CHARITIES.—The parochial accounts of the posthumous charities are given from the voluminous reports of the commissioners deputed by parliament to enquire into the state and appropriation of public charities in England. This commission commenced in 1817, and was not finished till the year 1839. The charities bequeathed by numerous individuals for the education and relief of the poor of this county, produce collectively the large sum of £21,578. 6s. 4d. In addition to this a very large amount is subscribed by the benevolent inhabitants, for the support of the various charitable institutions, among which are free schools, hospitals, dispensaries, lunatic asylums, and various societies for relieving the poor, &c. The summary of the reports of the Commissioners of Inquiry into charities show that in England there are 442,915 acres, or about 690 square miles, belonging to charities, which is little less than the area of Worcestershire. The rent of these lands is £874,313 per annum. The amount of rent charge is near £80,000 per annum, a great part of which is made up of very small sums. The interest of the money (above £6,000,000) which belongs to charities is £255,151 per annum; the whole income of the charity property inquired into by the commissioners is £1,209,395 per annum. Now all this is not derived from one plain single source, but from all the counties of England; from numerous rent charges, money in the funds, mortgages, personal and turnpike securities, &c. Further, this only includes the charities inquired into by the commissioners. We believe that the commissioners have here and there missed a few charities. New charities are daily increasing, and those not included in the inquiry are very numerous. PARISH REGISTERS.—The earliest of the parish registers date from the establishment of the Church of England, injunctions to this effect having been issued by Cromwell, Henry’s vicegerent in ecclesiastical matters in 1538. The canons now in force date their authority from the beginning of the reign of James I., A.D. 1603. One of these prescribes minutely the manner entries are to be made in the parish registers, and contains a respective clause, appointing that the ancient registers, as far as they could be procured, should be copied in a parchment book. This new regulation appears to have been carried into effect, so that the only parish registers now extant are transcripts commencing with Queen Elizabeth’s reign. The parish register act of 1812 obviated some of the previous sources of error, and insured the further usefulness of the registers of that period. But a satisfactory system of registration was not established until the year 1837, when the act for registering births, deaths, and marriages came into operation in England and Wales. The registration of births is considerably more complete than the old parochial registers of baptism, and the register of deaths is believed to be very complete.