vntil your late Councel of Laterane, holdē in Rome vnder Pope Innòcentius the
thirde, in the yeere of our Lorde a thousande two hundred and fiftéene, in the time
of Kinge Iohn the Kinge of England, and neuer before. So longe the Churche
of God was hable wel to stande without your Transubstantiation.
And al be it ye tel vs, notwithstandinge the newnesse of the name, yet neuer∣thelesse
the Doctrine thereof hath stil continewed in the Churche, and hathe benne
euermore receiued, and confessed of al the Faitheful: and that maugre the malice
of the Diuel, and of al the Sacramentaries, it is as Ancient, as the Gospel, or as
Christe him selfe: Yet of y• other side ye cōfesse plainely, that for the space of twelue
hundred yéeres, and more, Roman wiste, by what name to calle it.
But for as mutche, as you thinke it lawful for you to auouthe, and affirme,
what you liste, true, or false, without controlmente: whereas ye saie, this late
Faithe of yours is as Auncient, as the Gospel, knowe you, that somme of the beste
learned of your owne side, haue saide, It is a nevve Pointe in Religion: and there∣fore
not so Auncient, as you seeme to make it: It is a doubteful Conclusion: and
therefore no Faithe at al. D. Tonstal thereof saithe thus, De modo, quo id fieret,
fortasse satius erat▪ Curiosum quen{que} suae relinquere Coniecturae: sicut liberū fuit ante
Concilium Lateranum: Of the manner, and meane, howe this might be (whether by
Transubstantiation, or otherwise) perhaps it had benne better to leaue euery man, that
woulde be Curious, to his owne Coniecture: as before the Councel of Laterane it
vvas leafte at libertie. You saie, it is as Auncient as the Gospel: D. Tonstal saith,
It is but new, and came in twelue hundred yéeres, and more, after the Gospel: You
saie it is the Catholique Faith: D. Tonstal saithe, It is a Coniecture, or a Gheasse
(whiche differeth not mutch from a dreame) and that before the saide late Councel
of Laterane, noman vvas bounde to beleeue it. And here it maie please you to
consider indifferently with your selfe: It it were leafte at Libertie, as D. Tonstal
saithe, for any man either to receiue it, or to refuse it, as he thought good, how could
it then be the Catholique Faithe? If it were the Catholique Faithe, as you saie,
& that maugre the malice of the Diuel, howe then could it so many hundred yeeres
be leafte at libertie?
Hereof ye saie, ye haue written sufficiently otherwheres. Al this I graunt: your
Bookes are knowen. How be it, if you woulde haue written nomore but Truethe▪
ye might haue saued mutche time, and spared somme paper. But if it shal not
mislike you, once againe more aduisedly to viewe the same, ye shal finde in the very
Firste Diuision thereof thrée greate Vntruthes togeather, al within the space of
Foureteene lines.
Nowe whether your fantasie of Transubstantiation be a Dreame, or no, by
the Constancie, and Certainetie thereof, and by the agréemente of your Doctours,
y• founded it firste▪ it maie appeare. Petrus Lombardus, y• onely General of al this
Camp, herof vseth these speaches: Quibusdam ita Videtur: Quidā dicunt: Quidā tra∣dunt:
Quidam concedunt: Alij putauerunt, Substantiam ibi Panis & Vini remanere:
Somme menne Iudge thus: Somme saie thus: Somme haue vvritten thus: Somme graunte
this: Somme others haue thought thus, that y• very Substance of the Breade, and Wine
remaineth stil. Here is a strange agréemente of Learned menne, specially in a
case of the Catholique Faith. But hereto what saithe Peter Lombarde him selfe,
that taketh vpon him as a Iudge to determine these doubtes? How is he resolued?
Or howe agréethe he in Iudgemente with him selfe? His answeare is this,
Si autem quaeritur, qualis sit illa Conuersio, An Formalis, An Substantialis, An alteri∣us
generis, definire non sufficio: If a question were moued, what manner of Conuersion, or
change this is: Whether it be in Fourme, or in Substance, or of somme other sorte, I am
not hable to discusse it. Here wée maie sée, the blinde leadeth the blinde. He that