hygh glorye Amen. Your bounde oratour Iohan Bale A Godly Medytacyon of the christen sowle, concerninge a loue towardes God and hys Christe, compyled in frenche by lady Margarete quene of Nauerre, and aptely translated into Englysh by the ryght vertuouse lady Elyzabeth doughter to our late souerayne Kynge Henry the .viij. The preface. [Sidenote: Math. 5.] [Sidenote: Hebre. 11.] [Sidenote: 1. Ioā. 4.] If thu do throughly reade thys worke (dere frynde in the lorde) marke rather the matter than the homely speache therof, consyderynge it is the stodye of a woman, whych hath in her neyther cōnynge nor scyence, but a feruent desyre that yche one maye se, what the gifte of God the creatour doth whan it pleaseth hym to iustyfye a hart. For what is the hart of a Man, concernynge hys owne strēgth, before he hath receyued the gift of faythe? Therby only hath he knowledge of the goodnesse, wysedome, and power of God. And as sone as he through that faythe, knoweth pythely the truthe hys hart is anon full of charyte and loue. So that by the feruentnesse therof, he excludeth all fleshly feare, & fyrmely trusteth in God vnfaynedly, for certaynely the gifte, whych God the creatour geueth frely at the begynnynge, doth neuer cease tyll it hath made hym godly, whych putteth hys full trust in God. [Sidenote: Ioan. 6.] O happy and fortunate gifte, whych causeth a Man to possesse a grace so desyred. Alas no man coulde thys vnderstande, onles by soch gyfte God had geuen it hym. And great cause he hath to doubte of it, ōles God had made hym to feale it in hys harte. Therfor gētyll reader, with a godly mynde I besyche the pacyently thys worke to peruse, whych is but small in quantyte, and taste nothynge but the frute therof. Prayenge to God full of all goodnesse, that in thy harte he wyll plāte the lyuely faythe. Amen. finit præfatio. liber incipit [Sidenote: Iob. 7.] [Sidenote: Roma. 7.] [Sidenote: Psal. 94.]