"The complaint of the donors of land for endeared to them by its solemn memochurchyards has a colour of equity, but it is only a colour. If they gave their land for ries and its revered associations, the churchyards, they gave it for all to which the rugged yew trees under which churchyards are liable, and they cannot repudiate the gift because they had not anticipated all its legal consequences."

But in some cases the land for the churchyard had been given by Noncon

formists-a notable instance of which

occurred in a parish close to that in which he had spent many years of his life, where the churchyard had been enlarged by land given for the purpose by a Unitarian. When the donor died, his family naturally felt it a hardship that he should not be allowed to be buried by his own minister in his own land. But this injustice would be perpetuated by the 10th clause. He objected to the clause on the further and broader ground that it would create side by side two classes of churchyards, one of which would be open and the other closed to Nonconformists. Nay, more; in the same churchyard one part might be open and the other closed, or, as pointed out by the hon. Member (Mr. Beresford Hope), a churchyard might be open one day and, in consequence of a gift of a piece of land some two miles distant, it might be closed the next. On these grounds, he would move in Committee to omit the clause altogether; and he felt so strong on the question that, if he failed in his attempt, he should be compelled to join the hon. Member (Mr. Beresford Hope) in endeavouring to reject the Bill on the third reading. But with these Amendments the Bill was his own Bill. It was a case of "Shakespeare and I thought of the same thing," only this time he thought he might say, "I thought of it first." Still the Bill was an honest Bill, and in this respect differed from the other 14 Bills which, since 1870, had been brought in from the opposite side of the House for the purpose, not of solving the difficulty, but of evading it. What was the use of offering cemeteries to people who did not want them? If the Report, which he moved for and obtained two years and a-half ago, showed anything, it showed that the people of England did not love those new-fangled cemeteries; for, at the rate at which they were being constructed, it would take 304 years to close all the churchyards in England and Wales. They loved the old churchyard,

"The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep." And to say that any man, much less any minister of religion, could wish to enter that hallowed spot for the purpose of desecrating it, would be a calumny if it of the feeling in favour of keeping up were not an absurdity. As an instance the churchyard instead of constructing a cemetery, he instanced the case of the parish of Islip, where, the churchyard being full, the adjoining landowners had offered to enlarge it, and the following Memorial had been presented to the Rural Dean of the district by the Rector on behalf of the parish :

"(1.) The feeling of the parishioners is unanimous that the (for us) heavy expenses of making the ground available by levelling, planting, building walls, should be defrayed out of the rates, and not be left to voluntary subscription.

"(2.) The feeling is uqually unanimous against turning the new ground into a cemetery, both because it would perpetuate in the very centre

on account of the extra cost involved, and also

of the villages, so that all could see, those religious differences which sometimes divide even families.

"(3.) There remains, therefore, but one course, concerning which once more there is no difference of opinion-that the ground should be converted into a churchyard at the expense of the parish, but that access should be given to religious ministers of all denominations to perform the burial service over all persons whose friends desire it.

'(4.) We have no choice, therefore, but to wait, at any inconvenience, and possibly danger, till Parliament sees fit to confer upon villages the power of extending their churchyards, subject to this equitable condition, as before stated. That I am fairly representing the opinion of the people of Islip I have no doubt whatever.

He had no doubt that Memorial fairly expressed the opinion of nineteen-twentieths of the rural Laity of England. But did it represent the opinions of the rural Clergy? Unfortunately, this was a subject on which there existed the greatest possible divergence of opinion between the Clergy and Laity, as was shown by the famous Memorial against Lord Harrowby's Clause, which, in a few weeks, had received the signatures of 15,000 clergymen; but, although it was hawked about the country, and no pains spared to obtain lay signatures, each

clergyman could do little more than | him to thwart them. But had they forobtain two laymen-presumably his own gotten the solemn warning uttered two churchwardens-to affix their names to years ago by the Archbishop of Canterit. The fact was the Laity of England bury, when he entreated the House of were becoming ashamed of the opposi- Lords to remember that the most vital tion which was offered to his Bill. They interests of the Church of England dewere ashamed of being told, when they manded that this question should be went to Austria or Russia, or even to settled at once and for ever? And how, Turkey, that England on this question then, could it be settled? Did any man was lagging behind the most bigoted with a head upon his shoulders, and countries in Europe. Why, Cyprus was with eyes in his head, believe that it miles ahead of us in this matter. The could be settled in any other way than other day an English soldier was buried upon the lines of this Bill? Why, if in one of the parish churchyards of the every one of those 14 Bills to which he Greek Church in Cyprus. Now, if a had already alluded were passed toGreek sailor had happened to die in a morrow, they would not advance the rural parish in England, everybody knew settlement of this problem-no, not by that he could only have been buried by one single inch! And it was just bean Anglican clergyman with the rites of cause he saw in this Bill an honest the Anglican Church. But what took attempt to effect that settlement that he place in Cyprus? Why, the Burial would give to the second reading his Service of the English Church was con-humble but hearty support. ducted by an English chaplain. A Greek priest was present, but the only part he took in the service was to bless the grave! Well now, he really thought that poor Greek priest might have taught a lesson of Christian charity to many an Anglican Bishop; and if the acquisition of that unfortunate Island should lead us to assimilate our Burial Laws to those of other and more barbarous countries, he, for one, would feel almost disposed to condone the means by which it was acquired. He deeply regretted the course which the Government had thought proper to take. They had thrown away a great opportunity. They might gracefully have made to one of their own supporters a concession which they had always refused to make to himself. By so doing, they would undoubtedly have earned the gratitude of the Nonconformist bodies. But, paradoxical as it might seem, the Nonconformist bodies were not the religious bodies which were most deeply interested in the settlement of this question. Strong in the justice of their claim, they could afford to wait. They knew that their ultimate triumph was secure, and that the longer it was delayed the more complete it would be. But what about the Church of England? One thing was absolutely certain-that the prolonged agitation of this question was doing incalculable mischief to that Church, and was more than anything else hastening its downfall. If the Government chose to play into the hands of the Liberation Society, it was not for

EARL PERCY understood that the hon. and learned Member who had just spoken supported this Bill not with the view of carrying it, but in order that he might be enabled really to pass his own measure. He should like to know how the hon. Member (Mr. Balfour) and his other hon. Friends who supported the Bill felt, when they were given to understand that, in so doing, they were only playing into the hands of the hon. and learned Member (Mr. Osborne Morgan)? What object could they have in trying to force this measure on the House? The second reading could only be carried by the assistance of hon. Gentlemen opposite; and when they got it in Committee they would reject the saving clauses on which his hon. Friends relied. It was hopeless to attempt to conciliate the Liberationists by concessions. The question whether there was a real grievance to be remedied had been already so fully discussed that it was hardly worth while now to enter upon it; but it had been said that even if there were only a supposed grievance on the part of Dissenters, still it was the duty of the House to remove it. But there were many grievances with regard to which the House was not so unanimous as to assent to their removal. There were what were called the grievances of the Sister country; but it did not follow that what was called a grievance must be removed. He ventured to think that that would be a dangerous argument for the House to adopt. No

one said that the Nonconformists would read over the dead services repugnant to Christian feeling; but there were sects in this country who, under such a Bill as this, would be able to hold services in the churchyards which would be most repugnant and repulsive to Christian feelings. What was it that was now proposed? The hon. and learned Member for Denbighshire last year said that the English Church could no longer consider herself both National and Denominational; but that would go much further than churchyards, and it was because of that frank avowal of the hon. and learned Gentleman that this Bill should be rejected. It had been said that it would be prudent on the part of Churchmen to yield upon this question; but what had they gained by yielding upon the question of church rates? He should vote against the Bill.

MR. GRANTHAM would not say that this was one of the worst attempts to settle this question, but he would say that it was one of the most dangerous. There was no doubt it was the Bill of the hon. and learned Member for Denbighshire (Mr. Osborne Morgan) in disguise; and the moment the Bill got into Committee that hon. and learned Member's Amendments would at once prove fatal. The Nonconformists had, he was prepared to admit, a grievance, and it was this-that there was no ground open to them in many parishes where they could bury with their own services; but that was the fault of the State and not of the Church, and that did not give them a right to force their ministers or their services into the consecrated ground of Churchmen. This Bill would cause heartburnings all over the country; because in one district the interments would be allowed, and in another, adjoining, they would not be allowed, owing to the grant being made within 50 years. What an invidious position this would place the recent donor of ground in; upon him would be thrown the onus of closing it against certain classes of the community. They had no right to place individuals in such a position as that. Besides, another great objection was that it proposed to re-create the difficulty again,

MAJOR NOLAN: I must say that I give my hearty support to this Bill, which, if it goes to a Division, would, I am sure, have the support of the majority of the Irish Members. Now, I will mention to the House a little fact which, I think, is a powerful argument in support of the Bill, and which came under my own personal observation. At Shoeburyness, where there is a large garrison, not long ago—in March last-after it had been once settled, by dea Catholic soldier died. There they were obliged to have him buried under Protestant rites. This fact, as I have said, is entirely within my own personal observation indeed, the soldier belonged to my own battery, and I had to make most of the arrangements for the funeral. A Catholic clergyman was allowed to say prayers in the dead-house of the garrison-there was no objection to that; but when the funeral procession arrived at the churchyard the Protestant clergyman performed the rest of the ceremony, and the comrades of the man who had lived all his life a Catholic saw him at the last moment handed over to a Protestant clergyman. It was not the fault of the military authorities that this happened, for there was no cemetery within 40 miles. I say that the existing state of the law inflicts a great grievance, and I hope that it may be amended somehow. I think that those who refuse to allow the churchyards to be used for such burials are bound to find some accommodation elsewhere.

claring that when once a cemetery was provided in a parish, the Nonconformists would, ipso facto, be debarred from continuing to use the parish churchyard for their services, after, perhaps, many, many years' quiet exercise of that right under this Bill. He believed there was a satisfactory way of dealing with the question. They must look at it from a sanitary point of view; and where it was necessary to close churchyards, cemeteries must at once be provided. That would leave, no doubt, many churchyards with ample accommodation for several years to come; and as many clergymen might not object to Nonconformists using their burial-grounds, this part of the question ought to be made a parochial one, and certain time allowed for arrangements to be made. They had a precedent to which they could look and by which they could be guided in what had been done by the Education Act of 1870. There, a certain time was allowed the advocates of Church schools and voluntary schools to determine whe