Preface
i i *
THE
GOTHIC AND ANGLO-SAXON
GOSPELS WITH THE VERSIONS OF
WYCLIFFE AND TYNDALE.
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\ I dTilK
GOTHIC AND ANGLO-SAXON
GOSPELS IN
PARALLEL COLUMNS
WITH THE VERSIONS OF V
WYCLIFFE AND TYNDALE;
ARRANGED, WITH PREFACE AND NOTES,
THE REV. JOSEPH BOSWORTH,
D.D. F.R.S.F.S.A.
PROFESSOR OF ANGLO-SAXON, OXFORD
COEEESPONDING MEJIBEE OF THE EOTAl INSTITUTE OF THE NETHERLANDS:
nONOEAET F.E.S. OF SCIENCES, NOEWAT
F.S.A. COPENHAGEN:
F. OF LIT.
S. LETI>EN, UTEECHT, EOTTEEDAM, ETC.
ASSISTED BY
GEORGE WARING,
ESQ., M.A
OF TEINITT COLLEGE, CAMBEIDGE, AND MAGDALEN HALL, OXFOED.
SECOND EDITION.
ycntran
JOHN RUSSELL SMITH, SOHO SQUARE.
MDCCCLXXIV.
BY E.
B. GARDNER,
E. PICKARD HALL, AND
J. H. BTACT,
PEINTEES TO THE UNIVEESITY.
PEEFACE.
1 HE Scriptures contain the revelation of God^s will to man^—God's word addressed to all mankind.
As the Scriptures are Truths the closer we adhere to them, the nearer we are to Truth.
But the nearest approach we can make to the inspired orig-inals, is in faithful translations, as they express the sense with the greatest brevity and precision.
Hence good translations afford the best helps for obtaining a true knowledge of the Scriptures, and different versions, by learned and religious men, must be the best and shortest commentaries.
The same truths are there expressed in different words.
Where some are too brief and obscure, others may be more full and clear, while together, being the same in sense, they mutually illustrate and confirm each other.
The present volume contains four translations of the Gospels.
These translations were made by the leading men,—the intellectual aristocracy of their day.
The first version is the Gothic by Ulphilas, in the 4th century.
What vigour and decision of mind,—what a clear view of the future extension and influence of the Germanic race, must Ulphilas have had to induce him to translate the Scriptures into the vulgar tongue of his people, in an age when Greek and Latin were the only languages employed for literary purposes !
Ulphilas deeply felt, from his own experience, that the power of the word of God to convince the understanding and to influence the conduct would be limited, unless it was not only preached, but read in the mother tongue, through which the best affections of the heart are most easily touched.—These remarks are equally applicable to the translation of the Gospels in the 8th or Toth century from the Vetus Italica into Anglo-Saxon, and to the Wycliffe version of the whole Bible from the Vulgate into English in the 14th century, which was the dawn of that scriptural light that preceded the Reformation.
In the i6th century, Tyndale presented the Gospel in a still clearer light by his translation of the New Testament from b
ii PREFACE. the original Greek into English, so faithfully, that it is, in substance, our present authorized Version, "which constantly uses the same phraseology and often employs the very same words.
These versions, extending from a.d. 360 to 1526, are not only of great value to Divines, hut deeply interesting to the philologist, who is here supplied with ample specimens of the earliest German, and of the Anglo-Saxon, as well as early English.
The first German comes down to us in the translation of Ulphilas, made about a.d. 360.
Though the Anglo-Saxon Gospels were translated in 735 or before, and the version printed in this volume is from a MS. written about a.d. 995, yet we have an earlier record of Anglo-Saxon writing, in the Laws of Ethelbert, king of Kent.
From the Title of these Laws, we learn that " they were established in the days of Augustine *,'' that is, between a.d.
597, when Ethelbert was baptised, and the death of Augustine in 604.
The most probable date is 599.
From this time to the present, we have our written Laws ; and we are told that Bede, just before his death in 735, had finished the translation of St. John's Gospel into his native tongue, called English [Englisc] in the early Laws.
The Germans have the first written specimen of a Germanic language in Ulphilas, and we the next specimen in our Anglo-Saxon Laws, and at a later date in the Gospels.
The English philologist will now be able to trace many wgrds and phrases from the present time, 1865, to the translation of Tyndale in 1526, of Wycliffe in 1389, of the Saxon about 995, and of the Gothic about 360, a space of more than 1500 years.
The Gothic is a language of Low German originfj as well as the Anglo-Saxon and English, we are, therefore, not surprised to find many phrases apparently identical in Gothic, in Anglo-Saxon, and in modern English.
GoTnic.
Anglo-Saxon. lu bokom Psalmo. lu the book of Psalms. On thani Sealme. Lk. xx. 42.
Ik im thata daur.
I am the door.
Ic com geat. Jn. x.
Langai wheilai.
For a long while.
Langre tide. Lk. xviii.
Nauh leitila wheila.
Now a little while.
Gyt sumo liwilej. Jn. vii. 33.
Whis brothar.
Whose brother.
Hw£es brother. Lk. xx. 28.
Kaurno whaiteis.
A corn of wheat.
Ilwa'tcuc corn. Jn. xii. 24.
* Da d(5mas, de jS^l^elbirht cyning ^sette, on Aiigustinus cLcge.
Thorpes Ancient Laws and Institutes, 8vo. 1840, vol. i. p.
+ Professor Max Miiller's Survey of Langnagca, 2nd Edn. Svo.
1855, p. 6.3
; and liis Science of Language, Lecture V. p. 175.
+ Yet some while or time.
THE GOTHIC—ULPHILAS.
iii Gothic.
Anglo Saxon.
Hardu-liaiitei.
Harcluess of heart.
Heortau heardness. Mk. x.
Hardu ist thata waiud. Hard is that word.
Heard is tbeos sprsec*. Jn.vi.Co.
Sibun brothryus.
Seven brothers.
Seofon grebr5thru. Lk. xx. 29.
Wheitos swe snaiws.
White as snow.
Swci hwite swa snaw. Mk. ix. 3. luka auhsne.
Yokes of oxen.
A'n getfnie oxenaf. Lk. xiv. 19.
Wha ist namo theiu 1 What is thy name 1 Hwset is thin nama 1 Lk. viii. 30.
Galeiks ist maun.
He is like a man.
He ys geVic men. Lk. vi. 48.
THE GOTHIC
translation of Ulpliilas is the first, in date and importance, which claims attention in a brief notice of these four versions, and of their celebrated translators.
The heathen Goths settled in Dacia, on the north-west of the Black Sea, at an early period.
While resident there they became Christians, and before the Council of Nice in a.d. 325, the Christian Goths were so numerous as to elect their own Bishop, Theophilus, whose signature appears in the records of that Council.
The most celebrated of their Bishops was UlphilasJ, born in a.d. 318 among-st the Goths in Dacia.
His eminent talents, learning, and benevolence gave him unbounded influence over his countrymen.
It, therefore, became a proverb among the Goths, " Whatever is done by Ulpliilas, is well done.^^ This favourable impression prepares us to hear of his consecration, at the age of 30, as Bishop § of the Goths in a.d. 348 by Eusebius Bishop of Nicomedia.
He continued to discharge his episcopal duties with great fidelity for forty years, and in a. d.
went to Constantinople to promote the interest of his Church, where he died at the age of 70.
Ulpliilas wrote in Latin, Greek, and Gothic, and was full of energy in the practical application of his learning.
No difliculty or literary labour deterred him when he had in view the cherished desire of his heart, the translation of the New Testament from the original Greek, and part of the Old from the Septuagint into Gothic, that every one of his countrymen might read the word of God in his own tongue.
It is most likely that this great literary work was completed before a.d. 360 ; because, as a faithful and zealous preacher of the Gospel, anxious for the instruction and edification of the people, he had been accustomed to translate into their own language
* Hard is this speech.
+ lAterally A team of oxen.
J Some eminent Germans write the name Ulfilas, Ulfila, Wulfila, &c.
As I have not seen the name so written in any original document, the old orthogra^^hy is retained.
See other reasons in Origin of Eng. and Germanic Lang. vii.
§ 7, p. 115, note *.
§ Waitz, Ueber das Leben und die Lehre des Ulfila. 8vo. Hanover, 1840. b2
iv PREFACE. the passages of the Scriptures which he quoted.
Ulphilas drew the water of life from the pure fountain^ and delivered it to his people uncontaminated.
He imbibed the doctrines of the Gospel at the fountain head^ the original Greek, and preached those doctrines to the Goths in their own nervous and expressive Germanic tongue.
Ulphilas had always taken the greatest interest in the welfare of the Goths.
When, in the year 376, he saw they were grievously oppressed by the Huns, he hesitated not to implore the protection of the Emperor Valens, and pleaded their eauSe with such success, that the province of Mcesia was assigned to them.
Their innumerable tribes then passed over the Danube into Mcesia, now Servia and Bulgaria: it was from the residence of these Visigoths, or West Goths in Mcesia that they have been called MoosoGoths, and their language MoesoGothic.
Zealous Arians have always been anxious to claim Ulphilas, as belonging to them.
Valens and his Arian bishops would naturally use all their influence with Ul})hilas, and he would be disposed to concede as much as possible for the sake of peace and the welfare of his people.
Further, as a man of principle, he could not go.
In the strife, contention, and bitter persecution of the times, it is difficult to arrive at the exact truth.
We know that Ulphilas was not only a man of great learning, but of honest principles, and practical wisdom; he was, therefore, with his cautious and judicious antecedents— his early and extensive knowledge of the Scriptures—not very likely to fall into fatal errors.
We are certain of this, that so far as the translation of Ulphilas has been recovered, there is not a trace of Arianism to be found.
On the contrary, in passages clearly unfavourable to the doctrine of Arius, Ulphilas has honestly and plainly given the literal meaning of the Greek.
The chief point in which we are now concerned, is this, that those who read the Gothic version of Ulphilas are not likely to be led into error, as it is a faithful re})resentation of the Greek.
This was the opinion of the learned Junius and Dr.
Marshall, the first editors of the Gothic Gospels, and of Cardinal Mai, and the great body of learned men in the past age, as well as the present.
Codex Argenteus. — Wc gladly leave this subject to speak of the principal MS. and the chief editions of the Gothic Gospels.
The most celebrated MS. is Tlie Codex Argenteus, or Silver Book, so called from being transmitted to us in letters of a silvery hue, though the letters of a fewwords in the beginning of each paragraph are in gold.
I once thought with
GOTHIC—CODEX ARGENTEUS.
v Hire, Meerman*, and others, that the words of this splendid Codex were not written on the veUum, which is of a reddish purple colour, but that each word was formed letter after letter by metallic characters heated, and then impressed on silver or gold leaf which was made to adhere to the vellum by some glutinous substance, in the manner that bookbinders now letter and ornament the backs of books.
On showing the facsimile to Henry Latham, Esq., M.A., of Brasenose College, and of the Oxford University Press, he observed the letters were not so uniform as they would be if made by the impression of metallic characters, and suggested that the form of each letter was more probably drawn with some glutinous preparation, and the silver or gold leaf pressed upon it.
On looking minutely at our accurate facsimile, I saw variations which could not have occurred if metallic letters had been used.
The word at the end of the third line of our facsimile is abbreviated, to make it accord with the preceding line.
In the loth line of Dr. Uppstrom's larger facsimile, to prevent a confused junction of the long stem of di with the long stem of t in the preceding line, the top of {[) is bent to the left in such a manner as could only be done by a pen or pencil.
Being anxious to obtain the most accurate information, even as to the colour of this invaluable MS., I wrote to Professor Uppstrom.
Not receiving an answer with that promptitude, which his liberality and kindness of heart always induced him to give, I presumed he had not received my letter, and wrote again.
The answer came, not from the learned editor of the Codex Argenteus, but from a mutual friend, A.
Diedrich Wackerbarth, whom I had known long ago, as graduating in honours at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
I may add that he has proved himself to be one of our best Teutonic scholars by his accurate and spirited translation of Beo^vulf, from the Anglo-Saxon into English verse, published in 1849.
His letter gives the last sad tidings of one of Sweden''s most learned men, and contains so minute a description of the MS. that I feel assured my readers will thank me for introducing the substance of it.
"Uppsala, May 6th, 1865.
" Your two letters were unfortunately too late to reach Professor Uppstrom.
Our good friend died on the 21st of January last.
His death was very unexpected, and was caused by inflammation of the lungs.
Your letter of the 6th ult. was accordingly placed in the hands of the Professor of Ancient Northern
Literature, Prof. Save, who went, in company with me, to the library two or three days ago, where I endeavoured by mixing water-colours to get a few approximations to the colour of the vellum of the Codex Argenteus.
Since * Origin of Eng. and Germanic Lang. vii.
§ 10, p. 116.
vi PREFACE. then your second letter lias arrived, that of the 2Sth ult.
Professor Save is at the present moment exceedingly busy ; but, being desirous not to keep you waiting for an answer, he this morning requested me to go up to the library, re-examine the Codex with reference to your questions, and make my report accordingly.
This I have done and herewith communicate the result."—After an unsuccessful attempt to give the colour with greater precision, he sent me five specimens of the purple shades of the vellum taken from five different parts of the Codex.
Our fixcsimile is the medium colour.
My friend then proceeds, " The vellum is still somewhat glossy.
The colour varies very greatly in different parts of the Codex, in some parts indeed it may be said to have disappeared altogether or veiy nearly so, whereas in others it is even slightly darker than the darkest of my imitations, and has much the appearance of ripe mulberries.
The leaves seem to have been coloured on one side only, the colour of the back of the sheet being that of the front showing thi'ough.
Calling the highly coloured side of a sheet the front, and the other side the back, the leaves seem to have been so arranged that fronts are turned to fronts and backs to ba(;ks, so as to present uniformity of colour on both pages of the same opening of the book.
" I now turn to your other question, namely the probability of Ihre's conjecture that the letters are stamped ; or, in other woixls, that the book is in fact printed, only letter by letter instead of sheet by sheet.
To this conjecture I cannot assent, and I may add that Professor Uppstrom held the same opinion as myself, so docs also Prof.
Siive.
The Codex is certainly very beautifully written and the letters are remarkably uniform, but strictly uniform they are not.
. .The breadth of the letter H is usually about 4^ millimetres : similarly the letter M : when the wi'itcr has been a little pressed for room the Vi and H are reduced in breadth each to about 3^ millimetres.
Now had the writer formed his letters by means of a stamp, he could only have contracted the spaces between the letters, not the letters themselves, unless indeed we suppose he had several stamps of different breadths for each letter, which I do not think probable.
It appears then, that the Codex has not been formed by stamping the letters but is throughout manuscript : a most beautiful and uniform manuscript it must have been, worthy of the pen of Brother Sintram of St. Gall himself, but written, not stamped.
"Another circumstance, which I think may be worth mentioning, is the following : On comparing Uppstrbm's facsimile page with the original, I observe that in the Codex the tail of the silver C, which foi-ms the first letter of the 1 2th line, goes quite over the arc of the golden H, which begins the next following line.
From this I presume we may infer, that the gilding was done before the silvering.
" 1 may mention that the upper part of the tf* is not unfrcquently slightly bent to the left, as in the example cited by you, even when there is no letter
GOTHIC—EDIT. OF COD. ARG.
vii with which it would otherwise interfere.
Indeed all the letters, though quite sufficiently uniform to present to the eye that regularity which constitutes so important a portion of what we call beauty in writing, present, when examined with a magnifying glass and a fine scale, differences of form and dimensions greater than I think would exist had they been formed with a stamp.
" Prof Uppstrom, during his last journey in Italy, carefully collated the MSS. in the Ambrosian and Vatican Libraries as well as that of Wolfenbiittel.
These he prepared for the press and had even just commenced printing when death put an end to his labours.
The work will however not be lost to the world, as it has been placed in able hands.
In fact, it will be edited by Prof.
Save.
" I may add that the Codex has evidently been ruled throughout with double lines for writing : single lines would have been sufficient for stamping."
The Codex Argenteus, containing fragments of the four Gospels, is supposed to be the work of Italians in their own country at the close of the fifth centujy, or the beginning of the sixth.
The only MS. in exactly the same style, of wi-iting, is the celebrated Gallican Psalter* now in the Abbey of St. Germain des Pr^s.
It is of the sixth centuiy and is said to have belonged to St. Germain, Bishop of Paris, who died May 28, 576.
The vellum is stained of a purple-violet colour, and the writing is in silver letters, and a few particular words in gold.
This description would serve for the Codex Argenteus, the vellum of which, however, is purple, exactly as in our facsimile, of a reddish rather than a violet tint.
The Codex Argenteus was preserved for many centuries in the monastery of Werden on the river Rhur, in Westphalia.
In the 17th century it was transmitted for safety to Prague ; but, Count Konigsmark taking that city in 1648, the Codex Argenteus came into the possession of the Swedes, who deposited it in the Libi'ary at Stockholm.
Vossius in 1655, when visiting Sweden, became possessed of it, and bi'ought it to Holland.
Puffendorf, as he travelled through Holland in 1662, found it in the custody of Vossius, and purchased it for Count de la Gardie ; who, after having it bound in silver, presented it to the Royal Library at Uppsala, where it is still preserved.
This imperfect copy of the Four Gospels, beginning Matt, v, 15, was first printed fi'om a beautiful facsimile made by Derrer
; and, with the Gothic Glossary of Junius, published by Junius and Marshall, in
vols.
4to., at * A most beautiful facsimile of tliis MS. was published by Count Bastard, 1843, in his splendid and expensive work on this subject.
Another is given, with a minute description of Plate ex. vol. i. p. ^296 in Universal Palaeography, by M. J. B. Silvestre, translated from the French and edited by Sir Frederic Madden
: Folio Plates, and descriptions in 2 vols. 8vo.
Gr. Bohn, London, 1850.
I am indebted for the sight of these facsimiles to Professor J. O. Westwood, M.A., F.L.S., author of the very beautiful work, Palieographia Sacra Pictoria, &c.
viii PREFACE.
» Dordrecht, 1665.
There are two cohimns in each page, the Gothic on the left column, and the Anglo-Saxon on the right
; both in their original characters, the tj^pes for which were cast in Holland, at the expense of Junius.
The same book, apparently published with new titles, and a reprint of the first sheet in Vol. II, the Glossary by Junius, appeared again at Amsterdam in 1684.
II. Sticrnhielm, a Swede, republished Ulphilas, with additions, entitled, Evangelia ab Uli^hila Gothice translata, cum versionibus Sueo-Gothica Norrsena sen Islandica, et Vulgata Latina, Stockhobnice, 4to. 167 1.
Sometimes there is hound Zip with i^— Glossarium Ulphila-Gothicum per F. Junium, nunc SueoGothica auctum, etc. per Georg. Stiernhielm, ib. 1670.
III. The Gothic Gospels were again prepared for the Press by Dr. Eric Benzelius, and jiublished by Lye, 4to. Oxford, 1750, with a Latin translation, and notes below the Gothic : a short Gothic Grammar, written by Lye, is prefixed.
This handsome 4to. of the Clarendon Press was printed with the type which Junius had presented to the L'niversity of Oxford after it had been used at Dordrecht in the Edition of 1665. rV. A learned Swede, Ihre, a native of Uppsala, and afterwards professor, favoured the literati in 1753 with his remarks upon the editions of Junius, Stiernhielm, and Lye.
He had constant access to the Codex, and his criticisms and remarks upon the editors' deviations from it are very valuable.
All Professor Ihre's treatises on the Gothic version, and other tracts connected with the subject, were published under the following title :
J. ab Ihre scripta versionem Ulphilanam et linguam Mcjeso Gothicam illustrantia, edita ab Anton.
Frid. Biischiug, Berolini, 4to. 1773. v. The Codex was again prepared and printed in Roman characters without accents, after the corrected text of Ihre, with a literal interlinear Latin translation, and a more free Latin version in the margin, with a Grammar and Glossary by F. K. Fulda.
The Glossary revised and the text corrected by W. F. H. Reinwald, published by J. C. Zahn, Weissenfels and Leipsic, 4to.
1 805.
VI. A commentary on parts of the Gos])el of St. John, with the following title: — Skeireins Aiwaggelyons thairh lohannen.— Auslegung des Evangelii Johannis in gothischer Sprache von H. F. Massmann, Doctor der Philosophic,
Professor der iilteren deutschen Sprache etc.
4to. Miinchcn, 1834.— It contains an account of the manuscript, p. ix-xvii :—the Commentary in Gothic, printed :—the same Gothic text, in Iloman and Italic type in facsimile types, p. 3-34 accented, in one column, and a literal Latin version in the other, with notes :—an account of the MS. and a short notice of Ulphilas and the Goths, p. 53-118 :—a complete Glossary of the Gothic words with at the foot, p. 37-52 explanations in Latin, and the Greek equivalents, p. 121-182
:— a facsimile of Skeireins, and other MSS. p. 183.
VII.
Ulfilas :—Veteris et Novi Testamenti versionis Gothicae fragraenta, qure supersunt, ad fidem codd. castigata, Latinitate donata, adnotatione critica
ANGLO-SAXON—ETHEL BERT.
ix instructa, cum Glossario et Grammatica lingure Gothicae, conjunctis curis ecHderunt H.
C. cle Gabelentz et Dr. J. Lcebe.
Lipsise, apucl F. A. Brockhaus,
et 1846.—This is a very valuable %York in 2 vols.
4to.
Vol.
I. contains Prolegomena, p. ix-xxxvii : the Gothic text of the Gospels and Epistles, as far as they have been discovered, with fragments of the Old Testament, printed in Roman type, without accents ; below is a Latin translation, and under this are very useful notes in Latin, in 2 cols, small type, p. 1-359.—Vol.
II. contains Vorwort, p. vi-xi :
Skeir. p. xii-xvi :
Calend. Goth. p. xvii, xviii :
Gloss, p. 1-2 14:
Griechisch-gothisches Worterbuch, p. 215-241 :
Gram, der Goth, p. 1-298.
VIII.
Ulphilas von Gaugengigl :
Vol.
Sprachlehre und Worterbuch :
Vol. II. Gothic New Testament, 2 vols, in i, royal 8vo., with a plate of Gothic Alphabets.
Passau, 1849.
IX.
XJppstrom's Codex Argenteus, 4to.
1 854185 7 : v. Notes, p. 570, Matt. i. 21
; xi. 10.
Massmann's Ulfilas*, Stuttgart, 1857, i vol. 8vo.
The Gothic text is printed entirely in Roman letters, of a good legible size, and fills the left hand pages.
Parts of the Septuagint and of the original Greek text and the Vulgate Latin Version, both in smaller type than the Gothic, fill the right hand pages.
They are in two columns, and the verses, both of the Greek and Latin, are parallel with the Gothic.
The Gothic text is accented according to the system introduced by the celebrated Professor, Dr. James Grimm.
Many very valuable notes, a Glossary, and a brief Gothic Grammar are appended to the Text.
It is a most useful and comprehensive book, containing, in one moderate 8vo. volume, the whole of the Gothic translation of the Old and New Testaments hitherto discovered, and all that is known on the subject.
XI.
Ulfila oder die uns erhaltenen Denkmaler der Gothischen Sprache.
Text, Grammatik und Worterbuch.
Bearbeitet und herausgegeben von Friedrich Ludwig Stamm, Pastor zu St. Ludgeri, in Helmstedt.
Paderborn, 1858.— plain, good sized, readable text, in Roman type, without accents.
The ]> is used.
ANGLO-SAXON.—Before Gregory the Great planted Christianity in England by his missionaries, the energetic and warlike Anglo-Saxons had scarcely any facilities for intellectual improvement.
A gradual preparation for the public reception of the Christian faith had been made by the marriage of Ethelbert, king of Kent, with Bertha, a Frankish princess.
Bertha and her attendants continued their Christian worship in England, under the direction of the Bishop who accompanied her from France.
The exemplary conduct of the Queen impressed the mind of Ethelbert and his court with a favourable opinion of Chris- * The exact title of this scholarlike and most handy book is given in the Gothic notes on Matt. i.
21, p. 570.
X PREFACE. tianity.
The way being opened by Bertha, Ethelbert in a.d. 597 gave a friendly reception to Augustine, the leader of the Christian messengers of peace, and assigned them a residence in Canterbury.
As Christian doctrines and discipline expand the mind, and produce a love of learning and intellectual pursuits, these results were seen by the establishment of the first school in Kent by Ethell^ert, and by his written Laws, as well as by the thii'st for knowledge raised among his subjects.
Those, who applied themselves to literature, manifested the strength of their intellectual powers, by a success which could not have been expected, and can scarcely be surpassed.
That within a hundred years after the dawn of Christianity and literature upon the Anglo-Saxons, two such men as Bede and Bonifacius should have arisen, the one from the most northerly and the other from the southerly part of England,—from Durham and Devonshire,—is an adequate proof that the previous absence of literary knowledge did not arise from the want of intellect, but of opportunity for its cultivation.
Bede had a European reputation as a Scholar, and Bonifacius as a Christian Missionary.
Bonifacius, a native Saxon, and like all the Angles and Saxons of Germanic origin, speaking a Germanic dialect, was a most successful herald of peace to his kindred race on the Continent.
His talents, and his heart glowing with benevolence and Christian zeal, made him the missionary Bishop over the numerous ti'ibes to whom he had preached with such success, that he is said to have been the means of converting to the Christian faith more than a hundred thousand Germans.
Bede was born in 672, and died in 735.
His works were spread over Europe, and so highly esteemed, that his Ecclesiastical History, written in Latin, was printed about the year 1474^ among the early works that issued from the German press.
It was translated into Anglo-Saxon by King Alfred, and is still a well-known and popular book, though tinged with the credulity of the age in which it was written.
Bede was a diligent student and translator of the Scriptures, as will soon appear; but, we must first observe, that among the many books sent by Gregory the Great to Augustine, two copies of the Gospels in Latin, of the same size, and written in the same Roman uncials, are now extant.
After being safely kept in the Bibliotheca Gregoriana in St. Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury, Archbishop Parker, at the dissolution of religious houses, took charge of these precious MSS. ; one of these he presented, with his other INISS. and books, to the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where it still remains in perfect safety.
The other copy
ANGLO-SAXON VERSION.
xi we know from the following entry in tlie margin fol. 2 a^ " Robertas Cotton Cuningtonensis 1602/'' was among the manuscript treasures of Sir Robert Cotton.
It is now in the safe custody of the Bodleian, Oxford.
This Oxford Codex appears, from its history, as well as from its internal evidence, to have been the originatl from which numerous copies were made and spread over England as far north as the residence of Bede in the Monastery of Wearmouth, Durham.
The internal evidence is this, that all the Anglo-Saxon IMSS. have the large interpolation given in the note upon Matt. xx.
28, with others which will shortly be mentioned.
This MS. of the Gospels, sent by Gregory the Great, is not the Vulgate, but the old Latin Version, the Vetus Italica, in constant use till the time of Jerome, who guided by it, finished his Vulgate translation of the Gospels in a.d.
384.
As the Anglo-Saxon Version was made from the Vetus Italica, it may be useful in ascertaining the readings of this oldest Latin Version.
We may cite one or two examples more in proof that the Anglo-Saxon was from the Vetus Italica, and not from the Vulgate of Jerome.
In St. Matt, xxvii. 32, the Vulgate has Inveneinint homiuem Cyi'en?eum, and omits venientem obviam illis.
The Anglo-Saxon is word for word from the Vetus Italica, as will be seen below.
In this instance the Anglo-Saxon was evidently translated from the Vetus Italica.
Invenerunt hominem Cyrenseum, venientem obviam illis.
Vet. Ital.
Da gemetton hig senne Cyreniscne man, cumende heom togenes.
Ang.-Sax.
A clause is also omitted in. the Vulgate of St. Matt. xxiv. 41, when it is both in the Vetus Italica and Anglo-Saxon.
Duo in lecto, unus assumetur, et unus relinquetur.
Vet. Ital.
Twegen beo]) on bedde, an hy\ genumen, and oder by}? Isefcd. Ang.-Sax.
Sometimes a word is different in the Vulgate and in the Italic Version, and the Anglo-Saxon then follows the Italic, as in St. Luke xv.
Et evertit doraum.
Vet. Ital.
And awent hyre bus. Ang.-Sax.
Et everrit domum.
Vulg.
The Vetus Italica sometimes omits a whole verse, and the same omission is observed in the Codex Augustinius and in the Anglo-Saxon, when it is contained in the Vulgate, as in St. Matt, xxiii. 14.
This affords further evidence, that the Anglo-Saxon was translated from the Vetus Italica, and also that the Bodleian Codex Augustinius is the Italic, and not the Vulgate Version.
See the note ujjon Matt, xxiii. 14, p. 577-
xii PREFACE.
It is then an interesting faet^ that we still possess^ in the Bodleian, one of the copies which Gregory the Great sent to England,—that it is not a copy of the Vulgate, Lut of the Vetus Italica, and that it may be the very copy from which the Anglo-Saxon Version was made.
We are not certain as to the names of those patriotic Anglo-Saxons, who devoted their time, talents, and learning to the translating of the Scriptures into Anglo-Saxon, that they might be read bj' the peojile, and in their churches; but we have an indisputable evidence in the Rubrics, printed in our notes from the ]\IS. that they were constantly read in Anglo-SaxiDn churches, as the rubrical directions declare what part of the Scriptures was appointed for successive seasons.
We have no more knowledge of the exact date when the Gospels were first translated into Anglo-Saxon, than we have of the translators.
We are, however, assured by Cuthbert*, a pupil of the learned Venerable Bede, the glory of the Anglo-Saxon Church, that he was finishing his translation of St. John's Gospel immediately before his death on the 37th of May, 735.
As St. John is the last of the Gospels, the three preceding had most likely been previously translated.
Cuthbert describes the last day of Bedels life with Christian simplicity and feeling.
' When the morning dawned he told us to write diligently what we had begun.
This being done, one of us said,—There is yet, beloved Master, one chapter wanting ; will it be unpleasant to be asked any more questions ?
He answered. Not at all.
Take your pen and write with speed.—He did so.
At the ninth hour he said to me, I have some valuables in my little chest; fetch them that I may distribute my small presents.
He addressed each and exhorted to prayer.
We wept.
In the evening when his pupil said. Dear Master, one sentence is still wanting.
Write it quickly, exclaimed Bede.
When it was finished, he said.
Support me while I go to the holy place, where I can pray to my Father.
When he was placed there he repeated the Gloria Patri, and expired in the eflPort.''
We have no satisfactory evidence to prove that this was the first translation of the Gospels, nor that Bedels version has come down to us.
The Scriptures, in their own tongue, were revered by the AngloSaxons, for Alfred the Great placed the Commandments at the head of his Laws, and incorporated many passages from the Gospels.
Subsequent translators would naturally avail themselves of the versions made by their predecessors, and write them in the orthography, the language, and the style of the time in which they lived.
From these * Smith's Bede, p. 793.
ANGLO-SAXON MSS. B.C.
xiii distinguishing" features, the age of a MS. may be ascertained with tolerable accuracy.
Sometimes persons and places are named, which aid in fixing the date.
Anglo-Saxon MSS. of the Gospels.
Our Anglo-Saxon text* is based upon the MS. No. CXL. in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, denoted by B; and the MS. li.
2. 11. in the University Library, Cambridge, designated by C collated with Cot. or the Cotton Otho C.
I. the MS. in the British Museum, and with the Hatton MS. No. 38 in the Bodleian, Oxford, referred to in the notes, by the signature H, compared with Rl. or the MS. of neai'iy the same form and date
I. A. XIV.
in the Royal Library, British Museum :—collated also with the Oxford MS. in the Bodleian No. 441, to which a reference is made in the notes by 0.—Also Rush, or the Rushworth Gloss, in the Bodleian,
No. 3946
; and the Lindisfarne in the British Museum, Nero D. IV.
The value of these MSS. and the text formed upon their authority will be best ascertained fnom a short account of each, chiefly in the alphabetical order of the letters by which they are designated.
B. is described in Wanley's Catal. p. 116, and by Nasmith, p. 213; it is said to be copied from an older MS. before the Conquest.
I think between A.D. 990 and 1030.
Many vowels are accented.
At the end of St. Matthew's Gospel is the following note, written in the same form of letter as the MS. but of a somewhat later date :—Ego ^Ifricus scripsi hunc librum in Monasterio
Badonio, et dedi Brihtwoldo Prepositot.—Dr. Marshall, speaking of this MS. in 1664, says,—Hunc Codicem et Oxoniensem, rarius reperi ab invicem dissentientes ; superioremcpie eos vetustatem spirare existimo.
(p. 490.) II.
C. denotes the MS. of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels, in the University of Cambridge, marked li.
11.
This MS. in small folio, written in a good clear hand about the time of the |Noi-man Conquest, if not earlier, is very valuable for its accuracy in grammatical forms, and orthography as adopted in the best West-Saxon ; and because it is the only copy which has the Rubrics complete, and written in the same hand and just after the other parts of the MS.
Many vowels are accented.
In 1704, when Wanley wrote his Catalogus Historico-Criticus Manuscriptorum Septentrionalium, the leaf, containing the following note, stood among the waste leaves at the beginning of this MS.
: it is now (1865) placed at the end§:—Hunc textum Euangeliorum dedit Leofricus * See Anglo-Saxon Notes, p. 574, col. i.
The Anglo-Saxon text.
+ See Anglo-Saxon Notes upon Matt, xxviii. 20w.
J Wanley's Catal. p. 152.
§ I might merely state the fact, but I may add, that Mr. Bradshaw of King's College, who has the care of the MSS. and examines them most minutely, is satisfied, from the size and the cutting of the parchment, with other concurring circumstances, that, when the MS. was originally written, this was the last leaf ; he has, therefore, restored it to what, he is assured, was its first position.
xiv PREFACE. episcopus ecclesiae Sancti Petri Apostoli iu Exonia ad utilitatem successorum suoinim. Then immediately follows in the same Anglo-Saxon hand as the Codex, but of a little later date,—Das boo Lcofric biscop gef Saucto Petro and eallum his ieftergengum into Exanccstre Gode mid to denienne.
At the foot of a waste leaf, placed before the MS. is this note :—Hunc Codicem Evangeliorum Grcgorius Dodde, Decanus Ecclesise Exoniensis, cum assensu fratrum suorum Canonicorum dono dedit Matthseo Cantuariensi Ai'chiepiscopo, qui ilium in banc novam formam redigi et ornari curavit. 1566.
On the upper margin of page i of this MS. is written in the bold, clear hand of Archbishop Parker,—" Mattlueus Cantuar: 1574."
At the foot of this page in the same clear hand, " Coutinet pag. 401," i. e. The entire MS. contains
pp.
The Gospels occupy p. 1-343.
Pseudo-Evangelkim NiclLodemi, p.
344-383, published by Thwaites at the end of his Heptateuchus in 8vo. 1698.
Nathanis Judcei Legatio Fahulosa ad Tiherium Ccesarem, p. 383-401.
All the 401 pages of the MS. are wi'itten in the same bold and distinct Anglo-Saxon band.
The Rubrics are in faded, dark red letters of the sama form as the MS., but written after the text was finished, as they often extend far into the mai'gin, the latter Avords being placed at the end of one or more consecutive lines of the MS.
: for example in Matt, xi., MS. p. 37, line 14-17.
The letters of the Rubrics were most likely formed, when the Capital letters were coloured.
The Gospels are divided into paragraphs, denoted by large plain Capital lettei'S of diiferent colours, some of which, especially the green and light blue, are as bright as if recently coloured.
There is generally, but not always, a Rubric at the head of each paragraph.
Three or four paragraphs are often included in a Chapter ; and the chapters of our modern versions sometimes begin in the middle or other parts of the paragraphs of this MS., in which there was not originally the least indication of such a division.
III.
This is Avhat remains of tlie once fine MS. written on vellum before the Norman Conquest, and denoted by Cot. because it is in the Cotton Library,
British Museum, Otho C.
A minute description is given of it by Wanley in A. D. 1704*, when it was in a perfect state from Matt, xxvii.
It was so much injured by the fire, which destroyed many of Sir Robert Cotton's ]\ISS. on the 23rd of Oct. 1731, that, what was defective only as far as Matt, xxvii. 6 before that calamity, afterwards looked like a chai-red mass.
Planta, in his Catalogue of the Cotton MSS., describes it as " once consisting of 290 leaves, but now (1802) so much burnt and contracted as to render the binding of it impracticable."
It was fortunately kept in a case ; and what was found impracticable by Mr. Planta, has been effected under the careful superintendence of Sir Frederic Madden, by whose judicious arrangements many
I\ISS. have been restored, and made accessible to the public.
The smallest part of this burnt mass has been carefully mounted on thick fplio papei', which is cut away * Catal. p. 211, 212.
ANGLO-SAXON MSS.
II.O. Rl. xv iu the middle to fit the hijured vellum, and made fast by transparent paper, gummed to the edges of the paper and the vellum
; the ]\IS. can, therefore, be easily read on both sides.
It is now bound iu two large folio vols.
Sir Frederic Madden tells us—that twenty-five folios are lost since Wanley described it.
The first small fi-agment of this MS. now remaining is from folio 26, which Sir F. Madden has marked as part of St. Mark vii.
22.
Such a note deserves the best thanks of all who consult the MS. as it saves much of their time.
The fragments increase a little in size from folio 26 to 38.
St. Luke is nearly complete, and occupies fol. 39-93.
St. John fills fol. 95-135, and is nearly perfect, especially in the latter part.
There are not any rubrical directions, and only a few badly formed capital letters of a dingy red colour iu this MS.
The accents ai'e neither numerous nor carefully applied.
IV.
H. The Hatton MS. N"o. 38 in the Bodleian*, Oxford, is the size of a large 8vo. and written on vellum, in a very uniform and beautiful, but late hand, about the time of Henry II.
The letters are so uniform, upright, and near together, as to appear like printing in facsimile types.
It formerly belonged to the Rev. John Parker, son of Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, who wrote his name in red chalk, " lohes parker," on the verso and top of the first fly-leaf Wanley tells us that the missing leaf Lk. xvi. was neatly written and inserted by Mr. Parker.
The four Gospels are arranged not in the usual order, but St. Matt, is placed after St. Luke ; thus, Mark, Luke, Matthew, and John.
The only Rubric in Anglo-Saxon is this at the beginning of St.
John,—Her ongin)? dost god spell de Johannes se godspellere gewrat on Patlimos dam eiglande.—The accents are few, and capriciously applied. v.
This MS. denoted by PL is in the Royal Library, British Museum, I. A.
XIY.
It is very similar to the Hatton in the 8vo. size, but a little smaller.
The writing is somewhat earlier in date, and less regular than the Hatton.
The Rubrics are very few, and of a brighter red than the Hatton.
There are scarcely any accents; yet Ysaac is found in fol. 33, 5.
The four Gospels are placed in this order,—Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John.—St. Mark begins, Initium Sci Euangelii secundum Marcum.
Her ys Godspelles angin, Halendes Cristas Godes sune, swa awriten is on jjas Avitegan bee Isaiam.— Her ongind Matheus boc ))as halga Godspelleres.
Begins, SoSlice wel is to understanden ^ sefter IMatheus gerecednysse her his oncneornysse boc Hselendes Cristes Dauides suna.
St. Luke, Nu we willaS her eow areccen Lucas boc 'Saes halgau Godspelleres.
Begins, ForSaip Se wytodlice manega bohte ['are ))inge wace ge endebyrden Se on us gefylde sint, swa us betahten })a \q hit of frimSe gesawon, and Sare sprsece \e nas wseron.—Then follows the Rubric to St. John precisely as in the Hatton MS.—This Royal MS. belonged to St. Augustine's Abbey t, Canterbury.
It was also in possession of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, whose name is written on the upper margin of the first leaf
* Wanley's Catal. p. 76. t Ibid. p. i8x.
xvi PREFACE.
VI.
O. The Oxford MS. in the Bodleum, No. 441, is closely allied to the best MSS.
B, C, and Cot.
; namely to I, II, and III.—This Oxford MS. of the four Anglo-Saxon Gospels is in small folio, Avritten before the Norman Conquest*, in a fine bold Anglo-Saxon character, and has some vowels accented.
The Rubrics are written in a small and recent hand, between the paragraphs : or, for want of room, in the margin.
The first six leaves of St. Mark, fol.
57-62, fol. 90, fol. 131, and fol.
150, also the last three leaves of St. John, fol. 192-194, are written in a small and recent hand upon new parchment, with few accents. — The first edition of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels by John Foxe, in 1 571, was printed from this Oxford MS. No. 441.
It was also the basis of the edition by Junius and Marshall in 1665.
VII. The Latin of the Lindisfarne Gospels, or the Durham Book, is said to have been written about a.d. 687 by Eadfrith, a monk, and the interlinear and vei'bal Anglo-Saxon Gloss, by Aldred a Priest, between 946 and 968.
Both Eadfrith and Aldred became Bishops of Durham.
It is one of our finest MSS.
VIII. The Latin of the Rushworth Gospels appears to be AATitten about the end of the 7th century; and the interlinear and verbal Anglo-Saxon Gloss of the loth.
The first three Gosjicls have been published by the Surtees Society.
St. Matthew, edited by the Rev. Joseph Stevenson, M.A., 8vo. 1854.
St. Mark in 1861, and St. Luke in 1863, both edited by Geo. Waring, Esq., M.A.Printed editions.—I.
The Anglo-Saxon Gospels were first printed, at the suggestion and expense of Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, under the care of John Foxe, the Martyrologist, with this title
:— "The Gospels of the fower Euangelistes tianslated in the olde Saxons tyme out of Latin into the vulgare toung of the Saxons, newly collected out of Auncient Monumentes of the sayd Saxons, and now published for testimonie of the same at London.
Printed by John Daye dwelling ouer Aldersgate. 157 1.
Cum Priuilegio Regice Maiestatis pei' Becennkan."
The text is in the clear and readable Anglo-Saxon type, used by Daye in ^Ifric's " Sermon on Easter day," 1567 +, the first book printed in Anglo-Saxon.
The Anglo-Saxon occupies two-thirds the width of the page, and the remaining third is filled with the English Version of the Bishops' Bible in small old English.
Foxe wrote the long dedication to Queen Elizabeth.
The chief object for the publication of these Gospels is thus stated in the Preface :—" We haue published especially to this end, that the said boke imprinted thus in the Saxons letters, may remaine in the Church as a profitable example, and president of olde antiquitie, to the more confirmation of your gratious pi'ocedinges now in the Church agreable to the same. Wherin as we haue to see how much we are beholden to the rcuerend and learned father in God, Mattheiv Archbishop of Cant, a checfe and a famous trauailler in thys Church of England, by whose industrious diligence and learned labours, this booke, * Wanley, p. 64.
+ See Origin of Eng. and Gcr. Languages, iii. 9, page 18, note *.
WYCLIFFE.
xvii with utliers moe, hath bene collected and searched out of the Saxons Monumetes : so likewise haue we to vnderstand and conceaue, by the edition hereof, how the religion presently taught and professed in the Church at thys i)resent, is no new reformation of thinges lately begonne, which were not before, but rather a reduction of the Church to the Pristine state of olde couformitie, which once it had."
(p.
9.) II. A much improved edition of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels * was published, with the Gothic by Junius and Marshall, in 1665, with the following ample title,—Quatuor D. N. Jesu Christi Euangeliorum Versiones perantiquai dupe, Gothica scil. et Anglo-Saxonica : quaruxn illam ex celeberrimo Codice Argenteo nunc primum depromsit Franciscus Junius, Francisci filius.
Hanc autem ex Codicibus MSS. collatis emendatiiis recudi curavit Thomas Mareschallus, Auglus : cujus etiam Observationes in utramque Versionem subnectuntur.—Accessit et Glossarium Gothicum : cui prsemittitur Alphabetum Gothicum, Kunicum, etc. opera ejusdem Francisci Junii.—Dordrechti. Typis et sumptibus Junianis.
Excudebant Henricus et Joannes Esstei, Urbis Typographi Ordinarii. cioioclxv.
III. A very neat and handy edition of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels appeared in i2mo, London 1842, with this title—Da Halgan Godspel on Englisc.—The Anglo-Saxon Version of the holy Gospels, edited from the original manuscripts, by Benjamin Thorpe, F.S.A.
London, Rivington :
Oxford, Pai'ker :
1842.
One peculiar feature of the Ang-lo-Saxon version may be noticed, before we speak of the next translation.
Those terms, which are adopted in other versions from the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, are generally translated by indigenous Anglo-Saxon compounds, so descriptive as to be intelligible to every reader.
A very few examples will be sufficient to show this principle, and the compositive power of the Anglo-Saxon language.
For Centurion they used hundred-man, similar to the Lat.
Centurio ;—Disciple, leorning-cniht, a learning youth —Dropsy, a man with the dropsy was called wseter-seoc-man :—Parable, bigspel, a near example :—Repentance, dsed-bot, an amends-deed —Resurrection, serist, a rising again — Sabbath, reste-dseg, a day of rest —Scribe, boc-ere, boc-wer, a hook man :— Synagogue, gesamnung, a congregation : — Treasury, gold-hord, gold-koard.
"WYCLIFFE.—Till the discovery of printing in the 15th century, the Holy Scriptures and other writings could only be published, or made generally known, by Lectures and by the slow process of manuscripts.
Between forty and fifty years, Wycliffe was more or less closely connected with the University of Oxford.
As Tutor, Head of * See Description of this vol. in Gothic, p. vii. No. I.
xviii PREFACE. a Colleg-e^ and Professor of Divinity, he had great facilities for making the Gospel generally known.
In addition to the members of noble families^, and men educated for lay professions, those especially preparing for the Church attended his Lectures, and were educated under his superintendence ; taking with them into every parish throughout the whole country, the learning and impressions they had received in the University, giving lectures upon his principles, and often becoming his willing agents in transcribing his works.
The important part, taken by Wyeliffe in preparing for the Reformation by the translation of the Scriptm-es, will be best seen by a short notice of the chief incidents of his life.
John Wyeliffe is said to have been born in 1324 at a small village of that name, near Richmond, in Yorkshire ; and, at the age of sixteen, to have become one of the first members of Queen's College, founded in 1340.
He was a fellow of Merton College in 1356.
With much natural talent, unwearied assiduity, and a facility in acquiring knowledge, this diligent and unobtrusive student gained in the University great reputation for his learning, and faithful friends by his decision of character, combined with kindness of heart and unassuming manners.
He was deservedly popular, and was much attached to Oxford for the literary facilities and the uninterrupted quietude which he could not find anywhere so perfect as in the University.
During more than twenty years he gratified his insatiable desire for knowledge on all subjects, never neglecting to devote a specified time for reading the Bible, making all other knowledge subservient to the great object he ever kept in view, a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.
He read the Latin Fathers with great care, and studied Aristotle, the profound reasoner of the Greeks.
As the Greek language and literature were little known and almost forgotten in England before the taking of Constantinople by the Turks in a. d.
1453, when the Greeks fled for refuge to other countries, where they introduced and interpreted the ancient Greek authors, Wyeliffe had not the means of acquiring a knowledge of Greek.
He could, therefore, study Aristotle only in the Latin translations and commentaries.
Even with such inadequate assistance he became a most subtle reasoner, and an unrivalled disputant, able to encounter the intricacies of scholastic divinity.
His great' opponent, the Chronicler Knighton, admits that, while Wyeliffe was generally esteemed a most eminent theologian, he had no equal in the employment of the scholastic art of disputation.
About the year 1360, circumstances occuiTed which called forth
WYCLIFFE OPPOSES THE FRIARS.
xix WyclifFe^s extraordinary talents.
Oxford was so celebrated as a seat of learning in the reign of Henry III. that an immense number of students came to the University from all parts of England and from the Continent.
Anthony Wood, in his Annals*, tells us they amounted to thirty thousand.
When all allowance is made for this almost incredible estimate of the students by one of Oxford^s most partial friends, it at least indicates the popularity of the University.
By the undue influence of the mendicant Friars, the younger students were tempted to leave the Colleges for the Convent, till they are said to have been reduced to six thousand.
The Church of Rome, to revive the monastic institutions, established the four orders of Mendicants, the Augustines, Carmelites, Dominicans and Franciscans.
The first establishment of the Dominicans was at Oxford in 1321.
With other privileges, the Popes had allowed the Friars the liberty of superintending education.
They had their own ^xempt jurisdiction ; and, in their unremitted endeavours to gain converts by trespassing on the statutes of the University, they were involved in continual disputes with the Chancellor and Scholars.
The University and the Church suffered so much by this interference, that a Convocation was assembled, and a decree passed, that no youth, under the age of eighteen, should be received by the Friars into their orders.
The contest became so warm and exasperating, that WyclifFe entered into the defence of his beloved University with such zeal, energy and success, as to confound the Friars.
They could not resist his plain and honest reasoning.
He overwhelmed them by his arguments and learning, and brought them into popular disgrace by his pamphlets on the " able beggary " absurdly advocated by the Friars.
The whole University was gratified by this display of Wycliffe's energy, talents and learning ; and, in testimony of respect and gratitude, elected him Warden or Master of Balliol College or Hall, as it was then called.
In the early part of 1361, he was presented by his College to the valuable Rectory of Fillingham in Lincolnshire, which he afterwards exchanged for Ludgershall in Buckinghamshire, that he might be within a few miles of his numerous friends in the University.
In the year 1365 Simon de Islip, Archbishop of Canterbury, appointed him Warden of Canterbury Hall, now occupied by the Canterbury Quadrangle of Christ
Church.
In 1367 he defended Edward III. in refusing to pay Pope Urban the tribute which had been claimed ever since it was exacted from the weak King John.
Wycliffe wrote with such ability, and used * Vol. i. p. 206; Baber, p.
11.
XX PREFACE. such convincing arguments^ as to prove, beyond any future doubt, the illegality of the claim.
The See of Rome was silent but indignant, ' looking' upon Wycliffe with a jealous eye, as the cause of the defeat.
In England this defence increased the fame of its author, and procured for him the favourable regard of the Duke of Lancaster and both Houses of Parliament.
Edward III. had previously made him one of his Chaplains.
In 1372 Wycliffe was gratified by obtaining the chief desire of his heart, the election to the Professorship of Divinity.
His whole life had been spent in preparing himself for the faithful discharge of the duties devolving on the Divinity Professor.
Being elevated to a Professorship, which enabled him to diffuse with authority that light which had already beamed on his own mind, he used great judgment in his lectures and in the theological discussions over which he presided.
His experience taught him that deep-rooted principles and old customs must be treated with a gentle hand.
His heart was filled with piety towards God and love to man, which were always manifested by his unaffected simplicity of manner, in language as plain and expressive as it was elegant.
His lectures always attracted a large audience, as he was ever more desirous of correcting error by the statement of truth, than by direct and personal attacks.
When he had felt his way, and had obtained numerous supporters in the University, the majority of whom read and studied the Scriptures not only critically but practically; with such friends, he threw off all reserve and spoke of vital religion, the religion of the heart with its practical results, and the best means of promoting them amongst the people.
His lectures and sermons were full of the Scriptures, forming short treatises on Divinity, worthy of the Oxford Professor.
He entertained a deep conviction, that the only way of promoting vital and practical religion in the mass of the population, was by giving them the Word of God in their own tongue.
He had, therefore, for some time been engaged in translating the Scriptures into English, from the Latin Vulgate, the authorised version of the Church of that day.
Many of his most able and faithful friends assisted him in this holy work.
While he was increasing in Christian knowledge, and imparting it to the common people, as well as to those numerous students of the University who attended his Lectures for the acquisition of that scriptural knowledge, which would enable them to discharge faithfully the duties of parish Priests throughout the whole land,—his reputation, his piety and worldly prosperity went hand in hand.
His past services to the crown were rewarded in 1374^ by his being presented
WYCLIFFE^S DEATH.
xxi to the valuable Rectory of Lutterworth, As ecclesiastics were generally the best educated men of that time^ and therefore well prepared to assist in state affairs,, WyclifFe was employed by the Government as a Diplomatist in several embassies.
The See of Rome could not forg-et the rebuke and victory of Wycliffe.
Thoug-li silent^ Rome was ever watchful for an oppoi-tunity of crushing the successful opponent.
Wycliffe and his friends went on^ with great zeal and energy^ in their work of translating and disseminating the Seriptm-es.
As his knowledge of revelation increased, and his view of divine truth was cleared, he manifested greater decision and fully declared his religious opinions.
When his friends, who had supported him from motives of state policy, saw that his governing principle was scriptural truth, they forsook him.
The See of Rome seized the opportunity, and annoyed and persecuted him ; but opposition could not retard his work.
This brief notice must not be lengthened by entering into details : it is only necessary to state, that Courtney, Archbishop of Canterbury, under the influence of the Church of Rome, with the aid of the Aristocracy and the sanction of the timid Richard II., brought a bill into the House of Lords to arrest Wycliffe and his followers,
^' and hold them in " strong prison till they justify themselves according to the law and " reason of Holy Church*.^''
As soon as the Bill had passed the Lords, Courtney endeavoured to carry it into effect.
The House of Commons remonstrated upon its illegality, not having passed their house.
The Chancellor of the University excused himself by declaring, that his own life and the peace of the University would be endangered, if Wycliffe were taken.
To allay the fury of the storm, Wycliffe thought it prudent, in Nov. 1382, to retire to the country.
But persecution was so severe and unrelenting, that he was compelled to descend from what had been his throne—his professorial chair, and to leave the University for ever.
He sought retirement at Lutterworth, where, despite all opposition and persecution, he fearlessly wrote in defence of his doctrines, and proceeded in his work of completing and revising the translation of the Scriptures, till his death, on the last day of Dec. 1384.
The bitter feeling and hostility of the See of Rome did not end with Wycliffe^s death, but by a decree of the Council of Constance his remains were disinterred in 1428, then burnt and the ashes cast into the Swift, a streamlet whicb runs by Lutterworthf.
But Wycliffe lives, and ever * Gibson's Codex Jur. Eccles. Anglican, p. 399. t See Life of Wycliffe by Foxe, 1610 : Lewis, 1720 : Baber, 1810 : Le Bas, 1823 : Tytler, 1826: Vaughan, 1845.
xxii PREFACE. will live in tlie hearts and affections of the Ang-lo-Saxon race, as tlie first translator of the whole of the Scriptures into English.
As Oxford was the chief scene of Wyclifie^s literary enjoyment and fame, the home of his heart, a retreat which he always sought with pleasure and left with regret, it is gratifying to know that Oxford has raised an imperishahle monument to Wycliffe^s memory by publishing, at its own expense, the splendid edition in 4 vols. 4to. of " The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments, with the Apocryphal
Books, in the earliest English Versions made from the Latin Vulgate by John Wycliffe and his Followers ; edited by the Rev. Josiah Forshall, F.E.S. etc., late Fellow of Exeter College, and Sir Frederic Madden, K.H. F.R.S. etc., Keeper of the MSS. in the British Museum.
Oxford, at the University Press 1850."
This is one of the best, most laborious, and accurate editions of any early English author I have ever seen.
The editors have examined and described 170 MSS., and selected and most carefully printed two of the best in parallel columns, the first written before 1390, and the second before 1420.
The Prologues and every available and desirable information have been given.
A very excellent and ample Glossary is appended to the 4th vol.
Altogether, this edition is the work of sound and ripe scholars,—an honour to the University of Oxford and their press, as well as to the literary veterans, the editors.
All must acknowledge with them, that *^'they have spared neither time nor pains to render their work complete ;" especially when it is known, that " A considerable portion of their time, during nearly twenty-two yearSj has been spent in accomplishing their task.^''
^ref. p. xxxviii.
Our text of WyclifFe's Gospels is founded upon the first version given in this Oxford edition of 1850, collated with the original MS. in the Bodleian, No. 369 of the Douce Collection, This MS. is written on vellum, in large fol.
2 cols. flf. 486 [429 bis], consisting of two distinct MSS., both imperfect.
The first is written with marginal corrections throughout, in three diflcreut hands, all before 1390*.
The second part of the volume, from fol. 251 to the end, containing the Text of our Gospels, is written about the same time as the former, that is before 1390, say the preceding year 1389, the date I have adopted.
A facsimile of this MS., Matt. vi. 14, 15, is given in the plate facing the Title.
Sir F. Madden says, in Pref. p. xxi., that " the version described .... is to a greater or less degree the work of Wycliffe
; that it is the earliest translation of the whole Bible in the English language, admits of no reasonable doubt."
* Sir F. Madden's Pref. p.
1. No. 87.
TYNDALE. xxiii Editions of Wyeliffe.—The numbers I. II. and III. were fi-om the text before 1420, adopted as the later text in the Oxford edition of 1850.
I. The New Testament of Wyeliffe was first printed in folio, London 1731, by the Rev. John Lewis, Minister of Margate, Kent, with a short Glossary or Explanation of the old and obsolete words in Dr. Wycliffe's Translation.
The text was taken from two MSS., one of which was his own [now, 1850, Sir F.
Madden states, in the Bodleian, Gough, Eccl. Top. 5] and the other the property of Sir Edward Deering, Bart., now, 1850, of the Very Rev. Wm. Conybeare, dean of Llandaff.
II.
The Rev. Henry Baber, M. A., republished in 4to., London 18 10, a reprint of the preceding with the following additions, which are very valuable, and deserve the attention of every scholar.
"A short memoir of the Life, Opinions and Writings of Dr. Wyeliffe : an historical account of the Saxon and English versions of the Scriptures which have been made previous to the fifteenth Century.
The Glossary of Lewis at the end of the vol. is corrected and considerably enlarged."
(p. v.) III. The New Testament in the same version as that published by the Rev. John Lewis was again published in 1841, from a MS. then belonging to H. R. H. the Duke of Sussex, [now, 1850, in the collection of the earl of Ashburnham,] by Messrs. Bagster, in the English Hexapla, 4to. Lond. 1841.
IV. When the 4to. edition of 1850 was commenced, Sir F. Madden says, Pref. p. i. note ^—"No part of the earlier of the two versions before 1390 had ever been printed, with the exception of the Song of Solomon, given by Dr.
Adam Clarke in his commentary on the Bible, [8 vols. 4to. Lond. 1810-25,] from a MS. in his own library," [now Brit. Mus. Eg. 618, 619].
V. In 1848, the New Testament in the earlier version, was printed by Mr. Lea Wilson, from a MS. in his own possession, [now, 1850, in the hands of the earl of Ashburnham,] under the title The New Testament in English, translated hy John Wyeliffe, circa MCCCLXXX. etc. 4to. Lond.
TYNDALE.—The mind cannot be fettered by man^ however powerful.
We yearn for freedom of heart and soul.
All the gifts of God are as free as the light of the sun.
So is the light of his divine revelation free to all.
By the light of the divine word man sees and knows the truths and the truth makes him free*.
Free from the thraldom of evil and to do good.
His freedom is not for selfishness^ dissension and strife^ but for order, harmony and truth.
At particular times, we see a man raised up, whose love for truth is so great, that it frees him from all fear of evil and even from the fear of death, when put in competition
* "Ye shall know the truth, and \r) aX^fjeeia ih^vdepditTei iifias] the truth shall make you free."
St. John viii. 32.
xxiv PREFACE. with truth.
Such was William Tyndale, as will be seen by a few particulars of his life.
William Tyndale, the second of three sons of John Tyndale of Hunt^s Court, iii the parish of North Nibley, in Gloucestershire, is said to have been born there about the year 1484.
He descended from Hug"h Baron de Tyndale.
At an early ag-e he was sent to Oxford.
John Foxe tells us, Wm. Tyndale '' was broug-ht up from a child in the University of Oxford, where he by longcontinuance g'rew up and increased, as well in the knowledge of tongues and other liberal arts ; as specially in the knowledge of the Scriptures, whereunto his mind was singularly addicted ; insomuch that he read privily to certain students and fellows of Magdalen College some parcel of divinity.
His manners and conversation were such that all, who knew him, reputed and esteemed him to be a man of most virtuous disposition and of life unspotted.
Thus he in the University of Oxford, increasing more and more in learning, and proceeding in degrees of the schools, spying his time, removed from thence to the University of Cambridge. ^^
He probably went to Cambridge with the view of profiting by the instruction of Erasmus, who lectured on the Greek language in that University, from
till the beginning of 1514.
At Cambridge he formed an acquaintance with a young and diligent student, John Frith, who afterwards assisted him in his translation of the New Testament.
It must have been about 15 18, in his thirty-fourth year, when, as Foxe tells us, Tyndale " had made his abode a certain space now further ripened in the knowledge of God-'s word, leaving that University also, he resorted to one Maister Welch, a knight of Gloucestershire, and was there schoolmaister to his children, and in good favour with his maister.^^
This was Sir John Welch, of Little Sodbury, at whose house Tyndale held many disputes on religious subjects -svith the clerical dignitaries of the neighboui'hood, who frequented
Sir John^s table.
This brought him into so much danger, that he deemed it prudent to leave the country and go to London.
It is difficult to fix the time of his ordination ; we only know that, after preaching at St. Dunstan^s in the West the same earnest and pi-actical sermons delivered in the country, he attempted to obtain the patronage of Tonstall, Bishop of London, by sending his translation of the Attic Greek Orator, Isocratcs.
He was unsuccessful, as the Bishop^s palace was full; but an eminent merchant, Humfrcy Monmouth, a favourer of Luther, admitted him into his house ; and when Tyndale " understode at the laste, not only that there was no rowme in my lorde of london's palace to translate the new testament, but also that there
TYNDALE^S NEW TEST.
1526. xxv was no place to do it in all enghnde,"
[Prol. to Pentateueli, ^SS'^i] l^e determined to g-o to Germany.
His friend Monmouth settled upon him an annuity of ten pounds_, about .^150 of our money^ and paid his passage that he might live abroad and finish his translation of the New Testament from Greek into Eng-lish.
He is said to have gone to Wittenberg to confer with Luther^ who published in 1522 his first edition of his New Testament in German.
Tyndale and his friend John Frith were driven from place to place, till at last they settled in the free imperial city of Worms on the Rhine, where Tyndale^s first edition of the New Testament was printed at the end of 1525 or in the early part of 1526, in very small octavo.
The beautiful facsimile edition of Mr. Francis Fry, F.S.A., has been noticed and the full title given in the notes on Tyndale's translation*.
He has taken so much pains to acquire accurate information, as to the printer, the place and the date of this first edition of Tyndale's New Testament, that I gladly refer to his satisfactory introduction, illustrated by facsimiles.
I have only room for a very brief summary.
Peter Schoffer on becoming a Lutheran, found it necessary to leave Mayence, and to settle in the free city of Worms in 1512.
Fourteen works printed by Schoffer from 1518 to 1529, seven of which have the imprint Worms, have been carefully compared with the capital letters, the three sizes of type, the woodcut of St. Paul, and the numerals used in the New Testament of Tyndale, and they perfectly accord.
Not only the type, but the length of the lines and their nvunber in each page, are exactly the same in the two German editions of the Prophets as in Tyndale's Testament.
The water-mai'ks in the paper are also the same.
If then the same type, the length and the number of lines in a page, the same woodcut and water-mark are foimd in the other works of Schoffer, printed at Worms, as in Tyndale's New Testament of 1526, can there be any reasonable doubt that it was printed at Worms by Peter Schoffer, corroborated as this inference is by the Lutheran profession of Schoffer, and the residence of Tyndale at Worms 1
There is not any date in the Testament ; but, as Cochlseus caused Tyndale to flee to Worms in the middle of 1525, and the Testament was printed there immediately after, we may conclude it was published by the end of that year, or the beginning of the next, as it was sold in Oxford "before the 7th of Feb. 1526!."
There is an imperfect copy of Tyndale's New Testament of 1526 in the Library of St. Paul's Cathedral.
The only copy known to exist, perfect from the beginning of St. Matt, to the end of Revelation, is in the Baptist's College, Bristol.
Of this Bristol copy, Mr. Fry has taken a very correct facsimile, which was made on tracing paper, transferred to stone, and printed.
The * Notes, p. 584.
+ Anderson's Annals of the English Bible, vol. i. p. 93.
xxvi PREFACE. whole lithograplilc impression consists of one Inindred and seventy-seven copies, of which twenty-six are in 4to.
Our g-ratitude is due to the free city of WormSj for the protection of Tyndale, while printing the first edition of his New Testament.
In Eng-land^s days of darkness and persecution^ on the false plea of relig-ion, which, when pure, and under the mild and sympathizing influence of the Gospel, abhors tyranny, we are deeply indebted to Hamburg and other free cities of Germany ; and, in after times of still greater gloom, to Holland and Switzerland for their friendly reception and protection of our refugee countrymen, when their lives were imperilled at home, for conscientiously adhering to those truths which they had learned from the Scriptures.
In these free cities and states, our countrymen were received as brethren, with honour,—their talents and learning acknowledged, and their works printed and published.
Though Tyndale had the reputation of being well versed in modern as w^ell as ancient languages, we should not have known the extent of his lingual acquirements, nor whether the first impression of his New Testament was large or small, if the following facts in the year 1526 had not been recorded, by the friendly hand of a foreigner, in the diary of Spalatinus, secretary of Frederic, the elector of Saxony, and supporter of Luther.
Von Busche, Professor of Hebrew in the University of Marburg, a personal friend of Tyndale, " told us that six thousand copies of the New Testament in the English language had been printed at Worms ; and that this translation had been made by an Eng'lishman, sojourning there with two other natives of England, who was so skilled in seven languages, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spianish, English, and German, that whichever he might be speaking, you would think it to be his '^ native tongue"^.
The quarto translation with notes, partly printed at Cologne, was finished at Worms in 1526, as well as the very small octavo already described.
The Dutch booksellers found such ready sale for Tj^ndale's translation, that they issued several editions, \tithout any correction or supervision of the translator, who is supposed to have gone to Hamburg after 1526 to obtain the best Hebrew criticism, from the learned Jews in that city, and to correct what he had translated of the Old Testament by the original Hebrew.
There he met with Miles Coverdale, who assisted him in translating the five books of Moses into English, printed
* Schelliornii Amcenitates Literarise, torn. iv. p. 431.
Exceri)ta qusedam e diario Geo.
Spalatini.
TYNDALE^S MARTYRDOM.
xxvii by the Hamburg press in 1530.
Tyndale^s English version of Jonah issued from the same press in 1531.
We next hear of Tyndale at Antwerp^ where he found a faithful friend in Thomas Poyntz^ an English merchant, who cordially received him into his house.
While residing in this respected family, besides preaching to the English residents, he most carefully revised his translation of the New Testament, and in 1534, after the lapse of eight years, published it with this title
:— The Newe Testament, djlygeutly corrected and compared with the Greke by Willyam Tindale : and fynesshed in the yere of oure Lorde God anno M.D. and XXXIIII. in the moneth of ISTouember.—Then follows.
" W. T. vnto the Eeader.
Here thou hast (moost deare reader) the New Testament, or covenaunt made wyth us of God in Ohristes bloude.
Which I have looked over agayne (now at the last), with all dylygence, and compared it vnto the Greke, and have weded-oute of it many fautes, which lacke of helpe at the begynninge and oversyght dyd sowe therin."
Tyndale's translation of the Scriptures had been denounced by pnblic authority in England ; and, by an imperial decree promulgated at the diet of Augsburg in 1530, persons accused of heresy could be seized and cast into prison.
Those who opposed the reading of the Scriptures in the language of the people were enraged when they saw the increased supply of the English version ; and, availing themselves of the imperial decree, they employed secret influence and agency for the capture of Tyndale.
Henry Philips was sent to Antwerp, who, under the guise of friendship, inveigled him from the house of Pojmtz in August 1535, and then delivered him into the hands of the officers, sent to apprehend him as a denounced heretic.
Tyndale was at once conveyed to the Castle of Vilvoord, about eighteen miles from Antwerp.
Though great efforts were made for his liberation, they were all ineffectual ; for, after being confined in prison more than a year, he was brought to trial ; and " at last," says Foxe, " he was condemned by virtue of the Emperor^s decree, made in the assembly at Augsburg ; and upon the same brought forth to the place of execution ; was there tied to a stake ; and then first strangled by the hangman, and afterward with fire consumed, in the morning [* of October 6th], at the town of Vilvoord, in the year 1536, when he was about the age of fifty-two.
Thus much of William Tyndale, who, for his notable pains and travail, may be worthily called an apostle of England."
* The date in Foxe's Calendar.
See Walter's Biographical Notice, p. Ixxiv, prefixed to the Works of Tyndale, 8vo. 1848.
xxviii PREFACE.
Though Henry VIII did not appealto have any connection with carrying into effect this arbitrary, unjust and ci'uel decree, Tyndale earnestly and with a loud voice prayed at the stake—" Lord
! open the King of England's eyes \"—The prayer of the dying martyr was heard; for, before the close of 1536, the first volume of the Holy Scriptures in English ever printed in this country, the folio edition of the "^New Testament, issued from the press of the king's own printer, with the name of William Tyndale on the* title.
Nay more, when what is generally called Matthew's Bible was published in 1537, the king gave his royal " Licence that the same ma}' be sold, and read of every person, without " danger of any act, proclamation, or ordinance heretofore granted to " the contrary."
This Bible received its designation from the name of Thomas INIatthew being given on the title-page.
It was chiefly a republication of Tyndale's version ; but those parts of the Old Testament, which he did not live to translate, were taken from Covei'dale's Bible of 1535.
The New Testament of Tjaidale had been in circulation for eleven years ; and it was the best translation and popular, because the language was familiar to the people.
Some of the Prologues and notes of Tyndale had been introduced into Matthew's Bible, and given offence and raised opposition.
To remove these objections Archbishop Cranmer, with the king's sanction, proposed the publication of the whole
Bible without note or comment.
He had the translation of Tyndale copied, and sent in portions to the Bishops for their correction, and then to be returned to him for his final revision.
This version was published in 1539, and is known as Cranmer's, or the Great Blhle, the first that was authorized " to be sett up in summe conven^^ent place within the churche, whereat the parishners may rede yt."
The Great Bible was the authorized version in the reign of Henry and Edward; and, after the death of Mary, it was authorized by Elizabeth, and continued in general use till superseded by the revised edition of 1568 under the superintendence of Archbishop Parker, assisted by the most learned Bishops, hence called the Bishops' Blhle.
The first rule, recommended by King James I. in the preparation of our present authorized version of 161 1, was this, " The ordinary Bible read in the Church, commonly called the Bishops'
" Bible, to be followed, and as little altered as the original will permit."
From this very brief detail, it appears that our present English Version was based upon the Bishops' Bible of 1568, and that upon Cranmer's of 1539, which was a new edition of Matthew's Bible of 1537, partly from Coverdale of 1535, but chiefly from Tyndale; in other wordsj that our * A copy is in the Bodleian.
ESTIMATION OF TYNDALE'S VERSION,
xxix present authorized translation is mainly that of Tyndale, made from the original Hebrew and Greek.
It has stood the test of the severest criticism, from his last revision to the present time, without material alteration ; because Tyndale, havinga critical knowledge of Hebrew and Greek and deep Christian experience, caught the very spirit of the original, and gave the impression of it in plain, idiomatic English,
His style is easy, correct and vigorous.
His translation of the New Testament is a fine specimen of our language, in what may be called the first stage of maturity.
It is the foundation of our standard translation, which is also the standard of our language.
He avoids Latin derivatives, and generally uses indigenous words, the strong and expressive Saxon terms, known by all the people.
In this respect our version happily follows him.
Tyndale translates ti]v aydirriv rod 0eou, Lk, xi. 42, t/ie love of God, which our established version has adopted; but Wycliffe has the charite of God, from the Vulgate charitatem Lei.
Our translators seldom depart from Tyndale, but when they do, in a particular word, the spirit of the passage is often lost; for instance, in i Cor. xiii. 13, Tyndale has, —Nowe abideth fayth, hope and love, even these thre ; hut the chefe of these is love [?; dya-TTTj].
Love is divine affection in the sonl,for God is love [on 6 0eos ayaTij] eoriy] .
Faith in the Saviour is the. foimdation of good works, hojje raises the superstructure, and love completes and crowns it in eternity.
Faith works by love, and love is the fidfilling of the law \-!:X-{\p(i>\ia vofjLov rj dya7r?j].
The perfection of a good work is, that it springs from love.
Every Christian knows this to be his ruling principle.
We have an illustration of it in filial love.
How different is the feeling and conduct of an affectionate child from that of a servant
The child, influenced by love, is unwearied in attention, and the only hope is an increase of mutual affection ; while the servant^s constraining principle is naturally the hope of material wages.
Thus, while Christian love is the constraining princij)le of action here, and the fulfilling of the law, when our presentfaith is lost in sight, and hope in enjoyment, this aydirr] will continue, and increase throughout eternity.—Now, if this be the .literal and true meaning of St. PauFs Greek, let love be substituted for charity, wherever it occurs in i Cor. xiii., as it is in Tyndale 1526, followed by Coverdale 1535, Matthew 1537, Archbishop Cranmer 1539, and Parker 1568,—and there can be little doubt that love is more in accordance with the scope of the chapter than charity, and that Tyndale's last clause, the chefe of these is love, is far better than the Vulgate major horum est charitas, or than Wycliffe's, tlie moost of thes is charite, or even than our version, the greatest of these is charity.
XXX PREFACE.
Before I close my Preface, I must have the pleasure of alluding to the friendly assistance I have received in the preparation and printingof these Gospels.
First, and most of all, I am deeply indebted to George Waring, Esq., M.A., of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Magdalen Hall, Oxford, whose contributions to Anglo-Saxon philology as editor, for the Surtees Society, of the Liudisfurne and Rushworth Glosses, are already before the public.
Many years ago the text of the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon Gospels had been very carefully transcribed, and the Anfflo-Saxon collated with the oldest and best MSS.
The final revision had been long deferred in consequence of other pressing engagements and failing sight, till all impediments were removed in the early part of 1864 by my friend, who made an arrangement with the Publisher to take the responsibility of preparing my transcript for the press, and seeing it accurately printed : of harmonizing the division of verses, and the punctuation of the Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, and the translation of Tyndale with Wycliffe and our authorized version
: and of regulating, as far as possible, the accents, which indicate the long sound of the Anglo-Saxon vowels over which they are placed.
The accent on diphthongs is here omitted, except when found in the MSS., as it was not employed by Dr. Grimm and others to denote the length of the vowel, but merely to indicate the etymological origin of the accented vowel.
Every accent in the Anglo-Saxon text, therefore, denotes tlie long sound of the vowel over which it is placed, and the diphthongs eo, ea, etc. are accented exactly as in B. or in C.
As the simplicity of Anglo-Saxon accentuation lias frequently been ovei'looked, or involved in a complicated system, it will tend to remove false impressions, and to make the matter clear, by recollecting that the Anglo-Saxons only used one accent, which always indicated the long sound of the vowel over which it was placed.
Our complicated system of English vowels arose from the Norman scribes, who first confused the Anglo-Saxon accents, and then attempted to supply their place by a multiplicity of vowels, which we ha\e adopted, as will be seen by the following examples :—Cwen a cween, fct feet, ges geese, etc.
:—Dic'a dike, lie like, liin lime, win wine, etc.
:—Buc a hook, for fore, before, god good, gos a goose, etc.
:—Dii thou, hu how, hus a house, mus a mouse, etc.
:— Bryd a bride, ifr fire, mys mice.
In all these instances the Anglo-Saxon is quite plain and consistent, expressing the same sound by the same accented vowel, while the English employs different vowels for the same purpose, as in cween, geese ;—good, goose, fore ; thou, how, house, and mo?tse.
The greatest complication of vowels is seen in our expression of the long open sound of 0, heard in no and bone.
We use oe, oa, and with a silent final e,
ANG.-SAX. ACCENTS: AND
p, D. xxxi while the Anglo-Saxons, iu all cases, merely accented the a, as,—Da a doe, fa a /oe, ta a toe, etc.—Bat a boat, ac an oa^, fam foam, etc.—Ban a bone, stan a stone, etc.
This superabundant employment of English vowels is troublesome to natives, and most perplexing to foreigners.
On the contrary, the AngloSaxon system of accenting the long, vowels is plain and definite.
Mr. Waring has been guided by these general principles in accenting the Anglo-Saxon, but Gothic words have not been accented, because not a single accent has been found in Cod. Arg.
Every possible care has, however, been taken to secure the greatest verbal accuracy in the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon texts, as well as in the other two.
I believe Mr. Waring has exerted himself to the uttermost to fulfil his engagement^ and I have devoted a far longer time to the work than I anticipated would be at my disposal.
Neither labour nor expense has been spared, when either could be profitably employed to benefit the work.
I have_, therefore, not only willingly assisted in preparing the MS. for the press, collated the B text with the C, but I have carefully read over every proof twice and the revise once, after being read in the same manner by Mr. Waring, and by a friend ; every sheet has, therefore, been carefully read over at least nine times.
Mr. Waring suggested and superintended the placing of |j and d, or the hard and soft sound of our modern th, as they are used in all parts of England at the present day.
Though in our numerous provincial Dialects almost every letter has a diversity of sounds, I believe there is greater uniformity in the hard and soft sound of our th,—the Anglo-Saxon ]? and d,—than in any other letters.
As the true archaism of our good old English and its nervous energy are retained in the provincial Dialects of our Island*, I have no doubt the original and genuine hard and soft sounds of the Anglo-Saxon )> and d have been transmitted to us by the secluded peasantry of our I'ural districts, and confii'med by those educated in our Universities and towns.
The only way then of recovering the right sound of }> and d, and of correctly applying these characters in writing and printing Anglo-Saxon, is to adopt the true English sound of these letters.
If the two distinct sounds of our modern th have been faithfully conveyed to us, we only ascend to Anglo-Saxon times and re-adopt their rational system by using their two distinct characters for these two distinct sounds.
The Norman scribes could not distinguish between the hard and soft sound of {> and d ; they therefore, in writing AngloSaxon, confounded them, using the one or the other without any apparent distinction.
Some scribes only employed S or d, which is the same letter * See Origin of the English and Germanic Languages, part iii.
§ 19, p. 26.
xxxii PREFACE. in a modified form, as in the Rushwortli Gloss, which discards the use of [> altogether in St. Mark, Luke, and John.
Hence the th for both sounds in modern English, to the confusion of foreigners.
Our present printed AngloSaxon text, indicating the true, the distinct hard and soft sound of th by \ and fJ, will be a great assistance to foreigners, in showing the correct pronunciation of th, in English words cognate with the Anglo-Saxon.
The hard, sharp, or acute sound of the English th in th\\\ and sooth, is J) ; the soft, flat, or grave sound of TH represented by the Anglo-Saxon p and in THine and sooTHe is represented by D, d or 6.
For ascertaining the hard and soft sound of th, equally applicable to English and Anglo-Saxon, are given the following general
Rules.
I. The hard, sharp or acute p or )', is used in the beginning of all words, not pronominal, as J)incan to ^7«nk, |)in thm. a. And at the end of radical and inflectional terminations, as baej) a ba^A, clajj clo<7i, so)) sooth, J)inc)) think&th.
Except wid wIth, etc.
6. And sometimes when th is preceded or followed by a consonant, as embj)encan to tKxvik about ; ejmes easiness ; jjritig thniy.
II.
The soft, flat or grave D, d or S is used in the beginning of all pronouns and of all words derived from pronouns, as dajt THat ; de THe ; dajslic like this, danoune inence, dterdter THere. a.
Also often between two vowels, as badu baTHS, badian to baTHe, cladum with cloTHes.
These Rules are in perfect accordance with those given in our best works on orthoepy.
In the printingdepartment, we have had the most wilUng assistance and co-operation from all engaged in the work at the University Press, to whom our thanks are due.
To the Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Dr. Pulling, to the Eev, Henry Octavius Coxe, M. A., Librarian, and to the AssistantLibrarians of the Bodleian, Oxford, I am greatly indebted, for the most ready and friendly assistance, in the consultation and use of MSS. under their care.
Though I had carefully collated the whole of the Bene't, or Corpus MS. of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels, with my own copy, in 1832, and examined it again in 1841, I have frequently had to consult it since 1850.
While the stringent regulations, made by Archbishop Parker, for the preservation of the MSS. and printed books left to Corpus Christi College, Camhridg-c, have been observed, the Master, Dr. Pulling, and the Fellows of the College, have had tlie happy art
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF ASSISTANCE.
xxxm of giving every facility, in so friendly a manner as to avoid the least appearance of conferring a favour.
The same may be said of Dr. Guest, Master of Caius College, who has most kindly removed doubts by consulting the MS.
My best and most willing acknowledgments are due to the Rev.
J. E. B. Mayor, M.A., Librarian of the University of Cambridge, and to Henry Bradshaw, Esq., M.A., Fellow of King's
College, for their ready assistance in procuring a Grace of the Senate to take out of the Library one of their treasures, the MS. of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels.
I have, therefore, had the great advantage of the um-estrained possession and use of this MS. for reference, during the time the Anglo-Saxon text has been passing through the Oxford.
University Press.
J. B.
Oxford; June 21th, 1865.
THE CHIEF CONTRACTIONS,
The Cambridge MS. v. Pref. p. liil.
{U. a, after a nnmber, denotes the right hand page, redo ; and b, the left hand H. or Hat. The Hatten MS. v. Pref. p. xv. i. e. id est.
Cast. Mai. Count Castiglione and Anpage, verio, Jn. St. John's Gospel.
Lb.
St. Luke. a indicates the first word in a verse, t=2, c=3, d=i etc. to 2=26: ab denote words 1 and 2, aJ=3 and 4: a-d denote the words from 1 to 4, both inclusive : dd indicate a double alphabet, i. e. 26 letters gelo Mai, v. Notes, p. 571 : v, 8 and Mass. Massman, v. Pref. p. ix. } i.
Mk.
St. Mark. vii. 28e.
Ood. Arg. Codex Argenteus, v. Pref.
Mt. St. Matthew. p. iv-ii.
Cod. Aug. Codex Augustinius Bodl. D.
0. The Oxford MS. v. Pref. p. xvi.
; vi. of one alphabet, and d=i of the next. or 26 + 4=30, the nnmber of the word Bl. Koyal MS. v. Pref. p. xv.
} v.
Bosh, or Boshw. Eushworth, v. Pref.
2.11.
Col. Column. in the verse.
Thus, in Notes, p.
571, Corp. Corpus Christi CoJJ. Camb. v. B, p. xvi. col. ?• 15«=chap.
V. verse 15 ; «=5, the Cot. Cotton, v. Pref. p. xiv.
{ iii.
D. 2. U, V. Cod. Aug.
Skeir. Skeireins, v. Pref. p. viii.
} vi. fifth word in verse 15.
Upps.
UppstrSm's Cod. Arg. 4to. UppArg. or Arg. v. Cod. Arg. ete. or etc, et oaetera. sala 1854-18.57, V. Notes, p. 570.
A. S. Anglo-Saxon.
B The Bene't or Corp. Christi MS. v.
Pref. p. xlii. 4 1.
Fol. or foL folio or leaf.
Upps. Frag. Goth. v. Notes, p. 570.
3 =£7, gh and y.
Gab. lab. Gabelentz and Lflbe, v. Pret.
V. vide, see.
Vet. Ital.
The Old Italic Version, \. b, V. a.
Pref. p. xi. p. viii, 5 vii. w. wanted or omitted in MSS.
Grk. Greelc. h, V. a.
xxxlv
THE GOTHIC FACSIMILE A.*
M^. n N T e 9 A^ Ai Af^^STitpM A^^N Am MD.
UNTE YABAI AFLETIp MANNAM xliv.
Enim si remittitis hominibus Ml S S ^d^ed^Itl Si Xe ' /»ip\GTl^g/<.h
MISSADEDINS
IZE, AFLETIp YAH transgressiones eorum, remittit et i'xvisATTA'i'XvAKSAni^AKhiMiNA^
IZWIS ATTA IZWAR SA UFAR HIMINAM.
vobis pater vester o super coelis. i* tp 9 AkA I N I A )^ A 6 T n|> M An N A M M I s
Ip YABAI NI AFLETIp
MANNAM MIS-
Autem si non remittitis hominibus transS /idLGd^Itl S'i'ZG'tll^ ^n ^TT'/i'i X SADEDINS iZE, NI pAU ATTA I Zgressiones eorum, neque pater • vesVAKAJ^AGTupMissA^G^iNSixyA
WAR AFLETIp
MISSADEDINS
IZWAter remittit transgressiones vest- •MG- ]<.^S: A^^AwBitpej^ASTAi^'HiyAiK ME.
ROS.
AppAN BIpE
FASTAIp, NI WAIR-
xlv. tras.
Autem quum jejiinatis, non fiaMatt. vi. 14-16, V. Alphabet, p. xxxvi.
ANGLO-SAXON, THE BENE'T OR CORP. MS.
B.f nnn^e! ac alyy ur o^: y^e'le yo|?lice'; pico'^licc' ^yr co5?-nnnge, ac alys us of yfele soJ?lice.
Witodlice gyf iemip-tation, hut loose us from evil.
Amen.
Verily, if 5ef 'foy.^yya'S mannu Hy]ia rynna ])oh i:o)t ^^y}^ ge forgyfad mannuin liyra synna poniie forgyfp ye forgive men their sins, then forgiveth e'ope]! y^ lie'o):enlica yct'Cicyi doy doy^e!
^ylrar; eower se heofenlica fseder eow eowre gyltas. your I heavenly father you, your guilt.
Gyj 5^^ yo'S lied ne yoy.^Yya^ mannu. ne! e!oycn yet Gyi ge sodlice ne forgyfad mannum, ne eower feeIf ye soothly forgive not men, neither your fat)eji ne yo^^y^ doy e!oyy.d v-ynna der ne forp-yfd eow eowre synna.
,7 ^ • ^7 • f Matt. VI. 1^-15. mer jorgiveth you, your sins.
\ pref p xiii
THE ANGLO-SAXON FACSIMILE C.
|| xxxv on coyzn\in^€- ac alyy viy oy: y^def. ro'Slic^'
"pirotjlice' on costnunge, ac alys us of yfele. sodlice.
Witodlice 51^ ^d yo'p.^iya'^ mannn Ke'Djia yynna- |?onn€^ ^o|i gif ge forgifad mannum heora synna, ]?omie for5i|:e^ efopeji yc; Heo|:enlica ycfbcy, doy e'orjte'
51Igifed eower se heofenlica feeder eow eowre gilzay ^ly ^ef yoMicef n€f yo|i5i|:a<5' mannv,- n€ doycy, tas. gif ge sodlice ne forgifad mannum, ne eower ycx^Xicy, nd yoy. ^fy'S c'op doyye! rynna*
C^VY* 5^ byjiatS" f^der ne forgyfd eow eowre synna.
Dys gebyrad '"'"'
Matt. vi. 13-15, V. Pref. p. xiii.
§ ii.
WYCLIFFE.
D. yuel amen .
)7at is so be it / forso]?e 3if
shulen for3eue to men her synnys : & 3oure heuenly fadir. slial for3eue to 30U 3oure trespassis / so ]?ely 3if 5ee shulen for3eue not to men : nei}> 3oure fadir shal for3eue to 30U 3oure synnes.
But when 300 Matt. vi. 13-16.
Pref. p. xxii.
TYNDALE.
E. tempta-cion . but delyvre vs ffrom yvell / Amen.
For ad yfF yeshall forgeve other men there treaspases / youre father i heve shal also forgeve you . but ad ' ye wyll not forgeve men there trespases / nomo# re shall youre father forgeve youre treaspases.
Moreovre when ye faste / be not sad as the jf pocryts are.
For they disfigure there faces / that hit myght apere vnto men that they faste.
Vere^ ly y say vnto you / they have there rewarde.
But thou / whe thou fastest / anoynte thyneheed / ad Matt. vi. 13-17.
* V. Facsimile facing the Title; and Preface, p. vi. vii.
+ v. Notes, p. 574, col.
I ; and Preface, p. xiii.
J Verbally, the heavenly Father of you.
|| The Cambridge MS.
: v. Preface, p. xiii.
§ ii.
The verbal English of C is given in the preceding example, marked B.
** The Rubric :
V. the entire Rubric, in Notes, p. 575, col.
Matt. vi. l6a.
The literal English of this Rubric is, This helongeth to the head of the fast on Wednesday.
GOTHIC.
Form Sound Number A