Chap. i Comerdale's distinctly sanctioned by the King £ 1535 A council held by Crumwell. 'open thine eyes and consider well the gift of the Holy 'Ghost therein, thou shalt see that one translation de'clareth, openeth and illustrateth another, and that in many places one is a plain commentary unto another'.' It is very difficult to ascertain the exact relation in which the first edition of Coverdale's Bible stood to the civil authority. There can be no doubt that it was undertaken by the desire of Crumwell, and its appearance may have been hastened by the change of feeling which found expression in the resolutions of Convocation in 1534, though it could not have owed its origin to them. But when it was finished in October 1535 Crumwell appears to have been unable to obtain a definite license from the king, or it may be that he thought it more. prudent to await the publication of the book. So much is certain that the first edition went forth without any distinct royal sanction. The book was not suppressed, and this was all. But Convocation was not satisfied; and in 1536 they again petitioned that a new translation might be undertaken. Nothing however was done; but the relation in which the king stood to the Papal See had already given greater importance to the public recognition of the supremacy of Scripture. So it happened that when a council was held in the next year under the presidency of Crumwell, as vicar general, to determine certain articles of faith, the varieties of opinion about Scripture found vigorous expression. Alexander Ales has left a vivid account of the meeting which has been transcribed by Foxe. At the king's 'pleasure all the learned men but especially the bishops 'assembled, to whom this matter seemed to belong...... 1 Remains, p. 36. 2 On the whole it seems best to refer Coverdale's account of the re ference of 'his Bible' by the King to the Bishops to the Great Bible. See p. 76, n. 1. 'The bishops and prelates attending upon the coming of F Chap. ii. Chap. ii. The second edition of Coverdale's Bible authorised 37 'glosses at all than by all the commentaries of the In the meantime the first edition of Coverdale's Bible was exhausted. The fall and death of Queen Anne, which had seemed likely to be fatal to the cause of the reformers, had not stayed the desire for the vernacular Scriptures which sprang from popular and not from political impulses. The feeling of the clergy and the 1 Foxe, Acts and Monuments, v. 378 ff. bishops was indeed divided on the question, but even among them the king could find sufficient support to justify a decided step in directly authorising the publication of the English Bible'. Two editions of Coverdale's translation 'overseen and corrected' were published by Nycolson in Southwark in 1537, and for the first time 'set forth with the king's most gracious license.' The name of Queen Jane was substituted for that of Queen Anne in the dedication without further change, and at length the English Bible was not only tacitly overlooked but distinctly allowed to circulate freely. Coverdale, through Crumwell's influence, had established a precedent, and successors were found at once to avail themselves of it. Chap. ii. fore read Scriptures. The revised edition of Coverdale differs slightly in Prayer betext and arrangement from that of 1535. One signifi-ing the cant addition is worthy of notice, 'A prayer to be used 'before reading the Bible: Because that when thou 'goest to study in Holy Scripture thou shouldest do it 'with reverence, therefore for thine instruction and lov'ing admonition thereto, the reverend father in God 'Nicholas, Bishop of Salisbury, hath prescribed this 'prayer following, taken out of the same. "O Lord God Almighty which long ago saidst by "the mouth of James thine Apostle: If any of you lack "wisdom, let him ask it of God......Hear my petition "for this thy promise sake......Have mercy upon me "and graciously hear me for Jesus Christs sake our 1 According to Foxe Crumwell, as Vicegerent, issued in 1536 an injunction that by Aug. I every church should be provided with a book of 'the whole Bible in Latin and also 'in English...for every man that will 'to look and read therein...' (Foxe, Acts and Monuments, v. 167.) It Chap. ii. The composition of Matthew's Bible. "Lord, which liveth and reigneth with Thee, His Father "and the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen." 'After the end of any Chapter (if thou wilt) thou 'mayest say these verses following. "Lead me O Lord in thy way, and let me walk in Thy "truth. Oh let mine heart delight in fearing thy name. "Order my goings after Thy Word that no wicked"ness reign in me. Keep my steps within thy paths, lest my feet turn "into any contrary way. § 3. MATTHEw (Rogers). Coverdale, we have seen, looked earnestly for the displacing of his own work by another. His prayers and the prayers of his readers were answered sooner than he could have hoped. Tyndale, at the time of his martyrdom, had published of the Old Testament the Pentateuch and book of Jonah, with a few detached pieces, being 'Epistles from the Old Testament according to the use 'of Salisbury,' including Lessons from Ecclesiasticus and Wisdom. But he had left in manuscript, according to universal belief, a version of the books from Joshua to 2 Chronicles inclusive, which came into the hands of his friend John Rogers. This work was not to be lost; so Rogers, by the help of an unknown fellowlabourer Thomas Matthew, or simply under this assumed name, put together a composite Bible made up 1 Coverdale's Bible of 1535 has been reprinted by Bagster, London, 1838; and, as far as I can judge, the reprint has been very well executed. 2 This alone is sufficient to refute Anderson's supposition that Tyndale, if he had lived, would not have been guilty of printing the Apocryphal with the Canonical Books. 3 In the former edition I expressed myself strongly against the identification of John Rogers and Thomas Matthew. The name Thomas Matthew stands at full at the end of the dedication and the initials I. R. at the end of the Exhortation to the study of Scripture. In the official sentence Rogers is described as 'Johannes |