§ MR. HENRY J. WILSON (York, W.R., HolmfirthI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has received a statement from Mr. Walter Renton, of Bishop Monkton, near Ripon, to the effect that 1031 the Home Secretary has been wrongly informed as to what occurred at the recent burial of Mr. William Simpson in the churchyard of that parish, and stating that on the occasion in question, the gates which are usually opened for funerals were locked, and the funeral party had to enter at a gate which has not been used for any purpose since the last Nonconformist funeral eight years ago, and by steps which are old, dangerous, and overgrown with weeds and moss; and, whether he will make further inquiry into the facts?
§ SIR MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEYI have received the statement, and see no reason to question the accuracy of the allegation that the gate through which the funeral had to enter, though formerly the principal entrance to the churchyard had not been used for some time. Under these circumstances, whether it can properly be described as the main entrance, is perhaps open to question. As I stated before, the matter is one in which I have no authority, and I cannot undertake to make further inquiry.