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The Burial of the Dead.

Here is to be noted, that the Office enfuing is not to be used for any that die unbaptized, or excommunicate, or have laid violent hands upon themselves.

The Prieft and Clerks meeting the Corpfe at the entrance of the Church-yard, and going before it, either into the Church, or towards the grave, fhall fay, or fing,

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AM the refurrection and the life, faith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet he live; and whofoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die. St. John xi. 25, 26.

The order, Sc. The end of funeral duties is to fhew that love towards the party deceased which nature requireth; then to do him that bonour which is fit generally for man, and particularly for the qualities of his perfon; laft of all to teftify the care which the church hath to comfort the living, and the hope which we all have concerning the refurrection of the dead.-Hooker's Ecc. Pol. b. v. fec. 75. It may tend to the illustration of this fervice, and the entertainment of the reader, if we make a few remarks on the places where, and the ceremonies with which, the an cient Chriftians buried the bodies of deceased believers. It was an admirable regulation of the Roman law, that no corpfe fhould be buried or burned within the city; (in urbe ne fepelito, neve urito; Cic. de Leg. lib. ii. n. 58;) and the Chriftians, for the fpace of 300 years living in fubjection to the Roman laws, paid the ftricteft obedience to this falutary ordinance. They, like their mafters, buried their dead by the fide of the great roads without the city; or in vaults excavated in the neighbouring fields. Even when Chriftianity became the religion of the ftate, the fame wife cuftom remained in force; and the believing Emperors for feveral years prohibited all interments in cities or churches. But towards the clofe of the fourth century, in compliment to the memory of martyrs, their afhes were either permitted to be tranflated into places of worship; or churches were de voutly built over the spots where their bones repofed. This privilege, in a fhort time, very naturally was transferred to emperors and princes, whofe remains were permitted to be deposited in the (Пgovaos) atrium, or church porch, and other outer buildings attached to the facred edifice. The favour, however, did not long continue to be exclufively claimed by thofe of royal blood; the lefs dignified orders were generally indulged with it; and in the beginning of the 6th century the atrium, or church porch, was open for the fepulture of the people; and kings, bishops, and founders of churches, were allowed by law to be buried within the church. But time, who imperceptibly weakens or deftroys all regulations, at length permitted the middling claffes to be buried within the church, if they had the fanction of the bithops and prefbyters fo to do; and though after this indulgence had been granted, (which took place in the 9th century) laws were occafionally made to prevent inhumation in churches, yet the practice gained fuch ftrength by ufe, and was fo much corroborated by Pope Leo III.'s decree for an hereditary right of fepulture in churches to the defcendants of thofe who had been formerly buried there, that towards the close of the 13th century the original wholefome laws against this

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KNOW that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall ftand at the latter day upon the earth.

after my fkin, worms deftroy this body; yet in my flesh fhall I fee God: whom I fhall fee for myfelf, and mine eyes fhall behold, and not another. Job xix. 25, 26, 27. practice were entirely laid afide. Perhaps the general defire of the great, in the early ages, to be buried in churches, arose from the circumftance that church-yards were not confecrated by any religious form, till the latter end of the 6th century; and the fuperftition of ignorant ages, occafioned a natural preference to places of interment hallowed by thefe folemn rites. Sepulchral fpots were indeed efteemed facred by the heathens, and guarded from violation by thofe civil laws, which contínue in force to the prefent day; (Cod. Juftin. lib. 9; tit. 19, leg. 1;) but this did not fantify them fufficiently to gratify the feelings of Chriftians; and confequently the church was earneftly defired as the place for the final reft of their remains. The early believers alfo varied their mode, as well as their place of burial as much as poflible from the heathens. With the latter it was cuftomary, as is fufficiently known, to burn the dead; a practice which the former diligently avoided, and instead thereof buried the body whole in the ground. As the Chriftians, however, were a perfecuted fect for 300 years, it feems probable that they might be frequently compelled by their malignant enemies to forego their own accuftomed mode of fepulture, and to comply with the heathen practice of burning their dead; to which inftances of compulfory cremation, it appears to me thefe remarkable words in our burial fervice, "afhes to afhes," obviously refer. Another marked difference between the Chriftians and the heathens in their ceremonies of burial was, that whereas the latter buried their dead in the night, the former performed this pious work in the day; and the diffimilarity was rendered ftill more remarkable by the folemn pfalmody which was fung at the funeral proceffions of the Chriftians, in contra-diftinction to the nania, or burial ode of the heathens, accompanied by the mufic of pipes and trumpets. Having reached the church, if the interment were performed in the morning, the congregation went through the whole of that fervice, adding to it the facrament of the Eucharift; an ancient practice which was preferved by our reformers, and retained in Edward the VIth's first book, but omitted in his fecond. If it were an afternoon funeral, the fervice was as follows: hymns and thanksgivings to God for the victorious end of the deceased, and a prayer for a fimilar death; a prayer by the bishop, of grateful thanks to God for the grace He had bestowed on the departed, to enable him to endure unto the end; a portion of fcripture, read by the deacon, containing the promises of a refurrection; and a hymn on the fame fubject. This was the firft fervice, on the performance of which the catechifts departed; and this feems to have been very fimilar to what we at present ufe. The remaining part of the fervice confifted of the following particulars, fome of which were continued by the Romanists quite to the Reformation, but rejected by our Reformers as fuperftitious:a commemoration, by a chief deacon, of all faints departed, attributing to them titles and praises, and exhorting all to follow their example: a prayer for the deceased, by the bishop; after which the bishop gave him the kiss of peace, anointed him with holy oil, and then committed him to the earth. All the above privileges were enjoyed, (amongst the ancient Christians) by every defoription of believers, except the three following claffes, en whofe exclufion from Christian fepulture our own church has founded

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E brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; bleffed be the Name of the Lord. 1 Tim. vi. 7; Job. i. 21.

her exceptions:-All catechumens dying in a voluntary neglect of baptifm; all biathaniti, or fuch as laid violent hands on themfelves; and all excommunicated perfons who continued obftinate and impenitent, in a manifeft contempt of the difcipline and cenfure of the church.

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Name of the Lord] The above three paffages of holy fcripture commence the burial fervice in Edward VIth's firft book. The order of it then differs from the present arrangement in the following particulars:Rubric, "When they be come to the grave," &c. then Man that is born of a woman,' &c. Rubric, "Then the priest cafting earth upon the corpfe fhall fay, I commend thy foul to God the Father Almighty, and thy body to the ground, earth to earth,' &c. "Then fhall be faid or fung 'I heard a voice,' &c. Let us pray, We commend into thy hands of mercy, most merciful Father, the foul of this our brother departed, N.; and his body we commit to the earth, befeeching thine infinite goodness to give us grace to live in thy fear and love, and to die in thy favour; that when the judgment fhall come which thou haft committed to thy wellbeloved Son, both this our brother and we may be found acceptable in thy fight and receive that blefling which thy well-beloved Son,' &c. Rubric, "This prayer fhall alfo be added, Almighty God, we give thee hearty thanks for this thy fervant, whom thou haft delivered from the miseries of this wretched world, from the body of death, and all temptation; and as we truft, haft brought his foul, which he committed into thy holy hands, into fure confolation and reft; grant, we beseech thee, that at the day of judgment his foul, and all the fouls of thy elect, departed out of this life, may with us, and we with them, fully receive thy promifes, and be made perfect altogether, through the glorious refurrection of thy Son Jefus Chrift. Rubric, "Thefe pfalms, with other fuffrages following, are to be faid in the church, either before or after the burial of the corpfe: pfalm cxv. pf. clxvi. Note, that this pfalm is to be faid after the other that followeth. Pfalm cxxix.; the leffon, 1 Cor. xv. 2o." "The leffon ended, then fhall the priest say,

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'Lord, have mercy upon us.

Chrift, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

Our Father, which art in heaven, &c.

And lead us not into temptation.

Anfw. But deliver us from evil. Amen.

Prief. Enter not, O Lord, into judgment with thy fervant.

Anfw. For in thy fight no living creature fhall be justified.

Prieft. From the gates of hell

Anfw. Deliver their fouls, O Lord,

Prielt. I believe to fee the goodness of the Lord,

Anf. In the land of the living.

Prieft. O Lord, graciously hear my prayer,

Anfw. And let my cry come unto thee.

Let us pray.

O Lor with whom do live the fpirits of them that be dead; and in whom the fo is of them that be elected, after they be delivered from the

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After they are come into the Church, fhall be read one or both of thefe Pfalms following.

Pfalm xxxix. Dixi, cuftodiam.

SAID, I will take heed to my ways that I offend not in my tongue.

I will keep my mouth as it were with a bridle: while the ungodly is in my fight.

I held my tongue, and spake nothing: I kept filence, yea, even from good words; but it was pain and grief to me. My heart was hot within me; and while I was thus mufing, the fire kindled: and at the laft I fpake with my tongue;

Lord, let me know my end, and the number of my days: that I may be certified how long I have to live.

Behold, thou haft made my days as it were a fpan long: and mine age is even as nothing in refpect of thee; and verily every man living is altogether vanity.

For man walketh in a vain fhadow, and difquieteth himself in vain: he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who fhall gather them.

And now, Lord, what is my hope: truly my hope is even in thee.

burthen of the flesh, be in joy and felicity: Grant unto this thy fervant, that the fins which he hath committed in this world be not imputed unto him, but that he, escaping the gates of hell, and pains of eternal darknefs, may ever dwell in the regions of light, with Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, in the place where there is no weeping, forrow, nor heavinefs; and when that dreadful day of the general refurrection fhall come, make him to rife alfo with the juft and righteous; and receive this body again to glory, then made pure and incorruptible: fet him on the right hand of thy Son Jefus Chrift, among thy holy and elect, that then he may hear with them these moft fweet and comfortable words: Come to me, ye bleffed of my Father, poffefs the kingdom which hath been prepared for you from the beginning of the world. Grant this, we beseech thee, O merciful Father, through Jefus Chrift our Mediator and Redeemer. Amen.'

Rubric, "The celebration of the holy communion, when there is a bu rial of the dead: pfalm lxii; the collect, O merciful God, the Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift, who is the refurrection and the life,' &c.; the epiftle, I Theff. iv.; the gospel, John vi. In King Edward the VIth's fecond book, the three pfalms cxvith, cxxxixth, clxvth, were omitted, and none appointed in their place till the review 1662; but the leffon was directed to be read after the interment. The service for the communion was alfo left out. The xxxixth and cxth pfalms were introduced, and the prefent arrangement was made at the review 1662.

Deliver me from all mine offences: and make me not a rebuke unto the foolish.

I became dumb, and opened not my mouth: for it was thy doing.

Take thy plague away from me: I am even confumed by means of thy heavy hand.

When thou with rebukes doft chaften man for fin, thou makeft his beauty to confume away, like as it were a moth fretting a garment: every man therefore is but vanity.

Hear my prayer, O Lord, and 'with thine ears confider my calling: hold not thy peace at my tears;

For I am a ftranger with thee, and a fojourner, as all my fathers were.

O fpare me a little, that I may recover my ftrength: before I go hence, and be no more feen.

Glory be to the Father, &c.

As it was in the beginning, &c.

Pfalm xc. Domine, refugium.

ORD, thou hast been our refuge: from one generation to another.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made: thou art God from everlafting, and world without end.

Thou turneft man to deftruction: again thou fayest, Come again, ye children of men.

For a thousand years in thy fight are but as yesterday: feeing that is past as a watch in the night.

As foon as thou fcattereft them, they are even as a fleep: and fade away fuddenly like the grass.

In the morning it is green, and groweth up: but in the evening it is cut down, dried up, and withered.

For we confume away in thy difpleasure: and are afraid at thy wrathful indignation.

Thou haft fet our misdeeds before thee: and our fecret fins in the light of thy countenance.

For when thou art angry, all our days are gone: we bring our years to an end, as it were a tale that is told. The days of our age are threefcore years and ten; and though men be so ftrong, that they come to fourfcore

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