THE ICELANDERS. 99 



in many of tlie large European cities. As a proof how early the «tu(ly of llie 

 ancients flourished in Skalholt, we find it recorded that in the twelfth century 

 a bishop once caught a scholar reading Ovid's " Art of Love;" and as the story 

 relates that the venerable pastor flew into a violent passion at the sight of the 

 unholy book, we may without injustice conclude that he must have read it him- 

 self in some of his leisure hours, to know its character so well. 



Of all its past glories, Skalholt has retained nothing but its name. The 

 school and the bishopric have been removed, the old church has disai)peared, 

 and been replaced by a small wooden building, in which divine service is held 

 once a month ; three cottages contain all the inhabitants of the once celebrated 

 city, and the extensive churchyard is the only memorial of its former impor- 

 tance. Close by are the ruins of the old school-house, and on the spjJt where the 

 bishop resided a peasant has erected his miserable hovel. 



But the ever-changing ti<le of human affairs has not bereft the now lonely 

 place of its natural charms, for the meadow-lands of Skalholt are beautifully im- 

 bedded in an undulating range of hills, overlooking tlie junction of the Bruara 

 and Huita, and backed by a magnificent theatre of mountains, among which 

 Hecla and the Eyjafialla are the most;*prominent. 



GOVERSOK S KESIUE.NCE, KEVKJAVHi. 



Reykjavik, the present capital of the island, has risen into importance at the 

 expense both of Skalholt and Thingvalla. At the beginning of the present cen- 

 tury the courts of justice were transferred from the ancient seat of legislature 

 to the new metropolis, and in 1797 the bishoprics of Hoolum and Skalholt, 

 united into one, had their seats likewise transferred to Reykjavik. The ancient 

 school of Skalholt, after having first migrated to Bessestadt, has also been 



