the parochial churchyard. And yet in the face of this decree, it is not an infrequent practice for the clergy to refuse burial to the children of Dissenters-not always upon the ground of want of baptism, according to the New Testament form-but because they are the offspring of Dissenting parents! In the dioceses of Lincoln and Exeter, this conduct has been but recently pursued; but as the facts of both cases have appeared extensively in the public prints, I will not revive them by a renarration. As an illustration of the assertion, that some regard Episcopal consecration as even necessary to the repose of the dead, I will mention the following case, which is of recent occurrence, and I sincerely trust that, for the sake of the interests of our venerable church, it will never be in my power, or in that of any other author, to produce its counterpart : "A little girl residing with her mother in a village in the county of Essex, was in the habit of attending the Sunday School attached to the Dissenting Chapel, and in her last illness desired to be buried in the chapel burying-ground. Her parents fulfilled her dying wish. The clergyman of the parish, offended with this proceeding, presented to the poor bereaved mother the following doggerel lines, under the subtle title of "Meeting-house Burial-ground, S. 1840. "Mother! I here can find no rest! You've laid me in unhallowed ground; Was it for this the sacred cross Was imaged on my infant brow? "They vow'd that I the path should tread Go where my lawful pastors led, And learn from them the Word of God. years; "Then why to Schismatics resort? Then to the house of God repair, Led by the sound of Sabbath bells; "And when at length you join the dead, Beneath the churchyard's solemn shade. *The words printed in italics, are so in the copy pre sented to the mother. Anxious that I should not incur the risk of misstating facts, I made diligent inquiry into the circumstances, through the medium of a friend on the spot, and I have in my possession the original printed copy of verses presented by the Rev. gentleman to the bereaved mother. The terms imposed upon all the consecrated cemeteries, and which must of course have attached to the Abney Park Cemetery, were such, that it would have been utterly impracticable to have assented to them, as the very scope and object of the Cemetery would thus have been destroyed and defeated. The effect of Episcopal consecration in preventing the clergy of other denominations from performing a burial service within the consecrated ground, often inflicts a peculiar hardship upon members of the same family, some of whom may belong to the Established Church, and others of them may be Dissenters. The son of an Episcopalian, being a Dissenter, cannot be interred in the same grave with his father, by the minister of his choice. It was not, therefore, without mature consideration, that the projectors of the Abney Park Cemetery determined, that it should be based upon the broad, Christian and liberal principles of being alike open to all, without distinction and without preference; and, that the bodies to be interred should not be subject to the payment of fees to the incumbents of the parishes from whence they came, -and upon these principles it was resolved to stand or fall. Although it was inconsistent with the principles of this cemetery to pay fees to the incumbents of parishes from which bodies might be brought to the cemetery, and who had done nothing to earn them, a far more consistent course has been adopted, as by the regulations of the company all ministers officiating at funerals at this cemetery are paid a fee for the duty performed, according to the scale printed in the appendix to this volume. "The labourer is worthy of his hire." No other cemetery has this regulation with reference to the officiating clergy generally. The result has shewn that the public fully appreciated, and were prepared to support the somewhat bold project. The principles of its constitution were fully embodied in the original prospectus, issued on the formation of the company, and, within one month of the scheme being publicly advertised, the whole amount of capital was subscribed for, and I believe that the Directors were not able to appropriate the full amount of shares applied for, to any but to those who did not require a larger number than ten. Amongst the proprietary, consisting of between two and three hundred persons, will be found Episcopalians and Dissenters of all denominations. The cemetery was no sooner solemnly dedicated to its purpose, than interments commenced, and have gone on gradually increasing; so that to the present period, (hardly more than three months from its opening,) a greater number of interments has taken place, than the cemetery at Kensal Green received during the first twelvemonths of its operations. It should be stated, however, that cemetery interment was then a novelty, so far as the metropolis was concerned, and numerous prejudices, and opposing interests, were to be overcome, before success could be attained; but these were not greater in amount, nor so subtle in form, as those which have opposed themselves to this project. The Directors have appointed two chaplains to the cemetery; the one to officiate at funerals of members of the Church of England, and who buries according to the rites of the church, and the form of the rubric; and the other to officiate at the funerals of Dissenters. The interments of members of the Church of England, up to the present time, (August 1840,) at the Abney Park Cemetery, are, in proportion to those of Dissenters, as seventeen to eight. With reference to the fourth advantage which I have noticed, as possessed by the cemeteries constituted under Acts of Parliament, viz. the legalization of their burial register, it will only be necessary to say a very few words. These Acts were passed before the General Registry Act came into force and under the old system it was obviously necessary, that the cemetery-register of burials should be endowed with some special authority. The general system of registry of deaths, now adopted, is so superior to the parochial plan, that it was at |