§ MR. SUMMERS (Huddersfield)asked the First Lord of the Treasury whether it was the fact that, as the Law and Rubrics now stand, it would be illegal to bury a distinguished Englishman, if unbaptized, in Westminster Abbey; and, if so, whether he would consider the advisability of dealing with this matter by a separate Bill, or by an amendment of the Burials Act?
§ *MR. W. H. SMITHI am informed that, so far as the Rubric is concerned, if any person is buried in a church, no service other than the Burial Service in the Book of Common Prayer can be used, and this service cannot be read over any unbaptized person. Whether an unbaptized person could be buried in Westminster Abbey without the performance of the Burials Service is a legal question on which I do not feel myself qualified to express an opinion. I am not prepared to recommend to the House any amendment of the Burials Act with reference to this question.