e monument, which was indeed
worthy of notice, and which, had Chantrey executed nothing else, might
well have entitled him to be considered, what the world has long
pronounced him, the prince of British sculptors.

This monument, which is of the purest marble, is placed on the eastern
side of the church, below a window of stained glass, and represents a
truly affecting scene: a lady and gentleman are standing over a dying
girl of angelic beauty, who is extended on a couch, and from whose hand a
volume, the Book of Life, is falling. The lady is weeping.

Beneath is the following inscription--

To the Memory of
MARY
The only child of THOMAS and JANE JOHNES
Who died in 1811
After a few days' sickness
This monument is dedicated
By her parents.

An inscription worthy, by its simplicity and pathos, to stand below such
a monument.

After presenting a trifle to the woman, who, to my great surprise, could
not speak a word of English, I left the church, and descended the side of
the hill, near the top of which it stands. The scenery was exceedingly
beautiful. Below me was a bright green valley, at the bottom of which
the Ystwyth ran brawling, now hid amongst groves, now showing a long
stretch of water. Beyond the river to the east was a noble mountain,
richly wooded. The Ystwyth, after a circuitous course, joins the Rheidol
near the strand of the Irish Channel, which the united rivers enter at a
place called Aber Ystwyth, where stands a lovely town of the same name,
which sprang up under the protection of a baronial castle, still proud
and commanding even in its ruins, built by Strongbow, the conqueror of
the great western isle. Near the lower part of the valley the road
tended to the south, up and down through woods and bowers, the scenery
still ever increasing in beauty. At length, after passing through a gate
and turning round a sharp corner, I suddenly beheld Hafod on my right
hand, to the west at a little distance above me, on a rising ground, with
a noble range of mountains behind it.

A truly fairy place it looked, beautiful but fantastic, in the building
of which three styles of architecture seemed to have been employed. At
the southern end was a Gothic tower; at the northern an Indian pagoda;
the middle part