History of Union County, New Jersey, Part 10

Author: Ricord, Frederick W. (Frederick William), 1819-1897
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Newark, N.J. : East Jersey History Co.
Number of Pages: 846

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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY

God's angels, looking over his shoulder, would not have looked upon approvingly. His memory will long be cherished as one of our truest and sweetest singers."

In addition to his published works, Dr. Coles left, at his death, in manuscript, translations of the whole of Bernard of Clairvaux's "Address to the Various Members of Christ's Body Hanging on the Cross ;" the whole of Hildebert's "Address to the Three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity ;" selections from the Greek and Latin classics, and various writings on literary, medical and scientific subjects.

The titles of Dr. Coles were : A. M., from Rutgers College ; Ph. D., from the University of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania; and LL. D., conferred in 1871, by the College of New Jersey at Princeton.

"In the presence of several thousand people, an heroic bronze bust of the late Dr. Abraham Coles, by John Quincy Adams Ward, with its val- uable and unique pedestal," says the New York Herald, "was formally unveiled in the city of Newark, New Jersey, July 5, 1897.

"In deference to Mr. Ward's judgment and correct taste, a bust of Dr. Coles was decided upon in preference to a full-length statue. The base of the bust represents two large folio volumes, bearing the titles of the published works of Dr. Coles. These rest upon the capstone of the pedestal, consisting of a monolith from the Mount of Olives, which, in turn, rests on one from Jerusalem, beneath which are two from Nazareth of Galilee, resting on two stones from Bethlehem of Judea.

"The stones are highly polished on three sides, and are very beautiful. This is especially true of the monolith from Solomon's quarry, under Jerusalem, believed to be like unto those used in the construction of the Temple, and to which Christ's attention was called by one of His disciples, as He went out of the Temple on His way to the Mount of Olives. (Mark, xiii., I). The fourth side, or back of each stone, has, for geological reasons, been left rough, as it came from the hands of the Judean or Galilean workmen.

"The foundation stone is a huge bowlder of about seven tons weight, brought from Plymouth, Massachusetts, the homeland of the Pilgrim Fathers ; combined with this is a portion of one of the monoliths of Cheops, the great pyramid of Egypt. The memorial is surrounded by monoliths of Quincy, Massachusetts, granite, each fourteen feet long, bolted into corner stone posts, quarried not far from Mount Tabor, nigh unto Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee.

"Cast in solid bronze on the front of the pedestal is a copy of Dr. Coles' well known national song of praise, 'The Rock of Ages,' while riveted to Plymouth rock is a solid bronze tablet containing an oft-repeated extract from a treatise by Dr. Coles on law in its relation. to Christianity.

HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY

"The song inscribed on the bronze tablet is as follows :

THE ROCK OF AGES. [1saiah xxvi., 4.] A National Song of Praise,

Let us to Jehovah raise

Glad and grateful songs of praise !

'Midst the terror of the fight, Kept theni steadfast in the right ;

Let the people with oue voice,

In the Lord their God rejoice !

Taught their Statesmen how to plan To conserve the Rights of Man ; For His mercy standeth fast,

For His mercy standeth fast,

And from age to age doth last.

He, across untraversed seas,

Needful skill and wisdom lent

Guided first the Genoese ;

To establish Government ;

Here prepared a dwelling-place

Laid foundations resting still

For a freedom-loving race ;

On the granite of His will ;

For His mercy standeth fast,

And from age to age doth last.

Filled the land the red man trod With the worshippers of God ;

Wiped the scandal and the sin

From the color of the skin ;

When Oppression forged the chain

Now o'er all, from sea to sea,

Nerved their hands to rend in twain.

Floats the Banner of the Free ;

For His mercy standeth fast,

And from age to age doth last.

Gave them courage to declare

Praise the Lord for freedom won

What to do and what to dare ;

And the Gospel of His Son ;

Made them victors over wrong

Praise the Lord, His name adore

In the battle with the strong.

All ye people, ever more !

For His mercy standeth fast,

And from age to age doth last.

ABRAHAM COLES, July 4, 1876.

"The tablet on the Plymouth rock reads as follows :

"'The State, although it does not formulate its faith, is distinctively Christian. Christianity, general, tolerant Christianity, is a part of the law of the land. Reverence for law is indissolubly interwoven with rev- erence for God. The State accepts the Decalogue, and builds upon it. As right presupposes a standard, it assumes that this is such a standard, divinely given and accepted by all Christendom; that it underlies all civil society, is the foundation of the foundation, is lower than all and higher than all; commends itself to reason, speaks with authority to the conscience ; vindicates itself in all government, giving it stability and exalting it in righteousness .- Abraham Coles, Memorial Volume, p. xxxvi.'"

The stones of Palestine were secured through the agency of the Rev. Edwin T. Wallace, A. M., our consul at Jerusalem.

The foundation bed is composed of Palestine, Egyptian and Newark broken stone, bound together with Egyptian cement, taken from the Pyramid of Cheops, mixed withi American cement. Imbedded beneath the stones are a copy of the Bible; a complete list of the passengers of the Mayflower, with a sketch of their lives, from the Boston Transcript ; the Declaration of Independence, with the signers thereof; the Constitution

HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY

of the United States of America ; a list of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution ; the new constitution and list of members of the New Jersey Historical Society ; list of the inembers of the American Medical Association ; all the published works of Dr. Abrahamn Coles ; some

BRONZE BUST OF ABRAHAM COLES WASHINGTON PARK, NEWARK, N. J.

water taken from the Dead Sea by Dr. Coles; a stone ornament from Cæsar's palace at Rome, and other objects of local, state and national interest. Mindful of the services rendered the state by the late Dr. Abraham Coles, Dr. J. A. Coles, in a letter, dated June 16th, to the Hon.

HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY

John W. Griggs, governor of New Jersey, had offered to give the bronze and its pedestal to the state, provided it could be located at Newark.

The Governor, in a friendly reply, and at a subsequent personal interview, explained to Dr. Coles, that, if given to the state, the memorial would, like the Doctor's recent gift of the fainous painting of "The Good Samaritan," by Daniel Huntington, have to be located at Trenton, in order that the state mnight have the care and custody of the same, which it would not have if placed in the city of Newark. It being, therefore, left to Dr. Coles to choose between Trenton and Newark for the location of his gift, he decided in favor of his native city.

"That the unveiling might occur on July 5th, the Newark board of works," says the New York Tribune, "held a special meeting on June 22d, to consider the matter. The letter written by Dr. J. Ackerman Coles to Mayor Seymour, proffering the bronze bist of the late Dr. Abraham Coles, by J. Q. A. Ward, and its pedestal, to the city of Newark, was read, as was the mayor's communication on the subject. Commis- sioner Van Duyne then offered a resolution that the gift be accepted, and that Dr. Coles be authorized to place the same in Washington Park. The resolution was unanimously adopted."

The 4th of July occurring on Sunday, twenty thousand copies of a little book, consisting of patriotic songs, by the late Dr. Abraham Coles, set to music, were previously printed and given to the school children throughout the city ; these were used in the Sunday schools and churches on July 4th, and on the occasion of the unveiling of the bronze.

"On the afternoon of July 5th, Mayor Seymour presiding, the exer- cises in Washington Park were begun," says the Newark Daily Adver- tiser, "by the band playing and the large assemblage singing Dr. Coles' national hymn, 'My Native Land,' the music being under the direction of John C. Day, of St. Luke's Methodist Episcopal church. Letters were received from President and Mrs. William Mckinley, executive mansion, Washington, D. C .; from Vice-President Garret A. Hobart, president of the United States senate; from Governor John W. Griggs, of New Jersey ; from Bishop John H. Vincent, chancellor of Chautauqua University, and from others prominent in political and literary circles."

After prayer by the Rev. Dr. Robert Lowry, the large American flag surrounding the bronze bust and its pedestal was unfurled by President William A. Gay, of the board of education, revealing, amid hearty cheers, the benignant and classical features of the late Dr. Abrahamn Coles.

Dr. Jonathan Ackerman Coles, the donor, then made the address of presentation. "In recognition and appreciation," said Dr. Coles, "of the bond of fellowship that existed between the people of Newark and my father, the late Dr. Abraham Coles, on account of his active efforts in the promotion of the physical, religious, educational and

HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY

scientific development of this city, it is with civic pride and pleasure I now present to your Honor the pedestal and bronze just unveiled by the president of the board of education, -an historic memorial different and distinctive from that possessed by any other city or nation, and, in editorial language, 'in harmony with the life career of the physician and scholar it commemorates.' "'

The statue was formally accepted 011 behalf of the city by Mayor James M. Seymour. The Mayor said :

On behalf of the people of this city it gives me great pleasure to accept from our respected fellow citizen, Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, this fine memorial of that distinguished gentleman, Dr. Abraham Coles. Nothing could be more appropriate on this spot, opposite our new free public library, than this bust.

Dr. Coles was one of America's greatest scholars. His cultured mind roamed through many fields and gave to the world some of its choicest treasures in literature, poetry and art. He was a scholar, a statesman, and a physician. He found time in his busy life to do and know many things, and do and know each better than most men know one. When on yonder plot of ground our new building shall have beeu erected and stored with the learning of all lands, there will stand in proxmity an invitation and an object lesson to the youth of our city ; yonder the offer of intellectual wealth ; here a mon- utment to its attainment ; there the seeds of knowledge ; here the emblem of its fruition.

Dr. Coles spent the greater part of his life in Newark. Here were his friends, of whom I am proud to have been one, his home and his family. His books and writings are known and read over all the world, but here we knew the pleasant, courteous, kind- hearted gentleman. His personality is still so fresh and strong in my remembrance that in offering this verbal testimony to his fame, I cannot forget that, like many other great men in all ages, he was greatest in meekness, charity, and kindness of heart.

It is eminently fitting that this memorial should be surrounded by and mounted upon these tokens indicative of the bent of his mind. His predilections from his youth were toward religion, and whether engaged in the relief of his fellow men, through the medium of medicine or surgery, penning those beautiful lines "Rock of Ages," or delving among the dead tongues of bygone days, it is easy to find in all his work a predominating desire to serve, as best he knew how, his God.

On behalf of the city of Newark I accept this bust, and though it cannot last as long as the memory of him whom it memorializes, let us hope that while it stands here in this public park it will have a widespread influence upon our young men, and iucite them to . emulate Dr. Coles' useful, studious, earnest life.

In accepting the statue on behalf of the board of works, President Stainsby said :

There is little that I need say at this time. It is a pleasure to commend both the filial and public spirit which prompted this douor. The men of means of Newark have not hitherto permitted their public spirit to take shape for the beautification of the city. With good streets and elaborate parks should come beautifying statuary, and all that speaks for culture and pride in our public men and the perpetuation of objects of interest in our city.

In this park now stand two monuments: One speaks for the foundry and the mechanic, the foundation of this city's strength. The other speaks of the professional man and the man of literature, made possible by our material greatness. The founda- tion stone will recall to all passers the sterling worth and fixity of principles of the Puritan fathers, and the superstructure bearing the bust will bring to our minds the religious in man, and both will be found typified in the life and character of Dr. Coles.

Mr. Stainsby was followed by the Rev. Dr. A. H. Tuttle, who

HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY

delivered a review of the works of "Abraham Coles, the Physician- Poet." Dr. Tuttle said :

Dr. Abraham Coles is called the physician-poet, not because he is the only one of his profession who has put great thoughts into immortal verse, but because of a single work in which he has sung, with genuine poetic genius, of the organs and functions of the human body.

"Man, the Microcosm " is a perilous theme for a poet. It awakens the scientific rather than the poetic faculty. Nothing of the kind had appeared before in our speech. Armstrong's "The Art of Preserving Health," published over one hundred and fifty years ago, can hardly be called an exception. Only one with the daring of Lucretius and the genius of Pope, both of whom in many respects the Doctor resembled, could so set scientific and philosophic facts as to make them sensitive to the breath of the Muse.

Usually scientific accuracy is the death of poetry. Darwiu laments that he, who, in the beginning of his studies, took the greatest pleasure in Shakespeare, in later years lost all relish for the great dramatist. On the other hand, a glowing imagination is apt to wing its flight beyond the sphere of proven facts which accurate science demands.

But this poem, which is an address delivered before the Medical Society of the State of New Jersey, illumes the theme of a learned profession with the sacred speech of Polyhymnia. It at once commanded the attention and commendation of both physicians and artists; and from the time of its delivery its author has been known as the physiciau-poet.

This characterization, however, does not do him justice. We might with equal inaccuracy speak of David as the "warrior-psalmist," because the divine bard was a soldier, and sometimes sang of war.

"The Microcosm " is but one of the many products of Dr. Coles's lyre, aud the spirit that breathes here, as in them all, is uot auatomy, but divinity. Correct as is his science, this is the spirit that prevades his song.

" For such as this, did actually enshrine

Thy gracious Godhead once, when thou didst make

Thyself incarnate, for my sinful sake. Thou who hast done so very much for me,

O let me do some humble thing for Thee ! I would to every organ give a tongue,

That Thy high praises may be fitly sung ;

Appropriate ministries assigu to each, The least make vocal, eloquent to teach."

Though the learning is that of the physician, the language and the spirit are those of a seraph. We must place our author among the sacred poets.

We cannot pause to consider at length the perplexing question, What is sacred poetry? We are among those who believe in the sanctity of the art, altogether aside from the theme in which it is employed. It is the voice of the soul's innermost life, expressing itself in form of creative speech, which kindles the feeling while it carries the thought. To turu such a gift to unholy uses is like turning the language of prayer into profanity. But in order to fix our author's place in the sacred choir, we accept the common thought that sacred poetry is that which treats of sacred things.

It may be epic, as in Job and Milton, or dramatic, as iu the Song of Solomon and Bach's "Passion," or lyric, as in all the Psalms and hymns.

The most copious of our sacred poetry is the lyric. It is distinguished from others not by its metrical forms, nor altogether by the material it fashions, but by its persoual thought or passion and its easy adaptation to song.

There are four distinct grades of lyric poetry by which the rank of the poet is determined. The first is what we may call the natural, and is characterized by the outburst of impassioned personal experience; the second is artistic, and is distinguished by the exquisite finish of its structure ; the third is didactic, and is differentiated by its aim, which is to teach certain truths and facts. There are doubtless poets of high merit in this class, but its dominant motive is sure to give it the air of the school room, and these lyrics are often only doctrine in rhyme. The fourth class is the liturgical.

HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY

It is arranged for a service already prepared, aud is set to music already composed. It it usually characterized by poverty of ideas, wearisome repititions and a fatal lack of passion.

The foremost poet of the natural order is David, the creator of the Hebrew lyric, who, at the very beginning, gave to the world the very finest specimens of the art. There is in all his songs a spontaneous outpouring of the passion of the moment. Every creation only images the soul of the poet, and his utterance is an elegy or an idyl, according as he is grave or gay. To this class belong also many of the old Latin hymns, as those of Thomas of Celano; Bernard of Clairvaux, and Francis Xavier. They ntter the soul's innermost consciousness.

Measured by this standard, Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley are highest in the first rank of English hymnists. The doctrines of saving truth had become verities in their experience ; and they poured them out in rushing torrents of song. Their hymns are their owu souls' hiography.

Dr. Coles has written more than fifty original poems, many of which merit a place high in the first class of lyrics. Some of them have the intuition, the passion, the imagery which remind us of Cowper.

In a poem entitled "Prayer in Affliction," he describes himself as bowed in sorrow in his home, made desolate by the death of his wife. But in his grief his faith discovers the promise of good out of ill. Then he cries :

" O, that my smitten heart may gusb Melodions praise-like as when o'er Folian harp strings wild winds rush, And all abroad, sad music pour, So sweet, Heaven's minstrelsy might hush Brief time to listen, for I know, The hand that doth my comforts crush, Builds bliss upon the base of woe."

The whole poem is wondrously suggestive of the genius of him who wrote the immortal, "My Mother."

Some of his hymns throb with a spirit so akin to that of the matchless Wesley that we could readily believe they came from the Methodist's pen. Such is the following:

" Upon His bosom, thus to rest, While I love Him and He loves me,

I cannot ask to be more blest ; I care no other heaven to see ;

And if there be some higher bliss,

To know my sins are all forgiven, For Jesus' sake, O, this is heaven. I am content while I have this."

But the Doctor did not devote his strength to the product of original hymns. He deliberately chose to turn masterpieces of ancient tongues into English verse. Accord- ingly we are compelled to rank him in the second order of lyrists. He is " a poet of culture," whose aim is perfect, artistic expression.

What determined his choice was partly his scholarship, partly his intensely spiritual nature, and partly the elegant refinement in which he was born and lived. His learning was varied and accurate. He was a recognized authority in his profession, an accomplished linguist, a master of the classic and Sanskrit tongues, and a critical writer on the profoundest theological themes.

The vastness of his learning gave him such ample material for his verse that his! poetic passion made no imperious call for the invention of the intuitive faculty.

We cannot think of him as we do of Burns, walking out under the stars, writhing- in pain for some adequate form in which to embody the tumultuous passion he must express. He had but to lift his eyes, and select from his calm, wide vision the form he needed. Had he been an unlettered peasant, the poetic gift would probably have travailed . in birth of song, which would have come forth in varied and original imagery. His poems would have shouted and danced like the Psalms of the Macabees. But wealth of advantage is oftentimes poverty of invention.

As it was, his imagination was constructive rather than creative. Its images are more remarkable for their exquisite finish. than for the original boldness of their conception. It was a fortunate thing for the world, and probably for the fame of our author, that he devoted his superb gift to rendering the best of the Hebrew and classic

HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY

lyrics into English verse. He is not alone among the seraphs who have made the attempt, but is conspicuous in this goodly company as the recognized chief.

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 trembling 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 regener- ations. They are not wrought from without, but from within. Hence they retain that inestimable something that gives to a poem its immortality.

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 languages 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 greenest laurels. Competent critics, like Dr. Philip Schaff aud John G. Whittier, unite in affirming that no man, dead or living, has succeeded so well in render- ing 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 solemnity, its trumpet-like cadeuces 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 apprehension. 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 Thon 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, Fortuuatus, 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 spiritual life to turn with special fondness to those fountains of sacred song that spring from the Hebrew Psalter. There rather than at Helicou 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 expressed 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 kuowledge.

If then, while he translates the Hebrew into English, he also translates the ancient antiphonal into moderu meter, he brings the divine soul of the psalm in living presence before us. The correctness of his view has been often demonstrated. Clement Marot's metrical 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 almost 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 iu New England.

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History of Union County, New Jersey, Part 10

Author: Ricord, Frederick W. (Frederick William), 1819-1897 Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Newark, N.J. : East Jersey History Co. Number of Pages: 846

Author: Ricord, Frederick W. (Frederick William), 1819-1897
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Newark, N.J. : East Jersey History Co.
Number of Pages: 846