fferings of pious donors on the occasion of some great event in
the national annals, such as the Restoration, or of some private mercy
vouchsafed to the individual. They record the connection of some family
with the parish, the arms they bore; and the Hall marks tell us of their
date, which is often anterior to the date of the inscription.

Hall marks were first introduced in 1300 by Edward I. in order to keep
up the purity of silver, and consisted of the lion's or leopard's head
crowned. This was called the king's mark. The maker's mark was
introduced in 1363, and was some initial or badge chosen by the
silversmith. To these were added in 1438 the year letter or assayer's
mark, a different letter being chosen for each year. When the alphabet
was exhausted, another with differently shaped letters was begun. In
1545 the lion passant was introduced, and since 1784 the portrait of the
reigning sovereign has appeared. With the assistance of Mr. Cripps' _Old
English Plate_, which contains a list of the alphabets used in marking
plate, it is not very difficult to discover the date of any piece of
silver. Inventories of church plate are being made in many counties and
dioceses, and no more useful work can be undertaken by our local
antiquarian societies.

[3] _Mediaeval Chalices and Patens_, by W.H. St. John Hope and
T.M. Fallow.

[4] Surtees Society, vol. xv. pp. 45, 49.

CHAPTER XVI

MONUMENTAL EFFIGIES AND BRASSES

Reverence for the dead--Cists--Stone coffins--Devices--Introduction
of effigies--Cross-legged effigies--Wooden effigies--Incised
effigies--Brasses--Essentially English--Vast number of brasses--
Palimpsests--Destruction--Costumes and fashions--Ecclesiastics--
Lawyers--Soldiers--Canopies and inscriptions--Punning inscriptions--
Contractions--Emblems--Heraldry.

The pious care which we all love to bestow on the mortal remains of our
nearest and dearest, and the respect and honour with which all men
regard the bodies of departed heroes, kings, saints, and warriors, have
produced a remarkable series of sepulchral monuments, examples of which
may be found everywhere. The cairns and tumuli of the primitive races
which inhabited our island were the results of the same feelings of
reverent regard which inspired the beautifully carved mediaeval
monuments, the memorial brass, or the cross-shaped tombstone of to-day.

I have already mentioned the cromlechs and barrows and other memorials
of the early inha