USA > New York > New York City > A history of the parish of Trinity Church in the city of New York, pt 4 > Part 27
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1 Records, liber iii., folio 453.
2 Ibid., 453 ; also folio 475.
.
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History of Trinity Church [1847
aid of friends among New York Churchmen ; contributed largely of his own means; and planned an appropriate structure in the Gothic style to be erected by permission of the U. S. Government. Finally, he applied to the Cor- poration of Trinity for aid, proposing to style the building " The Trinity Church Mission Chapel." The application was referred to the Standing Committee, who reported on the 14th of June, 1847, disavowing any act on the part of the Vestry towards making the building a chapel of the Parish or assuming its full support, but recommending, in view of the very interesting character of the work and the wish of the Vestry that it should be permanent and suc- cessful, that at the proper time a moderate contribution should be made to the funds in course of collection by Dr. McVickar. At a subsequent date an annual appropriation of $250 was made towards the support of the chapel, with a distinct declaration, however, that it was not to be considered as a Chapel of the Parish.1
The only provision for divine service at the post was the permitted use on Sunday morning of the room used for post headquarters. The inconvenience of this ar- rangement and the unattractiveness of a bare room with- out any spiritual associations were very soon apparent to the Chaplain. His influence with high army officials, and especially General Scott, the Commander-in-Chief, re- sulted in " a personal lease from the Government of about one hundred and fifty feet square on the south side, sub- ject to the exigencies of war." 2
Dr. McVickar put into the building of the chapel much time and great energy. Writing to his son, the Rev.
1 Records, liber iii., folio 447 ; also folio 453.
' P. 310, The Life of the Reverend John Mc Vickar, S. T.D., Professor of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy, Belles-Lettres, Political Economy and the Evi- dences in Columbia College. By his son, William A. McVickar, D.D. New York.
إذ
مصفترة
Chapelof S! Cornelius the Centurion.
309
St. Cornelius's Chapel
1847]
Henry Mc Vickar, then a missionary near Lake George, in 1846, he says :
"My church goes on beautifully. It grows upon me every time I see it. It has, beyond any little church I know, the two elements I want in a rural church of God-humility and reverence. These are both strongly awakened, and when summer comes you cannot imagine a more beautiful spot. It is true it is something against architectural rule, but I have chosen to work rather with the 'elements' than under 'models,' and thus to work out the same problem by original methods, I look to the effect and work it out as I can. This is great talk for a little church, but I think you will like it. As to cost, it will sum up when finished to near $2500. What I can raise by the help of friends I will ; what I cannot I must bear, and hold it as a consecrated gift laid on God's altar, a trespass offering for years of over-devotion to the acquisition of wealth." 1
While the chapel was building, and occasionally after- wards, it is a tradition of the island that Dr. McVickar held open-air services. The chapel was completed early in 1847, and was consecrated by the Bishop of Western New York, Dr. DeLancey, on April 19, 1847, by the name of "The Chapel of Saint Cornelius the Centurion."
It was in every respect adapted to the work the Chap- lain intended to do among the soldiers of the garrison and the hundreds who were sent there as raw recruits awaiting orders for joining the regiments to which they were as- signed. Dr. McVickar found among them men of rare culture and high education, who sometimes through fam- ily reasons, discouragement, or want of money had joined
the army. He was able in many cases to be the consoler, the confidential friend, and generous almoner of men who had almost lost hope and courage. Several instances are given in his Life of the gratitude of those to whom he had ministered spiritually and temporally. The activity at the post was very great during the earlier years of his
1 Pp. 310, 311, Life of Dr. Mc Vickar.
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inahrens sor
310
History of Trinity Church
[1847
· chaplaincy, for it was the period of the Mexican War. It shows his fidelity to the soldiers going to the field when it is known that several bequests for the benefit of the chapel were made by privates who had died in Mexican hospitals.
A survival of his work is to-day of very great interest to army officers and civilians. These are the shields hung upon the walls of his chapel bearing proper devices and inscriptions. The first to be thus made a votive offering in the house of God were by two regiments returning from Mexico. Each is blazoned with a cross and an appropriate motto. From time to time other shields were set up, un- til now they make the chapel unique in this, for there is nothing like them anywhere else.1
Dr. Mc Vickar had both a deep sense of duty and also a vein of tender sentiment which found expression in this method of thanking Almighty God for deliverance in the day of battle and danger.
He gathered the communicants among the commis- sioned officers in the several regiments, and after reading to them from the Bible and praying with them, the project of placing a shield for each in the chapel was set before them and they were requested to choose an appropriate text for it. In 1849 Dr. McVickar writes :
" The little church of St. Cornelius is growing in historic interest as well as in beauty. The three successive commands of the island have all their mementoes on its walls, texts selected by them with ap- propriate shields ; and what is more satisfactory yet, I never had a better attendance from the officers." 2
Dr. McVickar continued his work to an advanced age, and until an order was made by the War Department that all chaplains should reside at their posts, a regulation with which it was impossible for him to comply. After his resignation, and the abolition of the Post Chaplaincy at
1 For the inscription see Appendix.
2 P. 315, Life of Dr. Mc Vickar.
Recruiting Depot,
san!
IS42.
THE SURVIVORS
Juscribed
.
these.
to the glory
of God ..
Grinity S
ing
4 1449.
Sh:
A Reg' Arty & m
Co' A.B.K.
2.
the st,
soldini≤ of
1849
4,4 9
THESE SL SHIELDS
ARE SET UP
at the cost of
SOLDIERS
returned from MEXICO.
-
The Memorial Shields in It Cornelius's Chapel.
·
1847]
3II
St. Cornelius's Chapel
Fort Columbus, on the ground that the good people of New York ought to have interest enough in the soldiers to look after them without expense to the Government, the chapel was in danger of secularization ; to avert which disaster, the Corporation of Trinity offered to maintain a chaplain at the post on condition that they should be al- lowed the exclusive use of the building. The Govern- ment willingly entered into that arrangement, and since the year 1868 St. Cornelius's has been practically one of the Mission Chapels of the Parish.
Now that the little chapel is to give way to a larger modern church built by this Corporation, these details of its history have a peculiar appropriateness.
To continue the narrative of applications made about this time: The City Mission Society, finding itself in great financial difficulty, applied to this Corporation for immediate aid. Mortgages upon two of its church edi- fices, the Church of the Holy Evangelists, in Vandewater Street, and the Church of the Epiphany, in Stanton Street, were about to be foreclosed, and the sale of those churches ordered by the Court of Chancery. It was determined to aid the Society by loaning the congregations worshipping in them, should they become the purchasers, "so much of the proceeds of the sale as shall be payable to it by reason of the present mortgage upon the premises, the amounts, with interest, to be secured by bonds and mortgages, which last may be subsequent and subject to previous mortgages, to be given by such Church Corporations, for the purpose of raising the remainder of the purchase money." The Standing Committee was authorized to act for the Cor- poration in the way they should deem best for the protec- tion of its interests. By this prompt action the two edifices were saved to the Church.1
1 Records, liber iii., folio 448.
الـ
د
312
History of Trinity Church
[1847
Another incident of this period shows that the way for legislation on a subject of great importance was prepared and made ready in the proceedings of the Corporation. It will be conceded that the establishment of churches in places where they are not needed, and their multiplica- tion without regard to the wants of the district, far from being a blessing, is a misfortune and an evil. There must be limits to freedom in the formation of new parishes. The matter was brought up by the removal of several churches, notably St. George's, from their old positions, and the following of their parishioners to other parts of the town. This led the Vestry to inquire of the Rector "by what authority and permission new parishes are formed in this City, and how, and in what way the assent of this Corporation is given, if it is necessary in any case." They also desired to know whether a new parish " formed out of others, in any part of the City, can change its loca- tion without the consent of any other previously estab- lished parish whatever."' The Rector, having given the subject careful and immediate attention, read an elaborate statement on the subject.
He cited the provisions of Canon XXXI concerning parish boundaries and clerical intrusion. For both pur- poses, where definite territorial boundaries had not been made in any town or city, it was necessary before any new parish could be formed, or any clergyman officiate "in any other place than one of the churches thereof," to obtain the consent " of the major number of the parochial clergy of the city or town."? The practice had obtained in New York of asking consent of the neighboring clergy only whenever a new parish was formed. Consent was usually given, but
1 Records, liber iii., folio 448.
2 Canon XXXI of 1832, see p. 22, Constitution and Canons appended to General Convention Journal, 1847, is substantially incorporated in Title I, Canon XVIII, Sec. VI, of the present Digest; p. 56, Digest, appended to Journal, General Convention, 1901.
السيد
313
Organization of New Parishes
1847]
such " action was often based upon considerations of deli- cacy, from the apprehension of being thought indifferent to the general good on mere selfish grounds, or from per- sonal regard and concern for the projector, inducing to concealment of their views of the case, however inex- pedient or unpromising it may appear." Such considera- tions would have no weight with the rest of the clergy, who might feel no restraint from these motives, and be prepared to express their opinions and dissent both freely and justly. The present course violated both the letter and the spirit of the Canon.
"The careful observer must have noted that some of the projects, at least, that have been started for raising up new congregations among us, were not only of doubtful utility in reference to their location and usefulness, but apparently, so mixed up with personal considerations, however unconsciously to the parties themselves, as to make strict inquiry on the part of this Corporation in regard to every new estab- lishment, an act of prudence and duty, since upon this body the main burden of the support of a large portion must eventually fall."
The Rector, however, "did not have the least desire to discourage any plan which gives a reasonable prospect of usefulness and success." His only thought and design were " to counsel a just discrimination, and a right exer- cise of the bounty of this munificent Corporation." 1
The Rector was thanked for his report, and it was de- termined that measures be taken to inquire carefully into the circumstances of the organization of each new parish, before granting aid to it.
Reference has already been made to the attempt to in- vade Trinity churchyard by an extension of Albany Street to Broadway. The effort was renewed, its advocates claiming that such extension would not disfigure the an- cient place of sepulture. The petitioners, though few in
1 No. 472, Berrian MSS. Also, Records, liber iii., folio 465.
314
History of Trinity Church [1847
number, were persistent; it was a scheme to benefit a small group of property holders, without regard to the needs of the public or the rights of the dead ; nor could there be imagined a more preposterous idea than to make a new street parallel to another, and not more than fifty feet distant from it, as if any benefit could result to the people from the establishment of such additional thorough- fare. The Clerk and Comptroller were authorized and directed to present a remonstrance to the Board of Alder- men on behalf of the Corporation.1 The result was favor- able. Mr. Harison made the gratifying announcement that the Board of Assistant Aldermen had adopted a report adverse to the scheme.
On the roth of May, 1847, a letter to Mr. Hone, chair- man of the Committee on the Restoration of the tomb of Captain Lawrence, from his widow, Mrs. Julia Lawrence, was communicated to the Vestry, conveying the expression of her warm and most grateful acknowledgments for the " kindness and delicacy which had marked their proceed- ings in the erection and completion of the appropriate monument in memory of her brave and gallant husband."
The first anniversary of the consecration of the new church was reverently observed. It is recorded in the Minutes, that the Vestry, "having heard with much pleas- ure and satisfaction that on Thursday next, the Festival of the Ascension, and the Anniversary of the Consecra- tion of the Church, the Rector has appointed the full service and a sermon, resolved that the members of the Vestry will attend in a body." The music, on that occa- sion, was of the most devotional and inspiring character ; the sermon was preached by the Rev. Benjamin I. Haight, D.D. From that day to the present time, the day has been celebrated, with due formality and great joy, and the
1 Records, liber iii., folio 446.
315
The Choral School
1847]
Resolution to attend the services at Trinity Church on Ascension Day appears, every year, on the Minutes of the Vestry.
A report of the condition of the Choral School at St. John's Chapel, made June 14, 1847, by the Music Com- mittee, stated that it had been in active operation for six months, the boys receiving both religious and secular training, and the "best daily teaching and practice in Music." The cost of maintaining was estimated at about five hundred dollars a year, " in addition to the sum paid the musical instructor, which is derived from the ordinary appropriation for the music of St. John's Chapel"; and the Committee added, " should the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars be appropriated to St. Paul's Chapel, and another like sum to St. John's, they may both have the privilege which St. John's now enjoys, of music upon all prayer days, and a valuable addition to the choirs for Sunday service." It was thought that it would require at least a year, and most probably two years, to get a set of boys fully prepared, after which there would " be a regular succession of boys, and it is believed they may then be a substitute for female singers, and the above mentioned appropriation be no longer needed."1 The appropriation requested was made for the half-year ending October Ist. The school had the careful oversight of Dr. Wainwright, who was a skilled musician ; and if it had been possible to maintain it at its original high standard, it would have changed the character of the music throughout the Parish, and conformed it sooner to the English cathedral type.
On the 28th of June, 1847, the special Committee on the proceedings at Albany, in relation to the repeal of the Act of 1814, made a full and detailed report of its action, which was approved, and the report ordered to be entered
1 Records, liber iii., folio 449.
:
316
History of Trinity Church [1847
in the Report Book. The Vestry also heard with great satisfaction that the troublesome and vexatious suit of John Bogardus, an heir of Anneke Jans, claimant to a portion of the church farm, which had been dragging its slow length through the various courts of the State for seventeen years, in every one of which without exception judgment had been given in favor of the church, had on that day been finally decided by the Vice Chancellor, Judge Sandford, in the High Court of Chancery, in favor of the Corporation, in an elaborate opinion.1 The Vestry, recognizing the great importance of that opinion, ordered that it be printed and widely circulated. Judge Sandford states with clearness the various aspects of the case brought before him ; and examines the claim of Mr. Bogardus, the manner in which it was supported, and the plea of Trinity Church of long possession, at great length. He concludes his opinion by saying, "that a plainer case has never been presented to him as a judge." The magni- tude of the interests involved alone prompted him to give a written judgment.
"If the titles to land were to be litigated successfully upon a claim which had been suspended for five generations," he declares, " few titles in this country would be secure under such an adminis- tration of the law ; and its'adoption would lead to scenes of fraud, corruption, and foul injustice, and legal rapine far worse in their consequence upon the peace, good order, and happiness of society, than external war or domestic insurrection."
From his decision no appeal was ever taken. Claim- ants, however, at various times have given annoyance to
" The monograph of Mr. Nash upon the " Title to the King's Farms," printed on pp. 292-310 of Part II. of this History, gives all the facts in this and other legal con- tests for the property of Trinity Church. The Bogardus case is noticed on pp. 305-307. Records, liber iii., folio 451.
2 See Sandford's Chancery Reports, vol. iv., pp. 633-762, quoted in Part II., of this History, pp. 306-307.
317
Church Work at Carmansville
1847]
the Corporation by repeated and always futile attempts at church robbery.1
At a meeting held September 13, 1847, the Rector presented an interesting report upon the Communion plate of the Parish. Much of it had been the gift of former sovereigns of England, some had been presented by individuals, very little had been directly purchased. The old silver was massive, but without any great orna- mentation, beyond the royal arms and cypher. In all there were forty-two pieces, of which eight were flagons, varying in weight from sixty-four and a half to forty-four and a half ounces. Most of these sacred vessels are still in use, and are a precious heritage from the past.2
It was the intention of the Corporation to build, at some proper time, a chapel within the cemetery at Car- mansville, and a plot of ground, still unoccupied, was reserved for that purpose. The Cemetery Committee brought in a report on the subject, stating that it would cost $4500 to build such a chapel, and $500 in addition to provide an organ; and further that Mr. Carman, from whom that district had been named, had offered the use of a room in a large building opposite the grounds, by way of preparation for the work. A small appropriation was made for the purpose but the design was forestalled by the establishment of services in Carmansville, under the auspices of St. Andrew's Church, Harlem, the Rev. Stephen Douglas being the officiant ; and it was ordered that the amount appropriated be given to him as a contri- bution to his work. Subsequently, December 22, 1847, a parish was organized under the name of the Church of the Intercession, of which the Rev. Richard M. Abercrombie,
1 See the opinion of Col. William Jay, the present counsel, clerk, and Junior Warden of the Parish, in the Year Book for 1902, pp. 188-192.
,
* Records, liber iii., folio 455. See also Inventory of Church Plate, 1905.
.
-18
.
318
History of Trinity Church
[1847
Rector of St. Andrew's, was chosen Rector. The first Wardens were Mr. Abel T. Anderson, a member of Trinity Parish, and afterwards a Vestryman, 1852-1855, and Mr. J. R. Morewood.
On the 6th of October, 1847, the General Convention met in St. John's Chapel. It was a time of great excite- ment over "Puseyism," aggravated by the conditions of the Diocese of New York. The interest centred around the House of Bishops, in connection with the strong desire for restoration of Dr. Onderdonk to the exercise of his office. A particularly aggressive partisanship was shown by both the "High " and " Low" Churchmen ; but in the solemn opening service no intimation of the undercurrent of strife and debate appeared. Twenty-five bishops, one hundred and three clerical, and eighty-three lay, deputies were in attendance. The preacher was the Rt. Rev. Dr. John Henry Hopkins, Bishop of Vermont. His theme was, " Unity of the Church Consistent with the Division of Party." Treating the question from the historic point of view, he argued that the Judaistic and Gentile parties in the Apostolic Church had at least the tacit approbation of the Apostolic College. Without dwelling upon the divisions of the Church in the earlier centuries, and the party controversies, which were conducted without de- stroying its unity, he sketched briefly the characteristics of the two great parties in the Church of England. "I need hardly remind you, brethren, that these two parties were, on the one side, those who were partial to the tastes and habits derived from Romanism, and on the other side, the Continental reformers of the Zwinglian and Calvinistic schools, who had preceded the English Bishops in their great effort to restore the Church of Christ to its primitive purity." He pleads for parties as a necessity of our human nature, as allowing wide toleration of opinion ; by their
319
The Onderdonk Case
1847]
contentions affording "the best security for truth in our present state of imperfection "; they stimulate enquiry ; and are indispensable to completeness in the Church, as each is based upon some element of truth. He admits the evil that results from party spirit, but insists "that even the violence of party spirit shall never be allowed to destroy the substantial unity of the Church of God, for it is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone"; but to alleviate the danger lying in party spirit, we must look to the grace of Christian charity. "Errors of judgment, errors of temper, errors of insincerity, we must expect to find, for who is perfect?" "Charity can always bear in mind, that notwithstanding all their attendant evils, parties in the Church are like parties in the State, the conservators of her liberties, and the guardians of her constitution." 1
Discussions in the House of Bishops are only known by the voluntary disclosures of members of that House. The opposition to any reconciliation, or the restoration of Dr. Onderdonk was strong, and was supported by arguments by skilled parliamentarians, and those who called themselves the " defenders of the purity of the Church." The friends of Bishop Onderdonk could not overcome a feeling pub- licly expressed and widely entertained, that signs of "re- pentance" should be seen in the suspended Bishop before any effectual measures could be taken for his restoration to the duties of his office. There was a long, animated, and bitter debate in the lower house on the canons in- tended to meet the exigencies of the Diocese of New York, which had been prepared in response to the request of that Diocese by a joint Committee, the first providing a method for remitting judicial sentences, the second determining the
1 P. 22, Bishop Hopkins's Convention Sermon, 1847.
320
History of Trinity Church
[1847
time of suspension of a Bishop, and the third making the Standing Committee of a diocese, whose Bishop is under any disability, the ecclesiastical authority, and providing that it may be placed under the provisional charge of any Bishop, on invitation of the Standing Committee. The most remarkable speeches in the course of the debate were those of Dr. Hawks, arguing that the Diocese of New York was vacant, which was eloquent and sarcastic, and the reply of Dr. John Ogilby, which was calm, judicial, and convincing. Finally, after many amendments and counter propositions, the canons were adopted.1
Among the acts of the Convention were the signing of the testimonials of the Bishop-elect of Maine, Dr. George Burgess, and the consent to the erection of Wisconsin into a diocese, and the election of Bishop Kemper as its di- ocesan. The Rector of this Parish was a clerical deputy, and chairman of the Committee on New Dioceses. Among the deputies were two members of the Vestry, Mr. Gulian C. Verplanck, and Mr. David B. Ogden. The sessions extended from Wednesday, October 6th, to Thursday, October 28th.
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