Page:Tracts for the Times Vol 3.djvu/243

Rh from the whole Catholic Church in communion with him, who ought to ratify each others' censures under pain of schism if they do not.

'Tis the bulk and serviceableness of business, and the use it has in the world, which makes an employment honourable. And can any thing compare with the Apostles in this particular? Were they not to form and instruct the Church, and to govern the most noble society upon earth? Were they not to publish the Mysteries of Redemption, the offers of the New Covenant, and the glories of the other world? .... Fire in the figure of tongues sat upon the heads of each of them. This was an emblem of the gift of languages, and the miracle was as bright as the flame. .... This was a glorious attestation, this must needs make their commission undisputed, and their character indelible. Should a Prince be proclaimed from the sky, anointed out of the Ampoul, and crowned by an Angel, his authority could not be more visible .... I can't help saying, that, in my opinion, a Prince made but a lean figure in comparison with an Apostle. What is the magnificence of palaces, the richness of furniture, the quality of attendance, what is all this to the pomp of miracles, and the grandeur of supernatural power? .... A Prince can bestow marks of distinction, and posts of honour and authority; but he can't give the Holy Ghost, he can't register his favourites among the quality of heaven, nor entitle them to the bliss of eternity. No,—these powers were Apostolic privileges, and the enclosure of the Church. The prerogative royal cannot stretch thus far; these jewels are not to be found in the Imperial crown .... I need not tell you how much they suffered through their progress, and how gloriously they went off into the other world. But before their departure, they took care to perpetuate their authority, and provide governors for the Church. Thus the jurisdiction was conveyed to Bishops and Priests; this succession has continued without interruption for above sixteen hundred years.