Historical Memories. -- City Architecture. -- Zoological Gardens.
Having resolved upon a journey due north, twenty days of travel over
familiar routes carried the author across the Atlantic and, by the
way of Liverpool, London, Paris, and Hamburg, landed him in
Copenhagen, the pleasant and thrifty capital of Denmark. As the
following pages will be devoted to Scandinavia, Russia, and Russian
Poland, this metropolis seems to be a proper locality at which to
begin the northern journey with the reader.
It was already nearly midnight when the Hotel D'Angleterre, fronting
upon the Kongens Nytorv, was reached. So long a period of
uninterrupted travel, night and day, rendered a few hours of quiet
sleep something to be gratefully appreciated. Early the next morning
the consciousness of being in a strange city, always so stimulating
to the observant traveller, sent us forth with curious eyes upon the
thoroughfares of the Danish capital before the average citizen was
awake. The importunities of couriers and local guides, who are always
on the watch for visitors, were at first sedulously ignored; for it
would be foolish to rob one's self of the great pleasure of a
preliminary stroll alone amid scenes and localities of which one is
blissfully ignorant. A cicerone will come into the programme later
on, and is a prime necessity at the proper time; but at the outset
there is a keen gratification and novelty in verifying or
contradicting preconceived ideas, by threading unattended a labyrinth
of mysterious streets and blind alleys, leading one knows not where,
and suddenly coming out upon some broad square or boulevard full of
unexpected palaces and grand public monuments.
It was thus that we wandered into the old Market Square where
Dietrick Slagheck, Archbishop of Lund and minister of Christian II.,
was burned alive. A slight stretch of the imagination made the place
still to smell of roasted bishop. "Is this also the land of wooden
shoes?" we asked ourself, as the rapid clatter of human feet upon the
pavements recalled the familiar street-echoes of Antwerp. How eagerly
the eye receives and retains each new impression under such
circumstances! How sharp it is to search out peculiarities of dress,
manners, architecture, modes of conveyance, the attractive display of
merchandise in shop-windows, and even the expression upon the faces
of men, women, and children! Children! if any one says the Danish
children are not pretty, you may with safety contradict him. Their
delicately rounded, fresh young faces are lit up by such bright,
turquoise-colored, forget-me-not blue eyes as appeal to the heart at
once. What a wholesome appetite followed upon this pioneer excursion,
when we entered at breakfast on a new series of observations while
satisfying the vigorous calls of hunger, each course proving a
novelty, and every dish a fresh voyage of gastronomic discovery!
Copenhagen was a large commercial port many centuries ago, and has
several times been partially destroyed by war and conflagration. It
has some two hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, and is about six
miles in circumference. The site of the city is so low as to render
it necessary to protect it from the waters of the Baltic by
artificial embankments. Like Amsterdam and Venice, it may be said to
possess "remarkable water-privileges." We were told that the citizens
were making earnest remonstrance as to the inefficient drainage of
the city, which is believed to be the prime cause of a somewhat
extraordinary percentage of mortality. In past times it has more than
once been visited by the plague, which so late as 1711 caused the
death of over twenty-eight thousand of its inhabitants. It is only
some thirty years since, that over five thousand persons died here
of cholera in one season. Fevers of a typhoid character prevail
annually, which are no doubt with good reason attributed to want of
proper drainage. Notwithstanding Copenhagen is situated so nearly at
tide level, modern engineering could easily perfect a system of
drainage which would render it independent of this circumstance. The
safe and spacious harbor is formed by the channel between the islands
of Zeeland and Amager, where there is ample depth and room to answer
the demands of a far more extended commerce than the city is ever
likely to maintain. The houses are mostly of brick, some of the
better class being built of Norwegian granite, while the newer
portion of the town presents many examples of fine modern
architecture. The streets are of good width and laid out with an eye
to regularity, besides which there are sixteen spacious public
squares. Taken as a whole, the first impression of the place and its
surroundings is remarkably pleasing and attractive. As one approaches
the city, the scene is enlivened by the many windmills in the
environs, whose wide-spread arms are generally in motion, appearing
like the broad wings of enormous birds hovering over the land and
just preparing to alight. One is hardly surprised that Don Quixote
should mistake them for palpable enemies, and charge upon them full
tilt. Perhaps the earliest associations in its modern history which
the stranger is likely to remember, as he looks about him in
Copenhagen, is that of the dastardly attack upon the city, and the
shelling of it for three consecutive days, by the British fleet in
1807, during which uncalled for and reckless onslaught an immense
destruction of human life and property was inflicted upon the place.
Over three hundred important buildings were laid in ashes on that
occasion, because Denmark refused permission for the domiciling of
English troops upon her soil, and declined, as she had a most
unquestionable right to do, to withdraw her connection with the
neutral powers. It was one of the most outrageous examples of English
arrogance on record,--one which even her own historians feel
compelled to denounce emphatically. No wonder the gallant Nelson
expressed his deep regret at being sent to the Baltic on such
distasteful service. Copenhagen received the expressive name it bears
(Merchant's Haven) on account of its excellent harbor and general
commercial advantages. As in the Mediterranean so in the Baltic,
tidal influence is felt only to a small degree, the difference in the
rise and fall of the water at this point being scarcely more than one
foot. It should be remembered, however, that the level of the waters
of the Baltic are subject, like those of the Swiss lakes, to
barometric variations. Owing to the comparatively fresh character of
this sea, its ports are ice-bound for a third of each year, and in
extreme seasons the whole expanse is frozen across from the Denmark
to the Swedish coast. In 1658, Charles X. of Sweden marched his army
across the Belts, dictating to the Danes a treaty of peace; and so
late as 1809, a Russian army passed from Finland to Sweden across the
Gulf of Bothnia.
The possessions of Denmark upon the main-land are in our day quite
circumscribed, consisting of Jutland only; but she has besides
several islands far and near, of which Zeeland is the most populous,
and contains the capital. As a State, she may be said to occupy a
much larger space in history than upon the map of Europe. The surface
of the island of Zeeland is uniformly low, in this respect resembling
Holland, the highest point reaching an elevation of but five hundred
and fifty feet. To be precise in the matter of her dominions, the
colonial possessions of Denmark may be thus enumerated: Greenland,
Iceland, the Faroe group of islands, between the Shetlands and
Iceland; adding St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John in the West
Indies. Greenland is nearly as large as Germany and France combined;
but its inhabitants do not quite reach an aggregate of ten thousand.
Iceland is about the size of our New England States, and has a
population of seventy-five thousand. The Faroes contain ten thousand
inhabitants, and the three West Indian islands united have a
population of a little over forty thousand.
A slight sense of disappointment was realized at not finding more
visible evidences of antiquity while visiting the several sections of
the capital, particularly as it was remembered that a short time
since, in 1880, the Danish monarchy reached the thousandth
anniversary of its foundation under Gorm the Old, whose reign bridges
over the interval between mere legend and the dawn of recorded
history. Gorm is supposed to have been a direct descendant of the
famous Viking, Regnar Lodbrog, who was a daring and imperious ruler
of the early Northmen. The common origin of the three Baltic
nationalities which constitute Scandinavia is clearly apparent to the
traveller who has visited Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, or to any one
who has even an ordinary knowledge of their history. The race has
been steadily modified, generation after generation, in its more
vivid characteristics, by the progressive force of civilization.
These Northmen are no longer the haughty and reckless warriors who
revelled in wine drunk from the skulls of their enemies, and who
deemed death only respectable when encountered upon the battle-field.
Clearer intelligence and culture have substituted the duties of
peaceful citizens for those of marauders, and the enterprises of
civilized life for the exaggerated romance of chivalry. Reading and
writing, which were looked upon among them as allied to the black art
a few centuries ago, are now the universal accomplishment of all
classes, and nowhere on the globe will the traveller find a people
more cheerful, intelligent, frank, and hospitable than in the three
kingdoms of the far North.
Though the Danes are physically rather small, resembling in this
respect the Japanese, still they spring, as we have seen, from a
brave and warlike race, and have never been subjugated by any other
people. On the contrary, in the olden time they conquered England,
dismembered France, and subjugated Norway and Sweden. The time has
been when the Danes boasted the largest and most efficient navy in
the world, and their realm still justly bears the title of "Queen of
the Baltic." As to seamanship, they are universally acknowledged to
be among the best sailors who navigate the ocean. That Germany covets
Denmark is more than hinted at. The author heard a loud-talking naval
gentleman, of German nationality, coolly express the opinion that
Denmark as an independent kingdom had nearly reached the close of its
existence. This was on board the German mail-steamer, while crossing
a branch of the Baltic between the ports of Kiel and Korsoer. Whether
this individual reflected the ambitious purposes of the present
German government, or only echoed a popular sentiment of his nation,
the reader is left to judge. Were Bismarck to attempt, upon any
subterfuge, to absorb Denmark, it is reasonable to suppose that other
European powers would have something to say upon the subject; but
that the map of Europe, as now constructed, is destined to undergo
radical changes in the near future cannot be doubted.
The Denmark of to-day, typified by Copenhagen its capital, is a great
centre of science and of art, quite as much so as are Munich or
Dresden. It is surprising that so few travellers, comparatively,
resort thither. For the study of ethnological subjects, there is no
country which affords greater facilities, or which is more
interesting to scientists generally. The spirit of Thorwaldsen here
permeates everything; and in making his native city his heir, he
also bequeathed to her an appreciation of art, which her eminent
scientists have ably supplemented in their several departments of
knowledge. To visit the unique Thorwaldsen Museum alone would repay a
journey to Copenhagen, and no visitor to this Venice of the North
should fail thoroughly to explore its riches. It is in the very
centre of the city, situated close to the Palace of Christiansborg,
and was erected in 1845 from the great sculptor's own design, based
on the Egyptian order of architecture. It is two stories in height,
and quadrangular in form,--the lower story containing sculpture only;
the upper, both statuary and pictures. The external aspect of the
structure is certainly not pleasing, but within, "where the marble
statues breathe in rows," may be seen collected together and
appropriately arranged six hundred of the great master's works,
exhibiting the splendid and it is believed, as regards this
department of art, unequalled result of one man's genius and
industry. With galleries and vestibules the Museum contains over
forty apartments, ample space being afforded for the best display of
each figure and each group. The ceilings are elaborately and very
beautifully decorated with emblematical designs by the best Danish
artists. This enduring monument to art is also Thorwaldsen's
appropriate mausoleum, being fashioned externally after an Etruscan
tomb, and decorated in fresco with scenes illustrative of the
sculptor's life. These crude and unprotected frescos, however, have
become quite dim, and are being gradually effaced by exposure to the
elements. So far as any artistic effect is concerned, we are honestly
forced to say that the sooner they disappear the better. The interior
of the Museum is peculiar in its combined effect,--a little
depressing, we thought, being painted and finished in the sombre
Pompeian style. It contains only Thorwaldsen's works and a few
pictures which he brought with him when he removed hither from Rome,
where so many years of his artistic life were passed. We have here
presented to us the busts, models, sketches, and forms in clay,
plaster, or marble, which represent all his works. Thorwaldsen's
favorite motto was: "The artist belongs to his work, not the work to
the artist,"--a conscientious devotion which seems to invest
everything which came from his hand. His body lies buried in the
centre of the open court about which the building is constructed,
without any designating stone, the ground being slightly raised above
the surrounding pavement, and appropriately covered with a bed of
growing ivy. A sense of stillness and solemnity seems to permeate the
atmosphere as one pauses beside this lowly but expressive mound.
Among the portrait-statues which linger in the memory are many
historic and familiar characters, such as Copernicus, Byron, Goethe,
Hans Andersen, Humboldt, Schiller, Horace Vernet, Christian IV., the
favorite monarch of the Danes, and many more. We have said that the
general effect of these artistic halls was a little depressing;
still, this was not the influence of the great sculptor's creations,
for they are full of the joyous, elevating, and noble characteristics
of humanity. Thorwaldsen revelled in the representation of
tenderness, of youth, beauty, and childhood. Nothing of the repulsive
or terrible ever came from his hand. The sculptor's regal fancy found
expression most fully, perhaps, in the _relievi_ which are gathered
here, illustrating the delightful legends of the Greek mythology. He
gives us here in exquisite marble his original conceptions of what
others have depicted with the pen and the brush. No one can wonder at
the universal homage accorded by his countrymen to the memory of the
greatest of modern sculptors. The bust of Luther is seen in the main
hall in an unfinished condition, just as the sculptor left it, and
upon which, indeed, he is said to have worked the day before his
death. It depicts a rude, coarse face, but one full of energy and
power. In the Hall of Christ, as it is called, is the celebrated
group of our Lord and the Twelve Disciples, the original of which is
in the Cathedral. The impressive effect of this remarkable group is
universally conceded; no one can stand before it unaffected by its
grand and solemn beauty. Thorwaldsen's household furniture,
writing-desk, books, pictures, and relics are here disposed as they
were found in his home on the day of his death,--among which a clock,
made by him when he was but twelve years of age, will interest the
visitor.
A large proportion of the many persons whom we met in the Museum were
Danes, whose respectability and admirable behavior impressed us most
favorably,--a conviction which was daily corroborated upon the public
streets, where there was none of the grossness observable which is so
glaring among the middle and lower classes of more southern cities.
There are no mendicants upon the thoroughfares; order and cleanliness
reign everywhere, reminding one of Holland and the Hague. The young
trees and delicate flowers in the public gardens require no special
protection, and one looks in vain for anything like rowdyism in the
crowded thoroughfares. Though the Danes are free consumers of malt
liquors, not a case of intoxication met the author's eye while he
remained in Copenhagen.
The Ethnological Museum of the city, better known as the Museum of
Northern Antiquities, is generally considered to be the most
remarkable institution of its class in Europe. Students in this
department of science come from all parts of the civilized world to
seek knowledge from its countless treasures. One is here enabled to
follow the progress of our race from its primitive stages to its
highest civilization. The national government liberally aids all
purposes akin to science and art; consequently this Museum is a
favored object of the State, being also liberally endowed by private
munificence. Each of the three distinctive periods of Stone, Bronze,
and Iron forms an elaborate division in the spacious halls of the
institution. In classifying the objects, care has been taken not
only to divide the three great periods named, but also in each of
these divisions those belonging to the beginning and the end of the
period are chronologically placed, as fast as such nice distinctions
can be wrought out by careful, scientific study and comparison. Here
the visitor gazes with absorbing interest upon the tangible evidences
of a race that inhabited this earth probably thousands of years
before it was broken into islands and continents. Their one token,
these rude, but expressive stone implements, are found equally
distributed from the Arctic Circle to the Equator, from Canada to
Brazil, from England to Japan. Scientists whose culture and
intelligence entitle their opinion to respect, place the Stone Age as
here illustrated at least twenty thousand years before the birth of
Christ. How absorbing is the interest attaching to these relics which
ages have consecrated! No matter what our preconceived notions may
be, science only deals with irrefutable facts. The periods delineated
may be thus expressed: first the Flint period, which comes down to
fifteen hundred years before Christ; followed by the Bronze, which
includes the next twelve or thirteen hundred years; then the Iron,
which comes down far into the Christian era. What is termed the
Mediaeval brings us to 1536, since which time there is no occasion for
classification. No wonder the antiquarian becomes so absorbed in the
study of the past. "The earliest and the longest has still the
mastery over us," says George Eliot. Progress is daily making in the
correct reading of these comprehensive data, and those who may come
after us will be born to a great wealth of antiquity. Other countries
may learn much from the admirable management of this Museum in the
matter of improving the educational advantages which it affords.
Professors of eminence daily accompany the groups of visitors,
clearly explaining the purport and the historical relations of the
many interesting objects. These persons are not merely intelligent
employees, but they are also trained scientists; and, above all, they
are enthusiastic in freely imparting the knowledge which inspires
them. Such impromptu lectures are both original and impressive.
Indeed, to go through the Ethnological Museum of Copenhagen
understandingly is a liberal education. It should be added that the
zeal and affability of these able officials is as freely and
cheerfully extended to the humblest citizen as to distinguished
strangers. One returns again and again with a sort of fascination to
these indisputable evidences of history relating to periods of which
there is no written record. If they are partially defective in their
consecutive teachings, they are most impressive in the actual
knowledge which they convey. Without giving us a list of sovereigns
or positive dates, they afford collectively a clearer knowledge of
the religion, culture, and domestic life of the people of their
several periods than a Gibbon or a Bancroft could depict with their
glowing pages.
The Danes are a cultured people, much more so, indeed, than the
average classes of the continental States. The large number of
book-stores was a noticeable feature of the capital, as well as the
excellent character of the books which were offered for sale. These
were in German, French, and English, the literature of the latter
being especially well represented. Copenhagen has more daily and
weekly newspapers, magazines, and current news publications than
Edinburgh or Dublin, or most of the provincial cities of Great
Britain. It may be doubted if even in this country, outside of New
England, we have many districts more liberally supplied with free
library accommodations, or with educational facilities for youth,
than are the populous portions of Zeeland and Jutland. Even small
country villages have their book-clubs and dramatic clubs. A very
general taste for the drama prevails. Indeed, Denmark has a national
drama of its own, which exercises a notable influence upon its
people. This Government was the first in Europe to furnish the means
of education to the people at large on a liberal scale, to establish
schoolhouses in every parish, and to provide suitable dwellings and
incomes for the teachers. The incipient steps towards this object
began as far back as the time of Christian II., more than three
centuries ago, while most of the European States were grovelling in
ignorance. Copenhagen has two public libraries,--the Royal,
containing over six hundred thousand books; and the University, which
has between two hundred and fifty and three hundred thousand volumes,
not to speak in detail of a particularly choice collection of
manuscripts. These under reasonable restrictions are free to all,
citizen or foreigner. The National University is of the first class,
and supports a well organized lecture-system, like that of the
Sorbonne in Paris, and which is also free to all, women having the
same facilities afforded them as those enjoyed by the sterner sex.
This institution, we were assured, is conducted upon the most modern
educational system. It was founded in 1478, and at the present
writing has between twelve and fifteen hundred students, instructed
by about fifty able professors.
Though Denmark is a small kingdom, containing scarcely three millions
of people, yet it has produced many eminent men of science, of art,
and of literature. The names of Hans Christian Andersen, of Rasmus
Rask the philologist, of Oersted the discoverer of electro-magnetism,
of Forchhammer the mineralogist, and Eschricht the physiologist, will
occur to the reader's mind in this connection. It is a country of
legend and romance, of historic and prehistoric monuments, besides
being the very father-land of fairy tales. The Vikings of old have
left their footprints all over the country in barrows and tumuli. It
is not, therefore, surprising that the cultured portion of the
community are stimulated to antiquarian research. The masses are
clearly a pleasure-loving people, easily amused and contented,
troubling themselves very little about religious matters; the arts,
poetry, and the drama being much more reverenced than the church. The
accepted and almost universal doctrine is that of Lutheranism. One
meets comparatively few intelligent persons who cannot speak English,
while many speak French and German also. The Danish language is a
modified form of the old Gothic, which prevailed in the earliest
historic ages.
Copenhagen is liberally supplied with free hospitals and charitable
institutions, but except the Communal Hospital, the buildings devoted
to these purposes have no architectural merit. A child's home was
pointed out to us designed for the children of the poor, whose
parents are unable to take care of them during their working hours.
Before going out to a day's labor, a mother can place her child in
this temporary home, where it will be properly cared for and fed
until she returns for it. "Is any charge made for this service?" we
asked. "Certainly," replied our informant, himself an official of
importance; and he named a sum equal to about five cents of our money
as the price per day for the care of each infant. "If it were
entirely gratuitous," he added, "it would not be nearly so well
appreciated, and would lead to imposition. The payment of this
trifling sum enhances the estimate of the privilege far beyond its
cost." The institution could not be sustained by such limited charges
however; its real support is by the local government. Another
institution was visited, designed for the sick and poor, where they
can be properly nursed when temporarily ill, yet not sufficiently so
to seek admission to a regular hospital. There have been as many as
eight thousand patients admitted within a twelve-month to this
establishment. There are also homes for old men and old women,
intended for indigent persons who are too old to work. From the
latter "home" there was observed driving upon the Lange Linie, beside
the sea, a large open wagon full of dames who were enjoying a
healthful outing. As the vehicle passed us, the driver was pointing
out to his charges the distant view of Sweden, across the intervening
Sound. The Royal Theatre or Opera House, situated on the King's
Square, was to us a surprise,--it is so similar, at first sight, to
the more elaborate and costly Opera House in the Place de l'Opera in
Paris, and as it antedates that elegant structure, it would certainly
seem to have suggested some of its best lines. The Danish theatre
will accommodate seventeen hundred persons, and is usually well
filled, the royal box being seldom empty. The corridors are
remarkable for spaciousness, and form a popular promenade for both
sexes during the intervals between the acts. This furnishes an
agreeable social break to the often long-protracted performances. On
one side of the theatre facing the Square is a hideous bronze statue
of Adam Oehlenschlaeger, the Danish lyric author; and on the opposite
side is another representing Ludwig von Holberg, the Norwegian
dramatist. This latter, in an artistic sense, is still more
objectionable than the first named. The ballet as represented here is
unique, being mostly designed to illustrate the early history of
Scandinavia.
On one of the main thoroughfares leading from the Square already
named, the triple domes of a Russian church dazzle the eye with
their bright gilded surface and long hanging chains, depending from
cross and crescent of the same metal, the whole reflecting the sun's
rays with the force of a Venetian mirror. The interior, however, is
plain, though rich in white marble, here and there carved in lattice
pattern to form balustrades and daedos. Near by this church is the
residence of the Russian Minister. On this same street, called the
Bredgade, is the Frederick's Church, begun as long ago as 1749, after
a grand design, and not yet finished. It is half surrounded to-day by
a broad high staging, upon which groups of mechanics were seen busily
at work, as has been the case for so many generations. This is known
as the Marble Church, and is surmounted by a grand if not graceful
dome of immense proportions. The English residents of the city are
building an Episcopal church on the Esplanade, the local government
having given the ground for this purpose. The corner-stone was laid
by the Prince of Wales in 1885, with a grand ceremony, at which the
Emperor and Empress of Russia assisted, with all the Danish royal
family. It is the first English church erected in the country. On the
Amaliegade, which runs parallel with the Bredgade and which is the
next street to it, are four spacious palaces, which form a square, in
the centre of which stands a bronze statue of Frederick V. These
palaces are the town residence of the present royal family, one being
also devoted to the business of the Foreign Office. The Amaliegade
ends at the Lange Linie, where the Esplanade begins.
The spire of the large city Exchange is very curious, being formed of
the twisted tails of three marvellous dragons, their bulging heads
resting on the four corners of the tower,--altogether forming the
most ridiculous attempt at architectural ornamentation we have yet
chanced to behold. The building thus surmounted dates back to 1624,
forming a memento of the reign of Christian IV. The Church of our
Saviour has also a remarkable spire, with a winding staircase outside
leading to the pinnacle. The bell which surmounts this lofty spire,
and upon which stands a colossal figure of our Saviour, is said to be
large enough to contain twelve persons at a time; but without
climbing to the summit, the local guide's assurance that there were
just three hundred and ninety three steps between base and top was
unhesitatingly accredited. This church was consecrated in 1696. A
peculiarity of its steeple is the fact that the spiral stairs wind
upwards in the opposite direction from that which is usual. This was
undoubtedly an accident on the part of the mechanics. Christian IV.
detected the awkwardness and pointed it out to the architect, who,
singular to say, had not before realized a circumstance which is now
so obvious. His consequent chagrin was so great as nearly if not
quite to render him insane. He ascended the spire on the day when the
work was completed, and ended his life by throwing himself from the
summit. Such was the entertaining legend rehearsed with great
volubility to us by our local guide, who was evidently annoyed at
our smile of incredulity.
The Christiansborg Palace, which was the Louvre of Copenhagen,
contained many fine paintings by the old masters, including choice
examples by Tintoretto, Nicholas Poussin, Raphael, Rubens, Salvator
Rosa, Vandyke, Rembrandt, and others. The building was partially
burned in 1884,--a fate reserved it would seem for all public
structures in this country, a similar fortune having befallen this
same palace seventeen or eighteen years ago. It still remains in
ruins, and the pictures and other works of art, which were saved,
have not yet found a fitting repository. Not even fire has purged
this now ruined palace of its many tragic histories, its closeted
skeletons, and its sorrowful memories. It was here that Caroline
Matilda was made the reigning queen, and here a court mad with
dissipation held its careless revels. From this place the dethroned
queen went forth to prison at Elsinore, and her reputed lover
(Struensee) was led to the scaffold. There was poetical justice in
the retributive conduct of the son of the unfortunate queen, one of
whose earliest acts upon assuming the reins of government was to
confine the odious queen-mother Juliana in the same fortress which
had formed the prison of Caroline Matilda. Though the Christiansborg
Palace is now in partial ruins, its outer walls and facade are
still standing nearly complete, quite enough so to show that
architecturally it was hugely ugly. When it was intact its vast
courts contained the chambers of Parliament, as well as those
devoted to the suites forming the home of the royal family, and
spacious art galleries.
In strolling about the town one comes now and then upon very quaint
old sections, where low red-tiled roofs and houses, with gable ends
towards the street, break the monotony. The new quarters of
Copenhagen, however, are built up with fine blocks of houses, mostly
in the Grecian style of architecture,--palatial residences, with
facades perhaps a little too generally decorated by pilasters and
floral wreaths, alternating with nymphs and cupids. The two-story
horse-cars convey one in about fifteen minutes over a long, level,
tree-shaded avenue from the centre of the city to Fredericksborg
Castle in the environs. It is a palace erected by Frederick IV. as a
summer residence for himself and court, but though capacious and
finely located, it is void of all aspect of architectural grandeur.
As a portion of the grounds commands a fine view of the city, the
castle is generally visited by strangers. The spacious building is at
present used for a military educational school. The park which
surrounds Fredericksborg Castle is the great charm of the locality,
being ornamented in all parts by immemorial trees, deep sylvan
shades, purling streams, graceful lakes, and inviting greensward. It
forms the daily resort of picnic parties from the close streets of
the town near at hand, who come hither on summer afternoons in such
numbers as to tax the full capacity of the tramway. At the entrance
to the park stands a bronze statue of Frederick IV., which presents
so strong a likeness to Lamartine, in form and feature, as instantly
to recall the French orator and poet. Adjoining the extensive grounds
of the castle is the Zoological Garden, which appears to occupy about
ten acres of well-wooded and highly cultivated territory, ornamented
with choice flower-beds, small lakes for aquatic birds, and a large
brook running through the midst of the grounds. There is here an
admirable collection of animals. The author's visit chanced upon a
Saturday afternoon, when a bevy of primary-school children, composed
of boys and girls under twelve years, was being conducted from
section to section by their teachers, while the nature of each animal
was lucidly explained to them. No advantage for educational purposes
seems to be forgotten or neglected in Denmark.