THE LIFE, DEATH AND ACTIONS OF THE MOST CHAST, learned, and Religious Lady, the Lady IANE GRAY, Daughter to the Duke of SVFFOLKE. CONTAINING FOVRE PRINCIPALL Discourses written with her owne hands.
- The first an Admonition to such as are weake in FAITH:
- The second a CATECHISME:
- The third an exhortation to her SISTER:
- And the last her words at her DEATH.
London printed by G. Eld, for Iohn wright: and are to be sold at his shop without Newgate, at the signe of the Bible. 1615.
THE LIFE, DEATH and actions of the most chast, learned and Religious Lady, the Lady Iane Gray, Daughter to the Duke of Suffolk: containing foure principall discourses written with her own hands; the first an admonition to such as are weake in Faith, the second a Catechisme, the third an exhortation to her Sister, and the last her words at her death.
SOme worthy parcels or excellent Essayes of the [...] [...]ough to be imitated vertues, of that most admirable, wise, learned, and religious Lady, the Ladie Iane Gray, Daughter to the Duke of Suffolke, and vnfortunate wife of the Lord Guilford Dudley sonne to the duke of Northumberland, comming, in an old auncient Printed Copie, vnto my hands as it were halfe forgotten in the world, or like a curious monument whose well-carned figures, and rare architecture the dust and Cobwebs had iniuriously defaced: I could not, out of Charitie and Christian loue to a mirrour of such excellence, but with my best Art and industry pollish and clense a perfection so Noble, Holy, and worthy all good mens imitations, and as it were to awaken the sleepie world from her fantasticke Lethargie, to behold in that, which we call the weaker [Page] sexe a strength matchlesse and inuincible: A Saba that had so oft heard the wisedome of Salomon, that ten thousand of our Salomons may come now to be instructed at this Saba: Briefely a Lady in all goodnes so perfect, that whosoeuer could gaine but some part of her shadow, might haue inough in these latter dayes to boast and ranke themselues with the best that are called vertuous, so flatteringly are attributes cast vpon the liuing, and so maliciously slander vpon the dead.
To returne then to my discourse, you may by that which hath been formerly spoke of her birth and marriage, Iudge the greatnesse of her bloud and place, both which were farre ouer shined by her vertues as shall bee declared hereafter: she was born in England, and there brought vp in learning, and religion, with that prosperous and deuout painfulnesse, that as seede cast vpon the best and most fruitfulst ground she brought forth her increase in such aboundance of infinits, that the least of her excellencies were impossible to bee circumscribed: for proofe whereof, that euery iudgement may stand stedfast in the opinion of her perfection▪ I will here deliuer vnto you an Epistle of her owne penning, sent to a noble friend of hers in the Court of England, being in those daies of persecution fallen from the truth of Gods holy word for feare of the world, in which you shall find so much learning chariti [...] and diuine readings that by this one Talent onely this princely Eagle may be truely discouered how potent and vnmatchable the great substance of so rich a vertue is.
An Epistle of the Lady Iane Grayes to a Noble friend of hers newly falne from the Truth.
SO oft as I call to minde (deare friend and chosen Brother) the dreadfull and fearefull sayings of God, that he which layeth hold vpon the plow and looketh back againe, is not meet for the kingdome of heauen. And on the other [Page] side to remember the comfortable words of our Sauiour Christ, to all those that forsaking themselues do follow him: I cannot but maruell at thée, and lament thy case; that thou which somtimes wert the liuely member of Christ, but now the deformed impe of the diuell; sometimes the beautifull temple of God, but now the stinking and filthy kenell of Sathan; sometimes the vnspotted spouse of thy Sauiour, but now the vnshamefast paramour of Antichrist, somtimes my faithfull brother, but now a stranger & Apostata, yea sometimes a stout christian soldior, but now a cowardly runaway. So oft as I consider the threatnings and promises of the diuine Iustice to all those which faithfully loue him: I cannot but speake to thée, yea rather cry out and exclaime against thée, thou séed of Sathan, and not of Iuda, whom the Diuell hath deceiued, the world hath beguiled, and desire of life hath subuerted, and made of a Christian an Infidell.
Wherefore hast thou taken vpon thée the Testament of the Lord in thy mouth? wherefore hast thou hitherto yéelded thy body to the [...]ir [...], and to the bloudy hands of cruel tyrants? wherfore hast thou instructed others to be strong in Christ, when thou thy selfe dost now so horribly abuse the testament and Law of the Lord, when thou thy selfe preachedst (as it were not to steale) yet most abhominably stealest, not from men, but from God, and as a most hainous sacrilegious robber, robbest Christ thy redéemer of his right in his members thy body and thy soule; when thou thy selfe dost rather chuse to liue miserably (with shame) in this world, then to die gloriously and raigne in honor with Christ, to the end of all eternitie, in whom euen in death there is life beyond wish, beyond all expression: And when I say thou thy selfe art most weake, thou oughtest to show thy selfe most s [...]rong, for the strength of a fort is not knowne before the a [...]ult, but thou yeeldest (like a faint Captaine) thy hold before any battry be brought against thée.
Oh wretched and vnhappy man what art thou but dust and ashes, and wilt thou resist thy maker, that formed and [Page] fashioned thée: wilt thou now forsake him that called thee from custome-gathering among the Romish Antichristians, to be an Embassador and messenger of his eternall word; he that first framed thée, and since thy creation and birth preserued thée, nourished thée, and kept thée, yea and inspired thee with the spirit of knowledge (I cannot, I would I could say of grace) shall he not possesse thee, darest thou deliuer vp thy selfe to another, being not thine owne but his? How canst thou, hauing knowledge, or how darest thou neglect the law of the Lord, and follow the vaine traditions of men? And whereas thou hast been a publique professor of his Name, become now a defacer of his glorie.
I will not refuse the true God, and worship the inuention of man, the golden Calfe, the whore of Babylon the Romish religion, the abhominable Idol, the most wicked Masse: wilt thou torment againe, rent and teare the most precious bodie of our Sauior Christ with thy bodily and fleshly téeth, without the breaking whereof vpon the crosse, our sins and transgressions, could els no way be redéemed? wilt thou take vpon thee to offer vp any sacrifice vnto God for our sinnes, considering that Christ offorod vp himselfe (as S. Paul saith) vpon the Crosse, a liuely sacrifice once for all.
Can neither the punishment of the Israelites (which for their Idolatry so oft they receiued) moue thee; neither the terrible threatnings of the ancient Prophets stirre thée, nor the crosses of Gods own mouth feare thée to honor any other God then him? wilt thou so regard him that spared not his deare and onely sonne for thée, so diminishing, yea vtterly extinguishing his glory, that thou wilt attribute the praise and honor to Idols, which haue mouths and speake not, eyes and sée not, eares and yet heare not, which shall perish with them that made them: What saith the Prophet Baruck, where he reciteth the Epistle of Ieremie, written to the captiue Iewes, did he not forewarne them that in Babylon they should see Gods of Gold, Siluer, Wood and Stone, borne vpon mens sholders to cause a feare vpon the Heathen? But [Page] be not you afraid of them (saith Ieremy) nor do as other doe: But when you see others worship them, say you in your hearts, It is thou (O Lord) that oughtest only to be worshipped: for as touching the timber of those Gods the Carpenter framed them, and pollished them, yea guilded they be and laid ouer with siluer and vaine things and cannot speake: he sheweth moreouer, the abuse of their deckings, how the priests tooke off their ornaments, & apparelled their women therewithall: How one holdeth a Scepter, another a sword in his hand, and yet can they iudge in no matter, nor defend themselues, much lesse any other, from either hatred or murther, nor yet from gnawing wormes, dust, filth, or any other euill thing: these and such like words speaketh Ieremy vnto them, wherby he proueth them but vaine things, & no Gods, and at last hee concludeth thus; confounded bee those that worship them.
They were warned by Ieremie, and thou as Ieremie hast warned others, and art warned thy selfe by many Scriptures in many places.
God saith he is a iealous God, which will haue all honor, glory, & worship giuen to him onoly. And Christ saith in the fourth of Luke to Sathan which tempted him: euen to the same Sathan, the same Belzebub, the same Diuell which hath preuailed against thée: It is written (saith he) thou shalt honour the Lord thy God, and him onely shalt thou serue.
These and such like do prohibit thée, and all Christians to worship any other God then he which was before al worlds, and laid the foundations both of heauen and earth, and wilt thou honor a detestable Idol inuented by the popes of Rome, and the vncharitable colledge of politick Cardinals?
Christ offered vp himselfe once for all, and wilt thou offer him vp againe dayly at thy pleasure? But thou wilt say thou doest it for a good intent? Oh sinke of sinne! Oh child of perdition! canst thou dreame of any good entent therein, when thy conscience beareth thée witnes of the wrath of God promised against thée?
[Page]How did Saul, who for that hee disobayed the word of God for a good entent: was throwne from his worldly and temporal kingdome: shalt thou then which doest so deface Gods honeur, and rob him of his right, inherit the eternall heauenly Kingdome? wilt thou for a good entent pluck Christ out of heauen, and make his death voide, and deface the triumph of his crosse offering him vp dayly? wilt thou either for feare of death, or hope of life, deny and refuse thy God, who inriched thy pouerty, healed thine infirmitie, and yéelded to this victory if thou wouldst haue kept it? doest thou not consider that the thryd of life hangeth vpon him that made thée, who can (as his will is) either tw [...]e it hard to last the longer, or vntwine it againe to breake the sooner? Doest thou not remember the saying of Dauid, a notable King, which teacheth thée, a miserable wretch, in his 104. Psalme, where he saith, When thou takest away thy Spirit (O Lord) from men, they dye, and are turned againe to their dust, but when thou lettest thy breath go forth, they shall be made and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Remember the saying of Christ in his Gospel, whosoeuer seeketh to saue his life shall loose it, but whosoeuer will loose it for my sake shall finde it: And in an other place: Who so euer loueth Father or Mother aboue me, is not meet for me, for he that will be my Disciple, must forsake Father and Mother, and himself, and take vp his crosse and follow me: what crosse, the crosse of infamy and shame, of misery and pouerty, of affliction and persecution for his Names sake.
Let the oft falling of those heauenly showers pierce thy stony heart, let the two edged sword of Gods holy word hew a sunder the knit-together sinewes of worldly respects, euen to the very marrow and life blood of thy carnall heart, that thou maist once againe forsake thy selfe, to imbrace Christ, and like as good subiects will not refuse to hazard all in the defence of their earthly and temporall Gouernors, so fly not like a white lyuerd milke-sop from thy standard, whereby thy chiefe Captaine Christ hath placed thée in a noble aray of [Page] this life: Viriliter ago confortetur cor tuum & sustine dominum, fight manfully, come life, come death, the quarrell is Gods, and vndoubtedly the victory is ours.
But thou wilt say I will not breake vnitie: What? No [...] the vnity of Sathan and his members, not the vnity of darknes, the agréement of Antichrist, and his adherents; nay then thou deceiuest thy selfe with fond imaginations of such an vnitie as is amongst the enemies of Christ: were not the false Prophets in an vnity: were not Iosephs brethren▪ Iacobs sons, in an vnity: were not the Heathen as the Amelechites▪ the Pheresits and Iebusits in an vnitie? I kéepe no order but looke rather to my matter: were not the Scribes and Pharisies in an vnitie: doth not King Dauid testifie, conueniunt in vnum aduersus Dominum, yea theeues and murtherers, conspirators and Traytors haue their vnitie.
Marke my deare friend (yea friend if thou béest not Gods enemy,) there is no vnitie but when Christ knitteth the knot amongst such as be his, yea bee you well assured that where his truth is resident, there it is verified, that he saith: Non veni mittere pacem in terram sed gladium, that is, Christ came to set one against another▪ the Sonne against the Father, the Daughter against the Mother: Deceiue not thy selfe therfore with the glistring & glorious name of vnity▪ for Antichrist hath his vnity, yet not in déed, but in name, for the agréement of euill men is not an vnitie, but a conspiracie.
Thou hast heard some threatnings, some curses, and some admonishments of the Scriptures to those which loue themselues aboue Christ.
Thou hast heard also the sharp and biting words to those which deny him for loue of life, saith hee not, that hee which denieth mee before men, I will deny him before my Father which is in heauen: And to the same effect writeth S. Paul in the 6. to the Hebrewes, saying, It is impossible, that they which haue been once lightned, and haue tasted of the heauenly gift of grace, and beene made partakers of the Holy Ghost, & haue rellished of the pure word of God, if they fall [Page] and slide away, it is impossible that they should bee renewed againe by repentance, crucifying againe to themselues the Son of God, and making him as it were a mocking-stock, or gaud of their fancies. And againe (saith he) If we shall willingly sin after we haue receiued the knowledge of the truth, there is no oblation left for sin, but the terrible expectation of Iudgement and fire which shall deuour the aduersaries. Thus S. Paul writeth, and thus thou readest, and dost thou not quake and tremble? well, if these terrible and thundering alarums cannot stir thée to arise and cleaue vnto Christ, and forsake the world, yet let the swéet consolations and promises of the Scriptures: let the examples of Christ and his Apostles, both Martyrs and Confessors encourage thee to take faster hold by Christ. Hearken what he saith againe in his holy Gospell; Blessed are you when men reuile you, and persecute you for my sake, reioyce and bee glad, for great is your reward in heauen, for so persecuted they the Prophets before you.
Heare what Esay saith; Feare not the curse of men, be not affraid of their blasphemies and reuilings, for Wormes and Mothes shall eat them vp like cloath and wooll, but my righteousnesse shall endure for euer, and my sauing health from Generation to Generation: What art thou then (saith hée) that fearest a mortall man, the Child of a man, which fadeth away as doth the flower, and forgettest the Lord that made thee, that spread out the heauens like a curtaine, and laid the foundations of the earth so sure, that they can not be remooued: I am the Lord thy God, which maketh the Sea to rage, and to be still, who is the Lord of Hoasts; I shall put my word in thy mouth, and defend thee with the turning of a hand. And our Sauiour Christ saith to his Disciples: They shall accuse you, and bring you before the Princes and Rulers for my name sake, and some of you they shal persecute and kill: But feare you not (saith he) neither care you not what you shall say, for it is my Spirit that speaketh in you, the hand of the highest shall defend you, for the haires of [Page] your heads are numbred, and none of them shall perish. I haue laid vp treasure for you (saith he) where no theefe can steale, nor Moth corrupt, and happy are you if you endure to the end. Feare not them (saith Christ) which haue power ouer the body onely, but feare him that hath power both ouer the body and the Soule; The world loueth her owne, and if you were of the world the world would loue you, but you are mine, and therefore the world doth hate you.
Let these and such like consolations out of the scriptures, strengthen you to God-ward: let not the examples of holie men and women go out of your mind, as that of Daniel, and the rest of the Prophets; of the thrée Children of Eleazarus, that constant Father; the Machabees Children, that of Peter, Paul, Stephen, and other Apostles and holy Martyrs, in the beginning and infancy of the Church; as of good Simeon Arch-bishop of Seloma and Zetrophon [...], with infinite others, vnder Sapores the King of the Persians and Indians, who contemned all torments deuised by the Tyrants for their Sauiours sake.
Returne, returne againe for honour and mercies sake into the way of Christ Iesus, and as becommeth a faithfull Souldiour, put on that Armor which S. Paul teacheth to be most necessary for a Christian man, and aboue all thinges, take to you the shield of Faith.
And be you most deuoutly prouoked by Christs owne example, to withstand the deuill, to forsake the world, and to become a true and faithfull member of his mysticall body, who spared not his owne flesh for our sinnes. Throw down thy selfe with the feare of his threatned vengeance for this so great and haynous offence of Apostacy, and comfort your selfe on the other part with the mercy, blood, and promises of him that is ready to turne to you whensoeuer you turne to him: disdaine not to come againe with the lost son, seeing you haue so wandred wt him: be not ashamed to turn againe with him from the swill of strangers, to the delicates of the most benigne & louing father, acknowledging that you haue [Page] sinned against heauen & earth, against heauen by stayning his glorious name, and causing his most sincere and pure word to bee euill spoken of through you, against earth by offending your so many weake Bretheren to whom you haue been a stumbling block through your suddaine sliding.
Bee not ashamed to come againe with Mary, and to wéep bitterly with Peter, not only with shedding of teares out of your bodily eyes but also pouring out the streames of your heart, to wash away, out of the sight of God, the filth and mire of your offensiue fall, bee not ashamed to say with the Publican, Lord be mercifull vnto mee a sinner: Remember the horrible history of Iulian of old, and the lamentable case of Francis Spira of late, whose remembrance me thinketh should be yet so gréene to your memory, that being a thing of our time, you should feare the like inconuenience, seeing that you are falne into the like offence. Last of all, let the liuely remembrance of the last day be alwaies before your eyes, remembring the terror that such shall bee in at that time, with the Runnagates and Fugitiues from Christ, which setting more by the world then by heauen, more by their life then by him that gaue them their life, more by the vanity of a painful [...]th, then the p [...]s [...] assurance of eternal saluation, did shrinke; yea, did cleane fall away from him that neuer forsooke them. And contrariwise, the inestimable ioyes prepared for them, which feared no perill nor dreading death, haue manfullie fought, and victoriouslie tryumphed ouer all power of darknesse; ouer Hell, Death, and Damnation, through their most redoubted Captaine IESVS CHRIST our Sauiour, who euen now stretcheth out his Armes to receiue you▪ ready to fall vppon your necke, and kisse you: and last of all, to feast you with the dainties and delicates of his owne most pretious blood, which vndoubtedly, if it might stand with his determinate purpose, hee would not let to shed againe, rather then you should bee lost: To whom with the Father and the [Page] Holy Ghost, bee all honor, praise and glory euerlastingly.
Amen.
Be constant, be constant, feare not for paine, Christ hath deliuer'd thee, and heauen is thy gaine.
THus hauing read her owne words, penned by her owne hand, and wayed well the depth and greatnesse of her most charitable deuotion, her pregnant and rare knowledge in the Booke of God, her swéete ell [...]cution in the schollerlike connexture and marriage of the best words and phrases together: who can haue that possible dulnesse of spirit in him, as not to conclude and beléeue that her birth, her education, and all the naturall inclinations of her own Spirits were sutable & agréeing with that best goodnes, which (how sildome extant) yet is euer expected in all noble personages, for indéed Gentry it selfe is but vertue▪ and all dignity added to Gentry doth but as it were baptize it with a more renowned Title of the most excellent vertue; in which stile this Ladie might take a large boast, and instead of Caesars veni, vidi, vici; Of her may be said, she was Noble, Chast, and Religious: But some (ouer-curious to examine goodnesse) may reply vnto me, that her honour was her Ancestors, and not the worke of her fundamentall institution, & therefore not altogether so glorious: that her sober and chast life was either a singular guift from aboue, or a tormenting feare of the shame of this world, continually stird vp in her blood, through the discourse of readings or examples, and that her religion being traduc'd from the instructions of her first Parents, and seconded by the learned Admonitions of them of the same opinion: her minde, as it were, beeing vtterly vnacquainted with any other contrary Argument, [Page] but euer foothed vp and fort [...]fied in one path onely, that it was no great worke either of maruaile or maistery, that she continued either so good, constant, or violent in the heate of her zealousnesse, whereas if shee had heard the continuall temptations of the aduersarie, and beene enforced to haue held a long battell with men, esteemed profound in a quite opposite opinion, or had beene burthened with the heauy and tyrannous yoake of authority, which by intollerable afflictions would haue not onely threatned the bending, but the breaking of her heart and bowels, if shee had not yeelded to the wil of their opinions, then for her brauely to haue held out such a weary siedge, and with a setled constancy to haue vndergon and triumphed in such a Christian warfare, had not only beene memorable, but rare, matchlesse, and renowned.
To let passe the two first suggestions, being sleight, and not worthy the labour of any serious Pen, because no doubt ought to be made where there is a probable assurance: and to come to this last inference touching her temptations, being so great and heauy, that they came neare to the point of Martyrdome: you shall vnderstand, that after her most vnfortunate marriage, and the vtter defaiture almost of her name and honors; others ambitions hauing embarqued her into those rough waues, which of necessity must swallow her (as you may at large read in the whole story of our Chronicles) diuers learned Romish Catholikes, and euen those which were of the best fame and reputation, were sent vnto her to disswade her from that true profession of the Gospell, which from her cradle she had euer held, each striuing, by art, by flattery, by threatnings, by promise of life, or what else might mooue most in the bosome of a weake Woman, who should become master of so great and worthy a prize, but all their labours were bootlesse: for she had art to confound their art, wisedome to withstand their flatteries, resolution aboue their menaces, and such a true knowledge of life, that death was to her no other then a most [Page] familiar acquaintance: In the end a deepe-read Diuine called M. Feckenham, then Chaplaine to Queene Mary, was sent vnto her about some foure dayes before her death, who had with her a long and tedious disputation, but as the rest found himselfe in all holy gifts so short of her excellence, that he acknowledged himselfe fitter to bee her Disciple, then Teacher: And thervpon humbly besought her to deliuer vnto him some briefe summe of her Faith, which hee might hereafter keepe, and as a faithfull witnesse publish to the world; to which shee willingly condiscended, and bad him boldly question her in what points of religion so euer it pleased him, and she would giue her faithfull and beleeuing answere, such as shee would euer bee ready to seale with her dearest blood: The summe of which conference you shall heare read as it was written with her own hand, and her name subscribed therevnto, as followeth.
A conference Dialogue-wise held betweene the Lady Iane Dudley and M. Feckenham, foure dayes before her Death, touching her Faith and Religion.
VVHat thing is required in a Christian?
To beleeue in God the Father, in God the Sonne, in God the Holy Ghost, three persons and one God.
Is there nothing else required in a Christian, but to beleeue in God?
Yes: We must beleeue in him, wee must loue him, with all our heart, with all our soule, and all our minde, and our Neighbour as our selfe.
Why then Faith iustifieth not, nor saueth not?
Yes verily, Faith (as S. Paul saith) onely iustifieth.
Why S. Paul saith, if I haue all the Faith of the world, without loue, it is nothing.
True it is, for how can I loue him I trust not, [Page] or how can I trust in him whom I loue not, Faith & Loue euer agree together, and yet Loue is comprehended in Faith.
How shall we loue our Neighbour?
To loue our Neighbour, is to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, and to giue drinke to the thirsty, and to do to him as we would doe to our selues.
Why then it is necessarie to saluation to doe good workes, and it is not sufficent to beleeue?
I deny that I affirme that faith onely saueth: But it is méet for all Christians, in token that they follow their Master Christ, to doe good works: yet may we not say, nor in any wise beléeue, that they profit to saluation: for although we haue done all that we can, yet wee are vnprofitable seruants, and the faith we haue onely in Christs blood, and his merits saueth.
How many Sacraments are there?
Two: the one the Sacrament of Baptisme, and the other the Sacrament of the Lords Supper.
[...]o, there be seuen Sacraments.
By what Scripture finde you that.
Well wee will talke of that hereafter: But what what is signified by your two Sacraments.
By the Sacrament of Baptisme I am washed with Water, and regenerated in the Spirit, and that washing is a token to mee that I am the Child of God: The Sacrament of the Lords Supper is offered vnto me as a sure Seale and Testimonie, that I am, by the blood of Christ which hee shed for me on the Crosse, made partaker of the euerlasting Kingdome.
Why what d [...]e you receiue in that bread, dee you not receiue the very body and bloud of Christ?
No surely, I doe not beleeue so I think [...] at that Supper I receiue neither flesh nor bloud, but onely Bread and Wine, the which bread when it is broken, and the wine when it is drunke, putteth mee in minde how that for my [Page] sinnes the body of Christ was broken, and his bloud shed on the crosse, and with that bread and wine I receiue the benefits which came by breaking of his body, and by the shedding of his bloud on the Crosse for my sinnes.
Why but (Madame) doth not Christ speake these words; Take, eate, this is my body: can you require any plainer words: doth he not say, that it is his body?
I grant he saith so; and so he saith likewise in other places, I am the Vine, I am the Doore, it being onely but a figuratiue borrowed speech: Doth not S. Paul say that he calleth those things which are not as though they were: God forbid, that I should say that I eate the very naturall body and bloud of Christ: For then either I should plucke away my Redemption, or confesse their were two bodies, or two Christs: two bodies, the one body was tormented on the Crosse, and then if they did eate another body, [...]ow absurd: againe if his body was eaten really, then it was not broken vpon the Crosse, or if it were broken vpon the Crosse (as it is doubtlesse) then it was not eaten of his Disciples.
Why is it not as possible that Christ by his power could make his body both to be eaten and broken, as to bee borne of a woman without the seed of man, and as to walk on the Sea hauing a body, and other such like myracles which he wrought by his power onely.
Yes verily, if God would haue done at his last supper a myracle, he might haue done so: but I say he minded nor intended no worke or myracle, but onely to breake his bodie, and shed his bloud on the Crosse for our sinnes: But I beseech you answere me to this one question; where was Christ when he said: Take, eate, this is my body: was not he at the Table, when he said so hee was at that time aliue, and suffered not till the next day? Well, what tooke hee but bread? And what broke hee but bread? And what gaue hee but bread? Looke what hee tooke hee brake, and looke what hee brake hee gaue, and looke what hee gaue that did they eate, and yet all this while hee himselfe was at [Page] Supper before his Disciples, or else they were deceiued.
You ground your Faith vpon such Authors as say and vnsay, both with a breath, and not vpon the Church, to whom you ought to giue credit.
No, I ground my Faith vpon Gods word, and not vpon the Church: for if the Church bee a good Church, the faith of the Church must bee tryed by Gods word, and not Gods word by the church, neither yet my faith: Shall I beléeue the church because of antiquitie? or shall I giue credit to that church which taketh away from mee a full halfe part of the Lords Supper, and will let no lay-man receiue it in bath kinds, but the Priests only themselues, which thing if they deny to vs, they deny vs part of our saluation: And I say that it is an euil and no good Church, and not the spouse of Christ, but the spouse of the Diuell, which altereth the Lords Supper, and both taketh from it, and addeth to it: To that Church I say God wil adde plagues, and from that Church will he take their part out of the Book of Life: you may learne of S. Paul, how hee did administer it to the Corinthians in both kindes, which since your Church refuseth, shall I beleeue it, God forbid?
That was done by the wisedome of the Church, & to a most good intent to auoid an heresie, which then sprung in it.
O but the Church must not alter Gods wil and ordinances for the colour or glosse of a good intent, it was the error of King Saul, and he not onely reaped a curse, but perished thereby, as it is euident in the Holy Scriptures.
To this M. Feckenham gaue me a long, tedious, yet eloquent reply, vsing many strong and Logicall perswasions, to compell me to haue leaned to their Church, but my Faith had armed my Resolution to withstand any assault that words could then vse against mee: Of many other Articles of Religion we reasoned, but these formerly rehearsed were the chiefest and most effectuall.
THis catechising argument betwéen the Lady Iane and M. Feckenham was held in the tower publiquely, before [Page] diuers worthy and noble personages, in all which shée bore her selfe with such a modest humility, yet so honourably stout in all thinges, which either concerned her God & her religion, that shée rauisht and stole vnto her, all the hearts of her auditory, while M. Feckenam lost much of that good opinion of his learning, which formerly for a long time be had inioyed: insomuch, that finding his own weaknes & his much disability to refell her truths with his scholastical fallacies hée grew into a little choller, and vsed vnto her some immodest spéeches most vnsutable for his grauity, to which only her smiles and patience gaue answere, and amongst the rest comming to take his leaue of her▪ hée said, Madam I am sorry for you and your obstinacy, and now I am assured you and I shall neuer meete againe, it is most true sir that wée shall neuer meet againe except God turne your heart, for I stand vndoubtedly assured that vnlesse you repent and turne to God, you are in a sad and desperate case, and I pray to God in the bowells of his mercy to s [...]nd you [...] is holy spirit, for hée hath giuen you his great guift of vt [...]ance, if it please him to open the eyes of your heart to his truth, but at these wordes he rudely departed without further answer, while the Saintlike Lady withdrew herselfe into her priuate bedchamber, where shee bestowed her selfe in most deuout prayer, till the night before her death, at what time shée took a faire new Testament in Gréek, on which after shée had read a while, offering to close vp the book shee found in the end thereof some few leaues of cleane paper vnwritten, which as it were awakening and incyting her zeale to some good and charitable office, shée took penne and inke and in those wast leaues wrote a most Godly and learned exhortation▪ which as soone as shee had finished it, shée closed vp the booke and deliuered it to her seruant to beare vnto her Sister the Lady Katherine, as the last token of her loue and remembrance, which was with great diligence performed. The tenor of the exhortation was this which followeth.
A exhortation written by the Lady Iane Dudley, the night before her death in the end of the new Testament, in Greeke, which shee sent to her Sister, the Lady Katherine Gray.
I Haue heere sent you (my deare Sister Katherine) a booke, which although it be not outwardly trimmed with gold, or the curious imbroderie of the artful'st needles, yet inwardly it is more worth then all the precious mynes which the vast world can boast of: It is the booke (my only best and best loued Sister) of the Law of the Lord: It is the Testament and last Will, which hee bequeathed vnto vs wretches and wretched sinners, which shall leade you to the path of eternall ioy: And if you with a good minde reade it, and with an earnest desire follow it, no doubt it shall bring you to an immortall and euerlasting life: It will teach you to liue, and learne you to dye: It shall win you more, and endow you with greater felicitite, then you should haue gained by the possession of our wofull fathers lands: for as if God had prospered him, you should haue inherited his hon [...]rs and Manors, so if you apply diligently this booke, seeking to direct your life according to the rule of the same, you shall be an inheritor of such riches, as neither the couetous shall withdraw from you, neither the theefe shall steale, neither yet the moathes corrupt: desire with Dauid (my best Sister) to vnderstand the Law of the Lord your God, liue still to dye, that you by death may purchase eternall life, and trust not that the tendernesse of your age shall lengthen your life: for vnto God, when hee calleth, all howers, times and seasons are alike, and blessed are they whose lampes are furnished when he commeth, for as soone will the Lord be glorified in the yong as in the old.
My good Sister once againe more let mee intreat thee to learne to dye; deny the World, defie the Diuell, and despise the Flesh, and delight your selfe onely in the Lord: be penitent [Page] for your sinnes, and yet dispayre not: be strong in faith, yet presume not, and desire with S. Paul, to bee dissolued, & to be with Christ, with whom, euen in death there is life.
Be like the good seruant, and euen at midnight be waking, least when death commeth and stealeth vpon you, like a théefe in the night, you be with the seruants of darknes found sléeping▪ and least for lack of Oyle you be found like the fiue foolish Virgins, or like him that had not on the wedding Garment, and then you be cast into darknes, or banisht from the marriage: Reioyce in Christ, as I trust you doe, and seeing you haue the name of a Christian, as neare as you can follo [...] the steps, and be a true imitator of your Master Christ Iesus, and take vp your Crosse, lay your sinnes on his back, and alwaies imbrace him.
Now as touching my Death, reioyce as I doe (my dearest Sister) that I shall be deliuered of this corruption, and put on incorruption: For I am assured that I shall, for loosing of a mortall life, winne one that is immortall, ioyfull and euerlasting: the which I pray GOD grant you in his most blessed hower, and send you his all-sauing grace to liue in his feare, and to dye in the true Christian Faith: From which in Gods Name I exhort you that you neuer swarue, neither so hope of life, nor feare of death: for if you will deny his truth, to giue length to a weary and corrupt breath, God himselfe will deny you, and by vengeance make short what you by your soules losse would prolong: But if you will cleaue to him, hee will stretch forth your dayes to an vncircumscribed comfort, and to his owne glorie: To the which glorie God bring mee now, and you hereafter, when it shall please him to call you: Farewell once againe (my beloued Sister) and put your onely trust in God who onely must help you.
Amen.
AFter the Lady Iane had finished this exhortation to her sister, and sent it away by her seruant, there came vnto her two Bishops and other learned Doctors, who likewise held with her more then two howers conference, striuing with all their powers to haue drawne her to haue dyed in the obedience of their Church and fellowship, but found themselues infinitely deceiued: for her faith beeing built vpon the rock of Christ, was by no worldly perswation or comfort to bee either mooued or shaken, so that after the expence of time and the losse of much speach, they left her (as they sayd) a lost and forsaken member, but shee, as before, prayed for them, and with a most charitable patience endured their worst censures.
The next day she was called downe to goe to the place of execution, to which shée had prepared her selfe with more diligence then either the malice of her aduersaries could desire or the vigilance of any officer for the discharge of his duty expect, and being come downe & deliuered into the hands of the Sheriffes, they might behold in her a countenance so grauely setled with all modest and comely resolution, that not the least hayre or mote either of feare or griefe could be perceiued to procéed either out of her spéech or motions, but like a demure body, going to bee vmted to her hearts best and longest beloued: so shewed she forth all the beames of a well mixt and tempered alacrity, rather instructing patience how it should suffer, then being by patience any way able to indure the trauell of so gréeuous a iourney, with this blessed and modest boldnes of spirit vndaunted and vnaltered, she went towards the scaffold, till whether through the mallice of some great aduersary or the indiscretion of the officers (but the latter is more credible,) shee incountred vppon the way (as shee went) the headlesse trunke of her new dead Lord and Husband the Lord Guilford Dudley, at that instant returning from the Scaffold to the Tower to bee buried, this spectacle a little startled her, and many teares were seene to descend and fall vppon her cheekes, which [Page] her silence and great heart soone dryed, and beeing now come vppon the Scaffold, after reuerence done to the Lordes and others in Commission, (turning her selfe round about to the people) shee spake these wordes as followeth.
The Lady Iane Dudleys words vpon the Scaffold before her death.
MY Lordes, and you good Christian people, which come to see me dye, I am vnder a law, and by that law (as a neuer erring Iudge) I am condemned to dye, not for any thing I haue offended the Quéens Maiesty, for I will wash my hands guiltles thereof, and deliuer to my God a soule as pure from such trespas, as innocence from iniustice, but onely for that I consented to the thing which I was enforced vnto, constraint making the law beleeue I did that which I neuer vnderstood: notwithstanding, I haue offended almighty God in that I haue followed ouermuch the lust of mine owne flesh and the pleasures of this wretched world, neither haue I liued according to the knowledge that God hath giuen me, for which cause God hath appoynted vnto me this kind of death, and that most worthily, according to my deserts, how bee it I thanke him hartily that hée hath giuen me time to repent my sinnes heere in this world, and to reconcile my selfe to my redéemer, whom my former vanities haue in a great measure displeased. Wherefore (my Lords, and all you good Christian people) I must earnestly desire you all to pray with me and for mée whilst I am yet aliue, that God of his infinite goodnesse and me [...]cy, will forgiue mée my sinnes how numberlesse add gréeuous soeuer against him: And I beseech you all to beare mée witnesse that I heere [...]re a true christian woman, professing & auouching from my soule yt I [Page] trust to be saued by the blood, Passion, and merits of Iesus Christ my Sauiour onely, and by none other meanes, casting farre behinde mee all the workes and merits of mine owne actions, as things so farre short of the true dutie I owe, that I quake to thinke how much they may stand vp against me. And now I pray you all pray for mee, and with me, and at those words she repeated the Psalme of Miserere mei: which done, she said; Lord saue my Soule which now I commend into thy hands, and so with all méeknesse of Spirit, and a Saint-like patience, she prepared her selfe to the blocke.