The Press.
London, England, 1858-07-24 00:00:00

AS TO BURIALS UNDBR TILE NEW BURIAL ACTS.

The Queen in Council, on the representation of the
Secretary of State, may order the discontinuance of burials
in any burial-ground (16th and 17th Vict. o. 131, § 1),
except in such joint-stook cemeteries u may have been
established under the special authority of Parliament (§ 5 ;
Reg. v. Maude, 5 Ell. and 111. 702). And any person assist.
ing at any burial in violation of such order is guilty of a
misdemeanour (§ 3), and liable to a penalty of 10/.
(18th and 10th Viet. c. 128, § 1). But licence may be
granted, under certain circumstances, by the Secretary of
State, for the continued use of private vaults and graves
(16th and 17th Vict. c. 134. § 4). No new burial-ground
can be opened in any closed district without the approval
of the Secretary of State (§ 6).
The churchwardens of any parish, new parish, township,
or district, whether separately maintaining its own poor or
not (20 and 21 Viet. c. 81, § 5), may—and if any Order in
Council has been made, or notice given to close the burial.
ground, they must—call a meeting of the vestry, to deter.
mine whether a new burial-ground shall ho provided for
the parish (18th and 19th Vict. c. 128, §3 ) ; anti then to
appoint a burial board, consisting of not less than three or
more than nine persons: the incumbent being eligible,
though nut a ratepayer (15th and 10th Vict. c. 85, § 11).
Vestries of two or more parishes or places may concur iu
providing one common ly trial-ground ; or one burial ground
may be appointed for several united parishes (18th and
lOth Vict. c. 131, § 11), or fur parishes, districts, or town-
ships not separately maintaining their own poor, but
having separate burial-grounds ( § 12 ), or fur patishes,
districts, or other subdivisions, being parts of parishes
maintaining their owu poor (§ 18).

In boroughs, the town councils may, by Order in
Council, be appointed the burial boards for their respective
boroughs (17th and 18th Vict. c. 87, § 1 ) ; end so also may
local boards of health (20th and 21st Vict. c. 21, § 4).
The City Commissioner» of Sewers are the burial board
fur the city of London (15th and 10th Viet. c. 85, § 13).
The burial board, when conetiinted, proceeds to provide
a new burial-ground, either within or without the parish,
new perish. township, or district ( 15th and pith Vict. c.
85, § 2b ; 20th anti 21st Vict. o. 81, § 5). No burial•ground
under these Acts can be °perked within one hundred yards
of any dwelling-house, without the consent, in writing, of
the owner, lessee, and occupier (lb. ; 17th and 18th Vict.
c. 37, §l2 ; 18th and 19th Viet. c. 128, § 9). Part of finch
new burial-ground is to be consecrated, and part unconse-
crated (16th and 17th Vict. o. 134, § 7). And see 20th
and 21st Vict. c 81, §§ 11, 12, as to fences not being neces-
sary between them.
Ample powers are given for the purchase of lands for
burial-grounds; and burial-grounds provided under the
Church Building Acts, by money borrowed, may be trans-
ferred by the incumbent, with the consent of the ordinary,
subject to the debt (20th and 21st Vict. c. 81, § 7).

SIMONY.

Simony is the corrupt presentation of any one to an
ecclesiastical benefice or dignity for money, gift, or reward
(Cro. Eliz. 790). The right of presentation is thereby
forfeited, pro hoc rice, to the Crown; both the giver and
taker forfeit two years' value of the benefice, ono to the
king, and the other to the informer. The presentation is
void, and the presentee is for ever incapable of enjoying
the benefice.

It is simony if any person, for money or reward paid or
promised, shall either present, institute, induct, &c., to
any ecclesiastical benefice or dignity, or shall preserve in
his own name, or another's, the next presentation, and shall
thereupon be presented. So also is a corrupt resigns •
tion or exchange.

The sale of an advowson during vacancy is not simoni-
seal (per Lord Hardwicke), unless connected with a cur.
rupt contract as to presentation ; though purchasing a
presentation during a vacancy undoubtedly is so (Cro.
±liz. ThB).
So, if a clerk bargain for a next presentation, if the in-
cumbent be in extremis, or (Cripps, 517) even if he be not ;
but not if the purchave is by another person, without the
privity of the presentee (0 Bingham 1).

An innocent clerk presented on a sitnoniacal contract is
not punishable, although the presentation for that turn goes
to the Crown (3 Hagg. 659).
A bond to resign in favour of some other person, or at
the patron's request, is simonises!, unless (9 Geo. IV. c.
94) the nominee be related or connected, us in the Act
specified, with the patron, and the presentation or the re-
signation be of such nominee.
A clergman may, perhaps, purchase an advowson in fee,
and be presented on the next vacancy (Cripps, p. 519 ).

We may add that, while the price of the book
is so moderate as to bring it within the reach of
the humblest curate, its size is such as to enable
it to be conveniently carried in the rocket of any
clergyman who may find it occasionally expe-
dient to dash a little cold water on the seething
surface of a turbulent vestry.

THE PRESS, JULY 24, 1858

The Chaplain's Narrative of the Siege of
Delhi. By John Edward Wharton Rotton,

M.A. London : Smith and Elder.
Day by Day at Lucknow. By Mrs. Case.
London : Bentley.
(Second Notice.)

Alas. Case is the widow of ' Colonel Case of
the 32nd Regiment, who was killed at the dis-
astrous encounter of Chinhut, on the 30th June,
1857. She is right in thinking " that any par-
" ticulars of that protracted and dreadful belea-
" guerment would be read with great interest,"
and equally right in not having " attempted by
" subsequent additions to produce effect or to
" aim at glowing descriptions" ; but we cannot
help saying that the book might have been more
judiciously edited. We have, first, two chapters
containing Mrs. Case's diary from the 21st of
May to the 15th of June, 1857; then we have
three letters, dated the 30th of October, the 6th
of November, and the 23rd of November, car-
rying on a general account of matters up to that
period, which, by a note at the end, we discover
to be written by Miss Dickson, who is appa-
rently Mrs. Case's sister. Chapter V., where
Mrs. Case's journal recommences, carries us back
to July sth, and here we read, " Caroline's letters
" which precede this will explain to you why I
" have not been able to write for some time past."
Although Colonel Case's death is mentioned in
these letters, their much later date would appear
to imply that those to which Mrs. Case actually
refers have been lost ; but as there are no notes
or explanations of any kind we cannot be certain
whether such is the fact. Owing to Miss Dick-
son's letters being all given at once, instead of
being distributed over the journal according to
the dates of the events they record, many cir-
cumstances are related a second time long after
we first meet with them—an arrangement which
produces not a little confusion in the reader's
mind. General llavelock's letter, for instance, is
given both at p. 56 and at p. 173. This is pro-
bably not so much the fault of the authoress as
of the publisher. We remember that when Mr.
Bentley brought out Colonel Lake's diary of the
Siege of Kars, a short time since, we had first
Colonel Lake's journal, then Captain Thompson's
letters, then General Williams's ; so that the
same event was in many cases described three
times in different parts of the book. Authors
and publishers should be made aware that this is
a very bad plan, and that no diaries, however
good, can possibly stand such an unfair trial.
When contributions by two or three diffe-
rent hands are to be used, some one of
them should be made the predominant fea-
ture, and the others subordinated to it. The
narrative which has most unity, coherence, and
detail should be selected, and the others separated
into portions, to be appended to the main thread
in their proper places, either as notes or as por-
tions of the text, giving the reader an oppor-
tunity of at once comparing the various accounts
of the same transaction. Any other method is
certain to create a high degree of perplexity and
confusion.

Mrs. Case's and Miss Dickson's statement of
occurrences is simply and plainly told., and adds
a number of small facts to our knowledge of the
siege, which enable us to conceive it in its har-
rowing details, but which probably none but a
woman would have thought of recording. In the
battle of Chinhut an eight-inch howitzer had been
sent out, and was taken by the enemy. It was
from this very howitzer that, next day, Sir Henry
Lawrence received his death-wound. He was
struck in the leg, and, having worn himself out
by constant work, only survived two days. There
was no real shelter in the Residency ; no place
where even the ladies could be certain of being
out of the reach of shot. Miss Palmer lost her
leg " from a round shot entering her room," and
died about the same time as Sir henry Lawrence.
Round shots fall all day and in every direction.
One startles the ladies as they are dressing ;
another startles the " khansamah " as he is
cooking the dinner ; a third passes over Colonel
Inglis's bed and tub, and through his portman-
teau. Mines explode from day to day :

Whilst we were sitting at breakfast, what seemed to us
a large gun going off, wade the whole ground and building
shake. It was a mine which the enemy had blown up close
to the intrenchrnents, as their signal to commence the
attack. It fortunately did us no harm. It has been the

severest attack we have had, and I sin so thankful that it
did not take place in the night
Colonel Inglis told us this morning at breakfast that me
of the enemy's mines hail fallen in. They seem to thiek
the attack last night was only a ruse to divert onr attention
from the mining. Mrs. luglis went this evening to see
Mrs. Cooper, and there she heard that the enemy tta
mining just under the iness-roam, close to where all the
ladies are. It was first found out, I believe, by one ut the
ladies, who heard the noise when she was in her bathmele
and called her husband to listen to the sound. But we ail;
making a countermine there; so I hope we may get the
best of it. The ladies are sadly frightened, and no wouier,
Nothing can be more dreadful than the idea of mines..
When our people were mining yesterday, they came cause
upon the enemy's mine, which they say was beautifully
constructed, and a wax candle burning in it. They ran
away as soon as they found we were near them, and in the
evening we went in and blew the whole up and completely
destroyed it. As we heard the officers find men go by,
they all seemed very much pleased with this offuir.

Provisions were never absolutely wanting, but
they had to be economized with great care ; and
it was not the least annoying circumstance, that
even those meagre supplies were perforce shared
by millions of flies and hundreds of rats and mice.
The most unpleasant deficiency seems to have
been that of soap—a matter which figures more
frequently in the journal than any other; but
many persons were without milk and sugar for
the greater part of the siege. On August 3
we read :

It is now said we have only provisions for twenty days
more. What is to become of us if our relief does not
arrive before that time ! By some negligence six fine
bullocks were smothered in the bousse yesterday—a great
loss at such a time. Tho commissariat butcher came
to ask for three of Colonel Inglis 's goats this morning
to kill them for food, which looks as if we are beginning
to run short of meat. In the midst of all this it is
scarcely possible to believe, but it is nevertheless true,
that we have had to-day servants coming round with lists
of ladies' clothes for sale, and a box with four very smart
bonnets in it was also being taken round to see if any
one would purchase them. What a strange contrast do
such facts present to the awful scenes around us and
the feelings that we are impressed with ! It is dreadful
to think that we may be short of provisions.
Every morning before she is dressed, Mrs. Inglis
weighs out everything for our daily consumption with her
own hands, and so good is her management that she is
always able to give a little arrowroot or sugar to a sick
child, and has two or three times succeeded in making
little puddings for invalids, without an egg and with but
a very limited quantity of sugar.
On August 12th :

They say that we might, with very great difficulty and
pinching as far as provisions go, hold out one month
longer, but after that there will not be a hope for us; and
now the natives have a report that the reinforcements will
not be here for two months. If such should be the case,
what a fate is before us ! May Clod, in his infinite mercy,
grant that we may be prepared, through the merits of our
Saviour, for whatever is to happen to us ! An attack is
going on while I am writing, and I cannot help thinking
what would be the feelings of any lady suddenly transported
from quiet, peaceful England to this room, around which
the bullets are whizzing, the round bhot falling, and now
and then a loud explosion, as if a mine were blowing up,
which i think is almost worse than all the sharp and test
fire of the musketry. It is an awful time; and words
could never make any one understand all that we have
undergone during now nearly three mouths (ever since
the 17th of May ).

On August 27th:—
Sir Henry Lawrence's things are being sold to-day.
Heard of a ham being sold for 71., and a tin of soup
sufficient only for one day's dinner tor 11. ss. Money has
ceased to be of any value, and people are giving unheard•
of prices for stores of any kind. One dozen brandy, 201.;
one small box of vermicelli, 31.; four small cakes of cho-
colate, 21. 10s.!
On September 17th : • . •

Mrs. Inglis bought some coffee yeskiday, and to
psy three rupees (65.) a pound for it; tea 13 selling at
sixteen shillings per pound !

On September 28th:—
I gave up taking sugar to day, and we •re using our
last piece of soap.

Under these privations, and the terror of falling
into the hands of the mutineers, many persons
lost heart; and the advisability of suicide was
debated. Some of the ladies kept laudanum and
prussic acid constantly within reach; and one
officer shot himself at an early period of the siege.
General Havelock's march on Lucknow seems to
have been, after all, a measure of very doubtful
benefit. In some respects it was certainly advan-
tageous. lie brought more fighting men—not
before they were wanted. At one time the gar-
rison had been so much in want of artillerymen
that the gunners were obliged to run from one to
the other as they were required to load and fire,.,
But the fighting men, even after the " relief,'
were still too few for the emergency, and far too
many for the provisions. Rations had to be re-
duced, and every necessary of life continued to

in prim. On the sth of October the ladies had
begun to restrict themselves to two " chupatties
, day ; there was still rice and beef; but horseflesh
Beemed not altogether out of the question. On
- 26th of October the rations were again reduced,
order to last till the Ist of December ; so far as
writer's experience went, they were sufficient
, quantity, owing to the exact management of
Mrs. Inglis. But others did not fare so well :
're were told that some of the soldiers belonging to
new force are so hungry that they will do anything
obtain food, and constantly run into the kitchen
whenever they see cooking going on, seize on a chupsttie,
leave a rupee in its place ! Poor fellows, it is indeed
to hear of their being upon guard or duty of some
kind all night long, especially now the moings are so
1,1 and keen, and that without enough to ernat.

was not till the 17th November that the
eyes of the little garrison were gladdened by the
sight of the first soldiers of Sir Colin Campbell's
force. But even then the ladies' troubles were
all over ; Sir Colin gave them only one day
, make their preparations for departure, and
they were obliged to leave much behind that
they could ill spare. Even the passage through
.he city was not without its dangers; at three
places, which were exposed to the fire of a mosque,
was necessary for the children to be taken out
the carriages and for all the party to run across
fast as they could. This unpleasant game of
rounders being over, the worst was past, and
nothing remained but the fatiguing journey to
Allahabad.
Mrs. Case's book is certainly interesting, but,
we have said, a few notes would have eluci-
dated matters greatly, and this applies not only
the events described, but to the llindostanee
:xpressions which frequently occur. how many
people, not Indians, know the meaning of a
" chick," a " metah," " chotah hazrce," " rezais,"
of such a sentence as this :

I remained in bed the whole day, almost unconscious
what was going on, but heard enough to know that
they were all busy with bon and coprawallahe the greater
part of the day.
Both the above works, however, will at least
, turned over by all who wish to appreciate the
struggle through which we are passing, and that
the Chaplain especially, from its minuteness
and care, will be valuable to any future writer
who may undertake a connected history of the
present outbreak.

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