not agree upon the Eucharist, that all with one exception signed their
names to a rough draft drawn up on the understanding that they did not
commit themselves thereby to Cranmer's views, and that the episcopal
report was changed by some authority before it was presented to
Parliament, especially by the omission of the word "oblation" in
regard to the Mass. That the Book of Common Prayer as such was ever
submitted to or approved by a formal convocation of the clergy cannot
be shown.[54]

Parliament met in November 1548. To put an end to the religious
confusion that had arisen an Act of Uniformity enjoining on all clergy
the use of the Book of Common Prayer was introduced.[55] The main
discussion centred around the Eucharist and the Mass. Bishop Tunstall
of Durham objected that by the omission of the Adoration it was
implied that there was nothing in the Sacrament except bread and wine,
a contention that he could not accept, as he believed in the Real
Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ both spiritual and carnal.
Bishop Thirlby of Westminster maintained that the bishops had never
agreed to the doctrine contained in the Book regarding the Eucharist
but had allowed it merely to go forward for discussion. The Protector
reproved him warmly for his tone and statement, but Thirlby stood
firmly by his point of view, adding the interesting item of
information that when the Book left the hands of the bishops it
contained the word "oblation" in reference to the Mass, which word had
since been omitted. Bonner of London pointed out that the Book of
Common Prayer, embodying as it did statements condemned abroad and in
England as heresy, should not be accepted. Cranmer and Ridley defended
strongly the Eucharistic doctrine it contained. When the disputation
between the bishops had been closed (19th Dec., 1548) the Bill for
Uniformity was brought down and read in the Commons. Of the bishops