THE LIFE, DEATH AND ACTIONS OF THE MOST CHASTE, learned, and Religious Lady, the Lady JANE GREY, Daughter to the Duke of SUFFOLK. CONTAINING FOUR PRINCIPAL Discourses written with her own hands.  


The first an Admonition to such as are weak in FAITH:  
The second a CATECHISM:  
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. Elder, for john wright: and are to be sold at his shop without Newgate, at the sign of the Bible. 1615.   


THE LIFE, DEATH and actions of the most chaste, learned and Religious Lady, the Lady jane Grace, Daughter to the Duke of Suffolk: containing four principal discourses written with her own hands; the first an admonition to such as are weak in Faith, the second a Catechism, the third an exhortation to her Sister, and the last her words at her death.  
SOme worthy parcels or excellent Essays of the 〈◊〉 ●…ough to be imitated virtues, of that most admirable, wise, learned, and religious Lady, the Lady jane Grace, Daughter to the Duke of Suffolk, and unfortunate wife of the Lord Guildford Dudley son to the duke of Northumberland, coming, in an old ancient Printed Copy, unto my hands as it were half forgotten in the world, or like a curious monument whose well-carned figures, and rare architecture the dust and Cobwebs had injuriously defaced: I could not, out of Charity and Christian love to a mirror of such excellence, but with my best Art and industry polish and cleanse a perfection so Noble, Holy, and worthy all good men's imitations, and as it were to awaken the sleepy world from her fantastic Lethargy, to behold in that, which we call the weaker sex a strength matchless and invincible: A Saba that had so oft heard the wisdom of Solomon, that ten thousand of our Salomon's may come now to be instructed at this Saba: Briefly a Lady in all goodness so perfect, that whosoever could gain but some part of her shadow, might have enough in these latter days to boast and rank themselves with the best that are called virtuous, so flatteringly are attributes cast upon the living, and so maliciously slander upon the dead.  
To return then to my discourse, you may by that which hath been formerly spoke of her birth and marriage, judge the greatness of her blood and place, both which were far over shined by her virtues as shall be declared hereafter: she was born in England, and there brought up in learning, and religion, with that prosperous and devout painfulness, that as seed cast upon the best and most fruitfulst ground she brought forth her increase in such abundance of infinits, that the least of her excellencies were impossible to be circumscribed: for proof whereof, that every judgement may stand steadfast in the opinion of her perfection▪ I will here deliver unto you an Epistle of her own penning, sent to a noble friend of hers in the Court of England, being in those days of persecution fallen from the truth of God's holy word for fear of the world, in which you shall find so much learning charity and divine readings that by this one Talon only this princely Eagle may be truly discovered how potent and unmatchable the great substance of so rich a virtue is.   

An Epistle of the Lady jane Gray's to a Noble friend of hers newly fallen from the Truth.  
SO oft as I call to mind (dear friend and chosen Brother) the dreadful and fearful sayings of God, that he which layeth hold upon the plough and looketh back again, is not meet for the kingdom of heaven. And on the other side to remember the comfortable words of our Saviour Christ, to all those that forsaking themselves do follow him: I cannot but marvel at thee, and lament thy case; that thou which sometimes wert the lively member of Christ, but now the deformed imp of the devil; sometimes the beautiful temple of God, but now the stinking and filthy kennel of Satan; sometimes the unspotted spouse of thy Saviour, but now the unshamefast paramour of Antichrist, sometimes my faithful brother, but now a stranger & Apostata, yea sometimes a stout christian soldier, but now a cowardly runaway. So oft as I consider the threatenings and promises of the divine justice to all those which faithfully love him: I cannot but speak to thee, yea rather cry out and exclaim against thee, thou séed of Satan, and not of juda, whom the Devil hath deceived, the world hath beguiled, and desire of life hath subverted, and made of a Christian an Infidel.  
Wherefore hast thou taken upon thee the Testament of the Lord in thy mouth? wherefore hast thou hitherto yielded thy body to the ●ir●, and to the bloody hands of cruel tyrants? wherefore hast thou instructed others to be strong in Christ, when thou thyself dost now so horribly abuse the testament and Law of the Lord, when thou thyself preachedst (as it were not to steal) yet most abominably stealest, not from men, but from God, and as a most heinous sacrilegious robber, robbest Christ thy redeemer of his right in his members thy body and thy soul; when thou thyself dost rather choose to live miserably (with shame) in this world, then to die gloriously and reign in honour with Christ, to the end of all eternity, in whom even in death there is life beyond wish, beyond all expression: And when I say thou thyself art most weak, thou oughtest to show thyself most s●rong, for the strength of a fort is not known before the a●●…ult, but thou yieldest (like a faint Captain) thy hold before any battery be brought against thee.  
Oh wretched and unhappy man what art thou but dust and ashes, and wilt thou resist thy maker, that form and fashioned thee: wilt thou now forsake him that called thee from custome-gathering among the Romish Antichristians, to be an Ambassador and messenger of his eternal word; he that first framed thee, and since thy creation and birth preserved thee, nourished thee, and kept thee, yea and inspired thee with the spirit of knowledge (I cannot, I would I could say of grace) shall he not possess thee, darest thou deliver up thyself to another, being not thine own but his? How canst thou, having knowledge, or how darest thou neglect the law of the Lord, and follow the vain traditions of men? And whereas thou hast been a public professor of his Name, become now a defacer of his glory.  
I will not refuse the true God, and worship the invention of man, the golden Calf, the whore of Babylon the Romish religion, the abominable Idol, the most wicked Mass: wilt thou torment again, rent and tear the most precious body of our Saviour Christ with thy bodily and fleshly teeth, without the breaking whereof upon the cross, our sins and transgressions, could else no way be redeemed? wilt thou take upon thee to offer up any sacrifice unto God for our sins, considering that Christ offorod up himself (as S. Paul saith) upon the Cross, a lively sacrifice once for all.  
Can neither the punishment of the Israelites (which for their Idolatry so oft they received) move thee; neither the terrible threatenings of the ancient Prophets stir thee, nor the crosses of Gods own mouth fear thee to honour any other God than him? wilt thou so regard him that spared not his dear and only son for thee, so diminishing, yea utterly extinguishing his glory, that thou wilt attribute the praise and honour to Idols, which have mouths and speak not, eyes and see not, ears and yet hear not, which shall perish with them that made them: What saith the Prophet Baruck, where he reciteth the Epistle of jeremy, written to the captive jews, did he not forewarn them that in Babylon they should see Gods of Gold, Silver, Wood and Stone, borne upon men's shoulders to cause a fear upon the Heathen? But be not you afraid of them (saith jeremy) nor do as other do: 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 polished them, yea guilded they be and laid over with silver and vain things and cannot speak: he showeth moreover, the abuse of their deckings, how the priests took off their ornaments, & appareled their women therewithal: How one holdeth a Sceptre, another a sword in his hand, and yet can they judge in no matter, nor defend themselves, much less any other, from either hatred or murder, nor yet from gnawing worms, dust, filth, or any other evil thing: these and such like words speaketh jeremy unto them, whereby he proveth them but vain things, & no Gods, and at last he concludeth thus; confounded be those that worship them.  
They were warned by jeremy, and thou as jeremy hast warned others, and art warned thyself by many Scriptures in many places.  
God saith he is a jealous God, which will have all honour, glory, & worship given to him onoly. And Christ saith in the fourth of Luke to Satan which tempted him: even to the same Satan, the same Belzebub, the same Devil which hath prevailed against thee: It is written (saith he) thou shalt honour the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.  
These and such like do prohibit thee, and all Christians to worship any other God than he which was before all worlds, and laid the foundations both of heaven and earth, and wilt thou honour a detestable Idol invented by the pope's of Rome, and the uncharitable college of politic Cardinals?  
Christ offered up himself once for all, and wilt thou offer him up again daily at thy pleasure? But thou wilt say thou dost it for a good intent? Oh sink of sin! Oh child of perdition! canst thou dream of any good intent therein, when thy conscience beareth thee witness of the wrath of God promised against thee?  
How did Saul, who for that he disobeyed the word of God for a good intent: was thrown from his worldly and temporal kingdom: shalt thou then which dost so deface God's honour, and rob him of his right, inherit the eternal heavenly Kingdom? wilt thou for a good intent pluck Christ out of heaven, and make his death void, and deface the triumph of his cross offering him up daily? wilt thou either for fear of death, or hope of life, deny and refuse thy God, who enriched thy poverty, healed thine infirmity, and yielded to this victory if thou wouldst have kept it? dost thou not consider that the third of life hangeth upon him that made thee, who can (as his will is) either tw●…e it hard to last the longer, or untwine it again to break the sooner? Dost thou not remember the saying of David, a notable King, which teacheth thee, a miserable wretch, in his 104. Psalm, where he saith, When thou takest away thy Spirit (O Lord) from men, they die, and are turned again 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, whosoever seeketh to save his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose it for my sake shall find it: And in an other place: Who so ever loveth Father or Mother above me, is not meet for me, for he that will be my Disciple, must forsake Father and Mother, and himself, and take up his cross and follow me: what cross, the cross of infamy and shame, of misery and poverty, of affliction and persecution for his Names sake.  
Let the oft falling of those heavenly showers pierce thy stony heart, let the two edged sword of God's holy word hew a sunder the knit-together sinews of worldly respects, even to the very marrow and life blood of thy carnal heart, that thou mayst once again forsake thyself, to embrace Christ, and like as good subjects will not refuse to hazard all in the defence of their earthly and temporal Governors, so fly not like a white lyverd milksop from thy standard, whereby thy chief Captain Christ hath placed thee in a noble array of this life: Viriliter ago confortetur cor tuum & sustine dominum, fight manfully, come life, come death, the quarrel is Gods, and undoubtedly the victory is ours.  
But thou wilt say I will not break unity: What? No● the unity of Satan and his members, not the unity of darkness, the agreement of Antichrist, and his adherents; nay then thou deceivest thyself with fond imaginations of such an unity as is amongst the enemies of Christ: were not the false Prophets in an unity: were not Joseph's brethren▪ Jacob's sons, in an unity: were not the Heathen as the Amelechites▪ the Pheresits and Iebusits in an unity? I keep no order but look rather to my matter: were not the Scribes and pharisees in an unity: doth not King David testify, conveniunt in unum adversus Dominum, yea thieves and murderers, conspirators and Traitors have their unity.  
Mark my dear friend (yea friend if thou be'st not God's enemy,) there is no unity but when Christ knitteth the knot amongst such as be his, yea be 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 Son against the Father, the Daughter against the Mother: Deceive not thyself therefore with the glistering & glorious name of unity▪ for Antichrist hath his unity, yet not in deed, but in name, for the agreement of evil men is not an unity, but a conspiracy.  
Thou hast heard some threatenings, some curses, and some admonishments of the Scriptures to those which love themselves above Christ.  
Thou hast heard also the sharp and biting words to those which deny him for love of life, saith he not, that he which denieth me before men, I will deny him before my Father which is in heaven: And to the same effect writeth S. Paul in the 6. to the Hebrews, saying, It is impossible, that they which have been once lightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift of grace, and been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, & have relished of the pure word of God, if they fall and slide away, it is impossible that they should be renewed again by repentance, crucifying again to themselves the Son of God, and making him as it were a mocking-stock, or gaud of their fancies. And again (saith he) If we shall willingly sin after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there is no oblation left for sin, but the terrible expectation of judgement and fire which shall devour the adversaries. Thus S. Paul writeth, and thus thou readest, and dost thou not quake and tremble? well, if these terrible and thundering alarms cannot stir thee to arise and cleave unto Christ, and forsake the world, yet let the sweet 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 again in his holy Gospel; Blessed are you when men revile you, and persecute you for my sake, rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the Prophets before you.  
Hear what Esay saith; Fear not the curse of men, be not afraid of their blasphemies and revilings, for Worms and Moths shall eat them up like cloth and wool, but my righteousness shall endure for ever, and my saving health from Generation to Generation: What art thou then (saith he) that fearest a mortal man, the Child of a man, which fadeth away as doth the flower, and forgettest the Lord that made thee, that spread out the heavens like a curtain, and laid the foundations of the earth so sure, that they can not be removed: I am the Lord thy God, which maketh the Sea to rage, and to be still, who is the Lord of Hosts; I shall put my word in thy mouth, and defend thee with the turning of a hand. And our Saviour 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 shall persecute and kill: But fear 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 hairs of your heads are numbered, and none of them shall perish. I have laid up treasure for you (saith he) where no thief can steal, nor Moth corrupt, and happy are you if you endure to the end. Fear not them (saith Christ) which have power over the body only, but fear him that hath power both over the body and the Soul; The world loveth her own, and if you were of the world the world would love 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 Godward: let not the examples of holy men and women go out of your mind, as that of Daniel, and the rest of the Prophets; of the three Children of Eleazarus, that constant Father; the Maccabees Children, that of Peter, Paul, Stephen, and other Apostles and holy Martyrs, in the beginning and infancy of the Church; as of good Simeon Archbishop of Seloma and Zetrophon●, with infinite others, under Sapores the King of the Persians and Indians, who contemned all torments devised by the Tyrants for their saviours sake.  
Return, return again for honour and mercy's sake into the way of Christ jesus, and as becometh a faithful Soldier, put on that Armour which S. Paul teacheth to be most necessary for a Christian man, and above all things, take to you the shield of Faith.  
And be you most devoutly provoked by Christ's own example, to withstand the devil, to forsake the world, and to become a true and faithful member of his mystical body, who spared not his own flesh for our sins. Throw down thyself with the fear of his threatened vengeance for this so great and heinous offence of Apostasy, and comfort yourself on the other part with the mercy, blood, and promises of him that is ready to turn to you whensoever you turn to him: disdain not to come again with the lost son, seeing you have so wandered with him: be not ashamed to turn again with him from the swill of strangers, to the delicates of the most benign & loving father, acknowledging that you have sinned against heaven & earth, against heaven by staining his glorious name, and causing his most sincere and pure word to be evil spoken of through you, against earth by offending your so many weak brethren to whom you have been a stumbling block through your sudden sliding.  
Be not ashamed to come again with Mary, and to weep bitterly with Peter, not only with shedding of tears out of your bodily eyes but also pouring out the streams of your heart, to wash away, out of the sight of God, the filth and mire of your offensive fall, be not ashamed to say with the Publican, Lord be merciful unto me a sinner: Remember the horrible history of julian of old, and the lamentable case of Francis Spira of late, whose remembrance me thinketh should be yet so green to your memory, that being a thing of our time, you should fear the like inconvenience, seeing that you are fallen into the like offence. Last of all, let the lively remembrance of the last day be always before your eyes, remembering the terror that such shall be in at that time, with the Runagates and Fugitives from Christ, which setting more by the world then by heaven, more by their life then by him that gave them their life, more by the vanity of a painful ●●●th, than the p●●s●● assurance of eternal salvation, did shrink; yea, did clean fall away from him that never forsook them. And chose, the inestimable joys prepared for them, which feared no peril nor dreading death, have manfully fought, and victoriously triumphed over all power of darkness; over Hell, Death, and Damnation, through their most redoubted Captain JESUS CHRIST our Saviour, who even now stretcheth out his Arms to receive you▪ ready to fall upon your neck, and kiss you: and last of all, to feast you with the dainties and delicates of his own most precious blood, which undoubtedly, if it might stand with his determinate purpose, he would not let to shed again, rather than you should be lost: To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all honour, praise and glory everlastingly.  
Amen.  
Yours if you be Christ's. jane Grace. I. G.  
Postscript.  
Be constant, be constant, fear not for pain, Christ hath delivered thee, and heaven is thy gain.   

I. G. THus having read her own words, penned by her own hand, and weighed well the depth and greatness of her most charitable devotion, her pregnant and rare knowledge in the Book of God, her sweet ell●cution in the scholarlike connexture and marriage of the best words and phrases together: who can have that possible dullness of spirit in him, as not to conclude and believe that her birth, her education, and all the natural inclinations of her own Spirits were suitable & agreeing with that best goodness, which (how seldom extant) yet is ever expected in all noble personages, for indeed Gentry itself is but virtue▪ and all dignity added to Gentry doth but as it were baptise it with a more renowned Title of the most excellent virtue; in which style this Lady might take a large boast, and instead of Caesar's veni, vidi, vici; Of her may be said, she was Noble, chaste, and Religious: But some (over-curious to examine goodness) may reply unto me, that her honour was her Ancestors, and not the work of her fundamental institution, & therefore not altogether so glorious: that her sober and chaste life was either a singular gift from above, or a tormenting fear of the shame of this world, continually stirred up in her blood, through the discourse of readings or examples, and that her religion being traduced from the instructions of her first Parents, and seconded by the learned Admonitions of them of the same opinion: her mind, as it were, being utterly unacquainted with any other contrary Argument, but ever foothed up and fortified in one path only, that it was no great work either of marvel or mastery, that she continued either so good, constant, or violent in the heat of her zealousness, whereas if she had heard the continual temptations of the adversary, and been enforced to have held a long battle with men, esteemed profound in a quite opposite opinion, or had been burdened with the heavy and tyrannous yoke of authority, which by intolerable afflictions would have not only threatened the bending, but the breaking of her heart and bowels, if she had not yielded to the will of their opinions, then for her bravely to have held out such a weary siege, and with a settled constancy to have undergone and triumphed in such a Christian warfare, had not only been memorable, but rare, matchless, and renowned.  
To let pass 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 heavy, that they came near to the point of Martyrdom: you shall understand, that after her most unfortunate marriage, and the utter defaiture almost of her name and honours; others ambitions having embarked her into those rough waves, which of necessity must swallow her (as you may at large read in the whole story of our Chronicles) divers learned Romish Catholics, and even those which were of the best fame and reputation, were sent unto her to dissuade her from that true profession of the Gospel, which from her cradle she had ever held, each striving, by art, by flattery, by threatenings, by promise of life, or what else might move most in the bosom of a weak Woman, who should become master of so great and worthy a prize, but all their labours were bootless: for she had art to confound their art, wisdom to withstand their flatteries, resolution above their menaces, and such a true knowledge of life, that death was to her no other than a most familiar acquaintance: In the end a deepe-read Divine called M. Feckenham, than Chaplain to Queen Mary, was sent unto her about some four days before her death, who had with her a long and tedious disputation, but as the rest found himself in all holy gifts so short of her excellence, that he acknowledged himself fitter to be her Disciple, than Teacher: And thereupon humbly besought her to deliver unto him some brief sum of her Faith, which he might hereafter keep, and as a faithful witness publish to the world; to which she willingly condescended, and bade him boldly question her in what points of religion so ever it pleased him, and she would give her faithful and believing answer, such as she would ever be ready to seal with her dearest blood: The sum of which conference you shall hear read as it was written with her own hand, and her name subscribed thereunto, as followeth.   

A conference Dialogue-wise held between the Lady jane Dudley and M. Feckenham, four days before her Death, touching her Faith and Religion.  Feck. 
WHat thing is required in a Christian?  jane. 
To believe in God the Father, in God the Son, in God the Holy Ghost, three persons and one God.  Feck. 
Is there nothing else required in a Christian, but to believe in God?  jane 
Yes: We must believe in him, we must love him, with all our heart, with all our soul, and all our mind, and our Neighbour as ourself.  Feck. 
Why then Faith justifieth not, nor saveth not?  jane. 
Yes verily, Faith (as S. Paul saith) only justifieth.  Feck. 
Why S. Paul saith, if I have all the Faith of the world, without love, it is nothing.  jane. 
True it is, for how can I love him I trust not, or how can I trust in him whom I love not, Faith & Love ever agree together, and yet Love is comprehended in Faith.  Feck. 
How shall we love our Neighbour?  jane 
To love our Neighbour, is to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, and to give drink to the thirsty, and to do to him as we would do to ourselves.  Feck. 
Why then it is necessary to salvation to do good works, and it is not sufficient to believe?  jane 
I deny that I affirm that faith only saveth: But it is meet for all Christians, in token that they follow their Master Christ, to do good works: yet may we not say, nor in any wise believe, that they profit to salvation: for although we have done all that we can, yet we are unprofitable servants, and the faith we have only in Christ's blood, and his merits saveth.  Feck. 
How many Sacraments are there?  jane 
Two: the one the Sacrament of Baptism, and the other the Sacrament of the Lords Supper.  Feck. 
●o, there be seven Sacraments.  jane 
By what Scripture find you that.  Feck. 
Well we will talk of that hereafter: But what what is signified by your two Sacraments.  jane 
By the Sacrament of Baptism I am washed with Water, and regenerated in the Spirit, and that washing is a token to me that I am the Child of God: The Sacrament of the Lords Supper is offered unto me as a sure Seal and Testimony, that I am, by the blood of Christ which he shed for me on the Cross, made partaker of the everlasting Kingdom.  Feck. 
Why what d●e you receive in that bread, dye you not receive the very body and blood of Christ?  jane 
No surely, I do not believe so I thinks at that Supper I receive neither flesh nor blood, but only Bread and Wine, the which bread when it is broken, and the wine when it is drunk, putteth me in mind how that for my sins the body of Christ was broken, and his blood shed on the cross, and with that bread and wine I receive the benefits which came by breaking of his body, and by the shedding of his blood on the Cross for my sins.  Feck. 
Why but (Madam) doth not Christ speak these words; Take, eat, this is my body: can you require any plainer words: doth he not say, that it is his body?  jane 
I grant he saith so; and so he saith likewise in other places, I am the Vine, I am the Door, it being only but a figurative 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 eat the very natural body and blood of Christ: For then either I should pluck away my Redemption, or confess their were two bodies, or two Christ's: two bodies, the one body was tormented on the Cross, and then if they did eat another body, ●ow absurd: again if his body was eaten really, than it was not broken upon the Cross, or if it were broken upon the Cross (as it is doubtless) than 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 be borne of a woman without the seed of man, and as to walk on the Sea having a body, and other such like miracles which he wrought by his power only.  jan. 
Yes verily, if God would have done at his last supper a miracle, he might have done so: but I say he minded nor intended no work or miracle, but only to break his body, and shed his blood on the Cross for our sins: But I beseech you answer me to this one question; where was Christ when he said: Take, eat, this is my body: was not he at the Table, when he said so he was at that time alive, and suffered not till the next day? Well, what took he but bread? And what broke he but bread? And what gave he but bread? Look what he took he broke, and look what he broke he gave, and look what he gave that did they eat, and yet all this while he himself was at Supper before his Disciples, or else they were deceived.  Feck. 
You ground your Faith upon such Authors as say and unsay, both with a breath, and not upon the Church, to whom you ought to give credit.  jane 
No, I ground my Faith upon God's word, and not upon the Church: for if the Church be a good Church, the faith of the Church must be tried by God's word, and not God's word by the church, neither yet my faith: Shall I believe the church because of antiquity? or shall I give credit to that church which taketh away from me a full half part of the Lords Supper, and will let no lay-man receive it in bath kinds, but the Priests only themselves, which thing if they deny to us, they deny us part of our salvation: And I say that it is an evil and no good Church, and not the spouse of Christ, but the spouse of the Devil, which altereth the Lord's Supper, and both taketh from it, and addeth to it: To that Church I say God will add plagues, and from that Church will he take their part out of the Book of Life: you may learn of S. Paul, how he did administer it to the Corinthians in both kinds, which since your Church refuseth, shall I believe it, God forbid?  Fec. 
That was done by the wisdom of the Church, & to a most good intent to avoid an heresy, which then sprung in it.  jane. 
O but the Church must not alter God's will and ordinances for the colour or gloss of a good intent, it was the error of King Saul, and he not only reaped a curse, but perished thereby, as it is evident in the Holy Scriptures.  
To this M. Feckenham gave me a long, tedious, yet eloquent reply, using many strong and Logical persuasions, to compel me to have leaned to their Church, but my Faith had armed my Resolution to withstand any assault that words could then use against me: Of many other Articles of Religion we reasoned, but these formerly rehearsed were the chiefest and most effectual.  
Subscribed jane Dudley.   

THis catechizing argument between the Lady jane and M. Feckenham was held in the tower publicly, before divers worthy and noble personages, in all which she bore herself with such a modest humility, yet so honourably stout in all things, which either concerned her God & her religion, that she ravished and stole unto 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 enjoyed: insomuch, that finding his own weakness & his much disability to refel her truths with his scholastical fallacies he grew into a little choler, and used unto her some immodest speeches most unsuitable for his gravity, to which only her smiles and patience gave answer, and amongst the rest coming to take his leave of her▪ he said, Madam I am sorry for you and your obstinacy, and now I am assured you and I shall never meet again, it is most true sir that we shall never meet again except God turn your heart, for I stand undoubtedly assured that unless you repent and turn to God, you are in a sad and desperate case, and I pray to God in the bowels of his mercy to s●nd you● is holy spirit, for he hath given you his great gift of vt●●…ance, if it please him to open the eyes of your heart to his truth, but at these words he rudely departed without further answer, while the Saintlike Lady withdrew herself into her private bedchamber, where she bestowed herself in most devout prayer, till the night before her death, at what time she took a fair new Testament in Greek, on which after she had read a while, offering to close up the book she found in the end thereof some few leaves of clean paper unwritten, which as it were awakening and inciting her zeal to some good and charitable office, she took pen and ink and in those waist leaves wrote a most Godly and learned exhortation▪ which as soon as she had finished it, she closed up the book and delivered it to her servant to bear unto her Sister the Lady Katherine, as the last token of her love and remembrance, which was with great diligence performed. The tenor of the exhortation was this which followeth.   

A exhortation written by the Lady jane Dudley, the night before her death in the end of the new Testament, in Greek, which she sent to her Sister, the Lady Katherine Grace.  
I Have here sent you (my dear Sister Katherine) a book, which although it be not outwardly trimmed with gold, or the curious embroidery of the artful'st needles, yet inwardly it is more worth than all the precious mines which the vast world can boast of: It is the book (my only best and best loved Sister) of the Law of the Lord: It is the Testament and last Will, which he bequeathed unto us wretches and wretched sinners, which shall lead you to the path of eternal joy: And if you with a good mind read it, and with an earnest desire follow it, no doubt it shall bring you to an immortal and everlasting life: It will teach you to live, and learn you to die: It shall win you more, and endow you with greater felicitite, than you should have gained by the possession of our woeful father's lands: for as if God had prospered him, you should have inherited his honours and Manors, so if you apply diligently this book, seeking to direct your life according to the rule of the same, you shall be an inheritor of such riches, as neither the covetous shall withdraw from you, neither the thief shall steal, neither yet the moths corrupt: desire with David (my best Sister) to understand the Law of the Lord your God, live still to die, that you by death may purchase eternal life, and trust not that the tenderness of your age shall lengthen your life: for unto God, when he calleth, all hours, times and seasons are alike, and blessed are they whose lamps are furnished when he cometh, for as soon will the Lord be glorified in the young as in the old.  
My good Sister once again more let me entreat thee to learn to die; deny the World, defy the Devil, and despise the Flesh, and delight yourself only in the Lord: be penitent for your sins, and yet despair not: be strong in faith, yet presume not, and desire with S. Paul, to be dissolved, & to be with Christ, with whom, even in death there is life.  
Be like the good servant, and even at midnight be waking, lest when death cometh and stealeth upon you, like a thief in the night, you be with the servants of darkness found sleeping▪ and lest for lack of Oil you be found like the five foolish Virgins, or like him that had not on the wedding Garment, and then you be cast into darkness, or banished from the marriage: Rejoice in Christ, as I trust you do, and seeing you have the name of a Christian, as near as you can follo●… the steps, and be a true imitator of your Master Christ jesus, and take up your Cross, lay your sins on his back, and always embrace him.  
Now as touching my Death, rejoice as I do (my dearest Sister) that I shall be delivered of this corruption, and put on incorruption: For I am assured that I shall, for losing of a mortal life, win one that is immortal, joyful and everlasting: the which I pray GOD grant you in his most blessed hour, and send you his all-saving grace to live in his fear, and to die in the true Christian Faith: From which in God's Name I exhort you that you never serve, neither so hope of life, nor fear of death: for if you will deny his truth, to give length to a weary and corrupt breath, God himself will deny you, and by vengeance make short what you by your soul's loss would prolong: But if you will cleave to him, he will stretch forth your days to an uncircumscribed comfort, and to his own glory: To the which glory God bring me now, and you hereafter, when it shall please him to call you: Farewell once again (my beloved Sister) and put your only trust in God who only must help you.  
Amen.  
Your loving Sister. jane Dudley.   

AFter the Lady jane had finished this exhortation to her sister, and sent it away by her servant, there came unto her two Bishops and other learned Doctors, who likewise held with her more than two hours conference, striving with all their powers to have drawn her to have died in the obedience of their Church and fellowship, but found themselves infinitely deceived: for her faith being built upon the rock of Christ, was by no worldly persuasion or comfort to be either moved or shaken, so that after the expense of time and the loss of much speech, they left her (as they said) a lost and forsaken member, but she, as before, prayed for them, and with a most charitable patience endured their worst censures.  
The next day she was called down to go to the place of execution, to which she had prepared herself with more diligence then either the malice of her adversaries could desire or the vigilance of any officer for the discharge of his duty expect, and being come down & delivered into the hands of the Sheriffs, they might behold in her a countenance so gravely settled with all modest and comely resolution, that not the least hair or mote either of fear or grief could be perceived to proceed either out of her speech or motions, but like a demure body, going to be umted to her hearts best and longest beloved: so showed she forth all the beams of a well mixed and tempered alacrity, rather instructing patience how it should suffer, then being by patience any way able to endure the travel of so grievous a journey, with this blessed and modest boldness of spirit undaunted and unaltered, she went towards the scaffold, till whether through the malice of some great adversary or the indiscretion of the officers (but the latter is more credible,) she encountered upon the way (as she went) the headless trunk of her new dead Lord and Husband the Lord Guildford Dudley, at that instant returning from the Scaffold to the Tower to be buried, this spectacle a little startled her, and many tears were seen to descend and fall upon her cheeks, which her silence and great heart soon dried, and being now come upon the Scaffold, after reverence done to the Lords and others in Commission, (turning herself round about to the people) she spoke these words as followeth.   

The Lady jane dudley's words upon the Scaffold before her death.  
MY Lords, and you good Christian people, which come to see me die, I am under a law, and by that law (as a never erring judge) I am condemned to die, not for any thing I have offended the queens Majesty, for I will wash my hands guiltless thereof, and deliver to my God a soul as pure from such trespass, as innocence from injustice, but only for that I consented to the thing which I was enforced unto, constraint making the law believe I did that which I never understood: notwithstanding, I have offended almighty God in that I have followed overmuch the lust of mine own flesh and the pleasures of this wretched world, neither have I lived according to the knowledge that God hath given me, for which cause God hath appointed unto me this kind of death, and that most worthily, according to my deserts, how be it I thank him heartily that he hath given me time to repent my sins here in this world, and to reconcile myself to my redeemer, whom my former vanities have 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 me whilst I am yet alive, that God of his infinite goodness and me●cy, will forgive me my sins how numberless add grievous soever against him: And I beseech you all to bear me witness that I here ●re a true christian woman, professing & avouching from my soul that I trust to be saved by the blood, Passion, and merits of jesus Christ my Saviour only, and by none other means, casting far behind me all the works and merits of mine own actions, as things so far short of the true duty I owe, that I quake to think how much they may stand up against me. And now I pray you all pray for me, and with me, and at those words she repeated the Psalm of Miserere mei: which done, she said; Lord save my Soul which now I commend into thy hands, and so with all meekness of Spirit, and a Saintlike patience, she prepared herself to the block.   
FINIS.