partake of the best that the people have-he must partake of their good things-he must in spring go out and see "Skovene,"-be present at the family festivity in the Park, just as in winter he must see Thorwaldsen's museum, Holberg's comedies, and other masterpieces of the Danish stage. mouth, crush in before thee, while seven trading | is not forgotten in Copenhagen. He must dames meet thee at the same moment, and if thou wilt pass between them thou art hindered by a man and his wife, who go arm-in-arm, not as if wedded, but welded together. Throng follows throng; thou canst no longer distinguish individuals, and as thou makest a pause that thou mayst not trample to death or smother a little child that comes between thee and the others, there darts a shop-boy out of a shop headlong past thee into the street, so close to thy nose that thou art confounded not to find it flattened to thy face, at the same instant that an old gentleman treads on thy heels behind. If thou escapest from the pavement to the middle of the street, there thou art met by fresh throngs of people; of carriages which rattle on with a deafening sound, of carts which block up the way; and if thou art so fortunate as to get through them, may the same good luck attend thee all the way up the long street, past Wimmelskraft, and to the Old Market. And all this time Copenhagen's furious wind does its utmost to tear away your cloak and your head, or at least your bonnet! I will candidly confess before all Copenhagen that I detest the Oestergade, and all the people in it, i. e., so long as they are in it; that I look upon the Oestergade as a sort of Inferno, and wandering through it as a penance which we have to do for our sins. Oestergade makes me thoroughly misanthropied. Oestergade I would strike out of the list of Copenhagen streets, or rather distribute it amongst several of them. Oestergade I never desire to see again. Oestergade I now quit—and probably for ever. CHAPTER III. THE theatre is the favourite amusement of the Danes. And in truth there is stirring life here;-life in the bringing out of the piece; life in its performance; life in the interest felt in it by the spectators. It is but a small theatre, that in which, of late, so many great dramas have been brought out, so many great performers have made their appearance; but how pleasant, how full of life! There is a life in these crowded boxes, a quick perception, a sympathetic movement in this public, which involuntarily communicates itself to all. And then there are the benches (seats) appropriated by the court to the literary men, where the poets sit, where the people behold their favourites ; where Thorwaldsen died during a symphony of Beethoven's; where the people say every night, "Look! there sits Ochlenschlager, Herz, Andersen," and many others. "Not for pleasure only!" is the inscription over the temple of Thalia, in Copenhagen. And he who has seen the tragedies of Ochlenschlager and Herz, the comedies of Holberg, Herz, and Heiberg, of Overskou and Hauch; who has seen them performed here by Nielson and his wife, by Rosenkilde and his daughter, by Phister, by the young Wiche, and the fascinating Mrs. Hirberg, the pearl of the Danish stage, the rarest talent of the whole country; he who has seen the ballets of Bournonville, perfect works of art of their kind,— will acknowledge that the moral spirit of the North has given an ennobling influence to the magic power of the drama; that the theatre is not only for pleasure. We do not merely amuse ourselves, we become better while we are amused. The mind is lifted up to a noble longing after a higher, a more beautiful spectacle than that of every-day life, to a presentiment of the grandeur of the human being, whether in his deepest suffering or his highest But long live gay Copenhagen, with or without Oestergade. There exists throughout a vernal, youthfully stirring life, which involuntarily impresses and attracts the beholder. If we begin by striving against the stream, we end by willingly swimming with it, and do very well this way, at least for a time. We do not go into society at Copenhagen to reflect upon life. The joyous population of Copenhagen is always in motion, always going to and fro. It is always in quest of some novelty; desires to amuse itself; to enjoy the hour and the day. In winter there are theatres, masquerades, museums, all that can excite the taste for the beautiful or the comic. In spring it is "Skovene," (the woods.) When the beech-pleasure. woods are in leaf, the population of Copenhagen rushes forth to see the woods. Charlottenlund and the Park swarm with people. The families drive out and drink tea in the shadow of the bush-groves, when the nightingales sing in the blossoming thorn. "Have you seen the woods?" is a general question in Copenhagen, at this season, to the stranger; for the stranger That which at the present time, beyond everything else, distinguishes the dramatic art of Denmark is its nationality; its popular character, in the highest sense of the term. They are the people's own heroes and heroines; their own good old times, which cause the popular heart to beat for Palnatoke, Hakon, Jarl, Queen Margarota, Axel, and Valborg; it is their own follies and their own original characters which | Boye's, gave new life to the church song of make them laugh so heartily at the comedies of Holberg, at the "April Fools," and many other later pieces; it is the poetical, mystical, life of the people which charms so much in "The Elves," in the "Disguised Swan," and the "Fairies' Hill;" it is the present, every-day life over which the people laugh or cry in "A Sunday at Amager," "Mr. Saveall," "Opposite Neighbours," and such like. In this way the drama contributes in no small degree to strengthen the national mind. I had been told indeed, that the theatres in Copenhagen were full, but that the churches on the contrary, stood empty, and that but little edification was to be expected therefrom. I found it to be otherwise. I found the churches to be filled with people, and I heard in them excellent preachers, not only on account of their living delivery, but of their living doctrines. Bishop MYNSTER, MARTENSEN, and PAULI are Christian teachers whom no one can hear without admiration and delight; and in Varton, the church in which old GRUNDTVIG preaches powerfully every Sunday, may be heard singing (often to the old popular melodies), which proves that the people is also an assembly-a "congregation." There was a time, and that not very long since, when it was otherwise with the religious life of Denmark; when this seemed to be an extinguished flame; when theology lay bound in narrow forms; when the teachers lacked spirit, and the hearers devotion. But a people cannot be born again without its being so in the depths of its existence-without becoming more conscious of its central as well as of its outward life. Thus it is with the people of Denmark. In every circle of social life, in the church, in art, in science, in government, has the new spring called forth new life, new forms of light. I will now speak of the bearers of light, of the happy children of the reddening dawn," to whom it was permitted to bring forth the new light; of the men of genius, of the great men of Denmark, the elder and the younger, who have been produced within this century. And we question whether history can show any country where, in so short a space of time, and out of so small a population, so great a number of distinguished spirits have been produced. In the morning of the century, MYNSTER and GRUNDTVIG stood prominently forth in the church, announcing, with the fire of the Spirit, and with words of power, the old, eternally new doctrines of religion. Mynster, scientific, expli- | cit, harmonious; Grundtvig (a volcanic nature), with all the spirit and power of the old prophets. Mynster's spiritual discourses soon spread from Denmark to Sweden and Norway; Grundtvig's hymns, as well as Ingemann's and Denmark. To these succeeded many remarkable Christian thinkers and pastors, yet far before them all still stand these two, Mynster with the fire of youth beneath his snow-white hair, proclaiming the immortal word of hope, whilst Grundtvig, foremost among the seers and bards of Denmark, casts flaming glances now over the deeps of immortal life, now over the myths of antiquity, which he interprets into philosophic themes and poems, then over the young dawning day of Scandinavia, and the union of the sister peoples. It is remarkable that the new birth of literature after the Reformation began with a deeply religious tone. It was the hymns of KINGO's which commenced, as it were, that epoch, and the hymns of Kingo afford still the most popular reading of the Danish people. Next after Kingo comes Holberg, in whom the national comic humour showed itself, and at once burst forth into bloom. People say that Holberg was melancholy and sometimes misanthropic. I can easily believe it. How can a person be otherwise who incessantly occupies himself with the follies and failings of his fellow-beings? These two, so unlike in genius, stand at the commencement of the eighteenth century. Towards its close comes EVALD, another deeply serious and pious bardic nature, in whom appear glimpses of the popular life, mostly in Idylls. To him succeeded the humorous poets, WESSEL and BAGGESEN. It was not, however, until the nineteenth century that the self-consciousness of the people and its art had its full development. It was a Norman, but of Danish descent, born in the mountainous region of Norway-it was HENRIK STEFFENS who awoke the slumbering seed in the morning of the nineteenth century.. Ardent, full of genius and eloquence, he made his first appearance in the capitol of Denmark in the year 1806, as a lecturer on the philosophy which foretold a new teaching of life, of thought, of the principles and innermost life of everything. By his captivating power, by his enthusiastic love for the ideal of life; inexhaustible in his grand views, designs, and presentiments, he carried every one along with him. He went forth like a fire-ship, casting forth and all around him burning words, inflammable lightning. And they communicated fire. There stood around him then the morning stars which were ascending on the horizon of Denmark, in the twilight of the early dawn— the young worshippers of poetry and scienceand listened and learned. But Steffens, rich in genius but one-sided, glowing but obscure, could not retain his hold on them. All stooped down to drink from the rich waters of the Urdar fountain of life, and arose to go each on his own way, apart from the teacher. But they had drunk deep of the wells of life, and went forth with a yet deeper consciousness of their own vocation and power. They had been breathed upon by a creative spirit, and they now went forth themselves as creators. And the day rose gloriously over the North. it, and much labour spent, and books for the people are prepared, consisting of pragmatical treatises, useful and learned compositions, which are sent forth to enlighten and educate the people. And the people read them-little or not at all! The people are poetical, the people are romantic, the people are full of humour. They love old stories, heroic poems, ple must be kindred to this heart, must awaken responses in all its strings. An author who can do this, while he elevates the moral sense and purifies the taste, will be a favourite with the people, and their benefactor. He will ennoble at the same time that he amuses. gemann does this. In Perfect, fully armed-like Minerva from the head of Jupiter-was born the Northern Tra-love-songs, ballads, and jests. The people have gedy, not Grecian, not Shakesperian, but Scan- a deeply religious feeling. The heart of life dinavian; with its ground in the northern throbs in their heart. Literature for the peopopular tradition and history; the northern heroic life, with its peculiar colouring in hatred and love; its lyrical inspirations; its powerful every-day mode of thought, and the great moral purport which it discovers in the life and the combat of its gods and its giants. In transfigured glory stood forward on the stage, before the eyes of the people, its heroes and heroines of old, its antique saga and song. And even to this day the happy poet, the father of northern tragedy-need we indeed name Adam Ochlenschlager ?-still youthful and strong, with creative energy gathers up new laurels to those he has already won, as just lately in his heroic poem, Regner Lodbrook. CHAPTER IV. B. S. INGEMANN is, perhaps, in a still higher sense than Ochlenschlager, a popular poet, and in him everything which belongs to the character of the popular temper of Denmark, loving, deep-thoughted, lively and vigorous, seems at once to have found life and expression. Ingemann has created the historical romance of the North. This romance, with its peculiar figures, its great dramatic scenes, its pure spirit, its deep feeling, its fresh life, has given birth to two miracles. It has made the history of Denmark dear to the Swedes, and it has taught the peasantry of Denmark to read romances. Ingemann's romances have been read by the people of Denmark as no other books have been read, except the Bible and the hymnbook. The peasant possesses them, and through them he takes an interest in the history of his country and its movements. On these subjects he can enlighten foreigners. In doing this, he refers to the books of Ingemann, to obtain which he had gladly paid the money won by the sweat of his brow. In reading them he often forgets the time for sleep after the labour of the day. He sits up late with his family that he may read Ingemann. He cannot do better. A great deal is said in our time about literature for the people.* Much zeal is shown for * In Denmark much has been done successfully in this way, and the "Society for the Right Use of the Freedom of the Press," has understood its own business, and the taste of the people. Above five hundred circulating libraries, Ingemann is a sow-man. [A man who sows seeds in the acre or earth. F. B.] The germs of a high and holy understanding of life and of existence lie in all that he writes,-heroic poems, drama, romances, legends, and songs. In every case he makes use only of the dissonances of life to produce therefrom the purest harmonies; in every case is his voice heard as a reconciled and reconciling spirit. Happy he! To him life has no night, merely twilight, and the human heart, history, nature, the stars of the firmament, the clouds of the sky, and the moss of the field, all are sacred symbols (or hieroglyphs), from which he is able to read holy and sanctifying words. "The WonderChild," which he wrote, over whom magic had no power, but who had power over everything, and could deliver the spirits bound by demon fetters-that "Wonder-Child" lies in all his poems. And what marvel? It lies in truth written in his own heart. The woods and lakes of Soro-a region of peaceful beauty-surround the house of the poet, like a mirror of his soul and his domestic life. Murmur gently, groves of Soro, murmur long around the beloved poet, joyfully and softly as the spirit of his life. Bear to him voices from the kindly genius that he has awoke, the voices from friends near and afar, who preserve his image in their grateful hearts as one of the most beautiful memories from "Denmark with the verdant shore by the sparkling waves." calculated for the peasantry and the working classes, are at this time opened in Denmark, and all that is needed is to provide books enough to satisfy the desire for them. For forty years has this society been in operation; during thirty under the direction of that zealous statesman, PrivyCouncillor Collin, and the results of his active exertions are seen in the increasing taste of the peasantry and the handicraftsmen for pleasures of a higher order. Alehouses and clubs are less visited, the home is more beloved, and reading in the family circle in the autumn and winter evenings, gives a new delight and a new interest to the family life. With Ochlenschlager and Ingemann the literature of Denmark made its way beyond the North, and became European. And this has been done also in some measure by HERTZ, who, with the magic spell of the poet, has taken possession of foreign lands with his " King Rhene's Daughter." Hertz is distinguished in Danish literature from his having developed in the drama the knowledge of the life of the people. The war-ballad with its vigorous life, its melancholy, mystical tone, is the key-note of his poetical inspiration, penetrated at the same time by a lofty and moral gravity. Thus also is Hauch, natural philosopher and poet. An ardent and enthusiastic character, he seeks to unite in one science and poetry. His earth has a glowing hearth; his flowers spring up from a deep and spiritual soil. The tragic solemnity of life, the night of existence, afford to him light only out of darkness. There gleams forth in his poems, romances, fairy tales, and dramas, a gloomy but a warmly beaming eye. This was given to him by his genius and the bittersweet experiences of life. PALUDAN MÖLLER, whose last great epic, Adam Homo, published during the last winter in Copenhagen, produced a great effect, is a man of deep thought in in which he has attained extraordinary facility and perfection. Whilst his rich, poetic nature loves to penetrate into the deepest mines of the human soul, and to bring thence the fine gold, while he applies the fire of satire to the dross, to the rubbish of life, of thought, and of feeling, CHRISTIAN WINTER sings the Idylls of the country-life of his native land in poems so living and fresh, that the Danes fancy they feel in them the odours of fresh hay, and of the flowers of their meadows. verse, J. C. HEIBERG has long stood amongst the literati of Denmark, as one of the rocks in the sea against which the ships strike. He has introduced into Denmark a higher and more scientific criticism. Whether that was always high enough, and scientific enough, in the highest sense of scientific, this is not the place to consider; but we have difficulty in recognising any judgment-seat in literature, higher than that which sooner or later forms itself in the living heart of the people themselves. Certain it is, that Heiberg has laboured greatly for the intellectual development of his countrymen, not only through his Holberg-like tendency, but still more from his strong perception of the excellent which he acknowledges, and from his own poetical creations, especially in the drama. That peculiar kind of vaudeville which he created for Denmark, continues still to be the favourite amusement of the public. And the flowers which the rock bears at this time, testify to a genial and fruitful soil. no All these last-named authors and poets, though important in the literature of Denmark, are still but little known in foreign countries. But upon the "green island," there sprang up one day a little, unpretending flower, to which nobody paid any attention. Many people looked disparagingly down upon the little thing, and called it a mere thing. Some took care of its growth. The sun loved the flower, and cast upon it his bright The leaves unfolded themselves, asbeams. sumed beautiful forms and colours. They took wings, loosened themselves from their motherearth and flew forth, over the whole earth, as singing Saga-birds. Everywhere people gathered themselves together to listen, great and small, old and young, learned and unlearned, in court and in cottage; and as they listened, they felt themselves alternately amused and affected. They became more cheerful, more gentle of spirit; whilst a world of lovely enchantments passed before their curious glance. Everywhere have people hailed with astonishment and delight these beautiful winged legends, gifted with colours and tones which seem to belong to a world more beautiful, more serene than this. Who in the educated world has not heard speak of HANS CHRISTIAN ANDersen's "Fairy Tales for Children?" In the child, they awaken the thoughtful man; and we, fullgrown people, are again converted by them into good and happy children. Andersen himself, is a " Wonder-Child," whom some good fairy His life is a real has gifted in the cradle. fairy tale, in which the poor lad who began his career in lowliness and want, closes it with honour and good luck: it began in the humble cottage, and it ends in the saloons of even royal palaces. Known and honoured also as a romance-writer and lyrical poet, Andersen's true and peculiar mastership, his originality and his immortality are in his tales. In these he is second to no one. In these, he is the son of the legendary North, where Sämund and Snorro sing wonderful adventures; where the oldest story-teller, the old woman Turida, sate in the twilight of history by the flames of Hecla, relating old tales, which have come down from generation to generation. The spirit of the old story has changed since then. Its theme is now no longer the deeds of violence and the vengeance of blood, and the long, long hatred which grew silently from year to year among contending kindred, until, like the avalanche of the Alps, it was precipitated by its own weight, and crushing all that came in its way, found rest only in the graves which it dug. These stories belong to far-past times. These latest are children of light, and bear its beams over the children of men. FASHIONS. FIGURES 1, 2, 3, and 4 are Walking Dresses. FIGURE 1. Bonnet of dark blue velvet with rouleaux and bias of satin on the right side, with a hanging bunch of spotted cazoar plumes. Pardessus cavalier, of blue velvet with silk buttons; fitting closely to the figure. Sleeves demi-long, with large revers cuffs open at the back. Robe of yellow velvet, plain, with long sleeves fastened at the wrists with a band, and edged with white lace. FIGURE 2. Bonnet of light green velvet, with bouillonné all round the face, and a plume of cock's feathers drooping at the right. Under-trimming of chenille. Pardessus of dark brown velvet, ornamented in front and on each seam with numerous little bell buttons of silk, and edged round the skirt with lace. Robe of double taffetas, of the same colour as the pardessus, but several shades lighter; sleeves long, and gathered to a band at the wrist. FIGURE 3. Capote of satin with a ruche at the edge, and bias of velvet in front, halfway under the face. Above are volants of satin, and a bunch of flowers on the left side. Manteau of light lemon-coloured cloth, crossing FIGURE 5. Full Dress Dinner Costume.-Small cap of white blonde, with large designs placed upon the head, and fastened on each side by two rosettes of lively violet satin ribbon. On each side depend also three rich clusters of scarlet velvet, and two white marabouts. These tufts stand en relief, support the blonde, and are themselves separated by puffing bandeaux of the hair. Robe of dark velvet. Corsage open before in a V, offering to view eight or nine rows of white lace placed one upon the other, not depending, but in an upright position. Sleeves turned back to the bend of the arm, à la saignee, |