| Show THE PEOPLE OF ICELAND 6 THE ihn fact that the elders of the church are pushing their labors more or less effectively into iceland causes a deeper and more lively interest to be felt in that country the number of natives from that far off frozen land is gradually increasing in this territory and as a rule they are worthy and industrious citizens apostle FD richards Eich ards has lately been collecting information in relation to iceland in connection with his chis labors in the historians office recently he re ce iveda 4 a letter from bohu A torgeir son bon of spanish fork utah county an intelligent native of that thai country who has contributed some interesting papers to the juvenile instructor on the subject we are enabled to manetho make mak etho the following extract from the letter referred to 1 I know that there are to be found in the icelandic language more historical facts showing our origin than in an known hist history bry the last census taken showed the population to be over of those undid fifteen years of age only three could not read and 80 per cent could write education is mostly domestic every parent or guardian of children regarding ag it as a strict duty to teach them to read and of later years to write as much so as to feed and clothe them the parents or others in the family give the children as a rule three lessons a day during the winter months public schools are very few as those considered the best statesmen are opposed to r them on the ground that they would be detrimental to the educational pursuits oi of the ithe young the illiteracy in iceland is less under this system than it is anywhere else iu in the world idiocy is nearly dearly unknown insanity Is very rare and only two murders have been committed during the last one hundred years I 1 there are about sheep on tle the island every family makes its own clothing men and women work at illing filling carding spinning and weaving fl in the long winter evenings the tailor mg and dressmaking are left laft entirely to the fair sex A sirl girl in iceland who can not take wool and with hex her own hands return it in the form of clothing would not be regarded qs as tit fit for or worthy of marriage A person who can neither read nor write is considered to be little above 1 the level of the brute creation they are not permitted to marry mairy and are not by law regarded even so much as com competent witnesses in a court there competent is not a v village of one hundred inhabit f ants in which there is not a public li j arary and reading society the national library in reykjavik is the fe largest havin gover volumes |
