if we could ascertain what had been the state of his mind, even before leaving the University, in reference to that great system of impiety and oppression, which, single handed, he was afterwards to assail with such decisive effect. Had he

already seen through its character? Was he even already engaged in marking it, as he never after ceased to do? If he was, this would go a great way in proving him to have been an instrument raised up by God, as independently of Luther, as were Lefevre and Zuinglius. His lectures at Oxford, which must have been about 1517, if not earlier, and his being obliged to desist, certainly say as much as that he was in advance of the age, but how far, from this source, we have no intimation. If Tyndale himself would afterwards give us but one hint, we could not desire better evidence. By those, however, who are familiar with his writings, it must have been observed that he very seldom has introduced his own personal feelings, with any precision as to dates, not caring to establish himself, in point of priority, to any man: and yet there is one passage, with which he casually concludes his Exposition of the Epistle of John, which seems to glance as far back as the year 1518, if not to some time before it. He had been exposing the policy of the hierarchy, in raising the cry of sedition or insurrection, in the days of Wickliffe,“And so,” he adds, "the hypocrites say now likewise, that God's Word causeth insurrection; but ye shall see shortly that these hypocrites themselves, after their old wont and ensamples, in quenching the truth that uttereth their juggling, shall cause all realms Christian to rise one against another, and some against themselves. Ye shall see, then, run out, before the year come about, that which they have been in brewing, as I have marked, above this DOZEN years. This much have I said, because of them that deceive you, to give you an occasion to judge the spirits."

Now, this language was published in September 1531; but "abore a dozen of years," brings us back to 1518, if not to an earlier period. We leave the reader to form his own conclusion; but, at all events, such a state of mind was in perfect consonance with the course which Tyndale so immediately pursued, with all his characteristic vigour.20

20 Let it here, however, he observed, by the way, that in August 1518, Martin Luther was quietly awaiting the good effects which he imagined his submissive letter to the Roman Pontiff was calculated to produce. He had not seen Melancthon till the 25th of that month; and

Returning to his native county, Tyndale was soon actively engaged, and so continued to be, from Stinchcombe-hill down to Bristol, to the close of 1522. As the place where he lived, only eight miles south from that of his birth, is well known; nay, and the house under whose roof he spent his best and zealous exertions, in discussing aud defending the Word of God, is happily still in existence,-to all such as may take an interest in the following history, there is not a more heartstirring spot in all England. The Halls of our Colleges, wherever they stand, have never given birth to a design, so vitally important in its origin, so fraught with untold benefit to millions, and now so extensive in its range, as that which ripened into a fixed and invincible purpose, in the Dining Hall of Little Sodbury Manor House.

It was in this house that Tyndale resided for about two years, as a tutor; and adjoining to it behind, there still stands, with its two ancient yew trees before the door, the little Church of St. Adeline, where of course the family and tenants attended. Foxe has said of Tyndale, while at Antwerp, that when he "read the Scriptures, he proceeded so fruitfully, sweetly,

it was on the 31st that he wrote in admiration of him to Spalatin-"I can wish for no better Greek master." Of course, nothing from the pen of Luther had yet reached England; but Tyndale has been giving lectures, some time before, to the students and fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford; and having quitted Cambridge also, is now on his way to Gloucestershire.

and gently, much like unto the writing of John the Evangelist, that it was a heavenly comfort to the audience to hear him; and so it may have been, under some of his earliest efforts, within the walls of this diminutive and unpretending place of worship. At all events, let it be observed, when his voice was first heard, Luther had not yet been denounced even by Leo X. at Rome, much less by Cardinal Wolsey in England. "About A.D. 1520," we are informed, that "William Tyndale used often to preach in Bristol." This he did on the great Green, sometimes called the Sanctuary, or St. Austin's Green. "He was at that time resident with Sir John Walsh at Little Sodbury, as tutor to his children, and on Sundays he preached at the towns and parishes in the neighbourhood, and frequently he had debates with the Abbots and other clergy who frequented the house."21

This small parish, with its manor house and inmates, thus become objects of no little interest, and for the sake not of Tyndale only, but especially of the design there formed, as well as of the circumstances that led to it, we must not refrain from giving some farther particulars.

In this part of Gloucestershire there are three contiguous parishes of the same name-Old Sodbury, Chipping, i. e. Market Sodbury, and the third, named Little Sodbury, by way of distinction. This last, consisting of about 900 acres, chiefly in pasture, lies on the side of Sodbury hill, and extends to its summit. On the edge of this hill is a strong Roman camp of an oblong square, where first Queen Margaret, and then Edward IV. in pursuit, had rested before the battle of Tewkesbury. Immediately below this camp, on the side of the hill fronting south-westward, stands the Manor House, an ancient building, from which there is a beautiful and extensive prospect over the vale, as far as the Bristol Channel. Four clumps of large trees growing above, objects very observable, are taken notice of through a large extent of country on that

21 Memoirs of Bristol, from old authorities, by Seyer, vol. ii., p. 215. This House, under Edward II. and III., had been inhabited by the Despencers; by the Stanshaws under Ed. IV., and in the year of Henry the Seventh's accession, or 1485, it came to the family of John Walshe of Olveston, by his marriage to Elizabeth Forster, daughter and heir of the previous proprietor. Henry VII., with an eagle eye to property, as well as the crown, had prevailed upon Ann, the old unfortunate Countess of Warwick, to settle the greater part of her large inheritance on him and his heirs. Hence it was that Henry VIII., through the Berkeley family, as already explained, and now through that of Warwick, had no small stake in the county of Gloucester. Among other property, the manor house of Old Sodbury was now in his gift, and hence, along with his knighthood, we shall find it given to Sir John. It may be added, that this explanation accounts for the many repeated gifts of property in Gloucestershire afterwards, both by Henry VIII. and his son Edward, more especially to Sir Ralph Sadler.

side of the hills. In the sketch already given, one of these clumps may be seen on the left, but a nearer view will give a better idea of the house itself.

Inhabited by different families from the thirteenth century, it was now in possession of Sir John Walsh, Knight, as inherited from his father. Happening to have been Champion to Henry VIII. on certain occasions, and to please his royal master, the heir of Little Sodbury had been knighted, and received from him in addition, the Manor House of Old Sodbury, then in the gift of the Crown. Intimate as Walsh had been, both with the young king and the court, and now given to hospitality, his table was the resort, not only of the neighbouring gentry, but of the Abbots and other dignified ecclesiastics, swarming around him. Thus it was, that, whether in company, or alone with the family, where he was treated as a friend, Tyndale enjoyed one of the best opportunities for becoming intimately acquainted with the existing state of things, whether civil, or ecclesiastical so called. Sir John had married Anne Poyntz, the daughter of an ancient Gloucestershire family in the neighbourhood, a lady who took as warm an interest as her husband in the discussions at their table.22

22 Lady Walsh was the daughter of Sir Robert Poyntz of Iron Acton, by Margaret, dr. of Anthony Earl Rivers, after whom her brother was named. She was, therefore, the ancestor in a family which, in the male line, became extinct, only the other day, by the death of William

"This gentleman," says Foxe, "as he kept a good ordinary commonly at his table, there resorted to him many times, sundry Abbots, Deans, Archdeacons, with divers other doctors and great beneficed men; who there, together with Master Tyndale sitting at the same table, did use, many times, to enter into communication. Then Tyndale, as he was learned and well practised in God's matters, so he spared not to shew unto them simply and plainly his judgment; and when they at any time did vary from his opinions, he would shew them in the book, and lay before them the manifest places of the Scriptures, to confute their errors, and confirm his sayings." It was not long, however, before Sir John and his lady had been invited to a banquet given by these great Doctors. There they talked at will and pleasure, uttering their blindness and ignorance without any resistance or gainsaying. On returning home, both Sir John and his lady began to reason with Tyndale respecting those subjects of which the priests had talked at their banquet; one decided proof, that some considerable impression had been made. Tyndale firmly maintained the truth, and exposed their false opinions. Well," said Lady Walsh, "there was such a doctor there as may dispend a hundred pounds, and another two hundred, and another three hundred pounds: and what! were it reason, think you, that we should believe you before them?"23 To this, Tyndale at the moment, gave no reply, and for some time after, said but little on such subjects.

66

He was at that moment busy with a translation from Erasmus of his "Enchiridion Militis Christiani," or Christian Soldier's Manual, the second edition of which, with a long and pungent preface, had appeared at Basil, in August 1518.24 Once finished, Tyndale presented the book to Sir John and his lady. "After they had read," says Foxe, "and well perused the same, the doctorly prelates were no more so often invited to the house, neither had they the cheer and counten

Stephen Poyntz, Esq., of Cowdray Park and Midgham. His daughters are married into the noble families of Clinton, Spencer, and Exeter.

23 The wages of a Haymaker, under Henry VII., were one penny a-day, and under Henry VIII. they had not risen above three-half-pence. The money referred to by Dame Walsh, was therefore equal to from £1500 to £4500 of our present money.

24 The first edition, printed in 1502, was composed by Frasmus "to correct the error of those who supposed religion to consist in mere ceremonies and bodily service, to the neglect of real piety." Written originally at the request of a lady, with a view to her husband, it was now translating into English for another couple, on whom it was to have no small effect. The preface will reward the perusal of any Oxford scholar in the present day.