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Wild Animals-Horticulture-Kale raby-Longevity of the Norwegians-Mons. De Latochnaye.

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CHAP. THERE are not less than eighteen Public Edifices in Trönÿem. We shall mention all of them, in Public Buildings. numerical order. Cathedral. I. THE CATHEDRAL. This is an antient Gothic structure, of great pristine beauty; though now so disfigured by modern repairs, by the ravages of frequent fires that have taken place in the city, and by the hand of time, that little of its original perfection remains: judging, however, from the parts which are still entire, there is enough to prove that it was one of the most magnificent ecclesiastical structures in Europe; and, according to the accounts given of it, there was nothing in all Christendom to equal this Cathedral in elegance and grandeur'. It bears date so early as the eleventh, some say the

(1) The author of the work before cited, mentioring another destructive fire that happened in Trönÿem in 1530, thus describes the splendour and beauty of this Cathedral. "Accessit A. 1530, alterum incendium, quod templum Cathedrale corripiens, et in cineres redigens, nil nisi sacram Cellam, seu Chorum, ut vocant, reliquit. In eo hodie cultus divinus canendo, precando et concionando peragitur. Ædificium fuit magnificentissimum, cætera totius Europæ templa omnia splendore supe. rans, imo in toto Christiano orbe, ut quidam affirment, sibi simile, aut par, non habens, sive artificium, sive amplitudinem spectes. Structura omnis quadrato lapide, et collumnis pulcherrimis, atque artificiosissimis unumquemque in admirationem rapiebat : quod facile patet ex ruderibus, et parietinis, quas ipsi temporum injuriæ reliquas fecerunt." Delic. sive Amanit. Regn. Daniæ, &c. p. 1226. L. Bat. 1706.

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tenth century; and was, in former ages, the CHAP resort of pilgrims from various parts of Europe. Part of the architecture is Saxon; the rest Gothie. Those who have seen the splendid remains of the Cathedral at Elgin in Scotland, will be able to call to mind something similar; but there is perhaps no other Gothic building now remaining which exhibits the same degree of lightness and airy elegance in the architecture. The sculpture decorating the arches, pillars, and doors, is of the most exquisite kind. Over the western entrance, which consisted of three portals finished in the highest style of Gothic beauty, there were statues of the size of life, profusely gilded. Some of those figures still remain, executed in a style of excellence, especially as to the drapery, which would not discredit the sculpture of Antient Greece. Formerly, a library of rare and valuable books belonged to this Cathedral; but most of them are now destroyed or lost. The inhabitants pretend that a complete manuscript of the works of Livy existed in this library; but that being taken to Bremen, it was removed to the Vatican at Rome; since which, all search after it has been made in vain. An arch of the most admirable workmanship separates the nave from the chancel. Over the altar we saw a large picture of the Crucifixion,

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CHAP. a copy, tolerably well executed, from Daniel de Volterra. Near the altar, concealed by a door, there is a well, said to be that of St. Olaus, who first introduced Christianity into Norway. The western part of the nave is now without a rooft at that part of it which joined the centre of the building, opposite to the altar, stands a large organ. This Cathedral has suffered seven times by fire; but even the destructive element, iso often directed towards its overthrow, has not disfigured it more than the modern reparations used to preserve it from total ruin. Here we saw Bishop Pontoppidan's Epitaph, who was born in 1616, and died in 1678. It is a long Latin inscription, commemorating his merits and tra vels. Over it are the portraits of the Bishop, his wife, his son, and a young daughter. There are no other inscriptions worth notice. The most antient are in Gothic characters, but these are almost effaced.

Church of
Nôtre
Dame.

II. THE CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME. This is a plain and decent building, externally whitewashed, situate in the eastern street from the square, opposite to the principal inn. It contains an organ. The first morning after our arrival, seeing carriages waiting at the door of this church, we entered, and were present at the marriage of two servants, belonging to dif

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ferent families in the city; upon which occas sions, their masters and mistresses, according to custom, attend in full dresses, accompanying the bride and bridegroom in their carriages. The service had nearly concluded, when we entered. The bride was in a pew upon the left, with three other ladies. Her head and waist were entirely covered with flowers; and her hair, curled and powdered, was in full frizzle. The bridegroom, in an opposite pew upon the right, was attended by an officer and two other gentlemen. A large posy, according to a custom noticed by our Poet Spenser', was placed before him. The priest was singing at the altar, ascompanied by the organ: when he had finished, he passed out by a door behind the altar, and the ceremony ended. The bride and bridegroom were first handed to their carriage, and the attendant ladies and gentlemen followed after; the whole affording an honourable proof of the reverence in which wedlock is held, among the respectable inhabitants of this city,

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(1) Corresponding with the Customs of the Antient Grecians. See the passage in Euripides, where Clytemnestra tells Achilles she had crowned Iphigenia for the wedding.—Iphig. in Aul. v. 903.

(2)

"With stone of vermeil roses,

To deck the bridegroom's posies." Spenser, Mari

CHAP. and by the very persons best calculated to offer an example to the lower orders.

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Hospital.

Baklan
Church.

Latin
School.

III. THE HOSPITAL.-There is a church annexed to this building, containing also an organ. IV. BAKLAN CHURCH.-This name means the back-land church. Here there is also an organ.

V. THE LATIN SCHOOL.-This constitutes one part of a large building in the south street, white-washed in front; containing also a Museum, and a chamber for the meetings of the Literary Society. It was built with part of the legacy of Mr. Angel. The Latin School occupies the ground-floor upon the right, to a person entering it is divided into three chambers, which are filled with desks and benches. At the upper end of the third room is an elevated cathedra or pulpit for the principal teacher. Boards exhibiting the scales and principles of musical science are placed around this room;music being here taught, together with natural history, and other branches of knowledge not commonly introduced into our English Academies. The chamber for the sitting of the Literary Society is over the Latin School: portraits of illustrious men who have rendered themselves conspicuous in Denmark and Norway, either by their valour or by their talents, hang round this chamber.