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London, England, 1853-04-13 00:00:00

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stracted-there to-morrow the. Commissioners or Sewers, , derations, to compel a. t
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whether discharging the incompatible functions of a as regards a realisation ling,
"Burial Board," or acting in any other capacity, never j matured by us.
would bury within its walls in any given year One tithe ! 2O. At the rate agreed to be paid by Government for
of those d vin- or having right of sepulture; within the Brompton Cemetery; 38 acres in size—viz., 74,9211.
their jurisdiction. I —which-is upwards of 1,970/. per acre—the purchase
13. And if this remark, my Lord; holds good as regards , money of the Necropolis, when enclosed and laid out,
the graveyard contemplated by the City Burial and I would be be 2,955,0001. This burial territory through
Sewerage Cornthissioners, it will apply ,with equal force I which the Soutlr-Western Railway passes for two miles
to each and all of the 176 Parish Boards to whdm 1 and a half—and which embraces the finest scenery in
the Burial Act of 1852 most injudiciously assigns the England—we offered, as your Lordship will' see by re-
task of finding sites and completing arrangements for the ' ference to our two memorials to the Lords of the Trea-
sepulture of their respective parochial dead ; as also, to : sury in 1850, not only to make a practical adjunct to the
the scheme propounded by the parties calling themselves 1 working of the Metropolitan Interments Act of that
"The Great Extramural Cemetery Association, Ilarles- ' year, but also to place under the medical police sur-
den-green." As regards the impropriety of eiriploying veillance of the Board of Health. To the above details,
the machinery of Vestries as parochial burial boards, after then, it is unnecessary for me to do more than
the expositions of the Board of Health in regard to the add, that, in addition to the Necropolis at Woking,
depravity of the existing parochial graveyard system, 1 being a complete remedy for the evils of Me-
and the utter inaptitude ot such fluctuating and irrespon- I tropolitan Intramural Burial, whether as regards
sible bodies for any better purpose as regards extramu- 1 magnitude of extent, comprehensiveness of design, unity
ral sepulture, than that merely of shifting the evils of ' of action, facility of access, cheapness of sepulture, the
tiie practice of interments from the interior to the Cuburbs [ Company has at its head not only an ordinary Board of
of
the metropolis, it is wholly unnecessary
for me to I Directors amenable at all times to public opinionfb, ... e
speak. But as regards the question of economy in the • correct discharge of their duties, but likewise a Board of
of
such hew sem, a thing not to be lost sight of in a, matter 1 Visitors, comprising the Lords-Lieutenant of Middlesex
osteavy household expense as is that of burial no lSurrey,
and the Bishops of London and Winchester,
portion of the Report of the
Board Health on a o.e,i ie- 1 the LerdyMa r, and the Chief Commissioner of Woods
ral scheme for metropolitan extramural sepulture is more j and Forests, witho power to inspect from time to time
clear and decisive than that where they declare that, 1 the Necropolis, and see that the practice of burial there
unless the whole interments are placed in the hands of I
is in strict accordance with sanitation and decency. In
one authority, and are under one management, the ex- 1 every respect, then, my Lord, as regards health, eco-
penses of burial (calculated to be from 750,0001. to 1
nomy, decency, and convenience, the Nropolis may
1,000,0001. yearly) cannot be diminished. It was in- ' challenge the approbation of all ranks and
c eclasses of the
deed the very essence of their scheme to purchase up the inhabitants of the metropolis • and as the late Govern-
eight suburban cemeteries, to create a ninth and larger one , nsent took credit in the Speech from the Throne on the
of 400 acres, 18 miles down the river at Erith and to make recent dissolution of Parliament, for measures which
a Government monopoly of the whole Curials of the I had been passed during their Administration for pro-
metropolis. For this end they did not shrink from ask- moting the extramural interment of the dead—the said
ing the Legislature, Ist, to bribe off clerical opposition by measures bein the Metropolitan Burials Act, and the
heavy compensations in' perpetuity, not only for the act incorporating The London Necropo is and National
abolition of a nuisance no longer endurable, but for the Mausoleum at Woking—l hope your -Lordship, and the
extinction of exactions levied not only without law, but present Ministry, will give to my self and coadjutors
against the ancient canons of the church ; 2d, to autho- every aid and countenance in your power for making
rise an expenditure of no less a sum than 700,0001. of the NECROPOLIS a "City for the Dead" worthy in all re-
the public money ; 3d, to sacrifice the principle of free spects not only of the magnitude, the riches, and the civili-
trade and domestic agency in a matter so purely con- sation of London as the commercial capital of the British
ventional as is that of committing dust to the dust ; and, nation,—but of London also as the seat of the Govern-
4th, to sanction, if necessary, the levying of an obnoxious ment, the fountain head of the laws, and the bulwark
burial rate of one penny in the pound rental—holding out of the Protestant faith.
as an inducement for legislation so vicious and novel an I have the honour to remain, my Lord,
assurance that the accomplishment of their design Your most obedient humble servant,
would, in addition to sanitary burial, effect a saving in
R. BROUN, Bart.
funeral expenses to the inhabitants of the metropolis, to The Right Hon. Lord Viscount Palmerston, M.P.,
the extent, in round numbers, of 350,0001. per annum. Secretary of State for the Home Department.
Such being the case, Ido not desire to conceal from ": Accompanied by copy of a memorial to the Lord
your Lordship-Ist, that the necropolis•plan of myself Mayor and Common Council, dated the 28th of May,
and Mr. Sprye, developed by us several months before 1852 ; and an outline of the ground plan of the Necro-
the appearance of the Report of the Board of Health polis at Woking.
above cited, was devised with the express intention of
its being a sole and effectual outlet—a grand and com-
prehensive cemetery—for the great body and bulk of the
metropolitan annual mortality—for all, indeed, except
the few thousand bodies yearly which the eight suburban
cemeteries are, from their limited area, capable of absorb-
ing ; 2d, that the site selected by us was chosen out of
the diocese of London purposely, to get rid of
those clerical body-scots which lay an embargo
upon burial at four of the cemeteries to the ave-
rage amount of 16s. 3d. per corpse ; 3d, that we
intend by the realisation of our scheme the entire
annihilation not only of the corrupt and disgusting prac-
tice of interring the dead amongst the habitations, the
churches, and the chapels of the metropolis, but also of
that system which has made burial a wide-spread source
of individual depravity and national shame.
14. Considering, then, my Lord, that Parliament has
so far sanctioned and approved of our scheme as to in-
corporate the company originated by us to realise an
intention which adds to the eight existing cemeteries a
BURIAL DOMAIN equal in extent to 30 cemeteries, each
about the size of that at Kensal-green, or 136 cemete-
ries, each larger than that of Victoria-park—and seeing
that the merit belongs to us exclusively, without asking
Treasury aid, without infringing upon the legitimate
operations of the various existing cemetery companies,
or compromising in the least the wholesome principle of
free and open trade in matters of burial, of bringing
within the reach of all classes in the metropolis conve-
nient and decent interment, at charges which will abate
funeral expenses and other mortuary exactions to an
amount little short of 500,0001. per annum—l hope I
may be allowed strongly to represent to your Lord-
ship that it is the duty of her Majesty's Ministers
to set their face against the unnecessary multipli-
cation of petty cemeteries or burial-yards in the vicinity
of " the Metropolis," as defined by the Burials Act of
1852, seeing that every fresh cemetery or burial-yard
must enhance the expense of interment to the inhabitants
at large; must deteriorate the salubrity of the air, water,
and soil of the environs of London • must complicate the
difficulties and inconveniences incident to the removal of
from 1,100 to 1,300 corpses weekly from the place of
death to the place of- interment ; must protract the pe-
riod when the eight existing cemeteries from repletion
will be closed ; must open a door to an unseemly com-
petitive traffic in things connected with the last sad
offices to the dead ; and,, finally, must more or less im-
port into the new system of extramural sepulture those
evils and abuses which have made the practice of burial
within walls so repugnant to public health, to morals,
and decency.
15. At page 9 of the Report of the Board of Health,
15th Feb., 1850, your Lordship will find that, on one
occasion in Spain, within the space of one or two months
after 20,000 corpses had been put into the ground, the
troops that remained exposed to the emanations from
the soil, and drank the water from the wells sunk in
the neighbourhood of the spot, were attacked by malig-
nant fevers and by dysentery ; yet from the return on
the Metropolitan Burials Act, dated the 31st December,
1852, recently published, it appears that the promoters
of the projected Great Extramural Cemetery, near Har-
lesden-green, in the parish of Willesden, propose that
each acre of their ground shall contain 15,488 corpses
of paupers, or 11,616 bodies of artisans, in grave-pits,
containing eight layers deep of the former, and six layers
deep of the latter. When however, my Lord, it is taken
into account that this proposed site for a large burial
place is situated not two miles distant from the boundary
of "the Metropolis," as defined by the Burials Act of
1852, but within a parish expressly prohibited by name
by the said act, and that the nature of the soil, a stiff
clay, totally unsuits it for interment purposes, it being
established by evidence that coffins have been found in
similar ground in the neighbourhood quite sound, even
to the cloth, after a period 'of twenty years, and with
the wood entire, but the cloth decayed, after 102 years,
it is impossible to conceive that any Minister of the
Crown, or either branch of the Legislature, will incur the
enormous guilt and responsibility of sanctioning the
deposit of many hundred thousand corpses there.
16. I cannot, my Lord, conclude this letter without
suggesting to your Lordship the propriety and import-
ance of Government introducing and passing a third and
final Metropolitan Extramural Burial Facility Act. It
is quite certain that the measure of last session will
prove a dead letter for any beneficial purpose con-
nected with burial. The Interments Act of 1850
was a blunder from its preamble until its close.
It proposed " better interment for the Dead in and near
the metropolis," interment of any description IN and
near the metropolis being the wrong, loudly calling for
redress. Again, the Burials Act of 1852, seeks to
"amend the Laws concerning the burial of the dead in
the metropolis," the laws in question being nonentities ;
whilst the whole system and practice of intramural inter-
ment is in open violation of the dictates of reason, the
injunctions of religion, and the canons of the Church.
What the inhabitants of the metropolis want, is an act
of some 50 to 60 lines in length, ordaining, and declaring
—lst. That interment within the metropolis, as defined
by the Burials Act of '1852, shall (except in the eight
suburban cemeteries) absolutely cease and determine
from and after a given date—say, the let of January,
1854 ; 2d, that from and after the said date, funeral
parties shall meet the relatives of the deceased at the
place of sepulture, instead of the house of death ; 3d,
that all corpses shall be removed to the reception chapel
of the place of interment without street processions, and
at such hours of the evening or morning as shall be most
consistent with public convenience—the health and feel-
ings of the living in this particular to be more regarded
than mere vain parade as regards the exit of the dead
from town ; 4th, that the services at the desk or grave
of the Church of England, or. any other religious deno-
mination, shall be performed without separate charge
for the same by the clerical officers of the company in
whose cemetery the interment takes place, private
families to have at the same time the option to em-
ploy, at their proper cost, the services of their parochial
incumbent, or other clergyman—but all other clerical
dues or fees to cease and determine with the expiry of
intramural burial ' • sth, that all corpses new deposited
in open vaults and catacombs under churches and chapels
within the metropolis (the cathedrals of St. Paul and'
Westminster excepted) shall be removed, and interred
in one or other of the eight suburban cemeteries, or in
the necropolis at Woking ; 6th, that all tombstones
shall be removed from the metropolitan graveyards
without exception, and the said graveyards sown down
and planted ; 7th, that no new cemeteries or places of
burial shall be established within a nearer distance from
the centre of London than at least fifteen miles ; and,
finally, that it shall not be allowable in any cemetery or 6
burial place to inter yearly a greater number than 13
corpses in one acre of ground.
18. When an act of this
incident
passed, t
youro burial
Lord-
ship will perceive that theexpenses
will resolve themselves into these three items--coffins,
conveyance, and graves. The semi-Popish superstitions
that have nursed and kept alive the practice of making
the house of prayer a receptacle for putrid bones will
come to an end. They that minister at the altar will
live by the altar—a care for carrion no longer clogging a
cure of souls. The wants of the living will occupy the
dateteadn.tionThoef Vtreasdteriesof
Undertakersnotth
the requirements entsil o; f
atnhde
the offices incident to the house appointed for all
flesh—whether these offices be lay or clerical—will
be so discharged by the responsible officers and servants
of Cemeterial Companies as to reduce the general charges
for sepulture for the future, some 75 per cent. below ex-
istingto l 9.
the
yLou
ordrLo
Mayor demands.a
Lordship, ia% from a perusal of the memorial
and Common Council which accom-
panies this letter, will observe that the provisional trustees
of the London Necropolis Company have acted in various
ways to the hurt and prejudice of the scheme which the
company was devised and set on foot by Mr. Sprye and
myself to carry out. But, as the 31st clause of the act of
last session incorporating our company makes binding
upon, and operative against, the shareholders, a memo-
randum of agreement dated the 18th Dec., 1850, and a
deed of agreement dated April 1, 1851, between myself
and Mr. Sprye on the one part, and the said provisional
trustees—viz., Messrs. Wm. James Voules, John Gar-
diner, Ch. R. Thompson, and Sir James C. Anderson,
Bart—on the other part, it is the intention of Mr. Sprye
1 and_rayself, both on public grounds and mprivate oonsi-

e covenant
entirety as

NEW RAILWAY COMPANY IN CANA DA.

The arrangements which have been long pending for
the formation of a general system of railways for Canada
by a continuous main line that\shall connect and incor-
porate the lines already in existence or in progress have
been completed. The new company is to be called the
Grand Trunk Railway Company of Upper Canada,
and its aggregate capital is fixed at 9,500,0001., of
which 3,623,0001. is now to be raised in England, in
shares and guaranteed debentures. Of the remainder,
the sum of 1,416,400/. has been already raised in
Canada ; 837,600/. is still to be allotted there, and
3,623,0001. is taken by the contractors, with the stipu-
lation that they shall reserve two thirds of that amount
to offer them to the present subscribers at par on the
Ist July, 1854, 12 months after the anticipated opening
of an important section of the line. The shares are to
be for 251. each, and the debentures will be issued pro
rata. These debentures are divided into two classes,
one class being simply debentures of the company, pay-
able in 25 years, with half-yearly interest at 6 per cent.,
and the option of converting them into shares any time
before 1863 ; and the other being virtually the bonds of the
provincial Government, payable in 20 years and bearing
interest at 6 per cent. They will both be in amounts
of 1001. each, and thus every subscriber of 2001. in
shares will also take 1001. of the railway and 1001. of
the Government debentures. The entire length of the
line will be 1,112 miles, and it will extend from Trois
Pistolles, the great shipping port of Canada in summer,
through Quebec, Montreal, and Toronto, to Sarnia, on
Lake Huron, including likewise the St. Laurence and
Atlantic Railway, the American portion of which will
be leased, and by which the whole route will be opened
up to the port of Portland in the State of Maine. Ac-
companying the prospectus is a copy of the recent dis-
patch from Lord Elgin to the Colonial-office, showing
the extraordinary progress made by Canada during the
last 10 years, and consequently the favourable prospects
of a cheaply constructed national railway, secured
against all competition and supported by the Govern-
ment, passing through the richest lands of the province,
and embracing all the produce and passenger traffic from
the far west to the Atlantic. The directors in London
are Messrs. Baring, Glyn, Blake, M'Calmont, Kirkman
Hodgson, and Alderman Thompson, and in Canada the
Board comprises some of the principal members of the
Government.