USA > New Jersey > Burlington County > Burlington > History of the church in Burlington, New Jersey : comprising the facts and incidents of nearly two hundred years, from original, contemporaneous sources > Part 34
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George Washington Doane.
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The Rev. George Washington Doane, { was then " unani- mously declared Bishop-elect of the Diocese of New Jersey."
+ Son of the late Bishop, and bearing his name.
¿ George Washington Doane, son of Jonathan Doane, was born in Trenton, N. J., May 27th, 1799; graduated at Union College, Schenectady, in 1818; became a candidate for Holy Orders, in the diocese of New York, in 1819 : was ordained Deacon, by Bishop Hobart, in 1821, and Priest, by the same Prelate, in 1823; united with Rev. Mr. (afterwards Bishop) Upfold, in organ- izing what became St. Luke's Church, N. Y .; was chosen Professor of Belles- Lettres and Oratory, in Washington (now Trinity,) College, Conn., in 1824; became Assistant Minister of Trinity Church, Boston, in 1828 ; and Rector of the same, in 1830; whence he was elected to the Episcopate of New Jersey.
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For the
Rev. John Croes t
William Creighton, D. D.
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
MARRIAGE OF THE REV. CHAUNCEY COLTON.
" 1832, Oct. 15th. Married the Rev. Chauncey Colton and Anne Coxe."-Parish Register. [Now (1876) the Rev. Dr. Colton, of Pennsylvania.]
FOUR BISHOPS CONSECRATED AT THE SAME TIME AND PLACE.
The Rev. John H. Hopkins, D. D., Bishop-elect of Ver- mont ; the Rev. Benjamin B. Smith, D. D., Bishop-elect of Kentucky ; the Rev. Charles P. McIlvaine, D. D., Bishop-elect of Ohio ; and the Rev. George W. Doane, Bishop-elect of New Jersey ; were respectively consecrated to the office of Bishop, in St. Paul's Chapel, in the city of New York, on Wednes- day, Oct. 31st, 1832, by the Rt. Rev. William White, D. D., Presiding Bishop, other Bishops assisting as follows :- in the consecration of the Rev. Dr. Hopkins, Bishops Griswold and Bowen ; in the consecration of the Rev. Dr. Smith, Bishops Brownell and H. U. Onderdonk ; in the consecration of the Rev. Dr. McIlvaine, Bishops Griswold and Meade; and in the consecration of the Rev. Mr. Doane, Bishops B. T. Onderdonk and Ives.
BISHOP DOANE'S FIRST ORDINATION.
" Wednesday, December, 12th, 1832, I took the steam-boat early in the morning for Burlington. Preached in St. Mary's Church, the visitation sermon, the Rev. Mr. Ward, reading the morning service : Admitted Mr. Peter L. Jaques to the holy order of deacons : the candidate being presented by the Rev. Mr. Ward,-the Rev. Dr. Wharton, the venerable Rector, assisting at the Communion; and the Rev. Mr. Morehouse being also present. The Rev. Mr. Jaques ; was authorized to preach, and appointed missionary to the Churches in Warren county." -- Bishop Doane's Episcopal Address, 1833.
BISHOP DOANE RESIDENT AT BURLINGTON.
" It was my purpose, with the Divine permission, to have effected, before the present meeting of the Convention, another complete visitation ; when circumstances of a domestic nature
The Rev. Mr. Jaques now (1876) resides at Plainfield, N. J.
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IN BURLINGTON.
induced the conviction, that it was best to accomplish previously the removal of my family to the diocese. This has been done, and we are for the present resident at Burlington.
" On the evening of Wednesday, the 17th day of April, 1833, I preached in St. Mary's Church, Burlington, and administered confirmation to twelve persons. And on the 5th of May, the only Sunday that I have been at home since my residence at Burlington, I had great pleasure in assisting my reverend brother, the venerable Rector, by preaching twice."-Episcopal Address, 1833.
DEATH OF THE REV. DR. WHARTON.
" The Rev. Charles Henry Wharton, D. D., departed this life on Tuesday, 23 July, 1833, in the 86th year of his age, the 61st of his Ministry, and 36th of his Rectorship of St. Mary's Church, Burlington. ' Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.' He was interred, by the side of the Church,t on Thursday, 25 July, the Bishop of the diocese performing the service, which was attended by the venerable Presiding Bishop, Dr. White, and by several of the Clergy, as well as by the whole Congregation. A funeral service was preached by Bishop Doane, in St. Mary's Church, on Sunday, 4 August, from St. Luke xx. 36-' Neither can they die any more,'-which, by request of the congregation, was printed .- G. W. D."-Parish Register.
REMINISCENSES OF DR. WHARTON'S RECTORSHIP.
Under the signature of "A Parishioner," Mr. John Hulme contributed to the Church Journal, in 1863, some reminiscences entitled "THE OLD PARISH CHURCH," from which we extract the following :-
" The old Church (as I first remember it,) stood parallel with Broad street, with the chancel at the East end, and only one
+ "The Rev. Charles Henry Wharton, D. D., was interred, near the south wall of the Church,-in what, when the door was at the side, was the pathway by which he entered it. The entrance being now restored to the west end, and vestry rooms erected back of the pulpit, his remains rest beneath them, behind the chancel."-Bp. Doane.
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door at the West end, opening to the one long narrow aisle, on each side of which were the old-fashioned high-backed pews. There was a narrow gallery at the West end over the door, in the centre of which and projecting from the wall, in the form of a half circle, was the organ gallery, enclosing the small, but sweet toned organ, and on each side of the organ were seats for the Sunday School. The open belfry containing the honored old bell, bearing the date '1769,' was then on the West end of the Church.
" Dr. Wharton was required to give only the Sunday morn- ing service, but generally the Church was open for evening ser- vice on Sunday afternoon .- There was no announcement of the services except by the bell ; if the bell did not ring at 8 o'clock in the morning of Sunday, there was no service. If it did not ring while the people were leaving the Church after morning service, there was no evening service. The bell in those days could be heard not only over the town, but at the distance of four miles in the country. In the Winter the Church was warmed by two old fashioned stoves, for wood, one at each end of the building, with the pipe protruding through the window. At the time of 'the people's bell,' as it was called, twenty min- utes past ten, the sexton might be seen hurrying to and from the stove to the pews, with little square boxes pierced on the top with small holes, which contained hot ashes and coals to warm the feet. Then he ascends to the gallery, takes hold of the bell-rope, and fixes his eyes upon the Rectory, which is in view from the large old-fashioned windows in the gallery. At this time the lady organist perches herself upon the high music stool, the boy is at the bellows-handle, and all await the Rector. And soon the venerable-looking man appeared; short in stature, with a firmly knit frame, his small, well-turned head thinly covered by his silvered locks, with a pleasant and genial face, and a smile which spoke only love to all. He is first seen issu- ing from the Rectory, and approaching the Church with his peculiar, quick, short step. Just when he is opposite the old Academy, the Sunday School children come rushing forth, and the sexton begins the last or 'minister's bell.' The old Rector
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has a smile for each of the teachers, puts his hand upon the head and blesses all the children within reach, but on the boys and girls go, rushing up the one narrow, uncarpeted gallery staircase with barely time to be seated and quiet, before the Rector arrives at the door. Then the bell ceases, the little organ pours forth its sweet notes, and the sexton descends to follow the Rector up the one narrow aisle, who goes bowing to every one whose eye he can catch.
" I can remember how the Rector kept Good Friday. On that solemn day Pulpit, Reading Desk, and Communion Table, stripped of their rich crimson covering, stood forth naked and bare ; and the congregation wore black clothing. On Christ- mas Eve, in the Rector's time, the bell would ring forth at ten o'clock, and would be rung at intervals all night long, the parishioners sending to the vestry room refreshments for the ringers. On Christmas Day the Rector had both morning and evening service, and as it was the only occasion when the Church was open at night throughout the year, it was usually crowded. The Church was always dressed for Christmas, and the manner of dressing it was this : the sexton having bored holes in the tops of the pews about two feet apart, would insert first a branch of laurel, then of spruce, and then of box; and the congregation might be said to be sitting in, and surrounded by, a miniature forest. Wreaths of ground, or running, pine were festooned over the hangings of the Pulpit and Reading Desk, and a wreath twined around the chancel rails. Then the two beautiful chan- deliers of cut glass, with pendant drops, were also dressed with wreaths of running pine ; they contained a double row of wax candles, which shed a rich mellow light on all around. There were branches with wax candles on the Pulpit and Reading Desk; and in addition to these, in the back of every alternate pew, the sexton stuck a little tin candlestick, into which he put a tallow candle.
" The Communion in his time was administered four times in a year, and the Ante-Communion Service was only read at these times.
" It was a beautiful, calm July morning, when many persons
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might be seen standing in groups around the old parish Church. Their conversation is in low tones, as they look anxiously and sadly towards the Rectory. Close by the side of the Church, (the spot now covered by the vestry-room,) there yawns a new- made, open grave. The sexton is seen hurrying about here and there, and from his hat there streams a long black 'weeper,' as it was then called. One of the sexton's stalwart sons has climbed up into the belfry, and there sits by the dear old bell, with eyes intent upon the Rectory. We look into the old Church, and the beautiful crimson hangings are displaced, and from Pulpit, Desk, and Communion Table the deepest black de- pends, and the old Rector's pew is lined with black. The red curtains in the half circle around the organ-loft are gone, and black ones take their place. We leave the Church and move on towards the Rectory. In the yard, drawn up before the old Academy, are the Sunday-School children, but now their voices are subdued and hushed, and the teachers with them are dressed in mourning. We look towards the Rectory, and, from an open side door, we see persons continually passing in and out with weeping eyes. And now the sound of the bell falls upon the ear. Its strokes are slow and solemn, for the dear old bell is muffled,-and soon the old Rector is seen approaching. Seen, did I say ? Alas ! never more to be seen in this world. He is in his coffin, borne on the shoulders of his faithful Vestry, while some of the diocesan clergy are the pall-bearers. At the head of the procession are seen two remarkable men ; one a tall, at- tenuated form, with thin, long white locks of hair pushed behind the ear, and his once erect form bowed down with the weight of more than fourscore years. He comes from an adjoin- ing Diocese, and is the great patriarch of the Catholic Church in America. The other is the tall, erect, majestic form of the new Bishop of the Diocese. The old parish Church is crowded to suffocation. The Bishop of the Diocese read the Service in the Church, and the Patriarch, with his feeble voice, committed the Body of the Rector to the ground.
" The old Rector was sick some three weeks, the Bishop vis- ited him and conversed with him, but the old man dwelt upon
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just this theme : 'I have no merits ; I have no merits of my own. God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.'"
A JURIST'S TESTIMONY OF DR. WHARTON.
The Hon. Horace Binney, writing of Dr. Wharton, from Philadelphia, Oct. 14, 1856, says :-
" I saw him frequently in the latter part of his life, and heard him regularly during my summer residence at Burlington ; but when I first knew him, he was seventy years of age, his health was feeble, and though I met him occasionally in the society of the place, and in my own house, I had no opportunity of know- ing him to the extent or in the way which alone would have given me the means of writing a characteristic account of him.
"I had a most agreeable impression of his eminently well- bred manners and carriage-of the quiet tone of his conversation, and of his occasional flashes of gentle humour, with the least possible infusion of satire in them to give them the more point. I thought I discerned in him at all times the influence of the foreign College in which he had received his religious education, in toning down his manners and conversation so as to obliterate from them every thing abrupt, or angular, or strikingly salient.
" His height in mid-age must have been, I think, five feet, five or six inches. In the advanced age at which I knew him, his head drooped a little, and his person inclined in the same di- rection for some distance below the shoulders. He did not stoop, but he was a little bent. His form was slight and vale- tudinary, but without emaciation. His eyes were, I think, pale-blue or gray, his complexion fair, and the anterior part of his rather fine head was bald. He wore powder, and his dress was at all times scrupulously neat and appropriate. I do not recollect a more gentlemanly figure, or a more benevolent and trustworthy countenance. As he used to pass up the aisle, the only aisle, of the old Church, on Sundays, to the chancel at the Eastern end, in his black gown, powdered hair, and hat in hand, inclining with a gentle bow to the one side and the other, towards
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the parishioners whom he saw in the pews to receive him, no- thing could be more gracious and paternal.
" The services were read well-not with a strong voice, but distinctly, nor with much emphasis on any part, but without monotony. His manner of reading, whether of the services or the sermon, was not impressive, but it was in a pure tone, that perfectly conveyed and seconded the meaning of what he read. In repeating the prayers, he was devout and self-collected, but not impassioned. All his sermons were good and instructive, but not frequently drawn from the depths of his learning, either theological or moral. Parts of them were beautifully written ; but it could not be discerned, from his mode of reading them, that he thought one part better than another. All parts of them tendered to promote sound doctrine, pure morality, and a kindly Christian temper. I never wearied of his discourses, which, though not long, were never short. It was pleasant to listen to truths of the kind he taught, which came recommended by simplicity and sincerity of manner, and were corroborated by such purity of example in the life of the teacher.
" There was no Presbyterian church in Burlington until after Dr. Wharton's death. That is my impression. In his time Presbyterians mingled with Churchmen in that simple and primitive temple. Dr. Boudinot's family, for instance, con- stantly worshipped there ; and the Clerk who announced the Psalms and Hymns from a gallery at the Western end of the Church, and led the music with a rather wiry and dissonant voice, was a worthy Scotch Presbyterian, named Aikman, a cabinet-maker in the town. We all liked Aikman for his directness and truth. He was as steady in his temper and purpose as a Covenanter. One Sunday, when Aikman, from the West gallery, gave out the Psalm before the Ante-Commu- nion service, Dr. Wharton rose in the chancel, and said in his natural, quiet tone, -- ' Mr. Aikman, that is not the Psalm I gave to you.' ' Yes, but it is, Doctor.'-' No, it is not.'-' Yes, but it is, Dr. Wharton. It is right. I have it here in your own hand write,'-holding up a paper .- ' Oh, well, have it your own way, have it your own way. Sing any thing.'-You may sup- pose the smiles."-Annals of American Ep. Pulpit, pp. 340-341.
-
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THE CHARACTER OF REV. DR. WHARTON.
" It was not my good fortune," says Bishop Doane, "to know Dr. Wharton until within a short time previous to his death. I had indeed known him, by reputation, as a pillar and ornament of the Church-adorning with his life the doctrines which with his voice he proclaimed, and with his pen had so ably advocated. I knew him as among the first in scholarship of the Clergy of America, a sound and thoroughly accomplished divine, a practised and successful controversialist, a faithful par- ish priest, a patriarch of the Diocese in which he lived ; but I had never seen him. When, therefore, in the providence of God, I was called in the autumn of 1832 to the highest office in this Diocese, among the thoughts which were the first to follow the appalling conviction of its responsibilities, was that of the rela- tionship which its acceptance would create between myself and him ; and I confess that in the reflection I was deeply humbled. But scarcely had the evidence of my appointment reached me, when a letter came from him so kind, so encouraging, so expres- sive of his hearty acquiescence in the appointment, and his hearty desire for its consummation, as to contribute most mate- rially to the determination of my assent. I saw him first on the occasion of my first Visitation here ; and though for a few hours only, there was in his deportment a tender so free and generous of his approbation and confidence, a simplicity so perfectly trans- lucent, and a mixture-so much in keeping with his venerable aspect, his profound acquirements, and his long experience -- of the affection expressed for a son, and the deference designed for an official superior, as embarrassed and perplexed me, while it wholly won my heart. Our subsequent intercourse was of the most endearing character, and it left nothing for me to lament, but that, as Providence designed it to be so brief, official absence should have diminished its golden opportunities. I looked forward with eagerness to the conclusion of my public engagements, that I might sit down with him in his delightful, quiet home, and gather wisdom from his words, while I learned piety from his example. But the Disposer of all things did not gratify my hopes. His health had been for some time failing
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when I saw him first, and though serene and cheerful, and long, I trusted, to be preserved to us in a green old age, it was but too apparent that the energies of his constitution were impaired, and that the elastic tone and vigour of his spirit were unbent. In the conversations which I had with him, (which, when at home, were daily,) he displayed the deepest interest in the extension of the Church of Christ, and the soundest judgment in his views and estimate of the means by which it was to be promoted. Especially did the General Theological Seminary and the Gen- eral Missionary Society occupy his thoughts, and it was his desire and determination to accompany me to the annual meet- ing of the Board of Directors of the last named institution, in May preceding his death. Indisposition, however, prevented. And I had quite given up the long cherished hope of enjoying his presence and counsel at the then approaching Convention of the Diocese. On the morning of the day of the meeting, how- ever, to my great joy he arrived in Camden. He took a warm and active part in the proceedings, gave to the measures pro- posed the most manly and vigorous support, engaged earnestly in the debates, and appeared in body and mind, in voice and bearing, like one a full half century his junior. It was his last exertion. From that time, he did not appear in public, and in- deed scarcely left his house. His disease became gradually seated. The ability to struggle with it was gradually diminished. He reluctantly gave up, for even a single Lord's day, the accus- tomed duty. He retreated reluctantly to his chamber and to his bed. The best resources of the healing art were applied with the utmost assiduity and skill. The constancy and tender- ness of conjugal devotion, and the vigilance and care of relations and friends, supplied whatever love could prompt and earth afford for his recovery and relief. But it was vain. Ex- hausted nature could not rally. And gently declining day by day, after a few brief struggles, more painful probably to the faithful hearts that watched beside him, than to himself,-he fell sweetly asleep, even as an infant sinks to rest upon his mother's bosom, on Tuesday morning, July 23, 1833; having entered nearly two months upon his eighty-sixth year, and hav-
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ing been for more than sixty-one years a minister of Christ- the senior Presbyter-if I mistake not-of the American Protes- tant Episcopal Church.
"Throughout his sickness, when not absent from home on official duty, it was my privilege to see him daily ; and a death- bed so serene, so tranquil, so triumphant, I have never witnessed. It seemed, from the first day to the last, so far as the issue of life was concerned, as if nature had been wholly set aside by grace. The single sentiment which animated and pervaded all he said, was still,-' Thy will be done.' He was the humblest and most self-abased of Christians. In his long life, there was nothing, he said, on which, for a single moment, he could rest. He had endeavored to be useful with his ' poor abilities,' as he always termed them, but he had done nothing. What he looked back to with the nearest approach to satisfaction, was his desire and effort to promote peace and harmony among men. In this respect he hoped, if he had done little good, he had at least pre- vented some harm. But the theme in which he gloried was the CROSS. That was the subject of his thoughts, and the burden of his conversation. He clung naked to it with a child's simplicity and helplessness. 'I have been thinking,' he said to me one day, ' of the wonders of redeeming love. And the more I dwell upon it, the more I am filled with admiration, that the Almighty God, the Maker of everything in heaven and earth, my Maker and my Judge, should stoop to earth, and take vile flesh, and bare his bosom, and pour out his blood-for ME!' 'Oh, my dear friend,' he would often say to me, "the Cross, the Cross, is all !" What should we be without the Cross? The Lamb of God-He taketh away the sin of the world. The blood of Jesus Christ-that cleanseth from all sin !' Such were the triumphant testimonies to the truth and power of our religion, which he rendered while he was getting ready to put off the earthly house of this tabernacle.
"Dr. Wharton was twice married -- the second time to Ann, daughter of Chief Justice Kinsey of this State, who survived him. He had no children.
"As the limits you have prescribed to me will not allow me to go into any minute analysis of Dr. Wharton's character, I
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will dismiss the subject by just hinting at a few of his more prominent traits. And I may mention, first of all, his singular purity. He had neither guile nor the suspicion of it. Long as he had lived in the world, he seemed to have suffered little from its contact. There was a delicacy of sentiment and feeling in him, which not only bespoke his own purity of heart, but kept the atmosphere about him pure. And it was this that gave to all his conversation and conduct an air of the most engaging simplicity. In speech and manner he was artless as a child. You read his heart at once. And if, in turn, you did not lay your own open, you gave him all the advantage he wished or would avail himself of,-the advantage of sincerity and candour. He was distinguished also for his humility. With the best edu- cation that Europe could afford ; as a divine, second perhaps to none in America ; as a controversialist, unanswered and un- answerable ; he was not only unconscious of his distinction, but he would not be made conscious of it. He was also one of the most disinterested of men. The principle of self seemed in him, as nearly as in humanity it can, to have been absorbed and lost. He lived for the Church first, and then for those whom he loved. And he was full of kindness and charity. He desired good to all men, and, therefore, he ever sought to do them good. He was the kindest husband, and the most devoted friend. And his crowning and completing grace was his earnest and consist- ent piety. The faith by which he triumphed in his death, had made him conqueror through life. The Cross in which he gloried had crucified the world unto him, and him unto the world. His piety did not burn with fitful and uncertain flame, but with a pure, sustained, and steady lustre. The aliment on which it fed was the sincere word of God. It was enkindled in him by the Holy Spirit. He nourished and cher- ished it by daily intercourse with Heaven.
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