While warring with these Doctors of Louvain, on the one hand, was he, on the other, at the same time engaged in earnest pity for the ploughboy and husbandmen of Gloucestershire? This orthography, being regarded as provincial, so it has been supposed. If the conjecture be well founded, and Tyndale himself had to do with this edition, it is but seldom that, in the history of any man, such an instance of the true sublime can be produced. The book has never been assigned to any Antwerp printer; but if Tyndale only furnished a list of words, to be employed whenever they occurred in the translation, the volume could have been printed in Holland or any other place in Brabant.

At all events, the book comes before us in the light of a step in advance, or additional triumph. The Translator was suffering trouble as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the Word of God was not bound," nor to be bound.

66

To those who have not before been acquainted with the history of the English Bible, and in conclusion of the year 1535, one fact remains to be stated, which must occasion some surprise. For some time past, there had been another translation of the Scriptures into English in progress, which was now completed. From the degree of mystery which still hangs over it, the undertaking must have been conducted with great privacy; but it is a curious and not unimportant circumstance, scarcely before observed, if indeed at all known, in connexion with the late Lord Chancellor, so barbarously put to death by Henry, in July; that, though not a party concerned in the cost, while yet alive, nay, long before his death, and at the very time he was writing against Tyndale, with this proceeding he may, if not must, have been acquainted all along, even from its origin! From a single line throughout his many pages, no one could have imagined this; but the evidence will come before us in due time.

Meanwhile, it was on the 11th of October that the last sheet was put to press, under the eye of Miles Coverdale. Printed, as it had been, abroad, copies could not have been ready for importation to England, till about the opening of next year, at the soonest; but if any had reached this country, at whatever time, the book, owing to very peculiar circum

77 See before, page 36.

stances, to be explained, could not have been shown to Henry the Eighth, before the month of June. This, indeed, was the earliest moment; for, most probably, it was not presented to the King till much later in that year.

But the origin and history of this translation we must reserve for the year following, or 1537. Then, only, can we view with advantage and effect, the whole case at once, and in comparison with that translation, on which our eye has been fixed from the beginning. In other words, Coverdale's will then be compared with that Bible which became the prototype, or basis, of all that have since followed, to the present day.

No such digression is admissible here, as the reader must be impatient to follow the history of that memorable enterprise, which has engrossed his attention throughout all the war, as well as that of the man who had been raised on to victory.

up

to carry

it

SECTION XIII.

LAST YEAR OF TYNDALE-STATE OF ENGLAND-MONASTERIES-THE QUEENS -ANNE BOLEYN-MOCK TRIAL-QUEEN EXECUTED-SCENE SUCCEEDING— THE NEW OR UNPRECEDENTED PARLIAMENT QUEEN ANNE'S TREATMENT

REVIEWED-HER CHARACTER THE NEW OR UNPRECEDENTED CONVOCATION-LATIMER PREACHING BEFORE IT-STATE OF PARTIES THERE-OLD AND NEW LEARNING-PROCEEDINGS IN CONVOCATION-THE FIRST ARTICLES -CRUMWELL'S FIRST INJUNCTIONS-NO BIBLE MENTIONED

TYNDALE'S LATTER DAYS-PHILLIPS ONCE MORE-COLD INDIFFERENCE OF ENGLAND THE COURT OF BRUSSELS-HOME AND ABROAD NOW DEEPLY IMPLICATED-THE MARTYRDOM OF TYNDALE-HIS BENEVOLENT CHAR

ACTER

HIS REWARD-POYNTZ, THE FRIEND OF TYNDALE-FUTURE HISTORY OF THE MISERABLE BETRAYERS-STATE OF THE CONTINENT AT THE TIME OF TYNDALE'S DEATH-STATE OF ENGLAND AND HER KING-THE ONLY PROSPEROUS CAUSE, OR THE YEAR WHICH EXCELLED ALL THE

PRECEDING.

WE are now within nine months only of the martyrdom of Tyndale; but as it is necessary that the reader should have before him all that previously transpired in England, we reverse the order hitherto pursued. With the leading events, Tyndale himself may have become partially acquainted, but, whether or not, it is due to his memory that they be first

reviewed; as they involve a direct bearing, not only on his character, but upon the obligations of his country, for those noble and persevering exertions, which terminated only with his last breath at the stake, and have far too long been permitted to sleep in oblivion.

Parliament, after being prorogued since December 1534, was opened at last on the 4th of February. The long recess was chiefly owing to the plague, which had appeared in different parts of London in August and September, of which Audley, the Lord Chancellor, was not a little afraid.1 But the Monarch must now be gratified in his thirst for more money; and to prepare the country for the bold step, already determined, the report of the visitors of Monasteries was laid before Parliament. The idleness and depravity of their inmates were depicted, their waste and misapplication of funds, their frauds and follies; and, unquestionably, there were great abuses; but it was not on account of these that the monastic institutions were broken up. The abuses furnished an excellent handle or pretext; but the position of the King led him to apprehend war with the Emperor, if not invasion, and he must have supplies. The "Court of Augmentation of the King's Revenue" was established, to receive the surrenders of monasteries, and transfers of property to the crown, and all monasteries whose annual income did not exceed £200, were suppressed. Their number amounted to 376, which brought £100,000 into the royal coffers, and £32,000 of annual revenue; or a sum equal to a million and a half in our day, and above £400,000 a-year. At the same time, the larger monasteries and abbeys were artfully commended, and many of those monks or nuns who were turned adrift, had it in their option to repair to them. This was done in order to soothe or beguile the mitred Abbots, though the formidable extent of the "court" established, might have shown that matters were not to stop here. Perhaps it was this that suggested the often quoted remark, ascribed to Stokesly, Bishop of London, that " these lesser houses were as thorns, soon plucked up, but the great Abbots were like putrified old oaks; yet they must needs follow, and so would others do in Christendom, before many years were past."

Several other acts of inferior moment having been despatched, this Parliament was dissolved on the 14th of April, after it had sat for a period of six years, by repeated and unequal prorogations. It had abundantly answered Henry's varied purposes, but now its pliancy must have been somewhat doubtful; otherwise, why was it dissolved? This, however, is a question which the reader will resolve for himself, after he has observed the dark features of this most tragical period; since all

1 Government State Papers, i., p. 438-449.

public affairs were still interwoven with those which were personal to the Monarch himself. It is to him, therefore, that we must turn, to account for one Parliament being dissolved, and for a new one summoned to attend, in such breathless haste. During the entire session of the Parliament just dissolved, one of the darkest plots which marked the reign of this licentious Monarch, had been proceeding in secresy so profound, as to be unknown to any of its future victims. Its explosion will for ever distinguish Henry as a man, or, more properly speaking, a monster, happily of but rare occurrence. It is true, that official documents have been very carefully destroyed; but if calm and deliberate attention be paid to the few manuscripts which have survived, of the entire conduct of the Monarch, there can be but one opinion, though words may fail to express it. It borders on the incredible; and, therefore, requires to be the more coolly examined.

At two o'clock on Tuesday the 7th of January, Queen Catherine died at Kimbolton, an event from which, perhaps, Queen Anne might augur a little more security, and yet even this is doubtful, for before this, she had perceived that the affections of Henry had begun to waver.2 He had tormented all Europe, it is true, and waited six years that he might gain her hand, and this, in other cases, would have been good security for steadiness of attachment; but the man she had married was not to be judged of by ordinary rules. The Queen was near the period of her second confinement, and on the 29th of this month, she was delivered of a still-born son. Her first child, Elizabeth, could now lisp her father's name, and the present moment would have melted most beings in human form; but as it was then that he chose to utter certain words ominous of some dreadful purpose, we have sufficient proof of evil already brooding in his mind. He intimated, and to herself, in this weak and sorrowful condition, that he would have no more boys by her. As far as words could reach, this was an attempt to crush her into the grave; but as it did not succeed, we are left to watch what followed.

Burnet has said that "the Duke of Norfolk at court, and Gardiner beyond sea, (then in France,) thought there might easily be found a mean to accommodate the King, both with the Emperor and even Paul III., if the Queen were once out of the way; for then he might freely marry any one whom he pleased, and that marriage, with the male issue of it, could not be disputed: whereas, as long as the Queen lived, her marriage, as being judged null from the beginning, could never be allowed by the Court of Rome." This, if it be taken in conjunction with the sentiments of the Queen, sufficiently accounts for their brutal zeal, and that of their party; but with these reasons of state, another concurred, without which their desire had never been gratified. The vile

2 Anne, however, is reported by several historians to have made no secret of her satisfaction at the death of her predecessor.

passions of the Monarch had already strayed in search of another object; and though the Queen used every mean to recover his affection, all was in vain. But no wonder; for before the sorrowful mother was fully recovered from her languor and distress, certain steps had been taken against her, and deliberately pursued, with dexterous secresy, as the sequel will disclose.

On the 14th of April, Parliament had been dissolved, and presently, there will be no doubt, with an immediate view to a new one being summoned; though, with what intentions, only a few select individuals could possibly have divined. The first moment that Henry wished it, the Duke of Norfolk, who behaved with savage cruelty throughout, was ready to move; and it was well for Cranmer's character, that he was not in the secret; though both Crumwell and Audley were, and seem to have preserved it inviolate. As early as the 22d, however, there were a few words from Cranmer, in a letter to Crumwell, which though curiously ambiguous, certainly refer to what had been going on. After an earnest application to him on behalf of a Mr. Smith, he adds:

"I have sent this bearer only to wait upon you, until you have an answer from the King, and to put you in continual remembrance; for much business causeth you to forget many things; and yet I wonder that you remember so many things as you do.

"I was ever hitherto cold, but now I am in a heat with the cause of religion, if it be, as the fame goeth; wherein I would wonder fain break my mind unto you; and if you please, I will come to such place as you shall appoint for the same purpose. Thus, He that made you, ever keep you. From Knol, the 22d of April, your own assured ever-T. CANTUARIEN."3

The fame, or rather fama, perhaps Cranmer was afraid to express in writing, but only one short week will elapse before he shall be called by Crumwell, and that in obedience to the royal mandate; though certainly not to the place he had supposed, and for purposes by far too shocking for him to have anticipated. Some rumour, it seems, had already agitated him, but of the awful results within that day four weeks, he could now form no conception. These results are well known to every reader of history. By that time Queen Anne, her brother Lord Rochford, and four other individuals, Sir Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, William Brereton, and Mark Smeton, had all been put to death; nay, that day four weeks was the King's marriage day to another Queen! But we are now only tracing the dark footsteps of the royal murderer, and require carefully to observe ascertained facts, in the order in which they transpired.

Three days after this letter from Cranmer, we find that certain parties, secretly sanctioned by Henry, had been engaged, for some time, in collecting scandal; and, by the authority of their names, twisting it into

3 MS. Crumwell's Corresp. Chapter-House, Westminster. Original holograph.