The Sun. — London, England, 1849-04-06 00:00:00

NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE ABOLITION OF BURIALS IN TO WNS. A very large public meeting, called at. the instance of this society, was he:d on Wednesday evening at the Whittington Club, in the Strand, to petition Parliament for the imm_diate eosing of burial places in cities and towns. Upon the platform we observed Lord Dudley Cootts Stuart, Lord Cochrane, W. A. Mackinnon, John Abel Smith, Esq., M.P., George Thompson, M.P., James Wyld, Esq., M.P., George Alfred Walker, Esq., George Geoclwin, Esq., Mr. Simpson, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Ross, D. Aldis, Mr. Briscce, and a number of other gentlemen who are known to have always taken a warm interest in Vie progress of this society. On the motion of Mr. MacreeNNoN, seconded by Mr. GOODWIN, Lord D. STUART was unanimously elected to the chair. He said—l regret extremely that the Hon. Gen tleman who was originally announced as chairman of this meeting is unavoidably prevented attendi ng h ero to night. Mr. Benjamin Bond Cabbell—(Cheers)—who is exceedingly , well known in the metropolis, and in the country nt large, for his charitable disposition, has par ticularly directed his attention to the subject which now calls you together. I, therefore, regret deeply the absence of one who is so well able to do the subject jus tice, and above all do I lament the nixie of his nhsence, which is no other than that he is at present stretched upon a bed of sickness, and of course unable to fulfil the engagement which he had made.—(Hear.) Lament ing his absence, I have not thonelit it proper to hesitate in agreting to the wishes of those gentlemen who are deeply interested in the cause, and who have requested me to fill his place this evening.—(Cheers.) Before saying another word I will call upme the secretary to read the advertisement convening the meeting. The SECRETARY, Mr. C. J. Thicke, then read the advertisement, together with letters from several noble • men and gentlemen apologising for their non-attend ance, but all concurring in the object of the meeting. Sir Benjamin Hall, Bart., stated that continued illness prevented his attendance, but lie hoped ere long that the practice of burying in large and popu lous towns would he discontinued. Mr. Horsman, said he was obliged to leave town, but that he would be most happy to co-op era t e i n any proceed i ngs i n Par• liament to put an entire stop to practices so grievous to civilization and religion. The Marquis of Northampton and Lord Ehrington also concurred in the desirability of prohibiting interments in towns, and gave their hearty wishes for the success of the society's efforts. Letters were also read from the Earl of Carlisle, the Lord Mayor, Baron Rothschild, and a number of Members of Par liament. The CHAIRMAN then rose and was received with loud cheers. He said, Ladies and gentlemen, you see by the state of the platform that the object which we have in view has many friends, and you will perceive also by the list of letters, which the Secretary has just read, that we have a great many supporters who are not present. I don't wonder at that-1. don't wonder that wo should have supporters—my only wonder is that there should be any one who does not feel that this subject is one of the very greatest importance; that the evil is one which calls aloud for a remedy; and if there be persons who are not impressed with that belief, I am convinced that they are only those who have not had an opportunity of giving to the subject their serious attention. Ido believe that no man who has had the means of acquainting himself with the practices which prevail with regard to inter ments in this metropolis, and who has had access to the zeal sources of information, can for a moment hesitate, or does Lesitate, in saying that interments in large cities like this ought immediately to be put a stop to. Persons there may be who do not agree with us, and who, per haps, do not feel the necessity of something being done; but who are they? They are persons who have not made themselves acquainted with the facts of the case— persons to whom the mass of evidence which has been collected by Committees of the Houses of Parliament, by those who, to their great honour, have devoted themselves to this subject, is nothing but a sealed book. Occupied with other subjects and engaged with other facts, they are not aware of what is actually going on in this metropolis—they pass through the streets daily and they do not know—they do not even suspect--that in many streets, and I will say, emphaticalla, also in this street, they aro in the immediate vicinity of graveyards where bodies are piled up in heaps, which are at once the cause of ill heath and disease to the population, and where scenes are enacted that are degrading to humanity.—(Cheers.) I do not hesitate to say that this practice in crowded cities is in the highest de gree conducive to immorality.—(hear, hear.) It has a tendency to blunt all the finer feelings, and to make men careless of paying that tribute of reap , ct to the departed which appears to be implanted in man's heart by nature. —(Cheers.) Who is there who does not feel the greatest desire to render all tribute of respect to rela tions and friends who are departed? Which of us is there but contemplates without horror and without a shudder, which it is impossible to describe, the idea of the remains of any dear and beloved relative not meeting with a proper and decent interment, whose blood will not run cold at the thought of the bodies of those dear and beloved persons meeting only with a mock in terment, being only placed a few inches under the ground, and being afterwards removed by unhallowed hands to make room for other bodies?—(Cheers.) Yet scenes like this take place, and are taking place every day, for it is in evidence that in some of these receptacles fur the dead such things are continually practised. The space in large cities which can be devoted to interments is of course smaller It costs a large sum of money to obtain an area, and those who undertake the burial of the dead, I am sorry and ashamed to say, do no in many instances for no other purpose than to make - money.—(Hear, hear.) It is therefore an object to them to bury as many bodies as possible in the smallest possible space. They dig deep holes, for they are not worthy the name of graves, and pile one body above another to the depth of a great many feet, until at last they come to the levet earth, and then a thin coating of earth is thrown over them. Another grave is then opened immediately by the side of it, again to be filled up, and as there is frequently not room to bury all the dead that are brought, it is con stantly occurring that the pickaxe and the shovel of the gravedigger breaks in upon the coffin and violates the dead body which was laid there by sorrowing relatives. —(Elatta hear.) Alai those sorrowing relatives who have made it their business to inquire into these prac tices will tell you that they have seen bodies mangled by the tools of these gravediggers, and pieces of dead bodies and limbs thrown about with the spade as if they were so much earth. These things are indeed revolting to contem plate—they are degrading to the population where they take place, but still they happen in the greatest, the richest, and the noblest city in the whole universe.— (Cheers.) We are proud of our riches, of our talents, of our civilization, and of our progress in commerce and in all the arts and sciences, and we should be offended if any person presumed to say that this country was not the most moral and most re ligious in the world, and yet, gracious Heaven! we suffer such things to he in the midst of this great metro polis.—(Cheers.) But when I mention to you the shocking state of things to which I have alluded, and which is of a nature to harrow up your feelings, and as I must think, to blunt the sensibilities, and make men careless of the respect to the dead, and also irreligious.— when I mention these things I have not told you all, for a very great deal remains behind. If burials amidst crowded cities are injurious to the morals, they are also fraught with deadly poison to the public health.— (Cheers.) No subject has engaged the attention of the public or of the Legislature of late years to a greater extent than that of the public health. sanitary measures have engrossed much of the attention of Parliament, and have occupied the minds of men throughout the country, writings have been poured fourth from the press on the subject, meet ings have been held again and again, and information to a great extent has been supplied with the hope of im proving the health of the public, but it may be said that all these endeavours will be in vain as far as regards the health of towns as long as the system of burying in the heart of towns is permitted.—(Cheers.) You say let :us have good sewerage, let us have good ventilation, let us have fresh air and a good supply of fresh water, and I say so too. I know nothing more important, but, alas! it is in vain to have improved sewers, good supplies of water, and fresh air; it is in vain to make the attempt which has been made, and will be renewed, to give poor people an unstinted supply of light by the repeal of the window -tax--(Loud cheers) — if with those advantages wo did not also succeed in rooting out and drawing away all interments from the heart of the metropolis.—(Cheers) For what would be the use of breaking open the small cramped-up windows of the poor to let in light and air, if that air brought in with it poison?—(Cheers.) Men say give us air —aye, but give us fresh air—don't give us polluted air, charged with miasma and poison from reeking bodies in a state of putrefaction, which are heaped up at our very doors. Men of science who are acquainted with this subject tell you that a certain space is neces sary for every dead body—that a man when ho dies and is put into the earth must have' a curtain amount of earth around him in order that his bodyma t y hle b 3 e 6 d e bodiesco m - posed, and it is calculated that in an may be properly interred. Now, stateonoef things in this city? Why there areg what is acre grave yards —not but man in which instead of 13e there are I,ooo— 2,000 y— bodies—cramned into an acre.—(Cheers.) They throw forth noxious gases which ily produce hel every kind of disorder, but many persons are ignorant of this. I told a gentleman to-day that wholly ignorant was going to attend a meeting on the subject of interments I tl towns, which I thought ought to be abolished; and he said " Well, I never experienced any bad effects from /h em." " I dare say not," said I, " but have you never been unwell—have you never had any illness without being able to account for it?" " Aye." " Then how do You know that it has not been occasioned by the vicinity of graveyards to your habitation?" Many men are seized With sickness, with typhus, and with all kinds of dis orders which medical men can clearly trace to the prac tic of bodi es b e i ng i nterred i n graveyards where there i s L:et sufficient s p ace f or them, and where they esides too near the habitations of the living.—(Cheers.) B this it frequently occurs that those whose duty it is to open graves often fall down suddenly dead, such is the miasma which comes out from them. It is also in evidence th at in order to bear the horrible. stench and foul air which they have-indl stantly obliged to to encounter they are con proudageeesin the f use of ardent spirits, hi 'which in its turn a a cer a e t na al on e ffecst the 1) on burial t o their the dead—only think of that most beautiful most most touch ing, and:most consoling of all services being performed in the presence of sorrowing r elatives, wh ose f ee li ngs , if ever, must be exalted and raised to things above, and to the most holy contemplation, and then think of that service being completed hyon, wretches in a state of usebriety.—(Cheers.) These things would eer tainly be put an end to if burials in the heart of large towns were no longer allowed. Strange, indeed, is it that this practice should be continued in a city which is the eery centre of civilization, In other countries it is not THE SUN, LONDON, so. The first Christian Emperor prohibited interment near the habitations of the living. They Were prohibited in the last century in France, and in the present century New York 11 td prohibited them, and why should this country be the last to follow so good an example?—(Cheers.) We constantly hear a great deal about the sister country, Ireland, and of the debased state in which the Irish people are. I went last Autumn to visit that country, and to Dublin, and there I saw,—not, as we see here, grave-yards in the middle of our crowded streets and thoroughfares, —but I was taken by an lion. Friend of mine, the Member for Dublin, whom I hope to see here this evening —I mean Mr. Reynolds—(Cheers)—to see a burial-ground in the vicinity of the Irish capital. He was himself the person who established the burial. ground of Glassnevin, which is of large extent; and in fact, it is °risme nted with so much taste, with flowers and shrubs, that it is a beautiful thing to see, where all sectarian animosities are dismissed—(Applause)---and where persons of ail grades rest side by aide, and that for the first time, for until that burying-ground was es tsbhjshcd, burials were the occasions el those feelings to which I have alluded, and which are so much to be deplored; but now, when people die in Ireland, they are taken out of the town, and buried in the burial-ground of Glassnevin. There are to be found the graves of O'Connell and of all those persons of distinction who died in Ireland. I very much wish we had some thing of that kind appertaining to London, and I do not see why we should not, nor why that improvement should be any longer delayed.—(Elear, hear.) We have had already Comtnitts es enough on the subject, and I think it is seven years ago since the first Committee sat. We have had the Committee of which my Hon. Friend the Member for Leamington was the Chairman; but we hare had no practical measure. Now, I think the time has came when it behoves the Government to bring in acme practical measure. Sir George Grey a few nights ago, stated in answer to a question from Lord Duncan, it was their intention to bring forward a measure of the kind. I hope they will carry out that intention, but sure I am that meetings of this kind are the most effec tual means of preventing the Ministers forgetting, ere the session closes, what was their intention at its begin ning. —(Applause.) I don't know of any objection to the removal of graveyards out of London, except three, which occur to me. The first is, if we do away with those burial grounds, it is said we deprive the clergy who perform the service of their fees. Now, of coarse, however generous, however high-minded those clergymen may be it is impossible to suppose that they can give, without compensation, a great portion of that which forms their living; and sorry I am to think the working clergy are not in a position to make any considerable sacrifice, because I think those in the Church who work the hardest, are those who are exceedingly ill-paid.— (Applause.) Some time ago it was supposed—the clergy generally were adverse to the change. I do not believe that to be the case now. I believe the clergy feel well disposed towards this measure. That, I think may be concluded from the evidence given before the Committee by the Bishop of London. And as I have no doubt that other meetings after this will be held, I hope that it will not be long before we see some of the dig nitaries of the Church coming forward to answer for themselves in this respect.—(Applause.) There is no doubt that measures may he devised to compensate to those clergy for what they would lose by this change ; and I have no doubt those pious and reverend men will be found exceedingly willing to give every facility that they can to this great improvement. Therefore I don't think that objection is one which ought to stop us. The next objection is, that if you prevent by law burials taking place in towns it will be necessary that the dead should be carried to sumo distance, and that will increase the expense of lunerals to the poor. Now, I am not at all insensible to that objection, because I know that much to their honour, if there is any thing on which the poor of this country in general have deep feelings and about which they are anxious, it is to be able to give a decent burial to those relatives of whom death deprives them.—(Ap plause.) I think that is very much to their honour; and I think these are feelings which ought by all means to be fostered and cherished; and when I know that a poor family will strain every nerve, and even for a season subject themselves to every kind of privation, in order to be able to render iu a manner satisfactory to I their feelings the last tribute to their departed friends; really, I think nothing can be more honourable, nothing can deserve greater respect. But pro bably without much difficulty measures may be arranged for the removal of bodies with all decency, and with very little, if any, increased expense, to ceme teries without the town. Then there is a third objec tion, which is, if you increase the expense of funerals in any degree, you increase the expense to which the parishes must be put in burying paupers, and you there by do that which must gave a tendency to raise the burial rates. Now, in these times when rates are so extremely heavy, when they bear so hard upon the rate-payers, I am quite aware that that objection would be a serious one if it was to extend to any great degree; but I beg on that subject to remind the parochial authorities of this, that if there is any thing which has a tendency to increase the number of paupers, and therefore to swell the parochial rates, that thing is sick ness among the poor—(Hear)—and whatever measures you can adopt which can promote the health of ;he working classes will inevitably have a ten dency towards diminishing the amount of the poor rates.—(Loud applause.) For what is the course of life occurring every day? A poor man has to work, and by labouring hard and performing that duty which requires the whole strength of a vigorous frame, he obtains barely enough to support his wife and family; he is overtaken lay sickness—he does not know why— very likely it is sickness occasioned by the vicinity of one of those horrible graveyards, and he very soon becom e s incapable of supp or ti ng hi s family; and if his illness lasts any time, the inevitable consequence is, that he and his family must go to the workhouse, and in that manner I have no doubt the rates are increased very much more than they would be by any little increase which would take place to the cost by burying those who must be buried by the parish, supposing cemeteries to be placed beyond the limits of the town. I think, therefore, that the objection is not a real, but only an illusory one, and I am satisfied that a little con sideration of the subject would suffice to convince those who are interested in it that such is the case. Now, I have already detained the meetirg at much greater length that I intended to do—(Applause) —and I will haste to give place to those other gentlemen who will have the honour of addressing you. I am quite sure they will place the subject before you much better than I have done, and will show to you the neces sity and the great importance of this subject; and I have no doubt they will lay before you reasons which shall fully convince you that the time is come that something ought to be done by the Legislature ; and before you leave the meeting you will agree on some plan that will convey your opinions and your ideas on this subject to the Houses of Parliament. I shall now call on my Hon. Friend Mr. Mackinnon to move the first resolution.—( Applause.) Mr. MACKINNON, M.P., said when he beheld the meeting before him, and considered the object for which it was assembled, and when he had paid attention to the speech of the Noble Lord who had last addressed them, he could not but be convinced that the holy cause in which they were engaged was likely to be brought to a satisfactory termination.—(Applause.) Previously to his entering on the subject, which he should do in a very few words as he was fully aware that he saw around him on the platform, gentlemen ()thigh talents and great expe rience who would address them much better than he could; he could not but congratulate them on the good fortune which they had experienced that day, in having the amiable nobleman who had just addressed them to take the chair on that occasion.—(Applause.) Ma amiable qualities, and the zealous manner in which he had per formed his political duties during the time he had sat in Parliament, was very different from that of many Members of the House of Commons who held a seat in that House only for political purposes, or who wanted some job. His Noble Friend in the chair had the most philanthropic feelings; his kindness i n f avour o f th e Polish people was we ll known, and the prominent part he took in every work of charity was notorious; and both by his friends in particular and the public at large, Lord Dudley Stuart was held in the highest es tirna.tion.—Xlreat applause.) The difficulty which he (Mr. Mackinnon) felt in addressing them on the present occasion arose, not from the paucity of subjects which he would bring before their notice, but from the multiplicity of opinions whioh he would lay before thew, to show what was the present extraordinary abomination of the practice of burying in towns. He had travelled almost over Europe ; and he agreed with what his Noble Friend had said with regard to the practice of in terment in Ireland; and strange it was to say that in that coun try, which was certainly not equal to England in point of civilization, there was no interment in towns. He had travelled in France, and there he had seen the greatest decorum shown towards the dead. He believed that Napoleon decreed during his Consulate that no cemetery should exist within a mile, or two thousand feet from the outside of a town ; and they invariably found e w hen ever they travelled i n F rance, t h at t h e cemeteries w w er r e e always to th e nor th o f a town, and at a certain dis tancecoomutmoitfted in it.—(Hear, the h hear.)orial of Thethe d atrocities his e which ity would harrow up their souls, and would only ex c it e feel ings of disgust without answering any purpose. He would not dwelt o just tell th em of ono t 500 on such h orr ibl e d etails; but he would instance, and of one a l one . Th ere was a churchyard neyardsra from the spot where they were. Overlooking that graveyard , lived an unfortunate tailor who had nothing tut When he was asked why he lived 711 replied, that in consequence of the impurity of e te a sp a 9 ir t, t h h o tit seoahnodrAT daughter. s so very cheap a s t o be arietchiLitheenedoersphlsms His medical advisers o strongly r d oghnii lodging gl means. w t O leave that neighbourhood; butntthrewrietihdri,o just .scanti ness of his means prevented h im doing so. Within weeks from the time of his going thearse taken ill with typhus , died, and Mackinnon) w might i his daughter also. say.N Now A efviathawt u d n al d s er a h f t i e s r n w o a s r e d , s h h e e (N l l o r s . t his wretched ofriend individual inh t was e world, and scarcelyable se t e o in o g bt da obtain work, h wo t rk e , having grave ected where h h e i s wife disgust and and an were ce o a laid, it , waswitnessing s s s u i ng b jshuo,rtlop shortly and afterwards ctit t t o h remainse pi e es before e o f f o r h e i s his sfe faceand daughter gilter d inhuman brutes who were digging graves the be low his window.—(Great sensation.) Ought such things to be tolerated in a civilised country ?—(Ap plame.) They knew what had taken place in Enon Chapel, not 300 yards from that place; and ho would pass over all those details, being perfectly satisfied there was not one individual present who was not perfectly convinced in his own mind, that such abominable prac tices ought to be done away with.—(Applause,) So far as their feelings went, there could be no doubt on the subject; but tlicro wits a much graver and more impor tant question than their feelings, and that was th'.;ir health. He had had an opportunity as Chairman r a t the Committee of the House of Commons of examir,no any medical man whom he thought fit in this mighty metropolis. The evidence of Dr. Cham bers, Dr. Brodie, and of many other individuals of high character, showed that they, one and all, came to a clear mid distinct conclusion that it was most delete rious to the health of the community to have the burial of the dead in the midst of the living. There could be no doubt as to the fact. Many who wera in the enjoy ment of good health might ssy they had constantly passed that place in the Strand where those bodies were interred, and they had felt no injury from the miasma arising from the catacomb; beneath them. But that did not follow. The medical men said that it did not follow that people felt the injury at the moment, nor that a man in perfect health and the full enjoyment of his spirits would be seized with illness; but if a person wes in a particular state of body, he was the person to take disease from tie gases, and a serious illness might ensue, without the man's knowing whence it arose. Was it not the case in this great city, that when they entered a place of worship, where their feelings ought to be di reeted to the contemplation of ;the goodness of the Al.' mighty, and their thoughts to the reformation of their future manners, that they were offended by the noisome smells which circulated round the . sacred building? In the Bill which he had the honour of preparing for the House of Commons, there was a particular provision that clergymen should have the same fees paid to them whether the poor were buried in the parish or out of the parish. Consequently, the individual most sensitively alive to the welfare of the clergy would agree with him that the clause in the Bill which provided that the fees should be paid in the same manner as before would answer every purpos-. With regard to the expense consequent upon taking the dead without the town for interment, there were many schemes presented to the Committee, by which it was shown that the poor could be interred out of town at a cheaper rate than they were at present.—(Applause.) Two plans had been suggested to him as chairman of the Committee. It was (and it would be done with much greater decorum and much greater respect to the feelings of the poor) by a steam-boat constantly plying up and down the river, into which the dead bodies of the, poor might he deposited, and carried either up or down the river ; for example, to the Isle of Dogs, where some de cent place of interment could be provided, or at some other place on the river. By so doing they would occa sion a great saving to the poor-rates, for it was perfectly clear that if they allowed those poor creatures to catch disease, and very often to meet their deaths from the impurity of the atmosphere, when they were confined to those localities where the dead were interred, the parish would be saddled with a great expense in maintaining those poor persons during their iilness, and that by adopting a contrary practice, a great saving of money to the community and of the population itself would be the result. He could not, therefore, think otherwise than that the ob ject which they sought to accomplish would indeed be a great benefit to the nation. A French medical man had of late published a treatise, in which he stated that after having visited Egypt, and investigated fully and dis tinctly the cause of the plague in Egypt, he came to the conclusion, which he was ready to prove by the evidence which came before him, that the plague in Egypt never broke out till after they had ceased to embalm their dead, and had begun to inter them near inhabited places. —(Cheers.) That was a most singular fact. Now, not less than five different reports had been made by five different authorities on this subject, and those five different authorities had uniformly pronounced in favour of the advantage cf removing the dead from the pre cincts of large towns. Those constituted authorities, including the Ecclesiastical Commission, which was chiefly composed of clergymen and gentlemen belonging to the Church, had one and all united in making:a report that the practice of interment in large towns ought to be done away with. The first was the Ecclesiastical Com mission; the next was the commission that was ap• pointed by the Secretary of State for the Home Depart ment, and was entrusted to that very Wonted gentleman, Mr. Chadwick, the Secretary of the Poor-law Commis sion. Mr. Chadwick, after patient investigation, in a work which did him infinite credit, stated distinctly that it was impossible to arrive at any other conclusion but that interments in towns was a practice that ought to be dono away with altogether.—(Cheers.) Three official reports were'reade by the Committee of thellouse of Commons, of which he was chairman, and that Committee distinctly reported, that after all the evidence which had come before them it was absolutely ,necessary that some legis lative enactment should take plac e Two other reports from two other constituted bodies arrived precisely at the same conclusion. Now, he left them to judge what could possibly be the reason, when they found the reports of Committees and Commissioners made up by the most industrious and talented men, who had access to every sort of information, why that etact ment was not brought forward,—(Applause.) What was the cause? Was it that the Government was sluggish on the occasion ? Ho sincerely believed not; he had re ceived an assurance to the contrary.—(Applause.) It was the duty of the meeting to push this matter to an extremity. They ought not to allow a few private in dividals, for their own private interest, to tell them (the meeting) what they should do or should not do. A change they would have; they would have the interment of the dead out of the precincts of large towns; they would have " a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether." He must make one observation of one individual on his right, who had taken infinite pains, who had already laid out a good deal of money, who had bestowed a great deal of his talents and a great deal of his time, which was as valuable as his money, and who was the first in dividual who had pointed the attention of the public to the subject. On his representations his (Mr. Mackin non's) attention had been attracted to the subject, and he was induced to bring it before Parliament. He meant Mr. George Alfred Walker.—(Loud cheers.) Amongst Englishmen " fair play was a jewel," and fair play ought to prevail in this case. Mr. Walker was really the individual who deserved all the praise and who first gave a spur to the subject.—(Applause.) tie was only doing justice to his respected friend, and he (air. Mackinnon) trusted ho would see his great exertions crowned with the success which they deserved. In many of the cities of the continent they saw gorgeous palaces, but they scarcely ever saw there any of those habitations for the poor, the infirm, the sick, and the diseased which were to be seen in the city of London. The first thing which foreigners saw after passing Greenwich was the Dreadnought hospital ship, " supported by the voluntary contributions of all nations;" and when an individual entered Hyde-park he saw St. George's Hospital, open to all men who had met with accidents, and " supported by voluntary contributions." In every part of England they saw buildings with similar inscriptions. He (Mr. Mackinnon) never saw such inscriptions in foreign countries; and it only showed how superior in good feeling was this happy island, though in saying that he meant no disparagement to other nations. Now Eng land, being the most prosperous country in the world, looked up to by foreign nations, as well as envied by them, fur our wealth and civiliz ttion, was it not a shame and disgrace that we, having all that wealth and civilization, and happiness, with the bountiful donations which were given yearly, monthly, and weekly for the poor, should allow so crying an abomination as that of the interment within the pre cincts of towns to exist in this country?—(Cheers.) If they did not remedy that crying evil, he should not bo surprised if some plague should sweep through the land, when nothing would remain but regret at not having put a stop to the shocking desecration of the dead amidst the living at an earlier period. Let them, therefore exert themselves and sign a petition to Parliament. In this country, whatever the influence might be that existed in the Government or the Houses of Parliament, it was nothing when compared with the influence of public opinion.—(Cheers.) The Hon. Gentleman concluded by moving the following resolution:— " It having been repeatedly demonstrated that the practice of burying the dead in the midst of the living produces the most deplorable consequences to the health of the community, by poisoning the air we breathe and the water we drink, this meeting deeply regrets that a question involving the disposal of some 600,000 bodies, the annual mortality of the United Kingdom, should not have taken precedence of all others in the sanitary mea sures passed in the last session of Parliament. That more especially at the present time, when cholera is among us, the constant disturbance of dead bodies, in every stage of decomposition, and the exposure of human remains in consequence of the incessant upturning of the soil for the purpose of making graves in places long since filled to repletion—ought to be instantly abolished. That this meeting also protests most strongly, on the ground of the utter worthlessnes. of the protection thereby afforded to the public health, and for other cogent reasons, against the practice of depositing bodies in vaults, or other re ceptacles, under churches or chapels, whether in leaden or pitched " coffins; and therefore it records its unqua lified condemnation of clause 112 of the City sanitary measure, which in the year 1848 legalized this most ob jectionable and destructive custom."—(Cheers.) Mr. WALKER. said—My Lords, ladies, and gentlemen, if the two sanitary measures passed during the last ses sion of Parliament had recognised the importance of the question which we have met to discuss, we should not have been here to protest against the continuance of a practice which I believe to be disgraceful to our ago of civilization.—(Hear, hear.) Amongst some 400 clauses in these two Acts, there are only six which give the slightest attention to this question. It is true that clause 112 of the City Sewers Act provides that at least five feet of earth should be placed over each coffin. Now I scarcely know on what ground that legislation has been performed, for the predecessors of these men, in the time of the great plague in London, ordered, imperatively ordered, that at least six feet of earth should be placed over each coffin.—(Cheers.) Therefore, I say, I can scarcely understand why, in the earth t misnomer; sufficient. endrfo;ancitg nnroeeytoda. yn oa ß rt ( u i But i particle tell otcyhfo you uh composed 03 originaletermetd hoi nf k ` earth mehmaotua lndt, h ' r ' caeomeh i year 1848, they should think five feet of s earth r t h a f d warnings and 13 —that a t very face of unmistakeabpleredfi ; n ut erb r deo e s d c k a l n e reckless s d et e efibabnoc consequences,ro with its fellow.—(Cheers.) I y th ey our h vaults nolaffa and ctrrihtneesess: us e for graveyards, centuries,m ftn yet of offerwh ie t b o , although the we go on heaping body upon defunct er ote ave b o ee f n in the present " last resting places," in the midst of integers incom pletely decomposed debris of generations of the t. Graves can only be dug by and through the agency pas of the baring ro 1 , the hatchet, the saw, tho sledge•hammor and the crow -bar.—(Hear.) Christian men's graves do not require implements and tools like these, yet they are daily, hourly used (I say this ad visedly), and I repeat they are hourly used in these con secrated grounds—these sanetuaries—these resting places of our ancestors.—(Cheers.) Putting out of the question for the moment, the lolly and wickedness ',if interring' the dead in the midst of the liviog, I would w i s h to cl)::crvo VIA ave.: , see ;acts on retard which will satisfactorily prove to every indivi dual present the absolute necessity of prohibiting hear.) This hug e , t hi s at onto this practice.—(Hear, FRIDAY EVENING, APRIL 6, 1849. overgrown comglomeration of bricks and mortar, consti tuting the modern Babylon, has entombed within its midst, in its streets and thoroughfares, in its places of common resort, has stowed away in cellars and blind alleys, within a hundred years, five millions of dead bodies.-- (Shame.) Ouo wonders hew the practice of mingling the living with the dead originated, but one marvels much more how a Protestant Christian country should permit it to continue.—(Hear.) I have witnessed the religious ceremonial of the dead solemnized in the pre sence of scenes and acts that were disgraceful to our very humanity.—(Hear, hear.) I have seen the deep grave receive " the important trust, and heard the impressive sentence, Dust to dust," tittered in the midst of a throng of pedestrians, amidet the clatter of coaches and various conveyances on the one side, with the clergymen—the robed clergyman—reading the burial service over the dead on the other.—(Cheers.) There are gentlemen present who accompanied me, some weeks ago, to a place in this town which came under the notice of Mr. Mackinnon's Committee. We were introduced by a stranger to the place, which, by the way, was guarded by a policeman, who, it appeared, had been called in to protect men in the exercise of what I shall venture to term, my lord, illegal acts.—(Hear, hear.) Now, my eye being perfectly well practised in the mys teries of these matters, instantly caught sight of a grave over which a mound of earth had been raised, and I could see Irons its appearance that it had been violated to ascertain if the full price of money had been paid for it. -s--(Hear, hear.) I saw at once that the centre of the mound had been pierced by the boring red. The iron instrument had gone through the centre of the bodies.—(llcar, hear.) Within 14 cr 15 feet of this greve I counted 27 similar holes made through a mass of human remains, all these holes passed through the centre of many similar remains to the one I first observed.—(Hear, hear.) This graveyard I shall unhesitatingly state belonged to an undertaker. his object in making these holes, which pierced the bodies deposited there, speaking from my knowledge of these matters, was in the first instance to dis sipate the I. fflu via produced from the putrefaction of the bodies, and next to promote rapid pu trefaction, so as to make every inch of ground a source of perpetual gain.—(Shame.) This graveyard, I must tell you, contains barely three-quarters of an acre—certainly not more—and in that ground, and un derneath the chapel, I am told there have been deposited not less than 25,000 bodies.—(Shame.) To make the subject a little clearer to you, I may inform you that an acre of ground contains 43,560 square feet, and that 136 adult b' dies might find sanitary burial annually in an acre of ground.—(Hear, hear.) Now, n hat are the facts? Why, instead of 135 bodies—adult bodies—being deposited annually in an acre of gronnd, there are places in this town where they bury from 2,000 to 3,000 bodies per acre per annum.—(Shame.) Now earth and air have limited appetites. A graveyard can digest so much and no more. There is no example that I am aware of of such places expanding themselves. It is generally admitted, and I think you will agree with me that bulk must occupy space and I ask, how is it then that, instead of 136 bodies bes ing buried in an acre of ground annually, they dispose of from 2,000 to 3,000 per acre per annum ?—(Hear, hear.) That is a problem which I would desire you to solve for yourselves.—(Hear.) We know perfectly well how Spa fields was managed. I am aware that the coffin surround ing the dead offers little impediment to the grave digger, for tne fire of Spa-fields' bonehouse was constantly fed by dead men's coffins, which were at first ignited by the collies of still-born infants.—(Shame.) A fire was kept burning continually, night and day, and the ashes of the coffins were thrown over the denuded dead bodies to consume them, and in this p!ace, which should have held little more than 136 bodies annually, they had contrived to dispose of 1,500 per acre per annum.— (Shame.) I am now coming to the particular part of the question, which, in fact, it concerns me most to speak of, namely, the influence of this practice on life and health. I think we may leave the moral portion of the question to those who may better understand it.—(Hear, hear.) Now as the blood must be and is influenced by the purity of the air we breathe, it is therefore of the utmost importance that the atmosphere we take into our lungs, and cense, quently into our blood, should be in a pure and uncon taminated condition. Now an adult breathes about 28,000 times in 24 hours, and the heart, beating about 75 times a minute, propels through the lungs about two ounces of blood each time, and thus the enormous quan tity of about 13,000 pounds of blood passes through the lungs in 24 hours.—(Hear, hear.) This, I think, is an important consideration for yon to dwell upon. It con cerns you quite as much as it concerns me. I have stated simply the circumstances of the case, and you can determine whether I am right or wrong in my conclu sion of the effect it has upon the health of the vast population inhabiting the metropolis.—(Hear.) The Hon. Gentleman who last addressed you, and who spoke too highly of my humble merits—(No, no)—and deserts, has Alluded to facts in reference to the origin of the plague. The other day I saw a gentleman just re turned from Constantinople, who told me that the plague invariably broke out in Turkey, in the neighbour hood of burial-grounds. Madden, in his travels ,in Pa lestine, says that plague miasma originates in the putre faction of animal matter; and decidedly the best authority who has ever written on this subject, M.Pariset, whose name is well known, and possesses an European reputation, says that with pure air and water, with healthy food in moderate proportions, none of these seingular mutations, productive of death, in man and animals, could exist.—(Cries:of " Hear, hear.") He says, as the result of his long experience and ob servation in the Levant, that there is only one country in the world in which plague is permanent, and that country is Egypt. He states, further, as the result of his observation, that he believes its origin is entirely due to the emanations from h uman a nd animal corpses, but especially from huma n b o di es. —(H ea r.) Now, witho u t going so far for f acts, wene Clem are in in a e st. have, c a le Clement e little a t d Danes; on th e l e f t of St. e nt , which abound s w i t h remarkable con fi rmatory proo f s. We have in th e S trand the higher up, in th at narrow thoroughfare, w h at i t ca ll ed the pauper gro un d , while a little higher up i s t h at h or rible place, E non C hapel. Many of you h ave h ear d s graveyard a of that abominable place, and its clearance out. It may net be out of place or irrelevant for me to publicly re turn thanks to the proprietors of the Norwood Cemetery for having been good enough to give me a grave for the remains found in that chapel when other cemetery companies had declined to do so, excepting at a price which I would not pay--(Cheers.) I called upon Mr. Baggaly, who, in the kindest manner, said he would undertake to give me the ground on his own responsi bility, if, PnhaPg, I would not object to pay for the digging thereof. This monster grave, measuring 12 square feet by 20 feet deep, received the bones and remains of the army of dead buried in Enon Chapel.— (Hear, hear.) But to return to the question, we need not, I say, go to E g y pt f or facts, we have a b un dant evi dence, even at our own doors, to test the truth of state ments which I most earnestly desire to impress upon you. —(Hear.) It is only some five or six months ago, and a gentleman in this room can verify the fact, that a poor fellow was employed to remove the remains of about sixty bodies from under an auction-room in Leicester square. .This poor man while engaged in his occupation was seized immediately after he had entered upon it with inflammation of the lungs, and eventually died a miserable death from the worst form of corruption; adding another victim to this system.—(Hear, hear.) I believe that the man's wife has since died, I believe also that the bricklayer, who assisted at the work, has since died, and I think I should not be wrong in stating that the bricklayer's labourer has died also.—(Hear.) Now I think you will agree with me that it would be much better to lay the axe to the root of the cause of disease than to establish hospitals and other places to treat it.---(Hear, hear.) It appears to me to be the wildest and most insane policy to create and to per petuate disease by perpetually adding to its cause. I can hardly believe that my countrymen are in possession of their proverbial acumen, for which in other matters they are so remarkable, when they are dealing with this question, or they would pue a stop to the practice at once.—(Hear.) It seems to me so strange that_ every dead man knows that at least twelve-thirteenths of dead body must dissipate—must g o somewhere —either into the water he drinks, or mix with the a ir he breathes . —that he does not at once insi st up on its abolition.— (Holm) As I have before stated , if t he earth cannot dis solve or absorb these dead men's materials in proportion as the bodies are laid in our overcharged church yards, just in the same proportion are in creased all the risks we run of contracting various forms of disease.—(Hear, hear.) Before sitting down I may remark that we have facts to prove that consump tion is clearly traceable to this cause. We have facts to prove that typhus fever is cl early traceable to this cause; and I will prove this to you by just mentioning an incident which occurred at Minchinampton, in Glou• cestershire, to Mr. Smith, which is, perhaps, one of the most striking examples of this nature on record. About three years ago some alterations were made in the church of that place, an d it was deemed necessary or thought expedient to alter the sur face of the grab eyard, and upwards of 1,000 loads of this earth were removed. This earth was thrown partly on the rector's garden, partly on the patron's garden, and partly on the fields. In fact it was used as manure,— (Hear.) Now the results in this case were clearly trace able to the original causes; and I think you will agree with me that I am right in drawing the following con clusions. Mr. Smith, previous to the disturbance of this graveyard, bad, during the 14 years in which he had been in practice, scarcely seen a case of fever in the same village. The results were so immediate, so evident, so distressing, that Mr. Smith, having had his attention drawn to some writing on the subject, published the facts through Dr. Southwood Smith. 'To some inquiries I made, he replied that my re marks very much confirmed his previous impressions; that he had had upwards of 200 cases of measles and scarlet fever in children, with anomalous eruptions. which he was unable to characterise. Now, I hold that these are material facts, because the corollary is, that the same poison that was capable of producing disease in 200 children, produced typhus f_ ver in the adult; for the rector's wife was attacked by malignant fever and died, the rector's daughter was also attacked and died; the gardener alto died, while there were 14 other deaths from typhus fever.—(Hear.) So that you have, at once clearly traceable to one cause-200 • affections in children, and 17 deaths from typhus, all I say clearly traceable to the disturbance of the churchyard eartb.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") It is hardly necessary that I should adduce any further examples, but I will men tion one other case, to which I beg to direct the special attention of your Lordship, and the Honourable Members of the House Commons who are present. Some few years ago William Green was employed in digging a grave in St. Margaret's churchyard, Westminster. This team v hile digging the grave Was sects :o stag sr steel fall ; he was dragged out, taken home and seized with a malignant disease and died. In a few days Mr. Baskerville, the surgeon, caught the disease and died; h:s `housekeeper who had attended him also perished.-- - (Hear, hear.) This was a nine days' wonder, which soon passed over and was forgotten ; and so we shall go on, unless we have a decided, positive, and un equivocal expression of public opinion. There is no question clearer to my mind than this. It has often been said, and I will repeat it, that there is a power behind the throne which is some times stronger than the throne itself. I should like to know exceedingly how our Legislators should so far have forgotten their duty in passing a Bill for the sanitary im provement of this and every large town, as to give only six miserable paragraphs to this which I hold to be the most important question of all.—(Hear.) Before concluding, I am desirous of mentioning a fact or two in reference to a nei g hb our h oo d w i t h w hi c h I am better :ac quainted than most others.—(llear.) S lint Clement's• lane, of which I have before spoken, contains, on the side next to the graveyard, 47 houses, and a dead body is taken out of each house every year. That will make 47 deaths in 47 houses a year.—(Hear.) One day I was accompanied by a gentleman to ono of these dwel lings—a place I remembered quite well. It was this house that first excited my attention and led to my subsequent inquiries on this subject, which have been continued from 1835 until now.—Tear, hoar.) I remember seeing in the back room of this miserable house a poor creature there lying, as it were, cheek by jowl with the dead, while the filth from the dead bodies in the " green ground" —a very proper name in deed for the placa—was running through the wall within a few inches of his nose. 1 asked myself then, and I ask yen now—is it honast, is it just, is it equitable in you to come hero to attend this poor creature, perhaps visiting the place at the risk of your own life? Looking five or ten'minutes at the horrid spectacle, and returning home to rend a box of pills or a bottle of me dicine, which might mitigate the sufferings of the pa tient, but could not remove the cause—(hear, hear) — I thought not. I have since had repeated instances of that kind, and the more I see of them the more am I satisfied that until the system is entirely abolished--for we have arrived at that point when we intend to accept no compromise—(Cheers)—this frightful misery and suf fering can never be removed.—(Hear, and cheers.) I say, in conclusion, that until this system is totally and entirely abolished, we shall neither enjoy health for ourselves nor secure repose for the dead.— (Cheers.) I have very great pleasure in seconding the resolution. . The Doctor resumed his scat amidst re peated cheers. Mr. ROGERS supported the resolution, and mentioned that in St. Anne's churchyard he discovered, some years since, that 114 bodies were interred in each grave, amounting in the whole to 95,000, and, indeed, at that time, the church was heated on Sundays by the burning of old coffins. There were 210 churchyards in London, 33 of which wens twice as bad as St. Anne's, 17 much worse even than that, and St. John's, Clerkenwell, in a much more lamentable condition than all put together. After thanking the meeting for the manner they received h.im, he sat down amid cheers. _ _ The resolution was then put and carried. Mr. J. A. SMITH, M.P., in proposing the second reso lution, said—My Lord, Ladies, and Gentlemen, I imagine that many of those I address share with me the feelings which the dreadful and horrible details we have listened to have pro duced. I came here knowing only in a most general and incomplete manner the extent of the evil of which we are hero met to complain, but I confess that the details we have heard have filled me with a sense nut only of horror but of shame, not only as one of the community who have patiently endured such atro cities, but shame as a Member of the House of Coin mons that I have not before raised my voice, or exerted my Efforts for the removal of so vast an evil.—(Loud cheers.) But I shall leave this room with a strong and determined resolution that as far as in me lies I will endeavour to put an end to this evil and filmy abomination—disgraceful to us as men— disgraceful to us as Christians—and doubly disgraceful to us as Englishmen, who pride ourselves in showing the way in the advance and progress of civilization.— (Cheers.) Your time has been so long occupied that I cannot venture long to intrude upon you, but it i 3 the less necessary because the resolution I hold in my band points not to the past but to the future, and it alludes to that course of conduct which is thought the best con ducive to the early and complete removal of this abomination. The resolution which I hold in my hand expresses the opinion that the removal of this evil must be looked for from the House of Commons and the Legis lature of the country, and that the legislation to take place on the subject, to be effectual, must originate eith and be supported by the Government.—(Hear, hear.) In both opinions I entirely concur, and I hope you who are around me, and more especially those Members of the House of Commons who are present, will unite with me in doing that which, if firmly, temperately, and consistently carried out, will ultimately convince the Government of the necessity for putting an end to this abomination.—(Hear, hear.) I conceive, with my Hon. Friend the Member for Leamington, that the members of the present Government are heartily disposed to take a wiso course in this matter, and I think it but just to them, as it would be just to any Government with whom I might not bo so much disposed to support, that nothing but the pressure of public business has prevented them from taking up the question and paying proper attention to a subject of most vital importance to the best interest of the country. — (Hear, hear.) But the present Government has given us a pledge upon this particular subject, and I think when they have an opportunity they will not be slow in grappling with this question, which is of great and vital consequence to the people who inhabit large towns. As far as Government had already gone in this matter of sanitary reform it is a great step in advance, and they had succeeled in carry ing their measure in the face of a most determined and vexatious opposition.—(Bear, hear.) But lam pre pared to say, hero or elsewhere, that if they were sincere in the principle they then commenced, they cannot re fuse what we now demand.—(Hear.) And what is more, they cannot delay it, because I must say that I have heard with some pleasure the remarks which fell from my Honourable Friend with regard to the objections which had been made against concessions of this kind — righteous and calm objections, which appear to me to deserve no such name.—(Hear, hear.) What! are we ill to perish because the poor Orates are to be somewhat increased? Are we all to perish because the mi eister's burial fees would be diminished?—(Hear, hear.) I am a Church of England man, I am a devoted friend to the Church, but vt hat are all these things, what are fees upon burials, what are poor-rates, what are all these things ? Nothing more than means to an end— nothing more than means taken to secure the moral and physical welfare of the community.—(Hear, hear.) Surely such horrid details as these we have heard to night would justify the abandonment of anything. I can't conceive that any man can possibly, in face of such facts as these we have heard to-night, stand up and arraign any moral argument in their favour.—(Hear, hear.) Can any one be found hardy enough to defend these filthy nuisances?—(Hear, hear.) I hope not, in deed, I believe not. No man can openly support them in the face of day.—(Hear, hear.) I will not take up more of your time, but I must be allowed to repeat that I hare learnt a most painful, but I trust useful lesson this evening. I hope you will share the benefit without sharing the pain; but I hope above all you will with me determine, as I said before, both here and elsewhere, to spare no effort in the furtherance of this most just and holy cause. (Hear, hear.) with l which I view those men who, in the ace t? respect I dhope most t u y n o f u e g w n i l e l d join t with o the and danger, have persevered in opposition, obloquy, a d nifeeeilninggisvionfggurattguafdncee;nai predict, is not only victory in their cause, I venture e Cheers.) I have great plea certain but immediate.—(Cheers .) • ( consequences unavoidably otvheornd: areden,stu.l canti Lord, and ladies and gentlemen, in moving the sure, my e h ym e e oa present r e e ld s s i b n 2y t , dragging rhat t:liiissinseuebtjinecgt believes u t b h l i at e ot tnhoeti manynotice, a injurious following resolution:— abyys,themer olfraiinetsetyrr,sinGg resulting That n fyri be h e rt a legislative enactment, originated with, or supported a Committee of the House of Commons reported to Parliament, That after a long and patient investiga tion, they could not arrive at any other conclusion than that the nuisance of interments in large towns, and the injury arising to the health of the community from the practice, were fully proved. That the evils of inter ment in towns and populous places had grown to such a height, that no time ought to be lost by the Legis liture in applying a remedy. That this custom had desecrated the repose of the dead, and injured the health and feelings of the living, could not be denied. That it had also exhibited the singular instance of the most wealthy, moral, and civilized community in the world, tolerating a practice and an abuse which had been cor• rected for years by nearly all other civilized nations in every part of the globe.' That these views of the Parliamentary Committee of 1842 were affirmed by a majority of the House itself in the year 1845. That universal mischiefs require remedies, and, therefore, a General Act, for the establishment of Cemeteries in suitable localities, should be passed, as a measure of wise Legislative economy, and of simple justice to the nation." Mr. GEORGE THOMPSON, M.P., rose to address the meeting, and was received with vociferous cheering. He said—My Lord, ladies, and gentlemen, I will occupy your attention but a moment. I congratulate my friend, Mr. Walker, in having at his command to-night a superfluity of help —a, perhaps, somewhat novel position for him to be placed in, one at least that must encourage him, more especially after the very earnest assurance he has received to-night from gentlemen of in fluence here and elsewhere, that their co-operation shall be from this time forth given for the attainment of the object he has in view. I had come prepared to make a speech, but as we have had more than enough to-night, both in the way of argument and illustration, and appli cation and exhortation, I shall carry my speech home with me—(Laughter)—and whenever Mr. Walker shall stand more in need of coadjutors than ho does to-night, he has but to command me, and the speech I intended to make to-night, I will give under cirumstances when it will be more acceptable than at a quarter to eleven o'clock at night.—(Cheers, and laughter.) One thing must . be ob kstiunpdenwdoouulsdnnui;nbcee. vious to all who arc here, that we have in our colds! a (Cheers.) Bills of indictment would be lo t d b le s d n in ui e sa v e parish in the metropolis. Why th d en . it to be got our country—suffered to exist, and . tolerated A ny ot other rr nuisance twenty-four of a h . hours. — (Cheers.) similarr general ignorance of the extent of the evil. and of the dreadful consequence resulting from it.—(Hear .) It is tolerated because of —ridaoni:isalntceex,isptesrbehaepasu,sounthp.earrealiles le a h in w is t i h s e history of the prejudices and customs that have grown no among us; an d yet the rem o v al of this nuisance would not b e a course that would do violence to the tenderest or fi nes t feelings.—(Hear, hear.) It would not interfere with the decorous and solemn performance of those rites which accompany the burial of the dead. On the contrary, wero the most sanguine hopes of Mr. Walker realised, so far from there being any concomitant evil with the measure that he recommends, privacy, security, the decent and becoming performance of the funereal rites, and the adjuncts that are suitable to the sepulture of the human body would all be attained by the passing of such a measure as that which he desires. I am sure every one who has attended this meeting to-night must have received valuable light on a subject of incal culable importance to the health of the community. I should scarcely be surprised to hear of every individual attending this meeting to-night resolving never to enter a parish church in the midst of a graveyard until !mend has been put to the abomination which now exists. — (Cheers.) If the facts that have been stated to-night be correct, why then I can imagine no atmosphere more deleterious than that which we are likely to breathe within the walls of the sacred edifices where we go from Sabbath to Sabbath to worship our common Maker. In the midst of accumulated corpses, penetrated day and night by a subtle and pernicious effluvia, impregnated and pervaded throughot by all that is noxious end fatal, I cannot conceive any place in the world more like!) , to prove injurious, if not fatal, to the human frame than those edifices, which, while they are decent in their external appearance and suitable in all their appoint- meats, should also be at least paces that are not de structive of health.—(Cheers.) It may be said by some here, "I have gone backwards and forwards to and from church for years, and am not sensible of any injury de rived from this habit." That may be so; it may be that the high blessing of a strong constitntion—(Hear)—the consciousness of any derangement never occurring for an instant—it may be that a comparatively slight iflisposi tion may not be ascribable to the tainted atmosphere breathed in the church—it may be possible that en in dividual has no idea of that danger; but remember there are thousands and tens of thousands walking the streets of this great metropolis every day that carry with them a predisposition to receive infection, and though we may have gone again and again for years to that church without being sensibly affected by the impurity of the atmosphere, scores of others may have been carried away in the bloom of youth, smitten down by this in foe, to which frequent reference has been made to night. I shall attempt to state no facts in further illus tration of the subject now before us; but we have certain difficulties to overcome, and they must be overcome. We have had a good meet to-night, and a large amount of intelligence among us; but what are we among the teem ing thousands and millions of this great metropolis? He who would serve this cause must become a missionary in it—(Hear, hear)—he must infuse throughout the circle in which he moves the facts and information he gathered up to-night. We have a great deal of ignorance to dis pel ere we can create that public opinion which has been justly styled to night the most potent instrument in ef fecting any great social change. We have an overworked House of Commons to deal with, and when there are so many measures, all important in their way, consigned session by session to " The tomb of all the Capulets"—(A laugh). we cannot expect, though the Hon. Gentleman who has addressed you is so sanguine on the subject, that the measure which is now recommended will meet with a cordial acceptance and concurrence unless it be backed by a visible and unequivocal manifestation of public sentiment out of doors.—(Cheers.) And then there are interests to be conciliated; and I do not wonder that the Noble Lord stood somewhat in fear of an army of grave diggers, pickaxe in hand—(Cheers)—and undertakers in the distance, and mutes too, and a number of other worthy personages who are all mixed up with this great subject—(Laughter)—and, above all, with his respect for dignitaries and " the powers that be," that he should stand in awe of the recipients of fees for burials in our various parish churchyards; but I do agree with the last speaker that these interests are not for an instant to be considered in the presence of. those unmitigated evils arising out of the present system. If there are interests that ought to be considered, let them be con sidered; but let the object we have in view be attained, and I shall be the last person in the world to deny the claims which can be reasonably set up, or compensation to whom compensation is due. Then we must put our shoulders to the wheel, if we would effect the reform that is so much required, and when it is effected there are no feelings which animate the breast of a human and religious being which will not be gratified by the accomplishment of the end we have in view. —(Loud cheering.) Such revelations as have been made to night are sufficient to carry the thoughts of all who are here back to those sari events in their history when they have been called upon to consign to their last resting place the bodies of those whom they have loved; and, lest a repetition of those sacrilegious violations of the tomb shall occur—lest again there shall be witnessed the horrifying spectacle of Enon Chapel and Spa-fields burying-ground—and even where most decency is ob served, in a repetition of the scenes of the best con ducted burial grounds there was much to grieve the mind—l say, if we would not witness a repetition of this, let us endeavour to accomplish this most wholesome and desirable object. We have ground enough round the me tropolis—roads enough round the metropolis leading into all the suburbs of this great city; we have the means of conveyance ample, and, as fur the matter of expense, every shilling of the extra expense, if there were any, occasioned by the burying our dead out of the immediate precincts of the city, would be more than realised to the common fund at last by the preservation of health, by the diminution of the pour, as by the saving from pre mature widowhood those who are deprived of their husbands, as we have been told; and in a variety of ways we shall be actually relieved from our burial bur dens, instead of augmenting them with almost contemp tible trifles which may be added to the expense of burial under those altered circumstances. I know there is one impediment to the creation of a strong public opinion on this subject, and which I think is this, that our considerations have reference to the human body. Now, lam disposed to respect the human body. I know how tender are the feelings that are called forth in re ference to the dead bodies of those who while living have become the objects of love. I would see that body treated with decency and respect, both on account of the associations connected with it in the minds of others, bu because it has been the tenement of a soul of deathless and illimitable powers.—(Cheers.) But if, instead of those corpses being those of men, women, and children, they were the dead bodies of any other animals the system would not be tolerated for a day.—(Cheers.) And yet remember that once de posited a few feet below the surface of the earth, the exhalations arising from the decomposition of that body are not less, but more pernicious than would arise from the decomposition of any animal that you might deposit in your midst. Let us, therefore, look at the matter in connexion with this age of improvement, and through the light of those facts which medical science and che mistry have put in our hands, and with whatever is de corous and solemn, and we shall come to the conclusion that the measure is demanded, and should at once receive the respectful attention of the Legislature. This is all that I have to say to-night on the subject. I shall cordially co-operate to the best of my humble ability in the exertions now being made, and I have only to say that I cordially second this resolution, and fully ngree with the opinion which it records that to the Legislature we ought to look for a remedy—a remedy not simply applicable to the evil as it exists in this metropolis, but throughout the United Kingdom, on this important subject.—(Loud cheers.) The resolution was then put and carried:with accla mation. Mr. WYLD, M.P., in moving the third resolution, said he had no idea of carrying his speech home in his pocket, because he wanted to get rid of the abominable system of accumulating dead bodies by millions in the metro polis. What must the foreigner think when he passed through some of our noble streets, to see them obstructed by great mounds of human putrefaction, and yet when the subject was broached in the House of Com mons the Honourable Member for Lymington and himself were the only parties to raise their voices against it.—(Hear, hear.) They were told then that sufficient petitions had not been presented against the system to justify the House in interfering with it, but he hoped, when the question was next agitated in the Legislature, no such objection would be raised up against them. — (Hear, hear.) He did not agree with those who thought they were likely to meet with opposition from the clergy, for at a recent meeting of the vestries of St. Clement's Danes, the Russell court burial ground was ordered to be abolished. A VOICE—It has not been abolished yet. Mr. WYLD said it was to be closed forthwith, and in order to get rid of the difficulty of removing the nuisance the Rev. Mr. Denham, the incumbent of St. Mary-le- Strand, had consented to forego his burial fees.—(Hear, hear.) But independently of that circumstance, let him remind the meeting, that in all Cemetery Bills provi sion was made to reserve the payment of fees of clergy; and he thought, therefore, in discussing this question, they were not likely to meet with much op position from the clergy.—(Hear, hear.) But in carry ing out this great measure of sanitary reform, if they wished to make it acceptable to the poor man, they must, at the same time, endeavour to get rid of the horse tax, which yielded to the revenue about 20,0001., for if the poor man had to pay that tax, it was not likely that they could remove their dead to a distance.—(Hear, hear.) He trusted, therefore, that this measure, which he heartily supported, would be accompanied by some such suggestion of that sort.—(Hear, hear.) He concluded by moving the following resolution:— " That, in accordance with the foregoing resolutions, the following petition be signed. by the chairman on be half of the meeting; and that he be respectfullyree o qtse to take charge of its presentation to the House of Com mons, and that the metropolitan Members be also re quested to support the prayer thereof. " ' To the Honourable the Commonsir_eland in o f the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Par liament assembled, ,indguring man not only y " e Sheweth—That your petitioners haarvies years, had just cause fo r comp from from the number, but the overcharged state of the me tropolitan conviction th a t th e t ro p o litan and otherburil " That your petitioners numerou s and incalculable evils inseparable from a state of things at once destructive to health, degrading to re ligion, and insulting to humanity, will never be remedied unless your Eonourable House interposes its authority. That your petitioners desire to express their un feigned satisfaction that this national grievance was the subject of inquiry by a Committee of your Honourable House in the year 1842, who reported, that, "after a long and patient investigation, your Committee cannot arrive at any other conclusion then that the nuisance of inter ments in large towns, and the injury arising to the health of the community from the practice, are fully proved." That, from the evidence adduced before the Committee, and many subsequent exposures of the terrible conse quences resulting and necessarily arising from the pre rent syreern of interment, your petitioners venture to ex press their earnest desire, that the burial of the dead in the 'midst of the living may be instantly and for ever prohibited, by the closing of all burial-places in cities and towns, and by the adoption 9f such tnekturel as may 0/4 . ~ ~' ~` /~`, ~ ~~ ~~~ secure the public from th. sea . ' ac tices at prE se at existing. 't itiOAttitiver pray.' -- re.."Aae °see " That, for the purpose o. tee w eacts of the petition, and of obtain] ;: 1 "4 'grit g es we sup port, a fund be immedi a t e ly raised by Eitigptions and donations, which will be received by the honorary se cretary, Mr. Charles James Thicke, 17, New Bridge street; by any member of the committee; and by the following bankers: —;Messrs, Coutts and Co., Strand; Messrs. Mesterrnau, Peters, Mildred, and Co., 35, Ni cholas-lane; Messrs. Spooner, Attwood, and Co., Grace church- street; and the Commercial Bank, Lothbury." Mr. Geo. Ross, surgeon, seconded the resolution. He stated that the shameful condition of the St. Bride's burial•ground, at the back of Farringdon-street, which had already been stigmatised by the general reprobation of the public press, evidenc e d t h e a b solute necessity of a comprehensive measure of legislation for the purpose of abolishing these evils. The City Sewers' Act was totally incompetent to check the atrocities perpetrated under the plea of beryit b ee the dead. By a claus e i n t h at A ct it was required that at least five feet of soil should be between the surface of the ground and the top of the coffin, and the gravedigger attached to that burial ground, in order to meet the requirements of the Act, had been actually obliged to dig through successive strata of dead bodies, and to toss up their offensive remains, for the purpose of fresh interments, thus increasing the evil the Act was intended to remedy.—(Hear, hear.) Ho (Mr. Ross) state l that the inhabitants of the adjacent houses were shocked by the gross indecencies they were compelled to witness, and petitioned the churchwardens to close the ground. After alluding to the intelligence and humane feelings of one of the churchwardens, who desired to carry out the views of the petitioners, he said that the eollectiva wisdom of the vestry decided that the ground sliculd be still further turned up, to ascer tain what accommodation for burial might yet remain, and that they literally ordered the opening of the ground in those several places, turning out upwards of a score of decaying bodies from one place, and in another ex posing what is termed the " bone-hole," the desecrated spot where the rotten carcases that are removed from the graves to make room for fresh interments aro deposited in one festering, putrefying heap.—(Hear, hear.) The authorities who went to visit the scene were so disgusted with the result of their own operations, that he believed they had resolved to close the ground; if they did not, he was resolved that they should hear more about the matter. Thirty years ago the inhabitants petitioned for the closure of the ground, and since that time there bed been nearly 3,000 bodies deposited there. It ap peared, however, that the local powers were very . in adequate to carry out the object, even if the authorities so desired, for any parishioner could demand, as a right. to bury a relative in the parish burial-ground.—(Heap hear.) It was, therefore, imperatively necessary that a general Act should be passed to place these matters on a different footing. He (Mr. Ross), in advocating the institution of a central superintending authority, by no means wished to curtail the powers of local boards; on the contrary, he thought that their powers ought to be increased; but that, tor the security and well-being of the public, they should be compelled to do their duty, which, considering the sectional interests often para mount in these boards, could net always be depended on. Another circumstance also showed the urgent necessity that existed for the appointment of inspectors to certify to the cause of death, and the proper disposition of the dead, viz., the evidence given by Dr. Russell, Rector of Bishopsgate, and cited in Mr. Walker's most able and use ful lectures, to the effect, that out of 1,244 persons who died within three years in that parish, my 795 was ascer tained to have been buried either in the parish ground or in public cemeteries, a fact involving so horrible a suspicion, that it became the high moral character of the British people to vindicate their humanity, and to demand from the Legislature the astablishmeut of a system that should place the sepulture of the dead under com petent and responsible control. The resolution was put and carried with acclamation. Mr. GLADDEN directed the attention of the meeting to the circumstance of the corporation of London receiving the burial fees at Bunhill- fields burying ground, which he thought would be a difficulty in the way of their cos operating with the society. Mr. BRISCOE proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Walker who, he said, was the earliest and greatest champion of the holy cause which they had assembled that evening to support. He trusted that as Mr. Walker had con ferred on the people a national benefit he would also re ceive a nation's gratitude.—(Cheers.) Dr. ALDIS briefly seconded the resolution, which was put and carried unanimously. Mr. W. SIMPSON moved a vote of thanks to the chair man, and said he was rejoiced to find him so attentive at all times and in all places to the welfare of the working classes and the poor, whose interests and feelings had been hitherto sadly neglected, which was also put and carried unanimously The Noble CHAIRMAN, in returning thanks, wished it to be distinctly understood that in mentioning that the clergy were likely to oppose this measure, he did not mean to convey the impression that they ought to be disheartened by that circumstance.—(Hear, bear.) A great general upon going into action always looked to the worst side of his prospects, and in the same spirit he had adverted to the opposition of the clergy as the greatest obstacle they would have to contend against. The obstacle, although the greatest they perhaps would have to contend with, was not very great, and if it were raised he had but little fears of being able to overcome it. -(Cheers.) The meeting then broke up, at about ,half.past eleven o'clock. DREADFUL OCCURRENCE AT SAINT JOHN'S WOOD. During the last two or three days the neighbour hood of St. John's .wood has been thrown into a must painful degree of excitement, in consequence of a report obtaining circulation, that four young wo men had been destroyed by inhaling the fumes of charcoal, at the residence of Miss Caroline Mann, the keeper of a boarding-school, No. 2, London road, and within a short distance of the Eyre Arms Tavern. It appears, upon inquiry, that the reports in question are not without foundation, and that three young women, in the service of the above-mentioned lady, have fallen victims to the inhalation of char coal, whi's; the fourth remains in a very hopeless condition. The names of the deceased parties are Elizabeth Tidd, aged twenty-one. Fanny Carter, aged seven teen, Elizabeth Griffiths, aged sixteen. It appears that these young women, and another, had removed with Miss Mann's establishment, to the house No. 2 London-road, a few days ago ; and that one of them being taken ill, went home to her friends, and re turned to Miss Mann's establishment on Tuesday. She appeared to be very ill, and went to lay down in a lodge attached to the house, in front, on the bed usually occupied by the page. She seemed worse to wards evening, and Miss Mann told one of the servants that she thought some of them had better remain with their sick companion during the night. Miss Mann at the same time expressed her fears that the place might be damp ; and there being no chimney or fire-place in the apartment, she recommended that a patent stove, which consumed the prepared charcoal, and which was usually employed in warming the hall of the mansion, should be removed to the place in question, in order to air it. This was done, and it is supposed that the whole of the four parties above mentioned agreed to sleep in the place together on Tuesday night. On 'Wednesday morning, neither of the servants making their appearance, as usual, some alarm was created, and on Mrs. Wilson, the housekeeper, open ing the door of the apartment, the most appalling spectacle presented itself. Three of the young women lay in one bed, whilst the fourth lay in a small bed which had been made up in another corner of the apartment. The survivor lay between Tidd and Carter.; and whilst they, as well as the poor girl Griffiths, appeared quite lifeless, she was still alive, but appeared in the last agonies of death. Neither of the deceased females had their nightcaps on, their hair was dishevelled, their arms extended, and they had the appearance as if they had struggled violently. On making this dis covery, Mrs. Wilson alarmed the inmates ; and Mr. Crellin, surgeon, of the Wellington-road, was in stantly sent for. lle at once pronounced, with re gard to Tidd, Carter, and Griffiths, life to be extinct, and nearly so with regard to the fourth sufferer. He however, instantly resorted to bleeding and other remedies, and had her removed to another apartment, where symptoms of returning animation, after some hours, began to manifest themselves. WORCESTERASEA-FORT.—On Monday last the Two Brothers, bound for this city, from Dunkirk, ar rived at Gloucester, where the Custom-ouse autho rities would not allow he r to proceed till she was discharged. The consignees accordingly determined on di sc h arg 'n; her, and having paid the duty, she will be reloaded ; t h e object in th i s instance being to show the possibility of sea-borne vessels coming up to Worces ter. We believe that, in these days of free trade, the Commissioner s of Customs might be induced to relax a t hi s rule in favour of so important district as that em b r aced by the Severn at W orcester ; but at all events we have to congratulate the trading and mercantile in terests of the city on the fact that all coasting traffic is allowed to pass unimpeded by the port of Gloucester up the river. Already arrangements are being made for freighting a vessel with guano, for this city, from one of the princip a l ports of Great Britain; and there is no reason why the Droitwich salt may not henceforth be shipped at Worcester for the coast of Ireland and else where.— Worcestershire Chronicle. DEATH OF THE HON. ANNE RUSHOET.—This estimable lady died at her house, IVansted Grove, Essex, on Wednesday, the 4th April, after a long and painful illness, which she bore with the greatest fortitude and resignation. She was the daughter of the late Lord Northwick and sister to the present peer. Her loss will be long deplored by her relations and friends, and by her death many distinguished families will be placed in m o arning. LORD PANMURE.—Much anx'ety has been felt during the past week regarding the state of the health of this nobleman. His Lordship has had an attack of very serious illness ; and, though the fever has consi derably abated, there is little prospect of his restoration to his u.ual state of health for a considerable time.— Edinburgh it itness. EXTRAORDINARY INCREASE.—Mr. George Smith of AO Kettleby, near Melton, has now 36 lambs from 11 ewes, out of a flock of only 50 ; 3 ewes having yeaned 4 lambs each, and 8 ewes 3 each; and they are all alive and doing well. The whole 50 ewes are rearing 1 0 9 lambs.