Oxford, the following constitutes the memorial of one of the Fellows: He is gone before. PRÆIVIT. Bede, who died in A.D. 735 at the age of 59, has a tɔmb, on which is inscribed Hac sunt in fossa Bede venerabilis ossa, which is certainly to be preferred to the lines which follow : Presbyter hic BEDA requiescit carne sepultus. Of wisdom's fount, which he on earth did love. : The manner in which epitaphs have been inscribed is various; some are engraven on the statue or monument, others are upon slabs, which may be either of brass, or stone, or lead, or iron, or wood. There are no specific rules to determine the formation of epitaphs, either with regard to their construction or as respects their contents, or the manner in which these shall be stated; it is, however, universally admitted that terseness of expression is an essential requisite. They may recount the virtues and glorious actions of the deceased, and hold them up for our imitation; and they may also narrate the descent of the individual, and may mourn his loss. A moral or admonitory precept, too, may be added, and in this manner important instruction may be conveyed. An epitaph should unquestionably be brief, and should combine beauty of expression with tenderness of feeling. All that is expressive of love, sorrow, faith, hope, resignation, and piety, should characterise an epitaph. It ought to be made almost exclusively applicable to the individual interred, and certainly not too long for remembrance. Its object is to record what is worthy of remembrance, and to excite sympathy in the beholder. True and genuine sorrow is never loquacious. In conveying consolation and admonition, it should have reference to the common lot of all, and teach us to look up from the grave to a higher sphere of existence. A simple passage from Scripture appears to me best calculated to attain these objects. Fuller, in his usual quaint style, speaking of epitaphs, says: "The shortest, plainest, and truest are the best. I say the shortest; for when a passenger sees a chronicle written on a tomb, he takes it on trust some great man is there buried, without taking pains to examine who he is. I say also the plainest, for except the sense lie above ground, few will trouble themselves to dig for it." In adopting the title of "CHRONICLES OF THE TOMBS" for this work, let it not be viewed in the sense attached to the term by Fuller in the foregoing passage. The word is to be understood in a general sense, and as such, applicable to a simple record of the name of the deceased, as well as to the brief memorials or histories inscribed on their tombs. There is something peculiarly appropriate and touching in the Roman epitaphs, being always addressed to the manes of the deceased. Epitaphs of the Romano-British period are to be looked upon as affording to us examples of early specimens, and will be found to partake of the simplicity of the Romans; there being, as we have already seen, but little beyond the name and offices of the individual recorded, or with the addition of an invocation to the Manes of the deceased, together with an occasional mention of the name of the person who erects or inscribes the monument. It has been thought questionable whether we possess any genuine Saxon epitaphs; those generally adduced as such being evidently compositions of a later period. This remark is alike applicable to the Danes. The epitaphs which belong to the Saxon period consist of little more than simple inscriptions, and the instances recorded of them are few in number. They are, however, highly deserving of attention. In a communication to the British Archæological Association, made by my friend the Rev. Daniel Haigh, some inscriptions of this time are given, as discovered at Hartlepool;' and being generally considered as belonging to the latter part of the seventh century, are too important to be 1 Journal of the British Archæological Association, Vol. i. p. 185, et eq. The Rev. Mr. Cutts regards the Hartlepool stones as Head-stones, not Grave-stones; b it as they bear inscribed names, they must be regarded in this light. only thus generally alluded to. A noble North Humbrian lady, named Heiu, the first to make profession of the Christian faith in that province, established (within fifty years of the advent of St. Augustine to this country, and the conversion of our Saxon forefathers) a convent at Hartlepool, of which she became the first Abbess, and continued in that office until the year A.D. 649, when she quitted that abode for Tadcaster. To supply her place, she left the celebrated St. Hilda, a daughter of Hereric, who was a nephew of King Eaduini. The situation of this monastery exposed it to the fury of the Danes in the ninth century, and from that time it ceased to be. It is, therefore, not surprising that all recollections in regard to it should have been lost; and it was not until the year 1833, when, upon making excavations in a field called Cross Close, not very far distant from the present church, the remains of a cemetery were discovered, and at a depth of not more than 34 feet from the surface, on a limestone rock, several skeletons, all apparently of females, were observed placed in two rows, lying nearly north and south, the heads upon flat stones as pillows, with larger stones above them, marked with crosses and inscriptions in Saxon and Runic letters. A few of these escaped loss, and are here figured : No. 1 presents to our view the representation of a circular stone with a cross in a circle, and the well-known REQVIESCAT IN PACE inscribed. No. 2 has a cross incised, with Alpha and Omega in the divisions formed by the upper branch of the cross, whilst in those beneath, in Runic letters, we read the female name HIL DITHRYTH. No. 3 presents a somewhat similar arrangement, with another female name, HILDDIGYTH, also in Runic letters. No. 4 has a similar cross, but the inscription is in Saxon letters, and reads EDILVINI. No. 5, of a like character, is a tombstone for two persons, whose names are preceded by a solicitation for the of prayers the faithful. ORA PRO VERMVND, in one division, and TORHTSVID in another. No. 6 is still more remarkable, for there are two inscriptions soliciting prayers for those mentioned in Nos. 4 and 5: ÔRATE PRO EDILVINI; ORATE PRO VERMVND ET TORHT SVID. The cross here varies in form, and is in relief. The place at which X these interesting remains were discovered is called Cross Close, and may, perhaps, be regarded as connected with these monuments. The Saxons were, at a late period, in the habit of erecting richly-sculptured crosses in places devoted to burial. Five years subsequent to the discoveries alluded to, further excavations were made, and other interesting results obtained. On No. 7 was found an incised cross, with the Alpha and Omega, and the name BERCHTGYD in Saxon letters. Another five years elapsed, and two more were discovered. No. 8, a cross with an inscription, HANEGNEVB, which is also probably a name; but if so, the form is singular. No. 9 is a cross of elegant form and design. The inscription is unfortunately imperfect; all that remains reading VGVID |