THE RIGHTS OF THE NONCONFORMISTS.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—In the Spectator of June 30th a correspondent, calling himself " Rural Dean," states, in reply to Dr. Morgan Gibbon, that he has " never refused burial to a Nonconformist in our consecrated cemetery." I am reminded of an experience I had some years ago in South Africa. When I was the minister of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Johannesburg, a lady of my acquaintance died suddenly. Her husband asked me to conduct her funeral service. The only suitable plot of ground he could secure in Braamfontein Cemetery happened to be in the " consecrated " section. Accordingly, he was informed that I, as a Presbyterian minister, could not be allowed to conduct the service at the grave, but that an Anglican clergyman must officiate. I conducted a brief service at the home of the bereaved family, and left the service at the grave for the Anglican clergyman. Of course, I have no means of knowing whether such a gross insult to the dead and the living is ever offered in other parts of the Empire. I Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Minister of the First Church.
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