edition
of the Bible printing in Paris by permission of Francis I. The
Inquisition, however, seized nearly all the 2,500 copies (only a few
books escaping), and committed them to the flames. The rescued copies
enabled Grafton and Whitchurch, in 1539, to print what is called
Cranmer's, or the Great Bible, which Coverdale collated with the Hebrew.
This great Bible scholar was thrown into prison by Queen Mary, and on
his release went to Geneva, where he assisted in producing the Geneva
translation of the Bible, which was completed in 1560. Coverdale, like
Wickliffe, was a Yorkshireman.

Against the east wall, on the south side of the communion-table, is a
handsome Gothic panel of statuary marble, on a black slab, with a
representation of an open Bible above it, and thus inscribed:--

"To the memory of Miles Coverdale, who, convinced that the pure Word
of God ought to be the sole rule of our faith and guide of our
practice, laboured earnestly for its diffusion; and with the view of
affording the means of reading and hearing in their own tongue the
wonderful works of God not only to his own country, but to the
nations that sit in darkness, and to every creature wheresoever the
English language might be spoken, he spent many years of his life in
preparing a translation of the Scriptures. On the 4th of October,
1535, the first complete printed English version of _The Bible_ was
published under his direction. The parishioners of St. Magnus the
Martyr, desirous of acknowledging the mercy of God, and calling to
mind that Miles Coverdale was once rector of their parish, erected
this monument to his memory, A.D. 1837.

"'How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of
peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.'--Isaiah lii. 7."

In the vestry-room, which is now at the south-west corner of the church,
there is a curious drawing of the interior of Old Fishmongers' Hall on
the occasion of the presentation of a pair of colours to the Military
Association of Bridge Ward by Mrs. Hibbert. Many of the figures are
portraits. There is also a painting of Old London Bridge, and a clever
portrait of the late Mr. R. Hazard, who was attached to the church as
sexton, clerk, and ward beadle for nearly fifty years.

The church was much injured in 1760 by a fire which broke out in an
adjoining oil-shop. The roof was destroyed, and the vestry-room entirely
consumed. The