a special (very brief) Altar-Service is provided, the Gospel being the same as in the Communion of the Sick.

At the time of Execution, entire discretion is left with the Minister as to devotions, but any public profession or declaration is deprecated as not to edification. A "Prayer for Imprisoned Debtors" once stood at this place, but such a punishment is long since obsolete. Perhaps no Christian duty is more generally neglected by laymen than the humane one, set forth in these Offices, which, without hope of temporal reward, is specially named by the Master as a title to His favour. It may well be undertaken by organized effort, and thereby secure the regularity and efficiency which must be lacking if left entirely to individuals.

Strange as it may seem there is no provision made in either English Book for FORMS OF PRAYER TO BE USED IN FAMILIES. These dear and familiar words were added at the first American revision, and are substantially derived from Gibson, Bishop of London. In addition to the semi-daily private devotions which (at the least) are necessary for all Christians, and to which concerted noon-day intercessions may well be added, the Church here sets forth forms for use in the family circle. The family was the first estate ordained of God, and from it Church and State alike have sprung. The home is the great training-ground of character and the seed-bed of moral and religious life; and nursery guidance and prayer at the hearthstone lie at the tap-root of all the religion of the family.

As still with the wandering Sheikhs of Arabia (the

lineal descendants of Abraham, the father of the faithful), it is the inherent right, privilege and duty of every parent to be the priest of the household, and this function need not be deputed even to an actual Priest, when such an one is beneath its roof. The same rules should govern the saying of Grace before every meal at the family board, the common and habitual meeting-ground of all its members; when the thanks which would not in courtesy be withheld from a stranger are to be rendered to "the Giver of every good and perfect gift" for the daily sustenance of our perishing bodies.

The forms here set forth may be taken as models, for which others of a well-appointed sort may be substituted; and of these there are many Manuals of a varied character to be had. Where it is practicable the household servants should be allowed to share this privilege. The rubric enjoining occasional readings from the New Testament is to be considered as only a minimum of prescription. Households are differently circumstanced, but where the determination exists there are few which cannot sustain a daily or semi-daily reading from the Testaments (Old or New), for which the daily Lectionary furnishes a thoughtful and ample guide. If there are children, these readings may pleasantly and profitably be made responsive.

In the Morning form here given, God's mercies for the night past are acknowledged, self-dedication is made anew, and Divine grace and guidance are besought for the coming day. At Evening, confession of the day's shortcomings is followed by a Prayer for pardon and grace, intercession for others is mingled with thanksgiving for our own manifold blessings, and protection is im

plored for the coming night. The Lord's Prayer and the Apostolic Grace are constituent portions of these abbreviated forms of the Daily Service.

R

XXX.

THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD.

"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.

"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.”— Revelation xiv. 13.

EVERENT BURIAL OF THE DEAD was and is uni

versal even among the heathen, but the early Christian Rites were so distinctive that they became powerful influences in the conversion of the Roman Empire. To attack the hope of resurrection thus manifested was one cause of the choice by persecutors of martyrdom by the ordeal of fire. Christ's own burial became the pattern, and interment in caves and tombs was common in the early Church. In Rome the Catacombs, huge underground labyrinths begun by heathens, were completed and used by Christians as hiding-places of refuge and worship as well as of sepulture, and countless evidences of the latter still exist. Care was taken whenever possible to provide Christian cemeteries. Burial Services were simple and devout, free from the expense and ostentation so common to Orientals, accompanied with hymns and hopeful em

blems, showing a reverent care for the body, but devoid of superstition.

Our present Office has no equal in Christendom, and shares with that for Matrimony the tribute of being largely borrowed by other religious bodies. It is in absolute harmony with Holy Scripture, full of a severe yet simple grandeur and of lofty faith, and variations only mar its beauty. It is derived from two ancient Offices, that of the "Commendation of the Soul" which was said in part at the home, and that of the Burial proper at the Church and grave. That it was compiled in times of strict and pure discipline is evinced by its opening rubric, which provides that three classes must forego its special consolations. Another Service, with the Bishop's approval, such may have, but not this, which is manifestly inapplicable to the unbaptized, to those formally excommunicate, and to suicides. The first class were never admitted to the express privileges of the Christian Covenant, the second have been cut off from it, and the third have voluntarily removed themselves from the sphere of its sanctions. If suicide was caused by insanity, discretion in use lies with the Minister, who should be guided in this respect by the legal verdict of a coroner's jury. As to the first case he would perhaps be justified, in these days of ecclesiastical confusion, in assuming the fact of Baptism unless put upon his guard.

The INTRODUCTORY PORTION of the Office is now generally preceded by brief selected Prayers offered at the home, and far too often the entire Service is held there, though the Prayer Book makes no such provision. If this must be the case, attending Church people should see to it by previous preparation that the Service is not deprived