"The dresses _actually worn_ by the deceased are probably sometimes represented on the brasses of _ladies_. You have before you every variety of costume, from the simple robe of the time of Edward II. and III., down to the extravagant dresses of Elizabeth's reign. On the early brasses the _wimple_ under the chin marked the rank of the wearer. Till about the year 1550 ladies are not infrequently represented with heraldic devices covering their kirtles and mantles; but I should think such ornamentation was never really worn by them. The different fashions of wearing the hair here represented are most fantastic. St. Paul tells us that 'if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her;' but these English matrons too often forgot that _simplicity_ which gives to this beauty of nature its chief charm. See, here is the _butterfly head-dress_, of the fifteenth century, extending two feet at the back of the head; and there is the _horn head-dress_, spreading a foot on either side of the head. The fashions among women then appear to have been as grotesque as they have been in our own day. "_Children_ on these tombs are represented either behind or beneath their parents; sometimes they wear the _tabard_, a short coat, with heraldic figures upon it--as on this brass to John Ansty; you see there are twelve sons below the father, and four daughters below the mother--sometimes they wear a dress which marks their occupation; and in a few instances the name of each child is placed below it. _Skeletons_ and emaciated figures, sometimes in shrouds, were represented on brasses after the fifteenth century. _Crosses_, with or without figures of the deceased, are very frequently to be met with, and their form is often exceedingly elegant[48]. You will not fail to notice the _canopies_ of many of these brasses; the beauty of some of these designs it would be impossible to surpass. But I fear you must be tired of my long lecture, so I must hasten to bring it to a close. These memorials I like better than any others for churches; for, first, they are by far the most _durable_ of all; then they are the most _convenient_, for they take up little space, and are a great ornament to the _pavement of the church_; moreover they teach their own _moral_, they occupy a _lowly_ place in God's House, and are all on one _common level_. I am, therefore, very glad to see them introduced again into many of our cathedrals and parish churches. And, my dear Constance, I must end with a word to you. I fancy by this time you have learnt that _monumental brasses_ are not dull and stupid. To the student of antiquity, history, genealogy, heraldry, and architecture, these _pavement monuments_ are, I assure you, of the greatest interest and value. They help to fix dates to ancient documents, to illustrate various periods of ecclesiastical architecture, and throw much light on the manners and customs of other times. They are, too, a constant protest against that excess in 'wearing of gold and