houses, and rendered it the darling of persons of the highest rank, who have not been ashamed of being religious. It was at first dedicated to an illustrious Princess of the house of Hesse; and Queen Mary, (consort to King William III.) had so great an esteem, not to say fondness, for it, that she told our author's son, then one of her physicians, that she had read it above seven times over. After such commendation and universal approbation of Christians of all professions, it would be needless to say more. How serviceable it may be to divines in funeral sermons, in visiting the sick, the poor and afflicted, and how proper to be left as legacies to surviving friends, at funerals, I leave to others to judge, who shall sincerely desire to promote the salvation of souls. CONTENTS. Chap. An account of the author's life and writings, I. That there is nothing more dreadful and terrible than Death, to such as have no hope in God, II. That in all the philosophy of the Heathens, there is no true and solid comfort against the fears of Death, III. Of divers sorts of death, with which we are to encounter, IV. That our Lord Jesus Christ hath redeemed us from eternal death, and delivers us by degrees, from the spiritual death, V. Why we are yet subjected to the natural or corporal death, and what advantages we obtain thereby through our Lord VI. Whence proceed the Fears of Death, VII. The first remedy against the Fears of Death is, to meditate of- XI. The fifth remedy against the Fears of death is, to forsake vice, XIV. The second Consolation against the Fears of Death is, to look upon God as a merciful Fatber, and to rely upon his infinite XV. The third Consolation against the Fears of Death is, to medi- tate continually upon the death and passion of our Lord Je- sus Christ, and to rely upon the merits of his cross, XVI. The fourth Consolation against the fears of death is, to medi- tate upon our Lord Jesus Christ in his sepulchre, XVII. The fifth Consolation against the Fears of Death is, to medi- tate upon the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, XVIII. The sixth Consolation against the Fears of Death is, the ascen- sion of Jesus Christ into heaven, and his sitting down at the 367 374 378 XIX. The seventh Consolation against the Fears of Death is, our strict and inseparable union with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, and the first fruits of our blessed immortality, XX. The eighth Consolation: Death delivers us from all the mise- XXI. The ninth Consolation: Death delivers us from sin, which we see reigning in the world, and from the remains of our own XXII. The tenth Consolation arises from the happiness of the soul in XXIV. The twelfth Consolation: the destruction of death, and the The Meditations and Prayers, proper for every condition, are at the end of the several chapters unto which they belong. LIFE OF THE REV. CHARLES DRELINCOURT. EXTRACTEd chiefly from MONSIEUR BAYLE, THIS illustrious person (for what is more illustrious than true piety?) was born on the 10th of July, 1595, at Sedan, where his father, whose name was Peter Drelincourt, a gentleman of good family, had a considerable post, being at first Secretary to Henry Robert de la Mark, Duke of Buillon and sovereign Prince of Sedan, and afterwards chosen Register of the Supreme Council of that city. His mother was no less worthily descended, being the daughter of Nicholas Buyrette, advocate in the parliament of Paris, of whom we find it related, (from a manuscript life of our author) that having embraced the reformed religion, he was followed therein by his wife and children, with so much zeal, that Thomas Buyrette, his eldest son, is reckoned among the glorious company of the Protestant martyrs; and James Buyrette, his second son, having devoted himself to the ministry, would have been elected one of the pastors of the church at Paris, if he had not died the same week that was appointed for his ordination. As this exemplary piety in his mother's family, reflects so much honour upon our author, I hope the reader will not think me too circumstantial, if I take notice in this place, that his aforesaid uncle, Thomas Buyrette, was but nineteen years of age, when, by the advice of Calvin and his colleagues, he undertook the office of a minister, which he exercised with great reputation at Lyons, for some years, till the storms of persecution arising, he was obliged to retire to Geneva; but not finding any comfort, except in the discharge of his duty, he was soon after sent to Besancon; where God was pleased to give such a blessing to his labours, as to enable him to settle a church privately, and to advance the kingdom of Christ in a wonderful manner. After he had been here some time, his mother, not having seen him since he became a minister, and being passionately desirous of a visit from him, he took a journey to Paris the year of the massacre, where he fell, the third day of that dreadful slaughter, into the hands of the murderers; who having learned from him his religion and function, put him to death in a most cruel manner, together with John Mole, the husband of Mary Buy rette, his eldest sister, and inhumanely dragged both their bodies into the river. His mother narrowly escaped the same fate, by a kind of miracle, and immediately retired to Sedan, with the rest of her chil dren, whom she carefully educated in the fear of God. The youngest of these was a posthumous daughter, who was afterwards the mother of our Charles Drelincourt. To return to our author, he passed through the study of polite literature and divinity at Sedan; after which, he was sent to Saumur, to go through a course of philosophy there, under professor Duncan: at both which places he acquitted himself in such a manner as to gain the admiration and love of all who knew him. Having thus finished his preparatory studies, in the beginning of June 1618, he was admitted minister, and received imposition of hands in the castle of Precigni; after which, he went to discharge the duties of his function near Langres, whither he was called upon the following occasion. It being thought, that a church might be founded at the gates of Langres, as in a bailiwick, those who endeavoured to establish it were very pressing with Mr. Drelincourt to undertake the care of this rising church; which he readily accepted; and because he was assured there was a prospect of a considerable harvest in those parts, preferred the offer to all the others that were then made him. For though at that time he was but twenty-two years and some months old, he had the good fortune to be desired by many churches of the kingdom, and even by some of the most considerable foreign churches. Accordingly, when he came to Langres, he was filled with abundant hopes; for he found in that city a great number of people, who only seemed to wait for an opportunity of declaring themselves; and in the country, he saw the people so well disposed to embrace the purity and simplicity of the gospel, that even upon the mere report of the settlement of this church, there flocked together to the number of above six hundred, in hopes of hearing a sermon. Whilst he staid here, expecting this so much desired establishment, he often preached in the neighbouring churches, and sometimes in the castle of Precigni, where he had been ordained. For as he was not permitted to make his ordinary residence at Langres, it made him the more diligent in visiting, instructing, and comforting the protestants in the country. But when it was found impossible to obtain the necessary decree of the king's council, Mr. Drelincourt felt so deep a sorrow on this account, that it threw him into a dangerous fit of sickness which lasted three months, and brought him almost to the grave. Having recovered from this illness, he accepted of the call of the church of Paris, where he preached for the first time on the 15th March, 1620. But he always retained a particular affection # for the members of his former church. In the year 1625, he married the only daughter of a rich merchant of Paris, whose name was Boldue, (a convert from the Romish church) by whom he had sixteen children, the seven first all sons, the rest intermixed, six sons, and three daughters. Nor was the blessing of God, which showed itself in his marriage by this uncommon fruitfulness, less visible in the success of his ministry. His sermons were very edifying; he was incomparably |