The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-10-30 00:00:00

BURIAL CLUBS

TO THE EDITOR, OF THE NORTHERN TIMES.
Sir,—The requisition to the Mayor, which appeared
lately in your paper, to call a public meeting for tile purpose
of interesting the commercial community in the manage-
ment of Burial Clubs, established for the benefit of the
manual labouring population, iuces me to send you the
substance of a letter, which I published some years ago
in the columns of one of your cotemporaries. In that
letter I stated the desirability of some common burial
ground, for two or more of our large towns, such as
Liverpool and Manchester. By fixing ou some spot,
midway between them, I stated we should, at once, get
rid of the inconvenience of intermural sepulture, and
avoid that unnecessary exposure of the ashes of the dead,
which arises by reason of our, at present, overcrowded
graveyards. This evil has since been considerably de-
creased by virtue of the compulsory closing of some of
our churchyards, as burial-grounds. I suggested that
there should be a small annual funeral rate levied upon
the ratepayers to pay the expenses of ail funerals, whether
of the rich or of the poor. I named that such an arrange-
ment—whereby each man would provide for his own
interment, and for that of his family, and for that
of his poorer neighbours—would do away with the
pomp of an expensive funeral, which now, not unfre-
quently, robs the living, in order to pay an unmeaning and
useless honour to the dead. I named, moreover, that the
plan would supersede the use of burial clubs, and thus
destroy—what it is in thought humiliating to realise, but
which we know from past facts to be absolutely true—the
great incentive to murder for the sake of the surplus
burial fees, beyond the absolute cost of the interment. I
still think that this arrangement might be carried out;
for, although at first there might be found some
who would prefer to manage the funeral ceremonials
of their relatives, with a greater degree of pomp than my
plan would permit, still, these parties might he allowed
to follow the bent of their own inclinations, the public
officer paying them in cash, the cost of a funeral which
would have been provided for them in proportion to the
rates which they had paid.
I, moreover, suggested that, out of the funeral rate, a
fund might be raised to compensate those who were
interested in our church yards and public cemeteries.
This is a feature which should not be overlooked, for, by
attention to it, we should not only disarm a large
amount of opposition, but secure a large amount of
positive and influential approval.
I have now written all I need write, I think, on the
subject, and if you deem it worthy of a place vour
paper, you will oblige, by He insertion, your obedient
servant,
Liverpool, Oct. 07 1856. THE NORTHERN.

EscAr

or Corators.—A number of convicts of the
bagne of Civita Vecchia, in the Roman States, having
succeeded in cutting a hole through h wall in the bagne, five
of them,, Who ale under se-atence to hard labour for life for
of the band of the famous brigand
ough it in the morning of the 17th,
thernselvni in a building called the Palazzo
Apostolico, in which clothing and other articles are stored
up for the French troops. There they disguised themselves
in uniforms of Finch engineer soldiers, and, taking pick-
axes and spades on their shoulders, walked out. Every-
one, of course
clear off, took them for French soldiers, and they got

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having
,formed part
pa.satore, passed thi
r