him every day. This portrait was a very fine one, and a striking likeness of his Majesty. Mr. Breda had a valuable cabinet of pictures of the old Masters, which had been formed by his father. At an engraver's of the name of Martin, brother of the landscape-painter of that name, whom we before mentioned, we procured many views of the mines and of the city, some of which have been engraved for this work. We visited that eccentric genius, Després, a painter brought from Italy by the late King; and saw several fine pictures, the works of his hand. Being admitted into the workshop of the celebrated Sergell, we saw the colossal bronze statue of Gustavus the Third, ordered by the citizens of Stockholm, for a pedestal of polished porphyry, which was already placed upon the Quay, a little to the east of the Palace. Sergell is considered as second only to Canova, in the art of sculpture. This bronze statue represents the King as a pedestrian figure, dressed in a long mantle, in the act of haranguing his troops. It is eleven feet high. The right-hand is raised and extended, holding an olive-branch. The modelling cost 10,000 rix-dollars; the casting and metal, 20,000. We saw a valuable collection of designs, books, and casts, at the house

CHAP.

III.

III.

CHAP. of Masrelier, whose own drawings are deservedly in high estimation. Upon the 28th of November we were invited by Baron Oxenstierna to a dinner, at which we met all our English friends. In the evening, Signor Acerbi, who was present, amused the company by the exhibition of his musical talents; performing upon the harpsichord a great variety of national airs, to which, with surprising facility, he adapted the most skilful and pleasing variations.

Royal
Palaces.

Views of Stockholm.

Upon Friday the 6th of December, we set out to visit Dröttningholm, one of the royal palaces in the neighbourhood. The name of this place, when translated, signifies The Queen's Island: it is situate in an island upon the borders of the Lake Mælar, about six English miles from Stockholm. As a place of summer residence, nothing can be more delightful. There are two other palaces belonging to the King in the environsGripsholm and Stromsholm; but this by far exceeds the others in beauty, and has generally been preferred by the Royal Family. The view of Stockholm from the bridge, in going to Dröttningholm, is the best: and if external appearance alone were to be relied on, this might be deemed the most magnificent city in the world. But the effect produced is not to be described

III.

tion of

holm.

in words: the aid of the painter is here wanted'. CHAP. White edifices, consisting of public and private palaces, churches, and other buildings, rising from an expanse of waters, produce an effect of incomparable grandeur. The approach to Drött- Descripningholm is by a floating-bridge, seven hundred Dröttningfeet in length. This bridge, they say, was finished in twenty-two days; and cost five thousand rix-dollars: it is constructed entirely of wood. The palace is a handsome stuccoed building, roofed with copper, with side wings; and has at either extremity a pavilion, surmounted by a dome, one of which is the chapel. The length of the whole building seemed to be about forty yards. We went first into the chapel, which is small, and perfectly simple. Then we took a walk round the gardens, which we found barbarously laid out, in the old style, with shorn trees and clipped hedges. We were conducted to a Theatre formed in this wretched

(1) There cannot be a better subject for a Panorama than a View of Stockholm, connected as the different objects are with many interesting events in History. If the ingenious artist, to whom the public has been indebted for so many excellent pictures of this kind, should pursue the hint here suggested, he will probably select, for his point of view, the little hill upon which the Observatory stands, or else the tower of St. Catherine's Church; whence the eye commands, not only the whole of this remarkable city, intersected with all its bays, creeks, and harbours, but also the numerous little islands, with all the principal squares, streets, palaces, churches, and country-seats.

We soon saw

CHAP. taste, by means of avenues.
III. enough to convince us that nature had done

every thing for Dröttningholm, and man worse
than nothing. In the reign of Gustavus the Third
this place partook largely of the splendour that
characterized his reign: the sum of money ex-
pended in its decorations was enormous. Its
interior exhibits a very different aspect now,
from its appearance then. The Library and some
of the rooms are worth seeing; but, upon the
whole, there was nothing to detain us long.
A noble statue of Neptune, in bronze, upon the
border of the lake and in front of the Palace,
has been disposed so as to produce a very
striking effect. It is a common thing to decry
works of this kind, as they are generally seen in
public gardens-leaden Mercuries, spouting dol-
phins, and dancing Cupids; but the appearance
of this fine statue, extending its arm over waters
connected with the ocean, and exhibiting a
masterly style of sculpture, is truly majestic.
All the bronze figures exhibited here were taken
at Prague, in the Thirty-years' war. Upon a vase
may be observed the cipher of Ferdinand the
Second. These works are, for the most part, in
the style of the Florentine School, in which the
German artists used at that time to study. We
now returned to the Palace itself, and were con-

ducted to the Library. Upon the tables we saw a number of small specimens of sculpture, executed at Florence, in gypsous alabaster. Here are also a number of those beautiful terra-cottas commonly called Etruscan vases; some of these were of great value: and a collection of medals of the highest price, containing those of antient Greece and Rome; together with a regular series of every thing rare and remarkable in the Swedish coinage. This collection is contained in eight cabinets. Besides a well-chosen collection of books, there are, in this library, Flemish, Dutch, and Italian paintings; and models, in cork, of the antiquities of Italy. There is, moreover, a curious Cabinet of Natural History, which belonged to the late Queen, and was described by Linnæus. Here we saw, among many other curious animals preserved in alcohol, the embryo of an elephant; together with apes, birds, amphibious animals, fishes, insects, and shells, many of the greatest rarity and beauty. There are few things in this palace more worth a stranger's notice than a View of Stockholm by Martin, one of the best works of that artist. The Audience-chamber is filled with allegorical pictures, alluding to the history of Sweden, principally in the time of Charles the Eleventh, painted by Ehrenstrale. The Gallery contains a series

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