The taxes fur the maintenance of the poor are much more severe on the people than those levied for the public. There is no regular establishment for the poor, if we except three small buildings in different parts of the country al lotted for the reception of incurable lepers. Every farmer or householder is by law obliged to receive and support his own destitute relations ; and should he have none such, or phans, and those whose age and infirmities render them in capable of supporting themselves. The expence thus in curred amounts sometimes to twenty or thirty times the amount of his public taxes, when a householder does not choose to receive paupers into his family.
The religious establishment of the country consists of a bishop, provost, and parish priests. The two sees of Skal holt and Hoolum happening to become vacant at the same time, they were united in the year 1797, in the person of Geir Vidalia, who now enjoys the title of Bishop of Ice and is settled at Reikiavik. The island is divided in to 184 parishes, in most of which there is more than one church, on account of the scattered state of the population, the average of which for each parish may be about 260. There are nineteen provosts, each of whom, besides the general superintendance of his district, has the charge of a parish.
The revenue of the bishop amounts to 1800 dollars ; that of the parishes is very unequal, some being in value nearly equal to 200 dollars, on account of the goodness of the farms attached to the livings, while others, with a great er population, are scarcely worth thirty dollars. The glebes add considerably, however, to their scanty allow ances ; and as every farmer is obliged to furnish the priest with a day's work, and to keep a lamb for him, his farm costs hint but little labour. He also receives occasional small offerings and perquisites for officiating at marriages, baptisms, and burials. The churches are in general neat but plain buildings, constructed of wood and tut f. Some of them indeed are little better than hovels, while others are large and comfortable. At Reikiavik there is a large church, built of lava, and roofed with tiles. A inure elegant one of this kind is to be seen at Bessestad. The church in the Westmann islands is reckoned the most elegant.
Young men destined for the church, after they have left the school, and been admitted as probationers, earn their livelihood by fishing and other labour, and after a certain term are examined, and received into orders, after which they await a settlement, the prospect of which is often very distant, and when obtained dots not yield case and comfort.
The habitations of the priests are seldom better than those of the farmers, and are not better futnished ; a bed, a ta ble, and a few chairs, and those very indifferent, being the whole stock, in addition to a few boxes and chests, in w Inch the clothes and chattels of the family arc kept. Ilene, however, learning and genius are to be found ; and an at tention to the duties of their station is displayed by the Icelandic priests, which may well excite feelings of shame among those of other commies, Who have no privations to hinder them from the proper performance of their duty. The following description of a Sabbath scene in Iceland is not more elegant and affecting than it is correct. It is from the pen of Dr. Holland, and we quote it front Sir George Mackenzie's Travels. The Sabbath scene at an Ice landic church is indeed one of the most singular and inter esting kind. The little edifice, constructed of wood and turf, is situated, perhaps amid the rugged ruins of a stream of lava, or beneath mountains which are covered with never•melting snows ; in a spot where the mind almost sinks under the silence and desolation of surrounding na ture. Here the Icelanders assemble to perform the duties of their religion. A group of male and female peasants may be seen gathered about tile church, waiting Inc arri val of their pastor ; and all luWited in their best attire, after the manner of the country ; their children with them ; and the horses which brought them from their respective homes grazing quietly around the little assembly. The arrival of a new coiner is welcomed by every one with a kiss of salu tation ; and the pleasures of social intercourse, so rarely enjoyed by the Icelanders, are happily connected with the occasion which summons them to the discharge of their religious duties. The priest makes his appearance among them as a friend ; he salutes individually each member of his flock, and stoops down to give his almost parental kiss to the little ones, who are to grow up under his pastoral charge. These offices of kindness pet formed, they all go together into the house of prayer." The trade of Iceland has never been managed in such a way as to be of important benefit to the natives, of whom but a small number are engaged in it. The following Ta bles, taken from Stephenson's History of Iceland during the 18th Century, will serve to give a correct idea of the state of commerce.