Mr.

Again: "It touched my spirits extremely," says North, in giving an account of this visit, "to see the low estate of this poor old saint; and with what wonderful regard and humility he treated those who visited him, and who were not worthy to serve him, and particularly myself." Mr. North took the blessing of the dying Archbishop, and left him after a short visit of about an hour.1

So of that eminently learned divine Bishop Bull. "The good Bishop embraced him with great satisfaction, when he raised himself up in his bed to give him his blessing."

Of the apostolic Ken it is related, that "With calm collectedness he put on his shroud two days before his death, that it might not be necessary to meddle with his remains; praying, and leaving his parting blessing on those who had kindly nourished him on so long, and then gently laying down his head, breathed one sigh, and was at rest."2

That our Church deems it necessary, or at least highly advantageous to the dying man, that the parish Priest should be present when the well known signs of approaching death are giving warning that the soul is shortly to be summoned to Him Who gave it, is manifest both from her provision of a prayer for the commendation of the soul, as also from the words of the 67th Canon, which require his presence and ministerial assistance for the dying at such a time. "And when any is passing out of this life, a bell shall be tolled, and the minister shall not slack to do his last duty." There is no exception here as to time, and the physician of souls has no reason to expect to be exempt from attendance on the dying at unseasonable hours, any more than the physician of the body.

Accordingly, of the no less pious than learned Henry Dodwell, of whom mention has just been made, we learn that: "Not long before his departure, he gave me thanks, as for other expressions of my love, so for this last especially, that I would at that unseasonable time of the night afford him help and assistance. . . . He had 1 D'Oyly's Life. 2 Palin's Hist. of Church, 345.

before that, thanked his wife for her great kindness to him. When we observed him just a dying, (though somewhat sooner than we expected, having not the usual coldness in hands and feet) we presented the commendatory prayer to GOD for him; to which he was heard, by one that was nearest to him, to say, even when just expiring, Amen."

Of the holy Sancroft we are informed, that "A very short time before he breathed his last, he called for a Common Prayer Book, and he himself turned to the commendatory prayer, and ordered it to be read. That being performed, he composed himself more solemnly for his departure. He put his hands and arms down to both his sides, and desired his head to be placed lower, thus, in a manner laying himself out to receive the stroke of death. In this posture, with the utmost cheerfulness and resignation of spirit, he breathed his last."

The dying person will have done well, moreover, if he have secured a yet further privilege which belongs to him as a member of the Church of the living GOD, and as claiming the sympathy and prayers of all his fellow members. The passing bell was appointed no less as a claim on the prayers of the fellow parishioners of the dying, "to commend his weak condition to the mercy of GOD," than as a warning to them that man's is but a pilgrimage on earth, and that he never continueth long in one stay, and it will be wisdom and charity in the dying, if they claim their right whenever, as it is to be feared is widely the case, it is neglected. Besides this, they will be assisting

1 "There is no need that the 'Passing Bell' should contravene the Eighty-eighth Canon, and be 'rung superstitiously;' no prayers for the dead are wanting, the rather it is intended to awaken devotion, and to call for the prayers of the living, that so GOD, Who heareth prayer, would not suffer the soul of a dying sister or brother, for any pains of death, to fall from Him. Yes, reader, instead of running from sermon to sermon so busily as to find no time to be charitable, or to do righteousness, Christians of old were fully persuaded of the efficacy of prayer; and whenever, or wherever the Passing Bell was heard 'swinging slow, with solemn roar,' it was not unreasonably nor uncharitably presumed, that such prayers of the living at that time might be of service to the dying; or

even to their last end in upholding the discipline of the Church, or in other words, assisting to confirm.

that, in this particular district, some one might be found deserving of the name of Christian, who would not grudge a fellow Christian, a brother or a sister in JESUS CHRIST, while contending with the infirmities of his last sickness, and even then in articulo mortis, the benefit of his prayers and intercessions at the throne of grace."

We will conclude these remarks with one of the occasional meditations of the good Bishop Hall. How well did he consider this solemn sound!

Upon the Tolling of a Passing Bell.

"How doleful and heavy is this summons of death! This sound is not for our ears, but for our hearts; it calls us not only to our prayers, but to our preparation; to our prayers for the departing soul, to our preparation for our own departing. We have never so much need of prayers as in our last combat; then is our great adversary most eager; then are we weakest; then nature is so over-laboured, that it gives us not leisure to make use of gracious motions. There is no preparation so necessary as for this conflict: all our life is little enough to make ready for our last hour. What am I better than my neighbours? How oft hath this bell reported to me the farewell of many more strong and vigorous bodies than my own,-of many more cheerful and lively spirits? And now what doth it but call me to the thought of my parting? Here is no abiding for me: I must away too. Thou That art the GoD of comfort, help Thy poor servant that is now struggling with his last enemy. His sad friends stand gazing upon him and weeping over him, but they cannot succour him; needs must they leave him to do this great work alone; none but Thou, to Whom belong the issues of death, canst relieve his distressed and over-matched soul. And for me, let no man die without me; as I die daily, so teach me to die once; acquaint me beforehand with Thy messenger which I must trust to. Oh, teach me so to number my days, that I may apply my heart to true wisdom."

The following two prayers or meditations of Dr. Donne, besides affording additional testimony to the common use of the passing bell in our Church, exhibit practically the edification and spiritual benefit to the living and the dying which attended it. The first was "made by this celebrated man as he lay" on a bed of sickness, listening to the tolling of a passing bell :

66

I bless Thy glorious Name, that in this sound and voice I can

1 Works, vol. ii. p. 151. The above passage and quotation is taken from a review in the "British Critic," July 1836, on a chapter on the Passing Bell, in "Greswell's Commentary on the Burial Service."

the use of those rules which a wise religion has enjoined. And in complying with these and other like

hear Thy instructions, in another man's, to consider mine own condition; and to know that this bell which tolls for another, before it come to ring out, may take me in too. In him, O LORD, Thou hast accomplished to me even the request of Dives to Abraham; Thou hast sent one from the dead to speak unto me. He speaks to me aloud from that steeple; he whispers to me at these curtains, and he speaks Thy words, Blessed are the dead which die in the LORD from henceforth.' Let this prayer, therefore, O my GoD, be as my last gasp, my expiring, my dying in Thee, that if this be the hour of my departure, I may die the death of a sinner, drowned with my sins in the Blood of Thy SON. And if I live longer, yet I may now die the death of the righteous,' die to sin; which death is a resurrection to a new life. Thou killest, and Thou givest life. Whichsoever comes, it comes from Thee; which way soever it comes, let me come to Thee." A petition by Dr. Donne, for a sick man in the agonies of death, and while his passing bell was tolling:

66

Lay hold upon his soul, O GOD, till that soul have thoroughly considered his account, and how few minutes soever it have to remain in that body, let the power of Thy SPIRIT recompense the shortness of time, and perfect his accounts before he pass away: present his sins so to him, as that he may know what Thou forgivest, and not doubt of Thy forgiveness: let him step upon the infiniteness of Thy mercy: let him discern his own demerits, but wrap himself up in the merits of Thy SoN CHRIST JESUS. Breathe inward comforts to his heart, and afford him the power of giving such outward testimonies thereof, as all that are about him may derive comfort from thence, and have this edification, even in this dissolution, that though the body be going the way of all flesh, yet that soul is going the way of all saints. When Thy SON cried out upon the Cross, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' He spake not so much in His own Person.as in the person of the Church, and of His afflicted members, who in deep distresses might fear Thy forsakings. This patient, O most blessed GOD, is one of them: in his behalf, and in his name hear Thy SON crying to Thee, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' and forsake him not; but with Thy left hand lay his body in the grave (if that be Thy determination upon him), and with Thy right hand receive his soul into Thy kingdom, and unite him and us in one communion of saints. Amen.""

From a writer also in the "Ecclesiastic we are informed that, there is abundant evidence to prove, that the custom was not uncommonly observed, even so late as the early part of the 18th century. The English Reformers, although disposed to check, by every means, "the superstitious ringing of bells," yet evidently laid great weight upon the continuance of the passing bell. In

1 Quoted from Clissold's Last Hours of Christian men, 80.

practices, and so strengthening the hands of the servants of God, they will be breathing out their soul

"the advertisements for due order in the public administration of Common Prayer and Holy Sacraments," issued in the seventh year of Queen Elizabeth, we find the following injunction : Item: That when any Christian bodye is in passing, that the bell be tolled, and that the Curate be specially called for to comforte the sicke person, and after the tyme of his passinge to ringe no more but one shorte peale, and one before the buriall, and another shorte peale after the buriall." This injunction was afterwards embodied in our Sixty-seventh Canon. It was customary for Archdeacons at their visitations to make inquiry upon this point. Brand gives us a few of their queries. Whether doth the clerk or sexton, when any one is passing out of this life, neglect to toll a bell, having notice thereof; or the party being dead, doth he suffer any more ringing than one short peal, and before his burial one, and after the same another? Item: Whether there be any superstitious ringing ?2 Doth the parish clerk or sexton take care to admonish the living, by tolling a passing bell of any that are dying, thereby to meditate of their own deaths, and to commend the other's weak condition to the mercy of GOD?3 Doth the parish clerk or sexton, when any person is passing out of this life, upon notice being given him thereof, toll a bell, as hath been accustomed, that the neighbours may thereby be warned to recommend the dying person to the grace and favour of GOD ?4 The following curious entry, in the diary of Robert Birrel, preserved in "6 Fragments of Scottish History," is also referred to by the same author: "1566. The 25th of October. Word came to the town of Edinburgh from the Queen, that her Majesty was deadly sick, and desired the bells to be rung, and all the people to resort to the church, to pray for her, for she was so sick that none ligned her life."

Another extract from a controversial work of the same period: "If they should toll their bells (as they did in good King Edward's days) when any body is drawing to his end, and departing out of this world, for to cause all men to pray unto God for him, that of His accustomed goodness and mercy, He should vouchsafe to receive him unto His mercy, forgiving him all his sins; their ringing should have better appearance, and should be more conformable to the ancient Catholic Church."'6

The following extract, from the account of the death of Lady Catharine Grey, Countess of Hertford, will be read with interest: Whereby Sir Owen, perceiving her to draw towards her end,

66

1 Cardwell's Doc. Annals, vol. i. p. 292.

2 Articles Visitat. Archdeac. York, an. inc. not later than 1640.

3 Art. Vis. Dioc. Worcester, 1662.

4 Art. Vis. Dioc. S. David's, 1662.

5 Quarto edit., 1798.

6 Huntings of Purgatory to Death. Lond. 1561, fol. 60.