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286
KRONBORG.
Chap. XVIII.
and unfortunate cousin of Elizabeth, niece of Queen
Mary, the Lady Arabella Stuart? but Elizabeth,
childless herself—jealous of all who came near the succession
of the English throne—loved not the aggrandizement of
her relatives ; she preferred keeping them under lock
and key, imprisoned in her own dominions. Though
she paid no attention to his wishes in that respect,
Elizabeth appears to have remained on most comfortable
terms with the Danish sovereign; they redress their
mutual commercial grievances, have a long confab about
that everlasting nuisance, now happily suppressed, the
Sound dues,—all which matters were amicably adjusted
by John Herbert, at Haderslev, in 1583.
Then there is a mutual exchange of presents. King
Frederic, in a Latin letter, dated Vordingborg, thanks
Elizabeth for a couple of pointers, whose good qualities
the king praises greatly, and begs her acceptance of
certain “ Icelandic dogs, fit for hart-hunting.” He asks
the queen to send him some “ good English amblers,”
because in his advancing years he finds it more
commodious to ride such horses than any others, and offers the
queen in return a carriage for four horses or more (I
wonder what a Danish carriage of the sixteenth century
could have been like), that should be as commodious as
a sedan.*
* Carriages appear to have been considered articles of luxury in
Denmark to a late date, for I find, in 1664, Frederic III. presents one to
his favourite Hannibal Sehested, as well as to Archbishop Svane, “ to
distinguish them from other people.” No sooner was this innovation
made, than “the stones became too hard for folks in general ” (and
indeed they are so now, as those who have resided in the city of
Copenhagen can testify), and those who could not afford to keep horses
got sedan-chairs; and a certain Angelo Tonti, an Italian, was summoned
to contract and furnish the town with chairs.
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