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360
FREDERIKSBORG.
Chap. XXIV.
i ng what a deal he had to do, and that reading was
somewhat of an effort in those days, was very much to
his credit.
The earlier castle of Frederic II. was of small
dimensions, and his son Christian IV. determined to erect on
the same site a building of unprecedented splendour.
When the plans were submitted to his council, they all
exclaimed at the extravagance of the design, and
prophesied that the king would never be able to put inf
execution so expensive an undertaking; but Christian
laughed at their fears, and not only completed his
palace, but, with a sort of bravado, erected a
summerhouse in the adjoining forest, which he termed his spare
penge, the produce of his economies. There can be
no doubt he did things at a cheaper rate than most
sovereigns, for he was a practical man—saw to
everything, even to the most minute details: he employed
no master of the works ; he every Saturday night paid
his workmen their wages himself, seated on a stone in
the wood hard by, which is still pointed out to the
visitor. In the volume of the correspondence of
Christian IV., lately published at Copenhagen, you will find
many curious letters showing how he, the Louis XIV.
of Denmark, did not disdain to enter into the smallest
details of household economy, turning everything to
the best account; though, on the other hand, whenever
he did anything, he did it well, and the monuments
of his reign remain still untouched by the ravages of
time, while those of his successors have long since
passed away.
In the year 1615 Christian wrote to the
Chamber-lain, enclosing him sundry packets, marked A, B, and
C, containing diamond and ruby hatbands and buckles—
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