THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
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and then burnt in the prison yard, Oct. 6, 1536. His last words were, “ Lord, open the king of England’s eyes.” Excepting the narrative of Foxe, which is very unsatisfactory, and the opportune discovery of a letter written by Tyndale in prison, showing that he was shamefully neglected, and that he continued his literary labors to the last, no official records of his betrayal, arrest, trial, and martyrdom, have as yet been discovered. Indeed, less is known of Tyndale than of almost any of his contemporaries, and his history remains to be written. If the unknown and the mysterious excite and sustain interest, no theme can excel that attached to Tyndale. His life must have abounded in incident, variety, and adventure; and it culminated in tragedy. That his precious life might have been saved can not be doubted; and, although neither Cromwell nor Henry has been convicted of planning and conniving at his death, it is impossible to exonerate them from criminal indifference and culpable neglect.
Tyndale’s place in history has not yet been sufficiently recognized as a translator of the Scriptures, as an apostle of liberty, and as a chief promoter of the Reformation in England. In all these respects his influence has been singularly undervalued. The sweeping statement found in almost all histories, that Tyndale translated from the Vulgate and Luther, is most damaging to the reputation of the writers who make it; for, as a matter of fact, it is contrary to truth, since his translations are made directly from the originals.
Correspondence with Prof. Julius Cesar of Marburg (Hand-book, pp. 110 sqq.) proves that Hans Luft never had a printing-house in that town and that Tyndale had no connection with its university. The Prolegomena in Mombert’s William Tyndale’s Five Books of Moses show conclusively that Tyndale’s Pentateuch is a translation of the Hebrew original. The full titles of these works are given in the footnote.* As an apostle of liberty, he stands foremost among the writers of the period, whose heroic fortitude and invincible love of the truth were heard with a force superior to royal and ecclesiastical injunctions; and the very flames to which fanaticism and tyranny consigned his writings burnt them into the very hearts of the people, and made them powerful instruments in attaching and converting multitudes to the principles of the Reformation. It is not exaggeration to say that the noble sentiments of William Tyndale, uttered in pure, strong Saxon English, and steeped in the doctrines of the Gospel, gave shape to the views of the more conspicuous promoters of that grand movement, who, like himself, sealed their convictions with their blood.
A monument commemorating the life and work of Tyndale has been erected on the Thames Embankment, London. J. I. Mompert.
* J. I. Mombert, William Tyndale’s Five Books of Moses called the Pentateuch, being a literal Reprint of the Edition o f 15830, compared with Tyndale’s Genesis of 1634, and the Pentateuch in the Vulgate, Luther, and Matthew's Bible with various Collations and Prolegomena (New York, 1884; this book is out of print); idem, English Versions of the Bible, a Handbook with copious Examples illustrating the Ancestry and Relationship of the several Versions and Comparative Tables (London, 1907).
BreriocRApHy: Besides the treatises on the history of the English Bible given in ii. 141 of this work, consult: R. Demaus, William Tyndale, 2d ed., London, 1886; John Fox, Acts and Monuments, ed. G. Townsend, vols. i—v. passim, London, 1843-49 (consult Index); C. Wordsworth, Ecclesiastical Biography, i. 187 sqq., London, 1810; J. Strype, Ecclesiastical Memorials, i. 2, pp. 363-367, London, 1822; J. Stoughton, The Pen, the Palm, and the Pulpit, London, 1858; H. Morley, English Writers, pp. 226-229, London, 1864; W. H. D. Adams, Great English Churchmen, London, 1879; F. L. Clarke, The Life of W. Tyndale, London, 1883; C. E. Heisch, William Tyndale, London, 1884; G. B. Smith, W. Tyndale and his Translation of the English Bible, London, 1896; C. Tyler, The Story of William Tyndale, London, 1898; I. M. Price, The Ancestry of our English Bible, chap. xxi., Philadelphia, 1907; DNB, \vii. 424-430.
TYNG, STEPHEN HIGGINSON: Protestant Episcopal; b. at Newburyport, Mass., Mar. 1, 1800; d. at Irvington on the Hudson Sept. 4, 1885. He graduated at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass., 1817; was in business, 1817-19; studied theology, 1819-21; was rector at Georgetown, D. C., 1821- 1823; in Queen Anne Parish, Prince George’s County, Md., 1823-29; of St. Paul’s, Philadelphia, 1829- 1833; of the Church of the Epiphany, in the same city, 1833-45; of St. George’s, New York City, 1845-78, when he retired as pastor emeritus. He was for years one of the leaders of the Low-church party in his denomination, and was famous for eloquence and Christian zeal. He was prominent in the organization of the American Church Missionary Society and the Evangelical Education Society, and was a ready and polished platform-speaker, much in demand. He edited for several years The Episcopal Recorder and The Protestant Churchman, and was the author of Lectures on the Law and the Gospel (Philadelphia, 1832); Memoir of Rev. G. T. Bedell (1835); Recollections of England (New York, 1847); A Lamb from the Flock (1852); Christian Titles, a Series of Practical Meditations (1853); Fellowship with Christ (1854); The Rich Kinsman, or the History of Ruth (1855); Memoir of Rev. E. P. J. Messenger (1857); The Captive Orphan, Esther, Queen of Persia (1859); Forty Years’ Experience in Sunday Schools (1860); The Prayer-Book illustrated by Scripture (8 vols., 1865-67); The Child of Prayer: a Father’s Memorial of D. A. Tyng (1866); The Reward of Meekness (1867); The Feast Enjoyed (1868); The Spencers (1870); The Office and Duty of a Christian Pastor (1874); and several volumes of sermons. Brsiiocrapuy: C. R. Tyng, Record of the Life and Work of
Stephen H. Tyng, and History of St. George's Church, N. Y., to the Close of his Rectorship, New York, 1890.
TYRE. See Puenicia, PHenictans, I., §§ 2-3.
TYRRELL, tir’el GEORGE HENRY: English Roman Catholic; b. at Dublin Feb. 6, 1861; d. in London July 15, 1909. He matriculated at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1878, but in the following year left the Anglican Church for the Roman Catholic, and in 1880 entered the Society of Jesus. He then studied philosophy at Stonyhurst (1882-85) and theology at St. Beuno’s, Wales (1888-92), and speedily became known as one of the ablest Roman Catholic writers in England. From an ultramontane and scholastic position he gradually advanced to an attitude of distinct Modernism (q.v.); but though admonished for his views on hell in 1900, he did not