suggest the character, of the reading of all portions of the Liturgy, it may be sufficient to state that, after the prayer for the Church Militant, the Service following, in all its varied divisions, is marked by greater solemnity and reverence than any of the other Services; and, therefore, to be read with expressive propriety, should receive the emphasis of these characteristics.

THE BURIAL SERVICE.

This is the one Service, above all others, which, out of the Church and within it, is acknowledged to be as nearly perfect as any humanly ordered Service can be. The reading of it, therefore, should be with the laudable purpose of making it not merely appropriate, in an expression free from marked defects, but also to interpret it according to the most impressive effect.

The sub-bass, so to speak, of the characteristic reading of the Service is the depth of solemnity pervading every portion of it. Even in the triumphant part of the Apostle's argument, in the Lesson, the majesty of the solemnity is still heard. And with this feeling we find accompanying the tenderest sympathy for the bereaved, and the kindly prompting of the heart which yearns to give the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. A single sound of the voice, out of keeping with these characteristics in the Service, is like the utterance of a thoughtless word, or the doing of some incongruous act, which shows the heart out of sympathy with the occasion. There is no Service where the voice of the pastor may be made to convince his people that he, with St. Paul, has them in his heart, and there is no occasion when unsympathetic, unfeeling, and inappropriate reading can estrange so completely the interest and affection of parishioners.

The Sentences.-The first is designed to inspire faith in the One mighty to save. Any utterance which does not

imply the profoundest solemnity and tenderness of feeling, or fails to suggest that we may rest securely in our faith in Him who is the Resurrection and the Life, does not rightly interpret this opening passage in the Burial Service. We should endeavor to utter them as the very words of the great Conqueror of Death, employed by the Church for the instruction and comfort of bereaved hearts in the trying hour of the burial of their dead. All hurried, unfeeling, and careless utterance shocks the ear, and does not suggest the sustaining comforts of the Christian faith in the thought of the Saviour's triumph.

"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."-St. John, xi., 25, 26.

The Second Sentence.-As in the first Sentence it is the words of Christ we hear, encouraging faith, so in the second is heard the response. The language seems to apply to the assured belief of the departed. Deliberate emphasis, with confident, yet tranquil, trust, will give the key-note to the reading.

"I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another."-Job, xix., 25-27.

The Third Sentence.-With more subdued voice now follows the utterance of the reverential submission and resignation of the bereaved. Hurried utterance and negligent expression do not comport with the thoughtfulness of the quiet trust which acknowledges the Divine mercy and wisdom in ways past finding out.

"We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord.”—I. Tim. vi., 7; Job, i., 21.

The First Anthem.-If this is read, the deepest solemnity of feeling and sustained rhythmical utterance, with deliberately slow movement, low pitch of voice, and strongly marked emphasis, should characterize the reading.

"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 hast made my days as it were a span long; and mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee; and verily every man living is altogether vanity.

"For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain; he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them.

"And now, Lord, what is my hope? Truly my hope is even in thee.

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

"When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin, thou makest his beauty to consume 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 consider my calling: Hold not thy peace at my tears.

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For I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner; as all my fathers were.

"O spare me a little, that I may recover my strength; before I go hence, and be no more seen.

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'Lord, 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 everlasting, and world without end.

"Thou turnest man to destruction; again thou sayest, Come again, ye children of men.

"For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday; seeing that is past as a watch in the night.

"As soon as thou scatterest them, they are even as a sleep; and fade away suddenly 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 consume away in thy displeasure; and are afraid at thy wrathful indignation.

"Thou hast set our misdeeds before thee; and our secret sins 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 threescore years and ten; and though men be so strong that they come to fourscore years, yet is their strength then but labour and sorrow; so soon passeth it away, and we are gone.

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;

"As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen."

The Lesson should be read with the intelligent purpose of really instructing and comforting bereaved hearts with the consolations of the Christian faith. It should be read in fullest and tenderest sympathy with the mourners, and yet in full sympathy also with the majesty, glory, and triumph of the Resurrection. It is to be remembered that it is a Lesson, and therefore the voice of instruction is heard; but the intellectual rendering should not, in the least, interfere with the solemnity, the reverence, the sympathy, the majesty, and the triumph, which render the whole. passage so remarkably adapted to its use in this Service. If the voice be flippant here, in its effect, it utterly destroys the character of the inspired passage in its instructive use for this place. And again, if the utterance be too heavily weighted in depth and volume of voice, while the mystery and the awe may find expression, the tenderness and the triumph are lost. The italicized and capitalized portions

below are used simply to suggest where the expressive, interpretative emphasis falls.

"Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's, at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto Him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead? and why stand we in jeopardy every hour? I protest by your rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool! that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain. But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one kind of flesh of men, another