The plan I have adopted with rognrd to ar- 

 rangement is to folio each page three times, viz., 

 i. each parish by itself; ii. each county; iii. ulplia- 

 betically ; so that each parish can be considered 

 complete in itself; each county can be bound up 

 by itself; or the whole alphabetically, gazetteer- 

 wise. 



The index will be also in three divisions, — 

 i. general; ii. names of places; iii. names of per- 

 sons. 



With regard to the number of volumes, — I need 

 not say that that is entirely in nuhibus. My im- 

 pression is limited to seventy-five copies, the same 

 as my father's Oxfordshire, with which it corre- 

 sponds in size. 



I should have preferred seeing the government 

 performing the task of preserving manuscripts of 

 all existing monuments ; but it is the fashion in 

 Eritain for government to leave all apparently 

 national uniiertakings to individual exertion. 1 

 will here conclude with a quotation from the re- 

 port I have just published of the Transactions at 

 the Congress of the British Archajological Asso- 

 ciation held in Worcester : 



" Lamentation is, Iiowever, worse tlian useless : the 

 spirit of tlie age forbids all idle mouniina;. If we 

 would awaken a sympathy and interest in our pursuits, 

 we must gird up our loins like men, and l)e doing, and 

 that right earnestly; for it is hopeless any longer wait- 

 ing for the government, as a ' Deus ex machina,' to 

 help us to rescue our antiquities from destruction." 



Ai^rKED John Dunkin. 



Our next is from a correspondent (who has favoured 

 us with his name) who proposes a scheme almost more 

 extensive than that advocated by Mr. Du.nkik, but 

 who differs from that gentleman by recognising the 

 necessity of combined endeavour to carry it out. 



A few years since I propounded a scheme for an 

 Ecclesiologicon Aiigiicarnun, or record of the his- 

 tor}', not only architectural and monumental, but 

 also local and traditional, of every parish in Eng- 

 land. Though I had long conceived such a 

 design, I must confess myself indebted to some 

 e.xcellent remarks on the subject which appeared 

 in the Ecclesiologist (New Series, No. x., April, 

 1846). Fully aware that so stupendous a work 

 could i;ever be accomplished by any single indi- 

 vidual, I compiled a prospectus of my design, and 

 invited the co-operation of all antiquaries. I pro- 

 posed to publish at intervals, and in alphabeti:al 

 order, the parishes of every county, and by di- 

 viding the labour among dilTerent coadjutors, and 

 giving to each a separate branch of inquirj', 

 thereby insuring, by successive revisions, a cer- 

 tainty of correctness, I hoped to succeed in the 

 undertaking. My project was, however, laid 

 aside by reason of other engagements; but, as I 

 still think it worthy of consideration, I have 



troubled you with these "Notes" in the hope 

 that, by publication in your pages, they may be 

 the means of suggesting to others interested in 

 the matter the jiracticability of carrying them 

 out. Though with no definite object in view, but 

 with a presentiment of their after utility, I have, 

 during many provincial campaigns, collected archi- 

 tectural notes, as well as genealogical memoranda, 

 from the churches I have visited. To these, such 

 as they are, any of your readers is Avelcome, for 

 the purposes to which I Inive referred, and I 

 know many who would gladly send their contri- 

 butions to such an undertaking. W. J. D. K. 



Our next letter, though brief, is valuable as furnish- 

 ing a case in point, to prove the practical utility which 

 would result from the realisation of'some well-considered 

 scheme for the attainmer.t of tlie great national object 

 which we are advocating. 



As an instance of the practical use of such 

 a collection, let me inform your readers that in 

 1847, being engaged in an ejectment case on 

 the home circuit, it became most important to 

 show the identity of a young lady in the pedigree, 

 the parish register of St. Christopher le Stocks 

 only giving the name and date of burial. I found 

 that when St. Christopher's was pulled down for 

 the enlargement of the Bank of England, some 

 kind anti(juary had copied all the monuments. 

 The book was found at the Herald's College ; it 

 contained an inscription proving the identity, and 

 a verdict was obtained. J. S. B. 



Our last communication is, we have reason to believe, 

 from an active and zealous Fellow of the Society of 

 Antiquaries, who would heartily co-operate in carrying 

 out the practical suggestions thrown out in his letter. 



In Vol. iii., p. 218., you suggest that the Society 

 of Antiquaries is the body which shoulil undertake 

 the task of forming a record of existing monu- 

 ments in churches. Entirely agreeing in the 

 opinion you have expressed, 1 would venture to 

 otFer some remarks on the subject. The under- 

 tiiking is a vast and laborious one, and can only be 

 eflected by great subdivision of laooui-. 



That the Society of Antiquaries is the fittest 

 agent for the work, I think admits of little doubt; 

 its Fellows are widely spread throughout the coun- 

 try. In every neighbourhood may be found one 

 or more srentlemeu able and willinjx to cive their 

 aid, and to excite others to assist. The Aichteo- 

 logica! Institute and the British Archaeological 

 Association would doubtless add the weight of 

 their influence, and the j)er3onal assistance of their 

 members. 



The clergy throughout the country would be 

 able and willing labourers; and surely these con- 

 joined forces are adequate to the occasion. 



One considei'ation suggests itself, viz., whether 



