• APR 9,9. 1904 *
SCHi^Frp h. B., LL. fi).
THE HISTORY
OF
THE ENGLISH BIBLE
EXTENDING FROM THE
EARLIEST SAXON TRANSLATIONS
TO THE PRESENT
ANGLO-AMERICAN REVISION.
SECOND EDITION. REVISED, ILLUSTRATED, AND ENLARGED.
BY
BLACKFORD CONDIT, D.D.
A. S. BARNES & COMPANY,
NEW YORK.
Copyright, 1881, 1896, by A. S. Barnes 6* Co,
Dedication to First Edition.
tDl)O0e Interest in i\)c I^xoqxcqq of tl)ese JJagea 1)00 been scarcely less tljan m^ omn
Cf)i0 Volume 10 affectionatelg 3[n0Ctil)eD*
Dedication to Second Edition.
TO
PROFESSOR GEORGE E. DAY, D.D.
A Membep of the late American Committee on Revision of the
Old. Testament, also Secretary of the late Ameriear^
Committees on Revision of the Old. and Ne^w
Testaments, this Volume is MostJ
Respectfully Dedicated
BY the: author
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
THE following chapters had their origin in the desire to trace the influence of the Bible upon the English ianguage. Dr. Noah Webster, in the preface to his "Amended Bible," 1838, says: ^^The language of the Bible has no inconsiderable influence in forming and preserving our National language." A slight acquaintance with the subject showed that this influence could not be understood without tracing back the history to the earliest Saxon and English translations. All praise is due to King James' revisers for their wisdom in approving as well as improving the labors of previous translators. Their design was not to make a new translation " nor yet to make of a bad one a good one, but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones, one prin- cipal good one." Our English Bible of to-day, therefore, comprises in itself the labors of the best scholars during a period of two and a half centuries, together with a correspond- ing growth of the English language.
In the Louvre gallery at Paris the history of painting is illustrated by grouping the pictures on the walls in chrono- logical order. Something of this plan may be found in the
VI PKEFA CE.
following pages by way of illustrating the history of the English language. Speciniens of the various Saxon and English versions of the Scriptures have been inserted in chronological order, and in their original spelling. All quo- tations'from early English authorities are given literally as to wording and orthography, and in each case, so far as practi- cable, preference has been given to the earliest editions.
Another agreeable surprise in this investigation, was the im- portant part the Anglo-Saxon language has played in the strug- gle between the rights of the people and Romanism, before as well as since the Norman Conquest. The ascendancy of the Latin tongue meant practically the ascendancy of Rome not only in language and literature, but in religion and politics. It was the struggle of a David with a Goliath. And the victory was all the more remarkable because incidental. At the first the Reformers did not perceive the intimate relation between language and religion. Hopeless ignorance of the Latin on the part of the people was reason enough for translating the Scriptures into English. But afterward they learned that the Latin language was the stronghold of the Romish Church. The Latin tongue was imperial by birth, and seemed destined through its connection with victorious Rome to become the universal language. It was stately and magnificent, and in its movement it had something of the pomp and pride of a victorious Roman legion. Possibly it may be too much to affirm that the Latin, into which the Bible had for very many years been translated, exerted a powerful influence in Roman- izing the Christian Church, since so little is known of the inner workings of that sad history. But we are safe in stat- ing that leading bishops in the very beginning as well as in
PREFACE. VU
the after development of the Roman Catholic Church, found the Latin language adapted to their ambitious purposes. Cons3quently when in after years their deep-laid, plans were endangered by Vernacular versions of the Holy Scriptures, they erected their Latin barriers around both Bible and Church, and pronounced it heresy to translate or read the Bible save in the Latin tongue now chosen and ordained to be the sacred language of the Church. Pagan Rome failed in carry- ing out her ideal of Universal Empire, but Papal Rome, clothed with the same imperial language and inspired with the same imperial ideal, hoped to succeed. She still has faith in her destiny notwithstanding serious checks upon her power. The first of these checks was in the domain of lan- guage through Vernacular Versions of the Bible, which marks the rise and progress of Protestantism in its struggle with Romanism.
Intimately connected with the religious stands the literary element in this conflict of languages. At the period of the Norman Conquest the Saxon tongue had a hard struggle for mere existence. It was driven from the court and palace, but it took refuge around the firesides of the peasantry. The Latin tongue even down to the Elizabethan age was the literary language. But during this same period the English language had become a power, and by its inherent vitality was already the giant that succeeding centuries have proved it to be. And prominent among the causes which lie at the foundation of this victory of the English over the Latin tongue we must recognize the fact of early translations of the Scriptures into the language of the people. The design of the following chapters was not to treat this subject at large,
VUl PREFACE.
but in giving an account of the several translations to note in- cidentally the literary influence of these versions.
In order to bring down the history of English translations to the present time, an extended account will be found in the following pages, of various public and private attempts to- wards translations and revisions since that of King James' Bible, 1611. The great majority of these efforts were by private individuals and consequently of no special impor- tance. There were other attempts made by public authority, and hence of greater significance. By far the most important of these, is the Anglo-American revision undertaken by the authority of the Convocation of Canterbury and with the ex- press design of superseding King James' version. Whether it will accomplish this design must remain, for the present at least, an open question. It must be confessed, however, that in the history of English translations no version ever attracted so wide-spread expectation. And then it carries with it the recommendation of the most profound English and American scholarship— a scholarship in every way com- petent to deal with original authorities and to make the best use of all critical helps. While this is true of the New Testament revisers whose labors have just closed, it is equally true of the Old Testament revisers whose labors will not be completed for some three years to come.
At the expense of burdening the page with foot-notes, care has been taken to give credit to all authorities quoted — an honest though laborious mode of acknowledging indebtedness. The historic field of English Bible translations has been sadly neglected by Church historians. Foxe, the martyrologist, is
PREFACE. iX
an honorable exception. The early Black Letter editions of his " Acts and Monuments," are mines of wealth in the rich mass of facts he has brought together including original documents bearing upon the external history of the English Bible. Rev. John Lewis was the original pioneer in this special field ; and in every bibliogi'aphical list, chronologically, his work must stand first. Lewis' "History of English Translations of the Bible " was first published as an introduc- tion to Wycliffe's "Translation of the New Testament," 1731. The work was issued separately in 1739. He crowded so much into so small a space, to the general reader his account seems heavy ; but to the searcher for facts his work, though not reliable in every particular, is most invaluable. Ander- son's " Annals of the Bible " have been severely criticised, and yet they render most acceptable service in honoring the memory of the ever-memorable William Tyudale. The work was first published in 1845, in two octavo volumes. The ear- liest editions were burdened with extended sketches of the civil history of the times, which interfered seriously with the simple narrative. These sketches were afterwards omitted in the revised edition put forth by his nephew in 1862. " A General View of the History of the English Bible," by Canon Westcott, pubhshed in 1868 and 1872, together with the two noble volumes by Dr. Eadie, entitled, " The English Bible ; an External and Critical History of the Various English Trans- lations of the Scriptures," 1876, leave scarcely anything to be desired in the way of an extensive and critical account oi English translations of the Holy Scriptures.
My thanks are hereby extended to the Librarians of the following Libraries — Boston Public, Boston Athenaeum, Har-
X PKEFACE.
vard College, Watkinson, Wabash College, and Lane Semi- nary, for special favors. My personal acknowledgments are also due to many friends for aid and encouragement, but to none more than to my friend and former teacher. Prof. George E. Day, D.D., of New Hayen, Conn.
BLACKFORD CONDIT, Terre Haute, Nov., 1881.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
THE first edition of this work contained important par- ticulars respecting the revision of the Old Testament, such as lists of Committees, both English and American, and the rules by which they were to be governed ; but a full account could not be given, since the revision was not issued until some four years later. Hence the necessity of an appen- ded chapter to complete the history of the Old Testament revision, and of the Eevised Bible as a whole.
The importance of the work of the Old Testament revisers is appreciated the more one becomes familiar with it. Almost every page bears evidences of improvement. Many passages where the meanings were obscure, have been made clear; while some that were quite misleading, have been corrected.
Beyond the efforts of the revisers a wide field opens up to the critical student of the Hebrew and its cognate languages, for the application of somewhat the same rigorous tests that were made in dealing with the Greek of the Kew Testament. When, therefore, this field shall have been conscientiously worked and the results submitted to the public, as in the case of the New Testament, doubtless the resultant will have an important bearing upon the text of the Old Testament. For the present, however, the revisers have done all that seemed wise, in the way of changes in the Hebrew text, to bring out the intended meaning of the sacred writers.
Xll PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
While grateful acknowledgments are due to a generous pub- lic for their appreciation of the first edition, possibly a higher sense of gratitude should be felt towards those who kindly called attention to some needful corrections.
Among the illustrations that add materially to the interest of this volume, the noble head of William Tyndale will attract the attention of those who are more familiar with his fame than with his face. Special attention is also called to the frontispiece of the first edition of the Authorized version, which carries with it a peculiar interest. The same may be said in respect to the frontispiece of the Great Bible of 1539, attributed to Hans Holbein. These panel pictures are his- torical, portraying as they do the activity of the times in the circulation of the Bible. The scenes are most remarkable when we call to mind the fact that only fourteen years had elapsed since all England was burning Tyndale's New Testa- ments.
The appended chapter, while it brings down the history of the work of revision to date, and indicates the gradual growth of public sentiment in favor of the revision, is yet compelled to leave the question of the ultimate adoption of the Kevised Bible as still an unanswerable question.
THE AUTHOK.
Terre Haute, Jan., 1896.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
SAXON AND ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES BEFORE THE TIME OP WYCLIFFE, a. d. 597-1324.
PAGE
Christianity as first introduced among the Saxons.— Rome not as yet op- posed TO the Bible in the Language of the People.— Colman and Wil- FRiTH,— The Whitby Synod.— C^edmon.—Bede's Account of.— C^dmon's Paraphrase. — Specimen. — Guthlac's Psalter. — Specimen. — Aldhelm, " THE Good Author." — His Version of the Psalms.— Bede.—Alcuin.—In- tasion of the danes.— king alfred.— extent of his bible translations. — Specimen.— Saxon Versions of the Four Gospels.— Specimen.— .^lfric. —His Heptateuch.— Specimen.— Close of the Saxon Period. — Saxon Lan- guage IN RELATION TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST.— ThE BEGINNING OF THE ENG- LISH Language and its Literature.— A New Era of Bible Translations. — The Ormulum.— Specimen.— Sowle Hele.— Schorham's Version of the Psalms.- Probably the Earliest Prose Version.— Specimen.-Richard Rolle's Version of the Psaims.— Specimen.— Early English. — Vernacu- lar Versions of the Bible, an Offense to the Hierarchy. —The Way
PREPARED for JoHN WyCLIFFE , , 17
CHAPTER II.
WYCLIFFE AND THE WYCLIFFITE VERSIONS, A. D. 1380.
Birth of John de Wycliffe.— His Education.— Civil and Canon Law.— Mo- nastic Orders. — Wycliffe's Attack upon the Mendicants. — Church and State.— Wycliffb defends the Parliament.— Wycliffe at Bruges.— His Lectures on Divinity. — Wycliffe before the Council.— His Defense. — John Ball and Wat Tyler. —Wycliffe as a Reformer. — At Lutter- worth.—He Translates the Bible.— Latin Language and Roman Catholic Church.— Romish Hatred of the English Bible.— Earlier and Later Texts of the Wycliffite Versions.— Wycliffe and Hereford. — Speci- MENS of the Earlier Text. — John Purvey. — The Author of the Later Text.—" W^ycliffe's Glosser."— Specimens of the Later Test. — Forshall and Madden's Wycliffite Versions, 1850. — The Bisnar's
XIV COI^TEKTS.
PA.QE
Ebgistees.— Mantscripts of Single Books op the Bible.— Antiquated Forms and Obsolete Words.— Wtclifpe's Superior Renderings. — Exam- ples.—Relation OP Vernacular Versions op the Bible to Language and Literature.— Influence of Wtcliffite Versions upon Religion and Lan- guage.— Character op Wyclifpe. — Wycliffe and Chaucer, — Death op John Wycliffe.— His Epitaph 53
CHAPTER III.
TYNDALE AND HIS TRANSLATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, A. D. 1525.
Retvtval op Learning in the Fifteenth Century.— Printing introduced into England.— Greek and Latin New Testament of Erasmus.— Opposed bt Romish Priests.— Bishop Standish Appeals to the King and Queen.— The Way prepared for the New Testament in English.- William Tyndale. — Removes to Cambridge. — Acts as Tutor in the Family of Sir John Walsh. —Tyndale in London. — Departs to Hamburgh. — Cologne.— Worms. — Printing op the First English Testaments.— Hanseatic Ships contet THEM to London.— English Testaments concealed in Thomas Garrett's House.— "Diligent Search" instituted.— New Testament Distributers
ARRESTED. — BURNING OP NeW TESTAMENTS. — StORY OP AnTHONT DaLABER. —
Bishop ToNSTAL AT Antwerp.— The Search for Tyndale. — "Bitter Days OF Persecution."— Martyrdom op John Fryth.— Tyndale 's Revised New Testament, 1534.— Examples by Way op Comparison.— Specimens of Tyn- dale's Translation.— With Spelling Modernized.— The English Lan- guage OF THIS Period.- Tyndale's Relation to Wycliffe.- Latinisms. — Examples. —Familiar Expressions.— Examples.— Obsolete Words.- Ar- chaic Forms.— Old English Idioms.— Tyndale's Second Revision, 15.36.— His Translations of Portions op the Old Testament.- Tyndale's Be- trayal AND Arrest.— His Letter prom Prison.— Trial and Martyrdom. — His Character and Life Work 81
CHAPTER IV.
COVERDALE'S BIBLE, A. d. 1535.
The New Testament op Erasmus.— Religious Awakening. — Society ov "Christian Broders."— Tyndale's New Testaments. — Prior Bucking- ham's Sermon.— Hugh Latimer's Answer.— Myles Coverdale.— A Pupil op Dr. Barnes.— His Sympathy with Latimer and Bilney.— Revival at Bum- STEDE. — Gospel Meetings.— Coverdale before the Bishops.— Is with- drawn PROM Public Notice. — Enters upon the Work op Translating the Bible.— Cromwell's Patronage —Council called.— Henry VIII. presedhs. — Opposition to the Scriptures in English. — Latimer's Letter to the Kjng.— Demand op the People for the Bible in English.— Crantier's ef- forts unsuccessful.— Coverdale's Bible.— The Dedication.— Cromwell's Injunctions.— Bishops in Council.— Coverdale as a Translator.— His Version of the Psalms and Prophetic Books.— Specimens.— In Originai. AND Modern Spelling — Quaintness in Style —Familiarity en Expres-
CONTENTS. XV
PAGB
siON. — Archaic Forms AND Obsolete Words.— Romish Opposition.— " Eng- lish BiBLERS."— The Diglott New Testament.— Coverdale in England. — Arrangements for a New Translation.— Matthewe's Bible appears in England 139
CHAPTER V.
MATTHEWE'S BIBLE, a.d. 1537.
Confusion in the Accounts of the Several Editions of the English Bible. — Origin op the Name op Matthewe's Bible.— John Rogers.— His Intimacy with Tyndale.— Editor op Matthewe's Bible. — This Bible Printed at Antwerp.— Introduced into England by Grafton.- Cranmer's Zeal fob its Circulation.— Cromwell's Proclamation.— His Injunctions.— Romish Opposition.— Occasions op Offense.— This Version the Basis of subse- (^uentReyisions.— Title.— Prefatory Matter.— Taverner's Bible.— Pref- atory Matter.— This Revision instigated by the Printers.— Taverner a Scholar and Lay Preacher.— Second Edition op the New Testament. — The Edition op 1549. — "In Sundry Partes."'— Becke's Taverner, 1551. — Petyt and Redman's Edition op Matthewe's Bible, 1540. — Becke's Matthewe, 1549.— Specimens of the Translation.— Reprint op Matthewe's Bible by Hyll and Reynolds.— ''Faultily Done."— Nycolas Hill's Edi- tion, 1551.— Specimens. — Nicknamed the "Bug Bible."— A New Enterprise projected 172
CHAPTER VI.
BIBLES OF THE LARGEST VOLUME, a. d. 1540.
Cromwell's Beble. — Edited by Myles Coverdale.— Grafton and White- church IN Paris.— Letters to Cromwell. — Threatened by the Papists. — Printers and Presses brought over to London.— First Edition published April, 1539. — Holbein's Frontispiece.- Prefatory Matter.— Specimens op THE Translation.— Condemnation op Lambert.— Cranmer against the "Bloody Six Articles."— Monastic Houses dissolved.— Henry VIH. fa- vors THE Scriptures in English.— Cranmer's Bible, 1540.— Prologue.— Edited by Coverdale. — " Supplementary Clauses." — Changes not al- ways Improvements.— Examples — Character of Cromwell. — Novembkb Edition op the Great Bible.— Convocation, 1542.— Gardiner's Scheme for A Latinized English Beble.— List of Latin Words to be Retained.— Cran- mer's Successful Opposition.— Latin Language and Latin Church.— Latin the Language of Literature.— English Language at this Period. —Persecution.— Reign op Edward VI.— Sir John Cheke's Translation op Portion of New Testament.— His Purism.— Orthography.— Specimens op his Translation.— English Language growing in Importance.— Roger Ascham.— His " Toxophilus" and " Schole Master "—Progress of Bible Truth during the Reign of Edward VI— Retaliations against the Prot- estants during the Reign op Queen Mary.— Persecution and the Gene- van Bible 109
XVI CONTENTS.
CHAPTEK VII.
THE GENEVAN BIBLE, a.d. 1560.
PAGE
William Whittingham.— His Revision of the New Testament, 1557.— Verse Divisions.— Originality op Whittingham"s Version. —Specimens.— Prot- estants OF Geneva.— The Genevan Bible, 1560.— Dedication.— Address to THE Reader.— Not an Independent Translation.— Specimens from O. T. — An Improvement on Preceding Translations.— The Genevan Bible and the Puritans.— Chief Characteristics.— Marginal Notes.- Excessive Use OF Commentaries.— How to read the Bible.— " Mappes."— Wood-cuts. — Extended Circulation of the Genevan Bible.— Its Saxon Language.— English Versions of the Bible and the English Language.— Influence of Pagan Rome upon Literature and Social Life. -Ltly's " New-fangled English." — Literary Influence op the Genevan Bible. — English Lan- guage at this Period. — Religious and Social Influence of the English Bible. — Antiquated and Obsolete Terms.— Examples.-Title-page of the New Testament of 1560.— Specimens op the Translation.— Lawrence Tomson's Revision op N. T., 1576.— His Rendering op the Greek Article. — Examples.- Enlargement of the English Vocabulary.— New Words NOT Traceable to the Rheims Version.— Examples.— Annotations.— Ex- cerpts FROM Tomson's N. T.— Popularity op the Genevan Version. — Oppo- sition BY English Bishops.— A New Version proposed by Archbishop Pabkeb. — Genevan and Authorized Versions 254
CHAPTER VIII.
THE BISHOP'S BIBLE, a.d. 1568.
Queen Elizabeth's Reign.— Order in the State and Unipormtty in the Church.— Ecclesiastical Part yism.— Evangelical Spirit among Clergy AND People.— Manners and Morals.— Sabbath Reform. — Influence op the English Bible.— Parker's Plan for a New Revision.— Rules Pre- scribed.—Co-operation of the Bishops.— Why called the Bishop's Bible. —Title-page,— Preface.— The Revision based upon Cranmer's Bible, 1540.— But few Changes in the O. T.— Examples. — Specimens op the Translation. - Scholarship op the N. T.— Collation showing Changes roB THE Better. — Specimen op the Translation. — Affectation in Lan- guage.—Resisted BY THE Revisers of this Bible.— Commonplace Wokds AND Phrases.— Collation op.— Explanatory Phrases. — Examples.-Latin- isMS.— Examples.— Obsolete Words.— Examples.— Vulgar Terms avoided. —Passages to be Omitted in Public Reading.— Marginal Notes.— Circu- lation Limited.— This Version a Link in the Chain op Authorized Re- vision.—Romish Hatred.— Fulke's Reply to Martin.— Mtles Covekdai.e. —His Life and Labors.— His Death, 1569
COISTENTS. XVII
CHAPTER IX.
EHEIMS NEW TESTAMENT, a. d. 1582. DOUAY BIBLE, A. D. 1609.
PAGB
Reasons for Pitblishing the Douat Bible.— Gregory Martin the Chiep Translator.— The New Testament first Printed.— Title-page. — Pre- face.—Fulke's Refutation —Whx Translated from the Vulgate,— Un- translated Words.— Examples.— Dark Phrases.— Examples.— Specimens OF THE Translation.— Latinized English. — Examples.— Rhemish Version and Scripture Vocabulary. — Illustrations.— Saxonisms.— Examples.— An Untruthful Translation.— Papistical Notes.— Collation of.— Cart- wright's Confutation. — The Controversy.— The Old Testament.— Trans- '
LATED FROM THE VULGATE. — RiVAL EDITIONS OP THE VULGATE. — ClEMENTINB
Edition, 1592, adopted.— Title-page.— Limited Circulation.— The Latin Text the Foundation of the Wycliffite Versions.— The Vulgate thb Source of Early Religious Knowledge.— Influence of the Vulgate UPON English Theological Speech. — Examples. — Office of the Wyc- liffite Versions. Nary's Translation of the N. T.— His Design.— Dr. Wetham''s Version, 1730-33.— Dr. Challoner's Revised Edition of Douay Bible, 1749-50. — Specimens.- Dr. Murray"'s Edition, 1825. — Conformed to the Authorized Version.— Dr. Lingard's Four Gospels. — Tendency to Liberality among Modern Catholic Revisers.— The Roman Catholic Bible of To-day not that of 1609-1635.— Its Circuxation among American Catholics 295
CHAPTER X.
THE AUTHORIZED VERSION, A.D. 1611.
AccEssioTT OF James I.— Hampton Court Conference.— A New Translation resolved upon —Committees Appointed.— Their Eminence for Scholar- ship.— Rules for their Guidance.— Title-page.— Dedication.— Preface. — Opposition to the New Translation.— Hugh Broughton.— Dr. Gill.— "Authorized Version." — " King James' Bible.'"— The Bishop's Bible the Basis of the Revision.— Latin Versions Accessible.— Recent Vernacular Versions.— Hebrew Bibles Extant.— Soncine and Bomberg's. — Complu-
TENSIAN AND ANTWERP POLYGLOTTS.— TeXT OF ERASMUS. — THIRD EDITION OF
Stephens.— Text op Beza.— -'Textus Receptus."— Relation of King James' Bible to previous English Versions.— Changes for the Better.— Some- times FOR the Worse. — Illustrations. — Greek Article. — Examples.— Single Greek Word translated by Several English Words.— Examples. —Several Greek Words by Single English Word.— Exastples.- Punctua- tion.—Examples.— Saxon Element of oxtr Language re-established in King James' Bible. — Literary Influence.— The Bible the Book of the Household.— Words in ation.—LATitJ Derivatives displaced by Saxon Words.— Milton.— Shakespeare.— Religious Influence. — Typographical Errors.— Illustrations.— Corrupted Bibles.— Corrected Editions.- He- braisms.—Old English Idioms. — Examples.— Archaisms.— Obsolete Words. —Examples.— Relation of the English Bible to Textual Criticism.—
XVlll CONTENTS.
PAGE
Earliest Greek MSS.— Collation of Facts, and Second Thoughts op Biblical Scholars.— Results op Textual Criticism in its Application to our English Bible.— Examples.— Doubtpul Passages.— Tntegritt op our English Bible. — Yet a Revised Edition desirable,— The Anglo-American Revision now in progress 324
CHAPTEE XI.
REVISIONS AND TRANSLATIONS SINCE a.d. 1611.
D=^AND FOR A Revision op King James' Bible.— Early Attempts.— Proposals BY Henry Jessey and Prop. Rowe, 1650-55. — Resolutions in the Long Par- liament, 1653-58.— Era op the Restoration.— Its Underlying Principles. —King James' Bible pirmly Established.—" Tide op Glowing Panegy- ric."—Influence, Literary AND Religious, op King James' Bible.— Mace's Version op the N. T.— " A Doughty Translation."— Purver's Transla- tion, 1764.- Undertaken por the Society op Friends.— Harwood's N. T., 1768.— Its " Elegance " in Language.— Blayney's Edition of the Bible, 1769.— A corrected English Text.— Dr. Lowth's Translation op Isaiah, 1778. — Dr. Geddes' Translation op Parts of the O. T., 1780-97. — Dr. George Campbell's Four Gospels, 1789.— Wakefield's Translation op N. T., 1791.— Unitarian.— Dr. Newcome's N. T., 1796.— Scarlett's Version, 1798._Favors the Doctrine op Univeksalism.— McRea's Revision op the Bible, 1799.— Improved Version op the N. T., 1808.— Unitarian.— Bellamy's New Translation, 1818-1821.— Alexander Campbell's Version of N. T., 1826.— Noah Webster's " Amended Bible," 1833.— Rodolphus Dickinson's '• Elegant Translation" of the N. T., 1833.— Its Fashionable Language. —Alexander's Revision op the Pentateuch, 1833.— Indelicate Words AND Phrases corrected. — American Bible Society Revision, 1851.— A Standard Copy adopted.— Public Dissatisfaction.— Standard Revoked, 1858.— Examples of Changes proposed. — Critical Revision of the Gospel OF John, etc., bt Five Clergymen, 1857. — Sawyer's N. T., 1858.— American Bible Union Revision, 1850-1860.— Revision by Convocation op Canter- bury.—Begun IN 1870.— English Old and New Testament Companies.— Rules Adopted.— Scholarship and Catholicity of the English Revisers. — Formation op American Companies, 1871. — Constitution Adopted. — Changes in American Companies. — Progress op the Work.— The Revision International and Interdenominational. — The Unanswerable Ques- tion.—Publication AND Reception op the Revised Version.— Title-page AND Prefatory Matter.— Treatment of Debatable Passages.— Correct Treatment op Greek Tenses.— Improvements from an Amended Greek Text.— Translation of Greek Articles and Prepositions. —Impkovemenjps prom Displacing Obsolete Words.— Language of the Revised Vebs»&.— New Wobds Introduced.— The American Appendix
CONTENTS. XIX
CHAPTER XII.
THE REVISED VERSION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE REVISED BIBLE AS A WHOLE, a. d. 1881-1885.
PAGE
Interest in the Revision.— Reception of Revised Old Testament.— Antiq- uity OP the Hebrew Language.— Preservation op the Sacred Writ- ings OP THE Jews.— Higher Criticism in its Application to Books op THE Old Testament.— Date of Old Testament Manuscripts.— Standard Manuscripts.— Transcribed by Jews.— Printed Hebrew Bibles.— Cele- brated Editions op.— The Septuagint.- Preparation for Greek op the New Testament. —The Accepted Bible of Christ and His Apostles. — Purpose of the Revision op the Old Testament.— Massoretic Text. — The Word Peoples.— Conservation op the Saxon Element in our Lan- guage.—Archaic Words. — Familiar Passages Disappointing by Reason op Changes.— Marked Improvements.— Examples op.— Book op Job — Book op Psalms.— Doctrinal Changes.— Inspiration Emphasized. — Cooperation op American Scholars.— Demand for Revision Originated with Bibli- cal Scholars.— Underlying Motive.— Earliest Promoters.— Organized Effort.— Expenses op Revision.— List of American Finance Committee. —Revised Bible the Inheritor of the Excellencies of the Authorized Version.— Attacks upon.— Double Task of the Revisers.— Estimate of, IN England.— How Regarded in America.— Evidences of Some Progress. —Revised Bible Come to Stay.— Re-revision out op the Question.— An American Revised Edition Possible but not Probable.— Apocrypha.— No Place in Hebrew Bible.— Revised by British Committee.— Issued in Uniform Size with Revised Old and New Testaments 494
CHAPTER I.
SAXON AND ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES, BEFORE THE TIME OF WYCLIFFE. A. D. 597-1324.
CHRISTIANITY was first introduced among the Anglo- Saxons by Roman missionaries in the year 597. ^ These "strangers from Rome" landed on the island of Thanet. They immediately sent word to King Ethelbert that they came to declare the glad tidings of the Gospel. The king, through his Christian wife, Bertha, and Bishop Luidhard, the pre- cursor of Augustine, had heard of the Gospel, yet, being suspicious of strangers, he met them in the open air, lest they should impose upon him by their magic. At his bidding, they approached in an orderly procession, bearing a silver cross, also an image of the Saviour painted on a board, and singing the litany. After listening to the address of Augus- tine, the king answered : *^ Your words and promises are very fair, but as they are new to us, and of uncertain import, I cannot approve of them so far as to forsake that which I have so long followed with the whole English nation. But because you are come from far into my kingdom, and, as I conceive, are desirous to impart to us those things which you believe to be true, and most beneficial, we will not molest you, but give you favorable entertainment, and take care to supply you with
' The date of the first introduction of Christianity into Britain is quite another question. The general impression prevails that it was planted as early as the first century. But Thomas Wright, in his Celt, Roman and Saxon, asserts that Christianity could not have been established at so early a period, since " among such an immense num- ber of altars and inscriptions of temples, and with so many hundreds of Roman sepulchres and graves as have been opened in this country, (Eng- land), we find not a single trace of the religion of the Gospel." p. 353.
18 SAXOK AKD EN"GLISH VEKSIOI^S. [CHAP. I.
your necessary sustenance ; nor do we forbid yon to preach and gain as many as you can to your religion." ^
Augustine brought with him a Latin Bible, in two volumes, which is said to have been extant in the time of James I. ; a Psalter with the creed and several Latin hymns ; two copies of the Gospels ; another Psalter with hymns ; a book of Legends of the Sufferings of the Apostles ; another volume of Martyrology ; an Exposition of the Gospels and Epistles ; and Gregory's Pastoral Care.^ Bede, in enumerating a variety of articles sent by Pope Gregory to his missionaries in Britain, mentions: '^many books." ^ But, however well Augustine may have been furnished for his enterprise, and however fair may have been his promises, the Christianity planted by him and his followers among the Saxons, was a Latin Oliristianity. "It was a compound," says Sharon Turner, "of doctrines, ritual, discipline, and polity, derived partly from the Scrip- tures, partly from tradition, partly from the decisions and orders of former councils and popes, and partly from popular customs and superstitions, which had been permitted to inter- mix themselves."^ It w^as a Christianity that, from the first, was marked by pious frauds and feigned miracles. It is re- lated of Laurentius, the successor of Augustine, when he was about to quit Britain on account of the Saxons relapsing into idolatry, that "in the dead of night, the blessed Prince of the Apostles appeared to him, and scourging him a long time with apostolical severity, asked of him, ' why he should forsake the flock which he had committed to him ? ' Lauren- tius, the servant of Christ, being excited by these words and stripes, the very next morning repaired to the king, and tak- ing off his garment, showed the scars of the stripes which he had received. The king, astonished, asked, 'Who had pre- sumed to give such stripes to so great a man ?' And was
^ Bede's Ecclesiastical History, p. 38, Bohn's ed. Sharon Turner gives this in the original Saxon. See Hist. Anglo-Saxons, I., 330, note. * Ibid, p. 38, note. See also Turner, Hist. A. 8., I., 333, note. 3 lUd, p. 54. < History of the Anglo-Saxons, I., 331. London, 1823.
616.] ROME AS YET KOT OPPOSED TO THE BIBLE. 19
much frightened when he heard that the bishop had suffered so much at the hands of the Apostle of Christ for his salvation." ^ This pious fraud was successful. King Eadbald was converted and baptized. He renounced his idolatry, and sought in every way to promote the interests of the Church.
But though it was a Latin Christianity introduced among the Anglo-Saxons, it was not the thoroughly Romanized Chris- tianity of later times. There was as yet no claim by the papacy to infallibility; nor was there any prohibition on the part of either pope or council against the right of the people to have the Holy Scriptures in their own language. Not until the Council of Thoulouse, 1229, was there any such restraint, when it was shamefully enacted : '' We forbid that Laymen be permitted to have the books of the Old and New Testaments ; unless some out of Devotion desire to have the Psalter or Breviary for Di\ine Offices, and the Hours of the Blessed Virgin ; but even these, they may not have in the Vulgar Tongue." 2 The Roman hierarchy, up to the time of Inno- cent III., the beginning of the thirteenth century, entertained no serious designs against the Scriptures translated into the language of the people. "It is remarkable," says Neander, "that pope Innocent the Third was originally inclined rather to encourage than to suppress the reading of the Bible by the laity, till, influenced by the principles of the church theocracy, of which he was the representative, he was led, by the conse- quences growing out of that tendency, to contend against it." ^ There was a lurking danger in Vernacular versions of the Scriptures which the hierarchy did not at first apprehend. But from the time of Innocent III. its Romish policy was settled. The enactment of the Council of Thoulouse shall henceforth be rigidly enforced. As yet, however, the Bible was regarded " as furnishing the best means of nourishment for the soul, and the surest remedy for all the disorders of the soul."*
> Bede's Ecclesiastical History, p. 79, Bolm's ed., London, 1871. « Neander's Church History, IV., 324, note. Boston, 1853. 8 Ibid, p. 321. * Ibid, p. 323.
20 SAXOi^ AND ENGLISH VERSIONS. [CHAP. I.
At this time even popes rejoiced that the Bible, by means of translations, found its way among the people. This was especially true of Gregory the Great, who was so zealous in the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons. "The Scriptures," said he, "are infinitely elevated above all other instructions; they instruct us in the truth ; they call us to heaven ; they change the heart of him who reads them The sweetness and con- descension of the Holy Scriptures comfort the weak and im- perfect; their obscurity exercises the strong They seem
to expand and rise in proportion as those who read them rise and increase in knowledge. Understood by the most illiterate, they are always new to the most learned." ^ It was this same Gregory who compared the Scriptures "to a river, in some places so shallow, that a lamb might easily pass through them ; in others so deep, that an elephant might be drowned in them." 2 To hearty eulogy, Gregory added exbortation to the reading and study of the Scriptures. To a physician he wrote : " Study, meditate, the words of your Creator, that from them you may learn what is in the heart of God towards you, and that your soul may be inflamed with the most ardent desires after celestial and eternal good." ^ Such sentiments, however, could not have been shared by his missionaries in Britain, otherwise they would have translated, at least, portions of the Bible into the Saxon language. But they depended more upon rites and ceremonies, than upon the Bible, for success in converting the Saxons.
But to understand the relation of Christianity to the uncon- verted Saxons, we must take into the account the influences brought to bear upon them by the Irish Church. Previous to the conquest of Britain by the Saxons, Christianity had been carried into Ireland, where it was received with enthusiasm. '^The science and Biblical knowledge which fled from the Continent took refuge in famous schools which made Durrow and Armagh the universities of the West Patrick, the first
1 Townley's Biblical Literature, I., 210, 211. ■ Ibid, p. 210. 3 j^ia,^ p. 211.
664.] THE WHITBY COUNCIL. 21
missionary of the island, had not been half a century dead when Irish Christianity flung itself with a fiery zeal into battle with the mass of heathenism which was rolling in upon the
Christian world For a time it seemed as if the course of
the world's history was to be changed, as if the older Celtic race that Roman and German had swept before them had turned to the moral conquest of their conquerors, as if Celtic and not Latin Christianity was to mould the destinies of the Churches of tlie West."i In the year 565, Columba, a native of Ireland, founded the monastery of lona, on an island of the same name,2 off the west coast of Scotland. In this abbey Oswald, king of the Northumbrians, was educated; and through his influence Culdee missionaries were sent to preach among the Saxons. Bishop Aidan was the most noted of these missionaries. He founded the monastery of Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, off the northeast coast of Northumbria, about the year 636. Aidan, according to Bede, was " a man of sin- gular meekness, piety, and moderation." He was zealous in preaching the Gospel, and for this purpose traveled on foot from place to place. Even before he had learned the lan- guage, "it was most dehghtful," says Bede, "to see the king interpreting for liim when he spake publicly to the peoi3le."
Besides Lindisfarne other monasteries were founded. Among these was Streaneshalch, afterwards called Whitby, founded by Abbess Hilda on the east coast of Deira. This monastery is celebrated as the place where the synod was held to decide the vexed questions of the tonsure,^ and the time of Easter. Hitherto the monks of Lindisfarne, and other re- ligious houses whose ecclesiastical relations were with lona,
^ Green's Short History of the English People, p. 58. New York, 1 877.
^ The ancient name was Hi, or /, or Aoi, which was Latinized into Eyona, or lona. Compare Bede's Ecclesiastical History, p. 113, note. Bohn's edition.
^ The Romans shaved the crown of the head and considered the circle of hair left as a figure of the crown of thorns worn by the Saviour. The Scots shaved only the front of the head in the form of a crescent. Compare Liugard's History of England, 1., ICO. Boston, 1853.
22 SAXON AND ENGLISH VERSIONS. [CHAP. I.
followed the usages of lona rather than of Kome. The con- troversy ran high between the Oi3posing parties, until Oswj, king of the Northumbrians, determined to call a council to meet at Whitby, to decide their differences. This council con- vened in 664. Bishop Colman, the successor of Aidan, sup- ported the usages of lona; while Abbot Wilfrith plead for the usages of Rome. The former appealed to the authority of Columba, the latter to that of St. Peter. In the course of the debate, Wilfrith quoted Matt. xvi. 18 : Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Upon which the king said : " Is it true, Colman, that these words were spoken to Peter by our Lord ?" He answered : " It is true, 0 King 1 " Then says he, " Can you show any such power given to your Columba ?" Coleman answered, "None." Then added the king: "Do you both agree that these words were principally directed to Peter, and that the keys of heaven were given to him by our Lord ? " They both answered, " We do." This ended the dis- cussion ; the king and all present determined henceforth to conform to the authority and ritual of Rome.^
But previous to the meeting of this synod, there arose one whose name gave still greater notoriety to this monastery. It was none other than Csedmon, the cowherd of Whitby, whose name is honored in ancient literary annals, as the singer of the first great English song. So in tracing the history of Saxon versions of the Bible, the paraphrase of Caedmou stands chronologically at the head of the list. Bede's ac- count of Caedmon partakes something of a monastic tinge, yet it is the original source of our information concerning him. Bede declares in substance that Caedmon belonged to the monastery of Whitby, then under the rale of Abbess Hilda, as a cowherd, whose business it was to look after the horses and cattle. He was no singer, and when at entertain-
' See this controversy fully treated of in Bede's Ecclesiastical History, pp. 153-160. Bohu's edition.
680.] C^DMOK, THE COWHEKD OF VrHITBT. 23
ments the harp, in turn, was passed to him, he would rise from the table and go home. On one such occasion, after retiring to rest in the stable where he had charge of the horses, " a person appeared to him in his sleep, and saluting him by his name, said, ' Caedmon, sing some song to me.' He answered, * I cannot sing ; for that was the reason I left the entertain- ment, and retired to this place, because I could not sing.' The other who talked to him, replied, ' However you shall sing.' * What shall I sing ? ' rejoined he. ' Sing the beginning of created beings,' said the other. Hereupon he presently began to sing verses to the praise of God which he had never heard." ^ In the morning he informed the steward, his superior, of his dream, and of the gift he had received ; whereupon he was conducted to the abbess, where, in the presence of learned men, he related his dream, together with the verses composed in his sleep. They immediately con- cluded " that heavenly grace had been conferred upon him by our Lord. They expounded to him a passage in holy writ, either historical or doctrinal, ordering him, if he could, to put the same into verse." Returning the next morning he gave it to them in most excellent verse. By the order of the abbess he was instructed *Ho quit the secular habit, and take upon him the monastic life." ^ They taught him the principal facts of the Old and New Testaments, which in turn he put into poetic phraseology. " He sang the creation of the world, the origin of man, and all the history of Genesis; and made many verses on the departure of the children of Israel out of Egypt, and their entering into the land of promise, with many other histories from holy writ ; the in- carnation, passion, resurrection of our Lord, and his ascension into heaven ; the commg of the Holy Ghost, and the preaching of the apostles; also the terror of future
judgment, the pains of hell and the delights of heaven." ^
By which he sought to turn men from the love of vice to the love of virtue. He died in the year 680.
^ Bede's Ec, Hist., p. 217. ' Ibid, pp. 318-219. ^ /j^-^^ p, 219.
24 SAXON" A^Jy EN^GLISH VERSIOI^S. [CHAP. I.
The metrical paraphrase of Caedmon though not to be ranked as a translation, holds an important place in the his- tory of Anglo-Saxon versions, as being the first attempt to set forth any portion of the Scriptures in the Saxon tongue. The following fragment, preserved in Alfred's Saxon version of Bede's Ecclesiastical History, is a paraphrase of the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis. A comparison with the translation will show that while the Saxon language of the seventh century is to us an unknown tongue, yet our present English is deeply embedded in its Saxon original. Sharon Turner pronounces this to be the most ancient piece of Anglo-Saxon poetry that we possess.^
Now we sliould praise Nu we sceolan lierigean
The Guardian of tlie heavenly Heafon rices weard ;
kingdom ;
The mighty Creator, Metodes mihte,
And the thoughts of his mind, And his mod gethanc.
Glorious Father of his works ! Weorc wuldor faeder !
As he, of every glory Swa he wuldres gehwaes
Eternal Lord ! Ece drihten !
Established the beginning ; Ord onstealde ;
So he first shaped He aerest gescop
The earth for the children of Eorthan bearnum
men.
And the heav'ns for its canopy. Heofon to rofe.
Holy Creator ! Halig scyppend !
The middle region, Tha raiddan geard,
The Guardian of Mankind, Mon cynnes weard,
The eternal Lord, Ece drihtne.
Afterwards made ^fter teode
The ground for men. Firum foldan;
Almighty Ruler ! Frea Almitig !
Caedmon made no change in the form of Saxon verse. His style is the same as that of the old Saxon war song, which by its energy and force was suited to the spirit of Old Testament
1 Turner's History of Anglo-Saxons, IIL, 260. Csedmon's poem was published by Junius in 1655 ; and by Benjamin Thorpe in 1832. In the above transcript the Saxon characters give place to Roman letters.
680.] C^DMOX'S PARAPHRASE. 25
history. "The temper of Csedmon," says Green, "brings him near to the early fire and passion of the Hebrew, as the history of his time brought him near to the old Bible history with its fights and wanderings." ^
The following extracts are from Sharon Turner, who refers them to the original Oaedmon in opposition to Warton and others who would assign to them a much later date. In re- ferring to this paraphrase Mr. Turner says : " It was published by Junius as the work of the ancient Casdmon .... It treats on the first part of the subjects which Bede mentions to have been the topics of the elder Caedmon ; but it is pre- sumed by Hickes not to be so ancient as the poet mentioned by Bede. I confess that I am not satisfied that Hickes is right in referring it to any other author than the person to whom Junius ascribes it." " The following soliloquy of Satan illustrates the bold fiincy of the poet, and not unfrequently re- minds us of the grandeur so pecuUar to Milton's descrip- tions : ^
Why should I contend ? strong companions !
I cannot have who will not deceive me
any creature for my superior ! in this contention.
I may with my hands Warriors of hardy mind !
so many wonders work ! they have chosen me
and I must have great power for their superior ;
to acquire a more godlike illustrious soldiers !
stool, with such, indeed,
higher in the heavens ! one may take counsel !
Yet why should I with such folk
sue for his grace ? may seize a station !
or bend to him My earnest friends they are,
with any obedience ? faithful in the effusions of their
I may be mind.
a god, as he is. I may, as their leader,
Stand by me, govern in this kingdom,
^ For an estimate of Caedmon as a poet, see Green's Short History of the English People, p. 63. New York, 1877. Also Taine's English Literature, I., 48. New York, 1874.
2 History of the Anglo Saxons, III., 308. London, 1823.
8 im, pp. 313, 314.
26
SAXOK AND ENGLISH VERSIONS. [CHAP. I.
So I think it not right, nor need I flatter any one, as if to any gods
a god inferior. I will no longer remain liis subject.
After the defeat of Satan and bis followers, the poet thus graphically describes their fall and abode in the lower
The fiend, with all his fol- lowers, fell then out of heaven ; during the space of three nights and days ; the angels from heaven into hell ; and them all the Lord turned into devils ; because that they his deed and word would not reverence.
They suffer the punishment of their battle against their Ruler ;
The fierce torrents of fire in the midst of hell : brands and broad flames ; so likewise bitter smoke, vapour and darkness.
One other extract will suffice, taken from another of Satan's speeches.2
Is this the narrow place, unlike, indeed, to the others which we before knew, high in heaven's kingdom, that my Master puts me in ?
He hath not done us right, that he hath filled us with fire to the bottom of this hot hell, and taken away heaven's king- dom.
This is to me the greatest sor- row.
that Adam shall,
he that was made of earth,
my strong like stool possess.
He is to be thus happy,
while we suffer punishment ;
misery in this hell !
Oh that I had free
the power of my hands,
and might for a time
be out ;
for one winter's space,
I and my array 1
but iron bonds
lay around me !
knots of chains press me down !
I am kingdomless !
hell's fetters
History of the Anglo-Saxons, IH,, p. 314.
2 Ibid, 315.
725.] GUTHLAC'S PSALTER. 27
hold me so liard, above and beneath ;
so fast encompass me ! I never saw
Here are mighty flames A more hateful landscape.
Guthlac, the first Saxon anchoret at Croyland, flourished in the early part of the eighth century. He is reputed to have made an Anglo-Saxon version of the Latin Psalter. At least there is an ancient Psalter preserved in the British Museum among the Cotton MSS,^ which is said to have "well-grounded pretensions " as being one of the books sent by Pope Gregory the Great to Augustine in Britain. The original text is Latin, and "is written in that thin, light hand which characterises MSS. penned in Italy." 2 This Psalter contains an interlinear Saxon translation, but by whom it was done remains a matter of doubt. And yet from its antiquity it is referred by com- mon consent to Guthlac. Moreover, during the reign of Henry VIIL there was in the Croyland Abbey Library an ancient copy of the Psalter in Saxon, wbich was kept as a reUc and called St. Guthlac's Psalter. John Lambert's testi- mony is, however, that this translation was made by a Saxon king and copied by Guthlac.^ The twenty-second Psalm is here transcribed, with the characters peculiar to the Saxon changed to ordinary letters.'*
Ps. XXII. 1. dryht receth me & ne wiht me wonu bith
2. in stowe leswe ther mec ge-steathelade ofer weter ge-
reodnisse a-ledde mec
3. sawle mine ge-cerde ge-laedde me ofer stige rehtwis-
nisse fore noman his
4. weotud-lice & thaehe ic gonge in midle scuan deathes ne
on-dredu ic yfel for-thon thu mid -me erth, gerd thin & cryc thin hie me froefrende werun
5. thu gearwades in ge-sihthe minre biod with him tha
swencath mec thu faettades in ele heafud min, & drync thinne in-dreneende swithe frea-berht is
' Edited by Stevenson for the Surtees Society, 1843. ' Baber's Preface to Wydiffe's JV. T., p. Iviii. London, 1810. 3 See his answer to Article 26, in Foxe's Acts and Monuments, y> 1273. '• Aiiglo-Saxon and Early English Psalter. By Rev. J. Stevens, Sur- tees Society. Boston Athenaeum Library.
28 SAXON AND ENGLISH VERSIONS. [CHAP. I.
Ps. XXII. 6. & mil - heortniss ttiin efter - fylgeth mec allum degum lifes mines tliaet ic in-eardie in huse drylit' in leuger dega
Bishop Aldhelra was by birth a West Saxon, and was related to King In a. In 675 he was made Abbot of Malmsbury. He composed both Latin and Saxon verse, and is described by Bede as one ^' most learned in all respects, for he had a clean style, and was, as I have said, wonderful for ecclesiastical and liberal erudition." ^ In his own day he was renowned as :
Tlie man skilled in books ;
The good author
Aldhelm, the noble poet,
He was also
In the country of the Anglo-Saxons,
A bishop in Britain."^
Besides his notable tract on the Praise of Virginity, Aldhelm composed a number of songs in which passages of Scripture were " ingeniously interspersed " ; and being skilled in music, he sang them standing on a bridge, surrounded by crowds of people. He afterwards became Bishop of Sherborne, and about the year 706 translated the Psalter into Saxon. By some this version is thought to have been lost during the incursions of the Danes ; but by others, that a copy of it was found in the Eoyal Library at Paris, at the beginning of this century .^ The following miracles were attributed to Aldhelm, which in- dicate the credulity of the age and also as well the reputed piety of the man. It is recorded that " a beam of wood was once lengthened by his prayers " ; also that " the ruins of the church he built, though open to the skies, were never wet with rain during the worst weather"; also that " one of his gar- ments, when at Eome, once raised itself high in the air, and was kept there a while, self-suspended " ; and that " a child,
* Ecclesiastical History, pp. 267, 268. Bohn's ed.
2 Turner's Hist. Anglo-Saxons, III., 327. Transcribed from Wanley's Catalogue, p. 110.
3 Edited by Thorpe. Liber Psalmorum, &c.
700.] INFLUENCE OF LATIN CULTURE. 29
nine days old, at his command, once spake to clear the calum- niated pope from the imputation of being its father." ^
Aldhelm may be regarded as an illustration of the fact of Latin culture, at this period, on the character not only of in- dividuals, but of the nation at large. He was a native Saxon, but educated as a Roman. As an author his genius remained Saxon, though his language was Latin. As a learned bishop, he appreciated the art and culture of Rome, yet he did not forget his Saxon simplicity and the love of his native tongue. Somewhat so Roman civilization touched upon the Saxon people. The Saxons, when they first invaded Britain, despised the Latin culture of the Britons ; but afterwards they were influ- enced both by their manners and speech. " I believe, indeed," says Mr. Wright, "tliat when the Angles and Saxons came into Britain, they found the people talking not a Celtic dialect, but Latin, and hence when they formed the English language, the foreign words introduced into it were not Celtic but Latin." 2 A very small class of words are thought to have been intro- duced at this early period, through Celtic Latin, into Saxon English. As examples we have cester, a common ending of the names of English towns, describing them as fortified, from the Latin castrum, a fortified camp. The word coin, is another common ending of the names of towns, describing them as originally settled by a colony. This is doubtless derived from the Latin colonia.^ Again, in this coming of Augustine, Anglo-Saxon genius resists Roman influences. Ecclesiastically, there is introduced the form of worship with its language and art culture, and Saxon character is influenced ; but the eflcct is only external. Had it been otherwise, it is probable that the descendants of the Saxons to-day would have been Latin, both in their religion and language.
' Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons, III., 876.
2 Wright's {Thos.) The Gelt, The Roman and The Saxon, p. 460. Lon- don, 1875.
3 Compare Marsh's {O. P.) English Language and Literature, p. 60. New York, 1860.
30 flATO^r AI^D EIJ^GLISH VEESIONS. [CHAP. T.
It is claimed that the Venerable Bede, who lived in the early part of the eighth century, translated the whole Bible into English. " For if worldli clerkis," says the author of the pro- logue to the Wycliffe Bible, " loken wel here (their) croniclis and bokis, thei shulden fynde, that Bede translatide the bible, and expounide myche in Saxon, that was English." ^ Lewis, in quoting Eoxe's dedication of his work to the Queen, says : ^•that our countryman Bede did translate the whole Bible in the Saxon tongue a little before his departure." But the probabilities are that Bede's translations were confined to the Lord's Prayer, select passages from several books of the Bible, and the Gospel of John.^ The last is justly regarded as the earliest effort to translate the Bible into Saxon. This work of Bede, with his other literary labors, were accomplished at the monastery of Jarrow. " The region in which this monastery was situated" (in the time of Bede), says Eadie, "was quiet,
lone, and thinly peopled," (but) "is now planted with a
forest of furnaces, throwing out fire and smoke, and soiled with unsightly mounds of cinders and igneous refuse, while the din of heavy hammers is ever resounding, as great iron vessels are built in succession, by swart and busy myriads." ^ Hallam bestows merited praise, when he declares that " the Venerable Bede, as he was afterwards styled, early in the eighth century, surpasses every other name of our ancient literary annals ; and, though little more than a diligent com- piler from older writers, may perhaps be reckoned superior to
any man whom the world then possessed."* Bede's most
celebrated work is his Ecclesiastical History. He was a great student of the Scriptures. He possessed some knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew languages, and employed much of his
' Forshall and Madden's edition, I., 59. Oxford, 1850. This Pro- logue dates back to the close of the fourteenth century.
2 Dr. Marshall's judgment is that Bede's Translation of John's Gospel is preserved in Parker's edition of the Four Saxon Gospels, published In 1571.
3 History of the English Bible, I., 11. New York, 1874. ^ Introduction to the Literature of Europe, I, 29.
806.] IN^VASION OF THE DAI^^ES. 31
time in writing Biblical commentaries. In a letter to Egbert, Arelibishop of York, he wrote : " Above all things avoid use- less discourse and apply yourself to the Holy Scriptures,
appoint presbyters in each village, to instruct and administer the sacraments : and let them be studious that every one of them may learn, by heart, the Creed and the Lord's Prayer ; and that, if they do not understand Latin, they may repeat them in their own tongue, I have translated them into Eng- lish, for the benefit of ignorant presbyters." ^ Bede died on the 27th of May, 735, at the age of fifty-nine years, having spent his whole life in the same monastery. Though celebrated as a scholar, and warmly urged by the pope to visit Eome, it does not appear that he ever left England.
Such scholars as Aldhelm, Bede, and Alcuin, gave to Eng- land, at this period, a reputation throughout Europe as a seat of learning. Alcuin was a disciple of Bede, and was distin- guished as a poet, scholar, and teacher. In 780 he was in- vited by the Emperor Charlemagne to his court, where, among other duties imposed upon him, was that of correcting the current Latin Bible, "which through the negligence and ignorance of transcribers had in many cases become wholly unintelligible." 2
But even before the death of Alcuin, 806, learning in England began to fall into neglect. The incursion of the Danes in their barbarous warfare, rolled back the tide of civilization three and a half centuries. In their first invasion they ravaged the country with fire and sword, sparing neither sex nor age, leaving nothing in their savage war-path but famine and distress. And when, in years after, they came to conquer that they might occupy the country, their barbarities were, if possible, more cruel. "From this period," says Turner, "language cannot describe their devastations. It can only repeat the words plunder, murder, rape, famine and distress. It can only enumerate towns, villages, churches and
^ Milner's Church History, p. 432. Edinburgh, 1842. ' Neander's Church History, HI , 155. Boston, 1854.
32 SAXOI^ Ai^^D ENGLISH VERSIOi^^S. [CHAP. I.
monasteries, harvests and libraries, ransacked and burnt." ^ The following sad picture of the times was di'awn by a contemporai-y Saxon bishop : " We perpetually pay them (the Danes) tribute, and they ravage us daily. They ravage, burn, spoil and plunder, and carry off our property to their ships.
Very often they seize the vrives and daughters of our
thanes and cruelly violate them before the great chieftain's
face Soldiers, famine, flames and effusion of blood
abound on every side The poor men are sorely seduced
and cruelly betrayed, are sold far out of this land to
foreign slavery The right of freedom is taken away ;
the rights of the servile are naiTowed, and the right of charity is diminished." ^ This terrible state of affairs continued for over three-fourths of a century, till King Alfred came to the throne ; who for months after his accession was compelled to contend with the invading Danes. But singularly enough, '•' when the wild burst of the storm was over, land, people,
government reappeared unchanged, the Danes sank
quickly into the mass of those around them
Kowhere over Europe was the fight so fierce, because nowhere else were the combatants men of one blood and one speech. But just for this reason the fusion of the Northmen witli their foes was nowhere so peaceful and so complete." ^
With the accession of Alfred, in the year 871, light again breaks upon the page of English history. King Alfred is justly celebrated as a statesman, warrior, scholar and Christian man. He had a care for the intellectual and religious as well as for the political interests of his people. It has been claimed that Alfred translated the whole Bible into the vernacular of the people. But a serious objection to this is, that no manuscript of any such translation is extant. As has been suggested, '• the selections which he made for his own use appear to have
^ History of tJie Anglo-Saxons^ I., 505.
2 Ihid, IL, pp. 321, 332, note.
3 Green's Short History of English People, p. 78. New York, 1877.
871.] KING Alfred's translation. 33
been confounded with a general translation." ^ The probable extent of Alfred's translations are selections from different books of the Bible, particularly the Psalms. Very early testimony in respect to this, is found in the prologue to Wycliffe's Bible, which was written about the year 1380. It reads : " King Alured that foundide Oxenford, translatide in hise laste dales the bigynning of the Sauter into Saxon, and wolde more if he hadde lyued lengere." ^ He translated the Ten Commandments and placed them at the head of the laws of his kingdom. The following is transcribed from Wilkins' Leges Saxonica,^ as a specimen of Alfred's work and the language of his time. The Saxon characters are changed to Roman to make the text more intelligible.
Ex. XX. 1. Drihten waes sprecende tliaes word to Moyse, & thus cvvsetli ; Ic earn Drihten tliin God. Ic the ut gelsedde of ^gypta londe, & of heora theowdome ; Ne lufa thu othre fremde godas ofer me :
2. Ne minne naman ne cig thu on idelnesse, forthon the thu ne bist unscyldig with me, Yif thu on idelnesse cigst minne naman.
3. Gemine th thu gehalgie thone reste dseg ; wyrceath eow eyx dagas, & non tham seofothan restath eow, thu & thin sunu, & thine dohter, & thin theowe, & thine wylne, & thin weorcnyten, & se cuma the bith binnan thinan durum ; Fortham on syx dagum Cryst geworhte heofenas, & eorthan, saes, & ealle gesceafta the on him synd, & hine gereste on thone seofothan daege ; & forthon Drihten hine gehalgode :
4. Ara thinum feeder and thinre meder tha the Drihten sealde the, th thu sy thy leng libbende on eorthan;
5. Ne slea thu:
6. Ne stala thu :
7. Ne lige thu dearnunga:
8. Ne ssege thu lease gewitnesse with thinum nehstan:
9. Ne wilna thu thines nehstan yrfes with unrihte: 10. Ne wyrc thu the gyldene godas oththe seolfrene.
* Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons, II., 96. 2 Forshall and Madden's edition, I., 59. Oxford, 1850. •^ From a copy in the Watkinson Library, Hartford, Conn. London, 1731.
34 SAXON AN^D EXGLISH VERSIOlfS. [CHAP. I.
The following is a word for word translation of the above :
Ex. XX. 1. Lord was speaking this word to Moses, and thus saith; I am Lord thy God. I thee out led of Egypt land, and of their thralldom : Not love thou other strange gods beside me :
2. Not my name not utter thou in vain, for that thou not art guiltless with me, if thou in vain utterest my name.
3. Be mindful that thou hallo west the rest day, work ye six days ; and on the seventli rest ye, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man servant, and thy maid servant, and thy cattle, and (those) who come who shall be within thy gate. For in six days Christ created heavens, and earth, seas, and all creatures that in them are, and him rested on the seventh day. And therefore God him (it) hallowed.
4. Honor thy father and thy mother whom the Lord hast given thee, that thou may be therefore long living on earth.
5. Not kill thou.
6. Not steal thou.
7. Not commit thou adultery.
8. Not say thou false witness against thy neighbor.
9. Not desire thou thy neighbor's inheritance with un- righteousness.
10. Not make thou the golden gods or silver (gods).
The language of Alfred's time was the old Saxon. When in the guise of a minstrel he entered the Danish camp his language did not betray him. i As a literary and spoken language the Saxon, at this period, attained its highest per- fection. Its literature comprised works in poetry, history and science, either in original works or in translations.^ The Franks and the Normans, though they became conquerors and lords of the soil, lost their language and nationality, but the Saxons retained both of these as did no other Teutonic race.
There is so much confusion as to the dates of Saxon manuscripts, that it is difficult to determine how early Bible truth was disseminated in Vernacular yersions among the
^ Though this story may be nothing more than a pleasant legend as some suppose, all that is claimed in the above reference is verisimilitude. - Schlegel's History of Literature, p. 168. Bohn's edition, 1873.
750-950.] saxo:n versiojs^s of the four gospels. 35
people. But from the fact that learning was confined to the few, even in the days of Aldhelm and Bede, there could have been but little demand for Saxon versions of the Bible — a demand which would almost confine itself to such presbyters as were ignorant of the Latin language. The Anglo-Saxon versions of the Four Gospels may be referred to the age of Alfred; though the manuscripts differ widely in their prob- able dates, ranging as they do all the way from the time of Bede to that of the Norman Conquest. The earliest of these versions 1 have been published several times ; first, under the superintendence of Archbishop Parker, by Foxe the martyr- ologist, in 1571. They were printed in Saxon type, and ac- companied by the English version of the Bishop's Bible. On account of the inaccuracies both in the transcribing and printing of this volume, it was revised and republished by Junius in connection with Dr. Marshall in 1638-1665. These Four Gospels were again published by Benjamin Thorpe in 1842 ; by Bosworth in 1865 ; and more recently by Skeat.
These Saxon Gospels were originally translated from the Latin, either of the Old Italic, or of the Vulgate. In the work of translation they found many words in the Latin, for which the Saxon had no equivalent ; but instead of adopting the Latin words, so jealous were the translators for their native speech, that they coined new words, for their transla- tion. In referring to the purity in language of these Saxon Gospels, Marsh says that while our common Bible is com- paratively free from Latinisms yet it adopted a large number of Latin words, wiiereas the Anglo-Saxon employed instead native words framed for this special purpose. " Thus for prophet f we have w i t e g a, a wise or knowing man ; for scribe, b o c e r e, book-man ; for sepulchre, b y r g e n, whence our word hury, and the word harrow in the sense of funeral-mound ;
' Six of these original manuscripts are still in existence. One of the earliest is preserved in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge ; the others among the Cotton MSS., British Museum.
36 SAXOK AKD ENGLISH VERSIONS. [CHAP. I.
for centurion, b u n d r e d-m an; for haptize, f u 1 1 i a n ; for
syjiagogue, gesamnung, congregation; for resurrection^ 86 r i s t, uprising ; for disciple, leorningcniht, learning- youth ; for treasure, g o 1 d-h o r d ; for pharisee, sunder-
li al g a, over-holy." ^ As a specimen of the translation of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels the Lord's prayer is here transcribed.^
Matt. VI. 9 Faeder ure thu the eart on heofonum, si thin nama
gehalgod :
10. To-becume thin rice ; gewurthe thin willa on eorthan
Bwa swa on heofonum :
11. IJrne dseghwamlican hlaf syle us to-dseg :
12. And forgyf us ure gyltas, swa swa we forgyfath urum
gyltendum :
13. And ne gelsed thu us on costnunge ac alys us of yfle
Sothlice.
To this period belongs also another Saxon version of the Gospels known as the Durham Book, St. Cuthbert's Gospels, or Lindisfarne Gospels. The original Latin manuscript dates about the year 680. The text is in a good state of preserva- tion. It is written in a round Eoman letter, and is the work of Eadfrid, a monk of Lindisfarne, and after the Latin version of Jerome. This volume was highly ornamented with gold and precious stones, and decorated with illumina- tions of most elaborate workmanship. The book was first deposited in the church of Lindisfarne, but when the mon- astery was ravaged by the Danes, 793, it is said that the monks, in making their escape with it, let it fall into the sea in their passage to the main land. The book was recovered and placed in the monastery of Chester, where it remained for two hundred years, when it was transferred to the mon- astery of Durham. Here the monks, on account of its re- covery from the sea, pretended that it possessed miraculous powers, and thus imposed upon the ignorance and credulity
^ Lectures on English Language^ p. 199. New York and London, 1860.
2 Oothic and Anglo-Saxon Gospels. By Rev. Joseph Bosworth, Vol. I. London, 1865. From a copy in the Boston Athenaeum Library.
750-950.] SAXois" VERSioiq's of the four gospels. 37
of the people, deriviDg therefrom a considerable revenue for the monastery. The ornaments that remain are, " pictures of the Evangelists, prefixed to their respective Gospels; many capital letters beautifully illuminated ; and four tessellated tablets, each most laboriously executed and containing a fanciful design of the cross painted with a rich variety of brilliant body colours. "1 This manuscript is regarded as the finest specimen of Saxon caUigraphy and decoration extant.
But that which gives special interest to this Latin manu- script, is its interlinear Saxon translation made by Aldred, a priest. There is some difference of opinion as to the date of the translation. It is thought by some to belong to the earlier part of the eighth century ; and by others to the middle of the tenth century. This confusion arises, in part, from the fact of there being more than one priest bearing the name of Aldred. The learned Wanley assigns the translation to the time of Alfred. The original manuscript is still pre- served among the Cotton MSS. in the British Museum. The translation was written in red ink, which is now much faded. As a specimen of this translation the Lord's prayer is here inserted."^
Matt, VI. 9-13. Fader usaer thu arth or thu bist in heofnu or in lieofnas sie gehalgad noma thin ; tocymeth ric thin ; sie willo thin suae is in heofne and in eortho ; hlaf userne of wistlic sel us todseg ; & f gef us scylda usra suae woe f 'gefon scyldgum usum ; & ne inlaed usih in costunge ah gefrig usich from yfle.
Another celebrated Saxon version of the Gospels which dates back to the tenth century, and possibly to the age of Alfred, is preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and is known as the Rushworth Gloss.^ It contains the four Gospels in Latin written by an Irish scribe named Macreogol, in a
^ Townley's Biblical Literature, I., 233. London, 1821.
2 Anglo-Saxon Gospeh, Surtees Society, Vol. XXVIII., 1854. Wat- kinson Library, Hartford, Conn.
•* So called from the fact that it belonged formerly to John Rush- worth, Esq., and was presented by him to the Bodleian Library in the middle of the seventeenth century.
38 SAXOK AKD ENGLISH VERSIONS. [CHAP. I.
large hand similar to that of the Durham Book, with an interlinear Saxon translation. At the end of Matthew's Gospel is added : " Farmen Presbyter thas boc thus gleosode." Also at the close we find : "The min bruche gibidde fore Owun the thas boc gloesede Faermen thsBm preoste set Harawada." That is: "He that of mine profiteth bead (pray) he for Owen that this book glossed, and Farman the priest at Harewood." ^ From which we may conclude that this Saxon translation was the joint production of Farmen and Owen. After this there follows in Latin text : " Macregol delineated this gospel, whoever hath read and understood its recital, pray he for Macregol the writer." During the middle ages, when the multiplication of books depended upon copyists, these subscriptions were common. Besides a certain degree of meritoriousness was attached to the act of copying particularly the Holy Scriptures. In the way of correctness every thing depended upon the copyist, and hence authors were wont to express their anxiety, as did ^Ifric when he wrote: "I pray now if any one will write this book, that he make it well from this example, because 1 would not yet bring into it any error through false writers. It will be then his fault, not mine. The un-writer doth much evil if he will not rectify his mistake." ^
The ornaments of this volume of the Gospels consists in "delineations of the four Evangelists, and divers colored initial letters." The translation of Matthew is thought to have been an independent translation, while the other Gospels are supposed to be transcripts of the Durham Book. The Lord's prayer is here given as a specimen.^
Matt. VI. 9. Feeder ure tliu tlie in lieofunum earth beo gehalgad thin noma. 10. cume to thin rice weorthe thin willa swa swa on heof una swilce on eorthe,
1 Baber's Preface. WyclifFe's N. T., p. Ix. London, 1810.
2 Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons, III., 400. London, 1823.
"^ Anglo-Saxon Gospels, Surtees Society, Vol. XXVIII., 1854. Watkin- son Library, Hartford, Conn.
975.] ^LFRIC'S HEPTATEUCH. 39
Matt. VI. 11. hlaf userne or ure daegliwaemlicu or in stondenlice sel ua tod£ege.
12. & forlet us ure scylde swa swa we ec forleten tlisB the
scyldigut with us.
13. & ne gelaet us gelaede in costongae ah gelese us of yfle.
-^Ifric was a Saxon abbot, who lived at the close of the tenth century. He was eminent for his piety, learning, and the abundance of bis Biblical labors. He ^'Englished" a large portion of the Old Testament, and was tbe first to make accessible to Saxon readers the historical books of the Bible. The list of his translations includes the Pentateucb,i Joshua, Judges,^ parts of the books of Kings, Esther, Job, Judith, and the whole of Maccabees. The chief sources of informa- tion respecting ^Ifric, are his prefaces, dedications, and homilies. These last he composed and distributed among the priests to be read from their pulpits. Many of his transla- tions were undertaken at the instigation of others; but he protests that he labored not for the gratification of kings and ealdormen alone, but " for the edification of the simple, who know only this (Saxon) speech ;— ' We have therefore put it not into obscure words, but into simple English, that it may easier reach the heart of those who read or hear it.' " ^
The Saxon Church was episcopal in form but evangelical in spirit. It was even Puritan in its tendency, since King Alfred took the Bible as the foundation of his laws. The Bible was not only translated into "simple English," but the people were exhorted to read it. In other words the religious life of the Saxons was founded on a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. A single extract from one of ^Ifric's homilies will show the high estimation put upon the truths of the Bible : " Whoever would be one with God,'' he wTote, " must often pray, and often read the Holy Scriptures.
^ Genesis together with the other books are incomplete.
^ The Heptateuch together with parts of Job and Judith were pub- lished in 1698, by Thwaites ; and recently by Greiner in his Library of Anglo-Saxon Pros3.
^ Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons, III., 471, note.
40 SAXOi^ AND ENGLISH VEr.SIOXS. [CHAP. I.
For when we pray, we speak to God; and when we read the Bible, God speaks to us. The reading of the Scriptures produces a two-fold advantage to the reader. It renders him wiser, by informing his mind ; and also leads him from
the vanities of the world to the love of God, Happy
is he then, who reads the Scriptures, if he convert the words into actions. The whole of the Scriptures are written for our salvation, and by them we obtain a knowledge of the truth."!
For the specimen of ^Ifric's translation given below, the reader is indebted to the kindness of F. J. Child, Professor of Anglo-Saxon in Harvard College, who by request tran- scribed it from iElfric's Heptateuch,^ and at the same time changed the characters peculiarly Saxon into English letters.
Ex. XX. 1. God spraec thus :
2. Ic eom Drihten thin God. ......
4. Ne wire tliu the agrafene Godas.
5. Ne ne wurtha. Ic wrece faedera unriht wisnysse on
bearnum.
6. And ic do mildlieortnjsse tham the me lufiath, and mine
bebodu healdath.
7. Ne nem thu Drihtnes naman on ydel ; ne byth unscyldig
se the his naman on ydel nemth.
8. Gehalga thone restedaeg.
9. Wire six dagas ealle thine weorc.
10. Se seofotha ys Drihtnes restedseg thines Godes ; ne
wire thu nan weore on tham daege, ne nan thara the mid the beo.
11. On six dagon God geworhte heofenan and eorthan and
S3e and ealle tba thing the on him synd, and reste thy seofothan daege, and gehalgode hyne.
12. Arwurtha faeder and modor.
13. Ne sleh thu.
14. Ne synga thu.
15. Ne stel thu.
16. Ne beo thu on liesre gewitnysse ongen thinne nehstan.
^ Townley's Biblical Literature, I., 341. London, 1821.
2 From a copy in Harvard College Library, edited by Thwaites.
1086-71.] AKCIENT SAXO^q- AXD MODERiT ENGLISH. 41
17. Ne wilna tliu tliines nehstan liuses, ne thu his wifes, ne liis wyeles, ne his wylne, ne his oxan, ne his assan, ne nau thara thinga the his synd.
With ^Ifric closes the Saxon period of Bible versions. Critically these Saxon translations are not without their im- portance, since they were made from early Latin versions while yet in their comparative purity.^ But as a matter of fact these ancient Saxon have no special relation to succeeding English versions. And this is traceable to the fact of the ]N"orman Conquest, which proved a fearful epoch in the history of the language, in that it so wrought upon the Saxon that it soon became almost an unknown tongue. It is a singular fact in the history of the Anglo-Saxons, that while they resisted the influences of Rome, first through the per- son of the Early Britons, and afterwards through that of the Roman missionaries uuder Augustine, yet when Roman influences came through the Teutonic Normans, the Saxon in his language, religion, laws and manners, succumbed to the conquerors; and yet only for a season, for in the end the Saxon obtained the ascendency. The language, therefore, of the Anglo-Saxon and his descendants, though more or less tinged by Latinisms is still Saxon. The language of our Saxon forefathers may be to us an unknown tongue, yet their speech is still our heart language, our mother tongue. The tree of modern English, in its body and main branches, is a Saxon tree. Cuttings from other languages may have been grafted into it, from time to time, yet the sap which gives them their vitality is Saxon sap. By a wonderful energy and inherent capacity the Saxon tongue has showed itself able to appropriate words from other languages, and thus adapt itself to the wants of the Anglo-Saxon race though it has be- come widespread and highly cultured. So that while modern Anglo-Saxon versions of the Bible cannot be said to touch
^ "Both Mil] and Tischendorf refer to Anglo-Saxon versions of the Scriptures in connection with textual criticism." Eadie's History of the English Bible, I., 17, note.
42 SAXOis^ AN"D ENGLISH VERSIONS. [CHAP. I.
yisibly upon ancient Saxon versions, yet the real life and ex- cellency of modern versions arise from an inseparable relation existing in the oneness of the language and genius of the race.
While it is correct in the main, to regard the period of the Norman Conquest as the turning point in the history of the Saxon tongue, yet for years previous to this, causes had been silently at work, which had much to do with the final result. "In the year 652," says Warton, ^4t was the common practice of the Anglo-Saxons to send their youth to the monasteries of France for education." ^ This custom prevailed for years, and became very common in the days of Edward the Confessor. He came to the English throne in 1042, but remained Norman both in his sympathies and speech. From the first "he set Norman families in the highest posts in Church and State." As a natural result the French language and customs were adopted by the English court. But back of all this, both as to time and influence, there was a marked superiority in Norman literature, architecture and tradesmanship, a superi- ority in general culture, which was appreciated and appro- priated by the Saxons. And thus the way for the Norman Conquest was prepared, which completed what had already been done.
At first William took quiet possession of the throne, desir- ing to reign not as a conqueror but as a king. No changes were made either in the laws or customs. It is even said, that the king attempted, though without success, to learn the English tongue, that ^'he might administer justice, person- ally, to the suiters in his court." But this quiet was soon broken. In the revolt of the people, the true character of the king was revealed. He swore an oath of revenge, and fulfilled it most cruelly with fire and sword. Foxe, in describ- ing this change in policy, says: "He chaunged the whole state of the gouernaunce of this comen weale ; and ordeyned new lawes at his owne pleasure, profitable to him selfe, but
^ History of English Poetry, I., 3. London, 1774.
1175.] SUKVIVAL OF THE SAXOIS" TOKGUE. 43
greuous and hurtfull to the people." ^ In ecclesiastical affairs the king's tyranny was especially felt. Saxon bishops were removed and foreigners put in their places. So degraded be- came the Saxon name that it was regarded as a reproach to be called an Englishman. The language was despised, and was driven from the court, castle and pulpit. Children at school were forbidden the use of their native tongue and in- structed in the knowledge of the Norman only. For a season it seemed as though the nationality of the people would be swallowed up. William the Conqueror and his descendants for four generations were not Englishmen.^
But if the language was driven from the court of the king and the castles of the barons, it took refuge around the fire- sides of the peasants. And if civil and religious liberty seemed to have been banished the country, yet the love of liberty still lived in the hearts of the people. During these days of darkness it is impossible to trace the intricate conflict of race and language, and tell where and when the elements of each coalesced. Yet results show, there was such a coming together that new elements were formed whose chief characteristics, both as to race and language, were Saxon and not Norman. During this long night of a century and a half, broad foundations were laid in the departments of language, religion and government, upon which the Anglo-Saxon race arose anew. The survival of the Saxon language, is seen in the Brut of Layamon, a poem written in Semi-Saxon in the latter part of the twelfth century. ^ For although it com-
' Acts and Monuments, p. 222, folio, 1596.
' " Tkis apayringe of the birthe tonge is by cause of tweye thinges ; oon is for cliildren in scole, agenes the usage and maner of alle other naciouns, beth compelled for to leve her ovvne langage, and for to con- Btrewe her lessouns and her thingis a Frensche, and haveth siththe that the Normans come first into England. Also gentil mennes children beth ytaugt for to speke Frensche, from the tyme that thei beth rokked in her cradel, and kunneth speke and playe with a childes brooche." As cited by Tyrwhitt in preface to Chaucer's Woi'ks, I,, 17. London, 1798.
3 Compare Marsh's Origin and History of English Language, p. 156. New York, 1862.
4:4: SAXOi^ AND ENGLISH VERSIONS. [CHAP. I.
prises more than thirty thousand lines, yet it is said to con- tain "less than fifty Norman words." With the Brut of Layamon begins the new English literature. Again the re- vival of the Saxon love of freedom is seen in the Great Charter so reluctantly signed by King John in 1215, in which English liberty finds no mean origin. Although this Charter was but the embodiment of the principles of freedom already existing in the written and in the unwritten law of England.^
With the thirteenth century the history of modern England begins. Upon these early foundations the descendants of the Saxons have ever since built. All English speaking peoples are interested in these facts, for had the Saxons been sub- jugated permanently, our language would have been Romance, and our religion Roman Catholic. Prominent among the causes which underlaid this victorious struggle of Saxon over Norman, was the inherent character of the Saxon. By nature he was strong, courageous and independent. Saxon character was remarkable for its simplicity and seriousness. A disposition which Mr. Taiue declares predisposed him to Christianity " with its gloom, its aversion to sensual and reck- less living, its inclination for the serious and sublime." ^ Be- sides, Mr. Taine is inclined to ridicule this serious and Hebraic spirit which he finds to be common both to the Bible and to Saxon character. Such derision is not to be wondered at, since the essence of this spirit is so antagonistic to French ideals. And yet this constitutional seriousness is a tower of strength to individuals and nations of Saxon descent.
With this new historical period, which began a hundred and fifty years after the Norman Conquest, there arose not
1 "But in itself," says Green, "the Charter was no novelty, nor did
it claim to establish any new constitutional principles The
Great Charter marks the transition from the age of traditional rights
to the age of written leorislation, of Parliaments and Statutes,
which was soon to come." Short History of English People, p. 153. New York, 1877.
2 English Literature, I., 44. New York, 1874
1200-50.] THE OEMULUM. 45
only a new era of Anglo-Saxon literature, but also of Bible translations. If the old Saxon versions began with the metrical paraphrase of Caedmon, the new English versions begin with the poetical paraphrase of Ormin. This work, ac- cordiog to Tyrwhitt, belongs to the middle of the thirteenth century. But according to Dr. White, it belongs to the first rather than the middle of the century. Although this para- phrase, like that of C^edmon, is not to be ranked as a transla- tion, yet it deserves attention as the first attempt in this new period, to render the Scriptures into the vernacular of the people. The Ormulum, which takes its name from the au- thor, is a metrical paraphrase of selections from Gospel histo- ries; or as Dr. White describes it, *^a series of Homilies in an imperfect state, composed in metre without alliteration, and, except in a few cases, also without rhyme ; the subject of the Homilies being supplied by those portions of the New Testa- ment which were read in the daily service of the Church." ^ There remains but a single manuscript of the Ormulum, which is preserved in the Bodleian Library. " It is a foho volume, consisting of ninety parchment leaves, besides twenty-nine others inserted, upon which the poetry is written in double columns .... and without division into verses. "^ The Ormulum was edited by Dr. White in two vols. 8vo, 1852, from the Bodleian manuscript. Thomas Tyrwhitt was the first to point out the metrical character of the Ormulum.^ The following is inserted as a specimen in which the Saxon characters give place to English letters.^
Affterr thatt tatt te Laferrd Crist After that that the Lord Christ
Wass cumenn off Egyppte was come from Egypt
^ Craik's English Literature and Language, I., 212. New Fork, 1863.
2 Ihid, p. 211.
3 Chaucer's Works, Introduction, I., 40. Oxford, 1795.
* Marsh's English Language and Literature, pp. 180, 185. New York, 1862.
46 SAXOK AND e:n^glish yeesioks. [chap, l
Inntill the land off Galileo, into the land of Galilee,
Till Nazarsetliess chesstre, to Nazareth's town,
Thserafliterr seggth the Goddspellboc Thereafter eaith the Gospelbook
And sithtlienn o thatt yer thatt Crist And afterwards in the year that Christ
Wass off twellf winnterr elde was of twelve winters age
Theyy comenn inntill Gerrsalaem they come into Jerusalem
Att teyyre Passkemesse, at their Passover,
& Jesu Crist wass thser withth hemm and Jesus Christ was there with them
& affterr thatt te tid wass gan and after that the time was gone
Theyy wenndenn fra the temmple, they wended from the temple,
An dayyes gang till efenn, a day's journey till evening,
& ta theyy misstenn theyyre child, and then they missed their child,
& teyy tha wendenn efft onngaen and they then turned back again '
thatt dere child to sekenn, that dear child to seek,
& teyy himm o the thridde dayy and they him on the third day
thaer fundenn i the temmple there found in the temple
Bitwenenn thatt Judisskenn flocc among the Jewish flock
Thatt Iseredd wass o boke ; that learned was in book;
1175.] SOWLE HELE. 47
& he tha gede forth withth hemm and he then went forth with them
& dide hemm heore wille, and did them their wDl,
& wass withth hemm till thatt he wass and was with them tUl that he was
Off thrittig winnterr elde. of thirty winters age.
During this period and even earlier, a number of Scripture paraphrases were produced. The most remarkable is that which is ^^ cald in Latyn tonge, Salus AnimoB,^^ and in EngHsh tongue, 8oivle Hele. The manuscript of this version is pre- served in the Bodleian Library, and was the gift of Edward Vernon. It is a translation of the Old and New Testaments into verse, and is supposed to have been made before the year 1300. The manuscript is highly illuminated. The following is inserted as a specimen of this paraphrase.^
Our ladi and hire suster stoden under the roode,
And seint John and Marie Magdaleyn with wel sori moode ;
Vr ladi bi heold hire swete son i brouht in gret pyne,
Ffor monnes gultes nouthen her and nothing for myne,
Marie weop wel sore and bitter teres leet,
The teres fullen uppon the ston doun at hire feet.
Alas, my son, for serwe wel off seide heo
Nabbe iche bote the one that hongust on the treo ;
So ful icham of serwe, as any wommon may beo.
That ischal my deore child in all this pyne iseo ;
How schal I sone deore, how hast I yougt liven withouten the,
Nusti nevere of serwe nougt sone, what seyst you me ?
Then spake Jhesus wordus gode to his modur dere,
Ther he heng uppon the roode here I the take a fere,
That trewliche schal serve ye, thin own cosin Jon,
The while that you alyve beo among all thi son ;
Ich the hote John, he seide, you wite hire both day and niht
That the Gywes hire son ne don hire non un riht.
The earliest English prose version of any portion of the
^ Warton's History of English Poetry, I., 19. London, 1774.
48 SAXOl?' AND ENGLISH VERSIONS. [CHAP. I.
Scriptures was that of the Psalms, by William de Schorham, Vicar of Chart-Sutton, near Leeds, iu Kent. He was admit- ted to tliis vicarage in 1320. The manuscript, therefore, be- longs to the earlier half of the fourteenth century. The ver- sion is attributed to Schorham, principally on the ground that in several parts of the manuscript -^the welfare of his soul is commended to the prayers of the devout reader." The trans- lation is pronounced to be, for the most part, "faithful and literal, except that the words of the gloss are frequently sub- stituted for those of the text." The following is transcribed as a specimen of the translation. ^
Ps. XXII. Our Lord gouemeth me, and nothyng shal defailen to me ; in
the stede of pasture, he sett me ther. He norissed me vp water of fylljnge ; lie turned my soule
fram the fende. He lad me vp the bistiges of rigtfulness ; for his name. For yif that ich haue gon amiddes of the shadowe of deth ;
Y shal nougt douten iuels, for thou art wyth me. Thy discipline and thyn amendyng ; comforted me. Thou madest radi grace in my sight ; ogayns hem that
trublen me. Thou makest fatt myn heued wyth mercy ; and my drynke
makand drunken ys ful clere. And thy merci shal folwen me ; alle dales of mi lif . And that ich woune in the hous of our Lord ; in lengthe of
dales.
During this same period, but a few years later, appeared Richard Eolle's version of the Psalms. He was chantry priest at Hampole, and was often called the hermit of Hampole. He died in 1349. " The business of whose life," says Baber, " was devotion, and whose amusement was study." ^ In his prologue Hampole gives some account of the Psalms, and describes them as comprehending " al the elde and newe Testa- ment and teching pleynly al of it, and the Misteries of the
' Preface. Forshall and Madden 'sTF^c/(/^^e Versions, I., iv. * Preface. V(jc\\f£e'^ New lestament. Baber's ed. , p. Isvi. London, 1810.
1349.] KOLLE'S YERSI02S' OF THE PSALMS. 49
trynyte and Christ's incarnation." At the close of the pro- logue, he says : " In this werke, I seke no straunge Ynglys, hot lightest and communest, and swilk that is most like unto the Latyne ; so that thai that knowes noght the Latyne be the Ynglys may come to many Latyne wordis. In the translacione I felogh the letter als-mekille as I may, and thor I fyne no
proper Ynglys, I felogh the wit of the wordis In the ex-
powning I felogh holi Doctors." ^ The following Psalm corres- ponds with number XXIII. of our version. It was transcribed by Mr. Baber from a manuscript of the British Museum, and is here inserted as a specimen of Hampole's version.^
Ps. XXII. Our lord gouerneth me and nothyng to me shal wante ;
stede of pasture thar he me sette. In tlie water of tlie hetyng forth he me brougte ; my soule
he turnyde. He ladde me on the streetis of rygtwisnesse for his name. For win yif I hadde goo in myddil of the shade we of deeth ;
I shal not dreede yueles, for thou art with me. Thi geerde and thi staf ; thei haue coumfortid me. Thou hast greythid in my sygt a bord ; agens hem that
angryn me. Thou f attide mine heued in oyle ; and my chalys drunkenyng
what is cleer. And thi mercy shal folewe me ; in alle the dayes of my lyf. And that I wone in the hous of oure lord in the lengthe of
dayes.
Besides the above there are other extant manuscripts bear- ing the name of the hermit of Hampole. One of these is in the Bodleian, and the other in the Sydney College Library. The Sydney manuscript is regarded as the oldest, and is proba- bly the original. The Bodleian manuscript has prefixed to it some verses which give an account of the original version made by Kichard Kolle about a hundred years before. These verses state that he made the translation at the instigation of
^ Preface. Wycliflfe's New Testament. Baber's ed., p. Isvi. London, 1810.
2 Ihid, p. Ixvii. 3
50 SAXON AND ENGLISH VERSIONS, [CHAP. I.
one Margaret Kirkby, and that the original manuscript at that time, 1422, was preserved in the nunnery of Hampole, where it was chained to the tomb of Rolle ; also that the evil Lollards had copied the same, and in their comments had engrafted upon it their heretical opinions. The following is a short ex- tract which comprises some of these particulars : ^
Tlierfore a worthy liolj man, cald Rycliard Hampole, Whom the Lord, that all thingus can, leryd lely on his scole, Glosed the Sauter that sues here, in Englysch tong sykerly. At a worthy recluse prayer, cald dame Merget Kyrkby. This same Sauter in all degre, is the self in sothnes. That lygt at Hampole in surte, at Richards own berynes, That he wrote with his Sondes, to dame Merget Kyrkby, And ther it lygt in cheyn bondes, in the same nonery. In Yorkshyre this nonery ys, who so desires it to know, Hym thar no way go omys,
Copyed has this Sauter ben, of yuel men of Lollardry, And afturward hit has bene sene, ympyd in with eresy.
And sclaundrid foule this holy man, with her wykked waryed wyles, Hier fantom hath made mony a son, thoro the fend that fele begiles.
In translating the Scriptures a decided preference was given, during this early period, to the book of Psalms. There was in the combined spiritual teaching and poetical flow of the Psalms that which both pleased and met the religious wants of the people. Other portions of the Scriptures were translated by those " among the clergy who were studious of the spiritual welfare of the flock over which they were appointed " ; espe- cially such portions " as the church in its service brought more immediately into public notice."^ The following be- longs to this period, or somewhat earlier, and is taken from " Specimens of Early English," edited by Morris and Skeat.^
' Preface. Forshall and Madden's Wycliffite Versions, I., v. Oxford, 1850.
2 Baber's Preface. WycliflPe's N. T., p. Ixvii.
3 Part n., p. 105. Oxford, 1873. The Saxon changed to English characters.
1350.] SPECIME]S-S OF EAKLY ENGLISH. 51
Matt. VI. 9-13. Vader cure tliet art ine lieuenes, y-lialged by tlii name, cominde thi riclie. y- wortlie tlii wil, as ine lieuene ; and ine ertlie. bread oure ecliedayes ; gef ous to day. and uorlet ous oure yeldinges ; ase and we uorleteth oure yelderes. and ne ous led naght ; into uondinge, ac vri ous vram queade, (evil.) guo by hit.
The specimens giyen below are from a maDuscript of the New Testament supposed to belong to the fourteenth century, and not far from the time of Hampole, though the language seems to indicate a much later date. Lewis makes special mention of the English of this version, as that spoken after the Conquest, though he fixes upon no definite period. The manuscript comprises the Gospels of Mark and Luke, and the Epistles of St. Paul.i
Mark I. 7. And be prechyde sayande, a stalwortber thane T schal come eftar me of whom I am not worthi downfallande, or knelande, to louse the thwonge of his Chawcers. VI. 22. When the Doughtyr of that Herodias was in-comyn and had tomblyde and pleside to Hnroicde, and also to the sittande at mete, the kynge says to the wench. XII. 1. A man made a vynere, and he made aboute a hegge, and grose a lake & byggede a tower. 38. Be se ware of the scrybes whylke wille go in stolis and be haylsede in the market and for to sit in synagogis in the fyrste chayers. Luke II. 7. . . . and layde hym in a cratche ; for to him was no place in the dyversory.
Among the evidences that this manuscript belongs to the age of Hampole is that the comments upon it are very like those he made upon the Psalter. But the language, as before suggested, places it later in the century. If so, its place is nearer to Wycliffe than to Hampole.
Thus far, in tracing the history of Saxon and English ver- sions, we have found that translations confine themselves, for the most part, to single portions or books of the Bible. Not-
* History of Translations of Eng. Bible, p. 16. London, 1739.
52 SAXON AND ENGLISH VERSIONS. [CHAP. I.
withstanding this, as historic monuments these early versions are of the highest importance, ilkistrating as they do the Eng- lish language in its Saxon origin. They further show that the eyangelical idea prevailed, which sought to have the Holy Scriptures in the language of the people. Indeed, this was the unquestioned right of the people until the beginning of the thirteenth century, when the Eomish decree of the Council of Thoulouse forbade the reading of the Holy Scriptures by the laity — a decree which required little or no authority to enforce, on account of the intellectual darkness of the people. But from the latter half of the fourteenth century, the trans- lation of the whole Bible and the reading of the same, became living questions. For already there had begun an intellectual awakening : Edward the Third reigned, Mandeville traveled, and Chaucer wrote. In a word, the way was prepared for the labors of John Wycliffe, the sworn enemy of priestcraft, the translator of the Bible, and the forerunner of the Keformation of the sixteenth century.
CHAPTER II.
WTCLIFFE AND THE WTCLIFFITE VERSIONS. A. D. 1324-1525.
JOHN WYCLIFFE was born in 1324,i in a village '^caiillid Wiclif," from which he received his family name. But little is known of his early boyhood. Although doubts have been thrown upon the date of his entering Queen's College, and upon the statement of his removal to Merton College, yet we are safe in accepting the fact of his early connection with the University of Oxford. In many respects the age was favorable for education. Schools were estabUshed for youth, not only at Oxford and Cambridge, but in every borough. However, a significant sign of the times was, that no person could act in the capacity of a school teacher unless licensed by a priest.^ Wycliffe studied at Ox- ford as a student, he also taught there as a professor. In fol- lowing the example of his predecessor Grosstete, who, in the previous century, resisted the arbitrary will of the pope in his disposal of Church benefices, Wycliffe possessed superior ad- vantages, drew a keener sword, and maintained a more suc- cessful struggle against the inroads of the papacy. If, like Kichard of Armagh, Wycliffe contended with the Mendicant orders, he sought not like that good bishop to reform them, but to exterminate them. Again, if like Geoffrey Chaucer, Wycliffe had confidence in his native tongue, and by his writings helped to give the English language a fixed place in literature, yet, unlike Chaucer, he gave to his age not works of poetry but the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.
^ The probable date of his birth.
2 Vaughau's Tracts and Treatises of Wydiffe. Introduction, p. iii London, 1815.
54 THE WTCLIFFITE VERSIONS. [CHAP. II.
Wycliffe was a master of the accepted learning of his times. He especially gave himself to the study of the civil and canon law. The former was a system of jurisprudence which had descended from the times of the Roman Empire, and even of the Eepublic. It was feudal in its characteristics, and most unfavorable to the liberties of the people. "However wise it may have been," says Vaughan, ^*in some of its provisions as relating to questions between man and man, it was in every way unfavorable to liberty as between sovereign and subject." ^ The latter, the canon law, was made up of the decrees of councils and popes. It was supreme in all ecclesiastical mat- ters, and not unfrequently it infringed upon the civil power.^ The temporal power of the papacy was both strenuously as- serted and denied in the time of Wycliffe. The writings of Wycliffe show how zealously he embraced the cause of civil
^ Vaughan's Tracts and Treatises of Wycliffe. Introduction, p. vi. ^ The following are a few selected tenets of the canon law which show the assumptions and fearful power of the Romish Church :
I. Princes' laws, if they be against the canons and decrees of the bishop of Rome, be of no force nor strength. II. The see of Rome hath neither spot nor wrinkle in it, nor can- not err. III. The bishop of Rome may excommunicate emperors and princes, depose them from their states, and assoil (absolve) their sub- jects from their oath of obedience to them, and so constrain them to rebellion. rV. The bishop of Rome may open and shut heaven unto men. V. The bishop of Rome may give authority to arrest men, and im- prison them in manacles and fetters. VI. The bishop of Rome may compel princes to receive his legates. VII. The clergy ought to give no oath of fidelity to their temporal
governors, except they have temporalities of them. VIII. Kings and princes ought not to set bishops beneath them, but reverently to rise against them, and assign them an honor- able seat by them. IX. He is [no] manslayer which slayeth a man which is excommuni- cate. (The no is ' ' wanting in the C. C. C. MS. ") See Cran- mer's Writings and Letters, pp. 68-75. Parker Soc. edition, 1846.
1360.] wycliffe's opposition to the mendicants. 55
freedom in its struggle with ecclesiastical tyranny. Next to the mastery of the civil and canon law, Wycliffe distinguished himself in the study of the philosophy of his times. This was the old system of Scholasticism, which had been recently revived by the renowned Ockham. Wycliffe, though naturally practical in his tendencies, was gifted with a speculative mind, and was thus fitted to wield the scholastic sword in the con- flict with his opponents. By his book on the Reality of Uni- versal Conceptions "he had created," says Neander, "an important epoch extending into the fifteenth century."^ His writings on subjects purely religious show how much he was influenced by this scholastic method. But Wycliffe, unlike other prominent school-men, made the Scriptures the supreme authority in all disputes, and insisted on their being inter- preted in accordance with their plain meaning, in opposition to the "sentences of the Doctors, or the philosophy of Aristotle." 2
The life of Wycliffe was one of conflict. As early as the year 1360, he distinguished himself as an opponent of the Mendicant friars. It is an evidence both of his ability and courage, that, single-handed, he dared to attack a Monastic order of such power and authority in the Romish Church. Two of these orders, the Dominican and Franciscan, ruled the Roman Catholic Church throughout Europe for nearly three centuries, with an absolute sway. And that too against the united influence of prelates and princes. These two orders were to the Romish Church and to the world, before the Reformation, what the Jesuits have been since that time.^ Devoting themselves to the interests of the papacy, they en- joyed peculiar immunities. They trampled upon the rights of the regular clergy and ignored their authority. By the
' Church History, V., 135. Boston, 1854.
^ Singularly enough Scholasticism made Aristotle the interpreter of St. Paul.
3 Warton's History of English Poetry, I., 294. London, 1774.
56 THE WYCLIFriTE VERSIONS. [CHAP. 11.
sole condition of professed poverty, they assumed to them- selves all riches. They begged for bread, yet lived in luxury. They professed to be the humblest of the humble, yet exalted themselves above kings. Though a servant of servants, yet they claimed that the dignity of the friar was above that of the bishop. " For they say," says Wycliffe, " that each bishop and priest may lawfully leave their first dignity, and after be a friar ; but when he is once a friar, he may in no manner leave that, and live as a bishop, or a priest, by the form of the Gospel." 1 By their zeal and show of piety, they grew in au- thority among the people ; and so infatuated did many become that they regarded the very garments of the friars as possessing miraculous powers ; and hence " made it an essential part of their last wills, that their carcasses after death should be wrapped in ragged Dominican or Franciscan liabits, and in- terred among the Mendicants," ^ in the belief that they might the more readily obtain mercy in the day of judgment if they should appear thus associated with these friars.
The occasion of WycMe's first attack upon the friars was their successful attempt to entice the students from Oxford into their convent schools. To such an extent were they suc- cessful, that parents refused to trust their children at the Uni- versity, lest they should be inveigled by the monks into their convents. In tliis contest Wycliffe appeared in behalf of the University, and dealt heavy blows against the friars. As a reward for his services, as well as in testimony of his ability, the mastership of Balliol College was bestowed upon him by the University in 1361.3 WycMe's opposition to the friars did not stop here. But from the pulpit and by his pen he at- tacked the very foundations of the Order, showing up the un- lawfulness of their begging and the baseness of their religious pretensions. For all this the people were prepared, for the land w^as burdened by these abuses as by a curse.
^ Tracts and Treatises, p. 319. London, 1845.
2 Moslieim's Church History, I., p. 390. New York, 1851.
3 Baber's Preface, Wycliffe's New Testament, p. xi. Loudon, 1810.
1369.] CHURCH A-^D STATE. 57
At the same time Wycliffe, with a supreme regard for right, stood in readiness to defend it, in the State as well as in the Church, against the demands of the hierarch3^ And the opportunity soon presented itself. In 1365 Urban V. revived the papal claim of tribute of a thousand marks, with arrear-s that had occurred since 1332, " as a feudal acknowledgment for the sovereignty of England and Ireland." i Edward III. refused the demand and referred the matter to his Parliament. The Parliament decided to resist by every means possible this proposed usurpation. About this time, there appeared an anonymous pamphlet, which maintained that the sovereignty of England had been forfeited to the pope by the failure to pay the annual tribute. And Vaughan justly remarks, " We may judge of the celebrity of WycHffe at this time, from the fact that he is called upon by name (in this tract) to show the fallacy of these opinions." ^ The challenge was promptly ac- cepted. Wyclifife's reply, which he put in the form of a debate in the House of Lords, took strong grounds against this claim, also against the ecclesiastical theory of the Middle Ages, that the State is but the child of the Church, consequently that kings are but vassals of the pope. This reply of Wycliffe is interesting, indicating as it does the intelligence of the age, since the arguments he puts into the mouths of his speakers are supposed to be their own sentiments. It shows, too, the in- trepidity and disinterestedness of Wychffe, in that just at this time his own preferment is subject to the good will of the pope. Wycliffe had received the appointment of Warden of Canterbury Hall in 1365, which was superseded by the act of Ai'chbishop Langham in 1367. The appeal of this question to Eome was as yet undecided. But notwithstanding this, Wycliffe, in this reply, boldly opposes papal assumptions, and thus imperiled his private interests at Eome."^
' Wycliffe's Tracts and Treatises. Intro., p. xviii. London, 1845.
2 lUd, p. xix.
* The appeal was lost. The pope confirmed the sentence against Wycliffe in the year 1370. Compare Milman's Latin Christianity, VII., p. 865. New York, 1874.
58 THE WYCLIFFITE YERSIOJTS. [CHAP. II.
Day by day Wycliffe used greater plainness of speech in por- traying the scandalous conduct of the friars. He was equally plain in showing up the arbitrary interference of the papacy in conferring church offices upon foreigners, many of whom were wholly unfitted for such positions. Such an appointment was that of Louis Beaumont as Bishop of Durham. This Beaumont was an illiterate French nobleman. He is reputed to have been so ignorant that he was unable to read the bulls announced at his consecration. In his attempt, it is said that he stumbled at the word metropoliticcB. After trying in vain to pronounce it, he said in French, "Suppose that said." Again, when he came to the words, in mnigmate, he called out, as before : " By St. Louis, it could be no gentleman who wrote this stuff." 1 Frequent remonstrances by the English Crown against this gross usurpation effected but little. The celebrated acts of Parliament against pro visors, in 1350, and of praemunire, in 1353, the former of which WTCsted from the papacy the right of disposing of all benefices, and the latter vindicated " the right of the State of England to prohibit the admission or the execution of all Papal Bulls or Briefs within the realm "2 — these acts, however bold and salutary, had become virtually dead letters. Romish spoliation was now greater than ever before. Hence, to save the property of the whole realm from being swallowed up by the hierarchy, embassies were sent out in 1373 and 1374, to treat with the pope and his nuncios, and remonstrate still further against papal "reservation of bene- fices in the Anglican Church." ^ Wycliffe was a member of the latter commission, which met at Bruges and sat for two years, but accomplished comparatively nothing. The insight, however, which Wycliffe gained during the sittings of this commission into the spirit and policy of Rome, doubtless
1 Townley's Biblical Literature, II., p. 3. London, 1821.
2 Milman's Latin Christianity, VII., p. 354. The custom existed " of appealing on questions of property from the decision of the English courts to the courts of the pontiffs,"
3 Tracts and Treatises of Wicliffe. Intro. , p. xxix.
1381.] WYCLIFFE BEFORE THE POPISH COUiTCIL. 59
strengthened his convictions in respect to the necessity of further reformation.
The prominent part which Wycliffe took in the controversy between the king and the pope excited the bitterest hatred against him. But if he lost with the pope, he gained with the king. His influence is now at its height at court. He is already the king's chaplain. Royal patronage is bestowed upon him. As an example, the rectory of Lutterworth is nota- ble, since he occupied it till the time of his death. At the Uni- versity of Oxford he was regarded almost as an oracle. His lectures in Philosophy and Divinity attracted students even from the Continent.^ His influence was not confined to his lectures at Oxford, but extended abroad through his writings, which were extensively read at the University of Prague. John Huss declared in a paper written about the year 1411, that for " thirty years the writings of Wycliffe were read at Prague University, and that he himself had been in the habit of reading them for more than twenty years." 2 if Wycliffe is summoned before papal councils, he is protected by powerful friends at court. In the Councils of London, 1377, and Lam- beth, 1378, he was thus protected. But afterwards, when, in the spirit of a true reformer, he attacked the fundamental doctrines of the Church of Rome, his court friends desert him, and clouds big with wrath gather around his unprotected head. Even the Duke of Lancaster, heretofore a firm supporter, now *• advised him to submit in all doctrinal matters to the judg- ment of his Order." But Wycliffe did not so understand his duty. And now that he is deserted by his political friends, his enemies are exultant. They flatter themselves that he will now retract his heretical opinions. They hasten, therefore, to summon him before an ecclesiastical court at Oxford. The court assembles, and is made up of archbishops, bishops, chan-
^ " Bohemians studied in Oxford, and were tliere seized with enthusi- asm for the doctrines of Wicklif." Neander's Church History, V., 241. Boston, 1854.
2 lUd, p. 242.
60 THE WTCLIFFITE YEKSIONS. [CHAP. II.
cellors, doctors, with many of the inferior clergy. Before this array of dignity Wycliffe stands alone. But in pleading his own cause, he is inspired with such consciousness of right, with such clear insight of truth, and with such force of native genius, that his defense extorts from his adversaries nought but praise. From this scene Wycliffe returned to Lutterworth, where, though silenced, he continued to lift up his voice against the false doctrines and base practices of the Eomish Church.
The reign of Edward III. was briUiant with mihtary, com- mercial and social successes. But towards its close, sad re- verses set in. Great prosperity bred moral corruption. In- stead of victory on the battle-field there was defeat. Then financial troubles ensued, which involved burdensome taxes, conflict between capital and labor, and the interference of legislation with the rights of the laborer. And in addition to all this there were repeated visitations of that fearful scourge, known as the Black Death, which paralyzed every nerve of the social system. In its ravages through towns and villages, about one half of the population was swept away. And the end was not yet, for hard upon this scourge followed organized systems of beggary and outlawry. The beggar and the bandit stalked independently through the land. This state of things worked a class jealousy between the rich and the poor; and matters were brought to a crisis by the uprising of such men as John Ball and Wat Tyler, who preached and headed insurrections among the people. This was the period of England's shame ; a period when the priests of religion did most to dishonor religion ; a period that cried aloud for refor- mation ; a period that called for such an one as John Wycliffe, who, though driven from the court and the University, yet in taking up his permanent abode at Lutterworth found coadju- tors, who were one with him in sympathy, persecution and labor. Here he organized a preaching ministry. He declared preaching to be the duty of the priestly office. " Mattins, masses and chantings," he wrote, were " man's ordinances,"
1380.] WTCLIFFE AT LUTTERWORTH. 61
but the preaching of the Gospel was of " Divine obligation."^ One of " the deceits '"■ of the times which Wycliffe exposed was that priests should give themselves to prayers rather than preaching. " These enlightened views/' says Vaughan, " con- cerning the paramount importance of preaching exhibit the mind of Wychffe as some two centuries in advance of his age."^ Besides he had no respect for the kind of preaching practiced by the Romish priests, and in order to improve upon their methods he said: "If begging friars stroll over the country preaching the legends of saints and the history of the Trojan war, we must do for God's glory what they do to fill their wallets, and form a vast itinerant evangelization to con- vert souls to Jesus Christ." ^ The followers of Wycliffe, in de- rision styled Lollards, increased rapidly in numbers towards the close of Wycliffe's life. And the secret of their power was that they bore in their hands, and hearts, and upon their tongues, the Scriptures in the language of the people. As to the exact time when Wycliffe conceived and executed his translation of the Bible we have no means of determining. But it was about the year 1380, and was the great work of his life. It was a permanent step in the way of reformation, the preparation of spiritual seed which his followers might sow, and from which year after year grand harvests might be reaped.
The translation of the Bible into English was an offense to the hierarchy. Xot that the Eoman Catholic Church had discarded the Bible, but rather had consecrated it as a thing of the Church, consequently a thing too sacred for the people to handle. The very language of the Bible, which for ^ thousand years had been Latin, was sacred because it was the language of the Church service ; to handle it, therefore, by way of translating it into a vulgar tongue, was sacrilege in the
' Tracts and Treatises of Wycliffe, p. 14 London, 1845.
'^ lUd, p. 24.
8 CUed by D'Aubigne's Hist, of Bef, V., 91. N. D., New York.
62 THE WTCLIFFITE YERSIONS. [CHAP. IL
eyes of the Church. There had akeady grown up a fixed re- lation between the Latin language and the Romish Church. So mutual had become this relation that they must stand or fall together. History plainly shows that Eome has relied upon the Latin Bible as a stronghold of defense. Hence Wycliffe's desire to give the Holy Scriptures to the people in their own language, and to deprive the Church of Rome of one of its chief sources of superstitious reverence. Hence also the violent opposition of the Romish Church to English versions of the Bible. The Gospel, said the papists, is the peculiar property of the Church " which Christ had entrusted with the Clergy and Doctors of the Church, that they might minister it to the Laity and weaker sort according to the exigency of the times." But now they bewailed the fact that through Wycliffe's translation, the Church was robbed of its " Evan- gelical Pearl," which was now cast out " and trodden under foot of swine," and that by this means, "the Gospel was made vulgar, and laid more open to the Laity and even to women who could read, than it used to be to the most learned of the Clergy." ^ These words of Knyghton, a canon of Leicester, and a cotemporary with Wycliffe, have been quoted often and deserve 'to be set forth again and again, since they show what has been the spirit of Rome from the first, in with- holding the Bible from the people.
The English version of the Bible by Wyclifie was such an offense, that a bill was introduced into the House of Lords in 1390, to suppress it. In the course of the debate the Duke of Lancaster is reported to have said : " We will not be the dregs of all ; seeing other Nations have the Law of GOD, which is
the Law of our Faith, written in their own Language
That he would maintain our having the Law in
our own tongue against those, whoever they should be, who'
^ Lewis' History of English Translations of the Bible, p. 21. Lon- don, 1729.
1415.] ROMISH HATRED OF THE BIBLE i:S ENGLISH. 63
first brought in the Bill." He was sustained by others, and finally the ''Bill was thrown out of the House." ^ Soon after the death of Wycliffe, the papists in their wrath sought to prohibit further translations of the Bible, and to destroy those already made. The constitution of Arundel, which Foxe calls " a cruel constitution," ordained in solemn council at Oxford in 1408, among other decrees, " that no man here- after by his owne authoritie, translate any text of the Scripture into English, or any other tongue by way of a boke, libell, or treatise ; and that no man read any such boke, libell or treatise, now lately set forth in the tyme of John Wycliflfe, or sithens, or hereafter to be set forth, in parte or in whole, pri^dly or appertly ; upon payne of the greater excommuni- cation, until the sayd translation be allowed by the ordinary of the place, or (if the case so require) by the councell prouinciall : He that shall do contrary to this shall likewise be punished as a fauourer of errour and heresie."^ In the year 1389 the followers of Wycliffe separated themselves from the Eomish Church, and in their public services used not only the Scriptures in English, but also the breviary, missils and j)rimer. Hence the alarm and severe action of this council, which as an instrument of terror was held suspended over the heads of all who dared to translate, or even read, the Holy Scriptures in English. But instead of intimidating the Lollards and banishing their heretical opinions, their numbers were multiplied and their courage increased. So enraged was the archbishop on account of the spread of Lollardism, "that he solicited the Pope to grant him the privilege of burning the remains of Wycliffe." This fiendish request was not then granted ; but in a few years afterwards the council of Constance, 1415, condemned Wyclifife as a heretic, and decreed the '' burning of his books, also the exhuming and burning of his bones, if they might be discovered and known from the bodies of other
' Lewis' History of English Translations of the Bible, p. 28. ^ Acts and Monuments, p. 627. Black Letter copy, 1596.
64: THE WYCLIITITE VERSIOi^S. [CHAP. II.
faithful people.'* But even tliis sentence was not executed until some thirteen years after, when, by the order of the pope, the grave was opened and the bones burnt and the ashes cast into the brook called the Swift.
We have Wycliffe's testimony concerning the bitter hatred of the papists of the Scriptures in English. In one of his homilies he writes: "And algates (always) they dyspysen that men shulden knowe Cryste^s lyfe, for tbenue prestes schulden schome (be ashamed) of hyre lyves, and specially these hye prestes, for thei reversen crist bothe in worde and in dede. And herfore on (one) gret byschop of englelond^ as men sayen, is yuel payed (pleased) that Godde's lawe is written in englysche to lewede (ignorant) men." ^ Again in Wycliffe's Wickett we read : " They say it is heresy to speak of the holy scripture in English, and so they would condemn the Holy Ghost that gave it in tongues to the apostles of Christ." 2 And in his tract written to expose the friars he
says : " And thus they pursue priests both to bren (burn)
them and the Gospel of Christ written in English." ^
In respect to the English version of the Bible made in the time of Wycliffe, friend and foe concur in attributing the translation to Wycliffe. And while it is difficult to determine with certainty his share in the work, there is no question but that its accomplishment must be traced to his zeal, encourage- ment, and devotion. ^ That there should be obscurity as to the exact date of the enterprise, and to the persons engaged in it, is by no means surprising, since it was undertaken in times of danger and persecution. The principal data, upon which to base an opinion regarding the time of the translation, must be found in the writings of Wycliffe, in which he defends the right of the people to the Scriptures in English, both as indi- cating his interest in the work and the opposition against it. And further, as intimating that the New Testament in whole
' T-.ewis' History of English Translations of the Bible, p. 32.
2 Tracts and Treatises of Wycliffe, p. 275. ^ j^icl, p. 247.
1380.] EAKLIER AJ^D LATER TEXTS. 65
or in part had already been set forth. Tracts of WycHffe con- taining such references are frequent after the year 1378. The year 1380 is the accepted date of the Wycliffe versions, and is probably the nearest approximation that can be made to the true date.
It has long been understood by those who have had to do with the Wychffe MSS. that there were evidences of an earlier and a later version, and that probably one was but the revision of the other. And yet great confusion has existed as to which was the earlier and which the later version. The question, however, has been most satisfactorily settled by the admirable edition of the Wycliffite versions by Forshall and Madden, 1850.1 In their preface they give the credit to Henry Whar- ton as the one who first determined the respective authorships and dates of the two versions. Wharton assigned the earher to Wychffe, and the later version to the author of the General Prologue. Dr. Waterland rejected this theory, and took as the earlier that which in fact was the later version. Lewis, who edited the New Testament of Wycliffe, unfortunately adopted the opinions of Waterland, and Mr. Baber followed his example. But in the examination of a large number of manuscripts, these last editors found one or two manuscripts containing a part of one and a part of another text, and that the earlier text occupied the first place. Again, they found fewer of the earlier MSS. extant; also, that the language of the earlier MSS. was somewhat more antiquated, and the style more involved.^ But the chief evidence is found in the Gen- eral Prologue, where it speaks of ^^ the English bible latetrans- latidy^ From which we may infer not only an earlier version, but also that the author of this Prologue was the author of the later version.
While it is now generally accepted that the earlier text of the New Testament is that of Wycliffe, there are evidences
^ Preface, Wycliffite Versions, by Forshall and Madden, I. , p. sxi. Ox- ford, 1850.
■^ Ihil, p. xxii. 2 11)1^^ Prologue, p. 58.
66 THE WYCLIFFITE VERSION'S. [CHAP. TI.
that go to show that the earlier text of the Old Testament is the work of Nicholas de Hereford, who was a coadjutor of Wyc- liffe, and a prominent leader of the Lollard party. His name is intimately associated with those of WycUffe, Reppington, and others, who were denounced as base heretics. In 1382, on the 18th of May, Hereford was summoned before the Synod of Preaching Friars, in London, for trial, and at an adjourned meeting in July he was excommunicated. He ap- pealed from this sentence to Rome, where he was thrown into prison. Obtaining his release he returned to England, only to be again imprisoned ; but in 1387 he was at liberty, and engaged in disseminating Lollard opinions.^ The original copy of this Hereford manuscript of the Old Testament is preserved in the Bodleian Library, and is ''corrected throughout by a contemporary hand." There is also a second copy in the same Library which contains at the end a note, in a different hand, and in paler ink, which assigns by name this version to Here- ford. Both of the manuscripts end with Baruch iii., 20.^ This abrupt ending, together with Hereford's apprehension in 1382, form a coincidence which so far helps to confirm the fact of authorship as rightly belonging to him. Moreover, from this break in the third chapter of Baruch, the translation is by another hand, which is judged to be that of Wycliffe. One of the grounds of this judgment is, that certain words of the text have a uniform rendering with the same words in the earlier text of the New Testament, while these same words are rendered differently in the portion of the Old Testament as- signed to Hereford. 3 In respect to the earlier version then, the New Testament text, and that portion of the Old Testa- ment which follows Baruch iii., 20, is the work of Wycliffe. The following excerpts are from Forshall and Madden's Wyc- liffite versions, and are here inserted as specimens :
Matt. VI. 9-13. Forsothe thus ye shulen preyen, Oure fadir that art in lieuenes, halwid be thi name ; thi kyngdom cumme to; "^be
^ Preface,Wycliffite Versions, by Forsliall and Madden, I., p. ^vM.,note. 2 Ihid, p. xvii. ' Ihid, p. xviii., note.
1380.] wycliffe's choice of words. 67
tlii wille doa as in lieuen and in erthe; gif to vs this day oure breed ouer otlier substaunce ; and forgeue to vs our dettis, as we forgeue to oure dettours ; and leede vs uat in to temtacioun, but delyuere vs fro yuel. '^Amen, that is, ^so be it. 1 Cor. XIII. 1-13, If I speke with tungis of men and aungels, ""sothli I baue not cbarite, I am maad as bras sownnynge, or a sym- bal tynkynge. And if I schal baue propbesye, and liaue knowun alle mysteries, and al kunnynge, \r science, and if I schal haue al feith, so that I ^bere ouere hillis, yro o x>lnce to another, forsoth if I ^schal not ^haue charite, I am nogt. And if I schal departe alle my goodis into metis of pore men, and if I schal bytake my body, so that I brenne, forsothe if I ^schal not haue charite, it profitith to me no thing. Charite is pa- cient, it is benygne, ^or of good will, charite enuyeth not, it doth not gyle, it is not inblowyn \Dith pride, it is not ambi- cious, ^or coueitous of worschipis, it sekith not tho thingis that ben her owne, it is not stirid to wraththe, it thenkith not yuel, it ioyeth not in wickednesss, forsoth it ioyeth togidere to treuthe ; it suflfrith alle thingis, it bileueth alle thingis, it hopith alle thingis, it susteyneth alle thingis, Charite fallith not down, where prophecyes schulen be voydid, ether lan- gagis schulen ceesse, ether science schal be distroyed. Forsoth of party we han knowen, and of party we prophesien ; forsothe whanne that schal coma that is perfyt, that thing that is of party, schal be avoydid, Whanne I was a litil child, I spak as a litil child, I undirstood as a litil child, I thougte as a litil child ; forsoth whanne I was maad man, I auoydide tho thingis that weren of a litil child. Forsoth we seen now by a myrour in a derknesse, thanne forsothe face to face ; now I knowe of party, '^thanne forsoth I schal knowe, as I am knowyn. Now forsothe dwellen feith, hope, and charite, thes thre ; for- soth the mooste of thes is charite.
The above extracts show but in part the excellencies of Wychffe as a translator. There is a marked simplicity in his phraseology which has been peculiar ever since to English ver- sions of the Scriptures. It is true that the English language at that period was favorable in the " simplicity of its vocabu- lary and verbal combinations," which corresponded in these particulars to the Greek and Hebrew of the original text. Then Wycliffe's ideal in the choice of words was to adapt the Scriptures to the common people ; and though he translated
68 THE WYCLIFFITE YERSIOXS. [CHAP. II.
from the Latin Vulgate he did not follow it literally either as to the order or the form of its words.
Hereford, on the contrary, was a literal translator. He fol- lowed closely the order of the Latin text in his desire to make a correct translation. He introduced many Latinisms; and yet so comparatively free was he from them that Mr. Marsh refers to him as a resuscitator "of obsolete Anglo-Saxon forms." Marsh further suggests that Hereford might have been familiar with an Anglo-Saxon version of a part at least of the Bible. ^ This is no unimportant point in the history of English translation, since, if it can be established, our English Bible of to-day may be traced back, with scarcely a broken link, to its Saxon origin. While there can be no question in regard to the fact that when the Wycliffite versions were first circu- lated there was no other English version extant, yet may there not have been a copy or copies of iElfric's Heptateuch not only in existence but accessible to such scholars as Wycliflfe and Hereford ? In assuming an affirmative answer to this ques- tion there is involved nothing improbable, since the Hepta- teuch is assigned to the first quarter of the eleventh century; the period therefore intervening from ^Ifric to Wyclifife would be less than three hundred and fifty years. A very old tract, written about the year 1400, mentions "a Bible possessed by one Wering, of London, which had been seen by many, and seemed two hundred years old."^ If any depend- ence can be placed upon the presumed age of this Bible, it must have been not only a very early version, but possibly a copy of ^Ifric's Heptateuch. The following specimens are here inserted from tlie earlier version attributed to Hereford : ^
Gen, XXII. 1-19. Aftyr that tlies tliingis weren doon, God tern tide Abraham, and seide to hjm, Abraham ! Abraham ! He an- sweride, I am nygh. He seide to hym, Tak thin oonlie gotun sone, whom thow louest, Ysaac, and go into the loond of
^ English Language and Literature, p. 360. New York, 1862.
2 Preface, Forshall and Madden 's Wycliffite Versions^ I., p. xxi., note.
3 lUd. Extracts from, in loco.
1382.] HEREFOED's tra:n"slatio:s'. 69
visioun, and tliere offre hym into sacrifice al brent, vpon oon of the hillis wliiclie I shal sliewe to thee. Thanne Abraham on the nyght with rysynge, dighte his asse, ledynge with hym two yong men, and Ysaac his sone ; and when he had hewid his wode into brent sacrifice, he gede to the place which com- aundide hym God. And the thrid day, the eyen heued vp, he sawe a place ^a feer ; and seide to his children, Abydith here with the asse, I and the child vnto thidir goynge, aftir that we hann onowryd, we shulen com agen to yow. And he toke the wode of the sacrifice, and putte vpon Ysaac, his sone ; he forsothe bare in his hondis fier, and a swerd. And whanne thei two geden to gideris, seide Ysaac to his fadir, My fadir ! And he answeride, What wilt thow, sone? Lo ! he seith, fier and wode, where is the sacrifice of that that shal be brent ? Abraham seide, God shal puruey to hym, my sone, the sacri- fice of that that shal be brent. Thanne thei geden togider, and comen to the place whom God shewide to hym, in the which he bildide an auter, and aboue made the wode ; and whan he had bound un Ysaac, his sone, he putte hym in the auter, vpon the heep of wode. And he strawghte his honde, and toke the swerd, that he myght offre his sone. And loo ! the aungel of the Lord fro heuene cryede, seiynge, Abraham ! Abraham ! The which answeride, I am nygh. And he seide to hym, Strecche thow not thin bond out vpon the child, and do not eny thing to hym ; now I haue knowun that thow dredist God, and thow hast not sparid to thin one goten son for me.
And the aungel of the Lord clepide
Abraham eftsouys fro heuene, seiynge, Bi my sylf I swore, seith the Lord, for thow hast do this thing, and thow hast not sparid to thin oon gotun sone for me, I shal blis to thee, and I shal multiply thi seed as sterris of heuene, and as grauel that is in the brenk of the see ; thy seed shal weeld the gatis of his enemyes; and al folk of the erthe shal be blessid in thi seed, for thow hast obeishid to my vois. And Abraham turnyde agen to his children, and gede to Bersabee togider, and he dwellide there.
Compare the following, whicli is also a specimen of the ear- lier version of Hereford, with the translations of the same by Schorham and Hampole, inserted above.^ The numbering of the Psalms, in the Wycliffe versions, follows the Latin Yulgate,
' See pages 48, 49, above.
70 THE WYCLIEFITE VERSIONS. [CHAP. II.
which, with the Septuagint, differs from the Hebrew Bible. Consequently, Number XXII. here corresponds with Number XXIII. of our present English Bible, which, in its numbering, follows the Hebrew: ^
Ps. XXII. 1-6. The Lord gouerneth me, and no thing to me shal lacke ; in the place of leswe where he me ful sette. Ouer watir of fulfilling he nurshide me ; my soule he conuertide. He broghte doun me vpon the sties of rightwisnesse ; for his name. For whi and if I shal go in the myddel of the shadewe of deth ; 1 shal not dreden euelis, for thou art with me. Thy gerde and thy staf ; tho han confortid me. Thou hast maad redi in thi sighte a bord ; agen hem that trublyn me. Thou hast myche fattid in oile myn hed ; and my chalis makende ful drunken, how right cler it is. And thi mercy shal vnder- folewe me ; alle the dayis of my lif. And that I dwelle in the hous of the Lord ; in to the lengthe of dayis.
The later version, by John Purvey, is in part a revision, and in part a new translation. The date of the work is vari- ously estimated, some ascribing it to the year 1388, others putting it as late as 1396. The former is probably nearer the correct date.^ In the New Testament, and that portion of the Old Testament translated by Wycliffe, few changes compara- tively were made; but in that part of the Old Testament attributed to Hereford the changes are more marked. Before
^ The Septuagint and Vulgate join the IX. and X. Psalms, thereby making the X. to correspond with the XI. of the Hebrew Bible ; and so on to the CXIV. of the Hebrew, where the Septuagint and the Vulgate unite two Psalms into one, that is, the CXIV. and CXV. of the Hebrew, so that in the Septuagint and Vulgate the CXIV. corresponds with the CXVI. of the Hebrew Bible. But as the Septuagint and Vulgate end the CXIV. Psalm with the ninth verse, and number the remaining portion as the CXV. Psalm, in numbering they are only one behind the Hebrew Bible till they come to the CXLVII,, which they divide at the twelfth verse, thereby making the CXLVIiI. Psalm to correspond as to number in each of the three versions. So also in Wycliffe's version, and that of our Authorized version ; the former of which follows the Vulgate, and the latter the Hebrew numbering.
•^ Forshall and Madden's WycUffite Versions, Preface, pp. xxiii,, xxiv.
1388.] JOHJ^ PURVEY, "WYCLIFFE'S GLOSSER." 71
entering upon the work of reyision, Purvey states that he made a new Latin text by first gathering " manie elde biblis ... .to make oo (one) Latyn bible sumdel trewe."^ He then compared it with the glosses of learned commentators, and '• speciali Lire on the elde testament, that helpide ful myche in this werk; the thridde tyme to counseile with elde grama- riens, and elde dyuynis of harde wordis, and harde sentencis.
The iiij tyme to translate as cleerli as he coude to the
sentence, and to haue manie gode felawis and kunnynge at the correcting of the translacioun."^ From this we learn that he had fellow-helpers, and that he sought to make thorough work. John Purvey was a leader in the Lollard party after the death of Wycliffe. He was learned and eloquent, and was an able defender of the Wyclitfite doctrines. Knyghton describes him as being intimately associated with Wycliffe, and a boarder in his house.^ Falling into the hands of Archbishop Arundel, he was imprisoned and forced to abjure, after which he was |)romoted by that wily bishop. But it was all in vain, for Purvey coming again to his right mind relapsed into his former opinions, and was again deprived of his liberty, and probably died in prison. Thomas AValden, though an enemy of the Lollards, graphically describes John Purvey as "the Library of the Lollards and Wiclif's Glosser, an eloquent Divine, and famous for his Skill in the Law."^
The question settled that John Purvey is the author of the General prologue of the Wycliffite versions ; the fact is thereby established that he is the author of the later version.^ But so soon was this revision undertaken after the first was set forth ; and as it w^as done by one who was familiarly styled, " Wycliffe's Glosser ; " by one who was a boarder in his house ; by these and other facts put together, we are constrained to
^ Forshall and Madden's Oeneral Prologue, p. 57.
2 lUd, p. 57.
3 Lewis' History of English Translations of the Bible, p. 34.
4 lUd, p. 35.
^ See the several steps bv which this conclusion is reached in the Preface to the Wycliffite Versions, p. 25. Forshall and Madden's ed., 1850.
72 THE WTCLIFFITE YERSIOi^S. [CHAP. II.
believe that in its origin at least, this later version was largely due to John Wycliffe. Though it is true, that he could not have witnessed much of its progress, as he died in 1384. The following is inserted for the sake of comparison, from the later version, though it but imperfectly illustrates the im- provements made by Purvey.
Gen. XXII. 1-19. And after tLat these tliingis weren don, God assaiede Abraham, and seide to liym, Abraham ! Abraham ! He answerde, Y am present. God seide to him, Take thi "^sone oon gendrid, whom thou louest, Ysaac ; and go into the lond of visioun, and offre thou hym there in to brent sacri- fice, on oon of the hillis whiche Y schal schewe to thee. Therfor Abraham roos by night, and sadlide his asse, and ledde with hym twey yonge men, and Ysaac his sone ; and whanne he hadde hewe trees in to brent sacrifice, he gede to the place which God hadde comaundid to him, Forsothe in the thridde dai he reiside hise iyen, and seiy a place afer ; and he seide to his3 children. Abide ye here with the asse, Y and the child schulen go tbidur ; and after that we han wor- schipid, we schulen turne agen to you. And he took the trees of brent sacrifice, and puttide on Ysaac his sone : forsothe he bar fier, and swerd in hise hondis. And whanne thei tweyne geden togidere, Isaac seide to his fadir, My fadir ! And he answerde. What wolt thou sone ? He seide, Lo ! fier and trees, where is the beeste of brent sacrifice ? Abraham seide, My sone, God schal puruey to hym the beeste of brent sacri- fice. Therfore thei geden togidere, and camen to the place which God hadde schewid to hym, in which place Abraham bildide an auter, and dresside trees aboue ; and whanne he hadde bounde togidere Ysaac, his sone, he puttide Y^saac in the auter, on the heep of trees. And he helde forth his hond, and took the swerd to sacrifice his sone. And lo ! an aungel of the Lord criede fro heuene, and seide, Abraham ! Abra- ham ! Which answerde, I am present. And the aungel seide to hjon, Holde thou not forth thin honde on the child, nether do thou ony thing to him ; now Y haue knowe that thou dredist God, and sparidist not thin oon gendrid sone for
me Forsothe the aungel of
the Lorde clepide Abraham the secounde tyme for heuene, and seide, The Lord seith, Y haue swore bi my silf, for thou hast do this thing, and hast not sparid thin oon gendrid for
1850.] FOESHALL AI^D MADDEX'S EDITION". 73
me, Y schal blesse thee, and Y sclial multiplie thi seed as the sterris of heuene, and as grauel which is in the brynk of the see ; thi seed shal gete the gatis of hise enemyes ; and alle the folkis of erthe schulen be blessid in thi seed, for thou obeiedist to my vois. Abraham turnede agen to hise children, and thei geden to Bersabee togidere, and he dwellide there.
Forshall and Madden's noble yolumes ^ from which the above was taken, render accessible a mine of wealth hereto- fore closed except to a favored fcAV. A mine rich in speci- mens not only of the earliest English Scripture versions, but of the English language of the fourteenth century. This edition was published in 1850, and furnished for the first time the Wycliffite versions of the whole Bible in print. The later version of the New Testament was published by J. Lewis in 1731 ; which was reprinted by H. H. Baber in 1810. Again this later version was published by the Messrs. Bagster in the English Hexapla, 1811, from a manuscript now in the collection of the earl of Ashburnham. The earlier version was not printed till 1848, when it was published by Mr. Lea Wilson. The Song of Solomon was the only portion cf the Old Testament of the Wycliffite versions published previous to 1850. This was printed by Dr. Adam Clarke in his Com- mentary, 1810-1825.^ The Messrs. Forshall and Madden in preparing their edition of the Wycliffite versions, examined, over a hundred and fifty manuscripts. In giving an account of their work they say: "The texts have been printed from the MSS. with scrupulous exactness ; " that four copies were selected in the earlier version, and the text formed from these, was collated with nineteen other manuscripts. For the later text one manuscript was followed, but it was compared
1 The Holy Bible, ivith the Apocryphal Books in the Earliest English Versions, by John Wycliffe and his Followers. With the General Pro- logue ; also with an invaluable Preface and Glossary, 4 vols. 4to. Edited by Rev, Josiali Forshall, and Sir Frederic Madden. Oxford, 1850.
•^ Ibid, I., Preface, p. 1, note. 4
74 THE WYCLIFFITE VERSI0:N^S. [CHAP. II.
with ''no less than thirty-four other copies." ^ The majority of the manuscripts examined by these editors were transcribed about the year 1420 ; while some date as early as 1390.
From the large number of the Wycliffite MSS. still pre- served in the public and private libraries of Great Britain, it is evident that the later manuscripts soon displaced the earher ones. It is likewise evident that this Manuscript English Bible of Wycliffe enjoyed a wide circulation, notwithstanding the fiery persecution waged against its friends. A dark page in the history of these times was recorded by Foxe when he published extracts from the Bishop's Kegisters, which were filled with the names of the accused, with an account of the cruel penalties inflicted upon them. Margery Backster was accused on the ground of inviting Joan Clifieland, her maid, to come to her chamber " to hear her husbande reade the lawe of Christ vnto them, which law is written in a booke that her husbande was wont to reade to her by night, and that her husbande is well learned in the Christian verity." ^ The ac- cusation against Kichard Fletcher reads : " A most perfect doctour in that sect, and can very well and perfectly expounde the Holy Scriptures, and hath a booke of the new law in English." ^ Those thus accused were forced to abjure their opinions, or suffer imprisonment or some humiliating pen- ance. Notwithstanding all this, the people during these evil times, eagerly sought and read the Scriptures. To meet this demand manuscripts were transcribed containing separate books, particularly those of the New Testament. "These, because writing was dear and expensive," says Lewis, "and copies therefore of the whole New Testament not easy to be purchased by the generality of Dr. Wiclif's followers, were often written in small Volumes. One of these little books in
1 Ibid, I., p. 34.
2 In 1429, Nicholas Belward was accused for possessing a New Tes- tament which he bought in London for 4 marks and xl. pence ; equal to £2 16s. 8d. , or about fourteen dollars in American money. Compare Foxe's Acts and Hon., p. 788, folio edition, 1596.
3 Hid, p. 788.
1400.] AKTI^UATED FOKMS AIS^D OBSOLETE WORDS. 75
24*^ I have; it contains St. John's Gospel, the Epistles of St. James, St. Peter, St. John, St. Jucle, and the Apocalyps." ^ By reference to the Bishop's Registers it will appear that these little books were numerous, as they are often specified as being found upon the persons of those accused. Some- times the Gospels are spoken of either separately, or together; or it is the book of Acts, or the Epistle of James, or the Apocalypse that is specified. It appears also from these Registers, that many of those who possessed these little volumes were either servants or tradesmen. And it is not an unfair inference to suppose that there were those who were both able and willing to bear the expense of copying the manuscripts for distribution among the people.
In these WycliflBte versions, which are now five hundred years old, there are, as we might expect, antiquated forms of speech, peculiarities in spelling, and obsolete words, which unite in making the printed page somewhat obscure. And yet it is quite noticeable that when the spelling is modernized, so simple is the style and Biblical the phraseology, that the text is easily read and understood, though a certain quaint- ness remains. The following list will illustrate how words most familiar become strange through their orthography, and consequently obscure the text: Asaught, assault ; eeris, ears ; earnys, earnest; felough, follow; fend, fiend; gestis, gue^t^-, hole, whole ; hoo, who ; iche, each ; iye, eye ; kilden, killed ; ligyng, lying; maad, made ; meest, most; nogt, nought ; not- ther, neither ; oo, one; cost, host; patvme, palm ; pite, piety; j9n*e, pray; schoon, shnn ; thennis, thence ; ly things, tidings; unpesiUe, unpeaceable; waast, waste; tvolun, will; ynough, enough.
The above were selected from the glossary attached to Mr. Saber's edition of " Wychffe's New Testament," printed in 1810. A glance at this glossary shows also a large number of words, at that time considered obsolete or strange, which are
1 History of Translations of Eng. Bible, p. 39. 1739.
76 THE WYCLIFFITE VEKSIOi^S. [CHAP. 11.
now familiar ; which argues incidentally, that we are draw- ing nearer in know^ledge and use of language, to the age of Wycliffe and Chaucer. There are, how^ever, in the Wycliffite versions many obsolete w^ords, which divide themselves into two classes ; those that have changed their meaning, but not their form, and those that have changed both form and mean- ing. In the first class we have such words as catel, substance or goods; castel, town or village; cofyns, baskets; deyarte, divide; lecliis, physicians ; o;??/mo^/7^, rumor ; sad, firm, and sadnesse, firmness or steadfastness ; oppresse, stop ; clarified, glorified; tent, attention, heed; ^ree, wood; Z>i7a^e, deliver; gahhe, lie ; all of which may be found below in their several connections.^
Matt. IX. 35. And Jhesus compaside aboute alle citees and castels. X. 35. Sothely Y cam to departe a man ageins his fadir. XIV. 20, . . . twelue cofyns ful. XXIV. 9. Thenne thei schulen hitake you ""in to tribulacioun and thei scliulen slee you. Mark XIII. 7. Sotlili whanne ye schulen heere batels and opyniouns of bateils, drede ye not. Luke VI. 48. . . . for it was foundid on a sad stoon.
VIII. 43. . . . which hadde spendid al hir catel in to lechis, nether myghte be curid of ony. XI. 53. . . . and oppresse his mouth "^of many thingis. John XV. 8. In this thing my fadir is clarified.
Gal. I. 20. . . bifore God for I lye not, ^or gnbhe not.
I. Tim. IV. 16. Tak tent to thi silf and doctryn.
II. Tim. II. 20. But in a greet hous ben not oneli vessels of gold and of
siluer, but also of tree and of erthe.^ II. Pet. III. 17. . . . bi errour of vnwijse men, falle awey fro youre owne sadnesse.
In the second class, which is made up of words obsolete both in form and meaning, we have such examples as aisel, vinegar; arettide,rQckonQ^; ane7itis, with.', cJiatucers, shoes; clepe, call ; contakes, reproaches ; dyteris, writers ; eft-soone,
' These examples are from the Earlier version, See Forshall and Madden's ed. in loco.
^ This from the Later version. Ibid, in loco.
1400.] IKFLUEXCE UPON SUBSEQUENT TRANSLATIONS. 77
again; egre, sour or sharp; faage, flatter; grees, steps or stairs ; lieriynge, praising ; herbore, lodging ; liestis, commands, though tlie word lives in leliest ; liyne, laborer ; hitte, cut ; hnytcliis, bundles; lepis, baskets; maivmetis, idols; querne, mill ; rewme, kingdom ; rochet, cloak ; scot, payment, though it lives in scot-free ; sotlieli, truly ; thilke, that ; thral, servant or slave, though the word lives in thralldom ; ived. a pledge, though it lives in wedding; ivonne, custom; this change, however, is only in form, as it is the same as wont ; woot, know.
While the Wycliffite versions were translated from the Latin Vulgate, and in many instances may be obscure, yet not a few passages might be cited to show the possible influence of these versions upon subsequent translations. Passages also are not wanting which show a superiority in rendering over more re- cent translations. Something of this superiority and influence will appear in the following passages from Forshall and Mad- den's Wycliffite versions:
Matt. VII. 14, How streit is the gate and narewe the weye, taat leditli to lijf, and Hhere ben fewe that fjnden it.^ This reading is followed by Tyndale and the A. V. XVI, 23. And Petre took hym, and bigan to blame him, and seide, Fer be it fro thee. Lord ; this thing schal not be to thee, 2 The Genevan version reads : Master, looke to thy self ; and in Tyndale's version the read- ing is : Master, faver thy selfe. The A. V. reads after Wycliffe • Be it farre from thee Lord, John III. 3. . . . Treuli, treuli, I seye to thee, no hut a man schal be born agen, he may not se the kyngdom of God.2 Tyndale reads : except a man be boren a newe ; while the Genevan version has : begotten againe. The A. V. follows Wycliffe. Though pos- sibly Tyndale furnishes the preferable reading. IV. 23. But the our cometh, and now it is, whanne trewe worschiperis schulen worschipe the fader in spirit and treuthe ; forwhi and thefadir sekith suche, that
* Earlier version, ^ Later version, ^ Earlier version.
78 THE WTCLIFFITE VERSIOiJ^S [CHAP. II.
John IV, 33. schulen worsclupe Mm.' This is followed by the A, V. But Tyndale has : requyreth such ; and is followed by the Genevan version. Rom. VIII. 15. . . . but ye han taken the spirit of adopcioun of sori,es? This is followed by Tyndale, the Ge- nevan version, and the A. V. But in common with Wycliflfe, they are all indebted to the Vulgate. XII. 1. . . . that ye gyue youre bodies a i^?^2/n^e «acn- fice.^ This is followed by the A. V. But Tyndale renders: aquicke sacrifice; which is adopted by the Genevan version.
I, Cor. II. 10 the depe thingis of God^ Tyndale
translates : the hottome of God's secretes. Wycliife's rendering is followed by the A. V. X. IQ.TJiecuppeofUessynge^hsichichiDehlessen. This is followed by Tyndale, also by the Genevan and the Authorized versions. n. Cor. VI. 14. . . . or what/^^6»zc«c7iip of lig-httoderknessis? This rendering is adopted by the A. V. Tyndale has: company ; and is followed by the Genevan version. The Vulgate has : societas, showing that in this instance Wycliffe was not indebted to the Vulgate. VIII. 1. But, britheren, we maken knowun to you the grace of God. This reading is preferable to that of Tyndale, who translates : 1 do you to icit brethren ; and is followed by the Genevan and Authorized versions. In the time of Tyndale and even when our present translation was made, the word do was used in the sense of make, and to wit in the sense of to knoio ; hence the phrase at the time was intelligi- ble though now obsolete.
James I. 5 and xpbraydith not. This was fol- lowed by the Authorized version. Tyndale trans- lates ; and casteth no man in the teth ; which is followed by the Genevan version.
The above passages and others that might be added, look
' Earlier 'cerslon. 2 Earlier and Later icersions. 2 Later 'cersion.
"* This with the remaining examples, belongs in common to both versions.
1514.] LITERARY IKFLUEI^fCE OF BIBLE YERSIOIJ^S. 79
very much as though there was an intimate relation between the Wychffite versions and subsequent translations of the New Testament. But as this is questionable the matter will come up for consideration in another connection. ^
There is an important relation existing between Ver- nacular versions of the Scriptures and the languages into which they are translated. So marked is this influence where such translation is made, that it constitutes an epoch in the literary and in the religious history of a people. " The trans- lation of the Bible into Latin," says Schlegel, "created an epoch altogether new in that language, constituting a late and, in some instances, a rich after-crop of Latin literature.
On the extinction of the old literature there was an
almost universal literary dearth, until the period when Chris- tian writers made their appearance, in the fourth and fifth centuries. ''2
What is true of the Latin is likewise true of the German language. Luther's translation of the Bible lies at the founda- tion of German literature as well as the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Schlegel speaks with authority when he says: "It is remarkable that no other modern tongue has adopted so many Biblical terms and phrases, and introduced them into common language. My own opinion quite coin- cides with that of the critics who hold this circumstance to be most felicitous, to which I think I am justified in ascribing some portion of that continuous intellectual energy, life and simplicity, which preeminently characterize the diction of our most distinguished German writers." ^
Now what Latin and German versions did for their respec- tive languages, English versions of the Bible have done for the Enghsh tongue. It was a bold stroke on the part of
' See on pages 136, 127, below.
2 History of Literature, p. 142. Bolm's edition. London, 1873.
3 lUd, p. 339.
80 THE WYCLIFFITE VERSIONS. [CHAP. II.
Wycliffe to set forth the Scriptures in the language of the people, but the results far exceeded his fondest expectations. In all simplicity he thought to give the word of God to his own age, but in fact he kid the foundation for the Eeforma- tion in England, and for the permanence and excellence of the EngUsh language. To understand the influence of the AVycliffite manuscript yersions upon the religion of those times, as well as years afterwards, we have but to trace the history of the Lollards from the age of Wychffe to that of Tyndale. For in this history of almost a century and a half, we shall find that the religious life of the persecuted Lollards was based upon these Wycliffite versions of the Holy Scriptures. Even in the closing years of this period, in the reign of Henry Vin., it was adjudged a crime to read or possess the Scriptures in the English tongue. One of the charges against Eichard Hunn, who suffered martyrdom in 1514, was "the kepyng diners Englishe bookes, prohibited and dampned by the law ; as the Apocalips in Englishe, Epistles and Gospels in Englishe, Wickleffe's dampnable workes, and other bookes conteyning infinite errours, in the whiche hee hath bene long tyme accustomed to read, teach, and study dayly." ^ So in the case of James Brewster, who was burned at the stake in 1511. One of the items against him was the " hauing a certaine litle booke of Scripture in Englishe of an old writyng almost worne for age, whose name is not there expressed." ^ Like- wise William Swetyng, who suffered martyrdom with Brewster, was charged with "having much conference with one Wil- liam Man of Boxstede, in a booke, which was called Mathewe." ^ These Wycliffite versions are the visible links which connect the Reformation of the sixteenth with that of the fourteenth century, " Wickliffe is the greatest English reformer," says D'Aubigne, ^' he was in truth the first re- former of Christendom, and to him, under God, Britain is indebted for the honor of being the foremost in the attack
^ Foxe's Acts and Monuments, p. 931, 1596. 2 Ibid, p. 944. 3 jftj^, p. 944.
1365.] EEVIYAL OF THE TEUTONIC ELEMENT IN SPEECH. 81
upon the theocratic system of Gregory YII. The work of the Waldenses, excellent as it was, cannot be compared to his. If Luther and Calvin are the fathers of the Reformation, Wickliffe is its grandfather." ^ Yea, so long as Protestantism means, separation between Church and State, hatred of spiritual hierarchies, the love of Jesus Christ in the heart, and the love of his word in the language of the people, the name of John Wycliffe will stand the first among its founders, and the chief among its supporters.
If there was in the time of Wycliffe a revival of the Teu- tonic in opposition to the Latin in religion, so there was in language. And if the influence of the former reached for- w^ard into the centuries, even into the sixteenth century, so likewise did the influence of the latter. And in both cases the influences were kept alive and extended by means of these old, brown, and much used manuscripts of the Wyc- liffite versions. True, Wycliffe wrote much in Latin. It was the learned language of his times, and he used it in addressing the learned. But in addressing the people, whether in writ- ing or speaking or in translating the Bible, he used the language of the people. The reign of Edward III. was a transition period, to which may be traced a new beginning of intellectual life and activity. It was this Edward who enacted, about the year 1362, that the English language should be restored to the courts, that is, "• that all pleas .... in any
courts whatsoever, shall be pleaded, showed, defended,
answered, debated, and judged, in the English tongue." The reason for this action was assigned in the preamble that, " the French tongue was too much unknown." ^ This was a grand step in advance, favoring the people's rights, for as yet the French was the polite language, but not understood by the mass of the people. Trevisa, who wrote in 1385, records that
^ History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, V. , 104. Am. Tr. Soc. edition.
2 Tlie original statute was in old French. See History English Lan- giage ; Appendix, p. cxxxiv.; Johnson and Todd's English Dictionary, I. London, 1818.
82 THE WTCLIFPITE VERSION'S. [CHAP. II.
in his day : " in alle the gramer scoles of Englond cliildren leveth Frensch and construeth and lerneth an Englisch, and haveth therby avauntage in oon side and desavauntage in another." ^ The advantage, according to Trevisa, was that they learned their lessons more easily ; and the disadvantage was that they acquired no French. He further adds: "also gentel men haveth now mych ylefte for to teche her (their) children Frensch." ^ The name of John Cornwaile, " a maistre of grammer," who introduced this innovation, de- serves to be held in grateful remembrance by all lovers of the English tongue. Sir John Maundeville, 1356, wrote his travels in Latin. But afterwards he translated them into EngHsh, to the end, as he says in his prologue, " that every man of my nation may understand it ; and that lords and knights and other noble and worthy men that know Latin but little, and have been beyond the sea, may know and un- derstand, if I err from defect of memory, and may redress it and amend it." ^
The Teutonic leaven has been at work, though we may not be able to trace it, so gradual has been the intellectual im- provement of the people. Langland, the author of Piers' Ploughman's Vision and Creed, which were written about the year 1365, was not a "precursor of Wyclifife," though in spirit and feeUng he was a reformer. In his poem, which is highly allegorical, and sometimes very plain and practical, he mourns the abuses of the Church, rebukes the religious orders, and ridicules the palpable weaknesses of the friars. The fat fiiar he describes as — ^
A greet chorl and a grym, growen as a tonne, With a face so fat, as a ful bleddere, Blowen bretful of breth, and a bagge honged.
^ Tyrvvbitt's Essay on the Language and Versification of Chaucer. Chaucer's Works, Preface, p. 17. Oxford, 1798.
2 lUd, p. 17.
3 Sir John Maundeville's Travels, p. 129, Bohn's ed. London, 1848.
4 Warton's History of English Poetry, I., 305. London, 1714.
1375.] CHARACTER OF WTCLIFFE. 83
On bothen his cliekes, and his chyn, with a chol (jole) lollede
So greet a gos ey, grovven al of grece,
That al wagged his fleish, as a quick (quag) mire.
" The people who could listen with delight to such strains were far advanced," says Milman, " towards a revolt from Latin Christianity."^ Langland adopted the alliterative form of Saxon poetry. His language is largely Saxon, though inter- spersed mth Norman words, some of which were already a part and parcel of the language, while others " appear like strangers." His Latin words seem to have heen drawn di- rectly from the Vulgate.^ What is true of Langland in respect to language is true also of Wycliffe. They both wrote for the people. Chaucer in his writings sought to please the court, and yet, to his enduring fame, preferred "to show his fanta- sies in such wordes as we learneden of our dames tongues." And as a matter of fact, after an etymological comparison by actual count. Marsh declares that "Chaucer's vocabulary is more purely Anglo-Saxon than that of Langland." ^ Though Wycliffe's language was no purer than that of these cotempo- rary poets ; and though he did no more than they to fix the language in its then Enghsh mould, yet we must attribute to him the greater influence, since, in addition to his writings he translated the Holy Scriptures, which became the book of the household. A book most sacredly kept and rehgiously read ; a book whose teachings were treasured u]^ in the hearts of parents and taught to their children. And all this not for a single generation, but for generations even to the beginning of the sixteenth century.
This chapter would be incomplete without a few words respecting the character of John Wycliffe. It is painful to witness the low estimate put upon the man and the reformer
^ History of Latin Christianity, VIII., 384. New York, 1874.
2 lUd, p. 378.
3 Lectures on the English Langvage, p. 124. New York, 1860.
84 THE WYCLIFFITE VEESIOXS. [CHAP. II.
by some Church historians. From several paragraphs of Mil- ner's Church History, one is led to think that there is some- thing dark and inexplicable hanging over WycliSe's character; yet in other paragraphs he does him fall justice. Evidently Milner, in his attempt to be impartial, has gone to the other extreme. He confesses that the character of no other public man had given him so much trouble in forming his estimate as that of Wycliffe. We are indebted to the enemies of Wyc- liffe for much of our information concerning him, and it may be that Mr. Milner suffered their testimony to bias his judg- ment. In some degree the same is true of Mosheim. He failed, however, to make the character of Wycliffe a subject of careful study. Consequently, he expresses himself, if not carelessly, at least unsatisfactorily. But it remained for Mean- der, the prince of Church historians, to do justice to Wycliffe's character. In seeking, however, to set forth the facts concern- ing Huss and the Hussite movement, that it was independent of Wycliffe's influence, his statements are very fair, though not altogether convincing. The more, however, the history of the age is searched into, and the public acts of Wycliffe scanned, the better his character will be understood, and the nobler it will appear. This was doubtless the experience of D'Aubigne in writing the history of the Keformation, and with an honest pen he drew the character of John Wycliffe. It is refreshing likewise to read Milman's chapter on Wycliffe in his History of Latin Christianity. Yet even Milman, with all his high appreciation, declares that as a reformer Wycliffe was prema- ture. That he possessed the power to pull down but not to build up. True, Wycliffe spent the greater part of his life in breaking down the barriers and clearing away political as well as religious rubbish ; and of his success in these particulars let his enemies bear witness. But this was only a part of his work, for it was he who set in motion a positive evangelistic movement, which flowed like a majestic river, growing deeper if not wider, and forming a grand channel for the Eeformation of the sixteenth century.
Intellectually Wycliffe stood first among his cotemporaries.
1380.] CHARACTER OF WYCLIFFE. 85
His superiority was acknowledged by both Parliament and University. Even the pope felt his power. Of Wycliffe's moral character there is but one opinion, and that is, that it was irreproachable. A member of a brilliant but sensual court, whose chief head set the worst possible example of im- morality, yet Wycliffe was untainted. He was there as chaplain of Edward HL, and commanded the respect and reverence of all. It would be gratifying to know more of the social life of Wycliffe. History never wearies of placing him before us as a warrior steel-clad and mounted for battle. We see him always in public, never in private ; even in his own writings he is reticent respecting himself. Was there no retirement for him? Was there never a smile upon that sad countenance? His face so narrow and pale, yet beneficent ; how different from the round ruddy face of Luther. In many respects how different from Luther. The one is like a Gothic castle, with commanding towers and high walls, without any signs of life; while the other is like an ordinary dwelling, with its interior every-day life activities all exposed to view. We have no table- talk of Wycliffe. It is only by inference that we know that he had a home. Notwithstanding this, Wycliffe had his friends. At the court of Edward HI. he met with Chaucer, and in him doubtless found a genial spirit. Wycliffe was Chaucer's ideal of a good priest^ and doubtless Chaucer had the parson of Lutterw^orth in mind when he wrote :^
A good man tlier was of religioun,
That was a poure Peksone of a toun :
But riclie lie was of holy thought and werk.
He was also a lerned man, a clerk,
That Cristes gospel trewely wolde preche.
His parishens devoutly wolde he teche.
Benigne he was— and wonder diligent.
And in adversite ful patient :
Wide was his parish, and houses fer asonder, But he ne left nought for no rain ne thonder,
The Canterbury Tales, I., 20, 21, Tyrwhitt's ed. Oxford, 1798.
86 THE WYCLIFPITE YERSIOKS. [CHAP. II.
In sikenesse and in miscliief to visite
The ferrest in his parish, moche and lite,
Upon his fete, and in his hand a staf.
This noble ensample to his shepe he yaf.
That first he wrought, and afterward he taught.
He sette not his benefice to hire,
And lette his shepe acombred in the mire,
And ran unto London, unto Seint Poules,
To seken him a chanterie for soules,
Or with a brotherhede to be witbold :
But dwelt at home, and kepte wel his fold,
So that the wolf no made it not miscarie.
He was a shepherd, and no mercenarie.
And though he holy were, and vertuous.
He was to sinful men not dispitous (angry),
Ne of his speche dangerous (sparing), ne digne (proud).
But in his teching discrete and benigne.
To drawen folk to heven, with fairenesse.
By good ensample, was his besinesse :
A better preest I trowe that nowher non is. He waited after no pompe ne reverence, Ne maked him no spiced conscience. But Cristes lore, and his apostles twelve. He taught, but first he folwed it himselve.
If Wycliffe was Chaucer's ideal of a good parson, doubtless Chaucer was Wycliffe's ideal of a good poet. Chaucer sang to please the ear of a pleasure-loving court ; he sang also to please the ear of a gospel-loving Wycliffe. Chaucer dealt heavy blows against the friars. The religious influence of Chaucer's poe- try in the reform movement of his time has been too little appreciated. Among his political friends Wycliffe numbered such men as the Duke of Lancaster. But it was at his parish at Lutterworth, where, surrounded by his parishioners and by learned men in his own house and at his own table, fellow- laborers with himself in translating the Scriptures and preach- ing the Gospel, notable men who afterwards became leaders
1384.] wycliffe's death. 87
in tlie Lollard party which Wycliffe founded, among these he found true sympathy and a lasting friendship. But with all this, at Lutterworth, we have only his fervent words addressed through his tracts and sermons to the public, consequently nothing of his private conversations or feelings.
As we have no particulars of Wycliffe's private life, so we have scarcely any of his death. We are told that while ad- ministering the Lord's Supper in the chapel at Lutterworth he w^as seized with paralysis, which " deprived him at once of utterance, if not of consciousness." ^ This was on the twenty- ninth day of December, 1384, and in two days afterwards his devout spirit returned to God who gave it. If we would know of the excessive hatred heaped upon the head of Wycliffe, and of the debt of gratitude his friends in every age ow^e to his memory, we have only to read the following account of his death, written by the hand of an enemy: "On the day of St. Thomas the martyr, .... December 29, .... John Wyclif, the organ of the Devil, the enemy of the Church, the confusion of the common people, the idol of, heretics, the looking-glass of hypocrites, the encourager of schism, the sower of hatred, and the maker of lies, when he designed, as it is reported, to belch out accusations and blas- phemies against St. Thomas in the sermon he had prepared for that day, was suddenly struck by the judgment of God,
and had all his limbs seized with palsy, his tongue was
speechless, .... shewing plainly that the curse which God had thundered forth against Cain was also inflicted on him."^ However great the dishonor and indignity intended by his enemies, these w^ords, from the standpoint of his friends, must ever be regarded, considering their source, as a most honorable epitaph.
' Vaughan's Tracti and Treatises of WycUiffe, p. xciii. London, 1845. « Lewis' Life of Dr. John Wycliffe, pp. 133, 134. Oxford, 1820.
CHAPTER III.
TTNDALE, AND HIS TRANSLATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. A. D. 1525.
IN the time of Wycliffe, England held an enviable position among the nations of Europe. The Teutonic love of free- dom here first came to the surface ; but it was stifled so far as human effort could avail, and then followed a period of more than a century of intellectual darkness. In Italy and Ger- many there arose with the art of printing an intellectual awakening. The Greek and Latin languages were cultivated. Under Pope Nicolas V., 1447-1454, the city of Eome became more literary than religious. " He seemed determined," says Milman, " to enrich the West with all that survived of Grecian literature." 1 Besides, his efforts were not confined to the classics, but embraced the writings of the Church fathers. He even went so far as to authorize the execution of a new Latin version of the Bible from the Hebrew and Greek. Pope Nicolas was not aware of the fire he was kindling, nor the distance to which its light and heat would penetrate. He did not dream of the intimate relation of the revival of learning with Vernacular versions of the Holy Scriptures and the Eefor- mation of the sixteenth century.
Printing was introduced into England by AYilliam Caxton about the year 1474, and its influence was soon felt. A Latin translation of Aristotle's Ethics was among the first issUes from the Caxton press. It is said that Cornelius Vitelli, an educated Italian, came to Oxford in 1488, and not only taught in the University but became the instructor of William Grocyn. However this may be, Grocyn, though a reputed Greek scholar,
' History of Latin Christianity, VIII., 123. New York, 1874.
1516.] CHARACTER OF SIR THOMAS MORE. 89
quitted his lectureship of Divinity and went to Italy to per- fect his knowledge of the Greek language, and after remaining three years returned aud taught Greek in Exeter College, Ox- ford. He introduced a new pronunciation, and so popularized the study that it gave rise to the two factions in the Univer- sity known as the Greeks and Trojans, who bore the most violent animosities towards each other. But the day has dawned, and learning is in the highest repute. The first visit of Erasmus to England was in 1497. He praises not only Grocyn, but Colet, Linacre, and More. He says that he found in England "a treasure of old books," and the highest appre- ciation of learning.! In such estimation was learning held at this time that even Henry VIII. sighed for it, and was ready to turn from the pursuits of pleasure, and the labors of diplo- macy, for its sake. His words were : " Ah ! how I should like to be a scholar." Not only did Henry VIII. sigh for learning, and Cardinal Woolsey affect it; but there were some who really possessed it.
As yet, however, the revival of learning is only intellectual. The single example of Dr. Thomas Linacre, whom Erasmus praises so highly, illustrates this fact. He was president of the College of Physicians, and a reputed scholar. Late in life he changed his profession to that of Divinity, yet so ignorant was he of the Scriptures, that after he was ordained as a priest he took up the New Testament, and after reading the fifth and sixth chapters of Matthew's Gospel, he threw down the book, exclaiming: "Either this is not the Gospel, or we are not Christians."^ Another remarkable example was that of Sir Thomas More, a man of superior ability and attainments, an acknowledged wit, a safe counselor, a just judge, a friend and a defender of Greek learning, a Christian man, and yet withal an extreme papist, opposing with all his might and official power the progress of the Reformation and the circular- tion of the Vernacular Scriptures. The character of More, as
^ Hallam's Literature of Europe, I., 241. New York, 1874.
* Townley's Illustrations of Biblical Literature, II., 165. liondon, 1821.
90 TYKDALE'S TRANSLATION" OF THE N. T. [CHAP. III.
a papist and a persecutor, is the more difficult to understand in the Hght of his great sincerity and Christian simplicity, and still more when we consider his previous liberal sentiments. He was a decided friend of the New learning so long as it confined itself to the classics, though at first he openly de- fended the New Testament of Erasmus. He was in sympathy with the author of the Praise of Folly, and must have enjoyed his sarcastic thrusts at the Monastic orders, since Erasmus was his guest when he wrote this book. Then the liberal opinions of More are distinctly revealed in his Utopia. "In that short but extraordinary Book," says Burnet, "he gave his Mind full Scope, and considered Mankind and Religion with the Free- dom that became the true Philosopher. By many Hints it is very easy to collect, what his Thoughts were of Religion, of the Constitutions, of the Church, and of the Clergy at that time."i But in all how changed. Those who have attempted to dehneate the character of Sir Thomas More have been in doubt whether to represent him as " a foolish wise man, or a wise fooHsh man."
But learning the most extensive and profound is not an end in itself, but a means to a higher end. And the end at this time was reUgious reformation. And it is the learned name of Erasmus which links this intellectual movement with the Holy Scriptures and the Protestant Reformation. This grand end, and his noble contribution to it, is well described by himself when he says : "A spiritual temple must be raised in desolate Christendom, the mighty in the world will contribute towards it their ivory, their marble, and their gold ; I, who am poor and humble, offer the foundation stone." This foundation- stone was none other than his Greek and Latin New Testa- ment. And well might he thus designate it, since it was the Scriptures, and only the Scriptures, that could form a substan-
' The first edition of the Utopia contained many passages ridiculing the folly and ill-nature of the friars, which were left out of later editions. See Burnet's History of the Reformation, III., 29. 1715.
1516.] GREZK AND latins" TESTAMENT OF ERASMUS. 91
tial foundation for the building up of the faith of a Eeformed Christianity. The Greek Testament of Erasmus was collated from all the MSS. he could obtain. The text thus formed he printaJ together with a Latin translation. It appeared at Basle in 1516, and was the first Greek New Testament pub- lished in print.i Transported across the channel, it was re- ceived into England with enthusiasm, and was offered for sale in the book-stalls of London, Oxford, and Cambridge. The friends of the New learning were delighted, but the hierarchy- was alarmed. " The priests saw the danger," says D'Aubigne, "and by a skilful manoeuvre, instead of finding fault with the Greek Testament, attacked the translation and the translator." ^ They cried out : " He has corrected the Vulgate, and puts
himself in the place of St. Jerome Look here ! this book
calls upon men to repent, instead of requiring them, as the Vulgate does, to do penance,^'' ^ Notwithstanding this opposi- tion, edition after edition was called for, and accordingly it was reprinted in 1519, 1522, 1527, and 1535. This Greek and Latin Testament of Erasmus was a preparatory step towards a Vernacular version of the New Testament ; and this was his desire. In his preface he says: "I differ exceedingly from those who object to the Scriptures being translated into the vernacular tongues, and read by the illiterate; as if Christ had taught so obscurely, that none could understand him but a few theologians ; or as if the Christian religion depended upon being kept secret. The mysteries of kings ought, per- haps, to be concealed, but the mystery of Christ strenuously
urges publication And I wish that the Scriptures might be
translated into all languages, .... (that) the husbandman might
^ The Gomplutendan Polyglott of Cardinal Ximenes did not appear till 1522, thougti the Neic lestament was printed in 1514, and the Old Testa- ment in 1517. But the consent of the pope for their publication was not granted till 1520. See Hallam's Literature of Europe, I., 292. New York, 1874.
2 History of the Reformation, V., 155, Am. Tr. Soc. edition. New York, N. D.
8 lUd, p. 155.
92 TYKDALE'S TRAi^SLATIO^^ OF THE K. T. [CHAP. III.
repeat them at his plough, the weaver sing them at his loom. Letters, written by those we love and esteem, are pre- served and prized, ... and yet there are thousands of Chris- tians who ... never once, in the whole of their life, read the books containing the Gospels and Epistlesr ^
The wish of Erasmus was fulfilled, but not through his direct agoncy. The storm of opposition gathered as he did not anticipate. From a literary standpoint he thought to harmonize the conflicting elements and gradually reform the abuses of the papacy. Erasmus was a professed papist, yet a leader in the party of the New learning up to a certain point. He was friendly to the work of Eeformation under Luther, yet w^as unwilling to break with the pope. He sought a mid- dle course, which proved displeasing to both extremes. He called Luther his dear friend and brother, and at the same time wrote flattering letters to the pope. And yet neither Wycliffe or Luther sent forth such broadsides of wit and sar- casm against the Eomish priests. But Erasmus was not a reformer. He had no taste for martyrdom. He could retreat from the storm of battle he had helped to raise, but he could not fight; and in 1517 he was compelled so to do. His Greek Testament, however, remained notwithstanding the attempts to banish it the kingdom. Archbishop Lee, from a professed friend of Erasmus became his open enemy, and w^as inde- fatigable in his efforts to prepare "a prison for Erasmus, (and) the fire for the Holy Scriptures." ^ But while the enemy raged his New Testament was eagerly sought after, and as eagerly read. Another attack was made by Bishop Standish. Single-handed, and with more zeal than knowledge, he made a desperate attack. From the pulpit of St. Paul's Cathedral he appealed to the mayor and corporation of London. In the midst of his sermon he cried out: "Away with these new translations or else the religion of Jesus Christ is threatened
^ Townley's Biblical Literature, II., 265. London, 1821.
^ " If we do not stop this leak," said Lee in referring to Erasmus' New Testament, " it will sink the ship." — D'Aubigne's History of the Uefor- mation, V., 159.
1516.] THE APPEAL OF BISHOP STAKDISH. 93
with utter ruin My lord, magistrates of the city, and citi- zens all, fly to the succour of religion/' ^ This empty harangue was a failure; but he will appeal to the king. The story is told by Erasmus himself, and the scene was worthy of his pen. The royal family, with invited guests, were in the midst of a social rejoicing when the good bishop, making his way through the gay crowd, prostrated himself before the king and queen. All were amazed, and wondered what the old bishop could mean. "Great king," he cried, "your ancestors who have reigned over this island, and yours, 0 great queen, who have governed Ai-agon, were always distinguished by their zeal for the Church. Show yourselves worthy of your forefathers. Times full of danger are come upon us, a book has just ap- peared, and been published too by Erasmus ! it is such a book that^ if you close not your kingdom against it, it is all over with the religion of Christ among us." The bishop ceased for a moment, and then raising his eyes and hands towards heaven, exclaimed in a sorrowful tone: "0 Christ! 0 Son of God!
save thy spouse! for no man cometh to her help." The
bishop acted his part well; Henry VIII. was embarrassed, and Queen Catherine was deeply affected ; and had the scene closed here, the aj)peal possibly might not have been in vain. But the chief actor, thinking that he had won the judgment of the king and the sympathy of the queen, waited that he might depart in triumph. But the scene changes ; that which was just now so serious becomes most ludicrous. Sir Thomas More, the friend of Erasmus, and a great admirer of his Latin translation of the Greek Testament, was present, and breaking the silence calmly inquired : " What are the heresies this book is likely to engender ? " The bishop, seeking to kee]3 up the dramatic dignity of the scene, " with the forefinger of his right hand, touching successively the fingers of his left," enumerated one by one the heresies ; " First, this book," he said, " destroys the resurrectio7i ; secondly, it annuls the sacrament of mar- riage ; thirdly, it abolishes tlie massP Then, uplifting his
^ D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation, V., 171, 172
94
TTKDALE'3 TKAKSLATIOIf OF THE N^. T. [CHAP. III.
thumb and two fingers, " he showed them to the assembly with a look of triumi^h." But the friends of learning called for ''the proof, the proof." The poor old man, still full of cour- age and elated by success, attempts the i)roofs, but they are so weak that his friends blush for him. Henry VIII. in disgust turns away. The bishop, greatly chagrined, withdraws.^ The New learning triumphs, and in its triumph Protestantism and the New Testament of Erasmus rejoice.
But this Greek and Latin Testament was but a preparatory step to something better. It must needs be translated into the language of the people. This was the desire of Erasmus, but the purpose of Tyndale. A purpose not to be fulfilled excepting through opposition, danger, exile and final martyr- dom. The story of Tyndale's life and of his translation of the New Testament into English, is one. There were succes- sive steps in the life of John Wycliffe, which both fitted and unfitted him for the work of translating the Bible. How long he meditated the design we do not know ; but he did not exe- cute it till the close of his eventful life. It was otherwise with William Tyndale. The purpose to translate the Holy Scrip- tures was the one purpose and the one work of his life. No name in the whole history of Vernacular versions deserves such prominence as that of William Tyndale. Our common English Bible of to-day is so largely indebted to Tyndale's translation that all wdio love their English Bible will unite in honoring the memory of William Tyndale, who suffered ex- patriation and martyrdom for the sake of giving to his countrymen the New Testament in their own tongue.
William Tyndale was born, most probably, in 1484, in Gloucestershire, in the village of North Nibley. The obscurity which hangs over the family relations of Tyndale, arises from the fact, that he lived in times of persecution, and hence his reticence lest he should involve his relations in his own troubles. He was early sent to Oxford, and studied
1 D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation, V., 172, 173.
1514.] TYNDALE AT CAMBRIDGE. 95
grammar, logic and philosophy in Magdalene Hall. Foxe, the martyrologist and chief biographer of Tyndale, records that Tyndale was brought up in the University of Oxford, that he increased in the knowledge of tongues, and other liberal arts, and especially in the knowledge of the Scriptures. Also that he privately read lectures in Divinity to the students, and instructed them in the Holy Scriptures. But ^^ spying hys tyme," he removed to the University of Cambridge.' Tyndale^s motive for going to Cambridge is not known. Some conjecture that it was on account of his liberal opinions ; while others, with more reason, perhaps, suppose that it was his desire to study Greek under Erasmus, who about this time, 1509-1514, was professor of Greek at Cambridge.^ But the New Testament of Erasmus was shortly to do a greater work for the students of Cambridge than Erasmus himself. Thomas Bilney, a young Cambridge doctor, read it, at first, more for the elegance of its Latinity than for its religious teaching. But when at length his eyes fell upon the words : This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners ; of whom I am chief. His heart was touched. ^'^I also am like Paul," he
cried, " and more than Paul the greatest of sinners ! But
Christ saves sinners I see it all, my vigils, my fasts,
my pilgrimages, my purchase of masses and indulgences were destroying instead of saving me."^ Tyndale met with Bilney. They opened the 'New Testament together. They also read it to their fellow students. Here also Tyndale met with John Pryth, who already was distinguished for his scholarship and integrity of life. Fryth, through the influence of Tyndale, became a converted man, and afterwards became his associate in the work of translation. Fryth was well read in mathe- matics, Bilney in the canon law, and Tyndale in the learned
* Acts and Monuments, p. 1224.
2 Fuller's Church History of Britain. History of the University of Cambridge, p. 87. London, 1655. Fuller in this connection says, that Erasmus also " took upon him the Divinity Professors place."
3 D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation, V., 163, 164.
96 TTNDALE'S translation of the N. T. [cnAP. III.
languages. These three young men associated themselves to- gether, and strengthened each othei-'s hands in the work of reading the New Testament and preaching the Gospel of repentance to their fellow students.
After Tyn dale's departure from Cambridge we next hear of him as a tutor in the family of Sir John Walsh, of Gloucester- shire. " This Gentleman/' says Foxe, "as hee kept a good ordinarie commonly at his table, there resorted to hym many times sondry Abbots, Deanes, Archdeacons, with other diners Doctors and great beneficed men ; who there together with M. Tyndall sittyng at the same table, did use many tymes to enter communication and talke of learned men, as of Luther and of Erasmus. Also diners other controuersies and questions
upon the Scripture And when as they at any tyme
did varye from Tyndall in opinions and judgement, he would shewe them the booke and lay playnly before them the open and manifest places of the Scriptures, to confute their erours, and to confirme his sayinges. And thus continued they for a certain season, reasonynge and contending together diners and sundry tymes, till at length they waxed wery, and bare a secret grudge in their hartes agaynst hym." ^
Foxe enters minutely into the history of Tyndale's life while he remained in the family of Sir J. Walsh. At first, through the influence of Lady Walsh, the family inclined to the views of the learned and rich doctors, for there were among them those that could spend their three hundred pounds, a very large sum, since in modern values it stands as one to fifteen, and it was not reasonable, according to her protest, that she should listen to Tyndale, a poor tutor, in preference to these rich doctors. However, after Tjmdale had translated the Enchiridion of Erasmus, a book which exposed the ceremonial observances of the Eomish Church, he gave it to Sir John and his lady to read. The book had the desired influence. The family became more friendly to Tyndale, and more estranged from the Eomish doctors. Whereupon the
^ Acts and Monuments, p. 1325.
1518.] TYXDALE IN- THE FAMILY OF SIR J. WALSH. 97
latter were enraged, and " began to grudge and storme against Tyndall, rayling agaynst hym in ale houses and other places." ^ They finally accused Tyndale secretly before the chancellor. Tyndale's ofiense was that of driving them from the well filled tables of Sir John, and that he was a zealous preacher " about the town of Bristol, and in the said town in the common place called St. Austin's Green." When Tyndale was brought before the chancellor, though nothing was proved against him, yet the chancellor " threatened hym greuously, reuilyng and ratyng hym as though hee had been a dogge." ^ Foxe further relates a conversation, which occurred at this time, between Tyndale and a certain learned divine, who in anger burst forth, saying : " We were better to be without Gods law than the Popes." T3mdale with spirit replied: ''1 defie the Pope and all hys lawes;" and further added: '^if God spared hym life, ere many yeares he would cause a boy that driueth the plough to know more of the Scripture, then he did." 3
There is no positive evidence that Tyndale began the work of translating the New Testament while at the house of Walsh ; but he has left words on record which show his state of mind at this period. He says : " Which thing only moved me to translate the New Testament. Because I had perceived by experience, how that it was impossible to establish the lay- people in any truth, except the scripture were plainly laid be- fore their eyes in their mother-tongue, that they might see the process, order, and meaning of the text ; for else, what- soever truth is taught them, these enemies of all truth quench it again."* He labored much in preaching the Gospel while he stayed at this manor house, and it is to these labors, doubt- less, he referred, when he wrote : " While I am sowing in one place, the enemy ravages the field I have just left. Oh, if Christians possessed the Holy Scriptures in their own tongue
^ Acts and Monuments, p. 1225.
« IMd, p. 1225. 3 ji)i^^ p, 1225.
* Tyndale's Works, I., 394. Parker Soc. ed. Cambridge, 1848.
98 TYHDALE'S translation of the N. T. [chap. III.
they could of themselves withstand these sophists." The rage of the priests increased, and as Foxe relates, Tyndale came to Sir John and said : " I perceane I shall not bee suffered to tarye long hire in this countrey, neither shal you be hable, though you would, to kepe me out of the handes of the spir- itualitie, and also what displeasure might grow thereby to you by kepyng me."i
Thus driven away, Tyndale came to London, hoping to find a patron in Bishop Tonstal, since he remembered that Tonstal was highly extolled by Erasmus for his great learning. So long as the revival of learning confined itself to classic litera- ture, Tonstal, like Sir Thomas More, was a friend of the move- ment ; but since it was opening wide the door of Protestant- ism, he was no longer its friend. Consequently, in his house there was no place for Tyndale, though as an evidence of his scholarship Tyndale had sent him an oration of Isocrates which he had translated from the Greek into English. ^ But in Humphrey Monmouth, whom Foxe describes as "a right godly and sincere alderman of London," Tyndale found a friend and supporter, who received him into his own house for the space of six months. Here, doubtless, Tyndale applied himself to the work of translation. Monmouth's testimony respecting Tyndale, while he abode in his house, was that "he lyued lyke a good Priest, studying both night and day." ^ But the eye of the persecutor followed him to London. It is now the close of the year 1523. Tyndale has been in London
almost a year, and can remain no longer. He says : "I
saw things whereof I defer to speak at this time, and under- stood at the last, not only that there w^as no room in my lord of London's palace to translate the Xew Testament, but also that there was no place to do it in all England, as experience doth now openly declare." ^
^ Acts and Mon., p. 1225.
2 Tyndale's Works, I., 395.
2 Foxe's Acts and Monu7nents, p. 1133.
^ Tyndale's Works, I., 396. Parker Society edition. Cambridge, 1848.
1524-5.] TYKDALE AT HAMBUEGH. 99
Probably by Monmouth's advice, and certainly by his aid/ Tyndale crossed the sea to Hamburgh, that he might carry out his purpose of translating the New Testament. He landed at Hamburgh in May, 1524, and found the city in a state of great excitement. The burghers were united in opposition to all political usurpations, but they were divided as to their re- ligious opinions. For three or four years the Keformation under Luther had been steadily advancing in Hamburgh. Here Tyndale found friends ; and, assisted by his " faithful companion,'' he proceeded with the work of translation. And when this friend was called away ,2 he was aided by William Ro3'e, " a friar observant of the Franciscan order at Green- wich." Tyndale describes him as "a man somewhat crafty,
when he cometh unto new acquaintance Nevertheless, I
suffered all things till that was ended, which I could not do alone without one, both to write and to help me to compare the texts together. When that was ended, I took my leave, and bade him farewell for our two lives, (and as men say) a day longer." 3 During Tyndale's short stay in Hamburgh, it is very possible that he finished the translations of the Gos- pels of Matthew and Mark, which he printed separately ; and that one or both of these made up the '• little book " that Humphrey Monmouth confessed to have received from Tyn- dale in 1524.^ Tyndale remained in Hamburgh till the begin- ning of the next year. That he went from here to Wit- tenburgh to confer with Luther, though asserted by Foxe, is very questionable. Sir Thomas More and other papists were anxious to make it appear that Tyndale was confederate with
^ Humphrey Monmouth gave liim an exhibition or annuity of ten pounds, sufficient, at this time, for the maintenance of a single man. The amount in present values would be about $750. Lewis' History of Eng. Translations, p. 75.
2 Supposed to be his college associate, John Fryth, who afterwards suffered martyrdom at the stake in Smithfield. Or possibly the person meant may be George Joy.
3 Tyndale's Works, I., 37, 38.
* Anderson's Annals of the English Bible, p, 29. London, 1863.
100 TYi^DALE'S TRANSLATION OF THE N". T. [CHAP. III.
Luther, hence the importance of this visit, and yet there is no positive evidence of it.^
Leaving Hamburgh, Tyndale with Roye arrived at Cologne in April, 1525. Cologne offered superior advantages for print- ing. The celebrated printers, Quentel and the Byrcmans were established here. But the city was one of the strongholds of the papacy. The Protestant movement had reached Cologne, but the principal effect had been to stir up a violent opposi- tion to the Reformation. Tyndale, aware of this, takes ob- scure lodgings. When his manuscript was ready for the press, he was cautious in arranging with the printers for an edition of three thousand copies. The printing began in secret, and page after page was worked off from the press. Tyndale is overjoyed. But further disappointment awaits him. John Cochlaeus, a violent opposer of the Reformation, was at Co- logne. He had dealings with Tyndale's printers. They met over the winecup, and Cochlasus learns from them what they would not have revealed in their sober moments — that two Englishmen, skilled in the languages, were concealed in the city for the purpose of superintending the printing the New Testament in English, and that four score pages m quarto had already been struck off. Cochlaeus took immediate steps to inform the public authorities, and through an order from the senate the press was stopped. He likewise, by letters, warned Henry VIII. and his councilors, and directed them to give orders at every seaport to prevent the introduction of the baneful merchandise.^ Anticipating any further action of the senate, Tyndale hastens to the printers, and securing his manuscript and the pages already printed, escapes the net of the fowler by fleeing the city. We next hear of Tyndale at Worms, where, without further opposition, lie succeeds in his long cherished design. Two editions of his translation, an octavo and a quarto, were printed here, in the closing months of 1525. There has been much confusion as to the correct
1 Anderson's Annals of the English Bible, pp. 24, 25, 26. London, 1862.
2 Ibid, p. 33.
1525-6.] THE QUARTO AiTD OCTAVO EDITIOi^S. 101
date, though the year 1526 has been heretofore generally ac- cepted as correct. '^ The first time," says Strype, "the Holy
Scripture was printed in EngUsh was about the Year
1526. And that was only the New Testament translated by TyndaV^ Le Long refers to the year 1526 as the positive date of the quarto edition. But Mr. Anderson thinks he makes a mistake of a whole year.^ The introduction of these Testa- ments into England in the spring of 1526 would seem to favor the close of the year 1525 as the true date.
If possible, authorities have been more divided in respect to the place, than to the date, of printing these New Testaments. Some •f'aYor Wittenburgh, others Antwerp, while others more correctly fix upon Worms as the place of printing. This con- fusion arises from the fact that the books were published with- out either the name of the author, the place, or the date of the issue. Again, it has been an open question as to which was first printed, the quarto or the octavo edition. Mr. Offer, however, seems to have settled this question, quite satisfac- torily, in favor of the octavo edition. The explanation seems to be, that while Tyndale intended the quarto edition should be the first printed, and so the work was actually begun at Cologne, yet, because it was interrupted and the English authorities were instructed particularly as to the character of the book issuing from the press at Cologne, he changed the form to an octavo, leaving out the prologues and glosses.^ And yet, from some unknown reason, the quarto volumes, though last from the press, appeared in England quite as soon as those of the octavo edition, and were the first condemned by the public authorities, since the books that were condemned con- tained " prefaces and other pestylente gloses in the margentes." This appears in the reply of Henry VIII. to Luther, in which he charges Luther with being " in deuyce with one or two leude persons (referring to Tyndale and Roye) borne in this our
' Memorials of Archhishop Cranmer, p. 81. London, 1694. 2 Anderson's Annals, p. 43. ^ lUd, p. 39.
102 ttndale's teanslatio:n' of the x. t. [chap. hi.
realme, for the translatj^ng of the Newe testament in to Eng- lysshe, as well with many corruptions of that holy text, as certayne prefaces, and other jDestylente gioses in the margentes, for the aduauncement and settyng forthe of his adbomynable
heresyes, In the aduoydynge wherof, we of our especiall
tendre zeale determyned the sayd and vntrue translatyons
to be brenned, with further sharppe correction and punissh- ment against the kepars and reders of the same." ^
So hot were the fires kindled by the king's ^'^ tendre zeal" that no entire copy of the quarto edition escaped the flames, so far as has been found. The only relic extant, contains the prologue to Matthew's Gospel, also a portion of the same Gospel, extending from the first chapter to the twelfth verse of the twenty-second chapter, inclusive. And it seems that this escaped by being bound up with a quarto tract of CEcolampadius. In this way it remained concealed for three hundred years; when it was discovered accidentally, and identified as a part of Tyndale's New Testament.^ This fragment is now preserved in the Grenville collection in the British Museum ; and has been photo-lithographed and re- printed in facsimile, both text and prologue, by Edward Arber. Of the octavo edition, there remains but one perfect copy,^ which is most sacredly preserved in the library of the Baptist College, Bristol. Another, though imperfect, may be found in the library of St. Paul's Cathedral, London.* The history of the Bristol copy may be traced back for a century or more, when it was in the Harleian library of Lord Oxford. Mr. John Murray, his collector, secured it, and as a reward, twenty pounds a year was settled upon him for life. On the
' As cited in Arber's Preface. Photo-lWiograplied Fragment of Tyndale's N. T., p. 49. London, 1871. This letter of Henry VIII. was in answer to Luther's published letter to him, which was received in March, 1526.
2 Anderson's Annals, pp. 36, 37.
3 The title page is gone.
< Arber's Preface, PJioto-Uthographed Fragment of Tyndale's N. T„ p. 5.
1525-6.] THE QUAKTO AND OCTAVO EDlTIOi^S. 103
death of Lord Oxford, 1741, Mr. Thomas Osborne purchased his Hbrary, and not being aware of the vahie of this volume, sold it to Mr. Ames for fifteen shillings. In 1760, when the Ames' books were sold, this New Testament brought fourteen guineas and a half. The yolume contains the following note : "N.B. This choice book was purchased at Mr. Langford's sale, (Mr. Ames' books) 13th May, 1760, by me John Whyte ; and on the 13th of May, 1776, I sold it to the Rev. Dr. Gif- ford for twenty guineas, the price first paid for it by the late Lord Oxford." ^ Dr. Gifibrd bequeathed it to the Bristol Library iu 1784.
The English merchants abroad who had to do with the in- troduction of these newly printed Testaments into England, were aware that the public authorities had been warned by Cochlaeus, and of the consequent difficulties to be overcome. But notwithstanding the impending dangers, five Hanseatic merchants took the precious books into their ships, and sailed for London. They expected to find the enemy on guard, but instead, the way was open and the books were landed and safely conveyed to the Merchants' warehouse in Thames Street.^ If the enemy slept, the friends of the Bible were awake and expectant. Not only in London, but iu Oxford and Cambridge, they anxiously awaited the coming of the newly printed English Testaments. The soil was prepared for the seed. For almost a hundred and fifty years this preparation had been going forward : so intimately allied was the close of the fourteenth with the beginning of the sixteenth century. The name of John Wycliffe was still fresh in the minds and hearts of his friends ; neither was it forgotten by his enemies, for they still kept alive the fires of persecution so early kindled against his followers. Then these Lollards, or Broders in Christ, still preserved and read the old brown manuscripts of Wycliffe's New Testament. They were familiar also with religious tracts of his writing. Besides all this
1 Anderson's Annals