work any further. And what could Tyndale do now? He did not give up his plan; but seizing the printed sheets, he hastened from Cologne, and went to the city of Worms, where he engaged another printer to complete the work begun.

But meanwhile Tyndale's enemies had written letters to England, to tell the king what was going on, and to urge him to prevent these dangerous books from finding their way to this country. Henry acted upon the hint directly. The testaments were known to be large quarto books, easily recognized by their size and shape; and notice was given at all the sea-ports, that if any such books should be sent from Germany, they must on no account be suffered to proceed any farther. Poor Tyndale! Here was another disappointment. After his labours during so many years, and his caution, and diligence, and perseverance, his books were to be excluded from England altogether! But he was not to be baffled even now; a sudden and a happy thought struck him. It was this. Though the large quarto volumes would be seized, smaller octavos might pass unobserved; and no orders had been given about them. They could be more easily concealed, and the size would not excite suspicion. So Tyndale changed his plan, and as quickly as possible printed a large edi

tion of his New Testament in this smaller size, and contrived to send it over to England, and in a short time it was circulated through the country. What joy must this have given to our good persevering reformer!

But it was not long before the matter became known. The king heard of it, and commanded that a search should be made for all the prohibited books in London, and in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

There was one person in London who had excited particular suspicion as a receiver and distributor of these volumes. This was a man named Garret, the curate of a parish in the city. The officers accordingly went to his house, with the intention of apprehending him. But Garret happened at that time to be in Oxford. He had gone there in order to take and distribute among the students a number of Tyndale's Testaments; and the books had already been received and read with great eagerness and delight. But the young men, and their kind friend and instructor Garret also, were soon aware of the danger they were in. The king's officers were on their way, they would speedily reach Oxford, and then would begin a search for the valued books; they would be seized, and the possessors of them could not hope to escape. So Garret hastily changed his dress, that he might not be recog

nized, bade a sad farewell to his friends, and fled. Many, however, were left behind, who were almost in equal danger. One of these was a young man named Delaber. As soon as Garret had departed, Delaber retired to his study, locked the door, and then, taking his beloved Testament which his friend had given him, he knelt down, and read the tenth chapter of the gospel of St. Matthew. You know what that chapter contains ;-the account of the sending forth of the first ministers of the gospel, and the exhortations and encouragements which Christ himself gave them. There he read, "Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake; but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.-He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” Ah! what a comfort those words were to the young student in the moment of distress and danger! And he had, too, another source of comfort. Though separated from his dear friend Garret, he could yetpray to their mutual God and Father, and commend both himself and his christian brother to His providential care. he did; and then, putting his testament in what he hoped might prove a place of safety, he prepared to meet the enemies of the truth whom he expected soon to appear.

This

There was indeed no hope of escape. The

officers came; Delaber and eighteen others were apprehended; and Garret, too, was overtaken, detected, and seized. They were all convicted of heresy, condemned to walk in procession, carrying with them bundles of faggots; and each was compelled to cast his book into a large furnace prepared for the occasion. When this was done, they were all imprisoned in a cellar, where four of them died in a few hours from suffocation and want of air. And they were not the only sufferers. Many others met with treatment as severe as this, and some were even burnt to death, for their zeal and earnestness in the good cause.

The people of England in general, were most anxious for the word of God; but those in authority exercised all their power to prevent its circulation, by making laws, writing books, enacting penalties, and by every other means that enmity to the truth could suggest. Amongst these opposers were two of whom I shall have more to tell you by and bye.

Their

names were Cardinal Wolsey, and Sir Thomas More. For the present we will leave them, and go on with the history of William Tyndale and his Testament.

It happened, just about the time of this. violent prohibition of the Bible, that a very fatal sickness visited England, and when that ased, famine followed, in consequence of a

failure in the harvest. Now, whatever people in general might think of these calamities, there must have been some who could see especial reasons for such judgments at that time. They considered them as sent by God to lead men to reflect; and perhaps to punish, by the loss of food for the body, those iniquitous efforts which had lately been made to exclude the still more necessary food of the soul. But God, in the midst of judgment, always remembers mercy; and He so ordered it, that the famine of bread actually occasioned a large supply of His holy word to be sent over for the spiritual nourishment of the poor people who were so anxious to obtain it. I will tell you how this happened.

When no corn could be procured in England, supplies were gladly received from other countries, and large quantities were exported from several towns in Holland, and amongst others from Antwerp. Tyndale was now in that city, working as before, though somewhat cast down, on account of all the disappointments he had met with in the circulation of his Testaments. For a time, there seemed to be no hope of getting access for the books into England; but when the famine appeared, and when vessels of corn were seen passing to the English shores, it occurred to Tyndale that it might be possible to conceal a number of the