USA > New York > History of the Church of Zion and St. Timothy of New York 1797-1894 > Part 5
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Upon the adjustment of the sale and the payment of the purchase money, $30,000, Trinity Church having consented to transfer the mortgage loan of $7000 held since 1831, to
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the new site on Madison Avenue, a building committee was appointed, which selected Mr. Frank Wills as architect. Drawings and specifications were submitted and approved, and excavation commenced.
Among the incidents to be noted as occurring during the Rectorship of the Rev. Mr. Cox, is the death, on April 4, 1848, of Mary Welsh, an aged communicant, and, widow of James Welsh. After providing by will for her friends and connections, she made liberal bequests to the Missionary Committee of the Diocese, founded the Mary Welsh and the Zion Church Scholarships, $2500 each, to aid neces- sitous students in the General Theological Seminary, and made Zion Church her residuary legatee. The amount received in consequence, $11,811.78, was large enough to remove an oppressive debt. Letters testamentary were issued in 1850 to the Rector as the sole executor. The validity of the will was contested.
On the afternoon of Saturday, August 6, 1853, the corner- stone of the new edifice of Zion Church was laid by the Right Rev. J. M. Wainwright, D.D., D.C.L., Provisional Bishop of the Diocese. The site of the new edifice, known as Murray Hill, was one of the highest spots in the city, commanding a wide prospect of town and country. Upon this hill once stood the residence of Robert Murray amid extensive grounds and designated as Inclenberg. These grounds are now traversed by Fifth, Madison, and Park Avenues, between 36th and 45th Streets.
The ceremony of laying the corner-stone took place be- 5
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neath a large canvas awning which was erected to shelter the assembly from the rain. The services were conducted by the Bishop, the Rector of the Church, and the Rev. Messrs. Elmendorf and Davis, who, together with the Wardens and Vestrymen of the Parish and others, walked to the spot in procession, repeating the 122d Psalm, after which the Rt. Rev. Prelate, standing near the stone which was inscribed thus A. + D. made the usual address as follows : 1853.
"Christian Brethren : It is decent and proper, and agreeable to the precepts and examples of Holy Writ, that in all our doings we should beseech Almighty God, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift, to direct us with His most gracious favor, and to further us with His continual help, especially therefore, when we are now assembled to commence a house which is to be set apart to His honor and service, and in which His holy name is to be worship- ped, and His words and sacraments to be proclaimed and celebrated by the ministry whom He hath commissioned, let us humbly and devoutly supplicate His assistance, pro- tection, and blessing."
After this address the Rev. Mr. Elmendorf read off the contents of the box to be deposited in the stone, viz :
" Bible and Book of Common Prayer, both of the edition of the New York Bible and Common Prayer Book Society ; Journal of the General Convention of the Protestant Epis- copal Church of 1850; Journal of the New York Diocesan
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Convention of 1852; Annual report of the General Prot- estant Episcopal Theological Seminary 1852 ; Annual report of the General Protestant Episcopal Sunday-School Union 1852 ; Annual report of the New York Bible and Common Prayer Book Society 1852 ; Annual report of the Protestant Episcopal Tract Society 1852."
He then read an abstract of the history of the Parish. It was written on parchment and enclosed in a glass bottle. (A copy of this abstract will be found in the Appendix).
This done, the Bishop then laid the stone in its place, striking it three times with a hammer, and repeating the usual form of words. While so doing, the sun came forth from behind the clouds, and a beautiful rainbow lent its happy augury to the occasion.
The ceremonies being finished, the Rev. Richard Cox, Rector of the Parish, was about to deliver an address, when a blind woman handed him a little scroll, from which he read the following :
" Eternal source of Light Divine Who bade the stars in glory shine, Whose mighty hand, whose piercing eye, Controls the ocean, earth and sky, While angels round Thy throne above Proclaim Thy wisdom, power and love ; Wilt Thou this structure deign to bless And crown these efforts with success.
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Here would we now a temple raise In humble tribute to Thy praise ; Here let Thy glory, as of old, The beams of sacred peace unfold. 'T is done, the corner-stone is laid ; Again we ask Thy sovereign aid, Guide Thou the work we now pursue,- Without Thy strength we nought can do."
-FRANCES CROSBY, of the Asylum for the Blind.
The Rector then proceeded with a very interesting and appropriate address :
" Beloved Friends : A step so important and remarkable as the removal of an old and established church to a site nearly three miles distant from that which it formerly occu- pied, justifies a few words of apology and explanation. For these the present is deemed a suitable occasion.
" When the old edifice was erected, the district to which it belonged was of a character that warranted expectations of great and extensive improvement. The neighborhood needed the building, and it was almost certain that in a very short time it would be crowded with persons of respect- ability and influence then moving into the vicinity. The expectation was realized. The congregation became posi- tively large, and enjoyed every kind of prosperity.
" At length, however, a very great change began to pass.
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upon the neighborhood. Removals were continually taking place, until the old and reliable residents went away almost in crowds. They were succeeded by classes of persons in- ferior alike in character and resources, and generally having little or no sympathy with our Protestant Episcopal Church. When the tide was fairly set in this direction, the fate of Zion Church as a self-supporting enterprise was sealed. Nearly all the income it enjoyed was the pew-rents, paid for the most part by persons who had already removed to a distance from its site ; and it became evident that to retain such persevering and devoted adherents, it was necessary to seek a location in their vicinity.
"It is due to ourselves and to facts to state here that it is understood that the experience of almost every congrega- tion in the lower part of the city corresponds with our own in this particular, that their resources are constantly being absorbed. It is believed that no congregation of any Prot- estant denomination in what are known as the lower wards, sustains its services by the usual means of pew-rent. Those that remain continue in their locations because they have endowments, or receive equivalent aid. It is said that be- tween the years 1820 and 1830, there were forty places of public worship in the six lower wards, and of these thirty- three are now removed.
" Just as our Vestry had most unwillingly arrived at the conclusion that it was necessary to regard our church as a tabernacle than a temple, and had begun to look out some other and more favorable spot on which to rear and set up
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the Ark of the Lord, it was ascertained that we could obtain this property. Ten lots for a church had piously been set apart by the heirs of an estate even before they divided the property among themselves. And thus, as we may say' they actually and happily consecrated all their remaining wealth."
" Of course, in leaving our old edifice, there was much to occasion pain. This, however, was alleviated by the con- viction that the one which it was intended here to erect was not likely ever to be removed. We could not see a reason why here there could be the least occasion for unfavorable changes. On the contrary we deemed it as nearly certain as could be anything in the range of human affairs, that the growth and character of this vicinity would be such as to warrant belief that here must always be a neighborhood which will both require and support a church.
"We regarded the property we held as a corporation as consecrated to the service of God; and by removing it to this locality we certainly have not changed its sacredness. No portion of it has been diverted from the holy uses to which it was devoted. It is still set apart for the glory of God and the good of men as much as it ever has been. Indeed we may say that not only have we preserved it for holy purposes-for the self-same holy purposes for which it was set apart by solemn acts-but also have added to its value and importance by removal to this most promising spot. We seem to have obeyed the injunction of the blessed Lord, and now return to Him His own with usury.
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For certainly we may say that pecuniarily, if in no higher sense, for every talent entrusted to us we have joined at least one talent more."
The officers of the parish were as follows:
Rector, Richard Cox.
Wardens, Frederick Pentz, James Van Norden.
Vestrymen, John T. B. Maxwell, Smith Barker, John A. Graff, Jasper W. Hughes, James B. Cooke, Edward Carter, John S. Williams, one vacancy.
Building Committee, James Van Norden, John T. B. Maxwell, Jasper W. Hughes.
Architects, Frank Wills, of Wills & Dudley.
Master Mason, John Calvert.
Master Carpenter, Robert Pugsley.
In the remainder of the address the Rector entered upon the subject of the symbolical character of Gothic archi- tecture, explaining how every part of a building erected in that style has its Christian meaning. Believing that, as in the Tabernacle and Temple of old everything had a mean- ing, so in the rightly appointed and arranged Christian Church everything should be symbolical of doctrines or facts embodied in our holy faith, we plan the edifice of which we now recognize the beginning, with special refer- ence to the expression of truth and the illustration of holy principles. We wish it to speak in its own language to the minds and hearts of every one who looks upon its walls or occupies a place beneath its roof. In a word, we wish that all who behold it shall discern at once that it is dedicated
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to the most solemn and sacred of uses, and that every one of its many parts shall convey a lesson if it be possible, even to the very thoughtless, and for this purpose we adopt the style which for many reasons we say is inaptly called the Gothic-the style in which the skill of masters found the many ways of giving life and power to dead material things, and at the same time appealing with nearly equal effect to the pious feelings of alike the cultivated Christian and the unrefined but meek imitator of his heavenly Master.
" In making this selection we have the approbation of the many poetical and learned, not the least of whom is Cole- ridge; who says: 'The Greek art is beautiful. When I enter a Greek Church my eye is charmed and my mind elated ; I feel exalted and proud that I am a man. But the Gothic art is sublime. On entering a Cathedral, I am filled with devotion and with awe; I am lost to the actualities that surround me, and my whole being expands into the in- finite ; earth and air, and nature and art, all swell up into eternity, and the only sensible impression left is, that I am nothing.' It need hardly be said that he thus speaks of an effect the fulness of which is not likely to be reached in such parish churches as our limited means enable us to erect in this country. The edifice here to be placed can only ap- proach that effect by a humble, yet faithful, adherence to the style so justly and appropriately praised. All we can hope to accomplish is described by him who wrote :
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"' As chanced, the portals of the sacred pile Stood open ; and we entered. On my frame At such transition from the fervid air, A grateful coolness fell, that seemed to strike The heart, in concert with that temperate awe And natural reverence, which the place inspired.' -Wordsworth.
" We are told that when Christian edifices were first erected, they were made to extend from the West to the East, their length being far greater than their breadth, and terminating at the east end in a semicircle, representing as closely as possible the body of a ship, in allusion to the ship into which our Lord entered, which was always looked upon as a type for the Church; and also to the Ark, in which Noah and his family were saved from destruction. Hence comes the architectural term nave, derived from the Latin word navis, a ship. The following passages from the Apos- tolical Constitutions shows how far this allusion was carried. It orders, 'When thou callest an assembly of the church, as one that is the commander of a great ship, appoint the as- semblies to be made with all possible skill; charging the deacons, as mariners, to prepare places for the brethren as for passengers, with all care and decency. And first, let the church be long like a ship, looking towards the East, with its vestries on either side at the end. In the centre let the Bishop's throne be placed, and let the presbyters be seated on both sides of him ; and let the deacons stand near at
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hand, in close and small garments, for they are like the mariners and managers of the ship.' (Book ii., Sec. 28).
" In obedience to this ancient usage and direction, we plan this edifice with its length nearly twice its breadth and with especial reference to orientation. For we cannot forget the example set us by the primitive Christians, and that earlier example of the Jews, who in all their wanderings, in their devotions, turned towards the sacred city and the site of their holy Temple. We would emulate their thoughtful and suggestive piety, and turning eastward look towards those spots and places more hallowed than any others on earth- the birthplace of our blessed Lord, the region in which He passed His ministry, and especially that peculiarly conse- crated hill on which in unheard of and, to us, incomprehen- sible sufferings, He made an atonement for a guilty world. If I may be pardoned the apparent play upon a word, I will say that here, on this rising ground, in this metropolitan centre of the West, we provide that the attention of the people gathered in an edifice dedicated to God with the ap- pellation of an ancient sacred hill, shall ever be turned Zion- ward ; and thence derive suggestions of thoughts and emo- tions most appropriate to the place and the duties and employments for which they shall be assembled. Here do we plan that by a perspective directing the eye towards the altar, through an avenue of similar and several times re- peated parts, there shall be provocatives to a solemnity in which the mind shall be at once centred in the sanctuary and borne away to the distant sacred land, and to that
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higher holy of holies 'whither the forerunner is for us en- tered, even Jesus, made an high priest forever after the order of Melchisedek.'
" And surely this feature of our plan is not inapt or use- less-not based alone on ancient usage, for,
" ' Our life lies eastward ; every day Some little of that mystic way By trembling feet is trod ; In thoughtful fast, and quiet feast Our thoughts go travelling to the East To our Incarnate God. Fresh from the Font, our childhood's prime To life's most oriental time .-
Still doth it eastward turn in prayer And rear its saving altar there. Still doth it eastward turn in creed While faith in awe each gracious deed Of her dear Saviour's love doth plead ; Still doth it turn at every line To the fair East-in sweet, mute sign That through our weary strife and pain We crave our Eden back again.'
"As of old, so here is it contemplated that much of our edifice shall mutely express a testimony to the cardinal doc- trine of the Trinity-the mysterious and eternal Three in One. This we have in the nave, for the people; the chancel,
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or, as it is sometimes termed, the choir, for the minister to preach from and to receive the faithful when communicants ; and the most holy place, within the chancel rails, for the priest alone. 'The nave,' says Lewis, 'being the commencement of the Church, would, in the language of the designer, be read the Father, and being the first part is of none. The chancel is of the nave alone ; and the holy of holies is of the nave and chancel, proceeding from them. Thus it is that the Ecclesiastical designer translated the creed into his own language, and informed the community, through his varied forms, divisions, and arrangements, upon the doctrine of the Trinity.' Nor is the architectural expression of the doc- trine only thus; for to signify the Holy Trinity we have, besides, the three parts lengthwise, to which allusion has now been made, the threefold division breadthwise of the nave and aisles, of which Keble so simply and yet so beauti- fully says :
"' Three solemn parts together twine In harmony's mysterious line ; Three solemn aisles approach the Shrine, Yet all are one.'
" There we erect the tower, indicative of strength-the strength which is peculiarly the Christian's-that to which the Apostle alluded when he said, 'My brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.' In its deep foundations and its proportions, more massive than the other parts of the structure, we read the confidence we
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ought to have in the might and protection of Him for whose honor the building is intended, or, as some will have it, in the tower we have signified the love of the Christian heart, descending to deepest depths and laying there its strong foundation and rising thence in equal strength and apt and fair proportions, supporting well the spire, indicative of the sublime aspirations of holy hope, which out of love so cer- tainly do spring.
" Should the liberality of the neighborhood, as we trust it will, enable us to add this feature of a spire to the other features of our plan, how shall we rejoice, whether we view the tower as symbolizing either strength or love, when with upturned eye we view gracefully growing from it, the tall index, penetrating the atmosphere above and pointing the pilgrim, weary and wayworn here, to mansions in heaven. What other spot in all this Mammon-worshipping city can vie with this in fitness for such an emblem of the disciples' hope? Where more suitably than here can be established the silent yet eloquent pleader for concern and effort for the far-off and blessed rest with Christ in His Father's house- the contrast between the base things of earth, towards which the Spire never looks, and the pure celestial things to which, in spite of man's perversity, it is ever directing his attention ? Kind friends, ye who have the means, and especially ye who are interested in adorning and rendering conspicuous this pre-eminently beautiful portion of our city plot, help us to do our duty ; help us here to erect the proper and, perhaps, most expressive finish to our sacred building. Help us to
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make the tower with which now our plan terminates, but the foundation for the striking emblem of Christian aspirations that may direct even the busy worldling to profitable thoughts in the brief intervals in which he turns his mind from thrift and calculation, and read a profitable and consol- ing lesson to the mariner as he sails upon our noble bay or rivers. Then, as we construct the system of arches with which the interior is to be graced-each one of which is symbolical of faith-the great religious faith which sup- ports all our spiritual structure-the structure which is noth- ing without the keystone, Jesus Christ-may we anticipate that through coming ages many will realize what Words- worth described and felt when he wrote:
""' In my mind's eye a Temple, like a cloud Slowly surmounting some invidious hill, Rose out of darkness : the bright work stood still ; And might of its own beauty have been proud, But it was fashioned and to God was vowed By virtues that diffused, in every part, Spirit divine through forms of human art ; Faith had her arch-her arch, when winds blow loud, Into the consciousness of safety thrilled ; And love her towers of dread foundation laid Under the grave of things ; Hope had her spire Star high, and pointing still to something higher Trembling I gazed, but heard a voice,-it said, Hellgates are powerless phantoms where we build.'
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" Even our doors must be allowed to have their sweet expression. We make them comparatively low, betokening thus the humility with which we should enter the house of God and gate of heaven, and illustrating also the words of the Saviour when He said, 'Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life.' Besides, as has justly been remarked, 'Wherever the porch and door may be, the language of the Lord Jesus Himself has consecrated them as a memorial of His own person, as ' Emmanuel, God with us.' '"I am the door," saith He, and this it has been supposed that He said, pointing at the door of the Temple, before which He stood.' Lest I should be tedious, let me give, instead of what I should like to have said more at length, a comprehensive quotation, the substance of which is from Durandus. It says: 'The roof signifies charity, which covereth a multitude of sins.' The floor signifies humility, of which David saith, 'My soul cleaveth to the pavement.' 'The language of St. Paul has consecrated the pillars as an allusion to the Apostles, and great doctors of the Church, James, Cephas, and John, saith he, seemed to be pillars.' 'The glass windows in a church are the Holy Scriptures, which repel the wind and rain, i.e., all hurtful things, but transmit the light of the true Sun, i.e., God, into the hearts of the faithful. These are wider within than without, because the mystical sense is the more ample, and precedeth the literal meaning. Also by the windows the senses of the body are signified ; which ought to be closed to the vanities of the world, and open to receive with all
.
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freedom, spiritual gifts.' And while I am quoting, let me add as it has been said by another, that the 'clerestory with its spring pinnacles and woven tracery, hangs over the altar and the sanctuary, like a coronet upheld by the strong arms, which the Christian architects learnt to make powerful and obedient for this purpose.'-Poole.
" Of course, while we are mindful of the different parts of our edifice to which reference has been made, we shall not omit to set in its conspicuous place the font, destined to be, as we trust, the ' laver of regeneration ' to many a soul, and to speak effectively where the Spirit admonishes to ' wash and be clean.' Here it shall stand a constant preacher of the purity of which the element it shall contain is the emblem, and looking at it many an adult shall say almost unconsciously to himself, 'See, here is water ; what doth hinder me to be baptized.' While many a parent shall seem to hear emitted from its strong sides : 'Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.' ' Suffer them to come unto Me in the way I have appointed, in the sacrament I have consecrated, and they shall receive the Holy Ghost.'
" And finally, here we build the chancel, with a roof exclu- sively its own, to indicate how entirely it is set apart from the rest of the sacred edifice for the peculiar services of the priesthood and the altar; and we make its roof lower than that of the nave, to admonish those who shall officiate within it that the more we are exalted, so much the more does it become us to be humble. Ruled off by the chancel
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rails, at the very head of the whole sanctuary, are we to have the Christian 'holy of holies,' the sacred altar to be contained within-sacred because it is set apart for the cele- bration of the most solemn mysteries of the most holy faith. It will be ' an altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.' Its language will always be 'Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world.' It will always proclaim the Atonement. An impenetrable awe will shut in and enclose those sacred precincts. Around that holy table, as some delight to call it, will rest a cloud, illumined, it may be, with sacred light. Presumptuous men will endeavor to fathom what is there revealed and yet concealed. But they shall be baffled ever. To the simple and the childlike, those mysteries are, in a measure, open ; to the proud and arrogant, never. There symbolically, in mere bread and wine, shall be celebrated that wondrous, painful, yet happy event in which the Son of God offered Himself an atonement and a ransom for this world. There, as the ministering servant, conscious of his great unworthi- ness of the place and duty, endeavors by his symbolically official act to 'show forth the Lord's death until He come,' shall he be conscious that the angels gather around the con- secrated recess, and look with delight upon the repentance which approaching hundreds bring as an offering to the altar-steps, and the faith by which they look through sym- bols to a once crucified, but now risen Lord.
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