380 Obituary. 



have not forgotten the poor ; even the poorest in the place may have the 

 use of it for their dead, by applying to a committee appointed for the purpose. 

 I hope we shall all be preserved from quicklime burying, and from 



" Gloomv aisles 



Black-plaster'd, and hung round with shreds of 'scutcheons 

 And tatter'd coats of arms ;" 



and also from the rude bands of the grave-digger after our flesh is consumed ; 

 for it is anything but pleasant to see the remains of parents, brothers, sisters, 

 and friends treated in a brutal manner by thoughtless mortals. If the plan 

 were adopted which you have recommended, the air we breathe would become 

 less tainted, and 



" The sexton, hoary-headed chronicle," 



would be prevented from delivering grave lectures over the skulls of those he 

 had buried. — Peter Mackenzie. West Plean^ June 1. 1843. 



Cemeteries and Churchyards. — The taste, as well as a general feeling for 

 improvements in our burial-grounds, is unquestionably on the increase ; and, 

 whatever internal discord there may be in churches, nobody seems disposed 

 to quarrel with a plan for bettering and beautifying the churchyards. One 

 step is wanting ; viz. that it should become the fashion. Since you warmed 

 me up upon the subject, I cannot tell you with what disgust I have looked 

 upon the disgraceful condition of the churchyards I happen to have been in. 

 Sunning Hill is one. There are the remains of very eminent men reposing 

 there ; Sir Home Popham, George Ellis, and General Fitzpatrick : and the 

 place is overrun with rank dank weeds, suited to cover the remains of dead 

 dogs, but most offensive when we think of the men whose last resting-places 

 they dishonour ; or, rather, the dishonour attaches to those who continue the 

 practice of totally disregarding the state of our burial-grounds. Having 

 often spoken upon the subject of late, I am glad to think that everybody 

 acknowledges this ; and, when a few examples have introduced the fashion, 

 we may expect, I think, a general amelioration. In the mean time, I hope 

 the national cemetery may not be lost sight of. There is a bill now before 

 parliament, and which is extremely likely to pass, to facilitate the enclosure 

 of waste lands. Such an act might very much facilitate the business of a 

 company disposed to carry into execution your plan in the neighbourhood of 

 Woking. The same machinery for effecting the enclosure of a parish there- 

 abouts would give a company legal possession of the tract they might purchase 

 of the parish as the ground of their operations. The bill itself promises great 

 general benefit ; and 1 hope, with all my heart, it may pass. With the aid of 

 such men as you mention, Mr. Mackinnon and Mr. Hume, and I should add 

 Sir John Easthope, if he would cooperate, it seems as if a company of the 

 highest order would soon spring into existence, and produce something worthy 

 to be deemed general and national. — H. A. M. June 12. 1843. 



Art. hi. Obituary. 



Died suddenly, on the 6th of June, John Penn, Esq., of Lewisham, aged 72 

 years. Mr. Penn has been well known for many years as a civil engineer in 

 very extensive business. Of late years he became much attached to garden- 

 ing, and invented the mode of warming and ventilating which bears his name. 

 He was a man of powerful intellect, liberal in his opinions, most kind and 

 benevolent to his workmen, and universally respected and beloved. 



Dropped down while walking in his nursery, and, a few minutes after he had 

 returned to his house, died, on June 1., Mr, John Milne, Nurseryman, Stoke 

 Newington. 



