USA > New York > New York City > A history of the parish of Trinity Church in the city of New York, pt 3 > Part 29
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" Mr. Schroeder has become a universal favorite. He is certainly the most promising young man we know of in our church, and is of amiable & unassuming manners.
" I do not at present remember any occurrence in our circle worth relating. I fear I have already tried your patience by the pro- lixity of this letter. I know full well, Rt. Rev. & Dr Sir, the deep interest you feel in every event & occurrence in the church; and I
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Bishop Jolly
1824]
know also that I have your sanction for thus trespassing upon your time. I shall do so no longer than is necessary to assure you of the numerous requests to be remembered to you from friends of all ages, from the venerable Mrs. Nichols & Mr. Barrow down to some of your juvenile catechumens. The venerable Dr. Harris called upon me this morning & will if possible prepare a letter for this conveyance. One from Bp. White, Dr. Turner &c. are enclosed. I will endeavour also to procure some from your family.
" With unalterable sentiments of the most sincere & affectionate respect I subscribe myself, Rt. Rev. & Dr Sir,
" Yrs. Most truly, " THOS N. STANFORD.
"P. S. I hope Mr. Naylor has long since called upon you. Permit me to solicit you to consider me as at all times devoted to your service, & to beg that you will favour me with your commands. I omitted to mention that the documents were recd just in time to have a place in the Jany number of the Ch: J."
. The "Coates" for whose benefit was held, the concert above alluded to, was the Sexton of Trinity Church.
The Bishop of New York spent three weeks in Scot- land, being the guest of the Bishop of Aberdeen during a large portion of his visit; and made a very favorable impression on all who met him or heard him preach. His heartfelt appreciation of the great debt that the Church in America owed to the ancient Church in Scotland was very grateful to her Bishops and the clergy.
Bishop Hobart's interview with Bishop Jolly, who lived alone in a small cottage in Fraserburgh, and whose life was of the simplest character, has become a sacred tradition in Scotland; many accounts of it in which the apocryphal mingles with the actual are current. One of the best known stories is that which Dr. Neale, the biographer of Bishop Torry, gives :
"Connected with the visit of Bishop Hobart to Fraserburgh, Bishop Torry used to tell an amusing anecdote. It is well known that
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Bishop Jolly lived in a cottage by himself, having no servant in the house, nor any kind of attendant except a woman who came in during the course of the day to put things to rights As he was very fond of tea he kept in his fire all night with a peat, so that he could light it up when he rose before five o'clock. The Bishop of New York to his American energy united some portion of American inquisitiveness; and wishing to learn more than he knew of Bishop Jolly, thus began :-
" Hobart. 'I wish to know, Bishop, how you spend the day. I am told you rise very early; what do you do first when you get up ?'
" Jolly. 'I say my prayers.'
" Hobart. 'Oh! of course; but what do you do next ?'
" Jolly. 'I take a cup of tea.'
" Hobart. 'Very well; what next.'
" Jolly. 'I read the Lessons.'
" Hobart. 'Good; what next ?'
" Jolly. 'I read a portion of the Fathers.'
" Hobart. 'Excellent; what next ? '
" Jolly. 'I sit down to my writing.'
"And so he went on to catechize the good old man, who answered with the simplicity of a child, when many would have lost temper." '
Upon his return to Edinburgh Dr. Hobart was asked by a clergyman whether his winter journey to Aberdeen had paid him for the fatigue and exposure. In the most glowing and genial terms the Bishop praised Bishop Skinner and all that he had seen. But his warmest ex- pressions were for the Bishop of Moray, whom he con- sidered one of the most apostolic and primitive men he ever saw.
In describing him the Bishop said :
" You go from the extremity of Britain to America to see the Falls of Niagara, and think yourselves amply rewarded by the sight of this singular scene in nature. If I had gone from America to Aberdeen and seen nothing but Bishop Jolly as I saw him for two days, I should hold myself greatly rewarded. In our new country we have no such men, and I could not have imagined such without seeing him.""
1 Neale's Life of Torry, p. III.
* P. 175, An Ecclesiastical History of Scotland from the Introduction of Christ- ianity to the Present Time, by George Grub, A.M. Edinburgh, 1861.
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Bishop Torry
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The venerable Bishop of Dunkeld also extended to the Bishop of New York a warm welcome.
" Jan. 5, 1824.
" RIGHT REV. AND DEAR SIR,
"It is with painful feelings I have to deplore the circumstances that prevent me from enjoying the happiness of meeting you at Aber- deen, which my worthy colleague there had kindly invited me to do, but I beg to be considered as bearing towards you the warmest senti- ments of fraternal regard.
" The visit with which you have honoured us, will strengthen the cords of affection already subsisting between the American and Scot- tish Episcopal Churches, so similar in many respects, and will tend to enlarge the intercourse between them in such a way as may, it is hoped, be not only mutually gratifying, but beneficial to both.
" Accept of my warmest wishes for your health and happiness, and the continued blessing of God on your official labours, and believe me to be,
" Right Rev. and dear Sir, " Your faithful servant, " PATRICK TORRY."1
Bishop Hobart's answer to Bishop Torry is also pre- served :
" ABERDEEN, Jan 7th 1824. " RIGHT REV. AND DEAR SIR,
" I have had the honour to receive your very kind letter, and while I have the fullest confidence in the expressions of regret it contains at your being unavoidably prevented from meeting me at this place, and am very sensible of the deprivation which I have thereby sustained, you must permit me to observe, that your leaving your charge and residence for this purpose is a favour which I should not have ventured to suggest, but for which I am indebted to your excellent colleague Bishop Skinner. From him I learn with great pain, that ill health prevents this visit, and I earnestly pray that your sickness may be of short continuance.
" The American Episcopal Church will, I trust, never forget that from the Episcopal Church of Scotland she first received the Episcopal
1 Grub's History.
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succession. The orthodox principles of that Church, and the primitive character of her Bishops, I have ever held in the highest venera- tion. And I pray God that our Churches may ever continue to preserve the faith once delivered to the Saints, and the ministry that is called of God, until that period shall arrive, when primitive order shall distinguish all who profess and call themselves Christians.
" With my earnest prayers for your individual happiness, and for the blessing of God on the Church over which you preside,
" I remain, " Right Rev. and dear Sir, " Very faithfully your affectionate Brother,
" J. H. HOBART." 1
Of his reception in Scotland, the Bishop writes to Mr. Berrian :
" ABERDEEN, Jan 8, 1824.
" MY DEAR BERRIAN :
"I have received your welcome letter of Nov. last. I hope that I shall find at London on my return, to which I shall set off to-morrow, much more recent letters from New York. I have passed a week here most delightfully with Bishop Skinner and one of his venerable colleagues who came here for the purpose of seeing me, Bishop Jolly, one of the most apostolic and primitive men I ever saw, and with Bishop Skinner's brother, the Revd John Skinner of Forfar (at whose house I also was), the author of the Annals of Scottish Episcopacy. From them and from the hos- pitable gentlemen of the congregation, I have received the kindest attentions. One morning I found on my table a card of 'Mr. Macleod.' Next morning I called on him with Bishop Skinner at his residence near the city, and found that tho' a staunch Episco- palian, he is a brother of Dr. Macleod of N. Y, and where, having resided in Canada, he has frequently been and seen me. He is a particular acquaintance of D. B., & T. L. Ogden. He did not know of my being in this country until he saw me in Church on Sunday. As we were leaving his house, a gentleman came in whom he intro- duced as his brother-in-law, Mr. Burnet, and after we left the house Mr. Burnet mentioned that he had heard of me on the St Lawrence, where I believe at the River St. Louis or some such name, you had accosted him during our memorable journey there last August.
1 Neale's Life of Bishop Torry, p. 110, where, however, the date of the letter is wrongly given as 1823.
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Bishop Skinner
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" Mr. Burnet has just come from Canada. I have mentioned this to give you an idea how forcibly you have been called to my mind, and under these impressions I now write, assuring you of my warmest and liveliest affection. During this season my heart is with my family, with you, with my brethren, with the Vestry, with my congregations, I may say with my diocese for every blessing on them. Tell them so far as you can.
"Yours most truly and affectionately, "J. H. HOBART." 1
When the Bishop of Aberdeen heard that Dr. Hobart was leaving Scotland he kindly sent him some letters of introduction to persons in England.
" ABERDEEN 13th Jan! 1824.
" RIGHT REVP & DEAR SIR,
" I most gladly fulfil my promise of sending you a letter of intro- duction to my excellent & deeply learned friend, Dr. Nicol, the Regius Professor of Hebrew at Christ Church, Oxford : and in him I am certain you will find one most ready & willing to shew you whatever is worthy of being seen, & to explain to you whatever you may wish to know, with respect to our System of education, whether theological or classical in that far famed University. I am still of opinion that next month will be by far the best season for your visiting Oxford ; as then you will find all ranks & degrees at their posts, & occupied as usual in their literary pursuits; Lent term being generally the busiest season. Nicol must be greatly altered since his elevation, if he be not a man much to your mind, & much to your purpose at the same time ; & I shall feel greatly disappointed if he fail to shew you, in the way most agreeable to you, the attentions which you may wish.
"We deeply lamented the very uncomfortable day, on which you left Aberdeen, & sincerely hope you may have felt no inconvenience from so unpleasant a journey as you must have had to Dundee. I shall be much more anxious now to hear of your welfare, after having enjoyed the pleasure of becoming personally acquainted with you, & receiving ample & abundant confirmation of all those pleasing antici- pations of your character, which I had been previously led to form, as well from your very valuable writings, as from the concurring report of all who had seen you. I certainly shall not soon forget the first
1 Berrian MSS.
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week of 1824, but will recur to it with the fondest recollection as em- bracing within its limits some of my happiest days.
".When you can find as much leisure during your travels it will always be a high gratification to Mrs. Skinner & me to be informed of your welfare, & to hear that you continue to enjoy the many novel scenes, which must present themselves to your observation. We shall look forward with anxious interest to your promised return to Aberdeen ; & when we join in the prayers of the Church for the preservation of all that travel by land or by water, the Bishop of New York shall not be forgotten by us.
"My brother left us on friday morn? & was fortunate in a day very favourable for travelling, which you also would enjoy in visiting St. Andrews. I hope you found Bishop Low in waiting for you ; & not disposed to be very severe on you for the disappointment of a day.
"My Wife & daughter beg earnestly to be united with me in every expression of kind regard & pleasing remembrance and in again offering you my cordial thanks for your delightful visit to us (but oh how short it was) & requesting a place in your prayers, I ever remain, with most sincere esteem, my dear Sir,
"your most faithful & warmly attached Brother,
"W. SKINNER.
" RIGHT REVP. BISHOP HOBART &c., &c., &c."
Bishop Hobart reached London about the third week of January, 1824, and on his return received some invita- tions ; among others, one pleased him much, from Dr. Copleston, the Provost of Oriel, conveyed to him through his friend, Mr. Spry.
"OXFORD, Jany 26, 1824.
" MY DEAR SIR,
"It is, I assure you, a great disappointment to me to find, that I shall not have the pleasure of meeting you in Oxford, and personally introducing you to many of my friends here, who will be very happy to render you any civility in their power.
" I shall leave Oxford myself this morning, having indispensable public engagements in Birmingham tomorrow. But my friend Dr. Copleston, the Provost of Oriel College, has requested me to write to you, and say from him that it will give him very great pleasure to
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The Provost of Oriel
1824]
receive you, and shew you the University ; and he hopes you will take a bed at his House during your stay. He will be in Oxford till the end of this week. But on the following Monday he will be necessarily absent untill the Friday following. If you can so contrive your visit as to suit this arrangement of his time, he will I know be most happy to hear from you that you will accept of his hospitalities. And I very much hope that you will also do me the favour, if possible, of so contriving your visit as to fall in with the Provost's time. He will not be absent from the University at all during the term, with the exception of those few days from the Ist to the 5th of February.
"I am rejoiced to hear that you will still allow me to expect the pleasure of seeing you at Birmingham, before you quit this country. It would have been a sensible mortification to me to have had no opportunity of shewing how sincerely you are respected and esteemed
"by, My dear Sir, "Yours very faithfully, " J. H. SPRY
" Pray write to the Provost of Oriel saying when he may expect you."
The Bishop accordingly immediately wrote to the Provost.
"LONDON Jany 28, 1824.
" REV & DR SIR,
"I feel myself exceedingly honoured by your very polite & kind invitation through Mr Spry to take a bed at your house during my visit to Oxford. The complaint under which I labor that of dyspepsia, requiring a particular attention to regimen & to hours of going to bed & rising which may interfere with the arrangements of a private family, induces me generally to decline invitations of the nature which you with so much kindness proffer. And I believe I must beg you to permit me to remain at lodgings during my visit. I shall, however, be exceedingly happy & feel myself much honored in availing myself in all other respects of your invitation for forming an acquaintance with the Provost of Oriel with whose elevated character from his writings I was acquainted before my visit to this country.
"Circumstances will detain me here until the week after next or
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later ; and I am happy to hear from Mr Spry that after the next week, during the term, I should not fail of the pleasure of seeing you at Oxford.
"I am Rev & D Sir, " Very respectfully " & faithfully " Yrs " J. H. HOBART." 1
Mr. Berrian kept his Bishop well posted on ecclesi- astical affairs in New York; we select this letter as giving an interesting account of his impressions of Mr. Schroeder as a preacher.
" NEW YORK, " Feb. 9, 1824.
"RIGHT REV. & DEAR SIR :
"I could make many apologies for not having answered your last two letters sooner, but I am certain that it will be unnecessary when I assure you that it has neither arisen from forgetfulness nor from wilful neglect. I find many things coming upon me since your absence which leave me less time than ever. Your letter of the 22d Nov. in which you give an account of the return of your chills and fever was quite a disappointment to us, and it was long before we got the grateful relief which your next afforded. Your last letters were precisely two months in reaching New York. The excellent spirits in which you wrote put us all in spirits here, because we con- sidered it as a proof that you was [sic] better. In the attentions which you receive, and the pleasure you derive from the interesting society in which you are thrown, not only your personal friends find a gratification but all who love the Church and even their country. We hear, however, many extravagant rumours here in regard to the attentions which you receive that can neither be reconciled with your own accounts nor the peculiar habits of the English people.
"Things go on well in the Church generally, and in our parish in particular. Mr. Schroeder is the theme of every tongue, and he has such a variety of popular qualities, as to suit almost all the various tastes among the people. There are many, however, who do not give in to the general extravagance of the multitude in
1 The above is a draft in the Bishop's writing, and headed " Copy. To Dr. Cople- ston, Provost of Oriel College, Oxford."
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Letter from Mr. Berrian
1824]
admiring him and a few who, very often, do not admire him at all. Mr. W. begins to declaim very gravely on the vanity of popular applause, and to accuse our public of caprice.
"Doane has been improving rapidly, in fact, and more in the opinion of our people.
"Our Sunday congregations are good and our Friday evening lectures well attended in general, but particularly when Mr. S. preaches, for no one within my remembrance has been so much run after. You would of course wish to learn even the melancholy events among your acquaintances and friends. You have, perhaps, already heard of one, the death of Mr. Irving, which has given us all great pain. He died among strangers at the little town of Le Luc between Toulon & Frejus, on the 15th of Nov" I have known him long and about as intimately as he could be known, and I have taken some notice of him in the Christian Journal, with I believe as much truth as sincerity. Poor Billings of the Seminary took the variety of small-pox which is somewhat prevalent among us called the varioloid, and having neither been innoculated or vaccinated he died a few days since. Yvonnett and Stone also had it but have recovered, the disease in their case being mitigated by their having had either the small-pox or kine-pock before.
" Dr. Watts has lost two of his children, who died in the same week. After such melancholy accounts it will be gratifying to hear that all your family friends are well.
" Jane was much gratified by your remembrance of her which came safely with the other books, and Elizabeth and Hobart were delighted.
"Yours very affectionately, " WILLIAM BERRIAN."'
The Mr. Irving referred to in the above letter was the Rev. William S. Irving a near relative of Washington Irving.
The desire of some members of the Scottish Church, and particularly the Rev. John Skinner of Forfar, for the establishment of an Ecclesiastical Synod as the governing body in which should sit the Bishops, with chosen repre- sentatives of the clergy and laymen, received a new 1 Berrian MSS.
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impetus when it was learned from Bishop Hobart of the success of the General Convention in the United States.
Mr. Skinner issued a long address in February, 1824, in the form of a circular letter to the Bishops and clergy, ad- vocating this plan. It was received with very great dis- favor. Bishop Torry, who was Mr. Skinner's diocesan, said that "the adoption of the democratical part of the constitution of the American Church would be a com- plete innovation on our system. It may be useful in such a country as America, though its natural tendency is to de- grade the apostolical authority of Episcopal pre-eminence."1
On his second visit to London, Bishop Hobart saw a little more of its life, and judging from this letter from Lord Shaftesbury (who was the father of the well-known philan- thropist) the Bishop attended the debates in the House of Lords :
" 2ยช February, 1824.
" MY DEAR MR. HENRY HANDLEY,
" I shall have great pleasure in helping the Bp. of New York to- morrow.
" Does he wish to see the Ceremony of opening the Parliament or only to be present at the Debate ?
"In the first case he must be at the H. of Lords soon after two o'clock, in the latter case he need not be there before five.
" The King will not be present. He will therefore probably be satisfied with hearing the Debate.
"Let him inquire for me at the House of Lords. I shall be there in good Time.
" Is there any probability that old Mother Bartlett's buildings will add to her large Set of Tracts soon ? I am going to buy a Set for the use of my Parish before I go out of Town and should like to have my Set a complete one.
" Ever yours,
"SHAFTESBURY."
1 Pp. 115, Life of Bishop Torry.
The authorities for Bishop Hobart's visit to Scotland in addition to the Memoir are : pp. 175, 176, Dr. Grub's Ecclesiastical History, iv .; pp. 110-112, 115, Dr. Neale's Life of Bishop Torry ; p. 579, W. Stephen's History of the Scottish Church.
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Letter from Mr. Stanford
1824]
"Old Mother Bartlett's buildings" was the familiar designation then given to the S. P. C. K.
From Mr. Stanford's correspondence we select the fol- lowing interesting and affectionate letter :
"NEW YORK, March 15, 1824.
" RT. REV. & DR. SIR
" I sett down gratefully to acknowledge your esteemed favours of the 29th Jany & 13th Feby; the last by a most fortunate passage, was placed into my hands exactly three weeks after its date. We were grieved to find that you were still troubled with the Dispepsia. All your friends had hoped that the sea voyage & change of air & scene would have long ere this completely eradicated this disease. It must in a great degree affect your enjoyment abroad. We look forward for more cheering accounts after you get into the milder climate of France & Italy. Continued & ernest prayer will be addressed to the great Head of the Church, for the improvement of your health, & for your safety while so distant from your country & all you hold dear. I have been sensibly affected by the kind tone of your letters: and it shall ever be remembered while I live that to you under God I am in- debted for those inestimable religious privileges I am permitted to en- joy in the bosom of that Church founded by Christ and his Apostles. If I had never known you it is possible I might never have known my church. What a debt of gratitude is therefore due to you, and which it will employ years to cancel. Pass over then, Dear Sir, those trifling services which you so kindly acknowledge & consider them as justly your own due.
" I have called upon your family & other friends for letters, & many have promised to write; and from what I now have in possession I think I will be able to enclose a dozen. I shall continue to do so by every Packet. Mr. Onderdonk as I before stated has been for some time preparing an answer to your Cincinnati & other assailants. It is, as far as printed most excellent, & will exhibit a complete vindication of all that you have done in relation to Bishop Chace. It will be nearly as large as Corrector 1 (No. I) and the expence is to be defrayed by myself & 6 other of your friends. In a postscript he will give the Docu- ments in the Ch: Journal for Jany, & also the pamphlets inclosed with your letter of Feby 13 which are also to appear in the Journal for
' Nom de plume of Hobart when replying to William Jay in the Bible Society controversy.
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April. There has been much excitement here & in Conn' about this business & the necessity of furnishing correct information is of the ut- most importance. I will now enclose you as much as is worked off. As soon as they are completed (& as we have all the copy in the house, that will be in a week,) I will send to Mr. Norris 50 Copies to be dis- tributed under his direction, & also some more to await your return to Ldn. I will send one to each clergyman throughout the U. S. & to such laymen as hold distinguished rank in the church.
" There was some talk about a month ago of Bristed's going to R. Island for orders. Such however was the excitement produced by this circumstance that I suspect the fellow has been intimidated.
"Dr. Milnor certainly signed his testimonial, & as certainly Bp. G. had give him encouragement. Duchachett is not yet ordained, but is dashing about in Masss as a lay reader with all the apparent privileges of a clergyman.
" The Rev. W. A. Clark has been here as Agent for the Geneva College more than 8 weeks. He has had to encounter many difficul- ties. He is a most excellent man, & is as devotedly attached to you as any of your clergy. Of this I have had ample means of judging. He will write you very particularly about the business of his mission. I think before your return Geneva College will have funds to the amount of $100,000, thanks to the Citizens of New York City for a small part, however.
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