world who are perfectly formed throughout, he thought it would be extremely difficult to find them, and that therefore the only course which a sculptor can pursue, who wishes to come up to the perfect beau-idéal, is to seek that model in as many of the most finely formed persons as he can find.

In the preceding notice of Thorvaldsen, we have followed the best Danish authorities which we have met with, in addition to what we learned in conversation from the illustrious subject himself. Since writing the above, however, we have met with many details respecting his youthful days, and his trials at Rome from want of sufficient pecuniary resources, in his earlier residence there. But as we do not know what credit to attach to these details, we think that it is not worth while to trouble the reader with them. We will only state, that it is said by some authors that Thorvaldsen was born the 19th of November, 1770; that his grandfather was a pastor of a church in Iceland; that his father came in his youth to Copenhagen, where he married the daughter of a Danish minister of the gospel; and that he maintained his family by making ornaments in sculpture, and sometimes occupied himself in making figure-heads for ships; and that his son derived his first inspirations for the art by which he has gained such wide-spread fame, from seeing the rude efforts of his poor but worthy father.

On the western side of 'this Place stands the Theatre, which is no great affair in its external appearance; of its interior we know nothing. Between the theatre and the old palace, of which we have spoken in the preceding paragraphs, stands the Royal High Military School; and on the opposite side of the Place, and hard by the Hôtel d'Angleterre, is the chief station of the Corps-de-Garde, having a small court or yard in front, surrounded by an iron palisade, where three brass cannons direct their start

ling mouths upon the Place, and whence the guards of the city are despatched at intervals, day and night, to all points of the city. The shrill voice of the officer who calls them out for this service, at frequent intervals, and marshals them to the music of the drum, will not soon be forgotten by us, for it has often enough interrupted our slumbers.

AMALIEN-PLADS, or AMALIENBORG, as it is also called.This Place is in the eastern or new portion of the city, and is not far from the harbor. It is circular in its form, and is intersected at right angles by two streets, and is thus divided into four segments. It is altogether a very beautiful spot. Four palaces surround it, two of which are occupied by the king, and the other two by some of the branches of the royal family. One was formerly used for the Naval School, which is now established in a neighboring street.* These palaces are of good proportions, of chaste architecture, and altogether of a simple and agreeable exterior.

It was in one of these palaces that we had the honor of being presented to the late king, Frederick VI., in the month of June, 1836. We found the aged monarch very emaciated, and very feeble in appearance. His conversation, however, was not wanting in vivacity.

His counte

This school was visited by Lord Nelson, after the celebrated attack which he made on the Danish fleet and the fortresses guarding the harbor, in 1801, and highly complimented for the skill and bravery which those who had been its pupils had displayed in the battle; particularly a Lieutenant Villemoes, a young man who had recently left the Academy, and who had commanded a gun-boat in the battle, and directed a most destructive fire on Nelson's flag-ship. This promising young officer was killed in 1808, on board the Prince Christian Frederick, ship of the line, when that vessel was captured by two British sixty-fours, the Stately and the Nassau. Lord Nelson presented to the Academy, on the occasion of his visit, some medals which had been struck in honor of the victory of the Nile.

nance bore the deep furrows which care and anxiety had made upon it. Few sovereigns have ever lived who experienced more sorrows than did this venerable monarch, who, although he seemed not to have known the consolation which religion gives in the hour of adversity, nor to have regulated his life in all respects according to the demands of a rigid morality, was, nevertheless, greatly beloved by his people. The true secret of this was to be found in his humanity, kindness, and condescending

manners.

In another of these palaces we also had the honor of being presented to their Majesties, the present King and Queen of Denmark. The king is plain and affable in his manners, and evidently a very well informed man. The queen is a very beautiful woman, of a most dignified and graceful deportment; and her heart, we are assured, is as noble as her person. Withal, and better than all, she is an humble and sincere Christian. The interest which she takes in the schools, orphan asylums, and other institutions of beneficence, as indicated by the frequent visits which she makes to them, as well as in other ways, has greatly endeared her to the people.

In the centre of the Amalien-Plads stands an equestrian statue of Frederick V. It is of bronze, standing on a large pedestal of whitish Italian marble. The entire height is thirty-six feet. It is enclosed by an iron palisade, and that again by chains stretching from one marble post to another. This statue is considered to be one of the finest of the sort in the north of Europe. It is, unquestionably, a noble monument of respect and affection, erected to the memory of a monarch who certainly deserved it, for his virtues, and for the great encouragement which he gave to literature and the arts. It was erected in 1768, at the expense of the Danish Asiatic Company. The inscription in front is simple and appropriate. It is:

FREDERICO QUINTO.
CLEMENTI
PACIFICO

ARTIUM TUTORI

AETAS

GRATA FELIX.'

The street which crosses this Place, running from the harbor to the west, is terminated by the ruins, or rather the unfinished structure, of what is called the Marble Church, which was commenced in the time of Frederick V., but for some reason or other-probably the want of money-it never advanced beyond the height of some thirty or forty feet. The walls, inside and out, were to be built wholly of Norwegian marble, highly polished, and the whole was to be finished in the most magnificent style. The dome was to have had an elevation of 264 feet above the level of the ground, and the Corinthian pillars in front would have been about ninety feet in length, pedestal and capital included. Alas, that this structure, which was designed to surpass everything of the sort in the North, has only added another to the instances of the folly of "attempting to build a tower," without having first ascertained how much it would cost, and whether the means to finish were possessed by him who undertook to build.

GAMMAL TORV lies in the southwestern part of the city, and is used for a market. It is adorned with a fountain of water. Amager Torv is also on the western part of the city, and is near to the palace of Christiansborg, and deserves no special notice. It takes its name from its being the market-place for vegetables, which are chiefly raised by the people of Amager Island, and sold here.

* A Grateful and Happy Age-to Frederick Fifth, Clement, Peaceful, and the Protector of the Arts.