USA > New Jersey > Memorial cyclopedia of New Jersey, Volume II > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56
"Upon receipt of word from you that as a gift, the painting will be acceptable to the State I will, as soon as practicable, at my own expense, send it to Trenton, and have it hung in the place deemed most suitable for its reception in the cap- itol, a building associated with pleasant meetings therein of my father, the late Abraham Coles, M. D., Ph. D., LL. D., with his friends, some of whom are still living, while the portraits of others adorn the walls. It is with special pride I recall the recorded words of the late Governor Haines, and those of the late Henry Woodhull Green. Chief Justice and Chancellor, who in referring to the life and writings of Dr. Abraham Coles, af- firm that 'to him the world owes a debt of grati- tude for his labor and research, which redound to the honor of our State.' Awaiting your reply, I am with great respect, Yours sincerely,
J. A. COLES.
Governor Griggs' reply was as follows :
"State of New Jersey, Executive Department. Dr. J. Ackerman Coles :
"My Dear Sir :- I have the honor to acknowl- edge the receipt of your esteemed favor of the 29th inst., tending to the State of New Jersey. the painting known as the "The Good Samaritan." I assure you nothing would delight me more than to accept at your hands such a valuable gift on belnlf of the people of the State. The picture will be accorded the best hanging that can be se-
9
1
CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY
lected for it in the State House. Permit me to say that your generosity and goodness to your native State are deserving of the highest appre- ciation on behalf of the people, and when the pic- ture shall have been received, I hope to express to you in a more formal way, the thanks and grati- tude of the Executive for your generous donation. Whenever it shall suit your convenience to for- ward the picture, it will be received and cared for with all the consideration it deserves.
"Very sincerely your,
"JOHN W. GRIGGS, Governor."
A special to the "New York Sun," dated Trenton, June 1I, 1897, said: "David Huntington's painting, 'The Good Samari- tan,' was removed to the Capitol this morn- ing." "Harper's Weekly" referred to New Jersey as getting "an admirable painting in memory of a good and distinguished citi. zen."
From the librarian, Mr. Ainsworth Rand Spofford. LL.D., Dr. J. A. Coles received the following letter :
"Library of Congress. Washington, D. C.
"Dear Sir :- I have your much esteemed favor. proffering as a gift a life size bronze bust of Washington by Houdon, to be preserved in the new library building in memory of your father. This generous offer is fully appreciated and will be communicated to the joint committee of both houses of Congress on the Library when organ- ized. Meanwhile. I am authorized to receive the gift to be assigned an honorable and appropri- ate place in the new building of the Library of Congress now completed. Permit me to express my high sense of the literary value of Dr. Abra- ham Coles' fine translations of Latin mediaeval hymns and other works."
"To the Hall of Marble Statuary in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York," the "New York Evangelist" says :
"Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, of Newark, who has added so largely to the art treasures of his na- tive city, has made a couple of valuable memorial gifts. One gift is the famous statue, known as 'The Promised Land,' executed in Carrara marble by the celebrated American sculptor, Franklin Simmons, at Rome, Italy, in 1874. A beautiful ideal life-size female figure, gracefully robed. is designed to represent the earnest longing of the spirit for 'The Promised Land.' 'The Better Coun- try,' 'The Celestial City of Zion.' Upon the plinth of the statue, which rests upon an elegantly pan-
eled octagonal pedestal of dark Spanish marble are inscribed four lines of the mediaeval Latin hymn 'Urbs Colestis Sion' by St. Bernard of Cluny, with its translation by the late Dr. Abra- ham Coles; the hymn and the translation being well known to scholars throughout the literary world. Daniel Huntington, the second Vice-Presi- dent of the Museum and Chairman of the Com- mittee on Sculpture, in recommending its accept- ance as a gift by the board of trustees, wrote 'I am greatly pleased with the statue.' It has a re- fined and spiritual character, as well as artistic grace and beauty.'
"The other memorial gift is a Carrara marble copy by P. Barzanto of Florence, Italy, of the an- tique statue 'Venus de Medici,' it being one of the very few signed copies ever executed in marble, other copies possessed by museums of art being plaster casts. The original statue, it will be re- membered, was found in the seventeenth century, and was taken to Rome, and deposited in the Me- dici Palace, whence it took its name. About the year 1680 it was carried by order of Cosmo III to Florence. In 1796 Napoleon Bonaparte sent it, with other works of art to France, and had it placed in the Louvre at Paris. Here it remained until 1815, when it was returned to Italy, and is now the chief treasure in the Tribune of the Uf- fizi gallery at Florence. It is of Parian marble, and was executed by Cleomenes, the Athenian. the son of Apollodorus, who flourished between- 200 to 150 B. C. From its exquisite proportions and perfection of contour, it has become the most celebrated standard of female form extant. The following rules obtained by measurements of Greek statues are adopted by sculptors. "First- As to height, tastes differ, but the Venus de Med- ici is about five feet and five inches in height. This is held by many sculptors and artists to be the most admirable stature for a woman. For a woman of this height. one hundred and thirty -. eight pounds is the proper weight. and if she be well formed she can stand another ten pounds without greatly showing it. When her arms are extended, she should measure from tip of middle finger to tip of middle finger just five feet and five inches, exactly her own height. The length of her hand should be just a tenth of that, and her foot just a seventh, and the diameter of her chest a fifth. From her thighs to the ground she should measure just what she measures from the thighs to the top of the head. The knee should come ex- actly midway between the thigh and the heel. The distance from the elbow to the middle finger should be the same as the distance from the el- bow to the middle of the chest. From the top of the head to the chin should be just the length of the foot, and there should be the same distance
10
CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY
between the chin and the armpits. The waist measures twenty-four inches, and the bust thirty four inches, if measured under the arms, and forty-three if over them. The upper arm should measure thirteen inches and the wrist six. The calf of the leg should measure fourteen and one- half inches, the thigh twenty-five and the ankle eight. There is another system of measurements which says that the distance twice around the thumb, should go once around the wrist; twice around the wrist once around the throat; twice around the throat, once around the waist, and so on.
"As for coloring and shape, here is the code laid down by the Arabs, who say that a woman should have these things: black hair, eyebrows, lashes and pupils; white skin, teeth, and globe of the eye; red tongue, lips and cheeks; round head, neck, arms, ankles and waist; long back, fingers, arms and limbs; large forehead, eyes and lips ; narrow eyebrows, nose and feet; small ears, bust and hands."
The copy, with its marble pedestal like the one owned by the Duke of Devonshire, at Chatsworth, England, is pure white with- out flaw or blemish and is an invaluable ad- dition to the Museum of Art. Soon after its proffer to the Museum, General Louis P. D. Cesnola, secretary and director, wrote to Dr. Coles :
"I have the honor to inform you that upon the recommendation of the committee on sculpture, the Trustees of the Metropolitan Muscum of Art have accepted your gift, and have instructed their executive committee to convey to you an expres- sion of their thanks for your generosity. In do- ing so I may be permitted to add that their thanks will be constantly hereafter repeated by the people to whose enjoyment and instruction the Museum of Art is devoted, and to which your gift is a valuable contribution. With high regards, I re- main, very sincerely yours."
.
In appreciation of these gifts Dr. Coles was elected a Fellow of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
By means of the gift of the shares of stock of the Newark Library Association owned by Dr. Abraham Coles, and given in his memory by his son, the New Jersey Historical Society secured control and own- ership of its present handsome brick and
stone building on Park street, Newark, New Jersey.
As regards "The Microcosm," from which work we give a few extracts, "The Newark Daily Advertiser" says :
"The Microcosm is the only book of the kind in the language, and is well deserving a place in every library, and might, we think, moreover, be introluced with advantage into all schools where physiology is taught as an adjunct, if nothing else, to stimulate interest, and relieve the dryness of ordinary text books. In lines of flowing and easy verse, the author sets forth with a completeness certainly remarkable, and with great power and beauty, the incomparable marvels of structure and function of the human body."
MAN SUPREME.
O thon, made up of every creature's best, The summing up and monarch of the rest! Thy high-raised cranium,-vaulted to contain The big and billowy and powerful brain, While that a scanty thimbleful, no more, Belongs to such as swim or creep or soar ; Thy form columnar, sky-ward looking face,* Majestic mien. intelligence and grace, Thy foot's firm tread, and gesture of thy hand Proclaim thee ruler, destined to command. A little lower than the angels made, Dominion, glory, worship on thee laid, I praise not thee, but honor and applaud The handiwork and masterpiece of God. Fearful and wonderful, and all divine,
Where two worlds mingle, and two lives com- bine-
A dual body, and a dual soul, Touching eternity at either pole-
The tides of being, circling swift or slow, 'Tween mystic banks that ever overflow, Exist not severed from the Fountain-head, But whence they rise, eternally are fed : Our springs are all in God; from Him we drink. Live, move, and have our being, feel and think.
FLESH GARMENT-SKIN, ITS MORAL
CHARACTER.
How beautiful, and delicate, and fresh, Appear the Soul's Habiliments of Flesh ! How closely fitting, easy yet, and broad, Each Tissue woven in the loom of God! Compared with that magnificence of dress, Wherewith is clothed the Spirit's nakedness,
*"Pronaque cum spectant animalia cætera terram, Os homini sublime dedit : columque videre Jussit, et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus."-Ovid.
II
1
-- - --
CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY
O how contemptible and mean a thing, The purple and fine linen of a king! The spotless vesture of the silky SKIN, Outside of all, and covering all within, With what a marvellous and matchless grace, Is it disposed and moulded to each place ; Bounding and beautifying brow and breast, A crowning loveliness to all the rest! Endowed with wondrous properties of soul That interpenetrate and fill the whole- A raiment, moral, maidenly and white, Shamed at each breach of decency and right, Where dwells a charm above the charms of sense, Suggestive of the soul's lost innocence.
PATHOGNOMY.
Who has not seen that Feeling, born of flame, Crimson the cheek at mention of a name? The rapturous touch of some divine surprise Flash deep suffusion of celestial dyes ; When hands clasped hands, and lips to lips were pressed,
And the heart's secret was at once confessed?
VOLUNTARY MUSCLES.
The subject MUSCLES -* girded to fulfil The lightning mandates of the sovereign Will- Th' abounding means of motion, wherein lurk Man's infinite capacity for work ; By which, as taste or restless nature bids, He rears the Parthenon or Pyramids ; In high achievements of the plastic art, Fulfils th' ambitious purpose of his heart; Creates a grace outrivaling his own, Charming all eyes-the poetry of stone ; Symbols his faith, as in Cathedrals-vast Religious petrifactions of the Past : Covers the land with cities: makes all seas White with the sails of countless argosies ; Pushes the ocean back with all her waves, And from her haughty sway a kingdom saves ; Tunnels high mountains, Erebus unbars, And through it rolls the thunder of his cars; With stalwart arm, defends down-trodden right, And, like a whirlwind, sweeps the field of fight; And when, at last, the war is made to cease,
On firm foundations stablishes a peace ; Then barren wastes with nodding harvests sows, And makes the desert blossom as the rose.
MUSCULAR DYNAMICS - DIRECTING POWER WHERE?
Bundles of fleshy fibres without end, Along the bony Skeleton extend In thousand-fold directions from fixed points To act their several parts upon the Joints ; Adjustments nice of means to ends we trace, With each dynamic filament in place ; But where's the Hand that grasps the million reins
Directs and guides them, quickens or restrains? See the musician, at his fingers' call, All sweet sounds scatter, fast as rain-drops fall; With flying touch, he weaves the web of song, Rhythmic as rapid, intricate as long. Whence this precision, delicacy and ease? And where's the Master that defines the keys?
The many-jointed Spine, with link and lock To make it flexible while secure from shock, Is pierced throughout, in order to contain The downward prolongation of the brain; From which, by double roots, the NERVES* arise- One Feeling gives, one Motive Power supplies; In opposite directions, side by side, With mighty swiftness there two currents glide- Winged, head and heel, the Mercuries of Senset Mount to the regions of Intelligence;
*For the benefit of the general reader, presum- ably not familiar with anatomical details, we may state that there are 43 pairs of nerves in all, i. e. 12 Cranial or Encephalic and 31 Spinal. The first have only one root in the brain, whilst the latter arise by two roots from the anterior and posterior halves of the spinal marrow, but unite immediate- ly afterwards to form one nerve. Division of the anterior root causes loss of motion -- of the pos- terior the loss of sensation. The first transmit vo- litions from the brain, the latter sensitive impres- sions to the brain.
+Helmholtz has instituted experiments to de- termine the rapidity of transmission of the ner- vous actions. For sensation the rate of movement assigned is one hundred and eighty to three hun- dred feet per second. Muscular contraction, or shortening of the muscular fibre, takes place, at times, with extreme velocity; a single thrill, in the letter R., can be pronounced in the 1-30,000th part of a minute. There are insects whose wings strike the air thousands of times in a minute. The force of contraction (Myodynamis) is most re- markable in some of these. In birds, the absolute power in proportion to the weight of the body is as 10,000 to I.
*Some authors reckon the number of Muscles in the Human Body as high as 527. They have been divided into l'oluntary (forming the red flesh, or the main bulk of the body) ; Involuntary, such as the heart, fleshy fibres of the stomach, etc .; and Mixed, such as the muscles of respira . tion, etc. Each Muscle is made up of an indefi- nite number of fibres, which may be considered as so many muscles in miniature, along which stream the currents of the Will. Yet with all this com- plex apparatus everything is in harmony.
12
CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY
Instant as light, the nuncios of the throne Command the Muscles that command the Bone.
Each morning after slumber, brave and fresh, The Moving Army of the Crimson Flesh, From fields of former conquests, marching comes To the grand beating of unnumbered drums-§ Each martial Fibre pushing to the van To make "I will" the equal of "I can"; Testing the possibilities of power In deeds of daring suited to the hour ; Doing its utmost to build up the health And glory of the inner Commonwealth.
Levers and fulcra everywhere we find, But where's the great Archimedean Mind, That on some POU STO,* outside and above, Plants its firm foot this living world to move?
CRANIUM-SOUL'S FIRMAMENT-BRAIN
Find it we shall, if anywhere we can, Doubtless, in that high Capitol of man, Whose Spheric Walls, concentric to the cope, Were built to match the nature of his Hope. What seems the low vault of a narrow tomb, Is the Soul's sky, where it has ample room ; As apt through this, its crystalline. to pass, As though it were diaphanous as glass. When Sense is dark, it is not dark. but light, Itself a sun, that banishes the night,
Shedding a morning, beauteous to see, On the horizon of Eternity. Strange, a frail link and manacle of BRAIN So long below suffices to detain A principle, so radiant and high, So restless, strong, and fitted for the sky.
HEARING-POWERS OF SOUND-MUSIC OF NATURE.
Within a bony labyrinthean cave, Reached by the pulse of the aerial wave, This sibyl, sweet, and mystic Sense is found. Muse, that presides o'er all the Powers of Sound. Viewless and numberless, these everywhere Wake to the finest tremble of the air;
Now from some mountain height are heard to call;
Now from the bottom of some waterfall; Now faint and far, now louder and more near, With varying cadence musical and clear ; Heard in the brooklet murmuring o'er the lea; Heard in the roar of the resounding sea; Heard in the thunder rolling through the sky ; Heard in the little insect chirping nigh ;
§The heart and arteries.
*Archimedes used to say, "Give a place where I may stand (dos pou sto) and I can move the world."
The winds of winter wailing through the woods ; The mighty laughter of the vernal floods;
The rain-drops' showery dance and rhythmic beat.
With twinkling of innumerable feet; Pursuing echoes calling 'inong the rocks; Lowing of herds, and bleating of the flocks; The tender nightingale's melodious grief ; The sky-iark's warbled rapture of belief- Arrow of praise, direct from Nature's quiver, Sent duly up to the Almighty Giver.
WOMAN-SEX -- UNITY IN DIFFERENCE.
O loving Woman, man's fulfillment sweet, Completing him not otherwise complete! How void and useless the sad remnant left Were he of her, his nobler part bereft! Of her who bears the sacred name of Wife, The joy and crown and glory of his life, The Mother of his Children, whereby he Shall live in far off epochs yet to be. Conjoined but not confounded, side by side Lying so closely nothing can divide; A dual self, a plural unit, twain, Except in sex, to be no more again; Except in Sex-for sex can nought efface, Fixed as the granite mountain on its base- But not for this less one, away to take This sweet distinction were to mar not make. Dearer for difference in this respect, As means of rounding mutual defect .. Woman and Man all social needs include; Earth filled with men were still a solitude. In vain the birds would sing, in vain rejoice, Without the music of her sweeter voice.
In vain the stars would shine, 'twere dark the while
Without the light of her superior smile. To blot from earth's vocabularies one Of all her names were to blot out the sun.
LOVE OF THE SEXES-ENDS ANSWERED
O wondrous Hour, supremest hour of fate, When first the Soul discerns its proper Mate, By inward voices known as its elect- Distanced by love, and infinite respect, Fairer than fairest, shining from afar, Throned in the heights, a bright particular star The glory of the firmament, the evening sky Glad with the lustre of her beaming eye. Young Love, First Love, Love, haply, at First Sight,
Smites like the lightning, dazzles like the light; Chance meeting eyes shoot forth contagious flame,
Sending the hot blood wildly through the frame. By strange enchantment violently strook,
13
CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY
The total being rushes with a look; A beauty never seen before, except some gleams Purpling the atmosphere of blissful dreams, Wakens rare raptures and sensations new, Both soul and body thrilling through and through.
Says sage Experience, sighing o'er the past, These dear illusions will not always last ; For beauty fades and disappointment clings To the reality of human things. It may be so-it may be, lover's sight Surveying all things by love's purple light, Sees not the faults possession shall disclose, Nor the sharp thorn concealed beneath the rose. But if thus Nature her great ends attain The pomps of fancy dazzle not in vain. The pleasing falsehood of perfection flits, But not the Love, that in contentment sits Among the Dear Ones of its happy Home, Blest with sweet foretastes of the Heaven to come.
Deciduous charms of face unmissed depart, While bloom the fadeless beauties of the heart ; Inward conformity, and gradual growth Of moral likeness, tightening bonds of both, Perfect the marriage, which was but begun Upon that day they were pronounced one.
TRUE LOVE.
Let Love but enter, it converts the churl. And makes the miser lavish as an earl; The strict walls of his prison, giving way, Fall outward and let in the light of day ; Released from base captivity to pelf, He upwards soars into a nobler self; And hands, that once did nought but clutch and hoard
Now emulate the bounty of the Lord ; Hold up a mirror, that reflects the face Of Him whose heart is love and man-ward grace.
On the afternoon of July 5, 1897, Mayor . Seymour presiding, there was unveiled in Washington Park, Newark, New Jersey, the heroic size bronze portrait bust of Dr. Abraham Coles, the work of the peerless sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward. The pedestal consists of a monolith of imperial granite, which has for its base a granite boulder weighing about seven tons, which was obtained for the purpose at much ex- pense and trouble from near the landing place of the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth, Massachusetts. The whole is enclosed by monoliths of Quincy granite, fourteen feet long, bolted into corner posts from near the
Sea of Tiberias, Galilee, Palestine, obtain- ed through the courtesy and agency of the Rev. Edwin T. Wallace, A. M., our consul at Jerusalem. On the front face of the ped- estal, cast in bronze, is the following hymn by Dr. Coles :-
THE ROCK OF AGES. Isaiah xxvi-4.
A NATIONAL SONG OF PRAISE.
Let us to Jehovah raise Glad and grateful songs of praise. Let the people with one voice In the Lord their God rejoice! For His mercy standeth fast And from age to age doth last.
He across untraversed seas Guided first the Genoese, Here prepared a dwelling place
For a freedom loving race; For His mercy standeth fast And from age to age doth last.
Filled the land the red man trod With the worshipers of God; When oppression forged the chain Nerved their hands to rend in twain. For His mercy standeth fast And from age to age dost last.
Gave them courage to declare What to do and what to dare; Made them victors over wrong In the battle with the strong. For His mercy standeth fast And from age to age doth last.
'Midst the terror of the fight, Kept them steadfast in the right ; Taught their statesmen how to plan To conserve the Rights of man. For His mercy standeth fast And from age to age doth last.
Needful skill and wisdom lent To establish Government. Laid foundations resting still On the granite of His will. For His mercy standeth fast And from age to age doth last.
Wiped the scandal and the sin From the color of the skin; Now o'er all, from sea to sea Floats the Banner of the Free. For His mercy standeth fast And from age to age doth last.
14
CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY
Praise the Lord for freedom won And . the Gospel of His Son ;
Praise the Lord, His Name adore All ye people evermore! For His mercy standeth fast And from age to age doth last.
The bronze tablet on the Plymouth Rock has a quotation from a treatise of Dr. Coles on Law in its relation to Christian- ity, and reads :-
The State, although it does not formulate its faith, is distinctly Christian. Christianity, general, tolerant Christianity, is a part of the law of the land. Reverence for law is indissolubly interwoven with reverence for God. The State accepts the Deca- logue, and builds upon it. As right presupposes a standard, it assumes that this is such a stand- ard, divinely given and accepted by all Christen- dom; that it underlies all civil society, is the foundation of the foundation, is lower than all and higher than all; commends itself to reason, speaks with authority to the conscience, vindi- cates itself in all government. giving it stability and exalting it in righteousness.
"The exercises were begun," says the "Newark Daily Advertiser," "by the band playing and the large assemblage singing Dr. Coles' National hymn 'My Native Land', the music being under the direction of Mr. John C. Day. Letters were received from President and Mrs. William Mc- Kinley, Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C., from Vice President Garret A. Ho- bart, from the Governor of New Jer- sey, John W. Griggs, from John H. Vincent, Chancellor of Chautauqua Uni- versity, and from others prominent in polit- ical and literary circles." After prayer by - the Rev. Dr. Robert Lowry, the American flag surrounding the bust was unfurled by the President of the Board of Education, Mr. William A. Gay. The bust and its pedestal were then formally accepted on be- half of the City of Newark, by the Mayor, the Hon. James M. Seymour, who said : -
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.