any one present, she takes the hand of the brides-maid and withdraws: the bridegroom next approaches, preceded by the brides-man, who also carries a lighted candle; and he, in like manner, takes his leave of the company individually, and receives the good wishes of all, but it is remarked that he never sheds tears.

"When the young couple have thus withdrawn from the company, and taken their final leave, one of the assistants commences singing the "Veni Creator,' and is soon joined by the others, thus forming a choir, which, from the effects of the wine drank during the day, is not always of the most harmonious description: that Latin hymn is succeeded by songs, and the festivities are often prolonged till daylight."

It may be supposed, that in such a general uproar as must by this time have grown into existence, should any of the inmates of the house feel disposed to sleep, it would not be a very easy matter so far to indulge themselves; however, if such there should be, we are informed that it is the duty of the brides-maid and brides-man to afford them protection; and, for this purpose, they station themselves in that part of the house where their services are most likely to be required, each holding a lighted candle without a candlestick; and as long as they can keep their candles burning, so long does their authority continue; and sometimes, such is the unwearied pertinacity of the company, that they are in danger of burning their fingers. But the arrangements of a Breton establishment being in many respects different from those of our peasantry, I am here under the necessity of omitting some portion of the present description, inasmuch as, in order to render them intelligible, it would be necessary to enter into such explanations as the space already occupied by this article would scarcely admit of. Suffice it to say, that the persecutions which our English grandmothers were obliged to submit to, and from which the present generation has been happily rescued, are still in full force among the Bas Bretons; and, although that of throwing the stocking is not mentioned among the number, there are substitutes for it by no means less vexatious.

"Very early the next morning the young people are made to breakfast on a kind of milk pottage, whereof all the bits of bread are attached together by a thread; each person is furnished with a bone instead of a spoon, and they are expected to eat the whole of the mess to the last morsel; and, by this time, the protecting candles having been burnt out, these two people are abandoned to the mercy, or rather the mercilessness, of their persecutors.

"On the day after the wedding, the new married couple put on deep mourning, and cause a solemn service to be chanted, for the souls of their deceased relatives.

"If there are bees kept at the house where a marriage feast is celebrated, care is always taken to dress up their hives in red, which is done by placing upon them pieces of scarlet cloth, or of some such bright colour; the Bretons imagining that the bees would forsake their dwellings if they were not made to participate in the rejoicings of their owners; in like manner they are all put into mourning, when a death occurs in the family."

Those who are acquainted with the national customs of the Welsh, would, on reading the foregoing description, be disposed to consider it as nothing more than that of a real Welsh wedding; such as, till within a few years, was very general in the Principality, with only such slight variations as are necessary to adapt it to the character of the country in which the scene is laid; and it must be allowed, that in the general outline there is a striking resemblance; though, on a closer examination, we shall find that there are very few particulars in which there is an exact similarity: however, in the most characteristic feature of the whole ceremony, the reception of the bridegroom and his party on the morning of the wedding, the closing of the door against them, and the rhyming altercation which then takes place, together with the immense cavalcade assembled upon the occasion, the whole proceedings are literally identical with those of the Welsh. Whether this whimsical custom does, or ever did prevail in any other country, I have never learned: but while the similarity on the immediate arrival at the house is so striking, yet, in many subsequent particulars, there is a considerable difference; for instance, in Wales, instead of the bride being voluntarily brought out, the besieging party have to make their way into the house as well as they can, and this is generally effected by stratagem, and even then they have the mortification of finding that she has been most studiously concealed from them; and, having ascertained this to be the case, they commence a general rummage for her amongst the furniture of the house, and so well is this plot of hiding the bride concerted, that I have more than once known it so completely baffle all attemps at discovering her, that the forenoon has entirely passed away in this ridiculous occupation before she could be found, so that

the parties not being able to reach the church till long after the close of the canonical hours, have of course been obliged" to defer the ceremony until the following day. No doubt, the Marriage Act which limited the solemnization of matrimony to the forenoon hours, must have sadly trenched upon these nuptial amusements of our countrymen.

But, as if all this rhyming and rummaging were not sufficient to peril the performance of the marriage ceremony, the Welsh have recourse to an additional expedient; that of racing and chasing each other all over the country, on their way to church. For this purpose, the bride is mounted on a pillion behind the person acting as her father, who, escorted by her friends, together with those of her intended spouse, sets off from the house for the parish church, but when he comes to a convenient spot, instead of proceeding along the proper road, he sets spurs to his horse, and gallops off in a contrary direction, along some of the numerous cross lanes which intersect the country, apparently with every intention of carrying off the bride. Upon this, the bridegroom, together with the whole troop of his attendants, set off in pursuit; while the other party are no less active in pressing forward to protect the fugitives, and prevent their capture : and, for the more effectual carrying on this system of attack and defence, it is necessary that the whole country should be scoured in every direction, in order that the lanes and highways may be properly occupied by the pursuing party, to prevent all possibility of escape; and, also, that gaps may be made in the fences by the others, and the gates thrown off the hinges to enable the bride and her protector to pass across the fields and avoid the ambuscades of their opponents, and then woe to those gates and hedges which happen to stand in the way. Sometimes it will happen that the route lies over a mountain or common, and as it is a matter of principle with the guardian to be continually endeavouring to effect an escape with his ward, so here upon open ground, the movements of the parties may be seen to great advantage; and the appearance of such a number of men and women, all. smartly dressed, and galloping about in every direction, gives the whole scene a most singular appearance, especially as the Welsh women, from their being such bold and expert riders,

keep up and mingle with the foremost of the party, and enter into the spirit of the tumultuous procession in the most animated manner. It is scarcely posssible to imagine any thing more wild and irregular than the various movements of the whole company upon this occasion. It is a favourite amusement with Welsh children to set a piece of paper on fire, and when it has ceased flaming, to watch the little sparkles running along the tinder, which they call a priodas wyllt, and I do not know any better representation of the hurry and confusion of a Welsh wedding.

The existence of these customs, in whatever country they may be found, indicates a state of society in which the commercial value of time is but little understood, and the pressure of care and labour but lightly felt a state which the toiling mechanic would regard with feelings of envy, as being exempt from the evils of unceasing exertion; and the speculating merchant would look upon with contempt, as incompatible with the improvements of commerce.

Whether such customs maintain the same ground in Brittany as formerly, I never thought of inquiring: but in Wales they are vastly more rare than they were a few years ago; for the Welsh, having assumed a character much more thoughtful and serious than they once possessed, do at the present day evince a dis-inclination towards numbers of amusements, which occupied the attention of the last generation as matters of the most important concern. This difference of disposition has been partly occasioned by the progress of industry, and a better estimate of the value of time; but more especially it is the result of that change of religious opinions and habits, which of late years has been so visible throughout the country.

In the preceding description may be seen notices of national customs among the Bretons, which, though simple and patriarchal in a high degree, yet must have the most pernicious effects in their influence upon the interests of agriculture. I allude to that joint occupation of the farm by several branches of the family, all living under the same roof, and mingled together in one household, than which nothing could be devised more effectual for the purpose of preserving every thing in its primitive state, and barring out

every prospect of improvement. Whether this custom ever existed in any part of Wales, I am unable to state, but, as I do not recollect seeing any allusions to it in the Welsh Laws, I conclude it never could have been general and systematic, as in Bas Léon. However, a divison of land equally detrimental, once prevailed in several parts of the kingdom; in that practice of several occupiers taking a tenement together, and ploughing the land by alternate ridges, and dividing the crop accordingly; some remains of which practice are said to be still extant in the remote parts of Scotland, in what is termed run-rigg, and which, if possible, had a worse tendency that even the Breton custom, as it not only impeded every progress towards improvement, but must necessarily have had a deteriorating operation, offering no inducement even to retain the few advantages of soil which might already exist.

During those long ages of intellectual gloom which immediately succeeded the extinction of classic literature in the West, however a few smouldering embers might occasionally cast a glimmer around, when disturbed by the accidental tread of some solitary wanderer, yet it was but to make the darkness more perceptible, and betray the desolation of the scene; and so effectually had all traces of Roman learning been obliterated, that while the language itself had become unintelligible, even the very books in which it was contained had disappeared, and the ideas once conveyed through its medium had been entirely effaced; the historical recollections, the poetic imagery, the traditions, mythology, and all the characteristic features of ancient learning, had completely vanished, without leaving any definite system to replace

them.

While we regard this state of mental night, in which the last rays of classic literature had been extinguished, and even its very ashes raked together, at the knell of the Gothic curfew; we discover, in one secluded spot, indications of another flame, which, in succeeding ages, was destined to blaze forth and light up a theatre far more brilliant, and more spacious, than that which had been demolished in the overthrow of the Roman power; for in the remote and isolated province of Brittany, we find a style of thought and