The New York herald., 1879-08-26

interested the matter, that announce
ment having been made by authority high in the
Church. quoted below. The right to bury corpse
is by the law of this State vested in the absence of
testamenary Disposition in the next Of kin. and in
cludes the right to select the place OF burial; and
under these laws and the constitution of the State
the Supreme Court has decided that corpse or its
burial is subject to ecclesiastical cogpizance nor
to sacerdotal power. In which respect this matter
differs from any under the English government,
like that OF Guibord. for instance in which the &C.
clesiastca laws recognized and enforced by the
civil power.
The Catholic Church claims prescriptive right to
decide whose remains shall be inferred in conse-
Grated ground. and to what shall be done with the
ground after it has been thoroughly used for burial
purposes; and the question Of this prescriptive
power in antagonism to the law of the State the
whole question of the Coppers case will be settled
The Catholic view Of the subject is that cemetery
the ground apart for the reception Of the dead of
the Church-is second only to the church edifce
itself in its sacred character and it is therefore
secrated with particularly solemn religious cere-
monies. Great is taken to preserve it undefled,
by the exclusion of everything unclean and unholy;
and this is reason for the adoption Of the rule
all interments in it shall be strictly in accord
ance with the rules Of the Catholic Church.
BISHOP EYNcHs VIEWS
Bishop Lynch, of Charleston, in conversation with
a HERALD reporter. said. giving what he considered
the Catholic side of the question that the only right
acquired by the purchaser Of plot in Catholic
cemetery is the right OF sepulture. subject to the
regulations of the trustees corporate body. He
said that any time the trustees disturb bodies
il they see fit, use the ground in any manner
they may deem best for the interest of the Church.
The regulations in regard to the burial of nonCath-
olics or members Of societies not always
oaid fho pichnv lint fhav acarfa ap1y
implied. 1t is hardly reasonable to presume that
Protestant would purchase plot in Catholic
etery without understanding that the responsibility
and right devolved on the trustees Of determining
the mode in which burials should be conducted
and the classes of persons that might be admitted.
savings bank or insurance company. and who will
assert that such companies have not the right to
prescribe Wicn % ~ o,nd a sno
the claim of the cemetery corporation is simply
that it is sustained by its charter from the
civil power in enforcing its contract with
any purchaser. There is no conveyance
in fee in Catholic cemetery. Not one of them
would convey title in fee for plot, for obvious
reasons. Ii the absolute owner of
plot in cemetery his creditors could attach the
property and dispose of it as they would his house
or barn farm. just fancy what parcelling of
grave plots there would be, for any purpose that
might suit the parties into whose hands they would
chance to fall. To speak plainly. such condition
of things would leave no permanent resting place
ton all. but it will hinge upon the simple
whether party is or is not bound by his contract
cHURcHYARD.
The view taken of the matter by those outside Of
the Catholic Church is based the fact that eccle
sstcal law Is here subservent to the CIVIL and the
| only thing left free to churches or religious socie
ties is the matter of their faith or method of
ship. AS members OF the community they
amenable to the laws OF the State enacted for their
| government as bodies of citizens incorporated to-
gether. In the special of Calvary Cemetery the
powers of the trustees and their duties are laid down
In the charter OF st. Patrick's Cathedral. passed
April IA, 1917. The society is authorzed to take per-
given. granted and devised belonging to the Cathe
dral tie congregation or the society," with power
to grant or devise or dispose or the property Tor tho
concurrence OF the Chancellor has been obtained
cordng TO law. by more recent laws abolishing the
Chancery Courts judge OF the Supreme Court must
give consent to such transactions. The Bishop was
made permanent president of the trustees. the
OF the Board to be elected by the pew holders
the Cathedral stated hearers contributing to the
amount of 81 per annum. list of the Of these
electors must be kept by the trustees "to test the
qualification" The Treasurer WAS to file bonds
the faithful performance of his duties. and the
tees to report annually. giving full statement
of the funds Of the said Cathedral the free school
thereto belonging. This special charter allows. as
was then customary, the existence of churchyard
or burying ground Immediately surrounding the
church. or the purchase Of a burying ground else
where, and with such an accompaniment the Cathe.
dral began its existence. The growth of the city and
the increase of the Catholic element in tho popuia-
tion successivey demanded hrst. the cemetery on
Eleventh street. near avenue A. and eventually in
1SiS, the purchase OF the grounds on Long Island,
and known Calvary Cemetery. The success of
OF 1sl7. Joined to the necessity for ample space
led to tho selection Of the farm Newtown Crock.
1t was designed, not for the exclusive of the
Cathedral society. but for all the Catholic churches
in the diocese. Bishop Hughes Areeing not to con-
secrate another burying ground. and thus, by
ecclesiastical ruling, depriving every other
Catholic religious society in the diocese Of New
York of the right and privilege under the civil law
of caring for and buryng their own dead and bene-
| fitting from tho fees therefor
THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION EXCLUDED.
No restriction on funerals has before been
attempted in Calvary, and at first 1t was supposed
religious phase would be given the contest between
the cemetery and the kinsmer-of the deceased. The
assurance OF Bishop Lynch and the intention to try
the case on its mcrits will, however, confno the
matter to the simple point "Must the body
OF Denis Coppers be Inferred in the grave he
has paid for, and which, under the provisions OF
their charter, tho society could devise, grant dis
pose of they deemed best for the interest of the
Cathedralr' Tho cemetery has received $40 from
him tor graves Nos. g. @. and 3. of plot d. section
z, range 30, for which they issued to him the ''pur
chase money receipt copy OF which will bo
found in tho HERALD OF the 2Jd inst This furnishes
evidence of the transaction between thom and there
being restrictions mentioned by the cemetery in
the matter. or included In any of the documents
passed, his portion of the contract Is held to have
ended with the payment of the moneys required by
the corporation, hrst for the plot and for each
cessive burial
When his mother. sister, wife and three children
brought for interment the cemetery claimed no
proscriptve right in the premises and when appica-
ton was made tor his interment his right to be
buried was allowed--iirst by the acceptance of the
81 paid for opening the grave, next by its being
opened when the procession reached the ground and
also by the Ming of the perIn1t~from the boaru OF
Health of Jersey City for the mans intermcnt with
OF the trustees that they fulfil their portion
of the obligation they assumed at tho time OF pur
chase--to inter the corpse of Denis Coppers In the
grave he has paid for That viii end ,he a. ch,,re
moro will be due the cemetery. The graves pur
chased will then be all filled and the contract Will DO