"There will be no need of cardinals and priests to come between the soul and God," said Tyndale, "and I begin to perceive that this view of the matter may make Dr. Tunstall afraid to give his help to what might prove the lessening of his power over the bodies and souls of men; but, now that I have come hither, I will carry through what Sir John thought would be the best plan for attaining my end."
"And if it fails, some other door will open, and I will give you what poor help I can, though that may be little enough," said Miles.
The two spent a very pleasant evening with Sir Harry's family, and Lady Guildford was specially gracious to Master Tyndale, because she saw how cordially Miles had taken to him, and Miles was a great favourite of hers by this time.
[CHAPTER X.]
AT THE CHURCH OF ST. DUNSTAN'S.
THE refusal of the Commons to grant more than a five per cent income-tax, and that for only two years, had been a great blow to the Cardinal, and the King too, for money must be had from somewhere to carry on the war against France; and so there was a meeting of all the principal ecclesiastics at the Palace of Placentia just now to devise plans for getting an additional tax out of the people.
It was not the most propitious moment perhaps to propose to the Bishop of London that he should help forward a plan to put the Bible into the hands of the people, when they had just refused to tax themselves at the bidding of the Cardinal, for it would inevitably compel the clergy to dip their hands into their own pockets to supply the King's need.
While King, cardinals, and bishops were debating how they should levy a new benevolence upon the nation, Miles Paton and William Tyndale were walking in the shady avenues of Greenwich Park, talking over the dream that had come to each of them, and devising plans for making it a blessed reality through the art of printing.
Miles did not think his friend would get much help from the English bishops,—he even feared that his master might oppose the plan if he heard of it,—and so he advised that if it could be done in no other way that Tyndale should take it to some of the foreign printing presses and get it done there; and he promised to make cautious enquiries from some of the Cardinal's agents, for these were often coming and going between London and the principal cities of Flanders, and from some of these men he would be able to learn where the best printers could be found.
But Tyndale did not think he should need to take all this trouble. Sir John Walsh knew Dr. Tunstall, and would not have recommended him to seek his help if he had not felt sure that he would give it; and Sir Harry Guildford thought it was certainly worth a trial, and took the first favourable opportunity of speaking to the Bishop about his guest, telling him that he was an ordained priest, and had received a licence to preach, and, being a man of vast learning, he would be of great service to the Church if the Bishop would kindly give him a helping hand in the project he had at heart.