USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > Biographical and genealogical history of the city of Newark and Essex County, New Jersey, V. 1 > Part 5
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Others have copied the ancient masterpieces with wonderful accuracy, but in most instances have failed to reproduce that indescribable charm that gives to a poem its chief value. The spirit that breathes cannot be made to order. It must be born again. Otherwise the poem is a corpse. Dr. Coles has not used his art to exhume mummies. In his verses we have the living voices of the old-time singers.
As Corot caught the varying movement of the trem- bling foliage in the deepening twilight, and so placed it on his canvas that one can almost see the shadows lengthening and hear the rustling of the leaves, so our poet has reproduced the very soul of the Hebrew and Latin verses. They are not versified translations- they are regenerations. They are not wrought from without, but from within. Hence they retain that in- estimable something that gives to a poem its immor- tality.
As a single illustration, we name his "Dies Ira," eighteen versions of which come from the strings of his restless lyre. This sublimest masterpiece of sacred Latin poetry and noblest Judgment hymn of all lan- guages has, through many ages, been inviting gifted tongues to voice its majestic solemnities in English speech.
More than thirty have had the temerity to respond. Among them are Earl Roscommon, Sir Walter Scott, Lord Macaulay, Archbishop Trench and General Dix, some of whom have given renditions of considerable merit. But among them all, Dr. Coles wears the green- est laurels. Competent critics, like Dr. Philip Schaff and John G. Whittier, unite in affirming that no man, dead or living, has succeeded so well in rendering the text and spirit of the wonderful hymn.
The doctor's baton has made our speech throb with the ancient rhythm and reproduced in astonishing degree the characteristic features of the original.
Here are its artless simplicity, its impassioned sol- emnity, its trumpet-like cadences which appall the soul with woeful terrors; its triple rhyme which "beats the breast like a hammer," and gives it an awful music of its own, making the heart shudder with dread ap- prehension. And in all this quivering of judgment- terror there breathes the intense Christian spirit of the original, which finds its strongest utterance in the appeal:
"Jesus kind, do not refuse me! O, remember Thou didst choose me! Lest Thou on that day shalt lose me, Seeking me Thy tired feet bore Thee, Cruel nails for my sake tore Thee, Let all fail not, I implore Thee."
With equal skill he has put in English verse, hymns from Thomas of Celano, Fortunatus, St. Bernard of Cluny, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and others, together with many selections from the Greek and Latin classics.
It was natural for one with our poet's deeply spirit- ual life to turn with special fondness to those fountains of sacred song that spring from the Hebrew Psalter.
There rather than at Helicon the voice of his Muse was heard. He was himself a careful student of the Orient and familiar with the Hebrew tongue.
He believed that the life of the past was better ex- pressed and preserved in its song than in its history,- that the inspiration of the Psalms was not merely poetic, but really and truly divine. He also believed that the much praised antiphonal parallelism which Herder describes as "that language of the heart which has never said all, but ever has something more to say," is not adapted to the Saxon genius or knowledge.
If then, while he translates the Hebrew into English, he also translates the ancient antiphonal into modern meter. he brings the divine soul of the psalm in liv- ing presence before us. The correctness of his view has been often demonstrated. Clement Marot's metric- al version of the Psalms proved to be a potent factor in the French Reformation. There are few things that have told so mightily on the Scotch character as Rouse's version. It is asserted that in the time of the Reformation, psalm-singers and heretics became al- most identical terms. It is an interesting fact, if it be true, as stated, that such was the value our Puritan forefathers placed on psalms in meter, that this was the title of the first book printed in New England.
The Church, however, has in a large measure ceased the use of metrical psalms in public worship. This is due partly to the evolution of the English hymn, under the inspiration of Watts and his successors; partly to the vitiated taste occasioned by the use of jingling ditties, and partly to the poor quality of many of the meterized psalms, which are in reality only mechanical paraphrases.
We believe that if Dr. Coles' thought can only be adequately realized, if accurate translation can be wedded to genuine poetry and set to fitting music, it will be a boon to the Church, which is now so sadly agitated with the question of the choral features of its service. We will not affirm that in his version of the Psalms he has in every instance satisfied either the critic's eye, or the Christian's heart.
Even the wings of Jove's bird sometimes grew weary. The peerless Milton often stumbled in his meter. Are David's own Psalms equal?
But the Doctor has given us a noble volume, which, aside from the other products of his pen, will place his name on the walls of "the immortals." And if psalm- singing never again becomes general in the home and in the Church, this rich collection will abide as a. most helpful interpreter of the heavenly meanings of the Hebrew songs.
We can barely speak of one other work which this poet lived to complete,-the rendering of the Gospel in verse. To some souls the whole Christian life is a poem-the Gospel is music itself.
But he is a brave man who attempts to sing it all. Samuel Wesley, the father of John and Charles, made the daring effort to versify the Gospels. It was both a literary and financial failure.
With what success Dr. Coles has made a similar effort, it remains for the coming generations to declare. In the meanwhile, we listen to the judgment of the Right Honorable John Bright, of England, who says: "When I began your volume I thought you had at- tempted to gild the refined gold, and would fail; as I proceeded in my reading that idea gradually disap- peared, and I discovered that you had brought the re- fined gold together in a manner convenient and useful. and deeply interesting. I have read the volume with all its notes, many of which seem to me of great value. I could envy you the learning and the industry that have enabled you to produce this remarkable work. I hope it may have readers in all countries where our language is spoken."
One who consecrates his genius to echoing the thoughts and spirit of the peerless intellects of the
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past is not apt to command popular affection. There are few Platos and Boswells whose names appear on the scroll of immortality. But if ever that ambition enticed the heart of our author, he can sleep tran- quilly on the pillow of his deathless work.
Only six years ago, at the age of 78, he descended to the tomb. Already his hymns have been placed in many hymnals. His Greek and Latin translations are ranked by critics the very foremost. His psalms and gospels occupy an honored place in every great library of Europe and America.
As the years separate us wider and ever wider from those great productive periods of sacred song, which made glad the ages past, more and more will the com- ing generations feel the need of Dr. Abraham Coles' rich echoes.
After the benediction by the Rev. Dr. D. J. Yerkes, there was more music. In the words of the New York Observer, "the whole occasion was a delightful tribute of honor to the memory of a noble man."
JONATHAN ACKERMAN COLES,
only son of Abraham and Caroline E. Coles, was born in Newark, New Jersey, May 6, 1843, in his homestead · building, No. 222 Market street, purchased by his father in 1842, and rendered historic by reason of its having, by its brick construc- tion, stopped the spread of the great fire of 1836. He was prepared for college at the collegiate school of Forest & Quack- enbos, in New York city, where he was awarded the prizes for proficiency in rhet- oric and German. In 1860 he entered the freshman class of Columbia College, New York. In his senior year, by the unani- mous decision of Professor Charles Davies, Professor Murray Nairne, and Professor William G. Peck, he received the Philo- lexian prize for the best essay. He gradu- ated in 1864, and in 1867 received the de- gree of A. M.
After graduation he began the study of medicine and surgery in the office of his father, in Newark, New Jersey, and, after
matriculating at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York city, entered, as a student of medicine, the office of Pro- fessor T. Gaillard Thomas. At the annual commencement of the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons in 1867, he received, from Professor Alonzo Clark, the Harzen prize for the best written report of clinical instruction given during the year in the medical and surgical wards of the New York hospital. He graduated with honor in 1868, and after serving in the New York, Bellevue, and Charity hospitals, opened an office in the city of New York, becoming a member of the New York Academy of Medicine and the New York County Medi- cal Society.
The years 1877 and 1878, he spent for the most part in Europe, attending lectures and clinics at the universities of London, Edinburgh, Paris, Heidelberg, Berlin, and Vienna. While at Edinburgh he was the guest of Professor Simpson. At Paris, he was the guest of his father's friend and col- lege classmate, Dr. J. Marion Sims. At Munich, Bavaria, in company with Dr. Sims, he attended the meetings of the In- ternational Medical Congress, and, by invi- tation, there participated in the honors be- stowed upon this distinguished American surgeon. whose excellent bronze statue now adorns Bryant Park, in the city of New York. After visiting Syria, Pales- tine, and Egypt, he returned home and be- came associated with his father in the prac- tice of his profession, which he has con- tinued in Newark and Scotch Plains to the present time. During his absence, by rea- son of his father's letters and those of Hon. Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, then secretary of state, at Washington, D. C., he was. everywhere received with marked courtesy ..
Skwe
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Soon after his return, at a literary gather- ing of friends, he, by request, read the fol- lowing epitome of his travels :
HOME AND ABROAD.
Returned from foreign travel, I No longer care to wander ;- Of that dear spot I call my home My fond heart has grown fonder.
Drawn by the fame of far-off lands, I sought to see them nearer; And while they justified report I felt my own was dearer.
Three years ago to carry out Long-cherished dreams romantic, I waved farewells, and found myself Upon the broad Atlantic.
The warring winds began to blow And make the cordage rattle, And with the angry surges jom In fierce and mighty battle.
The tossing of the sea was grand, But, Oh! too sympathetic, The stomach, maugre the sublime, Succumbed to the emetic.
From Queenstown, on your way to Cork, You hear "the bells of Shandon," As up you sail the river Lee, That stream they "sound so grand on."
I've barely time to tell you how I went to kiss the Blarney, And then proceeded to the lakes Of beautiful Killarney.
With much to see, I rested not, To every wish compliant; Saw all the sights, and, last of all, The Causeway of the Giant.
Then, rich in memories precious, I St. George's Channel crossing, Exchanged the Emerald for the Pearl- Gem-isles the deep embossing.
Fair Albion, no words can tell The debt of love I owe it; It gave me language, gave the lore Of prophet and of poet.
Gave Shakespeare, Milton gave, and ope'd The door of school and college, Whence I enjoy the sweet delights, And blessedness of knowledge.
Hail, Father-land! Through all my veins The warm blood warmer gushes; Because of thee my joyful heart Is musical as thrushes.
With keen delight, six crowded weeks I roamed the country over; And then to see the Continent I crossed the straits of Dover.
I passed through France, the beautiful; Through Leopold's dominions;
Through Holland, earliest free, of which Dutch blood has Dutch opinions.
I coasted Norway to the Cape, Where I beheld that wonder, The midnight sun, which scarcely dips The red horizon under.
The Pole I could not see, nor Poles, For Poland, I found later, Was placed far distant from the Pole,- What error could be greater.
I Sweden, Denmark, visited, And steppes and cities Russian; Saw Warsaw, which war saw, when joined Russ, Austrian, and Prussian.
I did the German capitals, Up rivers, over bridges,- Did Switzerland, the land of ice, Crossed Alpine mountain ridges.
Passed into Italy, now one, Of art the mighty centre; Constantinople, Athens seen, I ancient Egypt enter.
Then on to Palestine I sail In Mediterranean steamer, The land made sacred by the feet Of our Divine Redeemer.
Returning from the East, I stopped At Malta, and then hasted Through Spain, through Portugal, through France, Without a moment wasted.
I stood once more on English ground, But soon for Scotland started; Took in my trip the Hebrides, And then for home departed.
I've told you nothing in detail, Because of my great hurry,- Then is it not all written out In Baediker and Murray?
For your sweet patience, listeners dear, I own myself your debtor; Before I went I loved my friends, Returned, I love them better.
I would not flatter, but since I Can give my reasons plenty, As many as you choose to ask, One million up to twenty.
I venture to declare, while I Of ladies liave seen many, Those I see here are quite as good And beautiful as any.
In 1891 Dr. Coles was elected president of the Union County Medical Society, of New Jersey, and has filled other offices of public and private trust. He is a perma- nent delegate to the New Jersey State Medical Society, a member of the Amer- ican Medical Association, a member of the
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Washington Association of New Jersey, a life member and trustee of the New Jersey Historical Society, a Fellow for Life of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, N. Y., etc. He has contributed to the press, has pub- lished articles on medical and educational subjects, and has edited some new editions of his father's works.
On September 5, 1895, he wrote :
To the Honorable Julius A. Lebkuecher, Mayor of the City of Newark:
My Dear Sir,-As a gift to Newark, my native city, in whose educational, scientific and religious advance-
contending with more recent attachments, while their Indian lords looked on, scarcely less moved than they, yet hardening themselves with savage stoicism, and standing in the midst of their enemies imperturbable as statues of bronze. Of the women, who were com- pelled to return with their children to the settlements, some, subsequently, made their escape, eagerly hasten- ing back to their warrior husbands, whose kindness before, as well as at the time of, the surrender had proved to them the sincerity of their affection."
In our artist's group the mother discovers the wife of the Indian to be her daughter, who was carried off in early childhood. She, however, fails in her endeavor to obtain from her some sign of recognition. It was on this occasion that Bouquet, observing her distress, is said to have suggested that she should sing one of the songs she used to sing to her when a child. She did so; then, with a sudden start, followed by a passionate flood of tears, the long-lost daughter threw herself into her mother's arms.
In order that his work might be accurate and dis-
DRAWING ROOM AT DEERHURST- "DEBORAH."
ment my father, the late Dr. Abraham Coles. always took a deep and active interest, I have bought one of the most characteristic and beautiful groups in real bronze to be seen in this country or in Europe. It con- sists of three figures-an American Indian, his wife and her mother, each life size. The pedestal is of rare dark Italian marble. The whole was executed at Rome, Italy, in 1886, by the distinguished American sculptor, the late C. B. Ives, and is illustrative of the following facts, related by Parkman and other author- ities:
After Colonel Bouquet had, in the fall of 1764, com- pelled the Indian tribes to sue for peace, he demanded the delivery, at Fort Pitt, of all captives in their pos- session. "Among those brought in for surrender," says Parkman, "were young women who had become partners of Indian husbands, and who now were led reluctantly into the presence of parents or relatives, whose images were almost blotted from their memory. They stood agitated and bewildered; the revival of old affections and the rush of dormant memories painfully
tinctive, Mr. Ives left Rome for this country, where he was successful in finding, for his model, an Indian who fulfilled all his requirements. Returning to Italy, he there perfected this, his great masterpiece.
In 1832, the New Jersey legislature appropriated two thousand dollars to pay the Indians for a claim they made in regard to certain hunting and fishing rights. On this occasion the red men were represented by Shawriskhekung (Wilted Grass), an Indian of pure native blood. He was a graduate of Princeton College, having been educated at the expense of the Scotch Mis- sionary Society, which named him Bartholomew S. Calvin. At the age of twenty-three he entered the Continental army to fight for independence, and at the time he presented to the legislature the petition for pay for the Indian fishing rights he was upward of eighty years of age. This aged Indian closed his address with the following words: "Not a drop of our blood have you spilled in battle; not an acre of our land have you taken but by our consent. These facts speak for them- selves and need no comment. They place the character
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of New Jersey in bold relief and bright example to those states within whose territorial limits our breth- ren still remain. There may be some who would despise an Indian benediction, but when I return to my people and make known to them the result of my mis- sion, the ear of the great Sovereign of the universe, which is still open to our cry, will be penetrated witll our invocation of blessings upon the generous sons of New Jersey."
"It is a proud fact in the history of New Jersey," said Senator Samuel L. Southard before the legislature on this same occasion, "that every foot of her soil has been obtained from the Indians by voluntary purchase and transfer, a fact no other state of the Union, not even the land which bears the name of Penn, can boast of." For these as well as for other reasons, it has seemed to me to be pre-eminently proper that New Jersey should possess this magnificent monument cast in honor of the American Indian.
With your sanction I will have it brought to Newark, and have it placed on a suitably prepared foundation, all at my own individual expense, in the locality we shall decide upon. Awaiting your reply, I am, with great respect, Yours sincerely,
JONATHAN ACKERMAN COLES.
To the above was sent the following re- ply:
Office of the Mayor, City Hall, Newark, N. J.
September 13, 1895.
Dr. Jonathan Ackerman Coles, 222 Market Street, City:
Dear Sir,-The communication directed to the Mayor of the city of Newark, dated September 4, 1895, and containing your munificent offer to present to the city a handsome bronze group, was referred to the common council at its last meeting, held Friday, September 6th, accompanied by a message which read as follows:
Office of the Mayor, City Hall, Newark, N. J. September 6, 1895.
To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of Newark;
Gentlemen .- I have the honor and pleasure to trans- mit herewith a communication which I received yes- terday from Dr. Jonathan Ackerman Coles. In it he offers, as a gift to the city of Newark, a work of art, by an American sculptor of note, being a group in bronze which marks a most interesting historical event, and as a memorial will recall the valuable ser- vices rendered in the interests of science and education by his distinguished father, the late Dr. Abraham Coles.
I respectfully recommend that action be taken by your honorable body to acknowledge the valuable and interesting gift, and to co-operate with the donor in providing a suitable place for its erection.
Yours very truly, J. A. LEBKUECHER, Mayor.
It was received and read with great gratification, and in response thereto, the following resolution of ac- knowledgment and acceptance was unanimously adopted :
"Whereas, A beautiful work of art, by a sculptor of distinction, has been presented to the city of Newark by Dr. Jonathan Ackerman Coles; therefore, be it
"Resolved, That the mayor be instructed to convey to the donor the sincere sense of appreciation in which this gift is received by the municipal government and people of the city of Newark; and be it further
"Resolved. That a committee of five, of whom the mayor and the president of the common council shall be members, be appointed to act with the donor in the selection of a suitable site for the placing of this val- uable gift."
In pursuance of the above resolution, I have the honor to extend to you, in behalf of the municipal government, the assurance of its high appreciation of your generous gift, and as chief executive to tender to you the thanks of its citizens.
The spirit which prompts the presentation of this artistic group of bronze to the city is worthy of the greatest commendation. It gives me much pleasure to acknowledge, for the first time in the history of the city, a gift from one of its private citizens, which shall be for many generations a civic monument of beauty and a source of pride to the residents of Newark.
I have the honor to be, yours very truly, J. A. LEBKUECHER, Mayor.
The committee, which consisted of Mayor Julius A. Lebkuecher, Mr. David D. Bragaw, president of the common coun- cil; Aldermen William Harrigan, Sidney N. Ogden. and Winton C. Garrison, after visiting the different parks, in company with the donor, finally decided upon the north end of Lincoln Park, as the most suit- able site for the bronze.
Subsequently the mayor and common council presented Dr. Coles with a testi- monial of the city's appreciation of his gift. This memorial the New York Tribune de- scribes as "a beautiful specimen of the art of engrossing. It is in an album form, bound in dark leather of the finest quality, the fly leaves being of rich white moire silk. The body of the memorial contains the communication of the mayor to the com- mon council announcing the offer of Dr. Coles, the resolutions passed by the coun- cil in accepting the gift, and the announce- ment by Mayor Lebkuecher to Dr. Coles of the acceptance. The delineator is Mr. John B. Morris, secretary of the board of assessments."
An editorial in the Newark Daily Ad- vertiser said: "The public-spirited gift of a life-size bronze group to the city of New- ark, is most heartily appreciated by New-
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PHANT US, AND MAKE US A NATION.
WE ARM MAKE US EVERMORE STRUNY
FARAISE ON BUR WALL'S WERTE SALVADORE
CHE TẾPE UNOONTANH CHASING BUR THIGHT.
INDIAN GROUP, LINCOLN PARK, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY. Executed by C. B. Ives and presented to the City of Newark by Dr, J. Ackerman Coles.
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ark citizens. Dr. Coles could not have done a public act more graceful or more in harmony with the changing conditions of life in this community. We have been essentially an industrial people, and in our busy efforts to earn and save, there has been little time or leisure to be applied to the refinements of public art that belong to old and settled civilization. We are growing into that now. Soon we shall have a beautiful park system, and we hope to grace it with the adornments of art, con- tributed by educated and public-spirited citizens."
The Rt. Rev. John Williams, D. D., LL. D., bishop of the diocese of Connecticut, chancellor of Trinity College, etc., in a let- ter to Dr. Coles, referring to the bronze and its pedestal, said: "An inscription of the last stanzas of your father's beautiful national hymns, 'Columbia, the Land of the Free,' and 'My Native Land,' upon the marble pedestal of the bronze historical group, would not only be a graceful tribute to your father's memory, but would also give a national as well as local value to the gift." The bishop's recommendation was carried out. In 1666 Newark was settled by people from Connecticut.
Thanksgiving day was selected by the common council committee and Dr. Coles as the time most appropriate for the un- veiling exercises. The New York Herald referred to the occasion as follows: "Five thousand persons gathered in Lincoln Park, Newark, yesterday afternoon (No- vember 28, 1895), to witness the unveiling and presentation to the city, of a life-size historic group in bronze by the distin- guished American sculptor, C. B. Ives. * The entire cost of the group, its pedestal and everything in connection
with its erection and unveiling was borne by Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, son of the late Dr. Abraham Coles.
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