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¶ The epistle of Erasmus Roterodamus, sent unto Conradus Pelicanus, concerning his opinion of the blessed Sacrament of Christ's body and blood.  
Excusum Londinum aedibus ●ohannis Cawodi, Typographi Reginae Mariae.  
Anno. 1554.   royal figure   

THe power of the gospel doth not put away moral virtues. but maketh them perfect. And ye know well enough, how far it doth vary and differ, not only from virtue (I say) but utterly from all humanity, to bewray the privity & secret counsel of friendship. Forasmuch as we do curse even them, which blab out those things, that were spoken among friends, although their friendship be broken, & they be fallen out. And they which be of a more gentle nature, can not find in their heart to upbraid or object unto them whom they chief hate, any such thing, as they which were their friends afore, have told them of trust. I thought you to have been one of this sort, that I might safely have told you any secrets, nor I would not have chosen any other unto whom I might have showed the secrets of my conscience. Wherefore I marvel more, what hath chanced, that ye have spread abroad concerning me those things, which I never neither said nor thought. And that ye have privily whispered into the ears of a certain honest young man, that I was of the same mind, that ye were of, concerning the eucharist or the Sacrament of Christ's body & blood. Now should he have carried with him in to his country this sting of slander, which ye laid upon me, if by chance he & I had not fallen in communication of the same matter. And yet I can not tell, whether he be gone without all suspicion of me or not. Verily at the first, when I herd this young man. I thought that ye did think none other thing than ye were wont to profess unto me. Ye did condemn those which durst be so bold to profess, that there was nothing else but bread & wine. Nor I did never think otherwise upon you before our last communication, wherein ye seemed (as it were) clean another man, & one that was inspired. & ye declared your full mind without any colour. And now seeing that ye profess the same openly, ye go forth abroad, affirming that I & you be both of one mind, yea and that ye do so in diverse places, that your tale hath made a common rumour, whereof every one knoweth you to be the author. And I do not doubt, but ye writ the same in like manner to your friends.  
Verily as for me, I did never agree with you thoroughly, no not in your first saying. For in that ye did say, that in the Sacrament was the body of the lord, but how and after what manner it was there, we should commit that unto god, which knoweth all thing: truly I added this more to that your saying, that I thought it might be said so more simply, & diverse doubts might so be avoided, if it were leeful for a christian man to serve from that, which was already approved & allowed both by the authority of common counsels, & also by the agreament of all churches & nations so many ages past. But more over I always denied that I could let that sink in my mind, specially when both the writings of the Evangelists, & also of the Apostles do so plainly name the body which is given, & the blood which is shed. And seeing that the same doth wonderfully agree with the unspeakable charity of god toward mankind, that he would feed by an unspeakable manner with the flesh & blood of his son, those which he had redeemed by the same body & blood. And that he would comfort them by this secret presence of his son as by a pledge, unto such time as he would come again glorious & manifest to al. These things would make me more inclined to receive the sentence of the catholic church, yea if nothing were determined neither of th'one part nor tother. Now what a madness were it, if I should not be afraid to pronunce, that there were nothing else but bread & wine. I am wont to comen freely of every thing with my friends which be learned (specially when the weak be absent) some time for searching for the the true thee, some time to prove them, some time for pleasure, being in this be half peradventure more simple, than need were. But I will knowledge myself worthy death, if ever any man heard this word of me, either in earnest, or in boards, that there is nothing else in the Sacrament, but bread & wine, or that there is not there the very body & blood of the lord, which thing some now a days by their books abroad do hold & defend. Yea I beseech christ not to favour me, if ever this saying or thought did tarry in my mind. For if any of these flying or wavering thoughts did once touch my heart, I did easily avoid them, considering the inestimable love & charity of God toward us, & weighing the words of holy scripture, which words of holy scripture did compel, yea Luther himself (whom ye do set more by, & prefer afore all schools, all bishops, all men, of right opinion & counsels) to profess the same. which the universal church doth profess, although he is want gladly to dissent from the same church. I know how little ye do regard the authority of the counsels. Verily as for me, I do condemn no church, specially where it hath all churches agreeing with it. Paul doth think, that an angel is not to be hard, if he preach an other gospel. The church hath persuaded me to believe the gospel, & by her instruction also have I learned to expound the words of the gopel. Hitherto have I worshipped in the Sacrament Christ, which did suffer for me as all other christian men have done, nor yet I never see any thing, wherefore I ought to go from this opinion. No man's reason shall be able to carry me away from the whole sentence & agreement of the christian world, for those five words, In the beginning God made heaven & earth, be of more strength with me, than all the arguments & reasons of Aristotle and all the other Philosophers, whereby they do teach the world to be without beginning. And now what do these men bring, whereby I should be moved to profess this so ungodly & seditious sentence or saying. Their reasons be weak & of no streng thee, such as these. He once took away his flesh, less it should be offensive. The Apostles did not wondre at it, nor did not worship it. We are commanded to be spiritual, as who say the flesh thus given did hindre the spirit. The flesh is there, but not perceptible by any sense, & yet the same is a pledge of the love of God toward us, a comfort of our hope in god. The scripture doth make for us, we have in scripture, This is my body, which is given for you. This is my blood, which is shed for you. Where do they read, this is not my body, but a token & sign of my body? this is not my blood but a token & sign of my blood? And when they have greatly troubled & pained themself, they can hardly teach by other places, that the very name of the thing, can be taken for the sign & token of the thing. And yet they can not altogether plainly prove that. We say when we behold a painted table, this is Hector which slew Patroclus, yet every man knoweth, that Hector himself is not in the table, That may be true, whatsoever Christ sayeth is. Now suppose, that they may prove this thing last aforesaid, that is, that the thing may be taken for the sign or token thereof, yet what strength or efficacy hath this kind of reasoning, these words may be taken thus, therefore they must be taken thus? To what purpose doth it make for them to recite the sayings of so many old catholic auctors? howsoever they wrest them, colour them, & wrap up together all their sayings, yet bring they no place which manifestly speaketh, that there is not the body and blood of the Lord. They exhort and move men unto a spiritual communicating of the Lords body & blood. What marvel is it, if the be commended which is rather to be esteemed in that receiving of it in either kind, For if it be not received spiritually, the carnal receiving only with out thou other bringeth damnation. I pray you, what cause is here. wherefore I should forsake & leave that thing which the universal church hath used and taught so many ages. Ye know that Luther & I do thoroughly agree in no kind of doctrine, saving that, that he reproveth ever truly of the corrupt manners of men. And now shall I depart from the communion of the catholic church, and fall to the opinion of Carolastadins, who also hath quaied from his own doctrine & teaching? If I had revealed unto you, as to a friend, either adultery or theft, how much had it been against all the law of friendship to have blabled it out, yea but to one man that thing whereby your friend might have been in danger, Now seeing that ye spread abroad amongs all men a crime most heinous of all other, which my tongue (though it be free & liberal) never uttered, nor which my mind never conceived. What name must we give that which ye do, being an evangelical friend? do ye think to abuse the authority of my name to persuade your late begun believe? I pray you in christ, is this to be a follower of the gospel to stain so wicked & cruel a deed against a friend, whereby ye might entice more into a new sect, as though there were to few new sects? If that opinion be godly which you do affirm, have ye no other means whereby ye may persuade it, but by making the most false lie upon Erasmus, saying, that he and you be both of one mind. And if my authority be so greatly esteemed amongs you, why can it do nothing in so many things, where in I descent from you. If your mind do waver and doubt (as ye be wont to say) because that ye regard nothing at all the authority of the bishops & counsels, yet hitherto my mind hath been stayed by the consent of the universal church. If you be persuaded that there is nothing else in the Sacrament but bread and wine, I had rather be rend in sunder every part from other, then to profess the same that ye do profess. And I had liefer suffer what soever it were, then to commit such an abominable crime against mine own conscience, & so to depart out of this life. I do not here dilate and set forth with many words the most righteous cause of expostulation, the matter itself hath trouble & contention enough in it. If ye have any crime of the spirit of the Gospel, ye will heal again all those, that ye through these most false feigned tales have infected. I am content and can suffer, that ye blab forth amongs all men, whatsoever I have spoken in our familiar communication (yea although I were merry with drink) either in boards or earnest But truly I can not suffer that ye make me either Author of this doctrine, or yet fellow with you in that, which I never neither spoke nor thought, so I pray God that I never be separated from Christ. Amen.  
At Basyll. Anno. 1.5.2.6.   

A plain and godly treatise, concerning the Mass & the blessed Sacrament of the Altar, for the instruction of the simple and unlearned people.  
THe very holy new sacrifice of the new testament which the Church of christ hath ever had in use & celebrate even from the beginning, is of the old holy writes called (as it is at this day though roughoute the Catholic Church) by the Hebrew name Missa, 
Ambro … lib. v. e●●stolaru● epistole cxxiij. Augustness sermo. 〈◊〉 tempo. cc …  as it appear the right evidently by S. Ambrose in his. v. book of Epistles, and the xxxiii Epistle of the same book and by. S Austin also in his .cc. li. sermon De tempore. And this word. Missa hath his original of the Hebrew word (Massa) which signifieth voluntary or free oblation or offering which is offered up with the hand: or else (as some other do think) of the Hebrew word Masas, which signifieth to elevate or lift up: and although the old holy fathers did