The Indianapolis journal., 1898-12-15

Prohibited Until the British Secretary
of Sfnf9. Issuea a License.

Prohibited Until the British Secretary
of State Issues a License.
ST LOUIS, Dec. IA special cablegram
to the Globe-Democrat says: The wide
spread assumption that Mrs. Druce after
having obtained permission from the eccle-
siastical courts for the opening of the tomb
of her father-in-law, Druce, had accom-
plished all that was necessary in order to
exhume the coffin for the purpose of ascer-
tanning whether it really contained human
remains or not, was dispelled oy the order
received to-day by the management Of the
great Highgate Cemetery, from the tlome
Department prohibiting the opening of the
grave until a license had been granted by
the secretary of state.
1t appears that, according to old English
law, dead bodies become the property OF the
state, and, no matter whether they are
buried in private plots or in public grounds,
they cannot be disinterred without license
by the secretary of state for the Home De-
partment which is only rarely accorded.
Were the Druce tomb to be opened without
this license all the people concerned in the
opening of the grave would be severely
punished by Imprisonment and fined for a
misdemeanor. So strict is this law that III
several succession cases, where, as in this
Druce-POrtland controversy. the entire issue
hinged on the presence or absence of human
remains and of family documents in cofnns.
the parties interested have actually gone 10
the length of having the tombs and family
vaults broken into by burglars at night IN
order to secure necessary evidence. An IN
stance in point is the Lovat peefage sue
cession case. :,
In the present instance it may be doubted
whether the secretary of state for the
Home Department will be In any hurry 10
grant the license to Mrs Druce, or to con.
tribute in that way to the furtherance or
her claims to the dukedom OF Portland Ior
her only son. The matter is optional with
the secretary of state. The Duke of Port
land, as master of the horse to the Queen,
which is a ministerial office, may be re-
garded as one of the members of the pres
ent administration. Sir Matthew Whlte-
Ridley. the home secretary, would natur-
ally. therefore, be diSinclined to do any
thing to injure d duke, who is not only one
of his colleagues in the administration, but
who, as a great territorial magnate, pos
sesses an immense amount of parliamentary
influence, which he has placed at the dis
posal OF the Conservative party.
Mrs. Druce, 1t may be remembered, CON
tends that her father-in-laW, the furniture
dealer, Druce and the late Duke OF Port
land were one and the same person, and she
insists that her father-in-law survived as
Duke of Portland for many years the al
legged death and burial of the furniture
dealer. Druce. With the object OF proving
that the latters burial was bogus, she has
been endeavoring to secure the opening OF
the Druce tomb in Highgate Cemetery,
which belongs to her. OF course, if the cof-
fin is found empty, as far as human re-
mains are concerned, she Will have won
great step toward the proving OF her case.
If she eventually wins the day, and sue
ceedS in proving that Druce and the late
Duke of Portland were one and the same
person, then 1T is her only BOY, as SfanuSon
of the late duke, who will become Duke of
Portland. the present duke having been
only distant cousin of the late peer. but
in that event there would be two Dukes Of
Portland For the present Duke of Port
land, having been summoned. by writ CT
the crown on the late peers death to take
his seat in the House of Lords as Duke Of
Portland. and having signed the roll of the
House of Lords as SUCH became ipse facto
Duke of Portland by writ, and will remain
such to the end of his days, his dukedom
being inherited by his son. 1t is the Druce
duke, however, who would enjoy prece-
heritance, would, in that case, date from
the time of its creation in the reign Ct
King William III, Prince of Orange where
as the present peers dukedom would only
date from the time when he took lis seat
in the House of Lords, some eight Gr ten
wears ago.