IN LONDON
Tindale's residence at Little Sodbury ended when he saw that his
remaining there must bring trouble upon the inmates of the Manor House.
He resolved to move to London, and hoped that he might be enabled there
to accomplish the task he had set himself as his life work. His hopes
were centred on the then Bishop of London. Tunstal was a friend of the
new learning. He was able, ambitious, liberal, and a Prelate of rising
power. If he gave his countenance to Tindale's enterprise, its
completion and publication were assured.
Even with introductions it was not easy to gain an audience. An unknown
university man was easily overlooked by this busy man of the world. At
length, however, an interview took place. It was constrained. The
polished ecclesiastic was frigid and reserved. He did nothing to put his
visitor at ease. Tindale's request for Episcopal countenance received no
encouragement.
That interview was one of the great moments of history nevertheless. It
proved a turning point in the life of the ardent student. It might have
been the dawn of a splendid era in the history of England.
His failure with the Prelate, however, was really his good fortune. It
strengthened for him the friendship of one of the most notable men in
London. Mr. Humphrey Monmouth was a wealthy wool merchant, an alderman
of the city, of liberal mind and cultured taste and generous
disposition. An extensive traveller, personally acquainted with parts of
the world rarely visited at that time, and having business connections
with many lands, he enriched the scholar by a friendship that was beyond
price. Tindale became a member of the merchant's family for six months,
enjoyed the varied intercourse which the hospitable table of the house
afforded, and pursued his studies with characteristic industry. It is
very probable that his host's knowledge and acquaintance with the
continental countries, and particularly with the Low Countries, helped
to determine Tindale's departure from London when it seemed plain that
there was no place in all England where he could be sure he could carry
out the great work his heart was set on doing.
This friendship brought down upon Monmouth the wrath of the authorities.
He was thrown into the Tower. To obtain his release he made an appeal to
Wolsey. That appeal has been preserved. In simple matter of fact terms
it narrates his intercourse with his whilom guest. It enables us to see
the reformer through another's eyes. "I heard (Tindale) preach," he
writes, "two or three sermons in St. Dunstan's in the West in London,
and after that I chanced to meet him, and with communication I learned
what living he had. He said he had none at all, but he trusted to be
with My Lord of London in his service; and therefore I had the better
fantasy (fancy) to him. Afterward (when this hope failed him) he came to
me again and besought me to help him; and so I took him into my
household and there he lived like a good priest as methought. He studied
most part of the day and the night at his book; and he would eat but
sodden meat by his good will, nor drink but small single beer. I never
saw him wear linen about him in the space he was with me. I did promise
him ten pounds sterling to pray for my father and mother their souls and
all Christian souls. I did pay him when he made his exchange to
Hamburg."
We are to remember that in 1384, a hundred and fifty years before the
time of which we are speaking, Wyclif had translated the Bible into
English. It was not until 1477 that the invention of printing was
introduced into England: but manuscript copies were made in considerable
numbers. There were many willing copyists. Nearly two hundred copies
survived in the middle of the Nineteenth Century. Yet in Tindale's time
there is not a sign that any such translation was in existence. Many
English people must have had them in possession; but contemporary life
and records rarely show a trace of them, or of any readers turning over
their pages in secret.
So complete had been the reaction from the joys of first possession; so
complete had been the success of the prelates' policy in silencing the
Lollard preaching, and in putting out of sight their Bible in the mother
tongue.
It is almost certain that Tindale had a copy of Wyclif's version: if so,
it is certain he would use it for comparison, as he used every text
within his reach. Some have overstated this debt to Wyclif. Tindale's
own words are emphatic, that his translation is his own. There was no
version he could take as model.