which, for many years, he not only translated and printed, but also bound and prepared at Holum, and which have obtained a wide circulation throughout the island. Nor shall his memory cease while Iceland continues to be peopled, and the vernacular language to be spoken by her inhabitants.”*

Several other epitaphs presented themselves before the altar, but few of them were legible, owing to the dust which has accumulated around the letters. On the outside of the railing which encloses the altar, is a bench on each side of the church: That on the right was occupied by the Bishop, and the male part of his family, and that on the left by the females. Behind these are benches the whole way back to the door, all of wood, and well finished. Above the door of the railing there is another wooden table, containing a carved representation of different parts of the gospel history; and on the right hand side from the altar, a wooden crucifix is suspended to the wall, which is at least ten feet in length, and wears a most disgusting appearance. Such images are seldom to be met with in Iceland; whereas, they are exhibited in almost every country church in Sweden and Denmark. Near to this crucifix is a baptismal font of exquisite workmanship. It consists of a large hard stone which, with amazing pains, has been rounded, hollowed out and polished, and is adorned with a variety of figures and several texts of Scripture. It bears the date of 1671.

On coming out of the church, I desired Mr Jonson to shew me where the printing-office stood, at which Gudbrand printed the first edition of the Icelandic Bible. Folding his hands together, and alluding to the removal of the school and episcopal see, "Alas!" said he, "we have also been deprived of our press, and the office has been converted into a stable!" Both of us lamented that the testaments of pious men should suffer from sacrilegious hands, and their property be applied in a manner different from that which they have unequivocally specified with their dying breath. Gud

Annalar Biörns a Skardsa, Tom. II. p. 140. Hrappsey, 1775, 4to.

brand erected the printing-press at much expense, and spared no trouble in rendering it complete, many of the utensils being of his own invention and workmanship; and, in his last will, bequeathed it to the bishopric as a perpetual property, for the purpose of securing the constant supply of fresh editions of the Scriptures, and other useful books. It was however removed to Skalholt, in 1685, but restored to Holum again in the year 1704, where it remained till 1799, when it was removed to Leirárgördum, and placed under the direction of the Icelandic Literary Society.

Holum was first erected into an episcopal see in the year 1106, and continued in possession of its dignity and importance for nearly seven centuries, till, by an order of government, the two bishoprics were combined in 1797, and the seat of ecclesiastical jurisdiction was fixed in Reykiavik, where the Bishop of Iceland now resides. This arrangement, as well as that in virtue of which the schools were united, has given universal dissatisfaction. In the northern and eastern districts in particular, it is attended with great inconvenience to the clergy, who are now obliged to repair all the way to Reykiavik on church business; where, in the course of a few weeks, they spend more of their scanty allowance than would have served them a whole year in the north. The want of the school is severely felt. While the two schools were separate, say the common people, they were of some value; but now, that they have been united, they are good for nothing. Nor are their complaints without ground; for Holum used to educate as many, if not more scholars, than the whole establishment at Bessastad does at present; and the trouble and expense at which the parents were in sending their children to the former place, were nothing compared to what it now costs them to send them to the south. Yet they would willingly submit to this inconvenience if the establishment were sufficiently large to receive all who wish to avail themselves of its advantages. In vindication of the Danish government be it said, that these innovations did not originate in any arbitrary measure on their part, but in the schemes and representations of cer

tain native Icelanders, who endeavoured to make it appear that the change would be attended with the most beneficial effects to the island.

In consequence of these changes, the once respectable and. far-famed Holum now begins to wear the appearance of a deserted village. The valley, which was intersected by upwards of fifty tracks worn by the horses that were brought thither on business, again resumes its orignal rusticity; and the place which used to be the resort of multitudes, is now visited by, perhaps, a single stranger in the course of the summer. It consists, at present, of the church; the house formerly occupied by the bishop, which is built of wood, and is the only house of two stories that I have seen in Iceland; the farm houses belonging to Mr Jonson; a small building occupied by the relict of the late Bishop, behind which is the stable, where the printing-press formerly stood; and a little to the east of this is the school-house, now inhabited by two peasants. To the north of the church there is a long hollow tract, marking the direction of a subterraneous passage, which the turbulent Jon Areson, the last Catholic Bishop, had caused to be dug from the church, back to the mountains; that, when surprised at the altar by his enemies, he might, unknown to them, make a safe retreat, and collect his forces from the neighbouring vallies. On the opposite side of the church, the foundations of a house are still visible, in which an English lady is said to have dwelt, whom one of the Bishops had brought over in order to teach his daughters embroidery and other fine work. I could not learn her name; but the ruins are known by the name of "the English lady's house."

Holum is most beautifully situated at the termination of a high mountain called Holarbyrde, on each side of which a rich valley runs down into Hialtadalr, which extends in a northerly direction, till it reaches Holum, when it winds

• Of the former episcopal residence, which stood on the same spot, and was built by Bishop Gudbrand in the year 1576, I only saw two large beams, which fook fresher than I would have supposed, from their age.