are reflected in these pages, e.g. the enforced burial in woollen; the
relatives of those who desired to be buried in linen were obliged to
pay fifty shillings to the informer and the same sum to the poor of
the parish. The tax on marriages, births, and burials, levied by the
Government on the estates of gentlemen in 1693, is also recorded in
such entries as the following:--

"1700. Mr. Thomas Cullum buried 27 Dec. As the said Mr. Cullum was a
gentleman, there is 24s. to be paid for his buriall." The practice of
heart-burial is also frequently demonstrated in our books.
Extraordinary superstitions and strong beliefs, the use of talismans,
amulets, and charms, astrological observations, the black art,
scandals, barbarous punishments, weird customs that prevailed at man's
most important ceremonies, his baptism, marriage and burial, the
binding of apprenticeships, obsolete trades, such as that of the
person who is styled "aquavity man" or the "saltpetre man," the mode
of settling quarrels and disputes, duels, sports, games, brawls, the
expenses of supplying a queen's household, local customs and
observances--all these find a place in these amazing records. In
short, there is scarcely any feature of the social life of our
forefathers which is not abundantly set forth in our parish registers.
The loss of them would indeed be great and overwhelming.

As we have said, many of them have been lost by fire and other
casualties, by neglect and carelessness. The guarding of the safety of
those that remain is an anxious problem. Many of us would regret to
part with our registers and to allow them to leave the church or town
or village wherein they have reposed so long. They are part of the
story of the place, and when American ladies and gentlemen come to
find traces of their ancestors they love to see these records in the