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Short Sermon.

BY FREDERICK LAWRENCE, B.A., VICAR OF WESTOW, YORK.

CHRISTIAN BURIAL.

Hebrews, ii. 14, 15.-'Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.'

HAT notion of death did most of us get when we were young? That it was an appalling thing. That it was the end of all that was beautiful, and bright, and hopeful. A relative died; the house was darkened; one thought seemed uppermost: the preparation of black attire for all, even for the little children. On the day of burial a black-plumed hearse carried away the body, and in all the visible surroundings there was not one ray of hope. True, in the words of the Prayer-book, there was hope, but all that met the eye gave the lie to that hope. The tendency of this was to create a shudder at the very thought of death; to render them all their lifetime subject to bondage; to cause preparation for death to be avoided as something too terrible to think of; to suggest that it was best to get all we could out of this world and to forget the next; to eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.'

To appreciate the extent to which the idea of the life on earth has been impoverished by an imperfect and mistaken idea of death, we must strive to know wherein lies the true significance of this life. Compared with that part of life which is to come hereafter, this life is only as the single drop of water to the mighty deep. Life has hardly begun when that which we call death comes. Our life only begins in this world, to be developed and perfected hereafter. Life on this side the grave borrows its significance from what shall be hereafter, and can only be understood when considered in reference thereto. Imperfect and miserably impoverished is that life on earth which is not conscious of the sublime onward march which awaits it after death. This life is of the utmost importance, but only in so far as it relates to the life to come. Imperfect, stunted, and dwarfed is that life which wraps itself up in the present; and, in so far as our funeral observances tend to produce this result, so far do they need to be reformed.

Each day well lived is an epitome of life. We rise every morning to a new life; a life wrapped up in a few hours, yet full of the richest promise. We thank God for raising us up to a new day-a new life. We ask Him to guide and keep us all the day. We go forth to do our duty in that state of life to which God hath called us. We try to glorify God and His Christ, and to abide during all the hours in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. We strive to bless and help our brethren. And so the happy day runs its course, and at last we commend soul and body to the keeping of Him Who neither slumbereth nor sleepeth. We ask forgiveness for Christ's sake, and we lay ourselves down, and what? We lay ourselves down and, in a sense, we die. Verily, every night we die. Sleep, brother to Death.' God in His infinite love has given us many rehearsals of death. And our prayer every night is,— 'Teach me to live, that I may dread The grave as little as my bed.'

Short Sermon.

So the lifetime of the days runs its course, and at last the physician bids us put our house in order. Why, that we have done every night. We are quite ready; there's nought to do but wait till the Lord calls. This is our song: The night is far spent, the day is at hand.' And Who stands upon the farther shore to welcome us? Even Jesus Christ our Lord, Who hath overcome the sharpness of death and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. So at length we fall into the last sleep, to wake in Paradise. There is no death; what seems so is transition.'

'The Christian man

the angel Death."

hath three friends himself, his God, and

Death, then, being the beginning of a higher life, what should be our funeral observances? There must be real heartfelt sorrow on the part of those who are left behind-for this is natural and scriptural; but instead of the unmeaning pomp and dismal pageantry of processional paraphernalia, and the conventional exhibition of extravagant fashionable mourning attire, which involve unprofitable expenditure, inflict severe hardship upon persons of limited means, and neither mitigate grief nor manifest respect for the dead, there should be the exercise and outward manifestation of the three Christian principles-Faith, Hope, and Love.

Faith prevents excessive Grief.-Faith in God the Father; Faith in God the Son, Who hath made known a full and free salvation to all who truly repent and unfeignedly believe God's holy Gospel; Faith in the Holy Spirit, Whose fruits are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.' Oh the boundless love of the Most High! It is He Who gave. It is He Who hath taken away. Shall we not add, 'Blessed be the Name of the Lord?' To yield to inordinate grief were to dishonour God. Faith in God and zeal in the work which God has given us to do on earth will make the poignancy of our grief to pass away.

Hope inspires an Expression of Brightness in the midst of Sorrow. -If there were no Hope, it were fitting to cover everything with black, the symbol of despair, and to carve upon the gravestone the inverted torch, the symbol of extinction. But, thank God, there is Hope. Christ came to bring life and immortality to light. The soul of the departed one is in the loving keeping of Him Who hath the key of Paradise. The body that we lay in the grave in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord, is in the loving keeping of Him Who hath the key of the grave. So we use flowers, which we cull from our own gardens, emblems of the infinitely varied and tender love of God; emblems, too, of the Resurrection. And we sing a psalm or a hymn. And we do not place over the grave the pagan urn, nor the broken column, nor any costly monument, for is not Death the great leveller? but rather some simple symbol instinct with Christian intention and expressing Christian Hope.

Love manifests itself towards the Departed, the Bereaved, the Bearers, the Neighbours, and poorer Brethren.-Love for the departed would dictate that regard be had to his wishes with respect to the avoidance of all ostentatious and expensive arrangements; that the greatest reverence be paid to his body, and that, wherever possible, his own immediate friends perform the last offices, and bear him to his burial, as 'devout

Short Sermon.

men bore Stephen to his burial;' that no attempt be made to preserve the body, and that there be no brick grave or vault, but that the body be placed in the simple earth, to return naturally to the earth whence it came-Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust;' reminding as of God's primæval sentence, Unto dust shalt thou return.'

Love to the bereaved would dictate that there be no intrusion upon their sorrow, that friends meet at the church or cemetery rather than at the house of mourning, and take no part in feasting before or after the burial.

Love or consideration for the bereaved would dictate that the coffin be made as light as possible, and that, unless there be special reasons, there be no metallic or leaden coffin.

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Love for the neighbours and poorer brethren would dictate that simplicity, economy, and good taste be observed in every detail. Recognising the fact that ostentation is repugnant to the higher feelings, the rich would think of others when they bury their own lead, and would prove by their example that the exercise of economy is no evidence of want of respect or of love; and instead of lavishing much upon coffin, funeral ceremonial, and mourning apparel, they would show their respect for the dead by some gift which would benefit the living, some gift to God's Church, some gift to His poor. A great thinker has written: The retention of funeral emblems and ceremonial, beyond doubt of pagan origin, has impoverished and disturbed our idea of life. It has fostered the notion of rude interruption or severance in that which we should feel assured is an orderly and continuous progress; it has led us to draw a rigid line between the living and the departed who are united in an indissoluble fellowship. We speak as if our time here were the only season for activity and energy, to be followed by an immeasurably prolonged season of inaction and rest. We speak as though with the end of our sojourn here all effort would end absolutely. We have not the smallest warrant for any such conclusions; not the smallest justification for expressing them in the symbols employed at our funerals or in our graven epitaphs. It has been the delight of minds like that of Bishop Butler to remember that as the Church is militant here, so it will be endowed with powers which will enable it to “combat with greater advantage hereafter, and enjoy its consequent rewards in some future states." Their joy has its foundation in the assurance that the great battle between righteousness and sin shall be carried on to the increasing victory of right over wrong, of truth over falsehood, until the principle of spiritual death, which is the only real death, is extinguished in the consummation of the kingdom of God. What we call the death of the body is a change of which we do not comprehend the nature, and see only certain results which impress themselves upon our senses. The only death to be mourned and dreaded is the death of sin, from which we pray that God will in His boundless love raise us to the life of righteousness.'

A Christian funeral should, in its ritual throughout, symbolise the Christian principles of Faith, Hope, and Love, and thus bear witness in the most effective way to the freedom from the bondage ard fear of death which is theirs who truly believe in Him Who by His death hath overcome death.

DURSLEY-continued.

The Rev. C. Taylor, Diocesan Inspector, examined the Schools in Religious Knowledge on St. John the Baptist's Day, June 24. We hope to print his Report next month

The Annual Sunday School Festival is fixed for Wednesday, July 9. The funds collected allow for Tea being provided for the children and teachers only, but all subscribers and other friends who take an interest in the Schools, will be welcome to the field-the Pump Ground, kindly lent as usual by Mr. Blandford. The children assemble at the Rectory at 2 o'clock, and will have Tea about 4 o'clock.

We understand that the Volunteers will very shortly encamp once again on Stinchcombe Hill. They are expected to arrive on Saturday, July 12th.

Church Temperance Society.-The Annual Summer Meeting, consisting of a Public Tea, followed by Addresses, will take place on Tuesday, July 8. Should the weather prove favourable the meeting will be held in the Rectory Field; if not, at the Coffee Tavern. After Tea, Mr. John Abbey, a well-known advocate of Temperance, will give an Address. Tickets will be sold by Mr. London, Mr. Rudge, and other Members of the Committee, and should be taken by Saturday Evening, a limited number only being sold on Monday, at a higher price. Mr. Abbey will also speak at a Farmers' Conference in the Town Hall, the same afternoon at 2.30, when J. H. Borrer, Esq., of Uley, has kindly consented to take the chair. Further particulars are given in the bills already issued.

He

Mr. A. C. Madan reached England safely on June 30. has brought with him from Zanzibar, two African boys, one of whom has been for some time a Pupil Teacher in the Boys' School at Kiungani, and, being a very steady promising youth, is being brought to England to receive further education. He will shortly go to St. Augustine's Missionary College, at Canterbury, and it is hoped that he will in time be ordained, and return to Africa to teach his own people.

CHURCH REGISTER.

BAPTISMS.

June 8-Margaret Louisa, daughter of William Henry and Mary Jane Druce, Church Steps.

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22-Percy Reginald, son of George Herbert and Emily
Dainton, Parsonage Street.

27-George, son of Eli and Hannah Smith, Slad Lane.
29-George Alfred, son of Andrew and Harriet Rebecca

Lewis, Uley.

MARRIAGES.

June 4-Joseph Longstreet Hill, Upper Cam, and Charlotte

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Hill, Dursley.

11-George Richard Newman, Wigan, and Elizabeth Emily Hardwick, Dursley.

19-John Benjamin Champion, Dursley, and Frances Ellen Ind, Dursley.

BURIAL.

June 19-Elizabeth Harris, aged 66 years.

KING-STANLEY.

The Mid-day Offertory and Evening Collection on Sunday, June 1st, for Alms and Church Expenses, amounted to 2. 13s. 8d. Whit-Sunday happening on this day, there was also an Early Celebration of the Holy Communion, and the total number of Communicants was 47: a considerably less number than on the same day last year; the difference can not altogether be accounted for, by the re-opening of the two neighbouring Churches.

In the School Children's Kalendar, School Feast Day ranks very high, and fair weather on that day is by them rightly regarded as the Light of the Countenance of a kind Providence lifted upon them. To the responsible entertainers, it is a source of very hearty thankfulness; and doubtless this was the general sentiment in the Borough of Stroud, where not only a fine, but temperate day was realised on Whitsun-Monday. The old order in this village was observed, and all fell into their ranks at the, appointed hour, with flag and garland distinguishing the Classes: the Girls' classes headed by the brass band, now of Provincial celebrity, and the Boys' classes, led by the newlyre-suscitated drum and fife band, with undiminished energy and goodwill. The circuit of the Borough was made by the long and orderly train, the Clergy heading the Procession. Assembled in God's House, they formed a most orderly and attentive congregation, filling the Church with the music of familiar Hymns. At the end of a short Service of Prayer and Praise the Rector addressed them on the nature of True Joy, from Psalm xxvii. 6 v. "I will offer in His Tabernacle sacrifices of Joy, I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord," and it was felt that such Service in "His Tabernacle" was a true beginning for a day of Joy. Dispersed to their homes at the end of the Service, the Classes were collected again at 3 o'clock in the School-room, and soon assembled at their tables on the Rectory lawn. Friendly assistants are never wanting on these occasions to wait on the children at their tea, and to administer to them their supplies; the time occupied seemed unusually short, so eager were the children for the games. Generous Friends, who have made "the Bran Pie" an institution, filled it abundantly this year, and the claims of all comers were answered, without the disappointment of blanks. The wisdom of the change of the day from Tuesday to Monday has become apparent to all. The Rector and Mrs. Gibson know whom they are entertaining, and the children, perfectly free and unrestrained, are surrounded with relatives and familiar friends; and the joy of the close of the Feast, somewhat late, reminded some of the termination of the Feasts in years gone by. Many besides the children felt the cruel descent of evening on the

scene.

The First Sunday after Trinity, 15th June, was observed according to arrangement, as Hospital Sunday; an Early Celebration of the Holy Communion began the day's Services; the amount of this and the Mid-day Offertory with Evening Collection reached the sum of £7. 6s. 4d., the largest Collection yet made for the Hospital Fund. It was paid to the Treasurer's

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