Page:Tracts for the Times Vol 3.djvu/231

Rh a society of persons, founded by Thy love to sinners, united into one body of which Thou art the head, initiated by baptism, nourished by the Eucharist, governed by pastors commissioned by Thee, and endowed with the power of the keys, professing the doctrine taught by Thee and delivered to the saints, and devoted to praise and to love Thee.

I believe, O holy, that Thy Church is holy like Thee its Author; holy by the original design of its institution, holy by baptismal dedication, holy in all its administrations which tend to produce holiness; and, though there will be always a mixture of good and bad in it in this world, yet that it has always many real saints in it; and, therefore, all love, all glory, be to Thee.....

Glory be to Thee, O Lord my God, who hast made me a member of the particular Church of England, whose faith, government, and worship are Holy, and Catholic, and Apostolic, and free from the extremes of irreverence and superstition, and which I firmly believe to be a sound part of Thy Church universal, and which teaches me charity to those who dissent from me; and, therefore, all love, all glory be to Thee.

In the first place, I observe, how much we are all bound to acknowledge the goodness, to praise, magnify, and adore the name of the most high, in that we were born and bred, and still live in a Church, wherein the Apostolical line hath, through all ages, been preserved entire, there having been a constant succession of such Bishops in it, as were truly and properly successors to the Apostles, by virtue of that Apostolical imposition of hands, which being begun by the Apostles, hath been continued from one to another, ever since their time, down to ours. By which means, the same Spirit which was breathed by our Lord into His Apostles is, together with their office, transmitted to their lawful successors, the pastors and governors of our Church at this time; and acts, moves, and assists at the administration of the several parts of the Apostolical office in our days, as much as ever. From whence