USA > New York > New York City > A history of the parish of Trinity Church in the city of New York, pt 4 > Part 30
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Death of Dr. Ogilby
1851]
On the 11th of November, 1850, an allowance of $150 was made to the Rector to provide for services in the Old St. George's, and $250 to a special committee for that purpose.
An application by Hose Co. No. 8 for ground in the rear of St. Paul's Chapel on which to build an Engine House was declined, on the ground that it was inexpedient " to hazard any disturbance of graves a large number of which have been made in a space where only such can be placed." 1
The Rev. John Ogilby, D.D., Professor of History in the General Theological Seminary, a man of great and growing usefulness, had been travelling in Europe for more than a year in the hope of restoring his impaired health. He was most affectionately remembered in the Parish, and frequent prayers for his recovery were offered. On the roth of February, 1851, the Vestry granted five hundred dollars towards his travelling expenses. Before the letter announcing the gift had reached Europe, he had ended his earthly life at Paris, on Sunday, February 2, 1851, in the forty-first year of his age. The funeral ser- vice was held in Trinity Church, with a sermon by his inti- mate friend, Bishop Doane of New Jersey. The Vestry attended the funeral in a body.
The destruction of St. Thomas's Church by fire early in March, 1851, led to the appointment of the Rector, the Hon. Samuel Jones, and Mr. Robert Hyslop, as a com- mittee to express the sympathy of Trinity Church with that congregation, and to offer it " such accommodation as its church and chapels may afford."2 It also offered "the use of St. George's Chapel in Beekman Street for service at night, in case it should either be needed or desired."3 The answer from St. Thomas's Church was
: 1 Records, liber iv., folio 21. 2 Ibid., liber iii., folio 30. 3 Ibid., folio 36.
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received in April, in a letter from the Rector and the War- dens, enclosing a resolution of the Vestry of St. Thomas's Church on April 11, 1851, in which the sympathy of the venerable Corporation of Trinity Church is received with peculiar gratitude, and thanks are returned " for the offer of temporary accommodation." In the letter of the Rector and Wardens, it is said : " That some, influenced by old associa- tion, and others, by the knowledge of your kind invitation, have already found their temporary place in your Churches ; and will continue to do so, during what we fear must be a long interruption, if not fatal disturbance of our own household of faith.".
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CHAPTER XVI.
TRINITY CHURCH AND THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION.
The Jubilee in 1851 of the S. P. G .- Letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury- Reply from Diocese of New York-Committee Appointed by Trinity to Take Action- Resolutions and Address of Vestry Sent to the Venerable Society-Commemoration Service in Trinity Church-Sermon by Dr. McVickar-Special Offering by the Parish- Suggestion by Bishop Hopkins for a Pan-Anglican Council-Reply of the S. P. G .- Invitation from Archbishop of Canterbury to American Church to Send a Delegation to England for the Concluding Jubilee Services-Informal Meeting of House of Bishops-Dr. Wainwright Selected to Represent American Church-Leave of Absence and Donation Granted by Vestry-Presentation by Bishop De Lancey of Portrait of Caleb Heathcote-Arrangements for Transfer of St. George's Chapel to Congregation of the Holy Evangelists-Application from St. George's Chapel for Certain Repairs Granted by Vestry-Portrait of Bishop Provoost Presented to Corporation-Resigna- tion of General Laight as Warden-Plans for Chapel on Twenty-fifth Street Considered -Financial Condition of Parish-Resolutions as to Building Chapel on Twenty-fifth Street-Plans and Specifications for New Chapel Adopted-First Public Service of Church Choral Society-Death of General Laight and Adam Tredwell-Increase of Clerical Staff Considered-Petition of Geneva College for Modification in Terms of Endowment Considered and Granted-Election of Dr. Creighton as Bishop of New York-His Declination-William Augustus Muhlenberg-His Plans for a Hospital- Site on Fifth Avenue Belonging to St. George the Martyr Transferred with Consent of Trinity Parish to the New St. Luke's Hospital-Conditions of Transfer.
T HE Society for the Propagation of the Gospel ob- served its third Jubilee year, June 16, 1851 to June 16, 1852, with a series of thanksgiving services held in Eng- land and the various countries to which its missionaries had gone. These services were not only reminiscent and historical, but also adapted to increase the interest in missionary work throughout the world.
It was also determined to receive the alms and offer- ings of the faithful for a Jubilee Fund for the extension of the work of the Society.
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A circular letter from the President of the Venerable Society the Most Reverend John Bird Sumner, Arch- bishop of Canterbury, was sent to every American Bishop suggesting "the joint celebration of a jubilee in which all the members of our Church must feel a common interest," and expressing a desire for closer union with the Church in America. The Archbishop expressly disclaimed any wish that the offerings at these services should be given to the Jubilee Fund : "We desire no gift, but only your Christian sympathy and the Communion of Prayer. If, however, the alms of your congregations be added to their prayers we should rejoice to see them appropriated to the behalf of the present needs of your own Church."
The letter for the Diocese of New York, addressed " To the Acting Bishop in the Diocese of New York," and dated at Lambeth, March 28, 1851, reached New York early in May.
Upon the Standing Committee, then acting as the Ec- clesiastical Authority of the Diocese, devolved the duty of making reply to this invitation. In doing so they recipro- cated the sentiments of good-will expressed by the Arch- bishop and acknowledged the indebtedness of the Church in America to the Venerable Society. Accepting his sug- gestion, they informed him that
"the opening of the Jubilee year will accordingly be celebrated in Trinity Church, New York, the mother church of the Diocese, on Monday June, 16, by divine service and a sermon and the administration of the Holy Communion on which occasion the clergy and laity, gen- erally, have been invited to attend ; and we have also recommended, that, on the first Sunday after Trinity, June 22, or on the first Sunday thereafter, which may be more convenient, appropriate sermons be preached in every church in the Diocese, and a Collection made to be appropriated to the Oregon Mission, or some branch of the Missions of the Church."
The Vestry next considered the proper action to be
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1851]
taken by them in reference to that most interesting oc- casion. It was resolved to attend the service in a body, and make an offering of the sum of $3000 to be applied to sustaining missions in the Diocese of New York, and also, as a further testimonial of their gratitude for the great things done by the Venerable Society, that an an- nuity of $250 be paid to " the Right Reverend Incumbent of the Missionary Bishopric of Cape Palmas in Africa, until this Vestry shall see fit to pay to some person or persons, or body thereto authorized by the General Con- vention, a capital sum of five thousand dollars to be duly secured to that object." It was also resolved that a copy of the resolutions and an address of congratulation be sent to the Venerable Society in London " to be signed by all the Members of the Vestry : and that the Reverend, the Clergy of the Parish, be requested to join in and sign the same." 1 The address, sealed with the corporate seal of the Church, was forwarded to the Rev. Prebendary Hawkins, Secretary of the Society.
On the day appointed for the commemoration of the Jubilee by the Diocese of New York, Trinity Church was filled long before the hour of service. It is said that two thousand persons occupied Broadway and the approaches to the church, unable to enter. Special invitations had been sent to the Wardens and Vestrymen of the parishes of the city and vicinity. The faculty and students of Col- umbia College assembled at the College 2 and marched in procession to Trinity Church, wearing the academic cos- tume. Each class was preceded by a marshal with a white baton.3 The procession was met at the north
1 Records, liber iv., folio 445.
2 The College was then in College Place, its original site. It was removed to Forty-ninth Street in 1857.
3 The Rector and pupils of Trinity School and the Rev. Mr. Powell's Military School on Staten Island also attended the services and had specially reserved seats.
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sacristy door by the Wardens and Vestrymen of Trinity Church, other vestries, and the assembled clergy. The augmented procession moved around the chancel to the south side of the church and thence to the great tower entrance, and up the middle aisle. The officiants, six deacons and twelve priests, vested in surplices and stoles, entered from the south sacristy and took their places in the chancel. The priests occupied the stalls and the deacons seats in front of them.
The opening voluntary was from the Messiah : " The Lord gave the word."
Morning Prayer was begun by the Rev. Martin P. Parks. The Ninth Selection was used instead of the Psalm for the day. The First Lesson, Isaiah liv., was read by Rev. Dr. R. U. Morgan of Christ Church, Rye.1 The Second Lesson, St. John xvii., was read by the Rev. Charles H. Halsey, Rector of Christ Church, New York City.
The Benedictus was also from the Consecration ser- vice. The Creed and the remainder of the Morning Prayer were said by the Rev. Dr. Edward Y. Higbee. The Introit was four stanzas of the Forty-second Selection of the Psalms in Metre, sung to the tune of St. Ann's :
"The Lord the only God is great, And greatly to be praised, In Sion on whose happy mount, His sacred throne is raised."
The Communion Service was commenced by the Rev. Dr. Berrian, assisted by the Rev. Dr. Seabury, Epistoler, and the Rev. Dr. John J. Robertson, of St. Anne's, Fish- kill, Gospeller.2
1 The Ninth Selection then was Psalm viii., " O Lord our Governor "; portions of Psalm xxxiii., " Rejoice in the Lord ye Righteous "; Psalm cxvii., "O Praise the Lord"; and Psalm Ivii., " Set up thyself O God above the heavens."
? The Collect, Epistle, and Gospel were those for Trinity Sunday, this being the Monday in Trinity week.
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The Jubilee of the S. P. G.
1851]
The well-known anthem by Travers, " Ascribe unto the Lord," was magnificently sung by Dr. Hodges's choir ; no one could accompany as did that great master of the organ.
It was expected that the Bishop of Western New York, then provisionally performing Episcopal duty in the Dio- cese of New York, would be the preacher, but imperative engagements compelled him to decline. The Rev. Dr. John McVickar of Columbia College was then invited to preach, and consented. His text was Leviticus XXV. II, " A Jubilee shall the fiftieth year be to you." After men- tioning the reason for the service, the summons "of the earliest and greatest missionary society since the Refor- mation, and the one to whose labors we, under God, are here indebted for our Gospel light, as well as for a long continuance of care and liberal support," he examined the twofold significance of Jubilee, rejoicing and obligation. Without dwelling upon the past work of the Society, he sketched the condition of the Anglican Communion at home and abroad. Commending the institution of pro- vincial synods in Australia and Newfoundland, and plead- ing for the provincial system in the American Church, he cited opinions of several illustrious men in the early days of our independent existence. He glanced rapidly at some salient features of the American Church in the co- lonial and formative period, and reminded his hearers that as "we are not intruders in any part of the country our cure of souls should have no other local limits than our country's boundaries." Concisely outlining the religious condition of the whole Church of Christ, he ventured to urge closer communion with the Holy Eastern Church, and especially the Russian Church. In conclusion he thinks the Jubilee should be "a day of restitution in the Diocese so sorely divided and beset ; from it should come VOL. IV .- 23.
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peace and wise union, more love and confidence among brethren." They should believe that as there
" are deeper grounds of rejection of Rome than questions of cross or surplice or solemn decoration of God's altar, so there are deeper and safer grounds of preference of our Church than its proximity to Calvin or Luther: and safer tests of our attachment to it than any wholesale condemnation of whatsoever is found within the limits of the Roman Communion. We may humbly trust that this Jubilee will bring a blessing upon at least one thankful branch: and that the great reunion of this day will not be without its happy influence on all. We close with the cheering hope that the dark days of the Church of Eng- . land are past and that in finding its voice, it will find its strength: and the great and good society whose Jubilee we celebrate and on whose name and labors we here invoke a blessing, will continue to be a praise and glory in the whole earth till its own mission be closed through the fullness of the Gentiles being gathered in. Amen-Amen." 1
At the conclusion of the sermon the Rev. Dr. Benja- min I. Haight read the Offertory sentences, the alms being collected by the six deacons. While this was in progress, Mr. Wm. H. Harison, the Comptroller, ap- proached the altar rail, bearing in an ancient alms bason, the gift of William and Mary, three thousand dollars in gold coin, the Jubilee thank-offering of the Parish. The Rev. Dr. Wainwright proceeded with the Communion Service, the Trisagion being from Dr. Hodges's Communion Ser- vice in F. The Rector was celebrant. Three verses of the 26th Hymn were sung after the Consecration.2
1 Response from the Diocese of New York to a Letter from his Grace the Arch- bishop of Canterbury, Inviting the Church of America to Unite with the Church of England in the Celebration of the Third Semi-Centennial Jubilee of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. By authority. New York Church Depository, 20 John Street, 1851. 8vo. Pp. xvi .- 38. This pamphlet contains a full account of the proceedings in connection with the Jubilee, including correspond- ence, services, and the sermon in full.
2 " Behold the innumerable host Of angels clothed in light Behold the spirits of the Just Whose faith is changed to sight," etc.
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1851]
The Rev. Dr. Henry J. Whitehouse, Rector of St. Thomas's Church, and the Rev. Gregory T. Bedell, Rector of the Church of the Ascension, assisted in the adminis- tration to a very large number of clergy and laity. The service was closed and the Benediction pronounced by the Rev. Dr. Berrian, Rector of the Parish, and President of the Standing Committee of the Diocese.
Thus closed a service which was long considered one of the grandest ever held in the Parish. The music under the direction of Dr. Hodges was by a selected choir of twenty-seven voices, some being from other choirs of the city. The final voluntary as the congregation was de- parting was the first chorus in the Messiah: "And the Glory of the Lord." 1
The services in the United States during the Jubilee year served to draw the Church of England and the Church in America more closely together. Bishop Hop- kins, of Vermont, made the response to Archbishop Sum- ner's letter, in which the possibility of a council of all the Bishops in communion with Canterbury was suggested ; it was the first definite proposal by any Bishop upon the subject. Sixteen years after, in 1867, the first Lambeth Conference was held, and the Bishop of Vermont, then Presiding Bishop, was in attendance.2
Our English brethren determined to mark the close of the Jubilee year by a special service, June 15, 1852, in Westminster Abbey, with the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Wilberforce, as preacher.
A brief account of this service in connection with the notice of the Bi-Centennial of the Venerable Society is given on pp. 163-166, Year Book of 1901. A full account of all the English, Colonial, and American services is found in the Report of the S. P. G. for 1851, pp. 85-107; also in The First Week of the Jubilee, London, 1851. A condensed notice is in Classified Digest of the Records of the Society for the Propa- gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1701-1892. London, 1893, pp. 81-83. 2 Pp. 392, 393, Life of Bishop Hopkins.
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History of Trinity Church
[185I
The very cordial manner in which the letter of Arch- bishop Sumner had been received in America and the affectionate greetings of American bishops, clergy, and diocesan conventions induced the Society to express by a formal vote, February 20, 1852, its wish for "a fuller and more complete intercommunion between the distant portions of the Church," and as an evidence thereof the Bishops in the United States were invited to delegate two or more of their number to take part in the concluding services in Westminster Abbey. This invitation was com- municated to the Bishops of the American Church in a letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury, expressing the hope that the invitation would be accepted, and promising a brotherly welcome ; the secretary of the Venerable So- ciety also wrote to second the invitation of the President. The "Senior Bishop,"1 Dr. Chase, being at Robin's Nest, Illinois, a delay of a number of days would have occurred if action had been deferred until hearing from him. Dr. Wainwright, Secretary of the House of Bishops, was authorized to proceed to Hartford to confer with the Bishop of Connecticut, Dr. Brownell, "the Senior Bishop east of the mountains." Bishop Brownell was of the opinion that " an informal call of the House of Bishops was necessary or at least expedient." Bishop Chase de- clining to summon the Bishops for such a meeting, although desirous and anxious that American representatives should go to England, the call was issued by Bishop Brownell. On Thursday, April 29, 1852, ten Bishops assembled in St. John's Chapel, New York City. The Bishops of Michigan and Western New York were asked to represent their brethren at the closing Jubilee Service, and the Rev. Dr. Wainwright was appointed to present in person the resolu- tions to the President of the Society, Archbishop Sumner.
1 He was thus styled in all accounts of the proceedings, and not Presiding Bishop.
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Mission to the Jubilee
1852]
Another baleful shadow was then impending over the American Church. The lion-hearted and noble Bishop of New Jersey, Dr. George W. Doane, had been attacked by embittered and active enemies, and presented for trial. June 23rd was the day fixed for the procedure : no Bishop could cross the ocean. The Bishops in attendance at the meeting, and others who were unable to be present, pressed on Dr. Wainwright the necessity of his going to England, and representing them in Westminster Abbey.
The matter came before the Vestry May 10, 1852. The case was fully stated, and the letters to Dr. Wain- wright were read. It was also represented that Dr. Wainwright "could not comply with the wishes ex- pressed in these letters unless this Vestry would grant him leave of absence and make provision for his expenses." Three months' leave of absence and an allowance of one thousand dollars were granted to him.1 Dr. Wainwright sailed soon after and was warmly received in England. His presence was everywhere welcomed. He made many public addresses which were both pertinent and inspiring. He was formally received by Oxford University, and hon- ored with the degree of Doctor of Civil Law. His visit knit more closely the bonds of union between English and American Churchmen.2
The Rev. Dr. Wainwright returned from his mission to the Jubilee in September bringing with him many expressions of good-will and brotherly love from English Churchmen.
1 Records, liber iv., folio 88.
2 In a letter to the Rector, Dr. Wainwright describes the Services in Westminster Abbey and the receptions, breakfasts, and other entertainments in honor of the Ameri- can visitors, particularly those by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop of London. A full account of the Services in connection with the close of the Jubilee will be found in The Mission to the Fubilce .- Bishop De Lancey's Report to the Convention of the Diocese of Western New York of the Mission of England to attend the closing services of the Third Jubilee of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, 1852.
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History of Trinity Church [1852
On the 9th of June, 1851, the Vestry accepted from Bishop De Lancey with thanks " an engraved likeness of Caleb Heathcote, Esq., deceased, and ordered that it be placed in the Robing room of Trinity Church." 1
The committee on St. George's presented several com- munications and documents in relation to the transfer to the Church of the Holy Evangelists of St. George's Chapel.2
An application from the Committee of the Church of the Holy Evangelists "to have St. George's Chapel in Beekman Street cleaned, painted, and repaired at an esti- mated expense of about eight hundred to a thousand dollars, which improvements the applicants have not the ability to make themselves," was referred to the Committee of Supplies and Repairs "with power."
On June 14, 1852, a formal resolution of the Vestry of the Church of the Holy Evangelists was presented, in which it was declared that "thanks are eminently and justly due to the Rector, Wardens, and Vestrymen of Trinity Church for their aid and kind assistance in procur- ing our present location and church edifice."
The regard of the members of the Vestry for a former Assistant Minister of the Parish was shown by the grant of one thousand dollars to the Rev. Dr. John F. Schroeder, " who has been of late for a number of years the pastor of a congregation in this city and receiving therefore but a very small and inadequate compensation."
On the 13th of October, 1851, the Rev. William White Bronson offered to the Vestry "an old oil portrait of Bishop Provoost," which was accepted with thanks. There seems to be no present knowledge of the portrait, nor is it certain that it ever came into possession of the Corpora- tion. The portrait of Bishop Provoost in the Parish col- lections is by Benjamin West. It was purchased, March
? Ibid., folio 48.
1 Records, liber iv., folio 47.
1852]
Trinity Chapel 359
13, 1865, on the recommendation of a committee of the Vestry, the Reverend Rector, and Mr. John Travers.
November 10, 1851, General Laight resigned his office as Warden owing to ill-health. In accepting this resigna- tion the Vestry expressed their regret at the cause, and testified to the faithfulness with which he had discharged his duties both as Warden and Vestryman during a period of more than forty years. Mr. William E. Dunscomb was then elected Warden and George P. Cammann, M.D., Vestryman.1
The Committee on Church Extension having already submitted preliminary plans for the chapel on Twenty- fifth Street, the consideration of these plans was resumed. A preamble and series of resolutions offered at the previous meeting, June 9th, by the Hon. John A. Dix, were then discussed .? The preamble declared that "in view of the heavy debt of this corporation it is not expedient to engage in a large expenditure of money without a diminution of the said debt, or an increase of the available means of the corporation." The first resolution provided that the Ves- try would not build the new chapel until the debt had been reduced to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, or the property of the Corporation by investments in bonds and mortgages, other than those of churches, "shall be so in- creased as to be equivalent to such a reduction of said debt." The second resolution provided that when the bonds and mortgages for the reduction amount to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars they shall be used for the purpose as the obligations mature : when the terms of the first resolution are complied with, the proceeds of all sales of property may be applied to the building of the new chapel ; when completed, two thirds of the sales were to be applied as heretofore for the extinction of the debt.
1 Records, liber iv., folios 63, 64.
2 Ibid., folio 50.
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The debt limit was fixed at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
There was a full and animated discussion ; several agreeing with General Dix, that the financial condition of the Corporation needed strengthening, while no one de- sired to put any needless obstacles in the way of the build- ing of a new chapel. Finally the preamble was stricken out, the second resolution disagreed to, and the remainder so amended as to make the debt limit three hundred thousand dollars and providing that the chapel should not be built until that reduction had been effected.1
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