INTRODUCTION. DRELINCOURT'S "Meditations on Death" had as remarkable a run, in its day, as any well written modern novel. First published in France in 1651, there were fifteen editions in forty-one years. It was published in nearly every country in Europe. There were more than twenty editions in England and Scotland in little more than a hundred years. Queen Mary, consort to William III., read it over seven times. De Foe was so much pleased with it, that he wrote a ghost-story for an introduction to one edition, the better to sell it, representing Mrs. Veal as coming from another world to recommend this book; and the indorsement proved so popular, that it has been printed in every edition since. There have been, at least, three American editions. Drelincourt's fulness of learning, and quaintness of illustration, might warrant another edition: it would, without doubt, attract many readers, especially if it were abridged, and edited with a view to meeting modern wants. It is hoped that the quotations acknowledged in the text, or referred to in the index, will whet the appetite of the reader to look up the original. The literature of the subject comprises other treatises, which were once widely read; but there are so few readers of old books in our large libraries, that these authors now stand upon the shelves, year after year, without a reader. In preparing this little book, the writer has no ambition to take the place of the eminent French pastor; but he is convinced that the interest in the topic is as permanent as the fact of our mortality. He has himself been strangely drawn toward it; and a melancholy pleasure attaches to these studies upon "The Silent House." The contemplation of the phases of the subject brought to view in these pages has been a pleasing diversion in the season of summer rest. The text has not been largely cumbered with footnotes. The citation of authorities is desirable in scientific treatises, but not in hortatory books. It would be easy to fill many pages by a copious index and full notes; but the character of this work does not seem to call for substantiating every statement of fact, or verifying every quotation. I have, therefore, fallen back upon the dictum of my right-hand literary adviser, - "If any are anxious to know about a point, they will hunt it up; and, if they are not anxious to know, they will not thank you for telling them where to find it." The fidelity of an author can be easily tested. A few notes and a brief index are added to make clear some points, and to make easy reference to the leading topics. Scripture texts, commonly known to be such, are used without quotation marks. Persons not familiar with the Bible, who find any sentence particularly apt, may safely look for it in the Old or the New Testament. The writer is not without hope that these pages may be of service as a hand-book to those who are constantly called to the bedside of the dying, to minister at the burial of the dead, or to remind the living of those events which will so soon come to every man. the hands of any one who is walking toward home in the dark, it is believed that this may be a guidebook leading to the light. And, if this little volume is placed in |