Tracts for the Times

“ Why go on to perplex good people with questions of mere doctrinal accuracy? This is a very common way of speaking and thinking just at present: and it finds ready acceptance, especially among the many who dislike trouble. ”

“ We beseech Thy goodness, Thou lover of men, that by the mystery of Thy Holy name, thou wilt repel and restrain all the adverse and wicked spirits and powers, for Thou hast called Thy servants, who come from darkness to light, from death to life, from error to acknowledgment of truth, and from worship of idols to the knowledge of Thee, O God of truth. ”

“ To lecture, as you call it, is quite beyond me, since at best I have but a smattering of reading in Church history. The more's the pity; though I have as much as a great many others: for ignorance of our historical position as Churchmen is one of the especial evils of the day. Yet even with a little knowledge, I am able to see certain facts which seem quite inconsistent with notions at present received. For my practice, I should be ashamed of myself if I guided it by any theories. Here the letter and spirit of the Liturgy is my direction, as it is of all classes of Churchmen, high and low. ”

“ They habitually look, not only "through nature up to nature's God," but through the wide expanse of the social and moral world around them,—through the habits, opinions, and institutions, of their time and country,—through the strife of politics, and the din of the unruly multitude,—to that eternal Being who reigns above them all; whose will and whose counsels are in truth interwoven with them all,—and who works out His own great designs as surely by the operation of these jarring and unruly elements, as by the more tranquil and steady processes of the world of inanimate nature. ”

“ Yet how can any man say that he believes in Christ, when he does not those things which Christ has commanded him to do? How shall the reward of faith belong to the man who keeps no faith with the commandment? Such an one is surely tottering, and will fall away, wafted about by the blasts of error, like dust in a whirlwind; for he who walks not in the way of truth, can make no advance toward salvation. ”

“ It is prudent, therefore, to say little of the laws which govern the course of human history, to avoid, except for pastime, the discussion of tendencies and movements, and to speak chiefly of men and books. ”

“ How accurate a description is the above of many amiable persons of the present day, who, instead of a single and noble maintenance of Catholic truth, try to unite in their creed things incompatible, and are ever spoiling their own excellences by timidity, weakness, or presumption! Nay, how true a description is it of our Church itself, not as it was intended to be, but as it actually has become in these dark and secular days! ”

“ If it be asked, whether in saying that the Christian doctrine is immutable, I maintain that Divine doctrine can make no advance in the Church, let me answer at once that I maintain just the reverse. Who indeed is so niggardly towards mankind, so abandoned by God, as to try to forbid it? However, it must be such an advance as is truly an increase of the faith, not a change. ”

“ Can we conceive a greater calamity to have occurred at the time of our Reformation, one which the Enemy of man would have been more set on effecting, than to have entangled the whole of the Church Catholic in the guilt of heresy, and so have forced every one who worshipped in spirit and in truth, to flee out of doors into the bleak world, in order to save his soul? ”

“ The length of time which the system lasted proves that in the main there must have been a fine fidelity in the people—truth, justice, generosity in their leaders. History brings down many bad stories to us out of those times ”

“ The word is hid from no one; it is a light in common; it lighteth every man; in it there is no darkness. Let us hasten to our salvation, even to our regeneration, so that, many though we be, we may be brought close together by one love, according to that oneness which the one God imparts. Let us hasten, as having received a benefit; as seeking out our sole happiness. Let us follow after unity, till from many voices, loud and scattered to and fro, one divine harmony arises, led by one guide and teacher, the Divine Word, finding rest and fulness in the truth itself, and saying, Abba Father. ”

“ He was ordained priest in 1833, and went to Burnham, Buckinghamshire, as curate for his father. There the 'Tracts for the Times' vitally influenced Carter, who 'in reading them . . . felt a sense of interest and earnestness in religious doctrines ono had not known before' (Life, p. 14) . In 1838 he became rector of Piddlehinton near Dorchester, and in 1844 rector of Clewer, near Windsor, a parish with which his family had associations. ”

“ What prospect then of peace have they, who are foes to the brethren? What sacrifice do they think they celebrate, when they become rivals of the priesthood? When gathered together beyond the pale of the Church, do they still believe that Christ is in the midst of them? Though men like these were killed in the profession of their faith, not even by their blood would their spot be washed out. ”

“ For me, while I yet lay in darkness and bewildering night, and was tossed to and fro on the billows of this troublesome world, ignorant of my true life, an outcast from light and truth, I used to think that second birth, which Divine Mercy promised for my salvation, a hard saying according to the life I then led; as if a man could be so quickened to a new life in the laver of healing water, as to put off his natural self, and keep his former tabernacle, yet be changed in heart and soul! ”

“ Heresy and schism are his invention, for the subversion of faith, the corruption of truth, the division of unity. Those whom he can retain no longer in the blindness of the former way, he circumvents by betraying them into deviation from their new progress. ”

“ We, O Lord, have set before Thee thine own, out of thine own gifts; and we pray and beseech thee, O thou lover of mankind, to send down from thy holy heaven, the habitation of thy dwelling, from thine infinite bosom, the Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth, the Holy One, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who spake in the Law, in the Prophets, and in the Apostles; who is every where, and fills all things ”

“ They trace, alike in the events which befal themselves, and in the varying scenes which succeed each other before their eyes on the great theatre of life, a Presence and an Agency of which mankind at large know nothing. Things visible and tangible they feel to be but the screen and vail of the things invisible and intangible behind them; or, at most, to be the adjuncts and comparatively unimportant accompaniments of the great system in which their spirits really move. They view the things of earth as being, as in truth they are, necessarily connected with the things of heaven. ”

“ How can we "hold fast the form of sound words," and "keep that which is committed to our trust," if our influence is to depend simply on our popularity? Is it not our very office to oppose the world, can we then allow ourselves to court it? to preach smooth things and prophesy deceits? to make the way of life easy to the rich and indolent, and to bribe the humbler classes by excitements and strong intoxicating doctrine? Surely it must not be so;—and the question recurs, on what are we to rest our authority, when the State deserts us? ”

“ The scattered limbs of sacred truth, which are presented to our view, may seem to us at first sight like the dry bones, which the prophet saw in the valley of vision: but the word of prophecy may yet bring them together, may cover them with sinew, and flesh, and skin, and fill them with a living spirit; the breath from the four winds may breathe upon the slain, and they may "stand up" upon their feet, before our eyes, "an exceeding great army." ”

“ What do you offer the people that is better than the principles or the promises of the old parties? I heard you speak once, but you did not answer this question—to my mind the only question that is vital. ”

“ That the Past is the Guide for the Present is thus argued:—Every political treatise referring to events which have engrossed the attention of the day, either as modifications or as changes of our social system, must be valuable in later years. ”

“ We are in the favored hour; and if you have great principles to make known, this is the time to advocate them. I therefore say whatever truth is to be known for the next fifty years in this nation, let it be spoken now—let it be enforced now. ”

“ How gently does He deal with us; not as a teacher with his disciples, nor as a master with his servants, nor as a God towards His creatures, but as a father instructs his sons! Moses confessed that he exceedingly feared and quaked when he heard concerning the word of God; but thou, who hearest that Word Himself, hast thou no dread, no distress of mind? no reverence, and earnestness withal to learn the truth? earnestness for salvation, fear of his wrath, delight in his promises, anxiety for acceptance, to rescue thee from condemnation? ”

“ In such a community, where every deviation from the ordinary routine of life was a matter of observation and comment and all the facts were known, the political process was, at any rate, a comparatively simple matter. ”

“ Do not we "look one upon another," yet perform nothing? Do we not all confess the peril into which the Church is come, yet sit still each in his own retirement, as if mountains and seas cut off brother from brother? ”

“ O Lord, according to all Thy righteousness, I beseech Thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. ”

“ Absorbed in a thousand trifles, how has the Nation all at once come to a stand! Men begin, as in 1779 and 1640, to discuss principles, to weigh characters, to find out where they are. Haply we may awake before we are borne over the precipice. ”

“ Christ had not died: our nature was not yet placed at God's right hand: the ever-blessed Son of God had not yet become man, that we, whom "He is not ashamed to call brethren," might be sons of God, as being in and of Him. One must speak tremblingly of such a mystery: but one dare not lower the greatness of our new creation, nor conceal the immensity of our Birthright, although our feeble brain may turn dizzy, and our faint hearts sink at the exceeding weight of such glory. We dare not shrink from avowing it, although we too may have turned "our glory into shame." Sons of God! ”

“ For this is what the times impel us to review and ponder here today. At no other time than now has it ever been more necessary for our people to understand the course of the nation—from where we have come and where we are going. ”

“ I do not now enter upon the point, that to magnify the office is not necessarily to exalt the individual who bears it; nay, that the thought which will most deeply humble the individual, most oppress him with the overwhelming sense of his own insufficiency, is the consciousness "into how high a dignity, and to how weighty an office and charge" he has been called; an office "of such excellency, and of so great difficulty." ”

“ For this end art thou formed of flesh and spirit, that thou mayest soften the things which are in thy sight: but pray that the things which are invisible may be revealed unto thee, that thou mayest want in nothing, but abound in every gift of God. The present season demands thee, as pilots the wind, as the storm-tost mariner his desired haven, that thou attain unto God. Be temperate, as God's Champion; the reward is incorruption, and eternal life: in which also thy faith is firm. In all things, my soul is as thine, and so are my bonds which thou hast loved. ”

“ Great is the Baptism set before you, a ransom to captives, forgiveness of transgressions, death of sin, new-birth of the soul, garment of light, holy indissoluble seal, chariot to heaven, delight of paradise, pledge of the kingdom, gift of adoption ”

“ Wretched incredulity! to deny to God His own characteristics, simplicity and power. What, then? is it not wonderful that even a bath should wash away death? surely; but let us even be the more ready to believe, if its marvellousness, forsooth, is made a reason for unbelief. For what should be the character of divine works, but surpassing marvellousness? We, ourselves, marvel also, but because we do believe. Incredulity marvels without believing; at what is simple, as being contemptible; at what is great, as being impossible. ”

“ Confession opens an access to glory, but in itself merits not the crown. It does not perfect praise, but opens the way to a good degree. And since it is written, "whosoever perseveres unto the end, he shall be saved," all that occurs before the end, is the step whereby we mount to the height of salvation, not the end of the course, at which the summit of the pinnacle is attained. ”

“ It is usual for statesmen and philosophers, in considering the position and prospects of a country, to search in the history of bygone times for circumstances analogous to those in which they feel themselves placed ”

“ Happily for all who desire to view this momentous and profoundly interesting question with the utmost candor and intelligence, not forgetful of all humane sentiments, the question is not one that concerns merely the long or the recent past in our country. ”

“ They thought it possible to write, with so much scruple, and simplicity, and insight, as to carry along with them every man of good will, and, whatever his feelings, to compel its assent. Ideas which, in religion and in politics, are truths, in history are forces. ”

“ With such men it was not hope of gain or lust of blood or pride of opinion or wanton exercise of power, but sense of duty, and they but represented what was universal public opinion from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century. ”

“ May it please Thee, O God, who hast called us to this ministry, to make us worthy to offer unto Thee this sacrifice for our own sins and for the sins of Thy people. Accept our service and our persons, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. ”