Gatherings from grave-yards; particularly those of London ... by Geo. Alfd. Walker. Opinions of the London and provincial press.

Date:
[1849?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Gatherings from grave-yards; particularly those of London ... by Geo. Alfd. Walker. Opinions of the London and provincial press. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    month of March, 1845, a oorrespoucleiit addressed the following letter to the newspapers:—“ Little more than 40 years ago I inhabited a house in Braynes s Kow (now Exmouth Street), the back windows of which looked dii’ect into the above burying-grouud. An immense-sized black dog used to repeat his nightly howl as the guardian of these dismal regions—that howl which at times will thrill through my ear as long as recollection lasts. The day- scene was not less terrific, and more disgusting. Hogs were then kept by the parties who farmed this homestead of death. I have frequently seen recently-interred cofiins torn up from their anchorage and thrown by for tire-wood, whilst the limbs of a decaying corpse have been dragged about as a savoury morsel by an old sow !” And these horrors have been perpe- tuated in similitude, if not in fact, until the present day, or rather until the middle of last year, when the authorities and the press put down the bar- barous atrocities of the Spa-Fields bone-house. Mr. Walker is deserving of great praise for the spirited manner in which he has exposed the unprincipled and inhuman conduct of the proprietors of many of the London grave-yards. —Weekly Dispatch, April 12,1846. “ A^''e’ll t^ of graves, and epitaphs, and worms,” says Blair, and though the topic be anything but inviting, the demands of duty to society should not yield to a too complacent selfishness. ]Mr. A^'alker has abundantly shown that disease, in pernicious and frightfully varied forms, pervades those loca- lities wherein the practice of inordinate sepulture prevails, and appropriately cites the authority of Dr. Adam Clarke in support of the strong, and we must say, just animadversions, which the writer bestows on the subject.^ . . ilr. Walker has devoted great labour, with sound judgment, to the inves- tigation of his topic, and incontestiblj’’ shows how much is to be deplored in the prevailing practice ; and consequently, with what earnestness all consi- derate persons should concur in the most practical means of suppressing an evil, which, with such zeal and ability, is denounced in Mr. Walker’s publi- cation.^—Taunton Conner, April 22, 1846. “ Burial Ground Incendiarism.”—As might readily be expected, the author of the above-named work has come in for a large share of abuse. He has touched tlie POCKETS of individuals who for years have enjoyed a thriving trade, though at the expense, as he very clearly proves, of public decency and health; and when the pockets of Englishmen are invaded, they are very apt to wax wrath, and use hard words. For our own parts we regard this gentleman in no other light than that of a public benefactor, who, at the risk of slander and vituperation, has fear- lessly exposed one of the most crying evils of the age, by demonstrating the extent to which the health of neighbourhoods is injured, and the recklessness with which the tenderer feelings are outraged for the sake of allowing certain parties to derive a profit from the most unwise and unjustifiable practice of depositing the bodies of the dead in regions where they become the curse of the living. We are quite sure that the subject under notice only needs fairly examining to obtain for it the amount of public sympathy which it claims. It is so obviously injurious to the living, to inhale the noxious and poisonous gases with which the atmosphere must be charged that surrounds some confined and overloaded church or chapel burial-ground ; that every one must allow the desirableness of interment in towns being put a stop to by the command of public opinion. No considerations can fairly be allowed to weigh against the important consideration of public health : private interests, feelings, wishes, and prejudices must all yield, when opposed to the general good ; and for these reasons it is only necessary to show that inter- ment in towns is opposed to the health of their inhabitants, to prove both the utility and justice of abolishing the practice. . . . All persons who are as yet unacquainted with this important question, will do well to peruse the pamphlet named at the head of this notice, for it abounds with striking facts and satisfactory arguments, which must convince all, who are not unduly prejudiced, of the justice of the position assumed by the author. We have no time to add more at present, but shall take an early opportuiiity of returning to the subject.—Notlmijhan liccitw, May 1, 1846.
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