We must not forget that the space at the disposal
of the Dean is very limited, and that each fresh burial in the Abbey makes the difficulty of conferring this signal honour greater than before. We doubt if there is room in the Abbey for more than six or seven new interments. That being so, the responsibility of allotting this space is proportionately great. Until we had fully thought out all the claims likely to arise in the next twenty years, we should be very loth to take the responsibility of saying that the Dean was in the wrong. Of one thing we are quite sure. The Dean was right to refuse to give the reasons for his action. Nothing could have been more painful or more undignified than a public debate in the newspapers on those reasons. If Parliament chooses to appoint a Committee to consider and report upon the conditions under which the Dean exercises his powers, that is another matter. Before such a Committee the Dean might very properly be asked to state the principles on which he holds that his action ought to be based.
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