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 274 The funeral he desired to be "as private as is consistent with decency;" and he expressed a hope that his friend, the Rev. Henry Drury, would read the church service.

Murray found himself beset by unexpected difficulties. The vicar of Harrow, the Rev. J. W. Cunningham, objected strenuously to the erection of Allegra's tablet, and stated his objections at length;—not to Lord Byron (which was prudent), but to the unhappy publisher, who, all his life, had everybody's business to attend to. Mr. Cunningham declared that the proposed inscription "would be felt by every man of refined taste, to say nothing of sound morals, to be an offence against taste and propriety." He explained cautiously that, as he did not dare to say this to Byron, he expected Murray to do so. "My correspondence with his Lordship has been so small that I can scarcely venture myself to urge these objections. You, perhaps, will feel no such scruple. I have seen no person who did not concur in the propriety of stating them. I would intreat, however, that, should you think it right to introduce my name