USA > North Carolina > Lives of the bishops of North Carolina from the establishment of the episcopate in that state down to the division of the diocese > Part 19
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"The committee appointed to report a line of division between the proposed two dioceses, after considering several lines, and after a conference, with the Bishop present, recommend to the Convention the following line : beginning on the Virginia line at the N. E. corner of Northampton, and following the east line of said county, and of the counties of Halifax, Edgecombe, Wilson and Johnston, thence the south line of Harnett and the west line of Cumberland and Robeson to the line of the State of South Carolina."
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Upon recommendation by the above committee, further action was taken by the Convention by the adoption of the following resolution :
"RESOLVED, That, the General Convention assenting, a new diocese be formed out of the present Diocese of North Carolina, consisting of the counties of Hertford, Bertie, Martin, Pitt, Greene, Wayne, Samp- son, Cumberland, and Robeson, and all the counties lying between these counties and the Atlantic Ocean."
The same day that the above action was taken, Bishop Lyman gave his formal consent to the same as follows:
To the Convention of the Diocese of North Carolina:
DEAR BRETHREN : I hereby give my canonical consent to the erec- tion of a new Diocese within the limits of my present jurisdiction and with such metes and bounds as have this day been agreed upon.
T. B. LYMAN,
Charlotte, N. C., May 26, 1883. Bishop of North Carolina.
The General Convention gave its sanction to the above action, and thus the Diocese of North Carolina was divided. We may add that the misgivings of those good men who questioned the wisdom of the course have happily been proved groundless; for both the dioceses have prospered since the division took place, and are nobly fulfilling their missions. From one of them has also been severed the Missionary Jurisdiction of Asheville.
The preliminary convention of the above new diocese was held in Wilmington December 12, 1883, when it assumed as its title the designation DIOCESE OF EAST CAROLINA. Bishop Lyman presided over this preliminary meeting, and was invited to per- form Episcopal duties within the borders of the new Diocese until a Bishop of its own could be consecrated. On December 13th this Convention elected the Reverend Alfred Augustin Wat- son, D. D., an old and honored presbyter who was then Rector of Saint James's Church in Wilmington, to the office of Bishop. He was accordingly consecrated in Wilmington on April 17, 1884. The Presiding Bishop at this consecration was the ven-
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erable and greatly beloved William Mercer Green of Mississippi, then eighty-six years old, a native of Wilmington, who had served the early years of his priesthood under John Stark Ravenscroft, first Bishop of North Carolina. There were also present at Bishop Watson's consecration (in addition to Bishops Green and Lyman) Bishops Neely of Maine, Howe of South Carolina, Seymour of Springfield, and Randolph of Virginia, the last named being Assistant Bishop at that time. About twenty years after Bishop Watson's consecration, a Bishop Coadjutor was given him in the person of the Reverend Robert Strange, D.D., who succeeded to the full Bishopric of East Carolina when Doctor Watson was called from his earthly labors, on the 21st of April, 1905.
From the title-page of the present volume, which states that these biographies run "down to the division of the Diocese," which occurred in 1883, one might expect this work to close with the date when such division was accomplished by the estab- lishment of the Diocese of East Carolina, as above. But the remainder of the life of Bishop Lyman was a period of such marked interest that we shall now continue this narrative, and recount such matters of note as occurred between 1883 and the date of his death.
Prior to 1886, the Right Reverend Abram Newkirk Little- john, Bishop of Long Island, had been exercising Episcopal oversight over American Churches on the Continent of Europe. In the above year he resigned this charge, and the Presiding Bishop appointed Bishop Lyman to succeed him. Requiring only an occasional visit abroad, this appointment did not seri- ously interfere with Bishop Lyman's duties in North Carolina, so he accepted the proffered post.
Some months after the American Churches in Europe had been committed to his charge, Bishop Lyman went abroad on an Episcopal visitation, embarking from New York on the 4th
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of November, 1886. After a voyage of nine days, he landed in England, where he remained less than a week and then crossed the channel to France, spending some time among old friends in Paris. In the latter city, assisted by the Bishop of New York, he consecrated the Church of the Holy Trinity. The formal request to consecrate was read by the American Am- bassador, Honorable Robert M. McLane, while the sentence of consecration was read by the Reverend William F. Morgan,
1 D.D., Rector of the new Church. During his stay in Paris, Bishop Lyman frequently officiated at the Church of the Holy Trinity as well as elsewhere in that city. There he met his old friend Pere Hyacinth, the noted reformer, and paid a visit to his congregation on December 5th. Speaking of this occasion he said: "The Church was filled by a large and respectable congregation. I accompanied the Pere into the chancel, and occupied the Episcopal chair. After a very spirited service, the Pere entered the pulpit, and delivered a discourse of very great eloquence and power. At the close of the service, I as- cended the altar steps, and pronounced the benediction. I was much gratified by this opportunity to witness the work carried on by this zealous reformer, in the face of so much opposition and so many discouragements. I saw a good deal of him while I was in Paris, and became thoroughly convinced that his work has not been properly understood, nor duly appreciated. I can but hope that he will soon meet with a much larger measure of sympathy, as the valuable results of his work become more conspicuously apparent."
Going from Paris to Geneva, Bishop Lyman officiated in the latter city on several occasions for the benefit of American and English families there residing. He then went to Dresden, where, in addition to the usual services, he confirmed a class of fourteen in Saint John's Church. The latter Church, which had been completed for some time, was consecrated by him on Saint John the Evangelist's Day, December 27th. In the latter services he was assisted by a priest of the Greek Church,
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the Reverend Mr. Smirnoff and by several clergymen of the Church of England from the neighboring Church of All Saints, an English mission, where he also held services during his stay in Dresden. At Nice he preached on New Year's Day, 1887, and laid the corner-stone of a church there on January 5th. He then went to Florence, and there met many friends who had at- tended services held in that place by him twenty-five years be- fore, when he lived there. On going to Rome, also a former place of residence, so many changes were apparent that some neighborhoods in that city, with which he had once been famil- iar, were difficult to recognize. After a stay of several days duration in Rome, Bishop Lyman returned to England and there participated in a ceremony of great interest, recorded by him as follows: "On Friday, February 4th, it afforded me much gratification to be present in the Private Chapel of Lam- beth Palace, and take part in the interesting service, commemo- rative of the consecration, in that chapel, one hundred years before, of the first Bishops of Pennsylvania and New York. The Archbishop of Canterbury presided, and conducted the service, assisted by the other Bishops present. The Epistle was read by me, and the Gospel by the Bishop of London. A very fitting and appropriate address was delivered by the Bishop of New York; and the Bishop of Rochester assisted in the com- munion service. It was my privilege, while in London, to share the kind hospitality of the Archbishop, and to receive many courtesies from persons of prominence and distinction."
On Thursday, February 10, 1887, Bishop Lyman embarked from Liverpool, on his return voyage, and arrived in New York on the 19th of that month. In New York and Baltimore, on his homeward journey, he held services, and arrived in Raleigh on March 3d.
In 18SS Bishop Lyman's health was impaired temporarily, but he continued his labors whenever able. On May 6th, in that year, he ordained to the priesthood, in Trinity Church, Ashe- ville, a deacon with a given name calculated to recall recollec-
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tions of the first Bishop of North Carolina. This clergyman, the Reverend John Ravenscroft Harding, came of a family whose members have borne no small part in building up the Church in North Carolina, being a son of the Reverend Israel Harding and a nephew of the Reverend Nathaniel Harding. Almost immediately after his ordination to the priesthood, the Reverend John Ravenscroft Harding was transferred to the Diocese of Missouri. He is now Rector of Trinity Church in Utica, and President of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Central New York.
In the Summer of 1888, Bishop Lyman attended the Third Lambeth Conference, this being the second gathering of the kind at which he was present by invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. He embarked from New York on June 20th, and reached Liverpool on the 20th. From the latter city, on the day of his arrival, he proceeded to London, reaching there just in time to participate in a religious service preliminary to the Lambeth Conference. On the day after his arrival in Lon- don, he went to Canterbury, there taking part in services at the Cathedral, and also attending a garden party in the beautiful grounds of the Deanery. On July 2d, in Westminster Abbey, there was a notable gathering of Bishops and other clergy, and a sermon on the objects of the Conference was preached by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Next day the formal opening serv- ices of the business sessions were held in the Chapel of Lambeth Palace, when the Right Reverend Henry Benjamin Whipple, Bishop of Minnesota, delivered a sermon. Immediately there- after the business sessions began in the library of the Palacc. Speaking of the meeting in general, Bishop Lyman said: "We had about one hundred and forty Bishops present from nearly every part of the world to participate in these meetings. A wonderful degree of harmony and good feeling prevailed, and I cannot doubt that the fruits of this great gathering will long be seen in the manifestations, throughout the Church, of increased unity and zeal, of mutual forbearance, and kindly
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sympathy and love. The closing service, which was one of deep interest and solemnity, took place in St. Paul's Cathedral, Satur- day, July 28th. This was the largest of all our meetings, and drew together also an immense concourse of the clergy and laity. The sermon was preached by the Archbishop of York, and the Holy Communion was administered to five or six hun- dred persons. Thus closed this important Conference, and the results of these deliberations will be felt in every part of the world. It gave to all who were able to be present a very high idea of the strength and dignity, the widespread activity and usefulness of the great Anglican Communion."
During Bishop Lyman's stay in London he preached in Saint Paul's Cathedral, in the Royal Chapel Savoy, and in several important parish churches. In addition to many invitations accepted by him from private sources, he (with other visiting Bishops) was cordially received and hospitably entertained at Cambridge, Durham, York and Lincoln, later going to Ireland, where he was the guest of the Archbishops of Dublin and Armagh, and of the Bishops of Cashel and Cork. Returning to England, he visited the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, and preached in Gloucester Cathedral on September 23d. Early in October, he left England to enter once more upon his duties as Bishop of the American Churches on the Continent of Europe. During the months of October, November and De- cember, he visited the cities of Geneva, Dresden, Florence and Rome. On December 13th, at Nice, he consecrated the Church of the Holy Spirit, a beautiful edifice whose corner-stone he had laid during a former visit. From Nice he went to Paris, where he twice held confirmation services in the Church of the Holy Trinity, and ordained a priest. Going from Paris to London, and thence to Liverpool, he embarked from the city last named on January 2, 1889. About this time, the Bishop's health again gave way to some extent, sleeplessness being added to what he terms a "mysterious malady," but he never ceased work on account of the indisposition from which he suffered.
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After Bishop Lyman's return from Europe early in 1889, he went about his visitations with his accustomed zeal. On Janu- ary 21st, in the following year, he resigned his charge as Bishop of the American Churches in Europe, saying that he did this with reluctance owing to the deep interest he felt in foreign work, and the great degree of personal pleasure he had experi- enced in discharging the duties of that office. He believed, however, that, owing to his advancing years, justice to North Carolina required the step.
During the Diocesan Convention of 1889, the Reverend Joseph Blount Cheshire, Jr., offered a series of resolutions set- ting forth the propriety of holding the next Convention in May, 1890, at Tarborough, and at the same time celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the first efforts to re-organize the Church in North Carolina at that town in 1790. The reso- lutions further provided that the Diocese of East Carolina should be invited to participate, and a committee should be appointed to confer with a similar committee from that Diocese in arranging a joint celebration. These resolutions being duly adopted, Bishop Lyman named, as members of the committee, the Reverend Messrs. Jarvis Buxton, William S. Pettigrew, Matthias M. Marshall, and Joseph Blount Cheshire, Jr., to- gether with the Honorable Kemp P. Battle, the Honorable John S. Henderson, Mr. Samuel S. Nash, Judge Frederick Philips, and Mr. Charles E. Johnson. Mr. Nash was appointed a special commissioner to convey a copy of these proceedings to the Council of the Diocese of East Carolina. The latter body passed resolutions accepting the invitation, and Bishop Watson appointed as a committee, on the part of East Carolina, the Reverend Messrs. N. Collin Hughes, Robert Brent Drane, Robert Strange, and Nathaniel Harding, together with Colonel William L. DeRosset, Mr. F. R. Rose, Mr. Wilson G. Lamb, Colonel John Wilder Atkinson, and Mr. DuBrutz Cutlar. In accordance with arrangements made by the joint committee from the two Dioceses, the celebration at Tarborough continued for three days, May 16th-18th, 1890. The delegates were wel-
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comed on behalf of the people of Tarborough by Judge Frederick Philips, and Bishop Lyman presided over the exercises. Many valuable historical addresses were also delivered as follows: "The Church in Connection with the Anglo-Saxon Race," by the Honorable Alfred Moore Waddell; "The Church-Its Cath- olie Character," by the Reverend N. Collin Hughes; "The Church in the Province of North Carolina," by the Reverend Joseph Blount Cheshire, Jr .; "The Colonial Laymen of the Church of England in North Carolina," by the Honorable Kemp P. Battle; "Colonial Parishes and Church Schools," by the Reverend Robert Brent Drane; "The Conventions of 1790- 1794 and the Bishop-elect [Charles Pettigrew]," by the Rev- erend William S. Pettigrew; "Decay and Revival, 1800-1830," by the Reverend Joseph Blount Cheshire, Jr .; "The First Three Bishops-Ravenscroft, Ives and Atkinson," by the Right Rev- erend Alfred A. Watson, Bishop of East Carolina; "Missionary and Educational Enterprises," by the Reverend Jarvis Bux- ton; "The Work of the Church in Hospitals, Homes, Sister- hoods, and Orphanages," by the Reverend Thomas M. N. George; "The Church in North Carolina-Its Present Condi- tion and Prospects," by the Reverend Matthias M. Marshall; "Duty of the Church with reference to Unity among Chris- tians," by the Reverend Francis J. Murdoch; and "White Haven Church and the Reverend Robert Johnston Miller," by the Reverend Joseph Blount Cheshire, Jr. These addresses (with reprints of the Journals of 1790-1794) were published in book form in 1892, under the editorial supervision of the Reverend Doctor Cheshire, Jr., now Bishop, and make an interesting and instructive volume of 456 pages, its title being Church History in North Carolina. As early as 1SS2, Doctor Cheshire had published a pamphlet on the early efforts to organize a diocese in North Carolina, that monograph being entitled The Early Conventions, held at Tawborough,* Anno Domini 1790, 1793 and 1794.
* The name of this town is now Tarborough.
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Though the early Bishops of the Diocese used signet rings which were emblematical of their office, it was not until 1890 that the Diocesan Convention adopted an official seal, this being the same which is now in use.
On January 15, 1891, Bishop Lyman sailed from New York to Bermuda, accompanied by one of his daughters, but re- mained only a short time, reaching New York once more on February 8th. Later on in that year, on May 15th, when the Diocesan Convention of North Carolina was in session at Ashe- ville, and while the Bishop was absent from the chair, Mr. Frank P. Haywood, Jr., a delegate from Christ Church in Raleigh, offered the following resolution :
"RESOLVED, That a committee, to consist of three clergymen and two laymen, be appointed by the President of the Convention to report to this Convention an appropriate service to be held by the Church in commemoration of the ordination of our Bishop to the priesthood, which took place December 19th, 1841."
Upon the passage of this resolution the chair appointed, as members of the committee, the Reverend A. Burtis Hunter, the Reverend Bennett Smedes, the Reverend Joseph W. Murphy, the Honorable Joseph B. Batchelor and Mr. Frank P. Hay- wood, Jr. Through its chairman, the Reverend Mr. Hunter, this committee later asked to be continued, with permission to print its report. The celebration contemplated by the above resolution took place in the city of Raleigh, at both the Church of the Good Shepherd and Christ Church on December 19th- 20th, 1891. On Saturday, December 19th, the ceremonies were begun in the Church of the Good Shepherd. The choir, fol- lowed by the clergy with the Bishop, entered the church, singing a processional hymn. Then a beautiful service was held, in- cluding an address by Bishop Lyman, reviewing his past ex- periences throughout the fifty years of his ministry. The music was rendered jointly by the choirs of Christ Church and the Church of the Good Shepherd. At the conclusion of the
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ceremonies, the Reverend Doctor Matthias M. Marshall, Rector of Christ Church and President of the Standing Committee of the Diocese, delivered an address, and closed his remarks by presenting the Bishop with a beautiful Pastoral Staff, made of ebony with massive silver ornamentations, this being a gift from his admirers among the clergy and laity throughout the Diocese. This staff is now owned by the Diocese, and is. still used on occasions of special ceremony by Bishop Cheshire, who succeeded Bishop Lyman in the Episcopate. During the course of his remarks, when presenting this staff to Bishop Lyman, Doctor Marshall said :
"In an age of 'restless rationalists and self-sufficient critics,' at a time when throughout the land there is such a lamentable and, as we believe, dangerous depreciation of rightly constituted authority both in Church and State, we desire to bear umnistakable and visible testi- mony to our reverence for your apostolic authority, and of our ready and willing obedience to your godly admonitions and counsels as our chief pastor, under Christ, of which this ancient symbol is a token and pledge. We would have this staff first of all, Right Reverend Father, to mean this.
"And again, sir-if it be not unseemly thus to speak in your hon- ored presence-we would have it bear witness, after some sort, of our gratitude to God for the zeal and fidelity and abundant labors, in season and out of season for the spiritual welfare of all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseer, that have so conspicu- ously characterized all the years of your ministry in our midst.
"We of the clergy particularly-thrown by virtue of our official relations into more intimate contact with our chief pastors than are others-know, as the public cannot know, the incessant anxieties and constant cares and onerous responsibilities inseparable from the office of a. Bishop in the Church of God, especially in a Diocese so large and so largely missionary as this ; and we know too, both clergy and laity, how bravely and cheerfully, through good report and through evil, through stress of weather, and not infrequently in bodily suffering, our beloved Bishop has borne them all.
"And if, sir, now or at any time, in the near future or in the dis- tant, this jubilee memorial and token of the sympathy and gratitude and affection of your Diocese shall serve to lighten, by so much as a feather's weight, the burden that you must needs bear to the end, we shall thankfully feel that this day's doings have not been altogether in vain.
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"And as men who have passed their 'three-score and ten' are wont. to lean upon staves for physical support, so, when the shadows of life's declining day lengthen across your pathway, and you enter the dark valley where every earthly pilgrim, high or low, must lay his weary burden down, may this memorial of our love be to you the grateful assurance that throughout the length and breadth of your Diocese the prayers of your people will go up with your own to the Good Shepherd of all the Christian fold in the tender terms of the Pastoral Psalm :"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.' Amen."
On the evening of December 19th, after the presentation of the above token, Bishop Lyman opened the doors of his home to callers, and some hundreds attended for the purpose of tender- ing their congratulations and good wishes. Describing this re- ception in its issue of December 20th, the Raleigh News and Observer said :
"Yesterday evening the elegant mansion of Bishop Lyman was thrown open to his friends, and became the scene of much enjoyment to those who attended his reception. It was the pleasant ending of a day that was memorable in his life, and which was marked by an episode that gave him rare gratification.
"His numerous friends came in throngs to congratulate him on the completion of fifty years' service in the ministry. Many ladies aud gentlemen were present, and there was a continuous stream passing in and out all the evening. The number who attended was estimated at four hundred.
"The beautiful picture gallery, which is so much admired, was par- ticularly a scene of lovliness. Among the gentlemen we observed His Excellency the Governor. Hon. Kemp P. Battle, Attorney-General Davidson, Judge Davis, Mayor Badger, President Winston, and Gen- eral W. R. Cox. Besides these were the visiting clergy, and others from a distance. In the parlors the ladies were received by Mrs. R. S. Tucker, Mrs. Alfred W. Haywood, Mrs. R. H. Lewis, Mrs. Pit- tenger, Mrs. Hunter, Mrs. Charles Root, Miss Van Rensselaer, Miss Hawkins, Miss Hinsdale, Miss Andrews, and Miss Hurton.
"And after the guests had enjoyed somewhat of the social pleasures, they formed their way into the apartment where Mrs. Hinsdale, Mrs. Frank 11. Cameron, Mrs. W. T. McGee, Mrs. W. J. Hawkins, Mrs. William T. Tucker. Mrs. Thomas Badger, Mrs. Kemp P. Battle, and Miss Lucy Battle took charge of them and introduced them to an elegant repast.
"And so the evening wore on, until the hour when the pleasures of the day were brought to a close."
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On Sunday, December 20th (being the day following the above ceremonies and festivities), religious services were con- tinued in honor of Bishop Lyman's fiftieth anniversary, these being held in Christ Church. The regular services were con- ducted by the Reverend Messrs. William Walker and I. McK. Pittenger, and addresses were delivered by the Honorable Kemp P. Battle, the Reverend Josph Blount Cheshire, Jr., and Mr. Frank S. Spruill. After these addresses, the choir rendered an anthem, and the evening's exercises were concluded with the apostolic benediction by Bishop Lyman.
In the month of June, 1892, the semi-centennial of Saint Mary's School was celebrated in Raleigh, though Bishop Lyman (then being in New York) could not take part in it. Saint Mary's was first opened on May 12, 1842; and, when the fiftieth anniversary of that event came, May 12, 1892, it was decided to postpone the celebration until commencement week, which occurred in the following month. These exercises began in Christ Church on June 5th with a sermon, appropriate to the occasion, by the Reverend Joseph Blount Cheshire, Jr. On Monday evening, at the school, a general reception to friends of the institution was tendered by its Rector, the Reverend Ben- nett Sinedes, D.D. Tuesday evening a concert, complimentary to the alumnæ, was given; and the annual concert took place on Wednesday evening. The regular commencement exercises occurred Thursday. At this semi-centennial celebration were several ladies who had been among the first pupils of the insti- tution in 1842.
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