The scene through which we passed at this time,
though not clothed with the verdure and luxuriant beauty
of summer, was, nevertheless, marked by that solemn
and decaying splendour which characterises a fine
co\m.try, lit up by the melancholy light of a winter setting
sun. It was, therefore, much more in character with
the occasion. Indeed, I felt it altogether beautiful ;
and, as the " dying day-hymn stole aloft," the dim
sunbeams fell, through a vista of naked, motionless
trees, upon the coffin, which was borne with a slower
and more funereal pace than before, in a manner that
threw a solemn and visionary light upon the whole
procession. This, however, was raised to something
dreadfully impressive when the long train, thus pro-
ceeding with a motion so mournful, was seen each
covered with a profusion of crimson ribbons, to indicate
that the corpse they bore owed his death to a deed of
murder. The circumstance of the sun glancing his rays
upon the coffin was not unobserved by the peasantry,
who considered it as a good omen to the spirit of the
departed.
THE PARTY FIGHT AND FUNERAL. 29I

As we went up the street which had been the scene
of the quarrel that proved so fatal to Kelly, the coffin
was again laid down on the spot where he received his
death-blow ; and, as was usual, the wild and melancholy
keena was raised. My brother saw many of Grimes's
friends among the spectators, but he himself was not
visible. Whether Kelly's party saw them or not, we
could not say ; if they did, they seemed not to notice
them, for no expression of revenge or indignation escaped
them.
At length we entered the last receptacle of the dead.
