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parties. A persecuting spirit, infused by the fiercest of systems, was the fault of him to whom the praise of genius, eloquence, and the spotless ermine, has been so often awarded. Heresy was to be pursued with rigour. The King and Council were committed to the cruel plan. "Grievous punishment," according to More's advice and verba ipsissima, was to be the means of " repressing inquiry; and "the sparkle " must be "well quenched, ere it was suffered to grow to over-great a fire." But Tyndale was out of reach. Unmoved by the tender of an altered policy, which Mr. Anderson thinks Coverdale was sent to Hamburgh to offer, he probably brought out in 1529 the fifth edition of his New Testament, while he steadily proceeded also in the Old.

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In 1530, the Bishops determined on 66 a second grand and more public book-fire:"

The first had been the result of Wolsey's " secret search" in 1526; the present was the consequence of the negotiation at Antwerp last year. Warham's purchase in 1527 was disposed of, or consumed, without show; but Tunstal had reserved his books till now. Tyndale by name, and his translation, had both been branded by royal authority; and the Bishop, no doubt, thought it a fortunate moment for fulfilling his

purpose. "I intend, surely," said he at
Antwerp, "to destroy them all, and to
burn them at Paul's Cross." Accord-
ingly, says Halle, "this year in May,
the Bishop of London" (formerly, now
of Durham,) "caused all his New
Testaments which he had bought, with
many other books, to be brought into
Paul's Church Yard, London; and there
[they] were openly burned."
(Vol. i., p. 262.)

But at this later date the people, now extensively aware of the value of the Bible, were roused to indignation; and they concluded, as Burnet hints, "that there must be a visible contrariety between that book and the doctrines of those who handled it." The next year we find the King and the Bishops, More, Crumwell, &c., eager to lay hold on Tyndale; even Cranmer as yet showing no sympathy.-Vaughan succeeded Hackett at Antwerp, and proved himself a different man. Yet, anxious to please his royal master, he laboured to "convert" Tyndale; and his report of the proceeding, though not to be taken in full, is doubtless worthy of attention. Those who have studied the character of the amiable and single-minded translator, will have no difficulty in believing that "water stood in his eyes,” as Vaughan reports, while he protested that he desired "only a bare text of the Scripture, to be put forth among the people,”. "be it of the

translation of what person soever" might "please His Majesty." Tyndale's answer to Sir Thomas More was quickly in England. The Chancellor's vagueness of statement, and fallacies of equivocation, he was well able to expose; as well as, here and there, to turn the "engine" of More's wit against the engineer. It appeared that the errors which rhetoric had multiplied into thousands, had dwindled into the general rendering of about six words! "Tyndale had translated ecclesia into congregation, and not church, he used Elder, and not Priest,-knowledge or acknowledge, and not confession,-repentance, and not penance,-favour, and not grace,—love, and not charity." "These things," said the respondent, with most tranquil confidence, "M. More knoweth well enough; for he understandeth the Greek, and he knew them, long ere I." (By the way, this modest allusion may silence those who are disposed to follow Macknight and Bishop Herbert Marsh; who insist,—the former, that Tyndale translated from the Vulgate; the latter, from the German.) The answer to More is powerful, solemn, decisive; often enlivened by fancy, and illuminated with views of

Gospel truth which burst forth, amid the general darkness of the age, with alluring brightness. A second publication followed, on the same side, in which Sir Thomas is indicated as "the Proctor of Purgatory." One admirable point of appeal, designed for the Ecclesiastics in power, we will give: "Can ye bewitch our wits with your poetry, to believe that ye should minister your secret traditions for our profit, when we see you corrupt the open Scripture to the loss of our souls, for your profit ?" Not less successful was he in refuting the charge of constructive treason. He was willing to "render unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's;" but, conscious of no fear but a "godly" and magnanimous one, he reserved for God "the things that are God's."

John Tyndale, the translator's brother, and Thomas Patmore, merchants of London, were seized in 1531. For the acknowledged crime of circulating the New Testament, they were ignominiously paraded along the streets of the metropolis, and required to throw the books into "a great fire" kindled in Chepe (Cheapside); while heavy fines were also imposed, to the content of the "Spirituality." As the violation of every dear and holy charity was in such case reckoned a part of religion, we find Bishop Stokesly punishing the merchant Tyndale "for sending five marks to his brother William beyond the sea," and for having in possession certain letters from his brother!! Now the country began to glare with martyr-fires. Bilney, who had deeply sorrowed for his fall, was honoured in leading on a noble host who counted not their lives dear unto themselves. The account is most pathetic. Restored to peace by a fresh application of the atoning blood, he bid adieu to his friends at Trinity-Hall, Cambridge, saying that he must now go up to Jerusalem. (Acts xx. 22-24.)

The night before his execution, the dying martyr, quite composed, resigned, and even cheerful, among other passages of Scripture, dwelt much on this one"Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." It was not that Bilney expected any other than mental support, or that he superstitiously anticipated exemption from

pain; but "a pain for the time," said he, whereon, "notwithstanding, followeth joy unspeakable." At the stake, he closed his devotions with the beginning of the 143d Psalm; and the 2d verse"Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no flesh living be justified"-he repeated, in deep meditation, three times. He had been led through the Bishop's Gate to this spot, called the Lollard's Pit, and there expired in the flames, on Saturday morning, 19th August, amidst the most cruel enemies, and not a few decided friends. (Vol. i., p. 300.)

Among those who soon followed Bilney to the martyrs' grave, was Richard Bayfield, who had been most zealous in importing books. But here we may not linger.

In 1532 the pursuit of Tyndale was renewed. Sir Thomas Elyot, the friend of More, was charged with this commission by the King himself. But the apprehension of the translator was not an easy thing; and Elyot regrets that, "like as he is in wit moveable, semblably, so is his person uncertain to come by." It is remarkable that Cranmer was the fellow-traveller of Elyot; but there is much reason to believe, with Mr. Anderson, that "the translator, after his long unaided warfare, had washed his robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, before Cranmer had ever once expressed his approbation of the translation." For about six months Cranmer continued to reside chiefly at Nuremberg, and Elyot at Ratisbon;

but the design of the latter failed, and indeed the exciting events of the East withdrew the attention of Europe from other subjects.

It is pleasing to find how the confessors of this time honoured God in the course of their examinations. That some cases of vacillation occurred, can surprise no one: that they were so few, must awaken joy in every lover of the truth. Many, in dying moments, emulated the gentleness of the Christian proto-martyr; praying that their murderers might find the mercy which they had not learned to exercise. Bainham, of the Middle Temple, thus nobly met his inquisitors :

Being asked "Whether he believed there were any purgatory of souls hence departed?" he simply answered_" If we walk in light, even as He is in light, we have society together with Him, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son hath cleansed us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins, and will purge us from all our iniquities."

Being then asked "Whether the saints hence departed are to be honoured and prayed unto, to pray for us?" again he answered "My little children, I write this unto you, that ye sin not. If any man do sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just, and He is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world." (Vol. i., p. 332.)

Fryth came to England a little after the Midsummer of 1532. He had the honour of sitting in the "stocks" at Reading,-an omen of greater things that he was about to suffer. Apprehended in Essex, he was soon committed to the Tower of London. There he wrote himself, "John Fryth, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, at all times abiding His pleasure ;" and by many other expressions signified his calm expectation of being called to resist unto blood. There is a noble letter from Tyndale to his beloved disciple, (vol. i., pp. 347-349,) written before he heard of the apprehension, but abounding in precious counsels, and proving the writer to have possessed in no common degree the meekness of wisdom. "I call God to record," says he, in one of the last paragraphs, "against the day we shall appear before our Lord Jesus, to give a reckoning of our doings, that I never altered one syllable of God's word against my conscience," (as Sir Thomas More had insinuated,) 66 nor would this day, if all that is in the earth, whether it be pleasure, honour, or riches, might be given me." After the writer's signature, one brief but significant sentence is added,-" I hope our redemption is nigh.”—From his revered guide, Fryth, in the Tower, received another communication, most rich in encouragements and consolations for the final hour. A sentence or two shall be copied : "Let Bilney be a warning to you... Let not your body faint. He that endureth to the end shall be saved. If the pain be above your strength, remember-whatsoever ye shall ask in my Name, I will give it you,'-and pray to your Father, in that Name, and He shall ease your pain or shorten it. The Lord of peace, of hope, and of faith, be with you! Amen..........Sir, your wife is well content with the will of God, and would not, for her sake, have the glory of God hindered."—With the Chancellorship of Sir Thomas Audley came an intermission of rigour in treating the prisoner: but, at length, the craft of Gardiner, once Fryth's own tutor, compassed his death. An old writer in the Harleian мs. describes this Prelate in remarkable words: "A man that was to be traced like a fox, and read like Hebrew. If you would know what he did, you must observe what he did not." The admirable Fryth might have escaped; but he could not consent to a questionable device. His crown of martyrdom was quite untarnished. One valuable result followed,--that, by the

interference of the Commons, "heretics" were henceforth taken out of episcopal hands, and the power of immuring them on suspicion was restrained. The word, moreover, grew and mightily prevailed: Tyndale, in 1534, issued a second impression of Genesis and a revised edition of the New Testament. "The waters" of the political sea "roared,” and were "troubled;" but gentle, perennial, and refreshing, was the flow of “a river the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High." The supreme cause advanced; though a divided Convocation still resisted the circulation of the book by which, fifteen hundred years before, the teaching of Apostles had been tested by candid and "noble" hearers. And, though a gleam of favour from Queen Anne Boleyn seemed vernal and encouraging, everything else told that the winter was not past. Not yet was it decreed to "loose the bands of Orion," or to shed forth "the sweet influences of Pleiades." To the Queen, however, Tyndale gratefully sent a copy of his corrected New Testament, printed on vellum, illuminated, and bound in blue morocco; but, in excellent taste, with no Dedication. The volume is now in the British Museum.

At length the translator was apprehended in Antwerp. In the dishonour of this transaction Stephen Gardiner appears to have had a large share. Very early in 1535, and by guile worthy of the occasion, Tyndale was taken from the house of his friend Mr. Poyntz to the castle of Vilvorde. The news soon reached England; but the remonstrances of the Antwerp merchants, as well as the self-denying exertions of Poyntz, were in vain. Tyndale was meanwhile engaged in ardent discussion with some of the most polemical Doctors of Louvain: and, what is far more interesting, it is said that in the year of his imprisonment three editions of the New Testament came from the press.

Amid the commotions and troubles of England, at this and several later dates, the Christian student of history will scarcely fail to trace the marks of retribution. The fiction of Nemesis, which throws a warning light over the pages of Greek tragedy, often finds its reality here. We tremble, indeed, to pursue this remark; though we might plead a Southey's example. At the very moment we are reminded of Jeremy Taylor's monition, that "God's judgments are like the writing upon the wall, which was a missive of anger from God upon Belshazzar: it came upon an errand of revenge, and yet was writ in so dark characters that none could read it but a Prophet." From the office of interpreting events we therefore abstain. Facts, however, must be given. Bishop Fisher, who "had been selected by Henry, to preach the first sermon at the burning of books, and the recantation of Barnes," was now charged with treason, and beheaded amid circumstances of frightful barbarity; and Sir Thomas More soon followed him to the grave by the same ignominious route,-implicated in the very charge which he had moved to fix on Tyndale and his band. This tragedy, for ever disgraceful to its human author,-has drawn forth many of the current eulogies on More; as suffering greatness, like beauty in tears, attracts more than reasonable sympathy.

Cranmer was unsuccessfully asking a version, or rather revision, of the New Testament, from a number of Bishops.

The time appointed having arrived, every portion, including Gardiner's, no doubt, is said to have been returned to Lambeth, with some exception-the Acts

of the Apostles, which had been assigned to Stokesly. Cranmer then sent to Fulham, for the corrected manuscript; but Stokesly, far less compliant than Gar

diner, not being then in such fear of court favour, or of his neck, only made the following reply: "I marvel what my Lord of Canterbury meaneth, that he thus abuseth the people, in giving them liberty to read the Scriptures; which doth nothing else but infect them with heresy. I have bestowed never an hour upon my portion, and never will. And, therefore, my Lord shall have his book back again; for I never will be guilty of bringing the simple people into error." When the Archbishop was informed of this uncourteous speech, he merely observed "I marvel that my Lord of London is so froward, and that

he will not do as other men do.""Why, as for that," said Lawney, one of the Duke of Norfolk's Chaplains, who stood by, "your Grace must consider that the Acts of the Apostles are a portion of the New Testament. Peradventure, my Lord of London knows that Christ hath left him no legacy, and therefore he prudently resolves to waste no time upon that which will bring him no profit! Or it may be, as the Apostles were a company of poor illiterate men, my Lord of London disdaineth to concern himself about their Acts !"

(Vol. i., pp. 453, 454.)

Not a fragment of the entire work remains. The honour was reserved for others. An unseen Hand guided the whole proceeding. Cranmer, Crumwell, HENRY, were but overruled. We are by no means concerned to qualify the statement of Sir James Mackintosh, that "Henry, perhaps, approached as nearly to the ideal standard of perfect wickedness, as the infirmities of human nature would allow." But we can smile at the vulgar artifice of attaching to the Reformation the dishonours of such a name; as if the battles of the Papacy had always been waged by immaculate hands! It is even satisfactory to view the great work as independent of the favourite Cranmer. Tyndale was bound; but the word of God was not bound. It is a remarkable fact that, in this year, (1535,) COVERDALE'S translation was completed.-On the main literary question which this honoured name calls up, we venture to express an opinion,—that Coverdale's version was, at least, regularly compared with the originals; a very free use being made of the "Douche [German] and Latyn,” as intimated in the first title-page. This intimation it was not necessary to repeat, when the work was known; but those who suppose it to have been accidental and erroneous, must remember that no correction of it appears to have been substituted in other title-pages.

Mr. Anderson's occasional strictures on Hume, Burnet, Collier, and others, especially on Dr. Lingard,-we leave to the reader. The personal history of those who followed Tyndale may be also quickly dismissed. Mr. Anderson doubtless judges that details of lower date are better known; and certainly the greatest interest attaches to the precursor of a noble company. But to proceed with the general narrative: Latimer, before the Convocation of 1536, spoke awakening words, and referred to Tyndale, though without naming him. Nor was this the only hopeful sign of the times. Ales the Scotsman, who was introduced to the Assembly by Lord Crumwell with the imposing title of "the King's Scholar," boldly maintained that there are but two sacraments. Fox, Bishop of Hereford, declared, The lay people do now know the holy Scripture, better than many of us." And Stokesly, infuriated, said, "Ye are far deceived, if ye think that there is none other word of God but that which every souter and cobbler doth read in this mother tongue!" Undesigned, but important, testimony to the unmentioned translator's success!-The Convocation, however, petitioned the monster-King to indulge (!) his subjects with permission to read the Scripture, and for this purpose to order a new translation. In correction of a prevailing opinion, it is to be observed that "no order was issued for placing the English Bible in churches [through

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