1547-1553 A Reign, However Brief, Distinguished In British History, With Regard To The Printing And Publication Of The Sacred Scriptures In The Language Of The People.

THE storm has changed into a calm; so that in reviewing the Christianity of England from the sixteenth century there have been those, as there are still, who prefer to begin with the reign of Edward the Sixth; while others repudiate every event before the reign of Elizabeth. But whatever may be the inducement to either preference, such parties must not expect to be acknowledged as possessing much, if any, energy of purpose in tracing effects to their cause; or any measure of that disposition which cannot be satisfied without accounting fully for circumstances, still existing before every eye. The reign of Henry the Eighth, whatever had been his personal character, was, in many respects, not only initial but germinant. Every day since has so testified; and the broad surface of the kingdom still bears witness to the weight and pressure of his sceptre. He left behind him certain marks, which are still acknowledged as memorials of his power.

It, therefore, becomes only so much the more observable, that the genuine or correct history of the English Bible has never allowed us, as it never allowed him, to come down and confound the Sacred Volume, either with the ecclesiastical arrangements, so called, of his time, or with the fallible interpretations of erring men. No historical line could be more distinctly drawn, whether while the King and his advisers were arrayed against the Scriptures, or after they were overruled to admit them into England. Then, indeed, his Majesty himself became the remarkable instrument in not permitting the English Bible to be at all identified with the ecclesiastical body he had set up and sanctioned. Not only did he not consult it on this subject, but frowned upon his Bishops, when once presuming to sit in judgment upon the translation.

And now that the King is dead; now that the New Testament Scriptures have been reading for twenty years, and the Bible entire for nearly ten, not unfrequently in the face of the flames; now that we have escaped from what may be regarded as the grand tempest, we no longer require to proceed only year by year, as we have done; nor is it any longer necessary to notice the editions of the Scriptures in regular succession. We have, it is true, all this time been only laying the foundation, and in so doing feel perfectly conscious that we may have trespassed on the patience of certain readers; but more especially on that of any who have never been before aware of what a superstructure has been reared upon it. They have now before them the groundwork of infinitely the largest undertaking which Britain has to show, whether to her own people, or those of surrounding nations. When compared with it, everything else without exception, throughout this kingdom, is but local and limited.

With regard to the various editions issued from the press in the brief reign of King Edward, we have already hinted that no justice has ever been done to the subject. To say nothing of older historians, even so recently as the year 1792, his readers were informed by Newcome, Archbishop of Armagh,-nay, and as a proof of “earnest endeavour that the Word of the Lord might have free course and be glorified,”-that “during the course of this reign, that is,” said the attthor, “in less than seven, years and six months, eleven impressions of the whole English Bible were published, and six of the New Testament; to which may be added, an English translation of the whole New Testament, paraphrased by Erasmus.” This only shows how little attention has been paid to the subject, when a period so heartstirring could be thus reported; but that the blundering statement should have been literally repeated up to this hour, and in our best introductions to the study, or the translations, of the Scriptures, is more surprising still.

We need not remind the reader that, instead of seven years and a half, Edward did not reign quite six and a half; but how stand the facts under this brief period? Why, that so far from only six editions of the New Testament, there were nearly thirty more; instead of eleven editions of the Bible entire, there were at least fourteen; and all these within the space of less than six years and a half, for Edward reigned no longer. In other words, instead of only nineteen distinct issues of the Scriptures, including Erasmus, as often so erroneously reported, we have ascertained about fifty; and as for the Bibles, all these editions issued from the press in less than four years, or from August 1549 to July 1553.

Such a period, therefore, well deserves a better survey, furnishing, as it does, several instructive and memorable results. With regard to the printing and circulation of the Sacred Volume in the days of Henry the Eighth, we have seen that it was throughout, at best, but a troubled scene, and distinguished for bitter persecution; the days of Edward the Sixth, when properly examined, stand altogether unrivalled, even by any subsequent reign, for noninterference with the Scriptures. Nay, the truth is, that in the history of England, it so happens that we have not another reign of a similar character to exhibit; it stands alone. It is, however, curious enough, that the reign of the most youthful sovereign that has ever since reigned in Britain, should have made the nearest approach, and promises before long to equal, and, it may be, far excel it. Meanwhile, even the present age would do well to look back and acquire a little wisdom from this early period; for, although a strict regard to impartiality has left us no choice but to record other things of Cranmer, which must ever be condemned, he will now be entitled to a meed of praise, which his most partial admirers have either never observed, or, at least, never marked, as they might have done.

As there was none of that arrogance and impiety on the part of the Crown, with which Henry was ever insulting his subjects; talking to them, at one moment, as if they were children, or were to have no mind of their own; and at another, as if they had no right to form any opinion whatever for themselves; so, on the contrary, great liberty now prevailed in printing any one translation already made. no change for the better could then be greater. The last act of the father was to brand the name and memory of Tyndale: in the first Parliament held by his son, that act was repealed, and declared to be “utterly void and of none effect;” nay, the portrait of Edward will soon be seen and sold, in immediate conjunction with the name and translation of Tyndale.

Possessed of such power of control as Cranmer now enjoyed, one might have imagined that he would have pressed forward his own correction of Tyndale’s version, and in superiority to all others. But there is no such personal leaning to be discovered -quite the reverse. The people had been left freely to make their choice, or declare their preference, and we shall soon see the result. Here, then, was one trait in Cranmer’s character, and one which has never been pointed out, even by those who have sought to justify other steps which cannot be defended. True, it may be said that he was altogether engrossed with his Book of Homilies and his Catechism, with King Edward’s Service Book, his Book of Articles, and the Reformatio Legum, to say nothing of his parliamentary and official engagements. This is granted, for such indeed was the course he chose to pursue; but still, had Cranmer been disposed to have interfered with the printing of the Scriptures, he certainly could have found time to have both discovered and exerted his power. On the contrary, with his name at the head of the Regency, and on such a subject possessing great sway, he appears to have acted with a degree of candour and liberality which has never been surpassed, nay, never equalled by any man in power ever since.

One important consequence has been, that we are able now to see at once what was the popular taste. Twenty-one years after the New Testament of Tyndale had becn sent into England, an opportunity had at last presented itself, for the people as such to speak out, and say what they wanted. The printers were ready to print, and the stationers, as they were called, to sell; but, of course, they would not press any one translation except that which they knew beforehand was most likely to remunerate them. As all the editions were individual undertakings by men engaged in business, they, it must be evident, would print chiefly that book which was most frequently and eagerly sought after.

That zeal for the art of printing which burst forth instantaneously after Henry’s death, will prepare us for the numerous editions of the Scriptures which immediately followed. This noble art had been introduced into England under Edward IV., when there were three or four printers; under Henry VII. there were five; and four of these survived to print under his son: but during his long reign of nearly thirty-eight years, not fewer than forty-one printers had commenced business in London, or forty-five in all.

Now, the first importation of Tyndale’s New Testament into England had taken place, not till more than eighty years after the invention of printing, and about fifty-eight after the art had been introduced into the country; but it is worthy of notice, that from that period, of these forty-five printers not fewer than thirty-three had started in business, and that eight of them were ultimately connected with printing the Sacred Volume.

Let us then now observe what ensued, as soon as Henry had “ceased from troubling,” and Gardiner, Bonner, and Tunstal were bereft of the power.

Of the forty-five printers under Henry, fourteen survived when Edward came to the throne. While his father was sinking into the grave, and in less than twelve months after his death, as many as eight new men had started in business as printers, Next year, however, there were not fewer than eleven more, and in the next two, eighteen, besides six others in 1551 and 1552, or forty-three in all; raising the number of printers under this youthful monarch to not fewer than fifty-seven, in the brief space of six years! Now if it be inquired, what connexion had all this with the diffusion of the Divine Record? it was no less than this-that out of these fifty-seven printers, more than than half, or not fewer than thirty-one, and these the most respectable, were engaged either in printing or publishing the Sacred Scriptures.

But the editions of the Scriptures themselves will now furnish us with another view of this memorable period. For Bibles in folio, there may have been not so much need as yet, considering the number which had been printed in 1540 and 1541; for although Henry had licensed Anthony Marler to print for five years longer, he was then over-stocked, and the sale must have flagged, as the wayward monarch only frowned on the undertaking ever after. New Testaments, however, were in great request, and the people soon discovered which translation they preferred.

Tyndale’s Bibles were published under the name of Matthew; but as for the New Testament separately, the name of William Tyndale was now inserted in the front titles of fifteen editions, if not more. At the same time it may be observed, in farther proof of the freedom of the press, and of the absence of all jealousy or interference on the part of Cranmer, that the impressions of Matthew’s Bible took precedence of his own in point of time. That of the former, by Day and Seres, was finished in August 1549, and that by Reynolde and Hill in October; but Cranmer’s, by Grafton and Whitchurch, not till December of that year.

Thus, if a version ever received distinguished marks of public approbation, it was that of our first Translator. There had been certain verbal alterations in the text, whether by Cranmer, Coverdale, or Taverner-some of which were no improvements; and so it now appears the people at large had thought throughout the days of Edward the Sixth. They had said, in a manner not to be mistaken, “We decidedly prefer the version of our original Translator, as he gave it to his country.”

It is now, however, of importance to observe, that the preceding remarkable course of events with regard to Divine Truth, so interesting in itself, becomes still more so, as proving that, when the people were let alone, they could act with vigour for themselves; and that they were acting well and nobly, in a direction from which nothing but good could ensue.

But our interest is greatly increased upon observing two of its peculiar features, namely, the dissimilarity of this course to every other, and its marked independence of the reigning power. There was actually no other train of things of a similar character under Edward VI., but, on the contrary, quite the reverse. In everything else, instead of reason, argument and the exposition of Divine Truth being left with God to their own effects, the only ultimate result was personal restraint, and even unto death. But the Scriptures were let alone. No Act of Parliament or Convocation was passed, for or against them; no injunction was issued; no new translation proposed; no new false title-pages prefixed; but there was something of far different and better effect, and more congenial with God’s own glorious purpose and design-Edward’s own visible and marked veneration for the Sacred Record itself.

The cause, therefore, continues to stand out before us, as the spontaneous act of individual enterprise, in reply to the voluntary and urgent calls of the people themselves, and especially for the New Testament Scriptures. They were anxious to proceed according to the good old French maxim, “Laissez nous faire “-Leave us to act; and the Government was, providentially, strong enough to comply. For many years, it is true, the votes or voice of Parliament could have formed no index whatever to the consent or nonconsent of the people at large. From the way in which members were summoned, or both Houses constituted, this was impossible; but then, at the same time, both Houses were most obsequious, and had wavered with the Crown. Now, in these circumstances, it is only the more observable, that the Parliament of Edward should become conspicuous for noninterference, when the King himself was a sincere and ardent admirer of the Scriptures. Thus, though unconscionsly, the House was witnessing to posterity the benefits which ensue from not touching with this subject. Of these benefits, we have already given substantial evidence; and the reader will be still more struck, when he turns to the particular statement of all these precious volumes, in our list at the close of this work. Meanwhile, no one could desire more evident proof, in long succession, of a “separated cause,” a sacred undertaking; and these, too, present themselves at a period, when the unprincipled changes perpetually occurring, whether in the Privy Council or the Parliament, were loudly saying of every other department-“ It is but the cause of men, of fallible and changing men.”

Here, then, was the distinguishing feature of this brief, but memorable reign; and it certainly becomes the more worthy of notice from the facts already stated; for in this one point of view, there has been no reign, of a similar character, ever since. In contrast, too, with Edward’s immediate predecessor, far from anything to repel in the young Prince, there is much to invite our love and admiration. Whatever was objectionable during his sway-of which there were more steps than one or two-an enlightened judgment will ever ascribe to his Ministers; for, in the age in which he flourished and faded so soon, he stood like an apple tree among the trees of the wood, if not as a lily among thorns. To say nothing of the precocity of his talents, which, no doubt, has been exaggerated, though he must have been more than usually intelligent, there was his strong aversion to the shedding of blood, which so painfully places Goodrich, and Cranmer, and even Ridley, before us; but, above all, his profound and often expressed veneration for the Sacred Volume itself. It was this that brought him so near to the character of Josiah of old, though even yet so much younger than the Jewish monarch, when the Book of the Law was found, and read before him.

But, lo! the clouds are gathering; the young King, to the grief of many, and these certainly the best in the land, is seen to be slowly descending to the grave; and all the enemies of Divine Truth in the vulgar tongue begin to rally and look up. A lurid gloom begins to settle on the realm. A time of trouble and vexation, of banishment and blood, is at hand. But there was no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel, against Him by whom all things were foreseen. We must enter the storm, and there, even there, delight to trace once more, the peculiar care of the Most High, over His own Word.

It was upon the evening of Thursday, the 6th of July, 1553, that Edward died of consumption. His favourite and inseparable friend, Sir Henry Sidney, had him in his arms, when he suddenly exclaimed-“ I am faint; Lord, have mercy upon me, and take my spirit!” He instantly expired, at the early age of fifteen years, eight months, and twenty-two days. Few kings have fallen so soon; far fewer still, as safe; and perhaps none in English history more sincerely lamented, by discerning survivors. Under such counsellors he might have been corrupted. He was taken away from the evil to come.

We have witnessed a very remarkable progress in the diffusion of Divine Truth; but we have also seen that this was effected, not by the encouragement or sanction of Parliament, nor, of course, with the consent of the nation as such in any form;-no: the cause itself, though in the kingdom, was not of the kingdom; since no rulers in Europe had discovered greater hostility to Divine Revelation. The convulsion, therefore, which took place after the death of Edward, though only the commencement of a storm, served at once to clear the moral atmosphere, and forcibly distinguish between the passions of men and the cause of God.

It enables us, even now, to see, with far greater precision, the actual state of things.

As there had been a separate undertaking, which we have descried all along, so it now appeared, as the consequence, that there had existed a separate people, not to be identified or mingled up with any intrigue of the times. So far as the human mind was concerned, the changes which had ensued, from the first step taken by Henry VIII. until now, were not national changes. The nation, as such, though so long and singularly visited by Divine Truth, cared not for it; and still clinging to its old ceremonies and habits, leaped at the prospect of falling back into its long repose under the shade of Rome. As a warning to the age, therefore, and especially to posterity, to distinguish things that differ, some fearful lesson of instruction was demanded, and this must no longer be withheld.

Meanwhile, what the Almighty had so mercifully done for England was analogous to that which, to use the words of Scripture itself, was done by Him, “at the first,” when He did “visit the nations, to take OUT of them, a peop1e for His name.” Such a people, however despised and trampled on, we have beheld in England, in the days of John Fryth, and before then.

Some of the best among them we have seen by the light of those fires which the enemy had kindled; and they had been increasing in numbers all along. Under Henry VIII. the war had commenced against the Sacred Volume itself, without even knowing the translator; and it went on against all who imported, received, or retained it. Under the reign of his son, it had been plentifully printed, purchased, and read; and it will now become a decided proof of progress, however heart-rending in detail, that the persecution about to commence was to be against all who had believed its contents, and held its sacred truths to be more precious than life itself.

This, however, in the end, will materially further the cause of Divine Truth, not retard it.

REIGN OF QUEEN MARY. 1553.-1558.

A Reign, However Painful In Its Details, Which So Far From Retarding The Progress Of Divine Truth, Only Deepened The Impression Of Its Value; And Afforded The Opportunity For The Sacred Scriptures Being Given Afresh To England, Carefully Revised-The Exiles From The Kingdom Pr0ving, Once More, Its Greatest Benefactors.

UPON the 6th of July, 1553, at the age of thirty-six, Mary, the eldest daughter of Henry VIII., succeeded to the throne, and reigned as Sovereign alone for one, year. Afterwards, allied by marriage to Philip of Spain, the Queen died in less than four years and four months, on the 17th of November, 1558. This reign throughout has been all along, and generally regarded as a portion of English history distinguished by little else than the shedding of blood. Few, however, have sufficiently observed, that this blood-shedding for opinions held, did not commence till February 1555, or more than a year and a half after Mary held the sceptre. And if this fact has been but slightly regarded, fewer still have ever noticed its bearing on the Sacred Volume, and those who prized it.

That Volume, printed for a period of fully ten years on the Continent, had been very strangely introduced into England; or in a manner which must ever distinguish it, historically, among all other European versions. Yet now, as if to fix the eye upon it still more intensely, it was about to be carried abroad, or back to that same Continent from whence it first came, and by all such as valued the boon, above their necessary food, Yes, now, when the first edition of the New Testament was already twenty-seven years old, and the first Bible printed on English ground had left the press fourteen years ago, as many copies as could be must be carefully concealed at home, and even built up, as they actually were, and the rest must be carried abroad! For years that were past, the people had read those Oracles of God on English ground, which had been prepared for them on the Continent: they must now, scattered all over that Continent itself, read the volumes which had been printed in the metropolis of their native island!

Formerly, they perused at home, what came from abroad; they must now read beyond seas, what had been prepared for them at home. No doubt, also, copies which had been printed on the Continent were then carried back to it. Still, however, time must be afforded for escape. The wind of persecution being restrained, that it should not blow on the land for fully a year and a half, those who valued the truth of God, carrying with them the Sacred Volume as their highest treasure, soon departed by hundreds, as best they could. The clouds were gathering over England: a time of trouble and rebuke to a nation which, as such, had too long “despised the Word of the Lord,” was at hand; yet could those who fled have seen only a fcw years before them, they might have sung in concert over the result, as they were sailing to the different seaports to which they fled for shelter.

Upon leaving the Tower for her palace at Richmond, but a few days had elapsed before Mary issued her “Inhibition” against preaching, reading or teaching any Scriptures in the churches, and printing any books! The Word of God in the vulgar tongue, and the printing-press, being the objects of special dread. But even two days before this, there were certain men at large, who must be so no longer. On the 16th of August, Bradford, Vernon, and Becon were committed to the Tower; while no other than John Rogers, alias Matthew, the editor of the Bible received by Henry in 1537, was commanded to keep himself within his own house, and to have no communication with any persons except those of his own family. They had already taken certain steps, if not commenced proceedings against many persons; and by the 15th of September, Latimer and Hooper, as well as Cranmer, were safe in the Tower. As for Ridley, having preached at Paul’s Cross in favour of Queen Jane, he had chosen, however strangely, to proceed to Framlingham to salute Mary, where he was instantly despoiled of his dignities, and sent back to the Tower, by the 26th of July, or only ten days after he had preached his sermon. But still there were as yet no tortures, no murder, nor any threatened martyrdom.

Most providentially, the Queen, though only thirty-six years of age, was to reign no longer than five years and four months; but those fires which never ceased to blaze for three years and nine months, were not kindled till a year and a half after she had come to the throne. Gardiner and Bonner, as the leading dogs of war, had not only been let loose, but reinstated as Bishops, and there was the most cordial feeling in harmony with Rome; but still the arm of the oppressor was stayed, nor must one stake be prepared, or fire lighted up, for more than sixteen months after these imprisonments.

Cardinal Pole, also, must first come from Italy to England before the kingdom could be formally reconciled to Rome; while Gardiner, now raised to be Lord Chancellor, was, from personal ambition, not a little anxious to retard his return, and, in the meanwhile, seeking greater things, if possible, for himself. Bonner, it is true, at once brutal and rash, was ready, at a moment’s warning, to plunge into his favourite occupation with fury; but a compass must be fetched; and Gardiner was there to guide it. Cautious, as well as vindictive, he will steadily watch the time, and not fail to end in blood; when both he and Bonner will be in at the death of the best men in all England.

It must, however, have very soon, and thus mercifully, appeared, that good faith and clemency were out of the question. Conscientious men, in considerable numbers, were bent upon escape to the Continent, and facilities shall not be wanting. All foreigners were to be allowed to depart without hindrance. There were not only Germans and Frenchmen, but Italians and Spaniards, Poles and Scotsmen, harbouring not in London alone, but elsewhere, and enjoying a degree of freedom from molestation, unknown at the moment in any other part of the world! They must now seek safety by flight. Early in the month of September, that interesting Polish nobleman, John A-Lasco, the uncle of the King of Poland, embarked from London, carrying a considerable number of his congregation with him. About the same time many French, and other foreigners, left England.

Orders were sent down to Rye and Dover, that no impediments should be placed in their way; and to these orders, not a few of the English, the salt of the land, were indebted for their escape. Many went under the character of servants, and others, by what means they could, till at last it has been computed that there were from eight hundred to a thousand learned Englishmen, beside those in other conditions, who were now to sustain the honourable character of exiles from their native land, on account of their attachment to Divine Truth. There can be no question that, as far as they could, they took their most valued treasure, their books, with them, but, above all, their copies of the Scriptures; and thus it was that the volume which had been originally translated for England, upon the European continent, was now to be read by more than a thousand of her sons and daughters, and all over these countries, from Emden to Geneva!

These exiles, of whom their native land at the moment was not worthy, found refuge at Emden in Friesland, as A-Lasco and His flock had done; at Wesel on the Rhine in Prussia; at Duisburg, a town of Guelderland in Holland; at Strasburg in France; at Zurich and Berue, Basle, Geneva, and Aran in Swizerland; at Frankfort in Germany, and a few fled to Worms, the spot where the first English New Testaments had been completed at press. Many of these people had, in the end, no great occasion to regret the storm that had driven them from home, so far as they themselves were personally concerned. The improvement and enlargement of their minds was the result, in many instances; while their being all alike sufferers from one common calamity, gave occasion to a far finer display of Christian sympathy and bounty, both abroad and at home, than they over could have experienced in other circumstance, or ever left for posterity to admire.

There were at least three Ladies of title, at least six Knights, besides other persons of property, among the number who had fled, and they regarded all the rest as brethren in adversity. Many pious individuals too, chiefly in London, contributed freely to their relief, by sending money, clothes, and provisions. Strype gives a list of twenty-six as the most eminent. Abroad, the King of Denmark, Henry, Prince Palatine, the Duke of Wurtemberg, and Wolfgang, Duke of Bipont, with all the states and free cities where the English sojourned, were very bountiful to them. So were foreign divines, especially those of Zurich, whose small stipends scarcely served to maintain themselves. Peter Martyr’s house at Strasburg was filled, where the inmates, living at one common table, paid, if anything, easy charges for their diet. Several of the learned exiles subsisted partly by their own exertions. John Foxe had now leisure to compose and publish the first edition of his history in Latin, and Grafton the printer had time to write his Chronicle, to say nothing of other works; but we shall hear of labours infinitely more valuable, for which this temporary banishment from their native land was to prove the time appointed.

These may be regarded as an army of confessors; but there were many who could not, while others would not, avail themselves of safety by flight, and these formed a distinguished portion of the noble army of martyrs.

England, as we have witnessed, under Edward VI. had proved an asylum for the oppressed among other nations: it was ere long to become an Accldama, or field of blood. In the first Parliament under Mary at the close of 1553, the statutes of the preceding reign, as well as some of Henry VIII., had been repealed. The state machine was rolled back to its old position, and the kingdom in 1554 was once more placed under the protection of Rome. Her Majesty, though not at all times a quiescent votary of the Pontiff, was, both from principle and past circumstances, a persecutor; while she could not have found in all England two spirits more congenial with her intentions than those of Stephen Gardiner trod Edmund Bonnet. If they led, others on the bench, and many unprincipled underlings, were ready to follow. All statutes which stood in the way being entirely removed, as there was “a clear field,” so there was to be “no favour.” Men and women, of whatever character, office, or condition, even the lame and the blind, and from the child to the aged man, all who had any conscientious opinions not in harmony with the “old learning,” all were appointed unto death.

From the 4th of February, 1555, to within only seven days of the Queen’s exit, on the 17th of November, 1558, a period of only three years, nine months and six days, the number burnt to ashes, and who died by starvation, slow torture, and noisome confinement in prison, can never be given with accuracy by any human pen. In reading through the details, as the heart grows sick, so every one must come to the same conclusion-that there is but one list, and that one accurate and indelible-but it is one above.

The highest point of human guilt is to be found in persecution for the truth’s sake, or in violence done to conscience; and when at last inquisition is made for blood, the Judge of all will remember every drop that has been shed, for “the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

The different calculations, however, which have been made by Foxe and Burnet, by Strype and Speed, as well as an account by Cecil Lord Burghley, have been carefully collated: and we have thus made out a distinct list of three hundred and eighteen individuals. Of these, two hundred and eighty-eight were consumed in the flames, eight or ten were positively famished, and twenty more pined and expired in their dungeons.

Of almost all these we have the names, as well as the time and place of their last triumphs; but the number of deaths, without doubt, must have been greater, especially from imprisonment. In a treatise often ascribed to Lord Burghley himself, but certainly sanctioned by him, and coming from authority, in 1583, the number is estimated at “almost four hundred;” and a testimony borne to the source from which these martyrs had derived their faith and principles; a testimony to the power of the Sacred Oracles as read by the youth of the kingdom; for as to preaching the truth, this had, with a few exceptions, ever been at the lowest ebb.

If, therefore, the number who lost their lives by every species of cruelty be stated at 375, this gives an average of one hundred deaths annually, in three years and nine months. Of the counties in England, 21 suffered, and 2 in Wales; but the persecution lay heaviest upon those parts where the Scriptures were best known. In Essex and Middlesex the victims were at least 114; in Kent and Sussex, 88; in Suffolk and Norfolk, 32; in Gloucester and Warwick, 18; so that in these eight counties alone, two hundred and fifty-two had triumphed at the stake. Nothing could exceed the more than savage barbarity by which these, the most valuable subjects in the kingdom, were put to torture and death. Of the entire number, more than one hundred and fifty had been consigned, in groups, to one common fire! Thus we find of such companies, that there were six instances of three individuals, at different times; five of four, and four of five; six instances of six, and four of seven! There were two dreadful cases of ten the same day; the first at Lewis in Kent of six men and four women, including the master and servant, the mother and her son, in one common conflagration! The second was at Colchester of five men and five women, six of whom were martyred in the morning, and four in the afternoon. Several of these must have been advanced in life, as their united ages amounted to about years.

But the most horrible scene of all, in point of number, was at Bow, near London, when not fewer than thirteen, eleven men and two women, were consumed in one pile, on Tuesday the 27th of June, 1556. The number of persons present was estimated at twenty thousand; “whose ends generally in coming there,” says Strype, “and to such like executions, were to strengthen themselves in the profession of the Gospel, and to exhort and comfort those who were to die.” Yes, and notwithstanding all the fury of the enemy, this disposition on the part of the people went on to increase throughout the years 1557 and 1558, till upon this very day of the week, two years hence, we shall see what happened. When the present martyrs appeared at the stake, a few words were all-sufficient to secure an echo.

The short expressive ejaculation on the part of only one bystander, was replied to by an Amen, which came upon the ears of their murderers with a voice of thunder; and such a voice had made them quail. These noble confessors indeed actually triumphed at last, so far as to paralyse the arm of Bonner, and banish the fire at least from Smithfield, nearly five months before Mary was called away by her final Judge! The very last time, when seven martyrs were there consumed, on the 28th of June, 1558, was a memorable one; and as it has never been sufficiently pointed out by any historian, must not pass unnoticed here.

They belonged to a “Congregation” in London, that had assembled in secret for many years; the same that had been addressed by Bainham in 1531, and by Fryth in 1533. Changing their place of meeting from time to time to avoid the vigilance of the spies sent out by Bonner, they escaped, as a body, for some time. One of their pastors, John Rough, a native of Scotland, and Cuthbert Symson, one of their deacons, were taken by spies, and suffered, the former in December 1557, and the latter, with two other members of the same body, in March following. These all witnessed a good confession. The congregation still met and chose another pastor, when, within a month after the last fiery trial, having met in a field near Islington for prayer and meditation, they were discovered by the searchers, and twenty-two of them apprehended and lodged in Newgate. Of these, seven escaped with their lives, two died in prison, and thirteen were condemned by Bonner to the flames. Seven of these were brought up for sentence on the 17th of June, when one of them, Roger Holland, a person above the common rank, was interceded for by some persons of distinction who were present. But the Martyr stood so firmly to his confession that Bonner would show no mercy, and read the sentence. To this Holland replied, “Even now I told you that your authority was from God, and by His sufferance. And now I tell you God hath heard the prayer of His servants, which hath been poured, forth with tears by His afflicted saints, which daily you persecute, as now you do us. But this I dare be bold in God to speak, which by His Spirit I am moved to say, that God will shorten your hand of cruelty, that for a time YOU shall not molest His Church. And (turning to his friends) this shall you in short time well perceive, my dear brethren, to be most true; for after THIS DAY, inTHIS PLACE, shall there not be any by HIM put to the trial of fire and faggot.” When he was led out to suffer with his six companions on the 28th June, proclamation in the name of Philip and Mary was made-That “no man should either pray for, or speak to the prisoners;” but the multitude could not be restrained. The whole “Congregation,” with their pastor, was there, and rushing forward they embraced their brethren before they were made fast to the stake. When proclamation was again made enjoining profound silence, one with a loud voice cried out, “Almighty God, for Christ’s sake, strengthen them!” Immediately the whole multitude at once responded, “Amen! Amen!”

Embracing the stake, Holland then blessed the Lord for his call, once to light, and now to glory; and the whole seven died in joyful constancy with prayer and praise.

Such a triumph well deserved to be traced, for it was a decisive one. Mary had yet nearly five months to reign, but she must no more burn a single martyr at the wonted place, nor at any other, within her own capital, Bonner’s occupation, too, was gone; for, as far as we know, he never personally sentenced one individual to the flames, in any place, after being thus addressed by Roger Holland. Six men, indeed, out of the twenty-two seized, still remained to be disposed of, and, a few days after Holland, they had been examined: but all this the Bishop had prudently left to Thomas Darbyshire, his nephew, the Chancellor; nor were they put to death till the 13th or 14th of July. But even then they cannot be burnt in London; they must be sent down to Brentford, and the writ to execute come from the Lord Chancellor’s office. All this is distinctly stated to have been done in “post-haste,” and at night, either from fear or craft on the part of Bonner; but never again must the fire blaze in Smithfield. Such was “the Congregation of the Faithful,” assembling for worship in the days of Queen Mary; and, with all its imperfections, there certainly never was in England a body of Christians more highly honoured by God, in “resisting unto blood, striving against sin.”

On the whole, the reader can now easily distinguish between the people at large, and those who had been so shockingly persecuted; nor need he imagine that the English as a nation had all of a sudden become more distinguished for cruelty than the neighbouring nations on the Continent.

They had indeed, at first, asked for such a Queen as Mary, and obtained their desire; they had unwillingly submitted to such a King as Philip, and to such Ministers; and under their united sway that salutary horror was implanted in the nation, which was not to leave it for generations to come; but it was the leaders of this people who destroyed them, but more especially, as a body, the Bishops, who were now fighting with fury for “their kingdom of this world,” as they so manifestly had done, ever since the Scriptures were introduced in 1526. For these five years past they had been powerfully backed, and occasionally goaded on, by both the King and Queen; nor had the diocese of Canterbury under CardinalPOLE formed any exception to the raging cruelty.

A far different subject, or the history of the English Bible during this reign, now claims our attention; although it is probable that not a few may be disposed to inquire,-“ And what can possibly be said at such a time as this?” That “all things went backward,” is an expression which has been often employed, it is true, in reference to the days of Mary the First; but it is one, strictly speaking, far from being correct. There was, to a Certainty, one exception, and that one was worth all other things put together; so that for every feeling excited, or rather harrowed up, by the recital of martyrdoms, cruelty and banishment, there is yet balm in reserve; and as that is to be found nowhere else, except in the positive progress of Divine Truth, it only renders the history of the Sacred Volume one of deeper interest.

It is true that all the authorities, styled civil and ecclesiastical, were up in arms against it; and now, banded together as the soul of one man, they could officially alter or destroy everything else of human appointment or device: but they might as well have expected to succeed in rooting out the violet or the rose from the soil of England, as in banishing the Word of Life from the country, or in snatching it from all the people who had already received and prized it, as their only and all-sufficient guide to a better world.

No sooner, indeed, had January 1555 arrived, than it seemed as if something of this kind had been meditated, by their hasty attempt to brand certain persons with odium. There were two individuals still remaining in England to whom the country had stood indebted for the Scriptures-John Rogers and Miles Coverdale; and these were among the earliest victims seized by Government. With both characters the reader is already intimately acquainted; the first as the original editor of Tyndale’s Bible, which, after so many editions, wus now in use; and the second, not only as a translator, but the diligent correcter at the press of several of these editions.

When Queen Mary entered London, and had reached the Tower, on Thursday, the 3rd of August, 1553, it is well known that on the second day after, she released Gardiner, and Bonner, and Tunstal, from imprisonment, styling them “her own Bishops.” The first of these she immediately appointed to be Lord Chancellor. He had been distinguished as one of the most eminent enemies of the vernacular Scriptures. In the year 1537, when the Bible edited by John Rogers was introduced into England by Grafton, and with such success Gardiner was in France; but after his return in September 1538, he did all in his power to thwart the circulation of the Scriptures in the English tongue. Rogers, then on the Continent, had remained for twelve years longer, ministering to a German congregation.

During the reign of Edward, either attracted by the state of the country, or personally invited, he had returned to England by the year 1550, and afforded occasion for one of those singular scenes, which had not unfrequently taken place under the roof of St. Paul’s. The reader cannot have forgotten one in 1536, while Latimer was preaching his noted sermon to “the children of light and the children of darkness.” Both classes were congregated here still; but perhaps no discordancy had ever exceeded the following. At the risk of a little repetition we present the picture entire. In September 1549, Bonner had been deprived of his office as Bishop of London, and who should be officiating in his room for the following half year, but Gabriel Dunne, as residentiary prebend!-the man who, with Phillips, had ensnared Tyndale at Antwerp, and at Brussels did his best to secure his death. Dunne’s official services, as bishop pro tempore, had ended by the appointment of Nicholas Ridley to the See of London in April 1550, and it is the very next month that we have certain evidence of Rogers being in London. He may have come earlier, but we are told that “when he returned to England he was admitted Rector of St. Margaret Moyses, and after that, Vicar of St. Sepulchre’s, London, on the 10th of May, 1550.” The Rectory, however, he resigned next year, on the 10th of September, having been appointed by Ridley, one of the Prebendaries of St. Paul’s, on the 24th of August preceding, Here then, we have Dunne, as prebend, sitting in the twelfth stall on the right side of the choir, and Rogers, as Pancras prebend, in the sixth on the left; but this is rendered still more remarkable from its being the very stall which had been occupied by Robert Ridley, the uncle of Nicholas, once so furious in opposition to Tyndale and his translation!

Any person can now clearly perceive, with what good will both Gardiner and Bonner must have welcomed the day when they should be able to triumph over both the Bishop and his Prebend, Ridley and Rogers, and wreak their vengeance on them both. But JOHN ROGERS had done nothing to call for any interference. He had occasion, it is true, to preach, in his turn, at Paul’s Cross, and then he warned the people against idolatry and superstition. This was after the Queen’s arrival in London. He was immediately charged with preaching erroneously, but he so defended himself before the Council, that he was freely dismissed. At this moment, had he felt disposed, he might have escaped abroad, and he had strong inducements so to do. He had a wife and ten children, and in Germany he must have been secure of a living; but he would not depart. By the 18th of August, 1553, a proclamation was issued, forbidding all preaching; after which, Rogers was ordered to remain, as a prisoner, in his own house, and communicate with no one, save his own family, he happened to live not far from Bonner himself, who, with the sanction of Gardiner, as Chancellor, at last got him sent to Newgate, the worst of all the prisons; where, among thieves and murderers, he remained throughout the whole of 1554, and there he is said to have been of use to the prisoners. “My Lord,” said Rogers to the Chancellor, “ye have dealt with me most cruelly; for ye have put me in prison without law, and kept me there now almost a year and a half. For I was almost half a year in my house, where I was obedient to you, God knoweth, and spake with no man. And now have I been a full year in Newgate, at great cost and charges, having a wife and ten children to find; and I had never a penny of my livings, which was against the law.”

They had, in short, left him to pine or perish in prison, and there having been no specific charge, the whole course was illegal.

At last, however, Rogers was called up for examination. The year was to be distinguished for persecution, and on the first of January they had commenced in good earnest, by the apprehension of thirty individuals.

On the 22nd, both Rogers and Hooper were before Gardiner, and other members of Council, as the Queen’s Commissioners. The parties present were perfectly characteristic. Besides Gardiner, there was Tunstal, Heath, and Thirlby, Sir Richard Southwell, Sir John Bourne, Secretary of State, and others, evidently eager to sit in judgment on such a man as this; and as if it had been to point out to posterity the precise animus or spirit of the persecutors, as well as give still greater prominence to the history of the Sacred Volume, Rogers must die first of all. He must now lead the van in the army of martyrs, and obtain ever after the honourable appellation of Proto-Martyr in Queen Mary’s reign.

Towards this good man, it is evident that Lord Chancellor Gardiner had behaved with peculiar harshness and cruelly. He had, in fact, owed him a grudge for eighteen years, and now illegally had imprisoned him, for nearly eighteen months, though the martyr had frequently implored his release.

Rogers had married when abroad, and presuming that a female, and a foreigner, and she not far from the time of her confinement, might have some influence, he had sent her to Gardiner, with certain female companions, so long ago as Christmas 1553, and as far as Richmond, “humbly craving that he might be set at liberty,” there being nothing laid to his charge. The only answer to this was his being committed by Former to Newgate! From Newgate, Mr. Rogers had not only sent two petitions to the Chancellor, but his wife many times, without any effect. A Mr. Gosnold, and other benevolent gentlemen, had also petitioned on his behalf, but all was in vain; and now that the prisoner is brought up for examination, it seemed as if, in the first instance, it had been only to gratify Gardiner’s spleen and passion.

He was called up once more, before a far more formidable array of persecutors, on the 28th, and finally the next day, at nine o’clock, when Gardiner read his sentence condemnatory, giving him over to the tender mercies of Former and the Sheriff] Not one word had been said respecting his publication of the Sacred Scriptures, but the Chancellor, in condemning him, had thought this far too fine an opportunity not to cast a slur upon the Bible, and thus hold up Rogers to the terror of all its readers, at the very commencement of this fiery day. In his sentence, when naming Rogers, three times he took special care not to omit, “otherwise called Matthew.” We have no proof that this was the intention, but it served such a purpose for the moment. Gardiner having finished, gratuitously told him that he was now “in the great curse,” and that no man was to speak to him. Rogers, who throughout had spoken with great boldness as well as ability, and, as we shall see presently, to Gardlner’s utter confusion, if not dismay, then replied- “Well, my Lord, here I stand before God and you, and all thls honourable audience, and take Him to witness, that I never witting]y nor willingly taught any false doctrine; and therefore have I good conscience before God and all good men. I am sure that you and I shall come before a Judge that is righteous, before whom I shall be as good a man as you; and I nothing doubt but that I shall be found there a true member of the true Catholic Church of Christ, and everlastingly saved. And as for your false Church, ye need not to excommunicate me forth of it. I have not been in it these twenty years-the lord be thanked therefore! But now ye have done what ye can, my Lord, I pray you yet grant me one thing!” “What is that?” said Gardiner. “That my poor wife, being a stranger (a foreigner), may come and speak with me, so long as I live-for she hath ten children, that are hers and mine, and somewhat I would counsel her, what were best for her to do.” Will it be believed, that, at once discovering a mind of the vilest character, the solitary request, and so touchingly put, was with disgusting barbarity denied! And Rogers, though he had told the Chancellor that he had been married eighteen years, saw the man no more.

The amount of such wickedness it is not for us to describe.

Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester, his honourable companion, had been also condemned the same day, and both were to be conveyed, to Newgate.

There was now, however, some cowardly fear of the people. The sentence had not only been pronounced with closed doors, but they waited till night, before their victims were sent off. Even then, they conducted them from the Clink Prison to Winchester’s house, close by, and passing through it, along London bridge, officers had been sent before them, ordering the costermongers, who sat at stalls in the street, to put out their lights! Why all this caution, if there was no apprehension of a rescue? Their coming, however, had been anticipated, and pious householders appeared on both sides of the streets, with candles. On their part, as the prisoners passed along, there was nothing but salutations of affectionate sympathy, thanksgiving for their constancy, and earnest prayers for its continuance.

This was on Tuesday the 29th, and Rogers had only to live till Monday following. Early that morning, the 4th of February, not aware of what awaited him, like Peter of old, he was sound asleep. The jailer’s wife went and had some difficulty in awaking him. She then warned him to make haste, and prepare himself for the fire! “If it be so,” said the good man, “I need not tie my points.” Bonner was already in waiting. Both Hooper and he were then, what they chose to call degraded, by being bereaved of their ecclesiastical trappings; a process which necessarily occupied some time, as they had first to be arrayed, and then the several parts were torn from them piecemeal. Hooper was to be sent off next day to Gloucester; but the stake was already prepared for Rogers. Then once more, to Bonner he tendered the same solitary request he had done to Gardiner; but it was now reduced to this-“that before going to the stake, he might be permitted to speak a few words to his wife.” But this, like his fellow, the inhuman monster denied! Foxe supposes that it was chiefly to inform her of his examinations and answers, in his own handwriting, which he had left behind him, concealed in the prison. But if it was, the Bishop’s denial went for nothing, as they were afterwards found.

Upon being delivered up to the Sheriff, Woodroff, before they left the prison, urged Rogers to revoke his opinions. “That,” replied the martyr, “which I have preached, I will seal with my blood.”-“ Then,” said Woodroff, “thou art an heretic.”-“That,” replied Rogers, “will be seen at the day of judgment.” -“ Well then,” said the Sheriff, “I will never pray for thee.” -“But,” said Rogers, mildly, “I will pray for thee.” Thus they proceeded to the stake.

Upon entering the street, they found an immense crowd awaiting them. In walking towards Smithfield, Rogers was repeating a portion of that blessed book he had given to his country-the 51st Psalm. The people were giving thanks for his constancy; but there among the crowd, there met him the wife, whom neither Gardiner nor Bonner would permit him to see. His wife, the foreigner, with all her children-one of these, a youth named Daniel, if the eldest, now nearly seventeen years of age; the youngest, or the eleventh child, an unconscious babe, now hanging at the mother’s breast! In the midst of this overwhelming scene, the husband and father stood firm, and having got through it, the bitterness of death was past!

At the stake they brought him a pardon, upon condition that he would recant. This, of course, he pointedly refused to do, and at last, washing his hands, as it were, in the flames, he cried with his final breath, “Lord, receive my spirit.”

We have referred to his examinations and answers, as they were afterwards printed in full, from the copies left behind; and by John Foxe, who knew the martyr well. It so happened that Mrs. Rogers, with her son Daniel, had gained access to the prison, and after looking in vain for these manuscripts, they were about to depart, when the youth, looking round once more, spied his father’s papers, deposited in a corner under the stair.

John Rogers appears to have been the son of a father of the same name, and born, not in Lancashire, as it has sometimes been stated, but in Warwickshire, at Deritend, in the immediate vicinity of Birmingham.

Rogers had been married in 1537, or the same year in which he had completed the Bible, to Adriana Pratt, alias de Weyden. She now returned with her children to Germany, and the lad who had found his father’s papers was afterwards better known, as an Ambassador from Queen Elizabeth to different countries.

With regard to MILES COVERDALE without farther explanation it must appear almost incredible that, only fourteen days after the death of Rogers, or on the 18th of February, Queen Mary was writing a letter, of which he was to be the bearer, to the King of Denmark. He also had been in trouble, as well as Rogers, since 1558, though not confined to prison. This letter was written only on Monday week after the scene at Smithfield, and the same day on which a splendid embassy was leaving London for Rome; and yet the very next day Coverdale had his passport, “for himself and two servants,” by which was most probably meant His wife and one servant; and so he left England for Denmark. Thus, if the one man connected with the Scriptures must lead the van of martyrdom, the other can easily be extricated from the grasp of Government by the overruling providence of God.

The deliverance has been ascribed solely to the repeated and very earnest interposition of his Danish Majesty; and but for this, humanly speaking, he might not have survived: but there was a very curious concurrence of circumstances in favour of Coverdale’s deliverance at this moment, for King Christian’s second letter to Mary on his behalf was nearly five months old. Why, then, should Coverdale, a married Bishop, and an old offender in their opinion, be suffered to escape, and that immediately after the fire had been kindled for Rogers? It will certainly prove to have been a memorable fact if the examination and martyrdom of the one man should have contributed to the escape of the other, and more especially as Rogers could have had nothing of the kind in view.

The circumstances, therefore, now referred to are the more worthy of notice, as they not only stand in immediate connexion with the examination of the Proto-Martyr, but discover not a little of the true character of these unprincipled men in power. Taken all in all, they form the richest scene in the reign of Mary, though scarcely, if at all, before observed.

The martyrdom of John Rogers, in February 1555, connects itself with that of the heroic female, Anne Askew, in March 1546. There had been no fires in Smithfield since the memorable night on which she suffered, almost nine years ago. Considering the progress which had been made during the reign of’ Edward, through the medium of the Scriptures, the death of Rogers must have been regarded by many in London with unmingled horror; but, beside this, a large and promiscuous assembly had been present at his notable examination on the 28th of January, when he caught Gardiner and his bishops in a snare, and the people marked it. The language of Gardiner could not fail to have been in the mouth of thousands ever since, and the excitement in a few days was such as to frighten for a moment all these men of blood, from King Philip downwards. The present juncture, embracing a space of less than three weeks, will explain this.

It was on Tuesday the 32nd of January that Rogers was first examined.

This was before Gardiner, as Lord Chancellor, and other members of the Council, such as Lords Howard and Paget, Sir Richard Southwell and Sir John Bourne, as Commissioners from the Queen. But on Monday the 28th, to Wednesday the 30th, Gardiner and many more sat by commission from Cardinal POLE; and yet only the next week, when six other men were examined and condemned, they were not brought before the same tribunal, but merely before Bonner and his Consistory, with the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London. Here were three distinct forms of proceeding, within the short compass of eighteen days. Then, to crown all, the very next day, or Sunday the 10th of February, we have a sermon preaching before King Philip, and by a Spaniard; but upon what subject? The sin of persecution for conscience’ sake! Now, why this erratic course on the part of the persecutors? Why could they not go straight forward? And if this sermon was a base artifice, of which there is now no doubt, why was it resorted to at the present moment? The true character of all the parties in power is here involved.

Stephen Gardiner, who plumed himself on his sagacity or cunning, had, no doubt, imagined that if he once proceeded against certain leading men; or, in the cant phrase of the day, if the head deer were only brought to the ground, the common people would shrink with terror, and succumb to their authority. It was full of this idea that he commenced, in a high tone, with John Rogers on the 22nd of January; but the very man with whom he thus began, proved to be more than a match for his proud and imperious temper. On the 28th, as soon as Rogers entered, nothing daunted, we know from himself that he remarked the change on the Court. Gardiner was there, of course, as Chancellor and Bishop, and chief persecutor; but “there were,” says Rogers, “a great sort of new men, his follow bishops, of whom I knew few”-after eighteen months’ confinement. There were, in fact, not fewer than thirteen in all, six on each side of the Chancellor, besides three notaries, three noblemen, eleven knights, and a very great multitude.

Gardiner perhaps never forgot himself so far as he did this day; but he could not stand the replies or remarks of his prisoner, and found it not so easy to examine these men as he had anticipated. In his wrath he actually called King Edward an usurper, and then tried clumsily to recall the term; but another expression, in reference to the reigning Queen, turned out to be vastly more awkward for him and all his order. Rogers had intimated his persuasion that “her Majesty would have done well enough but for his (Gardiner’s) counsel.” When, in his haste, in reference to the persecution now commenced, he replied-“The Queen went before Me and it was HER own motion!” Thus affording another instance of persecutors wishing to shift the blame from themselves; though certainly, at such a time as this, the assertion was very hazardous, whether it was true or false. But Rogers replied-“Without fail, I neither can, nor will I ever, believe it!” Aldrich of Carlisle, in name of himself and all his brethren, immediately said-“They would bear Gardiner witness.” “Yea,” said Rogers, “that I believe well.” On which the laugh went round among the crowd assembled. Upon this, even Sir Richard Southwell, the Master-Comptroller of the Royal Household, and Sir John Bourne, Principal Secretary of State, stood up to confirm the Chancellor’s assertion. Never had men more fully committed themselves. Rogers then said-“It was no great matter; but I think that they,” the Bishops, “were good helpers thereunto themselves.” Such a dialogue was easily carried away, and every word must have told upon the people throughout the metropolis; but the assertion first made, in open court, and before such a crowd, for “the thousandth man could not get in,” was felt, in the cool of the day, to have been no light matter. If it was true, they had betrayed a state secret! Accordingly, next morning, when Rogers and Hooper were brought up for condemnation, it was found convenient to do so, as already hinted, with closed doors.

Gardiner, however, both this day and the next, was equally nettled in the examinations of Tailour, Bradford, and Saunders. From Rogers, to the last man examined, he had had his own book,-“De Vera Obedientia,” or “True Obedience,”-quoted against himself, and his present conduct. To this book, Bonner had affixed a preface, or high culogium; and both having been translated into English, and printed abroad, many had it in their hands, many more in their mouths, and it was now quoted, or referred to, before both the authors, by men who had been long familiar with the original publication in Latin. Tunstal also was forcibly reminded of his famous sermon before Henry VIII., printed by Berthelet in 1539, or sixteen years ago. It, therefore, could not fail to be no small mortification, after his furious attack on the head deer, when my Lord Chancellor found that here were six more men waiting to be examined; one of them, indeed, a gentleman, Mr. Hawkes, but the other live precisely of that humbler class on whose boldness and principle poor Gardiner had not calculated, Hence, when these individuals came to be examined and condemned, neither the Chancellor nor eleven of his Bishops were there! The whole process was despatched, and that speedily, by Bonner alone, as Ordinary, who had called the Lord Mayor, Sir John Lyon, and certain Aldermen, to sit with him and his underlings.

Bonner had examined the whole number on Friday, and condemned them all to the flames on Saturday the 9th of February, or the fifth day after the Proto-Martyr had been consumed to ashes; and what, then, could the reader expect to follow only next day? If it was a sermon-which, in these times, was a great rarity, and therefore the more to be observed-must it not have been a sermon in praise of the Bishops, for their burning zeal on behalf of “the old learning?” It was quite the reverse. The blundering assertion of Gardiner to Rogers, only thirteen days since, confirmed as it had been by all the Bishops present, and even two official laymen, had neither been forgotten nor unfelt. It had certainly placed her Majesty before the country in one of the most critical of all positions, as the sole and imperative persecutor; and there can be no doubt, from what followed, had made her tremble, not only for herself, but the husband on whom, at this moment, she doated. The truth is, that public feeling still ran very high against the Queen’s marriage. She had allied herself to a Spanish prince, and the people had been foretold that, to a certainty, he would introduce the Court of Inquisition into England. Nothing, therefore, could have been more dangerous to the Queen than the positive affirmation of Gardiner, before a large and promiscuous audience. So, at least, it had been felt, but more especially by King Philip; and what was the miserable artifice to which he resorted? he had brought with him into England, as his confessor, Francis Alphonso di Castro, a Spanish divine, himself an author against heretics; and this was the man appointed by the King to preach before the Court, on the 10th of February, and against religious persecution.

We regret not being able to find out his text; but in the course of his sermon he enlarged on the sin of taking away the lives of any for their religion-reprobated the practice or burning men on account of their opinions-and affirmed that the Bishops would search the Scriptures in vain for any authority to spill the blood of their flocks. The Scriptures, he insisted, taught Bishops, in the spirit of meekness, to instruct those who opposed them, and not to burn them for their conscientious opinions!

But the Lord Chancellor of England, at the moment, was a Bishop, and President of the Court for burning; Tunstal, who, in former days, led the van of persecution, had sat on his left hand, and Bonner on his right, who, only the day before, at one sweep, had appointed not fewer than six men to the flames. By the authority of these men, and ten others of the same order, on Monday before, Rogers had been consumed to ashes; on Friday, at Coventry, Saunders had followed; and only twenty-four hours before the sermon, Hooper was in the flames at Gloucester, and Dr. Tailour at Hadley!

As an exhibition, therefore, next day, nothing could have exceeded this. A Spanish priest upon English ground, preaching before the Court, and against the Bishops of England, especially those in power! Arraigning, nay denouncing them in public, for having embrued their hands in blood! While there sat Philip to sanction the sermon, not without some fear for his personal safety or favour; and, like Pilate of old, he seemed “to take water and wash his hands before the multitude,” saying, “I am innocent of the blood of these just men.” The occurrence was a remarkable one; and the more so, since it is evident, that nothing less than apprehension of some sort in the breast of the Monarch, could have been the impelling motive. “It was believed,” says Collier, “that the Queen was overruled since her marriage, and that these fires had been kindled by Philip: however, the King, it seems, had no mind to lie under this imputation.”

Where Gardiner and Tunstal were, or how engaged, at the moment when the Spaniard was preaching, we are not informed; but certainly our exulting Lord Chancellor had but little imagined, that the Editor of Tyndale’s Bible would live to come to England, and lead him, in the last year of his life, so to expose the Bench and the Court, at one stroke! Still less could He have supposed that the stone man would so hit the mark, as to cause him eventually to shrink behind the curtain, and retire from playing at the game of persecution ever after!! Such at least was the fact, for “he never afterwards,” says Lingard, “took his seat on the bench,”-“whether it was,” says the same author, “that Gardiner disapproved of the measure, or that he was called away by more important duties!!” The latter alternative is, to say the least, strangely expressed; but neither the one nor the other will now serve the purpose of history, in accounting for the Chancellor’s nonappearance. “Gardiner,” says Soames, “having kindled the fires of persecution, left to others the hateful office of supplying them with a succession of victims:” but we have no evidence whatever of any change of disposition in the man. The circumstances now related, alone and perfectly account for that change of tactics which ultimately ensued. At present, however, there was a dead pause; the execution even of the condemned prisoners was suspendedc and the crisis occasioned farther debate in the Council itself.

Now, it was precisely at this moment that Coverdale was re/eased, and sent out of the country. On Monday week after this sermon, it had been thought advisable for the Queen at last to write her letter. It might very conveniently seem almost to contradict what Gardiner had said in open court, that day three weeks before, and on Tuesday the passport was also ready. It will, perhaps, therefore now be conceded, that there was at least some connexion, between the examination of Rogers and the escape of Coverdale: though the interference of his Danish Majesty must not pass unexplained.

It so happened that Covcrdale, as well as Rogers, was a married man; and strange as it may appear, that which had formed a source of such agonizing distress to the one man, became one of relief and safety to the other; a circumstance the more remarkable, as marriage, though “honourable in all,” was alone sufficient, after the accession of Queen Mary, to ensure the bitterest mockery, as well as privation and punishment. So Rogers had felt, especially during the last ten days of his life. It was to an excellent woman, Elizabeth: Macheson, that Coverdale had been allied for a number of years, and they were both at Exeter when he was summoned to appear before the Council at Richmond, in August 1553. From that time he had been committed, though as a prisoner at large. But then he and an exile from Scotland had married two sisters, known, from monumental inscription, to be of Scottish extraction, though they might have been born abroad. This exile, who had passed through England to the Continent, was John Macbee, named in his own country Macalpine, and known abroad as Dr.

Maccabaeus. Having retired to Denmark, he had been of great use to Christian II.; was not only one of his Chaplains, and professor of Theology in the University of Copenhagen, founded by the King, but had been one of the translators of the Danish Bible, first printed in 1550. It was through his intercession for his brother-in-law, Coverdale, that the King interfered, and himself wrote a letter to Mary, so early as the seventh calends of May, or 25th April, 1554. This drew forth a tardy and evasive reply, as if the only cause of displeasure with Coverdale had been, that he was in debt to the Treasury, or in arrears with his tenths. Taking advantage of this admission, his Majesty wrote a still more urgent letter-“It was only a debt, and the bishopric had not been enjoyed long enough to afford to pay anything-he would not trouble her Majesty by repeating the petition;” but “we plainly hope for such an end, that Coverdale himself shall shortly, in our presence, make declaration concerning the benefit of his welfare obtained of your Majesty.” In this letter, dated from “our city of Otton (Odensee) the 24th of September, 1554,” the case was actually so put, as if a refusal might affect the good understanding between the two kingdoms; and yet we have seen that four months passed away, till at last they came to the examination of Rogers and its consequences. It may therefore be said, in conclusion, that to the influence of two men, Maccabaeus and Rogers, both of whom had been connected with the translation of the Scriptures, the third, Coverdale , was indebted for his deliverance!

That the sermon of the Spanish friar was not merely a shallow artifice, but a piece of profane mockery, appeared but too soon. Only five short weeks had passed away, when Philip and Mary, and the Bishops by their authority, and that of Cardinal Pole, were once more fairly started on their pursuit after blood. Six individuals, it will be remembered, were under condemnation at the moment when di Castro was denouncing all cruelty.

Five of these it was found expedient to send to the country, and put to death in different places; one of whom, Mr. Hawkes, did not suffer till so late as the 10th of June: but even so early as the 16th of March, the fire was first kindled for one of the six, Tomkins, and in Smithfield itselt. Only ten days after this step, an order was sent to the Justices of Norfolk, in which they had special instructions to look after all preachers of heresy and private meetings; and this order, let it be observed, was by no other than the King and Queen. Nay, before the 24th of May they had sent their “Letters unto the Justices within every of the counties of this our realm,” and even Bonner himself must be roused and urged to proceed to extremities; their Majesties at the same time actually expressing “no little marvel” that there had been such relaxation on the part of certain Justices. Paulet, Marquess of Winchester, “the willow tree and not an oak,” who bent with every blast, was specially vigilant in the Council, and Richard Lord Rich, a persecutor from the days of Sir Thomas More, was no less active down in the country; but still, even to the close of this year, 1555, it was found necessary to proceed with caution in London Out of above eighty martyrs before the 18th of December, not more than seven appear to have suffered in the capital.

It was in January the next year, 1556, that the persecutors set off in full vigour, when seven individuals were committed to the flames at Smithfield, in one fire, and five at Canterbury, in another! In short, Gardiner, unchanged, must go the way of all the earth, and Cardinal Pole succeed as the adviser; when, what with his official authority, administered with characteristic policy, and that of the King and Queen, at certain convenient moments, Bonner, as “the chief slaughterman of England,” powerfully aided by his Satanic assistants, and other persecuting prelates, contrived to perpetrate all the cruelties, or the sickening enumeration, which has been already given.

As for Latimer and Ridley, they (tied triumphantly at Oxford, on the 16th of October, twenty-seven days before the unhappy death of Gardiner.

Cranmer followed on Saturday the 21st of March, 1556, in the sixtyseventh year of his age, and after the manner which has been so plentifully described elsewhere, by conflicting authorities. Whatever imperfections were to be found in his character, the virulence with which it has occasionally been attacked, only proves, that for the part he acted as a whole, he is never, by certain parties, to be forgiven. In a history such as the present, however, the character of Cranmer now comes before us, under an aspect altogether different from that which it may have done in any other history. The present writer is not only relieved from entering farther into its merits or demerits, but that there is high, because sacred ground, for his abstaining. The translation of the Sacred Volume was the work of another. So far as Cranmer followed up the subject, under Henry’s reign, in conjunction with Crumwell, we have endeavoured to do him ample justice. Under Edward he never appears to have personally returned to the work; but his abstaining from all interference with any others so engaged, ought never to be forgotten.

Upon the accession of Henry’s eldest daughter, and with immediate reference to the Scriptures, the country at large was in a very different state from what it had been less than thirty years ago, when there was neither a printed Bible, nor even a New Testament in print, within its borders. Just before Mary assumed the Crown, England seemed to be fairly on the way for becoming a land as distinguished for the possession of the Sacred Volume, as God had appointed it should be, in the end. About sixty-five editions of the New Te stament, and thirty of the entire Bible, had passed through the press: but here now was an opposing party, not only in full power, but determined to exercise it. Resolved to carry everything before them, it might naturally have been supposed, that one of the very first movements must have been a systematic attempt to destroy all these volumes. Could the burning of the sacred books have been a more obnoxious measure, than the burning of men and women, old and young?

Was the seizing of the Scriptures, and at once burning them in open day, not as easy as the seizure and imprisonment of men? And yet, however much blood was shed ultimately, and however much cruelty inflicted, on the part of Government there was, on the whole, a most mysterious silence maintained, with regard to the English Bible, which has never been sufficiently observed.

In the days of Henry the Eighth, it was the book by way of eminence, the “pestiferous poison,” as Tunstal profanely styled it; the “heretical fountain of all novel and dangerous opinions;” or, the Sacred Volume, under various abusive epithets, against which they gave forth their loudest thunder, and after which, under orders, they daily hunted. The very possession of it, or its distribution, whether by gift or sale, were crimes denounced and punished. There were a thousand copies in England now, for one at that period; and yet, under Queen Mary the great hue and cry had almost entirely changed. Justification by faith, as a tenet of Scripture, but, above all, transubstantiation, as a chief corner-stone of “the old learning,” were the engrossing topics; mixed up with an endless measure of low and even obscene abuse on the part of the examinators. But throughout these tedious and repeated cross-examinations, the cautious abstinence from reference to the Bible, as a book, or to the possession of it, is very remarkable. The examinators never appear to have been enjoined to abstain, and yet they did. Throughout the entire reign there were three proclamations, and in the second only were any books whatever specified by name. The first of these, 18th August, 1553, already mentioned, merely forbade the public reading of the Scriptures. The second was not issued till twenty-two months after, on the 13th of June, 1555. In this, twenty-five authors are distinctly denounced by name, or thirteen foreigners, and twelve English-men; thus hinting, by the way, a continued and powerful importation of books from abroad, but nothing is enjoined as to burning the Scriptures already printed and possessed. The injunction related solely to the books specified being imported from henceforth. The last proclamation was certainly the most dreadful. It referred to books, in general terms, wicked and seditious, to be delivered up on pain of death, without delay, by martial law! But this was not issued till three years after the former, on the 6th June, 1558, or only five months before Mary’s death; and still no mention is made of the Bible. Testament, separately. It was a proclamation against books of human composition only, not the Sacred Scriptures.

Copies of the Scriptures no doubt were consigned to the flames, though we can fix upon no more than three occasions. The first is mentioned, three years after Mary had been on the throne, when at least one foreign author, Cabrera, has told us that “many of the Bibles, chained to desks in churches, were burnt about this time;” and again, in the opening of 1557, when the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford were visited by Ormaneto, a furious Italian, datary of the Pontiff, or chief officer of the Court of Rome. When the bones of Bucer and Fagius were actually dug up and burned at the former, Bibles as well as other books were also consumed; and the same course is said to have been pursued at Oxford, when the dead body of Peter Martyr’s wife was treated with such indignity. But still, in the midst of so much Satanic opposition, and the royal denunciation of other books and human authors, perhaps there has never been a more striking line of distinction drawn, in reference to the Sacred Volume. What renders the fact already stated still more observable is-that the translations of the Bible by Tyndale and Coverdale had been once pointed out, or referred to, at least by the priests or clergy, und for destruction. In an address by the Lower to the Upper House, these were their words-“We the clergy of the province of Canterbury do humbly pray”-“that all suspect translations of the Old and New Testament, the authors whereof [not however here named] are recited in a statute made year of Henry VIII. &c. may be destroyed and burnt throughout this reahn” These few words are buried among twenty-eight other items, and the, reference made must be to the Act of 34th of Henry; but still no express law followed, nor was there a single proclamation in compliance, or one in which the Sacred Volume was pointed out for destruction, either by royal authority or that of the Convocation, or that of Cardinal Pole. Why then not acknowledge the Overruler? “He maketh the wrath of man to praise Him, and the remainder thereof he restrains.”

Nor was this the only point worthy of observation under this reign.

Providentially, time was afforded for the preservation of the Scriptures, and by two distinct methods. One was by their being carried abroad, beyond the reach of danger. The pause at the commencement of Mary’s reign was not unimproved as to personal safety, and the exiles unquestionably availed themselves of the opportunity as to that which they valued above most fine gold. A single copy, if more could be carried away, would not satisfy any one among them; and it was far more easy for them to carry books away at the time they went, than it was afterwards for some of these exiles to import their own writings. This, however, they afterwards did, and to such extent, as to provoke the royal inhibition of June 1555, which, after all, could not stem the influx. The stern proclamation of death by martial law, three years after, was a proof of failure; and the Queen was thus, in effect, only declaring-what her father before his death had done-that royal edicts, in certain circumstances, if not nearly impotent, possess no sovereign power.

But the other mode of preservation was by concealment; and this was practised to no small extent, whether in the crowded city or the hamlets of England. This course, however, from its very nature, did not admit of its being put on record, and yet; we are not without evidence of the fact. The highly-prized treasure, read often in the dead of the night, was concealed under the bed, in hay-lofts, or in out-houses; and we have one notable instance, of another mode. Mary had not dismissed from her immediate service all who had any value for the Scriptures; on the contrary, Strype assures us, from manuscript, that the Gentlemen Ushers of iht Queen were “almost all favourers of the Gospel.” These had been in the service of Edward, her brother, with the exception of others that she had appointed.

Of one of them the same laborious author gives a long account in his “Memorials,”-Mr. Underhill, a gentlemen, who, though imprisoned and molested, after all continued to receive his pension, and outlived the present reign. At one, period, “a diligent search being made for all suspicious books,” he was then living in Wood Street, Cheapside. Underhill forthwith “sent for a bricklayer, and built up a wall in his chamber, against the place where all his books were, and so inclosed them in sccurity from the danger of being taken, preserving them for himself against better times.” Similar precautions were, no doubt, taken by others; and it is impossible to say how many precious volumes, if not also printing materials, were built up until Mary should draw her last breath.

It may now, however, be observed that, of all the other books printed up to this period in England, there are not a few of which not a vestige remains; while, in reference to the Scriptures, of which so many editions had been printed, nay, and innumerable editions since, it is a most singular fact, that there are very few, perhaps not above three or four, of which we have not a copy, and of the great majority several copies, either in England or Scotland. In this point of view, our list of editions at the end of this work becomes one of the most remarkable in the entire range of English literature.

Returning, however, to the reign of Mary, Rogers has been martyred, and Coverdale banished; Grafton and Whitchurch, though imprisoned, and excepted in the general pardon granted at Mary’s accession, have escaped to the Continent; John Day, the spirited printer, and above twenty more beside, can act no more as they were wont to do, up to July 1553, when Edward died. Was there then absolutely nothing to be done, under this Queen’s reign, in the way of farther progress? With regard to printing the Scriptures, howevcr humbling to national vanity, we are obliged to answer-in England absolutely nothing. The press was fettered or suppressed, and not a leaf could be issued. The text of the translation also required to be reviewed with far more leisure and superior skill than it had ever yet been upon English ground, or since the first edition by Rogers; but this cannot be done, or rather, as Providence had determined, must not, in any corner of our native land. The Government has fallen back into very much the same condition in which it was in 1523, when Tyndale found at the last, that there was “not only no room in my Lord of London’s house to translate the New Testament, but that there was no place to do it in all England.”

But what did all this signify? Providence had at the first spoken to this Island, in a way not common to the other nations of Europe, and there was nothing now to prevent a repetition of the same singular mode. An exile from his native country first accomplished the translation, and somehow or other got the book introduced into the kingdom, in spite of’ Henry VIII., and his Cardinal Wolsey. Then, an exile shall do the same thing once more; by correcting and printing the New Tcstament, and sending it into England in spite of either Philip or Mary, or their Cardinal Pole. In every point of view this was no other than a similar triumph; and in both instances at a moment when there was nothing but opposition from the Crown and the bench of Bishops, as well as a Cardinal, by authority from Rome, triumphantly presiding in the country. It also deserves remark, that, in both cases, the Testament was published anonymously, without ostentation, or a dedication to any official individual whatever. In the first instance, the name of the translator was not known, nor till Tyndale was compelled by circumstances to disclose it. In the second instance, nothing having occurred to compel the improver of this version to disclose his name, it has been ovcrlooked to the present hour. Both books were prepared, and sent into England, when perseccution was the order of the day, and every seaport seemed to be shut against them. No analogy could be more striking, or complete.

But was this second triumph effected while Mary was yet on the throne? It was. The recension of the text must, have commenced not long after the time when the stake was first prepared; the book left the press on the 10th of June, 1557, one of the most awful months in the record of persecution, when at least twenty-seven martyrs perished in the flames; and it was perusing in England, for some time before the Queen’s death. By how many indeed, it is impossible to say; one authentic instance we find in a victim of’ Bonner’s cruelty, John Living, a priest of some learning, who complains that on being conveyed to prison, the jailer carried him first to his own house in Paternoster Row, and “there,” says he, “robbed me of my purse, my girdle, my Psalter, and a New Testament of Geneva.” But what was this Testament of which he spake? It was the book to which we have referred; avery beautiful one, and now of rare occurrence, printed with a silver type, and on the best paper; by far the best review of the Sacred text that had yet been made, “diligently revised by the most approved Greek examples, and conference of translations in other tongues.” It is the first English New Testament, divided into verses, and formed an important preliminary step to the revision of the whole Bible.

Few mistakes have been more common, and even up to the present day, than that of ascribing the translation of the Scriptures into English to a number of individuals. Thus the name of Tyndale has frequently been associated with various other men. The same confusion has prevailed, when referring to this “Testament of Geneva.” “This translation,” it has been said, “was made by mary of the principal English Reformers.” The translation, correctly speaking, is an improvement of Tyndale’s, on comparing it with the Greek original, once more: but so far from many being engaged, the address to the reader at the beginning incontestably proves it to have been the work of only one man; and we now offer some interesting particulars respecting one, which will probably leave no hesitation as to his being the person to whom his country stood indebted. William Whittingham, the branch of a family, not extinct in the male line, till so recently as 1758, was born in the year 1524 at Holmeset, afterwards called Holmeside Hall, six miles from Durham, in the parish of Lanchester.

His father, William Whittingham, Esq., of Holmeset, had sent him to Oxford, where he became a commoner in Brazen-nose College about 1540, and made such proficiency in learning, that in 1545 he was elected a Fellow of All-Souls. Anthony Wood affirms that he was after this chosen one of the senior students in Christ Church, formerly Cardinal College; “Henry VIII. endeavouring to replenish it with the choicest scholars in the University,” precisely as, the reader may remember, Wolsey at first attempted. This is curious enough, as Whittingham was thus following in the same path by which John Fryth had been led, twenty years ago.

Whittingham, however, so for from being, like his predecessor, confined in the dungeon below, in May 1550 had leave granted him, by the dean and canons, to travel for three years. he embarked for France, intending to go into Italy; but being taken unwell at Lyon, he proceeded first to Paris, and then to Orleans University, spending at least a year and a half between these two cities. After having visited several parts of Germany, his travels terminated at Geneva, where he remained till about May 1553, when his three years had expired. But what a change awaited him on his return!

Edward died on the 6th of July. Christ Church now must soon have proved as dangerous to him, as Cardinal College, or the same spot, had done to Fryth. Whittingham, with a mind now enlightened, had no idea of waiting till another Cardinal should bear sway, and his agents at Oxford burn Bibles, as Wolsey had treated the New Testament Scriptures. Instead, therefore, of “leave granted” a second time, just as if to make the parallel more complete, like Fryth or Tyndale before that, he must now fly to the Continent, where he arrived in safety, and at Frankfort, on the 27th of June, 1554, with the first exiles who there took up their abode.

In March, next year, arose the well-known “troubles of Frankfort,” where the exiles differing in nothing that respected the great essential principles of Divine Truth, plunged into a vortex of angry strife respecting the mere external forms of social worship. Neither party had sufficient light to take the high and safe ground, the all-sufficiency of the Sacred Record itself; and the contention became so sharp, that soon they were divided into two hostile bands! One party retired to Basle and Geneva, and the other, who had conquered, remained at Frankfort, but were never united among themselves. Whittingham was one of the retiring party; in retiring with him we shall now have occasion to mark the watchful care of the Almighty over His own Word; once more about to be given to a country, which was once more fighting against it. He immediately after this found out for this confessedly eminent scholar, far different and nobler occupation than that of fighting at Frankfort, about the words which man’s wisdom teacheth.

Whittingham had hitherto sustained only the character of a Christian and a scholar. Having had no official, that is, no ministerial character in the Church, he bore still nearer resemblance to John Fryth; and in his own apprehension, we know, that, “from his former travels and observations, and his acquisition of several languages,” he imagined “he had fitted himself more for civil or state employment than any other.” No matter; this, we presume, is the individual now selected to sit down, with greater skill and more composure, to the New Testament, than any man since Tyndale himself; and, like him also, happily now unfettered by any human authority whatever. Hitherto Whittingham had lived a single life, but after retiring to Geneva, where he had arrived in the autumn of 1555, he was married to Catherine, the sister of John Calvin. Whatever may have been the date of his marriage, this was the time in which he must have applied assiduously to the English New Testament, with “the most approved Greek examples” before him. To his recension of Tyndale’s version, he prefixed two things.

First, “an Epistle declaring that Christ is the end of the Law, by John Calvin,” his brother-in-law; and then his own address, of three leaves, “To the Reader.” In this, he speaks throughout in the singular number, taking the entire responsibility upon himself; and after the broil in which he had previously been involved at Frankfort, his language becomes the more impressive. Adverting to three distinct classes of men, he says- “The third sort are the simple lambs, which partly are already in the fold of Christ, and so hear willingly their Shepherd’s voice, and partly wandering astray by ignorance, tarry the time till the Shepherd find them, and bring them unto His flock. To this kind of people, in this translation, I chiefly had respect, as moved with zeal, couselled by the godly, and drawn by occasion, both of the place where God hath appointed us to dwell, and also of the store of heavenly learning and judgment, which so aboundeth in this city of Geneva.....To these, therefore, who are of the flock of Christ, which know their Father’s will, and are affectioned to the truth, I render a reason of my doing in few lines,” &c. “Counselled,” as he tells us, by others, it is evident that the writer had obtained the palm for scholarship among his brethren: now as Whittingham will come before us, presently as the chief person engaged with the entire Scriptures, or the Geneva Bible of 1560, there can remain little or no doubt that he is the man now speaking in this preface. Afterwards he will appear to have availed himself of the learning of some other individuals, though by no means to the extent which has been all along so vaguely reported.

This New Testament, in duodecimo, neatly printed in Roman and Italic types, consists of 456 leaves, including the title-“The Newe Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ, conferred diligently with the Greke and best approued translations. With the arguments as wel before the chapters as for every Boke and Epistle; also diversities of readings, and moste proffitable annotations of all harde places; whereunto is added a copious table.-At Geneva, printed by Conrad Badius, M.D. LVII.” And at the end, “Printed by Conrad Badius, M.D. LVII. this x day of June.” ‘The date is worth notice on one account, that Whirringham died only six miles from the spot where he was born, or at Durham, on the very same day, twenty-two years afterwards, the 10th of June, 1579. A copy of this book, at public sale, has brought as much as £11 5s.

Here, then, was one set-off for the reign of Queen Mary, which she and her husband would have gladly dispensed with. Literally, in the time of “blood and fire, and vapour of smoke,” in a dark and cloudy day for England, that was accomplished which had never been overtaken all the time of King Edward. The New Testament did require revision, but it must be done by an exile upon foreign ground, and be printed much nearer to Rome than London, while the book, as we have seen, was already in the kingdom.

More than this, the entire Bible, still more improved by a careful comparison of the original Hebrew and Greek, was already commenced; nay, during the last year of this Queen’s reign, the revisers at Geneva were engaged with it literally night and day. Whatever, therefore, had been overturned or trodden down in England, this cause had sensibly advanced.

The storm had only enlivened its progress, and actually brought it into a far better state than it was before. We have yet to see how it fared with “the Exiles’“ Bible, and what a blessing it proved to the families of our native land, for a period equal to ten times the duration of Queen Mary’s reign.

The Queen expiring on the 17th of November, 1558, she was succeeded by her sister Elizabeth.

REIGN OF ELIZABETH. 1558.-1603.

A Reign, However Powerful In Every Other Department, Having No Actual Control Over The Choice Or Preference Of The People Of England, With Regard To The Sacred Scriptures In Their Native Tongue, And Thus Presenting The Only Exception To Unlimited Sway. THE second daughter and only surviving child of Henry VIII., or the last branch of the Tudor family, now ascended the throne, at the age of twentyfive.

Born with the finest natural capacity, the education of Elizabeth, followed by the discipline through which she had passed, enabled her to hold the sceptre with a firmer grasp than that of any of her family who had preceded her; and throughout the long period of above forty-four years, England had no occasion to complain for want of a strong government.

The preservation of the Queen to the present hour was very remarkable, and it proves, in the most striking manner, that a nation can no more judge of what may contribute to its stability, than any single man can tell what is good for him all the days of his vain life, which he spendeth as a shadow.

Thus, the English people, when Mary was proclaimed, had drowned with joy the voice of the heralds; but their hearts revolted at the very prospect of her marriage to a Spanish prince; and the step once taken was never forgiven. Yet that prince must come into the country, and enjoying, as he did, entire sway over his English Queen, thus prove one instrument, and in no inferior degree, of preserving her sister from the block. The life of no heir to a throne was ever worth less than that of Elizabeth at one period; and had Mary only remained single, with Stephen Gardiner for her adviser, humanly speaking, her sister might have ended her days on the scaffold.

One providential purpose for which Philip had come to England being answered, he may live abroad, and another day, with his Armada, seem to be bent on the ruin of the princess he had saved; but she will outlive him us well as every storm that shall be raised against her.

The first months of this able monarch were distinguished by caution, a caution which extended to her treatment of the Sacred Volume. It is true that when presented with an elegant English Bible, on her first progress through London, she kissed it, and said that she would ofttimes read that holy book; but that did not imply her approbation of its being printed and circulated freely. Even at her coronation, when there was to be an opening of the prison doors to them that were bound, and one besought her to set free four or five others who had long been shut up, meaning the four Evangelists and the Apostle Paul, she replied with more shrewdness than grace, “That it were better first to inquire of themselves whether they would be released or no.” There was now to be no Parliament or Convocation for three years, but at last, and without therefore having consulted either the one or the other, about midsummer or the ‘autumn of this year we hear something respecting the Scriptures; and by virtue of Elizabeth’s authority, certain injunctions were issued. Among these were the following, left with every parish visited:- “To provide within three months after this visitation, at the charges of the parish, one book of the whole Bible of the largest; volume in English, and within one twelve months the paraphrases of Erasmus, also in English, and the same to be set up in some convenient place within the said Church, where the parishioners may most conveniently resort and read the same. All parsons under the degree of A.M. shall buy for their own use the New Testament in Latin and English with paraphrases, within three months. Inquiry was to be made whether any Parsons, Vicars, or Curates, did discourage any person from reading any part of the Bible, either in Latin or English.”

No intimation was given here, or anywhere else, as to how or where such, volumes were to be found, and hence it has been inferred by Lewis, that under the late reign they had not been destroyed or burnt to any very great extent. At the same time, it may be observed that this was nothing more than a royal in junction; buried too among not fewer than fifty others, some of which are strange enough; and if the effects resembled those which resulted from Henry’s voice, then there would, in many instances, be a reluctant, in others, only a tardy compliance.

As for the preparation of more copies, Elizabeth said not one word, while the printing press, as we shall see presently, far from approaching its freedom in the days of Edward, has become more fettered than it had ever been, since the art was first introduced into England!

All this, however, will only render the progress in printing of the Sacred Volume still more remarkable. This was a cause in which neither the reigning Prince nor the Privy Council, the Parliament or Convocation, had ever been much consulted, and never with a view to its essential progress.

It had commenced contrary to the will of all these parties, and as certainly proceeded without taking orders from them. For the progress therefore, at this crisis, as we were accustomed to do in the days of Elizabeth’s father, we must now look abroad. From thence the Queen requires to be put on her way, and in a manner not unlike to Henry’s reception and sanction of the Bible at first, in 1537.

While Elizabeth was yet in jeopardy of her life, and under the guardianship of Sir Thomas Pope, we have already seen that an edition of the New Testament had been printed at Geneva,-that copies were finding their way into England, in despite of all opposition,-and that an edition of the entire Scriptures was already commenced, in the same city. The exiles themselves inform us when this was begun. It was when “the time was dangerous, and the persecution, in England, sharp and furious.” The fact is, that no sooner had the New Testament left the press, than Whittingham, with one or two others, were preparing for their larger undertaking, and, at the latest, by January 1558 they had commenced. These men tell us that “they thought they could bestow their labours and study in nothing more acceptable to God, and comfortable to His Church;” and they add,-“God knoweth with what fear and trembling we have been for the space of two years and more, day and night, occupied herein.” The spaco referred to, therefore, was from January 1558 to the 10th of April, 1560, when the last sheet was put to press.

Considering the high character of this version, and the number of editions through which it passed, it would have been gratifying could we have fixed, with more positive certainty, on the individuals to whom the nation stood indebted. They were most probably not more than three in number, or four at the most; but whether it arose from modesty or motives of prudence, we are left to find out the real parties. The revision has been often, it is true, and very loosely ascribed, to six, and even nine, individuals, as though engaged in one body:-viz. William Whittingham, Anthony Gilby, Miles Coverdale, Thomas Sampson, Christopher Goodman, Thomas Cole, John Knox, John Bodleigh, and John Pullain.

This, however, is doing nothing else than numbering up certain men possessed of learning, who happened to be then living in Geneva. It requires but a little investigation to reduce the number to one-third, and then, we presume, the great burden, if not the entire responsibility, will appear to have fallen upon three of these scholars. It is true that all these men, with many others, were intimately and affectionately connected with each other. They were members of the same Christian church, and a church, be it observed, which as a body felt deeply interested in this edition of the Sacred Volume. The entire expense not only of this Bible, but of an edition of the Psalms by itself, was defrayed by “such as were of most ability in that congregation.” There was no application to their native country, no solicitation of one farthing from without. Amidst the storm that raged against the truth, they had been driven into a corner, and thus the Church was employed. In the fulness of their hearts, the sound learning of certain members, and the pecuniary substance of others, being devoted to the cause of their common Saviour, nothing could be a finer exhibition of Christian zeal for the highest interests of their native land. Thus, as the first translation of the Sacred Word, commenced in 1524, had sprung from the devoted zeal of a solitary Christian exile, whose heart had bled with pity for his country; so the next thorough revision of the entire Sacred Text must come from the bosom of a small Christian community, also in exile, “for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

The accession of Queen Elizabeth, however, in November 1558, naturally filled this entire circle with joy, and the men we have named, as well as others, were as naturally separated; but then this was with the exception of those who had devoted themselves to the revision and printing of the Bible.

The good news had reached Geneva in December, and at that moment, we are informed, that the greater part of the book was not finished; but “Whittingham, with one or two more, did tarry at Geneva a year and a half after Queen Elizabeth came to the Crown, being resolved to go through with the work.” Le Long has affirmed that “the chief and most learned” of the men already mentioned, were Coverdale, Whittingham, and Gilby; but Coverdale, now seventy years of age, cannot be traced as at Geneva sooner than December 1558, and it is certain that he returned in 1559; how early we cannot tell. He was preaching at Paul’s Cross on the 12th of November. In short, Knox had left Geneva as early as January 1559; Goodman followed him to Scotland, where we find him in September; while it is as certain that Coverdale and Cole, Pullain and Bodleigh, returned to England in the same year. The only three left, therefore, were Whittingham, Gilby, and Sampson, and with their names only the translation should have been associated; since the men who completed “the greater part,” must have been those by whom it had been begun. Many of their brethren, indeed, they tell us, “put them on this work by their earnest desire and exhortation;” while others encouraged them “not to spare any charge for the furtherance of such a benefit and favour of God toward His Church.”

Although we cannot now notice every edition here, but rcfer to our list, yet as the only English Bible distinctly pointed out in any patent, from Elizabeth downwards, and especially as the basis of so many editions for above eighty years to come, this demands some farther notice. Title.-“ THE BIBLE AND HOLY SCRIPTURES conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament. Translated according to the Ebrue and Greke, and conferred with the best translations in divers langages. With moste profitable annotations upon all the harde places, and other thinges of great importance as may appeare in the Epistle to the Reader.” Beneath is a wood-cut, of the Israelites passing through the Red Sea. “At Geneva.

Printed by Rouland Hall, MDLX.” Collation.-After a dedication to the Queen, and an Epistle to the Readers, about to be noticed, we have the text from Genesis to 2nd Maccabees, fol. i., 474. “The Newe Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ,” &c., with the same wood-cut and imprint as before. “The Holy Gospel,” &c., fol. ii., cxxii. A table of interpretation of proper names-of principal things-the years from Adam to Christ -and the years from Paul’s conversion. There is no Colophon. The Sacred text is in Roman, the contents of chapters in Italic type. A full page contains lines.

Not at all aware, perhaps, of the cautious expediency by which the Queen of England was now guided, their subjoined a dedication to her Majesty, remarkably free from that fulsome adulation, which had been far too common, and expressing with great frankness their zeal for further progress in the cause of truth and righteousness. But there was a second address or “Epistle,” still more worthy of notice. In what they had done, the translators now fixed an eye of sympathy and love, not upon England alone, but, taking a nobler flight, upon all those to whom the English language was vernacular. Such was the happy effect of adversity and travel; the one softening, the other enlarging their minds. Their epistle of explanation, therefore, as to this version, is addressed to no particular party; but-“TO OUR BELOVED IN THE LORD;THE BRETHREN OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND,AND IRELAND.” A most-judicious title, and if there must be any Epistle to the Christian Reader at all, it would have been well for the interests of the United Kingdom had the words been preserved inviolate from that day to this. Amidst all that has occurred since, it is the only one to which no objection worth notice, could, or can, be brought; to say nothing of its being so akin to the simple majesty of the Divine Record, and to that only light in which God has regarded the entire number of His people, in this highly favoured country, all along.

The last sheet of this Bible having been committed to the press on the 10th of April, 1560, Whittingham, Gilby, and Sampson returned home immediately; but of all the men already mentioned, there was one, who had not only fostered the translation when proceeding at Geneva, but was specially interested in its circulation throughout England, immediately afterwards, and he must not now be passed over. Bodleigh or Bodley is a name that one should have imagined would not have escaped notice, as it has generally done.f102 Although, however, these exiles had completed their translation of the Bible, and borne the charge, it by no means followed that the book should be forthwith admitted into England, and more especially by authority. They had laboured “night and day,” indeed; but though so zealous, this was a point yet to be ascertained. The New Testament of 1557 had been secretly introduced, but it was then an interdicted book-it had not since been recognised as lawful, and already we have witnessed the extreme caution of the reigning Queen. Besides, there was a translation under the name of Matthew, and, above all, of Cranmer, both of whom had been once, or already sanctioned; while this new version had been accomplished by men, who, like Tyndale of old, had been obliged to fly the kingdom. But, notwithstanding, the time had come for the Geneva book to be admitted, and this was as soon as it was finished; only all these circumstances render its reception at the moment more worthy of notice. On returning to our native land, while not one word has yet been said as to any reprint of Cranmer, and in the face of John Cawood and Richard Jugge having been already appointed her Majesty’s printers, the first distinct notice of the Geneva Bible having arrived in England is by no less than a patent from the Queen, granted in favour of John Bodleigh already mentioned. “Elizabeth, &c.-To all manner of printers, booksellers, &c.-We do you to understand, that of our grace special, we have granted ami given privilege and licence, and by these presents for us, our heirs, and successors, do grant, and give privilege and licence, unto our well-beloved subject John Bodeleigh, and to his assignes, for the term of seven years next ensuing the date hereof, to imprint, or cause to be imprinted, the English Bible, with Annotations, faithfully translated and finished in this present year of our Lord God, a thousand, five hundred and three score, and dedicated to us; straitly forbidding and commanding, as well printers and booksellers as other persons, within our realms and dominions, in any manner of wise, to imprint, or cause to be imprinted, any of the foresaid English Bibles, that the said John Bodeleigh shall, by the authority of this our licence, imprint, or cause to be imprinted, or any part of them, but only the said John Bodeleigh and his assignes; and that every offender shall forfeit to our use forty shillings, of lawful money of England, for every such Bible at any time so printed, and all such books to be forfeited, &c. In witness whereof, &c. 8th Jan. 1560-1561.”

Whether this patent was of much advantage to the patentee is at present of secondary moment; but it forcibly reminds us of Henry VIII., in the year 1537. It presents Elizabeth before us, now at the first call from abroad, and without any hesitation, herself opening the way for the general circulation of this Bible throughout her dominions, for seven years to come. Little did the exiles imagine, when flying abroad for their lives, that one grand intended purpose was the improvement of the Book of Life itself, and that no sooner should that be finished, than it should be at once, and so received! Both Philip and Mary had thus, unconsciously, been pushing forward the cause they wished to destroy, and Elizabeth, however imperative at other moments, or however cautious, must not now stand in the way.

But is this the selfsame Queen who spake so warily before all her courtiers, less than a year ago? It is the same. Her reign was the commencement of a new era, in many respects; but, in the present case, one is forcibly reminded of another, in the reign of her father, twenty-four years ago, and the analogy is not faint. As only eleven months had elapsed between Henry’s winking at the martyrdom of Tyndale and the royal sanction of his translation, so only eleven months had now passed between the evasive or cautious reply of his daughter and her royal patent. Both volumes had been prepared upon foreign ground, and both in the face of clouds and darkness, or the frown of the reigning government; yet the second is now come into England, as did the first, by the declared consent of the Sovereign. Henry had not read the Bible he sanctioned, nor had his daughter assuredly examined the present volume. In tills second instance, however, there is equal, if not superior, emphasis. The present Sovereign, no less arbitrary and inflexible, was far more quick-sighted and vigilant than her father. It has been said that “her eye was everywhere,” and as far as free inquiry through the medium of the press was concerned, never since the introduction of the art into England had it been so guarded. Every book, on whatever subject, or in whatever language, required to be licensed by her Majesty in express writing, or by six of her Privy Councillors. Under these circumstances, the patent granted to Bodley is the more remarkable.

Such was the commencement of those numerous editions of the Geneva version which followed, not only during the long reign of Elizabeth, but down to nearly the middle of the next century. As for the present moment, placed in circumstances the most critical, but surrounded by men of high renown as politicians, a Prince more potent had never swayed the sceptre of England; only we have yet to see whether Elizabeth had power sufficient, either to control, or in the slightest degree regulate, the stream of Divine Truth which in a few years flowed over the land; or, in other words, whether the public opinion and taste, as to the translation of the Sacred Word, was influenced by regal authority or not.

After that two editions had been executed abroad, besides two of the New Testament ina separate form, it was certainly time for the English printers to bestir themselves; and the man who had printed for Queen Mary all along, John Cawood, must be allowed to take the lead. He had changed with the times, and now came forward with an edition of Cranmer’s Bible in quarto; while Richard Jugge, silent since the days of Edward, now gave two editions of the New Testament, one of Tyndale’s, and, it has been affirmed, one of Coverdale’s. Richard Harrison, too, though not printer to her Majesty, having obtained licence, had printed an edition of Cranmer’s Testament. Thus, and before the year 1561 had expired, it is curious enough, the people had Tyndale and Coverdale, Cramner and the Geneva version all before them. Seven years must pass away before another competitor appears; but this will be no other than Parker’s or the Bishops’ Bible, and the result remains to be seen. These, even including Parker’s Bible, it must be borne in mind, were, without exception, personal undertakings, or affairs managed with certain stationers-that is, printers or booksellers for the time being, the licence granted for every single edition being applied for, to secure the parties against loss by their outlay of capital. The different versions were like so many candidates for public choice, or so many feelers, put forth through an all-wise, overruling Providence, leaving time to discover which was to prevail, as esteemed by the readers to be the best, or nearest to the Divine original.

In the year 1562, an edition of Cranmer’s Bible appeared, the first in folio under Elizabeth: and it is worthy of notice, that this came from neither of her Majesty’s printers, but from the press of Richard Harrison, already mentioned.

The two previous editions of the Geneva Bible being exhausted, Bodley, in 1565, was preparing a new impression, but wishing to renew his privilege beyond the seven years first granted, he applied to Sir William Cecil. The wary Secretary consulted Archbishop Parker, who replied that though he was himself, with other Bishops, then engaged on “another special Bible for the Churches,” he thought so well of this one, that he wished Bodley to have twelve years’ longer term to his special privilege, but coupled with this recommendation his desire to “take such order with the party in writing under his hand, that no impression should pass, but by their direction, consent, and advice.” Thus quietly setting aside the royal licence unless confirmed by the consent and advice of the Bishops! The idea of such a rider on his patent, once communicated to Bodley, seems to have been quite sufficient, for after this date we hear not one word more of it; and the Geneva translation was printed again and again, without licence either asked or granted!

About twenty-eight years ago, or in 1538, the reader cannot fail to remember an edition of Matthew’s Bible being conmenced under Coverdale’s inspection at Paris, which, however, had to be finished ia London. But if the state of France was unpropitious to such an attempt then, it seemed to have been much more so now. There happened, however, to be a short pause in the civil wars which for forty years had desolated that fine country. The King of Navarre had been killed at a siege, the Duke of Guise assassinated, and fifty thousand Huguenots already slain. Elizabeth, for her own safety’s sake, had aided this people; and in 1563 a peace was concluded which lasted till 1567. A gentleman, then living at Rouen in Normandy, belonging to the Customs, and of good repute, resolved to seize the opportunity here presented him; and at his own cost and charges, committed to the press an edition of Cranmer’s Bible in folio. This is a very fine book, on royal paper, printed “at Rouen by C. Hamilton, cum privilegio, 1566.” This gentleman, Richard Carmarden, the frequent, correspondent of Cecil, as in the Lansdowne manuscripts, was afterwards in the London Custom House, and living as late as the year 1599.

Another instance at home was no other than the last edition printed by the same man who in the midst of actual pestilence, and with but doubtful prospect of success, first brought the Bible of 1537 into England, Richard Grafton. He had weathered the storm in Mary’s reign, and now saw his old virulent enemy, Bonner, still living, but under general contempt, and in prison. Though advanced in life, Grafton ventured on an edition of Cranmer’s Bible, evidently intended for family use. It was the first edition of the English Bible in one volume octavo; and it seems to have been a very large impression. At least there is a passage in the annals of Queen Elizabeth, by Sir James Ware, the Irish Camden, which, if correct, could bear upon no other than the present octavo Bible. “In the year 1566,” says he, “John Dale, a bookseller, imported seven thousand copies of the Bible from London, and sold the whole, in Ireland, within two years.” What a singular contrast to so many succeeding years! But it would be a circumstance no less memorable, if the very same individual who first brought the Sacred Volume into England in 1537, should, before his death, have been the first employed in printing it even for Ireland itself.

Accordingly, there does not appear to be one copy left in the possession of any private collector, or public library, on this side of the Channel, nor have we heard whether there be one left in Ireland.

At last, in 1568, or the tenth year after Elizabeth had ascended the throne, the first edition of the Bible, superintended by Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, was published. Great care had been taken in this revision of the text, by more than fifteen learned men, Greek and Hebrew scholars, besides Parker himself, who superintended the several portions, as they came from the hands of those to whom he had committed them.

The Pentateuch was consigned to W. E. or William Alley, Bishop of Exeter; Joshua, Judges and Ruth, to R. M. or Richard Davies of St. David’s, who had previously been engaged in translating the Bible into Welsh; Samuel, the Kings and Chronicles, were assigned to Edwyn Sandys of Worcester; Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther and Job, to A. P. C. or Andrew Pearson, Prebendary of Canterbury; the Psalms to T. B. or Thomas Bentham of Lichfield and Coventry; the Proverbs to A. P. C.; Ecclesiastes and Solomon’s Long, to A. P. E. or Andrew Perne, Dean of Ely; Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Lamentations, to R. W. or Robert Horn of Winchester; Ezekiel and Daniel to T. C. L. or Thomas Cole, once at Geneva, afterwards Dean of Lincoln; the minor Prophets to E. L. or Edmunde Grindel of London; the Apocrypha to J. N. or John Parkhurst of Norwich; the Four Gospels and the Acts, to R. E. or Richard Cox of Ely; the Romans to Edmund Guest of Rochester; the Corinthians to G. G. or Gabriel Goodman, Dean of Westminster. Mr. Laurence, a learned Grecian, was also engaged, with one or two other individuals. From the majority of these men being on the Bench, this translation has been styled “the Bishops’ Bible,” the initials above mentioned being printed at the end of their respective parts.

Parker had now at last accomplished that which Cranmer had attempted in vain, or a version of the English Bible, generally revised from the prececling, in conjunction with certain brethren on the Bench, and other scholars. It was a decided improvement on the whole. They had watched Cranmer’s or Coverdale’s leaning to the Vulgate; they expunged the three verses from the fourteenth Psalm, which the latter first inserted at Paris, and in Timothy, they altered Cranmer’s rendering “by authority of the priesthood” to that of “the eldership,” besides other amendments of the text.

It has been erroneously supposed that this revision was undertaken by royal command. There is not only no proof of this, hut the evidence presented forbids the idea. Parker, in presenting the first copy to Elizabeth, through Cecil, prays for her Majesty’s “gracious favour, licence and protection to be extended to this recognition of the Bible.” He entreats the Secretary himself to procure such royal licence for this version, “to be only commended in public reading in churches, to draw to one uniformity;” and that “Jugge only may have the preferment of this edition.” This is not the language of one who is acting under royal command in the matter. Still more is this evident from the circumstance that the requests thus preferred were never granted. The Geneva version continued to be read in many churches, and Jugge received no licence for the exclusive printing of this one.

As far as printing editions could carry it, all justice was done to the Bishops’ Bible; and backed by the influence of so many men on the Bench, personally interested, it must have been presumed that this book would at last carry the palm of superiority, and put not only Cranmer’s version out of sight and out of mind, but the Geneva Bible also. Had not Parker completed his task, and even his final corrections? He was now deceased, a circumstance which, might be supposed to lend additional interest to his labours; and he had been succeeded by Edmund Grindal, one of the translators actually engaged in the work. The Queen, therefore, if she had any zeal, such as the Bishops desired, seemed to owe it to the Primate’s memory, that this, and this alone, should be the Bible in general use; and so, it may be supposed, certain parties anticipated. Besides, to make this the more probable, there had evidently been some hindrance, if not demur, about allowing the Geneva Bible to be printed at all. We know not whether it was owing to Archbishop Parker’s fixed determination to have it under his control; but it is certain that while he lived, no edition was printed upon English ground. After Mr. Bodley’s attempt, there had, it is true, been three impressions, dated in 1568, 1569, and 1570; but all these had been printed at Geneva. Since 1570 there had been no reprint, and in 1575, the sixteenth year of the reigning Queen had come. By this time, complaint as to the long delay in printing it at home, had been publicly and strongly expressed. “If that Bible,” it was said, “be such as no enemy of God could justly find fault with, then may men marvel that such a work, being so profitable, should find so small favour as not to be printed again.”

In the meanwhile, her Majesty was never applied to again, to license by patent the Geneva Bible. Mr. Bodley’s, of course, had expired in 1568; and it may have been on the strength of his expiring patent that the book was edged into England, as it was also into Scotland. If it was now to be printed in London, and far more frequently than any other version; if, after it begins to be so, scarcely a year is to pass without one, or two, or three editions issuing from the press, then this must be brought about in some other way. However imperative the government was, in a thousand other things, great and small, there was to be no force applied here. From the Queen-and her authority was paramount to all other-there were to be no “injunctions” that Parker’s Bible was to be received into families, or alone read under the domestic roof Nay, therc had positively been none whatever as yet, as to its being read in public assembly. The man too, styled “her Majesty’s printer,” and now, moreover, he alone, shall continue, from year to year, to meet the choice and wishes of the people: and though in many other things, connected with their ideas as to the supposed form of religion, Elizabeth be determined to have her own way, and so to cross their will; one whisper of disapprobation as to the people’s BIBLE, or its domestic use, and almost universal perusal, shall never be recorded to have escaped from her lips! If the silence of her sister Mary, in issuing no denunciation of the English Bible by name, was remarkable, considering the general tone of Elizabeth’s character, her silence was far more so; for let it only be remembered that after Parker’s decease in 1575, Elizabeth had yet twenty-eight years to reign, yet this shall not prevent the Geneva Version from being now printed either in folio or quarto, and being read in churches also. Parker has already told us, that they were so read in his days, and twelve years afterwards, we know they were. For the proof of this fact we are indebted to the best of all witnesses then living in the kingdom, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Whitgift himself. “Divers,” says he in the year 1587, “Divers, as well Parish Churches as Chapels of Ease, are not sufficiently furnished with Bibles, but some have either none at all,” (observe still!) “or such as be torn and defaced, and yet not of the translation authorized by THE SYNODS OF BISHOPS.” But the preference shown, both before the sway of Whitgift, as well as under it, survived him for years. If the Queen knew of any difference between the two versions, it must have frequently met her Majesty’s ear, when present at Sermons before the Court; and it might have met her eye, if she deigned to look into what was printed around her. Thus Gervase Babington, a pupil of Whitgift’s, who preached his funeral sermon, and had been successively Bishop of Llandaff, Exeter and Worcester; if we turn to his “Comfort able Notes on the Pentateuch,” to his other expositions, or his sermons preached before the Court at Greenwich, or at Paul’s Cross in 1591, we find him uniformly quote the Geneva Bible, as well as read his text from it.

Thus George Abbot, the successor of Bancroft and predecessor of Laud, when Master of University College, Oxford, under Elizabeth and Whitgift, not only preached, but published in 1600, his sermons upon Jonah, and throughout he used the same version. Other instances might be adduced, but however striking, they would, taken altogether, prove but a feeble indication of that decided preference which began to be shown by the people at large, from the year immediately after Parker’s death.

Here then we are met by a course of events, and the moving cause of that course, the most signal features of Elizabeth’s reign, which after all that has been written, have been passed over by most historians, and never fully explained by any. But are they, on this account, of but, inferior moment?

An extraordinary demand for the Sacred Volume, and supplied by means not less extraordinary, can never be unimportant in the estimation of many; while at the same time the cause of this demand was of such a character, as to form, in the history of the English Bible, one of its brightest pages. To each of these in turn, therefore, the attention of the reader is now solicited.

This eager desire for the Word of Life, and decided preference for it, in the Geneva Version, were simultaneous, in the year 1575. There are therefore several circumstances connected with the times, as well as the character of Elizabeth’s sway, which here invite notice, and will reward it. If the reader, however, will first turn for a moment to our List of Bibles at the close of this work, he cannot fail to be struck with one peculiarity in its appearance.

For a period extending to fifty years, or from 1525 to 1575, he may observe what a number of different men had been engaged in printing the Scriptures; after which, or from 1577, one name alone meets his eye, from year to year. That name is Barker, and since the change, or rather the origin of the change, has never been explained, so that great confusion still prevails on the subject, it becomes of no little importance to understand it now.

The reign of Elizabeth was the age of patents. Jealous of her prerogatives, the granting of monopolies by patent was one of the most cherished modes of displaying it. Enriching herself and a few of her courtiers and crafty traders, the extension of this policy fended to impoverish the kingdom and fill it with discontent. It was the subject of frequent remonstrance in Parliament, where the idea thrown out, that it might be extended to bread, filled the members with alarm. Their expostulations had little effect, for, with a few exceptions; these patents, above forty in number, remained unrepealed at the Queen’s death in 1603. Among these, there was a class styled, by way of distinction,PATENTS OF PRIVILEGE, the holders of which might sell licences of that for which they held the patent to the highest bidder.

One of these patents of privilege was granted in 1575, (no doubt for a consideration,) to Sir Thomas Wilkes, Elizabeth’s Ambassador to France, Holland and Ger,nany, as “her Majesty’s printer of the English tongue.”

The chief part of this patent was resold to John Jugge, the son of Richard, the printer of Parker’s Bible. A formal complaint of this was made to the authorities by 175 members of the Stationers’ Company, and 185 dealers in books, free of other companies, all of London, representing the injury inflicted on them, their families, workmen, apprentices, and the public generally by this monopoly.

John Jugge died soon after, having never once exercised his privilege; but in 1577, Wilkes again sold a patent of a far more exclusive character than the one complained of; and who was the purchaser? One of those who had so bitterly complained of the former, who changed his voice as soon as he was in possession of the coveted privilege,-one that specially included the printing of the Old and New Testament in the English language. This was Christopher Barker, who afterwards speaks of the great sum he had paid to Wilkes, as if he were a loser by the bargain. Nevertheless, in 1589, when Wilkes had fallen into disgrace, Barker, now well known to Cecil, and patronized by Walsingham, applies for and obtains a new patent from the Queen direct. For a still greater sum he now secures the privilege, for the joint lives of himself and his son Robert, who survived him for the long period of forty-six years.

The extensive patent of Christopher and Robert Barker once secured, in regard to the Scriptures, it embraced “all B ibles and Testaments whatsoever, in the English language, of whatever translation, with notes, or without notes, printed before then, or afterwards to be printed by our command.” The privileges are granted, professedly, in consideration of Mr. Barker’s great improvement in the art of printing. But the most singular feature of the document at such a crisis, is this, that no notice whatever is taken of any one translation, as preferable to another, no, nor of any one as having been either ordered or sanctioned by the Queen. This too becomes more remarkable, when it is observed that the patent was granted under the sway of Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, the strenuous promoter of uniformity in everything else, and whose decided preference of the Bishops’ version had only the year before been strongly marked and enforced. Burleigh indeed, and Sir Francis Walsingham, may be presumed to have acquiesced in a licence so broad; but at all events, here, under one of the most powerful monarchs that had ever held the English sceptre, and as rigid a Primate as had occupied the See of Canterbury, since the invention of printing. if we look to what followed, it is not difficult to see there, an overruling hand once more. Whatever may be said of Queen Elizabeth, assuredly Archbishop Whitgift did not intend to promote the perusal throughout all England of any version of the Scriptures, save one, now sanctioned by “the Synod of Bishops;” but then here comes her Majesty, with open eyes, and by her sign manual, she has left the people free to choose, in the highest sense, when, so far as her power extended, she would on no account allow it, in any other.

No one will stand up now, to justify the course pursued by Barker from the beginning. It was a most mercenary affair from first to last; and yet even when a man is so influenced, the consequences, whether immediate or remote, by the hand of God may easily be overruled for good. One consequence, at all events, is here worthy of special observation. Even under an exclusive patent, granted by a Queen imperative even to trifles, since the supply was after all regulated solely by the demand, and only the sordid prospect of remuneration, we are able to see, and as clearly as we did under Edward the Sixth, what was the taste or choice of the great body of English readers.

In contemplating this long and powerful reign, with immediate reference to the Sacred Volume, there are three distinct points alike worthy of notice and recollection. The first is, the number of editions on the whole, so very far beyond that which has ever been observed. A second peculiarity is very manifest, or the number of impressions in what is usually styled the Geneva version, in comparison with others, or with Cranmer’s and Parker’s versions taken together. Bur, the third point, as soon as our list at the close is glanced at, cannot escape notice-the large number of Bibles, as compared with the editions of the New Testament separately.

Apprehension, approaching nearly to horror, had been expressed in Parliament, at the very idea of a patent for bread; but here was a commodity infinitely above it, in point of importance and value-the Bread of Life; and since it had been delivered into the hands of one man, to deal it out in conformity to privilege granted; this being the first movement of the kind, every reader must be curious to observe the experiment in its first operation and consequences. Here, then, he may now do so, at the distance of two hundred and forty years, and for a space of time equal to that of the entire generation first so circumstanced.

The supply on the whole cannot fail to occasion delightful surprise, as it so far exceeds what has ever been pointed out in history. Speaking of the Geneva version only, Lewis conjectured that there had been “above thirty editions in folio, quarto, and octavo, printed from the year 1560 to the year 1616.” And so very loosely has the history of our Bible been regarded, that, although the editions of Shakspeare have been scanned and counted with the most vigilant scrupulosity, this vague estimate of the Scriptures has been repeated in print, by Newcome and many others, down to the present hour! Lewis took great pains in his day, and then spoke according to the extent of his research; but had he multiplied by three, and said ninety editions, instead of thirty, and added thirty editions more of the New Testament separately, he would have been not far from the truth. We are here, however, confined to the reign of Elizabeth terminating in 1603, or thirteen years before the estimate of Lewis; and, referring to our list at the end for particulars, we can now speak only in round numbers.

From the year 1560 to that of 1603 inclusive, there had been certainly not fewer than one hundred and thirty distinct issues of Bibles and Testaments, or about eighty-five of the former and forty-five of the latter, which presents an average of three issues annually throughout the entire reign; and notwithstanding all the caution exercised for the first sixteen years.

With reference to the Geneva version, out of the gross issues now stated the number approaches to ninety editions, thus leaving only forty for all others. Or if we speak of Bibles alone, while the number of Cranmer’s and Parker’s version put together we state as twenty-five, that of the Geneva Bible had amounted at least to sixty editions. The very remarkable disproportion, however, between the New Testaments issued as compared with the Bible entire, demands more particular observation, and it will come before us presently.

Here, it is granted, we have a subject which previous historians have overlooked, as either below their notice, or unworthy of investigation. The imprisonment and death of Mary Queen of Scots, the invincible Spanish Armada, and the dominant power of Elizabeth, on the one hand; or the life and actions of Parker, Grindal, and Whitgift, of Bacon and Leicester, Cecil and Walsingham, on the other, have so engrossed the mind, that history on this subject has been cold, nay, silent. But may we not leave it to the judgment of every unbiassed reader, whether there was any movement of the passing day to be compared to this, either in itself or in its consequences? What are the footsteps of men or monarchs, moving like shadows o’er the plain, when compared with the progress of Divine Truth in any nation? Editions of the Sacred Volume, at any given time, rise in importance infinitely above those of any human composition; but at this period especially, owing to peculiar circumstances, they formed the only unerring index to the thirst for Divine revelation, or the actual progress in Christian knowledge. This, it will be granted, is a state of mind the most vital of all others, so far as Christianity in its proper sense is concerned; while, far from being a transitory ebullition, it extended over a space of time equal to more than a generation. This was a growing and prodigious purchase of the Sacred Scriptures, for they were neither given away, nor sold at reduced prices, as in modern times. In short, the people of the day, whether in England or Scotland,PURCHASED all they read, nay, and paid ten times the value of the present prices.

The cause of this remarkable demand for the Word of God is a problem that cannot be solved by pointing either to the power of party or to the power of preaching.

In the days of Edward VI., there were but two parties, the “Friends of the Old Learning,” and the “Friends of the New;” and to the zeal of the latter might be ascribed the thirst for the Sacred Word that then prevailed. But under Elizabeth this party was again divided, so that there were now three great parties in the kingdom, whose struggles occasioned all the restless uneasiness of that otherwise powerful reign. But whatever desire some one or other of these might feel for the circulation of the Bible, or preference for some version of it, the patent of Christopher Barker now stands ia the way. Every sheet of either version must issue from his press, and he, a man of the world, with a view to gain alone, will throw off only those which will answer the one object he has in view. The Queen has sold away her interest in the sale, and Barker will go with the stream, where the prospect of gain may carry him. The people are left to show their preference by their demand, and he meets this demand in the way most profitable to himself, never allowing his interests to be affected by the smallest zeal for party. It was his interest to lessen the cost of printing the Bible, while the price was kept up; hence, by degrees, disappear dedications, prefaces, addresses to the reader, and all that might gratify either party. To the same avarice in the patentee we must ascribe the small number of Testaments compared with Bibles printed by him. “Testaments ALONE” said the poor mercenary monopolist, “are not greatly commodious, by reason the prices are so small as will scarcely bear the charges.” They were found commodious enough before the exclusive patent was granted. But now, all who desired to have a New Testament must gratify it only at a great personal expense.

Nor can the large sale of the Scriptures at this time be ascribed to the power of preaching. The “liberty of prophesying’’ was under even greater restraint than the liberty of the press. The London petitioners to Parliament complained that one half of the City churches were without preachers, and of the remaining half “is scarce the tenth man to be found that maketh any conscience carefully to wait upon his charge.” In vain did Archbishop Grindal plead for “the plentiful preaching of the Gospel of Christ,” aud approach the throne on its behalf. The Queen herself told him “that it was good for the Church to have few preachers; that three or four might suffice for a county; and that the reading of the homilies to the people was sufficient!” Firm as a rock, she never relented, nor forgave the man who so earnestly pled for the “ministry of reconciliation,” Primate of all England though he was. Under the cloud of her displeasure he closed his days.

Whitgift succeeded him with a policy the reverse of his, and preaching was all but put down. But it mattered not. The demand for the Word of Life rose progressively, and the issues of edition after edition from the press of Barker continued to meet the growing demand.

In conclusion, we enter not here into the comparative merits of the Bishops’ and the Geneva versions, nor should the attention at present be diverted to any such point. Both went on to be printed, and they will, therefore, come before us under the next reign. Suffice it to say, that, as translations, as instruments in the hand of God, both were all-sufficient for His purpose; but it is of more immediate consequence, that the mind should rest on the remarkable fact, that under the reign of Elizabeth not fewer than one hundred and thirty distinct publications of the Divine Word passed through the press, mainly to meet the desires of the people; while the disposition thus to purchase and to read must have had a cause.

Unable, therefore, to point out any adequate instrumental cause upon earth, why should there now be any hesitation in all England to refer immediately to Him “from whom all good counsels and all such desires proceed”? Considering the people as a people, far from being any disadvantage or discredit to them, that God himself should thus speak to them more directly than usual, and by His own Word, it only placed them in a higher state of responsibility. The number of its editions has shed quite a new light, and, in reference to the period itself, it is questionable whether any people in Europe can now produce a parallel; but certainly there was, at that period, no similar proceeding in any nation.

The Queen upon the throne might cast indignity upon the ordinance of Heaven for saving the souls of men, or care not for it. For this the Primate of all England, being of another mind, might pine for years under her frown; or, as ever after, his successor, Whitgift, might carry everything before him. The Commons’ House of Parliament itself might propose to meet for prayer, and to hear a sermon; when, being rebuked by her Majesty for their presumption in not first asking counsel of her, to obtain her sanction, they gave up the intention, and never heard one. One half of the buildings called churches in the capital might stand there, and no one faithful voice be heard within their walls, while only the tenth man of the remaining half possessed any conscience. All this and more might be, but the Word of Jehovah must not be bound.

Nor was it that the Almighty Redeemer undervalued the ministry of his own appointment. Far from any mind be such a thought. But HE is a Sovereign, “having no need either of His own works or of man’s gifts,” and for a season might suspend their operation for a higher end, even the glory and power of His Revealed Word. True religion revived in Babylon when Jerusalem lay in ruins, as it had prospered in the wilderness, before the Temple was built; and of that favoured people, as the depositaries of the truth, it was once said, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead,”-but a greater than Moses was here.

All this while, the nation was seen rising, confessedly, into far greater power, though often agitated; and if without were rightings, within were fears. The reign had been stained by the blood of persecution; and as liberty of conscience was understood by no party, instances of oppression occurred with a frequency which cannot be explained fully, till the State Paper Commission has done the same justice to Elizabeth which it has done to her father. But throughout all the tumultuous scene-the zeal for what was styled uniformity-the decrees of the Star Chamber, and the restrictions of the press, the “still small voice” was there. In other words, from year to year, and as with pointing finger, a benignant Providence stood above the nation, directing it to the Bible alone, as its only charter to the skies; or God’s own divine grant, in the language of the people, to all the glories of life eternal.

Christianity, not an outward conventional form, being essentially a mental subject, addressing the heart and soul of man, this first and fundamental truth-“the all-sufficiency of the Divine record,”-it was worthy of its Divine Author to repeat, so emphatically, in the ear of the people, from month to month, and from year to year, amidst all their wild confusion and the strife of tongues. This was a consideration, which, historically, had taken precedence of everything else, whether of the ministry itself, or the form of godliness. Nay, and it is a truth still, which if the heart and conscience of this nation were once fixed upon it, the consequences would surpass human foresight: meanwhile this, and by way of eminence, seems to be one main instruction to be drawn from all that had yet occurred. By the man of mere party, it is true, of whatever class throughout the kingdom, from Oxford all round to the sea, the monition may not even yet be heard; and that simply because the subject is one which happens to be above his customary sphere of judgment. But should the slightest hesitation remain in the mind of any reader, let him read on. Upon this subject there is no ambiguity awaiting him, in the sequel.

JAMES I. TO THE COMMONWEALTH. 1603.-1650.

Accession Of James-His Strange Progress Through The Country-His Needless Profusion-Conference At Hampton Court Explained-Revision Of Tile Scriptures-The Revisors-Instructions Givien-Progress Made-Revision Of Tile Whole-Money Paid, But Not By His Majesty, Nor By Any Bishop, After The King’s Application But By The Patentee-Tile Present Version Published-No Proclamation, No Order Of Privy Council, Or Any Act Of The Legislature Upon Record, On The Subject-Did Not Become The Version Generally Received Throughout England, Scotland, And Ireland, Till About Forty Year,S Afterwards-The Last Attempt To Interfere With The English Bible By A Committee Of Parliament, Representing England, Ireland, And Scotland-Utterly In Vain,

UP to the present moment, the history of tho English Bible had maintained a character peculiar to itself Originating with no mere patron, whether royal or noble, the undertaking had never yet been promoted at the personal expense of any such party. But now in regard to that version of the Sacred Volume, which for two hundred and thirty years has been read with delight from generation to generation, and proved the effectual means of knowledge, holiness, and joy to millions; it may be imagined by some, as there was now another and a final change, that our history must, at last, change, or in other words, forfeit its character. If, however, the accounts frequently given of our present version have been involved in as much inaccuracy of statement, as they have been with regard to all the preceding changes, there is the greater necessity for the public mind being disabused; and that, too, whether in Britain, or America, or the British foreign dependencies. This is a subject which alike concerns them all, as they all read, and prize, the same version.

If because that a dedication to James the First of England has been prefixed to many copies, though not to many others; and if because not only historians at their desks, but lawyers at the bar, and even judges on the bench, have made most singular mistakes-it has therefore been imagined by any, or many, that the present version of our Bible was either suggested by this monarch; or that he was at any personal expense in regard to the undertaking; or that he ever issued a single line of authority by way of proclamation with respect to it, it is more than time that the delusion should come to an end. The original and authentic documents of the time are so far explicit, that, just in proportion as they are sifted, and the actual circumstances placed in view, precisely the same independence of’ personal royal bounty, and, on the part of the people at large, the same superiority to all royal dictation, which we have beheld all along, will become apparent. James himself, however vain, is certainly not so much to be blamed for any different impression, as some others who have misrepresented his Majesty. On the other hand, his character was such that to many writers it has occasioned some exercise of patience even to refer to it. But since his name occurs in connexion with this final revision of the English Bible, it is of the more importance to ascertain tho exact amount of this connexion. From the moment in which he was invited to the throne, and to be King of Great Britain, his own favourite term, down to the year in which our present version was published, his “royal progress” is forced upon our notice.

By the death of Elizabeth on the 24th of March, 1603, James succeeded to the throne of England. During the whole of the summer and autumn of that year, he gave himself up to the pleasures of the chase, the monotony of which was only interrupted by feasts and masks on the most extensive scale; occasioning the greatest anxiety to the Lord Treasurer to find means to supply the King’s profusion. To avoid the plague which was then raging in London and its vicinity, as well as to find sport for James, the Court made a progress through the kingdom, but was haunted by the sickness which followed it everywhere, and infected every spot at which it halted.

Before the close of the year, so exhausted were the King’s resources, and so low his credit with the money-lenders both at home and abroad, that he was forced to issue his proclamation for the meeting of Parliament on the 19th of March following, to obtain supplies. It was in the midst of his heartless sports at Wilton, when the plague was carrying off its thousands weekly in London, that James summoned another meeting, known as the CONFERENCE OF HAMPTON COURT, “for the hearing, and for the determining, things pretended to be amiss in the Church.” This Conference was held on the 14th, 16th, and 18th January, 1604, but did not consist of any official body of men. As Parliament had not met, James was not as yet, according to law, King of England, except by courtesy. There were present only nine Bishops, eight Deans, two Professors of Divinity from Oxford, and two from Cambridge, with the King’s Chaplain, Patrick Galloway, from Scotland. Nor were these all present any one day. The only subject debated, the result of which has been of any lasting consequence to posterity, was, the necessity for another translation of the Bible. The proposal came from Mr. John Rainolds, a man of high character, and perhaps iht most eminent individual for learning in the kingdom. His fame grew from the Greek lecture in Corpus Christi College, Oxford, of which he was the president. Some made a few objections, especially Bancroft, Bishop of London, who muttered that, “if every man’s humour were followed, there would be no end of translating;” but the King expressing his approbation of the scheme, there was, at present, no gainsaying. The second of the articles, as presented by Rainolds, (according to Galloway, whose account was corrected by the King’s own hand) was the following:- “That a translation be made of the whole Bible, as consonant as can be to the original Hebrew and Greek; and this to be set out and printed, without any marginal notes, and only to be used in all Churches of England in time of divine service.”

The Parliament met on the 19th of March, and the Convocation next day; but the former was dissolved, and the latter rose, without a word being uttered on the subject of the new translation. Before the end of June, a list of scholars suitable for the work was presented to James for his acceptance. They were selected for him, and he of course approved. This was notified to the intended translators in a letter from Bancroft, dated 30th June, 1604, in which he informs them that it is “the King’s pleasure that they should, with all possible speed, meet together in their University and begin the same.”

Then followed another letter dated 31st July, addressed to all ·the Bishops, enclosing one from His most excellent Majesty, straitly charging them to confer any prebends or parsonages in their gift, which “shall next upon any occasion happen to be void,” on some one of the learned translators who may have no ecclesiastical preferment, or one “unmeet for men of their desert,” pleading his own inability to supply them, for” We of OURSELF, in any convenient time, cannot well remedy it.” Cecil as Chancellor of Cambridge addressed that University to the same purport.

We give the list of translators here, with their respective tasks to which a few particulars, from the best authorities, are subjoined:- Westminster .

Genesis to II Kings inclusive.

Dr. Lancelot Andrews , then Dean of Westminster, who is reported to, have been such a linguist that he understood fifteen. Afterwards Bishop of Chichester, 1605; then of Ely in 1609; and finally of Winchester in 1619. Died 21 Sep. 1626, aged 71.

Dr. John Overall , then Dean of St. Paul’s. Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, 1614; of Norwich in 1618. Died 12 May, 1619, aged 60.

Dr. Adrian A Sarvia , then Cauon of Westminster. Of Spanish extraction: the friend of Hooker, and tutor of Nicholas Fuller. Afterwards Prebend of Gloucester, and Canterbury, where he died 15 January, 1613, aged 82.

Dr. Richard Clarke , then Fellow of Christ College, Cambidge; Vicar of Minster and Monkton in the isle of Thanet. Died in 1634, and a folio volume of his sermons published in 1637.

Dr. John Laifield , then Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; afterwards Rector of St. Clement’s Danes. A Fellow of Chelsea College, which, however, was never founded. Died in 1617.

Dr. Robert Tighe , or Teigh , (not Leigh as often misnamed,) then Archdeacon of Middlesex, and Rector of All-Hallows, Barking. An excellent textuary and profound linguist. He died in 1616, leaving his son £1000 a year.

Dr. Francis Burleigh, then Vicar of Bishop Stortford, if not of Thorley, Herts, and died in 1619 (?)

Dr. Geoffry or Wilfrid King , then Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge. As Regius Professor of Hebrew in that University, he succeeded Robert Spalding, about to be mentioned.

Richard Thompson , M.A. of Clare Hall, Cambridge; born in Holland of English parents; an admirable philologer, but better known in Italy, France, and Germany, than at home.

William Bedwell , the best Arabic scholar of his time. The tutor of Erpenius and Pocock; (but not W. Bedell of Kilmore, as has been conjectured; he was then at Venice.) “The industrious and thrice-learned,” said Lightfoot, “to whom I will rather be a scholar, than take on me to teach others.” Cambridge .

I. Chronicles to Ecclesiastes inclusive.

Edward Livlie , Regius Professor of Hebrew for thirty years in this University; an eminent linguist, in high esteem by Ussher and Pocock. His death, in May 1605, is supposed to have retarded the work in hand.

Dr. John Richardson , then Fellow of Emmanuel College; afterwards Master of Peter House, then of Trinity College. He is not to be confounded with Ussher’s friend of the same name. Died in 1625.

Dr. Laurence Chaderton , distinguished for Hebrew and Rabbinical learning, then first Master of Emmanuel College. “If you will not be Master,” said Sir Walter Mildmay, “I will not be Founder.” He was the tutor of Joseph Hall of Norwich and W. Bedell of Kilmore, who retained the highest veneiation for him, and died the year after him. Chaderton, who never required the aid of spectacles, died, according to his epitaph, at the age of 103! Born in 1537, he lived to 13th November, 1640. His life, in Latin, by W. Dillingham, was published in 1700.

Francis Dillingham , then Fellow of Christ’s College, an eminent Grecian. He was Parson of Dean, and beneficed at Wihlen, Beds. As an anthor, he, ns well as Overall, continued to quote the Geneva version years after our present one had been published. He died a single and a wealthy man.

Thomas Harrison , Vice-Chancellor of Trinity College, was eminently skilled in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew tongues, as his own University has borne witness. Dyer ascribes to him a Lexicon Pente Glotton.

Dr. Roger Andrews , brother of Lancelot, then Fellow of Pembroke Hall, and afterwards Master of Jesus College, and Prebendary of Chichester. Died in 1618.

Dr. Robert Spalding , then Fellow of St. John’s Collcge, and afterwards the successor of Livlie as Regins Professor of Hebrew, a sufficient proof of his skill in that; language.

Dr. Andrew Byng , (not Burge, as in Burner and Wilkins,) then Fellow of St. Peter’s College. In 1606 Sub-dean of York, and in 1618 Archdeacon of Norwich. As Regius Professor of Hebrew, he succeeded King, who had succeeded Spalding, already mentioned. Oxford .

Isaiah to Malachi inclusive.

Dr. John Harding , then Regius Professor of Hebrew in the University, and afterwards President of Magdalen College, and also Rector of Halsey in Oxfordshire.

Dr John Rainolds , President of Corpus Christi College; or the man who moved the King for this new translation. “The memory and reading of that man,” said Bishop Hall, “were near to a miracle; and all Europe at the time could not have produced three men superior to Rainolds, Jewell, and Ussher, all of this same College.” At the age of 58, he died 21st May, 1607. Even during his sickness, his coadjutors met at his lodgings once a week, to compare and perfect their notes.

Dr. Thomas Holland , then Fellow of Balliol College, afterwards Rector of Exeter, and Regius Professor of Divinity in Oxford. “Another Apollos,” says Wood, “and mighty in the Scriptures.” Died 17th March, 1613, aged 73.

Dr. Richard Kilby , the Rector of Lincoln College, highly esteemed by Isaac Walton. He was afterwards prebendary of Lincoln, and Professor of Hebrew in the University of Oxford. He left commentaries on Exodus, drawn from the Rabbins and Hebrew interpreters. Died November 1620.

Dr. Miles Smith , then Canon of Hereford. A Hebrew and Chaldee, Syriac and Arabic scholar. He is understood to have been the writer of the preface. He and Bilson we shall find to be the final examinators of the whole work. Bishop of Gloucester in 1612.

Dr. Richard Brett , then Fellow of Lincoln College. Eminent as a linguist in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, to which he added Chaldee, Arabic, and Ethiopic. Rector of Quainton, Bucks, where he died 15th April, 1637.

Richard Fairclough of New College, Oxford(?); the Rector of Bucknell. Oxfordshire, who died there in 1638. Oxford .

Matthew to rite Acts inclusive, and the Revelation.

Dr. Thomas Ravis , then Dean of Christ Church; afterwards, on the 14th March, 1605, Bishop of Gloucester, and in 1607 of London, where He died, 14th December, 1609.

Dr. George Abbot , then Dean of Winchester and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford. Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry in 1609; of London 1610, and, Bancroft dying 2nd November, Abbot became primate in 1611. Died 4th August, 1633, aged 71.

Dr. John Aglionby , then Principal of St. Edmund’s Hall and Rector of Islip, and afterwards chaplain in ordinary to the King. “Accomplished in learning and an exact linguist.” Dr..Richard Eedes was indeed the first appointed, but he died 19th November, 1604; Aglionby died 6th February, 1610.

Dr. Giles Tomson , then Dean of Windsor, afterwards in March Bishop of Gloucester, but died 14th June next year. “He had taken a great deal of pains in translating.”

Sir Henry Savile , Greek tutor to Elizabeth, and Provost of Eton. He was knighted by James this year, and, losing his son about that period, he devoted his time and fortune to the encouragement of learning. He contributed several rare books and MSS. to the Bodleian, besides Greek type and matrices to the Oxford press. His fine edition of Chrysostom’s Works, in Greek, with notes by John Bois after-mentioned, and of which 1000 copies, in 8 volumes folio, were printed, is said to have cost him £8000. He died at Eton, 19th February, 1622, aged 73.

Dr. John Peryn , Professor of Greek, and afterwards Canon of Christ Church. Died 9th May, 1615.

Dr. Leonard Hutten , then Vicar of Flower, Northamptonshire; an excellent Greek scholar, and learned in other branches. He died at the age of 75, 17th May, 1632. Dr. Ravens had been first appointed, but his place vacated.

Dr. John Harmar had been Professor of Greek, Warden of Winchester College. A noted Latin and Greek scholar. He published Latin translations from Chrysostom, and his translation of Beza’s sermons into English bespeaks him an excellent writer of English. He died 11th October, 1613. Westminster .

Romans to Jude inclusive.

Dr. William Barlow , made Dean of Chester in December 1604, Bishop of Rochester in 1605, of Lincoln, 1608. Died 7th September, 1613.

Dr. Ralph Hutchenson , then President of St. John’s College, Oxford.

Wood’s Athenae, by Bliss, ii. p. 92.

Dr. John Spencer , Fellow of Corpus Christi College, and afterwards Chaplain to the King. On the death of Dr. Rainolds he succeeded him as President of Corpus Christi, and died 3rd April, 1614.

Dr. Roger Fenton , it has been supposed; if so, Fellow of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge; and Minister of St. Stephen’s, Walbrook, London.

Michael Rabbett , B.D., was Rector of St. Vedast, Foster Lane, London.

Dr. Thomas Sanderson , of Balliol College, Oxford (?) Archdeacon of Rochester in 1606.

William Dakins , B.D., then Greek Lecturer, Cambridge, and afterwards junior Dean in 1606. He had been chosen for his skill in the original languages, but died February 1607.

f104 To these men the King is reported to have given the following Instructions or Rules:- 1. The ordinary Bible read in the Church, commonly called the Bishops’ Bible, to be followed, and as little altered as the original will permit. 2. The names of the Prophets and the holy writers, with the other names in the text, to be retained as near as may be, according as they are vulgarly used. 3. The old ecclesiastical words to be kept: as the word CHURCH not to be transated CONGREGATION, &c. 4. When any word hath divers significations, that to be kept which hath been most commonly used by the most ancient Fathers, being agreeable to the propriety of the place, and the analogy of faith. 5. The division of the chapters to be altered either not at all, or as little as may be, if necessity so require. 6. No marginal notes at all to be affixed, but only for the explanation of the Hebrew or Greek words, which cannot without some circumlocution, so briefly and fitly be expressed in the text. 7. Such quotations of places to be marginally set down, as shall serve for the fit reference of one Scripture to another. 8. Every particular man of each company to take the same chapter, or chapters; and, having translated or amended them severally by himself where he thinketh good, all to meet together, confer what they have done, and agree for their part what shall stand. 9. As one company hath dispatched any one book in this manner, they shall send it to the rest, to be considered of seriously and judiciously: for his Majesty is careful in this point. 10. If any company, upon the review of the book so sent, shall doubt or differ upon any places, to send them word thereof, note the places, and therewithal send their reasons: to which, if they consent not, the difference to be compounded at the general meeting, which is to be of the chief persons of each company at the end of the work. 11. When any place of special obscurity is doubted of, letters to be directed by authority, to send to any learned man in the land, for his judgment in such a place. 12. Letters to be sent from every bishop to the rest of his clergy, admonishing them of this translation in hand; and to move and charge as many as, being skilful in the tongues, have taken pains in that kind, to send his particular observations to the company, either at Westminster, Cambridge, or Oxford. 13. The Directors in each company to be the Deans of Westminster and Chester for that place; and the King’s Professors in the Hebrew and Greek in each University. 14. These translations to be used, when they agree better with the text than the Bishops’ Bible: viz., 1. Tyndale’s; 2. Matthew’s; 3. Coverdale’s; 4. Whitchurche’s (i.e. Cranmer’s); 5. The Geneva.

The accuracy of these Rules is considerably shaken by the accouter delivered in to the Synod of Dort on the 20th of November, 1618. They state that only seven rules were ultimately prescribed, and that after each individual had finished his task, twelve men (not six) assembling together revised the whole!

Most of the translators were already in independent circumstances, though some were not so, and the posts to which any of them succeeded afterwards are noted under each of their names. These appointments, however, cost his Majesty nothing. But there was another point which the King left Bancroft to explain to all his brethren. The fact was, that seine money did appear to be requisite in the first instance, and his Majesty not choosing to signify in writing that he had none of his own to spare, or that the Lords in the Privy Council would not agree to his drawing on the public purse, he left it to another to explain the dilemma, and, through him, turned to the Bishops and Deans in the hope that they would furnish supplies. The sum specified by Bancroft was not large. It was only marks, £666 13s. 4d., the same amount he had spent in reparing his palace.

The Bishop, however, being under orders, must forward his circular as to this point, which it seems he did; and from one of them yet extant, dated 31st July, 1604, we find him requiring his brethren, with every several Dean and Chapter, in the King’s name, to contribute to the work, and to send him word, as soon as they could, of the amount they would so contribute, hinting that he would “ acquaint his Majesty with every man’s liberality towards this most godly work.”

For a reply to this pressing circular we search in vain. From the Bench entire we hear not one echo; for if there was even one reply, it has never been found, and, at least, no money was ever contributed. The public exchequer was empty, and nothing was to be got from that quarter. It was well that most of the translators were in good circumstances, others had to look forward to the future for their reward, while we find at least one of the most able of them all, John Boys, eating his “commons” first at one college table, and then at another, in Cambridge, during the entire period in which he was there engaged.

It is not fully ascertained when these men sat down to their work. The different parties might not all commence at the same moment, but, on the whole, it may be presumed that, with the Hebrew of the Old Testament, and the Greek of the New, before them all along, the first revision of the sacred text by the forty-seven, occupied about four years; the second examination by twelve, or two selected out of each company, nine months more, and the sheets passing through the press, other two years, when the Bible of 1611 was finished and first issued.

No money was needed while the six companies were working separately at Westminster, Cambridge, and Oxford. But when the selected two of each company met in London, pecuniary supply, to a moderate extent, had become necessary. The entire Bible as it came from the forty-seven was now before these twelve men, who met at Stationers’ Hall, and were thus daily occupied in their second revision for nine months or thirty-nine weeks. They were paid weekly, and a sum of “a thousand marks,” and more, is now required, and the only question is, from whence it came?

From a memoir of John Boys already mentioned, one of the twelve, and who alone took notes, we learn, that each of them, while in London, duly received thirty shillings a week; “though BEFORE they had NOTHING.”

Upwards of £700 must have been thus expended, but with regard to the paymasters for this service, it is evident that the Company of Stationers, in whose Hall they met, had too little interest in the affair to meet this demand. From the King nothing could be hoped for. If it was “not convenient,” to use his own phrase, in 1604, it was far less so in 1608.

After the twelve had performed their share of the work, the translation had to be superintended through the press under the eye of Dr. Miles Smith and Thomas Bilson, Bishop of Winchester, with their subordinates-a process which involved much additional expense for two years, yet neither was this met by any grant of public money.

To a writer in 1651 we are indebted for the information we are in quest of.

Defending the patented monopoly enjoyed by Barkers for more than seventy years, he argues:- “And forasmuch as propriety rightly considered is a legal relation of any one to a temporal good; I conceive the sole printing of the Bible and Testament, with power of restraint in others, to be of right the propriety of one Matthew Barker, Citizen and Stationer of London, in regard that his father paid for the amended or corrected translation of the Bible £3500: by reason whereof the translated copy did of right belong to him and his assigns.”f105 In perfect harmony with this payment, immediately after Robert Barker (the son of the original patentee, and now son-in-law of Day, Bishop of Winchester) had printed the Bible of 1611, in May following he obtains from the King a patent for Christopher, his eldest soft, to hold the same after the death of his father; with the proviso, that if the son should die first, his heirs were to enjoy the benefits for four years after Robert the father’s death. Within five years after this the son died, and so, in February 1617, the King granted the same patent to Robert, the second son, for thirty years, to commence after the death of his father. The Barkers assigned their rights, in July 1627, to Bonham Norton and John Bill, which the King confirmed. In 1635, the father, Robert Barker, yet alive and unsatisfied, obtains the same patent in reversion to Charles and Matthew, his younger sons, after the expiration of all the others! Thus, from down to 1709, during the long period of 132 year’s, not a single copy of the Sacred Volume had issued front the press in which this one family, father, son and grandsons, had not a personal pecuniary interest.f106 To return then for a few moments, and finally, to the Bible of 161l; after neither his Majesty, nor the Bishops, nor the Stationers’ Company, had afforded any pecuniary aid, we have found the money furnished, and very properly, by the only party who was to receive the profits. The honour of payment for the whole concern, so often ascribed to James the First, is by no means to be taken from him, if one shred of positive evidence can be produced; but this, it is presumed, lies beyond the power of research. In this case, therefore, to speak correctly, we have come at last, not to an affair of government, not to a royal undertaking at his Majesty’s expense, according to the popular and very erroneous historical fiction, but simply to a transaction in the course of business. If we inquire for any single royal grant, or look for any act of personal generosity, we search in vain.

There is, however, in conclusion, one other inquiry to be made; and this, to some minds, may be not the least important. It is this. By whose influence or authority was it, that our present version of the Sacred Volume came to be read, not in England alone, but in Scotland and Ireland? This, too, is a question the more interesting to millions, as it is now the Bible of so many distant climes-read not only in the Americas and Canada, but in all the wide-spread and daily extending British colonies.

The reigning King had indeed signified his approbation of the undertaking, and when the Bible was published it bore on its title-page, that the version had been “newly translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised, by his Majesty’s special commandment.” In a separate line below, and by itself, we have these words, “Appointed to be read in churches.” Now, as the Book never was submitted to Parliament, never to any Convocation, nor, as far as it is known, ever to the Privy Council, James, by this title-page, was simply following, or made to follow, in the train of certain previous editions. As for Elizabeth, his immediate predecessor, we have already seen, that under her long reign, there was another version, beside the Bishops’, and that the former enjoyed the decided preponderance in public favour: so, in the present instance, that there might be no mistake or misapprehension, in regard to the influence or authority by which our present Bible came to be universally received, a result somewhat similar took place. “We can assign,” says Professor Lee, of Edinburgh, “no other authority for using the present version of the Bible, except that of the Conference at Hampton Court.” But that Conference had no authority at all, in point of law. The King wrote a letter, by his Archbishop, to the Dignitaries of the Church, but after that one letter, so abortive in one of its objects, he spoke no more. “After this translation was published,” says a writer in the Bibliotheca Literaria, “the others all dropt off by degrees, though I don’t find there was any canon, proclamation, or Act of Parliament to enforce the use of it.” “The present version,” says Dr. Symonds, “appears to have made its way without the interposition of any authority whatever; for it is not easy to discover any traces of a proclamation, canon, or statute published to enforce the use of it.” Sometimes indeed at an episcopal visitation, the question, “Have you a large Bible of the last translation?” was put to the churchwardens. But such inquiries only proceeded in virtue of the King’s personal authority over that Church of which he was recognised as the head, and could have too little effect to account for the growing use of the new version.

One mighty advantage, besides its general superiority as a translation to all its predecessors, consisted in its being without note or comment. That which sunk the Geneva Version, excellent though it was, into oblivion sooner than it otherwise would, was the dead-weight of its notes. Though it continued to be printed by Barker up to 1618 or later, and when he ceased, was printed in Holland, and imported down to 1640 into England, and much later into Scotland, it gradually gave way to the newer and better version.

Under the gradual disclosure of attested facts, in regular succession from Henry the Eighth down to this period; while establishing the high independence of the English Bible as a distinct undertaking, and not to be confounded with other things; the present history may seem to have borne hard upon some men in high places; since it has bereaved the reigning prince, as well as some of his titled advisers, of an honour and influence which have too often been falsely ascribed to them. But in never soliciting their patronage, and in no vital point admitting of their control, it becomes a very observable circumstance, that, at this crisis, when the question of our present version of the Bible came to be settled for two centuries to come, the history will effectually redeem itself from all imputations as to anything invidious towards the Crown, as the Crown. The course it held under monarchical government, will not change when this is gone. Let executive human power be held by whomsoever it might, if put forth here, in the shape of control, it cannot be allowed, and, like former attempts, it must come to nothing. The proposal may be hinted, but it will die away.

It happened about eight years after the death of Laud, and four after that of Charles the First, that a Bill was introduced into the Long Parliament, on the 11th of January, 1653, for “a new English translation of the Bible out of the original tongues.” Such a Bill, it must be remembered, had never before been laid before any previous Parliament in England. Once upon a time indeed, under Edward VI., we have seen that a Bill was brought before the Senate referring simply to the reading of the Bible, which was never mentioned a second time, or heard of more; but respecting any version, or revision of the Scriptures, as the corrsent of Convocation had never been deemed necessary, so that of Parliament had never been consulted. At a period, therefore, when there was no King upon the throne, no Primate in existence, nor any House of Lords, such a proposed Bill excites special notice; while as an attempt on the part of official power to interfere, it becomes the more striking, as being of a new character. The Bill was once mentioned, and only once; but the Parliament of the Lord- Brethren must no more invade the peculiar character of this cause, than the Parliament of royalty; nor must the sovereignty of the people be flattered, any more than the sovereignty of the Prince. This Parliament had already sat for more than twelve years, retaining the supreme authority in their hands, so that this Bill sunk into oblivion by the well-known dissolution of the House soon after. On the 20th of April, Cromwell, surrounded by some of his officers and several hundred men, repaired to the Parliament, and after hearing them for a quarter of an hour discuss the question as to the form of their own dissolution, he rose and peremptorily settled it. In the way which has been so often described, he upbraided certain members, dissolved the House, ordering the members to disperse, the mace to be taken away, and carrying the keys of the House with him, in the afternoon of the same day, he also dissolved the Council of State.

It was just at the time that the London press was occupied with the last volumes of the London Polyglot, edited by Walton, in 1657, that the final attempt to interfere with our present version occurred. Walton himself and a few others appear as though they were about to reconsider it; that is, they were deputed to do so, but as they come before us under the orders of a parliamentary sub-committee, they were not allowed to proceed. The existing Parliament had been summoned by Cromwell, as the Lord Protector, to represent England, Scotland, and Ireland. They had chosen what they were pleased to style “The grand committee for Religion,” but whatever else they had done, or did after, they must not interfere in regard to the Scriptures. This Committee assembled at the house of lord Commissioner Whitlock, who has himself recorded their fruitless attempt in the following words:- “Jan. 16, 1656,” (that is, 1657,) “ordered that it be referred to a sub-committee to send for and advise with Dr. Walton, Mr. Hughes, Mr. Castell, Mr. Clarke, Mr. Poulk, Dr. Cudworth, and such others as they shall think fit; and to consider of the translations and impressions of the Bible, and to other their opinions therein to this committee; and that it be specially commended to the Lord Commissioner Whitlock to take care of this business.”

This Committee accordingly often met, from this date to November following, when they gave in a Report. They might say what they pleased, as to any existing impressions of the Bible, but, as an official body, they must not touch with the Translation itself. Accordingly they had occasion to reprobate the incorrectness of certain editions, but particularly one, printed by John Field for the Barkers, in 1653, or twenty years after their father had been fined under Charles, for the same crime. As for the Translation itself, they made several remarks upon some mistakes; while they agreed, that, as a whole, it was “the best of any translation in the world.” In this testimony, Walton, Castell, Pocock, Seldon, and others concurred; but official authority could not be permitted to proceed any farther.

Parliament was soon dissolved, and from about this period the general acquiescence of the nation in that version of the Bible, which has been read and revered ever since, may be considered as having taken place.