Lord Granville is to move on Monday next, in the
House of Lords, that "in the opinion of this House, it is desirable that the law relating to the burial of the dead in England should be amended,—(1) by giving facilities for the interment of deceased persons in Churchyards in which they had a right of interment, without the use of the Burial Service of the Church of England, if the relatives and friends having charge of the funeral shall so desire ; (2), by enabling the relatives and friends having charge of the funeral of any deceased person to conduct such funeral in any Churchyard in which the deceased had a right of interment, with such Christian and orderly religious observances as to them may seem fit." We are not sure that the last clause is sufficiently -explicit. Does Lord Granville mean that no observances which may seem fit to the friends of the deceased shall be permitted, unless they be distinctively Christian as well as orderly? If so, why impose any such conditions on the Theist? The simplest course would be to get the leading Nonconformists to agree on some selection of Scripture and prayer which would satisfy most of them, and -which would admit of abbreviation in the case of those who did not admit any tincture of Christian faith. This form, or selections from it, or a completely silent funeral, might be made compulsory, since in public places the public have perhaps a right to be guaranteed against any offence to public decency.
Previous page
