res a little capital."

"Well, then, tell me how great that must be," he asked, and looked
earnestly at him. The man in a modest manner named the requisite sum,
and Thorwaldsen went a third time to the drawer, counted out the sum,
accompanied him to the door, pressed his hand, and repeated, "But now
you will ride, for you have not strength to walk!"

Our artist did not belong to the class of great talkers; it was only
in a small circle that he could be brought to say anything, but then
it was always with humor and gayety. A few energetic exclamations of
his are preserved. A well-known sculptor, expressing himself one day
with much self-feeling, entered into a dispute with Thorwaldsen, and
set his own works over the latter's. "You may bind my hands behind
me," said Thorwaldsen, "and I will bite the marble out with my teeth
better than you can carve it."

Thorwaldsen possessed specimens in plaster of all his works; these,
together with the rich marble statues and bas-reliefs which he had
collected of his own accord, without orders, and the number of
paintings that he every year bought of young artists, formed a
treasure that he wished to have in his proper home, Copenhagen.
Therefore, when the Danish government sent vessels of war to the
Mediterranean, in order to fetch the works that were ready for the
palace or the churches, he always sent a number of his own things with
them. Denmark was to inherit these treasures of art; and, in order to
see them collected in a place worthy of them, a zeal was awakened in
the nation to build a museum for their reception. A committee of his
Danish admirers and friends sent out a requisition to the people, that
everyone might give their mite; many a poor servant-girl and many a
peasant gave theirs, so that a good sum was soon collected. Frederick
VI. gave ground for the building, and the erection thereof was
committed to the architect, Bindesbol.

Thorwaldsen, in 1838, had attained universal fame. The frigate Rota
was dispatched to bring a cargo of his works to Copenhagen, and he was
to arrive at the same time, perhaps to remain in Denmark. Close to
Presto Bay, surrounded by wood-grown banks, lies Nysoee, the principal
seat of the barony of Stampenborg, a place which, through Thorwaldsen,
has become remarkable in Denmark. The open strand, the beautiful beech
woods, even the little town seen through the orchards, at some few
hundred paces from the mansion, make the place worthy of a