When it pleaſed God that the Goſpel ſhould be preached to a Nations, and the ſound of it go to the ends of : be Earth, he ſo ordered it allo, that ſoon after true Relrg10, came into any place, fume were ſtirred up ro Tranſlate thole. Holy -Book ; into the Language of thar Cramtrey 5 and be iofar aſſiſted them, that though in many leſſer things they failed through want ot a Knowledge oft! e juſt propriety of ſome Words in Hebrew or Greek, or theuſe of Particles in thoſe Langnages,? yer they tailed not in any thing whereby the R: ader might be led intoany pernicious Error touching his Salvation. And; we ſhall obſerve the Penmen of the New Teſtamert,giving {uch a deference tothe commonly received Verſion in theirtimes that although the Seprnagint Verſ7on which we have, appears to us more diſſonant from the Hebrew than any other ; yet moſt of the 2yotations of the O14 Teftament winch we have in the New, . are apparently from thet Verſion 3, whick texcheth us,that it is not every privat Miniſters work to makea new Verfion of the Scripture, but he ought to acquielce int the Verſcou which God bath provided for the Church wherein helives, and not ordinarly, or upon light grounds to} enter into a diſſent to it ; and it in any thing he ſes ir neceſſary to do it, yet not to do it ( as to a patticular Text ) with= out great modeſty, and a Preface of Reverence. ._ .. ©
This Tranſlation of the Scriptures into a Language underſtood by all people in that Conntrey into which the Church came, was lookt upon ſo reaſonable and neceflary, as it ws oppoſed by none, till the Papiſts had patched up a Religio for the upholding of which, it was neceffary tor them to maintain, That Ignorance was the Mother of Devotion : . after: which it was very difficult in any places where ch-ſe Sprr:tual 7 yrants had a dominion, to get the Scriptures tranſÞred ins; to the Language of that Countrey. Not to inſtance in other places, we ſhall give ſome ſhorr acccunt of Emelaud, Out Records te!] us of a Tranſlation of fone part of th-m into the Saxon Language ( which was then a great part ,of ours J within 700 years after Chriſt : and of the Tranſlation of the whole, into the ſame Larguage by Beda within 40 years afs . ter. Beda was himſelf a Papiſt. but the Myſtery of iniquity grew up gradually to its hight. ; Soon after, Bibles which the People could underſtand, were very ſcarce Commodities in E-gl/ard, and thus ir continued for 6co years. H ic4liff, whe lived in the time of Richard the 2d. and died in 1384. being the firſt we knew of afterward, who tranſlated the Scriptures into a Language underſtood by any who were not skilled - lome or other of the three learned Languages.” Thar - greg
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nan eaſily underſtood, that without the Scriptures in their own Language the people muſt take all for the 31! of God, | hat their Prjei7s cold them was ſo, andthat the Popiſh Priefts were generally perſons of Ignorance, and Impudence enough o entitle God to any oftheir own Blaſphemies andSuperiFitions. But within thirty years after the death of Wickliff, viz, Anno 1414, the Council, ( or Conventicle rather) of Conitance, Decreed all Wick{ifs Books to the Fire; and though ſome were ſpared, yet the battel wes ſo hard, that there were very few that eſcaped. This was our ſtate till the year 527 (in al] which years the poor people of the Land of our Nativity, were without a teaching Bible(as tothe common people ; and indeed without a teaching Prieſt ; yea and for ſome time after this, as we ſhall hear. ! | \/ In the Year 1527, God put it into the heart of Mr. 7;»dall to Tranſlate the New Teifament into Engliſh ; as allo the Five Books of Moſez. ( He being then an Exile in Germany for his Religion. ) But he loſt all his Papers by a Shipwrack, in $115 paſſage to Hambnrgh, and had his work to begin again : which yet that taithful,and moſt unwearied Servant of God did accompliſh, adding ſome Prefaces to the ſeveral Books, and ſome Notes to the particular Chapters and Verſes.- The pub- liſhing of which much netled rhe Popiſh Biſhops in Exglard, and all means were then uſed to ſuppreſs it. Amongſt others the then Biſbep of Londen adviſed with one Packington a Merchant in that City, concerning the moſt accommodate mean _ that defign. The Merchant could think of none fo probable,as with a Sum of Money to by up the whole Impreſtion.The Biſhop approving it, furniſhed him with a round /uze to that purpoſe; which the Merchant ( veing morea Friend to Mr. 1T7:dall than the Biſhop knew ) ſent to Mr. Tizda/ and had the Impreſſion ſent him, ( ſome few Copies being (as we muſt imagine ) firſt ſold off. ) (Scrlteri Annalis in anno 1532.) With hisMoney Mr. Tindal ſupported himſelf in his exile,and was alſo enabled to go on with his Tranſ]:tion of the other part of the B:ble,and to prepare a perfe(t Engl;ſb Bible: In the mean
time a paſtage hapned ſo pleaſant.that I ſhall think it worth thewhile hereto relate it; Sir Thomas Moore being Lord C hancelor,
and having ſeveral Perſons accuſed tor Hereſte,and ready for Execution,offered to compound with George Conſtantize, one 'of them for his Life, upon the eaſte terms of his diſcovery to him who they were in Loxdox that maintained Tidal] bes 4 yond Sea. Afffeer that the poor man had got as good a ſecurity for his Life, as the Honour, and Truth of the Chancellor could give him,hetold him, 1+ was the Biſhop of London maintained himby ſending him aſumof Money,to buy up the Im- 'preſhion of his Teffamerts. The Chancellor ſmiled, faying, That he believed he ſaid true. Thus was this poor Confeſſors
Lite ſaved. Bit to return to our Story. In the year 153g. Mr. 1indall was martyred at ”illefort in Flanders, For Tranſ-
ating into the Fyg/;/h the New Teſtament and part of the Old,” iaith Sir Richard Baker.Chr. p. 282. )Buthis greatAdver- ſary, Sir Thomas Moore, was the year before gore to his own place, buing executed for Treaſon. Mr. Tirdall and Mr. Cover- dale, C as Mr. Fox telleth us) before Mr. 73zdals death, had Tranilated the whole Bible. But it camenotont till after his