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were united in \ 797 , by the order of Ae , E ) Wtii ¥ h government $ and the title of Bishop of Iceland was conferred upon the learned and respectable GHr Vidalin , the presfeirtr possessor of this dignity v The dtities of the office are important
and extensile . The"bishop superintends the general concerns ot the religious establishment , and the Particular affairs of each church in the island : he irtsjjects the con . duct of the priests , regulates any ecclesiastical disputes which may ocfcur , ordains those who are
entering upon the pastoral office , aiid watches over the education fCri'd moral conduct of the people aftarge . It is a part of his duty also , to visit at stated periods , the different districts of his diocese , for the purpose of personal
inspection ; and the farmers of the country are required to assist him , while making these journies , with every accommodation , which their jiieans may afford . " The appointment of the bishop is entirely vested in the crown . While there
\ tfere two bishoprics in Iceland , the revenues of each were extremely small , and ill-adapted to sfapport the dignity , scarcely even theriec ^ ssary duties of the office .. In consequence of the ijnion of the sees , a considerable augmentation was rriade in the revenues of the
present bishop , which now amount to about 1600 dollars per annum ; derived chiefly from the public iteasury of the island . Did he reside in tHe interior of the country , ih \ s sUiti would raise him to the
highest rank of opulence ; but . making Jris abode in Reikitivik , he iCT ' subjett to many additional ex-£ ences , riot only from the differ-$ ?! # mode of life among the Danes , b « t also from the JM * ce * 8 ity of en-
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tertaining the country priests , who come to barter their commodities wjth the merchants at this place * The patronage of the church in Iceland , was formerly in the hands of the people and the proprietors of land ; was afterwards assumed
by the bishops , as the representatives of the papal authority ; and finally , at the period of the Reformation , was transferred to the crown of Denmark . The power is now , in most cases , exercised by the governor of the island , with the assistance and advice of
the bishop . The revenues of the clergy are derived in part from > the lands annexed to the churches ; partly from tithes upon the landed property of the country . These tithes are paid by the farmers , in a ratio determined , not by the
quantity of produce raised upon , each farm , but by the fixed rents of the land * To afford an idea of the extreme scantiness of the provision which is thus made for the clergy , it may be sufficient to state the general fact , that the whole revenue by tithe , in 184 parishes , does not exceed the sum of (? 40 O specie dollars ; giving an average of 34 or 35 dollars for each parish in the island . The distribution ot the stipends is by no means equal , owing to the difference in the
extent and value of the land under cultivation in different districts . The most valuable ( living jn the island is that of Breide-uolstadfj in Rangaavqlfe Sysselj the stipend of which is upwards of 180 dollars : the parish contains 376 people * In the parish of Kress in the Same district , wh £ re there are two tfy torches , and a population eiu deeding 500 , the stipend amounts only to 33 dollars . In Marneh Sysset , the pAriBtf yt Torf&sffttfir ^
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74 „ Present Slate of Religion in Iceland *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1812, page 74, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1745/page/10/
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