Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 5.djvu/73

1552.] of violence which recovered to the Catholics the hearts of the English people; and to the last he was considered by the ultras as timid and intellectually weak.

Whether the charge of timidity was true, he had an opportunity of showing when Edward died and Northumberland recanted; when the noisy tongues of the gospellers were heard only at a safe distance, and the so-called timid ones remained to witness to their faith in suffering. Happily for his memory, and happily for the Church of England, the Archbishop was more nobly occupied than the 'gospellers' desired to see him.

As the translation of the Bible bears upon it the imprint of the mind of Tyndal, so, while the Church of England remains, the image of Cranmer will be seen reflected on the calm surface of the Liturgy. The most beautiful portions of it are translations from the Breviary; yet the same prayers translated by others would not be those which chime like church bells in the ears of the English child. The translations, and the addresses which are original, have the same silvery melody of language, and breathe the same simplicity of spirit. So long as Cranmer trusted himself, and would not let himself be dragged beyond his convictions, he was the representative of the feelings of the best among