Up The Baltic Part 43

"There would be no difficulty at all in doing so. In fact, Peter the Great, when he was in Copenhagen, in 1716, drove to the top with the Empress Catharine, in a coach and four."

"Is that so?" asked the captain.

"I can't remember so far back myself," chuckled Joseph, "for I'm not much over a hundred years old; but everybody says it is true, and I see no reason to doubt the story. Peter the Great liked to do strange things, and you can see for yourself that a carriage would run very well here."

"If he went up with a coach and four, of course he must have come down, unless the carriage and horses are up there now. How did he turn his team?"

"It is easier to ask some questions than to answer them," replied Joseph. "History does not say that he drove down, only that he drove up."

"Perhaps he backed down, which kings and emperors are sometimes obliged to do, as well as common people," suggested Paul Kendall.

"Very likely he did; I don't see any other way for the team to descend," added Joseph. "This tower was begun in 1639."

At the top of the structure the travellers took a general survey of the city, and then proceeded to examine it in detail.

"Do you remember the lat.i.tude of Copenhagen, Captain Lincoln?" asked Dr. Winstock.

"About fifty-five and a half."

"The same as the middle of Labrador. Quebec is about forty-seven, and this is a long way farther north. What is the population of this city, Joseph?" asked the doctor.

"One hundred and eighty-one thousand," replied the guide, giving the census of 1870. "Formerly the city was a walled town, with ramparts and moats. It was built partly on Seeland, and partly on the small island of Amager. The channel between them is the harbor. You can see where the old line of fortifications was. The old town lies nearest to the sea, but the city is now spreading rapidly out into the country."

"What is that broad sheet of water, with two bridges over it?" asked Lincoln, pointing to the land side.

"That is the reservoir. Formerly the water in the city was bad, but now it has an excellent system of water-works. The water comes in from the country, and is pumped up by steam before it is distributed.

Beyond that, for miles, the country is covered with beautiful villas and country residences. You must ride out there, for the environs of Copenhagen are as fine as anything in Europe."

"You are right, Joseph," added the doctor. "Some parts of the city are not unlike Holland, you see. The Slotsholm ca.n.a.l gives that part of the town a decidedly Dutch look."

"The part on Amager, called Christianshavn, is all cut up by ca.n.a.ls,"

added the guide.

"Now, we will take a ride around the city," said Paul Kendall.

The party descended, and having driven through some of the princ.i.p.al streets, and obtained a very good idea of the city, returned to the hotel.

"Now you can dismiss the carriage, and we will go to some of the museums and churches," suggested Joseph.

"We don't care to walk far; we will retain the carriage," replied Paul.

"It will be much cheaper to walk, as you have to pay four marks an hour for the carriage," pleaded the economical guide. "Thorwaldsen's Museum and the Northern Antiquities are only a few steps from here."

"Very well; we will walk, then, if you insist upon it," laughed Paul.

"I thought these guides made you spend as much money as possible,"

said Captain Lincoln to the surgeon.

"I never found it so. I think they are a very useful cla.s.s of men.

They charge here about two rigsdalers a day, and I remember that Joseph would not let me throw away a single mark. They know the prices for carriages and everything else, and it is for their interest not to let any one cheat their employers. Perhaps it is not well to make purchases with them, for they compel the merchant to pay them a commission, which increases the price charged for the articles. But I think, in many places, I have done better with a _commissionnaire_ than without one, in making purchases."

Joseph led the way across the bridge to Slotsholm, which was nearly covered by the immense palace of Christiansborg and its dependencies.

The first building was Thorwaldsen's Museum, the outer walls of which were covered with an Etruscan fresco of the arrival and debarkation of the great sculptor and his goods, mostly works of art. The figures are about life size, and the situation in which the pictures are placed is novel and quaint. The work was done by inlaying cement of different colors in the wall. Joseph described the various scenes. Thorwaldsen is still held in the highest regard and veneration by all Denmark, and especially by all Copenhagen; indeed, he seems to be the great genius of the country. He was born in 1770, near the city. His father was an Icelander, and a carver in wood--a calling in which the son a.s.sisted him when he was only a dozen years old. At seventeen he received the prize of a silver medal from the Academy of Arts, and at twenty-three the grand prize, which carried with it a royal pension, that enabled him to go abroad for the study of his art. He went to Rome in 1796, where he had but little success, and was reduced almost to despair, when his model of Jason and the Golden Fleece attracted the attention of an English gentleman, who commissioned him to complete the work in marble. This event was the dawn of success, and orders continued to pour in upon him from the rich and the powerful, including kings and emperors, until his fortune was made. His works adorn many of the great cities of Europe, and Canova was his only actual rival. His fame extended to every nation, and a visit to his native land in 1819 was a triumphal progress through Italy and Germany. In 1838 he returned to Copenhagen, to pa.s.s the remainder of his days, in a frigate sent to Italy for his use by the Danish government. On one side of his museum are depicted his arrival in this ship, and his reception by the citizens; and on the other side, the conveyance of his works from the ship to their final destination.

Thorwaldsen went to Rome again on a visit for his health, and died in Copenhagen in 1844. He was a modest, generous, and amiable man. The museum was erected by subscription, though the sculptor gave a fourth part of the sum necessary for its erection, and in his will bequeathed to it the works of art from his cunning brain, of which its contents are almost entirely composed. His biography has been written by Hans Christian Andersen.

After examining the frescoes on the outer wall, the party entered the building. It is an oblong structure, with a court-yard in the middle.

It is two stories in height, with connected rooms extending entirely around it. The works of art, and memorials of the sculptor, are cla.s.sified in these apartments, forty-two in number.

"That is the grave of Thorwaldsen," said Joseph, leading the way into the court-yard. "His body lies there, surrounded by his works, as he requested."

The grave is an oblong enclosure of polished granite, raised a few inches above the ground, and covered over with ivy. At the foot of it is a black cross, with the date of his death inscribed upon it.

The tourists walked through the various rooms, and examined the works of the immortal genius, most of which were in plaster, being the models of all his great achievements set up in marble in various parts of Europe. His pictures, his library, his collections of coins, vases, and antiquities, are placed in the museum. One room is fitted up with his furniture, precisely as he used it, and various interesting mementos of the man are to be seen there. Among the pictures are some mere daubs, which are preserved only because they belonged to Thorwaldsen; but they have an interest as an ill.u.s.tration of the benevolent character of the great sculptor, who ordered many of them merely to save the artists from starvation.

"Did you ever see Thorwaldsen?" asked Lincoln, as Joseph conducted his charge from the building.

"Often," replied the guide. "He was a venerable-looking old man, with long, white hair. He made a statue of himself, which is very like him.

He died suddenly in the theatre, and the king and royal family followed his remains to the church."

The Museum of Northern Antiquities was in the old palace of a prince, on the other side of the ca.n.a.l. On the front of the building were some quaint carvings, which gave it a picturesque appearance. Joseph seemed to be in his element at this museum. He spoke glibly and learnedly of "the stone age," "the bronze age," and "the iron age," each designated by the material of which the implements used for domestic purposes, in war and agriculture, were composed. Numberless utensils of all kinds are contained in the cabinets, cla.s.sified with rare skill, and arranged with excellent taste. All these objects were found below ground, in various parts of Scandinavia. In Denmark the law requires that all antiquities of metal shall belong to the government, which, however, pays the full value of the articles to the finder. In 1847 a pair of solid gold bracelets, very heavy, and elegantly wrought, were dug up from the earth, and added to this collection. There is a great variety of ornaments, in gold and silver, consisting of necklaces, rings, bracelets, and similar trinkets. One necklace contains three pounds of pure gold.

There are plenty of knives, arrow-heads, hatchets, hammers, chisels, and other implements, skilfully made of stone. Runic writings, the most valuable in the world, are collected here. Joseph said that certain long pieces of wood, with signs carved upon them, were Icelandic Calendars. The remains of a warrior, who had fought and died in the ancient time, with the iron mail of his day, were examined with interest, as were also a number of altars, coffers containing relics, and some gold crosses, one of which is said to contain a splinter from the true cross, which were exhibited as specimens of the Catholic form of worship in remote times.

Recrossing the bridge over the ca.n.a.l, the party entered the great, barn-like palace of Christiansborg. It consists of several connected buildings, containing a theatre, riding-school, stables, coach-houses, bake-house, and the usual royal apartments. In 1168 a castle was erected on this spot, as a protection against pirates, which was repeatedly demolished, rebuilt, altered, and enlarged, till it was levelled to the ground in 1732, and a new palace erected, but was destroyed by fire in 1784. It was rebuilt, in its present c.u.mbrous proportions, in 1828. The visitors entered the large court-yard, pa.s.sed through the picture gallery, the "Hall of the Knights," the throne-room, looked into the riding-school,--which is a large, oblong room, with an earth floor, where the royal family may practise equestrianism,--the a.r.s.enal, the legislative chambers, and other rooms, none of which were very striking to those who had visited the palaces of Paris, London, Berlin, and St. Petersburg.

In front of the palace is a beautiful green, beyond which is the Exchange, or Borsen, built by Christian IV. It is the most picturesque edifice in the city, though the interior is entirely commonplace. It is long and very narrow, and ornamented with a vast number of figures cut in the stone, with elegantly-wrought portals at the entrances. But the spire is the most remarkable portion of the building, and consists of four dragons, the heads at the apex looking towards the four points of the compa.s.s.

From the Exchange the party walked to the Fruekirke, or Church of our Lady, which is interesting only on account of the works of Thorwaldsen which it contains. Behind the altar is the majestic and beautiful statue of Christ, which stretches out its wounded hands, as if he were saying, "Come unto me, ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." On each side of the church are the figures of the twelve apostles, placed against the walls at equal distances, so as to include the whole extent. In the middle of the choir, in front of the altar, is the figure of an angel, holding a baptismal font, in the shape of a sh.e.l.l, which some call Thorwaldsen's masterpiece. In the sacristy of the church are several other works of the great sculptor, who was first interred in this place, before the museum was ready to receive his remains.

Mrs. Kendall declared she had seen enough for one day, for sight-seeing is the hardest work one can do when it is overdone. After supper, when the lady was rested, she consented to visit Tivoli, where the students were to spend the evening. This celebrated resort of the Copenhageners is situated just outside of the old walls of the city, near the arm of the sea which divides Amager from Seeland. One of the two horse-railways, which the people in Europe generally persist in calling "tramways," extends through the city, pa.s.sing the gates of this garden. Several of the officers and seamen of the ship came by the cars, which hardly differ from those in use in the princ.i.p.al cities of the United States; but all of them have accommodations for pa.s.sengers on the top.

Captain Lincoln--who had been on board of the ship since he left the party with whom he had spent the afternoon--and Norwood were pa.s.sengers in a car; but though they could not speak a word of Norsk, they were not disturbed by the situation. Presently the conductor presented himself, which caused a general sounding of pockets among the occupants of the car. He had a tin box, suspended by a strap, which pa.s.sed around his neck, to contain the money he received. In his hand he held a compact little roll of yellow paper, an inch and a half in width, across which was printed a succession of little tickets, each with a number. The fare was four skillings, or two and one fourth cents, and, as each person paid, the conductor handed him one of these papers, torn from the roll. Captain Lincoln gave him a piece of money, and held up two fingers, pointing to his companion at the same time, to indicate that he paid for both. The man gave him his change, and two of the yellow tickets.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Kjobenhavns Sporvei.

4 Skilling.

904]

"What are these for?" asked Lincoln, glancing at the little papers.

"They are tickets, of course," replied Norwood.

"I don't think so," added the captain. "All the people seem to throw them away, and the floor of the car is covered with them."

"O, I know now what they are!" exclaimed Norwood. "I have heard of such things."

"I never did."

"I suppose you know what 'knocking down' means--don't you?" laughed the second lieutenant.