Diarist

“ The entries are for the most part brief, and to this brevity, no doubt, we owe the persevering character of the work. It is the enthusiasm with which the young diarist usually sets about her task that threatens its premature collapse. She begins by being unduly confidential, and ends by having nothing to confide.
Not so this Quaker girl, reticent even with herself; avoiding, even in the secret pages of her journal, all gossip about her own soul, all spiritual outpourings, all the dear and inexhaustible delights of egotism. ”

“ When we said that Boswell was a kind of Pepys, we fell by chance into a happy comparison. Not only by his volatile errors was he of the tribe of Samuel, but in his outstanding character by which he becomes of importance to posterity—that of one of the great diarists. Now there is no human failing upon which we look with more affectionate lenience than that of keeping a diary. All of us, in our pilgrimage through the difficult thickets of this world, have moods and moments when we have to fall back on ourselves for the only complete understanding and absolution we will ever find. ”

“ The twelve traveling counselors are called to be the Twelve Apostles, or special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world; thus differing from other officers in the Church in the duties of their calling. * * * * The Twelve are a traveling presiding High Council, to officiate in the name of the Lord, under the direction of the Presidency of the Church, agreeable to the institution of heaven; to build up the Church, and regulate all the affairs of the same in all nations; first unto the Gentiles, and secondly unto the Jews. ”

“ A doctor has in some sort a priesthood of his own. Admitted at all hours to the most secret intimacy of families, he knows, guesses, and is able to effect much. Like the priest, in short, he has the ear of the sick and the dying. ”

“ With this witness then, Beloved, given by us here, laid up for him on high, I leave him, my friend, my Bishop and my Father, in the memories of his people, in the rest of his sleep in Jesus, in the glorious life of Paradise! As I close, words of our Blessed Lord are in my heart, and come unbidden to my lips.
"Blessed are the meek! for they shall inherit the earth!" ”

“ I am not searching only the course of the Twelve, or that of the High Priests and Seventies, but I am searching after all the authorities whose conduct is not in accordance with the best interests of the Church; and from this time forth, if they do not do different from what many have done, they shall do wrong knowingly, with their eyes open. I want the Bishops to remember the counsel I have given them. I shall learn whether they are strictly honest or not; and if they are not honest, I will expose them. ”

“ The questions of the boy have sounded strangely in the ears of these learned men. The blind High Priest holds with nervous grasp the sacred Rolls of the Law, as the Rabbi at his side repeats in his dulled ear something that the boy has said. No wonder the old man holds the Rolls of the Law so tightly in his feeble hands, for it may well be that the words which he hears contain the germ of those questions which on another day were to put the chief priests to silence and confusion. ”

“ A wise and experienced clergyman, coming to the patient's bedside,—not with the professional look on his face which suggests the undertaker and the sexton, but with a serene countenance and a sympathetic voice, with tact, with patience, waiting for the right moment,—will surprise the shy spirit into a confession of the doubt, the sorrow, the shame, the remorse, the terror which underlies all the bodily symptoms, and the unburdening of which into a loving and pitying soul is a more potent anodyne than all the drowsy sirups of the world. ”

“ Would a priest be endured in his parish if he did not receive every insult with a smile, or a barrister gain his cause if he suffered his face to proclaim his disbelief in its justice, or a doctor keep his patients if his countenance revealed what he thought of their complaints? ”

“ When we pray, in the Office for the Visitation of the Sick, that God would ‘preserve and continue this sick member in the unity of the Church,’ the prayer breathes the very spirit of ancient piety. It is an unspeakable help, in dealing with a sick man, to be able to appeal to his own conscious and sincere membership in the Body of Christ. The Visitation Office is ‘peculiarly a ministration for those who have been trained beforehand in the fulness of Church life and privileges.’74 Herein, as often, the Prayer-book sets up an ideal standard. ”

“ Those, who most need the visits of a kind and faithful pastor, are the very persons least likely to obtain them. The case is different here. The religious oversight of the inmates is not left to the chance visit of some unknown teacher, but a faithful minister of the Gospel has been appointed, whose especial duty it is to visit the wards daily, and going from bed to bed, to administer instruction, comfort, and sympathy to each of the sufferers as he sees their necessity requires. ”

“ I have given your priest’s office to you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh near shall be put to death.
8 And the LORD spoke to Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of my heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; to thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever. ”

“ Have ye forsaken the services of devotion, the sanctuary, and the prayer-meeting, for the society of open worldliness and ungodliness? Ye have not done testifying yet. God Almighty’s voice follows you, and rings in your ears, “Ye are my witnesses.” Your testimony may have been dishonoring to God; it may have been damaging to the cause of Christ; but God claims you as his witnesses, and will settle with you when he comes to review the testimony at the judgment-day. ”

“ A priest, who causes discord, treachery, and misfortune in my house, is as much of a wretch as any other; whom I have a right to call to account for the evil he does to me and mine. Therefore, tell me immediately where are the children—or else, I give you fair warning, I will go and demand them of the confessor. Some crime is here hatching, of which you are an accomplice without knowing it, unhappy woman! ”

“ Once more let it be remembered that the Tribunal of Penance is for the accusation and absolution of sin. Name, nor abode, nor fortune, nor domestic concerns, have any place there. The priest is the spiritual physician, and it is the disease which is submitted to him; all else is foreign to his office, nor has he the right to ask of other matters. ”

“ What should we expect to take place in 'the world' if a clergyman whom we had always seen active in his duty, pure in his life, refined in his habits, were wildly accused of removing from her home and secreting a pretty little coquettish miss, his clerk's niece, on the strength of her having been seen haunting his lodgings, and once conducted home by him after dark, and given by to her guardians with a sharp admonition? ”

“ The mediæval clerk appears in many ancient manuscripts and illuminations, which show us, better than words can describe, the actual duties which he was called upon to perform. The British Museum possesses a number of pontificals and other illustrated manuscripts containing artistic representations of clerks. We see him accompanying the priest who is taking the last sacrament to the sick. He is carrying a taper and a bell, which he is evidently ringing as he goes, its tones asking for the prayers of the faithful for the sick [pg 197] man's soul. ”

“ When we 'open out' to a friend the Levite comes forth, and is in turn watched by the priest from the inner court. Let our emotions be stirred in sincere converse and out strides the priest, and takes precedence of the other two, they falling obediently and submissively behind him. But the priest is still watched by the high priest from the tabernacle itself, and only on great and solemn occasions does he make himself manifest by action. ”

“ Don’t trouble yourself about the cleverness or the cunning that may be wanted. My clerk has got head enough for two. I have only one word more to say before you go downstairs again. Remember that this investigation and the cause that leads to it must be kept a profound secret. Except us three, and the clergyman here (to whom your mistress has written word of what has happened) , nobody knows anything about it. I will let my clerk into the secret when he joins us. As soon as you and he are away from the house, you may talk about it. ”

“ Most of the patients do not confess, and the priest is here only a deputy of the Church, coming timidly to seek, if there may happen to be some soul which belongs to the flock. Here and there one or two confess—others are dying without ear and without voice. ”

“ Between twenty and thirty clergymen, old and young, were gathered in the church and listened to an exhortation delivered by an elderly dignitary, who spoke, not from the regular pulpit, but from the lectern. I felt myself an intruder, an eavesdropper, a spy upon the private devotions of worthy men. ”

“ From the thirty-eighth to the sixty-sixth we are taught the great and most important offices of a priest, especially with regard to offering the Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord, the practice of daily Mass, the celebration of Requiem Masses for the dead, the administration of the Holy Communion in life and death, and the necessity of receiving the confessions of the faithful, both before Communion and at the last moment. ”

“ Many such faithful clerks have devoted their years of active life to the service of God in His sanctuary, both in ancient and modern times; and it will be our pleasurable duty to record some of the biographies of these earnest servants of the Church, whose services are too often disregarded.
I have mentioned the continuity of the clerk's office, unbroken by either Reformation changes or by the confusion of the Puritan regime. We will now [pg 26] endeavour to sketch the appearance of the mediæval clerk, and the numerous duties which fell to his lot. ”

“ The testimony of the witnesses to the book of the Lord's commandments, which he gave to his Church through Joseph Smith, Jun., who was appointed by the voice of the Church for this purpose; we therefore feel willing to bear testimony to all the world of mankind, to every creature upon the face of all the earth and upon the islands of the sea, that the Lord has borne record to our souls through the Holy Ghost, shed forth upon us, that these commandments were given by inspiration of God, and are profitable for all men, and are verily true. ”

“ Mass can be as before. Then Monsignor may say half of his office every day, or the rosary; but not both. And no other devotions of any kind, except the particular Examen. If Monsignor and Father Jervis both consent, I should like the Examen to be forwarded to a priest-doctor for a few weeks. ”

“ The twelve Apostles, who hitherto had discharged the different offices of Apostle, presbyter, and deacon, upon the principle that the greater office always includes the less, now convened the church, and said unto them, “It is not reasonable that we should leave the ministration of the word of God, and serve tables: look ye out, therefore, among yourselves, seven men of good report, full of the Holy Ghost, and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.” ”

“ He commandeth us to do the office of priesthood, He will be our sufficient Letters and witness, if we, by the example of his living and teaching specially occupy us faithfully to do our office justly: yea, that people to whom we preach, be they faithful or unfaithful, shall be our Letters, that is, our witness bearers; for that Truth where it is sown may not be unwitnessed. For all that are converted and saved by learning of GOD's Word and by working thereafter are witness bearers, that the Truth and Soothfastness which they heard and did after, is cause of their salvation. ”

“ The deacons are a distinct and separate order of ministers, taken from the midst of, and chosen by, the respective congregations in which they are to serve, and are ordained either by apostles or by angels receiving commission thereunto. The priests are first called to their office by the word through the prophets, (“no man taking this honour to himself,”) and then ordained by apostles; and from among the priests, by a like call and ordination, are the angels set in their places. ”

“ We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. ”

“ For the authority of the Church bears a very conspicuous witness, in which it is known to the faithful in what place the Martyrs, in what place the holy nuns deceased, are rehearsed at the Sacraments of the Altar. ”

“ In addition to the usual services, the Bishop preached a sermon in the chapter-house to the inmates, and his secretary often entered the text in the brief entry of the visitation made in the episcopal register—possibly with a view to check the Bishop giving the like discourse on the next occasion. The Bishop, with whom was generally associated some diocesan official as assessor, began the visitation by asking for a report from the superior as to the general condition of the house, both temporal and spiritual, and as to the conduct of the inmates. ”