were confiscated, and burned in London by the
church officials. Remaining on the continent and prosecuting his
translation of the Old Testament he was finally kidnapped, imprisoned,
strangled, and burned at the stake October 6, 1536--all because he
translated the Bible into English so that the common people could read
it. Within one year after his martyrdom his translation was published
under another name by royal authority, the authority of Henry VIII.
For several years English Bibles flowed from the presses of England
and the continent in several editions, most prominent of which were
"Matthew's," Coverdale's, and the Great Bible. A revulsion against
Protestantism cut off Cromwell's head and gave Bible-popularity a
setback. Edward VI (1547-3) espoused the cause of the Protestants,
while Mary Tudor (1553-8) burned at the stake many of the best men of
the times, such as Ridley, Latimer, and John Rogers. In the reign of
Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) Bible translation and publication, both
Protestant and Catholic, made rapid progress. There were published the
Geneva version (1560), the Bishops' Bible (1568), and the Rheims New
Testament (Roman Catholic, 1582). Of all these the Geneva Bible became
the most popular.

#12.# Early in the reign of James I (1603-25) a movement was set on
foot to provide a new and better English translation of the Bible.
Most of the eminent Biblical scholars of England set to work and
produced in 1611 the Authorized Version of the Bible; it is a model of
good English and a very faithful translation of the original texts
known at that time.

#13.# Between 1611, the date of appearance of the Authorized Version,
and 1870, the date of the beginning of a revision, a period of more
than 250 years, scholars found a large number of very valuable
manuscripts of the Bible, older and nearer the lost originals than any
hitherto known. The English language, too, in that space of time, had
changed in some important particulars. During this same period,
several private attempts were made to give us a new and better
translation than the Authorized Version. Several works were produced
on the added new material of the new manuscripts now known to
scholars. In fact, there was agitation toward a new translation on the
grounds of the better Hebrew and Greek texts now at hand, of the more
thorough and comprehensive scholarship available, and of the obsolete
language of the Authorized Version.

#14.# In 1870 steps