USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union County, New Jersey > Part 11
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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.
-
DRAWING ROOM AT DEERHURST- "DEBORAH "
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 attempted to gild the refined gold, and would fail; as I proceeded in my reading that idea gradually disappeared, and I discovered that you had brought the refined 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
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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 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 tranquilly 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 coming gener- ations 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 the building No. 222 Market street, purchased by his father in 1842, and rendered historic by reason of its having, by its brick construction, stopped the spread of the great fire of 1836. He was prepared for college at the collegiate school of Forest & Quackenbos, 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 unanimous decision of Professor Charles Davies, Professor Murray Nairne, and Professor William G. Peck, he received the Philolexian prize for the best essay. He graduated in 1864, and in 1867 received the degree 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 Professor T. Gaillard Thomas. At the annual commencement of the College of Physicians 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 Medical 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 college classmate, Dr. J. Marion Sims. At Munich, Bavaria, in company with Dr. Sims, he attended the meetings of the International
Se
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Medical Congress, and, by invitation, there participated in the honors bestowed upon this distinguished American surgeon, whose excellent bronze statue now adorns Bryant Park, in the city of New York. After visiting Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, he returned home and became asso- ciated with his father in the practice of his profession, which he has continued in Newark and Scotch Plains to the present time. During his absence, by reason 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. Soon after his return, at a literary gathering of friends, he, by request, read the following 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 lauds, 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 join 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 theu 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 1 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.
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Passed into Italy, now one, Of art the mighty centre ; Constantinople, Athens seen, I ancient Egypt enter.
I've told you nothing in detail, Because of my great hurry,- Then is it not all written out In Baediker and Murray ?
Then on to Palestine I sail In Mediterranean steamer. The land made sacred by the feet Of our Divine Redeemer.
For your sweet patience, listeners dear, I own myself your debtor ; Before I went I loved my friends, Returned, I love them better.
Returning from the East, I stopped At Malta, and then hasted Through Spain, through Portugal, through Without a moment wasted. [France,
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 stood once more on English ground, But soon for Scotland started ;
Took in my trip the Hebrides, And then for home departed.
I venture to declare, while I Of ladies have 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 permanent delegate to the New Jersey State Medical Society, a member of the American Medical Association, a member of the executive and library committees of the New Jersey Historical Society, etc. He has contributed to the press, has published 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 aud religious advancement 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 consists 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 authorities :
After Colonel Bouquet had, in the fall of 1764, compelled the Indian tribes to sue for peace, he demanded the delivery, at Fort Pitt, of all captives in their possession. "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 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 compelled to return with their children to the settlements, some, subsequently, made their escape, eagerly hastening back to their warrior liusbands, 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
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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 distinctive, Mr. Ives left Rome for this country, where he was successful in finding, for his model, au 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 Iudians 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 Missionary 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 themselves and need no comment. They place the character of New Jersey in bold relief and bright example to those states within whose territorial limits our brethren 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 mission, the ear of the great Sovereign of the universe, which is still open to our cry, will be penetrated with 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 occasiou, "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 reply :
Office of the Mayor, City Hall, Newark, N. J., September 13, 1895. Dr. Jonathan Ackerman Cotes, 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 hand- some 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 Honorabte the Common Council of the City of Newark :
Gentlemen,-I have the honor and pleasure to transmit herewith a communication which I received yesterday 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 services rendered in the interests of science and education by his distin- guished father, the late Dr. Abraham Coles.
I respectfully recommend that action be taken by your honorable body to acknowl- edge 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 aud read with great gratification, and, in response thereto, the following resolution of acknowledgment and acceptance was unanimously adopted :
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" Whereas, A beautiful work of art, by a sculptor of distinction, has been presented to the city of Newark by Dr. Jonathan Ackermau 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 iu the selection of a suitable site for the placing of this valuable gift."
Iu 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 he 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 council ; 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 suitable site for the bronze.
Subsequently the mayor and common council presented Dr. Coles with a testimonial of the city's appreciation of his gift. This memorial the New York Tribune describes 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 richi white moire silk. The body of the memorial contains the communication of the mayor to the common council announcing the offer of Dr. Coles, the resolutions passed by the council in accepting the gift, and the announcement 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 Advertiser said : "The public- spirited gift of a life-size bronze group to the city of Newark, is most heartily appreciated by Newark 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, contributed by educated and public-spirited citizens like Dr. Coles."
The Rt. Rev. John Williams, D. D., LL. D., bishop of the diocese of Connecticut, chancellor of Trinity College, etc., in a letter to Dr. Coles, referring to the bronze and its pedestal, said : "An inscription
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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 unveiling exercises. The New York Herald referred to the occasion as follows: "Five thousand persons gathered in Lincoln Park, Newark, yesterday after- noon (November 28, 1895), to witness the unveiling and presentation to the city, of a life-size historic group in bronze by the distinguished 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.
"The exercises opened with a national hymn, 'My Native Land,' by Abraham Coles, sung by the children, teachers and friends of the public and private schools of Newark, and elsewhere in the state, led by Professor Thomas Bott, James V. Orchard, and David B. Dana, cornetist, under the direction of Mr. Frank E. Drake.
"Just as the hymn was finished the statue was unveiled by the drawing back of a large American flag, by Miss Lucy Ogden Depue, granddaughter of Supreme Court Justice Depue, and Master Robert B. Bradley, grandson of the late United States Supreme Court Justice Bradley. A great cheer went up from the crowd as the group was disclosed to view, and when it had subsided Dr. J. A. Coles made a brief presentation speech, which embodied what he said, in his letter to Mayor Lebkuecher, in offering the group to the city.
"On behalf of the citizens of Newark, Mayor Lebkuecher then made an address of acceptance. He said : 'It gives me great pleasure to receive and accept, on behalf of the people of Newark, the beautiful piece of bronze statuary which your generosity has prompted you to present to this city. The people will appreciate in its fullest sense this artistic gift, and will hold in grateful remembrance the generous giver. In accepting it, I tender to you the thanks of all the people of our city. It should be a matter of self-congratulation and satisfaction that the city of Newark has reached that stage in its history and development when its citizens are able to give expression to their more cultured tastes. And now, Mr. President of the board of street and water commissioners, upon your board devolves the duty of seeing to the safe keeping of this statue, and I now deliver it over to your care.'
"President Van Duyne, of the board of works, followed with a short address, and then followed one of the most interesting features of the whole ceremony. It was the delivery, by the pretty little Miss
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Grace E. Bates, grandniece of David D. Bragaw, president of the common council, of the keys of the metal boxes placed in the pedestal (containing the names of more than thirty thousand school children, a copy of the bible, a Newark directory, and various objects of local and general interest) to the equally pretty and tiny Miss Helen Coykendall, while held in the arms of her grandfather, Chief of Police Henry Hopper. It will be the duty of little Miss Coykendall to drop the keys into the Passaic river, from the draw of the Bridge street bridge, for safe keeping.
"Then another national hymn, 'Columbia, the Land of the Free,' was sung, and an address was made by the president of the board of education, Dr. Henry J. Anderson. This was followed by the singing of the 'Fourth of July,' a national hymn, and an address by the superintendent of public sohools, Dr. William N. Barringer. The subject of his talk was 'A Nation's History, as shown by its Monu- ments.' 'Our Country's Banner'. was sung ; there was an address by the Rev. Dr. D. R. Frazer, of the First Presbyterian church; the singing of a bicentennial ode, entitled 'Two Hundred Years Ago,' and then the benediction, by Rev. Dr. R. M. Luther, pastor of the South Park Baptist church.
"All the national hymns and the ode sung were the compositions of the late Dr. Abraham Coles, in whose inemory the group will really stand."
The Free Public Library is the possessor of one of the choicest specimens of artistic work in steel and bronze ever seen in Newark. It is a German Columbian memorial shield, executed for the German department of the Liberal Arts Building at the World's Fair, and is the gift of the family of the late Dr. Abraham Coles.
The shield is circular in shape, about three feet in diameter, and in its centre, in high relief, is an allegorical figure of science unveiling the new world, bright with the rays of the rising sun. Above the shield is an American eagle, with wings outstretched, and grasping in its claws arrows, myrtle, and a banner, bearing the words, "Westward the star of empire takes its way."
This inscription ou the margin surrounds the bas-reliefs : "Dedi- cated to the American people in honor of the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America. 1492-United we stand, divided we fall -1892."
Surrounding the central group are the coats of arms of all the states and territories, with connecting bands, bearing the inscriptions, "In God we Trust," and "E Pluribus Unum."
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