The Sun.
London, England, 1850-07-11 00:00:00

TESTIMONIAL TO MR. GEORGE
ALFRED WALKER.
Yesterday af'ernoon a public meeting was held at
Herbert's Hetel, Palace-yard, Westminster, to con-
sider the propriety of presenting a suitable testimonial
to George Alfred Walker, Esq., in recognition of the
services rendered by that gentleman in the cause of
sanitary reform, in connexion with the abolition of
intramural interments. Among those who assembled
to show their admiration of the energetic and suc-
cessful labours of Mr. Walker we observed, Lord
Dudley Stuart, M.P., Mr. B. B. Cabbell, M.P., Mr.
Charles Lushington, M.P., Mr. John Williams, .P.,
Mr. George Thompson, M.P., Dr. Reid, r. W.
Geesin, Dr. Johnson, Sir R. Brown, Mr. Wilson, Sir
C. Aldis, Mr. H. R. Abraham, Dr. Evans, Dr. Ben-
nett, Dr. Drury, Dr. Parker, Mr. Mackinnon, Mr.
Thicke, Mr. Feltee, G. Godwin, E,q., F.R.S., Mr. J.
A. Smith, Mr. Shand, Dr. James Copland, F.R.S.
Lord Dudley Stuart was unanimously elected to
take the chair.
Mr. GEORGE THOMPSON asked permission of his
Lordship to state the circumstances under which the
meeting had been convened. Many gentlemen re-
siding in London, being sensible of the services ren-
dered to the cause of sanitary reform, in connexicn
with the abolition of the practice of intramural sepul-
ture, by Mr. George Alfred Walker, and watching as
they have done with interest the progress of the Me-
tropolitan Interments Bill in Parliament, and having
the conviction that but for his long and continued la-
bours through consecutive years the public attention
would never have been aroused in a sufficient degree
to draw at last the notice of the Legislature to the sub-
ject, felt that Mr. Walker was entitled to some recog-
nition of those exertions, and that his friends, who knew
how disinterested and unostentatious his labours were,
ought to originate some suitable testimonial which
should be offered to his acceptance. On comparing
opinions with a number of gentlemen, we resolved to
meet and talk the matter over. We did so meet a
few days ago in my chambers in Waterloo-place, and
the gentlemen who were there assembled agreed to
the following resolution, which was moved by Sir R.
Broun, B at., and seconded by Dr. Drury :-
1. That it is the opinion of the gentlemen now pre-
sent, that the laborious and disinterested labours of
George Alfred Walker, Ebq , during the last fifteen
years, to impress the public mind with the importance
of the abolition of intramural interments—labours
which have recently resulted in the introduction a a
Bill into Parliament fur the accomplishment of that
object—call for some general and emphatic recognition
of their value and success, and that steps therefore be
taken to afford to the friends of Mr. Walker an oppor-
tunity of paying him a suitable tribute of respect and
gratitude.
" 2. That with the view of giving effect to the fore-
going resolution, the geatlemen present form themselves
into a committee to carry out the object proposed.
" 3. That Mr. Thompson be requested to act as
Honorary Secretary.
" 4. That a meeting of the friends of Mr. Walker be
convened at Herbert's Hotel, Palace lard, on Wednes-
day, the 10th, at two o'clock, and that Lord D. C.
Stuart be respectfully requested to preside."
His Lordship consented to that request, saying he
was fully conversant with the valuable services ren-
dered by Mr. Walker to the public, and therefore I
was able instantly to announce his Lordship as the
presiding officer at this meeting.— (Cheers.) I have
received, my Lord, a number of letters in reply to
the circular, which was addressed by the committee
to different gentlemen, both in the metropolis and the
provinces, and I will take the liberty of reading one
or two of them as indicative of the feeling which gen-
tlemen entertain of the merits of Mr. Walker. The
first is from a gentleman residing at Horton, Mr. W.
Hughes, who says—
" Sir,—l regret exceedingly that I am unavoidably
prevented from attending the meeting. I regret this the
more, because I have sincerely and efficiently co-ope-
rated in this great reformation, and have during many
years intently watched the movement, and anxiously
marked each succeeding step of its slow but triumphant
progress. My most earnest wishes are, that services so
nobly and gratuitously rendered by Mr. Walker to his
country men, shall be suitably acknowledged, in words
at least, if not in deeds. Mr. Walker's services have
been of a kind to challenge the most grateful recogni-
tion, though, such services could not be purchased or re-
compensed. The Interments Bill is not the measure
that should have result ,o 1 from Mr. Walker's labours,
and though a great number of his coadjutors, to my
knowledge, object most strongly to many of its details,
yet every person who views the matter rightly, may,
and should, whilst honouring the man, who has, at many
risks, and much personal sacrifice, demonstrated the
enormous moral and physical mischiefs resulting from
the practice against which he, Mr. Walker, single-handed
and alone, has done successful battle—every person, I
repeat, should disconnect the man who has proved the
wrong from those who have furnished the remedy."
Mr. Thompson then read other letters of apology
from Dr. Thomas Evans, of Rumsey House, near Caine,
Wilts; Dr. Henry Bennett, of Cambridge square;
Mr. John Crisp, of Norwood ; the Rev. Dr. Knapp,
of the Chapel Royal ; the proprietors of the Leicester
Chronicle, and other gentlemen, all of whom ex-
pressed their anxiety to co-operate with the meeting
in presenting Mr. Walker with a suitable testimonial.
I have now (continued the Hon. Gentleman) to state
that this meeting is called for the purpose of confirm-
ing, if it shall seem to you fit. the resolutions which
were passed by the gentlemen assembled at my
chambers; and if they should be confirmed, then to
form such a committee out of this meeting, with
power to add to their number, as shall carry out
the object which we have in view. I have only one
more remark to make, and that is, that I hope no
gentleman here, or elsewhere, will attribute to Mr.
Walker any of the defects in he present Bill for the
abolition of intramural interments.—(Hear, hear.)
Any person who has taken the trouble to read Mr.
Walker's pamphlet, entitled "Practical Suggestions '
for the Establishment of National Cemeteries,"
will perceive that those which are considered, and I
believe generally with great justice, the most ob-
noxious parts of the Bill, formed no portion of the
scheme recommended by Mr. Walker for the adoption
of the Legislature.— (Cheers.)
Lord DUDLEY STUART—Mr. Thompson having ex-
plained to you the object for which this meeting has
assembled, it will be unnecessary for me to
say anything on that subject. At the same time I
am anxious to address to you a few observations,
in satisfaction of my own feelings, in order to assure
you how desirous I am that the object which my
Hon. Friend has shadowed out should be carried
into execution.—(Hear, hear.) I have had the ad-
vantage and honour of acting in concert with Mr.
Walker, both in public and private, for some time. My
respect and admiration fur him does not date from
yesterday. I have seen, with great satisfaction, with
great delight, the course which he has pur-
sued, and I must say, now that a Bill has
been carried through Parliament to prohibit the
practice of burying dead bodies in this me-
tropolis—ascribing, as I do, that circumstance
mainly to the disinterested and untiring exertions
the perseverance of Mr. Walker. I consider that
that gentleman deserves to be looked upon as a public
benefactor.—(Cheers.) We have had a Bill intro-
duced into the House of Commons and carried
through Parliament, with the provisions of which I am
myself by no means satisfied—(Hear)—and I believe
that the dissatisfaction which I have experienced, and
sometimes have endeavoured to express in regard to
that measure, is shared by a great number of the
Members of the House of Commons, and by a much
larger portion of the inhabitants of this metropolis.—
(Hear, hear.) We think that the Government
have taken advantage of that feeling which pre-
vailed in this metropolis and throughont this land
—that wise and wholesome feeling—which was
chiefly originated, or organized, if I may be
allowed to use the expression, by the repeated
representations of Mr. Walker—they have taken ad-
vantage of that feeling to introduce, not such a mea-
sure as they ought to have done, but one giving
them a vast amount of patronage, interfering with
principles of the utmost value to a community—those
of local self-government, and those of freedom of
trade—and also interfering in some degree with re-
ligious liberty.—(hear.) I lament that the Go-
vdeornnem. e nlt
fsehltouiltd
m have actedduty,
bowine
votrh, the t
ow
davoyon
t theydone
t.haveorthe
third reading of the yßill, after having
could, but unsuccessfully, what I
cc
of it which I cuoessfully, to strike out those portions
agreed with the broad
most objectionable, because I
abolition of principle involved in it, viz., the
inter
of this metrorn. ents in the very heart and centre
will agree wpousith me that
bear.). I believe all men
originally suggested n it was Mr. Walker who
abolishing the odious,aredv
ibrought about the Act for
of burying people in crowded
ting, and immoral practice
midst of a populous city „
air churchyards in the
however, as I have already(m:ar, hear.) That Act,
ought to have been. I should rationed, is not what it
a measure that was not founded have likedh to have seen
centralization, which I consider mos:
obnoxious,
principles of
more calculated to subvert the constitutionalnoxious, and
Engl shmen than anything else with which rights of
am ac-
quainted.—(Cheers.) —(Cheers.) I should have
-rte
quai • had
great satis-
faction in supporting a Bill which left to the people
their own rights, and allowed the different parishes of the
metropolis to carry out the object of preventing in-
traniural burials, and which placed over the different
parishes a board of supervision, which board should
not be composed, as it now is, of men who have done
nothieg with regard to this movement, but who have
rather set their faces for a long time against it, and en-
deavoured to oppose it by the use of ridicule and other
such means, and who now, at the eleventh hour, come
forward and, I regret to says are to reap the reward
which is due to those who have borne the labour and
heat of the day.—(Hear, hear.) I should have
liked to have seen a Bill of this kind, with a board of
supervision, at the head of which should have been
a man like Mr. George Alfred Walker.—(Cheers.)
If that had been done I think it would
have given satisfaction to the whole metropolis and

to the whole country.—(Hear.) I give the Govern-
' ment no credit then for the Bill—the credit is due to
' those who have agitated the public mind with re-
gard to it, and the Government have done nothi❑g
but yield to the public clamour at last ; but even that
they have done ungraciously, and they have besides
clogged the Bill with those objectionable and uncon-
stitutional clauses of which we have heard so much
just complaint. Therefore, I can give them no credit
at all, though I rejoice that the measure which
we pressed upon them so far as regards
the suppression of intramural interments has
been carried.—(Hear.) But, gentlemen, whatever
be the merits or defects of the Bill, whatever be the
faults or errors of the Government, I think there can
be but one opinion with regard to the merit of that
distinguished and patriotic citizen, Mr. Walker.—
(Loud cheers) He brought forward this question
when there was no man to back him, when he had
everybody to oppose him, and he kept it constantly
before the public, notwithstanding the frowns and
sneers of those in power; supported and sus-
tained during the struggle by that honest enthusiasm
which belongs to him, he has persevered, till at last
he has found the whole public rally round him, and
thus show how impossible it was for those who were
inclined to oppose the movement to do so any longer.
I admire the enthusiasm of the man. It may be said

that Mr. 'Weler is an enthusiast.—(Hear, hear.) I
know he is an enthusiast, but without enthusiasm no
good or great achievement can be performed. He
may be an enthusiast, but his enthusiasm is tempered
by judgment and directed by practical good sense.—
(Hear, hear.) I only wish that some of those who
opposed him, and who pretended to adopt his views,
had been tinctured with some of those noble feelings
which belong to him, and with less of regard for
their own interests or that of the party who supports
them in power.—(Hear, hear.) I rejoice to think
that the merits of Mr. Walker are so well known, as
are also his perseverance, his talents, his disinterest-
edness, and the sums of money which he
has spent in this cause—(Hear, hear)—be-
cause I am sorry to know, and yet I am
glad to know, that: he has made great sacrifices
in this cause. lam sorry he should be put to any
loss, but I may congratulate him that he is, in some
measure, compensated for that loss by having earned
the admiration of his fellow-citizens.—(Cheers.) Par
better that men should suffer pecuniary loss than
that they should lose the respect and admiration of
their fellow-citizens, which are of far more value to
right-thinking men than any sum that can be named.
I think you will agree with me, that it is right, fit-
ting, and proper, that if the overnment have not
been so impressed as they ought to have been with
the merits of Mr. Walker, if they have been disposed
to overlook and leave him on one side, and to reward
those who did not deserve it half so well as himself,
we, at least, should do what we can to testify
the feelings with which we regard him. The best
reward of any man who acts with a view
to the_public good is the public expression of the re-
spect and attachment of his fellow-citizens. I trust
you will concur in some arrangement by which we
may testify to Mr. Walker our respect and admira-
tion for him.—(Cheers.) I won't presume to enter
into details, or point out how that is best to be done ;
but probably some means may be adopted which may
place on record our feelings and opinions with regard
to that eminent and distinguished individual, and I
imagine that nothing would be more acceptable to
him than something which would be lasting—(Hear,
hear)—and which he would be able to transmit to his
family, and which they and bis descendants would
always look upon with a just and honest pride.
Mr. THOMPSON, M.P., then read the following
letters which had been addressed to him by Mr.
James Thompson, the editor of the Leicester Chro-
nicle, and Mr. James Wyatt, of the Bedford Times:—
" Chronicle Office, Leicester, July 9, 1850.
" Sir,—l regret that I shall be unable to attend the
meeting to be held to-morrow, for the purpose of origi-
nating some suitable testimonial to Mr. G. A. Walker,
for his labours in the cause of sanitary reform.
" Nothing would have given me greater pleasure than
to have been present on the occasion, as I cordially con-
cur in the propriety of the object you are promoting,
believing that the present state of enlightened opinion in
this country on the subject of town burials has been
mainly created by Mr. Walker's ' long, disinterested,
and successful labours in the cause of sanitary reform.'
" If Mr. Rowland Hill deserved a nation's gratitude
for his efforts to carry out a system of penny postage—
if Mr. Cobden merited a general testimonial for his ex-
ertions to promote the enfranchisement of commerce
from the shackles imposed upon it by vicious legislation
—it seems to me Mr. Walker is not less entitled than
they to a mark of public favour as signal and as me-
morable. His exertions have, indeed, been carried on
through a longer series of years, with an equal, or pro-
portionate, sacrifice of time and money, in the face of
prejudices the most bitter, sinister, and deep-rooted, and
have terminated in results most beneficial to the physi-
cal and moral welfare of the people.
" I venture to think that the friends of Mr. Walker
will feel themselves bound to assert his claims to public
reward at this juncture more zealously and resolutely
than they might have done under ordinary circumstances,
since the principal sanitary authorities of the country
appear disposed to ignore, or to pa's over with an ac-
knowledgment so slighting, as to be more disparaging
than total silence, his demands upon the national Go-
vernment for a meet and adequate recognition of his ser-
vices. If Mr. Walker's friends and admirers among
Members of the Legislature and the repro sentatives of
the press, suffer this denial of jus.Ace quietly to pass over
unexportei, they will be dead to the appeals cf their own
feelings as gentlemen and Englishmen, and stand abased
before their own consciences.
" I have only to add, Sir, that I shall contribute to
the proposed testimonial fund, and be happy to be the
recipient of subscriptions in this town and neighbour-
hood.—l remain, Sir, yours obediently,
" JAMES THOMPSON."
" Bedford, July 9, 1850.
_

"Dear Sir,—l have only just received your circular,
convening the meeting, at Herbert's Hotel ; and this
short notice prevents my making any arrangements
which would enable me to be with you, and aid you in
originating a suitable testimonial to Mr. G. A. Walker.
I shall be happy, however, to join in any plan you may
suggest, having for its purpose the acknowledgment of
the indefatigable exertions, the disinterested services to
the public, which Mr. Walker has rendered for many
years past.
" I will endeavour to attend your next meeting, and
regret very much that I cannot be with you to-morrow.
" I am, dear Sir, very faithfully yours,
" JAMES WYATT.

"George Thompson, Esq."
Mr. CHARLES LUSHINGTON, M.P , in proposing
the first resolution, said his Hon. Friend, the honorary
secretary of that meeting, had requested him to per-
form the gratifying duty of proposing the first reso•
lotion to their adoption ; and he (Mr. Lushington)
assured them he did so with the greatest gratification
and satisfaction, although in the eyes of the public
he might not have appeared a very prominent pro
moter of extramural interments. When he said in
the eyes of the public, he meant that he had not been
enabled to attend many of the numerous public meet-
ings which had been held on the subject in this
metropolis • an unfortunate concurrence of circum-
stances had, time after time, and day after day, pre-
vented him from attending ; but he assured the
meeting the,t his heart and judgment were with
this movement, and from the first time he
ever had any knowledge of the intentions
and designs of Mr. Walker, he cordially
concurred, and deeply approved of them.—(Hear,
hear.) Indeed, though he (Mr. Lushington) had not
appeared at those public meetings above once or twice,
yet, certainly in his place in Parliament he had sup-
ported all the unexceptionable parts of the Metropo-
litan Interments Bill, and he had done his best to ex-
clude some of the exceptionable parts, some of those
which disgraced the persons who brought them in,
and which were intended to mortify a certain portion
of the community by raising, perpetuating, and exalt-
ing the emoluments of another portion.—(Cheers.)
But on many essential occasions he (Mr. Lushington)
had supported extramural interments. Shortly after
Mr. Walker brought forward his proposition for re-
moving interments from the metropolis, some gentle-
men assembled together for the purpose of establish-
ing a suburban cemetery. He (Mr. Lushington)
was among those who concurred in the plan ;
he was also one of the first who supported it,
and from the beginning he had been a
director. The site chosen for that cemetery was
Mensal-green, and at the time when they took it they
did so, not with any view to emolument, though it
had been rather a remunerative concern, but entirely
upon the public principles of expediency, and of the
propriety of removing the nuisance cf burials from
towns. When they fixed on the site there, Mensal-
green was two miles and a half from Oxford-street,
and was quite detached from any buildings or dwell-
ings whatever ; but in the course of fourteen or fifteen
years, so great bad been the desire of people to live
near a burial-ground—(Laughter)—that a town had
sprung around Mensal green, and they had got a
church and a school there, and, what was more, the
Cemetery Company had been solicited, over and over
again, to subscribe in support of the church and
the schools. The very object of the company
had, therefore, to a certain extent, been frus-
trated, and it only showed what people
would do for the sake of gain. People had long
complained in the metropolis of intramural inter-
ments, and yet, for the sake of selling a few tomb-
stones,
some would forego all their professed princi-
ples, and join at last in resisting the very evil which
others had laboured for 14 or 15 years to extinguish.
those observations aot hear.)
hrgenm: Perhaps the meeting would think
b ions were rather beyond the object
—(Hear,
thee f(ore
rl -onanodf he ought to recall their attention to
Mr. Walker— Heextachee,edhg.eraera)t and prominent services of
ton) regretted(
brought forward that Bill,ingly—and be (Mr. Lushing-
, tion had done that justice to Mr.
nlevitahlkererthtoosewhwilicho
ennfoirtlethde.hSiman.italryt Awsassoctihae-
his meritorious exertions
business of the meeting to do something to supply
that Quainion, etnd he trusted, when he read the retie.