Protestantism in England From the Times of Henry VIII - James Aitken Wylie

or ordinance, heretofore granted to the
contrary."[7] In 1538 a royal order was issued,
appointing a copy of the Bible to be placed in
every parish church, and raised upon a desk, so that
all might come and read. The Act set forth "that the
king was desirous to have his subjects attain to the
knowledge of God's Word, which could not be
effected by means so well as by granting them the
free and liberal use of the Bible in the English
tongue."[8] It was wonderful," says Strype, "to see
with what joy this Book of God was received, not
only among the learned sort, and those who were
lovers of the Reformation, but generally all
England over, among all the vulgar and common
people; and with what greediness God's Word was
read, and what resort to places where the reading of
it was. Everybody that could bought the book, or
busily read it, or got others to read it to them, if
they could not themselves and divers elderly
people learned to read on purpose.
And even little boys flocked among the rest to
hear portions of the Holy Scriptures read."[9] The
first edition was sold in two years, and another
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