Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	body_n	hand_n	soul_n	5,920	5	4.8872	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A14250	The translation of a letter written by a Frenche gentilwoman to an other gentilwoman straunger, her frind, vpon the death of the most excellent and vertous ladye, Elenor of Roye, Princes of Conde, contaynyng her last wyll and testament. Doone by Henry Myddelmore gentylman at the request of the Ladye Anne Throkmorton	I. D. V., fl. 1564.; Myddelmore, Henry.	1564 (1564)	STC 24565; ESTC S105901	21,518	65

in the place of euerlastinge felicitie In the meane tyme I wyll studye to kepe wel the gages which she hath lefte me and wyl continue them in the same maner of teachinge that so christianlye they haue begonne to thintent that the vse and the propertie of the mother of the father and of the children be all to God who by his puissaūt hande hath so oftentymes deliuered and conserued this house of ours If I do consider waye the rarenes of my good fortune herin whiche doth present it selfe incessauntly before myn eyes and wherof I sée my selfe vtterlye spoyled by this separation It can not be that I cane fynde here sufficient or egall consolation when no man is able to nomber by all the milliōs that may be assembled the infinitnes of so notable a losse I will therfore haue my recourse to hym if I dare saye so that hath geuen me the wounde who shall and please hym fournishe me of aswaging plaister of his word to heale the same as it is saide of them that be bytten by the Scorpion must seale the remedie of the Scorpion And as to that she prayeth me by you to double my good wyll towardes our children I dyd feale in my harte at the very same instant that you spake these wordes to me I can not tell what maner of hydden infusiō that hath encreased in me the fyer of fatherlye loue whiche I dyd before beleue coulde not haue receaued anye encrease persuadyng alwayes my selfe that it was not possible to augment it in me You shall now retourne and saye to her I pray you that this oratiō whiche she hath made me by your mouthes hath so resolued me that I feale in me the effectes of the force of her noble courage and that I do praise God greatly for the inestimable constancye that he hath geuen her but I praye her that in any wyse she do not omitte nor forsake any of those meanes whiche God hath departed to men by art and industrie for the recoueringe of her health to thintent she do not leaue behinde her an encrease of my sorowes when I shoulde vnderstande hereafter the fault of her remedye This discourse was muche more great graue as you may well thinke but excuse I praye you the memorye of a woman so greuouslye troubled and attainted This done she caused two Notaries to come vnto her vnto whom she spake from worde to worde her last wyll and Testament commaundynge them to write in this sorte followinge COnsideryng the fragilitie and vncertaintie of this lyfe and that God by this greuous sickenes wher wyth it hath pleased him to visite me hath warned me as it were by a callynge vpon to prepare my selfe to take order in my worldlye affaires that I might be ready with spede to followe his wyll whē it shall please hym to call me I haue made sayd and ordayned this whiche followeth for the declaration of my laste will and testament reuokynge all others in any sorte made heretofore First I beseche thee my good God that when it shal please thee to delyuer me of the miseries and peynes of this lyfe to take my soule out of the prison of this bodye wherin it is closed but for a tyme that of thy goodnes mercye thou wylte vouchsafe to receyue it into thy handes and to place it in the possession and enioyinge of that felicitye whiche thy deare Sone hath bought vs by his death and passion And by this meanes to assure the stedfast faith which thou hast geuen vs by thy promisses sealed as wel by the sacramēt of Baptysme as by the same of thy holy Supper of the generall remission of oure synnes all whiche we beleue to be so defaced by the bloude obedience of thy Sonne that they shall neuer come in accompte before thee Secondly I recommende vnto thee our children praying the that accordyng to thy promisse thou wylte be theyr God theyr Father and protector that extendyng thy blessyng vpon them it may please thee to illuminat instruct them in the knowledge and feare of thy holy name and to serue thy selfe of them as thou hast donne of their father to exalte thy glory to procure and cōserue the reapose and quietnes of thy churche and to plucke vp by the roote al that which thou hast not planted therein Make them by thy speciall goodnes instrumentes and vessels of thy glorye replenishe them with thy heauenly graces commādyng them by the authoritie which thou hast geuen me ouer them that they do aduowe and dedicate all their lyfe to thy seruice and to the same of thy churche I referre the buryinge of my bodye to the good wyl pleasure of my Lord my husbande knowing wel that where so euer it doth lye it wyll reste there in a verye certaine hope of his resurrection Then she disposed her goodes to my Lordes her chyldren and gaue many charitable Legacies And emongest others one for the entertaynynge of the Colledge of la Ferté au Col which a littel before my Lorde her husbande and she had instituted and erected She dyd also ordeyne that vpon her landes a certaine pencion shuld be yerely leauyed towards the fyndynge of the Ministers of gods worde and dyd her selfe heare the accomptes of al her seruaunts to th ende she might helpe them to that that in any sorte might be due vnto them so great was her care to do right to euerye bodye and to vnderstande her houshold affaires wherunto she wold be made preuye euē vnto the last extremitie geuing as good order in them and with as sounde a iudgement as at any tyme she was accoustumed to do in her most perfect health That beinge donne she caused the minister Perrucel to be called and declared vnto hym howe glad she was to vnderstand that she shold very shortly go to her God by the ende of this sicknes And that therfore she woulde consider of the state of her consciēce Not sayd she thankes be to God that I do feele my selfe otherwyse thē well disposed towardes my creatour readye to go to hym when it shall please hym but to the end that you father whome god hath ordeyned shepheard in my Lorde my husbands house and myne may knowe the face of this shepe of your flocke and that I dye contented that I haue geuen before the Minister of the churche of the Lorde a true testimonye of my fayth hope of health whiche by hys grace and goodnes I receyue of hym Then with ioined handes and eyes lyfted vp on highe she made humble confession of her fayth declarynge that she dyd beleue confesse God to be and in beinge to be God only distinct notwithstandynge in thre persons which are the Father the Sone the holy Ghost that he is creatour conseruer and gouernour of heauen the earthe the Sea and all that is in them without whose wyll pleasure no creatures be they Aungels Dyuels or any

gyue me the whight garment that I may follow the lambe with the lyuerey whersoeuer he goeth that he wyl make me to be borne of his Aungels that I do not falle and that he wyll take me frō hence belowe puttyng his lefte hande vnder my heade embrasinge me with his right Then they prayed and aunswere being made so be it she sayd Oh my god my Sauiour now is my wynter past and my springe tyme is come Open therfore the gate vnto me of thy celestial garden that I may taste of the fruit of thy euerlastyng swetnes repetynge these wordes thre tymes At this same tyme maister Perrucell toke his leaue to goo to prepare himselfe to preache which he should do that morninge in his place came l'Espine accordyng as they disposed of the houres to be about her tourne by tourne togethers with the minister la Bossiere It was then about .vij. of the clocke in the morning beinge Sonday .xxiii. daye of this moneth L'espine continued in prayers and exhortations and as you knowe he is ritche and copious in similitudes cōparisons so he spake things more celestiall then humaine whiche lasted for the space of an houre vntill they gaue to this couragious pacient some lytell sustenaunce who was accoustumed to says .vj. or .vij. dayes before that notwithstandinge she knewe welinough that that she did eate take was vnprofitable a lost thinge that neuerthelesse she would styll entertaine her bodye with nourishment vntil it should please God to dispose of the issue of her soule and that it was not in vs to leaue this garison without the leaue of our Captaine Soone after this repast her flux of bloud toke her againe whiche by no meanes coulde be stopped for that her forces were ouermuche abated she her selfe dyd then also iudge that the former remedies vinaiger nor boxinges coulde any longer preuayle Maister Perrucel being in his Sermon was sent for because before she had desyred that in any wyse he mighte be by her in that extremitye notwithstāding that de l'Espine was then there with her Her difficultye of breathinge came vpon her againe and seinge first her right hande dye then her lefte she put them one vpon the other and sayde to me it is now my good frynde that I doo go to god Maister Perrucell came in greate haste and so soone as she had perceyued him she sayd my good father speake for me do your office you haue had the charge of my soule my hearyng is hardened my tonge fayleth me but I wyl make you signs with my head if I can not aunswere These two Ministers vsed vnto her many godly conueniēt exhortations as they be both notoriouslye learned full of zeale after whiche they asked her if she had wel vnderstode al that they had said whether her hart did so beleue it féele it Yea I thanke god said she liftyng vp her eyes to heauen make your prayers for me accordynge as you both knowe my soule desiereth Which prayers ended she called vnto her one of her maidens of her chamber that she loued very dearely saide vnto her to the ende she might receyue with all the contentations that she coulde the ease and benefite of death that she shoulde take her legges stretche them forth whiche the rigor of mortall colde had already drawen vp And sodenlye she pronounced these wordes Into thy handes oh Lord I cōmende my soule And so beganne to enter into the pangs of death wherin she cōtinued not so longe as halfe a quarter of an houre durynge whiche tyme these two good men togethers with la Boissiere dyd declare vnto her sondry good and godly sayings of the assuraunce of her saluation and to aunswere them to let thē knowe that she vnderstode them well she enforced her selfe to speake but could not so as she gaue them in steade of wordes the signe of the head whiche she had before promised Within a minute of an houre after she departed by a swete sighe vp into heauen into the heritage whiche God hath prepared for his elect Leauyng to vs all a desier to ende as she had donne I can not but tell you that because whylst I lyue here I canne sée her no more I must remaine for euer in an extreame sorow and heauines and yet in a ioye moste greatest that I haue appertayned in seruice to so vertuous a Princes Nowe cometh to my remembraunce the talke which maister Perrucel had to this Ladye at the article of her death which I esteame worthy to be written Madame sayd he you must please you acknowledge the goodnes of this great god towardes you not only for all the goodnes graces whiche he hath donne for you in all your lyfe hytherto but also for the special fauour which he doth presently shewe you for hauynge put you into his vyneyarde there to laboure trauayle all the hole day he wil take you from thēce at the midds of the day to bring you to reste and quietnes You haue scantly yet attayned to the middes of your age which you haue by the grace of god well faithfullye employed in the labour of his vyneyarde Ought not you to thanke him thinke well of hym if he wyll excuse you of the sweate traueaile of the rest of the day gyue you lyke wages and paymēt as if you had laboured all the daye longe I had also forgotten to tell you that about a moueth before her death she sayde to a personage of greate qualitie her kynsmā and a very iuste man that she had hard a voice in the night which sayd to her in very plaine wordes that she should dye or it were longe that therfore she should prepare her selfe and so muche it lacked that those newes did make her any thing sadde or sorowfull as that euer after she dyd moste desier the ende of this holy separatiō I must tell you truly that without flatterynge of those of our sexe sorte her magnanimitye herein hath shamed and put to foyle the great courage wherof men so ordinarily do vaunt them selues for her members dyinge one after an other before her eyes she dyd lesse care for the feare of death then the brauest of them euer dyd She spake as francklye and boldly of this great terror of death as if it had bene of any thinge that euery daye is most comen to vs and that doth appartaine to oure most familier domesticall matters And two dayes before her death notwithstandynge that the dangerous beatynge of her poulce did make her perfect of that which soone after should come to her neuerthelesse she caused to be brought to her the plote of the castell of Amsi whiche she had commaunded to be made a lytel before her sicknes wherin she did deuyse with my Lord her husbande as curiouslye as particularly of all the desseins deuises and orders as that you would haue thought to haue séene her

you to heare me particularise somwhat of her behauiours I wyl shewe you that the most egre and lamentable voice that in all the time of her sicknes I euer harde her pronounce and yet as you know I was very litell from her was that one tyme about an eyght dayes before her death beynge pressed with extreme payne she addressed her selfe to God in raising her voice a lyttell more then she was accustomed whē she could not fynde in two beddes with al her often chaungyngs any one place where she might rest one minute of an houre and sayde Oh Lord God almightye forasmuch as in all the places of this terrestriall abydynge how great and spacious soeuer it be and wherof thou arte onlye creatour I cannot fynde by all my diligence one littell corner of quietnes nor voyde of grief wherby I might lyberally pronounce as I was wont thy great goodnes and mercye I leaue and gyue ouer wyllingly my longer dwellynge and abode here to retourne yf it please thee at this tyme to that heauēly rest whiche thou hast prepared for me by the death and passion of thy welbeloued Sonne Make my God my Father by his meanes that my soule and body be both content and at rest The one to be free and at libertie goyng straight to thee who I see doth alreadye stretche out his armes for me The other abydynge insensible here belowe vntyl thou doest waken it at the sounde of thy commynge I cannot tell whether this her talke wyll seame to you oute of order or no but I canne assure you I neuer harde her speake worse wordes in the myddes of her greatest extremities This chast Ladye for so I may right well cal her as accomplished in euerye degrée and in al circumstaunces in that excellent gifte and matronall modestie whiche dyd followe her euen vnto her graue as you see Iustice doth Kynges to theyr buryals wherof I requyre no better prouffe then the very confession of her ennemyes and I do nothynge maruell if in your countrey so manye wyse and graue Ladyes doe determine to set her before their eyes for an image mirrour of chastitie in the bringyng vp nurturynge of their daughters euen as we here emōgst our selues desire to do the lyke For to speake trulye she doth excell all those that euer haue bene celebrated by any hystorie And at one worde there was neuer nothynge that founde place in hyr harte but vertue only And therof I may be a sufficient wittnes hauynge had the honor euen from her cradell and most tender yeres to be alwayes about her personne She I say dyd well forsee so soone as this Issue of bloud beganne to take her that the disease was mortall And besydes her owne iudgement hauynge harde the opinion of them that had the charge of her health she resolued incontinently to gyue order in her householde affaires to th' intent she mighte the more lyberallye thynke of God And to this effect she sent for my Lorde the Prince her husbande desiryng hym most humbly to come to her which he dyd forthwith and in great hast after he had receaued the newes thereof at Vitry from whence on the morow the court remoued to Bar. And after he had ben a two or three dayes at home with her that she had made many chereful shewes and countinaūces of the Ioye she had to see hym for you knowe there was neuer woman that loued cheryshed honored or respected more her husbande then she dyd hym she prayed two personages towardes the lawe whiche she knewe dyd loue and honor theyr house to goe and declare vnto hym the greate danger of death wherin she thought her selfe to be fearynge it shoulde greue hym muche more if she her selfe dyd tell him it To thyntent it mighte please hym to gyue her leaue to ordeyne and dispose of certaine thinges whiche she desired to haue executed after her decesse And I do very well remember that when she sent these two counsellors to hym she desired them to saye vnto hym emongest all the rest these woordes whiche I dyd well note Since the good pleasure of God was that the separation of hym her should be made as touchinge the body yet she desired him that theyr soules might continue together inseparable in that charitie which they dyd owe alike to theyr father Iesus Christ who had so miraculouslye deliuered them in the sight of all the worlde from so many troubles and dangers as they had passed and escaped by his grace That he had lefte vnto them children the sure gage of theyr amitie And that to beginne her testament she dyd make hym vniuersal inheritor of that Masse of loue that she had hitherto bo●●e them To the end that after her death he shold loue them both for hym selfe and for her to recommēdynge them vnto hym principally for their bringing vp and instruction in the feare of God whiche she assured to be the most certaine good and patrimonie that she coulde leaue them They haue sayd she good beginnings and that at the handes of a sufficient master meanynge the minister de l'Espine who in dede hath of late taken great paynes with them interpretynge vnto them euery mornynge with great dexteritie the prouerbes of Salomon And in the afternone the Commentaries of Iulius Caesar whereby my Lorde Marquis theyr eldest sonne hath so wel profited that he is one of the best learned that is to be founde of his age She added vnto these as she was alwayes a well spoken woman manye other godly sayenges exhortations whiche the force of the streame that issued out of myne eyes dyd lette me to beare awaye And do you not marueil at all if I dyd then weepe so aboundātly for the two persons before spoken of dyd no lesse before they departed to goo thether as she had desired them Soone after I sawe them retourne agayne to make reporte of the honest wyse talke that my Lord the Prince had vsed vnto them vpon this sorowful subiect Wherof the good Ladye receaued a most greate contentation comfort And they both tolde me apart that it was impossible for any mā to speake more eloquentlye then the Prince had done to them as euerye man knoweth how wel spoken he is of how good iudgement he is and howe gentil a Prince he is True it is said they that we haue very wel perceaued that the amitie and loue whiche he beareth to this his dere spouse compagnion did oftentimes breake the thryd of his Oration by the many and depe sighes he gaue whiche doe sufficientlye wytnes his iust profound sorowe God sayd he who hath conioyned vs together separate sonder vs since it doth so please him it is reason that we do wholly cōforme our selues to his holy wyl It is certaine that he is more happy that goeth to hym then he that caryeth here and abydeth an other passage Oh happye houre that God shal ordayne vs to be reunited in heauen