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    jo be added th £ \ general introduction of a new mode of interment , which is to insure to the bodies a much longer possession , ' the evil will be intolerable . A comparatively small portion of the dead will shoulder out the living and

    their posterity . The whole environs of this metropolis must be surrounded by a circumvallation of church-yards , perpetually enlarging , by becoming themselves surcharged with bodies $ if , indeed , land-owners can be found

    willing to divert their ground from the beneficial uses of the living to the barren preservation of the dead ; contrary to the humane maxim quoted by Tully from Plato's Republic , * ' Qua : terra fruges ferre , et , ut mater , cibos suppeditare possit , earn ne quis notis

    trnnuat neve vivus neve mortuus " If , therefore , these iron coffins are to bring additional charges upon parishes , they ought to bring with them a proportionate compensation ; upon all common principles of estimated value , one must pay for the longer

    lease which you actually take of the ground . And whaifc is the exception to be pleaded for iron ? If you wish to protect your deceased relative from the spoliators of the dead , by additional securities which will press upon the

    convenience of the parish , we do not blame the purpose nor reject the measure ; but it is you and not the parish who must pay for that purpose . I am aware , ( as I have already hinted , ) that very ancient canons forbid the taking

    of money for interment , upon the notion that consecrated grounds were among the res sacrcey and that money payments for them were therefore acts of a demoniacal complexion . But this has not been the w » y of considering that matter since the Reformation , for

    the practice certainly goes up at least as far : it appears founded upon reasonable considerations , and is subjected to the proper controul of an authority of inspection . To inland svnd populous parishes , where funerals arc very frequent , the expense of keeping

    church-yards in an orderly and . seemly condition is not small , and that of pur * chasing new church-yards , when the old ones are Ukely to become sutv charged , is extremely oppressive . To answer such charges , both certain and contingent , it is surely not unreasonable that the actual use should contribute

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    vvlien it is called for . At the same time , parishes are not left to carve for themselves in imposing these rates ; they are submitted to ; ifte examination of the Ecd ^ iastical Magistrate , the Ordinary , who exercises his judgment

    tind expresses the tc&tilt [ Ify ; & confirmation of the propriety , prbndtinced in terms of very guarcted Caution . It is difficult to say where that authority could be more properly lodged , or more conveniently exercised .

    Having already declared sufficiently my opinion on the question of right , it remains only that I should direct the parish to exhibit a table of burial fees tor the consideration of the Ordinary It will be for their own consideration , in the first instance , how far these coffins should be placed upon the same

    footing as those of lead . It is certain that they occupy less room , and that they are less temporary in duration ; but it is to be remembered , that being much more accessible in point of original expense , and therefore likely to be much more numerous , they are on that account more likely to convert

    these cemetenes into mines of iron , than there is any hazard of their being converted into mines of lead . It may be said that this will operate indirectly as a prohibition in populous parishes and crowded church-yards f and if it should have that effect , it is still better than that the parish sliould be robbed of the £ fti ? and convenient use of their

    public cemetery * Patent rights ( and oh which it seems these coffins are constructed ) must be held by the same tenure as all other rights , ita uter # jure tuo alieno ne l&das ; they must not infringe upon rights more ancient , more public , and such as this Court

    is peculiaiiy bound to protect . I would recommend , in the mean time , that the body should be committed to the grave without further obstruction , but without prejudice to the present question , or to the rights of the parish . No prohibitory resolutions existed at the time of the death , and I willingly lay hold of that circumstance to reeon *

    mend a measure of peuce and charity to tibe living and to the dead . ¦ , < . I shall admit affidavits to be brought in on both sides before confirming the tables of burial fees ; . i - ' * *> MMJMtfMfltBMHM $ . ¦

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    Sir W . Scotfg Judgment on the Putent Coffin Case . 708

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1820, page 701, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2495/page/13/