Excerpted from RELIQUIÆ ANT1QUÆ.

pp. 38-42

OLD ENGLISH PRAYERS, &c.
From a small MS. on vellum, of the fourteenth century, in the possession of J. O. Halliwell, Esq. (No. 219,) consisting chiefly of a religious exhortatory treatise.

(Fol. 48, v^o)—Therfore Crist, whan he was foiled, wente in to desert to be temptid of the devele~ and faste fourty dayes f’om bodiliche mete and drynke, and aftir he hungride, and the devyl came to hym, and seide, If thou be Goddis sane, sey that thes stonys be maad breed. Crist answerd by holy writt, and seide, it is write, not oonly in breed a. man lyveth, but in every word that comith of Goddis mouth. And then the devele toke up Crist on a piler of the temple, and sayde, If thou be Gooddis sone, leep thou doun; it is write, he seith, that God wole sende to the aungels to kepe the fro hirtynge. And Crist seyde, It is write thou schalt not tempt thy God. And the thrid tyme the devil bare Crist on an hi3 hille, and schewide hym nile the kyngdoiies of the world and seide, Alle thee thyngis I wale ;eve the, if thou wait falle doun worschepe me. Than seyde Jhesu, Go, Satanas, it is writyn, thy Lord God thou schalt worschepe, and oonly hym serve. Than the devyle left hym, and aungelis camyn and servedyn hym. 0 my ieve dere modir, whiche a spedeful lessoun and nedful to thee, and to alle that schiilyn be saved; spedeful, for it techeth thee how thou schalt dispose the to almaner of goode lyvynge, for he that came to teche al maner of goode lyvynge. It is nedeftil, for it techith thee how thou schalt overcome the devile and almaner temptacions, for nile maner synnys, as seith seyn [t] Joan the evangelist, hen understonde in thilke thre that he temptide Crist ynne, first in glotonye, whan he baad Crist seye that the stonys were maad breed. Thus the devil farith with men and wommen: first he stirith him to pappe and pampe her fieische, desyrynge delicous metis and drynkis, and so hoppe on the piler with her homes, lockis, ~arlondis of gold and of riche penis, callis, filettis, and wymplis, and rydelid gownes, and rokettis, colers, lacis, jackes, pattokis, with her longe crakowis, and thus the devil bereth hem up upon the piler, to teche hem to fle above other symple folk, and seith, they schulyn not herte hem, but he lieth falsely, for but they ben as sony therfore as ever they werun glad, they schulyn lepe a doun fro the piler to the putte of helle, and wel worthy, ~or they bisyen hem more to be sernely to folis, than to God and his aungelis; and for this axith grete cost, the devil settith hem on an hi3 hil, and schewith hem al the world, to thenk wher they mowen come to ony worldly richesse, as worldly men don, to have landis and rentis, gold and silver, and so come to war­schepis of this world, that Grist techith us to forsake as he hym self dide, for ellis we mown not be his disciplis. Not oonly thes he temptith thus, but men of holy cherdhe and women to desiren beneficis, arid dignites, prelacyes, and suche other, the whiche they schulde rather forsake than desire, for many perelis that fallyn by hem. 3it more prevely he temptith same women of rehgioun to thenke where they mowen have any landis dou3tnis or sones to teche hem curtesie, to lese therwith her owne soulis, more for the mayntenaunce of pride and her delicis, than for the worschipe of God or other goode vertues. And a3ens all suche curside aray, spekith Davith in the Sautir, that the dou3tnis of cunsid folk ben al aboute revemsid

There in here a lacuna in the MS. and the seven leaves which follow, though evidently belonging to the same volume, are written in a different hand, or at least with a different pen. It may be observed that a former possessor of this MS. has written in the first page in a hand of the time of Queen Elizabeth his name, ‘Roberti Hare,’ probably the same Antiquarian who collected together the muniments of the two Universities.