The grave yards of London : being an exposition of the physical and moral consequences inseparably connected with our unchristian and pestilential custom of depositing the dead in the midst of the living : with the examinations of the author, upon this highly important subject, before a Select Committee of the House of Commons / by George Alfred Walker.

  • Walker, George Alfred, 1807-1884.
Date:
1841
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The grave yards of London : being an exposition of the physical and moral consequences inseparably connected with our unchristian and pestilential custom of depositing the dead in the midst of the living : with the examinations of the author, upon this highly important subject, before a Select Committee of the House of Commons / by George Alfred Walker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    5/49 (page 4)
    It would seem that interment of the dead within Churches or Vaults, or in Burying Grounds, surrounded with houses, or in the im- mediate vicinity ol densely populated Cities or Towns, is so familiar from its frequent or daily occurrence—accidents clearly traceable to the influence ol putrefying effluvia so seldom, comparatively, arise from the practice of inhumation—'that the most perfect indifference appears to prevail upon the subject; no danger seems to be dreaded, no fear excited, no apprehension even entertained of the injurious and destructive agencies which are constantly in operation, and armed with invisible and irresistible powers ; and yet it is not difficult to show that some of the most afflictive visitations of Providence have origin- ated in the contamination of the atmosphere, from putrefying animal substances—and that to the neighbourhood of the “Grave Yard” may be attributed the violence, if not the origin, of some of the most destructive diseases which have depopulated the human race. That London with its thousands of busy minds and observant eyes should bear upon its breast those plague spots, the burial grounds, must appear to every reflecting mind, an anomaly not easily explained. Yet thus it is—whilst men are daily developing the simple and beautiful laws of the universe, and basing upon them systems as comprehensive as the laws they illustrate—the most per- fect indifference is manifested as to the wilful infringement of those laws, and the most contemptuous disregard of the direful conseqiiences which result from such violations. This state of things cannot wholly be ascribed to ignorance; for in this modern Babylon there are those who by their scientific attain- ments, their leisure, and their acknowledged ability, must be supposed attentive to the action of general agencies, and fully cognizant of the evils inseparably connected with the present mode of burying the dead :—there are—there must be, men, who, standing aloof from the passions, the employments, and the anxieties that actuate large com- munities, have leisure for reflection, and time for execution ;—yet they have not attempted to rouse the public mind to the consideration of a most important, though latent cause of disease and death. So important, indeed, do 1 consider this subject, that I have spared neither time, labour, nor expense in the investigation ; and, after ma- ture reflection, I felt I had a stern and inexorable duty to perform; otherwise, I should have shrunk from the task. With the exception of a few of the most barbarous tribes, all nations, through all ages, have venerated the burial places of the dead. Inhumation has been the prevailing custom, and for the most part the vicinity of towns and cities has been most scrupulously avoided. Even among the Egyptians, where the custom of embalming was more generally adopted than in any other country, inhumation was prac- tised among the common people. It is true that the custom of burning the dead succeeded to embalming, and that with the Greeks and Romans it was by no means uncommon : this custom, however took its rise from a religious regard to the resting places of the dead. “ It was observed that long wars, frequent transmigrations, the destruction and re-building of cities, might, with the revolu- tion of time, overturn the whole surface of a country; and that loncs confided for several centuries, to the bosom of the earth, would then unavoidably be exposed upon the surface. The fear or