III. BOOK "the Church, in hastening forward the Bible which you "have in hand: those that we have be not only false printAnno 1565.“ ed, but also give great offence to many, by reason of the depravity in reading." Bishop ployed in Epist. in Biblioth. 66 66 To Guest, Bishop of Rochester, the Archbishop sent the Guest em- Book of Psalms to revise: and he sent it back again with his the Psalms. notes and advertisements, as the Bishop of Worcester had done. In his letter to the Archbishop he said, "he had c. c. c. c. not altered the translation but where it gave occasion of an error. As at the first Psalm, at the beginning, I turn "the preterperfect tense into the present tense; because the "sense is too harsh in the preterperfect tense. Where in "the New Testament one piece of a Psalm is reported, I "translate it in the Psalms according to the translation "thereof in the New Testament, for the avoiding of the "offence that may rise to the people upon divers transla"tions. Where two great letters be joined together, or "where one great letter is twice put, it signifieth that both "the sentences or the words be expounded together." 209 Another portion To Parkhurst, Bishop of Norwich, the Archbishop sent another part of the Bible, to make his notes and advertisecommitted ments upon. Who wrote back to the Archbishop, that he to Bishop would travail therein with such diligence and expedition as he might. Parkhurst. Davies ; And another Davies, Bishop of St. David's, had another portion. And to Bishop he wrote to the Archbishop, that he was in hand with that part of the Bible he sent him. And again, not long after, in the year 1566, he wrote the Archbishop, that he would finish it with as much speed as he could; and that he bestowed, for his performance of the same, all such time as he could spare. Who was This Bishop was now very busy in translating the Bible translating into Welsh, together with William Salisbury, Bishop of Bible into Man, a man very learned in the British antiquities. also the Welsh. Bishop vice for This business in correcting the former translation of the Bible went forward along the next year 1566. Cox, Bishop of Ely, who seems to have had another part of the holy Scripture committed to him, in a letter dated May 3, 1566, VI. had these words concerning this noble work; " I trust your CHAP. "Grace is well forward with the Bible by this time. I per"ceive the greatest burden will lie upon your neck, touch- Anno 1565. "ing care and travail. I would wish that such usual words 66 as we English people be acquainted with might still re"main in their form and sound, so far forth as the Hebrew "will well bear; ink-horn terms to be avoided. The trans❝lation of the verbs in the Psalms to be used uniformly in one tense, &c. And if ye translate bonitas or miseri"cordia, to use it likewise in all places of the Psalms, &c. “God send this good travail a blessed success.” 66 bishop's Martin's We shall hear more of Archbishop Parker's care and pains The Archin this translation under the years 1568, 1569, and 1572, care about when it seems first to have been printed in the largest folio, this Bible. according to Dr. Fulk, in his Defence of the English Translations against Gregory Martin. Where he speaks of the Bible Answer to revised by divers Bishops to be first printed in the large preface, p. volume, and authorized for the Churches, about ten or 66. twelve years before he wrote his book; which fell in with or about the said year 1572. In which year I have it very fairly printed by Jugg. But by other authentic notices it appears, that this English Bible was reviewed, and had an edition or two before. Therefore I shall say no more of it here, till we come to the years aforesaid. CHAP. VII. The Archbishop conversant about ancient books. Corresponds with Bishop Davies, Mr. Salisbury, and Bishop Scory, about British antiquities. A MS. in strange and unknown characts. bishop in OUR Archbishop, notwithstanding his great public labours The Archin the Church, could not but shew his propension to antiqui- quires for ty, especially that part of it relating to this nation: and was de- antiquities sirous to inquire every where for Saxon and British antiquities, for the better knowledge of the history of the ancient state of this Church and nation. And to further these his in Wales. III. BOOK commendable inquiries, he sent to the Welsh Bishops especially, to gather up what ancient writings they could posAnno 1565. sibly retrieve. When he wrote to Davies, Bishop of St. David's, calling upon him to despatch his lot in the Bible, he also then sent to him a MS. of very great antiquity, which seemed to have been in the old British language; but the letters were not known; praying him to try to read it, and to shew it to Mr. Salisbury, who sojourned then with the Bishop of St. David's, and to confer with him about it, because he had heard he was a searcher for antiquities. 210 Some ac Salisbury wrote to the Archbishop, that as for that quire of antiquity, it was charected with so strange letters, that he might swear he knew not one. At last he selected about Salisbury. four and twenty sundry characters, both of the capital and count thereof from And from Bishop Davies. small letters: and so met with the words Sion, Melchizedeck, Israel, &c. And he found it was to be read from the left to the right hand. He acknowledged of himself, that he was, as the Archbishop had heard, a searcher after antiquities; but he told his Grace, that he could find rather obscure than any clear monuments, and so unworthy of his Grace's sight. He told him withal of one H. Lloyd of Denbigh, a retainer to the Earl of Arundel; that he, John Leland and John Bale, of any in those parts, were the most universally seen in history, and most singularly skilled in rare subtilties. He told the Archbishop moreover, that in an old pamphlet at St. Asaph, being a register or record, he found somewhat for the marriage of Priests, meeting there with the word Clerico uxorato. But a Canonist told him, that there were some named Clerici, that were no Priests. In fine, he said, that as to that book first mentioned, the Bishop of St. David's, to whom the Archbishop sent it, could find neither Welsh, English, Dutch, Hebrew, nor Greek nor Latin in it. The Bishop of St. David's also wrote to the Archbishop, that as to that book of strange characters, both he and Salisbury despaired to do any thing therein. That for all such old monuments as they had in their cathedral or library, which it seems had a fame for such things, he told the Arch VII. bishop, who had sent for them, that Mr. Secretary had them CHAP. two years ago. Some the said Secretary had of Mr. Chanter, and some of him the Bishop. But yet he sent the Archbi- Anno 1565. shop a Gyraldus Cambrensis, a chronicle of England, the author unknown, and Galfridus Monumetensis. Out of which chronicle he related to the Archbishop one notable story, which was this: "That after the Saxons conquered "the land, continual wars remained between the Britains, "then inhabitants of the realm, and the Saxons, the Bri"tains being Christians, and the Saxons Pagans. As occa"sion served they sometime treated of peace: and then met "together, communed together, and eat and drank toge"ther. But after that, by the means of Austin, the Saxons "became Christians, in such sort as Austin had taught "them, the Britains would after that neither eat nor drink "with them, nor yet salute them, because they corrupted, "with superstition and idolatry, the true religion of Christ, "which the Britains had reserved pure among them from "the time of King Lucius." 66 bishop's an This being writ in the latter end of 1565, the Archbishop The Archmade this answer thereunto in the beginning of 1566. " I swer to pray you thank Mr. Salisbury, whose full writing his con- bim. jectures I like well. And as for deciphering my quayr in "such a strange charact, it shall be reserved to some other 66 66 opportunity to be considered. As for these characts wherein "some of your records of donation be written, whereof I "send a whole line written, it was the speech of the old "Saxons; whereof I have divers books and works; and "have in my house those that do well understand them." bishop sends The Archbishop had sent also to Scory, Bishop of Here- The Archford, in the borders of Wales, for antique British MSS. or to the Biothers, if any were in his church. Which Bishop sent him shop of three Saxon books from the Dean there but what they were, for MSS. doth not appear. Hereford BOOK III. Anno 1565. CHAP. VIII. 211 The Archbishop's proceedings about the habits: chiefy with the London Ministers. Lever's letter to the Earl of Leicester and Secretary Cecyl. The Archbishop endeavours to have his book for apparel allowed by authority. Tender of proceeding to deprivation. The Queen's proclamation for conformity. The Archbishop's care about the Spital Preachers. How to proceed with the London Ministers. The Arch to the Bi formity. I WILL now go on with some further history of the habits, and shew as well as I can from the records and papers I have seen, (which have not been a few,) what were the proceedings herein afresh towards the conclusion of this year, and onward in the next. Though the ecclesiastical proceedings seemed to slacken bishop sends for a while, yet now uniformity began to be urged anew: shop of Lon- soon after Christmas the Archbishop and ecclesiastical Comdon, to look after Lon- missioners, exercising the authority they had, as far as it don for uni- would go, and moving the Council for their countenance and concurrence. Towards the middle of January the Archbishop intending to begin a reformation in the Ministers of London, who generally, as it seems, forbore the surplice and other orders prescribed, sent to the Bishop of London to press uniformity in the city, and to assist at a sessions of the commission on such a day prefixed. The Bishop, January 13, returned his answer, promising the Archbishop to be present at the day, and wishing that Bishop Horne and Bishop Cox, men of great wisdom, gravity, and learning, might be present also for the more effectual prosecuting of the business. That indeed for his own part, the matter was grown to that pass, that it was greater than he could remedy, and wanted his Grace's advice; some of the Ministers being very factious. Which he would more at large declare at their next meeting. And then he thought it would be convenient for them to confer together of their method of proceeding in this work. |