Zuinglius and others whose labours it pleased God to succeed for the accomplishing of an happy beginning of that great work in Basil and other of the Svisse Cantons He was a person very considerable both for his Learning and Piety but for nothing more to be commended than for his Peaceable temper and Christian Moderation in those controversies with which the reformed Churches were then exercised among themselves in the business of the Lords Supper For though he was both free in declaring and constant in asserting that truth which the Lord had made known to him yet his great care was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to speak the truth in love and to manage the defence thereof without bitterness towards or Provocation of those that did in that point dissent from him And as he was a man studious of Peace in his life so it pleased the Lord to guard his Soul with a Peace that passeth all understanding and to fill his Heart with Spiritual and Heavenly joy when he came to dye After he had for some considerable time laboured in the Ministry of the Word at Basil it pleased God there to visit him with his last sickness in the Forty ninth year of his Age which he presently apprehended would prove mortal to him and accordingly gave warning to his Friends that they should expect no other But so far was he from being terrifyed by the approach of death that on the contrary he exprest the greatest longings after that Heavenly light and Crown of Glory which he saw ready prepared for him so soon as the earthly house of this Tabernacle should be taken down He waited not for the Consolations of others in this last conflict but was ready to Minister Consolation to all that were about him insomuch that his most Christian and comfortable End was no less for the Confirmation and encouragement of the Godly in their Holy profession than his Doctrine and blameless Life had been He was an example of dying well as he had been before of living well of which abundant testimony is given by those worthy men that familiarly and almost constantly conversed with him in these his last hours Among whom Simon Grynaeus a man whose praise is in the Reformed Churches was one who hath left us the account of the following discourse that this pious Servant of Christ made to him and the rest of the Ministers of the Church a little before his departure which alone is sufficient to justifie all that hath been before said of the frame of his Spirit upon his dying bed It is as follows § 10. You see Brethren what the business is The Lord is at hand he cometh and is now about to take me hence and therefore I was desirous to call you first and with my dearest Friends to satiate this Soul of mine with a sincere Joy in the Lord and true consolation What shall we say then in this last Embrace O ye Servants of Christ whom the same Love to their Lord the same Study and the same Doctrine hath most closely knit together Salvation is obtained It is obtained I say by Christ and we have all Confidence of the Kingdom of God Our Doctrine is certain and light is prepared for our feet It is meet that all Sorrow all fears of Life or Death all doubting and error should be banisht far away Only this my Brethren this only remains that we constantly and faithfully persevere in those footsteps of Christ which we have already entred upon by maintaining Purity of Doctrine in the first place and then by a Life in all things conformed to the true Word of God Other things he will take care of who is Mighty and of his own accord watcheth his own even Christ our Lord He will defend his own Church Let us see to it therefore Brethren that our light so shine that God the Father may be glorified in us and the Name of Christ rendred illustrious through the light of your Sincerity and holy Life See that you love one another in Truth and lead your whole Life as under the Eye and in the sight of God 'T is to no purpose to press Piety with words only The light of Truth and Holiness in Life with the true and Heavenly Spirit of the Mind are necessary if we would vanquish Satan and convert the World to our Lord Christ For O my Brethren What clouds are there arising and what a tempest draws near what alienation of men and what impiety is at the door But Brethren It behoves you to stand fast and to abide it The Lord himself will be present with you in his Concerns O that my Lot were to undergo these dangers with you and that I could often spill this Life for the Truth But however Love is undivided and the bond in Christ indissoluble all things are common to the Godly among themselves These things he uttered with respect to the common Cause of Religion And as to what concern'd himself he told them I matter not the scandal which some have imputed to me as if I had corrupted the Truth Through the Grace of God I am now going to the Tribunal of Christ with a good Conscience There it will be manifest that the Church hath not been seduced by us And of this Solemn Protestation I leave you my Witnesses which I also confirm with my last breath The next day which was the fifteenth from his first sickness he caused his Children to be brought before him and first took them by the hand then stroaked each of them and calling them by their Names said Thou Eusebius thou Irene and thou Alethea my dear Children see that you love God And because by reason of their age they were not yet capable of attending to the Charge of their dying Father the Eldest being but about three years Old he turned him to his Wife and the rest of his Relations present and said It is you that I have bound by this charge to do your Endeavour that according to my desire and what they now hear my Children may be Pious Peaceable and Faithful This he spake with allusion to the signification of their Names And their Mother with the rest signifing their acceptance of this charge he desired them to take a way the Children again The Last night he lived here being come his inward Joy did no way abate but rather increase as death drew nearer to him One of his intimate friends coming in he asked him what News he had brought his Friend told him None Why then said he I will tell you news I shall in a little time be with the Lord Christ A while after when they asked If the light did not offend him touching his breast he said Abundé lucis est Here is abundance of Light The next morning his fatal hour came on before which he prayed with an ardent Affection for the Remission of Sin repeating the 51 Psalm from the beginning to the end And then after a
little pause and breathing he renewed his prayer in these words Christ Jesus save me which were the last he uttered and then sweetly breathed forth his pious Soul into the bosom of his Redeemer He changed this Life for an Heavenly on the first day of December in the year 1531. And as Mr. Rollock professed upon his death-bed that he had laid up nothing of this World in his Life so it is observed of this good man That he made no Will because he had nothing to dispose of So far were these first Reformers from seeking great things for themselves Riches profit not in the day of wrath but Righteousness delivereth from death Pro. 11. 4. To be rich towards God to have Luk. 12. 21 an Heart filled with Grace and Spiritual Comfort and the testimony 2 Cor. 1. 12 of a good Conscience that with simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the World will prove the best portion when we come to dye and afford such ease to us upon a sick bed as all the Treasure under Heaven cannot procure the like § 11. The Jewish Writers from that Passage of the Psalmist Psa 41. 3. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness have a Proverbial saying in Tract Nedar to this sence Majestas divina sedet ad caput lecti aegrotantis i. e. The divine Majesty sitteth or abideth at the sick mans beds-head His sick bed is turned into a Sanctuary by the Gracious presence of God with him This we have seen verified in the former Examples and shall yet meet with a further Confirmation of in the experience of Joachimus Curaeus Curaeus a Learned and Pious Doctor of Physick in Germany and a Zealous Protestant who finished his course in the year 1573. being the Forty first currant of his age He was a person that esteemed Religion to be his greatest concern while he lived and continually exercised himself in a diligent and serious practice thereof And as he would by no means be diverted from working out his own Salvation with fear and trembling by fervent Prayer and all manner of Holy Conversation in the World so it pleased God when he called him out of the World to afford him such an abundant Enjoyment and sence of his love in Christ as carryed him through the Agonies of death with a more than ordinary Triumph and rejoycing In his last hours it was most convincingly manifest that Christ had given unto him a large draught of that water of Life which was in him a well of water springing up unto Eternal Life from which blessed Fountain he poured forth abundant Consolations to all that were with him in that Conflict if so happy a departure and so sweet a sleep as death was made to him may yet be called a Conflict When he found his sickness had prevailed over Nature so far as that his dissolution must needs be hastning on he wholly applyed himself to ardent Prayers and Supplications unto God making use of that exercise for the ease and support of his Soul in sickness which had been his delight and Comfort in his health And several times in one day causing his his Wife and Children to come to him he did with an inexpressible Zeal and Affection exhort them to Piety and Virtue and then in a solemn manner recommended both them and his last charge to them to the blessing of God who in this also heard the Prayers of his Servant and raised up two of his Sons after him to be eminent examples both of Piety Virtue and Learning in their Generation thereby making good his word That the Generation of the upright shall be blessed § 12. Being taken away in the midst of his years at that age which was the ripest for Service he would often repeat the mournful complaint of Hezekiah I have cut off like a Weaver my life c But then his perfect acquiescence in the will of God and rejoycing in his Salvation was as frequently exprest in the following words which are some of those holy sayings which plentifully issued from his pure Heart in this last sickness viz. I am broken O Lord but it satisfies me that thy hand hath done this not the Devil The Body indeed suffers because of Sin but thou Comfortest my Soul with a most sure Hope and expectation of eternal Life I believe O Lord I believe but do thou help mine unbelief I have received a Message of death but I will wrestle with thee O Lord Jesus after the Example of thy holy Pilgrim Jacob untill the Morning beams of thy light break up arise and shine upon me neither will I let thee go unless thou bless me and my Soul be saved Therefore O Jesus Christ thou wilt bless me and save my Soul giving unto me a Believer Remission of Sins Righteousness and Life Come Lord Jesus and let all that love thee say Come And he that loves thee not let him be Anathema Maranatha Thou knowest O Lord who art the searcher of Hearts That I love thee And thou lovest me yea thou lovest me in Truth and art my Redeemer by thy Merit and Efficacy Into thy hands O Lord I commend my Spirit for thou hast Redeemed me O Lord God of Truth And then reflecting upon the time of his sickness for he dyed January 21. he proceeded in further expressions of his assured Confidence in God and inward Joy through the lively hope and foretast of the blessings of that Kingdom he was going to after this manner I shall be with thee in the beginning of this new Year I shall be satiated with the sight of thee O Lord I shall drink with thee at thy Table the New Juice of Eternal Joy even in thy Fathers house where there are many Mansions there is a place for me also and there shall I sit at thy Table Refresh me O Son of God with thy Spirit and with thy quickening presence I come unto thee Jesus Christ Receive thou me according to thy Promise which is the only repast and Recreation of my Soul Iam meum pectus ardet conspectu vitae eternae cujus verè sentio in me initia i. e. Now doth my Heart burn through the sight of Eternal Life the Beginnings of which I truly feel in my self And this is Life Eternal to know thee the true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent Through thy goodness I have learned and I have taught others rightly to acknowledge thee Do thou again acknowledge me O Son of God and embrace me with thy Saving Grace even with thy Holy Spirit do thou present this Soul to thy Eternal Father who will readily receive it from thy hand My desire and rejoycing is to come unto him and because I am not yet come all delay seems long unto me O thou Sun of Righteousness light me into Eternal light and Righteousness I desire with thine Apostle to be
will rather open my sin before him in a most humble confession of it and pray that he will increase in me the Grace of true Repentance yea let him wear out this body with sorrow it matters not so he give to me a broken and a contrite Heart which is a sacrifice acceptable to himself As for my part I do most willingly offer up my self Accept O Lord this imperfect Sacrifice and supply the defects thereof by the perfect Righteousness of that great high Priest who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unto God without Spot Let me be accepted as a living Sacrifice holy and well-pleasing unto God which is our reasonable service Crucifie O Lord this old man that the body of sin may be utterly destroyed and I may rise again unto a new life The wages of Sin is death bu◠Rom. 6. ult the Gift of God is Eterna◠life by Jesus Christ our Lord Then repeating the word Gift he added It is meer Grace not of Works but of him that calleth Who shall la◠Rom. 8. 33. any thing to the charge of God elect It is God that justifieth Who is he that condemneth I◠is Christ that dyed yea rathe◠that is risen again who is eve◠at the right hand of God wh◠also maketh intercession for us Then after a little interruption of his discourse by a shor◠sleep he thus proceeded I am God's and he wil◠save me he hath honoure◠me with an holy Calling and hath not suffered his gif◠to be altogether useless in me as to the Edification of hi◠Church As to my self I can most truly affirm that I have not served him for filthy Lucre but with a sincere heart and that I was my self first perswaded of the truth of the Gospel and experienced the efficacy thereof before I preached it to others I tasted the good Word of God which by it's power pierceth even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart Thou hast known my heart O Eternal God! thou knowest that I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ but have esteemed it my only honour to serve thee and that I have delighted my self in the pleasure of obeying thy will Such was thy goodness unto me I truly and humbly acknowledge that whatsoever good was in me flowed from thy Grace bu◠my defects ought to be ascribed to my inbred Corruption Alas I acknowledg◠this with humble and serious repentance how oft hav◠I sinned in so holy a Charge not only by omitting man◠things which I ought to hav◠done but also by doing many things amiss How of have I offended through negligence and slackness Long since had I been cast off wer◠it not that I had to do wit◠so good a Lord who hat◠born with me and hath bee◠so gracious to me as no◠to exact a severe account o◠my Words and Works Alas O Lord my God! Enter no◠into Judgment with thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be justified Let me be found not having mine own Righteousness but the Righteousness of thy Son for the sake of which I beg thy favour Pardon O my God Pardon the Iniquity of thy Servant who is devoted to thy Fear I refuse not thy discipline I know it is necessary only this I earnestly beg that it may turn to my Salvation Chasten me O Lord but in measure lest thou bring me to nothing Let not my tryal exceed my strength lest I Sin through Impatience and become a Scandal to those I should edifie O let me never break out into a murmuring complaint O how light is this chastisement if compared with my fault What are these temporal pains in comparison with those Eternal torments from which I am redeemed by him that poured out hi◠Soul upon the Cross for me For Me This is the languag◠of Faith which makes a particular application of General Promises This is a faithful saying and worthy of a◠1 Tim. 1. 15. acceptation That Jesus Chris◠came into the World to sav◠sinners of whom I am Chief Lord I believe help tho◠mine unbelief Turn tho◠me and I shall be turned indeed Seal all thy Promise in my Soul Cause in the inmost of my heart a lively perception of those sweet word◠My Son be of good comfor◠thy sins are forgiven the◠With such holy Meditatio◠and speeches as these was th◠Thursday night passed over § 7. On Friday morning Dec. 30. Mrs. Rivet his Wife put him in mind of sending one to the Hague for his Son By all means said he that ought to have been done sooner and then gave order himself concerning it About Nine of the Clock he was visited by Renessius a Doctor of Divinity and Pastor of a Dutch Church who in the Latine Tongue saluted him after this manner Most excellent man how do you To whom he answered in the same Language I am yet strong neither doth my Speech fail me but that passage in my bowels is not yet opened and unless that be opened I see I must make my passage another way even that which the Eternal God hath set before me from my Infancy I should be the most ungratefull of men if I should not acknowledge the mercy of God towards me who hath so wonderfully preserved me even from my Cradle Then rehearsing his deliverance from a very dangerous * Viz. A fall whereby his life was in graet hazard accident that befell him in his Infancy through the negligence of the Maid he added From that time my Mothe◠consecrated me unto God and he abundantly blessed me all my life-time and the whole Family And therefore I place all my hope in the goodness of God being ready either to live or to dye I have alwayes thought tha◠either this disease would be my death or else the Stone for I have scarce ever been afflicted with any other distemper I pray you to testifie unto all men that I dye in that Faith and Doctrine which I have alwayes delivered both in Preaching and Writing And if perhaps in some things I have erred I pray God that he will make perfect all my Imperfections The rest of the day was filled up with the Visits of Friends for he would have none hindred from coming to him Let all that will saith he have access to visit me I ought to give an Example of dying to other men With such sayings as these he filled the by standers both with Consolation and with Wonder while he thus proceeded Come see a man who is an Example of the Great Mercy of God What shall I render unto him All his Benefits overwhelm me He hath so disposed my Life that in my whole Course I have had an healthful Body he hath heaped upon me both temporal and spiritual Blessings And now before I am rendred feeble or morose thro' Old age he comes unto me and prevents me he both
I am going Accordingly the Lord bringing to their mind many choice Scriptures apt for the occasion they by turns proposed them to him And he received them with great joy adding So it is and Amen Often also he would pronounce himself the last words of that Portion of Scripture which they were rehearsing to him as in Psal 36. How excellent is thy loving kindness O God! Therefore do the Sons of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings Thou wilt abundantly satisfie them with the fatness of thy House and make them to drink of the Rivers of thy Pleasures which last sentence he rehearsed himself in the French Metre And the same he did from Psal 65. 4. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee that he may dwell in thy Courts We shall be abundantly Satisfied with the goodness of thy House even of thy holy Temple § 36. Then his Son said I am sorry that we are alone I am not alone said he God is with me Be you then an Evangelist to your self said his Son forasmuch as you have received the Ministry of Reconciliation deliver the tidings of peace to your own Soul That I do saith he my Soul believes Then fear nothing He that believes in Jesus Christ shall never perish He added But shall have Eternal Life While prayers were making for him in this last Combat with the pains of Death at the end of almost every sentence he would interpose some word or words expressing the sence of his mind with respect to those petitions As thus O great God send thy Spirit of Consolation he is already come and give unto thy Servant the sense of thy love that he hath done Give unto him the Garment of Salvation he hath given it All is well enter therefore thou good Servant into the Joy of thy Lord he calleth thee At which words he raised up himself and stretched forth his Arms Also O Lord strengthen more and more the Faith of thy Servant in this last agony let him see let him hear thy voice let him raise up himself and take hold on Eternal Life Yea I am of good Comfort Let us go to the Throne of Grace that we may obtain Mercy It is done Leave therefore with a joyful mind this body to the Earth and yield up thy Spirit into the hands of God who hath given it Take hold of the Shield of Faith yea put on the whole Armor of God I have it Then he began himself to recite those words I have fought a good fight c. And when one had repeated what follows and came to those words which God the righteous Judge will give he added He will do it And when one said Behold the last moment of deliverance O God give Wings unto thy Servant open thy Paradise unto him Let him be received unto the beholding of thy Face He added With the Spirits of just men made perfect Let him receive the white Stone and the hidden Manna and let him bear his part in that New Song which none understands but he that sings it To which he said Amen! In these last Moments there came in some of his Friends who were witnesses of his happy Departure But the Ministers above named viz Lydius and Hulsius came too late to hear him speak any thing Howbeit a short Prayer was made for him after which when he had abode a while with his Eyes fixed and his hands lift up towards Heaven One of the standers by said I am perswaded this man doth already enjoy the Vision of God whereupon he earnestly endeavoured to utter the Word Yea And almost in the same moment sweetly breathed forth his Soul about half an hour after Nine of the Clock on Saturday morning being Jan. 7. After he had lived seventy eight years six Months and five dayes AN APPENDIX WHEREIN A CHRISTIAN 's Triumph over Death is Illustrated by some more memorable Examples § 1. THE Jewish Masters have a saying recorded in their Talm. Hierosol which * Buxt Adag Hebraic Buxtorf thus translates Non facienda sunt Monumenta justis sc defunctis Verba ipsorum sunt monumenta ipsorum That is Monuments are not to be erected to the Righteous when deceased Their Words are their Monuments They need not the help of Art to perpetuate or to embalm their Names who have lived and dyed eminent Examples of Piety and Holiness For they shall be had in everlasting remembrance The Memory of the Psal 112. 6. just is blessed but the Name of the wicked shall rot Prov. 10. 7. As for that worthy and holy person whose triumphant passage thro' Death into the Joy of his Lord we have already had a Relation of It may be questioned whether his most fruitful and learned works while he lived or his gracious speeches and demeanour when he dyed have contributed most to the Eternizing of his Name But it is beyond all Question that both the one and the other have raised unto him a Monument Aere perennius and as in both he hath been an eminent Instrument of Glorifying God in the World and strengthening the Faith of his Brethren so his Name will be remembred with Honour and Thanksgiving to God on the account of both from Generation to Generation We have beheld in him what Bernard tells us he saw in dying Gerardus viz. Hominem in morte exultantem insultantem morti i. e. A man greatly rejoycing in death and insulting over death which teacheth us that the Apostles holy Triumph O death 1 Cor. 15. 55. where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory is no vain flourish of words or empty Speculation but a Truth sealed to in the Experience of a Christian who with a Joy unspeakable and full of Glory can joyn with him in the Agonyes of Death in his following Song of Praise Thanks be to God which giveth us the Victory thro' our Lord Jesus Christ Ver. 57. In such instances as these we have a very valuable Evidence of the Truth and Excellency of the Christian Religion and the Certainty of a future State and blessed Immortality Those things must needs be real in themselves whose Efficacy is so great upon the Soul of a man in such an hour Death is no Fancy neither can Fables with what Art or Cunning soever they are devised relieve a man against the bitter pangs of it The proud boasts of the Atheist and Debauchee are soon quelled by this King of Terrors the very thought of whose approach surprizes them with Consternation and guilty fears But the lively hope of Pardon in the Blood of Christ the Smiles of a reconciled God and foretastes of heavenly Joy make the true and sincere Christian more than a Conqueror in this Conflict He can fear no evil because God is with him whose presence makes his Sick-bed easie and gives him Prospect of the greatest Gain in the loss of this Temporal Life He can say as the
dissolved and to be with thee Loose me that I may be with thee I am greatly wearyed and I wait for the entertainment which thou hast shewn me As the Traveller in his Journey at Night time desires the Sun-rising so do I desire after the clear light even the sight of the Father Son and Holy Ghost When my voice and speech shall fail me Grant O Merciful Saviour that thy Holy Spirit may speak unto thee in my Heart and make intercession for me with groanings that cannot be uttered Let his motions spring up in my breast and move thy Heart unto Mercy towards me Lord Jesus Christ who sittest at the right hand of thy Eternal Father receive my Spirit § 13. These were the Meditations and this the exercise of this Holy man upon his dying bed He felt this Tabernacle to be falling but knew he had an house not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens and his pious Soul was filled with Heavenly triumph in the certain expectation of a Glorious Resurrection of that same body of his which was now ready to be sown in corruption which with an admirable sweetness and comfort he thus express'd I shall see thee my Saviour in my flesh which thou hast exalted to the right hand of the Eternal Father and I will give thee thanks in the presence of thy Father for all the Good things which thou hast communicated unto me Yea thou wilt place thy Holy Angels to be the Guardians of my Body that they may keep my dust which hath been and to all Eternity shall be the dwelling place of thy Holy Spirit It is impossible that this flesh of mine which is the Temple of the Holy Ghost this Mass of my body which is quickened by the effusion and communication of the Spirit of Christ and so inserted into the flesh of Christ should be reduced unto nothing or abide in death and ever remain dust and ashes But thou who art the Author of Life will remand from the Earth this thine own Image even out of the smallest Crums of dust and ashes that are there By sending forth thy breath thou wilt again build up my body alive and Glorious which shall be the habitation of the whole Divinity dwelling therein to all Eternity There shall we follow the Lamb whithersoever he shall go O Guide truly fair and Divine There shall we sing a New Song Let us rejoyce Hallelujah O Come let us go forth to meet our Saviour Our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Right as Citizens is in Heaven but in this Life we must begin Eternal Life and follow the order which Christ hath appointed We shall be cloathed upon if so be that we be not found Naked That most lovely Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world will lead us unto the Fountains of living Waters and wipe away all Tears from our Eyes Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the Heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him This Earthly Life is Death but that Life which Christ begins in me is Life indeed Now it is no more I that live but Christ that liveth in me therefore let him be praised O happy Soul in which thou Jesus Christ sittest as the Guide and Rector of all its actions and Motions I see Heaven open unto me Now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace O Lord for mine Eyes indeed have seen thy Salvation Thou O Christ art the Resurrection and Life How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord O Christ my Redeemer carefully watch my Soul that it suffer no detriment by the horrible and infernal Dragon the Devil Let my Soul be bound up in the bundle of Life and let this my passage hence be happy let it be to me the way to those that live an immortal and Heavenly Life § 14. After this he again most affectionately prayed for his Wife and Children but in terms arguing such a nearness to God and Holy Familiarity with him as if a man had been speaking to his Friend and devolving a care upon him that he knew most assuredly he would willingly take upon himself and see to He mightily Comforted himself with the thoughts of Christs sympathy and compassion who saith he will certainly hear me in all these things And when one exhorted him to be of good hope for God would help him he answered 'T is right The Lord will certainly help me by a final deliverance according to that Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord In the Lord then do I dye who is my Life I dye in the acknowledgment Faith and Confidence of Christ the Mediator who is my Shade of defence and my Brother who cloatheth me with the garment of his Righteousness I shall therefore be happy I shall be Righteous O sweet Blessedness sweet Righteousness O sweet change and Translation from Sin to Innocency from Darkness into Light from Death to Life Many Prayers also he put up for the Church of God especially that the pure Doctrine of the Gospel might be transmitted without corruption to Posterity and with Tears bewailed the wickedness of those who by their corrupt Notions were an hindrance to its course And once more a little before his Soul departed his Friends being about him he solemnly recommends himself to Christ and repeats the Confession of his Faith expressing great thankfulness to God for the Reformation and for those that he had used as Instruments therein I am now dying said he and dismist as that Servant of God holy Simeon I also being the Servant of God and Holy I dye in the Confession of the writings of the Prophets and Holy Apostles and of the Ancient Creeds and also adhering to the Augustane Confession I give thanks to God That of his Infinite goodness he hath dispell'd the darkness and restored to us the Light and Purity of his Gospel At length in the midst of his Prayers and earnest breathings after God he yielded up his Soul into the hands and bosom of his Redeemer where he rests from his Labours and his works follow him § 15. Another Instance worthy of our Remembrance and imitation I shall give you in Mr. Matthew Wesenbeck an eminent Civilian who after he had run the course of an Holy Life from his first Conversion to the fifty fifth year of his Age departed this Life at Wittenburg in the year 1586. The means by which God first awakened him to seek after and embrace the knowledge of the Truth was this While he was studying the Law at Lovane it fell out that there was a poor man in the City who being blind made it his business to visit the Sick and to instruct and comfort them as he could with Texts of Scripture in which he was well versed in recompence of which pious office those that were well disposed would relieve his Necessity with a piece of Bread and Cheese After some time this poor man was accused of