Catholics From England

"She became most fervent, continually risking her life by harbouring and maintaining priests, was frequently imprisoned, sometimes for two years at a time, yet never daunted, and was a model of all virtues."

"His bright spirits and kindly genial ways, the outward expression of a soul which combined with its deep sense of religion a noble and generous disposition, won not only from his personal friends, but from all with whom he came in contact, an admiration and kindly feeling such as only a few have the power to excite."

"It is in cases of litigation that Rome is slow, and that is owing to deep solicitude lest justice should suffer a defeat."

"It is clear that there are as many different languages as peoples in this island. The Scots, however, and the Welsh, in so far as they have not intermixed with other nations, have retained the purity of their native speech, unless perhaps the Scots took something in speech from living together with the Picts, with whom they once dwelt as allies. The Flemish who live in the west of Wales have abandoned their barbarous speech, and speak Saxon well enough. Likewise the English although in the beginning they had a language of three branches, namely southern, midland, and northern, as coming from three Germanic peoples, nevertheless as a result of mixture, first with the Danes and then Normans, by a corruption of their language in many respects, they now incorporate strange bleatings and babblings. There are two main causes for their present debasement of the native language, one, that children in the schools against the practice of other nations are compelled since the coming of the Normans to abandon their own tongue and to construe into French, and, secondly, that children of the nobility are taught French from the cradle and rattle."

"What more serious question can there be, than to enter upon an inquiry into the various stages of the vast system of Divine preparation by which under the ever-present action of the government of a Divine Providence over the affairs of men, the world was in the end prepared for the coming of its Redeemer?"

"Politicians walk through mysterious paths, and the springs they move by are concealed from the eyes of the world. The interest of a nation depends upon the capricious humour of a statesman; and the happiness of a people is often sacrificed to private resentment."

"The goods and evils of this life make a deeper impression on the minds of Christians in general, than the prospect of those of the future. Neither heaven nor hell, from a want of due reflection, produces much practical effect upon the conduct of the world at large."

"What! shall Saxon bonds be sundered By the sordid lust of gain? Shall the realms of peace be ravaged By the Rulers of the Main For the greed of gold or glory? No,—forbid it, God the Lord! Young America—Old England— Hand-in-hand, not sword to sword!"

"It is the characteristic of error to be feeble, fluctuating, and anxious: it is the property of truth to be constant in the unity of its perceptions, and calm in the consciousness of its own power. The assailant who is ever attacking, and ever changing the ground of his attack, may prove his anxiety, his vigilance, the hostility of his purpose, and the boldness of his daring; but he will also prove the weakness of his own resources, and the impregnable resistance of that which he is seeking to overthrow."

"It was intended by God that we should look back upon Scripture from the communion of the Church, not that we should measure the living Church, or build up a Church of the future, from our own conceptions of Scripture. O how different is the New Testament according as we adopt one or other of these two courses."

"The principle of the Church was, in one word, that which defines her own being—a divine authority establishing a kingdom, Jesus Christ, her Lord and Founder, living and acting in her. The consideration of the faith which she promulgated cannot be severed from that of her government and her worship."

"He was one in whom the poetical vein was tenderly blended with the philosopher's wisdom."

"The power of the State is maintained to be of God, either immediately, or mediately through the will of the people; and the civil government exists side by side with the ecclesiastical government. Each is complete in its own sphere."

"What are the consequences of rejecting divinely appointed images? Hopeless and heart-destroying doubt caused by the undue exaltation of humanity: in other words, creature, instead of divine, worship. We are so constituted that images we must have: our minds cannot reach God's throne without the help of corporeal things. Agnosticism has said it. We cannot love what we do not know, and is not God unknowable? Halting formularies say it when they point to matter, which God has glorified, as inglorious."

"Each jury is a little parliament. The jury sense is the parliamentary sense. I cannot see the one dying and the other surviving. The first object of any tyrant * * * would be to make Parliament utterly subservient to his will; and next to overthrow or diminish trial by jury, for no tyrant could afford to leave a subject’s freedom in the hands of 12 of his countrymen. So that trial by jury is more than an instrument of justice and more than one wheel of the constitution; it is the lamp that shows that freedom lives."

"I think...that it is not possible to set theoretical limits to the power of the State to legislate against immorality. It is not possible to settle in advance exceptions to the general rule or to define inflexibly areas of morality into which the law is in no circumstances to be allowed to enter. Society is entitled by means of its laws to protect itself from dangers, whether from within or without. Here again I think that the political parallel is legitimate. The law of treason is directed against aiding the king's enemies and against sedition from within. The justification for this is that established government is necessary for the existence of society and therefore its safety against violent overthrow must be secured. But an established morality is as necessary as good government to the welfare of society. Societies disintegrate from within more frequently than they are broken up by external pressures. There is disintegration when no common morality is observed and history shows that the loosening of moral bonds is often the first stage of disintegration, so that society is justified in taking the same steps to preserve its moral code as it does to preserve its government... the suppression of vice is as much the law's business as the suppression of subversive activities."

"She was a woman of great gifts both natural and supernatural, she had marvellous faith and wonderful determination."

"The judges of England have rarely been original thinkers or great jurists. Many have been craftsmen rather than creators. They have needed the stuff of morals to be supplied to them so that out of it they could fashion the law."

"Ability isn't the most important thing. In most cases the facts aren't really very difficult to get at: no, the most important thing for a judge is—curiously enough—judgment. It’s not so very different from the qualities of a successful businessman or civil servant. I’m always struck by how alike men in high positions seem to be. It’s rather like seeing a lot of different parts of the stage, and finding that they’re all Gerald du Maurier in the end."

"Margaret's ardour as a catholic was always remarkable."

"She was a very clever woman, full of energy, with a wide sympathetic nature and a remarkably retentive memory."

"I, for one ought not to be unsympathising towards those who are really struggling out of darkness into light. Can I forget, though now more than a quarter of a century ago, the hopes and fears by which I have myself been agitated? I found myself in a Communion, with a growing dislike of its tone, its history, and (I must add) its living authorities. I found myself, in the same measure, drawn towards that true home, centre of hearts and minds, where nothing was national, sectional, narrow, cold, or ambiguous; where doctrine was clear as a trumpet-tone, and sympathy and healing soft as a mother's whisper to her sick child."

"As in the primitive Church, when either Persecution was threatened, or actually arose, it was a frequent Practice, among the Christians, to address to their Adversaries expository Epistles, to obviate the Calumnies and Aspersions cast both upon the Faith and Practice of their Church. I therefore presume in like manner, to address all whom it may concern."

"He had the faculty of seizing upon the thoughts rather than the words of the authors he consulted, and thus making them a portion of his own mind. Perhaps, hardly a priest in England was more deeply versed in ascetical and mystical theology, or had had more experience in the operations of grace in souls."

"What contradictions do we not daily observe, between the private judgments of individuals on the most ordinary questions, that occur to be examined by them? How difficult is it often for twelve men to come to an uniform judgment, on the same subject? Must there not be error, amidst these contradictory individual judgments and opinions? What reasonable man, then, would ever admit, that the private judgment of every individual is a basis and rule of certitude, in determining what are the doctrines, precepts, and institutions of Christ; or what are the dispositions and conditions of salvation, which were prescribed by him, and on the knowledge, and observance of which the eternal happiness of every individual depends?"

"When almighty God thinks fit to reveal future events, he generally expresses them in obscure terms that leave the meaning more or less uncertain. This seems to be done in order to prevent the daring presumption of some men, who might attempt, if the prophecies were clear, to obstruct and hinder their accomplishment. Others of mankind of a more timorous disposition, would be alarmed and over much terrified at disasters which they foresaw were impending upon them. On another hand, if futurity was clearly foretold, it might seem to intrench upon that liberty, which God had been pleased to grant to man, of directing his own conduct and actions. For these reasons, the generality of prophecies are covered with a veil of darkness and uncertainty. Obscurity is therefore a general characteristic of prophecy."

"Tunstall's long career of eighty-five years, for thirty-seven of which he was a bishop, is one of the most consistent and honourable in the sixteenth century."

"God, who entrusts to us their religious education, has a right to be set before them as truly, as nobly, as worthily as our capacity allows, as beautifully as human language can convey the mysteries of faith, with the quietness and confidence of those who know and are not afraid, and filial pride in the Christian inheritance which is ours. The child has a right to learn the best that it can know of God, since the happiness of its life, not only in eternity but even in time, is bound up in that knowledge."

"Though he always professed to aim at setting forth truth unadorned and regardless of consequences, his partisan tone and apparent prejudice gave offence to many. Those who knew him best, however, testified to his singleness of purpose and genuine piety."

"When will Anglicans learn that the faith of a Church cannot be rated higher than the level of its conscious communion; that whatever a man may be individually, as a Churchman he is neither more nor less than what his Church allows?"

"His proselytising zeal and the part he took in promoting the declaration of indulgence rendered Howard particularly odious to the protestant party."

"I establish a firm peace in all my kingdom, and I order that this peace shall henceforth be kept."

"I restore to you the law of King Edward together with such emendations to it as my father made with the counsel of his barons."

"Both these aspects of patronage, the governmental and the social, are of the very greatest importance in the Middle Ages. It would be an exaggeration to say that it was Henry I who made them so; but it was he who first controlled the whole range of government-patronage with which we are later familiar; and it is under him that we can first observe the effects of this patronage at all closely."

"A man of tremendous energy, he greatly increased his worldly possessions, and collected a huge treasure-store of precious objects. He claimed for himself alone the hunting rights all over England, and even had the feet of dogs living in the neighbourhood of forests mutilated, only grudgingly allowing a few of his greatest nobles and closest friends the privilege of hunting in their own woods. A diligent investigator, he inquired into everything, and retained all he heard in his tenacious memory. He wished to know all the business of officials and dignitaries; and, since he was an assiduous ruler, kept an eye on the many happenings in England and Normandy. He was thoroughly familiar with all secrets and things done surreptitiously, so that their perpetrators could not imagine how the king could be aware of their most secret plots. After a thorough study of past histories, I confidently assert that no king in the English realm was ever more richly or powerfully equipped than Henry in everything that contributes to worldly glory."

"He was of middle stature, exceeding the diminutive, but exceeded by the very tall: his hair was black, but scanty near the forehead; his eyes mildly bright; his chest brawny; his body fleshy: he was facetious in proper season, nor did multiplicity of business cause him to be less pleasant when he mixed in society. Not prone to personal combat, he verified the saying of Scipio Africanus, "My mother bore me a commander, not a soldier;" wherefore he was inferior in wisdom to no king of modern time; and, as I may almost say, he clearly surpassed all his predecessors in England, and preferred contending by counsel, rather than by the sword. If he could, he conquered without bloodshed; if it was unavoidable, with as little as possible."

"He was always a good friend of his order. He was conspicuous for his sanctity and care for the poor."

"For there is nothing so hateful to me, as Sin, and that only, for the Love of my Saviour."

"Though there is discord between revolutionary agrarianism and collectivism, they are alike in opposition to the uniform teaching and tradition of the Catholic Church on the lawfulness of private ownership of income-yielding property, whether it be named "land" or "capital". And they are alike in opposition to the ideal of all great statesmen from Solon to Leo XIII, namely, flourishing populations of small farmers or peasants."

"I beseech you, request my brethren, for his Sake, who redeemed us all, to be careful to supply my want and insufficiency, as I hope they will. Nothing grieves me so much, as this England, which I pray God soon to convert."

"He pursued his missionary labours in his native county of Lancaster with great zeal and success."

"Votive Offerings is the general name given to those things vowed or dedicated to God, or a saint, and in consequence looked upon as set apart by this act of consecration. The idea is very old, for it springs from man's instinctive attitude towards the higher powers."

"Though he might not look an ideal leader, Father Stone was wonderfully adapted to his circumstances; his unfailing kindness, simplicity, sincerity, patience, and self-devotion were irresistible. If he acted slowly, he made no mistakes; he was capable of undertaking great enterprises, and of carrying them through with strong tenacity of purpose."

"In Ireland, all is either brilliant sunshine or dark shadow, and its scenery, its skies, and the countenances of its genuine sons, are all either smiles or tears."

"The English have not by nature sufficient sociability in their dispositions to do without a visible fire. A cheerful blaze is necessary to thaw their innate shyness and reserve, and to form a central point of union. ... They cannot converse comfortably with their hands unemployed. Some excuse must be found for idleness; some reason for being in one part of the room in preference to another. The slightest appearance of formality terrifies them beyond measure, because it reminds them of their own defects. The same principle which makes a burnt child dread the fire, causes them to cling to it as an antidote. All manner of contrivances are employed to break the bug-bear form. In summer, ottomans, albums, and windows, supply in some measure the loss of the darling fire, and enable English men and women to try and talk to each other."

"The black-winged Erinnys Will never enter those homes where the hands are lifted up in prayer, And the gods have accepted their offerings."

"Moderation, the noblest gift of heaven."

"Now there are many pleasures in life, Long conversations, and leisure, that delightful evil."

"But in the good there is every kind of wisdom."

"Trouble adds toil to grief."