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"For that one interpreteth somthynge obscurely in one place, the same translateth another (or els he him. selfe) more manifestly by a more playne vocable of "the same meanyng in another place. Be not thou "offended therfore (good Reader) though one call a scrybe, that another calleth a lawyer: or elders, that "another calleth father mother: or repentaunce, "that another calleth pennaunce or amendment. For yf thou be not disceaued by mens tradiciōs, thou "shalt fynde no more dyuersite betwene these termes "then betwene foure pens and a and a grote." He says that in this translation accordingly, he has sometimes rendered it one way and sometimes the other, without any avoidance or shunning of particular words.

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ensample, it

"Now to conclude: for so moch as all the scrip"ture is wrytten for thy doctryne "shalbe necessary for the, to take holde vpon it, whyle "it is offred the, yee and with ten handes thankfully 66 to receaue it. And though it be not worthely "ministred vnto the in this translacyon (by reason of my rudnes) Yet yf thou be feruet in thy prayer, God shal not onely sende it the in a better shappe, by the mynistracyon of other that beganne it afore, "but shall also moue the hertes of them, which as yet medled not withall, to take it in hande, and to "bestowe the gifte of theyr vnderstondynge theron, "as well in oure language as other famous inter"preters do in other languages. And I praye God, "that thorow my poore ministracyon here in, I maye them that can do better, some occasyon so to geue "do: exhortyng the (most deare reader) in the meane

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whyle on Gods behalfe, yf thou be a heade, a Iudge, or ruler of ye people, that thou let not the "boke of this lawe departe out of thy mouth, but "exercise thyselfe therin both daye and nyghte, and "be euer readyng in it as longe as thou lyuest: that "thou mayest lerne to feare the Lorde thy God, ◄ "not to turne asyde from the commaundement, nether "to the right hande ner to the lefte: lest thou be a "knower of personnes in iudgmēt, and wrest the

righte of the straunger, of the fatherles or of the "wedowe, and so ye curse to come vpon the. But "what office so euer thou hast wayte vpon it, and "execute it, to the mayntenaunce of peace, to the "welth of thy people, defendynge the lawes of God, "and the louers therof, and to the destruccyon of the "wicked.

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"Yf thou be a preacher, and hast the ouersighte of "the flocke of Christ, awake and fede Christes shepe " with a good herte, spare no laboure to do them good, seke not thy selfe, & bewarre of fylthy lucre, "but be vnto y flocke an ensample, in ye worde, in "cōuersacyon, in loue, in feruentnes of ye sprete, "and be euer readynge, exhortynge, a teachynge in "Gods worde, that the people of God renne not vnto "other doctrynes, and lest thou thy selfe (whan thou "shuldest teach other) be founde ignoraunt therin. "And rather then thou woldest teach the people eny "other thynge then Gods worde, take the boke "in thyne hande, reade the wordes eue as they "stonde therin (for it is no shame so to do, it is more "shame to make a lye). This I saye for soch, as are

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"not yet experte in the scripture, for I reproue no preachyng without the boke as longe as they saye "the trueth.

"Yf thou be a man that hast wyfe and childrē, "first loue thy wyfe, acordynge to the ensample of the loue, wherwith Christ loued the cōgregacion, and “remembre that so doynge, thou louest euen thy "selfe: yf thou hate her, thou hatest thine awne "flesh: yf thou cherishe her and make moch of "her, thou cherisest makest moch of thyselfe: "for she is bone of thy bones, a flesh of thy flesh. “And who so euer thou be that hast children, bryng "them vp in the nurtour and informacion of the "Lorde. And yf thou be ignoraunt, or art otherwyse occupied laufully that thou canst not teach them thy selfe, then be euen as diligent to seke a good master for thy childre, as thou wast to seke a mother to beare them: for there lieth as great

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weight in the one as in ye other. Yee better it

were for the to be vnborne, then not to feare God, "or to be euel brought vp. which thynge (I meane bryngynge vp well of children) yf it be diligently "loked to, it is the vpholdinge of all comon welthes: "and the negligence of the same, the very decaye of "all realmes."

He finishes by exhorting the reader to practise himself well in the word of God," and be not onely "an outwarde hearer, but a doer therafter."

The reader, we hope, will pardon the length of the above extracts, for the sake of having in them, a good specimen of Coverdale's writings.

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MEMORIALS OF MYLES COVERDALE.

In the last page, it is stated to be " Prynted in the yeare of oure LORDE M.D.XXXV. and fynished the fourth daye of October." Mr. Lewis, however, describes the copy of the Bible' which he examined, as mentioning in the preamble to the dedication, the king's dearest just wife, queen Jane, instead of queen Anne.* This is a plain inconsistency with the statement in the last page, as it is certain that the king did not marry queen Jane, till the 10th of May, 1536, consequently more than half a year after the date of finishing the Bible. But if we suppose, as Mr. Cotton is inclined to think, that the preliminary pieces of this Bible were printed in England, we can easily account for part having been published in queen Anne's time, and part in queen Jane's.'

Sion College.

* See ante, p. 51.

'See note G.

CHAPTER V.

COVERDALE'S BIBLE.

WHETHER PUT FORTH BY THE KING'S AUTHORITY OR NOT. -ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST.APPARENTLY AT ONE TIME HAD OBTAINED THE KING'S SANCTION.-WHICH AFTERWARDS WAS NEITHER CONFIRMED SPECIMEN OF THIS TRANSLATION.

NOR WITHDRAWN.

WHETHER or not this translation was issued by the king's authority and approbation, appears hitherto to have been a matter of some doubt. Mr. Lewis is of opinion that it was; and he instances, in support of this view, a passage in a little MS. book of devotions, preserved in the family of Francis Wyat, Esq., of Boxley, in Kent." This book, as the tradition of the family goes, was the present of Anne Boleyn to her maids of honour. The passage referred to is to the following effect:-"Grante us, most mercyful "father, this one of the greatest gyftes that ever thowe gavest to mankynde, the knowledge of thie holy "wille and gladde tidinges of oure saluation, this greate while oppressed with the tyrannye of thy adversary of Rome and his fautors," a kepte close

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"Hist. Transl. Bible, p. 97.

b"Favourers."