through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who sendest forth thy spirit and we are created, and who takest away our breath, and we die and return to our dust, we bow in reverence before thy inscrutable judgments; remembering that thou, who orderest all things according to thine own will in heaven and earth, art also our merciful and loving Father, who dost not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men, but dost correct us, that we may be partakers of thy holiness. We would therefore be subject unto thee, saying, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Amen.

AND now we follow to the house appointed for all living, the dust of our dear brother, whom thou hast been pleased to call out of this sinful and dying world :

We commit his body to the grave; dust to dust, ashes to ashes, earth to earth, till that great day of thy judgment, when earth and sea. shall give up their dead:

Not sorrowing as others who have no hope; but believing, that as Jesus died and rose again, so them that sleep in Jesus thou wilt bring with him; that being cleansed from sin, and redeemed from the bondage of death, they may reign in immortal life, with Christ our Lord, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to that working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself. Amen.

I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.-Rev. xiv.

Let us pray.

LORD, increase our faith.

M

ERCIFUL GOD, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we give thee humble and hearty thanks for all thy servants who are fallen asleep in the Lord, and have received the end of their faith, even the salvation of their souls.

For all thy goodness and mercy vouchsafed to them in their earthly pilgrimage, we give thee praise and glory.

It is of thy grace that they fought the good fight and kept the faith, and have obtained the unfading crown, being conquerors, yea, more than conquerors, through him that loved us.

We magnify thy name, O God, our Father and their Father, that their trials and temptations being ended, sickness and death being past, with all the dangers and miseries of this present life, they have entered into the joy of their Lord, and are in perfect peace and felicity in thy presence for ever: their spirits being glorified with thee, and their bodies resting in the grave until the resurrection of the just.

May we, animated by their good examples, run the race that is set before us; not being weary in well-doing, or fainting when we are rebuked of thee; that when this transitory world is passed away, we may again be joined with our dear friends, departed in the Lord, in a perfect union and communion for ever, in thy kingdom of glory, where there shall be no more sickness or sighing, pain, sorrow, or death,

for the former things shall have passed away. Amen.

GRANT us true repentance, and remission of all our sins: Cleanse us from all our iniquities: Deliver us from the dominion of sin, that we may be delivered from the fear and the power of death. And not knowing at what hour the Lord shall come, may we be sober and watch unto prayer, daily meditating on mortality and immortality, and giving all diligence to make our calling and election sure; that when Christ, who is our life, shall appear the second time in glory, we may appear with him, and receive that sentence, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

These things we ask, not in our own name, or trusting in our own worthiness, but for thy mercy's sake, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, and rose again for our justification, and who taught us thus to pray,

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed

be thy name. Thy kingdom come.

be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Thy will
Give us

this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen.

BENEDICTION.

THE grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

Or, instead of the foregoing, the following prayers (from the Dutch Reformed Liturgy) may be used.

GOD, merciful God, Father of our Lord

Jesus Christ, who hath said, Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted: Under the shadow of thy judgments we come to thee, and acknowledge thee to be Lord alone. Thou hast entered this house with thy chastenings: O be thou nigh in thy tender compassion to these afflicted ones. Bless thy sorrowing servants with thy consolations, which are neither few nor small. Convert them wholly to thyself, and fill their bleeding hearts with thy love.