with which provision he went off to Germany; and the alderman, for assisting him in that business, went to the Tower—escaping, however, we are glad to know, without worse consequences than a short imprisonment. Tyndal saw Luther,[1] and under his direction translated the Gospels and Epistles. Thence he repaired to Cologne, where he began to print. Being alarmed by threats of seizure, he carried the half- completed types to Worms, and there an edition of 3000 copies was finished and sent to England.
- ↑ The suspicious eyes of the Bishops discovered Tyndal's visit, and the result which was to be expected from it.
On Dec. 2nd, 1525, Edward Lee, afterwards Archbishop of York, then king's almoner, and on a mission into Spain, wrote from Bordeaux to warn Henry. The letter is instructive:
'Please your Highness to understand that I am certainly informed as I passed in this country, that an Englishman, your subject, at the solicitation and instance of Luther, with whom he is, hath translated the New Testament into English; and within few days intendeth to return with the same imprinted into England. I need not to advertise your Grace what infection and danger may ensue hereby if it be not withstanded. This is the next way to fulfil your realm with Lutherians. For all Luther's perverse opinions be grounded upon bare words of Scripture, not well taken, ne understanded, which your Grace hath opened in sundry places of your royal book. All our forefathers, governors of the Church of England, hath with all diligence forbid and eschewed publication of English Bibles, as appeareth in constitutions provincial of the Church of England. Nowe, sire, as God hath endued your Grace with Christian courage to sett forth the standard against the Philistines and to vanquish them, so I doubt not but that he will assist your Grace to prosecute and perform the same—that is, to undertread them that they shall not now lift up their heads; which they endeavour by means of English Bibles. They know what hurt such books hath done in your realm in times past.'—Edward Lee to Henry VIII.: Ellis, third series, vol. ii. p. 71. Tyndal's visit to Luther has been questioned. Lee's words, however, are positive, and Foxe says no less distinctly, 'He went into Saxony, where he had conference with Luther and other learned men.'
