1821.] 
tered the church,* where the appro¬ 
priated part, of the burial service 
was read, and then a psalm sung, after 
which we repaired to the grave to wit¬ 
ness the conclusion of the melancholy 
ceremony. We will not attempt to de¬ 
scribe the grief of the poor widow and 
her daughter, nor can we pourtray the 
forcible effect which the impressive de¬ 
livery of our beautiful burial service 
had upon all present. We can only 
say that the scene, taken altogether, 
was one of the most affecting we ever 
witnessed, and he must be a hard¬ 
hearted being indeed who could have 
beheld, and shared in it, with uncon¬ 
cern or apathy. 
Our attendance at this humble fune¬ 
ral we consider as one of the most for¬ 
tunate occurrences which happened to 
us in our travels. We have witnessed 
by it a peculiar, and certainly a very 
interesting feature in the character and 
manners of our western neighbours. 
We can safely say that few tourists 
have had advantages so gratifying as 
those we possessed by our acquaintance 
with Mr. W—, of Dolgelly, than whom 
no one can be more highly respected, 
or better known in the country. Since 
our return to town a friend has 
pointed out to us Mr. Pennant’s descrip¬ 
tion of the customs which formerly 
attended the funeral of the Welsh 
mountaineer. As the passage is not 
long, we subjoin it. 44 Previous to a 
funeral,” he says, 44 it was customary 
when the corpse was brought out of the 
house, for the next of kin, be it a wi¬ 
dow, sister, mother, or daughter, for 
it must be a female , to give over the 
coffin a quantity of white loaves in a 
great dish, and sometimes a cheese with 
a piece of money stuck in it, to certain 
poor persons. After that, they pre¬ 
sented in the same manner, a cup of 
drink, and required the person to drink 
a little of it immediately. When this 
was done they knelt down, and the 
' minister, if present, said the Lord’s 
Prayer, after which they proceeded 
with the corpse; and at every cross- 
* This little church, if we mistake not, 
is the one belonging to Barmouth, and is 
situated about two miles from the town. 
Nothing can be more bleak and exposed 
than its situation. Built on the summit of 
a barren hill, it overlooks the sea on the 
south, and a range of rocky mountains on 
the north. But it is a pleasing object 
amidst so much barrenness, and shines 
more conspicuously from the cheerless 
sterility which surrounds it. 
315 
way between the house and the church 
they laid down the bier, knelt, and 
again repeated the Lord’s Prayer, and 
did the same when they first entered 
the church yard. It is also customary, 
in many places, to sing psalms on the 
way, by which the stillness of rural 
life is often broken into, in a manner 
finely productive of religious reflec¬ 
tions. Among the Welsh it was 
reckoned fortunate for the deceased if 
it should rain while they were carrying 
him to church, that his bier might be 
wet with the dew of Heaven . In some 
places it was customary for the friends 
of the dead to kneel, and say the Lord’s 
Prayer over the grave, for several Sun¬ 
days after the interment, and then to 
dress the grave with flowers. 
“Manibus date lilia plenis 
Purpureos spargam flores.” 
Of these ceremonies few are now 
practised. Psalms are still sung on the 
way, and the Lord’s Prayer is also re¬ 
peated at the church porch. In some 
parts of the country it is usual for 
those who attended the funeral to kneel 
down at the grave the first Sunday af- 
terrvards , and say the Lord’s Prayer; 
and the graves are still occasionally 
decorated with turf and wild flowers. 
The other customs enumerated by Mi*. 
Pennant have fallen into desuetude, 
and are, perhaps, now forgotten. 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
THE POLITICAL ECONOMIST, 
No. II. 
Consisting of Observations and Stric¬ 
tures on Modern Systems of Political 
Economy. 
REAL CAUSE of the RUIN of OUr COM¬ 
MERCE, iu the INCREASE and mis¬ 
application of MACHINERY.* 
ECOUR3E to first principles, is 
in all cases the best method of 
eliciting truth. Our attention, there¬ 
fore, is demanded, as a preliminary, 
to an explication of the origin of com¬ 
merce. Commerce originated in the 
mutual advantage to be derived from the 
supply of reciprocal wants. In its pro¬ 
gress, avarice and ambition became the 
ruling incitements; and from the in¬ 
ordinate desire of grasping at too much, 
we have in effect ruined all. Not to 
dilate unnecessarily — the real and 
proximate cause of the ruinous condi¬ 
tion of trade, is over supply. Mu¬ 
tual advantage is the foundation and 
* We are indebted for this number to 
Mr. S. Spurrell, of Hackney. 
The Political Economist.—No. II. 
only 
