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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20907	The life, death and actions of the most chast, learned, and religious lady, the Lady Iane Gray, daughter to the Duke of Suffolke Containing foure 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.; Epistle of the ladye Jane to a learned man of late falne from the truth of Gods word	Grey, Jane, Lady, 1537-1554.; Feckenham, John de, 1518?-1585. aut	1615 (1615)	STC 7281; ESTC S119400	15,132	26

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 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 Your louing Sister Iane Dudley 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 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 y t I 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 FINIS

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 MATH 5. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God 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 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 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 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

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 Feck 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 Iane 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 Feck 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 Ian. 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 Supper before his Disciples or else they were deceiued Feck 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 Iane 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 Fec That was done by the wisedome of the Church to a most good intent to auoid an heresie which then sprung in it Iane. 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 Subscribed Iane Dudley THis catechising argument betwéen the Lady Iane and M. Feckenham was held in the tower publiquely before 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