“Thou shouldst be living at this hour: England hath need of thee; ... we are selfish men. Oh! raise us up, return to us again, And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.” --MILTON. “Reformers are not distinguished for their politeness--Luther and Knox, to wit. They are men raised by God to arrest the current of regenerate times, and to challenge sins which have become conventional and respectable; and, therefore, to tear in tatters sickly civilities which conceal beneath them a hell of sin and vice.”--ECHOES FROM THE WELSH HILLS. SIR THOMAS MORE THE ADVOCATE OF THE BISHOPS--TYNDALE’S CRUSHING REPLY--MORE’S GROSS ABUSE AND FOUL LANGUAGE--PUBLIC OPINION WITH TYNDALE. Tyndale, of course, was not suffered to continue his labours unassailed, for no less an antagonist than Sir Thomas More entered the lists against him. Whatever may be More’s claims to admiration, it must ever be considered to be a foul blot upon his character that he assailed Tyndale with low, scurrilous abuse. As early as the year 1728, Tunstal, the polished Bishop of London (who had previously so unceremoniously rejected Tyndale’s offer of service), wrote to More inviting him to undertake the task of stemming the tide of heretical books which, in spite of his utmost endeavours, continued to flow into England. “Forasmuch,” said the Bishop, “as you can play the Demosthenes both in our native tongue and in Latin, and are wont to be a most zealous defender of Catholic truth in every assault, you will never be able to make a better use of any spare hours that you can redeem from your occupation, than by publishing in our native tongue something that will expose even to rude and simple people the crafty malice of the heretics, and make them better prepared against those impious enemies of the Church.” Copies of the books to which he was to reply were forwarded to More, and the Chancellor was reminded of the example of his monarch, who had won the title of Defender of the Faith by his book against Luther. More readily complied with this request, and after a year of study he published a large volume which specified Luther and Tyndale as his chief objects of attack. The book is in the form of a dialogue, which is, of course, a most convenient form of eluding an awkward attack.