The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-06 00:00:00

73 Prince and Princess of Wales in

Sweden.

( From the Times' Special Correspondent)
STOCKHOLM, Sept. 30.
By far the most enjoyable of the fetes held
hitherto in honour of the visit of the Prince and
Princess of Wales to Sweden was the excursion
yesterday to Gripsholm Castle, situated on the Mae-
lar Lake, somewhat over 40 miles from Stockholm..
On their way from Copenhagen their Royal High.
neeses had enjoyed the opportunity of becoming-
acquainted with the beautiful natural panorama,
that unfolds itself all the way from the mouth of
the bay to the capital, and now they were to follow
the chain of water.communication inland, and to
pass through a succession of lake scenery, only
needing a loftier background to render it equal to
anything of a similar nature in the world. The
Royal party embarked shortly before one o'clock at
the port or quay of Ridderholm on board the
steamer Arboga No. 1, a vessel employed in the or-

dinary passenger navigation of the Swedish lakes, 1
though from her great speed and the freshness and
elegance of her internal fittings she might have
been taken for a small yacht or despatch vessel in
the King's srrvice. In all these Northern steamers
nothing is more remarkable than the taste with
which the saloon is arranged. Even where no
greater attempt at decoration is made, there is sure
to be a plant of ivy or some other evergreen trained
to wind its leaves round the mast, giving, with the
aid of flowers freshly gathered, wonderful freshness
to the apartment. On board the Arboga there was
an awning over the poop-deck, arranged in such a
manner that this could be completely enclosed at
night or in case of bad weather, so that with the
addition of chairs and coaches and carpets this part
of the vessel was converted into a drawing.room.
To witness the ceremony of embarkation a very
large crowd assembled, composed not only of the
more respectable inhabitants of Stockholm, but in-
cluding many of the peasants in their picturesque
Dalecarlian costumes of sheepskin jackets and
woollen petticoats, or with black silk handkerchiefs
fastened over their heads, and their black dresses,
edged and striped with red or green. In addition
to those members of the Royal party who have been
staying at the Castle of Stockholm and their suites
respectively, the company on board included the
whole of the Corps Diplomatique. Among these
was Mr. Jerningham, the English representative,
just returned from leave of absence, who was warmly
greeted by his colleagues, and also the newly accre•
dited representative from the empire of Mexico. As
the vessel moved off from the pier a cordial cheer
was raised by the lookers-on, which the King first,
and afterwards the Prince of Wales, acknowledged,
and the waving of handkerchiefs continued as long
as those upon deck could be distinguished from the
shore. An admirable view was gained as the steamer
sped along of the suburbs of Stockholm, and espe-
cially of the principal alvernment establishments
and hospitals, which are situated upon rising
ground at the edge of the lake. The route, also,
could be plainly distinguished which the connecting
line of railway is to take, so as to interfere as little
as possible with the beauty of the capital ; and,
looking back upon the city, the mammoth palace,
the house of the nobles, and the coronation-hall and
burial-place of the Swedish kings c:uld all be com-
passed in a single glance. Had the season been
the earliest summer, instead of verging on the close
of autumn, the weather could not have proved more
favourable. It was one of those rare but lovely
exceptions to a cold season called in the Mediter-
ranean'i" St. Martin's summer." Uprn this good for-
tnne felicitations were universally exchanged, be-
cause from the prevalence of pine trees in the
northern landscapes, the mere absence of sunlight
is sufficient to throw upon them a shade of gloomi-
ness. As it was, the shores of the lake looked
almost Swiss in their richness and verdancy. They
wanted, of course, the towering Alps behind ;
but the absence of hiila was to some extent

balanced by the banks of white clouds whicb

rolled themselves into fantastic shapes, and
formed no inapt representatives of the region of
perpetual snow. Towards the mouth of the bay
below Stockholm, the islands for the most part are
bare, vegetation being prevented or cut down by
the sweeping blasts of winter. In the milder
climate of Lake Maelar they are covered with trees,
and as the boat advances farther inland fertile
valleys are frequently encountered. Oa its way to
Gripsholm the Arboga was obliged to make some-
what of a detour to call at Drottningholm for the
Queen Dowager, but the prolongation of the jour-
ney afforded pleasure to all on board, end more-
over, enabled them to admire by daylight the pro-
portions of the palace which by torchlight the
previous evening had presented such a grand ap-
pearance. The Queen D )wager, with one of the
ladies of her Court and the marshal of her household,
was upon the jetty immediately in front of the
castle, waiting the arrival of the steamer ; the spec-
ta ors, to th© number of some hundreds, standing
b 3 .k a few paces, seeing everything that passed, but
at the same time not encroaching upon her move-
ments. As soon as the vessel had been made fast,
and before the gangway was quite in its place, the
King landed, and, after a short conversation, him-
self conducted the Queen Mother on board, where
she was received and welcomed by Prince Oscar,
and afterwards by all the other members of the
Royal party. From Drottningholm to Gripsholm
the passage was made without further incident, save
that a Swedish gentleman of fortune caused a salute
to be fired from pieces of ordnance in the grounds
of his chateau, which lies in the vicinity of Grips=
holm, but upon the opposite shore of the lake.
Country seats abound in this locality, but they are
only occupied for two or three months each year,
during the short continuance of a northern summer,
and the residents, almost without exception, have
now returned to their town residences. The view of
Gripsholm Castle, with its strong red towers and
blaek-capped roofs, as seen from the lake, is very
striking. It stands on a jutting piece of rock, with
its base concealed from view by a fringe of birch
till one is actually on the point of entering the gate-
way. A little way to the right lies the little town
of Mariefred, bearing a strong family resemblance to
most of the Swedish villages—that is to say, it con-
sists of red wooden houses, with windows picked
out is white, surrounded and mixed up with gar-
dens and lime trees, while from a slight elevation
the chiarch spire towers above the colony. This
Castla of Gripsholm is of wonderful antiquity, and
its walls, at the present day, are not more thickly
covered with p'ctures than they would be with his-
torical memories coull they but find voice to utter
them. About the year 1380 the building was ori•
ginally founded by a e'aieftain with the suggestive
name of Grip, who at that time is said to have held
the third part of Sweden in his clutches. In 1537
it was restored or rebuilt by Gustavus Vasa, the
towers, with the exception of the roofs, which were
then somewhat different in shape, being erected as
they now stand. In the eight-sided courtyard, built
anyhow into the walls, may still be seen the armo-
rial bearings of Vasa, " Bo Jonsson Grip," and
others, which the late King of Sweden ordered to
be regilt at the time he was renovating the castle,
and introducing by the way some square modern
windows, against which the architects have ever
since protested, besides painting and pointing the
fine old brickwork. In the outer courtyard are two
gigantic pieces of ordnance, not unlike one of those
in St. James's Park, but of greater size, which an
inscription is ancient Slavonic declares to have been
naptured from the Russians by La Gardie in the 16t h
;entury. They are each 18ft long, and made appa-
ently of bell metal, 3ft of the end nearest to the
nouth of the piece being fashioned in imitation of
the
head of a wolf—a name which the inscription
referred to declares that they were actually known
by. They are pitted with shot marks, and the pea-
sants,generations ago, gave them the uncomplimen-
tary titles of " the Boar and the Sow." The melan-
choly associations connected with the Castle of
Gripsholm prevent its being more thin an occasional
residence of royalty during the summer' but for the
visitor every room is fall of interest. Those naturally
which a stranger most desires to see are the a art..
ments in which the royal brothers successively pkept
each other cicee prisoners for long and weary terms
of years. John's appears to have been as comfortable
a place of captivity as the ideas of the time contem.
plated. The room is circular, lighted 1:y tree win.