being undertaken. Since the above charge Was given, several 

 cremations have been carried out in this country. Captain Han- 

 ham cremated his wife and his mother in a crematorium which he 

 erected in his private grounds in Dorset, and a year later he was 

 pubKcly cremated in the same place. The Cremation Society of 

 England, which was founded in 1874, soon after obtained a piece 

 of ground at Woking, upon which a crematorium was built. Since 

 Mr. Justice Stephen's charge, several cremations have taken place 

 in it. The Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers have appointed 

 a committee with the view of considering the propriety of erecting 

 a crematorium at Ilford. Now, although the rules that have been 

 drawn up by the Cremation Society of England are most excellent 

 and stringent, and would effectually prevent any foul play, the 

 company possesses no monopoly in cremating, so that any one who 

 may desire can cremate another without even a burial certificate 

 being required. This state of things ought not to last. If crema- 

 tion is legal, then it should be doubtless under strict governmental 

 control. There is a subject in connection with burial which I think 

 should be mentioned, viz., the dread which many people have of 

 being buried alive. I once heard a person say " that he phould 

 like to be exposed on a church tower for a week after his death, so 

 that there should be no possibility of his being in any form of a 

 trance at the time of burial." Of course, shut up in a closed coffin, 

 would produce an almost immediate suffocation. Under the 

 crematory process, no fear of premature burial need be thought of. 

 The economical question of burials is a serious and a pressing one. 

 Cemeteries are most expensive establishments to keep going, and 

 at the same time occupy a large amount of ground which might be 

 otherwise more profitably used. The sanitary side will have to be 

 some day if not shortly, seriously considered. The air over 

 cemeteries is much contaminated, and from this cause many 

 epidemics have arisen. The water also becomes polluted from 

 percolating through burial grounds. Water thus impregnated often 

 runs into streams from which drinking water is used. In con- 

 cluding, I may say that I have tried to give you a concise history 

 of the past and present burial systems. The disagreeableness of 

 the subject has led comparatively few people to take any energetic 

 practical interest in it. The question cannot be shelved for a much 

 longer period, as it carries with it important sanitary and 

 economical considerations. I am not here to advocate any one pet 

 cause, but nevertheless you must have gathered from what has 

 been said that the present mode of conducting cemeteries, the 

 presence of brick graves, vaults, and impervious coffins, need only 

 to be thought about for a few moments, with an ordinary amount 

 of reasoning, to be condemned in almost unqualified terms. The 



