1500.-1523. From The Birth Of Tyndale, The Original Translator, To His Embarkation For The Continent, In Pursuit Of His Design.

THE opening of the sixteenth century, a period so big with interest to all Europe, has been presented in very different lights, both by British and Continental authors. Some have very carefully brought into one focus a number of concurrent events, and then rested in this conclusion; that if there had never existed such men as those with whose names we have been long familiar, all that occurred must have taken place. These are believers in what has been styled, the “force of circumstances,” and though there be a power which governs the world independently of man, they rise no higher; our men of circumstances can see nothing great in individual character. Other writers, from too fond partiality for their native land, and scarcely looking beyond it, have assigned exclusive renown to their own great men. An Italian, on behalf of his own Italy, assumes the undivided glory of the revival of literature, philosophy, and the fine-arts; and then all the refinement or enlargement of the human mind which ensued, he traces to this one source. While a German author, in regard to the revival of Christianity, insists that his country led the van, and by that path in which others only followed, He will perhaps admit Wickiffe, rising in England a century and a half before, to be the morning star; but, after this, Luther is his sun, or great planet, and other countries have been regarded as stars, revolving in wider or narrower circles around it, like satellites drawn after it by its movement. The figure may be considered beautiful, and please the fancy, but it has the disadvantage of being incorrect. It not only violates the order, but obscures the peculiar character or glory of what actually took place. “If we regard dates, we must then confess that neither to Switzerland nor to Germany belongs the honour of having been first in the work, although, hitherto, only those countries have contended for it. That honour belongs to France. This is a fact that we are the more careful to establish, because it has possibly, till now, been overlooked.” And at this crisis, or the opening of the sixteenth century, as far as these countries are concerned, he has proved his assertion. But, on the other hand, if Britain be included, we must be allowed to hold fast by the fourteenth century; the age of Wickliffe, or the translation of the Sacred Volume, entire, into the language of the people. From that period, to say nothing of the New Testament separately, or of various beautiful fragments; possessing, as we do still, about thirty copies of that Bible entire, seventeen of which are perfect, we trace the effects, from that early age down to the days of Tyndale. The reading of the Scriptures in manuscript, however obnoxious to the authorities, will, in the following history, link itself most distinctly with the more eager perusal of those first imported in print. Opposition to the latter, will bring out evidence as to both.

All questions, however, as to priority or dates, become of inferior moment when compared with another ascertained fact. If we look at the first quarter of the sixteenth century, Lefevre in France, and Zuinglius in Switzerland, Luther in Germany, and Tyndale in England, appear before the world, and to the eye of man in this order; they were contemporaries, living in their respective countries; Lefevre being by far the oldest of the four, and Zuinglius the youngest. But then it is no less evident, that the first impressions of these four men were altogether independent of each other. They were individually influenced by a power, though unseen, equally near to them all. From that moment they were already destined to the work assigned them, but not one of them had exchanged a single thought with another. “Germany,” says the same author, “did not communicate the light of truth to Switzerland, nor Switzerland to France, nor France to England: all these lands received it from God, just as no one region transmits the light to another, but the same orb dispenses it direct to the earth.” We now speak of the origin, or the one great though secret cause of all.

But the secret and universal Mover being once acknowledged, upon advancing only a single step farther, we instantly discover that a marked distinction has been drawn, between our own separate Island, and all other countries on the adjoining Continent. In France, but more especially in Switzerland and Germany, there was the living voice, throughout life, of the man raised up, calling upon his countrymen to hear and obey the truth; and so God had ordered it in England, a century and a half before, in the case of Wickliffe. But, now, his procedure is altogether different, and out of the usual course pursued in other lands. Tyndale had lifted up his voice, it is true, boldly, and with some effect, but he is withdrawn from his native land, and never to return. The island is left behind by him, and left for good. In other countries the man lives and dies at home. Lefevre, when above a hundred years old, weeps, because he had not felt and displayed the courage of a martyr; Zuinglius dies in battle for his country; and Luther, after all his noble intrepidity, expires in his sick chamber: but Tyndale is strangled and burnt to ashes, and in a foreign land. English-men, and Scotsmen, and Germans, are gathered together against him; yes, against the man who enjoyed the honour of having never had a Prince for his patron or protector all his days; men of three nations at least concur to confer upon him the crown of martyrdom, so that, among all his contemporaries, in several points of view, but especially as a translator of the Scriptures, he stands alone.

Whether, therefore, in England or in Scotland, the consequence has been, that, at this early period, we have no great or powerful character to present, as warring upon his native soil, with the darkness, whether of ignorance or error, and leading on to victory. Our man is abroad, and is pursued, but cannot be taken, till his work is done; while the Almighty himself appears as so much the more in immediate contact with this country. The work is, by way of eminence, His own. Divine truth, it is granted, is but an instrument, yet as an instrument, it was now shown to be perfect for its purpose; and the design goes on, till men of authority, and power, and wrath, are baffled, overcome, and overruled. Moreover, there has been ever since a providential superintendence of this work, an uninterrupted care, lest it should be confounded with any thing else in this Kingdom, all which we are the more bound both to mark ourselves, and point out to other nations.

That the eyes of his countrymen have never been turned towards Tyndale, as they ought to have been long ago, but more especially to that work which God did by him in the midst of our land, is one of those mysteries, which, at this moment, we do not even attempt to explain; but it will be the object of the following pages, to trace the footsteps of our Translator, from his origin to his end; and especially the history of that Version which he first gave to his country.

Let any one direct attention to the first quarter of the sixteenth century; let but the state of our native land be surveyed; and so far from there being any, even the slightest token of the Divine Word being about to be laid open to the common people; the political state of England, and the literary, such as it was, but, above all, her intimate and complicated connexion with Italy, decidedly forbade the idea of such a thing. Where, then, throughout all England, was any individual to be expected, sufficiently bold to cherish the noble design?

Now, it was such a time as this; it was in the midst of hostile circumstances, in the very diocese of Worcester, which from 1484 to was held by four Italians in succession, that a man according to God’s own heart had already been found! It was in the centre of this diocese that he was born! From about the year 1484, this district, above all others, had fallen under the power of Italy, or, like a ripe fig, into the mouth of the eater; but it may now be added, “about which time William Tyndale was born.”

Great characters have not unfrequently been raised from an obscurity which has baffled all research. So it has happened emphatically in the present instance, Not only are the statements hitherto advanced altogether erroneous; but even after the utmost diligence, whether in searching the Parish Registers themselves, the Visitations in the Herald’s Office, or the manuscript stores of our British Museum, still there hangs, at least, some degree of obscurity over the precise year of Tyndale’s birth, as well as his immediate parentage. Without, therefore, encumbering the page, we now confine attention to what appears to be morally certain.

Among the picturesque beauties of Gloucestershire, there is one from the top of Stinchcomb Hill, fifteen miles south-west of the city, which commands the Severn, from Gloucester to Bristol; having the Vale of Berkeley, with its venerable castle, on the left bank of that river, and the Forest of Dean, Chepstow, and the Welsh mountains, on the right. From this point more than seven counties are visible, and about thirty parish churches; but to every admirer of England’s best hope, her Sacred Volume, the spot acquires by far its deepest interest, from his having immediately below his eye, the birth-place of its original Translator. There can be no question that Tyndale was born within the hundred of Berkeley, whether at the village of Stinchcomb itself, or more probably at North Nibley, two miles to the left, now also full in view. His family, however, stands long in connexion with both villages.

Before the birth of our Translator, his progenitors, for two, if not three descents, had lived under the western brow of Stinchcomb Hill, where, for a limited period, they had passed under the name of Hitchins. The removal of the family into Gloucestershire, as wall as the temporary assumption of this name. have been ascribed to the wars between the houses of York and Lancaster, and such may have been the occasion; but the temporary adoption of the name of Hitchins, may just as probably have arisen from a deadly local family feud which long agitated the very spot where they now dwelt. The violence of the civil wars had loosened the authority of government, and this part of the country afforded one of the most striking proofs; for though, in the contentions of York and Lancaster, the neighbouring castle of Berkeley had no share, yet it had suffered greatly from the disputed title to its possession, between the heir of the Barony, and Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. Perhaps there never existed, in the history of England, a hereditary family contention equal to this; as it continued to smoulder on for nearly two hundred years, from 1417, and in its earlier stages burst out with great violence. Mutual reprisals had been made again and again, till a final period was put to such a mode of settlement, by the fierce contest on Nibley Green in March 1470. This is indeed the only event by which the village itself has hitherto been distinguished. Now, the Tyndales were then living at Stincheomb; and as tho number, on both sides, amounted to 1000 men, most of whom were gathered, in one night, from the lands of Berkeley hundred, they must have taken part in the fray. While, therefore, the quarrel was at once local and personal between William, the seventh Lord Berkeley, and Thomas, Lord Lisle, then living at Wotton-under-Edge, it must be observed that the former was on the Lancastrian side of polities, and, as tenants at least, so were the Tyndales. The consequence was, that although Berkeley was victorious, the encounter being fatal to Lord Lisle himself and 150 more; and although Government was prevented from taking coguizance of the result at the time, owing to the far greater affairs of the civil war, still afterwards Lord Berkeley had to humbly sue for forgiveness from Edward the Fourth, the royal head of the house of York. At all events, from whatever cause, the name of Hitchin had been assumed by this branch of the Tyndale family, for years, as will appear presently.

The family of our Translator is to bo traced to an ancient Barony, by tenure, which, however, in his name, became extinct so early as the beginning of the thirteenth century. From the second son of Adam, the last Baron de Tyndale and Langeley, in Northumberland, or Robert Tyndale, who removed southward in the reign of Edward I., who settled at Tansover, or Tansor, near Oundle in Northamptonshire, and was living in 1288, there gradually sprung different families; so that, by the beginning of the sixteenth century, respectable proprietors of the name of Tyndale were living at Tansover and Deane, in Northamptonshire; at Hockwold, in Norfolk; at Pull Court, in Worcestershire; and at Stinchcomb and North Nibley, in the county of Gloucester; as there were soon afterwards at Eastwood, in the same county; at Bathford and Bristol, in Somerset; at Mapplestead, in Essex, and, still later, at Bobbing Court, in Kent. All these families claim descent from Robert of Tansover; and even that of our William Tyndale has been supposed, by no inferior genealogist, to have sprung from him. This it certainly had done, though in a very remote degree, as we shall presently meet with ground to believe that there was some affinity between it, and that of Tyndale of Pull Court, a branch of the house of Tansover.

Of the family resident at Stinchcomb and North Nibley, we have two distinct genealogies. The first, under the head of Hunt’s Court, Nibley, is to be found in the account of the hundred of Berkeley, drawn up by Mr. Smythe, the factor of Lord Berkeley, resident in the old manor house of Nibley. The second genealogy is founded upon a deed under the reign of Henry VIII., the best of all evidence; while, so far as the latter goes, and the authority quoting it, there is a perfect agreement with the former as to the descents, viz.:- 1. Hugh Tyndale, father of John, f. of Thomas, f. of Richard, f. of Richard, f. of Thomas. 2. Thomas, f. of Richard, f. of Richard, f. of Thomas.

The first individual mentioned by Mr. Smythe, is said to be Hugh Tyndale, alias Huchens, the name which, for a season, the family had adopted. This is confirmed by Tyndale himself, who, in his first publication, gave both names-“William Tyndale, otherwise called Hitchins,”-though ever after, he used only the former. Whether John Tyndale ever resumed the name without the alias, we have no evidence; but to a certainty Thomas did, and, after his example, so did our Translator. “Some of his ancestors,” says Bigland, “having taken an active part in the Lancastrian cause, migrated to Stinch-combe, in this county; and, as it appears from the Register of North Nibley, bore, for concealment, the name of Hutchins or Hitchins, but resumed their own in the reign of Henry the Seventh.” f12 But why should the neighbouring parish of North Nibley be introduced?

This brings us to the deed already mentioned, or the second genealogy, and the following fact. “Thomas Tyndale,” the first man of that name, “died sometime before the 33rd Henry VIII., or 1541-2, as appears by a deed of that date, to which Edward Tyndale, of Pull Court in Worcester, was a witness.” And, still using the deed, the writer proceeds,-“By Alicia his wife, daughter and sole heir of Thomas Hunt, (of Hunt’s Court,) he had five sons, Richard, Williams, Henry, Thomas, and John, and one daughter, Elizabeth.” Was this Thomas Tyndale the brother or the father of the Martyr? Now there is no positive evidence to show that this Thomas had a brother named William; while, on the other hand, this family of Thomas happens to be at once the first and only one throughout this genealogy where all the children are named. However, here is the family to which the Martyr belonged, and from it we are able to come down, without any obscurity, nearly to the present day. The male line was not extinct in 1791.

As for the female line, from the great-granddaughter of the above Thomas Tyndale, a descendant is now living in the City of London-John Roberts, Esq., Temple.

The year of our Translator’s birth, could it be positively ascertained, might help us to fix his parentage; but as nearly as it can be, it seems to harmonise with the idea of Thomas being his father. Tyndale himself, unrelentingly persecuted, was cautious of ever saying one word respecting his relatives. Even his younger brother John became involved, in consequence of receiving letters from him, and not delivering them up! But the future martyr would have borne the pelting of the pitiless storm all alone, sooner than involve his family in distress; and more especially that father, to whom he had been indebted for the expenses of his education.

His keen and voluminous opponent, however, Sir Thomas More, provoked his triumphant answer; and if we knew the year of the Lord Chancellor’s birth, Tyndale himself will help us to fix, very nearly, that of his own. In the course of his writings there may be some other references; but we shall quote only one passage in the defence of his translation, quite to the point.

It is now generally understood, that Sir Thomas More was born in 1480, and most probably in the spring of that year, as this harmonises with the statement of Erasmus, who says 1479, their year running on to the 25th of March. In 1497 More was sent to Canterbury Hall, Christ Church, Oxford, where he studied Greek, as well as Latin, under Linaere and Groeyn, for two years, Now, what says Tyndale, when defending his translation of the New Testament from the Greek? “He (Sir Thomas) rageth because I turn (greek word 9) into favour and not grace; and that I use this word knowledge (in the sense of acknowledge) and not confession, and this word repentance and not penance. In all which he cannot prove that I give not the right English unto the Greek word. These things to be even so, M.

More knoweth well enough; for he understandeth the Greek, and he knew them long ere I.” Since then Tyndale was brought up to learning from his youth, and at Oxford afterwards, there can be no question, that this is the language of a junior scholar, at least by four or five years, and that consequently the birth of Tyndale must have been correspondingly later.

Now, without having observed this, it is rather a curious coincidence, that the first gentleman, well qualified, in our own day, and most solicitous to ascertain the point, has fixed upon the year 1484. “Probably,” he says, “Tyndale was born about 1484.” He also maintains, not merely from Bale, Atkyns, and other authorities, but from domestic tradition in Gloucestershire, where he himself resided, that our Translator was born at North Nibley; then, if we are to believe the deed already quoted, and so attested, we seem to have the entire family of Thomas Tyndale once more brought in view. A very strong probability, therefore, is now presented, that our first and eminent Translator, was the son of Thomas Tyndale, by Alicia Hunt of North Nibley; that his brother John was the youngest son by the same mother, and that Tyndale himself was born in the year 1484, 5, or 6. This would make him about the age of fifty at his death; and this exactly corresponds with the full persuasion of old John Foxe in 1573, who calls him middle-aged.

But if the obscurity of our Translator’s parentage must still remain, there is one curious fact, of which there is now no doubt. As the Marquis of Berkeley had conveyed his castle and estates to Henry VII., descending as they did to Henry VIII., Tyndale was nurtured upon ground held immediately by the Crown, which was afterwards farmed for Italian bishops, by Cardinal Wolsey! And before he is driven from his native county, we shall find him brought, by persecution at least, into remote contact with the most conspicuous characters, who were about to figure in the great drama of European politics.

Tyndale was brought up, from his earliest years, at Oxford, and as a scholar, where, after a lengthened residence, he proceeded in “degrees of the schools;” or, as Foxe has said-“By long continuance, he grew up and increased as well in the knowledge of tongues, and other liberal arts, as especially in the knowledge of the Scriptures; insomuch, that he read privily to certain students and fellows in Magdalen College some parcel of divinity, instructing them in the knowledge and truth of the Scriptures.”

His education “in grammar, logic, and philosophy, he received,” says Wood, “for the most part, in St. Mary Magdalen’s Hall,” innnediately adjoining the College of that name. At this Hall, first called Grammar Hall, from the attention paid to classical learning, and where Grocyn, as well as W. Latimer and Linacre, had lectured, the members stood, as they do now, on the same footing with those of the other Colleges; their course of study, tuition, length of residence, examination, and degrees, being precisely the same as the rest of the University. In those early days, however, these Halls, having no exhibitions nor endowments for scholarships, many of the students lived at their own charge; and since no man has ever once been mentioned as patronislng Tyndale, throughout his whole life, the presumption is, that his expenses while at College must have been defrayed by his parents. Tyndale’s zeal, however, had at last exceeded the endurance of his contemporaries, and exposed him to some danger. There is no ground for supposing that he was expelled; “but,” says Foxe, “spying his time, he removed from Oxford to the University of Cambridge, where he likewise made his abode a certain space,” and, it has been vaguely conjectured, took a degree. At all events, his residence in that city had terminated by the year 1519.

Possessed of such an education as he must have then acquired, as well as of such an ardour to improve, we cannot here disturb the narrative by any discussion as to its merits or extent. Sufficient evidence of both will occur in the following pages. We only remark here, that the incontrovertible proof of Tyndale’s erudition, whether as a Greek or Hebrew scholar, is to be found in the present version of our Bible, as read by millions. “The circumstance of its being a revision five times derived, is an advantage altogether peculiar to itself, and doubly valuable from that clrcumstance.’’ While, notwithstanding this five-fold recension of the Greek and Hebrew original, large portions remained untouched, or verbally as the Translator first gave them to his country. It is, indeed, extraordinary that so many of Tyndale’s correct and happy renderings should have been left to adorn our version, while the terms substituted, in other instances, still leave to hhn the palm of scholarship. When the incorrect, not to say injurious, sense, in which certain terms had been long employed, is duly considered, the substitution of charity for love, as Tyndale translated, of grace for favour, and church for congregation, certainly cannot be adduced as proofs of superior attainment in the original Greek.

In a historical point of view, however, and independently of his merits as a translator, it would be of some importance if we could ascertain what had been the state of his mind, even before leaving the University, in reference to that great system of impiety and oppression, which, single handed, he was afterwards to assail with such decisive effect. Had he already seen through its character? Was he even already engaged in marking it, as he never after ceased to do? If he was, this would go a great way in proving him to have been an instrument raised up by God, as independently of Luther, as were Lefevre and Zuinglius. His lectures at Oxford, which must have been about 1517, if not earlier, and his being obliged to desist, certainly say as much as that he was in advance of the age, but how far, from this source, we have no intimation. If Tyndale himself would afterwards give us but one hint, we could not desire better evidence. By those, however, who are familiar with his writings, it must have been observed that he very seldom has introduced his own personal feelings, with any precision as to dates, not caring to establish himself, in point of priority, to any man: and yet there is one passage, with which he casually concludes his Exposition of the Epistle of John, which seems to glance as far back as the year 1518, if not to some time before it. He had been exposing the policy of the hierarchy, in raising the cry of sedition or insurrection, in the days of Wickliffe,-“And so,” he adds, “the hypocrites say now likewise, that God’s Word causeth insurrection; but ye shall see shortly that these hypocrites themselves, after their old wont and ensamples, in quenching the truth that uttereth their juggling, shall cause all realms Christian to rise one against another, and some against themselves.

Ye shall see, then, run out, before the year come about, that which they have been in brewing, as I have marked, above this DOZEN years. This much have I said, because of them that deceive you, to give you an occasion to judge the spirits.”

Now, this language was published in September 1531; but “above a dozen of years,” brings us back to 1518, if not to an earlier period. We leave the reader to form his own conclusion; but, at all events, such a state of mind was in perfect consonance with the course which Tyndale so immediately pursued, with all his characteristic vigour.

Returning to his native county, Tyndale was soon actively engaged, and so continued to be, from Stinchcomb Hill down to Bristol, to the close of 1522. As the place where he lived, only eight miles south from that of his birth, is well known; nay, and the house under whose roof he spent his best and zealous exertions, in discussing and defending the Word of God, is happily still in existence,-to all such as may take an interest in the following history, there is not a more heart-stirring spot in all England. The Halls of our Colleges, wherever they stand, have never given birth to a design, so vitally important in its origin, so fraught with untold benefit to millions, and now so extensive in its range, as that which ripened into a fixed and invincible purpose, in the Dining Hall of Little Sodbury Manor House.

It was in this house that Tyndale resided for about two years, as a tutor; and adjoining to it behind, there still stands, with its two ancient yew trees before the door, the little Church of St. Adeline, where of course the family and tenants attended. Foxe has said of Tyndale, while at Antwerp, that when he “read the Scriptures, he proceeded so fruitfully, sweetly, and gently, much like unto the writing of John the Evangelist,, that it was a heavenly comfort to the audience to hear him;” and so it may have been, under some of his earliest efforts, within the walls of this diminutive and unpretending place of worship. At all events, let it be observed, when his voice was first heard, Luthcr had not yet been denounced even by Leo X. at Rome, much less by Cardinal Wolsey in England. “About A.D. 1520,” we are informed, that “William Tyndale used often to preach in Bristol.” This he did on the great Green, sometimes called the Sanctuary, or St. Austin’s Green. “He was at that time resident with Sir John Walsh at Little Sodbury, as tutor to his children, and on Sundays he preached at the towns and parishes in the neighbourhood, and frequently he had debates with the Abbots and other clergy who frequented the house.” f15 This small parish, with its manor house and inmates, thus become objects of no little interest; and for the sake not of Tyndale only, but especially of the design there formed, as well as of the circumstances that led to it, we must not refrain from giving some farther particulars.

In this part of Gloucestershire there are three contiguous parishes of the same name-Old Sodbury, Chipping, i.e. Market Sodbury, and the third, named Little Sodbury, by way of distinction. This last, consisting of about 900 acres, chiefly in pasture, lies on the side of Sodbury hill, and extends to its summit. On the edge of this hill is a strong Roman camp of an oblong square, where first Queen Margaret, and then Edward IV. in pursuit, had rested before the battle of Tewkesbury. Immediately below this camp, on the side of the hill fronting south-westward, stands the Manor House, an ancient building, from which there is a beautiful and extensive prospect over the vale, as far as the Bristol Channel. Four clumps of large trees growing above, objects very observable, are taken notice of through a large extent of country on that side of the hills. In the sketch already given, one of these clumps may be seen on the left, but a nearer view will give a better idea of the house itself.

Inhabited by different families from the thirteenth century, it was now in possession of Sir John Walsh, Knight, as inherited from his father. I Iappening to have been Champion to Henry VIII. on certain occasions, and to please his royal master, the heir of Little Sodbury had been knighted, and received from him in addition, the Manor House of Old Sodbury, then in the gift of the Crown. Intimate as Walsh had been, both with the young king and the court, and now given to hospitality, his table was the resort, not only of the neighbouring gentry, but of the Abbots and other dignified ecclesiastics, swarming around him. Thus it was, that, whether in company, or alone with the family, where he was treated as a friend, Tyndale enjoyed one of the best opportunities for becoming intimately acquainted with the existing state of things, whether civil, or ecclesiastical so called. Sir John had married Anne Poyntz, (the daughter of Sir Robert Poyntz, of Iron Acton, by Margaret, daughter of Antony, Earl Rivers, after whom her brother was named,) a lady who took as warm an interest as her husband in the discussions at their table. “ This gentleman,” says Foxe, “as he kept a good ordinary commonly at his table, there resorted to him many times, sundry Abbots, Deans, Archdeacons, with divers other doctors and great beneficed men; who there, together with Master Tyndale sitting at the same table, did use, many times, to enter into communication. Then Tyndale, as he was learned and well practised in God’s matters, so he spared not to show unto them simply and plainly his judgment; and when they at any time did vary from, his opinions, he would show them in the book, and lay before them the manifest places of the Scriptures, to confute their errors, and confirm his sayings.” It was not long, however, before Sir John and his lady had been invited to a banquet given by these great Doctors. There they talked at will and pleasure, uttering their blindness and ignorance without any resistance or gainsaying. On returning home, both Sir John and his lady began to reason with Tyndale respecting those subjects of which the priests had talked at their banquet; one decided proof, that some considerable impression had been made. Tyndale firmly maintained the truth, and exposed their false opinions. “Well,” said Lady Walsh,” there was such a doctor there as may dispend a hundred pounds, and another two hundred, and another three hundred pounds: and what! were it reason, think you, that we should believe you before them?” To this, Tyndale at the moment gave no reply, and, for some time after, said but little on such subjects.

He was at that moment busy with a translation from Erasmus of his “Enchiridion Militis Christiani,” or Christian Soldier’s Manual, the second edition of which, with a long and pungent preface, had appeared at Basil, in August 1518. Once finished, Tyndale presented the book to Sir John and his lady. “After they had read,” says Foxe, “and well perused the same, the doctorly prelates were no more so often invited to the house, neither had they the cheer and countenance when they came, which before they had.”

This they marked, and supposing the change to have arisen from Tyndale’s influence, they refrained, and at last utterly withdrew. They had grown weary of our Translator’s doctrine, and now bore a secret grudge in their hearts against him.

A crisis was evidently approaching. The priests of the country, clustering together, began to storm at ale-houses and other places; and alt with one consent, against one man. Fortunately the tutor has left on record his own reflections as to this period of his life. “A thousand books,” says he, “had they lever (rather) to be put forth against their abominable doings and doctrine, than that the Scripture should come to light, For as long as they may keep that down, they will so darken the right way with the mist of their sophistry, and so tangle them that either rebuke or despise their abominations, with arguments of philosophy, and with worldly similitudes, and apparent reasons of natural wisdom; and with wresting the Scriptures unto their own purpose, clean contrary unto the process, order, and meaning of the text; and so delude them in descanting upon it with allegories; and amaze them, expounding it in many senses before the unlearned lay people, (when it hath but one simple literal sense, whose light the owls cannot abide,) that though thou feel in thine heart, and art sure, how that all is false that they say, yet couldst thou not solve their subtile riddles. “Which thing only moved me to translate the New Testament. Because I had perceived by experience, how that it was impossible to establish the lay people in any truth, except the Scripture were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother tongue, that they might see the process, order, and meaning of the text: for else, whatsoever truth is taught them, these enemies of all truth quench it again.”

Accordingly, “not long after this,” says John Foxe, “there was a sitting of the (Italian) Bishop’s Chancellor appointed, and warning was given to the Priests to appear, amongst whom Master Tyndale was also warned to be there. Whether he had any misdoubt by their threatenings, or knowledge given him that they would lay some things to his charge, is uncertain; but certain this is, as he himself declared, that he doubted their privy accusations; so that he, by the way, in going thitherward, cried in his mind heartily to God, to give him strength to stand fast in the truth of his word.”

But let us hear Tyndale’s own expressions. “When I was so turmoiled in the country where I was, that I could no longer dwell there, the process whereof were too long here to rehearse, I this-wise thought in myself,-this I suffer, because the priests of the country be unlearned, as God knoweth, there are a full ignorant sort, which have seen no more Latin than that they read ia their Portesses and Missals, which yet many of them can scarcely read. And therefore, because they are thus unlearned, thought I, when they come together to the ale-house, which is their preaching place, they affirm that my sayings are heresy.

Besides they add to, of their own heads, that which I never spake, as the manner is, and accused me secretly to the Chancellor, and other the Bishop’s Officers. When I came before the Chancellor, he threatened me grievously, and reviled me, and rated me as though I had been a dog; and laid to my charge whereof there could be none accuser brought forth, as their manner is not to bring forth the accuser; and yet, all the Priests of the country were there the same day.”

Tyndale’s future footsteps will frequently discover him to have been a man, who, in the history of his country, stood literally alone; and here, it should seem, this peculiar feature had already begun to discover itself. As standing before the Chancellor of any diocese, we read of no second individual, in whose appearance there were so many curious coincidences. the reader will now recollect the thoroughly Italianised character of the district, and the questions very naturally present themselves -Who was this Chancellor?

Who the Cardinal that had recently appointed him? Who was the nonresident Italian Bishop? nay, and who the reigning Pontiff himself, the fountain of all this oppressive authority? The Pontiff was Adrian VI., who, to appease Wolsey, had recently made him “Legate a latere” for life; the Bishop was Julio di Medici, the future Clement VII., and who, without even visiting England, had been made Bishop of Worcester by Leo X. The man who had lately appointed the Chancellor to the diocese was Wolsey himself, who farmed the whole district for his Italian brother; and the Chancellor, who had raised himself to this unenviable notoriety by so treating the man destined by Divine Providence to overcome all above him, as far as Rome itself was concerned, was a creature of the English Cardinal, a Dr. Thomas Parker, who lived to know more of Tyndale’s power and talents, than he then could comprehend. Had such men only known who was then within the Chancellor’s grasp, with what eager joy would they have put an end to all his noble intentions!

Escaping, however, out of Parker’s hands, the Tutor departed homeward, and once more entered the hospitable abode of Little Sodbury, but more than ever firmly resolved. It is some alleviation to find that every man in the country was not of the same opinion with the reigning Chancellor. “Not far off,” continues Foxe, “there dwelt a certain doctor, that had been an old chancellor before to a bishop, who had been of old familiar acquaintance with Master Tyndale, and also favoured him well. To him Tyndale went and opened his mind on divers questions of the Scripture, for to him he durst be bold to disclose his heart. To whom the doctor said-‘Do you not know that the Pope is very Antichrist, whom the Scripture speaketh of?

But beware what you say; for if you shall be perceived to be of that opinion, it will cost you your life;’ adding, ‘I have been an officer of his; but I have given it up, and defy him and all his works.” f17 It was not long after this that Tyndale, happening to be in the company of a reputed learned divine, and in conversation having brought him to a point, from which there was no escape, he broke out with this exclamation, “We were better to be without God’s laws, than the Pope’s!” This was an ebullition in perfect harmony with the state of the country at the moment, but it was more than the piety of Tyndale could bear. “I defy the Pope,” said he, in reply, “and all his laws; and if God spare my life, ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth the plough, to know more of the Scripture than you do!” It was one of those significant bursts of zeal, which will sometimes escape from a great and determined mind, and meant even more than met the ear.

After this, as might have been anticipated, the murmuring of the priests increased more and more. Such language must have flown over the country, as on the wings of the wind. Tyndale, they insisted, was “a heretic in sophistry, a heretic in logic, and now also a heretic in divinity.” To this they added that “he bare himself bold of the gentlemen there in that country, but that, notwithstanding, he should be otherwise spoken to.”

It was now evident that Tyndale could no longer remain, with safety, in the county of Gloucester, or within the Italian diocese of Worcester. He has therefore been represented, by Foxe, as thus addressing his Master:-“ Sir, I perceive that I shall not be suffered to tarry long here in this country, neither shall you be able, though you would, to keep me out of the hands of the spirituality; and also what displeasure might grow thereby to you by keeping me, God knoweth; for the which I should be right sorry.”

Searching about, therefore, not so much for an avenue to escape, as for some convenient place to accomplish the determined purpose of his heart, by translating the Scriptures, he now actually first thought of Tunstal, Bishop of London, one of the future burners of his New Testament! From Sir John Walsh’s intimate knowledge of the Court, there was no difficulty in procuring the best access to him; and so Tyndale must bid farewell for ever to his interesting abode on Sodbury Hill. It was his first and last, or only attempt throughout life to procure a Patron, and he will, himself, now describe his own movements. “The Bishop of London came to my remembrance, whom Erasmus praiseth exceedingly, among other, in his Annotations on the New Testament, for his great; learning. Then, thought I, if I might; come to this man’s service I were happy. And so I gat me to London, and through the acquaintance of my master came to Sir Harry Gilford, the King’s Grace’s Comptroller, and brought him an Oration of Isocrates, which I had translated out of Greek into English, to speak unto my Lord of London for me. This he also did, as he showed me, and willed me to write an epistle to my lord, and to go to him myself, which I also did, and delivered my epistle to a servant of his own, one William Hebil-thwayte, a man of mine old acquaintance. But God saw that I was beguiled, and that that counsel was not the next way to my purpose. And therefore lte gat me no favour in my lord’s sight. Whereupon my lord answered me-‘his house was full, he had more than he could well find, and advised me to seek m London, where, he said, I could not lack a service’” This memorable interview between these two individuals, happened about three or four months after Tunstal’s consecration as Bishop of London; and there was a singular propriety in Tyndale having first called upon this man, above all others, previous to his going abroad. All parties agree as to Tunstal’s attainments in learning-the specimen presented to him was a translation from the Greek of Isocrates into English; and, after receiving it, the Bishop replied,-“Seek in London, where you cannot lack a service.” If there was any meaning in the words employed, it was this,-“You are a competent translator from Greek into English.” Tyndale, it is true, was now evidently led, like a blind man, by a way that he knew not; but it certainly was something, to have received such an answer or attestation to his scholarship from such a man, before he proceeded farther with his intended work. It was equal to the Bishop having said, Go forward-though, if Tunstal had only divined what was the main object in view, no such answer had been returned; nay, an authoritative stop would have been put to all farther progress.

Meanwhile, and on the contrary, by the advice, and therefore the authority, of the Bishop of London himself, Tyndale was now authorised to seek for some situation throughout the metropolis. No ecclesiastic, however, afforded him any permanent abode; but, in a little time, and for fully the last six months of this year, namely, 1523, he was most kindly entertained under the roof of Mr. Humphrie Munmouth, a wealthy citizen, and future Alderman of London, when he used to preach at St. Dunstan’s in the West, Fleet Street. Although he sought in vain for a situation, “almost a year,” yet the residence itself was not without its value in future life. It had a similar effect upon him, which a visit to Rome had upon some others, and tended not only to ground him more firmly in his views of Divine truth, but to inflame his zeal for translating the Scriptures, He had opportunity for more closely observing many things which he had never seen before; and, in reference to the scene around him, witness his own language, in 1530:- “And so in London I abode almost a year, and marked the conrse of the world, and heard our preachers, and beheld the pomp of our Prelates, and how busy they were, as they yet are, to set peace and unity in the world; though it be not possible for them that walk in darkness to continue long in peace; and saw things whereof I defer to speak at this time; and understood, at the last, not only that there was no room in my Lord of London’s palace to translate the New Testament; but also, that there was no place to do it, in all England, as experience doth now openly declare.” f18 But before that Tyndale embarked for the Continent, was there no other step already suggested, which might, operate in direct hostility to such a design as that which he contemplated? Yes, there was, and in this very year, one of the most powerful and magnificent character. It may be regarded as the climax in the triumph of literature, or as a phalanx in opposition. The attempt too is the more worthy of notice, since it has often been loosely regarded as the only redeeming trait in Wolsey’s character.

We refer to the establishment of Cardinal College, Oxford. “ He patronised letters,” it has been said, “ and may be classed among the benefactors of the human mind.” But even in the cultivation of letters, we must observe the end in view; and in order effectually to secure us against all unfair or even harsh conclusions, we shall take the explanation from the best of all authorities; or from the devoted friend of Wolsey, the Confessor of Henry VIII. and his Almoner, John Longland, the Bishop of Lincoln. Immediately after explaining Wolsey’s whole intentions to the King, he wrote to the Cardinal on tho 5th of January, 1523, to say how he sped; and this letter, yet extant, divulges the secret purpose of the proposed institution, which was no other than a systematic attempt, under the guise of learning, to retain the human mind in bondage; to prevent, if possible, the entrance of Divine truth into England, and thus far retard its progress in Europe. There was first to be a sermon preached before the King against Luther and Lutheran books, and their introduction into the kingdom; then there was to be a “secret search in divers places, and that at one time;” then a proclamation was to be made, giving notice to all having heretical books to bring them in under pain of the greater excommunication, and should any “contumaciously persist in their contumacy, then to pursue them by the law (ad ignem) to the fire.” All this was called the “ quarrel of God;” and the necessity of maintaining it urged on the King, “as the World is marvellously bent against us, which only His Grace and the Cardinal can remedy.” Then followed, as part of the scheme, the new College, and “the notable Lectures which should be there, and the exercitations of learning, and that the Students should be limited by the Readers to the same; likewise in the exposition of the Bible.” All these purposes were literally fulfilled, the secret search, the sermon, the books found and burnt; but then, it is a most remarkable fact, that all these we shall see deferred-nay, deferred for exactly three years, or till immediately after Tyndale’s New Testaments had arrived in the country!

Wolsey, it is true, will have quite enough to divert him all the time, but it was just as if Providence had intended that the writings of no human being should have the precedence, but that His own Word, being so treated, should thus enjoy the distinction of exciting the general commotion of 1526. The burning of the New Testament was to be the head and front of their offending.

We have now done with Tyndale upon English ground; and, disappointed of employment, he also was done with “marking the pomp of our Prelates,” or hearing the whole fraternity “boast of their high authority.” But certainly when he was to be seen walking up Fleet Street, from the hospitable abode of Mr. Humphrie Munmouth, to preach at St. Dunstan’s in the West, nothing in this world could have been more improbable, than that in a short time he was so to agitate the whole hierarchy of England, and the city which he was now about to leave for ever!

Here then, and before he embarks, let us pause for a moment. The copies of the Sacred Scriptures in the English tongue, now far exceed in number, not only that of every other nation, but they have been supposed to surpass the number in all other languages when put together! With us they are familiarly enumerated by millions, and myriads of our countrymen have lived in peace, and died in joy, full of the genuine consolation thus imparted! As far, therefore, as human agency was employed, it becomes a sacred duty to trace this, the highest favour of Heaven, up to its source; and certainly it is not a little singular, at the distance of nearly three hundred and twenty years, that we should be able to contemplate the origin of the whole, within the bosom of one disappointed and neglected, if not despised individual! There was, indeed, one young man, his own convert, with whom he may have communed on the subject, John Fryth, whether in London, which is most probable, or at Cambridge, but he was not to accompany him; no, nor even an amanuensis. Solitary and alone he went out, like the patriarch of old, “not knowing whither he went.” By faith, it may be truly said, he left his native country, not unmindful of it, but, on the contrary, loaded with a sense of genuine pity for its inhabitants, from the king downward.

TYNDALE LEAVES ENGLAND 1524., 1525.

The New Testament In English Preparing By Tyndale, For Circulation In His Native Land; And In Two Editions From The Press By The Close Of 1525.

WE are now entering upon a war of opinion, and one of paramount importance to this kingdom, which, as far as our first translator of the Sacred Volume was concerned, lasted, without one moment’s interruption, for twelve years. It must appear singular, that no detail of such a contest, ending as it did, has ever been written. Such, however, being the fact, and such the variety of character, as well as the strange incidents involved in the struggle, without keeping rigidly to our narrative, year by year, as the subject never has been, so it never can be understood.

Tyndale, though strongly attached to his native country, having now fully resolved on going abroad, Munmouth “helped him over the sea.” We know that he sailed direct for Hamburg, and the question is, whether he did not there remain for more than a year. At all events, a period of about fifteen months, or rather two years, has to be accounted for, from January 1524; but so much obscurity has rested upon it, owing to the mere affirmations, both of friends and foes, that it becomes necessary to call for proof, and to proceed no farther than it will carry us.

Two general assertions have been hazarded, and too long received. One is, that, upon leaving his native land, Tyndale went directly to Luther, and completed his translation in confederacy with him. The other is, that he dwelt at Wittenberg while thus engaged.

This idea of Tyndale’s immediate and intimate confederacy with Luther, and his dependence upon him, originally imported from abroad, through men who were, at the moment, under the torture of examination in England, has been repeated from Sir Thomas More and John Cochlaeus, two determined enemies, not to say John Foxe, a decided friend, down to Herbert Marsh in our own day; but it is more than time that it should be exploded. Considering that these are nothing more than assertions, it is strange that they should have prevailed with any, after Tyndale’s own language to Sir Thomas More, who had asserted that our Translator was with Luther in Wittenberg, where he wrote his marginal glosses; and again that “the confederacy between Luther and him is a thing well known.” To this, Tyndale, in his “Answer,” replies with emphasis, “When he saith, Tyndale was confederate with Luther, that is not truth;” but, as a man traduced, gives his adversary no farther positive information.

But even independently of this pointed denial, was he even resident in Wittenberg, nay, in any part of Saxony, during this period? If not, then both assertions fall to the ground.

That he saw and conversed with Luther at some period, may be supposed, though we have not a shadow of proof; but that he had done either, or even set his foot in Saxony, before the publication of his New Testament, will very soon appear to have been impossible, in the nature of things. On the contrary, if we are to depend on the distinctly recorded testimony of the generous man with whom he resided in London; delivered, too, in very peculiar, because responsible, circumstances, and involving pecuniary transactions with Tyndale himself, which account for his support, a different place of residence must be assigned to him.

On the 14th of May, 1528, Munmouth being sent for by Sir T. More, was the same day committed to the Tower. His petition for release, on the 19th, is addressed to Wolsey and the King’s Council. Now, in this we have the following evidence, that Munmouth heard Tyndale preach four years and a half and more before at St. Dunstan’s, London; that on Tunstal’s refusal to employ him, he took him into his house for half a year; that “when he made his exchange to Hamburg,” he paid him ten pounds; that within a year after he sent from Hamburg for other ten pounds which he had left in his hands, and that thither he had sent it to him. From this, and what follows, it is evident, he remained in Hamburg throughout 1524, and that he had means of support for even a longer period.

We presume it will now be admitted, that the residence of Tyndale at Wittenberg has been nothing more than an assumption, serving powerfully, at the moment, the purpose of Sir Thomas More, his calumniator. The evidence, as yet, is distinctly in favour of Hamburg, and as for “confederacy with Luther,” that has been pointedly denied. More had affirmed that Tyndale “was with Luther in Wittenberg;” and Tyndale replies, “that is not truth.” Indeed, these words are his emphatic answer to all that his opponent had either of malicious purpose, or by mistake, asserted in both of his sentences, already quoted.

We, however, now know the movements of Luther better than did Sir Thomas More; and it may be worth while to enquire how he was engaged at the moment, and throughout the greater part of this year. Most unfortunately he had just fallen out violently with Carlostadt, and taken that step which has so often been lamented since, as a memorable instance of human imbecility. It only requires to be observed, that the time of Tyndale’s sailing from London, and that of Carlostadt leaving Wittenberg, were simultaneous, or the beginning of 1524. The vexatious controversy respecting the Lord’s Supper had already commenced. Luther was posting after Carlostadt, and, by the month of August, at Jena, they were pledged antagonists, after which the latter had to seek refuge in Strasburg. The approach of any man to Luther, at this period, who was not of his opinion, would have been fatal to any advice or confederacy with him. How, as Tyndale was not at present, nor indeed ever was, a Lutheran, and since, as a scholar, he needed neither assistance nor advice, from a man with whom he could have conversed only through the medium of Latin; to send him into Saxony for such purposes, and at such a time, was equally absurd. On the contrary, if there were strong reasons for seeking no such intercourse at this moment; there were stronger still, gathered by Tyndale himself from the state of England, as already described, whether in Gloucestershire or in London, for his immediately sitting down to his work; and, instead of hastening away from Hamburg into Saxony, if we at once assume that Tyndale remained in this city throughout 1524, as Munmouth has told us, and then, in 1525, was first at Cologne, and then at Worms; we shall leave the reader to judge, as he proceeds, whether a day was left for visiting other places, except such as lay in his way, and more especially one so far distant as the usual abode of Martin Luther.

To return, therefore, to our history. Tyndale had now entered, with great vigor, on two of the most important years of his existence; and if, when his productions are once discovered in England, it shall come out in evidence, that, in that time, he had translated and printed first an edition of the gospel of Matthew, then another of the gospel of Mark, with two editions of the New Testament; this will demonstrate, that neither his residence, nor his labours, have ever yet been understood.

At the moment of Tyndale’s arrival in Hamburg, it is not unworthy of remark, that he had found the city in a state of great excitement, but, at the same time, one by no means unfavourable to the commencement of his design. Nor was this excitement of recent origin. In 1523, the burghers had already agreed, in a body, to oppose the usurpations, the taxes, and the excommunications of the Chapter, while they were divided in their opinions respecting points of belief and ceremonies. One party, and that supported by the Senate, were for reforming both, A Franciscan friar, named Kempe, newly come from Rostoc, bad been requested to preach the gospel in its purity, and was now so engaged; with better success than Henry Zuphten, who had been burnt alive at Mehldorf, by a decree of the official at Hamburg.

But if Tyndale, in 1524, abode in this city, had he the benefit of any assistance, or did he meet with an amanuensis there? With regard to the first enquiry, he himself informs us, that he “had no man to counterfeit (i.e. imitate), neither was holpen with English of any that had interpreted the same, or such like thing in the Scripture before time.” As for an amanuensis, and one who was also able to compare the text with him when translated; he seems to have had first one, and then another, who remained in his service for a considerable time. The first of these, we cannot name, though hc was highly esteemed by our translator; the second was William Roye, a friar observant of the Franciscan order at Greenwich, “a man,” says Tyndale, in his “Parable of the Wicked Mammon,” “somewhat crafty, when he cometh unto new acquaintance, and before he be thorough known. Nevertheless, I suffered all things till that was ended, which I could not do alone without one, both to write, and to help me to compare the texts together. When that was ended, I took my leave, and bade him farewell for our two lives, and, as men say, a day longer. After we were departed, he went to Argentine (Strasburg). A year after that came one Jerome, a brother of Greenwich also, through Worms to Argentine-which Jerome, I warned of Roye’s boldness, and exhorted him to beware of him, and to walk quietly, and with all patience and long suffering, according as we have Christ and his apostles for an ensample, which thing he also promised me.”

With regard to the progress actually made during this year, or how much Tyndale may, if not must, have accomplished in Hamburg, there has never been any distinct information. This, however, may be accounted for from the fact never having been before known, that previously to the publication of his New Testament; whether in quarto, with glosses, or in octavo, without them; Tyndale had printed an edition of Matthew, as well as of Mark, by themselves, although not a single copy has ever yet been identified. In the eager search for the Scriptures, with a view to their being destroyed, they may have been sometimes given up, to save a Testament; but there can be no question that we have here before us Tyndale’s earliest effort for the benefit of his country.

After John Foxe had printed his loose statement in his Acts and Monuments, when he came to publish Tyndale’s works, in 1573, he glances at this fact, though no attention has ever been paid to his words. In his life of Fryth, talking no more of Saxony, he has said-“William Tyndale first placed himself in Germany, and there did first translate the Gospel of St. Matthew into English, and after, the whole New Testament,” &c. His mention of Matthew, by itself, certainly appears to imply some distinction; but the real state of the case was this-that Tyndale not only “first translated Matthew,” but printed it, and the Gospel of Mark also. Both of these we shall find to be most bitterly denounced in the beginning of 1527, after having been read; and as a publication, not only separate from the New Testament with its prologue, but as printed previously.

It is worthy of notice, that Munmouth, in his memorial to Wolsey and the Council, who had been in possession of the earliest New Testament, distinctly confesses that he had “received a little treatise,” which Tyndale had sent to him, “when he sent for his money,” in 1524. This, at least, shows that he had been busily engaged in the city where he had first landed. But if this was not the well-known tract, which was ere long to produce such effect, entitled, the “Supplication of Beggars,” by Mr. Fish, it may have been these gospels, or one of them.

We do not, however, farther anticipate. The fact of both gospels having been printed, and styled emphatically, “the first print,” is certain; and we simply add, that the place where they were printed, we have been led to believe, must have been Hamburg. Of this there will be farther evidence.

Were it now possible to relate, in full detail, the history of the printing of the two first editions of our New Testament in the English language, it would unquestionably form one of the most striking illustrations of the superintending providence of God over his own Word; and only exceeded by its introduction into England and Scotland, immediately after being printed. The account, however, even as far as it may be traced, cannot fail to interest all those who desire to mark the hand of the Supreme Being, in by far the greatest gift which He has ever bestowed on Britain.

It has been usual to represent the first edition of Tyndale’s Blew Testament as printed at Antwerp in the year 1526, and so dismiss the subject. We shall have occasion to show that, though not printed under his eye, this was the third edition; and that the history of the two first editions, printed in 1525, by Tyndale himself, elsewhere, has never yet been properly understood.

Indeed, so defective have the statements hitherto been, that although two editions were distinctly denounced, both by the Bishop of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1526; no one had thought, till very lately, of either enquiring after the missing book, or even allowing the quarto edition with glosses, to have then existed. Every particular circumstance, therefore, which can be properly authenticated, respecting these two first productions of Tyndale’s own hand, the source of so many subsequent editions both abroad and at home, ought to be recorded; and more especially, since so diligent was the “secret search” after them, and so frequent the flames which consumed them, that, of the octavo impression, only one copy of the sacred text remains complete, one other imperfect, and of the quarto, nothing more than a venerable fragment. This last, however, happily includes his original prologue entire, or the very first sheets thrown off at the Cologne press.

We proceed, therefore, to give a general statement of the movements of Tyndale, explaining it more fully, and confirming it afterwards. Having left the place of his abode, which we have assumed to be Hamburg, he arrived at Cologne on the Rhine, in the end of April or beginning of May 1525, perhaps earlier, accompanied by his amanuensis William Roye. He commenced his labours by committing to the press his New Testament, in the form of a quarto volume, Not only was the entire sacred text then translated, but his prologue, extending to fourteen pages, was composed before he began to print. This appears to be evident, not merely from the language of the prologue itself, but from its commencing with sign A ij, and the letters running on regularly through the sacred text.

The printers, however, had only proceeded as far as the tenth sheet, or letter K, when an alarm was raised, the authorities of the place informed, and the work interdicted. Tyndale and Roye contrived to secure the sheets printed off, and sailing up the Rhine to Worms, where much greater liberty could at this time be enjoyed, they proceeded with their undertaking. This interruption, though felt to be most grievous at the moment, as Tyndale afterwards obscurely hinted; far from damping, only inflamed his zeal, and the remarkable result was, that two editions were accomplished by him, in the same period in which very probably he had contemplated only one.

These statements, however, admit of ample confirmation, and, on account of the confusion which has hitherto prevailed, they demand it.

In the illustration of historical truth, except attention be paid to all that the chief opponents have written, we must occasionally be unable to recount the facts as they occurred. Invaluable information may be drawn from an enemy, and if his statements can be authenticated, they often fill up a chasm, and explain matters which otherwise must have remained in oblivion. Besides, in all instances where an opponent could have no motive to falsify, his narration of facts should be the more respected. We have a striking illustration of these remarks now before us.

Perhaps the most virulent enemy to the Word of God being translated into any vernacular tongue, who ever breathed, was John Cochlaeus. He at least rose above all his contemporaries of the sixteenth century, and with an unwearied perseverance, worthy of a better cause, he not only strove to prevent the diffusion of the Scriptures, and longed to strangle every attempt at their translation in the very birth, but even gloried in his enmity to all such proceedings. We are indebted to this opponent for statements, curious and minute, of the accuracy of which there will be no reason to doubt, before we come to the close of this narrative.

Certainly, at the moment, nothing must have been more lamented, than that the most inveterate living opponent on the Continent should come, nay, be driven into Cologne, soon after Tyndale had commenced at press! How much more so, when it turned out that Cochlaeus was shut up to the necessity of remaining there throughout the rest of the year 1525! Such, however, was the fact; but what was the result? Why that, whether we ascribe it to his opposition or not, there were, as already stated, two editions of the New Testament printed, instead of one.

According to Cochlaeus, the “two English apostates,” as he styles Tyndale and Roye, first contemplated an edition of six thousand copies, but for prudential reasons, they began with three thousand. He tells us, that Pomeranus had already sent forward his letter to the saints in England, and that Luther himself had written his conciliatory letter to Henry VIII. Now this letter, we know, was dated the 1st of September, 1525. He then adds, that it had been anticipated, this English New Testament in quarto would soon follow; but that the Lutherans, overjoyed, broke the secret before the time; or in other words, he himself ferreted out the secret, as will be seen by his own confession. We have only, therefore, to verify the residence and occupation of this opponent during 1525 and 1526, in order to ascertain the precise period to which his account refers. During the year 1525, Cochlaeus was actually resident in Cologne, but not in 1526. While there, he was as usual, busily occupied in writing against Melancthon, Velenus, and Luther as well as in searching after the writings of Rupert, an Abbot, formerly in the Monastery of Deutz, immediately opposite to Cologne.

This Abbot, who flourished four hundred years before, had written certain commentaries on the Scriptures, besides several other pieces; and as some of his sentiments were thought to be favourable to the cause of Divine truth, its friends were eager to procure any of his works, and publish such of them, with notes, as might at once serve their cause, and prove that their doctrines were not so new as their opponents represented. One of his little pieces, “Of the Victory of the Word of God,” had been already printed, with annotations by Osiander of Nuremberg, and the Lutherans were actually in treaty with the then Abbot of Deutz, expecting from him other works of Rupert, intending to convey them for examination to Nuremberg.

Cochlaeus interposed, alarmed the Abbot, and, lest the notes and prologues of his opponents should make Rupert appear in favour of their doctrine, contrived himself to gain possession of the whole. He had then to engage parties willing to publish, and though he found considerable difficulty, at last he prevailed on Peter Quentel, and Arnold Byrckman, well known printers of the place.

Now it was while thus engaged at Cologne, in 1525, that Cochlaeus discovered this first impression of the English New Testament, proceeding briskly, as he says, or swiftly at the press; yet, with such caution had both Tyndale and Roye conducted themselves, that, although Cochlaeus succeeded in stopping the press, he was never able to meet either the one or the other; a striking proof, by the way, of their intimate acquaintance with his character.

On making the discovery, Cochlaeus says that he was agitated by fear, as as well as wonder and surprise; but why so? Let it be observed, that, in connexion with his proposed publication of Rupert’s works, his situation was a very critical one. Before his arrival, Tyndale was going on at the press; and if it shall turn out that Byrckman, as well as his brother, and Quentel were at all concerned in his progress, though merely in the way of business, what is Cochlaeus to do; or how is he to proceed? As for Francis Byrckman, we know, that, as a bookseller, he had connexions with Quentel, and also with England. Indeed, for such an early period, he had an extensive business, having a warehouse not only in Paris but in London; his shop was then, and for ten years before this, “in cemiterio Sancti Pauli,” in St. Paul’s Church Yard. But, besides, we shall present the strongest presumptive, if not positive evidence, that Quentel was the printer. If, therefore, Cochlaeus now aimed at the interruption or suppression of a work in the English tongue, to the printer a foreign one, and already so far advanced at press; Cochlaeus being not even a citizen of Cologne, but only an exile, and but recently arrived, his circumstances were embarrassing, and most probably, he had a very difficult game to play.

Be this, however, as it may, Cochlaeus succeeded dexterously.

From himself we learn that having become familiar with the Cologne printers, “He heard that there were two Englishmen lurking there, learned, skilled in languages, and fluent, whom, however, he never could see or converse with. Calling, therefore, certain printers into his lodging, after they were heated with wine, one of them, in more private discourse, discovered to him the secret by which England was to be drawn over to the side of Luther-namely, that 3000 copies of the Lutheran New Testament, translated into the English language, were in the press, and already were advanced as far as the letter K, in ordine qnaternionem. That, the expenses were fully supplied by English merchants, who were secretly to convey the work when printed, and to disperse it widely through all England, before the King or the Cardinal could discover or prohibit it.” He farther states that, casting in his mind by what means “he might expeditiously obstruct these very wicked attempts, he went secretly to Herman Rinck, a patrician of Cologne, fainiliar both with the Emperor and the King of England, and a Counsellor, and disclosed to him the whole affair, as, by means of the wine, he had received it. He, that he might ascertain all things more certainly, sent another person into the house where the work was printing, according to the discovery of Cochlaeus; and when he had understood from him that the matter;vas even so, and that there was great abundance of paper there, he went to the Senate, anti so brought it about that the printer was interdicted from proceediug further in that work. the two English apostates, snatching away with them the quarto sheets printed, fled by ship, going up the Rhine to Worms, that there, by another printer, they might complete the work begun, Rinck and Cochlaeus, however, immediatley advised by their letters, the King, the Cardinal, and the Bishop of Rochester, that they might take care lest that pernicious article of merchandise should be conveyed into all the ports of England.” f19 Although this arch-enemy had never written another word, there can be no question as to the period of this vexatious interruption. He has fixed it himself, by telling us, he was then an exile at Cologne. In 1523, Cochlaeus was at Rome, in 1524 he was at Frankfort and Mentz, and, driven from both, he fled for refuge to Cologne in 1525. There he remained stationary till the beginning of 1526, when, recalled to Mentz, he went in June to the Diet of Spire, and remained till August. Returning to Mentz, he paid a transient visit to Cologne in 1527, but not as an exile. “In 1525,” says Dupin, “Cochlseus, who had been obliged to quit first Frankfort and then Mentz, because of the popular seditions of the cities, was at Cologne, where Eckius going into England, had an interview with him.” F20 Yes, and Eckius not only went, but would no doubt enforce all that both Rincke and Cochlaeus had written.

Now, we have here a very distinct testimony as to the secrecy and prudence with which Tyndale had conducted himself, and, moreover, a frank confession from Cochlseus. He was bent on crushing the work, and then all methods were fair. He intoxicates the workmen, and gains his purpose; a method in perfect keeping with his character, and in 1549, or twenty-four years afterwards, he was not ashamed to make the avowal!

We find, however, also from himself, that throughout the whole of this business it was not blind zeal only by which he was actuated, He had not only notoriety, but gain in view, and we shall see him sadly mortified in obtaining neither. Meanwhile, no means are left untried to procure distinction, and, if possible, some money from England; as well as to secure friends at Cologne, after what he had done. He therefore immediately employs Quentel himself, but in very different work. In 1526, though not at Cologne, he is writing to Rincke, and following up his letters to England by a present to the same parties to whom he had formerly written, and through the same medium. -“ The said Sir Herman Rynge showed me a letter that he had received from one Doctor Johannes Cocleus, containing only the overthrow, without any mention of the King, and those of Vienna in Austria be greatly afraid. Also he showed me to have received three Books from the said Doctor, the one for the King’s Highness, the other for your Grace, and the third for my Lord of Rochester.” F22 In 1527, Cochlaeus was publishing Luther’s letter to Henry VIII., with the King’s Reply, and his own virulent comments, intended as a compliment to the English Monarch, and then, also, he must flatter both Birckman and Rincke. But all was in vain. Henry VIII. communicated only with Rincke, and never even answered Cochlaeus, or sent him any reward; a mortification which he felt the more, as he ever afterwards regarded his interruption of Tyndale, to be one of his most notable and praiseworthy exploits. Again and again did he refer to it in future life, for which we are the more obliged to him, as every fresh allusion only corroborates or explains the movements of our Translator of the Scriptures. Whether he be writing to Scotland, England, or even Poland, Cochlaeus cannot omit mention of the subject.

Thus, in writing to Scotland on the 8th of June, 1533, it is his boast, that he had eight years ago thus interrupted the printing of the Scriptures, which had been commenced by an impression of three thousand copies, after the war of the peasants. By this expression he intends to mark either the beginning of May 1525, when the great battle with Muncer was fought, or it may be a little earlier, when the commotion at Cologne in particular had been suppressed.

The allusion, however, to his interruption of Tyndale, which must have been most mortifying to the pride of Cochlaeus, was that to which he was provoked by severe chastisement, in 1538. Cochlaeus before then had, of course, changed his opinion of Henry VIII., and more especially since he had neglected him. Sir Richard Morysln, one of our ambassadors, having in his “Apomaxis,” posted Cochlaeus in his title-page, as “a petty professor of arts, bold in sarcasm, who had attempted t,o attack the reputation of Henry tho Eighth,” Cochlaes then published his “Broom of Cochlaeus versus the cebwebs of Morysin;” in which he charges the King with ingratitude. “For,” says he, “in 1525, when I was poor, and by the seditions of the people and tumult of the rustics settled an exile of Cologne, did I discover to him, by a private epistle, the secret wicked machinations of two Englishmen against his kingdom, by whom the New Testament (of Luther) translated into the English language, was printed at Cologne, that it might be transmitted secretly, in many thousands, into England. But, notwithstanding, he still remained silent, and took no notice of me, altogether unmindful of my poverty and exile, although at that time he was a most determined enemy and opposer of the Lutheran sect.”

The evidence thus presented by Cochlaeus, at successive periods, has never before been submitted to the English reader. That statements, so graphically minute, as to carry evidence of their correctness; so pointed as to the year and place of printing, and in perfect harmony with each other; should have been disregarded for three centuries, only shows how little attention has been paid to the subject: but this becomes the more observable, when the first denunciations of “the New Testament in our English tongue,” by the official authorities next year, had expressly affirmed, “of which translation there are many books printed, some with glosses, and some will, out.” Instead of inquiring after these Testaments with glosses, or at least admitting their existence, all parties have been satisfied with having it erroneously stated, that there had been but one edition, and that said to be printed at Antwerp in 1526, or the same year in which it was denounced!

To some persons, no doubt, this long detail must have appeared to be altogether unnecessary, and to others tedious; though should it now be inquired what has given birth to it, every reader will be pleased to learn, that it is not merely the confusion that has prevailed hitherto; but nothing less than the recovery front oblivion of Tyndale’s first pages at the Cologne press, after the lapse of three hundred and ten year’s-a fragment of the very book which was thus interrupted in its progress, by Cochlaeus, and the only remnant known to be in existence of the three thousand copies of the first and quarto New Testament, commenced at Cologne; but when once the reader comes to witness the powerful and unceasing exertions of the public authorities to seize these books and burn them; as well as the rage excited against this prologue and these glosses; the wonder will be that a single leaf escaped. This precious relic having been stitched up at the end of another book, might more easily pass unheeded, or it may have remained abroad till long after the fires had ceased to rage in England.

Bound up in blue morocco, with as many leaves as the book originally composed, it adorned the library of the late Right Honourable Thomas Grenville, now in the British Museum; but before leaving the place where it was printed, we give the collation of all that has yet been found.

Title A i wanting, as it is in the octavo. The prologge commences with A ij, and occupying seven leaves, ends on the reverse of B iiij. the first page of the next sheet, or letter C, contains the table of all the books of the New Testament, on the reverse of which is the woodcut; of Matthew, as exhibited in our fac-simile. On the following leaf, therefore, is folio C iii, continuing correctly to fol. xxiiii, where the fragment terminates in the 22nd chapter of <402201> Matthew. The type is a German Gothie. Size of the frame-work, including head-line, 5 7/8 inches; breadth, 5 inches; but the breadth of the prologue only 31/2; including the head-line, 38 lines in a page; no paper mark. N. B.-Tyndale being on the point of placing sheet letter L in the press, he must have been pretty far advanced in the gospel of Luke, and consequently this fragnment is not to be confounded with the gospel of Matthew printed previously, which, at the same time, could have had no such prologue, nor any such list of all the books in the New Testament.

Cologne, therefore, and Cochlaeus also, we gladly leave for the present; and, with increasing interest, now follow our Translator to his next place of abode.

Tyndale having taken up his residence in Worms, relnained there till the year 1527,-a far more favourable place for the prosecution of his design.

The commotions of the people, which at Frankfort and Mentz had ended in triumph over the old opinions, at Cologne, on the contrary, had been subdued, and hence it was that, Cochlaeus had made that city his refuge; for at Worms he could not then have effected what he had done at Cologne. Worms, on the contrary, Cochlaeus has told us, was “under the full rage of Lutheranism,” or, in the more sober style of Seckendorff, “was already wholly Lutheran.” So much the better for our Translator, though not a Lutheran; for his enemy will turn out to have been only promoting, unintentionally, the very undertaking which he meant to crush.

We have, however, now come to a period in the labours of Tyndale, which demands some notice, of all previous accounts. The author is perfectly aware that it may, and will be said, by those who have ever attended to the subject, or been conversant with the octavo edition of Tyndale’s New Testament, “How are we to receive all this account, when we find Tyndale himself, in his address ‘To the Reader,’ at the end of the octavo volume, ‘beseeching them that are learned christianly, that the rudeness of the work now at the first time offend them not?’“ Nay, and we may strengthen the objector’s language, by adding-how are we to reconcile the previous statements, with the first words of Tyndale in his preface to the Pentateuch? “When I had translated the New Testament, I added an Epistle unto the latter end.” For more than a hundred years has it not been understood, that the first New Testament in English was printed most probably at Antwerp? Have not Ames, Herbert, Panzer, and others, all assigned it to this city? Has not Mr. Russel, more recently, in the notes to his edition of Tyndale’s works, even specified the printer there, as being Christopher Endhoven? Nay, did not Dr. Gifford, the former proprietor of the only perfect copy of the octavo, now in Bristol, consider the words “now at the first time,” as sufficient evidence that nothing had been printed before? And, finally, have not almost all parties agreed as to the year of printing having been 1526?

All this is granted, and yet when we come to the edition actually printed at Antwerp, in 1526, and by C. Endhoven; the peculiarly interesting account of which has never yet been submitted to an English reader; it will be distinctly proved to have been the next, or, as we now affirm, the third edition. Nor will any advocate for the octavo, printed at Worms, under Tyndale’s own eye, have much ground for hesitation, if he finds that it was printed in 1525; since it was being read in England as early as January and February 1526. The only mystery to be solved is, that of the octavo being “now at the first time” perhaps scut out, though not the first begun. For although the quarto turns out to be, as it certainly was, the commencement of Tyndale’s labours, and his long prologue at the beginning of it, the very first language addressed by him to the Christians of England; nay, and finished at press, before ever his epistle “To the Reader,” at the end of the octavo, was written or even contemplated; there did exist an all-powerful reason for our translator’s mode of procedure, as well as for his afterwards referring to the one edition, in preference to the other. Meanwhile, whatever of mystery there be in the matter, it has yet to be curiously contrasted with both editions being upon English ground, nearly, if not positively at the same period. Yet though such be the fact, and to be abundantly proved, Tyndale’s peculiar circumstances this year, may, even now, furnish us with some explanation.

Upon his arrival at Worms, we are not left to inquire, whether he lost a day, as, by the event, we know full well that every hour had been improved. Nor is it diffcult to perceive his sagacity in his mode of procedure. His quarto Testament had been not merely interrupted, but exposed by a malignant enemy, whose very eye he had evaded; the book had been described, and even to the highest authorities in England, as well as marked out for seizure, if possible. Now, in the face of all this, would it have been prudent to have proceeded with this book alone? Changing, therefore, the size, leaving out the prologue and the glosses, which, by the way, was a great improvement, an octavo edition must have been immediately commenced at press, though certainly the quarto was not consigned to oblivion. No, for the fact is, that the reader will, before long, find it difficult, if not impossible, to say, which was actually the first that had reached the shores of Britain, whether of England or Scotland. Suffice it now only to state, that copies of these precious books, it will appear, were being read in England early in 1526; nay, and we shall find the quarto had been purchased, and” read thoroughly,” in the spring of that year; eight months before the formal denunciation of Tunstal, or nine months before that of Warham; when both were denounced, and said to abound, not only in the diocese of London, but throughout the province of Canterbury. The reader will be still more surprised to find that copies of one edition if not both, had also reached Scotland in the same year!

Tyndale, at all events, with his amanuensis, had now found refuge within the noted city of Worms. It was but little more than four years since Martin Luther, attired in his friar’s frock and cowl, and seated in his vehicle, preceded by the Emperor’s herald on horseback, had entered the same place; where the Saxon nobles meeting him and forming in procession, two thousand persons accompanied him through the streets to his inn. It was a larger assemblage than that which had graced the Emperor’s own approach to the Diet. Then too, and there, Cochlaeus, who had occasioned our English Translator’s flight from Cologne, could hold up his head, and even force himself into Luther’s presence; now, he dared not enter the place.

With this memorable scene and its consequences, Tyndale must have been intimately acquainted; but when discussing the subject on Sodbury Hill, how strange must it have seemed to him, had any one added:-“ And you too must, before long, enter Worms; not to leave it in haste as Luther had to do, but to fulfil the desire of your heart, which you will never be able to accomplish in all England!” Yet what a contrast have we between Luther’s entrance, surrounded by his Electors and Princes, and the humble approach of Tyndale, with his bale of printed sheets! This becomes still more striking, if we recollect, that four years ago, it was from this very city that Luther, hardly escaping, was carried off to his Patmos, or his castle on the heights of the Wartburg, there, in quiet rcpose and solitude, to translate his New Testament. Tyndale now entered to print his; to finish also in Worms, what he had commenced in Cologne; and to pursue his design, even after the Testaments were off to their destination.

Of the small octavo New Testament here printed, the fruitful parent of so many editions, only one perfect copy of the text remains, and no place of safe deposit in all England could be more appropriate than Bristol, the city where Tyndale himself used to preach. The unique fragment of the quarto was discovered only, as it were, the other day; but the history of this precious small octavo volume we can trace for more than a hundred years-and it will be found somewhat curious. Above a century ago it formed one of the volumes in the Harleian Library of Lord Oxford, though how long it had been there is not known. Mr. John Murray, one of his lordship’s collectors, had picked it up somewhere. The Earl gave ten guineas for the book, says Mr. Ames; twenty, says Dr. Gifford; but both agree that he also settled £20 a-year for. life on Murray, who had procured it. The Earl of Oxford died in 1741, without male issue, and his Library of printed books was sold to Mr. Thomas Osborne for £13,000. This book, therefore, in the Harleian Catalogue, prefaced by Dr. Samuel Johnson, is thus described:- “No. 420. The New Testament, black letter, ruled with red lines, and all the initial letters at the beginning of each book, representing the subject, finely coloured, as likewise all the capital letters to each chapter throughout the book adorned with different colours, and raised with gold, neatly bound in red morocco.”

After such a description, Mr. Osborne, much to his own cost, had not been aware of the rarity and value of his book, for after thus describing it, he adds:-“ In this book no date is left, but it appears to be Tyndale’s version, and is probably one of the editions printed in Holland, before his revisal” in 1534. Accordingly, he marked the price at no more than fifteen shillings!

At this price Mr. Ames bought it, when he not only congratulated himself on purchasing what he styled the Phoenix of the entire Library; but writes, on the 30th of June, 1743, in a letter,to a friend, that the annuity of twenty pounds was yet paid to Mr. Murray, he being still alive. One hundred pounds more, however, was still forthcoming, for the annuity was honourably paid, until Murray’s decease in 1748! On the 13th of May, 1760, Mr. Ames’ books came to be sold by Mr. Langford, and the Testament was bought for fourteen guineas and a half, by Mr. John Whyte the bookseller, lie possessed it sixteen years to a day, having sold it on the 13th of May, 1776. On the book itself, therefore, there is the following note ia manuscript. “N.B.-This choice book was purchased at Mr. Langford’s sale, 13th May, 1760, by me, John Whyte; and on the 13th day of May, 1776, I sold it to the Rev. Dr. Gifford for 20 guineas, the price first paid for it by the late Lord Oxford.”

Before proceeding farther, we now give the collation of this beautiful and uniquee volume. The book commences, like the quarto, on sign A ij. The Gospel of Matthew to the end of Revelation occupies eccliii folios; not leaves only, as it; has been lately, but erroneously stated. On the reverse of the last is the epistle “To the Reader,” occupying three pages, and then “errours committed in the printyng.” A full page contains thirty-three lines.

N.B.-There is only one other copy in existence, in the Library of St. Paul’s, but that is very imperfect; defective at both the beginning and end, and wanting twenty-five leaves in various places, or forty-eight in all. When first discovered by Dr. Cotton, it was entitled on the back, “Lant’s Testament,” for what reason has never been divined. There was one Rich. Lant, chaplain to Queen Anne Boleyn, but this does not resolve the mystery. It had been recommended, that the deficient leaves should be made up in manuscript, and the book elegantly bound; instead of which, and as it was, it has been miserably botched in the binding!

Here, then, are two separate editions of the New Testament, both finished at Worms by the close of the year 1525; and printed, we believe, by Peter Schoeffer, son of the associate of Guttemberg and Fust. But on comparing one with the other we are furnished with several important remarks, as corroborative of all that has been already advanced.

The parties in opposition, let it be first observed, generally mark out the quarto with glosses; while the only distinct reference of Tyndale himself, is to the octavo, without them, in his preface to the Pentateuch. The explanation is of no little importance. The prologue and glosses, as we shall see presently, excited great fear in the breast of the enemy. Thus, when Sir Thomas More refers to the period of Tyndale’s first efforts in translating, he will have it, that “at that time he set certain glosses in the margin;” an undoubted fact, though not done, as he affirms, “at Wittenberg.” In these glosses, as well as the text itself, there was ample room for denunciation, if typographical errors were to he set down as so many heresies. “There is not so much,” said Tyndale, “as one i therein, if it lack a tittle over his head, but they have noted it, and number it unto the ignorant people for an heresy.” Tunstal, after his return from Spain, or late in 1526, had busied himself in marking these, till he had got up to the number of 2000; although more than ten times that number have been found in one of our Testaments, printed above a hundred years later. Now, in this view, the precious relic lately discovered, when compared with the octavo in Bristol, affords striking proof that the quarto sheets must have been first printed. The spelling, indeed, even of the octavo, is irregular, as might be expected at that early period, but still the two editions admit of pointed comparison. Witness the following words:- 1. QUARTO. 2. OCTAVO. 1. QUARTO. 2. OCTAVO. prophettes prophets, moore more. moththes mothes, pierles pearles. synners sinners, yooke yoke. mooste most. burthen burden. streached stretched, sekynge seking.

In every other case, this would be at once admitted as decisive evidence, that the octavo followed and did not precede the quarto. That Tyndale should improve, as in the octavo, was natural; but, although it has actually been done, to suppose that he would spell as in the quarto, afterwards, is absurd. That it was this quarto on which Tunstal so foolishly expatiated, next year, at St. Paul’s, after having issued his inhibition, there can be little or no doubt. For, although Le Long merely mistakes one year, he expressly states, that “his lordship made this reflection of no fewer than 2000 texts, on an English translation of the New Testament, printed at Cologne and Worms, 1526, 4to.” Lewis, after quoting this, adds as the only reason for his scepticism, “but no such edition appears.” Now, however, a sufficient portion of it has appeared, nearly a century after Lewis, or above three hundred years after it was printed. This, too, is the identical book to which Roye alludes, when treating the hypercriticism of Tunstal with ridicule; it is from this prologue that he quotes, and it is the burning of this book entire, which Roye so graphically describes in his Satyre. “It is reported,” said Cochlaeus at the close of his statement, “that Lord Cuthbert Tunstal, a most eloquent man, then Bishop of London, now of Durham, when he had obtained one of these copies, publicly affirmed, in a most ample oration to the people of London, that he had detected above 2000 depravations and perversions in this one work.” Tunstal, after all, was not the first who took alarm. Far from it-he was not in England; and though we must not anticipate, there is coming a higher denunciator of this very book, eight months before the Bishop, when he was as far distant as Madrid.

Tyndale, on the contrary, alludes to the octavo editlon without notes, and it was by this that he abode. This allusion, however, let it be observed, was made in the year 1530. Now, the truth is, and it should never have passed without special observation by posterity, that it was upon this ground, that Tyndale and his devoted friend Fryth had then long entrenched themselves,-the Scripture without note and comment. “I assure you,” said Tyndale, the very next year to his Majesty’s ambassador, then hunting for him on the Continent,-“I assure you, if it would stand with the King’s most gracious pleasure, to grant only a bare text of the Scriptures fo be put forth among his people, I shall immediately make faithful promise never to write more.” And so afterwards, in 1533, said Fryth, upon English ground, to the Lord Chancellor More:-“ Grant that the Word of God, I mean the text of Scripture, may go abroad in our English tongue; and my brother, William Tyndale, and I have done, and will promise you to write no more.” The burning zeal of no two men born in Britain, ever had less of self and private interest in it, than theirs had. It was not for glosses, or comments, that they stood and fought so nobly, all alone. To form any mere sect, they never longed, and they died without any such consequence following; an event deeply instructive, and one, which might be of infinite importance at the present hour, were it properly understood. It is a singular fact, that, throughout these manuscripts, the term Tyndalian occurs only once, in the letter of an enemy, but it never took; and Tyndale left the world without leaving any circle of mere partizans to hand down his name to posterity.

Here, then, let it be observed, were our two first witnesses; the two men, not only first engaged in translating, but who led the van in pleading for the Scriptures “going abroad” without note or comment. And is there now no tribute imperatively due to their memory and character, for having so done? Let the mere sectarian, of whatever name, throughout this kingdom, make of this fact what he may; we must not, even thus early, withhold another, which is never to be separated from it. To their bold and first appeal, therefore, we simply add, as an historical axiom, of the deepest import, and one which, for three hundred years, we shall have occasion to observe-that the Sacred text, without note and comment, has proved not only the best mode of procedure for meeting the enemy; but that which time and Providence have distinctly sanctioned, down to our own day; when it has prospered to an extent, far, very far beyond the anticipations of the most sanguine. Events themselves, during that long period, will often speak, and say, or seem to say,-“He that hath my word, let him speak,” and disperse “my word faithfully.”

If, therefore, there had been even unbroken silence on Tyndale’s part, with respect to the quarto Testament, the circumstances we have already explained, would sufficiently account for this. But there is a reference, we think, though in measured language, to the vexatious interruption of the quarto book by Cochlaeus. It is to be found in this very Epistle, “To the Reader,” at the close of the octavo Testament. Having craved the candour of the reader, that “the rudeness of the work offend him not,” he adds, “Moreover, even very necessity and combraunce (God is record) above strength, which I will not rehearse, lest we should seem to boast ourselves, caused ghat many things are lacking, which necessarily are rcquired. Count it as a thing not having his full shape, but, as it were, born afore his time, even as a thing begun rather than finished.”

Now, what could this perplexity or embarrassment, this vexatious toil, possibly be, this combraunce above strength, of which God was witness, if not that which we have detailed? And t what this full shape, if not the quarto before commenced, and then nearly finished? And what this boasting, if not the exultation felt, when he cherished the hope of baffling his opponents, by sending out the octavo first, it not being the book reported, and held up to scorn?

There is now only one concluding remark forcibly suggested by comparison of the Epistle to the Reader in the octavo, with the Prologue prefixed to the quarto. The former, brief in itself, and abrupt in its commencement, has all the appearance of eager despatch; on the contrary, the opening of the quarto Prologue wears all the formality and precision usually adopted, when introducing to the reader a first attempt. Witness the commencement of the Epistle,- “Give diligence, Reader, (l exhort thee,) that thou come with a pure mind, and, as the Scripture saith, with a single eye, unto the words of health, and of eternal life: by the which, if we repent and believe them, we are born anew, created afresh, and enjoy the fruits of the blood of Christ.”

Contrast this with the deliberate and formal language of the Prologue, so worthy of special notice now. It has never before been presented entire, and as it stands, since the day on which the sheet was thrown off at Cologne. They are not a few who will admire the modesty, the diffidence, not to say the simple beauty of the following sentences:- TYNDALE’S FIRST LANGUAGE IN PRINT TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD IN ENGLAND, “I have here translated, brethren and sisters, most dear and tenderly beloved in Christ, the New Testament, for your spiritual edifying, consolation and solace: Exhorting instantly, and beseeching those that are better seen in the tonques than I, and that have higher gifts of grace to intepret the sense of the Scripture, and meaning of the Spirit, than 1, to consider and ponder my labour, and that with the spirit of meekness. And if they perceive in any places that I have not attained the very sense of the tongue, or meaning of the Scripture, or have not given the right English word, that they put to their hands to amend it, remembering that so is their duty to do.

For we have not received the gifts of God for ourselves only, or for to hide them: but for to bestow them unto the honouring of God and Christ, and edifying of the congregation, which is the body of Christ. “The causes that moved me to translate, I thought better that others should imagine, than that I should rehearse them. Moreover, I supposed it superfluous; for who is so blind to ask, why light should be showed to them that walk in darkness, where they cannot but stumble, and where to stumble, is the danger of eternal damnation; either so despiteful that be would envy any man (I speak not his brother) so necessary a thing; or so bedlam mad as to affirm that good is the natural cause of evil, and darkness to proceed out of light, and that lying should be grounded in truth and verity; and not rather clean contrary, that light destroyeth darkness, and verity reproveth all manner (of) lying. “After it had pleased God to put in my mind, and also to give me grace to translate this forerehearsed (before mentioned) New Testament into our English tongue, however we have done it, I supposed it very necessary to put you in remembrance of certain points.”

The reader, we presume, cannot but be gratified, by a facsimile of these words, in their original orthography. He will observe the letter Y, then generally used for I; which first led to the discovery of what the fragment is; and here he may contemplate not merely the first page of text, in the first sheet of a work thrown off at press, in the year 1525, at Cologne; but the veritable origin of all those millions of English Scriptures now reading in so many different and distant parts of the globe-parts, utterly unknown to our immortal Translator, when he sent the sheet to the press-parts, then untrodden by any Englishman-parts, then undiscovered!

The last sentence of our extract, however, or that with which the next page of the prologue begins, is full of meaning. It shows that Tyndale, with all gravity, recognised no instigator under God, and ascribed to his grace alone, the entire glory of his work. Such had been his language in print, before ever Cochlaeus had set his foot in Cologne. But now, that he had been so defamed by this enemy, hear his emphatic disclaimer from Worms. “Beseeching the learned to consider that he had no man to follow as an example, neither was holpen with English of any that had interpreted the same, or such like thing in the Scripture before time.” Sir Thomas More had read this, though he did not choose, as it was not convenient, to believe it. But surely, if any individual of that age may be regarded as an agent, walking independently of his fellows, it will turn out to have been our English exile,-a man, whose character and powerful talents trove been so grievously misrepresented, and so misunderstood, up to the present hour.

We are now just upon the eve of returning into England, after spending two years abroad, in company with our Translator; but before we do return-before the uproar and the consternation begin-before the wrath of 1526 burst out-while these precious volumes are only coming over that sea, which Tyndale had passed over to send; and before either the quarto or octavo had arrived in our native land; there is one additional event which must not be omitted even here, though it has to be explained more distinctly three months hence, at the moment of its occurrence.

If there was any advantage anticipated by Tyndale, from sending over the octavo without notes “now at the first time”-if it was indeed so sent-there must have ensued a second momentary disappointment. If there was any device or contrivance adopted, then it certainly failed, completely failed!

This quarto, with glosses, had been the first-born of his imagination, and we have seen that his whole heart was set upon giving the sacred text, what was strangely styled “its full shape.” But the Divine Author will as distinctly say nay in London, as he had already done at Cologne! For, after all, we shall find next year, that this quarto book was first held up in warning to the people. The book “with glosses and prefaces” was first condemned,-condemned, too, by no less authority than that of Henry VIII. himself, with Wolsey’s full concurrence, if not his advice,-and condemned eight months before either Tunstal or Warham held up also the octavo, without notes, for destruction.

Tyndale certainly intended that the book with glosses should follow “in time to come,” however short. Providence caused it to precede, and, at the same time, over-ruled it as a decoy for several months! All that time, therefore, the precious little volume must have been fulfilling its commission, and passing into its hiding-place in unknown directions!

Nor is the curious fact of the New Testament “with glosses and prefaces” being first condemned, and then passing into oblivion through all history, for above three hundred years, an event carrying no instruction or monition. Quite the reverse. All who venerate Divine Revelation in its purity, will remember that this was the commencement of a new cra for Britain, more important than she had ever witnessed, or in truth has witnessed since. Comments, therefore, or glosses, additions of man’s devising, professedly to make the sacred language more intelligible than that of its Divine Author, or turn it to a certain meaning, were not to be treated as of small account. As matter of history they were not, and have not been so treated. These glosses sunk the book into the shades; just as those notes, sometimes styled contemptuously the Geneva spectacles, afterwards operated on that otherwise valuable translation.

Never, then, let it pass unobserved, how soon, and how clearly, Tyndale and Fryth saw through this; how soon our Translator put the King of England upon the alternative of receiving, or not receiving, the sacred text alone; or how decidedly, and upon English ground, Fryth repeated the bold appeal to the Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas More. The warfare was at once reduced to a single point. Receive, or not receive, THE SACRED VOLUME, without note or comment; so that we have now to witness the man who, by way of eminence, fought on one side, and the men who, by way of eminence, or we might say the nation, who fought against him. This important fact not only affords ns a notable conunencement to our history, but it will connect itself, very powerfully, with the close of this work, or the larger movements of the present day. 1576.

Memorable Introduction Of Tiie New Testament Into England-The Two First Editions-Tiie First Alarm In London, Oxford, Cambridge-The First Burning Of Books-New Testament Denounced By The King And Wolsey-Then By Tunstal And Wariham-The Third Edition-Violent Contention Respecting It-Burning It Abroad And At Home-But In Vain.

THAT interesting period when the Word of God, printed in our native tongue, was first found in England, had now arrived. It was in January 1526. On the banks of the Rhine, Tyndale had finished his New Testaments at the press, but how was it possible for them ever to be conveyed into our country? Had not Rincke and Cochlaeus warned the Cardinal himself, the King, and the Bishop of Rochester, that they might “with the greatest diligence take care” lest one of them should come into any port in all England? They certainly had, and in good time, so that it is no fault of theirs, if all opposing parties were not now on the alert. Yet here are the dreaded books, and upon English ground, and not only in the metropolis, but in both universities, to say nothing of the country at large!

It is natural, however, first to inquire whether there were any circumstances, at the moment, favourable to their introduction. Of all other men, the two most able and most likely to have prevented their arrival, or immediately suppressed them, were Wolsey and Tunstal, the Bishop of London. But the former was now completely engrossed by affairs of state policy, both abroad and at home-abroad he was urging, nay, rousing the French Cabinet to renewed war with the Emperor; at home, he was concluding peace with Scotland, and also busily engaged in reforming his master’s household, or framing what were called “the Statutes of Eltham.”

The Bishop of London was not in the country, having been happily rcmoved out, of the way eight months before; he was still ambassador in Spain, and not to return till August or September; so that his name never should have been associated, as it has generally been, with the first reception of Tyndale’s New Testament. More than this, the winter was peculiarly unhealthy, and such was the alarm created by great mortality, that the courts had been adjourned-the authorities were out of the way-the King was keeping his Christmas at Eltham, in private, with a few friends, “for in the King’s house,” says Halle, “this was called the still Christmas” -and Wolsey, after carousing at Richmond for a few days, had to attend His Majesty on business at Eltham, from the 8th to the 22nd of January.

Such a conjunction of circumstances but seldom occurred, and, without straining a point, they may surely be regarded as providential; for they afforded certain opportunities, which, we shall find, had been most busily improved. So easily can the Divine Being “scatter the proud in the imagination of their hearts,” when He is about to “exalt them of low degree.” The country had been first long harassed by oppressive and vexatious exactions, to carry on expensive foreign wars, and now it is assailed by disease and death! Such was the period chosen by Infinite Wisdom to introduce the Word of Life, that “sovereign balm for every wound!” England’s surest hope, the true secret of all her future stability, and the only security for it still.

The earliest importations of these precious volumes would furnish a very curious subject of inquiry. The various methods adopted for several years in order to secure their entrance into this country, can never now, indeed, be fully detailed; but the conveyance of Tyndale’s New Testaments into England and Scotland, with other books illustrative of the Sacred Volume, could only the half be told, would form one of the most graphic stories in English history. No siege, by sapping and mining, which Britain has ever since achieved, could furnish the tenth part of the incident, or evince half the courage, by which she was herself assailed. But the materials have never yet been examined and compared, with that regard to accuracy as to names, and succession as to events, which would have brought out some of the finest specimens of faith and fortitude and persevering zeal.

From what particular port on the Continent the first copies were sent, and to what port in England thcy came, may remain for ever a secret. The probability is, that some came from Antwerp, while others were sent from Worms down the Rhine through Holland, and so from different places. Be this as it may, we know for certain of two gentlemen, who engaged in very early, if not the first, active measures as to the importation itself; namely, Simon Fysh, of Gray’s Inn, London, and George Herman, a citizen of Antwerp, and merchant in the English house there; while, during this month of January 1526, we shall find that not a few of the most learned young men in England were eagerly perusing Tyndale’s first productions.

Nothing then, however, could have been more unlikely, than that London and both the Universities should be in a ferment the very first week after that month had expired.

It was on the 2nd of February, that an insignificant incident gave birth to the first great alarm. It well deserves, therefore, to be noticed. Simon Fysh, already mentioned, a native of Kent, after receiving his education at Oxford, had taken up his residence as a lawyer in Gray’s Inn, London. A play, or tragedy, as Foxe calls it, composed by a Mr. Roo or Row, of the same Inn, in one part of which Wolsey thought himself deeply impugned, was about to be acted in private; and this part, after others through fear had declined, Fysh undertook to perform. He did so once, but never could a second time, for “the same night that this tragedy was played,” Fysh was compelled to leave his own house, and finally escape to the Continent.

How often did the Cardinal, with all his sagacity, put forth his hand to his own downfall? Though, confessedly, a deep politician, he was far from understanding the policy of noninterference. This attempt at apprehension must have occurred before the end of 1523, if it be correct, as Foxe affirms, that “the next year following” he composed the tract entitled “the Supplication of Beggars.’’l Mr. Fysh is stated to have been with Tyndale abroad, and if so, “the little treatise” which Munmouth depones that Tyndale “sent to him from Hamburg in 1524, when he sent for his money,” may have been this publication, if it was not the gospel of Matthew. But, whether the one or the other, the “Supplication” must have been in existence in 1525, from what we know of its history.

In the shape of a “Supplication” addressed “to the King our Sovereign Lord,” it conveyed the most wholesome and astounding advice to Henry VIII., and the parties interested were so very fortunate as to reach his ear through one of his confidential servants or footmen, whom Foxe calls Edmund Moddis. This man had read the book himself, and told his Majesty, that “if he would pardon him, and such men as he would bring to his grace, he should see such a book as was marvel to hear of.” The King fixed a time, and thus two merchants, George Eliot and George Robinson, were favoured with a private audience. His Majesty, whose curiosity had been excited by the representation of his confidential servant, patiently listened to every line, as it was read to him by Eliot.

This powerful tract, for it was nothing more, written in a popular style, contained an unmeasured attack on the whole fraternity of” Monks and Friars, Pardoners and Sumners,” into whose hands an immense proportion of the nation’s wealth had already passed. Their growing power, already impairing and threatening to destroy that of the Crown itself, was denounced in the strongest terms. “This is the great scab,” said Fysh, “why they will not let the New Testament go abroad in your mother tongue, lest men should espy that they, by their cloaked hypocrisy, do translate, thus fast, your kingdom into their hands.”

At the close of its being read, and after a long pause, the King is reported to have said, “if a man should pull down an old stone wall, trod begin at the lower part, the upper part thereof might chance to fall on his head;” then taking the book, he put it ia his desk, commanding the men on their allegiance, that they should not disclose to any one that he had seen it.

Copies of this tract must have been possessed by not a few, when the King’s own servant knew its contents so thoroughly. This, however, would not suffice, and so it had been determined that the people at large should read it for themselves; and, also, that no doubt should remain, whether the King had seen if. John Foxe, therefore, thus describes it-“A Libel or Book entitled, the Supplication of Beggars, thrown and scattered at the procession in Westminster, on Candlemas day, before King Henry the Eighth, for him to read and peruse.” This was on Friday the 2nd of February, 1526. Many copies might be thus disposed of, but, by another account, they had been scattered about the streets by night.

The moment of alarm had now come. This very trivial incident had excited the greatest fear and dread! Wolsey immediately went to his Majesty, complaining of “divers seditious persons having scattered abroad books containing manifest errors, desiring his Grace to beware of them;” but what must have been his mortification, when the King, putting his hand into his bosom, and taking out one of these very books, delivered it into his hands! At this period Henry was not a little gratified by any information which he could procure, independently of his domineering Prime Minister.

Wolsey, once roused, became fully awake to the importance of his intentions in the year 1523. Engrossed as he had been with political affairs, some of these intcntions had remained unfulfilled. But now there was to be “the secret search” and in divers places at one time, and a sermon to be preached, by Fisher, the very man whom Henry had then named. It was resolved to strike terror into the heart of the enemy, and give one vital stab to all that was now run down under the nickname of Lutheranism; for Divine truth had been slowly gaining its way, and was now to spread, as it had done, independently of Luther. The fact is, that the crusade, under which our country long groaned and bled, was about to begin; and as the authorities of the day were now going to treat the people of God after the primitive fashion, when they first put them in bear skins, and then baited them, a word of terror was wanting. Lollard had been the term for above a hundred years, as it especially was under Longland, in 1521; but Lutheran was now a far more effectual, because opprobrious, epithet; involving all those who either read the Scriptures, or appealed to them as authority.

Before, however, we can rightly understand the course of events, the evidence a afforded by original manuscripts, by Foxe and Strype, Bishop Tanncr and Anthony Wood, as well as two or three other authorities, must be carefully compared. After this, when we look at London, Oxford, and Cambridge, as well as the country at, large, a scene, full of the deepest interest, opens to view.

Not a day was now to be lost. London, though far from its present size, was large enough even then to be favourable to secrecy; but London, Cambridge, and Oxford, must all be searched at one time, and Cardinal College, too, must not be overlooked. Wolsey could not have been with the King sooner than next day, Saturday the 3rd. The simultaneous orders for both Universities must have been the same day, as the Sergeants-at- Arms had arrived at both by Monday or Tuesday.

In London they commenced immediately. Among the very first places where the “secret search” began, was a narrow lane in Cheapside, nearly opposite to Bow Church. In a church there, “All Hallows in Honey Lane,” Robert Forman, S. T. P., was Rector, and Mr. Thomas Garret, Curate.

Strong suspicions rested on the latter, as being at once a receiver and distributor of books. The first of the Articles finally objected against him furnishes an important link in the following narrative. “First, for bringing divers and many books, treatises, and works of Martin Luther and his sect, as also for dispersing abroad of the said books to divers and many persons within this realm, as well Students in the University of Oxford and Cambridge, as other spiritual, temporal, and religious men, to the intent to have advanced the said sects and opinions. Item, for having the said books in his custody-for reading them secretly in privy places and suspect company, declaring and teaching here, lies and errors contained in them.”

Such were some of the charges formally brought against Mr. Garret, and not without reason; but among all the books imported, in Latin and in English, we have now to inquire whether there was not one, infinitely above them all in value, though at the first unknown to the authorities, namely, Tyndale’s New Testament.

During part of January, Garret must have been busy in the City and Diocese of London, but in the beginning or first week of February, when sought for at his own abode, he could not be found. He was then “searched for through all London,” when the Cardinal ascertained that “he had a great number of those books, and was gone to Oxford to make sale of them there, to such as he knew to be lovers of the Gospel.” The truth is, that this future martyr had been for some time in the habit of conveying books to both Universities, and of visiting Oxford personally. He was down there at the preceding Christmas, and, with regard to the present occasion,-“About the year 1526,” says Foxe, “Master Garret, Curate of Honey Lane in London, came unto Oxford, and brought with him sundry books in Latin, treating of the Scripture, with the first part of ‘Unio disidentium,’ and Tyndale’s first translation of the New Testament in English, the which books he sold to divers scholars in Oxford.” “After he had been there a while, and despatched those books, news came that he was searched for through all London, to be opprehended and taken as a heretic, and to be imprisoned for selling those heretical books, as they termed them.” Not finding him in London, “they had determined forthwith to apprehend and imprison him, and to burn all and every his foresaid books, and him too, if they could, so burning hot was their zeal.” By the time, however, that the Sergeant-at-Arms had arrived, Cole of Magdalen College, who was afterwards cross-bearer to the Cardinal, but an acquaintance of Garret’s, gave him warning. So in the morning of “Wednesday bcforc Shrovetide,” on the 7th of February, he left Oxford, but returning again, he charged his dress as far as he could, and disappeared on Friday night. There is a beautifully graphie account of this, part of which we must quote; for which we are indebted to Anthony Delaber, one of the students, devotedly attached to Mr. Garret. “When he was gone down the stairs from my chamber,” says he, “I straight-ways did shut my chamber door, and went into my study, and took the New Testament in my hands, kneeled down on my knees, and with many a deep sigh and salt tear, I did, with much deliberation, read over the tenth chapter of Saint Matthew his gospel: and when I had so done, with fervent prayer I did commit unto God, that our dearly beloved brother Garret, earnestly beseeching him, in and for Jesus Christ’s sake, his only begotten Son, our Lord, that he would vouchsafe not only safely to conduct and keep our said dear brother from the hands of all his enemies; but also that he would endue his tender and lately born little flock in Oxford, with heavenly strength by his Holy Spirit, that they might be able thereby valiantly to withstand to his glory all their fierce enemies, and also night quietly to their own salvation, with all godly patience, bear Christ’s heavy cross; which I now saw was presently to be laid on their young and weak backs, unable to bear so huge a burden, without the great help of his Holy Spirit. This done, I laid aside my book, safe.” In this first attempt to escape, however, Garret had, most unwisely, yielded to worldly policy, in consequence of his friends thinking it best that he should change his name, and then engage himself as Curate to a brother of Delabor’s, Parson of Stalbridge in Dorsetshire, (though known to be a decided enemy,) till the first opportunity should present itself of escaping beyond seas. But he was too conscientious a man to proceed in this way, and so, seized with fear, he returned to Oxford on Friday evening. That night he was apprehended, but escaped again, and was finally taken at Hinksey, about two miles distant; when he, and all besides, who were suspected as receivers of books, were very soon in safe keeping!

We have now, then, to witness what has come over Cardinal College, as well as others; for the future eminence of the young men now imprisoned, fills the present story with no common interest. “Divers others, indeed,” says Foxe, “were now constrained to forsake their colleges and seek their friends;” but still he favours us with the names of the captured; corroborated and increased by Strype, as well as Wood.

Thus, we find expressly mentioned, John Fryth, with the Chaplain, his fellow-prisoner, Thomas Lawney, John Clarke, Godfrey Harman, Henry Sumner, William Botts, Richard Taverner, Richard Coxe, Michael Drumm, and-Radley, all of Cardinal College; Nicholas Udall and John Diet of Corpus Christi; Eeden and others of Magdalen College; Goodman, William Bayley, John Salisbury, Robert Ferrar, of Glo’ster, Bernard, and Mary’s Colleges; Langport, a Monk of St. Austin’s of Canterbury, and Anthony Delaber, of St. Alban’s Hall.

Garret and Delaber, as convieted heretics, were made to carry a faggot, in open procession, from St. Mary’s to Cardinal College; the former, as Master of Arts, having his red hood on his shoulders. These young men, besides others not named, followed in procession, all of whom were obliged, in passing, to cast a book into the largo fire which had been kindled to receive them. Garrct and Delaber were then incarcerated at Osney Isle, till further orders from London, when the former was called up to appear before Tunstal, as we shall see towards the close of the year.

As for the other young men, along with Clarke, they were all immured in a deep cell, under Cardinal College, the common repository of their salt fish, a noisome dungeon, where the air and food together proved but too fatal. Betts, no suspected books being, at least, detected in his chamber, through entreaty and surety, got out of prison, and, as soon as he could, went to Cambridge. Taverner, though deeply implicated, as having concealed Clarke’s books under the floor, being skilful in music, was excused by Wolsey; but the rest remained in this most miserable, abode; where, eating nothing but salt fish from the beginning of March to the middle of August, four of them died in a short time! After this, but in consequence only of a letter from Wolsey, they were all released, on condition of not moving above ten miles from Oxford. How many thus continued as prisoners at large does not appear; but John Fryth being so far at liberty, and now aware of the treatment of Garret and Delaber, he “escaped by flight over the sea to Tyndale.” He left Oxford for the Continent, therefore, in August or September 1526.

It will now be allowed that an event such as this, so rich in incident, and so fraught with consequences, was worthy of being fully traced; though, as far as Tyndale’s New Testaments were concerned, of course every thing depends on the time in which all this took place. Fortunately, however, the period can be fixed, not only to a month, but to a day; and it is the more remarkable, as coinciding with the same month in which it will be afterwards deponed, that New Testaments were purchased by other people. Foxe has said that this happened about 1526; Strype says about 1525 or 1526; and the fact is, that being in February, when the ycar ran on to the 25th of March, it would be called either the one or the other. The year 1526 is pointedly fixed by Wood, for to any one who observes the early history of these eminent young men it is indubitable. Thus, “Clarke of Cardinal College was incorporated M.A. of Oxford in 1525, but ejected soon after for Lutheranism.” Udall had passed B.A. in 1524, and “two years after supplicated for the degree of A.M., but in vain, as ‘tis probable, because he was much addicted to the opinions of Luther.” Taverner escaped imprisonment; but being in disgrace, did not pass A.M. till 21st May, 1527. Ferrar was a canon of St. Mary’s, “where,” says Wood, “ I find him in 1526, in which year T. Garret did supply him with prohibited books.”

The season of the year, the month and day are no less certain; as it was on “the Wednesday before Shrovetide” that Garret first departed from Oxford.

Shrovetide, this year, fell on the 13th, so that Wednesday before was the 7th of February. This date must be observed in connexion with what took place at Cambridge.

As for the whole transaction, there need be no surprise at so much being made of it at the time. In the year 1525, Rincke and Cochlseus had put the highest authorities on their guard, and these were not mistaken, in now regarding this as no trivial affair, no inferior triumph. Students drawn away even from other Colleges was sufficiently mortifying; but Cardinal College, a favourite project of Wolsey’s, was one in which he had felt almost absorbed. It was to be “the most glorious in the world.” Every other College had been made subservient to this, and, at his command, had yielded up its most choice young men. All these Canons had passed before his own eye, having either been selected or approved by himself, on account of the eminence of their attainments. What, then, must have been his disappointment, when, after all his pains, he saw the scale turning in the opposite direction from that which he had all along intended? And what his indignation, when such a proportion, if not a large majority, of these fine young men were found to be infected with that new learning, as it was termed, which, instead of yielding to the old, was ultimately to triumph, and maintain its ground in spite of the fiercest opposition?

Besides all this, the books distributed were a mighty grievance in addition, and they were now gone into corners, they knew not where; but of all that had been circulated or sold, there were none to be compared with Tyndale’s New Testament. This was the Word of Life, and felt to be so.

We have already seen it, in the grasp of Delaber, to have been their sheet anchor in the raging storm. It is therefore well worthy of remembrance, that one of Tyndale’s earliest blows, dashed to the ground the insidious design of the lofty Cardinal. It was an attack upon the lion in his own den; while as to the young men, now branded as heretics, whether caught or escaped, Tyndale had given them, not a book of new learning merely, but the volume of Divine Mercy-it was not the owl of Athens, but Mount Zion’s dove.

If Oxford had been thrown into a ferment during these early days in February, the commotion at Cambridge was, if possible, still greater; but there had been some powerfully exciting causes, and now in full operation, which were peculiar to this University. A very brief retrospect will explain, as well as lend additional interest to the present burst of opposition.

The publication of the Greek Testament by Erasmus, in 1516, was one of the most important events in the progress of letters; but Cambridge seems to have been inferior to Oxford in their cultivation. Even the Priests, in their confessions of young scholars, had cautioned them against the acquisition of Greek and Hebrew, on account of the consequences they dreaded. Standish, afterwards Bishop of St. Asaph, was one great promoter of this hostility; and, upon one occasion, on his knees before the King and Queen, is said to have conjured them, by every thing sacred, to go on as their ancestors had done, and put down Erasmus. When, theretbre, his Testament appeared, at Cambridge it was absolutely proscribed by some of the doctors of the day, and one College forbade it to be brought within the walls! Yet the book they had thus contemned, was the very same by which God intended to promote His own designs, and in Cambridge itself.

Not long, therefore, after the publication of this Testament, which contained the Latin and Greek in parallel columns, the heart of one student was smitten with it; and this, in the hand of God, was sufficient to produce a great moral change. An LL.D., and Fellow of Trinity Hall, he had already excelled in the study of the Civil and Canon Law, to which he had intended to devote his future life; but failing into great distress of mind, he applied to the Priests. They appointed him fastings and watching, with the purchase of pardons and masses; but after having spent almost his all on these ignorant physicians of no value, it had fared with him, as with one of old, to whose situation he compares his own; for “he was nothing the better, but rather grew worse.” His case is the more interesting, in that no human agent was employed to relieve him Having bought a copy of the Greek Testament of Erasmus, he happened at the first reading to light upon the well-known passage, 1 Timothy 1:15. “‘It is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be embraced, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am the chief.’ This one sentence,” he writes, “through God’s instruction and inward teaching, which I did not then perceive, did so exhilarate my heart, being before wounded with the guilt of my sins, and being almost in despair, that immediately I felt a marvellous comfort and quietness, insomuch that my bruised bones leapt for joy.” This was no other than Thomas Bilney, the future martyr of 1531. His preaching was followed by great and powerful effects, for, among others, Hugh Latimer and Robert Barnes owed their conversion to him. So early, therefore, as 1523, before Tyndale went abroad, Cambridge lay under strong suspicion of heresy; and yet it is curious enough, that in that year, when certain Bishops moved, that there might be a visitation appointed to go down, for trying who were “the fautors of heresy” there, the Cardinal forbade it! “Upon what grounds,” says Burnet, “I cannot imagine.” It seems to have been, either because he then meditated a reform of the Church, after his own fancy, as already disclosed in the letter of Longland, and of which his own sovereign authority as Legate should appear to be the only fountain; or if not, to show at the moment his authority over the clergy. His mind, we know, was then engrossed with affairs of State, abroad as well as at home. At all events, the over-ruling hand of God is manifest, in preventing all interference for at least three years, or from January 1523, to February 1526.

The order for Oxford we have stated to be the third of this month; that for Cambridge must have been at the same moment; but in this case, previous information through Dr. Tyrell, after-mentioned, had suggested the necessity for two individuals being sent. One Gibson, the Serjent-at-Arms, a creature of Wolsey’s, hated by the Aldermen and Common Council of London, was therefore accompanied by Dr. Capon, one of the Cardinal’s chaplains. They had arrived on Monday, as upon Tuesday the Sergeant “suddenly arrested Dr. Barnes openly in the Convocation-house, to make all others affraid;” and by Wednesday evening, (on the morning of which, Garret first escaped from Oxford,) Dr. Barnes stood before Wolsey.

Robert Barnes, born near Lynn in Norfolk, after proceeding through the schools at Cambridge, had entered the Monastery of Augustine Friars there, in the year 1514. Having then gone to Louvaine, where he studied, and passed as Doctor of Theology; after his return he was made Prior and Master of his Monastery, in 1523. In conjunction with another Louvaine scholar, Mr. Thomas Parnel, whom he had brought over with him, he became, says Strype and others, “the great restorer of good learning at Cambridge.” He had introduced the study of the classics, and was reading Terence, Plautus, and Cicero; but being brought to the knowledge of the truth through Bilney, he proceeded to read openly with his scholars, the Epistles of Paul. Sometime before this, Latimer had been also enlightened through Bilney’s preaching, and was proclaiming the truth with great decision and effect. Whether Latimer was actually in expectation of the New Testament of Tyndale, does not appear, but the fact is, that he was now powerfully preparing the way for it; as he frequently and particularly dwelt on the great abuse of locking up the Scriptures in an unknown tongue. Prior Buckingham, his opponent, inveighed against him, and insisted, that if that heresy prevailed, we should soon see an end of every thing useful! This man, Latimer put to silence, by that singular vein of humour for which he was distinguished; while Venetus, a foreigner, with whom he reasoned in a strain full of gravity, was obliged to leave the University. Latimer’s opponents finding argument fail, resorted to authority; and West, the Bishop of Ely, after hearing him, and even professing to be charmed, ultimately prohibited him from preaching in any of the churches belonging to the University, or within his diocese! The Monastery of Dr. Barnes, however, was happily exempt from episcopal jurisdiction,-an exemption, indeed, peculiar to almost all the Monasteries, so that the Prior boldly licensed him to preach there. the place was unable to contain the crowds that assembled, and Dr. Barnes having been requested by the parish to preach at St. Edward’s Church hard by, resolved to comply. This was a memorable evening on account of the effects. It was in fact a crisis, though never sufficiently marked as such. It was “Christmas eve, and on a Sunday,” says Foxe, or as Barnes himself explains,-“ in the year of our Lord 1525, the 24th of December.” Latimer was also officiating at the Monastery that evening; while the present, says Foxe, was “the first sermon that ever Barnes preached of this truth.”

Understanding now the way of truth more perfectly, and alive to the state of things around him, he had resolved to be openly explicit. By two chaplains, Drs. Robert Ridley and Walter Preston, fellows of King’s College, and kinsmen of Tunstal, Bishop of London, he was immediately accused of heresy. This they did in the Regent-House, before the Vice- Chancellor Edmund Nateres; and these two men, assisted by three others, viz. Tyrell, Watson, and Fooke, having gathered up certain articles against him, desired him to recant. The University as a body immediately took up the matter, and disputed their authority. His adversaries, however, within two or three days, having secured another meeting before the Vice- Chancellor, by fraud and intimidation, they “so entreated and cozened him,” that Barnes agreed to yield to their authority and their promised clemency. They then enjoined him to read his revocation in St. Edward’s Church next Sunday. Barnes consulted with eight or ten of his learned friends, among whom were Stafford and Bilney, and then declined; but he had already ensnared himself in these private interviews, and his accusers, aware of this, desisted, only to wait their favourable moment. The learned of at least seven different colleges now flocked together in open day to sermons, whether at the Augustine Monastery or St. Mary’s.

Disputations were held during the whole of January, at a house called Germany by way of derision, and “this tragedy,” says Foxe, “continued in Cambridge, one preaching against anothcr, in trying out of God’s truth, until within six days before Shrovetide,” or, in other words, to the very day that Dr. Barncs stood before Wolsey.

It was not, however, to apprehend Barnes alone, that the Sergeant-at-Arms had arrived at Cambridge. He had been charged to make secret scarch for books, and instantly seize the whole, as well as apprehend all who possessed them. Not fearer than thirty were suspected, and spies had given them precise information as to every one of their rooms! But Dr. Forman of Queen’s College had happily, at the first moment, informed all the parties of the privy search, and “God be praised,” says Foxe, the books “were conveyed away by the time that the Sergeant-at-Arms, the Vice- Chancellor, and the Proctors were at every man’s chamber.” The business of Gibson was therefore soon accomplished, and Dr. Barnes being his only prey, he was immediately carried to London.

We return, therefore, to Wolsey’s gallery at Westminster, on Wednesday evening, Gardiner, his Secretary, and Fox, being the only parties present with Barnes. The Cardinal soon discovered, that he was not unacquainted with what Dr. Barnes had been delivering at Cambridge, telling that his noted sermon in December, was “fitter to be preached on a stage than in a pulpit.” Certainly it was very different doctrine from that with which almost every pulpit was filled; and as for the rest, the fact is, that, whether well advised or not, Barnes, unable to repress his indignation at this gross abuses of the times, had opened up before the people Wolsey’s extravagance. To him belongs the distinction, of having led the way in boldly and publicly exposing the gorgeous and tyrannical bearing of the lofty Cardinal. This accounts for the severity with which he was now treated, for both Bilney and Latimer were permitted to go on for some time longer.

Wolsey, however, read the articles with patience, till he came to one personal to himself; for the men at Cambridge, in drawing them up, knew how to touch him at the quick. “What, Master Doctor,” exclaimed the Cardinal, “had you not a sufficient scope in the Scriptures to teach the people, that my golden shoes, my pole axes, my pillars, my golden cushions, my crosses did so offond you, that you must make us rediculum caput before the people? We were jollily that day laughed to scorn. Verily it was a sermon fitter to be preached on the stage than in a pulpit, for at the last you said-I wear a pair of red gloves, I should say bloody gloves, quoth you, that I should not be cold in the midst of my ceremonies.” Whether this charge was correct, does not appear, but Barnes, as yet unmoved, replied, “I spake nothing but the truth out of the old Doctors.” In the end, he delivered to the Cardinal six sheets in manuscript, to confirm and corroborate all that he had spoken. Wolsey smiling, said, “We perceive that you mean to stand to your articles, and to show your learning.” “Yea, said Barnes, that I do intend, by God’s grace, with your lordship’s favour.”

Wolsey enquired if he did not know that he was there for heresy, and whether he could bring six or ten doctors of divinity to swear for him?

Barnes offered twenty honest men, as learned as himself, if not superior-but these would not suffice. “They must be of your years according to law,” said Wolsey. “That,” replied Barnes, “is impossible.” “Then,” said the Cardinal, “you must be burnt!” At the close, Wolsey was about to commit him to the Tower, but Fox and Gardiner interceded, and became sureties for his appearance. During the whole night he was engaged in preparing for his defence before the Bishops, to whom Wolsey had committed him. Three of his students, Coverdale, Goodwin, and Field, having followed him up to London, were also occupied in writing to his dictation. On Thursday morning, after calling at York Place, (Whitehall,) for Fox and Gardiner, the Sergeant-at- Arms conveyed him down to the Chapter-House at Westminster. He was now in the presence of John Clark, Bishop of Bath, as principal judge, who treated him with marked severity; Henry Standish, Bishop of St. Asaph, who was sure to be an enemy and not a judge; Islip, the Abbot of Westminster; the Abbot of Bury; Dr. Jeffrey Wharton; Dr. Allen; and Dr.

Gardiner. After this examination he subscribed his articles, and was then committed to Fleet Prison, but no one to speak with him. On Saturday at three o’clock, when called to appear again, a long roll was shown to him, which he must promise to read in public, with the assurance now, that he would not add one word, more or less! They exacted this promise before he had read a line of it, and put it to him solemnly three times! Barnes continuing firm, was dcsired to retire. On being called in, they had agreed that a Notary should read it to him, and as Barnes listened, he felt as though he would rather die than agree. After long disputation, threatening, and scorn, it was now five o’clock; when they called upon him to know whether he would abjure or burn. Barncs was in great agony, inclining rathcr to the latter, when they sent him again to take counsel from Fox and Gardiner alone; and they, “by persuasions that were mighty in the sight of reason and foolish flesh,” brought him at last to yield and abjure! It is easy for us now to say, that he ought to have stood firm, and if he had, Barnes would have led the van at least, of this division of martyrs, for the Word of God; but neither Garret nor he were yet able to brave the horrors of the stake.

With regard to Barnes, in particular, the sight on the follow ing day was indeed most humiliating, and to his adversaries must have seemed a great triumph. On Sabbath the 4th, in his pulpit at Cambridge, and on the next, or 11th, bearing a faggot at St. Paul’s! The church was crowded to excess, and there sat Wolsey in all his glory, smiling, no doubt, over the pointed replies of Thursday evening, while he saw Barnes and five others, Stillyard men, humbled before him; and Fisher declaring to the people, how many days of pardon and forgiveness of sins they had, for being present at that Sermon! To him, as well as Wolsey and Longland, it was a high day, and one to which they had looked forward for three years.

Here then, we have the first of a series, for it preceded Oxford by a few days, in which books were committed to the flames; and among many others, upon this day, the 11th of February, 1526, copras of Tyndale s New Testament were no doubt for the first time cast into the fire, as they were at Oxford in the same week. By this period we shall yet have curious and abundant evidence that they were in the country; Garret was convicted, as we have seen, for conveying books to Cambridge as well as Oxford, and among the stores of the Stillyard men, now accumulated in the “great baskets,” the London stock was so far involved.

All this was evidently done by the Cardinal’s supreme and express authority, He led the way, therefore, so that it is not correct to exonerate him, as some authors have done, by affirming that this was an after-thought of the Bishops, when Warham and Tunstal commenced their crusade against all books of the new learning. Even then, Strype affirms, that they were instigated by the Cardinal; but upon this day, Warham was not present, and Tunstal was as far distant as Madrid. No, stung more than once, and in one week, by what had been detected at Oxford and Cambridge, as well as in London, Wolsey must have felt exasperated in the highest degree, and it is manifest that, by all this parade, he intended to produce a deep and general panic.

At the close of all, poor Barnes, though received formally into the Roman Catholic Church again, was remitted to the Fleet, till the Lord Cardinal’s pleasure should be known; but his friends were permitted to visit him, and he there relented.

As the season of conviction at Oxford and Cambridge had been the same, so also was that of relief to both parties. Perhaps the sad deaths at Oxford, in consequence of severe treatment, led to this; since it was about the very same time that the young men at Oxford were released, on condition of not moving above ten miles distant, that Barnes was delivered from the Fleet; that is, at the end of six months. He, however, was not permitted to go at large, even to the same extent, but was committed to be a free prisoner at Austin Friars in London; and from evidence which will come out in 1528, it will appear that he was here as busy as his circumstances would permit, in actually disposing of copies of Tyndale’s Testament! His enemies, therefore, were not incorrect in their suspicions, for, says Foxe, “they complained again to the Lord Cardinal, whereupon he was removed to the Austin Friars of Northampton, there to be burned.” B y a most unworthy stratagem, however, feigning himself to have been drowned, he escaped to the Continent. His enemies searched for him seven days, but they dragged the pond in vain.

Once abroad, and having time for reflection, Barnes must surely soon have seen the evil of his conduct with regret; for alas, independently of its own sinfulness, his example proved most baneful! At the moment it must have been, “as when a standard-bearer fainteth,” or rather flies, for he first led in path which cost many a sigh to those who followed him. His fall and escape, for fall he did, certainly had no small influence in leading to the sad expedient of abjuration, instead of resistance unto death-an expedicnt which produced, as we shall find in Bilney’s case and others, mental agony to a degree, compared with which, the tortures of the stake were transient, and far inferior.

With regard to this entire statement, such a remarkable conjunction of circumstances has never before been traced; and though “The Supplication of Beggars” has all along been familiar to the readers of history, they cannot have been before aware of the mighty stir occasioned by the distribution of these few pages of letter-press, on Candlemas-day. London, Oxford, and Cambridge, the subjects of Wolsey’s “secret search and at one time,” were ascertained, in February 1526, to be impregnated with the same leaven; but that the King himself, and before all this uproar began, should have possessed and read this powerful tract, to the Cardinal especially, must have proved not a little galling.

On the whole, however, it may have been observed, that none of the principal or leading characters in Oxford, similar to Bames at Cambridge, had been called up before Wolsey. Garret, indeed, had been apprehended at Oxford, but he belonged to London, and they were young men only, who had been incarcerated, with the exception of Clarke, and even he was not a man of authority. Still one or two of a higher grade had been there suspected, of promoting the “new learning.” The month of february, therefore, had not expired, when the University formally applied to Warham of Canterbury, then their Chancellor, as he had been since 1506.

He was living retired at Knolle, but might not be so fully aware of all that had happened, till he was officially thus informed. Accordingly, on the 8th of March, he wrote a cautious and imploring letter to the Cardinal, full of fear and anxiety as to Oxford and its honour, advising that only the leaders should bo punished, and that the scholars suspected, whom he calls “a number of young and uncircumspect fools,” should be called up to London for examination, but, for the honour of the University, “the less bruit the better.” This letter was little calculated to allay the irritation felt by Wolsey in the matter. Nor was the advice offered in it taken, or the requests granted, though Garret and the young scholars were already in durance vile. The Cardinal will take his own way and act as it best pleased him. He will watch for his own revenge, and before long something may occur, which will carry even the King fully along with him. Accordingly, so it happened; tbr in less than, a fortnight after this letter, and little more than a month after the day of terror at St. Paul’s, an opportunity was presented, which Wolsey, with the Bishops, did not fail to improve for the most impious of all purposes-the burning of the Sacred Scriptures, and to be burned by authority of the King.

Henry the VIII. having written against Martin Luther’s book on the Babylonish Captivity, and thus procured from Rome the title of “Defender of the Faith;” Luther in 1521 had published his bold and very rough reply.

In September 1525, however, as already hinted, no matter by whose advice, or under what impression, he made an attempt at reconciliation, by addressing a letter to his Majesty. In this letter he actually confessed that at the instance of other persons he had grievously offended, by a foolish and precipitate publication, yet, from the reported clemency of the King, he hoped for his forgiveness. tie had been told that his Majesty Was not the real author of the book edited under his name; and, at the same time, though denouncing Wolsey as “a monster, the general odium of God and man, and the plague of his kingdom,” he yet prayed for a gracious reply!

Luther pled afterwards, that he had been urgently pressed by Christiern King of Denmark to write even lids letter, but the step taken no one can defend. It was not only unworthy of his character and place, but at variance with the upright integrity of any follower of Christ. “Who knows,” said Luther, “but in a happy hour I may gain the King of England?” A little of human vanity, therefore, seems to have been lurking in his mind; but at all events, he must have been quite in the dark as to the existing state of affairs in England, when he could pen and print such a letter.

Henry, in reply, having reproached Luther with levity and inconstancy, as well as his marriage, and the vilest heresy, represented Wolsey as peculiarly dear to him, and of great value in preventing the contagion of the Lutheran heresy; of which, it might have been added, he had lately given a flaming specimen.

A remarkable fact, however, rcspecting this letter of Luther’s has been all but overlooked. Though dated from Wittenberg, on the 1st of September, 1525, more than six months had elapsed before it met the eye of the King.

He himself professes that he only received it on the 20th of March! Its nonarrival may well be observed, for, had the same wrath been excited by the end of 1525, the entrance of books at that period, and in January, must have been still more difficult than it was. But arriving five weeks after the famous burning at St. Paul’s, a fine opportunity was now presented for exciting the royal indignation against the English New Testament, and covering it with all the odium of Lutheranism, the assumed cant of the day.

The name of the translator not being yet known, for Cochlaeus had not mentioned it, no doubt it was deemed a happy thought, boldly to assert that the production was the device of Luther himself! Henry must have been sufficiently incensed by ibc letter of Luther alone, and, as for any additional information, both he and Wolsey must have remembered, too late, the letters of Rincke and Cochlaeus; but in the preface of the King’s Answer to Luther, addressed to his “dearly beloved people,” he denounces the New Testament in English as the “device of one or two lewd (illiterate) persons born in this our realm,” at the instigation of Luther, noticing “certain prefaces and other pestilent glosses in the margins,” so that by the advice of Cardinal Wolsey he had resolved that all copies of it found should be burned, and holders or readers of it punished. This advice, thus given and sanctioned, as to the burning of the quarto book, the only edition yet marked out, must have occurred immediately after the reception of Luther’s letter, and prepares us for the more formal injunctions of Tunstal and Warham, which, however, did not come out till towards the end of the year, so that we have still several incidents to record before then.

From March to October, whether the friends of truth had enjoyed a breathing time or not, as it regards the prudential importation and circulation of Tyndale’s precious volumes, certain events show, that, though living in perilous times, they had zealously improved them. Thus, when the “Supplication of Beggars” was scattering about in London, at and before Candlemas, the author, Mr. Fyshe, it is presumed, was not in England, otherwise he must have run the hazard of being amongst the first victims, Return, however, he did, and to London, where he not only sojourned for a season during this summer, but was useful and active in the circulation of Tyndale’s New Testament. It seems as if he had come for the purpose. He may have brought over copies with him; but, at all events, when we come to the disclosures upon oath in the spring of 1528, we shall find, that, at this very period, he was a confidential agent, importing the Testament from Mr. Harman of Antwerp, and dealing it out for sale to such as travelled through the country and sold them. After Tunstal’s return, he again fled abroad, not returning for about two years and a half.

Mr. Rodolph Bradford, a Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge, coming to London, by the help of Mr. Jeffrey Lome, the Usher of St. Anthony’s School, and confidential agent of Mr. Forman of Honey Lane, the colleague of Garret, “he met. with certain New Testaments, translated into English by Tyndale, and went to Reading with them, out of a godly zeal to disperse them.” There he delivered them to a certain monk, who being apprehended, made known the names of him and others from whom he had them. Whereupon letters were sent over to Cambridge to apprehend this Bradford, now returned, together with Dr. Smith of Trinity Hall, Simon Smith of Gonville Hall, Hugh Latymer, and Segar Nicolson, a stationer there. Bradford escaped to Ireland, but was taken and imprisoned two years, He afterwards returned to Cambridge, passed as D.D. in 1534, and lived and died Chaplain to Latimer when Bishop of Worcester. f25 As the year advanced, however, the alarm continued to increase. The Pontiff himself seemed to be in jeopardy-Luther’s rash letter was not forgotten-Henry was printing his Latin reply, and translating it also into English for the press, with a preface to his people-the Bishops were consulting-Tunstal had now come home, and something must be done. In what particular month of this year Tunstal had arrived from Spain, does not appear. Wolsey heard in March, says Lord Herbert, that he was on his way homewards, so that it must have been some time after this; and then, however annoying it certainly proved to such a man, he could not remain long in London, before he found it necessary to look into the state of his diocese; for so widely were both editions of the Testament now circulated, that even the Archbishop of Canterbury must examine his province. The Bishops were assembled, and, according to Strype, at the instigation of Wolsey. Of this consultation we have no record, but one curious account of it may be glanced at from the famous Satire of William Roye against the Cardinal. Being abroad, he could, of course, only write according to the report that reached him-and this was incorrect as it regarded Wolsey-but still it may be noticed as one proof, by the way, of the deep interest felt in all the public proceedings of the time.

According to Roye, it was Henry Standish, once Guardian of the Franciscans, and now Bishop of St. Asaph, already mentioned, who first informed Wolsey of the Testament being in the country, imploring him most earnestly to prevent its circulation. This informer, Roye designates Judas; and making Wolsey sustain the part of Pilate, he represents him as, at the first, paying but little regard to the fury of Standish, and even saying-“ I find no fault therein.” But when once the Bishops had assembled as a body, and he with them, to examine and determine what was to be done; no sooner did Tunstal, Bishop of London, (or Caiphas,) deliver his opinion, than the Cardinal assented, and, of course, all the rest-giving judgment that the book should be sought for, and committed to the flames. In Roye’s estimation, however, it was now all in vain, either to “give judgment against the Gospel,” or try to prevent its circulation. Thus, in one place, alluding first to the Saviour, and then to the book itself, he says, in his own uncouth, but nervous rhyme- “God, of his goodness, grudg’d not to die, Man to deliver from deadly damnation, Whose will is, that we should know perfectlie What he here hath done for our salvation. O cruel Caiphas! full of crafty conspiration, How durst thou give then false judgment, To burn God’s word-the holy Testament? “The lewdness of living is loath to bear Christ’s gospel to come unto clear light; How be it, surely it is so spread far and near, That for to let it, thou hast little might; God hath opened our dark dimmed sight Truly to perceive thy tyrannous intent, To burn God’s word-the holy Testament.”f26 Let the other particulars here given, with the exception of Wolsey’s indifference, be as they might, we know that the Bishops did assemble and consult: and that some prohibitory instrument was issued by Wolsey himself, there can be no doubt, as we find Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, acting on the strength of it, in January 1529. Whatever it was, however, this was in his own name, not that of the King, nor does there seem to be any trace of it remaining in existence.

The first instrument generally known to have been published, was the prohibition sent out by Cuthbert Tunstal; in which both editions of Tyndale’s Testament, (“of which,” he says, “there are many books, some with glosses and some without,”) already dispersed in great number, are now, at last, denounced, and Luther’s sect falsely employed, as the convenient word of terror.

Tunstal’s orders being issued on Wednesday the 24th of October, a copy was sent to the Archdeacons of Middlesex, Essex, and Colchester; and eleven days afterwards, or the 3rd of November, a “Mandate,” in nearly the same terms, was given out by Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, to search his entire province. Both instruments refer simply to the New Testament of Tyndale, of both editions, and in wide circulation; no other book being referred to, or prohibited at the same moment. Tyndale, therefore, though not yet expressly named, enjoyed the honour of being thus exposed alone, and as though he had been the great offender of the day; while it will be observed, that the work here carved out for the Archdeacons, instead of being finished in two months, occupied official attention for years to come. f27 After two such injunctions as these had been issued, it was not to be supposed that these enemies of Divine truth either had been or would remain inactive. Accordingly, whether we regard the Bishops at home, or the King and Cardinal in their exertions abroad, they are all alive, and equally on the alert.

With respect to proceedings at home, Barnes, it must be remembered, had not yet left the country; but he had been so far released as to be now a free prisoner at St. Augustine’s; and Garret, though he had endured penance sufficient at Oxford, had not been so publicly cross-examined. This might elicit some farther information. Articles having been, therefore, vamped up against him, he had been brought up from Osney prison, and about this time stood before Tunstal and his fellows, as already narrated. Following the sad example set him by Barnes, he at last abjured.

Between Oxford and Cambridge, however, there has appeared as yet one material difference in point of the number of convictions. True, the students at Cambridge, being forewarned, had more dexterously concealed their books, and so escaped detection; but there were Latimer and Bilney, not to say others, as notorious as Barnes; nay, the two named were, in every respect, far more so. It may have seemed strange, therefore, that they at least were not ordered up to London at the same time. It must, however, be remembered, that Barnes had rendered himself most obnoxious at that moment, by his unceremonious exposure of Wolsey personally: yet engrossed as he was with political affairs, after a season, neither these men, nor some others, had been overlooked.

As for Latimer, his adroitness of reply, and vein of humour, were often of service to him, and to these, perhaps, he was now somewhat indebted.

Various complaints had been made against him; but though they had not, it is evident that the interdict of West, the Bishop of Ely, could not remain unnoticed, however unsupported it might be by other authorities. Wolsey, therefore, sent for Latimer, to appear before him at York House, where he himself examined him. Upon his first entrance, the Cardinal seemed surprised, on observing him to bc so far advanced in years. Finding him also to be at once acute, learned, and ready in his replies; surpassing in accuracy of learning, either of the Doctors, Capon and Marshall, now in Wolsey’s presence; he requested him to give some account of that sermon which he had preached before Dr. West, the Bishop. Latimer did so. “Then,” said the Cardinal, “if the Bishop of Ely cannot abide such doctrine as you have here repeated, you shall have my licence, and shall preach it unto his beard, let him say what he will.” Accordingly, after a gentle admonition only, the Cardinal discharged Latimer, actually giving him his licence to preach throughout England! A most singular interposition in favour of the truth, at once raising the man above the malice of his enemies, and the interdict of any Bishop in the land! f28 With regard to Bilney, who had preached with such effect, not only at Cambridge, but in Suffolk and Norfolk, and even in London, whose case at last became so affecting, he made two appearances. The first has been generally overlooked, perhaps partly owing to one passage in the first edition of Foxe having been omitted, and the fact coming out incidentally only in the subsequent editions. But of the fact itself, there can be no doubt, or that he did not escape as Latimer had done; for alas! he then first got entangled, and first let go his integrity! At the close of this first appearance he had been enjoined “not to preach any of Luther’s opinions, but to impugn them everywhere;” yet afterwards, taking refuge merely on some supposed informality in the oath administered to him, he had gone on much as before. It was on this account that we shall find him come before them in November 1527, or next year, charged with having relapsed. More than this, we shall find afterwards, that, at whatever period this first appearance of Bilney took place, there was another man along with him, Thomas Arthur, in the same situation. As for any other Cambridge men, they seem to have been merely admonished.

The mildness hitherto shown to men, must have been most annoying to some of these persecutors; and it was afterwards to be visited on the head of Wolsey, when impeached, that he had been the disturber of “the due and direct correction of heresies;” but as for zeal in the burning of books, the Cardinal was certainly not one whit behind any of them. By the end of this year, therefore, many copies of the New Testament must have been consumed in the flames, for it has been altogether a mistake to confine this to one or two great occasions. On the contrary, in the very first month of next year we shall presently hear the ambassador of Henry, in the Low Countries, bringing it forward as an argument for burning others there, that this had been doing in England daily!

In the midst of all this determined, though vain fury, against the reception of the Word of God into England, it is most gratifying to find that the friends of truth abroad had been so active. It was there that the King and the Cardinal had been playing their part in this tragedy, and to them we must now turn, after a few words of explanation; for we are not yet done with this notable year, 1526.

The editions of Tyndale’s Testament have been hitherto divided into two classes, styled the genuine and spurious; meaning by the former such as he himself edited, and by the latter such as were printed from his, by others.

The latter were not so correct, but still they nobly and effectually served their purpose, enlightening and consoling many an immortal spirit.

We have already given the history of the first and second editions printed in 1525, and issued from Worms. We now come to the first printed at Antwerp by Christopher of End-hoven, or the third edition. The whole history of it is curious, giving such a display of opposition to the entrance of the Word of God into our native land, as is nowhere else to be found, though it has never before been even noticed in any printed publication.

The two months formally specified in Turstal’s injunction for calling in books at home, were not permitted to expire before it becomes evident that the King and Wolsey, as well as the Bishops, had entered fully into the subject. Finding that, somehow or other, copies were importing, they resolved, if possible, to cut off the supplies from abroad. Well aware that it was from the Low Countries, Brabant, that all these hated Testaments had come, no stone must be left unturned to find them out. All the energy of the English ambassador at the court of Lady Margaret, must be put to the stretch, and we shall now have one striking illustration of how much in earnest were all parties -King, Cardinal, and Bishops-to arrest the progress, and prevent the triumphs of Divine truth. Oh how joyfully would they have consigned the last leaf to the flames! And this, assuredly, they would have done, but for this most annoying and hated “new invention of printing.”

While, however, they were burning at home, others were busy at the printing press abroad, and, therefore, the frenzy of the enemy must extend from England to Brabant.

How providential was it, that, by this time, the power and the terror of Wolsey’s name were upon the wane! Only a few years before, the Lady Regent of these countries, Princess Margaret, had whispered in his ear the sweet sound of the Popedom, and her own wish to see him in the Papal Chair; nay, and proposed to write to the Emperor, her nephew, in his favour. Now, however, she had found good reason to suspect the man. f30 High words had passed between the parties, and also with Count Hoogstrate, one of the Lady Margaret’s Council, to whom application was about to be made. Wolsey, moreover, had insulted, by the insolence of his language, Monsieur Bever, the Lord of Campvere and Admiral of Flanders, the Emperor’s ambassador to England, now returned to the Low Countries. Added to all this, it had been a favourite project of the Cardinal, to withdraw the English merchants and “the mart for goods,” from Antwerp to Calais. Alt these things were against him; and “the Lords of Antwerp,” who, at one period, not long past, would have at once crouched before him, by the good providence of God, will now prove neither so pliant nor obsequious.

Wolsey, however, fully aware of all these circumstances, had resolved that the search for books upon the Continent should commence with the highest authority; and he must, therefore, have the King on the throne called the “Defender of the Faith,” to command the destruction of the Sacred Volume! The ink of Tunstal’s injunction was scarcely dry, before Henry had signed his letters; one addressed to Princess Margaret, and the other to the Governor of the English House at Antwerp. Wolsey’s letters, also, dated the 31st of October and 3rd November, were directed to John Hackett, the Agent for the Crown and English Envoy at that Court, and all were conveyed by the same messenger. At a formal audience, on Saturday the 17th of November, Hackett delivered the King’s letters to the Lady Margaret, in presence of the Lords of her Council; and, on the 19th, the Princess herself replied to Henry-“ She cannot sufficiently praise his Majesty’s virtuous intentions! She had consulted with Hackett, and since the reception of the King’s letter, she had pointedly commanded her officers to search the country for these books, intending to proceed in all rigour against those whom they found culpable.’’ Two days after this, Hackett informs Wolsey of his cordial reception at Court, and that he had “delivered the King’s letter to the Governor. of the Merchant Adventurers, who promised that on the first day at Barrow, he would show the King’s highness and the Cardinal’s mind and pleasure as touching these new imprinted books, and shall do his best, (and so will I,) utterly to destroy,-and bring them to nought.” Hackett is very warm in the cause, for if it did not succeed, he thought that “every fool would think to be a doctor!” f33 But in negociating this business, our ambassador had no easy task assigned to him. Books were to be sought for in the large and busy city of Antwerp.

As Envoy, he lived fifteen miles distant, at Mechlin, where the reigning Princess held her court. In Antwerp itself, the Margrave, as representative of the Emperor, resided; but as that city enjoyed its own laws and privileges, of which the “Lords of Antwerp” were the guardians, their authority was paramount to all others, Hackett eagerly desired to gratify the Cardinal and his English Bishops, but then he was about to meddle with the citizens of “no mean city.”

On the 17th of December he wrote to the King’s Secretary, reporting progress, and addressed another to Wolsey on the 22nd, an instance of those double dispatches which the Cardinal uniformly required. In the latter he states the difficulties he met with in the business; as it was “one that touched both life and goods,” the Lords of Antwerp would give no sentence till they had a translation of the English Testament into Latin or German, by which to form a judgment of its heresy. In vain he urged his Master’s authority; they must have a copy of each of the books condemned ere they could proceed in the matter, remarking that each country had its own laws, and must act upon them alone. He concludes by begging a copy of each book for the Council of Lady Margaret, and for the Lords of Antwerp.

Copies of the Testaments had, however, been sent before he wrote for them, and he soon had to report that the Lady Regent, on seeing the books and the Cardinal’s letter, had written to the Margrave and Council of Antwerp, “to do justice and correction upon all such books as they can find in the limits of their jurisdiction,”-that the Lords of Antwerp had promised to “do their devoir according to right and reason, but this required that Christopher Endhoven, the printer of these books, should be heard in his own defence. And heard he was, and to so good effect, that the Lords gave sentence, “that, before the banishment of the said printer, the confiscation of his goods, or the burning of his books, the Margrave, as officer of the Emperor, shall show and declare some articles contained in the said books, where these errors and heresies be found.” But the Margrave would proceed no farther in the business. Finally Hackett proposes as the shortest way of getting quit of the books, to buy the whole stock, send them over to England and burn them there.

How degraded was the condition of London then, compared with that of this city! The Lords of Antwerp stand here, deservedly, on very high ground. The name of the reigning Princess, or even that of the Emperor himself, though backed by the orders of the” Defender of the Faith,” and his mighty Cardinal, could not intimidate them. The establishment of those cities which, in return for their opulence or commercial power, obtained for themselves certain invaluable privileges, has been styled “the commercial phenomenon of the thirteenth century.’’ It was one of those providential arrangements of human society, which Infinite Wisdom occasionally employed afterwards, for the protection of civil rights, or staying the vengeance of the oppressor. But, added to this, there was yet another arrangement, and in favour of Britain,-the establishment of English factories within those cities, known by the title of “the English House,” or Company of “Merchant Adventurers.” These were, in one sense, Normal Schools, where our countrymen first came to understand and value the liberty of the subject. The English merchants resident in Antwerp became citizens, and to more than one of them, England stood greatly indebted for the importation of the Sacred Scriptures.

In the abundance of his zeal, Hackett not only visited Antwerp, Barrow, Zealand, and other places, but made “privy inquisitions” at Ghent and Bruges, at Brussels, Louvaine, and elsewhere, after books, which was all in obedience to Wolsey’s instructions; so that he thinks forty marks (£26 13s. 4d.), which he had just received, should be allowed him for “expenses extraordinary.” Yet, in the end, notwithstanding all this toil, it is gratifying to observe, that so far from Christopher Endhoven being banished, they could not even touch his goods. Thanks to his residence in the free city of Antwerp! The books, however, so far as detected there and at Barrow, were burned, though happily they had found out only a part. Of all this Hackett did not fail immediately to inform the King’s Secretary; and in his second dispatch to Wolsey, dated from Mechlin the 20th of February, he informs him that “execution and justice has been done in the towns of Antwerp and Barrow, upon all such English books as we could find in these countries, similar to three such other books as your Grace sent unto me with my Lord the Bishop of London’s signature.” This, however, had been accomplished, it is evident, with no small difficulty, and it was, in the end, only by a stretch of power; as the Envoy confesses that till “a translation of some particular heresies contained in the said book were got out of England,” he could not get the printers, buyers or sellers punished, either in body or in goods.

In conveying this request, Hackett did not foresee the consequences to himself afterwards, otherwise, perhaps, he would have been silent, for we are not done with him yet; though we have slightly trespassed on 1527, only that we might finish the account of this business, and bring to a conclusion the important transactions of the preceding year.

All this turmoil is entirely new to the English reader, and certainly it lends an additional and peculiar interest, not only to the two first editions of Tyndale, but to the first imitation of his book, or the third edition. No printer would have ventured on such a thing, without the prospect of a ready sale, even in the face of royal indignation. For could a copy of this first print at Antwerp now be identified, then might we say of it-Here is the volume, printed by Endhoven, which so agitated our authorities at home and abroad; and engrossed our ambassador as eagerly as if he had been intent on preventing the plague from entering into England. We have, however, yet to see whether this interference was to his honour or disgrace. Meanwhile, although we can by no means alarm that we have found out the book, since the following collation refers to one of the earliest editions, we give it entire- “A copy is in Bishop Cosin’s library at Durham, which may turn out to be some one very early and unknown. The title is in a small compartment of four parts, with top and bottom scriptural subjects.

On the top, the creation and birth of the Saviour; at the bottom, Adam and Eve beguiled, and the crucifixion. The volume consists of 446 leaves, on the last of which is the Revelation of St. Judas, Jude. There are 26 lines in a full page. Matthew begins on folio 11; and the volmne extends to R r in eights. The chapters are marked into portions by large letters on the margin; and there are a few marginal notes. It has ornamented capitals; the first T, two boys carrying on a stick a dead stag, with the head upwards.” f34 Should this, however, prove to be one of the edition now under consideration, there is another copy, and of a more extraordinary character, in the collection at Norwood-hill. Not only is it in the original hog-skin binding, which would be curiosity enough, but, to this hour, many of the leaves remain not yet cut open!-a peculiarity not to be expected in a book nearly three hundred and twenty years old, and one which, it may be safely presumed, will stamp the volume as unique, amongst all these rare early editions.

The following pages will throw still farther light on this interesting period, but we have now done for the present with the memorable year 1526.

Instead of having to be satisfied with only one edition of the New Testament, and that of doubtful or hitherto disputed origin, we have had three distinctly before us, besides, as will be more fully proved, a separate impression of Matthew and Mark, circulating through the country. We have seen all the authorities, from the King downwards, roused in opposition; and the people, though in secret, were reading with avidity. It was the season of entrance to Britain’s greatest earthly treasure; and one should have imagined that it would have been marked in our calendar, with a red letter, or fully understood, long ere now. Viewing these first printed volmnes in their ultimate effects, the year may well be regarded by all British Christians, as by far the most important, in the long and varied history of their native land.

A fire was then kindled by the Almighty, through the instrumentality of his servant, which, in the highest exercise of his loving-kindness, He has never suffered to be extinguished; light was then introduced, which He has never withdrawn; and a voice was then heard by the people, which has sounded in the ears of their posterity to the present hour. For whatever may be said of men, as men, it is to the word of truth in the vulgar tongue that we owe everything in this highly-favoured country!

Many of these volumes, it is true, were consigned to the flames; and the wonder is that any of them escaped detection. But every one knows with what avidity men will read an interdicted book, while the call for its deliverance up would only make certain minds grasp it harder still. Besides, though in part detected, in such places as London and Oxford-for in Cambridge they were not-copies had gone, far and near, into the hamlets and towns in the country, where, no doubt, they were enjoyed by stealth, and hid with anxious care.

The preceding statements are not hypothetical; the reader has been entertained neither with mere conjectures or probability only; and as subsequent events will both illustrate and confirm the preceding, we presume it will now be conceded, as not a little extraordinary, that more than three centuries should have been allowed to pass away, before a year so full of incident, nay, of peculiar favour to Britain, has been investigated.

We have said Britain, because it will appear, in its proper place, that, at this very period, Scotland was mercifully visited with the same favour. The Translator’s Progress-His Earliest Compositions-Persecution In England-Opposition To The New Testament-Warham And The Bishops Buying It Up-Fresh Importations-The Fourth Edition-Scriptures Singularly Introduced Once More.

IN returning to Tyndale, whom we left alone at Worms, after having completed his New Testaments, we do so with abundant evidence, that he had not laboured in vain. Much has vaguely been ascribed to Latin works then imported from the Continent, and in consequence of even their effects, the “spirituality” of the day no doubt dreaded almost every leaf; but the history already given clearly shows, that the New Testament in the vulgar tongue was the great object of apprehension. While yet in his native land, Tyndale “had perceived by experience how that it was impossible to stablish the lay people in any truth, except the Scriptures were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother tongue, that they might see the process, order, and meaning of the text:” and so now, as the Word of the Lord was enlightening the minds, “converting the soul, and making wise the simple,” it had proved also “like a fire or a hammer,” and was breaking the rocks in pieces.

Very soon, through whatever medium, Tyndale was made intimately acquainted with the storm that raged in England, and, amidst all its tumultuous howling, he had ample enconragement to proceed with his Old Testament from the Hebrew; but in the year 1526, He must have been also very busy in preparing for the press, as we shall find that the year 1527 was distinguished by the first appearance of two publications, namely, his exposition of “The Parable of the Wicked Mammon,” and his “Obedience of a Christian man.”

Some time, however, before the appearance of anything else in print, we may now safely assert, that Tyndale had been favoured by the company, consolation, and assistance of his devoted Christian friend, John Fryth, who had fled from Oxford to the Continent about September 1526, and no doubt fully reported progress. An affection subsisted between these two eminent men, akin to that between Paul and Timothy of old, though in one point the parallel fails-the younger died first. Fryth was not only Tyndale’s own son in the faith, but he had no man so dear to him; and as all parties, even his enemies, agreed in bearing testimony to the attainments of Fryth as a scholar, nothing could be more opportune than his arrival; but before saying more of him, some notice must be taken of William Roye, whom Tyndale had found it necessary to dismiss from his service in 1525.

In 1526, as already hinted, circumstances having suggested to our Translator, the necessity of encouraging those to whom it had been sent, by some exposition of his own views of Divine Truth, he commenced by writing out “The Parable of the Wicked Mammon;” but before it appeared, there had come to his possession the copy of a Dialogue, translated out of Latin into English, which had been printed at Strasburg by his late amanuensis, with a prologue of his own composition.

This singular character, Roye, as well as another named Jerome, were two Franciscan friars from the noted monastery at Greenwich, close by the favourite palace of Henry VIII. The inmates of this monastery, as well as of another at Richmond, with whom they were occasionally in league, were a great annoyance to the King. Thus the residence of Roye and Jerome, in immediate vicinity to the Court, and to all the gorgeous feats of Henry and his Cardinal, afforded such opportunities as fully account for the very graphic poetical satire already quoted, and to which we now refer. After leaving Tyndale’s service, Roye had proceeded to Strasburg, where he published his “Dialogue between the Father and the Son,” about the end of 1526. Soon after this came his Rede me, and be not wrothe,” or Satire on Wolsey and the Monastic orders, frequently denounced as “The burying of the Mass,”-one of the most extraordinary satires, it has been said, of this or any other age. It was first published in small octavo, black letter, with a wood-cut of the Cardinal’s coat-of-arms. Wolsey was so annoyed by it, that he spared neither pains nor expense to procure the copies, employing more than one emissary for the purpose. Hence its extreme rarity; a copy of this original edition having been sold for as high a sum as sixteen or twenty guineas! It is reprinted, however, in the Harleian Miscellany by Park.

With a modesty and prudence, highly characteristic, our Translator had put forth the New Testament without his name, and he earnestly wished to have gone on, through life, with anonymous publication; but the sight of Roye’s Dialogue and Prologue, in connexion with his previous conduct, had fully convinced Tyndale that there was an imperative necessity, not only for affixing his name to what he now published, but for his disclaiming all connexion or even intercourse with Roye, after a certain period. This he does in his preface to the “Parable of the Wicked Mammon,” where he informs us when and how long and in what capacity he had employed Roye, till he bade him “farewell for our two lives,” and afterwards had occasion to warn Jerome of his boldness (see p. 28); that Roye, on coming to Strasburg, found this Jerome, and “gat him to him and set him a work to make rhymes, while he himself translated a dialogue out of Latin into English, in whose prologue he promiseth more a great deal than, I fear me, he will ever pay It becometh not the Lord’s servant to use railing rhymes, but God’s Word, which is the right weapon to slay sin, vice, and all iniquity.”

It is a curious fact, that, notwithstanding the above distinct explanation, and decided disapprobation of all such rhyme, Tyndale for a year, if not two, lay under the imputation of being actually the author of Roye’s Satire.

He was now, by anticipation, endeavouring to prevent this, and the event fully justifies the severity of his language.

Tyndale had already given a specimen of his scholarship. It remained now to be discovered, whether he was to be at all distinguished as a judicious man; a character from which a mere scholar often stands at a great distance. One is curious to hear, what he had got to say first, and especially, if to England, from the city of Worms. In his deliberate judgment, it becomes evident, that most of the evils with which his native country was now infested, were to be traced to the love of money. Hence, even the title of this, his very first treatise-“The Wicked Mammon.” The “Spirituality” of the day, so called, appeared to him as the “Successors of Simon Magus,” “who would have bought the gift of God to have sold it much dearer.” Bred up as Tyndale had been in Gloucestershire, it was quite natural that he should feel deeply for the people, as ground down or pillaged, by exactions, and “spiritual alms,” falsely so denominated. It was not, however, that he had now commenced, by a lecture on covetousness.

Far from it. But the title having once attracted the reader’s eye, as it was very likely to do, he found himself at once addressed on the only genuine origin of all vital religion. Commencing with the great and fundamental subject of a sinner’s acceptance before God; believing the gospel to be the ministration of righteousness and of the Spirit, and Christ alone “the great store-house of mercy;” he magnifies Divine revelation as the ground of all certainty in matters so important. Selecting a great variety of passages, the interpretation of which involve a deep and intimate acquaintance with Divine truth, though in one or two instances he has not hit the sense; yet Tyndale shows, with no common discrimination, how they all perfectly coalesce, and agree with the general doctrine, that a man is justified before God by faith in Christ Jesus, and not by the works of the law.

This publication, however, in Tyndale’s estimation, was not sufficient. He intended to be open and explicit, not only as to doctrine, but the Divine precepts; not only as to faith, but obedience, in its full extent. He saw, and deeply felt, that, in his native country, the whole foundations were out of course,-that there were men reigning there, falsely called, nay, and calling themselves “spiritual,” who not only had taken away the very key of knowledge, and taught for doctrines the commandments of men; but who had broken the bonds of all human society, beggared the nation by their exactions, and sunk it into a state of pollution and depravity. This accounts for his able exposition of duty incumbent on all parties-the obedience of children to parents, of servants to masters, of wives to their husbands, of subjects to their sovereign; not forgetting the obligations of all the superior parties, including the duty of kings, of judges and officers of the land. That false and usurped spiritual power which undermined and destroyed all other, is then particularly examined and reprobated.

This publication Tyndale entitled “The Obedience of a Christian Man, and how Christian Rulers ought to govern: wherein also (if thou mark diligently) thou shalt find eyes to perceive the crafty conveyance of all Jugglers.”

Such, with his name affixed, was the manifesto of William Tyndale, published, too, at the very season in which God was pleading with Britain by the voice of his mouth, and had risen up in judgment on the city of Rome. After this, no man could affirm that he did not plead emphatically for practical religion, or the fruits of faith. Nor is it wonderful if Henry VIII. himself was, at one moment, moved by this publication, as we shall see afterwards; for, to every impartial mind, it must have been evident that Tyndale was not only a genuine lover of his country, but one of the most enlightened and loyal subjects of the Crown.

Throughout the year 1527, political events rendered it next to impossible that any moment should be left to attend to the suppression of Tyndale’s New Testament, or the persecution of those who possessed it. But if there was, we can more fully estimate the extent of that apprehension and anxiety which agitated, even at such a time as this, not only the Bishops of the day, but all the votaries of “the old learning.”

It was but one short year since the Sacred Volume had arrived in the country; and yet see how deeply its enemies were moved. The first inveterate opponent who excites notice, was “an ancient doctor, called, as I remember,” says Cavendish, “Doctor (Robert) Ridley, a very small person in stature, but surely a great and excellent clerk in divinity!” He was celebrated as a canonist, and had been consulted by Wolsey, years before this, respecting the prevention of Lutheranism. Related to Cuthbert Tunstal, he, in the year 1523, had made him Rector of St. Botolph’s, Bishopsgate; in 1524, Prebend (Mora) of St. Paul’s, and more recently Rector of St. Edmond’s, Lombard Street. Was it wonderful that this little man should wax warm in the service of the hierarchy? The bitterness of his zeal would exceed belief, could we not present a specimen from his own pen. Yet was he no other than the uncle of the learned and amiable Nicholas Ridley, the future martyr; and gave him, at his sole expense, his fine education at home and abroad! The uncle and nephew have occasionally been confounded, though no two men could form a stronger contrast.

From a singular letter of this Robert Ridley,1 as yet unpublished, dated 24th February, 1527, and addressed to Henry Golde at Knolle, as chaplain to Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, we learn that in the year 1526, Tyndale’s quarto Testament, with the prologue prefixed, was circulating in England. We learn also that there was an edition of Matthew and Mark separately, which he designates the first print, the former being styled the second print, That he was correct in this, in 1528, there will be but little doubt; to say nothing more of its giving such emphasis to the language of Foxe, already noticed. “William Tyndale first placed himself in Germany, and there did first translate the gospel of St, Matthew into English, and after, the whole New Testament.” The invaluable fragment, however, of the quarto New Testament, lately discovered, and now in the Grenville library, British Museum, is not, as before hinted, a part of this publication.

It extends, indeed, no farther than the 23rd chapter of Matthew; but then it has the preface or prologue prefixed, with the pages, or rather letters, running on; and, besides this, the list of all the canonical books of the New Testament at the beginning. There is, however, little or no necessity for pointing out this distinction, since Ridley quotes from Corinthians and Titus -a decisive proof that he had had the quarto Testament entire before hint. From this letter we also learn to a certainty, that the Introduction, or Prologue to the Romans, by itself, was already in circulation. Herbert was therefore correct in his conjecture, when he placed this under the year 1526. What proofs were these, that Tyndale, for his country’s best interests, must have been labouring night and day!

Notwithstanding the solemn and pointed injunctions of the Bishop of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury, issued in the close of 1526, calling in both editions, both Bishops had found that the possessors of the Sacred Volume were by no means disposed to surrender it, merely for being threatened; and as for the copies still abroad, if the influence of Wolsey over Brabant was last year less than it had been, in this, of course, it was lower still. His political leanings were now better known, not only to the Emperor and the Lady Margaret, but to the Lords of Antwerp, and all the merchants, Hackett the ambassador, it will be remembered, had implored a list of heresies, taken out of the Testament, to be translated into German, that he might proceed at Antwerp or other places with more rigour and despatch; but Providence intervening, Wolsey was engrossed in far different employment; and so now, it seems, if any more Testaments are to be obtained, they must be bought, not seized. The ambassador either dared not, or could not, play the same game a second time.

At his wits’ end, as we have already seen, Hackett was the first who suggested the idea of purchasing and burning, in order to prevent the circulation; and all preceding accounts hitherto printed, without exception, hold up Tunstal as the only man who adopted it. But this, like too many others, is a general mistake, as for two years to come he did nothing of the kind. The purchasing began with a higher ecclesiastical authority than that of Tunstal; nor should the step be represented as merely foolish, even although it actually furthered the work it was meant to crush. The fact was, that these Bishops were in a frenzy, yet none of them were so far gone, as to purchase without a reason. Any one of them, as we shall see presently, was not disposed to be at more expense than what was absolutely necessary; but they were certainly in great haste, because the haste of fear, and so the purchase became a matter of necessity, not of choice: since the rights of the subject were, at this moment, far better understood at Antwerp than in England.

It was Warham, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who, in the spring of 1527, had busied himself in procuring what copies could be found out abroad of Tyndale’s New Testament; and he succeeded in purchasing a part of Tyndale’s original editions in quorto and octavo, though there might be some of the third Antwerp impression among them. Wolsey and Warham were not far from being as much at variance, as were Herod and Pontius Pilate, in the days of old; but, as opposition to the Saviour made them friends for the moment, so, in opposition to His Word, these modern authorities were cordially united. From a letter of Nix, Bishop of Norwich, dated 14th June, 1527,2 we find him congratulating Warham on his zeal and success in buying up all the English New Testaments, both those with glosses and those without them, at a cost of £66 9s. 4d., a sum equivalent to nearly £1000 now. Of this sum the Bishop offers to pay a tenth part, and more if required. Poor old man! He had been literally blind for a considerable time, and was now seventy-seven years of age. His signature has all the appearance of a blind man’s mark. Few individuals in England were more annoyed by the circulation of the Scriptures than he was. We shall find him persecuting and consigning Bilney to the flames; for he lived nine years longer, and died, as he had lived, blind in every sense, in January 1536, at the advanced age of at least eighty-six! But we shall meet with him more than once, before his death.

If Warham was busy abroad, Tunstal was not less so at home; if the one was eager to prevent importation, the latter had not relaxed in anxiety to obtain all those books that were in use. He seems, however, to have been annoyed by a double suspicion; that his Archdeacons were either remiss in obeying his injunctions, or the people were too knowing for all their research. Both suspicions were, in fact, not without foundation. Tunstal, therefore, instead of waiting longer for the owners of the Testaments delivering them up, resolved upon a strict visitation of his whole diocese this summer. But see again the kind interposition of a gracious Providence!

This man, as well as Wolsey and Sir Thomas More, must all prepare in June to embark for France, where they are to remain till the month of October. The consequence was, that although the visitation was remitted to Geffrey Wharton, as his Vicar, little, or rather nothing, was done in the way of persecution till Tunstal’s return.

After his return, however, he had received some written information against certain individuals; and in November, as already explained, the Bishops were summoned by Wolsey, as Vicar-General of all England, to meet him at Westminster. He opened his court in this character, ami commenced the proceedings; “but because,” says Foxe, “he was otherwise occupied with affairs of the realm, he committed the hearing of the matter to the Bishop of London, and to other Bishops there present, or to three of them, to proceed against all men, as well spiritual as temporal, as also against writings and books-giving them full power to determine upon them.”

On this occasion Bilney and Arthur were rigidly examined. Arthur soon abjured, and is heard of no more. Bilney stood for a while, and endeavoured by calm and tender representations to soften his persecutors, but in vain. They tormented and in veigled his conscience, till at last he too abjured, and bare the faggot at St. Paul’s. Thus he fell, though like Peter of old, after bitter repentance, to rise again.

It has never been before observed, and it may now scarcely be believed, that these proceedings were going on in London amidst general and extreme misery, through the very high price, and, in many instances, the absolute want of food. Such, however, was the fact; and so burning hot, as Foxe would say, was their zeal. What with the distress of the people for the necessaries of life, and this formidable array of men, calling themselves Bishops, sitting in judgment under their lately promoted Vicar-General, as if the power of Rome had now been concentrated in England; so far as it regarded the progress and circulation of the Divine Word, the horizon could scarcely become darker. The hand of God was certainly not unseen in its first introduction; but then these blind and cruel authorities were scattered by the plague; and though they had been forewarned by the common enemy, they were not then upon their guard. Now they are” gathered together,” and literally “taking counsel” on the very subject. But let us see what happened; and observe also, whether the God of Nature, and the Governor among the nations, be not also the God of the Bible.

Nothing, it is true, could be more unlikely, than that any more copies of the Sacred Volume should arrive in this country at such a crisis; it might seem altogether impossible. Throughout the whole year, England, under Wolsey’s influence, was fomenting war with the Emperor, and consequently with the Low Countries or Flanders, but courting alliance with France. In the latter, there were, of course, no English Scriptures; in the former, copies were lying ready for being introduced here confidentially, with secrecy and silence. But if there should be a bar to merchandise in general, and the merchants of Flanders and England cannot exchange goods, how was there any chance of conveying the “Book of God” with them, or under their cover? It had come through this medium before, but how could it by any possibility do so now?

The reader may recollect, that the year 1527 was introduced by severe disease. Immediately after this, in consequence of “ the great rains which fell in the sowing time,” by the fall of the year, bread advanced to such a price, that the people were in danger of starvation. Wheat, at last, not only had risen from sixteen shillings, to one pound six shillings and eightpence the quarter, but ere long it was not to be obtained for money.

Commissioners were sent into every county to inquire what wheat remained in the realm; but at the same time to enjoin, that none should be conveyed from one celerity to another. The consequence was, London at last so felt the pressure, that the Mayor and Aldermen came to Wolsey on his return from France, and told him, “either the people must die from famine, or else they, with strong hand, will fetch corn from them that have it.” He cared little for any man’s life, when his path was crossed, and put them off with, no doubt, a daring falsehood! -that the King of France had said to him, that “if he had but three bushels of wheat, England should have two, so much he loveth and regardeth this realm!” This was at least acknowledging, that while he was abroad, the scarcity was well known to him, amidst all his gorgeous parade. The people then, from day to day, looked for French wheat, but none came; and what is more observable, even such as the English merchants had bought and shipped in Normandy and other places, was there restrained, so that all relief from these parts entirely failed! But just then, “the gentle merchants of the Stilyard,” says the old chronicler, Halle, “brought from Dantzie, Bremen, Hamburg, and other places, great plenty; and so did other merchants from Flanders, Holland, and Frisland, so that wheat was better cheap in London than in all England over.” And thus it was, that a way was opened for the introduction of more books! On board of these vessels with grain, there must have been various importations of Tyndale’s New Testament; but one is too remarkable to be passed over in silence, as it included not less than five hundred copies by one man. Yes, notwithstanding all the fury of Hackett, and the imprisonment of Endhoven, another printer in Antwerp had already finished another edition! This was now the second in that place, or the fourth in all. The fact comes out, incidentally, about four months after this, in the examination of a distributor, before Tunstal. He had been charged with going about to buy a great number of New Testaments, when he emits the following answer:-“ That about Christmas last (Dec. 1527), there came a Dutchman, being now in the Fleet prison, which would have sold this respondent two or three hundred of the said New Testaments in English, which this respondent did not buy, but sent him to Mr. Fysh.” Connect this with the following entry in Foxe’s list of persons abjured in 1528:-“ John Raimund, a Dutchman, for causing fifteen hundred of Tyndale’s New Testaments to be printed at Antwerp, and for bringing five hundred into England.” There is but one mistake here, in the name of the Dutchman, as he is called. Every one at all acquainted with Foxe, knows how inaccurate and irregular he is in the orthography of proper names. Hans van Roemundt is the name of the Antwerp printer as given by Panzer and Le Long. The name in English ought to have been John Ruremonde.

One distinguishing feature of this edition consists in certain woodcuts. It is thus referred to by Joye, as the second Dutch edition-“They printed it again, also, without a corrector, in a greater letter and volume, with the figures in the Apocalypse, which were much falser than their first;” and alluding then to the former impression, he adds, “there were of them both about five thousand books printed.” One copy of this book, which appears to have been reprinted from the quarto edition of Tyndale, is supposed to be in the library of Emanuel College, Cambridge.

The fact was, and it is animating to discover it even now, that such a book was printing in Antwerp at the very time when Endhoven was suffering; for so early as the preceding May, and just about the time that Warham was rejoicing over his purchase of Testaments, the printer had completed the volume! Thus, after all the toil of Master Hackett, he was then the subject of fresh alarm. On the 23rd of May, 1527, therefore, he wrote to Wolsey that he had found copies of the English New Testament, printed by “new printers of the town of Antwerp,” and had seized 24 of them in one man’s hands, but could not lay hold on the printers or vendors till he had a specific charge of heresy to make against them. He states also that “more than two thousand such like English books” were offered at last Frankfort market.

Under all these circumstances, it is now almost evident that part of this fourth edition had found its way into England, by the end of 1527; for that Testaments did arrive at this gloomy and necessitous period, there can now be no question. Men are but too apt to overlook the footsteps of a particular providence, but the arrival of books through such a medium, and at such a period, was too remarkable an event to be passed over in silence.

Could it fail to be observed with gratitude at the time? After turning “a fruitful land into barrenness,” and the people were “brought low, through oppression, affliction, and sorrow;” with bread corn came the bread from heaven. Through these very channels, the Sacred Volume had come before, and now, notwithstanding all the wrath and rage in high places, it came again. The bread that perisheth must rise in price, and finally fail, that the bread of life may come. He who appointed a way for His anger, was at the same moment preparing a way also for the reception of His Word. In wrath He remembered mercy. Well might the people have said-“Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord.” 1528. Tyndale And Fryth-Present Persecution In England-Arrested By Prevailing Disease-Persecution In Antwerp-Nobly Withstood And Defeated - Wolsey’s Pursuit After Tyndale And Others - All In Vain. IN the course of the year 1528, we have no distinct account of any thing new having issued from the press, translated or composed by Tyndale; although some of his smaller tracts, without date, may have been printed.

There were, however, fresh editions of his two publications, already mentioned. Of “The Parable,” there was one if not two editions, and of “The Obedience” certainly two, the first of which is dated in May, and the second in October of this year. That the books had been read or purchased with avidity, and were in growing demand,-this, especially in those early days, is proof sufficient; but not one of these were printed at Worms.

Tyndale and Fryth had now certainly removed elsewhere. All these pieces were printed at one place and by the same man-Hans Luft, a favourite printer “at Malborough in the land of Hesse,” or Marburg, the capital of Upper Hesse. To our Translator, within the last eighteen months, this place must have become strongly attractive. There is no intimation or even hint of any visit yet paid to Wittenberg; it was still 200 miles distant, and it becomes more than doubtFul whether Tyndale was ever there.

Nor are we at any loss to understand how Tyndale was here engaged. It must have been a mighty addition to his comfort, for such a man as Roye to be succeeded by John Fryth. The former once dismissed, in 1526 Fryth had reached his friend and father of the same opinions. Equally interested in the translation of the Scriptures for their native laud, from day to day this subject had fully engrossed their minds. But at present we refrain from saying more till the books of the Pentateuch were printed. As Fryth, however, is the only man who can certainly be associated with Tyndale in his present engagements, it is necessary that he should be now more fully introduced to the notice of the reader.

John Fryth was born in 1503, at Westerham, a market-town in Kent, near the head of the Darent, a tributary of the Thames. His father, Richard, as an inn-holder, lived afterwards at Sevenoaks, near the same stream. It was allowed, even by his enemies, that Fryth was an excellent scholar, after the advantages he had enjoyed, first at Cambridge, and then at Oxford, thus reversing the order of Tyndale’s education. As Fryth, however, received his University education at King’s College, Cambridge, he must, of course, also have been a scholar at Eton. It was while proceeding in his studies, that Tyndale was at Cambridge, and through his instrumentality, as Foxe expresses it, Fryth “first received into his heart the seed of the gospel, and sincere godliness.” Such being the case, it is a circumstance not to be forgotten in our future history, that Fryth had for his tutor no other than Stephen Gardiner, the future Bishop of Winchester. Some time in 1523, when Tyndale was in London, it is next to certain his much-loved friend must have been with him, since before they were separated, and Fryth remained behind, it has been stated, that they used to converse respecting the neccssity for the Scriptures being “turned into the vulgar speech, that the poor people might also read and see the simple plain Word of God.” In this case, Fryth must have looked and longed for success to attend the enterprise of the man he most loved upon earth.

Tyndale, however, sailing for Hamburg, Fryth was, ere long, selected, for his acquirements, as a Cambridge scholar; and called away to Oxford by Wolsey, became a canon in Cardinal College. Having already proceeded as B.A. at Cambridge, he was admitted to the same degree at Oxford in December 1525. Fryth could not have been idle in advancing his opinions, for those young men from Cambridge, already mentioned, were much of his mind. But in two months, even to a day, after he had taken his degree, not only he, but they, had incurred high displeasure. These men might have been styled “the hope of the nation,” though we have heard old Warham rate them, in his letter to Wolsey, as nothing more than “ a number of young uncircumspect fools.” Fools they might be called by the Primate of England, but uncircumspect was not the right word. Generally speaking, they were looking in one direction, and, at the moment, saw farther than their calumniator, Here at least was Fryth; but little did Wolsey imagine, that in selecting him, and most probably by his tutor Gardiner’s recommendation, he had laid his hand on the ardent admirer of that man whom he was afterwards so eager to apprehend on the Continent. Left behind in England, Fryth had proved, among his fellows, an expectant of whatever Tyndale should be able to accomplish; and one can more easily conceive than express how he must have hailed the arrival, and the very first sight of the New Testament at Oxford. It certainly had been longed for, and it came at last.

Fryth was then twenty-three years of age, and not only a lover of learning, but acute and eminent in talent. Yet, once aware of the cruelties practised on Delaber and Garret, as already detailed, and being so far at liberty, he effected his escape, and landed, like his forerunner, on a foreign shore. This could not possibly be before the autumn of 1526, so that the undivided credit of translating the New Testament, and forwarding it to his country, remains with Tyndale alone. The flight of Fryth has been placed much later, even in 1528, but it is evident that he durst not have remained so long.

That he ever revisited England before he came to die at the stake, we have no certain evidence; but we now see him as the able coadjutor of his elder brother for years.

At the commencement of 1528, according to the preceding history, the New Testament of Tyndale had now been introduced into England for the space of two years, a fact which will be abundantly confirmed by the disclosures of the present period. Speaking generally of these times, Strype has said,-‘‘ The New Testament translated by Hitchen, that is Tyndale, was in many hands, and read with great application and joy; and they had secret meetings, in which they instructed each other out of God’s Word;” but after carefully examining the minute, though scattered details, a far more interesting and graphical account now comes out, not only of these two years, but of the years preceding.

From the days of John Wickliffe, if not Richard Fitzralph, the disciples of Christ were much in the same situation with those Israelites in the days of Elijah, whom God “reserved to himself.” Hidden and unknown, their number can never be ascertained, otherwise it probably would surprise us, as much as the “seven thousand” did the desponding prophet of old. But there can be no doubt that portions of the Scriptures in manuscript were read in secret, and by many with great profit, notwithstanding all the virulent opposition. Our only key to the extent of this, is to be found in the opposition displayed. Mere gleams of light obtained from the Sacred Word, were sufficient to bring down the wrath of the oppressor. During the fifteenth century, various cases of abjuration and burning for heresy had occurred, but from the commencement of the sixteenth, as light increased, the opposition became more determined and systematic. Particular periods are then to be marked as seasons of persecution. To say nothing of the first ten years, though disgraced by not a few instances of great cruelty,-the years 1511 under Warham of Canterbury and Smith of lincoln; 1509 to 1517, under Fitzjames of London; and, above all, 1521, under Longland of Lincoln,-were so many seasons of the most determined opposition to the Word of God. Nor should it be unobserved that all these persecutions, including even the last, were on account of opinions, not gathered or received from any foreign land or Continental Christian. Whatever those opinions were, they were indigenous to this country, and are mainly to be ascribed to certain portions of the Sacred Writings in English manuscript.

Before, and even long before the name of Luther was heard of by the people, these opinions were sifted, debated, and maintained; nay, as late as 1521, though the writings of the German Reformer were then publicly denounced, they were as yet locked up in Latin, so that, amidst all the barbarities of that year, under Longland, we hear of no punishment inflicted for Lutheranism so called. It is certainly, therefore, to bc regretted, that even British historians, in too many instances, should have so hastily looked over to Germany, as accounting for the commencement and progress of all that occurred in their own country in the first quarter of the sixteenth century. After an examination of the official records of the day, and other original manuscripts, more patient and laborious titan that in which any man has ever since engaged, it is not surprising that John Foxe should dwell on the retrospect with delight, and confess his inability to do it justice; while he as distinctly ascribes this work of God, to his own Word in the vernacular tongue, and to this alone, though not yet in print.

We have glanced at all this as justly due to what may be styled the age of manuscript. But as the invention of printing was itself an era, so assuredly was that of the reception of the Sacred Scriptures in print into Great Britain. This might be fairly inferred from the history already given; but it is now worthy of special notice, that for three or four years before the arrival of Tyndale’s first editions, a people seem to have been signally prepared for their reception. We could not with propriety notice them at an earlier period, as it is chiefly by the severities of the present year, that they come out to view. From the examinations upon oath, about to be noticed, we could now enumerate above a hundred of these people by name, and state their places of abode, but these were merely the persons detected, exposed, or punished. Many, many more there must have been, whose record is on high. They met together, chiefly in London, but also at different places in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Buckingham. They called each other Brother, and said that they were Brothers in Christ. They had the four Gospels separately and in one volume; some of Paul’s Epistles in another; the Epistles of Peter and that of James; ail in English manuscript, however inferior the translation, or inaccurate, through frequent transcription. In regard to the Epistle of James, in some parts it was a great favourite, and far from startling at it, as the German Reformer himself did at first, and for some time, they could repeat it from memory; even one young woman was detected who could say the whole. Their high esteem for the Oracles of God, was to bc seen in the price paid for them in whole or in part.

These friends in London seem to have held their meetings, from about 1523, very frequently in the house of one William Russel in Coleman Street, at the gate of Bird’s Alley, over against St. Stephen’s Church; when Father John Hacker, as they called him, and sometimes others, read and explained the Scriptures. We have already pointed out the spot to which the authorities first sent go seize books; and it is now not unworthy of notice that very near, and even round it, notwithstanding “the secret search,” the Word of God continued to be read and prized-it even “grew and multiplied.” The great fire in London of 1666, it is true, consumed all those parts, but of the eighty-nine churches burnt down, at least fifty-four were rebuilt, and on the same ground. Bird’s Alley is gone, but the church remains where it was; and if any one wish to stand on the same spot where, amidst all the wrath and blasphemy of the day, the Sacred Volume was then perused with the keenest interest, he has only to walk along that part of King’s Arms Yard which yet remains, till he come “over against” St. Stephen’s Church, Coleman Street. f37 Similar meetings were held in Essex. the largest was in Colchester itself, but there were friends at Witham, Braintree, Saffron Walden, and Birdbrook, as well as at the Friary of Clare, or Stokeclare, in Suffolk. In the north of Essex the parish of Bumstead was, as the persecutors would have said, a hot-bed of heresy.

So early as September 1526, two plain country men from thence came to London, in search of the new printed Testaments, and going to Austin Friars, there met with Dr. Barnes, who, it may be remembered, was then a prisoner at large. One of these men had been in possession of Tyndale’s New Testament, which he procured from Colchester about the month of April before. These men reported the curate of this parish, Richard Foxe, as favourable to inquiry, and begged a letter from Barnes to him. He gave them one, sold a Testament to each, and after their return, the curate, and even two friars, Topley and Gardiner, seemed to be making progress; but besides them there were a number of persons, male and female, scattered throughout these parts, still farther advanced. It will be remembered that Myles Coverdale, one of Barnes’ students, came up to London after him, at the time of his melancholy abjuration in February 1526. We shall trace him now preaching in this part of Essex, in company with Richard Foxe.

Thus, on the 29th of March, 1528, one of these friars, Thomas Topley, heard him preach at Bumstead Church, and such doctrine as, in connexion with subsequent conversation, shook his mind with regard to various superstitions. But the persecutions we are now about to notice must have scattered, for a season, all these groups in this county, as well as the meetings in London; more especially as Wharton, the Vicar-General of Tunstal, moved down into Essex in July this year, searching after his prey.

It is then that we shall hear more of Coverdale.

Many of those, however, throughout the land, who had either purchased or perused the Testament of Tyndale, were now about to find that it was “through much tribulation they must enter into the kingdom of God;” and it would have been well if then the brother had not betrayed his brethren, the husband his wife, and the father his child! Not three months before, the country had been in the greatest extremity, through scarcity amounting to famine, and not a few had pined away in disease. London, also, as we have seen, had more especially felt the pressure, but no sooner had plenty returned by the importation of foreign grain, and bread had fallen in price, than the same city became the seat of bitter and sifting persecution. The country at large had just suffered severely, through the crooked and ambitious policy of Wolsey; and now the best of his Majesty’s subjects, simple hearted and unoffending people, are to be molested through the cool malignity of Tunstal. He had before this preached his sermon, in which he boasted that he had found more than 2000 errors in the printed New Testament. Tunstal’s infamous injunction also, of October 1526, had hung over the people for fourteen months, without being rigorously followed up, but we have accounted for this forbearance. It was unavoidable, as ho had been so engrossed by foreign political affairs. It was, therefore, in the opening of 1528, that one feature of his character began to be more fully developed, of which in general a very strange, not to say erroneous, estimate has been given. Sir T. More and he were united, as men familiarly say, like hand and glove; and, therefore, it was to be expected, that he should pronounce him to be inferior to none “in the integrity of his principles, and the sweetness of his disposition,” Godwin says that “he was a very rare and admirable man, with nothing wrong but his religion, and yet he was a profound divine, as many of his works yet do testify.” “He had,” says even Gilpin ia his Life of Ridley, “true notions of the genius of Christianity! He considered a good life as the end, and faith as the means; and never branded as an heretic that person, however erroneous his opinions might be, in points less fundamental, who had such a belief in Christ as made him live like a Christian. He was just, therefore, the reverse of his early patron Warham;” and he concludes by affirming, “that Tunstal thought persecution one of the things most foreign to his function!” We allow that the reverse of this, in some points, was the character of Warham; but was it less so of Tunstal? Both were men of learning and talent, and Tunstal’s taste in letters was superior to most of his contemporaries; hut let any one hold fast opinions which they conceived would, even ultimately, affect the hierarchy, and neither of them scrupled for a moment in proceeding to the greatest extremity. Ttmstal, it is true, was still, and of quiet behaviour, cautious, and had great command over his passions; a worldly-wise man, who contrived to thread his way through those difficult times, so that he died in his bed, at the advanced age of 85.

But, on the other hand, if works bear witness, by these he must be judged.

What signifies learning, however eminent, except it be applied to some laudable and beneficial purpose? And though it should be accompanied with apparent sedateness, and much sagacity in worldly affairs; all these in union, so far from concealing great and radical defects in moral character, only render them the more atrocious. To say nothing of the violence of Tunstal’s language when writing to Erasmus, in earlier life, or of the incontinence with which he has been charged; certainly no man who was so frequently employed by Wolsey, and served his purpose so well, could by any possibility hold fast his integrity, or walk uprightly; and Tunstal being most celebrated as a courtier, and at such a time, the reader may be left to judge of his veracity. As for humanity, what though he might have an aversion from shedding blood, or rather a dread of shedding it? What shall we say as to his cool barbarity in sifting and cross-examining, then threatening and reexamining, till the poor creature quivered, and became perplexed, trembled, and abjured? Not satisfied, see him seize on the abjured parties, and, through his sophistry, compel them at last to expose and even accuse their nearest and dearest relatives and friends! No, he was an ingenious tormentor, distinguished for his patient dexterity in producing mental misery; and we may rely on it, that Tyndale, who knew his doings well, though he did not charge him with shedding so much blood, had good reason for designating him as he did,-“ that still Satan, the imaginer of all mischief.” “Cursed,” said Jortin, when speaking of him, “cursed are those theological principles, which produce such sad effects even in goodtempered men, and eat up so much of their honour and humanity!” The only mistake in this exclamation, is that of styling such principles theological. The truth was, that none of those men, even the mildest, understood the sacred rights of conscience, because their own was “seared with a hot iron.” They were, for the time, the “rulers of the darkness of this world;” while the praiseworthy people whom they tried to devour or exterminate, were, in fact, however poor and despised, a chosen band of wrestlers “against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

At all events, whatever Warham had been in days that were past, we shall find that Tunstal was “the grand Inquisitor” in 1528. In January his underlings were busily preparing for his sitting in judgment; and then followed those numerous cases, from February to May inclusive, which are upon record, in his Register.

The shrewd and systematic method adopted by Tunstal seems to have been, to find out the most intelligent or influential men, among these people who were to be cross-examined, and by effectually threatening them, so detect many of the rest. In January or the beginning of February one man was found, and before long other two if not three. In the midst of these harassing times, it was not to have been expected, that all would prove faithful; but surely these early readers of the printed New Testament upon English ground, had not anticipated that any of their leaders would fail and betray them! Yet so it was, for poor Hacker, the first man referred to, being, as Strype says, “hard set upon, made a discovery, by interrogatories put to him upon oath, of a great many of his friends and followers both in Essex and London.” Following out this clue, at least three other men followed the sad example; John Pykas of Colchester, with John Tyball and Thomas Hempsted of the parish of Bumstead. These poor men now stood in the character of “Per securer’s evidence,” and were to be called upon, whenever it was found necessary! Hacker, to save himself, had betrayed at least forty of his friends, with whom he had often read the Scriptures, the majority of whom resided in London, and the others as many more, in the county of Essex alone, as amounted to above a hundred in all! Happily, these were but a part of the whole; but here was a field, quite sufficient for the Bishop and his Vicar-General. The former required only to assemble his deeply prejudiced assistants, and the reader may be curious to know who were those men who first sat in judgment upon Tyndale’s translation, and the earliest possessors of the precious volume.

Tunstal had taken care to secure round him more than a dozen of men to preside, either all together, or by turns, and they are styled in the Register “all learned men,” of course. Besides Geffrey Wharton, D.D., his Vicar- Gencral, and John Darel, B.D., Wharton’s official, Matthew Grafton and Henry Bonsfel, Notaries; there were Robert Ridley, D.D., and John Rosiston, Professor of Theology, Richard Sparchforde, M.A., Thomas Forman, S.T.P., John Tunstal and Thomas Chambre, Chaplains, Nicholas Tunstal, Thomas Dowman, Thomas Pilkington, and James Multon. Wharton, to do him justice, would seem to have been not so bitter as some others; he died next year. Royston had been far more indebted to Humphrie Munmouth, than even Tyndale. Yet Munmouth is about to be molested and imprisoned, and Royston is here! Sparchforde had been promoted in to the living at Hackney; but the most conspicuous of these assistant persecutors was Robert Ridley, already noticed. The Tunstals, as well as Ridley, were related to the Bishop.

In the disclosures made by persecution in the early part of this year, we find important evidence on one point, namely, the period in which the New Testaments of Tyndale were first introduced into England. Independently of the abundnnt proof already given, they show that Tyndale’s quarto and octavo editions were purchased and perused throughout the year 1526; and that Tunstal’s injunction, in October of that year, was not groundless, when it affirmed that they were spread throughout “all his diocese, in great number.”

From the Register we select the following cases:-Sebastian Herris, Curate of the parish Church of Kensington, confessed “that he had two books; viz. the New Testament in the vulgar tongue, and ‘Unto Dissidentium,’ containing in it the Lutheran heresy.” For this he is banished from the City of London, being “so dangerous a place to be infected with heresy,” for two years.

John Pykas of Colchester confessed, among other things, that “about a two years last past (March 1526) he bought in Colchester of a Lumbard of London, a New Testament in English, and paid for it four shillings (about £3 present value), which New Testament he kept, and read it through many times.” Having abjured, this poor man was enjoined penance and sworn to confess all the known men and women, friends, brethren, relatives, and those whom he had brought into these opinions.

John Tyball of Bumstead confessed, that “about t:wo years agone (Apr. 1526) he companied with Sir Richard Fox, Curate of Bumstead, and shewed him all his books that he had; that is to say, the New Testament in English; the Gospel of Matthew and Mark in English, which he had of John Pykas of Colchester; a book expounding the Paternoster, the Ave Maria, and the Credo; certain of Paul’s Epistles after the old translation.”

That he and Thomas Hilles had bought New Testaments in English of Friar Barnes, who enjoined secrecy of the sale: this was in Sept. 1526; and that he was wont with some others to resort to Bower Hall, the seat of the Bendish family, where the New Testament was read in presence of “them and of their household.”

By the beginning of May, Tunstal had removed from the chapel in his palace, to one near Charing Cross, in the manor of Nix, the Bishop of Norwich, of whose temper and spirit we have had such ample evidence. On the 11th, he was still sitting in judgment on the poor people from Essex; but the spirit of persecution was now gathering strength, and, on the 14th, Sir Thomas More comes in view. On that day, he and Sir William Kingston, Constable of the Tower, as members of the Privy Council, sent for Humfrie Munmouthe, as he subscribes his name. He was far too important a character to be passed over; and his being so, is a proof that there had not been, till this year, any severe search after supposed offenders. Not satisfied, they went with him to his house, and examined all his letters and books. This generous man, with whom Tyndale had lived, who corresponded with him afterwards, and aided him all the time he remained in Hamburg, was now committed to the Tower, “on suspicion of heresy, for some books fonnd in his house.” Five days after this, on Tuesday the 19th of May, he addressed a petition to the King’s Council. It is entitled-“Unto the most honourable Lord Legate and Chancellor of England, and to the honourable Council unto your Sovereign Lord, King Henry VIII., the 19th of May, and in the 20th year of his reign; beseeching your Grace, and all my Lords and Masters, to have pity on me, poor prisoner in the Tower of London, at your pleasure.” In this petition, he confesses, among other books- “Also I delivered a book of the New Testament, the which book my Lord of London had. Also I had a little treatise that the priest, Tyndale, sent me, when he sent for his money. And all those books, save the books of the New Testament, lay openly in my house, for the space of two years, or more, that every man might read on them that would at their pleasure.”

Munmouth’s testimony brings us to the same period with that of Pykas; but as for the Testament no doubt Tyndale would take care that, if possible, his generous patron should have one, at least, as soon as Garret was carrying them from London to Oxford, in January 1526. It may here be added, that in earlier llfe Munmouth had visited Rome itself, which may have had a similar effect on him as it had on some others. When the times improved, he was an Alderman of London, and served as Sheriff there in 1535. His will is dated 16th November, 1537, by which he leaves a silver cup, and gilt, equal in value to £120 sterling, to Crumwell, that he might be kind to three preachers there mentioned, among whom was Dr. Barnes. Soon after this, Munmouth died, having commended his soul unto Christ Jesus, “my Maker and Redeemer, in whom, and by the merits of whose blessed passion, is all my whole trust of clean remission and forgiveness of my sins.”

But of the confessions now made, that of Robert Necton is not the least important. It includes the disclosures of a man who had been very active before this, and, notwithstanding, as much so as he could, even afterwards.

By him we learn that Mr. Fyshe, whose tract, “the Supplication of Beggars,” had created such commotion in February 1526 had actually returned to London, and was living there, long before that year had expired. We now find also Mr. Richard Harman, an English merchant at Antwerp, had acted in concert with Fyshe, and had contrived modes of secretly conveying the Sacred Volume into England. The account which Necton gives of his first engaging in the business of sale and circulation, is no less curious, from its being at the instigation of such a man as George Constantyne, who, though originally bred a surgeon, by this time had entered the Church, and hence is styled Vicar. Of course, therefore, he had to proceed with the greatest caution. He would not go direct to Fyshe himself, but informs Necton, and then from him he bought whatever copies he wished. Constantyne, one of the most singular characters of the day, survived the present period, at least, thirty-two years. At certain periods, doing all that in him lay to promote the circulation of the Word of God; at another, betraying the whole cause; he is here introduced incidentally, for the first time, but he will come before us again and again, and some notice must be taken of his singular and varied life.

The reader now only requires to be reminded, that such a man as this Robert Necton is not to be regarded as poor and dependent, perambulating the country to obtain his bread by selling books-far from it; the occupation was too hazardous then for any mere hireling. Thus, Necton speaks of living at his brother’s house in Norwich, and this was no other than the Sheriff of the city, as will appear in 1581. From his confessions, as well as those of Munmouth, Pybal, and others already mentioned, before this tribunal, the following facts may be considered as established:- That in January 1526, Thomas Garret, at least, received from abroad copies of the New Testament, printed in the English language-that he immediatcly had given them out in London, sent them down to Cambridge, and carried them himself to Oxford, in that very month-that notwithstanding the grand burning of books at St. Paul’s, on the 11th of February, 1526, and the anathemas of Fisher on that day, nay, and the burning at Oxford soon after, when the Testament, amongst other books, was involved in the flames, still the work went on-that even Fyshe himself was soon after in London, and remained in it,, receiving from abroad, and dispersing the precious volumes for a considerable time. Then come up these men from Essex, and, along with Munmouth, all agree in their testimony, Put upon their oath, not one among them could have any motive to falsify in regard to the length of the time in which these Testaments had been in their possession. On the contrary, could such an idea have occurred to any one of them, the temptation must have been to shorten, not extend the period; for the longer it was, so much the more guilty must they have appeared in the eye of their judges. But in receiving their united testimony, how far does it carry us? That as early as February, and downwards to October 1526, Tyndale’s Testaments, both quarto and octavo, as well as the first separate edition of Matthew and Mark, were upon English ground, and reading with eagerness, not only in the metropolis, but the surrounding counties,-that, notwithstanding the fulminations from London and Canterbury, and “the secret search, at one time,” the precious books were retained and read in secret still. Nay, we have seen one man, Necton, immediately afterwards commence his cautious operations-mentioning very distinctly, first, the quarto of Tyndale, or the large volume, then the octavo edition, and finally another edition, printed at Antwerp, as already described. Doubtless there had been other men before him so employed, as there were others afterwards, including himself again.

But the purposes of Infinite Wisdom in thus trying the faithful, and purifying His cause, were, for the present at least, accomplished. Tunstal, it may have been observed, had shifted his seat, from his own palace, near the old bridge of London, up to Charing Cross, and, for aught we know, this might bo from fear; but such cool and deliberate cruelty must, not continue either in London or Westminster, and so the persecution seems to have been cut short by a Sovereign hand, or the immediate visitation of God.

That fearful disease, styled by foreigners, the Sudor Anglicus, on account of the violence with which it seized this nation, or, as the English themselves called it, the “sweating sickness,” broke out in the end of May.

The patient expired in a few hours, and often in two or three. By the 7th of June, above two thousand had died in London; and by the 30th, forty thousand had been affected, of whom died at least two thousand more.

Early in June, the King himself became alarmed; the disease entered the Royal household, and proved fatal in at least three cases; and before the month ended, it had entered Wolsey’s establishment. Henry kept himself shut up, had his household reduced to the smallest number permitted by the statutes of Eltham, and his fear increased. In July, on the 5th, still more apprehensive, he directs Wolsey “to cause general processions to be made, universally through the realm, as well for good weather to the increase of corn and fruit, as also for the plague that now reigneth. By the 9th, he had made his will, advises Wolsey to follow his example, and desires to hear from him every second day. “He confessed himself every day,” say Le Grand and Burner; “the Queen did the same, and so did Wolsey.”

This was the fourth visitation of that singular disease, of which the English only died; and which has been described so accurately by Armstrong, both in its operation and its effects- “O’er the mournful land The infected city pour’d her hurrying swarms— Others, with hopes more specious, cross’d the main, To seek protection in far distant skies; But none they found. It seem’d the general air From pole to pole, from Atlas to the East, Was then at enmity with English blood; For, but the race of England, all were safe In foreign climes; nor did this fury taste The foreign blood that England then contain’d.”

During the prevalence of this malady, however, it does not appear that the Cardinal was so much afraid of it, as of forfeiting the entire confidence of his Master. He had appointed an Abbess to the Abbey of Wilton, which had ruffled Henry’s temper; for ever since the disclosures of Clarencieux as to Spanish affairs, he was more suspicious and apt to take offence. But Wolsey once more mollified him; by August the disease had passed away, and all went on as before. The King was hunting in September, and inviting Wolsey to take part with him in the sport. All was bustle and preparation for the arrival of Cardinal Campeggio, and Henry wished to have the use of Hampton Court for three or four days to receive him there. But we now return to more important affairs.

Though the cruel proceedings of Tunstal and his coadjutors seem to have been cut short by frightful disease, in the course of the examinations held, the persecutors had obtained several pieces of information, far too important in their eyes, to be either forgotten or neglected. Tyndale and Roye (erroneously supposed to be still with him) were now conspicuously before them. One gentleman in particular, Mr. Harman, had been mentioned as actively engaged in importing English Testaments, and neither George Constantyne nor Mr. Fyshe could pass unnoticed.

Meanwhile, since Tyndale’s writings had obtained such circulation in our country, it seemed necessary that an attempt should be made to answer them; and so by way of adding greater horror to the heresies said to be contained in them, as we have already seen, it was during the very period when Tunstal was busy with his cross-examinations, that, with all due solemnity, he had issued his official licence to Sir Thomas More, that he might retain and read those troublesome publications, and, with all his skill in sophistry, write them down.

As for Cardinal Wolsey, after these examinations in London, he was bent on seizing the Men abroad, and three persons in particular, though other two were also specified. In June, therefore, he had written to Hackett, requesting that the Lady Margaret would sanction the delivery of these three, with a view to their being immediately sent into England. But on the 28th of that month, the envoy informed him, that after many arguments “debated pro et contra, they to me and I to them,” the Privy Council had concluded, that even the Emperor himself might not send any heretic out of his dominions as a prisoner, except his first examination was held abroad, where he was; and even after that, the transmission of the party must be by the advice of the Inquisitors of the Faith there. They had, however, resolved that all the foresaid three heretics, when they could be found, should be taken prisoners, they and their books with them; but the Council requested one or two learned men to be sent abroad to confront them. If they should be “con founded or found guilty,” they would either be sent over to Wolsey, or punished there, according to their deeds. f40 The names of these obnoxious men were not, as yet, mentioned by Hackett, but, as the reader proceeds, he will have no doubt that Tyndale, Roye, and Harman were the three parties. George Constantyne and Mr. Fyshe may appear to have been the other two, if Jerome Barlow, soon to be noticed, was not the fifth individual. Fourteen days they busily searched, but Mr. Harman alone could be found, when Hackett once more writes to Wolsey that one of the three persons he had been able to get apprehended, Richard Harman, and had also caused his wife to be taken with him; but as he feared, there would be some difficulty in getting them punished for heresy in the free city of Antwerp, he proposes a plan by which, under charge of treason, they might be sent to England, and there dealt with as the Cardinal thought fit.

Hackett, however, is now somewhat afraid. He had found considerable difficulty, when dealing with Christopher Endhoven, the German printer, in the end of 1526; but now that an English merchant and a gentleman has been seized, should the “Lords of Antwerp” still remain firm to their purpose, as then expressed; in the end, at least, our officious ambassador may find his interference to be followed by greater trouble and disgrace.

Antwerp was still the staple, and, for commerce sake, their English merchants must, if possible, be protected; but to England for protection it was in vain to look. She was not then, what she has often been since,-and thanks to the Sacred Volume alone!-“ the refuge of the oppressed;” so that the Emperor himself must be applied to. He was, accordingly, and by two petitions, in the Flemish language, on behalf of the English prisoners. Both are now in the British Museum. f41 Wolsey, however, was not slow to act upon the vile suggestion of his correspondent, and, accordingly, in the month of August, Hackett had actually obtained letters from Henry the Eighth, to seize Mr. Harman as a traiter; but the reigning Princess wished to be informed what were the particular acts of treason. Great interest was then made for Harman, who had, for many years, been a burgess of Antwerp. Hackett implores Commissioners to be sent from England; and, little knowing the secret politics of our Cardinal at the moment, which had destroyed his influence in the Imperial Cabinet, he is eager that the Emperor should be requested to write to Lady Margaret; otherwise, he fears that “the great purse of Antwerp” would prove the deliverance of Harman, his victim. And, by the 10th of September, he is obliged to confess, that “notwithstanding the King’s patent letters, the Lady Margaret and her Council would not deliver up the heretics.” f42 Our poor ambassador was now, certainly, in no very enviable plight. A pause of more than four months took place in his correspondence. Month after month passed away, and no fresh instructions nor assistance arrived, for both Wolsey and his Master were completely engrossed in a very different subject-the royal divorce. At last, in despair, Hackett having written to the King himself, on the 17th of November he wrote also an earnest letter to Friar West of Greenwich, of whom we shall hear more presently, dated from Mechlin, complaining bitterly of receiving instructions neither written or verbal from the King, in answer to his communication; so that Harman is likely to be discharged for want of proof of his treason, if this is not adduced before the end of the following February; nay, that Harman was threatening to recover damages for loss sustained by false imprisonment, to the amount of two thousand guilders.

On the 2nd of January, he addresses Mr. Brian Tuke as Treasurer of the King’s Chambers, and one of his Council, informing him of his having written, by duplicate, letters to West; but complains, whether “I write east or West, I can have no manner of answer-yet for the reputation of the King’s patent letters, we ought to take the better regard.” On the 20th he writes again, imploring that Friar West may be sent to his aid, but all in vain. The fact was, that at such a time, neither Henry nor the Cardinal could expect to have the smallest influence with the Emperor or the Princess Margaret. No proofs or probations, therefore, having arrived, the term finally granted to Hackett expired on the 26th of February, and consequently Mr. Harman and his wife, after an imprisonment of above seven months, were released!

This interference, however, on the part of our English Envoy, was one which “the Lords of Antwerp” could by no means brook. The twain of the three men named to him he could not find, but he was to have perplexity all-sufficient, in consequence of touching with only one of the three; and though we trespass a little on the year 1529, we must not here lose sight of Mr. Harman and his lady. Hackett must now abide the consequences, and Harman waited his proper time for redress. Though the ambassador was resident at Mechlin, it was not long before an opportunity presented itself; he was arrested at Harman’s instance for the costs and charges he had suffered in prison, but standing on his privilege as Ambassador to the King of England, the Lords of Antwerp declared him “free and quit of the said arrest, with condition that he or his procurator should appear again, when the said Lords by their letters would advertise him.” The transaction cost him a change of residence, if not more, for he had to leave Antwerp, where he had made himself so unpopular. His letters in future are dated from Brussels. His meddling with the man who had taken a benevolent interest in sending the Word of God into his native country, eventually removed this ambassador to a distance; and if Antwerp is to have a British resident in or near it, some other than John Hackett must now be found. The overruling providence of God will, before long, be here also very manifest.

Had such a man as this remained, when Tyndale himself came to reside in Antwerp, never had he spoken of him, as his successor will be found to have done.

As for Mr. Harman, we shall hear of him again, but it will not be till five years after this, or in 1534; in which year his persecutor, Hackett, died at Douay, and in debt. But, before then, Mr. Harman, it will appear, had returned to England-was commended for his zeal-was restored to favour, as well as all his privileges connected with “the English House” at Antwerp, and at the express request of the Queen of England.

This gentleman had been a devoted friend of Tyndale’s object and design, as well as of Tyndale himself, in which his wife had cordially joined with him. The printers of Antwerp managed their own business, and, by various means, imported their editions into England, which, of course, had affected the sale of Tyndale’s books; but the Testaments with which Mr. Harman was charged, were said to be sent to him out of Germany. Warham, the Archbishop of Canterbury, must therefore, to his great mortification, have very soon perceived, that he had not, as he at first supposed, purchased all; and, therefore, even in Antwerp, where Hackett had so raged, we shall actually find Tyndale himself; and when his finances were at the lowest ebb, selling the remainder, with great advantage, next year. Nay, selling them to Tunstal, who, in 1524, had thought that, as a Greek scholar, Tyndale “could not fail” to find some situation!

In the midst of all this turmoil at Antwerp, however, the truth was, that Wolsey had been far from inattentive to the information received from Hackett, although he had seemed to be remiss in not answering his letters.

On the contrary, as soon as he understood by his letter of the 14th of July, that “the twain of the three,” or Tyndale and Roye, were not to be found in Antwerp, or its vicinity, the Cardinal had bethought himself, and resolved to apply elsewhere in pursuit of them. But, at such a time, how striking was the display of Wolsey’s enmity to the Sacred Volume! How great his fear of himself, and of the hierarchy! His alarm is more worthy of notice, as this was, perhaps, his final official effort in this warfare. Let it only be remembered, that sickness had been raging in the land throughout June and July, nor had it entirely ceased at the moment of which we speak-that disease of which the poet said— -“‘Twas all the business then, To trend the sick, and in their turns to die.

In heaps they fell, and oft one bed, they say, The sick’ning, dying, and the dead contain’d.” Besides this, Wolsey had scarcely recovered the favour of his Master, after having ruffled his temper, by one false step, already noticed; nor had they yet met. Notwithstanding, so important was the capture of these two men, that not a day was to be lost. The New Testament, and the two pointed publications of Tyndale, were, it is true, not the only thing’s rankling in his mind; the bitter Satyre of Roye nnd Jerome had, by this time, begun to annoy him, as it greatly did, and no expense must be spared in buying it up.

Tyndale, wishing it to be known that he had no connexion with Roye, had said, in print, that these two men (Jerome and Roye) were “Friars from Greenwich;” and who then so fit to ferret them out, as a shrewd Friar Observant, from the same monastery? And to whom could the Cardinal now apply on the Continent more likely to be of service, than the man whom Cochlaeus had at first roused in 1525-Counsellor Herman Rincke of Cologne? Accordingly, as early as the 5th of August, Wolsey sat down in Hampton Court palace, and addressed him. In Rincke, he had a determined enemy to the “new learning,” and a man, in some respects, quite to his own heart. His letter finished, a suitable agent was found in the person of Friar John West of Greenwich, already mentioned. He had been instructed to proceed by way of Antwerp, and consult with Hackett, who furnished him with the necessary means and some instructions.

On West’s arrival at Cologne, Rincke was absent from home, at the autumn fair in Frankfort; but the letter was immediately conveyed to him by a swift messenger; and, by the 4th of October, we have his reply, sent by the same Friar. After acknowledging the Cardinal’s letters respecting the apprehension of Roye and Tyndale, and the buying up of their books, he informs his correspondent that these persons had not been seen in Cologne since the 1st of March, nor could their present residence be traced, He then states that he had been at Frankfort “with ready money, labouring himself personally to the utmost -but John Scott, the printer, besides a pledge to be given to theJEWS, demanded also the reward of his own labour, and the expense of the paper; and said that he would sell them to him who would offer him most money.” That he had, therefore, by gifts and presents, attached to him the Frankfort Consuls, and so “had gathered and packed up the whole stock of books, which otherwise would have been enclosed in packages, artfully covered over with flax, and transmitted by sea to England and Scotland.” That he had also used all diligence to trace out and apprehend Roye and Hutchyn, though hitherto in vain. He then proposes that a licence should be granted to him of the largest extent, that, by its force and legality, “William Roye, William Tyndale, Jerome Barlow, Alexander Barkley, and their adherents might be taken, punished, and exposed.” He finally states that he had forced Scott of Strasburg, the printer of the books, to state upon oath the number, he had thrown off, and to deliver the whole to him upon payment; “wherefore I have purchased them almost all, and now have them in my house at Cologne.”

After this, no one will question the anxiety or eager desire of Cardinal Wolsey to seize Tyndale, and especially this Friar Roye. How deeply he was stung by the stanzas of “Rede me, and be not wrothe,” is now apparent. But this letter, in connexion with the past, suggests several curious considerations. We are now at Frankfort great fair, and the reader may recollect of Hackett the ambassador informing Wolsey, that he heard of New Testaments, to the number of two thousand, having been for sale at the spring fair of last year; but now, when Scott is apprehended and examined, he demands a pledge to be given to the JEWS, in security for their concern in such traffic, “to Scotland and England as to the same place.” No doubt the Jews were there last year, as well as this; and it certainly would be a very singular and memorable coincidence, if the Jews, for hire or gain, had assisted in such importations! And yet, what else can be inferred, from Scott’s exaction or demand? But if so, the descendants of Abraham, to whom were committed “the Oracles of God,” as recorded in the Old Testament, may have been unconsciously conveying to this Island, as an article of merchandise, “the living oracles,” as recorded in the New: and doing this too at a period when the nation, as such, was up in arms against the undertaking! To this people, under God, we stand indebted for a Saviour, and the Bible, but we know not that it has ever been conjectured of any other nation, that the Jews had any concern, however remote, in giving or conveying to it the New Testament.

We are not, indeed, to suppose, that our Translator either had been at Frankfort, or that any of his publications are here referred to as printed at Strasburg; much less that any connexion whatever now existed between him and Roye. With regard to Tyndale at this moment, or Fryth, of whom no notice is taken, happily Mr. Counsellor Rincke was altogether off the scent. Forty-five miles to the north, at Marburg, they were busily engaged, both with the pen and the press; yet is it quite possible that some of Tyndale’s productions may have passed through this Frankfort fair. Rincke, however, had certainly laid hold of the printer employed by Roye, and these as certainly were his publications to which reference is made. Perhaps no great dependence can be placed on the accuracy of Scott’s disclosure, even upon oath; but still there can now be little or no doubt that we have found in him the printer of the celebrated Satyre on Cardinal Wolsey, a point hitherto unknown. Rincke expressly states of some of the books, that they were “against the magnificence and honour of his Grace.”

Most providentially, however, by the time that West and his companions arrived in England with this letter, Wolsey, so far from prospering “many happy years,” as Rincke had prayed, probably never had one day of unmingled enjoyment. The confidence of his own Royal Master had begun to decline, and Rincke but little knew the game that Wolsey was playing at that moment with the Emperor; otherwise, neither he nor Hackett could have expected him to have any influence, upon any subject, with Charles.

Thus the remainder of the Cardinal’s wrath was restrained, and happily Rincke never obtained the licence or Commission for which he panted; besides, his politics must have soon changed with the times. His son had been in England before, and now that he came a second time, he has been supposed to have remained for some time, though of this we have found no positive evidence.

As for Friar West, he entirely failed in apprehending any of the men pointed out. It must have been still more mortifying to him that, while he was wandering on the Continent, in his disguised habit, Roye, the very man whom Wolsey wished to have, above all others, had actually paid a visit to England; and to crown all, West, upon returning to his monastery, not only received no thanks for all his toil, but very soon found it a great deal too hot for him. The “new learning” had begun to spread even there! He might, as we have found, write to Hackett in November, telling him how the King and the Cardinal were engrossed, and could not answer his letters; but by the next month, he himself could not gain access even to Wolsey, and was at his wits’ end. He had, no doubt, many weighty reasons for wishing once more to go abroad, but they ,1520.] were all in vain. Wolsey, by this time, had his hands full. Henry was absorbed in his own affair. Our Envoy, indeed, wrote in January, imploring that the Friar might be sent to his aid, but we hear nothing more of Father West, and Hackett will never obtain any farther orders. The chase was now over till Henry himself began, for thus ended, at least, the Cardinl’s hunt after heretics so called!

After this, he will have quite enough to do, in taking care of himself. It was Providence ruling and over-ruling all things, for the sake of His own Word. 1529.

Tyndale’s Progress In The Old Testament-Persecution In England-Thwarted Once More-Tunstal At Antwerp-Tyndale’s Influence 1n The Palace-More, The Bishops, And The King, In League Against The Scriptures-Coverdale Sent To Hamburg-Another Or Fifth Edition Of The Testament.

IN the denunciation of the English New Testament by Tunstal and Warham, in 1526, we then noticed one curious omission, that of Tyndale’s name; at that time they appear not to have known it, but we have already seen, that very soon after the names of Tyndale and Roye were distinctly kown to one of Tunstal’s chaplains, Dr. Robert Ridley, prebend of St. Paul’s; and he may have been the first individual, who, in writing at least, denounced the Translator by name as well as his invaluable work.

Tyndale’s frank acknowledgment of his authorship in 1527, made this more generally known; and the confirmation was completed, by the examinations held before the Bishop of London during the last spring. It was then, too, that one of the ablest scholars, said to be the greatest genius, if not the only wit in all England, obtained licence from his friend, the bishop, first to read Tyndale, and then to write in reply. Ever since his licence in March last, More, as he tells us afterwards, had been busy “night and day,” and this year we find him bringing out his first controversial publication, consisting of above one hundred and twenty folios, or 250 pages, printed by John Rastell, his brother-in-law.

If, therefore, Tyndale wished to go on with his labours, it had now become more than ever necessary that he should use precautions for the safety of his person: and removal from place to place seems to have been one of these. Before, however, adverting to these places, let us first return and mark the course of his engagements.

With regard to the translation of the Old Testament in which Tyndale had for some time been employed, with all the aid which young Fryth was so well fitted to lend, we have now some tangible proof of his progress.

It has been customary to speak of Tyndale’s Pentateuch as published in 1530, but this is incorrect. The five books might be afterwards bound up, but originally they were neither printed at the same press, nor published together, but separately. In the order of importation, at least, the account of the Creation and the early history of mankind in Genesis, seems to have been followed by Deuteronomy, that compendious repetition or summary of the law, with explanatory additions. At all events before the end of their year 1529, or the 25th of March, 1530, these two books are among those publicly denounced; and those alone under the following titles:-“ The Chapters of Moses, called Genesis-the Chapters of Moses, called Deuteronomos.” When we come to the spring of 1530, the five books of Moses will be more fully noticed.

During this year, the state of his native land had continued to oppress the mind of Tyndale. However modest and unpretending in his character, as he could not be unacquainted with the great effects produced by what he had already done, so he must have felt that he was raised up for a certain purpose; and that with the progress of events or the condition of his country he must endeavour to keep pace with his pen. The correctness and celerity, as well as power, with which he did so, will appear alike remarkable.

One distinguishing feature of our Translator’s character, was loyalty to his King, blended with love to his country. The latter he had discovered by commencing with “The Parable of the unrighteous Mammon,” and the former, or rather both, by his next publication, “the Obedience of a Christian man.” Deeply interested as he was, however, in the best interests of the reigning monarch, he would not stoop to flatter him, much less wink at the course he now pursued. Hence this year his small publication on the subject of matrimony, and his exposition of 1 Corinthians, 7th chapter. The former, a warning as to its abuse; the latter, illustrative of the sin attending its gross violation-an abounding evil of the age.

Marriage was then a question of vital importance to the virtue and happiness of his country; dreadfully trampled on and invaded by the priesthood of the day, and now, by the highest authority of the land, in his own person, threatened to be dissolved. It became, therefore, such a man as Tyndale to take up the subject. His voice was solitary indeed, but it had now a power, which, probably, he had never anticipated; it went also through the land, for whatever he now published was sought for and read; and not the less so, that every thing he put forth was so denounced.

Fryth was engaged about this time in translating from the German a small work, entitled “The Revelation of AntiChrist,” one of the first books printed in English against the Roman Pontiff. He published it, with a long prefatory epistle and an antithesis at the end, under the assumed name of Richard Brightwell. It was printed “at Malborow, in the land of Hesse, the 12th day of July, 1529, by me Hans Luft.”

About this period both Tyndale and Fryth had removed from Marburg; and by the month of August, in Antwerp itself, a negociation with Tunstal, respecting books, there took place, which will be narrated presently, after we have noticed other contemporary movements in England.

With regard to the progress of that noble cause in England, for which Tyndale only lived and at last died, it must be read, as before, in the opposition displayed. Wolsey may be removed, but enemies, in reality more bitter and determined, will remain, nay still flourish and rise in royal favour.

It will be remembered that abroad, Hackett, the British ambassador, had been affronted at Antwerp, and resenting the indignity, had, in April, conveyed the intelligence to England. In the same month, at home; Tunstal was again busy at his last year’s employment, and firmly pushing his victims to abjure. He seems as though he had resolved that the spring of the year should be so distinguished, and happy would he have been to have rooted up the seed sown by other hands; but this season the number of persons caught was comparatively few. Last year, Hacker, and Pykas, and Tyball had sadly fallen, by exposing so many of their friends, but happily no one now followed their example. Among those who were examined, the most eminent was a respectable citizen and leather-merchant of London, John Tewksbury. His case was the more interesting from his having possessed a manuscript copy of the Bible, and his openly deporting that he had been studying in the holy Scriptures from the year 1512. He professed, however, that he had been brought to the knowledge of the truth by the reading of “Tyndale’s New Testament,” and his subsequent publication or exposition of the Parable of the Wicked Mammon. “In the doctrine of justification,” says John Foxe, “and all other articles of his faith, he was very expert and prompt in his answers, in such sort as Tunstal and all his learned men were ashamed, that a leather-seller should so dispute with them, with such power of the Scriptures, and heavenly wisdom, that they were not able to resist him,” The number of Bishops presiding at the examination of this good man, proves at once the importance of his case, and the extent to which their alarm and hatred had now gone. Besides Tunstal himself, there was West of Ely, and Clark of Bath, with Standish of St. Asaph, and Longland of Lincoln. These men had the truth told them on this occasion, and were even warned. Amongst other things, Tewksbury had the boldness to say,-“ I pray God that the condemnation of the Gospel and translation of the Testament, be not to your shame, and that ye be not in peril for it.” They continued disputing with him day after day, for more than eight or ten days together; his first appearance being on the 13th of April. At last he abjured, though, like Bilney, only for the present.

As old Thomas Fuller said-“It takes more to make a valiant man, than being able to call another coward,” though in reporting such abjurations, one cannot but revert to the first grand and public recantation of Barnes, at St. Paul’s. He might, before that year ended, be selling New Testaments confidentially, and in private, but this could never compensate for the mischief he had done, by his great and sad failure. Its influence must have been yet felt, in preventing that bold decision which would have been followed by the crown of martyrdom. Thus, this worthy man Tewksbury only required another to precede him, in the year 1531, when we shall find him gather courage, deeply repent, and follow with great and determined courage to the stake.

How criminal was that man, who, with cool deliberation, thus spent his days in laying a snare, or in weaving a net for the feet of these saints! By him, indeed, they were not put to death; they were left by him for Stokesly to butcher, though the guilt of this righteous blood must ever rest upon Tunstal, as well as his successor.

But again, and that a third, if not the fourth time, a gracious Providence interposed. This, too, was about the very same month as in the two preceding years; not by disease, indeed, as last year, but by a method as effectual, the occupation of Tunstal abroad. In 1526 the authorities were scattered by prevailing sickness. In 1527 they were so again by political affairs. In 1528 they were scared, as we have seen, by the “Sudor Angicus, and this year they are again diverted from their prey by pressing affairs of state. These men could discern some of the signs of the times, but they could not, or rather would not, observe the finger of God.

Tunstal, cool and fresh, was ready to engage whenever state policy demanded his services; and the proof of his being as yet the leading persecutor of the truth, is plainly seen in this, that when once he departed, the storm in a great degree subsided. In a very short time, however, far from forgetting Tyndale’s operations, we shall find him fully as busy, in another way, abroad, as he had been at home.

On the 30th of June, he and Sir Thomas More, with Dr. Knight, the King’s Secretary, received their commissions, and left England for Cambray, where the treaty of Madrid was to be finally settled, and there Hackett met them. Altogether they watched over their own King’s interest, so far as it was involved in the treaty of Cambray; remaining in attendance till the 5th of August, when, what was called “the Women’s or the Ladies’ peace,” was finally concluded. It has, however, been but seldom observed, that at the same time and place, another treaty was signed, betwixt our King and the Lady Margaret, in the name of the Emperor; Tunstal, More, and Hackett, being the commissioners. It embraced “the continuation of traffic for merchants between the two countries, and the forbidding to print or sell any Lutheran books on either side.”f43 Thus it is that we are introduced, very naturally, to the period when Tunstal’s zeal for the burning of the Scriptures emphatically began to display itself. No doubt he, as well as the Bishop of Norwich, had cheerfully borne his share of the first purchase by Warham in 1527; but he was eager to seize this fine and favourable opportunity of proving his own zeal. He was now in the north of France, and could easily take Antwerp on his way home. With three such men, all equally hostile, the subject of heretical books must have been fully canvassed, involved as they were in a formal treaty. The first was bent on burning them; he had licensed the second to read them, only that he might write them down, and his first production, written in 1528, had just come out as he left London; and as for the third, John Hackett, he had first suggested both burning and persecution, and not as yet succeeded to the extent of his wishes; though it was only four months since he had been affronted at Antwerp, and so deeply felt the indignity. The high privileges of Antwerp, however, remained inviolate, for they had been fully and expressly recognised in the recent treaty, as well as those of all the other Hanse Towns under the Emperor’s sway. No choice being thus left, as to the mode of procedure, the policy of purchasing books in order to burn them, and thus prevent progress, was discussed. This, indeed, might ultimately promote the cause they desired to damage, and More shrewdly suspected it certainly would. “So much,” said he to George Constantyne, afterwards, “so much I told the Bishop, before he went about it.” Tunstal’s zeal, however, could not thus be quenched. Knight proceeded to Italy on the King’s business; More returned home; Tunstal went by way of Antwerp, and there meeting one Packington, a merchant of London, expressed to him his desire to obtain all the English New Testaments. Packington assured him he could buy up for him every copy that remained unsold. Tunstal agreeing to pay the necessary cost, the merchant, who was a secret friend of Tyndale, went direct to him and purchased the whole stock on his hands, “and so,” says the old chronicler Halle, “the Bishop had the books-Packington had the thanks-and Tyndale had the money.” Thus provided, our Translator was enabled to correct his version and print a larger edition, which soon after, continues Halle, “came thick and threefold over into England.” The books purchased by Tunstal were sent home, but they were not committed to the flames till it could be done with the greatest effect.

Tunstal and More having both returned to London, the proceedings at Cambray were reported and highly approved. Before Sir Thomas was sent into France, the King had sounded him as to the divorce. He was then opposed to it, and as much so now; but as he had succeeded to admiration in procuring more money from the Emperor than had been expected, and Henry might anticipate that, llke most men, he only had his price, and would come round, he was about to elevate him to the Chancellorship.

Cardinal Wolsey and Sir Thomas More had never cordially agreed, for in many points they were perfect contrasts. Under the auspices of the latter, amiable in domestic life, having no thirst for pomp or display, and superior to the love of money, some great change was at hand. A new order of things, whatever that might be, was inevitable.

Throughout this last year of his declining influence, vexations in quick succession awaited the Cardinal. About May he had wished to proceed once more into France, upon a mission to Cambray, (on which we have found that Tunstal and More were sent in June,) but the King pointedly refused, as he could no longer confide in him. Again, Sir T. Cheney, for having in some way offended the Cardinal, had been excluded from the Court, when Lady Anne Boleyn interposed and secured his return, whether Wolsey would or not. But finally, and as if to crown all, and after we have witnessed how eager he had been to apprehend Tyndale, he must be brought in contact with one of his publications. The story, in full, is to be found in Foxe’s manuscripts, now in the Museum, and it has been quoted by Strype. Lady Anne Boleyn had been in possession of a copy of Tyndale’s “Obedience of a Christian man,” for though the time drew nigh, it had not then been pointedly condemned by Royal authority. She had lent this book to one of her female attendants, named Gainsford; but one day as she was reading it, a young gentleman, also in the service of Lady Anne, Mr. Zouch, father to the knight afterwards of that name, snatched the book away, and was very unwilling to restore it. He had been induced to read it, and was so affected, that, as the story goes, “he was never well but when he was reading of that book.” Wolsey had ordered all about the Court to take special care, and prevent such writings from being circulated there, lest they should chance to come into the hands of the King; but this very caution proved the means of bringing to pass what he most dreaded! The Dean of the Chapel Royal, Dr. Sampson, saw this publication in the young man’s hands, who was reading it in the chapel, not improbably tired of the unmeaning service. Calling Zouch, he took the publication from him, and delivered it to the Cardinal. In the meantime, Lady Anne, inquiring for her book, the attendant, fearful lest her Mistress, as well as herself, should come into trouble, fell on her knees, and told her all the circumstances. Her Mistress expressed no displeasure with the parties in her service, but replied with emotion,-“W ell, it shall be the dearest book that ever the Dean or the Cardinal took away.” Lady Anne forthwith applied to Henry, and upon her knees, “desired the King’s help for her book.” Upon the King’s token it was delivered up, and Lady Anne carrying the volume or tract to his Majesty, requested that he would read it. The King did so, and professing to be pleased with the contents, added, “This book is for me, and all kings, to read.”

This story is fully confirmed by Wyatt, with some slight variation. Lady Anne “was but newly come from the King, when the Cardinal came in with the book in his hands, to make complaints of certain points in it, that he knew the King would not like, and withal to take occasion with him, against those that countenanced such books in general, and especially women; and as might be thought, with mind to go farther against Lady Anne more directly, if he had perceived the King agreeable to his meaning.

But the King, that somewhat before distasted the Cardinal, finding the notes Lady Anne had made, all turned the more to hasten his ruin, which was also furthered on all sides.”

This incident therefore must, in substance, have occurred; although Foxe goes on to build by far too much upon it. The words, in Henry’s mouth, were probably nothing more than a compliment to the lady; or at best, they expressed only a transient feeling, similar to one of old, in the mind of King Herod towards John the Baptist. But be this as it might, Campeggio was off to Italy, and the sun of royal favour had set upon Wolsey for ever.

There had been no Parliament held since 1523! These were troublesome assemblies, and had by no means suited the speed of Wolsey’s chariot wheels; so that now, when such an assembly as had not been convened for six years, was about to deliberate, very much will depend upon the general spirit and temper of the new Lord Chancellor. All things had been regulated by that strange anomaly,-Legantine authority: they were now to be discussed professedly by a legislative Assembly of Lords and Commons, so that some change, for better or worse, must await the country.

On Wednesday the 3rd of November, at the Chamber in Black-friars, Parliament met; when Lord Chancellor More, in his eloquent oration, gave the first overtures of the King’s intentions. The Cardinal’s fall,-the state of the Church,-and the “new learning,” formed the pith of this opening speech. The King was present when the Cardinal was glanced at, and in no courteous terms. It was only sixteen days since he had been sent to Esher, and the orator had only been chosen in his room ten days before; yet, along with a fulsome compliment to Henry, as having “seen through him, both within and without,” though Wolsey had so often led him as a child; Sir Thomas having compared Henry VIII. to a shepherd , and his people to flock, then referred to “the great wether which is of late fallen, as ye all know,”-“ who so craftily, yea, and so untruly juggled with the King!”

There was truth here, unquestionably; but though such language from a judge, from a Lord Chancellor, referring to his predecessor, might pass in those days, in later times it would, of course, have been regarded as the height of indecency. It was much worse, when it is remembered, that though the great seal had been taken from Wolsey, still he had been summoned to attend this Parliament, and actually sat in the House after this among his peers, when the Bills were discussing during November. But it becomes a great deal more difficult to characterise this false and fulsome compliment to Henry’s sagacity, when it is observed, that only on the Monday week before this, or the 25th of October, when first brought into Chancery, where the King was not present, More, though alluding to Wolsey’s fall, had spoken in a far different style. “And now,” said he, “when I look on this seat, and recollect how great persons have filled it before me,-when I contemplate who sat in it last,-a man of such singular wisdom, such skill in business, blest with such long and prosperous fortune, and visited at last with so high and inglorious a fall, I cannot but see the difficulty of my situation. For it is difficult to succeed with approbation, to one of such genius, wisdom, authority, ann splendour, or to trace his footsteps with an equal pace. It seems as if we should light a taper, after gazing on the setting sun!” More might say that he eulogised only Wolsey’s talents, and blamed his want of integrity; but his whole procedure was unworthy of himself, nor can it ever be justified, much less admired.

As for the various subjects then styled ecclesiastical, they were incorporated or interwoven with civil affairs. The abuses, says Herbert, having now come at last to the King’s knowledge, he remitted their redress to the Lower House of Parliament. The Mortuaries, or the exactions from the children of deceased parents,-the enormous expense of Probates, or proofs, or wills, -Pluralities to the extent of eight or ten livings, engrossed by one man,-abounding nonresidence,-Priests being Surveyors, Stewards of estates, Farmers, and Graziers in every county,-Priors, and other ecclesiastics, being the buyers and sellers of Wool, of Cloth, and all kinds of merchandise. Such were the grievances then to be redressed.

Three bills were therefore drawn up, by the appointment of the Burgesses of Parliament,-the first relating to Mortuaries, the second to Probates, and the third embracing all the other evils.

The first, when seat up to the Lords, was rather courteously received; the second, concerning Probates, followed in two days; but on this, Warham, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and all the other bishops, frowned. Fisher, the Bishop of Rochester, spoke with greatest violence and warmth. In the parliament chamber, says the contemporary chronicler, he said openly these words,-‘‘ My Lords, you see daily what bills come hither from the Common house, and all is to the destruction of the Church; see what a realm the kingdom of Bohemia was, and when the Church went down, then fell the glory of the kingdom,-now with the Commons is nothing but down with the Church,-and alt this, me seemeth, is for lack of faith only.”

These last expressions once reported to the Commons, they sent their Speaker, Sir Thomas Audtey, with thirty members, to the King. Henry, also dissatisfied, promised to call for the Bishop, and send them reply.

Accordingly, Warham and six of his brethren, besides Fisher, had to appear, when the latter apologised, saying, he meant “the doings of the Bohemians were for lack of faith.” The King received his representation, but the Commons were still by no means satisfied with this “blind excuse.”

After this, the Commons referred to the laws and constitutions of the Church, as enforcing these bills, but the “Spiritu ality” defended the existing state of things by “presumption and usage.” One commoner, a gentleman of Gray’s Inn, had the courage to reply,-“ The usage hath ever been of thieves, to rob on Shooter’s hill, ergo-is it lawful?” Of course very great offence was taken at the comparison, as if the fees for Probates were to be considered robbery. The Commons stood firm, and the temporal Lords began to lean to their side, but the bills could not yet pass.

Meanwhile the Lords assented to a bill of their own, and sent it down to the Commons, which will remind the reader of years gone by, as it referred to measures introduced by Wolsey, and ultimately supported by the present Chancellor, then Speaker of the House of Commons. This was a bill releasing the King of all such sums as he had borrowed from his subjects, in the fifteenth year of his reign. The measure, of course, was felt severely by the Commons, and the more so, as it would render them unpopular with their constituents; but as the majority of members were the King’s servants, and others were gained over, the bill passed.

By way of gratitude in return, the King granted, with certain exceptions, a general pardon of offences, and aiding the Commons for the redress of their grievances, he caused two new bills to be presented afresh to the Lords, to which they at last assented, although that in reference to the probate of wills was peculiarly offensive to the Bishops.

The Commons then sent up their third bill, in reference to pluralities, nonresidence, farming, &c. At this the Priests not only railed on the Commons as heretics, but the Bishops, in the Upper Rouse, says Hall,” would in no ways consent.” At last the King interposed. Causing eight members from each House to meet and confer in the Star Chamber, the Temporal Lords present united with the Commons, and next day the bill, somewhat qualified, passed into a law.

Before this Parliament was prorogued, on the 17th of December, there was one other measure respecting which there was no dissension among the Bishops, nor any division between the two Houses, and this was how to deal with the new learning come into the land. “It had been,” says Lord Herbert, “secretly admitted into many places of this kingdom with much approbation, so that even the most ignorant began to examine whether the errors then ordinarily controverted, did belong to the doctrine or the government of the Church.” This subject, it should be remembered, had been noticed among the “overtures of the King’s intentions,” in this short session, and whether suggested by the new Chancellor, must appear by what followed. Sir Thomas More might smile at Tunstal’s simplicity, in having purchased books at Antwerp to burn them in London, by and by; but at the same time, whatever his pen or his power could do, was now to be employed against the authors and the possessors of all such publications. With his pen he had been busy ever since he was licensed, in March last year; and now, as Lord Chancellor, he will enjoy the gratification of employing his power, and immediately upon his entrance into office.

Sir Thomas More has certainly been fortunate, even to a proverb, in his biographers. At once the pride and the pet of the literary world, they have drawn his character on this principle-that “what offends the eye in a good picture, the painter casts discreetly into shades;” so that any writer laid under the necessity of bringing to light the generally concealed features of the man, must run the risk of being charged with a sin against taste. It is, however, chiefly with his official character, and as the opponent of Tyndale and Fryth, that we have here to do. His official movements against them are matter of history, and as for his sentiments and feelings, there is no necessity for calling witnesses to prove what they were. Plentifully were they expressed by himself, through many folio pages.

Wolsey being degraded, had the spirit of persecution rested only in his breast as Prime Minister, of course it must now have abated under his successor, Notwithstanding, therefore, the prodigious faults of the fallen Cardinal, let us inquire, and render him impartial justice.

It must have been observed, that the criminal charges preferred against Wolsey by the Lords, were presented to the King, with More at their head; and that the 43rd article included these words,-“Besides all his other heinous offences, the said Lord Cardinal hath been the impeacher and disturber of due and direct correction of heresies, being highly to the danger and peril of the whole body and good Christian people of this realm.” The neglect of Warham’s letter was now no doubt remembered; but they specially referred to Wolsey’s inhibiting the Bishops who desired to repair to Cambridge, in 1523, for the correction of such errors as were said to reign among the students and scholars there; in consequence of which, they now affirmed, these errors had “crept more abroad, and took greater place.” This was a charge which, when the whole article is read, evidently came warm from the heart of all the prelates who were present; and Wolsey, in various instances, certainly had not allowed them to run riot, to the extent they demanded; his own interests, at the moment, forbidding the gratification of their malice. The loftier flight of his own personal ambition had so engrossed his mind, that the fiery and unmitigable zeal of these men must have frequently been felt by him as an annoyance, retarding his progress; and now, that he is to be crushed, they were rejoicing in hope of other days under his successor-better in their estimation, but bitter days and nights to those who either stood in their, way, or dared to oppose them.

As it regarded, therefore, what the Bishops longed so much to enjoy-“the direct correction of heresies,” the reader will bear in mind the embassy on which More with Tunstal had been lately sent; but more especially the closing treaty at Cambray, which they had arranged and signed. It was the first amicable arrangement of any kind, between the Emperor and Henry, for a considerable time past. Charles, before this period, had twice issued what were styled “ Placards” throughout his dominions, and, in fulfilment, it seems, of this treaty, on the 14th of October he had issued a third. By this, all those who had relapsed after abjuration, were to be burnt-as for others, men were to die by the sword-women to be buried alive! All were warned against receiving any heretic to their houses, on pain of death and confiscation of goods! Suspected persons were to receive no honourable employment; and, in order to find out heretics, one-half of their estates was promised to informers!

Was there then no echo in England to this ferocious placard? or did More and Tunstal pay no regard to the treaty they had signed? So far from this, the subject was one to which both immediately bent all their energies. For months past, indeed, the pen of More, dipped in gall, had been busy on the subject of suppressing heresy; arguing for persecution unto death, in his strange and characteristic “Dialogue;” and the first time he opens his mouth in Parliament as Chancellor, he has it among the overtures of the King’s intentions, His appearance in print, since the month of June, as the determined opponent of Tyndale, had fully shown the man, for five months before his elevation to the Great Seal; and the spirit now displayed by him, afforded no comfortable prospect for those who had espoused the truth, and were promoting its diffusion at great hazard and expense. “As soon,” says Burnet, “as More came into favour, he pressed the King much, to put the laws against heretics in execution, and suggested that the Court of Rome would be more wrought upon by the King’s supporting the Church, and defending the faith vigorously, than by threatenings: and, therefore, a long proclamation was issued out against the heretics, many of their books were prohibited, and all the laws against them were appointed to be put in execution, and great care was taken to seize them as they came into England.” f46 The facts of the case may be more distinctly stated. Tunstal, as well as More, must perform his part; and Warham also, now that Wolsey is out of the way, has no objections to go all lengths with his fellows. Accordingly, before the opening of this Parliament, the Convocation had been summoned to meet. They did so on the 5th of November, when at their first meeting a reformation of abuses was proposed; and with that an inquiry was made concerning heretical books. A Committee of Bishops was appointed with relation to heretics. On the 19th of December, two days after Parliament had risen, secrecy was enjoined, and again a second time, on pain of excommunication, so eager were they to catch the prey. They closed their Convocation on the 24th, or a week after Parliament, and then came out that proclamation which, as Foxe says, was made throughout all England, the year of our Lord 1529, and the 21st year of Henry VIII.; commencing, “The King our Sovereign Lord,” &c.-“The Bishops,” he tells us, “were the procurers of this fierce and terrible proclamation, devised and set out in the King’s name;” but there can be no question that the Chancellor’s influence was united with theirs in this matter. Indeed, the style in several places will show, that it must have been their joint production. More and Tunstal, no doubt, drew it up; and as the Chancellor’s hand is so visible throughout, this consequently may be regarded as about the first of his official papers. Having first forbidden all preaching, teaching, or writing any thing contrary to the doctrine of Holy Church, inflicting fines for the first offence, and death for relapse after abjuration, it proceeds to prohibit under high penalties the “selling, receiving, taking or detaining any book or work printed or written against the faith Catholic,-the decrees, laws, and ordinances of Holy Church.” That no man might plead ignorance, a list of the books restrained or forbidden was also published. Of the twenty-four in English, eight were by Tyndale and one by Fryth. “The Bishops,” says Foxe, “had that now which they would have; neither did there lack, on their part, any study unapplied, any stone unremoved, any corner unsearched, for the diligent execution of the same.”

Here, then, we have the first Royal proclamation interdicting printed books, and pursuing the importers, the possessors, or authors of them, to death by fire. This was one of the first fruits of the new administration, and it marks the present period as an era in the history of persecution for conscience’ sake; since the government of the country, that is, the King and his Council, were now fully committed. The only formal public instruments hitherto issued, were the injunctions of Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Tunstal, Bishop of London, in the close of 1526; and up to December 1529, this persecution had been an affair of the “Spirituality” alone. The King, it is true, had approved of what they did in 1526, and, before then, was himself writing to the Netherlands, and eager about the burning of books. But his name as Sovereign had never, till this period, been employed to strike terror into the hearts of his own subjects, to make heresy and treason convertible terms, and lay the entire civil power at the feet of the Bishops.

Wolsey, unquestionably, had great influence over his Majesty, but he had never employed it in persuading him thus publicly and personally to embrue his hands in the blood of his subjects on English ground; this was reserved to distinguish the administration of Sir Thomas More; so that the chief redeeming point in the character of the lofty and overbearing Cardinal, must stand in contrast with the greatest blot in that of his unostentatious and learned successor.

Oh, when writing his Utopia, in earlier life, or, as Sir James Mackintosh has described it, “his admirable discussions on criminal law, his forcible objections to capital punishment for offences against property, his remarks on the tendency of the practice of inflicting needless suffering on animals, in weakening compassion and affection towards our fellow-men,” and his extraordinary latitude of toleration as to the mind; had any one said to him-“I know the evil and the cruelty thou wilt yet inflict on the people around you,”-would he not have replied, “What! is thy servant a dog that he should do this thing?” But now, it seems the only answer might have been, “Thou shalt, one day, be Lord Chancellor of England,” and then-!

But before then, and only just before, he had himself already given a fearful omen to his country, of what might have been anticipated from his administration. His appearance this year as a controversialist must have been hailed by the entire hierarchy, licensed or hired as he had been by high prelatical authority; and certainly the English language had never been so prostituted before he took up his pen. Even in the eulogised “Utopia” of his early days, it should never be forgotten that he there stood forth, more than insinuating the lawfulness of suicide; and now, alas, he must appear as regarding with equal indifference the blood of others. The proclamation already quoted, which was to be read throughout all the land, was in him but the natural result of the sentiments he had already expressed in print; and now the civil authority, from the Lord Chancellor of England down to the lowest Bailiff of a burgh town, bound, by oath, must make official inquiry after “heretics.” “The prelates,” he had already said, in print, “ought temporally to destroy those ravenous wolves; they were by grievous punishment to be repressed in the beginning, and the sparkle well quenched, ere it was suffered to grow to over great a fire!” But once in possession of power, the mace as well as the pen must be employed to prevent the progress of the “new learning;” so that if Wolsey had chastised the people with whips, More, as led by these Bishops, seems determined to do so with scorpions.

And what was the existing condition of this prelatical cause, which the new Lord Chancellor was so eager to defend and maintain? It consisted mainly of priests, and according to his own admission in his “ Dialogue,”-“ he wot well that many were very lewd and naught,”-but “let the priest be never so vicious, and so impenitent, and so far from all purpose of amendment, that his prayers are rejected and abhorred; yet the profit of his mass was to every one else, just as good as if he were the most virtuous man!” And again,-“If the Church say one thing, and the Holy Scriptures another thing, the faith of the Church is to be taken as the word of God, as well as the Scripture, and therefore to be believed.” These are a few of his own express words; but no solitary selected expressions can convey an adequate idea of the virulence, not to say the verbosity and fallacidus reasoning of this writer. It certainly would exhaust the patience of most readers, in the present day, to wade through his folio “Dialogue.” Such was, in part, the state of things in England at the close of this year and commencement of the next. It was purely with a view to enlighten and bless his country and to deliver it from thraldom, that Tyndale had hitherto laboured, assailing only what was positively sinful, and worthy of destruction. No English writer had drawn his pen against him till this summer, when Sir Thomas More put forth his laborious “Dialogue.”

Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament he had severely condemned, artfully approving of a NEW translation, to meet the pressure from without,-a translation of course by the Bishops; one of which Crammer said about eight years after this, that he had no idea of its being accomplished “till one day after Doomsday.”

No choice therefore was now left to Tyndale, but to encounter this “ornament of the Pontifical chair,”-“ one of the greatest prodigies of wit and learning,” according to Anthony Wood, “that this nation ever before his time had produced.” Tyndale, however, entertained no fear of him, and he will not long remain without a sufficient answer. On the whole, it is now evident that this had been a most busy season, nor is it difficult to perceive the occasion or cause of all the turmoil. For while the “nether house of parliament,” as Foxe calls it, had been “communing of their griefs wherewith the spirituality had before time grievously oppressed them;” the Convocation had been communing also, with mingled grief and indignation, over the “new learning” come into the land. Some might say that the hand of Tyndale was in all this, and in one sense it was, but then he was not in the country. Properly speaking, the commotion is to be ascribed to the Word of God, however denounced, which he had translated, and sent home, to fight its own way.

Before the close of this year, however, if we look abroad once more, we are cheered by observing that the great cause went on. The Government at home had been absorbed in human legislation, and confounded by its perplexities. All the while, Tyndale had been diligent in preparing more of the Divine law for his countrymen, and it will be home presently. He had been employing the press at Marburg, but had left it himself, for Antwerp, as already explained, it is in reference to this period that we find a statement by John Foxe, that minding to print his translation of Deuteronomy at Hamburg, Tyndale went thither this year and met Miles Coverdale by appointment, who helped him to translate the whole Pentateuch. Now Coverdale might have gone to Hamburg by appointment of some one, but that he met our Translator there cannot be proved, nor is there any evidence to show that Tyndale ever was at Hamburg after 1524.

Certain it is that Coverdale afforded no assistance in translating from the Hebrew, as two years after this, he confesses his own incompetence for such a task. Whatever aid Tyndale had in preparing the Pentateuch was derived from Fryth. Of any meeting with Coverdale, Tyndale gives not the slightest hint; nor in the whole of his writings, or those of Fryth, is there a shadow of reference to Coverdale, more than if he had never existed.

In conclusion of this year, we have been, and will continue to be, cautious of admitting into these pages any loose conjecture. But after all that we have read, it would be difficult to believe that the Antwerp press had stood still, either last year or the present. An edition of Tyndale’s Testament has been long assigned to about this period, though we are not able to fix it, by adducing such curious evidence as in preceding cases. Hackett, however, as carly as May 1527, has hinted at as many as 2000 having been for sale at Frankfort; and Joye affirms that the Dutch, as he calls them, had printed if, a third time. We may, therefore, with all safety, put down another, or the fifth edition, to 1529. It is quite possible that there might have been one last year, as well as this; but, at all events, Tyndale himself will reprint his Testament next year. 1530.

Tyndale’s Progress In The Old Testament-Practice Of Prelates-Persecution Goes On-King And Prelates Denounce The Scriptures-Latimer’s Bold Remonsteance-New Testaments Burnt-Another, The Sixth Edition-Vigorous Importation-Death Of S. Fyshe.

WE have come to a more noted period in our Translator’s eventful life.

From the variety and importance of his publications which had now appeared in print, it is evident that the past and the present had been years of great and incessant activity on his part; nor were his opponents less active. The bench of Bishops, now headed by the civil power, were firmly leagued together, and arrayed against him. Considering all that Tyndale already knew, it is quite apparent from his writings, that he had, long before this time, been prepared in spirit for martyrdom. Resolved to tell the whole truth, and, as far as he knew, nothing but the truth, his path lay right before him. When pressed out of measure, he might and did seek for quiet and safety, that he might pursue his work; but he was of one mind-and no peril, no prospect of danger, could turn him. Depending on the sword of the Spirit for success, and feeling, as he had translated, that “the wrath of the God of heaven appeareth against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who withhold the truth in unrighteousness,” he must have resolved to suppress nothing, or sooner “die upon his shield,”-a better than that of the ancient warrior, because the shield of faith.

Tyndale’s translations of the five books of Moses were soon in circulation through his native country. His treatise entitled “The Practice of Prelates,” was also this year in England; and his “Answer to the Dialogue of Sir Thomas More,” will follow. After disposing of Wolsey and the prelates in general, he had taken up the production of Wolsey’s successor in office.

Two Lords Chancellor against one poor expatriated Exile, might seem to be fearful odds, but time will show who gained the victory.

That portion of the Sacred Volume now sent into England, has frequently been referred to by previous authors, as being “the first edition of Tyndale’s Pentateuch;” but that this is incorrect, will at once appear from the following collation.

Genesis, in black letter, 76 leaves, with this colophon at the end, “Emprented at Marlborow, in the land of Hesse, by me, Hans Luft, the yere of onr Lorde, M.D. XXX., the xvii dayes of Januarii.” Exodus, in roman letter, 76 leaves; Leviticus, roman letter, 52 leaves; Numbers, in black letter, 67 leaves; Deuteronomy, in roman letter, 63 leaves. There is a separate title and a prologue to each book; at the end of Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy, and at the beginning of Numbers, are tables expounding certain words. There are a few notes in the margins, and throughout the whole, ten wooden cuts. There is no colophon or date, except that already given, attached to Genesis. From all this, but especially from inspection, it is evident that these five books were printed at separate presses; Genesis for certain, and probably Numbers, at Marburg. Deuteronomy, and for aught we know, Exodus and Leviticus, at Hamburg. That they were circulated at first, separately, in England, is evident, because they were thus distinctly denounced; first. Genesis and Deuteronomy, and then the whole five books, but still distinctly noted. At the same time, when the whole were finished, Tyndale meant them to be bound together, as he then printed a general preface, which may have led to the popular description of “the Pentateuch, first edition.”

The rarity of these five books, entire, is almost equal to that of the first octavo New Testament of 1525. Only one pefect copy is known to exist which once belonged to Mr. Wilkinson, and is now in the Grenville Library, British Museum. The next best copy, as it has been completed, in the finest fac-simile, from the preceding, once belonged to Mr. Tutet. It was purchased at the sale of his books, by the late Mr. Heber, and from his collection by Mr. Grenville; who only seems to have parted with it, on obtaining his present unique perfect book. We know not what the perfect copy cost, but this second was advertised for sale in 1836, by Thorpe of London, at fifty guineas. Little did Tyndale imagine that, at the distance of more than three centuries, the labour of his hands would be so highly estimated.

Besides these two, all the other copies known to exist, are incomplete.

That in the Museum at Bristol, wants the book of Genesis; that iu Sion College, presented by Mr. Lewis, the book of Deuteronomy, and besides, the marginal notes are cut off, as directed by Act of Parliament in January 1543! The copy in the British Museum wants the first and last and two other leaves; the one at Cambridge is also imperfect. In the Bodleiau library at Oxford, there is a beautiful copy of Genesis alone.

Tyndale’s next publication was “The Practice of Prelates;” and, as far as it regards the subjects introduced, as well as the manner in which they are handled, it is, in some respects, the most remarkable of all his controversial writings. More than ever bent upon the emancipation of his country from mental bondage, he longed to see the throne established in righteousness; but he could entertain no hope of this until the power behind it, which had risen above the throne itself, was laid prostrate. “If that King of the grasshoppers,” said he, “which devoureth all that is green, were destroyed; then were the kingdom of our caterpillars at an end.” But it was when, in the same publication, he came down to what he styled “the practice of our time,” and “the cause of all that we have suffered these twenty years,” that Tyndale’s powerful sentences were so deeply felt. Other men, before this year was done, might sing a requiem over the grave of Wolsey; but before he died, this despised and unpatronised exile had already exposed to public view his entire policy; and withal, so ably, that it is still quoted by the best of our historians. By Burnet and Strype in former times; by Turner and Tytler in our own day.

Wolsey, it is true, was descending to the tomb, but what did that signify?

Sir Thomas More had just come into power. He had opened the first Parliament which had been held for years, and with what was said to be, an eloquent oration. What then must have been his surprise and regret, if not his indignation, to find the man whom he had laboured to overwhelm by his sophistry, and all the quip and merry turns in his “Dialogue,” reviewing this very session of Parliament, and the first bills that were passed under his administration? Exposing the proceedings as only so many strokes of policy, Tyndale showed that they had been merely clearing away the brushwood, or lopping the branches of a tree, which would grow again, while it ought to have been uprooted from the soil of England. “The root yet left behind, whence all that they have for a time weeded out, will spring again, by little and little, as before; if they, as their hope is, may stop this light of God’s word that is now abroad.” These few last words show the soul of our Translator. The authority of the Divine word was, in his mind, paramount to every other consideration, and this was the cause of his now speaking out so boldly; but it certainly was no common proof of talent and of an enlarged mind, that so early after Parliament rose, Tyndale should be able to send such a publication into England; embracing, as it did, not merely the corruption of past ages traced to its source, but the national doings of the day, down to the end of March in the present year, if not later.

One of the latest eulogists of Sir Thomas More is Sir James Mackintosh, and a more able and fascinating pen could not have been employed; but in his just indignation at the brutality of Henry in putting More to death, and his warm admiration of the Chancellor, he is not the first who has shot rather beyond the mark. “He was,” says he, “the first Englishman who signalised himself as an orator, the first writer of a prose which is still intelligible, and probably the first layman since the beginning of authentic history, who was Chancellor of England.”

It is not improbable that Sir James had never thought of looking into the pages of More’s opponent in controversy. Tyndale’s prose, however, in one sense, it must never be forgotten, has been read in Britain ever since, and that too “every Sabbath day;” for notwithstanding all the confessed improvements made on our translation of the Bible, large portions in almost every chapter still remain verbally the same as he first gave them to his country. In this, it is true, he was merely a translator, but then the style of his translation has stood the test of nearly ten generations. It has been their admiration all along, and it will continue to be admired while the language endures,.

But independently of his translation, the purity of his native language was maintained by Tyndale in as high a degree as by any of his contemporaries.

And even as to his opponent it may safely be questioned, if in the wide compass of More’s controversial writings there is one passage to be compared for pathos and simple beauty with the solemn appeal of Tyndale to his King and country, after Parliament and the Bishops had drawn the sword of persecution from its sheath, and placed it, naked, in the hands of their Sovereign. It will be found at the close of the “Practice of Prelates.”

By this tract did Tyndale prove, that he was intimately acquainted with all that was going on in England, up to the moment of his publication, as well as able to give sound advice; an evidence of such talent that Sir T. More could not but recognise it, two years afterwards, though he affects to despise the writer. “Then,” says he, “have we ‘the Practice of Prelates,’ wherein Tyndale had wente to have made a special show of his high worldly wit; and that men should have seen therein that there was nothing done among princes, but that he was fully advertised of all the secrets; and that so far forth, that he knew the privy practice made between the King’s highness, and the late Lord Cardinal, and the reverend father, Cuthbert, then Bishop of London, and me.” A facetious vein of style continued to be the favourite mode of Sir Thomas. Perhaps he preferred it for effect, or saw no necessity for any other; but Tyndale was ever in earnest, to the end.

As far as intelligent and skilful, though pungent, warning could go, Tyndale had nobly done his duty. He had fully exposed the once aspiring Cardinal, now sinking into ruin, and the enormous expense entailed on the country by his tortuous administration; he had faithfully warned his Sovereign, and put the country on its guard, as to the state persecution, which we have seen that the new Chancellor as well as the prelates had advised. Few men, if indeed any one of that age, could have written such an exposition of the times, as Tyndale had just given; and yet his labour for this year was not at an end. He had commenced his reply to Sir Thomas More’s “Dialogue,” and in the printed edition of his works it is said to have been made in 1530; but as it certainly did not appear in print till next year, we defer till then saying more of a production which Henry the VIII. was so eager to see, that a part of it at least was actually written out, by his Envoy in Brabant, and sent him for perusal before its publication. This, too, as we shall find, was done without Tyndale’s knowledge, and it is mentioned now simply as a proof of his powerful influence, as well as the interest attached to any thing which might come from his pen.

The virulent opposition now manifested to his translation of the Scriptures, and his other writings, could only refer to his publications before this year; so that what we are now going to relate, may be regarded as no slender testimony to their powerful effects upon his native country. As for the “Practice of Prelates,’’ as soon as it begins to be known and felt, we shall find other measures resorted to, besides that of denunciation in England.

The first person who excites notice in 1530, was that poor old and blind, literally blind man, the Bishop of Norwich once more. He felt sorely annoyed by the circulation and effects of these English books. Three years ago, he had contributed, with great good will, towards the purchase made by Warham, of Tyndale’s New Testaments,-a vain expedient, as might have been anticipated, to prevent their getting into the hands of the people. But he was as warm in the cause as ever, and in a letter to his friend the Archbishop, dated 14th May, 1530, he complains that it passeth his power to suppress the reading and believing of the New Testament;-that there are who say, “that the King’s pleasure is, the New Testament in English shall go forth, and men shall have it and read it; and from that opinion I can by no means turn them.” He therefore desires to know the King’s pleasure on the subject, “that a remedy may be had;” adding with respect to the readers, “If they continue any time, I think they shall undo us all.” f47 But there was no occasion for this miserable old man being so urgent.

Little did he know how deeply Warham and his brethren were impressed with the impending danger, if these books were not seized and burnt. The highest authorities were now all alive to the perils of the hierarchy. For some time, the united strength of the most able opponents in the ldngdom -Lord Chancellor More, Warham, Tunstal, and Gardiner,-had been employed in framing an authoritative list, of all the heresies detected in Tyndale’s writings, with a denunciation of them all. Tyndale’s name, too, in connexion with his New Testament and Pentateuch, was now still more distinctly branded, even by royal authority. These prelates and their assistants had contrived to find out about two hundred heretical sentences in only six publications, of which one hundred and seven were charged upon “Tyndale and Fryth.” A document enumerating these heresies, and condemning by name the various works in which they were found, was drawn up, and authorized at a Council held in the Palace of Westminster, 24th May, 1530, the King himself being present. In this paper “the Scriptures corrupted by William Tyndale, as well in the Old Testament as in the New,” is especially mentioned. There is added a “Bill in English to be published by the preachers,” urging the immediate delivery of these books “to the Superiors, such as call for them.” It is signed by three Notaries alone.

The original document, closely written on eight skins of parchment, may still be seen in the Library at Lambeth Palace. At the end there is an array of twenty names, pointing out the most noted persons present on this occasion, to which they add, “with many more learned men of the said Universities, in a great number assembled, then and there together witness to the premises required and adhibited.” But although the language employed was no doubt intended to convey the idea, it by no means follows, that they individually assented; far from it. A minority there was, we know from other sources, though we cannot give their names. More and Warham, Tunstal and Gardiner, the framers of the whole, besides others, of course cordially approved of every word; but Hugh Latimer was among the number present, and this has perplexed or misled more critics than one. Perhaps he had no business to be there, however anxious to know what was going on; but the occasion of his being in such bad company admits of explanation, after which he will appear in his noblest character.

Latimer had been preaching, ever since he saw Wolsey at Whitehall, and before then he had argued for the Scriptures being given to all. For some time, also, before the present period, it had been in his favour, that his old opponent, West, the Bishop of Ely, took part with Queen Catherine, and was one of her Advocates. Henry, eager to have the assent of the University of Cambridge to his divorce, had sent down Dr. Butts, the physician, to promote this object. Latimer, whatever may be said, approved of the divorce, and, therefore, so pleased if not aided the Doctor, that he invited him to accompany him to London. Introducing him to the King, he had been officiating before him at Windsor in the month of March. In the afternoon of Sunday the 27th, while Latimer was preaching, the Vice- Chancellor of Cambridge, Dr. William Buckmaster, arrived with the University’s letters for his Majesty. The King was not altogether satisfied with their decisions, but Latimer was already high in favour. “At afternoon,” says Buckmaster to himself, “I came to Windsor, and also to part of Mr. Latimer’s sermon, and after the end of the same, I spake with Mr. Secretary-and so after evensong I delivered our letters in the chamber of presence, all the Lords beholding. His Highness gave me there great thanks, and talked with me a good while. But by and by, he greatly praised Mr. Latimer’s sermon, and, in so praising, said on this wise:-‘This displeaseth greatly Mr. Vice-Chancellor yonder. Yon same,’ said he unto the Duke of Norfolk, ‘is Mr. Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge,’ and so pointed to me.’’ The next day, after another conversation with Henry, the King having told him that he would have their final and a better decision, Buckmaster was dismissed home after Easter; but Latimer still remained, and continued preaching.

Meanwhile Warham’s party were already sitting in council at Westminster, and Latimer, not having left London, was present among others, on the 24th of May, but his account of the meeting afterwards was this. Referring his Majesty to that very day, he tells him, “As concerning your last proclamation, prohibiting such books, the very true cause of it, and chief counsellors were they, whose evil living and cloaked hypocrisy these books uttered and disclosed. And howbeit that (although) there were three or four that would have had the Scripture to go forth in English, yet it happened there, as it is evermore seen, that the most part overcometh the better; and so it might be that these men did not take this proclamation as yours, but as theirs, set forth in your name; as they have done many times more, which hath put this your realm in great hindrance and trouble, and brought it in great penury.”

These proceedings, says Burner, were printed in June, but when once they were sent forth through the country, so far from having assented to them, they proved the urgent motive to one of the noblest acts of Latimer’s varied life-his well known letter to Henry the VIII., of this year. In this letter, from which the words already quoted are taken, he pleads powerfully for liberty to “read the Holy Scripture in our mother tongue,” and spares neither Bishops or Chancellor, closing with an earnest prayer for, and solemn charge to, the King. “Wherefore I pray to God that your Grace may be found acceptable in His sight, and one of the members of His Church; and according to the office that He hath called your Grace unto, that you may be found a faithful minister of His gifts, and not a defender of His faith; for He will not have it defended by MAN, or man’s POWER, but by His Word only, by the which He hath evermore defended it; and that by a way far above man’s power or reason, as all the stories of the Bible make mention. “Wherefore, gracious King, remember yourself. Have pity upon your soul, and think that the day is even at hand when you shall give account of your office, and of the blood that hath been shed by your sword. In the which day, that your Grace may stand stedfastly, and be not ashamed, but be clear and ready in your reckoning, and to have, as they say, your quietus est sealed with the blood of our Saviour Christ, which only serveth at that day, is my daily prayer to Him that suffered death for our sins, which also prayeth to His Father for grace for us continually. To whom be all honour and praise for ever, Amen. The Spirit of God preserve your Grace. Anne Domini 1530, 1mo. die Decembris.”

Certainly no monarch was ever more pointedly addressed, or more seasonably and faithfully warned. It seems, therefore, unaccountable that Latimer should have ever been supposed to assent to such proceedings, merely because his name was mentioned as being present. The calumny, however, no doubt unwittingly, has been bound up, even with the reprint of Tyndale’s Blew Testament, in our own day. At that moment, indeed, the Bishops might think it fortunate to have such a name appended, but had they foreseen the result, it had never been there. Meanwhile, Latimer had done what he could to damage this Royal and prelatical Bull.

To return, however, to these Bishops as a body; having in May secured their object, in so far as a Royal proclamation could go, it seems to have been with a view to greater effect, that a second grand and more public book-fire was then determined. The first had been the result of Wolsey’s “secret search” in 1526; the present was the consequence of the negociation at Antwerp last year. Warham’s purchase in 1527 was disposed of, or consumed, without show; but Tunstal had reserved his books till now. Tyndale by name, and his translation, had both been branded by royal authority, and the Bishop, no doubt, thought it a fortunate moment for fulfilling his purpose. “I intend, surely,” said he at Antwerp, “to destroy them all, and to burn them at Paul’s Cross.”

Accordingly, says Halle, “this year in May, the Bishop of London” (formerly, now of Durham) “caused all his New Testaments which he had bought, with many other books, to be brought into Paul’s Church Yard, in London, and there were openly burned.” That Tunstal was acting for Stokesly, till his return from the Continent, and recording what was doing in the diocese till then, is evident from several documents at the close of his Register.

There was, however, a great difference between the effects of this burning, and that in the year 1526. Then the people, generally, were not aware of the value of what they saw consumed; but it was far otherwise now, and this alone is a proof that the cause of Divine Truth, which the Bishops would fain have crushed, was making decided progress. This burning “had such an hateful appearance in it, being generally called a burning of the Word of God, that people from thence concluded, there must be a visible contrariety between that book, and the doctrines of those who handled it; by which both their prejudice against the clergy, and their desire of reading the New Testament, was increased.”f49 In corroboration of this statement, it is certain that neither the purchase at Antwerp, nor the burning at Paul’s Cross, had any effect on the importations into this country, except the reverse of what was intended and desired by the enemy; and before long Tunstal himself was fully sensible of this. “Afterwards ,” says Halle, “when more New Testaments were imprinted, they came thick and threefold into England, the Bishop of London,” (now of Durham,) “hearing that still there were so many, sent for Augustine Packington, and said to him-‘Sir, how cometh this, that there are so many New Testaments abroad, and you promised and assured me that you had bought all!’ Then, said Packington-‘I promise you, I bought all that then was to be had; but I perceive they have made more since, and it will never be better, as long as they have the letters and stamps; therefore, it were best for your Lordship to buy the stamps too! and then you are sure.’ The Bishop smiled at aim, and said-‘ Well, Packington, well;’ and so ended the matter.”

And so, perhaps, ended the devloe of purchasing books in order to burn them; but it will not be long before we find these enemies proceed to men themselves, and, with a bitter zeal, still more inflamed, consign them to the fire; for very soon after this, seizing and burning men instead of their productions, or the books in their possession, became the order of the day.

But it is with books we have now to do, and there is no doubt that while Wolsey was descending to the devouring grave, and the Bishops, with the King at their head, were imagining a vain thing, the printing press was as busy as ever. Another edition of Tyndale’s New Testament was executed this year, and it is the more worthy of notice, that there appears to have been a positive connexion between him and it. The author is perfectly aware that the edition of 1534 has been styled the second genuine edition of Tyndale, but so many mistakes have been detected already, that one need not feel any surprise if this should prove another.

It has, indeed, been often stated, that with the money received from Tunstal, Tyndale reprinted the New Testament, and Hamburg has also been mentioned as the place where one edition was printed. But whether it was executed there or elsewhere, of his having now printed an edition, though he had no time as yet to revise the version, there can be little or no doubt, Foxe, and Strype, and Tanner expressly assign this edition to Tyndale, the last stating Marburg as the place of printing. But there are corroborating circumstances as to the book itself. It is not till the close of this year, or rather the following spring, that we hear of Tyndale having a brother, and resident in London; and if the records of the Star Chamber are to be received as evidence, it is there distinctly stated, that he “sent the Testaments, and divers other books, to his brother, John Tyndale, a merchant in London.” This impression, too, has been pronounced to be more correct than the Antwerp editions, at least so said the late Bishop Tomline: and when we come to John’s apprehension and appearance before Sir Thomas More, as well as the importations by Richard Bayfield, little doubt will remain as to this reprint coming from the original translator, although he had not found leisure as yet to improve the translation.

About the end of this year an incident occurred, which may seem unaccountable, as out of keeping with the usual current of events; were it not that the capricious temper of the monarch admitted both of words and actions, directly at variance with each other. Mr. Fyshe, the author of “The Supplication of Beggars,” we found had been in London in the summer of 1526, as well as in 1528; and, according to his wife’s representation, in Foxe, “he had been absent now the space of two years and a half.” His tract, as we have seen, had interested Henry, when first he saw it in 1526; and this excellent woman having gained access to the King, he engaged that her husband should “come and go safe, without peril, and that no man should do him harm,” if she brought him to the royal presence.

Emboldened by the King’s words, she went and brought him. His Majesty conversed with him, it is said, for above three hours, and, in the end, desired him to take his wife home, for she had taken great pains for him.

Fyshe had fled formerly for fear of the Cardinal, and now he replied-“ He durst not so do, for fear of Sir Thomas More the Chancellor, and Stokesly the Bishop of London.” The King, taking the signet from his finger, recommended him to the Lord Chancellor, charging him not to molest him.

More received the signet as a sufficient safe-guard, of course, but inquired if he had any discharge for his wife? She had displeased the friars, by not allowing them to say their Gospels in Latin in her house, as they did in others, and insisted that they should say them in English. Ne xt morning, More actually sent his man for her, but her young daughter being sick of the plague, prevented his approach, as well as any farther molestation.

Within six months after this, Mr. Fyshe himself died of the same disease, and was interred in St. Dunstan’s, the very same church where Tyndale had been accustomed to preach in 1523. The Chancellor, in his loose and mendacious style, represented hint as recanting before he died, of which there is not the slightest evidence. His widow was afterwards married to a gentleman of the same profession as her first husband, Mr. Baynham, of whom we shall hear before long f50 1531.

Formidable Opposition-Pursuit After Tyndale By The King And Crumwell-Still In Vain-Tyndale’s Answer To Sir T. More-Epistle Of John Expounded-Jonah, With A Prologue-Renewed Persecution- Brother Of Tyndale-Bilney-Bayfield-Many Books Importing-Constantyne Caught- Escapes- Persecutionabroad- Powerful Remonstrance From Antwerp With Crumwell, Including The King And The Lord Chancellor.

THE principal feature of the present year was that of determined opposition to Divine truth, abroad as well as at home; for although one man had been raised up by God to lead on the faithful, unquestionably it was truth alone which occasioned all the uproar, not the opinions of men. And as to our native land especially, if we should still farther discriminate, it was through the Book of God, in our native language, that Divine truth now penetrated into the heart of this country.

Last year had witnessed the Royal denunciation of our Translator by name, as well as all that he had then published; but since then, by his “Practice of Prelates,” he had advanced one step farther, in combating the darkness and superstition which covered the land. That tract had been read by men of every grade, from the palace itself, down to the hamlet; by citizens of London, and husbandmen in Essex, in Suffolk, and elsewhere. Here he had not only implored, but warned the King to beware of persecution, and faithfully gave his judicious opinion with regard to the divorce; that miserable question still in discussion throughout Europe. By this year, however, Henry had nearly got this question framed, according to his own liking; and as he was soon to bring it before Parliament, he must have felt incensed by Tyndale’s reference to its proceedings, not to say that the next would He open to a second review. Besides, Sir Thomas More had but lately come into office, and he, with the Bishops, had cordially concurred in advising persecution, having secured the royal name to sanction and enforce their measures. The safety of Tyndale, therefore, was now in far greater hazard, than it ever had been in the days of the Cardinal. Wolsey had been roused from his lair, chiefly by the Satyre of Roye, and his chase of the prey had ended with his own downfall; but the truth and good sense contained in Tyndale’s last production, was like a spur by far too sharp for the passions and the pride of such a man as Henry the Eighth. His anxiety to seize the man, or allure him into the kingdom, will be found to harmonise with the growing ferocity of his character. Tyndale’s escapes, during this year, must have illustrated the tender care of a gracious Providence; but the mystery now is, how he had contrived to make such progress at the press. Yet once engaged he had determined not only to maintain his ground, but advance in the prosecution of his great enterprise.

This year was, therefore, distinguished by the appearance of not fewer than three distinct pieces. His Answer to Sir Thomas More’s Dialogue; his Exposition of the First Epistle of John; and his translation of the Prophet Jonah, with a long preface or prologue.

The annoyance and persecution of Tyndale personally, however, preceded the appearance of any of these pieces, and it is due to their contents that this should first be noticed. Denunciation of the Scriptures, and of all that he had published, would now no longer suffice. The King was incensed, and before the summer of this year, would have dealt with anything of Tyndale’s, as Jehoialdm did of old with Jeremiah’s roll. The Priests of the day also, as in the case of another ancient Prophet, had thought of the man, if not said,-“ the land is not able to bear all his words.” The strong arm of power must be stretched out to reach him if possible, and, no doubt, there were not a few who imagined, that his days were now numbered. Amidst all other affairs, the apprehension of Tyndale at this period held a place in point of importance, which has never before been fully explained. It would certainly be too severe, to ascribe all the measures adopted to Henry alone, even though he should appear most conspicuous, and engaged in eager pursuit, through the instrumentality of three, if not four, individuals; for still the head and hand of Sir Thomas More, and the hearts of the Bishops, sanctioned all; but it will be far more melancholy, if Crumwell, so lately come into power, should appear to be a most willing agent, and even Cranmer, for many a day, nay, throughout the whole of Tyndale’s lifetime, evince no sympathy whatever!

The Government persecution of our Translator, which had now commenced, lends a peculiar emphasis to every page he had already emitted, but more especially to the publications of the present year.

In December last, the aunt of Charles, Lady Margaret, or Regent of the Low Countries, had died, and the Emperor had nominated his sister, Mary, Queen of Hungary, to succeed. She, however, did not assume the reins of government till October of this year. Whether this interregnum was deemed favourable to the apprehension of Tyndale, is not distinctly expressed; but certainly no time was lost in taking advantage of it; and it was during this season that he was next so keenly pursued. Hackett, who is already well known to the reader, returned to England after Lady Margaret’s decease, bearing a letter, dated 3rd January, 1531, from the Emperor to Henry; f51 but he was sent abroad again that same year, and had an audience in June, at Ghent, with Mary, the new Regent. Most gladly would he have apprehended the Translator of the books he had so repeatedly burned; but, independently of him, or immediately after the death of Margaret, if not before, it had been resolved to send two accredited Envoys to the Low Countries, one of whom, if not both, were charged with special instructions in reference to Tyndale. The first, Mr. Stephen Vaughan, was much employed in commercial and pecuniary negociations, down to as late a period as 1546. The second was Thomas Wriothsley, uncle to the first Earl of Southampton, afterwards Lord Chancellor, and the second Earl. The first, by far the most candid of the two, was stationed at Barrow and Antwerp, and the second, a uniform enemy of the truth, repaired to Brussels. The draft of their credentials afterwards, upon Lady Mary’s appearance, and as corrected by lIenry’s own hand, is now in the Museum. f53 So early as the 22nd of January, Vaughan writes to Crumwell; and, on the 26th, to the King himself,-a letter which shows how much in earnest his Majesty had been, to lay hold on this eminent man, or get him within his grasp. It appears from this letter that Vaughan had sought an interview with Tyndale, and had opened a correspondence with him, endeavouring to persuade him to return to England. In accordance with the earnest wish of Henry, he sought, but in vain, to get a copy of the yet unpublished answer of Tyndale to Sir Thomas More, but sent the letters he had received in answer from the Translator. In a communication to Crumwell, his patron, which accompanied the former, he owns,- “It is unlikely to get Tyndall into England, when he daily heareth so many things from thence which feareth him. After his book, answering my Lord Chancellor’s book, be put forth, I think he will write no more! The man is of a greater knowledge than the King’s Highness doth take him for, which well appeareth by his works. Would God HE WERE IN ENGLAND!”

This envoy of Henry alludes to some other person who had also written to Tyndale, and to whom he had replied. This could not be Wriothsley, otherwise he would have named him; but Vaughan’s impression was, that various individuals were now out in pursuit, mid had been commissioned to seize the same man, or entice him into England. Tyndale also had replied,to Vaughan, though still he could not find him out. In the meanwhile, chancing to meet with a part of the intended answer to Sir Thomas More, in manuscript, he immediately informs Crumwell, mid actually sits down to copy it out for the King. February and March had passed away, when at last, and most unexpectedly, Tyndale himself gave him the benefit of a personal interview. Still more deeply interested, without loss of time, on the next day, or 18th of April, Vaughan writes to his royal Master, from Antwerp, where Tyndale then was, from which we extract the following:- “The day before the date hereof, (17th of April,) I spake with Tyndale without the town of Antwerp; and by this means. He sent a certain person to seek me, whom he had advised to say, that a certain friend of mine, unknown to the messenger, was very desirous to speak with me; praying me to take pains to go unto him, to such place as he, should bring me. Then I(said) to the messenger, -‘What is your friend, and where is he?’ His name I know not,’ said he, ‘but if it be your pleasure to go where he is, I will be glad thither to bring you.’ Thus doubtful what this matter meant, I concluded to go with him, and followed him till he brought me without the gates of Antwerp, into field lying nigh unto the same, where was abiding me this said Tyndale. “At our meeting- ‘Do you not know me?’ said this Tyndale. ‘I do not well remember you,’ said I to him. ‘My name,’ said he, ‘is Tyndale.’ ‘But, Tyndale,’ said I, ‘forunate be our meeting!’ Then Tyndale-‘Sir, I have been exceeding desirous to speak with you.’ ‘And I with you; what is your mind?’ ‘Sir,’ said he, ‘I am informed that the King’s Grace taketh great displeasure with me, for putting forth of certain books, which I lately made in these parts; but specially for the book named “The Practice of Prelates,” whereof I have no little marvel,-considering that in it, I did but warn his Grace, of the subtle demeanour of the Clergy of his realm, towards his person; and of the shameful abusions by them practised, not a little threatening the displeasure of his Grace, and weal of his realm: in which doing, I showed and declared the heart of a true subject, which sought the safe-guard of his royal person, and weal of his Commons: to the intent, that his Grace thereof warned, might, in due time, prepare his remedies against their subtle dreams. If, for my pains therein taken,-if for my poverty,-if for mine exile out of mine natural country, and bitter absence from my friends,-if for my hunger, my thirst, my cold, the great danger wherewith I am everywhere compassed;-and finally, if for inmunerable other hard and sharp rightings which I endure, not yet feeling of their asperity, by reason (that) I hoped with my labours, to do honour to God, true service to my Prince, and pleasure to his Commons;-how is it that his Grace, this considering, may either by himself think, or by the persuasions of others, be brought to think, that in this doing, I should not show a pure mind, a true and incorrupt zeal, and affection to his Grace? Was there in me any such mind, when I warned his Grace to beware of his Cardinal, whose iniquity he shortly after proved, according to my writing? Doth this deserve hatred? “‘Again, may his Grace, being a Christian prince, be so unkind to God, which hath commanded His Word to be spread throughout the world, to give more faith to wicked persuasions of men, which presuming above God’s wisdom, and contrary to that which Christ expressly commandeth in His Testa ment, dare say, that it is not lawful for the people to have the same, in a tongue that they understand; because the purity thereof should open men’s eyes to see their wickedness? Is there more danger in the King’s subjects, than in the subjects of all other Princes, which, in every of their tongues, have the same, under privilege of their sufferance? As I now AM, very death were more pleasant to me than life, considering man’s nature to be such as can bear no truth.’ “Thus, after a long communication had between us, for my part, making answer as my poor wit would serve me, which was too long to write, I assayed him with gentle persuasions, to know whether he would come into England; ascertaining him that means should be made, if he (only) thereto were minded, without his peril or danger, that he might so do: And that what surety he would devise for the same purpose, should, by labour of friends, be obtained of your Majesty. But to this he answered-that he neither would, nor durst, come into England, albeit your Grace would promise him never so much surety; fearing lest, as he hath before written, your promise made, should shortly be broken, by the persuasion of the Clergy; which would affirm, that promise made with heretics ought not to be kept. “After these words, he then, being something fearful of me lest I would have pursued him, and drawing also towards night, he took his leave of me, and departed from the town, and I towards the town-saying, ‘I should shortly, peradventure, see him again, or if not, hear from him.’ Howbeit, I suppose, he afterwward returned to the town by another way, for there is no likelihood that he should lodge without the town. Hasty to pursue him I was not, because I had some likelihood to speak shortly again with him; and in pursuing him, I might perchance have failed of my purpose, and put MYSELF in danger. “To declare to your Majesty, what, in my poor judgment, I think of the man, I ascertain your Grace, I have not communed with a man - f54 But, thus abruptly, does the manuscript break off. The character about to be given, no doubt, from what we have read, a favourable one, was most probably more than Henry could bear; and it would only have been in perfect conformity with his passionate manner, if he tore it off, and burnt it; for the conclusion is nowhere else to be found. Sufficient, however, remains, to render the reception of such a letter, at this time, and from his own envoy, rather remarkable. Vaughan, it is evident, was above all things anxious to please his royal Master, but he must have been sadly out of his reckoning, if he imagined that such a communication as this would prove at all acceptable. His copying, with his own hand, a part of Tyndale’s answer to More, may be excused, as explaining the impatience of Henry to see it; but that he should send to the King, Tyndale’s remonstrance, even in such terms as he had now penned it, was certainly one false step, as it regarded his own advancement in royal favour; and the character given at the close, must have been a second. However, since the letter was sent and received, it is obvious to remark, that, after Latimer’s sterling counsel, not four months ago, and that of Tyndale himself now, if Henry goes on to sin, it must be with his eyes open.

Tyndale’s having sent for Vaughan, is also worthy of notice. His predecessor, Hackett, would have apprehended Tyndale immediately, nay, and from what we have read, would have consigned him to his native land, without a sigh, not as a heretic only, but as a traitor. Hackett, however, had been providentially removed from Antwerp, and Vaughan will turn out to be a man of a very different stamp; though certainly he does not seem to have been aware that he was acting with too much temper and candour, to secure the approbation of his fiery and impetuous sovereign, But be this as it may, in his next letter, very soon after this, Vaughan had made mention of John Fryth also, wishing to know from his Majesty what was his pleasure in regard to him, if he should happen to meet with him.

Vaughan was an eleve of Crumwell, and it will now be very apparent. The envoy was acting in a manner too mild or straightforward, ever to rise in the royal favour; and, therefore, this letter of the 18th of April, as well as that which followed, demanded immediate notice, lest he should go farther wrong. He is therefore tutored in a letter from Crumwell to be more circumspect in reporting his interview with, and commendation of, Tyndale, whom the King regarded as a dangerous heretic, and had no wish to bring into the realm. As for Fryth, the King respected his learning and parts, and desired that he should return to his native country on promise of his leaving his wilful opinions.

Crumwell then closes his letter by enforcing on Vaughan a vigilant attention to certain shipments of grain,-to the Emperor’s affairs,- the advance of the Turk into Germany,-the abiding of the Emperor in the Low Countries,-his agreement with the Princes of Germany; and if in all these things Vaughan can only make his allegiance and service apparent unto his Majesty, then Crumwell doubts not that it will be to his “singular profit and advancement.” After the letter is finished, he adds a postscript or saving clause, apparently softening his stern commands as to Tyndale; but in fact only suggesting another snare, by which, if possible, to entrap him.

Of this last passage Vaughan immediately availed himself; and writes on the 20th May, that he will do his endeavour to persuade Fryth to leave his errors and return to England, though his recent marriage in Holland might hinder this; that he had obtained another interview with Tyndale, and had shown him the postscript of Crumwell’s letter, which had touched him exceedingly, and drawn from him the remarkable and characteristic words:- “‘I assure you,’ said he, ‘if it would stand with the King’s most gracious pleasure to grant only a bare text of the Scripture to be put forth among his people like as is put forth among the subjects of the Emperor in these parts, and of other Christian Princes,-be it of the translation of what person soever shall please his Majesty, I shall immediately make faithful promise never to write more, nor abide two days in these parts, after the same; but; immediately repair into his realm, and there most humbly submit myself at the feet of his Royal Majesty, offering my body, to suffer what pain or torture, yea, what; death his Grace will, so that this be obtained.

And till that time, I will abide the asperity of all chances, whatsoever shall come, and endure my life in as much pains as it is able to bear and suffer.’” f56 Here, however, and perhaps unexpectedly by the reader, the subject drops for months; but, for the best of all reasons. Tyndale had something else to do, than to continue in conversation with this man. He retires from public view, and proceeds with vigour in his work. His letters, here mentioned, as sent to England, we have been unable to find. They must have added greatly to our interest, as well as enabled us to correct some of the expressions which Vaughan has evidently put into the mouth of Tyndale, to please the King, since Crumwell had so enjoined. His offer to Henry of “a bare text of the Sacred Volume,” as a “sine qua non,” was all-important; only that text must be a genuine and intelligible one, otherwise Tyndale was to pursue his own path. But although we cannot follow our Translator to the exact place of his retreat, we now come with far greater advantage, to whatever he may publish. He had a character to maintain, which was still most shamefully traduced, and traduced alike by his opponent in controversy, by Master Crumwell, and the King. The Scriptures he had translated, besides the cause of God and His truth, which he had so promoted in England, alike required him to speak out; while the account now given, must not only set the courage and energy of the man in a stronger light, but lend additional emphasis to every page.

We have witnessed Henry’s apprehension and anxiety respecting Tyndale’s answer to Sir Thomas More. He would have rejoiced in its suppression; but the fact was, it had been much farther advanced at press, than the author himself supposed. It was actually in England before Tyndale himself was aware, or, as will appear afterwards, by the month of April this year, and therefore, it now demands some notice.

This new Lord Chancellor, the admiration of foreign countries as well as his own, had employed sarcasm and sophistry throughout three hundred folio pages, chiefly against Tyndale and his translation. But why such a laborious and wordy production, if manifest error, and only one solitary heretic, were all the host to be devoured? Yet thus unwisely did Sir Thomas proclaim the power of his opponent; while one page after another only proved, that he was contending for victory, and not for truth. He evidently placed great reliance on the power of his wit or drollery, his ribaldry, and downright abuse; supposing, in the employment of all these in turn, that every man would be affected by repartee, as powerfully as he was himself. But he knew not the man whom he had now thus assailed.

Tyndale, it is true, was no cynic, and he had no objection to an occasional sally of wit, but since the antagonist had chosen to be playful and profane, as well as low and foul by turns, Tyndale would by no means descend to his level. On the contrary, he seems, in his reply, as though he had resolved that his short and pithy sentences should stand out in bold contrast to the wire-drawn and verbose sophisms of his opponent; and in a few lines often demolishes an entire folio page of “the first Englishman who signalised himself as an orator.”

The translation of the New Testament into the vernacular tongue was, however, the great eye-sore to Sir Thomas, though what he styled the wickedness of Tyndale’s other productions, was plentifully denounced.

Tunstal had boasted of his having found two thousand errata, and More had spoken of a thousand texts by tale, as being erroneous, but now they are all reduced to the general rendering of about six words. Tyndale had translated ecclesia into congregation, and not church,-he used elder, and not priest,-knowledge or acknowledge, and not confession,-repentance, and not penance,-favour, and not grace, -love, and not charity. These were his mighty offences, and no wonder that More at least professed to be shocked and offended, for certainly these simple and faithfull renderings, once read in their connexion, shook to its very foundations that fabric which the Chancellor had strained all his powers to defend. We have said professed, as there is so much evidence that Sir Thomas was still a freethinker to his dying hour.

In reply, Tyndale appealed to the Greek original, and to More’s acquaintance with the language, before himself, and completely triumphed.

At the commencement, when referring to the very first controverted word, “congregation,” he lent his opponent a blow, which he afterwards showed that he felt exceedingly, but could not parry. Erasmus and More were bosom friends; and as the former had published the Greek and Latin New Testament in parallel columns, eight years before this, Tyndale inquires why More had not censured “his darling Erasmus this long while? Doth he not change this word ecclesia into congregation, and that not seldom in the New Testament?” With respect to the word metanoia, he appeals to More’s knowledge of the Greek, “which he knew,” says he, “long ere I.

But so our prelates thus rage, and that which moveth them to call M. More to help, not that they find just causes in the translation, but because they have lost their juggling and feigned terms wherewith they make merchandize of the people.”

Before leaving this controversy for the present-one which interested and agitated so deeply at the time, and the effects of which remain to the present hour-it may be remarked, that, independently of his sound reasoning, there was in Tyndale’s style and manner, a solemnity, of which the Lord Chancellor was more than half afraid, and which he knew neither how to manage or evade. This grave style of writing sometimes referred to himself, sometimes to the translation, and at others, to the parties in opposition. More having said, “When Tyndale was apposed of his doctrine, ere he went over sea, he said and sware he meant no harm,” Tyndale replies- “He sware not, neither was there any man that required an oath of him; but he now sweareth by Him, whom he trusteth to be saved by, that he never meant, or yet meaneth any other harm, than to suffer all that God hath prepared to be laid on his back, for to bring his brethren unto the light of our Saviour Jesus; which the Pope, through falsehood, aud corrupting such poets as ye are, leadecth in the darkness of death.”

He regarded Sir Thomas as the official attorney in the Bishops’ spiritual court; and as he had put forth, after this Dialogue, another thing in folio, entitled “The Supplication of Souls,” &c., by way of reply to the notable tract of Fyshe, “The Supplication of Beggars,” it must not be allowed to pass, although Tyndale did not choose to name Sir Thomas. It was this piece which led him to designate More as “the Proctor of Purgatory,” elsewhere; and as he had resolved to print an exposition of the first Epistle of John, he there, without any controversial form, met, most judiciously, even more than had been advanced by the Lord Chancellor, in relation to purgatory and the worship of saints, image worship, and other evils; explaining to the people how they might detect false teachers.

In this last publication he warns the people of the old and hackneyed device of the Prelates “to call the light that rebuked them, seditious. They laid to Wiclif’s charge, and do yet, that his doctrine caused sedition,-and so they say now likewise, that God’s Word causeth insurrection; but ye shall see shortly, that these hypocrites themselves shall rise up one against another, and some against themselves. Ye shall see them run out before the year come about, that which they have been brewing, as I have marked above this dozen years.” Hackett had first lent such base counsel to Wolsey, and Henry readily followed it. The idea, or device of constructive treason, had been fully sanctioned by the Bishops and Sir Thomas More, and now also Crumwell had joined in the cry. The words of Tyndale were intended for all these parties, as well as to arm the people with that fortitude which must be added to faith.

The concluding expression, however, as formerly hinted, is an important one, in relation to Tyndale himself, He kept himself much in the background, and it is only by such incidental hints, that any one can ascertain how early his mind had been enlightened, as to the corruptions reigning around him; and so enlightened, as to be engaged in “marking” them. The expression seems to go a great way towards establishing the character of Tyndale, as that of a man whose heart God himself had moved, independently of all influence from his contemporaries, whether at home or abroad.

But to crown all in the year 1531, nothing could possibly have been more seasonable or a appropriate than “Jonah;” that book of sacred writ, which Tyndale now printed for his country. The critical position of England, and the situation of the Translator himself, sufficiently account for its appearance, at this moment. Tyndale was now getting fast into the heat of the battle. The Bishops of England, as a body, with Tunstal the ablest of them all, were against him; the Lord Chancellor, as a man and as a licensed writer, was against him, nay, the wrath of the King, as “the roaring of a lion,” was against him. On high principle, for the sake of Divine truth alone, he had to encounter an entire people in the persons of its rulers; nor was he slow to advance. The Book of Jonah spoke alike to the peasant and the prince. It contained the memorable example of a great King bowing before the majesty of the Voice of God. “The people of Nineveh believed God-from the greatest of them, even to the least of them;” and this was precisely what Tyndale longed for the people of England to do; and would their haughty and licentious monarch have now only risen from his throne, and laid aside his robes, like the King of Nineveh, and urged his subjects “to cry mightily to God,” saying, “Let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands,”-nothing could have filled the Translator with higher delight. The Ninevites “repented at the preaching of Jonas,” but for more than five years the New Testament had been in England, and even Scotland, and “a greater than Jonas was there.”

Tyndale besides, to evince the ardour of his mind, had prefixed a long prologue to the book,-an admirable production, and peculiarly adapted for the moment, in which he once more boldly cried to his country.

But neither Henry nor his advisers were to be moved from their course. It was a year of most savage cruelty, though Tyndale was now “pure from the blood of all men, having not shunned to declare to them the whole counsel of God.”

After this brief and very imperfect survey of the present year’s exertions, let the reader only contemplate the state of his native land. He remembers the restless ambition, and but recent death, of her fallen Prime Minister. Let him now mark the one subject which engrossed her monarch’s mind; the furious counsels and blind infatuation which occupied the united strength of her government, and then say, whether the value of such a man as our Translator has ever been fairly appreciated, But was there no one at home, not one man in all England to lift the warning voice? None to guide her among all the sons she had brought forth? There was Hugh Latimer, it is true, but if his voice was now drowned, then was there not even one, save and except this exiled Christian patriot! Yet he, as we have seen, had been already denounced by name, and in the foulest terms, by the highest authority, under the desecrated name of Christianity, as doing God service!

Nay, and he had been so harassed by emissaries, that, as he himself expressed it, “very death would have been more pleasant to him than life.”

Such was his reward from man, but his work was not finished; and that God whom he so served, though He did not as yet put to silence “the lying lips, which spake grievous things, proudly and contemptuously, against the righteous;” yet did He, in a most wonderful manner, “hide the object of their hatred, in the secret of his presence,” from the pride and the power of man. Tyndale had yet five years to live.

If we were to believe Crumwell, when writing to the Continent, in April, soon after the Convocation of this year had adjourned, as far as the King was concerned, he could not now appear, except as clothed in the white robes of innocence and peace. When trying to entice Tyndale into England, as into a sanctuary, he had talked of “the most gracious benignity”-“the piteous regard natural”-“ the mercy and grace” of that “most virtuous and benign Prince and Governor,”Henry the Eighth! Let the events immediately preceding and following such language, now be observed.

The Convocation having not only yielded so far to Henry’s ambition, but given him the promise of a sum equal to above £350,000 annually, for five years to come, perhaps he thought that, by way of courtesy in return, he must comply with the wishes of this body; but be this as it may, we shall presently find the Clergy and the Star Chamber in perfect harmony. It was the triumphant reign of Sir Thomas More, for the one party, and of Stokesly, Bishop of London, for the other.

Immediately after agreeing to the preamble of the Bill of Subsidy, or in the 50th Session of the Convocation, inquiry had commenced, at Stokesly’s motion, into the opinions of Latimer, Bilney, and Croome; and by the 69th Session Warham was examining John Lambert before two notaries. In the intermediate space, finding no living victim, the very bones of the dead did not escape them; but emulating the example of 1428, when they dug up the bones of Wickliffe, they pronounced judgment on the deceased William Tracy, Esq. of Todington, because in his last will he had committed his departing spirit to God, through Jesus Christ alone, and left no part of his property to the priests, to pray for his soul!

It was while these transactions were going on, Sir Thomas More and Mr. Brian Tuke introduced the business of Henry’s divorce before Parliament, by laying before it the sentence of certain Universities, and the opinions of individuals, amounting to a hundred, in its favour, soon after which the House was prorogued, and the Convocation also dissolved, to the month of October.

But before then, two of the earliest victims of the present year had been apprehended and punished; and just as if the entire honour of this arduous contest must redound to the praise of our first Translator, these were no othcr than his own younger brother, John, and a devoted friend, Thomas Patmore, both merchants in London. They appear to have enjoyed the double honour of passing through the hands of Sir Thomas More and Stokesly, or the Star Chamber, and the Bishop’s Court. At this period it was not unusual for More, when he suspected his victims might be condemned for any thing else, to deliver them over, by an indenture, into the paw of the Bishop of London, but at all events, both these worthy men now fell into Stokesly’s hands. Tyndale was punished by him “for sending five marks to his brother William Tyndale beyond the sea, and for receiving and keeping with him, certain letters from his brother!” As for Patmore, who was charged with saying “that the truth of Scripture hath been kept from us a long time, and hath not appeared till now,” &c.-“he had long hold with the Bishop. First, he would not sware-then he would appeal to the King; but all would not serve. He was so wrapt in the Bishop’s nets, that he could not get out; but at last he was forced to abjure, and was fined to the King, an hundred pounds.”

In the month of May, a second edition of Sir Thomas More’s “Dialogue” was published; and now, during the rest of the year, persecution became general. Stokesly and the Lord Chancellor, in London; Warham, and Fisher, and Longland, elsewhere, were all busy; and by the month of August, it seemed as if Henry and his advisers had stepped into blood, and would have struck down any man who presumed to question or oppose their measures. We might repeat the sad tale of many, but select only a few cases, as being peculiarly characteristic of the times. The particulars are at once humiliating and painful. We have to read them also amidst the fires that were now kindled in England; though, amidst all the lurid glare, it is easy to perceive the rapid and decided progress of truth, or the glorious extent of that cause, for which Tyndale only lived, and at last died.

The first victim to the flames was Bilney. For though he had fallen, and, in his own apprehension, past redemption, to him was given the honour of leading the way in England at this period, of resistance “unto blood, striving against sin.” If we except the case of John Hitton, of which we know little, he was the first burnt, after the burning of the Scriptures, for more than five years past. How long he had remained in prison after his abjuration, cannot distinctly be ascertained; but after his release and return to Cambridge, he was in the deepest distress of mind for a long season. His agony of mind was so great, that Latimer affirms, “his friends dared not suffer him to be alone, day or night. They comforted him as they could, but no comforts would serve! And as for the comfortable places of Scripture, to bring them to him, was as though a man should run him through the heart with a sword!” It was Tunstal who had been the tempter, and the instrumental cause of all this mental anguish. At last, however, his conscience was quieted only by the same blood of atonement, which at first had given him such peace and joy. And ere long, determined no more to dissemble or conceal the truth, he took farewell of his friends at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, saying that he must now go up to Jerusalem. He then went into Norfolk, preaching first, from house to house, and then in the open fields. Making no secret of his former abjuration, he warned all to beware of following his example. He appears then to have gone down through Essex, and not improbably visited London itself, as the “Jerusalem” he had referred to; for at one period, six weeks before his apprehension, we find him as near to it as Greenwich. There he committed four of Tyndale’s New Testaments, with a budget of books, to a faithful friend, Laurence Staple, who conveyed them to Cambridge, and was afterwards called to sharp account for so doing. But at last Bilney proceeded to Norwich itself; and having given a New Testament of Tyndale’s, and his book on “Obedience,” to a convert residing there, he was soon apprehended by authority of the old Bishop. He immediately sent up to Sir Thomas More for a writ; and if it be correct, as generally stated, it must have been with his wonted hilarity that he replied-“ Go your ways, and burn him first, and then afterwards come to me for a bill at my hand.”

At all events, Bilney was soon condemned to die at the stake, and delivered to the sheriffs; one of whom was no other than Thomas Necton, the brother of Robert, already mentioned as a great distributor of books. From dread of the Chancellor and the Friars, Necton officially was obliged to receive him; when he implored Bilney’s forgiveness, and was not present at his death. The night before his execution, the dying martyr, quite composed, resigned, and even cheerful, among other passages of Scripture, dwelt much on this one-“ Fear not; for I have redeemed thee, l have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee: and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” It was not that Bilney expected any other than mental support, or that he superstitiously anticipated exemption from pain; but “a pain for the time,” said he, “whereon, notwithstanding, followeth joy unspeakable.” At the stake, he closed his devotions with the beginning of the 143rd Psaln; and the second verse-‘‘ Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no flesh living be justified”-he repeated, in deep meditation, three times. He had been led through the Bishop’s gate to this spot, called the Lollards’ Pit, and thore expired in the flames, on Saturday morning, the 19th of August, amidst the most cruel enemies, and not a few decided friends.

Thus, although Bilney’s progress in Divine knowledge may have scarcely surmounted the superstition of the mass, his views of Divine truth, on the points of the sinner’s acceptance before God through the righteousness of Christ alone, were clear and most decided, so that he died a martyr for the truth of God. All Sir Thomas More’s sad, if not unprincipled, attempts to blacken his memory, as though he had recanted at the stake, only recoiled in ultimate disgrace upon himself. It was a favourite, though weak device of the Chancellor’s, when he vainly attempted to answer Tyndale next year, to represent the martyrs as recanting before death.

If the reader is not aware of the fact, he will be gratified in knowing that the identical copy of the Latin Bible once belonging to Thomas Bilney is still in existence. At least it is said to be in one of the libraries at Cambridge. Many annotations are inscribed upon its pages with his own hand; and it is certainly an interesting circumstance that the passage in Isaiah, already quoted, which consoled the owner of the book when in prospect of the flames, is particularly distinguished with a pen, in the margin. The words, if not so marked with his own hand, must have been by others at the time, for they received the words as the legacy of a martyr; they had them fairly written on tables or in books, and derived comfort from them till their dying day.

Among the persecutions under Stokesly of this year, there is one which deserves notice, as one more illustration of the connexion between Antwerp and London. “Christopher,” says Foxe, “a Dutchman of Antwerp, for selling certain New Testaments in English to John Row, bookbinder, a Frenchman, was put in prison at Westminster, and there died.” This could not have been Christopher Ruremund, already mentioned, as he continued in business to 1541; nor is it at all likely to have been Endhoven, of whom we heard so much. Christopher was a common name, but it was quite in character with the times thus to treat a forcig’ncr, for simply importing the Word of Life in the language of the people.

We have no design merely to harrow up the feelings, by the recital of brutal treatment, having a more important and profitable object in view; which is to ascertain, as nearly as may be, the precise state of things, the rate of progress, and the extent to which the cause of truth had by this time arrived. We have one valuable illustration in the exertions of Mr. Richard Bayfield, whose history cannot fail to gratify the reader; as, among the very hazardous, yet innumerable instances of the importation of books, he occupied a conspicuous place.

Blest himself, at a very early period, with a copy of Tyndale’s New Testament, he laboured for a considerable time to bring them into the country, along with other valuable books; and now, when examined by Stokesly, with what view he had done all this, he at once replied-“ To the intent that the Gospel of Christ might be set forward, and God the more glorified in this realm among Christian people.”

The year and place of Bayfield’s birth cannot be ascertained, but by his own confession he entered the monastery of St. Edmondsbury as a monk in 1514, and took orders as a priest in 1518. After the return of Dr. Barnes from Louvain to Cambridge in 1523 he used to visit a Dr. Ruffam, then in that monastery, who had been one of his fellow students abroad, and Bayfield, being chamberlain of the house, became interested with the conversation of the visitor. From him he ere long received a copy of the New Testament in Latin, but two citizens of London, Maxwell and Stacy, who were zealous for the circulation of the Scriptures, and went round the country with this in view, presented him with Tyndale’s English New Testament. From the subsequent history of his life, it is evident that this must have been one of the earliest copies given away in the country parts.

After being at Cambridge with Barnes, he seems to have not rcturned to his abbey, but proceeding to his friends, Maxwell and Stacy, in London, he remained there in concealment for a short time in the close of 1526. At this early period, as appears by Foxe, he was a suspected person. It is true he talks, in a vague way, of Bayfield suffering imprisonment and cruel treatment for two years and nine months; but this was merely an anticipation, or rather loose summing up of all his trials. At all events, he fixes the period of his first escape beyond sea; Dr. Barnes being then in the Fleet for God’s Word, which continued till August 1526; though Bayfield remained, in fact, two months longer.

On his first going abroad, Foxe says, “this Bayfield mightily prospered in the knowledge of God, and was beneficial to Master Tyndale and Mr. Frythe, for he brought substance with him, and was their own hand, and sold all their works, both in France and England.” This is a general description of Bayfield’s life and services, during at least four different voyages to the Continent, within the last five years. His first return to England was some time in the year 1527. It had so happened that in October 1526, just before leaving England, he met, in Lombard Street, with three parsons of his own standing -Edmund Pierson, James Smith, and Miles Garnet,-when some conversation ensued, by no means pleasant to their ears, but sufficiently explicit as to Bayfield’s sentiments, Having therefore now returned, it must have been but a very short, time before Pierson detected him, as by the 13th of September, 1527, we find his accusation against Bayfield recorded at full length in Foxe’s history.

Once brought before Tunstal, in 1528 he was enjoined for penance “to go before the cross in procession, in the Parish Church of St. Botolph’s, Billingsgate, and to appear before the Bishop again on the 25th of April,” 1529. The first part he fulfilled, but not the latter. He had gone to the Continent, but what may seem strange, he did appear, and presented himself before Tunstal on the 20th of June: and it was still more so, if he then had brought over with him any books of the “new learning.”

However, there being no fresh witnesses against him, the Bishop merely pronounced upon him sentence of banishment from the city and diocese of London. But in the face of this, as Bayfield now entertained no reverence for their ecclesiastical authority, he went on more determined than before.

In May or June 1530, he arrived at Colchester, with a cargo of books, which were all successfully sold or circulated; an importation specially to be noted, as it was immediately after the “burning” at St. Paul’s, if not at the moment; immediately after the Royal proclamation had been framed, which Latimer so reprobated; and it is one among other proofs of books then coming thick and threefold into England, to the annoyance of Tunstal.

Abroad once more, Bayfield returned with a second importation in November, but landing at St. Catherine’s, the whole parcel fell, as a coveted morsel, into the hands of Sir Thomas More. Nothing daunted, and at the very season when Vaugham and Crumwell were trying to inveigle Tyndale into England, Bayfield had another cargo upon English ground.

These he landed safely in Norfolk, about the beginning of April, and, not being detected, they were of course circulated far and wide, to the farther vexation of the poor, infirm, and literally blind Bishop of Norwich, as well as his brethren. But at last, in the fall of this year, coming to his old friend Mr. Smith in Bucklersbury, the frequent receiver of his books, he was betrayed; and being traced to his bookbinder’s in Mark Lane, he was first committed to the Lollards’ Tower, where, and afterwards in the Bishop’s coal-house, he was most barbarously treated. Being now, however, stedfast in faith, he had made up his mind to die; and though tortured to accuse others who had bought his books, and three times in the Consistory of St. Paul’s put to his trial, as to whether he would abjure, he remained unmoveable. From such men as now bore sway, he could expect no mercy, and he received none; indeed, Stokesly displayed all the ferocity of his character, and behaved in the most brutal manner. Being condemned, actually upon a Lord’s-day, the 19th of November; on Monday, when he came to be degraded, as they phrased it, not satisfied with the mere ceremony, Stokesly with a blow of his crosier struck with such violence on the breast of Bayfield, that, falling backward, his skull was almost fractured, and he swooned away! When once he recovered himself, the good man “thanked God that he was (not degraded but) delivered from the malignant Church of Antichrist, and that he was come into the sincere Church of Jesus Christ militant here on earth ;” and “I trust anon,” said he, “to be in heaven with Jesus Christ, and the Church triumphant for ever.”

Nor was he mistaken, for that day he was in paradise. After this outrageous conduct, he was led forth to Newgate, and in about an hour afterwards committed to the flames. He remained alive for so long as half an hour, but continued in prayer to the end without moving!

How many persons, in a greater or less degree, had been or were now engaged in the importation of books, it is impossible to say; but if we take this one valuble agent as an index, and refer merely to his last successful adventure, it, will be evident, that amidst all the fury of opponents, a tide had set in, which it was beyond the power of man to stem.

On the 3rd of December, only a fortnight after having tortured and murdered this excellent man, Stokesly proceeded to the denunciation of books which “were openly at Paul’s Cross, by the authority of my Lord of London, under authentical seal, by the Doctor that day preached, prohibited and straitly commanded of no manner of men to be used under pain of suspension, and a greater pain, as more largely appeareth in foresaid authority.” All Tynddale’s works are included in this prohibition.

In the course of only eight or ten days after this interdict, both Stokesly and More were busy with another martyr. The reader may remember John Tewksbury, who, in 1529, on being examined before Tunstal, answered so well, but getting entangled by his sophistry, abjured. Moved now by the noble example of Bayfield, he resolved to confess the truth at all hazards.

On Saturday the 16th of December, Stokesly being at Chelsea, condemned him on the spot, in the house of the Chancellor, and they delivered him to the sheriffs. Stokesly had been consecrated or installed Lord Bishop of London on the 20th of December last; and so whether it was to give the anniversary some farther celebrity, or as an appropriate memorial of the day-yet so it was-the sheriffs delivered this worthy man to the stake, and he perished in the flames at Smithfield, on St. Thomas’ Eve, the 20th of December!

Before concluding this first year of Henry’s supremacy, among the men apprehended, we must on no account omit George Constantyne, were it only on account of the consequences. We first heard of him in 1528, when the examination of Robert Necton occasioned his flight. Since that time he had been in Brabant, and, having been originally bred a surgeon, he had there, by his own account, practised as such. At the same time, he evidently had taken a deep interest in the importation of books, and, coming over himself this year, had, as well as Bayfield, brought books with him; but he was not possessed of similar fortitude, nor was he ever, like him, to wear the crown of martyrdom.

Falling into the hands of Sir Thomas More, he appears evidently (by More’s own expressions in the preface to his next folio against Tyndale) to have been, in some degree, smitten with the man and his shrewdness. He must have conversed with him frequently, and at great length; and his communications at this moment, there is now no doubt, had excited great attention. Crumwell will be seen, presently, to ground his foreign correspondence upon them; and by the man’s own account in 1539, the King himself had conversed particularly with him. “His Majesty reasoned with me himself almost nine years ago,”-and Constantyne then presumed to form his own opinion of the depth of the King’s learning. But More was the chief cross-examinator, and Constantyne, very harshly treated, was now at the lowest point of degradation throughout his varied life: Very strange indeed were the changes that took place in these times. How astonished would the Chancellor have been, could he have been informed of the future path of the person he then held in irons! But Sir Thomas was not aware that he was now conversing with a man who should return to England after his death; who should get into the service of Sir Henry Norris, and thus become intimately acquainted with the Court; who should be present at the death of Henry’s now intended Queen; and, moreover, whose son-in-law, should rise to be Archbishop of York, (the very place that Wolsey himself once occupied,) nay, and become President of Queen Elizabeth’s Council for the North of England!

The Chancellor is represented by one manuscript, as having put Constantyne in the stocks; but by a subsequent letter it will appear, that this was another way of expressing that he was in irons. Sir Thomas, by his official severity, at last constrained the man, through four, to affirm much more than he could have substantiated, respecting people abroad, including even Mr. Vaughan, the English Envoy, himself; and as these forced confessions came out, they soon found their way across the sea. The Chancellor had an evil eye fixed upon Vaughan, as having been far from that rigour which would have gratified him; while, on the other hand, the Envoy, displeased with the freedom now used with his character, immediately wrote to Crumwell on hearing the first rumours, desiring to know what Constantync had said of him.s Crumwell himself, however, now writes to Antwerp, once and again counselling the Envoy; as men of violent spirit abroad alone could satisfy the violent at home. But in the meanwhile, to the no small mortification of our Lord Chancellor, Constantyne contrived to escape from his iron chain, and, sailing for the Continent, he arrived in safety at Antwerp, on the 6th of December!

Vaughan, by this time, was effectually roused; and in an interesting and noble letter, dated 9th December, 1531, only three days after Constantyne had reached his home, he remonstrates with Crumwell, his patron, for allowing any suspicion of heresy to rest on his conduct. In order to compass the ends of the commission with which he was charged, his policy had been various; among the Jews, a Jew; among Lutherans, a Lutheran. “What can I do here,” says he, “without such policy? Shall such policy hurt me because I used it to compass other things?” He therefore prays to be removed from such a service, where the only possible way of prosecuting it successfully involved the Agent in so much danger. He was well aware of the personal dislike with which he and his proceedings were viewed by Sir Thomas More, who, by leading questions in examining his victims, showed whom he wished them to implicate. It was thus his good name had fared in in the hand of Constantyne, who, in the hope of liberty, would be willing to accuse one to whom he was under no obligation. He adds some nobler sentiments on the subject of persecution for conscience’ sake, which he shows only tended to spread the doctrines so obnoxious to those in power, and to raise the character of those persecuted for them. “Let His Majesty be farther assured,” says he, “that he will with no policy, nor with no threatenings of tortures and punishments, take away the opinions of his people, till His Grace shall, fatherly and lovingly, reform the Clergy of his realm. For there springeth the opinion. From thence riseth the grudge of his people. If I say truth, let it be for such received.”

It may here be called to mind that we have already seen one English envoy in no small perplexity, and forced to move from his ground, in consequence of his zeal in opposing this great cause; but here we have the second, and in greater perplexity still. Eager to gratify his impetuous Sovereign, and his no less temporising superior, Master Crumwell, the man had, in truth, been only doing his utmost. But being at once no favourite of Sir Thomas More (nor he assuredly of Vaughan), and, at the same time, the pupil of Crumwell, by whom he had been recommended to Henry; between the two, this ambassador was now in a maze. After such sound advice as he had tendered to his King, and all around him; after such fine sentiments as he had now so well expressed; one cannot but regret to find, in the end, that through his “divers policies” he had been only one of those of whom the Scriptures speak-“ they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein, shall not know peace.”

It may only be stated here that Constantyne again went on, importing books: but it will be remembered that we have given these instances, merely as a characteristic specimen of this sad year. “For why stand I here,” says Foxe in one place, “num bering the sand?” And again, “So great was the trouble of those times, that it would overcharge any story to recite the names of all them, which during those bitter days, before the coming in of Queen Anne, either were driven out of the realm, or were cast out from their goods and houses, or brought to open shame by abjuration. Yet, nevertheless, so mightily the power of God’s gospel did work in the hearts of good men, that the number of them did nothing lessen for all this violence and policy of the adversaries; but rather increased in such sort, as our story almost suffereth not to recite the particular names of all and singular such as then groaned under the persecution of those days.”B ut still besides those whose names are given, there must have been many who were never detected.

By these furious proceedings, the deep interest abroad, not one whit diminished, was increased, and in more places than one, for of course the parties molested fled to different ports. But on the 30th of December, Vaughan concludes the year, by giving us the result, so far as his own residence and neighbour-hood were concerned. In a letter, as before addressed, to Crumwell, he reports that “divers, as well men as women, whose persons or names I know not, nor will know, be fled out of England, for fear of punishment; bringing with them all that ever they can make. So that by this means, it is likely that new Tyndales shall spring, or worse than he. But I am utterly determined, henceforth, never to intermeddle, or to have any communication, with any one of them; but shall rather give place to some other man, which, peradventure, shall have better luck than I hitherto have had; whom they go about thus unkindly to threaten, beat, rend, and tear for my service.” f59 Vaughan, it is evident, was now thoroughly frightened, yet he need not have greatly “marvelled.” The reports respecting him, must, of necessity, have been very contradictory, and the miserable plight, of which he complained so loudly, was nothing more than the natural result of those “divers policies,” which he had dreamt to be the fruit of wisdom, or the evidence of his superior talent. He never wrote again on this subject. The truth was, he was at once alarmed for himself, and disgusted with the proceedings at home; yet he retained his station, long survived Sir Thomas More, and remained on the Continent for years. But if Henry the Eighth be still resolved to have agents out tn pursuit of Tyndale, he must find some other man than Mr. Vaughan. Already we have seen a Friar, and two Ambassadors, completely foiled, and disappointed of their prey; though still the long pursuit is not even yet at an end! In the persons of her rulers at this period, no nation upon earth had surpassed Britain, in her opposition to Divine truth. 1532.

Tyndale’s Progress-Exposition In Matthew-His Sentiments Under Persecution-The King Not Appeased-Renewed Pursuit Of Tyndale-Now By Sir Thomas Elyot-Still In Vain-Persecution Goes On-Bainham-Latimer-More Against Tyndale-Fryth Arrives In England-In Peril -In The Tower-Writing There In Defence Of The Truth And Addressing The Christians In England.

HAD Tyndale been only left unmolested, or left to proceed with the Scriptures, he would, unquestionably, have had some additional portion finished at press; but since the year 1528 the reader may now judge of his situation. Already he had given the New Testament, the Pentateuch, and the Prophet Jonah, to his native land. The work of translation, or the joy of his heart, he still pursued, but without due deliberation he would not employ the press. Our English exile fled for protection to no foreign prince; nor had he the aid of eminent literary assistants, like his contemporary Martin Luther. If he had hitherto enjoyed the assistanee and fellowship of only John Fryth, this was soon to be withdrawn, by his journey to the martyr’s stake in England; and though labouring under the frown of his own monarch, as well as that of all his counsellors and bishops, on he went.

Meanwhile, he had one solitary encouragement. He well knew that whatever he put forth from the press, excited immediate notice; for, in fact, every thing he had yet published, had enjoyed the honour of being denounced in England, and interdicted both by royal and priestly authority.

The only piece unnoticed as not being so, his “Exposition of the Epistle of John,” was this year added to the catalogue, and reprobated in print, by the Lord Chancellor.

Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, in the gospel by Matthew, now engaged Tyndale’s attention, as demanding to be expounded, owing to the errors which still reigned triumphant; and his exposition first came out some time this year. In this fundamental portion of the Sacred Volume, he represents the Saviour as “opening the kingdom of heaven,” which the enemies “had shut up, that other men should not enter.”

Before this, we have had occasion to observe that Tyndale was almost immediately in possession of whatever was transacted in England; more especially by the King, and his obsequious or subdued Parliament; and, of course, he must have been fully aware of their doings in the spring of last year. His opinion of the change for which Henry and Crumwell had been so eager, may be inferred from various passages now put forth. Already he had shown himself a most loyal subject, and an ardent admirer of good government; in desiring, above all things, that his King and country should be rescued from spiritual thraldom: but in desiring this, he was no less ardent in drawing the line of distinction between the world and the Church.

As to the latter, he longed for its restoration to its original spirituality, and simple grandeur; and as to his nmch loved native land, that the throne should be established on a safe and righteous basis. But the truth was, the King was yet to be born whom Tyndale wished to see. “No King, Lord or Master, or whatever ruler he be, hath absolute power in this world, nor is the very thing which he is called, for then they cease to be brethren, neither could they sin whatsoever they commanded. But now their authority is but a limited power.” Thus writes he in advance of his age on a subject which perhaps not one of his contemporaries understood. Nor could one of them have drawn the line between civil and spiritual government so clearly as Tyndale does in this very treatise. If his views on this subject, which at that time agitated all England, have been partly the occasion of his memory being permitted to sleep in oblivion; if he measured out “meat too strong” for the time in which he lived; we commend his sentiments to the consideration of his countrymen now living, after more than three hundred years have passed over the land.

The power of Tyndale’s writing lay in his drawing from the life, and his discerning, with superior judgment, the precise moment when certain truths required to be pressed upon the notice of his country. His views, whether of civil government, or the Church of God, were far above his age, and few there must have been who could then understand him; but apart from these subjects, many passages, besides that last quoted, were peculiarly well timed. The preceding page, and several others, were evidently intended to nerve the minds of the martyrs and confessors in England; to raise them above all the fury of the Chancellor, or Stokesly, or any other Bishop. Hitherto it seem as if all who had been apprehended and examined, from Barnes down to the present hour, had abjured. And though the fire had been now prepared for the bodies of men, as well as the books they read, still the methods of Tunstal and More, for perplexing the mind or tormenting the conscience, were preferred in the first instance. The stake was the last resort, merely on this account, that abjuration and recanting not only saved appearances, but served, in some degree, to bolster up the reigning superstition.

If, then, England herself could furnish the enemy with no man of eminence, who had courage sufficient to act fully up to his principles on the first call;-a man, in whom there should be no wavering, no subterfuge, no compromise or concession, not one faltering word;-one who should first triumph in argument before the Bishops assembled, and abide firm by every syllable of his noble confession;-then such a man must come to London from abroad. The time is drawing near for his arrival in the kingdom, though little did Tyndale imagine, when thus addressing the faithful in England, that the example which he now enforced, was to be first given by his own bosom friend-FRYTH!

But it is with Tyndale himself we have to do at present. It was now six years since his translation of the New Testament had been denounced and committed to the flames; and not less than four, since his person had been in danger. By the authorities in England, from the year 1528, he had been a man sought for, but never yet seized. His pursuers, too, seem to rise in point of rank, as we proceed. The first was Friar West, who, but for his commission from Wolsey, had remained in oblivion. Hackett, most gladly, would have sent Tyndale to England, even by the foulest means, and, according to his own logic, as a traitor; but he could never find him.

Vaughan was incapable of so base an action, though Tyndale favoured him with, at least, two interviews; and from what we have read, it may safely be inferred, that he would never more engage in hunting after heretics,-having, according to his own confession, been “so beaten with his own labours.”

He well deserves, however, to be remembered as the only man of the age who lifted up his voice against the extreme folly of persecution for opinion. Henry had no man near him so enlightened at the moment, or if he had, not one who dared to speak out, not even Crumwell himself; for though so pointedly charged by Vaughan, it may be presumed that he never had shown that envoy’s letter, or reported its contents, to the King.

But be this as it may, Henry was not appeased. Tyndale had gone on to publish, it is true, and besides his Answer to Sir Thomas More, his translation of Jonah was now in England; but his Majesty was no admirer of the King of Nineveh, nor were his ministers like the nobles of that great city. The person now put in commission, and by the King himself, to pursue the best of his subjects, was no other than the well-known Sir Thomas Elyot, a literary man, author of “The Governor,” and other publications. Vaughan had been patronised by Crumwell, yet thought for himself; but Elyot was the very intimate, if not bosom friend of Sir Thomas More, as well as a favourite of the King, so that no zeal can be lacking now, even if Tyndale should not be apprehended. In all the histories yet published, Elyot is first mentioned as sent by Henry VIII. to Rome, about his divorce in 1532; but he was on the Continent last year. He was with the Emperor in November at Tournay, from whence he writes, complaining of being so long without answers to his letters.

The Emperor, leaving the Low Countries in the beginning of January this year, directed his journey towards Ratisbon, in order to hold a diet there.

Taking Mentz on his way, he had not arrived till February or the beginning of March, but to this city Elyot followed him. Whether his correspondence had been still neglected, as both Henry and Crumwell were absorbed in Parliamentary affairs at home, does not appear, but the ambassador had been anxious to revisit England. This desire, however, could not be gratified, and on the 14th of March he writes from Ratisbon to the Duke of Norfolk, the successor of Wolsey, as Prime Minister of England, and as determined an enemy as the Cardinal ever was:- “Albeit the King willeth me, by his Grace’s letters, to remain at Brussels, some space of time, for the apprehension of Tyndale, which somewhat minisheth my hope of soon return; considering that like as he is in wit moveable, semblably so is his person uncertain to come by. And, as far as I can perceive, hearing of the King’s diligence in the apprehension of him, he withdraweth him into such places where he thinketh to be farthest out of danger. In me there shall lack none endeavour. “Pleaseth it your Grace, according as I have written to the King’s Highness, the Emperor being yet sore grieved with a fall from his horse, keepeth himself so close, that Mr. Cranmer and I can have none access to his Majesty, which almost grieveth me as much as the Emperor’s fall grieveth him.” f61 Every one who has paid any attention to these times, cannot fail to be excited by the mention of Elyot’s companion and associate, and more especially as this is the earliest distinct notice of Cranmer when abroad, which appears on the face of these manuscripts. He had been at Rome for some time in 1580, but returned to England in 1531, where we find him at Hampton Court in June, and in close attendance upon his Majesty there. As busy as ever in Henry’s one affair, from thence, on the 18th of that month, he dates a long letter to Lady Anne’s father, the Earl of Wiltshire, criticising the book of Cardinal Pole, on this business; and as he remained at home till January, he could not fail to be intimately acquainted with all the sad occurrences of last year. In that very period the fatal fires had been kindled, and were blazing in England. Then the martyrdoms of Bilney, of Bayfield, and of Tewksbury, had taken place; there were the grievous cross-examinations and cruelties of More and of Stokesly; and the public denunciation, by the latter, of Tyndale’s writings, in December; and yet here is Cranmer, associated as ambassador and fellow-traveller with the man who has been charged, by their King, to seize the Author! But still it were nothing short of an injury done to posterity, to represent any man, whoever he may have been, as interested in a cause before he really was, even so far as to evince sympathy for the cruelty and death endured in it; and the truth of history does not furnish us with even a vestige of such interest or feeling in Cranmer, for some time to come. One eminent service in relation to the Scriptures he will perform for his country, which will come before us, in its proper place, five years hence; but at this momentous period, let the men who bore the brunt of this never-to-be-forgotten contest-the men who died with their face to the foe- “Who neither fear’d the darkest hour, Nor trembled at the tempter’s power;” let them enjoy the place to which they alone are entitled; an eminence unapproached by others, whether from shame or fear, from worldly policy or criminal ignorance. No unbiassed writer can now wittingly confound Tyndale and Fryth with any other men who in the days of peril, persecution, and universal obloquy, either dared not, or could not, speak one word; nor will he allow their characters to be obscured by any, who never came forth till after the battle of eleven years’ duration was fought and won. Since the year 1526, Divine truth, like concealed leaven, had been in vigorous operation, enlightening, saving, and sanctifying the souls of men; but the Translator, after his long unaided warfare, had washed his robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, before that Cranmer had ever once expressed his approbation of the translation. It will not be till in a moment of surprise, and after finding himself in a dilemma, that he will speak out. But even this will not occur till five years more have passed away.

It was on the 24th of January this year that Cranmer had received his credentials as ambassador to the Court of the Emperor, when he immediately left England, and must have overtaken Elyot somewhere on the Rhine. The letter, from which we have already quoted, narrates their progress towards Ratisbon, where Elyot continued chiefly to reside, as Cranmer did at Nuremberg. In prospect of the Turkish invasion, Charles was now in treaty with the German Protestant Princes to secure their cooperation against the common enemy of Europe, who proudly insisted that no man should be called Emperor except himself. These negociations commencing in April terminated on the 23rd of July at Ratisbon, on which day Elyot wrote again to the Duke of Norfolk.

This letter, however, conveyed no very welcome news to Henry at least; though the Princes (seven in number, and twenty-four cities) regarded it as the first religious peace in Germany. None were now to be molested on account of opinions till the meeting of a General Council; all judicial processes relating to religion were to be suspended, and all lawsuits for the restoration of Church property were null and void; concessions which were published throughout Germany, by imperial proclamation. These were measures, too, in perfect accordance with those which Vaughan had urged upon Henry the Eighth, through Crumwell; yet so bent was our English Monarch upon his favourlte project, and the gratification of his own will, that even the prospect of such relief to thousands of the best minds in Europe, had no charms for him; and Cranmer had been engaged to employ all his skill in preventing such enjoyment! He had been “instructed to make a secret visit to the court of Saxony, to deliver letters both to the Elector and the other Princes who had joined the Protestant league, and to assure them, by conversation also, of his Sovereign’s friendship. Henry was disposed, like the French King, to foment some bad feeling between these confederates and the Emperor. It was his project of revenge for the Imperial opposition to the divorce; but it had no important result. The pacification of Nuremberg indeed was effected within a few days after this effort to impede it, and Cranmer had to relate to his Sovereign, instead of dissension, the principal terms of that memorable treaty.” f62 How long before the 14th of March, Elyot had been charged with his commission from the King to seize Tyndale, does not appear; but as he chose to say, that he was “all the King’s except his soul,” from the first moment he must have been on the look out; and as he had been moving from place to place for about two months before he arrived at Ratisbon, he could then speak from some experience of Tyndale “withdrawing” himself, “as far as he could perceive.” Now, however, he was far distant from Brussels, and there he must remain. Providentially, for Tyndale at least, he was detained month after month; and if Cranmer failed in his “secret visit,” so did Elyot as to his “commission,” from the King. A storm was gathering in the East which occasioned every monarch in Europe to pause and think; it was the invasion of Solyman, the grand Turk, with an army of three hundred thousand men. Elyot’s letters, therefore, were now full of little or nothing else, if we may judge by his very long epistle to Norfolk on the llth of August. f63 And thus was he diverted from a pursuit which must have for ever disgraced his memory, if it had ended in the apprehension of England’s greatest benefactor. Tyndale has yet four years to live.

Sir Thomas More and Stokesly still went on as the most eminent and busy persecutors of the Truth. In December last, a gentleman of his own profession had fallen into the hands of the Chancellor;-Mr. James Bainham, the son of Sir Alexander Bainham, a knight of Gloucestershire, who had married the widow of Mr. Fyshe, already noticed. He had been seized by the Serjeant-at-arms, and carried out of the Middle Temple to More’s own house at Chelsea. This was another victim to console him for the recent escape of George Constantyne. Imagining that there must have been others of the profession who had imbibed the same opinions, the Chancellor particularly degraded himself, by his cruelty to this excellent man; for after being shamefully handled under his own roof, if not also in his own garden, he was afterwards conveyed to the Tower, and there, in his presence, tortured by the rack till he was lamed. He would, however, neither accuse any gentlemen of his acquaintance in the Temple, nor disclose where his books lay concealed. His worthy partner in life also, no more able to see the face of Henry, and who might have been repulsed though she had, now fell into trouble. Denying the books to be at her husband’s house, she was thrown into Fleet Prison, and their goods confiscated. After all this torment, Bainham was handed over to Stokesly; and his examination before him, at Chelsea, is at once honourable to the confessor, illustrative of the times, and of the positive enmity now reigning against the truths of Divine revelation. But at length even he began to waver in a state of doubtful perplexity, between llfe and death; so that, after two months’ confinement, he read his abjuration, was fined twenty pounds (equal to £300 now) to the King, and being released on the 17th of February, was dismissed home. He was, however, scarcely a month at large before he lamented his conduct most bitterly; and the terms in which his penitence are recorded, deserve special notice. “He was,” says Foxe, “never quiet in mind and conscience, until the time he had uttered his fall to all his acquaintance, and asked God and all the world forgiveness, before THE Congregation in those days, in a warehouse in BowLane. He wrote a letter also to the Bishop of London, so that shortly after he was apprehended, and again committed to the Tower. On the 19th of April he was examined, and again on the 20th, in the Church of All Saints, Barking, Tower Street, after which he was condemned. On being brought to the stake on the 1st of May, he addressed all present, in the following words:- “‘I come hither, good people! accused and condemned for an heretic; Sir Thomas More being my accuser and my judge. And these be the articles that I die for, which be a very truth, and grounded on God’s Word, and no heresy. They be these: First, I say it is lawful for every man and woman, to have God’s book in their mother tongue. The second article is,-that the Bishop of Rome is Antichrist, and that I know no other keys of heaven-gates but only the preaching of the Law and the Gospel.’ He died, and according to his own statement, even when half consumed in the flames, without any pain.”

In this account, there is one expression which should not escape notice:-“THE Congregation, in those days, meeting in Bow Lane.” What was this? That it was the assembly to which Bainham first resorted to bewail his conduct, and ask forgiveness, is evident; but why did he there resort first, except it was that against that Congregation he thought he had more especially offended? It may never have been observed, or if so, accounted worthy of notice before; and yet, if the proper definition of a Church is allowed to be-“a Congregation of faithful men,”-in such a connexion as the present, there seems to be no slight evidence, that upon this spot there assembled, “in those days,” perhaps the earliest resemblance of a Christian Church, upon English ground, in the sixteenth century. That there was such a congregated body of people, in London, by this time, will be rendered more interesting, if, before the close of this year, we find its character for Christianity described, by the man, who, of all then in England, was best qualified to judge.

In the early part of this year, however, there was another instance of cruelty, too notable to pass unnoticed, although it did not terminate fatally.

This referred to no other than Hugh Latimer, and Stokesly was the prime mover. He had summoned Latimer to appear before him, but he contemned the message, referring to the Bishop of Salisbury as his ordinary. Stokesly then applied to Warham, and Latimer was summoned to appear before him on the 29th of January. According to Latimer’s own statement, the case was remitted to five or six Bishops, and he appeared before them thrice every week. Firm and resolute for some time, he refused to subscribe the articles they presented. For this he was declared contumacious, and afterwards excommunicated. In order, however, to bring him to some submission, it was resolved, to take off the sentence, if he would sign two of the articles, namely, one respecting the observation of Lent, and another concerning the crucifix and the lawfulness and profit of images in Churches, for the worship of Jesus Christ and His Saints! Foxe is in doubt whether Latimer submitted; and Gilpin in his Memoir roundly asserts that he did not recant; but the fact is put beyond all question, by the minutes of the Convocation in March and April 1532. His words were-“ My Lords, I do confess, that I have misordered myself very far, in that I have so presumptuously and boldly preached, reproving certain things, by which the people that were infirm have taken occasion of ill. Wherefore I ask forgiveness of my misbehaviour. I will be glad to make amends. And I have spoken indiscreetly in vehemence of speaking, and have erred in some things, and in manner have been in a wrong way, lacking discretion in many things.”

After this confession, which, it may be said, did not amount to a retractation of opinions, he desired absolution. This, however, was deferred to the 10th of April, when he subscribed the two articles already mentioned, and a further hearing was appointed. Unwilling to let him go, when the day arrived a new complaint was produced, respecting a letter he had written to one Greenwood of Cambridge, upon which Latimer appealed to the King as head of the Church of England, and was ultimately restored to his functions.

Alas! that Latimer should have so far identified himself with the train of those who had gone before him, from Barnes to the present hour,-for there was none like him in all England! It was at the last Convocation that Warham had attended, before his death in August; and Latimer, it is true, will not forget all this; but another day, in St. Paul’s itself, Stokesly will have to sit still, and listen to certain awful truths, by way of reminiscence, to which his ears had never been accustomed. John Foxe, in his narrative, tries to palliate this whole affair by saying-“whether he subscribed, no great matter or marvel, considering the iniquity of the times: “but this is far from the manner of sacred writ, in the biography of its highest characters. No, however painful, besides too many others, we have seen Barnes, and Bilney, and now even Latimer, at the first onset, blench and falter through fear of death; so that at this special period, to the impartial writer, there seems to be nothing left for him, but to look out for John Fryth. He will revive the spirit of any reader, and give a new tone to the cause of God and His truth. He was just about arriving in England, but, as a controversialist, Sir Thomas More first stands in our way.

If the laborious Lord Chancellor had been busy in persecuting his fellowsubjects at home, he had been no less so with his pen, in opposition to Tyndale abroad. His friend, Sir Thomas Elyot, might be “doing his best endeavour” to seize the man, but More was determined to overwhelm and expose him as a writer and translator, His huge publication being now, in part, ready, must be put forth. The first three books of it, with a long preface, printed by the son of his brother-in-law, Rastell, appeared with this title, “The Confutation of Tyndale’s answer, made by Sir Thomas More, knight, Lord Chancellor of England,-cum privilegio.” He had six books more to come, although the present folio extended to 363 pages, thirtyseven of which filled his preface! This, it will be observed, was printed before he had resigned the seals, in May; so that between crossexaminations of worthy men, on the one hand, and proof sheets against Tyndale on the other, he must have been engrossed indeed.

Even in this first part, Sir Thomas thought it was time to admit the talents of his opponent; and, therefore, though jesting, ¢ as usual, he affirms, that he had “an eagle’s eye,” that he was “cunning enough, and can, I assure you, make as much poetry upon any part of Scripture, as any poet can in England, upon any part of Virgil.” But then Tyndale’s views and wishes were the subject of his professed apprehension.

This Confutation, falsely so called, as well as More’s Apology, will come before us next year, so that we refrain from farther remark till he has done.

In the meanwhile, another opponent had started up, and fretted him not a little. Fryth’s publication had arrived, and was now greedily read in England, and the Chancellor must tell us, beforehand also, how he meant to dispose of him. Like Goliath of old, he looked round, and disdained him, for he was but a young man, of fine person, and of a fair countenance; but certainly it was rather mortifying if, in meeting three such seniors, (as Fisher, More, and Rastell,) Fryth was to overthrow them all, and convert one of them, and that one the brother-in-law of the Lord Chancellor. He speaks of him, however, with an air of affected pity, and would fain have weaned him from his spiritual father; only they were bound together by a tie of which the unhappy Chancellor had no conception. In the preface, the old gentleman expectorates all his vanity, of which it seems to be too evident, his breast was full. Covetousness and vanity are sins, which, in some men, are eminently conspicuous in old age. Of the former, every one will cheerfully exonerate the Chancellor; as for the latter, and more especially when contrasted with the close of the combat, we need say nothing more at present. In early life, the stream of human depravity has several channels, but in its later stages, those channels are in a manner dried up, by the decay of the natural powers, when the whole current flows in one direction; and then, as ambition is often associated with blood, so is vanity with venom. The bitterness and contempt which distinguished Sir Thomas on these subjects, can only be imagined by those who have the patience to wade through his folio pages, while he goes on consigning every one to perdition, for opinions which have long distinguished the British population. Utopia was the blossom of his youth, but there had been little congenial moisture within him, and so it dropped off. His tedious controversial writings were the fruit of his mature age, and they remain, to any who look upon them, the saddest memorial of his failing into the yellow leaf. In the meanwhile, it may here be remarked, that it would have been prudent in Sir Thomas, to have left Fryth alone, as the interference only exposed him, in the end, to a double defeat. Even Tyndale was younger than himself, and he was more than his match; but John Fryth was only twenty-eight years of age, when his book was published, last year.

Besides, the Chancellor had crowed by far too soon, as he had then no idea that in a few months after, Fryth himself would come over, and not only confront him upon English ground, though writing from a dungeon; but overcome in argument the Bishops assembled, with Cranmer at their head.

It is not possible to ascertain in what month of this year Fryth had arrived in England, but it may have been as early as July or August. Having been absent from his native country for six years, he was first heard of at Reading in Berkshire, a place into which the Divine Word had found an entrance, at least four or five years before this. In 1528, we have read of Rodolph Bradford carrying New Testaments there from London, and by the next year even the Prior of that abbey was a suspected man, and had been placed in confinement.

We notice this man, as one purpose for which it is said Fryth came over, was to obtain some pecuniary aid from him, or rather induce the Prior to accompany him, on his return to the Continent; a movement to which he might be more disposed, after such usage. In one place, indeed, Foxe states that Fryth came over at the Prior’s request; but be this as it may, his account is as follows:- “Being at Reading, it happened that he was there taken for a vagabond, and brought to examination, where the simple man, loath to utter himself what he was, and unacquainted with their manner of examination, and they greatly offended with him, committed him to the stocks, where, when he had sitten a long time, and was almost pined with hunger, and would not for all that declare what he was; at last, he desired that the schoolmaster of the town might be brought unto him, which, at that time, was one Leonard Coxe, a man very well learned. As soon as he came to him, Fryth by and by, in the Latin tongue, began to bewail his captivity. The schoolmaster, being overcome with his eloquence, did not only take pity and compassion upon him, but went, with all speed, unto the Magistrates, grievously complaining of the injury which they did shew to so excellent and innocent a young man. And so, through the help of the said schoolmaster, the said Fryth was freely set at liberty without punishment.”

The “stocks” in England had certainly never before been so honoured, whatever they were afterwards; nor should the worthy and learned schoolmaster be forgotten? Thus enlarged, we hear nothing of the Prior, and he might have removed after this outrage; but Fryth proceeded to London itself, and there saw those friends of truth, to whom Bainham had first made his confession, a few months before. The danger, however, was extreme; but there was to be no more any thing bordering upon abjuration-no more halting between two opinions, or between life and death-in Fryth’s case. He had come to read a lesson to the Martyrs of England, and he read it nobly, by his tongue, nay, by his pen, and finally by the flames. It was altogether a sight which had never been seen in England since the days in which he himself had been reading the first imported Testament, or was immured in the dungeon at Oxford. Yet though of so decided a character, that he afterwards astonished both friends and foes, Fryth still accounted it his imperative duty to avoid apprehension if he could; and, according to the Divine commandment, first fled from place to place, rather than his enemies should be involved in the guilt of blood. He changed his raiment and place of abode again and again, but could not remain long anywhere, even among friends. Sir Thomas More had now heard of his being in England, and “beset,” says Foxe, “all the ways and havens, yea, and promised great rewards, if any man could bring any tidings of him.”

While, however, he was yet at large, there was a Christian brother, of whom Fryth says, “for his commendable conversation, and sober behaviour, he might better be a bishop, than many that wear mitres, if the rule of St. Paul were regarded in their election.” He had applied to Fryth for his opinions respecting the Lord’s Supper, and after complying with his earnest request, “he desired me,” he adds, “to entitle the sum of my words, and write them for him, because they seemed over long to be well retained in memory.” This was done with no intention of its being read, except by select or choice friends, who had already received the truth; “for they knew the spiritual and necessary eating and drinking of his body and blood, which is received but with the ears and faith, and only needed instruction in the outward caring; which thing,” adds Fryth, “I only declared.” By this time, More especially, if not Stokesly, had various spies on the look-out in London; base men, who insinuated themselves among the best of the city.

Two of these are named-one Withers, and William Holt, the foreman of Mr. Malte, tailor to the King. The latter was the guilty man, who betrayed confidence. Having seen the manuscript of Fryth, he begged a perusal of it; and once obtained, he carried it forthwith to the Chancellor.

Sir Thomas More, however, as if conscious of his incompetence to answer “the young man,” for so he generally called him, had now become more cautious, though it was only a few months since his vaunting preface was abroad. This must have been the more mortifying, when Fryth let out the secret; for referring to his manuscript, he tells us, that More suppressed the work after it was printed, and though he saw a printed copy in the Bishop of Winchester’s, on the 26th of December, neither he or his friends could obtain one, but got hold of a written copy, which had been made in great haste.

From this it is evident that Fryth was not only in safe keeping, and under examination by this month of December, but that More had replied to his manuscript, and in print, and therefore he must have been in England for some months. He had been apprehended, says Foxe, at a place called Milton Shore, in Essex, where he had gone with a view to embark for the Continent, and after that had been committed to the Tower. The last six months of his valuable life will come before us in due time.

But with regard to that great cause, for which Fryth was now in prison, and Tyndale had been pursued for years, there was no possibility of stopping its onward progress. The importation of the Scriptures, as well as other books, went on. A tide had set in, which no vigilance, no power upon earth, could either stop or turn aside. Though it be in vulgar, and even profane language, by far the finest eulogium, on this department of exertion, was pronounced by Sir Thomas More himself, and in this very year. He would not, it is true, open His eyes to the fact, that there was a thirst for the Word of Truth, and that a market or demand had been created in England, in spite of all opposition; and, therefore, he is incorrect as to the way in which money was raised, or rather capital embarked, but, in other respects, his denunciation involves the very highest praise which could have been elicited. “Which books, albeit that they neither can be there printed without great cost, nor here sold without great adventure and peril: yet cease they not with money sent from hence, to print them there, and send them hither, by the whole vatts-full at once. And, in some places, looking for no lucre, cast them abroad by night; so great a pestilent pleasure have some devilish people caught, with the labour, travel, cost, charge, peril, harm, and hurt of themselves, to seek the destruction of other.” f65 Such was the language of Sir Thomas More, and the same spirit reigns throughout his pages. It was the testimony of an enemy, addressed to enemies, which is the strongest of all, and therefore includes the higher commendation of unwearied zeal in the cause of God and His truth. And certainly it was a marvellous thing, that one of those “fellows,” as he calls them, with his junior companion, “who nought had here, and therefore nought carried hence,” should be able to kindle such a fire in England.

They were but “earthen vessels,” it is true; persecuted, but not forsaken; as unknown, and yet well known; as poor, yet making many rich; for their friends, by this time described as “evil-disposed persons within this realm,” had already become more than two bands. But now, since our only controversialist thought so badly of them, we must hear the opinion of a better judge.

We have alluded to a Congregation of these people, meeting in London, but there were groups, in secret, throughout different counties. John Fryth had seen those in London, and then proceeded from place to place, before he was to address them all from his prison. He had worshipped God along with them, and expounded the Sacred Volume they held so dear; and what was his deliberate opinion of those people, whom the Chancellor and the Bishops so defamed? In a letter addressed to them from “the Tower of London, a prisoner for the Word of God,” he rejoices that he found no small number of them walking in the ways of the Lord, as He gave commandment, willing that they should love one another as He loved us; that he had had experience of their faith without simulation, of their love to the poor oppressed, to whom they communicated “both bodily sustenance and ghostly comfort, notwithstandnig the strait inhibition and terrible menacing of these worldly rulers.” He prophetically adds:- “I ever thought, and yet do think, that to walk after God’s Word would cost me my life, at one time or another. And albeit that the King’s Grace should take me into his favour, and not to suffer the bloody Edomites to have their pleasures upon me; yet will I not think that I am escaped: but that God hath only deferred it for a season, to the intent that I should work somewhat that He hath appointed me to do, and so to use me unto His glory. “He shall send a Joseph before you against ye shall come into Egypt; yea, He shall so provide for you, that ye shall have an hundred fathers for one; an hundred mothers for one; an hundred houses for one; and that in this life, As IHAVE PROVED BY EXPERIENCE; and after this life, everlasting joy with Christ our Savior.”

Such were the fruits of the Sacred Word, printed in the vulgar tongue! In the outset, it was but like an handful of corn, sown in a most unpromising soil, on the top of a mountain; yet now that one of the sowers has come, “it cannot be expressed, what joy and comfort it was to his heart, to perceive” far more than the green blade above the ground.

That a Christian should receive an hundred-fold of temporal good, with persecutions, has often seemed to be a mystery, and the passage has so perplexed the expositors of more peaceful times, that they have felt obliged to escape to the supposition of celestial gratifications. How a man should leave one house and find an hundred, in the days when mere professors are loth to leave any thing for Christ, has appeared to be impossible; although the Saviour expressly confines the hundred-fold to this life. But the exuberant love and hospitality of the primitive Christians untie the knot, and explain the promise. On the part of, our Redeemer, it was indeed a most extraordinary intimation; informing the earliest age, not only that Christianity should gain ground, but prevail in such power over its believers, and all that they possessed; and it remained for John Fryth especially to come over, and draw out the proof that primitive Christianity had effectually taken root in England. All the believers’ houses had been open to entertain him, and there was he treated with all a father’s, or a mother’s, a brother’s, or a sister’s kindness. Now that he was in bonds, he was overcome with joy, by finding that such was their concern for him, and that they felt his private or personal suffering as a general calamity, or a public wrong.

And now that the year is ended, what can be said as to the Old man and the Young?-the Chancellor and his prisoner? What else than that “wisdom excelleth folly, and as far as light excelleth darkness;” or that “the wise man’s eyes are in his head, and that it is the infatuated only, who walk on in darkness?”

By the mercy of God, however, Sir Thomas More must now withdraw. He had resigned the Great Seal in May, but still had acted officially till towards the close of the year; in a few weeks hence he will be entirely dismissed, and left free, and at leisure to go on with his voluminous controversy, though this should only be to his final overthrow.

We have not been able to ascertain the precise object of Fryth’s journey into England, at a period so fraught with danger. It must have been something of importance in his own apprehension, as well as in that of Tyndale. The latter had no other man like-minded, no other companion, properly so called, upon earth. For years together, he himself had been pursued on the Continent, but Fryth was now in England itself. One can, therefore, easily conceive what trembling anxiety must have been felt by our Translator, in his absence; and we have one fine letter of judicious counsel, before he knew the worst-that Fryth was apprehended, and in the Tower of London. From this we extract the following sentences:- “Cleave fast to the rock of the help of God, and commit the end of all things to Him; and if God shall call you, that you may then use the wisdom of the world, as far as yon perceive the glory of God may come thereof, refuse it not; and ever among thrust in, that the Scripture may be in the MOTHER tongue, and learning set up in the Universities. But and if aught be required contrary to the glory of God and His Christ, then stand fast, and commit yourself to God, and be not overcome of men’s persuasions, which haply shall say, we see no other way to bring in the truth. “Beloved of my heart, there liveth not, in whom I have so good hope and trust, and in whom my heart rejoiceth, and my soul comforteth herself, as in you,: not the thousandth part so much for your learning, and what other gifts else you have, as that you will creep slow by the ground, and walk in those things that the conscience may feel, and not in the imaginations of the brain; in fear, and not in boldness; in open necessary things, and not to pronounce or define of hid secrets, or things that neither help nor hinder, whether they be so or no; in unity, and not in seditious opinions: insomuch, that if you be sure you know; yet in things that may abide leisure, you will defer, or say, methinks the text requireth this sense or understanding; yea, and if you be sure that your part be good, and another hold the contrary, yet if it be a thing that maketh no matter, you will laugh and let it pass, and refer the thing to other men, and stick you stiffly and stubbornly, in earnest and necessary things. “And I trust you be persuaded even so of me. For I call God to record, against the day we shall appear before our Lord Jesus, to give a reckoning of our doings, that I never altered one syllable of God’s Word against my conscience, (as Sir Thomas More had insinuated,) nor would this day, if all that is in the earth, whether it be pleasure, honour, or riches, might be given me. Moreover, I take God to record to my conscience, that I desire of God to myself in this world, no more than that (liberty?) without which I cannot keep His laws. “The mighty God of Jacob be with you, to supplant His enemies, and give you the favour of Joseph; and the wisdom and the spirit of Stephen be with your heart and with your mouth, and teach your lips what they shall say, and how to answer to all things. He is our God, if we despair in ourselves and trust in Him; and His is the glory, Amen. William Tyndale. I hope our redemption is nigh.”

But whatever Tyndale might intend by his last expression to Fryth, it was not long before he heard of his being in the hands of Sir Thomas, and also in the Tower; for, however impossible it had ever been to find Tyndale’s abode, it is remarkable that no circumstances could ever impede his immediate communication with England. Though Fryth had found it difficult to procure a copy of More’s reply to himself, either that, or some other copy, was soon in Tyndale’s possession, when he immediately discovered all that deep interest which he had already expressed so warmly in his letter. Before this, too, he had also received the Chancellor’s vaunted Confutation, so that, according to More’s own concession, he could now “pry upon” them both, “narrowly, and with such eagle’s eyen as he hath.”

By a single passage, at the outset, which will be noticed presently, he effectually damaged the fame of the knight’s “Confutation ;” but the perilous situation of Fryth demanded haste, and Tyndale immediately did his “uttermost” for him, as he had promised. Whether he left Antwerp to superintend the press, is not certain, but it is more than probable, for it is curious enough that his pointed production was printed at Nuremberg by Nicolas Townson, and was finished by the beginning of April. It is entitled “The Supper of the Lord “-after the meaning of John vi. and 1st Corinthians xi.-“wherein, incidentally, Master More’s letter against John Fryth is confuted.”

For fresh events we must now, therefore, look forward to the next year. 1533.

One Distinguishing Feature Of Tyndale’s Course And Character As Compared With His Contemporaries-His Answer To Sir T. More-His Letter To Fryth In Prison-Fryth’s Voice From The Tower-Fryth’s Examination Before The Bishops Assembled-His Triumph In Argument -Martyrdom-One Effect Of Fryth’s Death-Sir T. More Writing Still-One Powerful Opponent At Home-More As A Controversialist -His Prodigious Exertions-Other Qualities-Finally Overcome.

BEFORE recurring to Tyndale’s last publication, we are constrained to pause for a few moments, and observe more distinctly one marked or distinguishing feature in his character. His one object in life, was to gain over his native land to the faith of the Mediator. The foundation of all his hope of success, rested on the Word of God itself. With its translation into English he began, and laboured in it to his dying day. And having once conveyed the New Testament to England, as containing truth without any mixture of error, he might, indeed, because banished from the soil, assail the love of the world or covetousness, in those who had arrogated to themselves the title of “the Spirituality,” in his parable of “the Wicked Mammon;” he might lay down the law of “Christian Obedience,” but built on that faith which he had already explained; might expose the hypocritical “Practice of Prelates,” who had sunk his country into immorality, licentiousness, and debt; or warn the whole nation by Jonah and his prologue. These were great subjects, and worthy of his pen; but when once he found a Preacher upon English ground, in whom, and in whose doctrine, he reposed unlimited confidence, and came to explain the course which he thought that Preacher should pursue, his ideas are worthy of observation in any, or rather in every age. He himself had been “about a great work, and would not come down,” and so he would have Fryth to act. His weapons were to be only two,-the Law and the Gospel; subjects to which the conscience would respond; and hence his fervent anxiety that he would commend himself to every man’s conscience, as in the sight of God; or only “walk in those things that the conscience might feel.” He thought that matters of essential belief should first be received in England, and first settled in all cases, before those of obedience should be enforced; that the souls of men should first have ih possession that rest which Christ gives, before His gentle yoke could be assumed; that men should first be disciples, and then taught all things whatsover Christ has commanded. During his entire residence on the Continent, from this fixed judgment he had never swerved, though amidst many temptations so to do; and this it is which should procure for him, in the eye of posterity, one distinguishing eminence among all his contemporaries. There is actually not a second man to be placed by his side, except the prisoner respecting whom he is now so concerned. In consequence of pursuing a course all his own, at no Conference, Diet, or Assembly can we ever hear of him, nor do we find any references to these, in his writings. There was in 1524, the Diet at Nuremberg, the Assembly at Ratisbon in July, and another afterwards at Spire. In 1526 the Conference at Baden against Zuingle in May, and the Diet at Spire in June. In 1527 the Conference of Berne, not to say the provincial Councils at Bruges and Paris. In 1529 the Diet in March held at Spire, then the Protestation, and then the Conference in October, at Marburg, between the Lutherans and Zuinglians. In 1530 there was the Diet of Augsburg; to deliberate on the Augsburg Confession, or the articles of Torgau, including what they called “Sacraments,” and “religious ceremonies;” and then the league at Smalkald. In 1531 the Assembly again at Smalkald, and afterwards at Frankfort. But at not one of these do we hear of Tyndale being present; an absence or retirement so uniform, that it could only have sprung from some fixed determination, more especially as his talents would have secured a chair for him, on any such occasions.

And as he frequented no public conferences or disputations, so he courted the patronage of no German circle, of no Duke or Elector, no Landgrave or Counsellor, but, to use his own expression, “kept alow by the ground.”

His rejection, at first, by the Lord Bishop of London, actually seems to have made an impression which never left him, and six years afterwards he refers to it, as though it had governed him ever since,-“ God saw,” says he, “that I was beguiled, and that their counsel was not the next way unto my purpose; and therefore He gat me no favour in my Lord’s sight.” After that period he seems to have felt, as Johnson did in modern times, that a Patron would only have “encumbered him with help;” or he was not willing that posterity should consider him as owing that to any earthly protector, which Providence enabled him to accomplish, without one smile of court-favour from his country. In short, Tyndale’s lack of protection from princes and assistance from learned men, taken in connexion with the course which he had so steadily pursued, forms a forcible contrast to the path and circumstances of all his contemporaries. If these statements be observed, they may so far account for the fact, that during the last nine years, with a sound and discriminating judgment, Tymdale had sted-fastly deprecated the Bellum Sacramentariurn, and never more so than at this period, as he himself has explained. It had commenced about the very time of his arrival at Hamburg, in 1524, and, upon fixed principles, he had kept out of it, from year to year. This of itself alone, was quite sufficient to have preserved him from personally combining with Luther; a confederacy, which he himself denied after six years’ residence on the Continent; and one, which, owing to the violence of the Saxons, could not possibly have taken place since. But, now that Tyndale’s dearest friend upon earth, his “own son” in the faith, is incarcerated, and in danger of his life,-now that he has fallen into the hands of these English Philistines,-now that both Providence and Christian friendship call him to speak out, having no choice, he will not be slow, or rather was not, so to do.

And never was triumph more complete, than that of Tyndale and Fryth over Sir Thomas More on the subject of the Lord’s Supper, though on their part it was entirely unprovoked. Fryth, it must be observed, was precisely of Tyndale’s opinion; that Repentance and Faith, or matters of essential belief, should be first propounded and settled, previously to discussing any Christian ordinances; that the former were to be testified to the world at large; the latter, settled within the Church itself: that the messenger of God to guilty men, was to preach and might print on the former; but as to the latter, beware of the printing-press. The latter were to be “reasoned in peace and at leisure,” among believers alone, or within the Church. Oh, had the counsel of the “first two” been taken, what a different aspect had the Church of God exhibited by this time! And why may not some invaluable instruction, even now, be drawn from this, the very springhead of religious controversy?

It must be remembered, therefore, that believing, as he did, in the plainness and all-sufficiency of the Sacred Oracles, Fryth had been exceedingly averse from putting pen to paper, and that when he did so, it was only in compliance with the urgency of a beloved Christian brother. But this was only a manuscript, and one sacredly intended only for the eye of believers, in whose faith Fryth had already found such reason to rejoice. In these circumstances, the Chancellor stepped out of his way, to his own discomfiture; and so infatuated was he, that he must print in reply, though he afterwards laboured to suppress it. Copies, however, having gone out, Fryth must not shrink from confuting him; and Tyndale having received it also, neither does he. Throughout this piece, Sir Thomas having contemptuously styled Fryth “the young man,” this it was which led Tyndale frequently to place the Lord Chancellor in contrast as “the old man;” and he will now require to put on his spectacles once more.

In the outset of his attack on Fryth, the Chancellor had insisted that in the sixth chapter of John the Saviour had referred literally to the Lord’s Supper. But in order to prove John’s Gospel imperfect and insufficient, he had said in the third book of his “Confutation,” that “John spake nothing at all of this Sacrament,” thus palpably contradicting himself, and, adds Tyndale, “the young man here causing him to put on his spectacles and pore better and more wisely with his old eyes, upon St. John’s Gospel, to find that thing there written, which before he would have made one of his unwritten verities.”

It is unnecessary to notice every corner out of which he dragged his opponent, or the chain of argument by which he bound him; but at the close, Tyndale gives intimation that he was quite prepared to meet, not merely the Chancellor, but all who either believed or dissembled with him; and expresses his longing for the day when this ordinance of Christ shall be “restored unto the pure use,” as the Apostles used it in their time; giving a particular account of the manner in which he wished it to be observed.

But now, whether Tyndale had been to Nuremberg, where this was printed, or not, he had heard in May of Fryth’s dangerous condition in the Tower, and was in Antwerp again at that time. Certainly he had not sojourned in this city since January, where he must have heard much sooner; or if there was an earlier communication from him to England, it is irrecoverable. His whole soul, however, was now moved with intense feeling, and he poured it forth in the following final epistle:- “Dearly beloved, however the matter be, commit yourself wholly and only unto your most loving Father, and most kind Lord, and fear not men that threat, nor trust men that speak fair; but trust Him that is true of promise, and able to make His word good. Your cause is Christ’s gospel, a light that must be fed with the blood of faith. The lamp must be dressed daily, and that oil poured in every evening and morning, that the light go not out. “Be of good courage, and comfort your soul with the hope of this high reward, and bear the image of Christ in your mortal body, that it may, at His coming, be made like to His immortal; and follow the example of all your other dear brethren, which chose to suffer in hope of a better resurrection. Keep your conscience pure and undefiled, and say against that, nothing. Stick at necessary things, and remember the blasphemies of the enemies of Christ, saying, they.find NONE but that will ABJURE, rather than suffer the extremity. Moreover, the death of them that come again, after they have once denied, though it be accepted with God, and all that believe, yet it is not glorious, for the hypocrites say, ‘he must needs die;’ denying (then) helpeth not. “If you give yourself, cast yourself, yield yourself, commit yourself, wholly and only to your loving Father, then shall His power be in you, and make you strong, and that so strong, that you shall feel no pain, which should be to another present death; and His Spirit shall speak in you, and teach you what to answer, according to His promise. He shall set out His truth by you, wonderfully, and work for you, above all that your heart can imagine: yea, and you are not yet dead, though the hypocrites all, with all that they can make, have sworn your death. “Fear not the threatening, therefore, neither be overcome of sweet words: with which twain, the hypocrites shall assail you. Neither let the persuasions of worldly wisdom bear rule in your heart: No, though they be your friends that counsel you. Let Bilney be a warning to you. Let not their visor beguile your eyes. Let not your body faint. He that endureth to the end shall be saved. If the pain be above your streugth, remember-whatsoever ye shall ask in my Name, I will give it you’-and pray to your Father, in that Name, and He shall ease your pain or shorten it. The Lord of peace of hope, and of faith, be with you, Amen. William Tyndale. “P.S. Your wife is well content with the will of God, and would not, for her sake, have the glory of God hindered. William Tyndale.” In both these letters the reader has beheld the ardent affection of Tyndale for his friend; but see, in the last, how strong his supreme regard for the truth of God! The young man was dear to him as his own soul, yet had he prepared his mind for the severe trial, and given him up, though now, evidently, in a state of great agitation; but it was one of breathless anxiety for the glory of God, and the subordinate glory of his friend’s character, rather than his life. Tyndale was in that frame of mind, which no man, without a martyr’s heart, such as he truly possessed, can fully appreciate; nor is the wife of the prisoner, to whom he had been but recently united, less to be admired. This letter, which was “delivered to Fryth in the Tower,” must have proved most welcome; although, ere long, we shall find that, strengthened by the power and grace of his Redeemer, he had needed no human counsel to die with all the heroism of Stephen, the first martyr to Christianity.

We cannot affirm that there was any positive connexion between the marriage of Henry to Lady Anne Boleyn, which took place on the 25th January, and the resignation of the Chancellorship by More; but still it is very observable, that the next day, Sir Thomas Audley, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, delivered it to the King; when his Majesty, retaining it only a quarter of an hour, redelivered it to him, with the title of Lord Chancellor.

Thus, though Sir Thomas More had resigned the Seals in May, he had been acting as an officer of the Crown till about this period. We have seen him, long after May, active in the pursuit and persecution of Fryth; but the mace being gone, he must now wield only the pen. It was the solitary instrument left him to carry on his warfare; and with this he continued more busy than ever, throughout the whole of this year.

This new appointment is worthy of notice, chiefly on one account. An immediate relaxation took place as to Fryth, in his imprisonment. In the earlier stage of his confinement here was his situation-“ I am, in a manner, as a man bound to a post, and cannot so well bestow me in my play, as if I were at liberty; for I may not have such books as are necessary for me; neither yet pen, ink, nor paper, but only secretly, so that I am in continual fear both of the Lieutenant and of my keeper, lest they should espy any such thing by me. And, therefore, it is little marvel though the work be imperfect; for whensoever I hear the keys ring at the doors, straight all must be conveyed out of the way-and then, if any notable thing had been in my mind, it was clean lost.”

But now, though Sir Thomas Audley was as much disposed to please Henry as any of the time-servers round his person, he felt and acted very differently from his predecessor, as to the “new learning;” and Crumwell, who perhaps had profited by the sound advice of Vaughan, is stated to have been disposed to show favour to the prisoner. In short, had there been no deep and too successful intrigue afterwards employed, Fryth might have been permitted to depart from England. But still, in the meanwhile, there was a pause-a suspension of that violence and severity, which had run on during the reign of the last Chancellor. The very keeper of Fryth in the Tower greatly relaxed; and, “upon condition of his own word and promise, let him go at liberty during the night, to consult with good men.” One happy result of all this was, that Fryth was enabled to write his full refutation of Sir Thomas More, from the very Tower to which he had committed him, besides several other things, afterwards printed in his works.

Under these circumstances, Fryth was not idle, nor did Sir Thomas escape with impunity. “For though More wrote with as much wit and eloquence as any man in that age did, and Fryth wrote plainly without any art; yet there is so great a difference between their books, that whoever compares them, will clearly perceive the one to be the ingenious defender of an ill cause, and the other a simple assertor of truth.” The palm for “wit and eloquence” has been at once assigned to Sir Thomas, upon all occasions; but if any one desires to see the “eloquent orator” and the “simple assertor of truth” in contrast, he has only to consult Fryth, who certainly does him justice, by quoting the eloquence, verbatim, such as it was, before he confutes it- “Fryth, the young man, ‘teacheth in a few leaves shortly, all the poison that Wickliffe, CEcolampadius, Huskyn, Tyndale, and Zuinglius have taught in all their books before, concerning the blessed sacrament of the altar; not only affirming it to be very bread still, as Luther doth, but also, as these other beasts do, saith it is nothing else.’-These dregs hath he drunken of Wickliffe, Cecolampadius, Tyndale, and Zuinglius, and so hath all that he argueth here before; which four, what manner folk they be, is meetly well perceived and known, and God hath in part, with His open vengeance, declared.”

Fryth, after vindicating the other three individually, adds, as to his dearest friend upon earth:- “And TYNDALE, I trust, liveth, well content with such a poor Apostle’s life, as God gave His Son Christ, and His faithful ministers in this world, which is not sure of so many mites as ye be yearly of pounds; although I am sure that, for his learning and judgment in Scripture, he were more worthy to be promoted than all the Bishops in England. I received a letter from him, which was written since Christmas, wherein, among other matters, he writeth thus-‘ I call God to record, etc.’

Judge, Christian reader, whether these words be not spoken of a faithful, clear, innocent heart. And as for his behaviour, it is such, that I am sure no man can reprove him of any sin; howbeit, no man is innocent before God, which beholdeth the heart.”

Sir Thomas More having adjured them, if they would write, to “keep their writings so secretly that never man should see them,” Fryth gives him this challenge:- “But this hath been offered you, is offered, and shall be offered.

Grant that the Word of God, I mean the text of Scripture, may go abroad in, our English tongue, as other nations have it in their tongues, and my brother William Tyndale and I have done, and will promise you to writeNO MORE: If you will not grant this condition, then will we be doing,WHILE WE HAVE BREATH, and show in few words that the Scripture doth in many; and so, at the least, save some.”

In his progress, Fryth not only defended his opinions by express quotations of Scripture, with a clear interpretation of their meaning; but he went on by quoting Tertullian and Augustine, Origen and Ambrose, Jerome and Chrysostom, Fulgentius and Eusebius, &c. These he gives in Latin, with a translation in English; bringing forward “all these old doctors, that his opponents might be ashamed” from henceforth to call it “new learning.” All the Prelates, therefore, with “Mr. More, which taketh upon him to be their proctor,” were called upon now to speak out and answer, if it was a question to be settled by fair reasoning; and they were specially bound to have done so by the manner in which Fryth summed up his arguments at the close. Besides, the pointed strictures of Tyndale had also arrived in England: but there could be no answer, properly so called, though More will not refrain from some reply.

Ten days had not elapsed after Queen Anne’s coronation, which took place on the 1st of June, before Cranmer, in servile obedience to his royal Master, must proceed with a widely different scene. The martyrdom of Fryth has never been sufficiently marked in English history, as there are several points of distinction between it and any preceding act of cruelty, in Henry’s reign. In 1530, it is true, he had fully authorized a fiery persecution, but to this measure he had been strongly advised by the last Lord Chancellor; and the cruelties ensuing had never commenced with him, nor had he yet personally sanctioned the last sentence of the law. Bilney and Bayfield, Tewksbury and Bennet, had been first seized and examined by the Bishops, and then put to death without any writ from his Majesty.

The statute of Henry IV., and the warrant of Sir Thomas More, had been regarded as sufficient, and Henry only did not interpose. But Sir Thomas had now retired, and Chancellor Audley was not a persecutor. The examination of Fryth was Henry’s own deed, and though the blood of the innocent was already upon him, so far as explained, he now first degraded himself personally to the rank of a Murderer.

The importance attached to this reckless proceeding may be seen, in the eminence of the parties expressly appointed by the King to examine Fryth.

These were Cranmer, Gardiner, and Stokesly, the Lord Chancellor, the Duke of Suffolk, or Henry’s own brother-in-law, and the Earl of Wiltshire, The story altogether, is one of the most affecting in the history of the times.

Fearing a concourse of citizens, the scene of the examination was removed to Croydon, to which place Fryth was conveyed under charge of one of the Archbishop’s gentlemen, and one of his porters. On the way, the gentleman pitying his prisoner’s youth and parts, besought him for the sake of his wife and children, and the world which he might benefit by his gifts, to be somewhat advised by the counsel of Cranmer and Crumwell, who were willing to save his life. To this he replied, that his cause and conscience were such, that he could not on any consideration fly from the true knowledge and doctrine which he had conceived of the Supper of the Lord,-that he was well prepared for his defence, which could not be condemned without involving Augustine and the Fathers in the same condemnation,-that as for life, he had made up his mind to lay it down rather than “qualify” his cause, for death would be better to him and all his, than life in bondage and penury, adding:-“ God Almighty knoweth what He hath to do with His poor servant, whose cause I now defend, and not my own; from the which, I assuredly do intend, God willing, never to start or otherwise give place, so long as God will give me life.”

While travelling on foot between Lambeth and Croydon, the gentleman and porter devised a scheme for liberating their prisoner, and securing their own credit; this they could hardly have done without some understanding with those above them. But he, whom some in power wished well out of the way, was one who could be no party to the falsehood involved in this scheme, or flinch from the defence of the truth for which he was set. He therefore refused to take advantage of their intended kindness, assuring them that if left by them he would deliver up himself at Croydon. There, on the following day, he was examined, and replied so readily in his cause, that “there was no man willing to prefer him to answer in open disputation.”

Here, therefore, a pause, of several days, ensued; which Cranmer himself helps us to explain. What we have already narrated had taken place between the 10th and 15th of June, and before the 17th, Fryth had been sent back to London. After his examinations were over, and before his return to London, Cranmer had called for him repeatedly, and tried to turn him, but in vain, and the Archbishop must now speak for himself. On the 17th he writes a long letter to Archdeacon Hawkins, his successor, as ambassador, at the Emperor’s court; in which it must be confessed that he seems far more elated by “the gorgeous and sumptuous” display at the Queen’s coronation, than depressed by the tragedy, in which, immediately afterwards, he had also played his part. Of the former he gives a long and minute account; descending to the guns fired-the dresses worn-the order of cavalcade. “Now, then, on Sunday, (lst June,) was the coronation,” when he, with six Bishops and twelve Abbots, “all revestred in their pontificalibus, with their crosses and crosiers, walked in procession into the church of Westminster,” where “I did put the crown upon her head, and then was sung Te Deum.” It is in this very letter, after finishing his account, that Fryth is introduced, and in the following terms:- “Other news have we none notable, but that one Fryth, which was in the Tower in prison, was appointed by the King’s Grace to be examined before me, my Lord of London, my Lord of Winchester, my Lord of Suffolk, my Lord Chancellor, and my Lord of Wiltshire-whose opinion was so notably erroneous, that we could not despatch him, but was fain to leave him to the determination of his ordinary, the Bishop of London. I myself sent for him three or four times to persuade him to leave that his imagination, but for all that we could do therein, he would not apply to any counsel.

Notwithstanding now he is at a final end with all examinations, for my Lord of London hath given sentence and delivered him to the secular power, where he looketh every day to go unto the fire.” Surely Cranmer could scarcely intend to speak contemptuously; but a new made Archbishop, who had just been crowning a Queen, when writing to an Ambassador and telling the story, might imagine that “one Fryth” was only in good keeping with such high affairs; though in the lips of Cranmer, to say the least, it was an unfortunate slip of the pen; as if he had never heard of him before, and his friend as little! “One Fryth,”-the Eton scholar of King’s College, Cambridge; the Canon selected for Cardinal College, Oxford, when Cranmer declined; the man known to Wolsey, whom the King himself and Crumwell, and foreign agents, had been so eager to decoy into England; the same man whom the late Lord Chancellor pursued with such eagerness till he caught him; who had just overthrown his lordship in argument, and now silenced the Bishops, including Cranmer himself; in short, the bosom friend and associate of Tyndale, who had agitated the councils of England, before Thomas Cranmer was known: but enough. Only it had been well for “one Cranmer” had he ever exhibited the same undaunted fortitude, and died a death so glorious and unsullied as that of “one Fryth.”

Notwithstanding what the primate had here said, it was not till three days after, or Friday the 20th of June, that Fryth came to his final appearance before the Bishops of London, (Stokesly,) Lincoln, (Longland,) and Winchester, (Gardiner,) in St. Paul’s. His constancy, self-possession, and Christian fortitude never forsook him for one moment; and when the question was finally put, whether he would subscribe his answers, he took up the pen, and with his own hand wrote these words-“Ego Frithus ita sentio, et quemadmodum sentio, ita dixi, scripsi, asservi et affirmavi,” &c.-“I, Fryth, thus do think, and as I think, so have I said, written, defended, and avowed, and in my books have published.” Sentence being passed, and read against him, by Stokesly, he was handed over to the Mayor and Sheriffs. By them he was committed to Newgate, and put into a dark dungeon under the gate. There, laden with irons, as many as he could bear, and his neck made fast to a post, with a collar of iron, he could neither stand upright, nor stoop down! Yet even here, by candle-light, for no other came into the place, was he continually engaged in writing; the letter to his friends, concerning his troubles, which was afterwards printed in his works, being his first effort.

Such was the power of Fryth’s example, that another individual, Andrew Hewer, (also betrayed by Holt, the miscreant already mentioned,) who had been first examined in April, and was now brought up again, resolved to follow his steps. The Bishops used many persuasions to allure him from the truth, but in vain. His heart was one with Fryth’s, and he told them firmly, that he would do as he had done. He was therefore condemned.

And now at the last, that Henry might have his full share of the guilt and shame of such a martyrdom, on the 3rd of July it was noted to him, officially, by Stokesly, sealed with his own seal, how the matter stood,-but there was no reply, and therefore full consent! Next morning Fryth and his companion were led forth to Smithfield.

Being both bound to the stake, “there was present,” says Foxe, “one Dr.

Cooke, that was parson of the Church called All-hallows, in Honey-lane, situate in the midst of Cheapside. The said Cooke made open exclamation, and admonished the people, that they should in no wise pray for them, any more than they would for a dog.” At these words, Fryth, smiling, prayed the Lord to forgive him! The Doctor’s words, however, “did not a little move the people to anger, and not without cause. The wind made his death somewhat longer, as it bore away the flame from him to his fellow; but Fryth’s mind was established with such patience, that, as though he had felt no pain, he seemed rather to rejoice for his fellow than to be careful for himself!” This painful event was felt and lamented far and near; and in fact it marks an era, which will be noticed afterwards more particularly.

With regard to that war of opinion, now effectually kindled in England, which we have seen burst forth so decidedly in February 1526, and continue without intermission, it was more than ever on the advance; but it has now become more necessary to discriminate, if we are to keep pace with the actual state of the country. The positive progress of Divine truth must on no account be confounded with certain opinions debated, and movements settled, whether in Parliament or the Convocation. In England were two distinct parties, with views and intentions as distinct as heaven and earth, or as Divine truth is from mere political expediency. The former was, properly speaking, the cause of God; the latter party, though overruled by Him, involved chiefly the passions and feelings of but one man, or the Monarch, with his obsequious advisers. The former cause, apparently without one powerful friend on earth, was certainly, as yet, without a visible leader in England. Notwithstanding both tire and fury, the rage of Henry, and the vain imaginations of his prelates, that cause had been feeling its way, silently but effectually, in a thousand directions; and the parties benefited were scattered among the people, as “a dew from Jehovah, which tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.”

With regard to other men, in all the discussions between the Pontiff and Henry, on the one hand, and between the latter with his Parliaments or Convocations, on the other, though religion was verbally connected with them, all hated, and all as yet had equally persecuted, the Truth. Yet feeble and unprotected as the cause of God might seem, it was essentially the cause of all that happened. All the other movements were but the ground swell; so that while human passions and worldly interests were in agitation, the Almighty looked down from heaven, and in the things wherein they dealt proudly or cruelly, He was above them. In short, if the names of men are to be mentioned, the cause of Tyndale and Fryth was that of England’s best hope, and the most untoward events were overruled to advance it.

One illustration must not here be omitted, as it is connected with the martyrdom of Fryth. To the outward eye, this was nothing more than the death of an interesting young man, burnt to ashes in Smithfield, but it proved a decisive event. Burner has said, indeed, that “this was the last act of the clergy’s cruelty against men’s lives,” - but from the account already given, this has appeared to be not quite correct. No doubt the Bishops concerned were guilty to a man, and especially Gardiner, who intrigued and hunted for the life of his finest pupil, and who, with Stokesly and Longland, consigned him to the flames. But the King was as deeply implicated as any one man-nay, most of all, as with him lay the power of mercy, which, with his pen, or his ring, he could have extended in a moment. But he commanded the final examinations, and when the victim was on the borders of destruction, though distinctly informed of this, he made no reply! No, the martyrdom of Fryth stands by itself in history, not only as the first perpetrated directly by the King and the Clergy in union; but as distinguished from those of preceding years, and from all the violent deaths which were inflicted in England, for five years to come. The preceding marfyrdoms had certainly been for the truth, and were accomplished by the Bishops and the Lord Chancellor, without any King’s writ, or direct orders from the throne, although Henry winked at them all: the deaths that ensued, for years to come, were state murders by Henry himself. The preceding cruelties and death, however, it must be observed, were inflicted on men who had abjured, and who knew they must die; but Fryth had called, at once, both the King and his prelates to the mark, and they slew him. The former, no doubt, had their effects, in gradually inspiriting the cause, and advancing its moral courage; but Fryth’s calm and unflinching intrepidity, his clear and pointed rcplies, his refitsing either to flee or yield, astonished even his bitterest enemies. As for the people, they had never excited to any of these deeds of blood: over them all, many had deeply lamented, but with the death of Fryth they were shocked. They had seen him embrace the stake, and suffer with mildness and patience, full of faith, and hope, and joy; and not a few afterwards burned with indignation against his persecutors. This, in short, was the climax of these early martyrdoms on English ground, and it was the more deeply lamented as involving the death of the dearest friend and assistant of Tyndale himself.

Yet was it fit that he should occupy such a place in this noble warfare. The effect was felt in Parliament, and at its first sitting, on the simple petition of a poor prisoner, the subject was taken up; not, indeed, by the Lords or Bishops; not by the King, but by that instrument of national good, corrupt and servile though it was-the House of Commons. It was then, as we shall see, that heretics were taken out of the hands of the Bishops, and then that no man was to be, as many had been, immured in a dungeon, on suspicion of heresy. Even now the Scriptures were let alone, at least not burnt; nor was any one confined or burnt, for reading or believing them. It was not a little remarkable, nor should it now be forgotten, that such a season succeeded the martyrdom of Fryth.

In conjunction with this event, however, we do not forget the favourable consequences of the marriage of the King; for whatever may be said of that step, the results being matter of history, of these the reader will be able to judge for himself, as he proceeds. We only remark here, that the enemies of the new learning, or of mental freedom, need not have been so incensed with Henry for the step he had taken, since no English monarch ever gave such proofs of devoted attachment to their cause, as the “Defender of the Faith;” nor was he now weaned from discovering that attachment, nay, nor yet will be, to his dying hour. As for the new Queen, it should also be observed, that of the three ladies which had been laid out for the King, whichever he had married, the same consequences would have ensued. The Princess Margaret, the sister of Francis I., and Princess Renee, the sister of his deceased Queen, had been thought of, in succession, and by Wolsey himself. Either of these would have had his full concurrence, if it had so pleased the King, and the matter might then, in all probability, have been much earlier settled; but it. is remarkable that all the three were of similar sentiments! In any one of these three, the Monarch would have found a check-mate, in the bloody game which he had begun to play against the new learning.

Although, however, from June 1533 the storm was beginning to subside, opposition to the truth was by no means at an end. On the contrary, so far as the pen and the press were concerned, the present year stands most of all conspicuous. We have noticed the slight inaccuracy of supposing that Sir Thomas More retired to a life of study and retirement, when he resigned the Great Seal in May last, as for seven months afterwards he continued active as a persecutor. Even then, he had been writing; but it was during this year especially, that he put forth all his strength, and must have been busy, night and day, with little or nothing else than his great controversy. Had “abundance of words” been only reckoned a mark of greatness, Sir Thomas must have seemed a giant in literature; but now, the amount of his exertions in this warfare can only be placed among its most melancholy curiosities.

We have already noticed the first part of his “Confutation of Tyndale,” so called, consisting of 363 folio pages; and now came the remainder, or five books, of 573 pages more, or 936 in all! ‘Of these ponderous volumes, pages were against Barnes, and 786 in opposition to Tyndale!

Sir Thomas was partial to bold assumptions, and must have one, even in his title, as the word “Confutation” was nothing else; for now, if any man has the perseverance to wade through his folio, he will find the old Latin proverb fully apply to many a page-Gratis anhclans, multa agendo nihil agens. It may be truly said, that the Lord Chancellor, whether in or out of office, was out of breath to no purpose, and very busy about nothing of any value whatever. To reply to Tyndale had certainly cost him prodigious labour; but the Chancellor, however witty, was not the man to answer him, much less overcome; and as for the spirit and tendency of his writings, we must yet have a little patience, for he is far from being done!

An important diversion from Tyndtde personally, now, however, ensued: his cause was gathering strength. Of these two huge publications, the last had scarcely come from the press, when there sprung up another writer, and upon English ground, who disturbed the self-complacency of Sir Thomas not a little. He was of the Chancellor’s own profession, though, in other respects, a very different man. An Oxford scholar, he had entered the Inner Temple; had long been eminent as a counsellor; and, as a man, highly esteemed. A Christian, too, he was a great admirer of the Sacred Volume, as appeared by his habitual use of it. “Every night, after his business was past, he read a chapter of the Bible to those that belonged to his house, and the substance thereof he expounded to them.” It was natural for such a man to take a deep interest in the times. This year, therefore, he published anonymously “The Pacifier, or the Division between the Spirituality and the Temporality,” printed by Berthelet. It was distinguished for its temperate language, and formed a perfect contrast to the controversial style of Sir Thomas. He was, therefore, the more censured for the violence of his writing, as well as his tedious verbosity. The anonymous writer was held up to him as a pattern. Excited once more, he must commence again; but he ran on to 580 pages duodecimo, entitled “The Apology of Sir Thomas More, after he had given over the office of Lord Chancellor of England.”

He very candidly gives us the popular feeling against himself, for, after all his toil, his Confutation was not read! So far from the high-sounding term “Confutation,” the author has now come down to an Apology.

But even when vanquished, More could argue still; though certainly a more candid statement of faults found, has never been given by any author, from that day to this. It is valuable, as descriptive of the taste and feeling of many; it is honourable to his opponent, but it proves that the Bishops had better never have employed Sir Thomas More as their English Demosthenes. After all, our author’s self esteem was not exhausted; he proceeds to boast that some men had read his book three times, and then goes on with his Apology.

The retired Chancellor’s tone, however, was now, for a short season, more subdued; though whenever he touched on the Spirituality, so called, his irritability returns. Referring to Tyndale and others, he says-“ As for wit and learning, I nowhere say that any of them have none;” but now this new writer, by his matter and manner combined, greatly puzzled him. He could not believe so good a man could be an enemy to the Spirituality, and yet “he says nothing good of them.” Faults, and these alone, are specified, so that he must be surrounded by some “wily shrews, who have filled his ear with such statements.” Still, to the manner of this writer, he must concede the superiority, though he could not imitate it. “The pacifier can yet use his words in fair manner, and speak to each man gently. I cannot say but that is very true. Howbeit, every one hath not like wit, nor like invention in writing; for he findeth many ways of calling evil matter in good words, which I never thought upon, but am a simple plain body, much like the Macedonians.”

As soon as this Apology came out, which was chiefly against the Pacifier, he published an octavo pamphlet of 200 pages, entitled, “Salem and Bizance”-a dialogue between two Englishmen, in reply. Sir Thomas, still fond of an assuming title, then printed his “Debellation of Salem and Bizance,” extending to above 280 pages in folio! This was followed by the “Apology against Sir Thomas,” who said no more.

This anonymous writer was Christopher Saintgerman. More could scarcely fail to know the name; but the times were rapidly changing-Saintgerman was twenty years older than himself, and so highly respected, that when Sir Thomas referred to him, he had thought it prudent to do so under the appellation of the Pacifier, or Sir John Some. This gentleman, who lived to the age of 80, and died in 1540, is better known as the author of “Two Dialogues on the Laws of England, and the grounds of those Laws”-or of “The Doctor and Student: Dialogues between a Doctor of Divinity and a Student of Law.” The first had been published in Latin ten years before this, and both together in English in 1528. His observations on Law-on “the law of natural reason-of heavenly revelation-and of man, that is of a Prince or any secondary governor that hath power to bind his subjects,”-discover a mind far above his age; while, as a lawyer, he was sapping the foundations of the reigning superstition.

We have noticed him the more particularly on one account. It is by no means improbable that he came forward this year, not only from principle, but from feelings of friendship, if not of kindred. His mother’s name originally was Anne Tyndale; he being the son of Sir Henry Saintgerman, a knight of Warwickshire, by Anne, the daughter of Thomas Tyndale, Esq.

We have not been able to trace the relationship, but his mother may have been, in some remote degree, related to our Translator.

Sir Thomas, we have remarked, said no more to Mr. Saintgerman. The reason may have been that, not knowing when he was beat, he felt as if called away to battle, once more, with his first and able antagonist. By the month of August, at the latest, Tyndale’s defence of Fryth against More, and Fryth’s letter to him, which he had penned in the Tower, had arrived in print, from abroad. The retired Chancellor then put forth his reply to Fryth, such as it was; which, though in print since December last, he had kept back, he says, “more than a year;” and then he fell upon Tyndale, but for the last time. The brief and unexceptionable treatise of Tyndale, entitled, “The Supper of the Lord,” etc., from which we have already quoted, was an octavo tract of about 60 pages. Sir Thomas, in his usual style, replied, in the same size, to the tune of 282 pages, besides his preface! It was printed, he tells us, “and many of them gone, before Christmas.”

This was a final effort, and every way worthy of the close of such a stormy tempest. It is painful to quote his language; but, without noticing it, no just or adequate idea can be formed of the battle which was fought for the truth of God, and the emancipation of the human mind; nor, consequently, of the obligations of this country to the man who, for England’s lasting benefit, triumphed, and then went on with his work.

Through the whole of this interminable controversy, vindictive as it was from the beginning, a climax is observable in the violence of the writer.

When only Speaker of the House of Commons, and having no judicial authority, an expression would drop from him, very different from those that soon followed, though still it was given in his own wild, not to say profane, manner. “By my soul,” said he in his “Dialogue,” “I would all the world were all agreed to take all violence and compulsion away, upon all sides, Christian and heathen; and that no man were constrained to believe, but as he could be, by grace, wisdom, and good works, induced; and then he that would go to God, go on, in God’s name, and he that will go to the Devil, the Devil go with him! There be many more to be won to Christ on that side, than to be lost from him on this side.” But once he is a little older, and in possession of power, what a change for the worse is visible! “There should have been,” says he, “more burned, by a great many, than there have been within this seven year last passed: the lack whereof, I fear me, will make more burned, within this seven year next coming, than else should have needed to have been-in seven score!” The next year he is more outrageous; going so far as to assure his readers, that the Saviour will pronounce Tyndale to be accursed, at the last day, because he had derived all his heresies from the father of lies; while this is expressed in terms by far too Coarse for repetition. And now that he is come to the last tract, which he so defamed, but could not answer, we have the last dregs of his gall of bitterness.

For want of active exertion no man could now blame Sir Thomas, although all his biographers seem to have been cautious of pointing to the amount of his herculean labours this year. This, however, being descriptive of character, should not be withheld. Some part he may have composed in the few preceding months, but at all events, in this year alone, there issued from the press, of his composition, more than 850 pages in folio, 580 in duodecimo, and 282 in octavo; or above 1700 pages in all! So gigantic were the last year’s exertions of this controversialist. It must seem strange that all he had said was reprinted in his English works; but then this was in the days of Queen Mary. Though in a smaller type, the folio volume amounts to 1458 pages, of which his controversy occupies above a thousand! It was now nearly five years since More had begun. He had been writing for the King and the priesthood entire; but the crowning vexation must have been, that all this mighty stir had been occasioned by only one of those unpatronised exiles, who, he said, “nought had here, and nought carried hence;” and one, too, whom neither Wolsey nor the King, neither More nor Crumwell, or their agents, had been able, as yet, to apprehend.

Such, however, was the great and voluminous advocate for “the old learning;” though it now becomes due to his memory to observe, that it was only after he became such, or while so engaged, that he displayed such a temper, and seemed to labour under a sort of black inspiration. For oh, what a change had come over the spirit of this man, within the last ten years! It was but a little before then that Erasmus drew his character, with graphic minuteness, and so beautifully. If only the half had been true, and there is no reason for questioning the general portrait, one can scarcely believe that it was the same individual who lived on, under the same name.

But when writing his Utopia, or rather when lecturing, in earlier days, to a crowded audience, on Augustine’s work, “De Civitate Dei,” More was one man; and when, approaching to 50, after that he attacked “the new learning,” he was another. The course on which he entered in 1528, is also the more deeply to be lamented from the fact, that there still continued to be redeeming points in his character, standing out in bold contrast. The rights of persons and property he well understood; to the human mind only, would he allow none whatever. More’s superiority to the love of money, and his sterling integrity as Chancellor, in all civil causes, were alike remarkable; nor was his despatch of business less conspicuous.

Coming into Chancery, which was clogged with suits, some of which had been there nearly twenty years, at the end of his second year not one was depending. Sir Thomas Audley, his successor, was far, very far, from being a man of such despatch. In these causes, too, More would not have known his mother’s children; for, on various occasions, he nobly shook his hand from receiving of bribes, or presents in money or plate, to any amount, or of whatever description. When he retired from the Chancellorship, he did so most honourably poor. Nay, when the Bishops came to offer him a sum of four or five thousand pounds, as their grateful return for these wordy exertions in their favour, he not only declined its acceptance, but, on the hint of their wish to present the money to his family, he replied, “I had rather see it all cast into the Thames, than that I, or any of my family, should have a penny of it.”

Had the unsuccessful controversialist only not suffered his vanity to be flattered by Tunstal, when he called on him, with mock solemnity, by his prelatic licence, to “play the Demosthenes in English,” as he had done in Latin, and write down Tyndale and his translation; had he only kept to his Bench, and judged between parties in civil causes, he had retired with such honour, that there had been not one individual among the King’s servants who would have stood so high in the eye of posterity. But it is a dangerous thing for any man to set himself in opposition to Divine Revelation, or attempt to mingle with it the chaff of human tradition. Sir Thomas, however, had taken his ground, and the consequence was, that he wrought himself into such a fury, that even the violent death of his antagonist would not have allayed it. Too like one of old, who “thought it scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they showed him the people of Mordecai;” so the Chancellor must not only write himself into obloquy, but wash his hands in the blood of those who believed as his opponent did; that is, in the blood of any man who saw farther than himself, or went not with him into the depths of superstition. For him it was truly an evil hour when he delivered himself up to the blind rage of an infatuated priesthood; for now, in the end, what did it all avail? Independently of his interference proving an entire failure as to argument, the same want of brevity having distinguished his writings to the very close, the same consequences followed, with those which he has himself detailed, after his Confutation was finished. He was not read! Some curious peculiarities of the times may, indeed, be picked out of these writings here and there, but it may be safely affirmed that few men have ever read his controversy through. Perhaps not one man ever will.

It is, however, now not unworthy of enquiry, whether Sir Thomas More was not writing throughout the whole of this tedious warfare, under the influence of apprehension, as well as professed hot displeasure; and that from his penetrating more deeply than others into the signs of the times. If we are to depend upon a remarkable conversation with his own son-in-law, Roper, there seems to be some good ground for the supposition. “It fortuned,” says Roper, “before the matter of the said matrimony was brought in question, when I, in talk with Sir Thomas More, commended unto him the happy estate of this realm, that had so catholic a prince that no heretic durst show his face; so learned a clergy, so grave and sound a nobility, and so loving obedient subjects, all in one faith agreeing together!” - “Troth it is indeed, son Roper,” quoth he, “and yet I pray God,” said he, “that some of us, as high as we seem to sit upon the mountains, treading heretics under our feet like ants, live not the day that we would gladly wish to be at league and composition with them; to let them have their churches quietly to themselves, so that they would be contented to let us have ours, quietly to ourselves.” In conclusion, the peroration was worthy of the entire controversy. To compensate for his extreme prolixity, Sir Thomas intended to print a ninth book to his Confutation, as a summary of the whole. He commenced and went on so far, but at last he grew weary, or faltered, and never finished it!

The fragment, more than twenty years after his death, was inserted in his Works. And so ended all his efforts against the man whom he had now confessed to be “the Captain of our English heretics.” Tyndale’s advantage lay in his being the advocate of truth; but it was no mean proof of his power as a writer, that, from motives of the purest patriotism, he had so successfully exposed one Lord Chancellor, and, from his zeal for the diffusion of the Word of God, now so effectually opposed a second.

Whether there had been another edition of Tyndale’s New Testament, since his reprint of 1530, we have not been able to ascertain. Owing to his residence in Antwerp itself, and the promise of His revising the translation, the printers were probably restrained. By this time, however, there were the tokens of increasing demand, perhaps not altogether unconnected with the reigning Queen of England; but, from whatever cause, the prospect of a large and ready sale will prove by far too strong for these Antwerp printers to remain still. Let the market be never so inviting, among all the English printers, of course, not one dared to move; but to these foreign workmen George Joye represents himself as saying,-“ If Tyndale amend it (the translation) with so great diligence as he promiseth, yours will never be sold.”-“ Yes,” they replied, “for if he print two thousand, and we as many, what is so little a number for all England? And we will sell ours better cheap, and therefore we doubt not of the sale.”

Thus, notwithstanding the martyrdom of Fryth in June, nay, all that the Bishops had yet done to terrify the people at home, or the King and his ministers to prevent importation of books from abroad; notwithstanding all that Sir Thomas More had written and published; and though there was yet no symptom of any favourable regard, on the part of even one official man in all England; it becomes evident that there was to be no wisdom, nor counsel, nor might, which should be able to resist a tide which had now set in with greater power than ever. 1534.

Tyndale All Alone After Fryth’s Death-Genesis, Second Edition-Fresh Issue Of The Pentateuch-Surreptitious Edition Of The New Testament By Joye-The Improved Edition By Tyndale-Joyecs Interference Explained-Divine Truth In Progress-Harman In London-Restored To Favour By The Queen-Glance At The Past And Present-The New Testament Importing In Several Editions, In Contrast With The Dreams Of The Convocation.

IN returning to Tyndale at the commencement of this year, it is impossible to do so without feelings of sympathy. By a cruel death, and in the prime of life, on the 4th of July, he had been bereft of that companion who was dearer to him than any man living. That stroke must have been deeply felt still, and long would the feeling of bereavement return upon him, more especially when he sat down to his beloved employment, He had, indeed, toiled in this hazardous undertaking before Fryth came to him from England; but having for years enjoyed his company and aid, as well as so highly prized them both, it must have demanded no inferior degree of Christian submission and fortitude now to plough through the deep all alone. Tyndale actually had no man like-minded, and the place of Fryth was never to be supplied. We by no means forget another valuable agent, John Roger, into whose hands came all that Tyndale had translated; and who proved so admirable a posthumous friend.

But still, in the death of Fryth, there were alleviating circumstances, as there always have been in the afflictions of the faithful. Such a glorious exit was well fitted to prepare Tyndale for his own, and to render it so much the easier, nay, welcome, when it arrived. We have seen how intensely anxious he was for the character of his friend, and in this he might now well exult. That young man had fought a good fight, had finished his appointed course; and, above all, had preserved his fidelity. He had come home from beyond sea, and shown to all England how a martyr for the truth of God ought to die, if he must. Nothing remained for him but the Christian’s great metropolis, the heavenly Jerusalem, the palace of the Great King; into which he had entered, no doubt, with joy upon every side.

In him there had been no misgiving, not a single word of hesitation, no shift or evasion, no halting between two opinions, no love of life, no fear of death. His crown of martyrdom was, unquestionably, by far the brightest which had yet been won upon English ground, ever since this war of opinion had commenced. As Stephen of old had fallen asleep amidst the shower of stones at Jerusalem; so Fryth, also praying for his enemies, had done the same, in the midst of the flames at London. But, besides all this, there were the noted effects, the impression his Christian heroism had produced, and the season that almost immediately ensued. The sky had begun to clear over England for a little season, and this was quite sufficient to convey fresh vigour to our Translator. It was this year, therefore, that there appeared a second impression of Genesis, and an improved, because a revised edition of the New Testament, both of which now deserve notice.

That it was the fixed and unalterable intention of Tyndale to print an edition of the entire sacred text, there can be no question. He had already commenced with “the first book of Moses called Genesis, newly corrected and amended by W.T. MDXXXIIII.” His initials were now, of course, perfectly sufficient to point out the author; and thus, in the very teeth of a tempest of more than eight years’ standing, he modestly intimated his firm determination to proceed as he had begun. Of the four other books of the Pentateuch, copies being still on hand, these five being frequently bound up together, form what has frequently been styled the second edition of the Pentateuch.

By other local circumstances in Antwerp itself, however, Tyndale was now imperatively called away to the revision and improvement of his New Testament; and these circumstances, hitherto but very imperfectly understood, deserve as well as demand some explanation. Although Tyndale himself was somewhat annoyed by them, an ardent and growing desire in England for his translation of the Scriptures formed the sole cause of all that took place. We have already alluded to the printers and George Joye communing on this subject. This they had done very cautiously, unknown to Tyndale; and as Joye was now in Antwerp, it is necessary to glance at his previous history.

George Joye, alias Gee, alias Clarke, a native of Bedfordshire, a Scholar and Fellow of Peter-House, Cambridge, had fled from persecution in 1527, and resided at Strasburg, till he came to Barrow, early in 1532. By his then printing two specimen leaves, in folio, he is supposed to have beem aiming after an edition of the Bible for the English market. Before this he had been translating from the Latin, as he was competent for nothing more, and since 1530 he had put forth three such translations. Tyndale having been necessarily engrossed elsewhere, with his tract in reply to Sir Thomas More, and on behalf of Fryth in prison, relating to the Lord’s Supper, Joye came into closer conference with the printers at Antwerp. He then engaged in correcting, after his own opinion, from the Vulgate, an edition of Tyndale’s New Testament, now passing through the press. Christopher Endhoven, of whom we heard so much seven years ago, being now dead, the business was carried on by his widow. This, it will be remembered, was the press at which the first surreptitious edition had been executed; and the progress of the present one had been very carefully kept secret from Tyndale, even after his return to Antwerp. This volume, in 16mo, with a title in rubrics, which was finished at press in August 1534, is now exceedingly rare. Collation. “The New Testament as it was written and caused to be written by them which herde yt, whom also our Saueoure Christ Jesus commaunded that they shulde preach it unto al creatures.”-Title, at the back o[ which is an “almanacke for xviii, yeres.” The signatures run a to z.

A to H. Then the Epistles of the Apostle St. Paul, on sign Aai, and extend to Ccc. At the end of the Revelation is this colophons” Here endeth the Newe Testament, diligently ouersene and corrected, and printed now agayn at Antwerpe by me Widowe of Chrystoffel of Endhoue, in the yere of oure Lorde MCCCCC. and xxxiiii in August.”

A copy of this book, in fine condition, was once in the possession of George Paton, Esq., of the Custom House, Edinburgh. When his books were sold, the present writer well remembers seeing it fetch thirty guineas at public sale. The late bookseller, Mr. Constable, gave for it double the money, and at last it found its way into the Grenville collection, where it now is. We are unable to mention another copy.

Meanwhile, Tyndale was very busily occupied in revising and improving the translation of his New Testament, and in three months only after this, it was ready for circulation. Out of England itself, too, ere his first sheet had gone to press, there had come to him a species of encouragement, altogether unprecedented. This arose from his tried friend Mr. Harman having gone to London, and the consequences will meet us as soon as we return home from Antwerp. But before saying more of the book, or of Joye’s interference, we first present a brief collation,- “The Newe Testament dylygently corrected and compared with the Greek by Willyam Tindale, and fyneshed in the yere of our Lorde God a MD and xxxiiij. in the moneth of November.” This title is within a wood border, at the bottom of which is a blank shield. “W. T. to the Christen reader,” pages. “A prologe into the iiii Evangelystes,” 4 pages. “Willyam Tyndale, yet once more, to the Christen reader,” 9 pages. Then a second title-“ The Newe Testament, imprinted at Antwerp by Marten Emperowr, Anno MDXXXiiij.” Matthew begins on folio ii.; Revelation on ccclv.; and afterwards follow “the Epistles taken out of the Old Testament,” running on to folio cccc. A table of the Epistles and Gospels for Sundays, pages-with “‘some things added to fill up the leffe with all,” 5 pages. The signatures run in eights, and a full page has 33 lines. It has wood-cuts in the Revelations, and some small ones at the beginning of the Gospels, and several of the Epistles.

The second address of Tyndale to the Christian Reader forms a caveat with reference to Joye’s interference; and there can be little doubt that the first title with his name inserted in full, and as having compared the Sacred Text once more with the Greek, was owing to the same cause. The occurrence, which could not fail to be felt at the moment, is to be valued now thus far, that it gave occasion for Tyndale to speak out, and discover whether he had not all along translated from the original, and was laudably jealous over the precise terms of his translation. When he alludes to Joye, it is in the language of a scholar, who could not but regard him as rash and incompetent; and in point of fact, he soon discovered himself to be a man of very inferior calibre, whether in regard to learning or sound judgment.

Placed in such critical circumstances as Tyndale had been for years, while every word of his translation had been so carefully scanned, and a controversy was actually in dependence at the moment with the Lord Chancellor of England, with regard to certain terms, there was certainly no trivial occasion both for alarm and offence. The important word “Resurrection,” Joye had very strangely altered to “the life after this;” and, in reference to the book generally, “I wot not,” says Tyndale, “what other changes, for I have not yet read it over.” This word, an all-important one, was especially so at that season, and occasioned Tyndale solemnly to profess his faith in the resurrection from the dead; having observed that the word was not so rendered as Joye had done, “neither by him, nor by any other translator in any language.” But the alterations were far from being confined to a single word. In one place, indeed, Joye speaks as if he had mended only “a few certain doubtful and dark places,” but the truth comes out when he adds, “I say I have made many changes.” This becomes manifest, from his very simple explanation of what had been his procedure.

When I came to some dark sentence, that no reason could be gathered of them, whether it was by the ignorance of the first translator, or of the printer, I had the Latin text by me and made it plain! And gave many words their pure and native signification!

Of some of these changes he was not a little vain, and, through “Tyndale’s Scribe,” recommended them to his adoption; but the corrections were worse than the Vulgate from which they were taken, and his officious intermeddling with a living Author’s work, put forth as they were after Tyndale’s apprehension, was deeply offensive to many. The fact was, that Joye, in his ignorance, was contributing to the corruption of the Sacred Text; and, in one sense, to a greater degree than the Antwerp printers, who, though they had erred occasionally, as foreigners to the language, still rose quite above the specimens which Joye had before furnished From Strasburg. Not a little conceited of his powers, he had been dabbling with the translation, and with the Vulgate only before him, as he said, to make it plain! Now, the whole public life of Tyndale has been not unfitly described, as “a series of hostilities against the defenders of the Latin Vulgate.” But it became much worse when Joye was taking liberties with the Vulgate itself, and was quite nettled because our Translator would not imitate him in his rash folly. In frowning, therefore, upon such interference, Tyndale only showed his discernment; though, after all, poor George Joye may now be cordially forgiven for a petulance even tinged with malignity, owing to a few terms in which he expressed himself. He it is who contributed his mite to establish the scholarship of our original Translator, and to an extent but little known to some of our moderns. “I am not afraid,” said he, in one place, “I am not afraid to answer Master Tyndale in this matter, for all his high learning in HEBREW,GREEK,AND LATIN, &c.” What other tongues he referred to, we cannot say; but after this testimony, though uttered in a miserable spirit, we have no occasion to draw upon the high-flown compliment paid to Tyndale, but by no mean judge, after he had communed with him at Worms. We refer to Herman Buschius, the friend of Spalatinus. He mentions other languages, though not German, as Herbert Marsh imagined; but Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, with which he begins, are quite sufficient.

Tyndale has been accused of expressing himself too warmly against Joye, but his words appear to have been dictated by zeal for the purity of the Word of God, and such as became any man with whose language such freedoms had been taken. After this, the “Apology” of Joye made matters worse. It involved little else than an unfair, not to say intemperate and unfeeling attack on the original translator. Thus, for example, he talks of Tyndale’s long sleeping since his last edition. Sleeping! So thought not Henry the Eighth; so felt not Sir Thomas More, whom he had kept thoroughly awake for years; although both the King and the Chancellor would have been most happy had Tyndale then only drawn the curtains and retired to rest. Of Tyndale’s eminently laborious life, Joye could not be altogether ignorant, though it may have been above his comprehension; but there could be no excuse for the absence of gratitude, much less for the presence of any evil feeling; and if this Apology, so called, did not come out till after Tyndale was in prison, as there is reason to apprehend, then no wonder that the writer was very soon made to feel the consequences. The public feeling at the moment clearly proves that he must have been blameworthy both in temper and conduct; for the fact was, though never known before, that for some months Joye lay under the imputation, both in England and Antwerp, of having been concerned in the apprehension of Tyndale! This turned out to be a gross aspersion, as we shall hear next year; but still, as “the merchants of Antwerp, and many others that were his friends, did greatly blame him,” there must have been something very reprehensible. “At this juncture,” says one author, “he does not appear to have possessed that conscientious integrity which would have added Christian dignity to his character; and it is to be regretted, that whilst he (at other times) defended the Truth, the Truth does not seem to have made him free from guile and deception.’’ It was the sin of the age, when almost every man was taught equivocation from his youth. We have only to add, that Joye could not remain in Antwerp; but removing as far distant as Emden, he there published a small duodecimo-“ The subversion of More’s false foundation.” But we shall hear of him again, after Tyndale’s apprehension.

Few things, however, happened to our Translator which did not bring out the character of the man more fully,.and to great advantage. But for what had taken place, we should never have had his noble protestation with regard to his secret motives, as well as the grand object he had kept in view, ever since he began to translate. The words may be regarded in the light of a peroration, for they mark the close of his labours, while still at liberty. Not that he is about to die, but they were among the last words he had printed before his apprehension, and, as such, become the more memorable- “Moreover, I take God, which alone seeth the heart, to record to my conscience, beseeching Him that my part be not in the blood of Christ, if I wrote of all that I have written, throughout all my books, aught of an evil purpose, of envy or malice to any man, or to stir up any false doctrine or opinion in the Church of Christ; or to be author of any sect; or to draw disciples after me; or that I would be esteemed, or had in price, above the least child that is born; save only of pity and compassion I had, and yet have, on the blindness of my brethren, and to bring them into the knowledge of Christ; and to make every one of them, if it were possible, as perfect as an angel of heaven; and to weed out all that is not planted of our heavenly Father; and to bring down all that lifteth up itself against the knowledge of the salvation that is in the blood of Christ. “Also, my part be not in Christ, if mine heart be not to follow and live according as I teach; and also, if mine heart weep not night and day for mine own sin, and other men’s-beseeching God to convert us all, and to take His wrath from us, and to be merciful as well to all other men, as to mine own soul -caring for the wealth of the realm I was born in, for the King, and all that are thereof, as a tender-hearted mother would do for her only son. “As concerning all I have translated, or otherwise written, I beseech all men to read it for that purpose I wrote it: even to bring them to the knowledge of the Scripture. And as far as the Scripture approveth it, so far to allow it; and if in any place the Word of God disallow it, then to refuse it, as I do before our Saviour Christ and His congregation. And where they find faults, let them shew it me, if they be nigh, or write to me, if they be far off; or write openly against it and improve it; and I promise them, if I shall perceive that their reasons conclude, I will confess mine ignorance openly.”

Such, while yet at liberty, was nearly the impressive conclusion of Tyndale’s labours. His enemies were now thirsting, more than ever, for his blood; though still he has yet nearly two years before him. But the base and artful traitors have already embarked from England-they are almost in sight! With them, and the long eagerly pursued victim, very soon, we must repair to the castle of Vilvorde!

Parliament being now prorogued, one feature of the time is worthy of notice. It was the exchange of the fear of heresy for the fear of treasons.

That bill in mitigation of the treatment of any who were suspected of the former, is worthy of remark, as its success has been partly ascribed to feelings excited by the death of Fryth. One Thomas Philip, who had been delivered by Sir Thomas More to Stokesly, of London, by indenture, in 1530, had been cruelly detained in prison by him ever since! Of Philip, who had appealed to the King, but could not gain access to him, an account is given by Foxe, with an interesting letter of exhortation to firmness, from “the Congregation,” or those followers of Christ who met in Bow Lane, Cheapside; but Foxe concludes by saying, that he knew not what became of him. The truth is, that, at last, he complained to the House of Commons against Stokesly, and as the Bishop would not appear at their bar to answer for his conduct, the Commons’ House framed their bill, which had now passed.

It repealed the statute of Henry IV., by which Bishops might commit to prison on suspicion of heresy; heretics were only to be proceeded against, by two witnesses, and to answer in open court; if guilty, the King’s writ must be obtained, before any sentence could be executed; but it was declared that none should be troubled upon any of the PONTIFF’S canons or laws, or for speaking or acting against him.

This act was generally regarded by the people as an especial blessing, since it not only delivered them in a great degree from the paw of ecclesiastical tyranny, but immediately brought some of the most worthy characters from their dungeons. Not only did Philip, who had been there for years, escape, but Thomas Patmore, who had been confined as long, obtained a commission from Audley, Crumwell, and Cranmer, to enquire into “the injurious and unjust dealings” of both More and Stokesly. Patmore, who was most probably a relation of that gentleman who had been so shamefully treated for importing and dispersing Tyndale’s New Testaments in 1531, seems to have been restored to his former living. Thus, after a long season of most reckless cruelty, here now was the dawning of a day of retribution.

This year, amidst all the policy, and even the wrath of statesmen, still absorbed in their own affairs, concurring events, in which the overruling hand of God had been conspicuous, were favourable to the progress of Divine Truth in Britain. That cause continued to be one by itself, and still certainly without any visible Head in England. There had been frowns, and proclamations, and denunciations; there had been solemn warnings, and martyrdoms; but never one smile from the Throne, no sanction from the Privy Council, not one voice in Parliament. But what did all this signify?

We observe edition upon edition of the New Testament, as well as the Law of God, prepared at a distance, for English eyes. The cause was God’s; by way of emphasis, His. IIe alone had carried it on, in defiance of all the power and policy of the nation; and He will continue to do so, after the same marked and peculiar manner, until the Sacred Volume He was now giving to this favoured country, shall be completed.

After such efforts made in printing the Scriptures in Antwerp and to the extent which we have already witnessed, it may naturally be expected that we shall discover in England itself at least some of the grounds of encouragement. The intelligence of all that was transacted in Parliament, of course, went to Antwerp immediately, for there was no city on the Continent where every thing passing in London was better known, or so soon. The bill introduced by the Commons, which would have the effect of taking any who were suspected of heresy out of the hands of the Bishops, was of itself ominous of better days. Originating in a complaint against the late Lord Chancellor and the present Bishop of London, and this complaint terminating in such a cure, was better still. There must have been various other encouraging circumstances, of which we have no account; but there was one party now in England of whom, till now, we have heard nothing so tangible and distinct.

The reader is fully aware that five years ago a gentleman of Antwerp, Mr. Harman, was grievously molested by Hackett the English envoy; that he, and his wife, equally zealous with himself, were confined in prison for months, and had been seriously injured through the furious enmity of both Hackett and Wolsey. Such a change had taken place, that he was now arrived in London, and to seek redress! It is worthy of remark, that he did not apply to Audley, the Lord Chancellor of the day, though certainly a very different man from either of his predecessors; nor to Crammer; nor to Crumwell; but to the Queen herself. The writings of Tyndale had been for years well known to her; and that she had stolen a march upon his Majesty, with one of his publications, cannot be forgotten. Unhappy man! It apparently interested him for the moment, but it was only as the voice of John did the ear of Herod or that of Paul the ear of Agrippa; since all such impressions, for Henry was not without them, like the morning cloud or the early dew, passed away. The Queen, however, though she had been in no favourable situation, had been interested, and now, it is quite evident, more than ever. At all events, Mr. Harman, or Herman, fully succeeded in his application, and, fortunately, the very letter written on his behalf by Anne Boleyn herself has been preserved. The following is a copy:- BY THE QUEEN. “ANNE THE QUEEN. “Trusty and right well beloved, we greet you well. And whereas we be credibly informed that the bearer hereof,RICHARD HERMAN, merchant and citizen ofANTWERP, in Brabant, was, in the time of the late Lord Cardinal, put and expelled from his freedom and fellowship, of and in the English house there, for nothing else (as he affirmeth,) but only for that he, still like a good Christian man, did both with his goods and policy, to his great hurt and hinderance in this world, help to the setting forth of theNEW TESTAMENT IN ENGLISH: We therefore desire and instantly pray you, that, with all speed and favour convenient, ye will cause this good and honest merchant, being my Lord’s true, faithful, and loving subject, to be restored to his pristine freedom, liberty, and fellowship, aforesaid, and the sooner at this our request, and at your good leisure to hear him in such things, as he hath to make further relation unto you in this behalf. Given under our signet, at my Lord’s manor of Greenwich, the xiiii day of May. To our trust and right well beloved, Thomas Crumwell, Squire, Chief Secretary unto my Lord the King’s Highness.’’f69 Whatever may be said, whether to the praise or disparagement of Anne Boleyn, it should not now pass unnoticed that no man, either of influence or office in all England, ever so expressed himself while Tyndale lived. Nor is this merely a letter of authority; the sentiments of the writer appear throughout, and it also conveys some information. From one expression it is evident that Mr. Harman had done much more than coolly import the volumes. “With his goods and policy, to his great hinderance in this world,” he had done this. Every one acquainted with the history of the Hanse Towns, knows how much had been involved in the forfeiture of his privileges as a merchant adventurer. The “English house,” like all these towns, exercised a judicial superintendence over its members, and punished them by a species of commercial excommunication. Mr. Harman had evidently been suffering under this for years. He had been a friend of the cause, and therefore the friend of Tyndale.

As Crumwell had been appointed “chief Secretary of State” only one week before the date of the preceding letter, this must have been one of his earliest acts in that capacity. But the tide is turning for a short season, and so does the “chief Secretary” with it.

On the whole, what singular recollections does such an incident as this suggest! What a striking difference between even the letter of Crammer, only eleven months ago, and the present! That involved the death of “one Fryth going to the fire,” Tyndale’s friend and assistant; this is in vindication of all that Tyndale had done! We glance at the contrast, only in justice to the change which had, for this year, taken place; but there is one other reflection which seems to be forced upon us.

Tunstal, that early opponent, once of great power, was yet alive; and what would he have said, in 1526, to such a document, from the Queen of England? He is now professedly approving of the Pontiff’s entire exclusion from this country, nay, and preaching this to the people; while there is no word now of “the crafty translation of the New Testament in the English tongue, containing that pestiferous and most pernicious poison, dispersed throughout all our diocese of London, in great numbers.” But this is the book itself, and this is one of the very men who, to his damage and loss, had so heartily imported it. The writer had these days in her eye when she took up her pen; and yet, says the Queen, Harman was only acting in character, and doing only what he ought to have done, “as a good Christian man.” Wolsey and Warham were in their graves. Sir Thomas More and Bishop Fisher were in the Tower. Tunstal and Gardiner and Stokesly are muzzled. Norfolk, the Prime Minister, must wink hard. The Secretary of State is requested to proceed forthwith, “the sooner at this our request;” while Henry himself, wilful, wayward, and reckless as he was, is, at the least, occasionally now kept in check by the writer of this letter.

It was fit that the very book which had been so vilified, so trampled on and burnt, by the King, Wolsey, Warham, and Tunstal; which had been fastened in derision, by Sir Thomas More, to the garments of Tyndale’s brother, or the men who were then marched to the spot where they must cast it into the flames;-nay, the book which had been denounced from the Star Chamber by the King himself, should at last meet with some such notice as this; and that it should proceed from the pen of one, who, at this moment, could turn the heart of even such a Monarch. The Translator himself should never be forgotten, but he never set his foot on English ground again; the change was the work of no human hand, and more than the finger of Providence was here. Is it too much to say, that for the sake of His Blessed Word-first its entrance into this country, and then its effects-God had shown strength with His arm, and scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts? -had put down the mighty from their seats, and honoured a man of low degree? Nor had the Word, so singularly introduced, returned to Him void. Think of the many whom Fryth had met with in England before his death, and of the high character he gave them.

God had filled His own, however poor, with gladness, though of the rich there was only one at this moment to justify the whole proceeding, and thus far espouse the hated though uninjured cause.

This token of regard on the part of Queen Anne was not unfelt by Tyndale.

He must have known her sentiments as well as most men, and been fully apprised of her influence-an influence which had been at once deprecated and dreaded by the old school. He had learnt also of this incident in sufficient time for him to lay down at the press one copy of his corrected New Testament, on vellum. Beautifully printed, with illuminations, it was bound in blue morocco, and the Queen’s name, in large red letters, equally divided, was placed on the fore-edges of the top, side, and bottom margins: thus, on the top,ANNA; on the right margin fore-edge,REGINA; and on the bottom,ANGLIAE-Anne Queen of England.

The Translator, when he put forth his first edition, in that spirit which Christianity alone inspires, sunk his own name; and would have done so afterwards, but for the character and writings of his amanuensis, Roye; and this year the interference of Joye; but here he does so once more. Even his name is withdrawn, and with great propriety all prefatory matter is omitted. Tyndale was no sycophant. There is no dedication,- no compliment paid, as there never ought to be, to any human being, along with God’s most holy Word. The history of this beautiful book, since it was handled by Anne Bolcyn, above three hundred years ago, would have interested any reader; but all that can here be stated is, that the last private individual into whose possession it had come, was the late Rev. Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode. After his death, in April 1799, the volume came into its proper place, when, with his large and valuable library, it was bequeathed to the British Museum.

The Scriptures, as translated by Tyndale, were now coming more freely into England, and were reading in various places with all eagerness. No man was now molested abroad as Mr. Harman had been, nor was any man to be tormented at home, for selling or buying, possessing or reading them, as had been the fashion too long. For the moment at least, the storm was changed into a comparative calm, and it is curious to contrast all this with the doings of the Convocation, which sat in November and December. By their own journal, it appears that they addressed the King before rising, f70 This was on the 19th of December, and exhibited a striking proof of a house divided against itself. Their resolution passed both Houses of Convocation, in which they all agreed that Cranmer should make instance, in their names, to the King, that his Majesty would vouchsafe, for the increase of the faith of his subjects, to command that all his subjects in whose possession any books of suspected doctrine were, especially in the vulgar language, imprinted beyond or on this side the sea, should be warned, within three months, to bring them in, under a certain pain, to be limited by him! And that, moreover, his Majesty would vouchsafe to decree, that the Scriptures should be translated into the vulgar tongue by some honest and learned men, to be nominated by the King, and to be delivered to the people according to their learning!

The first request exhibits the influence of Gardiner and Stokesly in the Convocation, the latter that of Cranmer; and it seems to be evident that the two parties must have come to a compromise, for the sake of each party securing, if possible, its favourite request; or this might be a feeler, put forth to ascertain more precisely the existing state of their master’s mind.

At all events, the two requests exhibit glaring inconsistency, since the books of suspected doctrine might be made to include all the Scriptures ever yet printed. How Cranmer acquitted himself with the King, is not upon record. There was, however, no interdict, no collecting of books; but the reader must not fail to observe next year, when Cranmer comes to attempt a translation of the New Testament, by actually employing these Bishops, what was the result, and how they wrangled.

Meanwhile, dreaming, as some of these men in this Convocation were, about the Scriptures being translated-for it was but a dream-what a singular contrast is presented in the editions of Tyndale printed this year, and the vindication of Harman, by the Queen herself, for importing them eight years ago! And now, if at last, after such long and vigilant pursuit, Tyndale himself was about to be betrayed into the snare so basely laid for him, his seizure will only add renewed vigour to the press. Besides the Testament by Joye, we have already mentioned Tyndale’s own corrected edition finished only in November; but their year ran on to the 25th of March, and before that day we have not fewer than three impressions all dated in 1534. The books being nearly of one size, rather less than Tyndale’s own, may be mistaken for the same edition, but there are various points of distinction:- I. “The Newe Testament, Anno MDXXXIIII.” printed within an ornamented compartment; at the top, Jesus preaching on the Mount; on the right side, the brazen serpent; on the left, Moses with the two tables; and at the bottom G.H. on a shield, perhaps the initials of the printer; the name, if found out, will appear in our list. II. “The Newe Testament, Anno MDXXXIIII.” also in black letter, but not in a compartment, nor having any such initials affixed. These two books have been compared. The first is in the collection of Earl Pembroke at Wilton House, the second is in that of Lea Wilson, Esq. They are in the same type, but the folios of the first are paged throughout, the second is not paged at all; and there are various characteristic differences, both in the orthography and the disposition of the pages. III. “The New Testament, Anno MDXXXIIII” also in a compartment with G. H. &c. This edition, imperfect, is in the Bodleian, and, as described by Herbert, p. 1543, and Dr. Cotton, p. 131, might be mistaken for the first mentioned. But this book, though the numbering of the folios be often incorrect, runs from Matt. fol. i.-ccclx, falsely numbered ccclxii.; whereas the Testament at Wilton House runs only from Matt. fol. i.-cccxlvii. This third book, however, owing to what Dr. Cotton has said, we have ranked under 1535, (see p. 242,) though perhaps the above might have been also placed there.

Besides these, there is in the Bristol Musemn a New Testament in quarto, dated on the back 1534-certainly ancient, but the tithe-page is gone,. Dr.

Gifford thought it might have been printed in Scotland, as Lewis did, of one in 1536; but an acquaintance with the interesting state of Scotland, as about to be given, precludes every such conjecture.

In justification of the anxiety felt by Tyndale respecting the reprints of his translation by others, it deserves notice, that in both the Testaments first mentioned, there is an omission which unfortunately became parent of the same mistake in not a few subsequent editions. It is in 1 Cor. xi. The words’’ This cup is the New Testament in my blood” are left out! The omission, though significant at such a time, could scarcely be intentional, as it could answer no end; but it occasioned the leaf to be reprinted in various instances afterwards.

Thus the contrast between the Convocation held in England and these busy men abroad, furnishes one of the most observable features of the time. It was like a flag of defiance hoisted in Antwerp, to signalize the moment, or the consequences, of Tyndale’s apprehension. 1535.

Tyndale’s Apprehension At Antwerp-Imprisonment In The Castle Of Vilvorde-Distinct Information Conveyed To Crumwell And Cranmer -The Strenuous Exertions Of Thomas Poyntz, But In Vain-Tyndale’s Progress In Pris0n-The Bishops Applied To For A Translation Of The New Testament-A Fruitless Attempt-Fresh Editions Of Tyndale’s Translation, Printed And Importing This Year.

THE last year turned out to be nothing more than a brief respite, or a transient gleam of sunshine. The present was distinguished throughout, by the imprisonment of Tyndale abroad, by cruelty and bloodshed at home.

The former was an exhibition of enmity to the truth on the part of its opponents; the latter gave decided proof of fear for the safety of the throne. But before adverting to the peculiar state of affairs in England, we first proceed, as in previous years, to enquire respecting the Translator of the Scriptures.

After a thorough investigation of this period, there can remain no hesitation in ascribing the apprehension of Tyndale, to the influence and authority of the old party in England, in alarm at the steady progress of the “new learning.” “A iolan was laid,” says Foxe, “for Tyndale being seized in name of the Emperor.” By the ~ame of the Emperor, as now mentioned, could be meant nothing more than the authority of the persecuring decrees he had sanctioned; but from any share in this plan, Henry, in the first instance, must be entirely exonerated; as the chief agents employed will turn out to have been as great enemies to the King of England, and his royal progress, as they were to Tyndale and his providential one. For years, it is true, Tyndale had been deemed a man of such importance, that he had enjoyed the distinction of having been pursued by the agents of Wolsey the Cardinal, and of the King himself-of Sir Thomas More the Lord Chancellor, and even Crumwell the future vicegerent; but in the final seizure, his Majesty had no concern whatever; though at last he will certainly come in for his full share in the guilt of Tyndale’s death. In the concealment of this plot from Henry before it commenced or succeeded, we descry, not improbably, the existing powerful influence of the Queen, Anne Boleyn. Had she been apprised of it, and moved the King, this might have proved fatal to the scheme.

Up to this hour, it has all along been generally supposed that there was only one man hired to apprehend our Translator; but there was a second, of far greater note as to character, joined with him, both in counsel and action; and so, says Halle, “he was betrayed and taken, as many said, not without the help and procurement of some Bishops of this realm.” The help, partly consisting in money, of which we shall find, presently, there was no lack, is to be traced, therefore, to this source. The Bishops, in 1527, had leagued together under Warham, and contributed to the strange and fruitless project of buying up the New Testaments to burn them; and now, though Warham be gone, several survivors of the same temper were still more eager to consign the Translator himself to the flames. That Stephen Gardiner, the Bishop of Winchester, who had succeeded against Fryth, was in the secret, and deeply concerned in the intrigue, there will be little or no doubt presently; but if so, he may have been the chief, for such was the well-known temper of the man. “Unless,” says Bonner, who knew him well, “unless he was the only and chief inventor of any matter, he would have thwarted it.” Tutored and bred up under Wolsey, though the King and the Cardinal, Sir Thomas More and Crumwell, had not succeeded, and though abroad neither Hackett nor West, Sir Thomas Elyot nor any other agent, had been able to apprehend Tyndale; yet intimately acquainted with all circumstances, with persons and places, and of great address, there was no man now alive who excelled Gardiner in gaining his end by secret and circuitous methods. As his strength and skill lay in fetching a compass, like the gyrations of a hawk before pouncing on its prey, so was he much more likely to succeed in ensnaring Tyndale than any one who had previously attempted it. At least, no other individual knew so well how to take advantage of the rising discontent of monks and friars.

The men in England selected on this occasion, were Henry Phillips, belonging to Poole in Dorset, on the borders of Gardiner’s diocese; and the other individual, in counsel with him, hitherto unknown, was Gabriel Donne or Dunne, a monk from Stratford Abbey, who had proceeded to Louvain. The former, a good-looking young man, acted as the gentleman, and the latter, in disguise, as his counsellor and servant.

Tyndale had been living for nearly a year in the house of Thomas Poyntz, an English resident at Antwerp, when Phillips, who had lately arrived from England as a gentleman, having a servant with him, met him at the tables of several of the merchants, with whom he was a frequent guest. Having acquired the confidence of Tyndale, he was invited more than once to the house of Poyntz, who, though he had some suspicion of him, received and showed him courtesy for Tyndale’s sake. He thus acquired an intimacy with our Translator’s habits and haunts which he soon treacherously used for his apprehension. Proceeding to Brussels, he obtained there the necessary authority from the Emperor’s court, together with the Emperor’s Attorney and other officers; and in a few days after, having waited till Poyntz was unavoidably absent from home, he called at his house and asked for Tyndale, from whom he first borrowed forty shillings, (value, about £30 of the present day,) and then invited him to dine with him. This was declined by Tyndale, who in turn invited him to dine with him at a friend’s house where he was engaged, Phillips, feigning acceptance of his invitation, went out with him at the hour appointed, but had two officers set in a narrow entry through which they had to pass. These on a signal from Phillips seized Tyndale, whom they secured in prison. The Emperor’s Attorney afterwards secured his books and effects in Poyntz’s house.

Tyndale was soon after sent to the castle of Vilvorde, twenty-four miles from Antwerp.

The friends of Poyntz, who was from home, made immediate application to Brussels, but without effect. The English merchants did the same through their governor, but, as he was cool in the cause, their suit was equally vain.

The generous host of Tyndale made every exertion, with a zeal and perseverance far from common, but ultimately with no success. Intervening events, however, first demand our notice, as they are connected ultimately with Tyndale’s apprehension.

The state of the Continent at this period having become exceedingly critical with regard to Henry’s personal security as King of England, it became necessary for that division of his Privy Council who favoured his movements, to have a watchful eye over the secret intrigues of the adverse party, and their correspondents in foreign parts. For ten long years, it is now very observable, Tyndale had been working abroad, and only for good-to whom the Monarch and his ministers had been ever opposed; but now, another man is becoming active and formidable, who, for more than twenty years, and abroad too, shall work only for evil; his baneful influence extending not only until the death of the reigning King, but to that of two of his children. This was Reginald Pole, the future Cardinal, whom Henry had cherished, and educated with a princely munificence, and even kindness, such as he had never shown to any other human being. The cousin of the King, and now abroad; of polished manners, possessed of the best education, having easy access to the highest circles wherever he travelled; the vivacity of his genius and his playful affability endeared him to all. His Majesty, having literally made him the man he was, became eager to have his opinions in writing, as to himself and his movements; expecting, of course, that they would be entirely in his favour. Pole assented, and, all the time living on Henry’s bounty, carried on the delusion, His opinions grew into a volume, which he began in January of this year; and so late as June he had the profound hypocrisy to give assurances, in writing, that he meant to serve the King in the cause desired. His book, however, such as it was, had been completed in March, but it was retained for more than twelve months after that, and shown to select enemies, just as if intended to produce the more astounding effect on the day of its presentation, next year.

Now, comparing the last ten years with all those that followed, it is not difficult to perceive the finger of retributive justice pointing out the contrast. But it is rendered far more striking from a singular coincidence at the present period, and never before observed. It was this. Henry’s mind continued in great kindness and respect for Pole, down to the end of April, or the beginning of May, this year. It then became necessary to watch him.

But the same man who was now engaged to examine and report as to the state of the Continent, and the movements ofPOLE; in his very first despatches, brings the imprisonment ofTYNDALE before the eye of both Crumwell and Cranmer. He writes, however, merely as though he would invite their sympathy; for it is evident, from his style, that he had received no instructions to enquire with kindness after him. The writer, Thomas Tebold, (Theobald,) was a man of no notoriety; but being well qualified, by shrewdness and address, to answer Crumwell’s purpose, he was to travel from city to city, and report. He had left England about the end of June, proceeding first to Antwerp, and by the middle of July commerited his first letters, despatching them at the end of the month. From these we learn that he met Phillips at Louvain, who boasted of his treacherous act, and threatened to bring others into the same net, railing at same time against the King of England as a tyrant and robber of the Commonwealth. He evidently stood in dread of the merchants of Antwerp. In another letter addressed to Cranmer, he shows no scruple at informing the Archbishop, that by dissimulation he had obtained long and familiar conversations with Buckingham, one of the Black Friars of Cambridge, who was evidently in the pay of “him that hath taken Tyndale, called Harry Phillips.” This Buckingham was the man, whom Latimer so successfully exposed, at Cambridge, in 1526. By this letter it appears that he must have lived for some time among his brethren, in the Black Friars’ monastery at Edinburgh, on the high ground opposite the wynd of that name, or nearly in the site of the present Royal Infirmary. Having received intelligence from Louvain, Buckingham, in company with some other friar, had left that city about the 28th of March. There was evidently a bond of union between the parties, and Phillips paid all charges, possessing, as we have learned, money at command. Tebold further proceeds to inform Cranmer, that it was evident Tyndale was doomed to die; that Phillips had said, “that there was no man of his counsel but a monk of Stratford Abbey, beside London, calledGABRIEL DONNE, who at that time was student in Louvain and in house with this aforesaid Harry Phillips,” but now in England where, “by the help of Mr. Secretary, he had obtained an abbey of a thousand marks by the year.”

Thus, then, whatever is to become of our immortal Translator, by the month of August, 1535, it plainly appears that both Cranmer and Crumwell were very distinctly informed of the circumstances connected with his apprehension. The former, especially, is warned of Tyndale being in imminent danger of death, as well as of a certain Monk by name, deeply implicated. Was it possible that, in future life, he could ever forget the name of this man? But whether the Archbishop or Mr. Secretary then moved one step; or whether Tyndale, to say the least, was ultimately neglected and forgotten, and this very monk was left at large to be promoted; it must be left for the sequel to explain. At all events, Tyndale has still fourteen months to live. Here was ample time to interpose.

Previously to these letters, however, some application had been made to England; for the report in Antwerp was, that his Majesty had interfered, requesting Tyndale to be sent back to that city. It was but a groundless rumour! But August had now come, when Mr. Poyntz, like a soundhearted Englishman, and impatient of delay, could no longer refrain. At such a crisis, it is refreshing to find that there was one man true to his crest, throughout; whether Crumwell or Cranmer move or not. His first step was to send an earnest letter to his brother, imploring his immediate and most zealous exertion.

The presumption is, that this letter, dated 25th August, at last took effect; for we have now the proof that Tyndale’s situation must have been explained to his Majesty. Mr. John Poyntz had been, for twenty years, in familiar intercourse, not only with the Court, but the King; he had been long about the King’s person, and in the household, though now at his estate in Essex. Hence the style of his brother’s letter. It was to be a direct appeal. At all events, Crumwell was roused at last. lie had indeed spoken with great bitterness of Tyndale, when writing to Vaughan; and we have seen Cranmer, too, in company with Sir T. Elyot, then charged to seize him; but the times had now materially changed, and they alike wavered with them. Before, there was no such Queen upon the throne; and Crumwell could not have forgotten her letter to himself, last year, respecting Mr. Harman. He, therefore, now acts very differently, at least for a little moment. Since Marshe, the Governor of the Merchant- Adventurers, had been complained of as so remiss, the messenger despatched had been directed to wait upon another person, Mr. Robert Flegge; who replied 22nd September, that he had with all diligence got the letters delivered,-that the Marquis of Barrow, to whom one of them was directed, had left for Germany, but he had sent Mr. Poyntz after him,-that the Marquis had replied to the application by writing to several of his friends at Court that they might use their influence in obtaining the King’s request. The other letter to the Archbishop of Palermo, who had consulted the Queen and Council, was answered by a letter direct to Crumwell.

By Foxe’s narrative, in his first edition, we learn that Flegge had consulted with the chief English merchants-that Mr. Poyntz had to proceed sixty miles to the eastward, However, he overtook the Marquis at Achon, (Alkhen,) fifteen miles from Maestricht. On reading the letter addressed to him, the Marquis, at first, retorted, that “there were of their countrymen burned in England not long before “-alluding to the Dutchmen burnt in Smithfield. Poyntz acknowledged the fact; “howbeit,” said he, “whatsoever the crime was, if his lordship, or any other nobleman, had written, requiring him to have had them, he thought they should not have been denied.”-“ Well,” said he, “I have no leisure to write, for the Princess is ready to ride.” Then said Poyntz, “If it shall please your lordship, I will attend upon you to the next baiting place.” The Marquis assented, adding, “If you so do, I will advise myself by the way, what to write.” At Maestricht, accordingly, Mr. Poyntz obtained the letters referred to by Mr. Flegge; one to the Brabant Council, one to the Merchant-Adventurers, and a third to Crumwell. Mr. Poyntz proceeded direct for London, but there he had to wait during the greater part of the month of October. “At length,” says Foxe, “the letters (in reply) being delivered him, he returned and delivered them to the Council at Brussels, and there tarried for answer of the same.”

This was on or before the first of November. But Phillips being there, following his suit against Tyndale, and fearing lest he should lose his purpose, he accused Poyntz, who, in his turn, was apprehended and delivered to the keeping of two sergeants-at-arms, and a charge of twentythree or twenty-four articles brought against him by the Procurer-general.

Eight days after, he was ordered to have his answer ready. Meanwhile, he must send no message to Antwerp, or any other place, but by the Brussels post: he must send no letters except in German, and these to be examined first by the Procurer-general: he must speak only in that language, that his keepers might know every word he said. To this last rule there was but one exception, when an English N oviciate of the White Friars was allowed by their Provincial to converse with Mr. Poyntz. It was only a politic step, to ascertain his principles, before receiving his written answer. Among other topics, Sir Thomas More and the Bishop of Rochester, and their executions in England this summer, were introduced, as one key to their purpose. On the eighth day, when the Commissioners came for the answer in writing, Mr. Poyntz had not his excuse ready, when they gave him another week.

He then presented a general reply, but they insisted upon a specific answer to each of the articles, separately. Thus he “ trifled them off” from the first of November to the twenty-fourth of December. On the morning of that day, they informed him, that if his reply were not brought in before night, he should be condemned without it: it was eight in the evening before the Procurer-general received the document. This led to a tedious altercation in writing, during which process Mr. Poyntz demanded bail, on security being offered. They at first assented, but afterwards declined to take any security whatever. He had applied to the English Merchants in Antwerp, for surety, and had they come forward, it would have altered the case from a criminal to a civil one; but, strange to say, if they actually had received the application, it was in vain. In the meantime, the expenses of this process were accumulating to a considerable amount. During the whole time, Poyntz was not in a common prison, but in the keeping of the two Sergeants-at-arms: besides his own expenses, he had to maintain them, so that the daily charge was not less than five shillings; an enormous sum in those times. Altogether he had now been detained about thirteen weeks, from the first of November to Candlemas, which, at five shillings daily, had cost about £23, or equal to above £300 of the present time. For part of these charges they now demanded payment or surety, and gave him eight days to settle the matter. Poyntz sent a messenger to the English Merchants who were then at Barrow (Bergen) Market, resolving, however, not to wait his return. If taken, he knew it would be but death, and so during the night he contrived to escape, and at the opening of the city gates, in the morning, got off. As soon as it was perceived that he was gone, men on horseback were sent out in pursuit; but he knew the country well, and at last arrived safely in England.

Here is a man, hitherto unknown, though certainly he now demands our most grateful remembrance. For his friend he could not possibly do more than he had done. It was the most memorable exploit in his whole life; and, what is remarkable, we shall, by and by, find it to have been engraven on his tomb-stone, which, we are gratified to add, is still distinctly visible, and not far from London.

With respect to Tyndale himself, now in close confinement at Vilvorde, we are not altogether without information. The fact of his imprisonment was now well known in England, Scotland, and Germany; and the zeal against him was “burn ing hot,” especially at Louvain, a place long celebrated for its ardent attachment to the old learning. This may easily be conjectured from the men now arrayed, and apparently gathered f together against him. Dunne, having fulfilled his commission, and for six months done his best, had left for England; but Phillips and Buckenam, with others, were still at Louvain, only twelve miles from Vilvorde; and they, in conjunction with the doctors there, had led Tyndale into discussion. He, having been permitted to reply in writing, was not slow to answer. “There was,” says Foxe, “much writing, and great disputation to and fro, between him and them of the University of Louvain; in such sort, that they all had enough to do, and more than they could well wield, to answer the authorities and testimonies of the Scripture, whereupon he, most pithily, grounded his doctrine.”

They had, indeed, now laid Tyndale in prison, but even this could by no means prevent the progress of his work. It must not pass unobserved, that there came out this year another, or the third edition, of his “Obedience of a Christian Man,” and it may very safely be presumed not without his approbation, if not concurrence, as it was printed at Marburg, where he and Fryth had dwelt. Wolsey had been five years in His grave, whose policy it so effectually exposed; but Tyndale had there said, even after the Parliament of November 1529, that, as they had not uprooted the tree, it would grow again. By the reprint, therefore, he seemed to repeat, that, in his estimation, much still remained to be done in England; and he himself was now suffering under the very system he had there exposed. The republication at this period, however, would certainly not contribute to his enlargement, nor would it now help to raise him in the estimation of Henry VIII. Once on a time, it is true, he is reported to have said-“ this is a book for me and all kings to read,”-but then, to such a man, there were “hard sayings” in it, and that emotion had died away.

Another piece also now appeared, and appropriate to the war then raging with the Doctors of Louvain. This was Wicliffe’s Wicket, or an exposition of the words, “This is my body,” accompanied by Tyndale’s judgment respecting the Testament of William Tracy.

It was now precisely five years since “the translation of Scripture,” said to be “corrupted by William Tyndale, as well in the Old Testament as in the New,” had been denounced by the King of England and his Bishops, “as utterly to be repelled, rejected, and put away out of the hands of the people, and not to be suffered to get abroad among his Majesty’s subjects.” But the cause of Tyndale was that of a higher power, and as evidently for the people. Nothing, however, had been done, in the meanwhile, to furnish any other translation; nay, at that time, these men had the daring impiety to say to the people at large -“ You cannot require or demand Scripture to be divulged in the English tongue, otherwise than upon the discretion of your superiors; so as whensoever they think in their conscience it may do you good, they may and do well to give it unto you: and whensoever it shall seem otherwise unto them, they do amiss in suffering you to have it!!” They then said also, that this King of theirs “did openly say and protest, that he would cause the New Testament. to be, by learned men, faithfully and purely translated into the English tongue; to the intent he might have it in his hands ready to be given to his people, as he might see their manners and behaviour meet, apt, and convenient to receive the same!! ” At the same time, they took care to inform the people that the King “thinketh in his conscience,” and that by their “deliberation and advice, that in not suffering the Scripture to be then divulged in English, he did well!!” By the good providence of God, however, we have seen that, seven years before 1530, Tyndale had resolved that his countrymen should actually possess the Divine Word, and thus come to know more of the Scripture than such men as these; and as both husbandmen and artizans had been brought before Tunstal, Bishop of London, so early as 1528, Tyndale, confessedly, had laboured with great effect. For nine years past we have seen one edition after another coming into the country.

But now, at the last, it seemed as if something were actually going to be done, and by Henry’s learned men. Even the Bishop of Winchester himself told Crumwell, that by the month of June he “had been spending a great labour in translating Luke and John!” This was an incident by far too remarkable to pass now without farther notice; and the more so, as it admits of an explanation, fully as curious as the fact itself. In the Convocation last December, it will be remembered that the necessity for a translation of the Scriptures had been urged, while all other books of suspected heretical doctrine were to be called in within three months; and though nothing was done as to the latter design, the King seems to have been addressed as to the former. This was, in fact, a second implication of all that Tyndale had translated or written. One is curious, therefore, to observe the first attempt of these men, standing as it does, in contrast with the hitherto unaided, nay, despised exertions of the persecuted and now imprisoned Translator and patriot.

In proceeding with the plan, Cranmer took an existing translation,-Tyndale’s, of course, for as yet there was no other, and having divided it into eight or ten parts, he got them transcribed. These he transmitted to so many Bishops, the best learned, accompanied by a request, that each part should be returned to him; with their corrections, by a certain day. The time appointed having arrived, every portion, including Gardiner’s, no doubt, is said to have been returned to Lambeth, with one exception-the Acts of the Apostles, which had been assigned to Stokesly.

Cranmer then sent to Fulham, for the corrected manuscript; but Stokesly, far less compliant than Gardiner, not being then in such fear of court favour, or of his neck, only made the following reply:-“I marvel what my Lord of Canterbury meaneth, that he thus abuseth the people, in giving them liberty to read the Scriptures; which cloth nothing else but infect them with heresy. I have bestowed never an hour upon my portion, and never will. And therefore my Lord shall have his book back again; for I never will be guilty of bringing the simple people into error.” When the Archbishop was informed of this uncourteous speech, he merely observed-“ I marvel that my Lord of London is so froward, that he will not do as other men do.”-“ Why, as for that,” said Lawney, one of the Duke of Norfolk’s chaplains, who stood by,-“Your Grace must consider that the Acts of the Apostles are a portion of the New Testament. Peradventure, my Lord of London knows that Christ has left him no legacy, and therefore he prudently resolves to waste no time upon that which will bring him no profit! Or it may be, as the Apostles were a company of poor illiterate men, my Lord of London disdaineth to concern himself about their Aets!” That such an attempt as this should have entirely failed, can excite no surprise; and it not only did so, but Cranmer ever afterwards, from this moment, despaired of obtaining a translation of the Scriptures by any such means; and of this he will himself inform us, two years hence. These men of name and pretension must stand aside, for never shall even a single book of the Sacred Volume be conveyed to their country by one of them.

In contrast therefore, once more, to these prelates, whether in Convocation, as in 1534, or out of it, as in 1535, in the printing press of Antwerp we can discover no pause or hesitation; no sympathy whatever with the scruples of the blind in England, or any fear of the enemy in Antwerp itself. During last year and the present, not fewer than seven if not eight editions of Tyndale’s New Testament had issued from the press! Nor was any printer ever prosecuted, save the first in 1526, or Christopher of Endhoven. Thus, if the Translator himself throughout the whole of even this year continued to war with the enemies of Divine Truth on the Continent, it was as if “the stars in their courses” were fighting with England; nor was there to be any truce in this contest till the enemy was overcome, nay overruled, and constrained to accept of the long proffered boon.

The editions of the New Testament to be ascribed to 1535 were at least three. Of the first, which has hitherto been ascribed to last year, Dr. Cotton has said, -“This book was doubtless printed at Antwerp, but from the great variations observable in it, I cannot believe the date 1534 to be the true one; especially when it is considered that Tyndale’s own (corrected copy), from which it is principally copied, did not appear till November in that year.” But still by their computation, as the year continued to the 25th of March, till that day 1534 would be their date. Owing to the circumstances now stated, however, we rank it under 1535. Collation.-Title, within four wood-cuts, “The Newe Testament, Anno MDXXXIIII.” On the reverse of the title, “The bokes conteyned in the Newe Testament.” The cut of the Apostle Pard prefixed to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Colossians, Thessalonians and Hebrews, ia Tyndale’s edition of 1534, is small; in this it occupies the breadth of the page. Such is a brief notice of the book described by Herbert, p. 1543, and by Dr. Cotton, now in the Bodleian Library. That copy, however, is but very imperfect.

Of the second edition, distinguished by its being in folio, one copy is mentioned by Dr. Cotton to be ascribed to this, if not the following year.

The third edition, in small 8vo, or 12mo, may be easily distinguished by its orthography, which is very peculiar, having the colophon in large letters,-“fynesshed 1535.” There is one copy in Exeter College, Oxford, wanting the first title and preface; and in which the prologue to the Romans seems to be transposed, but there is a beautiful one, quite perfect, in the University Library of Cambridge. Collation.-After the first title and Tyndale’s preface, tables for the Evangelists and the Acts, and “The bokes conteyned in the Newe Testament,” we find a second title,-“ The newe Testament, dylgdently corected and compared with the Greke by Willyam Tyndale: and fynesshed in the yere of our Lorde God A. MD and xxxv.”

There are small wood-cuts at the beginning of each gospel, and larger ones in the Revelations, with heads of Chapters, supposed to be for the first time. A full page contains 38 lines. While we at present regret our inability to give an explanatory account of this book, it remains a great curiosity of its kind. Witness its orthography, so different from all the other editions:- faether, moether, broether, maester, stoene, oones, thoese, sayede, whorsse, behoelde. father, mother, brother, master, stone, once, those, said, worse, behold.

But is it possible that this could have been part of Tyndale’s occupation within the walls of the castle of Vilvorde? While warring with these Doctors of Louvain, on the one hand, was he, on the other, at the same time engaged in earnest pity for the ploughboy and husbandmen of Gloucestershire? This orthography, being regarded as provincial, so it has been supposed. If the conjecture be well founded, and Tyndale himself had to do with this edition, it is but seldom that, in the history of any man, such an instance of the true sublime can be produced. The book has never been assigned to any Antwerp printer; but if Tyndale only furnished a list of words, to be employed whenever they occurred in the translation, the volume could have been printed in Holland or any other place in Brabant.

At all events, the book comes before us in the light of a step in advance, or additional triumph. The Translator was “suffer ing trouble as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the Word of God was not bound,” nor to be bound.

To those who have not before been acquainted with the history of the English Bible, and in conclusion of the year 1535, one fact remains to be stated, which must occasion some surprise. For some time past, there had been another translation of the Scriptures into English in progress, which was now completed. From the degree of mystery which still hangs over it, the undertaking must have been conducted with great privacy; but it is a curious and not unimportant circumstance, scarcely before observed, if indeed at all known, in connexion with the late Lord Chancellor, so barbarously put to death by Henry, in July; that, though not a party concerned in the cost, while yet alive, nay, long before his death, and at the very time he was writing against Tyndale, with this proceeding he may, if not must, have been acquainted all along, even from its origin! From a single line throughout his many pages, no one could have imagined this; but the evidence will come before us in due time.

Meanwhile, it was on the 11th of October that the last sheet was put to press, under the eye of Miles Coverdale. Printed, as it had been, abroad, copies could not have been ready for importation to England, till about the opening of next year, at the soonest; but if any had reached this country, at whatever time, the book, owing to very peculiar circumstances, to be explained, could not have been shown to Henry the Eighth before the month of June. This, indeed, was the earliest moment; for, most probably, it was not presented to the King till much later in that year.

But the origin and history of this translation we must reserve for the year following, or 1537. Then, only, can we view with advantage and effect, the whole case at once, and in comparison with that translation, on which our eye has been fixed from the beginning. In other words, Coverdale’s will then be compared with that Bible which became the prototype, or basis, of all that have since followed, to the present day.

No such digression is admissible here, as the reader must be impatient to follow the history of that memorable enterprise, which has engrossed his attention throughout all the war, as well as that of the man who had been raised up to carry it on to victory. 1536.

Last Year Of Tyndale-Anne Boleyn-The New Or Unprecedented Convocation-Latimer Preaching Before It-State Of Parties There-Old And New Learning-Proceedings In Convocation-The First Articles-Crumwell’s First Injunctions-No Bible Mentioned-Tyndale’s Latter Days-Phillips Once More-Indifference Of England-The Court Of Brussels-Home And Abroad Now Deeply Implicated-The Martyrdom Of Tyndale-Poyntz, The Friend Of Tyndale-Future History Of The Miserable Betrayers-The Only Prosperous Cause, Or The Year Which Excelled All The Preceding.

WE are now within nine months only of the martyrdom of Tyndale, but it is necessary that the reader should have before him some of the leading events that transpired in England during that period, as they have a direct bearing on his character, and life-long exertions to give the Word of God to his country.

On the 5th of January, Queen Catherine died, and before the month closed, Queen Anne was delivered of a son, stillborn; but, before this she might have perceived that Henry’s affections had begun to waver. He manifested this more openly them, and his passions having already strayed in search of another object, all her endeavours to recall them to herself were vain.

Indeed, before the sorrowful mother was fully recovered from her languor and distress, her death had been resolved on, and steps taken and deliberately pursued for this purpose with the most dexterous secrecy.

The mock trial and judicial murder of the Queen, the marriage of the King next day to Jane Seymour, are scenes with which every reader of English history is familiar; but the part which the votaries of the “old learning” took in the plot, and their exultation in its success, have been less observed. In their feeble apprehension, the great obstacle to the revival of their influence was now removed, Rome itself was seeking to regain the ear of Henry through her messengers, who seem to have been well aware of his wavering affections long before the unhappy victim herself, and sought to divert them into a channel favourable to their purpose, But all in vain; partly by the marriage into which he had plunged so barbarously, and partly by the policy of Crumwell. Queen Jane was favourable to the “new learning,” and King Henry wanted more money, which only the suppression of monasteries could yield. Not all the subserviency of the clergy, or the Jesuitry of the Court of Rome, could bend him from a course which gave him so pleasing a prospect of augmented revenue, while he was overruled to allow a greater measure of liberty to the circulation of the Scriptures than had hitherto been enjoyed.

Henry, having called a new Parliament, on the 8th of June, had resolved also to have a new Convocation, and one differing in its character from all that had preceded it on English ground, or, indeed, anywhere else. Of the Parliament we can already judge. “Henry’s two divorces having created an uncertainty as to the line of succession, Parliament had endeavoured to remove this, not by such constitutional provisions in concurrence with the Crown, as might define the course of inheritance, but by enabling the King, on failure of issue by Jane Seymour, or any other lawful wife, to make over and bequeath the kingdom to any person at his pleasure, not even reserving a preference to the descendants of former sovereigns!’’ But we have now to look into the Convocation.

The confusion and misrepresentation which reigns throughout almost all our general histories, respecting this Convocation and its results, more especially with regard to the English Bible, render it imperatively necessary for the reader to observe what actually took place. Having already witnessed the failure of these Prelates in 1534 and 1535, their procedure in 1536 only invites the more careful inspection, if not the deeper interest. A universal mistake has consisted in the supposition that Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, then ambassador at Paris, was here present; but there are many others, especially in relation to the Scriptures in English.f75 The friends of the “old learning” round the King, included two distinct parties-the nobility and the clergy. the present prospects of these two, were direct contrasts to each other. The former were looking forward, with eagerness, to the acquisition of property; the latter were trembling in the apprehension of losing it. The nobility were happy to aid the King in his late affair, and had borne him through it; but certainly not without full expectation of his recollecting their services, for they had laid the King under a debt of gratitude; the clergy had also rejoiced in the death of the Queen, and will immediately give their official sanction. But then, it was not to follow as a matter of course, that because this latter party had gone along with Henry in his bloody progress, that he was to aid them, or even spare them, as a body, in theirs. By no means. On the contrary, the clergy, at all events, must prepare for farther inroads and fresh humiliation.

Crumwell had, last year, been, very conveniently, made “Vicegerent, Vicar-General, and Commissary Special and Principal,” involving vast powers; placing him, in fact, next to the royal family, for specific and prospective purposes; and we have now to see the height to which he thought himself entitled to act.

The Convocation had met on the day after Parliament, or the 9th of June.

Cranmer had resolved to try what a sermon could effect at the opening. We have seen how eager he was respecting Latimer preaching before the Court, and he appointed him now to preach before the Convocation. His text was appropriate enough. “The children of this world are wiser in their generation, than the children of light,” -and he did not fail to speak as he thought. He delivered two sermons, on the same day, from this text, and in the afternoon, especially, came to the point. Perhaps nothing of the kind ever equalled the keen and searching power of these discourses, in which he bore testimony to the piety prevailing among the people of England, and inveighed against the clergy, not only for the little they had done to promote that piety, but for the opposition they had offered to the cause of truth. He details at length the evils to be removed, and urges them all to “do something whereby they might be known to be the children of light,”-as “all men know that we be here gathered, and, with most fervent desire, breathe and gape for the fruit of our Convocation;” and “as our acts shall be, so shall they name us.” After warning them by that wicked professor who “beat his fellow-servants, and did eat and drink with the drunken,” he closes all by saying:- “Come, go to, my brothers; go to, I say again, and once again go to, leave the love of your profit; study for the glory and profit of Christ; seek in your consultations such things as pertain to Christ, and bring forth, at the last, something that may please Christ.-Preach trhly the Word of God. Love the light, walk in the light, and so be ye the children of light, while ye are in this world, that ye may shine in the world that is to come, bright as the sun, with. the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to whom be all honour, praise, and glory. -Amen.”

This stringent and intrepid discourse must have been as gall and wormwood to many who were present; but it certainly was meet, that some such address should salute their ears, and at such a time as this. It was fit that they should be told, when thus all assembled to hear, that already there were among the PEOPLE “many children of light;” while they had not yet done one thing, whereby the inhabitants of England had profited “one hair.” It was fit that Tunstal should be reminded, thus publicly, of his miserable injunction in 1526, and his torturing examinations in 1528, and his burning of the Sacred Volume in 1530: nay, that in that very St. Paul’s, where, after his return from Spain, he had denounced the New Testament, of which now so many editions had been sold and circulated, he should have to sit still and listen to such harrowing interrogations as these. And although some may question the delicacy of Latimer introducing himself, more especially as he was reverting to the most humiliating scene in his past life, perhaps the solitary speck in his public character; still it was fit that the cars of Stokesly and his fellows should be made to tingle, in remembrance of their past cruelties. Stokesly had actually officiated, before the sermons began!

In short, taking the discourse all in all, a more perfect disclaimer of any thing having, as yet, been done, by these men in England, could not have been given; nor a higher attestation to the powerful, though denounced, exertions of Tyndale, as well as to their positive and extensive effects. It was only in perfect keeping with all that has been recorded, that such an eminent and distinct testimony should have been delivered before an assembly of foes and friends, at St. Paul’s in London, three months before Tyndale received the crown of martyrdom, -and that by Latimer, the man, among all present, best qualified to judge.

It becomes of no little curious importance to observe who were actually assembled to hear all this; and the more so, that the statements frequently given have been both defective and erroneous. Of the twenty-one Bishops, sixteen were present at the Convocation, and two voted by proxy. As for the other three, not present; Gardiner of Winchester was still in France, where indeed he remained for above two years. Athaqua or Attien, Bishop of Llandaff, if yet alive, being a Spaniard, could not now vote; and Kite of Carlisle, once Archbishop of Armagh, an appointment which he had received from Leo X. in 1513, and resigned for Carlisle in 1521, was now in extreme old age, and died next year.

But besides the sixteen Bishops present, there were forty mitred Abbots and Priors, or fifty-six in all. In the lower house fifty members attended, namely, twenty-five Archdeacons, seven Deans, seventeen Proctors, and one Master of a College. Of the eighteen who voted from the Bench, those who were with and against Cranmer will show how equally they were divided when discussion began. We give them, with the dates of their appointment:- 1531 . Lee of York. 1533 . Cranmer of Canterbury. 1530 . Stokesly of London. 1534 . Goodrich of Ely. 1530 . Tunstal of Durham. 1535 . Shaxton of Salisbury. 1520 . Longland of Lincoln. 1535 . Fox of Hereford. 1519 . Vesey of Exeter. 1535 . Latimer of Worcester. 1533 . Clerk of Bath. 1535 . Hilsey of Rochester. 1534 . Lee of Lichfield. 1536 . Barlow of St. David’s. 1534 . Salcot of Bangor. 1536 . Warton of St. Asaph. 1536 . Rugge of Norwich. 1536 . Sampson of Chichester.

Thus, although the reader will still recognise well-known enemies to the progress of Divine Truth, and to Tyndale personally, he will observe that the coast is clear of the aged and literally blind Nix of Norwich-of West of Ely, the crafty foe of Latimer-of Standish, the slanderer of Colet and Erasmus-of Fisher, the ablest opponent of the new learning-and of Cardinal Campeggio of Salisbury, as well as Ghinucci of Worcester, two Italians, ever ready to support the old-besides five others. If death had not thinned the ranks of these men, it is evident that Cranmer had been left in a small minority; but it now appears, that, since his appointment, only three years ago, as many as eleven vacancies had occurred, and of these not fewer than eight voted with him. So late as the 31st of May, the other party had been strengthened by Rugge alias Repps, being elected for Norwich; but it shows the keenness of Crumwell and Cranmer, that on the very day before the Convocation, they got Warton into St. Asaph, nay, on the day of opening, having procured Sherburne’s resignation, they put Richard Sampson, the King’s great champion, in his place. Even then, however, they divided, it appears, nine to nine. Fortunately for Cranmer’s peace, Gardiner was not there, and two disciples of the old learning voted only by proxy, viz. Exeter and Lichfield, for whom Longland of Lincoln acted.

Preliminaries being adjusted by Friday the 16th of June, the old party in the lower house had prevailed in securing one of their number to be Prolocutor in the Convocation. This was Richard Gwent, an Archdeacon of Stokesly’s, now presented and confirmed by the upper house. But by way of keeping the balance even, or rather of discovering how strong was the rod of royal authority over them, there entered, on the same day, not even Crumwell himself, for he was as yet too busy with Parliamentary affairs, but Dr. William Petre, as his deputy! He claimed the precedency due to his immediate master, and the commission he brought with him being read, Cranmer assigned him his place, next to himself. Some might well question, and probably did, as Fuller supposes, whether “a deputy’s deputy” might properly claim his place who was principally represented. It has been said that it was with difficulty that the clergy suppressed their murmurs at Crumwell’s appointment to his office -a man who had never taken orders, nor graduated in any University; but their indignation increased, when they found that the same preeminence was claimed by any of his clerks, whom he might commission as his deputy at their meetings.

On Wednesday next, however, the 21st, Crumwell entered, and as VICEGERENT AND VICAR-GENERAL seated himself judicially above all. He then presented them an instrument, annulling the King’s marriage with the late Queen. They all signed it, and one party most willingly, though, as already noticed, the measure did not pass the House of Lords till the 30th.

On Friday, the 23rd of June, Gwent brought up from the lower house, a long list of what they styled mala dogmata, or erroneous doctrines. The number amounted to not fewer than sixty-seven; and it now remained for Cranmer, Latimer, and others, to say, what was to be done with them; for this was no other than “The protestation of the Clergy of the lower house, within the province of Canterbury.” As a picture of the men within these doors, and of the opinions that were now travelling the country, the document is of value. The puerility and the absurdity of most of the items, strikingly evince the degraded state of the human mind, in those who sanctioned the list; while, on the other hand, some of those very items prove, that, in the face of their most furious opposition, Divine Truth had already found its way into a thousand channels.

Independently of Latimer’s testimony, this was a second, and from many individuals. If it be said that their alarm may have led them to exaggerate the good that had been done, it must be remembered that God had been carrying forward His work with secret energy, and that they were not the men to know all: but still they come forward in proof that the Sacred Volume, so far from having been read in vain, had already produced some of its finest effects, and, it may safely be presumed, to a considerable extent, since they affirmed that these truths were “commonly taught and spoken.” It is true, that all this had been accomplished in the face of opposition, and certainly without the bold and public sanction of any present; but, though it has been too little observed, the moment was a crisis in the history of England, more important than any one that has since occurred in her eventful history. As far as the vital interests of Christianity itself are concerned, who is there now, understanding these interests, who can forbear to exclaim -“Oh! had they but let ‘well’ alone! and left those cardinal principles, which the majority of these men now branded as evil, to have found their way into every city and hamlet, till they had leavened the community!” But no; the perfection, the all-sufficiency of the Sacred Volume to accomplish all the purposes of the Divine will, was a tenet held by no one there.

And now the war grew warm, the strife interminate, for what else could be expected from an assemblage such as this? Cranmer alone, as yet possessed of no fixed principles, nor any distinct conception of where he was going, though even backed by Latimer, with all his wit and shrewdness, could have done nothing. Even in the absence of Gardiner, they would have been crushed or overruled. Queen Anne was gone, and the old party had determined to try their strength. “Oh!” exclaims old Fuller, “what tugging was here, betwixt those opposite sides, (for I dare not take Bishop Latimer’s phrase, as he took it out of his text-betwixt the children of this generation, and the children of light,) whilst, with all earnestness, they thought to advance their several designs.” The truth is, that the House of Lords itself was often interrupted in their business by these men; and in their “Journal,” the reason recorded for many adjournments was this, that the Lord Bishops “were busy in the Convocation.”

It was while these discussions were proceeding, or rather about their commencement, that a notable scene occurred, in which Alexander Ales, a native of Edinburgh, made a conspicuous appearance. One day, as Lord Crumwell was proceeding to the house, he met Ales “by chance on the street,” and, as if determined on still farther humiliation of the Bench, “he called him, and took him with him to the Parliament house, to Westminster.” Upon entering, all the Bishops “rose and did obeisance to their Vicar-General, and after he had saluted them, he sat him down in the highest place.” “Right against him sat Cranmer and Lee as Archbishops; and then Stokesly and Longland, Shaxton and Clerk, Goodrich and Fox, Sampson and Rugge, Latimer and certain others,” adds Ales, “whose names I have forgotten.” “All these did sit at a table covered with a carpet, with certain Priests standing about them.”

The Vicar-General of the Realm commenced by stating the object for which they had been convened, to “determine certain controversies concerning the Christian faith in this realm;” that the “King studied night and day to set a quietness in the Church;”-that such controversies “must be now fully debated and ended through their determination;”-that he desired that they would conclude all things by the Word of God, for his Majesty would not “suffer the Scriptures to be wrested or defaced by any glosses, or by any authority of Doctors or Councils, much less would he admit any articles or doctrines NOT contained in the Scripture;”-finally, that His Majesty would give them high thanks if they would “determine ALL things by theSCRIPTURE, as God commandeth in Deuteronomy.”

However strange the former part of this address must appear to every enlightened Christian now, toward the close the trumpet gave a certain sound; and, so far as words could convey meaning, no man present could misunderstand the message. But what followed? “After this,” says Ales, “they began to dispute of the sacraments.” First of all, the Bishop of London, Stokesly, (whom, a little before, Crumwell had rebuked by name, for defending of unwritten verities,) went about to defend that there were seven sacraments of our Christian religion, which he would prove by certain glosses and writers; and he lind upon his side the Archbishop of York, the Bishops of Lincoln, Bath, Chichester, and Norwich. The Bishops of Salisbury, Ely, Hereford, and Worcester, and certain others, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, were against him. After they had made much strite and contention about the sayings of the doctors, Cranmer rose and reminded the Convocation that the very subjects they had met to discuss, as well as their own character and office forbade brawling about mere words;-that “the controversies now moved were not of ceremonies or light things, but of the true understanding and of the right difference of the Law and the Gospel-of the manner and way how sins may be forgiven-of comforting doubtful and wavering consciences, by what means they may be certified that they please God, seeing they feel the strength of the Law accusing them of sin-of the true use of the sacraments, whether the outward work of them doth justify a man, or whether we receive our justification through faith-what constituted good works-what were the traditions which bound men’s consciences; and finally, whether the ceremonies which were not instituted by Christ, ought to be called sacraments or no.”

This assembly, to a man, had already acknowledged Henry to be the Supreme Head of their Church, and now also had made obeisance to his Vicegerent, their Vicar-General; but such was the catalogue of affairs brought forward, and as explained by Cranmer himself. He did not stop to inquire whether the men whom he urged to engage in discussion were peace-makers, were the sons of God, were Bishops indeed,-but, waiving this, here was a field for strife and debate, confessedly wide enough, if not boundless, and as now spread out, it certainly exhibited a strange mixture of truth and error; where the mere acts of outward conformity were mingled with the inward feelings of mental obedience; and comparative trifles were enumerated in company with matter of divine authority. But still, should Cranmer commence with faith and not with obedience, or with what he styled “the principal points of our Christian religion,” or “high and earnest matters,” and NOT with ceremonies, an effectual turn may yet be given to discussion. Two steps were before him, the right and the wrong; and as he had precedence, and was about to state the order of debate, and now had this in his own hands, one naturally waits with anxiety to hear his decision,-and here it was. “W’herefore, in this disputation we mustFIRST AGREE of the number of the SACRAMENTS, and what; a Sacrament doth signify in the holy Scripture; and when we call Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. sacraments of the Gospel, what; we mean thereby!”

How much of mental misery, nay of bloodshed, has sometimes depended upon only a few words, uttered by one man, when in possession of what is called power-official power! To such a momentous instant, Cranmer had now come. By his ingenuous confession afterwards, he came to the knowledge of divine things “but by slow degrees, or by little and little;” but had he only known how much of his own future misery, as well as that of many others, now hung as on a hair, depending on his course of debate, or his decision as to the order to be pursued, he must have paused, if not shrunk back. That the example which he now first set and sanctioned, both as to “Articles” and the order of discussion, was to form a precedent down to the Act of Uniformity, and farther still, was far beyond his foresight: though had he taken only one leaf out of the masterly writings of the man, so denounced both by his royal Master and his singular Vicar- General, he had never so decided. For twelve long years Tyndale had been warning with the darkness which brooded over his native country; and although perambulating the very field of battle on the Continent, with a judgment and prudence peculiar to himself, he would on no account first engage in the Bellum Sacramentarium; but Cranmer here plunges into it at once, and that too in discussion with men who discerned not the things of the Spirit of God; but who, to this hour, had been the notorious persecutors of the truth, as well as of every man who had imbibed the love of it. Cranmer, however, was emphatically now, a man under authority.

But to proceed,-Lord Crumwell observing, by his countenance, that Ales was pleased with Cranmer’s address, thought it the proper moment to call upon him; and having introduced him to all present, under the high appellation of “the King’s Scholar,” he desired him now to say, what he thought of this disputation. The exiled Scotsman complied, maintaining throughout, and for the first time upon English ground, for many centuries, before any such audience, that there were only two Sacraments,-easy to be kept, and very excellent in signification,-and that these were “ Baptism and the Supper of the Lord.” Stokesly sat with impatience, and at last fired,-saying of what Ales had [affirmed-“ It is all fake.” To this he answered, “I will prove all that I have said to be true, not only by the Scripture, but by the old doctors, and by the School writers also.”

Upon this Edward Fox, Bishop of Hereford, interposed, and, in a noble address, warned his brethren that they could not “by sophistical subtilties steal out of the world again, the light which every man doth see.” “The people,” said he, “do now know the Holy Scripture better than many of us.

Now many things be better understood without any glosses at all, than by all the commentaries of the Doctors.” He then warned them not to make themselves a laughing stock to all the world, or to give the people the opinion “that ye have not one spark of learning, nor yet of gentleness in you.” He concluded with the noble sentiment:- ‘‘Truth is the daughter of time, and time is the mother of truth. And whatsoever is besieged of truth, cannot long continue; and upon whose side truth doth stand, that ought not to be thought transitory, or that it will ever fall. All things consist not in painted eloquence, and strength, or authority. For the truth is of so great power, strength, and efficacity, that it can neither be defended with words, nor be overcome with any strength: but after she hath hidden herself long, at length she putteth up her head, and appeareth.”

Encouraged by this oration, and confining himself to the Sacred Volume, Ales proceeded to ply the Bishop of London with this argument-“Sacraments be signs or ceremonies, which make us certain and sure of the will of God-but no man’s heart can be certain and sure of the will of God, without the Word of God. Wherefore, it followeth, that there be no sacraments without the Word of God. And such as cannot be proved out of the Holy Scripture, ought not to be called sacraments.”

Stokesly, however, again interrupted him and said-“ Let us grant that the sacraments may be gathered out of the Word of God, yet are ye far deceived, if ye think that there is none other Word of God, but that which EVERY souter and cobbler DOTH read in this mother tongue!” The Vicar- General and others smiled when he had done; but it was now twelve o’clock, and time to disperse.

The next day, however, when the Bishops were again met, this dangerous man of Edinburgh must not be admitted. He was punctually present with Lord Crumwell, and ready to accompany him; but poor Cranmer, ever in character, timid and time-serving, became alarmed as to consequences, and sent to Ales to inform him that the Bishops had taken offence at the admission of a stranger into the Convocation; and Crumwell himself thought it best for the present to give way to the Bishops, lest they should find worse means of getting the intruder out of the way. So he kept Ales back, making use of his papers only during the remaining discussion.

The obvious purport of this dispute respecting the ordinances of Christ, here styled sacraments, was, whether there were seven, or only two; and Ales firmly maintained his ground, but his arguments had no effect whatever in swaying such men.

In these circumstances, what was to be done? To one of the parties it seemed at last, that some expedient must be devised, to enforce obedience or conformity, silent or quiet submission. But where did the power reside?

Only in the breast of a man, who had been washing his hands in blood, and “following the sport” on the day of his Queen’s execution! In the language of sacred writ, that he was also “proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words,”-“ vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,” we have already had but too much evidence; only he was now about to proceed one step farther, and should he only fix on more sacraments than two, all must yield, and at least bow assent.

Of course, neither Henry, nor any of his advisers, understood that Christianity, as revealed in the New Testament, repudiated all constraint of receiving and holding opinions by human authority; or, to use a word often employed since, all “imposition; ” that the nature of faith did not admit of this-that God himself had appointed no such means to enforce belief, nor nominated any Vicegerent to attempt this-that dominion over conscience is God’s exclusive province, within which, especially, His name is “Jealous”-that any man, therefore, presuming to enter here, must needs be an usurper, demanding blind submission,-so that whatever means be adopted, they must be nefarious. But, apart from all these vital considerations, so far as the present uproar was concerned, both Crumwell and Cranmer well knew, that they had only to repair to the royal presence, and describe this scene of strife,-“the perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, who supposed that gain was godliness.”

They did so at last, when a message arrived from Henry. He soon stilled the tumult, very much ia the manner of Sardanapalus of old-“Sic volo, sic jubeo, and let my will for reason stand.” These men had been convoked, in fact, not to discuss, but to “do the King’s business.”

The form in which this settler came, was in that of certain “Articles,” which all must subscribe. They were strangely enough entitled-“Articles devised by the King’s Highness’ Majesty, to stablish Christian quietness and unity among us, and to avoid contentious opinions!”

These, the first articles propounded in England, though not originally composed by Henry, were carefully revised by him; at least, in the preface, he speaks of having, in his own person, many times, bestowed on them “great pain, study, labour and travail!” No doubt, Cranmer and his coadjutors had done their best before then; and if, after passing through such an ordeal, these articles are to be regarded as the amount of their united wisdom, they only discover what darkness and confusion still reigned in the minds of all men in power. It is not only the substance, but the order in which they are stated, which, at once, betrays this confusion.

At the same time, we now discover that Cranmer must have had his secret reason for passing over every Christian doctrine, or matter of belief, and giving it out as imperative, that they must begin with the sacraments! So it was with the Articles: for after simply allowing the particulars of the Christian faith to be contained in the Scriptures, but joining with them the Nicene and Athanasian creeds; we have 1. Baptism. 2. Penance. 3. The Sacrament of the Altar, or the Mass. 4. Justification. 5. Images. 6. Honouring of Saints. 7. Praying to Saints. 8. Rites and Ceremonies. 9. Purgatory.

They, in fact, allowed the use of images, sanctioned prayers to the Saints, defended purgatory, and recommended prayers for the dead. Far from following the sentiments of Ales, not only spoken, but more fully delivered in writing to Crumwell, and meant to have been read before them-they assert three sacraments; 1. Penance, 2. Baptism,3. the Lord’s Suppermaintaining that infants, dying before the second, perish everlastingly! and that the real body and blood of Christ are present in the third!

No wonder that Cranmer trembled for his Articles, or was afraid of the set speech of Ales, next day; for if it had been listened to by any, not to say all, it might have at least retarded the attempt to “stablish Christian quietness,” after this fashion.

Nor had these miserable articles any such effect. On the contrary, when once published, they occasioned, says Burnet, “great variety of censures.”

Beyond the walls of their assembly, “quietness,” of any kind, was not to be the order of the day; although, at this moment, all the men within must acquiesce in the unbending will of their acknowledged Head. At least one hundred and nine individuals subscribed; including Crumwell and the two Archbishops, sixteen Bishops, forty Abbots and Priors, and fifty Archdeacons and Proctors.

Nothing can more forcibly illustrate the absurdity of this blind consent to certain propositions, professedly religious, than that this assembly had never yet been able to agree upon any translation of the Sacred Volume itself; nor, upon this subject, according to Cranmer’s strongly expressed opinion next year, if left to themselves, would they ever have agreed, to the end of their days. But after thus subscribing, it would have been more inconsistent still, had they now departed, without any reference to the subject. They had, to a man, professedly recognised the Scriptures as containing the essentials of the Christian faith, but could not agree on a traslation into their own language; neither could they, as a body, approve of that translation, through which many of the people were already so far before them in acquaintance with Divine Truth. They agreed, however, upon the form of a petition, to be presented to the King, that he would graciously indulge unto his subjects of the laity, the reading of the Bible in the English tongue, (which so many had already read without his indulgence,) and that a new translation of it might be forthwith made for that end and purpose. This was a convenient method for postponing the subject; but, providentially, their dissension or agreement was of no carthly moment, since neither the petitioners, nor the King they addressed, were to be allowed to furnish that translation of the Bible for England, which was, ultimately, to become her own.

With regard to the other doings of this Convocation, his Majesty had determined to reduce the prodigious number of holidays. All feasts or holidays during harvest time, or from the 1st of July to the 29th of September, were therefore at once abolished, as well as those which fell during term time at Westminster; the number throughout the year being greatly curtailed. And as a General Council had been summoned by the Pontiff, to assemble at Mantua, Fox of Hereford submitted to both houses the King’s reasons for declining to take any part in its proceedings, he being resolved to hold no intercourse with that man; for such was the phrase. To this document all persent subscribed. This was on the 20th of July, or the last day of that Convocation, to which Latimer, at the beginning, had preached in vain.

Thus, Parliament having risen, and the Convocation being dissolved, after having shown nothing save profound subserviency to the wishes and the vices of the Sovereign, both Crumwell and Cranmer will contrive to save themselves the trouble of consulting either of these bodies, for some time to come; for it must be borne in mind that there was neither Parliament nor Convocation held till the year 1539.

Immediately after this, the first act of Crumwell, as Vicegerent, was to issue certain injunctions, and, upon one account at least, they demand notice. Since the days of John Foxe to the present, they have been generally misunderstood, and, with respect to the Scriptures especially, have led all subsequent historians wrong. These injunctions of 1536 differ materially from those to be issued in 1538. The latter, in 1538, were addressed to the Bishops, but not the former; the latter embraced the Scriptures, which these now issued did not, and could not.

With regard to these now put forth, they wcre merely following up the doings of the Convocation just dissolved. The act abolishing the holidays in harvest, though intended to help it forward, rather inflamed than satisfied many; and Crumwell’s present injunctions, therefore, embraced the holidays, and the articles recently subscribed, but nothing more. the remarks of Burnet and Collier are, on this account, equally inapplicable.

The former describes these injunctions as “the first act of pure supremacy done by the King; for in all that went before, he had the concurrence of the two Convocations.” But in these, the King and Vicegerent had such concurrence. The holidays, it is expressly stated, were abolished “with the common assent and consent of the prelates and clergy, in Convocation lawfully assembled:” and as for the articles, all present had subscribed them, in conjunction with Crumwell himself. “These injunctions,’’ says Collier, “we may observe, were only directed to the Deans and downwards. Thus the Lord Crumwell had something of modesty in his wonderful office, and forbore the brandishing his vicegerency over the Bishops.” But the fact was, that the “brandishing,” as we have seen already, had taken place before many witnesses, anterior to this, in the Convocation; when the King, through Crumwell, had awed them into silence and unanimous acquiescence. Hence his injunctions were addressed only to the Deans, and all below them.

Turning away, therefore, from the Convocation of 1536, which, with reference to the Sacred Volume, was equally fruitless of any benefit to the kingdom with that of 1534, no sooner do we come to the actual history of the English Bible, than it turns out to have been by far the most remarkable year of all that had preceded it! Nay, to those who have never looked narrowly into the subject, it may seem next to incredible, that there should have been of Tyndale’s New Testament, as many editions as in most of the preceding years when put together! Such, however, was the fact, and of this state of things our Translator could not have been kept altogether in ignorance, more especially as the jailer and his tinnily were won to his principles. So far as he did know, after such a passage through life, this must have cheered him in his entrance to the haven of eternal rest, as a finer sun, which was to shine for ages upon his native land. He had corrected his New Testament in 1534, and these were reprints of that edition; but we must refrain from any farther account at this moment, reserving this for the close, as the appropriate and the only refreshing intelligence throughout the whole year. Besides, the absorbing question, at present, must be-“ What has become of those guilty men who had ensnared our Translator? and, above all, of Tyndale himself?”

Upon once more looking abroad, and before we approach the castle of Vilvorde, or the martyr’s stake, it is of importance to record whatever can be certainly ascertained, not only respecting the betrayers of Tyndale, after that Mr. Poyntz had so providentially escaped; but the agitation of Henry VIII. himself in connexion with one of them, in his assumed character of the gentleman. Since not only Halle and Foxe, but all other historians fail us here, these particulars, now read for the first time, will, it is presumed, prove the more interesting.

It will be remembered that Theobald, the man whom Crumwell and Cranmer had sent to the Continent last year, felt no scruple whatever in imposing upon Phillips, in order to extract from him the precise circumstances respecting Tyndale’s apprehension; and these he had duly communicated both to the Primate, and the Vicegerent. He told Phillips that he had come to remain, and had seemed to comply with the entreaty, that he would abide in the same house. The natural consequence of this dissimulation soon followed. Theobald departed, and Phillips then saw that he had been deceived. He soon learned that he belonged to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and immediately reported him to be, what he really was, a spy; though evidently not commissioned by either of his employers to resort to Louvain, or there interest himself on behalf of the illustrious exile and prisoner at Vilvorde. Phillips himself, however, as we have seen, remained about Brussels and Louvain, all the time that Mr. Poyntz was held in prison; but after his escape into England, the abandoned youth fled, leaving Tyndale to the tender mercies of the wicked. The probability is, that Mr. Poyntz, immediately after his arrival in London, had succeeded so far as to excite alarm respecting this man; and this he could easily do, by communicating, through his brother, with the King direct. But probability approaches to certainty, when it is observed, that by the month of March, soon after Mr. Poyntz had got to England, the conduct of Phillips had effectually roused the indignation of the English Monarch. This young man had not only been pursuing Mr. Poyntz and Tyndale himself, unto death, but “raging against Henry,” as Theobald had stated long ago; though no notice had been taken of the warning. For eight months, from July last year, to March in this, there is no evidence to be found that either Crumwell or Cranmer had moved one step, and even now the apparent apathy of both seems to force itself on our notice. The Vicar-General was busy in chiming in with the King’s odious purposes and plan against his Queen: the Primate was looking after the worldly interests of a brother-inlaw.

But it will be abundantly more awkward, or rather humiliating, for both, if, after the letters from Theobald, one of the betrayers of Tyndale had actually been permitted to sit down in theCONVOCATION in June, and there listen to Latimer, when he lectured so roundly the whole fraternity!

We shall see.

Already we have had sufficient evidence that the mind of Henry, at this juncture, was like “the troubled sea,” as it continued to be, throughout the whole of this year. His “secret commission” upon Anne Boleyn was already at work, and it was while they were so engaged, that we find two letters of tho incensed monarch, dated from his palace near London. Both manuscripts (in Latin, and bearing the same date) are very imperfect; but there is enough remaining to answer our inquiry. The King, it will be evident, was enraged at least, if not alarmed; but it was only because of the language and conduct of Phillips, with reference to his own beloved self.

For Tyndale, or in regard to his seizure and imprisonment, we look in vain for one word of sympathy; though his condition, by this time, could not fail to have been fully known to his Majesty.

The first of these letters was addressed to the Consuls and Senators of Nuremberg, and the second to an old correspondent of Henry, Lawrence Stayber, in the same city, in both of which he entreats, that, if either of his two subjects, James Gryffith Apwell (ap-Howell), or Henry Phillips, both guilty of the most heinous crime, should pass through their territory, or that of their allies, they take care to apprehend and send them over to England at his charge. He advises Stayber to endeavour by spies, “on both public and private roads,” to trace these men, and so get them into his power.

These letters furnish one proof, among others, of that widespread discontent which now prevailed against the King. Gryffith and Phillips were not precisely of the same party before this; but there was an evident sympathy between all these male-contents, wherever they dwelt, and whenever they met; and they were all, more or less, acting in concert, either against his Majesty’s proceedings, or “the new learning.”

As for this man, with whom Phillips is now classed, James Gryffith or James Greffeth ap-Howell, as he is sometimes called, he was not a common individual, or, like Phillips, of low parentage, but the son of a gentleman in Wales, and a nephew of Sir Rice ap-Thomas, the well-known military commander, under both Henry VIII. and his father. Gryffith had been imprisoned in London; but, according to this letter, pardoned. This was in 1533, on which he fled, in June of that year, into Scotland; where Lord Dacre and T. Wharton, the ambassadors, were ordered to watch him.

He went not alone; on the 2nd of July, Dacre informs Henry direct, that he had come to St. Ninian’s, near Stirling, having his wife and eight persons with him, and that he named himself uncle to (Sir Griffith) Rice of Wales, the son of Sir Rice already mentioned. From thence he soon proceeded to Edinburgh, with his train, “well favoured and appointed;” where, though not received by the King, he frequently “resorted to the Lords of the Council.” So long as Scotland was at war with England, he wished to remain, and was permitted to do so for some time; but by the month of December we find him in Antwerp, where he had been evidently desirous of stirring up war with England, and proffering aid from Wales, if Queen Nary and the Emperor’s Council would only send ships across the sea.

Carondelet, the Archbishop of Palermo, declined, saying that the King of England, the Emperor, and that country were friends. In May 1534, Gryffith was at Lubcck, and had gone front place to place, as he was doing still. The truth is, that both of these men, whether separately or in company, were now on their way towards Cardinal Pole. He became the nucleus of all the disaffected. Every one that was discontented, in distress, or in debt, gathered round him, or at least applied to him; and although neither Phillips nor Gryffith received encouragement, in two years after this, we shall find the former, unwittingly, excite in Pole the utmost fear and apprehension.

It cannot be forgotten, that Phillips had, within the Court of Queen Mary, denounced Henry as “a tyrant and a robber of the commonwealth.” The “first-fruits,” no doubt, had already been consigned to the King, and he was, at the moment, in the act of receiving the spoils of the monasteries; but this man had been permitted to remain unreproved by the Court of Brussels; while Gryffith, for a longer period, had been allowed to harbour in Flanders. This, for political reasons, had been hitherto endured; but, as the Emperor and Francis were, though known to few, actually preparing for war, and Henry had resolved to remain neutral, hence we account for the English envoy, Mr. Vaughan, being now withdrawn. But to the disgrace of the King of England, this envoy, the only one who had ever spoken favourably of Tyndale, is recalled without a commission to say, one word to save his life.

Nine months ago, or in August last year, both Crumwell and Cranmer had been very pointedly informed, by their common agent, of Tyndale’s situation, as well as of the myrmidons who had betrayed him; the first generous visit of Mr. Poyntz, post haste, after this, had confirmed the whole; when at last, in October, Crumwell sent one solitary letter. Since then, here was Mr. Poyntz, escaped to England only with his life, and now comes Stephen Vaughan, who once pled so powerfully against persecution for opinions. But no; nothing was done!

It has now, therefore, become but too apparent, that neither Henry, nor his Ministers, were free from the blood of William Tyndale. Had he, or they, exerted their official power to the last, the guilt might have fallen not so heavy upon them; but instead of this, they had all, as we have seen, only ten days before Vaughan’s letter, stepped into blood at home; and what sympathy or generous feeling could be expected from them?f78 His own country having thus left him to perish, the only remaining quarter to which we can turn, is to the Government of Flanders itself. Curiosity must be awake to know the character of the parties into whose hands Tyndale had fallen. The reigning princess, Mary, was merely a vassal of the priests. With the chief man, still in power, Carondelet, the Archbishop of Palermo, we have been long familiar, and to him the character of Tyndale must have been well known for nine years past, at least; but he was a mere courtier, without heart; and from the days in which Cornelius Grapheus, the learned Secretary of Antwerp, had, under his eye, suffered so severely, for publishing a book on “the liberty of the Christian Religion,” he had been familiar with cruelty. No mercy was therefore to be expected from him. Erardus a Marchia, the Cardinal and Bishop of Liege, the man to whom Reginald Pole fled next year for protection, was, of course, a determined opponent of the Scriptures; and Montigni lived under the sovereign power of the monks. Such were the men of influence and authority. It was only three years since Erasmus himself, that eminent reviver of literature, was invited to this Court. But he was then, and ever afterwards, afraid to venture near it, even though the Emperor himself had invited him, and money had been remitted to defray his travelling charges.

Some time after this invitation, his picture of the Government was sufficiently graphical, and it serves our present purpose. Having referred to the monks, in a letter to Cholerus, in 1534, he says-“These animals are omnipotent at the Emperor’s Court,” in the Low Countries. “Mary is a mere puppet, maintained by our nation; Montigni, a man of authority, is a tool of the Franciscans; the Cardinal of Liege is an ambitious friend, and when he takes offence, a violent enemy; the Archbishop of Palermo is a giver of good words, and nothing else.”

And thus it is, at last, that the history of the times, and of the men of the times, whether in England or Brabant, but too well prepares us for anticipating the martyrdom at Vilvorde.

After the escape of Mr, Poyntz, “Tyndale,” we are informed by Foxe, “was proffered an advocate and a procuror; for in any crime there, it shall be permitted to counsel to make answer in the law; but he refused to have any, saying, that he would make answer for himself; and so he did.” But at last, after much reasoning, when no reason would serve, although he deserved no death, he was condemned, by virtue of the Emperor’s decree at Augsburg. Such had been “the power of his doctrine, and the sincerity of his life, that during the time of his imprisonment, which endured about one whole year and a-half, (or rather a year and three-quarters,) it is said he converted his keeper, the keeper’s daughter, and others of his household. The rest that were in the Castle, and conversant with Tyndale, reported of him, that if he were not a good Christian man, they could not tell whom to trust: and the Procurator-General, the Emperor’s attorney, being there, left this testimony of him, that he was ‘Homo doctus, pius, et bonus’-a learned, pious, and good man.”

The decree issued at Augsburg, on the 19th of November, 1530, was still in full force, after which, no man was admitted into the judicature of the Imperial Chamber, unless he approved of it; and the Privy Council of Brussels, of which Carondelet was President, enjoyed ample authority in all matters, religious as well as political. The persecutors of Tyndale, therefore, knew full well, since his own King and Council had left him to perish, how they could, at any time, close the controversy, and slay him.

That detestable decree had not only enjoined the continuance of all the former ceremonies, rites, and superstitions, -but particularly rejected the doctrine of justification by faith alone. The doctors of Louvain must have discussed many subjects with their prisoner. His translation of the Scriptures, of course, he would defend to the last; but here was one point, on which Tyndale would remain firm as a rock. There was no man in Germany, to say nothing of England, who had written with greater distinctness on the subject of justification; no man who had discovered a more profound esteem for this sacred and precious truth. This was one of those “high matters,” on which he had so warmly pressed his dearest earthly friend, Fryth, to remain immovable in London; and it is not a little remarkable, that, at this moment, besides his New Testament in folio, Tyndale’s first publication was either printing or finished, and in London, too, under this very title-“A treatise of justification by faith only, otherwise called, The Parable of the Wicked Mammon.”

From the past history frequently showing how early, and with what accuracy, Tyndale was in possession of intelligence from England, we have already supposed it to be quite possible, that, though in prison, he may have heard of many things that had occurred there, during the last nine months; and, more especially, that his New Testament, as corrected in 1534, was so pouring into his native land, by repeated editions, from Antwerp. This is the more probable, from his having been made useful to the keeper of the Castle and his family, having thus gained their favour.

But, besides this, all that he had translated, was now actually proceeding to the press, in folio, and under the eye of a competent friend and great admirer, John Rogers. This was more than Crumwell, or Cranmer, or the King, yet knew; although the volume was to prove absolutely the first Bible, the reading of which throughout England they were to enjoin! But now, and after such years of persecution, the end was come!!

It appears to have been at some hour on Friday, the 6th of October, 1536, that Tyndale was led forth to be put to death. Before leaving the Castle, he delivered a letter to the keeper, addressed either to Mr. or Mrs. Poyntz of Antwerp; but no copy of it remains. Having reached the fatal spot, the noble martyr was fastened to the stake-upon which, crying with a fervent zeal, and a loud voice-“LORD!OPEN THE EYES orTHE KING OF ENGLAND”-he was first strangled, and then his body was consumed to ashes! Though, strange to say, even up to this hour, “no marble tells us where!” For surely, if ever the lines of England’s choicest Christian poet were strictly applicable to any single man, every word, by way of eminence, belongs to the Memory of William Tyndale,- “His blood was shed In confirmation of the noblest claim, Our claim to feed upon immortal truth, To walk with God, to be divinely free, To soar, and to anticipate the skies.

Yet few remember him. He lived unknown Till persecution dragg’d him into fame, And chased him up to Heaven. His ashes flew- No marble tells us whither. With his name No bard embalms and sanctifies his song; And history, so warm on meaner themes, Is cold on this.”

Tyndale’s dying invocation most emphatically expressed his opinion of Henry VIII.; and uttered, as it was, with a loud voice, though in a foreign land, was meant to be heard, if not also carried to England. The precise meaning of the speaker, in these dying words, it may be difficult to divine; but if Cranmer could go so far as to grossly flatter his Majesty, even on the third of May, Tyndale told him the truth with his last breath, from the stake, on the sixth of October. He regarded all that Henry had yet done, as the work of a blind man, and certainly this was the most charitable of all constructions. Though to to now, who view the royal progress entire, and such as it was, that blindness, even by this time, was no longer a mere misfortune, but his crime. The King had already, and but too manifestly, closed his eyes, and hardened his heart, of which his future life will afford the saddest evidence.

As for the Martyr himself, since no good man was ever cut off in the midst of his usefulness, so neither was Tyndale. His work was done, and by an invincible providence, he had been singularly preserved to the last. In the councils of heaven, he had accomplished, as a faithful servant, his day, and evening’s welcome hour had come. Occupying a place ia the history of his country, which no other man could ever occupy after him, he was now called off from his labour, and with a character unspotted. That character has been drawn long ago, and with so much of simple beauty, that we must give it entire. Oh, what a contrast does it exhibit to almost all those men around him, whether at home or abroad, to whom his life and labours have constrained us to allude! “First, he was a man very frugal, and spare of body, a great student, and earnest labourer in the setting forth of the Scriptures of God.

He reserved or hallowed to himself two days in the week, which he named his pastime, Monday and Saturday. On Monday he visited all such poor men and women as were fled out of England, by reason of persecution, into Antwerp, and these, once well understanding their good exercises and qualities, he did very liberally comfort and relieve; and in like manner provided for the sick and diseased persons. On the Saturday, he walked round about the town, seeking every corner and hole, where he suspected any poor person to dwell; and where he found any to be well occupied, and yet overburdened with children, or else were aged and weak, those also he plentifully relieved. And thus he spent his two days of pastime, as he called them. And truly his alms were very large, and so they might well be; for his exhibition that he had yearly, of the English merchants at Antwerp, when living there, was considerable, and that for the most part he bestowed upon the poor. The rest of the days of the week, he gave wholly to his book, wherein he most diligently travailed. When the Sunday came, then went he to some one merchant’s chamber, or other, whither came many other merchants, and unto them would he read some one parcel of Scripture; the which proceeded so fruitfully, sweetly and gently from him, much like to the writing of John the Evangelist, that it was a heavenly comfort and joy to the audience, to hear him read the Scriptures: likewise, after dinner, he spent an hour in the same manner. He was a man without any spot or blemish of rancour or malice, full of mercy and compassion, so that no man living was able to reprove him of any sin or crime; although his righteousness and justification depended not thereupon before God; but only upon the blood of Christ and his faith upon the same. In this faith he died, with constancy, at Vilvorde, and now resteth with the glorious company of Christ’s martyrs, blessedly in the Lord.-And thus much of the life and story of the true servant and martyr of God,WILLIAM TYNDALE, who, for his notable pains and travail, may well be called the Apostle of England, in this our latter age.”

Such was the estimate of old John Foxe in his day; and though, in various instances, he stands chargeable with indiscriminate praise, in the present he has not exceeded; nay, living so early, he could not be expected to distinguish the relative greatness, and peculiar distinction of Tyndale’s character. Standing above all his contemporaries, with only one man by his side, his companion Fryth, he had never temporised, never courted human favour, never compromised or sacrificed one iota of Divine truth; but with his face to the foe, and dying on the shield of faith, he was called to quit the well-fought field, for his mansion near the throne; to refresh himself, after the dust and turmoil and heat of the day, in the paradise of God, to exchange contention with the votaries of darkness and superstition, for the harmony and the light of heaven; the solitude of his dungeon, for the presence of his Redeemer, in the city of the living God.

But the influence and usefulness of such a man, could not possibly die with him. If he had now rested from all his labour, we shall find his works following him. The light he had kindled, was to prove “the joy of many generations.” Hence the force of individual consistent Christian character-the importance of individual exertion.

At the place of honour, or as it were close by the martyr’s stake, we must not omit to notice his kind and generous friend, Thomas Poyntz; and the more so, since it has never been before observed who he was. It is well that we have one Englishman, who boldly stood by our illustrious countryman to the last, and only left him at the risk of his own life, when he could do no more. He is entitled to the grateful remembrance of posterity.

The Poyntz family, descended from Drago FitzPons, who accompanied William the Conqueror into England, is well known to have been one of the most ancient in England. One branch settling in Gloucestershire, and another in Essex; it is singular enough, that Tyndale commenced his career with the one, and closed it with the other. The Lady of Sir John Walsh, where he had been tutor, was the daughter of Sir Robert Poyntz of Iron Acton, Gloucestershire; and Mr. Poyntz, with whom he last lived at Antwerp, was the second son, and finally the heir of the Essex family.

When Tyndale was seized, it lends additional interest to the zeal of this gentleman at the moment, when it is observed that he had been but recently married, and to a German lady, Ann, the daughter of John Calva, Esq. To her, after the confusion had subsided, and notwithstanding the state of the Continent, or the risk he had run, he returned; and became the father of three sons, Gabriel, Ferdinand, and Robert, and of one daughter, Susanna.

The Manor-house of North Okendon, in Essex, eighteen miles from London, to which he addressed his letters, and to which, of course, he fled from Brussels, had been in possession of his ancestors from the days of Edward III.; and his elder brother, John, to whom he wrote with such generous warmth and so earnestly, having, by the death of his father, come to the estate in the year 1500, died in the first of King Edward’s reign, without issue. Thomas, who survived him fifteen years, but remained some time abroad, of course succeeded; and dying also at North Okendon, in 1562, lies there interred.

His eldest son, born about two years after Tyndale’s death, in 1538, Sir Gabriel Poyntz, High Sheriff of Essex, was interred by his father’s side in 1607; and the only daughter, Susanna, married to the Mayor of London, Sir Richard Saltonstall, lies by a mural monument in the adjoining parish of South Okendon.

Although acquainted with the history of this ancient and retired parish church, the writer could not be satisfied without visiting the burial-place of Mr. Poyntz, and examining for himself the memorials of his family, He was chiefly desirous of ascertaining, not only what vestiges remained, but whether there was any expression still legible, in regard to by far the most memorable event in the life of Tyndale’s friend; and more especially because the interpretation intended to be conveyed by the lines on his tomb, had never been adverted to by any author. Most probably they have never before been understood, except by relatives at the time of his decease.

It was in the month of September 1837, or precisely three hundred years after the English Bible at which Tyndale laboured, the basis of all following editions, had reached this country, He found the little church, with its flint stone embattled tower covered with ivy, in a condition distinguished for its cleanliness; and the monuments of different families, some of them in elegant marble, in perfect preservation; but the humbler tablets excited the deepest interest.

In a horizontal line, in the wall of the Chancel, are the monuments of the Poyntz family, in regular succession from about the middle of the fourteenth century; while that of Tyndale’s devoted friend remains, easily to be distinguished from the others, by its still conveying to the reader, what had been his own impressions, in reference to the scene through which he had passed at Brussels. “This gentleman, for his most faithful service to his Prince, and his most ardent profession of the truth of the gospel, was in bonds, and suffered imprisonment in countries beyond seas, so that he was, at this time, evidently destined to death; but forecasting with himself, relying on Divine Providence, he wonderfully escaped out of prison. In this little chapel, he now peacefully sleeps in the Lord.

Anno 1562, or the 5th of Queen Elizabeth.” The following is the epitaph, as copied from the tablet in the wall:- ‘“Thomas Poyntz Armiger [filius Gulielmi] Pointz, ad quem post mortem fratris, Joannis, Dominu[m hujus villae] et patronatus Ecclesiae pervenit; qui duxit in matrimoniun Annam van Calva, Filiam et unam cohaeredam Joannis Calvae Armigeri nationeq.

Germani, ex qva genvit Gabrielem, Ferdinandum ac Robertum filios, filiamq, unam Susanam. “Hic pro fidelissimo Principis svi servitio, ac ardentissimo euangelicae veritatis professione uincvla, et incarcerationes in transmarinis regionibvs passus est, adeo ut Caedi jam plane destinatus esset, nisi divina fretus providentia euasione carcere mirifice sibi prospexisset: in hoc sacello jam placide obdormit in Domino anno 1562. R. Reg. Eliz. quinto.”

At that early period, there may have been some prudential reason for the immortal name of Tyndale not being mentioned. But now, after the lapse of three centuries, without this expressive key to the inscription being known to many generations, to the audience assembling there every week, or, perhaps, to any other persons; till this be hinted, the lines themselves convey but feeble meaning. To this name alone, the epitaph owes all its emphasis; and to it, the humble tablet may, perhaps, now owe a more frequent inspection. Passed over hitherto, without marked observation, if we once except the Manor-house of Little Sodbury, it is the solitary relic left upon English ground, pointing to perhaps the greatest benefactor that our native country ever enjoyed.

As for the excellent man himself, this unpretending memorial has, all along, conveyed his own testimony to survivors; but a far more conspicuous token of respect for his memory may now well be erected; and the people should know how much they stand indebted to a man “sleeping peacefully in the Lord,” in the vault below.

Let us now turn to a very different subject, and present a melancholy, though instructive view, in the dark side of this entire picture.

The two unhappy men, agents of their party, Henry Phillips, the reputed gentleman, and Gabriel Donne, the servant in disguise, who had been hired to apprehend Tyndale, and who entered so heartily into the design, now present a contrast of the blackest hue. No particulars respecting them have ever been recorded; but because of their sad connexion with Tyndale, they must not now be consigned to oblivion.

As toPHILLIPS, we still stand mainly indebted to Theobald, in his official correspondence, as a spy, employed alike by Crumwell and Cranmer. In the year 1535, Phillips, as we have seen, had been watching Theobald for months after his departure from Louvain; but the latter had proceeded on his way, stopping only for a short time at Cologne, Frankfort, and Heidelberg. He then visited Nuremberg, Wittenberg, Augsburg, Ulm, and Tubingen. From Augsburg, in March 1538, he writes to Cranmer about Gryffith, whom he might have apprehended if he had had a commission, but says nothing of Phillips. However, from Padua, in October of the year following, he writes to Crumwell, that Harry Phillips, lately student in Louvain, “at what time he betrayed good Tyndale,” had come from Flanders to Italy to beg succours of Cardinal Pole, but that some suspicious circumstances in his appearance induced the Cardinal’s friends to fancy he was a spy, or even a traitor sent by the party in power in England to assassinate him; and hence, instead of affording him any assistance, they had closely watched him, and prevented him from entering the territory of Venice, where the Cardinal was. Reduced to extremities, Phillips begged for money from all parties to assist him to return to Flanders, but, suspected and avoided by all, none would afford him the least aid, till, driven by necessity, he sold his clothes, and is supposed to have entered the army of some one of the powers that were then at war in the south of Europe. No more is heard of him.

Thus sunk into oblivion one of the betrayers of our Translator. He might descend into battle and perish, or die in misery before long; but not so the other man, the Monk, the elder, and probably by far the more guilty, of the two.

GABRIEL DONNE or DUNNE, the Monk of Stratford Abbey, has hitherto remained unobserved or unknown, at least as the crafty assistant of Phillips; and for three hundred years his name has escaped that disgrace, which, it is to be feared, must now ever rest upon it. In extenuation of himself, Phillips not only pled his youth, but complained of his having been the victim of “evil counsel;” and a shrewd Cistercian monk, so much older than himself, would not be slow to tender it, on such an occasion; while the money, with which Phillips was so plentifully furnished, and of which he boasted, proves that there were other powerful prompters to the heinous deed.

Donne was originally a Student of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and afterwards entered the Abbey of Stratford near London, of which he became a conspicuous inmate. A suit arising in 1514 between the Abbot and Convent, who were patrons of the living of Westham on the one side, and the Vicar of Westham on the other, “the provident and religious man Gabriel Donne, Monk of the blessed Mary of Stratford of the order of Cistercians,” appeared and stood Proctor for the Convent in the cause, which was carried by appeal to Rome. He next appears, as we have seen, in 1535, in the degraded character of a spy and tool of the “old learning” party, hired to seize the long-persecuted Translator of the Scriptures.

Returning to England from Louvain, his friends, or perhaps those who employed him in that infamous service, had influence enough with Crumwell to get him appointed Abbot of Buckfastleigh, in Devonshire, and he was actually present in that character at the Convocation held at St. Paul’s in June 1536 (see p. 249), and his signature appears subscribed to the Articles then issued, He surrendered his Abbey in 1539 and received a pension of £120 per annum, equal in value to £1,800 at present. He afterwards became a Prebendary of St. Paul’s and Rector of Stepney, sine cura; and was actually appointed by Cranmer, who can hardly have known his character or history, his Official and Keeper of the Spiritualities in the City and Diocese, and was so till the appointment of Nicolas Ridley, in April 1550. He died in 1558, and was buried in St. Paul’s, having kept his preferments through all the changes of political and religious opinion of these chequered years. Such was the end of Phillips’ “man of counsel” in the apprehension of Tyndale. Permitted by the long suffering of God to exist for twenty-three years after his sad exploit at Antwerp, he seems to hare died without any remorse. Living as he did, and for some time under such favourable circumstances, under Ridley, nay till above thirty editions of the entire Scriptures, and about seventy of the New Testament, had issued from the press; all was in vain!

Such were the two men who had been richly hired to ensnare and seize Tyndale. In the one accomplice, there is to be seen nothing but a fugitive and a vagabond to his dying day; in the other, a man who had time given him for reflection, and space for repentance; but we search in vain for either the one or the other. So true it is, in many instances, that though “favour be shown to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteous. ness; he will not behold the majesty of the Lord.” It is not for us to draw rash conclusions as to the state of the dead, and far from our province, to pronounce judgment; while no man can say, with impunity, that the ways of Jehovah are not equal. The awful consequences of cruelty and sin are certain, though not immediate; and “though a sinner do evil an hundred times,” said the wisest of men, “and his days be prolonged; yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God,” with them only “who fear before him.”

To those who have never before been aware of the fact, it must appear extraordinary, that the Martyrdom of Tyndale, the first translator of our Bible into English, should stand so emphatically by itself. There was no other, with which the Councils of England, and of a Continental kingdom, were both concerned; no other, in the guilt of which, both our own country, and a foreign power, were alike involved. The eyes of Henry the Eighth, and those of his Ministers, were wide open, when the martyr fell under a decree of the Emperor Charles V. Considered as an event, amidst all the wide-spread and long-continued violence of the times, his martyrdom rises up to view, and appears like a conspicuous solitary column. If there be any memento inscribed, it is a double one-German on one side, but English on the other.

In this, the year of the Translator’s martyrdom, was there to be no demand for the work of his hands? Was truth to be silent or suppressed, because folly frowned? So far from this, though the two last years had been more highly distinguished than ever, for the number of editions, the present year exceeded them both put together. Or, to speak more generally and from the beginning: from the year 1525 to 1530 there had been at feast six impressions, which, on an average, was more than one edition annually; since then there had been seven if not eight editions, which was equal to two every year; but in this one year, or the last of the Translator’s life, there were nine if not ten editions from the press. One gentleman, deeply conversant with the subject, does not despair of his being able to make out the round dozen.

Once more, therefore, and for the third time, the members of the Convocation had met again, as if resolved to force themselves upon the notice of every future historian, and we have already seen them striving to settle matters of high behest; but to the highest of all, or the Sacred Volume itself, we are here confined; and, now that Tyndale is gone, it seems to be due to his proceedings, to glance at what these men had as yet said; for there had been nothing done, as Latimer, with such pungent ,or galling frequency, had thundered in their ear.

They pray “that the King would graciously indulge unto his subjects of the laity the reading of the Bible in the Enghsh tongue,” though as yet, by their own showing, there was not a Bible to read; they therefore go on to petition, “That a new translation be forthwith made for that end and purpose.” By this expression new did they mean to frown on the translation of the New Testament already in the hands of thousands? or, to cast contempt on that part of the Old Testament translation already published? or, to slight Coverdale’s new-born attempt to complete it?

All this, however, only lends additional interest to the volumes, which, throughout the whole year, had been issuing from the press, and coming into England “thick and threefold,” without the “gracious indulgence” of his Majesty being either asked or granted. Of these New Testaments three separate and entirely distinct editions were in quarto. Of the duodecimo or small octavo size we know of five editions; and though in these pages we adhere to those books only which have been verified, we may add that another edition, if not two, may yet be ascertained to exist. All these editions, with the exception of one, had been printed abroad in Antwerp; but that one, in several respects, may be considered as equal in importance to all the others. The size of the book, in folio; the season of its publication, the present year; but above all, the printer and the place, his Majesty’s own patent printer in London; all conspire to render the volume even still a mystery. It comes before us, unaccountably, as the top stone of this hazardous but successful enterprise; brought into view, also, about the very time when our Translator was breathing his last, or consuming to ashes at Vilvorde. Some account of it, in particular, must not be withheld. “The Newe testament yet ones agayne corrected by W. Tyndale: And in many places ameded, where it scaped before by neglygence of the printer.

Also a Kalender, and a necessary table, wherein easely and lightly may be founde any story coteyned in ye route Euangelystes, and in the Acres of ye apostels. Also before every pystel of S. Paud, is a prologue, very frutefull to ye reder. And after ye newe testament, foloweth the Epistels of ye old testament. Newly printed (by Tho. Berthelet) in the yere of our lorde MDXXXVI”-in the compartment of the boys in triumph, and with a small medallion of a head laureated, supported by sphynxes; pecidiar to this printing press. Collation.-Prefixes, viz. Almanake 23 years-Kalender-W. T. to the Christen Reder-a prologue into the four Euangelystes- the Offyce of all Estates, and the Bokes conteyned in the Newe Testament: 14 leaves. The Newe Testament contains folio cxcvii., but the folios run on to ccv.; then the table of the Epistles and the Gospels, in double columns, &c. But at the end we have the following distinguishing mark-“GOD save theKYNGE, AND ALL HIS WELL-WYLLERS.” Words which may have been actually printing, and in London too, not far from the hour when the Translator himself, the most eminent well-willer the King ever had, was praying for him, and passing into heaven.