David in his house, and Solomon in the temple, and Peter in Christ's family, and Judas in the college of apostles, and Nicholas among the deacons, and the angels in Heaven itself did fall so foully and dishonestly; then it is prudent advice that we be not high-. minded, but feur, and, when we stand most confidently, take heed lest we fall: and yet there is nothing so likely to make us fall as pride and great opinions, which ruined the angels, which God resists, which all men despise, and which betray us into carelessness, and a wretchless, undiscerning, and unwary spirit.

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4. Now the main parts of the ecclesiastical ministery are done, and that which remains is, that the minister pray over him, and remind him to do good actions as he is capable; to call God for pardon, to put his whole trust in him, to resign himself to God's disposing, to be patient and even, to renounce every ill word, or thought, or indecent action which the violence of his sickness may cause him, to beg of God to give him his holy spirit to guide him in his agony, and his holy angels to guard him in his passage.

5. Whatsoever is besides this concerns the standersby: that they do all in their ministeries diligently and temperately; that they join with much charity and devotion in the prayer of the minister; that they make no outcries or exclamations, in the departure of the soul; and that they make no judgment concerning the dying person, by his dying quietly, or violently, with

comfort or without, with great fears or a cheerful confidence, with sense or without, like a lamb or like a lion, with convulsions or semblances of great pain, or like an expiring and a spent candle: for these happen to all men, without rule, without any known reason, but according as God pleases to dispense the grace or the punishment, for reasons only known to himself. Let us lay our hands upon our mouth, and adore the mysteries of the divine wisdom and providence, and pray to God to give the 'dying man rest and pardon, and to ourselves grace to live well, and the blessing of a holy and a happy death.

SECT. VII.

Offices to be said by the Minister in his Visitation of the Sick.

IN the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Our Father which art in Heaven, &c.

Let the Priest say this Prayer secretly.

O eternal Jesus, thou great lover of souls, who hast constituted a ministery in the church to glorify thy name, and to serve in the assistance of those that come to thee, professing thy discipline and service, give grace to me, the unworthiest of thy servants, that I in this my ministery may purely and zealously intend thy glory, and effectually may minister comfort and advantages to this sick person, (whom God assoil from No. 14.

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all his offences:) and grant that nothing of thy grace may perish to him by the unworthiness of the minister; but let thy spirit speak by me, and give me prudence and charity, wisdom and diligence, good observation and apt discourses, a certain judgment and merciful dispensation, that the soul of thy servant may pass from this state of imperfection to the perfections of the state of glory, through thy mercies, O eternal Jesus. Amen.

The Psalm.

(Psalm cxxx.) Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.

Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who should stand?

But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait; and in his word do I hope.

My soul waiteth for the Lord, more than they that watch for the morning.

Let Israel hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem his servants from all their iniquities.

(Psalm xlix. 5, 7-9.) Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the wickedness of my heels shall compass me about?

(For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever.)

That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.

But wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.

But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me.

(Psalm xvii. 15.) As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: 1 shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness.

(Psalm xvi. 11.) Thou shalt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is the fullness, at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Glory be to the Father, &c.

As it was in the beginning, &c.

Let us pray.

Almighty God, Father of mercies, the God of peace and comfort, of rest and pardon, we thy servants, though unworthy to pray to thee, yet, in duty to thee, and charity to our brother, humbly beg mercy of thec for him to descend upon his body and his soul; one sinner, O Lord, for another, the miserable for the afflicted, the poor for him that is in need; but thou givest thy graces and thy favours by the measures of thy own mercies, and in proportion to our necessities. We humbly come to thee in the name of Jesus, for the merit of our Saviour, and the mercies of our God, praying thee to pardon the sins of this thy servant, and to put them all upon the accounts of the cross, and to bury them in the grave of Jesus, that they may

never rise up in judgment against thy servant, nor bring him to shame and confusion of face in the day of final inquiry and sentence. Amen..

II.

Give thy servant patience in his sorrows, comfort in this his sickness, and restore him to health, if it seem good to thee, in order to thy great ends, and his greatest interest. And however thou shalt determine concerning him in this affair, yet make his repentance perfect, and his passage safe, and his faith strong, and his hope modest and confident; that when thou shalt call his soul from the prison of the body, it may enter into the securities and rest of the sons of God, in the bosom of blessedness, and the custodies of Jesus. Amen.

III.

Thou, O Lord, knowest all the necessities and all the infirmities of thy servant: fortify his spirit with spiritual joys and perfect resignation, and take from him all degrees of inordinate or insecure affections to this world, and enlarge his heart with desires of being with thee, and of freedom from sins, and fruition of God.

IV.

Lord, let not any pain or passion discompose the order and decency of his thoughts and duty; and lay no more upon thy servant than thou wilt make him able to bear, and together with the temptation do thou provide a way to escape; even by the mercies of a