b o o k to Adolphus,as the neareft in blood to the deceafed monarch;
. v_1j hut he declining it on account o f his advanced age, they, at
his recommendation, elected his nephew Chriftian, then in
the 2 ad year o f his age : this event happened in x 448 ; and
. in the fame year he was permitted alfo to afcend the throne
o f Norway, in right o f his defcent from one of their antient
kings. île obtained the crown o f Sweden in 15 58 , upon
the depofition of Charles Canutfon ; but wore it only a ihort
time, as well through his own activity, as through the aver-
fion o f the Swedes to a foreign ruler. Chriftian I. reigned
three and twenty years ; a fovereign o f great moderation and
humanity ; whofe qualities, being lefs ihining than folid,
were more adapted to the interior adminiftration o f affairs,
than to the exploits o f war. He is juftly chara<5tized by ah
hiftorian, as one o f thofe princes who do not attrait the admiration
o f mankind, yet whom Providence never beftows
upon anation but as a fignal mark o f his favour ®.
The fucceflbrs o f Chriftian I. who are buried in the fame
church, feem in general to have inherited his pacifick qualities
; as all, except Frederick II. and Chriftian IV. were
princes of mild and temperate difpofitions ; patrons o f the
arts and fciences, rather than entetprizing in arms ; who
yielded to others the palm o f military glory ; and for thé
moft part fhrunk before the daring fpirit which animated
the>rival houfe of Vafa.
In the fame chapel are the tombs o f Chriftian HI. and
Frederick II. Their Tuperb monuments, executed in Italy,
at the expence of Chriftian IV. are elegantly carved, and are
efteemed mafter-pieces of fculpture. The ftatues o f the
■ ** P lu s g ran d au x y e u x da la faine r a i - . t f leu r ac cord e que quand il v eu t leu r prou*
4‘ fon qu*à c e u x du vu lg a ire , il fu t peu t-être “ ver fon amour.*’ M a lle t , H ift. de D an .
** un de ces princes que le s peuples ne lo u - T om . I I . p . 9 3.
** .eut que fa ib lemen t, mais q u e le C ie l ne
two
two fovèreigns are reprefented as large as life, under a canopy
o f ftone, fupported by Corinthian pillars. Several figures of
angels, and the baflb-relievos round the maufoleum o f Frederick
II. reprefenting that prince’s battles, are juftly admired.
No tomb is erefted to the memory o f Chriftian IV. juftly
called, by'Mr. Wraxall, the Idol o f Daniih Hiftory : his body
is depofited in a coffin covered with velvet, ornamented with
filver trophies, efcutcheons, and angels holding crowns of
laurel.
It would bé tedious to enumerate the other fepulchres o f
the royal family, moft o f which are loaded with infcriptions
o f great length ; the reader, who is defirous o f further information,
will find them accurately tranfcribed in Pontop-
pidan’s Marmora Danica, and in Travels through Denmark,
publiihed in 1702.
The following genealogical,tables trace in regular defcent
the Kings o f Denmark, from Harald Blaatand to the prefent
fovereign.