21 



COMMUNICATIONS 



TO THE 



MONTHLY MEETINGS 



1855. 



April. — The Rev. John Kenrick read the first part of a paper 

 on Roman Sepulchral Inscriptions. Those which are found in Britain 

 are usually brief and chiefly military, and devoid of any beauty of 

 sentiment, though the Society's Museum contains one of touching 

 simplicity, that on Simplicia Florentina, by her father. The number 

 and length of such records is usually an indication of the extent of the 

 prevalence of the Latin language in any country, and the wealth of its 

 population. Hence, after Rome itself, the North of Italy, the South of 

 Gaul, and the Spanish Peninsula have furnished the largest number of 

 inscriptions. Britain was poor, and the Latin language not widely 

 difl'used nor deeply rooted. The Latin sepulchral inscriptions were 

 designed not only to commemorate the age and station of the deceased, 

 but to secure the ground from being claimed by the heirs, to warn 

 passers by against violation, to perpetuate the performance of funereal 

 rites and honours. Besides the light which they throw on manners 

 and sentiments, they illustrate the orthography and etymology of the 

 language, preserving ancient forms, which have been obliterated in 

 MSS., from the tendency of transcribers to accommodate these things 

 to the usage of their own times. Examples were given of the senti- 

 ments expressed on Roman tombs, by parents towards children, 

 children towards parents (which are comparatively rare), husbands 

 and wives towards each other ; the latter class indicating, that what- 

 ever might be the laxity of morals among the higher orders, or the 

 abuse of divorce, mutual affection and happiness were the general 

 characteristics of the conjugal relation among the Romans. 



May. — The Rev. John Kenrick concluded his observations on 

 Roman Sepulchral Inscriptions, treating particularly of the indications 



