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At the turn of the century, Edward W. Blyden, resident of Liberia and former Presbyterian missionary from America, read to some African natives the following description from the New YorkIndependentof the burning of a black man in Georgia:Sam Hose was burned on Sunday afternoon in the presence of thousands of people. Before the fire had been kindled the mob amused themselves by cutting off the ears, fingers, toes, etc. to carry away as mementos. After the burning, and before the body was cool, it was cut to pieces, the heart and liver being especially cut up and sold. Small pieces of bone brought 25 cents, and “a bit of liver, crisply cooked, sold for 10 cents.” So eager were the crowd to obtain souvenirs that a rush for the stake was made, and those near the body were forced against and had to fight for their escape.

This is a new, critical edition of William Roye's A Brefe Dialoge bitwene a Christen Father and his stobborne Sonne, which was, in 1527, the first Protestant catechism to be published in English, and which represented the first to provide an extended and detailed statement of the new reformed doctrine in the vernacular. It was thus enormously influential on English Reformist thought, outlining a combination of doctrines that were to appeal to English reformers for decades to come. The Brefe Dialoge electrified the spiritual imagination of English-speaking reform-minded believers as intensely as Tyndale's 1526 English New Testament. The introduction carefully establishes the historical, religious, social, and cultural contexts out of which the work was born. It also provides details about Roye's life, other works, and commitment to the Reformist cause. The text of the catechism is accompanied by an extensive and detailed commentary that provides readers with clear readings for difficult passages, establishes a theological context for ideas expressed in the text, provides analogous readings from other early Reformation tracts, and glosses all the biblical citations and allusions. The Brefe Dialoge will be of value to students and scholars interested in the history, theology, and literature of the early English Reformation period.