ANTIQUITIES AND NATIONAL MONUMENTS IN DENMARK. 305 



sition, and, indeed, in more favorable circumstances. On the one hand, 

 they had to convert into full proprietorship numbers of leases which had 

 belonged to the state, to public foundations, to fiefs, to trusts, and to 

 private individuals; on the other hand, the increase of prosperity had 

 developed the taste for the restoration of ancient castles, churches, and 

 other remarkable monuments. 



I. Relative to the seizure in the name of the state of stone heaps, 

 funereal mounds, runic stones, fortifications, ruins of castles &c, the 

 government passed an ordinance in 1S48 that all structures of this kind 

 existing in the royal domains and iu the foiests of the state should be 

 declared national property, and that if any part of the national domain 

 should be alienated, these structures should be expressly reserved by 

 the state and clearly designated in the articles of sale. At that time 

 the archaeological director traveled over the country to make a list 

 and a description of such objects as deserved to be saved. At the 

 instance of the archaeological commission (July, 1848), the minister of 

 justice invited the directors of religious foundations and the holders 

 of fiefs and trusts to make the same reservation iu favor of the state 

 upon leasing or selling their property. Moreover, the antiquarian com- 

 mission (July 8, 1849), and later the director of monuments and of the 

 museum (November, 1849), addressed printed circulars to all the land- 

 holders of the kingdom to induce them to make the same reservations, 

 and many of them submitted to it with the greatest good will. In this 

 way, without much expense, a great number of important and charac- 

 teristic monuments were placed under the protection of the law. Al- 

 though in many cases the reservations announced in the leases and acts 

 of sale were not stated so clearly as to avoid all conflict concerning 

 tenure, yet a basis was established upon which to build in the future. 

 In the numerous excursions made each year by the director of ancient 

 monuments, frequently accompanied by artists who measured and 

 sketched the different kinds of remains throughout the kingdom, and 

 in his personal relations with the people, he acquired for the state a 

 great number of relics, some of which were sold at a reasonable price, 

 others given gratuitously — indeed, by yeomen hardly able to. do it. 

 These journeys, which helped greatly to call the attention of the people 

 of different localities to the fact that such monuments had been declared 

 national property, had also the effect of bringing to light movable ob- 

 jects, such as runic inscriptions, tombs, fragments of architecture, &c, 

 which were exposed to great risks, and of securing for the National 

 Museum important works of antiquity. 



By reason of the close connection of the Archaeological Bureau with 

 the National Archaeological Museum, in the archives of which all the 

 sketches made iu the journeys of inspection were deposited, it was 

 agreed to prepare as soon as possible an archaeological chart of each. 

 parish, on which should be indicated with precision the structures sub- 

 S. Mis. 54 20 



