'4I-4' ^^ % mw L I B R A R.Y OF THL U N I V t R51TY or ILLINOIS THE /i BURIALS QUESTION. BY LORD FRANCIS HERVEY, M.P. REPRINTED, WITH ADDITIONS AND CORllECTIONS, FROM A PAPER WRITTEN FOR THE ARCHIDIACONAL CONFERENCE HELD AT BURY ST. EDMUNDS, OCT. 22, iS75. LONDON: W. RIDGWAY, 169, PICCADILLY, W.C. Vvice One Shilling. BURIALS The law relating to interment may be gathered from tlie following authorities collected, or rather dispersed, in Sir R. Phillimore's '^Ecclesiastical Law" :— " By the custom of England any person may J^egge, p. be buried in the churchyard of the parish where he died.'^ " Every person dyinp; in the country and not Reg. v. ' T . ? 1 1 M . • . -11 Stewart, withm certam ecclesiastical prohibitions, is entitled 12 a. & E. 773. to Christian Burial." " I take the soil or surface to belong in general -^^^^q^^^ to the minister, and the interior part to the parishioners for burial." '^ The clergyman cannot refuse to bury anybody Dr.Swabey dying in the parish, which {sic) is of right the proper cemetery for their {sic) reception." " Burial in the parish churchyard is a Common R- v. T ' 1 ' 1 . 1 . 1 • 7» Coleridge, Law right inherent in the parishioners. 2B.&Aid. It should be observed, and may be regretted, that Sir E. Phillimore, in preserving from oblivion the opinions of Dr. Harris and Dr. Swabey, (the latter of whom does not seem to have been an 1 expert grammarian, however eminent he may have been as a civihan,) has omitted to find space for the opinion of Lord Comyn. That great authority states the rule of law as follows : — Comyn's " Every person (who may have Christian burial), Cemetery, may have burial in the churchyard where he dies, by the general custom of England." Correlative to the right of interment vested in the deceased person, or, if it seem paradoxical to speak of rights belonging to the dead, correlative to the right of his family or friends to have their dead buried, is the duty, also derived from the Common Law, of disposing of the corpse. It seems that Reg. V. " Every householder in whose house a dead 12 A. &E. body lies is bound by the Common Law to inter the body decently .'' A question of great importance has been raised as to the nature and extent of the right of an individual to sepulture in the churchyard of the parish in which he lived. Mr. Osborne Morgan, in movins: the second reading: of the Burials Bill in 1873, is reported to have said that — Hansard, " Evcry pcrsou wlio lias gained a settlement in the parish, be he Jew, infidel, or heretic, has the same right of interment in the churchyard of his parish as . . . the most orthodox Churchmen." It is plain therefore that Mr. Morgan believes in the existence of a legal right to bare interment in the parish churchyard, distinct from the right March 26 1873. UIUC to interment (to use the words of the 68th Canon of 1603), " in such manner and form as is pre- scribed in the (said) Book of Common Prayer." But of the existence of this supposed right to bare interment without the burial office, what evidence is there ? In the Book of Church Law it is laid down that ^' no person may be 'buried in the churchyard without the full Burial Service being performed." And in Sir R. Phillimore's work; Sir John Nicholl is cited as holding that — '^ Our Church knows no such indecency as Kemp v. putting the body into the consecrated ground phui.^295. without the Service being at the same time per- formed." But let us push our inquiries into this matter a little further. The rubric at the head of the Order for the Burial of the Dead enjoins as follows : — " Here it is to be noted that the office ensuing Eubric. is not to be used for any that die unbaptized, or excommunicate, or have laid violent hands upon themselves." ISTow, if Mr. Morgan's theory of a bare right of interment be correct, it would follow that persons falling within any of the categories above men- tioned, though not entitled to have the Burial Service performed over their remains, would yet be entitled to a resting place in the parish church- yard. How stand the facts ? 1. First, let us take the case of suicides. Black- Voi. iv. stone in liis "Commentaries" asks the question, '^ what pmiishment can hmnan laws inflict on one who has withdrawn himself from their reach? They can only act," he replies, '^ upon what he has left behind him — his reputation and fortune." ^' The law of England,'' he goes on to say, "acts on the former by an ignominious burial in the high icay with a stake driven through his body." It 4Gco. IV. ^vas not until the reign of George lY. that this savage custom was abolished, and that the body of the suicide was authorized to be interred silently and at night in the churchyard, to a place in which Mr. Morgan thinks every parish- ioner is entitled by the Common Law. In pursu- ance of this argument, it may be interesting to "Hamlet," examine the scene in " Hamlet" where the burial act V. sc. . ^£ Ophelia takes place. The coroner's inquest had resulted in a verdict favourable to the deceased. The clergy, it would seem, entertained a less indulgent view of the manner in which Ophelia had come by her death. Hamlet notes the " maimed rites," and instantly divines the cause. Laertes asks, '' What ceremony else ?" and gets for answer that no more may be done, and that his sister was not entitled to so much. But for extreme pressure put upon the ecclesiastical authorities — " She should in gro7md unsanctified have lodged Till the last trumpet ; for charitable prayers, Shards, flints, and pebbles should be thrown on her." 2. This leads lis to consider next the case of persons excommunicate. "Everywhere," writes Mr. Hallam, '' the excommunicated were debarred Middle of a regular sepulture, which, though obviously a 11^0. 7, matter of police, has through the superstition of consecrating burial grounds, been treated as be- longing to Ecclesiastical control/' This position will be confii-med by a reference to Du Cange's great work {suh voce^ " Imblo- Du Cangc, catus.") There it is clearly shown that the ex- biocatus. communicate forfeited not only all claim to the performance over their bodies of the accustomed service, but also the right to interment in con- secrated ground.* But the case does not rest merely upon the Pubiica- authority of learned writers. There are historical Parker examples which afford a valuable clue to the vvorksof sound interpretation of the law. The case ofpiiking- one Tracy is cited by Sir E. Phillimore, but the see oene- more illustrious fate of Wickiiffe and Bucer s^ee aisT' occurs with greater readiness to the student of^o^tii's history. In all these cases the law was strong y^Jjl'^^^^- * Cum legibus ecclesiasticis vetaretur, excommunicatorum corpora sepelire, non modo in coemiteriis benedictis et conae- cratis, sed ne quidem in humum ubivis mittere, proindeque necesse esset in plateis aut agris insepulta relinquere ; ne tamen foetor nares, aut spectaculi horror mentes foedaret, ilia ut plurimum humo injecta, aut tumultuaria lapiduin congerie operire solebant, idque Imhlocare dicebant nostrates Belgse, quibus hloc est tumulus quidam altior. — Du Cange, Glos- sarium, sub voce Imblocatus. enough to invade even the tomb, and the bones of the dead were disinterred in obedience to a post- humous sentence. 3. The case of the unbaptized is similar to that of the excommunicate. If those who were excluded from a communion to which they had once belonged, had no claim to rest in consecrated ground, it follows, pari ratione^ or even a fortiori^ that no such claim could be asserted on behalf of tho who had never been admitted into the fold. Even Bullinger did not claim more for the unbap- tized infant than a resting place in the ^' CcBmite- rium innocentium^'' a kind of middle space between consecrated and unsanctified ground. The conclusion is, therefore, that the Common Law knows no right to bare interment in the churchyard without the Burial Service. The only right which exists at the Common Law is an indivisible right on the part of the parishioner to Christian burial, that is, to burial coupled with the office of the Church. And conversely, the clergy- man is bound to perform the entire Burial Service over every body that is interred in the church- yard, those cases only being excepted which are the subject of special statutory provision.* This being the law, (whatever may in some * Among these exceptions would fall the case of the " washed up Malay,'* upon whose fictitious rights Mr. Osborne Morgan has lately expatiated with such exuberant pathos (or bathos), before the inhabitants of Wrexham. districts of the country have been the practice), various difficulties have from time to time occurred in the operation of it. Within the Church of England itself, clergymen have protested against the obligation of reading the Burial Service over the graves of parishioners whose lives had been scandalous, and were perhaps ended in drunken- ness. Both clergy and laity have felt the harsh- ness of the law which denies to innocent babes, dying unbaptized, any form of Christian service. But the difficulties about which we are specially concerned at the present time are those which have been, and continue to be, experienced in some cases by those who do not reckon themselves as members of the Church of England. These difficulties may be classed under two heads. 1. Where a deceased parishioner claims inter- ment with the Service of the Church of England in the parish churchyard, but for want of baptism is disqualified from receiving it. 2. Where a deceased parishioner^ baptized or unbaptized^ claims interment in the parish church- yard : (a.) Without any service or ceremony what- ever; or. (h.) With a service or ceremony which is not that of the Church of England. Now as regards the first head of difficulty, or, as it is generally called, grievance, it is not 8 necessary to say much. First of all, however, it may be remarked that it is a grievance which presses in the same way on Church people as on any others. Secondly, it is a grievance of very rare occurrence outside the Church. And when grievances of this kind are alleged to have happened, it will generally he found that what really happened was an indiscretion on the part of the parish clergyman, in refusing to recognize as valid baptism which had been conferred by the hands of a layman, or of a dissenting minister. These cases, however, are the stock in trade of those who agitate for an alteration in the law. And it is curious to note with what airy reckless- ness of inconsistency the declaimers on this subject impute to the law the errors of the clergy; and then, when it serves the turn, visit upon the clergy the defects of the law. I pass on to the second head of grievance. A parishioner, not a member of the Church of Eng- land, dies. A desire is expressed on his behalf for interment in the parish churchyard without the Burial Office of the Church, and, it may be, with a service or ceremony siich as is usual in the denomination . to which the deceased belonsred. Then arises a dilemma : if he died unbaptized, he cannot claim to be buried in the churchyard at all ; if he had been baptized, he can be buried only with the Service of the Church of England, This is the grievance which has for many years past been the subject of excited discussion, and of several abortive attempts at legislation. I propose to say a few words upon the history and nature of the grievance, and then to consider the remedies by which it has been proposed to give relief to those upon whom the grievance presses. It appears that originally the complaint arose from the Baptists ; and Sir Morton Peto's Bill was, in 1861, I believe, intended primarily for the benefit of that sect. In the course of discussion, however, it came to be remembered that the Quakers were interested in the matter equally with the Baptists. And by degrees it seems to have been discovered (especially on the assump- tion of a Common Law right to interment, as such, in the parish churchyard on the part of all persons dying in the parish), that Jew, Turk, Infidel and Heretic, are equally interested with the Bap- tist and the Quaker. But between the introduction of Sir Morton Peto's Bill in 1863, and Mr. Osborne Morgan's Bill in 1870, a measure was passed,^the enactment of which materially affected the position of the parties who demanded relief fi'om the operation of the existing law. At the former date the Dissenter was in a position to say ; " I pay Church-rates ; why am I then either excluded altogether from the use of the churchyard, or, if I use it, con- 10 strained to put up with rites and ceremonies to which on principle I conscientiously object ?" The Dissenter was relieved from the obligation to pay Church-rates, and in 1870 this argument was no longer available to him. It was perhaps for this reason that Mr. Osborne Morgan has taken upon himself to rely upon a supposed Common Law right to interment in the parish churchyard vested in every parishioner, or rather in every person dying in the parish. The theory that such a right exists or ever did exist has already been shown to be an unverified and unverifiable hypo- thesis ; the authorities do not warrant it; and history negatives the supposition. With many who demand a reform in the law of Burial, the dominant motive whether avowed, or concealed, or indeed formally repudiated, is the desire to obtain the dis-establishment of the Church. They regard the Burials Bill as part payment of their demand. With such it is not intended to argue here. If the Church is to be dis-established, let it be dis-established when the time is ripe, after full discussion, and with plenary recognition of the vastness aiid gravity of the change. To dis-establish the Church piecemeal would be a policy of madmen. There remains to be noticed the argument founded on the practical inconvenience caused by the law as it stands at present. Under the term " practical inconvenience " I include not only the 11 delay, expense, and vexation which in the existing state of things are now and then entailed upon the friends of a deceased person, but also the injury done to the feelings of mourners who, by the exclusiveness of the law, are compelled to separate in death^ those who in life were united by the ties of marriage or of kin. I include also the scandal which occasionally arises from what seems to be the harsh conduct of the parish clergyman, and from the impossibility of getting the '^ common people " to understand why a person of pious and exemplary life, should be, owing to the mere accident of his religious persuasions, debarred from privileges which are accorded to the profane, the unclean, and the drunken. The " practical inconvenience '' thus understood I take to be the exact measure of the alleged "grievance." No doubt, even thus limited, the grievance is capable of being greatly exaggerated. To gauge with precision the extent of it, we must eliminate, First, all those cases in which provision is made for sepulture in cemeteries other than the church- yards ; Next, all those cases in which, although no such provision exists, graveyards are attached to the chapels, or are in the possession of Noncon- formists ; Thirdly, all those cases in which the absence of 12 such graveyards or cemeteries is rendered im- material by tlie absence of Dissent ; and, Lastly, all those cases in which although there are Nonconformists, and although there is no graveyard accessible except the churchyard, no difficulty arises because the Nonconformists are qualified and willing to receive interment at the hands of the clergyman in consecrated ground. Now it is plain that when these various cases have been eliminated, the residuum of grievance is not very large. In the absence of authentic information it is not easy to calculate the amount of it. But, as the saying is^ " a straw will show which way the wind blows." And, if the grievance be one which is of frequent occurrence, I should be curious to know how it is that the stock of unsavoury stories about unburied bodies, about " sacerdotal intolerance," and so forth, with which the grievance-mongers regale the public is so ex- ceedingly meagre ? But a grievance on all hands there is admitted to be, and on all hands it is agreed that a remedy ought to be found. Before proceeding to discuss in detail the remedies which have been proposed, it may not be amiss to direct attention to one feature of the question which in the ardour of debate is apt to escape notice. There are many branches of our social economy which in times past wore a pre- 13 vailing ecclesiastical aspect, but which the gradual revolution of thought and manners has more or less completely secularized. It has been so, for instance, with the law of marriage. So it has with the law of testamentary dispositions 5 so it has with the relief of the poor ; so it has to some extent with the subject of education ; and so also has it been with the question of burial. Those considerations of public health and public decency, which press upon modern society with overwhelming force had little or no place in the thoughts of our ancestors. I take one illustration. From March 1208 to June 1214, England was under Interdict. During all in ett in that time the dead had, to use the bluff language worth's of Inett, *' the burial of the ox and the ass." Voi.'i. To us it seems almost inconceivable that the nation should, even in those rude times, have been so destitute of the sense of decency, and so blind to the dangers of pestilence^ as to tolerate the con- tinuance of such a state of things. If we cannot recognize with Hallam any superstition in conse- crating the graveyard, we are nevertheless agreed that sepulture is " obviously" and indeed chiefly " an affair of police." Eegarding the matter in this lights the plain duty of the legislature is to afford ample facilities to all, of fulfilling the obligations which by law all have to discharge. Now it is a matter of notoriety that in many instances, (I am speaking now more particularly of rural districts,) the 14 churchyards are ah-eady crowded to inconve- nience, or are likely soon to become so. Fur- ther, it will be generally conceded, that the practice of accumulating graves round the churches and among dwelling houses, (the parsonage being commonly the most exposed to danger), is one which sanitary science condemns. From time to time we hear of the outbreak of obscure and malignant disorders which are traced to the in- fluence of subtle percolations from the graveyard. These are warnings not to be despised. With respect to districts thus endangered, the proper course for the legislature to pursue is to enable some description of local authority, either sepa- rately or in combination with others, to provide cemeteries for the use, and, in part at least, at the expense, of those dwelling within the area of their jurisdiction. It would be necessary to provide at the same time, for closing churchyards, with the approval perhaps of a responsible Minister of the Crown, in cases where proof is given that it is inexpedient to allow fresh burials to take place in them. But, at the least, until cemeteries shall have been provided by the local authorities, I am of opinion that it would be right to relax the condi- tion upon which those who are not members of the Church of England have access to the parish churchyards. Two Bills were last session introduced in the 15 House of Commons having tliis object.* The BUI which was introduced by Mr. Talbot simply pro- vided that at the desire of a deceased person or of those responsible for his burial^ signified in writing, the body of that person should "be entitled to a decent and solemn interment in the churchyard" of the parish in which he died, without the Burial Service being performed, but that " no service of any kind whatever" should "be used, read, or performed at such interment within the churchyard or the precincts thereof." The rival scheme which was embodied in Mr, Osborne Morgan's Bill, is more complex and more ambitious. So far as the burial of persons without the Burial Service is concerned, this scheme pro- ceeds on the same lines as the competing Bill^ though Mr. Morgan's Bill has in my judgment the advantage in point of precision. Whether under the provisions of either Bill, unbaptized persons would be any better off than they now are, is open to grave doubt. Indeed Mr. Osborne Morgan's Bill seems expressly to exclude such persons, for the sixth clause runs as follows, " Nothing in this Act shall authorize the burial of any person in any place where, previous to the passing of this Act, such persons {sic) would have had no right of interment." I have already expressed an opinion that no un- baptized person has a right to burial in consecrated * See Appendix. 16 ground. Waiving tliis point however, tlic main feature of Mr. Osborne Morgan's Bill is the pro- vision contained in the fourth clause for the admission at any burial performed under the Act of " all persons " to the churchyard, and for the conduct of ^' a service,' ' or participation " in any religious act " by " any person or persons who shall be thereunto invited." It will be observed that no qualification of any kind is placed on the service authorized to be per- formed. Agreeably to his theory of a Common Law right to interment vested equally in Jew and Mahometan, in Brahmin and Buddhist, in the worshipper of '^ Mighty Mumbo-Jumbo," and in the worshipper of '' no god except himself, and of his belly, first of deities," Mr. Osborne Morgan has not thought it necessary to impose any restric- tions, beyond those of civil order, on the character of the proceedings which are to take place in graveyards, consecrated with a Christian ceremony, consecrated in a still higher sense by a blended multitude of Christian sentiments, environing buildings set apart for Christian worship, and (to forget nothing) maintained at the expense of Christian worshippers. It is idle to discuss propositions such as these. But it may be asked whether, on the assumption that admission to the churchyard is to be granted to those whom the law now excludes from it, it might not be as wxll to accompany this concession 17 witli such further relaxations as would seem, in a fair view^ necessary to make the boon offered a boon appreciated? In my opinion, a scheme could be devised with little difficulty, which, abstaining so far as possible from giving to out- siders privileges in the churchyard which the members and ministers of the Established Church themselves do not possess, should give to those Christian denominations which are aggrieved by the law all the relief that they can reasonably claim. That such a scheme should be framed, and should pass into law, is eminently desirable. It would end a long, and, it must be confessed, a mean as well as a bitter quarrel. I urge concession. Not in deference to the Liberationists, still less in fear of them. Not on the ground of claims which the abolition of com^pulsory church-rates has scattered to the winds. Not on the ground of an imaginary Common-Law right. Not on the ground, which it has been reserved for the Times newspaper to break, of a still more imaginary " natural right," (as to which I would say, as Herodotus said about the dizzy dreams of some contemporary speculator, ^' When a man goes into the dark to argue, it is no use following him there to refute him;") but I urge concession because the opera- tion of the law is attended with hardship, and because it is for the interest of the Church that this hardship should be removed. 2 18 APPENDIX, Mr. Osborne Morgan^s Bill. A.D. 1875. A Bill to amend the Burial Laws : Whereas it is expedient to amend the law of burial in England : Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal^ and Commons^ in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows : After pass- 1. After the passing of this Act, any person or persons notice may having the charge of or being responsible for the burial that burial ^^ ^ deceased person may give twenty-four hours notice place^la^ in Writings indorsed on the outside "Notice of Burial," church- to or leave at the usual place of abode of the rector, yard with- . i • i . , . , , out the Vicar, or other incumbent, or m his absence to the Church of^ officiating minister in charge of any parish or ecclesias- England. tical district, or any person appointed by him to receive such notice, that it is intended that such deceased person shall be buried within the churchyard or graveyard of such parish or ecclesiastical district without the service prescribed by law for the burial of the dead according to the rites of the Church of Eugland : and, after receiving such notice, no rector, vicar, incumbent, or officiating minister shall be liable to any censure or penalty, eccle- siastical or . civil, for permitting any such burial as aforesaid. 19 2. Sucli notice shall state the time at which such burial Time of is proposed to take place, and in case the time so named l^^l^^ and be inconvenient on account of some other service havinsf \° ^® ^^^~ ]ect to been previously to the receipt of such notice appointed to variation take place in such churchyard or graveyard, or the bent, church or chapel connected therewith, the person re- ceiving the notice shall, unless some other day or time shall be mutually arranged, within eicjliteen Jiours from the time of receiving such notice, signify in writing, to be delivered to or left at the usual place of abode of the person from whom such notice has been received, at which hour of the day named in the notice such burial shall take place; and it shall be lawful for the burial to take place, and it shall take place at the hour so appointed or mutually arranged, and in other respects in accordance with the notice; provided that, unless it shall be other- wise mutually arranged, the time of such burial shall be between the hours of ten o'clock in the forenoon and six o'clock in the afternoon if the burial be between the first day of April and the first day of October, and between the hours of ten o'clock in the forenoon and three o'clock in the afternoon if the burial be between the first day of October and the first day of April. 3. When no such intimation of change of hour is sent Burial to to the person from whom the notice has been received, in accor- the burial shall take place in accordance with and at the [jo^^e^^ time specified in such notice. 4. At any burial under this Act all persons shall have Persons free access to the churchyard or graveyard in which the ^ay con- same shall take place, and any person or persons who ^uHaUer- shall be thereunto invited, or be authorised by the person vice. or persons having the charge of or being responsible for such burial, may conduct a service, or take part in any religious act thereat. 20 Bnrials to 5. All burials under this Act, whether with or without ducted in a a religious service, shall be conducted in a decent and orSy^^*^ orderly manner, and every person guilty of any riotous, mannp.r, violent, or indecent behaviour at any burial under this and with- , ^ ^ ■ i out ob- Act, or wilfully obstructing such burial, or any service Act not to thereat, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. TbuS?' 6. Nothing in this Act shall authorise the burial of any where no person in any place where, previous to the passing of this right Act, such persons would have had no right of interment. existed. ^^^ When any burial has taken place under this Act, Burials *' ^ under Act the minister or other person who has conducted the registered, religious service thereat, or if there be no religious service the person having the charge of or being respon- sible for such burial, shall, on the day thereof, or the next day thereafter, transmit a certificate of such burial, in the form of Schedule (A.) annexed to this Act, to the rector, vicar, incumbent, or other officiating minister in charge of the parish or district in which the churchyard or grave- yard is situate, or to which it belongs, who shall thci 3- upon oDter such burial in the register of burials of such parish or district, and such entry shall form part thereof. Any person who shall wilfully make any false statement in such certificate shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, Applica- 8. This Act shall not apply to Scotland or to Ireland. Short title ^' "^^^s ^^* ^^y ^® ^^^®^ ^^ ^^® '' Burial Laws Amend- of Act. ment Act, 1875.'^ Schedule to which this Act refers. Schedule (A.) I of the minister \_or the person] by whom the ceremony of burial was performed, [or the person having the charge of {or being responsible for) the burial of the deceased,] do hereby 21 certify^ that on the day of A, B., of aged was buried in the churchyard [or graveyard] of the parish [or district] of To the rector [or as the case may he] of Me. Talbot^s Bill. A Bill to amend and declare the Law of Interments in a d. 1875. Churchyards in England and Wales. Whereas it is expedient to amend and declare the law of interment : Be it enacted by the Queen^s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in the present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows : 1. Where any person shall have expressed in writing, Funerals under his hand, his desire tliat the office for the burial of perform- the dead, according to the rites of the Church of England, ^"^^^ ^^ shall not be read at his funeral, or where any person or viceincer- persons having the charge of or being responsible for the where burial of any deceased person shall express in writing ^^^^^ " under their hands a like desire as regards such deceased person, and such writing shall be delivered a reasonable time before the funeral to the incumbent of the parish in which such deceased person shall have died, or to the clergyman ordinarily officiating in the churchyard of such parish, such incumbent or clergyman shall not be bound to attend at the interment of any deceased person, and the body of such deceased person shall be entitled to a decent and solemn interment in the churchyard of such parish ; but no service of any kind whatever shall be used, read, or performed at such interment within the churchyard or the precincts thereof. 2. This Act shall apply to England and Wales only. Extent of 3. This Act may be cited as "The Interment Act, short title, 1875." 22 As reference is frequently made, in discussing tlie ques- tion of burials in England, to the legislation wliicli has taken place with regard to this subject for the benefit of Ireland, it has been thought useful to append the Acts of 1824 and 1868, apphcable to that part of the United Kingdom. ANNO QTJINTO GEOEGII IV. EEGIS. CAP. XXY. An Act to repeal so much of an Act passed in the Ninth Year of the Reign of King William the Third, as relates to Burials in suppressed Monasteries, Abbeys, or Convents, in Ireland ; and to make further Pro- vision with respect to the Burial, in Ireland, of Persons dissenting from the Established Church. [15th April 1824.] Whereas by an Act of the Parliament of Ir eland ^ Irish Act, passed in the Ninth Year of the Reign of King ' * William the Third, intituled An Act for hanishing all Papists exercising any Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, and all Regulars of the Foinsli Clergy, out 'of the Kingdom ; it is amongst other things enacted, that no Person whatsoever should, from and after the Twenty-ninth of December One thousand six hundred and ninety- seven, bury any Dead in any suppressed Monastery, Abbey, or Convent, not made use of for celebrating Divine Service according to the Liturgy of the Church of Ireland by Law estab- lished, or within the Precincts thereof, under pain of forfeiting Ten Pounds, to be recovered as therein men- 23 tioned : And whereas it is expedient that the said Provision should be repealed ; be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by Provision the Authority of the same. That the said Provision shall, ActT^as^ to from and after the passing of this Act, stand and be ^^Jing la repealed : Provided always, that nothing herein contained ries, &c. shall authorize the burying any Dead in any suppressed -^^^ ^^ ^*^^_ Monastery, Abbey, or Convent, or within the Precincts Jhonze thereof, where the same have not been within Ten Years such usually employed for such Purposes, unless with the Per- where not mission of the Proprietor of the Place on which the "o^'^^^^^^^J" suppressed Monastery, Abbey, or Convent is situated. &c. II. And whereas the Easement of Burial in the Church- yards of Protestant Churches has been long enjoyed by all Classes of His Majesty's Subjects; but such Burial may not by Law be allowed, unless the Burial Service ordained by the Liturgy of the Church of Ireland as by Law established, shall be celebrated thereat by the Kector, Yicar, Curate, or other Officiating Minister of the Church of Ireland, in whose Churchyard such Burial shall be had, or by some Person in Holy Orders of the Church of Ireland, duly authorized by him : And whereas such Minister of the Church of Ireland may not by Law dispense with the Celebration of such Service, or permit the Substitution of any other Service in lieu thereof ; to the End thereof that all Classes of His Majesty's Subjects may be permitted to have the said Easement of Burial according to the Rites of the several Religions professed parish ^°^ by them ; be it enacted. That from and after the passing "^^^^^^^^^^ of this Act it shall and may be lawful for the Officiating permission Minister of the Church of Ireland by Law established, in men not* of each and every Parish in Ireland, upon application bemg (V Ireland 24 duly au- made to him in Writing by any Clergyman or Minister of perform any Church or Congregation not being of the Established vice. " Church of Ireland, duly authorized by Law to officiate in such Church or Congregation^ stating the Death of any Member or Members of such Church or Congregation, for Permission to perform the Burial Service at the Grave of such Person or Persons in the Churchyard of such Parish, according to the Rites of such Church or Con- Permission gregation, to grant Permission accordingly : Provided for i*er- formance always, that such Permission for the Performance of such Servke^ro ^^^^^^ Service at the Grave, according to the Kites of be in Writ- such Church or Congregation, shall be in Writing ; and intei-ment that in order to prevent any Interruption of, or Inter- vice had'at ^^^®^*^® with the Celebration of any of the Rites of tha Time ap- Qtim-ch of Ireland by Law established, such Interment pointed., "^ and Service shall be had and celebrated at ^Mch Time only as shall be appointed in such Permission by such Officiating Minister of the Church of Ireland. If Permis- HI. And be it further enacted. That if such Permission held, Cause shall in any Case be withheld, the Cause of withholding 0^fficktiD<^ the same shall be specially and distinctly declared, in Ministerin^j,-|.ijjg^ l^y g^^h Officiating Minister of the Church of Ireland, one Part of which written Declaration shall forthwith be delivered to the Perso^. making such Appli- cation as aforesaid, and one other part thereof shall be forthwith transmitted to the Bishop of the Diocese in which such Churohj^ard shall be situated, and shall be by him transmitted forthwith, signed by the Register of such Diocese, to the Lord Lieutenant or other Chief Governor or Governors of Ireland. Officiating IV. And be it further enacted, That it shall not be ^ttf?ele- necessary for such Officiating Minister of the Church of brate Bu- j^g^^^^^^ to celebrate, nor shall he celebrate the Burial nalService unless re- Service ordained by the Liturgy of the Church of /re- quired. 25 land as by Law establislied, at the Interment of any Person not being of the Established Church of Ireland, unless at the Desire of the Person so applying, at the Interment of such Person, specified in the Application and Permission ; any Law, Canon, or Usage to the con- trary notwithstanding. V. And be it further enacted. That if after such Per- Obstruct- mission granted as aforesaid, any Person or Persons shall Service obstruct or interrupt the Performance of the said Burial ^isde- ^ Service at the Crave of the Person specified in such oieanor. Permission, such Person or Persons so obstructing or interrupting shall be deemed guilty of a Misdemeanor, and shall be liable to be prosecuted therefor. ANNO TEICESIMO PEIMO & TEICESIMO SECUNDO VICTORIA REGIN^. CAP. cm. An Act to amend the Law which regulates the Burials of Persons in Ireland not belonging to the Established Church. [31st July 1868.] Whereas it is expedient to amend the Law of Burial in Ireland : Be it therefore enacted by the Queen^s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this 3 26 present Parliament assembled, and by tlie Autbority of tbe same, as follows : Where 1. That whenever after the passing of this Act any Persons Person who at the Time of his or her Death shall not not belong- i^g^^g been a Member of and in communion with the ing to United United Church of England and Ireland shall be buried, as England of Eight, within any Churchyard or Graveyard, the Soil fand take ^^ Freehold whereof shall be vested in any Rector, Vicar, place in ^^ other Incumbent, it shall be lawful for the Priest or Burial Grounds of Minister of the Religious Denomination to which such Church, Person shall have belonged at the Time of his or her Priest, &c. j)Qath, and he is hereby empowered, to attend such Denomna- Burial, and to read such Prayers or perform such Burial perform Service at the Grave in such Churchyard or Graveyard as Service. jg ^sual and customary at Burials of Persons belonging to such Religious Denomination ; and any person wilfully obstructing such Prayers or Burial Service shall be deemed guilty of a Misdemeanor : Provided always, that such Prayers shall not be read nor such Burial Service performed either wholly or in part during the Time of the Celebration of the Divine Service or any Rite or Cere- mony of the said United Church, or during the catechising or other Instruction of Children or young Persons in the Church or Chapel to which such Churchyard or Graveyard belongs, nor within Half an Hour before tbe Commence- ment or after the Conclusion of any sucb Celebration,' catechising, or Instruction, nor during the Time at which the Incumbent or Minister of such Church or Chapel, or any other Minister or other Ecclesiastical Person, shall be performing the Burial Service in such Churchyard or Graveyard nor during the Performance of any other Burial Service therein : Provided always, that nothing in this Act shall confer any Right of Burial where no such Right already exists, or shall affect the Rights or 27 Privileges of any Ordinary, Rector, Vicar, or other Incumbent. 2. No tiling herein contained shall authorize or justify Prohibi- any Interference with or Interruption of the Oelebration terference of Divine Service in the Church or Chapel to which such ^^^^^^i Churchyard or Graveyard may be attached or belong, or the Obstruction of Persons going thereto or returning therefrom. 3. Such Priest or Minister who may purpose to attend Notice to such Burial shall, Twenty-four Hours before the reading the Time^ of such Prayers or the Performance of such Burial f^^p^J;^^^^^^* Service, serve or cause to be served upon the Person that the Burial appointed by the Rector, Vicar, or other Incumbent of shall take the Parish to receive such Notices a Notice in Writing, ^ ^^^" signed with his Name, stating the Name and late Residence of the Person about to be buried, and the Hour at which he purposes to read such Prayers or perform such Burial Service ; and if there be no Celebration, catechising, or Instruction already appointed to take place, or other Burial Service appointed to be performed at the Time specified in the Notice, of which he is to be then and there informed, he shall read such Prayers or perform such Service at the Time for which he has given Notice; but if any Celebration, catechising. Instruction, or other Burial Service shall have beeB already appointed, then he shall appoint some other convenient Time before or after such Celebration, catechising, Instruction, or other Burial Service. 4. And whereas many Parish Churches have of late Lord Lieu- Years been erected on a new Site, having attached to council to have them small Churchyards given or purchased for the sole p^^®^^ Use of Persons attending^ the Worship of the Church, exempt r^ certain! and in Size proportioned to the Wants of the Congrega- church.^ tion, leaving the old Churchyard for the general Use of ^^' to. 2^^ the Parishioners: and whereas many Perpetuai Cares and District Parishes have been erected of late Years, and Churches built in them, with small Graveyards intended solely for the Use of the Congregations of such Churches : Be it therefore enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Lord Lieutenant in Council, on Application from the Incumbents of any such Church, to declare the same to be exempt, and which Exemption shall be published in the Dublin Gazette, and thereupon such Churchyards shall be exempted from the Operation of this Act. Extent of 5. This Act shall extend to Ireland only. Act. ^ G, NORMAN AND SON, PRINTERS, MAIDEN LANE, COVENT GARDEN.