316 On certain Affirmative and Negative and 710^ can not tell when he should take the one and when the tother, is not for translating into Englishe a man very mete. For the use of those two wordes in aunswerino; a question is this. No aunswereth the question framed by the affirmative^. As for ensample if a manne should aske Tindall himselfe : ys an heretike mete to translate Holy Scripture into Englishe ? lo to thys question if he will aunswere trew Englishe, he must aunswere 7iay and not 7io. But and if the question be asked hym thus lo : Is not an heretyke mete to translate Holy Scripture into English? To this question if he will nunswere true English, he must aunswere 7io and not nay. And a lyke difference is there betwene these two adverbs ye and yes. For if the question bee framed unto Tindall by the affirmative in thys fashion. If an heretique falsely translate the Newe Testament into Englishe, to make his false heresyes seem the word of Godde, be his bookes worthy to be burned ? To this questyon asked in this wyse, yf he will aunswere true Englishe^ he must auswere ye and not yes. But nowe if the question be asked him thus lo, by the negative. If an heretike falsely translate the Newe Testament into Englishe to make his false heresyes seme the word of God, be not hys bokes well worthy to be burned ? To thys question in thys fashion framed if he will aunswere trew Englishe he may not aunswere ye but he must aunswere yes^ and say yes marry be they, bothe the translation and the translatour, and al that wyll hold wyth them.^ It seems highly improbable that Sir Thomas More would have stated the existence of such a distinction, espe- cially in attacking an adversary, unless it either was observed in practice, or sanctioned by the opinion of well informed persons of his own day. So few questions are answered by simple yes or no^ and so few of such questions occur in works of any kind with which I am acquainted, before this time, that I know not how we can determine such a minute point of usage. I cannot find that Tyndal notices so trifling a thing in his answer to More, though the pas- sage may easily have escaped me ; but at any rate it appeared 2 It appears to me according to the instance and the use of the word affirmative a few lines lower down that Sir Thomas Moore meant nay here and not no.
