USA > New York > The centennial history of the Protestant Episcopal church in the diocese of New York, 1785-1885 > Part 3
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37
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the human understanding-a discipline which both honors God in the preservation of authority and cultivates a true manhood by the recognition of the rights and duties of the conscience; a worship pure in its sole devotion to the Triune God, and beautiful with all the beauty of holiness- neither the fevered officiousness of an unenlightened enthu- siasm nor the cold tribute of an overweening self-sufficiency.
If, again, we look to the principle of the necessity of the Episcopate, we find, also, a great change. It would not be an unjust criticism of the first steps in our organization to say that the Churchmen of that period were disposed to lay somewhat too much stress on the rule that the Bishops should do nothing without them, and somewhat too little stress upon the converse that they should do nothing without the Bishop. But certainly in the past century there has been a steady tendency towards the recognition and statement of the fact that there are powers of government, distinct from mere functions, inherent in the Episcopal office, and not derived to the Bishops as the mere executives of Conven- tional will. From the very day in which the General Con- stitution, in the year of its adoption, was so amended as to fix the position of the House of Bishops as a co-ordinate branch of the supreme legislature, this tendency began to be felt .* It has worked slowly, but surely, and unless our growth is to come to an end, must continue to work, until that Constitution has been made quite consistent with itself by the removal of every trace of the fact that, in its forma- tion, the Bishops, except as Spiritual functionaries and Con- ventional executives, were an afterthought.
But with regard to the last of these principles, which asserts the right of the Church in each State or Diocese to a co-equal representation with the Church in every other State or Diocese in the Ecclesiastical Union, there has been a change more notable than in regard to the others. And while this change, too, is a change in the common under- standing of the principle, and not in any Constitutional
* Compare Art. 3 of the Constitution before and after the second session of General Convention in 1789.
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expression of it, yet it is a change of different character and import from the others, and one which indicates a tendency which, if not checked, will be apt to lead to results quite subversive of the principle which it affects. Other changes have been in the nature of legitimate inference from the full and fair meaning of the principle itself. This change in- volves a flat contradiction of the principle. And the infer- ence from that contradiction is, that instead of being a constituent and co-equal member of an Ecclesiastical Union, the Church in the State or Diocese is the mere creature and vassal of the body which represents that Union. Nothing can be more marked, or more remarkable, than the change in the common estimate of the relation of the Church in the State or Diocese to the Ecclesiastical Union, which has taken place in less than a century since that Union was completed. This is not to question in any way the suprem- acy of General Convention, which is Constitutionally beyond question, but it is to warn against a theory which will not stand the test of history, which totally inverts the legitimate process of the construction of the Constitution and laws of General Convention, and which not only requires obedience to law, but also leads to the denial of the liberty to act without permission, which is a different, and an intolerable thing.
Two forces in nature have been, by the God of nature, ordained in order to the preservation of the due relation of the several parts of the universe within a common system- the power which draws perpetually toward the centre, and the power which retires perpetually from it. Upon the bal- ance of these powers depends the continuance of the system. Without the one, the several parts would be indistinguishably commingled ; without the other, they would be irrecoverably dispersed. In the political economy, as in the natural, the same forces, by the same Divine law of order, must work in the like balance, or there is no good nor stable government. There must be the cohesive power of the common centre, or there will be anarchy ; there must be the liberty of a lawful self-government, or there will be tyranny. We may depend
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upon it that these principles cannot safely be disregarded in the working of such a system as ours, the history of whose origin unmistakably shows it to have been based upon them. And in mitigation of the apprehension of danger from the centrifugal tendency of the rights of Dioceses, let it be remem- bered that in the recognition of the authority of the Episco- pate there is a power of cohesion, which is a quite sufficient balance to that tendency. In the cohesive power of the Episcopate, indeed, lies its supreme usefulness. It is itself the Divinely appointed centre of unity in the Church of Christ. And yet, in the Divine constitution of that Church, the abso- lute unity which it presupposes, is not inconsistent with the equally absolute right of the self-government of the several Dioceses in all matters which solely concern themselves. Warned by the tendencies in the community about us to the worst forms of centralization in the domineering power of corporate bodies, and in the gradual subjection of such bodies to the individual will of their most powerful members ; warned by the tendencies of human nature which make the Church always liable to the dangers which affect the com- munity wherein it dwells, let us never forget, or suffer it to be forgotten, that the salvation of our system depends upon the preservation of its equilibrium.
Thus, my brethren, not as I would, but as I could, I have drawn your attention to some particulars of thankfulness and of watchfulness connected with the principles upon which our Ecclesiastical system is based. How much more might have been noted in this one line of observation ; how many other paths, too, as we walk about Sion, open before us, disclosing many more such particulars in regard to other subjects, I am but too well aware. In truth the prospect is bewildering. No power, of mine at least, could gather into one train of con- nected thought anything like a general view of all that crowds in to claim a place in our present remembrances. Some se- lection must needs be made, and many points of interest passed by. But there are some which must be noted, what- ever else be overlooked. As we mark the bulwarks by which we have been surrounded, we may not forget the example and
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influence of those who, during the progress of the century, have labored to set up the houses of the heavenly city, in all the good works of wise administration, sound teaching, and tender mercy, into whose labors we are entered. The increase in the number and efficiency of our parishes and missions ; the multiplication of aids to the development of the spiritual life ; the amazing extension of all kinds of associate work, and particularly the introduction and practical recognition of re- ligious orders; the remarkable character of our Episcopate ; the conspicuous ability and devotion of our Clergy; the pow- erful support furnished by the lavish devotion, not only of the means, but also of the time, learning, and wisdom of our Laity -I may hardly even allude to these points, but there are some things in connection with them which will not remain unsaid.
No one can contemplate the history of these manifold labors without realizing that our life has been one of steady and of healthful growth; a growth, as it were, from infancy to manhood; a growth, indeed, which has just now brought us into that condition in which we begin to be strong to grapple with those great problems which must ever face the Church of God in the pursuit of the regenerating work of its Divine Master.
It was no more than meet, surely, that this growth should include its own trials and discipline. Nowhere have there been more trying and perilous issues to be met, and more serious anxieties with respect to them, than in New York ; and if the example and influence to which I have referred have been laudable and honorable in action, so also have they been in suffering. In one phase of our corporate life, in- deed, the troubles needful for our discipline seemed to reach their climax, when, under the dispensation of an inscrutable Providence, the Diocese of New York was for a weary period . of years thrown back in effect to that state of incompleteness in which it had begun its organized work. Orphan in the Church of God, yet with its Father still living! What trials and anxieties, heart-rending, mind-bewildering, did it not experience! Yet nowhere in its history has it afforded a more memorable and honorable example, if patience in
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tribulation, submission to lawfully constituted authority, wisdom and courage in the endurance of responsibilities wholly without precedent, be worthy of remembrance and of honor. And nowhere in its own history, or in that of other Dioceses, has there been furnished a better test of the practi- cal value of our representative system than was afforded here. Without touching at all upon personal feelings one way or the other-which, if my own heart may witness, lie not far below the surface-it is surely not too much to say, that but for the cool and enlightened judgment, and the firm and strong hand with which the representative Diocese assumed and discharged during that astounding interval the duties of government properly within the sphere of Diocesan action, not the Church in New York only, but that of the entire Union, had been thrown into confusion ; and I think I shall be upheld in adding that for the wise counsel which, under God, placed the Diocese on the right ground in that trial, it was indebted to three laymen, who for that and many another service too, deserve to be had in unfailing remem- brance-Samuel Jones, Gulian C. Verplanck, and Murray Hoffman.
If we would rightly mark the several steps in the growth of our Church life to its present maturity, we should remember that in the completion of its organization, and the settlement of its relation to the Church in other States, the Church in New York had done little more than recog- nize and act upon the fact of its own independent life. The question of what that life was it had hardly considered. Chiefly engrossed with what may be called the political as- pect, it had but faintly realized its spiritual capacity and mission. The services of religion, after the somewhat cold fashion of the time, were of course duly performed. The Sacraments of the Church were advocated, but still kept rather in the background. The Ministry of the Church was respected for the piety and labors of individual members of it, rather than for its Divine authority. The Mission work of the Church can hardly be said to have been begun. How much all that was changed in less than thirty years, you well
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know ; and you know too that for the labor and the conflict, the eloquence and the energy that under God changed it, we are indebted to Bishop Hobart. To no one man, perhaps, is the Church in New York so much indebted for the realization of its own spiritual position and responsibility. It was he who asserted in all fulness the Divine Mission and authority of the Church; the succession of the Bishops to the order, as well as to the faith of the Apostles; and the efficacy of the Sacraments in the conveyance of the Divine Grace : thus sow- ing in the Church in New York, years before it was scattered from Oxford, the seed which within the latter half of this century has borne such wondrous fruit of devotion to the love of Christ, and to the love of man for Christ's sake. Not that it can be said that these truths had been un- known here, more than they were in England, before his time; but that he brought these truths home to the con- sciousness of his Diocese. So that when, afterward, the great wave of reaction to the true and primitive principles of the Reformation which had been started in England began to be felt here, it came as an impetus to a movement already in operation, rather than as a new power.
And what Bishop Hobart had gained in the establishment of right principles in regard to the Church and Ministry and Sacraments, was faithfully preserved by Bishop Onderdonk, who with wise care and unwearied diligence applied the same teaching to the succeeding generation. Particularly, too, was the attention of his Diocese directed by Bishop Onder- donk to the right principles of Liturgical Worship, and to the proper arrangement of Churches, in order that they might be better fitted for the sacred purposes for which they' were designed ; so that from his Episcopate may be fairly dated, if not the beginning, at least the first general practice of those orderly and reverent habits of conducting the services of the Sanctuary in accordance with the principles and authority of the Rubrics, which have made the traditions of the Diocese of New York in that behalf the example of the whole Church. Upon him devolved not only the inherited unpopularity of Bishop Hobart's principles but also that special odium which
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these principles acquired from their association in the public mind with the Oxford movement. By him, too, was dis- creetly discharged the duty of discriminating between these principles which came from abroad, and of recognizing the Catholic character of some, and the dangerous tendency of others. By him also was settled, in the case of Arthur Carey, that principle of the liberty of belief and teaching within the limits of the law of the Church, rather than of either Episcopal or popular opinion, which indeed is capable of abuse, which perhaps has been abused, but which never- theless must be forever dear to every Christian who feels himself to be a man and not a machine.
Certainly under the Episcopate of these two men the Church in New York learned something of its true position in respect to spiritual privilege and duty ; and as certainly the impress of their influence has been perpetuated in every Diocese in the State.
How tenderly and judiciously cherished these traditions have been in our own particular Diocese, by the venerable father, whose absence from our councils it is our sad lot to deplore, but whose prayerful and loving solicitude for his spiritual children we are sure remains still unabated, we well know. Always unequivocal in his attachment to those prin- ciples of Evangelic faith and Apostolic order, and of reverent and churchly worship, which his predecessors had inculcated ; always firm and strong in his maintenance of them when occasion required ; yet always mindful of the help and confi- dence due to those who could not feel their force as he felt it, and who either failed to rise to them, or were fain to soar somewhat beyond them; how tenderly and judiciously, I say again, has he cherished those traditions, neither loosely holding, nor yet harshly imposing them. I presume not to seek for words for all that is in my heart, and I know also in yours, when I refer to the rich gift of this precious example of wisdom and gentleness. But, speaking of the Diocese, it must be said that it has gained from this Episcopate an addi- tion to the traditions of the past which was a fitting sequel to them, in the direction of its energies away from contro-
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versy, and away from mere rectitude of principle, to the fulfillment of every good work of Christain love. The con- straint of the love of Christ in the life of mercy and charity, the duty of teaching by example rather than by precept, and of bringing men to the faith, and love, and worship of Christ by the sincerity and steadfastness of our own devotion to them -these are lessons for which I think no feelings of delicacy need preclude the expression of our gratitude to that vener- able man, whom, in spite of our separation from him, and not inconsistently with our loving allegiance to one, who, while he takes his place in the Church, stands side by side with him in our hearts, we still revere as our Bishop. The God most merciful, whose benediction he was wont to invoke on us, be merciful to him! "Blessed be the man that provideth for the sick and needy, the Lord shall deliver him in the time of trouble." The Lord comfort him when he lieth sick upon his bed. Make Thou all his bed in his sickness.
These three Episcopates are so representative of distinct stages in the development of our corporate life as to excuse this particular reference to them. I would not be thought unmindful of the honor due to Provoost, to Moore, or to Wainwright, or, indeed, to De Lancey, if our measure might reach even so far as to him also, who began the work in West- ern New York, which has been faithfully continued by his brilliant and beloved successor. How many honored and honorable names does that New York name suggest to us, as those of Duane, Jay, King, De Peyster, Duer, Bleecker, Jones, Spencer, Harison, Ogden, Moore, Hoffman, and Betts ; of Floyd Smith, M'Donald, Bell, and Rowland; of Bradish, Ruggles, Dix, Minturn, Norrie, Tracy, Curtiss, Emott, Meads, and Winston, and many others eminent among our Laity. What loving and edifying memories could I revive (many of them from my own recollection) of venerable clergy who have led the way into the rest that remaineth for the people of God-of Milner, Duffie, Lyell and Feltus ; of Sher- wood and Creighton ; of Berrian and McVickar; of Hawks, Higbee, Haight, and Walton; of Bayard, Schroeder, and Mead; of Anthon and Tyng ; of the brothers Ogilby, Johnson, and
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Vinton ; of the Sheltons ; of Geer, Twing, Montgomery, and Muhlenberg ; and, if filial piety may overbear modesty, of Samuel Seabury .* What could not be said of those who have gone out from us, not because they were not of us, but because the Bishoprics of other churches needed them-as Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Ohio, Western New York, Maine, Long Island, Iowa, and Springfield; } not to speak of the good gifts bestowed upon us by others in Al- bany and Central New York? How much ought to be said of the influence of the Church in New York upon the whole field of Missions, and in the department of Christian and Theological Education, and particularly of its devotion to the welfare of the General Theological Seminary, and of the char- acter which, notably under the three Episcopates to which I have referred, it has impressed upon that institution. These are thoughts which would lead me far beyond the limits of your patience, already too largely taxed.
But I should be wholly wanting in the sense of what is due to this occasion, if I should fail to refer, at least in few words, to one influence which has had its centre in the me- tropolis, but which from thence has radiated, not alone through the Church in this State, but more or less directly throughout the Union.
How beautiful is the spectacle of a gentle, wise, and faith-
*These names, both of Clergy and Laity, are cited merely as instances, and their number, of course, might be greatly increased. I have given them, with two or three exceptions afterward suggested to me, only from memory, as they occurred to me while writing; and I trust it is not necessary to say that the omission of many others which will, no doubt, occur to the reader, does not indicate that they were regarded as less worthy of respectful remembrance. In Appendix A is to be found a somewhat more precise designation of the persons referred to in the order observed in the text.
+ A list of New York Clergy consecrated for other Dioceses than the Diocese of New York, taken from the Letters of Consecration printed in the Journals of General Convention, may be found in Appendix B.
# This reference was made under the impression that the Bishop of Albany, at the time of his election, was a Presbyter of Connecticut. The error is corrected in the list contained in Appendix B.
The Rev. Frederic Dan Huntington, D.D., was, at the time of his election to Central New York, Rector of Emmanuel Church, Boston.
3
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ful motherhood ! How lovely, I say, is the vision of the Christian Mother, who, like the Good Shepherd, gathers the lambs of the flock into her arms and carries them in her bosom ; who guides the feeble steps of childhood and shares the la- bors and the troubles of maturer years, and who, in the over- flowing of her love, will extend her care even to those whom she herself brought not forth, but in whom need and desert supply the place of a closer relation.
And have we not a right to view in this aspect, in its re- lation to the Diocese, the Church at whose Chief Altar we present to-day our thankful sacrifice ? Apart from mere pri- ority in time, what better claim could there be to the title of Mother Church than that which grows out of the nursing care which has been shown by Trinity for the members of the same household of faith, and that by no means only in the Dio- cese ? From her has come the gift of Bishops, and of means to sustain them ; from her, judicious and munificent provision for the promotion of sound learning; from her, the birth and enrichment of daughter Churches, most rich in good works- Grace, St. Mark's, and St. George's ; from her, the helpful co- operation by which others were enabled to prevail in the doubtful battle for life; from her, the timely encouragement of every good work. Few of us there are, I fancy, who have not, directly or indirectly, in our education, in our ministry, in our parochial life, in our charitable and mission work, aye, and in our hunger and thirst after some strong meat in the way of positive teaching, and some pureness and sweetness in the streams of soul-refreshing worship, experienced the benefit of the life and work of Trinity Church. Do these words need confirmation ? The lives of the first five of our seven Bishops ; the journals of our Convention ; the records of our parishes; the history of Columbia College, of Trinity School, of Hobart College, of the Society for Promoting Religion and Learning, on which fell the mantle of the venerable society of colonial memory, as well as our own experience, attest them. And so does that Divine Service which from within these walls con- tinually shows forth the beauty of holiness, and bears us in spirit to one of those grand old Churches, Cathedrals which are, .
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in the words of Hooker, " as glasses wherein the face and very countenance of Apostolical antiquity remaineth even as yet to be seen, notwithstanding the alterations which tract of time and the course of this world hath brought."
The Cathedral of the Diocese of New York, although long since projected, is yet to come. It is the special trust and work, I venture to believe, of that Episcopate upon which we have entered, almost together with the entrance on our second century. God set up that House within our Holy City for a special memorial of both! Quickly may it come, and forever last ! But never may it obscure the memory of that Church, which, without either the name or the honor, has done the work and supplied the example of a Cathedral to the century past !
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Very solemn, my brethren, amidst all our thankfulness, are the feelings which vibrate within us as the passing bell tolls the departure of another period of time into the meas- ureless expanse of eternity. We recall the plans and the la- bors, the joys and the sorrows, the triumphs and tribulations of the generations past. We stand, as it were, among them that have passed out from that part of the Holy City which is visible, and have entered within the secret chambers, which are hidden places indeed to us, but which for them open out towards the light eternal which proceeds from that heavenly place to which the uprising towers of our Holy City point us. They tell us what they have wrought for our sakes, and how they rejoice in what they were able to do for those abodes wherein we have now succeeded them. They remind us that this Holy City is the porch and outer entrance to the still more glorious Capital, into which they pray that we with them may enter when time shall be fulfilled, and the purpose of the earthly tabernacle of the Kingdom of God shall have been accomplished. They bid us rejoice in the comfort and protection which, in the grace and mercy of God, that Holy City is able to afford us in our earthly warfare. They charge us so to build, as those who know that the Holy City must be fashioned more and more unto the likeness of that to which it leads; and so to war, as those who know that upon them de-
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