BODY SNATCHING.—THE QUARREL OVER A CORPSE.

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 229, 31 January 1885, Page 3

BODY SNATCHING.— THE QUARREL OVER A CORPSE.

There was , -i time when ,1 man's debts did not end at his grave, when a creditor could levy on his corpse. The Egyptians used to raise loans from the money-lenders of ancient times by pawning the mummies of their relatives. The security was regarded as firstclass, because of the veneration which the Egyptians entertained for the dead. While a man's body was in pawn, his soul could not enter heaven. Jsut Christianity and civilization, which have retained some of the barbarous customs of the ancients and discarded others, have changed all that. We do not now attach a man's dead body in satisfaction of his debts, though not many years ao-o a creditor could cast the living body of his victim into a debtor's prison, and keep it there till it had fretted ics life out. Whether a man who is weighed down by debts and oppressed by griping money lenders is in a better frame of mind for heaven in these days than the soul of the hypothecated Egyptian mummy, is a question which I. need not discuss.

Those remarks are merely introductory to some comments that I pnrr>ose making on the shocking scene which desecrated the grave oil poor John Henry Holmes, the victim of the late fire. The deceased had resided in a wretched tumble-down shanty in Elliott-street, in close proximity to some other unfortunates, who, like himself, had fallen in the social scale. The house was owned by McKinlay, a painter and ticket-writer, for whom Holmes did odd jobs in return for his wretched lodging, and an occasional dole which sufficed to keep body and soul together, and he occasionally worked at his profession as a scenic artist at the Opera House. After the inquest Messrs Doran, Leaning, and Ross, wont round with a subscription list to defray the cost of a decent funeral, and upwards of £'9 was collected, irom all sorts ami conditions of men, Jews, and Gentiles. The remains of Holmes, after the inquest, were left in the care of Mr McKinlay, the landlord, who, however, appears to have taken no stops fora uneral, until the matter was taken in liar .l by Mr Leaning, who proposed that the Rev. J. ti. Hill should officiate.

Then it seems to hare occurred to the minds of Messrs McKinlay and Rons that the deceased should be buried by the Freethinkers, and that Dr York should officiate. But the intention having become known to the company at the Opera House, Mr Orlando Mazzolini informed Mr Leaning that, as the deceased was known to have been a member of the Church of England, they desired that the remains should receive Christian burial. Arrangements were therefore made with the I lev. lUr Tebbs (in whose diocese Holmes had resided) to officiate at the funeral. Meantime, Dr York declined to conduct the funeral rites according to the Freethought method on the score of ill-health, and appointed Mr Ellis to act as his deputy. En jni.ssmit, it may be remarked here that Dr York had no legal power to do anything in the matter. Any two householders can bury a dead man, and give a certificate to the coroner, or appoint a deputy to do so ; but Dr York is not a householder. However, in order to prevent an unseemly altercation in the cemetery, a compromise was arrived at between the Christians and the Freethinkers, by which the Church of England service should be first performed, and then the Freethought ceremony should follow.

The Ilev TV 7 ". Tebbs, in his surplice, awaited the arrival of the funeral cortege at the cemetery, but the Freethinkers took umbrao-e at this, and an unseemly wrangle ensued. To do the reverend gentleman justice he conducted himself as a Christian and a gentleman. He repudiated any desire to obtrude himself, but having been requested to officiate in his calling as a minister at the funeral of a member of his church, albeit an erring ono, he was determined to discharge his duty, and he forbade the Freethinkers to remove the coffin from the hearse. In a personal interview with the reverend gentleman, he stated to the writer that he did not attend exclusively in his character as a Church of England clergyman, but as a Christian minister, to giye Christian burial to one who was known to have professed Christianity. The liberality of sentiment thus shewn i». in striking contrast

to the conduct of the Freethinkers, whose only notion of Frcethought appears to be, in this instance at least, that nobody but themselves should be allowed to think freely. During the altercation Mr Lachlan McGowan stated that twelve years ago, in company with deceased, he had attended the funeral of Mrs Holmes, who was buried according to the rites of the Church of England; and this was corroborated by Mr Walsh, who had known Mr Holmes as a member of that church for thirty years.

A score of excited disputants now joined in the discussion, but Mr Tebbs .said that as there was no near relative of the deceased present, and no proof was forthcoming- that he had abjured the doctrines of the church of England, the ceremony would be proceeded with. A party of churchmen then removed the coffin from the hearse, but as the procession moved towards the grave, a number of persons, prominent among whom was Mr McKinlay, interrupted the" service with such ruffianly remarks as •' Cut it short !" " Bosh !" "We've had enough of that rot!" "Shut up!" and so forth. Towards the conclusion of the service, Mr McKiulay jumped to the side of the grave, and called out — "We've had enough of that stuff," but bis voice was drowned by indignant cries of " Shame," while one or two gentlemen, whose sense of propriety was outraged by this shocking conduct, were with difficulty restrained from using violence. The service was concluded, and a call was made for Mr Ellis, who prudently kept in the background. The Rev. Mr Tebbs was warmly congratulated on his manliness and fortitude under trying- circumstances by Christians and Jews, and Mr Orlando Maggoliui tendered him his personal thanks for his courageous discharge of duty.