"Hab you, Sir, no cumsidumration to see um town?" he inquired.
"Not to-day, Joe," I answered. "I have formed my plans; but some other day we will navigate the town together."
"Berry good, Sir." And, again elevating his steeple white hat, away marched Joe, Commissionaire of l'Hôtel d'Angleterre.
The day was very hot, and my feet, swollen by the heat, suffered more than they did last night from the effects of the uneven stones. I limped from one street to the other, and found the "Amalien-Gade," not much inferior in breadth and length to Portland Place. Palaces of great symmetry, though of immense size, rose before the eye at every corner; and the residence of the Prince of Hesse is one of the most beautiful structures I have ever seen. The white colour, as at Christiansand, with which all these large buildings are painted, forces directly on the stranger's mind their lightness and elegant proportions.
At the end of the "Amalien-Gade," which is about a mile in length, is a large odiously-paved square intersected by four streets; and, between each of these streets, are four small palaces in the style of Italian architecture. They are inhabited by the royal family; and the old king, Christian, may be seen sometimes, of an evening, walking across to play a game of whist with the dowager-queen. Infantry and cavalry officers, gossipping in groups, and flashing in the sun's rays, their light-blue uniform embroidered elaborately with silver lace, remind you of the Court's vicinity; and the eternal sound of a sentinel's challenge, as files of men march and re-march by him, proclaims, that, deference to kings is much the same in simple Denmark, as in pageant England.
In the centre of this square stands an equestrian bronze statue of Frederick the Fifth; and, though the horse's head is considered a perfect piece of statuary, I am obstinate enough to differ, from the general opinion; and Monsieur Gorr, who executed it, will, with the politeness and generosity of his country, permit me to think as I do, and pardon me, if I be wrong. Since its foundation in 1168, three awful fires in 1729, 1794, and 1795, nearly burned down the whole city of Copenhagen; but Christiansborg, the colossal palace of the Danish kings, was levelled with the ground; and Christian, deeming, perhaps, this abode of his ancestors doomed to be destroyed a second time, avoids it with superstitious care; and has selected for himself and family the four mansions, for they are nothing more, to which I have alluded. Queen Caroline-Matilda being taken from this palace to Cronenborg, her son, Frederick the Sixth, would never reside in it afterwards; and, I think, it is more from this mingled feeling of affection and painful regret, and a desire to obliterate from their memories the recollection of her fate, that his descendants have followed the filial example of Frederick, than from any dread of sudden destruction by fire.
While walking through the streets, I could hardly dissuade myself I was not in the tropics, for the capacious archways, and central court-yards were quite oriental; and the large and numerous windows of the private houses, with jalousies thrown open, at cool of day, against the wall, reminded me also of the Antilles; and, had a black face but peeped out at me, the fancy might have seemed reality.