The Sun. — 1853-04-04 (London, England)

LONDON, MONDAY, APRIL 4, 1853.  Now or Never. It is strong language, no doubt of it, as applied to the abolition of Intramural Interments. But matters have gone on so long and so desperately in regard to the postponement of the Dead-man's Question, by procastinaion after procrastination, that we are driven to he use of strong language. If we are not really now to witness the destruction, partial at least, if not total, of the horrible old system of burying thousands upon thousands of corpses annually in the midst of our crowded metropolis—we shall view the hope of reform in this particular with feelings little short of absolute desperation. The atrocity of the thing has been exposed. The cruelty of it has been laid bare. The folly of it made as apparent as the folly of suicide or of any other criminal absurdity. We have had books upon books written on' it—portly volumes and portable pamphlets fly leaves and octavos. Among other books of this kind, too, we have had blue books, and plenty of them—blue books in abundance--petitions, answers of witnesses, and reports of commissioners. If ever an abuse has been thoroughly laid before the public in all its horrible deformity and nakedness this has. Everybody recognises it. Everybody, at any rate, who is not interested in keeping up the old evil arrangement--interested, we mean, pecuniarily. For it is one of the chief horrors of the Question—this Dead-man's Question— that there are certain classes in this country reaping profit—profit in pounds, shillings, and pence —from the interment of their departed fellow-creatures in the very thick of the living population. It is because of the efforts made by these classes to put down any systematic attempt in the way of innovation, that the advocates of improvement have not yet succeeded. It is because of the pertinacity of these ghouls that we have not yet been able to realise our hopes of establishing a regular system of extramural cemeteries. The monstrosity of the evil has been proclaimed again and again, and yet--because of the resolute opposition of these upholders of that evil—the capital is still suffering grievously from the continuance of the abomination. But—Hope at last has sprung out of Despair. Orders in Council to close the reeking graveyards of London have been promised by Lord PALMERSTON, and that promise has some force in it, because Lord PALMERSTON is at this moment Home  Secretary. Under existing circumstances, therefore, we conceive that it may not be regarded as altogether idle to draw public attention more directly to the matter by the repetition of a few details already very frequently reiterated.—tending to explain the character of the abuse of which we are yearning to witness the abolition. It is notorious that all the eminent medical authorities who have ever written upon the subject, are unanimous in the expression of one opinion as to the effects of animal decomposition. DITTERGIB has elaborately described the disastrous nature of those effects, in his Treatise on Medical Jurisprudence. Another Frenchman, FOTTRCROY, has recorded a variety of sickening facts bearing upon the same argument, in the elaborate statement upon the subject laid by him, some years ago,