aass^„B S4-5 S Book .^dLs \Z1X *' i^ A GENERAL VIEW OF THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. A GENERAL VIEW HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. BROOKE FOSS WESTCOTT, D.D. SECOND EDITION: REVISED. HonUon : MACMILLAN AND CO. 1872. r \All Rights reserved.\ ^ fiNecee Tp^nezTTAi Aokimoi. PREFACE. In the following Essay I have endeavoured to cal attention to some points in the history of the English Bible which have been strangely neglected. The his- tory of our Bible is indeed a type of the history of our Church, and both histories have suffered the same fate. The writers who have laboured most successfully upon them have in the main confined themselves to outward facts without tracing the facts back to their ultimate sources, or noticing the variety of elements which go to form the final result. »As far as I know no systematic inquiry into the internal history of our Authorised Ver- sion has yet been made, and still no problem can offer greater scope for fruitful research. To solve such a problem completely would be a work of enormous labour, and I have been forced to content myself with indicating some salient points in the solution, in the hope that others may correct and supplement the con- clusions which I have obtained. It is at least some- thing to know generally to what extent Tyndale and Coverdale made use of earlier versions, and to be able to refer to their sources most of the characteristic read- ings of Matthew's New Testament and of the Great Bibles\ ^ Perhaps I may be allowed to mention one or two collations which would certainly furnish some valuable results. (i) A collation of the Grenville Fragment with the smaller Tyndale's Testament of 1525. VI PREFACE. Even in the external history of our Bible much remains to be done. It seems scarcely credible that adequate inquiry will not shew from what presses Tyndale's New Testament of I535^ Coverdale's Bible of 1535 and Matthew's Bible of 1537 proceeded. And it is impossible not to hope that Mr Brewer's researches may yet bring to light new documents illustrating the vacillating policy of Henry VIII. as to the circulation of the vernacular Scriptures. It does not fall within my province to criticise other histories. I have used Mr Anderson's Annals of the Eitglish Bible, and the Historical Accounf prefixed to Baxter's Hexapla (to which Mr Anderson does scant justice) with the greatest profit, and I desire to express generally my obligations to both essays. If I differ from them silently on any points I do so purposely, and in some cases I have even felt obliged to point out errors in them which were likely to mislead. Absolute accuracy in an inquiry of so wide a range seems to be impossible, and every one who is conscious (■2) A collation of Tyndale's Testaments of 1534 and 1535 with the New Testament in Matthew's Bible of 1537. (3) A collation of Tyndale's Pentateuchs of 1530 and 1534 with Mat- thew's Bible 1537, for which Mr Offor's MS. in the British Museum would be available as a verification (see p. 216, n.). (4) A collation of numerous select passages in the Great Bibles of 1539, April 1540, and November 1540, with a view to ascertaining how far the reaction in the last text extends, and whether it can be traced to any principle. (5) A collation of the New Testaments of the Bishops' Bibles of 1 568 and 1572. 1 [See p. 168 n. 1872] 2 [The Historical Account appears in two forms. That which I have used was drawn up (I am informed) by Dr S. P. Tregelles. In the later issue of the Hexapla this independent and valuable narrative was replaced by another written (it is said) by Mr Anderson, which I have not consulted. 1872] PREFACE. VI 1 of his own manifold mistakes would gladly leave the mistakes of others unnoticed ; but when writers like Mr Hallam and Mr Froude misrepresent every signi- ficant feature in an important episode of literary history, it seems necessary to raise some protest. Their names are able to give authority to fictions, if the fictions are unchallenged^ ... No apology, I trust, will be needed for the adoption of our ordinary orthography in quotations from the early versions ; and the extreme difficulty of revising proofs by the help of distant libraries must be pleaded as an excuse for more serious errors. What I have done is for the most part tentative and incomplete, and many points in the history of the Bible are left wholly unnoticed. If my leisure would have allowed I should have been glad to examine the changes in the headings of the chapters and the mar- ^ One example of this contagiousness of error, which is a fair specimen of a very large class, falls under my notice as these sheets are passing through the press. ' Tyndale,' writes Mr Smiles, ' unable to get his New Testament ' printed in England, where its perusal was forbidden [?], had the first edition 'printed at Antwerp in 1526... A complete edition of the English Bible, * translated partly by Tyndale and partly by Coverdale, was printed at 'Hamburgh in 1535; and a second edition, edited by John Rogers, under * the name of Thomas Matthew, was printed at Marlborow in Hesse iii ' i537...Cranmer's Bible, so called because revised by Cranmer, was pub- ' lished in 1539—40.' Huguenots, p, 15, and note. London, 1867. Neither the first nor the second edition of Tyndale's New Testament was printed at Antwerp. The Bible of 1535 was not partly translated by Tyndale; and no competent bibliographer at present assigns it to the Hamburgh press. Matthew's Bible was in no sense a second edition of Coverdale's, of which, indeed, two editions were piiblished in 1537, and the place where it was printed is as yet uncertain. ' Cranmer' s Bible' was not revised by Cranmer, and the editions of 1559 and 1540 are quite distinct. With that of 1539 Cranmer had nothing to do till after it was printed. Thus every statement in the quotation is incorrect. Lewis' History has, I fear, much to ansv.er for ; but it is unpardonable to use it without verification. VUl PREFACE. ginal references, both before and after 1611, for their history involves many details of great interest. One question however in connexion with the Authorised Version I have purposely neglected. It seemed useless to discuss its revision. The revision of the original Jexts must precede the revi^on of the translation, and the time for this, even in the New Testament, has not yet fully come \ But however painful the sense of incompleteness and inaccuracy in such an essay as this must be, it has this advantage, that it bears witness almost on every page to the kindness of friends. It would have been far more imperfect than it is if I had not been allowed every facility for using the magnificent collections of Bibles in the British Museum, the University Library at Cambridge, and the Baptist College at Bristol. For this privilege and for similar acts of courtesy my warmest thanks are due to the Rev. H. O. Coxe, Bodley's Librarian at Oxford, Mr Bradshaw, University Librarian at Cambridge, Mr BuUen of the British Museum, the Rev. Dr Gotch, Principal of the Baptist College, Bristol, Mr Aldis Wright, Librarian of Trinity College, Cam- bridge, Mr [Francis] Fry Cotham, Bristol, and the late Rev. Dr Milman, Dean of St Paul's. B. F. W. Harrow, Nov. 3, 1868. ^ [The experience of the work of New Testament Revision during the last two years has shewn me that I was wrong in this opinion, "Whatever may be the merits of the revised version it can be said confidently that in no parallel case have the readings of the original text to be translated been discussed and determined with equal care, thoroughness and candour, 1872] NOTICE TO THE SECOND EDITION. The kindness of many friends has enabled me to issue this second edition of the History of the English Bible with considerable additions in different sections, but the book is substantially unchanged. Later re- searches have fully established the general results which I indicated as to the composite character of our present Authorised Version ; and the labours of the New Revision have brought into clearer relief the merits and defects of the Scholars who succes- sively fulfilled the office of Revisers in earlier times. Even now perhaps full justice has not been done to the exquisite delicacy of Coverdale and the stern fidelity of the Rhemists. But, not to dwell on the individual characteristics of former Revisers, it may fairly be said that they have marked a general method of procedure which those who follow them are not likely to abandon. The changes in our Authorised Version which are still necessary are due for the most part to the claims of riper scholarship and more searching criticism, and not to any altered conception of the style and character most appropriate to a popular Version of the Holy Scriptures. That ques- tion most happily has been settled for ever. One most remarkable discovery which has been made lately as to the early editions of the English Testament requires to be brought into special notice. Mr F. Fry has found the text of ' Tyndale 1535' in an edition dated 1534 (see p. 168 n.). It is possible, therefore, that the misspelt copies may belong to a pirated reprint of Tyndale's own work. X NOTICE TO THE SECOND EDITION. The admirable biography of Tyndale by the Rev. R. Demaus appeared after my early sheets were printed off; but I owe to the kindness of the author several criticisms and corrections of which I have gladly availed myself. In expressing the hope that he will be encouraged to continue his exhaustive labours upon the great leaders of our Reformation, I say only what all must feel who have had occasion to profit by his researches. To Mr F. Fry and Professor Moulton my warmest thanks are due. Both placed at my disposal extensive collections, which I have used only partially, yet, as I hope, in such a manner as to shew how highly I value the generosity which allowed me to gather the fruits of long and unattractive work\ B. F. W. Trinity College, Cambridge, Nov. 7, 1872. ^ As this last sheet is passing through the press, I have noticed a very remarkable detail in the History of the English Bible, which seems to call for further investigation. In the Library of the House of Lords there is a draft of * An Act for reducing of diversities of Bibles now extant in the * English tongue to one settled Vulgar translated from the original.' The draft is not dated, but is referred to the reign of Elizabeth, and is certainly after 1560 from internal evidence. 'Great errors, ' it is recited, 'arise and 'papistry and atheism increase from the variety of translations of Bibles, * while many desire an authorised translation, which the Lords spiritual ' could complete had they power to compel assistance from students of the ' Universities. The Lords spiritual or any six of them (of whom the Arch- ' bishop of Canterbury for the time being is to be one) may assemble, treat, ' and deal touching the accomplishment of the work, and may call for the * assistance of students of either University, and pay them out of moneys * to be levied on such cathedral churches or colleges as shall be thought * requisite, and any temporal person may give gift or legacy for further- *ance of the work.' I owe this abstract of the draft to the kindness of Mr R. W. Monro. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. Vernacular versions of Scripture among the first works of Chris- tian antiquity Early Saxon Versions: Bede, Alfred, and others A pause in the work 3 5,6 7 CHAPTER I. THE MANUSCRIPT ENGLISH BIBLE, pp. II 20. Characteristics of the fourteenth century The Wycliffite Versions Purvey's revision Perils of the work Spirit of the translators The progress of the work checked Manuscripts of the version still remaining . The version secretly used in the xvith century II, 12 \2 13. 14 T5 i6 17, 18 18, 19 20 CHAPTER 11. THE PRINTED BIBLE: EXTERNAL HISTORY, pp. 22—125. Position of the Bible at the beginning of the x\dth century § I. Tyndale, pp. 25—55. Tyndale's early life : residence at London Visits Hamburg 1524: Cologne 1525 .... The first New Testament finished at Worms in two editions Tidings of the work spread .... Copies of the translation received in England . The English New Testament at Cambridge ,, ,, at Oxford Bp. Nix's Complaint • Archbp. Warham's assembly .... 23—25 25—28 28,31 31—33 33. 34 35 — 37 38—40 40—43 43 44 XU CONTENTS. PAGES Tyndale translates the Pentateuch, 1530, i 45 and the book of Jonah, 1534 46 Joye's New Testament . . , 46, 47 Tyndale's revised New Testament 48 Q. Anne Boleyn's copy 49 A New Testament printed in England, 1536 . . . id. Tyndale's martyrdom, 1536 50 His last revision of the New Testament, 1535 ... 51 Characteristics of Tyndale 53 — 55 § 2. Co\ERDALE, pp. 56 — 68. Coverdale's connexion with More and Crumwell ... 56 His Bible printed, 1535. Different title-pages . . - S1^ 5^ His account of his work ,. . 59 — 62 His Latin-English Testaments 62, 63 Coverdale's first edition not sanctioned by the king ... 64 A council held by Crumwell (1537) in which the use of Scrip- ture is discussed 64 — 66 Coverdale's second edition printed in England, and published (1537) with the king's license 66, 67 The prefatory Prayer to this edition 67 § 3. Matthew (Rogers), p^. 68—74. Composite character of this Bible ...... 68 Dedicated to Henry VIII. and Q. Jane . . . . 70 Cranmer's joy at receiving it 7o> 7^ Licensed by the king . 72 — 74 § 4. The Great Bible, pp. 74—85. The revision undertaken by Coverdale 74 His account of his design 7 6 The commentary finally abandoned 79 Public use of the Bible ........ 80—82 Feeling divided 82 — 85 § 5. Taverner, pp. 85, 86. His account of his work 85, 86 Superseded by the Great Bible 86 § 6. A Time of Suspense, pp. 87 — 92. The revision of the Bible suspended 87 Edward VL, devotion to the Bible 88 — 90 Sir J. Cheke's translation of St Matthew 91 The reign of Mary 92 CONTENTS. Xlil § 7. The Genevan Bible, pp. 92—97. pages The Genevan Testament ^2 The Bible 03 Becomes the popular English Bible 06 Archbp. Parker's judgment on it . . . . . , id, § 8. The Bishops' Bible, pp. 97 — 105. Q. Elizabeth's relation to the English Bible .... 97 — 99 Archbp. Parker plans a new revision 99 Characteristics of the work loi Scholars engaged upon it 102 Sanctioned for public use by Convocation .... 103 Displaces the Great Bible 105 § 9. The Rhemes and Doway Version, pp. 105—109. Vemaciilar Versions of Roman Catholics ..... 105 The English Version of the New Testament . . . . 106 The translators and annotators 107 The Old Testament 108 § 10. The Authorised Version, pp. no— 125. The English Bible at the accession of James I no Proposals for a revision id. The proposals carried out 113 Choice of revisers .114 Their qualifications 117' Instructions for the revision . . . . . . 118 The revisers' own account of the work . . . 120 The revised Bible printed 122 A new revision proposed under the Commonwealth . . . 124 CHAPTER III. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE, pp. 129—291. Materials available for a translation of the Bible at the beginning of the xvith century 130 Greek, 131; Hebrew, 132; texts and translations . . . 133 § I. Tyndale, pp. 136 — 167. Tyndale acquainted with Greek and Hebrew . . • .136 His independence in the New Testament; how far he used the Vulgate, 137; Luther,/^.; Erasmus . . . .140 XIV CONTENTS. The quarto fragment . . His own statement . ... Comparison of the texts of 1525 and 1534 . Glosses of the edition of 1534 Revision of 1535 [i534 G. H.] . Influence of Luther on Tyndale's writings On the short Prologues . . . - . Differences Tyndale's independence in the Old Testament Revision of lessons from Old Testament His permanent influence Note. Comparison of readings in Tyndale's second and third re- visions * » . . . , . PAGES 142 H5 146 id 149 151 156 160 163 164 165 ^ 2. COVERDALE, pp. 168— 176. Coverdale's Bible a secondary translation His Old Testament based on the Zurich Version . His New Testament a revision of Tyndale's . The value of his work Note. Examples of Coverdale's renderings in St Matthew 168 170 171 173 174 §3. Matthew, pp. 176—185. Edited by Rogers Jonah taken from Coverdale .... Tyndale's fragmentary translations neglected . The New Testament taken from Tyndale, 1535 177 178 181 183 §4. The Great Bible, pp. 185 — 215. The revision of the Old Testament based upon Miinster Examination of Judges v. 28 — 30 ,, Psalm li. ,, Psalms xix, xlii ,, Isaiah liii Different revisions, 1539, 1540 April, 1540 November The revision of the New Testament based on Erasmus The Vulgate and Complutensian texts used .... The Psalter retained in the Prayer-Book . . . . . Note A. Comparisons of readings in the representative editions of the Great Bible Note B.. Various readings in the Psalters of the Great Bible • 186 187 189 191 193 200 203 205 206 211 214 CONTENTS. XV § 5. Taverner, pp. 215—219. Merits of the revision of the New Testament Note. Characteristic renderings of Taverner . PAGES 216 217 § 6. The Genevan Bible, pp. 220—240. New Latin and other versions available 220 General character of the Version 222 Examination of i Kings iii. 5 — 10 . ,, Job xix. 23 — 28 ,, Isai. ix. 2 — 7 ,, Wisd. vii. 15 — 30 . The revision of the New Testament based on Beza ,, Rev. ii. 8 — 11 Special readings Notes from the Genevan Bible § 7. The Bishops' Bible, pp. 240- -2 56. General character of the revision Examination of Isai. liii. ,, Ps. xix. . . . Lawrence's Notes " . Examination of Eph. iv. 7 — 16 .... The revision again revised in 1572 _ Notes from the Bishops' Bible . . . * -26 § 8. The Rhemes and Doway Bible, pp. 256 The plan of the work . The peculiar value of the version Specimens of the version : Dan. ix. „ ,, Isai. ix. ,, ,, Ps. xix. ,, ,, Ps. Ivii. Latin phrases adopted from it Fidelity of the translators — 267. The Authorised Version, §9. IHE AUTHORISED VERSION, pp, New materials available .... Use of the Genevan and Rhemish Versions Examination of Isai. liii. . . . ,, Wisd. vii. 15 — 30 . ,, the marginal renderings in Malachi 267 — 291 id. 224 225 228 231 Examination of Eph. ii. 12 — 18 233 235 236 238 241 id. 245 247 249 251 254 256 260 261 262 263 264 265 id 267 280 id. 275 278 XVI CONTENTS. Mark Revision of the New Testament Examination of Hebr. xiii. 5 — 16 . Use of Beza Examination of the marginal renderings in S ,, changes in i John . General characteristics Note. Comparison of renderings in the Bishops' and Authorised Versions PAGES 279 281 ^83 284 286 288 290 CONCLUSION, pp. 293—298. The different versions recognized in the Prayer-Book The English Bible compared with the Vulgate Words of the Translators 293 296 APPENDICES, pp. 299—354. I. Specimens of the earlier and later Wycliffite Versions . 301 II. Chronological List of Bibles 304 III. Collation of i John in the three texts of Tyndale . . 309 IV. An examination of the sources of Coverdale's Notes . . 313 V. Specimens of the notes of Tyndale and Matthew . . 321 VI. Specimens of the Latin-English Testaments of Coverdale 324 VIL Passages of the Pentateuch and Historical Books in Tyn- dale, &c 328 VIII. The relation of the Wickliffite to the later Versions . . 334 IX. The revision of the Authorised Version .... 338 X. Phrases in the Psalms marked in the Psalter of the Great Bible as additions from the Vulgate 351 Index 355 INTRODUCTION. Then the boy sprang up from his knees, and ran, Stung by the splendour of a sudden thought, And fetched the seventh plate of graven lead Out of the secret chamber, found a place, Pressing with finger on the deeper dints, And spoke, as 'twere his mouth proclaiming first, ' I am the Resurrection and the Life.' Whereat he opened his eyes wide at once, And sat up of himself, and looked at us ; And thenceforth nobody pronounced a word: Only, outside, the Bactrian cried his cry Like the lone desert-bird that wears the ruff. As signal he were safe, from time to time. INTRODUCTION. There Is a famous saying, which dates from the times of persecution, that 'the blood of Martyrs is the seed of 'the Church.' It may be added in the Hke spirit, that the voice of Holy Scripture is the spring and measure of individual faith. Both statements require to be modified In their application; but it remain s generally true tha t the soc iety w hich Is founded b}^ human d^y^- ti on and labour. I s quickened in its several members b y th e influence o f t he Word . So it Is that the hi story of the vern acular Scriptures Is In a grea t measu re _the h istory of per sonal faith. A people wh ich Is withou t, a Bible iiL Jis. mother tongue, or Is restrained from using itjjor w Ufully neglec ts it , is also im perfec t, or degenerat e. or lifeless J n |t s apprehensi on of Christia n_T ruth, aa jd pr(^pnrfi'r>nc||-^]y bpr^ft of the Streng th whirh flnwsJjxim a livi ng Cre ^d. In the first ages of the Church the translation of the Scriptures followed Immediately on the Introduction of Christianity to a nation of a new language. Whgrutke G ospel sprea d__ eastwards , a Syrlac translation of th^ N ew Testament w as one of the fir st monuments of it s p ower. W hen It spread w^estwards^ a Latin version pre - c eded; as far as we know, all other literary efforts of the , B2 Tntrn- duction. T/te History of vernacu- lar versiotis of Holy Scripture the history of personal faith. l^ersions thefi7-st wo 7 k in the early spread of Chris- tianity to new 1 nations. INTRODUCriOy. African Church. Ulfilas, t he second bishop of the Goths, gave th em the Scr iptures in the ir own langua ge. Mies- rob, the framer of the Ar menian alphabet, wa s the tran s- lator" of the Arm enian Bible ; and the Slavonic version was_diiejn£art^at leas^ to th e two brothers , Cyri llus and M ethodius, wh o first reduced the . Sla vonic diajprl- t o writing. The history of the ^thiopic and Egyptian Scriptures is probably similar, though it is more obscure; and it is most significant, that of these ancient versions, the greater part survive substantially the same in the public services of the nations which occupy the places of those for whom they were originally composed. The original versions of Holy Scripture remain, but all else is changed. If we fix our eyes on the west only, we see the new-w^on empire of the Church desolated almost as soon as i t was gained , b y successive hordes o f harb arian invaders , out of whom she was destined in the Prov idence of Go^ to sh ape the forefathers of moden i EuTQge. In less than ten years after Jerome completed his version of the Old Testament from the Hebrew (A. D. 400 — 404), Alaric took Rome ( a. D. 410 ). Thencefor- ward a fresh work was to be achieved by Christianity, and by a new method. F or a time th^ normal pro- cesses. ^ Chris tianity were j^n abeyanc e : org anizatio n prevailed over faith. Th ese jiew r aces were to be dis- ci plined byacF before tliey coul d b^Taught by the si mple w^rd>^ Thus the task of the translation of Scripture among the northern nations was suspended. The Latin Vulgate sufficed for the teachers, and they ministered to their congregations such lessons from it as they could receive. But as soon rs society was again settled, the old instinct asserted itself, and first, which is a just cause of pride, in our own island. Ase arly^as the eighth century, INTRODUCTION. the Psalms were rend ered into A ngl o-Saxon :, and about t he same tim e, Bede, duri ng his last iU nrss. translated the Gospel of St John . The narrative of the completion of this work is given by an eye-witness, Cuthbert, a scholar of Bede, in a letter to a fellow-scholar, and is in itself so beautiful a picture of the early monastic life, that it may be quoted in abstract. Bede had been ill for some Aveeks. About Easter (a. d. 735), he f elt that h is end was approachin g, a nd looked forward i-ojt with r.easel ess g ratitude, *r_e- *j oicing that he was counted worthy thu s to suffe r.' He quoted much from Holy Scripture; and one fragment of Saxon poetry, which he recited and may have composed, was taken down by Cuthbert \ But he was chiefly busy with two English translations of Excerpts from Isidore, and of the Gospel of St John. Ascension-day drew near. His illness increased, but he only laboured the more diligently. On the Wednesday, his scribe told him that one chapter alone remained, but feared that it might be painful to him to dictate. 'It is easy,' Bede replied, 'take your pen and write quickly.' The work was continued for some time. Then Bede directed Cuthbert to fetch his little treasures from his casket (capsella), 'pepper, scarves (oraria) and incense,' that he might distribute them among his friends. And so he passed the remainder of the day till evening in holy and cheerful conversation. His boy-scribe at last found an opportunity to remind him, with pious importunity, of his unfinished task: 'One sentence, dear master, still Intro- ductiui Bede trans- lates St John's Gospel. ^ The original is given in Gale, Hist. Auf^l. Script, ill. [5-2, and by Wright, Biograpkia Litcraria, I. p. 2 1, from whom I borrow a literal trans- lation: 'Before the necessary journey ' no one becomes more prudent of * thought than is needful to him, to ' search out before his going hence ' what to his spirit of good or of ' evil after his death hence will be 'judged.' IN TROD UCTION. Intro- duction. 'remains unwritten.' 'Write quickly/ he answered. The boy soon said, 'It is completed now.' 'Well/ Bede re- plied, 'thou hast said the truth: all is ended. Take my 'h ead in thy ha nd s, I would si t in th e holyplace in which ' I w as wont to pra y, that so si tti ng I may call upon my 'Father/ Thereupon, resting on the floor of his cell, he chanted the Gloria^ and his soul immediately passed away, while the name of the Holy Spirit was on his lips\ ^ ^ g the next century Alfred prefix edtohis l aws a tran s- lation of the Ten Co mmandments, an d a fe w other frag - ments from the boo k of Exodus; and i s said to have been engaged on a versio n of th e Psalms at the time of his jeath (A. D. Qo iy. In the ^enth century, or a lit tle later, th e four G o spels w er e translated apparently f or pii blic use; an d two interlinear translations , probably of a n earliex jJate, into other English dialects, are preserved i n Latin Manuscripts , which shew at least individua l zeaP. Of the Old Testament/ the Pent^tevieh^ Joshua, J udges, Esth^r^ and par ts of other books were tr ans- l ated abou t t he tenth century. All t hese translations , with the possible exception of Bede's^, were only se- ^ Cuthbert's letter is given in Bede's Eccles. Hist. Prsef. c. ii. Tom. vi. p. 15, ed. Migne. ^ One of these noble MSS. is in the British Museum (the Lindisfarne (St Cuthbert's) Gospels, Cotton^ Nero, D. IV.) ; and the other is in the Bod- leian (the Rushworth (Mac Regol's) Gospels, Bodl. D. 24). I am not acquainted with any satisfactory de- scription of the MSS. of the common Anglo-Saxon Version ; nor yet with any general account of the relation in which the several copies stand to one another. In this respect Thorpe's edition is most unsatisfactory. Three distinct types of the text of St Mat- thew with various readings from four other manuscripts have been published l)y Mr C. Hardwick (Cam- bridge, 1858), who so far finished the work iDCgun by Mr J. M. Kemble. At present Mr W. W. Skeat is en- gaged on completing an edition of the four Gospels, which will supply the critical introduction in which Mr Hardwick's work is wholly defi- cient. 3 Bede at least was acquainted with Greek, and in his Reiractationes {Act. Ap. Pro"/.) he notices the va- riations of a Greek manuscript of the Acts which he had collated from the ordinary Latin text. From the read- ings cited there is every reason to believe that his manuscript was the Grseco-Latin copy of the Acts in the Bodleian known as the Codex La?t- diamts (E^). Compare Mill, N. T. introduction: c ondary t ranslations from the Latin, ^but none the less they reveal the thought s with which men's hearts were stirred. And there was no hindrance to their execuTton" On the contrary, the number of the labourers who took part in the work shews that it was of wide popu- larity. But the effort was as yet premature. England had still to receive a new element of her future strength; and for her the time of discipline was not over. The Norman invasion, wh ich broug ht with it the fruits of Roman ic tho ught and cult ure, c hecked ^c^r p while \\\e spontaneou s develo2ment__of>eligiaiiaiife» Nevertheless fragmentary translations of Scripture into Norman-French shew that the Bible was popularly studied, and in the end the nation was richer by the delay. Nor may it be forgotten even in this relation that the insularity of the people furthered its characteristic growth ; for while it remained outside the Roman empire yet it shared in the spiritual strength which came at that time from an intimate union with the Roman See. Thus the nation preserved throughout its progress the features of its peculiar con- stitution, and at the same time was brought within the influence of Catholic discipline and sympathy. It would be out of place to follow out here the action and reaction of these special and general powers upon the English type of mediaeval Christianity; but the recognition of their simultaneous working is necessary for the under- standing of the history of the English Bible. For three centuries they acted with various and beneficent results. At length in the 14th century the preparatory work of the Papacy was ended and its dissolution commenced. The many nations and the many churches began from that time to defme their separate peculiarities and func- tions. The time of maturity was now ready to follow Intro- duction. A pause followed. The Papal discipline of Europe completed in T.j^thcentury INTRODUCTION. Intro- duction. The history of the Eng- lish Bible : 1. external, 2. ifiiernal. on the time of tutelage: a free development was suffi- ciently prepared by a long disciplined It is then at this point that the history of the English Bible properly commences, a history which is absolutely unique in its course and in its issue. And thjsjijs tory i s tw^ofold. Thereis_ tlie external history of the differen t v ersions, a s t o when and__ by w hom and un der wh at cir- cu mstances thev were_maii£-; an d there is the interna l hi story which deal s with their relatio n to other texts , with their fil iating on e on another, and with the prin - ciplesby whi ch they have been suc es sively modifie d. The external history is a stirring record of faithful and victorious courage: the internal history is not less re- markable from the enduring witness which it bears to that noble catholicity which is the glory of the English Church. ^ No notice has been taken of the 1150) on the Gospels and the Acts ; metrical paraphrases and summaides andthe 'Sowlehele' (c. i'25o). These, of parts of Scripture, as that of Ceed- though they paved the way for trans- mon (t c. 680) on parts of Genesis, lations of the Bible, cannot be reck- Exodus, and Daniel 3 of Orm (c. oned among them. CHAPTER I. THE MANUSCRIPT BIBLE. Another race hath been and other palms are won. CHAPTER I. THE MANUSCRIPT BIBLE. The _ext ernal history of the E nglish Bible m a^ be divided into two perio ds of not very unequal length, the fi rst extending^ from the h ep-inpincr i->f Wycliffe s labou rs to the publ ication_of^Tyndale!,s New-Testament in_i525, th e seco nd from t hat date to the completion of our prpgpn^ |-f>f-pi'ypri ypj-ci' r>n Jn l6l I. The first of thcSC wlll be the subject of the present chapter. It has been already said that t he 14th century was the_first st ^^ge m th e dissolution of the mpdiapv^j (:hnrr1h Its character was marked by the co rruption of th^ hi gher clercr y, a nd th e growth of independence in the m asses of^he pe ople^ Both facts favoured an appeal from custom and tradition to the written and unchang- ing Word. Moreover the last great progressive effort for the restoration of the Church — the establishment of the mendicant orders — had failed, but not before the people had been roused by the appeals which were ad- dressed to them. Touched by a feeling of anxious sus- pense men turned with intense longing to the Bible, and in the first instance naturally to the Psalter, which has been in every age the fresh spring of hope in times of Chap. i. I. External History. Two periods: (i) 1380-1525; (2)1525-1611. (1) First period. Manuscript translations. T2 THE AIANUSCRIPT BIBLE. chap^i. trial. Of this no less than three English versions in prose, dating from the first half of the 14th century, have been preserved \ But the work of translation did not long stop here. The years from 1345 to 1349 were full of calamities — pestilence and famine and war — which seemed to men already deeply stirred by the sight of spiritual evils to portend the end of the world. Other commotions followed not long afterwards which shewed the wide-spread disorganization of society. In France there was the terrible rising of the Jacquerie (1358); in Italy the momentary triumph and fall of Rienzi (1347 — 1354) ; a great schism (1378 — 1417) divided the forces of the Church; and Adrianople be- came (1360) the capital of a Turkish Empire in Europe built on the ruins of a Christian power. In the meantime the general belief that some awful crisis was at hand found expression in England in the Tract on the Last Age of the CJmrch (1356), which has been commonly though wrongly attributed to Wycliffe ; and Wycliffe himself must have been influenced by a like expectation when he chose the Apocalypse as the subject of his first labours on the Bible. His translation of the Apocalypse was soon followed by a translation of the Gospels with a commentary, and at a later time by versions of the remaining books of the New Testament with a fresh rendering of the Apocalypse, so that a complete English New Testament was finished about 1380. To this a version of the Old Testament was soon added, which appears to have been undertaken by a friend of Wyclifife's, Nicholas de Hereford. The original manuscript of Nicholas is still preserved in the Bodleian, and offers a curious memorial of his fortunes. For 1 Of these the most hnportant is that by Richard Rolk, Hermit of Hampole. THE MANUSCRIPT BIBLE. 13 having incurred the displeasure of his superiors, he was cited to appear in London in 1382, to answer for his opinions. He was excommunicated, and left England shortly afterward, breaking off his translation in the middle of Baruch (iii. 20), where the manuscript ends abruptly. The work was afterwards completed, as it is supposed, by Wycliffe, who thus before he died in 1384 had the joy of seeing his hope fulfilled and the Scrip- tures circulated in various forms among his countrymen. Like the earlier Saxon translations, Wycliffe's trans- lation was made from the Latin Vulgate, and from the text commonly current in the 14th century, which was far from pure. It was also so exactly literal that in j many places the meaning was obscure. The followers ! of Wycliffe were not blind to these defects, and within a few years after his death a complete revision of the Bible was undertaken by John Purvey, who had already become notorious for his opinions, and had shared in the disgrace of Nicholas de Hereford \ Purvey has left, in a general Prologue, an interesting account of the method on which he proceeded in his revision, which is marked by singular sagacity and judg- ment. He had, as v/ill be seen, clear conceptions of the duties of the critic and of the translator, and the com- parison of his work v/ith Wycliffe's shews that he was not unable to carry out the design which he formed. After enumerating several obvious motives for under- taking his task, he continues : ' For these reasons and ^ other, with common charity to save all men in our 'realm, which God will have saved, a simple creature * [so he calls himself] hath translated the Bible out of ^ Purvey's copy is still preserved are not different in character. Both at Dablin. The Latin MS S. which translations contain the interpolations j Purvey used exhibit many different in the books of Samuel, e.g. i Sam readings from Wycliffels, but they v. 6; x. i, &c. Chap. Old Tfs- TAJIENT. F7-0777 the Lathi Vidznte. Revised ly Pjiyz/ey. c. 1388. Purz'eys nccoimt of his work. 14 THE MANUSCRIPT BIBLE. 'Latin into English. First this simple creature had ' much travail with divers fellows and helpers to gather ' many old bibles and other doctors and common glosses, 'and to make a Latin bible sumdel [somewhat] true^; 'and then to study it of the new, the text with the 'gloss...; the third time to counsel with old gramma- 'rians...; the fourth time to translate as clearly as he 'could to the sentence [sense], and to have many good ' fellows and cunning at the correcting of the translation. ' First it is to know that the best translating is... to trans- * late after the sentence and not only after the words, so ' that the sentence be as open, either opener, in English 'as in Latin, and go not far from the letter... In trans- ' lating into English many resolutions moun [can] make ' the sentence open, as an ablative case absolute may be ' resolved into these three words with convenable [suit- 'able] verb, the whiky for, 2/"... and when... Also a parti- 'ciple of a present tense... may be resolved into a verb 'of the same tense and a conjunction copulative... Also a ' relative, which may be resolved into his antecedent with 'a conjunction copulative... And when rightful construc- ' tion is letted [hindered] by relation I resolve it openly : 'thus ^N\\.^'c^....Doniinitin forntidabtutt adversarii ejus 'should be Englished thus by the letter the Lord his ' adversaries shoidd dread, I English it thus by resolu- 'tion, the adversaries of the Lord sJioidd dread Him... Kt ' the beginning I purposed with God's help to make the ' sentence as true and open in English as it is in Latin, ' either more true and more open than it is in Latin ; ' and I pray for charity and for common profit of Chris- ^ The collation of manuscripts blunder of which I can find no trace must have been very partial aiid in Bentley's collations of English scanty. Thus in i John ii. 14 all the MSS. of tne A ulgate. The clause is copies of Purvey's translation read omitted by Wyclifife, as by many '■ brithren,'* i.e. fratres iox patres, a Latin MSS. THE MANUSCRIPT BIBLE. 15 ' tian souls that if any wise man find any default of the ' truth of translation, let him set in the true sentence and 'open of holy writ... for... the common Latin Bibles have ' more need to be corrected, as many as I have seen in ' my life, than hath the English Bible late translated \'... As might be expected the revised text displaced the original version, and in spite of its stern proscription in a convocation in 1408 under the influence of Archbishop Arundel^ it was widely circulated through all classes till it was at last superseded by the printed versions of the 1 6th century ^ But this first triumph of the English Bible was not won without a perilous struggle. One or two contem- porary notices of the state of feeling over which it was achieved and of that again out of which it sprung are of deep interest. Thus a scholar writes when asked to teach the ignorant the contents of the Gospel : ^ Brother, ' I know well that I am holden by Christ's law to per- ' form thy asking, but natheless we are now so far fallen ' away from Christ's law, that if I would answer to thy 'askings I must in case undergo the death; and thou ' wottest well that a man is beholden to keep his life as ^ Prologue, c. xv. p. 57. Mr Froude's statement (which is retained in his last edition, 1870) that the se- cond version, based upon Wycliffe's, was ' tinted more strongly with the ' peculiar opinions of the Lollards,' is, as far as I have compared the two, wholly without foundation. The dif- ferences are exactly those which the Prologue describes. It need not be said that it was not made 'at the ' beginning of the fifteenth century ' {History of England, III. p. 77). 2 See p. 17. ^ The translation included all the Apocryphal Books except 1 Esdras. The Epistle t^ the Laodicenes was not included in Wycliffe's or Purvey's translation, but was added afterwards in some MSS. The texts of the ori- ginal translation and of the revision are generally uniform. It is scarcely necessary to add that Sir T. More's statement that ' the Holy Bible was translated [into En- glish] long before Wycliffe's days ' is not supported by the least independ- ent evidence. He may have seen a MS. of Wycliffe's version, and (like Lambert, see p. 23) have miscalcu- lated the date. Bp. Bonner (for in- stance) had a copy, and there was a fine one at the Charterhouse. See p. 19. Compare Tyndale's Answer to More, III. p. 168. Chap. i. Dangers of the work. i6 THE MANUSCRIPT BIBLE. 'long as he may\' 'Many think it amiss/ says Wy- cliffe, 'that men should know Christ's life, for then 'priests should be shamed of their lives, and specially 'these high priests, for they contradict Christ both in 'word and deed.' Yet there was a vigorous party to which the reformers could trust. ' One comfort,' he adds, 'is of knights, that they savour [understand] much the ' Gospel, and have will to read in English the Gospel of ' Christ's lifel' But the fear of death and the power of enemies could not prevail against the Spirit in which the work was wrought. 'Christian men,' one says, 'ought to travail night and ' day about text of holy writ, and namely the Gospel in 'their mother tongue, since Jesus Christ, very God and 'very man, taught this Gospel with His own blessed 'mouth and kept it in His lifeV *I beseech and with 'all my heart pray them that this work read,' writes Wycliffe, in the preface to his Harmony of the Gospels, 'that for me they pray the mercy of God, that I may ' fulfil that is set in the draught [translation] of this 'book, and that he at whose suggestion I this work ' began, and they that this work read, and all Christian ' men with me, through doing of that that is written in ' this book, may come together to that bliss that never 'shall endV And Purvey when he revised Wycliffe's work knew well what was required of the interpreter of Scripture. 'He hath need to live a clean life and be 'full devout in prayers, and have not his wit occupied 'about worldly things that the Holy Spirit, Author of 'wisdom and knowledge and truth, dress him in his 'work and suffer him not for to err... By this manner,' he concludes, 'with good living and great travail men 1 Forsliall and Madden, Wydiffes Bible, Introd. p. xv. n. 2 WycliffSs Bible', 1. c. "^ Id. p. xiv. n. ^ Id. p. x. n. THE MANUSCRIPT BIBLE. ' may come to true and clear translating and true under- ' standing of Holy Writ, seem it never so hard at the ' beginning. God grant to us all grace to ken well and ' keep well Holy Writ and sicjfei^ joyfully some pain for 'it at the last\' The last words were not allowed to remain without fulfilment. As long as the immediate influence of Wy- clifFe lasted the teaching of his followers was restrained within reasonable bounds. Times of anarchy and vio- lence followed, and spiritual reform was confounded with the destruction of society. The preachers of the Bible gave occasion to their enemies to identify them with the enemies of order ; and the re-establishment of a strong government led to the enactment of the statute De Ji(Eretico combureiido (2 Hen. IV.), which was soon put in force as a powerful check on heresy. It is im- possible to determine whether the Wycliffite Bible was among ' the books ' mentioned in the preamble of the act by which the Lollards were said to excite the people to sedition ^ Later parallels make it likely that it was so; but it was not long before the Version was directly assailed. In a convocation of the province of Canterbury held at Oxford under Archbishop Arundel in 1408, several constitutions were enacted against the party of the Reformation. The one on the use of the vernacular Scriptures is important both in form and substance. ' It is a dangerous thing,' so it runs, ' as witnesseth bless- ' ed St Jerome, to translate the text of the holy Scripture 'out of one tongue into another; for in the translation 'the same sense is not always easily kept, as the same * St Jerome confesseth, that altJwitgh he were inspired ^ Prologue, p. 60. - The Preamble is quoted by Mr Froude, History of England, ii. 20. C Chap. The act de hseretico combureiido. A. D. 1401. T/ie cofwo- catiofi of Oxford, 140S. THE MANUSCRIPT BIBLE. Manuscripts of Wycliffite Ve?'sions. ' (etsi inspiratus fulsset), yet oftentimes in this he erred ; ' we therefore decree and ordain that no man hereafter * by his own authority (auctoritate sua) translate any ' text of the Scripture into English or any other tongue, 'by way of a book, pamphlet, or treatise; and that no ' man read any such book, pamphlet or treatise, now 'lately composed in the time of John WyclifFe or since, 'or hereafter to be set forth in part or in whole, pub- ' licly or privately, upon pain of greater excommunica- 'tion, until the said translation be approved by the ' ordinary of the place, or, if the case so require, by the 'council provincial. He that shall do contrary to this ' shall likewise be punished as a favourer of heresy and ' error\' Four years after came the insurrection and death of Sir John Oldcastle. A new and more stringent act was passed against heresy (2 Hen. V,), and the Lollards as a party were destroyed. But the English Bible survived their destruction. The terms of the condemnation under Archbishop Arundel were explicit, but it was practically ineffectual. No such approbation as was required, so far as we know, was ever granted, but the work was still transcribed for private use; and the manuscripts are themselves the best records of its history^ Of about one hundred and seventy copies of the whole or part of the Wycliflite versions which have been 1 Foxe, Acts and Monuments, III. 245 (whose translation I have gene- rally followed). The original Latin is given in Wilkins' Concilia, ill. 317. ^ Two names however are con- nected too closely with Wycliffe to be omitted altogether. John of Gaunt vi[i;orously suppoited Wycliffe in his endeavours to circulate an English version of the Bible, and after his death successfully opposed a Bill brought into the House of Lords, 1390, to forbid the circulation of the Scriptures in English {Hist. Ace. p. 33). Anne of Bohemia also, accord- ing to the testimony of Archbishop Arundel, ' constantly studied the four 'Gospels in English' (Foxe, III. 202, ed. Townshend). The subsequent conduct of Arundel is not inconsist- ent with the belief that this version was Wycliffe's. THE MANUSCRIPT BIBLE. examined, fifteen of the Old Testament and eighteen of the New belong to the original version. The remainder are of Purvey's revision, which itself has in some very rare cases undergone another partial revision. Of these not one-fifth are of an earlier date than Arundel's con- demnation. The greater part appear to have been written between 1420 and 1450; and what is a more in- teresting fact, nearly half the copies are of a small size, such as could be made the constant daily companions of their owners. Others again are noticeable for the rank of those by whom they were once possessed. One belonged to Humphrey, the 'good' duke of Gloucester : another to Henry VI, who gave it to the Charterhouse : another (apparently) to Richard HI ; another to Henry Vn ; another to Edward VI ^ ; and another was pre- sented to Queen Elizabeth as a new-year's gift by her chaplain. There are yet other copies with interest of a different kind. One probably was that of Bp. Bonner : another records in a hand of the i6th century, that 'this 'ancient monument of Holy Scripture doth shew how 'the Lord God in all ages and times would have His ' blessed Word preserved for the comfort of His elect ^ This copy is now in the Univer- sity at Cambridge (Mm. II. 15), and R. Crowley printed from it the Ge- neral Prologue in 1550, 'the Originall * whereof is founde written in an olde ■ 'English Bible,' so he writes on the title-page ' bitwixt the olde Testa- ' ment and the Newe. Whych Bible 'remaynith now in y® Kyng hys 'maiesties Chamber.' The book retains a binding appa- rently of the age of Edward VI, which bears stamped on one side Verbum Donmii and on the other ma7iet in aeternian. Part of the notice to the reader is worthy of being quoted : ' [This Prologue J was at the first made common to few men that would and were able to obtain it ; ' but now it is made common to all men that be desirous of it. Forget not therefore, [gentle reader], to take it thankfully, to use it Christianly, and to esteem it of no less value than a most precious jewel, first ■ framed by the Divine wisdom of ' God's Spirit poured upon the first ■ author, preserved by God's merciful Providence, and now offered unto • thee by God Himself, that thou hungering the perfect knowledge of *^od s M'ord shouldest not be desti- ' tuted of so necessaiy a mean to at- ■ tain to the same.' C2 Chap. 20 THE MANUSCRIPT BIBLE. ' children and church in all times and ages in despite of ' Satan V Thus the books themselves speak to us and witness of the work which they did ^ In fact, they help us to understand Foxe's famous testimony that in 1520... 'great multitudes... tasted and followed the sweetness 'of God's 'holy Word almost in as ample manner, for 'the number of well-disposed hearts, as now...Certes, 'the fervent zeal of those Christian days seemed much 'superior to these our days and times, as manifestly ' may appear by their sitting up all night in reading and ' hearing ; also by their expenses and charges in buying 'books in English, of whom some gave five marks ' [equal to about £40 in our money] some more, some ' less for a book : some gave a load of hay for a few 'chapters of St James or of St Paul in English... To see ' their travails, their earnest seekings, their burning zeal, ' their readings, their watchings, their sweet assemblies '...may make us now in these days of free profession, to 'blush for shamel' So Foxe wrote in 1563, and after three centuries the contrast is still to our sorrow. 1 But it must be observed that in spite of the wide cii-culation of the EngHsh Version the Latin Vulgate remained the Bible of those who could read, just as afterwards in Cranmer's time. One interesting me- morial of this remains. The ' Per- sones Tale' in Chaucer (c. 1380 — 1390) abounds in passages of the Bi- ble in English. The Latin ' catch- word' is very rarely given; and in no one case have I observed a real co- incidence with either of the WyclifF- ite versions. On the contrary, the renderings differ from them more than might have been expected in contemporary versions of the same Latin text; and the same text {e.g. Acts iv. 12) is turned differently in different places. One or two exam- ples are worth quoting. Alas! I caitif man who shall deli- ver me fro the prison of my caitif body? (Rom. vii. 24.) An avaricious man is the thraldome of idolatrie (Eph. v. 5). Go, sayd Jesu Crist, and have no more will to do sinne ( John viii. n). 2 The editors of the Versions quote two instances of copies given to churches for ecclesiastical use at York (i 394) and Bristol ( 14O4) : Forsh. and Madd. Introd. p, xxxii. n. '^ Foxe, Acts and Mo/mj?ients, IV. 217 f. CHAPTER 11. THE PRINTED EIBLE. This is the doctrine simple, ancient, true ; Such is life's trial, as old earth smiles and knows. If you loved only what were worth your love, Love were clear gain and wholly well for you : Make the low nature better by your throes ! Give earth yourself, go up for gain above ! CHAPTER 11. THE PRINTED BIBLE. The general testimony of Foxe to the circulation of the English Scriptures at the beginning of the i6th century, which has been just quoted, is illustrated by several special incidents, which he records. These, however, shew at the same time that the circulation and study of the manuscripts was both precarious and perilous. 'I did once,' says Lambert in 1538, 'see 'a book of the New Testament, which was not un- * written by my estimation this hundred years, and in ' my mind right well translated after the example of 'that which is read in the Church in Latin. But he 'that shewed it me said, he durst not be known to ' have it by him, for many had been punished afore- 'time for keeping of such as convict of heresy \' And that this fear was not ungrounded may be seen by the registers of the dioceses of Norwich and Lin- coln, which contain several examples of men charged before the bishops with the offence of reading or pe- rusing ' the New Law ' (that is, the New Testament) in English I ^ Foxe, Ac^s and Monimients^ V. 213. I have quoted from the text of the edition 1563 (March 20 : ? 1564), p. 559. - Foxe, ib. iv. 217 ff. Chap. ii. External History. The Circti- latiofi of the Manu- script Bible precarious and limited. 24 THE PRINTED BIBLE. But meanwhile a momentous change had passed over Western Europe. * Greece,' in the striking lan- guage of an English scholar, ' had risen from the grave 'with the New Testament in her hand;' and the Teu- tonic nations had welcomed the gift. It had been long felt on all sides that the Latin Bible of the mediaeval Church could no longer satisfy the wants of the many nations of a divided world. Before the end of the 15th century Bibles were printed in Spanish, Ita- lian, French, Dutch, German and Bohemian ; while England as yet had only the few manuscripts of the Wycliffite versions. But, like Wyclifife's, these were only secondary versions from the Vulgate. The He- brew text of the Old Testament v/as published as early as 1488, though very few except Jews could use it ; but the Greek text of the New Testament was not yet printed. Scholars however were being duly trained for the work of direct translation. The passionate declamation then current against Hebrew and Greek shew that the study of both was popular and advancing^ And England, though late to begin, eagerly followed up the 'new learning V From 1509 to 1514 Erasmus was Professor of Greek at Cambridge, and, as appears probable, it was the fame of his lectures which drew there William Tyndale about the year 15 10, to whom it has been allowed more than to any other man to give its characteristic shape to our English Bible. And the man, as Ave shall see, was not unworthy of the glorious honour for the attainment of which indeed he lived equally and died. 1 See Chap. iii. Erasmus himself studied Greek at ^ According to Erasmus Eng- Oxford. Compare Hallam, Intro- land was second only to Italy and diiction to Lit. of Europe, I. pp. in advance of France and Germany. 269 f. TYNDALE. 25 § I. Tyndale. With Tyndale the history of our present EngHsh Bible begins^ ; and for fifteen years the history of the Bible is almost identical with the history of Tyndale. The fortunes of both if followed out in detail are even of romantic interest. Of the early life of Tyndale we know nothing. He was born about 1484''^, at an obscure village in Gloucestershire^, and 'brought up from a ' child/ as Foxe says, in the University of Oxford, where he was ' singularly addicted to the study of the Scrip- 'turesV From Oxford he went to Cambridge, and after spending some time there, as we have noticed, he returned about 1520 to his native county as tutor in the family of Sir John Walsh of Little Sodbury. Here he spent two years, not without many controversies, in one of which he made his memorable declaration ^ See Appendix viii. ^ It may be remarked that the dates in Tyndale's life up to his coming to London in 1522 — 3 are fixed only approximately and by con- jecture. There is no adequate ex- ternal evidence to determine them exactly, but the amount of error cannot be great. I may refer by anticipation to a promised Life of Tyndale by the Rev. R. Demaus, as certain to exhaust all the informa- tion on the subject which is left to us. ^ The exact place is uncertain, but it was near Nibley Knoll, one of the Cotsv/old hills, on which a monu- ment has lately been erected to his memory. Mr F. Fiy informs me that " there are Tyndales now in "those parts;" and further that " Hunt's Court, where Tyndale is "said to have been born, did not *' come into the possession of the "Tyndale family till later." Tyn- dale was known also by the name Hutchins (Hychins, Hochin), which had been assumed, it is said, by his great-grandfather; and in official do- cuments he is described by both titles: e. ^. in the Articles against Illnnmozith, Strype, Eccles. Mem. I. 482. ^ He studied in Magdalene Hall called Gra?nmar Hall from the la- bours of Grocyn, W, Latimer and Linacre there in favour of classical learning (Anderson, I. 26). Mr Fry informs me that the MS. quoted in the Historical Accoimf, p. 4r n., purporting to contain transla- tions by Tyndale (' W. T.') from the New Testament and dated 1502, was unquestionably a forgery. The MS. was afterwards burnt; but the fac- simile of a single page, for the sight of which I am indebted to Mr Fry, seems absolutely conclusive as to its spuriousness. 2:> THE PRINTED BIBLE. to ' a learned man ' who ' said we were better be without 'God's law than the Pope's:' 'I defy the Pope and all 'his laws;' and said, 'If God spare my Hfe ere many ' years, I will cause a boy that driveth the plough shall 'know more of the Scripture than thou doest\' The boast was not an idle phrase. Erasmus had published the Greek Testament for the first time, with a new Latin version, in 15 16, before Tyndale left Cambridge; and Tyn- dale must have been acquainted with the effect which its introduction there had immediately produced^ At the same time, as he tells us, he ' perceived by experience, ' how that it was impossible to establish the lay people 'in any truth except the Scripture were plainly laid ' before their eyes in their mother tongue, that they ' might see the process, order and meaning of the text.' ...'This thing only,' he says, 'moved me to translate 'the New Testament^' When his enemies grew so powerful as to endanger his patron, 'I gat me,' he says, to 'London.' 'If I might 'come to the bishop of London's service' — Tunstall's, of whose love of scholarship Erasmus had spoken highly — 'thought I, I were happy.' By this time he knew what his work was, and he was resolutely set to accomplish ^ This passage is given according to the first edition (1563), p. 514, In the later editions the form of the last sentence is turned into the ob- lique : Acts and Monuments, v. 117. 2 One memorable instance of its influence is seen in the narrative of Bilney, afterwards martyred in 15 31, who was first roused to a lively faith by reading in Erasmus' edition, i Tim. i. 15, as he narrates in touching words in a letter addressed to Tun- stal: Foxe, Acts and Monuments, IV. 635. Bilney's Latin Bible is still preserved with many passages mark- ed, and among them the one 011 which he dwelt most in the night before his death. Anderson, i. p. 301. It is not indeed unlikely, as has been pointed out by the author of the Historical Accoimt (p. 34), that the saying of Tyndale given above was suggested by a phrase in the Exhortation of Erasmus. *I would,' he writes, 'that the husbandman at * the plough should sing something ' from hence [the Gospels and Epi- ♦ sties].' ^ Preface to Genesis \Pentatcuch\ p. 396 (Park. Soc). TYNDALE. it\ At the same time he was prepared to furnish the bishop for whose countenance he looked with an ade- quate test of his competency. The claim which he preferred was supported by a translation of a speech of Isocrates from the Greek. 'But God,' he continues, and the story can only be given fitly in his own words, 'saw ' that I was beguiled, and that that counsel was not the ' next way to my purpose' — to translate the Scriptures — ' and therefore He gat me no favour in my lord's sight. ' Whereupon my lord answered me, his house was full : ' he had more than he could well find ; and advised me 'to seek in London, where he said I could not lack a * service.' The bishop's prediction was fulfilled In a way which he could not have anticipated. Tyndale had indeed already found a friend ready to help him in an alderman of London, Humphrey Munmouth. Munmouth, who was afterwards (1528) thrown into the Tower for the favour which he had shewn Tyndale and other reformers, has left an interesting account of his acquaintance with him in a petition which he addressed to Wolsey to obtain his release. 'I heard [Tyndale]' he writes 'preach two or 'three sermons at St Dunstan's-in-the-West in London I ^ No phrase could more com- pletely misrepresent Tyndale's cha- racter than that by which Mr Froude has thought right to describe him at this time — 'the young dreamer' (II. 30). Tyndale could not have been much less than forty years old at the time, and he was less of a 'dreamer' even than Luther. From the first he had exactly measured the cost of his work ; and when he had once made his resolve to translate the Scriptures, he never afterwards lost sight of it, and never failed in doing what he proposed to do. [I do not think that the phrase •fiery young enthusiast,' which Mr Froude has substituted for ' young dreamer ' in his last edition is much happier, though it certainly indicates a very different character. 1870.] ^ It is not known when Tyndale was admitted to Holy Orders ; but it is at least clear from the silence of Sir T. More that he was not the W. Tyndale who is said to have * made profession in the monastery * of the Observants at Greenwich in '1508;' for More does not fail to taunt Joy and Jerome, who had be- longed to that monastery, with being renegade friars, while he brings no such charge against Tyndale. Chap. ii. External History. Entertained by H. Mun- iuotith. 28 THE PRINTED BIBLE. 'and after that I chanced to meet with him, and with 'communication I examined what living he had. He 'said he had none at all, but he trusted to be with my 'lord of London, in his service, and therefore I had the 'better fantasy to him. Afterward [when this hope failed, 'he]... came to me again, and besought me to help him; 'and so I took him into my house half a year; and there '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 him when he made his exchange to Hamburgh^' This time of waiting was not lost upon Tyndale. In the busy conflicts and intrigues of city life he learnt what had been hidden from him in the retirement of the country. 'In London' he continues 'I abode almost a 'year, and marked the course of the world. ..and under- 'stood at the last not only that there was no room in my 'lord of London's palace to translate the New Testa- 'ment, but also that there was no place to do it in all 'England....^' So he left his native country for ever, to suffer, as he elsewhere says, 'poverty, exile, bitter absence from ' friends, hunger and thirst and cold, great dangers and ' innumerable other hard and sharp fightingsV but yet to achieve his work and after death to force even Tunstall to set his name upon it. Tyndale's first place of refuge was Hamburgh. This 1 Foxe, IV, 617, App. to Strype, Eccles. Mej?i. No. 89. 2 Preface, 1. c. ^ Report of Vaughan to Henry VIII., quoted by Anderson, I. 272. TYNDALE. free city, like Antwerp, offered great advantages to reli- gious exiles; and at a later period we find Coverdale also living there for some months\ At the same time, as no press was yet established at Hamburgh, Tyndale may not have removed there during the whole of the year 1524, if, as appears likely, he published the Gospels of St Matthew and St Mark separately at that date". Among other places, Wittenberg, where Luther was then living, was easily accessible, and it is not unlikely that Tyndale found some opportunity of seeing the great leader with whom the work of the Reformation was identified. The fact of a passing visit would ex- plain satisfactorily the statement of Sir T. More^, while the more exact account of Spalatinus*, who makes no mention of Luther, leads to the belief, on all grounds the most probable, that Tyndale, though acquainted with Luther's writings and ready to make use of them°, lived independently, with his fellow exiles, at Ham- burgh^ or elsewhere, till his chosen work was completed. ^ See below, note 6. 2 The separate publication of these Gospels appears probable from the evidence adduced by Anderson, I. 153, 183, but the references may be to the (Cologne) quarto edition. See p. 32, n. I. 2 Dialogue, 3, 8. 'It is to be con- ' sidered that at the time of this ' translation, Hitchins [Tyndale] was ' with Luther at Wittenberg, and set ' certain glosses in the margin framed ' for the setting forth of the ungra- ' cious text. By St John, quoth your ' friend, if that be true that Hitchins ' was at that time with Luther, it is a ' plain token that he wrought some- 'what after his counsel Very ' true, quoth I. But as touching the ' confederacy between Luther and ' him [it] is a thing well known and ' plainly confirmed by such as have *been taken and convicted here of 'heresy coming from thence ' To this Tyndale's reply is simply : ' When he saith "Tyndale was con- ' federate with Luther," that is not ' truth. ' This statement is of course consistent with the fact of a visit to Luther. Sir T. More's information was without doubt derived from Cochlseus. See also the letter of Lee, p. 33. * See below, p. 34, n. ^ See below, Chap. ill. ^ Tyndale's close connexion with Hamburgh appears at a later time in the circumstantial statement of Foxe that ' at his appointment Coverdale ' tarried for him there and helped him ' in the translating of the whole five ' books of Moses, from Easter to ' December, in the house of a wor- ' shipful widow Mistress Margaret 'van Emmerson, anno 15 2 9...' Chap. ii. External History. 30 THE PRINTED BIBLE. In the next year (1525) Tyndale went to Cologne, and there began to print the translation of the New Testa- ment, which he had by that time completed \ It was a time of sore trial for the Reformers. Luther's marriage troubled some. His breach with Karlstadt alienated others. The rising of the peasants furnished a ready pretext to the lukewarm for confounding the new doctrines with revolutionary license. But Tyndale la- boured on in silence, and ten sheets of his Testament were printed in quarto when his work was stopped by the intrigues of Cochlaeus, a relentless enemy of the Reformation I It is a strange and vivid picture which Cochlaeus, who is the historian of his own achievement, draws of the progress and discovery of the work I The translation of 'the New Testament of Luther' — so he calls it — was, in his eyes, part of a great scheme for converting all England to Lutheranism. The expense, as he learnt, was defrayed by English merchants; and their design was only betrayed by their excess of confidence. But though Cochlaeus was aware of the design, he could not ^ Fryth did not join liim till i.^^S ; and there is no evidence that either his amanuensis Roye, or Joy, if he was with him at the time, had any independent pait in the translation. See below, ch. iii. The date of the printing of the New Testament is established by the use of a wood- cut as the frontispiece to St Matthew which was after\Aards cut down and used in an edition of Riipert of Deutz, finished June 12, I5'26. A facsimile of each of these wood-cuts is given in Mr Arber's edition of the frag- ment, p. 71. ^ The one fragment of this edition which remains (see below, p 37) has been photo-lithographed and published with an excellent intro- duction by Mr E. Arber (London, 1 871), who has printed at length with great exactness and illustrated by careful notes the original records bearing upon the early life and work of Tyndale. ^ Mr Arber has given at length (/. c. pp. 1 8 ff. ) the three passages, from works dated respectively r533, 1538, 1549, in which Cochlceus mentions the transaction : the last account, from De Actis et Scriptis M. Liitheri, pp. 132 ff., is in every respect the most detailed. Cochlaeus thinks that Henry VIII. was as much indebted to him for the information as Ahasuerus to Mordecai, though he gave him no acknowledgment for the service. TYNDALE. 31 for some time find any clue to the office where it was being executed. At last becoming familiar with the printers of Cologne while engaged on a book to be published there, he heard them in unguarded moments boast of the revolution which would be shortly wrought in England. The clue was not neglected. He invited some of them to his house, and plying them with wine learned where three thousand copies of the English Testament were being worked off, for speedy and secret distribution through England. He took immediate measures to secure the aid of the authorities of the city for checking the work. The printers were forbidden to proceed, but Tyndale and Roye taking their printed sheets with them escaped to Worms by ship. Cochlaeus — it was all he could then do — warned Henry, Wolsey, and Fisher of the peril to which they were exposed, that so they might take measures 'to prevent the importation 'of the pernicious merchandise.' Meanwhile Tyndale pursued his work under more favourable circumstances. The place to which he fled was already memorable in the annals of the Reforma- tion. It was then not much more than four years since the marvellous scene when Luther entered Worms (15 21) to bear witness before the Emperor. But within that time the city had 'become wholly Lutheran \' So Tyn- dale found a safe retreat there, and prepared two editions of his New Testament instead of one. The edition, which had been commenced at Cologne, was in quarto and furnished v/ith marginal glosses. A description of this had been sent to England by Cochlaeus, and there- fore, as it seems, to baffle his enemies Tyndale com- menced a new edition in small octavo without glosses. 1 Anderson, I. p. 64, quoting Cochlseus (plebs pleno furore Lutheri- zabat) and Seckendorf. Chap. ii. External Historj-. Tyndale finishes ti^