156 VISIT TO DENMARK [1799. 



knights aiid nobles in gala dresses. On the right side, 

 behind, sat the foreign ministers : in the boxes, the 

 ladies and gentlemen, all in Court dresses. The duke 

 had a helmet, and a vast plume of feathers ; so had the 

 king, but his was borne for him. There was a garde 

 d'honneur&lso with these large plumes, which resemble 

 opera dresses, and have a very singular effect. It was 

 only in the upper gallery that any middling people 

 appeared, and even these dressed. The splendour of 

 the whole, the quietness and politeness of the behav- 

 iour, were very striking indeed. The opera was ex- 

 ceedingly splendid, but the singers were indifferent, and 

 the singing itself is a patchwork ; the music in general 

 psalmodic, though there are some very pretty airs. 



The arsenal is now removed to some distance, and 

 is a large, old, and plain building, more remarkable 

 for the antiquities it contains than for anything else. 

 In the first room are several exquisite figures of ar- 

 mour, which had been really worn ; among which was 

 that of Gustavus Vasa and Gustavus Adolphus. There 

 is also a wax figure, in a glass case, of the late king, 

 very disagreeable and mean-looking ; also the dresses 

 worn by him and the duke at Sacuthend and Wibog, 

 with the duke's sword, and both having several shots 

 through ; also the dress worn by the king when he 

 was shot. The wound was through the back, a little 

 above the rump, and went into the bladder. In a 

 little adjoining room arc various sorts of old armour, 

 chiefly rude cannon and pistols, those which the late 

 king and diaries XII. had to play with when cliil- 



