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 43
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
the Senior Warden, Thomas Milnor, Esq .; who, as Treasurer of the Corporation, has rendered services, which could not be paid for, and at a cost of time and care which none but himself, can estimate. It was read by the Rev. Dr. Watson, Rector of Burlington College. The sentence of Consecration was read by the Rev. Mr. Finch, President of the Standing Committee. Morning Prayer was offered by the Rev. Dr. Creighton, (of the Diocese of New York,) and the Rev. Dr. Mahan, (of the Dio- cese of Pennsylvania; now, I am happy to say, of this Diocese,) the Rev. Messrs. Clarkson, and Macurdy reading the Lessons. I preached, and administered the Holy Communion, the Rev. Mr. Germain, Principal of St. Mary's Hall, reading the Epistle. There were also present, the Rev. Messrs. Morehouse, Stewart, Frost, Rowland, E. K. Smith, Weld, C. F. Hoffman, and Foggo; the Rev. Messrs. Cox, Shackelford, Mc Vickar, Hopkins, and Tracy, (of the Diocese of New York ;) the Rev. Drs. Dorr, and Williams, and the Rev. Messrs. Rogers, Ogilby, Bonner, Beasley, Franklin, Webb, Roberts, and Huntington, (of the Diocese of Pennsylvania ;) the Rev. Messrs. Flagg, Stearns, and Dashiell, (of the Diocese of Maryland,) the Rev. Mr. Allen, (of the Diocese of Massachusetts,) and the Rev. Mr. Boyd, (of the Diocese of Mississippi.) The single drawback of the occasion, was the absence, from indisposition, of the assistant Minister, the Rev. Professor Doane, whose unwearied labours had brought forward an excellent choir of men and boys, by whom the Psalter was chaunted antiphonally, and the whole music excel- lently sustained ; and in many other ways contributed to the
Burlington, and thereby separate it from all unhallowed, worldly, and com- mon uses, and solemnly dedicate it to the holy purposes above mentioned.
"And we do, moreover, hereby relinquish all claim to any right of dispos- ing of the said building, or allowing of the use of it in any way inconsistent with the terms and true meaning of this instrument of donation, and with the consecration hereby requested of the Bishop of this Diocese.
"IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, We, the said Rector, Church-wardens, and Vestrymen, have caused this instrument of donation to have attached to it the seal of our Corporation, and our signatures, this seventh day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
"G. W. Doane, Rector.
" Thos. Milnor, Robert B. Aertsen, Wardens.
" F. Engle, Elias Howell, John Larzalere, William A. Rogers, Franklin Gauntt, Edw. B. Grubb, Vestrymen."
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IN BURLINGTON.
order and beauty of the service. I shall undertake no description of the building. You have seen it. It speaks, for itself. It is, I believe, the first instance, in this country, of a cruciform Church, with a central tower and spire; all of which is of stone .¡ It does honour to the eminent architect, Mr. Richard Upjohn. For solidity and durableness, the building can hardly be surpassed. Its promise of perpetuity is as great as can be predicated, of any work of man. From age to age, it will remain, I trust, a mon- ument of the faith, and a temple for the worship, of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. To have been an hum- ble instrument, in a work so gracious, is among the highest blessings of my life. To worship, while I live, within its walls ; and to lie down, at last, within its shadow, are first and chief, among my prayers. Daily Morning and Evening Prayer, and the weekly administration of the Holy Communion, began, from the Consecration ; and, I trust, will never cease. 'Let Thy Priests, O God, be clothed with salvation; and let Thy saints rejoice in goodness.' "-Episcopal Address, 1855.
+ The land occupied by this new structure first came into the possession of the Church, through the pious will of Paul Watkinson (see p. 267). The item reads : "I give and bequeath unto Mary Watkinson my Wife, my House and Lot where I. now live [corner of Watkinson's alley and Pearl street extending to the river] and my little Orchard, joining the Church Yard, during her nat- ural life, and after her decease my will is that my said House, Lot and Orchard shall go to the use of the Church called St. Annes Church in Bur- lington forever-but my Will and mind is that the House and Lot and Orchard be rented, and the rent thereof be put to interest and that same. money be appropriated towards the building a Steeple to the said Church and then to the use of the said Church towards other Repairs."
The "little orchard " was leased to the corporators of the Burlington Acad- emy-see pp. 332-334-who erected thereon a building of brick, in which was maintained, for thirty years, an English and Classical School of the highest order. The Principals of this Institution, as nearly as can be learned without records, were William Staughton, John Michael Hanckel, Christian Hanckel, Jonathan Price, Elias Crane, Cleanthes Felfth.
At a meeting of the Building Committee of the new Church, January 4th, 1847, Dr. Ellis reported "that in accordance with the instructions of the Com- mittee he had sold the Academy building for the sum of Four Hundred Dol- lars." In excavating for the foundations of the spire to be laid, Dr. Ellis says : "The workmen went to the depth of from nine to thirteen feet, until they reached enormous boulders-such as are found in the bed of the Dela- ware river." It is to this fact that Bishop Doane alludes in his Episcopal Address of 1848, when he says : "The new St. Mary's Church is sufficiently advanced to show its fine proportions, and majestic outline. Nothing that has been done in it, that has not been done for perpetuity. It will stand, while any human structure stands ; a rock, upon 'THE ROCK.' "
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
DIAGRAM OF THE NEW ST. MARY'S CHURCH.
S
d
b
e
C
ん
a. Altar.
l. Organ, in North tran- sept.
c. Chancel Railing.
m. Staircase to gallery.
d. Bishop's Chair.
e. Sedilia.
f. Bishop's Throne.
o. West door.
g. g. Stalls.
p. South porch.
i. Steps to pulpit.
j. Lecturn.
r. Sacristy.
s. East window.
0
2
k. Font, with cover.
b. Credence.
Soutlı n. Staircase to West gal- lery.
h. Pulpit, with canopy.
q. Door to South tran- sept.
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IN BURLINGTON.
DIOCESIS NEO-CÆSARIENSIS. MEDITATIONES- ANNO POST DEDICATIONEM ECCLESIÆ SANCTE MARIÆ PAROCHIALIS, IN OPPIDO BURLINGTON, X. DIE AUGUSTI, A. D. M DCCCLV. OMNIBUS FIDELIBUS EX ANIMO GRATO-OBLATE.
Rogate, quæ ad pacem sunt Jerusa- lem : et a- bundantia diligenti bus
te. Fiat pax in virtute tua : et abundantia in turribus tuis. Propter fratres meos, et proximos meos loquebor pacem de te : Propter domum Domini Dei nostri quaram. bona tibi. Gloria Patri, et Filio : et Spiritui Sancto : Si- cut erat in principio, et nunc, et sem- per : et in sæcula sæ- culorum. AMEN.
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
IN MEMORIAM
DEDICATIONIS ECCLESIA SANCTÆ
MARIÆ
PAROCHIALIS, IN OPPIDO BURLINGTON, ET DIOCESI NEO-CASARIENSI ;
X DIE AUGUSTI, A. D. M DCCC LIV.
Sursum Corda ! Celebrantes Fratres in Sacrario! Trino grates Deo dantes Hilari cum gaudio.
Bis sex menses evaserunt, Quo, voce antiphonâ, Sacerdotes intraverunt Hujus templi limina.
Domini, quidquid in terris Et in coelis Domini !
Testis hujus stat hæc turris Cui vix astra termini.
Inter Fratres Fide claros Architectus prodeat ! Formans lapides tam raros, Ut figura placeat.
Sancta Crux in fundamento- Robur ædificii. Crux sublimis in ascendo Ardet apex capiti !
Tuta Stant-stant et concinna Intra et extra monia. Fulmina non et procella Lædunt Castra colica.
Aestus pariter ac frigus Nonnisi corroborant, Apte quod exstruxit manus Architecti, et collaudant.
Et nunc iterum adeste In choro Fidelium : Salvatore JESU Teste, Ferte novnm Canticum !
Ecce parvulos infantes, Fontem cingunt mysticum : Aquis-per Fidem-lavantes Omne cordis nocuum !
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IN BURLINGTON.
Sic renati in lavacro Christi scholam adeunt.
Semen bonum tenent agro ; Postmodo fructus ferunt.
Bene docti in præceptis JESU Evangelii, Ad aram divis sub armis Stant Christi discipuli.
Sacramentum renovantes In lavacro conditum, Manu Apostoli portantes Donum septenarium.
Opas stat coronâ cinctum ! Resonat TRISAGION ! A Sexcentis, Sacro Sanctum Replens είς αιώνιον.
A. FROST, Presb'r.
MRS. SUSAN V. BRADFORD.
" Mrs. Bradford ; removed, from Philadelphia, to Burlington, with her aged and venerable father, in 1805. He died, in 1821, in the eighty-second year of his age. She was long a communi- cant of St. Mary's Church, Burlington ; where she was con- firmed, by Bishop Doane, in 1834. She died, on St. Andrew's Day, 30 November, 1854; far advanced in her ninetieth year.
7 "Susan Vergereau, eldest daughter of the Honorable Elias Boudinot, was born, at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, December 21, (St. Thomas' Day,) 1764. He was President of the Congress of the United States, in 1783; and, in that capacity, signed the Treaty of Peace, with Great Britain. Her mother was Hannah, daughter of John Stockton, Esq., of Princeton, New Jersey ; and sister of Richard Stockton, one of the Signers of the Declaration of American Independence. The great-grandfather of her father, was a Huguenot, by the name of Oudinot; who left France, for England, on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes : and took the name of Boudinot, under letters patent, from the Crown, in 1686. He, afterwards, came to America. His confidence, in the restitution of his family, to their native land, was so great, that, by his last will, he regularly devised his estates, there, as if still in. possession of them ; though, they had, long before, been confiscated, and sold,
She was of sufficient age, to feel, and to remember, the trials, and incidents, of the struggle for independence; and, with her distinguished father, shared the fortunes of her country. An occurrence of her childhood, is characteristic of her spirit, while it illustrates her patriotism. Passing the evening, at Gov- ernor Franklin's, in Burlington, soon after the seizure of the tea, in Boston har- bour, a cup of tea was offered to her; which she declined. When it was so pressed, that farther refusal would have been rude, she took it; touched it to her lips, without swallowing a drop of it; and, crossing the room, emptied it, from the window. She was nine years old. The family, on one occasion, were surprised by a party of the British ; and robbed. After remonstrating with the officer, in command, she told him, that her aunt, who was with them, had asked protection. "Not, by your advice, I presume ;" said the officer. "That it never was, I can tell you;" was her prompt reply. The girl was mother of the woman."-Bishop Doane.
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
Born, on one Saint's Day, and dying, on another, she was saintly, in all her life ; and waits, with Saints, the coming of her Lord. She was buried, in the Church-yard of St. Mary's, Burlington, on the second day of December; in the midst of relatives, and friends, and neighbors, who loved, and honoured, and lamented, her."-Bishop Doane.
" PLUCKING OUT THE RIGHT EYE."
" On Saturday, 15 September, I was brought to know what that means, of which we read in the Holy Scripture, about cut- ting off the right hand, and plucking out the right eye. It was my dreadful duty to pronounce Sentence of Deposition, from the Ministry, on my eldest son, and first-born child ; whom I had admitted to the Diaconate, with such sacred joy, not seven months before.f The record is as follows : 'To all, everywhere, who are in communion with the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apos- tolic Church : Be it known, that George Hobart Doane, M. D., Deacon of this Diocese, having declared to me, in writing, his renunciation of the ministry, which he received, at my hands, from the Lord Jesus Christ, and his design not to officiate, in future, in any of the offices thereof, intending to submit himself to the schismatical Roman intrusion, is deposed from the Min- istry ; and I hereby pronounce and declare him deposed, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Given at Riverside, this fifteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord, 1855, and in the twenty-third year of my Consecration.
"'G. W. DOANE, D. D., LL. D., "' Bishop of New Jersey.
"' In the presence of "' M. MAHAN, D. D., Presbyter ; "'M. F. HYDE, A. M., Presbyter.'
+ "On the 4 March, 1855, (Ember Sunday in Lent,) at the stated ordina- tion, in St. Mary's Church, Burlington, I admitted Robert F. Chase, Tutor in Burlington College, and George Hobart Doane, A. M., M. D., Instructor in Chemistry, in Burlington College and St. Mary's Hall, to the Holy Order of Deacons; and the Rev. Franklin Babbitt, Deacon, Assistant Minister of Christ Church, Elizabethtown, to the Holy Order of Priests. * The * Rev. Dr. Doane is Assistant to the Rector of Grace Church, Newark. In his admission, I have given, of my own flesh, the second Deacon, to the Church ; and, in the two brothers, all I have. God be thanked, for the permission to devote them, to His service."-Episcopal Address, 1855.
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IN BURLINGTON.
" This sentence was not executed, until the provisions of the Canon, 'where the party has acted unavisedly and hastily,' which is pre-eminently the present case, had been offered, urged and refused. It only remains, for me, humbly to ask the prayers of the faithful, in Christ Jesus, that my erring child may be brought back, to the way of Truth and Peace; and, for myself, that I may have grace, to bear and do the holy will of God.
"G. W. DOANE."
" Not because I have anything to gain, nor, because I have anything more to lose-the heart-wound of this loss must go with me, into the grave ; and bring me sooner, there-but, sim- ply, because the truth alone is always true, I shall briefly recite the leading circumstances of what, I deem, a case, peculiar, and by itself. God will, I trust, sustain me, for His Church's sake, in an anatomy, more agonizing, than the dissection of my own heart strings. My darling child was, from his birth, impulsive and impetuous, beyond any one, whom I have ever known. He is of a candid, generous, and noble nature. And, through the heavenly grace, vouchsafed to him, his impulses were never toward vice. He was carefully taught and trained, as a child of the Church : and brought up in its atmosphere. I challenge contradiction, when I assert, that there is not a house, on earth, that can be less imbued with sympathy with Rome, than that, in which he lived, for five and twenty years. And, for myself, of all the falsehoods, which have ever been imagined, and alleged, a tendency towards Rome is the one, which, my deepest impressions, and clearest conclusions, not only, but the very in- stincts of my nature, make impossible. It was in the air, which my poor child had always breathed, that Winslow, when, at Cambridge, he was almost lost, found health and strength ; and was restored to duty and to truth. If he had a special admira- tion, it was for Bishop Hobart; whose name he bears. And the churchmen, of his sympathy, were such as Dr. Ogilby, and Dr. Croswell, and Dr. Mahan. From his childhood, he inclined to Surgery. And, when his education, at Burlington, was com- pleted, became a student, at Jefferson College, in Philadelphia ;
2 к
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
and the private pupil of that distinguished Surgeon, Dr. Mütter. He was confirmed early ; and had long been a devout communi- cant. When he had completed his first course of Medical lectures, he asked me, to use his own expression, if I 'thought him good enough,' to permit him to change his profession ; and study for the Ministry. I told him, that I had no doubt, as to his religious character ; and that the wish gratified me. But, that I feared, it was a hasty impression ; more promoted, than he was aware of, by the hardness and disagreeableness of the first year's pursuits and occupations ; and suggestive of an insta- bility, which, in minor matters, was characteristic of him ; and, in one so grave, would involve the most serious risk. I re- minded him, that he was young ; that he was pursuing the pro- fession of his choice ; that it would qualify him for greater and more extensive usefulness, in any other line of life, which he might adopt; and, that he should, by all means, now that he had begun, go through with it. And I promised him, that, if, when his Medical education was complete, he was still of the same mind, I would entertain the proposition. He did not re- vive the conversation. He received the degree of Doctor of Medicine, in Philadelphia. He went abroad, for nearly a year and a half; much of which he spent, in the hospitals, at Paris and Vienna ; and he came back, as I believe, well qualified and well furnished, for that department of his profession, which he had chosen, as his speciality, diseases of the eye. At the first convenient opportunity, he renewed his former proposal; said that he had great searchings of heart, on the subject, while abroad ; spoke of the urgent want of clergymen, and especially of such as were not entirely dependent on their ministrations, for the means of support : and said, again, that, if I thought him fit for it, his heart's desire was to become a candidate for holy orders. I admitted the obligation of my promise, to enter- tain the subject : but, again, reminded him that his nature was unstable ; that the change was a very serious one ; that the step once taken was irrevocable: and said, I must take time to con- sider it. I kept him off, for several months: until I saw that he would not enter on the medical profession ; that his whole
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IN BURLINGTON.
time was occupied in theological reading; and, that he felt hurt at, what, he thought, was, a distrust, in me, of his religious prin- ciples. After most thoughtful consideration, on my own part, and consultation, with those, who knew him best, and were best qualified to judge, I consented to his desire: and he became a candidate for holy orders. I never saw one more delighted with his studies, or more in earnest. He was, literally, 'totus in illis.' As a Sunday School Teacher, and as a District Visi- tor, he was foremost, in every good work; and, while, yet, he was a layman, was doing, as far as might be, the service of a Deacon. In his recitations, to the several instructors, in the- ology, he was, always, satisfactory ; and, in the homiletic exer- cises, before me, eminently so. His examination was all that could be desired. His whole life had been passed, under the shadow of the Altar. He seemed to have found his place, at its foot. It was the happiest day of my life, when I knelt, before it; and could say, to Him, Whose sacrifice it commemorates, 4 behold I, and the children, which Thou hast given me.' After remaining, a few weeks, with me, perfectly happy in the exer- cise of his Diaconate, as he had opportunity ; and, especially, in serving me, on my Visitation, he went to Newark, at the earn- est and repeated desire of the Rector of Grace Church, enforced by the wish of some of the best and dearest friends, that man has ever had, to be the Deacon of that parish. He went to work, as his way always was, with all his might. He was especially devoted to children, to the young, to the poor, to the sick, to the afflicted. He found his way to the hearts, as well as to the hearths. And he was forecasting-before the time, no doubt, and with a natural inability to wait-the largest plans, for every form and aspect of the Church's work. It seemed to be a great success : and, in three years, I am very sure, it would have been. On Friday, 30 July, he came, with his Rector's consent, for a short week. He is a loving child ; and dearly loved his home, and every thing about it. He never was more loving. He never was so happy. He never was so devoted to every interest of the house, of the parish, of the schools, of the diocese, of the whole Church. And, at the same time, he never was so tender,
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
to every one, and about every thing. In that week, the inteli- gence came, that one whom he had pitied, and been interested in, had gone to Rome. He spoke of it, in the severest terms ; and, that, to those of his own age and standing. There was nothing special, in this. He had been brought up, so. I may say, that he was born, so. In Rome, when he was there, he saw nothing to attract him. He would not see Bishop Ives, whom he had known, as only not a brother to his father. He was tempted by no courtesies, on the part of Mr. Manning, who had been his father's special friend. When Bishop Hopkins' able work, 'the End of Controversy Controverted,' came out, he read it, with the utmost avidity, again and again; and insisted on my thanking him for it. He left home, on the following Saturday, 4 August, with great reluctance. He parted from me, at six, in the evening, with my kiss and blessing. He could not have reached Newark, before 9 o'clock. And, before he slept, he had gone to the intruding representative of the Bishop of Rome; and had taken his counsel, as to any further ministra- 'tion in the communion of his father. He wrote, on Monday, to his brother, that he had doubted, as to the authority of his ministry ; and had asked advice, of one, who calls himself the Bishop of Newark.} I sent for him, at once. And he came to me, on Tuesday night, a Papal petrification : his fine feelings all frozen up, and his beautiful features hardened into marble ; so that two, who had known him, from his childhood, said, on Sunday, before one word was known of what had taken place, the night before, that his countenance was stone. To love, to duty, to devotedness, he continued inaccessible. And, he is, now, at Rome, his natural feelings, I am glad to say, restored, a Student, in a College, which has been founded, there, for Eng- lish perverts. If I am asked to explain this strange and in- stantaneous transmutation, I must do it, in his own words ; and leave it, to whoever will, to frame the theory. To one, he said, that, 'it flashed across his mind, in the train, after he had left me, that his ministry might not be valid.' To another, that he ' felt something snap, in his head.' To me, that he left the
+ James Roosevelt Bayley, D. D.
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IN BURLINGTON.
house of his Rector, to whom he gave no word or sign of inti- mation of his doubts, 'in a state of perfect frenzy,' and went to that of Bishop Bayley ; in doing which, instead of coming to me, he, afterwards, admitted, that he did wrong. But, he is the child of many tears and many prayers ; and there is still hope, that he may come 'to himself.' That it may be so, I humbly ask your fervent supplications."-Episcopal Address, 1856.
GIFT FROM THE REV. ADOLPH FROST.
The 2d Vol. of BIBLIA SACRA, in the choir stalls of St. Mary's Church, has, on its first leaf, as follows :
" This IIª Volume of the Old Testament in the Hebrew and Latin languages is to remain in the stalls for the reverential perusal of any Brother in the Holy Ministry of Christ, by the free and good will of
" Burlington, "ADOLPH FROST; + "Priest in the
"St. Mary's Sacristy ;
" May 3ª A" Di 1856.
"Church of GOD."
MUSIC WITH THE DAILY PRAYERS.
"Daily morning and evening prayers, with the full music; the children of both Schools attending, as they do also the Sunday services. The Holy Eucharist on every Lord's day and every Holy day. A night service, with a sermon and congregational practicing on the eve of every Saint's day, and every Thursday evening. Public catechising, after evening prayer, on the first Sunday in each month ; and after morning prayer on the Saints'
+ In his Episcopal Address for 1865, Bp. Odenheimer says: "In our own Diocese ** we mourn
* the learned yet child-like Adolph Frost, who loved this Diocese none the less though he sojourned in his father land, in the fair City of Heilbronn, on the banks of the Necker.
* * " The earlier students of Burlington College will never forget their leader-full of learned lore and priestly zeal; and the little children will wait in vain for the appearance of the quaint and apostolic looking man who in his morning walks towards the House of Prayer, courted their recognition and accounted their mere salutation or caress as a real benediction on his daily work. God's blessing rest on the memory of Frost, and may we through Jesus, merit a share in his lot, who loved so fervently the name and Cross .of Christ, and illustrated in his daily life of innocence the Master's saying : " Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of God.'"
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
days and every Wednesday and Friday. The Parish Schools do admirable work for Christ and the Church. Miss Anna W. Blackney has charge of the girls, and Mrs. Forgus of the boys. The schools are open to all ; and gather in, the children of the poor. They are taught the catechism and the Church's system of religious training, sacred vocal music, and a plain English education. One of the older girls assists, in the care of the girls' school, faithfully and usefully. The District Visitors +
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