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II.

Holy and moft gracious Saviour Jefus, in whofe Hands the Souls of all faithful People are laid up till the Day of Recompence, have Mercy upon the Body and Soul of this thy Servant, and upon all thy elect People who love the Lord Jefus, and long for his coming. Lord, refresh the Imperfection of their Condition with the aids of the Spirit of Grace and Comfort, and with the vifitation and guard of Angels, and fupply to them all their Neceffities known only unto thee; let them dwell in Peace, and feel thy Mercies pitying their Infirmities, and the Follies of their Flesh, and fpeedily fatisfying the Defires of their Spirits: And when thou fhalt bring us all forth in the Day of Judgment, O then fhew thy felf to be our Saviour Jesus, our Advocate and our Judge. Lord, then remember that thou haft for fo many Ages prayed for the Pardon of those Sins which thou art then to fentence. Let not the Accufations of our Confciences, nor the Calumnies and Aggravation of Devils, nor the Effects of thy Wrath, prefs thofe Souls which thou lovett, which thou didst redeem, which thou doft pray for; but enable us all, by the fupporting Hand of thy Mercy, to ftand upright in Judgment. O Lord, have Mercy upon us, have Mercy upon us: O Lord, let thy Mercy lighten upon us, as our Truft is in thee. O Lord, in thee have we trufted, let us never be confounded. Let us meet with Joy, and for ever dwell with thee, feeling thy Pardon, fupported with thy Gracioufnefs, abfolved by thy Sentence, faved by thy Mercy, that we may fing to the Glory of thy Name eternal Allelujah's. Amen, Amen. Amen.

Then may be added, in the behalf of all that are prefent, thefe Ejaculations.

O fpare us a little, that we may recover our Strength before we go hence and be no more seen. Amen.

Caft us not away in the time of Age; O forfake us not when Strength faileth. Amen.

Grant

Grant that we may never fleep in Sin or Death eternal, but that we may have our Part of the first Resurrection, and that the fecond Death may not prevail over us. Amen.

Grant that our Souls may be bound up in the Bundle of Life; and in the Day when thou bindest up thy Jewels, remember thy Servants for Good, and not for Evil, that our Souls may be number'd amongst the righteous. Amen.

Grant unto all fick and dying Chriftians, Mercy and Aids from Heaven; and receive the Souls returning unto thee, whom thou haft redeemed with thy moft precious Blood. Amen.

Grant unto thy Servants to have Faith in the Lord Jefus, a daily Meditation of Death, a Contempt of the World, a longing Defire after Heaven, Patience in our Sorrows, Comfort in our Sickneffes, Joy in God, a holy Life, and a bleffed Death; that our Souls may reft in Hope, and our Bodies may rife in Glory, and both may be beatified in the Communion of Saints, in the Kingdom of God, and the Glories of the Lord Jefus. Amen.

The Bleffing.

Now the God of Peace, that brought again from the Heb. 13. dead our Lord Jefus, that great Shepherd of the Sheep, 20, 21. through the Blood of the everlasting Covenant, make you perfect in every good Work, to do his Will, working in you that which is pleafing in his Sight; to whom be Glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The Doxology.

To the bleffed and only Potentate, the King of 1 Tim. 6. Kings, and the Lord of Lords, who only hath Immor- 15, 16 tality, dwelling in the Light which no Man can approach unto, whom no Man hath feen nor can fee, be Honour and Power everlasting. Amen.

After the fick Man is departed, the Minifter, if he be prefent, or the Major-domo, or any other fit Perfon, may ufe the following Prayers in behalf of themselves. Almighty

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I.

A Lmighty God, with whom do live the Spirits of them that depart hence in the Lord, we adore thy Majesty and fubmit to thy Providence, and revere thy Justice, and magnify thy Mercies, thy infinite Mercies, that it hath pleafed thee to deliver this our Brother out of the Miseries of this finful World. Thy Counfels are fecret, and thy Wifdom is infinite: With the fame Hand thou haft crowned him, and fmitten us; thou haft taken him into Regions of Felicity, and placed him among Saints and Angels, and left us to mourn for our Sins, and thy Difpleafure, which thou haft fignified to us by removing him from us to a better, a far better Place. Lord, turn thy Anger into Mercy, thy Chaftifements into Virtues, thy Rod into Comforts, and do thou give to all his nearest Relatives Comforts from Heaven, and a Reftitution of Bleffings equal to thofe which thou haft taken from them. And we humbly befeech thee, of thy gracious Goodness, fhortly to fatisfy the longing Defires of those holy Souls who pray, and wait, and long for thy fecond Coming. Accomplish thou the Number of thine Elect, and fill up the Manfions in Heaven, which are prepared for all them that love the coming of the Lord Jefus; That we with this our Brother, and all others departed this Life in the Obedience and Faith of the Lord Jefus, may have our perfect Confummation and Blifs in thy eternal Glory, which never fhall have ending. Grant this for Jefus Chrift's fake, our Lord and only Saviour. Amen.

II.

Merciful God, Father of our Lord Jefus, who is the Firft-fruits of the Refurrection, and by entering into Glory, hath opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all Believers, we humbly befeech thee to raise us up from the Death of Sin to the Life of Righteoufnefs; that being partakers of the Death of Christ, and followers of his holy Life, we may be partakers of his Spirit, and of his Promifes; that when we fhall depart this Life, we may reft in his Arms, and lie in his Bofom, as our hope is this our Brother doth. O

fuffer

fuffer us not for any Temptation of the World, or any Snares of the Devil, or any Pains of Death, to fall from thee. Lord, let thy Holy Spirit enable us with his Grace to fight a good Fight with perfeverance, to finish our Courfe with holiness, and to keep the Faith with conftancy unto the End; that at the Day of Judgment we may ftand at the Right-hand of the Throne of God, and hear the bleffed Sentence of [Come, ye blessed Children of my Father, receive the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the World.] O bieffed Jesus, thou art our Judge, and thou art our Advocate; even because thou are good and gracious, never fuffer us to fall into the intolerable Pains of Hell, never to lie down in Sin, and never to have our Portion in the everlafting burning. Mercy, fweet Jefu, Mercy. Amen.

A Prayer to be faid in the Cafe of a fudden Surprize by Death, as by a mortal Wound, or evil Accidents in Child-birth, when the Forms and Solemnities of Preparation cannot be used.

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Moft gracious Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, Judge of the Living and the Dead, behold thy Servants running to thee for Pity and Mercy in behalf of our felves and this thy Servant whom thou haft fmitten with thy hafty Rod, and a fwift Angel; if it be thy Will, preferve his Life, that there may be place for his Repentance and Reftitution. O fpare him a little, that he may recover his Strength before he go hence and be no more feen. But if thou haft other wife decreed, let the Miracles of thy Compaffion and thy wonderful Mercy fupply to him the want of the usual measures of Time, and the periods of Repentance, and the trimming of his Lamp: And let the Greatnefs of the Calamity be accepted by thee as an Inftrument to procure Pardon for thofe defects and degrees of Unreadiness which may have caufed this Accident upon thy Servant, Lord, ftir up in him a great and effectual Contrition: That the greatnefs of the Sorrow, and hatred against Sin, and the zeal of his Love

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to thee, may in a fhort time do the Work of many Days. And thou who regardeft the Heart and the measures of the Mind more than the delay and the meafures of Time, let it be thy Pleasure to rescue the Soul of thy Servant from all the Evils he hath deserved, and all the Evils that he fears; that in the Glorifications of Eternity, and the Songs which to eternal Ages thy Saints and holy Angels fhall fing to the Honour of thy mighty Name and invaluable Mercies, it may be reckoned among thy Glories, that thou haft redeemed this Soul from the dangers of an eternal Death, and made him partaker of the Gift of God, eternal Life, through Jefus Chrift our Lord. Amen.

If there be Time, the Prayers in the foregoing Offices may be added, according as they can be fitted to the prefent Circumstances.

SECT. VIII.

A Peroration concerning the Contingencies and Treating of our departed Friends after Death, in order to their Burial, &c.

HEN we have received the last Breath of our

W Friend, and clofed his Eyes, and compofed his

Body for the Grave, then feasonable is the Counsel of the Son of Sirach: Weep bitterly and make great Moan, and use Lamentation, as he is worthy, and that a Day or two, left thou be evil spoken of; and then comfort thy felf for thy Heaviness. But take no Grief to Heart; for there is no turning again: Thou shalt not do him good, but hurt thy felf. Solemn and appointed Mournings are good Expreffions of our Dearness to the departed Soul, and of his Worth and our Value of him; and it hath its Praife in Nature, and in Manners and publick Customs; but the Praise of it is not in the Gospel, that is, it hath no direct and proper ufes in Religion. For in the Lord, then there is Joy to him,

* Ὡς γενναίως Σποδεδάκρυκι με ; dixit Socrates de Ergaftulario lugente.

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