MONUMENT. A thing intended to transmit to posterity the memory of some one A tomb where a dead body has been deposited.
In thie sense it differs from a cenotaph, which is an empty tomb. Dig. 11. 7. 2. 6; 11.7. 2. 42.
Coke says that the erecting of monuments iu cllurch, elnincel, common chapel, or churchyard in convenient manner is lawful • for it is the lewt work of charity that can be done 'for the deceaeed, who whilst he lived was a lively temple of the Iloly Ghost, with a reverend regard and Christian hope of a joyful resurt cation.
2. The defacing of monuments is punish able by the common law, Year B. 9 Edw. IV. c. 14 ; and trespass may be maintained. 10 F. Moore, 494 ; 1 Cons. So. C. 172. An heir may bring an action against one that injures the monument of his ancestor. Coke, 3d Inst. 202 ; Gibs. 453. Although the fee of church or churchyard be in another, yet he cannot deface monuments. Coke, 3d Inst. 202. The fabric of a church, however, is not to be injured or deformed by the caprice of individuals, 1 Cons. So. C. 145 ; and a monu meqt may be taken down if placed incon veniently. 1 Lee, Eccl. 640. A monument containing an improper inscription can be re moved. 1 Curt. Eccl, 880.
3. Inscriptions on funeral monuments, especially in questions of pedigree, are ad missible as original evidence. Those which are proved to have been made by or under the direction of a deceased relative are ad mitted as his declarations. But if they have been publicly exhibited, and are well known to the family, the publicity of them supplies the defect of proof in not showing that they were declarations of deceased members of the family ; and they are admitted on the ground of tacit and common consent. It is presumed the relatives of the family would not permit an inscription without foundation to remain. Mural and other funereal inscrip tions are, from necessity, provable by copies. Their value as evidence depends much on the authority under which they were set up, and the distance of time between their erec tion and the events they commemorate. See some rernarkable mistakes of fact in such inscriptions mentioned in 1 Phillipps, Ev 234, and note 4. See DECLARATIONS ; HEAR SAY.