The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 2, September, 1851Various
History
The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 2, September, 1851
Various
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals
A more stately city than Copenhagen can scarcely be imagined. The
streets, wide and long, filled with spacious and lofty houses of
unspotted whiteness, and built with great regularity, remind one
somewhat of Bath, but that the ground is level; many of them
all but equal, in breadth, to the Irishman's test of street
architecture--Sackville-street, Dublin. But large squares break up
their continuous lines, and the eye rests on fine statues, noble
palaces, and splendid buildings devoted to the arts, to amusement, to
justice, or to the purposes of religion in every quarter of the city.
Copenhagen is but a creation of the last century, and, after a little
time spent there, a large portion of it gives the idea that it was
built all of a sudden, by some Danish Grissell and Peto, according to
contract. Surrounded by a deep foss, by ramparts and intrenchments,
defended by formidable forts and batteries, filled with the halls of
kings, with churches, museums, and castles, it combines the appearance
of a new cut made by the royal commissioners through some old London
rookery, with the air of an old feudal town. The moat prohibits any
considerable extension. Seen under a bright cold sky, the blanched
fronts of the houses, the white walls of the public edifices, the
regularity of the streets, conveyed an impression of cleanliness,
which could only be destroyed when one happened to look down at his
feet, or ceased to keep guard over his nose. The paving is of the
style which may be called Titanic, and was never intended for any foot
garb less defensive than a _sabot_ or a _caliga_. The drainage is
superficial,--that is, all the liquid refuse of the city runs, or
rather walks very leisurely, along grooves in the pavement aforesaid,
which are covered over by boards in various stages of decomposition.
In summer, the city must be worse than Berlin (which, by the by, it
very much resembles in many respects). In spring time, after rain, my
own experience tells me it suggests forcible reminiscences of the
antique odors of Fleet Ditch. One thing which soon strikes the
stranger is the apparent want of shops. But they are to be found by
those who want them. Nearly every trader carries on his business very
modestly in his front parlor, and makes a moderate display of his
stock in the ordinary window, so that the illusory and enchanting
department of trade is quite gone. A Danish gentleman can walk out
with his wife without the least fear that he will fall a victim to "a
stupendous sacrifice," or be immolated on the altar of "an imperative
necessity to clear out in a week."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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