EMORY UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE
This lamp, from off the everlasting throne,
Mercy brought down, and in the night of Time
Stands, casting on the dark her gracious bow;
And evermore beseeching men, with tears
And earnest sighs, to read, believe, and live.
Pollok.
REVISED BY THOMAS 0. SUMMERS, D I
gta£.biUt, Ccnn
publishing idvsu or ir j metitodist
EriSOOEIL CITUliGH; SOUTH.
1370.
cxrnunts,
PAGH
preface v
CHAPTER I.
anglo-saxon fragments 7
CHAPTER II.
■wtcliffe, and his translation of the bible... 26
CHAPTER III.
tyndale, and his translation of the testa¬
ments 50
CHAPTER IV.
coverdale, and his biblical toils 84
CHAPTER Y.
the great bible 100
CHAPTER VI. ■
the genevan exiles and their version 123
CHAPTER YIL
the bishops' book 130
CHAPTER VIII.
our translation in common ise 147
(iii)
fnfnt.
This little volume supplies a succinct account
of English, translations and translators, derived
from original authorities. The author has before
written on the subject, and has availed himself
of materials collected for previous publications.
This notice is given simply to prevent the charge
of plagiarism. If any coincidences of arrange¬
ment or style should be noticed between this
volume and the Introduction prefixed to the
second edition of " Bagster's Hexapla," it will
easily be accounted for by the fact that they are
written by the same person. Where any extracts
have been made from that publication, or any
other written by the author, they are acknow¬
ledged at the foot of the page. Yet it is not to
be inferred that this book is a mere abridgment
(v)
vi
TREFACE.
or compilation framed out of the former. It is a
perfectly distinct and independent work, and
contains the result of the author's latest re¬
searches. He begs particularly to acknowledge
the assistance derived from Mr. Anderson's
"Annals of the Bible."
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
CHAPTER I.
anglo-saxon fragments.
Towards the close of the summer of the year
55 B. C., a fleet of eighty Roman galleys, bear¬
ing Caesar and his fortunes, might have been seen
in the channel, nearing the white cliffs of Britain.
The love of war and martial conquest, and the
desire to extend still farther the far-spreading
boundary of the Roman sway, were the motives
which impelled forward that memorable con¬
queror, as he led on his armament to the British
isle. But the Supreme Governor of the universe,
in whose hands are the destinies of empires and
the ways of men, intended the enterprise to ac¬
complish purposes of which the minds who im¬
mediately conducted it had not the remotest con¬
ception. No doubt the extension of the Roman
dominion was designed by the Almighty to be
preparatory to the extension of his own spiritual
reign, by means of the diffusion of Christianity;
and as the standard-bearer of the mighty Caesar
leaped on the British shores, and waved over this
(7)
8
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
new territory the outspread eagle, lie was seifit as
the precursor of the standard-bearer of the cross.
But " the kingdom of Grod cometh not with
observation the progress of Christianity in the
first age was, in many instances, silent and unno¬
ticed by historians, so that no traces of the par¬
ticular mode of its introduction into this or that
country remain. A thick haziness rests over the
early history of Christianity in Britain ; and how,
when, or where it was first proclaimed on her
shores, is a secret which no historical research has
been sufficient to discover. The traditions that
Paul, or Joseph of Arimathea, preached the gos¬
pel here, are utterly worthless, and have long
been rejected; and all that can be said upon the
subject of the first planting of the Christian
Church among our fathers is, that in all proba¬
bility, during the first century, some of the Bo-
mans who visited Britain, or some of the natives
of the island who had returned from the great
city, brought tidings hither of the new and glori¬
ous faith which Grod had revealed to man. The
landing of Caesar upon the eastern coast, with its
attendant events, leading to the establishment of
a new earthly dominion, is a scene preserved on
the page of history with pictorial vividness; but
the landing of the first Christians, as instruments
in the hand of Glod for establishing his blessed
reign among our pagan ancestry, and what they
said and did, and how they were opposed, and
where they succeeded, and what was the measure
of their success—all this, so interesting to Christ¬
ian curiosity, and affording ample scope for the
ANGLO-SAXON FRAGMENTS
9
jlay of imagination, is lost, for ever lost, amidst
jhe deep shadows of the past.
Tertullian expressly alludes to " places in Brit¬
ain inaccessible to the Romans, which 'had been
subdued by Christso that, in his time, Chris¬
tianity must have penetrated farther than the im¬
perial arms, and had probably reached as far as
Scotland. The inspired records of our faith, at
first in detached portions, and afterwards in their
collective form, were prized, and circulated among
the early Christians, as containing the only au¬
thoritative rule of religious belief and conduct.
Wherever the tidings of the gospel were carried
and embraced, the blessed book from which its
facts and precepts were drawn would either ac¬
company them, or speedily follow; and we cannot
question that the sacred writings were, at an
early period, carried over to enlighten and com¬
fort the infant British Church. Where Rome ex¬
tended her dominion, she artfully endeavored to
establish the use of her language, as a valuable
auxiliary to her power; and, as it is likely the
Britons were taught Latin, the version of the
sacred book in that tongue would be intelligible
to the educated converts in Britain.
When the pagan Saxons took possession of the
island, they introduced their own superstitions
and idolatries, and, with the exception of the
western parts, where some few vestiges of the
true religion were retained, the whole country
seems to have relapsed into the gloom of hea¬
thenism.
In the sixth century, the light of the gospel
10
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
revisited the British shores. That light, alas ! did
not then shine with its primitive purity and efful¬
gence ; but still, tinged as it was by the discolor¬
ing medium through which it passed, it was a
rich blessing to the poor benighted land. Au-
gustin visited Britain at the close of the sixth
century, and a foolish tradition relates that he leit
the impress of his foot on the rock he touched as
he stepped on shore. Putting aside this vain
legend, it may be truly said that, by his labors in
that country, he impressed an effect upon its
character and destiny that has never been effaced.
He and his companions were beyond all doubt
benefactors to England, far greater than any who
had visited it since the time of the first Christians;
and however we may deplore their errors and
superstitions—which, alas! were the precursors
of more grevious ones in after-times—we must
applaud their zeal and rejoice in their success.
Kent was the chief scene of the Koman apostle's
labors and triumphs : the other parts of Saxon
England were gradually reclaimed by different
missionaries. Mixed up with the absurd tradi¬
tions relating to the events of that period, there
are some of a far different character, full of truth
and beauty, upon which the Christian historian
delights to linger. How touching, for example,
is the story of the courtier of the Northumbrian
king, who, in council with his master and fellow-
nobles, about admitting the missionary, Paulinus,
to preach the gospel, observed : " Man's life is
like a little sparrow, which, whilst your Majesty is
feasting by the fire in your parlor with }mur royal
ANGLO-SAXON FRAGMENTS.
11
retinue, flies in at one window, and out at an¬
other. Indeed, we see it that short time it re-
maineth in the house, and then it is well sheltered
from wind and weather; but presently it passeth
from cold to cold, and whence it comes and
whither it goes we are altogether ignorant. Thus
we can give some account of our soul during its
abode in the body, while housed and harbored
therein 5 but where it was before, and how it
fareth after, is to us altogether unknown. If,
therefore, Paulinus's preaching will certainly in¬
form us herein, he deserveth, in my opinion, to
be entertained." Truly, it was a great advantage
to have some one in the bleak regions of North-
umbria to tell the poor ignorance-stricken inha¬
bitants whence the soul came, and whither it fled
when it left the tabernacle of flesh ! And a bless¬
ing above all price was that Bible, which perma¬
nently and incorruptibly preserved the Divine re¬
velation respecting the destiny of that spirit, and
the infinite realms of joy or sorrow into which it
flies, when the hand of death dismisses it from
the body. That Bible, though little known
among the common people, was certainly pre¬
served and transcribed with care by the Saxon
monks and ecclesiastics; and we may add that in
Ireland and in Scotland, as early as the sixth cen¬
tury, there were monasteries in which the copying
of the word of God was a common employment.
The famous Columba of Iona—that interesting
little isle, so full of beautiful associations—is
especially renowned for his diligence and care in
this invaluable department of literary employ.
12
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
Multitudes of early manuscripts of Latin Scrip¬
tures have been destroyed by time, carelessness,
or ignorant violence; but one curious relic of this
description, belonging to that remote age, may
still be seen in the British Museum. It is a little
volume containing the Psalter, in Latin, the
Athanasian Creed, and some hymns and prayers,
with an interlineary Saxon translation. It is sup¬
posed to have been the gift of Gregory, Bishop
of Rome, to the missionary Augustin: the Ital¬
ian character of the hand in which the manuscript
is written, and the Roman text used in the Psal¬
ter, confirm the supposition. The interlined Saxon
version is of a later date.
The earliest attempt at a Saxon translation of
the Scriptures, with which we are acquainted,
has generally been ascribed to Csedmon, a monk
of Whitby, in the seventh century. The work,
however, for the most part, is rather a diffuse poetic
paraphrase than a new version. " The Old Tes¬
tament," observes Mr. Wright, "was fertile in
subjects which were agreeable to the feelings of
Saxons—wars and heroic deeds; and some poet,
stringing together a few of the better poems on
Scripture subjects, by very unequal verses of his
own, has formed a kind of poetic version of the
Bible, which is preserved in a very mutilated
state in a manuscript at Oxford, and which has
been twice printed under the name of Coedmon.
The inequality of the different parts of the poem
attributed to Caedmon was first noticed by Cony-
beare. A fine poem on the Fall of the Angels,
the Creation, and the Fall of Man, is awkwardly
ANGLO-SAXON FRAGMENTS 13
prefaced by a narration of the same story much
more briefly told. Then we have a barren ver¬
sion of the chapters of Genesis to the close of the
life of Abraham, except the accounts of the flood
and of the war of the kings against Sodom, which
are told in a superior style. Suddenly, without
any connection with that of Abraham, we are in¬
troduced to the history of Moses, which again is
told in a very different manner, and has all the
marks of being a separate poem. After the his¬
tory of Moses follows that of Nebuchadnezzar,
equally distinct and complete in itself, which oc¬
cupies all the remainder of the first part. The
second part comprises chiefly a poem on the de¬
scent, of Christ into hades—a favorite story, known
in somewhat later times as the harrowing of
hell."*
In the century following that in which Caed-
mon flourished, two versions of the Psalter, in
Saxon, are said to have been made, one by Aid-
helm, Bishop of Sherborne, and the other by
Guthlac, the first Saxon anchorite.
The earliest of our vernacular translations from
the New Testament was executed by Bede, with
whose name every reader must be familiar. The
venerable Bede! One thinks of his piety and
labors, of his valuable history—our great au¬
thority in all Saxon ecclesiastical matters of that
age—and of his death-scene, connected with his
translation of the Gospel of John, that scene
which has been touched with so much beauty by
* Wright's Literature and Superstitions of England
in the Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 27.
14
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
the old monkish chronicler, who records it. We
are transported, in imagination, to the monastery
of Jarrow, in Durham, where we see the venera¬
ble ecclesiastic in his last hour, intently engaged
in dictating to his amanuensis. " There remains
now only one chapter, hut it seems difficult for
you to speak," exclaims the monkish scribe, as
his pen traces on the parchment the last verse of
the 20th chapter of John. " It is easy," replied
Bede: "take your pen, dip it in ink, and write
as fast as you can." " Now, master," says the
monk of J arrow, after hastily penning down the
sentences from his trembling lips—" now, only
one sentence is wanting." Bede repeats it. " It
is finished !" says the scribe—" It is finished !"
replied the dying saint. " Lift up my head : let
me sit in my cell, in the place where I have been
accustomed to pray—and now, glory be to the
Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost!" And
with the utterance of these words, his spirit fled.
It was a noble distinction for Bede to die in the
act of translating the word of God.
The next attempt at an Anglo-Saxon transla¬
tion from the Scriptures, of which we can disco¬
ver any trace, may be found among the Cottonian
manuscripts of the British Museum. It is a
version in what is called the Durham Book, writ¬
ten between the lines of the Latin text of the
four Gospels. The Latin was copied by Eadfrid,
a monk of the bleak isle of Lindisfarne, in the
time of the famous St. Cuthbert, whom he suc¬
ceeded in the bishopric. He died in 687. The
Anglo-Saxon version was made by one Aldred, a
ANGLO-SAXON FRAGMENTS. 15
priest. Its age cannot be ascertained with any
precision; but it probably belongs to the reign of
King Alfred. It may interest the reader to pe¬
ruse the following translation of the Lord's Prayer
into the tongue spoken by our ancestors, and to
trace, in the rather uncouth-looking words, some
striking resemblance in sound to the language of
the present day.
" Fader uren thu arth in heofnum, sie gehal-
gud noma thin : to cymeth ric thin; sie willo thin
susels inheofne & in eortho; hlaf useune ofer
wistlic sel us todaeg : & forgef us seylda usna suae
uae forgeofon scyldgum usum : & ne inlsed usih in
costunge uh gefrig usich from yfle."
The old quarto volume, in which this transla¬
tion is preserved, is one of the most beautiful
specimens of ancient penmanship we possess.
One might almost fancy the letters were engraved.
There are in the book many ornaments and pic¬
tures by St. Ethelwald, who succeeded Eadfurth
in the see of Durham. It contains four curious
portraits of the Evangelists, and the initial letter
of each G-ospel is finely illuminated. Among the
stories told respecting this volume, the following
is not the least remarkable and amusing. When
the monks of Lindisfarne were removing from
their favorite monastery, to avoid the depreda¬
tions of the Danes, the vessel in which the holy
brethren were embarked was upset, and the Dur¬
ham Book, which they were anxious to convey to
some place of safety, fell into the sea; but,
through the merits of St. Cuthbert, the volume
was preserved; for, the tide ebbing at the time
16
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
much farther than usual, it was found lying high
and dry on the sands, perfectly uninjured, at the
distance of full three miles from the shore!
After the Durham Book comes the Kushworth
Gloss, a manuscript existing in the Bodleian
Library. It is an interlineary Saxon translation
of the Gospels, written about the same time as
the former work. It has colored initials, and or¬
namental delineations of the Evangelists. The
parties who executed the version have preserved
their names—" Owen, that this book glossed, and
Farmen, the priest, at Harewood." The copyist
has also taken care to perpetuate his name in
connection with his labors, one Macreogol, who
prays that the reader may not forget to intercede
for the writer.
Alfred the Great, whose character and reign
shine across the clouds of the dark ages like a
brilliant gleam of light, whose patriotism was
coupled with piety, and who sought the moral
and religious improvement as well as the civiliza¬
tion of his people, engaged, in his latter days,
upon a translation of the Psalms into the verna¬
cular language, but was cut off by death in the
midst of his useful and holy task. Next in order,
come some fragments of an interlineary translation
of Proverbs, so imperfect that here and there
only one word in Saxon is placed over a whole
line in Latin. These fragments are contained in
a volume among the Cottonian archives of the
British Museum. In the reign of Ethelred, the
monk jElfric distinguished himself by his in¬
dustry in this department of sacred literature.
ANGLO-SAXON FRAGMENTS. 17
He wrote an epitome of the Old and New Testa¬
ments, and translated several historical boohs of
the former. The Heptateuch, the Book of Job,
the imperfect history of Judith, and the apocry¬
phal Gospel of Nicodemus in iElfric's version,
were published in the year 1698, by Edward
Thwaites. The best of his translations are but
very incorrect. Sometimes, indeed, he gives ac¬
curate renderings of passages, but commonly
he substitutes paraphrases and statements of his
own, expressing generally the sense of the origi¬
nal. In the library of Corpus Christi, Cambridge,
there is a manuscript of the four Gospels, in
Saxon, anterior to the conquest; and in the Bod¬
leian is another copy of the same version. Good
old John Fox published the volume, accompanied
by an English version, rejoicing much that he
could thus appeal to antiquity in favor of verna¬
cular versions, then viewed with so much jealousy
by the Church of Home. The reformers were
fond of this argument; and Archbishop Parker
observes, in his preface to the Bishops' Bible, " Our
old forefathers, who ruled in this realm, in their
times, and in divers ages, did their diligence to
translate whole books of the Scriptures to the
erudition of the laity: as yet, to this day, are to
be seen divers books translated into the vulgar
tongue, some by kings of the realm, some by bish¬
ops, some by abbots, some by other devout godly
fathers. So desirous were they of old time to have
the lay sort edified in godliness, by reading in
their vulgar tongue, that very many books be yet ex¬
tant, though, for the age of the speech, and strange-
18
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
ness of the character of many of them, almost
worn out of knowledge. In which books maybe
seen evidently, how it was used among the Saxons
to have in their churches read the four Gospels
so distributed, and picked out in the body of the
evangelists' books, that to every Sunday and fes¬
tival-day in the year, they were sorted out to the
common ministers of the church in their common
prayers to be read to the people."
During the period when the waves of Danish
invasion successively swept over the shores of
England, and almost desolated some parts of the
country, scarcely any efforts toward vernacular
versions of the word of God seem to have been
made. A few manuscripts of the Psalms, be¬
longing to the latter end of the age of the Sax¬
ons, are all that remain.
When William the Norman, England's second
great conqueror, stepped on the shore, near Hast¬
ings, he came as the instrument of Providence,
to effect great changes in the language, as well as
the social habits and the general civilization of
the Anglican races. A new dialect made its ap¬
pearance. The old English tongue entered a
transition state. It became mixed with words
and inflections of Norman origin. Rask, in his
Anglo-Saxon grammar, fixes the boundary-line
between the former and this new era in the his¬
tory of our language in about the year 1100.
Some marks of the change may by traced in the
Saxon chronicle written between the years 1079
and 1140; but the progress of a language is very
gradual, and the change during the "transition
ANGLO-SAXON FRAGMENTS. 19
state is so fluctuating and confused, that it is dif¬
ficult to determine to which dialect in particular
any composition in question maybeloug. Hence
three manuscripts, containing a version of the
Gospels written about this time, now preserved in
the public libraries of Cambridge, the Bodleian,
and the British Museum, puzzle us to determine
whether they are to be assigned to the Anglo-
Saxon or the Anglo-Norman class of literary re¬
mains.
The relics next in order consist not of transla¬
tions, strictly speaking, but of poems—in some
cases paraphrases, in other cases mere stories of
scriptural facts in verse. The first of these poeti¬
cal compositions is entitled " Ormulum," because
written by a person named Orme; and it consists
of a very feeble history of the events described in
the Gospels and Acts. The second of this class
is the famous " Soulehele," in the huge Yernon
MS. of the Bodleian, which, according to the
best critics, belongs to the thirteenth century.
The following lines, relative to the crucifixion,
will give some idea of the nature of this biblical
poem:—
"Our ladi and hire sustur stoden under the roode,
And seint John, and Marie Magdaleyn with wel sori
moode
Ur Ladi biheold hire sweete son ibrouht in gret pyne,
I for monnes gultes nouthen her and nothing for
myne;
Marie weop wel sore, and bitter teres leet,
The teres fullen uppon the ston doun»at hire feet."
The third production of this kind, but in
20
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
shorter measure, comprising the history of the
facts in Genesis and Exodus, is found in the
library of Corpus Christi, Cambridge. And the
fourth metrical version, containing the Psalms, is
preserved in the same collection: of which,
however, a copy or revision — in some parts
considerably altered—may be seen in the British
Museum:—
Corpus Christi Cant. First Psalm.
"Seli beern that nonht is zon,
In the red of Tricked man,
And in strete of sinful nouth be stod,
Ne sat in sete of scorn ungode,
Both in lawe of Lonerd his mile beay
And his lawe yinke he night and day."
British Museum. Vesp.
"Seli biern that nozht is gan;
In the rede of wicked man
And in strete of sinful noght he stode
Ne sat in setel of storme ungode
Bot in laghe of lauerd his skille be ai
And his lagh think he night and dak"
One may hope that these versions were of some
practical use in those days of spiritual darkness—
that there were earnest and pious minds, who
studied these fragments, and caught the influence
of the precious facts and truths which they record;
but compositions of another class were sought for
with greater avidity, and were commonly read
wifh deeper interest. The lives of the saints were
in the highest esteem, and some of them are found
incorporated in the large thick volume of the Ver-
ANGLO-SAXON FRAGMENTS. 21
non MS., to which reference has been made as
containing the work entitled Soulehele. " This
sumptuous volume," says Dr. Watson, "was un¬
doubtedly chained in the cloister or church of
some capital monastery. It is not improbable that
the novices were exercised in reciting portions
from these pieces. In the British Museum there
is a set of legendary tales in rhyme, which appear
to have been solemnly pronounced by the priest
to the people on Sundays and holidays. This sort
of poetry was also sung to the harp by the min¬
strels on Sundays, instead of the romantic subjects
usual at public entertainments."
The earliest of all the English prose transla¬
tions of Scripture, known to be in existence, is
the work of Richard Rolle, an Augustinian
eremite. He lived in solitude, close by the con¬
vent of Hampole,' a village about four miles from
Doneaster; and there he carried on his studies,
and wrote his works, after invoking the muse
with more of perseverance than genius or taste.
He is known in the annals of literature as the
author of several theological pieces in Latin, and
especially of the " Prick of Consciencea
curious old English poem, of which the reader
may find ample specimens in Warton's History
of English Poetry, vol. ii., page 86. His prose
translation from the Scripture consists of the
Book of Psalms, of which several manuscripts
are in existence—the one in Sidney College
claiming to be the original. The following is a
specimen of the manner in which the hermit ful¬
filled his task.
22
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
Sidney Manuscript. First Psalm.
" Blisful man, ye whilke way yede noght i ye
counseyl of wicked, and in ye wey of sinfulle
stode noght, and in ye chayr of pestilence lie noght
sate."
Rolle, in his work of translation, was evidently
bent upon doing good, and, in a prologue to his
book, he informs us that he sought no strange
English, but what was easiest and most common;
that he followed the letter of the Latin text as
far as possible; and that, in expounding it, he
followed the holy doctors, and aimed at reproving
sin. This, as he further observes, was stated in
order to meet the objections of envious men, who
might say that he did not understand what he
was doing, and was thereby injuring himself and
others. A short comment or gloss is inserted
after each sentence, which, in the simplest man¬
ner, explains the meaning of the passage. This
gloss, though substantially the same in all the
manuscripts we have examined, is more concise
in some than in others.
In Corpus Christi Library there is a remark¬
able manuscript, containing a version of a larsje
portion of the New Testament, with rather a
copious commentary. It is described in the cata¬
logue as written in the fifteenth century; but
Lewis, judging from some short extracts sent to
him by Dr. Waterland, assigned it to a period
anterior to Wycliffe. The style of the translation,
and the character of the comment, seem to con¬
firm the conjecture of Lewis; but we cannot,
ANGLO-SAXON FRAGMENTS. 23
from the slight inspection of the manuscript with
which we have been privileged, speak with confi¬
dence on the subject. We would lay before the
reader a specimen of the translation which we
copied, when turning over its old parchment leaves
in the College Library :—
1 Romans.
" Poule servaunt of Jhu Cst callid apostil de¬
parted u,nto ye evangelye of God ye whiche before
he hadde behizt bi his pphetis in holy wryttis of
his sone ye whiche is maad to hym of ye seed of
David aft ye flesch ye whiche is before ordeyned
goddes sone in vtue after ye spryte of makyng
holy of ye resureccion of ye deade of our of
Lorde Jhu Crste bi whom we nafe grace and ofiee
of apostil, (or power of ye office of apostil) to all
folcs obeische to ye feiy for ye name of hym
among ye wheche zee be called of Jhu Crste."
The comments on the Epistles in this manu¬
script are much shorter than those on the Gos¬
pels, and abound in a spirit of mysticism and a
habit of allegorizing Scripture, which distin¬
guished the more pious writers of the age. Sup¬
posing that it was executed in the early part of
the fourteenth century, it is the most extended
attempt at a version of the New Testament in
English, before Wycliffe's noble undertaking,
of which we have any knowledge, for it embraces
both the Gospels of Mark and Luke, and all the
Epistles of Paul.
The last of the manuscripts belonging to the
24
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
class under consideration in this chapter, is a
translation of the Dominical Gospels* for the
year, with sermons upon them relating to the
subject in the text. These afford curious speci¬
mens of the superstitious and ridiculous legends
with which the preachers of the middle ages
sought to interest their auditors, and evince the
very low state of pulpit eloquence at the time.
It is painful to think that so many of our ances¬
tors, instead of being fed with the pure bread of
life, had no other spiritual provision than these
miserable husks. The mind trembles as it re¬
flects upon the condition of the Church at that
time, so like the condition of the wretched pro¬
digal described in the Gospel, who had wasted the
treasure which the Father of mercy had be¬
stowed, and was pining in want. Yet was there
bread enough in that Father's house, and to
spare, and the time was at hand when the steps
of the prodigal were to be directed to his long-
forgotten home, and his famished soul to be fed
on " angels' food." God was raising up Wycliffe
to commence the great work of reformation in
the Church, and to prepare an English version
of the whole Bible, to feed the exhausted minds
of those who had a great while pined under a
sense of spiritual hunger. It is true, it cannot
be said that no man gave unto them, for we have
seen that some servants of God, diligent and
faithful for the age in which they lived,"did con¬
vey some little refreshment, some few " crumbs
* Gospels for the Lord's Days.
ANGLO-SAXON FRAGMENTS. 25
from tlie Master's table," to the anxious seeker
after Divine relief; but, at the best, it was a poor
and stinted supply. Gratefully do we trace the
remains of any the least contributions of true
scriptural knowledge among the relics of our old
English literature; but it cannot fail to pain most
deeply every reflective and pious mind, to think
that so little was done for the instruction of man¬
kind in the oracles of God. Happily, far differ¬
ent times have come round, and now by every
cottager the charter of our salvation may easily
be possessed: the night of the dark ages, as far
as scriptural knowledge was concerned, to say
nothing of other kinds of knowledge, was illu¬
mined only by a pale moon, whose rays, indeed,
darting from amidst dark clouds, and lighting up
here and there a spot in the far-spreading waste
of desolation, we love to watch, and to think how
some poor travellers to eternity now and then
would catch these beams, and, guided by them,
get into the right path to heaven; but a bright
morning long since dawned on our fathers, and
now we are living amidst the splendors of gospel
day! How impressive the admonition to every
reader, "Walk while ye have the light, lest dark-
ness come upon you !"
our english bible.
CHAPTER II.
wycliffe and his translation of the bible.
Towering above the pleasant town of Lutter¬
worth, on the hanks of the Swift, there stands
the noble old church of St. Mary, an interesting
specimen of the early pointed architecture of
this country in the thirteenth century. By the
decay produced by time, and the mutilation occa¬
sioned by accident, it has lost very much of its
original beauty; but there are associations clus¬
tering around it, which, to the mind of the lover
of the word of God, invest it with a charm that
the skill of the architect could never impart.
We look with feelings of peculiar veneration on
that time-worn edifice, as we remember that there
John Wycliffe preached and labored; and that
probably under the shadow of those walls he
prosecuted his noble task of translating the whole
Bible into the English tongue. The carved oak
pulpit in which the reformer preached, the table
on which he wrote, the chair in which he died,
and the velvet robe, now torn and tattered, which
he used to wear, are still preserved : relics, these,
which cannot fail to operate as quicken ers of the
imagination, and which, with the aid of the por-
wycliffe's translation. 27
trait of his venerable form and face now hanging
on the vestry wall, enable ns to picture that true-
hearted and holy man, occupying the sacred desk,
and proclaiming to his parishioners the glorious
gospel of the blessed Giod, and then retiring to
his chamber to resume the study of the Scrip¬
tures, and to write upon that oak table page after
page of his memorable version !
Wycliffe was appointed by Edward III. to the
rectory of Lutterworth, about the year 1376, in
part as a reward for his services at Bruges,
whither he had gone as a commissioner with the
Bishop of Bangor, to negotiate with a papal
embassy in that city respecting the reservation
of benefices. That visit brought him better
acquainted than before with the chicanery and
corruption of the Roman court, and roused his
indignation against the papal system. Twenty
years before, he had written his tract, entitled
" The Last Age of the Church," which showed
that he then deplored the enormous ecclesiastical
evils of the day. At Oxford, where he was ap¬
pointed warden of Baliol, and then of Canterbury
Hall, he had distinguished himself as the invete¬
rate opponent of the Mendicant Friars, who were
overrunning the university and the country too,
and exerting all their influence to prop up the
despotism of the Roman See. And in the con¬
troversy between Edward III. and the pope,
respecting the papal claim of tribute from Eng¬
land, our reformer had fearlessly contended
against the claim as unjust and arrogant. But
now, on his return from Bruges, reviewing what
28
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
lie had there seen and heard, he came out as a
more decided champion than ever for a reforma¬
tion of the Church. Indeed, so bold was the
course he pursued, that, soon after his return, he
was cited to appear at St. Paul's to answer cer¬
tain charges against him, when a scene of tumult
occurred, quaintly described by Foxe, which
ended in the deliverance of Wyeliffe from his
enemies, through the interposition of his illustri¬
ous friend, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.
The pope, however, would allow the reformer no
peace, but despatched against him bull after bull:
happily without effect, the refractory ecclesiastic
enjoying the special favor and patronage of
royalty.
All this excitement, we apprehend, while it
increased his distaste for the papal system of
government and doctrine, sharpened his love for
the Holy Scriptures as the true standard of re¬
ligious principles and ecclesiastical discipline.
About this time it was that he wrote his book
upon the Truth and Meaning of Scripture, in
which he maintains that Christ's law is sufficient:
" that a Christian man well understanding it may
gather sufficient knowledge during his pilgrimage
upon earth: that all truth is contained in Scrip¬
ture : that we should admit of no conclusion not
approved there : that there is no court beside the
court of heaven : that though there were a hun¬
dred, popes, and all the friars in the world were
turned into cardinals, yet should we learn more
from the gospel than we should from all that
multitude; and that true sons will in no wise go
wycliffe's translation. 29
about to infringe tbe will and testament of their
Heavenly Father." *
We are persuaded that it was about this time
that Wycliffe beg§n his translation: His writings
subsequent to the year 1378 exhibit abundant
arguments in support of the sufficiency of Scrip¬
ture, and in defence of vernacular translations.
"As the faith of the Church," he says, " is con¬
tained in the Scriptures, the more these are
known in an orthodox sense, the better. And
since secular men should assuredly understand
the faith, it should be taught them in whatever
language is best known to them. Inasmuch,
also, as the doctrines of our faith are more
clearly and precisely expressed in the Scrip¬
tures than they may possibly be by priests,
seeing, if one may venture so to speak, that
many prelates are but too ignorant of Scripture,
and as the verbal instructions of priests have
many other defects, the conclusion is abundantly
plain, that believers should ascertain for them¬
selves the matters of their faith, by having the
Scriptures in a language which they fully un¬
derstand. According to the constant doctrine
of Augustin, the Scriptures contain the whole
of truth, and this translation of them should,
therefore, do at least this good, namely, placing
bishops and priests above suspicion as to the
parts of it which they profess to explain. Other
means also, as prelates, the pope, and friars,
* English Translations and Translators. Bagster's
Hexapla, p. 11.
30
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE-
may prove defective; and to provide against
this, Christ and his apostles evangelized the
greater portion of the world, by making known
the Scriptures in a language which was familiar
to the people. To this end, indeed, did the
Holy Spirit endow them with the knowledge of
all tongues. Why, therefore, should not the
living disciples of Christ do as they did — open¬
ing the Scriptures to the people so clearly and
plainly that they may verily understand them,
since, except to the unbeliever, disposed to re¬
sist the Holy Spirit, the things contained in
Scripture are no fiction." This is " sound speech
that cannot be condemned." It is an anticipa¬
tion of the condensed and noble saying of Chil-
lingworth : " The Bible, and the Bible alone, is
the religion of Protestants:"—that principle which
lay at the basis of the Reformation, which forms
still the grand bulwark of our reformed, creed,
intrenched behind which, we may mock the as¬
saults of Romish sophistry, and justly anticipate
the final and universal triumph of our cause
Powerfully impressed with the sentiments just
quoted, Wycliffe devoted, from about the year 1378,
his time and energies to the work of his transla¬
tion. The time of its completion cannot be fixed,
but probably it was the year 1380, or a year or
two later. One loves to picture this remarkable
man, pursuing his biblical toils, now at his Lut¬
terworth rectory, and then in his college at
Oxford, working in the winter nights by his
lamp, and early in the summer's morn as the
sun beamed through his window. We see him
wycliffe's translation. 31
with his long gray beard, sometimes alone,
bending over the parchment manuscript, care¬
fully writing down some well-labored rendering ;
and sometimes in company with "Nhjoley de
Hereford," whose name appears on an old copy
of the version, as a coadjutor of the rector of
Lutterworth, and with others of his friends and
followers, who sympathized in his sentiments,
and loved to aid him in his hallowed enterprise !
Nor can we fail to connect with these pictures
of the reformer, notices of the enmity of the
Mendicants and others against this noble work¬
man and his immortal work.- We can imagine
their malignant looks and virulent abuse, as they
meet him in his walks through the university,
or visit him in his college-chamber: in aid of
which sketches by the pencil of fancy, there
comes to our recollection the graphic anecdote of
the reformer on his bed at Oxford, during a
severe illness, when a company, deputed by the
Mendicants in general, Gray, Black, White, and
Augustinian, came to deliver an awful warning
to the supposed dying man, on the heretical errors
of his life; and the dignified veteran, rising
from his pillow, repelled with scorn their vain
denunciations, and drove them from his presence,
exclaiming, with.characteristic energy, "I shall
not die, but live, and again declare the evil deeds
of the friars !"
Probably Wycliffe knew nothing, or next to
nothing, of Greek; a few words in that language,
sprinkled over his writings, affording no proof
of any great acquaintance with it. Certainly, he
32
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
did not make Ms translation of the New Testa¬
ment from the original, but from the Latin Vul¬
gate, as he did also his version of the Old Testa¬
ment. Most rigidly did he adhere to the Latin
text, as a comparison of his translation with it
fully shows, leading him sometimes into strange
obscurities and errors. " Quousque animam nos-
tram tollis ?" says the Vulgate : " How long takist
thou aweie our soule ?" writes the faithful trans¬
lator. In his literal renderings he was anxious,
no doubt, to avoid giving a handle to his adver¬
saries for charging him with perverting the
Scriptures, and in the Use of the plainest and
most racy old Saxon English he sought to instruct
and interest the common people—thus, in both
respects, proceeding on Hampole's principle of
seeking " no strange English, but easiest and
commonest, and such as is most like the Latin."
Whether he derived any assistance from previous
translations we are unable to say, though it ap¬
pears to us very probable that he would seek out
such fragmentary versions in existence as he
could; but certainly it was, at the best, only in
certain portions of the word of Grod that he could
get help from his predecessors, for till he under¬
took the task, no one appears to have executed a
complete version. In spite of all the efforts made
to deprive Wycliflfe of this honor, it still cleaves
to him. We maintain that it is his by rMht:
antiquarian investigation has fully refuted all
rival claims. Sir Thomas More, when opposing
Tyndale, to serve a purpose, maintained that the
" hole Bible was long before [Wycliffe's] days, by
wycliffe's translation. 33
virtuous and well-learned men, translated into the
English tongue;" but, strangely enough, Sir
Thomas, at the same time, admitted that it would
be a dangerous thing for a printer to publish a
Bible, " and then hang upcvn a doubtful trial
whether the first copy of his translation was made
before Wycliffe's days or since." Archbishop
Usher, on the authority of Dr. James, has also
spoken of a Bible antecedent to Wycliffe's, but it
has been satisfactorily shown that the version to
which he refers was made after Wycliffe's death.
( Usher's Hist. Dog. 425.) Some critics have re¬
ferred to a manuscript of the Bible in the Bod¬
leian, bearing date MCCCVIIL, in proof that
Wycliffe's was not the first translation; but a
careful examination of the book in question shows
that there has been an erasure between the C and
the V: that not 1308, but 1408, is the true date;
and further, upon a collation of the manuscripts
with Wycliffe's, it turns out to be his identical
version. Thus, then, all the attempts to wrest
from the rector of Lutterworth the honorable dis¬
tinction of being the earliest translator into Eng¬
lish of the whole Bible have been futile, and to
him therefore are justly due tbe admiration and
gratitude of his country, for the achievement, of
an enterprise as unprecedented as it was import¬
ant and beneficial. He would open the gates of
revelation to all his countrymen. He wrote for
the people. He intended his work not for the
library of the church and convent, nor for a shelf
in the priest's study, but for the table of every
man who had ability to read. He published his
2
34
OUR, ENGLISH BIBLE.
translation : sent it abroad throughout the world:
encouraged persons to transcribe it, and urged
men to read in their own tongue the wonderful
works of God. Nor would he guard by gloss or
comment the pure truth of Heaven, as almost if
not all his predecessors had done, but he left the
holy oracle to speak for itself—thus virtually
asserting the right of private judgment. That
this act of our reformer was a novelty, a startling
innovation, a deed of noble daring, that it gave
a shock to ecclesiastical prejudices, is apparent
from the pages of the old historian Knighton,
Wycliffe's contemporary, who mournfully deplores
that the gospel pearl was thus scattered abroad
and cast before swine. It may seem, in the pre¬
sent day, no mighty thing to make a translation
of the Latin Vulgate, and attempt its general
circulation; but those who are disposed on that
ground to lessen somewhat the fair fame of our
first translator, should remember how well the
detractors from the glory of Columbus, the first
to sail on an untried ocean, were rebuked by the
familiar experiment of making an egg stand on
end. In such an age as that in which Wycliffe
lived, to translate the whole Bible for popular
use, to conceive the plan, and execute the pro¬
ject when so conceived, implied the possession of
qualities, both of mind and heart, such as only
the truly great and noble of our race possess.
Wycliffe was the contemporary of some whose
brilliant genius streaked the early morn of our
revived literature, and whose rich poetic splendor
far eclipses any literary honors which adorn his
wycliffe's translation. 85
name ; but still we must be allowed to pronounce
Wyclifte, on the whole, a greater character than
the British Chaucer, or the Italian Petrarch. The
moral courage of the reformer was beyond all
praise. There were others in his day, and before
his time, who saw the corruptions of the Church,
and assailed them, yet it was in a timid spirit and
a covert form : they wrote in a double sense, con¬
cealing their more important meaning under the
veil of allegory, "the trembling nurse, for its
own safety, induced by fear to disguise itself in
sacred vestments;" but Wycliffe — bold, earnest,
and sincere—brooked no trammels, and feared no
opposition, while with one- hand he opened the
book of revelation before all the people, and with
the other hand laid bare in the face of the world,
and to the apprehension of the humblest, the fla¬
grant corruptions &f-the Church of Rome.
If "Wyclifie had been an object of enmity to
the Church of Rome in his earlier days, that
enmity was now more bitter than before. His
translation of the Scriptures was an unpardona¬
ble sin. It enraged the hierarchy more than
ever against the man and his doctrines. Most
envenomed and incessant was their opposition to
the reformer. They cited him before a conven¬
tion at the Gray Friars, in London, to meet
charges of heresy. They procured from Richard
II. an ordinance against him and his followers,
under the designation of heretical preachers.
But these attempts failed to injure the reformer.
At length, however, they carried on a prosecu¬
tion against him at Oxford, which issued in their
36
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
securing his banishment from the university.
This was followed by a citation from the pope tc
appear before him at Ptome, which a shock of
paralysis and approaching death prevented. After
the Church had thus wielded the weapons of
despotism against him, robbing him in part of his
preferment, driving him into seclusion, and
harassing his last days by incessant attacks upon
his character, "Walsingkam, the historian, dipping
his pen in gall, sought to crown the persecution
of this illustrious man in his lifetime by the fol¬
lowing unparalleled abuse :—"He was the Devil's
instrument, the Church's enemy, the people's
confusion, the heretic'^ idol, the hypocrite's mir¬
ror : a sower of hatred, a forger of lies, a sink of
flattery; who, at his death, despised like Cain,
and stricken by the horrible judgment of God,
breathed forth his wicked soul to the dark man¬
sions of the black Devil." Hot more ineffectual,
however, was this virulent abuse for the destruc¬
tion of his repose after death, than was the per¬
secution by the hierarchy for the affliction of his
conscience while living. In patience he possessed
his soul, and in the quietude of his Lutterworth
rectory pursued his pastoral labors to the last, ex¬
empt from all "horrible judgments," and rejoi¬
cing in the prospect of another world. Taken
suddenly ill, while administering the eucharist,
he remained insensible for two days, and then
fell asleep in Jesus, leaving behind him a name
which, though vilified by his enemies, an impar¬
tial posterity delights to honor. To use the lan¬
guage ot the book of Ecclcsiasticus, respecting
wycliffe's translation. 37
Simon the son of Onias, so happily accommodated
to the reformer by our famous martyrologist, we
may truly say, " Even as the morning star being
in the midst of a cloud, and as the moon being
full in her course, and as the bright beams of the
sun, so doth he shine and glisten in the temple
and Church of God." But hatred to Wycliffe sur¬
vived his decease, and would permit neither his
memory to remain unassailed, nor his bones to
sleep peaceably in the grave. An Oxford convo¬
cation, in 1410, condemned his doctrines, and
burned his books; and the Council of Constance,
in 1415, with pitiful spleen, ordered his corpse to
be disinterred and removed from the burial-ground
of the church—an act which was not performed till
thirteen years afterwards. Then his bones were
thrown into the Swift, as Fuller says, and the
Swift conveyed them to the Avon, the Avon into
the Severn, the Severn into the narrow seas, and
they into the main ocean j and thus the ashes of
Wycliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which
now is dispersed all the world over!
But, however intense might be the spiteful
feelings of Wycliffe's enemies, and however
strenuous their opposition to his influence, the
work he had accomplished was of such a charac¬
ter that men could not overthrow it. His trans¬
lation was studied : poor priests—as the preachers
of his doctrines were called—went through the
land diffusing the knowledge of God's truth,
which they had acquired by the study of that
translation. They became popular, and, in some
quarters, rivalled in influence the Mendicant order
38
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
" Men came to mock them, but went away struck
to the heart, overawed, humbled, and converted.
At the same time that they arrested the atten¬
tion and commanded the passions of the vulgar,
they challenged the most refined to the contest;
and it seems to be generally admitted that no one
was found able to cope with them in the field of
argumentation. Though the multitude are not
qualified to be direct judges of the higher powers
of intellect, and though they are often made the
dupes of loquacious effrontery, yet there is some¬
thing in true genius and sterling merit which,
when skilfully employed for that purpose, will
produce a more powerful and extraordinary effect
than ignorant assurance can ever reach."—( God¬
win's Life of Chaucer, vol. ii., p. 378.) The
character of the times was also in favor of the
success of Wycliffe's labors, and those of his dis¬
ciples, for the fourteenth century was an age of
revival in freedom, commerce, literature, and
civilization. Men were waking up after the
slumber of centuries, they were stimulated to
thought and inquiry, and were thus prepared
to listen to instruction upon the most awfully
interesting of all subjects—religion. The cor¬
ruptions of the Church, too, which were ex¬
posed in so many quarters by poetry and satire,
had produced a revulsion of feeling in the breasts
of multitudes, and, sickened at heart with a sys¬
tem so palpably false, they turned to look for
what was true. But, above all, there was, doubt¬
less, the concurrent power of God —the dis¬
posal of his providence, and the effusion of
wycliffe's translation.
89
his grace, to aid the labors of Wycliffe and his fol¬
lowers.
That we have not overstated the effect of the
toils of our great reformer and translator, ruay be
proved by an appeal to the pages of his bitter
enemy, Knighton. He compares the progress of
Lollardism to the shooting forth of saplings from
the root of a tree, and informs us that it filled the
land with its fruit, and he goes so far as to aver
that, if you met two men on the road, one was
sure to be a Wycliffite.* If it be conceded, as
probably it ought, that many who bore Wycliffe's
name, only partially adopted his doctrines, yet it
must be admitted, on Knighton's testimony, that
a very large multitude of persons were thoroughly
imbued with the spirit of the reformer's teaching.
The number of manuscripts still extant contain¬
ing Wycliffe's version, which must have been
copied by his followers, that were deemed hereti¬
cal documents by the papal hierarchy, and were
excluded then from college and cathedral libra¬
ries, also tend to substantiate the same fact.
These manuscripts are to be regarded at once as
the proof and as the means of Wycliffe's success.
A cause which depended mainly on the circula¬
tion of the Holy Scriptures for its extension, can
leave little doubt in the minds of the impartial as
to whence it came, and with whose honor it ought
to be identified. Wycliffe's work was evidently
of G-od, and it was not in the power of man to
overthrow it.
* Knighton's de Eventibus, 2GG
40
OUR ENGLISH LILLE.
Soon after Wycliffe's death, his version was
revised by some of his disciples. It is now set¬
tled, beyond all doubt, that there are two distinct
versions belonging to the latter part of the four¬
teenth century. These two versions we have
identified in manuscripts, which we have examined
in our public libraries. Out of ten of these in¬
teresting volumes, we have found five containing
Wycliffe's original version, and five containing
another version, which plainly appears to be a re¬
vision of the former one. The five latter but
slightly vary, and present substantially the same
text. They are as follows: A manuscript in
Sydney College, Cambridge: British Museum,
reg. 1, b. vi. : Oxford, Laud L. 54: Harleian
MSS., 1862 : Arundel, 264. Five other manu¬
scripts which we have not seen—but descriptions
of which have been given to the public—seem
also to contain the later version. These are, first,
a manuscript of the New Testament, in Trinity
College, Dublin, 237: one in the possession of
Bishop Butler : another belonging to Mr. Douce :
a fourth in the Advocate's Library, Edinburgh;
and a fifth * in the Lambeth Library. This second
version appears to have been the work of John
Purvey, or Purnay, a zealous disciple of Wycliffe,
who lived with his master, and continued in his
house to the day of his death, j- The authorship
is ascribed to him, upon the testimony of the
manuscript in Trinity College, Dublin, which, to-
* English Translations. Bagster's Ilcxapla, p. If).
| Knight-on de Event.
wycliffe's translation. 41
gether with the version, contains a treatise called
the " Elucidarium Bibliorum," hearing his name.
From allusions in the treatise to events which had
recently taken place, the date is fixed to a period
subsequent to the beginning of the year 1395.
Perhaps it was written at the close of that year,
or about the commencement of the next, which
was eleven years after Wycliffe's decease. Re¬
ference is made in the treatise to " the English
Bible late translated/' by which Wycliffe's ver¬
sion is no doubt intended, and the author says
that, in executing his labors, he had much travail
with "divers fellows and helpers." As Purvey
had been, for some time before Wycliffe's death,
his companion and fellow-laborer, we think it
probable that he had taken some part in the first
version; but this second work, or revision, we
apprehend was performed mainly by himself. The
variation of his renderings from those of Wyc-
liffe, in many parts, is but small. The following
comparison may interest the reader :—
Wycliffe. Manuscript, Fairfax 2.
" Therefore whane Jhesus was born in beth-
leem of Juda in the daies of king eroude loo
Astronomyens camen fro the eest to Jerusalem
and seiden where is he that is born king of
Jewis, for we han seyn his sterre in the eest and
we han (in the margin, or " ben") comen for to
worshipe im."
The other version, Laud L. 54, called Wycliffe's,
but evidently identical with the revised transla¬
tion :—■
" Therefore when Ihesa was boren in bedlcm
42
OUR ENGLISH EII5LE.
of juda, in the dayes of hinge heroude, loo kyngis
or wise men camen fro the est to ierusalem seynige
where is he that is boren kyge of jewes, for-soye
we han seen his sterre in the eest and we comen
for to worschipe hym."
This variation in the first verse; "kyngis or
wise men/' being put for "Astronomyens," we
have noticed in all the manuscripts of the second
or Purvey's version; and it would seem to be
taken from the legend of the three kings, G-aspar,
Melchior, and Balthasar, whose relics are pre¬
served at the far-famed Cathedral of Cologne.
Here was no improvement upon Wyeliffe, but the
reverse; and it may be questioned whether, on
the whole, the disciple at all mended the work of
the master.
It is reported that as early as the year 1390 an
attempt was made to suppress Wyciiffe's transla-
tisns by act of parliament, but that John of Gaunt,
Wyciiffe's old friend, resisted the iniquitous bill,
declaring, " We will not be the dregs of all, seeing
other nations have the law of God, which is the
law of our faith, written in their own language."
Be this, however, as it may, a convocation at Ox¬
ford, in the year 1408, enacted a law, commonly
called Arundel's Constitution—from the part taken
in the measure by the archbishop of that name—
by which all unauthorized persons were forbidden
to translate any part of the Scripture into English,
and every one was warned, under pain of excom¬
munication, against reading any version or treatise,
made either in Wyciiffe's time or since, except it
should be approved by the. diocesan, or a provin-
wycliffe's translation. 43
cial council. Here, then, was a weapon put into
the hands of the enemies of Lollardism, which
they might wield at pleasure against any oue
found possessing one of the AVycliffe Bibles.
The ecclesiastical courts were soon occupied with
cases of'this description; and from the register
of Alnwick, bishop of Norwich, we learn that in
1429, Richard Fletcher, of Beccles, had to ap¬
pear before his lordship, on the charge of having
a book of the new law in English. Nicholas Bel-
ward, too, was arraigned for purchasing a New
Testament for four marks and forty pence, and
teaching William Wright and Margery, his wife,
the study of the same. Others were accused of
belonging to the sect of the Lollards, on the
ground that they could read English well, and did
read in the presence of others the word of God.
As one muses over these old entries in the records
of persecution, they bring up vivid illustrations
of the state of the times. How revolting to our
Christian feelings, that the study of the Scrip¬
tures should be alleged against a man in the
spiritual court as a crime ! How wide-spread
must have been the ignorance of the people, when
the ability to read English was enough to attach
to a common person a suspicion of heresy and
Lollardism I How precious must the word of God
have been in those days, when a Testament was
worth £2 16s. 8d., equal to £45 6s. 8d. now, or
about $200.*
*In the Paston Letters, under date November, 1408.
there is the following passage: —
"Also for a Bible that the master hath, I wend the
44
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
Happy reader! who can in these times read
without molestation the charter of mercy—whc
lives in an age when the ability to read it is pos¬
sessed by so many, and may he acquired by all—
who is encouraged to discharge the duty of search¬
ing the Scriptures, and is aided in its performance
in so many ways—and who, instead of having to
give half a year's income for a Testament, as
Nicholas Belward—supposing him to have been a
respectable yeoman—probably had to do, can buy
one for a dime! Truly, " the lines are fallen
unto" us "in pleasant places," and we "have a
goodly heritage !"
Among the relics of that olden time, besides
these Wycliffeite manuscripts, there are preserved
some other biblical curiosities of a different char¬
acter, which deserve here at least a passing notice.
Well do we remember examining, in Corpus
Christi College, Cambridge, a fine specimen of
the " Biblia Pauperum," of which a few copies
only are to be found in the present day, in very
rare collections. It consists of rude plates, repre¬
senting Scripture figures and incidents, with a
few Latin sentences explanatory of the subject.
The work was printed from wooden blocks, in the
way in which playing-cards were manufactured—a
curious art, which was applied to the production of
utmost price had not past five marks, (£8 6s 8d.,) and
so I trow ho will give it, weet I pray you."
This was soon after the invention of printing; but it
is not likely to have been a printed Bible. It was no
doubt, a manuscript Latin Bible, a book by no me'ans
uncommon
wycliffe's translation.
45
other books of a religions character, such as the
" Speculum Humanae Salvationist' These block
books, Mr. Ilallam considers, were executed in
the Low countries ;* but probably some of them
found their way at an early period into England.
They belong to the first half of the fifteenth cen¬
tury, and were the precursors of those nobler pro¬
ductions, whose appearance in the latter half of
the same century mark it as a memorable era in
the history of mankind. Mr. Horne, in his " In¬
troduction," describes the " Biblia Pauperum" as
deriving its name from its being a Catechista of
the Bible for the common people, who were en¬
abled to acquire it at a low price; but it could be
of little use to such persons, who cannot be sup¬
posed generally to have been able to read Latin,
when so few could read their own vernacular
tongue. It seems much more likely that the vol¬
ume took its name from the Franciscan Friars,
who were among the chief preachers of the day,
and who styled themselves Pauperes,'f* the vol¬
ume, probably, being a sort of text-book to aid
them in their public ministrations.
But these imperfect specimens of the printing
art were soon to be succeeded by productions of
a character which filled the world with astonish¬
ment. Let the reader visit in imagination the
city of Mentz, in the year 1442. Mark that
thoughtful man pacing the banks of the Bhine,
* Hallam's Introduction to Literature of Europe, vol.
i. page 207.
j- Du Cange Yoc. Pauper, et Minores.
46
our english bible.
as if revolving something which absorbs his
mind; and then, winding along the streets and
entering his own dwelling, around which some
air of mystery is thrown, for there he works in a
secret apartment, where no one, save an assistant
at his unknown craft, is allowed to enter. He is
gifted and ingenious, but no one knows what he
is doing. And there he works and works, till,
at length, beautiful volumes—correct copies of
one original—all marvellously alike, displaying on
their leaves gracefully formed letters, such as may
rival the fairest specimens of penmanship, appear
in unusual numbers ! These magic manuscripts
become more and more common. No copyist's
pen could write them so fast. No scriptorium
Could multiply books as they are multiplied in
this German work-room. Men marvel, and well
they may—they think there must be some witch¬
craft in all this; but happily we know, and have
long practiced, the precious secret. That mys¬
terious workman is Guttenburg, and his
house the first printing-office. The invention he
discovers is the means of circulating the Bible
to an unprecedented extent, of pouring the
streams of all kinds of knowledge to the ends of
the earth, of propelling a new impulse through¬
out society, and of peacefully revolutionizing
the world. The whole, or a portion of the
Scriptures, was certainly the first book of any
size that issued from the press. The earliest
printed book bearing a date is the beautiful
Psalter of 1457, executed by Fust and Schseffer;
but the Mazarin Bible is generally considered
wycliffe's translation.
47
the earliest offspring of this noble art, and is
assigned by conjecture to 1455 or 1452 : the
Cologne Chronicle says 1450. " We may see,"
exclaims Mr. Hallam, "in imagination, this
venerable and splendid volume leading up the
crowded myriads of its followers, and imploring,
as it were, a blessing on the new art, by dedi¬
cating its first fruits to the service of Heaven."
—Introd. to Lit., vol. i., p. 211.
Printing was early employed oa-the continent,
for multiplying copies of vernacular' versions.
An Italian version appeared In: 1471; a German
Version in 1466; a Dutch one in 1477; a Yalen-
cian in 1478 ; a Bohemian in 1475; and a French
version in 1477. But the press was devoted to
no such purpose in England during the fifteenth
century. The never-to-be-forgotten Caxton, work¬
ing away at his primitive press, under the shadow
of the abbey towers at Westminster, either never
thought of, or did not dare the execution of, a
printed Bible, in Latin nor English. Such a work
never issued from his press. One looks in vain
over the list of books printed by Caxton, for any
other volumes on scriptural subjects beyond the
" Speculum Yite Christi, or the Myrroure of the
blessyed Lyf of Jhesu Criste;" the "Infancia
Salvatoris j" the " Golden Legende;" and one or
two volumes on practical theology.
The earliest printed translation of any part of
Scripture in English was a volume by 13ishop
Fisher, printed in 1565, containing a version and
exposition of the seven penitential psalms : but
though, for so long a period, the press was un-
48
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
employed in England upon the most sacred
of all its works, copies of Wyeliffe's version in
manuscript, original or revised, continued to be
multiplied and circulated. The extent and effect
of that circulation have, we conceive, been gene¬
rally underrated. Fully do we concur in the
opinion expressed by Mr. Anderson, in his "An¬
nals of the English Bible/' that the opposition to
the Romish Church in this country before the
Reformation, and the spread of gospel truth, are
to be ascribed to the entire volume, or certain
portions of the Holy Scriptures, circulated in
manuscript. "It is, therefore, to be regretted
that even British historians, in too many instances,
should have so hastily looked to Germany, as
accounting for the commencement and progress
of all that occurred in their own country in the
first quarter of the sixteenth century. After an
examination of the official records of the day, and
other original manuscripts, more patient and la¬
borious than that in which any man has ever
since engaged, it is not surprising that John
Foxe should dwell op the retrospect with delight,
and confess his inability to do it justice, while he
as distinctly ascribes this work of God to his own
word in the vernacular tongue, and to this alone,
though not yet in print." .
We are now approaching the era of the Re¬
formation. The present chapter closes on the
eve of that fair morning when the Sun of righ¬
teousness arose with healing in his winps, shed¬
ding the full daylight of his own truth on our
long-benighted countrymen. That memorable
wycliffe's translation. 49
event will come before us in the nest division
of this little work : exciting our gratitude to
Grod, and leading us to appropriate to ourselves
those beautiful lines in the song of Zacharias :—
" Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For he hath visited and redeemed his people—
That we should be saved from our enemies,
And from the hand of all that hate us;
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people
By the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God;
Whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us,
To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace."
50
our english bible.
CHAPTER III.
tyndale, and his translation op the
testaments.
At the commencement of the sixteenth cen¬
tury, there lived in the manor-house of Little
Sodbury, in Gloucestershire, a worthy knight of
the name of Sir John Walsh. His dwelling he-
longed to that class of which a few relics may
still be seen in the quiet country nooks of old
England, displaying, in picturesque beauty, their
fantastic gables and twisted chimneys embosomed
among shrubs and trees. There was abiding in
this mansion, at the time of which we speak, an
humble priest, who filled the office of tutor in the
family.
He was a person of quiet and retired habits,
devoted to study, and exemplary in his moral and
religious character. But no one could look on
him without perceiving at once that he was a man
of no common stamp, for his expansive forehead
indicated a comprehensive mind, his eyes beto¬
kened quick and penetrating thought, bis whole
countenance was expressive of extraordinary firm¬
ness, while round his lips there lurked something
of quiet humor. He often mingled with the
guests who gathered round the social board in the
TYNDALE'S VERSION.
51
dining-hall of Sodbury, including the neighboring
ecclesiastics, and even some company—a courtier,
and a favorite with his prince. It happened
sometimes that the conversation of these parties
turned upon theological topics, when our tutor
was wont to express his opinions with some free¬
dom.
"As he was learned and well practiced in God's
matters, so he spared not to show unto them
simply and plainly his judgment; and when they
at any time did vary from his opinions, he would
show them in the book, and lay before them the
manifest places of Scripture, to confute their
errors, and to confirm his sayings."—John Foxe.
When he accompanied Sir John and his lady to
the tables of these dignitaries, he scrupled not to
talk with the same boldness, till deep suspicion
of his heterodoxy began to be felt by his eccle¬
siastical brethren.
Even the knight himself and his fair spouse
entertained some fears on the subject, and thought
it right to expostulate with the tutor respecting
his sentiments.- But he was not the man to yield
any point which his judgment approved, and he
firmly maintained his opinion. "Well," said
Lady Walsh, " there was such a doctor there as
may dispend a hundred pounds, and another two
hundred, and another three hundred pounds; and
what were it reason, think you, that we should
believe you before them ?" Her ladyship's logic
was of a kind to which the tutor knew not how
to reply, and he therefore politely held his tongue.
But there were deep thoughts at work under that
52
our english bible.
capacious brow, and mighty purposes springing up
within that dauntless breast. On another occa¬
sion, a priest observed to him, "We are better
without God's laws than the pope's." "I defy
the pope and all his laws!" he replied; and added,
" If God spare my life, ere many years, I will
cause the boy who driveth the plough to know
more of the Scriptures than you do."—British
Quarterly Review, vol. iii. p. 447.
The man who thus valorously threw down the
gauntlet at his holiness was William Tyndale;
and such was the commencement of the work
which has given immortality to his name. The
history of his invaluable labors in the translation
of the word of God will form the subject of the
present chapter. He was born in Gloucestershire,
in 1477, and was educated at Oxford, where " he
grew up, and increased as well in the knowledge
of tongues and other liberal arts, as especially in
the knowledge of the Scriptures, whereunto his
mind was singularly addicted." Amid the scenes
and associations of that far-famed university, then
sharing in the revival of letters which had just
broken upon Europe, and advancing in literary
renown, Tyndale began to acquire that learning
which fitted him for his important task, and from
the private study of the Bible imbibed that taste
for its precious truths which animated him under
all his subsequent pious toils.
In the mansion at Sodbury, he pursued his
sacred studies, and enlarged his acquaintance with
revelation, till the sublime purpose just noticed,
which was, no doubt, inspired by celestial influence^
tyndale's version.
53
and which, though, now expressed, probably, for
the first time, openly, had perhaps been gradually
rising up in his mind, ripened into deliberate ac¬
tion. But he could not find, while he remained
among the Gloucestershire priests, that quietude
and liberty which were necessary for the prosecu¬
tion of his design; and, therefore, being " so tur-
moiled," as he says, he was glad to make his
escape, and seek elsewhere a place in which to
carry out his fixed resolution. "As I this thought,"
he tells us, " the Bishop of London came to my
remembrance, whom Erasmus (whose tongue
maketh of little gnats great elephants, and lifteth
up above the stars whosoever giveth him a little
exhibition) praiseth exceedingly, among other in
his Annotations on the New Testament, for his
great learning. Then, thought I, if I might come
to this man's service, I were happy. And so I
gat me to London, and, through the acquaintance
of my master, came to Sir Harry Gilford, the
king's grace's controller, and brought him an ora¬
tion of Isocrates, which I had translated out of
Greek into English, and desired him to speak
unto my lord of London for me: which he also
did, as he showed me, and willed me to write an
epistle to my lord, and go to him myself, which I
also did, and delivered my epistle to a servant of
his own, one William Hebilthwayte, a man of
mine old acquaintance. But God (which knoweth
what is within hypocrites) saw that I was beguiled,
and that that counsel was not the next way unto
iny purpose. And therefore he got me no favor
in my lord's sight. Whereupon my lord answered
54
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
me his house was full, he had more than he could
well find, and advised me to seek in London,
where, he said, I could not lack a service. And
so in London I abode almost a year, and marked
the course of the world, and heard our praters—
I would say our preachers—how they boasted
themselves on their high authority, and beheld
the pomp of our prelates, and how busy they
were, as they yet are, to set peace and unity in
the world, (though it be not possible for them that
walk in darkness to continue long in peace, for
they cannot but either stumble, or dash themselves
at one thing or another that shall clean unquiet
all altogether,) and saw things whereof I defer to
speak at this time, and understood at the last not
only that there was no room in my lord of Lon¬
don's palace to translate the New Testament, but
also that there was no place to do it in all Eng¬
land, as experience doth now openly declare."
This was written in 1530, and relates to what
took place in 1524. Poor Tyndale ! In vain he
sought the patronage of the metropolitan bishop
—no encouragement from that quarter could he
find in his heaven-born undertaking. " Room
enough," he quaintly remarks, in the margin of
the book in which the above-quoted observations
occur, " room enough there was in my lord's house
for belly-cheer, but none to translate the New Tes¬
tament." Indeed, Tyndale had hard work to live
at all in London, and would have been in positive
destitution but for the friendship of a wealthy
citizen and alderman named Humphry Monmouth.
Hearing Tyndale preach at St. Dunstan's in the
tyndale's version.
55
West, he inquired in to his circumstances, and
finding he had no means of support, and being
afterwards requested by Tyndale to render him
some assistance, he kindly took him into his house
for half a year • "and there," says Sir Humphry,
" he lived like a good priest as methought. He
studied most part of the day and of the night at
his book, and he would eat but sodden meat by
his good will, nor drink but small single beer. I
never saw him wear linen about him in the space
he was with me. I did promise him ten pounds
sterling to pray for my father and mother, their
souls, and all Christian souls: I did pay it to him
when he made his exchange at Hamboro'."—
Stripe's Memoirs, Appendix, lxxxix.
This Humphry Monmouth was one of the ear¬
liest professors of the reformed doctrines in Lon¬
don, and was an eminently amiable and pious man.
Latimer relates a beautiful anecdote of him in his
Seventh Sermon on the Lord's Prayer. A poor
man, a papist, who was under great obligations to
Monmouth, incensed at his opposition to the er¬
rors and corruptions of Rome, went and accused
him before the bishops. The alderman sought to
subdue the man's enmity, but for some time it
was in vain. One day he met his poor but malig¬
nant neighbor in a narrow street, and walking up
to him, seized him by the hand and inquired,
" Neighbor, what is come into your heart to take
such displeasure with me? What have I done
against you ? Tell me, and I will be ready at all
times to make you amends." " Finally, he spake
so gently, so charitably, so lovingly, and friendly,
56
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
that it wrought so in the poor man's heart, that
by and by he fell down upon his knees and asked
him forgiveness. The rich man forgave him, and
so took him again to his favor, and they loved as
well as ever they did afore." Beautiful illustration
of the passage, in reference to which Latimer
quoted the circumstance: "We shall overcome
our enemy with well-doing, and so heap up hot
coals upon his head."—Version in Latimer's
Sermons, vol. i. p. 440. Parker Society.
Both Tyndale and Monmouth were now but
in a transition state from darkness to light. They
saw clearly some of the errors of Rome, and some
of the truths of the gospel, but old associations
and habits still hung about them, as is evident
from the monkish austerity of the one, the pay¬
ment for prayers on behalf of the dead by the
other, and the belief in purgatory which still
seemed to cleave to both. But Providence was
preparing the way for Tyndale to execute the holy
task upon which he had set his mind, and which
was at once to purify his own religious sentiments,
and to prove powerfully instrumental in dispersing
much of this papal darkness from off the face of
his beloved country. But, as it often happens in
this world, the reformer and friend of the Church
had to perform his high behest amid persecution
and suffering, and to receive from his fellow-men
no other reward than the crown of martyrdom.
Bidding adieu to his native shores—an everlast¬
ing adieu, as it proved in the sequel—Tyndale
sailed over to Hamburgh, in the year 1524.
In the year following, we find him at Cologne,
TYNDALE'S VERSION.
57
and decisive evidence is afforded that he had then
far advanced in the prosecution of his purpose.
The press was at work upon his New Testament.
We wish we could minutely trace all the circum¬
stances connected with Tyndale's labors on the
continent in preparing this version, but considera¬
ble obscurity rests upon his proceedings. In those
times it was necessary, in order to succeed, that
such a man should act with silence and secrecy; and
therefore, being unobserved by his contemporaries,
and keeping the story of his progress to himself,
the remembrance of most of his personal adven¬
tures in the execution of his work has perished.
Probably, at Hamburgh, he was busily employed
with the translation, deriving his support from the
generous Monmouth and other Christian mer¬
chants, who had begun to embrace the new learn-
ing.
At Cologne, however, we clearly discover our
noble-hearted hero so far in advance with his Tes¬
tament as to be superintending the printers in
bringing it through the press. An assistant was
with him, one Roye, a crafty and selfish man, who
helped Tyndale for what he could get. The latter
tells us that they wrote and compared the texts
together ;* and one's imagination can picture the
two men, influenced by far different motives, at
work in the far-famed city of Cologne, in some
poor-looking house in an obscure street, while a
priest or a pilgrim sometimes passed under their
window, on his way to the Shrine of the Three
* Preface to the Parable of the "Wicked Mammon.''
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
Kings, little dreaming of the hind of employment
that was going on there, and of the consequences
to which it would lead.
But there was one argus-eyed man named
Cochlaeus, a deacon of the Church of the Blessed
Virgin, at Frankfort, who got a glimpse of what
Tyndale was doing. " Having become intimate
and familiar with the Cologne printers, he some¬
times heard them confidently boast, when in their
cups, that whether the king and cardinal of England
would or not, all England would in a short time be
Lutheran. He heard, also, that there were two
Englishmen lurking there, skilful in languages, and
fluent, whom, however, he never could see or con¬
verse with. Calling, therefore, certain printers
into his lodging, after they were heated with wine,
one of them, in more private discourse, discovered
to him the secret by which England was to be
drawn over to the side of Luther, namely, that
three thousand copies of the Lutheran Hew Tes¬
tament, translated into the English language, were
in the press, and already were advanced as far as
the letter k, in ordine quartcrniontin ; that the
expenses were wholly supplied by English mer¬
chants, who were secretly to convey the work,
when printed, and to disperse it widely through
all England, before the king or the cardinal could
discover or prohibit it.
" Cochlaeus being inwardly affected by fear and
wonder, disguised his grief, under the appearance
of admiration. But another day, considering
with himself the magnitude of the grievous dan¬
ger, he cast in mind by what method ho might
tyndale's version.
59
expeditiously obstruct these very wicked attempts.
He went, therefore, secretly, to Herman Rinek,
a patrician of Cologne, and military knight, fa¬
miliar both with the Emperor and the King of
England, and a councillor, and disclosed to him
the whole affair, as, by means of the wine, he had
received it. He, that he might ascertain all things
more certainly, sent another person into the house
where the work was printing, according to the
discovery of Cochlseus ; and when he had under-,
stood from him that the matter was even so,
and that there was great abundance of paper
there, he went to the senate, and so brought it
about that the printer was interdicted from pro¬
ceeding further in that work. The two English
apostates, snatching away with them the quarto
sheets printed, fled by ship going up the Rhine
to Worms, where the people were under the full
rage of Lutheranism, that there, by another
printer, they might complete the work begun."
Often had the vessel, laden with the stores of
merchandise, or with the rich spoils seized by the
robber lords who dwelt in the castles which bris¬
tled on the banks of the Rhine, been seen gliding
up that beautiful river; but never before had a
boat freighted with such a treasure as that which
the ship with Tyndale and his half-printed Testa¬
ments contained, been borne upon those gently
flowing waters. He hastened to Worms—the city
which had been entered in triumph by Luther
four years before—when the herald of the emperor
preceded him on horseback, and two thousand
60
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
persons, including several Saxon noblemen, accom.
panied him to his inn.
" What a contrast have we between Luther's
entrance, surrounded by his electors and princes,
and the humble approach of Tyndale, with his hale
of printed sheets I"—Anderson, vol. i. p. 67.
These facts in their history are significant of the
two different paths in which these two great re¬
formers had to tread. We detract nothing from
the greatness of Luther. We admire his heroism.
We are ready to bind wreaths of verdant honor
round his noble name 3 but in Tyndale we recog¬
nize more of patient endurance, of sacrifice, and
of suffering. No princely patron ever threw over
him his shield: the smiles of the great never
brightened his path. A London merchant was
his most distinguished friend on earth: from first
to last his course was one of obscurity: for many
years before his death, he was a sorrowful exile..
The Testament, interrupted in its progress at
Cologne, was in quarto, and it had a prologue, and
certain notes. It could easily be identified as
Tyndale's, by those who had discovered what he
was doing. At Worms, therefore, he changed his
plan. He immediately commenced an octavo edi¬
tion of the booh, without prologue or notes. This
he speedily finished, and at once issued it from
the press. It was the first New Testament printed
in English that ever saw the light. " That the
rudeness of the work, now at the'first time offered,
offend them not," are the words of the translator
in the postscript to his book. But, thouoh the
tyndale's version.
61
quarto edition was for a little while left incom¬
plete, Tyndale resumed his labors, and completed
it. First in design and partial execution, it was
the last in publication; and this we take to be
the true explanation of a bibliographical puzzle,
upon which a good deal of antiquarian speculation
has at different times been expended. The whole
matter may be seen, as examined at length, and
finally placed in this satisfactory light, in Mr.
Anderson's "Annals of the Bible," vol. i. p. 62.
A precious relic of the old quarto was, a few
years since, discovered by Mr. Bodd, containing the
prologue, and the G-ospel of Matthew as far as the
twenty-second chapter. The only perfect copy of
the octavo edition, known to exist, is preserved in
the Baptist College Library, Bristol. In the preface
to the " Wicked Mammon," published in May,
1528, Tyndale says that his New Testament was
finished two years previously 5 and this statement is
in harmony with the report of Cochlaeus, whose
story relates to the year 1525. We have no doubt
that it was in the next year that Tyndale published
his Testaments-—not in 1525, as Mr. Anderson
has endeavored to prove. "We must content
ourselves in saying, that after attentively consid¬
ering all he has written, we do not see how the
thing was possible; and in the absence of all di¬
rect and positive evidence to the contrary, we ad¬
here to our original opinion, that the Testaments
were published in the former part of the year
1526."—British Quarterly Review, vol. iii. p.
•W9-.
All preceding versions of the Scriptures in
62
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
English had been made from the Latin Vulgate,
but this was from the Greek original, as an ex¬
amination of Tyndale's labors abundantly shows;
and to the accuracy of his translation a striking
proof is afforded by the fact, that though the Eng¬
lish New Testament underwent so many revisions
before it appeared in its present form, a very con¬
siderable portion of Tyndale's version remains in
it unaltered.—Annals, vol. i. p. 88.
Stealthily brought over to England, probably
by way of Antwerp, or through Holland, the Tes¬
taments of Tyndale were soon circulated far and
wide. George Herman, a citizen of Antwerp,
and Simon Fish, of Gray's Inn, London, appear to
have been active agents in the enterprise, and de¬
serve to be ranked among their country's best
benefactors. By the assistance of our honest
martyrologist, John Foxe, we are enabled to trace
the circulation of the precious volume of God's
word, here and there, in England, at that time,
and to obtain glimpses of the hallowed effects
which it produced on minds which were hunger¬
ing and thirsting after righteousness. London,
and Oxford, and Norwich, were among the first
places to which Tyndale's Testament was con¬
veyed, and the following beautiful story is an ex¬
ample of the joy which this new-found treasure
inspired. Thomas Garret, curate of All-Saints
Honey Lane, London, was very active in disposing
of the English Testament. Going down to Ox^
ford, he circulated it among the students, and one
of them, named Delabar, thus describes the cir¬
cumstance of his receiving the volume :—
tyndale's version. 63
" When Mi*. Garret was gone down the stairs
from my chamber, I straightways did shut my
chamber door, and went into my study, and .took
the New Testament in my hands, kneeled down
on my knees, and, with many a deep sigh and salt
tear, I did with much deliberation read over the
tenth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel; and when
I had so done, with fervent prayer I did commit
unto God that our dearly beloved brother Garret,
earnestly beseeching him in and for Jesus Christ's
sake, his only-begotten Son, our Lord, that he
would vouchsafe not only safely to conduct and
keep our said dear brother from the hands of all
his enemies, hut also that he would endue his
tender and lately horn little flock in Oxford with
heavenly strength, by his Holy Spirit, that they
may be able thereby valiantly to withstand to his
glory all their fierce enemies; and also might
quietly, to their own salvation, with all godly pa¬
tience, bear Christ's heavy cross, which I now saw
was presently to be laid on their young and weak
backs, unable to bear so huge a burden, without
the great help of his Holy Spirit. This done, I
laid aside my book safe."
In October, 1526, the Bishop of London pub¬
lished. a prohibition of Tyndale's Testament.
Diligent search was made by the alarmed priests
of Rome for the new translation. Those who
were detected with it in their possession were
treated as heretics; and the fate of the proscribed
books was to be cast into the fire. But fresh im¬
portations soon supplied the loss. After the
quarto edition was completed at Worms, a printer
64
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
at Antwerp set his press to work upon the ^ book,
and issued a third edition in 1526, according to
Mr. Anderson.* This was succeeded in the next
year by a fourth, printed in the same city. The
merchants of the Steelyard about that time were
lading their ships with wheat from the continental
ports, to meet a great scarcity which then pre¬
vailed in London: on board these same vessels
there came spiritual stores, copies of the word of
life—the bread from heaven. As many as four
or five hundred Testaments were imported by one
man.
What was to be done ? As early as 1527, it
was suggested that the books should be bought up
as fast as they could be obtained, and burned.
Archbishop Warham entered into the scheme, and
spent £56 lis. 4d. upon it. To assist in covering
the expense, he wrote to the bishops for subscrip¬
tions, and a letter is preserved, written by poor
old Nix, bishop of Norwich, at the time quite
blind, who contributed ten marks to the object,
and most fervently pronounced the archbishop's
undertaking " a gracious and blessed deed." Ton-
stall, bishop of London, improved on his grace's
idea, and sought to destroy the Testaments by
wholesale. His plan was to buy up copies at Ant¬
werp, where they were printed. He happened to
be in that city in 1529, and there he employed a
man named Packington to make the bargain, and
get the books. °
As the old story goes, Packington came to Tyn-
* "Annals," vol. i p. 122.
tyndale's version. G5
dale, who was then afc Antwerp, and said, " Wil¬
liam, I know thou art a poor man, and hast a heap
of New Testaments and books by thee, for which
thou hast both endangered thy friends and beg¬
gared thyself; and I have now gotten thee "a
merchant, which, with ready money, shall dispatch
thee of all that thou hast, if you think it profitable
for yourself." " Who is the merchant ?" says Tyn-
dale. " The Bishop of London," said Packing-
ton. "0! that is because he will burn them,"
said Tyndale. "Yes," quoth Packington. "I
am the gladder," said Tyndale; " for these two
benefits will come thereof—I shall get money to
bring myself out of debt, and the whole world
will cry out against the burning of God's word;
and the overplus of the money that shall remain
to me shall make me more studious to correct the
said New Testament, and so newly to imprint the
same once again; and I trust the second will much
better like (please) you than ever did the first."
So forward went the bargain : the bishop had the
books—Packington had the thanks—and Tyndale
had the money. The story is given by the old
chronicler Halle, but serious doubts about some
particulars of it may fairly be entertained. That
Tyndale should be the man of whom the books
were purchased seems unlikely, for the editions
purchased must have been those produced by the
Antwerp printers, to whom, in all probability, they
belonged. And even if the books were bought
of Tyndale, little dependence can be placed on
the report of the conversation: George Constan-
tine, a man of no great respectability of character,
3
G6
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
being tlie authority on which it is related. Not
does Packington appear a man to be much trusted.
However, the books were obtained in some way,
and in the following year were publicly consumed.
There was a great gathering in the churchyard
of old St. Paul's on the 4th of May, 1580. The
spectacle-loving folks of those days might be seen
wending up Ludgate Hill, and along the side of
Cheape, to assemble round St. Paul's Cross. The
promenade in the middle aisle of the old Gothic
cathedral—where London citizens were wont to
saunter and chat, transact business, and while
away an idle hour—was almost emptied by the
attractive influence of the scene to be enacted
without the walls. With much ceremonial and
state, nine years before, a number of heretical
books had there, in the presence of a great crowd,
been committed to the flames—Cardinal Wolsey,
under a canopy of eloth of gold, proceeded to a
seat under a cloth of state, with foreign ambassa¬
dors and English bishops clustering around him,
and swelling his magnificence—a sermon was
preached, and the works of Luther were commit¬
ted to the flames. In 1526 another holocaust was
offered, while the cardinal, surrounded by abbots
and bishops, attired in damask, his Grace being
robed in purple, looked on with great satisfaction.
Put now a richer and larger sacrifice was to be
presented at the shrine of papal intolerance.
T(install caused, on this occasion, the books he
had obtained at Antwerp to be committed to the
flames. Testament after Testament was flung on
the blazing pyre—the people were solemnly warned
TYNDALE'S VERSION.
07
against the sin of reading the word of God!
The Church—she was the only teacher! The
Bible was not for the people to read, but for the
priest to explain ! The version made in the Eng¬
lish tongue, by a thoughtful, learned, pious mind,
was only fit for tbe flames! The crowds about
the old churchyard looked on the spectacle that
day with varied feelings. Some thought all this
was right; others, that it was all wrong. " This
burning," says Burnet, " had such a hateful ap¬
pearance in it, being generally called a burning
of the word of God, tbat people from thence con¬
cluded there must be a visible contrariety between
that book and the doctrines of those who handled
it; by which both their prejudice against the
clergy, and their desire of reading the New Testa¬
ment, was increased."
The crusade against the Scriptures was still
kept up throughout such parts of the country as
had received the proscribed volumes; and many
a strict search was made for them, while ingenious
contrivances were adopted for their concealment.
No one who has ever read Foxe's story of Thomas
Harding, the martyr of Chesham, will ever forget
it. Amidst the lovely scenery which skirts that
little town, up in those woods covering the grace¬
ful slopes which environ it, did the honest tanner
seek, unobserved, to read and pray; where, as he
was sitting one day on a stile, with a book in his
hand, he was observed by a malignant person,
who forthwith informed the officers of the town,
upon which a rude rabble beset his house, search¬
ing for heretical books, and, under the boards of
68
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
the floor, they found some English .hew Testa¬
ments.
But in spite of searchings and burnings, pro¬
clamations, and buying up of editions, the hated
Testaments still found their way from the conti¬
nent : sometimes enclosed in packages, artfully
covered with flax, and sometimes conveyed among
the ware of Jewish merchants. " Sir," said the
Bishop of London to his agent, Packington, " how
cometh this, that there are so many New Testa¬
ments abroad, and you promised and assured me
you had bought all ?" " I promised you," re¬
joined Packington, " I bought all that then was
to be had; but I perceive they have made more
since, and it will never be better as long as they
have the letters and stamps; therefore it were
best for your Lordship to buy the stamps too, and
then you are sure." The bishop smiled at him,
and said, "Well, Packington, well;" and so
ended the matter. "And so, perhaps," adds Mr.
Anderson, " ended the device of purchasing
books in order to burn them; but it will not be
long before we find these enemies to proceed to
men themselves, and with a bitter zeal, still more
inflamed, consign them to the fire ; for very soon
after this, seizing and burning men, instead of
their productions, or the books in their possession,
became the order of the day."
While Tyndale's enemies on one side of the
channel were burning his books, he was pursuing
his Heaven-directed labors on the other, revising
his translation, preparing a version of the Old
Testament, and writing works in defence of the
tyndale's version.
09
principles which he had learned from the sacred
oracles. As he had proceeded with his studies
iu the word of God, and in ecclesiastical history,
and as he had marked the workings of the Papa;
system both in England and abroad, his eyes had
been clearly opened to see the anti-scriptural
character of the Romish court and the claims of
his holiness. With powerful thought, felicitous
illustration, and in a nervous, telling style, did
Tyndale lay bare the true history of the rise of
the Papal see, and the manifold evils that sprang
from it. His " Practice of Prelates" treats of
this subject, and the following passages may be
quoted as an example of his style of thought and
illustration :—
"And to see how our holy father came up,
mark the ensample of an ivy tree : first it spring-
eth out of the earth, and then awhile creepeth
along by the ground till it findeth a great tree)
then it joineth itself beneath alow into the body
of the tree, and creepeth up a little and a little,
fair and softly. And, at the beginning, while it
is yet thin and small, that the burden is not per¬
ceived, it seemeth glorious to garnish the tree in
the winter, and to bear off the tempests of the
weather. But in the mean season it thrusteth
roots into the bark of the tree to hold fast withal,
and ceaseth not to climb up till it be at the top,
and above all. And then it sendeth his branches
along by the branches of the tree, and overgrow-
eth all, and waxeth great, heavy, and thick; and
sucketh the moisture so sore out of the tree and
Pis branches, that it choketh and stifleth them
70
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
And tlien the foul stinking ivy waxeth mighty
in the stump of the tree, and becometh a seat
and a nest for all unclean birds, and for blind
owls .which hawk in the dark, and dare not come
at the light.
" Even so the Bishop of Rome, now called
Pope, at the beginning crope along upon the
earth, and every man trod upon him in this
world. But as soon as there came a Christian
emperor, he joined himself into his feet, and
kissed them, and crope up a little with begging,
now this privilege, now that • now this city, now
that; to find poor people withal, and the necessary
ministers of Grod's word. And he entitled the
emperor with choosing the Pope and other bish¬
ops, and promoted in the spiritualty, not whom
virtue and learning, but whom the favor of great
men commendeth; to flatter, to get friends and
defenders withal.
"And the alms of the congregation, which was
the food and patrimony of the poor and necessary
preachers, that he called St. Peter's patrimony,
St. Peter's rents, St. Peter's lands, St. Peter's
right; to cast a vain fear, and a heathenish super-
stitiousness into the hearts of men, that no man
should dare meddle with whatsoever came once
into their hands, for fear of St. Peter, though
they ministered it never so evil; and that they
which should think it none alms to give them
any more (because they had too much already)
should yet give St. Peter somewhat, (as Nebu¬
chadnezzar gave his god Baal,) to purchase an
advocate and an intercessor of St. Peter, and
TYNDALE'S VERSION.
71
that St. Peter should, at the first knock, let
them in.
"And thus, with flattering and feigning, and
vain superstition, under the' name of'"St. Peter,
he crept up and fastened his roots in the heart
of the emperor, and with his sword climbed up
above all his fellowships, and brought them under
his feet. And as he subdued them with the em¬
peror's sword, even so by subtilty and help of
them (after that they were sworn faithful) he
climbed above the emperor, and subdued him
also, and made stoop unto his feet, and kiss them
another while. Yea, Pope Coelestinus crowned
the Emperor Henry the Eifth, holding the crown
between his feet. And when he had put the
crown on, he smote it off with his feet again, say¬
ing, that he had might to make emperors, and
put them down again.
"And he made a constitution that no layman
should meddle with their matters, nor be in their
councils, or wit what they did; and that the
Pope only should call the council, and the empire
should but defend the Pope, provided alway that
the council should be in one of the Pope's towns,
and where the Pope's power was greater than the
emperor's ; then, under a pretence of condemning
some heresy, he called a general council, where
he made one a patriarch, another cardinal,
another legate, another primate, another arch¬
bishop, another bishop, another dean, another
archdeacon, and so forth, as we now see. And
as the Pope played with the empercr, so did his
branches, his members, the bishops, play in every
72 OUR ENGLISH EIELE.
kingdom, dukedom, and lordship : insomuch, that
the very heirs of them, by whom they came up,
hold now their lands of them, and take them for
their chief lords. And as the emperor is sworn
to the Pope, even so every king is sworn to the
bishops and prelates of his realm ; and they are
the chiefest in all parliaments; yea, they and their
money, and they that be sworn to them, and come
up by them, rule altogether.
"And thus the Pope, the father of all hypo¬
crites, hath with falsehood and guile perverted
the order of the world, and turned the roots of
the trees upward, and hath put down the king¬
dom of Christ, and set up the kingdom of the
devil, whose vicar he is; and hath put down the
ministers of Christ, and hath set up the ministers
of Satan, disguised, yet, in names and garments,
like unto the angels of light, and ministers of
righteousness. For Christ's kingdom is not of
the world; and the Pope's kingdom is all the
world."
In 1530, Tyndale published his translation of
the Pentateuch, which was the commencement
of his labors on the Old Testament—labors which
he prosecuted to a great extent, though he did
not finish the sacred volume, and for which he
was qualified by his acquaintance with the He¬
brew, as well as the Greek and Latin tongues.
In the following year he printed his version of
Jonah ; and in 1534 he issued a revised transla¬
tion of the New Testament. In this work he
sought to render the English more idiomatic, and
was not above availing himself of any hints to be
TYNDALE'S VERSION.
derived from hostile criticisms on the edition of
1520. In the preface to this tvork, there is a
reference to George Joye, a person who had been
employed by the Dutch printers in speedily getting
out the reprints of Tyndale's Testaments. From
it we learn that Tyndale was exceedingly dissatis¬
fied with the alterations which Joye had ventured
to make. This led to an answer on the part of
Joye, in which he endeavors to vindicate himself
against the just charges alleged by Tyndale. This
Joye published a translation of Isaiah, Jeremiah,
and the Psalter, from the Latin Vulgate.
A man like Tyndale, so incessantly and quietly
plying his pen in the translation of the Scriptures,
and the vindication of Scripture truths, was not
likely to be unmolested by the Church of Rome,
and by the enemies of a free circulation of the
Bible. Henry VIII., though he had broken with
Rome, and had commenced the course which, by
the controlling providence of God, proved sub¬
servient to the cause of reformation, was an in¬
veterate enemy to the use of Tyndale's version,
and published a proclamation against it, for which,
no doubt, he was the more ready, because Tyn¬
dale had condemned the divorce of Catherine.
But how much more effectual a thing to get the
man himself into his hands! Measures were,
therefore, employed to decoy him over to Eng¬
land. Sir Stephen Vaughan, Henry's agent in
the Netherlands, did his utmost to persuade him
to return. But Tyndale, though ready to die in
defence of truth, did not see it to be his duty to
tin ust his head into the lion's mouth, and, there-
74
QUE ENGLISH BIBLE.
fore, very wisely preferred to remain on the con¬
tinent.
Yet he sought to vindicate himself to the king's
minister. One day a stranger accosted Sir Ste¬
phen Vaughan, informing him that a person de¬
sired to speak with him. He was conducted to
a field by the walls of Antwerp, close to a run¬
ning stream, where the person in waiting for a
private interview proved to be William Tyndale.
" Sir," said he, " I have been exceeding desirous
to speak with you. I am informed that the king's
grace taketh great displeasure with me for putting
forth of certain hooks which I lately made in
these parts, but especially for the book named the
' Practice of Prelateswhereof I have no little
marvel, considering that in it I did but warn his
Grace of the subtle demeanor of the clergy of his
realm towards his person, and of the shameful
abuses by them practiced, not a little threatening
the displeasure of his Grace and weal of his realm;
in which doing I showed and declared the heart
of a true subject, which sought the safeguard of
his royal person, and weal of his commons, to the
intent that his Grace, thereof warned, might, in
due time, prepare his remedies against the subtle
dreams. If for my pains therein taken • if for
my poverty; if for my exile out of my natural
country, and being absent from my friends; if for
my hunger, my thirst, my cold, the great danger
wherewith I am everywhere compassed; and,
finally, if for innumerable other hard and sharp
sicknesses which I endure, not yet feeling their
asperity, by reason I hoped with my labors to do
TYNDALE'S VERSION.
75
honor to God, true service to my prince, and
pleasure to his commons — how is it that his
< i race, this considering, may either by himself
think, or by the persuasions of others be brought
to think, that iu this doing I should not show a
pure mind, a true and incorrupt zeal, and affec¬
tion to his Grace ?"
The interview between Tyndale and Yaughan
by the gates of Antwerp, in the meadow near the
stream, while the former eloquently defends his
character, is one of those interesting scenes found
in the by-paths of historical literature, far more
worthy of attention than many of the world-known
facts that stand out so insignificantly, but con¬
spicuously, on the high-road of history. Yaughan
had another interview with Tyndale, and seemed
deeply touched by his earnestness and pathos, as
he pleaded for liberty to perform the task on which
his heart was set.
" If it would stand with the king's most gra¬
cious pleasure to grant only a bare text of the
Scripture to be put forth among his people, like
it is put forth among the subjects of the emperor
in these parts, and of other Christian princes, be
it of the translation of what person soever shall
please his Majesty, I shall immediately make
faithful promise never to write more, nor abide
two days in these parts after the same; but imme¬
diately to repair unto his realm, and there most
humbly submit myself at the feet of his royal
Majesty, offering my body to suffer what pain or
tortures, yea, what death, his Grace will, so that
this be obtained."
70
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
There was another exile on the continent at
the time, one like-minded with Tyndale, indeed,
an affectionate and constant friend of his, and
probably a convert to Protestant truth through
his instrumentality. This was the meek, amiable,
and pious John Frith. Vaughan was exhorted
by the king to use his influence with him, and
get him also over to England. Whether through
that influence or not, Frith soon after did return,
to experience the tender mercies of Henry and
his ecclesiastical myrmidons, which were displayed
in his committal to the tower, and speedy martyr¬
dom. Tyndale wrote a letter to Frith in prison,
in which he says : " I call God to record against
the day we shall appear before our Lord Jesus,
to give reckoning of our doings, that I never
altered one syllable of God's word against my
conscience, nor would do this day, if all that is
in earth, whether it be honor, pleasure, or riches,
shall be given me."
Addressing his friend in the prospect of mar¬
tyrdom, Tyndale speaks in a tone of sublime
piety : "Dearly beloved, be of good courage, and
comfort your soul with the hope of this high
reward, and bear the image of Christ in your
mortal body, that it may, at his coming, be made
like to his immortal ; and follow the example of
all your other dear brethren which chose to suffer
in hope of a better resurrection. Keep your con¬
science pure and undefiled, and say against that,
nothing. Stick at necessary things, and remem¬
ber the blasphemies of the enemies of Christ
saying, they find none but will abjure rather than
tyndale's version.
77
suffer the extremity. Moreover, the death of
them that come again after they have once denied,
though it be accepted with God and all that
believe, yet it is not glorious; for the hypocrites
say he must needs die, denying helpeth not. But
might it have holpen, they would have denied
five hundred times; but seeing it would not help
them, therefore, of pure pride and mere malice
together, they speak with their mouths that their
conscience knoweth to be false. If you give your¬
self, cast yourself, yield yourself, commit yourself
wholly and only to your loving Father—then
shall his power be in you and make you strong;
and that so strong that you shall feel no pain,
which should be to another present death, and
his Spirit shall speak in you, and teach you what
to answer, according to his promise."
Thus Tyndale endeavored to comfort his friend
Frith with those consolations with which he him¬
self had been comforted of God. Powerfully did
they sustain the latter, when led forth to die in
Smithfield, in the July of 153B ; and equally great
was the support they ministered to the former,
when, three years afterwards, he also was called to
pass through the fire to his celestial crown.
Tyndale was betrayed into the hands of his
enemies by an unprincipled Englishman, named
Philips. This man had professed friendship for
the noble-hearted reformer, and had, on the very
morning of the betrayal, borrowed of him forty
shillings. Under the guidance of this second
Iscariot, the officers proceeded to Tyndale's place
of abode, when Philips entered, and bringing out
78
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
hi,? unsuspecting victim, " gave the men a sign,
who immediately seized upon their prey, and
conveyed him to the castle of Vilvord, near Brus¬
sels. The unresisting meekness, the transparent
simplicity of the good man, affected the very offi¬
cers ; and during his captivity, his pious conver¬
sation was made useful to the jailer and his family.
He lingered between one and two years in prison,
and employed his time partly in controversy with
the priests of Louvain, and partly in preparing a
translation of the New Testament, (Offer's Me¬
moirs of Tyndale, p. 82,) with a provincial ortho¬
graphy suited to rustic laborers : thus redeeming
to the letter his early pledge to give the plough-
boy the word of Glod.
In September, 1536, he was led forth to
execution, and having been first strangled, his
body was thrown into the flames. His last
breath went up to heaven v in the well-known
prayer, " Lord, open the eyes of the king of
England!" At whose instigation was Tyndale
thus barbarously sacrificed ? Much of obscu¬
rity rests on the transaction, but there can be
little doubt that the English enemies of the
reformer were the prompters of the deed; and
Mr. Anderson has adduced evidence to show
that both Cromwell and Cranruer were aware
of Tyndale's position, but declined to make any
attempt for his deliverance. It seemed the
destiny of this extraordinary man, through life,
to be unpatronized by the mighty ones "of this
world.
His only friend in his last, as in his early days,
TYNDALE'S VERSION.
79
was an English merchant. And all honor to the
nauie of Thomas Poyntz, who was Tyndale's host,
in whose house he was captured, who pleaded
hard to save him, and even risked his life in the
adventure ! " Brother," he says, writing to John
Poyntz, a gentleman at the English court, " the
knowledge that I have of this man causes me to
write as my conscience binds me; for the king's
Grace should have of him, at this day, as high a
treasure as of honor: one man living there is not
that has been of greater reputation." Poyntz
was imprisoned at Brussels, on account of his
intimacy with Tyndale, and saved himself—
probably from a death of violence—by escaping
from prison, and making his way to England.
This friend of our great translator now lies buried
in the little church of South Oxenden, Essex.
Many graves, of far less interest than his, are
pointed to and visited with honor !
Tyndale was eminently a great man—great in
mind, and heart, and enterprise. His intellectual
endowments were of an order to render him a
match in controversy for the illustrious Sir Thomas
More. Logic, erudition, wit, and eloquence, may
all he found in the pages of his answer to Sir
Thomas More's dialogue; and that his opponent
was sensible of his superior intellectual and
literary qualifications, there are obvious indica¬
tions in the portly quartos which he wrote against
him. The qualities of his heart were as remark¬
able as those of his head. ITe combined a calm
and steady heroism with a childlike simplicity.
No man was ever more free from duplicity, more
80
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
full of meekness, and at the same time more
elevated in soul by a manly courage. Ever, "as
in his great Taskmaster's eye," he pursued his
labors for the good of man, in obscurity and exile,
reaping no earthly benefit whatever—looking for
no reward but the approving smile of his Heavenly
Father.
His translations of the Scriptures evince a spirit
of enterprise of the noblest order, the more sub¬
lime because so thoroughly sanctified. It dealt a
blow at Romanism more effectual than any other.
It was like the point of Ithuriel's spear. Other
reformers have filled the field of vision and
engrossed the attention of historians; but to
Tyndale, of right, belongs a place in the first
rank of the noble band. But not on his deeds,
however virtuous and holy, did he rest his hope.
Eminently evangelical were his views of Chris¬
tianity. Cordially did he believe that salvation
was all of grace. " Paul's doctrine," he observes,
" is, if a man work, it ought not to be said that
his hire was given him of grace, or of favor, but
of duty. But to him that worketh not, but
believeth in him that justifieth the ungodly, his
faith, (he saith not his works, although he com¬
manded us diligently to work, and despiseth none
that God commandeth,) his faith, saith he, is
reckoned him for his righteousness. Confirming
his saying with the testimony of the prophet
David, in his thirty-second* Psalm, saying,
' Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord im-
puteth or reckoneih not his sin;' that is to say,
which man, although he be a sinner, yet God
tyndale's version.
81
layeth not to liis charge for his faith's sake.
And in the eleventh he says, 1 If it come of
grace, then it cometh not of works, for then
were grace no grace,' saitk he. For it was a
very strange thing speaking in Paul's ears, to
call that grace that came of deserving of works,
or that deserving of works which came by grace;
for he reckoned works and grace to be contrary in
such manner of speech." " By grace ye are saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the
gift of Godsuch was the great Bible lesson
which Tyndalo learned. This was the creed he
sealed with his blood.
It is the revelation of this truth, that God has
provided for man a way of salvation through faith
in Jesus Christ, which forms the most prominent
characteristic of the gospel, and renders it so
eminently suitable to mankind in their fallen
state. That the human race have apostatized
from their Maker—that they are far gone from
original righteousness—that amidst the lingering
traits of their primeval benevolence, that amidst
the remains of their pristine amiable instincts,
there are deep traces of their enmity to God—is
a fact which the study of human nature esta¬
blishes, and wh'ich revelation confirms in the
clearest manner. This renders necessary some
grand remedial measure for the salvation of man¬
kind. Natural religion can neither discover nor
guo-crest any such measure. But the Bible dis¬
closes it. It reveals the Lord Jesus Christ as the
Mediator between God and man—as the great
Atonement for sin; and invites the sons of men,
82
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
without exception, to avail themselves of th&
gracious provision. It prescribes faith, simple;
faith, as the means of securing an interest in the
redemption of Christ.
At the same time, the gospel provides for th%
renewal of our moral character—for the regenera-f
tion of our souls—by the truth which it exhibits#
and by the agency of the Holy Spirit, which it
freely promises. "After that the kindness and
love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by
the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Saviour: that, being
justified by his grace, we should be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life." Here we
have the key-note of the New Testament—the
cardinal principle which gives the gospel such in¬
comparable value. The clear teaching of the
divine volume on that subject must be remem¬
bered, and duly estimated, in order to our fall
appreciation of the advantage accruing to our
countrymen from the labors of Tyndale. In put¬
ting the New Testament into the hands of Eng¬
lishmen, he gave them the charter of salvation—
the book of eternal life. His own history affords
a beautiful example of its purifying and savins
power, under the blessing of the Holy Spirit. It
was the experimental sense which he had of its
incomparable worth which animated him to un¬
dertake what formed the chief labor of his life,
and which comforted and sustained him amidst
tyndale's version.
83
the many trials to which that undertaking ex¬
posed him.
"And thus much of the life and history of the
true servant and martyr of God, William Tyndale,
who, for his notable pains and travail, may well
be called the apostle of England in this our latter
age."—Foxe.
84
our english bible.
CHAPTER IV.
coverdale, and his biblical toils.
In ttie district of Coverdale, in the county of
York, there stood at the close of the fifteenth
century, in all its magnificence, the well-known
abbey of Coverham. It was amidst the pleasant
scenery that bordered on that ecclesiastical edi¬
fice, amidst the hills, meadows, and trout-streams
of the district, that, in all probability, the man
first saw the light who was to be an illustrious
coadjutor of Tyndale's in the work of translation,
and to go beyond him by being the first to pub¬
lish the whole volume of the Bible, translated
from the original tongues. Miles Coverdale, no
doubt, derived his name from the district in which
ho was born,* and, perhaps, in the monastic
school at Coverham received the first elements of
instruction. One pictures the sturdy little fellow
running about those hills, sporting in those mea¬
dows, and fishing in those trout-streams, and then
mingling with the other boys, under the tutorship
of the cowled monks, who little thought, as they
looked on his boyish countenance, the kind of
man he was to make.
* lie was born in 1488.
COVERDALE, AND HIS BIBLICAL TOILS. 85
In his youth he was sent to the Augustin
monastery in Cambridge, and there shared, 110
doubt, in the advantages derived from the revival
of learning in the university, about the time of
Erasmus's second visit to it in 1511. Dr. Barnes
was among the chief instruments of that revival,
and it was he who presided as prior over the bre¬
thren of the house of the Augustins at Cambridge.
The accommodation and habits of Cambridge men
were then rather different from what they are
now) and if the reader would like to take a peep
at them in the days of Coverdale, he may form a
judgment of what they must have been in those
times—the reign of Henry VIII.—from what
they were in the reign of Edward VI., as thus
described in a sermon, by Thomas Lever, 1550 :
" There be divers there which rise daily between
four and five of the clock in the morning, and
from five* until six of the clock use common
prayer, with an exhortation of God's word, in a
common chapel, and from six until ten of the
clock use ever either private study or common
lectures. At ten of the clock they go to dinner,
whereas they be content with a penny piece of
beef among four, having a few pottage made of
the broth of the same beef, with salt and oatmeal,
and nothing else. After this slender dinner, they
be either teaching or learning until five of the
clock in the evening, when they have a supper,
* Before the Reformation it would be the hour of
prime. The Common Prayer was introduced by the
reformers.
86
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
not much better than their dinner. Immediately
after which they go either to reasoning in pro¬
blems, or unto some other study, until it be nine
or ten of the clock, and there being without fire,
are fain to walk or run up and down half an hour
to get a heat in their feet when they go to bed."
—Antiquarian Rep., vol. iii. p. 154.
Perhaps there was better cheer in the monas¬
tery of the Augustins before the Reformation,
than it would seem, from Lever's sermon, many
of the Cambridge men partook of in his time:
however that might be, there Coverdale studied
and worked, and laid in such an amount of learn¬
ing as qualified him for the great work which
Providence intended him to perform. Dr. Barnes
was brought to the knowledge of evangelical truth,
and was led to adopt the principles of the re¬
formers, by Thomas Bilney. Probably, Coverdale
soon imbibed the spirit of his worthy prior, and
thus began the noble career which secured such
benefits for his country. In a letter written from
his cell, in the Augustin monastery, to Thomas
Cromwell, on May-day, (1527,)* he remarks
" Now I begin to taste of Holy Scriptures : now,
honor be to God, I am set to the most sweet
smell of holy letters, with the godly savor of holy
and ancient doctors, unto whose knowledge I
cannot attain without diversity of books, as is not
unknown to your most excellent wisdom. Nothing
L desire in the world but books, as concerning
my learning : they once had, I do not doubt but
* This is probably the true date.
COVERDALE, AND HIS BIBLICAL TOILS. 87
Almighty God shall perform that in me which he
of his most plentiful favor and grace hath begun."
Thomas Cromwell, afterwards Earl of Essex,
the favorite of Henry, the man who played so
conspicuous a part in the secular movements con¬
nected with the Reformation, was Coverdale's
early friend and patron; and the connection of
this great man, and the assistance which he ren¬
dered Coverdale in his undertaking, are obvious
in the reformer's history up to the time of the
^minister's death. Perhaps it was the friendship
Fpf Cromwell which saved Coverdale from being
involved in trouble when he came out as an
antagonist to papal errors. Barnes was accused
of heresy, and committed to the Fleet. Cover-
dale attended him as a friend, amidst his trials,
and afterwards, in Essex, distinguished himself
as a zealous preacher against transubstantiation,
the worshipping of images, and confession to a
priest. Yet we find him untouched by persecu¬
tion. But in 1529 he appears to have left his
native country for the continent, no doubt in¬
duced so to do as the best plan for securing per¬
sonal safety. There we lose sight of him for a
while, unless we believe Foxe's statement, that
he was connected with Tyndale at Hamburgh in
translating the Pentateuch.
It appears that, soon after the marriage of
Henry VIH. with Anne Boleyn, a rumor ob¬
tained currency to the effect that the monarch
was become favorable to the circulation of the
Scriptures. Tyndale, in his letter to Frith, 1533,
says • " George Joye, at Candlemas, being at Bar-
88
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
row, printed two leaves of Genesis, in a great
form, and sent one copy to the king, and another
to the new queen, with a letter to N. to deliver
them, and to purchase license that he might so go
through all the Bible. Out of this is sprung the
uoise of the new Bible, and out of that is the
great seeking for English books and all printers
and bookbinders at Antwerp, and for an English
priest that should print." It is quite clear that
a notion prevailed of the king being favorable to
an English translation of the Bible. Cranmer,
too, who was raised to the primacy in this year,
exerted all his influence to effect his object.
One can picture him in the Chapter House of
old St. Paul's, in the winter of 1531, four days
before Christmas, standing up before the assem¬
bled clergy, to recommend "that his Majesty
would vouchsafe to decree that the Scriptures
should be translated into the vulgar tongue by
some honest and learned men, to be nominated
by the king, and to he delivered unto the people
according to their learning." The archbishop's
effort failed, but the English refugee on the con¬
tinent, who had now for years been " set to the
most sweet smell of holy letters," probably en¬
couraged by the rumors he had heard, proceeded
to avail himself of the favorable crisis, and to
hasten through the press a complete translation
of the Bible in English.
" Considering," says Coverdale, in the preface
to his great work, " how excellent knowledge and
learning an interpreter of Scripture ought to have
in the tongues, and pondering also mine own in-
COVERDALE, AND HIS BIBLICAL TOILS. 89
sufficiency therein, and how.weak I am to per¬
form the office of a translator, I was the more
loth to meddle with this work. Notwithstand¬
ing, when I considered how great pity it was that
we should want it so long, and called to my re¬
membrance the adversity of them who were not
only of ripe knowledge, but would also, with all
their hearts, have performed that they begun, if
they had not had impediment," (here, no doubt,
he alludes to Tyndale, then in prison,) " consider¬
ing, I say, that, by reason of their adversity, it
could not so soon have been brought to an end as
our most prosperous nation would fain have had
it—these and other reasonable causes considered,
I was the more bold to take it in hand."
Wanly supposes that it was in Zurich that
Coverdale printed his Bible; and we love to think
of that cheerful city, " embosomed among vine-
clad knolls^ meadows, and orchards, and sur¬
mounted by forests, above and beyond which ap¬
pear the loftier summits of the Alps," with our
English translator working in some little room,
through the livelong day, till long after the sun
had set behind those Alpine heights, then rising
to his task again, before the same sun gilded the
opposite horizon. On and on he labored, till the
colophon at the end of the last sheet proclaimed
that the top-stone of his work was laid—with
what joy, may be better conceived than told !*
No time would be lost in packing up the sheets,
* Prynted in the yeare of our Lord MDXXXV., and
finished the fourth day of October.
90
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
in conveying them to the nearest and most jon-
venient port, and in shipping them for England. ]
While the early winds of that winter were sweep-
ing the German Ocean, a bark might he seen
buffeted by the waters, but watched over by tie
eye and guarded by the hand of God, containing,
among meaner freightage, a cargo of Englmh
Bibles, translated by Miles Coverdale—a treasure
more precious far than the golden fleece brought
by the Argonauts of old from the land of Colchis.
Much difficulty has been felt in determining
the time which Coverdale employed on his work.
He says, in his preface, that one reason which
induced him to undertake it was " the adversity"
of others who would have done it better, meaning
Tyndale, which fixes the undertaking to the year
1534; and in his preface to a subsequent edition,
he plainly states that very year as the date of his
" taking upon him to set forth this special trans¬
lation." After a repeated and careful considera¬
tion of the matter, we are decidedly of opinion
that Coverdale alludes not to the mere printing
of the book, as Mr. Anderson supposes, but to
his resolution to publish, and his first preparing
the work for the press. Just giving the copy to
the printer, after its publication had before been
determined on, could not be the beginning of the
business—could not be the thing he was induced
to do by the adversity of others—could not be the
act he was specially desired by his friends to per¬
form. The allusions he makes plainly point to
the first determination to publish such a work, and,
consequently, its first preparation for the press.
COVERDALE, AND HIS BIBLICAL TOILS. 91
^ Still this does not exclude the supposition that
he illicit, have materials by him, in addition to
'"the transition by Tyndale, which would greatly
Said him i^Sthe performance of his task. A man
'^addicted as he was to the study of the Scriptures,
*mhen there was no published translation of the
ijwhole volume, would, most likely, make versions
of parts of it for his own private use. These he
would now revise and incorporate in his forth¬
coming version. But, with all these facilities for
his Tfork, the execution of it in so short a space
of time was a herculean achievement. " Many
an hour must have been snatched from recreation
and reStp^ptense and continuous must have been
the holy effort. And surely no one who believes
that the book which was the subject of his labors
is divine, that Providence had directed him to his
task, and that the Spirit of God aids the human
mind in its works of faith and labors of love, will
deem it visionary, if we regard an invisible power
as assisting the thoughts, and speeding the pen,
of the translator."* In a work which must have
been executed in haste, we may expect to find
some inaccuracies of translation ; but though such
may be found, yet the critical investigator of
Coverdale's labors finds ample evidence of his
acquaintance with the Greek and Hebrew lan¬
guages, of his careful study of the original, and
of his felicitous tact for catching the sense of the
inspired authors, and expressing it in exact and
racy old English. We are compelled, however,
* English Translations and Translators.
02
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
to state, that we have noticed some renderings in
Coverdale's version which have sorely perplexed
us to make out how and whence he could have
obtained them. He tells us he was helped" by
Latin and German versions; and it is plain that
he was only " helped" by them; yet, on the title-
page of the edition of 1535, it is said that the
translation was made from " the Douche and
Latyn." Perhaps the best explanation of this is,
that, as Coverdale was on the continent at the
time, the printers in England, who published the
book, and executed the title-page, introduced this
statement of their own accord, either through
ignorance, or from a wish to promote the sale:
the " Douche" origin of any book on the side of
the Reformation being esteemed there, at that
time, a recommendation to favor, and friendly to
its circulation. In the new title-page, inserted
the next year, when most likely Coverdale was in
England, " Douche and Latyn" are left out.
The book was well received in Britain. Crom¬
well patronized it. The dedication to Henry
VIII., too fulsome by far, but in keeping with the
custom of the age in such matters, indicates that
the translator hoped for the royal smile. The
story related by Coverdale, in a sermon at St.
Paul's Cross, indicates that in this respect he was
not altogether disappointed. "After it was fin¬
ished, and presented to King Henry VIII., of fa¬
mous memory, and by him committed to divers
bishops of that time to peruse, of which I remem¬
ber Stephen Gardiner was one, after they had kept
it long in their hands, and the king was divers
COVERDALE, AND HIS BIBLICAL TOILS. 93
time sued unto for tlie publication thereof, at the
last being called for by the king himself, they re¬
delivered the book, and being demanded by the
king what they thought of the translation, they
answered that there were many faults therein.
'Well/ said the king, 'but are there any heresies
maintained thereby V They answered, ' that there
were no heresies that they could find.' ' If there
be no heresies,' said the king, ' then, in God's
name, let it go abroad among our people.'"
According to Strype, in his Life of Cranmer, the
archbishop, in the same year in which Coverdale
prepared his version, (1535,) made an attempt to
get one executed in England by the bishops.
"He began with the translation of the New Tes-
■ tament: taking an old English translation thereof
—[whose was this ? Tyndale's or WyclifFe's ?]—
which he divided into nine or ten parts, causing
each part to be written at large in a paper book,
and then to be sent to the best learned bishops
and others, to the intent that they should make a
perfect correction thereof. And when they had
done, he required them to send back their parts,
so corrected, unto him at Lambeth, by a day
limited for that purpose; and the same course, no
question, he took with the Old Testament. It
chanced that the Acts of the Apostles were sent
to Bishop Stokesley to oversee and correct. When
the day came, every man had sent to Lambeth
their parts corrected, only Stokesley's portion was
wanting. My Lord of Canterbury wrote to the
bishop a letter for his part, requiring him to de¬
liver them unto the bringcr, his secretary. lie
94 OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
received the archbishop's letter at Fulham, unto:
which he made this answer : ' I marvel what my;
Lord of Canterbury meaneth, that 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 ary
hour on my portion, nor never will, and therefore!
my Lord shall have this book again • for I will ,
never be guilty of leading the simple people into|
error." My Lord of Canterbury's servant took
the book, and brought the same to Lambeth unto
my Lord, declaring my Lord of London's answer.
When the archbishop had perceived that the;
bishop had done nothing therein, 'I marvel,' said
he, ' that my Lord of London is so froward that
he will not do as other men do.' One Mr.-
Thomas Launey stood by, and hearing my Lord
speak so much of the bishop's untowardness, said,
' I can tell your Grace why my Lord of London
will not bestow any labor or pains this way. Your
Grace knoweth well that his portion is a piece of
the New Testament. But he being persuaded
that Christ had bequeathed him nothing in his
Testament, thought it mere madness to bestow
any labor or pain where no gain was to be gotten.
And besides this, it is the Acts of the Apostles,
which were simple, poor fellows, and therefore my
Lord of London disdained to have to do with any
of them.' Whereat my Lord of Canterbury, and
others who stood by, could not forbear from iaugh-
ter." For the present, all attempts at executing
a translation of the Bible in England failed : still
we must turn to the continent in order to witness
COVERDALE, AND HIS BIBLICAL TOILS. 95
the progress of efforts of this kind; and still we
are to discover the chosen instruments of the Al¬
mighty's favor to England among humble and
obscure strangers in a foreign land. John Rogers
had been chaplain to an English congregation at
Antwerp, and had become acquainted with Tyn-
dale during his residence in that city. Before his
acquaintance with that illustrious exile, he had
been a zealous Papist, hut, by his intercourse with
him at Antwerp, he was led to see into the errors
of Popery, and to adopt the views of the reformer.
Having been educated at Cambridge, and possess¬
ing the reputation of " a very able linguist and
general scholar," he was fitted by Providence to
follow Tyndale in his particular path of usefulness
as a biblical translator; and, accordingly, after
Tyndale's death, he set to work to complete the
version of the Old Testament which Tyndale had
begun. Foxe states that a packet of papers was
sent by the martyr, on the morning of his execu¬
tion, to his faithful friend Poyntz; and it has
been supposed that they contained the unpublished
part of Tyndale's version, as far as he had pro¬
ceeded with it. Perhaps it was from Poyntz that
this came into the hands of Rogers, whereupon
he devoted himself to the publication of the manu¬
script. " The object that Rogers had in view was
to forward the work, and do justice to the labors
of the man he admired. Accordingly, the whole of
the New Testament, and of the Old, as far as the
end of the second of Chronicles, or exactly two-
thirds of the entire Scriptures, are Tyndale's, ver¬
bally, with an occasional variation only in the
96
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
orthography; and as for the other third, 'while
llogers may have taken advantage of Coverdale s
printed sheets, he evidently had sat in judgment
on every page, and his method is not implicitly
followed." "Rogers had the whole of Tyndale's,
whether imprint or manuscript, as well as Cover-
dale's sheets for the remainder, before him; and
having now arrived at the close, we find these
words : " To the honoure and prayse of Giod was
this Byble prynted, and fynesshed in the yere of
oure Lorde God, MDXXXVII." At the end of
the Old Testament, the letters W. T., evidently
intended for William Tyndale, are conspicuously
inserted, and adorned with flourishes, as an ac¬
knowledgment of the large share which his labors
had contributed to the volume. The exhorta¬
tion to the study of the Bible, prefixed to the
book, is signed J. R., the initials of Rogers,
thus pointing him out as the editor. The work
was commonly ascribed to this excellent man at
the time, although the name given to it was that
of Matthew's Bible, Thomas Matthew being a
fictitious name assumed by Rogers for the occa¬
sion, when concealment, in such matters, was
sought for the sake of personal safety. Rogers,
now distinguished for his labors, was afterwards
distinguished for his sufferings. He was the first
martyr who suffered in Smithfield in Queen Mary's
days, and led all the rest; of whom, to use the
words of the quaint Thomas Fuller, wre may truly
say, << If they had not been flesh and blood, they
could not have been burned; and if they had
been no more than flesh and blood, they woidd
COVERDALE, AND HIS BIBLICAL TOILS. 97
not have been burned."—Fuller's Worthies, vol.
ii. p. 192.
Coverdale had sought the patronage of royalty
on behalf of his Bible : it seems as if, at first,
there was a reasonable prospect of obtaining it.
Henry looked favorably on it, but ultimately, no
distinct patronage of it was obtained. It came
forth from the press without any regal imprimatur.
But the advantage—if advantage it may be called
—which was denied to Coverdale, who had rather
obsequiously addressed the monarch in his dedi¬
cation, was now, strange to say, granted to the
book which contained the version of Tyndale :
the man who had ever been plain-spoken, in refer¬
ence to his Majesty, yet withal respectful; and
who had, by his faithfulness, incurred the mon¬
arch's stern displeasure. Grafton and Whitchurch,
two famous printers at that time, executed the
work on the continent—where, cannot be deter¬
mined. As soon as it was complete, they for¬
warded it to Cranmer, who expressed his delight¬
ful surprise at the sight of the volume, and for¬
warded it to Cromwell. " I understand," says the
archbishop—afterwards, in a letter to the powerful
minister of state—"that your Lordship, at my
request, hath not only exhibited the Bible which
I sent unto you to the king's Majesty, but also
hath obtained of his Grace that the same shall be
allowed, bv his authority, to be bought and read
within this realm." Probably, Cromwell's influ¬
ence with Henry at that time had much to do
with the obtaining of the royal sanction of the
work ■ at any rate, on the title-page of the Bible
4
98
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
appear the much-coveted words : " Set forth with
the kinge's most gracyous licence." And thus
Henry unwittingly afforded his public sanction to
the man whom he had persecuted through life,
and whom he had permitted to die a felon's death
on a foreign shore !
His Majesty's license being granted for this
book, and the chains being thus far taken off the
press, Matthew's Bible was speedily reprinted by
Nicholson, a printer in Southwark. The book be¬
came the favorite one, and superseded the version
of Coverdale. But still (loverdale continued his
biblical labors, and in 1538 published "a new
version of the New Testament," and also an edi¬
tion of the English Testament, together with the
text of the Latin Vulgate. He also paraphrased
some of the Psalms, with more of pious zeal than
poetic taste.
In the same year, 1539, another edition ap¬
peared, edited by Bichard Taverner, who dedi¬
cates the volume to the king, and remarks, that
his Grace never did any thing more acceptable to
God than the act of licensing the most sacred
Bible, containing the "unspotted and hoily word
of God." It is a mere revision of Matthew's
Bible which Taverner published; and he informs
us, in his preface, that as the priuters were de¬
sirous to have the Bible come forth as faultless as
the shortness of the time for the recognizing of
the same would permit, they desired him to over¬
look and peruse the whole copy, and amend the
same according to the true exemplars, which, ac¬
cording to his talent, he had gladly done. This
COVERDALE, AND HIS BIBLICAL TOILS. 99
Taverner was a strange genius. He was of the
Inner Temple, where he loved to display his
pedantry, by citing the law in Greek. In the
reign of Edward, he became a preacher by royal
license, and sometimes appeared in the pulpit
dressed in a damask gown, velvet bonnet, and gold
chain, in which uncanonical attire he delivered a
discourse before the youthful sovereign ! In the
reign of Elizabeth he resumed his pulpit exercises,
and when high sheriff of Oxfordshire he held
forth before the university, wearing, in addition
to his other unclerical dress, a sword by his side.
" Surely," says Fuller, " preaching now ran very
low, if it be true what I read, that Mr. Tavernour,
of Water Eaton, in Oxfordshire, high sheriff of
the county, gave the scholars a sermon in St.
Mary's, with his gold chain about his neck, and
his sword by his side, beginning with these words:
'Arriving at the Mount of St. Mary's, in the
stony stage where I now stand, I have brought you
some fine biscuits, baked in the oven of charity,
and carefully conserved for the chickens of the
Church, the sparrows of the Spirit, and the sweet
swallows of salvation !' "
100
oub, english bible.
CHAPTER Y.
the great bible.
Cromwell, Earl of Essex, for some time the
chief minister and favorite of Henry, with all his
ambition and pride, unprincipled conduct and
reckless obstinacy, was a man who professed, and,
perhaps, felt some veneration for the Scriptures;
for so deceitful is the heart, and so inconsistent is
man, that it frequently happens, while he utterly
neglects the holy precepts of the heavenly book,
he feels constrained to acknowledge its divine
excellence and authority. Thus the unrenewed
and rebellious heart does homage to the majesty
of the Divine law, even while in the habit of
breaking it. It is said that Cromwell, in his
youth, as he was travelling from Rome to England,
made Erasmus's Testament his constant compan¬
ion, relieving the tediousness of his journey by
committing to memory the whole of the transla¬
tion. It might be that impressions of the beauty
and worth of the Holy Scriptures, derived from
his studies on that journey, led to the favor which
this distinguished statesman manifested, in the
days of his _ palmy power, toward the translation
and circulation of the word of God. Certainly,
to Cromwell mainly is to be attributed the patron-
THE GREAT BIBLE.
101
age, pecuniary assistance, and tlie obtaining- of
the royal sanction, which enabled Coverdale tc
execute the task of bringing through the press the
Great Bible in the years 1538 and 1539.
Paris was the place chosen for the printing of
that magnificent book, because the best paper and
presswork might be commanded there. Grafton,
the printer, went over to Paris to superintend the
mechanical part of the business, while Coverdale
acted as editor and corrector. On the 23d June,
1538, they wrote to Cromwell, observing: "We
be entered into your work of the Bible, whereof
(according to our most bounden duty) we have
here sent unto your lordship two ensamples, one
in parchment, wherein we intend to print one for
the king's Grace, and another for your lordship,
and the second in paper, whereof all the rest shall
be made/' Here we see that the workmen were,
in the midsummer of 1538, busily engaged in
printing the Great Bible in the old city of Paris,
under the superintendence of Coverdale, with
Cromwell as the grand patron, and, indeed, the
responsible author of the undertaking. It was
his "work of the Bible." Accordingly^ as we
learn from another part of the communication,
Coverdale and his associate sought " favorable let¬
ters" from Henry's prime minister to the English
ambassador to Paris, securing his protection of
them from the Papists—a request which was
speedily granted. The Bishop of Winchester was
then tlie representative of the English court in
France, but he was shortly after succeeded by
Bonner, archdeacon of Leicester, who afterwards
102
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
figures so conspicuously in tlie sanguinary annals
of Mary's persecuting reign. Cromwell wrote to
Bonner, and directed him to aid Coverdale in his
work; and it is but little in keeping with the sub¬
sequent history of the unhappy man, to find him
most attentive to Cromwell's suggestions, most
assiduous in his friendship toward the printers,
even going so far as to invite them to his table,
and condescending to visit them in return. With
the countenance of the English ambassador, and
the express license of the King of France, ob¬
tained by letter from Henry, no doubt at the
solicitation of Cromwell, our translator and his
printers proceeded rapidly with their work, and
were anticipating the successful completion of their
toils, when indications of peril made their ap¬
pearance, and in the month of December the
Inquisition issued an order, prohibiting them,-
under canonical pains, to imprint the said Bible.
Thus the hand of ecclesiastical despotism snatched
away the permission which had been ceded by the
civil power; and, as the history of Eoman Catho¬
lic countries testifies to have been often the case,
the royal prerogative grew pale before the impe¬
rious assumptions of the Church of Rome. The
parties engaged upon the Great Bible were sum¬
moned to appear before the inquisitors; but, very
naturally, they sought escape from the power of
that tyrannical and iniquitous court. Havin"
before the outburst of the storm perceived the
gathering clouds, they had forwarded to England
ail the sheets of the book, as far as thev had gone,
and now they would gladly have saved the re-
tiie great bible.
103
mamder worked off since; but this they found
impossible • and, therefore, seeking their own per¬
sonal safety, they hastily decamped from Paris,
leaving the residue of the printed sheets to be
seized by the harpies of the Inquisition. Some
of these were burned, but " four great dry fats'
full" of the obnoxious bales of printed paper were
sold to a haberdasher " to lap his caps in." The
Englishmen, afterward, by the encouragement of
Cromwell, returned to Paris, and succeeded in re¬
covering the presses, types, and workmen they
had employed there. Grafton set up business
in London. In the next year, 1539, he proceeded
to complete some of the copies which had been
sent over to Cromwell, and at length the Great
Bible appeared with the colophon, " Fynisshed
Apryle, anno M.CCCCC.XXXIX." Grafton also
tried to recover the four fats' full which had been
sold to the haberdasher. He earnestly solicited
Bonner to use his influence in the matter; but
with no success. Bonner was now on the point
o£ leaving France. From the archdeaconry of
Leicester he had been promoted to the see of
Hereford, and now he was translated to London.
" Master Grafton," said he to the English printer,
when they parted at Paris, "so it is that the
king's most excellent majesty hath by his gracious
gift presented me to the bishopric of London;
for the which I am sorry, for if it would have
pleased his Grace, I could havet been well content
to have kept mine old bishopric of Hereford."
Grafton replied, " I am right glad to hear of it,
and so I am sure will be a great number of the
104
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
city of London; for though they yet know you not,
yet they have heard so much of goodness of yon
from hence, as no doubt they will be glad of your
placing/' "I pray God," rejoined the bishop
elect, " I may do that may content them. And to
tell you, Master Grafton, before God, the greatest
fault that ever I found in Stokesley, was for vex¬
ing and troubling of poor men, as Lobley the
bookbinder, and others, for having the Scriptures
in English; and, God willing, he did not so much
hinder it, but I will as much further it, and I will
have of your Bibles set up in the church of Paul's,
at least, in sundry places six of them, and I will
pay you honestly for them, and give hearty thanks."
One would hope that Bonner was sincere in what
he said then • and if so, how would it have
startled him to have been told that the time was
coming, when he would far surpass Stokesley in
persecution of the Bible readers, and employ
them as fuel for the Smithfield fires! Perhaps,
Hazael-like, he would have asked, " Is thy servant
a dog, that he should do this great thing V' After
Bonner had left Paris, Grafton obtained the re¬
maining sheets in the haberdasher's possession,
returned to London with them, and forthwith
completed more copies of the Great Bible.
The Great Bible consists of a revision of Mat¬
thew's or Tyndale's version. Several .variations
from it occur, and sometimes renderings in Tyn¬
dale's Testament, of 1534, and even the Testa¬
ment of 1526, are preferred to those in the
edition put forth by Rogers. Who performed
the task of reviser has been a question among
THE GREAT BIBLE.
105
biblical antiquaries. It has been supposed that
Cranmer was the person, because a preface writ¬
ten by him is found in some copies of the Great
Bible; but it is now a settled point that this
preface belongs to the edition of 1540, presently
to be considered, and was inserted in the copies
of 1539, subsequently to their completion. Cran¬
mer certainly had nothing to do with this edition.
His name is not mentioned in the correspondence
between Cromwell and Coverdale on the subject.
The latter, probably, was the person who revised
the translation; and to this, perhaps, he alludes
in his letter to Cromwell, where he speaks of fol¬
lowing the standing text of the Hebrew, with the
interpretation of the Greek and Latin.
The patron of the undertaking took measures
for securing the extensive sale and use of the
volume, as soon as it was published. Certain
injunctions to the clergy are preserved, requiring
them before the next Christmas to provide " one
boke of the whole Bible, of the largest volume in
English, to be set up in the churches." This
seems plainly to refer to the Great Bible. The
date of the injunctions is 1588, but as the year
did not end till March, 1539, new style, the next
Christmas might be in this last year, leaving
ample time, after the completion of the book in
April, for the clergy to procure copies of it before
the ensuing Christmas. A royal declaration was
also issued about the same time, stating his
majesty's zeal for the setting forth of God's word,
and his pleasure that the translation of the Scrip¬
tures into the mother tongue should be taught
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
and declared by the clergy. Hut, strangelj
enough, the people are warned against judging
for themselves of the meaning of the Divine ora¬
cles—they are to have recourse to learned men,
authorized to preach and declare the same. A
singular inconsistency this : to give the Bible to a
man, and yet forbid his using his faculties to
ascertain what were the truths it contained, was
to nullify the grant, and render it a mockery—to
tantalize inquisitive mortals, by placing before
them the means of gratifying their curiosity, and
then to forbid their employing such means ! To
be consistent, the right of private judgment must
be conceded, where the Scriptures are allowed to
be read. The only security for a despotic priest¬
hood is to keep from the hands of the multitude
the inspired volume. The inconsistency in the
royal declaration, however, may be accounted for,
by supposing that it was by Cromwell's solicita¬
tion that Henry granted the use of the Bible,
while the monarch was still himself disposed to
keep the people under the yoke of human authority
in matters of religion. He would not comply
with his favorite's request, without putting into
the declaration the caveat just noticed. Still it
was a great thing to permit the use of the Scrip¬
tures at all. It was the first time that such a
measure of liberty had been granted, since the
love of Scripture study had been awakened in the
souls of the English people. This sheathing of
the sword of persecution would have delighted
Tyndale, and did delight Coverdale. Grateful
must the latter have been to his old patron,
THE GREAT BIBLE.
107
Cromwell, for his efforts in this matter; and
surely he must have lamented that a man who
showed such sincere zeal for the circulation of
the Bible, should be so practically unmindful,
as he was, of its holy, righteous, and merciful
precepts !
The manner in which the royal injunctions
were received by the priests and by the people
was strikingly different. " The parsons, vicars,
and curates," says Strype, " did read confusedly
the word of God; and the king's injunction lately
set forth, and commanded by them to be read,
humming and hawking thereat, that almost no
man could understand the meaning of the
injunction. And they secretly suborned cer¬
tain spreaders of rumors and false tales in cor¬
ners, who interpreted the injunctions in a false
sense."
But far otherwise was it with the people. " It
was wonderful to see," Strype goes on to say,
"with what joy this book was received, not only
among the learneder sort, and those that were
noted for lovers of the Reformation, but generally
all England over, by the vulgar and common peo¬
ple, and with what greediness God's word was
read, and what resort to places where the reading
of it was. Everybody that -could bought _ the
book or busily read it, or got others to read it to
them if they could not themselves, and divers
more elderly people learned to read on purpose,
and even little boys flocked among the rest to
hear portions of the Holy Scriptures read."
These- passages from Strype, rather livelier than
108
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
his writings usually are, bring before us some
memorable pictures of old England in the days
of the Reformation, showing us many a fine
church in the cities and villages of England, then
crowded with eager expectants for the time of the
Bible-reading, and listening, with open ears, to
the precious sentences read out in the vernacular,
while the humming and hawking and evil eye of
the priest showed that he took no great pleasure
in the task.
In the year 1540, another edition of the Bible
was issued from the press of our friend, Master
Richard Grafton—that indefatigable Bible printer.
This Bible had a preface by Crannier, and an
examination of the volume shows that the version
had been revised, though it is substantially the
same as in the Great Bible. We have noticed
several variations in the book of Isaiah, and
are surprised that it should have been so com¬
monly confounded with the Great Bible of 1539.
It is evidently a new* and distinct undertaking,
and is the true Cranmer's Bible. In 1541
appeared another edition, " oversene and perused
at the comanndemet of the Kynges hyghnes, by
rhe ryghte reverende fathers in God, Cuthbert,
bysshop of Duresme, and Nicolas, Bishop of
Rochester." Cuthbert, of Durham, was no other
than Tonstall, once bishop of London, who had
showed himself such a stern enemy to poor Tyn-
dale and his Testament. It is remarkable what
an effect the royal will had on some of the bishops,
who very obsequiously would one day persecute
people for reading the Bible, and another day,
tiie great bible.
109
when tlm gust of the king's fitful favor blew in
the opposite direction, would encourage them to
read the previously proscribed volume. Surely
the Bishop of Durham could not be ignorant
whose version substantially he was sanctioning
with his name ! Moreover, it is affirmed in " the
Supplication of poor Commons," that he and his
colleague, Nicolas, of Rochester, " when they saw
the world somewhat like to swing on the othei
side," denied that they had ever meddled with
the book, and called upon the printers to leave
out their names on the title-page! That title-
page, by the way, bears a significant token of the
changed fate and fortune of the man who had
employed his great power in promoting the trans¬
lation and spread of the Scriptures. Cromwell's
arms were emblazoned on a shield in the title-
page of the Great Bible, but in the edition of 1541,
that shield is blank. The star of the favorite of
Henry, so long in the political ascendant, had
fallen. His own nefarious deeds, and his mas¬
ter's caprice, had brought him down from his
proud elevation to the dust and the block. On
the 28th July, he was beheaded on Tower-hill!
Among the many glaring inconsistencies and
strange mutations of those exciting times, is the
example of Bonner, who now performed his old
promise to Grafton, and set up the Bibles in
St. Paul's, though he was then beginning his
career as a persecutor, and just stepping into
those streams of blood, through which he
waded with relentless obstinacy. But still the
Bible-reading in old St. Paul's — the groups
110 OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
gathering round the book chained to the desk,
while some professor of the new learning read
its contents in their hearing — is a beautiful
fact in the history of the day; and, whatever
was Bonner's motive, let credit be given him
for fulfilling his promise. Surely Grafton, if he
walked through the aisles of St. Paul's, would
stop, with no little interest, to look at his own
printed book fastened in yonder corner, and to
listen to the reader of the volume, and to the
comments made by his audience.
Augustin, in his comment on the passage,
" Thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle's,"
tells us that the eagle, when grown old, has an
incrustation on its beak, which prevents it from
taking aliment, till it chafes itself against a rock,
and rubs off the excrescence, when returning to
its food and eating with avidity, it restores its
vigor and renews its plumage, when, spreading
out its wings, it soars upward in its congenial
element as one risen from the dead. This fabu¬
lous story supplies no unapt illustration of the
state of the Church of Christ in the sixteenth
century, as indicated by the Bible-reading in St.
Paul's. Long debarred of its spiritual food, be¬
cause its mouth had been sealed up by spiritual
despotism, the true Church now liberated itself
from cruel thraldom—once more tasted the good
word of God—and, renewing its strength like the
eagle, rose toward heaven with shining plumage
and a steady wing.
The people, having tasted of the Scriptures
and their relish for its sacred contents being thus
the great bible.
Ill
increased, craved more and more the use of the
volume; and therefore the popish party, with the
view^ of neutralizing the effect of the royal per¬
mission, which they could not prevent, condemned
seventy existing translations, and sought to sup¬
ply one of their own which should be better suited
to their purpose.
A meeting of convocation was held in February,
1542, " where we shall find Archbishop Cranmer
landing in his barge at St. Paul's wharf, and
thence proceeding on foot, with the cross carried
before him, into the choir of St. Paul's." In
convocation, Gardiner (the same man who was
ambassador at Paris before Bonner, and at Crom¬
well's request favored Coverdale—for it is remark¬
able how some of these men changed sides in the
course of this eventful history) proposed that the
New Testament should be revised, and that cer¬
tain majestic words in the Latin Vulgate should
be transferred into the new version. Fuller gives
a list of high-sounding Latin words, and adds:
" Gardiner's design plainly appeared in stickling
for the preserving of so many Latin words, to ob¬
scure the Scripture, who, though wanting power
to keep the light of the word from shining, sought
out of policy to put it into a dark lantern, con¬
trary to the constant practice of God in Scripture,
levelling high hard expressions to the capacity of
the meanest." Cranmer, however, defeated the
project, and no further revision was made in
Henry's reign. _
But the tide was turning. Cromwell was gone :
Cranmer had not the firmness of character and
112
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
the power over Henry which the former pos¬
sessed ; and the monarch soon relapsed into his
enmity against the general use of the Bible. His
very submissive and compliant parliament, in the
year 1543, passed an act prohibiting the use of
Tyndale's translation, and commanding that the
annotations and preambles in all other Bibles
should be destroyed; nor was any one belonging
to the class of apprentices, artificers, journeymen,
servants, husbandmen, and laborers, allowed to
read the Old or New Testament at all, either in
public or private. In 1546, a proclamation was
issued, prohibiting Coverdale's version as well as
Tyndale's; so that, unless those translations only
which bore Tyndale's or Coverdale's name were
regarded as coming within the prohibition, there
was no version left for the people, for all existing
ones were more or less the work of these two
illustrious men. This iniquitous act was an en¬
gine of persecution capable of very extensive ap¬
plication indeed in the hands of papal lawyers;
but the unhappy monarch was not spared long to
witness the enmity of others toward the Bible, or
to exhibit it himself; for, on the 25th January,
1547, the great Disposer of life and death sum¬
moned him to another world.
In reviewing the reign of Henry VIII., it is
but too apparent that the cause of Protestantism
was little indebted to him. His treating with
the Pope, in the matter of Queen Catherine's
divorce, was indeed overruled as the means of
severing the connection of the Church of Eng¬
land with the Church of Rome ; but his aversion
THE GREAT BIBLE.
113
to the circulation of the Bible, except when he
was under his favorite minister Cromwell's in¬
fluence, and his enmity to such men as Tyndale
and Coverdale, and their valuable and truthful
writings, show that this remarkable prince, whose
name is often put at the head of the history of
the English Beformation, was no Protestant.
The ashes of Barnes, poor Anne Askew, and
several others, at the Smithfield stake—burned
by Henry for avowing the doctrines of Protest¬
antism, and maintaining the sufficiency and the
exclusive authority of the word of God as the
teacher of religious truth—proclaim the fact ;
and their spirits, could they revisit the world,
would protest against any historian representing
Henry VIII. as, in a legitimate sense, the author
of the Beformation. We are inclined to think
that even then the press was one of the most
effective agencies in promoting the cause of Pro¬
testantism : that the priesthood of letters, led on
by the obscure and despised of this world—wan¬
derers on the earth, and confessors in exile—
were the holy and Heaven-blessed band that did
such mighty execution. They sounded the blast
of God's own trumpet, and before it the walls of
Popery crumbled and fell. The preaching of
Latimer, and Bidley, and others of that class,
ouo-ht not to be forgotten. It was of essential
service; but we are inclined to place this, valu¬
able as it was, second in the class of agencies
which wrought out all that was worthy of being
called a reformation of the English Church.
Poor Henry was buried on the 16th February,
114
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
at Windsor, in St. George's Chapel, with all the
pomp characteristic of that pageant-loving age,
and with many of the rites and ceremonies of
Popery; and on the Sunday after, young Edward
was crowned, amidst courtly splendor, in the
abbey of Westminster. When the royal insignia
were presented to the boyish monarch, and he
saw the three swords, borne in state on such oc¬
casions, glittering before him, he asked for a
fourth. Some one, not catching the idea, in¬
quired what his majesty meant, when he replied,
" The Bible—that book is the sword of the Spirit,
and to be preferred before these swords. That
ought, in all right, to govern us, who use them
for the people's safety by God's appointment.
Without that sword we are nothing, we can do
nothing, we have no power : from that we are
what we are this day : from that alone we obtain
all power and virtue, grace and salvation, and
whatsoever we have of divine strength." This
homily to his nobles showed the mind of the
young prince in reference to the word of God,
and augured peace and liberty to those who, un¬
der his father's tyrannical sway, had been op¬
pressed for their love of the Bible, and their
determination to read it. And the event was in
conformity with the omen. During the short
reign of the amiable prince—embracing only six
years and a half—men could read their Bibles
without molestation, and no less than about fifty
editions of the Scriptures issued from the press
during that brief space. Yet there were no edi¬
tions of th<? Scriptures published at the royal
THE GREAT BIBLE.
115
charges or by royal command: people were left
to themselves, to moral influence, and the guid¬
ance of God's providence and Spirit; and such
was the result. " Upon Tuesday, the 15th of
November, in the House of Lords, a bill was in¬
troduced (by whom is not stated, though Cranmer
was present) 1 for the reading of the Scriptures'
but it never reached a second reading, nor was
any such measure even hinted throughout the
reign." But what was a far more effectual re¬
commendation of the duty of studying the Scrip¬
tures than any legislative enactment could have
been—the youthful monarch himself revered and
loved the word of God.
No new translation was published in the reign
of Edward, except a translation of the paraphrase
by Erasmus. The preparation of this book had
been commenced in Henry's reign, at the request
of Queen Catherine Parr. Nicholas Udal, a dis¬
tinguished scholar, and master of Eton College,
translated the Gospel of Luke. Mark was trans¬
lated by Thomas Key, registrar of Oxford. The
translators of Matthew and Acts are unknown.
But the most remarkable circumstance connected
with the volume was, that no other than the Lady
Mary—the future persecuting Queen of England
—was employed on the translation of John;
"but being cast into sickness, partly by over¬
much study in this work, after she had made
some progress therein, she left the doing of the
rest to Dr. Mallet, her chaplain." How strange
it seems that this popish princess should be so
zealous in the work as to impair her health ! The
116 OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
courtly master of Eton, Dr. Udal, takes care, in
the preface, which was the production of his pen,
to compliment Queen Catherine and the princess
Mary on their connection with the work, by re¬
marking, " It was now no news at all to see
queens and other ladies, of most high estate and
progeny, instead of courtly dalliance, to embrace
virtuous exercises of reading and writing, and
with most earnest study, both early and late, to
apply themselves to the acquiring of knowledge, as
well in other liberal arts and discipline, as also
most especially of God and his holy word."—See
Lewis, p. 167. The first volume was published
in 1549 ; the second, containing the Epistles and
the Revelation, in the following year. Dr. Old,
Leonard Cox, and Edmund Allen, were en¬
gaged in the production of the work; and Cover-
dale also took a part in it, for he wrote the
dedication to Edward VI.; and perhaps he also
translated the four Gospels, the Acts, and the
Epistles, to the end of Galatians.
Coverdale's connection with the book no doubt
arose from his position in Queen Catherine's
household as almoner; which would bring him
into frequent contact with that illustrious lady,
and would be the means of commending him to
her as peculiarly fitted to take part in such a
work. Coverdale's connection with Catherine
Parr brought him to court: thus he would be¬
come known to Edward, and in this way, pro¬
bably, the path was prepared for his elevation to
the episcopate of Exeter, to which he was ap¬
pointed in 1551. It appears, from Strype's Life
the great bible.
117
of Cranmer, that the archbishop contemplated a
new translation of the Scriptures. Two very
learned foreigners, Bucer and Fagius, were stay-
ing, in the year 1549, at Lambeth, and were in¬
formed, "As it had been a great while his pious
and most earnest desire that the Holy Bible
should come abroad in the greatest exactness and
true agreement with the original text, so he laid
this work upon these two learned men. First,
that they should give a clear, plain, and succinct
interpretation of the Scripture, according to the
propriety of the language; and, secondly, illus¬
trate difficult and obscure places, and reconcile
those that seemed repugnant to one . another.
And it was his will and advice, that to this end and
purpose their public readings should tend. This
pious and good work by the archbishop assigned
to them, they most gladly and readily undertook..
For their more regularly carrying on this business,
they allotted to each other, by consent, their dis¬
tinct tasks : Fagius, because his talent lay in
the Hebrew learning, was to undertake the Old
Testament, and Bucer the New." But the
scheme was frustrated, for Fagius died in the
November of the year 1549 ; and the spirit of
his loving friend, the amiable Bucer, followed
him, in little more than a year, to the regions of
perfect intelligence and undying friendship.
In Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, there is
a manuscript written by Sir John Cheeke, in the
rei°u of Edward VI., containing a new transla¬
tion of Matthew and part of Mark, which shows
that there was more than one attempt made at
118 OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
the time to produce a new version; but it re¬
mained incomplete and unpublished. Sir John
Cheeke was a distinguished Greek scholar, and
was preceptor to the king. We have seen the
manuscript and examined part of it. It appears
to be an original version. The following is a
specimen of the style and of the spelling, when
there was no fixed standard for the latter, and
writers indulged in all kinds of odd variation in
that respect: li When Jesus was boorn in Beeth-
leem, a citi of Juri in King Herod's dais, lo there
the wisards came from the 'est parties to Jerusa¬
lem and asked whier the King of Jews was yt was
new boorn. For we saw his sterr in the 'est, and
we cam to worship him. When K. Herod herd
this, he was trobled, and al Jerusale's with him;
and he gatherd together al ye hei priests, and
scribes of ye people and asked of them wheer
Christ shold be born. And thei answerd in
Bethleem of Juda, for so it is written bi ye pro¬
phet : And thou Bethleem of Juda, thou art no
wais ye lest among the princes of Juda, for out
of ye schal come a ruler yt shal feed Isrl mi
people."
The halcyon days for the Bible critic and the
Bible reader were not of long continuance. Ed¬
ward, after a short reign, was gathered to his
fathers, and Mary ascended the throne of Eng¬
land. One of her earliest acts was to prohibit
the general use of the Scriptures. The pulpit
at old St. Paul's, which had often resounded with
the preaching of Protestant worthies—good old
Hugh Latimer chief among them all—was now
the great bible.
119
occupied by the stern priests of the papacy; and
Master Bourne, one of that class, assailing the
reformers, and depreciating the character of King
Edward, created a great tumult in the congrega¬
tion gathered round the cross, so that one man
flung a dagger at him, and he escaped with diffi¬
culty from great personal danger. This so ex¬
cited the new queen, that she forthwith issued a
proclamation forbidding any to preach, except in
the universities, and also prohibiting the reading
of the Scriptures in churches.
This was the beginning of sorrows, the big
drops before the drenehing shower of persecution,
and the dreadful hurricane of intolerance that
came sweeping over the Protestantism of Eng¬
land. The horrors of Mary's reign have been
Often told, and need no repetition here. The
reader will at once think of Rogers, who led the
van of the martyred band,"who, in Smithfield,
" broke the ice so valiantly," and set the exam¬
ple of constancy and courage fully imitated
speedily afterward by Saunders at Coventry,
Hooper at Gloucester, and Taylor at Hadley.
These proto-martyrs of the reformed Church of
England were followed by a host of heroes, per¬
haps little short of three hundred, who counted
not their lives dear unto them : some distin¬
guished by their eminent rank in the Church,
others humble and little known to fame, but all
benefactors to the cause of Protestant truth and
virtue, beyond the power of language to express
because, in addition to the immediate impres-
120 OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
sion produced by their sufferings and heroism on
the crowds that witnessed their martyrdom, they
have left behind them a story, full of moral power,
to keep alive in the breasts of posterity attach¬
ment to the principles for which they suffered,
and indignation at the intolerance of which they
were the victims. Perhaps nothing, next to the
general circulation of the Scriptures, has tended,
ever since, more to secure the stability of Pro¬
testantism in England, than the history of the
martyrs in Queen Mary's reign.
Many there were in those dark days who loved
their Bibles, and in spite of persecution, and with
the stake before them, studied that precious
volume. Individuals in secret would pore over
Tyndale's Testament, and imbibe the martyr's
spirit from the same source whence that holy and
heroic man had drunk in his.* Nor were little
congregations wanting, who here and there, in
houses and fields, secretly convened to hear the
reading of the word of life. One, at Islington,
is specially noticed by Foxe ; and on the graphic
* The book was prized, concealed, and preserved for
his children.
" Fierce whiskered guards that volume sought in vain.
Enjoyed by stealth, and hid with anxious pain:
While all around was misery and gloom,
This showed the boundless bliss beyond the tomb.
Freed from the venal priest—the feudal rod—
It led the weary sufferer's steps to God;
And when his painful course on earth was run,
This, his chief wealth, descended to his son." '
the great bible.
121
pages of the fine old Protestant chronicler, we have
a vivid picture of that pious band on the borders
of St. John s Wood, on the morning of May-day,
when, as their neighbors were busy with their
rural games, and were dancing round the pole on
the village green, they were far differently em¬
ployed in listening to God's word read by one of
their number, and worshipping with primitive
simplicity the Father of spirits; till the consta¬
bles, with their bills, approach the little circle
sitting under the trees, and command them to
follow, upon which they are led to the magis¬
trate's house, and most of them committed to
prison, and soon after thirteen of the num¬
ber are consigned to the flames.* On read¬
ing the examinations of these confessors and
martyrs, one is forcibly struck with their in¬
telligent views of religion, their very extensive
acquaintance with theology, derived from the
study of the Bible, their copious and accurate re¬
membrance of Scripture texts, and their sagacity
and skill in meeting the objections of their per¬
secutors, and defending their own positions.
Often were the learned doctors of Rome over¬
come with perplexity in their controversies with
these simple-hearted persons, who had no learning
but what they had derived from the oracles of
inspired wisdom. It was shown that a sound
and thorough knowledge of the Bible is more than
a match for papal dialectics and Romish sophistry.
And the patience, constancy, and joy of these
* 'See Islington Congregation, in "Spiritual Heroes."
122
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
Bible-taught martyrs, did they not demonstrate
the soul-sustaining power of Bible truths ? and
do they not read a lesson to all generations,
directing us to the devout study of the Bible,
as the secret of spiritual strength, hope, and con¬
solation ?
the genevan version.
123
CHAPTER VI.
the genevan exiles and their version.
Geneva is a name symbolical of the Reforma¬
tion. It stands opposed to Rome, which em¬
bodies the idea of Papal despotism. The far-
famed city on the shores of Leman was the home
of Calvin and Beza. There they studied and
preached, and sent forth their writings, rendering
that place a source of brilliant light, whose rays
were scattered far and wide, piercing the darkness
of Europe. Many eyes were turned on Geneva
in the middle of the sixteenth century—many
sought instruction from the master-spirits there.
Intimately is that city connected with the his¬
tory of our English Bible. To exiles located on
that spot was England indebted for the best of her
translations of the Scriptures, next to the work
of Tyndale. A band of pious men, first driven
from their own country by persecution, which led
them to Frankfort, and then driven from that
city by the spirit of strife which there broke out
in the reformed English Church, had settled down
quietly in Geneva, and there worshipped God with
Puritan simplicity, according to the dictates of
their own conscience. The Bible was their best-
beloved book, and in its pages they sought the
124
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
rule of their faith and discipline, and the spring
of their consolation and joy amidst the weary
years of their exile. The more imaginative
among them, perhaps, as they paced the shores of
the beautiful Leman, which, as the sun poured on
it his beams, was like a sea of glass mingled with
fire, would count that no unapt emblem of those
waters of life which were spread over the bosom
of revelation. As the pure and calm expanse of
that beautiful scene soothed their troubled spirits,
they might well regard it as the image of that
book which, contrasted
" With the world we dwell in, is a thing
That warns us with its stillness to forsake
Earth's troubled waters for a purer spring!"
The exiles formed themselves into a Church,
and William Whittingham was their pastor. He
was born in the year 1524, was educated at
Brazennose College, Oxford, and became, in 1545,
fellow of All-Souls. He had taken part in the
unhappy controversies at Frankfort, and, as he
adhered to the Puritan side of the question, he
accompanied those who were of the same opinion
to the city of Geneva, and there became minister
of the congregation. Whittingham, probably,
was the man who prepared the translation com¬
monly known as the Genevan Testament. It is
plain, from the address to the reader, that the
work issued from the pen of one man; though it
has been strangely confounded by most historians
with the Bible which followed, and which was the
united production of several individuals. Whit-
THE GENEVAN VERSION. 125
tingham has been generally mentioned as one of
the authois of the work ■ and as there certainly was
not more than one, and he was an excellent scholar,
well fitted for the "undertaking, and certainly the
leading man in the preparation of the Genevan
Bible, we think it most likely that he was the
person who rendered this valuable service to the
Church of God. " His pastoral character would
well account for his undertaking the labor, and
would agree with what is said in the preface of
the translation, being designed for the simple
lambs in the fold of Christ at Geneva, the place
where God had appointed them to dwell."—Eng¬
lish Translations and Translators, p. 85.
The Genevan Testament was published in the
year 1557. An eloquent preface to it was written
by John Calvin, whose sister Whittingham had
married: a circumstance which accords with our
impression that he was the author of the work.
The following is a specimen of the preface, and
shows the fervent love of that great man for the
Bible, and for that adorable Saviour which the
Bible reveals: "For this is life everlasting, to
know our only true God, and him whom he hath
sent, Jesus Christ, in whom he hath appointed
the beginning, midst, and end of our salvation.
This is'lsaac, the well-beloved Son of the Father,
which was offered in sacrifice, and yet gave not
place to death. This is the vigilant shepherd,
Jacob which had so great care over the sheep
which' he had in keeping. This is the good and
merciful brother Joseph, who, in his glory, was
not ashamed to acknowledge his brethren, were
12G OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
they never so base and abject. This is the great
High Priest and Bishop, Melchisedek, who made
an everlasting sacrifice once for all. This is the
excellent law-maker, Moses, who writeth bis law
in the tables of our hearts by bis Spirit. This is
the faithful captain and guide, Joshua, to conduct
us into the land of promise. This is the noble
and victorious King David, smiting down with his
hand all rebellious power. This is the magnificent
and triumphant King Solomon, governing bis
kingdom in peace and prosperity. This is the
strong and valiant Samson, who, by his death,
overthrew all his enemies. And last of all, every-
good thing, which heart can think or desire, is
found in this only Jesus Christ. For he humbled
himself to exalt us: he became servant to make
us free: he was impoverished to enrich us: he
was sold to ransom us: he became prisoner to
bail us: he was condemned to deliver us, he was
made the curse for our blessing, an offering for
sin for our righteousness: he was disfigured to
fashion us : he died for our life. Insomuch, that
by him roughness is smoothed, anger appeased,
darkness lightened, unrighteousness justified,
weakness strengthened, discomfort comforted, sin
bridled, despite contemned, fear boldened, debt
paid, labor eased,- sadness made glad, mishap good-
hap, hardness easiness, disorder ordered, division
united, ignominy made noble, rebellion subdued,
menacing menaced, ambush discovered, assaults
assailed, violence oppressed, battle beaten, war
fougliten, vengeance punished, torment tormented
damnation damned, depth drowned, hell chained
THE GENEVAN VERSION.
127
death dead, mortality immortal, and, to he short,
mercy hath swallowed all misery, and bounty hath
overcome all evil." Thus did Calvin, in the style
of his age, exhaust the power of language in ex¬
pressing his fervent love for the Saviour, and his
lofty conceptions of his redeeming work. This
many-colored imagery was fitted to delight the
sanctified fancy of the Genevan exiles, and of
many besides, and to form an appropriate intro¬
duction to the precious volume filled with the
story of that Saviour's love. It was a quaintly
adorned gate, displaying the characteristic work¬
manship of the day, and opening its beautiful
leaves to admit the student into the temple of
revelation.
The Genevan Testament was a much more
original work than any other translation since
Tyndale's. The translator availed himself of the
labors of his predecessors, and often followed the
version of the Great Bible; but he evidently
studied the original for himself, and exercised an
independent judgment in the choice of his render¬
ings. Notes are introduced in the margin of the
Testament, and for the first time we find the Eng¬
lish Scriptures divided into verses, and italics in¬
troduced to denote those words which have no
corresponding ones in the original. It may be
added, that the book is a very beautiful specimen
of typography in silver type, and on the best
paper.
It issued from the press while the fires were
blazing in Smitlifield, and found its way to Eng¬
land not long afterwards. One interesting case
128 OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
connected with the volume, after its arrival in
England, is thus narrated by Mr. Anderson, on
the authority of Foxe.
u There was a priest, of some learning at Au¬
burn, near Lincoln, who had been appointed to
the place by old Langland, the bishop, Henry's
confessor in the days of Wolsey. This man,
named William Living, had married, and, with
his wife, had taken up his abode in London, where
he seems to have tried to support himself, in the
time of Mary, by the sale of buttons. One Cox,
a spy, or, as they phrased it, a promoter, having
lodged information against him, the constable and
his assistants soon came, and, upon examining his
books, they made sure he could not be a safe
man. This happened to be in August or Septem¬
ber, 1558, when the queen was far from being
well. Among the books, Dean, the constable, had
fastened his eye on one that was bound and gilt,
which happened to be a work on astronomy, the
' De Sphasra' of Manilius. On observing the fig¬
ures, round, triangular, and gradulateral—this was
enough ! Carrying this book open with him into
the street, along with its owner and his wife—'I
have found him at length,' said the constable,
' and it is no marvel the queen be sick, seeing
there be such conjurers in privy corners; but now, I
trust, he shall conjure no more!' Deliveringup both
parties to Tho. Darbyshire, Bonner's relative, and
the chancellor of London diocese, after ascertain¬
ing who Living was, and charging him with being
a schismatic, he immediately ordered the husband
to the bishop s coal-house, and the wife afterwards
TIIE GENEVAN VERSION. 129
to the Lollard's Tower. In conveying the former
to his prison, however, the jailer carried him first
to his own house, in Paternoster-row, and 'there/
says Living himself, 'he robbed me of my purse,
my girdle, my Psalter, and a New Testament of
Geneva.'
" Bringing his victim to the nauseous coal-house
and to the stocks, ' Put in both your legs, and
your hands also,' said the cruel and avaricious
man, and except you fine with me, I will put a
collar about your neck.' 'What is the fine?' it
was asked. ' Forty shillings,' said the jailer, (a
sum equal in value to at least twenty pounds, or
$100, of the present day.) 'I am never able to
pay it,' said Living. ' You have friends that be
able,' was the reply" for well they knew how to
take advantage of the generosity and sympathy o"f
the lovers of truth. He then ordered both limbs
into the stocks till supper-time, or six o'clock:
when a cousin of the prisoner's wife actually paid
forty-pence (equal to about two pounds, or $10)
to this monster in waiting, for one hour's ease to
partake of food ! Then from seven that evening
to two the' next day he lay thus confined, without
any intermission : the man waiting, no doubt, for
another fee. After this, he also was carried to
the Lollard's Tower, 'having the favor,' says the
prisoner himself, 'to put my leg in that hole
which Master John Philpot's leg was in; and so
lay all that night, nobody coming to me with either
meat or drink.' Next day, however, Living was
delivered, on the payment of fifteen shillings for
his fees. Thus, on the most moderate calculation,
5
130 OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
the imprisonment had cost a sum equal to about
eleven pounds (about $50) of our present money j
but had this happened one year earlier, or had the
queen, even now, been as lively as the man him¬
self, he certainly would not have escaped with his
life ! The ' Testament/ of course, which he most
of all valued, was gone.
"His partner in life had been separately
handled, and one of her replies was sufficiently
expressive. 1 You be not ashamed/ said Dale, a
promoter, (to tell wherefore you come hither.'
< No,' replied the good woman, ' that I am not,
for it is Christ's Testament.' "
Some time after Whittingham had completed
the Genevan Testament, he set to work, in con¬
nection with others, upon the preparation of the
Genevan Bible. This, as we learn from their
own statement, occupied them "two years and
more, day and night." As it was completed in
April, 1560, it must have been commenced in the
year 1558. The version in the New Testament
of this last edition does not exactly agree with
that published in 1557, but is plainly a revision
of it) and the Old Testament has a much better
claim to be regarded as a new translation than
any other since Coverdale's. The men who pre^
pared it were scholars acquainted with the ori¬
ginal ; and, though they derived assistance from
other versions, did not follow any of them with
servility. The work is dedicated to Elizabeth,
who had ascended the English throne before the
publication of the version, and one regrets to find
in it traces of that intolerant spirit which was so
TUE GENEVAN VERSION. 131
characteristic of the age. Those worthy but
mistaken men, exiles themselves through religious
intolerance, call upon her majesty to take out of
the way such impediments as might hurt or de¬
form the work of reformation, animating her by
an appeal to the example of Josias, " who burned
in sign of detestation the idolatrous priests' bones
upon their altars, and put to death the false
prophets and sorcerers, to perform the words of
the law of God." Strange that those who had
suffered so severely from the inflictions of intole¬
rance, and who were still in the land of exile, to
which that intolerance had driven them, should
have learned so little wisdom in this matter from
all that they had endured! . But, alas ! the duty
of one man conceding to another the liberty *in
religious profession and worship which he claims
for himself, is a lesson which few, indeed, if any,
in those days, fully understood. They confounded
the Jewish theocracy with mere human govern¬
ments. They thought it a duty to support what
they conceived to be truth, by the employment of
temporal punishments ; • and here was their grand
error: forgetful of, or not fully understanding,
the full import of our Lord's words, and those of
his apostles, " My kingdom is not of this world;"
"The weapons of our warfare are not carnal."
But the epistle to the reader in the Genevan Bible
is written in a different spirit, and breathes senti¬
ments of universal good-will. Mistaken concep¬
tions of the duty of the civil power in relation to
religious things, were but too prevalent in those
times; and it should be matter of gratitude to
132 OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
every reader, that those misconceptions have since
given place to more enlightened and scriptural
views on the subject..
Whittingham's associates in the work were,
probably, Sampson and Gilby.* Thomas Samp¬
son was an Oxford man, and had studied in one
of the Inns of Court. He went to Strasburgh on
Mary's accession; but strongly sympathizing with
the Puritan party, he went over to Geneva, and
united himself to the congregation there. Antony
Gilby was a Cambridge man, and fled to the continent
at the commencement of Mary's reign. He was
prominent in the Frankfort disputes, which led to
his removal to Geneva. Both these divines were
distinguished by their learning, and their ardent
zeal for the reformed faith. Coverdale is some
times mentioned as connected with them in their
undertaking as translators. It does not appear,
however, that Coverdale was at Geneva till the
end of the year 1558, which was after the trans¬
lation began • and he left it again in 1559,
before they finished. It is unlikely, then, that
he was one of the translators; but still we cannot
think it improbable that, while he tarried in the
city, he would be consulted about the work, inas¬
much as he was so distinguished a veteran in thu
cause of the Bible. It may here he mentioned
that, on the death of Edward, he soon fell into
trouble with the popish queen, but was extricated
through the intercession of the King of Denmark,
whose influence was secured on Coverdale's behalf
* Sec Anderson, Annals, etc., ii. p. 32.
TIIE GENEVAN VERSION. 133
by his brother-in-law, Maccabaeus Alpinus, a fa¬
vorite with his majesty. Coverdale went to Den¬
mark, but soon left it for Wesel, in the Duchy of
Cleves: whence he removed to Bergzabern, in
Bavaria, from which place he travelled to Geneva.
There was another person connected with the
Genevan Bible, bearing a name that has long been
honored, because of the deeds of the son, though,
individually, the father has been but little noticed.
This was John Bodley, the father of the celebrated
Sir Thomas, who founded, at Oxford, the noble
library which bears his name. " In the time of
Queen Mary," observes the latter, " after being
cruelly threatened and narrowly observed by those
that maliced his religion for the safety of himself,
and my mother, (formerly Miss Joan Hone, an
heiress in the hundred of Ottery St. Mary,) who
was wholly affected as my father, knew no way
so secure as to fly into Germany: where, after
awhile, he found means to call over my mother,
with all his children and family, whom he settled,
for awhile, at Wesel, in Cleveland; and from
thence we removed to the town of Frankfort.
Howbeit, we made no long tarriance in either of
these towns, for that my father had resolved to
fix his abode in the city of Geneva, where, as far
as I remember, the English Church consisted of
some hundred members." Thus among that band
of exiles, and under Whittingham's ministry,
youn°' Bodley, the future benefactor of Oxford,
and one of the noblest patrons of literature, had
his early training; and there, probably, he im¬
bibed the taste for books, which eminently dis-
184 OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
tinguished him. The expense of preparing the
Genevan Bible was borne by "such as were of
most ability" in Whittingham's congregation, and
Bodley was one of the principal, probably, by
far, the chief contributor; for he evidently pos¬
sessed an interest in the publication of the Genevan
Bible under Elizabeth, who granted a patent to
him solely, for the term of seven years, to print
it, or cause it to be imprinted.
We may here add, with regard to Coverdale,
that he returned to England after Elizabeth's ac¬
cession, but never resumed his bishopric, though
he officiated as a bishop in the consecration of
Parker to the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury.
The reason of his not being restored to the bench
was, most probably, that he had Puritan scruples
about vestments, and other things, in the Church
of England. However, he was appointed rector
of St. Magnus, after having suffered much from
neglect and poverty—the too common fate of the
world's best benefactors. He loved to preach
the gospel, though loaded with the burden of
years and infirmities, but he was not long per¬
mitted to do it without molestation; for when the
Act of Uniformity was passed, at the beginning
of Elizabeth's reign, Coverdale, who could not
fully conform, was deprived of his benefice. Still he
continued occasionally to preach. " Many of the
people," saysStrype, "ran after father Coverdale,
who took the occasion to preach the more con¬
stantly ; but yet with much fear : so that he would
not be known where he preached, though many
came to his house to ask where he would preach
THE GENEVAN VERSION. 135
the next Lord's day." He died in the year
1569, at the age of eighty-one. Ilis name lives
with honor in the hearts of his posterity; and
well deserved was the tribute of a nation's grati¬
tude, paid to his memory on the occasion of the
tercentenary of the English Bible, in the year
1535. The righteous shall be in everlasting
remembrance." " Since thou wast precious in my
sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved
thee."
186
ol.ht english bible.
CHAPTER VII.
the bishops' book.
" Queen Elizabeth, on the morrow of her
coronation, it being the custom to release prisoners
at the inauguration of a prince, went to the cha¬
pel, and in the great chamber, one of her court¬
iers, who was well known to her, either out of
his own notion, or by the instigation of a wiser
man, presented her with a petition, and, before a
number of courtiers, besought her, with a loud
voice, ' That now, this good time, there might be
four or five principal prisoners more released.'
It was inquired who they were, when he replied,
< These were the four evangelists and the apostle
Paul, who had been long shut up, as it were, in
prison: so as that they could not converse with
the common people, who were eager to see them
abroad.' The queen, however, answered very
gravely, < That it was first best to inquire of
themselves whether they would be released or
no.' "—Lord Bacon. Her majesty, probably, had
little doubt as to the answer which would be ob¬
tained from an examination of these extraordi¬
nary captives; but, by this clever evasion, she
sought to get rid ot the difficulties which might
attend her avowing, thus early, the Protestant
principle of the free circulation of the Bible.
THE BISHOrs' BOOK.
137
There "were Papists in the council of the queen,
men who were influential in the former reign ;
and, with her wonted prudence and policy, she
endeavored to avoid exciting any opposition on
their part. But it may he added, that we do not
think Elizabeth's zeal for the diffusion of the
Scriptures was so great as to render it necessary
for her to put any powerful restraint upon her
feelings, when she uttered her cool reply to the
Protestant courtier. In fact, Elizabeth for some
time showed herself only half a Protestant—now
attending mass, and ordering dirges for departed
souls; and then, releasing Protestant confessors
from prison, and attending to hear the sermon of
some reformer, just returned from exile.
But, after all, the word of God was not bound
after Elizabeth's accession. There was certainly
no revival or enforcement, whatever, of the old
prohibitory laws against English translations from
that time; and soon injunctions were issued by
the new queen's authority, directing that every
parish church should be provided with a copy of
the whole Bible, and of the paraphrases of Eras¬
mus in English; and that all parsons, under the
degree of A. M., should buy, for their own use,
the New Testament, in Latin and English, with
paraphrases.
The Bible "of the largest volume," or the
Great Bible, was the book specified in the in¬
junctions, but, very soon after the publication of
the Genevan Bible, we find her majesty granting
a patent to John Bodley for seven years to print
the same, which was virtually giving her sanction
138
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
to this new version, which soon became a great fa¬
vorite with the English people. The Great Bible
was placed on the church desk, but the Genevan
translation was the book preferred by the private
reader in the family and the closet. Yet this
patent seems to have been of little avail, for no
edition of the Genevan Testament or Bible was
published in England till the year 1575. This,
perhaps, was owing to Archbishop Parker. He"
and Grindal, bishop of London, in a letter to secre¬
tary Cecil, in 1565, did indeed speak favorably
of the Genevan version, and recommended that
the patent to Bodley might be extended for twelve
years longer; but they told the secretary that
"they would take such order with the party in
writing, under his hand, that no impression should
pass but by their direction, consent, and advice."
It is probable that Bodley would not consent to
the exercise of a control of this sort, which the
archbishop wished to exercise, or that the arch¬
bishop objected to some things in the books—the
annotations, perhaps—which the proprietor was
not willing to alter or suppress. Mr. Anderson
thinks the former was the fact: Neal, in his
History of the Puritans, affirms the latter. In
either case, the archbishop's interference seems
to have stood in the way of the reprint of the
book in England. What confirms this notion
is, that on the archbishop's death, in 1576, the
book was immediately published in England for
the first time. After this, the Genevan version
became an increasing favorite with the English
people, and was frequently reprinted. &
THE BISHOPS' BOOK.
139
Parker was bent on the production of a new
version, or, at least, on a complete revision of the
old one, and for that purpose obtained the as
sistance of his episcopal brethren. " The arch¬
bishop," we are informed by Strype, "took on
himself the labor to contrive, and set the whole
work a-going, in a proper method, by sorting out
the whole Bible into parcels, and distributing
those parcels to able bishops and other learned
men, to peruse and collate each of the book or
books allotted them; sending, withal, his instruc¬
tions for the order they should observe; and they
were to add some short marginal notes, for the
illustration or correction of the text; and all these
portions being finished, and sent back to the
archbishop, he was to add the last hand to-them,
and so to take care for printing and publishing
the whole." When the bishops had completed
their task", they sent back their portions of the
version to the archbishop, as arranged, upon
which his grace, and certain learned divines in
his household, re-perused and examined the whole
work. The final accomplishment of his under¬
taking filled the archbishop's heart with so much
joy, that it is said he broke forth into Simeon's
rapturous exclamation, " Lord, now lettest thou
thy servant depart in peace, according to thy
word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
which thou hast prepared before the face of all
people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the
glory of thy people Israel." The Bible was pub¬
lished iu 1568.
The parties who assisted Archbishop Parker in
140 OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
the preparation of this volume are indicated by
their initials being subscribed to the portions exe¬
cuted by them respectively.
W. E., at the end of the Pentateuch, means
William Exoniensis, or William Allen, bishop of
Exeter, who succeeded Coverdale. He was an
Oxford man of great learning, and, in conse¬
quence of his Protestantism, had been obliged to
conceal himself during the reign of Mary: prac¬
ticing medicine and teaching the young in .tbe
north of England (where he led a wandering
kind of life till Elizabeth's accession) were his
avocation and means of support, till the establish¬
ment of the Protestant Church in England re¬
leased him from his fears, and opened the path¬
way to promotion.
R. M., at the close of the second book of
Samuel, was Ricardus Menevensis, or Richard
Pavies, bishop of St. David's, an exile in the reign
of Mary, and afterwards bishop of St. Asaph,
when he was translated to St. David's. He
labored zealously for the spiritual good of Wales,
of which country he was a native.
E. W., at the end of the second of Chronicles,
Edwin Wigornensis, were the initials of the
famous Edwin Sandys, bishop of Worcester. Vie
was vice-chancellor of Cambridge at the time of
Edward the Sixth's death, and supported the
title of poor Lady Jane G-rey to the crown. For
this he was stripped of all but his Bible, and was
confined in prisou in company with the noble-
hearted^ John Bradford. Like Paul and Silas at
Philippi, these honored captives for the sake of
THE BISHOPS' BOOK.
141
Christ were instrumental in the conversion of
their jailer, and in their dreary cell they were
wont to commemorate with him the feast of re¬
deeming mercy. Preserved from martyrdom,
Sandys escaped to the continent; hut as he was
going on board the ship that was to convey him
to a land of exile, he is said to have gathered
round him a number of sailors on the beach, and
to have preached to them the word of life. On
Elizabeth's accession, he was raised to the see of
Worcester, afterwards to London, and finally to
York.
A. P. C., at the conclusion of Job, was An¬
drew Peerson, prebendary of Canterbury, an
esteemed friend of Parker, to whom he was chap¬
lain and almoner.
T. B., at the end of the Psalms, does not mean
Thomas Bentham, as Burnet and others have
supposed, for he was bishop of Lichfield and
Coventry, and would have taken the name of his
see. It is much more likely that Thomas Becon,
the well-known author of many valued publica¬
tions, is intended. This portion of the book was
originally allotted to Guest, who returned it to
the archbishop after making some slight altera¬
tions in the version taken from the Great Bible.
Probably Becon was the final reviser. The fol¬
lowing letter from him to the archbishop shows
the friendship existing between them, and the
interest felt by the former in biblical studies and
productions :—
u My most humble duty toward your grace:
it may please your honor to understand that
142 our english bible.
as it greatly delighted me to hear of your grace a
prosperous return into this country, which (I
doubt not) shall he greatly both unto the glory
of God and unto the profit of his people, so,
likewise, it not a little grieved me, that hitherto,
through certain infirmities and diseases, where¬
with I have been troubled more than this half-
year at certain times, unto the great loss of my
time and hindrance of my studies, I could not
attend upon your grace according to my duty.
But to declare in the mean season my serviceable
and faithful heart toward your honor, I send unto
your grace an old monument worthy to be pre¬
served and embraced for the antiquity's sake,
naiqely, an Exposition upon the Gospels of St.
Mark and St. Luke, with all the Epistles of St.
Paul, both in Latin and English, whereunto my
wife, your grace's daily oratrix, hath added her
poor present, that is, a couple of fat capons, and
six chickens: both of us most entirely wishing
from God unto your grace continual health and
prosperous felicity, with daily increase of honor.
From your grace's metropolitical Church of Can¬
terbury, this present Wednesday.
" Your grace's most humble,
"Thos. Becon."
A. P. C., at the end of Proverbs, mean An¬
drew Peerson, prebendary of Canterbury.
A. P. E., at the close of Canticles, indicate
Andrew Perne, prebend of Ely.
R. W., at the conclusion of the Lamentations,
stand foi Robert Home, bishop of Winchester an
exile in Mary's reign, and a zealous Protestant,
THE BISHOPS' BOOK.
143
one more lenient than some others to his brethren
who differed from him about the use of certain
canonical habits.
T. C. L., at the end of Daniel, evidently denote
Thomas Bentham, bishop of Lichfield and Coven¬
try. He was a man of distinguished learning,
but still more eminent for his deep piety. He
was pastor of that remarkable congregation which
met in secret places about London, during Queen
Mary's reign, and it was he who accompanied to
the stake the Islington martyrs, who died in
Smithfield, in June, 1558. The queen had for¬
bidden that any should speak to them at the
stake: profound silence was enjoined; but the
heroic Bentham turned to the people, and ex¬
claimed, in a loud voice, " We know that they
are the people of God, and therefore we cannot
choose but wish well to them, and say, God
strengthen them." The queen's proclamation
availed not—the murmur, deep, solemn, sublime,
like the sound of many waters, rolled along the
multitude, echoing, "Amen, Amen, Amen!"—
Spiritual Heroes, p. 19. After the accession of
Elizabeth, this truly illustrious man was appointed
bishop of Lichfield and Coventry.
E. L. are the initials of Edmund Grindale,
bishop of London, chaplain to Bidley, an exile
under Mary, bishop of London after her death,
and finally archbishop of York. He was very
lenient to the Puritan party in the Church; and
because he would not comply with the mandate
of the haughty queen, to put down certain meet¬
ings for exposition and prayer, conducted by cler-
144 OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
gymen, and commonly called prophesyings, ha
was suspended from his archiepiscopal office.
J. N. appear at the end of the Apocrypha,
meaning John Parkhurst, bishop of Norwich, a
pious and learned divine, and very moderate
in his views of the ecclesiastical questions of the
day.
R. E., at the end of Acts, point to Richard
Cox, bishop of Ely. He had been early perse¬
cuted for circulating Tyndale's Testament, and in
Mary's reign rendered himself notorious by the
part he took in the troubles of Frankfort. He
was very zealous in enforcing the use of the Eng¬
lish Prayer-book; and, on his return to his native
country, was appointed, by Elizabeth, bishop of
Ely. The same initials appear at the end of Ro¬
mans, and probably mean the same person. It
is altogether- improbable that they denote Ed¬
mund Guest, bishop of Rochester, as supposed
bv Strype, whose signature would be E. R., not
R. E.
G. G. are written at the end of the first Epistle
to the Corinthians, meaning Gabriel Goodman,
dean of Westminster. No other initials appear,
and it cannot be determined who prepared the
remainder. .
There were other scholars during this reign
who devoted themselves to biblical translations.
Lawrence Tomson, an under-secretary to Sir
I rancis Walsingham, prepared a new edition of
the Genevan Testament. He entitled it, "The
New Testament, translated from the Greek by
Theodore Beza 3" but though he might avail him-
THE BISHOP'S BOOK.
145
self of Beza's Latin version, it is quite certain
that he did not follow it entirely, but took the
Genevan as his standard, altering it here and
there. The book contains short expositions se¬
lected from distinguished authors. Hugh Brough-
ton, a very learned man, and eminent Hebraist^
also devoted his time to a revision of translations.
He was much dissatisfied with the Bishops' Bible,
and was anxious for a new version by " some six
of the longest students in the tongues." But
though a learned man, he seems to have been one
of those impracticable spirits with whom it is im¬
possible to cooperate, and therefore his proposal
fell to the ground. He then undertook to pub¬
lish, himself, a new translation of the books of
"Daniel, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Job."
Nor were Protestants the only laborers in
the vineyard. A version, generally called the
Rheimish version, was prepared by the Popish
exiles at Rheims, for the use of their Catholic
countrymen. The version was mad£ from the
Vulgate, and is accompanied by notes. Numbers
of words are left untranslated, such as "pasche,"
"azymes," "neophyte," and the notes all speak
the Papal doctrine. The book was issued in self-
defence, in an age when the use of the Bible was
becoming so general, but it was accompanied by
such safeguards as the editors thought would pre¬
vent that injury to the minds of the faithful which
they deemed the common result of the circulation
of vernacular versions. However, it must in
justice be acknowledged that the Rheimish trans¬
lators have sometimes hit upon very capital ren-
146
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
derings, and have supplied a book which, with
all its faults, is sufficient to show the falsehood of
Popery.
It is remarkable what a large number of Bibles,
of different editions, were printed and circulated
in Elizabeth's reign. From the year 1560 tc
1603, there were one hundred and thirty distinct
issues of Bibles and Testaments, ninety of which
were of the Genevan text! The fact deserves
our grateful remembrance j for how greatly must
it have contributed to strengthen the cause of the
Reformation, and give it that deep and broad
basis in the hearts of the people, which has se¬
cured it from overthrow! " May we not leave it
to the judgment of every unbiased reader, whether
there was any movement of the passing day to be
compared to this, either in itself, or in its conse¬
quences ? What are the footsteps of men or
monarchs, moving like shadows over the plain,
when compared with the progress of divine truth
in any nation?"—Anderson.
our translation in common use. 147
CHAPTER VIII.
our translation in common use.
On the death of Elizabeth, James I. ascended
the throne of England. His progress from Scot¬
land to the capital of his new dominions was one
scene of extravagant display and royal amusement.
Making knights was his majesty's chief business :
hunting in the parks of the nobility and gentry,
and in the wild forests which still spread over so
many acres of the Old England of that day, was
his chief recreation. The same employments were
continued after he arrived at his metropolis and
the ceremony of his coronation) and it was during
a sojourn at Melton, while enjoying his favorite
field-sports, that he issued a proclamation which
introduces us to a new chapter in the history of
our English Bible. On the 21th of October,
James appointed a meeting to be held for the
hearing and determining " things pretended to be
amiss in the Church." The meeting arose out of
the complaints of the Puritans, who early saluted
their new sovereign with a list of ecclesiastical
grievances, which they besought him to remove.
The time fixed for this important conference was
the 14th of January, 1604, and the place ap¬
pointed for holding it was Hampton Court.
148
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
That noble building had then stood nearly a
hundred years, one of the monuments of Wol-
sey's wealth, pride, and greatness. A fine quad¬
rangle of Tudor architecture, and the magnificent
hall, with some other apartments, still remain, in¬
dicative of the state of the edifice as reared by
the cardinal. The comparatively modern erec¬
tions by William III. have quite altered the
character of a considerable portion of Hampton
Court palace ; but if the reader's imagination pic¬
ture to him the whole of the building, in the style
of the Tudor portion of it just referred to, he
will have an idea of the appearance of the place
when the famous conference was held there, out
of which arose the translation of the Bible now
commonly used in this country. Of the multi¬
tudes who visit that specimen of architectural
antiquities, many more, it is probable, think of
Wolsey's revels, or of Charles's misfortunes, in
connection with the building, than the circum¬
stances of its having been the birthplace of a
design for furnishing the country with a new ver
sion of the Bible; yet, certainly, no other event,
however romantic and affecting, associated with
the place, can be compared with this in point of
real interest and importance. On Monday, the
16th of January—the only day of the conference
which concerns us in the present work—there
might have been seen assembling in the withdraw-
ing-room of the palace, in the presence of his
majesty, who had no small taste for theological
debates, certain prelates of the English Church,
and a few of the Puritan party, with the well-
OUR, TRANSLATION IN COMMON USE.--j.49
known Dr. Rainolds at their head. The learning
and moral excellence of this remarkable man
were so great as to inspire the admiration of his
contemporaries generally • and Anthony Wood, in
recording his merits, waxes into rapture which he
finds it difficult to express. " The truth is," ob¬
serves that historian, " he was most prodigiously
seen in all kind of learning, and had turned over
all writers, profane, ecclesiastical, and divine, all
the councils, fathers, and histories of the Church.
He was also most excellent in all tongues, of a
sharp and nimble wit, of mature judgment, inde¬
fatigable industry, exceeding these in Origeh,
surnamed Adamantius, and so well seen in aliarts
and sciences as if he had spent his whole time in
each of them. The learned Cracanthorp tells us
also, that for virtue, probity, and integrity, and,
which is above all, piety and sanctity of life, he
was so eminent and conspicuous, that, as Nazian-
zen speaketh of Athanasius, it might be said of
him, to name Rainolds is to commend virtue itself.
In a word, nothing can be spoken against him,
only that he, with Thomas Sparkc, were the pil¬
lars 'Af^IWitanism, and grand favorers of non¬
conformity, as the general part of writers say;
yet one of late date reports that Rainolds professed
himself a conformist and died so." However the
latter part of the statement may be, of' the truth
of which there is no good evidence, the former,
by general consent, is indisputable; and hence,
in point of condition and piety, this illustrious
Puritan was well qualified to express an opinion
150 OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
on the merits of biblical translations.* . Rainolds
objected to certain renderings in the extant ver¬
sions, and he proposed to his majesty that there
should be a new translation. Bancroft, the bishop
of London, nu friend to the Puritans, and there¬
fore no favorer to Rainolds, abruptly observed,
" That if every man's humor should be followed,
there would be no end of translating." But
James, in this one instance, sided with the Puri¬
tans, and professed himself friendly to a new
translation. He objected to any notes being ap¬
pended, and Rainolds concurred with him in
this view, for his proposition was to the follow¬
ing effect: " That a translation be made of the
whole Bible, as consonant as can be to the ori¬
ginal 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."—Anderson's Annals, vol. ii. p.
371.
The Hampton Court conference, so far as an
adjustment between the two parties in the Church
was concerned, came to nothing; but the sug¬
gestion of Dr. Rainolds led to a most important
result, in the benefits of which England has long
participated. To him' we are indebted for the
origin of our " authorized version," as it is com-
* Dr. Rainolds's brother William was at first a Pro¬
testant and afterwards a Papist. The Doctor, himself,
was first a Papist and afterwards a Protestant. It is
said a conference between the brothers led to this re¬
markable change of sentiment.—Xcal, vol. ii. p. 77.
OUR TRANSLATION IN COMMON USE. 151
monly termed. Measures seem to have been
taken soon after the conference for securing
suitable persons for the important task of pre¬
paring the new translation; for, in the month of
June, in the same year, Bancroft wrote to Cam¬
bridge, stating that "his majesty being made
acquainted with the choice of all them to be
employed in the translating of the Bible in such
sort as Mr. Lively can inform you, doth greatly
approve of the said choice. And forasmuch as
his highness is very desirous that the same so
religious a work should admit no delay, he has
commanded me to signify unto you in his name
that his pleasure is, you should, with all possible
speed, meet together in your university and
begin the same." " I am persuaded his royal
mind rejoiceth more in the good hope which he
hath for the happy success of that work, than of
his peace concluded with Spain." Yery differ¬
ent were these subjects of joy which the prelate
thus couples together; and certainly the manner
in which King James celebrated the ratification
of the peace with Spain was hut little in accord¬
ance with his professed regard for the Bible.
Sunday, of all days, was chosen for the ratifi¬
cation, hut the nature of the ceremonies and
rejoicings was such as to exhibit an awful profa¬
nation of that holy day, illustrative of the habits
of the times, and forming a fit prelude to the
introduction of the Book of Sports, which
sanctioned so shamefully the practice of Sabbatli-
hreakino1, and awakened the righteous displeasure
of the English Puritans. "A most imposing
152
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
pageant was exhibited by tbe procession in
coaches and on horseback, all the parties clothed
in the most gorgeous attire. In the royal chapel
various pieces of church-music were performed,
after which the peace was ratified by the king's
oath, on a copy of Jerome's Latin Bible, before
the Duke de Frias, constable of Spain, the ambas¬
sador: the air was rent by the general acclama¬
tion. Then came the grand banquet and drink¬
ing, which lasted about three hours. Meanwhile,
dancing had commenced in the drawing-room, to
which all repaired. The Prince of Wales opened
the ball with a Spanish gallarda, and, after various
other dances, it closed with a correnta danced by
the queen and Lord Southampton. Upon this,
from a window, they had a view of an amphi¬
theatre filled with people, where bears, the pro¬
perty of the king, were baited by greyhounds : a.
bull running about, tossing and goring mastiffs
let loose upon him, followed next: the whole
scene concluding with rope-dancing and feats of
horsemanship."—Ellis's Letters, vol. iii. p. 207.
Anderson's Annals, ii. p. 372.
On the 22 d of July, the same year, the king
wrote to Bancroft. "He stated that he had
appointed fifty-four learned men for the trans¬
lating of the Bible, divers of whom had no eccle¬
siastical preferment, and the main object of the
letter is to enjoin upon Bancroft and the bishops,
that, whenever a living of twenty pounds per an¬
num was vacant, they should inform his majesty
of it, that he might commend to the patron one
of the said translators, as a fitting person to hold
OUR TRANSLATION IN COMMON USE. 153
it, as his reward for his service in the translation.
He further required that the bishops should
inform themselves of such learned men in their
dioceses, and charged them to assist in the work
by sending their observations to Mr. Lively, Dr.
Harding, or Dr. Andrewes." In compliance with
the king's command, Bancroft wrote to the bish¬
ops ; and here ended all the trouble—so far as
history records—that James I. ever took respect¬
ing the translation which bears his name. The
letter just noticed shows that his majesty was in¬
tending to reward the translators by means of the
liberality of others, not his own; and it further
appears, as will be presently noticed, that the ex¬
penses of preparing the work were borne by cer¬
tain parties quite independently of any help from
the sovereign. Besides writing that one letter to
Bancroft, it does not appear that James did any
thing in the matter.
The Earl of Salisbury, chancellor of the univer¬
sity of Cambridge, wrote to the vice-chancellor
and heads of houses, also conveying to them the
expression of his majesty's pleasure that they
should join in the undertaking, by recommending
fit persons to assist, and by entertaining the trans¬
lators at the colleges without any charge—only the
poor colleges were to look to the bishop of London
to defray any expenses in which they might be
involved. It is almost amusing to see how care¬
ful the king was to shift all tlrn expense on
others; and it is mortifying to think that the
credit and honor of the undertaking have too
commonly been transferred from those to whom
154
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
they are due, to the mean-spirited monarch, 'whose
chief care in the matter was to rid his own
shoulders of the pecuniary responsibility. Nor
were the letters just noticed the only ones written
for the purpose of inducing other persons to hear
the burden of the expense, for we find Bancroft
again writing to the bishops on the 31st of July,
telling them to acquaint the dean and chapter
with the subject, and ascertain what they would
contribute. "I do not think," he says, "thata
thousand marks will finish the work." How
much was contributed by the bishops does not
appear; and it is now made pretty certain, by the
researches of Mr. Anderson, that the money
expended in the translation was chiefly, if not
entirely, supplied by Mr. Barker, the printer and
patentee. "I conceive," says a writer, in the
year 1657—William Ball, Esq., of London—"that
the sole printing of the Bible and Testament,
with power of restraint in others, to be of right
the property of one Matthew Barker, citizen and
stationer, of London, in regard that his father
paid for the amended or corrected translation of
the Bible, £3,500, by reason whereof the trans¬
lated copy did of right belong to him and his
assignees." Out of this sum, paid by the pa¬
tentee, the expenses most likely were defrayed.
The Stationers' Company advanced money while
the revision of the book was going on in their hall;
but probably it was refunded to them when Bar¬
ker paid for his patent. On the 31st of July,
Bancroft sent a copy of the king"s letter to Cam¬
bridge, for the persons who had been selected by
OUR TRANSLATION IN COMMON USE. 155
the university, as translators, expressing his
majesty's approbation of the choice, and his
desire that they should meet as early as possible.
The following instructions accompanied the let¬
ters :—
\y 1. The ordinary Bible read in the church,
commonly called the Bishops' Bible, to be follow¬
ed, 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, accordingly as they
are vulgarly used.
, 1^3. The old ecclesiastical words to be kept, as
the word 'church,' not to he translated congre¬
gation.
V4. When any word hath divers significations,
that to be kept which hath been most commonly
used by the most eminent 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 neces¬
sity 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 circumlocu¬
tion, 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 references 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,
156
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
where he thinks good, all to meet together, to eon
fer what they have done, and agree for their pari
what shall stand.
"9. As any 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 very 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, to note the places, ant
therewithal to 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 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 their particular obser¬
vations to the company, either at Westminster,
Cambridge, or Oxford, according as it was directed
before in the king's letter to the archbishop.
t/'lo. The directors in each company to be
the deans of Westminster and Chester for West¬
minster, and the king's professors in Hebrew and
Creek in the two universities."
" These translations to be used when they agree'
better with the text than the Bishops' Bible
OXJR TRANSLATION IN COMMON USE. 157
Tyndale's, Coverdale's, Matthew's, Whitchurch's,
Geneva."
Doubts having arisen in the minds of some of
the Cambridge men as to the manner of observing
the third and fourth rules, Bancroft wrote to them
again, stating that it was the royal wish there
should be three or four divines of the university
appointed as overseers of the translation, especially
with a view to carry out the third and fourth
rules: probably a similar plan, from the begin¬
ning, was contemplated with regard to Oxford:
certainly an instruction to that effect was sent to
Dr. Ravis, one of the company who assembled at
that university.*
The list of the individuals to whom the prepara¬
tion of the new version was intrusted has been
carefully preserved and often published. It in¬
cludes the names of some of the most distin¬
guished divines of the day, whose memory is dear
to the friends of learning and piety; and as to
others among them, of whom history has preserved
scarcely any memorial, no reasonable doubt can
be entertained of their competency to discharge
their momentous trust. They were forty-seven in
number, and were divided into six parties, two of
which met at Westminster, two at Cambridge,
and two at Oxford.
.j- The first company met at Westminster, and to
them was committed the Pentateuch, with the
other historical books, as far as the second Book
of Kings. Dr. Launcelot Andrews, that illus-
* Burnet, Hist, of Ref., pt. ii., b. iii- • No. 10
158
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
trious scholar whose erudition called forth the
praise of Europe, presided over this division. As
a hard student he has been rarely equalled, and
his learning is said to have overflowed in his con¬
versation, as it certainly does in his writings.
His skill in repartee, and his prudent evasion of
difficulties, are also recorded, of which the fol¬
lowing anecdote presents an example : " Wallet
having one day gone to see James I. at dinner,
saw the Bishop of Winchester and Dr. Neale,
bishop of Durham, standing behind the king's
chair, and overheard the following conversation:
his majesty asked the bishops, 'My lords, cannot
I take my subjects' money when I want it, with¬
out all this formality in parliament ?' The Bishop
of Durham readily answered, ' God forbid, sir,
but you should: you are the breath of our nos¬
trils.' Whereupon the king turned and said to
the Bishop of Winchester, 'Well, my lord, what
say you V ' Sir,' replied the bishop, ' I have no
skill to judge of parliamentary cases !' The king
answered, ' No put-offs, my lord : answer me pre¬
sently.' ' Then, sir,' said he, ' I think it lawful
for you to take my brother Neale's money, for he
offers it.' " No doubt, in connection with the
Westminster meetings on the work of translation,
as Andrews conversed with his coadjutors, many
a stream of learning would gush forth, sparkling
now and then with the light of innocent pleas¬
antry. Dr. John Overall, a learned man and
fellow of Trinity : Dr. Andrian de Saravia, a man
of general learning, and late professor in the uni¬
versity at Leyden : Dr. Richard Clarke, author
OUR TRANSLATION IN COMMON USE. 159
of a volume of sermons full of erudition: Dr.
John Layfield, « skilled in architecture," whose
judgment was much relied on for the fabric
of the Tabernacle and Temple: Dr. Teigh,
ari excellent textuary, and a profound linguist,
were among Andrews' coadjutors. The rest, of
whom fame reports nothing save their learned
education and connection with the universities,
were Mr. Burgley, or Burleigh, Mr. Geoffry King,
Mr. Richard Thomson, and Mr. William Bed-
well. Of the last, however, it is said that he was
tutor to the great orientalist, Dr. Pocock, and
greatly excelled in the knowledge of eastern lan¬
guages and lore.
The second company, consisting of eight per¬
sons, met at Cambridge, and they prepared the
translation from the beginning of Chronicles to
the end of Canticles. Edward Lively, regius
professor at Cambridge, and a man of great at¬
tainments, presided over the department; with
whom were associated John Richardson, fellow
of Emanuel; Dr. Laurence Chaderton, a man
well skilled in Rabbinical literature; Thomas
Harrison, vice-master of Trinity; Roger An¬
drews, brother to the bishop; Robert Spalding,
fellow of St. John's, and Lively's successor in
the Hebrew chair; and Dr. Andrew Byng, who
subsequently occupied the same professorship.
The third company assembled at Oxford, and
consisted of seven members, who undertook the
rest of the Old Testament from Isaiah to Malachi.
Dr. John Harding, regius professor of Hebrew,
was chosen to preside over this party, which con-
160
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
sisted besides of Dr. John Reynolds, the Puritan,
who suggested the new version; ^ Dr. Thomas
Holland, a very Apollos, " mighty in the Scrip¬
tures;" Dr. Richard Kilbie, a great Hebraist;
Dr. Miles Smith, " who had Hebrew at his fin¬
gers' ends," says Anthony Wood; Dr. Brett, a
good Grecian and orientalist; and Mr. Fairclough.
Isaac Walton tells a story of Dr. Kilbie, in con¬
nection with the new Bible, worth repeating.
" The doctor was to ride a journey into Derby¬
shire, and took Mr. Sanderson (afterward bishop
of Lincoln) to bear him company; and they going
together on a Sunday, with the doctor's friend, to
that parish church where they then were, found
a young preacher to have no more discretion than
to waste, a great part of the hour allotted for his
sermon in exceptions against the late translation
of several words, not expecting such a hearer as
Dr. Kilbie, and showed three reasons why a par¬
ticular word should have been otherwise trans¬
lated. When evening prayer was ended, the
preacher was invited to the doctor's friend's
house, where, after some other conference, the
doctor told him he might have preached more
useful doctrine, and not have filled his auditors'
ears with needless exceptions against the late
translation; and for that word for which he
offered to that poor congregation three reasons
why it ought to have been translated as he said,
he and others had considered all them, and found
thirteen more considerable reasons why it was
translated as now printed; and told him, < If his
friend then attending him should prove guilty of
our translation in common use. 161
sucli indiscretion, he should forfeit his favor to
which Mr. Sanderson said, he hoped he should
not; and the preacher was so ingenuous as tc
say he would not justify himself."— Walton's
Lfves, p. 360.
The fourth company was convened at Oxford,
consisting of eight members, who received for
their portion of labor the four Gospels, the Acts
of the Apostles, and the Revelation of John.
Dr. Ravis, dean of Christ Church, was president;
the famous George Abbott, dean of Winchester,
and afterward archbishop of Canterbury; Dr.
Eedes, dean of Worcester; Dr. Giles Tomson,
dean of Windsor; Sir Henry Saville, provost of
Eton; Dr. Perrin, Greek professor; Dr. Ravens;
and Mr. John Harman, were the members of
this division.
The fifth company met at Westminster, and
translated the Epistles. It consisted of Dr. Bar-
lowe, dean of Chester, afterward successively
bishop of Rochester and Lincoln; Dr. Hutchin¬
son; Dr. Spencer; Mr. Fenton; Mr. Rabbett;
Mr. Sanderson, and Mr. Dakins.
The sixth company held their sittings at Cam¬
bridge, and undertook the translation of the
Apocrypha. They were as follows: Dr. John
Duport, prebendary of Ely; Dr. Branthwaite, fel¬
low of Emanuel; Dr. Jeremiah Radcliffe, fellow
of Trinity ; Dr. Samuel Ward, of Emanuel; An¬
drew Downes, Greek professor; the celebrated
Mr. Bois; "and Mr. Ward, fellow of King's. Mr.
Bois was most indefatigable in executing his trust,
for his biographer informs us that "all the time
G
1-62
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
he was about his own part, his diet was given
him at St. John's, where he abode all the week
till Saturday night, and then went home to dis¬
charge his cure, and return thence on Monday
morning, and that when he had finished his own
part, at the earnest request of him to whom it
was assigned, he undertook a second, and then
was at commons at another college."
Such is the list of the translators: we have
given it as corrected, in places, by a curious old
manuscript we have examined, in the Lambeth
library, written by some one who was contem¬
porary with many of the persons employed on the
version, and who endeavored to collect informa¬
tion respecting them; but, with regard to several,
with little or no success. Though but forty-seven
are mentioned in the list, fifty-four are spoken of
in the king's letter—a discrepancy which some
have explained by supposing that the three or
four from each university appointed to revise the
work, might be included in the number as given
by the king; while others think that the original
number was, from some circumstances not ex¬
plained, reduced to forty-seven.
The mode in which the translators were to
proceed in their undertaking is described in the
regulations, to which they, no doubt, carefully
attended. J Every member of a company was to
take the same portion, and having translated, or
amended it, by himself, all were to meet together
to compare what they had done, and to form one
revised copy of the whole, in which they could
agree. ( The oft-quoted anecdote relative to the
OUR, TRANSLATION IN COMMON USE. 163
translators, given in tlie learned Selden's table-
talk,^ most likely refers to this stage of the pro¬
ceedings : " They met together, and one read the
translation, the rest holding in their hands some
Bible, either of the learned tongues, or French,
Spanish, Italian, etc. If they found any fault,
they spoke; if not, he read on." When a por¬
tion had thus been finished by any company, it
was to be sent to the rest for their examination
and they were required, if they felt a doubt about
any of the renderings, or could suggest an im¬
provement, to state such doubt or improvement,
and the reasons on which it was founded, to the
company who had executed the portion. If the
alteration were approved, it was to be adopted at
once ; if not approved, it was to be referred to a
committee of final revisers. ^ While the labor was
great, correctness was likely'to be secnredbythis'
plan; for every portion would first fee translated
by each member of the party to whonNt was as^
signed; then considered by them all; tbqn ex¬
amined by the other companies; and then finally
revised by the select committee appointed to com¬
plete the work: thus, after its first translation,
passing through a number of ordeals, varyjng
from thirteen to sixteen, according to the. num¬
ber of persons in the company to which it be¬
longed.*
The final revision of the whole work was con¬
ducted in London. Two delegates from Cam-
-x- English Translations a-nd Translators,- p. 107, by
the author of this volume.
164
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
bridge, two from Oxford, and two from West¬
minster, devoted themselves to this important
business. They met in the old hall of the Sta¬
tioners' Company, and there spent three quarters
of a year in completing their task. For the
knowledge of these facts we are indebted to a
manuscript life of Mr. Bois, who took an import¬
ant part in the matter. u Mr. Andrew Downes,
fellow of St. John's College, and the king's Greek
professor at Cambridge, and the abovesaid Mr.
John Bois, were sent for up to London, out of
the Cambridge company, where, meeting their
poor fellow-laborers, they went daily to Stationers'
Hall, and, in three quarters of a year, fulfilled
their task; all which time they received £30
each of them by the week from the Company of
Stationers, though before they had nothing."—
Lewis's History of Translations, p. 323. We
further learn, from the account of the translation
given at the Synod of Dort, that twelve persons
met to review the whole work, from which it ap¬
pears that six other learned men were associated
with the six delegates from Oxford, Cambridge,
and Westminster. These six were probably per¬
sons who had not been employed on the transla¬
tion, but were appointed according to King
James's proposal at Hampton Court, that is, that
the version should be revised by bishops, and
other learned ecclesiastics. Bilson, bishop of
Winchester, is particularly mentionc"d""in the
manuscript of. Bois*_as~_engaged—^trpmr~tMs~fihal
revision, though he was not one pf the origlnxilly-
appointed translators. This confirms the idea
OUR TRANSLATION IN COMMON USE. 165
that some of the final re\dsors_had.not-been trans¬
lators.
From the preface written by Dr. Miles Smith,
who, for his services, was rewarded with the
bishopric of Gloucester, we learn that the trans¬
lators were occupied for about three years in pre¬
paring the version. " The work," he says, " has
not been huddled up in seventy-two days, (refer¬
ring to the haste with which the Septuagint was
supposed to have been executed,) but hath cost
the workmen, as light as it seemetjh, the pains of
twice seven times seventy-two days, and more."
It has been supposed that the work was not begun
till the year 16-07; and that the delay was occa¬
sioned by the death of Mr. Lively, president of one
of the Cambridge companies, who died in the year
1605. But no positive evidence has been afforded
in proof of the late commencement of the trans¬
lation ; and it must be apparent to all that Mr.
Lively's death would be no hindrance to the com¬
mencement or progress of the other companies,
though it might to the commencement and progress
of his own. It would appear that Fuller con¬
sidered the work was begun before Lively's death,
for he says, " The untimely death of Mr. Lively,
much weight in the work lying in his skill in the
oriental tongues, happening about this time—
(happy is that servant whom his Master when he
cometh fimJeth so doing)—not a little retarded
their proceedings. However, the rest vigorously,
though slowly, proceeded in this hard, heavy, and
holy task : nothing offended with the censures of
166
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
impatient people condemning their delays, though,
indeed, but due deliberation, for laziness." More¬
over, from Wood's Annals of the Oxford Univer¬
sity, it appears that the party who met there had
closed their work by the year 1607; for he in¬
forms us that the party met at Dr. Rainolds's
lodgings, and there "perfected the work, notwith¬
standing the said doctor, who had the chief hand in
it, was all the while sorely afflicted with the gout."
Now, as Dr. Rainolds died in 1607, the portion
undertaken by his company must have been
finished in that year, and was most likely begun
soon after the preliminary arrangements, in 1604,
were complete. Probably there was some delay
with the other companies; and this, in connec¬
tion with the repeated revisions, and the care that
would be taken in printing the book, would ac¬
count for the whole work being spread over so
long a space as from 1604 to 1611, when King
James's Bible issued as a portly and noble folio
from the press.
The dedication to the king prefixed to the
volume is strongly marked by the fulsome adula¬
tion of the age, and is unworthy of a place in so
holy a book; but the address to the reader is a
very valuable composition, abounding, it is true,
with much that is quaint and characteristic of the
reign of King James, but also containing a great
deal of useful information blended with pious
sentiment. It is to be regretted that, while the
worthless dedication appears in many editions of
our Bible, the address to the reader is inserted in
OUR. TRANSLATION IN COMMON USE. 167
very few. It would be a good alteration entirely
to cancel the former, and universally introduce
the latter.
It commences with a reference to the opposi¬
tion which had been made to the undertaking, and
then proceeds, in a strain of characteristic illus¬
tration, to unfold the excellences of the sacred
volume. It vindicates the making and circulating
of vernacular translations, and supplies a succinct
account of ancient versions. The Romanists are
attacked for their unwillingness to place the Scrip¬
tures in the hands of the people; and the motives
which induced the translators to engage in the
jEorir are stated and justified. The need of a new
version is proved, and the imputations of popish
opponents repelled. The writer shows how la¬
borious had been the task of preparing this
amended translation, and he explains the reason
for introducing marginal readings, for translating
the same original words by different English
terms, and for the retention of old ecclesiastical
words.
The following is an extract from this valuable
composition, and it shows how thoroughly the
writer was convinced of the great principle of Pro¬
testantism, that is, the sufficiency of the Scrip¬
tures, and how highly he valued, and how deeply he
venerated, the holy volume : u 11 adore the ful¬
ness of the Scripture,' saith Tertullian against
Hermo°"enes. ,A.nd again, to -A.pelle&, a heretic
of the Tike stamp, he saith, ' I do not admit that
which thou bringest in (or concludest) of thine
own (head or store, de tuo) without Scripture.'
1(38
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
So St. Justin Martyr before him, ' We must know
by all means/ (saith he,) 'that it is not lawful
(or possible) to learn (any thing) of G-od, or of
right piety, save only out of the prophets, who
teach us by Divine inspiration.' So St. Basil after
Tertullian, It is a manifest falling away from the
faith, and a fault of presumption, either to reject
any of those things that are written, or to bring
in (upon the head of them, eneLaayelv) any of
those things that are not written. We omit to
cite to the same effect St. Cyril, bishop of Jeru¬
salem, in his Fourth Catechism, St. Hierome
against Helvidius, St. Augustin, in his Third
Book against the Letters of Petilian, and in very
many other places of his works. Also, we for¬
bear to descend to later fathers, because we will
not weary the reader. The Scriptures then being
acknowledged to be so full and so perfect, how
can we excuse ourselves of negligence, if we do
not study them ; of curiosity, if we be not content
with them ? Men talk much of eipeoitovri,* how
many sweet and goodly things it had hanging on
it: of the philosopher's stone, that it turneth
copper into gold : of Cornucopia, that it had all
things necessary for food in it: of Panaces, the
herb, that it was good for all diseases : of Catholi-
con, the drug, that it is instead of all purges: of
Vulcan's armor, that it was an armor of proof
against all thrusts and all blows, etc. Well, that
which they falsely or vainly attribute to these
^ An olive-bough wrapped about with wool, whereon
did hang figs, etc.
OUR TRANSLATION IN COMMON USE. 16G
tilings for bodily good, we may justly, and witli
full measure, ascribe unto the Scripture for spirit¬
ual. It is not only an armor, but also a whole
armory of weapons, both offensive and defensive ;
whereby we may save ourselves, and put the
enemy to flight. It is not an herb, but a tree, or
rather a whole paradise of trees of life, which
bring forth fruit every month, and the fruit
thereof is for meat, and the leaves for medicine.
It is not a pot of manna, or a cruse of oil, which
were for memory only, or for a meal's meat or
two; but, as it were, a shower of heavenly bread
sufficient for a whole host, be it never so great,
and, as it were, a whole cellar full of oil-vessels;
whereby all our necessities may be provided for,
and our debts discharged. In a word, it is a
panary of wholesome food against fenowned* tra¬
ditions : a physician's shop (as St. Basil calls it) of
preservatives against poisoned heresies : a pandect
of profitable laws against rebellious spirits: a
treasury of most costly jewels against beggarly
rudiments : finally, a fountain of most pure water
springing up unto everlasting life. And what
marvel ? The original thereof being from heaven,
not from earth : the Author being God, not man :
the inditer, the Holy Spirit, not the wit of the
apostles or prophets : the penmen, such as were
sanctified from the womb, and endued with a prin¬
cipal portion of God's Spirit: the matter, verity,
piety, purity, uprightness : the form, God's word.
God's testimony, God's oracles, the word of truth,
* Mouldy.
170
OUK ENGLISH BIBLE.
the word of salvation, etc. : the effects, light of
understanding, stableness of persuasion, repent¬
ance from dead works, newness of life, holiness,
peace, joy in the Holy Ghost: lastly, the end and
reward of the study thereof, fellowship with the
saints, participation of the heavenly nature, frui¬
tion of an inheritance immortal, undefiled, and
that never shall fade away. Happy is the man
that delighteth in the Scripture, and thrice happy
that meditateth in it day and night I"
The repeated eulogiums pronounced by the
first scholars of this age upon the general accuracy
of our authorized version, render it unnecessary,
and even presumptuous, for us to add any thing
to what they have said. Upon all the important
points of religious faith and practice, it is un¬
doubtedly a safe and sufficient guide to all who
are unable to examine the original Scriptures for
themselves. But while in this well-merited com¬
mendation there are few who will not agree, there
are, perhaps, equally few who will not admit that
there are numerous minor inaccuracies which
need correction. The obscurity of some passages,
especially in the old Testament: the infelicity
and almost ludicrous effect of certain of the modes
of expression employed, and the striking indeli¬
cacy of others : the arbitrary rendering of certain
terms; and the unnecessary introduction, in some
instances, of the woi'ds distinguished by italics,
are blemishes that have been so frequently
pointed out as to require here no further notice.
It should, however, be observed, that the ob¬
jections to some of the passages in our version
our translation in common use. 171
have undoubtedly arisen from the scrupulous
adherence of the translators to the original, and
irom their attempt to transfer some of the idioms
into our own language. It had been strange,
indeed, if, in an age when biblical criticism was
in its infancy, a work had been produced iD
which the keen eye of modern scholarship could
detect no imperfections or mistakes, and which
could receive no improvement from the rich
treasures of learning amassed during the last two
centuries. It is sufficient praise of this work,
and a monument of fame glorious enough for any
band of scholars to envy, that, in a volume of such
extent, more alterations are not requisite to ren¬
der it a perfect expression of the sense of the
original. As a specimen of English style, this
Bible has received enthusiastic praise; but here,
perhaps, admiration for its sacred contents, and
the delightful associations with its very phrase¬
ology, which piety and devotion cannot fail to
form, may warp our judgment on the question of
its literary merits; yet, after all that can be said
against it in this point of view, (and that it has
literary defects as well as excellences, it were
uncandid to deny,) we must surely be struck with
the fact, that while our Bible possesses number¬
less specimens of English diction, full of rhythm,
beauty, and grandeur, there are to be found in it
so few words and modes of expression, which the
lapse of between two and three centuries has
rendered obsolete or dubious.
a The question of a new version, or rather a
revision of the present one, preserving all its ex-
172
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
cellences, and removing only its imperfections,
has often been agitated, and has at different
periods occupied a considerable share of public
attention. Into the controversy on this subject
it would be beyond our province to enter; and
we content ourselves with, the remark, that the
present state of religious parties is such as to
render the execution of an authorized revision,
which should be generally acceptable, extremely
difficult; and that in the mean time the readers
of the Scriptures possess, in the various commen¬
taries and other useful religious publications of
the present day, very ample means for rectifying
most of the inaccuracies and removing most of
the blemishes in the volume."—English Transla¬
tions and Translators, p. 110.
With the history of what is generally termed
the authorized version, we conclude our history
of English translations. It forms no part of our
plan, to give an account of the numerous English
versions of parts of the sacred volume since exe¬
cuted by biblical scholars, many of which are of
high value, and have rendered English Christians
great debtors to the distinguished men who have
devoted their critical skill to this most important
branch of sacred literature. But it may be de¬
sirable to add a brief notice of some of the edi¬
tions, or classes of editions, through which our
present English version has passed. The pearl
Bible printed by John Field, at the Cambridge
press, in 1653, is extremely beautiful in point of
typographical clearness and elegance, but is dis¬
figured by some gross typographical errors, which
our translation in common use. 173
Mr. I) Israeli notices at length in his "Curiosities
of Literatureamong the rest the following, so
remarkable that it is strange it should have
escaped the reviser of the press:—"Know ye not
that the unrighteous shall inherit the kingdom of
God ?" It may be added, that an equally glaring
blunder had been made in the edition by Barker
and Lucas, in 1632, who had printed the seventh
commandment thus :—" Thou shalt commit adul¬
tery for which mistake the printers were cited
before the High Commission Court, condemned
to suppress the whole edition, and mulcted in a
heavy fine. In the latter part of the seventeenth
century, a number of thin square Bibles were
printed for the convenience of divines, who used
them in the pulpit. These old Bibles, known by
the name of preaching Bibles, are still often to be
met with. The paper is very thin, the type very
distinct, with a few notes sprinkled over the mar¬
gin. But many typographical errors were per¬
petuated in these editions, and it became neces¬
sary that the work should undergo a careful
revision.
" In 1683 this translation was corrected, and
many references to parallel texts were added, by
Br. Scattergood; and in 1700, a very fine edition
was published in large folio, under the direction
of Br. Tenison, archbishop of Canterbury, with
chronological dates, and an index by Bishop
Lloyd, and accurate tables of Scripture weights
and measures by Bishop Cumberland; but this
edition is said to abound with typographical
errors. The latest and most complete revision is
174
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
that made by the late Rev. Dr. Blayney, under
the direction of the vice-chancellor and delegates
of the Clarendon press at Oxford. In this edition,
which was printed both in quarto and folio, in
1769, the punctuation was thoroughly _ revised;
the words printed in italics were examined and
corrected by the Hebrew and Greek originals;
the proper names, to the etymology of which allu¬
sions are made in the text, were translated and
entered in the margin; the summaries of chap¬
ters, and running titles at the top of each page,
corrected; some material errors in the chronology
rectified; and the marginal references were re¬
examined and corrected, and 30,495 new refer¬
ences were inserted in the margin. From the
singular pains bestowed in order to render this
edition as accurate as possible, it has hitherto
been considered as the standard edition, from
which all subsequent impressions have been exe¬
cuted. Notwithstanding, however, the great labor
and attention bestowed by Dr. Blayney, his edi¬
tion must now yield the palm of accuracy to the
very beautiful and correct edition published by
Messrs. Eyre and Strahan, his majesty's printers,
(but printed by Mr. Woodfall,) in 1806, and
again in 1813, in quarto; as not fewer than one
hundred and sixteen errors were discovered in
collating the edition of 1806 with Dr. Blayney's;
and one of these errors was an omission of con¬
siderable importance. Messrs. Eyre and Stra-
han's editions may therefore be regarded as
approaching as near as possible to what Biblio¬
graphers term an immaculate text. Only one
OUR TRANSLATION IN COMMON USE. 175
erratum, we believe, has been discovered in the
edition of 1806. The following particulars re¬
lative to the above-mentioned London editions of
the Bible may not be unacceptable to the biblio¬
graphical reader • at the same time they will
show that their claims to be considered as stand¬
ard editions are not altogether unfounded. The
booksellers of the metropolis having applied to
his majesty's printers to undertake a handsome
edition of the Bible, confided the execution of it
to Mr. George Woodfall, in 1804. The copy
printed from was the current Cambridge edition,
with which Mr. W.'s edition agrees page for page.
It was afterward read twice by the Oxford im¬
pression then in use, and the proofs were trans¬
mitted to the Rev. Launcelot Sharpeydsw whom
they were read with Br. Blayney's 4c©Je^titnr~-
of 1769. After the proofs returned by Mr. S.
for the press had been corrected, the forms were
placed upon the press at which they were to be
worked, and another proof was taken. This was
read by Mr. Woodfall's superintendent, and after¬
ward by Mr. W. himself, with Br. Blaney's edi¬
tion, and any errors that had previously escaped
were corrected; the forms not having been re¬
moved from the press after the last proofs had
been taken off. By this precaution they avoided
the danger of errors (a danger of very frequent
occurrence, and of no small magnitude) arising
from the removal of the forms from the proof-
press to the presses on which the sheets were
finally worked off. Of this edition, which was
ready for publication in 1806, five hundred copies
176
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
were printed on imperial 4to, two thousand on
royal, and three thousand on medium quarto size.
In the course of printing this edition from the
Cambridge copy, a great number of very gross
errors was discovered in the latter : and the errors
in the common Oxford editions above noticed
were not so few as twelve hundred! The Lon¬
don edition of 1806 being exhausted, a new im¬
pression was put to press in 1810, which was
completed with equal beauty and accuracy in
1812, and published in 1813/'—Home's Intro¬
duction, 5th edit., vol. ii., p. 253.
Thus have we traced the history of our old
English Bible, and glanced at the characters and
events with which it is associated. No branch
of our literary annals can be compared with it in
point of interest and importance. Placed beside
this, the record of the progress of English poetry,
eloquence, jurisprudence, or even theology, sinks
into the shade. No book has produced such
effects as the inspired volume. In addition to
the stupendous results .which have attended its
circulation in the recovery of human souls from a
state of spiritual death, and their translation into
the kingdom of Jesus Christ, our English Bible
has told most powerfully on the interests of civil¬
ization and social progress. There cannot be the
slightest doubt that much of that preeminence
which distinguishes the history of England
among the states of Europe for the last three
1 hundred years, is to be attributed to the wide
^circulation of this holy volume, and the Bible-
Vcading habits of the English people. It has
OUR TRANSLATION IN COMMON USE. 177
proved a pillar of strength in the midst of the
country, hearing up and giving stability to public
and private virtue—to patriotism, loyalty, obe¬
dience, and domestic affection, which equally
have clasped and clung around it for support. It
is a fountain of light and love illuminating the
intellect and purifying the heart—it is the true
palladium of our liberties, our peace, and our
prospects; and if the poor Tyrians trembled
when Alexander besieged them, lest they should
lose the statue of Apollo — which, owing to a
dream of one of the citizens, they thought would
miraculously remove, and, to preserve to them¬
selves their fancied patron and protector, threw
round the tutelary god a chain of gold to bind
him to the city—how much more ought we to
value this real and divine safeguard of our na¬
tional prosperity, and, when threatened with the
loss of such a treasure by infidelity or Popery,
endeavor to bind it to the heart of the country, by
seeking to multiply among our fellow-countrymen
the ties of faith and love around that blessed
truth which the Bible enshrines !
The history of our translation is identified with
the history of our Protestantism. The first com¬
plete version of our Bible was made by the first
English reformer, Wycliffe. His followers in the
fifteenth century were the Bible-men of their age
its readers, lovers, and circulators—and then,
when the Reformation took deep root in the
country during the next century, the numerous
editions of our English Bible, published, bought,
and spread abroad far and wide, were among the
178
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
chief causes and the most striking proofs of the
strength and progress of that sacred work. From
the publication of Tyndale's Testament to the end
of the reign of Elizabeth, no less than two hun¬
dred and sixteen distinct editions of the Scrip¬
tures issued from the English press, far exceeding
in number those which were published in any
other part of Europe. It was the book of the
reformers, to which the preachers constantly re¬
ferred in their sermons) whose pages their hear¬
ers loved to open and read, when, after hearing
their warm-hearted instructors at St. Paul's Cross,
and elsewhere, they went to their homes, and sat
round their quiet hearths. The history of the
Reformation is a histoiy of Bible-preaching and
Bible-reading. And surely it tells nofa little in
favor of the cause, that it was thus originated and
promoted under the influence of the Bible. Sin
and error cannot bear the light ;~they flee and
perish before its piercingbeams. The impostor,
the deceiver, the liar, cometh not to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved. Yet Pro¬
testantism was born and nourished under the
rays of God's light—nay, was quickened to life
by it, and has grown ever since under its vital
and fructifying power. The reformers held forth
this light, and dared to challenge the scrutiny of
the world, while that very light, which is the de¬
tector of error and sin, was blazing before them.
" Try us by God's word," said they. " Measure
our doctrines by the Divine standard. Search
the Scriptures. Imitate the Bereans. See whe¬
ther these things be so." This was the practice
OUR translation in common use. 179
of these men, and thus they convinced the judg¬
ments of their fellow-citizens. They brought
them to Grod s word, and left it to work conviction.
And so they established their cause. So Pro¬
testantism prospered. Yet some would brand
the work of the Reformation as a work of error
and imposture, of unholy division and spiritual
rebellion! When one looks at it all going on
amidst a blaze of scriptural light, prospering even
as that light rose higher and spread out its
radiance wider, and yet more wide, verily it must
be confessed that a more incredible historical hy¬
pothesis never entered a human mind !
Great is the debt which we owe to the men
who labored through many a day and night,
through many a month and year of hard and
prayerful study, to produce the translations de¬
scribed in this volume ! Pew who read our cheap
Bibles and Testaments have ever thought of the
toil and expense, the patience and prayer, devoted
to the preparation of the book which has now
happily become so common and so easily procur¬
able. The business of these early translators was
a heavy task. It was hard work to.joll back the
gates of the temple of truth so long closed, to re¬
move from the mouth of the well of living water
the stones that covered it—so old and moss-grown.
All honor to them for their pious toils! Let
them have a place among our best benefactors—
aniono1 the Church's noblest spiritual heroes ! We
will inscribe above the names of o'ur poets, and
our patriots, and our soldiers, and our statesmen,
the names of Wycliffe, and Tyndale, and Cover-
180
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
dale, and the rest; yet with no feeling^ of idol¬
atry, with no taint of man-worship, but in a spirit
akin to that which Paul notices and approves, when,
speaking of those who rejoiced in his labors and
success, he remarks, " They glorified God in me."
To the Author of the Bible our spirits rise in
devout reverence, adoration, and gratitude, as
we review the history of English translations;
for truly, throughout, the print of his footsteps is
most visible. The instruments selected were not
the great, the noble, the dignified, in the world's
estimation, but men, for the most part, poor, per¬
secuted, and despised. Indeed, the persons who
took the lead in the enterprise were all of this class.
The prouder names follow in the wake of these.
Our history declares that " God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise;
and God hath chosen the weak things of the
world to confound the things that are mighty;
and base things of the world, and things which
are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not, to bring to naught things that
fire; that no flesh should glory in his presence."
We have seen that princes and prelates had far
less to do with the work of biblical translation
than is generally supposed. A special Providence
seems throughout to have watched over the work,
preserving it in the hands of humbler instru¬
ments, as if to separate it from all the tinsel and
glare of earthly grandeur, and to keep it shining
in its own pUre, simple, yet divine greatness.
And how manifest, too, is the concurrence of
Providence, from the beginning to the end of
OUR TRANSLATION IN COMMON USE. 181
this history, with the efforts of these good men!
The revival of literature and a spirit of inquiry
about the time of Wycliffe, the invention of print¬
ing soon afterwards, the exile of the early trans¬
lators—so that, free from the restraints of despot¬
ism at home, they could pursue their hallowed
task—the overruling of public events and of little
private incidents for the preparation of outlets for
Bible circulation—these things, and many others
that may have struck the intelligent reader of
this volume, are indications of the footsteps of
Deity along the path of our English Bible.
We have given the history of the translation
into English of the Book of books. It is con¬
nected with another history still more sacred—
the history of the production of the original
volume. We are not left in ignorance respecting
the origin of the Greek and Hebrew documents
of which it is composed. Learned investigation
has pointed out their source, and established their
genuineness and authenticity. They are, in this
respect, as in others, unlike the sacred books of
pagan nations, which originated amidst obscurity.
They have not been brought out by the hands
of juggling priests, from the deep recesses of the
caverns of mystery and darkness; but they rise
on our view like the stars of heaven, and we can
point to the part of the horizon and tell the time
where and when they rose in splendor upon the
nmht of the world's spiritual ignorance. It is a
pleasing employment, and most satisfactory in its
result, to take up an old English Bible, and trace
back its history, beyond the origin of printing
182
OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
and the period of its first Saxon translation to the
times of the early Church, when the original was
received in the form of Greek and Hebrew manu¬
scripts, and thence still farther backward to the
first century, to the very apostles who wrote the
New Testament, and to the yet more remote ori¬
gin of the Old Testament in the Jewish Church.
The examination of the literary history of the
Bible—of its transmission from ancient to modern
times, and of its original production—inspires the
student with an intelligent confidence in the
genuineness and authenticity of the book, or col¬
lection of books, which none of the insinuations
or attacks of infidelity can shake. And from this
point an advance to the belief of the credibility
of the Bible narrative is but natural and reasona¬
ble ; for it is contrary to all probability that per¬
sons should forge accounts of things that never
took place, and successfully palm them upon per¬
sons who were contemporaneous with the times
when those events were said to take place, or
lived immediately afterwards. Knowing, as we
do, when the books of Scripture were written and
how they were received, we are morally compelled
to admit that they are as credible as they are
genuine—as true as they are authentic. Another,
and a crowning fact, is evolved at the conclusion
of this literary inquiry, namely, the inspiration
of the sacred writers. Christ promised inspira¬
tion to his apostles; it was claimed by theni \ the
claim was confirmed by the reception which their
"writings met with from the early Church, and
nothing appears in the New Testament to contra-
OUR TRANSLATION IN COMMON USE. 188
diet the claim thus asserted and acknowledged.
The inspiration of the Old Testament is recog¬
nized in the New, and thus the chain of evidence
is complete. The sophistical arguments of infi¬
delity and skepticism, and the unbridled specu¬
lations of a latitudinarian and rationalistic
philosophy, have in vain attempted to overthrow
the doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures.
The volume asserts from age to age its Divine
character in its invincibility under opposition, and
the saving effects it produces. Nor shall time
destroy it. This book alone is immortal.
Sir Thomas Brown has justly said of the
sacred volume, " Men's works have an age like
themselves; and though they outlive their au¬
thors, yet they have a stint and a period to
their duration. This only is a work too hard
for the teeth of time, and cannot perish hut in
the general flames, when all things shall confess
their ashes."
The study of this blessed book we commend
to every reader. Let him approach it with a
reverential spirit, with a childlike mind—re¬
membering that G-od is its Author, and salva¬
tion its end. A devout and obedient temper, a
willingness to walk by its practical rules, is the
best preparation for an insight into its myste¬
ries, and for receiving an indubitable convic¬
tion of its truth and authority. "If any man
will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine,
whether it be of Hod." And especially let the
student of the Bible remember the necessity of
the Holy Spirit's influence for the appreciation
184 OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.
of Scripture truth. " The natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God; for they
are foolishness unto him; neither can he know
them, because they are spiritually discerned."
That passage is receiving a daily verification.
Multitudes, with the Bible in their hands, are
blind to its spiritual truths. Let, then, each
reader fervently offer the prayer of the
Psalmist: " Open thou mine eyes, that I may
behold wondrous things out of thy law." Thus
let him read the Bible, and he shall find the
study to be its own reward. The Bible will be
to him, amidst the changing scenes of life, a
treasure of matchless worth. " Bind it continu¬
ally upon thine heart, and tie it about thy
neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee;
when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and
when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. For
the commandment is a lamp; and the law is
light; and reproofs of instruction are the way
of life." In youth, it will form thy character,
stimulate thy intellect, purify thy taste, and
yield thee richer pleasures than the world, so
lavish in its promises, so poor in its perform¬
ance, can supply; and in age, it will strengthen
thee under thy infirmities, console thee amidst
thy sorrows, and fill thee with the hope of that
blessed state of being, in which life shall never
ebb, and health shall never languish ! In pros-
perity, it will tinge with brightest colors all thy
earthly joys, while it leads thee to seek the noblest
felicity in the favor of Almighty God, teaching
thee to sing with thy heart the beautiful song
OUR TRANSLATION IN COMMON USE. 185
" To Thee -we owe our wealth, and friends,
And health, and safe abode:
Thanks to thy name for meaner things,
But they are not my God."
And in adversity, in sickness, in mental de¬
pression—when even friendship loses its soothing
power, and literature, so dear to a man of taste
and feeling, can no longer afford solace—this pre¬
cious volume will shine, like a solitary but beau¬
tiful star, amidst thy beclouded sky !
Dr. Johnson tells us, in his Lives of the
Poets, that he visited Collins—a genius of no
mean name—in his latter days, when broken
down by physical debility and mental solicitude.
He had withdrawn from study, and travelled
with no other hook than a New Testament, such
as children carry to school. When his friend
took it in his hand, out of curiosity, to see what
companion a man of letters had chosen—"I
have hut one book/' said Collins, "hut that is
the best V
THE END.