been preserved by Bigland, and nearly two-thirds of these have been printed. I should recommend his plan to be adopted, being multum in parvo, as to the headstones in the churchyards, and the clearest for reference by its alphabetical order of parishes. He copies them about 1780; so that now seventy years remain to be obtained. His collection would make two, or at most three, volumes folio, by which we can form an approximate idea as to the extent for the kingdom, which I estimate at one hundred volumes for the forty counties, because some of these are very small, and many monuments have been destroyed by the barbarous Gothlike conduct of church renovators and builders. (A propos of which conduct, I believe they are liable to an action at law from the next of kin: at all events, it is sacrilege.) In many county histories, all the monuments inside the churches, up to nearly the date of the publication, have been printed, as in Nichols's Leicestershire. I have myself printed the greater part of those for Wiltshire; but some are incorrectly printed, not having been collated; for I merely printed a few as handbooks to accompany me in my personal correcting survey of each church at another time. I have also printed as far as letter "E" of Antony à Wood's and Hinton's Oxfordshire Monuments, of which, I believe, MR. DUNKIN has a MS. copy. Now, it would be useless to reprint those which have been printed; consequently I should imagine twenty-five or thirty volumes, on Bigland's plan, would comprise all the villages; and I should imagine five or ten volumes at most would comprise all the capital towns. Allow me here to suggest the absolute necessity of taking "Notes" of the residence, parentage, and kindred of every one of the families of that vast tide of emigration now quitting our shores; and I call Lord Ashley's and Mr. Sidney Herbert's attention to it. These poor people will, many of them, become rich in half a century; will then probably die without a kindred soul in America to possess their wealth; and their next of kin must be sought for in the mother land, where, unless some registered memorial of their departure and connexions is kept, all traces of their origin may be lost for ever. It was the neglect of an act like this which has involved the beginning of nations in such profound obscurity. It was the neglect of such a register as I here propose, that makes it so difficult now for the American to discover the link which actually connected him with England. There is a corporate body, long established in this country, whose sole occupation is to make such registers; but at present they confine themselves to those called gentlemen. Why not make them useful as registers of the poor, at a small remuneration for entering each family. These poor, or their descendants, will some day become gentlemen, and perhaps not ashamed of their ancestry, although they may derive it through poverty. How gratified they may feel to be able, by means of this proposed registry, clearly to trace themselves to Great Britain (once the mistress of half the world), when their now adopted country has risen up in her place, and the mother has become subject to the daughter.

And then, too, how valuable will Americans and Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders, find the proposed Monumentarium of MR. DUNKIN.

The next is from a frequent contributor to our pages, and we have selected it for publication from among many which we have received promising assistance in the carrying out of the great scheme, because it shows very strikingly how many of the memorials, which it is the especial object of that scheme to preserve, have disappeared within the last few years.

Your valuable remarks on this head have induced me to send you a few observations in the same direction. You have justly said that the means by which the object can be accomplished fall into the three distinct operations of Collection, Preservation, and Publication. The first will require the help of all antiquaries throughout the kingdom who will volunteer their services, and of the clergymen resident in country parishes. Where possible, it would be well to find a co-operator in every county town, who would undertake the collection of all ancient memorials in his own district, either by personal inspection, or by the aid of the clergy. For this county we have, fortunately, a record of all or most of the monuments existing in the time of James I., published in Burton's History. Besides the monuments, there are also mentioned the coats of arms preserved in the churches. In the useful and voluminous world of Nichols, the record is brought down nearly to the commencement of the present century. But in late years, many ancient memorials have been removed altogether, or displaced. A day or two ago, I found only one monument in a village church, where Burton says there were two in his time. The chancel of St. Martin's Church, Leicester, a few years ago, contained a large number, of which many have been placed elsewhere, in order to "improve" the appearance of this part of the edifice. I believe a list of the monuments is preserved somewhere. This kind of proceeding has been carried on very generally throughout the country since the desire for "church restoration" has prevailed, and has led to great alterations in the interiors of our old parish churches. I should be happy to lend a helping hand in the collections for Leicester and the neighbourhood.

From our next communication, it will be seen that the Scottish Antiquaries, whose zeal and intelligence in the preservation and illustration of objects of national interest, are beyond all praise, are working in the same direction; and although we have not seen the Origines Parochiales, we can readily believe in the great value of a work of such a character when undertaken by the Bannatyne Club.

It may interest some of your "Monumental" and "Ecclesiological" correspondents to be informed that in 1834 there was collected and published by D. Macvean, bookseller, Glasgow, a volume of Epitaphs and Monumental Inscriptions in Scotland. Also, that there has just been published by Lizars, Edinburgh, for the Bannatyne Club, the first volume of the Origines Parochiales Scotiæ.

The former of these books (Epitaphs, &c.) is perhaps of no great value, being badly selected and worse arranged; but the latter (Origines, &c.) seems to be exactly such a work as W. J. D. R. (Vol. iii., p. 314.) has in his mind's eye for England.

A correspondent, MERCURII, has also directed our attention to a small volume, published in 1848, by one of the most valued contributors to our own columns, MR. DAWSON TURNER, under the title of Sepulchral Reminiscences of a Market Town, as afforded by a List of the Interments within the Walls of the Parish Church of St. Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, collected chiefly from Monuments and Gravestones still remaining, June, 1845. This little volume may be regarded as a public testimony on the part of MR. DAWSON TURNER to the value of the plan under consideration, and there are