Cranmer and Cromwell went farther than this. They wished to circulate the Holy Scriptures. Tyndale's version was, in Cromwell's opinion, too far compromised to be officially circulated; he had, therefore, patronized another translation. Coverdale, who was born in 1488, at a place of that name in Yorkshire, had undertaken (as we have seen) to translate the Bible, and had applied to Cromwell to procure him the necessary books.[410] Tyndale was more independent, a man of firmer and bolder character than Coverdale. He did not seek the aid of men, and finished his work (so to say) alone with God. Coverdale, pious no doubt like his rival, felt the need of being supported, and said, in his letter to Cromwell, that he implored his help, 'prostrate on the knees of his heart.'
Coverdale knew Greek and Hebrew. He began his task in 1530; on the 4th of October, 1535, the book appeared, probably at Zurich, under the title: Biblia, the Bible, that is to say, the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament; and reached England in the early part of 1536. At the beginning of the volume was a dedication to Henry VIII., which ended by imploring the divine blessing on the king and on his 'dearest, just wife, and most virtuous princess, queen Anne.' Cromwell was to present this translation to the king, and circulate it throughout the country; but this dearest wife, this most virtuous princess, had just been accused by Henry, dragged before the tribunals, and beheaded. It was impossible to distribute a single copy of this version without arousing the monarch's anger. Those who desired that the ship which had come so far should not be wrecked in the harbor, had recourse to several expedients. The decapitated queen's name was Anne, that of the queen-regnant was Jeanne: there was a resemblance between them. Some copies corrected with a pen have instead of queen Anne,—queen JAne; in others the name of the queen is simply scratched out.[411] These expedients were not sufficient: a new title-page was printed and dated 1536, the current year. But it was all of no use: it was impossible to obtain the royal sanction.
Still, if Coverdale's Bible was not admitted into England, the Reformation, taught by pious ministers, was spreading more and more. The priests murmured in vain: 'Not long ago,' they said, 'the Lollards were put to death for reading the Gospel in English, and now we are ordered to teach it in that language. We are robbed of our privileges, and our labors are increased.'
=EVANGELICAL REACTION.=
The king had proclaimed and laid down his ten articles to little purpose: faith gave pious ministers and Christians a courage which the great ones of the earth did not possess. John Gale, pastor of Twaite, in Suffolk, a quick, decided, but rather imprudent man, attacked the royal articles from his pulpit. But he did not stop there. His church was ornamented with images of the Virgin and Saints, before which the devout used to stick up tapers. 'Austin,' said he one day to a parishioner, 'follow me;' and the two men, with great exertions, took away the iron rods on which the worshippers used to set their tapers, and turned the images to the wall.—'Listen,' said Dr. Barret to his parishioners, 'the lifting up of the host betokens simply that the Father has sent his Son to suffer death for man, and the lifting up of the chalice, that the Son has shed his blood for our salvation.'—'Christ,' said Bale, prior of Dorchester, 'does not dwell in churches of stone, but in heaven above and in the hearts of men on earth.'[412]—The minister of Hothfield declared that: 'Our Lady is not the queen of heaven, and has no more power than another woman.' 'Pull him out of the pulpit,' said the exasperated bailiff to the vicar. 'I dare not,' answered the latter. In fact, the congregation were delighted at hearing their minister say of Jesus, as Peter did: Neither is there salvation in any other, and that very day more than a hundred embraced their pastor's doctrines.[413] Jerome, vicar of Stepney, endeavored to plant the pure truth of Christ in the conscience,[414] and root out all vain traditions, dreams and fantasies. Being invited to preach at St. Paul's Cross, on the fourth Sunday in Lent, he said: 'There are two sorts of people among you: the free, who are freely justified without the penance of the law and without meritorious works; and the slaves, who are still under the yoke of the law.'—Even a bishop, Barlow of St. David's, said in a stately cathedral: 'If two or three cobblers or weavers, elect of God, meet together in the name of the Lord, they form a true Church of God.'[415]
This was going too far: proceedings were commenced against those who had thus braved the king's articles. Jerome appeared before Henry VIII. at Westminster. The poor fellow, intimidated by the royal majesty, tremblingly acknowledged that the sacraments were necessary for salvation; but he was burnt five years after in the cause of the Gospel. Gale and others were accused of heresy and treason before the criminal court. The books were not spared. There were some, indeed, that went beyond all bounds. One, entitled The little garden of the soul,[416] contained a passage, in which the beheading of John the Baptist and of Anne Boleyn were ascribed to the same motive—the reproach of a criminal love uttered against two princes: one by Anne, and the other by John. Henry compared to Herod! Anne Boleyn to Saint John the Baptist! Tonstall denounced this audacious publication to Cromwell.
The crown-officers were to see that the doctrines of the pope were taught everywhere; but, without the pope and his authority, this system has no solid foundation. The Holy Scriptures, to which evangelical Christians appeal, is a firm foundation. The authority of the pope—a vicious principle—at least puts those who admit it in a position to know what they believe. But catholicism with Romish doctrine and without the pope, has no ground to stand on. Non-Roman-catholicism has but a treacherous support. Another system had already, in the sixteenth century, set up reason as the supreme rule; but it presents a thousand different opinions, and no absolute truth. There is but one real foundation: Thy word is truth, says Jesus Christ.
[393] Wilkins, Concilia, iii. p. 817.
[394] Wilkins, Concilia, iii. p. 818.
[395] Bossuet, Histoire des Variations, liv. vii. § 30.