Augustine and the Donatists, which had finally convinced Newman
that the Church of England was in schism? And then, had he not
been able to set afoot a Crusade of Prayer throughout Catholic
Europe for the conversion of England?
He awaited the result with eager expectation, and in the meantime
he set himself to smooth away the hostility of his countrymen by
delivering courses of popular lectures on literature and
archaeology. He devoted much time and attention to the ceremonial
details of his princely office. His knowledge of rubric and
ritual, and of the symbolical significations of vestments, has
rarely been equalled, and he took a profound delight in the
ordering and the performance of elaborate processions. During one
of these functions, an unexpected difficulty arose: the Master of
Ceremonies suddenly gave the word for a halt, and, on being asked
the reason, replied that he had been instructed that moment by
special revelation to stop the procession. The Cardinal, however,
was not at a loss. 'You may let the procession go on,' he
smilingly replied. 'I have just obtained permission, by special
revelation, to proceed with it.' His leisure hours he spent in
the writing of edifying novels, the composition of acrostics in
Latin Verse, and in playing battledore and shuttlecock with his
little nieces.
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