Arthur Charles Hervey

“ Is there anything to prevent the modern Nonconformist from providing himself with a place of burial as his ancestors provided themselves with chapels as soon as ever the law permitted them to do so? There is nothing whatever to prevent him; and the present grievance bears no analogy whatever to those previous grievances, which were very real ones.
But this leads us to see what is the real grievance of non-Churchmen, i.e., of all British subjects who are not members of the Church of England. ”

“ It is not, therefore, too much to ask the remaining third to give up their prepossessions for the sake of removing what a large body of their fellow-countrymen feel to be a grievance, and for the sake also of averting what would be a real injury to the Church, the handing over of our churchyards to every body, not only of Dissenters, but of Deists, Secularists, or Atheists, who may be included under the designation of British subjects. For it is obvious that any new Burials Bill must provide for the burial of all persons dying in England, whether Christians or not. ”

“ It is an acknowledged principle of English legislation to be guided by precedents, to run upon the same legal and constitutional lines as those upon which previous legislation has run, at least whenever the requisite reforms can so be brought about. It is, therefore, obvious to enquire, when we are called upon to change the laws of burial with a view, as it is said, to conceding to non-Churchmen their full rights according to English principles of civil and religious liberty, how has the law proceeded in securing to non-Churchmen such rights in regard to other matters. ”