THE BURIALS BILL RELIEF CLAUSES.
(To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
Maskell errs in speaking of the " objection to the indiscriminate use of the Burial Service " as specially a " Dis- senting" objection. A recent Archbishop of Canterbury (Longley), in the House of Lords, roundly declared that nothing should persuade him to read the existing service over certain
persons. I think Mr. Maskell also overstates the case in affirming that it is " the laity," not the clergy, who are " obstructives," and rise in revolt against the project of a reformed Burial Service. The phrase " the laity " covers a whole Noah's Ark of varie- ties. There is a large clerically-minded laity, which, no doubt, is correctly represented by Lord Selborne. But if "the laity" may be taken to stand for the Christian people of England, who are all by law interested in the National Church, and who all have a right to express their opinion on services sanctioned by Parliament, I believe that an overwhelming majority would consent to the " suggestion " which Mr. Maskell, with characteristic candour, allows to indicate " the best way out of the difficulty."—I am, Sir, &c.,
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