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him a glass of brandy this morning he readily
accepted i t ; the prince, when there, had asked
him to take a glass of punch, but he informed
his highness he only drank brandy. I suspect,
hoAvever, that this poor clergyman rarely indulges
in luxury of this kind. When we consider the
long, cold, and dreary Avinter nights, and the destitution
of almost every article of life that constitutes
comfort, it is not to be wondered at that
spirituous liquors should hold out an almost irresistible
temptation, and the more so in the
proximity of the capital, Avhere they can easily
and cheaply be procured, Avhich is not the case in
the more distant parts of the island.
By the reply received to one of the statistical questions
I was commissioned to ask, it woidd appear
that the Avhole quantity of spirits consurned on the
island amounts only to two bottles per annum to
each individual of the population; and of this
allowance, judging from what I have learnt of the
very limited incomes and the general poverty of
some three hundred clergymen on the island, two
hundred of them know not Avhat spirituous liquors
are. Dr. Hooker mentions the extraordinary effect
Avhich a small portion of rum produced on the good
old priest of Middalr, whose stomach had been
accustomed only to a milk diet and a little coffee.
He begged me, says the Doctor, “ to gi\'e him
some rum to bathe his Avife’s b reast; but haAung
applied a portion of it to that purpose, he drank
the rest, without being at all aware of its strength,
which however had no other effect than in causing
this clerical blacksmith*, with his lame hip, to
dance in the most ridiculous manner in front of the
house. The scene afforded a great source of m erriment
to all his family, except his old wife, who
was very desirous of getting him to bed, while he
Avas no less anxious that she should join him in the
dance, f ”
Dr. Hooker observes that this very circumstance
is a convincing proof how unaccustomed this priest
was to spirituous liquors, otherwise a small quan- -
tity that could not have exceeded a wine-glass full
would not have elated his spirits to such a degree.
At length it was announced to us that all was
ready, and having taken a friendly leave of our
respectable clergyman, we left Thingvalla. Its
name implies a court of justice in the open field.
The Althing, or general assembly of the nation,
was held here in the open air ; here too was held
the supreme court of justice, and this continued to
be so till the year 1690, when a plain rustic
building of lava was erected, and justice therein
administered till about the commencement of the
present century, when the court was removed to
Reikiavik. On this memorable spot too the
Christian religion received its final establishment,
* All the clergymen are blacksmiths, for a reason which will be
stated hereafter.
f Journal o f a Tour in Iceland, p. 110.
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