IN RE THE TAKAKA SUICIDE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 80, 21 March 1876, Page 2

IN RE THE TAKAKA SUICIDE.

To the Editor of the 'Evening Mail.' Sir— ln deference to publis opinion and on behalf of an absent man, I wonld remind your roaders that there is aoother side of the quea-. tion, which has been altogether overlooked^ regarding the refusal by the Rev. C. Moou to read the butial service over the remains ot the unfortunate Mrs Scott. A clergyman, if any man. is bound fo lespect the law. A verdiot of felo dese affirms that in the opinion of a jury the suicide has acted in thef full poßSefsion of his sen«ts. In such a cage he has plainly placed himself outside the Church, and a minister of the church, as I understand, h is no alternative but to mark in the Church's n.mo that he has wilfully done so, by refu .- ing Christian burial. It the suicide's po?ition were really affected by burial or non burial, a clergyman in the case under notice might bs justified in impugning the verdict of a jury. But. as it is, the surviving relatives alone are affected, and they have their recourse in order to place the matter in a right light, viz., to challenge the verdict of ihe jury. If the information that has come to us through the papers is correct it is to be hoped thar, on behalf of humanity they will do so. There is enough crime to lament without charging all but the gravast ono oa the head of the suffering, deserted, and despairing mother. Belore closing this letter I must evprefs a regret, shared iv, I am sure, by many, that those who have written on the subject did not content themselves with urging this course instead of using unseemly language towards a conscientious clergyman who, a stranger in the di-tricc, found himself unexpectedly obliged to choose batween wounding the feelings of certain persons, and ignoring the verdict ot a presumably intelligent jury. We may fairly assume, • until he tells . us .otherwise, that he acted as he did, not as passing any individual judgment upon the poor woman's act, but solely in deference to the law. — Yours, &c, Fair Play. /