óbætanlegs skaða vanrækja efni sín; hann gefur sannarlega, sagði eg þá, of mikið fyrir hljóðpípu sína.

Ef eg sje einhvern armingja, sem einasta til þess að geta hrúgað saman auðæfum, afneitar sjer um alla þægilegleika lífsins, alla þá ánægju, sem í því er að gjöra vel við aðra, alla virðingu segi eg þa, pjer gefið vissulega of mikið fyrir hljóðpípu yðar.

þegar eg mæti gleðimandi, sem fórnar hverju tækifært til að auðga sál sína eða bæta hag sinn á lofsverðan hátt, og það vegna eintómrar holdlegrar nautnar: óláns-maður, segi eg þá, þjer bakið yður böl en ei gleði: djer gefið of mikið fyrir hljóðpípu yðar.

Sjái jeg mann af tómri hjegómadýrð sækjast eptir dýrindis fötum, hússgögnum og öðrum útbunaði, allt meira enn efni hans leyfa, safna fyrir þá sök skuldum og lenda loks í díflissu; œ, segi eg þá, hann hefur drýkeypt, mjög drýkeypt, hljóðpípu sína.

þegar eg sje fagra, blíðlynda meyju, gefna illum og hroðalegum svola; mikil hörmung er það, segi eg þá, að hún skuli hafa gefið svona mikið fyrir eina hljóðpípu.

I stuttu máli, eg komst að raun um að mikill hluti af eydum manna kemur af því að þeir meta ranglega gildi hluta, og gefa of mikið fyrir hljóðpípur sínar.

The word Hljothpipan, literally translated, is a pipe, or musical instrument, made out of a reed. These extracts from Icelandic literature are undoubtedly very interesting! If not so readily perused as our English, they at least show the literary taste of the Icelanders, and something of the variety and style of their composition. Here is an extract from a newspaper published in Reykjavik a few days after I left; a copy of which I received by mail after arriving in New York.

From the þjoðolfur* of Aug. 20th, 1852.

Eptirfylgjandi GREIN bað ferðamaðurinn herra PLINY MILES rektor herra BJARNA Jónsson að láta prenta í þjóðólfi, og senda honum svo til Vesturheims.

Herra Pliny Miles, Vesturheimsmaður og meðlimur Sagnafjelagsins í Nýju Jórvík, hefur um hríð dvalið á Íslandi og farið víða um bjeröð landsins. Hann hefur skoðað Geisir, litla Geisir, brennisteinnámurnar í Krisivik, og hann kom upp á tindinn á Heklu. Herra Miles hefur skoðað og aðætt nokkrar bækur landsins, og hefur hann haft heim með sjer til Vesturheims nokkrar íslenzkar bækur. Stiptsbókasafnið hefur sent böggul af bókum þjóðbókasafni Vesturheims, er Smithson er höfundur að, til endurgjalds fyrir dýrar bækur, er stiptsbókasafnið hafði nýlega fengið frá bókasafni Smithsons. Herra Miles siglir á póstskipinu til meginlands Norðurálfunnar, og tjáir hann sig mikillega ánægðan með allt, sem hann hefur sjeð út á Íslandi.

A translation of this is scarcely required, as its purport can be readily seen. It is a short article written by Mr. Bjarni Johnson, for the THIOTHOLFUR, and giving an account of the author's visit to Iceland.

In the Icelandic, whole sentences from other languages are thrown into one word. The word Vesturheimsmathur, fully translated, is a man who has his home on the western continent. It goes on to speak of this native of the West, as a member of the New York Historical Society-" Sagnafjelagsins"--and that, during a somewhat rainy period, he visited Iceland, traveled through the interior of the country, went to the Geyser, the little Geyser, the Sulphur Moun*The Statesman."

tains-" brennisteinnàmurnar "—of Krisivik, and climbed to the top of Hekla. It speaks of the visit as a pleasant one, and that on the return of the traveler to America-"Vesturheims "—he took some books from the Iceland public library" stiptsbókasafnith "--as a present to the American Smithsonian library, in return for a similar present formerly received from Smithson's. Then he journeyed on the mail packet-" póstskipinu "-to the continent of Europe, after a long tour and an agreeable stay in Iceland.

This shall close our extracts. Lest some may think that the writer of this volume is an enthusiast, and overrates the value of Icelandic literature, the following statement is quoted from the preface to the English translation of Rask's Icelandic Grammar, by Hon. George P. Marsh, and shows the high estimate placed on the language and literature of the Northmen, by this eminent linguist.

The translator cannot here enter upon so copious a subject as the character and value of the literature of Iceland; and it must suffice to remark, that in the opinion of those most competent to judge, it has never been surpassed, if equaled, in all that gives value to that portion of history which consists of spirited delineations of character, and faithful and lively pictures of events among nations in a rude state of society.

That the study of the Old-Northern tongue may have an important bearing on English grammar and etymology, will be obvious when it is known that the Icelandic is most closely allied to the Anglo-Saxon, of which so few monuments are extant; and a slight examination of its structure, and remarkable syntactical character, will satisfy the reader, that it may well deserve the attention of the philologist.

CHAPTER XXVII.

MATTERS PERSONAL, LITERARY, AND GENERAL.

THE Icelanders, as I have pictured them, are intellectual in their tastes; and in domestic life they are highly social. Their amusements are few, their enjoyments being principally in the family, at their labor, and attending public worship. Throughout the country, they gather from a circuit of many miles, to hear their ministers proclaim "glad tidings," and tell them of the reward that awaits a wellspent life. In the long winter evenings, one member of the family is much of the time reading aloud, while the others are engaged in domestic duties, spinning, weaving, knitting, and making clothing and domestic utensils, in which the males as well as the females, all engage. In their personal demeanor, the Icelanders are generally quiet, sober, and somewhat taciturn. A love of amusement, and a fondness for sport, is not common. Some of the Icelanders that I have seen, have had a great deal of vivacity, and large conversational powers. Some that have visited foreign countries, have returned home so impressed with their experience of the great and busy world; that they have infused a spirit of activity and inquiry into the whole circle where they move. They tell of one man, an Icelander, who got off to the continent, and went through all the wars of Napo

leon, and after many years returned to his native land. He was so glad to see his own good island, that he fell down and embraced the earth, and declared, in the words of the national proverb, "Iceland is the best country the sun shines upon.'

With all that the poor soldier had seen of the luxury and variety of foreign countries, there was, to him, "no no place like home." While the Icelander is fond of conversation, when in the presence of strangers he rather listen than talk. They come well up to Dr. Johnson's favorite character, a good listener. When a foreigner calls at the house of an Icelander, he attends first to the personal wants of his guest; then he is desirous of learning all the stranger has to communicate. He is shrewd and inquisitive, and asks the most pertinent and ingenious questions, and never rests satisfied till he has learned with great minuteness all that the stranger has to tell him respecting the great world, and the foreign countries he has seen. He is always most respectful and obliging, and ready to communicate information, and answer questions about every thing relating to his country or pursuits. He seems to appreciate the greater amount of wealth and luxury abroad, and the superior magnificence and splendor of cities like Copenhagen, Paris, London, or New York, as compared to his own small towns; yet his amor patriæ and contentment make him superior to all temptations to emigrate. His industry, fondness for reading and conversing, his great integrity of character, a devotional spirit, and ardent love for the

* "Island er hinn besta land, sem solinn skinnar uppá.”