have embraced; for, on a certain occasion, he did not scruple to kill two of them for having circulated a satirical verse which had been composed on him and the Bishop, and they both quitted the island shortly after, not having met with that success which they had anticipated. However, although few received baptism, a number of the inhabitants in the northern quarter absented themselves from the temples, broke in pieces their idols, and refused any longer to pay the customary tax in support of idolatrous worship; and the first church was built by Thorvard Spakbödvarson, at As, in the year 984, in spite of the opposition and threatenings of his heathen neighbours.

Thorvald was succeeded by one Stefner, whom Olave, King of Norway, sent over, A. D. 996, for the express purpose of converting the Icelanders to the Christian faith; but he appears to have met with as little success as his predeces sor; only the subject became more generally known, and certain regulations, which were adopted at the national assembly, for preventing the spread of innovation, had a tendency to excite discussion among the inhabitants.

Olave next dispatched a priest, named Thangbrand, on this important mission; and though the heathen used every effort in opposing the progress of his work, and employed several of their best poets to assault him with the keenest invective, he succeeded in baptizing a number of them. Severe fines were now imposed upon such as turned Christians, and some were obliged to quit the island on account of the persecution which was raised against them.

At last, in the year 1000, two of those who had been exiled, Hiallti and Gissur, returned to Iceland, with the full determination of advocating the cause of Christianity in the presence of their countrymen. They arrived at the time of the general assembly, and proceeded instantly thither, where they were welcomed by their friends, who defended them against an attack which was meditated by the pagans. The following day they went in solemn procession to the Lögberg, accompanied by seven men, dressed in sacerdotal garments, and carrying large crosses in their hands. The whole

assembly was struck with the novelty of the scene; and, after Hiallti had offered incense, he and Gissur began to point out the superiority of Christianity to Heathenism in so bold and intrepid a manner, that none of their enemies had the courage to contradict them. The consequence was, that such as were brought to the determination of changing their religion, took witnesses to that effect; and, separating from their heathen countrymen, they joined the party that had professed the faith of Christ. While thus engaged, intelligence was brought to the assembly, that a volcanic eruption had commenced at no great distance, which the heathen immediately ascribed to the indignation of the gods at the defection of such numbers from their ancient creed. "Can it be matter of surprise," they exclaimed, "that the gods should be angry at such speeches as those we have now heard ?” With this question they hoped to silence the advocates of the Christian religion, and prevent any more of their countrymen from embracing it; but Snorro Goda, though still a pagan, was so struck with the inconclusiveness of the argument, that, referring them to the streams of lava in the midst of which the assembly was held, and which had visibly flowed long before the island was inhabited, he pointedly asked them, "At what then were the gods angry, at the period when the very lava on which we now stand was burning?" No answer having been made, the assembly broke up, and such as had espoused the new faith petitioned that laws should be enacted for securing to them the peaceable profession of their religion.

The Heathen now began to institute a solemn appeal to their gods, and resolved to offer, as an expiatory sacrifice, two human victims from each quarter of the island, that the Christian religion might not be permitted to spread over the whole country. On which Hiallti and Gissur convoked an assembly of the Christians, and proposed that an equal number of their party should devote themselves as martyrs to the honour of their Redeemer; and, to stimulate their zeal, Hiallti himself came forward and offered to lay down his life in support of the Christian cause.

The following day, Thorgeir, at that time supreme magistrate, convened the assembly for the purpose of bringing the dispute to a termination. He pointed out to them the pernicious consequences which were likely to arise from their having two distinct codes, and advised them to the exercise of mutual toleration under the protection of the same common laws. The effect produced by his speech was so great, that both parties agreed to abide by whatever decision he should give in the case. He therefore enacted, that all the inhabitants of Iceland should be baptized, and worship one God; that such as were still inclined to offer sacrifice should do it privately; but that the ancient regulations should still be in force respecting the exposition of infants,* and the eating of horse-flesh. The rite of baptism was now administered to the whole population of the island at the hot-baths, which they preferred to immersion in cold water.†

Measures were now taken to provide the inhabitants with places of worship; and a number of priests were ordained to conduct it according to the forms of the church of Rome. At first they were under the inspection of foreign bishops; but, in the year 1057, Isleif, a native Icelander, who had studied some time at the university of Erfurt, was installed into the see of Skalholt, where he exercised the episcopal office till his death, A. D. 1080, when he was succeeded by his son Gissur. This prelate having instituted a regular system of tithes, found that the island was able to support more than one bishop; and, consulting the good of the ec

* Such as did not choose to bring up their children were at liberty to expose them; and the practice was very common in regard to female infants, especially if there happened to be many young females in a family. They wrapped the child carefully up in a cloth, put a piece of meat into its mouth, and either concealed it under the roots of a tree, or between two stones, which they covered with a third, in order to prevent any beast from devouring it. From the instances on record of this inhuman custom, it appears in almost every case to have originated with the father; that there was frequently a long dispute ere the female parent would consent to surrender her beloved offspring; and no doubt many a stolen visit was paid to the spot, where the dear babe was brought to so untimely an end. Hist. Eccles. Island. tom. i. p. 68.

+ See Kristni Saga, cap. xii.

clesiastical establishment more than his own private emolument, he readily complied with a request which had been made by the inhabitants of the north, that they might have a bishop of their own for the more convenient administration of church-affairs. Another episcopate was accordingly erected at Holum, and the office was first conferred upon Jon Ögmundson in the year 1107. The Icelandic bishops were originally under the Archbishop of Bremen; they afterwards became subject to the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Lund in Sweden, and were ultimately suffragans of the Archbishop of Drontheim in Norway. * The first code of ecclesiastical law was that known by the name of Jus Ecclesiasticum Grimkelianum, but this was revised and augmented in the year 1123, when it was introduced as the standing law of the Icelandic church.

It might naturally have been expected, that the immense distance of Iceland from the immediate seat of the Papal government would, in a great measure, have secured its inhabitants from the introduction of those superstitious and ridiculous ceremonies which were at that time palmed upon the world, instead of the purity and simplicity of primitive Christianity; at least, it was not so likely that these evils should gain the same ground, or spread to the same extent that they did in other countries, the contiguity of which to Rome exposed them to continual usurpations on the part of that power. But these fond conjectures are contradicted by historical facts. The Icelanders appear to have equalled the blindest of their fellow-devotees in their attachment to the hierarchy, and their unqualified adoption of its grossest absurdities; in consequence of which, a great portion of their original heathenism was retained under a new form, and they continued the dupes of the most abject superstition. Several of them undertook pilgrimages to Rome; and considerable sums were raised for carrying on the Crusades. Saints and reliques were held in the greatest veneration. Voluntary contributions were made for the erection of mo

Hist. Eccles. Island. tom. i. p. 104.

nasteries; and the Papal Nuncio for the northern kingdoms of Europe kept an agent in Iceland for the sale of indul gences.

In this state did the island continue during the long pe riod of five centuries. But Christian III. on the establishment of the Protestant religion in Denmark, issued orders that the Papal authority should be put down, and that the pure doctrines of the Gospel should be preached in Iceland, instead of the fables and legends which had hitherto occupied the religious creed of its inhabitants. Considerable opposition was made on the part of the clergy, especially by Jon Areson, Bishop of Holum, who endeavoured to throw every possible obstacle in the way of the Reformation; and, arming a body of men, he proceeded to the south, and arrested the Bishop of Skalholt, but was taken soon afterwards by the King's officers, and beheaded for various crimes which he had committed. In the year 1551, the Reformation was fully introduced into Iceland; and, in the course of a short time, the doctrines of the New Testament became generally known among the inhabitants.

The form and ceremonies of the Icelandic church are strictly Lutheran, though, from the poverty of the people, their churches are less elegant, and a greater degree of simplicity pervades their worship than I have found in other Lutheran countries. Formerly there were two bishops, one at Skalholt, and the other at Holum; but, in the year 1797, the bishoprics were united, and an episcopal see erected at Reykiavik for the whole island. The next ecclesiastical dignitary to the bishop is the archdeacon, who supplies his place in case of sickness, or a vacancy of the see; and there are, besides, eighteen provosts or deans, each of whom has the superintendence of the clergy within the limits of his district. The total number of parishes in Iceland amounts to 184; but as many of them occupy a great space of ground, it has been found necessary to build in some parts two or three churches in a parish, which has increased the number of churches to 305. Some of the priests have chaplains to assist them in the performance of public duty. They are