The lady of the house never accompanies her
guests beyond the door of the room, after a call; if the husband is
present, he goes a little further; but when this is not the case, you are
often at a loss which way to turn, as there is no servant on the spot to
open the street door for you, unless it may happen to be in the house of
the Stiftsamtmann, the first dignitary of the island."
The church at Reikiavik is capable of accommodating about one hundred and
fifty persons; it is built of stone, with a wooden roof, under which is
kept a library of several thousand volumes. It possesses an artistic
treasure of no ordinary value in a font by Thorvaldsen, whose parents
were natives of Iceland, though he himself was born in Denmark. Captain
Burton describes it as the ancient classical altar, with basso-relievos
on all four sides--subjects of course evangelical; on the top an alto-
relievo of symbolical flowers, roses, and passiflorae is cut to support
the normal "Dobefal," or baptismal basin. In the sacristy are preserved
some handsome priestly robes--especially the velvet vestment sent by Pope
Julius II. to the last Roman Catholic bishop in the early part of the
sixteenth century, and still worn by the chief Protestant dignitary at
ordinations.
The climate at Reikiavik would be considered severe by an Englishman.
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