6 LIVES OF THE PURITANS. Bradford was taken. Because he could not be found, the Bishop of Winchester fumed exceedingly, as was usually the case with angry prelates.. Thus, having narrowly escaped the fire, he fled to Strasburgh, where he was much esteemed by the learned Tremelius.+ He was intimately acquainted with most of the learned exiles,andparticularly John Jewel, afterwards the celebrated Bishop of Salisbury. By the joint advice of Dr. Sampson, Dr. Edwin Sandys, and Mr. Richard Chambers, Jewel was induced soon after his arrival on the continent, to make a public confession of his sorrow, for his late subscription in favour of popery4 Sampson, during his exile, was concerned in writing and publishing the Geneva Translation of the Bible.4 Upon the accession of Queen Elizabeth, our learned divine returned home. While on his journey, being informed that a bishopric was designed for him, he wrote to Peter Martyr for his opinion and advice, whether it was lawful to swear " that the queen was supreme head of the church under Christ." He thought that Christ was the only supreme head of the church, and that no account of any interior headwas to be found in scripture. He thought, also, that the want of discipline in the church of England, rendered it impossible for a bishop to perform his duty. The method of electing bishops, appeared to him, totally different from the primitive institution : the consent of neither clergy, nor people, being so much as asked. The superstitiousdress of bishops seemed to him very unbecom ing. He wroteto his learned friend, not that he expected a bishopric would be offered him ; but he prayed to God that it might not. He resolved to apply himselfto preach- ing the gospel, and to avoid having any share in the government of the church, till he saw a thorough reforma- tion, both in doctrine and discipline. Upon the reception of Peter Martyr's answer, Sampson replied, January 6, 1560, saying, " We are under sad apprehensions, concerning which, we desire an interest in your prayers. We are afraid lest the truth of religion, in England, should either be overturned, or very much darkened. Things still stick withme. I can have neither ingress, nor egress. God knows how glad I should be to have an egress. Let others be bishops, I desire only to be Fox's Martyrs, vol. iii. p. 76. f Wood's Athena; Oxon. vol. i. p. 192. 44. Biog. Britan. vol. iv. p. 2759. Edit. 1747. See Art. Coverdale.
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