This tretyse is of loue and spekyth of iiij of the most specyall louys that ben in the worlde and shewyth veryly and perfitely bi gret resons and causis, how the meruelous [and] bounteuous loue that our lord Ihesu cryste had to mannys soule excedyth to ferre alle other loues ... Whiche tretyse was translatid out of frenshe into englyshe, the yere of our lord M cccc lxxxxiij, by a persone that is vnperfight insuche werke ...

HEre begynneth a techynge by manere of predycacyon made to the peple by master Alberte conteynyng ix. artycles.

¶Mayster Alberte Archebys¦shop of Coleyne sayd thyse wordes in the persone of Ihesu cryst /

¶The fyrste is this. Gyue a a peny for my loue in thy lyfe why¦le thou hast power and helthe

And this shall pleyse me better. & more shall auayle the / than yf mē gaaf after thy dethe for the a hepe of siluer / that were as hye as frō erth to the skye. ¶The seconde is wepe one tere for my suffraunce & passion that I haue suffrid for the & for thy syn̄es / & it shall pleise me more / & be better for the / than yf y^u wepte asmoche of teres as is wa∣ter in the see / for ony other thyng y^t is vayn & chaūgeable / ¶The thir¦de is this / breke thy slepe / & thy ow¦ne wylle whan thou mayst doo it to worship & prayse me. & it shall pleyse me more. & be better for the than yf men sende xij. knyghtes in good quarell for the after thy deth ¶The fourth is this / kepe the fro euyll sayeng of thyn neyghbour / & hurt no body wylfully. & this shal plese me more & be beter for the thā yf thou wentest barefote so long y^t men might folowe the by the trac¦kes of thy blood ¶The v. is this suffre Ioyfulli a hard worde whā men say to the for the loue of me. & this shal pleise me more & better for the / than yf it myght be that y^u suffredest as many roddes to be bro¦kē vpō thy body as myght lye on a grete feld ¶The vj. is herberow the poor / & doo good to theim that bē nedy. & thou shalt pleyse me mo¦re & be beter to the / than yf y^u fastid xl. yere brede & water / ¶The vij. is doo good to thy power in all y^t thou may / & put peas & loue amon¦ge thy neyghbours / & it shal pleyse me more & better to the / than yf y^u were euery day rauyssh̄t to heuē / ¶The viij is this / yf y^u desire oni thyng eyther for soule or for body. or for ony other thīg. or caas / pray therfore her••ly to myself / & it shall plese me more & better for the / than yf my moder & all the sayntes in he¦uē praied me for the / somoche it ple¦seth me thyne owne prayer wyth tru hert / ¶The ix. is this / loue me souerainly ouer al creatures of go¦od herte / of good loue & true / & this shall plese me more & be better for y^e than yf there were a pyller that ret¦chid frō erthe to heuen / and sharpe as rasours / & were possible that y^u myghtest goo vpō this pyller. & co¦me down ayen euery day & not dey It pleyseth me more that thou shol∣de loue me faythfully wyth all thy soule. & wyth all thy hert enteerly ¶Here begyn̄en dyuerse treatises & ensamples of saynt poul / & other doctours in diuynite.

¶In noīe dn̄i amen / Thapostle saynt poul sayth / that all they that wyll liue surely in Ih̄u cryst shall suff••e persecucōn But our lord ihe¦su cryste wylle not that his chosen seruaūtes fayle in trybulacōn For he cōforteth & helpeth theim himself & gyueth thē vertue of his grace & saith / Haue no fere I am with you alwaye vnto the ende / And ha∣uē

you the holy scryptures to teche. you▪ For by paciēce & cōforte of ho¦ly scripture ought al folkes to ha¦ue hope in the same that sayd Trus¦te ye in me for I haue vaīquysshed the worlde / wherfore in all & ouer all is necessary & prouffitable y^e re¦mēbraunce of the paynful & meke suffraūce of our lorde Ih̄u cryst. It cōforteth in all tribulacōn It sur∣mounteth all temptacyon / It deli¦uereth from all trystesse / It takyth awaye all vayne gladnesse. And of dyspayres makyth deliueraun∣ce / and is the sure true hope of par∣done. It is the rule of obedyence and the example of pacyence / and sure medicyne agayn all euyll. And of all true weles the very ro¦te. ¶There were sixe mayster togyder / and one askyd to a nother what thyng they shold say of god & began to speke of trybulacōn / The fyrst master sayd yf ony thin¦ge were more noble than tribulaci¦on to ony creature liuyng in this world / god rader wold haue gyuē it to his sone. & therfore he gaaf hī more to suffre therof thā to ony o¦ther creature y^t euer was or shall be. ¶The .ij master said y^t yf ony creature were as clene fro sin̄e as he was at thour that he was criste¦ned▪ & might liue xxx. yere withou¦te bodely mete / & also that god had gyuē him grace to speke with thā¦gel in thayre / soo as he dyde to ma¦ry magdalen̄. yet myght he not dys¦serne in this lif soo grete merite as some decerne in auersite by pacyēce beryng / ¶The thyrde master sayd yf the moder of god & all the sayn¦tes that ben in h••••••en prayed for a creature they myght not gete hym soo grete meryte as he shold gete bi beryng paciētly aduersite / ¶The fourth mayster sayd that our lorde Ih̄u cryst henge on the crosse halfe a day / & therfore honour we the cro¦sse· But I saye that we oughte by more grete reison honour tribulaci¦on than the crosse For our lord suf¦fryd that more than thyrty yere in erthe / ¶The fythe mayster sayd rather than to leue the leest rewar¦de that myght be goten by pacyent suffryng of trybulacion / he had as leue forbere the sight of god vnto the day of dome. An holy man say the y^• non̄ is worthi to haue tribu¦lacōn; but suche as desire it gladly Tribulacōn quenchith the sinnes tribulacōn arrayeth the persone to know y^e secret{is} of god / tribulacōn makith a man to know hīself / & o¦ther / & multiplieth y^e vertues / & pre¦uith hī as gold in the furnays of god / & charite / this doth tribulacōn Tribulacōn bieth ayē the time los¦te / & the creature ēbelissheth with in¦nocense. & makyth hī able to recey∣ue al the weles that god giueth to his frēdes / & it is the tresour y^t no∣ne may be cōparid to trybulacyon /

vneth the creature to gode / And that is the most certeyn wele that is.

¶Now askyth the sixte mayster wherfore we suffre soo enuyously trybulacyon / And it is answerde for thre causes / The fyrst is for we haue lityll loue to god / The se∣conde for we thynke lityll of the re¦warde that god wyll gyue vs ther¦fore / The thyrde for this that we thynke full lityll of the sufferaun¦ce that our lorde Ihesu cryst suffred for vs / Praysed maye he be of hys grete bountee. Amen:

¶Thus endeth this present boke whiche treateth fyrst of the gloryo¦us passion of our Sauyour / and of the compascyon that his blessyd moder had therof / And also shew∣eth in a nother treatyse folowyng wherfore we ought to loue our sa¦uyour more than ony other thyn∣ge /

¶Also sheweth a nother treatise moche prouffytable for reformacy¦on of soules defoyled wyth ony of the vij. dedely synnes.

¶Itm̄ a nother treatyse shewyn∣ge the signes of goostly loue. ¶Itm̄ a treatise of the vertues & of the braūches of the appultree whiche is expowned morally as is before expressyd /

¶Also folowīg is declared wher¦by men maye seke the loue of our lorde Ihesu cryst.

¶And the last treatyse of this forsayd boke spekyth to exhorte the persone to eschewe / and haue in cō¦tempte all euyll thoughtes / And to reduce theymself in all poyntes ••o good werkes / vnder the hope of dyuyne grace:

Whiche boke was lately transla∣ted oute of frensh̄ in to englisshe by a Right well dysposed persone / for by cause the sayd persone thoug¦hte it necessary to al deuoute peple to rede / or to here it redde / And also caused the sayd boke to be enpryn∣ted /

[illustration] printer's or publisher's device