commaundement of Queene Elizabeth there He exhorteth the Nobility to maintaine the Catholike fayth was consultation agayne among the Nobility of the Realme for suppressing the Catholike Fayth this most Noble Viscount making a graue eloquent and pithy oration exhorted thē not to permit themselues to be carryed away with euery wind of new doctrine nor to dissolue that which themselues so very lately had ratifyed and with solemne ceremony had promised inuiolably to obserue nor to abolish that Religion wherein all their Christian ancestors liued with such splendour and dyed with such piety to imbrace that which a small number they base voluptuous turbulent men of no reputation disagreeing among themselues had inuented and which had neuer set foot in England had not in famous lust and greedines of Church-goods depraued K. Henry the VIII But when he perceiued the principall of the Nobility of the realme partly being deluded with the vaine hope of marrying the Q. partly blinded with the couetous desire of earthly riches not to admit good Counsaile but like the deafe aspe to stop their eares as the Psalmist sayth at whatsoeuer voyces sweetly enchaunting what he could not perswade others himselfe constantly maintayned obserued And if somtime afterward he went to hereticall Churches it was not so much to be imputed to him as to his Priest a learned and piousman indeed but too fearfull who supposing it expedient something to giue to the tyme durst not determine such a fact to be sinne For when that Priest being dead he had entertayned another who with Priestly courage told him that it was a grieuous offence and hatefull to God and the Church pernicious to his soule to be present at hereticall seruice he was so far from defending his fact that as I receiued from the mouth of one that was present instantly putting of his hat falling on his knees both with gesture of his whole body with his tongue he most humbly submitted himself to the censure of the catholike Church and piously promised neuer thence forward to be present at hereticall seruice which all the rest of his lyfe he exactly obserued Many other notable things might be related of this right Nobleman but that mine intended subiect calleth me another way and therfore I will adde only one thing that the Reader may vnderstand in what pious manner this worthy man ended his holy lyfe Whē it pleased God to purge the rust of his sinnes in this lyfe he permitted him to fall into a tedious troublesome and lingring kind of infirmity wherof he dyed Which in the opinion of many happening vnto him by witch-craft from which opinion himselfe seemed not to dissent though certayne Sorcerers promised to restore him to his former health if he would but giue way therto he not only refused to consent to their iniquity but detesting all helpes of the slaues of Sathan seuerely forbad his friends euer to vse such detestable remedyes for the recouery of his health And so declaring not only in words with the Psalmist but euen in deeds Meliorem sibi misericordiam Psal 62. Dei esse super vitas That Gods mercy was better to him then lyfe being by a long triall purged he piously ended his lyfe in our Lord. Of the mutuall loue betweene the La. Magdalen and her Husband of her issue and of her rare Charity towards her husbands children CHAP. V. BY the aforesayd piety of the Viscount it wil be easy for the Reader to make a coniecture of the conuersation of his Lady who being of her owne nature and The exceeding loue betvveene the La. Mag. and her husband education addicted vnto piety by the further iuducemēts of her husbands example more speedily ran the course of vertue They liued together in great loue and amity 36. yeares and whiles I was writing this I lighted by chance on a letter of D. Langdales who was for many yeares theyr Confessor wherein in testimony of theyr loue and piety he thus speaketh vnto them Fare yee well most louing couple of one mind of one loue which is rare in this world of one piety She as S. Augustine left written of S. Confess l. 9. c. 9. Monica being ioyned to a husband serued him as her Lord and God made her beautifull and reuerently amiable and admirable to her husband Her husband had by her eight children Syr George Browne Syr Henry Browne honourable knights and Elizabeth wife to the Lord Dormer of whose prayses The children of the La. Magdalen because they yet lyue according the Counsayle of the wisemā I wil be silent the residue dyed eyther infants or vnmaryed leauing no issue excepting Mrs Iane Browne most like her mother in vertue maryed to Francis Lacon Esquire to whome she brought forth many children And Fateor nulla sic amabat liberos Hier de Sancta Paula albeyt the La. Magdalen most tenderly loued her children and what she could without iniury to others carefully aymed at their preferment yet her husband hauing by a former wyfe one only Sonne of exceeding tender constitution and infirme who only was to precede her Sons in his Fathers in heritance she had neuertheles so sollicitous a care of his health as if he had byn her owne child Yea his Sonne the present most Honourable Viscount Her vvorthy charity tovvards her sonne in-lavv Montague both by words as I vnderstand and by writings as we shall hereafter recite imputeth the benefit of his owne and his Fathers lyfe to the rare piety of this Mother-in-law which is also confimed by the testimony of others And when also by an offence which her husband conceyued occasion was presented whereby she Infrac 16. might exceedingly haue raysed the fortunes of her owne children she was so far from making vse thereof to the She preserueth the life of her sonne-in lavv and of his sonne iniury of her Sonne-in-law his child that she pacifyed her husband and reduced him into fauour So much did eyther the loue of her husband whome she affected in all his children or the ingrafted Nobility of mind or finally the loue of God and equity preuayle with her In which proceeding she shewed a worthy example to all Mothers-in-law and so much therfore did she purchase the loue of the present Viscount that none of her owne children exceeded him in filiall affection And though at the tyme that her husband dyed she seemed in the iudgement of many to be neerer death her selfe yet so much force did loue adde vnto her that arising out of her bed she held him in her armes whiles he yielded vp his last breath And as S. Hierome writeth of the most noble widdow S. Paula She so bewayled him as if she would haue dyed with him she so betooke her selfe to the seruice of God as she seemed to haue wished his death For wheras formerly obliged to wedlock she was constrayned to think Her piety and gratitude tovvards her
Education vnder the Countesse of Bedford CHAP. II. VVHen she was now thirteene yeares of age she was by her Father commended to the Countesse of Bedford to be educated vnder the prudēt discipline of that Catholique and Religious Lady Of whome she accustomed to make this relation which for the instruction of other women I thought very requisite to commit A barren woman immoderatly desireth children to writing Wheras she was barren had a vehement desire to haue a child she for a long tyme both by her selfe others besought Almighty God to vouchsafe to graunt her a sonne But as Christ sayd to his disciples Nescitis quid petatis yee know not what yee aske as S. Augustine witnesseth God sometymes in anger granteth our petition so this pious woman by the ill euent experienced that she knew not what she asked and insteed of a benefit requested a punishment of God For she brought forth a She is punished by them sonne but such a one as not only fell into heresy which she did extremely abhorre but did oftentimes so impiously behaue himself towards his Mother as that she would sometymes with exceeding griefe and teares publikely confesse that she grieuously offended God when desiring a sonne she had not added this condition If it might be for his glory and her comfort and therfore sayd she I am iustly punished by the thing I immoderatly desyred Which may be a document to pious parents that sterility is not alwayes to be esteemed as a punishment inflicted of God nor that children are alwayes to be reputed as a gift and testimony of diuine fauour and that they should demaund no temporall thing of God but as far forth as his diuine prouidence foreseeth it to be agreable to his pleasure and profitable for them But let vs returne to the La. Mōtague She liued three yeares vnder the said Countesse whome she so diligently attended that she did not only performe the office of her gentlewoman but in the absence of her chamber-mayd discharged her seruice also being ready euery houre of the night whensoeuer the Countesse called which by reason of her old age and infirmities she often did to rise out of her bed and diligently to attend her Yea the right Noble Virgin being delicately educated did not disdaine of her owne accord and vnknowne to the Countesse to performe that base kind of seruice which curious eares refuse to heare related So much had God preuented her with his benedictions and Her rare humility and duty had indued her with such humility euen in that age wherein as being the flower of youth women are ordinarily puffed vp in pride and insolencie And this act she sometimes accustomed to relate to her Grand-children without blushing yea with a kind of complacence by such example to exhort them to humility Of her liuing at the Court vnder Queene Mary and of her Marriage vnto the Viscount Montague CHAP. III. VVHen in this manner she had spent three yeares in all vertue and piety vnder the discipline of the Countesse of Bedford it happened that K. Edward the sixt being dead whose childhood certaine impious men abused to ouerthrow Catholike Religion in England Queene Mary not without euident miracle the great benignity of God against all power and policy of heretikes obtayned the Kingdome of England and expelling perfidious heresy restablished the auncient and true Religion She admitted Magdalen to the Court and to She is Maid of honour to Q Mary the number of her noble wayting-women who are vsually called Ladyes of Honour where her vertue and virginall modesty got not only more ample place to demonstrate it selfe but also found greater occasion and example of progresse and increase For at that tyme the Court of England was a schoole of vertue a nursery of purity a mansion of piety The Queene her selfe did shine What the Court of England vvas vnder Q Mary as the Moone in all kind of vertue whose prayses all histories doe record Her Ladyes and women did glitter as the starres and what shining starres they were the Reader may coniecture by what I will relate of one of them from the mouth of the La. Magdalen She accustomed to arise from her bed very early and attyring her selfe with all possible speed hastened to the Chappell where kneeling against a wall and the other part of her face couered with her head attyre she accustomed to spend certayne houres in deuout prayer and to shed abundance of teares before Almighty God And yet withall would she not be any tyme absent frō any office of piety prescribed to her her cōpanions Neyther was she content in this sort to spend the day but arose from her bed in the night and prostrate on the ground applyed her self to prayer a good part of the night Which when the La. Magdalen had once perceyued she finding her deuotion to be discouered no otherwise then if she had byn apprehended in Rare deuotion of of one of the maydes of honour some notorious Iewd fault falling on her knees with many teares she besought her for the honour of God that she would not bewray her secret exercises of piety to any creature whiles she liued O humble O truly pious virgin and truly a Mayd as she was called of Honour for she was a mayd of Honesty of Purity and of Piety O happy Court with such Courtyers and happy England with such a Court which for vertuous lyfe gaue not place to many Cloysters whence as from a fountain-head examples of piety did flow into all Prouinces of England Would to God this purity had continued in our Virgin Courtiers and the Mother therof the Catholike Religion had still florished then had not the Court of England byn spotted with the notorious infamy of lasciuiousnes as soone after it was But that I may expresse my griefe in this cause I desire my Countrymen to consider the notable purity of the maydes of Honour vnder Queene Mary and the infamous reproches which some The difference of the Court vnder a Catholike and an hereticall Queene of them haue incurred vnder Q. Elizabeth and they will find what difference there is betweene a most chast Religion and a most impure Heresy Vnder such a worthy Queene and with such Companions the La. Magdalen being educated she had scarce liued two yeares in the Court but that the rare vertues and ornaments both of her body and her soule drew the hartes of many principall Courtyers to affect her Among whome two especially at one tyme did earnestly seeke her in the way of Diuers desire to marry the La. Magdalen mariage The one was Syr Iohn Arundell knight cōmonly for his great wealth authority called the Great who afterward vnder Q. Elizabeth suffering long imprisonment for the Catholike Fayth dyed a glorious Confessour He was so enflamed with chast affection towardes this Lady that he would neuer desist to sollicite her till he vnderstood
that her Espousalls with another were published Then hauing lost his hope though not his affection he came to her and congratulating her espousalls wished her the most fortunate and happy mariage that euer woman had The other was Antony Lord Viscount Montague the issue of the most famous Marquesse Montague who descended both of the house of Lancaster and of the most auncient Nobility of England one of the priuy Councell of the Queene and knight of the most Noble Order of the garter This Nobleman before he opened his desire vnto the La. Magdalen sought by letters the consent of the Queene who with no small commendations of her Mayd wrote him this answere Hauing considered The letter of Queene Mary her person her vertuous report birth great number of friends and other benefits which this Alliance will bring vnto you with other like motiues which I perceiue you prudently ponder I confesse that I so fauour this matter as I do not only giue free consent that you treat with her therof but also so fit do I esteeme this match to ech of you that with my hart I wish it a happy conclusion shall exceedingly ioy that you haue found so conuenient a wife and she so fortunate a condition The most Ho. ble Viscount hauing in this sort obtayned first the consent of the Queene then of the Lady of her Parents and friends marryed her in She is maryed to the Viscount Montague London at the Kinges house called S. Iames the Queene her selfe with a great traine of the Nobility being present This then was that Isaac whome God prepared for this most chast Rebecca of whose heroicall Vertues I will briefly note some few which I receiued from this Ladies mouth because they giue some light to the relating of her Piety Of the worthy Vertues of the Viscount Montague husband of the La. Magdalen CHAP. IV. THe first Vertue that occurreth to be related of this A rare affection vnto chastity in the Viscount Noble man is his rare affection vnto chastity For when his Mother being dead his Father kept a Concubine as soone as this yong Gent. vnderstood therof he went alone to his Father and on his knees besought him to leaue that course of life so hatefull vnto God damnable to his soule and dishonorable to all his friends and to take to wife some honest Gentlewoman with whome he might liue honourably before men and in the fauour of God To whome his Father smyling sayd Thou doest giue me such counsayle Sonne as will be thirty thousand pounds out of thy way But the pious youth answered that he nothing regarded that losse whereby he might gaine his Fathers soule and reputation And so much did the pious admonition of the Sonne preuaile with the Father that dismissing his Concubine he marryed a wife with whome he spent the rest of his life honestly And the Sonne in this one act shewed great piety towards his Father religion towards God and with contempt of riches an admirable loue of chastity euen at that time when heresie being newly crept into England in a manner all the youth was corrupted with all kind of lasciuious liberty Neither was this a sparkle which after a litle blaze is sodenly extinguished but a true flame of affection vnto chastity and a firme purpose rather to hazard his life then his chastity For when afterward he was Embassadour in Spayne and was fallen into a most perillous and molestfull disease and the Phisitians gaue iudgement that he could not recouer vnlesse he had the company of a woman and at that time there lying directly ouer against his lodgings a most beautifull English queane who by all lasciuious allurements endeauoured to induce him to lewdnes notwithstanding neither by the Counsaile of the Phisitians nor the perswasion of others He preferreth Chastity before his life nor the wanton allurements of the queane nor the loue of his life could he be moued to preferre the health of his body before the safety of his soule or the loue of his life before his charity vnto God but vtterly reiecting all lewd Counsaile he was neuer quiet till he had banished the queane out of those lodgings O holy man O chast Ioseph whome neyther the pleasure of sinne nor the impunity and secresie of the fact nor the hope of health nor the feare of death could induce to incurre the losse of his chastity to violate his fayth plighted to his wife or to offend God And albeit being shortly after by the Queene recalled into his Country he recouered of this disease who yet would not esteeme him equall or very like to B. Leopoldus and other most holy men who chose rather to loose their liues then to abuse their bodies incontinently And this his worthy chastity was accompanied with equall or rather greater loue of Gods worship and Religion For when K. Edward the sixt or rather others in his name abolishing the religion of his predecessors as an other Ieroboam had erected a new Altar and set vp golden calues I meane a new worship or rather superstition and almost all people either for affectation of nouelty or for feare of punishment flocked to that new and enormous superstition this pious youth would not staine himselfe with such haynous crime but like an other Tobias sought out the seruice of God practised by his Parents and both deuoutly and publikly and with due reuerence frequented the same For which matter being He is cōmitted to prison for the seruice of God committed to prison he was so far from being deiected therewith that adorning his chamber with tapistry he therby gaue his persecutors assurance that his purpose was rather with Daniell to liue in prison then to abstaine from the diuine seruice of his God Neither did he alone so constantly imbrace the Catholike Religion but did also animate others to the like constancy For when his Father by the impious aduise of some others for to auoyd the offence of Heretikes was perswaded to absent himselfe from the Parlamēt that day when vnder Edward the sixt it was consulted of changing Religion when the vertuous yōg Gent. vnderstood therof he neuer desisted till by prayers teares and such other reasons as he could he had wrought his Father to go to the Parlament and couragiously to giue his voyce for the true Religion And when afterward vnder Q. Mary the true Religion did florish againe none was more studious then he to aduāce the Catholike fayth For which his zeale and other vertues worthy of such imployment he especially was chosen He is sent Embassadour to the Pope of that Queene to goe Embassadour to the Pope and desiring pardon of the schisme past to promise future obedience in the name of the whole kingdome Which he performed to his exceeding prayse the honour of his nation the glory of God and the applause of the Christiā world But when a few yeares after with griese be it spoken by