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the Church into the catacombs, so that we may boast of
what few parishes can, that no human remains are below
the Church, all the vaults having been swept away, and
the crypt of the Church laid open. Many of the coffins
were perished, and in some of the vaults the exhalations
were very offensive; happily the removal of all the
bodies was effected without any thing untoward, the
men employed having suffered little or no disturbance in
their health. The removal of the coffins from the vaults
was made interesting from the discovery of the remains
of that eminent surgeon and anatomist, John Hunter,
the founder of the Museum of the College of Surgeons,
whose body was subsequently reburied in Westminster
Abbey.
This very important work of removing 2600 coffins,
and their contents, was arranged and managed by
Messrs. Latchford and Petter, Churchwardens, and their
Sidesmen, Messrs. Goodchild, Marshall, Soames, ana
Ogden, one or more of whom were always present
during the whole operation, which lasted about 10
weeks, and the whole was ably carried out by our Surveyor,
Mr. Burstall. The friends of the deceased, many
of whom visited the vaults on the occasion, having
expressed perfect satisfaction with the disposition of the
remains of their departed relatives.
All sanitary reformers must pray for the successful
issue of the movement in regard to the Embankment
of the River. We shall all rejoice if we are able to
record of the year 1860 that a work, important not only
to the health of a district, but of the whole metropolis,
not only to the physical welfare of the inhabitants of
London, but to the prosperity of the whole empire; for
this, and more than this, may be said for the Embankment
of the River, and carrying the lower level main
drainage along the banks of the Thames instead of
below our houses. Nobody can contemplate the danger