THE MEMORIALS OF THE DEAD.

Two Societies exist in England with the object of preserving the relics of the past. One of these, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, is well known; the other, whose aim it is to preserve the memorials of the dead in the churches and churchyards of Great Britain, is less known, and I propose to give some account of its work. Its life only began in 1881, and, slender as have been its means, it has already saved scores of monuments from decay and destruction. It labours under the disadvantage of neither eating nor drinking; it neither entertains nor is entertained, and in this respect fails to fulfil the end of nearly all English societies. Social science, science which is not social, the welfare of the Church, are interesting subjects; but their interest largely depends upon the facilities that exist in the neighbourhood for the pleasures of the table, and the success of a meeting is often measured by the quality and quantity of the picnics which take place. Are you a dilettante, then you eat dinners at Willis's Rooms. Do you revere the memory of Mr. Fox, then you eat The recollection of Mr. Colston or of the dinners at Brooks's. Liberal successes in 1880 leads you to the same goal and the same indigestion. The county field club or naturalist society may succeed in exterminating many rare plants and insects, but a picnic is its raison d'être. The county archæological society prints a certain number of papers, but the annual excursion is its life and soul; the preservation of ancient monuments is out of its province. I called the attention of the secretary of one of these bodies to the fact that a chapel which possessed features of special interest was fast falling into decay, and he answered, saying that the consideration of such matters formed no part of the work of the society.

The fiction exists that the English public is interested in ancient monuments. The English public cares not one jot for them, and sees them perish year by year with complete indifference. Sightseeing, as it is called, is merely one of the many means of obtaining an appetite for dinner, and in many instances has led to the destruction of the objects seen. It was only a few years ago there was to be seen at the South Kensington Museum, under a glass case, a morsel of needlework with this inscription-Cut froin the Bayeux