USA > New Jersey > Memorial cyclopedia of New Jersey, Volume II > Part 3
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"On behalf of the people of this city it gives me great pleasure to accept from our respected fellow citizen, Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, this fine memorial of that distinguished gentleman, Dr. Abraham Coles. Nothing could be more appropriate on
this spot, opposite our new free public library than this bust.
"Dr. Coles was one of America's greatest scholars. His cultured mind roamed through many fields and gave to the world some of its choicest treasures in literature, poetry and art. He was a scholar, a statesman, and a physician. He found time in his busy life to do and know many things, and do and know each better !': . most men know one. * * * Dr. Coles spent the greater part of his life in Newark. Here were his friends, of whom I am proud to have been one. His books and writings are known and read all over the world, but here we knew the pleasant, courteous, kindhearted gentleman. His personality is still so fresh and strong in my remembrance that in offering this verbal testi- mony to his fame, I cannot forget that like many other great men in all ages, he was greatest in meekness, charity and kindness of heart. * *
* On behalf of the City of Newark, I accept this bust, and though it cannot last as long as the memory of him whom it memorializes, let us hope that while it stands here in this
it will have a wide spread influence upon our young men and incite them to emulate Dr. Coles' useful, studious, earnest life."
In accepting the bust on behalf of The Board of Works, President Stainsby said :-
"There is little that I need say at this time. It is a pleasure to commend both the filial and public spirit which prompted the donor. The men of means of Newark have not hitherto permitted their public spirit to take shape for the beautifica- tion of the city. With good streets and elaborate parks should come beautiful statuary, and all that speaks for culture, and the perpetuation of objects of interest in our city. In this park now stand two monuments. One speaks for the foundry and the mechanic, the foundation of our city's strength. The other speaks of the profes- sional man and the man of literature, made pos- sible by our material greatness. The foundation boulder, from Plymouth, Mass., will recall to all passers the sterling worth and fixity of principles of the Puritan fathers, and the superstructure bearing the bust will bring to our minds the re- ligious in man, and both will be found typified in the life and character of Dr. Coles."
President Stainsby was followed by the Rev. Dr. Alexander H. Tuttle, who said :-
"Dr. Abraham Coles is called the Physician- Poet, not because he is the only one of his pro-
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fession who has put great thought into immortal verse, but because of a single work in which he has sung, with genuine poetic genius, of the organs and functions of the human body.
"'Man the Microcosm' is a perilous theme for a poet. It awakens the scientific rather than the poetic faculty. Nothing of the kind had appeared before in our speech. Armstrong's 'The Art of Preserving Health,' published over one hundred and fifty years ago, can hardly be called an excep . tion. Only one with the daring of Lucretius and the genius of Pope, both of whom, in many re- spects, the Doctor resembled, could so set scien- tific and philosophic facts as to make them sen- sitive to the breath of the muse. Usually scien- tific accuracy is the death of poetry. Darwin laments that he, who in the beginning of his studies, took the greatest pleasure ir Shakes- peare, in later years lost all relish for the great dramatist. On the other hand a glowing imagina- tion is apt to wing its flight beyond the sphere of proven facts which accurate science demands.
"But this poem, which is an address Dr. Coles delivered while President of the Medical Society of the State of New Jersey, at its centennial meet- ing. illumes the theme of a learned profession with the sacred speech of Polyhymnia. It at once commanded the attention and commenda- tion of both physicians and artists, and from the time of its delivery, January 24, 1866, its author has been known as the 'Poet-Physician.' This characterization, however, does not do him jus- tice. We might with equal inaccuracy speak of David as the 'Warrior-Psalmist,' because the divine bard was a soldier and somtimes sang of war.
"'The Microcosm' is but one of the many prod- ucts of Dr. Coles' lyre, and the spirit that breathes here, as in them all, is not anatomy, but divinity. Correct as is his science, this is the spirit that pervades his song :
'For such as this did actually enshrine
Thy gracious Godhead once, when Thou didst make Thyself incarnate, for my sinful sake.
Thou who hast done so very much for me, O let me do some humble thing for Thee! I would to every organ give a tongue. That Thy high praises may be fitly sung; Appropriate ministries assign to each, The least made vocal, eloquent to teach.'
"Though the learning is that of the physician, the language and the spirit are those of a seraph. We must place our author among the sacred poets. We cannot pause to consider at length the perplexing question : What is sacred poetry? We are among those who believe in the sanctity of the art, altogether from the theme in which it is employed. It is the voice of the soul's in- nermost life, expressing itself in form of creative
speech, which kindles the feeling while it carries the thought. To turn such a gift to unholy uses is like tuining the language of prayer into pro- fanity. But in order to fix our author's place in the sacred choir, we accept the common thought that sacred poetry is that which treats of sacred things.
"It may be epic as in Job and Milton, or dra- matic, as in the Song of Solomon and Bach's 'Passion,' or lyric as in all the Psalms and hymns. The most copious of our sacred poetry is the lyric. It is distinguished from others not by its metrical forms, nor altogether by the material it fashions, but by its personal thought or passion and its easy adaptation to song. There are four distinct grades of lyric poetry by which the rank of the poet is determined. The first is what we may call the natural, ,and is characterized by the outburst of impassioned personal experience; the second is artistic, and is distinguished by the exquisite finish of its structure; the third is didactic, and is differentiated by its aim, which is to teach certain truths and facts. There are doubtless poets of high merit in this class, but its dominant motive is sure to give it the air of the school-room, and these lyrics are often only doctrine in rhyme. The fourth is the liturgical. It is arranged for a service already prepared, and is set to music already composed. It is usually characterized by poverty of ideas, weari- some repetitions and a fatal lack of passion.
"The foremost poet of the natural order is David, the creator of the Hebrew lyric, who, at the very beginning, gave to the world the very finest specimens of the art. There is in all his songs a spontaneous outpouring of the passion of the moment. Every creation only images the soul of the poet, and his utterance is an elegy or an idyl, according as he is grave or gay. To this class belong, also, many of the old Latin hynins, as those of Thomas of Celano, Bernard of Clairvaux and Francis Xavier. They utter the soul's innermost consciousness. Measured by this standard, Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley are highest in the first rank of English hymnists. The doctrines of saving truth had become verities in their experiences; and they poured them out in rushing torrents of song. Their hymns are their own souls' biography.
"Dr. Coles has written more than fifty original poems, many of which merit a place high in the first class of lyrics. Some of them have the intuition, the passion, the imagery which remind tis of Cowper. In a poem entitled 'Prayer in Affliction,' he describes himself as bowed in sor- row in his home, made desolate by the death of his wife. But in his grief his faith discovers the promise of good out of ill. Then he cries:
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CHILDREN'S HIGHLAND HOME GIVEN BY MISS EMILIE S. COLES IN REMEMBRANCE OF HER FATHER DR. ABRAHAM COLES AND OF HER UNCLE MR. WARREN ACKERMAN
CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY
'O that my smitten heart may gush Melodious praise-like as when o'er Aeolian harp strings wild winds rush And all abroad, sad music pour, So sweet, Heaven's minstrelsy might hush Brief time to listen, for I know
The Hand that doth my comforts crush, Builds bliss upon the base of woe.'
"The whole poem is wondrously suggestive of the genius of him who wrote the immortal 'My Mother.'
"Some of his hymns throb with a spirit so akin to that of the matchless Wesley that we could readily believe they came from the Methodist's pen. Such is the following :
'Upon His bosom thus to rest, I cannot ask to be more blest;
To know my sins are all forgiven For Jesus' sake, O, this is Heaven. While I love Him and He loves me. I care no other Heaven to see; And if there be some higher bliss, I am content while I have this.'
"But the Doctor did not devote his strength to the product of original hymns. He deliberately chose to turn masterpieces of ancient tongues into English verse. Accordingly we are compell- ed to rank him in the second order of lyrists. He is 'a poet of culture' whose aim is perfect, artistic expression. What determined his choice was partly his scholarship, partly his intensely spiritual nature, and partly the elegant refinement in which he was born and lived. His learning was varied and accurate. He was a recognized authority in his profession. an accomplished linguist, a master of the classic tongues and a critical writer on the profoundest theological themes. The vastness of his learning gave him such ample material for his verse that his poetic passion made no imperious call for this invention of the intuitive faculty. We cannot think of him as we do of Burns, walking out under the stars, writhing in pain for some adequate form in which to embody the tumultuous passion he must express. He had but to lift his eyes, and select from his calm wide vision the form he needed. Had he been an unlettered peasant, the poetic gift would probably have travailed in birth of song, which would have come forth in varied and original imagery. His poems would have shouted and danced like the Psalms of the Maccabees. But wealth of advantage is often- times poverty of invention. As it was, his imagin- ation was constructive rather than creative. Its images are more remarkable for their exquisite finish than for the original boldness of their conception. It was a fortunate thing for the world, and probably for the fame of our author, that he devoted his superb gift to rendering the best of the Hebrew and classic lyrics into Eng-
lish verse. He is not alone among the seraphs who have made the attempt, but is conspicuous in the goodly company as the recognized chief. Others have copied the ancient masterpieces with wonderful accuracy, but in most instances have failed to reproduce that indescribable charm that gives to a poem its chief value. The spirit that breathes cannot be made to order. It must be born again. Otherwise the poem is a corpse. Dr. Coles has not used his art to exhume mum- mies. In his verse we have the living voices of the old-time singers.
"As Corot caught the varying movement of the trembling foliage in the deepening twilight, and so placed it on his canvas that one can almost see the shadows lengthening and hear the rustling of the leaves, so our poet has reproduced the very soul of the Hebrew and Latin verses. They are not versified translations-they are regenerations. They are not wrought from without, but from within. Hence they retain that inestimable some- thing that gives to a poem its immortality. As a single illustration we name his 'Dies Irae,' eighteen versions of which come from the strings of his restless lyre. This sublimest masterpiece of sacred Latin poetry and noblest Judgment hymn of all languages has, through many ages, been inviting gifted tongues to voice its majestic solemnities in English speech. More than thirty have had the temerity to respond. Among them are Earl Roscommon, Sir Walter Scott, Lord Macaulay, Archbishop Trench and General Dix, some of whom have given renditions of consider- able merit. But among them all, Dr. Coles wears the greenest laurels. Competent critics like Dr. Philip Schaff and John G. Whittier unite in affirming that no man dead or living has succeed- ed so well in rendering the text and spirit of the wonderful hymn. The doctor's baton has made our speech throb with the ancient rhythm and reproduced in astonishing degree the char- acteristic features of the original.
"Here are its artless simplicity, its impassioned solemnity, its trumpet-like cadences which appall the soul with woeful terrors; its triple rhyme which 'beats the breast like a hammer,' and gives it an awful music of its own, making the heart shudder with dread apprehension. And in all this quivering of judgment-terror there breathes the intense Christian spirit of the original, which finds strongest utterance in the appeal :
'Jesus kind, do not refuse me! O remember Thou didst choose me! Lest Thou on that day shalt lose me . Seeking me Thy tired feet bore Thee , Cruel nails for my sake tore Thee. Let all fail not I implore Thee.'
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"With equal skilt he has put in English verse, hymns from Thomas of Celano, Fortunatus, St. Bernard of Cluny, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and others, together with many selections from the Greek and Latin classics. It was natural for one with our poet's deeply spiritual life to turn with special fondness to those fountains of sacred song that spring from the Hebrew Psalter. There rather than at Helicon the voice of his muse was heard. He believed that the life of the past was better expressed and preserved in its song than in its history-that the inspiration of the Psalms was not merely poetic, but really and truly divine. He also believed that the much praised antiphonal parallelism, which Herder describes as 'that language of the heart which has never said all, but ever has something more to say,' is not adapted to the Saxon genius or knowl- edge. If then while he translates the Hebrew into English, he also translates the ancient anti- phonal into modern meter, he brings the divine soul of the psalm in living presence before us. The correctness of his view has been often dem- onstrated. Clement Marot's metrical version of the Psalms proved to be a potent factor in the French Reformation. There are few things that have told so mightily on the Scotch character as Rouse's version. It is asserted that in the time of the Reformation. psalm singers and heretics became almost identical terms. It is an interest- ing fact, if it be true as stated, that such was the value our Puritan forefathers placed on Psalms in meter, that this was the title of the first book printed in New England.
"The Church, however, has in large measure ceased the use of metrical psalms in public wor- ship. This is due partly to the evolution of the English hymn, under the inspiration of Watts and his successors; partly to the vitiated taste occa- sioned by the use of jingling ditties, and partly to the poor quality of many of the meterized psalms which are in reality only mechanical paraphrases. We believe that if Dr. Coles' thought can only be adequately realized, if accurate translation can be wedded to genuine poetry and set to fitting music, it will be a boon to the Church, which is now so sadly agitated with the question of the choral features of its service. We will not af- firm that in his version of the Psalms he has in every instance satisfied either the critic's eye or the Christian's heart. Even the wings of Jove's bird sometimes grew weary. The peerless Milton often stumbled in his meter. Are David's own Psalms equal? But the doctor has given us a noble volume, which aside from the other products of his pen, will place his name on the walls of 'the immortals.' And if psalm-singing
ever again becomes general in the home and in the Church, the rich collection will abide as a most helpful interpreter of the heavenly mean- ings of the Hebrew songs.
"We can barely speak of one other work which this poet lived to complete-the rendering of the Gospel in verse. To some souls the whole Chris- tian life is a poem-the Gospel is music itself. but he is a brave man who attempts to sing it all. Samuel Wesley, the father of John and Charles, made the daring effort to versify the Gospel. It was both a literary and financial fait- ure. With what success Dr. Coles has made a similar effort, it remains for the coming genera- tions to declare. In the meanwhile, we listen to the judgment of the Right Honorable John Bright of England, who says: 'When I began your volume I thought you had attempted to gild the refined gold and would fail; as I proceeded in my reading, that idea gradually disappeared, and I discovered you had brought the refined gold together in a manner convenient and useful, and deeply interesting. I have read the volume with all its notes, many of which seem to me of great value. I could envy you the learning and the industry that have enabled you to produce this remarkable work. I hope it may have read- ers in all countries where our language is spoken '
"One who consecrates his genius to echoing the thought and spirit of the peerless intellects of the past is not apt to command popular af- fection. There are few Platos and Boswells whose names appear on the scroll of immortality. But if ever that ambition entered the heart of our author, he can sleep tranquilly on the pillow of his deathless work. His hymns have been placed in many hymnals. His Greek and Latin translations are ranked by critics the very fore- most. His Psalms and Gospels occupy an honor- ed place in every great library of Europe and America.
"As the years separate us wider and ever wider from those great productive periods of sacred song, which made glad the ages past. more and more will the coming generation feel the need of Dr. Abraham Coles' rich echoes."
After the benediction by the Rev. Dr. D. J. Yerkes, there was more music. In the words of the "New York Observer": The whole occasion was a delightful tribute of honor to the memory of a noble man."
On September 5th, 1895, was received at the Mayor's office the following letter from J. Ackerman Coles :
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BRONZE GROUP BY C. B. IVES. IN LINCOLN PARK. NEWARK. NEW JERSEY.
AN INCIDENT AT THE CLOSE OF THE INDIAN WAR OF 1764. AS TOLD BY THE HISTORIAN FRANCIS PARKMAN A GIFT FROM J ACKERMAN COLES. M D .. L. L. D.
CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY
To the Honorable Julius A. Lebkuecher, Mayor of the City of Newark :
My Dear Sir-As a gift to Newark, my native city, in whose educational, scientific and religious advancement my father, the late Dr. Abraham Coles, always took a deep and active interest, I have, through the agency of Messrs. Sypher & Co., of New York City, bought one of the most char- acteristic and beautiful groups in real bronze to be seen in this country or in Europe. It con- sists of three figures-an American Indian, his wife and her mother, each life size. The ped- estal is of rare dark Italian marble. The whole was executed at Rome, Italy, in 1886, by the distin- guished American sculptor, the late C. B. Ives, and is illustrative of the following facts, related by Parkman and other authorities :
After Colonel Bouquet had, in the Fall of 1764, compelled the Indian tribes to sue for peace, he demanded the delivery, at Fort Pitt, of all cap- tives in their possession. "Among those brought in for surrender," says Parkman, "were young women who had become partners of Indian hus- bands, and who now were led reluctantly into the presence of parents or relatives, whose images were almost blotted from their memory. They stood agitated and bewildered; the revival of old affections and the rush of dormant memories, painfully contending with more recent attach- ments ; while their Indian lords looked on, scarce- ly less moved than they, yet hardening themselves with savage stoicism, and standing in the midst of their enemies imperturbable as statues of bronze. Of the women, who were compelled to return with their children to the settlements, some, subsequently, made their escape, eagerly hastening back to their warrior husbands, whose kindness before, as well as at the time of the surrender, had proved to them the sincerity of their affection."
In our artist's group, the mother discovers the wife of the Indian to be her daughter, who was carried off in early childhood. She, however, fails in her endeavor to obtain from her some sign of recognition. It was on this occasion that Bouquet, observing her distress, is said to have suggested that she should sing one of the songs she used to sing to her when a child. She did so-then, with a sudden start, followed by a pas- sionate flood of tears, the long-lost daughter threw herself into her mother's arms.
In order that his work might be accurate and distinctive, Mr. Ives left Rome for this country, where he was successful in finding, for his model, an Indian who fulfilled all his requirements. Re- turning to Italy, he there perfected this, his great masterpiece.
In 1832, the New Jersey Legislature appropriat- ed $2,000 to pay the Indians for a claim they
made in regard to certain hunting and fishing rights. On this occasion the red men were repre- sented by Shawriskhekung (Wilted Grass), an Indian of pure native blood. He was a graduate of Princeton College, having been educated at the expense of the Scotch Missionary Society, which named him Bartholomew S. Calvin. At the age of twenty three he entered the Continental Army to fight for independence, and at the time he pre- sented to the Legislature the petition for pay for the Indian fishing rights he was upward of eighty years of age. This aged Indian closed his address with the following words: "Not a drop of our blood have you spilled in battle; not an acre of our land have you taken but by our consent. These facts speak for themselves and need no comment. They place the character of New Jersey in bold relief and bright example to those States within whose territorial limits our brethren still remain. There may be some who would despise an Indian benediction, but when I return to my people and make known to them the result of my mission, the ear of the great Sovereign of the universe, which is still open to our cry, will be penetrated with our invocation of blessings upon the generous sons of New Jersey."
"It is a proud fact in the history of New Jer- sey," said Senator Samuel L. Southard before the Legislature on this same occasion, "that every foot of her soil has been obtained from the Indians by voluntary purchase and transfer, a fact no other State of the Union, not even the land which bears the name of Penn can boast of." For these as well as for other reasons it has seemed to me to be pre-eminently proper tliat New Jersey should possess this magnificent monument cast in honor of the American Indian."
With your sanction I will have it brought to Newark and have it placed on a suitably pre- pared foundation, all at my own individual ex- pense, in the locality we shall decide upon. Await- ing your reply, I am, with great respect,
Yours sincerely,
To the above was sent the following reply :
Office of the Mayor, City Hall, Newark, N. J., Sept. 13, 1895.
Dr. Jonathan Ackerman Coles, 222 Market Street, City :
Dear Sir-The communication directed to, the Mayor of the City of Newark, dated September 4, 1895, and containing your munificent offer to present to the city a handsome bronze group, was referred to the Common Council at its last meet- ing, held Friday, September 6, accompanied by a message which read as follows:
CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY
Office of the Mayor, City Hall, Newark, September 6, 1895.
To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of Newark :
Gentlemen-I have the honor and pleasure to transmit herewith a communication which I received yesterday from Dr. Jonathan Ackerman Coles. In it he offers, as a gift to the city of Newark, a work of art, by an American sculptor of note, being a group in bronze which marks a most interesting historical event, and as a me- morial will recall the valuable services rendered in the interests of science and education by his distinguished father, the late Dr. Abraham Coles.
I respectfully recommend that action be taken by your honorable body to acknowledge the valu- able and interesting gift, and to co-operate with the donor in providing a suitable place for its erection.
Yours very truly,
J. A. LEBKUECHER, Mayor.
It was received and read with great gratifica- tion, and in response thereto the following resolu- tion of acknowledgment and acceptance was un- animously adopted :
"Whereas, A beautiful work of art, by a sculptor of distinction, has been presented to the city of Newark by Dr. Jonathan Ackerman Coles; there- fore, be it
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