USA > New York > The centennial history of the Protestant Episcopal church in the diocese of New York, 1785-1885 > Part 16
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The urgent call of the vestry of Trinity Church was seconded and enforced by several representations from clergy- men and laymen of the highest consideration in the Church. It seemed a call. It was certainly a sacrifice. He went. He was welcomed back to the haunts of his youth with the ut- most cordiality. His old friends rallied about him. New friends were gathered to them. The parish was encouraged and reinforced. A better organ was needed, and he was sent to England to procure its construction, with a most liberal pro-
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vision for his personal expenses abroad. It was the land of his birth. It was the land of his heart. Scarcely any one ever went abroad with a better preparation for the highest enjoy- ment. Scarcely any one ever more completely realized his most sanguine expectations.
Dr. Wainwright did not remain long in Boston after his return from Europe. After his removal to Boston some changes had been introduced into the parochial arrangements of Trinity Church, New York, by which a more positive position and definite responsibility were secured to the assistant min- isters and a pastoral care in one or other of the chapels as- signed to each of them.
The yearning for him, which was still alive and active in his old parishioners and friends, led to his being invited as an assistant minister of Trinity Church, a little more than two years after he had gone to Boston. He declined the invita- tion. But when, a year later, in January, 1838, after fuller conviction that the general aim of his removal to Massachu- setts, in the pacific influence of his character upon the unset- tled condition of affairs, would not be realized, the invitation was renewed, it was not at all to be wondered at that it was accepted.
And great as were the regret and disappointment of his Boston parishioners and friends at losing him from among them, they acquiesced in the decision as justified by high considerations of duty to the Church, with the same nobility of spirit as had been manifested in Grace Church four years before. In returning to New York, to the parish which had brought him from his first care eighteen years before, the con- gregation of St. John's Chapel were more especially assigned to him, with general duty in Trinity Church and both the chapels. In this connection he continued seventeen years, laboring most faithfully, most assiduously, most successfully, for the souls committed to his care ; and foremost in every good word and work, whether in his parochial relations, and the promotion of learning and benevolence in the great city where his post had been appointed, or in the wider sphere of the diocesan or general organization of the Church.
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No one that did not live with him could imagine the vari- ety and extent of these labors of love. How he found time for them, and yet neglected no immediate pastoral duty, nor was wanting to any social or domestic claim, would be to any other than an inmate of his house, a matter of just surprise. It was by constant, cheerful, systematic industry, on a high religious principle. He was never in a hurry. He never seemed overburdened. But he rose early. He laid his work out carefully. He pursued it constantly. His heart was in it. It was with him, as it was with Jacob in the service of his love for Rachel. In the midst of all this multifarious care and work, how pleasant he was, how playful! Always time to be happy with an old friend. Always time to be social with those whose claims were just upon his socialness. Al- ways ready to enter heart and soul into anything that made for Christian cheerfulness and fellowship. A more delightful companion in the unreservedness of familiar love, I never knew.
His literary labors were very numerous. He published many sermons and addresses by request of those at whose instance they were delivered. He edited many valuable books. He superintended with great care and labor, the American edition of the Illustrated Prayer Book, and he was, with the Rev. Dr. Coit, the chief working member of the Com- mittee of the General Convention to prepare the standard edition of the Book of Common Prayer.
The year 1852 was a marked era in Dr. Wainwright's hon- orable life. The venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts had resolved to celebrate their third jubilee (the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary) on the fifteenth day of June in that year. At a general meeting of the society on the twentieth day of February it was unani- mously resolved that " His Grace, the President, be requested to address a communication to the Bishops of the United States, inviting them to delegate two or more of their number to take part in the concluding services of the society's third jubilee year, which will end on June 15th, 1852." The Archbishop of Canterbury transmitted the resolutions of the
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society, enforced by his own earnest request, to the Rev. Dr. Wainwright, as Secretary of the House of Bishops.
At an informal meeting of the bishops held in New York on the twenty-ninth day of April, the Rt. Rev. Dr. McCoskry, Bishop of Michigan, and the Rt. Rev. Dr. De Lancey, Bishop of Western New York, were requested to be present and par- ticipate in the solemn services proposed to be held in West- minster Abbey, and when resolutions of the most grateful love and cordial sympathy had been adopted by the bishops present, Dr. Wainwright, as the Secretary of the House of Bishops, was appointed to convey them to the Archbishop of Canterbury, as president of the society. He went. The bishops sailed soon after, and were there in time. They bore themselves as two such bishops would, well and worthily of the occasion. And none rejoiced so much as they, that Dr. Wainwright was the sharer of their joy, or bore such testi- mony to the grace and dignity with which he did his part in the great mission of the daughter to the Mother Church. On every suitable occasion he made the halls of England vocal with his fervent Christian eloquence, and everywhere the honor which his office claimed, and which his person every way conciliated, was freely paid to him. Upon him, as well as upon the two distinguished bishops of our Church, the University of Oxford conferred the honorary degree of D.C.L.
From the passage of the canon of the General Convention of 1850, " of the election of a provisional bishop, in the case of a diocese where the bishop is suspended without a precise limitation of time," there were several unsuccessful attempts to elect a provisional bishop for the Diocese of New York. On the first day of October of that same eventful year, 1852, a very short time after his return from that most honorable mission to our Mother Church of England, Dr. Wainwright was chosen to that office. How well and wisely for the diocese and for the whole Church, his episcopate, brief as it was, sufficed to show.
The tenth day of November, 1852, the day on which Dr. Wainwright was consecrated, was a glorious festival. " Re-
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garded," the Church Journal says, " as the happy termination of diocesan contests, which had lasted with great acrimony for years, this occasion was honored by the presence of ten bishops, and for the first time since the establishment of the American episcopate, an English bishop united in consecrat- ing an American prelate. This happy commencement of re- union and peace, celebrated as it was with uncommon splendor and the united devotion of thousands, was fondly looked upon as the inauguration of a long episcopate."
As no ceremonial could have been more magnificent, cele- brated as it was, in a company of worshipers which filled every standing spot in glorious Trinity, and with all that music could impart of sweetness and solemnity, there were personal relations involved in it of the most gratifying char- acter. The consecrator was the venerable presiding bishop himself, whom he had succeeded as an assistant minister of Trinity Church, and who had been to him, through all the years that followed, as a father to a son.
Of all the bishops associated with Bishop Brownell in the consecration, one had been for the third part of a century his most immediate friend, and all the rest, but one, knit with him in the closest bonds of intimate affection. That one, a bishop of the Church of England, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Fulford, of Montreal ; glad to return so soon the tokens of that Catho- lic and Apostolic love of which Dr. Wainwright had been so recently the bearer to his own most reverend Metropolitan. It may be doubted if " the laying on of hands " was ever more emphatically the pouring out of hearts. How beautiful he was as he knelt in his meekness to receive the trust of an apostle ! With what a manly fullness, fervor, and solemnity he made his solemn promise of conformity !
How his heart heaved and swelled with its concluding words, "So help me God, through Jesus Christ !" And what an " Amen " went up from that subdued and melted multi- tude, that God might grant it all.
Immediately after his election, Bishop Wainwright entered fully upon the duties of his office. He knew how long the diocese had been without the services of its diocesan. He
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knew how critical the moment was which introduced a bishop under the new canon. He knew, no doubt, that some might apprehend that he was not a working man. No doubt he sol- emnly remembered that " the night cometh, when no man can work."
" Anxious to serve faithfully that diocese which, by so large a vote, had called him to preside over it, Bishop Wain- wright refused," says the Church Journal, " to moderate his episcopal labors by any consideration for his own health. This enormous diocese is too heavy a burden for even the most vigorous man, in the flower of his age; and the determi- nation to do, what no man of his years could reasonably expect to perform, has hurried the devoted bishop to his grave. In spite of the repeated and pressing remonstrances of his friends ; in spite of several premonitory warnings that he was altogether overtasking his strength, the indefatigable prelate was no sooner restored from one attack of sickness than he pushed forward into a fresh round of labor." It might well be inscribed upon his monument "the zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up."
He projected at once a complete visitation of the whole diocese, with its three hundred clergymen, before the next convention, a period of eleven months. And he accom- plished it. His whole heart was in his work. He had always been a laboring man. He felt himself more than ever bound to labor now that he was to be an example to the pastors, as well as to the flock. He did not consider his advanced age ; he did not consider the difference in the kind of work; he did not consider the entire change in his manner of life ; un- certain hours, irregular meals, unconscious occupation, a con- stant drain upon his spirits and his strength. Above all, he did not consider what even St. Paul considered the hardest and the heaviest of his burdens, " the care of all the churches." High and holy as his motive was, it must be owned that he was imprudent in his zeal.
" He died on the Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle, Thursday, September 21, 1854, in the sixty-third year of his age."
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After all, it was a beautiful and glorious death. In the two and twenty months of his episcopate he had averaged more than one sermon a day. He had consecrated 15 churches ; he had ordained 37 deacons and 12 priests ; he had confirmed 4,127 persons. And all this was as nothing to that which came upon him daily, "the care of all the churches." His work seemed just begun. And yet he had settled and harmonized a diocese which had been long distracted, and had given to the whole Church, till every eye and heart was filled, " assurance " of a bishop. It was a beautiful and glori- ous death to die.
From the happiest home ; from the widest circle of de- voted and admiring friends ; from the serene and quiet duties of the pastoral life, in which his heart delighted, among a people who had called him to them five and thirty years be- fore, he went, at the call of duty, to the cares and toils and trials of the episcopate, in the largest and most laborious of our dioceses, and at a time when a most painful providence had made its trials infinitely trying and its labors immeasurably laborious. But he went, at the call of God and in His strength and in less than two years he restored the waste places of Zion and set his vineyard in most perfect order, and the very next week expected to rejoice with his assembled clergy and laity in the account which he was to render to them with such joy, as theirs who bring the vintage home. But he had overtasked his strength.
At sixty, one with peril enters on an untried course of life. He entered upon his with the ardor of one half his age. He forsook his happy home; he divorced himself from his be- seeching friends ; he gave his days to labor and his nights to care. Again and again he was prostrated in his work; again and again his friends admonished him of his danger ; again and again I implored him to work less that he might work longer and do more. It was all in vain. The vows of God were on him. The zeal of His house had eaten him up. Again and again, when he had hardly rallied from entire prostration, he returned prematurely to the rescue. And, in the midst of the herculean labors which he had wrought and which he had
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planned, he entered, on St. Matthew's day, A.D. 1854, into the only rest of which his zealous heart would hear, and sweetly sleeps in Jesus.
A gallant and a glorious death was his. His feet on the field ; his face to the foe; his armor on ; his spear in rest ; the crown of life falling, 'mid fight, upon his brow. "His body is buried in peace ; but his name liveth for evermore."
Cartucce Grave.
Horatio Potter
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THE SIXTH BISHOP OF NEW YORK.
HORATIO POTTER, sixth Bishop of New York, will leave to posterity, when the end shall have arrived, a name to cast unfading luster on the annals of the diocese. It will be said of him, by those that come after, that, as a theologian, he combined the strong conviction and subjective piety of the evangelical school with the deeper views and powerful hold on the doctrinal and sacramental system of the Church which mark the men commonly known as Catholics. As bishop he was the peer, the faithful ally, and the intimate personal friend of some of the greatest and ablest of the prelates of the Church of England in one of the most momentous periods of her his- tory. Wise, prudent, and skillful, he piloted his own diocese through stormy weather and In dangerous places, and had the
Horatio Potter
gratification of witnessing the founding and successful devel- opment of two new and strong dioceses born within the old domain. Dignified in bearing, courtly in manners, somewhat austere, as becomes an overseer of God's heritage; cordial and delightful in the trusted society of intimate friends ; de- vout and earnest ; a holy man, full of prayer and good works, he was, to those who knew him best, the mirror of the Epis- copal character, and a shining example among the chief pas- tors of the flock of Christ. God, in His wise providence, has willed that he should pass his last days in the enforced seclu- sion of a sick room; and, therefore, in penning this brief sketch of him, we throw much of it into the past tense, but the love and prayers of the faithful follow him into that sacred retirement and surround him there, while for the future the record is secure of a true, strong, pure, and helpful life, of which the honor and fame shall last, unfading, in the Church.
He was of an old English stock. Robert Potter, first of the name on this side of the Atlantic, came to this country
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from Coventry, and was settled at Lynn, Mass., in 1630. In 1639, having been cited before the authorities of the Massa- chusetts Colony for religious contumacy, he removed to Rhode Island, and was one of those who signed the compact for the town of Portsmouth, April 16, 1639, when it was set off from Newport. His name appears in the Indian deed of Shawmut, near Warwick, Rhode Island. In 1643 he was taken to Boston, with other Warwick men, and there sen- tenced to imprisonment for non-conformism. Among his descendants occur the names of men pre-eminently distin- guished in the communities in which they lived, amongst whom may be mentioned John Potter, Clerk of the General Court in 1661, and Stephen Potter, Judge of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island in 1727. In 1795 three of the family -Joseph, Sylvester, and Thomas-removed to New York and settled in Dutchess County. Joseph Potter married Ann Knight, by whom he had ten children; of these, the ninth, Alonzo, became Bishop of Pennsylvania, and the tenth is the subject of this biographical sketch.
Horatio Potter was born in Beekman, Dutchess County, New York, February 9, 1802. He was sent to Union Col- lege, where he graduated in 1826. A letter to a college companion, dated February 24, 1827, contains the following good advice to students :
"Look to your health. There is something which to the youthful mind looks like moral sublimity in the sacrifice of health and life at the very outset of our career. But a heed- less, unnecessary sacrifice can be neither pleasing to God nor beneficial to man. When studying hard, you should devote at least two hours a day to vigorous exercise. Without this you can have neither energy of mind nor strength of body. Beware, too, of reading hastily. Curiosity, the love of novelty, and the pride we take in having read a great many books, all conspire to hurry us on from volume to volume without giving us time to become masters of them. To an ardent, youthful mind, advancing is delightful, reviewing irksome. As you march on, then, be careful to leave no enemy unconquered."
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He was ordained deacon in July, 1827, and priest the fol- lowing year. He began his ministry in Saco, Maine, as appears, rather against his will, for he writes : " I did hope to enjoy, for a year or two, full leisure to prosecute my educa- tion." Heshrank from the difficulties and responsibilities of the cure of souls. "The parochial duties are most formida- ble ;" but he adds, by way of consolation : " I have heard of men who have done much for their minds at the same time that they were extensively useful in the active duties of their profession. By the blessing of God, I will imitate their ex- ample. I am ready to make the effort."
In the year 1828 he became Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in Washington (now Trinity) College, Hartford, Connecticut. He took an active part in plans for the enlargement of the college and the erection of new build- ings, as appears from his correspondence with his brother, the Rev. Alonzo Potter, at that time rector of St. Paul's Church, Boston.
In 1833 he became rector of St. Peter's Church, in the city of Albany, and held that position until his election to the episcopate in 1854. Those twenty-one years were a term of steady and persevering labor, with marked success. The parish, one of the oldest in the State, was of especial dignity and importance, not only from its history, but also from its situation in the capital of the State, and from the fact that many of the most prominent personages in the political history of New York were, from time to time, connected with it. Dr. Potter acquired an enviable distinction there as a devoted pas- tor, an able preacher, and a man who never meddled with other people's affairs, but did his work quietly, " without partiality, without hypocrisy," and without aim at popularity or effect. In the year 1835 he went abroad, and traveled in England and on the Continent. He carried with him letters to Simeon, Keble, Chalmers, Bishop Skinner, of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and other eminent personages of the day. He was profoundly impressed by the aspect of the great English uni- versities.
" My visit to the Louvre and Tuileries and Versailles had
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almost moved me to pronounce France superior to England in classical taste; but Cambridge and Oxford are altogether unequaled by anything that I have seen, if I am to judge by the manner in which they excited my own mind under the most unfavorable circumstances. As for society, I saw none at either place. The university was in vacation, the weather was stormy, and I had neither time nor inclination for cere- monious visits."
Dr. Potter's health was very delicate during his early years ; it continued so while he was rector of St. Peter's. Severe domestic affliction in the loss of children added weight to the burden of life at that time. In 1845 he went abroad again for rest and recovery. The times were full of excitement on both sides of the Atlantic. It was the era of the development of the Oxford movement in England, a movement strongly felt on this side of the Atlantic. The year 1845 was marked by the defection of John Henry Newman, an event which shook the souls of many English Churchmen ; in that same year oc- curred the suspension of Bishop Onderdonk from office, an event attended by great agitation and embittered controver- sies in the Diocese of New York. Allusion to the trying occurrences of the day appear in a letter now in my posses- sion, written at the Brunswick Hotel, Hanover Square, Lon- don, September 12, 1845, from which I shall venture to make the following extracts, taking on myself the responsibility of doing so. It is well-nigh on to half a century since the time of writing.
" The present crisis is naturally one of so much excitement to you that you stand in no need of foreign stimulants. Since I wrote to you we have been staying several days with Mr. Keble, and then with Mr. Isaac Williams, author of poems, and works on the gospels. Both these are men of singular modesty, purity, and devotion. They live among the poor, though themselves worthy to be ranked among the most gifted of English minds. Were I to speak of Moberly, and Bishop Skinner, and Bowden, and Hook, and Dodsworth, and the other men with whom I have been living, you would be apt to say, ' Well, birds of a feather flock together ! He is taking
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the right way to have his prepossessions confirmed.' To all which I reply, that in seeking intercourse chiefly with this class of theologians I have been governed by three reasons. First, I know well the Evangelicans already, their spirit and their intentions. I also know the old High Church party, the high and dry. But I was not quite certain about what may be called the Catholic men ; many things were imputed to them, they belonged to a movement, I wished to know whether I had judged them rightly, and what we and the Church had to expect from them. Second, I came away from home exhausted and broken ; and I had no idea of spending the season of recreation among a set of people with whom I could not sympathize, who would be constantly dealing in anathemas which I would think extravagant, and to which I could say nothing. Such men as Keble and Williams and Moberly, and the Primus of the Scotch Church (and a noble Primus he is !) I find I understand at once, and we get on comfortably together. How kind they have all been to me ! and what lessons in holiness they have unconsciously taught me! O, how little the men who revile them understand them, or understand the theological age upon which they are fallen ! Even Mr. N., who very probably may take a grievous step* (I say this in confidence), how little will his feelings and charac- ter be appreciated by his revilers in America ! Dr. Moberly's account of the way in which the young men at Oxford con- fessed that they had found themselves silently put away by him and sent to Dr. P. (who is standing fast) brought the tears into my eyes. Even those who dissent from him and will not go with him regard him with inexpressible reverence and affection. I had this A. M. a very kind note from Dr. Pusey, inviting us to his house in Oxford ; we shall go to-morrow, on our way to Liverpool, and this will com- plete our visits. As to Church matters at home I am tranquil, leaving all to Him who can make the folly of men to praise Him. Each party, I think, would soon ruin itself, but for the violence and blunders of the opposite.
" Christ Church, Oxford, September 15th. We are staying
* This letter was written about a month before Newman's secession.
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with Dr. P. Yesterday we had the Communion with him in the cathedral. -- , and I, and - pray with him in his study five or six times a day. Such meekness and love, such a contrite and broken spirit, it has not before been my for- tune to meet. May God strengthen and sustain him !"
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