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Chap. IX.
QUEEN SOPHIA MADALENA.
133
to the troublous times in which it was constructed, as
you may still see by the old engravings, though
certainly not in the style of Sir Christopher Wren, then the
architect par excellence. In the year 1720 the old edifice
was demolished by Frederic IV.; and, while yet scarcely
raised from its ruins, was again laid low to satisfy the
craving for magnificence and luxury, the besetting sin
of Queen Sophia Madalena. That this fair princess
lavished the public money with a reckless hand no one
can deny, but it should be borne in mind that she was
not only the wife of an absolute sovereign, but also the
wife of one of the most consummate bores that ever
existed. The queen from very weariness launched out
into extravagance; palaces of unprecedented grandeur
rose at her beck and nod; she did too much, but all
she did was well done and in good taste, and, in this
particular, it is to be regretted that later monarchs have
not followed her example.
The palace of Madalena was completed and taken
possession of by the court in 1740, amidst the greatest
possible rejoicings of the people (so at least asserts the
Danish Vitruvius), and medals were struck in honour
of the event. This palace also was consumed by fire in
the year 1794, and for some time remained a heap of
ashes. It has often caused much astonishment how
Frederic VI., considering the dilapidated state of his
finances, should have rebuilt this edifice in so costly a
style, too large for the necessities of his court and
kingdom. He had much better have reconstructed it
after the earlier design of his fair predecessor; it would
have then still remained an ornament to the city and
a credit to the architect; it is now neither one nor the
other. But Frederic VI., it appears, had received a
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