indisposed, he forced himself to preach at Charenton, against the advice of his physicians, and he continued in the exercise of his function. On the 9th of May he opened the synod of Charenton, and at the conclusion of his speech he received the applauses of his brethren there assembled, for which he gave God thanks for having enabled him with so much strength; and on the 12th of Sept. 1669, being a fast-day, he preached again twice in the Court of the Temple, with much freedom and vigour. This interval of health continued till the 27th of October following, when in his turn he preached at Charenton; and his auditors found that he spoke with much freedom, and powerfully. It is remarkable, that he left the epistle of St. Peter, that he was expounding before, and chose for a text, Psa.li. 7,8. "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."

This last sermon was looked upon afterwards as a presage he had of his death, and a preparation for it, by desiring the pardon of his sins, and a cleansing from all the pollutions of his flesh and spirit, through the infinite mercy of God, and the blood of his Saviour. The whole audience were very well satisfied with his last performance, which they judged to be excellent, and worthy to crown all his former religious exercises. At his return to the city he spent the rest of the sabbath in acts of piety and charity; and, at his return home, being desirous to enjoy the company of all his family then at Paris, he supped with them, and seemed very pleasant in his discourse; he continued well on Monday, and the next day, till the 29th of October, the fatal day in which his mortal distemper began to attack him; from that morning he felt an indis position, and had no appetite at dinner; yet could not forbear visiting sick persons in his district. This good man came home very feeble, and out of order, with a fever upon him. Some time after, his speech failed him; and when Mr. Malnoe (advocate in Parliament, his son-in-law) was come to visit him,

he

he was scarce able to speak; he was persuaded to take his rest; he suddenly fell upon his knees, and made such an excellent prayer, that his family never heard from him one more fervent. He discoursed "of the frailty of human life, of the condition he was in, of the church of God, and insisted earnestly upon her deliverance; "he prayed for all the members of his family; and in this last religious performance among his domestics be omitted nothing material,'prayed with zeal and vigour, with a clear voice, and without hesitation, to their comfort, and his own satisfaction, being then only a little feverish. In this hopeful condition he went to bed; but about midnight he relapsed again into his former difficulty of speech. The fever increasing upon him by degrees, a physician by his prescrip tions gave him relief; and he remembered the Psalms which he was wont to repeat, namely, xxxi, xxxii, xxxiv. lxi, lxii. lxiii. cxvi.and cxxx He had always a great veneration for the book of Psalms,which made him like the reading of John de Lere; who writes, how some savages of Brazil were wonderfully affected and ravished at the hearing of one of those divine hymns sung. A certain person that came to visit him, prayed that God would change his bed of sickness to a bed of health. He answered, My bed of health and rest will be in paradise. A noble lady, then a close prisoner, for whom the sick person had a high esteem, having sent to inquire of his health, he told the messenger he was very sorry for her confinement, ordered him to present his service to the good lady, and to tell her, that he should see her no more but in heaven,

During this short interval, his mind was free to discourse. about his domestic affairs; but in a little time after, his cough and fever increasing violently upon him, his physician watched with him till morning. Our patient perceiving his dangerous condition, spake in this manner to him: "Sir, though all good Christians ought continually to be prepared to die, and though God hath granted me the grace to be ready when

he

he shall please to call me; yet if you find I am drawing to my end, pray give me notice of it; for I am willing to put my affairs in order." About two or three hours after, the physician, finding he could not live much longer, it was judged convenient by his son-in-law to acquaint him with it; to whom he spake to this purpose: "I find the time of my deliverance is drawing near, and that God will take me to his rest. I shall be glad to discourse with you privately: I have not only looked upon you as my son-in-law, but as my child, whom I have loved, and tenderly love; I recommend my family to your care, and desire you all to live in perfect union." And having given his blessing to all his children, as well absent as present, he ordered the private affairs of his family, and the rewards to be given to those that had been serviceable to him in his sickness; and ordered his son-in-law to intreat Mr. Girard, the elder of his church, to carry this message to the Consistory of Charenton, That he died their faithful servant, and prayed God with all his heart to preserve the church.

After this, he spent most part of his time in prayers to God, repeating several texts of scripture, but with such a weak voice, they could only guess by some syllables what he said. He was often heard to repeat the words of Job, "I know that my Redeemer liveth;" and those of the Psalms, "I have put my trust in thee,"&c. "I recommend my soul into thy hands." Thus he continued in his pious meditations. Then his sonin-law offered to read to him out of his book of Consolations against the Fears of Death, which he attended to, and seemed to be well pleased with the Consolation for a dying Minister, and with the prayer appointed for such a one who faced death with a holy joy. That is, said he, very good: I don't speak it because it came from me; God be praised, that he enabled me to publish this book, to comfort others and myself. The next morning, the first of November, when Mr. Girard came to visit him, he repeated to him the same words

that

that he had given to his son-in-law in charge to tell him; and he delivered to him a bill to be prayed for publicly in the congregation. At that time Mr. Daille, Mr. Morus, and Mr. Claude came to see him, expressing their tender affection and concernment for him; at which he seemed to be moved. Mr. Daille made a pathetic exhortation, which the patient kindly accepted; and speaking of the loss the church would sustain by his death, Mr. Drelincourt answered, “Sir, you are far more useful to her than I can be; my desire is to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better for me." At which words Mr. Daille asked him, Don't you add, with the apostle, that it is more necessary for the church that you should continue in the flesh? He replied, "God will raise ministers who shall discharge their duty better than I can." When Mr. Daille asked him whether his hope was not in the mercy of God? he answered him in divers texts of scripture, such as these, "I know in whom I have believed; I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, &c. I draw towards the mark of the prize of the high calling," &c.

Mr. Daille perceiving how painful his speech was to him, advised him to speak to himself, to hinder the increase of his distemper; but he answered, "how willing he was to glorify God to the last gasp, and edify by his speech such as were there present." Then, having embraced each other at their parting, Mr. Daille told him, he did not altogether despair of his recovery, and that he hoped God would save him, according to the prayers of the church: He replied, "The will of the Lord be done; I resign myself entirely to the order of his providence." The two other ministers were not wanting in their prayers and exhortations. About noon these gentlemen left him to his rest, which he desired then to take; but instead of sleeping, he was heard to pray very earnestly three or four times, and concluded each prayer with Our Father,

and

and I believe in God, &c. He gave his blessing to all his children, and to them that desired it of him. The afternoon, Mr. Claude returned to him again, and continued till six; our patient answered him distinctly, but briefly, by reason of his great weakness. About eleven of the clock at night, several physicians came to him; and at the sight of him they agreed, that there were scarce any hopes of him; meantime he was praying and addressing himself to God, but could not be well understood. Yet when a lady, one of his intimate friends, came to his bed-side, he said, "Madam, you are an eye-witness of my groans and sufferings; but I cannot well speak to you." And about ten at night he called to mind that a pledge of some value had been committed to his keeping. He ordered it to be taken out of his closet, brought to him, examined if it were all there, and gave order to restore it to the right owner.

His second son, minister of the reformed church of Fontainbleau, came into the room to see his dear father departing, who knew him, and seemed to be moved at the first sight of him: Mr. Claude then asked him if he knew his son; he answered, Yes. This was the last word he was heard distinctly to speak. His son assisted his dying father with his exhortation and prayers: he was sensible to the last, his countenance never changed till about an hour before he deceased; and though nature was struggling with the disease, and he tormented with a burning fever, he seemed by his looks to be transported with joy, and full of comfort.. On Sunday the fourth of November, 1669, this reverend divine yielded up his soul to God.

"This was the end of this holy and zealous servant of God, who departed this life in the 74th year of his age, the 52d year of his ministry, and in the 50th year after his being called to serve the reformed church of Paris. He died in the bed

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of