which means precious souls perish, for whom Christ died,) but to search and examine the state of their souls, to show them their sins, to prepare them by ghostly counsel and penitential exercises for absolution, and the holy Communion, whereby they may find comfort, remission of sins, and the Holy Ghost the Comforter; and this should be done while the sick person hath strength and ability to attend, and join with him in these holy services. An idea is somewhat prevalent, that in the multitude of religious books, there is less cause for the attendance of a minister. These, however, may do very well as enabling a person to profit by the ministerial services; but they are no substitute for his exhortations and intercession, who cometh in the name of Christ his Master. 66 'He that despiseth you despiseth me," saith the Lord Jesus; and the Holy Ghost, the Giver of spiritual life, who best knoweth the mode of operating on the heart, hath commanded, "Is any sick? let him send for the elders of the Church." We sufficiently understand the shrinking of a delicate mind, and the nervousness of age, to make allowance for the hesitation which dreads the admission of one, sometimes a stranger, into the privacy of the chamber of the sick. But the best cure for this scrupulousness, is to consider, not the man, but his office; to regard him simply as a bearer of grace from the Saviour, and not to imagine that anything he can speak, can of itself do good, but only so far as accompanied by the blessing of the Holy Spirit. Be not offended when he strives to probe the conscience, to awaken conviction, to show your need of Christ, to strip the soul of all false pleas of merit, to present you to the Comforter for His healing gifts, and to Christ for covering you with the robe of His righteousness*.

* See JEREMY TAYLOR'S Holy Dying, Hale's ed., ch. v., sec. 1.

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CHAPTER XXII.

THE ORDER FOR THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD.

THE interment of the dead has been always carefully attended to. Unassisted reason has dictated this to all nations, but religion has heightened this obligation; and we find that the faithful in all ages have been solicitous for the decent burial of their departed friends. The funerals of the patriarchs, and the pious care of the survivors, are matter of special notice. Our Lord commended the funeral preparations of the devout women for himself as a good work; and if heathens showed respect unto the dead, shall we think that less care is due to the bodies of Christians, who once were living temples of the Holy Ghost? 1 Cor. vi. 19; to bodies which were consecrated to the service of God; which bore their part in the duties of religion; fought the good fight of faith and patience, self-denial and mortification, and underwent the fatigue of many hardships and afflictions for the sake of piety and virtue? to bodies which we believe will one day be awakened again from their sleep of death; have all their scattered particles of dust summoned together into their due order, and be "fashioned like to the glorious body of Christ," (Phil. iii. 21. See also 1 Cor. xv. 42-44;) as being made partakers of the same glory with their immortal souls, as once they were of the same sufferings and good works! Surely bodies so honoured here, and to be so glorified hereafter, and which too we own, even in the state of death, to be under the care of a divine providence and protection, are not to be exposed and despised by us as unworthy of our regard. These considerations had much weight with the primitive Christians.

The Romish doctrine of purgatory, which represents souls as undergoing a purifying correction, had so corrupted this office, that it consisted of little else but tedious repetitions of impertinent petitions for the dead. Our Reformers, therefore, remembering St. Augustine's rule, that all this office is designed, not for the benefit of the dead, but the comfort and improvement of the living, have justly rejected these superstitions, and designed this present form wholly for the instruction, admonition, and comfort of the attendants on this solemnity, and have brought back this matter to its original intention and use.

The persons to whom this office is denied are, 1st, Those who die unbaptized: not that the Church determines any thing concerning the future state of such; but since they have not been received within the pale of the Church, we cannot properly use an office at their funeral which all along supposes the person that is buried to have died in her communion. 2nd, Those who have been excommunicated; thus showing that they are cut off from the society of regular and devout Christians. 3rd, Those who voluntarily procure death to themselves. In this, however, are exempted those who have been shown by the verdict of a coroner's jury to have been idiots, lunatics, or otherwise of unsound mind.

At first, in compliance with the Roman and Jewish usages, the primitive Christians buried their dead outside the walls of their cities; and afterwards, when they had rest from persecutions, they built churches over the graves of any that had been martyrs, and called them by the names of those who slept beneath in Jesus. When the churches were built, however, they allowed no one to bury in them; but appropriated places around for this purpose, which were called cemeteries, or chambers of sleep, death

being frequently described in the New Testament under the figure of sleep. Separated from unhallowed purposes, they received the body as a seed, which in due time shall start to life a spiritual body, and meanwhile is defended and preserved in these gardens of the Lord.

The subject and design of THE SENTENCES WITH WHICH THE SERVICE BEGINS, is to teach us the three spiritual graces which we ought to exercise upon so solemn an occasion; namely, faith, patience, and thanksgiving, and these placed in their proper order; for by faith we gain patience, and when patience hath her perfect work, it will produce thanksgiving. The first of them is our Lord's comforting reply to Martha, when affection and sorrow for her brother had almost swallowed up her faith, and had made her forget, if not doubt, that Jesus was the eternal Son of God. The force of strong affection has too often the same effect upon many Christians under circumstances peculiarly trying; but the patience and faith excited by this declaration, that Jesus has power absolutely in himself to raise the dead to life, whether in a moral or spiritual sense, induces us not to sorrow as those who have no hope.

The second sentence is from the book of Job. The old translation was different, and it better fitted this occasion. It ran thus, "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that I shall rise out of the earth in the last day, and shall be covered again with my skin, and shall see God in my flesh; yea, I myself shall behold him, not with other, but these same eyes;" and surely if Job, who lived among the Gentiles so long before the revelation of Christianity, could sustain his spirit with the hopes of a resurrection, it will be no small reproach to us, who have fuller and better assurances of it, to be slower in the belief of it

than he. It is an admirable consolation to all that mourn for the loss of friends to believe with holy Job, that the same person we are now laying in the earth, there to moulder into dust, shall in due time, by the power of God, arise from the grave and live again. We lose indeed the sight of them for a season; but we know that Jesus our Redeemer liveth, who will in due time raise us all from the dust, when both our friend and we shall all behold him, and even know and distinguish each other again with these very eyes.

We

The third sentence reminds us that if we have lost a dear and useful friend, yet that we brought no friends with us into this world, nor can we carry them out from hence. They were given us by God, who can raise up others; and they are taken away by Him to wean our affections from everything here. should rather, therefore, bless the Giver for the time we have enjoyed them, than murmur at his taking them, after he has lent them so long. Again, our friend, it is true, is going naked to the grave, but no otherwise than he came; for " as he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his own labour which he may carry away in his hand," Eccl. v. 15; see also Ps. xlix. 17. Whatever he possessed here was only useful to him so long as he stayed; where is the misfortune then, if, upon removing from hence, he leaves that behind him which will be of no service to

him in the place he is going to. Whilst he was engaged on this stage of the world, God furnished him with a habit suitable to the part which he expected him to perform; shall we think it strange then that the actor is undressed when his part is done? Let us consider ourselves under whatever character we please, there is still the same reason to join with the holy penmen in these reflections, "We brought nothing into