New-York tribune., 1909-06-06
r7,,rrirat 1890 by the brentwood Company

-. 1910 ~. the brentwood Company
I.,.t-eter Abbey has sometimes been de-
- az the Walhalla Of the vast British I'm .
This has led TO the impression, not only
-.rlar5 hut also abroad, that this anciehi
Pantheon in which all those brltohS
have achieved great fame and lustre are
,.,a5 n 2 tomb after their death HeIs"'''
he ere Of his greatest victory, intimateo 'ha'
. alternatives confronting him were seat "a
:. House Of Lords or tomb IN Nes'1lliiS's'
-. ons this historic remark has served ~
=, .-+,,a, confirm the belief that all great
,-l;ern,en have a right to last resting pace
ri, It's hoary walls. The abbey IS. hoWeNe;-
,-. everything else church or munster -
= established Anglican rite, and those Wn" D.!
10 modern times do not accord their sp'i''
lance 10 that rite. who object to any ol -
,-.+,,,es and who fail to live in accordance "l'h
= teachings. cannot reasonably expect to mo
1s,rorae within its precincts. halloWed allNe oN
.-s.s ard history when they die
- -,rosent the Dean of Westminster l.
i,,,re made the object of no end OF aouSe 81
.,,o,,ce of his refusal, even in the face ot 4
-o,ae+ On the part Of the Premier, TO permit '''S
-, ;-, the abbey Of George Meredith. An
.-oi-cr o4 mis- works. he was willing to h"id d
N.,o-fsl service for the great novelist in the
,hl
- n the minister that would have oeeA
.s.a .o- -be ashes Of the gifted writer; cor
,r.rs5itb,s body. in compliance with his perenP-
,o-,- directions was cremated W1thin loI'H is d.
ho,-s after he had breathed his last
DEAN REMAINS SILENT.
= -. dean has vouchsafed no explanation for
-. sttitude. and maintains absolute silence IN
e.. AZ al .be attacks which are being made
,,or him. not only IN the press. but also III
z9s-liarnert where a movement, doomed 10 &C
<.s+ has been started to transfer the rlght oI
determining the question Of burial IN the aooeF
"a the government. 1t may, therefore De Wen
=. ,--i9i7 that the dean is directly respohSlpl7
- +be Crown. 10 the Church and TO the halio'i
es- the abbey and everything connec1ed Ihere-
nth Independent Of bishop primate and IRE
-nsr holding his Office directly from the 4AIhs'
:, The fatters capacity as sovereign ana supreme
bssa Of The Church, he may be described as ',-3
trustee Of the nation for the abbey. IL Is az
tnowledged that owing TO errors OF judgment
and unfortunate laxity in former days many
- enabled 10 secure burial in the abbey who
were in no sense of the word emitted 10 lhe
tor,r Al one moment indeed. the abbey seems
m have been regarded very much ss thelr parish
,t,rcF IN. the hurgesses and citizens Of West
minister with the result iHal to-uds II - ~
riblv fzercrowded with tombs and memorials.
MS filed almost TO the point Of overlooking
With dead There is but little space left-not
np- more than a dozen at the very most. The
uzton looks 10 its trustee to see that the vacant
- s,,,,,Id he conceded only TO those whose
niche ;n the annals Of fame and in the history of
.ba ar,rire entities them beyond all question or
discussion 20 that distinction, while in the same
way the ancient Church of England. whose past
Is Sc intimately bound up with that Of the abbey
relies upon the dean 10 restrict TO the adherents
Of its rite the privilege Of burial in the minister
George Meredith, after all, is very far from
being the first OF note who has had the gates Of
the abbey closed 70 his remains. Herbert Spen-
Ger. Henry Stanley. George Eliot" and a num-
Der of Others could be cited in this connection.
and are frequently mentioned as illustrating the
"de3lorsble narrow mindedness' Of the Dean OF
Westminster. But when Dean Stanley, the
broadest and most liberal OF all the dlgnitaries
Of the Church Of England in hundred years or