THE CASINO--THE ROYAL FAMILY OF DENMARK--SUCCESSION
TO HOLSTEIN--THE ENGLISH CONSUL--VISIT TO THE ENGLISH
AMBASSADOR--COLOSSAL STATUE OF CHRISTIAN THE FIFTH--
ANECDOTE OF BELZONI--TRINITY CHURCH--EXTRAORDINARY
FEAT OF PETER THE GREAT--DUCKING AN OFFENDER--PALACE
OF CHRISTIANSBORG--THE EXCHANGE--THE CASTLE OF ROSENBERG.
At seven o'clock, we went to the Casino; and, trusting that we had
deceived Mr. C----, renewed our acquaintance with the gentleman in
spectacles.
The room, an immense one, was lighted from the lofty ceiling with four
splendid chandeliers. The people sat in seats appropriated to them, and
listened attentively to some exquisite pieces of music, played as
exquisitely, by a large band. There was no dancing; nor indeed was the
room adapted for such recreation. The king, the queen, and their niece,
the beautiful Princess Louise, sat in a gallery, speaking to those
around them, and watching with interest the group below. This is that
princess whose hand the Crown Prince, Frederick, thrice divorced, has
sought in vain; for, he failing heirs, Holstein passes from the present
dynasty to the Ducal House of Augustenburg. This political flaw is,
while I write, being adjusted by the Danish Senate, as the impotency of
Frederick, now reigning Sovereign of Denmark, has been pretty well
admitted. The company took no heed of the royal presence, but walked and
talked, and stood with hats on; and when I observed to my late excitable
friend in spectacles, that the English behaved not so in the sight of
their queen, he replied,
"Zat is nuttin. Ze king is nuttin."
"That is to say, though it be done, no feeling of disrespect is meant,"
I continued.
"Ja."
We wandered through illuminated galleries and conservatories sweetly
perfumed with the most delicate flowers. Continually, on every hand, was
revealed some marble statue to attract attention, or living beauty to
gratify the eye. Borne away by these delightful sights and sounds, and
feeling life only in the ideal, this lethargy of soul and body burst,
convulsively, into common existence, as the indomitable Mr. C----
issued, gaping in all directions, from behind a fluted column; and, when
his glance fell on us, the face of Minerva looked not more luminous when
she leaped from the brain of Jove.
"Ah! gentlemen," delightedly he exclaimed, "you gave me the slip; but
the guard below told me three Englishmen were here."
P---- answered him with civility, and said that we had altered our
plans, and could not communicate with him, being in ignorance of his
address. He showed us great attention, and, by explanation, smoothed all
those excrescences of conventional usages which we did not understand.
So far, Mr. C---- was useful; but, seeming a character of doubtful
respectability by the cold indifference with which some Danish gentlemen
received his warm advances, we did not like to be accompanied in public
by a man of whom we knew nothing. His companionship, therefore, hurried
us from the Casino; and, the cathedral clock was tolling midnight, as we
were rowed alongside the yacht. The closed gates again gave us trouble;
and, we thanked the bright stars above us, that knowledge of the French
grammar had survived the tenderness of Anacreon. Nevertheless, this
brought the irksomeness of our situation to a climax, and P---- made up
his mind to call on the Consul in the morning. For my part, I believe, I
became feverish through the night, and in my sleep talked to the
binnacle about Magna Charta.
At eleven o'clock on Monday morning, R----, P----, and I, formed a
deputation, and started for the Consul's office. While R---- was giving
directions to the men when to return with the boat for us, I felt a
gentle tap on my left shoulder; and turning round, received a nod, and
"good morrow," from Mr. C----. His services were, however, required, and
his pertinacity in retaining our friendship was not so unwelcome. We
told him the object we had in view; he appreciated our national conduct,
and begged to take us the pleasantest and shortest way to the Consul's.
Many people were abroad; and hardly one person failed to stop and
recognise us as Englishmen. I do not doubt that the population of
Copenhagen is upwards of 100,000; but I judge from the multitudes which,
in some parts, thronged the principal thoroughfares. The bee-like
movements of the males,--stopping, in the bustle of business, to greet
each other, then hurrying off again,--and the fondness of the females
for gazing in the shop-windows where fine wares lay exposed, frequently
blocking up the small foot-pavement in the gratification of this
idiosyncrasy, assimilated them to my own countrymen and women. I looked
under many a blue bonnet, and caught the sly glance of many a blue eye;
but they were not the blue eye and bonnet of England. I gazed upon many
a sweet, smiling face, and saw many an elegant form; but they had not
the pouting, red lip, and roundness of England. No! wander where I
will--and I have wandered far--I never saw aught to match the pure
beauty of England's Daughter. Stamped on her fair brow, the hand of
Heaven owns no other mould for loveliness; and the die was broken when
sensibility of soul blended with her tender frame the strong feelings of
the heart.
Before I saw enough of life in the streets, we were under the great
gateway which led to the Consul's apartments; for the houses here, as in
Edinburgh and Paris, are divided between several families, and have one
common staircase. The Consul heard attentively our tale, and then told
us he could in no way interfere; but that we had better make a personal
application to the Minister, Sir Henry Whynne.
To Sir Henry we went; and the result with him was the same as with the
Consul. Sir Henry said, he could with just as much propriety interrupt
for our benefit the closing of the gates at a certain hour, as the
Danish Minister in London could interrupt, for the benefit of three
Danes, the closing of the Horse Guards. He recommended us to make
friends with the officer on duty, and he doubted not every facility
would be afforded us in our ingress and regress, to and from the town at
night.
On the strength of that concession by the proper authority, Sir Henry
asked us to dine with him the following day; we thanked him for his
information, and accepted the invitation. Before parting, he offered to
introduce us to the king, who, he assured us, entertained a partiality
for the English, and would be happy to see us and have a game of whist
with us every night at the palace. Mr. C----, who had waited for us
outside, now conducted us round the town, and gave us all the
information he had mustered during a residence of many years in
Copenhagen.
In the centre of the second square,--better paved than the other
one,--where are situated the Theatre, Hotel d'Angleterre, and several
other large hotels, stands another colossal statue of Christian the
Fifth, as devoid of admiration as its prancing fellow. Its remarkable
size has exceeded the bounds of elegance. The horse is about to trample
on a serpent with distended mouth and forked extended tongue, being the
symbol of Discord. Around the pedestal are many figures; and, amongst
them, Minerva's arms and legs are sculptured in prodigious relief: but
it is to be hoped the Goddess of the Fine Arts will, some day, descend
to Copenhagen, and prove to the Danes how symmetrical are her limbs,
since, in this allegorical group, the neck of the wild bull of Crete
must have been a withe to her proportions. An anecdote is told of
Belzoni, when Feldborg showed this statue to him.
"I hope this is not the work of a Danish artist?" demanded Belzoni.
"No; oh, no," replied Feldborg. "If you want to see statues executed by
Danish artists, go to England, or your own country; don't come here.
The statue you are now looking at was sculptured, and no doubt
conceived, by a Frenchman, named Amoureux, who was sent here by Louis
XIV. for the purpose, Louis being excessively anxious, in every
imaginable way, to promote the welfare of the Danish sovereign of that
day."
"Well, the Frenchman who executed this statue has been a clever fellow,"
observed Belzoni; "the only animation I notice in his work, is in the
horse's _tail_."
We clambered up the Round Tower of the Trinity Church, which was founded
by Christian IV. in the year 1673, and finished five years afterwards.
It is 115 feet high, and was used as an observatory about the time of
Tycho Brahe. There are no steps, but the ascent is made by a gentle
spiral plane; and, as we wound our way up, thinking of Peter the Great,
who drove a carriage drawn by four horses to the top, and of the manner
the Czar contrived to reach the bottom without backing; all the names of
all the families of Smiths, Smythes, and Joneses, deeply incised on the
wall, pulled us, with a jerk, to vulgarities again.
From the summit is a fine view of Copenhagen. Before we had finished
moralizing about views and heights, the afternoon had slipped
imperceptibly away. Where we stood, the cowherd's long whoop at
intervals, and, in answer to his call, the faint low of cattle, could
be heard; and, from some cottages beyond the city walls, the bark of
dogs, and noise of faggots being hewn, were interrupted only by the loud
jests of fishermen, who sat at the cottage-doors, unravelling their
nets; while the dewy mist of evening kept rising till it reached the
elm-tree tops, then hung there, like a girdle of thin white gauze. It
was quite an English scene.
We descended; and lagging behind, I followed my companions in silence
home.
We remained on board during the evening, and played at whist. It was
some time before we could muster the ace of spades; but, after diligent
search, it was found, torn in twain, and the fragments stuck upright, in
a pot of marmalade. A small hole bored in the centre of the skin which
covered the preserve, not exceeding the dimensions of Jacko's finger,
proclaimed it to be his handywork. Jacko, fortunately, had retired for
the night to Alfred's hammock; and, out of humanity, the period and
severity of his castigation were deferred till the morrow.
As soon as we rose on Tuesday morning, Jacko was placed in a canvass
bucket, and thrice ducked in the sea; when his yells were caught up by a
flock of little Danes dabbling in the water along the shore, who gave
shriek for shriek.
Remembering Sir Henry Whynne's injunctions, we went, after breakfast,
to the guard-room; and, through the harbour-master, held a long
conversation with the officer in command of the _objectionable gates_;
and, after a while, our names were written in a large book, and we
received permission to go and come as we pleased.
We went to-day to the palace of Christiansborg, which is not remarkable
for anything else but its magnitude. The stables, which are built in the
form of a crescent, are filled with horses, some of them most beautiful
and valuable. Eight cream-coloured ponies, and a similar number of grey
horses, were unsurpassed in colour and elegant proportions by those in
possession of the English sovereign. There were upwards of one hundred
horses; and what use King Christian, with his small Court, can find for
so many steeds, may come within the corn-factor's reach, but it is
certainly beyond mine.
For those who do not mind revolving to a great height by a back
staircase, the pictures in this palace may be a treat, since one or two,
painted by the old Dutch masters, are worthy of attention. Passing from
room to room, we stumbled on Mr. C----, who, with the keen scent of a
spaniel, had tracked us to our present elevation. There was no shaking
him off, and so, making the best use of him we could, we beset him with
questions; in answering which, by the way, he never wearied, but
chattered with all the perseverance of an old woman.
The only pump in Copenhagen is to be found in a vault beneath this
palace. A Dane led us through numerous dark cloisters; and, arriving at
last in front of this pump, stood still, and, with brightening eyes, as
well as great exultation of manner, pointed to it.
By the traveller who loiters along the streets of Copenhagen,
half-buried in the walls of many houses, a cannon-ball may here and
there be seen. In remembrance of Gambier's action, the Danes preserve,
like the apple of their eyes, these destructive missiles in the same
place and position they were lodged forty years ago; and, that the
stranger may not fail seeing these emblems of "British friendship," as
the term goes, their visible sections are daubed all over with black
paint, so that they stand boldly out from the snowy aspect of the
houses.
The Exchange, opposite to the Palace windows, is an exquisite building,
constructed in 1624, by order of Christian IV. It is four hundred feet
in length, and sixty in breadth. The steeple is the most curious you can
imagine. Three dragons, their throats resting on the roof, intertwine
their bodies, and, tapering a hundred feet gradually upwards, point with
their tails to the sky. At a little distance, their large heads and
mouths opened to show some formidable teeth and tongues, have a very
good effect.
From Christiansborg we went to the Castle of Rosenberg. In the middle of
a park, not larger than St. James's, rise the slender red towers of
Rosenberg above the tops of the trees; and, as you catch a glimpse of
it, glancing in the sunshine, down an avenue of oak and elm, you wonder
not how the Fourth Christian, two centuries ago, made this his favourite
abode.
Crossing a drawbridge, we arrived at an arched door; and Mr. C----,
taking hold of an antique iron chain, pulled it. The noisy tongue of a
hollow-sounding bell roused not the bark of slumbering hound, but had
all the desolation to itself, and echoed loudly and longly, then slowly,
stroke by stroke, through the deserted corridors. In a few minutes a
man, courtierly and well dressed, grasping a huge bunch of keys in his
left hand, opened the door; and, judging from our countenances--for I
know not by what else he could judge--the nature of our visit,
requested, in Danish, that we would enter. Mr. C---- replied, and told
him we were Englishmen. He bowed, and addressed us afterwards in our own
language.
The hall in which we now stood was surrounded, near the roof, with the
escutcheons of the old Kings of Denmark; and, in niches, three or four
feet from the marble floor, were bright suits of armour belonging also
to the ancient Danish Monarchs. From one anteroom to another, and from
presence-chamber to throne-room, we passed, and found in each one some
remnant of chivalry to admire, and heard of some deed to regret.
In the room where Christian IV. used to hold his councils is a Throne of
state, exceeding, by a great deal, the dimensions of a large arm-chair,
and composed of solid silver, and carved at the back in the most
fantastic and beautiful fashion. Placed at intervals of a yard round
this room, upwards of fifty feet long, are many other chairs, not so
large as the first one, but also of pure silver. In these the king's
privy councillors sate. Along the walls is hung the most curious
tapestry, worked by the hand nearly three centuries ago, and
representing battles with the Swedes, and the naval victories of
Christian. Walking along, you leave this magnificent room on the left
side; and, at the end of a long passage, a small door admits you, by
touching a spring in the panel, to a boudoir, about twelve feet square,
entirely walled, ceiled, and floored, with mirrors, so that, the face
and back, the right and the left sides, the crown of the head and the
sole of the foot, may be seen, simultaneously, at one glance. The
ingenious and amorous Christian, being far advanced beyond the ideas of
his time, conceived this room and its adaptation; for, in this Boudoir
Christian's mistresses were wont to revel with their royal lord, after
ablution in a bath close at hand.
Adjoining this apartment is another boudoir, filed with jewels of
inestimable value, not to mention swords of gold, and spurs of gold,
armour, and casques of gold. In a glass-case, which is kept locked, are
the entire accoutrements of a horse; and the saddle, even to the
stirrup-straps and girths, was studded with pearls, emeralds, rubies,
and torquoises. On the pommel, inlaid, were four emeralds, having a ruby
for their centre, each stone being little less than an inch square.
Every day Christian must have dismounted his horse some hundred pounds
poorer than when he mounted; and yet the eye could detect no flaw in
this precious saddle by the absence of a single pearl. It struck me at
the time as being very astonishing that, a small kingdom like Denmark,
and not a rich one, could find a surplus revenue sufficient to collect
such immensity of wealth, and the resources of the country not flag by
its useless accumulation. Why, the sale of all the jewellery, and gold,
and silver in the castle of Rosenberg would pay off half the national
debt of Denmark.
The earthenware and china, manufactured many centuries ago, are also
very curious and valuable. We visited a room literally crammed from top
to bottom with vases, tumblers, and glasses of all sizes and
denominations; and, while we were almost speechless in the admiration of
a bowl sufficiently large to admit its being mistaken for a bath, and
not less delicate in thickness than the rice paper made by natives of
the East, the Dane drew our attention to a rent in the ceiling, and
asked if we would not regret that any accident should destroy a
collection so curious, and the manufacture of which was now lost to
science. We replied altogether, with much indignation, that a man who
attempted the deed would be no better than an assassin, and might,
without reference to an impartial advocate, be hanged from one of the
portcullis' spikes below.
"Do you think so, really, gentlemen?" inquired the Dane, with an odd
kind of a smile.
"We do, we do," we all unanimously said; and Mr. C. wound up with
monosyllabic emphasis,
"Yes!"
"Well, then," with measured tone, answered the Dane, "that rent you see
there was done some forty years ago, and a shell from Nelson's ship did
it."
He stopped to mark the effect this disclosure would have upon us; and,
finding we regretted the policy of our country, but could not control
the cannon-balls of our ships, he continued, smiling,
"Never mind, never mind, he did no harm; and I hope no other Englishman
will again."
Leading us into another small room, the Dane approached a large iron
chest, and raising, with difficulty, its heavy lid, shewed us the
coronation robes of Christian lying at the bottom.
"In these robes," he said, "Christian, the present King of Denmark, was
crowned; and they will never be removed hence until he is dead."
"Why?" we asked.
"It is an ancient custom still preserved in Denmark," he replied, "that
her kings be buried in their robes of coronation."
He closed the lid.
To me, woven with their greatness, the fate of kings is ever one of
melancholy; and the incident I have just recounted so shadowed, in a
moment, the cheerfulness which had accompanied me throughout the day,
that I could not observe with attention any other object of interest
which presented itself, my only wish being to leave Rosenberg as
speedily as I had entered it; nor could I forget the utter desolation of
a man's soul, who, standing in the midst of all earthly magnificence,
knows himself clad as he will be for the coffin. How impotent must seem
all authority! how wan all mirth! how false all the envied supremacy of
his birth!
Finding it was five o'clock, we gave a small fee to the Dane, who still
kept chuckling at the capital trick he had played us with the split
ceiling, and we left Rosenberg to prepare for dinner.
The good people at Copenhagen generally dine at the early hour of our
English forefathers; but Sir Henry Whynne had altered his dinner time to
meet our habits.
Mr. C---- _would_, in spite of all the civilities we called to forbid
it, see us to the boat; and, then, promising to "look us up" on the
morrow, vanished as suddenly as Fortunatus would have done with his
invisible cap.