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

ever.

SECTION XI.

TYNDALE ALL ALONE AFTER FRYTH'S DEATH-GENESIS, SECOND EDITION— FRESH ISSUE OF THE PENTATEUCH-SURREPTITIOUS EDITION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT BY JOYE-THE CORRECTED AND IMPROVED EDITION BY TYNDALE-JOYE'S INTERFERENCE EXPLAINED-STATE OF ENGLANDPARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED SEPARATION FROM ROME CONSTRUCTIVE TREASON-MORE AND FISHER IN TROUBLE THE PONTIFF'S SUPREMACY AT AN END-THE IMPORT OF THAT EVENT EQUALLY MISUNDERSTOOD IN ENGLAND, BY SOVEREIGN AND SUBJECT-DIVINE TRUTH IN PROGRESSHARMAN IN LONDON-RESTORED TO FAVOUR BY THE QUEEN-GLANCE AT THE PAST AND PRESENT THE NEW TESTAMENT IMPORTING IN SEVERAL EDITIONS, IN FORCIBLE CONTRAST WITH THE IDLE DREAMS OF THE CONVOCATION.

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

forget another valuable agent, John Roger, into whose hands came all that Tyndale had translated; and who proved so admirable a posthumous friend.

But still, in the death of Fryth, there were alleviating circumstances, as there always have been in the afflictions of the faithful. Such a glorious exit was well fitted to prepare Tyndale for his own, and to render it so much the easier, nay, welcome, when it arrived. We have seen how intensely anxious he was for the character of his friend, and in this he might now well exult. That young man had fought a good fight, had finished his appointed course; and above all, had preserved his fidelity. He had come home from beyond sea, and shown to all England, how a martyr for the truth of God ought to die, if he must. Nothing remained for him but the Christian's great metropolis, the heavenly Jerusalem, the palace of the Great King; into which he had entered, no doubt, with joy upon every side. In him there had been no mis-giving, not a single word of hesitation, no shift or evasion, no halting between two opinions, no love of life, no fear of death. His crown of martyrdom was, unquestionably, by far the brightest which had yet been won upon English ground, ever since this war of opinion had commenced. As Stephen of old had fallen asleep amidst the shower of stones at Jerusalem; so Fryth, also praying for his enemies, had done the same, in the midst of the flames at London. But, besides all this, there were the noted effects, the impression his Christian heroism had produced, and the season that almost immediately ensued. The sky had begun to clear over England for a little season, and this was quite sufficient to convey fresh vigour to our Translator. It was this year, therefore, that there appeared a second impression of Genesis, and an improved, because a revised edition of the New Testament, both of which now deserve notice.

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

on hand, these five being frequently bound up together, form what has frequently been styled the second edition of the Pentateuch.

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

2

George Joye, alias Gee, alias Clarke, a native of Bedfordshire, a Scholar and Fellow of Peter-House, Cambridge, had fled from persecution in 1527, and resided at Strasburg, till he came to Barrow, early in 1532. By his then printing two specimen leaves, in folio, he is supposed to have been aiming after an edition of the Bible for the English market.1 Before this he had been translating from the Latin, as he was competent for nothing more, and since 1530 he had put forth three such translations. Tyndale having been necessarily engrossed elsewhere, with his tract in reply to Sir Thomas More, and on behalf of Fryth in prison, relating to the Lord's Supper, Joye came into closer conference with the printers at Antwerp. He then engaged in correcting, after his own opinion, from the Vulgate, an edition of Tyndale's New Testament, now passing through the press. Christopher Endhoven, of whom we heard so much, seven years ago, being now dead, the business was carried on by his widow. This, it will be remembered, was the press at which the first surreptitious edition had been executed; and the progress of the present one had been very

1 See Tyndale's letter to Fryth, p. 358. A proposal which, of course, came to nothing. 2 These were the Psalter, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. 1. "The Psalter translated from the Latin version of Feline, (or Martin Bucer) Argentine (i.e. Strasburg) by Francis Foxe," not Foye, as written by Waterland to Lewis, and repeated by all who have copied Lewis. The Colophon is "emprinted at Argentine in the yeare of oure Lorde 1530, the 16th day of January (1531 ?) by me Francis foxe." 2. "The Prophete Isaye," translated into English by George Joye: printed at "Strazburg, by Balthasser Beakeneth, 1531." 3. "Jeremy the Prophete, with the song of Moses, translated by G. Joye, 1534, in the monethe of May." No place or printer's name. In 1545 he printed, at Geneva, "an Exposition of Daniel," taken from Melancthon and others, but translated no more. Returning at last to England, he died in 1553.

carefully kept secret from Tyndale, even after his return to Antwerp. This volume, in 16mo, with a title in rubrics, which was finished at press in August 1534, is now exceedingly rare.

Collation. "The New Testament as it was written and caused to be written by them which herde yt, whom also our Saueoure Christ Jesus commaunded that they shulde preach it unto al creatures."-Title, at the back of which is an "almanacke for xviii. yeres." The signatures run a to z. A to H. Then the Epistles of the Apostle St. Paul, on sign Aai, and extend to Cec. At the end of the Revelation is this Colophon-" Here endeth the Newe Testament, diligently ouersene and corrected, and printed now agayn at Antwerpe by me Widowe of Chrystoffel of Endhoue, in the yere of oure Lorde MCCCCC. and xxxiiii in August."

A copy of this book, in fine condition, was once in the possession of George Paton, Esq., of the Custom House, Edinburgh.3 When his books were sold, the present writer well remembers seeing it fetch thirty guineas at public sale. The late bookseller, Mr. Constable, gave for it double the money, and at last it found its way into the Grenville collection, where it now is. We are unable to mention another copy. Meanwhile, Tyndale was very busily occupied in revising and improving the translation of his New Testament, and in three months only after this, it was ready for circulation. Out of England itself, too, ere his first sheet had gone to press, there had come to him a species of encouragement, altogether unprecedented. This arose from his tried friend Mr. Harman having gone to London, and the consequences will meet us, as soon as we return home from Antwerp. But before saying more of the book, or of Joye's interference, we first present a brief collation.

A

"The Newe Testament dylygently corrected and compared with the Greek by Willyam Tindale, and fyneshed in the yere of our Lorde God a MD and xxxiiij. in the moneth of November." This title is within a wood border, at the bottom of which is a blank shield. "W. T. to the Christen reader," 17 pages. prologe into the iiii Evangelystes," 4 pages. "Willyam Tindale, yet once more, to the Christen reader," 9 pages. Then a second title-" The Newe Testament, imprinted at Antwerp by Marten Emperowr, Anno MDXXXiiij.” Matthew begins on folio ii.; Revelation on ccclv.; and afterwards follow "the Epistles taken out of the Old Testament," running on to folio cccc. A table of the Epistles and Gospels for Sundays, 16 pages-with "some things added to fill up the leffe with all," 5 pages. The signatures run in eights, and a full page has 33 lines. It has wood-cuts in the Revelations, and some small ones at the beginning of the Gospels, and several of the Epistles.

3 Herbert's Ames, iii, p. 1831.

The second address of Tyndale to the Christian Reader forms a caveat with reference to Joye's interference; and there can be little doubt that the first title with his name inserted in full, and as having compared the Sacred Text once more with the Greek, was owing to the same cause. The occurrence, which could not fail to be felt at the moment, is to be valued now thus far, that it gave occasion for Tyndale to speak out, and discover whether he had not all along translated from the original, and was laudably jealous over the precise terms of his translation. When he alludes to Joye, it is in the language of a scholar, who could not but regard him as rash and incompetent; and, in point of fact, he soon discovered himself to be a man of very inferior caliber, whether in regard to learning or sound judgment. Placed in such critical circumstances as Tyndale had been for years, while every word of his translation had been so carefully scanned, and a controversy was actually in dependence at the moment with the Lord Chancellor of England, with regard to certain terms, there was certainly no trivial occasion both for alarm and offence. The important word "Resurrection," Joye had very strangely altered to "the life after this;" and, in reference to the book generally, "I wot not," says Tyndale, "what other changes, for I have not yet read it over." This word, an all-important one, was especially so at that season, and occasioned Tyndale solemnly to profess his faith in the resurrection from the dead; having observed that the word was not so rendered as Joye had done, "neither by him, nor by any other translator in any language." But the alterations were far from being confined to a single word. In one place, indeed, Joye speaks as if he had mended only "a few certain doubtful and dark places," but the truth comes out when he adds, "I say I have made many changes." This becomes manifest, from his very simple explanation of what had been his procedure.

"For as for me, I had nothing to do with the printing thereof, but corrected their copy only, (and, most probably, one of the spurious editions,) as where I found a word falsely printed, I mended it; and when I came to some dark sentence, that no reason could be gathered of them, whether it was by the ignorance of the first translator, or of the printer, I had the Latin text by me, and made it plain!! And gave many words their pure and native signification !" 4

If he had become competent even for this, with his Latin text only before him, he had