The. ii. chapyter

IN the begynnynge of the second lefe of hys boke, these are mayster Maskers wordes.

Consyder what thys meate is whyche he bad thē here prepare and seke fore, sayenge: worke take paynes and seke for that meate &c. and thou […] se it no nother meate than the bylyefe in chryst.

Wherfore he concludeth that thys meate so often mencyoned is fayth. Of the whyche meat sayth the prophete, the iufte lyueth. Fayth in hym is therfore the meate whiche chryst prepareth and dresseth, so purely powderynge and spycyng it wyth spyrytual allegoryes in all thys chapyter folowynge, to geue vs euerlasiynge lyfe thorow it.

I wyll not laye these wordes to hys charge as heresye / but I wylbe bolde by hys lycence to note in them a lytle lacke of wytte, and some good store of foly. For though a man may well and wyth good reasō, call fayth a meate of mannys soule: yet is it great foly to saye, that the meate that Chryst speketh of here ys (as mayster Masker sayth it is) none other meate but fayth.

For mayster Masker maye playnely se, and is not I suppose so poore blynde, but that he seeth well in dede that the meate whych Cryst speketh of here, is our sauyour Cryste hym selfe. Whyche thynge he so playnely speketh, that no man can mysse to per ceyue it / whan he saith, I am my self the brede of lyfe. And whan he sayth, I am the lyuely brede that am descen ded frō heuyn, he that eateth of this brede shall lyue for euer. And whā he sayth also. That ye meat shold be hys owne fleshe (whyche promyse he performed after at his maundye) whych thynge he tolde them playne in these wordes, And the brede which I shall geue you is my flesshe. And he that eateth my flesshe and drynketh my bloude, hath euerlastyng lyfe, and I shall resuscytate hym in the last day. And whan he sayed, My flessh is veryly meate.

Thus you se good readers how ofte & how playnly that he declareth that the meate whiche he speketh of here, is hym selfe. And now sayth mayster Masker very solemynely, & with authoryte byddeth euery man marke it well and consyder it, that ye meate that Cryste speketh of here is nothynge ellys but […].

And vpon what colour saith may ster Masker […] bycause (sayth he) that our lorde bode them labour and wurke for the meate that wolde not peryshe but abyde into euerlastynge lyfe / and afterward tolde them that the wurk of god by which they shold wurke & labour for that meate, was nothynge ellys but fayth and bylyef in hym.

Fyrste in thys construccyon mayster Masker lyeth very large. For though Cryst sayd, that to byleue in hym was the wurke of god / he sayde not (as mayster Masker maketh it) that nothynge ellys was the […] of god but onely bylyefe.

But now suppose that Cryst had sayd as mayster Masker wold make it seme, that is to wyt that the wurke of god were nothynge ellys but the bylyefe: yet ye se well good readers that Cryst in sayeng that the bylyefe in hym is the wurke by whyche they shall wurke to gete the meate, sayth that the bylyefe is the meane to gete the meate, and not that the bylyefe is the meate.

But mayster Masker bycause yt bylyefe is the waye to this meate, therfore he calleth the bylyefe the meate / as wysely as though he wold call the kynges strete Westmynster chyrche, bycause it is the way […] yf he come from charing crosse And bycause men must spyrytually eate thys meate with fayth: therfore he calleth the fayth the meate as wy sely as yf he wold, bycause he eateth his meate wyth his mowth, therfore call his mowth his meate. what wyt hath thys man?

But now wyll mayster Masker wax angry with my wordes, and call me M. mokke as he dothe onys or twyse in hys boke.

But now good readers I wyll not adiure you by godde holy names to iudge iustely / but euyn onely desyre you that in waye of good company, that you wyll say but euyn indyfferently. Were it not wene you great pytye that a man sholde mokke mayster Masker, whan euery fole maye perceyue hym in so great a mater wryte so wysely?

And yet you maye se that I dele wyth hym very gentylly. For in thys poynt wherin by cōtraryeng of Cristes own wordes he wryteth playne heresye / I minyshe his bordē of that odiouse cryme / & bycause the mater in thys place so serueth me, do couer the both of his […] heresye, with this prety plaster of his pleasaūt frenesie

And yet I wene the man hath so lytle honesty, that he wyll neuer can me thanke for my curtesye / specyally bycause that (as farre as I can se) the man had leuer confesse hym selfe an heretyke, than be proued a fole.

And that appereth well in this. For this lytell scabbe of hys foly he labo reth somwhat to hyde and couer, so that a man muste pull of the clowte ere he can spye the boche. But as for ye boch of hys cancred heresyes with out any clowt or plaster he laieth out abrode to shewe, to begge withall amonge the blessed bretherne as beggers laye theyr fore legges out in fyght that lye a beggynge a frydays aboute saynt sauyour and at ye. Sauy gate.

But as for raylynge agaynst ima ges, purgatory, and […] to sayn tes, and agaynst the holy canō of the masse: all this he taketh for tryfles / and wolde we sholde reken all these heresyes of his for poyntes well and suffycyently proued by that that he goth so boldely forth on biyond them & denyeth the blessed body of Cryste it selfe in the blessed sacrament to.

And where as he not onely mokketh and iesteth agaynst the olde […] and sayntes of […] catholyke chyrche, but agaynste oure sauyour hym selfe in hys holy sacrament to: yet the sage sad ercnest holy mā all made of grauite, sadnes, and seueryte, must hym selfe be reue rently reasoned with / & may haue no mokke of his, matched wyth no mery worde of myne in no maner wyse.

But yet lyke as yf a ryght greate man wolde wantonly walke a mummynge, and dysguyse hym selfe, and with nyce appareyle dyssemble. hys personage, and with a fonde visour hydde and couer his visage, he muste be content to be taūted of euery good felow that he meteth, as merely as hym selfe lyste to ieste wyth them: so tyll mayster Masker here put of his maskers visour, and shewe forth his owue venerable visage, that I may se hym such an honorable personage, as it may become hym to saye to me what he lyste, and me to requyte hys mockes with no mery worde in this world, but stande styll demurely and make hym lowe curtesy agayne, I wyll not let in ye meane tyme, whyle I wote nere what he is, and whyle his wytteles wrytynge maketh men wene he were a wylde gose, to be so bolde and homely wyth his maystershyp (as sory as I am for hym whā he playeth the blasphemouse beste) to laugh yet & make mery wyth hym where I se hym playe the fole.

Yet wyll I now lette passe his re pugnaunce, another foly of hys. For yf euer he defende his foly yt I haue shewed you / than shall he be fayne to declare his repugnaunce hym selfe. And therfore I leue that poynte for hym selfe, that in defendyng his foly he maye shew his repugnaunce / and so for defence of a syngle foly, proue hym selfe thryes a fole, fyrst in wrytynge foly, secundly in wrytynge repugnaunce, thyrdly to be so folysshe […] in defēce of that one foly, to bryng in the totherto.

Makynge therfore for thys tyme no senger tale of his folyes, whiche wold make myne answere ouer long to brynge them in all / let vs se some pyece of his fruytefull exposycyon.