COVERDALE COW-TREE. 



425 



COVERDALE, MILES; bisbop of Exeter in 

 the time of Edward VI., and noted as the first who 

 introduced to his countrymen a complete transla- 

 tion of the Bible, was born in Yorkshire in 1487. 

 His early life corresponded little with his subse- 

 quent career ; for he not only studied in a monas- 

 tery at Cambridge, but became a monk of the or- 

 der of St Augustine. It is probable, however, that 

 under Dr Barnes, his prior, who afterwards suf- 

 fered martyrdom for the Protestant faith, Coverdale 

 acquired a large portion of that scriptural learning 

 which, at the proper time, he brought to bear with 

 full effect on the great question of the Reformation. 

 In 1514, he was ordained at Norwich ; and the 

 university of Tubingen, in Suabia, having conferred 

 upon him the degree of doctor of divinity, he, with 

 some other divines of Cambridge, avowed his de- 

 parture from the Romish church, and his conver- 

 sion to Protestantism. This important step ap- 

 pears to have been taken about the year 1530, 

 when there was a strong effort made, especially at 

 I he two universities, to restore the church of Eng- 

 land to its original purity. 



In Germany he met with William Tindal, who 

 had led the way among the English translators of 

 the scriptures, having translated from the original 

 Greek, and published the New Testament in 1526. 

 With Coverdale's assistance he also translated and 

 edited the five books of Moses. Tindal, whose 

 life, however useful to others, seems to have been 

 one of " labour and sorrow," was imprisoned 

 through the influence of King Henry VIII., and by 

 virtue of a decree made in the assembly at Augs- 

 burg, brought to execution in 1536. 



The joint exertions of these two excellent men 

 having been thus interrupted by the violent death 

 of one of them, Coverdale followed up, with in- 

 creased energy, the object, in the pursuit of which 

 his friend had fallen a sacrifice. He set himself to 

 the great work of publishing the whole of the 

 sacred canon in English, and declaring himself as 

 ready to serve the interests of religion " in one 

 translation as in another," the one which he pre- 

 sented to his countrymen, was, according to his own 

 title, made from the Latin and German. Coverdale, 

 however, called his version a" special "translation, 

 because it was different from the former English 

 translation. ' Its noble simplicity, perspicuity, and 

 purity of style," says the Rev. Thomas Hartwell 

 Home, " are truly astonishing. It is divided 

 into six tomes or parts, adorned with wood-cuts, 

 and furnished with scripture references in the mar- 

 gin. The last page has these words, " Prynted 

 in the year of our Lorde M.D.XXXV., and fynished 

 the fourth daye of October." It is in folio, and, 

 from the appearance of the types, is generally con- 

 sidered to have been printed at Zurich, in the print- 

 ing-office of Christopher Froschover. The fol- 

 lowing is the title-page of this extremely rare and 

 curious volume: 



' Biblia. The Bible, that is, the holy Scrip- 

 ture of the Olde and New Testament, faith- 

 fully and truly translated out of the Douche 

 and Latyr. into Englische, M.D.XXXV.'" 



Of this Bible there was another edition in large 

 4to., 1550, which was republished, with a new title, 

 1553 ; and these, according to Lewis, were all the 

 editions of it which were ever put forth. 



Coverdale, during the unsettled state of religion : 

 in England, spent much of his time in labours 

 abroad ; and we find him in 1538, involved in a 

 troublesome affair connected with the object which 



was so dear to his heart. Grafton, the famous 

 printer, had been allowed by Francis I., king of 

 France, at the request of our Henry, to print a 

 Bible at Paris, on account of the superior skill of 

 the workmen there, and the goodness and cheap- 

 ness of the paper. But, notwithstanding the royal 

 license, the church of Rome interfered. The in 

 quisitors issued their order, and the French prirt- 

 ers, their English employers, and the corrector of 

 the press, who was Miles Coverdale himself, were 

 summoned before the inquisition. They condemned 

 the whole impression of 2500 copies of the Bible 

 to the flames. Some copies were, however, se- 

 cretly sold to a haberdasher to wrap his goods in, 

 and were thus saved from the general destruction. 

 Not only were these copies, but the presses and 

 types, as well as the printers, afterwards brought 

 to London ; a most valuable importation, which 

 enabled Grafton and Whitchurch to print, in 1539 

 and 1540, under Coverdale's direction, what is 

 called " Cranmer's," or " the Great Bible." Of 

 Cranmer's Bible we have a specimen in that trans- 

 lation of the Psalms of David which is adopted in 

 the common prayer-books. 



In 1551, king Edward VI. made Coverdale bishop 

 of Exeter. On this office he entered very poor. 

 In his diocese he endeavoured to promote religion 

 by frequently preaching in the churches at Exeter ; 

 and he became eminent for his hospitality, which 

 he exercised to the extent of his means ; for his 

 constant kindness to the poor; and, more than all, 

 for his unaffected humility of deportment and char- 

 acter. On the accession of queen Mary, he was 

 driven from his see, and thrown into prison : his 

 life, however, was spared, owing to his connection 

 by marriage with the chaplain of the king of Den- 

 mark, who interceded for him ; but, after two 

 years' confinement, he was, by way of special favour, 

 allowed to go into exile. At Geneva, whither he 

 retired, he united with some other English refugees 

 in producing, in 1560, the " Geneva Bible," the 

 notes to which savour of the opinions of Calvin ; 

 and when recalled to England in the happier days 

 of Elizabeth, Coverdale was found, in his utter 

 departure from popery, to have adopted views ap- 

 proved by the German reformers, but not sanctioned 

 by the church of England; which prevented him 

 from resuming his episcopal functions, and, indeed, 

 for some time, from engaging in any ministerial 

 duty. At length, Dr Grindal, bishop of London, 

 gave him the living of St Magnus the martyr, near 

 London bridge, the first-fruits of which, however, 

 he was too poor to be enabled to pay. Indeed, 

 from the time of his ejection from the see of Exe- 

 ter, his life was a continual struggle against poverty. 

 The queen excused him the payment of the first- 

 fruits ; but, notwithstanding, he soon gave up his 

 living, though he continued to officiate in the church. 

 He died in February, 1568, aged eighty-one, and 

 was buried in the church of St Bartholomew, by 

 the royal exchange, as appears by the register. 



COW-TREE; a remarkable tree in South 

 America, from which a substance similar to milk is 

 procured. Although mentioned by older writers, 

 it was first properly described by Humboldt and 

 Bonpland. It is supposed by Humboldt to be pe- 

 culiar to the Cordillera of the coast of Venezuela 

 particularly from Barbula to the lake of Maracaybo, 

 but it would appear to be much more extensively 

 distributed through South America, at least three 

 trees possessing very nearly similar properties, and 

 known to the inhabitants bv the names of lyria, 



