Our Catholic ancestors spent large sums of money upon their funerals. The pious practice of praying for the dead, which they doubtless derived from the Hebrews, induced them to secure the future exertions of their friends, by building chanteries and special chapels in the churches, with a view of reminding the survivors of their demise. Guilds, which by the way, still exist, were created for the purpose of binding people together in a holy league of prayer for the souls of the faithful departed. We find in the laws established for the Guild of Abbotsbury, the following regulations:--"If any one belonging to the association chance to die, each member shall pay a penny for the good of the soul, before the body be laid in the grave. If he die in the neighbourhood, the steward (secretary) shall enquire when he is to be interred, and shall summon as many members as he can, to assemble and carry the corpse in as honourable a manner as possible to the grave or minster, and there pray devoutly for his soul's rest." With the same view, our ancestors were ever anxious to obtain a place of sepulchre in the most frequented churches. The monuments raised over their remains, whilst keeping them safe from profanation, recalled them to memory, and solicited on their behalf the charity of the faithful. The usual inscription on the earlier Christian tombs in this country was the pathetic "Of your charity, pray for me." In the Guild of All Souls, in London, when any member died, it was the custom of the survivors to give the poor a loaf for the good of the soul; and the writer can perfectly remember, that some thirty years since, in remote parts of Norfolk, when anybody died, it was the fashion to distribute loaves of bread in the church porch as a dole. The funeral of an Anglo-Saxon was thus conducted:--The body of the deceased was placed on a bier or in a hearse. On it lay the book of the gospels, the code of his or her belief, and the cross, the signal of hope. A pall of silk or linen was thrown over it till it reached the place of interment. The friends were summoned, and strangers deemed it a duty to join the funeral procession. The clergy walked before or on each side, bearing lighted tapers in their hands, and chanting a portion of the psalter. If it were in the evening, the night was passed in exercises of devotion. In the morning, mass was sung and the body deposited with solemnity in the grave, the sawlshot paid, and a liberal donation distributed to the poor. Before the Reformation, it was the excellent custom for all persons who met a funeral to uncover and stand reverentially still until it had passed. The pious turned back, and accompanied the mourners a part of the way to the grave. It is pleasant to notice that this essentially humane habit of taking off the hat and behaving gravely as a funeral goes by, which is universal upon the Continent, is at last becoming more and more general here. The homage of the