Thomas Tindal

“ I turned sharply round, and saw the handsome, friendly face of Maurice Tindal, an artist, like myself, but one who, young as he was, already ranked high in his profession, and bade fair to be, with thought and study, one of the props of British art. I had a sincere liking for Tindal, and a thorough admiration for his talents; indeed, almost every one liked the youngster, though it is sometimes provoking to be outstripped by a junior. I knew that he had spent the winter somewhere in Italy, but not at Rome, for we had not met since our last sojourn in London. ”

“ Tindal opens his great work thus:—"The author makes no apology for writing on a subject of the last importance; and which, as far as I can find, has no where been so fully treated: he builds nothing on a thing so uncertain as tradition, which differs in most countries; and of which, in all countries, the bulk of mankind are incapable of judging; but thinks he has laid down such plain and evident rules, as may enable men of the meanest capacity, to distinguish between religion and superstition ”

“ TINDAL, MATTHEW (1657–1733) , deist, baptised at Bere-Ferris, Devonshire, 12 May 1657, was son of John Tindal, appointed under the Commonwealth minister of Bere-Ferris, by his wife Anna Hulse. He was educated at a country school, entered (1673) Lincoln College, Oxford, where he was a pupil of George Hickes [q. v.] , and thence migrated to Exeter College. He graduated B.A. on 17 Oct. 1676, B.C.L. 1679, and D.C.L. 1685. He was elected to a law fellowship at All Souls' in 1678. In the reign of James II he became for a time a catholic. ”

“ INTERCOURSE WITH LUTHER EXILE by force of circumstance is a sorrow many have endured. To the ardent patriot who sees with far-seeing eye his country's destiny, and who feels he could and will make some contribution to the general good, it is an endless sorrow. Tindale's intense love of country, his high fortitude in the mission he had accepted for himself, his clear vision of the blessing to England the Bible in the native tongue must bring, the unintelligent opposition and hostility obstructing and thwarting his work, in the end menacing his life, made existence for him a prolonged martyrdom. ”

“ Hearne makes frequent references to him in his diary, and calls him a ‘notorious ill-liver’ and a ‘noted debauchee.’ Similar accusations are made in detail by an anonymous fellow of All Souls' in a pamphlet published upon Tindal's death; and Professor Burrows says that he was once publicly admonished for immorality (Worthies of All Souls', p. 381) . The anonymous fellow also insists upon Tindal's gluttony, which, it appears, sometimes monopolised dishes intended to be shared by the other fellows of the college. Hearne admits, however, that Tindal had one awkward virtue. ”

“ He resolved to move to London, and hoped that he might be enabled there to accomplish the task he had set himself as his life work. His hopes were centred on the then Bishop of London. Tunstal was a friend of the new learning. He was able, ambitious, liberal, and a Prelate of rising power. If he gave his countenance to Tindale's enterprise, its completion and publication were assured.
Even with introductions it was not easy to gain an audience. An unknown university man was easily overlooked by this busy man of the world. ”

“ Erasmus, More and Colet were the men of letters conspicuous in ability and influence during Tindale's boyhood. The three men were in intimate sympathy with one another; and each in his own fashion, exponents of the new learning, gave the country whole-hearted service. All were men of outstanding talent, and labored unceasingly for the ends they had in view. ”

“ To no Cambridge student of the time had the book come more opportunely and more appropriately than to the ex-Oxford student, whose classical attainments fitted him to take from it the very fullest advantage. One of Tindale's sayings amid these surroundings was, "he had perceived by experience how that it was impossible to establish the lay people in any truth unless the Scriptures were plainly laid before their eyes in the mother tongue, that they see the process, the order, and the meaning of the text: which things only", he says, "moved me to translate the New Testament." ”

“ While still vicar of Waltham, Tindal projected a ‘History of Essex’ in three volumes, but the scheme did not meet with much support, and two numbers only appeared (1732? 4to) . The first included the history of Felsted and Pantfield, and the second the history of Raine, Stebbing, and part of Bocking. They were based upon the manuscripts of William Holman [q. v.] , which had been entrusted to Tindal on Holman's death in 1730. In 1731 Tindal was appointed master of the royal free school at Chelmsford, and in 1732 chaplain in ordinary at Chatham. ”

“ The strength of Tindal's position was the underlying conviction of the essential harmony between man's religious and rational nature, and consequently of the rationality of Christianity. Its weakness was that, like the whole religious philosophy of the time, it was founded on a total misconception of the nature of religion and of revelation, and on as complete a disregard of the course of man's religious development. ”

“ A curious literary anecdote has reached us of the times of Henry VIII. Tonstall, Bishop of London, accused at that day for his moderation in preferring the burning of books to that of authors, which was then getting into practice, to testify his abhorrence of Tindal's principles, who had printed a translation of the New Testament, a sealed book for the multitude, thought of purchasing all the copies of Tindal's translation, and annihilating them in the common flame. This occurred to him when passing through Antwerp in 1529, then a place of refuge for the Tindalists. ”

“ Yes, several designs, as money, spleen, atheism, &c. What? will any man think truth was his design, and not money and malice? Does he expect the house will go into a committee for a bill to bring things to his scheme, to confound every thing? &c.
Some deny Tindal to be author, and produce stories of his dulness and stupidity. But what is there in all this book, that the dullest man in England might not write, if he were angry and bold enough, and had no regard to truth? ”

“ If therefore, Nature rightly instructed him at first how to serve his Maker, our obligations being the same with his, our rule must be the same also. The case is the same with respect to the duties owing from man to man; and it would be as reasonable to suppose, that the three angles of a triangle should be equal to two right ones in one age, and unequal in another, as to suppose that the Duties of Religion should differ in one age from what they were in another ”

“ Tinman walked across the mound of shingle to the house on the beach. He was rather a fresh-faced man, of the Saxon colouring, and at a distance looking good-humoured. That he should have been able to make such an appearance while doing daily battle with his wine, was a proof of great physical vigour. His pace was leisurely, as it must needs be over pebbles, where half a step is subtracted from each whole one in passing; and, besides, he was aware of a general breath at his departure that betokened a censorious assembly. Why should he not market for himself? ”

“ But when the fern was spread, and the gray blankets over, and the firelight ran into all the wharè corners, a restlessness caught Clint, so that he overhauled carefully the nine-by-twelve space that had held Tinlay’s private life.
Such outposts as these tell more of a man than his tongue or his face will give. Besides, it is decreed that each soul must influence other souls directly or indirectly. This was why the personality of Tinlay became blatantly real to Clint very presently. ”

“ Also he'll take a letter from me to Savell; I shall follow to-morrow. Does he remember where the place is, do you think? You Tinman," he called to me; "do you know where Hammerstone Market is?"
"I remember it, sir," I replied.
"You'll have enough money given you to take you down there; you will remember that you are Tinman, my personal servant. You'll have no difficulty about it; they'll put you up at the house. Fanshawe will take you out now, and rig you up properly; you'll be back here by six o'clock. Your train leaves at a few minutes to seven." ”

“ I whispered earnestly. "You have no friends here—no, not even your father; he would marry you to this other man in sheer dread of him. Youth only comes to you once, child, and you must grasp it with both hands, and hold it as long as possible. Take your lives into your hands, and go away, out into the big clean world that loves lovers."
"You say just what is in my own heart, Tinman," she whispered, smiling, "and you speak as though you knew all about it." ”

“ Now it is certain that the mind may be overloaded as well as the body; and the more it is taken up with the observation of things, which are not of a moral nature, the less it will be able to attend to those that are; which requiring the application of the whole man, can never be rightly performed, while the mind, by laying stress on other things, is diverted from attending on them; especially if it is to be considered that superstition, if once suffered to mix with religion, will always be gaining ground. If Reason is to be heard, no unnecessary things will be admitted ”

“ Wherever it lifts its head, it is the head of Anti-Christ.
{11} CHAPTER II.
THE MAKING OF TINDALE IN such an atmosphere the formative years of Tindale's life were spent. So much can be said: but little more than that is known with any certainty. Indeed the story of his youth can be put in a single paragraph. He was a native of Gloucestershire. He was sent very young to Oxford. There he entered Magdalen Hall, attached to Magdalen College, the College of Wolsey and Lily. After graduation he went for a period to Cambridge, attracted there probably by Erasmus, who had occupied the Greek chair. ”

“ Le Clerc made a complimentary reference to the book, and Tindal became one of the most hated antagonists of the high-church party. He was accused of having changed his religion from base motives and of having bought Le Clerc's favourable opinion—a statement which Le Clerc indignantly denied in the ‘Bibliothèque Choisie’ (x. art. vii, and xxiii. art. viii. 23–6) . ”

“ The paradox is elsewhere resolved by him when he says: "I care less for the whole course of a man's life than for his own distilling of its essence."
The distilled essence of Tindale's life comes to view again and again during these brief years; which were crowded with events, dramatic and of age-long significance, and which passed from drama to tragedy in the martyr fires he had long foreseen. ”

“ Among the inhabitants were men who welcomed Tindale and who gave him assistance in various ways. But he was soon aware that for his work one essential was lacking. Not a single printing press had been set up {32} in Hamburg as yet. His acquaintance with Hamburg, however, was of enduring value. The friends he made there he retained, and later visits were a solace and encouragement in days when friends were friends indeed.
He proceeded to Cologne, where there was every facility for printing. He had the first parts of the New Testament in 4to. ready for the press. ”

“ Captain Nichols was succeeded by Captain Tindal, brother of the illustrious jurist, Lord Chief Justice Tindal. During this gentleman's tenure of office the business was removed to the premises in Bennetts Hill, vacated by the unfortunate "Bank of Birmingham," of which more hereafter. Here the business has ever since been conducted.
Captain Tindal was a good man of business, and under his management the bank was very prosperous. He was a man of highly-cultivated mind. ”

“ In 1727 he was returned to parliament for Bristol, of which he was afterwards elected recorder. Scrope is characterised by Tindal (cited in Parl. Hist. viii. 1196) as ‘perhaps the coolest, the most experienced, faithful, and sagacious friend the minister (Walpole) had.’ He adds that ‘he was greatly trusted in all matters of the revenue, and seldom or never spoke but to facts, and when he was clear in his point.’ On his motion on 23 April 1729 an increment of 115,000l. ”

“ He was at the time an orthodox catholic priest, but at Antwerp he met William Tindal, who was engaged on his translation of the Old Testament into English. This intimacy quickly led Rogers to abandon the doctrines of Rome; but he enjoyed Tindal's society only for a few months, for Tindal was arrested in the spring of 1535, and was burnt alive on 6 Oct. next year. The commonly accepted report that Rogers saw much of Coverdale during his early sojourn in Antwerp is refuted by the fact that Coverdale was in England at the time. ”

“ After last night, Tinman, I am afraid to see those two men together."
I thought for a moment or two, and then turned quickly to her. "I can see him," I said, "and arrange with him what is best to be done. I'll slip down into the town and try to find him. You must get away, both of you; there is nothing else to be done." I was as eager as a boy about it; I wanted to see them running off into the world, hand in hand, to face it together. ”

“ It is written in the wearisome form of dialogue, and the writer falls into that error to which all controversial writers in dialogue are peculiarly liable. When a man has to slay giants of his own creation, he is sorely tempted to make his giants no stronger than dwarfs. To this temptation Tindal yielded. His defender of orthodoxy is so very weak, that a victory over him is no great achievement. ”

“ They were consoled by Tinman’s performance of a clever stroke in privately purchasing the cottages west of the town, and including Crickledon’s shop, abutting on Marine Parade. Then from the house on the beach they looked at an entire frontage of their property.
They entered the month of February. No further time was to be lost, “or we shall wake up to find that man has fooled us,” Mrs. Cavely said. Tinman appeared at Elba to demand a private interview with Annette. ”