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We come now to speak more particularly of the female figure that represents Religion. But, then, if this figure is meant to personify Religion, where, we ask, are her attributes? Without these appropri- ate symbols, there is no index to personification. To the figure before us not an emblem is given by which to designate her office; a Nymph, a Ceres, or a nurse, might also point to the cross as well as she. More- over, the cross, when standing separate and detached, is in itself a distinct representation of the Christian religion. So here then we have one representative pointing to another. Religion pointing to Religion! Such is the absurdity of this composition; nor is the design less at fault. The attitude of the figure is very awkward and ungrace- ful; it is neither firm, decided, nor dignified; and, what is contrary to all classic example, she is from the knees downward completely hidden by the figure of the Prelate. The feet, at least, in a group of this kind should have been shown. We look in vain in this figure for that sweet development of the female form, and those pure and well-defined out- lines, which distinguish and characterize the beautiful sculptures of the ancients.
A presuming eulogist, speaking of the work, says that "the female is strictly Grecian." We doubt that the writer ever saw a Grecian figure. But whether or not, the expression evinced his want of taste, for there is not a trace of Grecian beauty nor of antique grace to be found upon this figure. Below her waist all is so lean and unde- fined as scarcely to indicate the human form; and from the waist upwards we have the other extreme. The breasts are too large and loose, from which circumstance and the clumsy throwing of the dra- pery about them, as it is over her whole figure, she resembles more the busy housewife than the chaste and dignified representation of a celes-
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tial being. The features of the face are coarse and hard, and the eyes are too large for a countenance that should beam forth in mild and holy love, and with the innocent and heavenly charms of Religion.
In the disposition of the drapery, also, we discover no evidence of a fine taste, or of a cultivated mind in the leading principles of the art. The folds are sluggish and heavy, and the garment is wrapped about the figure and ticked up with as little regard to strict propriety, or to style and beauty, as though it were a modern landlady habited for a jaunt in a post-coach. In truth the whole group is stamped with the insignia of old English sculpture. The female figure especially may be considered as a specimen handed down from the thirteenth century, called in Italy il tempo barocco, the fantastic age.
We cannot think the revival and introduction into this country of a style of sculpture so unchaste and corrupt will be likely to increase the fame of Mr. Hughes, or impart honor to his profession .- The North American Magazine, Vol. V., No. xxix., March, 1835, pp. 348-350.
II.
RESOLUTIONS ON THE DUTIES AND PRECEDENCE OF ASSISTANT MINISTERS.
March 23, 1836.
Ordered that the Vestry do now proceed to consider the report of the Special Committee on the 4th resolution of the Vestry passed on the 25th day of January last with the resolutions annexed to the said report; whereupon the first of the said resolutions being under consid- eration the following resolution and preamble were proposed and after being discussed and considered were passed by the Vestry.
WHEREAS in consequence of doubts heretofore expressed concern- ing the right of nomination upon the appointment of Assistant Minis- ters of this Church (other than the Assistant to the Rector) it has been the practice for many years past to make such appointments upon the nomination of the Rector, after a previous ballot by the mem- bers of the Vestry with a view to designate the person to be so nomi- nated, which practice has left the question as to the right of nomination in such cases unsettled, and may hereafter lead to erroneous conclu- sions in respect to the opinion entertained thereon by this Board Therefore, Resolved, that whilst the concurrence of the Rector in the appointment of his assistant, and in appointments to other offices specified in the Charter of this Church, is recognized as necessary to
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such appointments, this Vestry consider the right to nominate Assist- ant Ministers to be vested concurrently in the Rector and in each member of the Vestry.
The first resolution proposed by the Committee being considered and amended was then passed in the words following:
I. Resolved, That the Vestry do now proceed to the appointment by ballot of another Assistant Minister, to hold his office during the pleas- ure of the Vestry, as expressed in the Resolution of the Vestry of the 12th of December, 1811, and to be placed in respect to salary, on the same footing with the other Assistant Ministers now employed by this Corporation.
The Vestry then proceeded to the choice of an Assistant Minister by ballot and on counting the ballots it appeared that the Reverend Jonathan M. Wainwright, D.D., of Boston, had a majority of the votes of all the members present. Whereupon, he was declared to be duly appointed an Assistant Minister of this Church to hold his office during the pleasure of the Vestry and the Clerk was directed to notify him thereof and to transmit to him a copy of this and of the preceding resolution.
The second resolution proposed by the Committee being next considered the following was proposed by way of substitute and passed by the Vestry:
2. Resolved, That the Vestry do now proceed to assign one Assist- ant Minister to each congregation pursuant to the third. resolution passed by the Vestry on the 25th of January last, and that in making such assignments, the members of the Vestry belonging to each congre- gation, or the major part of them, be severally permitted simultaneously to nominate to the Vestry the individual to be assigned to such congre- gation, and that the question be first taken on such nominations.
Whereupon, the members of the Vestry belonging to the congrega- tion of St. John's Chapel nominated the Reverend Henry Anthon as the individual to be assigned to that Chapel.
The major part of the members of the Vestry belonging to the congregation of St. Paul's Chapel nominated the Rev. Jonathan M. Wainwright, as the individual to be assigned to that Chapel, and
The major part of the members of the Vestry belonging to the congregation of Trinity Church nominated the Rev Jonathan M. Wainwright as the individual to be assigned to that Church.
The question being then put on the nomination for St. John's Chapel, it was ordered that the Rev. Henry Anthon be assigned to that Chapel.
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It was then resolved that the Vestry would proceed to assign by ballot, one Assistant Minister to St. Paul's Chapel, and one to Trinity Church; and the ballots being counted it appeared that the Rev. Jonathan M. Wainwright, by a majority of the votes of all the members present, was assigned to Trinity Church, and that no individ- ual was by such majority of votes assigned to St. Paul's Chapel, where- upon the Rev. Jonathan M. Wainwright was declared to be assigned to Trinity Church, and it having been resolved that the Vestry would proceed, by resolution, to assign an assistant minister to St. Paul's Chapel, the Rev. John F. Schroeder was assigned to that Chapel.
Ordered that when the Vestry adjourn it do adjourn to meet on Friday evening next, being the 25th inst., to proceed in the further consideration of the report and resolutions of the Special Committee on the fourth resolution of the 25th January last.
March 25 1836.
The Vestry resumed the consideration of the report of the Special Committee on the fourth resolution of the Vestry passed on the 25th day of January last, and the resolutions reported by the said Commit- tee being successively taken up, discussed and amended, were passed in the following words:
3. Resolved, That the assignment of the Assistant Ministers to par- ticular congregations be for one year from the first day of May next, but such assignment for one year is not to affect the right of removal from office by the Vestry. And if the place of any Assistant Minister after such assignment, shall become vacant by non-acceptance, resig- nation or otherwise, the person who may be appointed to fill the va- cancy shall be considered as assigned to the same congregation for the residue of the year then unexpired.
4. Resolved, That it shall be the duty of each Assistant Minister to preach statedly, every Sunday morning, in the Church or Chapel to which he is assigned, and in the afternoon of every Sunday, in the Churches by rotation as far as practicable, the routine to be prescribed by the Rector; but when in the morning or afternoon, the Bishop or Rector shall officiate, the Assistant Minister whose place shall be so supplied shall not be expected to preach in any of the other churches unless in case of the necessary absence of the minister whose duty it may be to officiate therein.
5. Resolved, That each Assistant Minister, with the approbation of : the Rector, may appoint such Season of the year, and such times, for the catechetical and other special instruction of the young of the con-
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Duties and Precedence of Assistant Ministers
gregation to which he is assigned, as he may deem most fit and proper for such purposes, and the Rector shall be at liberty to give additional instruction if he shall deem it expedient; and in order to have uni- formity of instruction, the Vestry deem it desirable that the Rector and Assistant Ministers should annually, agree on such general plan and course of instruction for the ensuing season, as they may deem most appropriate and useful, but no course of instruction dis- approved by the Rector, shall be pursued by any of the Assistant Ministers.
6. Resolved, That it be the duty of the Assistant Ministers, from time to time to report to the Rector the names and places of residence of such communicants and other pious persons of their respective con- gregations, as may be in need of pecuniary assistance, and of all monies belonging to the Communion fund which the Rector may give for distribution to the Assistant Ministers, they shall account to him, quarterly, or otherwise, as he shall direct.
7. Resolved, That it shall be the duty of the Assistant Ministers to report to the Rector, without delay, any case of failure, neglect or dis- obedience on the part of any of the Organists, Clerks or Sextons, in the performance of their several duties.
8. Resolved, That it be the duty of the Rector to appoint the days on which the several canonical collections shall be made, and that no col- lections be made in any of the churches, unless by his appointment or with his consent.
9. Resolved, That the times for the Celebration of the Lord's Supper be appointed by the Rector, and that it be the duty of all the Assistant Ministers to assist at the Celebration thereof, except on the greater festivals when it shall be administered at the same time in all the churches.
IO. ORDERED that the arrangements directed by these Resolutions go into operation on the first day of May next.
The following additional resolutions were then submitted to, and severally considered and passed by, the Vestry.
II. Resolved, That whilst the office of Assistant to the Rector shall not be filled in pursuance of the Charter, it shall be competent to the Rector on all occasions of his absence from the city, or of his inability from sickness or other cause to perform the duties incident to his office, to designate one of the Assistant Ministers to attend to and perform such duties, or any of them, during such his absence or in- ability, and in the case of his omission, at any time, to do so, the per- formance of such duties shall devolve on, and belong to, such one of
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the Assistant Ministers as shall at the time be the Senior Presbyter ac- cording to the dates of their respective ordinations.
12. Resolved, unanimously, that concurring in the opinion expressed in the report under consideration, and also in the report of the Com- mittee on the state of the Church, as to the indispensable importance to the harmony of the Parish, and the edification of the Parishioners, that a feeling of mutual confidence and satisfaction should be main- tained between the minister and people, and recognizing the same salutary principle in the former proceedings of the Vestry establishing the tenure upon which the Assistant Ministers of this Parish, now hold their offices, this Vestry will at all times, feel it to be their duty, to supply all the congregations, with clergymen, whose character and min- istrations shall be satisfactory and acceptable.
Records, liber iii., folio 146.
III.
A SKETCH OF THE REV. EDWARD YOUNG HIGBEE, D.D., ASSISTANT MINISTER 1836-1871, BY THE REV. JOSEPH HOOPER, M.A.
Edward Young, a son of the Rev. Daniel Higbee, was born at Mount Holly, New Jersey, in 1810. His mother was a member of the well- known Hollinshead family, of Delaware. His father, an early con- vert from Methodism, was for many years a successful missionary in the diocese of New Jersey. By his exertions many parishes were revived and others established. For St. Andrew's Church, Mount Holly, he did much to increase both its material and spiritual resources.
His son was carefully trained by him, and attended while a boy the best schools near his home.
Upon the removal of his father to Lewes, Delaware, the boy was sent to Philadelphia, to an excellent preparatory school. It was his ambition to serve his country in the army, and he was fitted for the Military Academy at West Point. His father was earnestly desirous that he should enter the holy ministry. After some anxious and prayerful debate with himself, Mr. Higbee gave up the pursuit of earthly glory and military fame. He pursued his course in divinity at the General Theological Seminary, which he entered in 1827. He was a close student and was graduated with high honor in 1829.
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A Sketch of the Rev. Edward Young Higbee, D. D.
He was made deacon by Bishop Hobart on July 9, 1829, with other members of his class. He at once took charge of the Parish of St. George and St. John, Harford County, Maryland. The chief portion of his work was in Havre de Grace. Here his zeal, good sense, and ability were shown. He acquired a reputation as a melodious reader of the church service, and as a preacher of force and originality. After using well the office of a deacon he was ordained priest by the Rt. Rev. Dr. William Murray Stone, Bishop of the diocese, on Thursday, June 27, 1833, in St. John's Church, Havre de Grace. On the same day the church, which had been rebuilt through his exertions, was consecrated.
In 1834 he accepted the rectorship of the recently organized Trinity Church in the city of Washington. Here he found full scope for all his oratorical gifts and latent ability. It was a time when there were in the Congress of the United States, especially in the Senate, many men of extraordinary power and international reputation. Some of them were attracted to the services at Trinity and its Rector. Through the regard of the Hon. Daniel Webster and other friends he was made Chaplain of the Senate during the sessions of 1835 and 1836. In this trying position he acquitted himself to the satisfaction of his critical congregation of Senators.
The circumstances of his election in 1836 to this Parish and his work in it are given sufficiently in the text of the History.
Upon coming to New York he made many congenial friends, and found in the activities of the Parish in the period of its greater ex- pansion, a field of labor peculiarly fitted to him.
With the lapse of years and through personal trials and sorrows, his health was gradually undermined.
One of the last occasions upon which he appeared before the whole parish was in October, 1866, at the Centennial of the Dedica- tion of St. Paul's Chapel. To him as the Senior Assistant Minister was given the honor of reading the dedication sermon of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Auchmuty. Those who were privileged to hear him can never forget his massive frame, his dignified appearance, and his sonorous, melodious delivery of that eighteenth-century discourse.
Upon the morning of Sunday December 10, 1871, he was found dead in his room. The funeral was held from Trinity Chapel, the Rector of the Parish and others officiating.
Dr. Higbee was a man of marked individuality. He was warm and impulsive in his manner, with much of the Southern courtesy and formality. He became prominent in the general affairs of the Church.
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He served for many years as a Trustee of the General Theological Semi- nary, and was for a long time Secretary of the Board. At a time when the funds of the Seminary did not allow the services of a pro- fessor he gave instruction in Homiletics and Pulpit Oratory to the delight of the students. He is characterized by his colleagues on the Standing Committee of the Seminary as one whom they will remember "with affectionate respect" for "his intense earnestness in purpose and his manly defence of sound doctrine and primitive discipline."
In the Conventions of the Diocese he was recognized as a vigorous debater and wise counsellor. He served on important committees, and was frequently chosen as a Deputy to the General Convention.
One who knew him well says that we will find in his sermons "originality of thought, freshness in the mode of presenting truth, and a lucid, chaste style that gave him a most enviable kind of popu- larity which he retained to the last."
In 1838 Dr. Higbee preached before the Alumni of the General Theological Seminary a sermon upon The Doctrine of the Trinity, which was published. In 1856 he conducted through the press the memorial volume of Bishop Wainwright's sermons, in which is printed his address at the funeral of Bishop Onderdonk.
IV.
A SKETCH OF THE REV. HENRY ANTHON, D.D., ASSIST- ANT MINISTER, 1831-1836, BY THE REV. JOSEPH HOOPER, M.A.
Henry, a son of Dr. John Anthon, was born in Broad Street, New York City, on March 11, 1795. His parents were devout mem- bers of Trinity Church, in which all their children were baptized and received their religious training. He was well educated, both at home and in good private schools, and fitted to enter Columbia College at the age of fourteen. He graduated with honor in 1813. He immediately commenced to study for the holy ministry under the Assistant Bishop, Dr. Hobart. He was made deacon September 29, 1816. His three years of work until of age to be ordained to the priesthood were spent in the recently formed parish of St. Paul, Red Hook, Duchess County. He was there in the midst of beautiful scenery, on the east bank of the Hudson River, and in the neighbor- hood of the large estates of old colonial families, among them the
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A Sketch of the Rev. Henry Anthon, D.D.
Livingstons and De Peysters. His time was spent in developing the work of the church, in searching out opportunities for service in the surrounding villages and hamlets. His perseverance and faithful- ness were rewarded by attentive congregations and many brought to Holy Baptism, Confirmation, and the Holy Communion. Clermont, Upper Red Hook, Pine Plains, and Rhinebeck (formerly Red Hook Landing) were among the places he visited. St. Paul's is justly styled the Mother of Churches for the upper portion of Duchess County, and much of the energy and zeal it has always shown is due to its first minister, with his superabundant enthusiasm, energy, and devotion. The corner-stone of a substantial church, a mile and a quarter east of the present village of Tivoli, was laid by the Rector, on July 7, 1818. It was consecrated by Bishop Hobart, on May 27, 1819, when Mr. Anthon was ordained priest.
His hard work had impaired his health, and he determined to resign his parish and take a brief period of time for recuperation. With his bride, whose maiden name was Emilia Corre, of New York City, he journeyed to South Carolina. He spent two years pleasantly among hospitable and congenial people. He does not appear to have undertaken any permanent parochial duty, although he did undoubt- edly assist his brethren when he had recovered his strength. In 1821 he was able to return to New York, and soon after became Rector of Trinity Church, Utica. This was a growing and important parish, and Mr. Anthon found ample opportunity to exercise fully his varied talents. The death of the much loved Dr. Feltus, of St. Stephen's Church, New York City, in August, 1828, left a vacancy which its vestry were anxious to fill with a clergyman acceptable to the congrega- tion and able to carry out the plans of their lamented Rector. Mr. Anthon was called to the rectorship on January 8, 1829, which he accepted two days later. From his East-Side work he was summoned to the parish of his childhood as an assistant minister. The text suffi- ciently details both his success in gaining the appreciation of many in the Parish and his persistency in the advocacy of certain measures which he thought necessary for the greater usefulness of the venerable Parish.
His knowledge of homiletics and his attractiveness and influence over young men led the Standing Committee of the General Theologi- cal Seminary in March, 1834, to request him to assume the duties of the professorship of Pastoral Theology and Pulpit Eloquence. The funds of the institution would not allow the appointment of a per- manent professor with a salary. Dr. Anthon devoted two days in the
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week to these duties with manifest good results to the students and to the great satisfaction of the Trustees. He was requested to continue his services for a second year.
At its September meeting, 1834, Dr. Anthon presented a brief letter to the Vestry, stating that "he had gratuitously assisted in the in- struction of the students in the General Theological Seminary during a part of the last session, and that his further services may be again solicited, no provision having been made for instruction in the de- partment heretofore filled by him."
It was determined that Dr. Anthon be at liberty to continue his services to the Seminary during the ensuing session.1 Dr. Anthon also served for several years as Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Seminary.
For twelve years, from 1832-1844, he held the responsible position of Secretary of the House of Deputies of the General Convention.
The resignation of the Rev. Dr. William Creighton as Rector of St. Mark's in the Bowery, in the fall of 1836, was reluctantly accepted. Dr. Anthon was, in November, 1836, elected as his successor. The church was then being extensively repaired, and it was intimated that the services of the new incumbent would not be required until the spring of 1837. Dr. Anthon, in his letter of resignation as Assistant Minister of Trinity Church, offered to remain during the pleasure of the Vestry.
Dr. Anthon's actual service in Trinity Parish seems to have ter- minated in March, 1837, as on February 20th "the comptroller was authorized in settling with Dr. Anthon, late one of the Assistant Ministers of this Parish, to pay his salary to the end of the current quarter." ?
Dr. Anthon first officiated as Rector at St. Mark's in the Bowery in May, 1837.
He now had full scope for all his powers and could freely carry into effect his plans for the development of the latent energy of the parish. Among his new parishioners were men of action and of wealth, many families of ancient lineage and worthy deeds, and also others whose bodily necessities as well as spiritual needs must be supplied. Both as a pastor and as a preacher he threw himself into the work before him until St. Mark's was filled to overflowing with ardent worshippers.
1 Records, liber iii., folio 106. Pp. 458, 459, 467, 498-500, Proceedings of the Board of Trustees of the General Theological Seminary. 8vo, pp. x., 668. New York, Daniel Dana, Jr., 1854.
' Records, liber iii., folio 172.
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Sunday schools were established in destitute districts and that of the Parish Church was carefully organized and never sought for scholars as all the children in the neighborhood were anxious to be enrolled in it.
He was one of those who saw plainly the necessity for church exten- sion in the city, and both in theory and practice aided in its accomplish- ment. He was very urgent in printed sermons and papers, as well as in private conversation, that a large portion both of the revenue and principal of the endowment of Trinity Church should be appropriated for that purpose, which he claimed was the original intent of the grant.
Soon after his assumption of this rectorship Dr. Anthon, who had been trained under Bishop Hobart, and had seemed to be in cordial sympathy with that great prelate's exposition of evangelical truth and apostolic order, began to teach, preach, and converse in accordance with the views of that portion of the Church known as the "Evangeli- cal School." His insistence upon certain views of the Atonement, his constant reference to the Protestant divines of Germany and England, his admiration of several leaders of that school of thought in America, as the saintly Dr. Bedell, his appeal to individual experience as su- perior to outward union with the Church of Christ, and his gradual alienation in public and private from those formerly his associates, and his making new affiliations, his deep and sincere apprehension of the mischief done by the " Tracts for the Times," were but the precursors of an act which made him henceforth a marked man and a writer and leader of the Evangelical School. Before the ordination of the candidates from the General Theological Seminary in July, 1843, rumors affecting their soundness in the faith as held by the American Church were current. Suspicions centred around one young man of pure character, and bril- liant scholarship, Mr. Arthur Carey, a son of a member of the Church of the Annunciation, and a former parishioner in Trinity Parish. His parochial connection was then with St. Peter's Church in Twentieth Street near the Seminary. Mr. Carey's application to Dr. Hugh Smith, his Rector, to have signed by himself and the members of the Vestry the testimonial from a parish for deacon's orders, precipitated a controversy upon certain points of doctrine. Dr. Smith refused to sign the papers, and demanded another examination of Mr. Carey, in the presence of the Bishop of the candidate, by eight eminent priests of the diocese, including Dr. Berrian, Dr. McVickar, Dr. Smith, and Dr. Anthon.
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