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 63
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+ " But there are some other points connected with the General Convention on which I think it right to address you.
"The skies were dark with controversy, and many feared lest harm should befall the gallant ship of the Church. Suddenly there arose a tempestuous wind called 'Euroclydon,' a dreadful blast, something between a wind and a wave, and inoaned through the cordage and beat with persistent wave-like violence against sails and sides alike, threatening to rend the good ship asunder.
"There were brave men who officered and manned the ship. I can praise them to my heart's content, for though I was on board and ready to sink if need be, yet I have no credit for the final course adopted for weathering the storm. In the Council of Officers I was in the desperate minority of one ;. and among the plans presented for holding the ship's timbers together, the report on Ritualism, which I signed, was not heeded and not even read. But there were skilled and stout-hearted sailors on board, and with a remarkable unanimity they issued their orders for navigating the ship in the well-known ' Declaration' touching the Baptismal Office for Children, and in their refusal, with almost equal unanimity, to legislate on the subject of Kitualism.
"I thought that this bold seamanship was like unto that adopted in the Euroclydon of the olden times, of which we read in the twenty-seventh chap- ter of the book of the Acts of the Apostles, fifteenth verse: 'And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive.' * * * I have ventured, in a sort of parable, to tell you what, as your Bishop, I did NOT do in the General Convention of last October."-Bishop Odenheimer's Episcopal Address, 1872.
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standard of acquirements in Divinity." Thus was he a year in advance of that action in the General Convention which made examining chaplains a canonical requirement in every diocese ; and thereby he contributed to, if not originated, the great step which can never be receded from of elevating Theological scholarship throughout the American Church.
At the age of twenty-one, he returned from the Seminary in New York to St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia, as an assistant to Dr. De Lancey-then in the height of his parochial power, and that very year, 1839, elevated to the episcopate of the newly-erected diocese of " Western New York." The assistant deacon, young as he was, was chosen to succeed to the rectorship, and for twenty years-the entire period of his rectorate-was the diligent student, the devoted pastor, and the faithful priest. In any one of these he was eminent enough for general com- mendation, but being eminent in them all, he attracted the attention of the whole Church in America, and his name was always associated with all that was elegant in a gentleman, cul- tured in a man of letters, and admirable in a clergyman. Nor was it by the hearing of the ear alone that he enjoyed this repu- tation. A personal acquaintance with him confirmed these reports. He could accomplish more than most men because he was methodical. No study was neglected, no duty left undone. He performed in an extraordinary way not only what was then regarded as the sum of a rector's work, but inaugurated in his parish the daily morning and evening prayer, and the celebra- tion of the Eucharist on all Sundays and holy days-customs obsolete in America since pre-revolutionary days. (See page 189.) It was the prayer-book pattern, and that in all its ful- ness, which he aimed to fill. And now observe his special train- ing by the Great Teacher for his future work. For eight con- secutive seasons he had made his summer home in Burlington ; frequenting " Riverside " as only not his own, and knowing more about the schools, the parish and the diocese than almost any one in canonical residence. (See pages 561-564.) To unify a distracted diocese was his ceaseless aim. LOVE was the watchword of his mission-love to God and love to man.
3 F
7
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He preached it ; he practiced it ; he lived for it; he died for it. He was always finding good in every body. He praised others so habitually that some called it flattery. They forgot that he never uttered a word of self-praise. He could thunder ex cathedra, but it was the office, not himself, which he magnified. He never discouraged by word or look, but was always ready with a word of cheer. He lightened the burdens of presbyters and laymen by commending rather than criticising their efforts. He drew upon him the benediction of God and the admiration of men by speaking well and thinking well of some who never did the same of him. With a voluminous vocabulary and an endless flow of charming conversation, there could not be a man with greater sweetness of speech. In his hastiest utterances, in the most unguarded moods, I cannot recall from him one un- seemly word. He was playful at times among his peers and pets, but never in a frame of mind from which he could not turn in a moment and kneel collectedly in prayer. Although always, in all things, a Bishop-in dress, in decorum, as well as in doctrine-no one seemed more possessed of the fact that the many in infinite and subtle combinations, past man's understanding, produce results rather than any one. It was with this thought uppermost that he prosecuted his labors, ready for any exigency or any extra call, whether to aid a brother Bishop in a distant diocese hundreds of miles away, (see page 656,) or painfully leaning on his staff (see page 665) and walking to the humblest cot to give its occupant the seal of the Holy Ghost. It was this self-abnegation which enabled him to say at the consecration of Bishop Coxe : \ "The hill of ecclesiastical eminence, like Cal- vary of old, is crowned with THE CROSS; and they who, in God's providence, ascend through the grades of the Christian ministry to the highest point of churchly authority, will find themselves lifted up, not for self-exaltation, but for self-cruci- fixion." How he was " given to hospitality " is remembered by countless guests who enjoyed his receptions at Commencements, Convocations and Conventions. (See pages 662-665.) His style of writing harmonized exactly with the tones of his
+ Journal of Convention of Western New York, 1865, Appendix VI., p. 179.
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voice. It was ponderous, sonorous and filled the mind as the ear, like the diapasons of an organ. * * All the American Bishops at the first "Pan Anglican," received from Cambridge, England, the doctorate of Civil Law, but nothing could induce him to consider it his, be- cause he had not been there and received it in person.
Five years ago the Church in this state had so increased that the northern third of its territory, the upper seven counties, was erected into a separate diocese. (See page 677.) By permission of the canon which allowed the choice he elected the new diocese as his jurisdiction, chiefly because of its easier oversight by one hopelessly crippled and struggling with a disease which was sapping his vitals. He dismantled " Riverside," his home for fifteen years, and left it to an unknown successor, and in beauti- ful letters to the city and the diocese, said "Good Bye" to Burlington and old New Jersey. (See pages 678, 680.) Four years, in weariness and painfulness, he administered "Northern New Jersey," and a year ago was threatened with speedy death. His chief wish was to return to his old home, long occupied by his son-in-law. A special car was chartered. He was brought from Newark, and by the aid of sympathetic helpers was lifted into a carriage at the Burlington station. As the vehicle slowly turned into Wood street and passed old St. Mary's and revealed the graves of his parents and children and so many who had loved him, he slowly raised his hat from his head in reverence for the precious "God's acre" in which so many hundreds of His people sleep. But the end was not by and by. Patience was to have her perfect work. Like his Divine Master, so far as one only human could be, he was "made perfect through suffering." He bared his breast, and without a quiver of his lip received from day to day and week to week the sharp and heavy strokes which severed one by one the strong strands which knit together his splendid frame and made its demolition such a costly sacrifice. On every Lord's day during that eleven months of waiting he received from his domestic chaplain ; the heavenly viaticum of the Lord's Supper. My last sight of him in life
7 The Rev. Elvin K. Smith, of St. Mary's Hall.
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was on one of these occasions. His head was reclining on his breast, his eyes were closed, and there was an expression of pain upon his brow which recalled the pictures of Him " Who bowed His head and died." He ripened, Oh, he ripened for the garner ! Gentleness, sweetness, childlikeness, saintliness were his. There was at times about his face a radiance suggestive of the beatific vision. That grave! Near to the resting places of his best beloved children, and close as proximity can make it to those of his venerated parents.
The mightiest of men, when they draw nigh to death, some- times " become as little children," and express the wish which he did, to nestle once more in the arms which bore them. His prayer was granted, and I have found it in the text, " Let thy servant, I pray Thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother."
MINUTE OF THE CONVENTION OF NEW JERSEY.
The Rev. Elvin K. Smith, from the Committee on Resolu- tions on the death of the late Bishop Odenheimer, read the following at the Annual Convention of the diocese, May 25th, 1880 :
The Diocese of New Jersey, at this its first Convention after the death of Bishop Odenheimer, desires to put on record its reverent and loving remem- brance of the Prelate who, for fifteen years, was its chief pastor, and to bear witness to the high qualities which endeared him as a Bishop and a man.
In scholarship Dr. Odenheimer was eminent. Habits of close accurate study, and practical application of his acquisitions, produced, even in his youth, works of condensed learning that at once became trustworthy and useful hand-books to the teachers and disciples of Catholic truth ; and studious habits were maintained to the last year of his life; the daily handling of God's Word in the original tongues, and the intelligent examination of the latest theological writings, making him a wise counsellor in questions of doc- trine and law, ripe and ready, conservative yet progressive, confided in by his peers on the Bench of Bishops, as well as by the clergy and laity.
In priestly character he was exemplary. Among the very foremost in re- viving the thorough Church system-in daily prayer and weekly Eucharist, and the full observance of the Ecclesiastical year, "instant, in season, out of season," in pastoral visitation and instruction ; notably the model priest, during his pastorate of more than twenty years in one parislı, from whom a genera-
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tion of younger priests gained inspiration and encouragement to attempt, in their own ministry, "the ancient things of the Church Catholic."
In his Episcopal office he " so ministered discipline that he forgot not mercy," and ever studied the things that make for peace, thereby harmonizing the differences and uniting in fraternal confidence the forces of a great diocese and preparing it to become, under his own hands "two bands" of beauty and strength. In his private life he illustrated in a rare degree, comparable to Hooker and Hammond, the saintly virtues of reverence, purity and patience. The sick-room, which at three several periods of his Episcopate was for months his only abode, he consecrated to be the very House of God by daily offering of the Church's Prayers, and a Lord's Day reception, constantly, of the Holy Communion ; and the privileged visitors to that sick-room found it also the Gate of Heaven, where patience was having her perfect work, and the chastened son and servant of God growing up to that entire submission and conformity to God's Will, in which nothing appeared wanting for the departure to be with Christ.
We bless God for the good example of His servant now at rest; for the good fruits of his Episcopate in the two dioceses of New Jersey ; for his use- ful services to the whole Church of Christ, and especially for the pattern of that cheerful saintly submission to the Divine appointment which detained hím an helpless invalid at Riverside, when his chosen treadings would have been over the broad field of his diocese, and in the yet ampler domain of the whole Church's activities of work and thought. His life-walk was, in extra- ordinary measure, by Cross to Crown.
May we, who survive him on earth, have like grace to follow him as he followed Christ.
ELVIN K. SMITH. ERSKINE M. RODMAN. J. HOWARD PUGH.
Which was unanimously adopted by a rising vote of the Convention.
BISHOP ODENHEIMER'S GRAVE.
The grave of Bishop Odenheimer, a short distance east from the chancel, (see pages 591, 595,) is covered with a coped tomb of blue granite, the top forming a plain Latin cross, on which reposes, in relief, a pastoral staff. On the west end of the tomb is a mitre, and under it these words :
" WILLIAM HENRY ODENHEIMER, D. D.
" BORN AUGUST 11TH, A. D. 1817-DIED AUGUST 14TH, A. D. 1879 "In the 20th year of his Episcopate,"
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On the south side run the words :
"THIRD BISHOP OF NEW JERSEY AND FIRST BISHOP OF " NORTHERN NEW JERSEY."
On the north side are :
"PATIENT IN TRIBULATION : CONTINUING INSTANT IN PRAYER.
" Romans xii : 12."
While on the east end are the crossed keys, and beneath them the words selected by himself :
"REST AWHILE. " St. Mark vi: 31."
TABLET TO BISHOP ODENHEIMER.
The New Jersey branch of the Woman's Auxiliary to the Board of Missions erected a massive and beautiful tablet in St. Mary's Church in memory of the late Bishop of the diocese. It is of Caen stone, of a delicate cream color, inlaid with brass. In form it accommodates itself to the chancel-arch, being a paral- lelogram, two feet eight inches wide and five feet six inches high. On the sides of the stone, which is secured to the wall at this point, are square panelled pilasters, set at an angle, with faces of stone. Between these is a raised diagonal panel, on which is fastened a plate of burnished brass, with the inscrip- tion, "The Right Rev. William Henry Odenheimer." Above this, on the marginal band of brass, are the words, "To the glory of GOD," and "In memory of." On the lower edges, " Entered into rest, Aug. 14, 1879." On the plate is a vertical, highly-illuminated cross, with the sacred monogram I. H. S. at the intersection of the arms. Above the arms of the cross are the words, " Deacon, 1838," "Priest, 1841." On the lower part of the plate, "Bishop of New Jersey, 1859," "Bishop of Northern New Jersey, 1874." At the bottom of the stone, and distinct from the above, is another small brass plate with the
NOTE .- In 1881, E. P. Dutton & Co., of New York, published thirty Sermons by Bishop Odenheimer, " With an Introductory Memoir, edited by his Wife," Mrs. Anne D. R. Odenheimer.
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text, " Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," I Corinthians 1: 7. The lettering on the brass plate is richly illuminated in red, black and blue enamel. At the centre of the top moulding is sculptured a Bishop's mitre in bold relief, and on the face edge of each pilaster is a richly-carved pastoral staff, indicative of his two dioceses. The base moulding is carved and ornamented with appropriate emblems. The four spandrels at the corners formed by the centre panel, the pilasters at the sides, and the top and bottom mouldings, are carved with delicate patterns. At the base of the side pilasters are carved and moulded corbels, which extend into the wall, and serve as a sup- port for the upper stone-work. At the top the pilasters are ter- minated with richly-carved finials. The extreme height of this chaste and beautiful piece of work, from the underside of the corbels to the top of the finials, is about eight feet.
TABLETS TO WEYMAN AND CAMPBELL.
March 4th, 1880. Through the contributions of a few church- women of the parish, a tablet of Vermont blue marble was this day affixed to the northwest wall of the old Church, "In memory of the Rev. Robert Weyman, second Rector of this Church." The March previous, through the same source, a similar tablet had been affixed to the southwest wall, "In memory of the Rev. Colin Campbell." +
¡ Mr. Campbell's grave is beneath the spot where the third pulpit stood. See diagram, p. 435. When Mr. Campbell had been Rector about eigh- teen months, the Rev. Geo. Whitfield preached in St. Mary's Church, as the following shows :
[1739-40]
" Monday, November 12.
" About one o'clock we got safe to Burlington in the Jerseys (20 miles from Philadelphia,) where I was importuned to preach as I went along. The Gentleman who gave me the invitation, received me and my friends in as sweet a manner as can well be imagined. Immediately after dinner I read prayers and preached in the Church to a mixed, but thronged and attentive congregation. I scarce know the time when I have spoken with greater freedom ; and I perceived several were inuch affected. The poor people were very importunate for my staying with them all night and giving them another discourse ; but it being inconsistent with my business (with great regret, ) about Five in the evening, we took onr leaves, and by eight o'clock reached Trent, another town in the Jerseys."-The Two First Parts of His Life, with Journals, &c., by George Whitfield, A. B, 12mo., London, 1756.
T See ADDENDUM subscript on next page.
ERRATUM .- On p. 268 the name of the physician with Mr. Campbell should be Dr. Alexander Ross. Dr. John Ross was his son.
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STIPULATION BETWEEN THE RECTOR AND CHURCHWARDENS.
At a meeting of the Vestry held May 8th, 1879, the Wardens were appointed " to ascertain on what terms, if any, an addition could be made to the burial lots from a further portion of the Talbot land." (See page 291.) At a meeting of the Vestry, September 24th, 1879, " the Committee on Talbot Lots" were not ready to report, and were continued. (See page 296.) After long and careful deliberation, the Church Wardens desire to record in this Minute Book of the Vestry the following agreement :
"WHEREAS, John Talbot, Rector of St. Mary's Church, Bur- lington, N. J., did, on the 13th of July, 1724, execute a deed of gift of land to Joseph White and John Allen, Church Wardens of the parish of St. Mary's Church aforesaid, and their succes- sors, Church Wardens, &c., in trust, for 'an augmentation to the maintenance of the present Rector of St. Mary's Church in Burlington, in New Jersey, and his successors, Rectors of that Church, forever.'
"AND WHEREAS, At some time in or before the month of March, in the year of our Lord 1861, a part or parts of the above- mentioned land, lying on the north side of the new St. Mary's Church, was laid out into ' burial lots,' and for a money consideration the privilege of the burial of the dead allowed therein, which said land was given by the aforesaid Talbot ex- pressly for 'an augmentation to the maintenance' of the Rector of St. Mary's Church 'forever ; '
" Therefore, I, Geo. Morgan Hills, D. D., present Rector of St. Mary's Church aforesaid, do hereby demand that the present
ADDENDUM .- "Colin Campbell, Esq., attorney at law, late of Burlington in New Jersey, eldest son of the Rev. Mr. Colin Campbell, late Rector of St. Mary's Church in that city, was married in New York on the 26th day of Decr. 1781 to Miss Abigail Mumford Seabury, second daughter of the Kev. Doctor Samuel Seabury, [afterwards Bishop Seabury ] late Rector of St. Peter's Church in West Chester in the Province of New York and Mary his wife late Mary Hicks, daughter of Edward Hicks -Esq of New York, Merchant. They were married by her father Doctor Seabury at his house No. 22 Beekman Street; parties present, Rev. Dr. Inglis, Rector of Trinity Church, Mr. David Seabury, Mr. Isaac Hicks, Doctor Samuel Bard, Mr. Thomas Polgreen Haw- lings, Miss Violetta Rickets Seatury, Miss Maria Seabury, Masters Samuel, Edward, and Charles Seabury."-Campbell Family Bible. (See p. 341.)
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Church Wardens of the said Church, the Hon. J. Howard Pugh, M. D., and Charles S. Gauntt, do invest, all and singu- lar, the money or moneys at any time received for such privileges of burial, in safe interest-bearing securities, in the name of the said Church Wardens of said Church, in trust, for the use and purposes expressed in the said original deed of gift.
" And provided the said money or moneys be invested and held as aforesaid and not otherwise, I consent, so far as I can lawfully do so, that a further portion of the first-mentioned Talbot land, viz .: Beginning at a stake in the range of the north line of the burial lots as now laid out on the before-mentioned Talbot lands, and in the range of the west line between said Talbot lands and lands of the estate of Joseph Waln, deceased, and four feet nine inches southwardly from the southwest corner of said Waln lands ; and extending thence westwardly, along the north line of the burial lots aforesaid, one hundred and thirty-eight feet six inches, to the line of the Parsonage lot, as the fence now stands ; and then the lot extends northwardly, the same width, along and parallel with the line between said land of said Waln, as laid out by James Batten in August, 1834, ninety-four feet six inches, and no more, be laid out into additional burial lots ; and on the further and express condition that all money or moneys at any time received for the privileges of burial in said additional burial lots be added to the permanent fund aforesaid, and in- vested in the same way, for the same purpose-that is to say, for 'an augmentation to the maintenance' of the Rector of St. Mary's Church aforesaid 'forever;' and that the whole be called and known as ' THE TALBOT FUND.'
" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand on this twentieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty.
" GEO. MORGAN HILLS, D. D., " Rector of St. Mary's Parish.
" We, the undersigned, Church Wardens above mentioned; do hereby concur in, and agree to, so far as we can lawfully do so, all and singular, the conditions in the above-mentioned instru-
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ment. In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands on this twentieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty.
"J. HOWARD PUGH, M. D., "CHARLES S. GAUNTT, . " Church Wardens of St. Mary's Church."
INSTALLATION OF CHORISTERS.
On Palm Sunday evening, March 21st, 1880, St. Mary's Church was densely filled to witness the formal installation of vested singers-the first ceremonial of this kind, it is believed, in this country. At seven forty-five P. M., the following young men, all communicants and skilled in music, in cassocks and cottas, entered the Church from the north transept door, and stood at the head of the nave, viz. :
William S. Cherry. Edward T. Dugdale. Charles D. Gauntt.
M. Howard Giberson.
C. Ross Grubb.
Edward S. Hammell.
Geo. F. Hammell.
Richard Hepworth. Hobart D. Hewitt.
Stephen G. Hewitt. Geo. Heathcote Hills. John Dows Hills.
Alexander C. James.
Henry E. Lincoln. Samuel Pew.
William C. Reick. Thomas I. Rogers. William L. Sherwood.
Augustin Thwaites. Herbert S. Wells.
The solemnity was then conducted according to the following FORM prepared by the Rector, and authorized by the Bishop of the diocese :
A FORM FOR THE ADMISSION OF CHORISTERS.
When the hour appointed by the Rector of the parish is come, such as are to be admitted choristers being duly vested, and standing at the head of the nave, the Rector shall say :
Dearly beloved, forasmuch as devout and holy men, as well under the law as under the gospel, moved either by the express command of God or by the secret inspiration of the blessed Spirit, have appointed singers before the Lord who should praise the beauty of holiness ; let us not doubt but that He will favorably look upon our godly purpose of admitting these persons here present to the like office; and let us humbly beg His blessing on this our undertaking.
Then, all kneeling down, the Rector shall say :
Direct us, O Lord, etc. Our Father, etc.
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Then, all standing, the Rector shall say :
Hear what is written in the Second Book of Chronicles, in the twentieth chapter, beginning with the twentieth verse:
Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem ; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth forever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah ; and they were smitten.
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