divided into apartments, which are appropriated for cattle; a farmer occupying part of it as a dwelling house. A number of ash-trees have taken root in the area, and spread their heads high above its mouldering walls. This is said to have been the first religious house in Wales that was dissolved. It remained in the Crown till the time of James the First, who granted it to Edward Wotton, afterwards created Lord Wotton.

Say ivy'd Valle-Crucis, time-decay'd,

Dim on the bank of Deva's wand'ring flood,,

Your riv'd-arch glimm'ring thro' the tangled glade,
Your grey hills low'ring o'er yon night of shade;
Deep in the vale's recesses do you stand,

And, desolately great, the rising sigh command."
SEWARD.

The situation of Valle-Crucis Abbey, in this recluse vale, surrounded by lofty hills, and secluded from the world's rude gaze by thick woods, peculiarly fitted it for meditation and prayer; and it seems truly one of those seats

"Where erst Devotion did delight to dwell."

In the deep repose of this secluded spot, not a sound was to be heard that could disturb the solemnity such scenes were calculated to inspire. The mouldering walls, loudly bespeaking the frailty of all earthly things, and the sun bursting from behind a cloud and peeping through the time-worn crevices of the building, threw a tint of melancholy light;

and the consideration, that it was holy ground, all tended to heighten the energy of thought. And who is there, endued with a 'mind to think and a heart to feel, that could thoughtless pass over ruins crumbling beneath his feet? Who, that ever knew what sympathy meant, could pass by places that have figured in the page of history, without furnishing his tribute to fallen greatness? Who, that ever felt a spark of devotion, could irreverently tread upon ground consecrated to religion, and look indifferently upon walls erected for the service of the Deity? If there be such a man, I renounce all connection, I scorn the most distant communication, with him! He is the vile, the sordid slave of earth; and is destitute of every ingredient that enters into the composition of humanity!

But what is it gives rise to these sensations I feel? Is it the building? The mossy walls, the pointed arch, the ponderous columns, the figured niche, the dim recess, the prospective gloom of the long-drawn ailes and fretted vaults? No! These, unconnected with the lapse of ages, produce no such powerful effects. Is it the recollection of the pomp and grandeur of the Catholic worship, once performed within the sacred walls? its music, torches, tapers, masses, processions, vesper and matin rites? No! These to the rational Christian must excite a smile, and pity for the spirit that produced them; save as they were connected with the important truths of Religion. Yes! yes! it is this lies at the bottom of all the solemn veneration I feel! It is this gives me

the hesitating step. This excites the strong emotions of awe! This absorbs my attention, and lifts my heart towards Heaven!! There is something immortal within us, that, when subjects like these are discussed, or presented to our view by memory and reflection, demonstrates our connection with the invisible world. For what purpose were these walls erected? For what endowed with such a profusion of wealth? What these sacred altars? What these hallowed shrines? Where are the original inhabitants? Where the series of successive generations? Whither are they gone? What is there employment? What their pursuit? Are they still exercised with anxieties and cares; still the subjects of affliction and pain; still obnoxious to disease and death? Or, are they exempt from all these ; and, having put off the body, put off every thing mortal with it? And, as they taught, entered on a land of perfect happiness, breathing ætherial air, sunshine without a cloud, and everlasting joy beaming upon their heads? Doubtless some of them are! Then what am I? What is my pursuit? Whether does it tend? Alas! said I, the age of superstition is gone; but is not the age of religion gone with it? Revert, ye halcyon days, when to be religious was to be fashionable! When to be devout was considered rational; and when a life of religious instruction, and devotedness to God, was esteemed the highest of all sublunary employments! Riveted in the most profound reflection, I seemed to have strengthened my connection with the spiritual world, nay almost border

ing upon it; every thing around me conspired to cherish the pleasing idea, and it was not till the importunate demands of hunger reminded me of my mortality, that I could be induced to forego it. With reluctance I left the solemn scene, and, retracing my steps, joined my company at the Hands, or Union Inn.

We met with excellent accommodations, but the charges appeared unreasonable, till we learned that mutton was 6d. per pound, beef 8d. veal gd. chickens 3s. and 3s. 6d. per couple, and every other article proportionally dear; and that provisions of all kinds could be procured cheaper from Shrewsbury, a distance of thirty miles, including carriage and commission. The cause is obvious. The Salopian butchers drain the country of the fat, and the graziers buy up all the lean, cattle, to feed on their rich pastures for the London markets. The large purchases they make produce a partial scarcity; this prevents a regular supply, which always enhances the price to the consumer. Persons, therefore, desirous of living in Wales, from the idea of its being a cheap country, in which they may retrench, must go where the art and the avarice of the English traders have not extended their influence; where the market furnishes a supply equal to the demand; and where the produce and the consumption of the country reciprocally alternate together. They must admire the wilds of Merioneth more than the beauties of Denbigh; and rather fix

their residence on the bank of the humble Dyfi than' of the boisterous Dee.

A few miles from Llangollen we met with the famous boundary between England and Wales, called

CLAWDD OFFA.

The kingdom of Mercia, one of the Saxon Heptarchy, including the Cornavii, Corutani, Dobuni, and Catnellani, bordered on Wales, The Welsh frequently made inroads upon the Saxons. Offa entered into a league with several other Saxon Princes, passed the Severn with a numerous army, drove them to the mountains with great slaughter, and took possession of the flat country west of the Severn. In consequence of which the seat of the Princes of Powis was removed from Pengwern, (Shrewsbury) to Mathraval. Sensible of the great evil of these continual inroads, Offa, to mark the confines of cach country, or to give the greater security to his own, caused a deep dyke and rampart of carth to be made,* which extended a hundred miles over rocks and mountains, and across deep vallies and rivers, from the Clwyddian hills to the mouth of the Wyc. It may be traced at Brachy-hill and Lanterden in Herefordshire, and is continued northward from Knighton in Radnorshire, over a part of Shrop

* A. D. 776.

There are marks of small artificial mounts at certain distances along the course, which were probably the scites of forts, while it was considered as a boundary,