conviction, support, consolation, or encourage ment, as the case may seem to require. And to improve the occasion to exhort those about them to consider their mortality; to turn to the Lord, and make their peace with him; and in health prepare for sickness, death and judgment.

BURIAL OF THE DEAD.

When the corpse is brought to the grave, the minister shall repeat one or more of the following passages:

I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord; he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die.

I know that iny Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after death, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.

I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write; From henceforth, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; even so saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.

Blessed be the God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance, incorruptible, unde

filed, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for those who are kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time.

Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed; for this corruptible' must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have. put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written; Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here the minister, if he judge proper, may exhort those present to reflect on the shortness and uncertainty of human life; and to prepare for death, judgment, and eternity.

Let us pray.

Almighty and most merciful God, in whose hands are the issues of life and death; and be fore whose bar we shall all stand, and give an account of the deeds done in the body; we beseech thee to grant unto us, at all times, a salu

tary conviction of the frailty of life, and our great responsibility to thee, the judge of quick and dead.

In the midst of life we are in death; we come up and are cut down like a flower; we flee as a shadow, and never continue in one stay. Death, judgment and eternity are just before us, and of whom may we seek protection and grace, out of thee, O most merciful God, who hath redeemed us with the most precious blood of Christ, that we might be delivered from the power of sin and the fear of death, and be made heirs of eternal life.

We humbly confess, O righteous Father, that we have sinned, and come short of thy glory. We have been undutiful children; slothful servants; and unfaithful stewards of the manifold mercies of God. Be merciful, O Lord, to our unrighteousness, pardon our sins, and raise us from a death of sin to a life of righteousness, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath said; I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall not die eternally.

We beseech thee, Father of all our mercies, and giver of every good and perfect gift, to grant us grace whereby we may serve theé acceptably, with reverence and godly fear, all our days; looking for the blessed hope, and glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, to judge the world in righteousness. For the hour is coming, in which all that are

in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth; they that have done good, to the resurrection of life, and they at have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

Forbid, O most merciful God, that any of us should taste of the bitter pains of the second death; but grant that when we depart this tran, sitory life, we may die in possession of triumphant faith, and rest in Christ. And, at the general resurrection of the last day, be found acceptable in thy sight, and receive that blessing which thy well beloved Son shall then pro nounce to all that love and fear thee; saying, come, ye blessed of my father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, grant that this ispensation of thy righteous providence may be sanctified to the good of all present. May we take due warning, and consider the shortness and uncertainty of human life; the solemnities of death, and the awful realities of eternity; and prepare to meet thee in the judg

ment.

May the relatives of the deceased not sorrow as those who have no hope, but have grace to submit to thy righteous will, and be fully prepared to say the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord,

Benediction

'The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love

of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit remain with us, now and for ever. Amen.

When the corpse is deposited in the grave, and the sexton is returning the earth, the min ister may repeat one or more of the following passages:

Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.

It is appointed unto all men once to die, and after that the judgment.

Blessed and holy are they who have part in the first resurrection, on such the second death hath no power; but they shall be priests of God, and of Christ, and shall reign with him for ever God will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death; neither sorrow nor weeping; neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things have passed away.

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Blessed are they that keep his commandments, that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

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