313 



inspection ; was always present on the public days for the 

 purpose of showing and explaining the antiquities ; and when 

 peasants happened to visit the collection, he paid particular 

 attention to them, ' because,' as he said, ' it is by them we 

 shall have our collection enlarged.' For many years he con- 

 tinued to show the collection, and to diffuse an interest in the 

 old remains throughout the country, and all this without re- 

 ceiving any pecuniary emolument, I ought rather to say, at 

 very considerable expense to himself. At last, the collection 

 became so large, that the room in the library was far from fur- 

 nishing sufficient accommodation ; and the constantly increas- 

 ing interest in the collection, and fresh donations of antiquities, 

 made its removal necessary. After many difficulties, he made a 

 great step in advance, by getting rooms in the royal palace, 

 ' Christiansborgj'in Copenhagen. He then fully carried out his 

 idea of arranging the Pagan antiquities into three periods, the 

 stone, brass, and iron periods, which he was the first to point out 

 to antiquaries. It was not long before the collection acquired a 

 great name on the Continent; all foreigners spoke about it as 

 one of the most remarkable collections in the north of Europe. 

 The Government evinced more and more interest in the Mu- 

 seum, and the public began to regard it as a national treasure. 

 In the mean time, the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries 

 in Copenhagen had published many of the remarkable Icelandic 

 sagas, through which the people got more knowledge of the 

 importance of the olden time, than they had hitherto possessed. 

 The Society published in its Annals descriptions of the anti- 

 quities of the Museum, and published separately popular 

 tracts, illustrated with woodcuts, on the value and importance 

 of preserving the antiquities, many thousands copies of which 

 were spread over the country, among clergymen, schoolmasters, 

 and peasants. From all sides and all parts of the country an- 

 tiquities were presented to the Museum; and it has now been 

 enlarged to such an extent, that when the new arrangement, 

 which is now going on, is finished, it will occupy about ten 



