66 66 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. "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 66 bewarre of fylthy lucre, ensample, in ye worde, in good, seke not thy selfe, "but be vnto ye flocke an "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 66 "not yet experte in the scripture, for I reproue no preachyng without the boke as longe as they saye "the trueth. 66 "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 other 66 66 66 66 wyse 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 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." 66 66 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. 68 66 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. TIME HAD OBTAINED THE KING'S SANCTION.WHICH AFTERWARDS WAS NEITHER CONFIRMED NOR WITHDRAWN. SPECIMEN OF THIS TRANSLATION. 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 66 66 66 66 "Hist. Transl. Bible, p. 97. b" Favourers." 66 66 66 "vndre his Latyne Lettres, and now at length promulgate publyshed and sette at lybertie by the grace poured into the harte of thy supreme power our prince, as all Kinges hartes be in thie hande, as in "the olde Lawe dydest use lyke mercye to thie people "of Israell by thie hie Instrument the good King "Josia, whiche restored the temple decayed to his "former beawtie, abolyshed all worshippynge of "Images and Ydolatrye, and sette abrode the Lawe by the space of many hundred yeres befor cleane "oute of remembraunce." 66 He adduces, as a further proof of the correctness of his opinion, a clause in the injunctions, issued by Lord Cromwell, in 1536, concerning matters of religion, which is as follows: 66 Item, That every Parson or Proprietary of any "Parish Church within this realme, shall, on this side "the Feast of St. Peter ad Vincula, next comming, pro"vide a booke of the whole Bible, both in Latine, and "also in English, and lay the same in the Quire, for every man that will to looke and read thereon, and "shall discourage no man from the reading of any part "of the Bible, either in Latine or English; but rather 66 66 comfort, exhort, and admonish every man to read "the same as the very word of God, and the spirituall "food of man's soule, whereby they may the better "know their duties to God, to their soveraigne Lord "the King, and their Neighbour; ever gently and "charitably exhorting them, that using a sober and Fox's Acts and Monuments, vol. ii. p. 388. Collier's Eccl. Hist. |