christian faith. It was in the performance of this office that not a few eminent divines—such as Lancelot Andrewes at Pembroke, William Perkins at Christ's, and John Preston at Queens'—achieved their first reputation. Bedell was himself a pupil of Perkins, the eminent theologian and tutor of Christ's College, and on the latter's death in 1602 was the purchaser of his library. Besides his attainments in divinity, Bedell was already known as a good classical scholar, and also as acquainted with Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew. His aptitude as a linguist, and possibly his skill in discerning the structure of a language, led his Italian friends in Venice to request him to compile an English grammar for their use.
In 1602 Bedell, having received his license to preach, was appointed to succeed Mr. George Estey at the church of St. Mary's, at Bury St. Edmund's in Suffolk. He at once attracted large audiences, and the neighbouring country families were often to be seen among his congregation. In 1607 he was invited to fill the place of chaplain to Sir Henry Wotton, the British ambassador to the Venetian republic. That famous state had recently been attracting to itself the notice of all Europe by its courageous opposition to the encroachments of the papal see and by a generally liberal policy. In his resentment at its conduct, pope Paul V had placed the whole community under an interdict (April 1606). The signory, in retaliation, expelled the Jesuits and certain other religious bodies who had ventured to give effect to the papal decree. The cause of the republic was ably maintained by the eminent scholar and philosopher, Friar Sarpi, better known as Father Paul, who carried on a notable controversy with the defenders of the Ultramontane policy, Baronius and Bellarmine. Bedell did not arrive in Venice until some time after the interdict had been revoked (21 April 1607), but he found the popular mind still deeply agitated by the whole question of papal allegiance, and in conjunction with Sir Henry Wotton he cherished the belief that circumstances augured hopefully for bringing about a Reformation in Italy. Their views were shared by some eminent protestants elsewhere, among whom were Du Plessis, Mornay, and Diodati, of Geneva, the author of the protestant translation of the Bible into Italian. Father Paul, although by no means generally accessible to visitors, took both Sir Henry Wotton and Bedell into his fullest confidence, and the intimacy thus formed exercised a marked influence on the latter, who always afterwards was wont to refer to his intercourse with the great scholar as an invaluable mental experience, and as serving materially to enrich his knowledge both of controversial divinity and of polite learning. It was shortly after this acquaintance had been formed that the attempt to assassinate Father Paul was made. Bedell, writing a few days after the event to his friend, Dr. Samuel Ward, subsequently master of Sidney College, Cambridge, says: ‘I hope this accident will awake him a little more and put some more spirit into him, which is his only want’ (Life, p. 104). After a stay in Italy extending over some three years and a half, during which time he had added considerably to his knowledge of Hebrew by his intercourse with some learned Jews, Bedell returned to England and to Bury. He was accompanied by Dr. Despotine, a Venetian convert to protestantism, who settled as a medical practitioner in Bury, and to the promotion of whose interests, as a stranger in a foreign land, Bedell devoted himself with characteristic generosity and unselfishness. At Bury he continued to reside for upwards of four years, and his ministrations were highly valued. But his voice was weak and the church large, and he consequently found a difficulty in making himself audible to the congregation. This circumstance determined him to accept (1616) the presentation to the rectory of Horningsheath (a neighbouring parish) offered him by the patron, Sir Thomas Jermyn, one of his congregation. On proceeding to take possession he, however, found himself confronted by a difficulty which seemed likely at one time to prove insuperable. This arose out of the exorbitant, though customary, fees exacted by the officers of the bishop of the diocese, Dr. John Jegon, the payment of which Bedell regarded as involving a question of principle, as equivalent to an act of simony. Eventually the bishop (who as a former master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, was probably well informed with respect to Bedell's merits) effectually removed the latter's scruples by directing that the instruments of institution and induction should be sent to him, and that the amount of the fees to be paid should be left to his discretion. Of Bedell's mode of life at Horningsheath and his exemplary conduct in his various relations to his family, his parishioners, and the neighbouring clergy, an interesting account will be found in the ‘Life’ by his son—a sketch which also gives an insight into the duties and habits of a country clergyman in those days. About a year after his return from Venice to Bury, Bedell had married (29 Jan. 1611) Mrs. Leah Mawe, the widow of a former recorder of that town, by
